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HarperCollins Presents The Keeper of Desolation by Chandan Pandey

Award-winning author Chandan Pandey brings a collection of nine surreal yet gritty, violent yet poetic, stories set in the heartland of India. 

The themes of The Keeper of Desolation are urgent and relevant for today’s times.  

Superbly translated from the Hindi by Sayari Debnath.

NEW DELHI, April 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — HarperCollins Publishers presents The Keeper Of Desolation Stories by Chandan Pandey, translated from the Hindi by Sayari Debnath.

‘Sinister and tender, poignant and hard-hitting.’ – Geetanjali Shree

Published by HarperCollins

Paperback | Fiction | 240 pp | INR 299

Releasing 18 April 2024

About the Book

A farmer urges the Prime Minister to change the formula for compound interest…

A man refuses to make space for another on a train and is beaten to death

A family living in a single room forgets one member even exists… 

Surreal yet gritty, violent yet poetic—such is the world of Chandan Pandey’s fiction. Set deep in the heart of present-day India, The Keeper of Desolation chronicles the warped realities our everyday lives must confront and battle. Immersive and provocative in equal measure, these stories from one of the most powerful voices of our generation make for an arresting record of our times—while transcending time itself. 

Author Chandan Pandey says, I wrote these stories in the grips of unrelenting restlessness. I look keenly at the strongest walls of our inherent culture and think carefully, until finally, a story glimpses at me. And that’s what I write. What else can I say about my creations?

Sayari Debnath, translator of The Keeper of Desolation, says, In these stories, Chandan Pandey writes about anxieties that are difficult to give voice to – can taking out a loan plunge us into deeper debts, what if I become a victim of a kangaroo court, how much of a person can I be at my workplace? His stories present possibilities that we assume are too outlandish to happen to ‘regular’ people like ourselves. While translating, I encountered a language that was taut yet poetic, and I hope to have done justice to what is truly a distinct voice in contemporary fiction.

Rahul Soni, Associate Publisher – Literary, HarperCollins India, says, Chandan Pandey’s fiction is a reflection of the warped realities we’re living in. His dark dispatches from the heart of the nation comprise some of the most powerful and urgent writing coming out in Hindi today. Legal Fiction remains among the best novels we’ve published in the past few years, and the stories in The Keeper of Desolation – in Sayari Debnath’s excellent translation – fully live up to the expectations that had set up. I’m also delighted to mention at this point that we’ll be publishing Chandan’s next novel – a sequel of sorts to Legal Fiction called Songs of Glory – next year.

Praise for The Keeper of Desolation

‘Sinister and tender, poignant and hard-hitting, the stories in The Keeper of Desolation bring us face to face with the wretched and the affluent, the good and the evil of contemporary Indian society. Sensitive to Chandan Pandey’s ever-varying, often whimsical, idioms, tones and styles, Sayari Debnath’s translation provides glimpses into his outstanding fiction.’Geetanjali Shree, winner of the International Booker Prize 2022 for Tomb of Sand.

About the Author and Translator

Chandan Pandey is the author of four short-story collections and two novels in Hindi. He has been honoured with the Bharatiya Jnanpith’s Navlekhan Award, the Vanmali Yuva Katha Samman, the Shabd Chhaap Samman, and is a recipient of the Krishna Baldev Vaid Fellowship. The translation of his acclaimed debut novel, Vaidhanik Galp, was published in English as Legal Fiction in 2021.

Sayari Debnath translates from Hindi and Bengali into English. She is a culture journalist at Scroll where she writes about books, literary trends and art. In 2019, she graduated with a Master of Arts in English from Jadavpur University, Kolkata.

