This collection of short stories takes its title from one of the stories contained in it: 'The Protectors'. All stories are basically romantic in nature, but they are not simple love stories. Their themes have all the colours, and their myriad shades, to afford you a panoramic view of the world we live in.

The first story, for example, is that of a boy whose rebellious nature, not accepting the norms of a corrupt society, struggles to achieve a job on the basis of his qualification, and not on the recommendation of a friend. Another story deals in defence of the motherland from the vicious attack of a rival force. Then there is a story which gives a graphic picture of a poverty-stricken housing scheme where women, forgetting about their self-respect, stoop so low as to adopt a life style, both execrable and pitiable... but there are women and there are women

In brief, the book touches on unemployment, indignity of a religious family, and inheritance inciting to murder. A story each describes the horrendous custom of doing away with female foetuses, the ugly face of feudalism, and foundering efforts of a courtesan to escape to a righteous life. Last but not least is the story of educated youth, who for want of any reasonable job, resort to robbery.

The book takes you along on a journey which unravels a picture of unspeakable misery some people are subjected to. One would feel the milk of human kindness is drying up fast

One could read these stories with a view to killing time, but if they pause and think... well, that is exactly what these stories are aimed at.

Black phosphorus (BP)-based two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials are used as components in practical industrial applications in biomedicine, electronics, and photonics. There is a need to controllably shape engineered scalable structures of 2D BP building blocks, and their assembly/organization is desired for the formation of three-dimensional (3D) forms such as macro and hybrid architectures, as it is expected that these architectures will deliver even better materials performance in applications. Semiconducting Black Phosphorus: From 2D Nanomaterial to Emerging 3D Architecture provides an overview of the various synthetic strategies for 2D BP single-layer nanomaterials, their scalable synthesis, properties, and assemblies into 3D architecture. The book covers defect engineering and physical properties of black phosphorous; describes different strategies for the development of 2D nanostructures of BP with other species such as polymers, organic molecules, and other inorganic materials; offers a comparative study of 3D BP structures with other 3D architectures such as dichalcogenides (TMDs, graphene, and boron nitride); and discusses in detail applications of 3D macrostructures of BP in various fields such as energy, biomedical, and catalysis. This is an essential reference for researchers and advanced students in materials science and chemical, optoelectronic, and electrical engineering.

This collection of short stories takes its title from one of the stories contained in it: 'The Protectors'. All stories are basically romantic in nature, but they are not simple love stories. Their themes have all the colours, and their myriad shades, to afford you a panoramic view of the world we live in.

The first story, for example, is that of a boy whose rebellious nature, not accepting the norms of a corrupt society, struggles to achieve a job on the basis of his qualification, and not on the recommendation of a friend. Another story deals in defence of the motherland from the vicious attack of a rival force. Then there is a story which gives a graphic picture of a poverty-stricken housing scheme where women, forgetting about their self-respect, stoop so low as to adopt a life style, both execrable and pitiable... but there are women and there are women

In brief, the book touches on unemployment, indignity of a religious family, and inheritance inciting to murder. A story each describes the horrendous custom of doing away with female foetuses, the ugly face of feudalism, and foundering efforts of a courtesan to escape to a righteous life. Last but not least is the story of educated youth, who for want of any reasonable job, resort to robbery.

The book takes you along on a journey which unravels a picture of unspeakable misery some people are subjected to. One would feel the milk of human kindness is drying up fast

One could read these stories with a view to killing time, but if they pause and think... well, that is exactly what these stories are aimed at.