Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
1. 2. ThE uNfOldiNg Electroal Reflections in India ....................................................................................... NATiONAl BullETiN The Jarawa Safari: Everlasting Exploitation ..... ....................................................... National News................................................................................................................
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BilATERAl BullETiN Indo China Relations: Scaling New Heights ............................................................... Bilateral News............................................................................................................... ECONOMY@ iP World Bank: Yes! We Still Need It ............................................................................ Economy News.............................................................................................................. SCiENCE SPECTRuM Choking Off Free Speech on the Web .......................................................................... Science News................................................................................................................. hEAlTh iSSuES Mental Illness: The Neglected Global Health Priority .................................................
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8. ENViRONMENT ANd ECOlOgY The Tiger Seminar ........................................................................................................ 8. PERSPECTiVES AADHAR - An Analysis .............................................................................................. 9. iNSPiRATiONS@iP Albert Einstein .............................................................................................................. 11. MOSAiC Experts Advice ............................................................................................................. 12. KNOW iT All............................................................................................................ 13. QuESTiONS@ iP Current Affairs Questions.............................................................................................. CSAT Model Paper........................................................................................................ Science Questions .........................................................................................................
INDIA PREPARES
IndIa PrePares
Volume 1 Issue 6 March 2012
RNi No.-dElENg/2011/39748 Owner, Printer and Publisher: Atul Kumar Garg Editor: Sonal Vats Senior Advisor : Neelam Nandan Editorial Team : Dr Jayant Rai Dr S.K. Gupta Kuldeep Singh Amit Shankar Raghunath Panigrahi Surendra Pandey Fidel Castro Sushant Singh
EDITORS NOTE
Dear Readers, I would like to thank all my readers once again for their overwhelming response to our magazine. Your feedback has been critical to our success with many new readers joining us with every new issue. Change is the essence of existence. We change and surge ahead. With Civil Services Prelims exam inching closer every passing day, India Prepares is re-orienting itself to focus extensively on the prelims preparation. We have added another questionnaire based on science this time in our section Questions@IP. This set of 80 questions will take care of both your conventional and current science. CSAT and the Current Affairs questions will be continued as usual. April 2012 issue will contain 120 questions from India Year Book 2012 and Economic Survey 2012. Also, I would like to inform that the section Thinkers Arena has been suspended for next few months till prelims. There will be no article in the Mosaic section and it will contain only the last part of our experts advice series. Expert advice will take care of your basic Interview preparation based on the Mains Application Form. Enjoy the news and the discourse, both in our magazine and outdoors. As always, we welcome your comments and feedback. You can reach us at iphelpmail@gmail.com or indiaprepares@ gmail.com.
SONAL VATS Editor
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INDIA PREPARES
The Unfolding
THE UNFOLDING...
Congress emerged as the largest party in the elections and in most probability will form the government with support from BSP and independents.
A. Assembly Elections
The ongoing Assembly elections in the five States of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur give us the opportunity to reflect back at the electoral process with special references to issues like dynamics of interplay between regional and national level politics, changing and not so changing voting behaviour, identity politics, black money, role of Election Commission and the proposed electoral reforms so on and so forth. The most important battle was in Uttar Pradesh which was to decide a number of issues in national politics. The election results would have been a direct gauge of the political command and influence of the Congress heirapparent, Rahul Gandhi, who had been campaigning extensively in the State for over a year. U.P politics always involves caste and identity factors. Analysts contended that the main contest in the State
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The Unfolding
Assemblies and the Parliament over the years. a. Disclosure of criminal antecedents of candidates Currently, Rule 4A of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, prescribes that each candidate must file an affidavit regarding: (i) Cases, if any, in which the candidate has been accused of any offence punishable with imprisonment for two years or more in a pending case in which charges have been framed by the court, and (ii) Cases of conviction for an offence other than any of the offences mentioned in Section 8 of Representation of the People Act, 1951, and sentenced to imprisonment for one year or more.
poison of communalism in the electoral psychology. Recent row over Salman Rushdies proposed India visit for Jaipur Literary festival and Central Governments conspicuous silence and inaction due to state elections highlight this factor. Regionalism has also been a key determinant of Indian voting behaviour since 1990s. Demanding separate state and promoting regional interests have been the strategies of politicians to capture the vote bank. This has bred separatism and endangered internal security of the country.
C. Electoral Reforms
There has been a growing concern over the years in India about several aspects of our electoral system. Election Commission has made changes in several areas to respond to such concerns. The topic of electoral reforms has been taken up by numerous government committees in the recent past, including but not limited to:
Language is another important factor in this regard. Although its impact is not prominent in state level politics, in the national level it has played a key role. Dividing India into Hindi and non Hindi belts is an unfortunate outcome of this. Hero worshipping is another popular trend in India psychology. On numerous occasions political parties have tried to capture popular sentiments by using charisma of their leaders. Therefore many political parties of India are leader based rather than being ideology based. Development is the most silent yet the most effective element in determining the popular mandate in elections in India. Developmental slogans like Roti, Kapda, aur Makan , Garibi Hatao, Bijli, Sadak, Pani have long been used to attract the attention of the people. Apart from the above mentioned factors, race, anti incumbency factors, terrorism, etc have been the other determinants. However it must be noted that many a times a number of factors work in tandem to shape up the popular electoral opinion, thus making it further
(iii) In addition, the Election Commission on March 27, 2003, issued an order that candidates must file an additional affidavit stating (i) information relating to all pending cases in which Goswami Committee on Electoral cognizance has been taken by a Reforms, 1990 Court, (ii) assets and liabilities, and Vohra Committee Report, 1993 (iii) educational qualifications. Indrajit Gupta Committee on State Recommendations Funding of Elections, 1998 Election Commission of India has
Law Commission Report on Reform of recommended that an amendment the Electoral Laws, 1999 should be made to the R.P. Act, 1951 to National Commission to Review the provide for more stringent punishment Working of the Constitution, 2001 of minimum two years imprisonment (hitherto six months) for concealing or (NCRWC) providing wrong information on Form 26 Election Commission of India of Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 and Proposed Electoral Reforms, 2004 removing the alternative punishment of The Second Administrative Reforms assessing a fine upon the candidate. Commission, 2008 (SARC) b. Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 1. Criminalisation of Politics It provides for disqualification of candidates from contesting an election on conviction by a Court of Law. It lists certain crimes and stipulates a disqualification period of six years from The Vohra Committee on Criminalisation the date of conviction. It also lists a of Politics reported that the nexus different set of crimes and provides for between the criminal gangs, police, the candidate to be disqualified from bureaucracy and politicians has come out the date of conviction and for a period clearly in various parts of the country of six years since his release. It also and that some leaders of these gangs get gives a third list of crimes wherein both themselves elected to local bodies, State the above conditions will be applicable simultaneously. Criminalisation of politics has many forms, but perhaps the most alarming among them is the significant number of elected representatives with criminal charges pending against them.
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The Unfolding
Recommendations
The Election Commission proposed that this Section 8 should be amended to disqualify candidates accused of an offence punishable by imprisonment of 5 years or more even when trial is pending, given that the Court has framed charges against the person. The Commission also addresses the possibility of its misuse in the form of motivated cases by the ruling party. To prevent this, the Commission suggested a compromise whereas only cases filed prior to six months before an election would lead to disqualification of the candidate. It also proposed that Candidates found guilty by a Commission of Enquiry should stand disqualified. The National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution (NCRWC) recommended that any person convicted for heinous crimes such as murder, rape, smuggling, etc., should be permanently barred from contesting political office. It also proposed the establishment of Special Courts at the level of High Courts to decide cases against candidates within a period of six months or less. c. Negative or Neutral Voting The criminalisation of politics, widespread corruption in the system, use of violence, voter intimidation, etc may result in there being no desirable candidates within those contesting elections in a particular constituency. Currently there is no way for voters to express their dislike for all candidates. The lack of such a provision may further contribute to the decay in the system in such cases by encouraging only those voters who support such compromised candidates to vote, returning those same leaders to power again and again. Recommendations Both the Election Commission and Law Commission of India recommend that a negative or neutral voting option be created. Negative/neutral voting means allowing voters to reject all the candidates by selecting none of the above option instead of the name of a candidate on the ballot. There could be a provision that if there is a certain
percentage of a negative/neutral vote, then the election results could be nullified and a re-election conducted.
2. Financing of Elections
It is widely believed that contesting an election costs a significant amount of money that is often much greater than the prescribed limits. NCRWC, 2001, noted that the high cost of elections creates a high degree of compulsion for corruption in the public arena and that the sources of most of the election funds are unaccounted criminal money in return for protection, unaccounted funds from business groups expecting a high return on this investment, commissions on contracts, etc. It also states that electoral compulsion for funds becomes the foundation of the whole structure of corruption. a. Official expenditure limits on campaign
by the Election Commission of India in its report that there have been many cases where the candidates are alleged to have given grossly undervalued information, mainly about their assets. Recommendations The NCRWC recommended a followup action to the declaration of assets and liabilities by candidates - that the particulars of the assets and liabilities of both candidates and political parties should be audited by a special authority created under law for this purpose. To enforce complete compliance by candidates on Form 26, the Election Commission recommended that Section 125A be amended such that there is more stringent punishment for concealing or providing wrong information on the form. c. Curbing the cost of campaigning It has been noted by many committees that in order to remedy the negative impact of the excessive cost of elections, the first step should be to reduce the cost of elections themselves. Recommendations It was observed by Indrajit Gupta Committee on State Funding of Elections, 1999, as well as the NCRWC, 2001, that many of the tools used for campaigning such as wall writings, rallies on public property, using loudspeakers are not only costly, but are also a public nuisance. Curbing these activities can both reduce the resultant public nuisance and the amount of money needed to fight elections. For this purpose the Committees suggested that a suitable law should be enacted providing penalties against damaging or desecrating public or private property by candidates, political parties, or the agents, through painting of slogans, erecting cut-outs, putting up banners, wall writings, hoisting of flags (except at some specified places), etc. In addition, the NCRWC, 2001, suggested the following measures: (i) State and Parliamentary level elections, to the extent possible, should be held at
Currently, limits on campaign expenditure are fixed at certain amounts depending on the nature of the election. However, it is believed that these limits are violated with audacity. This is mainly attributed to the fact that the actual cost of running an election campaign is often much greater than the prescribed spending limit. Recommendations The NCRWC, 2001, recommended that the existing ceiling on election expenses for the various legislative bodies should be suitably raised to a reasonable level reflecting increasing costs. The ceiling is currently Rs 25 lakh for a Lok Sabha seat and Rs 10 lakh for an Assembly seat. The Election Commission of India recommended that the ceiling on election expenditure be rationalized from time to time. b. Disclosure audit of assets and liabilities of candidates On March 27, 2003, the Election Commission issued an order, in pursuance of a Supreme Court judgment, that candidates for electoral office must submit an affidavit disclosing their assets and liabilities. It has been noted
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The Unfolding
the same time; (ii) the campaign period should be reduced considerably, and (iii) candidates should not be allowed to contest election simultaneously for the same office from more than one constituency. d. State Funding of Elections A major concern associated with the high cost of elections is that it prevents parties and candidates with modest financial resources from being competitive in elections. It is also feared that if candidates need to raise funds from a variety of sources, then their policy decisions after being elected as policy makers may be somewhat biased in favour of groups that fund them. State funding of elections (in various forms) has been proposed as a potential solution to this problem. Recommendations The Indrajit Gupta Committee on State Funding of Elections backed the idea of state funding of elections so as to establish such conditions where even the parties with modest financial resources may be able to compete with those who have superior financial resources. It added two limitations, namely (i) such funds could not be doled out to independent candidates, and only to national and state parties having granted a symbol and proven their popularity among the electorate, and (ii) in the short-term, State funding may be given only in kind, in the form of certain facilities to the recognised political parties and their candidates. It stated that only partial State funding would be possible in the short-term given the prevailing economic condition of the country. The Election Commission, however, is not in favour of state funding as it will not be possible to prohibit or check candidates own expenditure or expenditure by others over and above that which is provided by the State. The Election Commissions view is that for addressing the real issues, there have to be radical changes in the provisions regarding receipts of funds by political
parties and the manner in which such funds are spent by them so as to provide for complete transparency in the matter.
provided with a unique bar-coded ID number, assigned for life. This bar-coded ID card and number could be verified at the polling booth by a hand held device. The electoral rolls in this system could be prepared at the Panchayat or district level. Along with this, the Commission also recommended that the task of electoral roll preparation should not be duplicated, possibly by entrusting it to an outside agency under the supervision of the Election Commission. b. Rigging through muscle power and intimidation Rigging of elections is possible not just through tampering of booths, ballots, and electoral roles, but also out of sheer muscle power and intimidation of voters. Recommendations The Goswami Committee Report, 1990 recommended that the Election Commission should be empowered to take strong action on the report of returning officers, election observers, or civil society in regards to booth capture or the intimidation of voters. The NCRWC recommended that the Election Commission should make use of electronic surveillance equipment as a deterrent to booth capture or intimidation of voters. c. Proliferation of candidates There is a proliferation of candidates in Indian elections. According to the Election Commission, too many candidates in the election fray put unnecessary stress on the management of elections and increases expenditure on account of security, maintenance of law and order, extra number of balloting units, etc. It has been observed that a large number of candidates are nonserious candidates, which according to the Law Commission of India, makes elections cumbersome, expensive and unmanageable in some cases. Recommendations of India, and NCRWC to check non-serious The Election Commission Law Commission of India, all recommend measures the proliferation of
INDIA PREPARES
The Unfolding
candidates. The recommendations of these Committees were enacted through the Representation of the People (Amendment) Act, 2009, which increased the amount. The National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution proposed a system of discouraging independent candidates from running for office, by implementing the following measures: (i) the existing security deposits for independent candidates should be doubled, (ii) the deposit should be doubled every year for those independents who fail to win and still keep contesting elections, (iii) if any independent candidate fails to win five percent of the vote or more, he should be debarred from contesting as an independent for the same office for six years, (iv) an independent candidate who loses election three times consecutively for the same office as an independent should be permanently debarred from contesting election to that office. d. Measures for Election Commission The Election Commission of India has recommended a number of improvements in electoral law to allow it to continue functioning in an effective and independent manner. Recommendations The Constitution provides that the Chief Election Commissioner shall not be removed from his office except in like manner and on like grounds as a Judge of the Supreme Court. However, it does not provide similar protection to the Election Commissioners and only says that they cannot be removed from office except on the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner. The provision, in the opinion of the Election Commission, is inadequate and requires an amendment to provide the very same protection and safeguard in the matter of removal of Election Commissioners from office as are provided to the Chief Election Commissioner. e. Restrictions on Government sponsored advertisements It has been noted by the Election
Commission that on the eve of election, the Central and various State Governments advertise out of public funds for the purpose of influencing elections, justifying it on the basis of providing information to the public. Recommendations The Election Commission proposes that where any general election is due on the expiration of the term of the House, advertisements of achievements of the governments, either Central or State, in any manner, should be prohibited for a period of six months prior to the date of expiry of the term of the House, and in case of premature dissolution, from the date of dissolution of the House. Dissemination of information on poverty alleviation and health related schemes could be exempted from the purview of such a ban. f. Restriction on the number of seats which one may contest Section 33 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, states that a person can contest a general election or a group of by-elections or biennial elections from a maximum of two constituencies. If a candidate wins from both constituencies, a bye-election would be required for one of them adding pressure to the exchequer. Recommendations The Election Commission is of the view that the law should be amended to provide that a person cannot contest from more than one constituency at a time. g. Filing of election petition even against defeated candidates on grounds of corrupt practice As per the existing law, election petition can be filed only for challenging the election of a returned candidate. If a defeated candidate has indulged in corrupt practice, there is no provision for election petition or a declaration against such candidate. Recommendations The Election Commission has recommended that the law should be
amended to provide for filing election petitions in cases of commission of corrupt practice by a losing candidate. It also suggested that the period by which the candidates are required to file their account of election expenses should be reduced to 20 days from the present 30 days, so that more time is available to scrutinize the accounts and to take the matter to the Court in Election Petitions in cases of spending in excess of the ceiling. h. Restrictions on opinion polls Many committees on electoral law have debated the possibility of whether opinion polls are misused to manipulate voters on the eve of elections. Recommendations The Election Commission had recommended that there should be provision in the law putting restrictions on publishing the results of opinion polls and exit polls for a specified period during the election process. The recently inserted Section 126A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, prohibits conducting of exit polls and publishing results in any manner, during the period starting from 48 hours before the close of poll in an election. However, the amendment does not cover opinion polls. Thus, results of opinion poll can be published even on the day of election polling. h. Prohibition of Campaign during the Last 48 Hours Section 126 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, prohibits electioneering activities by way of public meetings, processions, advertisements through television, radio or similar apparatus during the period of 48 hours before the time fixed for conclusion of poll. The logic behind the restriction is to allow citizens to decide their option without being prejudiced by any last moment appeals. However, since this Section does not refer to print media, the political parties and candidates issue advertisements in newspapers during this period. They also undertake house-to-house visits.
INDIA PREPARES
The Unfolding
Recommendations
The Election Commission recommended that Section 126 should apply to print media as well. Furthermore, it recommended that house to house visits by candidates should be specifically prohibited it provides opportunity for indulging in malpractices in the last hours such as trying to bribe electors with cash. i. Ban on transfer of officers likely to serve elections It is the opinion of the Election Commission that such transfers, often made on grounds other than administrative exigencies, disrupt the arrangements then underway for conducting smooth and peaceful elections. Recommendations Election Commission had recommended that no transfer should be made, without the concurrence of the Commission, of any officer referred to therein, as soon as a general election/bye-election becomes due in any Parliamentary or Assembly Constituency. The Commission suggested that in case of a general election, the ban may come into operation for the period of 6 months prior to the date of expiry of the term of the House concerned, and in case of premature dissolution, from the date of dissolution of the House. j. Misuse of religion for electoral gain by political parties The Liberhan Ayodhya Commission of Inquiry recommended, inter alia, that complaints of misuse of religion for electoral gain should be speedily investigated into by the Election Commission. The Election Commission informed the government that such investigations should be carried out by the investigating agencies of the state. Recommendations The Goswami Committee on Electoral Reforms recommended that the Election Commission should have the power to make recommendations to the appropriate authority (a) to refer any matter for investigation to any agency specified by the Commission (b) to
prosecute any person who has committed an electoral offence under this Act or (c) to appoint any special court for the trial of any offence or offences under RP Act, 1951.
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The Unfolding
In order to ensure further transparency in the funding of political parties, the Election Commission recommended the following measures: (i) any receipt by a political party either directly or through the executives or the party functionaries should be deposited in the Bank Accounts of such parties, (ii) all payments by a political party exceeding Rs.20,000/- to a person should be made by crossed account payee cheque and (iii) all contributions or donations or gifts by any person to a party functionary other than those by his/her relative(s) shall be deemed as receipts of the political party and it will be accounted for by the political party.
Administrative Reforms Commission, such petitions remain pending for years and in the meanwhile, even the full term of the house expires thus rendering the election petition infructuous. Recommendations The National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution recommended that special benches designated for election petitions should be formed in the High Courts. The Election Commission and the Second Administrative Reforms Commission, in its report Ethics in Governance have also made a similar recommendation.
The 91st Amendment to the Constitution, 2003, changed this by making it mandatory for defectors to resign their positions regardless of whether they defected as an individual or as part of a group. Currently the issue of disqualification of members of Parliament or a State Legislature is decided by the Speaker or Chairman of the concerned House. Aside from those concerning the Tenth Schedule all other matters of postelection disqualification are decided by the President/Governor, on the advice of the Election Commission. Recommendations The NCRWC recommended that the power to decide on questions as to disqualification on ground of defection should vest in the Election Commission instead of in the Chairman or Speaker of the House concerned.
CONCLUSION
Elections are the lifeline of Indian democratic system. They must be free of any hassles and malpractices so that the faith of its vast population in the political and executive system remains intact. While we are justifiably proud of our democracy, there are a number of areas which need to be strengthened to realise the true potential of a well functioning democracy.
INDIA PREPARES
National Bulletin
NATIONAL BULLETIN...
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media, both print and electronic, had been occupied in the last few days by a range of claims and counter claims about the date of the video, about the police involvement in its making, the role of tour operators and about fixing blame and responsibility.
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National Bulletin
It is a spirit that was evocatively articulated by Dr. R.K. Bhattacharchaya, former Director of the Anthropological Survey of India, in a report he submitted to the Calcutta High Court in 2004. The ATR, he said, is like a public thoroughfare through a private courtyard In the whole of human history, we find that the dominant group
for their own advantage has always won over the minorities, not always paying attention to the issue of ethics. Closure of the ATR would perhaps be the first gesture of goodwill on part of the dominant towards an acutely marginalized group almost on the verge of extinction.
The video in all its perversity offers us another opportunity, when all others in the past have been brushed aside either due to ignorance, arrogance or then sheer apathy. Its still not too late to make that gesture of goodwill because otherwise there will be many more such videos down the years and much worse will follow. The lessons from history are very clear on this. And it will hardly be a consolation that a few people will be left saying we told you so.
Fact-file
The Jarawa are one of the indigenous people of the Andaman Islands. Their present numbers are estimated at between 250400 individuals. Since they have largely shunned interactions with outsiders, many particulars of their society, culture and traditions are poorly understood. Their name means foreigners or hostile people in Aka-Bea .For the greater portion of their history their only significant contact has been with other Andamanese groups; the experience of such a lengthy period of isolation almost completely lacking in external cultural influences is equaled by few other groups in the world. There is some indication that the Jarawa regarded the now-extinct Jangil tribe as a parent tribe from which they split centuries or millennia ago, even though the Jarawa outnumbered The Jangil (also called the Rutland Island Aka Bea) were presumed extinct by 1931, sixteen years prior to Indian independence. Before the 19th century, the Jarawa homelands were located in the southeast part of South Andaman Island and nearby islets. With the establishment of the initial British settlement, these are suspected to have been largely depopulated by disease shortly after 1789. The Great Andamanese tribes were similarly decimated by disease, alcoholism and British government-sponsored destruction, leaving open the western areas which the Jarawa gradually made their new homeland. The immigration of mainland Indian and Karen (Burmese) settlers, beginning about two centuries ago, accelerated this process. All contact, especially with tourists, remains extremely dangerous to the Jarawa due to the risk of disease. Today the Jarawa are in regular contact with the outside world through settlements on the fringes of their Reserve, through daily contact with outsiders along the Andaman Trunk Road and at jetties, marketplaces and hospitals near the road and at settlements near the reserve, with some children even showing up at mainstream schools and asking to be educated along with settler children. The biggest threat to the Jarawa in recent years came from the building of the Great Andaman Trunk Road through their newer western forest homeland in the 1970s. A major problem is the volume of sightseeing tours that are operated by private companies, where tourists view, photograph or otherwise attempt interactions with Jarawas, who are often begging by the highway. These are illegal under Indian law, and in March 2008, the Tourism Department of the Andaman and Nicobar administration issued a fresh warning to tour operators that attempting contact with Jarawas, photographing them, stopping vehicles while transiting through their land or offering them rides were prohibited under the Protection of Aboriginal Tribes Regulation, 1956, and would be prosecuted under a strict interpretation of the statute. It has been alleged, however, that these rules are openly being flouted with over 500 tourists being taken to view Jarawas daily by private tour operators, while technically being shown as transiting to legitimate destinations and resulting in continuing daily interaction between the Jarawa and day tourists inside the reserve area According to the 2001 Census of India, a total of 240 Jarawa were counted in Andamans. Of them, 236 had Religion not stated as their religion and 4 had Hindu as their religion. Compared to other tribes, it can be seen that the number of Uncontacted tribals are greater among the Jarawa.
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National Bulletin
NATIONAL NEWS...
LEGAL / CONSTITUTIONAL
Whether One Insulted National Flag or not, is no Subject for Writ: Supreme Court
Observing that a question of fact whether a person insulted the national flag (NF) and violated Flag Code 2002 could not be gone into writ proceedings, the Supreme Court has declined to entertain a writ petition seeking a direction to initiate action against social activist Anna Hazare, Yoga guru Baba Ramdev, Kiran Bedi and others. Dismissing a petition filed by V.K. Naswa, a Bench of Justices B.S. Chauhan and Swatanter Kumar said: It is evident from a reading of the Flag Code that there is no restriction on the display of NF by members of the general public, private organisations and educational institutions except to the extent provided in the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950 and the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971. Though the Code is not the law, it provids guidelines to be observed for preserving the dignity of and respect to the flag. The NF is both a benediction and beckoning. Thus, in a case a person shows any kind of disrespect to the NF or does not observe the terms contained in the Code, legal action may be taken against him under the relevant statutory provisions. However, these are questions of facts as to whether on a particular event a particular person has shown any kind of disrespect to the NF. The Bench said: The courts cannot usurp the functions assigned to the Executive under the Constitution and cannot even indirectly require the Executive to exercise its law-making power in any manner. The courts cannot assume to themselves a supervisory role over the rule-making power of the Executive under Article 309. In the instant case, Rameshbhai Dabhai Naika was born to a tribal mother and a forward caste father. His ST certificate was cancelled by the Scrutiny Committee in Gujarat on the ground that his father belonged to a forward caste. The Gujarat High Court upheld this order and as a result he lost the fair price shop that was allotted to him on the basis of the ST certificate. Allowing his appeal against this judgment, the Bench said: The High Court seems to have read the Supreme Court decisions as laying down the rule that in all cases and regardless of other considerations the offspring of an inter-caste marriage or a marriage between a tribal and a non-tribal would take his/her caste from the father and the offspring would not be entitled to reservation. What was important in these decisions, that was not noted by the High Court was that if a tribal woman had raised her child as a member of that community, it would be treated as a tribal even though the father might have come from a forward caste. Whether and to what extent the Hindu customary law governed members of STs would depend on the extent to which the given tribe was Hinduised prior to the adoption of the Constitution of India, the Bench held.
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National Bulletin
under the Prevention of Corruption Act is a constitutional right of a citizen and the competent authority decide within a time frame on granting sanction of prosecution of a public servant. Setting aside the Delhi High Court judgment refusing to give direction to the Prime Minister on the request for sanction of prosecution against the then Telecom Minister A Raja in the 2G scam case, a two-judge bench of the court held that if the sanction is not given within four months then it is deemed to have been granted. The bench, comprising justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly, held that Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy, who had sought sanction for prosecution of Mr. Raja, had the locus standi to seek it. It said sanction should be granted within a time frame and the competent authority shall take action in accordance with the guidelines laid down by the apex court in the Vineet Narain case of 1996. Mr. Swamy had alleged that there was an inordinate delay on part of the prime minister in taking a decision on his plea for grant of sanction to prosecute Mr. Raja in the scam and his plea was neither allowed not rejected for over 16 months. The court said it was not declaring as ultra vires the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act
Act to provide effective protection to women. Accordingly the single judge held that a petition under the provisions of the PWD Act, 2005, is maintainable even if the acts of domestic violence had been committed prior to the coming into force of the said Act, notwithstanding the fact that the couple were not living together.
GOVERNANCE
National Counter-Terrorism Centre to be Operational from March 1
In a step aimed at strengthening various counter-terrorism measures, the government has decided to operationalise the ambitious National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC) from March 1. A pet project of Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram, NCTC got the approval from the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) recently. The operations division of the counter-terrorism body has been given powers to arrest and carry out searches under Section 43 (A) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. Initially, the NCTC will be located in the Intelligence Bureau and headed by a director, who will be an officer in the rank of additional director, IB. It will have three units - gathering intelligence, analysis of intelligence and carrying out operations - and each of these divisions would be headed by a joint director of Intelligence Bureau. The NCTC will have the power to requisition services of the elite National Security Guard (NSG), according to the official order. It will integrate intelligence pertaining to terrorism; analyse the same; pursue or mandate other agencies to pursue the different leads; and coordinate with the existing agencies for an effective response. It will also maintain a comprehensive data base of terrorists and their associates, friends, families, and supporters; of terrorist modules and gangs; and of all information pertaining to terrorists. NCTC will prescribe counter-terrorism priorities for each stakeholder and ensure that all agencies have access to and receive source intelligence support that is necessary to execute counter terrorism plans and accomplish their assigned tasks, the order said. It will also prepare daily threat assessment reviews and disseminate them to the appropriate levels in the Central government and to the State governments.
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distribution of foodgrains under the targeted PDS which is a massive operation undertaken by the government to provide food to poor in the country. A bench comprisimg justices Dalveer Bhandari and Dipak Misra said the report of the justice D P Wadhwa committee, which has been examining the working of PDS, has categorically said no substantial work on digitilisation and computerisation of PDS has taken place and bogus ration cards are being made. It said that for achieving the target, the secretary will be cordinating with state governments and union territories as it has been suggested that the union government was not getting the adequate support from them. The bench said the committee had in January visited Satara district in Maharashtra and found that the digitilisation of PDS programme was being carried without verifying the forms and as a result bogus ration cards were in circulation. It said since the computerisation programme was extremely slow, or in some instances non-existent, there was a need for cooperation between the Centre and state governments. The bench said the secretary will file fortnightly report to the apex court on the implementation of the programme and the next report will be placed by him before March 12 so that the hearing could take place on March 15.
(Prohibition and Regulation) Act banning the employment of children aged less than 14 will soon be introduced in Parliament. The National Advisory Council (NAC), headed by UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, had asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to ensure a total ban on child labour irrespective of whether it was in hazardous or non-hazardous industries and that all children aged less than 14 were enrolled in schools. Union Minister for Labour and Employment M. Mallikarjun Kharge has said that the draft amendment to the Child Labour Prohibition and Abolition Act was being prepared. At present child labour was banned in 18 hazardous occupations and 65 processes. The Government now wanted to end child labour in all industries, whether hazardous or otherwise. Recently, the Child Labour Advisory Committee, headed by Mr. Kharge, met in New Delhi and extended support to the move to ban all forms of child labour. Both the committee and NAC were of the opinion that parents of child labourers should not be punished. Only those who employed children should be targeted for penal action. Banning child labour would help bring down the number of children who were out of school. According to the latest survey by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), there are 49 lakh children under 14 employed in different occupations. Programmes launched by the Government such as the midday meal scheme in schools, subsidised foodgrain distribution through the public distribution system, 100 days guaranteed employment under the MGNREGA, the anganwadi scheme and the Right to Education Act had helped in bringing down the number of child labourers. The number of child labourers had come down from 1.25 crore in 2001-02 to 90 lakh in 2004-05.
SOCIAL ISSUES
Child Labour Act to go in Non-hazardous Units
The Union Government has decided to end all forms of child labour, and a comprehensive amendment to the Child Labour
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tigers are there in the country out of a global population of around 3,000. Talking about the governments ambitious plan to make River Ganga pollution free, he said the setting up of the National Ganga River Basin Authority is yet another example where we are trying institutional innovation to protect the sacred River.
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Majuli Island Protection Proposal Approved
The Planning Commission has given investment clearance of scheme Protection of Majuli Island, Assam from flood and erosion, Phase II and III. The project is estimated to cost Rs. 115.99 crore at 2010 Price Level. The project shall be completed by the financial year 2011-12 and Plan accounts would be closed by 31st March 2012. Project may accordingly be executed as per the approved outlays in the current financial year. The project aims at protecting 22 nos. of satras and public / private properties as well as economic development and social upliflment after reconstruction of roads and bridges usually destroyed during floods. The Vaishnavite tradition and culture being heritage of Assamese people would also be preserved. The tribal population which is about 70% of total population would be the main beneficiary in terms of economic social development.
