Jan 10 is missing

At least 17 people died and over 100 were admitted in various hospitals here
on Monday following a hooch tragedy in villages adjoining Malihabad and
Unnao.
The death toll could go up as condition of around 40 people is reported to be
critical even as the State administration suspended over half-a-dozen police
and excise department officials on charges of dereliction of duty.
Police sources said the illicit liquor, which was made in Datli village of
Malihabad, was consumed by villagers of at least half-a-dozen villages in
Malihabad and Unnao on Sunday night and Monday morning.
While 12 deaths have so far been reported from Malihabad villages, five of
the dead are from Unnao. Most victims had visited Datli village to consume
and buy the country-made liquor that is allegedly made in large amount in
the village.
Over a hundred affected have been admitted in the Medical College and
Balrampur hospital besides local hospitals in Malihabad and Unnao, while
doctors at other government hospitals in Lucknow have been kept on
standby in case more patients are brought in. Many victims are feared to
have lost their eyesight.
Senior police and administrative officials visited the hospitals, while at least
seven police and excise department officials posted in Malihabad, including
the circle officer and an inspector, have been suspended. Police have
arrested a person while hunt is on to nab four others who allegedly made the
illicit liquor, sources added.
Discuss, with examples, the distinctive features of Mughal
chronicles. (200 Words)
http://ncert.nic.in/NCERTS/textbook/textbook.htm?lehs2=5-5
What do you understand by water scarcity? Critically discuss the
problem of water scarcity in India and its causes. (200 Words)
The Union Water Resources Ministry will launch a Hamara Jal, Hamara
Jeewan initiative to be adopted in every district of the country during the
India Water Week from January 13 to 17.

Scientists, engineers, water-user communities, non-governmental

organisations and other stakeholders would be drawn in to address the
issues of water resources planning at the local level and to generate
awareness of the need for water conservation.
Participation of school students will be an integral part of the programme.
Under the initiative, a profile of each district would be prepared.
The Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 and the
Declaration and Platform for Action set the global standard for
promoting womens issues. What were these standards? Critically
discuss new challenges that have emerged in past twenty years
since the Declaration and Platform for Action with respect to
empowerment of women around the world. (200 Words)
There was one significant photograph missing in the lobby of the United
Nations (UN) Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
(ESCAP) hall in Bangkok where an important regional review of the Beijing
plus 20 goals was under way from November 17-20. While many women
leaders in the region, including former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi,
were represented, Thailands first woman Prime Minister Yingluck
Shinawatra, ousted in a military coup in May, didnt find a place. The Thai
Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs, Yongyuth Yuthavong, in his inaugural
address, confessed to being the odd man out in a womens meeting just a
few years ago, but today the scene is different; there were more men in the
room, he said. Yes, there are certainly more men for gender equality
meetings now but there are also many elephants in the room.
Twenty years after the Beijing Declaration and 35 years after the Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women was
adopted, some countries like Iran dont recognise feminist organisations,
Russia has a problem with sex education, India conveniently denies armed
conflict and caste, and everyone is reluctant to acknowledge sexual rights for
women, differences in sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI).
As a result, the Asia Pacific ministerial declaration on gender equality and
womens empowerment, which was accepted in November, was a tame
affair. Peace is inextricably linked with equality between men and women,
according to one of the critical areas of concern in the Beijing Platform for
Action. Yet only six countries in the region have development national action
plans on women, peace and security. Survivors of armed conflict are still
fighting for transitional justice with very little mechanisms in place for post-

conflict situations and also for internally displaced persons. The Indian
government, backed by Indonesia, managed to get the words armed
conflict out of the final declaration, the second important change it
succeeded in making without much ado. That caste has deep implications,
especially on women, was lost on the Indian government and it preferred the
term social origin instead; this was not opposed by any other country. The
term sexual orientation was replaced with men and women in their
diversity, angering activists who had fought for SOGI to be recognised.
Two major UN meetings to review the Beijing Declaration and Sustainable
Development Goals are coming up in 2015. Right from the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, gender equality has been a global
concern. The Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 and the
Declaration and Platform for Action set the global standard for promoting
womens issues.
Reviews by governments of the Beijing goals 20 years later reveal many
shortcomings. The UN Secretary Generals campaign Unite To End Violence
Against Women cites data to show that 50 per cent of sexual assaults in the
world take place against girls who are under 16 years of age, 603 million
women live in countries where domestic violence is not considered a crime,
between 15 and 76 per cent of women are targeted for physical and/or
sexual violence in their lifetime, and 60 million girls are married before they
are 18 years old.
On the positive side, a significant change in the last 10 years has been the
increasing focus on involving men as partners in gender equality. The
MenEngage programme and the HeforShe movement are some of the
initiatives by UN Women to rope in men to speak up against violence and be
partners rather than adversaries in the process. Many countries in the Asia
Pacific region are only now conducting studies and coming up with policies.
Nicolas Burniat, deputy representative at the Multi Country Office for the
Pacific at UN Women, says, There is a recognition that we need to spend
much more energy on this issue. There is a broader community realisation
that gender equality cannot be achieved without involving men and boys,
and in the last ten years the region has seen laws passed against violence
and for stronger political commitment.
The Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, one of the two intergovernmental
bodies, elected a woman as a secretary general. The Pacific region, which

has reported a high rate of violence against women, is now realising the
power of its collective voice on gender.
However, attitudes to violence in a region where communities are
matriarchal are hampered by kinship ties. Abacca Anjain-Madisson, chief of
the community division from the government of Marshall Islands, says even
recognising that violence exists is a challenge. The first study of women and
violence in the Islands reported that one in two women experienced partner
violence and only ten per cent were able to seek help. When women
complained to the police or the church or community leaders, it was found
that the violence was related in some way to their husbands and [the
leaders] refused to take cognisance of complaints. She added: We are
taking ownership of the data and will soon have a gender policy.
Climate change impacts, the rights of indigenous people and the
vulnerability of women emerged as major issues at the conference. Land
grabbing by corporates and struggles over land ownership were also
identified as critical areas. There is a recognition that the region can speak in
a collective voice on gender just as it did on climate change as part of the
Alliance of Small Island States, Mr Burniat said. Even while there is progress
in addressing violence against women in the region, promoting leadership
and political participation of women, improving gender parity in primary
school net enrolment and attendance rates and parity in secondary school
education, high rates of violence, lower work participation, and threats to
health and maternal mortality also persist. Roberta Clarke, UN Women
regional director, asks, Why are we underachieving so consistently? She
called for a reaffirmation of political will and financial commitment to deal
with gender inequality.
According to ESCAP, for every hundred employed men, there are only 62
employed women in the Asia Pacific region, the average wage gap is 10 to
30 per cent, and women are still concentrated in low-paid, low-status and
low-skilled work. The Asia Pacific regions child sex ratio, which is in favour of
boys, is one of the highest in the world. As a result of this, gender-biased
practices including prenatal sex selection exist. Yet, comprehensive sex
education is nonexistent in many countries and the ministerial declaration
took a retrograde step by not recognising the sexual rights of women, which
was an important right contained in the Beijing Declaration. In 17 Asia Pacific
countries, less than 10 cent of seats in Parliament is held by women.

As the world is looking to set new goals post 2015, financial and political
commitments assume more importance than ever. Governments have to
step up investment in gender equality and do more than recognise that it is
an important area for improvement. If its not now, then when?
Women in the region and in the rest of the world are demanding their rights,
already guaranteed to them in various global and national instruments of
law. Instead of strengthening that, governments are whittling them away in
some cases. A very big part of the womens agenda is that financing is the
key to the post-2015 development goals and there is a need to step up
existing commitments. Gender inequality is the scourge of the 21st century,
and it is a systemic change that is called for, need to do more than just
survive, we deserve to thrive.
While there are several shortcomings in gender equality, a significant change
in the last 10 years has been the increasing focus on involving men as
partners in the process.
Will you support if the government invokes the Section 69A of the
Information Technology Act and directs internet service providers to
implement this section? Justify. (200 Words)
Instructions issued by the Department of Telecommunications to Internet
service providers in the country directing them to block 32 websites on data
archiving, video sharing and software development have evoked criticism on
the social media.
The DoT invoked Section 69A (power of blocking public access to Internet
contents) of the Information Technology Act and the Information Technology
(Procedures and Safeguards for Blocking of Access of Information by Public)
Rules to issue the directive on December 16.
All Internet Service Licences are accordingly directed to immediately block
access to above URLs, said the order, listing the web addresses including
that of portals like archive.org and vimeo.com that were later unblocked.
A government source said the decision was taken after thorough filtration
process based on a strict regimen, and there is a committee in the
Department of Information Technology to vet complaints.
Critically examine why the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is
important for USA. Also examine how India will get benefited if the
TPP is finalized and implemented. (200 Words)

Negotiations on a complex trade agreement that has grown to encompass 12

countries on both sides of the Pacific, and sell it to a US Congress that
remains deeply hostile to Obama.
At stake is a colossal trade agreement that would stretch from Peru and Chile
to Japan and Vietnam, accounting for 40 per cent of the world's economic
activity. It would not just lower tariffs: the pact would require rigorous
regulations on labour and environmental standards, as well as the first rules
for state-owned enterprises like those run by the governments of Vietnam
and Malaysia.
The TPP has emerged as the lynchpin of Obama's strategic shift to Asia,
giving the US a way to counter the economic inroads made in the region by a
rising China. The deal is supposed to be followed by the Trans-Atlantic Trade
and Investment Partnership with Europe, though those talks have much
farther to go.
As the negotiations for TPP have dragged on, missing multiple deadlines,
Froman has expressed unwavering confidence in the outcome, saying the
various parties are searching for "landing zones" on issues ranging from
Japanese farm subsidies to Vietnamese labour regulationsEfforts in the
House and Senate to grant Obama trade promotion authority - once known
as fast-track authority, and viewed as critical to passing major trade deals have gone nowhere.
Then there are the details. Environmental groups are doubtful the
administration is really pressing for binding, enforceable standards. Peru is
already resisting enforcement mechanisms to rein in illegal logging.
Trade unions worry that the administration is putting too much emphasis on
protecting intellectual property, a boon to pharmaceutical companies,
Hollywood and rich investors, but not particularly useful to workers at home
or poor consumers abroad.
And sceptics from both parties are pressing Froman to demand enforceable
limits on currency manipulation, which they say inflates the value of the
dollar, making American products artificially expensive and imports
artificially cheap. The result is a wider trade deficit that costs jobs at home.
About 230 House members and 60 senators have signed letters demanding
enforceable sanctions on currency manipulators. Administration officials
worry that any enforceable currency regime will cut both ways. They say it

could even infringe on the Federal Reserve, making it subject to an

international tribunal.
On the broader concerns of reluctant Democratic senators like Elizabeth
Warren of Massachusetts, Froman pointed to the 18 cases of alleged unfair
trade practices the administration has brought before the World Trade
Organization, half of them against China, as proof that Obama can be trusted
to watch out for the interests of American workers.
The president has mobilised virtually his entire administration to see the
trade agenda through: the interior department to work on wildlife trafficking;
health and human services to work through pharmaceutical issues,
especially intellectual property; the commerce department to reach out to
businesses; Treasury to handle currency; the labor department to address
worker rights; the Environmental Protection Agency to deal with land, water
and air conservation; and the state department to take on broader
diplomacy.
Cabinet secretaries have divided up members of Congress to press them
individually.
Why did RBI mandate priority sector lending for banks in India? Do
you think this measure has met its objectives? Keeping in mind
target population and sectors, critically analyse. (200 Words)
Banks are mandated to lend 40 per cent of their funds to the priority sector,
which includes agriculture, among others.
Regulatory changes, coupled with a slowdown in the micro and small
enterprises, have led to a slowing credit growth in the priority sector.
"Regulatory changes allowing banks to invest in Rural Infrastructure
Development Fund (RIDF) to meet the PSL (priority-sector lending) norms
would have had led to a higher quantum of funds being deployed in RIDF
instead of lending directly to the priority sector,. In May 2014, RBI had said
investments made under RIDF as part of indirect agriculture lending would
be counted under banks' PSL targets.
Banks are mandated to lend 40 per cent of their funds to the priority sector,
which includes agriculture, micro and small enterprises, education and
housing, among others.

Analysts also believe that the slowdown in the small and medium enterprise
segment has also pulled down the growth in credit deployment to PSL.
During March-November 2014, credit to micro and small enterprises grew
only by 0.7 per cent, compared to 14.2 per cent in the same period a year
ago.
"Banks have also been a little risk-averse and have tried to avoid lending to
segments such as small enterprise in order to avoid bad loans and this is
another reason that has pulled credit to these segments down,. Banks' nonfood bank credit increased 11.0 per cent in November 2014 compared to an
increase of 14.7 per cent in the year-ago period. Credit to industry, too,
increased by 7.3 per cent compared with 13.7 per cent rise in November
2013.
"Deceleration in credit growth to industry was observed in all major subsectors, barring construction, beverages & tobacco, and mining &
quarrying,".
Credit to the services sector also increased at a slower pace of 9.9 per cent,
compared with the increase of 18.1 per cent in November 2013.
Many experts have suggested to set-up a central anti-terror
mechanism placing intelligence and investigation wings under a
single command. Examine which agencies would come under such a
set-up and why this idea is mooted. (200 Words)
Investigating agencies have recommended the setting up of a central antiterror mechanism placing intelligence and investigation wings under a single
command for more coordinated action against emerging internal security
challenges.
The Union Home Ministry has received a proposal that such a unified body,
encompassing the intelligence gathering, analysis and dissemination wing;
forensic divisions; and investigation and prosecution wings, be created
through an executive order. The Central Bureau of Investigation was also set
up in the same manner under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act.
It has been suggested that the Multi Agency Centre and the operations wings
of the Intelligence Bureau, other than those dealing with political
intelligence, be brought under the new setup. However, many IB officers
have expressed reservations about such a mechanism. They also have
concerns about the safety and security of field officers and the secrecy of
covert operations, said a senior official.

Arguing for insulating the intelligence wing from any vulnerability under the
proposed single command, some security experts said all the divisions could
function independently. In fact, we need such a mechanism, as
investigations into cases of Left-wing extremism are altogether different from
those involving outfits like the Indian Mujahideen. We need dedicated units
to pursue specific areas, an official said.
Even the National Investigation Agency, which has statutory powers under
the NIA Act to probe terrorism cases either with the consent of the State
governments or on the direction of the Union Home Ministry, can be brought
in as the investigation and prosecution wing.
It was after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack that the then Home Minister, P.
Chidambaram, suggested setting up of the National Counter Terrorism Centre
(NCTC), on the lines of the one in the United States and the British Joint
Terrorism Analysis Centre, for coordinated counter-terror operations.
However, concerned that such an agency could well be abused by the Centre
for political ends, many Chief Ministers struck down the idea primarily
because the unit was to function under the Intelligence Bureau and, unlike
the U.S. agency, it would be empowered to conduct searches and arrests
under Sections 43 and 43A of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
In 2012, the Centre came up with an office memorandum defining the
functions, powers and duties of the NCTC as a single and effective point of
control and coordination of all counter-terrorism measures, which would work
through the existing agencies in the country.
Recently the government has proposed to to mobilise public
support for naming and shaming non-users of toilets in rural India in
order to give push to its Swachh Bharat Mission, which aims at
attaining a 100 per cent Open Defecation Free India by 2019. Under
this proposal, those living in rural areas can directly upload photos
of non-usage of toilets on the social media and on the website of the
Union Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation. The Ministry wants
to mobilise people to check and verify the use of toilets in the rural
areas and enable them to post photos or upload data through
mobile phones, tablets or I-Pads (!?).
Do you think naming and shaming is an ethical strategy to push
people to build and utilize toilets properly? Justify. (150 Words)

In your opinion, how can government influence attitude of the

people though alternative methods and tools? Suggest. (150 Words)
People in rural areas can upload photos of non-usage of toilets on social
media and Ministry website.
The government proposes to mobilise public support for naming and
shaming non-users of toilets in rural India.
Those living in rural areas can directly upload photos of non-usage of toilets
on the social media and on the website of the Union Ministry of Drinking
Water and Sanitation from Thursday. The Ministry on Wednesday said people
would be mobilised to check and verify the use of toilets in the rural areas
and can post photos or upload data through mobile phones, tablets or I-Pads.
Official sources said often toilets are built but not used, people store rice or
tie goats inside them. Such incidents can be photographed and uploaded so
that action can be taken.
An official release said Nationwide Real Time Monitoring of use of toilets
would be launched from the New Year though exact details are awaited. The
monitoring system will give a big push to the Swachh Bharat Mission, which
aims at attaining a 100 per cent Open Defecation Free India by 2019, said
the release.
The Ministry is also being strengthened with 24 additional members.An
Expert Committee will be set up to examine innovative technologies for
toilets and solid and liquid waste management. A national telephone helpline
will be installed for Rural Water Supply and Sanitation.
Under real-time monitoring, there will be a provision for uploading progress
under the Swachh Bharat Mission in the rural areas with names of individual
beneficiaries, and photos of toilets constructed and coordinates of the
toilets, the statement said.
Examine the factors that led to the raise of jotedars in rural Bengal.
Also explain how different they were from zamindars in their power
and influence. (200 Words)
http://ncert.nic.in/NCERTS/textbook/textbook.htm?lehs3=1-6
Examine How did the American Civil War affect the lives of ryots in
India in the mid nineteenth century. (200 Words)

http://ncert.nic.in/NCERTS/textbook/textbook.htm?lehs3=1-6
With suitable examples, critically comment on the effect of state
and markets intervention on the culture of some of the important
tribal communities of India. (200 Words)
Till last week, Id never visited Niyamgiri, scene of the iconic fight between
the Dongria Kondh tribal group and Vedanta, a powerful multinational
corporation bent on mining in the area. So why have I titled this revisiting
Niyamgiri? Partly because Ive read so much about it, heard so much from
colleagues, that I feel like Ive been there before. In a struggle that the global
media likened to David versus Goliath, the corporation was sent packing
this is the stuff of legends. But legends can be simplistic, so the second
reason for the title is that when I did actually go to Niyamgiri last week, it
was with the purpose of going beyond the narrative of the anti-mining
struggle; of revisiting the legend itself.
The Dongria Kondh in southwestern Odisha is one of Indias so-called
particularly vulnerable tribal groups. They retain world views and practices
that go back millennia, and embody forms of knowledge and relationships
with nature that have been lost to many of the so-called civilised peoples.
They typify everything that the Indian state and urban educated folks would
call backward: absence of literacy, simple levels of technology, shifting
cultivation, animism, lack of schools and hospitals, kaccha paths to their
villages, no electricity, and so on. And yet, defying all the stereotypes that go
with this characterisation, they at least for the time being have
triumphed over a private corporation with all the civilised powers at its
command. (We heard that Vedanta continues to hope for a reversal of the
decision to disallow it from mining in the area, especially now that an even
more corporate-friendly government than the Congress is in Delhi.) The
Dongria Kondh are, however, alert, and absolutely sure they will not allow
any incursion by the company.
I went to Niyamgiri with some colleagues to understand the views of the
Dongria Kondh on development and well-being. They had rejected mining,
but were they rejecting the notion of development itself? Were they saying
they were happy as they were? Did they reject everything coming from
outside, or did they want some of it government schemes for instance?
Were there differing views within the community?
Walking to a number of Dongria Kondh villages and talking to some of the
movement leaders, we got a sense of the powerful spiritual and rational

basis for the rejection of mining. The rules laid down by Niyam Raja, the
spiritual source of the territory, included the protection of forests and rivers,
common custodianship of resources rather than individual property, and
sharing of labour and its fruits. In such a situation, major incursions like
mining and big roads and factories were simply taboo. Leaders like Laddo
Sikaka and Dadhi Pusika were also clear that they did not want Niyamgiri to
go the way towns like Muniguda and Bhubaneshwar did, where the water
cannot be drunk and the air cannot be breathed without falling sick, where
houses have to be locked when people go out, and where women face
harassment on a daily basis. Building roads through the territory, they knew,
would only bring exploitative forces in. And having realised that getting
individual plots under the Forest Rights Act could encourage individualisation
and more deforestation, the community has demanded that the entire
territory be recognised as a habitat right under the Act, with a single title in
the name of Niyam Raja.
Kinds of incursions
Unfortunately, however, such incursions have already been made, some
rather insidious. Under its well-intentioned but blatantly inappropriate
welfare schemes, the state had sought to bring the benefits of civilisation
to the tribe. Schools hardly functioned in the few villages that had them, so
Adivasi children were brought to ashramshalas or boarding schools where the
education is in Odia (the Dongria Kondh speak Kui language). Adivasi culture
is sought to be replaced by the dominant mainstream one. A well-known
educational institution in Bhubaneshwar, which counts many political and
scientific celebrities amongst its backers, has brought thousands of Adivasi
children from across Odisha to give them education; that it has significant
funding from corporations that want to establish mines and industries in
Adivasi areas has led activists to wonder whether it is education or
brainwashing that is taking place.
Closely following on the heels of the state has been the market. Till recently,
the Dongria Kondh economy was almost completely non-monetised. There is
now an increasing need for money as whatever little the Adivasis have to
buy has become more expensive. Items that they bring to sell are often sold
at well-below market rates. Typical of Adivasis in India, the encounter with
the market is almost always to their disadvantage.
Finally, there are the incursions of the police and other security forces. The
area is supposed to have Naxalite activity, which has given the state a

reason to periodically send in patrols. Both Adivasi leaders and their

supporters have been interrogated, framed with charges, including terrorism,
searched, and made to feel unwelcome in their own home.
The Dongria Kondh are aware of these issues, but there is some ambiguity on
how to deal with them. The increasing use of rather incongruous looking
metal roofs on their houses (the walls were still mud), is symptomatic of a
level of confusion. They complained that such roofs make their houses very
hot in summer. Why, then, did they change from the traditional thatch roofs?
Because the government was giving us the metal roofs. This was the same
response given for why white rice was being eaten when they had their own
nutritious local millets and other grains. Our question on whether the
increasing entry of money as a medium of exchange could be problematic
was left unanswered. Several Dongria Kondh families continue to send their
children to mainstream schools in the desperate hope that their children will
have a brighter future. Many of them do say, however, that they would prefer
schools in their own villages, with Dongria Kondh teachers using Kui
language, and with incorporation of forest-field-based learning.
The complete narrative
A positive development from the anti-mining stir is the creation of the
Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti, which unites all the Dongria Kondh settlements.
The Samiti is taking up other issues too, such as a movement against illegal
liquor brewing. This is a ready platform to take up other thorny issues the
tribe face.
There is no way that with a limited set of interactions, we could do justice to
the complex questions we had set out to ask. But we got sufficient glimpses
to convince us that Niyamgiri, both as a place and as a narrative, needs to
be revisited. Enabling the Dongria Kondh to decide their own future, based
on their understanding of their past and present, requires deep empathy and
understanding from anyone outside of them who genuinely cares. The David
versus Goliath narrative is powerful, and will sustain and inspire, but it is not
complete. The market and the state have inextricably entered their lives. It
will need a caring partnership between the Dongria Kondh, civil society
organisations and the government to figure out how to navigate the very
difficult terrain they face ahead of them, and for them to continue inspiring
and teaching the rest of the world how to live lives finely tuned to nature.

Vedanta continues to hope for a reversal of the decision to disallow it from

mining in the area, but the Dongria Kondh are absolutely sure they will not
allow any incursion by the company
Write a critical note on The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act
(FATCA)? Examine why Indian financial institutions have been asked
to register with the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS ). (200 Words)
10 Things you need to know about FATCA
1. What is FATCA?
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is legislation put in place by
the United States government. Its purpose is to ensure that foreign financial
institutions provide the US government with information about clients who
could be subject to American tax laws.
2. What does it mean for Indian institutions?
Indian institutions, too, will have to sign up with the Internal Revenue Service
(IRS) for this purpose. They have to obtain a Global Intermediary
Identification Number (GIIN) before January 01, 2015, according to a
regulatory circular. They will have to report the assets of such clients to the
IRS.
3. What happens if they don't sign up?
Financial institutions which do not sign up with IRS will face a 30%
withholding tax on all payments from the US. This means that every time a
non-compliant bank, brokerage or mutual fund get Rs.100 from the US; Rs.30
will be deducted by the US tax authorities.
4. Has the government agreed to these terms?
A Sebi circular dated June 30, 2014, said that the Indian government has
agreed (in substance) to FATCA but a formal agreement is yet to be signed.
5. What is holding up the agreement?
A number of regulatory concerns have come up. It was recently reported that
the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had raised questions over
issues which include penalties being imposed on financial institutions under
FATCA.
6. Has there been any new communication on FATCA?

Sebi and the Reserve Bank of India put out circulars on December 30 saying
that registrations would have to be completed by January 1, 2015. This
essentially gave such institutions one day to complete the process. They
cited a government note which came to them the same day.
7. What was the confusion over the deadline?
Sebi's earlier FATCA circular in June 2014 had asked institutions to sign up
only after a formal agreement was in place between the US and India. The
latest circular said that they would have to comply although the agreement
has not been signed yet. The last note left institutions with a day to comply.
8. What is the process that they have to follow to register?
Lawyers have said that Indian companies have been talking to US legal
experts and others to sign up. The process is online, and hence relatively
simple to complete.
9. Is registration instant?
Registration can be completed online, but an identification number can take
time to be generated. Those who have applied can indicate this to the
relevant authorities. A grace period of 90 days is allowed to those who have
applied but are yet to receive their identification number under FATCA.
10. So what are institutions doing?
Some of the larger institutions had complied, but there are a large number of
small institutions who were yet to do so. They rushed to comply on Thursday.
Some may take longer, and are betting on the fact that there are no
immediate payments from the US in the interim.
Financial institutions rush to meet FATCA deadline
A number of financial institutions rushed to meet a registration deadline after
a late-night regulatory circular on Tuesday urged them to sign up with
American tax authorities. The circular had advised registration by Thursday.
The institutions have to do so under Americas Foreign Account Tax
Compliance Act (Fatca). It requires foreign financial institutions to provide
information on clients who would be subject to taxation under American law.
Regulatory authorities have been asked to require entities under their
supervision to register with the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

A lot of people have applied (on Wednesday) (The situation) is still is still a
little unclear (since the Indian government itself has not signed the
agreement on Fatca), said one lawyer.
A senior official with a large domestic fund house said there was lot of panic
following the circular, issued by the Securities and Exchange Board of India
(Sebi); the Reserve Bank (RBI) issued one, too. The person said there was
confusion over reporting and disclosures, since an inter-government
agreement (IGA) is yet to be signed.
Sebi in its circular had said under the US law, non-registered entities would
be subject to a withholding tax, of 30 per cent of any capital sent out of
America.
Earlier, the confusion was also on whether Indian entities were to register or
not. Sebi in one of its earlier notifications to intermediaries had suggested
they register with the IRS post the formal signing of an IGA. This resulted in
confusion, as the January 1 deadline prescribed was not got postponed and
Indian financial services intermediaries with a US clientele who have not yet
registered due to ignorance or confusion will have to register in a hurry, said
Tejesh Chitlangi, Partner at IC Legal.
Sebi had said in June that entities only need register after a formal
agreement was signed. This changed on Tuesday, following a government
note on the matter to it and RBI, on the need to register and get a Global
Intermediary Identification Number before January 1.
TROUBLE FOR FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
There was panic after regulators gave a one-day window to register with the
US tax authorities
Under Fatca, foreign financial institutions also have to register and report on
clients subject to US jurisdiction.
Regulators had said in June that India had agreed to the Fatca agreement in
substance.
But it had asked intermediaries not to register with the US Internal Revenue
Service till a formal agreement was signed.
No agreement has yet been signed.
However, a fresh missive on Tuesday asked entities to sign up by Thursday.

Many did so through the online process.

However, there is still a lack of clarity on the application and reporting of
Fatca, in the absence of a formal agreement.
Not signing up results in a penalty in the form of a 30 per cent withholding
tax on all US payments.
5) Recently the government stopped foreign funding of few NGOs
working in India accusing them of affecting development processes
in India. Critically discuss the role of NGOs in development
processes. Also comment if the governments decision is correct.
(200 Words)
A representative of an American green NGO, one of four whose foreign
funding will be stopped unless it is cleared by the Ministry of Home Affairs
(MHA), told that the move appeared to question democratic effort that
individuals and organisations could exercise in the country. False allegations
against activists of political subversion are becoming commonplace and that
is enough reason to worry,.
A letter the representative received dated December 10 said the MHA
Foreigners Division (FCRA wing) regulates receipt of foreign contribution by
NGOs to ensure that it is utilised for bonafide welfare activities, without
compromising on concerns about national interest and security.
The government has clamped down on four American NGOs Avaaz, Bank
Information Centre (BIC), Sierra Club and 350.org. Earlier it had acted against
Greenpeace.
With a claimed membership of about 40 million worldwide, New York-based
Avaaz works on several public issues and in September 2014, it had
organised a Peoples climate march in Delhi.
The Bank Information Centre (BIC) is an NGO-based in Washington that
tracks World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) funded projects
worldwide, but has a special focus on India. According to a description on its
website, its work involves public debate on coal and energy projects in India,
as there is a complete lack of transparency and the agencies who receive
these borrowings are not accountable to the people.
BIC was particularly critical of the Tata Mundhra 4,000 MW Ultra Mega Power
Project in Gujarat, a key project for the Gujarat government.

New York-based NGO 350.org which works on climate-change and the

California-based Sierra Club have been opposing coal imports from Australia
for Indian thermal plants, including deals that were finalised during Prime
Minister Narendra Modis visit to Australia in November 2014.
6) What are the essences of effective governance? Critically
comment on Indias record in providing effective and transparent
governance to its citizens post liberalization period. (200 Words)
The Modi Government unveiled its Bharatiya governance model in the
resolution for setting up the NITI (National Institution for Transforming India)
Aayog.
The resolution, approved by the Cabinet, reaffirms that India is a diverse
country with distinct languages, faiths and cultural ecosystems. This
diversity has enriched the totality of the Indian experience,.
Politically too, India has embraced a greater measure of pluralism which has
reshaped the federal consensus, it says. States do not want to be mere
appendages of the Centre. They seek a decisive say in determining the
architecture of economic growth and development.
India no longer seeks the alleviation of poverty, states the resolution, but
rather its elimination. Poverty elimination remains one of the most
important metrics by which alone we should measure our success as a
nation.
The essence of effective governance is defined to include pro-people agenda,
citizens participation, all-round women empowerment, equality of
opportunity to the youth and transparency. Inclusiveness with special
attention to the socially and economically disadvantaged sections and
minorities is also included in the scheme of effective governance.
The role of Government as a player in the industrial and service sectors is
proposed to be reduced. Instead, Government has to focus on enabling
legislation, policy making and regulation.
Indias middle class, including the neo-middle class, is unique in terms of its
size and purchasing power. Our continuing challenge is to ensure that this
economically vibrant group remains engaged and its potential is fully
realised.

The resolution also says that the Non-Resident Indian community spread
across more than 200 countries is a significant geo-economic and geopolitical strength. Future national policies must incorporate this strength in
order to broaden their participation in the new India beyond just their
financial support.
Urbanisation has to be viewed as an opportunity to use modern technology
to create a wholesome and secure habitat while reaping the economic
benefits that it offers, states the resolution.
Policy-making must focus on providing necessary support to the more than
50 million small businesses, which are a major source of employment
creation, in terms of skill and knowledge upgrades and access to financial
capital and relevant technology.
7) Compare and contrast the composition and objectives of newly
set-up National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog with
that of erstwhile Planning Commission. Some suggest that it is
better to reform existing institutions than creating new ones to
transform India. Comment on this suggestion. (200 Words)
Prime minister to chair NITI Aayog; CMs to be part of it
New body to have a chief executive officer and a vice-chairperson;
Opposition parties slam move
The Planning Commission became history on Thursday, with the Narendra
Modi government replacing the 64-year-old body with the National Institution
for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog.
The NITI Aayog will have a governing council, comprising all chief ministers
and lieutenant governors - the PM will chair it - and will work towards
fostering co-operative federalism for providing a national agenda to the
Centre and states. NITI Aayog does precisely that. Through NITI Aayog, we
bid farewell to a 'one-size-fits-all' approach towards development. The body
celebrates India's diversity and plurality," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.
He said the new body will foster a spirit of cooperative federalism with the
sole principle of developing a pro-people, pro-active and participative
development agenda stressing on empowerment and equality.
The new body will have a chief executive officer and a vice-chairperson to be
appointed by the prime minister, in addition to four to five full-time members

and two part-time members. Four Union ministers will serve as ex-officio
members.
"The names of the full-time members and the vice-chairman are expected to
be announced in the next few days,".
* NITI Aayog will emerge as an active &important institution that will play a
pivotal role in India's development journey in the years to come
* NITI Aayog has been formed after a wide range of consultation with the
various stakeholders including the Chief Ministers
* A landmark change is the inclusion of all State CMs & L-Gs of UTs in the NITI
Aayog. This will foster a spirit of cooperative federalism
* Having served as a CM in the past, I am very much aware of the
importance of actively consulting the states. NITI Aayog does precisely that
* Through NITI Aayog, we bid farewell to a 'one-size-fits-all' approach towards
development. The body celebrates India's diversity & plurality.
* A pro-people, pro-active and participative development agenda stressing
on empowerment and equality is the guiding principle behind NITI Aayog.
* Through the NITI Aayog we wish to ensure that every individual can enjoy
the fruits of development & aspire to lead a better life.
* Through the NITI Aayog we wish to ensure that every individual can enjoy
the fruits of development & aspire to lead a better life.
The Planning Commission had a deputy chairperson instead. Besides, there
will be specific regional councils, while experts and specialists from various
fields will be specially invited by the prime minister.
The Aayog will serve as a think-tank for the government and will provide
suggestions for the economy, including the private sector. The institution will
create a knowledge, innovation and entrepreneurial support system through
a collaborative community of national and international experts, practitioners
and other partners.
It will also offer a platform for resolution of inter-sectoral and interdepartmental issues to accelerate the implementation of the country's
development agenda.

