Books published by Springer Verlag, Singapore

This book discusses the journey of Dr. K Kasturirangan, who shares his experience during his long tenure at ISRO including the Chairmanship of ISRO, subsequently membership of the Rajya Sabha, the Planning Commission and many other responsibilities. Over the past five decades of public and professional service to the nation, Dr. Kasturirangan has graduated from a young researcher in astrophysics working under Vikram Sarabhai to leading India's space program (ISRO), being entrusted by five successive Prime Ministers, besides dealing with several other domains of responsibilities beyond space, all of which have significantly impacted India's development.This book centers around select 12 public invited lectures, Dr. Kasturirangan delivered ranging from developing hi-tech space systems, to managing an organization as intricate as ISRO which was guided by the wisdom of mentors, including Vikram Sarabhai, M G K Menon, Satish Dhawan and U. R. Rao, to tackling multi-faceted socio-economic issues, including India's nuclear deal, report headed by him on the Western Ghats ecosystem, and the new National Education Policy 2020.Scientists, historians, policy makers, management strategists, journalists, or anyone with a keen interest in understanding the processes behind such large-scale science, technology and socio-economic endeavors - right from planning, creating appropriate institutional mechanisms, working with multiple stakeholders to ensure that these programs deliver tangible benefits to society, articulating these benefits with clarity to political leaders to assure public support - will find this book deeply instructive and illuminating. It will be of interest to the scientific, education and management community as well as to policy makers and researchers affiliated with multifaceted developmental issues.

This book discusses the building of comprehensive community support systems, which constitutes a key issue in social security reforms in Japan. The book comprises three parts: (I) Mapping Social Security in Japan, (II) Community-Based Integrated Care Systems in Japan, and (III) A Prospect of Community-Based Inclusive Society in Japan. The chapters in this book were composed on the basis of research into community-based integrated care systems and community-based inclusive society, conducted by members of the Association of Japanese Geographers¿ Study Group ¿Regional Issues Related to the Birthrate Decline and Population Aging.¿ Choosing local governments with different regional characteristics, the authors conducted empirical research to uncover the characteristics of comprehensive community support systems, building processes, and challenges in the respective local governments. Non-Japanese readers will acquire an understanding of the characteristics of social security and the trendsof the reforms in Japan. To support its use as a reference book, chapters in Part I include numerous maps and figures with the themes of welfare, medical care, and health levels in Japan.

This book provides a comprehensive, in-depth and practical approach towards an understanding of the multitude challenges of adolescence in India. Going beyond the traditional ¿storm, stress and strain¿ view of adolescents, it focuses on the strengths of adolescents and highlights a community approach towards an understanding of adolescents. The book is divided into three sections. Section 1 introduces the concept of adolescence in the Indian context, discusses the identity development and peer relations in adolescents. Section 2 deliberates on issues and challenges such as depression, suicide, violence, substance use and behavioural addiction, keeping in mind the Indian socio-cultural context. It also highlights concerns of adolescents related to disabilities. Section 3 provides various prevention and intervention measures including both individual-based and group-based interventions to deal with these challenges, thereby facilitating the journey of adolescents. It helps the readerto focus on the positive development of the adolescents. The book is useful for students in psychology, education, counselling, mental health and development. It is also a great resource book for professionals working in the field of health in general and mental health in particular.

This book starts with a discussion of the classical intermediate value theorem and some of its uncommon ¿topological¿ consequences as an appetizer to whet the interest of the reader. It is a concise introduction to topology with a tinge of historical perspective, as the author¿s perception is that learning mathematics should be spiced up with a dash of historical development. All the basics of general topology that a student of mathematics would need are discussed, and glimpses of the beginnings of algebraic and combinatorial methods in topology are provided.All the standard material on basic set topology is presented, with the treatment being sometimes new. This is followed by some of the classical, important topological results on Euclidean spaces (the higher-dimensional intermediate value theorem of Poincaré¿Miranda, Brouwer¿s fixed-point theorem, the no-retract theorem, theorems on invariance of domain and dimension, Borsuk¿s antipodal theorem, the Borsuk¿Ulam theorem andthe Lusternik¿Schnirelmann¿Borsuk theorem), all proved by combinatorial methods. This material is not usually found in introductory books on topology. The book concludes with an introduction to homotopy, fundamental groups and covering spaces.Throughout, original formulations of concepts and major results are provided, along with English translations. Brief accounts of historical developments and biographical sketches of the dramatis personae are provided. Problem solving being an indispensable process of learning, plenty of exercises are provided to hone the reader's mathematical skills. The book would be suitable for a first course in topology and also as a source for self-study for someone desirous of learning the subject. Familiarity with elementary real analysis and some felicity with the language of set theory and abstract mathematical reasoning would be adequate prerequisites for an intelligent study of the book.