Aspirants-Times-Magazine-Vol4 by IAS EXAM PORTAL

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Aspirants Times

India’s First Digital Magazine for IAS Aspirants around the world.

HOT TOPIC - Section 377 of the IPC

CSE Mains 2009 GS Model Paper Solved

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INDEX

Editorial • Strategy Is Indispensable for Success .............................................................04 SECTION - 1: Articles • Strategy For Mains Examination ....................................................................05 • Union Budget 2009-10 ....................................................................................17 • First BRIC Summit .........................................................................................32 • Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit .................................................41 • Hindi Article (

) ............................................................50

SECTION - 2: Hot Topics • Section 377 of the IPC .....................................................................................73 SECTION - 3: Current Relevant Facts........................................................78 SECTION -4: Sports.......................................................................................87 SECTION -5: Awards.....................................................................................91 SECTION - 6: CSE Mains 2009, GS Model Paper Part-1.......................94

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Editorial: Strategy Is Indispensable for Success… “Before disclosing details of this volume, first of all I extend my congratulations to all our readers and members on the crossing of 50000 membership. Now I have become more assured about its future and we are working hard to make “Aspirants Times” better to The Best one.” IAS preliminary results have already been declared and mains examination is going to be held in month of October. Aspirant Times will provide indispensable materials for mains from this issue onward. First and foremost is strategy for doing anything and for civil service examination, where we have cut-throat competition and candidates have to fight for each mark; a foolproof strategy and plan is very crucial. So keeping this fact in mind, we are providing strategy for mains in this very fourth volume. Under this column, there are Ten Mantras for success. How to fetch good marks, importance of Current affairs, syllabus of GS in part-form with past year questions and sources of study also have been described in detail. Along with strategy, solution of model papers are important contents of this issue. These are not only for your practices but also useful from the exam point of view. These questions may be asked this year. Articles on Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit, Yekaterinburg Declaration, Counter-Terrorism Convention and First BRIC Summit are available. These articles are written in a way that its useful for long answer type questions, as well as short answer type questions. Our readers will find Budget 2009-10 in very comprehensive manner. In this article each and every thing of this year’s budget is described. Budgetary glossary has also been provided. Besides of these, no compromise have been done in regualar traditional features of Aspirants Times. Personality, News makers, Awards, Sports are continued. A very important topic, Section 377 of the IPC, Fundamental Rights vs Acculturation is covered under the Hot Topics column. Read, understand and become ready to do best in the coming battle. I wish all the best. R. K. Pandey Editor, Magazine

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Civil Services (Main) Examination-2009 Winning Strategy

By R. K. Pandey Civil Services in India provide not only jobs for earning and surviving, but a power seat; from where, one can change the world. Yes, here you can change the face of country, you can eradicate poverty and problems, and you can change society. In this service you execute decisions and also participate in decision making and contribute in making law. After being successful at this exam, your fate is changed and the same time you can change others fate. So ready to face one of the toughest hurdle and if you cross it, you are the king. To become a king, you should have a winning strategy, doing hard work systematically and good guidance. Here, through this article, I am trying to make easy the toughest examination. Preliminary examination is only gateway of mains, nothing more, but main exam is a real test and here each mark not only decide your success but also your ranking. A good ranking means the more chance for you to get your dream job. This article is useful for those, who are going to appear at main this year and it also guides them, who are making plan to appear in coming year. Ten Success Mantras Self-Confidence: Robert Collier says ‘Your chances of success in any undertaking can always be measured by your belief in yourself.’ Yes self confidence plays most important role in success of a person. A difficult and lengthy process of Civil Services exam demands self-confidence because only this can keep you on the right track during the long preparation and examination. Many candidates, who are hard working and intelligent and have taken

right decision, right optional, chosen right study materials but ultimately they could not succeed, because of their lack in self- confidence. Due to lack of self-confidence some time they see wrong in choosing options, some time books, some time timing and some time in their-self. So after deciding, be determined and go forward till the process is not completed. Remember, self confidence does not mean over-confidence, so be clear and ready to accept any negative side. Self-confidence is about balance. Low self-confidence and over-confident are two extremes. If one is under-confident, he’ll avoid taking risks and stretching himself; and he might not try at all. And if he is over-confident, he may take on too much risk, stretch himself beyond his capabilities, and crash badly. Getting this right is a matter of having the right amount of confidence, founded in reality. With the right amount of self-confidence, one will take informed risks, stretch oneself and try hard. Time Management: Last but not least, time management is very important to achieve success. It plays very important role in preparation. For this you should divide your study plan in parts. Set a goal to complete one or some parts in given time. If you complete a part in given time you will not feel overburdened and this mental freedom will provide you more understanding and grasping capacity. So make a plan according to your need and convenient rather than following others path. Clarity: Candidate must have a clear approach during the preparation and examination. If you have clarity, you will easily overcome of many problems. One should be clear about optionals, study materials, concept, thought, facts and at every step. Do not stay in dilemma. After selecting optionals, materials and selection of study portion of syllabus, follow them strictly.

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SECTION -1 - 1(Article (Article: Hind Section : CSE Mains Exam Strategy)

Go through the syllabus and past-year Q papers: Read syllabus past year questions of GS and your two optionals carefully, specially past two years. In this way, you will understand what and how to read to tackle the questions and also important and less important part of syllabus. Follow the syllabus instead of reading whole of the book. Choose only those portions of the book which are part of your syllabus and especially you have made guess for this year examination. When ever what ever you read, frame questions on them and try to present an ideal answer. In this way you can increase understanding and expression. A Balanced Approach: A balanced approach is needed at every step during preparation. Give equal importance to both of optionals and compulsory papers. Do not neglect any area of syllabus. To get good marks in the exam, on should take seriously question number 1 and 5 (short notes). While preparing, one must note down, from where short notes can be asked. It will facilitate you in exam hall. In this way you can write your complete answer in within the time frame. Many of you often do not take every part of General Studies seriously. Such step may futile, so read every portion of GS and prepare them well. In your answer, balanced view is important and at the same time one should give approximately equal time to all long answer type questions. Do not write some answer very long and some very short. Develop Writing Skill: Writing skills play an important role in the IAS Mains. Most of the candidates appearing for the Mains examination have a lot of knowledge, but lack writing skills. You should be able to present all the information/knowledge in a coherent and logical manner, as expected by the examiner. For example: Quoting with facts and substantiating your answer with related concepts and emphasizing your point of view. Prepare a standard answer to the question papers of the previous years. This will also make your task easy in examination hall. Do not neglect the concepts.

Sometimes the questions are ‘conceptual’ in nature, aimed at testing the comprehension levels of the basic concepts. Get a list of standard textbooks from the successful candidates, or other sources and also selective good notes. The right choice of reading material is important and crucial. . For subjects like Mathematics and Statistics and Geography maps etc, practice is very important. One should also practice other subjects and should not treat the same examination, as an “experience gathering” exercise to get a chance for writing mains is a great thing, which you may not get again. Go through the unsolved papers of the previous papers and solve them to stimulate the atmosphere of the examination. Try not to exceed the word limit, as far as possible. Sticking to the word limit that will save time. Besides, the numbers of marks you achieve are not going to increase even if you exceed the word limit. It’s the quality that matters not the quantity. Revision is very important. Revise after a gap. The reason is that you have been preparing for months or years together. It is a human tendency to forget something after some time. Follow paragraph writing rather than essay form. A new point should start with a new paragraph. It is easy to write and understand.. If the question needs answer in point format give it a bullet format. Try to maintain uniformity in the writing throughout the paper. Under time pressure, the script should not go from bad to worse in the later stages of the answer sheets. This may irritate the evaluator. Stick to the time frame. Speed is the very essence of this examination. Hence, time management is very crucial. For developing the writing skills, write model answers at the time of preparation. This helps get into the habit of writing under time pressure in the examination. Develop and follow your own style of writing. Try not to be repetitive and maintain a flow in the style of your writing.

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Importance of General Studies Many candidates, particularly those with a professional degree in science, often ignore serious preparation of GS and focus mainly on their optional subjects. Such attitude is more like a bad gamble. Economy, Science & Technology and Statistical Analysis are the areas that can pose problems in scoring. If you have prepared economy for your Prelims, doing it for the mains must not be difficult. Statistical analysis has to be practised with the help of previous years' solved questions given in all the guides as also the NCERT's Statistical Analysis. One year regular reading of a national daily, India Year book relevant NCERT books and magazines for the purpose are the basic necessities that you must go through. Scoring in GS is mathematical and any additional score gained through serious preparations must be tried. Do Not Forget Essay: Where each number is important to give the shape of your future, how can you miss manage Essay, which carries 200 marks. Essay paper was re-introduced in 1993, created a sort of storm among the aspirants. Rumors was spread that the step had been taken to neutralize the scoring pattern which is highly skewed in favour of some subjects. Though there is no denying the fact that many subjects like Maths, Physics, Commerce etc do not encourage the development of language skill. Those of you with such an academic background but a natural flair for writing developed during school or college days, should be definitely at an advantage. Writing an essay is an art and if you are not naturally inclined to write that way, you will have to spend at least some time in practising; more so because many of the issues asked in the form of essay are the ones that you generally prepare for your GS where you limit your preparation upto about 250 words. Candidates are advised to keep a thorough eye on all the happenings of the last one year with critical evaluation of those which could be asked in the form of an essay.

Language Papers: Though, language papers are of qualifying nature only, on should also give some time. Take the last five year papers and solve them, later either check yourself or asked to do so to a teacher or any friend. If you get more than 50 percent marks, then I think no reason to worry. But if you get less than 40 marks, you should give some time. For this, reading news papers and any grammar book is sufficient. If one is very poor, he or she must prepare well on regular basis. Current Affairs: It plays very decisive role in your success. Why is it decisive? Because, if you are good in current affairs, you can write better answer of Polity, Economy, Science, Geography questions in GS. Beside these it helps you in the optionals like Political Science, Public Administration, Sociology, Anthropology and others many optionals. Do not forget that it also may become a decisive factor in essay writing in the personality test. Preparing current affairs is very tedious job, so during the whole preparation, you must develop your own methodology. But there is some common approach, which one must not forget to be good at the current affairs. To study current affairs, it is essential to read one national newspaper, Mainstream, one from Frontline, India Today and Outlook and one from any competitive magazine. When you are studying the round up of national and international affairs, efforts should not be merely taking up the information but also to understand the issues involved. Go into the background of events. for example, the recent Lok Sabha elections, racial attack in Australia threw up many issues. Get to know these issues and be clear about them so that you can answer questions on them. Study Idea for GS The books published by the NCERT are important source material. Take up the text-books for classes IX, X, XI and XII. Beside it, some books published by NBT and India Year Book is also useful. But only reading

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these books will not serve the purpose. What is crucial is that the person taking up self-study must pick up past question papers and write down the answers to questions asked therein. A practice in writing is what is required to attempt the paper. Many students make the mistake of studying for hours but have no practice in writing down the answers, which costs heavily during the exam. The skill required is that of organising the arguments and making a coherent answer from the diverse material. One more thing that must be kept in mind is that the answers must be a little different from others and must have some extra bit that is missed out by others. This is not difficult if one has understood the issue in depth. One important characteristic of the Civil Services Mains Exam is that the questions do not ask for mere information as a reply, but seek analysis backed with opinion from the candidates. Usually, one gets the impression that one knows everything but thoughts do not flow out naturally as one puts pen to paper. Therefore, writing down the answers is an important facet of the preparation.

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Next thing is that one must carefully read the questions in order to make out what the examiner is asking. After this important is to organise one's thoughts before writing and the sequence of the answer should be from the most important/potent aspect to less important aspects. If you do not have someone to check your answers, keep them away and after a gap of time, read them again. You will discover many mistakes, which earlier you could not. Analyse the answers in order to improve them. This exercise of re-analysis of answers improves the ability to be precise. One of the important requirements of this exam is that the answers should be crisp and to-the-point.

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SECTION -1 - 1(Article (Article: Hind Section : CSE Mains Exam Strategy)

PAPER - I (Syllabus, Related Questions and Strategy) (a) History of Modern India and Indian Culture The History of Modern India will cover history of the Country from about the middle of nineteenth century and would also include questions on important personalities who shaped the Freedom Movement and Social reforms. The part relating to Indian Culture will cover all aspects of Indian Culture from the ancient to modern times. Questions 1. Answer anyone of the following questions (in about 250 words): 30---2007 (a) What was the character of social religious reforms in the 19th Century and how did they contribute to the national awakening in India? (b) The crisis of the colonial order during 1919 and 1939 was directly linked to the constitutional reforms, disillusionment and militant anti-colonial struggles. Elucidate. 2. Answer any two of the following questions (in about 150 words each) : 15x2 = 30---2007 (a) What are the salient features of the Government of India Acts of 1858 and 1909? (b) Do you think Mahatma Gandhi's support to Khilafat Movement had diluted his secular credentials? Give your argument based on the assessment of events. (c) Evaluate the contribution of revolutionary terrorism represented by Bhagat Singh to the cause of India’s Struggle of independence. 3. Write about the following (not 20 words each) : 2x15 = 30---------------------2007

(a) Age of Sangam Literature (b) Bhakti (c) Ashtadhyayi of Panini (d) Charvakas (e) Ajivikas (f) Gandhara Art (g) Mlechchas (h) Lingayats (i) Megasthenes (j) R. C. Dutt (k) Nagarjunakonda (1) Pastoralism (m) Rudramadevi (n) Sati (0) Ramanuja Study Material -Topper’s Choice For the complete understanding of India's freedom struggle, NBT'S, India's freedom struggle by Bipin Chandra and Barun De's books are important and 12th class N.C.E.R.T. From the period 1939-1947, History spectrum is comprehensive, it is also helpful for specific topics such as evolution of press, education etc. This is also handy for final revision. 2 markers - needs to be focused from all the three periods- Ancient, Medieval and Modern. Now focus should be on art, culture, religion, science, rather than on political personalities.

(b) Geography of India In this part, questions will be on the physical, economic and social geography of India. Questions 4. Answer any two of the following questions (in about 125 words each) : l0x2=20--------2007 (a) Explain how the Himalayan and the Tibetan

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highlands play an important role in the development of the South West monsoon.

7. Answer anyone of the following questions (in about 250 words): 30----------------2007

(b) Technological changes have brought in a major shift in the use of roads as transport corridors in India. How far do you agree with this view?

(a). What is regionalism ? In which way regionalism has affected the Indian Polity.

(c) Explain the nature and causes of growing slum problems in the metropolitan cities of India. 5. Write notes on the following (in about 20 words each): 2 x 5= 10-----------------2007 (a) Special Economic Zone (SEZ) (b) Inceptisol (c) Jarawas (d) Indira Point (e) Causes of Chambal Ravines Study Material -Topper’s Choice Class XII books of Geography (NCERT), Mains Guide in Geography and a good atlas.

(C) Indian Polity This part will include questions on the Constitution of India, Political system and related matters. Questions 6. Answer anyone of the following questions (in about 250 words) : 30 ------------------2007 (a) What is a Constitution? What are the main sources of the Indian Constitution?

(b). what are the Main determination of voting behavior in India? 8. Answer any two of the following questions (in about 150 words each): 15x2 = 30---------2007 (a) What are the exceptions when the President of India is not bound by the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers? (b) What is pro tem Speaker? (e) Under what circumstances, Parliament may legislate on State subjects? 9. Answer the following questions (in about 20 words each): 2 x 5 = 10------------2007 (a). What is criminalization of politics? (b). How president of India elected? (c). what is casting vote? (d). what is the difference between council of Minister and Cabinet? (e). what is the importance of Right to constitutional remedies? Study Material -Topper’s Choice For polity I had made notes from Vazi Ram material and Magazines. (Special issues of Polity). For particular topics, DD Basu is authentic and reliable book.

(b) Bring out the differences between the Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles of State Policy. Discuss some of the measures taken by the Union and State Governments for the implementation of the Directive Principles of State Policy.

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(d) Current National issues and topics of social relevance

(b) Prime Minister's 5-point agenda for India's development as a knowledge society. (c) The Lokpal Bill.

This part is intended to test the Candidate's awareness of current national issues and topics of social relevance in the present-day India, such as the following.

13. Write short notes on the following ( in about 20 words each ) 2 x 5 = 10----------2007

Demography & Human Resource & related issues. Behavioural & Social issues & Social Welfare problems, such as child labour, gender equality, adult literacy, rehabilitation of the handicapped and other deprived segments of the society, drug abuse, public health etc. Law enforcement issues, human rights, corruption in public life, communal harmony etc. Internal Security and related issues. Environmental issues, ecological preservation, conservation of natural resources and national heritage. The role of national institutions, their relevance and need for change. Questions

(a) Yakshagana (h) PACE. (c) Footloose Industries (d) The Statue of Liberty (e) Genome Study Material -Topperâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Choice For Current Affairs, National and Social Issues, the need is to read National Newspaper such as Hindu regularly. Issues such as child labour, gender inequality, Poverty, Problems of Senior Citizens, should be focused on, and 2 or 3 pages on each of these above topics should be prepared. For this Manorama Year Book and Yojna would be helpful.

PAPER - II

10. Answer anyone of the following questions (in about 250 words): 30----------2007 (a). what were the main recommendations of the Platform for Action (PFA) adopted at the Beijing Women Conference 1995? (b) Discuss the steps to get rid of child labour in India. 11. Answer any two of the following questions (in about 125 words each): l0x2=20--------207 (a) What is stealth technology? (b) Differentiate between Natural and Cultural heritage. (c) What is value-based politics? 12. Write notes on any two of the following (in about 125 words each) : I0x2=20---------2007 (a) Integrated Child Services (lCDS) Development

Syllabus, Related Questions and Strategy (a) India and the World This part is intended to test candidate's awareness of India's relationship with the world in various spheres, such as the following:Foreign Affairs External Security and related matters Nuclear Policy Indians abroad Questions 1. Answer any two of the following (answer to each qu esti on s houl d be in about 1 50 words ):

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15x2=30-2007

Questions

(a) Indo-Russian Defence Co-operation (b) India's response, to political crisis In Bangladesh (c) Elaborate on India's Nuclear Doctrine 2. Write about the following (answer to each question should be in about 20 words): 2x5=I 0-2007

4. Answer anyone of the following (in about 250 words): 30--2007 (a). What is Dumping? Evaluate the remedial measures taken by Government of India vis-à-vis WTO provisions regarding dumping.

(a) SAFTA (b) India and East Asia Summit (EAS) (c) Shanghai Cooperation Organization, (S.C.O.) (d) Panchsheel in India's Foreign Policy (e) Relevance of NAM

(b) Comment on the relationship between credit availability and agricultural growth in India.

3. Write about the following (answer to each question should be in about 20 words) : 2x5=10--2007

(a). What is the meaning and aim of social forestry ? What are the main weakness noticed in social forestry programme?

(a) Pravasi Bhartiya Bima Yojana, 2006 (b) Indian All-Women Contingent to Liberia (c) Madheshis in Nepal (d) Know India Programme (KIP) (e) Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs Study Material -Topper’s Choice For International Relations- both related to India and the world and International Politics, I had, relied on coaching class notes, but for comprehensive preparation, 12th Standard N.C.E.R.T. of Political Science - particular chapters- related to India's Foreign Policy should be focused.

b) Indian Economy In this part, questions will be on the planning and economic development in India, economic & trade issues, Foreign Trade, the role and functions of I.M.F., World Bank, W.T.O. etc.

5. Answer any two of the following (answer to each question should be in about 150 words )--2007

(b). Bring out the main objective of Rastriya Krishi Bima Yojana. The scheme is being implemented by which agency. (c). Explain Mega Food park Scheme of Government of India. 6. Write about the following (answer to each question should be in about 20 words ) : 2x15=30--2007 (a) Explain the term Merit Goods (b) What is Cheap Money? (c) What is Countervailing Duty? (d) What is Hot Money? (e). Explain the Concept Trickle Down Theory (f) What is Stagflation? (g) What is Engel's Law? (h) Meaning of CCIL (i) What is Administered Price? (j) What is Venture Capital? (k) Explain the term Balance on Current Account (I) What is Consolidated Fund? (m) What is Budget Deficit? (n) Explain the term Most Favored Nations (0) Meaning of Capital- Output Ratio

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Study Material -Topper’s Choice N.C.E.R.T. 11th Standard (New) and Uma Kapila for understanding the problems of Indian Economy have been very helpful for in depth analysis of Indian Economy. For two markers - India Year Book and Pratiyogta Darpan special issues are important. The current happening can be studied through Economic survey and Newspaper.

(c) International Affairs & Institutions This part will include questions on important events in world affairs and on international institutions. Questions 7. Write about any two of the following (in about 150 words each): 15x2=30 (a) Impact of globalization on state system and its institutions (b) SAARC Summit 2007--2007 (c) The UN conference on Environment and Development (The Earth Summit) 8. Write about the following (in about 20 words each): 2x5 = 10--2007 (a) G-8 Summit 2007 (b) Hyde Act of 2006 (c) Global Governance (d) Operation Silence (e) SAARC Human Rights Report 2006 9. Write about the following by expanding and explaining the objectives (in about 20 Words each): 2x5=10 --2007 (a) ICT4D

(b) BEMs (c) IAEA (d) BIMSTEC (e) ECJ Study Material -Topper’s Choice Any Book on International Organization such as UN, Regional Organizations, Human Rights Organization etc, Frontline, World Focus etc

(d) Developments in the field of science & technology, communications and space In this part, questions will test the candidate's awareness of the developments in the field of science & technology, communications and space and also basic ideas of computers. Questions 10. Answer any one of the following in about 250 words: 30 --2007 (a). Explain the phenomenon of ozone depletion, its cause and effects . What efforts are needed to reduce it. (b). what do you understanding by the term ‘biodiversity’? Examine the cause and consequence of degeneration of biodiversity? 11. Answer any two of the following (answer for each question should be in about 150 words) : 15x2=30 -2007 (a) What are the alterative fuels available for the transport sector? Discuss their characteristics, advantages 'and disadvantages in their utilization. (b) Explain the objectives and the current achievements of human genome project.

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(c) Discuss the missile technology initiatives undertaken by India. 12. Answer all the five (in about 20 words each) : 2x5=10 --2007 (a) What is firewall ? (b) What is mal ware ? (c) What do the following stand for? (i) MPEG (ii) ISP (iii) HTML (iv) ASCII (d) What is Root kit? (e) What is computer architecture? Study Material -Topperâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Choice Science and Technology from Hindu, Yojna and Vaji Ram Notes.

(e) Statistical analysis, graphs and diagrams This part will include exercises to test the candidate's ability to draw common sense conclusions from information presented in statistical, graphical or diagrammatical form and to point out deficiencies, limitations or inconsistencies therein. Questions 13. (a) In the year 2000 out of a total 1750 workers of a factory 1200 workers were members of a union. The number of women employed was 200 of which 175 did not belong to the union. In 2005 , the number of union workers increased to 1510 of which 1290 were men . On the other hand the number of non union workers fell down to 208 of which 180 were men. 8 --2007

(i) Put the above information in a proper table with title. (ii) Calculate the increase in the percentage of the female workers belonging to the union in that five year period. (b) The marks obtained by 20 students in a subject are given: 8 32, 62, 72, 46, 52, 74, 53, 42, 58, 61, 59, 46, 36, 76, 58, 77, 62, 48, 36, 39. Form a frequency distribution table with class interval 10. Also Draw the Histogram. 14. (a) For the following distribution of statistics test grades, construct a frequency polygon and answer the following: 8 --2007 (i) How many test grades are greater than 87 ? (ii) What percentage of test grades are greater than 83? (iii) What percentage of test grades are lower than72? (iv) What percentage of test grades are between 72 and 79 (inclusive ) Test Grades: 73, 92, 57, 89, 70, 95, 75, 80, 47, 88, 47, 48, 64, 86, 79, 72, 71, 77, 93, 55, 75, 50, 53, 75, 85, 50, 82, 45, 40, 82, 60, 89, 79, 65, 54, 93, 60, 83, 59 (b). Construct an appropriate diagram to show the following data of a university: 8 --2007 Course No. of Students: Engineering 440 Arts 220 Agriculture 120 Home Science 80 Economic 60 Total = 920

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15. (a) What do you understand by 2 --2007 (i) Primary and secondary data (ii) Data classification (iii) Measures of central tendency (iv) Characteristics of good average (b) The mean wage of 100 laborers working in a factory running two shifts of 60 and 40 workers respectively is Rs. 38. The mean wage of 60 labourers working in the morning shift is Rs 40. Find the mean wage of 40 Labourers working in the evening shift. 2 --2007 (c) The mean age of a group of 5 boys is 16 years. Another boy joins the group and then the mean age of the group becomes 18 years. How old is the newcomer? 2 --2007 (d) Arithmetic means of two completely different sets of values may be same. When extreme values are taken into consideration, the arithmetic mean is largely affected. Is it merit or demerit of arithmetic mean and give reasons for your statement? 2--2007 Study Material -Topperâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Choice Spectrum is good. Practice last 10 year questions properly. Time management is the most important thing in Statistics.

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Successful Tips

» Test you self with the revision-type Model Test Papers. » Do not dishearten by initial low score. » Emphasis on your weak-spots, same time do not forget to improve your plus portion. » Test yourself at a regular interval. » Make a mental note of areas you have covered and what remains to be covered. » Be analytical in response. » Do not overstretch yourself area of coverage-wise. » Revise your stuff a number of times. » A calm mental state is most important. » Since there is negative marking in the exam now, it is suggested to leave any questions that you are not sure of, unanswered. » Do not get stuck at any question. Move on from question to question and attempt the difficult ones at the end.