The new body will also focus on technology upgradation and capacity
building for implementation of programmes and initiatives.
There was a need for replacing the Planning Commission with a new body in
the changed economic scenario. PM of India.
The government has set up the Aayog through a Cabinet resolution. The
Planning Commission was also set up through a government resolution, in
1950.
Providing the rationale for setting up the Aayog, the Cabinet resolution said
the people had great expectations for progress and improvement in
governance through their participation. This required institutional reforms in
governance and dynamic policy shifts that could seed and nurture largescale change. "The destiny of our country, from the time we achieved
Independence, is now on a higher trajectory,.
The two part-time members will be from leading universities and research
organisations but the number of full-time members has not yet been
specified.
According to the resolution, the Aayog will provide a national agenda for the
prime minister and chief ministers to foster cooperative federalism while
recognising that "strong states make a strong nation".

The Aayog has been set up after intensive consultations with stakeholders,
including states, domain experts and institutions. It will provide critical
directional and strategic inputs into the governance process by engaging
citizens, providing "egalitarian access to opportunity", and by increasing the
use of technology.
Being the incubator of ideas for effective governance would be the core
mission of NITI Aayog.
The objective of the new body is to evolve a shared vision of national
development priorities, sectors and strategies. It will develop mechanisms to
formulate credible plans at the village level and aggregate these
progressively at higher levels of government.
The body will ensure, on areas that are specifically referred to it, the
interests of national security are incorporated in economic strategy and
policy. It will pay special attention to the vulnerable sections of society.

Trinamool Congress leader Sauagata Roy said the sudden dismantling of

Planning Commission will result in "unplanned" economy, in which the
corporates will call the shots.
FROM THE HISTORY BOOK
Quotes from eminent persons were interspersed in the Cabinet note that
replaced the Planning Commission
* MAHATMA GANDHI: "Constant development is the law of life, and a man
who always tries to maintain his dogmas in order to appear consistent drives
himself into a false position."
* B R AMBEDKAR: "It is unreasonable to centralise powers where central
control and uniformity is not clearly essential or is impracticable."
* TIRUVALLUVAR, THE POET-SAGE: "Nothing is more dreadfully painful than
poverty", and "gripping poverty robs a man of the lofty nobility of his
descent."
* SANKAR DEV: "To see every being as equivalent to one's own soul is the
supreme means (of attaining deliverance)."
* SWAMI VIVEKANANDA: "Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life think it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every
part of your body, be full of that idea and just leave every other idea alone.
This is the way to success."
8) For efficient allocation of scarce resources, it is essential not to
succumb to lobbies and hand out incentives to particular sectors in
the belief that they will help in overall economic growth. In the
light of recent cut in the concessions given to the automobile and
the consumer electronics sectors, critically examine the necessity
and effects of doling out sector-specific sops. (200 Words)
The Narendra Modi government has ended the concessions to the
automobile and the consumer electronics sectors that had been introduced
by the United Progressive Alliance in February, and were extended by the
new government in June. The concessions were in the form of excise duty
cuts of up to six per cent and were meant to revive the two industries. Faced
with a stiff ch0allenge to meet the fiscal deficit target of 4.1 per cent of gross
domestic product in the current financial year, the government has decided
to roll back the concessions. Both the industries, as expected, are up in arms.

They have no option but to pass on the higher taxes to buyers, which, they
say, will hit sales, at least in the short run.
Their argument can be contested on at least four grounds. One, it is clear
that the tax concessions didn't give a huge boost to manufacturing. During
April-November 2014, according to statistics compiled by the Society of
Indian Automobile Manufacturers, passenger vehicle production grew just 2.5
per cent and commercial vehicle output fell 4.12 per cent, though the
production of two-wheelers increased 13.85 per cent. Within passenger
vehicles, the only segment that saw strong growth in production was utility
vehicles (almost 15 per cent); in contrast, cars, the largest segment, grew
just 1.6 per cent, while the third segment of vans contracted 17.3 per cent.
Two, almost all car makers are offering huge discounts across models and
categories. It shows that the market is far from buoyant, which reinforces the
contention that the tax concessions have not been able to stimulate demand
among consumers. The discounts could go down now that the excise cuts
have been restored. The car makers' argument, that they will have to rewrite
the price tags, sounds far-fetched. Three, the two largest chunks of the
automobile market are small cars and two-wheelers, and a large majority of
them are bought on instalments. Even if the discounts reduce, the extra
monthly burden on buyers is likely to be small. And four, the showroom price
is one of the three ownership costs of a vehicle, apart from fuel and spare
parts. With the steep decline in global crude oil prices, fuel has become
significantly cheaper in the country, which has brought down the ownership
cost. All these factors play on a prospective buyer's mind. There is little
reason to believe that the rollback of the concessions will derail
manufacturing in India.
Even otherwise, sector-specific sops don't work. In fact, these distort markets
by attempting to give a direction to investments. For efficient allocation of
scarce resources, it is essential not to succumb to lobbies and hand out
incentives to particular sectors in the belief that they will help in overall
economic growth. In the past, the government had offered tax breaks to set
up factories in backward areas. The result was counterproductive. Units were
set up where they didn't make any sense. After the economic liberalisation in
the 1990s, many of these went into terminal decline.
9) Do you think governments recent decision to accept the P J
Nayak committees recommendation of splitting the post of

chairman and managing director (CMD) in public sector banks will

help improve banking governance in India? Examine. (150 Words)
Government has just accepted the Nayak committee's recommendation of
splitting the post of chairman and managing director (CMD) in public sector
banks. More recently, the central bank also backed the move, saying that the
CMDs of public sector banks enjoy absolute power and often dominate the
boards during their tenure, and that this functional separation will help
improve the functioning of the top management of banks.
The logic is, of course, open to debate as many bankers say the move will
have a serious impact on the chain of command of nationalised banks and
that it would only enable the government to dish out favours to a few of their
own men. This is because the controlling shareholder is the government,
which will appoint both chairman as well as the chief executive officer (CEO),
resulting in two power centres trying to please the same master. If that's the
case, it's better to have an executive chairman, like in the case of State Bank
of India.
Nevertheless, Nayak should be happy that the government has listened to
his and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s suggestion on splitting the post. Or,
will he? The short answer to that question should be in the negative. For, the
government has ignored the more substantive part of his report - that is,
splitting the CMD post should be done only at the last phase of a three-stage
process to empower bank boards. "If reform is piecemeal and nonsubstantive, it is unlikely that there will be material improvement in the
governance of (public sector) banks," the committee report had said.
But that is precisely what the government has done - it has leapfrogged to
the last phase first. According to the report, the government should first
entrust the selection of non-official directors to a bank boards bureau, a body
of former senior bankers; second, restrict the tenure of directors and bring in
rules on a cooling-off period for reappointments; and third, RBI directors
should step down from the boards of banks. It's only after this that the CMD
post should be split.
The report had also suggested that the government distance itself from
several bank governance functions and formation of a bank investment
company that would nominate the non-executive chairman, while the MD
and the CEO would be selected by respective bank boards.

Nayak should know the benefits of such a system as he headed Axis Bank.
When the bank commenced business, it was owned by the Unit Trust of India
(UTI) and a clutch of public sector insurance companies. Yet it was awarded a
private-sector bank licence. Even after the bank was listed in 1998, it
continued with a majority public sector shareholding, right up to February
2003, when the UTI shareholding was transferred to the Special Undertaking
of the Unit Trust of India (SUUTI). Since then, the government-as-investor
stance has characterised the control of the bank, with the SUUTI acting as a
special purpose vehicle holding the investment on behalf of the government.
The CEO is appointed by the bank's board, and because the bank was
licensed in the private sector, it sets its own employee compensation and
ensures its own vigilance enforcement. The SUUTI appoints the nonexecutive chairman and up to two directors on the board, and there is no
direct intervention by the finance ministry.
This model can operationally distance the government from the banks,
thereby discouraging direct intervention and suasion, while helping align the
government's role as that of the principal shareholder in banks, focused on
financial returns.
10) Examine how premier institutions such as IITs have helped
invent and implement new technologies in the country for the
benefit of common man. (150 Words)
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, mentor to 55-odd start-ups
founded by its students, could have been richer by at least Rs 450 crore had
it invested in Ola Cabs and Housing.com. Calculations suggest if the institute
had acquired six per cent stake each in Ola and Housing.com (both founded
by its alumni) when the companies were set up, as it has in the case of many
other start-ups incubated at its Society for Innovation & Entrepreneurship
(SINE), IIT Bombay's stake in these two firms would now be valued at Rs 450
crore, substantially higher than its last year's annual budget of about Rs 340
crore.
The calculation is based on the valuations of Ola and Housing.com at Rs
6,000 crore and Rs 1,800 crore, respectively.
"Traditionally, IIT Bombay has invested in technology-based companies. In
retrospect, looking at how Housing.com and Ola Cabs have done , we could
have invested in them," . None of the top five start-ups launched by IITians Flipkart, Zomato, Ola Cabs, Housing.com and Inmobi - were incubated at IITs.
Students with valid business propositions can incubate their ventures at IITs

after they graduate from the institute. This year, IITs have introduced a
deferred placements policy, allowing entrepreneurs to return to the campus
for placements after three years in case their venture fails to take off. IIMs
already have a similar facility in place.
Ola Cabs and Housing.com founders started these ventures right after
graduation-a fit case for incubation at IIT. But others such as Flipkart, Zomato
and Inmobi were launched once their founders, after working at other
companies, decided to turn entrepreneurs.
Khurana said IIT Bombay didn't view itself as an investor. "We see our exits
as a source of income, not as investment returns." IIT Bombay dilutes a third
of its equity in its portfolios when the start-ups raise funds.
Though SINE, which has annual revenue of Rs 70 lakh-1 crore, is part of IIT
Bombay, it is a financially-independent entity. "Our primary interest is to
promote entrepreneurship and nurture business ideas. We do not look at our
start-ups as money-generation tools. We want them to do well, as they
benefit the economy at large and generate jobs," said Devang Khakhar,
director of IIT Bombay.
Housing.com was launched in 2012 by a group of graduates from IIT
Bombay, including Advitiya Sharma. Recently, Japanese giant Softbank,
along with other investors, pumped in $90 million into Housing.com to
acquire minority stake. According to reports, the company was valued at Rs
1,800 crore at the time of the latest funding.
Sharma said, "During my time, the infrastructure and other facilities provided
by IIT Bombay, as part of incubation, was at a nascent stage. That's why we
decided to go out and set up on our own. The recent success of Ola, Housing
and other start-ups has brought more maturity in the attitude of IITs towards
start-ups."
Taxi service aggregator Ola Cabs, another start-up IIT Bombay didn't invest
in, was valued at Rs 6,000 crore when it raised $210 million from SoftBank.
The company was founded by Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati, alumni of
IIT Bombay. Since its launch in 2011, about $280 million has been deployed
in Ola by investors such as Softbank, Tiger Global, Matrix Partners India and
Steadview Capital.
In 2007, Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, alumni of IIT Delhi, had founded
India's largest e-tailer, Flipkart. While Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah,

also IIT Delhi alumni, founded popular restaurant-searching portal Zomato in

2009, mobile advertising platform Inmobi was launched by IIT Kanpur alumni
Naveen Tewari and Abhay Singhal.
"IITs need to be proactive, rather than reactive. Nowadays, students in their
second and third years at IITs are launching start-ups. So, IITs need to
become faster to catch the bus," said Housing.com's Sharma.
Start-ups incubated at SINE include Covacsis Technologies, which raised
funds from Reliance Industries' Gennext Ventures, along with other partners.
Recently, Wegilant Net Solutions, which provides IT security solutions, raised
Rs 1 crore from a group of investors, including Ravi Gururaj of HBS Alumni
Angels, Gaurav Sharma of Yahoo! India, and Vishwanathan Ramachandran
(formerly with GupShup).
11) What do you understand by probity in governance? In your
opinion, what measures are needed to be taken to ensure probity in
governance? Explain. (200 Words)
http://lawmin.nic.in/ncrwc/finalreport/v2b1-12.htm
1) On October 14, 1956, Babasaheb Ambedkar, along with several
hundred thousand untouchables, embraced Buddhism. Critically
examine the ideological bases and other reasons which convinced
Dr Ambedkar to embrace Buddhism. (200 Words)
Ambedkars critique of Hinduism before he embraced Buddhism remains
valid even today.
ON October 14, 1956, Babasaheb Ambedkar, along with several hundred
thousand untouchables, embraced Buddhism. The moral and ethical
strength of Ambedkars embrace of Buddhism lies in its cultural and
intellectual capacity to sustain among the ex-untouchables a growing
association with it. Conversion as a cultural-intellectual movement that took
off in October 1956 from Nagpur continues to gain strength. It would be fair
to observe that Ambedkars Buddhism has got a pan-Indian following among
certain castes formerly deemed untouchable, such as the Jatava/Chamar
from Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, the Malas from Andhra Pradesh, the Parayars
from Tamil Nadu, the Adi Karnataka from Karnataka, and a tiny section of
Pulayas from Kerala and of course the Mahars and a few Matangs from
Maharashtra.

However, scholars of Buddhism have perceived different meanings in

Ambedkars conversion. Some of them locate the primacy of nationalism in
the act, while others see it as a decision emerging from Ambedkars
frustration with Hinduism. Still others see the conversion as a personal
choice that Ambedkar imposed on millions of untouchables. Arguably, such
multiple readings of Ambedkars conversion, by default, treat Hinduism as
the least important factor in Ambedkars act of conversion to Buddhism. By
Ambedkars own admission, it is Brahmanical Hinduism that provided the
major context for the emergence of Buddhist assertion starting from Iyothi
Thass and Laxmi Narsu from Tamil Nadu, culminating in Ambedkars 1956
conversion. Ambedkar held Brahminical Hinduism largely responsible for
producing what could be called the withering down impact, particularly on
untouchables.
His decision to embrace Buddhism, however, involves two mutually exclusive
principles of responsibility, negative and positive. Taking a cue from Aristotle,
one could argue that Ambedkars conversion was driven by the moral force
of positive responsibility, which the protagonists of Hinduism refuse to
accept. Ambedkar expected Hindu leaders to take the lead in terms of first
critically reflecting on the regressive character of Hinduism and subsequently
acknowledging it through a honest conversation with untouchables. He
expected the defenders of Hinduism to accept the untouchables critique of
Hinduism. He also expected them to make honest efforts to take the liberal
principle seriously and do it by producing an Indian Voltaire who could then
introduce radical alteration into the very structure of Hinduism which is the
caste system.
But as the social history of anti-caste struggles show, Brahmanism defeated
the Buddha and also failed to produce a Voltaire. The lack of liberalism
among orthodox Hindu leaders was evident in their refusal to listen to
Ambedkar on the question of annihilation of caste at Lahore and in their
fierce resistance to Dalits right to draw water at the Chawadra tank in
Mahad and to Dalits right to enter temples in Nashik and Pune. Upper-caste
Hindus not only not supported such rights but also violently opposed
Ambedkar leading the struggle for Dalits human rights. In view of this
collapse of his efforts to reason with Hindus, Ambedkar had to fix negative
responsibility on them.
The principle of negative responsibility holds an individual or a social group
or an entire society responsible for the act which is likely to go against the
interests of the holders of a particular faith. In this view, Hinduism is held

responsible for giving rise to Ambedkars neo-Buddhism. Before declaring

that he would not die as a Hindu, at Yeola town in Nashik district, Ambedkar
invoked the principle of natural justice and invited Hindus to defend their
case against the accusations that he was making.
His main charge against Hinduism was that its philosophy killed good
common sense based on the principles of equality, justice, freedom and
compassion. Convinced by the need for natural justice, Ambedkar gave
orthodox Hindus a long rope so that they could first modify and then rectify
their religious doctrines by seriously questioning their religion. In conclusion,
one may say that Ambedkars conversion did not sprout from the tabula
rasa, or a clean slate. The rigid nature of Hinduism provided the formative
context for Ambedkar to justify his decision.
The principle of positive responsibility is internal to the moral and ethical act
of offering justification. Justification becomes morally defensible and hence
universally valid to the extent that it is based on the stronger claim for a
superior cultural alternative that would work out in the interest of the
collective good. Neo-Buddhism, through its arya astngangik marg (eight fold
ethical path), promises to offer ethical care for both the touchables and
untouchables in India.
Ambedkar saw in Buddhism the best alternative to establish perpetual
peace, at least in India. The expression of this normative need was evident in
his declarative statement (in Marathi): Sara Bharat Buddhamay Karin (I will
expect every Indian to become Buddhist). Ambedkar, thus, argued that neoBuddhism was a superior alternative to other religions on the following
grounds. First, his conversion was aimed at creating independent moral
standards by which every human being and not just the untouchables would
evaluate their social worth. This moral evaluation would be independent of
Brahmins who were traditionally placed at the top of a scale of ritual
hierarchy so that they could be imitated by the rest of society. Ambedkar
argued that Hinduism sought to convert the real into the ideal, which then is
available for imitation by those social layers which have developed the sense
of cultural aspiration to catch up with the socially superior. Everybody would
like to associate with higher castes through the process of Sanskritisation. It
is pathological in the sense that a lower-caste person can never become a
Brahmin and enjoy the social power that emanates from the ritual status of
being a Brahmin.

Second, Ambedkars decision to convert did not spring from a tabula rasa.
Nor was it a hypothetical proposition or a transcendental judgment that was
the guiding force of the decision. Neo-Buddhism as envisioned by Ambedkar
had a very strong subaltern character. The early followers of Buddhism were
the poor masses. Buddhism could flourish with subaltern commitment rather
than state patronage. Third, Ambedkars conversion was not the result of any
empty fascination for an abstract philosophical persuasion, and nor was it
the result of any frustration. On the contrary, it has to be understood
primarily in terms of its cultural and political force. The theory of Karma,
which continues to work as a strong basis of Brahmanical Hinduism, was
responsible for casting untouchables into a role defined by fate. The concept
of fate seeks to naturalise the degrading and humiliating social conditions
that virtually produce social death for untouchables.
The logic of fate seeks to paralyse a persons faith in his own agency.
Ambedkars act of conversion was meant to enable untouchables to step out
from the mental prison of fate and walk into a more dynamic sphere of
freedom. An untouchable saint from 13th century Maharashtra adopted the
mindset reflected in these words: Thewile anante taisechi rahawe (the
human being is destined to live life as ordained by god). Ambedkars effort to
wean untouchables away from this mindset was evident in one of the
meetings that was held by the saints in Mumbai during the anti-caste
struggle in the 1930s.
In this meeting Dalit saints endorsed Ambedkas decision to leave Hinduism.
In this regard, it is also important to keep in mind that some of followers of
the saint and the warkari tradition from 19th century Maharashtra showed an
undeclared inclination for Buddhism. This is why Krishnaji Arjun Keluskar, a
warkari, gifted a copy of the biography of Buddha to Ambedkar, who was a
student of Keluskar in his high school days.
Fourth, Ambedkars conversion shifted focus from everyday forms of
maintaining the ritual purity of the body, which continues to be the core of
orthodox Hinduism even today, to the creative life of the mind that is internal
to neo-Buddhism. Its principle of atta dippo bahva promised fulfilment of at
least two basic subjective needsself-definition and intellectual selfdetermination. As an act of intellectual self-determination, Ambedkars
conversion sought to demystify the negatively imposed identity of being a
part of Hinduism. Ambedkars justification also embodied a moral element of
the care of the otherthe high-caste Hindus caught in the historical cycle of
of domination and subordination needed emancipation. Ambedkar could

have argued that he did not have to justify his conversion. But he felt the
acute need for a justification that would highlight the main teachings of the
faith he was embracingequality, dignity and friendship.
In the context of Ambedkars conversion, in the course of which he appealed
even to upper-caste Hindus to think of Buddhism as a possible alternative,
how does one perceive the stated Hindutva objective of making India Hindu?
How does one look at the call for ghar wapsi?
The ghar wapsi programme promises a return to a place that was never
home in the first place. Untouchables were never considered an organic
part of Hinduism, and, as Ambedkar said, they were outside the Hindu fold.
The defenders of Hinduism must be asked whether they are talking about
accommodating Dalit in a ghar (home) that exists only in abstraction or are
they ready to integrate Dalits into the Brahmin ali (which in Marathi means a
Brahmin residential neighbourhood) at the concrete level?
What meaning does ghar wapsi hold for the Arya Samajists who were
seeking Suddhi during the freedom struggle? Or for the different Hindutva
outfits working towards the project of making India a Hindu nation? What is
its relevance for those broken men and women who were so long kept
outside the ghar? Secondly, ghar wapsi makes sense only in regard to
the lower-caste convert. The upper-caste men and women who converted to
Sikhism, Islam and Christianity arguably do not constitute an appropriate
case for ghar wapsi. They enjoy the same power of social domination as
the upper-caste Hindus do. This seamlessness eliminates the need for ghar
wapsi.
Ambedkar would expect the contemporary defenders of Hinduism to offer
justification as to why Dalits should return to the Hindu fold. Where will the
champions of ghar wapsi put the untouchables-in the Brahmin ali or
agrahara (in Tamil) or tola (in north India)? How can they accommodate the
untouchables in the agrahara without a radical reconfiguration of Hinduism
on egalitarian lines? Can they achieve this without destroying the painful
system of social hierarchy that forms the basis of Hinduism? They do not
have any plan to seek this radical inversion of Hinduism. It is for this reason
that Ambedkar considered Buddhism the superior option for untouchables.
Gopal Guru is a professor at the Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru
University. He has authored two books with Oxford University Press,
Humiliation: Claims and Context and The Cracked Mirror: An Indian Debate
on Experience and Theory.

2) Critically examine how differently the British and the nationalist

sources analysed the 1857 sepoy revolt. (200 Words)
http://ncert.nic.in/NCERTS/textbook/textbook.htm?lehs3=2-6
3) The institution of the governor has been sidelined in the
administering of tribal areas despite clear constitutional guidelines
to the contrary. In the light of some of recent related events,
critically comment on the statement. (200 Words)
The institution of the governor has been sidelined in the administering of
tribal areas despite clear constitutional guidelines to the contrary. At least
apropos this issue, it begs the question whether the institution is relevant to
Indian democracy, but for a start, the empowerment of the role of governor
is a must.
http://www.epw.in/commentary/governors-role-and-tribal-areas.html
4) Year 2000 was pivotal in the relationship between India and
Russia. Examine why and also throw light on how relationship
between two countries has evolved since then. (200 Words)
RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin was in New Delhi in the second week of
December to participate in the India-Russia summit. The summit, held
alternatively in the Indian and Russian capitals, has become an annual event
since 2000. President Putin and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee signed
the historic Declaration on Strategic Partnership that year. Russia particularly
welcomed Indias support for multipolarity in international affairs.
The summit was held against the background of rising tensions between
Moscow and Washington over Ukraine and the imposition of tough sanctions
on Russia by the United States and some of its Western allies. At the G20
summit in November, there was an orchestrated attempt by the West to
isolate Russia. Some European leaders talked openly about the possibility of
a new war with Russia. After the events in Ukraine, a new nuclear arms race
seems to be on the verge of being started. Both Russia and the U.S. have
increased their testing of new missiles.
In view of the open hostility exhibited by the West, Moscow has pivoted its
attention to the East. In recent months, Russia has signed huge energy deals
with countries such as China and Turkey. The energy deals worth around
$800 billion with China will see 30 billion cubic metres of Russian gas being
sold annually to that country.

During a visit to Turkey in the first week of December, Putin announced the
cancellation of the South Stream gas pipeline project that would have
supplied Russian gas to southern Europe. Instead, Russia has signed a
groundbreaking deal with Turkey under which Russian gas will now be routed
through Turkey to the European and Asian markets, sidestepping the
European Union (E.U.). Important E.U. nations such as Germany and Italy are
dependent on gas from Russia to keep their economies ticking.
We will reroute the flow of our energy resources to other regions in the
world, including through the promotion and accelerated implementation of
projects for liquefied natural gas, Putin said in a recent speech to the
Russian Parliament. Turkey, like India, has rejected American and European
sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine issue.
Energy sales by Russia to China and Turkey will be much below the current
market prices. Southern Europe, on the other hand, will have to pay 30 per
cent more to source its gas from other sources after the surprise
announcement of the cancellation of the South Stream project. Turkeys
coming on board also means that the Turkish government has now started
looking East for political and economic succour. Turkey is a member of the
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and has been waiting in line for
decades to become a full-fledged E.U. member.
Putin, from all available indications, seems to have got an assurance from
the new Indian government that it will not side with the West on the Ukraine
issue and its policy of imposing unilateral sanctions on countries. Prime
Minister Narendra Modi assured the Russian President in New Delhi that India
would continue to be a time tested and reliable partner of Russia. He
recalled the steadfast support of the Russian people during the difficult
moments of the countrys history. He reiterated Indias commitment to
stand by Russia through its own challenges.
The joint vision document released during the Putin visit stated that both
countries did not recognise the unilateral economic sanctions imposed on
Russia by some countries without the approval of the United Nations. New
Delhi did not object to the presence of the Crimean Prime Minister, Sergey
Aksyonov, in the Russian Presidents delegation. Putin has thanked the Indian
government for supporting Russias legitimate claim to the Crimean
peninsula.
To further gladden Russian hearts, Modi pledged that Russia would continue
to remain the countrys most important defence partner even if Indias

options have increased. Russia was not too happy with the huge defence
orders India had placed in recent years with the U.S., France and Israel.
Russian officials feel that they were not given a level playing field. America is
fast closing the gap with Russia in the supply of military hardware to India.
Israel and France also bagged big defence deals during the 10-year rule of
the United Progressive Alliance.
The Russian Ambassador said that Russia was the first country to implement
a make in India policy in the field of defence production. He said that today
even the SU-30s, the backbone of the Indian Air Force, were made in India.
The Russian side has agreed to produce Mi-17 medium lift and Ka-226 light
utility helicopters in India in partnership with an Indian firm.
Russia has indicated that it would like to locate other aerospace projects too
in India. Russia has offered to produce civilian passenger planes. The two
sides have agreed to move ahead on the long-delayed projects to jointly
develop a fifth-generation fighter jet and a multi-role transport aircraft.
Russian officials said that Indias Act East policy would open newer vistas
for cooperation between the two countries. Russia considers itself a Eurasian
country. Much of its land mass is in Asia.
Before Putins visit, the Indian side had signalled its displeasure on the
Russian governments willingness to sell military hardware to Pakistan. Until
recently, Russia, in deference to the wishes of its close strategic ally India,
had abstained from selling arms to Pakistan. But with India sidelining Russia
and going in for multibillion dollar deals with the West and Israel, there
evidently has been a rethink in Moscow. The U.S. is the biggest supplier of
military aid and weaponry to Pakistan, but New Delhi has no problems doing
military deals with Washington. The Russian Ambassador said that his
country would never do anything detrimental to the security interests of
India. Improving relations with Pakistan is a separate issue,.
Russia evidently feels that Pakistan will be playing a key role in Afghanistan
in the coming years. We have a stake in Afghanistan, Kadakin said,
indirectly emphasising the role Pakistan was likely to play in the fastchanging political and military scenario in Afghanistan. The joint statement
released in Islamabad during the Russian Defence Ministers visit stated that
it had come at a very crucial juncture when U.S.-NATO forces are drawing
down from Afghanistan by the end of 2014. The statement said that apart
from promoting bilateral defence relations, the visit will enable both
countries to join hands and bring peace and stability to the region.

From the Indian point of view, the most important takeaway from the Putin
visit was the announcement that Russia would be constructing an additional
12 new nuclear reactors in the country by 2035. Russia will start by building
two more nuclear reactors in Kudankulam, Tamil Nadu, by 2016. This is in
addition to the two reactors that are expected to go on stream very soon.
The Russian side, in fact, was ready to build up to 24 nuclear reactors in
India, but the Indian side wants to keep the lucrative contracts for nuclear
reactors to be shared by some of its other strategic partners like the U.S.,
France and Japan. But unlike these three countries, Russia has not made
much of a fuss about Indias nuclear liability law though the Russians too
would like the law to be either scrapped or diluted. The Bharatiya Janata
Party government seems to have sent some strong signals to nuclearsupplier countries that such a move is in the offing.
Another key agreement inked during Putins visit was the $2.1 billion deal to
directly source raw diamonds from Russia. India is the biggest manufacturer
of cut and polished diamonds. Gujarat is the centre of Indias diamond
industry and the businessmen in the State will be the major gainers from the
deal.
There were no hydrocarbon deals on the scale which Russia has signed with
China and Turkey during Putins visit. Geographical distance is, of course, a
factor, though the Russians are looking at the feasibility of extending one of
their gas pipelines in China to India. Before his India visit, Putin had observed
that shipping liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia would be cheaper than
constructing a pipeline to carry gas to India.
A more modest agreement between Indias Essar and Russias Rosneft was
signed for the long-term supply of 10 million tonnes of crude oil at a
concessional rate. Negotiations are on for oil and gas exploration projects by
the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) in the Arctic region and East
Siberia. More than 60 per cent of Indias oil imports are sourced from West
Asia. The quantity imported from Russia is less than 1 per cent. There is a
need for India to diversify its sources as the demand for energy rises
domestically.
Both sides agreed on the urgency to boost bilateral trade, which languishes
at a paltry $10 billion annually. To boost trade and investment, the Russian
side has liberalised visa rules for Indian businessmen and professionals. To
facilitate investment growth, the two countries are working out modalities for
rupee-rouble trade. The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa)

countries have agreed in principle to bypass the U.S. dollar and trade mainly
in their own currencies.
The next important visitor to New Delhi will be the U.S. President. The Indian
Prime Ministers rhetoric will be under intense scrutiny as he tries a
diplomatic balancing act between Washington and Moscow. India may be
having a special and privileged partnership with Russia, but it also has a
broad strategic and global partnership with the U.S. The U.S. is also a
principal partner in the realisation of Indias rise.
5) Recently he Supreme Court ruled that conducting a caste-based
census is against the law. Examine why. Also comment on
suggestions made by some scholars that caste bases census is
necessary for ensuring social justice to the scheduled caste
members. (200 Words)
IN its judgment of November 7, 2014, the Supreme Court set aside two
orders of the Madras High Court that had directed the Centre to conduct a
caste-based census. In the judgment of October 2008, the Madras High Court
observed that a caste-based census would increase the percentage of
reservation in favour of the weaker sections. In May 2010, the Madras High
Court reiterated that decision. The Supreme Court held that such decisions of
the High Court interfered in the governments domain of policymaking.
In 1951, there were two cases before the High Court of Madras involving
reservation for backward classes in public services and in educational
institutions: Champakam Dorairajan vs State of Madras and Venkataraman vs
State of Madras. The Madras High Court had struck down the Communal
Government Order passed by the Justice Party government in Madras
Presidency in 1921 that had provided for caste-based reservation. In the
appeal, the Supreme Court came to the conclusion that these two
reservations were against the law. To validate the policy of reservation, the
Government of India took steps to introduce a Bill in Parliament amending
the Constitution. Speaking on May 29, 1951, in Parliament on the report of
the Select Committee that was set up to look into the First Amendment,
Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru said: Now I dont for an instant challenge
the right of the High Court of Madras, to give the decision. Nevertheless,
while it is quite valid and we bow before the decisions of the court, the fact
remains that we are faced with a situation for which the present generation
is not to blame. Therefore, some sort of special provisions must be made. We
have to do something for the communities which are backward

educationally, economically and in other respects, if we wish to encourage

them in these matters. We come up against the difficulty that, on the one
hand, in our Directive Principles of Policy we talk of removing inequalities, of
raising the people in every way, socially, educationally and economically, of
reducing the distances which separate the groups or classes of individuals
from one another; on the other, we find ourselves handicapped in this task
by certain provisions in the Constitution.
More blunt and pointed was the speech of Law Minister B.R. Ambedkar. He
said: I have carefully studied the judgments and with all respect to the
judges of the Supreme Court, I cannot help saying that I find this judgment to
be utterly unsatisfactory. There were several points of order in the House
from the members against disrespect to the higher judiciary. Ambedkar
contended: There is no disparagement of the learned judges at all. The
judgment does not appear to be in consonance with the articles of the
Constitution. After furious interruptions, Speaker G.V. Mavalankar tactfully
brought peace to the House by observing: I was thinking whether what he
[Ambedkar] expressed was not capable of a different interpretation, viz. that
the judgment was unsatisfactory from the point of view of what the
government proposed to do.
Then Ambedkar proceeded on the legal aspects of the issue: [I]t is really
impossible to make any reservation which would result in excluding
somebody who has a caste.... it is one of the fundamental principles which I
believe is stated in Mullas last edition on the very first page that there is no
Hindu who has not a caste. If you make reservation in favour of what are
called backward classes which is nothing but a collection of certain castes,
those who are excluded are persons who belong to certain castes. (Hindu
Law was a notable treatise tracing the developments in the field of Hindu
law edited by Dinshaw F. Mulla. Its 21st edition was published in 2013. It is
still considered an indispensable work for lawyers.)
The governments Bill was considered and passed by Parliament on June 1,
1951, and got the Presidents assent the following day, resulting in the
Constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1951; the date of its commencement
was June 18, 1951. This shows how earnest Nehru and Ambedkar, and
Parliament in general, were in having the amendment passed to safeguard
the benefits of reservation for the backward communities.
In the Indra Sawhney vs Union of India (AIR 2000 SC 498) case, on November
16, 1992, the Supreme Court held that the total quantum of reservation

under Article 16(4) should not exceed 50 per cent. The issue came up before
the High Court of Madras which said that the State government could
continue with its reservation policy in the academic year 1994-95 and that
the quantum of reservation should be brought down to 50 per cent
afterwards.
69 per cent in Tamil Nadu.
Tamil Nadu has had a policy of reservation of seats in educational institutions
and appointments to various posts in the Public Services for Other Backward
Classes (OBCs), Scheduled Castes (S.Cs) and Scheduled Tribes (S.Ts) from
1921. From time to time, the extent of reservation has been increased in
order to meet the needs of the majority of the people. Consequently, in
1992, reservation in Tamil Nadu had reached the level of 69 per cent: 18 per
cent for S.Cs, 1 per cent for S.Ts and 50 per cent for OBCs.
At the time, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and the Tamil Nadu Assembly were
quite committed to upholding the 69 per cent reservation. A special session
of the Tamil Nadu Assembly was held in November 1993 to resolve
unanimously that the Union government should make a constitutional
amendment to allow the continuation of the States reservation policy.
At that crucial time, P.V. Narasimha Rao was serving as Indias 10th Prime
Minister (1991-96). Politically, he was the first Prime Minister from the nonHindi-speaking south of India. In the 1991 general election, the Congress
contested in 487 constituencies and succeeded in getting only 232 seats.
Hence, the Congress led a minority government. Further, Narasimha Rao
himself was not a Member of either House of Parliament. (He later contested
a byelection and got mammoth support.) Narasimha Rao, who preferred to
be a Chanakya, went through the ordeal so discreetly that none of the
opposition parties was prepared to topple his government. Once, when they
moved a no-confidence motion against the government, it was easily
defeated through the open distribution of bribes to some members.
When Jayalalithaa needed the help of the Union government to protect Tamil
Nadus 69 per cent reservation, Prime Minister Narasimha Rao readily came
forward to support her. The Union Home Minister consulted the leaders of the
major political parties, and they conceded that the Tamil Nadu governments
demand was justifiable. The Tamil Nadu government got the Tamil Nadu
Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Reservation of
Seats in Educational Institutions and of Appointments or Posts in the Services
Under the State) Bill, 1993, (Tamil Nadu Act No.45 of 1994) passed.