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HEALTH ISSUES
Govt. Refuses to Call the New Strain of TB totally Drug Resistant
A Central government team of doctors which arrived in Mumbai to check the reported cases of Total Drug Resistant [TDR] Tuberculosis on 17th January refused to call the new strain of TB as TDR. Use of the term TDR Totally Drug Resistant is non-standardized and misleading a statement issued by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare stated. The term totally drug resistant tuberculosis is neither recognized by the World Health Organisation (WHO) nor by Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP). For now, these cases are defined as Extensively Drug Resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB), according to WHO definitions, and
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accordingly can be managed by national XDR-TB treatment guidelines, it stated. A few days ago, research by a team of Hinduja Hospital doctors in Mumbai showed that they had found 12 cases of TDR-TB which had sought treatment in the hospital in the year 2011. Three of the 12 patients are no more. However, the Central government has defended itself by arguing that the Mumbai-based hospital which discovered the threat was not accredited to carry out tests for the disease. The hospital, it said, was only accredited to test for first-line drugs. It also said the World Health Organisation (WHO) had not advocated testing for drug resistance beyond a form of tuberculosis known as XDR-TB, or extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis. It said that as per the Revised National TB Control Programme, only three labs in the country are accredited for conducting quality-assured second-line anti-TB drug susceptibility testing of flouroquinolones and injectables namely the National TB Institute in Bangalore, LRS Institute of TB and Chest Disease in New Delhi and National Institute of Research in Tuberculosis in Chennai. Failure to complete the full course of treatment with appropriate drugs has led to the emergence of tuberculosis variants that are resistant to the best available medication. Researchers at Hinduja Hospital, where four cases of tuberculosis totally resistant to drugs, said these patients had previously only been treated in the private sector. About 1,000 people die of tuberculosis in the country every day and 40 per cent of the population believed to be infected may be afflicted with the full-fledged disease at some point the immunity of an individual is low. The bacteria settles down in the human body and has a long gestation period running into several years or even decades. Irregular drug dosage can result in the bacterial mutating into forms resistant to treatment. Though there is a protocol to be followed for the treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis, erroneous use by unqualified doctors has led to a spiralling problem. Indias official treatment strategy covers about 75 per cent of the patient load at present, and has shown positive results with the number of deaths falling drastically to 2.8 lakh per year from 5 lakh in just about 10 years. However, the problem occurs when the public health system fails to deliver due to lack of medicines or human resources, either forcing people to drop out from the treatment or opt for private doctors who do not stick to the protocols due to the free availability of tuberculosis drugs in the market or even prescribe wrong combinations for quicker treatment which can be disastrous. Multi-drug resistant TB is becoming more prevalent, because more people drop out as the treatment is spread over two years, and 100 times more expensive.
Child Day, the Central Supervisory Board set up under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994 has decided to monitor the disposal and sale of used or re-assembled ultrasound machines to prevent the technology being misused for sex determination. The Board has also asked the professional bodies to evolve a code of conduct for their members. In the absence of a monitoring mechanism, a number of condemned ultrasound machines are possibly being used for sex determination. Institutions and individuals buy the latest versions of diagnostic tools and either sell off the used machines or just discard them. There is a strong possibility that these are being fixed or re-assembled and used illegally, as there is no system of accounting for the discarded equipment. The Medical Council of India will also take steps to suspend or cancel the registration of doctors convicted under the Act. The latest Census had shown that child sex ratio had declined in 22 States and five Union Territories. It has improved in six States and two Union Territories. It is the lowest in Haryana (830), Punjab (846) and Jammu and Kashmir (859). The steepest fall of 82 points had happened in Jammu and Kashmir and the largest increase of 48 points was in Punjab, though the absolute level still remained low, compared with the national figure of 914 females to every 1,000 males. Statistics suggested that infant mortality rate was higher among girls than boys, and the reasons for the neglect of girl child were preference for boys; the low status of women; social and financial security associated with sons; and socio-cultural practices, including dowry and violence against women. The small family norm, coupled with the easy availability of sex determination technology and abortion services, acted as a catalyst in the declining child sex ratio. The State governments would be responsible for monitoring the disposed ultrasound machines. Those who used unregistered machines would get a three-year jail term and levied a fine of up to Rs. 50,000. The fee for registration of the machines was increased substantially. The Ministry had appointed a nodal officer to coordinate issues relating to the implementation of the Act. Portable ultrasound machines were banned, except those in hospitals and mobile-care units of the National Rural Health Mission.
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EDUCATIONAL ISSUES
419 Districts to Get Focus in Education
Ministry of Human Resource Development has included 419 districts as special focus districts (SFDs) for 2012-13 under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). Last year the number was 389. The Ministry describes these 419 districts as being characterised by marginalisation and backwardness and yet to be on a par with other districts on school education parameters. The government gives special attention to these educationally
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backward districts, which are identified on indicators of infrastructure deficit, a high concentration of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, minority population, out-ofschool children and high gender gap. Funds for these districts are sanctioned on priority for different interventions including opening new schools, teacher recruitment and construction work. Other categories include Muslim concentration districts, naxal-affected districts, border area districts and 121 minority districts, identified by the Prime Ministers Office. In 2011-12, 67 per cent of the total outlay for school education was sanctioned for 389 SFDs on a priority basis. The States have been asked to prepare detailed and need-based plans for these districts so that the social and infrastructure gap can be bridged. For 2012-13, the additional districts have been included broadly under the categories of out-of-school children, high gender gap and low retention rate. Seven districts have been added to the existing 27, where the number of out-ofschool children is more than 20,000, mainly in Jharkhand and Rajasthan. Sixteen districts of Haryana, Mizoram and Punjab with a gender gap of 10 per cent at the primary level and more than 20 per cent at the upper primary level have been included in the SFDs list. The highest inclusion has been in the category of districts where the retention rate is below 60 per cent. This number has gone up from 126 to 189, including districts from Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Delhi, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Sikkim and Tripura.
of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) across services and circles as compared to range of 6-8 per cent now. Licence fee is a levy paid by all operators as the annual fee. On renewal of licenses, Mr. Sibal said the renewal of licence would be done for 10 years. Besides, he also announced a liberal merger and acquisition regime in the sector allowing up to 35 per cent market share for the merged entity while taking note of TRAIs recommendation to consider market share up to 60 per cent.
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POLICIES / PROGRAMMES
Telecom Firms can have more Spectrum, to Pay Uniform Fee
The government on 15th February announced the new telecom policy (NTP) allowing operators to hold higher spectrum, pay uniform license fee across services besides permitting liberal merger and acquisition, with a view to provide quality services at affordable prices. Announcing a part of policy, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal told that the prescribed limit on spectrum assigned to a service provider will be 2x8 MHz (paired spectrum) for GSM technology for all service areas other than Delhi and Mumbai where it will be 2x10 MHz (paired spectrum). Current prescribed limit is 6.2 MHz of GSM spectrum. However, players would be free to acquire additional frequency beyond the prescribed limit, in the open market, should there be an auction of spectrum subject to the limits prescribed for merger of licences. All spectrum would be delinked from the licence from now, he said, adding that a decision on pricing of spectrum or one-time charge for extra spectrum held by some incumbent operators would be taken later in view of the Supreme Court judgement that cancelled 122 2G licences issued in 2008. He also announced a uniform licence fee of eight per cent
COMMITTEE / COMMISSIONS
Space Commission, Cabinet not informed of Devas deal- Report
The much awaited reports by two committees set up by the Government of India to review the technical, commercial, procedural and financial aspects of the controversial AntrixDevas agreement, on the basis of which the former Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman, Madhavan Nair, and three other scientists were barred from holding government posts, was made public on 4th February. The report of the high-level team, headed by the former Central Vigilance Commissioner, Pratyush Sinha, was submitted to the government in September last. The second team, a high-power review committee comprising B.K. Chaturvedi and Roddam Narasimha, submitted its report in March last. The Antrix-Devas agreement had highlighted several major lapses, with serious financial implications in the January 2005 agreement signed between Antrix, the marketing wing of ISRO and Devas Multimedia Pvt Ltd. The report of the High Powered Review Committee, comprising B.K. Chaturvedi, Member, Planning Commission and Professor Roddam Narasimha, Member, Space Commission appointed on 10th February 2011, reflects several of these concerns.
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The Space Commission and the Cabinet were not informed of the Antrix-Devas agreement or its implications for usage of spectrum for defence or security purposes, the report states. The agreement provided for transponder leasing by Antrix to Devas for 90 percent of the satellite transponder capacity in S-Band. Proposals of GSAT-6 or GSAT- 6A involving use of satellite capacity were never discussed in ICC (INSAT Coordiation Committee) nor authorised by it, the Report states. In the TAG (Technical Advisory Group), a brief mention was made in October, 2004 about the Antrix-Devas agreement but no approval was sought. The report points out to several other lapses, stating that the Agreement had several weaknesses, that it was signed with a company that in January 2005 had a paid up share capital of only Rs. 1,00,000 and that ISRO committed itself to launch of satellite incurring the risk of searching for alternative users if Devas failed to develop the technology for mobile services, adding that while ISRO was to invest about Rs. 800 crore in two satellites and their launches, it provided 90% of the satellite capacity for Devas, and the use of about 60 MHz of S-Band spectrum in the 2500-2690 MHz band. The report states that this spectrum allocation seems disproportionately large considering that reportedly in the U.S., Korea and Japan, 20-25 MHz in this band had been used for similar services. It states that the Chairman, Antrix Board/Secretary Department of Space, Director, SATCOM, ISRO, Member (Finance), Space Commission were primarily responsible for the lapse. Subsequently, a five-member High-Level Team led by the former Central Vigilance Commissioner, Pratyusha Sinha, was asked by the government to examine the deal and fix responsibility for acts of omission or commission. The deal reflects not only serious administrative and procedural lapses but also a suggestion of collusive behaviour on the part of certain individuals, says the report of the high-level team, headed by the former Mr. Sinha.
nuclear material from its nuclear facilities. India also points out that Indias three-stage programme in fact focusses on technological solutions to safety wherein the nuclear material is secured within reactors as part of the closed fuel cycle. The government always attaches great importance to control over nuclear matters and recent changes under consideration in the proposed Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority would take national security and safety measures to a qualitatively higher level consistent with the best international standards.
STATE NEWS
ADB Grants $24.3 Million Loan to develop Agribusiness Infrastructure in Maharashtra
The Government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on 19th January signed an agreement for the second tranche (US $ 24.3 million) under the US $ 170 million Agribusiness Infrastructure Development Investment Programme which is a multi-tranche financing facility. The loan is to continue modernization efforts in Maharashtra states horticultural industries and will expand agricultural value chains and better integrate small-scale farmers into value chains in Nashik and Aurangabad-Amravati regions. The programme will build physical and institutional links along horticulture integrated value chains (IVCs), which include farmers, processors, agribusiness entrepreneurs, and service providers, a central goal of the Indian government. This will help farmers, traders and other value chain stakeholders to improve their products and processes, become competitive and adapt to changes in end markets. This second tranche loan from the ordinary capital resources of ADB has a 25-year term including a grace period of 5 years, commitment charges of 0.15% and interest rate to be determined in accordance with ADBs LIBOR-based lending facility. The Government of Maharashtra will provide counterpart funds of $6 million for a total second tranche project investment cost of $ 30.3 million.
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REPORTS / SURVEYS
India terms Nuclear Threat Initiative Report as Misleading
India has said the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) report, which ranks it 28th out of 32 weapon-usable countries, is misleading in content and may prompt people to reach the wrong conclusions. The NTI Report places Australia, which produces only uranium and has no meaningful nuclear facilities, higher up in nuclear safety than India. If nuclear safety is equated with lack of nuclear facilities, it shows a bias as NTI tends to equate nuclear facilities with nuclear security. This assessment is not shared by a large number of experts, India says. However, India as the NTI report itself states scores high on most nuclear safety matters in respect of its international obligations. There has been no case of theft of
India, World Bank Sign Agreement to Improve Livelihoods in North Eastern States
India and the World Bank on 22nd January signed an IDA credit of US$ 130 million to finance India`s efforts to empower rural communities in the growth-deficient North East (NE) region to improve their livelihood opportunities. The North East Rural Livelihoods Project (NERLP) will enhance the livelihoods of the rural poor, especially women, unemployed youth and the severely disadvantaged in eight districts of the four participating states- Aizawl and Lunglei in Mizoram; Peren and Tuensang in Nagaland; South, West and 15 Panchayat wards of East District in Sikkim; and West and North Districts in Tripura. The Project seeks to develop an institutional platform for the communities, which will help them link up with the private
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sector, public sector, and civil society and to acquire the institutional, technical, and financial capacity needed for improving their livelihoods. A separate activity for skills development and job placement has been included in the project to ensure that such opportunities are available to the rural poor. Some livelihood opportunities envisaged under the Project include natural resource management activities such as forest management, non-timber forest produce storage and processing, horticulture, preservation of riverine fishes, water harvesting and recharging of ground/surface water in the villages; community-based infrastructure activities like upgrading of small agricultural link roads, micro hydro-power schemes and wind-cum-solar mills etc. The Project comprises four main components (i) Social Empowerment; (ii) Economic Empowerment; (iii) Partnership Development and (iv) Project Management. The first component seeks to help rural communities to create sustainable institutions so that they can manage common activities around microfinance, livelihoods and natural resource management. The second component will provide funds to the community institutions to undertake various livelihood activities, as well as provide self-entrepreneurship opportunities to unemployed youth. To enable this, the Project with help develop partnerships with various formal financial intermediaries - such as microfinance institutions, commercial banks, development financial institutions such as National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), and specialized funding agencies such as North East Development Finance Institution (NEDFI) and with the private sector and
civil society to allow rural communities to access technical and marketing support. The project management component facilitates the implementation, coordination, monitoring and evaluation, learning and quality enhancement efforts of the project.
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INTERNATIONAL BULLETIN...
TROUBLE IN NEIGHBOURHOOD
At the time when some states of India is going through the democratic process of election, countries in our neighbourhood went through phase in which their democratically elected governments where threatened or forced out of the power. Our southern island country is going through the process of fixing responsibility after the end of decade long civil war. Ousting of a democratically elected government in Maldives and failed military coup in Bangladesh are few among the other examples. the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation report and also address those issues that the report did not cover. Apart from the human right issue, other issue worth mentioning is the issue of reconsilation between the Tamil political parties of northern Sri Lanka and the government. The talks between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), an umbrella group of Tamil political parties representing the Northern Tamils, is not heading anywhere, with both sides levelling a series of allegations against the other. The TNA views on LLRC report has brought this impasse. The TNA said the LLRC report categorically fails to effectively and meaningfully deal with issues of accountability and called for the establishment of an international mechanism for accountability. This call has agitated ruling party politicians in Sri Lanka. Even the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) has criticised Sri Lankas Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission Report for failing to provide the thorough and independent investigation of alleged violations of international humanitarian and human rights law that the UN and other partners of Sri Lanka have been asking for during the Eelam War IV. It called upon the international community - through the U.N. Human Rights Council to establish an independent international investigation in 2012. Thus in the given situation India should play the role of mediator between the Sri Lankan government, other stake holders and the international community in finding way out. Given New Delhis influence in Colombo and India connection with the Tamil parties, India can play a positive role in solving the crisis. Supporting a broader dialogue, India has already said that a full implementation of the 13th Amendment
Sri Lanka
If we take a look at our southern Island neighbour, issue of human right violation by security forces during the civil war has come up. The Sri Lankan Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission has recommended that the State should ascertain more fully the allegations of human rights violations against security forces. In its 388-page report, tabled in Parliament, the Commission said it was faced with difficulties in attempting a re-construction of certain incidents involving the loss of civilian lives which have been brought to the attention of the Commission. While the Commission finds it difficult to determine the precise circumstances under which such incidents occurred. In these circumstances the Commission stresses that there is a duty on the part of the State to ascertain more fully, the circumstances under which such incidents could have occurred, and if such investigations disclose wrongful conduct, to prosecute and punish the wrong doers. Rajapaksa government is being criticised by all quarters including U.S. and European nations. The United States has urged the Sri Lankan government to full fill all of the recommendations of
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to the Constitution was needed. There was also a need to go beyond the 13th Amendment, so as to achieve meaningful devolution of powers and genuine national reconciliation.
Maldives
Another island nation of Indian Ocean saw ousting of a democratically elected government in a not so public coup. After almost 30 years of rule by Abdul Gayoom, Mohamed Nasheed became the first democratically elected president of the Maldives. But it seems that large sections of the political elites were not at ease with Nasheed brand of moderate Islam. So a vicious campigned to force Nasheed out of office began in 2011 itself. As the opposition could not find fault with his development or welfare measures or on the issue of his accessibility, they started attacking him on his moderate views towards religion. They argued that Nasheed would allow practice of other religions. The impulsive behaviour of Nasheed cost him his best friends and supporters both in Maldives and outside. He infuriated India, a long term ally by raising the contentious issue of Minicoy Island during bilateral meet with
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Dr. Manmohan Singh. During the 17th SAARC summit in Addu City, he left Sri Lanka red faced by raising the issue of human rights violation during Elam war. By alienating two of his best ally he was devoid of international backing against domestic compulsion. The last nail in the coffin was his impulsive decision to arrest the Chief Judge Mohamed Abdulla on January 16. The judge was arrested on the alleged charges of corruption, in particularly for letting his personal and political views influence his judicial decisions. Under the 2008 Constitution, it is the Judicial Service Commission which looks into the issues of competence and integrity among the judges. Thus the opposition made Abdulla a rallying point to step up protest against the high handed ways of the president. The streets of Male saw protest march every day by the opposition. The December 23 Forum, which served as the platform for all shades of the opposition was instrumental in the protest rallies. Finally Nasheed had to make way for Vice President Waheed Hasan Manik, to become the President. In his public address post resignation, Nasheed said that he didnt wish to rule with force, but latter on he started accusing Waheed of staging a coup. Nasheed, after talks with Indian, British, U.N. and Commonwealth officials, demanded fresh election. Nasheed scored a major victory when the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) decided to send a ministerial team to investigate the circumstances leading to change of regime. The U.S. India, the United Kingdom and few other countries have also called for an investigation. The desert island amid turquoise water of Indian Ocean is going
to suffer loss from decline in tourism as the U.K. has issued a travel warning and other European countries can follow the suite.
do not believe in a change of power through unconstitutional means. Party leader have said that the government is trying to divert attention from other pressing issues. In all this Army is trying to reestablish its image as a well disciplined and professional force. Following the failed coup, Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Mainul Islam said that there should be no room for religious fanaticisim in the Army. This is clearly a positive sign as in Bangladesh, overambitious Generals have always played the religious card to rise to political prominence. Though the conspiracy was nipped in bud, the popular feeling is that the need of the hour is to identify and punish the perpetrators of the attempted coup. For India it is a good sign that another coup to install pro- Islamic forces to power was averted. It is in favour of India that democracy prevails in the neighbourhood. Any rise of proIslamic forces to prominence in the neighbourhood will be detrimental for the peace in the region.
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Conclusion
In sum most of our neighbours are going through domestic crisis. Given the close proximity, India gets affected by these events directly or indirectly. As a dominant power in the south Asia, world expects India to play more proactive role in maintaining the democratic identity of the region by supporting the democratically elected governments in its neighbouring countries. Keeping in mind its long term strategic goals, New Delhi too should refrain from being fence sitter and let outside power interfere in its area of influence.
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS...
Rajapaksa does a U-turn on 13th Amendment
After promising to go beyond the 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution to find a solution to the Tamil ethnic problem, President Mahinda Rajapaksa has done a U-turn and said the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) would now have to suggest a solution. As per the 13th Amendment, a product of the Indo-Sri Lanka accord of 1987, Colombo agreed to devolve some powers to the provinces. Largely drawing on the Indian federal set-up, it has three lists which detailed power-sharing between Colombo and the provinces. Broadly, it provided for merger of the Northern and the Eastern provinces, and for certain financial provisions for the provinces. The provinces would have an elected council, and a chief minister and ministers. After a meeting with Mr. Rajapaksa on January 17, Mr. Krishna said in a statement: I discussed this matter [political solution for Tamils] with His Excellency the President this morning. The President assured me that he stands by his commitment to pursuing the 13th Amendment [to the Sri Lankan Constitution] plus approach. A joint statement issued at the end of the May 2011 meet between the Foreign Ministers in New Delhi too made the same commitment: A devolution package, building upon the 13th Amendment, would contribute towards creating the necessary conditions for such reconciliation. 24 soldiers dead.
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to ensure stable energy supplies. Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has just concluded a visit to Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar as part of a regional tour. The visit takes place shortly after Timothy Geithner, Treasury Secretary of the United States, journeyed to Beijing to implore the Chinese leadership to scale down its energy dependence on Iran, Chinas third largest supplier of oil. Washington is trying to throttle Irans oil exports, apparently to dissuade Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapon capability a move that Iran has countered by threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz through which 20 per cent of the worlds oil supplies pass. China, as was evident during Mr. Geithners visit, has rejected acceptance of a linkage between oil exports by Iran, and its atomic programme. Nevertheless, Beijing appears to have adopted a double track approach of keeping Iran engaged while expanding energy ties with Tehrans Arab foes, chiefly Saudi Arabia. Aware of the vulnerability of the Strait of Hormuz, Chinas top refiner Sinopec, during Mr. Wens visit, finalised an $8.5 billion deal with Saudi Aramco, the state-run energy giant, to build a refinery at Yanbu. The Yanbu refinery plant is located on the Red Sea coast and will not be affected by a military conflict in the Strait of Hormuz. In the UAE, the China Petroleum Engineering and Construction Corporation, a Chinese state-owned company is also engaged in constructing the Habshan-Fujairah pipeline, a strategic project which will daily carry around 1.5 million barrels of crude produced in the UAE to the port of Fujairah, by-passing the Strait of Hormuz.
to be among the worlds new seven wonders of nature, the head of a global competition has said. The Puerto Princesa Underground River in Palawan province is the second of the new seven wonders of nature to be confirmed after provisional results were announced last November. Bernard Weber, founder and president of the New7Wonders, announced the confirmation in Manila and hailed the support for the nomination in the global competition. The 8.2-kilometre navigable underground river is the worlds longest. The Genevabased New7Wonders earlier confirmed Jeju Island as one of the winners of the competition. The other five provisional winners the Amazon, Halong Bay, Iguazu Falls, Komodo and Table Mountain are now undergoing the final verification process for their confirmation.
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Ahead of the vote, President Barack Obama blamed the Syrian government for the unspeakable assault on its civilians in the city of Homs, as he demanded that Mr. Assad step down. Human Rights Watch condemned the UNSC resolution, terming the Russian and Chinese decision irresponsible and praised India, which so far was seen siding with Moscow and Beijing on this issue, for voting in favour of the failed resolution. HRW said the failure of this resolution should not provide illusory comfort to the Assad government as most countries around the world and in Syrias neighbourhood were repulsed by its bloody repression campaign.
Tibet
Voicing serious concern over the deteriorating situation in Tibet, six top American Senators have introduced a resolution in the US Congress asking China to suspend implementation of religious control regulations and immediately start a dialogue with the Dalai Lama. Mourning the recent death of Tibetans and deploring the repressive policies, the resolution calls on China to release all persons that have been arbitrarily detained; to cease the intimidation, harassment and detention of peaceful protesters; and to allow unrestricted access to journalists, foreign diplomats and international organisations to Tibet. The resolution, introduced in the Senate by Senator Diena Feinstein, is supported by several other Senators. The resolution has been sent to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for necessary action. The resolution commends the Dalai Lama for his decision to devolve his political power in favor of a democratic system; congratulates Tibetans living in exile for holding a competitive, multi-candidate election that was free, fair, and met international electoral standards; and reaffirms the unwavering friendship between the people of the US and the people of Tibet.
Nuclear Weapons: U.S. must put its House in Order First, says Report
Even as the United States continues to exert pressure against India and other emerging powers for not falling in line with its vision for a global nuclear order, a stinging report by a major watchdog has revealed that the U.S. own nuclear weapons are potentially unstable and critical intra-agency guidance on maintaining nuclear safety has been vague. In a report that sharply chastised the nodal National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) for not sufficiently briefing the Pentagon on dangers lurking within the U.S. ageing nuclear weapons stockpile, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has drawn attention to the euphemistically-named issue of limitations. Limitations, which refer to areas where a nuclear weapon may not meet certain military requirements throughout its delivery sequence, could potentially impact critical functions such as detonation safety under abnormal conditions, weapon reliability, weapon delivery, replacement of limited life components, nuclear yield and worker safety. The GAOs investigation into whether the NNSA had helped mitigate the 52 limitations it identified revealed, worryingly, that the guidance that the NNSA had been supplying the Pentagon on this subject comprised statements that... contain highly technical information and vague wording and may not clearly communicate a limitations potential impact on stockpile operation, maintenance, and war planning. With the majority of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile currently being produced over 20 years ago it is clear that
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many of them are being sustained beyond their original design lifetimes, according to experts. With the inexorable progress of time and the parallel decay of atomic weapon quality the limitations will steadily acquire greater importance in governing the fate of these weapons, especially upon deployment. In this context, the GAOs findings that the NNSA does not have a well-defined, documented process for executing its stockpile surveillance programme may be considered deeply troubling and a forewarning of a possible nuclear misfire that could embarrass the nations global nuclear safety policy.
violence to stay in power. In Yemen and Tunisia, transitions are under way with the exits of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. In Morocco, King Mohammed VI has introduced constitutional reforms. The new fund will be in addition to existing bilateral assistance between the United States and individual Arab countries, officials said. The State Department also pointed out that the Obama budget retained USD 1.3 billion in military assistance for Egypt, even though the administration has warned such aid will be reviewed in the current year amid a dispute with Cairo over a crackdown on US-funded pro-democracy groups.
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are fighting against their marginalisation, rejected the deal. More than two million people remain in camps because of the fighting in Darfur and the UN estimates that more than 300,000 people have died in the conflict, mostly of disease. Mr Bashir inaugurated the Darfur Regional Authority (DRA) in the regional capital Fasher. Addressing people he announced the release of all prisoners from the Liberty and Justice Movement (LJM), which signed last years Doha agreement. Critics believe the DRA, tasked with implementing the Doha deal, shares many of the weaknesses of the previous Darfur administration, a product of the 2006 Abuja peace deal. The one rebel signatory in 2006, Minni Minnawi, later went back into rebellion, leading one of the three main groups not to have signed the Doha agreement. The DRA will be made up of government nominees, members of civil society and representatives from the LJM. Its leader, Tijani Sese, has been named the head of the DRA.
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Sudan and South Sudan have signed a non-aggression pact, the chief mediator at crisis talks between the two says. Thabo Mbeki, the ex-president of South Africa, said both sides had agreed to respect each others sovereignty and territorial integrity. The agreement signed on 10th February aims to establish a monitoring mechanism to allow the two sides to lodge complaints if border disputes erupt. South Sudan became independent last July, but since then relations have deteriorated with numerous clashes along their disputed border. The South Sudanese opted to split from the north last year, following a peace deal in 2005 which ended decades of civil war in which some 1.5 million people died. But the two never agreed on the transit fees that the South Sudanese government in Juba should pay Khartoum for pumping oil through its pipelines and using Sudans oil export infrastructure. The countries have also failed to reach agreement on borders and accuse each other of backing militia groups.
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Bilateral/Multilateral Bulletin
Vol.1 Issue 6
March 2012
The 15th Round of India-China Special Representatives Talks on border issues took place in New Delhi on 16-17 January 2012. The Indian delegation to the Talks was led by Shri Shivshankar Menon, National Security Advisor while the Chinese delegation was led by State Councillor H.E. Mr Dai Bingguo. In addition to discussions on the IndiaChina Boundary Question the two sides hold discussions on a wide range of bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest. These talks were The annual defence dialogue held in postponed in November-2011 after Recent fruitful outcomes in New Delhi was resumed in December the Chinese demanded that the Global Sino- Indian relations: following an almost two-year hiatus, Buddhist Congregation being held here during which defence ties between Exchanges during 2011, which from November 28 be cancelled as the neighbours had been strained. had been marked as the year of Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama was Exchanges were suspended in July exchanges between the neighbours, scheduled to address it. The Chinese 2010 after China objected to hosting had helped to increase mutual are first said to have asked for the the then head of the Northern understanding such as the visit of a Dalai Lamas address to be cancelled Command, Lieutenant-General B.S. 500-member Indian youth delegation and when New Delhi refused to oblige, Jaswal, because he was serving in to Beijing. they demanded that the event itself be Jammu and Kashmir, which China Two-way trade had reached US$ cancelled. New Delhi is believed to have views as disputed. 67.28 billion during the first 11 told Beijing that India is a democratic months of last year, which also The Indian Embassy in China moved country and there was no restriction to a sprawling, $10-million premises on freedom of speech. Hence, Chinas saw the launching of a Strategic in the heart of the capital, getting, demand could not be met. Economic Dialogue, a 21.8 per cent after 42 years, a modern new home year-on-year rise. The past year also The long-running talks have made which, officials said, was designed saw the first meeting of the newly little progress, and are currently in the to address the growing demands of a set up strategic economic dialogue. difficult second stage of negotiations, fast-expanding bilateral relationship. A 15-member military delegation which involves agreeing upon a The expansive 13,500-square metre from India left for China on a framework to settle the dispute. The compound is a marked difference four-day visit. India agreed to first stage concluded with an agreement from the old property in the capitals send a truncated delegation of 15 on political parameters and guiding Ritan Park area a two-storey, members without Group Captain principles in 2005. The final stage old-fashioned and increasingly Mohonto Panging because of Chinese involves the specifics of delineating the cramped wooden structure where objections to issue a visa to this border. State Councillor Dai Bing-guo, Indian officials had moved into in Indian Air Force (IAF) official, said the two countries must put aside 1969. The move from Ritan is the Group Captain Mohonto Panging their differences and seize a golden second time the Embassys location hailing from Arunachal Pradesh, period to grow China-India relations. has been changed. Before 1969, the who was slated to travel as part of China was keen to resolve in a peaceful
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the two sides but will not discuss resolution of the Boundary Question or affect the Special Representatives Mechanism. The Working Mechanism will hold consultations once or twice every year alternately in India and China.
have increased their ability to influence economic outcomes. The BRICS process has also gained ground. These are welcome developments. At the same time, risks remain for economies which are still developing. An early return to robust growth and spending in the developed world are necessary for world economic recovery. The US, Europe and Japan still account for approximately $20 trillion of consumption expenditure as against about $2.5 trillion by China and India together. A re-balancing of economic structures in our countries in the face of such differences could be difficult. More generally speaking, the relatively benign external environment in the last two decades is changing negatively and is threatened by protectionism in the developed world. World politics also faces new challenges. The balance of power is in flux in Asia and the world. As uncertainty rises, powers follow hedging strategies. The mechanisms of strategic communication and consultation and a common security outlook are evolving slower than the changes in objective reality.
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Besides, both India and China are increasingly linked to the rest of the world, through trade, investment and their Diasporas. The impact of changes in West Asia on our energy security, for instance, is an example of how developments further away from our shores also affect India and China more The future is less certain or and more profoundly. It is therefore evident. Uncertainty in the international natural for us to take ever greater system is at unprecedented levels. The interest on global issues. economic and security situation facing Equally, global issues like climate both India and China has become far change, nuclear proliferation and cyber more complicated in the last few years. and space security matter more to both On the positive side, thanks to sustained India and China in this globalised world growth rates, high savings rates and a as they influence our development, prudent financial approach, Asia and peace and prosperity. Both India and the developing world have witnessed a China currently give the highest priority greater accretion of relative economic to their domestic transformation, which power following the financial crisis of will take time. A peaceful periphery, a 2008. In Asia, larger economies like stable and benign world environment China, Japan, India, South Korea and and continued prosperity among our Indonesia, all members of the G-20, economic partners are of utmost
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Vol.1 Issue 6
March 2012
importance to both of us. This will remain so for quite some time. It is in our mutual interest to work together, bilaterally and with other partners, to reduce uncertainty and create an international environment that is supportive to our domestic transformation efforts. Economics and development are not zero-sum games. It is for this reason that India believes that there is enough space for both India and China to realise their development aspirations. Economically, both are already integrated with each other to an unprecedented extent. China has consistently remained Indias largest trading partner in goods for several years. However, investment flows between both have not kept pace with trade. Indian investment in China worth a total of US$ 433 million is spread over 676 projects, while Chinese investment in India is worth nearly US$ 300 million. There are several opportunities for cooperation in developing infrastructure. India is already one of Chinas most important markets for project exports, with a cumulative value of contracted projects at US$ 53.5 billion and turnover realized at US$ 24.6 billion. What is less noticed is the range of contact between the two societies. For instance, over 7,000 Indian students are studying in China today. This scale
of interaction never occurred before in history. India has appreciated Chinas assistance in tackling floods and natural disasters in the downstream areas of the shared rivers. Indeed, some security challenges, especially of the non-traditional variety, are common to India and China, and offer an opportunity to work together. Both India and China face the challenge of terrorism in our shared neighbourhood. It requires common effort by all members of the international community to tackle terrorism. Naturally, the corollaries of such an intensification of economic and social engagement are issues of trade imbalance, diversifying the trade basket and commercial disputes. The two governments have taken several initiatives to make our trade more balanced and harmonious, and to facilitate and streamline our business engagement. More remains to be done and we will learn by doing. Equally the business communities and their Chambers need to take advantage of growing opportunities while sharpening competitive edge. Our business and economic engagement with each other and with other countries will intensify as we seek to overcome the prospect of sluggish recovery in the traditional engines of growth in the world economy.
Conclusion
The robustness of the bilateral relations will depend on dialogue and communication so that the potential for misunderstanding and miscalculation is limited. The dialogue process must not be limited to the two Governments. Today, there are multiple stakeholders in the relations of India and china as also multiple determinants of these relations. Each of them, be it businessmen, media or scholars of the two countries, has a responsibility to take the relations to the desired level of equilibrium. It is therefore absolutely essential that they acquire an informed understanding of their neighbour. Today, as both India and China change fast, their understanding of each other needs to keep pace. Both the quality and the scale of the interactions have also grown so rapidly that both of them need to learn new ways of dealing with the relationship. Both countries had maintained growing momentum in developing the relationship, and had established effective communication and coordination on significant international and regional issues. A steadily growing Sino-Indian partnership will not only bring benefits to the two peoples, but it will also be conducive to promoting peace, stability and prosperity in Asia and the world at large.