About HarperCollins India

HarperCollins India publishes some of the finest writers from the Indian Subcontinent and around the world, publishing approximately 200 new books every year, with a print and digital catalogue of more than 3,000 titles across 10 imprints. Its authors have won almost every major literary award including the Man Booker Prize, JCB Prize, DSC Prize, The Erasmus Prize, New India Foundation Award, Atta Galatta Prize, Shakti Bhatt Prize, Gourmand Cookbook Award, Publishing Next Award, Tata Literature Live! Award, Gaja Capital Business Book Prize, BICW Award, Sushila Devi Award, Sahitya Akademi Award, and Crossword Book Award. HarperCollins India also represents some of the finest publishers in the world including Harvard University Press, Gallup Press, Oneworld, Bonnier Zaffre, Usborne, Dover, Nosy Crow, and Quarto. HarperCollins India is India’s most awarded publisher seven Publisher of the Year Awards (2015, 2016, 2018, two in 2021, 2022, and 2024). HarperCollins India is a subsidiary of HarperCollins Publishers.

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Reliance Digital Introduces High-Performance iQOO 15R to its Nationwide Store Network

MUMBAI, India, March 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Reliance Digital announces the offline retail availability of iQOO, the high-performance smartphone brand built for today’s youth and tech-forward consumers. Following strong traction in online channels, iQOO is now extending its presence into physical retail, allowing customers to experience and purchase its devices first-hand at Reliance Digital stores across India.

Known for pushing the boundaries of speed, and power, the iQOO 15R is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5, delivering exceptional speed, responsiveness, and sustained performance throughout the day. It packs iQOO’s biggest battery yet in an ultra-slim 7.90mm design, making it India’s slimmest smartphone with a 7600 mAh battery.

The device features a 6.5K IceCore VC Cooling Chamber for stable performance and runs on OriginOS 6.0 based on Android 16 out of the box, supported by 4 years of software updates and 6 years of security updates. It is also equipped with a Sony LYT-700V OIS camera, a 1.5K 144Hz AMOLED EyeCare display, and IP68 & IP69 dust and water resistance, making it a dependable daily partner for professionals on the go.

The brand’s offline expansion marks an important step in deepening consumer engagement by offering hands-on access to its devices, enabling customers to explore iQOO’s powerful performance, advanced display technology, and flagship-grade camera capabilities in a real-world retail environment.

The availability of iQOO at Reliance Digital brings together two brands driven by innovation and consumer experience. While iQOO continues to build its reputation as a performance-led smartphone brand, Reliance Digital strengthens its portfolio by offering customers access to cutting-edge technology brands through its extensive nationwide retail network.

Through engaging in-store experiences, knowledgeable staff, and immersive product demonstrations, Reliance Digital aims to help consumers better understand iQOO’s performance-first DNA. This move further reinforces Reliance Digital’s commitment to staying ahead of evolving consumer preferences and serving as a preferred destination for discovering new-age technology.

With this expansion, Reliance Digital continues to play a key role in shaping India’s consumer electronics landscape by bringing future-ready brands closer to customers, while enabling smartphone brands like iQOO to build stronger connections with a growing, performance-driven audience.

The all new iQOO 15R is now available at Reliance Digital stores nationwide.

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Kotak Alts announces winner of the inaugural Katalyst Awards

Ms Himani Choudhary named Katalyst for the year – India’s Best Financial Content Creator; wins Rs. 25 Lakhs

MUMBAI, India, March 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Kotak Katalyst Awards, a national initiative instituted to recognise excellence and responsibility in financial content creation has announced the winner of its first Katalyst edition. Kotak Alternate Asset Managers Limited (“Kotak Alts”) today announced Himani Choudhary as the winner. The winner was awarded a prize of INR 25 Lakhs, positioning Katalyst among the most meaningful recognitions for financial content creators in India.

Srini Sriniwasan, Managing Director, Kotak Alts, said, “The Kotak Alts Katalyst Awards were instituted to recognize content creators who are contributing meaningfully to financial literacy in India. As investor participation deepens, audiences are seeking clarity, context, and credibility. The response from creators was overwhelming and points to the new generation of financial educators.  As the inaugural winner Ms. Himani Chaudhary, exemplifies the standard of financial communication that Katalyst seeks to encourage.”

The first edition of the Kotak Alts Katalyst Awards received over six hundred entries from across 19 states and in 8 languages, reflecting the growing role of digital creators in shaping financial awareness. Conceived in response to increasing clutter and misinformation in the financial ecosystem, Katalyst is designed to recognize creators who place accuracy, transparency, and investor interest at the core of their work.