On its part, the Union government introduced in the Rajya Sabha on August
24, 1994, the Bill for the 76th amendment to the Constitution, which sought
to amend the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution. On the same day, the Rajya
Sabha passed with formal amendments the Constitution (Seventy-sixth
Amendment) Act, 1994. The Bill as passed by the Rajya Sabha was
considered and passed by the Lok Sabha on August 25. Tamil Nadus
reservation policy has been well protected by the Ninth Schedule.
Article 341 of the Constitution states: (1) The President may with respect to
any State or Union Territory, and where it is a State after consultation with
the Governor thereof, by public notification, specify the castes, races or
tribes or parts of or groups within castes, races or tribes which shall for the
purposes of this Constitution be deemed to be Scheduled Castes in relation
to that State or Union Territory, as the case may be, (2) Parliament may by
law include in or exclude from the list of Scheduled Castes specified in a
notification issued under clause (1) any caste, race or tribe or part of or
group within any caste, race or tribe, but save as aforesaid a notification
issued under the said clause shall not be varied by any subsequent
notification. Under this provision, the Union government issued the
Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, for all the States and Union
Territories of India.
Sometimes, a particular caste classified as an S.C. in one State may not be
acceptable as an S.C. in another State. This variation occurs across districts
and taluks within States themselves.
The 61st Round of the National Sample Survey Organisation (now Office), or
NSSO, of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation
(Consumer Expenditure, Employment-Unemployment Survey, July 2004-June
2005) gave the religion-wise break-up of S.Cs: Hinduism (22 per cent),
Buddhism (90 per cent) and Christianity (9 per cent). The high percentage of
S.Cs in Buddhism may be because Ambedkar embraced Buddhism on
October 14, 1956, the Buddhas 2,500th birthday. His conversion persuaded
a large number of S.Cs in Maharashtra to join Buddhism. The 61st Round also
noted the proportion of S.Ts in Hinduism (7 per cent), Christianity (33 per
cent) and Zoroastrianism (16 per cent).
The recent judgment of the Supreme Court held that the collection of data on
castes, through a census (or any other means), is against the law. Unless this
decision is revised by a higher Bench, the issue will be left to the Union
Cabinet to decide.

The Supreme Court has concluded that the conduct of a caste-based census
is against the law. As Ambedkar stated in Parliament in 1951 it was not
possible to make reservation excluding the caste of the beneficiary under the
policy of reservation hitherto followed. The 1950 Government Order included
the large number of castes within the community of S.Cs and S.Ts. While
bowing to the judgment of the Supreme Court, Nehru took early steps
through a constitutional amendment to continue with the policy of
reservation.
6) Critically discuss the need for making the right to health a
fundamental right in India. (200 Words)
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has suggested making
health a fundamental right, similar to education. This key proposal in the
draft National Health Policy, 2015, suggests making denial of health an
offence.
The draft, now in the public domain for stakeholders suggestions and
comments, has addressed the issues of universal health coverage, reducing
maternal mortality and infant mortality, access to free drugs and diagnostics,
and changes in laws to make them more relevant.
The proposal for a National Health Rights Act comes after a debate on
whether India should pass a Bill to make health a fundamental right as was
done for education. Many industrialised nations have laws that do so. Many
of the developing nations that have made significant progress towards
universal health coverage, such as Brazil and Thailand, have done so, and
such a law is a major contributory factor. A number of international
covenants to which we [India] are joint signatories give us such a mandate
and this could be used to make a national law. Courts have also rulings that,
in effect, see health care as a fundamental right and a constitutional
obligation flowing out of the right to life, the draft policy says.
Govt. cuts health budget target to 2.5% of GDP
The draft National Health Policy 2015 proposes that the Centre shall enact,
after due discussion and on the request of three or more States (using the
same legal clause as used for the Clinical Establishments Bill), a National
Health Rights Act, which will make ensuring health as a fundamental right,
whose denial will be justiciable.
The States would voluntarily opt to adopt this by a resolution of their
Legislative Assembly. The States which have achieved a per capita public

health expenditure rate of over Rs. 3,800 per capita (at current prices)
should be in a position to deliver on this and though many States are
some distance away, there are States which are approaching or have even
reached this target.
On the issue of increasing health spending, the draft says it accepts and
endorses the understanding that a full achievement of the millennium
development goals will require an increase in public health expenditure from
4 to 5 per cent of the GDP.
However, given that the NHP 2002 target of 2 per cent was not met, and
taking into account the financial capacity of the country to provide this
amount and the institutional capacity to utilise the increased funding in an
effective manner, this policy proposes a potentially achievable target of
raising public health expenditure to 2.5 per cent of the GDP.
It also notes that 40 per cent of this would need to come from Central
expenditures. At current prices, a target of 2.5 per cent of the GDP translates
to Rs. 3,800 per capita, representing an almost four-fold increase in five
years. Thus, a longer time frame may be appropriate to even reach this
modest target, the policy notes.
The draft policy argues in favour of the law, saying, many industrialized
nations have laws that do so. Many of the developing nations that have
made significant progress towards universal health coverage, like Brazil and
Thailand, have done so and the presence of such a law was a major
contributory factor.
Another important part of the policy draft is increased role of community in
planning and implementing the health services. The policy draft says, All
elected local bodiesrural and urban would be enabled to provide leadership
and participate in the functioning of district and sub-district institutions. Most
important of these are the Rogi Kalyan Samitis (RKS) and the Village Health
Sanitation and Nutrition Committee (VHSNC).
In particular, they would be in charge of and could be financed for
implementing a number of preventive and health promotion actions that are
to be implemented at the level of the community.
The draft copy of the policy also emphasises the need of proper
implementation of decisions taken. It clearly admits that past policies have
faced innumerable constraints in implementation.

The National Health Policy envisages an implementation framework to

deliver on policy commitments. Such an implementation framework would
specify approved financial allocations and link them with measurable
numerical output targets and time schedules.
The proposed policy highlights a major challenge prevailing in the health
sector. It says, There are unfortunately a number of laws that have over
time developed inadequacies due to changed contexts and a number of
newly emerged services and technologies where laws are needed.
Laws under review include the Mental Health Bill, the Medical Termination of
Pregnancy Act, the Bill regulating surrogate pregnancy and assisted
reproductive technologies, Food Safety Act, Drugs and Cosmetics Act and the
Clinical Establishments Act. The process of aligning many of these laws to
meet peoples needs and changed circumstances and understanding
becomes one of the urgent tasks in the coming years.
The WHO Constitution enshrines the highest attainable standard of health as
a fundamental right of every human being. The right to health includes
access to timely, acceptable, and affordable health care of appropriate
quality.
Yet, about 150 million people globally suffer financial catastrophe annually,
and 100 million are pushed below the poverty line as a result of health care
expenditure.
The right to health means that States must generate conditions in which
everyone can be as healthy as possible. It does not mean the right to be
healthy.
Vulnerable and marginalized groups in societies tend to bear an undue
proportion of health problems.
"The world needs a global health guardian, a custodian of values, a protector
and defender of health, including the right to health."
The right to health means that governments must generate conditions in
which everyone can be as healthy as possible. Such conditions range from
ensuring availability of health services, healthy and safe working conditions,
adequate housing and nutritious food. The right to health does not mean the
right to be healthy.

The right to health has been enshrined in international and regional human
rights treaties as well as national constitutions all over the world.
Examples of UN human rights treaties:
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR),
1966;
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
(CEDAW), 1979;
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), 1989.
Examples of regional human rights treaties:
European Social Charter, 1961;
African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, 1981; Additional Protocol to
the American Convention on Human Rights in the Area of Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights (the Protocol of San Salvador),1988.
The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966) in
Article 12 states that steps for the realization of the right to health include
those that: reduce infant mortality and ensure the healthy development of
the child;improve environmental and industrial hygiene; prevent, treat and
control epidemic, endemic, occupational and other diseases; and create
conditions to ensure access to health care for all.
General Comment on the Right to Health
To clarify and operationalize the above provisions, the UN Committee on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which monitors compliance with the
ICESCR, adopted a General Comment on the Right to Health in 2000.
The General Comment states that the right to health extends not only to
timely and appropriate health care but also to the underlying determinants
of health, such as access to safe and potable water and adequate sanitation,
an adequate supply of safe food, nutrition and housing, healthy occupational
and environmental conditions, and access to health-related education and
information, including on sexual and reproductive health.
According to the General Comment, the right to health contains four
elements:

Availability: A sufficient quantity of functioning public health and health care

facilities, goods and services, as well as programmes.
Accessibility: Health facilities, goods and services accessible to everyone.
Accessibility has four overlapping dimensions: non-discrimination, physical
accessibility, economical accessibility (affordability), and information
accessibility.
Acceptability: All health facilities, goods and services must be respectful of
medical ethics and culturally appropriate as well as sensitive to gender and
life-cycle requirements.
Quality: Health facilities, goods and services must be scientifically and
medically appropriate and of good quality.
The right to health, like all human rights, imposes on States Parties three
types of obligations.
Respect: This means simply not to interfere with the enjoyment of the right
to health ("do no harm").
Protect: This means ensuring that third parties (non-state actors) do not
infringe upon the enjoyment of the right to health (e.g. by regulating nonstate actors).
Fulfil: This means taking positive steps to realize the right to health (e.g. by
adopting appropriate legislation, policies or budgetary measures).
According to the General Comment, the right to health also has a "core
content" referring to the minimum essential level of the right. Although this
level cannot be determined in abstract, as it is a national task, key elements
are set out to guide the priority setting process.
Included in the core content are: essential primary health care minimum
essential and nutritious food, sanitation, safe and potable water, essential
drugs.
Another core obligation is the adoption and implementation of a national
public health strategy and plan of action. This must address the health
concerns of the whole population; be devised, and periodically reviewed, on
the basis of a participatory and transparent process; contain indicators and
benchmarks by which progress can be closely monitored; and give particular
attention to all vulnerable or marginalized groups.

State Parties must move forward in line with the principle of progressive
realization. This means that State Parties should take deliberate, concrete
and targeted steps forward, using the maximum available resources. These
resources include those within a State as well as resources available through
international assistance and co-operation. In this context, it is important to
distinguish the inability from the unwillingness of a State Party to comply
with its right to health obligations.
WHO response
As part of the current reform process, WHO has launched a new approach to
promote and facilitate the mainstreaming of gender, equity and human
rights, building upon the progress that has already been made on these
areas at all three levels of the Organization. WHO has been actively
strengthening its role in providing technical, intellectual and political
leadership on the right to health. Overall, this entails: strengthening the
capacity of WHO and its Member States to integrate a human rights-based
approach to health; advancing the right to health in international law and
international development processes; advocating for health-related human
rights, including the right to health.
7) Critically analyse the important provisions of the draft National
Health Policy 2015 that was unveiled recently by the union
government. (200 Words)
Yet another bold initiative was taken on the last day of 2014 when the Union
government made public the draft National Health Policy 2015. The policy is
a first step in achieving universal health coverage by advocating health as a
fundamental right, whose denial will be justiciable. While it makes a strong
case for moving towards universal access to affordable health-care services,
there are innumerable challenges to be overcome before the objectives
become a reality. The current government spending on health care is a
dismal 1.04 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), one of the lowest in
the world; this translates to Rs.957 per capita in absolute terms. The draft
policy has addressed this critical issue by championing an increase in
government spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP (Rs.3,800 per capita) in the
next five years. But even this increase in allocation falls short of the
requirement to set right the dysfunctional health-care services in the country.
Citing the health-care systems low absorption capacity and inefficient
utilisation of funding as an alibi for not raising the spending to 3 per cent of
GDP is nothing but a specious argument. Insufficient funding over the years

combined with other faulty practices have led to a dysfunctional health-care

system in the country. Undivided focus is an imperative to strengthen all the
elements of health-care delivery. The failure of the public health-care system
to provide affordable services has been the main reason that has led to
increased out-of-pocket expenditure on health care. As a result, nearly 63
million people are driven into poverty every year. The Ebola crisis in Liberia,
Guinea and Sierra Leone, which underlined the repercussions of a weak
public health-care system, should serve as a grim reminder of this.
The national programmes provide universal coverage only with respect to
certain interventions such as maternal ailments that account for less than 10
per cent of all mortalities. Over 75 per cent of the communicable diseases
are outside their purview and only a limited number of non-communicable
diseases are covered. It is, therefore, crucial for the Union government to
undertake proactive measures to upgrade the health-care services of poorly
performing States such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. As it stands, health will
be recognised as a fundamental right through a National Health Rights Act
only when three or more States request it. Since health is a State subject,
adoption by the respective States will be voluntary. Though a different
approach has been taken to improve adoption and implementation by States,
the very objective of universal health coverage that hinges on portability will
be defeated in the absence of uniform adoption across India.
8) Forced by declining returns from farming in ecologically fragile
areas, small farmers have been taking to goat rearing. Today, goats
ensure income to five million households in India. Critically examine
the merits and demerits of this shift. (200 Words)
It has been a slow and steady shift over decades. Forced by declining returns
from farming in ecologically fragile areas, small farmers have been taking to
goat rearing. Today, goats ensure income to five million households in India.
It is now bonanza time, with demand for goat meat projected to shoot up.
India will have to almost double its goat population in 10 years. Government
is encouraging goat rearing. But no one considered one question: where will
the goats graze? Over the past 50 years land available for grazing has
shrunk by half and forests are reportedly overgrazed. If India does not secure
its pastures, goats might turn from an asset to a liability, reports Kumar
Sambhav Shrivastava

Giyasilal Saini is a marginal farmer who has market savvy. It comes from
experience. Living in a semi-arid area like Alwar in Rajasthan, he always
knew he could not depend on farming alone. So he would keep some goats,
like others in village Jaitpura. Then three years ago the pond that irrigated
his tiny field dried up. Rains have not been enough. I spent a fortune on
irrigating my field but could not grow enough for my family, said the 36year-old. He devoted his energy to goat rearing.
Within three years Sainis herd grew from 20 to 80-strong, the largest in his
village. They serve as a 24-hour cash bank, he said, closely inspecting the
mouths of goats. He displayed two large teeth in the lower front jaw of one of
the goats. It means the chhendi (goat) is over 12 months old and the
thickness of its backbone suggests it has gained 10 kg of weight, said Saini.
I can now sell it for at least Rs 1,500.
Saini sells 35 goats in a year to the Khatiks, a community that trades in
goats, for Rs 1,500-1,800 per head. While earlier he could hardly make ends
meet, today he has one of the most well maintained houses in the village.
Goat rearing is not capital intensive, hence easy to start. The partially
denuded Aravali hills provide free grazing ground; that saves close to 70 per
cent of the rearing cost. Being prolific eaters with super efficient digestive
system, goats can eat anything anytime.
imageLike Saini thousands of small and marginal farmers in rainfed
Rajasthan have switched to goat rearing. In the process they have earned
the state a superlative: host to the largest number of goats in the country. As
per the National Livestock Census 2007, Rajasthan has 21.5 million goats,
which is about 14 per cent of Indias total goat population. In the past 10
years, goats in Rajasthan have increased by 27 per cent as against the allIndia rate of 15 per cent. But why does a state with least mutton
consumption in the country make this choice?
The reason is ecological. With the expansion of desert in Rajasthan, the
population of goats will rise. People shift from agriculture and cattle rearing
to goat rearing because goats can survive in harsh environment and still
provide good profit. This is the reason Rajasthan has the highest goat
population in the country even though its non- Muslim population is mostly
vegetarian, said K A Singh, director of the Indian Grassland and Fodder
Research Institute in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh.

Sixty per cent of the state is arid or semi-arid. It has suffered 40 droughts in
the past 50 years. Less than a third of the total 21.6 million hectares (ha) of
cropped area has assured irrigation. Land degradation and uncertain
monsoon have encouraged farmers in most parts to diversify into goat
farming, vouch farmers of Alwar. The more arid a place, the more its
dependence on goat rearing. Livestock contributes up to 60 per cent to the
household income of marginal farmers in western Rajasthan.

Goats biology makes the trade competitive compared to one-crop rainfed

farming. From the age of one, they are able to conceive and breed twice a
year. Most of the time they give birth to twins, sometimes to triplets or qua
druplets. It is like a crop. By the time you sell one bunch, another gets
ready,.
India follows Rajasthans trajectory in goat rearing. It has the worlds largest
goat population after China. As per the National Livestock Census the goat
population in the country has almost doubled in 30 years: from 76 million in
1977 to 140.5 million in 2007. The rate of increase in goats in the past five
decades has been the highest among all ruminants; they beat sheep and
cattle (see graph Goat numbers grow fastest on right). This growth rate is in
spite of an annual slaughter rate of 38 per cent.
Today about five million households in the country rear goats, up from three
million in early 1970s. Many households are absolutely surviving on income
from goat rearing. Most of them are poor and marginal farmers, like Saini in
Alwar. This reflects in the contribution of livestock to the national GDP. The
contribution of the agriculture and allied sector to GDP has declined from 55
per cent in early 1980s to 21 per cent in 2009. But the share of livestock
within the agriculture and allied sector has increased from 18 per cent to 23
per cent over the same period.
What is also pushing goat numbers is the rising demand for goat meat in
India, both for domestic and international market. Consumption demand is
more pronounced in urban areas that are growing at the rate of 2.5 per cent
per year. While rural population has grown at 1.7 per cent a year between
1981 and 2001, urban population has grown at 3 per cent.
India is the largest goat meat producer after China. The rate of goat meat
production (18.6 per cent) in 1997-2007 was double the production rate (9.3
per cent) in the previous decade. Despite a steady increase in supply, goat

meat prices are continuously rising. The Wholesale Price Index shows the
prices of mutton and goat meat have increased by 75 per cent in the past
five years. This is the highest among all the primary food items except pulses
and potato. In Delhi, goat meat prices increased from Rs 170 per kg to Rs
260 per kg in the past one year.
The main reason for the price increase is the rising export of goat meat to
West Asia, said Mohammad Aqil Qureshi, former president of the New Delhi
Meat Traders Association. Sixty countries import goat meat from India. Big
importers are Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Angola and Egypt. Nearly 80 per
cent of the goat meat and mutton export is to West Asia. Although Indias
current export of goat and sheep meat is 6.4 per cent of the production,
export is where demand is set to explode. Export of goat and sheep meat
has, in fact, increased more than eight times in the past two years, while
production has increased marginally (see graphs). People in West Asia are
shifting from Australian sheep to Indian goats because the meat of our goats
is tastier and low on fat, said Qureshi.
This has turned goat into a much sought after economic instrument. Both
exporters and local traders buy from the same market. Since exporters have
a better purchasing power they have captured 60 per cent of the goat
market in Delhi, said Qureshi. Exporters are buying goats at an even higher
price going up to Rs 300 a kg, said Billal Qureshi who owns a meat shop in
Delhi. The average sale age of goats is coming down. We realised demand
for the tender meat is rising, said Rahul Chaturvedi of the Foundation for
Ecological Security, an NGO studying the goat market chain in Rajasthan and
Karnataka.
Farmer-turned-goat rearer Giyasilal Saini
The goat meat market is set to rise as the middle class is expanding and
meat consumption is increasing. Demand for goat meat and mutton will rise
to 12.72 million tonnes in 2020 against 3.8 million tonnes this year (see
graph Meat demand to skyrocket), according to the National Centre for
Agricultural Economics and Policy Research, Delhi. India will need 248 million
goats to meet this demand, which is almost double the number of goats in
2007.
Insurance for the poor
Goat rearing was never so lucrative. Since goats were domesticated 10,000
years ago, they have been poor peoples most reliable livelihood insurance.

The National Institute of Rural Development, Hyderabad, studied the

economics of one buffalo v five goats in Rajasthan in 1999. It showed yearly
profit from the goats was higher than from a buffalo.
This explains goats geographical and class biases. They are found more in
ecologically fragile arid and semi-arid areas and goat rearers are mostly the
poorest. It is not known whether goats were domesticated for riding out
tough life in such areas or goats were responsible for ecological damage. But
what is known is that in India goats are the most reliable source of earning a
living in ecologically degraded areas. Of the 100 districts with high goat
population in India, 24 are agriculturally distressed, 42 are chronically
drought-prone and 21 show deforestation in 2007 as compared to 2005. Goat
population is also high in disaster-prone areas, like parts of Bihar frequently
ravaged by floods. In many ways, goat has everything a poor or a person in
emergency needs: low investment, high and consistent returns and near
liquid monetary status.
Add to this the spurt in demand for goat meat, and it is nothing short of an
economic bonanza for Indias poorest. But the goats geographical bias also
dictates its growth limit. The biggest incentive for goat rearingfree grazing
may not be there as the number increases. Saini of Alwar grazes his goats
on a hill in Sariska National Park. Goats of 40 other villages graze on it. Once
the hill is stripped of its vegetation, Saini will have to think of some other
ways of providing for his family.
The terrorist violence in Pakistan can be traced to the tight U.S.
security embrace of the Cold War days, which gave birth to several
mujahideen groups that have turned into Frankensteins monsters
post-9/11. Elaborate. (200 Words)
The terrorist violence in Pakistan can be traced to the tight U.S. security
embrace of the Cold War days, which gave birth to several mujahideen
groups that have turned into Frankensteins monsters post-9/11.
THE PESHAWAR MASSACRE of the innocents could be a turning point in
Pakistans history. At least for the moment, all the important stakeholders
seem united in their determination to confront the scourge of terrorism,
which has been mercilessly stalking the country for more than a decade now.
At this juncture, there is a consensus in the country that the time has come
to crush the militant groups that have been running amok since the
overthrow of the Taliban government and the United States occupation of
Afghanistan in 2001. The political and military establishment will have to bite

the bullet and cut off their ties with militant groups which it tacitly supports
or supported, such as the Haqqani network and the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
The Pakistan government on its part, at least until recently, tried to
differentiate between the good and bad Taliban. Pakistan would not
unnecessarily target militant groups that do not pose a threat to the
countrys security. Islamabad was committed to taking action against all
groups without any distinction or discrimination.
The Pakistani Taliban was never a unified group. It was founded in 2007 by
Behtullah Mehsud and those within its ranks were mainly fighters who were
with the Taliban and earlier with the U.S.-supported jehadi groups fighting
the Afghanistan government in the 1970s and 1980s. They fled to Pakistan
after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. Joining them in their exodus
were Chechen, Uzbek and Uyghur fighters and members of Al Qaeda and
other extremist, separatist groups. With the U.S. authorising increasing drone
attacks on Al Qaeda and Taliban sanctuaries in Pakistans tribal areas and
Pakistani military bases being used for these launches, many in the
Tehereek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), or Pakistani Taliban, turned violently
against their erstwhile sponsors and patrons. The TTP comprises several
factions. In 2010, the U.S. State Department declared the Pakistani Taliban a
terrorist organisation. Baitullah Mehsud, the first leader of the Haqqani
group, was killed in a drone strike in August 2009. The flamboyant
Hakimullah Mehsud, who succeeded him, was eliminated in another drone
strike in November 2013. According to Pakistani estimates, 50 to 60 per cent
of those killed in American drone attacks were civilians and this in turn
resulted in higher recruitment for militant groups. Widespread U.S. drone
attacks contributed to the anti-American feelings in Pakistan and weakened
the cooperation between the two countries in counterterrorism operations.
U.S. and Indian officials have been accusing Pakistan of playing a double
game by taking U.S. aid money and weaponry while supporting and
encouraging various Taliban and other extremist groups such as the LeT to
destabilise neighbouring Afghanistan and India. They accuse the Pakistani
security establishment of glossing over the danger posed by these groups to
the government in Islamabad. Former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai
openly accused Pakistan of supporting the Afghan Taliban and facilitating
terror attacks. It is not a secret that many in the top Afghan Taliban
leadership, including its leader Mullah Omar, are protected by Pakistani
intelligence services. Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden must have had the

help of sections of the Pakistani intelligence apparatus to go on living for

years in a house in Abbottabad, located next to a military base.
the Army chief gave an assurance to the Obama administration that Pakistan
would give up its policy of protecting militant groups it considered important
for achieving its strategic goals in the region. The Haqqani group has been
responsible for staging attacks in Afghanistan in coordination with the Taliban
there. Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, referred
to the Haqqani network as a strategic arm of Pakistans Inter-Services
Intelligence [ISI]. After 2001, many Al Qaeda fighters found refuge in the
tribal areas of Pakistan. They played a big role in radicalising people there.
The Pakistan Taliban consists mainly of Pashto-speaking recruits from the
tribal regions bordering Afghanistan. The Taliban in Afghanistan also
represents the same ethnic groupthe Pashtuns.
The LeT and some other groups have been held responsible for terror attacks
in India, including the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, the worst in Indian history.
Both the Haqqani group and the LeT are said to be close to the Pakistani
security establishment. The LeT is on the banned list of organisations in
Pakistan but it has resurfaced as the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD). It was armtwisting by the Obama administration that made the Pakistan Army launch
its all-out assault on the militant groups in the tribal areas in June 2014. For
the first time, the Pakistan Air Force was deployed extensively to target
militant hideouts. A lot of collateral damage, in the form of civilian casualties,
resulted in the wake of the military assault in North Waziristan. Many
analysts, in fact, are of the view that the formation of the Pakistani Taliban
was in response to the first military assault ordered by the then military
ruler, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas
(FATA) in 2004. FATA is an area of 27,270 square kilometres, but this small
territory hosts around 45,000 fighters from many militant groups, including
the Afghan Taliban, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Al Qaeda, Jaish-eMohammed, the LeT and the Pakistani Taliban.
Public opinion surveys have consistently shown that the majority in Pakistan
are of the view that it was the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 that led
to the rise of terrorism in their country. The cycle of violence and terrorism
can be traced back to the tight security embrace between the U.S. and
Pakistan, which dates back to the days of the Cold War. In the 1980s, the U.S.
played a key role along with its proxies such as Saudi Arabia in arming and
training the Mujahideen forces in Pakistan to fight against the Sovietbacked progressive government that was in place in Afghanistan at the time.

Out of the mujahideen emerged the rapacious militias controlled by

warlords and the Taliban in Afghanistan. The Taliban itself was formed with
the covert backing of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the ISI.
Washington was also unwavering in its support of the military dictator Zia-ulHaq. He was the man responsible for encouraging a Wahhabi version of Islam
in the country. He injected religious bigotry and sectarianism into many
aspects of daily life in the country. It was his predecessor, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto,
though; who first formalised the role of religion in the countrys Constitution
and banned the sale and consumption of alcohol. The U.S. and the Saudis
funded Zia liberally as he built new madrasas (religious schools) across the
length and breadth of Pakistan.
Today, sectarianism has become a factor fuelling terrorism in Pakistan. The
notorious blasphemy law, which came into being during the days of General
Zia, has been widely misused. Governor of Punjab Salman Taseer was shot by
his bodyguard, an extremist in police uniform, for speaking out against the
law. Pakistans self-inflicted suffering comes from an education system that,
like Saudi Arabias system, provides an ideological foundation for violence
and future jihadists. According to Hoodhbhoy, militant jehad became part
of the culture on college and university campuses. Armed groups had started
openly recruiting students for jehad in Afghanistan and Kashmir. It was only
after the events of 9/11 that the Kashmir issue faded into the background
with the focus almost completely shifting to Afghanistan. If the Afghan
Taliban is successful in once again wresting power in Kabul or completely
destabilising the country, Kashmir could once again figure prominently on
the radar of the jehadi groups. There is also a Punjabi Taliban, whose focus
is more on the Kashmir and sectarian issues than on Afghanistan. It has
carried out attacks in Lahore, Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
Despite the recent events, it will be difficult for the Pakistani political
establishment to distance itself from the mainstream Taliban in Afghanistan.
Pakistan still adheres to its doctrine of depth and views the Afghan Taliban
as a strategic asset. Pakistan does not want countries such as India and
Iran to have too much influence in Afghanistan. There is also a lurking fear in
the corridors of power in Islamabad that a resurgent Afghan Taliban could in
the long run side with its counterpart across the border. All the Pakistani
Taliban factions have pledged their loyalty to Mullah Omar. Both the Afghan
and Pakistani Taliban espouse the Deobandi sectarian theology.
The Afghan Taliban led by Mullah Omar looks destined to play an important
role in Afghanistans politics after the departure of the U.S. forces from that

country by the end of 2014. Already, they have made steady advances on
the ground. Islamabad wants the good Afghan Taliban to share power with
other stakeholders in the post-occupation scenario in Kabul. This view also,
until recently, had the support of the Obama administration.
The Afghan Taliban, as of now, is not against the goal of overthrowing the
Pakistani state. The TTP and other Pakistani Taliban groups reject the
Constitution of Pakistan and want the introduction of Sharia.
Critically examine the relationship between citizens right to
information and probity in governance. Also examine how
information empowers common man. (200 Words)
THE CURRENT debate with regard to the width of the Right to Information
(RTI) has thrown up certain interesting issues for an informed national
debate. The key question in the current debate evolves around the
desirability of making notings on various files public. The Central Information
Commission had interpreted the Right to Information Act, 2005 to include a
citizen's right to get copies/inspection of file notings containing advices and
opinions given by various civil servants. The United Progressive Alliance
Government, on the contrary, has argued that this right was never included
in the Act and that it is now willing to confer a limited right with regard to
social sector expenditure and projects only and not with regard to other
areas of governance.
The proponents of the liberal view have argued that information, as defined
under the Act, includes opinions and advices and is therefore broad enough
to cover file notings. File notings are essentially to understand not merely the
fairness of the decision but also the decision-making process. Contrarian
viewpoints upon consideration of which the Government decides become
clear once the decision-making process is made public. If merely the final
decision is conveyed, the rationale and logic behind the decision may not
become apparent. Any unfair influence or collateral considerations in
decision-making will not be known. The reasons why a more logical point has
been overruled will never be known. The right to information will itself be
incomplete without notings and observations on various files given by
officials being made public. In our system of governance, we expect the civil
services to advise the political executive freely and objectively. It will have to
be made known why in certain cases this professional advice has not been
accepted. Governments are expected to act fairly and rationally. All actions

must be informed by reason. Decisions must necessarily be in the public

interest and not suffer the vice of arbitrariness.
The civil service has consistently been advising the political executive that
since it is under an obligation to advise the political executive correctly and
objectively, the prospect of a public gaze on its advice would deter it from
taking strong positions on various issues. If bureaucratic notings are to be
made public, officials would tend to be non-committal; or at times they would
merely place alternative viewpoints before the decision-making authority for
its direction. Governance may suffer on this count.
In order to analyse this issue, it is necessary to examine the source of the
right to information. Is the source of this right to information merely the
Right to Information Act, 2005 or is it a right that emanates from the
constitutional guarantees itself? The Constitution guarantees, under Article
19(1)(a), to every citizen the freedom of speech and expression. The only
reasonable restrictions on this fundamental right are those which have a
nexus to the interest of sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the
State, friendly relations with various States, public order, decency or
morality; or relate to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an
offence. The freedom of speech and expression is a preferred right even
among the fundamental rights. Its curtailment cannot be on any generalised
public interest but only on grounds laid down by law with nexus to the
specific circumstances mentioned in Article 19(2).
In order to exercise the freedom of speech and expression effectively, you
need an informed public opinion. The right to knowledge includes the right to
information. The right to information thus flows out of freedom of speech and
expression. The Right to Information Act, 2005 is not the repository of the
right to information. Its repository is the constitutional right to free speech
and expression. The Right to Information Act is merely an instrument that
lays down the statutory procedure in the exercise of this right. It is, therefore,
necessary that all exceptions and denials or exemptions and denials of the
right to information must necessarily conform to restrictions that bear a
nexus to those mentioned in Article 19 (2) and to none others.
The veteran Socialist leader, Raj Narain, in his election case against Indira
Gandhi sought the production of documents dealing with prime ministerial
security. The state wanted to withhold the information on the ground of
privilege. The Supreme Court observed in 1975: "In a government of
responsibility like ours, where all the agents of the public must be

