Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Index
Digital India
Page No.
4
Socio Economic Caste Census
SEPTEMBER, 2015
Page No.
Designed by:
Chandan Kumar Raja
Greece Crisis
Disclaimer:
Editor and Publisher are not responsible
for any view, data, figure etc. expressed
in the articles by the author(s). Maps are
notational .
All Disputes are subject to the exclusive
jurisdiction of competent courts and
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UFA 2015
Digital India
DIGITAL INDIA
India has seen good growth in
last two decades. This growth has
largely been good for the country but
it has also formed a digital divide in
the country. There are people who
connected with the digital world, this
group mostly covers urban India, and
thenthereisstillverylargepopulation
which is unconnected with the
digitalworld.IfIndiasgrowthoflast
few decades is to be sustained this
digital divide should be bridged
soon. The Global Information
Technology report for the World
Economic Forum places India 68th
in its networked readiness index that
ranks140countries.Digitalisationalso
has an important role in governance,
it helps in reducing the leakages,
involves citizen more in governance
process and it is also helpful in making
the government accountable.
In order to obtain all the
benefits given above Government of
India has started Digital India
programme. Digital India has been
envisioned as an ambitious umbrella
programme to transform India into a
digitally empowered society and
knowledge economy. This
2
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Digital India
eKranti - Electronic Delivery of
Services;
InformationforAll;
Electronics Manufacturing:
Target Net Zero Imports;
IT for Jobs and
Early Harvest Programmes.
Each pillar has individual
targets. In universal access to mobile
conectivity target is to cover 42,300
uncovered villages by 2018. Under
public internet access programme
post offices to be made multi-service
centreswithin2years.Similarlyunder
e-krantipillartargetistoprovidefree
wifi in all schools, provide mobile
banking, e-courts, e-jails and online
medical consultation etc. Under
Information for all citizens will have
open and easy access to information
as well as government will proactively engage through social media.
IT for jobs will target training 1 crore
students in smaller towns and villages
for IT sector jobs also telecom service
providers will try to train rural
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2. Home assignment: where Multiple Choice Questions of the learned chapters will be
given for selfevaluation.
3. Important current affairs materials for civil services preliminary examination will be
provided
4. Online Tests will be conducted after the end of each subject.
5. At the end of your course, five comprehensive test will be conducted to evaluate your
performance.
Greece Crisis
GREECE CRISIS
Greekcrisishasitsgenesisinthe
year 1999 when euro currency was
adopted. Adoption of Euro as
common currency reduced trade
costs among the Eurozone countries,
increasing overall trade volume. In
relative terms labour cost in countries
such as Germany remained lesser as
compared to Greece. This made
Greece as less favoured destination
for trade. This led to increse in Greece
trade deficit from the levels of
1999.Both the Greek trade deficit
and budget deficit rose from below
5% of GDP in 1999 to peak around
15% of GDP in the 20082009
periods.
Then after the global slowdown
of 2008 trade volume declined.
Greece cannot devalue its currency
to make its trade competitive as it was
controlled by the European central
bank. In the year 2009 Greece
announced that country has
understated its fiscal burden earlier.
After this announcements investors
and foreign countries became
skeptical about the prospects of
Greece economy. This increased
Greeces debt to GDP ratio from 109
6
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Greece Crisis
The troika demands complete
control of the way Greeces
budget balance is computed,
with a view to controlling fully
the magnitude of austerity it
imposes on the government.
adopt more ambitious product
market reforms with a clear
timetable for implementation
of all OECD toolkit I
recommendations, including
Sunday trade, sales periods,
pharmacy ownership, milk and
bakeries, except over-the-
counter pharmaceutical
products, which will be
implemented in a next step, as
well as for the opening of
macro-critical closed
professions;
labour market policies should
be aligned with international
and European best practices,
and should not involve a return
to past policy settings which
are not compatible with the
goals of promoting sustainable
and inclusive growth;
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National Issues
NATIONAL ISSUES
Modis Ambitious Skill India
Mission
.
The redirecting of Antrixs
homepage to jdcentwine.org or American Jewish Joint
Distribution Committee, a large
Jewish humanitarian aid body
went public on Sunday
afternoon.
According to a couple of
sources who spoke about the
incident, the Antrix site shows
the latest date as 13 July 2015.
Before that, it does not appear
to have been updated after
January 20, 2015 almost
seven months back. One source
said he had visited it over five
weeks back.
Although ISRO does not call it a
hacking act, any unauthorised
web entry and changing of its
content amounts to it said Mirza
Faizan, Co-Founder of the
Global Cyber Security Response
Team.
Sites related to sensitive
agencies of the Departments of
Space, Defence R&D and
Atomic Energy are obvious
targets.
The Antrix site was being
hosted by an external
contractor based in Bengaluru.
Interestingly,thishostssitealso
showed that it was under
construction, Mr. Faizan said.
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Did the compromise happen
there?
The obvious question is: Should
the hosting of the website of a
strategic agency be
outsourced?
India stands second on trust in
national government, says
survey
India has secured second
position amongst 40 countries
in a survey of trust in national
governments for 2014
conducted by the Organisation
for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD).
Switzerland has emerged at the
top with Norway coming in
third.
An impressive 73 per cent of
Indians polled in the survey
answered yes to the question
Do you have confidence in the
national government?
For the purpose of the survey,
trust represents the confidence
of citizens and businesses in
government to do what is right
and perceived as fair,
according to the OECD
Government at a Glance 2015
report.
However, the survey findings
could also be an indicator of the
popularity of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi as also
reflected in his decisive
electoral victory during 2014
relative to the leaders in other
countries as the report
mentions that there is
preliminary evidence to suggest
that citizens trust in
government reflects primarily
their approval of their countrys
leadership.
The report goes on to say that
evidence also shows that trust
in government is negatively
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Union Health Ministry which has
raised concerns about overpopulation related problems, if
theratepersists.
Noting that Indias population
was growing at a faster rate than
China, which is now the worlds
most populous country at
around 1.39 billion, an official
of the Fund said that the
country could become the most
populated one by 2050.
At a function on Saturday,
Health Minister J.P. Nadda
stressed on the involvement of
development partners and
NGOs in assisting government
to achieve population
stabilisationgoals.
Indian womens team for Volvo
International
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The PSLV-28 will be lifting five
satellites totally weighing 1,440
kg into orbit, making them its
heaviest commercial payloads
to date.
In its 29 flights since 1993, the
Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle
has had a lone partial failure.
The rocket launched the
Chandrayaan-1 lunar mission of
2008 and the Mars Orbiter
Mission of 2013 and has been
putting into orbit the regular
national remote sensing
satellites(IRS).
However, a consistently good
space ride and a price tag 30
per cent lower than
competition do not seem to
have fetched it matching
business, especially as a single
big spacecraft.
The PSLV made its last
commercial launch almost a year
ago with Frances SPOT-7 and
before that, in 2013. Going
commercial in its fifth flight in
1999, the rocket has so far
launched mostly small,
experimental university
spacecraft or Earth observation
spacecraft weighing from 1 kg
to 712 kg (SPOT 6 & 7). But it
has double that capacity, as it
showed by lifting the 1,400-kg
communication satellite GSAT12 in 2011.
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aspirations, may represent only
superficial progress. According
to the SECC data, only 17.34
million or 9.68 per cent of rural
households have members with
salaried jobs and mostly in
the government and public
sector undertakings (10.95
million).
Last but not the least is the fact
that deprivation levels in rural
India are still far too high. The
SECC data points to the main
earner in 74.49 per cent of all
rural households drawing a
monthly income below Rs
5,000. This ratio is even more for
the likes of West Bengal (82.47
per cent), Madhya Pradesh
(83.52 per cent), Odisha (87.88
per cent) and Chhattisgarh
(90.79 per cent), not to speak
of Dalits (83.56 per cent) and
Adivasis (86.57 per cent). True,
the numbers are for 2011.
Besides, there may be a
tendency for survey
respondents to under-report
incomes for fear of losing
entitlement benefits. But even
after adjusting for these, one can
safely assume that the earnings
ofthree-fourthsofruralIndiaare
nowhere close to what can
guarantee existence beyond
basicsurvival.