The winning content, ‘Personal Finance & Major Finance Updates’ by Himani Choudhary, was recognised for its clarity, originality, and credibility. The jury noted the content’s ability to explain complex financial concepts in a clear and measured manner, supported by strong research and a consistent focus on investor education over virality.

To ensure a robust and transparent evaluation process, the awards framework was designed and audited by EY. The top thirty entries were assessed by an academic jury.

The top 10 finalists were subsequently evaluated by a grand jury comprising Kunal Shah, Founder and CEO of CRED; Radhika Gupta, Managing Director and CEO of Edelweiss Mutual Fund; and Alpesh Shah, Managing Director and Senior Partner at Boston Consulting Group, and chaired by Ananth Narayan, former Whole–Time Member of SEBI with extensive capital markets and regulatory experience.

The Katalyst Awards recognise financial content creators who priorities financial literacy, substance, and long–term investor interest. Through this initiative, Kotak Alts aims to encourage responsible financial communication and support the development of informed and confident investors across India.

About Kotak Alternate Asset Managers Ltd: Kotak Alternate Asset Managers Limited (‘Kotak Alts’), a part of Kotak Mahindra Group (‘Kotak’), focuses on Alternate Asset Management and Investment Advisory businesses. Kotak Alts was set up in early 2005 and has raised, managed, and advised over USD 22 billion across different asset classes, including Private Equity, Real Estate, Infrastructure, Special Situations, Private Credit, and Investment Advisory. The asset management business and investment advisory vertical are managed by independent specialist teams. For more information, visit https://www.kotakalternateasset.com/

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Paperpal for Life Sciences Establishes HIPAA Readiness, Strengthening Enterprise Adoption of AI in Regulated Medical and Scientific Writing Workflows

MUMBAI, India, March 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Paperpal for Life Sciences, an enterprise-grade Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform by Cactus Communications, purpose-built for Medical Affairs and Life Sciences organizations, announced the completion of an assessment evaluating its operational and technical safeguards to support Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requirements. This milestone reinforces Paperpal’s commitment to meeting the rigorous standards of security, data protection, and regulatory readiness required for regulated scientific workflows.

Growing AI use in medical affairs writing and publication workflows is intensifying scrutiny on data privacy, governance, and regulatory accountability. To support these evolving needs, Paperpal for Life Sciences has undertaken an assessment of its systems and processes to evaluate readiness to support HIPAA compliance, where applicable, and now proudly offers the option to execute a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) for Protected Health Information (PHI) and Personally Identifiable Information (PII). This offering gives customers the confidence that PHI or PII, if received, is handled securely and responsibly, in line with regulatory expectations and enterprise risk management practices.

Paperpal for Life Sciences provides AI writing, literature search, source-grounded summarization with citation support, and critical publication checks, powering medical affairs content creation under stringent data privacy and governance controls. The platform accelerates research-to-publication timelines by upto 25%, supporting faster dissemination of clinical evidence and earlier commercialization of new drugs and therapies.

Nishchay Shah, Group CTO and EVP, Products and AI at Cactus Communications, said, “As AI becomes foundational to regulated scientific and medical workflows, compliance and trust are no longer optional. Paperpal for Life Sciences’ HIPAA readiness measures reflect our secure-by-design approach to AI, strong data governance framework, and alignment with real-world enterprise and regulatory requirements. This milestone enables organizations to adopt AI at scale with confidence that their data, processes, and compliance obligations are protected .”

Elvira Dsouza, President, Cactus Life Sciences, added, “Medical Affairs and Life Sciences teams operate in highly regulated environments where scientific rigor, data privacy, and compliance are non-negotiable. HIPAA readiness positions Paperpal for Life Sciences as a trusted AI partner, one that enables organizations to accelerate evidence generation and scientific communication without compromising regulatory integrity .”

With this announcement, Paperpal for Life Sciences reinforces its position as a purpose-built, enterprise-ready AI platform for medical affairs content generation that supports innovation while meeting the highest standards of privacy, ethics, and regulatory compliance.

Media Contact:

Nidhi Amin

nidhi.amin@cactusglobal.com 

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