responsible for their conduct, there can be but few secrets. The people of this
country have a right to know every public act, everything that is done in a
public way, by their public functionaries. They are entitled to know the
particulars of every public transaction in all its bearing. The right to know,
which is derived from the concept of freedom of speech, though not
absolute, is a factor which should make one wary, when secrecy is claimed
for transactions which can, at any rate, have no repercussion on public
security."
This chain of thought continued in the Judges Case of 1982 where it was
reaffirmed that India could be no exception to the democratic culture of open
society: "The concept of an open government is a direct emanation from the
right to know which seems to be implicit in the right to speech and
expression guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a)." In the Airways case the Court
reaffirmed in 1995 that "the freedom of speech and expression includes the
right to acquire information and to disseminate it."
Excessive taxation that constitutes an unbearable burden on the right to
disseminate information has now been regarded in liberal democracies as
"tax on knowledge."
The very essence of the two judgments of the Supreme Court making it
mandatory for candidates to disclose certain information while contesting
elections are based on a citizen's right to information, which is guaranteed as
a derivative right of free speech. The two election cases have set to rest the
possibility of any conflicting constitutional opinion. The law declared in India
is thus clear. The right to information is now recognised as a necessary
component of free expression. It has been elevated to a level of
constitutional guarantee. The exercise of this right is through a process
which is laid down in the Right to Information Act. Any blanket bar on
disclosure of opinions, advices, and notings on the files could run foul of the
constitutional guarantees.
There may be some rationale in the argument that the civil service as trained
presently will resist offering candid advice if such advice is exposed to the
public gaze. This could be an administrative argument against openness. At
the same time, one cannot ignore the problem that governmental decisions
lack the appearance of fairness. At times, they are actuated by collateral and
even corrupt considerations. Just as judicial review has been a deterrent
against arbitrary decision-making, the prospects of transparency and public

gaze will necessarily compel decision-making authorities to record relevant

reasons and to ensure that decisions are fair and appear to be fair.
There is another aspect of the Act that requires reconsideration. Even though
the rules under the law require a person claiming the right to documents and
opinion to pay for its cost, Section 7(9) exempts the government from
providing information that will "divert the resources of public authority." This
ground, among others, has been used to deny documents in a recent case
relating to making public the documents and correspondence between the
Central Bureau of Investigation and the Crown Prosecution Service in London
in relation to Ottavio Quattrocchi's case. If the deployment of some
manpower and the cost of xeroxing a few pages are going to be cited as a
ground for the denial of information, it will render the provisions of Section
7(9) suspect.
The Government would do well to drop altogether its present proposal to
amend the Act. Its exercise should be primarily confined to ensuring that the
provisions of the existing Act conform entirely to constitutional guarantees.
What are the different colonial architectural styles which can be
seen in Bombay city? Also explain the motivation behind such
styles. (200 Words)
http://ncert.nic.in/NCERTS/textbook/textbook.htm?lehs3=3-6
2) Write a note on the concerns that influenced town planning in
the nineteenth century in India. (200 Words)
http://ncert.nic.in/NCERTS/textbook/textbook.htm?lehs3=3-6
3) Critically examine the policies and mechanisms that exist in India
to assess and monitor the pollution levels on air in cities. (200
Words)
There is virtually no equipment to monitor the air we breathe and no system
that tells us what we should do when pollution levels are up and unhealthy.
In fact, it is only in Delhi that there is some infrastructure to check air quality.
The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) has six automatic airmonitoring stations spread across the city. For most of the time these work,
and data is available in real time. In addition, the Central Pollution Control
Board has five automatic stations for real-time monitoring. But strangely, it
does not check for Delhi's key pollutant, PM2.5 - the small air toxin, which is

particularly bad for health. Then, the ministry of earth sciences (because of
the Commonwealth Games) set up 10 stations, including one each in Noida
and Gurgaon. Since this premier scientific agency gives only an index - a
number computed on the basis of its readings, to determine air quality - it is
difficult to read or compare. So while Delhi has 19 stations, the data which is
available on a daily basis are only from the four or five working stations of
the DPCC.
Across the country, there exist only 22 continuous monitoring stations that
can check pollution in real time. Of these, data are available for only 12
stations - and worse, not a single station checks for PM2.5 (except for one
location in Navi Mumbai, but here also the data are old).
We need information about air quality, as it is and at all times, so that you
and I can take precautions. The air quality index (AQI) is a globally
established tool to define how air pollution levels impact human health. Last
month, India also launched its AQI, which for the first time tells us the health
risk associated with poor air quality. For instance, the national standard
(measured over a 24-hour average) for PM2.5 is 60 micrograms a cubic
metre, and if the level is higher than 250 micrograms a cubic metre, then the
air is classified as "severely polluted". The health advisory is that this
pollution "may cause respiratory effects even on healthy people and it would
have serious health impacts on people with lung or heart disease". In other
words, this air is harmful for our health. Globally, the AQI is linked to the
precautions people need to take and the steps the city government should
take to combat pollution. So Beijing closes schools on red alert days; Paris
does not allow diesel cars inside the city on its smoggy days. Data are used
to inform and then to act.
In India we can't do this. We do not have the network of stations (except in
Delhi) that can inform us on a real-time basis of the dangers. What we have
are some 580 manual stations to collect samples and send them for analysis
in laboratories.
It is also a fact that India cannot afford, financially or technically, the 1,000odd automatic stations it would need. Each real-time monitoring station costs
roughly Rs 1 crore. It will cost 18-20 per cent of this annually for
maintenance and then more for running the stations. In contrast, a manual
station is only Rs 8-10 lakh at the most, with relatively nominal operational
costs.

We need a jugaad solution for monitoring air quality. At the Centre for
Science and Environment, my colleagues have bought a portable machine
that can check our exposure to bad air. It gives us information to act. This is
what we need much more of. We need to innovate to set up new kinds of
samplers, from roadside monitoring equipment and sensors to satellitebased monitors and everything else that tells us about the air quality and
puts the information in our hands so that we can act.
How an urban region is defined in India? Some commentators argue
that considering the flaws in definitions, India has more urban
centres than what government estimates reveal. Critically examine
why. (200 Words)
Is India 47 per cent urban, or 31 per cent? While everyone compares levels
of urbanisation between countries, few realise that every country defines
urbanisation in its own way. Standard criteria involve population size and
density.
Using only these, Indias urbanisation would be much higher than the widely
known 31 per cent official rate. India, however, is among the few countries to
apply a third criterion while classifying a habitation as urban that at most
25 per cent working males should be in agriculture. If one just adds the
population with villages that have more than 5,000 people, urbanisation
would jump to 47 per cent. If you include villages with more than 2,000
people, the ratio would be 71 per cent.
Definitions are usually created to aid policy and one can venture a guess on
why early policymakers in India chose this one. They may have thought that
habitations dependent on agriculture needed to be administered differently.
However, the assumption that rural means agriculture is now already
anachronistic. Three years ago, we estimated that only a fourth of rural
output came from agriculture as against nearly half in 2002 this ratio
would likely be lower now.
Towns and cities are basically densely populated habitations that allow
cheaper access to services like education, health or entertainment through
economies of scale, and also benefit from the network effect of organisations
and employees in close proximity. Employees have alternatives in seeking
employment, as do employers when they hire for a diverse set of skills. Not
surprisingly, urbanisation became necessary for humans only when
manufacturing and services started to dominate output.

However, these networks form and develop on their own, mostly due to local
factors, and centralised control is unlikely to be fully effective. Throwing
money from New Delhi to distant towns to modernise bus fleets or build that
extra flyover may help some egos and manifestos, but one must explore if
alternative methods of improving the productivity of our citizens would be
more effective.
The construction of roads linking villages and a sharp rise in rural teledensity and electrification are creating economic clusters away from the big
cities. The upcoming surge in broadband penetration through 4G networks is
likely to accelerate this process. Even in the last decade, population growth
in almost all the large urban centres was less than urban population growth
a large part of urbanisation happened due to a 60 per cent increase in the
number of towns.
A change in policies can improve the pace of such changes. To start with, the
definitions and legal framework given that most benefits of urban living
seem to arise from population density and size, it may be time to jettison the
third mandatory criterion of urbanisation, and start thinking of India as 47
per cent or even 71 per cent urban. Creative slogans like urban
infrastructure in rural areas should be unnecessary. Its unfortunate that our
policies presume thousands of habitations dont deserve urban amenities,
whereas in most other countries they would have. China seems to have
dropped this agriculture-related requirement after 1999.
If that redefinition proves to be too tricky politically and administratively, it
would help to give Census Towns municipal governments instead of village
councils. These are habitations that the government still calls villages, but
the Census Bureau finds now have all the characteristics of a town. Their
number nearly tripled between 2001 and 2011, and they are now half of
Indias 7,935 townships. Thats half of Indias townships governed by gram
panchayats (village councils).
More than 90 per cent of the nearly 2,800 new towns that were formed in the
last decade are Census Towns, and as jobs move away from agriculture,
this trend is only likely to accelerate. Just ensuring that state governments
accelerate the process of creating municipal governments for these
habitations would be a big step forward. Devolving more powers to urban
governments and making them more directly and politically responsible for
urban infrastructure is likely to be more effective than trying to control
development through centrally administered schemes.

Women, Dalits and tribals, who are at the bottom of the pile, are
said to be the most affected because of the ordinance that requires
passing class 8 and 10 as eligibility criteria for standing for
elections at panchayat level. Critically examine why. (200 Words)
This fiat through ordinance that requires passing class 8 and 10 as eligibility
criteria for standing for elections came just days before the elections for
sarpanch and panchayat samiti members. It has shocked and angered most
of rural Rajasthan, including supporters of the ruling party. This decision will
disqualify 95 per cent of rural women and 80 per cent of the electorate from
standing for election. This arbitrary step has raised many questions. Perhaps
the answer to all of them is that this is a deliberate move to ensure elite
capture of grass-roots democracy. In one stroke, this decision lays the blame
and burden of education on the people and ensures the continuance of
power in the hands of a few. Governments need to take all voices into
consideration. The punishment for failure of delivery cannot be inflicted once
again on the victim. Women, Dalits and tribals, who are at the bottom of the
pile, will be the most affected.
I have been trained for 40 years of my life, particularly in democracy, ethics,
and governance, by illiterate but highly educated people in rural India. We
have traded skills. Naurti, now Sarpanch of Harmara (Ajmer district), is
illiterate, but learnt to use the computer at the age of 50 and teaches
middle and high school dropouts how to use the computer. in matters of
governance in the panchayat she is heaps better. My informal learning about
the invention of scientific thought, of Galileo and Kalidasa, have provided a
worldview worth the learning. But I am not equipped like Naurti to
understand the nitty-gritty of getting a panchayat quorum to take a difficult
and just decision when faced with a contentious issue
Illiteracy is not merely from lack of schooling. It can come from ignorance of
highly specialised modes of governance which even an M.A. degree cannot
address. But governance in rural Rajasthan needs ethics and guts values
not determined by class 8 certificates which, incidentally, can often be
obtained illegally, especially by the ruling elite in the area.
Of course literacy is an essential tool, which is why the state has a
responsibility to ensure that people have the right to education. But literacy
cannot be made more important than intelligence and ethics, which are
native to the human species. A quick review of unintelligent and violent acts
that have travelled out of Rajasthan, or the renewal of traditional methods of

feudal control, have actually been led by literate individuals. Promoters of

sati were highly literate men who led a massive demonstration by drawing
on caste loyalties and values of the feudal elite. Rape, corruption, cheating
and injustice have not occurred because of illiteracy. Protests against such
acts have come from ordinary people who are brave enough to take cudgels.
Many of them are illiterate, but they are courageous and ethical. It is
frightening because this is not a result of tradition or lack of exposure alone,
but of impunity from accountability. Literacy has not changed the balance of
power. It is unquestioned power that flouts good governance.
There are different kinds of literacy required at different times. Passing class
8, in this case, is more for show than substance. The bureaucratic system
needs to be reformed to ensure accountability so that there is a proper
balance of power between the technocratic executive and the elected
representative.
We need schools for democratic literacy, which will encourage accountability
in leaders and bolster courage to face oppression and inequality. Citizens
need opportunities to spend time understanding governance; of being able
to identify loopholes and how they can be plugged. The requirement of a
class 8 certificate will further deny access to power for those who are likely
to demand universal equality of access. Or may be that is the intention.
What are municipal bonds? Recently government initiated a process
to identify few cities to issue such bonds. Examine why and how
these bonds will be issued. (150 Words)
Days after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) proposed new
rules for issuance of municipal bonds, the finance ministry has asked its
urban development counterpart to identify five or six cities, and specific
infrastructure projects in those cities, for which those civic bodies could issue
such bonds.
Municipal bonds are instruments issued by municipal bodies, or by states on
these bodies behalf, to raise capital for infrastructure projects. After Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley in the Union Budget for 2014-15 announced the
intention to develop 100 smart cities, the government deliberated on various
ways to finance the infrastructure for such cities and decided reviving the
dormant municipal bonds could be one of the ways.
The urban development ministry has been asked to identify five to six cities
and specific projects within these cities for which the municipal bonds will be

issued. This will only be the start. There will be more cities identified for
infrastructure funding, to develop those into smart cities, According to the
plan, these will be Tier-II and -III cities and include smaller state capitals and
satellite towns around larger metros.
On December 30, Sebi had released a concept paper on the issue and
trading of such bonds on exchanges and invited comments from the public.
The concept paper said the civic body issuing these bonds would have to
obtain ratings from credit rating agencies and would have a minimum tenure
of three years.
The market for municipal bonds has existed in India since 1998, when
Ahmedabad became the countrys first city to issue such bonds. But 25
municipal bond issues in the past 16 years have garnered only about $300
million. The amount raised so far is only a fraction of those raised by
developed markets like the US, where the municipal bond market is worth
more than $3 trillion.
Analysts and policy watchers say the market for such bonds has not picked
up in India for a number of reasons. These include the lack of interest among
investors, the sorry state of finances at many municipal bodies, shoddy
accounting of their books, bureaucratic hurdles, lack of interest at the central
and state levels, and the issue of who will guarantee these bonds. Besides,
there also is local political interference in these civic bodies.
Analyse the impact of falling global oil prices on India. (200 Words)
This time, however, there has been no external trigger. Prices have slid
because supplies have outrun demand. The International Energy Agency
(IEA) had projected that oil demand would rise by 1.4 million barrels a day in
2014 over 2013. But demand increased by only half that amount 7,00,000
barrels a day. Instead of cutting production to defend prices, it decided to
defend market share. To close observers of the petroleum market, this shift
in policy should not have come as a surprise.
Opec is gambling that it will not be long before US production stagnates and
that, with faster growth in the US, China and India, the current price trend
will reverse. This is a gamble, because there is an eight-month lag before
drilling activity responds to price signals. Also, the price point at which the
marginal costs of shale production exceed marginal revenues is not clear.
The implications for India are, of course, on balance hugely positive. It has
saved approximately $40 billion in reduced import costs; inflationary

pressures have eased; the subsidy outgo has reduced and growth has got a
boost. But there is a flipside. Indian companies have substantive investment,
trading and financial interests in Venezuela, Russia, Nigeria and the Gulf.
Were Venezuela to renege on its debt, Russia to sink deeper into recession,
Nigeria to impose capital controls, Iran to suffer a political upheaval and the
Gulf countries to cut back on public expenditure, the returns on these
investments would be at risk, remittances from Indian workers would slow
down, and our strategic and trading relationships may have to be reviewed.
At the sectoral level, it will be increasingly difficult to attract risk capital into
oil and gas exploration. This is because most oil companies have pared down
their exploration budgets. The government is reportedly planning to
announce a new licensing round for bidding. If so, and if it is keen to attract
international companies, it will have to abandon all thoughts of replacing the
current cost-recovery production-sharing model (where companies have first
call on production to recover costs) with a revenue-sharing model (where
revenues are shared with the government even before costs have been
recovered).
The oil price decline raises two questions. First, does it offer acquisition
opportunities? After all, many international companies with attractive assets
are hugely leveraged and face a cash crunch. They may well need to sell at
significant discounts. Indian companies with deep pockets and/ or sovereign
backing should perhaps investigate.
Second, at what point and under what circumstances will prices start to
climb again? That they will is a lesson from history. In anticipation, the
government should develop scenarios that describe alternative futures under
different, albeit higher, price points and be ready with its policy response.
In India though unorganized workers make up the bulk of working
population they are kept out of many of government benefits. In
this light, examine what measures have been taken by the
governments at state and centre to address the problems faced by
this section of population. (200 Words)
Every worker in the unorganised sector may soon be issued a smart card
with a unique identification number for accessing social schemes and
benefits. The portable benefits card will be issued under the Unorganised
Workers Social Security Act, 2008.
Officials said workers details may be seeded with the card at a later point.

The proposal is all workers must get three things health insurance,
pension and disability assistance. This card will allow workers to self-certify
that they are unorganised sector workers, and get these benefits through a
portable card,
By the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector
Report, 2005, over 394 million workers, 87 per cent of the countrys working
population, are in the unorganised sector. The report said 79 per cent of
these workers lived on less than Rs. 20 a day. In Gujarat, the government
announced that benefits under 20 schemes, including education aid,
maternity benefits, funeral benefits, accident group insurance scheme and
housing, would be routed through the cards.
The Unorganised Workers Social Security Act, 2008, passed after the setting
up of the NCEUS in 2004 under Arjun Sengupta, provides for constitution of
the National Social Security Advisory Board at the Central level, which is to
recommend social security schemes, health and maternity benefits and
pension schemes for unorganised workers. It said that every adult worker
could self-certify that he or she worked in the unorganised sector and shall
be issued a smart card and a unique identification number. A universal,
portable smart card which will provide social security benefits to all
unorganised sector workers will be a good step.
The registration with a portable smart card and its integration with the
registration under the Building & Construction Workers Act is a positive first
step but will have little meaning unless the Acts/schemes also allow for
portability,.
What are Global Depository Receipts (GDRs)? Recently GDR was in
news related to black money in India. Examine the issue. (200
Words)
GDR is a popular financial instrument used by listed companies in India, and
in many other countries, to raise funds denominated mostly in U.S. dollars or
Euros.
As a probe into misuse of stock markets for routing black money and tax
evasion continues, regulatory and other agencies suspect that Global
Depository Receipt (GDR) route is being used for bringing back suspected
illicit funds stashed abroad.
The modus operandi, in cases currently under the scanner, involves an
intricate web of entities registered in various jurisdictions, including

Switzerland, Hong Kong, Singapore, Mauritius, Dubai and Canada, for multilayered transfers of funds before bringing them back to India.
SEBI has come across quite a few cases where GDR (Global Depository
Receipt) route could have been used for round-tripping of funds in the name
of capital-raising activities of listed companies from abroad. The issue has
also been flagged by other agencies.
The mess that we witness today in the Indian aviation sector is
thus not only a consequence of flawed government policies but also
constant meddling and complicit silence of some private Indian
carriers. Critically examine. (200 Words)
Indian aviation has failed to achieve the potential that the country offers.
Whilst most have attributed the industry's lack of robustness to unclear
government policies, high operational costs, and so on, few have ever cited
the role of private Indian carriers in influencing policies.
Perhaps the first instance of blatant interference in getting a policy tweaked
was when the entry into the sector of the Tatas and Singapore Airlines was
blocked in 1997. The revised policy ensured that no foreign airline could
invest in an Indian carrier even while Kuwait Airways and Gulf Air owned a 20
per cent stake each in Jet Airways. The revised policy also gave Jet Airways
time to buy back the stakes.
A couple of years later when Tata-Singapore Airlines submitted a proposal to
acquire a 40 per cent stake in Air India, mischief was again in evidence.
Singapore Airlines was forced to opt out of the race citing opposition. The
intent was clear: an existing airline did not want a strong competitor in a
rejuvenated Tata-Singapore Airlines-managed Air India. Imagine: if a TataSingapore Airlines-managed Air India had indeed become a reality, taxpayers
wouldn't have had to fund the national carrier's bailout at a cost of Rs 30,000
crore. Air India, under the new management, would also have been an airline
to contend with and not what it has become today.
In the previous decade, the government, with Praful Patel as the civil aviation
minister, saw the introduction of an irrational 5/20 policy. This helped only
one private airline at that time and barred others who did not possess five
years of domestic flying experience and a fleet of 20 aircraft from taking to
international skies. The current aviation minister, Ashok Gajapati Raju, is now
seeking to do away with it. For that particular airline, this policy meant a lot.
It could for some years reap the advantage of being India's only international

airline besides Air India, whose ethnic traffic it could encroach upon to fill up
its flights.
If crony capitalism has been beneficial for some, it has also unwittingly taken
a toll of at least one airline. The 5/20 policy was a contributing factor in
financially crippling Kingfisher. In his quest to fly internationally without
waiting to complete the requisite five years, Vijay Mallya bought over Air
Deccan, which was soon becoming eligible for international operations, at a
price that defied logic. Kingfisher Airlines eventually perished under the
weight of debt.
Air India was often "forced" to withdraw flights from certain sectors by citing
"economical unviability". It wasn't a coincidence to see a private airline
mount flights soon thereafter with market and passengers offered on a
platter by the obliging national carrier.
No less intriguing has been studied silence of private airlines when seats
were being recklessly doled out to foreign airlines though the policy was
destined to harm them too, not just Air India. And today, we have the
situation of Indian carriers failing to make a mark on the international routes
with foreign airlines not only having been given a head-start but also a
stranglehold on Indian market. The promoters of Indian carriers simply
ignored the question of how their fund-starved carriers would compete on
their home turf with mega global carriers bestowed with disproportionate
quantum of seats and flights.
The way the Jet Airways-Etihad agreement was facilitated was yet another
instance of external factors influencing a decision. The government granted
37,000 additional seats to Abu Dhabi, over and above the existing 13,000
seats, to help Etihad acquire a 24 per cent stake in Jet Airways.
As if no lessons were needed to be learnt for putting the sector on track,
some carriers have, in fact, facilitated their political masters' wrongdoing.
When Gulf countries sought additional seats, some Indian carriers at the
slightest prodding gave it in writing that they needed additional seats. This
helped build a case for doling out seats to foreign carriers while the records
showed that the ministry was only acquiescing to the requests of Indian
carriers. These carriers haven't used a single additional seat so far.
The United Nations Environment Programme, through the
Stockholm convention on POPs, listed 12 organochlorine pesticides
as persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Most of them are used in

India by farmers and are found at alarming levels on vegetables and

fruits. Examine the magnitude, implications of and reasons behind
blatant use of these pesticides and insecticides in India. (200
Words)
OCPs are included under a group of toxic compounds called persistent
organic pollutants (POPs), which cause cancer and other health risks,
including symptoms like vomiting and dizziness, according to many studies.
The United Nations Environment Programme, through the Stockholm
convention on POPs, listed 12 organochlorine pesticides as POPs. All of these
were tested in the latest JNU study and found to exist beyond maximum
residual levels in Delhis vegetables. The study was published in the
international journal Environmental Science Pollution Research late last year.
As the authors point out in the study, since many of these vegetables are
consumed raw or without much processing, the health risks can be
compounded. Regular consumption of these vegetables even with modest
contamination can cause health problems in the long run, Though we are
continuing to do many projects on different categories of pesticides, this is
the first ongoing study on OCPs because they are a particularly toxic
category with 12 of 20 named by the UN as POPs, OCPs are also very
persistent in nature because they are retained in the atmosphere, soil,
water and in the vegetables for very long periods. Studies have also
established that dietary consumption accounts for over 90 per cent OCP
intake in humans, compared to respiratory or skin-based entry from
atmosphere.
The authors conducted gas chromatography tests a test used to separate
and analyse compounds to measure presence and levels of residues of 20
different banned OCP compounds on vegetable samples taken directly from
fields in cultivated areas in Delhi-NCR. Six vegetables radish, radish leaf,
cauliflower, brinjal, okra and smooth gourd, all belonging to different
vegetable categories such as root, leafy and fruit type have been studied
by JNU scientists.
tests found most of the OCPs were found to exceed national and
international limits. The levels of pesticides in agricultural produce
considered safe for consumption are defined as maximum residue limits
(MRLs). In the study, the authors compared the levels of pesticides with MRLs
set by the European Commission (EC), WHO and Prevention of Food
Adulteration Act of India. Comparison of our results with MRL values

established by various agencies clearly indicates that OCP levels were above
the established guideline value. It could be done to continued application of
OCPs in vegetables to eradicate pest infestation,
To measure health risks, the daily intake and non-cancer and cancer risks
were individually calculated for every OCP. A compound known as aldrin was
found to contribute to maximum non-cancer risks for both adults and
children. The cancer risk attributed to OCP exposure in particular is
considerable, with 12 OCPs identified as B2 class carcinogen, known as
probable human carcinogens by the WHO. The study found a high lifetime
cancer risk in children and adults, which authors said was serious concern
for Delhi population. These risks, authors have said, should be taken into
account for future food safety legislation, and farmers should again be
educated.
The researchers say direct spray or atmospheric deposition has been found
to be the most common pathway of contamination of vegetables. The
concentration of pesticides was found to be higher in winters than in
summers.
You are working a Superintendent of Police in a district where
trafficking or women and children is rampant. Your wife who is very
concerned and involved in many social works in the city insists you
to come up with some innovative ideas to prevent trafficking, to
identify trafficked persons and rescue them in your capacity as
Superintendent of Police. The problem is severe and has affected
thousands of families over the years and it has also brought bad
name to the district.
What measures will you come up with to address the issues raised
by your wife? Suggest pragmatic and logical measures. (250 Words)
The police have formed seven teams for Operation Smile, an initiative to
trace missing children reported in the district police limits in the last 10
years.
They have prepared details of 32 children who were reported missing and
could not be traced in the last 10 years. Our team, headed by an Inspector
of Police or Sub-Inspector of Police, will collect details of children at
orphanages, homes and those living on the streets, railway stations, bus
stands and other crowded places without parents and guardians, Once such
children were identified, the police would try to match them with details of

missing children in the district, and later with neighbouring districts at the
zonal and State levels.
The process of identifying the children without parents and guardians was
under way. It would be completed by this month-end. The data would be
shared at the national level too in an attempt to re-unite missing children
with their parents.
1) It was the Rowlatt satyagraha that made Gandhijia truly national
leader. Examine. (200 Words)
http://ncert.nic.in/NCERTS/textbook/textbook.htm?lehs3=4-6
2) Why did Gandhiji choose salt as symbol of protest during the
Dandi satyagraha? How do you evaluate the significance and impact
of Dandi march on the national movement among all other
movements initiated by Gandhiji? Examine. (200 Words)
http://ncert.nic.in/NCERTS/textbook/textbook.htm?lehs3=4-6
3) What are the causes of volcanic eruption? Examine why its
considered as hazard. Also discuss why predicting volcanic
eruptions is said to be a very difficult task. (200 Words)
The eruption of a volcano can be one of the planets most destructive events
spewing huge amounts of rock, gas and ash that can kill people. Henry
Fountain explains how a volcano can blow its top.
The improvements in monitoring and studying volcanoes, as well as the fact
that Earths growing population has put more people in harms way, may
contribute to the sense that more volcanoes are erupting now than in the
past.
Eruptions that come out of the blue can be particularly deadly. In September,
57 hikers were killed in central Japan when Mount Ontake suddenly started
spewing hot ash, cinders and rocks. Volcanologists think rising magma hit
groundwater, which turned instantly to steam and caused the explosion.
There were no significant earthquakes or other signs that might have
suggested an eruption were imminent and prompted authorities to close the
popular mountain trails.
Scientists can sometimes have a general idea that a volcano is due to erupt,
but a sudden event dictates the precise timing. At Mount St. Helens in
Washington in 1980, scientists knew for months that an eruption was likely

for one thing, the north side of the mountain had started to expand like a
balloon as rising magma increased the pressure inside.
Then on May 18, an earthquake caused the north face to collapse in a
massive landslide. The weight of all that rock had helped to keep the magma
contained; once it was gone, the volcano erupted immediately, killing 57
people, some more than 10 miles away.
Mount St. Helens was the most destructive eruption in American history it
also wiped out nearly 200 miles of roads but others could be worse. In
Iceland, scientists knew in mid-August that something was happening at
Bardarbunga, which had last erupted in 1910. Seismometers began
recording a swarm of small earthquakes, eventually numbering in the
thousands, on the north side of the volcano. This was a clear sign that
magma was beginning to intrude into a fissure perhaps five or six miles
below the surface.
The seismic information, as well as extensive deformation data, showed that
the dike grew in fits and starts through the fissure, which although deep was
less than two yards wide. The magma would hit a barrier essentially a
narrowing of the fissure which would cause the pressure to build up until it
was great enough that the magma would overcome the barrier and keeps
moving.
For now, the eruption remains what volcanologists call an effusive one the
lava, consisting primarily of molten basalt, is thin enough that the gases
bubble out with little explosive force. And the amounts of sulfur dioxide and
other gases, while a concern locally, are nowhere near the amounts
produced by an eruption at a fissure called Laki in the 1780s. In that event,
the gases poisoned livestock across Iceland, leading to a famine that killed
about a quarter of the countrys population and had other effects in Europe
and elsewhere.
Of greater concern is what is happening at Bardarbungas caldera, the wide,
deep valley at the top of the mountain that is filled with hardened magma
from past eruptive activity. Earthquake data and G.P.S. measurements show
that this hardened magma, which acts like a plug, is sinking, probably as the
hot magma below it escapes through the fissure to the north. The subsidence
is astonishingly rapid, about a foot a day, and the question is how much
more of this the plug can take before it breaks up. This plug is bound to
disintegrate as it moves so much.

If the plug cracks apart, the hot magma below would have a new, easier path
to the surface straight up where it would combine with ice to cause a
steam-magma explosion. Such an eruption could create a large plume of ash
that could disrupt air travel, as the eruption at another Icelandic volcano did
in 2010. Its effects on the surrounding region could be catastrophic as well,
with glacial meltwater collecting in the caldera until it overflows, causing a
vast flood.
The procedure of the promulgation of ordinances is inherently
undemocratic. Whether an ordinance is justifiable or not, the issue
of a large number of ordinances has, psychologically, a bad effect.
Critically comment with suitable examples. (200 Words)
Members of the Constituent Assembly were apprehensive about giving the
executive ordinance-making powers. Both H.N. Kunzru and K.T. Shah called
for restricting these powers through greater legislative oversight. Neither the
United States nor the United Kingdom confers such powers on the executive.
In India, these powers are the legacy of the British Raj and Government of
India Act, 1935.
Mavalankars prophetic observations came true. Between 1952 and 2014, as
many as 668 ordinances were promulgated by the president in the name of
emergency. With the sole exception of the demonetisation of Rs 1,000, Rs
5,000 and Rs 10,000 notes in 1978, every other ordinance could have easily
waited for the next session of Parliament. The bank nationalisation
ordinance, for instance, was promulgated just two days before the convening
of Parliament.
The record of governors in promulgating ordinances is far more depressing.
Take Bihar, for example, where between 1967 and 1981, the governor
promulgated 256 ordinances, while the assembly enacted only 189 laws. Of
them, many ordinances were re-promulgated several times the sugarcane
ordinance, for instance, was promulgated and re-promulgated for as many as
13 years. No other democracy can match Bihars record of promulgating 50
ordinances in one day.
The apex court rightly observed: The power to promulgate an ordinance is
essentially a power to be used to meet an extraordinary situation and it
cannot be allowed to be perverted to serve political ends. Further, the court
said, If the executive were permitted to continue the provisions of an
ordinance in force by adopting the methodology of re-promulgation without
submitting to the voice of the legislature, it would be nothing short of

usurpation by the executive of the law-making function of the legislature.

Frequently passing ordinances violates the principle of separation of powers.
The executive taking over legislative business is nothing but a subversion of
the democratic process, the very core of constitutionalism, and the idea of
limited government.
We have reached this stage because our judiciary has refused to see the
difference between a legislative act and an ordinance. It treats both as law.
Accordingly, it has been held that the executives motive for promulgating an
ordinance is not open to judicial review, as courts cannot look into the motive
for passing a legislative act. Thus, an ordinance cannot be invalidated on the
grounds of either non-application of mind or ulterior motive.
In doing so, the courts have equated the legislature with the executive. But
while ordinances have the same effect as laws, their promulgation is not
preceded by debates and does not reflect the will of the nation. Legislative
malice should certainly be beyond the pale of judicial review, but ordinances
should be subject to close judicial scrutiny. The Constitution itself does not
treat an ordinance at par with an act. The former is a temporary measure
while the latter stands until it is repealed. An ordinance is certainly inferior to
legislation and thus cannot have the same protection from judicial review.
The presidents satisfaction that an ordinance is warranted by an
emergency should be reviewable. Indira Gandhi made sure it remained
unquestionable by the 38th Amendment. But this was later undone by the
44th Amendment, passed during the Janata regime.
Though the NDAs ordinances are not in conflict with the text of the
Constitution, they certainly go against its spirit. The Roman jurist, Julius
Paulus, rightly observed that One who contravenes the intention of a statute
without disobeying its actual words, commits a fraud on it.
Do you think the activities of non-governmental organisations
(NGOs) in India should be regulated by an independent regulatory
body? Critically discuss the various issues related to accountability
of NGOs and governments role in ensuring the same. (200 Words)
Only about 10 per cent of the over 22 lakh non-governmental organisations
scanned by the Central Bureau of Investigation, on the Supreme Courts
directions, file their annual income and expenditure statements with the
authorities they are registered with. This was revealed in an analysis on

NGOs functioning in 20 States and six Union Territories filed by the agency
before the court on Monday.
The CBI, urged the court to impose a pre-condition on NGOs that they first
submit their balance sheets, including income and expenditure statements,
for the preceding three years before further grants were allowed.
The CBI should first complete compiling data on NGOs and argue its case in
detail. Then we will see why NGOs cannot be asked to maintain complete
records, CJI said.
The CBI was acting on the Supreme Courts order of September 2, 2013 on a
PIL petition, filed by advocate Manohar Lal Sharma, alleging misuse of funds
by Anna Hazares NGO Hind Swaraj Trust.
The court had expanded the scope of the petition and directed the CBI to file
the entire list of NGOs in the country registered under the Societies
Registration Act.
The average Indian was slightly better off than the average Chinese
in the initial years after Indian independence. Critically analyse how
and why China developed faster than India to become worlds
second largest economy in the world. (200 Words)
The average Indian was slightly better off than the average Chinese in the
initial years after Indian independence. But Chinas approach to development
has varied markedly over the last 40 years and has been so successful that it
now ranks as the second most important economy in the world. India has
made good progress but is still substantially behind China.