MNREGA,ranked worlds
largest public works
programme
guarantee programme
MNREGA has been ranked as
the worlds largest public works
programme, providing social
security net to almost 15
percent of the countrys
population, the World Bank has
said.
India is among the five middleincome countries running the
worlds largest social safety net
programmes, said a World Bank
Groups report The State of
Social Safety Nets 2015.
The worlds five largest social
safety net programmes are all in
middle-income countries
(China, India, South Africa and
Ethiopia) and reach over 526
million people, it added.
The combined spending on
social safety nets in 120
developing countries
amounted to about USD 329
billion between 2010 and 2014,
itsaid.
But, the report said, three
quarters of the poorest people
in low-and lower-middle
income countries, and more
than one-third of the poorest
people in middle-income
countries, lack safety net
coverage and remain at risk.
Indias Mid-day meal scheme
has been classified as biggest
school feeding programme
benefiting 105 million
beneficiaries.
The top honours for public
works programme went to
MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi
National Rural Employment
Gurantee Act) with 182 million
beneficiaries or 15 percent of
Indias population.
The World Bank ranked the
Janani Suraksha Yojna with 78
million beneficiaries as the topmost social security programme
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Several gram panchayats and
officers of the Rural
Development and Panchayat
Raj Department have pointed
out that the monthly charges
fixedforthefacilityaretoohigh
for gram panchayats to bear.
Under the Fibre to The Home
(FTTH) programme, gram
panchayats are provided high
speed (ranging from 10 Mbps
to 100 Mbps) internet facility.
The minimum cost under this
scheme is Rs. 3,999 per month
(10 Mbps with up to 50 GB
data).
BSNL has announced high-end
packages minimum with 10
mbps speed, and up to 50 GB
data. Our officers are working
out how much data we require.
Some GPs lack funds to meet
their expenses related to basic
amenities like water and
cleaning.
Indias positive approach on
poverty: MDG report
India has halved its incidence
of extreme poverty, from 49.4%
in 1994 to 24.7% in 2011 ahead
of the deadline of 2015 set by
the United Nations, shows the
Millennium Development Goals
(MDG) Report 2015 it released
on Tuesday.
The report set the limit for
extreme poverty as those living
on $1.25 or less a day.
However, this reduction in
poverty is still less than that
achieved by several of Indias
poorer neighbours.
Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh
have each outstripped India in
poverty reduction over
comparable time periods.
While the report says India is ontrack to achieving the hunger
targets, it still remains home to
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Intels blue print for Digital
India is based on the three
pillarsofdigitalinfrastructure,
which includes data centre and
InternetofThings(IoT),clients,
devices services and
importantly capacity building,
which will come out with digital
education. We will work with
large system integrators to
implement it.
The challenges for Digital India
were that all-India household
PC penetration was at 17 per
cent and Internet penetration
was at 15 per cent.
Further, smartphone
penetration was around 10 per
cent, tablet penetration at
around 1 per cent and
broadband penetration at
around 5 per cent, Mr.
Tadigadapa said.
Intel is targeting the creation of
5milliondigitallyliterateIndians
by December 2015. For that, it
has created activity charts to
make learning more relevant to
rural areas and to provide appbased learning.
seniorMinistersandofficialslast
Tuesday, which discussed if the
subsidy could be provided
directly to farmers through the
direct benefit transfer scheme
instead of the current policy of
giving it to the producers.
The de-canalisation or freeing
up of imports and other ways in
which urea prices could be decontrolled were also discussed
at the meeting.
However, the meeting ended
without a decision on the way
forward on urea reforms. Urea
istheonlyfertilizeryettobedecontrolled.
A decision on the option of
direct benefit transfer could
not be taken at the meeting as
there was no agreement on
what criteria ought to be used
for identifying the eligible
farmers.
At present, the subsidy is paid
to urea producers and
importers, not farmers.
14
Historical dicision of SC on
marital status
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The controversy dates back to
a Supreme Court order, passed
on the basis of Mr. Venugopals
note to the court against the
repatriation of Rajeshwar Singh,
who was on the team probing
money laundering offences
related to the scam, to his parent
cadre.
PM Modis new initiative
Digital India With Laado
campaign
After its Beti Bachao-Selfie
Banao initiative caught Prime
Minister Narendra Modis
attention prompting him to
announce Selfie with
Daughter, the Bibipur
Panchayat on Sunday launched
Digital India with Laado, a
campaign to replace names of
family-heads in the nameplates
with their daughters moniker.
Under the new campaign,
representatives of village
panchayat are visiting every
household and putting up
nameplates bearing the name
and email id of the daughter of
the house along with the tagline
Digital India With Laado.
The representatives would visit
every home in Jind and
convince people to replace
names of the head of the house
withthatoftheirdaughters,said
panchayat sarpanch Sunil
Jaglan, who started the
campaign by replacing his name
with his daughters.
Pong Dam home to 12,314 bird
species, reveals summer survey
Science
A new survey conducted at
Pong Dam has revealed that as
many as 12,314 different
species of bird find home within
the Pong Dam Lake Wildlife
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National Issues
of use in evidence-based
planning for rural development
and
poverty
eradication.presentational i
The survey done across 17.91
crore rural families has various
data sets on households
regarding various aspects of
their socio-economic status
housing, land-holding/
landlessness, educational
status, status of women, SC/ST
households, incomes, etc.
Here are 10 highlights from the
data:
1. Land is key: Of the 17.91
crore rural households
surveyed, 51.14 percent of
families have manual casual
labour as main source of
income. Agriculture is main
source of income for 30.10
percent. As much as 2.5
percent of families have parttime or full-time domestic
service, 0.23 percent have rag
picking, 1.61 percent nonagricultural own enterprise and
0.37 percent beg.
2. Too few salaried job: Only
9.68 percent have salaried job.
As many as 5.02 percent work
in government sector, 1.12 in
public sector and 3.58 percent
in private sector. Only 4.6
percent of the households
surveyed paid income tax or
professional tax.
3. Low income: A high 74.5
percent of the households said
the monthly income of their
highest earning member is less
than Rs 5,000. A total of 17.18
percent said their highest
earning member gets between
Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000. those
earning more than Rs 10,000 is
8.29 percent.
4. SCs worse off: Of the 3.31
crore SC households surveyed,
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5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
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National Issues
of gases released without the
project.
The Eastern DFC project is
expected to release 10.5 million
tonnes of greenhouse gas
emissions up to 2041-42,
compared to a whopping 23.3
million tonnes in the absence of
the freight corridor.
Amnesty report on AFSPA
Amnesty International released
a detailed report here on
Wednesday on the implications
of the Armed Forces (Special
Powers) Act (AFSPA) in Jammu
& Kashmir, asserting that the
Union government has often
refused to prosecute the Army
or paramilitary personal accused
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international arbitration legal
services to foreign law firms.
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National Issues
reopen them as farmers would
needfertilizers.
Emphasising the need for
scientific methods for farming
to increase productivity, Mr.
Modi said, Unless we prepare
a balanced and a
comprehensive integrated plan,
we will not be able to change
thelivesoffarmers.
New ITR forms notified
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Total suicides per year per State
were regressed singly on the
averages of proportion of area
seeded to rain-fed cotton,
average farm size, cottongrowing area, area under Bt
Cotton, proportion of area
under Bt Cotton, and simulated
average yield a hectare that
includes the effects of weather.
Excluding the proportion of
area seeded to rain-fed cotton,
linear multiple regression shows
suicides dec
The study is significant for two
reasons. First, most cotton
cultivationinIndiaisrain-fed.
Second, between 2002 and
2010, the adoption of Bt Cotton
hybrid went up significantly to
86 per cent of the total
cultivated area of cotton in
India, says the International
Service for the Acquisition of
Agri-biotech Applications.
Though cultivating the Bt
Cotton variety may be economic
in irrigated areas, the costs of
the seed and insecticide
increase the risk of farmer
bankruptcy in low-yield rain-fed
settings.
Modi leads Indias effort at
setting Guinness record in Yoga
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22
preliminary examination,
separate lists will be prepared
for the candidates eligible to
appear in the civil service
(Main) examination and Indian
Forest Service (Main)
examination, it said.
World gears up for Yoga Day
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dependent on inputs from
government departments.