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Union Budget 2009-10

Major Allocations to Boost Up Economy By Sangeeta Gupta Author is an expert of various competitive examinations.

Courtesy: PIB.NIC.IN

Minister of Finance Sh. Pranab Mukherjee has presented Union Budget 2009-10 on July 6, 2009 in the Lok Sabha. This Budget must be looked at against the larger backdrop of the unprecedented global economic crisis. Finance minister had to do a fine balancing act between fiscal compulsions and the need to provide continued stimulus to the economy. In the given circumstances, he has done reasonably well though clearly he has not been able to meet the expectations of all sections in the economy. The focus of the Budget has been on infrastructure development, agriculture, exports, the social sector and education and skill development. The initiatives in these areas are largely aimed at supporting short-term economic revival. Increased allocation for highways, urban infrastructure, power and the national gas grid are welcome. However, the relief to exporters could have been more. The finance minister has proposed medium-term stimulus for the economy through institutional reforms. We will have to wait for specifics in areas of petroleum product pricing, taxes, disinvestment and the proposal to raise the threshold for non promoters’ shareholding in listed companies, though. In the area of direct taxes, finance minister has significantly met the industry’s expectation by abol-

ishing of surcharge, fringe benefit tax and commodity transaction tax. Extension of tax benefit under Sections 10A and 10B are also welcome though this could have been for a longer period of three years, which would have provided more visibility. The industry’s demand for reduction in rates of corporate tax has unfortunately not been accepted this time. The decision to introduce a full-fledged GST from April 1, 2010 is perhaps the most notable announcement in the area of indirect taxes. Besides this however, there is no relief for the struggling medium and heavy commercial vehicle industry and the automotive component sector. With a time lag, private investment should resume, marking the return to high economic growth. The worries in this regard are two-fold. Firstly, the nature of the government’s borrowing programme and its impact on the interest rates and the role of private investments. The second one arises out of the high quantum of the outlay without an attempt to extract accountability and efficiency from the implementation machinery. The feel good for the people comes from lowering of the threshold of personal income tax. Corporate will surely welcome the abolition of the irritating and unproductive FBT and will not dispute the logic of MAT. A Budget that is positive for the economy is good for industry. Extension of weighted expenditure deduction for inhouse R&D is welcome. The government has shown foresight by provisioning to keep the banks and insurance under public

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sector control under the present recessionary scenario. The emphasis on the social sector development is in line with the government’s mantra of inclusive growth. Special emphasis on education is a welcome step. The provision for the Scheme ‘Mission in Education through ICT’ has been increased to Rs 900 crore and will create a better talent flow in the years to come. The speed of progress —in talent assessment, training needs analysis for a range of services sectors including IT and development of a new technology architecture which would support learner centric education by connecting campuses, content specialists and the student community will now be possible by the up-gradation for Polytechnics under the Skill Development Mission for which allocations have also been increased. The enhancement of overall Plan Budget for higher education by Rs 2,000 crore over interim budget estimates and allocation of Rs 2,113 crore for IITs and NITs is just one of many initiatives our country needs—especially in J&K, North East, and other states to reduce digital divide. New projects such as modernisation of the employment exchanges and unique identification card with public private partnership also focuses on efficiency of delivery of government programmes and is an important step in ushering greater transparency in public decisionmaking process. Union Budget Speech: In his Budget speech finance minister said that the Just 140 days back, he had the privilege to present the Interim Budget for 200910. It is a rare honour that he has been called upon to present the regular budget after the new Government assumed office. The Congress-led UPA Government has come back to power with a renewed mandate. As Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, said recently It is a mandate for continuity, stability and prosperity. It is a mandate for inclusive growth and equitable development. In the In-

terim Budget for 2009-10, he had stated that the new Government would need to anchor its policies for 2009-10, in a medium term perspective that would have to: (a) sustain a growth rate of at least 9 per cent per annum over an extended period of time; (b) strengthen the mechanisms for inclusive growth for creating about 12 million new work opportunities per year; (c) reduce the proportion of people living below poverty line to less than half from current levels by 2014; (d) ensure that Indian agriculture continues to grow at an annual rate of 4 per cent; (e) increase the investment in infrastructure to more than 9 per cent of GDP by 2014; (f) support Indian industry to meet the challenge of global competition and sustain the growth momentum in exports; (g) strengthen and improve the economic regulatory framework in the country; (h) expand the range and reach of social safety nets by providing direct assistance to vulnerable sections; (i) strengthen the delivery mechanism for primary health care facilities with a view to improve the preventive and curative health care in the country; (j) create a competitive, progressive and well regulated education system of global standards that meets the aspiration of all segments of the society; and

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(k) move towards providing energy security by pursuing an Integrated Energy Policy. The Government recognizes the challenges that this task entails, particularly at a time when the world is still struggling with an unprecedented financial crisis and an economic slowdown that has also affected India . The first challenge is to lead the economy back to the high GDP growth rate of 9 per cent per annum at the earliest. Growth of income is important in itself, but it is as important for the resources that it brings in. These resources provide the means to bridge the critical gaps that remain in our development efforts, particularly with regard to the welfare of the vulnerable segments of Indian population. The second challenge is to deepen and broaden the agenda for inclusive development; and to ensure that no individual, community or region is denied the opportunity to participate in and benefit from the development process. The third challenge is to re-energize government and improve delivery mechanisms. Our institutions must provide high quality public services, security and the rule of law to all citizens with transparency and accountability. Overview of the Economy: The principal growth driver in this period has been private investment, which has been predominantly funded by domestic resources. During the year 2008-09, there has been a dip in the growth rate of GDP from an average of over 9 per cent in the previous three fiscal year to 6.7 per cent. It has affected the pace of job creation in certain sectors of the economy and the investment sentiments of the business community. It has also resulted in considerably lower revenue growth for the government. Another feature of the year 2008-09 was a sharp rise in the wholesale price index to nearly 13% in August 2008 and an equally sharp fall close to 0% in March 2009.

The structure of India economy has changed rapidly in the last ten years. External trade and external capital flows are an important part of the economy and so is the contribution of the services sector to the GDP at well over 50 per cent. The share of merchandise trade (exports plus imports) as a proportion of GDP has more than doubled over the past decade to 38.9 per cent in 2008-09. Similarly, trade in goods and services taken together has also doubled to 47 per cent during this period. Gross capital flows rose to a peak of over 9 per cent of GDP in 2007-08 before falling in the wake of the global financial crisis. The significant increase in the inflow of foreign capital is important, not so much for bridging the domestic savings-investment gap, but for facilitating the intermediation of financial resources to meet the growing needs of the economy. This growing integration of the Indian economy with the rest of the world has brought new opportunities and also new challenges. It has made the task of sustaining high growth more complex. Over the past month, we have critically evaluated Governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s efforts at both short term economic recovery as well as medium term economic growth. The economic recovery and growth is a cooperative effort of the Central and State Governments. Towards Economic Revival Short-term measures: To counter the negative fallout of the global slowdown on the Indian economy, the Government responded by providing three focused fiscal stimulus packages in the form of tax relief to boost demand and increased expenditure on public projects to create employment and public assets. The RBI took a number of monetary easing and liquidity enhancing measures to facilitate flow of funds from the financial system to meet the

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needs of productive sectors. This fiscal accommodation led to an increase in fiscal deficit from 2.7 per cent in 2007-08 to 6.2 per cent of GDP in 200809. The difference between the actuals of 2007-08 and 2008-09 constituted the total fiscal stimulus. This fiscal stimulus at 3.5% of GDP at current market prices for 2008-09 amounts to Rs.1,86,000 crore. These measures were effective in arresting the fall in growth rate of GDP in 2008-09 and we achieved a growth of 6.7 per cent. There are signs of revival in the domestic industry and the foreign investors have also returned to the Indian market in the Mayjun,2009.

current budget. To improve the lot of the urban poor, Ministry proposed to enhance the allocation for housing and provision of basic amenities to urban poor to Rs.3,973 crore in the current years budget. This includes the provision for Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY), a new scheme announced in the address of the President of India. This scheme, the parameters of which are being worked out, is intended to make the country slum free in the five year period.

Infrastructure Development

To address the problem of flooding in Mumbai, Brihan Mumbai Storm Water Drainage Project (BRIMSTOWA) was initiated in 2007. The entire estimated cost of the project at Rs.1,200 crore is being funded through Central assistance. A sum of Rs.500 crore has been released for this project upto 2008-09. Government have enhanced the provision for this project from Rs.200 crore in Interim BE to Rs.500 crore to expedite the completion of the project.

To stimulate public investment in infrastructure, government has set up the India Infrastructure Finance Company Limited (IIFCL) as a special purpose vehicle for providing long term financial assistance to infrastructure projects. Government will ensure that IIFCL is given greater flexibility to aggressively fulfil its mandate. Highway and Railways: The allocation during the current year to National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for the National Highways Development Programme (NHDP) is being stepped up by 23 per cent over the 2008-09 (BE). Government have also increased the allocation for the Railways from Rs.10,800 crore made in the Interim Budget for 2009-10 to Rs.15,800 crore. Urban Infrastructure: The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) has been an important instrument for refocusing the attention of the State governments on the importance of urban infrastructure. In recognition of the role of JNNURM, the allocation for this scheme is being stepped up by 87 per cent to Rs.12,887 crore in the

Brihan Mumbai Storm Water Drainage Project (BRIMSTOWA)

Power: The Accelerated Power Development and Reform Programme (APDRP) is an important scheme for reducing the gap between power demand and supply. Government has proposed to increase the allocation for this scheme to Rs.2,080 crore, a steep increase of 160 per cent above the allocation in the BE of 2008-09. Gas: With the recent find of natural gas in the KG Basin on the Eastern offshore of the country, the indigenous production of Natural Gas is set to double with natural gas emerging as an important source of energy. LNG infrastructure in the country is also being expanded. Government has proposed to develop a blueprint for long distance gas highways leading to a National Gas Grid. This would facili-

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tate transportation of gas across the length and breadth of the country. Agricultural Development Agriculture has been the mainstay of Indian economy with 60 per cent of our population deriving their sustenance from it. In the recent past, the sector has recorded a growth of about 4 per cent per annum with substantial increase in plan allocations and capital formation in the sector. Agriculture credit flow was Rs.2,87,000 crore in 2008-09. The target for agriculture credit flow for the year 2009-10 is being set at Rs.3,25,000 crore. To achieve this, Government has proposed to continue the interest subvention scheme for short term crop loans to farmers for loans upto Rs.3 lakh per farmer at the interest rate of 7 per cent per annum. for this year, the Government shall pay an additional subvention of 1 per cent as an incentive to those farmers who repay their short term crop loans on schedule. Thus, the interest rate for these farmers will come down to 6 per cent per annum. For this, government is making an additional Budget provision of Rs.411 crore over Interim BE. Service tax: It is an international practice to zerorate exports. To achieve this objective, a scheme was announced in 2007, granting refund of service tax paid on certain taxable services used after the clearance of export goods from the factory. For some time now, the exporting community has been expressing dissatisfaction over the difficulties faced in obtaining such refunds. Several procedural simplifications attempted in the past have also not yielded satisfactory results. The solution seems to lie in placing greater trust on the claims filed by the exporters. Keeping this in view, Government has proposed

to make the following changes in the scheme: » Services received by exporters from goods transport agents and commission agents, where the liability to pay service tax is ab initio on the exporter, would be exempted from service tax. Thus, there would be no need for the exporter to first pay the tax and later claim refund. » For other services received by exporters, the exemption would be operated through the existing refund mechanism based on self-certification of the documents where such refund is below 0.25 per cent of fob value, and certification of documents by a Chartered Accountant for value of refund exceeding the above limit. Budget Estimate 2009-10 » Fiscal deficit as a percentage of GDP is projected at 6.8 per cent compared to 2.5 per cent in B.E. 2008-09 and 6.2 per cent as per provisional accounts 2008-09. » Increase in Non-plan expenditure is mainly due to implementation of Sixth Central Pay Commission recommendations, increased food subsidy and higher interest payment arising out of larger fiscal deficit in 2008-09. » Interest payments estimated at Rs.2,25,511 crore constituting about 36 per cent of Non-plan revenue expenditure in B.E. 2009-10. » Subsidies up from Rs.71,431 crore in B.E. 200809 to Rs.1,11,276 crore in B.E. 2009-10. » Outlay for Defence up from Rs.1,05,600 crore in B.E. 2008-09 to Rs.1,41,703 crore in B.E. 2009-10. » Gross Budgetary Support for Annual Plan 2009-

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10 enhanced by Rs.40,000 crore over Interim B.E. 2009-10.. » State Governments to be permitted to borrow additional 0.5 per cent of their GSDP by relaxing the fiscal deficit target under FRBM from 3.5 per cent to 4 per cent of their GSDP. This will enable the States to borrow Rs.21,000 crore additionally over Interim B.E. 2009-10. » Gross tax receipts budgeted at Rs.6,41,079 crore in B.E. 2009-10 compared to Rs.6,87,715 crore in B.E. 2008-09. » Non-tax revenue receipts estimated at Rs.1,40,279 crore in B.E. 2009-10 compared to Rs.95,785 crore in B.E. 2008-09. » Revenue deficit projected at 4.8 per cent of GDP in B.E. 2009-10 compared to 1 per cent in B.E. 200809 and 4.6 per cent as per provisional accounts of 2008-09 Union Budget Main Features » Total budget expenditure for 2009-10 will be Rs 10,28,032 cr » Exemption limit for income tax raised by Rs 10,000 » Hike in IT exemption for women to Rs 1,90,000 » Hike in IT exemption to Rs 2,40,000 for senior citizens » No change in corporate tax » Eliminate surcharge on personal Income Tax by 10 pct » Service tax exempted for exporters on select services » Defence gets Rs 1,41,703 crore for 2009-10, a 34

pct hike from 2008-09 budgetary allocation » Service tax imposed on certain legal services » Customs duty to be reduced on drugs for heart treatment » Mobile phone accessories to become cheaper » Branded jewellery to become cheaper » Customs duty on bio-diesel reduced » Tax holiday textile units extended » Customs duty on gold and silver import increased » Custom duty on gold re-imposed » Small businesses exempt from advance tax » Overall customs and excise duty structure maintained » To impose 5 pct customs duty on set top boxes » Custom duty on LCD panels halved » Tax holiday to natural gas extended » Anonymous funds to charitable bodies get tax relief » MAT rate hiked to 15% of book profit » Commodities Transaction Tax to be abolished » Effort is to improve tax collection by eliminating distortions in tax system and expanding the base » Direct Tax code to be released in 45 days along with discussion paper » Share of direct taxes has increased to 56 pct in 2008-09 over 41 pct in 2007-08 » Tax holiday for exporters extended until 2012 » Fringe Benefit Tax to be abolished » Income tax incentives on education loans expanded to cover vocational studies after schooling » Goods and Services Tax to be introduced from April 1, 2010

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» New tax code to be set up in 45 days » Govt committed to tax reforms » Plan expenditure, for Centre and States, to go up by Rs 61,000 cr » Fiscal deficit seen at 6.8 pct » Higher public investment in infrastructure » Rs 500 crore allocated for rehabilitation of internally displaced Tamils in Sri Lanka » Rs 1,000 crore for rebuilding infrastructure damaged by 'Aila' in West Bengal » Rs 25 cr allocated each for AMU campuses in » Murshidabad, Mallapuram » One lakh dwelling units for paramilitary forces personnel to be constructed » Pension of non-commissioned officers to be hiked » One rank, one pension for ex-servicemen from July 1,2009 » Rs 2,113 cr for IITs and NITs » Allocation of Rs 50 cr to Chandigarh University » Commonwealth allocation hiked to Rs 16,300 cr » Govt to hike allocation to National Ganga Project to Rs 562 cr » First Unique ID to citizens to roll out in 12-18 months; Rs 120 crore proposed for the project » Allocation for National Rural Health Mission to be raised by Rs 257 cr » National action plan on climate change » Allowances to para-military forces at par with defence forces » Modernisation of national employment exchanges to be carried out

» Action initiated to provide social security to unorganised sector workers » Full interest subsidy for students taking courses in approved institutions; five lakh students to benefit » To add handloom cluster in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal » 50 pct of all rural women to be brought into self-help group programmes » Rashtriya Mahila Kosh allocation to be raised to Rs 500 cr » National Mission for Female Literacy with emphasis on minorities, SC/ST to be launched » Interest subsidy for home loans hiked to Rs 1 lakh » Allocation for Bharat Nirman programme raised by 45 pct » Full interest subsidy for poor students for higher education » Rs 100 cr one-time grant to expand banks in unbanking areas » Work on National Food Security scheme for providing food at cheaper rates to the poor has begun » Indira Awaas Yojna hiked by 63 pct to Rs 8,883 cr » Rs 31,100 crore allocated to NREGA » NREGA gave employment opportunities to more than 4.479 cr households in last fiscal » To return to FRBM target for fiscal discipline at the earliest » Subsidy regime for fertilisers to change to nutrient-based rather than price-based

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» Banking network to be expanded » Banks and insurance firms to remain in public sector » Threshold for non-promoter public listed companies raised » Saral-II forms to simplify taxation process » Move towards energy security via Integrated Energy Act » An expert group to look into petroleum product pricing » Export Credit Guarantee scheme extended till March 2010 » Print media stimulus package extended by 6 months » Target for agriculture credit raised to Rs 3,25,000 cr in FY10 » Allocation of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna stepped up by 30 pct » Will create close to 12 million jobs » Farmers loan interest to come down to 6 pct » Total fiscal stimulus during FY09 is Rs 1,86,000 cr » Fund allocation for urban poor accommodation is 3,973,000 cr » Housing allocation hiked under Rajiv Awaas Yojana » Mumbai flood management allocation hiked to Rs 500 cr » IIFCL will re-finance 60 pct of commercial bank loans in PPP » Share of trade has doubled to 38 % of GDP

» Uncertainties of global economy remain » IIFCL to be given greater flexibility » Govt took 3 stimulus packages to fight slowdown » Trade in goods and services doubled in 2008 » Significant hike in foreign capital » Infra investment to exceed 9% of GDP by 2014 » Policy target to revive agriculture and industrial growth » Ensure 4 pct growth for agriculture » Increase investment in infrastructure » Growth Target at 9 pct per annum Budget Aims At Inclusive Growth National Food Security Act: » National Food Security Act to be brought in to ensure entitlement of 25 kilo of rice or wheat per month at Rs.3 per kilo to every family living below the poverty line in rural or urban areas. Food Security Bill to be put on the website of the Department of Food and Public Distribution for public debate. National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) » Allocation under NREGS increased by 144 per cent to Rs.39,100 crore in B.E. 2009-10 over B.E. 200809. » To increase productivity of assets and resources under NREGA, convergence with other schemes relating to agriculture, forests, water resources, land resources, rural roads initiated. In the first stage 115 pilot districts selected for convergence.

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Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana (PMAGY) » New scheme Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana (PMAGY) with an allocation of Rs.100 crore launched on pilot basis for integrated development of 1000 villages having population of scheduled castes above 50 per cent. Welfare of Minorities: » Rs.25 crore each allocated for establishing new campuses at Murshidabad in West Bengal and Malappuram in Kerala by Aligarh Muslim University. » Allocations made for the new schemes of National Fellowship for Students from minority community and Grants-in-aid to Central Wakf Council for computerization of records of State Wakf Boards. » Plan outlay of Ministry of Minority Affairs enhanced from Rs.1,000 crore in B.E. 2008-09 to Rs.1,740 crore in 2009-10 registering an increase of 74 per cent. This includes Rs.990 crore for MultiSectoral Development Programme for Minorities, Grants-in-aid to Maulana Azad Education Foundation, National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation and pre and post matric scholarship for minorities. Education: » Provision for the scheme Mission in Education through ICT substantially increased to Rs.900 crore and the provision for setting up and up-gradation of Polytechnics under the Skill Development Mission enhanced to Rs.495 crore. » Rs.50 crore allocated for Punjab University, Chandigarh. Plan allocation for Chandigarh to be suitably enhanced during the year to provide bet-

ter infrastructure to the people of Chandigarh. » Rs.2,113 crore allocated for IITs and NITs which includes a provision of Rs.450 crore for new IITs and NITs. » Rs.827 crore allocated for opening one Central University in each uncovered State. Direct Taxes: » Scope of presumptive taxation to be extended to all small businesses with a turnover upto Rs. 40 lakh. All such taxpayers to have option to declare their income from business at the rate of 8 percent of their turnover and simultaneously enjoy exemption from the compliance burden of maintaining books of accounts. As a procedural simplification, they are also to be exempted from advance tax and allowed to pay their entire tax liability from business at the time of filing their return. This new scheme to come into effect from the financial year 2010-11. » Deduction under section 80E of the Income-tax Act allowed in respect of interest on loans taken for pursuing higher education in specified fields of study to be extended to cover all fields of study, including vocational studies, pursued after completion of schooling. » Donations to electoral trusts to be allowed as a 100 percent deduction in the computation of the income of the donor. » Commodity Transaction Tax (CTT) to be scrapped. Alternative dispute resolution mechanism to be created within the Income Tax Department for the resolution of transfer pricing disputes. Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) to be increased to 15 per cent of book profits from 10 per cent. The period allowed to carry forward the tax credit under MAT to be extended from seven years to ten years.

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Indirect Taxes: » Proposals on indirect taxes to seek to achieve stable framework by maintaining the overall rate structure for customs and central excise duties as well as service tax. » Full exemption from 4% special CVD on parts for manufacture of mobile phones and accessories to be reintroduced for one year. » Customs duty of 5% to be imposed on Set Top Box for television broadcasting. » Customs duty on bio-diesel to be reduced from 7.5% to 2.5%. » Concessional customs duty of 5% on specified machinery for tea, coffee and rubber plantations to be reintroduced for one year, upto 06.07.2010. Excise duty on Special Boiling Point spirits to be reduced to 14%. » Excise duty on manmade fibre and yarn to be increased from 4% to 8%. » Full exemption from excise duty to be provided on goods of Chapter 68 of Central Excise Tariff manufactured at the site of construction for use in construction work at such site. » Export Promotion Councils and the Federation of Indian Export Organizations (FIEO) to be exempt from service tax on the membership and other fees collected by them till 31st March 2010.

Union Budget 2009-10 Highlights » Budget spells out the target for the UPA: To bring back the 9% growth » Commodities Transaction Tax (CTT) to be scrapped » 10% surcharge on personal Income tax scrapped » Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) to be scrapped » IT exemption limit for Women hiked to Rs 190,000 » IT exemption limit for Senior Citizens hiked to Rs 240,000 » Rs 12000 crore earmarked for expenditure on rural roads in FY 2010 » Drugs related to heart diseases to be cheaper » Service Tax to be now applicable on law firms » Bio-diesel custom duty lowered » Customs Duty on import of Gold and Silver increased » Branded women's jewellery to be cheaper » Rs 16300 Crore to be set aside for the upcoming Commonwealth Games » IITs and NITs to get Rs 2113 crore » Corporate Tax unchanged » One rank-one pension scheme to be in place for Ex-Servicemen » National Ganga Project allocation to go up to Rs 562 Crore » Unique Identification (UID) project under Nandan M. Nilekani to be out in 12-18 months » NRHM allocation to be raised by Rs 257 crore

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» A national level action plan in place for climate change » National Employment Exchanges to be modernised Courtesy: WN.COM » Interest subsidy for home loans up to 1 lakh » Indira Awaas Yojna bolstered up by 63% to Rs 8883 crore » Saral 2 forms to simply tax filing process » Emphasis on fertiliser subsidy reaching out directly to farmers » Petroleum price expert panel to set petroleum prices which would be in sync with the global levels » Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna allocation increased by 30% » IIFCL, a new company would look into the infrastructure needs » Extension of farm loan waiver scheme by 6 months » Allocation of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) increased by 23% » Fiscal stimulus at 3.5% pf the GDP » Small scale businesses to be exempted from advance tax » 50% reduction in the Custom Duty on LCD panels » Set top boxes to be costlier » Goods and Services Tax (GST) to be in effect from April, 2010 » Textile units to enjoy continued tax holidays » Government has praised the 3 stimulus packages which were rolled out by the UPA to fight the global economic meltdown

Rail Budget 2009-10 Ms Mamta Banerjee has presented the first Rail Budget of the newly elected government and acknowledged a need to put in more efforts towards development of facilities like passenger amenities, cleanliness, security and catering services. Main features of rail budget 2009-10 are following: » No change in Passenger Fares. » Freight Rates untouched. » One Doctor to be available on long distance trains to attend to passenger/staff medical emergencies. » Ticket booking services to open in 800 new locations.

