(Un)Layering the Future Past of South Asia: Young Artists’ Voices is a compelling collection of contemporary artworks by emerging South Asian artists, curated to explore the intersection of tradition and modernity. The book features dynamic voices from the region, offering new perspectives on South Asia’s rich cultural heritage and its evolving narratives. Curated by Salima Hashmi and Manmeet K. Walia, this is published in conjunction with the exhibition (Un)Layering the Future Past of South Asia: Young Artists’ Voices, presented by Ravi Jain Memorial Foundation, India, supported by Dhoomimal Gallery, India and organized at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) Gallery, London.

What does it mean to be in the presence of beauty? And how can one explore and understand this through the filmography of writer, director, editor, music composer and choreographer Sanjay Leela Bhansali?

In this sweeping text, Prathyush Parasuraman walks the reader through the auteur’s films—those hailed, those hauled—like Gangubai Kathiawadi, Padmaavat, Devdas, Ram-Leela, and Saawariya. With sensitivity and finesse, On Beauty examines beauty as an idea, and aesthetics as a philosophy, while simultaneously shedding light on the making of Bhansali’s painstaking frames through conversations with his cinematographers, composers, choreographers and production and costume designers. In these pages, Bhansali’s cinema comes alive.

‘हे बुद्ध, मैं तुमको, धम्म को और संघ को शरणागत हूँ . . . बस, यही त्रिरत्न मेरी कुल संपदा है अन्यथा और कुछ भी नहीं है मेरे पास . . . बौद्ध धर्म के पालन के लिए किसी भी व्यक्ति को तीन बातों पर अमल करना होगा : पहली उसे सभी सिद्धांतों की जानकारी हो। दूसरी सिद्धांतों को व्यवहार में लाने के लिए रूपरेखा सामने हो। तीसरी रूपरेखा को व्यवहार में उतारने के लिए साहस, संकल्प व अनुशासन हो। यह पुस्तक पहली दो आवश्यकताओं की पूर्ति करती है, जबकि तीसरी आवश्यकता को पूरा करना आप पर निर्भर है यह धम्म की पुकार थी कि धम्मचारी सुभूति के शृंखलाबद्ध प्रवचनों का अनुवाद करने का विचार मन में उठा। इसी का प्रतिफल यह पुस्तक है, जो हर किसी को धम्म पर चलने और बुद्धत्व प्राप्त करने का मार्ग दिखाएगी।

From two of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in AI, what you need to know about AI—and how to defend yourself against bogus AI claims and products Confused about AI and worried about what it means for your future and the future of the world? You’re not alone. AI is everywhere—and few things are surrounded by so much hype, misinformation, and misunderstanding. In AI Snake Oil, computer scientists Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor cut through the confusion to give you an essential understanding of how AI works and why it often doesn’t, where it might be useful or harmful, and when you should suspect that companies are using AI hype to sell AI snake oil—products that don’t work, and probably never will. While acknowledging the potential of some AI, such as ChatGPT, AI Snake Oil uncovers rampant misleading claims about the capabilities of AI and describes the serious harms AI is already causing in how it’s being built, marketed, and used in areas such as education, medicine, hiring, banking, insurance, and criminal justice. The book explains the crucial differences between types of AI, why organizations are falling for AI snake oil, why AI can’t fix social media, why AI isn’t an existential risk, and why we should be far more worried about what people will do with AI than about anything AI will do on its own. The book also warns of the dangers of a world where AI continues to be controlled by largely unaccountable big tech companies. By revealing AI’s limits and real risks, AI Snake Oil will help you make better decisions about whether and how to use AI at work and home.s

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