Mr. Divan argued that for an
agency to be independent, it
should have an independent
secretariat.
Mr. Divan went on to point out
that the NJAC Act did not spell
out the criteria to select
eminent persons. He
wondered if eminence in the
NJAC Act was the same quality
the government had found in a
person chosen to head the Film
andTelevisionInstituteofIndia.
Meanwhile, the track record of
a former Supreme Court judge
came up during the hearing for
the second consecutive day.
This time, Attorney-General
Mukul Rohatgi produced
copies of judgments passed by
the former judge to prove his
point that the latter had a dismal
record.
The Bench had confronted Mr.
Rohatgis claims about the
judge. It had even produced a
file to prove that the judge did
not have a poor performance
graph. Confronted by this, Mr.
Rohatgi said he would again
verify and return to the court.
My information is correct, Mr.
Rohatgi said.
V.K. Singh for Kanishka blast
memorial
Every year on June 23, at 8 a.m.
sharp, a village in Ireland pays
homage to those who died in a
blast on board Air Indias
Boeing 747 Kanishka in 1985.
This year too, a solemn
ceremony is being organised at
a memorial in Ahakista to mark
the 30th year of the tragedy in
which 329 people were killed.
Among those who lost their lives
were 268 Canadians, 27 British
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National Issues
Mr. Modi was issued a fresh
passport from the Indian High
Commission in London in
September last year following
the court order. Opposition
parties have criticised the
government for its failure to file
an appeal in the case.
Draft HRD Bill tests IIMs
autonomy
For one of Indias best known
global brands, the Indian
Institutes of Management, a Bill
framed by the Union Human
Resource Development Ministry
has brought in worries over
autonomy.
The oldest of these 13 institutes,
the IIM-Ahmedabad, has
expressed concern over some
of the provisions of the Indian
Institutes of Management Bill,
2015, which, it feels, will spell
the end of autonomy.
After the treatment meted out
to the directors and chairmen
of the Indian Institutes of
Technology, it appears that the
IIMs are next on the block.
The recommendations in the
Bill, drafted by the Ministry
headed by Smriti Irani, on
display on mygov.in, are at
variance with the
recommendations submitted
by them last year.
The Bill, they fear, carries the
trademark signature of
overreach as is evident in some
of the clauses. For one, they say
the government seeks to
appropriate for itself the power
to decide on academic posts
other than the one of director,
whereas the draft submitted by
the IIM-Ahmedabad wants the
institutes to take the decision.
Pankaj Chandra, former IIMBangalore Director, who was
24
involved in recommending
changes to the structure of the
IIMs earlier, says the Bill should
grant more autonomy to the
institutes in deciding how they
wish to structure themselves, as
they are governed by societies.
MEA to recruit experts from
private sector
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came in for sharp criticism from
Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader
Praveen Togadia, who said this
would not be acceptable to
Hindus.
Published by the Muslim
Rashtriya Manch, an RSS
initiative, Yoga and Islam has as
its main thrust the idea that yoga
does not have anything to do
with religion. The book seeks to
address apprehensions that
minority communities have
expressed over participating in
the programmes.
It draws parallels between some
yoga exercises and namaaz,
stating that namaaz is one sort
of yoga asana.
Earlier, the RSS weekly
Organisersaidinaneditorialthat
yoga had nothing to do with
religion
Govt. says transgender category
in UPSC exam after SC order
Archana Ramasundaram, a
1980-batch IPS officer of Tamil
Nadu cadre, has been posted
as Director, National Crime
Records Bureau (NCRB), New
Delhi. The Appointments
Committee of the Union
Cabinet approved her posting
to the NCRB by curtailing her
tenure as Additional Director of
the Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI), New Delhi.
In its order, the Department of
Personnel and Training said the
post of Director, NCRB, was
being temporarily upgraded to
that of Director-General of
Police for a period of two years.
However, the appointment
would be subject to the
outcome of the writ petition
pending in the Supreme Court.
Acting on instructions from the
Centre, Ms. Ramasundaram
joined the CBI as its Additional
Director in May 2014. However,
contending that she was not
formally relieved from her
duties, the Government of Tamil
Nadu placed the officer under
suspension on charges that she
deserted office.
While Ms. Ramasundaram, in her
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National Issues
capacity as the DGP and
Chairperson of Tamil Nadu
Uniformed Services
Recruitment Board, had sent a
letter to the Chief Secretary
saying that she was proceeding
to New Delhi to take charge of
her new post, the State
government maintained that her
action lacked legal or
procedural propriety.
Acting on a writ petition filed
by a journalist who submitted
that the appointment of Ms.
Ramasundaram was not in
accordance with the procedure
contemplated under the Delhi
Special Police Establishment
Act, the Supreme Court had
restrained her from discharging
her functions.
Even as the Centre defended
the appointment of the IPS
officer as the Additional
Director of the CBI in the
Supreme Court and pleaded for
allowing her to discharge
duties, the Tamil Nadu
government opposed the plea
saying that she continued to be
an officer in the State.
Govt. plans 20 million houses
for urban poor
The Union Cabinet approved
the launch of the Housing for
All by 2022 programme for the
rehabilitation of slum-dwellers
and promotion of affordable
housing for the urban poor. The
target is to provide nearly 20
million houses over seven years.
The programme is a key promise
in the Bharatiya Janata Partys
manifesto for the Lok Sabha
election in 2014 a pucca
house for every family by the
75th year of Independence.
An official statement said a
Central grant of an average Rs. 1
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campaign seeking her
resignation.
Ms. Swaraj spoke with
satisfactionathavingfulfilleda
promise made a year ago to find
a way for the aged and the
infirm to undertake the
pilgrimage.
Only photographers were
allowed to capture the Minister
speak as there were clear
instructions not to let reporters
intotheMinistry.
The opening of the new,
motorable route through Nathu
La in the Himalayas will enable
those who cannot go on foot to
Kailash was confirmed during
Prime Minister Narendra Modis
visittoChina.
The new route, she stressed is
an important milestone in IndiaChina relations as it builds on an
important aspect of diplomacy,
people-to-people contact.
Ms. Swaraj also assured the
pilgrims that the government
would monitor their safe
passage to Kailash.
While two officials will
accompany
them,
arrangements have also been
made to ensure they face no
difficultiesenroute.
A total of 18 batches, each
comprising60pilgrims,willvisit
Kailash Mansoravar through the
existing route of Lupulekh Pass
and five batches of 50 members
each will travel through the
Nathu La route, beginning
Wednesday, she said.
Scribe murder: HC seeks status
report from U.P.
The Allahabad High Court
directed the Uttar Pradesh
government to file a status
report within one week in the
murder of journalist Jagendra
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National Issues
28
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General Studies (Paper I, II, III & IV) Online 100 % Reading Material of the
Syllabus (Which can be saved easily)
It is full of tips on areas of emphasis, caution while reading and writing , how to
write the answer (?) .
Model Test Question Paper for General Studies - I, II, III and IV for Mains Exam
2015
Online and Telephonic interaction with the course director, and continuous
evaluation through a regular online writing session in every chapter and topic.
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International Issues
INTERNATIONAL ISSUES
European stocks pause before
Greek vote on bailout terms
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International Issues
artificial islands in the Spratly
Islands something of a
misnomer since the archipelago
covers an area the size of
Tunisia, only 4 sq km of which is
above sea level. Or was.
According to McManus, as of
June, satellite images appeared
to indicate China had reclaimed
a total of 12.82 sq km of land. In
2013, The Philippines filed an
ongoing lawsuit at the UN
International Court of
Arbitration, questioning the
legality of Chinas territorial
claims and its development of
tidal reefs that are only
periodically above water, which
it alleges violates the United
Nations Convention on the Law
of the Sea (Unclos). China has
refused to participate in the
arbitration, questioning its
validity.
China also claims its island
building activities have caused
only minimal, recoverable
damage, but McManus, an
expert in reef ecology, doubts
this is the case. The reef crest
is a tiny thing about the same
height as the tide range, he
explains. Thats what is
protecting everything waves
lose more than 90% of their
energy when they hit the reef
crest, reef flat and reef slope.