In the first decade of this century, Indias growth reached a take off stage
that prompted many people to ask when India would catch up with its
neighbour. It was also thought that democratic India may even overtake
China. Will that dream come true?
China and India, despite being such large countries, accounted for only 4.5
per cent and 4.2 per cent of global GDP in 1950 in Purchasing Power Parity
(PPP$) terms. The ratio of Chinas GDP to Indias was 1.18 in 1913 ($241
billion/$204 billion); in 1950 it was 1.08 ($239 billion/$222 billion). Estimates
of per capita income made by Angus Maddison and Dharma Kumar suggest

that India might have had a higher per capita income. However, there was
not a marked difference in the level of human development.
Both countries, in the course of history, have feared foreign domination,
have considered the state as the driver of growth and have suspected the
private sectors initiatives. For India, the problems were achieving unity in
diversity and accommodating various languages and religions in a
democratic set up. On the contrary, Chinas hard state enabled it to pursue a
single goal with determination and mobilise maximum resources to achieve
its goals.
China experienced many problems in initiating industrialisation, but after
some hitches, it switched to an all-round emphasis on heavy and light
industries, and had a more successful resource mobilisation strategy than
India did. As a result, Chinese manufacturing grew at 9.5 per cent, twice as
much as Indias rate, from 1965-80. Also, China managed its agrarian reform
better than India did.
On the whole, estimates by Richard Herd and Sean Dougherty suggest that
China grew at a much faster rate than India did during 1950-79, and Chinese
per capita GDP was more than twice the rate of Indias. This is largely due to
higher growth in Chinese labour productivity and capital deepening. By 1978,
the per capita income of China was estimated at $979; Indias at $966. China
had caught up with India over the 30 years, but not dramatically surpassed
it.
Few people in 1978 could have imagined the monumental economic progress
that China would make because of the economic reforms pushed by Deng
Xiaoping. The reforms stressed the principle of each according to his work
rather than each according to his need, professionalism and efficient
economic management at all levels and the gradual introduction of policy
changes to avoid problems in implementation.
Deng transformed agriculture first and then took on the industrial sector. He
opened up the latter to foreign capital while making room for the growth of
village and local enterprises. Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao and now Xi Jinping have
continued to follow Dengs principles, but with some adjustments. Chinas
economic growth was also made possible by a very large net inflow of
foreign direct investment, a sign of confidence in the Chinese economy by
outside investors. China is the leading nation in exports and the second
largest economy in the world. The countrys per capita income more than
quadrupled, ($5,720 equivalent to about PPP $13,000) and abject poverty

was completely eliminated (though income inequality increased). Chinas

Human Development Index has also risen from .423 in 1980 to .719 in 2013,
according to the United Nations Development Programme 2014.
Against Chinas success, Indias achievement, though significant compared
to what it was before independence, is modest. India also took tentative
steps to modernise its economy in the early 1980s, but these petered out.
Freed from the constraint of food grain availability thanks to the Green
Revolution, India did not manage to apply to its industrial sector the lessons
it learnt in its agricultural revolution using foreign knowledge, relying on
the private sector and deploying subsidies selectively. Instead, foreign
borrowing was used to ease the consumption constraint in the public sector
and to cushion loss-making public enterprises.
Indian policy underwent directional changes in 1991. Prime Minister
Narasimha Rao ushered in reforms which were implemented well by his
Finance Minister Manmohan Singh, who then became the second-longest
serving Prime Minister of India. Indian economic growth accelerated during
the period 1995-2008, but could not maintain the momentum due to political
paralysis of policies that were necessary for economic growth. Gross national
income per capita in 2013 was $1,550 and Indias HDI increased from 0.369
in 1980 to 0.586 in 2013.
The primary difference between the performance of the Indian and Chinese
economy has been the faster growth of capital stock in China. With only a
slight difference in the growth of employment, this translated into a more
rapid growth of capital intensity. The growth of total factor productivity has
also been faster in China. This appears to reflect a greater ease for labour to
move out of agriculture into higher productivity sectors in China than in
India. China has outdistanced India in every area of economic endeavour in
the last 35 years, except in computer software industry and agricultural
research.
Despite international border issues that still exist between India and China,
the two countries are trying to create a cooperative relationship China has
become Indias largest trading partner in 2013, Indias trade deficit with
China is about $38 billion, President Xi has offered $20 billion for investment
in Indian infrastructure and other industries, and a 100-person delegation of
Zhejiang province has signed MoUs with India totalling about $2.46 billion.
India will most probably overtake China as the most populous country in the
world in 2030. China is better placed structurally than India for a good

economic performance, but it is most likely to be much lower than its recent
average performance of about 10 per cent a year. How much lower it would
be would depend on its ability to maintain current labour productivity levels
and the benefits likely to flow from its proposed trans-continental rail system
and other transport-related activities. Troubles in Chinas financial markets, a
declining young and increasing older population as a proportion of the
working age population, increasing wages in general and export industries in
particular, costs associated with cleaning up serious environmental pollution,
increasing competition from other countries in export industries using lowskill and semi-skill labour, lower savings rate and a possibly lower investment
rate will have a negative effect on its growth.
India has an excellent chance of catching up with China if it can increase its
labour force participation rate (particularly women), increase the average
level of education, improve the quality of its labour force through special
training programmes, reduce impediments to let foreign capital participate in
its development process, design policies to cultivate a culture of
entrepreneurship, and reduce corruption at all levels.
The problem in India has always been implementation. In a noisy political
democracy, problems are compounded by the existence of multiple political
parties with no coherent approach to development.
Prime Minister Modi, with his majority in Parliament, has an opportunity to
reignite the engines of economic growth. Even if the Indian economy were to
grow at 10 per cent a year, its GDP at 2011 PPP$ will reach only about 26
trillion in 2030; China can easily reach this by 2022. I dont see India
catching up with China in the next 25 years unless, of course, there is a
massive failure of sorts in China.
China has outrun India in every area of economic endeavour in the last 35
years, except in computer software industry and agricultural research
The defence ministry needs to focus keenly on Made in India
projects without being distracted by Make in India slogans. In
the light of the the categorisation into Buy and Make and Buy
and Make (Indian) in the Defence Procurement Policy and its
implications on indigenisation of defence products in India, critically
comment on the statement. (200 Words)
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar proclaimed recently that the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP)-led government had already cleared Rs 75,000 crore worth

of acquisitions, of which Rs 65,000 crore is in the "Buy and Make (Indian)"

category of the Defence Procurement Policy (DPP). He appeared to suggest
that these systems - which include submarines (Rs 50,000 crore, or $8
billion), artillery guns (Rs 15,750 crore, or $2.5 billion) and anti-tank missiles
(Rs 3,200 crore, or $500 million) - would be indigenous products.
While nobody has explicitly clarified what exactly "Make in India" would be, it
is being interpreted as the licensed manufacture of foreign defence
equipment, which the DPP covers under the categories of "Buy and Make"
and "Buy and Make (Indian)". This is very different from a "Made in India"
product, which is encapsulated in the "Make" category of the DPP, involving
the ground-up development of indigenous defence platforms. It is crucial for
policymakers, strategists, economists and the public to explicitly recognise
this difference. In "Make in India", a foreign arms manufacturer is paid for
transfer of technology and the licence to assemble a platform - say, a
submarine, tank or aircraft - in India. The vendor supplies manufacturing
technology and the jigs and tooling needed for assembling components, subsystems and systems into a full-fledged combat platform. While hard
bargaining sometimes obtains the technology to build some of those systems
and sub-systems in India, vendors would seldom part with the technology to
manufacture complex and high-tech systems, which they developed at
enormous cost. A high proportion of the platform, therefore, continues to be
supplied from abroad.
How "Make in India" plays out is evident from the Sukhoi-30MKI assembly
line in Nashik, where Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) builds the air force's
front-line fighter. While negotiating the contract for 180 Su-30MKIs in the
year 2000 (which later went up to 272 fighters) India - the world's largest
operator of this aircraft - employed all the leverage it had to extract
technology from Russia. Even so, just 51 per cent of the fighter (by cost) is
made in India. Russia insisted that all raw material - including 5,800 titanium
blocks and forgings, aluminium and steel plates, etc - be sourced from that
country. Similarly, HAL builds the fighter's giant AL-31FP engines in Koraput,
Odisha, but is bound by the contract to import 47 per cent of the engine (by
cost), including high-tech composites and special alloys - crucial secrets that
Russia will not part with.
In defence, "Make in India" never provided Indian manufacturers the
capability to upgrade platforms that require fresh technology as time goes
by; in fact, manufacturing licensing conditions usually stipulate that the
buyer can make no alterations. That is why India, which carried out "Make in

India" of the MiG-21 for decades, had to go back to Russia when it upgraded
the fighter. It is on maintenance, repair, overhaul and upgrade that foreign
vendors make their real money, even on equipment that has been licencebuilt in India. It is variously estimated that the MiG-21, over its lifetime, cost
India 20-40 times its purchase cost. The Mirage 2000 is another example of
costs expanding ten- or twentyfold. In contrast, a "Made in India" aircraft like
the Tejas could be continually upgraded without licensing issues, altered and
supplied anywhere in the world.
It is disingenuously argued that India's leverage as the world's biggest arms
importer allows it to dictate terms to foreign vendors, forcing them to part
with proprietary high-technology as a condition for winning a contract. The
strategic nature of defence technology allows that up to a point. Companies
negotiate contracts based on commercial interests; but the export of
technology is controlled by their governments, which mostly regard
technology as a strategic asset. Even when capitals like London or Paris,
which enjoy close strategic ties with New Delhi, are willing to clear
technology export, they are often restrained by the political risk associated
with job losses in a field as sensitive and emotive as national defence. This is
even more pronounced in the current era of defence budgetary cutbacks in
arms-exporting countries, where skilled workmen are already being laid off
due to reduced procurement.
"Made in India", on the other hand, involves conceiving, designing and
building a defence platform in India, creating intellectual property in the
country. In the DPP, "Make" category projects involve Indian-led consortia
developing defence platforms, with the defence ministry funding 80 per cent
of the development cost. While foreign components and systems go into
these platforms, the basic design is custom-tailored for Indian operational
requirements and user preferences. There are seldom "end-user" issues that
dog foreign platforms. Maintenance, repair, spares and overhaul are not such
bugbears, and, having designed the basic platform, the Indian integrator can
continually upgrade it through its service lifetime, evolving it incrementally
into the platform's next generation.
This is not to say that "Make in India" serves no purpose. First, it creates jobs,
a key government goal. Second, building even low-tech defence equipment
creates high-quality manufacturing capability, which goes into creating the
broad-based manufacturing ecosystem that is essential for "Made in India"
projects. Weapon system designers and integrators can then focus on highlevel design, assured that components - from the lowest level of nuts, bolts,

washers and fuze boxes to higher levels of pumps, actuators and sensors are available without needing to import or establish manufacturing units to
supply them.
secretary (defence production), G Mohan Kumar, that at least eight to 10
"Make" projects would be kicked off every year holds the promises of
galvanising the defence industry. While purchasing foreign defence
equipment recklessly all these years, only a handful of "Make" projects have
been conceived so far and none has been shepherded to fruition. The
defence ministry needs to focus keenly on "Made in India" projects without
being distracted by "Make in India" slogans.
Recently the Advisory group for integrated development of power,
coal and renewable energy suggested that the power supply for 24
hours should be a norm and not a scheme. Discuss the challenges
and solutions that lie ahead in realizing this goal. (200 Words)
Power supply for 24 hours should be a norm to be followed literally and not a
scheme. It has asked for renewed and enhanced focus on transmission &
distribution (T&D), as power generation has reached a tipping point.

Supply of power could obviously be increased because the country has

achieved a reasonable level of installed capacity, which is rising further. But
everything will come to nought if the distribution sector continues to be
managed in the manner that it has been so far, says the advisory groups
report.
Transmission infrastructure should stay ahead of generation. New
transmission projects need to be identified, bid out soon. Open transmission
& distribution (T&D) for equal private sector participation. Make transmission
plan for 20-25 years. Strengthen T&D across the country in 5-7 years.
Appropriate financing, capital restructuring of state utilities. Distribution
sector needs PPPs and increased private investment. State-level transmission
and sub-transmission will pave the way for national transmission system
The total investment for development of transmission system is estimated at
about Rs 2 lakh- crore. By 2018-19, an additional investment of Rs 1.2 lakhcrore will be required.
So, the committee has laid stress on private participation in T&D as an
imperative. While the proportion of generation capacity by the private

sector is of the order of 35 per cent, the private-sector transmission capacity

is only three per cent. This needs to be enhanced. New projects need to be
identified and bids offered, says the report. Hinting at a decrease in Power
Grid Corporations monopoly, the committee has suggested apart from the
reserved list of projects given for strategic reasons, the projects coming to
the state-run giant should be as few as possible.
Beyond this small list, all other projects should be opened up for
development by the public, as well as the private sector. It should be
prepared at the earliest, as this will help accelerate the pace of development
of transmission projects, The high-powered committee has advised the best
way to tackle the power supply situation in the country is to have a timebound plan to strengthen the transmission and sub-transmission
infrastructure. It says: Distribution sector reform holds the key to 24x7
power supply, and it needs institutional changes, including privatisation and
public-private partnerships.
The annual financial losses of state utilities stand at close to Rs 80,000 crore.
The committee has suggested the state governments look at alternative
strategies, such as capital restructuring, partial takeover of load and
regulatory intervention for cost-reflective rates.
In the states where access is already reasonably good, the target for
connected loads could be one year. In the next category (the states where
access is not so good), it could be two years; and in the last category, three
years, says the report. Overall, the target for transmission to strengthen
even in the remotest corners of the country is five to seven years.
The committee has also asked for a long-term transmission plan, of 20-25
years, with a mechanism for close monitoring of development. The
mechanism to identify critical transmission constraints, formulate specific
projects and have those executed in the most effective manner, needs to be
put in place at the earliest. Guidelines will be issues by the power ministry
within a month.
A target of installing 63 Gigawatts of nuclear capacity by 2032 has
been reduced to 27.5 Gigawatts and none of the landmark deals
under Indo US nuclear deal envisaged has been struck. The Civil
Liability for Nuclear Damage (CLND) Act, 2010 which contains a
speedy compensation mechanism for victims of a nuclear accident
has been deemed responsible for this deadlock. Analyse why. (200
Words)

A target of installing 63 Gigawatts of nuclear capacity by 2032 has been

reduced to 27.5 Gigawatts and none of the landmark deals envisaged has
been struck. The Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage (CLND) Act, 2010 which
contains a speedy compensation mechanism for victims of a nuclear
accident has been deemed responsible for this deadlock. Specifically,
provisions on recourse liability on suppliers (Section 17(b)) and concurrent,
potentially unlimited liability under other laws (Section 46) have been viewed
as major obstacles in operationalising nuclear energy in India and bilateral
relations with key supplier countries.
Under Section 17(b), a liable operator can recover compensation from
suppliers of nuclear material in the event of a nuclear accident if the damage
is caused by the provision of substandard services or patent or latent defects
in equipment or material. This is contrary to the practice of recourse in
international civil nuclear liability conventions, which channel liability
exclusively to the operator. Specifically, it contradicts Article 10 of the Annex
to the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage
(CSC), an international treaty which India has signed.
That Section 17(b) is contrary to the global norm is undeniable. However
when the global norm itself is inequitable, there are justifiable reasons to
depart from it. The inclusion of Section 17(b) recognises historical incidents
such as the Bhopal gas tragedy in 1984 for which defective parts were partly
responsible. The paltry compensation paid to the victims was facilitated by
gaps in legislation and extraordinarily recalcitrant state machinery. This is
not a peculiarly Indian phenomenon accidents such as Three Mile Island
occurred partially due to lapses on the part of suppliers. More recently,
forged quality certificates were detected for parts supplied to nuclear plants
in South Korea. That Section 17(b) incentivises supplier safety and reduces
the probability of a recurrence of such instances is equally undeniable.
India can retain Section 17(b) while ensuring compliance with its
international legal obligations in two ways. First, the CSC allows countries to
make reservations to certain provisions in treaties despite being signatories
to them. India could make a reservation to Article 10 of the Annex to the CSC
since it satisfies the requisite criteria for making a valid reservation under
the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, thereby excluding its
application. Second, Article XV of the CSC implies that the rights and
obligations of States under general rules of public international law are
exempt from the application of the CSC. One such principle of international
law is the polluter pays principle applicable both to the state and private

entities. The principle comes into operation via the mechanism through
which compensation can be recovered from a polluting entity for the
environmental harm it causes. Exercising either of these options will allow
India to retain Section 17(b) without violating the international treaty regime.
However in pursuing the safety of supply, Section 17(b) goes too far in
keeping liability for suppliers entirely open-ended. If liability on suppliers is
unlimited in time and quantum, the possibility of getting adequate insurance
cover will reduce. Even if such insurance is available, it could make nuclear
energy economically unviable. To address this, Rule 24 of the CLND Rules
dilutes the right of recourse conferred by Section 17(b) by limiting
compensation payable by suppliers to a specified amount and for a specified
time period. Both these are made standard terms of the contract entered
into between the supplier and operator.
Though the end that Rule 24 seeks to achieve is justifiable, the means
adopted are questionable. Rule 24 arguably violates Article 14 of the
Constitution of India because there is no specific power in the CLND Act to
limit liability in the manner that Rule 24 does. Further, the terms of the
contract potentially dilute Section 17(b), which gives operators an
untrammelled right to proceed against the supplier by way of recourse. It is a
basic principle of law that a contract cannot violate the provision of a statute
if it does so, it is opposed to public policy. For these reasons, Rule 24
should be deleted. The limitation on time during which the supplier can be
held liable should be inserted by means of a provision in the main Act. This
will ensure that not just the end but also the means of limiting liability are
legally tenable.
As far as the limitation on the amount is concerned, without Rule 24, the
liability for each supplier potentially extends to the general liability cap of
Rs.1,500 crore. If all suppliers have to be insured up to this value, insurance
costs will be unnecessarily pyramided. To address this, countries with a
history of nuclear power have in place mechanisms to provide for insurance
coverage through international insurance pools where insurers, operators
and states share the risks of an accident, providing access to a wide pool of
compensation. There are about 26 such pools in existence, which also
provide reinsurance to each other. Insurance pools typically require members
to be signatories to an international convention (such as CSC), and to allow
reasonable inspections of their nuclear installations.

While provisions for the creation of a domestic insurance pool for operators
exist in Sections 7 and 8 of the Act and Rule 3, they need to be made explicit
and amended to include suppliers in order to prevent the pyramiding of
insurance premiums. This is particularly relevant to Indias domestic nuclear
suppliers who would otherwise need to individually take out coverage, which
would be prohibitively expensive. In order to access international reinsurance
pools, the Central government could utilise the provisions in Section 43 and
44 of the CLND Act (Power to Call for Information from Operators) to
establish a satisfactory inspections regime.
Finally, Section 46 of the CLND Act contradicts the Acts central purpose of
serving as a special mechanism enforcing the channelling of liability to the
operator to ensure prompt compensation for victims.
Section 46 provides that nothing would prevent proceedings other than those
which can be brought under the Act, to be brought against the operator. This
is not uncommon, as it allows criminal liability to be pursued where
applicable. However, in the absence of a comprehensive definition of the
types of nuclear damage being notified by the Central Government, Section
46 potentially also allows civil liability claims to be brought against the
operator and suppliers through other civil law such as the law of tort. While
liability for operators is capped by the CLND Act, this exposes suppliers to
unlimited amounts of liability. Obtaining insurance coverage for any future
liability costs on account of claims by victims in such a case would be next to
impossible.
Section 46 should thus be limited to criminal liability, and should clarify that
victims who suffer on account of nuclear damage can institute claims for
compensation only under the CLND Act and not by recourse to other
legislations or Courts. A clarification issued by the Attorney Generals office,
if not an amendment to the law itself, will provide much needed assurance to
suppliers while furthering national interest.
The issue of the liability law has, for far too long, been a thorn in Indias
bilateral relations especially with the United States. Mr. Obamas visit
provides a historic opportunity to address these misgivings and meet foreign
governments, as well as the entire supplier community, Indian and foreign,
halfway on the issue. This will signal the seriousness of the Government of
India in setting its own house in order and put the ball firmly in the court of
the supplier community. By putting in place such a comprehensive, fair and
pragmatic legislation on civil nuclear liability, there is no reason why India

cannot reap the long-term benefits of civilian nuclear energy and resolve a
prickly foreign policy issue, the time for whose resolution has come.
U.S. President Barack Obamas visit is an opportunity to address misgivings
over the nuclear liability law and to also meet foreign governments and the
supplier community halfway on the issue.
By putting in place a comprehensive, fair and pragmatic legislation on civil
nuclear liability, there is no reason why India cannot reap the long-term
benefits of civilian nuclear energy and resolve a prickly foreign policy issue.
Topic: ethical concerns and dilemmas in government and private institutions;
laws, rules, regulations and conscience as sources of ethical guidance;
In India, groping and sexual assault are a problem for women who
use buses, especially during peak hours when buses are
overcrowded. Some cities have introduced women only buses to
provide safe transportation for women.
If you are a transport secretary for a state government and has
powers to formulate a comprehensive policy to provide safety
measures and address the issue of lack of safety for women at
public places, especially in public transport, what priority policy
measures will you formulate and why?
Nepals capital has introduced women-only minibuses in a bid to protect
women passengers from sexual assault, the transport operator, who is
organising the service, said on Monday.
Four 17-seater minibuses were flagged off in Kathmandu with large womenonly signs on Jan. 4, and will operate on key routes in the city during
morning and evening rush hour.
Groping and sexual assault are a problem for women who use buses,
especially during peak hours when buses are overcrowded, said Bharat
Nepal, president of the Bagmati Federation Transport Union, which
introduced the service. This is our small initiative to make commuting safe
and secure for female travellers.
Only one of the buses currently has a female conductor, but he said that the
goal was to eventually employ an all-women crew.

In a 2013 World Bank survey, 26 per cent of female respondents aged

between 19 and 35 years said they had experienced some form of sexual
assault on public transport in Nepal.
Critically analyse the factors that led to the partition of British
India. (200 Words)
http://ncert.nic.in/NCERTS/textbook/textbook.htm?lehs3=5-6
Critically discuss how the partition of India in 1947 affected women
from both the sides. (200 Words)
http://ncert.nic.in/NCERTS/textbook/textbook.htm?lehs3=5-6
Write a note on Saint Thyagarajas contribution to Indian classical
music. (150 Words)
Saint Thyagaraja showed the world that nadopasana is a veritable means to
salvation.
The divine composer enshrined nadopasana and nadayoga as path to
spiritual glory in the modern world. Naadam, the primordial sound of life,
elevates the soul through the dwani and that was nadayoga which the saint
poet exemplified.
Knowledge of music must take one to bhakti and that must lead the bhakta
to satsangh, which must be the ultimate yearning of a musically enlightened
soul.
Tracing the connection between the court hall and the concert hall, Mr.
Ramasubramanian in a lighter vein remarked that if there was suswaram in
relationships then people would go to kutchery and if the relationship
deigns to abhaswaram, then they would go to another kutchery as the
courts were once called Yeoman service
Which factors cause Tsunamis? Examine what caused Fukushima
tsunami of 2011 and Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2006. (200 Words)
The earthquake that set off the tsunami which caused the Fukushima nuclear
plant disaster was unleashed by a stealthy nine-year buildup of pressure on a
plate boundary. Part of a fault where two mighty plates on the Earths crust
collide east of Japan was being quietly crushed and twisted for nearly a
decade.

It was this hard to detect activity which caused the fault eventually to rip
open on March 11, 2011 and cause the catastrophe. The deformation
increased the stress in the source region and finally triggered the
earthquake, It had an impact on the occurrence time of the earthquake,
It advanced the time [of the quake] by about one year.
The earthquake, occurring below the Pacific floor about 200 km east of the
east coast city of Sendai, was one of the biggest ever recorded, measuring
9.0 on the moment magnitude scale. The sea bottom shifted by about 88
feet, causing a massive tsunami that sparked the Fukushima disaster and left
18,000 people dead or missing. The fault lies on the Japan Trench, where the
Pacific plate dives beneath the North American plate on which the Japanese
archipelago lies. Subduction faults like these have been responsible for some
of the worlds most devastating quakes.
But they are also notoriously difficult to monitor, given that events are as
rare as they are massive. Centuries may elapse between occurrences, which
mean the danger could be undocumented. They used the data to build a
map of ground movement in the Tohoku and Kanto districts from March 21,
1996 to March 8, 2011 a day before a 7.3-magnitude foreshock.
The team had to strip out seismic noise from relatively smaller earthquakes
nearby in order to expose the background signals -- the long, agonising
deformation on the Japan Trench. The research builds on previous initiatives
to harness GeoNet data, which has millimetric accuracy of land motion. Our
paper proved that a network of GPS stations can monitor a slow event which
may lead to a great subduction earthquake,
It has not yet been proven that a slow event always occurs prior to every
great subduction earthquake.
Considering the myriad glitches faced by the rights to food,
education and employment, do you think is it a right move to enact
right to health as envisaged under draft National Health Policy
2015? In your opinion, what should be governments utmost priority
when it comes to managing the health-care sector in the country?
Justify. (200 Words)
The draft National Health Policy 2015, released by the government to invite
public comments, may pose formidable problems of implementation. It aims
to make health a fundamental right, similar to education, the denial of which
would be justiciable. A National Health Rights Act would assure universal

access to primary healthcare and free drugs through public facilities. The
implementation of the policy would require public health spending to rise to
nearly 2.5 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP), from the present
dismal one per cent, with the Centre bearing about 40 per cent of it. To meet
these expenses, the policy draft wants to introduce a complex system that
relies largely on tax collection but also proposes tapping the services of notfor-profit ventures and trusts. A health cess is suggested, on the lines of the
education cess, on specific commodities such as tobacco and alcohol.
An assortment of secondary and tertiary services are proposed to be bought
by the government from public and private healthcare facilities - though it is
unclear how this differs from the present system of "empanelled" private
hospitals. This system has not proved very effective for various reasons,
including delayed and inadequate reimbursement of the costs. Indeed
private provision and public financing is everywhere a recipe for disaster,
and will serve no interests but that of private healthcare providers.
The new policy acknowledges that the present concept of primary healthcare
covers hardly 20 per cent of the health needs and that heavy out-of-pocket
health expenditure is pushing nearly 63 million people into poverty every
year. It has, consequently, done well to broaden the definition of primary
healthcare to include more services related to reproductive and child health
as well as several infectious and non-communicable diseases. But although
bringing down medical expenses has been listed among the major objectives
of the new policy, it has no ideas on how to do it. It is silent, for example, on
regulating the private healthcare sector.
Considering the myriad glitches faced by the rights to food, education and
employment, it seems puzzling that a right to health is being added to that
list. The country's existing public healthcare infrastructure is in a shambles and is anyway woefully inadequate, being ill-equipped and under-staffed.
Most health centres even at the district level lack basic diagnostic facilities.
Nor do they usually have the essential drugs they need. Though healthcare is
a state subject, most states starve it of resources. Even the Centre, which
recently announced its intention to launch a countrywide programme of free
drug supply, seems to be dragging its feet following a 20 per cent cut in the
sanctioned health Budget for the current fiscal year. In the end, good
healthcare is about effective and well-administered public provision of the
basics. The Centre and states must expand public healthcare infrastructure,
recruit more doctors and paramedical staff, set up new diagnostic
laboratories, and revamp procurement, stocking and distribution of drugs.

At the heart of the ongoing political crisis in Bangladesh are the

unsettled questions from Bangladeshs violent birth in 1971.
Critically comment. (200 Words)
A year after the controversial election that returned the Awami League and
Sheikh Hasina to office for a second term, the political turmoil and
uncertainty refuse to go away. While the Opposition still refuses to accept the
results of an election that it boycotted, the government has certainly not
helped matters. When Opposition leader Khaleda Zia announced a rally to
observe the first anniversary of the election on January 5 as Death of
Democracy Day, the Sheikh Hasina government, which was planning a
Victory Day of Democracy responded by disallowing the protest and
locking up the Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader in her office. Clashes
claimed four lives. The government has now threatened to slap a murder
case on Ms. Zia, which could lead to her arrest. The BNP wants fresh
elections to be held under a non-partisan caretaker government, while the
Awami League insists it will continue in office for its entire term that is to end
in 2019. There seems to be no meeting ground between the two parties,
unable as they are to turn the page on their history of confrontational and
violent politics.
At the heart of the confrontation between the two parties are of course the
unsettled questions from Bangladeshs violent birth in 1971, including the
question of who was on which side in the movement for liberation from
Pakistan. Settling those questions was never going to be easy. But the hamfisted manner in which the Awami League has gone about the task from its
first term in office in 2008, setting up war tribunals that have dispensed
speedy verdicts including the death sentence to several in the senior
leadership of the Jamaat-e-Islami and life terms to others including BNP
leaders, has proved particularly divisive. Despite the nation-halting hartals
and protests, Bangladeshs economy turned in a surprisingly good
performance. The countrys GDP growth was estimated at 6.1 per cent for
the fiscal year ending with June 2014, half a percentage point higher than
what the Asian Development Bank had projected. For 2015, the projection is
higher at 6.4 per cent, on the hope that private sector investment will also
pick up given some political stability. Perhaps Bangladesh might have done
better and set an example for the entire region but for the unending political
conflict. For India, which has seen ties improving with Bangladesh under the
Sheikh Hasina government, the challenge is to ensure that the instability in
Dhaka does not spill over to its territory and pose security problems on its
eastern borders.

Critically analyse the changing role of Saudi Arabia in the Middle

East post Arab Spring, post the surge of the Islamic State and
dipping crude oil prices across the globe. Also examine how has
Indias engagement with Saudi Arabia has evolved in past few years
post above mentioned developments. (200 Words)
Abdullah acceded to the Saudi throne in 2005, when his half-brother King
Fahd passed away. But Abdullah had been the crown prince since 1982 and
was in charge of the kingdom during Fahds prolonged illness in his final
years.
The king of Saudi Arabia is more than a mere monarch. He is the custodian of
the Muslim holy places in Mecca and Medina, and exercises great political
influence in the Islamic world. Since the fall of Egypts Gamal Abdel Nasser in
the late 1960s, Saudi Arabia has acquired a decisive influence in shaping the
regional order in the Middle East. The kingdom has been a strong ally of the
Anglo-Saxon powers and enjoyed great clout in shaping the world economy.
With nearly a fifth of the worlds proven oil reserves and the very low costs of
exploiting them, some have described the king of Saudi Arabia as the
custodian of the worlds oil prices. As has been demonstrated in the last
few weeks, Saudi Arabia remains the swing producer that can unilaterally
determine the international price of oil.
If his predecessors had the reputation for political passivity, King Abdullah
had brought a measure of assertiveness to Saudi Arabias foreign policy.
Amidst growing perception that Saudi Arabia is losing its clout in the oil
market, Abdullah has taken on high-cost oil production around the world,
including shale gas exploitation in the US, by forcing lower prices. This
involves considerable cost to Saudi Arabia in the near term and Abdullah has
been willing to run the risk.
Angered by the American empathy for the Arab Spring and concerned that
Washington might cut a nuclear deal with Iran, Abdullah has acted vigorously
in the region. He sent troops into Bahrain to assist the minority Sunni elite in
putting down a popular revolt. Abdullah offered strong support to the
Egyptian army when it ousted the Muslim Brotherhood government in Cairo
led by Mohammed Morsi. He actively sought to blunt the regional policies of
Turkey and Qatar that backed the Brotherhood.
Fears of rising Iranian power and Tehrans support to Shia formations across
the region saw Abdullah back the Sunni militias in Syria and Iraq. The rise of

Sunni extremism in the form of the Islamic State that threatens the interests
of both Saudi Arabia and Iran has begun to encourage Abdullah to limit the
regional rivalry with Tehran in the last few months.
Over the last decade, Abdullah unveiled a Look East policy that lent Asia
greater salience in the Saudi worldview. Abdullah became the first Saudi
monarch ever to visit China. His trip to India as the chief guest on Republic
Day in 2006 was the first by a Saudi king in more than 50 years.
If Beijing moved with great speed to consolidate the partnership with Riyadh,
the UPA government seemed somewhat slow in seizing the new
opportunities that opened up in Saudi Arabia under Abdullah.
The NDA government, focused as it has been on the immediate
neighbourhood and the great powers, has not devoted sufficient attention to
the Middle East in 2014.
Public sector defence firms have not so far enjoyed great success in
designing and building weaponry for the military, except for naval
warships. Examine why. Also throw light on Indias defence
expenditure and its impact on military preparedness. (200 Words)
Parliament's Consultative Committee on Defence provides valuable insights
into this secret world through the periodic reports it puts into the public
domain. the committee's latest report on defence budgetary allocations
paints a grim picture of a military that is singularly unprepared for the wars it
might need to fight.
Based on official inputs from the armed forces and the ministry of defence,
the committee has found the military critically short of combat platforms like
artillery guns, tanks, missiles, fighter aircraft, submarines and even basic
essentials like boots and bulletproof jackets. It says the money allocated is
wholly inadequate, not just for sorely needed equipment (the capital Budget)
but also for training and day-to-day running of the military (the revenue
Budget). In a stinging rebuke to the government, the committee has virtually
ordered it to allocate the military additional funds.
While these equipment shortfalls stem from decades of underfunding,
throwing money at the military is not the answer. So much equipment needs
replacement that India simply cannot afford to buy it all from the
international arms bazaar. Nor does the defence ministry have the
institutional capacity to handle such large-scale procurement. The answer
lies in prioritising requirements and approaching the global market only for

immediate essentials - for example, light mountain artillery guns, night vision
equipment and submarines. For lower priority equipment, the defence
ministry must galvanise domestic producers, especially the private sector,
telling them precisely what it needs and allowing them the time to develop
that equipment, helping in the process the implementation of the
government's "Make in India" programme.
Public sector defence firms have not so far enjoyed great success in
designing and building weaponry for the military, except for naval warships.
A key reason has been the military's tendency to demand equipment so
sophisticated that even global suppliers, working at the cutting edge of
technology, find it difficult to meet their requirements. This "overspecification" of equipment dramatically raises the cost of equipment,
prolongs the acquisition process and eliminates domestic industry. Were the
military to stop demanding the "outstanding" where the "excellent" would
suffice; India's procurement scenario would dramatically alter. An array of
equipment would come within the capabilities of domestic industry. The
military would be assured of maintenance, overhaul and upgrades through
the life cycle of the equipment rather than relying on foreign vendors who
make more money on life-cycle support than they do on the original sale.
Most crucially, domestic industry would enter a design-and-production
trajectory where their technological capabilities would gradually converge
with top-rung global arms suppliers. This transformation will only occur if the
defence ministry assumes full ownership of this process rather than behave
like the military's procurement arm. Streamlining equipment acquisition
cannot be the new defence minister's primary priority. Nor will it suffice for
Indian industry to undertake manufacture of low and middle technology
products from transferred foreign know-how. Instead, the minister must plan
and promote indigenous design, development and manufacturing capability.
How is the new ordinance on land acquisition legislation the Right
to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition,
Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act (LARR) is different from its
earlier version? Critically examine. (200 Words)
Last week, the Union Finance Minister announced an ordinance to amend the
Land Acquisition Bill that his party, It had many detractors. Private industry
said that it was the biggest obstacle to growth. Most State governments,
including several Congress-led ones, thought it was unworkable.

