I had just stumbled onto these modules while browsing randomly on the NSE website.

http://www.nseindia.com/content/ncfm/ncfm_modules.htm

There are a lot of free e-books available there which would answer most of the questions new comers ask here (including me).

There are also 2 other good books on the financial markets by CBSE:

http://cbse.nic.in/nbooks.htm

"Introduction to Financial Markets"

Once a beginner reads those, he may read a few books on accounting (& Business studies) available for free on the NCERT website. (See accounting books for Class 11 & 12 - National Council Of Educational Research And Training :: Home).

After that, a few books on
1) Fundamental Analysis
2) Technical analysis
3) Money Management (recommended book - Amazon.com: A Trader's Money Management System: How to Ensure Profit and Avoid the Risk of Ruin (Wiley Trading) (9780470187715): Bennett A. McDowell, Steve Nison: Books)
4) Mind (recommended book - Amazon.com: The Disciplined Trader(TM): Developing Winning Attitudes (9780132157575): Mark Douglas: Books)

and then, at last, you will be finally ready to start trading/investing!

Thanks for a very useful post! It is quite informative.