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» 5000 Post Offices pan India to provide Railway ticket booking facility. » 'Turant AC' sleeper trains to be introduced between major metros. » Rs 1750 crore to be spent on Gauge conversion. » Students to receive a 60% concession on train tickets. » Non-stop trains to be operational soon on select routes. » 50 Railway Stations to be built at par with international standards. » Extension of 'Ladies Special' trains to major metros like Delhi, Kolkata Chennai. » 50% concession for Scribes. » Rs 81685 crore to be the estimated working expenditure. » Kachrapara, Bengal to get new coach factory. » Scholarship schemes for Girl child of Group B Railway employees. » Women commandos to be increased in key routes. » Physically challenged passengers to be accommodated in specially designed coaches. » Increase in utility stores such as PCO/STD/ISD booths and book stores. » Increased emphasis on security (platform and train). » Catering facilities to be upgraded in order to address growing number of passenger complaints/ feedback. » SMS updates for waiting list status. » Tatkal booking scheme reduced from 5 days to 2 days. » Setting up of ATMs on 200 stations identified. » High capacity double decker AC trains to be in-

troduced on select routes. » Railways will no longer be guided by economic viability but social commitment said Mamta Banerjee. » Cold storage facilities to be developed for farmers storing vegetables and fruits. » New Hospitals to be Opened up for Hospital Staff. » Indian Railways to lease out land for commercial purposes to increase revenue New Trains Vishakhapatnam - Secunderabad -Mumbai Superfast (Bi-weekly) » Bangalore- Hubli -Solapur Superfast (Tri-weekly) » Howrah - Bangalore Superfast (Weekly) » Kamakhya - Puri Express (Weekly) » Gandhidham- Howrah Superfast (Weekly) » Delhi - Sadulpur Express (Tri-weekly) » Mumbai - Karwar Superfast (Tri-weekly) » Durg- Jaipur Express (Weekly) » Hazrat Nizammudin -Bangalore Rajdhani Express (Tri-weekly) via Kacheguda » Mumbai-Varanasi Superfast (Daily) » Varanasi- Jammu Tawi Superfast (Daily) » Mumbai - Jodhpur Express (Weekly) » Bangalore - Kochuveli Superfast (Weekly) Train Frequency Increased: » 2685/2686 Chennai- Mangalore from 3 days to daily » 2443/2444 New Delhi- Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express from 2 days to 4 days

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» 2111/2112 Amravati-Mumbai Express from 3 days to daily » 2149/2150 Pune - Patna Express from 4 days to daily » 2487/2488 Jogbani- Delhi Express from 5 days to daily » 2905/2906 Porbander - Howrah (via Hapa) from 2 days to 3 days » 4207/4208 Delhi - Pratapgarh Padmavat Express from 3 days to daily » 2423/2424 New Delhi- Guwahati Rajdhani Express from 5 days to 6 days » 7091/7092 Secunderabad -Patna from 2 days to daily » 2739/2740 Secunderabad - Vishakapatnam Express from 4 days to daily » 2957/2958 Ahmedabad - New Delhi Rajdhani Express from 6 days to daily » 2487/2488 Jogbani- Delhi Express from 5 days to daily » 2823/2824 Nizammudin-Durg Chhatisgarh Sampark Kranti from 2 days to 3 days Infrastructure: » New lines to be introduced » Gauge conversion at Chhindwara, Ahmedpur and Naghbir » Doubling at Tala, Secunderabad, Sahibganj, Ara, » » Ghumani, Hissar, Dankuni, Bibinagar, Krishnanagar, Rajkot, Bandel and Jhansi. Freight: » Several measures to improve the proportion of freight traffic moving on Railways

» Permission to access private sidings will be given to containers which will help in attracting piecemeal traffic presently not being carried by Railways » A premium service for container movement with assured transit time is being considered for time sensitive cargo. » Private ownership of special purpose rolling stock for commodities and private operation of freight terminals will be encouraged. » A new policy would be unveiled to allow construction and operation of private freight terminals and multi-modal logistic parks. Mega logistics hubs are being planned alongside the proposed Eastern and Western Dedicated Freight Corridors. Facilities: » Passenger amenities to be improved » Emphasis on cleanliness inside trains and on platforms » Quality of Railway catering to be improved » Safety and security to be bettered » Train timings to be adhered to with punctuality Budget Glossary Appropriation Bill: This Bill enables withdrawal of money from the Consolidated Fund to pay off expenses. These are instruments that Parliament clears after the demand for grants has been approved by the Lok Sabha. Bank Credit: It includes loans, cash credit and overdrafts, and inland bills and foreign bills purchased and discounted.

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Bill: A draft legislative proposal which becomes an Act when passed by both Houses of Parliament and assented to by the President. Budgetary Deficit: Time when the expenses exceed the revenues is known as Budgetary Deficit. Budget Estimate: These are the estimate of Fiscal Deficit and the Revenue Deficit for the year. The term is associated with the estimates of Center's spending during the financial year and the income received as proceeds of tax revenues. Finance Bill: Government proposals for modification or continuance of existing tax structure beyond a period earlier approved by Parliament. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI): FDI is made in India by a company incorporated abroad, through a branch or a subsidiary company set up in India. Foreign Institutional Investor (FII): An institution established outside India, which proposes to invest in India. Fiscal Deficit: Fiscal deficit occurs when the government's non-borrowed receipts fall short of its entire expenditure, it has to borrow money from the public to meet the shortfall. The excess of total expenditure over total non-borrowed receipts is called the fiscal deficit. GDP: Total market value of finished goods and services produced in the country in a given year.

Gross National Product: GDP plus income of residents from investments made abroad minus income earned by foreigners in domestic market leads to the Gross National Product. Indirect Taxes: These are charged on goods produced, imported or exported in the country. These taxes include Excise and Customs duties. Inflation: Inflation rate is the percentage rate of change in the price level. Per Capita Income: The national income of a country, or region, divided by its population. Progressive Tax Structure: A tax structure in which the marginal tax rate increases as the level of income increases. Revenue Expenditure: Expenses incurred for functioning of government departments, interest on debt, subsidies etc. Sales Tax: A tax levied as a percentage of retail sales. Vote on Account: It is a sort of interim budget where the government presents accounts required to keep the machinery running until the next government takes over. Wholesale Price Index: Prices of goods that are dealt with wholesale (mostly inputs to production, rather than finished commodities).

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First BRIC Summit

Developing World Rendered New Power By R.K.Pandey

The range of topics on the agenda and the line-up of presidents attending showed the growing economic and political power of the world's emerging nations, including India and China, and their desire to forge new levers of influence. Host president Dmitry Medvedev of Russia hailed the Urals city of Yekaterinburg as the epicenter of world politics.

Brazil, Russia, India and China ended the first BRIC summit at Yekaterinburg in Russia by calling for an increased role in global financial institutions by emerging economies and developing nations. At the conclusion of the first BRIC summit on june16,2009 BRIC countries issued a joint statement calling for BRICs New Affirmation increased economic reThe so-called BRIC nations form. The four nations, of Brazil, Russia, India and representing emerging China called for reform of economic powers, deinternational financial inmanded that developing stitutions, sweeping economies have a greater changes to the United Navoice and representation in tions to give a bigger role international financial into Brazil and India and a stitutions, and their heads stable and predictable curand senior leadership Courtesy : Novinite.Com rency system. Iran's presishould be appointed dent, re-elected in a disputed vote, fired a salvo at through an open, transparent and merit-based sethe United States, the leaders of India and Pakistan lection process. BRIC countries said that they also had their first one-to-one meeting since the believe there is a strong need for a stable, predictMumbai attacks and the four top emerging market able and more diversified international monetary economies held their first summit. system, it showed a warning against the global domination of the US dollar as the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s standard A common thread running through the Shanghai reserve currency. Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit and a separate meeting between Brazil, Russia, India, and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had voiced China (BRIC) was discussion of a new world order similar sentiments before the summit, saying the less dependent on the United States. President of current reserve policies have not managed to perRussia told that existing reserve currencies, includform their functions. Chief economic aide, Arkady ing the U.S. dollar, had not performed their funcDvorkovich, suggested that the International Montion and said it was time for change and countries etary Fund (IMF) should revise the basket of curshould use their national currencies more for trade. rencies used to value its financial products to inThe BRIC summit ended with a statement by clude the Russian ruble and Chinese Yuan. At the Medvedev and a communique which demanded moment the currencies included are the dollar, euro, more power for developing nations. It did not menyen and sterling. tion two key Moscow initiatives a smaller role for the U.S. dollar and a supranational reserve currency.

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The Kremlin's top economic aide, Arkady Dvorkovich, said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) should expand the basket of its Special Drawing Right (an international reserve asset) to including the Chinese yuan, the Russian rouble and gold. The dollar fell 0.9 percent against a basket of major currencies on world markets after Medvedev's comments. Since the four BRIC nations represent around 40 percent of the world's population and 15 percent of its GDP. Russia and China lead the SCO, a security and economic co-operation forum which also includes four Central Asian states, plus Iran, Mongolia, India and Pakistan as observers. It can be say that such a type of coordination will allow developing nations to better explain their positions to each other and work out a novel path to resolving international financial problems and the reform of international financial relations. Underlining its growing economic influence abroad, Chinese President Hu Jintao offered Central Asian states $10 billion of credit support to help counter the global economic slump, though he did not mention the proposals for diluting dollar dominance. In another ignore to the West, the SCO leaders welcomed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, making his first foreign trip to attend the summit since his disputed re-election. Ahmadinejad arrived a day late in Yekaterinburg after mass protests against his disputed victory in Tehran but the SCO presidents had congratulated Ahmadinejad on his victory. On the sidelines, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met Pakistani leader Asif Ali Zardari for the first time since the Mumbai attacks and asked him to ensure that Islamist militants could not operate from Pakistani territory. His tough words offered little hope for a breakthrough in relations between the two nuclear-armed Asian powers.

Campaigning for Economic Modification Those divisive issues are mainly political in nature which is why most observers correctly predicted that the BRIC summit would focus predominantly on economic issues. Combined, the BRIC countries currently have a 15-percent share of the world economy and a 42-percent share of global currency reserves. Their increased economic power was underscored when Brazil and Russia joined China in announcing they would shift some $70 billion (50 billion euros) of reserves into multicurrency bonds issued by the International Monetary Fund. The move was interpreted by some as an attempt to topple the dollar in part because the Russian president said at the time that his proposal to create a new world currency could be discussed at the summit. But fiscal experts said that BRIC will tread carefully where the dollar is concerned, as triggering a dollar crisis would be akin to shooting themselves in the foot. The BRIC’s are putting the US on notice that there has to be a cutback on spending and that they need to get their house in order any attack on the dollar will hurt them. But they want to make sure this kind of mess doesn't happen again. Clearly though, BRIC is using its new influence to put pressure on the IMF to reshape its voting structure to better reflect the shift in economic power. Brazil, for example, is the world's 10th largest economy, but has just 1.38 percent of the IMF board's votes, compared to 2.09 percent for Belgium, an economy one-third the size. Joint Statement of the BRIC Countries’ Leaders Leaders of the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Russian Federation, the Republic of India and the People’s Republic of China, have discussed the current situation in global economy and other pressing issues of global development, and also prospects

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for further strengthening collaboration within the BRIC.

• Strengthening of risk management and supervi-

BRIC have arrived at the following conclusions: » BRIC stressed the central role played by the G20 Summits in dealing with the financial crisis. They have fostered cooperation, policy coordination and political dialogue regarding international economic and financial matters.

» BRIC countries recognise the important role

» BRIC called upon all states and relevant interna-

tional bodies to act vigorously to implement the decisions adopted at the G20 Summit in London on April 2, 2009. BRIC shall cooperate closely among them and with other partners to ensure further progress of collective action at the next G20 Summit to be held in Pittsburgh in September 2009. BRIC countries are committed to advance the reform of international financial institutions, so as to reflect changes in the global economy. The emerging and developing economies must have greater voice and representation in international financial institutions, whose heads and executives should be appointed through an open, transparent, and meritbased selection process. BRIC also believe that there is a strong need for a stable, predictable and more diversified international monetary system.

» BRIC countries are convinced that a reformed financial and economic architecture should be based, inter alia, on the following principles:

• Democratic and transparent decision-making and implementation process at the international financial organisations; • Solid legal basis; • Compatibility of activities of effective national regulatory institutions and international standardsetting bodies;

sory practices.

played by international trade and foreign direct investments in the world economic recovery. BRIC countries call upon all parties to work together to improve the international trade and investment environment. They urge the international community to keep the multilateral trading system stable, curb trade protectionism, and push for comprehensive and balanced results of the WTO’s Doha Development Agenda.

» The poorest countries have been hit hardest by

the financial crisis. The international community needs to step up efforts to provide liquid financial resources for these countries. The international community should also strive to minimise the impact of the crisis on development and ensure the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Developed countries should fulfil their commitment of 0.7% of Gross National Income for the Official Development Assistance and make further efforts in increasing assistance, debt relief, market access and technology transfer for developing countries.

» The implementation of the concept of sustain-

able development, comprising, inter alia, the Rio Declaration, Agenda for the 21st Century and multilateral environmental agreements, should be a major vector in the change of paradigm of economic development.

» BRIC countries stand for strengthening coordi-

nation and cooperation among states in the energy field, including amongst energy producers and consumers and transit states, in an effort to decrease

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uncertainty and ensure stability and sustainability. They support diversification of energy resources and supply, including renewable energy, security of energy transit routes and creation of new energy investments and infrastructure.

» BRIC countries support international cooperation

in the field of energy efficiency. They stand ready for a constructive dialogue on how to deal with climate change based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibility, given the need to combine measures to protect the climate with steps to fulfill our socio-economic development tasks.

» BRIC countries reaffirmed to enhance coopera-

tion among our countries in socially vital areas and to strengthen the efforts for the provision of international humanitarian assistance and for the reduction of natural disaster risks. They take note of the statement on global food security issued today as a major contribution of the BRIC countries to the multilateral efforts to set up the sustainable conditions for this goal.

» BRIC countries reaffirmed to advance coopera-

tion among our countries in science and education with the aim, inter alia, to engage in fundamental research and development of advanced technologies.

» BRIC countries underlined their support for a

more democratic and just multi-polar world order based on the rule of international law, equality, mutual respect, cooperation, coordinated action and collective decision-making of all states. BRIC countries reiterate their support for political and diplomatic efforts to peacefully resolve disputes in international relations.

» BRIC countries strongly condemn terrorism in

all its forms and manifestations and reiterate that there can be no justification for any act of terrorism anywhere or for whatever reasons. They note that the draft Comprehensive Convention against International Terrorism is currently under the consideration of the UN General Assembly and call for its urgent adoption.

» BRIC countries expressed their strong commit-

ment to multilateral diplomacy with the United Nations playing the central role in dealing with global challenges and threats. In this respect, They reaffirmed the need for a comprehensive reform of the UN with a view to making it more efficient so that it can deal with today’s global challenges more effectively. They reiterated the importance that attach to the status of India and Brazil in international affairs, and understand and support their aspirations to play a greater role in the United Nations.

» BRIC countries have agreed upon steps to pro-

mote dialogue and cooperation among our countries in an incremental, proactive, pragmatic, open and transparent way. The dialogue and cooperation of the BRIC countries is conducive not only to serving common interests of emerging market economies and developing countries, but also to building a harmonious world of lasting peace and common prosperity.

» Russia, India and China welcomed the invitation

of Brazil to the next BRIC summit where it will host in 2010. Cooperation Within BRIC BRIC is a loose group of countries including Brazil, Russia, India and China, the largest economic growth and political influence centres among emerging economies. These countries have a sub-

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stantial integration potential in their respective regions. The global problems of international terrorism and multinational crime, environmental degradation and climate change, plus food and energy security cannot be effectively solved without the involvement of the BRIC countries. BRIC partnership is becoming increasingly important amid the global economic and financial downturn, when the four countries should coordinate their efforts with the international community to weather the crisis on global financial markets and reform the world financial system.

BRIC countries to become a major factor of multilateral diplomacy and to make a substantial contribution to promoting the nascent multipolarity and development of collective leadership by the world’s leading countries. By some predictions, the four nations, Brazil, Russia, India and China, a group referred to as the BRIC group, will surpass the current leading economies by the middle of this century, a tectonic shift that by this reckoning will eventually nudge the United States and Western Europe away from the center of world productivity and power.

Political dialogue within the BRIC format began in New York in September 2006, when their foreign ministers conferred during the 61st UN General Assembly. Since then, the BRIC foreign ministers have met four times, including at a full-scale meeting in Yekaterinburg on May 16, 2008. The joint statement adopted as a result of the latter meeting formulated common approaches to crucial issues on the international agenda.

Russia’s president, Dmitri A. Medvedev, said the main point of the meeting was to show that the BRIC should create conditions for a more just world order. The four countries produce about 15 percent of the world’s gross domestic product and hold about 40 percent of the gold and hard currency reserves, but they are not a unified bloc and do not do enough business among themselves to justify a trade alliance. Russia and Brazil export natural resources, China exports manufactured goods and India bases its growth primarily on domestic demand. As such, India is not as concerned with the status of the dollar and is by no means as intent on scoring ideological points against the United States as is Russia.

Ties between the BRIC foreign ministers were completed by the meetings between their finance ministers in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on November 7, 2008 and in London on March 13, 2009. The finance ministers adopted joint statements on their meetings, which reflected common views of global economic problems, including the reasons for and ways to weather the global financial crisis. At the initiative of Russia, the four leaders had a short meeting on July 9, 2008, during the G8 summit in Japan, to agree on drafting a full-scale BRIC summit. Official contacts in the BRIC format have been buttressed by interaction between the respective regional authorities and public organisations. Russia would like the cooperation between the

The acronym BRIC was coined by a Goldman Sachs economist in 2001 to describe the four countries that were expected to surpass today’s largest economies by 2050, owing to their faster growth rate. A communiqué issued after the meeting highlighted the common goals of a greater voice in international financial institutions and a more diversified global monetary system. They agreed to meet again in 2010, in Brazil. The gathering was the second of back-to-back summit meetings sponsored by Russia in this city in the Ural Mountains on the divide between Europe and Asia.

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The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a regional security alliance intended loosely as a counterweight to NATO, met in an expanded format with many Eurasian nations holding observer status. It even included a brief appearance by the president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose disputed re-election last week has touched off street demonstrations in Tehran. In a sign of regional economic integration, China’s president, Hu Jintao, pledged $10 billion in aid to Central Asian nations in the group, which consists of China, Russia and four former Soviet states: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Mr. Hu and Mr. Medvedev then met separately with India’s prime minister, Manmohan Singh, and the Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Mr. Medvedev encouraged China, the world’s largest holder of dollar reserves, and other nations to put their money in some other currency or financial mechanism. He also urged members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to use their national currencies in conducting bilateral trade. There can be no successful currency system, and particularly a global system, if the financial instruments that are used are denominated in only one currency, Mr. Medvedev said. A top economic policy aide to Mr. Medvedev, Arkady Dvorkovich, said Russia would like to diversify its currency reserves away from dollars by buying bonds from Brazil, China and India, but only if they bought Russian rubles as a reserve. The dollar fell slightly against the euro and other currencies on Tuesday, though some traders quoted by Bloomberg News cited a more workaday cause: good results on new American housing starts were encouraging investors to move out of Treasury bonds and into equities.

The Path To 2050 The BRIC dissertation (defended in the paper Dreaming with BRICs: The Path to 2050) recognizes that Brazil, Russia, India and China have changed their political systems to embrace global capitalism. Goldman Sachs predicts China and India, respectively, to be the dominant global suppliers of manufactured goods and services while Brazil and Russia would become similarly dominant as suppliers of raw materials. Cooperation is thus hypothesized to be a logical next step among the BRICs because Brazil and Russia together form the logical commodity suppliers to India and China. Thus, the BRICs have the potential to form a powerful economic bloc to the exclusion of the modern-day states currently of "Group of Eight" status. Brazil is dominant in soy and iron ore while Russia has enormous supplies of oil and natural gas. Goldman Sachs' thesis thus documents how commodities, work, technology, and companies have diffused outward from the United States across the world. Following the end of the Cold War or even before, the governments comprising BRIC all initiated economic or political reforms to allow their countries to enter the world economy. In order to compete, these countries have simultaneously stressed education, foreign investment, domestic consumption, and domestic entrepreneurship. According to the study, India has the potential to grow the fastest among the four BRIC countries over the next 30 to 50 years. A major reason for this is that the decline in working age population will happen later for India and Brazil than for Russia and China.

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Analysis The Economist published an annual table of social and economic national statistics in its Pocket World in Figures. Extrapolating the global rankings from their 2008 Edition for the BRIC countries and economies in relation to various categories provides an interesting touchstone in relation to the economic underpinnings of the BRIC thesis. It also illustrates how, despite their divergent economic bases, the economic indicators are remarkably similar in global rankings between the different economies. It also suggests that whilst economic arguments can be made for linking Mexico into the BRIC thesis, the case for including South Africa looks considerably weaker. A Goldman Sachs paper published later in December 2005 explained why Mexico wasn't included in the original BRICs. According to the paper, among the other countries they looked at, only Mexico and perhaps Korea have the potential to rival the BRICs, but they are economies that they decided to exclude initially because they looked at them as already more developed. According to that paper, Mexico becomes the fifth-largest economy by 2050, ahead of Russia. A criticism is that the BRIC projections are based on the assumptions that resources are limitless and endlessly available when needed. In reality, many important resources currently necessary to sustain economic growth, such as oil, natural gas, coal, other fossil fuels, and uranium might soon experience a peak in production before enough renewable energy can be developed and commercialized, which might result in slower economic growth than anticipated, thus throwing off the projections and their dates.

The economic emergence of the BRICs will have unpredictable consequences for the global environment. Indeed, proponents of a set carrying capacity for the Earth may argue that, given current technology, there is a finite limit to how much the BRICs can develop before exceeding the ability of the global economy to supply. Academics and experts have suggested that China is in a league of its own compared to the other BRIC countries. BRIC are the one with the big reserves. They are the biggest potential market. They are the U.S. partner in the G2 (imagine the coverage a G2 meeting gets vs. a G8 meeting) and the E2 (no climate deal without them) and so on. Deutsche Bank Research said in a report that economically, financially and politically, China overshadows and will continue to overshadow the other BRICs. It added that China's economy is larger than that of the three other BRIC economies (Brazil, Russia and India) combined. Moreover, China's exports and its official forex reserve holdings are more than twice as large as those of the other BRICs combined. Another criticism is the understatement of GDP growth in China over the next 45 years; which predicts growth falling far below normal development. This contradicts the rapid economic growth that has already taken place in the country and the experience of countries like South Korea catching up with western GDP per capita, which China has been growing faster than in a similar period of development. There are many uncertainties and assumptions in the BRIC thesis that could mean that any or all of these four countries will not live up to their promise. The preeminence of China and India as major manufacturing countries with unrealised potential has been widely recognised, but some commentators state that China's and Russia's disregard for human rights and democracy could be a prob-

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lem in the future, as is the possibility of conflict over Taiwan in the case of China.

are all factors that are difficult to predict and that could have an effect on the destiny of any country.

Likewise, the population of Russia is steadily declining and aging, and Brazil's and China's populations will begin to decline in several decades, and with their demographic windows closing in several decades as well. This may have implications for those countries' future, for there might be a decrease in the overall labor force and a negative change in the proportion of workers to retirees.

Other critics suggest that BRIC is nothing more than a neat acronym for the four largest emerging market economies, but in economic and political terms nothing else (apart from the fact that they are all big emerging markets) links the four. Two are manufacturing based economies and big importers (China and India), but two are huge exporters of natural resources (Brazil and Russia). Two have growing populations (Brazil and India), and two have shrinking populations (China and Russia). The Economist, in its special report on Brazil, expressed the following view: In some ways Brazil is the steadiest of the BRICs. Unlike China and Russia it is a full-blooded democracy; unlike India it has no serious disputes with its neighbors. It is the only BRIC without a nuclear bomb. The Heritage Foundation's Economic Freedom Index, which measures factors such as protection of property rights and free trade ranks Brazil (moderately free) above the other BRICs (mostly unfree).

Brazil's economic potential has been anticipated for decades, but it had until recently consistently failed to achieve investor expectations. Only in recent years has the country established a framework of political, economic, and social policies that allowed it to resume consistent growth. The result has been solid and paced economic development that rival its early 70's miracle years, as reflected in its expanding capital markets, lowest unemployment rates in decades, and consistent international trade surpluses - that led to the accumulation of reserves and liquidation of foreign debt (earning the country a coveted investment grade by the S&P and Fitch Ratings in 2008). How long such positive factors will stay in place remains to be seen. Finally, India's relations with one of its neighbors, Pakistan, have always been frosty. In 1998, there was a nuclear standoff between Pakistan and India. Border conflicts with Pakistan, mostly over the longheld dispute over Kashmir, has further aggravated any economic ties. The BRIC countries have enormous populations of extremely impoverished people. This impedes progress by limiting government finances, increasing social unrest, and limiting potential domestic economic demand. Factors such as international conflict, civil unrest, unwise political policy, outbreaks of disease and terrorism

In a not-so-subtle dig critical of the term as nothing more than a shorthand for emerging markets generally, critics have suggested a correlating term, CEMENT (Countries in Emerging Markets Excluded by New Terminology). Whilst they accept there has been spectacular growth of the BRIC economies, these gains have largely been the result of the strength of emerging markets generally, and that strength comes through having BRICs and CEMENT.