Several pro-farmer groups, especially significant non-governmental

organisations like the National Alliance of Peoples Movements, whose ideas
had formed the initial blueprint of LARR, have called this a giveaway to the
corporate sector.
LARR was meant to make the acquisition process just. It was designed in the
mode of the other landmark laws on information, education, and food
using a rights-based approach where the primary objective was to deliver
fairness to the people affected by land acquisition. LARR expanded the
definition of project-affected people and expanded the rights, protections
and compensations for people who lose land or livelihood as a result of
acquisition. All these were laudable and necessary. But LARR was also a
purely political and fundamentally bureaucratic approach based on little or
no recognition of some simple economic principles on land markets and on
transaction and opportunity costs. The underlying presumption was that the
price of land matters to the land-loser but not to the land-acquirer; as a
result, LARR raised the price of land acquisition to unsustainable levels.
This price is not simply the money paid for acquisition and rehabilitation and
resettlement. That is just one component of price, its direct component.
There is a second component, an indirect price. This includes (a) transaction
costs, which include the cost of doing social impact assessments, conducting
referenda, running the massive new multilayered acquisition bureaucracy,
etc. and (b) opportunity costs, which arise from the time taken to conclude
an acquisition doing social impact assessments, conducting referenda, etc.
time during which capital is not invested, infrastructure is not created, and
production does not take place. If all the steps defined in LARR were
accomplished in the allotted time, each acquisition would require about five
years; in practice, it could take a lot longer.
The Modi governments ordinance is based on the principle that price
matters to both the land-acquirer and the land-loser. Their interests are
opposed, because the land-acquirer would like to pay the least he or it can
get away with, and the land-loser would like to get the most he or it can
manage. Quite simply, as a matter fact, by splitting the direct and indirect
prices for acquisition and keeping the direct prices unchanged while
attacking the indirect prices.
For the land-acquirer, the ordinance tries to lessen, as much as it can, the
indirect price of acquisition, the transaction and opportunity costs that have
been listed. This it does by weakening or removing the requirements for

social impact assessments and referenda. For the land-loser, the ordinance
not only retains all forms of compensation and resettlement and
rehabilitation, but also grows the number of land-losers eligible for these
lucrative pay-offs by bringing into the ambit of LARR, 13 categories of
acquisition that had been excluded earlier. These include the Land
Acquisition (Mines) Act, the Atomic Energy Act, the Railways Act, the National
Highways Act, and the Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act. These
inclusions were indicated in LARR, but are accomplished in this ordinance.
The reason this ordinance is likely to work in the short term and the reason it
may run into trouble in the long term is the same the underlying land
market in India. Land prices in India are now the highest in the world (with
the possible exception of China), pieces of agricultural land, these market
prices are several times higher than the possible returns from keeping the
land in agricultural use. When these very high prices are quadrupled or
doubled, it creates a windfall for land-losers, a fortune they could never earn
from agriculture. The vast majority of people will be dazzled by the money
and will acquiesce to acquisition. And by vastly increasing the scope of LARR,
by bringing under its ambit several more types of acquisition and many more
people, the government and the BJP can claim to be as pro-farmer as anyone
else.
For the land-acquiring interest be it the private or public sector reducing
the time for acquisition by several years, and thereby reducing the
opportunity cost, is a huge benefit. When this is topped up with the reduction
or removal of the cash cost of social impact assessments and referenda, it
becomes a windfall for the acquirers too. LARR had placed an impossible
double-burden on land acquirers: pay double or quadruple the highest prices
in the world, and wait for several years to begin work on the ground. The first
burden remains and its consequences are grave. What those consequences
may be must be carefully worked out by people competent to do so. But the
second burden has been mitigated by this ordinance.
What, aside from partisan politics, could go wrong? First, the assumption that
everyone responds to price is incorrect in India. There are priceless pieces of
land that no amount of money can buy. The Niyamgiri hill region in Odisha
where the Vedanta mining project ran aground is an example. Without
referenda it may be very difficult to identify priceless land; which means that
deadly face-offs over acquisition will continue to flare up. Second, the social
impact assessment was meant primarily to take stock of the non-landowning project-affected population. Compensating non-owners is a vital and

non-negotiable element of LARR. How that will be achieved without the social
impact assessments remains unclear. Third and most important: the price of
peri-urban land has reached such levels in the most dynamic urban regions
of the country, that just doubling it (even without the added transaction and
opportunity costs) may make many public projects unaffordable and private
projects uncompetitive (especially in a globalised economy). New, creative
methods that make stakeholders out of landholders must be devised,
perhaps by following the better outcomes of some of the experiments being
attempted in some States.
Is this ordinance a better way than LARR? Yes. Is there a better way than
this? Very much so, and it is based on finding State-level solutions rather
than these top-down, one-size-fits-all strategies devised by the Centre. And
above all, as a friend says, what we need are good intentions combined with
clear analysis and hard, detailed work. Unfortunately, all these are in short
supply.
In both Afghanistan and Pakistan, a new generation of jihadis is
emerging which is more radical, better educated, and deeply
committed to jihad. Critically analyse the factors that are luring
them towards jihad and terrorist activities. (200 Words)
The tentacles of jihad continue to spread: from its base in the mountains at
the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, the al-Qaeda now has centres in the
Arabian Peninsula, the Horn of Africa, and then westwards Algeria and
Libya in the north and Mali and Nigeria in the south. The Islamic State (IS) is
firmly established in the Arab heartland across Iraq and Syria; in the Syrian
conflict, it is competing with the al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat Nusra for territory
and supporters.
To participate in this violence, several thousand foreign jihads have joined
these groups. The cadres consist of three types of members: Muslim youth
from across the Arab world and some Asian countries; second-generation
Arab migrants from western countries, and non-Muslims or recent converts
from Europe, the U.S., Australia and even New Zealand.
Scholars have constantly had to revise their explanation for the attraction of
jihad over the last few decades.
We now know that the motivation to join jihad varies with the political and
social context. In some Muslim countries, such as Pakistan, the Gulf and the
tyrannies of West Asia, the political, social and educational environment is

entirely focussed on Muslim victimhood, where horror stories of atrocities

perpetrated, usually by occupation forces (Israeli or American), regularly
feed the sense of grievance and outrage. Often, the state order itself seeks
to divert attention from its own failings or its authoritarian character and
encourages young people to join the jihad, so that their anger and sense of
purpose obtain an outlet in a foreign locale.
Again, second-generation Muslims in western countries are particularly
vulnerable to jihad i blandishments. Observers have noted that young
migrants initially embrace their western environment but then abruptly
reject it and get re-Islamised, alienated by a sense of racial and cultural
exclusion.
For such persons, jihad is truly an uplifting experience as it imparts greater
meaning and purpose to their otherwise disaffected lives. They now engage
in military action in support of a great cause; a jihad i text describes them as
waging an endless struggle to defend widows, orphans, the oppressed,
those forgotten, and those unjustly imprisoned. terrorists believe they are
responding to a spiritual calling: their participation in violence creates in
them a transcendent state in which their rage turns to conviction so that
the weak become strong, the selfish become altruistic. Their messianic
vision reaches its apogee with the final triumph of Islam.
The high level of motivation of jihad is in Muslim lands can only be
understood by realising, they see Islam at the cusp of a special historical
moment when its momentous destiny is being shaped. They see themselves
as playing a role in defining these events. This motivates them to jihad and
martyrdom.
Suicide attacks have proved to be the most efficacious weapon in jihad i
armoury since they make up for the imbalance in conventional capabilities,
inflict high casualties on the enemy, have considerable publicity value, and
intimidate large sections of the target population. Having seen how lethal
they have been in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, they are now the weapon
of choice for jihad i organisations. They have no dearth of recruits. Terror
expert Louise Richardson writes that suicide bombers are not so much
impelled by religious motivation as by a sense of ecstatic camaraderie in
the face of death.
In fact, comradeship is a strong factor in attracting ordinary people to jihad ,
particularly those from western countries who are recent converts. The
appeals on social media directed at western youth focus on adventure rather

than jihad . These videos use gaming language, graphics and effects. They
depict western jihadis in the field in everyday situations jogging, holding
pets, or discussing football and also posing against decapitated heads of
victims or showing images of a multinational execution squad waiting to kill
Syrian air force prisoners. These videos, a commentator says, capture both
the nobility and urgency of joining the fight, juxtaposed with pulse-pounding
images of adventure in battle, so that the IS then becomes a realisation of
the fantasies in the games. Social media, are the command and control
networks of jihad .
It is estimated that about 3,000 young people from the West have joined the
IS over the last year, including 200 women. Most of them have been lured by
powerful messages sent to them through the social media which have
highlighted the great military victories of the IS and the persona of Abu Bakr
al-Baghdadi as caliph. A terrorism expert has noted that al-Baghdadi
represents an apocalyptic vision of revolution, martyrdom and redemption
through violence, which is particularly attractive for some young people.
In both Afghanistan and Pakistan, a new generation of jihadis is emerging
which, is more radical, better educated, and deeply committed to jihad. It is
disillusioned with its leaders for their accommodative approach to
governments and occupation forces. These militants see the IS as totally
uncompromising in pursuing the jihadi agenda; they are enthused by its
military victories, and inspired by the announcement of the caliphate. Indian
Muslims, who have rejected jihad for 35 years, are now being specially
targeted on social media by both al-Qaeda and the IS to participate in jihad
at home and in West Asia. The spectre of global jihad now looms over South
Asia.
Citing an example from your own experience from your school days,
critically comment on the role of educational institutions in
inculcating values in children. (200 Words)
The latest case in point was a gathering organised by the Bharatiya Janata
Partys Yuva Morcha to celebrate the 152nd birth anniversary of Swami
Vivekananda here on Tuesday, where a large number of students from
different schools were made to walk out of their class rooms to be part of the
audience.
Officials in the Department of Public Instruction said there were instructions
from the government to schools against taking students to political functions

and making them stand/sit in the hot sun to welcome, greet or be captive
audience.
Critically examine why did Mahatma Gandhi think Hindustani should
be the national language? (150 Words)
http://ncert.nic.in/NCERTS/textbook/textbook.htm?lehs3=6-6
Discuss the events and other factors that transformed Mohandas
Gandhi into Mahatma Gandhi in South Africa. (200 Words)
Gandhijis encounter with South Africa was an event of destiny-driven supersynchronicity.
This transformation is best described by three eminent South Africans.
Nelson Mandela said: You gave us Mohandas Gandhi; we returned him to
you as Mahatma Gandhi. Hassim Seedat, the great South African student of
Gandhijis life and literature, described it thus: I am proud of the fact that
the worlds biggest diamond was found in our mines, but what we returned
to you as Mahatma Gandhi was an incomparably more precious and polished
diamond. Fatima Meer, Mandelas close associate in the anti-Apartheid
movement and a renowned Gandhian scholar-activist, wrote in her book
Apprenticeship of a Mahatma: A Biography of M.K. Gandhi (1869-1914): On
the 18th of July, 1914, 21 years after his arrival, Mohan accompanied by his
family, left South Africa. He had come to the country as a young man of 23, a
semi-Englishman. His host, on meeting him, had wondered how he could
afford to keep such an expensive-looking dandy. His tastes had continued to
be expensive for a while, but they had changed through the intermingling of
thoughts and experiences. Now he left the country bearing all the signs of a
man who would soon be recognised as a saint. As Christ became the Saviour,
Muhammed the Prophet, Gautama the Buddha, the little boy frightened of
the dark became the Mahatma and paid the price of all Mahatmas.
There was also an Indian who had seen this transformation in Gandhijis life
first-hand, in South Africa itself, and made prophetic observations. Pranjivan
Mehta, his friend and benefactor, and one, who played a catalysts role in
Gandhijis authorship of Hind Swaraj (1909), wrote two historic letters to
Gopal Krishna Gokhale (who, unbelievable though it may seem today, had
mentored both Mahatma Gandhi and Mohammad Ali Jinnah). In the first letter
on November 8, 1909, Mehta wrote: During my last trip to Europe I saw a
great deal of Mr Gandhi. From year to year (I have known him intimately for
over 20 years.) I have found him getting more and more selfless. He is now

leading almost an ascetic sort of life not the life of an ordinary ascetic that
we usually see but that of a great Mahatma and the one idea that engrosses
his mind is his motherland.
We see here that it was Mehta and not Rabindranath Tagore who first
described Gandhiji as a Mahatma. In his second letter on August 28, 1912,
nearly three years before Gandhiji returned to India, Mehta observed: In my
humble opinion, men like him [Gandhi] are born on very rare occasions and
that in India alone.
How did South Africa change Gandhiji? In five seminal ways, each of which
has a continuing relevance for India and the world today. As attested by Hind
Swaraj and the numerous articles he wrote in his journal, Indian Opinion, it
was in South Africa that he understood, and first articulated, the idea of India
and also the true meaning of Indias freedom. India, for him, had to be
inclusive without a trace of discrimination of any kind. And swaraj, for him,
meant a system of cooperative self-rule in which individuals, communities
and the nation strove to create a new sustainable moral civilisation.
Second, after overcoming a spiritual crisis in his life, he became deeply
Hindu, while simultaneously becoming deeply secular, gaining profound
understanding of and unshakeable respect for all the worlds religions. His
ethics-based understanding and practice of faith was very different from the
bigotry being spread by divisive forces today in the name of their respective
religions.
Third, he embraced the credo of truth and fearless nonviolence, not as an
expedient tactic of political struggle but as an indispensable condition to
change the destiny of the human race. So intense was his willpower to
adhere to truth that he had and he alone could have had the audacity
to declare after his return to India, I am a servant of Truth, not a servant of
India. He often explicitly stated that he would disapprove if India deviated
from the path of truth and nonviolence.
Fourth, while preparing Gandhiji for his leadership role in Indias national
liberation movement, life in South Africa made him a true-blooded global
citizen, strengthening the principle that he is among those Indian patriots
who was also an internationalist. He devoured the noblest thoughts from
foreign minds Socrates, Plato, Ruskin, Tolstoy, Wallace, Thoreau, Carlyle,
Emerson and many others. In particular, his correspondence with Tolstoy
attests to Gandhis fascinating journey on the path of internationalism,

which, in later decades, gained breadth unmatched by any other

contemporary world leader.
There is widespread misconception; some of it deliberately spread by
Gandhijis prejudiced critics that he was, while in South Africa, insensitive
towards black peoples own struggle against Apartheid. It is true that some
of his earlier statements were coloured by negative notions about native
Africans; however, he later developed a deep empathy for them. In 1908, he
said that his dream for South Africa was of a free nation, in which all the
different races commingle and produce a civilisation that perhaps the world
has not yet seen. He inspired Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Martin Luther King Jr
and countless other champions of racial equality.
Last, it is in South Africa that Gandhiji redefined the idiom and practice of
politics. Constructive social work; building a community of disciplined and
selfless social servants; uniting Indians of all faiths, castes and linguistic
communities in a common struggle for justice; care for the needy;
empowerment of women; inexpensive ways of healing and healthcare;
insistence on high standards of cleanliness and sanitation (something he
enlarged into his own Swachh Bharat mission after his return to India);
conquering the adversary with love all these and other hallmarks of
Gandhian praxis first took shape in the experimental crucible of his
internship in South Africa.
Examine what historical forces shaped the vision of the Indian
Constitution. (200 Words)
http://ncert.nic.in/NCERTS/textbook/textbook.htm?lehs3=6-6
During the framing of Indian constitution, what were the arguments
in favour of greater power to the provinces? Examine. (150 Words)
http://ncert.nic.in/NCERTS/textbook/textbook.htm?lehs3=6-6
India must have a system that introduces accountability and allows
the public to evaluate the claims of good governance on the basis of
evidence and not mere rhetoric. Examine the possibility, need and
challenges in introducing an index similar to human development
index (HDI) to measure governance in India.(200 Words)
Good governance occupies such a hallowed position that we have christened
(pun-intended) "Good Governance Day." While it is possible to meaningfully
and objectively evaluate a claim of Kerala being better developed than Bihar;

on what grounds can one evaluate the claim that governance in Gujarat is
objectively better than governance in Maharashtra? A prerequisite to make
good governance the benchmark of an effective government is a mechanism
to evaluate and assess the same. Previous attempts by government agencies
have resulted in incomplete or discarded projects. This shifts the onus upon
private institutions and civil society organisations. India must have a system
that introduces accountability and allows the public to evaluate the claims of
good governance on the basis of evidence and not mere rhetoric.
The development of a governance index for Indian states is not limited to
reasons of accountability alone. Tying assistance to good governance
conditionalities is imperative. In a similar vein, a certain amount of central
assistance in India could be conditioned on the governance performance of
states. In this scenario, the political futures and revenue sources of leaders
and governments becomes dependent on their governance performance.
Furthermore, the establishment of a comprehensive data set and index of
governance will effect informed academic research and help develop more
robust theory drawing links between governance and development, lack of
governance and conflict and so on. It can also be used to question policy;
asking how two states with similar human and natural resources end up with
very different levels of security and development.
The simplicity of a ranking system, in other words, is the defining
characteristic that makes it a powerful tool that is easily accessed, digested,
and understood by ordinary citizens to hold their governments to account.
This is fundamentally the reason that ranked indices such as the HDI, Ease of
Doing Business, Corruption Perceptions Index and so on gain front-page
traction in media outlets in India and across the world; and thus become
better tools of accountability, while World Bank's Worldwide Governance
Indicators fail to achieve this level of outreach.
However, before quantitatively evaluating good governance, one has to
conceptualise what good governance means. Some global indices measure
governance by the outcomes it produces - indicators of health, education,
infrastructural development and so on. This is problematic, as it equates
governance with development and thus makes the link between governance
and development tautological. It also ignores, for example, the fact that the
development of the health sector and the under-five mortality rate is not
exclusively determined by public governance; but is often a result of a

complex interplay of societal structure, citizen actions, private sector

performance and public sector efforts.
Thus, there is an urgent need to focus on governance as the interplay of
institutions, processes and mechanisms as opposed to development
outcomes. It is necessary to think about not just what good governance
achieves but particularly on how good governance works and who it works
for.
While acknowledging that institutional processes and mechanisms have
legitimate reason for contextual variation, governance in the Indian context
must acknowledge the normative constructs that are already deeply
embedded in the Indian polity - transparency, decentralisation, human rights
and other normative dimensions of democracy cannot be ignored because of
the intrinsic value that the Indian polity has already ascribed to them. Any
effort to build a governance index must also take into account other factors
unique to the Indian context - the efficiency of the bureaucracy, federalism
and devolution of power through Panchayati Raj, special interest capture,
autonomy and independence of institutions, minority representation and so
on.
Academics, policymakers and other key stakeholders must enter into a
comprehensive dialogue to debate and define governance in the Indian
context before commencing a substantive home-grown project to build upon
existing literature, gather data and design an index. Unless we develop a
rigorous method to quantify the quality of governance and hold government
and politicians to account, the clarion call for good governance is doomed to
failure.
Just like separate railway budget, there is a dire need for a
separate health budget. Critically comment. (200 Words)
Lack of focus on healthcare, especially for mothers and babies, while holding
forth about India's demographic dividend at every investors forum in the
country.
Healthcare Budget was going to be cut by about $950 million, down by about
20 per cent from the Budget allocation of $5 billion.
Just days after the news that the healthcare Budget was to be cut, the
National Health Policy was unveiled. People with incomes of less than Rs
1,640 in rural areas and Rs 2,500 in cities are to qualify for medical
assistance. Primary care is to be free for all. The policy also makes a case for

more than doubling government spending on healthcare from 1.04 per cent
of gross domestic product, among the lowest in the world even among poor
countries, to 2.5 per cent.
In fact, the Lancet Commission on Investing in Health study of 2013 pegged
at $23.6 billion annually what India would have to spend over the next 20
years to achieve a convergence with global levels on infectious disease, child
and maternal mortality rates.
Where would all the money come from? India could redirect at least some of
the subsidies lavishly spent on fertilisers (total subsidy for 2013-14 about
$11 billion) and petroleum (about $13.5 billion over the same period).
Instead of encouraging the excessive use of fertilisers on our farms, and of
liquefied petroleum gas cylinders to the extent that some middle-class
families hook them up to their water geysers or of diesel for SUVs as we have
done historically, we would do better to invest in healthcare.
India's poor performance underlines is both too little money being spent on
healthcare as well as inefficient primary healthcare systems in many states.
India needs to spend significantly more at the "mouth" and also manage the
efficiency of the "stem" that carries that funding to, say, mothers and
children needing neonatal care. Working in UP, the foundation has used
mobile cards, or mobile kunjis, to help health workers disseminate
information to mothers on breastfeeding and the like as well as a recording
of a "Dr Anita" that mothers can call into to get tips on looking after their
babies. States like Tamil Nadu and Kerala, where I have followed energetic
primary healthcare workers making house calls to new mothers on a
reporting assignment years ago, show how it can be done. Rampant
absenteeism of doctors and nurses at primary healthcare centres in many of
India's 640,000 villages cannot perennially be used as an excuse for
withholding funding from healthcare.
With the spread of drug-resistant tuberculosis and antibiotic-resistant
infections to the middle class in the cities, we are at a point when the health
epidemic is about to hit home, even in New Delhi.
With suitable examples analyse how the presence of large Indian
diaspora and shared colonial past have been instrumental in forging
good relationship between India and few countries spread across
the world. (200 Words)

The event will see diplomatic engagement taking place on the sidelines, in
the backdrop of celebrations to mark the centenary of Mahatma Gandhis
return to India from South Africa.
An important session on investment opportunities in India will focus on Mr.
Modis smart city initiative.
Mr. Akbaruddin said bilateral talks with delegates from South Africa, Guyana
and Mauritius would focus on investment and cooperation.
Guyana has sought Indias assistance in setting up a super speciality
hospital and expressed interest in having investments from Indian companies
in the pharmaceutical and construction sectors. India shares a very good
relationship with Guyana. The Vice-President of Mauritius, where a new
government was recently elected, is keen on meeting Mr. Modi. Our ties with
Mauritius are strong as a majority of the people there are descendents of
girmitiyas [Indian indentured labourers who went there in the 19th century],
The key problems confronting higher education in India are quality,
equity, access and financing. In the light of many problems being
faced by Indias premier educational and research institutions,
critically analyse the statement. (200 Words)
The real problem facing IITs a lack of adequate faculty and little cuttingedge research. Even before the indiscriminate expansion of the IITs began,
these institutes faced a shortage of faculty; at times to the extent of 40 per
cent. The IITs face a reverse filtration of talent. The best obtain a B.Tech
degree and either leave for foreign shores or move on to study management.
The second best continue pursuing higher degrees which in turn leads to a
weak research programme. Like IIT Delhi, other institutions of higher
education in the capital have also been in the throes of crisis.
The countrys best university, Delhi University, has been in a state of turmoil
for several years. Its vice-chancellor, who has been responsible for this
continues in spite of accusations of wrongdoing. His presence is demoralising
for academic staff and the student community. Since a university is not about
its buildings but crucially its students and faculty, their alienation damages
the institution irreparably.
The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) faces a crisis because
the earlier vice-chancellor recklessly expanded its scope. While this provides
a false sense of dynamism, for an institution of higher learning, this spells

trouble since it is almost next to impossible to get good faculty in a short

period of time.
These are not isolated institutional problems. They are generic in nature and
can be found to exist in different degrees in almost all institutions. A
shortage of faculty and the use of ad hoc teachers affect almost all
universities.
The highest National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC)-rated
University, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), faces declining standards of
research. The university, whose raison dtre was research, confronts
growing instances of plagiarism because those in authority brush it under the
carpet. The problem is being dealt with mechanically by providing software.
Instead, the real problem is the breakdown in trust between student and
teacher. Many students have little time to spend on their dissertation since
they are working elsewhere and/or preparing for competitive examinations..
All this is symptomatic of a lack of a vision of higher education in the entire
system from the Ministry to the UGC to the institutions of higher learning.
The Ministry and the UGC expect their diktat to run, little realising that their
demands from these institutions may not suit all. One size fits all and
standardisation to achieve standards is anathema to higher education.
Such prescriptions damage the better institutions as has been the case with
the introduction of the mechanical Academic Performance Indicator (API)based recruitment and promotions.
The HRD Ministers conclave with the vice-chancellors of the Central
Universities in September suggested fundamental changes in the running of
these universities. Since the Central Universities are some of the premier
universities in the country, what they do becomes the model for other
universities. Apparently, a council of the vice-chancellors of the Central
Universities, with the Minister of HRD heading it, has been proposed. In
addition, all the Central Universities are to be brought under a common Act,
there is to be a common curriculum, a teachers recruitment board,
transferability of students among these universities and so on. If any of this
is implemented, the autonomy of Central Universities will be severely
eroded.
Transferability of teachers across Central Universities can only spread good
academics thin and lead to a deterioration of quality in established
universities. In an authoritarian system, this can be used to punish teachers

by posting them to remote areas, thus undermining autonomy and leading to

sycophancy.
Our education system is plagued by the separation of teaching and research.
Knowledge is largely acquired through rote learning of notes or reading
books that are a cut-and-paste job. Thus, understanding is at a discount.
Consequently, many Indian intellectuals tend to be derived intellectuals,
recycling knowledge from the West. The result is that the system largely
produces people with indifferent quality and where industry complains of a
lack of skills.
The government has announced a slew of programmes like Make in India
which depends heavily on a strong research and development capability
which in turn requires a dynamic system of higher education. The claim that
India has arrived on the world stage rings hollow without an independent
technology base. It is no wonder then that we are forced to borrow
technology from China for bullet trains or ask the U.S. to help clean our
cities. The Swachh Bharat, Clean Ganga and other such campaigns require
citizenship which a democratic and inclusive education system can deliver
but a purely formal education system cannot. Unless the crisis in higher
education is tackled, the governments best laid plans can be derailed.
Compare and contrast with suitable examples how some of Indias
neighbours across its western border have become the victims of
their own religious and security policies in recent times. (200
Words)
The attack on Saudi has been widely attributed to the Islamic State, with
some reports saying the rebel group has now claimed responsibility for it.
This might be viewed simply as a reprisal for Saudi participation in the U.S.led bombing campaign against IS, but IS has also been seeking to extend the
current conflict in Syria and Iraq into Saudi territory.
In military terms, the Saudi security apparatus is probably capable of
suppressing IS on its own territor, but it is in no position to confront IS at the
ideological level. The problem here is that the IS and the Saudis Islamic
kingdom are ideologically similar, so attempts to challenge IS on ideological
grounds risk undermining the Saudi state too.
The underlying issue is the rival claims of king and would-be caliph. In the
words of two Saudi government supporters: To restore the caliphate, [IS]
would ultimately need to implant itself at the epicentre of Islamic life, the

two holy mosques in Mecca and Medina. Therefore, [ISs] road to the
caliphate runs through the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Inconveniently for the
Saudi monarchy, this challenge from the upstart caliph comes at a time of
uncertainty over the royal succession.
The king and his princes have dug a hole for themselves by harnessing
religion in the pursuit of power. Religious credentials bolstered their claim to
legitimacy and helped them assert their authority. For a long time, those
credentials served them well, but now they are becoming a liability and it
may be too late to unfasten the harness.
In its bid to mobilize resources by auctioning scarce resources such
as spectrum at steep prices the government might be hurting the
common man. In the light of spectrum auctions held in last five
years and governments plan to conduct another auction in near
future, critically comment on the statement. Also examine other
criticisms made against spectrum auction. (200 Words)
The 3G auction held in 2010, for example, fetched a windfall for the
government but dealt a blow to the telecom industry from which it has yet to
fully recover. On that occasion, a limited quantity of spectrum put on auction,
a high upset price and keen competition among bidders combined to push up
the value beyond levels that made business sense for the telecom
companies, that had no choice but to participate. The consequences of that
frenzied round of bidding are still being felt in the form of large loan dues of
banks that funded the bidding, frayed balance sheets of telecom operators
and poor services for consumers as operators cut down investment on
network expansion. The story for the upcoming round is the same as the
government attempts to exploit scarcity value to maximise its own revenues.
Not only is the price set for the three bands 800 MHz, 900 MHz and 1,800
MHz considerably higher than what was recommended by the Telecom
Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) but the quantum of spectrum on offer is
also limited, especially in the crucial 900 MHz band.
At least three operators Vodafone, Idea and Bharti Airtel will be bidding
to stay in business as their licences in some circles expire this year. Their
desperation is bound to push up the bidding price, especially if others such
as Uninor and Reliance Jio step into the fray. The government has also
offered just one slot of 5 MHz in the 2,100 MHz band which is critical for 3G
operations and has said that it will release a further 15 MHz later. The
strategy is obviously to capitalise on the scarcity value now. While optimising

revenues for a public asset such as spectrum is not wrong, the attempt here
seems to be to maximise them which can come only at the cost of the
industry and consumers, as experience shows. There is time still to change
things as the Cabinet will be meeting soon to clear the pricing of the 2,100
MHz band. The government should strive to put on auction the entire 20 MHz
that it has in the 2,100 MHz band and also fix the upset price at realistic
levels. Quite apart from this, serious thought should be given also to the TRAI
recommendation to reduce the licence fee from 8 per cent of adjusted gross
revenues to 6 per cent as the present fee was set before the auctions era.
The governments keenness to maximise revenues and to prevent windfall
gains to telecom operators is understandable, but it should be balanced with
the interests of the long-term development of the industry and of the
consumers.
What are the merits and demerits of direct benefits transfer (DBT)
scheme in the Indian context? Enumerate. (200 Words)
The direct benefits transfer (DBT) scheme of the Indian government, said to
be the largest of its kind in the world, was technically rolled out across the
entire country from January 1. It has been initiated with the transfer of the
subsidy for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), meant for cooking gas to the
consumer's designated bank account that is also linked to her Aadhaar
number. This is an important part of the government's programme to pass on
as many subsidies as possible directly to the beneficiary concerned in order
to avoid leakage. There are three legs on which the whole operation stands the consumer's proof of identity as established through the biometric
Aadhaar system, her bank account to which the subsidy will be credited and
the beneficiary details of the service in question, in this instance supply of
LPG cylinders. So far close to 65 million or 43 per cent of the total number of
consumers have registered and till now Rs 624 crore of subsidy has been
disbursed through bank accounts. A massive 728 million people (58 per cent
of the country's 2013 population) have registered under Aadhaar so far. In
the last three months, 103 million bank accounts have been opened under
Jan Dhan Yojana, thus bringing under its ambit 98 per cent of targeted
households. By any measure, all this adds up to a highly credible
technological achievement for any country.
Right now, Aadhaar registration is not compulsory and a sixth of those who
have registered for LPG have not furnished Aadhaar details. They have three
months to do so. Even if a consumer fails to do that, she will not lose her
subsidy for good as it will rest in an escrow account until the paperwork is

complete. These important fallbacks have been introduced so that

consumers can take their time to understand what they have to do and do it
with confidence.
Once the DBT scheme gets fully going, leakages resulting from the existence
of fictitious consumers and impersonation will be virtually abolished. But
more will need to be done to meaningfully target subsidies. The important
task of identifying the deserving in order to make targeting work has to be a
separate exercise and that is likely to prove challenging. Right now an
absurdly huge proportion of households in several states has been
designated as falling below the poverty line and, hence, entitled to many
subsidies. This is a failure of targeting. As only three per cent of Indians pay
income tax, determining incomes for the rest to enable effective targeting
will be both difficult and controversial.
You are elected as Chief Minister with absolute majority. You are
the absolute leader in your party. Your state is infamous for
corruption. The previous government was corrupt and was mired in
controversies regarding corruption scandals. You have come to
power on the promise of rooting out corruption and giving clean
governance.
What short-term and long-term measures will you take to fulfil your
promise to the electorate? Discuss. (250 Words)
Tamil Nadu appears to be a haven for corrupt government officials. The
number of cases investigated by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anticorruption (DVAC) has been going up since 2000 but the number of
convictions has been dropping.
Experts and anti-corruption activists say ineffective investigation, sluggish
judicial system, political pressure and poor law enforcement have resulted in
the steady decline in the conviction rate. In several cases, officials say,
complainants backtracked or withdrew from cases due to pressure from
political parties. In many cases, said sources, the accused "convinces" the
complainant to "settle the case privately", a euphemism for bullying or
compelling a person to withdraw a complaint.
1) Explain the differences between Indias eastern and western
coastal plains. (150 Words)