Whats more, this is an area that
is prone to typhoons. And you
cant build anything on an atoll
without a wave-breaking crest
in a big storm region.
Nuclear deal between Iran and
six world powers
A landmark Iran nuclear
agreement was reached on
Tuesday after clearing final
obstacles, and a senior diplomat
said it included a compromise
30
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president Jean-Claude Juncker
told AFP.
Europes first step will be to
push the deal through several
national parliaments, many in
countries that are loath to afford
Greece more help.
Athens will now have to rush
through tough reform laws by
Wednesday, according to the
document agreed on by Mr.
Tsipras and his Eurozone
counterparts. Greece has to
introduce harsh conditions on
labour reform and pensions,
VAT and taxes, and measures
onprivatisation.
Under the agreement, it will
park assets for privatisation
worth up to 50 billion in a
special fund. The money will
then be used to recapitalise
Greeces cash-starved banks.
Warming worst case must be
considered say experts
Campaigners
and
environmentalists welcomed
the report as a useful
contribution, saying they
believed it would help put
pressure on politicians to
deliver a new global deal by the
end of this year, that would limit
warming to 2 degrees C above
pre-industriallevels.
Greece exit will be
extremely costly
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International Issues
Refuting the claim that the 2010
programme only raised debt
levels and demanded excessive
fiscal adjustment, Mr. Blanchard
argued that without assistance,
Greece would have had to make
fiscal cuts of between 20-25 per
cent of GDP, leading to more
severe adjustments and higher
social costs than under the fiveyear bail-out programme.
Mr. Blanchard also countered
the criticism that finance
provided to Greece was simply
used to pay back foreign banks,
saying that while it was correct
to say that Greeces debt was
not restructured for two years,
it was due to fears of contagion
risk the risk that macroeconomic shocks in once
country are transmitted through
price-level changes, for
example, to other countries.
Mr. Blanchard ruled out further
IMF funding for Greece until old
arrears are cleared. Greece
defaulted on a loan repayment
of 1.55 billion due to the IMF
on June 30. Greece owes a total
of 6.95 billion to its creditors
in July alone, of which 452
million is owed to the IMF.
Airbus flew its electric plane
Airbus flew its electric plane
across the English Channel for
the first time on Friday, hours
after an independent French
pilot made a similar voyage,
beating the aeronautics giant in
this symbolically important step
toward making electronic flight
viable in the long term.
European planemaker Airbus
flew its E-fan plane from Lydd,
England, to the French port of
Calais on Friday morning. The
plane operates on batteries. The
20-foot long, 1300-pound jet
releases zero emissions.
32
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International Issues
negotiating twists, European
Commission President JeanClaude Juncker had a stark
warning for Greece.
With Greeces banks just days
away from a potential collapse
that could drag the country out
of the euro, Tsipras arrived with
only vague proposals and a
commitment to back it up with
real figures and a more detailed
plan by Thursday.
According to a joint statement
of the leaders, Tsipras must set
out Greeces proposals in detail
for a reform agenda. The
countrys international creditors
will then assess the plan to
prepare for another meeting of
eurogroup finance ministers
and ultimately Sundays summit
of the full EU.
Tibet wants to become part of
Belt and Road initiative
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International Issues
Mr. Tsipras said on Sunday that
the No victory in the countrys
bailout referendum did not
mean Athens was headed for a
so-called Grexit.
This is not a mandate of rupture
with Europe, but a mandate that
bolsters our negotiating strength
to achieve a viable deal, he said
in a televised address.
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the resounding election results,
which also sent the battered
single currency plummeting.
In Asian trade, the euro help up
against the dollar after dropping
in the immediate wake of the
vote, changing hands at
$1.1024 to claw back some of
the losses it suffered in New
York electronic trade where it
fell at one point to $1.0987.
Tsipras said the creditors the
ECB, the European Commission
and the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) would now finally
have to talk about restructuring
the massive, 240-billion-euro
($267 billion) debt Greece
owes them.
Japan joins US-Australia war
games amid China tensions
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35
International Issues
Ending the U.S. freeze with
Cuba is central to Mr. Obamas
foreign policy legacy as he nears
the end of his presidency. He
has long promoted the value of
direct engagement with global
foes and has argued that the U.S.
embargo on the communist
island just 145 km south of
Florida was ineffective.
The U.S. cut off diplomatic
relations with Cuba in 1961 after
Fidel Castros revolution.
It spent decades trying to
overthrow Cubas communist
government or isolate the island,
including toughening the
economic embargo first
imposed by President Dwight
D. Eisenhower.
Since the late 1970s, the
countries have operated
diplomatic missions, called
interests sections, in each
otherscapitals.Themissionsare
technically under the
protection of Switzerland and
do not enjoy the same status as
embassies.
U.N,s allegations on South
Sudan
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other obligations in coming
weeks to its bond holders and
to the European Central Bank.
That might make the central
bank less willing to continue
emergency loans that have
been propping up the Greek
banking system for the past
several weeks.
What happens next?
Sundays referendum will test
whether Greek citizens want to
stay in the eurozone.
New elections could also be
held if Greeces financial
situation worsens.
Or Greece could test the
willingness of Russia or China to
help should talks with Europe
falter.
Some people are now saying
thattherealdeadlineislateJuly,
after all the warnings that
Tuesday was the make-or-break
day.
July is when Greece owes the
European Central Bank a 3.5
billion euro payment. If there is
no international bailout program
in place by that time, and little
chance of such a program being
in the works, the central bank at
that point would probably have
to finally take Greek banks off
lifesupport.
Euro is
Nothing but a shaky idea
The world is going bonkers over
whether Greece will default on
the 1.6 billion euros that it
needs to pay the International
Monetary Fund(IMF) today. All
together the country owes 240
billion euros to the troika of
European Commission,
European Central Bank(ECB)
and IMF.With the default,
chances are Greece will have
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37
International Issues
restrict lending on political
considerations.
Following the ceremony,
Chinas President Xi Jinping
welcomed the heads of
delegations from the Banks 57
prospective founding
members. A special ministerial
meeting was also held in the
afternoon chaired by Chinese
Finance Minister Lou Jiwei.
According to an AIIB press
statement, the Bank will be
headquartered in Beijing, and
will have an initial authorised
capital stock of $100 billion.
Reflecting regional character of
the Bank, its regional members
will be the majority
shareholders, holding around
75 percent of shares.
The AIIB is expected to
become operational by the end
of the year.
India had signed the
Memorandum of Understanding
for Establishment of AIIB in
October 2014 along with 21
regional founding members.
Some new outcomes about
leap second 2015
Awful people, scientists. If only
they had a little more history.
Perhaps then theyd know
better than to try to fix things
that arent broken. Things like
time.
2015 will be longer than you
think, and not just because of a
general election campaign that
willfeellikeitslastingforever.
Thanks to the International
Earth Rotation Service in Paris,
this year and June 30
specifically will be a second
longer than the last.
In 1750, Parliament adopted the
Calendar (New Style Act),
shiftingthestartofthelegalyear
from March to January (but not
38
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sparking fears Greece could
default on a key debt payment
to the IMF due the same day and
possibly crash out of the
eurozone.
Uncertainty over how events
will unfold in coming days
prompted crowds to form long
queues outside some ATMs in
Greece, leaving many cash
machines dry.
BRICS bank,wait till next year
attractiveness to foreign
investors has placed India at the
top among 110 countries. China
has secured the 65th position
and the U.S. is at the 50th. In
the 2014 index, India was at the
sixth position and Hong Kong
was number one.
The ranking is based on an
index for baseline profitability
that assumes that three factors
affect the ultimate success of a
foreign investment: how much
the value of an asset grows; the
preservation of that value while
the asset is owned; and the
ease of repatriation of proceeds
from selling the asset.
A high ranking indicates high
returns and improving
economic institutions. The
index, thus, compares how local
policies and conditions affect
the same investment in different
countries. Or how the value of
the principal and the return will
change depending only on
where the investment is made.
Local factors can erode profits.
These include payment of
bribes and kickbacks, the risk
of which is compared across
countries using the
Transparency Internationals
Corruption Perceptions Index,
a measure for the perceived
levels of public-sector
corruption worldwide. In 2014,
the country was at the 85th
position out of 175 countries as
compared to its ranking of 94
out of 177 in 2013.
