14-year-old Kuzo Kezo (L) with Rev. Dr. Kevekhalo Lasuh, Senior Pastor of Chakhesang Baptist Church Kohima (R) during the launch of 'The Drug Factory' and 'The Trio, Tuition Disaster' at The Heritage Kohima on August 9. (Photo by Jabu Krocha)
14-year-old, Kuzo Kezo currently a student of Class-9 at St. Mary's Cathedral Higher Secondary School Kohima today became the author of 3 books following the formal release of "The Drug Factory" and "The Trio- Tuition Disaster" at The Heritage Kohima on August 9.
The two books mark the 108th and 109th publications of PenThrill Publication House, and were formally released by Rev. Dr. Kevekhalo Lasuh, Senior Pastor of Chakhesang Baptist Church Kohima with a dedicatory prayer.
Speaking at the launch, the author Kuzo Kezo thanked God for the gift of writing and highlighted that 'The Drug Factory' is the sequel to his first book, 'The School of Bullies'. "I wrote the sequel because I wanted to finish the plot from the first book. It is about friendship, betrayal and adventure", he said during the launch.
Expressing that the other book, "The Trio, Tuition Disaster" is also about friendship and adventure, along with bravery and courage, he said that, "these books were written because I enjoy reading, writing, exploring new ways of writing books and characters and entertaining myself and others as well." He further expressed desire to help raise funds for missionaries through the books.
Citing the growing literary landscape in the state that is clearly seen through frequent book launches, Publisher of PenThrill, Vishü Rita Krocha said that, "this is a positive indication of the growth of writing that is evolving in the state."
She said that it was encouraging to see young children like Kuzo are continuing to write despite having to juggle with their studies. "The kind of commitment that he is showing in writing is an encouragement to the entire writing community of Nagaland", he said.
Further highlighting the need for narratives that are rooted in the Naga way of life, she also encouraged Kuzo to keep exploring such stories in his journey of writing.
Dr. Rukulu Puro, Assistant Professor of Capital College Kohima & Chief Instructor, CUE Academy, Center of Writing Skills, gave comments on "The Drug Factory, a sequel to The School of Bullies". She said the book is an energetic, suspenseful, and thoughtful sequel that proves the young author is not just telling stories but also reflecting on the world around hÃm.
Fast-paced, and layered with meaning, she also remarked that "The Drug Factory is more than just a schoolyard adventure, and is a story about friendship, betrayal, and reconciliation, but also about the hidden dangers lurking in everyday environments." "Through the lens of a young boy's courage and perspective, Kuzo Kezo raises questions we can't afford to ignore-about trust, appearances, and the silent battles happening in schools today", she added.
Commenting on "The Trio, Tuition Disaster", Pfokreni Dominic, Teacher at St. Mary's Cathedral Higher Secondary School Kohima said the book is an exciting and imaginative adventure story that showcases the power of courage, friendship, and teamwork — all through the eyes of a young and talented writer.
Stating that what makes this story special is not just the suspense and action, but the strong bond between the trio and their courage despite being so young, he remarked that, "the themes of not giving up, standing up for what’s right, and working together are portrayed in a way that’s inspiring for children and young teens."
He further stated that the book is a fantastic effort by a young writer, full of spirit, adventure, and heart while noting that, "it reads like a fun mix of detective and mystery stories and reminds us how even kids can become heroes when they choose to do the right thing."
"This story has the potential to become a favorite among young readers. A very promising start for a future author", he added. 14-year-old Kuzo Kezo becomes author of 3 books | MorungExpress | morungexpress.com
DO economies have to grow? Or, to put the point another way, what do they have to grow for? As rich countries suffer their worst failure of economic growth since the Second World War, those questions have resurfaced with a new urgency. The sense that our prevailing economic model is bankrupt, allied to fears that the world is heading for catastrophic climate change, has stoked demands for a radical rethink of the guiding principles of modern capitalist democracies. Answering that call, an assortment of pundits have been issuing challenges to political and economic orthodoxy, offering alternative visions of what a good society would look like. At the user-friendly end of the field, Zac Goldsmith, an environmental adviser to the British Conservative party, has taken an amiable stroll round the issues in The Constant Economy. At the more rigorous end, a commission convened by France’s former president Nicolas Sarkozy and led by the Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz has examined the limitations of standard gross domestic product data as a lodestone for policy. Between those extremes lies Tim Jackson’s Prosperity Without Growth: Economics for a Finite Planet, a challenge to mainstream economic thinking that is both accessible and robustly argued. Jackson, a professor of sustainable development at the UK’s Surrey university, has thought hard about the subject. His prose is lucid and lively, and many of his policy prescriptions are sensible. Jackson is a member of the British government’s Sustainable Development Commission (SDC), and the book draws on a report for that commission published earlier in the year. (Full disclosure: I also served on the SDC until 2004.) For a work by a government adviser, based on an officially supported research project, his stance is also refreshingly radical. Yet for all these strengths, his argument is flawed. Jackson’s starting point is that, as he puts it, "a return to business as usual is not an option." If economic growth carries on as it has done since the industrial revolution, he writes, "by the end of the century our children and grandchildren will face a hostile climate, depleted resources, the destruction of habitats, the decimation of species, food scarcities, mass migrations and, almost inevitably, war." In his strongest chapter, he takes on what he calls "the myth of decoupling": the idea that the link between economic growth and environmental damage can be broken. Typically, the environmental impact of an economy, relative to its income, falls as it gets richer. But while that "relative decoupling" is well-established, "absolute decoupling" — a decline in greenhouse gas emissions, for example — has been elusive. Jackson’s conclusion is that if economic growth cannot be separated from environmental damage, then — in rich countries at least — it is growth that will have to be abandoned. Instead, he argues, societies can attain a truer prosperity that "consists in our ability to participate in the life of society, in our sense of shared meaning and purpose and in our capacity to dream." Lives of frugality and simplicity, with stronger communities and healthier relationships, will make us more genuinely prosperous than our present obsession with "material pleasures", he argues. This is, in many ways, a beguiling vision, particularly at a time when the pursuit of prosperity in the material sense has proved so harrowing. The problem comes with reality. Jackson’s policy prescriptions — including greater financial prudence and tighter regulation of TV advertising — are all sound, to varying degrees. Yet they take only the smallest of steps towards the post-growth society that he suggests we need. His only idea that could put the brake on growth would be cutting working hours. Here he takes the economist’s famous "lump of labour" fallacy — the idea that there is only a fixed amount of work to do that has to be shared round — and suggests it should be a goal of policy. Yet in anything other than a perfect utopia, the idea that there is no more work that needs doing is ludicrous. There are other problems, too. Jackson has no answer for the question of how a post-growth economy would handle technological innovation, or a refutation of Benjamin Friedman’s argument, in his excellent The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth, that rising standards of material prosperity foster opportunity, tolerance, fairness and democracy. A society that has given up on growth seems unlikely to be the open, friendly community of Jackson’s imagining. His pessimism about decoupling is probably also overdone. There is plenty of analysis, from Lord Stern’s report on the economics of climate change, to show how carbon dioxide emissions can be cut to keep global warming within reasonable limits while the world economy continues to grow. While the goal may be achievable, reaching it will require an enormous effort. By daring to challenge one of the fundamental precepts of orthodox policy-making, Jackson performs a valuable service in reminding us of that. His questions are worth asking, even if his answers are wrong. TITLE: Prosperity Without Growth: Economics for a Finite Planer. Author: Tim Jackson, Publisher: Earthscan, © The Financial Times Limited. 