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Bilateral/Multilateral News...
India and US Win WTO Case against China on Raw Material Export
Led by the US, several countries, including India, Mexico and Brazil, have won their battle against China at the World Trade Organisation on export of raw material. In a ruling, the WTO Appellate Body found Chinas export restraints on several industrial raw materials used as key components in the steel, aluminum, and chemicals industries to be inconsistent with Chinas WTO obligations. The Appellate Body affirmed a WTO dispute settlement panels July 2011 finding, therefore agreeing with the US and rejecting Chinas attempts to portray its export restraints as conservation or environmental protection measures or measures taken to manage critical shortages of supply. The export restraints challenged in this dispute include export quotas and export duties, as well as related minimum export price, export licensing, and export quota administration requirements.
inaugurating an American Business Corner (ABC) in Chennai. The U.S. is committed to increasing bilateral trade with India. The Chennai Consulate had received instructions from Washington to continue to open doors for greater private sector engagementCollaboration such as the ABC will strengthen our (U.S.) commercial connections and make it easier for South Asia and the U.S. to connect. She termed as incredible the growth happening in tier II and III cities, and said that ABC will help Indian companies connect with American companies. James Golsen, Principal Commercial Officer, U.S. Consulate, Chennai, noted that this was the first ABC of the U.S. Consulate to be opened in India. Being the first ABC was both an opportunity and a challenge as each of the subsequent ones coming up in Punjab, Orissa and Maharashtra would be compared to this one, he added. He noted that trade missions coming to south India had doubled recently. The trade mission coming next month would comprise both multi-brand companies and small enterprises that are essentially one-man operations. The future of bilateral trade between the two countries would be driven by mid-sized companies and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
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The raw materials at issue include various forms of bauxite, coke, fluorspar, magnesium, manganese, silicon carbide, silicon metal, yellow phosphorus, and zinc. Export restraints on these types of industrial products can skew the playing field against the US and other countries in the production and export of numerous steel, aluminum and chemical, and a wide range of other products, the USTR said. They can artificially increase world prices for these raw materials while artificially lowering prices for Chinese producers. This enables Chinas domestic producers to produce lowerpriced products from the raw materials and thereby creates significant advantages for Chinas producers when competing against US and other producers, both in Chinas market and other countries markets. Such export restraints can also create substantial pressure on foreign producers to move their operations and, as a result, their technologies to China. The European Union and Mexico joined the US as co-complainants in the dispute.
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through the 90-km-long Grand Canyon of the Yarlung Zangbo as the Brahmaputra is known in Tibet. The line would have a capacity to carry 8.3 million tonnes of freight annually. Separately, the State-run Xinhua news agency carried a report indicating that the construction of a railway line from Tibet to Nepal was discussed during Premier Wen Jiabaos visit last week to Kathmandu. The railway which will join Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China will further strengthen ties between the two countries, Xinhua reported. The railway projects would pay a vital role in boosting tourism and accelerating the transport of natural resources. Chinese officials say the projects are aimed at boosting connectivity to bring development to Tibets frontier regions. Indian defence officials have, however, voiced concern over the strategic implications of infrastructure projects located near the border.
Multipurpose Project and Sun Kosi Storage cum Diversion Scheme by February 2013. JMCWR noted with satisfaction the excellent cooperation between the two countries in flood management and the need to take up other trans-boundary rivers causing flood and inundation in both countries. JMCWR recommended that the finalization of the Draft Memorandum of Understanding on Cross Border Interconnection for Electric Power Trade Agreement received from Government of Nepal including a second cross border transmission line for joint development be expedited.
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Letter of Guarantee (LoG) under the India-Bhutan Agreement on Trade, Commerce and Transit has been finalised for implementation from 1st February, 2012. Total trade between the two countries has been increasing. Total exports to Bhutan were $ 176.00 million while total imports from Bhutan were $ 201.57 million during 2010-11. Indias trade balance with Bhutan has turned negative from 2006 i.e. India imports more than it exports to Bhutan. Both the Minister expressed the confidence that the trade can be diversified and also be doubled in less than 5 years.
Indian industry and invited them to participate in the India Show in the Brno Engineering Fair in the Czech Republic in October 2012, where over 150 Indian Engineering companies will participate.
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out the contours of the relationship . The proposed Committee will evolve plans for cooperation in numerous areas including signing of an MoU on defence cooperation, high level reciprocal visits at all levels -- political, official and Services, ship visits and conducting Passage Exercises during such visits. In the discussions, it was agreed that the proposed Committee will also explore the possibility of signing an MoU for cooperation in hydrography, increased participation in training programmes on both sides and examine the possibility of cooperation in defence industries. Reviewing the security situation in the Gulf Region, the two sides agreed that all issues need to be settled through peaceful dialogue.
Nath claimed the country has already shown its interest for the project and things are in their very initial stage. Mr. Nath brought up the issue of participation of Indian companies in the ambitious project during his discussions with Israeli ministers, who are said to have promptly welcomed Indias involvement. On prospects of gas exploration in the potential reserves off countrys northern coast, Mr. Nath said he has expressed New Delhis participation in some form, on the exploratory side or as a buyer. Israeli media has been constantly talking about exporting natural gas said to have been discovered off Israels northern coast to countries like India and China using the Red-Med railway line. The ambitious train link is likely to take about five years for completion with an approximate investment of USD 2.3 billion. It will include 63 bridges and five tunnels expanding in a span of some 9.5 kilometres. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has termed the project of strategic, national and international importance, asserting that country has an interest in creating an alternative route between Asia and Europe to the Suez Canal, and this could serve as an insurance policy. Such a link can be crucial in transporting goods to Europe without having to go through the Suez Canal as the cargo unloaded in countrys port city Eilat will then be sent by rail to Israeli ports, and from there to Europe. In an apparent reference to India and China, Netanyahu said in the coming decade, new powers will arise [with whom] Israel must create vital interests from a national strategy point-of-view. The Israeli Premier said that both the Asian giants have expressed a great deal of interest in the project.
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cooperation and from exchange of information on request to other forms of cooperation. The convention is an effective and practical tool to help tax authorities in their everyday work. India has moved very quickly since its commitment to the Convention at the November 2011 G20 ceremony in Cannes and I expect it will be the first non-OECD G20 country for which the updated Convention is in force, said Jeffrey Owens, Director of the OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration. Signatories to the amended Convention are: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States. This instrument hitherto available for members of the OECD and the Council of Europe was amended in 2010 and made open for all countries in June 2011. The Convention was amended to respond to the 2009 G20 Summit call for developing a broader multilateral approach to improve the effectiveness of exchange of information, cooperation among the countries in the assessment and collection of taxes, with a view to combating tax avoidance and evasion.
The convention is based on international standard of transparency and exchange of information. This instrument is multilateral and a single legal basis for multi-country cooperation as against the DTAAs/TIEAs which are bilateral. It provides for an extensive network and there will be consistent application of provisions, leaving limited scope for deviation. It provides extensive forms of cooperation among the signatories on all taxes. It not only facilitates the exchange of information, but also provides for assistance in the recovery of taxes. This will give a fillip to the efforts of the government to bring back Indian money illegally stashed away abroad. The convention provides for simultaneous tax examinations and participation in tax examinations in other countries. It provides for examination of tax affairs of the taxpayers simultaneously in their own territory and share the relevant information with each other. This allows tax officials to enter into the territory of the other country to interview individuals and examine records. It also provides for automatic exchange of information, spontaneous exchange of information and exchange of past information in criminal tax matters. The information received under the convention can also be used for other purposes besides those related to tax cooperation, such as countering money laundering, with the approval of the supplying state.
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ECONOMY@IP...
and shared responsibilities, within a changed international system. The job of the leadership team at the WB was to point out the new directions, build support and partnerships, translate the overarching vision into specific actions, remain alert to opportunities to innovate, and execute, execute, execute. Before long, the institution was shifting from debating existential questions to asking new, practical ones. What could it do to promote food security and better nutrition in the face of rising food and fuel prices? How could it help China complete its transition to a market economy and to a growth model less dependent on exports and investment? How could it help countries in the Middle East meet the demand for jobs today and build sustainable political economies in the future? What could it teach cities dealing with climate change? Communicating this new mission has remained a challenge. One of the problems of the World Bank is that it is called a bank. Most people associate banks with lending money (at least they have until recently), but financing is only one part of what the organization does. When it is most effective, the World Bank shares knowledge; develops long-lasting markets, institutions, and capacities; and offers diverse financing (whether it takes the form of equity, guarantees,
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loans, grants, or risk management). Combining all three elements, the bank can improve lives and countries. These were the challenges before the bank in 2007. In a larger sense, the World Bank was one part of a bigger strategic question: How should the United States and others in the world modernize multilateralism? The world had inherited its regimes and institutions from the Wise Men who created them after World War II; after the Cold War, multilateralism was expanded but only slightly retooled. Since 2007, the international economy has witnessed tectonic shifts and a reordering of power relationships as it has struggled to recover from the greatest blow since the 1930s. Developing countries have provided two-thirds of all economic growth over the last five years, helping compensate for the stumbling industrialized world. Developing countries have also become the source of economic ideas, development models, investment, and even foreign aid. The institutions, national and international, designed for the old orders have been straining at their seams to accommodate this new dynamic. Today, some of those who see only the weaknesses and failures of multilateral organizations advocate abandoning them altogether. But the worlds multilateral bodies offer a thin but vital tissue connecting sovereign nations that pursue common interests. The pragmatic approach, then, is to make these institutions, with all their imperfections, work better. Over the past five years, the World Bank has customized its services to solve problems for diverse developing clients in the public and private sectors; expanded its capital base and innovative financing tools; emphasized the importance of good governance and anticorruption efforts; democratized development through openness and transparency; and updated its representation and operations to increase the voice and responsibilities of developing countries.
Although the bank has made progress on all these fronts, it can -- and should -do much more.
returns from high commodity prices would allow most countries to offset the danger. Others suggested that the problem would be best handled by humanitarian agencies, not long-term development institutions. But tens of millions of poor people had no cushion to soften the blow. Families went without meals. Farmers could not get the inputs they needed. Food riots broke out. It made no sense to speak of the long term unless populations and governments could address the short-term crisis. The World Bank moved swiftly, working with UN agencies to set up the Global Food Crisis Response Program and creating a rapid financing facility to support farmers. At the same time, higher prices and greater demand for farm products from growing populations offered an opportunity to promote growth if the bank could help boost productivity and production. Today, the banks crisis program has helped 40 million vulnerable people in 47 countries. Its investments extend across the agricultural value chain, involving research, property rights (including for female farmers), seeds, irrigation, fertilizer, storage, and marketing -- always encouraging private-sector development. The banks financial expertise can help farmers and food buyers manage risks through weather derivatives, crop insurance, and futures markets. When the food and fuel crises were overtaken by a global financial crisis, the World Bank mobilized more than $200 billion of financial commitments to support developing countries, disbursing much of it rapidly. Equally important, it addressed specific market breakdowns by expanding trade finance, recapitalizing banks in developing countries, and purchasing distressed assets. The bank is also working with clients on long-term investments to lay the foundations for recovery, focusing on three areas. First, it is investing in infrastructure to help create jobs, increase
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productivity for tomorrow, and raise demand for machinery and services, including from developed countries. Second, it is fostering safety nets to protect the most vulnerable. Sharing lessons from Brazil and Mexico, the bank has helped over 40 countries start conditional cash-transfer programs, which pay poor families that keep their children in school and get preventive health care. Third, through the IFC, the World Bank has extended financing to the private sector, especially to small and medium-sized businesses and microfinance institutions. This customized approach is a far cry from the plain vanilla lending of the past. At times, the bank must say no to clients that refuse to meet standards on and safeguards regarding corruption, the environment, and governance. Yet the vast majority wants to upgrade both the quality and the quantity of their growth.
cultivate private investment. Many countries in Africa have enjoyed high growth rates for a decade. They are taking steps to foster regional integration and infrastructure, and the bank is working with them to improve their business and investment climates. The banks Doing Business report, for example, enables countries to assess how hospitable they are to small enterprises. In 2009, the IFC created the IFC Asset Management Company, which adds to the IFCs traditional model of raising money in bond markets and then investing it. The AMC taps the substantial financial resources held by sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, and other institutional investors and channels them to profitable investment opportunities identified by the IFC. The AMC now totals over $4 billion, almost $3 billion of which comes from outside investors that have had little exposure to Africa and other less recognized emerging markets. For now, these investors are relying on the IFCs strong track record of combining development with returns. Over time, their ranks will expand as they become more familiar with these growth markets. The World Bank has taken the lead in developing novel ways to use finance to tackle other global problems. Encouraged by former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, the bank raised over $6 billion from governments for new climate investment funds to help countries improve energy efficiency and technology, lower their emissions, and protect themselves against climate change. These funds have mobilized about $50 billion worth of projects in 45 developing countries. As negotiators debate what a UN green fund might look like, the World Bank already has one up and running. The bank has also brought financial innovation to bear on plans to develop medicines, protect wildlife, lower the costs of humanitarian food and supplies, and create naturaldisaster insurance. The banks approach is to crowd in others. The bank has multiplied
support for projects and benefited from each partners comparative advantage. Over time, the World Bank aims to build market infrastructure and experience, whether for local currency bond markets, equities, or financing for small and medium-sized companies. Promoting good governance preventing corruption and
Promoting good governance and combating corruption are an integral part of development. Yet the bank needs to do more than just investigate, prosecute, and penalize those who engage in fraud and theft. In many resource-rich countries, the primary challenge is for the government to use income wisely, counter corruption, and broaden the benefits of growth. Applying its experience, the bank needs to implement corruption-prevention measures, improve transparency, and involve civil society in supporting good governance. It also must help governments -- increasingly, at the subnational level -- strengthen financial management, procurement systems, auditors, and other checks. The World Bank will need new tools to break through harder obstacles. The Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative is assisting governments in recovering funds stolen by leaders who looted their countries Treasuries. The bank also refers cases to national criminal authorities, and although governments exercise prosecutorial discretion, those that consistently fail to prosecute will jeopardize their relationship with the bank. The bank is also developing a fund to assist local citizens and civil-society groups that support accountability.
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Democratizing development
The World Bank does not have all the answers. When making decisions that can have an enormous impact on peoples lives, it must listen to those closest to the issues. One of the many messages of the crowds that shook the Middle East in 2011 and even as the writer writes this; there is bloody revolution in the ancient
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Economy@IP
cities of Homs and Hama in Syria against the regime; was that global economic freedom must be combined with good governance, citizen voice, and social accountability. Inclusive and sustainable development depends on shifting from an elite, top-down approach to one that democratizes development. In the case of the World Bank, making the organization accessible improves performance and shows people what the bank does and how it works. Transparency is the best antidote to conspiracy theories. In 2010, the World Bank rolled out a new access-to-information policy, which releases vast numbers of documents and gives the public more information than ever before about the banks projects, its analytic and advisory activities, and the proceedings of its executive board. Modeled on freedomof-information programs in India and the United States, the policy marks a groundbreaking change in how the bank deals with information and is the most extensive such policy of any multilateral organization. All these programs represent a very different model from the bank knows best attitude of the past. Recognizing
the World Banks efforts, last year the organization Publish What You Fund ranked the IDA first among 58 multilateral and bilateral development agencies for transparency.
been to base voice and representation on how the bank does its work, starting with treating clients with dignity and respect and better reflecting the banks membership in its work force. It helps to be local: offices in more than 100 countries bring staff closer to clients and other shareholders. The banks employees come from 167 countries, and nearly two-thirds of its staff members come from developing and transitional states. Its chief economist, the Chinese scholar Justin Lin, is the first person from a developing country to hold that position. Fifty percent of the banks senior executives are now women, and about 45 percent of its senior executive hires come from developing countries. The World Bank is also gradually expanding the global footprint of its efforts to share knowledge. It has built a center in Nairobi that assists post conflict countries and a hub in Singapore that focuses on urban and publicprivate infrastructure development. As these institutional changes reflect, development today is as much about knowledge as lending, and knowledge needs to flow south to south, east to west, from the grass roots to the corridors of power, no longer limited by the old hierarchies.
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Economy News...
INDIAN ECONOMY
Government Discontinues Weekly WPI Release
Ministry of Commerce and Industry on 2nd February announced discontinuation of the release of weekly primary and food inflation data based on the Wholesale Price Index. However, it will continue to release the monthly headline or overall inflation data, which also contains the break-up for all segments, including food, non-food, fuel and manufactured items. Besides, from this month, the government will also come out with a retail inflation data based on the all-India Consumer Price Index. The government had last month decided to do away with the practice of releasing the weekly primary and food inflation data as the figures were not portraying a holistic picture of the price situation. The reason for doing away with the weekly figures was because there used to be lot of variation in the weekly primary and food inflation numbers and the monthly data. Besides, the weekly data were not giving any clear and holistic picture of the inflation situation. governments stake in the company is likely to increase by up to 2.5 per cent following the capital infusion of Rs 7,900 crore. At present, the government of India holds a 59.4 per cent stake in SBI. The capital infusion by the government will raise the TierI capital of the bank to about 8 per cent. SBI had raised over Rs 16,000 crore through a rights issue in 2008. In the last SBI rights issue, the government contribution to the bank was in the form of bonds, rather than cash.
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INFRASTRUCTURE
PMO to Monitor Dedicated Freight Corridor Project
The Prime Ministers Office (PMO) will henceforth directly monitor the progress of the construction of the Dedicated Freight Corridor virtually taking the job away from the Railways. PMO would monitor the progress of the project and make timely intervention for the completion of the project by March 2017, stressing that it would prove to be the backbone of the countrys economic transport facility. The execution of the DFC had been handed over to the nodal authority, the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL). The two corridors will cover a length of 3300 km. The Western Corridor from Dadri in Uttar Pradesh to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust near Mumbai measuring 1499 km will connect Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra. A major portion of the corridor will be financed through Japanese assistance. The 1839-km-long Eastern Corridor from Ludhiana to Dankuni in West Bengal will connect Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal. The World Bank will provide assistance for a part of this passageway, while the Sonnagar-Dankuni section will be funded through PPP.
India the worlds second largest producer of horticulture products accounts for 71.5 million tonnes (MT) of fruits, 133.7 MT of vegetables and 17.8 MT of other commodities like flowers, spices, coconut, cashew, mushroom, honey, etc. However, a significant portion of the produce like fruits, vegetables, flowers goes waste due to post harvest losses in absence of proper cold storage facilities. A Parliamentary panel has also pointed out that postharvest losses of fruits and vegetables are as high as 35 per cent, valuing more than Rs. 50,000 crore annually. Earlier the government had constituted a Task Force on cold chain development to assess the situation. The Task Force had recommended formation of a dedicated institution for promoting cold chain development.
INVESTMENT
India seeks out to Abu Dhabi Investment
India on Monday invited Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), worlds largest sovereign wealth funds, to invest in the $90-billion ambitious Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) and other infrastructure funds. Both countries also agreed to set up a joint working group to facilitate investment for this purpose. Keeping in mind the worsening investment climate in developed nations, both leaders agreed that the UAE and India should work towards a greater level of engagement. Besides infrastructure, the other areas where both sides can explore investment opportunities include the pharmaceuticals, services, engineering and agro-processing sectors. ADIA has asked for more support in its exploration of opportunities in the Indian market. The UAE is the biggest trading partner of India in the entire West Asia and North Africa (WANA) region and accounted for about 63 per cent of Indias total trade with GCC countries in 2010-11. Bilateral trade between the countries has registered an over 300 per cent increase in the last five years and stood at $66.56 billion in January-November 2011.
AGRICULTURE
NABARD Offers Incentive to Banks for Warehouse Loans
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) on 2nd February announced a refinance scheme which offers an incentive to the banks to give loans for setting up warehouses for agricultural commodities. NABARD will charge interest of 8 per cent p.a. for banks, while interest rate on loans to the borrowers would be decided by the banks concerned. NABARD will also extend an interest rebate of 1.5 per cent to borrowers who repay loans on schedule. The scheme has been conceptualized out of a Rs 2,000 cr dedicated fund in the Union Budget 2011-12. Authorities hope it will help create 9 million tonnes of additional storage capacity for the agricultural produce. The scheme is open to all kinds of banks. As per the recently announced central scheme, all Kisan Credit Card holding farmers can now avail loans at 7 per cent interest rate for maximum six months for storage of produce post-harvest.
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INTERNATIONAL TRADE
GI Tag to Boost Darjeeling Tea Exports
Darjeeling tea exports are set to increase by volume and value, following its registration as a protected geographical indication (PGI) product from India. The industry was closed in 2011 by registering a 10 per cent increase in total Darjeeling tea exports. Exports of Darjeeling tea stood at around 6.9 million kg in 2011, when production was around 9.2 million kg. Darjeeling Tea was the first Indian product to be recognised by the European Union as a protected GI. Darjeeling. It is said that more Darjeeling tea was sold in the international markets than was produced on the slopes of Darjeeling, as often only
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Economy@IP
a small portion of the authentic product was put in a packet which contained blends of teas from many other origins. As per the new registration, now, the teas sold in the EU would have to be 100 per cent Darjeeling tea, a Tea Board official said. The unique muscatel flavour of the Darjeeling teas is preferred by tea-drinkers across the EU, which now accounts for 60 per cent of exports of Darjeeling tea. The PGI covers agricultural products and food stuffs which are closely linked to the geographical area, with at least one of the stages of production, processing or preparation taking place in the protected area. Germany and Japan are some of the most lucrative markets for Darjeeling tea, although the U.S. too is emerging as an important market riding on the wellness-beverage plank that many companies were positioning tea on.
Iran Agrees for Part Payment in Rupees for Crude Oil Sale Iran has agreed to accept 45 per cent of the payment for its crude imports in rupees through three Indian banks to beat the effect of western sanctions. Iranian Ambassador Syed Mahdi Nabizadeh told that despite frequent U.S. roadblocks and pressure on European financial institutions through which India has been routing payments, both countries were determined to resolve the issue of payments for Indias crude imports. The two countries had agreed on part payment in rupees as gold was not a suitable option. Under the agreement, 45 per cent of the payment would be made in rupees through three Indian banks and Iran could utilise this for buying Indian machinery, metal products, iron, steel, minerals, clothes, fibre, sugar, tea, wood and automobile spare parts. Indian companies can also invest in projects in Iran like developing its oil and gas fields, extraction of iron ore and building roads and railways. The envoy said Tehran was to continue supplying India with about $1 billion of crude although some had counselled cutting supplies because India had fallen behind in payments due to western sanctions. The Ambassador also said Iran could extend the onemonth deadline given to India on progressing with the Farzad-B gas field. The first round of talks after two years was held in September last year for five days on Irans Kish Island. But after negotiating the main part of the contract, India did not agree to hold the next meeting in November when issues of internal rate of return and security of investment were to be discussed. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Indian Oil hold 80 per cent stake in the block and Oil India the remaining 20 per cent. India had reluctantly gone for the talks after Iran said it was planning to shift the project to an Iranian consortium and offered only a 30 per cent stake to the ONGC.
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keen to invest in infrastructure development in Britain. Its head Lou Jiwei described Britain as one of the most open economies in the world.
The UN report, while noting that South Asias economies India, Pakistan, Nepal, Iran, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are expected to grow by 6.7 per cent in 2012 and 6.9 per cent in 2013, accelerating slightly from 6.5 per cent in 2011, seeks to apportion blame on Indias economic situation for a low regional average. Robust domestic demand will sustain this increase, but the economic slowdown in India, where growth declined from 9 per cent in 2010 to about 7.6 per cent in 2011, brings down the regional average, it said. On the issue of rising prices, the report noted that average inflation declined only slightly from 11.6 per cent in 2010 to 10.3 per cent in 2011. As per its outlook forecast, inflation is projected to decline slowly, averaging 9.1 per cent in 2012 and 8.0 per cent in 2013, as food and commodity prices ease and the impact of monetary policy tightening is felt in Bangladesh and India. But inflationary risks remain, including the threat of insufficient monsoon rains or a rise in international commodity prices, it said. As is already being officially conceded, the UN report also hinted at the governments inability in meeting the fiscal deficit target. Noting that the countrys fiscal deficit declined to 5.1 per cent of GDP in 2010-11 as economic growth boosted tax revenues and the sale of 3G telecommunications licences increased non-tax revenues, it said: But Indias government is unlikely to reach its deficit target of 4.7 per cent of GDP for 2011-12, as lower growth brings down tax revenues, and disinvestment in state-run companies is put on hold.
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REPORTS/SURVEYS
UN Predicts 7.7 % Growth in India
A United Nations report on global economic prospects has projected Indias economy to grow at a pace a tad lower than 8 per cent in 2012 and 2013 in view of the sharp increase in downside risks stemming from the problems in Europe and the U.S. In its report on World Economic Situation and Prospects 2012, released here on 17th January, it said: Indias economy is forecast to expand at a pace similar to 2011 in the following two years ... at 7.7 per cent in 2012 and 7.9 per cent in 2013. For the current fiscal, even as the official estimate for GDP growth stands scaled down to 7 per cent from the earlier projection of 8.5 per cent in view of the slowdown, expectations in various quarters vary and appear pegged at slightly higher levels of 7.5-7.7 per cent.
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Economy@IP
demand will require a 70 per cent increase in food production, challenging a natural resource base that is already under significant strain, it said. This would also require major increases in investment by up to 50 per cent for developing countries alone in an era of economic crisis and austerity, the report added.
recommendations on critical issues like career progression, integration across various cadres, rationalisation of their pay scale, allowances and incentives and overall restructuring of the entire staff of the erstwhile Indian Airlines and Air India. As on December 31, last year, the total staff strength of the carrier, which was merged in March 2007, stood at 28,500. The Committee is understood to have tried to bring the wage structure of the merged organisation strictly under legal parameters, so that it conforms with the guidelines of the Department of Public Enterprises, which caters to other public sector undertakings. Almost five years after the merger, the issue of lack of uniformity in pay scales and career progression paths have been causing much heartburn among the staffers. The government had also acknowledged that Air Indias precarious financial situation had led to delays in resolving HR issues in the airline.
COMMITTEE/COMMISSION
Pulok Chatterjee to head Committee on Power Sector Reforms
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has constituted a Committee of Secretaries (CoS) under his Principal Secretary, Pulok Chatterjee, to work out a time bound action plan to chalk out plans on coal and gas shortage, cheap imported coal, hike in power tariffs and unleashing second generation of power reforms. The continued shortage of coal and gas, coupled with rising cost of imported coal had made power projects unviable. In such a scenario, any delayed decisions were only hurting the investor sentiment and leading to uncertainty for those who had already pumps huge amount of funds in massive projects totaling around 90,000 MW. In response to the concerns expressed by the corporate leaders, Dr. Singh assured them that the Government was committed to giving a push to the power reforms. He said a CoS under Mr. Chatterjee would work out a 30-day, 60-day and 90-day action plan to address the short and long term concerns of this sector.
CORPORATE WORLD
Facebook Files for Historic IPO
Social networking giant Facebook has filed an initial public offering, which could raise as much as $10 billion and could value the company between $75 billion and $100 billion. However, the company said it planned to raise $5 billion in its stock sale, the largest public offering on the history of a web company. In its filing before the Security and Exchange Commission, Facebook said in 2011 it generated revenue of $3.71 billion, an increase of 88 per cent from $1.97 billion the year before and 377 per cent from 2009. In 2011, its income was $1 billion, an increase of 65 per cent from 2010. Facebook derives 85 per cent of its revenues from advertising, and the rest from social gaming and other fees. Founded in 2004 by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook now has some 845 million active users, who in all upload 250 million photos a day.
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Science Spectrum
SCIENCE SPECTRUM...
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Wikipedias move
Wikipedias decision to go dark brings the issue into a much brighter spotlight. This is the first time Wikipedias English version has gone dark. Instead of encyclopaedia articles, visitors to the site saw a stark black-and-white page with the message- Imagine a world without free knowledge. It carried a link to information about the two congressional bills and details about how to reach legislators. Since Wikipedia depends on a small army of volunteers who create and update articles, it is particularly concerned about a lack of exemptions in the bills for sites where users might
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Conclusion
Freedom of speech and expression has always been the part of basic fundamental laws in any democratic nation. Thus this freedom has always been favoured and cherished. If a company finds that it has genuinely been infringed upon, it has the right to sue for, but the idea that the government start censoring the internet on behalf of giant corporations economic interests strikes as the wrong thing to do so. The solution to combat piracy, which eats into revenues of the media companies, could be found through a constructive dialogue and not by resorting to a rushed cue. Censoring of Internet content is not new. All search engines remove content and filter search results based on directions and orders issued in different countries to meet the requirements of domestic laws. The toxic potential of SOPA and PIPA lies in their capacity to comprehensively throttle free speech, at least until a new competitive set of alternatives emerges on the Internet. Thus, it is quite axiomatic that all dimensions of a websites existence physical presence, findability and revenue stream are under threat due to these proposed bills.
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Indian context
In the Indian context, there will obviously be keen interest in the two U.S. Bills for their possible replication. Even now, the Indian Information Technology Act, 2000 contains provisions that would not meet the accepted
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Science Spectrum
Science News...
SPACE TECHNOLOGY
Iran Launches Small Satellite into Orbit
Iran successfully launched a new small satellite into orbit on 3rd February, the latest in the countrys ambitious space programme that has raised concerns because of its possible military applications. The home-made satellite, Navid, or Gospel, was designed to collect data on weather conditions and monitor for natural disasters. It said the satellite weighs about 110 pounds (50 kilograms) putting it in a type known as miniaturized or microsatellites and would orbit the earth at an altitude of up to 375 km. Navid, produced at an Iranian engineering university, is the third small satellite that Iran launched over the past years and is expected to remain in orbit for about two months. The two earlier satellites Omid, launched in 2009, and Rasad, sent into orbit in June 2011 lasted three weeks and 82 days, respectively. The satellite was sent into orbit by a missile launch-vehicle dubbed Safir, or Ambassador in Farsi. Iran has made a series of claims in recent years about advances in its space program, which have not been verified by others. In 2010, Tehran announced it had successfully launched a rocket carrying a mouse, turtle and worms into space. Also, Iran has set a goal of putting a man in orbit within 10 years, despite the expense and technological challenges involved. The authorities are intent on showcasing the nations technological successes as signs Iran can advance despite the Wests sanctions over its controversial nuclear programme. Iran is also pressing ahead with its military missile programme, frequently testing missiles capable of reaching Israel, U.S. bases in the Gulf and parts of southeast Europe.
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ASTRONOMY
Mars Meteorite Found in Morocco
Scientists have claimed that chunks of a meteorite which fell in Morocco last July were from Mars a rare event which happened for the first time in 50 years. It is the fifth time that such Martian meteorite fall has been reported, an event which has occurred every 50 years. The first was in 1815 in France, second in 1865 in India, then Egypt in 1911 and Nigeria in 1962. The latest fall of the fragments of the Martian meteorite took
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Science Spectrum
place near Foumzgit in Morocco, following a meteorite shower which is believed to have occurred in July 2011. Now, a panel of international experts has confirmed that their suspicion is true. The event will provide planetary scientists with valuable samples from Mars that no space mission has ever been able to bring back to Earth, say experts.
call deciphering, which may threaten the security of such devices worldwide. A team at Ruhr University Bochum in Germany says that the cracked encryption algorithms, known as GMR-1 and GMR-2, are actually standards used across satellite phone operators globally. According to the researchers the equipment and software needed to intercept and decrypt satellite phone calls from hundreds of thousands of users would cost as little as U.S. dollars 2000. The demonstration system takes up to half-an-hour to decipher a call, but a more powerful computer would allow eavesdropping in real-time, he said. By publishing details of how to break the encryption, the researchers hope to prompt ETSI, the organisation that sets the standards, to create stronger algorithms. Experts have expressed concern over the breakthrough. Many government agencies, including the military, make many of their communications through their own technology. However, they often still rely on satellite phones to communicate with locals, back to HQ or people at home.