World Bank index
BPI calculation also uses an
index of investor protection
compiled by the World Bank. In
2014, the average BPI score
acrossallcountrieswas0.99;this
year it is 1.03 meaning the
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39
International Issues
expected returns over the next
five years are about threequarters of a per cent higher a
year.
Britishers dream of making a
open-air pool on River Thames
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41
International Issues
Tower and practiced yoga.
Other ASEAN nations such as
Malaysia, Vietnam, and the
Philippines, also joined the
world in celebrating the ancient
Indian spiritual practice.
June 21 was declared as the
International Day of Yoga by the
UN General Assembly in
December, 2014.
177 nations, out of 193 member
states of the UN joined as cosponsors, creating a new record
for the highest number of cosponsoring countries ever for an
UNGA Resolution of such
nature.
Worlds largest book on display
in Australian library
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Colombo notifies 20th
Amendment
Even as certain sections of
political parties in Sri Lanka
continue to have reservations
over the latest version of the
proposed 20th Amendment,
the government has gone
ahead with the notification of
the draft legislation in the
gazette.
As per the decision taken by the
Cabinet last week, the overall
size of Parliament will be 237, a
rise of 12 compared to the
existinglegislature.Ofthis,145
members will be elected
directly, through the system of
first past the post (FPTP).
Though the notification does
not talk of proportional
representation (PR) numbers,
this can be taken as 55, after
taking into account the number
of directly-elected members
(145) and the nomination of 37
persons to the national list,
which has also been mentioned
inthenotification.
The notification provides the
scope for the Delimitation
Commission for creating multimember polling divisions and,
in any event, the number of
members to be elected through
such a division should not
exceed three.
The Tamil Progressive Alliance
(TPA), Tamil National Alliance
(TNA), Sri Lanka Muslim
Congress and the All Ceylon
Makkal Congress are among
those which have expressed
objections to the proposed
Amendment in the present
form. Even the ruling United
National Party is not happy with
the move to increase the size of
Parliament.
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43
International Issues
by the Presidential Secretariat,
Jayantha Dhanapala, former
U.N. Under Secretary-General,
said the passage of the
amendment was a milestone
towards the process of
establishing a new atmosphere
of candour and confidence.
Sirisena appoints
Defence chief
Two senior slots in the armed
forces of Sri Lanka were filled
with President Maithripala
Sirisena appointing Air Chief
Marshal Kolitha Gunathilaka as
the new Chief of Defence Staff
and Air Marshal Gagan
Bulathsinhala as the new Air
Force Commander.
Mr. Sirisena, who also holds the
portfolio of Defence, handed
over the letters of appointment
to the two officers at his office.
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in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire,
this April, with his friend Hassan
Munshi, after telling the family
that he was going on a school
trip. Hassan Munshi is the
brother of Britains youngest
convicted terrorist, Hammaad
Munshi.
The executive principal of
Asmals sixth form educational
institution, Lorraine Barker,
described him to The Times as
quiet and conscientious, and
said his case was yet another
warning to parents and teachers
who, she urged, must increase
theirvigilanceovertheinsidious
role of online indoctrination.
Reports of his death have been
carriedonjihadi-linkedinternet
sites but have not yet been
corroborated by the Foreign
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8+ Booklets
Our Objectives:
Secondly to compile all the required study materials in a single place, So to save the precious time of
the aspirants.
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Secularism lauded
It said the Indian side highly
appreciated the steps taken by
the Kyrgyz government in
combating terrorism and in
retaining the secular character
of Kyrgyz society.
The Prime Minister underlined
thathisvisittoallfivecountries
in the region demonstrates the
importance that we attach to a
new level of relationship with
Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is a key
partofthatvision.
Noting that the bilateral
defence ties are strong, he said
a joint exercise Khanjar 2015
has just been completed.
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49
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requirements.
Oil Minister Dharmendra
Pradhan met Canadian Minister
for Natural Resources Greg
Rickford at the second IndiaCanada Ministerial Energy
Dialogue in Calgary to discuss
enhancing energy cooperation
between the two countries.
The areas of cooperation
discussed at the meeting
included oil, natural gas, clean
energy, power transmission and
skill development, an official
statement said here today.
Canada could potentially
supply a significant amount of
the 44 billion cubic metres of
natural gas that India is forecast
to import annually by 2025, the
statement said.
State-owned Indian Oil Corp
(IOC) has already taken a 10 per
cent stake in the Pacific
NorthWest LNG, while real
estate firm Hiranandani Group
has announced plans to
develop a 4.5 million tonnes per
annum LNG export terminal in
Melford, Nova Scotia at an
estimated cost of $3.3 billion by
2020.
While India is fourth-largest
energy consumer, Canada is a
secure, reliable and responsible
producer and supplier of
energy to the world and has the
resources and expertise
needed to support Indias
growing energy needs, the
statement said.
India, in 2009, had for the first
time imported Canadian oil. In
2014, India imported 1,500
barrels of Canadian oil per day.
In March 2014, IOC acquired 10
per cent stake in an integrated
LNG project Pacific
Northwest LNG proposed at
Lelu Island, British Columbia.
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54
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Evaluated Answer Booklet by experts with proper feedback, comments & guidance.
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Economy
ECONOMY
Indias big Defence Deals Worth
$4.7 Billion, Boeing Spy Planes
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55
Economy
government data showed on
Tuesday.
Union Government on
Wednesday allowed seven
state-owned entities, including
NHAI, IRFC and NTPC, to raise
Rs.40,000 crore in the current
fiscal through tax-free bonds.
The National Highways
Authority of India has been
permitted to raise Rs.24,000
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Economy
route. Interest earned through
tax-free bonds, which are
usually issued by PSUs to raise
long-term funds, do not attract
tax.
Centre is looking at raising
15,000 crore via gold bond
scheme
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57
Economy
The refinance scheme will be
implemented through all the
branches of the lender.
The agreement was signed on
July 1 by IDBI Bank Executive
Director S K V Srinivasan and
Mudra Bank CEO Jiji Mammen.
Last week, Bank of Maharashtra
had also signed an agreement
with Mudra Bank for refinancing
of loans given to new
entrepreneurs and small
businesses.
Norms evolved for coal linkage
to power companies without
PPAs
58
an around-the-world voyage
since taking off from Abu Dhabi
in March. After Hawaii, it will
head to Phoenix.
Yes Bank decided to infuse USD
1-bn capital through ADR
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Economy
International Co. Ltd, a
subsidiary of Japans JCB Co.
Ltd., are entering into a
partnership for payment cards
issuance and acceptance.
Under the pact, JCB cards will
be accepted at all NPCI
locations in the country. The
partnership will also include the
issuance of RuPay/JCB
international cards by NPCI
member banks that will be
globally accepted through the
JCB network, the two
companies said in a joint
statement on Monday.
The two sides target to launch
JCB acceptance business
around the middle of next year
and RuPay/JCB International
card issuing business later in
2016.
NPCI also has another
partnership with US-based
Discover Financial Services
card network for international
acceptance of RuPay cards.
Think tank report hints at
diversion of cheap farm loans
Pointing to a possible diversion
of subsidised funds meant for
farmers to non-agricultural uses,
a research paper by the Indian
Council for Research on
International Economic
Relations (ICRIER) has found
that the crop loans extended in
India are in fact close to
exceeding the total
expenditure on farm sector
inputs.
In 2012-13, the aggregate shortterm credit provided
primarily to finance the
purchase of inputs was as
much as 99.97 per cent of the
input cost, including
compensation for hired labour.
During the 1970s, 1980s and
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59
Economy
U.K. Unions decision
recognises shortfall in pension
fund: Tata
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Economy
bail until he pays the remaining
Rs.5,000 crore in bank
guarantee.
The group has to pay a total
Rs.10,000crore,halfofitincash
and half in bank guarantees, for
the release of Mr. Roy on bail
from the confines of Tihar jail,
where he has been lodged for
over a year.
However, things touched
ground zero for Mr. Roy when
his counsel and senior
advocate Kapil Sibal informed
the court that the bank had
backed out from giving the
guarantee and that there was
no money currently for his
release.