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Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit Yekaterinburg Declaration and Counter-Terrorism Convention By Avadhesh Pandey Author is an Expert of Economic and political Issues and working as a Freelance Editor On 15 and 16 June 2009, a meeting of the Council of Heads of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO CHS) took place in Yekaterinburg(Russia) in which President of the Russian Federation D.A.Medvedev chaired the meeting. President of the Republic of Kazakhstan N.A.Nazarbaev, Chairman of the People’s Republic of China Hu Jintao, President of the Kyrgyz Republic K.S.Bakiev, President of the Republic of Tajikistan E.Rakhmon, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan I.A.Karimov were participated and Secretary-General of the SCO B.K.Nurgaliev and Director of the Executive Committee of the SCO Regional Counter-Terrorism Structure (RCTS) M.U.Subanov participated in the meeting also. Heads of delegations from the SCO observer states – Prime Minister of the Republic of India M.Singh, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran M.Ahmadinejad, First Vice Premier of the Government of Mongolia N.Altankhuyag, President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan A.Zardari were also in attendance. The heads of state signed the SCO Counter-Terrorism Convention which cements the legal base for counter-terrorism interaction in the SCO framework and its potential, cooperation in this field was

taken to a new level. The approval of the SCO Regulations on Political Diplomatic Measures and Mechanisms of Response to Events Jeopardising Regional Peace, Security and Stability will help further enhance a mechanism of consultations, agree positions and interaction in international affairs. For the first time the format of the summit, besides a restricted-attendance meeting of the heads of the SCO member states and a plenary session with the participation of the heads of all delegations, included a separate narrow-format meeting with the participation of the heads of the member states of the organisation and leaders of the observer states. Exchange of opinions took place on the issues of international and regional situation. Common approaches of the organisation members to building a more just and rational system of interstate relations in conditions of the crisis of the traditional structures of ensuring security and financial stability are reflected in Yekaterinburg Declaration signed by the heads of the SCO member states. The Declaration also outlines priority areas of joint activity in the framework of the organisation. Plenipotentiary representatives of the member states of the organisation signed the Agreement among the Governments of the SCO Member States on Cooperation in the Field of Ensuring International Information Security and the Agreement on Training of Officers for Counter-Terrorism Agencies of the SCO Member States.

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During the meeting main achievements of the activity of the Organisation in the period following 2008 Dushanbe summit were considered, immediate and long-term areas of joint work on the development of multifaceted cooperation were determined. It was stated with satisfaction that since the previous meeting targeted steps had been taken to enhance and, streamline the SCO activity, strengthen the international prestige of the Organisation. The heads of state approved the report of the SCO Secretary-General on the work of the Organisation in the past year and the report of the RCTS Council on the work of the Regional Counter-Terrorism Structure in 2008.The heads of state underlined that in conditions of the global financial crisis ensuring security and maintaining stability in the SCO region was assuming paramount significance. The parties stated that the economic component in the SCO activity was showing significant dynamics, the legal base and organisational structure of trade and economic cooperation were being improved, the updated Action Plan on implementation of the Programme of Multilateral Trade and Economic Cooperation of the SCO Member States approved by the Heads of Government Council (Astana, 30 October 2008) was being gradually carried out. The parties acknowledged the expediency of taking effective measures aimed to minimise the consequences of the global financial crisis and encourage a closer regional trade, economic and investment cooperation in the SCO region. The SCO Business Council and Interbank Consortium are designed to play an increasing role in this field and advised to proceed from the need of more

active transition from the mainly bilateral cooperation to the implementation of multilateral projects. The next meeting of the SCO Heads of State Council will be held in 2010 in Tashkent. According to the SCO Charter the duties of a state holding chairmanship of the Organisation in the coming period are to be taken over by the Republic of Uzbekistan. Yekaterinburg Declaration In accordance with the outcome of meeting the heads of the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation stated the following: Âť Serious changes are taking place in the contemporary international environment. Aspiration to peace and sustainable development, promotion of equal cooperation became the spirit of the times. The SCO member reaffirmed their commitment to common development on the basis of the principles and provisions of the Charter of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the Treaty on Long-Term Good-Neighbourly Relations, Friendship and Cooperation among the SCO Member States, considered as a priority task maintaining constructive dialogue and deepening close interaction and partnership to jointly seek effective ways of resolving global and regional problems with the use of the growing potential and international prestige of the SCO.

Âť The member states of the Organisation together

with the international community will intend to make efforts for the formation of a more just, equal, all-embracing and well-regulated international financial regime which takes into account a true balance of interests of all its participants and gives all States equal access to the advantages of globalisation. To that end interaction and sharing of information must be strengthened as regards the international

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financial sector and the issues of tackling the consequences of the global financial crisis in the SCO region.

mation security as one of the key elements of the common system of international security.

» The parties noted the need to speed up the imple-

mitment to a dialogue of civilisations, values of peace, tolerance, mutual respect and consent in international and interdenominational relations, irrespective of ethnic origin, religious and other beliefs, oppose drawing parallels between the fight against international terrorism and confrontation against any particular religion.

mentation of major projects which are designed to ensure the expansion of transport communication capabilities of the region and access to world markets, development of social infrastructure, formation of modern international centres for logistics, trade and tourism, construction of new factories, introduction of innovative and energy-saving technologies, including renewable sources of energy. The implementation of these projects, arrangement of international transport corridors, modernisation of railways and motorways will create preconditions for strengthening the potential of the region as a transcontinental bridge and giving a new impulse to the development of economic links between Europe and Asia.

» The SCO member states, noting the key signifi-

cance of energy sector for successful economic development and creation of favourable preconditions for improving the living standards of their citizens, express determination to further advance mutually beneficial cooperation in this field on the basis of equality with the aim of ensuring effective, reliable and environmentally safe energy supplies.

» The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation will proceed from the need to further cement the legal foundations of international relations determined by generally accepted principles and norms of the international law and international obligations of States.

» The SCO member states will stress the signifi-

cance of the issue of ensuring international infor-

» The SCO member states, reaffirmed their com-

» The SCO member states noted that proliferation

of nuclear weapons poses a serious threat to international peace and security. The Treaty on the NonProliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NNPT) is the basic element of the international regime on the prevention of proliferation of nuclear weapons. The SCO member states will reiterate their intention to assist further implementation of the Russia – U.S. initiative on fighting against acts of nuclear terrorism, and also welcomed the coming into effect on 21 March 2009 of the Treaty on Establishing a Nuclear Free Zone in Central Asia.

» The SCO member states welcomed the start of

Russo-American negotiations on drafting a Treaty on the Reduction of Offensive Strategic Arms.

» The SCO member states stand up for resuming

the process of negotiations on the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. They will call to show restraint and continue the search for mutually acceptable solutions on the basis of the previously reached agreements.

» The SCO member states expressed grave concern

over the complicated situation in Afghanistan related to illicit drug trafficking, terrorism and

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transnational organised crime which pose a threat to the whole international community. In this regard the parties acknowledged the need to increase interaction with the SCO observer states, Afghanistan and other states concerned, as well as with regional and international organisations, first and foremost, the UN and its specialised institutions.

» The SCO member states welcomed the end of an internal military conflict in Sri Lanka, and express hope for establishing a firm peace, strengthening security and stability in the country on the basis of ensuring its state sovereignty and territorial integrity, guaranteeing the rights of all ethnic and religious groups.

» The SCO member states considered as a priority

task enhancing the effectiveness of interaction in the field of a timely joint response to natural and manmade emergency events, implementing a set of measures aimed to diminish their impact on society and economy.

» The SCO member states attached special impor-

tance to strengthening cooperation in the field of effective counteraction against the threat of dangerous infections and other infectious diseases. To that end the parties acknowledged the need to mobilise available resources and launch joint work on preventing the spread of epidemic diseases.

» The SCO member states will open to dialogue aim-

ing to bring States closer together and facilitate the building of a more just world order, to cement global stability and economic development. What is Shanghai Cooperation Organisation? The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a permanent intergovernmental international

organisation creation of which was proclaimed on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai (China) by the Republic of Kazakhstan, the People’s Republic of China, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan. Its prototype is the Shanghai Five mechanism. The main goals of the SCO are strengthening mutual confidence and good-neighbourly relations among the member countries; promoting effective cooperation in politics, trade and economy, science and technology, culture as well as education, energy, transportation, tourism, environmental protection and other fields; making joint efforts to maintain and ensure peace, security and stability in the region, moving towards the establishment of a new, democratic, just and rational political and economic international order. Proceeding from the Spirit of Shanghai the SCO pursues its internal policy based on the principles of mutual trust, mutual benefit, equal rights, consultations, respect for the diversity of cultures and aspiration towards common development, its external policy is conducted in accordance with the principles of non-alignment, non-targeting anyone and openness. The Heads of State Council (HSC) is the highest decision-making body in the SCO. It meets once every year to take decisions and give instructions on all important issues of SCO activity. The Heads of Government Council (HGC) meets once every year to discuss a strategy for multilateral cooperation and priority directions within the Organisation’s framework, to solve some important and pressing issues of cooperation in economic and other areas as well as to adopt the Organisation’s annual budget. Besides sessions of the HSC and the HGC there are also mechanisms of meetings on the level of Speakers of Parliament, Secretaries of Se-

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curity Councils, Foreign Ministers, Ministers of Defence, Emergency Relief, Economy, Transportation, Culture, Education, Healthcare, Heads of Law Enforcement Agencies, Supreme Courts and Courts of Arbitration, Prosecutors General. The Council of National Coordinators of SCO Member States (CNC) is in charge of coordinating interaction within the SCO framework. The Organisation has two permanent bodies – the Secretariat in Beijing and the Regional Counter-Terrorism Structure in Tashkent. SCO Secretary-General and RCTS Executive Committee Director are appointed by the HSC for a period of three years. From 01 January 2007 these posts are held by Bolat K.Nurgaliev (Kazakhstan) and Myrzakan U.Subanov (Kyrgyzstan) respectively. The SCO member states occupy a territory of around 30 million 189 thousand square kilometers, which makes up three fifths of the Eurasian continent, and have a population of 1.5 billion, which makes up a quarter of the planet’s population. Background of The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (“The SCO”) has united the Russian Federation, the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan. The SCO dates back to the Treaty on Strengthening of Trust between Military Authorities in Border Territories and to the Treaty on Mutual Reduction of Armed Forces in Border Territories entered into by and between the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, and the Republic of Tajikistan, on the one hand, and the People’s Republic of China, on the other hand, in 1996 and

1997, respectively. The SCO Foundation Declaration was signed at the summit of the heads of the six states held in Shanghai on June 15, 2001. The SCO Charter was accepted at the summit held in St.Petersburg on June 7, 2002. The SCO Charter became effective on September 19, 2003. The SCO Charter is the basic founding document specifying the goals, the principles, the structure and the main areas of activities of the Organisation. The Treaty of Long-Term Neighbourliness, Friendship and Cooperation executed in Bishkek on August 16, 2007, that sets the stage for a qualitative leap of diversified interactions, has substantially solidified the legal foundation of the Organisation. By now, the Treaty ratification formalities have been completed by the Kyrgyz Republic, the People’s Republic of China, and the Russian Federation. The Council of the heads of the SCO member states acts as the supreme authority of the Organization. Its mission is to set the priorities and to identify the main areas of activities of the Organization, to outline its basic structure and functions, to identify the issues of interaction with other states and organizations, and to consider the most vital international problems. The Council of the heads of the governments (prime ministers) of the SCO member states adopts the budget of the Organization, considers and resolves the principal issues of interaction, particularly, in the area of economic activity. The Council of ministers of foreign affairs of the SCO member states is responsible for the preparation of summits (sessions) of the Council of the heads of states, issues resolutions authorizing performance within the Organization of any consultations on international problems. Conferences (sessions) of ministers and directors of

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other authorities of SCO member states are designated to ensure cooperation in specific areas. Coordination assurance vehicles are in place to ensure optimization of the joint efforts of ministers responsible for foreign economic operations, particularly, foreign trade, as well as transport, education, culture, defense, and emergencies management. Commissions of senior officers and workgroups of experts are also in place. Summits of general prosecutors, chiefs of drug control authorities, customs services, supreme and arbitration courts are held on an ongoing basis. The first meeting of heads of parliaments of the SCO member states was held in Moscow in 2006. The Council of National Coordinators coordinates day-to-day operations of the Organization as well as the interaction between the ministries and other authorities of the SCO member states. Mr. L.P. Moiseyev, Ambassador-at-Large, Special Representative of the Russian Federation in charge of the SCO affairs, acts as the National Coordinator for the Russian Federation. The Regional Antiterrorist Structure is a permanent body that coordinates cooperation between competent authorities of the SCO member states under the Shanghai Convention on Terrorism, Separatism and Extremism of June 15, 2001, other agreements and documents executed by SCO member states. The constituent authorities of the Regional Antiterrorist Structure include the Council and the Executive Committee of the Council of the Regional Antiterrorist Structure. Meetings (sessions) of Secretaries of Security Councils of the SCO member states represent an efficient consultation and coordination facility. Their mission is to respond to new challenges and threats. Permanent Administrative Bodies: The SCO Secretariate is based in Beijing, People’s Republic of China. The SCO Secretariate is headed by the General Secretary and SCO Chief Executive Officer

appointed by virtue of a resolution of the Council of the heads of states for a term of three years, on the basis of rotation. Since January 1, 2007, position of the General Secretary has been occupied by B.K. Nourgaliev, representative of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The Executive Committee of the Council of the Regional Antiterrorist Structure is based in Tashkent, Republic of Uzbekistan. The Executive Committee is headed by Director, appointed by virtue of a resolution of the Council of the heads of states for a term of three years, on the basis of rotation. Since January 1, 2007, position of Director of the Executive Committee has been occupied by M.U. Soubanov, representative of the Kyrgyz Republic. Any resolutions of the SCO authorities require consensus of all member states. Permanent representatives of the SCO member states are delegated into the SCO Secretariate and into the Executive Committee of the Council of the Regional Antiterrorist Structure based in Tashkent, Republic of Uzbekistan. Mongolia obtained the status of an SCO observer in 2004, and India, Iran and Pakistan - in 2005. Their involvement is governed by Provisions of the SCO Observer Status issued in 2004, and by Procedures for Interactions between SCO and Observers Members and Participants » Members: China, Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan, Russia,Tajikistan, Uzbekistan » Observers: India, Iran, Mongolia, Pakistan » Dialogue Partners: Sri Lanka, Belarus » Guest Attendances: Afganistan, ASEAN, CIS

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issued in 2006. In 2008, Regulations governing interactions between the Regional Antiterrorist Structure, on the one hand, and States and International Intergovernmental Organizations (Forums) as SCO Observers, on the other hand, were adopted. SCO Provisions governing the status of a partner in a dialogue were approved at the SCO summit in Dushanbe on August 28, 2008. Following the existing practice, the SCO chairmanship responsibilities are performed within a term of one year as of completion of a summit of the SCO heads of states and through the next summit of the heads of states held in the SCO chairman state. In 2008 – 2009, the Russian Federation performs responsibilities of the SCO chairman state. India’s Role India currently has observer status in the SCO. SCO members have encouraged India to join the organization as a full-time member, because they see it as a crucial future strategic partner. Additional factors working in favor of India joining the SCO are its major military presence in Central Asia, its close military ties with several Central Asian countries (especially Tajikistan and Russia) and also its deep interest in the region's energy resources. Factors working against India's joining the SCO as a member include India's persistent military rivalry with fellow SCO-observer Pakistan and its general reluctance to make binding ties to groups that could compromise its strategic independence. Cooperation On Security, Economy And Culture Security Cooperation: The SCO is primarily centered around its member nations' Central Asian se-

curity-related concerns, often describing the main threats it confronts as being terrorism, separatism and extremism. However evidence is growing that its activities in the area of social development of its member states is increasing fast. At the June 16-17 2004 SCO summit, held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, the Regional Antiterrorism Structure (RATS) was established. On 21 April 2006, the SCO announced plans to fight cross-border drug crimes under the counter-terrorism rubric. Grigory Logninov claimed in April 2006 that the SCO has no plans to become a military bloc; nonetheless he argued that the increased threats of terrorism, extremism and separatism make necessary a full-scale involvement of armed forces. There have been a number of SCO joint military exercises. The first of these was held in 2003, with the first phase taking place in Kazakhstan and the second in China. On a larger scale, but outside the SCO framework, the first ever joint military exercise between the PRC and Russia, called Peace Mission 2005 started on August 19, 2005. Following their successful completion, Russian officials have begun speaking of India joining such exercises in the future and the SCO taking on a military role. In October 2007, the SCO signed an agreement with the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), in the Tajik capital Dushanbe, to broaden cooperation on issues such as security, crime, and drug trafficking. Joint action plans between the two organisations are planned to be signed by early 2008 in Beijing. Economic Cooperation: All SCO members but China are also members of the Eurasian Economic Community. A Framework Agreement to enhance economic cooperation was signed by the SCO member states on 23 September 2003. At the same meeting the PRC's Premier, Wen Jiabao, proposed a long-

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term objective to establish a free trade area in the SCO, while other more immediate measures would be taken to improve the flow of goods in the region. A follow up plan with 100 specific actions was signed one year later, on September 23, 2004. On 26 October, 2005, the Moscow Summit of the SCO, the Secretary General of the Organisation said that the SCO will prioritise joint energy projects; such will include the oil and gas sector, the exploration of new hydrocarbon reserves, and joint use of water resources. The creation of an Inter-bank SCO Council was also agreed upon at that summit in order to fund future joint projects. The first meeting of the SCO Interbank Association was held in Beijing on 21-22 February 2006. On 30 November 2006, at The SCO: Results and Perspectives, an international conference held in Almaty, the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that Russia is developing plans for an SCO "Energy Club". The need for this club was reiterated by Moscow at an SCO summit in November 2007. Other SCO members, however, have not committed themselves to the idea. However on 28 August 2008 summit it was stated that Against the backdrop of a slowdown in the growth of world economy pursuing a responsible currency and financial policy, control over the capital flowing, ensuring food and energy security have been gaining special significance. On June 16, 2009, at the Yekaterinburg Summit, China announced plans to provide a US$10 billion loan to SCO member states to shore up the struggling economies of its members amid the global financial crisis. The summit was held together with the first BRIC summit, and the China-Russia joint statement said that they want a bigger quota in the IMF. Cultural cooperation: Cultural cooperation also occurs in the SCO framework. Culture ministers of the SCO met for the first time in Beijing on 12 April 2002, signing a joint statement for continued cooperation. The third meeting of the Culture Ministers took place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on 27-28 April 2006. An SCO Arts Festival and Exhibition was held for the first time during the Astana Summit in 2005. Kazakhstan has also suggested an SCO folk dance festival to take place in 2008, in Astana.

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SECTION -2 - 1(Hot (Article: HindSection 377 of the IPC) Section Topis:

Section 377 of the IPC

Fundamental Rights Vs Acculturation A Division Bench of Justice A.P. Shah and Justice S. Muralidhar of Delhi High Court in its order on Jul 02, 2009, said that Section 377 of the IPC, insofar as it criminalises consensual sexual acts of adults in private, is violative of Articles 21 [Right to Protection of Life and Personal Liberty], 14 [Right to Equality before Law] and 15 [Prohibition of Discrimination on Grounds of Religion, Race, Caste, Sex or Place of Birth] of the Constitution.

Would Legalise Homosexuality? High court bench said that Indian Constitutional Law does not permit the statutory criminal law to be held captive by the popular misconcept ion of who t he LGBTs (lesbian gay bisexual transgender) are. It cannot be forgotten that discrimination is antithesis of equality and that it is the recognition of equality which will foster dignity of every individual. It observed that the inclusiveness that the Indian society However, the court clarified traditionally displayed in evthat “the provisions of Section ery aspect of life manifested 377 will continue to govern Courtesy : UU-UNO.ORG in recognising a role in socinon-consensual penile nonety for everyone. "Those pervaginal sex and penile non-vaginal sex involving miceived by the majority as deviants or different are not nors.” The judges also said that by adult they meant on that score excluded or ostracised," the Chief Jus“everyone who is 18 years of age and above.” Actice writing the judgement for the Bench, said. Where cording to them “A person below 18 would be presociety can display inclusiveness and understanding, sumed not to be able to consent to a sexual act,” The such persons can be assured of a life of dignity and Bench further said that “this clarification will hold till, non-discrimination, it said. "This was the spirit behind of course, Parliament chooses to amend the law to the resolution of which Jawaharlal Nehru spoke so effectuate the recommendation of the Law Commispassionately," the Bench said referring to the Objecsion of India in its 172nd Report which, which would tive Resolution moved by him on December 13, 1946 remove a great deal of confusion.” The judgment also at the Constituent Assembly debate. made it clear that it would not result in re-opening of criminal cases involving Section 377 that had already Quoting Nehru, Justice Shah said "words are magic attained finality. things often enough, even the magic of words sometimes cannot convey magic of human spirit and of a The verdict came on a PIL plea by Delhi-based nonnation's passion ...(this resolution seeks very feebly to governmental organisation Naz Foundation that the tell the world of what we have thought or dreamt of Section 377 provision criminalising sexual acts beso long, and what we now hope to achieve in near tween consenting adults in private violated Articles future)". He said Nehru was of the view that the House 14, 15, 19 and 21 of the Constitution. The Foundashould consider the resolution not in a spirit of nartion works among sex workers in Delhi. row legal wording, but rather look at the spirit behind that resolution.

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SECTION -2 - 1(Hot (Article: HindSection 377 of the IPC) Section Topis:

The Bench was critical of the provision of section 377 of IPC holding that a provision of law branding one section of people as criminal based wholly on states' moral disapproval of that class goes counter to equality guaranteed in the Constitution.

onment for indulging in unnatural sexual acts. There were contradictions within the Government as the Home Ministry had opposed scrapping of section 377 while Ministry of Health came out openly in support of the gay rights activists.

The provision of section 377 runs counter to the Constitutional values and the notion of human dignity which is considered to be cornerstone of our Constitution. Section 377 in its application to sexual act of consenting adults in privacy discriminates a section of people solely on the ground of their sexual orientation which is analogous to prohibited grounds of sex, the Bench said. It said that any discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation was against Article 15 of the Constitution which prohibits any discrimination on grounds of sex, religion, caste or place of birth. According to bench that sexual orientation is a ground analogous to sex and that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is not permitted by Article 15. The Bench pulled up the government for its stand that judiciary should refrain from interfering on the issue as it pertains to legislative function coming under the ambit of Parliament.

The Government later sidelined the stand of the then Health Minister Ambumani Ramadoss and opposed the PIL by describing homosexuality as "the most indecent behaviour" in society. The Centre had submitted that gay sex is immoral and reflection of a perverse mind and its decriminalisation would lead to moral degradation of society. "Every citizen has the right to lead a decent and moral life in society and the right would be violated if such behaviour (gay sex) is legalised in the country," the government had contended and added that allowing gay sex would pose a health hazard to society. The Centre had said that homosexuals comprise only 0.3 per cent of the population and the right of rest 99.7 per cent of the population to lead a decent and moral life in society would be violated if such behaviour (gay sex) is legalised.

A Constitutional provision must be construed, not in a narrow and constricted sense, but in a wide and liberal manner so as to anticipate and take it out of changing conditions and purposes so that the Constitutional provision does not get atrophied or fossilised but remains flexible enough to meet the newly emerging problem, the Bench said quoting a Supreme Court judgement. The High Court judgement assumes importance as the Government was still grappling with the option to scrap section 377 from the statute. When the verdict was reserved on November 7,2008, the previous UPA government had vociferously opposed scrapping of section 377 of the Indian Penal Code which prescribes punishment upto life impris-

The gay rights activists had contended that the government is infringing upon their fundamental right to equality by criminalising homosexual acts on the ground of morality. "The Constitution gives fundamental right to equality and it prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. But the rights of 25 lakh homosexuals in the country are being violated," they had contended. Earlier, the government had put a contradictory stand on the issue with the Home Minister of the then UPA government favouring the retention of the penal provision for homosexual acts while the Health Minister opposed the enforcement of Section 377 in cases involving consenting adults. But when the day-to-day hearing began on the case, the government set aside the stand of the Health Ministry and opposed the plea of gay rights activists

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SECTION -2 - 1(Hot (Article: HindSection 377 of the IPC) Section Topis:

Need of Debate Hope that the Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code would be either quickly repealed or suitably amendedraised when the Union Home Ministry boldly described it as an absurdity in the present day have receded with the Law Minister, Veerappa Moily, announcing that the Centre was in no hurry to take such a step. Calls for a parliamentary debate to reach a wider consensus on a basic issue of human rights and equal justice are nothing but an excuse to put off a hard decision on ending an obnoxious colonial-era provision that has absolutely no place in the statute book of a modern democratic and secular state. Section 377, which punishes carnal intercourse against the order of nature with imprisonment up to 10 years, is not specifically targeted at homosexuality. But by criminalising any penetrative sex that does not lead to reproduction, it has become a weapon in the hands of the police to harass those who have alternative sexual orientations. It also stands out as a symbol of 19th century intolerance. Suggestions that Section 377 would be reviewed coincided with hundreds of members of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered) community dancing and marching through the streets of five Indian cities to mark the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall uprisings in New York, now a universal symbol of gay resistance to obscurantist oppression. What is clear is that the gay rights movement is slowly coming of age in India emboldened by such developments as President Barack Obama’s promise to bring the full spectrum of equal rights to LGBT Americans and his administration’s decision to endorse a United Nations resolution calling for the worldwide decriminalisation of homosexuality. In an age where there is growing acceptance of the idea that LGBTs must be allowed to live in dignity and respect. Having promised to review this provision, the government must not give in to the

pressure of religious fundamentalists, moral obscurantists, and others who argue that Indian society is not ready to accept such change. Especially on non-negotiable social issues, governments must lead public opinion not tail its least enlightened strands or go for the lowest common denominator. Initiation to Opposing Section 377 In 2001 Naz Foundation (an NGO related to HIV/ Aids issues) filed a petition in the Delhi High Court asking for Sect ion 377 to be read down by decriminalising consensual sex among adults. In September 2003, the Government insisted on retaining Section 377 on the grounds that Indian initiation society’s disapproval of homosexuality was strong enough to justify it being treated as a criminal offence even where adults indulge in it in private. In February 2006, the Supreme Court ordered the High Court to reconsider the constitutional validity of Section 377. The Naz Foundation petition was supported by Voices Against 377, comprising 12 organisations across the country while it was being opposed by the government of Delhi and others. The position of the government (represented by the Ministries of Health and Law) has been conflicted while many of its affiliates demanded decriminalisation. Naco (National Aids Control Organisation) demanded the scrapping of Section 377 as it was obstructing effective health interventions. The 172nd report of the Law Commission of India and the recommendations of the National Planning Commission for the 11th Five Year Plan also demanded decriminalisation of homosexuality. In the last two decades, LGBT activism played a major role in creating awareness on the issue. In 2006 writer Vikram Seth released a public letter

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demanding that the cruel law be struck down. The letter was supported by a large number of signatories including Captain Lakshmi Sehgal, Aruna Roy, Soli Sorabjee, Shyam Benegal, Shubha Mudgal, Arundhati Roy, Aparna Sen, Mrinalini Sarabhai and demanded the scrapping of the brutal law that punitively criminalises romantic love and private, consensual sexual acts between adults of the same sex while being used to systematically persecute, blackmail, arrest and terrorise sexual minorities. Amartya Sen also asked for an abolition of the colonial era monstrosity that ran contrary to the enhancement of human freedom and Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s commitment to democracy and human rights. Like all laws, Section 377 was used both inside and outside the courtroom.