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DEFENCE TECHNOLOGY
Lakshya Successfully Test Flown
Indigenously developed micro-light and pilot-less target aircraft Lakshya-1 was successfully test flown from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur near Balasore on 31st January. Lakshya-1, fitted with an advanced digitally
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Satellite Phone Encryption Cracked
Researchers in Germany claim to have for the first time cracked two encryption systems of satellite phones, a breakthrough in
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Science Spectrum
controlled engine was successfully test flown to check the validity of its engine and duration enhancement. Lakshya is a sub-sonic, re-usable aerial target system remote controlled from the ground and designed to impart training to both air borne and air defence pilots. The flight duration of the micro light air-craft is usually 30-35 minutes. The aircraft has been developed by Indias aeronautic development establishment (ADE), Bangalore to perform discreet aerial reconnaissance of battle field and target acquisition. Lakshya has been inducted in to the Indian Air Force (IAF) since 2000.
on 21st January. The ship is named after Abbakka Mahadevi, the legendary queen of Tulunadu, Karnataka who fought the Portuguese in the latter half of the 16th century. She was also one of the earliest Indians to fight the colonial powers and is sometimes regarded as the `First Woman Freedom Fighter of India. The patrol vessel, Rani Abbakka, the first of its class has been designed and built indigenously by HSL. The special features of the ship include an Integrated Bridge System (IBS), Machinery Control System (IMCS), and an indigenously built Gun Mount with Fire Control System. The ship on joining the Coast Guard Fleet will enhance Coast Guards capability in furthering its mandate of Maritime Safety, Maritime Security, Environmental Protection and Coastal Security on the Eastern Sea board.
BIOTECHNOLOGY
Applications of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Therapy are Huge: Scientists
While applications of induced pluripotent stem cells in stem cell therapy may be limited to a few diseases, its applications in drug discovery are wide-ranging, and many more diseases can be targeted, Shinya Yamanaka, Director, Centre for iPS Cell Research and Application, Japan, has said. The same Japanese scientist, made a breakthrough by the creation of embryoniclike stem cells from adult skin cells. Embryonic stem cells are important because they are pluripotent, or possess the ability to differentiate into any other type of cell, and are capable of rapid proliferation. However, despite the immense possibilities of that, embryonic cells are a mixed blessing: there are issues with post-transplant rejection (since they cannot be used from a patients own cells), and many countries of the world do not allow the use of human embryos. iPS (Induced pluripotent stem) cells hold out for humanity a lot of hope in curing diseases that have a single cell cause. Prominent among them are Lou Gehrigs Disease or Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease. Motor neurons degenerate and die, and no effective treatment exists thus far. One reason is that there have not been good disease models for ALS in humans. It is difficult to get motor neuron from human patients and motor neurons cannot divide. Treatment of spinal cord injuries using iPS cells has showed good results in mice and monkey specimens, and it is likely that in two or three years, scientists will be ready to start treatment for humans. Toxicology, or drug side effects, is another area where iPS cells can be of use. Testing drug candidates directly on patients can be extremely dangerous. However, iPS cells can be differentiated into the requisite cell type, and the drugs tested on them for reactions. And yet, as wonderful as they may seem, iPS cells do have drawbacks, and there are multiple challenges to be faced before the technology can be applied to medicine.
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For a technology that has been around for only five years, the questions remain about safety. Also to derive patient-specific iPS cells, the process is time, and money-consuming.
cases to the government. Silicosis is an incurable lung disease caused by inhaling of dust containing free crystalline silica. The potential victims of silicosis are poor migrant workers employed in quarries, mines, gem cutting and other hazardous occupations such as construction sites, a majority of whom are likely to die for lack of specialised treatment. In a special report a first of its kind presented to Parliament, the NHRC has suggested that the government should ensure health facilities to all workers employed at places prone to silica and earmark adequate compensation to the families in case of death. The Commission has also written to all States to identify the hazardous industries and mapping them for silica generation which results in silicosis. The responses from the States were not adequate and they had been asked to send specific answers. The report to Parliament also suggests regular check-up for the workers employed at places where they are exposed to silica and even linking silica treatment with the TB Control Programme. It was based on the NHRC recommendation that Rajasthan enhanced compensation in case of silica-related death to Rs.3 lakh. It has also set up a corpus of Rs.25 crore for the purpose as instances of silica-related cases are very high in that State.
ENVIRONMENT
India has the Most Toxic Air: Study
In a study by Yale and Columbia Universities, India holds the very last rank among 132 nations in terms of air quality with regard to its effect on human health. India scored a miniscule 3.73 out of a possible 100 points in the analysis, lagging far behind the next worst performer, Bangladesh, which scored 13.66. In fact, the entire South Asian region fares badly, with Nepal, Pakistan and China taking up the remaining spots in the bottom five of the rankings. These rankings are part of a wider study to index the nations of the world in terms of their overall environmental performance. The Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy and Columbias Center for International Earth Science Information Network have brought out the Environment Performance Index rankings every two years since 2006. The Index report was presented at the World Economic Forum that took place in Davos. In the overall rankings which takes 22 policy indicators into account India fared minimally better, but still stuck in the last ten ranks along with environmental laggards such as Iraq, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. At the other end of the scale, the European nations of Switzerland, Latvia and Norway captured the top slots in the index. Indias performance over the last two years was relatively good in sectors such as forests, fisheries, biodiversity and climate change. However, in the case of water both in terms of the ecosystem effects to water resources and the human health effects of water quality the Indian performance is very poor.
Malaria Deaths in 2010 were more than Estimated by WMR, says Study
The number of malaria deaths worldwide in 2010 was 1.24 million, nearly double the number previously estimated by the 2011 World Malaria Report (WMR). This is despite a 31-per-cent reduction in such deaths globally in the last five years. More deaths have been reported across all age groups and regions than the WMR. For instance, the study reports 1.3 times higher mortality for children younger than five years in Africa; 8.1 times higher for those aged 5 or older in Africa; and 1.8 times higher for individuals of all ages outside of Africa. The mortality data for this study was collected from all available sources from 1980 to 2010. Contrary to the general assumption that most deaths occurred in children aged less than five years, the study found that older children and adults accounted for 42 per cent of the deaths. The World Malaria Report 2011 released by WHO summarizes information received from 106 malaria-endemic countries and a range of other sources. It analyses prevention and control measures according to a comprehensive set of indicators, and highlights continued progress towards global malaria targets. This years report builds primarily on data received from countries for the year 2010. For the first time, the report contains individual profiles for 99 countries with ongoing malaria transmission.
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cells in the lab that are an exact replica of genetically caused Parkinsons disease. The breakthrough means they can now see exactly how mutations in the parkin gene cause the disease in an estimated one in 10 patients with Parkinsons. And it offers a realistic model to test new treatments on - a hurdle that has blighted research efforts until now. Studying human neurons is critical in Parkinsons disease since animal models that lack the parkin gene do not develop the condition, rendering them useless for this research purpose. To make the human neurons the scientists used a technique already successfully tested by others which can turn donated skin cells into brain tissue. The scientists now want to test new treatments that might prevent this damage occurring and stop this form of Parkinsons. They have already shown that they can reverse the defect by putting a normal parkin gene into diseased neurons.
modified bitumen has been specified by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways for binder courses and wearing courses laid on National Highways, an official statement said. The Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) has tested the use of modified bitumen, including natural rubbermodified bitumen, in construction and maintenance of roads under the ministrys sponsored research scheme. According to the findings of the study, natural rubbermodified bitumen improves the durability of roads by reducing susceptibility toward temperature variations and improving the desirable properties of bitumen, thereby improving overall performance. As per the decision of the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, modified bitumen may be used for the surfacing of entire National Highways.
MISCELLANEOUS
Rs. 10-cr. Loans to Start-ups under Nano Mission
To encourage industries to take up projects in nano technology, the Nano Mission launched by the Government of India plans to provide loans to start-up firms up to Rs.10 crore from April 2012. The government has recently approved a proposal of Nano Mission to provide soft loans and grants and some financial institutions would be involved in working out the mechanism for funding, Chairman, Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister and Nano Missions Chairman, C.N.R. Rao and the mission director Praveer Asthana said. A regulatory framework was also being worked out with other Departments, including Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Indian Council of Agricultural Research. While the Government of India had sanctioned Rs.1,000 crore in 2007 under Nano Mission, an umbrella programme to promote R & D in nano science and technology, so far, only Rs.500 crore was spent on various components of the mission, including creation of research facilities, infrastructure, HRD, institution-industry linked projects and international collaborations. Over 120 patents were filed and 35 patents obtained. The Government of India launched a Mission on Nano Science and Technology (Nano Mission) in May 2007. The Department of Science and Technology is the nodal agency for implementing the Nano Mission. The Nano Mission aims to strive for development of products and processes for national development, especially in areas of national relevance like safe drinking water, materials development, sensors development, drug delivery, etc. For this, it forges linkages between educational and research institutions and industry and promote Public Private Partnerships.
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Health Issues
HEALTH ISSUES...
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India was one of the first developing countries to recognize the need to The resolution recognizes the address mental health with its National importance of early identification, care Mental Health Programme (NMHP) being and recovery, the problems of stigma, launched in 1982 and had played a key poverty and homelessness and the role in getting mental disorders included need for community based intervention in the non-communicable diseases including de-institutionalised care. It is (NCDs) list at the first Ministerial clearly recognized that all countries must Conference on Healthy Lifestyles and take steps to promote mental health and Non-communicable Disease Control empower persons with mental disorders in Moscow last year. Pleading for its to lead a full and productive life in the case, India had argued that like all community. non-communicable diseases, mental Three key events since then signify disorders required long term treatment and affected the quality of life. By 2030, the growing momentum for change: The publication by the WHO of its the NCDs are estimated to contribute to first evidence based guidelines for 75 per cent of global deaths. the treatment of mental, neurological Flawed Assumptions and substance use disorders by nonA large number of epidemiological surveys specialist providers in routine care done in India on mental disorders have settings; demonstrated the prevalence of mental The Grand Challenges in Global morbidity in rural and urban areas of the Mental Health, backed by some of country. These rates are comparable to the worlds leading health research global rates. This is largely due to the funders, which has identified a failure of mental health programmes in set of challenges which need to India.
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many short courses, which transfer knowledge, rather than skill and confidence, to physicians. In addition, most of the courses are set in specialist facilities and employ complex psychiatric perspectives, making it difficult for physicians to translate their knowledge into primary care practice. Medical education: The global emphasis on specialisation has resulted in a transmission of knowledge without proficiency and confidence during basic medical training. It results in a lack of acquisition of skills required for independent practice. The movement towards specialisation has also eroded the standing of general and family practice. Professional apathy: It is no secret that the majority of psychiatrists and their professional associations are indifferent to empowering general physicians. The community psychiatry movement always had a second-class status within the discipline. Psychiatrists prefer the safety of specialist institutions to moving out into the community. They favour referrals and consultations rather than transferring expertise to primary care professionals. Institutional leadership: The community psychiatry movement was led in the 1970s and 1980s by many national institutes and centres of excellence. However, the very ideas of decentralisation and empowerment gradually lost ground and are all but abandoned by these centres, resulting in a leadership vacuum. Advocacy and technical inputs: Attempts to revive community psychiatry programmes at the national and international levels are more about
mental health advocacy and less about technical inputs and guidance. The technology to translate psychiatric research evidence into primary care practice does not exist in poor countries. The idealism of the original primary health care movement, without technical contribution for scaling-up, meant that implementation at the national level was problematic, patchy and unproductive.
crucial. The changed reality in India demands new technical inputs, including the use of the private sector. Educating the population about mental illness using the mass media will erase stigma and increase the demand for services. The availability of effective and affordable treatments and improved national finances have not closed the gap between mental health need and services. A HIV/AIDS model of activism, where users, families, interest groups, health professionals and scientists come together with the single aim of service provision, is required for transformation. Slick documents, scintillating launches, stirring speeches and shallow programmes, which repackage failed strategies, are no substitute for hard technical inputs for translating research evidence into primary care practice.
Conclusion
The timing of the WHO resolution is salutary for India as it has embarked on a radical revision and re-haul of the dysfunctional NMHP. Under the leadership of the Central Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, a new Mental Health Act has been written following extensive consultations around the country with diverse stakeholders. Earlier this year, The goal of mental health for the Ministry began the task of writing all, a socialistic ideal struggling in Indias first mental health policy and todays capitalistic world, demands a of rewriting the district mental health reappraisal of past programmes. Medical programme for the 12th Five year plan education needs to be skill-based to (2012-2017) by constituting a Mental produce competent practitioners. The Health Policy group comprising diverse strengthening of the general health stakeholders. This is a unique moment infrastructure, to improve primary health in our history when there appears to care delivery, is mandatory for the be both political will and financial effective integration of mental health resources to support a range of actions into primary care practice. Leadership to improve access to mental health care from politicians, administrators, health and promote human rights of persons and mental health professionals is affected by mental illness.
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Perspectives
PERSPECTIVES...
AADHAR- AN ANALYSIS
Aadhaaris symbolic of the new and modern India, PM Manmohan Singh
The Committee categorically conveys their unacceptability of the National Identification Authority of India Bill, 2010The Committee would, thus, urge the Government to reconsider and review the UID scheme. Parliaments Standing Committee on Finance (SCoF) Two contrasting views, one projectAadhar, is bound to raise the bogey of questions which are begging for answers. On the one hand are the critics backed with SCoF scathing report on the Bill to convert the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) into a statutory authority have questioned the legality and the viability of the Unique identification number. On the other hand there are supporters led by the UPA government and the business conglomerates who view the Aadhar project, to put in Rahul Gandhi words, is the key to bridging the two Indias, where you take some from the India of opportunity and put them into the India without opportunity. Where do we stand between the two contrasting view? For this it is pertinent first to understand what Aadhar-actually is. identity as well as address anywhere in the country. Any individual irrespective of age and gender who is, also, a resident in India besides satisfying the verification process laid down by the UIDAI can enroll for Aadhaar. Enrollment, which is needed only once, is free of cost. Each Aadhaar number will be unique to an individual and will remain valid for his entire lifetime. does not permit the executive to do what it pleases; when constitutional rights and protections are potentially violated, the powers of the executive remain circumscribed by those of the legislature.
Secondly, serious questions have been raised about the enrolment process followed for Aadhaar numbers which is riddled with serious lacunae Aadhaar number is to help as there is no clarity of purpose and individuals provide access to services like implementation is directionless. banking, mobile phone SIM and other For instance, the Ministry of Government as well as Non-Government Finance feels that there is lack of services in due course. coordination across the six agencies collecting personal information, Few important things about Aadhaar: leading to duplication of efforts and Aadhaar will be easily verifiable in an expenditure. The Ministry of Home online, cost-effective way raised serious security concerns It is unique and robust enough to over the introducer model used to eliminate a large chunk of duplicate enroll persons without any proof of and fake identities in the government residence. as well as private databases. The enrolment process has also been It is a random number generated, criticized on the grounds of security and devoid of any classification based on compromising privacy of the individuals caste, creed, religion and geography. holding Aadhar numbers. Considering all this it is all but Thirdly, the Aadhar project has been natural to support Aadhar and yet the given a go ahead by the government kind of criticism we find is somewhat without enactment of a National amusing. Data Protection law, which is a prerequisite for any law that deals with Arguments against Aadhar large-scale collection of information First, Aadhaar has been rolled from individuals and its linkages out and the enrolment started across separate databases. It is without Parliaments approval for because in the absence of legislation the Bill. Currently, UIDAI enjoys for data protection, it would be only executive authority, and no difficult to deal with the issues statutory authority. However, on like access and misuse of personal the advice of the Attorney General, information, surveillance, profiling, Government argued that the powers linking and matching of databases of the executive are co-extensive and securing confidentiality of with the legislative powers of the information. government, and this allows the government to exercise executive powers in spheres not regulated by legislation. But according to the SCoF, co-extensiveness of powers
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Fourthly, the SCoF report strongly disapproves of the hasty manner in which the project was cleared without conducting any comprehensive
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feasibility study concerning financial implication of such an expensive scheme. The total cost of the Aadhaar project is estimated to be over Rs. 50, 000 crores. For just Phase 1 and 2, where 10 crore residents were to be enrolled, the allocation was Rs. 3,170 crore. For Phase 3, where another 10 crore residents are to be enrolled, the allocation is Rs. 8,861 crore. In a rough extrapolation, for 120 crore residents the total cost would then be over Rs. 72,000 crore.
and the NPR Cards will bear this UID Number. The NPR is the creation of an amendment in 2003 to the Citizenship Act of 1955. As per Rule 3(3) in the Citizenship Rules of 2003, information on every citizen in the National Register of Indian Citizens should compulsorily have his/her National Identity Number failing which will invite punishable fine of up to one thousand rupees.
Firstly, Aadhaar can plug the gross misuse of government subsidies. There is not [even one] kind of encouraging word mentioned in the SCoF report on how Indian society can use Aadhaar to deliver several welfare measures like PDS scheme, MGNREGA, etc., approved by the parliament to the poor which have been marred by rampant corruption.
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Secondly, Aadhaar does not compromise privacy. Many are raising Seventhly, Aadhar is not similar to the issue of privacy. This is just the social security number (SSN) another totally bizarre point, Fifthly, serious question has been issued by the US government since raised. Drivers license demands lot raised about the use of biometrics 1936 to facilitate provisions of social more information than Aadhaar. to prove the unique identity of security benefits. It is because SSN is Voters list too has a lot more individuals. It is argued that the use circumscribed by the Privacy Act of information on citizens. If these of biometrics is full of uncertainty, 1974 and Combating Identity Theft: dont invite any hue and cry, then, untested and unreliable. Further A Strategic Plan, 2007. Its quite why with Aadhaar? UIDAI has been criticized by the the contrary in India. According to SCoF for disregarding Biometric technology Nandan Nilekani, Aadhaar number Thirdly, gives adequate accuracy. Many would become ubiquitous; he has (a) The warnings of its Biometrics including the SCoF have pointed even advised people to tattoo it Standards Committee about high out the inherent problems of the somewhere, lest they forget it! error rates in fingerprint collection; biometric technology in accurately (b) the inability of Proof of Concept identifying the individuals. While the studies to promise low error rates government has admitted that the when 1.2 billion persons are enrolled; accuracy may be no more than 1%, it and has also suggested that there are in(c) the reservations within the built safety mechanisms not to deny government on the necessity of any legitimate person the assistance collection of IRIS image. approved by the government. After all biometric technology is The report concludes that, given relatively new and is making rapid the limitations of biometrics, it is advances. According to UKs National unlikely that the proposed objectives of Physical Laboratory, probability of the UID scheme could be achieved as it a false negative (person not being happened in the United Kingdom where recognized) is 1 out of 10000 using a similar ID scheme was shelved. biometric. The probability of false Sixthly, the mandatory nature of positive is 1 out of 1,000,000. the Aadhar project also has been Arguments for Fourthly, Aadhaar is better than criticized. However, the government US Social Security ID. SCoF has dismisses this criticism. But the In light of the above arguments against the Aadhar, however, the proponents cherry picked the UK example to critics argue that Aadhar number of the Aadhar posits that SCoF has argue that Aadhaar may not work which appears to be voluntary is not advanced any new arguments and/ because the Government of UK has stealthily mandatory as it has been or rationale to support the opponents decided to drop their national ID explicitly linked to the preparation of of Aadhaar in opposing this project. card scheme. Why didnt SCoF discuss National Population Registry (NPR). Further they maintain that not much is examples of several countries like The Census of India website notes discussed about the fact that there have Brazil, Australia, US and others that data collected in the NPR will been three MPs who have dissented where biometric cards/documents be subjected to de-duplication by with the majority opinion. Yet all the are in use? Importantly, there are the UIDAI. After de-duplication, the critics, including the media have used many similarities between the social UIDAI will issue a UID Number. This this opportunity to put old wine in new security number system in the US UID Number will be part of the NPR bottle to kill Aadhaar.
INDIA PREPARES
Perspectives
Within a fairly short period of time, biometric recognition technology has found its way into many areas of everyday life. Citizens of more than 50 countries hold machine-readable passports that store biometric data a facial image and Fifthly, Aadhaar does not create any in most case a digital representation of insurmountable security problem. In fingerprints on a tiny RFID chip to verify todays networked society, there are identity at the border. Law enforcement so many databases which should be agencies have assembled biometric of much higher priority in terms of databases with fingerprints, voice and national security than a database DNA samples, which make their work more containing biometric information efficient and manageable. Commercial on residents of India. On the other applications use biometrics in local access hand it can be argued that Aadhaar control scenarios, but also increasingly database may serve the purpose in in remote telebiometric deployments, getting information on terrorists. In such as e-commerce and online banking, some countries there are proposals and complement or replace traditional to use biometric databases to authentication schemes like PIN and monitor movement of terrorists. By passwords. being creative and through building Eighth, Failure of government adequate safety features Aadhaar bureaucracy cannot be held against could make it very difficult for Aadhaar. It is true that coordination anyone to access Aadhaar data while between different departments of the it can serve the national security government who are the stakeholders purpose by identifying terrorists. (Planning Commission, Registrar General of India, Election Commission, Sixthly, savings due to Aadhaar is Ministry of Rural Development, worth the cost for Aadhaar. It is Ministry of Urban Development, and because, even assuming that the State Governments) has not been actual cost may be more than what satisfactory. It is also true that is budgeted, the avoidance of black there has not been proper planning money generation of just diversion or coordination between different of PDS kerosene and residential LPG users of Aadhaar or ways of using it alone of Rs. 45,000 crore per year for deriving maximum benefits out of can easily pay for Aadhaar project. Aadhaar (NPR, MGNREGS, BPL, census, In addition there is the additional UIDAI, RSBY, and Bank Smart Card). money savings from improved welfare The fact that the bureaucracy has delivery systems like food, fertilizer, failed or the government machinery MNREGA etc for which Aadhaar has not done its job in coming with can be used. A recent Karnataka an efficient ways of making use of Lokayuktas report estimated that new technology like Aadhaar should the misuse of food subsidy alone not reduce its usefulness. costs more than Rs. 1740 crores per year for Karnataka. Ninth, concerns raised by the SCoF are
and Aadhaar in India. A country like the US where privacy issues, human rights, etc are high on the agendas has not found any problem. Aadhaar is really a more sophisticated concept for SSN of the US. If the US were to implement SSN now, more than likely they would develop a scheme like Indias Aadhaar. SSN is given to any legal resident of the US and so also Aadhaar. SSN has not created any serious issue. The same will be the case with Aadhaar. It can be argued that India has leapfrogged the US by implementing Aadhaar.
Seventhly, 50 countries are using biometric technology for various identification purposes. A report published by International Telecommunication Union in 2009 should remove any doubt people may have about the use of biometric tool for individual identification. That report has the following conclusions:
either irrelevant or inconsequential. There are several nit picking issues raised against Aadhaar in SCoF to question its usefulness. For example is Aadhaar mandatory or not? For those who do not want to avail themselves of welfare assistance it is not mandatory. Human rights and privacy activists should appreciate such a position. Is ration card mandatory today? Its not! However, for those who want subsidized food items or PDS kerosene it is mandatory. Is there anything wrong in imposing Aadhaar on the beneficiaries to ensure there is no leakage? Aadhaar can definitely serve to identify but not as a proof of address. Is there anything wrong with that? Can drivers license issued many years back or old water/telephone/ electricity bills serve as proof? Aadhaar is only to serve as identity from beginning and not serve any other purposes. Only with the purpose of throwing superstition of Aadhaar these nit picking issues are raised. It is very unfortunate that the staff of SCoF has not done a creditable job in advising only they had done an unbiased review and ended with some specific recommendations to make better use of Aadhaar.
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Conclusion
Standing Committees in any Parliamentary democracy are the bulwark of law-making. The recommendations of it are of bipartisan nature and are in the best interest of the country. Let us respect that. They are the appropriate people, they are our representatives. Yet Aadhar is a project not to be discarded with altogether because the only purpose of Aadhar is to serve as identity from beginning and not any other purposes. Just like Lokpal bill, it can help reduce corruption, proper and well planned use of Aadhaar can have transformational impact. The beauty of any functioning democracy is the public opinion, thus, it is essential that rather than killing Aadhaar, lets give room for constructive policy making as Aadhar has all the potential to be a game changer.
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INDIA PREPARES
that was found in the Indonesian island of Bali, the Javan Tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica) that was found in the Indonesian island of Java and the Caspian Tiger (Panthera tigris virgata) that was found in Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkey, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Caucasus, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Recent reports indicate that the South China tiger is also extinct in the wild. Recent genetic studies indicate that the Caspian and Siberian tigers may have been the same sub species. Tiger is a unique animal which plays a pivotal role in the health and diversity of an ecosystem. It is a top predator and is at the apex of the food chain. Therefore the presence of tigers in the forest is an indicator of the well-being of the ecosystem. Protection of tigers in forests protects habitats of several other species. Indirect benefits include protection of rivers and other water sources, prevention of soil erosion and improvement of ecological services like pollination, water table retention etc. The absence of this top predator is an indication that its ecosystem is not sufficiently protected.
that in the last 10 years, tiger habitat decreased by an alarming 45%. Today, tigers occupy just 7% of their historic range. The decline in the tiger population in India can be attributed to many factors. The major reason is the growth in human population. Since independence large chunks of prime tiger habitats have been lost forever to agriculture and developmental activities. In India till the middle of the last century, people killed tigers in the name of sport. Today, increasing biotic disturbances, uncontrolled poaching of prey, urbanization, mining and poaching of tiger for its body parts gravely threaten the future of the tiger. Bones and other body parts of the tigers are used in Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCM) and their skins are used for making Chubas (the traditional robe worn by the Tibetans). It is this illegal market for tiger skins and parts in China and Tibet that remains as one of the most serious threats to wild tiger populations in India. Since India and Nepal provide habitat to about two-thirds of the surviving tiger population in the world, these two nations became prime targets for poaching and illegal trading. The Indian Board for Wildlife (IBWL) is the top notch advisory body in the field of Wildlife Conservation in the country and is headed by the Prime Minister of India.
Project Tiger
India was the first country in the world to champion the cause of conservation of the tiger and its natural habitats. Project Tiger, launched in 1973, was one of the largest conservation initiatives of its kind globally. After a great success initially, it has had mixed results. Under the same, a few sites in India were identified and named as Tiger Reserves. Special efforts were then carried out in these reserves to save the tiger. Some of the main aims of Project Tiger are as follows. Elimination of all kinds of human activity in the core zones and minimization of activity in the buffer zone. Assessing the damage done to the eco-system by human activity and efforts to recover it to its original form. Monitoring the changes taking place and studying the reasons for the same. Plans are in progress to develop wireless communication systems to curb the problem of poaching. Steps like the shifting of villages outside the core area, control of livestock grazing in tiger reserves and researching data about environmental changes have also shown positive impact.
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Indian Scenario
Tigers in the wild are facing severe threats. There has been steep decline in the tiger population all across the world. A World Wildlife Fund (WWF) - Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) survey found
INDIA PREPARES
Objective of Project Tiger India: Project Tiger was a centrally sponsored scheme of Government of India. Its main objective was to ensure revival of Tiger population in India. It further includes management of wildlife, sitespecific eco-development & site specific protection measures to provide alternate solution to local villagers so that they would not enter into tiger reserve for their household needs. When project was launched, nine prominent National Parks were included comprising 268 tigers. Since then, Project Tiger has covered long distance of success. At present counting of Tiger Reserves has rose to 41 comprising 1411 tigers. Land available to tiger reserves has also been increased from 16, 339 sq.km. to 53,547 sq.km. Initiatives taken by Project Tiger: Project tiger has worked with the objective to relieve certain area of Tiger Reserve from biotic disturbances and forestry operations like grazing, human disturbance, collection of minor forest produce, commercial activities etc. At the same time if there is any village lies in that area, seek for relocation of such villages to distant place. Such disturbance free area was named Core Zone of Tiger reserve. Similarly adjoining area of corezone was acquired to provide habitat supplement to over population of wild animals, grazing to adjoining village cattle, for commercial wildlife resorts, settlement of relocated villages etc. Such adjoining area of core zone was named Buffer Zone of tiger reserve. Project has also aimed to seek due cooperation and coordination of local villagers in objective of wildlife conservation in Tiger Reserve. There are many labour intensive activities in tiger reserves like patrolling, tiger tracking, forest guarding, track maintenance etc in which local villagers can play vital role and participation in wildlife conservation programmes of Project Tiger. Such participation will create awareness among them for wildlife conservation and make them feel as if
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habitat, grazing lands for livestock have been converted to crops or degraded by Recent Initiatives by National excessive use; livestock is of poor quality Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA): and of poor productivity; wood for fuel Considering the urgency of the situation, and building has been exhausted; and Project Tiger has been converted into a sources of income are limited. The statutory authority (NTCA) by providing rehabilitation of the natural resource enabling provisions in the Wild Life base of local people is essential if they (Protection) Act, 1972 through an are not to seek their requirements in amendment, viz. Wild Life (Protection) protected areas. This requires ecoAmendment Act, 2006. Some of the development with the support and cooperation of specialized government recent initiatives taken by NTCA are: organs and the non-governmental Declaration of nine new tiger reserves conservation community. and in-principle approval accorded It is regrettable that for wildlife for creation of four new reserves crime to be taken seriously or to Biligiri in Karnataka, Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh, Ratapani in Madhya Pradesh become a law enforcement priority, it is first crucial to establish links and Sunabeda in Orissa. between that wildlife transgression and A Global Tiger Forum of Tiger organized crime or terrorism. The illegal Range Countries has been created harvesting, the cross-border smuggling for addressing international issues and the illegal trade in natural resources related to tiger conservation. involves substantial levels of criminality. As part of active management to Wildlife crime threatens food, biorebuild Sariska and Panna tiger and national-security; it weakens the reserves where tigers have become governance of many States, it raises the locally extinct, reintroduction of risks of spreading virulent diseases, and tigers have been done. it shows no signs of declining. When one Special advisories issued for in- species is depleted or brought to the situ build-up of prey base and tiger brink of extinction, attention shifts to population through active management another one. in tiger reserves having low population The fight to save the tiger extends status of tiger and its prey. well beyond its habitat. The actual site where a tiger is poached can be the CONCLUSION start of a long chain of criminality Local institutions and people Scientists a chain that may stretch from forests, who were closely involved in managing through rural villages, to large cities, tigers at the local level, pointed out an across provincial and national borders, important lesson more than a decade via land, air and sea ports or crossing ago: unless local community needs are points, until the tigers body parts are met, conservation of the tiger will not finally delivered to clandestine markets, succeed and protected areas will perish. dealers and consumers, often many Therefore, conservation programmes thousands of kilometers from where the must reconcile the interests of people and animal was killed. tigers. In most situations, a sustainable Given the nature and scale of the tiger conservation strategy cannot be risk posed to biodiversity by illegal trade achieved without the full participation and collective action of individual rural in wildlife, it is now acknowledged that households whose livelihoods depend on a more organized and sophisticated rights of access and use of the forests response needs to be taken by the law enforcement community to tackling the where tigers live. problem. And in every effort to rekindle Conservation of tiger habitat and of the dwindling ecosystems, a consorted prey in many areas peripheral to tiger participation of the people is a must.
INDIA PREPARES
Inspirations@IP
INSPIRATIONS@IP...
Concern for man and his fate must always form the chief interest of all technical endeavors. Never forget this in the midst of your diagrams and equations.
ALBERT EINSTEIN
Albert Einstein (14 March 1879 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history. Einstein always appeared to have a clear view of the problems of physics and the determination to solve them. He had a strategy of his own and was able to visualize the main stages on the way to his goal. He regarded his major achievements as mere stepping-stones for the next advance.
As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality. At the start of his scientific work, Einstein realized the inadequacies of Newtonian mechanics and his special theory of relativity stemmed from an attempt to reconcile the laws of mechanics with the laws of the electromagnetic field. He dealt with classical problems of statistical mechanics and problems in which they were merged with quantum theory: this led to an explanation of the Brownian movement of molecules. He investigated the thermal properties of light with a low radiation density and his observations laid the foundation of the photon theory of light. By 1908, he was recognized as a leading scientist, and he was appointed lecturer at the University of Bern. The following year, he quit the patent office and the lectureship to take the position of physics docent at the University of Zurich. He became a full professor at Karl-Ferdinand University in Prague in 1911. In 1914, he returned to Germany after being appointed director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics (19141932) and a professor at the Humboldt University of Berlin, with a special clause in his contract that freed him from most teaching obligations. He became a member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences. In 1916, Einstein was appointed president of the German Physical Society (19161918). During 1911, he had calculated that, based on his new theory of general relativity, light from another
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[I do not] carry such information in my mind since it is readily available in books. ...The value of a college education is not the learning of many facts but the training of the mind to think. The Einsteins were non-observant Jews. Albert attended a Catholic elementary school from the age of five for three years. Later, at the age of eight, Einstein was transferred to the Luitpold Gymnasium where he received advanced primary and secondary school education until he left Germany seven years later. Although it has been thought that Einstein had early speech difficulties, this is disputed by the Albert Einstein Archives, and he excelled at the first school that he attended. His father once showed him a pocket compass; Einstein realized that there must be something causing the needle to move, despite the apparent empty space. As he grew, Einstein built models and mechanical devices for fun and began to show a talent for mathematics.
star would be bent by the Suns gravity. That prediction was claimed confirmed by observations made by a British expedition led by Sir Arthur Eddington during the solar eclipse of 29 May 1919. International media reports of this made Einstein world famous. On 7 November 1919, the leading British newspaper The Times printed a banner headline that read: Revolution in Science New Theory of the Universe Newtonian Ideas Overthrown. (Much later, questions were raised whether the measurements had been accurate enough to support Einsteins theory).