The three-judge bench, led by
Justice T.S. Thakur, said this
judgment making his release
conditional on payment of
guarantee was drafted on the
assurance given by Sahara that
they had the bank guarantees
ready.
Yes, but the bank backed out
after media reports came out
on the proceedings, Mr. Sibal
replied. The lawyer added that
it would be difficult for Mr. Roy
to pay up without first getting
releasedfromjail.
Justice A.K. Sikri, who authored
the verdict, said the judgment
had already been passed,
indicating to Mr. Sibal that
nothing could be done now
until Sahara paid up the money.
The judgment said once Mr. Roy
is released on bail, whenever
that is, he has 18 months to
repay his depositors his total
liabilityofRs.36,000crore.
The court said this payment
should be made in instalments
of Rs.3,000 crore every two
months. Default of two months
will land Mr. Roy back in jail.
The court further refused Mr.
Parliamentary Standing
Committee on public
grievances, law and justice, has
put forward the need for the
setting up of commercial courts
in the country as soon as
possible.
Tough there were
disagreement among the
committee members, Mr.
Natchiappan said constitution
of commercial courts was being
considered by the Committee
for the quick redressal of
commercial disputes.
About 22 categories of
commercial disputes have been
identified. Public and private
sector enterprises have
welcomed the initiative, he
added.
However, Commercial Courts
Bill 2015 states that:
notwithstanding anything
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61
Economy
contained in this Act, a
Commercial Court or a
Commercial Division shall not
entertain or decide any suit,
application or proceedings
relating to any commercial
dispute in respect of which the
jurisdiction of the civil court is
either expressly or impliedly
barred under any other law for
the time being in force.
Currently, Negotiable
Instruments Act disputes are
dragged for years together for
one reason or other, the
defaulters are the ultimate
gainers.
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Economy
addressing a gathering at the
Silver Jubilee Celebrations of
National Institute for Rural
Banking, said lack of corporate
governance
and
professionalism, reluctance to
adapt to technology, decline in
co-operative character were
the major issues faced by the
co-operative institutions in the
country.
Even with a large number of
co-operative banks in the
country, the total asset size and
their share in the Indian banking
sector is not more than 5 per
cent. This means the true
potential of these co-operative
institutions has not been fully
achieved, added Mr. Gandhi.
He also said to improve
professionalism in urban cooperative banks, Y.H. Malegam
committee had given certain
recommendations including
establishing a Board of
Management, consisting of
persons with professional skills.
The RBI has started insisting it
and now Urban Co-Operative
Banks have started appointing
them. However, there are more
than 100 banks which have not
appointed any professionals.
When asked whether the RBI
was looking into the Yes Bank
boardroom tussle, the RBI
Deputy Governor said, The
matter is in the court and the
bank will have to follow courts
decision.
Eicher Polaris JV launches
personal utility vehicle
Three years after it was formed,
Eicher Polaris, the equal joint
venture (JV) between
commercial vehicle maker
Eicher Motors and the U.S.based Polaris Industries,
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63
Economy
of India (ASCI), the self
regulatory body for content in
Indian advertising, has
launched the countrys first
consumer complaint mobile
app ASCIonline. The app is
part of ASCIs effort to address
the issue of misleading
advertisements.
The mobile app is currently
available on android and iOS
and is free. The app is easy to
use and a consumer can lodge
a complaint by providing
advertisement details and the
objection. Users can also attach
files like image or video or
YouTube link of the
advertisement. In the case of
multiple complaints, the user
can check the history of all
previously registered
complaints with the latest status
andallotherdetails.
The role of ASCI and its
Consumer Complaints Council
(CCC) was to deal with
complaints received from
consumers and industry against
advertisements which are
reported to be false, misleading,
indecent and illegal, leading to
unfair practices.
Government clears 16 FDI
proposals worth Rs.6,751 cr.
Microfinance company,
Bandhan Financial Services Ltd,
saidthatitgotthefinalnodfrom
the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
to set up a universal bank.
The bank is planned for launch
in Kolkata the city where
Bandhan is headquartered on
August 23. Bandhan had
received the RBIs in- principle
licence in April 2014.
Bandhan recently completed
raising Rs.1,020 crore equity
from International Finance
Corporation, Singapores
sovereign wealth fund GIC, and
the state-run Small Industries
Development Bank of India
(SIDBI).
Followingtheequityinfusion,its
net worth has gone up to
Rs.2,700 crore, well above the
RBIs stipulation of a minimum
capital base of Rs.500 crore for
new banks.
TBandhan has appointed 850
experienced banking
professionals at senior and
middle-level positions to run its
operations, in addition to the
17,000 employees that the
microfinance entity already has
onitspayroll.
The new Bank would start
operations in 27 States with
around 500 to 600 bank
branches and 10 million
customers at its launch. Further
all the existing microfinance
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Economy
businesses of the NBFC and the
clients would be transferred to
the new bank.
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65
Economy
Chennai, Indian Oil Corp (IOC)
said.
On May 16, petrol price was
hiked by Rs 3.13 a litre and
diesel by Rs 2.71 per litre.
However, on June 1, companies
skipped raising rates by 30-40
paise that had become
necessary due to rise in
internationalrates.
66
Community, Union of
Construction, Allied Trades &
Technicians and GMB had
announced industrial action
from June 16. The company has
been talking to the trade unions
since November 2014 to
develop a fair and sustainable
pension scheme for its U.K.
employees.
The company and unions
agree that changes need to be
made to tackle the schemes
projected shortfall of 2 billion
pounds, Mr. Farquhar said
adding, it remains the
companys intention to provide
a high quality and competitive
pension scheme for our
employees while continuing
TataSteelssignificantrecordof
investinginitsU.K.assets.
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Quick result
According to a Yale School of
Medicine press release, within
two months of treatment, the
patient experienced partial
repigmentation on her face,
arms, and hands. And after five
months of treatment, the white
spots on her face and hands had
completely disappeared. The
drug caused no adverse side
effects in the patient.
Robot controlled by thoughts
and brain signals developed
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SPORTS
IPL verdict effect, Champions League T20 discontinued
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Sports
A Supreme Court-appointed
committee suspended former
champions Chennai Super
76
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Sports
our favour. It is moments like
these that make all the pain and
hard work seem worthwhile.
Sanias Slams Year Event
Championship Partner
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Sports
In an e-mail communication sent
by Gopal Sankaranarayanan,
Supreme Court advocate and
secretary, Justice Lodha
Committee, on Saturday,
informed that the verdict of the
Justice Lodha Committee is to
be rendered on July 14 at Silver
Oak-II in the India Habitat
Centre, Lodhi Road, here at 1
p.m.
The panel set up by the
Supreme Court on January 22,
Twenty-eight-year-old Sania
Mirza scripted another piece of
glory when she and her partner
Martina Hingis reached the
womens doubles final of the
prestigious Wimbledon in
London on Friday.
In the process, she achieved
another incredible first the
only Indian woman tennis player
ever to reach a Wimbledon final
in any event. Sania and her
partner defeated R. Kops-Jones
and A. Spears 6-1, 6-2 in the
semis, keeping aside the
disappointment of losing in the
mixed doubles.
78
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Sports
bronze to take Indias medal
count to four (one gold, one
silver, two bronze) on the fifth
day of competition. ph
It was not an easy outing for the
Asian champion Inderjeet as he
won the event with his final
throw of 20.27m at the Gwangju
Universiade Main Stadium to
open Indias gold medal
account in the Games.
The 27-year-old Inderjeet was
at second spot after the fifth and
penultimate throw as he had a
19.80m best throw till then
before he came up with 20.27m
in his final attempt to run away
with the gold and better the
colour of the medal from silver
he won in the last edition in
2013 in Russia to yellow this
time.
He had won Asian
Championships in China with
20.41m before bagging a gold
in each of the three legs of the
Asian Grand Prix in Thailand last
month. He won a bronze in the
Asian Games last year with
19.63m.
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Sports
Wednesday. The new
professional body is a brainchild
of former Indian Amateur
Boxing Federation (IABF)
secretary general P.K.
Muralidharan Raja, and is said to
have the backing of promoters
from around the world. The pro
body will work as a bridge
between its affiliated boxers
and promoters to strike deals.