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Important Current Relevant Facts »

As part of the Health and Family Welfare Ministry’s 100-day agenda, Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry Announced on Jul 02, 2009 that doctors, specialists and para-medical staff serving in the rural, particularly far-flung and inaccessible areas, will get double the salary their counterparts in other areas earn as part of monetary incentive to encourage medical personnel to take up rural postings. The Ministry, through the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), will make funds available for contractual appointments and provide significantly higher monetary incentives based on the location of the posting. The salaries could be almost double those drawn by medical professionals in urban areas. In the next three months, the Ministry, in consultation with State governments, will identify difficult, most difficult and inaccessible areas, particularly in the hilly States and tribal regions. This will be done to fill up deficiencies in the strength of medical personnel. A web-based Health Management Information System (HMIS) will be fully operational by July 31, 2009, to enable district-wise reporting of the progress of the NRHM on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis. This will enable timely monitoring of physical and financial progress more effectively, he said. The Ministry has also made a commitment to revive the three public sector vaccine manufacturing units at Kasauli, Guindy and Coonoor whose manufacturing licenses were suspended last year for failure to comply with the good manufacturing practices (GMP) prescribed by the World Health

Organisation. An oversight committee has prepared a road map for revamping the vaccine manufacturing facility at the Central Research Institute, Kasauli. The retrofitted facility will start functioning within a year, while the process for the revival of the B.C.G Vaccine Laboratory at Guindy and the Pasteur Institute of India at Coonoor will be initiated. The Ministry will also initiate a proposal to introduce a Bill to comprehensively amend the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994 to make the process of organ transplantation less cumbersome for genuine cases and also network all transplantation centres for better coordination and utilisation of harvested organs.

» In a landmark judgment, the Delhi High Court

on Jul 02, 2009 struck down the provision of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code which criminalised consensual sexual acts of adults in private, holding that it violated the fundamental right of life and liberty and the right to equality as guaranteed in the Constitution. A Division Bench of Justice A.P. Shah and Justice S. Muralidhar said that Section 377 of the IPC, insofar as it criminalises consensual sexual acts of adults in private, is violative of Articles 21 [Right to Protection of Life and Personal Liberty], 14 [Right to Equality before Law] and 15 [Prohibition of Discrimination on Grounds of Religion, Race, Caste, Sex or Place of Birth] of the Constitution.

The chief of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, known as a front organisation of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hafiz Saeed was released by a full bench headed by Jus-

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tice Ejaz Chaudhary of the Lahore High Court on June 2,2009. Saeed was placed under house arrest in December 2008 during a government crackdown on the JuD following the Mumbai attacks and shortly after the U.N. Security Council 1267 Committee (on Al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, the Taliban and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities) designated him and the group as “terrorist.”

» Farah Pandit of Kashmiri-origin was appointed special representative of the Obama administration to reach out to the Muslim world. She was appointed by Secretary of State to interact with Muslims across the globe. She was a senior adviser to the assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs. She also served on the National Security Council and with USAID on assistance projects for Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine. Born in 1968, Farah belongs to a business family of Kashmir. Her father, Muhammad Anwar Pandit, is originally from Sopore. Her mother, a doctor is from Srinagar city. In early 70s Farah's parents shifted to United States and stayed in Boston, where her father continued his business.

» Darrell Dexter took charge of Nova Scotia's 27th

premier and the first New Democrat to lead a government in Atlantic Canada in downtown Halifax on June 19,2009. He succeeded Rodney Joseph MacDonald of Progressive Conservative Party. Air Chief Marshal Pradeep Vasant Naik took charge as the 19th chief of the India Air Force from Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major, who demitted office on May 31. An alumnus of Sainik School, Satara, and the National Defence Academy, Khadakvasla, Air Chief Marshal Naik saw action in the 1971 India-Pakistan war. He was decorated with the Param Vishist Seva Medal and the Vishist Seva Medal.

» Amal Allana was appointed as

chairperson of the National School of Drama (NSD) for a second term on June 15,2009. Allana, an alumnus of the NSD, is the daughter of Ibrahim Alkazi, the founder of the NSD. She joined NSD in 2005 as the chairperson. She has directed several plays, including “Aadhe Adhure”, “The Exception and the Rule”, “Khamosh, Adalat Jari Hai”, “Ashadh Ka Ek Din”, “Mahabhoj”, “King Lear”, “Himmat Mai” and “Begum Barve”. She was awarded many honours, including awards from the Delhi Natya Sangh (1994), Sahitya Kala Parishad (1996), Czech TV for the tele-play “Wapsi” (1983) and Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for direction (1998).

» He was elected Chairman of the Indian Banks’

Association (IBA) for 2009-10 at the association’s managing committee meeting held in Mumbai on June 1. Punjab National Bank Chairman and Managing Director K. C. Chakrabarty succeeded T. S. Narayanasami who was superannuated Chairman and Managing Director of Bank of India on May 31,2009.

» Distinguished journalist and political commenta-

tor Harish Khare was appointed as the media adviser to the Prime Minister on June 20,2009. He replaced Deepak Sandhu, who was shifted to the Central Information Commission as its member. Harish Khare will hold the rank of a secretary to the government of India. Prior to this appointment, Khare, was the Chief of Bureau and senior associate editor at The Hindu. He also worked as the resident editor of the Times of India, Ahmedabad. Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank took oath as the fifth

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chief minister of Uttarakhand along with three ministers on June 28. Replacing B C Khanduri as the chief minister, Nishank was Health Minister in his cabinet. A sitting legislator from Thalisen constituency, Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank is a strong leader from Garhwal and is known to be close to the RSS.

Senior advocate Gopal Subramaniam was appointed solicitor general on June 15, the second most important law officer of the country after the attorney general. From the petrol pump scam case to the inquiry commission into Graham Staines murder, he had ample opportunity to render valuable assistance to the Supreme Court as amicus curiae. At the same time, he represented the Centre in high-voltage cases like Bihar assembly dissolution, defreezing of London bank accounts of Bofors case accused Ottavio Quattrocchi and the cash-for-query scam. 51-year-old Subramaniam was additional solicitor general during 2004-09.

» Uttarakhand chief minister Maj Gen BC Khanduri

finally succumbed to mounting pressures and tendered his resignation on June 25,2009. Rebels were active against him after the Bharatiya Janata Party's rout in the Lok Sabha elections from the state. The BJP lost all the five Lok Sabha seats in the state in the May 2009 polls, including the three it had won in 2004.

The chairman of Prasar Bharati Board, Arun Bhatnagar relinquished his job citing differences with Prasar Bharati CEO B S Lalli. A retired IAS officer, Bhatnagar was appointed as the chairman of Prasar Bharati on 2008. Some members of the Broad have levelled various allegations of impropriety and financial irregularities against B S Lalli and the matter has reached the Delhi High Court

through a PIL.

Vice-Admiral Nirmal Kumar Verma was appointed country’s next Chief of Naval Staff. He will take charge from Admiral Sureesh Mehta, who retires from service on August 31. Born on November 14, 1950, Vice-Admiral Verma, currently Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C), Eastern Naval Command, has, during his long and distinguished 39 years of service, commanded aircraft carrier INS Viraat.

Senior advocate and former Solicitor General Goolam E Vahanvati was appointed the new Attorney General of India for a period of three years. He became the first Muslim to hold the post of Attorney General of India. G E Vahanvati succeeded Milon Banerjee, who had held the Attorney General’s post in the last government. He and all other law officers had put in their papers on May 29,2009 to make way for a fresh team.

» Timothy J Roemer was nominated as the next US

Ambassador to India. A former US lawmaker and a member of the 9/11 Commission, Roemer is currently head of a Washington-based think tank. He is considered close to President Barack Obama and was among the first few Democrat leaders to support Obama in his run for US Presidency.

» Chairman, Securities and

Exchange Board of India (SEBI), C B Bhave was elected chairman of the Asia- Pacific Regional Committee of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) at the 34th Annual Conference of IOSCO being held at Tel Aviv, Israel. IOSCO is recognised as the international standard

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setter for securities markets. The Organisation’s wide membership regulates more than 90% of the world’s securities markets and IOSCO is the world`s most important international cooperative forum for securities regulatory agencies.

» Seven-time member of Lok Sabha Karia Munda

was unanimously elected Deputy Speaker of the 15th Lok Sabha on June 8. The tradition of having the Deputy Speaker from the Opposition was began in 1977, the very year Karia Munda entered the Lok Sabha. Munda was elected to the 15th Lok Sabha from Khunti in Jharkhand on BJP ticket.

Former Law Minister 72-year-old, Hans Raj Bhardwaj, who failed to make it to the Union Cabinet after the elections, was on June 24 appointed as the new Governor of Karnataka. He replaced Rameshwar Thakur who was transferred to Madhya Pradesh.

» Karnataka Governor Rameshwar Thakur was ap-

pointed new Governor of Madhya Pradesh for his remaining tenure. He will hold the post till November 2009. He replaced Balram Jakhar, whose term ended on June 30. Thakur was first appointed Governor on November 17, 2004. In 2006, he was shifted to Andhra Pradesh and later to Karnataka in 2007.

» The former Finance Minister of Assam, Devanand Konwar, was appointed Governor of Bihar in place of R. L. Bhatia, whose term ended on June 23. Konwar was the founder general secretary of Congress I, when the Party split in 1978.

» One of the most influential figures

in modern pop culture, Michael Jackson, died of a sudden cardiac arrest at his home in Los Angeles on June 25,2009. Jackson, known as

'King of Pop' by fans and often derided as 'WhackoJacko' by the media, was 50. Michael Joseph Jackson was born on August 29, 1958 in Gary, Indiana, US. I Want You Back, Don't Stop Til You Get Enough, Billie Jean, Bad, Black or White, Earth Song were his biggest hits album. His 1982 album Thriller remains the world's best-selling record of all time. Jackson began his career as a child in family group The Jackson 5. He then went on to achieve global fame as a solo artist with smash hits such as Billie Jean and Bad. Thriller, released in 1982, is the biggest-selling album of all time, shifting 65m copies, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. He scored seven UK number ones as a solo artist and won a total of 13 Grammy awards. Michael Jackson popularised a dance technique called the moonwalk or backslide. Moonwalk presents the illusion that the dancer is stepping forward while actually moving backward. The dance move gained widespread popularity after being performed by Michael Jackson during his song ‘Billie Jean’ on the March 25, 1983. He published autobiography ‘Moon Walk’ in 1988. The book was edited by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and reached number one on the New York Times Best Seller list.

Famous poet and writer Kamala Surayya, best known as Kamala Das passed away at Jehangir hospital in Pune on May 31,2009 due to respiratory failure. She was 75. Kamala Das enjoyed the status of being one of the first poets writing in English from Kerala to be recognised nationally and internationally. She wrote with literary name ‘Madhavikutty’. An iconoclast of her generation who unabashedly spoke about the Indian woman’s sexual desires and a maverick who courted controversies, she was decorated with prizes such as the Kent Award and nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature. A free spirit, she dabbled in painting and even politics. She contested Parliamentary elections in 1984 and lost. On December 16, 1999, at the age of 65, she converted to Islam. Her writings like

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‘Summer in Calcutta’ (1965), ‘The Descendants’ (1970), ‘The Old Playhouse And Other Poems’ (1973), ’The Anamalai Poems (1985), and ‘Only the Soul Knows How to Sing’ (1996) and a collection of poetry with Pritish Nandy (1990) celebrate love and womanhood. She complemented the five books of English poetry with the novel, ‘Alphabet of Lust’ (1977), a collection of short stories, ‘Padmavati the Harlot and Other Stories’ (1992) and her autobiography, ‘My Story’ (1976), which earned her more fame and notoriety than those from all her other works put together.

Legendary sarod player Ustad Ali Akbar Khan died of renal failure at his San Anselmo, California, home on June 19,2009. He was 87. He composed several ragas, including Gauri Manjari, Lajwanti, Madhavi and Madhu Malati, and also scored Bengali films like Jhinder Bandi, Kshudhita Pashan and Satyajit Ray's Devi. Ali Akbar, born on April 14, 1922, in Comilla in present-day Bangladesh, was one of the greatest teachers and ambassadors of Indian classical music. He is credited with taking this music to the West. He was the son of multi-instrumentalist Baba Allaudin Khan, who founded the Maihar Gharana, the school most closely associated with Hindustani classical music. He was awarded India’s highest civilian honours of Padma Vibhushan and Padma Bhushan for his contribution to Indian classical music. He also won MacArthur Genius Award, two Grammy nominations, the President of India Award and, the most valuable to him, the title of Swar Samrat bestowed by his father and guru.

» One of India’s greatest dramatists, Habib Tanvir

passed away on June 8,2009 at the age of 85. He

was a popular Hindi playwright, theatre director, poet and actor. He created a new theatrical language that married contemporary drama with folk performance and elevating folk forms to international attention. The founder of Naya Theatre, Tanvir worked with Chhatisgarh tribals in Bhopal. He channelled their indigenous performance form, nacha, to create milestones such as Charandas Chor, Agra Bazaar and Kamdeo ka Apna Basant Ritu ka Sapna. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1969, Padma Shri in 1983, Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship in 1996, and the Padma Bhushan in 2002. Tanvir was also nominated as a member of the Rajya Sabha (1972-1978). His play Charandas Chor got him the Fringe Firsts Award at the Edinburgh International Drama Festival in 1982.

» The last survivor of the legendary ocean liner Ti-

tanic, which sank on its maiden voyage in April 1912 after striking an iceberg in the North Atlantic, Millvina Dean died on May 31,2009 at the age of 97. She was about 2 months old when she sailed on the ocean liner in 1912. She, her mother and brother were saved.

» Actor-filmmaker-producer Joginder, who is still

remembered for his title role in Ranga Khush, died at a hospital in Mumbai on June 14,2009. He was 65. He had produced and directed 30 films. Among the films produced by him are Bindiya Aur Bandook, Do Chattane, Fauji and Yari Zindabad. Joginder was also a trained pilot and has even worked with late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi before he turned to acting.

» Former Rajasthan chief minister and Assam gov-

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ernor, Shiv Charan Mathur passed away on June 25,2009 following a heart attack at the Fortis Hospital in New Delhi. He was 83. A freedom fighter and Congress stalwart, Mathur was in politics since Quit India movement in 1942. He was twice chief minister of the Rajasthan state. His first tenure was between July 14, 1981 and February 23, 1985 and second was between January 20, 1988 and December 4, 1989. A member of All India Congress Committee since 1972, he was a member of the third Lok Sabha between 1964 and 1967. He was also elected to the tenth Lok Sabha in 1991. He was sworn in as 9th Governor of Assam since the reorganisation of the Northeast in 1972 on July 3, 2008.

» Farrah Fawcett, a three-time Emmy-nominated actress, sex symbol, and star of perhaps the most famous poster of all time passed away on June 23,2009 at St. John's Heath Center in Santa Monica (USA). She was 62. Known as America’s sweetheart in the ‘70s, much to fans dismay Fawcett left the show as it literally was at its peak.

Noted Bangla author Amalendu Chakraborty passed away in North 24-Parganas district on June 15,2009 after a brief illness. He was 75. He got fame for his Akaler Sandhane and Ekdin Pratidin. Akaler Sandhane and Ekdin Pratidin were made into critically acclaimed films by veteran director Mrinal Sen, with the first film even starring the likes of Smita Patel among others.

Kaiga Nuclear power plant scientist, N Mahalingam found dead. His body was recovered on June 13 from the Kali River --six days after he went missing.

» The world's oldest man, Tomoji Tanabe, died at

his home in southern Japan on June 18 at the age of 113, according to a local official. Tanabe lived with a son and daughter-in-law, had eight children, 25 grandchildren, 53 great-grandchildren and six greatgreat-grandchildren. Japan has one of the world's highest life expectancy rates, attributed in part to a diet traditionally rich in fish, rice and vegetables.

» Gabon President Omar Bongo, the world's long-

est-serving president, who had led Gabon since 1967 died of cardiac arrest in a Spanish hospital on June 8. He was 73. He had stopped work in May, and entered a clinic in Barcelona. He faced a inquiry into corruption allegations. Oil earnings mean that Gabon is officially one of Africa's richest states but country's 1.4 million people live in poverty.

Infosys Technologies Co-Chairman Nandan Nilekani was appointed on May 25 ,2009 as first of chairperson of Unique Identification Authority of India in the rank and status of a Cabinet Minister. Earlier the Government approved creation of a position of Chairperson UID Authority of India on same day i.e. on June 25. The Authority shall have the responsibilities to lay down plans and policies to implement the Unique Identification Scheme (UID), shall own and operate the Unique Identification number database and be responsible for its updation and maintenance on an ongoing basis. The Authority will identify the targeted groups for various flagship programmes. The flagship schemes of the UPA include the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, National Rural Health Mission and Bharat Nirman.

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» An assassination attempt was made on Yunus-

bek Yevkurov, the president of Russia's southern republic of Ingushetia on June 22,2009. 45-yearold Yunus-bek Yevkurov was injured when his car hit an explosive device planted on the roadside or in a car parked along his motorcade's route near the city of Nazran.

» Meira Kumar made history in the Lok Sabha when

she was unanimously elected its Speaker on June 3,2009 and thus became the first woman to occupy one of the high Constitutional posts. She was elected after a resolution moved by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and seconded by leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee was approved by a voice vote amidst thumping of desks by the entire House. Daughter of prominent dalit leader and former Deputy Prime Minister, Babu Jagjivan Ram, 64-year-old Kumar, Congress’ dalit face, a former Indian Foreign Service official and union minister, was inducted as Union Cabinet Minister of Water Resources after 15th Lok Sabha election. She quit IFS and fought first time for Lok Sabha in 1985 from Bijnore in Uttar Pradesh, a year before her father’s death. Meira Kumar became an MP again in 1996 and in 1998 from Delhi’s Karol Bagh constituency but lost her seat in 1999 when NDA returned to power. She was re-elected in 2004 and 2009 from Sasaram in Bihar, the constituency of her father. In between, she had quit Congress for two years from 2000 citing differences with the party leadership. She rejoined the party in 2002.

Iran’s President and candidate of Abadgaran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad secured a landslide victory in the presidential polls on June 13,2009 trouncing his nearest rival Mir-Hossein Mousavi. Mahmoud

Ahmadinejad got 62.6 per cent of the vote while his rival Mir-Hossein Mousavi got only 33.75 per cent. Though there was sporadic violence and allegations of electoral irregularities in the polls. Mousavi rejected the results and threatened to unveil, what he called the ‘secrets’ behind ‘perilous process.’ Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, who has the final word over state matters, described the outcome in a televised address as ‘divine assessment’ and urged all the candidates to support the President.

» Union Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar was

given one-year extension in service on June ,2009 1. The extension for a year came into effect from June 13. An IAS of 1970 batch of the Kerala cadre, K.M. Chandrasekhar had taken charge as the Union Cabinet Secretary on June 14, 2007.

» The Justice Liberhan Commission, which probed

the sequence of events that led to the Babri Masjid demolition in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, submitted its report on June 30,2009. Set up on December 16, 1992, the Commission was initially asked to give a report in three months. However, it could do so only after over 16 years that saw 399 sittings and 48 extensions. About Rs. 8 crore was spent on the Commission, including on salary. The Commission was asked to probe the sequence of events leading to, and all the facts and circumstances relating to the occurrences in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid complex at Ayodhya on December 6, 1992 involving the destruction of the structure; the role played by the (then) Chief Minister, members of the Council of Ministers, officials of the Uttar Pradesh government and by individuals, organisations and agencies concerned or in connection with the destruction of the structure and deficiencies in security measures that might have contributed to the events that took place on December 6, 1992.

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Sports » Jayanta Talukdar provided the lone success for India on the final day

of the World Cup archery stage III at Antalya by winning the men’s individual recurve bronze medal on June 7, 2009.Unlike other Indians, who fell in the quarterfinals, sixth-seed Talukdar breezed past Russian 14th seed Bair Badenov 109-105 in the quarterfinals but lost to seventh-ranked Simon Terry of Great Britain in the semifinals 107-112. This loss pitted him against Amedeo Tonelli of Italy in the play-off for the bronze medal. Talukdar won 106-101 after trailing in the first two ends. The bronze medal victory gave the Indian 18 points to take his tally to 45 from three legs. Top four archers in each category will qualify for the World Cup finals at Copenhagen on September 26. Gold medallist Terry picked up 25 points to take his points to 43.Kapil and Rimil Biruly, found the pressure of playing higher ranked opponents, that too on the beaches, too much and simply caved in. Kapil, ranked 33rd, went down to 24th ranked Tonelli of Italy 108-102 and 20th-ranked Rimil was no match for fifth-seeded Ruyu Ouyang of China 104-109 also in the quarterfinals. India could have won an unexpected medal from the recurve mixed team. The Indian pair of Rahul Banerjee and Reena Kumari, seeded fourth in the four-team field, lost to top-seeded Korean pair of Im Dong Hyun and Ji Ye Kwak 130-141.The Indian duo lost in the bronze medal play-off to the Russian Federation team 140147.

» As expected, Viswanathan Anand lived up to the reputation of being one of the greatest rapid chess players ever by completing a 5-3 victory over home favourite Peter Leko in their eight-game match at Results (Final) Light fly(48kg): Devendro (SSCB) bt Jagdeep Kumar (Pun) 2-2 (6-4). Fly (51kg): S.S. Shriniwas (SSCB) bt D.S. Baskar (AP) 3-2. Bantam (54kg): M. Govind Rao (AP) bt Suraj Tokas (Del) 11-2. Feather (57kg): Pramod (SSCB) bt Anijane Yaalu (Ker) (KO R-4). Light (60kg): Vikash Yadav (SSCB) bt Amarjeet Singh (Har) (W/P). Light welter (64kg): Welter (69kg): Kishan Thapa (SSCB) bt Jaideep Kumar (Del) 10-3. Middle (75kg): Naveen (SSCB) bt Rana BDR Thapa (Meg) 2-0. Light heavy (81kg): Sukhwinder Singh (Ker) bt S. Premanandan (TN) 9-1. Super heavy (+91kg): Sani Kumar (SSCB) bt Rajat (Del) 12-3. Best boxer: Devendro (SSCB). Best loser: Jagdeep Kumar (Pun).

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Miskolc, Hungary, on June 8, 2009.On the final day, when Leko needed to win both the games to force the blitz tie-break games, Anand took an unbeatable 4.5-2.5 lead by forcing a draw in 27 moves with white. In the inconsequential eighth game, Leko tried hard to salvage some pride with white, but Anand held on for another draw in 42 moves. In this competition, Anand made the decisive difference by winning the second and fifth games, while rest of the games were drawn.

Services Sports Control Board (SSCB), with 60 points, emerged the champion unit of the National Youth boxing championship at the Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya indoor stadium at Coimbatore on June 8, 2009.It was Kishan Thapa who started the gold rush for SSCB with a comprehensive 10-3 win over Jaideep Kumar of Delhi. Thereafter, it was SSCB all the way. Anything its boxers touched turned into gold. The most sought after pugilist in the SSCB camp, Devendro, however, struggled before pulling off a surprising 2-2 (6-4) win over Jagdeep Kumar of Punjab in the light fly class. Jagdeep was declared the best loser for going down with his guns blazing.

India’s Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy of the Czech Republic won the French Open men’s doubles title with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Wesley Moodie of South Africa and Belgium’s Dick Norman on June 8, 2009 in PARIS . It was the 35-year-old Paes’s fifth men’s Grand Slam doubles title having won twice here in 1999 and 2001 with Mahesh Bhupathi, 1999 Wimbledon with Bhupathi and the 2006 U.S. Open with Martin Damm. The Indian also has four Grand Slam mixed doubles crowns.