INDIA PREPARES
Inspirations@IP
During 1921, Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his explanation of the photoelectric effect, as Relativity was considered still somewhat controversial, receiving also
the Copley Medal from the Royal Society during 1925. In his early days in Berlin, Einstein postulated that the correct interpretation of the special theory of relativity must
also furnish a theory of gravitation and in 1916 he published his paper on the general theory of relativity. During this time he also contributed to the problems of the theory of radiation and statistical mechanics.
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INDIA PREPARES
Inspirations@IP
In the 1920s, Einstein embarked on the construction of unified field theories, although he continued to work on the probabilistic interpretation of quantum theory, and he persevered with this work in America. He contributed to statistical mechanics by his development of the quantum theory of a monatomic gas and he has also accomplished valuable work in connection with atomic transition probabilities and relativistic cosmology. Try and penetrate with our limited means the secrets of nature and you will find that, behind all the discernible concatenations, there remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable. Veneration for this force beyond anything that we can comprehend is my religion. To that extent I am, in point of fact, religious. Einsteins researches are, of course, well chronicled and his more important works include Special Theory of Relativity (1905), Relativity (English translations,
1920 and 1950), General Theory of Relativity (1916), Investigations on Theory of Brownian Movement (1926), and The Evolution of Physics (1938). Among his non-scientific works, About Zionism (1930), Why War?(1933), My Philosophy (1934), and Out of My Later Years (1950) are perhaps the most inspiring. A human being is a part of the whole that we call the universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest- a kind of optical illusion of his consciousness. This illusion is a prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for only the few people nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from the prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living beings and all of nature. Throughout the last years of his
life, Einstein continued his quest for a unified field theory. Though he published an article on the theory in Scientific American in 1950, it remained unfinished when he died, of an aortic aneurysm, five years later. In the decades following his death, Einsteins reputation and stature in the world of physics only grew, as physicists began to unravel the mystery of the so-called strong force (the missing piece of his unified field theory) and space satellites further verified the principles of his cosmology. Einstein wasnt an inventor. Although, if he had wanted to be he would probably have been a rather good one. He was a theoretical physicist. He concepts (and supporting mathematics) are used every day in various fields, including astronomy, mathematics, physics, space travel, communications, and many others. He didnt just come up with a couple of interesting concepts. His work changed the nature of physics and related sciences.
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One day I decided to quit... I quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality... I wanted to quit my life. I went to the woods to have one last talk with God. God, I said. Can you give me one good reason not to quit? His answer surprised me... Look around, He said. Do you see the fern and the bamboo? Yes, I replied. When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took a very good care of them. I gave them light. I gave them water. The fern quickly grew from the earth. Its brilliant green covered the floor. Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo. In the second year, the fern grew more vibrant and plentiful. And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo, He said. In the third year, there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. But I would not quit. In the fourth year, again, there was nothing from the bamboo seed. I would not quit, He said Then in the fifth year a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. Compared to the fern it was seemingly small and insignificant... But just 6 months later the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall. It had spent the five years growing roots. Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive. I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle. He said to me. Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots? I would not quit on the bamboo. Neither will I ever quit on you. Dont compare yourself to others, He said. The bamboo had a different purpose than the fern. Yet, they both make the forest beautiful. Your time will come, God said to me. You will rise high! How high should I rise? I asked. How high will the bamboo rise? He asked in return. As high as it can? I questioned. Yes, He said. Give me glory by rising as high as you can.
Do Not Quit
INDIA PREPARES
Mosaic
Experts advice
In order to help the candidates to identify what questions can be generated from the application form; INDIA PREPARES has divided the form in four parts. First part was discussed in the December-2011 issue and second and third part in January and February-2012 issues respectively. We hope that this initiative is going to help those candidates who have just cleared their mains exam. Here is the fourth and the last part... S.NO. INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED IN APPLICATION FORM Home state PROBABLE QUESTIONS WHICH CAN BE RAISED FROM THE DATA PROVIDED
1.
What is the speciality of your state in terms of cultural matters, financial matters, political affairs etc? What is the current GDP growth rate of your state and its ranking among various states? What is the slogan of your state? Candidates must be aware of any new slogan of their state and issues related with it e.g. vibrant Gujarat and Amitabh Bachchan as its brand ambassador, tourism of Madhya Pradesh and issue of tigers etc. You must be aware of the common problems in your state and if your state is larger in area then the regional problems are also important. For example, candidates from Uttar Pradesh must be aware of problems in Bundelkhand, Poorvanchal, western up; the students of Rajasthan must be aware of problems in Marwad region. Status of minorities and deprived section is also important such as caste violence in Bihar, Godhra violence in Gujarat, problems of kashmiri pundits in Kashmir valley, persecution of tribes in Chhattisgarh and Odisha. Students from comparatively developed region must be well prepared for social problems in their native regions such as discrimination of linguistic minorities in Mumbai, gender related imbalance in Punjab & Haryana , problems which is being faced by NRIs in Gujarat & Punjab . Strategic and economic importance of your state such as importance of Lakshwadeep and Andaman & Nicobar Islands, the recent issues related to any particular state such as issue of naked dance in Andaman & Nicobar by a tribal woman etc. CMs of some states are gaining international importance such as Nitish kumar, Narendra modi, Ms Mayawati so be a little bit diplomatic while answering questions related to these issues. The issues of centre state relations and recent issues of discord such as NCTC, NRHM scams, the issue of emergence of various regional political parties and their influence on the issues of national interests for their parochial interests. Some students give preference to IPS over IAS or IFS to IAS. They must have strong, solid, rational, practical and objective reasons for that and not stereotyped answers. Preferences of IRS (IT) to IRS (C&E) and vice versa are some common question. So be prepared for that. Preference of group B police & civil services in comparison to other group A services is also many a times being questioned. Students must be very specific in selection of services from 6th preference to 24th preference and prepare a list of advantages and disadvantages of these services with respect to the choices they have made. A candidate who is already in a group B service and is opting for a group B service of UPSC must be ready to get a question on it. An already selected candidate is being supposed to have the knowledge of all the services. The issue of ongoing confrontation between IAS and IPS will lead to lot of questions. The recent confrontation between IAS lobby and IPS lobby in Uttar Pradesh can also raise lots of questions.
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2.
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Mosaic
3.
4.
Preference of a cadre Why preference for home cadre if opting home state on preference or why not preference for the home cadre if not opting it on preference? Some students opt for more developed states of the country in their preference list prior to the other states. They must be aware that the economically developed regions also have lots of social problems and they can bring out these points in support of their preference. Some people accord the least preference to the regions which are naxal affected, so prepare an answer on this probable question. Most of the students are having a different preference for IAS and a different preference for IPS. Why it is so? North Indian students give less preference to south Indian states and south Indian students give less to north Indian states. Why is this discrepancy? Some cadres are mixed ones such as AGMUT, Assam Meghalaya, Manipur Tripura prepare a note of information on these cadres. Employment information The most important question will be related to your job profile such as what are your activities in your job, your position in your office, type of job such as managerial, marketing or field work etc. If a person is already on a gazetted post than his responsibility in the job is more and questions related to responsibility can be framed. A person who had already conducted managerial functions is having a good sense of administration and questions on administration are going to be asked. Those students who are already having an experience of MNCs and were drawing a good package of salary are definitely going to be asked the common question that why u r trying to leave your previous job and join civil services. Students who are research scholars, then they must be more rationale in their answers to prove a scientific mindset. The form of UPSC has mentioned different natures of jobs such as adhoc, permanent, temporary and questions will be different in relation to these jobs. First differentiate these types of jobs and be clear about it. The pay scale will also lead to a question if you are already drawing a handsome salary. The address of your office will also lead to a lot of questions because it is having various landmarks .the questions will be similar to the questions as asked in the column of address of correspondence. All the data related to agriculture should be updated. Students who have mentioned these awards show their excellence in the particular field and they must be having complete knowledge in the field in which these awards were being honoured. A person who had received an award in GK quiz shows his excellence in gathering information, a prize gained in a debate competition shows that the person is a good orator and he can present his opinion in a well structured manner. As these awards show the inherent qualities of the candidates so candidates should also expose these qualities in the interview. Some awards in this category are of regional, national or international importance such as NTSE scholar, Olympiads, awards by some international organisations such as UNESCO, CRY etc. gives you an extra weightage in the interview. Gold medals, merit certificates awarded by your university shows your educational excellence and the examiner can ask a question from your educational background. Awards which are awarded by some cultural organisations will definitely bring forward the cultural questions. Prizes which were being won in music, dance, and drama will lead to many factual questions related to these fields as these awards also show the interest of the candidate in these fields.
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5.
INDIA PREPARES
Mosaic
6.
Difference between games & sports, indoor games & outdoor games, field games & adventurous games. Recent issues related with sports such the recent downfall of Indian cricket after world cup win, the pathetic situation of Indian hockey, indigenous Indian games like kabaddi, khokho going towards extinction, even after 60 yrs of independence India is not able to produce a world class athlete, should Bharat Ratna be accorded to a sports personality and if yes than to whom, organizing the event such as formula one in a country where a lot of people are dying of malnutrition etc. The resurgence of female in various sports is making India proud by bringing prestige and honour; your opinion can be asked on these issues. Different type of awards awarded in the field of sports, information on the recent Arjun award ceremony, any new award started in the sports category, any important personality receiving an international award. Excellency in sports shows the team spirit in a person and it is very important in national integration. On the other hand the sportsman spirit minimises the hatredness in the person and it helps a lot in administration. Such relations can be made by candidates who have expertise in some sports. What is the motto of NCC, difference between NCC, scout and guide. How many certificates are there in NCC? How many divisions are there in NCC? What is Territorial Army and civil defence? How this can help in disaster management? What is the objective of establishing NCC, scouts and guide? How it is different from NSS. The student must be aware of national youth policy, Nehru Yuva Kendra etc.; detailed information should be gathered on ministry of youth affairs and sports. Captaincy in a sports event shows the leadership quality of the student and it is honoured by UPSC. Position of distinction in the college such as secretary, cultural secretary etc shows the inherent capability of the students in getting things done which is none other but administration. So they can ask questions related to the problems being faced by you while conducting this leadership. They can also ask you about any incident related to these activities and its experience. Difference between hobbies and interests; If your hobby is listening music than be particular about it that which type of music classical, folk , jazz ,rock etc. and collect all the information about your favourite singer or musician. Also gain knowledge about the basics of music such as different tones, raga, sargam etc.., simple science related with music. You must also be aware of any music concert organized recently. Recent Issues related with important music personalities such as the recent demise of Mr. Jagjit Singh. In case of painting as a hobby which type of painting, oil or dry painting; nature painting or humanised painting, what are the different traditions of painting such madhubani, kangra, Mathura etc. ? Questions can be asked from any dimensions of painting. They can even ask different types of canvass, so dont get panic in this situation. Some people mention various indoor games such as playing chess as their hobby .they must be well aware of different types of opening in chess, presently how many grand masters are there in India, how ratings are provided to the players of chess. In case of badminton they can ask about common injuries being faced by the badminton players. Cooking is also a common hobby of many persons. Gather information about Mughlai, continental, Chinese, Thai, Italian south Indian etc. cuisine from the internet and be particular about any one in whom you are more interested. Questions will be more commonly related to health aspect of cooking such different types of edible oils, which type of butter is better for health etc. as all the interviewer are fond of delicious food so they can ask question even on salads, desserts, appetizers etc. role of fast food is also important and prepare a note on fast food and its relation with health. Cultural site seeing is also a nice hobby, go to the website of ministry of cultural affairs
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7.
INDIA PREPARES
Mosaic
and gather information about different states in relation to their efforts for promotion of tourism. Prominent international tourist spots and important world heritage sites. As India is a tropical country so most of the people visit hill stations so collect information about important hill stations in India. Some people show interest in adventurous activities such as trekking, mountain climbing. So they must be ready to get questions on these as well as questions like what is scuba diving, support system required while mountain climbing etc. Playing cricket in my opinion is a national hobby so a lot of candidates have it as their hobby. In this section as I think, they will be asked opinion based question rather than going straight forward for a factual question, but must prepare yourself with some factual records of the cricket also. Watching movies is also a common hobby. While mentioning it in your interview form, make it more specific e.g. Hindi comedy movies, Hollywood science fiction, south Indian action movies, musical romantic movies etc. compile information on all the awards of cinema like BAFTA, Oscar, Golden Globe , National Film Awards , IIFA awards, Filmfare awards etc. different institution related with film industry such as censor board, NFDC, children films society ,film and television training institute etc. any issue of controversy in the film industry eg. Recent issues of copyright, piracy of DVDs etc. , each and everything about your favourite actor, actress, music director, director, film must be known to you. Collect knowledge on those Indian films which gain international accolades such as Gandhi, lagan etc. Technical and philosophical difference between Bollywood and Hollywood movies, mainstream and offbeat cinema, Hindi and regional cinema etc.
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KNOW IT ALL
SPORTS
CRICKET
Snehal Pradhan The ICC has declared Indian womens cricket team bowler Snehal Pradhans bowling action as legal and said the medium pacer can now resume bowling in international cricket. The 25-yearold from Pune, who was reported for suspected bowling action following the completion of an ODI between England and India in June last year, had to undergo some significant remedial work and an independent test found her bowling action to be legal. Sunil Gavaskar Former India cricket team captain Sunil Gavaskar has been formally inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame, when he received his commemorative cap from fellow Hall of Famer and teammate Kapil Dev. Gavaskar is one of the initial 55 inductees into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame, which was launched in January 2009 in association with the Federation of International Cricketers Associations (FICA) as part of the ICCs centenary year. He now joins a Hall of Fame that includes 72 male and female cricketers. Ranji Trophy Rajasthan has won the Ranji Trophy title by defeating Tamil Nadu in the final in Chennai. This was Rajasthans back-toback Ranji Trophy title win. The visitor clinched the final against Tamil Nadu on the basis of its mammoth 326-run lead in the first innings. Rajasthan declared its second innings at 204 for five at tea on the fifth day. The home side was eight for two at the start of the last hour when play was called off. Jiji Irani Trophy Kolkata recorded a 30-run win over Hyderabad in a crucial round-robin league match to clinch the All-India Jiji Irani Trophy cricket. The pentangular event, which came by rotation to Hyderabad after five years, had besides the host, teams from Kolkata, Jamshedpur, Nagpur and Surat. The event, started in 1985, aimed/aims at fostering communal fellowship and sportsmanship among Parsees. Duleep Trophy East Zone has defeated Central Zone by an innings and 20 runs for their maiden Duleep Trophy crown. The match got over before tea on the third day after Central Zone were bowled out for 217 in their second innings, 20 short to make their opponents bat again. The Duleep Trophy is a domestic firstclass cricket competition between teams representing geographical zones of India. The competition is named after Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji (June 13, 1905 - December 5, 1959). He was a cricketer who played for England. He was educated at the Rajkumar College, Rajkot, India. The competition was started by the Board of Control for Cricket in India in the 196162 season. The inaugural tournament was won by West Zone who defeated South Zone. Five Indian zonal teams regularly take part in the Duleep Trophy North Zone, South Zone, East Zone, West Zone and Central Zone. The original format was that the five teams played each other on a knockout basis. From the 199394 season, the competition converted to a league format. tournament in the country is drawn on the lines of the Major League Soccer in the United States. Hernan Crespo, the famed Argentine striker, fetched the highest price of Rs. 4.2 crore and was picked up by Barasat. Fabio Cannavaro, the World Cup-winning captain of Italy in 2006 was bought by Siliguri for Rs. 4.15 crore. John Terry John Terry has been removed as England captain as he awaits trial for racial abuse, but the Chelsea defender will remain eligible to play for the national team at the European Championship. The English Football Association said the Chelsea defender would be stripped of the captaincy until the allegations against him are resolved. Terry faces trial in July on charges of racially abusing Queens Park defender Anton Ferdinand during a Premier League match in October. Africa Cup of Nations Zambia delighted in winning their first Africa Cup of Nations title by beating tournament favorites Ivory Coast on penalties. After 14 kicks were converted, Kolo Toure and Gervinho failed to find the target for the Elephants as Zambias Rainford Kalaba also blazed over. But Stoppila Sunzu found the top corner to complete an amazing 8-7 victory.
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HOCKEY
Junior National Hockey Championship Uttar Pradesh has recorded an emphatic 5-0 win over Mumbai in the final to clinch the inaugural edition of the junior National hockey championship (under-20). For Uttar Pradesh Sunil Yadav scored two goals while Deepak Yadav, Raju Pal and Abhimanyiu Balmiki scored one goal each. Earlier, Punjab defeated Karnataka 7-3 to settle for third place. Imran Khan of UP was named player of the final.
FOOTBALL
Hernan Crespo In the inaugural Premier League Soccer (PLS) franchise auction Barasat fetched the highest price with the URO Group buying it for Rs. 25.15 crore over a base price of Rs. 80 lakh, for a 10-year period. The four other franchises Kolkata, Siliguri, Durgapur and Howrah also fetched much higher bids than its base prices. The first fully professional
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TENNIS
Henrik Ekersund Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has approved the appointment of Henrik Ekersund coach from Sweden to train Indian Tennis players particularly juniors and sub juniors. He will also train the womens doubles players who can combine with Sania Mirza in Olympics 2012. Mr. Henrik Ekersund has been the National coach of the Swedish Tennis Association, Stockholm and their Head coach for Boys under 14. Sania Mirza Sania Mirza has staged yet another magnificent comeback from nearwilderness on the international circuit. This 25-year-old Hyderabadi, by entering the semifinals in both the mixed doubles and womens doubles of the Australian Open, has now achieved what no other Indian woman tennis player has break into the World top 10 in womens doubles. Sania is now ranked World No. 7. For the record, Sania has so far won 12 WTA titles, besides four ITF titles and, in 2011, entered the French Open doubles final; womens doubles semifinals at Wimbledon and the last four in two categories at this years Australian Open. Australian Open Defending champion Novak Djokovic battled past Rafael Nadal in an epic, five-set Australian Open final which clocked in at 5hr, 53min the longest title match in Grand Slam history. The match was longer than the 1988 U.S. Open final between Mats Wilander and Ivan Lendl, which lasted 4hr, 54min, and also beat the Australian Open record of 5hr, 14min set by Nadal and Fernando Verdasco in 2009. Djokovic fought back from losing the first set to take a 2-1 lead, but he was then taken to a gripping fifth set by resurgent Nadal before winning 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7(5), 7-5 for his third consecutive Major title. Djokovic has now beaten the Spaniard in three consecutive Grand Slam finals and seven consecutive title matches overall. Djokovics win, his fifth Grand Slam title, means he joins
a rarefied company. Only Rod Laver, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer (twice) and Nadal have previously won three consecutive Grand Slams in the open era. Other results include:
Challenge in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Conducted as a continental event for the under-15 age group by the International Table Tennis Federation, Mariya had company in Liu Gaoyang (China), Lee Victoria Azarenkas first Grand Seui (South Korea), and Doo Hai Kem Slam Title: Victoria Azarenka (BLR) (Hong Kong) as the Asian side triumphed defeated Maria Sharapova (RUS) by over North America in the team final. Mariyas selection to the Asian team was 6-2, 6-0 facilitated on the basis of her superb Australian Open 2012 Mens Doubles show in the 17th Asian junior table Championship Winners: Leander Paes tennis championship in New Delhi last (IND) and Radek Stepanek (CZE) year. defeated Bryan Brothers Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan (USA) by 7-6, 6-2 CHESS Australian Open 2012 Womens Doubles Winners: Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) and Vera Zvonareva (RUS) defeated Sara Errani (ITA) Roberta Vinci (ITA) by 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 Diptayan Ghosh Diptayan Ghosh has earned his maiden International Master norm by holding World (under-12) champion M. Karthikeyan before Mark Paragua Australian Open 2012 Mixed Doubles joined his Filipino teammates Oliver Winners: Bethanie Mattek Sands (USA) Barbosa and John Paul Gomez in the and Horia Tecau (ROU) defeated Elena lead after nine rounds of the Parsvnath Vesnina (RUS) and Leander Paes (IND) International chess championship. The by 6-3, 7-5 (10-3) 13-year-old Diptayan, a former Asian The Australian Open is a major tennis (under-10) and National (under-13) tournament held annually over the champion, took 26 moves to reach six last fortnight of January in Melbourne, points needed to meet the technical Australia. First held in 1905, the requirements of gaining a nine-game tournament is chronologically the first of norm. the four Grand Slam tennis events of the P. Harikrishna year - the other three being the French P. Harikrishna has clinched the Group Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. It B title with a draw against Dmitry features mens and womens singles; Reinderman of Holland in the final mens, womens, and mixed doubles round and became the second Indian and juniors championships; as well to enter Group A of the Tata Steel chess as wheelchair, legends and exhibition tournament. Harikrishna earned himself events. Since 1988 the tournament has an entry into the elite Group A in the been played on hard courts at Melbourne 75th edition of the event which will Park. The Australian Open typically has be held in 2013. The Hyderabad-based very high attendance - second only to player is the second Indian after world the US Open - and was the first Grand champion Anand to make it to Group A. Slam tournament to feature indoor play during wet weather or extreme SHOOTING heat conditions. It is the richest tennis Rashmee Rathore tournament in the world. Rashmee Rathore of Andhra Pradesh TABLE TENNIS pulled ahead of two champions Arti Singh and Saniya Sheikh to clinch the Mariya Rony womens skeet title in the National Kerala has a new world champion in shotgun championship. The 30-year-old Mariya Rony, a 14-year-old table tennis Rashmee shot rounds of 21, 23 and 23 player, who formed part of the victorious to pip former Asian champion Arti Singh Asian team in the ITTF Global Cadet by four points.
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Beijing World Cup Cancelled The Beijing Shooting World Cup scheduled to be held from June 16 to 25 has been cancelled. ISSF, the International federation governing shooting, has announced that in consultation with the Chinese Shooting Association, it had cancelled the World Cup in rifle, pistol and shotgun, owing to the special security restrictions associated with the 18th National Congress in China. These restrictions are new and were completely unforeseen by the Chinese Shooting Association, ISSF said in a statement. 12th Asian Shooting Championship, Doha Navdeep Singh Rathore has won the junior rifle prone gold in the 12th Asian shooting championship in Doha, Qatar. Navdeep was in excellent form in the final, and thus overcame a two-point deficit after the qualification round when he shot 588 to beat Chinas Liu Liong by 0.9 point, for the 50-metre rifle prone gold. 55th National Shotgun Championship Ajay Mittal asserted himself in a starstudded field, as the juniors came to the fore to declare a bright future, in double trap in the 55th National shotgun championship. The 23-year-old Haryana lad Ajay shot 185 in taming a strong field that had Asian Games gold medallist Ronjan Sodhi, Olympic silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore. Delhi boy Sangram Dahiya was able to push Rathore to the bronze by one point with a total of 183.
AntiDoping Agency, which challenged a Spanish cycling tribunals decision last year to exonerate Contador. His ban was backdated and he is eligible to return to competition on Aug. 6. Andy Schleck of Luxembourg, who finished second at the 2010 Tour, stands to be elevated to victory. Contador becomes only the second Tour de France champion to be disqualified and stripped of victory for doping. The first was Floyd Landis, the American who lost his 2006 title after testing positive for testosterone. Jan Ullrich Former Tour de France champion Jan Ullrich has been found guilty of blood doping by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in connection with the case of Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes and stripped of third place at the 2005 Tour. The CAS said in a statement that there was enough evidence from documents by the ruling cycling body UCI to find the now retired Ullrich guilty. As a consequence, Jan Ullrich is sanctioned with a twoyear period of ineligibility starting retroactively on 22 August 2011. Furthermore, all results achieved by the athlete on or after 1 May 2005 until his retirement (in February 2007) are annulled. As a result, Ullrich loses third place from the 2005 Tour and is also stripped of the 2006 Tour de Suisse title.
Ahdyar, was scheduled to go to the 2008 Beijing Games but couldnt compete because of injuries.
AWARDS
Padma Awards A total of 109 people, including 19 women, have been selected for the Padma awards for the year 2012. The awards comprise five Padma Vibhushan, 27 Padma Bhushan and 77 Padma Shri awards. Padma Awards, the countrys highest civilian awards, are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The Awards are given in all disciplines/ fields of activities, viz. art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc. Padma Vibhushan is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service; Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of high order and Padma Shri for distinguished service in any field. The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year. The awards are conferred by the President of India at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhawan sometime around March/ April. Some of the awardees are listed below: Padma Vibhushan K.G. Subramanyan - Art (Painting and Sculpture) Mario de Miranda - Art (Cartoonist) (posthumous) (Dr.) Bhupen Hazarika Art (Vocal Music) (posthumous Dr. Kantilal Hastimal Sancheti - Medicine (Orthopaedics T.V. Rajeswar - Civil Service Padma Bhushan Shabana Azmi Art (Cinema) Mira Nair Art (Cinema) Dr. (Judge) Patibandla Chandrasekhar Rao, Public Affairs, Germany George Yong-Boon Yeo, Public Affairs, Singapore
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BOXING
Sadaf Rahimi Sadaf Rahimi, an Afghan girl will get into the boxing ring at the London Olympics. Rahimi, a determined 17-year-old student, will get her chance in London, where womens boxing makes its Olympic debut. After the Taliban banned women from participating in sporting events, the International Olympic Committee suspended Afghanistan from the games. Afghanistan sent female athletes for the first time in its history to the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Rahimi, who has the support of her family, is following in the footsteps of Robina Muqimyar, the female Afghan runner who competed in Athens. Another woman, Mehboda
CYCLING
Alberto Contador Alberto Contador has been stripped of his 2010 Tour de France and banned for two years after sports highest court found him guilty of doping. The Court of Arbitration for Sport suspended the threetime Tour champion after rejecting his claim that his positive test for clenbuterol was caused by eating contaminated meat. The three man CAS panel upheld appeals by the International Cycling Union and World
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Harekrishna Satapathy Chitre, (Konkani), (Sanskrit), Aditya Kumar Mandi (Santali) and Khaleel Mamoon (Urdu). Subbiah Murugappa Vellayan, Trade The well-known novelists Kashinath and Industry Singh (Hindi), Gopalakrishna Pai Dr. Suresh H. Advani, Medicine (Kannada), Kshetri Bira (Manipuri), Oncology Kalpanakumari Devi (Odia), Baldev Singh Professor (Dr.) Shantaram Balwant (Punjabi), Atul Kanakk (Rajasthani) and Mujumdar, Literature and Education, S. Venkatesan (Tamil) also received the Dr. Jose Pereira, Literature and awards. Lalit Magotra (Dogri), Grace (Marathi) and Samala Sadasiva (Telugu) Education, U.S. Dr. Homi K. Bhabha, Literature and got the Award for their books of essays. Education, U.K. (not to be confused Ramachandra Guha (English) for his with the dead Indian nuclear scientist book of Narrative History, Mohan Parmar (Gujarati) for his book of short stories, Homi J. Bhabha M. K. Sanu (Malayalam) for his book of Mata Prasad, Civil Service biography and Mohan Gehani (Sindhi) Ronen Sen, Civil Service for his book of plays has been honoured. Padma Shri Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honor Dr. Minati Mishra, Art Indian in India which Sahitya Akademi, Indias National Academy of Letters, annually Classical Dance Odissi confers on writers of outstanding works Anup Jalota, Art Indian Classical in one of the following twenty-four Music Vocal major Indian languages: Soman Nair Priyadarshan, Art Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, English, Cinema Direction, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Shamshad Begum, Social Work, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Pravin H. Parekh, Pubic Affairs Rajasthani, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Professor Virander Singh Chauhan, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu. Science and Engineering Established in 1954, the award comprises Dr. Vijaypal Singh, Science and a plaque and a cash prize of Rs. 50,000 Engineering Agricultural Research (in 2009 Govt. of India has announced Dr. Swati A. Piramal, Trade and to increase the amount to Rs. 100,000). Industry The awards purpose is to recognize and Dr. Mukesh Batra, Medicine promote excellence in Indian writing and also acknowledge new trends. The Homeopathy Kedar Gurung, Literature and annual process of selecting awardees goes on for the preceding twelve months. Education Professor Shashikumar Science and Engineering, Ajeet Bajaj, Sports Skiing World Press Photo Award Jhulan Goswami, Sports Womens Spanish photographer Samuel Aranda won the 2011 World Press Photo of Cricket the Year award on 10th February for Zafar Iqbal, Sports Hockey an image of a veiled woman holding Sahitya Akademi Awards 2011 a wounded relative in her arms after a Sahitya Akademi Awards for the year demonstration in Yemen. Jurors said Mr. 2011has been presented. Among 22 Arandas photo, taken for the New York authors, famous poets honoured with Times, encapsulated many of the facets the Award are (late) Kabin Phukan of the uprisings across the Middle East (Assamese), Manindra Gupta (Bengali), collectively known as the Arab Spring, Premananda Mosahari (Bodo), Naseem one of the major news themes of the Shafaie (Kashmiri), Melvyn Rodrigues year.
The tsunami in Japan was another major theme of the competition, at which The Associated Press won three awards, including first place in the Arts and Entertainment Singles category, for David Goldmans shot of a soldier playing the drums at a Canadian army base in Afghanistan. Japanese photographer Yasuyoshi Chiba took first prize in the People in the News Stories category for Agence France Presse for an April 3, 2011 photo of a woman, identified as Chieko Matsukawa, standing alone and holding her daughters graduation certificate aloft after she found it amid a swirl of debris in Higashimatsushima, Japan. N. Nilekani, U.R. Ananthamurthy Nandan Nilekani, Chairman, Unique Identification Authority of India; Goverdhan Mehta, member, Prime Ministers Scientific Advisory Council, and U.R. Ananthamurthy, Jnanpith award winner, have been conferred on honorary doctorate by Central University of Karnataka on January 28. Mr. Nilikani, who also heads the Technology Committee of the Union Government, was born in Sirsi town in Uttara Kannada district. He is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, and had succeeded N.R. Narayana Murthy as the Chief Executive Officer of Infosys in March 2002. Dr. Mehta is one of the top National Research Professors and heads the National Assessment and Accreditation Council. He was the ViceChancellor of University of Hyderabad and Director of the IISc, Bangalore, from 1998 to 2005. Mr. Ananthamurthy, a contemporary writer and critic in Kannada, is considered one of the pioneers of the Navya movement. His main works include Samskara , Bhava , Bharathi Pura , and Avasthe. Aung San Suu Kyi Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has received the insignia of Commander in the National Order of the Legion dHonneur, one of Frances highest honours in recognition of her long struggle for democracy, from French foreign minister Alain Juppe (L)
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and French ambassador Thierry Mathou during a ceremony at the French Embassy in Yangon on January 15. Mallikarjun Kharge Union minister for labor and employment Mallikarjun Kharge has been presented with Pride of India award by the IndianAmerican community in Washington for his over four decades of public service. The award was presented jointly by the Indian American Friendship Council (IAFC) and India Association of North Texas (IANT) in Dallas. Amartya Sen India-born Nobel laureate Amartya Sen has been felicitated by U.S. President Barack Obama for his efforts to increase the understanding of how to fight hunger and poverty. Mr. Barack Obama felicitated Mr. Sen, 78, with the 2011 National Humanities Medal. The award was given to Mr. Sen for his insights into the causes of poverty, famine, and injustice. Mr. Amartya Sen won his Nobel Prize for economics in 1998 for his studies of the roots of poverty. MOU Excellence Awards Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has presented the MOU Excellence Awards for the year 2009-10. In the Maharatna and Navratna Categories Indian Oil Corporation and NTPC Limited won the award respectively. In the Miniratna category, Engineers India Limited got the award. Individual leadership award in Maharatna and Navratna Categories was given to Prasada Rao, CMD, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. In the Miniratna category, Individual leadership award went to N.M. Borah, CMD, Oil India Limited. The outstanding Woman Manager in PSEs was given to Neeru Abrol, Director(Fin), National Fertilizers Ltd. Hakim Abdul Hameed Award Noted Jodhpur-based Unani medical practitioner Sajid Nisar has been selected for this years Hakim Abdul Hameed Award for outstanding contribution in the field of natural medicine. The award has been instituted in memory of the pioneer of Unani medicine who founded
broadcast journalist for well over two decades, is expected to strengthen the media and communications set-up in the PMO. Mr. Pachauri started out with the Patriot, and then moved to the Sunday Observer, India Today, the BBC World Service and most recently, NDTV India. K. Muthukumar, an Indian Information Officer designated Officer on Special Duty to the PM, and former NDTV journalist Binoy Job report to Mr Khare, who has Secretary-level status. Rajiv Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Rajiv was on 18th January appointed the new chief of paramilitary Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) that guards Indias vital installations, including airports and nuclear establishments. The 1975 batch Uttar Pradesh cadre IPS officer, who goes by his first name only, is at present working as head of the National Disaster Response Force and Civil Defence. L.S. Panta Former Supreme Court Judge and chairperson of National Green Tribunal Justice L S Panta has taken oath as Lokayukta of Himachal Pradesh. The office of Lokayukta had been lying vacant since the expiry of term of Justice Bhawani Singh on May 4, 2011. Himachal Pradesh was one of the first states to appoint Lokayukta in 1983 when the then government headed by Chief Minister V.B.Singh passed the Lokayukta Act. Justice T.V.R. Tatachari was appointed first Lokayukta of the state. Sunil Kaushal Standard Chartered Bank has appointed Mr Sunil Kaushal as the Regional Chief Executive, India and South-Asia. He has taken charge from Mr Neeraj Swaroop, who will relocate to Singapore as Regional Chief Executive for SouthEast Asia (excluding Singapore). Before taking the helm of Indias largest foreign bank, Mr Kaushal was President and CEO of Standard Chartered Bank, Taiwan. He joined Standard Chartered in Dubai in 1998 and has since held several senior roles in Consumer and Wholesale Banking.