2) What do you understand by river regime? Explain the differences

between river regimes of peninsular rivers and the Himalayan
Rivers. (200 Words)
3) Critically discuss challenges faced by India and USA in tackling
terrorism and examine agreements signed or arrangements made
between the two to tackle the same. (200 Words)
Mr Obama hopes that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will be concluded in
2015 and ratified by the United States Senate. The TPP will not be as
powerful a free-trade agreement as originally intended, owing to exclusions
and a very long phase-in period. But it will tie the United States and 11 other
Pacific Rim countries (including Japan but excluding China) together in a new
economic bloc. Mr Obama should be eager to stress that India's exclusion
from the TPP is a matter solely of geography - India does not abut the Pacific
- and that the United States wants to increase bilateral trade and direct
investment by American firms.
The second issue is terrorism. The United States authorities are worried that
American citizens who have been fighting with the Islamic State and AlQaeda in West Asia will return home to commit terrorist acts. India has
experienced horrific acts of terrorism on its own territory. Continued
cooperation between the American and Indian intelligence agencies can help
both countries prevent future incidents.
Terrorism includes not just physical violence, but also assaults in cyberspace.
China, Russia and Iran have been the source of frequent cyber attacks on
banks, companies and government agencies; North Korea, the United States
alleges, was behind the recent breach of Sony Pictures' computers. Though
Mr Obama presented evidence to Chinese President Xi Jinping of technology
theft by hackers based in China, the Chinese authorities continue to deny it.
More recently, Russia and others have been planting malware in the control
systems of the United States power grid and other sensitive networks.
Looking ahead, the United States worries about cyber attacks by non-state
actors like the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda.
The third issue on Mr Obama's mind is bound to be China's asserted goal of
dominating Asia and excluding the United States from the region. Chinese
hegemonic ambition runs counter to India's strategic interests as well. Mr

Obama has already made it clear that the United States understands that Mr
Modi's willingness to cooperate with Russia, despite Western sanctions
imposed on the country, stems from India's desire to discourage a SinoRussian alliance against it.
By contrast, the Modi government plans to pursue a pro-growth agenda that
includes reducing bureaucratic delays, increasing infrastructure investment,
stimulating manufacturing activity and shifting to a simpler unified tax
system.
Cultivating India as a reliable partner in the global economy and in
international affairs is a high priority for the United States as well.
4) Examine how India will benefit if the UN Security Council is
reformed. (150 Words)
India and South Africa on Thursday discussed the need for UN Security
Council reforms especially when 2015 marks the 70th anniversary of the
international body, Syed Akbaruddin, spokesperson of the Ministry of
External Affairs told a press conference here.
In his discussion with Mr. Ramotar, Mr. Modi assured a line of credit worth $
60 million to Guyana for two road and ocean ferry projects in the Caribbean
country. The Centre also decided to include Guyana in the list of countries
whose citizens will get a visa-on-arrival facility. The facility of Electronic
Travel Authorization (e-Visa) has also been introduced to save time.
This years PBD will honour 16 NRIs with Samman Awards. Microsoft CEO
Satya Nadella, who is among those awarded this year, will not attending the
awards function on Friday.
5) Critically examine the nature of some of most recent cyber
attacks on corporations and nations. In your opinion, what
challenges do such attacks pose to governments and to citizens
across the world? (200 Words)
On Monday, November 24, 2014, employees at Sony Pictures Entertainment
(SPE) headquarters in Culver City, California, had a shock when they
switched on their workstations. A red skeleton popped up with a bulletpointed message. Hackers, who self-identified as "Guardians of Peace", said
they controlled all Sony's data.
SPE shut down servers and took its corporate network offline. It suffered
massive damage. Unreleased movies were dumped onto the internet. So

were e-mails, medical records and compensation data for executives. The
personal information of sundry Hollywood stars and entertainers was also
released.
The attack was said to be orchestrated by North Korea (officially the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea, or DPRK) in retaliation for a Sony
comedy, The Interview. This film (released post-hack) is about an
assassination attempt on Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. Then, a hacker
group, "Lizard Squad" forced DPRK off the internet for two days in December.
US President Barack Obama blamed North Korea. The DPRK accused the US
of a counter-attack. The Federal Bureau of Investigation says the Sony
hackers were careless, and revealed internet protocol addresses of DPRK
origin.
Consider the damage. SPE, a $8-billion subsidiary of Japanese parent, Sony
was crippled for weeks. The digital infrastructure was ruined without physical
damage. The release of private data made employees and movie stars
personally vulnerable. There was loss of revenue as copyrighted films were
released. Future plans were compromised. SPE may even be liable for
lawsuits due to the poor encryption of private data of individuals. Insurers
will examine this case closely and it could lead to modifications in industrial
insurance policies and practices.
Iran's nuclear programme was hit by the Stuxnet worm, which targeted
industrial control systems in reactors and research institutions for years.
Stuxnet was very sophisticated. It's said to have been developed by Israeli
and US coders but, of course, there's no confirmation. Stuxnet found
vulnerabilities in specialised chips designed for one purpose.
In 2009, an allegedly Chinese operation, "GhostNet" hacked data off
government servers in many nations. In 2007, Estonia was knocked offline by
a coordinated attack, made by at least a million hacked computers, turned
into a "zombie army". Russia was blamed, given tensions between Estonia
and Russia. Georgia was knocked offline during the South Ossetia Crisis of
2008. Again, Russia had circumstantial motives. In the 1990s, the US hit
Serbian infrastructure to knock out air traffic control and facilitate UN
bombing operations.
Military infrastructure and equipment is heavily dependent on computers and

networks. All military equipment relies to some degree on specialised chips,

or on networks. General civilian infrastructure is also vulnerable.
The global financial system, for example, is networked and interconnected.
Banks, credit cards issuers, financial markets servers, central banks, and tax
authorities and so on all "talk" to each other. Power grids are smart. So are
airport traffic control and airline routing systems, railway networks, traffic
lights and so on.
The "Internet of Things" is also growing. This consists of smart unmanned
devices connected to the internet. It includes items as diverse as industrial
robots, police drones, refrigerators and car navigational systems. Botnet
armies of "things" have already been created.
At least 140 nations have cyber war programmes. The US spends untold
billions distributed across many agencies. It has a Cyber Command, which is
part of Special Operations Forces. The US also has an articulated framework
of "five pillars" for active and passive cyber-warfare. The North Atlantic
Treaty Organization or NATO has a separate "Tallinn manual" developed after
the Estonia episode mentioned above.
While other countries lack similar resources or focus, even small investments
in cyber capabilities can pay off big in offensive terms. And, of course,
defensive capacities in this area are imperative. This is one area of civiliancum-military capability where India cannot afford to fall behind.
Maintaining freedoms and equality before the law in the face of a
severe challenge to security is the most difficult test for any
democratic polity and society. Do you agree with this view? In the
light of recent terrorist attacks on various sections of society in
various parts of the world, critically comment. (200 Words)
The horrific terrorist attack in Paris at the office of the French magazine
Charlie Hebdo is a direct assault on the freedom of speech, thought and
expression, the fundamentals on which all open, democratic societies are
built. Ten staff members at the satirical weekly, including four of its top
cartoonists, were gunned down by masked men who entered the building
and targeted the editorial meeting in what seemed to be a well-planned and
professional operation. They left shouting Allahu-Akbar, killing two policemen
on the street outside before driving off in a getaway car. Since 2006, when it
first published the Danish cartoons of Prophet Mohammed, Charlie Hebdo

had been under threat of violent attacks by Islamist groups. Refusing to be

intimidated, the publication continued to caricature Islam even after a
firebombing in November 2011, just as it also relentlessly lampooned
Christianity and Judaism its Christmas week cover caricaturing the birth of
Jesus was designed to provoke and cause offence.
Self-censorship in order not to hurt religious sensibilities is now the norm in
most parts of the world, so too in India, where media and expressions of
popular culture including cinema, art and writing have to walk the tightrope
daily. In truly democratic societies, this should not be the case, and that is
what Charlie Hebdo believed and practised. Irrespective of what anyone
thinks of its editorial policy, all who believe in freedom of expression and the
democratic way of life must express solidarity with the magazine, and
condemn this unspeakable act of violence against them.
Attacking democratic freedoms is part of a larger agenda. Whether it is alQaeda, IS or any other group, extremist ideology thrives best in a polarised
society. While the inevitable security measures will have to be taken, it would
be most unfortunate if the attack on Charlie Hebdo were to give rise to a
backlash against French Muslims. That would result in precisely what Islamist
groups want an alienated Muslim population that would become a
recruiting ground for their violent cause. Maintaining freedoms and equality
before the law in the face of a severe challenge to security is the most
difficult test for any democratic polity and society.
7) It is said that Indias wildlife conservation model has many
loopholes that only harm wildlife in the end. In the light of
increasing man versus wildlife conflicts that are taking place,
critically examine. (200 Words)
A tigress wore a GPS collar that transmitted the coordinates of her location
by text message several times a day for four months.
Contrary to popular belief that tigers need to live in vast forests, this tigress
was 45 kilometres away from the nearest one, Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve.
The collar stopped functioning after four months, but a camera trap took her
photograph in the same area a year later. She wasnt a lone tiger struggling
to survive in a less than ideal habitat; two other tigers lived nearby. Despite
living so close to humans, she posed no threat to them.

When wild carnivores are found far outside forests, managers and
conservationists often grasp for excuses. Wild animals prefer wild habitats,
we are told. If they are found anywhere else, there must be something
wrong. Lack of habitat, disturbance within forests, and lack of prey are oftcited reasons. They go where there is prey, whether domestic, feral or wild,
and they live in what little cover is available. The only possible impediment
to their survival in landscapes where humans live is the level of tolerance of
people. Our religious and cultural traditions are empathetic of almost all
animals including venomous snakes.
Regional folk deities like Waghoba in western India and Dakshin Ray in
Bengal or a pan-Indian goddess such as Durga bestow sanctity on large wild
cats. Even in an extreme situation like in the Sunderbans, where more people
are killed by tigers than anywhere else, no one demands that all tigers be
killed. Its because of this tolerance that India still has the largest population
of wild tigers in the world despite our high human population.
In comparison, European folk tales traditionally demonise predators, and fear
of them runs deep. Even though human densities are relatively low,
Europeans almost eradicated their carnivores. Brown bears used to be found
throughout Europe except in Iceland and the Mediterranean Islands. By the
mid-20th century, they were holding out in the east, north, and west of
Europe.
From the margins of Europe, wolves have recolonised more than 15 per cent
of the land. Theyve returned to countries from where they had been
declared extinct such as Norway, Poland, Latvia, Germany, and Bulgaria.
Even though brown bears are huge, weighing an average 200 kilogrammes,
they are now the continents most abundant carnivore. About 17,000 bears
roam over 4,85,400 sq.km., about 10 per cent of Europe.
This turnaround was achieved after decades of coordinated legislation, good
law enforcement, and public support for conservation. Instead of
antagonising local people by outlawing their hunting traditions, management
plans incorporated such practices and promoted recovery of animal
populations. And therein lies a lesson for India.
Indias primary conservation model, borrowed from the U.S., is to create
exclusive zones, separating people from predators. Carnivores need plenty of
space, and American parks, free of settlements, are large enough to

accommodate them. They remove any predators found outside designated

wildlife areas that take livestock.
Few parks in India are devoid of settlements and not many are large enough
to maintain good breeding populations. We apply the separation model as it
suits us. People living in forests have to relocate to make space for
predators. But if the state removes carnivores living outside forests, there
wont be many of them left. Our laws and policies guide management of
animals inside forests, but theres no state policy to deal with predators
living amongst people.
After decades of treating their carnivores as vermin, many European
countries worked hard to get them back. We havent yet hit a low like Europe
did, but we are headed that way if we dont turn the ship around. For
instance, tigers, once found across the subcontinent, now range over a mere
2.5 per cent of our country. If the species has to regain at least some lost
ground, we need to do more than focus on protected areas. Biologists
advocate lifting our heads and looking at the landscape. This is also where
numerous people live and they decide if they want to live with predators.
Antagonising them isnt going to achieve conservation ends.
By following a coexistence model, the Europeans not only managed to bring
back carnivores, they have proved it works. Europe now has twice as many
wolves as the U.S., excluding Alaska. More than 12,000 wolves range across
a continent thats half the size of the U.S. and has more than twice the
density of people, 97 people per sq. km. compared to the U.S.s 40. While
protected forests are great for conservation, they cannot be the only
strategy. Its time India learned from the European experience.
Topic: Emotional intelligence-concepts, and their utilities and application in
administration and governance; integrity, impartiality and nonpartisanship, objectivity, dedication to public service
8) You are working as Commissioner of Police in the capital city.
Recently wife of an influential politician of ruling party was found
dead in a five star hotel. Circumstantial evidence has shown that it
is a murder. You are under tremendous pressure to delay the probe.
At the same time you are also being pressurized by the opposition
party to expedite the probe. Some sections of media have also
alleged that you are going slow on the probe intentionally. You are
known for your honesty and integrity throughout your career.

Though you want to speed up the process, some officers involved in

investigating the case are biased and are delaying the whole
investigation and bringing bad repute to you by selectively leaking
false information to the media.
In situation like this, what will you do to ensure fair probe of the
case? Justify your answer. (200 Words)
The belated decision of the Delhi Police to treat the death of Sunanda
Pushkar in January 2014 as a case of murder may have ended the year-long
uncertainty about the fate of a meandering probe that has been bogged
down in forensic and medical investigations, but it also raises troubling
questions about the functioning of the force. Whatever the initial
circumstantial clues that made suicide a more probable cause of death, there
was little justification for the police to delay the registration of a first
information report until a year after she was found dead in a hotel suite. And
even that has been done more than three months after a medical report
categorically said Ms. Pushkars death was unnatural and due to poisoning.
The latest report of December 29, 2014, largely reiterated the finding. While
the circumstances signs emerged that not everything was all right
between Ms. Pushkar and her husband Shashi Tharoor when she had a spat
on Twitter with a foreign journalist just a day before her death did indicate
that she may have been under great psychological stress, there appeared to
be some reluctance on the part of the police to address suspicions of foul
play. There were suggestions that she may have died of a drug overdose,
and adding to the theory was evidence found on the crime scene. Two used
strips of a drug meant to treat panic and anxiety disorders, were found, but it
was neither prescribed for Ms. Pushkar nor was it consumed, as the viscera
analysis showed. It would not have been difficult to trace their origin by
using the batch number or ascertain if it was prescribed for her and by
whom.
The theory that she suffered from Lupus has been proved wrong by the final
report that states categorically that Ms. Pushkar was a normal, healthy
woman with no ailments. It is to be hoped that the police will probe the
evidence that seemed to bolster the suicide theory, besides getting to know
the exact nature of the poison involved, through overseas experts. The
formation of a special team to carry forward the probe from now on is a
positive sign, but the lapse of nearly a year bodes ill for the prospects of
gathering credible and relevant evidence to unearth the whole truth. The

investigation has undoubtedly been tardy, hesitant and overcautious: a clear

sign that it has been weighed down by the stature of Mr. Tharoor. Some
caution is justified when political personages are involved to avoid the
impression of favouritism or vindictive targeting, but it should not be at the
cost of a free and impartial investigation. Sensitivity towards the privacy of
individuals involved cannot detract from the quest for the truth.
1) What do you understand by the Holocaust? Critically analyse the
causes and consequences of the Holocaust. (200 Words)
In one piece of film, from Majdanek concentration camp, we see huge bags
containing human hair. Collected from the murdered, it would have been
carefully sorted and weighed. Nothing was wasted, says the narrator.
Even teeth were taken out of their mouth. Bernsteins film then cuts to a
large pile of spectacles. If one man in 10 wears spectacles, we are asked,
how many does this heap represent? Now, 70 years on, director and
anthropologist Andre Singer has made a documentary called Night Will Fall,
to be screened on Channel 4 later this month, telling the extraordinary story
of filming the camps and the fate of Bernsteins project. But why the film was
scuppered is not very well documented, Mr. Singer says. There are many
theories that have been cited, but without proof. No matter. The film, which
some have called a forgotten masterpiece of British documentary, was
shelved. Bernstein died in 1993 and, according to Mr. Singer, one of his
regrets was not completing his documentary. Footage from his unfinished
film, however, proved key to the prosecution of camp commandants at the
Nuremberg and Lrg trials in 1945. Bernsteins film never got the chance to be
as revered as later Holocaust documentaries; only recently did a team from
the Imperial War Museum complete and digitise it.
Were in an age where such imagery [deeply upsetting and horrific] is so
prolific. I think the imagery in Bernsteins film and mine, if used in the right
context, can only help understanding, We can only truly understand the
horror of war if we use images like this.
2) Critically discuss why Mahatma Gandhiji wanted to identify
himself with ordinary Indians on his return from South Africa and,
the factors that enabled him to become popular among masses and
unite them for the cause of freedom struggle. (200 Words)
The Gandhi who landed in Mumbai was yet to discover khadi or adopt the
short dhoti. And he was a vigorous 45-year-old with a plan to transform India.

This returning Gandhi was different in several ways from the elite Englishspeaking leaders in Mumbai, who greeted him with a mix of admiration (for
his satyagrahas in South Africa) and amusement (at his keenness to identify
with vernacular and ordinary Indians).
If, in the end, the last laugh belonged to Gandhi, there were several reasons.
First, unlike most recognised leaders of the day, Gandhi saw all of India as
one piece, without partiality for one part of India or a section of Indians.
Though he made Ahmedabad his base, starting his Satyagraha Ashram
there, he also strove to regard all of India, and each place in it, as his home.
Within two years of his return, his first major Satyagraha in India was
successfully conducted far from Ahmedabad, in Bihars Champaran district,
on behalf of peasants growing indigo for European planters.
Second, again unlike most recognised leaders, Gandhi had realised by 1915
or earlier that the challenges of independence, Hindu-Muslim unity and caste
equality were interconnected; that Indians would neither attain nor deserve
independence if they continued with religious enmity and caste arrogance.
So he insisted, from 1915, that his ashram comrades would solemnly pledge
themselves against untouchability and for religious harmony.
Third, he knew that the Indian National Congress, created 30 years before
Gandhis return, had fostered inter-provincial understanding at the elite level
but a great chasm separated the elites from the masses.
Fourth, thanks to his years in Britain (where he was a student) and in South
Africa (where his life was transformed), Gandhi saw the British ruling India as
equals, not superiors, as fellow humans, not demons.
Fifth, he grasped the folly of violence. Realising that the empire had a ready
answer for the politics of assassination, which, at the time, tempted highcaste Hindu radicals in Bengal, Maharashtra and elsewhere, Gandhi also saw
that privileging the gun and the sword, which were accessible to a section of
the Indian elites, would only push the vulnerable masses women, the
lower castes and untouchables, the blind, the lame and the impoverished
to the wall. And he warned that killing British men and women would be
followed inexorably by Indians killing one another.
Sixth, Gandhi knew that, to reach his audacious goals, he had to have a large
and gifted team. Luckily, he found a fabulous one: a private team
(including Vinoba Bhave, Mahadev Desai, Kakasaheb Kalelkar, Kishorelal
Mashruwala, Swami Anand, Anasuya Sarabhai and Pyarelal, to name only
some) that brainstormed with him, plus a public team (including
Vallabhbhai Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad, C. Rajagopalachari,
Abul Kalam Azad, Muhammad Ali, Sarojini Naidu, J.B. Kripalani and others
from every part of India). No thick wall separated the two teams. A few

persons belonged to both. Together, the Gandhi-led teams conveyed the

promise to Indias masses and the world outside that a self-governing
India could shine in the world. Gandhi rejoiced in the achievements of his
teammates, aware that when they excelled, he became stronger, not weaker.
Gandhi was able to bond with Indians of different religions, castes and
linguistic backgrounds. Thus, Gandhi became a man for all Indians even
before he returned to India, where he embarked on rail yatras to different
corners of the land.
Seventh, Gandhi never ceased working on himself. He faced and admitted
his mistakes. Personal disappointments only sharpened his prayers to his
maker and deepened his bond with the people of India. His goals soared
beyond himself and his family-by-blood. Much of India became his family-inspirit. Empowering the people of India seemed to be his drive, not becoming
prime minister or president of an independent India.
But Gandhi could not give a normal life to his family-by-blood. And this
became true also for thousands who worked with him or were inspired by
him or strove in other ways for freedom. In thousands of Indian families,
prisons became a greater draw than colleges.
Within months of his return to India, Gandhi sent away his second son,
Manilal, then 22, to distant southern India. His first son, Harilal, having run
up a debt, Manilal had passed ashram funds to the older brother for clearing
it. While Manilal was asked to weave, earn and return the sum he had
removed from the ashram, Gandhi himself fasted in penance for the sons
impropriety. In thousands of Indian homes, domestic tears would water the
plant of Indian liberty.
Chairing a Mumbai reception for the returnee in 1915 was a brilliant lawyer,
six years younger than Gandhi, named Muhammad Ali Jinnah. In fact, Gandhi
and Jinnah had met each other a few months earlier, in London, where
Gandhi had stopped en route to India. Thus, Gandhis relationship with Jinnah
had an earlier origin than his teamwork with colleagues like Patel, Nehru, C.
R., Azad, the Ali brothers, Rajendra Prasad and Kripalani, which started in the
years between 1915 and 1919. But the Gandhi-Jinnah alliance ended in
1920.
The other partnerships lasted longer, yet it is worth recalling that when, in
April 1947, in a final bid to avert Indias partition, Gandhi wanted the
Congress to offer the prime ministership of a united India to Jinnah, the idea
was firmly rejected by all of Gandhis Congress colleagues, barring Khan
Abdul Ghaffar Khan, and was therefore never put to Jinnah. This final
disappointment did not break Gandhis relationship with comrades of three

decades. Accepting that he had been outvoted, he continued to counsel

Nehru, Patel and company, and encouraged them to stay united.
3) Write a note on the important factors that determine the climate
of India. Also examine how the monsoon regime emphasises the
unity and diversity of India in its pattern. (200 Words)
4) Examine the differences between social and farm forestries.
Explain their importance to India. (200 Words)
5) Which factors cause soil erosion, especially in India? Examine the
measures taken to conserve soil in India. (200 Words)
6) In the light of recent economic and political development in Sri
Lanka, critically examine the new opportunities and challenges that
India might find in its southern neighbour. (200 Words)
Incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa had won the island's long-festering civil war
and revived its economy, and his three brothers helped him control the
levers of power - one ran defence, another Parliament and a third the
economy. Mr Sirisena has his work cut out for him. He has powerful allies to
placate. Former (and likely future) Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and
former president Chandrika Kumaratunga will play major roles in the new
dispensation. And his alliance, featuring as it does such wildly disparate
parties, will have sharply differing views on such subjects as war crimes and
devolution.
Mr Rajapaksa's last few years in office were marked by a worsening
relationship between New Delhi and Colombo. The United Progressive
Alliance government was hostage to the Dravida Munnetra Kazagham, which
continually had to demonstrate an anti-Colombo line to its voters. This
hampered New Delhi's realpolitik. Meanwhile, the People's Republic of China
stood by, willing to enable Mr Rajapaksa at every point when India demurred.
This is an old, familiar dynamic - in the Cold War, for example, each side
appeased dictators for fear that if they didn't, and the other side would. Mr
Rajapaksa was not a dictator, but China's deep pockets and willingness to
completely overlook the possibility of war crimes made it a desirable partner.
China aided, first, in the military build-up that prefaced the Sri Lankan army's
final push in the civil war. Colombo's $1.5-billion dockside redevelopment, for
example - part of a $4-billion promise delivered by President Xi Jinping on a
recent visit - is now threatened. Indeed Mr Wickremesinghe said on the
campaign trail that he would cancel it. Much resentment surrounds Chinese

projects, for which mainly Chinese workers have been hired, and the costs of
which are still being disputed.
So, certainly, Mr Rajapaksa's departure presents an opportunity for India. But
it is not a return to status quo ante. China's presence remains, and its power
and pockets remain. All that is gained is a moment in which India can once
again attempt to demonstrate that it is willing to be Sri Lanka's primary ally.
This will need it to step up to make investments in projects such as
Hambantota port - and not run away from them, as it has done in the past.
Critically examine why the Kerry-Lugar-Berman Act (KLB) has been
contentious issue between India and USA. Also critically comment
on the Act. (200 Words)
In two successive daily press briefings the State Department was quick to
stoutly deny that the U.S. Congress had been notified about any such funds
for Islamabad, and to spell out the minutiae of the Kerry-Lugar-Berman Act
(KLB), also known as the Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Act of 2009,
under which the U.S. is authorised to finance its South Asian friend to the
tune of $7.5 billion between 2010 and 2014.
State Department provided certification that the government of Pakistan
was continuing to cooperate with U.S. efforts to dismantle nuclear weaponsrelated material supplier networks and make significant efforts to combat
terrorist groups.Certification of this sort, which Section 203 of the KLB calls
for annually, is a prerequisite for security assistance and arms transfers.
The reason why it is closely watched by New Delhi and Indian media is that it
implies that Islamabad is also preventing al Qaeda, the Taliban and
associated terrorist groups, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed,
from operating in the territory of Pakistan, including carrying out crossborder attacks into neighbouring countries.
Reporting by Congressional Research Services, a non-partisan think-tank in
Washington, suggests that total security related U.S. aid appropriations for
and military reimbursements to Pakistan rose from $989m in FY2009 to
$1.27bn in FY2011 and then dropped off to an estimated $353m by 2014.
In this context it should be noted that there are multiple components to this
layered process: reviews, certifications, waivers, notifications and, finally,
disbursement of funds.

On the other hand the Indian government probably harbours justified

concerns about aid fungibility, the possibility that Pakistan may be diverting
resources towards combat operations on its eastern border given that the
cascade of incoming greenbacks makes their deployment elsewhere in the
country redundant.
8) What do you understand by Gross National Happiness (GNH)
index? Examine the qualitative and quantitative indicators adopted
to measure this index. Also examine why Indias rank in GNH index
is low compared to some of its neighbours. (200 Words)
Calling Bhutan one of the worlds smallest countries, sandwiched between
two of the worlds biggest powers India and China, Prime Minister Tshering
Tobgay, won both cheers and clapping from the crowd at the Mahatma
Mandir hall with his witty remarks.
I know that the GDP of my country is less than the personal wealth of many
of you in the room, However, he said he valued Bhutans gross national
happiness far higher than its GDP, and invited the gathering to invest there.
Bhutan is open for business, said Mr. Tobgay, but only for clean, green
and sustainable businesses, like hydropower, organic agriculture, etc.
Coming after speeches by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and U.S.
Secretary of State John Kerry, both of whom had made battling climate
change the focus of their remarks, Mr. Tobgays speech dwelt on Bhutans
clean and green policies. He said the countrys forests covered 72 per cent
of the area, it was dependent on hydropower, which accounted for 40 per
cent of Bhutans earnings, and the governments carbon-neutral policies
ensured a pollution-free atmosphere for investors.
India ranks 111 in global happiness index, BEHIND Pakistan and
Bangladesh
This unpleasant fact came out in the second annual World Happiness Report
released by the United Nations General Assembly.
The happiest nation was Denmark, which bagged the spot after ousting last
year's winner Iceland. Denmark was followed by Norway, Switzerland,
Netherlands, Sweden, Canada, Finland, Austria, Iceland and Australia in the
top 10 positions, respectively. The least happiest country was Togo.
The Happiness report ranks nations on the basis of six key factors that

include GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, someone to count on,
perceived freedom to make life choices, freedom from corruption, and
generosity.
Enumerate the advantages and disadvantages of decreasing Brent
crude price for India. Also examine why the prices of petroleum and
diesel in India have not been reduced proportionately to that of
reduced global crude prices. (200 Words)
Brent crude oil prices are down almost 60 per cent in the past two quarters,
currently around $51 a barrel, a level not seen in five and a half years. While
many see the fall as a blessing for the macro economy, the decline is not so
good for all businesses and markets. The real benefits can be seen when
prices stabilise, preferably at levels acceptable to both consumers and
producers.
A lower crude oil price for a country like India (a third of our import bill is
crude oil) is certainly beneficial, as it helps macroeconomic management. It
results in lower inflation, gives comfort to the Reserve Bank of India in
cutting interest rates and flexibilities in budget and fiscal management.
Crude oil import in 2013-14 was $165 billion, about 36 per cent of the total
import bill. In AprilNovember 2014, it was $90.3 billion, about 28.3 per cent
of the total import. India also exports petroleum products and in FY14-15 till
November, these were $42.6 bn or a fifth of total exports.
Lower oil and other global commodity prices bode well for containing
inflationary pressure. A 10 per cent reduction in crude oil prices could reduce
Consumer Price Index-based inflation by around 20 basis points (bps)
and bring about a 30 bps rise in gross domestic product (GDP) growth. A $10
a barrel fall in oil prices reduces the countrys import bill and, hence, the
current account deficit by $10 bn or 0.48 per cent of GDP. Fall in oil prices
should also support purchasing power gains, current account stability, fiscal
consolidation and policy rate cuts.
However, on the flip side, the sharp and immediate fall in crude oil prices has
deeper implications on markets and the way businesses and companies
operate. For example, $2 trillion of bank funding is involved in oil exploration
and production activities, including in shale gas. With crude oil falling to
around $50 a barrel, many projects are facing viability issues. When unviable
for a long period, there will be either production cuts or the company might
declare bankruptcy.
It would be wrong to ignore the potential downside risks associated with
lower oil prices. Many oil producers, both companies and countries, are

dependent upon high prices, and we should therefore expect to see an

increase in bankruptcies and sovereign defaults as a result.
When bank funding of such a high magnitude is involved and budgets of oil
exploring companies go haywire, global markets could feel the pinch. All
these risks cannot be measured immediately. Market players also cite cases
of hedge funds which were long on crude oil. In the past couple of months,
they went bankrupt, as instead of cutting their losses, they went on buying
crude oil at every fall, reaching a point where they had to declare
bankruptcy.
All markets across segments will remain highly volatile on currency and
country-specific news.As a country, India for sure stands to gain from lower
crude oil prices. However, currency volatility and global economic slowdown
might impact exports. Beside, India is dependent upon foreign institutional
investor and foreign direct investment inflows, which might get impacted.
Servicing high foreign debt also might be a concern as the rupee weakens.
Overall, he says, India benefiting from a lower crude oil price is too simple a
conclusion, as many other dynamics are at play in the global arena. Several
Indian companies have business deals with foreign oil majors. Their cash
flows could be affected with unviable prices. In India, companies active in the
business of polymers, chemicals and other crude oil derivatives like synthetic
yarn are stuck with high-cost inventories, purchased when crude prices were
high. Products made from those derivatives fetch prices at current market
rates.
Sometimes the governments rely on public sector undertakings
(PSUs) to mobilize resources. In the light of post economic
liberalization that took place in early nineties and its effect on PSUs
in India, analyse if governments reliance on PSUs is a right step
forward in mobilizing resources. (200 Words)
Since 1991, for much of the post-reform period, public-sector enterprises or
PSEs were largely seen as inefficient, a drain on national resources and,
therefore, worthy of either divestment, privatisation or closure.
The mood has changed quite unexpectedly in the last few weeks. First came
the mid-year economic review by the government that underlined the need
for increased public investment to revive the economy - since the private
sector was woefully short of funds, the banking sector was already
overstretched and the governance structure for the much-hyped publicprivate partnership projects exposed them to several kinds of financial risks
and weaknesses. The central exchequer, too, faced a resource crunch that
did not allow the government to spend more money on new projects for fear

of widening the fiscal deficit.

The government, therefore, started looking at the 229-odd operational public
sector companies to check if they could be encouraged to step up
investment by using their reserves. The total cash reserves with these
companies at the end of March 2013 were estimated at Rs 2.66 lakh crore.
Could all of it be used to kick-start some of the stalled projects? This
appeared a tall task since not all of them were operating in areas where new
projects needed to be set up or existing projects were stuck. Most
importantly, the cash reserves with the PSEs were already deployed in
financial instruments, and withdrawing them from those for re-deployment in
new projects might be qualitatively different - but their net incremental
impact on the system would be debatable.
An alternative option, therefore, was to gently persuade some of these public
sector undertakings to declare special dividends, so that the government
could get those resources and channel them for projects that needed to be
set up.
But the sobering thought that must be dawning on government officials is
that tapping the public sector to improve the investment rate can become a
fashionable idea, but the figures tell a different story - of financial problems
and shareholders' negligence made worse by opportunistic use of their
available resources and political interference.
In recent months the use of private drones is on the rise across the
world. Some governments and city administrations are mulling over
regulating flying of such private drones citing security risks.
Critically examine what security risks and challenges these drones
pose and how they can be regulated without infringing rights of
individuals. (200 Words)
The police are considering either regulating or even completely banning the
use of private drones within the city limits citing security reasons. Drones or
Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) could pose a serious threat to security. Ban
on drones is in place in cities like Mumbai.
With the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) barring the use of
drones or any type of UAS in civilian airspace, the city police may soon slap a
ban on the devices in Chennai or subject its commercial users to prior police
clearance procedure after fulfilment of various guidelines for flight.We will
be holding a meeting with DGCA authorities in the coming days and will

announce the final word on drone usage in city limits. Until then we have
advised all drone owners in the city to furnish details on their device to
police,
Drone owners should approach the nodal officer, in this case the Deputy
Commissioner of Police (Security), and necessarily mention the category,
power, flight range, purpose and place of purchase of their drone.
Police are also collecting information on possible selling points of UAS in
Chennai, including grey markets and online dealers.
Topic: Work culture, Quality of service delivery, Utilization of public
funds, challenges of corruption.
12) Many state governments have passed legislations to provide
citizens with right to services where a government department has
to deliver a service in a time-bound manner.
You are working as Executive Officer (also Block Development
Officer). You are told that many Panchayat Development Officers
(PDOs) who are working under you at panchayat level are not
delivering services within time despite there being penalty for
delaying the service delivery. They are ready to pay the penalty. You
come to know that some of them receive bribe and pay the same as
penalty. You are told that PDOs have been driven to taking bribes
due to pressure mounted by elected members of panchayat who
want some share in it. When you enquire few PDOs, they tell you
that panchayat members are the ones who are acting as stumbling
blocks by demanding bribe from them for delivery of each service
such as releasing of payment for beneficiary of Indira Awas Yojana
etc. They tell you that because they can not pay bribe from the
salary money, they delay services to people and make them pay the
bribe. You realize that things are more complicated than you had
thought of.
In this situation, what will be your course of action to provide
citizens a corruption-free administration? Explain. (200 Words)
For time-bound delivery of services to citizens, the Maharashtra Government
has drafted legislation, under which its officials could face a penalty of up to
Rs 5,000 if they fail to provide services to citizens within a designated time.