» The Swiss wins French Open in his 11th attempt

and equals Sampras’s record of 14 Majors in “ELITE CLUB”, With his win in Roland Garros, Roger Federer joined Andre Agassi as one of the six men to have won all four Grand Slams.

Roger Federer beat Robin Soderling, tied Pete Sampras and won the French Open at last. Undeterred by an on-court intruder, Federer beat surprise finalist Soderling 6-1, 7-6 (1), 6-4 to complete a career Grand Slam and win his 14th major title, matching Sampras' record. On his fourth try at Roland Garros, Federer became the sixth man to win all four Grand Slam championships. Federer won his 14th Grand Slam championship at age 27. Sampras, who never reached a French Open final, was 31 when he won his last major title. He has also won the U.S. Open the past five years, and he has three Australian Open titles. Besides Federer and Agassi, the other men to win all four Grand Slams tournaments were Fred Perry, Don Budge, Rod Laver and Roy Emerson.

» Brawn GP's Jenson Button won the Turkish Grand

Prix in june 2009 for his sixth victory in seven Formula One races held at Istanbul. Button overtook pole sitter Sebastian Vettel on the first lap following a mistake by the Red Bull driver and held on for a 6.7-second win over Red Bull's Mark Webber. Vettel, the first driver not to win from the pole in five races at Istanbul, finished third after opting for a three-stop strategy. Button leads with 61 points. Teammate Rubens Barrichello, who retired after starting third, has 35 points. Vettel has 29 and Webber 27.5. Button's fourth straight win -- the best streak by a Briton in 17 years -- makes him the fifth driver to achieve six victories in a season so quickly. The previous four -- Alberto Ascari, Juan Manuel Fangio, Jim Clark and Michael Schumacher all went on to win the championship.

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» Castroneves, who last month won his third In-

dianapolis 500, beat Penske teammate Ryan Briscoe off pit row on the final stop and held on for the final 46 laps Saturday to win the IRL1 event at Texas Motor Speedway. Briscoe was dominating the race, with more than a 10-second lead before a caution flag on the 150th of the 228 laps bunched the field after an extended stretch of green-flag racing.

» India won a gold, two silver and four bronze med-

als in Asian championship held in Zhuhai, China. As a team, India was placed third in the overall standings behind host China and Uzbekistan. Suranjoy Singh gave India its first Asian championship gold in 15 years while Thokchom Nanao Singh and Jai Bhagwan settled for silver medals as the country’s boxers rounded off a 27-year best performance in the elite event. The bronze went to Jitender Kumar (54kg) Vijender Singh (75kg), Dinesh Kumar (81kg) and Paramjit Samota (+91kg). The last gold medal for India in the Asian championship came in the 1994 edition in Tehran where Rajkumar Sangwan finished on top in the super heavyweight category.

» Germany regained the Roger Danet Trophy for

the World junior hockey championship with a convincing 3-1 victory over the Netherlands on June 21,2009. Australia secured bronze beating New Zealand 4-1. India secured 10th position in the championship.

» Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal won the Indonesian Open Badminton women title defeating higher ranked Chinese Lin Wang in Jakarta on June 21. With this win she scripted history by becoming the

first Indian to win a Super Series tournament. In the men’s singles, World’s No. 1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia defeated Indonesian ace Taufik Hidayat Indian squash player Ravi Dixit won the Milo AllStar Malaysian junior Open boys under-19 title in Kuala Lumpur. He defeated home favourite Jo Wen Ng in the final to win his third international title. In the semifinals, Ravi had defeated compatriot Karan Malik.

» Indian wrestlers won five medals in the 14th in-

ternational freestyle Greco-Roman wrestling tournament at Sardinia (Italy). Total 18 teams participated in the tournament. Indian winners are: Freestyle: Silver: Anil Kumar (55kg), Hardeep Singh (60kg). Bronze: Naresh Kumar (84kg), Joginder Kumar (120kg) Greco-Roman: Silver: Anil Kumar (96kg)

Olympian Sandeep Sejwal set a new national record in the 50m breaststroke event with a time of 28.77 seconds at the Paris Open Swimming Championships. In the 100m breaststroke event, Sejwal finished seventh in the final with a timing of 1 min 03.03 secs.

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt won the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award on June 10 for his record-breaking performance in the Beijing Olympics. He received the award from two athletics greats, Laureus World Sports Academy member Michael Johnson and Academy chairman Edwin Moses. Bolt became the first track and field athlete to win the Laureus, snapping a four-year run by tennis star Roger Federer. The previous winners

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were cyclist Lance Armstrong, Formula One driver Michael Schumacher and golfer Tiger Woods. Usain Bolt was the first man to win gold in the 100m (9.69 seconds), 200m (19.30) and 4x100m relay (37.10) in world record times in the same Olympiad.

NEW BOOK Arrivals Geography : A Comprehensive Study for Pre and Main Exams by Mahesh Kumar Barnwal About The Author : The author is successful candidate of civil services 1997 batch and has the experience of teaching geography at Cosmos IAS Academy Delhi for the last 11 years. Book Description : The present book 'Geography : A Comprehensive Study' is the english edition of his very popular book in Hindi 'Bhugol : A Samagra Addhyan' among the civil services aspirants. The book is emprenated with all relevant concepts and information needed for the general studies as well as Geography optional. Author : Mahesh Kumar Barnwal Medium : English Publisher: Cosmos Publication No. of Pages : 388 ISBN : 819081741 - 8 Price: 225.00 Rs.

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Awards » Roshan Lal Nauhria, an Indian from a small village in Punjab was awarded one

of the highest civil honors-member of the New Zealand Order of Merit ( NZOM) in the Queen's birthday Honours. The award, created in 1996, recognizes distinguished service in various fields and comprises of five levels. After graduating in Electrical Engineering from BITS Pilani in 1970, Roshan Lal Nauhria migrated to New Zealand in 1972 and started his own construction and property business in 1976.

» Canadian short story writer Alice Munro won the £60000 Man Booker International Prize 2009 on May

27,2009. She beat Mahasweta Devi and a host of other literary heavyweights, including Nobel laureate V.S. Naipaul and Mario Vargas Llosa. She won recognition with her very first collection of stories, ‘Dance of the Happy Shades,’ published in 1968. Her other successful works include ‘Lives of Girls’ and ‘Women’ (1971) and ‘The Beggar Maid,’ which was shortlisted for the annual Booker Prize in 1980. The prize, different from the annual Booker Prize for Fiction, is awarded once every two years to a living author for International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) award

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Best Film - Jodhaa Akbar Best Actor in a Leading Role – Male - Hrithik Roshan – Jodhaa Akbar Best Actor in a Leading Role – Female - Priyanka Chopra – Fashion Best Director - Ashutosh Gowariker – Jodhaa Akbar Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Male - Arjun Rampal – Rock On!! Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Female - Kangna Ranaut – Fashion Best Actor in a Negative Role - Akshaye Khanna – Race Best Story - Neeraj Pandey – A Wednesday! Outstanding Achievement by an Indian in International Cinema - Aishwarya Rai Bachchan Lifetime Achievement Award - Rajesh Khanna Best Music - A R Rahman – Jodhaa Akbar Best Lyrics - Javed Akhtar – Jashn-E-Bahara (Jodhaa Akbar) Best Playback Singer – Male - Javed Ali – Jashn-e-Baharaa (Jodhaa Akbar) Best Playback Singer – Female - Shreya Ghoshal – Teri Ore (Singh is Kinng) Best Dialogue - Manu Rishi – Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! more..

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Decade’s Award To commemorate the last decade in Indian Cinema, the Videocon IIFA Golden Decade Honors were instituted and presented at the Idea IIFA Awards.

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Star of the Decade – Male : Shah Rukh Khan Star of the Decade – Female : Aishwarya Rai Bachchan Music Director of the Decade : A R Rahman Movie of the Decade: Lagaan Director of the Decade : Rakesh Roshan

his or her lifetime achievement in English, or whose work is widely translated into English. Ismail Kadaré and Chinua Achebe had won for the year 2005 and 2007 respectively. » The three-day International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) award ceremony kicked off in Macau on June 11,2009. Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan inaugurated the 10th edition of the prestigious event by planting a lotus flower, the official flower of both India and Macau. Amitabh Bachchan is the brand ambassador of IIFA. The award ceremony has travelled across continents from London, Yorkshire and Amsterdam in Europe, Johannesburg and Sun City in South Africa and Singapore, Malaysia, Dubai and Bangkok in Asia The IIFA awards 2009 were given on June 13. Ashutosh Gowariker's historical romance ‘Jodhaa Akbar ‘ swept the International Indian Film Acadmey (IIFA) awards 2009 with a perfect 10 bag of trophies, being named the best film and fetching its male lead Hrithik Roshan the best actor award and Ashutosh Gowariker the best director award. The IIFA and Green globe Foundation presented an Award to Rahul Bose for his contribution to creating awareness on global warming. Bollywood's veteran actor Rajesh Khanna, fondly called Kaka by his fans was awarded the lifetime achievement award. The 66-year-old thespian attained the heights of superstardom in the 70's with his remarkable performances in films like Amar Prem, Aradhana, Kati Patang and others.

Presented an Award to Rahul Bose for his contribution to creating awareness on global warming. Bollywood's veteran actor Rajesh Khanna, fondly called Kaka by his fans was awarded the lifetime achievement award. The 66-year-old thespian attained the heights of superstardom in the 70's with his remarkable performances in films like Amar Prem, Aradhana, Kati Patang and others. » Noted Bollywood actress Shabana Azmi was conferred with the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA)

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Global Leadership Award at Macau on June 12,2009. IIFA brand ambassador Amitabh Bachchan presented the award to Shabana Azmi. Vice-President M Hamid Ansari gave away Lakshmipat Singhania-IIM Lucknow National Leadership Award for 2008 to following personalities:

» Noted space scientist G Madhavan Nair was conferred in the category of Science and Technology for his contributions to space science. Businessman Anand Mahindra got the recognition for his leadership in business.

» Eminent social activist Tulasi Munda awarded for her exemplary work for development of tribals. » Scientist B K Das, businessman Gautam Thapar and social activist Ravi Rebbapragada were also awarded

as young leaders in the categories of science and technology, business and community service.

» The award is being given since 2004 to eminent personalities for their contributions to society. » Wipro chairman and founder of ‘Azim Premji Foundation’, Azim Premji was conferred Doctor of Humane Letters by Wesleyan University, Connecticut, United States. The honorary degree was conferred on Premji in recognition of his achievements as a “renowned entrepreneur, global business leader and extraordinary humanitarian who demonstrated a commitment to education and the well being of fellow citizens,”. Premji became the second Indian recipient of this award. Nobel Prize winner Amartya Kumar Sen was awarded an honorary doctorate in 1995.

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Civil Services (Main) Examination-2009 Solved Cum Study Notes Model Paper, PART-1 (General Studies)

“We are providing a model paper cum notes for IAS main, which is not only for practices but also a guess for this year main. Here some answers are not in the world limit. Its objective is to making notes too easy in grasping. Practice on model paper plays very important role in any exam, through this one can improve writing skill and speed. Here, in IAS main, world limit is very important. So while you write and make practices, always word limit must keep in mind. For this one must develop a synchronising method.“ 1.Answer any two of the following (in about 150 words each) a.Write About the Government of India Act of 1909 and it’s salient features. Ans: Government of India Act of 1909 is also known as Morley- Minto Reforms. After Lord Curzon`s partitioning of Bengal, terrorism invoked in the land of Bengal and it was an absolute necessity to restore stability of the British Raj. So in order to crack down the terrorist act in Bengal, John Morley, the Liberal Secretary of State for India and The Earl of Minto, the Conservative Governor General of India, together came to a common opinion that a dramatic step was required. This Act also gave security to the loyal followers of Indian upper classes and upcoming westernized section of the population. They together produced the Indian council act of 1909 (Morley-Minto Reforms) though the reforms did not meet the demands of Indian National Congress of the system of government obtaining in Self-Governing British Colonies.

Salient Features 1. The law allowed the Indians to take part in the election of the various legislative councils in India for the first time. The majority of this council was appointed by British Government. And also the constituency was limited to specific classes of Indian nationals. 2. The introduction of the electoral from Indians was though against the intent of Morley, but could effectively establish the groundwork for a parliamentary system. 3. Muslim leaders of India demanded the laws to be conditioned and they would have to face Hindu majority and expressed serious concern and protested against the law. They demanded the law to be `first past the post` type. 4. As a result of this the minority Muslim community was allotted reserved seats in Municipal and District Boards, in the Provincial Councils and in the Imperial Legislature. 5. The number of reserved seat was more than their percentage in the relative population (twenty five percent of total Indian population). 6. Only Muslims should vote for Muslim candidates (Separate Electorate). These concessions for Mus-

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lim community brought about a constant conflict during the years 1909-47. b.What was the causes of Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 ? Discuss itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s effect on the Indian administrative and political system. Ans: The Sepoy Mutiny was not a mere movement that took shape in just a day. Various causes summed up to its happening. The country during that time, was going through a tumultuous phase, with disillusionment being the order of the day for the evolving youth. The English, however, were still not permeated with the idea to capture the subcontinent with the policy of `divide and rule`. Yet, some of the prominent causes can be laid down as follows: Political causes: British East India Company gained its control over India in a span of 150 years from 1751 to 1856. The policy of expansion pursued by the British created discontent among the princes. A number of independent kingdoms were annexed to the British Empire. In 1843, Sind was attacked and annexed. Lord Dalhousie annexed indian kingdoms whenever an occasion arose. Under his policy `Doctrine of Lapse` the princes were denied the right of adoption; in this way Dalhousie annexed the Maratha States of Satara, Nagpur and Jhansi and several minor kingdoms. On the death of the exPeshwa, Baji Rao II, the pension granted to him was abolished and the claims of his adopted son, Nana Saheb, were disregarded. The result of his policy was that no Indian prince felt secure, and there was widespread resentment. Social causes: The continuous interference of English in basic way of living, traditional beliefs, values and norms was seen by masses as threat to religion. The English administrators gradually became arrogant and there was a wide gulf between them and the people. They could hardly know the feelings of the vast multitude, which providence had

placed under their rule. Some of the social reforms introduced to put an end to evil customs like sati, female infanticide, etc. and to ameliorate the condition of the people made people unhappy. Economic causes: The general discontentment grew rapidly and strongly among the Indian soldiers. Most of the soldiers in the East India Company`s army came from peasant families which were deeply affected by their impoverished status .Lot of partiality was done against Indians like not giving them post above subehdars and salary being less than their English counterparts. The adverse effects of the Industrial Revolution on the Indian economy were also being felt because of British economic policies in India. Religious causes: The introduction of telegraph, railways and the spread of western education, caused suspicion and fear in the people`s minds. They were convinced that the English were conspiring to convert them to Christianity. Superior civil and military officers abused the name of Ram and Muhammad. Idolatry was denounced. Hindu gods and goddesses ridiculed. The Religious Disabilities Act modified Hindu customs. This act enabled a convert to Christianity, to inherit his ancestral property. All this created resentment among the people. Military causes: The Sepoys of the Bengal Army were belonged to high castes of Oudh and the North-Western Province. Although the Sepoys had fought and won many wars for the Company with determined devotion in the most difficult and dangerous circumstances they did not get a fair deal. Their emoluments were very low in comparison with those of the British soldiers and their chances of promotion negligible. The loyalty of the Sepoys was further undermined by certain military reforms which outraged their religious feelings. They had an aversion to overseas service, as travel across the

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seas meant loss of caste for them. Immediate Cause: Discontentment was rampant among the Indians and they were waiting only for an occasion to revolt. The introduction of Greased cartridge in 1856 sparked the fire. The government decided to replace the old-fashioned musket, `Brown Begs` by the `Enfield rifle`. The loading process of the Enfield rifle involved bringing the cartridge to the mouth and biting of the top paper. There was a rumour among the Sepoys in January 1857 that the greased cartridge contained the fat of cow and pig, the former sacred to Hindus and latter forbidden to Muslims. The sepoys were now convinced that the introduction of greased cartridges was a deliberate attempt to defile Hindu and Muslim religion. This sparked off the Mutiny on 29th March 1857. Effect: The Sepoy Mutiny had impressed upon every Indian in different ways, including even the British living in England. Numerous got divided into pro-British and anti-British groups and sects. After the war came to an end, British army were successful to regain the states of Delhi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Gwalior and Meerut. The ruthless primary effect was that, thousands of native army-men were slaughtered mercilessly, without any valid reason. However, the British in London had highly justified these killings in the press. The last Mughal, Bahadur Shah II was exiled in Rangoon, where he breathed his last. The great revolt of 1857 also saw the historic ceasing of the rule of the British East India Company, and India was formally annexed under the direct rule of the Queen. New reforms, measures, administrative, economic and religious measures came into force, which were to govern the country for the next 200 years. The mutiny made English realise the extent of dissatisfaction among Indians thus leading to transfer of power and rule

from hands of East India Company to the British government. In 1858, the Queen issued a proclamation saying that all were her subjects and that there would be no discrimination, appointments would be made on the basis of merit, and that there would be no interference in religious matters. c. Famines were the main features during the rule of the British India. Examine itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s consequences and effect on India and efforts of British rulers to relief. Ans: During the rule of the British East India company India suffered in from twelve famines and four severe scarcities. The significant of those was the greats famine of Bengal of 1769-70, which claimed a large toll of lives. The state government did not adopt any relief measures. Rather the company`s servants made enormous profits from this scarcity. They bought rice and retailed it in high prices. The years 1781 and 82 were the period of extreme crises in Madras; in 1784 severe famines afflicted the whole of Northern India. However during the Madras famine, the state provided reliefs to the famine stricken. The Famine commissions of 1880 envisaged that till the end of the18th century the position of the British Government in India was not such as either to create any senses of general obligation to give relief or to supply sufficient means of affording it. During the years 1803 famine in Northwestern Provinces including Oudh the state granted remissions of the revenue, gave loans and advances to s the s landowners, offered a bounty on all grain imported to Benaras, Allahabad, Kanpur and Fatehgarh. The Guntur Famine of 1833 s took a heavy s toll of lives. In the year 1837, there was a

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severe famine took places in the Upper India. Under the British Crown, ten severe famines took palace in India. These famines occurred in the areas of Delhi and Agra in the year1860-61. Colonel Baird Smith was deputes for this purpose but his report did not lend any formulation on the general principles of relief. The famine of 1865 followed by a famine the following years affected Orissa, Madras, northern Bengal and Bihar. In these years Orissa became the most affected one. Hence the famine came to be known as the "Orissa Famine". The Government officers though warned, took no step to meet the approach of the calamity of famine. Even during the severe famine the Government adhered to the principles of free trade and the law of demands and supply. In this circumstances the Government only provided employments to the sable bodied persons and lefts the works of charitable reliefs to the voluntary agency. Since the voluntary agencies could not work like the government they could not provide adequate relief and as a result the Orissa famine claimed a heavy toll of lives. The Orissa famine proved a turning point in the history of the Indian famines. In 1868, when the severe calamity took places in Northern and Central India the worst affected areas were Rajputana and central India. The government following the recommendations of the Committee, adopted measures to relieve the distress. However the relief givens by the Government was inadequate. The great famine of 1876-78 was perhaps the most grievous calamity experienced since the beginning of the 19th century when the power was transferred to the Crown. The calamity affected Madras, Bombay, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. Due to this fam-

ine extensive areas were depopulated and large tracts went outs of cultivation. Between the years 1880 and 1896, there were two famines and five severe s scarcities took place. The Government took extensive reliefs. Following the great famine, a Committee was formed, presided by Sir James Lyall, ex lieutenant Generals of the Punjab. But they largely adhered to the recommendations already prepared by their predecessors. In the year 1880, only by suggesting certain alterations. Following the famine of 1896 and 97, another calamity came in the year 1899-1900. But during this time the British authorities in some area failed and finally refused to open famine relief works in the early stages of the famine. Later the authorities opened a large number of relief works but could not maintain it properly. The Great famine of Bengal took place s in the year 1942 to 1943. The great famine of Bengal was perhaps the most dangerous calamity under the British. The famine of Bengal took the character of an epidemic. The root causes of the famine was the series of crop failures that Bengal experienced from the year 1938 .The conditions of the Second World war was also responsible for the terrible famine in Bengal. The normal imports from Burma were stopped. Consequently the movement of trade and food grains was dislocated. However the historians have considered that the famine of Bengal was mostly man made than by the natural causes. The opportunists to create famine and to make enormous profits out of this had exploited the situation of Second World War. Here also the government reliefs proved inadequate and the Government of India wanted the Provincial Government to undertake and organize the famine relief. Thus the British Government of India Gradually exploited the economy of India. The evil effects of

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the Second World War also created a vacuum. Thus regular famines were an inevitable feature of India during the 19th and the 20th centuries. 2. Write about the following(not exceeding 20 words each) a. Rafi Ahmed Kidwai: Rafi Ahmed Kidwai was born on 18th February 1894 in the district of Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh. He belonged to a Zamindar family. He graduated from M.A.O. College in Aligarh. He joined Indian National Congress and took active part in Khilafat Movement. Rafi Ahmed Kidwai played crucial role in the Non-Cooperation Movement in Barabanki district. He was the private secretary to Motilal Nehru. In 1926 he was selected at the Central Legislative Assembly. In 1952 after the first general election Rafi Ahmed Kidwai was given the charge of food and agriculture ministry.

to God`. Margaret Noble was the childhood name of Sister Nivedita. She was known by that name before she was taken into the Ramakrishna order. She was born in Dungannon in Co-Tyrone on 28 October 1867. d. Leela Roy: Leela Roy was one among the women pioneers from Bengal, who stand out uniquely in her selfless dedication to the cause of the country and the people, and particularly of women. She was a freedom fighter and patriot who had to suffer rigorous imprisonments. She was a crusader for women`s education and she wanted women to be free and independent. Her revolutionary work opened doors for women and girls who were earlier treated as mere chattels.

b. Nellie Sengupta: Nellie Sengupta was one among the English women who came to India to dedicate her life for its people. Though an outsider she proved herself as a true Indian patriot. She was a unique combination of all the best qualities. She was a devoted wife, a saintly mother and an active political leader. During the non-cooperation movement she was arrested while selling khadi in Chittagong. Thus she had to endure prison life for the cause of her husband. Nellie was elected Congress President in 1933. It was a recognition for her valuable contribution to the cause of India`s independence.. Later, Nellie was elected Alderman of Calcutta Corporation.

e. Sarat Chandra Bose: Sarat Chandra Bose was born on 6th September 1889 in Calcutta. He is the son of Janakinath Bose and elder brother of Subhas Chandra Bose. Sarat Chandra Bose was immensely influenced by the great congress leader Chittaranjan Das and joined the Indian National Congress. He actively took part in the Non-Cooperation Movement. Within few days he became a well known leader in the Indian National Congress. In 1946, he was given the charge of the Works, Mines and Powers ministry in the Interim Government. In 1947 he strongly opposed against partition and resigned All India Congress Committee. After independence Sarat Chandra Bose led the Forward Block which was formed by his brother. He also formed the Socialist Republican Party to spread socialistic view in the country. Sarat Chandra Bose died in 1950, in Calcutta.

c. Sister Nivedita: Sister Nivedita was an AngloIrish social worker, writer, teacher and disciple of Swami Vivekananda. It was he who gave her the name Nivedita that means `one who is dedicated

f. Shoilabala Das: Shoilabala Das was the first woman Municipal Commissioner of Cuttack. She was the adopted daughter of Orissaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s famous politician Madhusudan Das. During the freedom struggle,

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Mahatma Gandhi asked Shoilabala to do him a `favour` by introducing `charkha` to the women of Orissa. With folded hands she said that she do not believe in `charkha` and it would never bring salvation to India or solve its economic problems. She headed several institutions and participated in the activities of various social organizations. g. Kadamba dynasty: During 345 - 525 CE, Kadamba was a primeval majestic dynasty of the Karnataka state that ruled from Banavasi of the contemporary district of Uttara Kannada. Much later, the Kadamba ruled as a liege of huge kingdoms like that of Kannada, Chalukya and the Rashtrakuta for more than 5 hundred years. At that time, many of the Kadamba people were divided into Goa and Hanagal. Under king Kakushtavarma reign; the Kadamba clan reached its zenith. At that time, the Kadamba people dominated in large parts of the state of Karnataka. Another milestone of the Kadamba is the bestowal upon the regional Kannada language, the prestige of being the language, used for administrative matter. h. Chola Dynasty: The first major and substantial Hindu dynasty to rule India during the beginnings of its Medieval period, was the Chola Dynasty, which was further sub-divided into the Sangam Cholas and the prominent Chola rulers like Vijayalaya Chola (848 - 881), founder of the Chola Empire, Rajaraja Chola I (985 - 1014), esteemed as the greatest of the Chola kings, Rajendra Chola I (1012 - 1044) or Rajadhiraja Chola I (1018 - 1054). Chola rulers of India are largely respected to have extended their empire towards various south-east Asian countries. i. Delhi Sultanate: Delhi Sultanate basically holds within its chronology the various invading rulers invading India from parts of Persia, Turkey or Af-

ghanistan, with the foremost aim to conquer the Oriental country and annex it to their own territorial integrity. Indian rulers under the Slave Dynasty (also referred to as Mamluk Dynasty) like Qutbud-din Aibak (1206-1210), Shams-ud-din Iltutmish (1211-1236), Raziyyat ud din Sultana ,Ala ud din Khilji (1296-1316), one of the greatest of the Delhi Sultans, under the Khilji Dynasty, deserve the most proud mention in terms of regional extension or architecture. Delhi Sultanate however was later to witness its curtain call after extensive epochs of ruling under such rulers arriving to India, with the Lodi Dynasty (1451-1526). j. Architecture of Indus Valley civilization: As far as architecture of Indus Valley civilisation is concerned, it was of a startling utilitarian character with uniformity of plan and construction. The buildings consisted of houses, markets, storerooms, and offices; many of these structures consisted of a brick ground-storey with one or more additional floors in wood. The constructions of Mohenjo-daro also reflect an urban spirit where this ancient lacks architectural grandeur. The baked brick construction is perhaps the feature most suggestive of the building methods of the ancient cities of Mesopotamia, but the bricks of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa are fire-baked, and not sun-dried. Certain architectural features, such as the use of narrow pointed niches as the only forms of interior decoration along the Indus are suggestive of a relationship with the ancient Near East. Among the more interesting structures at Mohenjo-daro were the remains of a great public bath. k. Kot Diji: Kot Diji, 40 km east of Mohen-jo-Daro on the left bank, is one of the earliest known fortified city. It was a startling discovery which gave new evidence of pre-Harappan culture and pushed