My Days in Prison - Iftikhar Gilani The Darkness Inside.- Sahil Maqbool Nirbasan (Exile) - Taslima Nasreen Ukutya Kwasekhaya [home cooking] Tastes from Nelson Mandelas Kitchen Xoliswa Ndoyiya Taras Lookout - Eugene Caputi
APPOINTED/ELECTED
Dr. Sudhakar Sharma The Ministry of Culture on 16th January reinstated Dr. Sudhakar Sharma as Secretary of the Lalit Kala Akademi stating that his removal from office was illegal. Late last year, Mr. Sharma was sacked by the Akademis outgoing Chairman Dr. Ashok Vajpeyi on various charges including non compliance of several decisions/orders. Dr. Sharma had appealed to the Ministry of Culture stating that the orders given by the chairman were illegal as he didnt serve him a show cause notice, thereby preventing him from the natural law of justice. The Ministry of Culture, on the grounds of various legalities involved in the issue, had referred Dr. Sharmas case to the Ministry of Law. Pankaj Pachauri NDTV India senior editor and prime time anchor Pankaj Pachauri has been appointed at the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) as Communications Adviser to the Prime Minister. Mr. Pachauri (48), who has worked both as a print and
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Ma Ying-jeou Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou was reelected by a comfortable margin on 14th January, fending off a challenge from his main rival, Tsai Ing-wen, who criticized his handling of the economy but also sought to exploit fears among voters that Mr. Mas conciliatory approach toward China was eroding the islands sovereignty. Ma Ying-jeou has also named a former top financial regulator, Sean Chen as the new premier in the hope that he can lead the island through economic trouble caused by the European debt crisis. Sean Chen, 62, was also picked for promoting closer economic cooperation with China while he was the deputy premier. Although Ms. Tsai had moderated her partys stance on independence, many voters recalled the presidency of Chen Shui-bian, whose antagonism worsened relations with China between 2000 and 2008. Taiwan and China have been in a formal state of war since 1949, when the Nationalists lost the Chinese civil war and fled the mainland, moving their Republic of China government to Taipei. Since then, China has not budged on its overriding goal: to bring Taiwan back into the fold, even if it requires force.
leaders in 2010 for describing the party at a book launch as status quoist and resistant to social change, and one that rewarded cynicism, family nepotism and bogus groupism. Aneesh Chopra Aneesh Chopra, President Barack Obamas first IT czar and the highestranking Indian-American in the White House, has stepped down after three years of groundbreaking work aimed at advancing the governments technology agenda. Mr. Chopra, 39, played a key role in bringing governance closer to the people through the latest developments in information technology. Suresh Kumar Popularly known as Obamas Export Czar, Indian-American Suresh Kumar is the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Trade and Promotion has resigned from his post. Mr. Kumar has played a key role in achieving the ambitious goal of President Barack Obama in doubling exports in five years. His son, Aditya Kumar who serves as the Deputy Assistant to the Vice-President, Joe Biden, and Senior Advisor to his Chief of Staff has also left for the private sector. Emil Boc Romanias centre-right Prime Minister Emil Boc resigned on 6th February amid public anger at austerity measures and despite praise from the IMF and the EU for piloting drastic economic reforms. Romanian president Traian Basescu quickly named justice minister Catalin Predoiu as the new premier, tasked with forming a government to be presented to parliament for approval. Boc, 45, has been Romanias Prime minister since 2008, when the Balkan country plunged into severe recession after years of solid growth. His government was forced to call on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union for a 20-billion euro ($26.0-billion) lifeline in 2009. In exchange for the loan, Bocs government took drastic measures to curb public spending, cutting public wages by 25 percent and freezing pensions in 2010. But two years of austerity have
impoversihed the population and sent thousands of people in the streets across the country in January.
DIED/KILLED
M.S. Rajalingam Veteran freedom fighter and former Minister M.S. Rajalingam has passed away after prolonged illness. The 93-year-old Gandhian was among the distinguished freedom fighters felicitated during the Congress Foundation Day celebrations last month. Chairman of the Gandhi Bhavan Trust, he worked in Wardha Ashram during the Independence movement and authored the book Bapu Nenu detailing his experiences there. A veteran of Vandemataram, Quit India and Hyderabad Liberation movements, Rajalingam was a Gandhian to the core which was evident from his contribution to the Khadi institutions as chairman of the Hyderabad Khadi Samiti. A.K. Damodaran A.K. Damodaran, a seasoned diplomat, freedom fighter and scholar has died. He had a lifelong attachment to Nehruvian principles. Imprisoned during the Quit India movement after having been on the colonial polices radar for his fiery speeches, Mr. Damodaran spent a decade in the immediate post-Nehru era finessing Indias policy towards its two great neighbours China and Russia with his being among the decisive hands on the rudder when the Treaty of 1971 was crafted. Post-retirement, he encouraged Rajiv Gandhis rapprochement with China, despite spending the distrustful years immediately after the 1962 war as a diplomat in Beijing. R.D. Sharma Science communicator, R.D.Sharma, has passed away. He was 73. A former media consultant at India office of International Rice Research Institute, Sharma was known for his insightful writings on different aspects of science for the benefit of the lay public. Among other things, he was the winner of the Indian National Science Academys Indira Gandhi Prize for Popularisation of Science.
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RESIGNED/SUSPENDED
Harish Khare Harish Khare has resigned as Media Adviser to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 19th January, after two and a half years in the job. His resignation came after the government announced that NDTV Indias senior anchor Pankaj Pachauri is taking over as Communications Advisor in the Prime Ministers Office. Dr. Khare, who was earlier the National Bureau Chief of The Hindu , took on his assignment in the PMO in June 2009, shortly after the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was sworn in for a second term. A trained political scientist with a Ph.D. from Yale University and a journalists penchant for plain speaking, he invited the wrath of some Congress
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Nikhat Kazmi Noted film critic and author Nikhat Kazmi passed away on 20th January after a battle against breast cancer. She was 53. Speaking the language of the young, she made Hinglish the preferred medium of communication in film reviews, charting a course for many critics to follow. She started the much-debated practice of giving stars to films. And she was among the earliest to review films, a day or two before release. Mazhar Imam Eminent Urdu poet and critic Mazhar Imam has died of a heart attack. He was 83. A modernist poet widely respected for qualities of ambiguity and symbolism, Imam was arguably the first Urdu poet to bring the landscape of Kashmir into the realm of poetry. He is credited with enriching Urdu poetry by adding a new genre of azad ghazal. He will be remembered for four volumes of poetry, including Zakhm-e-Tamanna, Rishta Goonge Safar Ka, Pichle Mausam Ka Phool and Band Hota Hua Bazaar. He was conferred the Sahitya Akademi award for Pichle Mausam Ka Phool in 1994, joining an elite list of the likes of Nida Fazli, Makhmoor Saeedi, Bashir Badar, Sheen Kaaf Nizam and Jayant Parmer. Shahryar Akhlaq Mohammed Khan, better known as Shahryar, has breathed his last in Aligarh following a prolonged battle with cancer. As a lyricist, he courted fame and riches with the unforgettable lyrics of Umrao Jaan. As a poet, he catered to connoisseurs of the Urdu language. His first poetry collection, Ism-e-Azam was released in 1965 and he used to co-edit a literary journal Sher-o-Hikmat. A much sought after name in mushairas poetic soirees Shahryar was conferred the Jnanpith award in 2008 and the Sahitya Akademi Award for Khwab ka Dar Band Hai. Wislawa Szymborska Polands 1996 Nobel Prize-winning poet Wislawa Szymborska, whose simple words and playful verse plucked
threads of irony and empathy out of life, has died. She was 88. The Nobel award committees citation called her the Mozart of poetry, a woman who mixed the elegance of language with the fury of Beethoven and tackled serious subjects with humor. Last year, President Bronislaw Komorowski honored Szymborska with Polands highest distinction, The Order of the White Eagle, in recognition of her contribution to her countrys culture. Angelo Dundee Legendary boxing trainer Angelo Dundee has died in Florida, aged 90. Dundee, famous for working alongside Muhammad Ali for 20 years, is reported to have had a heart attack. He guided Ali through his greatest fights, including the The Rumble in the Jungle with George Foreman. While Dundees name was synonymous with Alis, he worked with 14 further world champions, including Sugar Ray Leonard, George Foreman and Jimmy Ellis, during a distinguished career. But it was his partnership with Ali which became one of the most successful in boxing history.
and resources to further integrate space principles into the classroom. Queen Elizabeth II On 6th February British Queen Elizabeth II marked the Diamond Jubilee anniversary of her accession to the throne. Princess Elizabeth became the queen on February 6, 1952, the moment her 56-year-old father, King George VI, died of a fatal blood clot, apparently soon after he went to bed at 11.30 p.m. the previous night. A servant discovered the lifeless king in his bed at 7.50 a.m. On his death, the then-25-yearold automatically became queen, but she was at the Treetops resort in Kenya with her husband, Prince Philip. Later the Lords of the Privy Council met and formally proclaimed Princess Elizabeth as queen. The 85-year-old monarch is the longest-serving monarch after Queen Victoria, who reigned for more than 63 years.
PLACES IN NEWS
Japanese Quail Breeding Centre for Bikaner A new breeding centre for the Japanese quail will be set up in Rajasthan University of Veterinary Sciences, Bikaner. The centre will come up as part of the network programme on diversified poultry species proposed by the Central Avian Research Centre, Bareilly. New Centre for Research for Innovation in Mental Health, Bangalore A new Centre for Advanced Research for Innovation in Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences would be established at National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore with support for manpower development as well as projects on translational research by ICMR. 2nd International Convention Childrens Right to Food on
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IN NEWS
Vandana Suryawanshi A middle school teacher from Maharashtra, Vandana Suryawanshi, has been selected as the first international teacher for a prestigious space programme in the United States. Vandana Suryawanshi, an educator with theVidya Valley School, who has been teaching biology, earth science and general science for 20 years, would join the 19 other new Teacher Liaisons who were selected for their active promotion of space and science education by the Space Foundation. This is for the first time that an international teacher has been selected for this prestigious fellowship of the Space Foundation, which is now 10 years old. The new flight of Teacher Liaisons will serve as advocates for space-themed education across the curriculum and will use Space Foundation-provided training
The second national convention on childrens right to food concluded in Bhopal on 22nd January with a call to link anti-malnutrition strategies to inflationary indices. The convention
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in which about 1,000 delegates from 21 States participated, adopted a 25-point charter on combating malnutrition. The 25-point charter calls for universalisation and diversification of the Public Distribution System under the proposed national Right to Food Act, universalisation of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme, ensuring job security and social security for Anganwadi workers, promoting decentralised/localised production of nutrition supplements instead of readyto-eat packaged material, focussing on the health of adolescent girls and inclusion of micronutrients in ICDS meal among others Lost 18th century Sanskrit grammar manuscript by Jesuit missionary found in Italy A Sanskrit grammar manuscript
of grammarian, lexicographer and philologist Arnos Padre, which had been lost for over two centuries, was found in an Italian monastery recently. The manuscript, Grammatica Grandonica, written by the Jesuit missionary Fr. Johann Ernst Hanxleden, popularly known as Arnos Padre, three centuries ago, is considered as one of the earliest missionary grammars in Sanskrit. Toon Van Hal, a Belgian scholar, traced the lost manuscript to the Convento di San Silvestro, a Carmelite monastery in Monte Compatri in the Province of Rome. Born at Ostercappeln near Osnabrck in Hanover, Germany, Fr. Hanxleden (Arnos Padre) arrived in India on December 13, 1700, as a Jesuit missionary. Proficient in German, Sanskrit, Malayalam, Latin, Syriac, Portuguese and Tamil, the Padre compiled Malayalam-Portuguese and Sanskrit-Portuguese dictionaries. He
also wrote several essays in Latin based on the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, Bhagavatam and Vedanta Saaram. Indus Valley Civilisation Seal Found in Pakistan Punjab University archaeologists claim to have unearthed a seal of Indus Valley Civilisation vintage from the Cholistan desert of South Punjab that borders Rajasthan. The seal in steatite material with the carved figure of ibex and two pictographs was discovered during a survey of different sites near the Derawar Fort along the ancient bed of the Hakra River. The seal is more or less square-shaped and slightly broken from the right side but the image of the ibex is intact. The seal is said to date back to 2500-2000 B.C.
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10. Where was the first India -ASEAN green fund-2011 meeting held? (a) Bali, Indonesia (b) Phnom Penh, Cambodia (c) Manado, Indonesia (d) New Delhi, India 11. Which of the following is/are mentioned about India in OECD report perspectives of global development 2012? I. Low-caste households living in low-caste dominated villages have a higher income than those in villages dominated by a high caste. II. Labour has also moved from formal to informal employment, which offsets the positive impact on productivity III. A focus on labour markets and agricultural growth could spur the country to a better poverty alleviation record
Select the correct one: (a) Only (1) & (3) (b) Only (2) (c) Only (3) (d) All (1), (2) & (3) are correct 14. According to the report of an expert group on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Set up by the Planning Commission of India, correct statement is/are: (1) Suggested to create an Indian Public Health Service Cadre. (2) Opposed the introduction of a three-year Bachelor of Rural Health Care (BRHC) degree. (3) It advocated the empowerment of girls and women to enable them to realize their health rights. Select the correct one on the basis of above statement: (a) Only (1) & (2) (b) Only (1) & (3) (c) All the three statements are correct (d) Only (2) & (3) 15. Considering the mother and child health scenario in India the approach to solve the mother and child health problem should consist of: (1) Strengthening womens role in health care provisions. (2) Access to health services should go beyond maternal and child health. (3) Greater financial and human resources should be allocated to address nutritional anemia, sexual and reproductive health, domestic and gender-based violence and critical mental health services. Select the correct one among the following: (a) Only (1) & (2) (b) Only (2) & (3) (c) Only (1) & (3)
(d) All the three (1), (2) & (3) are correct. 16. The Union Sports Ministry amended National Sports Bill draft. It will now read as: (1) The National Anti-Doping Agency shall function as the apex body to implement antidoping measures in sports in India and its code as amended from time to time shall applicable and binding upon all National Sports Federation and the National Olympic Committee. (2) The proposed law is trying to bring international cricketers under the WADA Code. (3) A fresh clause has been brought that will allow a federation to refuse information about selection of players/athletes & selection/appointment of coaches. Select the incorrect statement: (a) Only (1) is incorrect. (b) Only (2) is incorrect. (c) Only (3) is incorrect. (d) All statements are correct. 17. Read the following statement: (1) Recently the Supreme Court of India has directed the Chief Secretaries of all states to specify the additional requirement of food grains under the Public Distribution System to prevent death due to starvation (2) The bench also asked the Centre to computerize the PDS, a recommendation of Wadhwa committee, to stop pilferage and corruption. (3) The bench passed the orders on a petition filed by the Social Activist Mr. S.C. Agarwal. Select the correct one: (a) Only (a) & (c) are correct (b) Only (a) & (b) are correct
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12. Which Indian PSUs recently proposed to set up $11bn plant near Hajikak mines (Afghanistan )? (a) SAIL consortium (b) Indian metallurgical ltd (c) NALCO (d) Coal India ltd 13. Now a days Government is giving advertisement in newspapers to avoid junk food especially in school age group of children. (1) It signifies New Delhis Call for Action on combating Noncommunicable Diseases in India. (2) It will exclusively address major risk factors like obesity, hypertension & other life style related disease. (3) There has been great increase in junk food consumption in school age group children.
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(c) Only (b) & (c) are correct (d) All (a), (b), & (c) are correct 18. Match the following A. Lee B. Nanmadol C. Able D. Yak-42 A (a) 1 (b) 2 (c) 3 (d) 4 B 2 1 4 3 1. Typhoon 2. Hurricane 3. Missile 4. Aeroplane C 3 3 2 2 D 4 4 1 1
21. The National Commission on Farmers (NCF) was constituted on November 18, 2004 under the chairmanship of Professor M.S. Swaminathan. The Commission presented the major causes of the agrarian crisis as: (1) Unfinished reform agenda in land
the development of tourism sector in the entire country. (3) Target for year 2016 is 100 million tourists. Which of the statements given above is /are correct? (a) 1 (c) 3 (b) 2 (d)1,2 and 3 : Cricket
(2) Technology fatigue, (3) No opportunities for assured and remunerative marketing (4) Adverse meteorological factors (a) Only 1 and 2 (b) Only 2 and 3 (c) Only 3 and 4 (d) All of the above 22. Government of India Instituted Rajiv Gandhi khel Ratna awards to honour the sports persons and teams . Regarding above award, identify the correct statement. (1) First Rajiv Gandhi khel ratna award was given to Sachin Tendulkar. (2) Award was instituted in the year 1991-92. (3) Till today, maximum dominance in awards tally goes to shooting. (a) 1 only (c)1 and 3 (b) 2 only (d) 2 and 3
25. Identify the incorrect match (1) Dennis Ritchie (2) Homai vyarawalla : Photography (3) Peter roebuck : C Programming (4) Hattangadi Shashidhar : Urology Correct option is: (a)1 and 2 (b)2 and 3 (c)1 and 3 (d) 1 and 4 26. Consider the following statements (1) Pravasi bharatiya divas (PBD) was started on the recommendation of HLC (high level committee) headed by L.M.Singhvi. (2) Theme for 10 PBD is Global Indian: Inclusive Growth (3) Chief Guest of Tenth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas was Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Which of the statements given above is /are correct? (a) 1, 2 and 3 (c) 1 and 3 (b) 2 and 3 (d) 1 and 2
19. The Petroleum and Minerals Pipelines (Acquisition of Right of User in Land) Amendment Bill, 2010 has enhanced the punishment for any person making unauthorised connection with a pipeline or damages the pipeline or extracts petroleum from the pipeline or disrupts supplies to ten years imprisonment and a fine. For subsequent offences the person shall be liable to rigorous imprisonment between three to ten years. Earlier, the punishment varied between (a) Three months and six months (b) Six months and three years (c) Two years and Seven years (d) Six months and Five years 20. Direct Taxes Code Bill, 2010 entails which of the following features? (1) Companies will be taxed at 30% of business income. (2) Foreign companies shall pay an additional branch profits tax of 15%. (3) Non-profit organisations will be taxed at 15%. (4) The Bill differentiates between short term and long term capital gains for all assets except securities listed on stock exchanges. (a) 1, 2 and 3 (b) 1, 2 and 4 (c) 2, 3 and 4 (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
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23. For the year 2009 Jawahar Lal Nehru award for International Understanding is presented to: (a) Angela Merkel (b) Aung San Suu kyi (c) Sheikh Hasina (d) Jigme Khesar Wangchuck Namgyel
27. Consider the following statements (1) In 19th session of UNWTO General Assembly, India has been made chairman of the United Nation South Asian Regional commission for tourism. (2) Tenure of India as chairman will be 2 year. (3) Head quarter of UNWTO is in Madrid, Spain. Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (a) 1 only (c) 1 and 3 (b) 1 and 2 (d) 1,2 and 3
24. Consider the following statements: (1) The Union Tourism Ministry has proposed Rs 600 crore in the 12th five year plan for the development of tourism in the North eastern region (2) Planning Commission has allocate the Rs2500 crore for
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28. Consider the following statements about Vechur cow (1) The Vechur cow is acknowledged by the Guinness Book of World Records as the smallest in the world (90 cm in height). (2) A scientific analysis of its milk has disapproved claims of any medicinal properties. (3) It is an indigenous breed of Tamil Nadu (4) Medicinal property of the Vechur cows milk had been accepted traditionally by Ayurveda. Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (a) 1 and 2 (c) 1and 4 (b) 2 and 3 (d) 2 and 4
The seven Indian organisations removed from the End User\ Entity List can now enter into transactions involving sensitive dual-use equipment, technology, and software. Which are not one of them? I. Bharat Dynamics Limited II. Bharat Electrics Limited III. Solid State Physics Laboratory IV. United Phosphorus Limited Choose the correct combination. (a) I, II and III (b) II, III and IV (c) I, III and IV (d) All of the above 32. The draft for Food Security Bill provided for mandatory supply of subsidised grains to identified beneficiaries under the targeted public distribution system. The draft proposed coverage of up to (a) 68 per cent of rural and 48 per cent of urban population (b) 75 per cent of rural and 46 per cent of urban population (c) 46 per cent of rural and 75 per cent of urban population (d) 75 per cent of rural and 50 per cent of urban population 33. Parliament has passed Cooperatives Societies Act. Which of the following are its features? (1) Cooperatives could set up agency which would oversee elections. (2) Right to form cooperatives is a Fundamental Right. (3) Directors of a cooperative board must not exceed 12. (a) Only 1 and 2 (b) Only 2 and 3 (c) Only 1 and 3 (d) All of the above 34. Where was the 1st India -ASEAN summit-2011 on agriculture held? (a) Jakarta, Indonesia
(b) Phnom penh, Cambodia (c) Bali, Indonesia (d) New Delhi, India 35. Which of the following area/s having shale gas potential in India are planned for bidding in 12th five year plan? I. Cambay (in Gujarat), AssamArakan (in the Northeast) and Gondawana (in central India) II. KG onshore (in Andhra Pradesh), Cauvery onshore and Indo Gangatic basins Correct option is: (a) I only (c) Both I & II (b) II only (d) None
29. Which of the following is/are not correct regarding geostrategic importance of ASEAN region? I. For USA, to counter the piracy and terrorism in this region as a part of war on terror II. For India, this is the only region which is vital to counter the chinas string of pearls strategy III. For china, it wants to assert its sovereignty over south china and East China Sea through its muscular foreign policy. (a) I & III only (b) I only (c) I, II & III (d) I & II only 30. Which of the following is/are true regarding Indias stand on Irans nuclear issue? I. After the IAEA report on Iran, India had voted on resolutions at International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) against Iran II. India has also supported sanctions route to thwart Irans nuclear weapon programme (a) I only (c) Both I & II (b) II only (d) none
36. Which of the following is /are correct regarding inequality report given by OECD? I. Brazil, Indonesia and Argentina have recorded significant progress in reducing inequality over the past 20 years II. China, India, the Russian Federation and South Africa have all become less equal in the past 20 years. III. Across the OECD region, The average income of the richest 10 per cent is now about nine times that of the poorest 10 per cent (a) II & III only (b) II only (c) I & III only (d) I,II & III 37. Which of the following is/are correct regarding proposed amendments to the Exim Bank Act 1981? I. To increase the authorized capital of Export Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) from Rs.2,000 crore to Rs.10,000 crore. II. In the future there is no need to get parliament approval to increase the capital and it can be done by the executive order itself (a) I only (c) Both I & II (b) II only (d) None
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31. Japan has removed several Indian companies from its end user list.
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38. Which of the following is/are correct regarding UNs International Law Commission? I. ILC consists of 34 members who must be experts on international law II. The members are elected by the General Assembly from a list of candidates nominated by governments of member states in the U.N. III. Indias Narinder Singh was elected as a member of the Commission for a five year term beginning January 1, 2012. (a) I & III only (b) II & III only (c) I & II only (d) all the above 39. Which of the following regional grouping through its own funding gave sport centre as a gift to Palestine for showing its solidarity recently? (a) IBSA (c) Arab league (b) BRICS (d) ASEAN
II. Recently Bombay high court upheld amended Maharashtra Municipal Corporations and Municipal Councilors Act of 2011 in which the number of reservations for women was increased from 33 per cent to 50 per cent. (a) I only (c) Both I & II (b) II only (d) None
violent suppression of protestors? (a) Arab league (b) Gulf cooperation council (c) Organization conference (d) OPEC 47. Identify the incorrect pairs: (1) Goods and Services Tax : 115th Constitutional Amendment bill (2) 50% reservation to : 112th Constitutional Amendment bill women in municipality (3) 50% reservation to : 110th Constitutional Amendment bill women in panchayats (4) Lok Pal and Lokayuktas Bill : 116th Constitutional Amendment bill (a) 1 and 2 (c) 1 and 4 (b) all (d) none of these for Islamic
42. Which of the following is/are correct about PHOBOS-GRUNT in the news recently? I. It is the Russian made space vehicle. II. It is launched to take sample from mars but failed & dropped in pacific ocean Correct option is: (a) I only (c) both I & II (b) II only (d) none
43. What will happen if the country is downgraded by the credit rating agency? I. The country has to borrow the funds in higher interest rates than earlier. II. The yield from that countrys bonds will be higher for the investor. (a) I only (c) both I & II (b) II only (d) none
40. Why Bangladesh is opposing for the construction of Manipurs Tipaimukh dam across Barak River? (a) It affects the environmentally sensitive areas of Bangladesh which is under statutory conservation. (b) There is a disagreement between sharing of hydropower generated from this dam. (c) It may make the north-eastern Bangladesh arid and thus affects its agriculture and food security. (d) According to river water sharing treaty, India has no right in building dam across Barak River. 41. Which of the following is/are true regarding reservation for women in local government? I. Only state government has the power to increase the reservation quota for women in the local government.
48. Tension has grown between the United States of America and Iran over the nuclear programme of the later. Iran is threatening U.S.A by blocking the Strait of Hormuz if economic sanctions are imposed on it. Strait of Hormuz connects which to water bodies: (a) Gulf of Aden and Persian gulf (b) Gulf of Omen and Gulf of Aden (c) Persian gulf and Gulf of Omen (d) Gulf of Omen and Arabian sea 49. Which of the diseases given below is included recently in the global list of non-communicable diseases at WHO by seamless effort of India along with USA and Switzerland? (a) Mental Disorders (b) Malaria (c) Cancer (d) Blindness 50. Groundbreaking technology Electronic Nose has the potential to diagnose which deadly disease symptom. (a) Dementia (c) HIV (b) Tuberculosis (d) Cancer
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44. Arrange the following countries in the descending order of their uranium deposits 1. Kazhakastan 3. Australia (a) 1, 2, 3 (c) 3, 2, 1 (b) 2, 3, 1 (d) 3, 1, 2 2. Canada
45. Which is the airbase from which Pakistan asked US troops to withdraw after the NATO killing of 24 pakistani soldiers? (a) Shamsi (c) Quetta (b) Kalett (d) Faisalabad
46. Which regional grouping imposed sanctions on Syria for its continued
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1. (d) Exp.: Oscar nomination committee of FFI is headed by B. Lenin. 2. (a) 3. (c) 4. (a) 5. (c) 6. (a) 7. (d) 8. (a) Exp.: i) India established relation with ASEAN as sectoral dialogue partner in 1992.so 2012 is the 20th year of partnership. But India joined in 2002 as summit level partner so 2012 will be 10th India-ASEAN summit (the venue is India for the first time). ii) It is not correct because in EAS,USA and Russia were the observers so far and attended all the summits earlier. But in 2011, they were admitted as members in the EAS 9. (d) 10. (b) 11. (d) Exp.: OECD report titled Perspectives on Global Development in 2012: Social Cohesion in Shifting Worldwhich discussed about the economic and social dimensions of development in India along with other countries 12. (a) 13. (d) 14. (b) Exp.: Expert group on UHC has supported the introduction of a three-year BRHC degree. 15. (d) 16. (b) Exp.: The last portion of the clause is the addition, and it should provide some comfort to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that theproposed law is not trying to bring international cricketers under the WADA Code through the backdoor as has been the popular perception. The Union Sports Ministry has brought in a new clause in the revised draft of the National Sports Bill and cleared the air that no federation being forced to come under the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA), against its wishes and rules. 17. (b) Exp.: The bench passed the order on a petition filed by Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL). 18. (b) 19. (b) 20. Exp.: Bill remove the differentiation between short term and long term capital gains. 21. (d) 22. (d) Exp.: first prize was given to Viswanathan Anand in 1991-92 23. (a) 24. (a) Exp.: Planning commission has allocated Rs 2200 crore and target is 73 million tourists 25. (c) Exp.: Dennis MacAlistair Ritchie created the C programming language Peter roebuck was a cricketer and famous commentator. 26. (a) 27. (c) Exp.: Tenure of Indias chairmanship is four year. 28. (c) 29. (d) Exp.: i)war on terror is related to afghan and pak region. ASEAN is politically significant for America ii) it is not the only region for India to counter string of pearls strategy. For India, the significance of this region is more economic than political iii) correct statement 30. (a) Exp.: India wants to resolve Irans nuclear issue diplomatically rather than through tough unilateral economical sanctions. 31. (c) 32. (d) 33. (a) Exp.: The maximum no. of Directors has been put at 21. 34. (a) 35. (c) Exp.: recently government has planned to open the bid in shale gas exploration for 12th five year plan. 36. (d) 37. (c) Expl: At present, if the government wants to increase the capital of exim bank, it has to propose amendments and it should be approved by the parliament. This causes time delay in taking decision. So in the proposed amendments, the capital can be raised in the future through executive order itself. 38. (d) Exp.: India was reelected to international law commission in the UN recently 39. (a) Exp.: India, along with Brazil and South Africa, has consistently supported Palestines cause. The sports centre is the first project completed through IBSA funding and two more IBSA-funded projects are in progress rehabilitation of the Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza and construction of a Centre for People with Special Needs in Nablus. 40. (c) Exp.: if the dam is built then it will affect the quantity of water in downstream. It render most of the agri dependent north eastern Bangladesh to be arid and thus affects its food security. 41. (b) Exp.: i) false. Because both state legislature and parliament is having power to legislate on these matters. Recently 110&112 constitutional amendment bills introduced in parliament to increase the number of seats from 33 to 50 percent in the local government. 42. (a) Exp.: PHOBOS-GRUNT is the Russian made space vehicle to take samples from the moon of mars named PHOBOS(larger moon of mars) 43. (c) Exp.: If the country is downgraded then investors will not have confident in investing in that country, so the borrowing becomes costlier for that country. But whoever invests in the country will yield high from the bonds of that country (but subjected to other risks also) 44. (b) 45. (a) Exp. : Shamsi base is located in Pakistan which was given to US for using it as a transit route to Afghanistan. 46. (a) Exp. : In Syria there was anti-government protests for more than 10 months, in that protests lot of civilians were killed. So the Arab league imposed sanctions on Syria to stop its violence against protestors. 47. (d) 48. (c) 49. (a) 50. (b)
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(c) A Newspaper Item (d) A Press Release by Russian Diplomat 2. What can be the characteristics of the Fifth Generation Aircrafts as per the passage? (a) Maximum speed in afterburner and standard modes, (b) Maximum range and thrust-toweight ratio, (c) Shorter take-off and landing runs (d) On-board equipment has better specifications than its foreign equivalents (e) All of the above 3. Which are the nations that have the capability to build Fifth Generation Aircraft? (a) Germany (c) Russia (b) USA (d) Both B & C
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4. The FGA planes that are to be developed, will also be inducted into the Russian Forces apart from it being given to Indian Air Force (a) The statement is probably true (b) Statement is absolutely true (c) Statement is true but subject to certain conditions (d) This matter will be decided after
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(a) Initiating a dialogue process with the IT logistical sections (b) Making the people aware through ICE (read information, communication and education) not to be entrapped by such sites (c) Crackdown on the site owners (d) Taking the help of Advocate General and prosecuting the people involved 7. The average of 6 two-digit numbers is 64, if the digits of a number is reversed then the average of the 6 numbers becomes 67. Which of the following can be the difference between the units and tens digit of the number reversed? (a) 1 (b) 2 (c) 3 (d) 4 8. Three cyclists were racing against each other in a circular track of length 10 km. The cyclist A completes a round in 10 minutes while the cyclist B rode the cycle at a speed of 5 m/sec. The third cyclist completes the race in 2 hours 10 minutes by completing 25 rounds of the track. Who among the three could have won the race? (a) A (c) C (b) B (d) Both A and C
In the figure shown above, M1, M2 and M3 are the three plane mirrors. A ray of light R falls on the mirror M1 as shown in the figure. The direction of the reflected light that emerges out of the system is ________. (a) 90 in clockwise direction of R. (b) 135 in clockwise direction of R (c) Exactly opposite direction of R. to the
16. Working individually A, B and C can complete piece of work in 15, 20 and 25 days respectively. They completed the work in 6 days with the help of D. If they earned Rs 7500 for the entire work, how much did S earn for the work? (a) Rs 2500 (b) Rs 2800 (b) Rs 3000 (d) Cannot be determined Directions for the following 04 (four) items: Read the following passage and incur the best possible answer for the question that follows it: Passage (Q.17-20) The Supreme Court directed the Centre to constitute a special committee forthwith for inter-linking of rivers for the benefit of the entire nation. A Bench of Chief Justice S.J. Kapadia and Justices A.K. Patnaik and Swatanter Kumar, in its judgment in a 2002 case relating to networking of rivers, said the committee should submit a bi-annual report to the Union Cabinet, which must consider the report and take decisions. Writing the judgment, Justice Kumar said: As pointed out in the report by NCAER and by the Standing Committee, the delay has adversely affected the financial benefits that could have accrued to the concerned parties and the people at large, and is in fact now putting a financial strain on all concerned. The Bench said: This is a matter of national benefit and progress. We see no reason why any State should lag behind in contributing its bit to bringing the inter-linking river programme to a success, thus saving the people living in drought-prone zones from hunger and people living in flood-prone areas from the destruction caused by floods. It said: The NCAER report clearly opines that the interlinking of river projects will prove fruitful for the nation as a whole and would serve a greater purpose by allowing higher returns from the agricultural sector for the benefit of the entire economy. This would also result in
(d) 45 in anti-clockwise direction of R. Directions for the three items given below: A, B, C, D, E and F are six friends. Two among them are girls. They decide to go on a road trip on three bikes. No girl rides a bike. C sits behind A and F sits behind D. B is riding a Pulsar while D is sitting on the Karizma. C is sitting on Yamaha FZ and she is the best friend of A. 11. Who among them is a girl? (a) C (b) B (c) F (d) E 12. Who is sitting on the pillion of Pulsar? (a) A (c) B (a) C (c) E (b) E (d) Cannot be determined (b) F (d) Cannot be determined
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9. A milkman has 6 cows which give a total of 45 litres of milk. The milkman decides to sell away one cow which resulted in 20% decrease in the milk production for the milkman. What is the difference in the amount of milk given by that cow to that of the average milk given by the remaining cows? (a) 1 litre (c) 1.5 litres (b) 800 ml (d) 1.8 litres
