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All India Konkani Sahitya Sammelan and Konkani Writers' Forum, Karnataka. Editor of
Amar Konkani,
D'Souza is currently faculty at the Institute of Konkani, St Aloysius College, Mangalore.
English
KHUSHWANT SINGH
    Khushwant Singh was born in Hadali, Punjab. He was educated at Government College, Lahore and at King's College and the Inner Temple in London. He practised at the Lahore High Court for several years before joining the Indian Ministry of External Affairs in 1947. He began a distinguished career as a journalist with All India Radio in 1951. Since then he has been founder editor of Yojna (1951-1953), editor of the
Illustrated Weekly of India
(1979-1980), chief editor of
New Delhi
(1979-1980), and editor of the
Hindustan Times
(1980-1983). Today he is India's best-known columnist and journalist.
    Khushwant Singh has had an extremely successful career as a writer. Among his works are the award winning
Train to Pakistan, Delhi, Religion of the Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh - the Saviour, My Bleeding Punjab, Punjab's Tragic Story, Need for a New Religion in India and other essays, Indira Gandhi Returns, and A History of the Sikhs, vol. I and vol. II.
Khushwant Singh has written more than 72 books till date. His latest novel,
The Company of Women
was published in 1999, and his autobiography,
Truth, Love and a Little Malice
is now in the news.
    Khushwant Singh was Member of Parliament from 1980 to 1986. Among other honours he was awarded the
Padma Bhushan
in 1974 by the President of India (he returned the decoration in 1984 in protest against the Union Government's siege of the Golden Temple, Amritsar).
MULK RAJ ANAND
    Mulk Raj Anand (1905—) is one of the most distinguished and front-ranking Indo-Anglican writers. Educated at Punjab and London Universities, he held the Tagore Chair in the Department of Comparitive Literature at the Punjab University, Chandigarh. He was Chairman of the Lalit Kala Academy and edited
Marg
, a reputed arts quarterly for quite some time.
Untouchable, Coolie
(both novels),
Death of a Hero
(novel),
Private Life of an Indian Prince, Seven Summers
(novel),
Lament on the Death of Master of Arts, Persian Painting
(essays) and
The Story of India
are some of his famous works.
ATUL CHANDRA
    A journalist by profession, Atul Chandra (1953——) started his career in 1976. A promising short story writer, Chandra holds a Masters degree in Economics. He has worked with
National Herald, The Pioneer
and
Hindustan Times.
Currently he is Deputy Resident Editor of
The Times of India
, Lucknow.
SHOY LALL
    Shaildharee Lall (1926-1975) was born in Bhagalpur and educated in Doon School. He started writing in the early 50s. He was a Farming Correspondent for
The Statesman.
Having been cured of TB in Switzerland, he returned to India and devoted his time to writing and building the house at Tikratoli — an architectural delight he writes so fondly about. The house is still as breathtakingly lovely, if not lovelier today. His wife Nilika who still lives there has ensured that.
NEELAM KUMAR
    Neelam Kumar's early childhood was spent in the erstwhile USSR where her parents, Mr O. N. Panchalar and Mrs Urmila Panchalar were posted. When they joined H. E. C. Ranchi and later, Bokaro Steel Plant, Neelam moved to India.
    After completing her schooling from St. Xavier's School, Bokaro Steel City, she obtained an English Hons, degree followed by a Bachelor of Education and post graduation in Public Relations & Advertising. She then won a scholarship which took her to the United States. She obtained her Masters degree in Journalism from the University of Arizona, Tucson, USA. Her thesis,
The American Perception of India as Reflected in the Top 5 US Newspapers
won accolades.
    In 1982, she joined Steel Authority of India Ltd. at Bokaro Steel Plant as the Editor of the house magazine. She is currently Chief of Communications at SAILs R&D Centre (RDCIS) at Ranchi.

HINDI

The Resignation
    Premchand
    An office Clerk is a dumb