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back Pakistan`s history by another 500 years. It was an important site in Sindh having a citadel and the lower town. It had defensive wall with a mud brick revetment in the exterior with bastions and the inner face was enforced at intervals with a stone revetment bounded with stone courses at the bottom. l. Kuntasi: The Harappan site Kuntasi, seven km from the Gulf of kutch (District Rajkot), was basically not an agricultural settlement but appears to have been a centre for procuring raw materials and processing them into finished products primarily for exporting them to Sindh and West Asia. In Kuntasi a mound measuring 150 by 125 metres and four metres high, has been found to be a trading settlement, as the archeologists have found remains of a landing platform 30 metres long, warehouses and workshops. The settlement was a port and a manufacturing centre. The Harappans of Kuntasi manufactured pottery, copper articles, bangles and beads made of agate and carnellian and lapis lazuli, the last of which was brought to Kuntasi as a raw material from Badakshan in Afghanistan. Large interconnected rooms for workers, a large common kitchen and workshops have led to the theory that Kuntasi was not a regular Harappan settlement but meant to house artisans who crafted the wares. m. Brahadeeswara Temple: Brahadeeswara Temple at Tanjore (Thanjavur), also called the Big Temple, belongs to the architecture of the Chola period. Built in the 10th Century A.D., by Raja Raja Chola, the Temple Tower is capped by an 81.3 tonnes round monolithic cupola. This enormous piece of stone is said to have been was moved into position by moving it along an inclined plane 6 kms. long. The temple is considered an engineering skill of the Chola architects who planned its construction in such a way that the shadow of the cupola never falls on the ground.

n. Bhakti movement: The Bhakti movement is a Hindu religious movement in which the main spiritual practice was loving devotion to God or bhakti. The devotion was directed towards a particular form of God, such as Siiva,Vishnu,Murukan or Shakti. The bhakti movement started in southern India and slowly spread north during the later half of the Indian medieval period (800-1700 CE). 3.Answer any two of the following( in about 150 words each) a. What is the wind energy? Write about current scenario of wind energy in India. Ans: Wind is simple air in motion. It is caused by the uneven heating of the earth’s surface by the sun. Since the earth’s surface is made of very different types of land and water, it absorbs the sun’s heat at different rates. During the day, the air above the land heats up more quickly than the air over water. The warm air over the land expands and rises, and the heavier, cooler air rushes in to take its place, creating winds. At night, the winds are reversed because the air cools more rapidly over land than over water. In the same way, the large atmospheric winds that circle the earth are created because the land near the earth's equator is heated more by the sun than the land near the North and South Poles. Today, wind energy is mainly used to generate electricity. Wind is called a renewable energy source because the wind will blow as long as the sun shines. The Indian wind energy sector has an installed capacity of 10,242.3 MW (as on March 31, 2009). In terms of wind power installed capacity, India is ranked 5th in the World. Today India is a major player in the global wind energy market. The potential is far from exhausted. Indian Wind Energy Association has estimated that with the current level of technology, the ‘on-shore’ potential for uti-

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lization of wind energy for electricity generation is of the order of 65,000 MW. The unexploited resource availability has the potential to sustain the growth of wind energy sector in India in the years to come. b. Write about Himalayas mountain system and Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degradation due to pollution. Ans: Himalayas mountain system in Asia, forming a broad continuous arc for nearly 2600 km (1600 mi) along the northern fringes of the Indian subcontinent, from the bend of the Indus River in the northwest to the Brahmaputra River in the east. The Himalayas range, averaging 320 to 400 km (200 to 250 mi) in width, rises sharply from the Gangetic Plain. North of this mountain belt lies the Tibetan Plateau (Qing Zang Gaoyuan). The Himalayas form the earth's highest mountain region, containing 9 of the 10 highest peaks in the world. Among these peaks are the world's highest mountain, Mount Everest (8848 m/29,028 ft), which is on the NepalTibet border; the second highest peak, K2 or Mount Godwin Austen (8,611 m/28,251 ft), located on the border between China and Jammu and Kashmir, a territory claimed by India and Pakistan; the third highest peak, Kanchenjunga (8,598 m/28,209 ft) on the Nepal-India border; Makalu (8481 m/27,824 ft) on the Nepal-Tibet border; Dhaulagiri (8,172 m/ 26,811 ft) and Annapurna 1 (8,091 m/26,545 ft) in Nepal; Nanga Parbat (8,125 m/26,657 ft) in the Pakistani-controlled portion of Jammu and Kashmir; and Nanda Devi (7817 m/25,645 ft) in India. Economic changes and population increases are threatening the ecology of the Himalayas. In recent years deforestation in the foothills and the Middle Himalayas and overgrazing on the high pastures have led to soil erosion and other environmental problems.

Deforestation is a particular concern in the western Himalayas, where increased demand for firewood, extensive tree trimming in order to feed livestock, and construction of roads in the border regions have increased the destruction rate of forests and the number of landslides. Rapid population growth has accelerated pollution, and Himalayan streams that were once clear are now polluted with refuse and sewage. Hill people who use the water for drinking suffer from dysentery; cholera and typhoid epidemics are also common. Large lakes like Dal in Kashmir and Naini Lake (Nainital) have also become polluted. Regional variations in environmental degradation exist in the Himalayas. Conditions range from a critical situation in the Himalayas of Nepal, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, and Kashmir to a moderately serious situation in Bhutan and the eastern Himalayas. If rapid development continues in Bhutan and the eastern Himalayas without due regard for conservation, the problems there may assume critical proportions in the near future. The governments of India, Nepal, and Bhutan are aware of the dangers of environmental degradation in the Himalayas, and environmental management concerns are being integrated in development projects in this region. c. Wh at is Ultra Me ga P ow er proje ct s (UMPP)?What the new development and actions in this sector are taking place? Ans: Ultra Mega Power projects are a series of ambitious power projects planned by the Government of India. With India being a country of chronic power deficit, the Government of India has planned to provide 'power for all' by the end of the eleventh plan. This would entail a creation of an additional capacity of at least 100,000 MW by 2012. The Ultra Mega Power projects each with a capacity of 4000 megawatts or above are being developed with

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an aim to bridge this gap. The UMPPs are seen as an expansion of the MPP (Mega Power Projects) projects that the Government of India undertook in the nineties but met with limited success. The Ministry of Power in association with central electricity authority and power finance corporation ltd. has launched an initiative for development of coal based UMPP's in India. These projects will be awarded to developers on the basis of competitive bidding. Some of the UMPPs establishing in India are as follows: Sasan Power Limited (Sasan, Madhya Pradesh) Coastal Gujarat Power Limited (Mundra, Gujarat) Coast al Karnataka P ow er L imit ed (Tadri, Karnataka) Coastal Andhra Power Limited (Krishnapatnam, A.P.) Coastal Tamil Nadu Power Limited (Cheyyur, T.N.) Coastal Maharashtra Power Limited (Girye, Maharastra) Orissa Integrated Power Limited (Sundergarh district, Orissa) Jharkhand Integrated Power Limited (Tilaiya, Jharkhand) Akaltara Power Limited (Aklatara, Chattisgarh) 4.Write about the following (not exceeding 20 words each) a. Kolleru Lake: Kolleru Lake is the largest freshwater lake. It is located in Andhra pradhesh state, India. Kolleru is located between Krishna and Godavari and delta. Kolleru spans into two districts

- Krishna and West Godavari. The lake serves as a natural flood-balancing reservoir for these two rivers. The lake is fed directly by water from the seasonal Budameru and Tammileru streams, and is connected to the Krishna and Godavari systems by over 68 inflowing drains and channels. b. Monsoon: A monsoon is a seasonal prevailing wind that lasts for several months. The term was first used in English in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and neighboring countries to refer to the big seasonal winds blowing from the Indian Ocean and Arabian see in the southwest bringing heavy rainfall to the area. In terms of total precipitation and total area covered, the monsoons affecting the Indian subcontinent dwarf the North American monsoon, and the South Asian monsoon affects a larger number of people, owing to the high density of population in that part of the world. c. Export Processing Zone: India was one of the first in Asia to recognize the effectiveness of the Export Processing Zone (EPZ) model in promoting exports, with Asia's first EPZ set up in Kandla in 1965. With a view to overcome the shortcomings experienced on account of the multiplicity of controls and clearances; absence of world-class infrastructure, and an unstable fiscal regime and with a view to attract larger foreign investments in India, the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) Policy was announced in April 2000. This policy intended to make SEZs an engine for economic growth supported by quality infrastructure complemented by an attractive fiscal package, both at the Centre and the State level, with the minimum possible regulations. SEZs in India functioned from 1.11.2000 to 09.02.2006 under the provisions of the Foreign Trade Policy and fiscal incentives were made effective through the provisions of relevant statutes.

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d. Bhangar and Khadar: The overall gradient of the plain is virtually imperceptible, averaging only about 6 inches per mile (95 mm per km) in the Ganges basin and slightly more along the Indus and Brahmaputra. Even so, to those who till its soils, there is an important distinction between bhangar the slightly elevated, terraced land of older alluvium and khadar, the more fertile fresh alluvium on the low-lying floodplain. In general, the ratio of bhangar areas to those of khadar increases upstream along all major rivers. e. Tropical cyclones: Fierce tropical cyclones occur in India during what may be called the premonsoon, early monsoon, or postmonsoon periods. Originating in both the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, tropical cyclones often attain velocities of more than 100 miles (160 km) per hour and are notorious for causing intense rain and storm tides (surges) as they cross the coast of India. The Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, and West Bengal coasts are especially susceptible to such storms. 5. Answer any one of the following(in about 250 words each) a.What is Pressure groups?Discuss about itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s role in political system. Ans: In the pluralist model of democracy, pressure groups play an essential role. Political parties cannot provide adequate representation for the full range of diverse interests and opinions in a modern democracy because their key function is to aggregate interests into a coherent political entity capable of governing the country. Pressure groups enable particular interests and causes to be heard and to exert influence in public decision and decision-making. Yet it is precisely the representation of specialist interests and of single issues which may give

cause for concern, both in terms of the methods used to achieve objectives and of the undue power and influence which particular lobbies can exert. Pluralists believe that pressure groups overcome the democratic deficit that builds up as most people political participation is to cast a vote every five years, this leading to people having little or no influence over decisions made between elections, and minority views not being represented. Pressure groups increase participation and access to the political system, thereby enhancing the quality of democracy. They complement and supplement electoral democracy in two main ways: first, by providing an important mechanism by which citizens can influence government between elections; and second by enabling opinions to be weighed as well as counted. Pressure groups improve the quality of government. Consultation with affected groups is the rational way to make decisions in a free society. It makes government more efficient by enhancing the quality of the decision making process - the information and advice provided by groups helps to improve the quality of government policy and legislation. Pressure groups are a product of freedom of association, which is a fundamental principle of liberal democracy. Freely operating pressure groups are essential to the effective functioning of liberal democracy in three main ways: they serve as vital intermediary institutions between government and society; they assist in the dispersal of political power; and they provide important counterweights to balance the concentration of power. Pressure groups enable new concerns and issues to reach the political agenda, thereby facilitating social progress and preventing social stagnation. Pressure groups assist the surveillance of the government by exposing information it would rather keep secret, thereby reinforcing and complementing work of opposition through political parties. Pressure groups thereby improve the

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accountability of decision makers to electorates. Although the views of pressure groups may sometimes be considered, they are likely to be ignored if they do not confirm with the ideology or agenda of the decision makers. Pressure group activity gives people hope that they can make a difference. This hope is a distraction. The ruling class would rather that people put their energies into pressure group activities, which do not question the fundamentals of the system than into political activity, which seriously challenges the right of the elite to govern.Group opposition can slow down or block desirable changes, thereby contributing to social immobilisation. The in-egalitarian way that some groups operate increases social discontent and political instability by intensifying the sense of social frustration and injustice felt by disadvantaged and excluded sections of the population. b.What is the constitution?Write about the sources by which Indian constitution made. Ans: A constitution is set of rules for government â&#x20AC;&#x201D; often codified as a written document â&#x20AC;&#x201D; that establishes principles of an autonomous political entity. In the case of countries, this term refers specifically to a national constitution defining the fundamental political principles, and establishing the structure, procedures, power and duties, of a government. By limiting the government's own reach, most constitutions guarantee certain rights to the people. The term constitution can be applied to any overall law that defines the functioning of a government, including several historical constitutions that existed before the development of modern national constitutions. Constitutions concern different kinds of political organizations. They are found extensively in regional government, at supranational, federal, state or provincial, and sub-national

levels. They are also found in many political groups, such as political parties,pressure groups, and trade -unions. Non-political entities such as corporations and voluntary associations, whether incorporated or not, may also have a constitution. The constitution of a legally incorporated entity is more usually styled as its memorandum and articles of association (U.S. incorporation). Our Indian constitution is wider and unique one because, it was made by drawing from many sources as follows: 1.Ideal of Justice in Social,education,economic and political- russia revolution 1917 2.Ideal of Liberty, Equality and fraternity -French revolution 1789 to 1799 3.From govt of India Act 1935 1.federal scheme 2.office of Governor 3.Judiciary 4.public service commission 5.Emergency 6.Administrative details 4.British constitution 1.Parliamentary form of govt 2.Rule of law 3.legislation 4.single citizenship 5.cabinet form of govt 6.prerogative writs 7.Biocameralism 5.US constitution 1.Fundamental rights 2.Independent judiciary 3.judicial review 4.Impeachment of President(tough procedure to do this compared with India)

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5.removal of supreme court judges 6.vice presidential ship 6.Irish

1.DPSP 2.nomination of members to Rajya sabha 3.electoral office and method of president election

7.Canada(pure federal country) 1.federation with strong center 2.Residuary power with center 3.appointment of state governors by center 4.advisory/review of supreme court 8.Australia 1.Concurrent list 2.Freedom of trade 3.commerce and inter state trade 4.joint sitting in the parliament 9.USSR 1.Fundamental duties 2.Preamble 10.South Africa 1.proceedure for amendment 2.election to the rajya sabha members 11.Japan 1.proceedures established by law 12.Weimer constitution of Germany 1.suspension of fundamental rights during emergency 6. Answer any two of the following(in about 150 words each) a.Discuss about the roll of Election Commission .

Ans: According to article 324 of the Constitution as the Election Commission: The Election Commission shall consist of the Chief Election Commissioner and such number of other Election Commissioners, if any, as the President may from time to time fix and the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners shall, subject to the provisions of any law made in that behalf by Parliament, be made by the President. When any other Election Commissioner is so appointed the Chief Election Commissioner shall act as the Chairman of the Election Commission. Before each general election to the House of the People and to the Legislative Assembly of each State, and before the first general election and thereafter before each biennial election to the Legislative Council of each State having such Council, the President may also appoint after consultation with the Election Commission such Regional Commissioners as he may consider necessary to assist the Election Commission in the performance of the functions conferred on the Commission. Subject to the provisions of any law made by Parliament, the conditions of service and tenure of office of the Election Commissioners and the Regional Commissioners shall be such as the President may by rule determine: Provided that the Chief Election Commissioner shall not be removed from his office except in like manner and on the like grounds as a Judge of the Supreme Court and the conditions of service of the Chief Election Commissioner shall not be varied to his disadvantage after his appointment: Provided further that any other Election Commissioner or a Regional Commissioner shall not be removed from office except on the recommendation of the Chief Election Com-

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missioner. The President, or the Governor of a State, shall, when so requested by the Election Commission, make available to the Election Commission or to a Regional Commissioner such staff as may be necessary for the discharge of the functions conferred on the Election Commission. b.The preamble to the constitution is aimed to embody the fundamental values and the philosophy on which the constitution is based.Discuss. Ans: The preamble was adopted with the constitution in the constituent assembly. It came into effect in 1950 along with the constitution. The original draft of the constitution opened with the words `Sovereign Democratic Republic` in the first line. The words `Socialist and Secular` were inserted by the 42nd amendment. The same amendment contributed to the changes of the words unity of the nation into unity and integrity of the nation. The significance of the Preamble of Indian Constitution lies in the "We, the people". These words emphasizes that the ultimately powers are vested in the hands of the people of India. The expressions state that the constitution is made by and made for the people of India. In addition to that, the Preamble also lays down the essential national goals for every citizen justice, liberty, equality, and fraternity. According to the Preamble of Indian Constitution, the word `Sovereign` occupies a vital role in the country. It means supreme or independent and embodies India is internally and externally sovereign and is free from the control of any foreign power. Furthermore, the country has a free government which is directly elected by the people and makes laws that govern the people. The word `Socialist` also has significance as it implies social and economic equality. The word was added by the 42nd amendment act of 1976 during the Emergency. In addition to that Social equality identifies the

absence of discrimination on the grounds only of caste, colour, creed, sex, religion, or language. Besides, social equality has equal status and opportunities. The preamble also guarantees secularism. The word `Secular` was also inserted into the Preamble by the 42nd amendment act of 1976, during The Emergency. Secularism, implies equality of all religions and religious tolerance and does not identify any official state religion. Preamble of Indian Constitution is also puts forth the terms, Democratic and Republic. India follows a democratic form of government. The people of India elect their governments at all levels such as Union, State and local by a system of universal adult franchise. India is also a Republic, in a country where the head of state is elected, directly or indirectly, for a fixed tenure. The President of India is the titular head of the state. Thus, the Preamble plays pivotal role and serves two purpose including and indicate to the source from which the Constitution derives its authority and stating the objects, which the Constitution seeks to establish and promote. c.Write about constitutional provisions about child labour and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s implementation. Ans: As per Article 24 of the Constitution, no child below the age of 14 years is to be employed in any factory, mine or any hazardous employment. Further, Article 39 requires the States to direct its policy towards ensuring that the tender age of children is not abused and that they are not forced by economic necessity to enter avocations unsuited to their age or strength. Recently, with the insertion of Article 21A, the State has been entrusted with the task of providing free and compulsory education to all the children in the age group of 6-14 years. Consistent with the Constitutional provisions, Child

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Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act was enacted in 1986, which seeks to prohibit employment of children below 14 years in hazardous occupations and processes and regulates the working conditions in other employments. In the last 5 years, the number of hazardous processes listed in the schedule of the Act has increased from 18 to 57 and occupations from 7 to 13. Policy and programes:A National Policy on Child Labour was announced in 1987 which emphasised the need for strict enforcement measures in areas of high child labour concentration. In order to translate the above policy into action, the Government of India initiated the National Child Labour Project Scheme in 1988 to rehabilitate the working children starting with 12 child labour endemic districts of the country. Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986:The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986 prohibits child labour in certain occupations and processes alone and their conditions of work are regulated in the rest. The law does not prohibit child labour if rendered for one’s own family in those areas of occupation that has been considered as hazardous. Likewise, it has no purview over regulating the conditions of work if children are engaged to work by the family. The law has also completely left out children working in agriculture. The first step is to clearly enunciate a policy that ‘no child must work-and every child attends a full time formal school’ is not negotiable and that it is a goal that is possible to achieve6. The NCLP programme which is a consequence of the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986 focuses on the release and rehabilitation of

only such children who are employed in those industries as notified in the Act. A New national child labour eradication policy: Several changes have occurred since the drafting of the National Child Eradication Labour Policy in 1987. A re-examination of all the laws and policies pertaining to working children is critical. There must be consistency in the constitutional and legal provisions pertaining to children’s rights especially their right to education and wellbeing. 7. Answer the following( in about 20 words each) a. Caretaker government: In politics, a caretaker government rules temporarily. A caretaker government is often set up following a war until stable democratic rule can be restored, or installed, in which case it is often referred to as a provisional government. In some countries the term is used to describe the government that operates in the interim period between the normal dissolution of parliament for the purpose of holding an election and the formation of a new government after the election results are known. Caretaker governments may also be put in place when a government in a parliamentary system is defeated in a motion of no confidence, or in the case when the house to which the government is responsible is dissolved, to rule the country for an interim period until an election is held and a new government is formed. This type of caretaker government is adopted in Bangladesh where an advisor council led by the former chief judge rules the country for 3 months before an elected government takes over. In systems where coalition government are frequent a caretaker government may be installed temporarily while negotiations to form a new coalition take place. This usually occurs either immediately after an election in which there is no clear victor or if one coalition government collapses and a new one must be nego-

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tiated. b. Civil society: Civil society is composed of the totality of voluntary civic and social organizations and institutions that form the basis of a functioning society as opposed to the force-backed structures of a state (regardless of that state's political system) and commercial institutions of the market. The concept of civil society in its pre-modern classical republican understanding is usually connected to the age of enlightenment in the 18th century. However, it has much older history in the realm of political thought. c. Federalism :is a political philosophy in which a group of members are bound together with a governing representative head. The term federalism is also used to describe a system of the government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and constituent political units (like states or provinces). Federalism is a system in which the power to govern is shared between national and central(state) governments, creating what is often called a federation. Proponents are often called federalists. d. Isolationism : Isolationism is a foreign policy which combines a non interventionist military policy and a political policy of economic nationalism(protectionism). In other words, it asserts both of the following:Non interventionism– Political rulers should avoid entangling alliances with other nations and avoid all wars not related to direct territorial self defense. protectionism – There should be legal barriers to control trade and cultural exchange with people in other states. e. Parliament of India: The Parliament of India (or Sansad) is the federal and supreme legislative body of India. It consists of the office of president

of India and two houses, the lower house, known as the Lok Sabha and the upper house, known as the Rajya Sabha. Any bill can become an act only after it is passed by both the houses of the Parliament and assented by the President. 8. Answer any one of the following(in about 250 words) a.What is women's empowerment ?Write about the policy and programmes adopted by Indian government. Ans: Gender equality and women's empowerment are human rights that lie at the heart of development and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Despite the progress that has been made, six out of ten of world's poorest people are still women and girls, less than 16 percent of the world's parliamentarians are women, two thirds of all children shut outside the school gates are girls and, both in times of armed conflict and behind closed doors at home, women are still systematically subjected to violence. The principle of gender equality is enshrined in the Indian Constitution in its Preamble, Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties and Directive Principles. The Constitution not only grants equality to women, but also empowers the State to adopt measures of positive discrimination in favour of women. Within the framework of a democratic polity, our laws, development policies, Plans and programmes have aimed at women’s advancement in different spheres. From the Fifth Five Year Plan (1974-78) onwards has been a marked shift in the approach to women’s issues from welfare to development. In recent years, the empowerment of women has been recognized as the central issue in determining the status of women.