14. How many triangles are there in the figure given below?
10. Consider the figure given below and answer the item that follows:
(a) 20 (c) 22
(b) 21 (d) 24
15. What is the probability of getting exactly 3 tails in 7 tosses of a coin? (a) 35/128 (b) 3/128 (c) 1/16 (d) 93/128
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providing varied benefits like control of floods, providing water to [the] droughtprone States, providing water to a larger part of agricultural land and even power generation. Besides benefits to the country, it will help the countries like Nepal etc., uplifting Indias international role. Importantly, they also point to a very important facet of interlinking of rivers, i.e., it may result in reduction of some diseases due to the supply of safe drinking water, and thus serve a greater purpose for humanity. 17. The Supreme Court has passed this judgement based on what credentials (a) A Report by NCAER (b) A Report by Standing Committee (c) Both A & B (d) Report submitted by amicus curae 18. SC has said the Centre to constitute a Committee which will submit reports to the Union Cabinet (a) Annually (b) Every Two Years (c) Every Six months one before monsoon and one after Spring (d) Every Quarter 19. As per the judgement of the SC, the inter-linking of the rivers will do which of the following? (a) Saving the people living in drought-prone zones from hunger and people living in flood-prone areas from the destruction caused by floods. (b) Allowing higher returns from the agricultural sector for the benefit of the entire economy (c) Uplifting Indias international role (d) Both A & B (e) A, B & C 20. This judgment can be called as the classic case of (a) Judicial Radicalism (b) Judicial Activism
(c) Judicial Naivism (d) Constitutionalism Directions for the three items given below: In a singing competition there were two finalists Aryan and Shreya. There were 42630 persons who came to see the grand finale round. The ultimate winner was to be selected through polls. A poll was conducted and 45% of the total male audience voted for Aryan while 40% of female audience voted for Shreya. Finally Shreya won by 450 votes. 21. What is the ratio of males and females in the audience? (a) 2992:1271 (b) 2993:1270 (c) 2999:1263 (d) Cannot be determined 22. What is the total number of male votes to Shreya? (a) 16459 (c) 13464 (b) 7626 (d) 16456
(b) If only B can be inferred. (c) If both A and B can be inferred. (d) In neither A nor B can be inferred. 24. All Automobiles are Vehicles. Some Vehicles are Cars. All Cars are Automobiles. (a) All Cars are Vehicles. (b) Some Automobiles are not Cars. 25. Some Ducks are Hens. All Hens are Swans. All Swans are not Ducks. (a) Some Ducks are not Swans. (b) Some Ducks are Swans. 26. Find the missing number in the figure given below:
23. How many female votes did Aryan get? (a) 7697 (c) 16456 (b) 7626 (d) None of these (a) 13 (b) 14 (c) 15 (d) 16
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Directions for the two items given below: Each of the following two items consists of three statements, followed by two statements A and B. Mark your answer: (a) If only A can be inferred.
Directions for the three items given below: The following bar graph shows the distribution of number of visitors in various public places in the cities A, B and C per month. There are no other public places other than those specified
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below. Based on this chart, answer the questions that follow: 27. Which city has the maximum number people visiting public places? (a) City A (c) City C (d) Cannot be determined 28. What percentage of the total visitors in public places visited Theatres? (a) 17.4% (c) 24.6% (b) 18.2% (d) 19.8% (b) City B
31. Which bus covered the maximum distance till time T0? (a) A (c) C (b) B (d) Cannot be determined
but the aviation regulator made it clear there were no plans to take any punitive action against it for the moment. Let us not talk of punitive action at the moment. We are more interested to see the airline back on its feet. Our priority is not to punish...because of the immediate difficulties the travelling public will have to face, DGCA chief E K Bharat Bhushan said after a two-hour meeting with Kingfisher CEO Sanjay Aggarwal and Executive Vice President Hitesh Patel. Bhushan was asked whether DGCA would consider action against Kingfisher for flouting Aircraft Rules by not taking its prior approval for drastic curtailment of its flights. As over 40 flights were cancelled across the country today, the airline informed DGCA that it had 28 functional aircraft, out of 64 planes in November last year. The airlines top brass were summoned to explain the large-scale disruptions in the operations and the reasons. We have had a good meeting. Some more information has been sought by DGCA which will be provided in the next 24 hours, Aggarwal said after the meeting. DGCA asked the two top officials to provide a realistic flight schedule the airline can operate with 28 planes. Sources said the airlines explanation that flights were affected due to freezing of its bank accounts by the Income Tax authorities cannot be accepted. Bhushan said he would submit a report on the discussions to the Civil Aviation Ministry in the evening. 35. As per the passage what is DGCA (a) Directorate General of Civil Aviation (b) Aviation Regulator (c) Guild of Pilot (d) Could be A or B 36. The passage basically talks about (a) Specific case of a particular airline (b) A general dooms scenario of the airline industry
32. Which of the following statements is incorrect? (a) Bus B travelled more distance than Bus C till time T0. (b) Speed of Bus B is greater than Bus A at time T0. (c) Average speed of Bus B is the highest. (d) Bus B travelled with a constant acceleration. Directions for the two items given below: Atharva manufactured and sold belts. The production cost per belt was Rs 80 and marks the belts at Rs 100 per belt and sells it at the marked price. He pays a tax on the marked price of the belts at the rate of 10.5%. Atharva now decides to offer a discount of 5% on the marked price, while the government decides to charge the tax at 12.5% on the production cost. 33. What is the percentage difference in the tax paid by Atharva per belt before and after the change in government tax rules? (a) 10% (c) 4.7% (b) 5% (d) 4.5%
29. What is the approx. percentage difference between the highest number of visitors in a public place to the second highest number of visitors? (a) 14% (c) 21% (b) 19% (d) 24%
30. The figure below shows the speed of four trains as the time proceeds.
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Which train will cover the maximum distance in the entire time period? (a) A (b) B (c) C (d) D Directions for the two items given below: Study the following information along with the graph given below and answer the questions that follow: Three buses A, B and C start from a station simultaneously and heads towards another station. All the buses travel on the same route. The speed time graph of the three buses are shown in the graph below.
34. What is the percentage increase or decrease in the Atharvas profit? (a) 5% increase (b) 5% decrease (c) 4.7% increase (d) 4.7% decrease Directions for the following 4 (four) items: Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow them based on the understanding part of it: Passage (35 - 40) Struggling to stay afloat after cancelling large number of flights, Kingfisher Airlines was recently rapped by DGCA for not adhering to its flight schedules
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(c) Both the above (d) None of the above 37. As per the report, the tone of the government is (a) Strict (b) Conciliatory (c) Forgiving (d) Demanding 38. Bhushan was asked whether DGCA would consider action against Kingfisher for flouting Aircraft Rules by not taking its prior approval for drastic curtailment of its flights; in this instance the airline has cancelled how many flights? (a) 40 (c) 64 (b) 28 (d) Over 40
(c) 1 hr 55 min
(d) 1 hr 45 min
42. Due to an accident 68 km away from shore, a leak occurred in a ship. It was found that the leak admitted 4 tonnes of water in 6 minutes. It is known that 140 tonnes of water is sufficient to sink the ship. If the ship manages to reach the shore just before sinking, what was the average speed of the ship during the last 70 kms of the journey? (a) 65 km/hr (c) 72 km/hr (b) 70 km/hr (d) 74 km/hr
the factory on its side are considered its neighbor. So, each factory has exactly two neighbours.
l
Mr Mehrotra and Agrawal are very close friends and have their factory side by side. Red and Cream colour factories are side by side and Cream colour factory is a corner factory. Agrawals have a Blue factory and Bansals have a green factory. Pink and Blue colored factories are neighbors. Neither Mehrotras nor Agrawals own a corner factory. Red and White factories are in front of each other. Ambanis are the neighbours of Green coloured factory. Bansals and Singhanias are business rivals and hence are neither neighbours nor have factories in front of each other. Patels did not have a Yellow factory and own a corner factory. The factory in front of Bansals is factory is of Pink colour. Singhanias own coloured factory. the Magenta
Directions for the three items given below: In a college annual function, 30% of the total students registered to take part in the dancing competition and 75% of the total students registered to participate in singing competition. All students participated in at least one of these two events and eight students wanted to participate in both. 43. How many students are there in the college? (a) 100 (c) 150 (b) 120 (d) 160
39. As per the Airline official, the airline has (a) Less than half of aircraft as compared to four months back (b) Problem associated with the hanger space at the airport (c) Pilot not working as well as the flight crew owing to strike (d) None of the above 40. What does the DGCA not ready to believe (a) That the government is not supporting the airline to stand back on is feet (b) Flights were affected due to freezing of its bank accounts by the Income Tax authorities (c) All the airline due to the current business environment can only stand if given Sovereign Financial Support (d) Could be A & C 41. A man sitting inside a moving train notices that he can count exactly 26 electric poles in one minute. If he knows that each pole is separated by a distance of 40 m, then when asked by him to tell how much time will the train take to cover a distance of 120 km if the train moves with the same current speed, what answer would be correct? (a) 2 hr 5 min (b) 2 hr
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44. What percentage of the total students want to participate in exactly one event? (a) 85% (b) 90% (c) 95% (d) Cannot be determined 45. How many students want to participate in singing competition? (a) 75 (c) 120 (b) 70 (d) 112
46. Which family own a factory to the left of the Yellow factory? (a) Birlas (c) Singhanias (a) Ambanis (c) Birlas (d) Either Birlas or Khoslas 48. Which coloured factory can be in front of Khoslas factory? (a) Blue (c) Red (b) Green (d) None of these (b) Bansals (d) Khoslas (b) Khoslas
Directions for the five items given below: There are 8 factories, 4 in each side of a lane. All the factories are coloured differently. All factories are owned by different people namely Mehrotras, Agrawals, Birlas, Bansals, Khoslas, Ambanis, Singhanias and Patels. Each factory has two neighbours to them. Any factory can be considered a neighbor to any other factory if it is on either side of the factory. If the factory is a corner factory, then the factory in front of it and
49. Three among the following four are related in some way or the other, identify the one which is not related. (a) Bansal (c) Mehrotra (b) Patel (d) Singhania
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50. Who among the four cannot be the neighbours of Bansals? (a) Ambanis (c) Khoslas (b) Birlas (d) Agrawals
51. In how many ways, 8 letters can be put in their respective envelops such a way that exactly three of them have been put in the wrong addressed envelope? (a) 56 (c) 112 (b) 64 (d) 128
economic interests, it is important to note that businesses can, and must, play a vital role in building a greener world. Today, businesses across the world are committed to green growth and building a sustainable global economy as it will ensure their future growth. There is a unique opportunity for businesses from developed and developing nations to collaborate and develop low-carbon technologies and business models. Low-carbon economy is an area with immense investment potential, but if that investment is to come at the speed the science says is necessary, then certainty is the key. At Copenhagen and Cancun, countries agreed to mobilise $100 billion a year by 2020 to support developing countries in their fight against climate change. Businesses want to play a role in delivering this finance, which wont all come from public funds. Businesses, therefore, need governments to reassure them that their policies will support that investment. India has rightly asked for an equitable deal on curbing greenhouse emissions, given the fast-growing energy requirements to support its economic expansion. India is also aggressively pursuing development of renewable and nuclear energy sources. However, there is immense scope for India to emerge as a global leader in the development of a low-carbon global economy, particularly through low-cost technology. Developing this capability is more important for India, given its vast population that may be affected by climate change. The Indian government must take some bold initiatives in this regard and make businesses a partner. A possible solution would be creating an ecosystem that promotes a culture of collaboration between governments, academia and businesses in this area. This must be preceded by an environment that can help bring in much-needed technology and even finances into such an ecosystem. 53. The writer talks appreciative about the Durban meet. Does this explain the tone of the passage?
(a) Absolutely not (b) Absolutely correct (c) Partially Correct (d) Partially incorrect 54. The writer of the passage is appreciative of the attitude taken by India at the international summit whether that be Copenhagen or Cancun or at Durban-the most recent one (a) Yes (b) No (c) Cant be said (d) Could be correct 55. Low-carbon economy is an area with immense investment potential, but if that investment is to come at the speed the science says is necessary, then certainty is the key; here certainty can better be elaborated as? (a) A sort of pledge from the donor nations regarding the contribution (b) Certainty of the success of investment in the low carbon technology (c) Surety of the problem that is global warming looming over the neck of humanity (d) Collaborating with Science is a must 56. A possible solution would be creating an ecosystem that promotes a culture of collaboration between governments, academia and businesses in this area. An environment that can help bring in much-needed technology and even finances into such an ecosystem. The two points mentioned by the writer should be implemented (a) Simultaneously (b) The first following the second (c) Second following the first (d) Second after a time lapse before the first gets firmly applied Passage-2 (57-60) Read the Following passage and with
52. The length of a racecourse track is 500 meters. A and B run a race and A wins by 5 meters. B and C run over the same course and B wins by 5 meters; C and D run the same race and D wins by 20 meters. If A and D run the same race, then who would win and by how much distance? (a) A wins by 7.6 meters (b) D wins by 7.6 meters (c) D wins by 10.25 meters (d) A wins by 10.25 meters
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Directions for the following 8 (eight) items: Read each of the following two passages and answer the items that follow. Your answers to these items should be based on the passages only. Passage-1 ( 53-56) Study and understand the following write-up, so that you can comfortably answer the questions based on the same: Leaders from across the world gathered in Durban in December last year to find common ground on what is currently the most important challenge facing humanity: climate change. With virtually no headway made since the Kyoto Protocol, there is precious little time left for all nations to act before we reach the point of no return. Governments across the world must give a clear signal that they are committed to a legal deal on climate change that puts the world on track to a low-carbon economy. While both developed and developing nations put forth their arguments keeping in mind their respective
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extrapolating your thought with the essence of the write-up, answer the question that follows it: The Police has been lauded for its stellar role in the fight against militancy in Jammu & Kashmir, but the defence ministry does not trust its investigation into human rights violations by armymen. In 19 out of the 24 cases forwarded by the J&K government for sanction for prosecution, the ministry found the probes to be shoddy. In some cases, the ministry even suspects foul play by the police and is still mulling some of the evidence gathered in other cases. In the case against Major Raghavan R Singh, who is accused of killing a civilian in custody on 15 June 2000, the ministry has accused the police of recording doctored statements of the witnesses to falsely implicate the officer. The post-mortem report reflected no injuries except a scratch on the right wrist, argues the ministry in reply to an RTI as its reason for denying the sanction for prosecution. In a similar case against Major GK Batila of the 30 Rashtriya Rifles, the ministry terms the allegation baseless and framed with mala fide intent to tarnish the image of the army. So far, there has not been a single case in which the defence ministry has found the probe adequate to grant sanction for prosecution. The denied cases include the Pathribal fake encounter, which saw the Supreme Court censuring the army for its attempt to stonewall the trial. In 2000, five civilians were killed by the army and passed off as the terrorists responsible for the killing of 36 Sikhs in Chittisinghpora. The CBI has already concluded that it was a fake encounter. Similarly, sanction is also awaited in the case of Major Avatar Singh, who is accused of killing human rights activist Jalil Andrabi in 1996. But the case against Singh sent to the defence ministry for sanction is not about Andrabi but the custodial death of Imtiyaz Ahmad Wani, a civilian. Incidentally, there is an
Interpol Red Notice against Major Singh, now settled in the United States. So far, the main reason for the rejection of sanction has been that the probes dont make for a credible case against the accused. For example, in a 2003 case of enforced disappearance involving Captain Atul Sharma, the ministry says the allegation is motivated. Neither was any operation carried by any unit in the area nor was any person arrested as alleged, the ministry says. However, human rights activists are unconvinced. If the defence ministry thinks that human rights cases against armymen have no basis and are motivated by malicious intent, then the ministry should file a defamation suit against the police, says Parvez Imroz, a leading lawyer and president of the Coalition of Civil Society. At the same time, there are contradictions in the number of human rights cases. In reply to an RTI query, the state home ministry said that since 1989, it has forwarded 31 cases to the defence ministry and 19 to the Union home ministry, which gives the nod in cases against paramilitary personnel. This takes the total to 50, out of which permission has been denied in 26. In 16 cases, it is stated to be under scrutiny. Interestingly, the states home department says it has recommended the sanction for trial in eight other cases. Does it mean that there are only 50 cases of human rights violations in J&K against the army in the past 20 years? According to a recent State Human Rights Commission report, it has registered 5,699 cases from 1997 to August 2011, of which it has disposed of 4,578 cases, while probes are on to determine the truth in other complaints.
57. Which are the Institutions that say there is acute human rights violation and custodial unaccounted deaths or fake encounter (a) State Human Rights Commission (b) The J & K Police (c) The J & K Government (d) All of the above 58. According to the passage, who is the culpable for not doing with the investigation in correct manner so that the truth comes out? (a) The Ministry of Defence (b) The Federal Government (c) The Army investigating team (d) Could be both A & B 59. The writer in a way also makes the State government colluding with the Federal Government in this scenario. The statement is (a) Partly Correct (b) Absolutely Correct (c) Cant be said anything about it (d) Absolutely incorrect 60. Does it mean that there are only 50 cases of human rights violations in J&K against the army in the past 20 years? What does the writer intends to bring out with this exclamatory question mark with this sentence? (a) Amazement (b) Utter Nonsensical (c) Acute sense of helplessness (d) Utter sense of disbelief Directions for the four items given below: Armani group of industries decides to set up a project in Thar district of Rajasthan.
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69. If Amar and Vijay together completed a contract in 45 days and were paid a total of Rs 25000, then what is Vijays share (i) Working individually, Amar takes thrice the time taken by Vijay to complete the contract. (ii) Amar alone can complete the contract in 60 days. 70. What is the profit percent obtained by selling each Ball? (i) Balls are brought at Rs x per score but sold at Rs 0.8x per dozen. (ii) By selling 25 balls, there is a profit of Rs. 300. 71. Raman has 15 litres of a milk solution which has 70 % milk and remaining is water. How much water must be added to this solution to make it 25 % milk solution (a) 27 litres (c) 32.5 litres (b) 42 litres (d) 25 litres
It divides the project into several phases. The details of the manpower and their completion duration is given in tables below. Refer to the following tables A, B and C and answer the questions that above. Note: For all calculations involving costs, consider the manpower costs with their salary only and neglect any other costs until mentioned. 61. In which phase there was the highest absolute increase in the estimated and actual costs? (a) Design (b) Foundation (c) Construction
completes the road after in 390 days of getting the order, then what is the total amount the factory owner has to pay in the form of penalty? (a) 23000 (c) 27000 (b) 25000 (d) 30000
66. A car, a bus and a bike race among each other in a highway. The bus travels at 28 km/hr in for 3hrs and then 45 km/hr for 2 hrs and reaches the end point. The car travel the whole distance at a constant speed of 36 km/hr. The bike took 4.5 hrs to complete the race at a constant pace. By what distance did the winner won the race? (a) 10 km (c) 15 km (d) Cannot be determined 67. A wooden box of dimension 10 m by 11 m by 12 m is made by using a wood of thickness 50 cm. What will be the inner volume of the box? (a) 1210 sq m (b) 1147.125 sq m (c) 1000 sq m (d) 990 sq m 68. Three cylindrical cans are tied with a thread as shown in the figure. If the diameter of each of the can is 28 cm then what is the length of the thread required to tie the cans? (b) 12 km
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(d) Cannot be determined 62. In which phase there was the highest percentage increase in the estimated and actual costs? (a) Design (b) Foundation (c) Construction (d) Cannot be determined 63. By what percentage the total actual cost outweigh the estimated costs? (a) 33.33% (c) 15% (b) 21% (d) None of these
72. A reduction of 15% in the price of sugar enables a person to obtain 12 kg more for Rs. 300. What was the original consumption of sugar? (a) 24 kg (b) 48 kg (c) 72 kg (d) Cannot be determined 73. There are five routes from town X to town Y and seven routes from town Y to town Z and three routes from town Z to town A. How many routes are possible to travel from town X to town A? (a) 120 (b) 105 (c) 15 (d) Cannot be determined Read the following situation based question (74-80) and endeavor to give the most appropriate answer. There will be differential marking as none of the answer is wrong; only that there is one answer that is most correct and the other options following degrees in their respective correctness. 74. You are DM of a district and are being said to spy on the CMO under
64. Which category among the following registered the maximum cost for the entire project? (a) Managers (c) Workers (b) Engineers (d) Labours
65. A contractor gets an order to complete a road in 12 months (365 days) failing which the contractor has to pay a penalty of Rs 5000 for the first week and additional Rs 1000 per next day, i.e. 6000 for 8th day and so on. If the factory
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whom the NRHM fund is being used for the general populace. Spying has been ordered by the Secy of Health in the State Government to find out the real truth behind the corruption allegation and also to reach to the depth of the story. What will you do? (a) Do as said (b) Report this to DoPT (c) Seek permission from DoPT (d) Allocate the duty to your Junior from the State PCS Officer 75. You are Divisional Commissioner of a Provincial range; within your range there falls a district which has a record of animosity between the SP and the DM. You will (a) Being Loyalty to my cadre, I will support the DM (b) Adjudicate the matter in professional terms even if that makes me an outsider within my cadre (c) Seek transfer of the DM (d) Seek transfer of the SP 76. Being SP of district that is seeing the personal visit of President and an official tour of the President (read Head of the State) of another nation. What protocol must you follow (a) If possible receive both of them personally
(b) If the first one is not possible, than do as instructed (c) Seek for my junior to provide for the President and I be with the President of the visiting nation (d) Arrange for both of them as per their need 77. You being the SP of a place that has seen increase incidence of gun trotting youth in the marriage ceremony; the same has also resulted into casualties inadvertently. What will you seek? (a) Testify for all the guns (b) Make the youth arrest in such incidence a must (c) Make the people more aware about the societal responsibility of having a licensed arm (d) Make all the private guns to be submitted in the District Koshagar 78. In a drug pedaling case, you find a student of a reputed institute with no previous track record of crime carrying cocaine slightly above the prescribed limit, you being the SP; what will be your most appropriate step? (a) Leave the boy with strong but inspiring reprimand
(b) Take the judicial course of action even if it means the boy to be socially ostracized (c) Inform the institute and his parents so that they take the corrective action (d) Use that link to get to the depth of the story, you never know you can find a massive drug peddlers gang destroying the life of such impressionist minds. 79. You are in a train and see a beggar begging for alms and vexing the female passengers, you will (a) Leave the whole thing as it is none of your business, trains have security guard after all (b) Strongly reprimand the beggar (c) Give him more alms and say to leave the compartment (d) Inform the RPF/GRP 80. You are in a book publishing business and you happen to get the question paper from an exam beforehand. What will you do? (a) Inform the police (b) Unable to stop myself, I will seek its monetary benefits (c) Will not care about it (d) Seek monetary benefit by selling it to third party so that it keeps me anonymous
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1. (c) 2. (e) 3. (d) 4. (b) 5. (c) 6. (a) 7. (b) Sol: When the digits of the numbers are reversed then the average of 6 numbers increases by 3, so the sum increases by 18. So, if on reversing the digits the number increases by 18 this means that the difference between the units and tens digit is 2, such as 24 and 42, 57 and 75, 68 and 86, etc. 8. (d) Sol: The cyclist A rode the cycle at the speed of 1 km/min, the cyclist B at the speed of 18 km/hr and the cyclist C at a speed of 1 km/min. So, both A and C won the race together.. 9. (d) Sol: Total milk by remaining cows = 45 80% = 36 litres. Average milk per cow = 7.2 litres Milk given by the cow sold= 45 36 = 9 litres. Difference = 1.8 litres. 10. (c) Sol: The ray will reflect in 45 from M1 after which it falls on mirror M3 at an angle of 45 and reflects back in 45 and falls on M2 perpendicularly amd traverses the same path in opposite direction. Hence, the ray of light will be exactly opposite in direction as that of R. 11. (a) 12. (b) 13. (d) Solutions for questions 11 to 13: The information given is as follows:
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14. (c) 15. (a) Sol: (a) Probability of getting n tails (or heads) out of m tosses of a unbiased coin is always = 16. (b)
m
27. (a) City A has the maximum 3577 visitors visiting public places. 28. (b) Sol: Total visitors in three cities visiting public places = 9610 Total visitors in theatres = 1750
Cn 2m
45. (c) Sol: 75% of the total students participated in singing. Hence, 75% of 160 = 120. 46. (b) 47. (c) 48. (b) Since, Khoslas factory can be Pink of Red, so, his factory can be in front of Green factory. Hence, 49. (c) Others are corner factories except Mehrotras. 50. (b) Agrawals in any case cannot be neighbours of Bansals. Solutions to 46 to 50 The arrangement is as follows:
Percentage = 1750/9610100 = 18.2% 29. (c) Sol: Highest number of visitor in a public place is in Museum = 2486 Second highest number is in Club = 1964 % Difference = (2486-1964)/2486100 = 21% 30. (b) Sol: The speed of train B is increasing constantly that too with greatest magnitude. 31. (a) Sol: The Bus As speed was the highest at all times except the last few minutes. So, the bus A would have travelled the maximum distance. 32. (c) Sol: All the statements except statement (c) are true. 33. (c) Sol: Tax paid earlier = 10.5% of Rs 100 = Rs 10.5 per belt. Tax paid after change = 12.5% of Rs 80 = Rs 10 per belt. % Difference = (10.5-10)/10.5100=4.7% 34. (d) Sol: Atharvas profit earlier = Rs 20 10.5 = Rs 9.5 Atharvas profit later = Rs 15 10 = Rs 5 % Difference =(9.5-5)/9.5100 = 4.7% decrease
Sol: Total work done by A, B, C and D together in 1 day = 1/15 + 1/20 + 1/25 + 1/D= 1/4 So, 1/D= 28/300 or, D = 300/28 So, Ratio of Time taken = 21 : 28 : 35 : 15 So, ratio of work done = 20 : 15 : 12 : 28 So, Ds share = 7500/7528 = Rs 2800 17. (c) 18. (b) 19. (e) 20. (a) 21. (a) Sol : Total Votes = 42630. So, Shreya got 21540 votes and Aryan got 21090 votes. Let the total males be x. So, total females = 42630 x
51. (c) Sol: Three letters which can be put in wrong envelopes can be selected in 8C3 = 56 ways. These three letters can be put in wrong envelops in only two ways. Hence, total number of ways is 2 56 = 112 ways. 52. (c) Sol: When A covers 500 m then B covers 495 m. When B covers 500 m then C covers 495 m. When D covers 500 m then C covers 488 m. When D runs 500 m then A runs = 480/495500/495500 = 489.75 m. So, D wins by 10.25 m. 53. (a) 54. (a) 55. (a) 56. (b)57. (d) 58. (d) 59. (a) 60. (d) Solutions for questions 61 to 64: The costs are tabulated below:
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So, Shreyas votes = 55% of x + 40% of (42630 - x) = 21540 So, x = 29920 Hence, total males = 29920 and total females = 12710 The information is detailed below:
Ratio = 29920 : 12710 = 2992:1271 22. (d) Sol: Total male votes = 1645623. 23. (b) Sol: (b) Total female votes to Aryan = 7626 24. (a) Statement A and can be inferred but statement B cannot be inferred. 25. (b) Sol: (b) Only statement B can be inferred but statement A cannot be inferred from the given statements. 26. (b) Sol: The number in the outer quadrant is the square of one more than the number in the diagonally opposite inner quadrant. For e,g, 100 = (9 + 1)2 Hence, 125 = (? +1)2. So, ? = 14. Hence, the missing number is 14.
35. (b) 36. (a) 37. (b) 38. (d) 39. (a) 40. (b) 41. (b) Sol: Speed of train = 26 40 = 1040 m per minute = 62.4 km/hr Time taken to cover 120 km = 1 hr 55 min approx. 42. (b) Sol: Time taken to admit 140 tonnes of water = 140/46=210 minutes = 3 hr 30 min Speed = 70/3.5 = 20 km/hr 43. (d) Sol: There 5% of the total students participated in both the competitions. There were 8 students who participated in both the competitions. Hence, there are 160 students in the college. 44. (c) Sol: Only 5% participated in both the competitions. Hence, 95% participated in only one competition.
61. (c) The maximum absolute difference is in construction = Rs 289000. 62. (a) The maximum percentage increase is in design phase as the time exceeds the maximum in that phase.
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63. (b) Total difference = 3961000 3266000 = Rs 695000 % difference = 21.2% 64. (d) It is clear that the number of labours employed is maximum and it outweighs the difference in the salary. Hence, the maximum cost incurred by the company for the project is in labours. 65. (a) Sol: Total penalty = 25000 2000 = Rs 23000 66. (b) Sol: The total length of race = 28 3 + 45 2 = 84 + 90 = 174 km. Time taken by Car = 174/36 = 4.83 hrs. Time taken by bike = 4.5 hrs. So, the winner is bike and the runner up is car. The distance by which the winner won the race = 36 (4.83 4.5) = 12 km. 67. (d) Sol: Inner volume of box = 9 10 11 = 990 sq. m. 68. (a) Sol: The length of the thread will be 3d + 2r as the three straight lines are the three diameters and the the three
curved lengths form the circumference of a circle. So, length = 328 + 2 22/714 = 84 + 88 = 172 cm. 69. (b) Sol: From (I) we get that Vijay has done one fourth of the work. Hence his share can be calculated. From (II) we can find the time taken to complete the contract alone. Hence his share can be calculated. So, using both the statements alone we can find the answer. 70. (a) Sol: Using statement (I) we can find the profit percent. Using statement (II) alone, we get the profit per ball but not profit percentage as the SP or CP is unknown. Hence, only statement (I) alone is sufficient to answer the question. 71. (a) Sol: Amount of milk in 70% milk solution = 15 70/100 = 10.5 litres. Water = 4.5 litres.