The new body will also have on
its board Indian pro boxers Gurcharan Singh, US-based
who finished fourth at the 2000
Sydney Olympics, and Pradeep
Sihag, Australia-based World
Boxing Councils Asia
middleweight champion.
There are five major
International sanctioning
bodies of pro boxing, but there
isastrongpossibilitythatRajas
body will be affiliated to the
World Boxing Council as Sihag
and Nagra are associated with
it.
Indian skipper Mithali Raj
creates history
80
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Sports
Sania Mirza got Numero uno
ranking in a Grand Slam
openers complemented by
some fine batting from the
middle-order propelled
Bangladesh to its highest total
against India in the first match
of the ODI series at the Sher-eBangla National Cricket
Stadium.
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Sports
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Indian History
Indian Polity
Indian Economy
Geography
General Science
Environment
General Knowledge
MCQ For Practice
In The News
IN THE NEWS
BMW launches new X3 variant
R.K. Dutta
Rupak Kumar Dutta, an IPS
Officer of 1981 Batch
(Karnataka Cadre), took over as
Special Director in the CBI,
New Delhi.
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In the News
promoting him to the rank of air
chief marshal. Earlier, outgoing
Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief
Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt
called on PM Nawaz in
Islamabad. The premier lauded
the services of the outgoing
chief of air staff for national
defense and the role of PAF in
the ongoing war against
terrorism.
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In The News
Sir Terry Pratchett
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93
difficultforanyanti-Talibanstrategy
to gain immediate traction. If the past
14 years of war in Afghanistan offers
any definite lessons to the actors
involved, it is that insurgency cannot
be defeated only by military means.
One of the grave mistakes the
American-led troops committed was
their excessive emphasis on a military
solution, while reconstruction and
creation of infrastructure, and
building of institutions, were pushed
to the back seat.
President Ashraf Ghani, who
took power in September 2014, had
promised to fix the vital issues. But
his performance has not been
impressive either. That Afghanistan,
which has been at war for years,
does not have a Defence Minister for
the last nine months, itself speaks
volumes about the state of its
political affairs. What Afghanistan
needs is a multi-pronged strategy,
supported by the international
community, focussing on nationbuilding and security challenges as
well as regional diplomacy. First, the
government has to establish itself as
a credible, service-delivering and
security-providing institution to gain
the trust of its people. It should
focus on taking the social ground
away from the Taliban, at the same
time bolstering its own security
resources.
The international community
has an obligation to help this
strategy, both economically and
diplomatically. It is worth noting that
after the Soviets retreated from
Afghanistan in 1989, it took just
three years for the Mohammad
Najibullah regime to fall, plunging the
country into a deadly civil war from
which the Taliban rose to power. It is
the responsibility of both Kabul and
its backers abroad to make sure
history doesnt repeat here.
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109
produced by earthquakes.
Third, as we now know,
neutrinos can pass right through the
earth. They may open up a faster way
to send data than the current around
the earth model, using towers, cables
or satellites. Such a communication
system using neutrinos will be free of
transmissionlossesasneutrinosrarely
react with the atoms in their path. This
can open up new vistas for telecom
and Internet services. Some scientists
further believe that if there is any
extraterrestrialformoflife,neutrinos
will also be the fastest and most
trusted way to communicate with
them.
Fourth, neutrinos are the
information bearers of the universe
which are almost never lost in their
path. Indias effort in studying
neutrinos at INO may help us unravel
the deepest mystery of the universe
why there is more matter than
antimatter in the universe. Some
scientists believe that formidable
neutrino research can help us
understand dark matter. Dark matter
and dark energy make up 95 per cent
of the universe, far more predominant
than ordinary matter in the universe
but we hardly understand it.
Neutrinos are the only way to detect
this great mystery which may
completely alter our understanding
of the universe and physics. Searches
for this dark matter can only be
carried out in INO. We believe that
the neutrino is our mode of access to
some of the most unimaginable
technologies, and therefore, with
INO,Indiaispoisedtotakeitsrightful
place at the helm of neutrino
research. For example, the particle
detectors developed for the
neutrino experiment at INO can also
be used to detect the photons in
positron emission tomography (PET)
which is used to identify cancerous
tumours.
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Each and every topic will be given point wise , making it easier to grasp.
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VARIOUS CATEGORIES:
Planning Commission
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National Portal of India
National
International
Economy
India And The World
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In The News
Science and Technology
Burning Issues (Editorials From Different Newspapers)
potentialtotransformthegeopolitical
dynamics. This deal would remove
the isolation of Iran from world
community. This deal will have major
impact on the US relations with
countries like Saudi Arabia and Israel.
International negotiators assembled
in Austria have announced the final
terms of the Iranian nuclear deal.
Major points in the deal are as given
below:
Iran will reduce its stockpile of
low-enriched uranium by 98
percent to 300 kg for 15 years;
Iran can only use firstgeneration IR-1 centrifuges,
and has to give up other
models;
Iran will also reduce number of
centrifuges operating at its
primary processing center in
Natanz. Centrifuges number
would be reduced by two
third to 5060;
another 1,000 centrifuges at
Fordow are been allowed;
Iran will be allowed to enrich
uranium to only to 3.67 percent;
Iran must fulfill its initial
commitments by mid-October,
after which the International
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112
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UFA 2015
UFA 2015
Two important international
conferences were organised in Ufa
(Russia) in july. One is Shanghai
Cooperation Organisation, which is an
intergovernmental international
organization founded in Shanghai on
June 15, 2001 by six countries
China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Analyst
believe that SCO can transform the
ideaofEurasiaintoreality.Itsmember
states cover an area of over 30 million
sq.km,oraboutthreefifthsofEurasia,
with a population of 1.455 billion,
about a quarter of the worlds total.
Its working languages are Chinese
and Russian. First meeting of
Shanghai Five countries, which
include China, Russia, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgystan, Tajikistan, happened in
1996 in shanghai and the next in
moscow. Thereafter, this annual
meeting became a regular practice
and had been held alternately in the
fivestates.Onthefifthanniversaryof
the Shanghai Five in June 2001, the
heads of state of its members and the
President of Uzbekistan met in
Shanghai, the birthplace of the
mechanism. First they signed a joint
declaration admitting Uzbekistan as
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113
UFA 2015
the Mumbai case trial, including
additional information like
providing voice samples.
Another summit which
happened at the Ufa was BRICS. The
BRIC [Brazil, Russia, India and China]
idea was first conceived in 2001 by
Goldman Sachs as part of an
economic modeling exercise to
forecast global economic trends over
the next half century. BRIC Foreign
Ministers at their meeting in 2010
agreed that South Africa may be
invited to join BRIC. Accordingly,
South Africa was invited to attend the
3rd BRICS Summit in Sanya in 2011.
Five Summits have been held so far;
the first in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in
2009; second in Brasilia in 2010, the
third in Sanya, China in 2011, the
fourth in New Delhi, India in 2012,
and the fifth in Durban, South Africa
in 2013.
While the concept BRICS was
firstcreatedtorefertotheinvestment
opportunities of the rising emerging
economies, the leaders meetings
transcend the financial context to
embrace a wide range of summitlevel issues relating to global
114
Nations as a universal
multilateral organization
entrusted with the mandate of
helping the international
community maintain
international peace and
security, advance global
development and promote
and protect human rights;
Group expressed their support
for international efforts to
address international security
challenges in a way that
provides equal and indivisible
security for all states, through
respect for international law
and principles of the UN
Charter;
condemned unilateral military
interventions and economic
sanctions in violation of
internationallawanduniversally
recognized norms of
internationalrelations;
the participating nations
decided to lend in their own
local currencies to the New
Development Bank starting
April 2016.
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MOCK PAPER
For GS Paper-II
Preliminary Examination 2015
Passage 1
As soon as I saw the elephant I knew
with perfect certainty that I ought not
to shoot him. It is serious matter to
shoot a working elephant- it is
comparable to destroying a huge and
costly price of machinery- and
obviously one ought not to do it if it
can possibly be avoided. And at the
distance , peacefully eating, the
elephant looked no more dangerous
that a cow.
1. The elephant looked no more
dangerous than a cow
because.