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The National Commission for Women was set up by an Act of Parliament in 1990 to safeguard the rights and legal entitlements of women. The 73rd and 74th Amendments (1993) to the Constitution of India have provided for reservation of seats in the local bodies of Panchayats and Municipalities for women, laying a strong foundation for their participation in decision making at the local levels. India has also ratified various international conventions and human rights instruments committing to secure equal rights of women. Key among them is the ratification of the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1993. The Mexico Plan of Action (1975), the Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies (1985), the Beijing Declaration as well as the Platform for Action (1995) and the outcome Document adopted by the UNGA Session on Gender Equality and Development & Peace for the 21st century, titled Further actions and initiatives to implement the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action have been unreservedly endorsed by India for appropriate follow up. The Policy also takes note of the commitments of the Ninth Five Year Plan and the other Sectoral Policies relating to empowerment of Women. The women’s movement and a wide-spread network of non-Government organisations which have strong grass-roots presence and deep insight into women’s concerns have contributed in inspiring initiatives for the empowerment of women. However, there still exists a wide gap between the goals enunciated in the Constitution, legislation, policies, plans, programmes, and related mechanisms on the one hand and the situational reality of the status of women in India, on the other. This has been analyzed extensively in the Report of the Committee on the Status of Women in India, Towards Equality, 1974 and highlighted in the National Perspective Plan for Women, 1988-2000, the Shramshakti Report, 1988 and the

Platform for Action, Five Years After- An assessment". Gender disparity manifests itself in various forms, the most obvious being the trend of continuously declining female ratio in the population in the last few decades. Social stereotyping and violence at the domestic and societal levels are some of the other manifestations. Discrimination against girl children, adolescent girls and women persists in parts of the country. The underlying causes of gender inequality are related to social and economic structure, which is based on informal and formal norms, and practices. Consequently, the access of women particularly those belonging to weaker sections including Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes/ Other backward Classes and minorities, majority of whom are in the rural areas and in the informal, unorganized sector – to education, health and productive resources, among others, is inadequate. Therefore, they remain largely marginalized, poor and socially excluded. The involvement of voluntary organizations, associations, federations, trade unions, non-governmental organizations, women’s organizations, as well as institutions dealing with education, training and research will be ensured in the formulation, implementation, monitoring and review of all policies and programmes affecting women. Towards this end, they will be provided with appropriate support related to resources and capacity building and facilitated to participate actively in the process of the empowerment of women. b. Corruption is a very serious social and societal evil and it cuts into mass welfare and equality of chances, particularly for the have-nots. Discuss the problem of corruption in India in this context. Ans: India has been ranked a lowly 74, two steps

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down since last year, among 180 countries of the world on the worldwide Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), prepared by independent international agency Transparency International. Corruption not only has become a pervasive aspect of Indian politics but also has become an increasingly important factor in Indian elections. The extensive role of the Indian state in providing services and promoting economic development has always created the opportunity for using public resources for private benefit. As government regulation of business was extended in the 1960s and corporate donations were banned in 1969, trading economic favors for under-the-table contributions to political parties became an increasingly widespread political practice. During the 1980s and 1990s, corruption became associated with the occupants of the highest echelons of India's political system. Politicians have become so closely identified with corruption in the public eye that a Times of India poll of 1,554 adults in six metropolitan cities found that 98 percent of the public is convinced that politicians and ministers are corrupt, with 85 percent observing that corruption is on the increase. The prominence of political corruption in India in the 1990s is hardly unique to India. Other countries also have experienced corruption that has rocked their political systems. What is remarkable about India is the persistent anti-incumbent sentiment among its electorate. Since Indira's victory in her 1971 "garibi hatao " election, only one ruling party has been reelected to power in the central government. In an important sense, the exception proves the rule because the Congress (I) won reelection in 1984 in no small measure because the electorate saw in Rajiv Gandhi a "Mr. Clean" who would lead a new generation of politicians in cleansing the political system. Anti-incumbent sentiment is just as strong at the state level, where the ruling parties of all political persuasions in India's major

states lost eleven of thirteen legislative assembly elections held from 1991 through spring 1995. The great thinkers spread ideas of democracy and freedom with a view to establishing a global welfare society. But when applied to life by the politicians, the great ideas gave rise to corruption obstructing to equalization attempts even by a sincere state. The interconnection between democracy and corruption is well known and it has historical roots when a few persons tried, quite successfully, to control and swindle the national economy by raising the slogan of democracy, while the strong nations greedy of overseas wealth invaded countries on fictitious pretexts, including lack of democracy. All possible pretexts for exploitation and invasion continue even to this day when more people crave for democracy, seeking, at the same time, more wealth through any means. Corruption is a very serious social and societal evil and it cuts into mass welfare and equality of chances, particularly for the have-nots. Developed countries have fewer problems thanks to huge resources available. In developing nations having fewer resources the practice of rampant corruption harmed the common people. Corruption generates economic distortions in the public sector by diverting public investment into capital projects where bribes and kickbacks are more plentiful. Officials may increase the technical complexity of public sector projects to conceal or pave way for such dealings, thus further distorting investment. Corruption also lowers compliance with construction, environmental, or other regulations, reduces the quality of government services and infrastructure, and increases budgetary pressures on government.

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9. Answer any one of the following(in about 150 words each) a.Discuss about Communalism and its fundamentalist ideology. Ans: In many parts of the world, communalism is a modern term that describes a broad range of social movements and social theories which are in some way centered upon the community. Communalism can take the form of communal living or communal property, among others. Communalism is defined as a theory of a society that is divided into several small, independent communes and the state is just a confederation of these communes. Communalism is often associated with various branches of socialism, especially communism (and, in particular, religious communism or primitive communism) and most anarchist philosophies. It is sometimes said to put the interests of the community above the interests of the individual, but this is usually only done on the principle that the community exists for the benefit of the individuals who participate in it, so the best way to serve the interests of the individual is through the interests of the community. Our subsequent experience underlines that fact that both the Hindu communalist offensive and the Muslim or (for that matter, all other religion based) fundamentalist response today constitute a frontal assault on the very independence and sovereignty based on a secular democratic polity that defines modern India. These forces, in fact, feed each other. Their similarity in attacking the modern concepts of secularism, democracy and nationalism are indeed glaring. While castigating these concepts as alien to their respective religious cultures they however, have no

compunction in borrowing the modern 20th century concept of fascism. They base themselves on a distorted definition of nationality, central to which is religion. Rejecting the historical experience till date of how religion has never been and can never be a cementing factor for any national formation, (e.g., Pakistan and Bangladesh) they openly advocate the predominance of religion, both in politics as well as in the ordering of the society. Thus, they reject, both the historical experience of the nation states and negate the scientific basis of nationality. Communalism and its fundamentalist ideology is not the championing, far less the protection of religiosity. It is the utilisation of the religious divide between the people consciously engineered and perpetuated for a political purpose. It is an ideology based on a religious conflict for a specific political purpose. The British had used this for perpetuating their colonial rule and in the process elevated it to such an extent that they could succeed in partitioning our country and leave behind a scourge that continues to claim countless lives. Communalism hence, is far removed from religion. It generates and perpetuates hatred amongst religious communities as the basis for its existence and growth. b. Write about some techniques for the water conservation. Ans: Our ancient religious texts and epics give a good insight into the water storage and conservation systems that prevailed in those days. Over the years rising populations, growing industrialization, and expanding agriculture have pushed up the demand for water. Efforts have been made to collect water by building dams and reservoirs and digging wells; some countries have also tried to recycle and desalinate (remove salts) water. Water conservation has become the need of the day. The idea of

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ground water recharging by harvesting rainwater is gaining importance in many cities. In the forests, water seeps gently into the ground as vegetation breaks the fall. This groundwater in turn feeds wells, lakes, and rivers. Protecting forests means protecting water 'catchments'. In ancient India, people believed that forests were the 'mothers' of rivers and worshipped the sources of these water bodies. In urban areas, the construction of houses, footpaths and roads has left little exposed earth for water to soak in. In parts of the rural areas of India, floodwater quickly flows to the rivers, which then dry up soon after the rains stop.

istrative reforms ever since Independence. There was an administrative reforms commission set-up long ago, and another one is currently deliberating on the subject. Yet, in all these years, we have achieved precious little in altering our administrative system, procedures or the ethos of our personnel. Administrative reforms should necessarily evolve in the following areas:

If this water can be held back, it can seep into the ground and recharge the groundwater supply. This has become a very popular method of conserving water especially in the urban areas. Rainwater harvesting essentially means collecting rainwater on the roofs of building and storing it underground for later use. Not only does this recharging arrest groundwater depletion, it also raises the declining water table and can help augment water supply. Rainwater harvesting and artificial recharging are becoming very important issues. It is essential to stop the decline in groundwater levels, arrest seawater ingress, i.e. prevent sea-water from moving landward, and conserve surface water run-off during the rainy season. The most important step in the direction of finding solutions to issues of water and environmental conservation is to change people's attitudes and habitsÂžthis includes each one of us. Conserve water because it is the right thing to do.

Organisationally, the entire system is marred by obsolete forms, a plethora of institutions which have outlived their utility and seem to induce a kind of administrative paralysis. Horizontally, there is division of authority along a large number of ministries or agencies, none of which are competent enough to take decisions by themselves, instead all play a collective role in decision-making. Decisions take very long to emerge and often a single ministry or agency can hold a veto over the process. Vertically too there are long lines of hierarchy in every office. This pattern, which leads to organisational deadlocks, is repeated at both the Centre and states.

C.Write a short essay on need of administrative reforms in India . Ans: In India, we have been talking about admin-

- Structural or organisational - Procedural - Manner and style of functioning by officials and staff

A lot of ministries and agencies have outlived their utility but still exist, playing an altogether counterproductive role. Some of them, created during the heydays of the license-permit raj, have not been wound up though the purpose of for which they were created has long since disappeared. On top of it all, there is a general abundance of manpower, much larger than the amount of work. While the government's work is steadily decreasing, there is no let up in the staff increase. Procedurally, we need

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to drastically axe the current time-consuming and wasteful procedures, particularly the structure along the line of hierarchy in offices where files go up and down with officers raising queries which lead to delays. We need to radically reduce the number of hierarchical levels on which files move, restricting it to not more than two to three, including the minister. There should be a flat order that no officer is to keep any file for more than 24 to 48 hours. After Independence, there has been a general emphasis on discretionary or administrative controls exercised by particular officers rather than on non-discretionary systems of control where general policies are formulated and publicised in writing so that every applicant knows where he stands. Wherever a government decision is needed in a specific case, we should operate the principle of management by exception. The advent of IT has made the situation abundantly suitable for simply axing many of our old procedural requirements. Rather, the officers must be encouraged to specialise in areas of their interests. They should then be retained in that area for a much longer time than it is done at present. We should ideally follow the French administrative system where young entrants to its civil service are, from the very beginning, branched off into broad areas such as economic, social and general administration and are not normally pulled out of their areas of specialisation. Officers accustomed to dealing with distribution of permits or so, for which long queues are indispensable, should be made to start their training in queues to teach them to be timeconscious, friendly and courteous. Officers who work in agriculture should be made to do real farming for at least one or two years to understand the problems of land and those who make a living off of it.

Nowadays, the average entrance age of IAS officers is 30. Ergo, the old concept of catching them young has actually been given up. It is necessary to reduce the age of entry to the IAS to 24 or 25, as in the past. The stranglehold of the IAS on all top jobs should be ended, and while many of them deserve to occupy the top jobs, other officers who show adequate promise and ability, should be co-opted into higher services. Jobs at the top should be opened up to eligible persons, wherever they come from. The emphasis should be on managerial skills and realising goals, rather than on routine problem solving or being fixated with procedures. We have to accept that globalisation and the dramatic march of new information technology are inevitable and unstoppable developments of modern times. There are constraints no doubt, but there are also opportunities. The administrative organisation and attitude of our personnel are survivals from the 19th century, and do not meet the requirement and challenges of the 21st century. 10. Answer any one of the following(in about 250 words each) Rural-urban disparities are growing continue after economic reform. In this context elucidate the scenario. Ans: Rural-urban disparities, particularly in postcolonial countries, have for long been one of the causes of concern for the policymakers. The disparities are seen in all spheres of human life - economic and non-economic. The extent of disparities, however, differs from country to country. The long colonial rule in India had created an urbanrural divide. What causes great concern now-a-days is the sharp increase in the level of disparities after a few decades of planning, especially because planning was conceived as an instrument to narrow

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down rural-urban disparities. Rural India encompasses a little less than three-fourths of the country's population and is characterised by low income levels, poor quality of life and a weak base of human development.

cent live in rural areas. In urban areas the figure is 48.2 per cent. Of the illiterate people who are 15 years and above but not beyond 60 years, rural areas have 55.8 per cent and the urban areas 25.1 per cent

Nearly one-third of the national income comes from villages, but there is a significant rural-urban divide. In 1997-98, the annual increase in non-farm employment in rural areas was 4.06 per cent. In 1983-84 it was 3.28 per cent. During 1999-2000 it came down to 2.14 per cent. The consequence has been a very slow reduction in rural poverty. In 199394 it was 39.36 per cent, in 1999-2000 the figure came down marginally to 36.35 per cent. According to one estimate, the average income of an urban dweller is four times higher than that of a rural dweller. If we look at the poverty data, a similar situation is noticed. India, a developing economy of over a billion people, recorded a relatively high economic growth during 1980-2000, especially during the 1990s, a decade known for noteworthy structural economic reforms. This period also recorded a decline in the incidence of poverty and improvement in parameters of human development such as levels of literacy, health and nutrition conditions.

Data collected by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) show that the average per capita expenditure (MPCE) in rural India during 2000-01 amounted to Rs.499.90, which was a little over the corresponding figure of Rs.914.57 for an urban dweller. The disparities in the social development sector are mind-boggling. Rural adult illiteracy is a matter of alarming concern. In 2001, the urban literacy rate was 80.06 per cent but the rural literacy rate was 59.21 per cent. Thus, the difference in rural - urban areas in terms of percentage points is 20.85. Data released by the Planning Commission show that among illiterate people aged 60 years and above, 78.2 per cent live in rural areas. In urban areas the figure is 48.2 per cent. Of the illiterate people who are 15 years and above but not beyond 60 years, rural areas have 55.8 per cent and the urban areas 25.1 per cent.

Development policies focussed on enhanced and targeted public investments in programmes that facilitated improvements in the quality of life of the masses, but the disparity remains. THE disparities in the social development sector are mind-boggling. Rural adult illiteracy is a matter of alarming concern. In 2001, the urban literacy rate was 80.06 per cent but the rural literacy rate was 59.21 per cent. Thus, the difference in rural - urban areas in terms of percentage points is 20.85. Data released by the Planning Commission show that among illiterate people aged 60 years and above, 78.2 per

The disparity is noticeable even in respect of the sex ratio. Census 2001 data have shown a general improvement in this regard because in 1991 the sex ratio was 927 women for 1,000 men while in 2001 it was 933 women for 1,000 men. The Census data have also given the urban-rural break-up, which shows that while in the case of urban India the ratio is 901 women to 1,000 men, in the case of rural India it is 946 women to 1,000 men. The bias of the state in favour of urban areas is evident from the per capita expenditure on basic services. According to the estimate of the Eleventh Finance Commission, per capita expenditure on basic services in rural areas during 1997-98 was Rs.24, but in urban areas it was Rs.49. Rural India contributes 27 per

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cent to the GDP, but gets back only 5 per cent, which is less than one-fifth of its contribution. Given the situation, what can be done to reduce the level of disparity to a desirable level is a matter that calls for serious consideration. There is no doubt that India's rural economy cannot grow without agricultural development. Capitalist agricultural productivity is constrained by the system itself. Effective land reform coupled with non-land input support to the beneficiaries can result in an increase in agricultural productivity. Apart from taking steps to increase human development facilities in the villages, such as health and education, and develop appropriate infrastructure such as roads and marketing facilities, there is the need for generating employment, which can better the living conditions of villagers. We need to adopt a long-term policy, keeping in mind the requirements of the rural and urban areas. A close look at the development plan exercises tends to demonstrate that ad-hocism permeates the policy processes. In the rural areas there are many resources lying unutilised. It is time to identify these and make proper use of them. The application of Information Technology can be of great help in identifying what is lying unutilised or underutilised. b.What you think about NREGP? How much it helped to eradicate the poverty and providing the employment? Ans: The NREGP is the largest ever employment programme in human history and India will have to allocate Rs 30,000 crores every year to sustain this programme. It has, since it was implemented, made news across the country, some good and some not so good.The NREGP is not just about wage employment; it is a programme designed to create rural infrastructure like roads, watersheds, small

tank structures, address natural resource management and much more. These activities can help to increase farm productivity along with provision of wages to the rural poor. The NREGP has critical elements built into it for effective implementation .The NREGP vests substantial powers with village level panchayats for effective implementation of the programme. If we critically examine the published articles in various journals on the implementation of the NREGP across the country, talk to the NREGP functionaries, and examine the findings of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India Report, we know that the three tier panchayat structure in India based on the 73rd constitutional amendments has not been involved fully and responsibly. If the NREGP has to succeed and sustain itself it has to be managed at the village level effectively and efficiently. Effective means it has to create physical and infrastructure assets at the village level so that the two critical inputs like water and soil are protected and regenerated. Efficiency means the muster rolls are kept properly, wages are paid according to the rates announced and a minimum of 100 days of employment are actually given and just not announced. Although on paper village panchayats are supposed to do all these, there is no evidence across the country that they are actually doing the grassroots management of the NREGP. Gram sabhas are vital events in villages where discussions take place and approval of works to be taken up in the villages is sought. Villagers know better what is best for their village. NGOs can assist the panchayat secretary in these gram sabha meetings where works are approved. Much has been made about the problem of bogus job cards being issued under the programme. Unfortunately the panchayat secretaries and presidents

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have not been trained systematically on how the NREGP works. There are various forms used for the NREGP. For example when villagers submit applications for unemployment allowance they have to use Form 14. Even panchayat secretaries do not know the purpose of these forms. Additionally, BDOs confuse the panchayat and harass them. Training is very important and towards this, panchayat presidents can visit other panchayats that have implemented the programme well to understand the working of the NREGP. This can also serve as training for the panchayat presidents in addition to his/her involvement in the social audit. In Andhra the Mandal Panchayats make computerized payments to the wage earner within a week. This is a good feature that all panchayats can adopt. It is also a good option for village panchayats to be equipped with computer facilities to manage all programmes at the village level through a Gram Sabha Information System (GSIS). Much hype has been created on the social audit of the NREGP by NGOs particularly in Andhra, which has used information technology in the implementation of NREGP. One NGO leader claims that “The success of NREGA social audits in Andhra Pradesh covering 12 million people is a brilliant example of civil society action enriching mainstream politics”. In the social audit panchayat presidents could have been involved instead of making it purely NGO driven. The CAG Report has made a pointed reference to the lack of administrative and technical staff at the panchayat level. A programme officer at the block level is supposed to be a full time person of the rank of a BDO. This could become one at the higher level of SDM. Similarly instead of having a gram rozgar sevak at the panchayat level it would be better to have a BDO in charge of operations so that financial transactions are well managed at the panchayat level.

11. Answer any two of the following(in about 150 words each) a.. Decentralisation of socio-economic planning is the need of time. explain. Ans: Decentralisation of socio-economic planning process and plan implementation to the grass root levels has been a matter of continuing concern. Another facet of this endeavour is to involve the people in plan formulation and implementation, taking this to the lowest area levels. Empowerment of Panchayats, as effective local self-governing institutions is enshrined as a Directive Principle of the State Policy in the Constitution. Over years the different States have enacted legislations setting up Panchayats at the village, block or District level with varying modes of composition - directly elected peoples' representatives, nominated persons or a combination of the two, at different levels. Nevertheless, given the experience in efficacious achievements of objectives, a substantial degree of experimentation by different States from time to time, has been an important feature. The 73rd and 74th Amendments to the Constitution of India mark a watershed in these developments. The Amendment would form the basis of amended state legislations on Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI) to put the Panchayats on a strong foundation and virtually forming a third tier of governance, after the Union and State Govern-merits. The NDC Committee on Micro-level Planning and Involvement of People at Grass Root Level supplements this process by addressing itself to question of decentralisation of planning process. Several important issues arise in terms of institutional matters, allocation of sectoral and sub-sectoral functions to the Panchayats and methodological aspects of plan formulation and implementation.

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b.Write about poverty scenario of India. Ans: While total overall poverty in India has declined, the extent of poverty reduction is often debated. While there is a consensus that there has not been increase in poverty between 1993-94 and 2004-05, the picture is not so clear if one considers other non-pecuniary dimensions (such as health, education, crime and access to infrastructure). With the rapid economic growth that India is experiencing, it is likely that a significant fraction of the rural population will continue to migrate toward cities, making the issue of urban poverty more significant in the long run . World bank has published defenses of the poverty reduction statistics. According to this, increasing globalization and investment opportunities have contributed significantly to the reduction of poverty in the country. India, together with China, have shown the clearest trends of globalization with the accelerated rise in per-capita income.A 2007 report by the state-run National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS) found that 77% of Indians, or 836 million people, lived on less than 20 rupees per day with most working in informal labour sector with no job or social security, living in abject poverty. A study by the McKinsey Global Institute found that in 1985, 93% of the Indian population lived on a household income of less than 90,000 rupees a year, or about a dollar per person per day; by 2005 that proportion had been cut nearly in half, to 54%. More than 103 million people have moved out of desperate poverty in the course of one generation in urban and rural areas as well. They project that if India can achieve 7.3% annual growth over the next 20 years, 465 million more people will be spared a life of extreme deprivation. Contrary to popular perceptions, rural India has benefited from this growth: extreme rural poverty has declined

from 94% in 1985 to 61% in 2005, and they project that it will drop to 26% by 2025. Report concludes that India's economic reforms and the increased growth that has resulted have been the most successful anti-poverty programmes in the country. b. Urban Sector Development in India is the need of time. Expain About Jawahar Lal Nehru national urban development programme in this context. Ans: According to the 2001 census, India has a population of 1027 million with approximately 28 per cent or 285 million people living in urban areas. As a result of the liberalization policies adopted by the Government of India is expected to increase the share of the urban population may increase to about 40 per cent of total population by the year 2021. It is estimated that by the year 2011, urban areas would contribute about 65 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). However, this higher productivity is contingent upon the availability and quality of infrastructure services. Urban economic activities are dependent on infrastructure, such as power, telecom, roads, water supply and mass transportation, coupled with civic infrastructure, such as sanitation and solid waste management. It is estimated that over a seven-year period, the Urban Local Bodies would require a total investments of Rs. 1,20,536 crores. This includes investment in basic infrastructure and services, that is, annual funding requirement of Rs. 17,219 crores. It is well recognised that in order to fructify these investments, a national level initiative is required that would bring together the State Governments linkages between asset-creation and asset-management through a slew of reforms for long-term project sustainability; Ensuring adequate funds to meet the deficiencies in urban infrastructural services; Planned development of

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identified cities including peri-urban areas, outgrowths and urban corridors leading to dispersed urbanisation; Scale-up delivery of civic amenities and provision of utilities with emphasis on universal access to the urban poor; Special focus on urban renewal programme for the old city areas to reduce congestion; and Provision of basic services to the urban poor including security of tenure at affordable prices, improved housing, water supply and sanitation, and ensuring delivery of other existing universal services of the government for education, health and social security. For this purpose Jawahar Lal Nehru national urban development programme is started: Scope of the Mission The Mission shall comprise two Sub- Missions, namely: Sub-Mission for Urban Infrastructure and Governance: This will be administered by the Ministry of Urban Development through the Sub- Mission Directorate for Urban Infrastructure and Governance. The main thrust of the Sub-Mission will be on infrastructure projects relating to water supply and sanitation, sewerage, solid waste management, road network, urban transport and redevelopment of old city areas with a view to upgrading infrastructure therein, shifting industrial and commercial establishments to conforming areas, etc. Sub-Mission for Basic Services to the Urban Poor: This will be administered by the Ministry of Urban Employment and Poverty Alleviation through the Sub-Mission Directorate for Basic Services to the Urban Poor. The main thrust of the Sub-Mission will be on integrated development of slums through projects for providing shelter, basic services and other related civic amenities with a view to providing utilities to the urban poor. 12. Write about the following(not exceeding 20 words each) a.Jacob Zuma: Leader of African National Congress (ANC), Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma took oath as

fourth President of South Africa since the end of apartheid. He was administered the oath on May 10,2009 in Pretoria. Jacob Zuma, a self-taught man who fought the apartheid regime from inside South Africa and spent 10 years in prison in Robben Island along with Mandela succeeded outgoing President Kgalema Motlanthe. Jacob Zuma was the head of the ANC’s internal security wing during the struggle against apartheid. The election held in April 2009, his party ANC polled 65.9 per cent of the votes and narrowly missed getting the two-thirds majority in parliament. b.Hardeep Singh Puri: The government of India appointed Hardeep Singh Puri as India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations. He succeed Nirupam Sen, whose term ended March 31,2009. A 1974 batch Indian Foreign Service officer, Hardeep Singh Puri served as India’s ambassador to Brazil and prior to his new appointment, he was as secretary (economic affairs) in the external affairs ministry. c. Mahatma Gandhi International Award for Peace and Justice 2009: Pro-democracy leader of Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi was chosen for Mahatma Gandhi International Award for Peace and Justice 2009. Leader of National League for Democracy (NLD) of Myanmar 63-year old Suu Kyi is a prisoner for the last two decades in her own country, Myanmar. Mahatma Gandhi International Award for Peace and Justice is awarded by the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation of South Africa. Ela Gandhi is the chairman of the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation. d. Agni-I, Agni-II, Agni-III, Agni-3SL: The AgniI is a short range ballistic missile (SRBM) with a single stage engine. While the Agni-II is an intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) with two solid fuel stages and a Post Boost Vehicle (PBV) integrated into the missile's Re-entry Vehicle (RV).

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The Agni's manoeuvring RV is made of a carboncarbon composite material that is light and able to sustain high thermal stresses of re-entry, in a variety of trajectories. Agni-III is a compact long range missile in test phase. Agni-3SL is a compact version of Agni-3 suitable for submarine launch. e. Surya-1 and Surya-2: The Surya-1 is an intercontinental-range, surface-based, solid and liquid propellant ballistic missile under development. It is based upon a space launch vehicle being developed by India’s space program to improve the nation’s aerospace industry. This project would result in India’s first intercontinental-range ballistic missile. The Surya-1 and -2 will be classified as a strategic weapon. It will likely be used to extend the Indian nuclear deterrent force to targets deeper within China. India can only hit a limited number of targets within China, even upon the completion of the Agni-3 missile. The development of a true ICBM would make almost any strategic target within China vulnerable and decrease India’s relative weakness. This would develop a credible deterrent for India against any Chinese aggression. The Surya-1 will have an expected range of some 8,000 km (4971 miles). It reportedly has a length of 40 m and a launch weight of 80,000 kg. As the missile has yet to be developed, the payload and warhead are as yet unknown. It is believed to be a threestage design, with the first two stages using solid propellant and the third-stage using liquid. The Surya-2 is a longer-ranged variant of the Surya-1. It has a reported range of 12,000 km (7456 miles). This is likely accomplished by decreasing the payload.

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