Amount of milk will remain same in 25% solution. So, amount of solution = 10.5 100/25 = 42 litres. Amount of water = 42 15 = 27 litres. 72. (b) Sol: Let the price per kg of sugar initially be Rs 100 and consumption be x kg. Initial expenditure = Rs 100x New price = Rs 85. New consumption = x + 12. New expenditure = Rs 100x + 300 So, 100x + 300 = (x + 12)85 Or, 100x + 300 = 85x + 1020 Or, 15x = 720 or, x = 48 Initial consumption = 48 kg. 73. (b) Sol: Total number of routes = 5 7 3 = 105. 74. (c) 75. (b) 76. (c) 77. (c) 78. (d) 79. (d) 80. (a)
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SCIENCE QUESTIONS @ IP
1. Which of the following is true about the HTTPS Everywhere project? (a) It is the new version of hyper text transfer protocol used by the social networking sites (b) It is the add-on in open web browser to ensure secure and encrypted communication for the internet users (c) It is the new treatment regime to control TDR-TB(totally drug resistant tuberculosis) in India (d) It is the rapid laboratory diagnostic method for HIV introduced in Africa to detect more number of cases. 2. Which of the following measures will help in preventing sex-ratio decline? i. (a) It is the worlds first hydrogen powered three wheeler introduced in Delhi (b) It is the carbon free fuel developed by international energy agency (c) It is the hybrid vehicle which can run both in petrol and CNG with minimal pollutants in traduced in Delhi auto expo (d) It is the hydrogen powered engine which dont produce pollutants as by-products 5. In which country there was a mild oil spill near astrolabe coral reef, which is considered as the worst environmental disaster in that countrys history? (a) New Zealand (b) Australia (c) Mexico (d) Venezuela 6. Which of the following is/are true statement/s? i. Fibre optic cable will conduct the data faster than the copper wires used in VDSL connections. 8. Which of the following is/are true about black smoker vent, recently in news? i. It is the worlds deepest vent and cloudy fluid gushes from them.
ii. It is located near the midAtlantic ridge in North Atlantic Ocean. (a) i only (c) Both i&ii (b) ii only (d) None
9. Who is the ex-officio chairman of CSIR (council of scientific and industrial research) in India? (a) Prime minister (b) President (c) Eminent scientist with distinguished research records (d) AITEE chairman 10. Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram was recently launched in all states of India except? i. Bihar ii. Sikkim iii. Jammu&Kashmir Correct option is: (a) iii only (c) i, ii&iii (b) ii&iii only (d) i&ii only
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ii. Stringent measures for medical personnel involving in declaring sex determination under PC&PNDT act. iii. More incentive based schemes for girl children iv. Reservation for women in political, social and economic domain Correct option is: (a) i,ii,iii,iv (b) i&ii only (c) i,ii&iii only (d) ii&iii only 3. Which of the following is true about diabetes mellitus? (a) It is due to the malfunction of endocrine function of pancreas (b) It is due to malfunction of liver (c) It is due to malfunction of exocrine function of pancreas (d) It is due to the genetic mutation affecting functioning of liver 4. Which of the following is true about hyAlfa, recently in news?
ii. The quality of data is low in fibre optic cable than the VSDL because of the degradation of light waves used in fibre optics. (a) i only (c) Both i&ii (b) ii only (d) None
7. Which of the following is/are correct about circumbinary planets? i. In our solar system only planets orbit the star but in circumbinary planet system, all the three bodies(two stars and planets) are in motion.
11. Which is the chinas first space vehicle to mars? (a) Yinhuo-i (b) Moinguo-i (c) Tiangyuho-i (d) Pyunghueo-i 12. Which company is producing Indias cheapest tablet Akash? (a) Datawind (c) C-DAC (b) BEL (d) NIT
ii. Recently kepler telescope discovered kepler 34b and 35b circumbinary planet system by using planet transit method. (a) i only (c) Both i&ii (b) ii only (d) None
13. Which of the following is the proposed second Arihant class submarine? (a) INS Krishna (b) INS shastrul (c) INS aridaman (d) INS vikraman
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14. Which country launched Planck telescope in space to map the oldest light in cosmic background? (a) USA (c) EU (b) Russia (d) China
about the controlling the menace of climate change. 2. Attract talent to the study of science at an early stage and build the required critical human resource pool for strengthening and expanding the Science & Technology system and R&D base. 3. To help the ministry of finance to enhance the celerity of financial inclusion, by which just and fair society could be realized. 4. Fundamental strategy to invent new technology to address the endemic disease like H5N1, Hepatitis.
Which of the above statements are incorrect with respect to Organic farming in India? (a) 1 only (c) 1, 2 and 4 (b) 2 only (d) 1 and 2 only
15. Which social networking site recently said that it is having the application to ban certain content in a particular country? (a) Yahoo (c) Facebook (b) Google (d) Twitter
21. Arrange these NASA space shuttles in the chronological order . 1. Columbia 3. Endeavour 5. Discovery Identify the correct option: (a) 1,2,3,4,5 (c) 3,5,1,4,2 (b) 3,4,1,5,2 (d) 1,4,5,2,3 2. Atlantis 4. Challenger
16. Which telecom company recently introduced worlds thinnest smartphone ascend p1? (a) Huawei (c) Samsung Column I A. Solar pond B. Solar Photovoltaic system C. Future Gen Project D. Coal Bed Methane Column II 1. Natural gas extracted from coal beds. 2. Initiative to build worlds first coal based power plant that removes and sequesters CO2 while producing electricity and hydrogen 3. Enable conversion of light into electricity 4. Large scale collector. Codes : A (a) 1 (b) 4 (c) 1 (d) 2 B 2 3 4 3 C 3 2 3 4 D 4 1 2 1 solar energy (b) Motorola (d) LG
22. Read the following statements and choose the correct option: 1. Red ribbon express is launched by ministry of railways along with national rural health mission and others, 2. First phase launched in 2007, focused on information dissemination 3. Second phase added element of counselling treatment services the and
Which of the following statements given above is/are correct? (a) 1 only (c) 3 only (b) 2 only (d) 1,2,3,and 4
19. Department of atomic energy is using a technique for storing radioactive waste materials generated from nuclear reactors. these radioactive materials could be saved only after it is immobilized in glass matrix by the process of (a) Vitrification (b) Froth flotation (c) Hall-Hroult process (d) Bayers process 20. Analyse the given information and answer the question. 1. Organic farming in India is promoted under National Project on Organic Farming only 2. National Centre of Organic Farming is located at Hissar 3. National centre of organic farming implements the National project on organic farming, National Horticulture Mission and RKVY 4. Ministry of agriculture launched this project in the year 2004
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4. Third phase initiate the distribution of medicine to cure the HIV/AIDS Which of the following statements given above is/are correct? (a) 1,2 and 3 (c) 1,3 and 4 (b) 2 ,3and 4 (d) 1,2 and 4
23. India and Russia are constructing the nuclear reactor complex in kudankulam. Read the following statements about the KKNP: 1. An Inter-Governmental Agreement on the project was signed on November 20, 1988. 2. First unit of the complex is 500MW of VVER type of reactor. 3. Reactors are constructed by atomstroyexport, a company of Russia. Which of the following statements given above is/are incorrect? (a) 1 and 2 (b) 2 and 3 (d) 1,2 and 3 (c) 1 and 3
18. Consider following statements about INSPIRE (INNOVATION IN SCIENCE PURSUIT FOR INSPIRED RESEARCH) programme of Government of India: 1. To encourage the youth to learn about upcoming technology
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24. Intranet Prahari project is (a) Connecting all Himalayan states capitals with internet to enhance the decision making and governance. (b) Network Connectivity for Border Security Force to enhance decision making. (c) Exercise of all the forces to upgrade the efficiency to handle the cyber attack (d) A mission at war level to connect the institute of higher learning under national innovation council. 25. With the increasing impact of climate change over the atmosphere, countries around the world are taking an initiative to study the atmosphere by launching there satellites. In this context identify the wrong pair: (a) French : Pleiades 1 (b) USA : Ikonos : EROS : TerraSAR-X
27. Russia is planning to build a VVER reactor in kudankulam. what actually VVER means. 1. Very very efficient reactor 2. Vodo-Vodyanoi Energetichesky Reactor 3. Voltage voltage energy reactor Correct option is: (a) 1 only (c) 3 only (b) 2 only (d) 2 and 3
the chairmanship of Dr.K.Srinath Reddy to provide guide lines to achieve Universal health coverage in the 12th five year plan .read the following recommendation of the group 1. Greater public investment on drugs 2. Effective price essential drugs control for
28. Eurofighter typhoon loose to dassault rafale of france in the indian multi-billion dollar contract for MMRCA (Medium Multi-role Combat Aircraft). Eurofighter typhoon is being built by consortium of (a) Belgium, United kingdom, Netherland, Portugal (b) United kingdom, Spain, Austria Germany,
3. Pooled procurement system that leverages the benefits of scale to drive costs down. Which of the following statements given above is/are correct? (a) 1 only (c) 1 and 3 (b) 2 only (d) 1,2 and 3
33. After assessing the following statements identify the correct option. 1. He was the member of Rajya Sabha 2. Currently he is serving member of planning commission. 3. He is also the Director of the National Institute of Advanced Studies. 4. Recently president of India presented him a ISRO award including lifetime achievement award Options are (a) K.Kasturirangan (b) Avinash chandar (c) Tessy Thomas (d) K. Radhakrishnan 34. The Indian council for research on international economic relations, the Department of Information Technology and the Internet and mobile association Recently published a report about internet impact on the GDP of country. According to the report: 1. Every 10% increase in Internet and broadband penetration in the country could potentially lead to the addition of 1.08% to Indias gross domestic product.
(c) Italy , Spain, United Kingdom, Germany (d) United kingdom, Spain, Italy, Switzerland 29. Operation Cactus was launched by India in 1988 to save the island nation. After this proactive approach of India, that island nation became one of its closest partners. Identify that island nation? (a) Mauritius (c) Sri Lanka (b) Maldives (d) Diego Garcia
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26. Match Column I with Column II A. Ocean Thermal Convention B. Tidal Energy C. Wave Energy D. Wind Power Column II 1. Kavaratti and Minicoy Islands 2. Gulf of kuchch (Gujarat) and Sunderbans (W. Bengal). 3. Vizhinjam, near Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala 4. Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka Codes : A (a) 1 (b) 4 (c) 1 (d) 2 B 2 3 4 3 C 3 2 3 1 D 4 1 2 4 Energy
30. Coliform count in drinking water is done to ascertain (a) Amount of suspended impurities (b) Effect of chlorination (c) Faecal contamination (d) Hardness 31. Who among the following discovered the laws of planetary orbits? (a) Galileo Galilei (b) Nicholas copernicus (c) Johannes Kepler (d) Issac Newton 32. A high level expert group is instituted by the planning commission under
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2. If the target set by TRAI is achieved then additional $87billon can be generated in 2012-2014 Which of the statement given above is/ are incorrect? (a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 and 2 35. NASAs twin unmanned Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) is a milestone to understand the lunar intricacies which are pending from long time. Identify the correct statement about GRAIL. 1. GRAIL was launched by Russias rocket as NASAs rockets travelled their last flight recently. 2. GRAIL will use high-quality gravitational field mapping of the Moon to determine its interior structure. Which of the statement given above is/ are correct? (a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 and 2 36. India response to climate change comes in the form of NAPCC (National Action Plan on Climate Change). This comprises 8 missions, one of which is Jawahar Lal Nehru solar mission. Identify the correct statement about JLNSM 1. Produce 20000 MW of solar energy by year 2022. 2. The Mission will adopt a 3-phase approach, spanning the remaining period of the 11th Plan and first year of the 12th Plan (up to 2012-13) as Phase 1, the remaining 4 years of the 12th Plan (201317) as Phase 2 and the 13th Plan (201722) as Phase 3 3. The first phase of this mission aims to commission 1000MW of grid-connected solar power projects by 2013. Correct Option is: (a) 1 and 2 (b) 2 and 3
(c) 1and 3 (d) 1,2 and 3 37. According to the latest Sample Registration system, conducted by the Registrar-general of India, infant mortality rate of country has shown decline from 50 to ______, and the worst performer state is ________. Identify the appropriate choice. (a) 42 , Orissa (b) 45, Bihar (c) 49, Jharkhand (d) 47, Madhya Pradesh 38. There was a hue and cry on the government decision to tackle Japanese Encephalitis (JE) and Acute Encephalitis syndrome (AES). In response to this, GoM has been set up. Consider following statements: 1. This disease effect mostly children below five year. 2. These disease cause physical impairment and not mental impairment 3. Pig act as a host for this disease 4. Culex mosquitos serve as vectors of this disease Which of the statements given above is/ are incorrect? (a) 1 and 2 (b) 2 and 3 (c) 3 and 4 (d) 1 and 4 39. 38th parallel is famous and heavily armed boundary between which of the following two countries: (a) North Korea and south Korea (b) America and Canada (c) Vietnam and china (d) South Sudan and north Sudan 40. Read the following statements: 1. Indian science congress 2012 was held at Hyderabad 2. Prime minister of India pledge to increase the investment in research and development in science and technology from less than 1% to 2% 3. In sector wise research, investment during this period in pharmaceutical and automotive has increased. Which of the statement given above is/
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are correct? (a) 1 and 2 (b) 1 (c) 2 and 3 (d) 1,2 and 3 41. TROPEX is (a) Joint annual naval exercise of Indian naval force (b) Recently developed medicine for foot and mouth disease (c) Satellite launched by ISRO for Taiwan (d) A new bug that found in study at Lake vostok , Antartica 42. After the nuclear suppliers waiver to India, India has signed civil nuclear deal with many countries eg.USA, RUSSIA. But France is the first country to set up the Nuclear power plant at jaitapur, Maharashtra. Consider following statements in this regard: 1. The complex will Produce 10000 MW that will be largest in India 2. France is offering Generation III + nuclear reactor to India without additional cost, which will have advance safety standards. 3. The proposed NPP at Jaitapur in Maharashtra will be EPR1650 MWe Nuclear reactor systems. Which of the statement given above is/ are correct? (a) 1 and 2 (b) 2 and 3 (c) 1 and 3 (d) 1,2 and 3 43. The Yale center for environmental and policy &Columbias center for international earth science information network have brought out the Environment performance index ranking. Read the following statements in this regard: 1. The first report was released in 2006 and thereafter it is released biennially. 2. India stand as the worst performer in the list and occupy very last rank in air quality. 3. The index report was presented at the world Economic forum at Davos Which of the statement given above is/ are correct? (a) 1 only (b) 2 only
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(c) 3 only (d) 1,2 and 3 44. Ministry of railways will launch a special train known as Damba Diwa Vandana. What is the purpose of this train? (a) To take Sri Lankan piligrims from Chennai to all major Buddhist sites in India. (b) To spread the ideology of Swami Vivekanand throughout the country . (c) It is part of project under red ribbon to educate the people about AIDS/HIV (d) To educate the people about the forest and encourage them for afforestation. 45. MICA is a (a) Missile (b) Wire that will be utilized in optic fibre (c) Major instrument in LHC ( large hadron collider) (d) Nano satellite launched by ISRO for ISRAEL 46. Comptroller and Auditor General of India has identified major misappropriation of fund in S-Band Spectrum recently which has forced the Indian government to setup the committee to investigate the complete deal between Antrix (commercial wing of ISRO) and Devas Multimedia Private Limited. Identify the committee which is not related to this issue. (a) B.N.Suresh committee (b) B . K . C h a t u r v e d i - R o d d a m narasimha committee (c) Pratyush sinha committe (d) C.D.Thatte committee 47. Read the following statements: 1. The Antartica treaty was signed at 1959 , permitting only research and scientific activity 2. Arctic region hold over 40 %of the current global reserve of oil and gas Which of the statement given above is/ are correct? (a) 1 only (b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 and 2 48. The benefits under the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana include which of the following? 1. Hospitalization expenses, taking care of the most common illnesses including maternity benefit. 2. Health insurance cover of Rs.30, 000 per family per annum on a family floater basis. 3. Cashless attendance of all covered ailments. Codes: (a) 1,2 and 3 (b) 1 and 3 only (c) 2 and 3 only (d) 1 and 2 only 49. Consider the following statements: 1. Pauli predicted the existence of neutrino. 2. Enrico Fermi designed the first atomic reactor. 3. The oil drop experiment was an experiment performed by Robert Millikan to identify the charge of electron. Which of these statements given above is/are correct? (a) 1 and 2 (b) 2 and 3 (c) 1 and 3 (d) 1,2 and 3 50. Consider the following statements: 1. The audible frequency range of sound for human beings is 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz. 2. The ears of older people are generally more sensitive to higher frequencies. 3. Earthquakes produce sounds of frequency less than 20 Hz Which of these statements given above is/are incorrect? (a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) 3only (d) 1,2and 3 51. Read the following sentences: 1. Edwin Hubble discovered that distant galaxies are moving away from us. 2. Max Planck proposed that light comes in the form of quanta (packet of energy).
3. Stephen Hawking proposed a new theory combining the general relativity and uncertainty principle. 4. Spitzer Space Telescope (SST), is the fourth and final of the NASA Great Observatories program. Which of these statements given above is/are correct? (a) 1 and 2 (b) 3 and 4 (c) 1,3 and 4 (d) 1,2,3 and 4 52. Which of the following tribes are inhabitants of the Andaman and the Nicobar islands? 1. Onge 2. Jarawa 3. Sentilese Select the correct answer using the codes given below : (a) 1 and 2 (b) 2 and 3 (c) 1 and 3 (d) 1 , 2 and 3 53. Inhumanely behavior shown by tourists in Andaman and Nicobar. Because of this there is a demand of implementation of order passed Supreme Court in 2002, which demand of closure of Andaman Trunck road. Read the information about Road . 1. It is a national highway No 223 2. Road connect the all the islands of the Andaman and Nicobar. Which of these statements given above is/are incorrect? (a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 and 2 54. Consider the following statements: 1. The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act AFSPA was passed in 1958, by the Parliament of India in 1958. 2. It conferred special powers upon armed forces in what the act calls disturbed area in the states ofArunachal Pradesh , Assam ,Manipur , Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. 3. It was later extended to Jammu and Kashmir as the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir)
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Special Powers Act 1990 in 1990. Which of these statements given above is/are correct? (a) 1 only (b) 2 and 3 only (c) 3 only (d) 1 ,2 and 3 55. Which of the following factors can decrease biological oxygen demand (BOD) of any ecosystem? (a) Large amount of sewage (b) Large biomass accumulation and decomposition (c) Increase organic matter pollution (d) Low temperature and low plant biomass accumulation. 56. Identify the right match about AGNI V. (a) It is liquid fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (b) Agni-V is a four stage missile. (c) It has a range of 7500 Km (d) Agni-V will feature Multiple Independent Re-entry Vehicles 57. Identify the person after assessing the following statements given below: 1. He got noble prize for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome. 2. He was knighted for services to Molecular Biology. 3. He received Indias second highest civilian honor, the Padma Vibhushan. Options are: (a) Venkatraman Ramakrishnan (b) C.V.Raman (c) Har Gobind Khorana (d) Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. 58. S-band is the part of the microwave band of the electromagnetic spectrum. Mark the appropriate properties exhibit by this most important resource. 1. It is defined by an IEEE standard for radio waves with frequencies that range from 6 to 8 GHz 2. S band is used for Direct-toHome satellite television, to
communicate with the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station. 3. Space Commission is the final authority to approve the technicality of the satellite making in India . Which of these statements given above is/are correct? (a) 1 and 2 (b) 2 and 3 (c) 1 and 3 (d) 1 , 2 and 3 59. Read the following statements: 1. Majuli is the largest river island in the world. 2. The island is spread in two states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. 3. It is a UNESCOs world heritage site coming under natural category. Which of these statements given above is/are correct? (a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) 1 and 3 (d) 1 and 2 60. Which of the information is not correct about INSAT Coordination Committee? (a) INSAT coordination committee was established in 1977 (b) Since inception committee is meeting regularly (c) Committee is responsible for recommending utilization of satellite capacity by nongovernment users. (d) INSAT coordination committee is headed by secretary level officer 61. Blue Brain Project is: (a) Taken by ISRO to develop a fastest computer in the world (b) To create a synthetic brain by reverse-engineering the mammalian brain down to the molecular level. (c) New scheme launched by Tamil Nadu government to speed up the computer education (d) Project by NASA to connect all Space Agency of the World 62. Which of the following Union Ministries administers the
Nutritional Programme for Adolescent Girls? (a) Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (b) Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (c) Ministry of Women and Child Development (d) Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation 63. Which one of the following heavy water is used in nuclear reactors? (a) Water having molecular weight 18 amu (b) Water having molecular weight 20 amu (c) Water at 4 degree Celsius but having molecular weight 19 amu (d) Water below the ice in a frozen sea 64. Read the statement about HAL TEJAS. 1. is a lightweight multirole fighter developed by India 2. To replace Indias ageing MiG21 fighters. 3. Air to air ASTRA will be fitted in the aircraft. 4. The Flying Daggers is squadron in which Tejas will be inducted. Which of these statements given above is/are correct? (a) ALL (b) 2 and 3 (c) 3 and 4 (d) NONE 65. Which one of the following diseases is transmitted by a vector? (a) Japanese Encephalitis (b) Influenza (c) Tuberculosis (d) Syphilis 66. What is the name of European space Agencys space freighter designed to resupply International Space Station with pressurized cargo, air, water etc. (a) New Horizons (b) Jules Verne (c) Endeavour (d) Cassini 67. Recently AP1000 is in news. What is AP1000? (a) is a two-loop pressurized water
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reactor (b) is target set by Andhra Pradesh Government to provide 1000 rupee scholarship to girl for promoting education among the female (c) Is the guidelines issue by RBI to banks to open bank account for APL (just above poverty line) with just 1000 rupee. (d) Is a new equity index in Argentina. 68. India has built an Indigenous Aircraft Carrier that has recently floated out. Identify some news related about ambitious ship. 1. The first aircraft carrier to be designed and built in India. 2. Aircraft carrier was built under name project 71. 3. Carrier going to name after Indias first aircraft carrier INS VIKRANT Which of these statements given above is/are correct? (a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) 3 only (d) ALL 69. Read the following statements: 1. Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) is a premier scientific organisation of India, started in the year 1914, with Headquarters at Kolkata. 2. It meets annually in the first week of January every year. 3. The first Womens Science Congress was inaugurated by Nirupama Rao in 2012 4. Childrens Science Congress was inaugurated by the former President of India, A.P.J Abdul Kalam. 5. The 100th edition will be hosted by the University of Jaipur from January 3 to January 7, 2013 Which of these statements given above is/are correct? (a) 1 and 2 (b) 2 ,3 and 4 (c) 1 ,2 ,3 and 4 (d) 1 ,2 , 3 ,4 and 5 70. Read the following statements
about Hundred-year starship. (a) Is the name of the overall effort that will over the next century, work toward achieving interstellar travel. (b) Mae Jemison , the first AfricaAmerican women go into the space was chosen as head of the project. Which of these statements given above is/are correct? (a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 and 2 71. Consider the following statements: 1. Witricity is a technique which could deliver energy to devices, such as laptop, computers without the need for wire. 2. Witricity was able to make a 60 W light bulb glow from a distance of 12 m. 3. Radio frequency ID (RFID) also called smart barcodes are small devices that store data that identifies the object to which they are attached. Select the correct answer (a) only 1 (b) only 2 (c) only 3 (d) 1, 2 and 3 72. Consider the following social networking sites: 1. Twitter 2. Facebook 3. Linked In 4. Big Adda Which of these is the first Indian Youth Networking website (a) only 1 (b) only 2 (c) only 3 (d) only 4 73. Read the statements about GRAPHENE: 1. Graphene is an allotrope of carbon. 2. Graphene is the basic structural element of some carbon allotropes including graphite, charcoal, carbon nanotubes and fullerenes. 3. The Nobel Prize in Physics for 2010 was awarded to Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov for ground breaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material grapheme.
4. Both these Nobel winners are honored with Knighthoods for 2011. Which of these statements given above is/are correct? (a) 1 ,2 and 3 (b) 2 ,3 and 4 (c) 1 ,2 and 4 (d) 1 ,3 and 4 74. Spitzer Space Telescope belongs to which agency? (a) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (b) Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (c) Centre National dtudes Spatiales (d) Russian Federal Space Agency 75. Which of the following statements about missile PRAHAR are correct? 1. It is a single stage missile. 2. Its striking range is about 500 KM 3. It is fuelled by solid propellants. 4. Several Prahar missiles can be fired in one salvo. Select the correct answer using the code given below. (a) 1 ,2 ,3 and 4 (b) 1 and 3 only (c) 1 ,3 and 4 only (d) 2 and 4 only 76. A leading Environmentalist resigned from the games ethics committeethe commission for a sustainable London -2012 protesting against Dows links with the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster. Identify the personality (a) Meredith Alexender (b) Sharda Dwivedi (c) Sebastian Edathy (d) Zhang Jun 77. Choose the wrong option about DELHY-3W is (a) A project under which hydrogen fuelled three-wheelers or auto rickshaws have been made. (b) Half of the cost of project is born by UNIDO-ICHET (c) Auto rickshaws are made by Mahindra and Mahindra
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Science Questions @ IP
(d) UNIDO-ICHET is based in VIENNA. 78. In the field of defence, the INS Aridaman is a (a) Submarine (b) Aircraft carrier (c) Landing Ship Tank (d) Fast Attack Craft 79. Consider the following statements: 1. DNA fingerprinting was discovered by Alec Jeffrey (UK)
in 1985. It is also called DNA Profiling. 2. DNA fingerprinting is used in forensic identification. 3. PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) is used to make millions of exact copies of DNA from a biological sample. 4. RFLP is a technique for analyzing the variable lengths of DNA fragments that result from digesting a DNA sample with a special enzyme called
restriction enzyme. Select the correct answer (a) 1 and 2 (b) 2 and 3 (c) 3 and 4 (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4 80. Consider the following softwares: 1. NAYAN 2. USB Pratirodh 3. Malware Resist Which of the following was developed by C-DAC, Bengaluru to protect from cyber attacks (a) only 1 (b) only 2 (c) only 3 (d) 1, 2 and 3
ANSWERS
1. (b) Expl: HTTPS Everywhere is a project by The Onion Routing (TOR) project and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), who are working on making the Internet safer, more secure and with increased privacy to users. Encrypting information using 128-bit encryption mechanism or more sophisticated cryptography algorithms make it virtually impossible for sniffers to make sense out of the traffic flowing. 2. (d) Expl: i)banning all the ultrasound machines is not feasible for the whole country because the machine is vital for detecting medical emergencies other than sex determination .recently our government has banned only the portable ultrasound and also limited the radiologists entry to two in particular area. ii) &iii) will have positive impact iv)it may have indirect impact but the problem for female foeticide also includes poverty, lowered status for women in the society which needs change in the mind set of the people. 3. (a) 4. (a) Expl: The worlds first hydrogenpowered three-wheeler, HyAlfa, was showcased at the 11th Auto Expo in Delhi. The HyAlfa has been developed under a joint project by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) International Centre for Hydrogen Energy Technologies (ICHET), Mahindra & Mahindra and IITDelhi, with support from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. Part of a development project dubbed DelHy 3w. 5. (a) Expl: The Greek ship Rena spilled about 400 tons of fuel oil when it ran aground in October on Astrolabe Reef, 22 kilometers from Tauranga Harbour on North Island. That spill, considered the worst maritime environmental disaster in New Zealand history, fouled pristine beaches. 6. (a) Expl: the fibre optic cables should provide speeds of up to 100 megabits per second (MBit/s) for uploads and even 200 MBit/s for downloads. That compares to 25 to 50 MBit/s for VDSL connections. Thats because, unlike with copper cables, the data is not transmitted via electrical pulses, but with the aid of light signals. 7. (c) Expl: In the case of exoplanets orbiting a star or Earth orbiting the Sun, only the planets are in orbit around the star. But in the case of circumbinary planets, all the three bodies (a planet and binary stars) are in motion. While the planet orbits the binary stars, the gravitationally bound pair of stars (binaries) orbit around each other. Since the planets orbiting the stars are several thousands of Astronomical Units (average distance between Earth and Sun) away, the planetary transit method is used for locating them with certainty. The planetary transit method is based on the premise that a planet passing in front of its star would slightly dim the stars light or produce a miniature eclipse. When such transits occur periodically, the body is confirmed as a planet. But the planetary transit method would be able to detect a planet only if it is either massive or close to its star, or both. 8. (a) Expl : The vents, called baptized the Beebe Vent Field, were discovered on the Caribbean seafloor in the Cayman Trough. Some five kilometers below the surface, the trench is home to the worlds deepest known black smoker vents, so-called for the cloudy fluid that gushes from them. 9. (a) Expl: The Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), which was set up in 1942 to coordinate and monitor research and development in the country, was retained as the nodal organisation of the government for R&D management after independence. The prime minister was made the ex-officio president of the CSIR in order to emphasize the importance of R&D in the countrys economy. 10. (d) 11. (a) 12. (a) 13. (c) Expl:
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Science Questions @ IP
The Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), which was set up in 1942 to coordinate and monitor research and development in the country, was retained as the nodal organisation of the government for R&D management after independence. The prime minister was made the ex-officio president of the CSIR in order to emphasize the importance of R&D in the countrys economy. 14. (c) Expl: Plancks quest has been to survey the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) - the first light to sweep out across space once a post-Big-Bang Universe had cooled sufficiently to permit the formation of hydrogen atoms. 15. (d) 16. (a) Expl: Chinese telecommunications equipment maker Huawei showed off the worlds thinnest smartphone at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The sleek Ascend P1 is just 6.68 mm thick and boasts an 11 cm screen and a dual core 1.5GHz processor. The handset runs on the latest version of Googles Android operating system. 17. (b) 18. (b) Exp. Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE) is an innovative programme sponsored and managed by the Department of Science & Technology for attraction of talent to Science. The basic objective of INSPIRE is to communicate to the youth of the country the excitements of creative pursuit of science, attract talent to the study of science at an early age and thus build the required critical human resource pool for strengthening and expanding the Science & Technology system and R&D base 19. (a) Exp. Vitrification is the transformation of a substance into a glass. Usually, it is achieved by rapidly cooling a liquid through the glass transition. Certain chemical reactions also result in glasses. An important application is the
vitrification of an antifreeze-like liquid in cryopreservation. 20. (d) Exp.: The Ministry of Agriculture is promoting organic farming in the country under National Project on Organic Farming, National Horticulture Mission, Technology Mission for North East and Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana. National Project on Organic Farming is being implemented since October 2004 through a National Centre of Organic Farming at Ghaziabad and six Regional Centres located at Bangalore, Bhubaneswar, Hissar, Imphal, Jabalpur, and Nagpur. Under the National Horticulture Mission and Technology Mission for North East, assistance is provided at rate of 50 per cent of cost subject to a maximum of Rs. 10,000 per hectare (up to 4 hectares per beneficiary) for organic horticulture cultivation. 21. (d) 22. (a) Exp. third phase focusing on micro planning with exhibitions and folk troupes 23. (b) Exp. the capacity of each reactor will be 1000 MW or 1 GW, Two 1 GW reactors of the VVER-1000 model are being constructed by the Nuclear Power corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and Atomstroyexport. 24. (b) 25. (d) 26. (a) 27. (b) 28. (c) 29. (b) 30. (c) 31. (c) 32. (d) 33. (a) 34. (d) 35. (b) Exp. The two small spacecraft GRAIL A (Ebb) and GRAIL B (Flow) were launched on 10 September 2011 aboard a single launch vehicle: the most-powerful configuration of a Delta II, an American space launch system. 36. (d) 37. (d) 38. (a) Exp. This disease effect mostly children below 15 year, This disease cause both physical impairment and mental impairment 39. (a) 40. (c) Exp. Indian science congress held at Bhubaneswar
41. (a) 42. (d) 43. (d) 44. (a) 45. (a) Exp. MICA is an anti-air multitarget, all weather, fire-and-forget short and medium-range missile system. Recently missile has been given to India to fit in Mirage 46. (d) 47. (c) 48. (a) 49. (d) 50. (b) 51. (d) 52. (d) 53. (b) 54. (d) 55. (b) 56. (d) Exp. Agni-V is a solid fueled intercontinental ballistic missile under development by DRDO of India. It is three stage solid, The missile will have a range of about 6,000 km. 57. (a) 58. (b) Exp. It is defined by an IEEE standard for radio waves with frequencies that range from 2 to 4 GHz. 59. (a) 60. (b) 61. (b) 62. (c) 63. (a) 64. (a) 65. (a) 66. (b) Exp. The Jules Verne ATV, or Automated Transfer Vehicle 001 (ATV-001), was an unmanned cargo resupply spacecraft launched by the European Space Agency (ESA). 67. (a) Exp. The AP1000 is a twoloop pressurized water reactor sold by Westinghouse Electric Company. Its design is the first Generation III+ reactor to receive final design approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 68. (d) 69. (c) Exp. The 100th edition will be hosted by the University of Kolkata from January 3 to January 7, 2013 70. (c) 71. (d) 72. (d) 73. (a) Exp. Both these Nobel winners are honored with Knighthoods for 2012 74. (a) 75. (c) Exp. Range is about 150KM 76. (a) 77. (d) Exp. The International Centre for Hydrogen Energy Technologies (ICHET) is a project of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) founded in Istanbul in 2004 and supported by the Turkish Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources. 78. (a) 79. (d) 80. (d)
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