(a) Cows can be dangerous
at times
(b) It was quietly doing its
work
(c) It tusks resemble the cows
horns
(d) Unlike lions, it is a
vegetarian animal
2. The writer was against
Passage 2
Shaken by the resolve shown buy the
hazara Shia community of Quetta
who have been picketing out in subzero temperature and rain for justicePakistan broke out in protest against
the states silence on unrelenting
terrorism .
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115
Passage 3
For achieving inclusive growth there
is a critical need to rethink the role
of the state. The early debate among
economist about the size of the
government can be misleading. The
need of the hour is to have an
enabling government. India is too
large and complier and nation for
the state to be able to deliver all that
is need. Asking the government to
produce all the essential goods, create
all the necessary jobs, and keep a curb
on the prices of all goods is to lead to
a large cumbersome bureaucracy and
widespread computation, the aim
must be to stay with the objective of
inclusive growth hat was laid down
by the founding fathers of the nations
and also to take a more modern view
of what the state can realistically
deliver.
This is what leads to the idea of
an enabling sate, that is a government
that does not try to directly deliver to
the citizen everything that they need.
Instead it
116
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Passage 4
The concept of creative society
refers to a phase of development of a
society in which a large number of
potential contradiction become
articulate and active. This is most
evident which oppressed social
groups get politically mobilized and
demand their rights. The upsurge of
the peasants and tribal, the
movement for regional autonomy
and self-determination, the
environmental movement, and the
womens movement in th e
developing countries are signs of
emergence of creative society in
contemporary times.
The forms of social movement
and their intensity may vary from
country to country and place to place
within to country and place to place
within a countr y. But they very
presence of movement for social
transformation in various shapes of
a society indicates the emergence of
a creative society in a country.
12. What does the author imply
by creative society?
1. A society where diverse
and conflicts
Which of the statements
given above is the correct
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 not 2
Passage 5
Third World is not a term much
us ed today. Most developing
countries, as they were once
euphemistically know, really are now
developing- and doing so fast, so it
is not surprising their disease
patterns are changing too, just as
happened in the rich world. Deaths
from infections disease are down .
Rates of non-transmissible
illness often chrome and frequently
the result of obesity are rising the
panjandrums of global health are
struggling to keep up.
15. In the passage above the word
panjandrums refers too
(a) Importance of global
health
(b) Weakness of global
health
(c) None of these
(d) A & B
16. The author used the term
third world for
(a) Developing countries of
Asia, Africa and Latin
America.
(b) All developing countries
(c) Can not be determined
(d) None of these
Passage 6
Bribery is voluntary. The bribe grew
chooses to give money or favors to
influence a choice, steal a march over
rival, or hasten ( sometimes delay) a
decision. Bribery harms the economy
and society cumulatively over a
period of time. But it has limited
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117
Passage 7
Religion and culture play an
important role in social cohesion.
The religious attitude of tolerance
and peace and culture values of
pluralism and conducive to good
governance. And yet there is no
casual relationship between religion
and democracy. For democracy does
not belong to any faith, equally, no
particular faith is synonymous with
democracy. Indian democracy is a
product of freedom movement which
gave primary to values of pluralism
and equal treatment to people of
different faiths and ethnic
backgrounds. The constitution
guarantees, the judiciary upholds it
and the leader ship believes in this
values system.
19. What does the term social
cohesion refers to
(a) Brining people together
in a specific society
(b) Separating people into
groups in a specfic society
(c) None of these
(d) a & b
118
Passage 8
Democracy is at the heart of
governance in India. However, in its
working, democracy has revealed
several inadequacies. The chain of
accountability from the civil service
to legislature and political authority
is weak; follow-through at higher
levels of administration is poor sand
Passage 9
Mycorrhizal fungi infect more plants
that do any other fungi and are
necessary for many plant to thrive,
but they have escaped widespread
investigation until recently for two
reasons. First, the symbiotic
association is so well-balanced that
the roots of host plants show no
damage even when densely infected,
second, the fungi cannot as yet be
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Passage 10
In older times, the pleasures demand
intelligence and personal initiative,
now a days, we have vast companies
that provide as with readymade
distractions, which demands from
audience, no personal participation
and no intellectual effort of any sort.
To the interminable democracies of
the world, a million enemas bring
the same state balderdash. There are
always been fourth-rate writers and
drama writers; whose work are not
been appreciated. Tod ay, th e
inventions of the scenario-writer go
out from Los Angles across the whole
would countless audiences soak
passively in the tepid bath of
nonsense. No mental effort is
demanded of them.
26. According to the passage, the
modern audience
(a) Is cosmopolitan in its
outlook
(b) Is very discriminating
(c) Looks
individual
initiative and refuses to
exercise the mind
(d) None
Passage 11
Employees therein decide their own
working hours set quotas for their
production, improve products and
process, are responsible for their own
quality and for approval of a
leadership appointment. Everyone
has the right to vote on major
companys decision and split the
profit. As Vimal gains confidence in
this approach, it happily abolished a
lot more of the conventions by which
business are usually run.
No secretaries, receptionist or
spaces and dining room , dress codes
and almost all rules have gone,
including those for travel and
expenses.
30. The term leadership
appointments signify
(a) App ointing company
directors
(b) Appoint meting political
leaders
(c) Selecting trade union
leaders
(d) Appoint officers in
charge of various sections
31. In the given passage, Vimal
is the name of ;
(a) A brand of the product
(b) A novel approach to
things and affairs
(c) A business establishment
(d) The leader of secretaries,
receptionists
and
personal assistants
32. From the passage it is clear
that the novel approach
referred to is
(a) Democratize
(b) Bureaucratic
(c) Aristocratic
(d) Autocratic
33. The employees referred to are:
(a) Employee of essential
services
(b) Government employees
(c) Employees of a public
sector undertaking
(d) Employees of a private
company
Passage 12
Ecosystem provide people with a
variety of goods and services; food,
clean water, clean air, Flood control,
Soil stabilization, Pollutions,
Climate regulation, spiritual
fulfillment and aesthetic enjoyment,
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119
4
4 10
>
4
T5 S
R1
U1 ?
7
9
7
11
7
(a) 12
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121
8!
2
(b)
(d)
60.
61.
62.
63.
122
(a) 56
(b) 54
(c) 58
(d) 59
A person covers a distance in
42 minutes, if he runs at a
speed of 25km/hr on an
average, find the speed at
which he must run to reduce
the time of the journey to 35
minutes?
(a) 50 km/hr(b) 40 km/hr
(c) 30 km/hr(d) 35 km/hr
Ram and Radha together can
do a piece of work in 7 days.
If Ram does twice as much
work as Radha in given time,
how long will Ram take alone
to complete the work?
(a) 21 days (b) 20days
(c) 10 days (d) 10/2 days
A bag contains an equal
number of 1 rupee, fifty paisa
and twenty-five paisa coin
respectively. If the total value
is Rs 56, how many coins of
each type are there?
(a) 52
(b) 22
(c) 32
(d) 62
Find the value of:-
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
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123
Answers with
Explanations
1. (b)
2. (d)
3. (b)
4. (c)
40. (d)
[work
will
be
accomplished with minimal
expenditure]
5. (a)
6. (a)
41. (b)
42. (b)
7. (a)
8. (d)
43. (a)
44. (a)
9. (c)
10. (d)
45. (c)
46. (b)
Required
Answer=
Wednesday +1 = Thursday
11. (d)
12. (c)
13. (c)
14. (c)
15. (a)
16. (a)
56. (c)
57. (b)
17. (b)
18. (a)
58. (a)
59. (b)
19. (a)
20. (d)
60. (c)
61. (d)
21. (c)
22. (d)
62. (c)
63. (b)
23. (d)
24. (c)
64. (b)
65. (d)
25. (b)
26. (c)
50. (c) 2 + 2, 2 + 2 .
66. (d)
67. (b)
27. (a)
28. (d)
68. (a)
69. (c)
29. (d)
30. (d)
70. (d)
71. (c)
31. (c)
32. (a)
72. (a)
73. (b)
33. (d)
34. (c)
74. (d)
75. (c)
35. (a)
36. (d)
53.
76. (c)
77. (b)
37. (a)
38. (a)
78. (b)
79. (b)
124
80. (d)
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