The draft of the 'Right to Services Act' prepared by the state government's
General Administration department (GAD), says that officials of zilla
parishads, panchayat samitis and gram panchayats, municipal councils,
municipal corporations, nagar panchayats, planning authorities, industrial
townships will come under the purview of this Act.
"Once the Act comes into existence, it would cost government employees
dearly if licences, ration cards, birth- death certificates, caste validation
certificates, etc are not given to citizens within a stipulated time," a GAD
official said. It said the specified time will start from the date when the
required application for a service is submitted to the designated officer or to
a person subordinate to him authorised to receive the application.
The application will have to be duly acknowledged to the applicant in writing
or through electronic means or SMS, specifying date, time, place, unique
complaint number, particulars of receiver of complaint along with stipulated
disposal time frame.
"Every designated officer or his subordinate public servant who fails to
deliver the citizen related services to a citizen within the stipulated time shall
be liable to pay compensatory cost," the draft states.
1) What do you understand by disasters? Differentiate between
natural hazards and disasters. Write a note on the socioenvironmental consequences of earthquakes and their hazard
mitigation measures. (200 Words)
2) What are the different types of droughts? Write a note on the
causes and consequences of droughts. (200 Words)
3) As a quasi-judicial body how has the Securities and Exchange
Board of India (Sebi) performed in fulfilling its mandate? Critically
evaluate. (200 Words)
Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), which often dons the role of
an investigator, is finding itself a subject of intense scrutiny, and several of
its officers and decisions are being probed. In a span of four months, close to
30 Sebi officials have come under the scanner of the Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI), probing for criminal misconduct and conspiracy.

Regulatory officials are aware of their responsibility and are open to scrutiny
but the sheer scale of examination is impeding completion of even the dayto-day tasks,.
The multi-crore Saradha scam has also placed a spotlight on the market
regulator. In a matter related to Bank of Rajasthan (BoR), CBI has also
registered a preliminary inquiry against five Sebi officials. Sources indicate
CBI is examining whether or not the regulator could have ascertained the
loss to investors.
Basing an investigation on only the complaints, without going into the
merits of the case, is harmful for the sanctity of any organisation.
Acknowledging the challenging work environment amid a spate of inquiries
against its officials, Sebi Chairman U K Sinha recently wrote a moraleboosting letter to the staff. Our job is getting tougher by the day. Our
accountability, as well as vulnerability, is very high. I am conscious of the
challenges we have lately been facing with external agencies. Nevertheless, I
am confident that in due course, our solidarity will sail us through these
obstacles,
Following the inquiry related to MCX-SX, former member Abraham had
released a statement to CBI, in public domain, saying Sebi, as a statutory
body, was legally entitled to autonomy. At legal and constitutional levels,
unwarranted intrusion by an investigative agency into a regulatory and
quasi-judicial body like Sebi, which administers the recognition of exchanges
under the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956, and the Securities and
Exchange Board of India Act, 1992, is ultra vires of judicial pronouncements
of the Honourable Supreme Court of India. Preserving the autonomy of Sebi
is important to the financial markets of the country. An investigative agency
like CBI cannot be allowed to tamper with this autonomy,
4) In India, the inter-state migrants whose number is very large face
numerous problems in accessing government services or in being
part of democratic processes such as electoral process. Critically
examine major social, economic and political problems these
migrants face and governments response in addressing these
problems. (200 Words)
The Supreme Court on Monday sought the government's response to an
application on allowing inter-State migrants the same voting privileges, like
postal ballot, accorded to government servants.
Section 20(8) (d) of the Representation of the People Act 1950 read with
Section 60(b) of the Representation of the People Act 1951 allows

government servants and certain other class of persons to vote via postal
ballot following the Election Commission's consent.
Present application seeks the Supreme Court intervention to set up a method
for in-country migrants who leave their constituency for reasons of
work/employment, business, education, marriage, etc. to vote from their
current place of residence.
5) Indias small and marginal farmers have been facing variety of
problems thanks to various factors ranging from climate to policy
matters. Examine these major problems, their cause and also
evaluate governments interventions to address these problems.
(200 Words)
Of Indias 121 million agricultural holdings, 99 million are with small and
marginal farmers, with a land share of just 44 per cent and a farmer
population share of 87 per cent. With multiple cropping prevalent, such
farmers account for 70 per cent of all vegetables and 52 per cent of cereal
output. According to National Sample Survey Office data, 33 per cent of all
farm households have less than 0.4 hectares of land. About 50 per cent of
agricultural households are indebted.
Rain-fed agriculture has been practised since antiquity in India, with Indus
Valley farmers growing peas, sesame and dates. Indias marginal farmers
have been worse off for centuries.
Our policymakers recognised this dependence on rain and formulated
policies focussed on supporting canal-fed crops and improving agricultural
productivity. This they coupled with incentive structures, pricing regimes and
input subsidies. A bewildering array of schemes was launched Small
Farmers Development Agency (1971), Integrated Rural Development
Programme (1980), Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY, 1999) and
the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. Skewed by
a bureaucratic approach, these schemes focussed on creating yearly jobs
and roads, while resisting decentralisation and localised decision-making.
Individual symptoms were mitigated, while long-term food security and
ecological sustainability were ignored.
The Drought Prone Area Programme (1974) was concerned with drought
proofing rather than livelihoods and growth-focussed development. The
National Policy on Farmers (2007) focussed on improving farmer income
through better risk management and an improved price policy.
Implementation, sadly, was lacking, with less than 30 per cent of small and
marginal farmers borrowing from institutional credit systems.

The Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (2011) allocated Rs.10 lakh to each district
to prepare and implement the Comprehensive District Agriculture Plan with
the participation of local panchayats. The discussions were mostly chaired by
the local minister or district collector, with little reflection on farmers needs.
Best practices were mostly ignored.
Farmers in arid regions were encouraged to plant high-yielding wheat instead
of Malwi Ghehu, a local wheat variety, while relying on declining
groundwater. Sixty one per cent of irrigation is now from groundwater, with
the proportion of districts with semi-critical and overexploited groundwater
rising to 33 per cent. The proportion of districts in the critical, semi-critical
and over-exploited category rose from 5 per cent in 1995 to 33 per cent in
2004, according to statistics available from the Central Ground Water Board.
Punjab is well past unsustainability, with 110 blocks out of 137 falling under
the over-exploited category. The Punjab State Farmers Commission (2013)
recommended a substantial crop diversification to cotton, pulses and
vegetables, decreasing area under paddy cultivation by 40 per cent over five
years. Of the Rs.5,300 crore suggested for diversification to dryland crops,
the Centre allocated only Rs.500 crore.
A shift back to dryland agriculture, particularly in western India, is much
needed. Rajasthan, despite low rainfall, is buffering by integrated farming
having subsidiary farm enterprises such as dairy, poultry, sericulture and
goats. States with little rainfall such as Haryana can be encouraged to shift
back to oilseeds and coarse cereals. Rice cultivation could be increased in
rainfed Odisha and Assam, while incentives to promote wheat and rice are
realigned.
With conventional irrigation mostly tapped, drip irrigation is an obvious
solution. By accommodating irregular field sizes and unlevelled topography,
water application efficiency (greater than 70 per cent) can be kept high,
lessening soil erosion. Yield can be increased up to 230 per cent, while
fertilizer efficiency rises up to 30 per cent. However, the high initial cost has
been a significant barrier. With individual loan sizes too small for transaction
costs, banks have been reluctant to provide loans. Bundling farming
households through subsidy schemes like SGSY can help structure such
transactions. Tamil Nadu offers a 100 per cent subsidy for small and marginal
farmers for taking up micro irrigation up to a maximum of 60,000 acres. With
high monetary ceilings in irrigation projects, drip irrigation can be mostly
funded through a revolving subsidy fund, which is based around local selfhelp groups.
Even with existing subsidies, sanction delays can cause installation delays,
with suppliers reluctant unless the full cost is paid. Banks could be
encouraged to advance full loans to government-authorised self-help groups,

without insisting on sanction and release of subsidy. Subsidy adjustment can

occur later, while repayment periods are kept between 10-15 years.
The Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) has been primarily
focussed on breeding higher yielding varieties for rice and wheat, while
mostly ignoring coarse cereals. Funding for research for ICAR and State
Agricultural Universities (SAUs) has been dismal. Most SAUs are in overdraft,
with little accreditation and a growing dependence on ICAR.
A restructured funding scheme, with a focus on Research and Development
in 10-12 crops in dryland agriculture can be encouraged. The Kelkar
Committee in Maharashtra had suggested that funding to SAUs could be
increased by at least Rs.100 crore, to upgrade research facilities and set up
agriculture labour training schools. Mechanisation needs to be encouraged as
well.
Even the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture has been hit by a funds
crunch. This mission would have focussed on mitigating risks associated with
climate change and ensuring food security, with a focus on organic farming
and System of Rice Intensification propagation. Such initiatives need to be
encouraged.
The Working Group on Marginal Farmers (2013) recommended that marginal
cultivators could be encouraged to join Farmer Producer Organisations
(FPOs). Such organisations can be provided interest subvention on loans for a
five year period and exempted from the agricultural produce market
committee cess. Procurement from small and marginal farmers should be
prioritised particularly through regulation for multi-brand retail. Enhancing
their investment credit and matching their working capital requirements
should be a priority. FPOs could be extended collateral free loans of up to
Rs.25 lakh, along with creating a Credit Guarantee Fund for financial
institutions to lend to such institutions.
To foster these shifts, comprehensive ground-up regulatory and social action
is essential. A shift to drip irrigation can be instituted by mandating it for all
sugarcane plantations and fruit orchards. Combining this with micro-irrigation
and horticulture incentives might create demand on-ground. Agriculture can
be further customised through soil test labs at the ground level that provide
advice to farmers on a personalised basis, while promoting greater water
efficiency. Taxes on agricultural machinery should be removed and agrobased industries fostered, with commodity parks created at the district level.
Such social and governmental action can help the marginal farmer peer
beyond penury.
The Rajasthan Panchayati Raj (Second Amendment) Ordinance,
2014 is a major setback to the constitutional mandate of ensuring

gender equality in panchayati governance. Critically comment.

(200 Words)
The Supreme Court recently refused to hear a petition challenging the
Rajasthan Panchayati Raj (Second Amendment) Ordinance, 2014 on
procedural grounds, sending it back to the High Court. The controversial
ordinance introduces a set of educational qualifications of secondary
education in order to be able to contest panchayat elections. For the post of
sarpanch, Class VIII is the minimum qualification, while posts in the zilla
parishad require a Class X pass. The petition is currently being heard by the
Rajasthan High Court. The ordinance was challenged by several nongovernmental organisations and political parties including the Congress.
The rationale of the law is to encourage education and literacy. The problem
is not with the ends, but with the means. Although the ordinance may be
constitutionally valid as the facts are analogous to the reasoning of the
Supreme Court in Javed (2003), it is at the level of policy that the law is
weak. In Javed , the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of a provision
that stipulated that no person who has more than two children could be
elected as the sarpanch or panch of a panchayat. A similar reasoning may be
applied in the case of this ordinance as well. The Javed judgment was
criticised for its reasoning as also its consequences, such as instances where
men gave their daughters up for adoption to be able to contest elections.
Ironically, it is not difficult for those who are influential to obtain false Class X
certificates either.
In India, the right to vote is only a statutory right, but the act of voting is a
constitutionally protected freedom of expression under Article 19, as a
fundamental right. The freedom to vote is inseparable from the freedom to
contest in elections, and hence a policy of encouraging education cannot
arguably prevail over fundamental rights. The law is a major setback to the
constitutional mandate of ensuring gender equality in panchayati
governance where the Rajasthan government has provided for 50 per cent
reservation for women. In rural areas, the literacy rate of women is only 45.8
per cent in tribal areas it is 25.22 per cent as opposed to the
corresponding male literacy rate of 76.16 per cent. The law therefore
excludes the majority of potential women contestants. The educational
qualification norms, on top of the existing massive inequality in literacy
rates, will reduce womens participation in politics. Lastly, several grassroots
activists argue that panchayat governance requires ethical values and an

understanding of local issues gained from experience, more than Class X

certificates.
Contrary to popular perception, it is now said that the stupendous
growth of Indias pharma and information technology sectors is
because of the active but largely invisible hand of the Indian state.
Critically examine. (200 Words)
The current debate in India about how to trigger a quantum jump in
industrial manufacturing activity and, thus, create large-scale employment is
largely centred on ways to reduce the role of the state - in allotting land, in
environmental clearances, in firing workers and so on. Yet the case studies of
two industries that came from origins even smaller than where
manufacturing is today and have become international success stories - the
Indian pharma industry and the Indian information technology (IT) services
industry - proves the opposite point. Neither would have come to their
current stellar role in the Indian economy without the active but largely
invisible hand of the Indian state.
The Indian pharma industry has grown from minuscule revenues in the late
1960s to a world player with an annual revenue of $40 billion (of which $15
billion is in exports) and an activity base of 20,000 plus manufacturing units
employing over 29 million people. The case of the software services industry
is even more striking; it employed just 8,500 people in 1990 and had a
revenue of a mere $165 million (tiny Ireland had a $185-million software
industry at that time). Today, its size is $118 billion, with $100 billion as
exports. The people directly employed in the industry is reported as
exceeding two million, with another seven million employed indirectly. Both
these industries have also created multiplier effects in sectors such as
housing construction, transport services and household goods, as young
chemists and programmers set up homes, and bought cars and home
appliances.
Proponents of the "market economy" will say that the success of these two
industries is an example of what energetic Indian entrepreneurs can achieve
when the government of India steps aside. Proponents of "privatisation" say
that decades of public sector efforts in these industries (Electronics
Corporation of India in the case of IT and Hindustan Antibiotics are often
quoted as examples) came to nothing until the private sector was "allowed"
to participate. To them, this is proof that the government needs to privatise
many other industries as well. And, of course, there are those that say that
the state's only role should be to provide zero income tax on export incomes,
government-sponsored software parks and export zones.
But actual case studies of these two industries tell another story. The rise of

the Indian software services industry can be traced back to two mega
projects sponsored by the Union government: the computerisation of public
sector banks and Indian Railways. These two projects, apart from providing
an impetus to the start-up and growth of hundreds of software development
companies, also had another dimension. Far-sighted government
policymakers like N Seshagiri of what was then called the department of
electronics, the forerunner to the current ministry of IT, insisted that these
applications be built using such technologies as the Unix operating system
and relational database systems; the world was then getting ready for a
paradigm change that would unleash an insatiable wave of demand for
computer programmers well versed in these specific technologies as the
world shifted from mainframe computers to client server computers. Thanks
to the banking and the railway projects, Indian companies had a ready stock
of thousands of software programmers well versed in these new
technologies, who could be immediately deployed on assignments abroad.
The rise of India's pharmaceutical industry is based on similar visionary
moves by the Indian state. In 1970, the government introduced a new
patents Act reforming the 1911 one, which excluded pharmaceuticals and
agrochemical products from eligibility for patents. Patents on molecules,
which are products of chemical reactions or on mere admixtures and the like,
were made non-patentable in India. Only the method of making the product
was patentable. This resulted in the Indian pharmaceutical industry
developing considerable expertise in reverse engineering of drugs that are
patentable as products throughout the industrialised world but not in India.
You need to peer really hard to detect this kind of invisible hand of the state.
Uncovered the role of the American state behind what is generally seen as
the ultimate artifact of entrepreneurial vision, the Apple iPhone. "What
actually makes the iPhone a smartphone, instead of a stupid phone?" And
answers that it is the internet; the Global Positioning System (GPS), which
detects your geographic location; the touchscreen display that makes it also
a really easy-to-use phone. She points out that "the very smart, revolutionary
bits about the iPhone, are all government-funded the Internet was
funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) of the
United States. The GPS was funded by the [United States] military's Navstar
program the touchscreen display was funded by two public grants by the
CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] and the US National Science Foundation",
and in the American pharmaceutical industry,
Critically discuss with suitable examples the need for developing
sustainable tourism criteria in the country in the light of increasing
pollution of ecologically sensitive regions due to tourist and cultural
activities. (200 Words)

Sagar is the largest island in the Indian Sunderbans system, boasting an area
of 251 square km and a population of 2.10 lakh as per the 2011 census.
Despite its size, the erosion of certain parts owing to the rising sea level is
causing its resident concern. In July 2014, at least 10 villages were
submerged in high tide, and this exposed the vulnerability of the island, like
the other smaller islands of the unique ecosystem.
Some recent studies show that on the one hand, the issue of pollution has
not been addressed and on the other, the islands potential of tourism has
not been tapped.
Experts say the number of devotees gathering on a particular beach during
the Mela is five to six lakhs, almost three times the islands population.
Impact of Gangasagar Mela on Sustainability of Sagar Island, published in
2012 in International Journal of Research in Chemistry and Environment,
pointed to an increase in fecal coliform bacteria in the surface water of the
beach used by the pilgrims. The paper said the inhabitants of the island
living near the Mela ground complained of obnoxious smell and
communicable diseases.
The authority needs to limit the gathering according to the capacity of the
Gangasagar Mela ground which depends on infrastructure such as housing,
latrine, toilet and bathing ghat to minimise pollution, tourism potential of
the island under the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria is lso looked at.
One of the major threats by Maoists to India is to prevent or
severely disrupt the holding of elections in affected regions. What
threats do they pose? How has the Election Commission overcome
these threats to conduct free and fair elections in naxal affected
regions? Critically analyse. (200 Words)
Indias general election is the largest exercise of its kind in the democratic
world. This task included every aspect of its planning, including visits to the
naxal-affected States in the run-up to the election. With 716 million voters in
2009 elections, almost 8, 35, 000 polling stations and several million officials
in service, there was no dearth of problems, all of which had either to have
been anticipated or attended to in the shortest period. Time was short, just
76 days.

I do not intend to go into the reasons that have caused the growth of armed
insurgency, a protracted war of sorts, that has been waged against the state
since the 1960s. Its history is complex and arguments, for and against,
continue to be made. Underlying the Maoist philosophy has been its
opposition to the very concept of the democratic state. The Maoist view (and
which still remains) was that it was a peoples war against an unjust
government. Hence, conducting elections was to be opposed by all means
available, and which justified the use of extreme violence. Towards this end,
anyone who opposed its call for a boycott was a potential target, and which
included political parties and candidates, election staff and ordinary voters.
My task was to ensure that the election would be conducted on schedule but
by avoiding the risk of loss of life or limb using all means available.
By 2009, naxal-related violence was estimated to have spread up to 180
administrative districts (out of a total of 610 districts in the country), spread
over nine States Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Odisha, Maharashtra,
Karnataka, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. It was estimated
that there were about 20,000 armed cadres.
The most significant challenge in all this was the open threat by Maoists to
prevent or severely disrupt the holding of elections. It was well recognised
that in the Red Corridor of deeply forested Central India, the Maoist threat
was all too real. Much of the infrastructure that we needed, schools and other
government buildings to set up poll stations, was badly damaged; several
roads, bridges and mobile towers had been blown up. Therefore, the major
issues that concerned us were movement, communication and safety. But
our problems were by no means confined to these remote areas; there were
a number of urban pockets which provided the Maoists shelter and weapons,
and where they were indistinguishable from the population at large. Hence,
our canvas was very wide indeed.
From earlier elections, the Maoists modus operandi was well known. In order
to prevent vehicular movement on arterial roads, they had planted explosive
devices, often deep under road surfaces. Aimed against any and all security
forces, these lethal elements were implanted sometimes at the time of road
laying. Gelatin sticks and explosives, often stolen from sites of mining
operations, were strategically hidden under bridges and culverts.
Compounding our problems were the huge number of landmines the Maoists
had buried under jungle footpaths as well. Further, to specifically deter
voters, Maoists have been known to chop off the fingers of the first voter in

queues at election booths. All of this made political activity, the very life
blood of elections, as hard as possible for political parties. However, the
security forces remained their special targets. By killing them, they could
also loot their weaponry in order to stock their own requirements.
On April 13, 10 policemen were killed when Maoists attacked a bauxite mine
in Koraput district of Odisha, where they also seized explosives. The efforts
that went into the setting up of polling stations in these troubled areas
necessitated attention to detail. These were carried out in the main by
district magistrates/collectors and superintendents of police under the
general supervision of the Election Commission. It is not known to the public
how difficult these duties are or were for our poll officials. Most often
teachers and revenue officials, they had to walk long distances over
dangerous terrain (with electronic voting machines) in order to set up their
stations. Walking became necessary because transportation by road was
infinitely more dangerous. In all these cases, these brave civilian officials put
duty before life, and in my mind, remain the true heroes of the election.
Voter insecurity was another issue that had to be looked into, for if they did
not feel confident enough to come out to vote, the Maoists would have
achieved their aim. Equally important, candidates needed to move around
for electioneering. The constantly fluid situation did not make for easy
movement as the basic precautions they needed to take were being
constantly spelt out to them by the district authorities. This was vital, as
timely information and putting in place alternative plans very often helped
save many lives. We soon realised that a vital requirement was in having
helicopters from the Indian Air Force, thereby reducing the need for long and
dangerous jungle treks. Their use would also help send police officials where
needed, or rescue electoral staff in case of danger. I also wanted two
helicopters to be converted into air ambulances.
The initial response was not too encouraging, but when I explained to the
authorities how the use of helicopters would play a key role in saving lives,
providing deterrence, and ultimately help in strengthening the democratic
process, I was able to get almost everything that I needed. The presence of
the machines was a strong psychological reassurance. I also acknowledge
the
Inspite of the many obstacles, including 17 deaths from Maoist attacks in two
States, elections were held on time. There was 55 per cent polling in the first

phase and 65 per cent in the second. This was quite a good turnout
considering the circumstances, and the press commented on the triumph of
ballot over bullet. Yet, there were violent incidents and loss of life. In 2006,
the Prime Minister described the naxal threat as the greatest internal
security problem that India faced. Between 2006 and 2010, there were an
estimated 9,000 incidents in Maoist-dominated States; in the election year of
2009, when there was also an Assembly election in Jharkhand, there were as
many as 1,100 incidents.
This internal conflict has deeply affected Indias governance, security,
economy and rule of law. In February 2009, the government initiated an
Integrated Action Plan. This involves broad and more coordinated operations
alongside grass-root economic development projects. However, our track
record in understanding this very complex problem has been spasmodic at
best. A much more comprehensive, holistic and sustained policy involving
across-the-board views particularly within the severely affected States, is
long overdue. From the singular point of the conduct of future elections, our
reputation as a successful democratic beacon will henceforth depend on the
ability of the government to find solutions to this growing problem within our
polity.
10) One of your friends who is preparing for civil services exam is
addicted to consuming alcohol. He is a brilliant student, but due to
some problems he is driven to this addiction. Now a days he keeps
telling you that consuming alcohol is not wrong as it is keeping him
away from his problems, moreover he is not abusing or harming
anyone after consuming alcohol.
a) Why is consuming alcohol is perceived as morally wrong among
certain sections of societies? (100 Words)
b) Do you agree with your friends view? How and why you will
persuade him to give up alcohol consumption? (150 Words)
At least 17 people died and over 100 were admitted in various hospitals here
on Monday following a hooch tragedy in villages adjoining Malihabad and
Unnao. The death toll could go up as condition of around 40 people is
reported to be critical even as the State administration suspended over halfa-dozen police and excise department officials on charges of dereliction of
duty.

Police sources said the illicit liquor, which was made in Datli village of
Malihabad, was consumed by villagers of at least half-a-dozen villages in
Malihabad and Unnao on Sunday night and Monday morning.
Many victims are feared to have lost their eyesight.
Senior police and administrative officials visited the hospitals, while at least
seven police and excise department officials posted in Malihabad, including
the circle officer and an inspector, have been suspended. Police have
arrested a person while hunt is on to nab four others who allegedly made the
illicit liquor, sources added.
What do you understand by the continental drift theory? What are
the evidences in its support? (200 Words)
What arguments can be put forward to support the concept of Sea
Floor Spreading as proposed by Hess? How does it differ from
Continental Drift theory? (200 Words)
Scientists believe that the Himalayas are still in the process of
aggradation. Elucidate how Himalayas were formed in light of the
theory of plate tectonics. (200 Words)
Some foreign policy experts argue that Indonesia qualifies as
Indias critical strategic partner in the region. But in recent months
it is being observed that Indonesia is forging close relationship with
China rather than with India. Critically analyse why. (200 Words)
As pointed out by an Indonesian analyst, India-Indonesia relations "remain
mired in neglect". If this persists, then both countries would have missed an
opportunity to work together to shape the emerging security landscape in
Asia.
Reasons for Indonesia qualifing as a critical strategic partner for India. It is a
close neighbour, separated by only 80 kilometres of ocean space. Together
our two countries serve as sentinels of the ocean bridge connecting the
Indian and Pacific Oceans, and dominate the dense sea lines of
communication running across them. They are Asia's two largest and vibrant
secular democracies and share a strong cultural affinity. Just as they have an
instinctive preference for a multi-polar world, so do they wish to ensure a
multi-polar Asia, or what Indonesians describe as a "dynamic equilibrium".

Since India and Indonesia established a Strategic Partnership in 2005, there

has been progress in enhancing maritime cooperation through coordinated
ship patrols and joint exercises. The Indonesian navy participates in the
Indian Ocean Symposium and the Milan joint-naval exercises hosted by the
Indian navy. India has offered to share its capabilities in maritime domain
awareness. The Indonesian army has benefited from training at the Counter
Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School in Mizoram. Training on Sukhois is part
of cooperation between the air forces.
However, security cooperation remains thin and the overall relationship in
terms of political, economic, trade and people-to-people exchanges is well
below expectations. Till date, there are no direct flights between the two
countries, despite 150,000 Indians travelling to Indonesia each year. Trade is
modest at around $20 billion and Indian investment in Indonesia is mostly
flat.
As would be apparent, maritime cooperation between the two countries,
even though modest, is the centrepiece of their bilateral relations. Recent
developments in Indonesia's maritime strategy pose a challenge. President
Jokowi has declared that Indonesia must become a "maritime fulcrum" and a
"power between the two oceans". As a maritime country, he adds, "Indonesia
should assert itself as the World Maritime Axis". It is the first time that an
Indonesian leader has enunciated a maritime doctrine with such clarity.
At the East Asia Summit, President Jokowi further declared his intention to
develop maritime infrastructure and connectivity by "constructing sea
highways along the shores of Java, establishing deep-sea ports and logistical
networks as well as developing shipping industry and marine tourism". In all,
24 deep-sea and other ports are to be built in the next five years.
In theory, this should create expanded opportunities for India to promote
maritime cooperation with Indonesia and offer to play a part in helping build
the latter's maritime capabilities. However, it is China that has emerged as
the likely partner, subsuming Indonesian ambitions into its Maritime Silk
Road (MSR) project. Another attraction for Indonesia is the likely availability
of funds from the newly established and Chinese-sponsored Asian
Infrastructure Investment Bank, of which Indonesia is a founder member and has been pitching for the bank to be sited in Indonesia. "China is willing
to actively participate in Indonesia's process of building a maritime power

and take Indonesia as the most important partner in building the Maritime
Silk Road of the 21st century."
It is learnt that China has agreed to finance the building of several of the
ports identified by Indonesia.
It should be noted that for China, Indonesia is slated to play a key role in the
MSR initiative. A Chinese scholar has described the MSR route in a recent
article: "The MSR will extend southwards from China's ports through the
South China Sea, the Straits of Malacca, Lombok and Sunda, and along the
north Indian Ocean to the Persian Gulf, Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. In other
words, the Road will extend from Asia to the Middle East, East Africa and
Europe and it will mainly rely on ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian
Nations] countries."
India has been ambivalent about participating in the MSR project. Some
analysts see it as a benignly dressed-up version of the String of Pearls
strategy to encircle India. Others believe that we ought to participate and
help shape its contours. Whatever our perceptions, it is necessary to
examine the implications of Indonesia being co-opted into China's maritime
strategy and becoming a platform for an extensive Chinese maritime
presence in our sensitive ocean space. We may need to engage Indonesia in
a frank dialogue about our concerns and also consult our other partners in
the region, including the United States, Japan and Australia, and other Asean
countries. Perhaps this coalition could offer an alternative source for assisting
Indonesia's maritime project.
There is one inescapable conclusion though. India needs to speedily ramp up
its all-round maritime capabilities in terms of modern ports, efficient porthandling facilities and ship-building. Above all, its naval forces must enjoy
enhanced priority in resource allocation for defence.
5) The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), 2014, says only an
average 48.1 per cent of Class V children across India can read a
Class II-level text. From your own experience of school days, or from
observations you might have made in your surroundings, critically
comment on the reasons behind such low levels of learning
outcomes in Indian schools. (200 Words)

Even as the reading levels of schoolchildren have stagnated throughout the

country, Tamil Nadu has seen sharp improvements.
The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), 2014, says only an average
48.1 per cent of Class V children across India can read a Class II-level text.
While this is an improvement from the 47 per cent in 2013, the percentage
shot up to 46.9 from 31.9 in Tamil Nadu.
Though the reading levels in Himachal Pradesh (75.2 per cent) and Haryana
(68.1 per cent) are higher, they do not differ much from 2013. The survey
facilitated by Pratham, a non-governmental organisation, says Tamil Nadu
has made the highest gains.
In Assam, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh, less than 35 per cent of the Class
V children surveyed can read a Class II-level text. The survey covered 5.7
lakh children aged three to 16 from over 34,000 households between
September and December across 16,497 villages in 577 districts.
K. Devarajan, Director of School Education, Tamil Nadu, during 2012 and
2013, said targeted teaching with adequate recruitments had resulted in the
improvements in the State.In the past two years, 40,000 teachers have
been recruited and teachers focus on weaker students. This, along with the
incentives and teaching tools, has made a difference,
The survey does not collect data on reasons for the changes. However, I can
say that in the past two years, Tamil Nadu focussed a lot on improving the
basics in Tamil and Maths in Classes I and II. It may also be the case that the
activity-based learning in government schools is giving results now,
Many arm chair experts believe that cash transfers is the magic
bullet to solve poverty problem in India. Explore the deficiencies in
this approach. (200 Words)
Advocates of unconditional cash transfers claim that they can be both
emancipatory and transformative. They argue that people are quite capable
of making rational decisions. And that this kind of basic income support can
improve their lives.
Robust empirical evidence suggests that access to food, rather than cash,
favours children rather than just adults, and girls, not just boys. Income
support goes a long way in providing a modicum of security to those left out

of the mainstream development process. But the problem with regarding

unconditional cash transfers as transformative silver bullets in themselves is
that we may leave unattended many fundamental requirements of poverty
elimination, without which cash transfers will just not work.
Development is much more about empowering the poor and creating
concomitant conditions that allow them to translate their aspirations into
tangible outcomes. A key part of these conditions is possessing requisite
capabilities to be relevant in a rapidly evolving economy. Transmitting these
skills is a completely different ball game than just transferring cash to the
poor.
What will cash do without forward and backward linkages? Poverty
elimination demands sustainable livelihood options and these require not just
cash but vital inputs (such as water or raw materials or veterinary services)
and a market, where the outputs produced could be sold. It is good to see
the National Rural Livelihoods Mission working not only on skills, but also on
assuring these forward and backward linkages.
Can cash work for the unorganised poor when faced with exploitative
markets? The nexus of interlocked markets presents grievously unfair terms
for them and most of the time they end up making distress sales, getting
even deeper into debt. It is for this reason that recent work on farmers
poverty has focussed so much on building powerful economic institutions of
the poor such as Self-Help Group Federations or Farmer Producer
Organisations, so that they can compete on better terms in the market. A
mere transfer of cash without this major innovation will do the poor little
good.
Can cash work for the unorganised poor when faced with unresponsive
governments? Another reason why the poor need to be organised is to
generate greater accountability of systems of governance that are the
weakest in our most deprived regions. When the poor get organised,
especially when led by women, we get much higher quality of mid-day meals
and primary health centres. Removing poverty without strengthening
systems of public health delivery is almost inconceivable in the poorest
regions of India. And without strengthening Panchayati Raj Institutions,
governance reform and better public service delivery will continue to remain
a pipe dream. The 12th Plan Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat Sashaktikaran Abhiyan
is a source of much hope in this direction.

What will people do with cash where there are no options? One of the
fundamental requirements for cash transfers to succeed is the availability of
affordable high quality options for the poor so that they can choose the best
service provider. But as the repeated experience of the Rashtriya Swasthya
Bima Yojana shows, the poor have hardly any options for proper health care
or for any other basic requirements of life. Indeed, the danger is that the
poor are caught in a terrible web of low quality local, private providers of
health and education. Cash transfers without strengthening quality of service
provision could end up even making things worse in this respect.
In large parts of rural India, market failure is rampant. Here, a range of public
goods and infrastructure need urgent provisioning. The trustworthy
beneficiary of our direct cash transfer cannot arrange for this all by herself.
No one has ever stopped the private sector from going there but there is no
incentive for a profit-seeking capitalist to travel to these impoverished
regions of India. What the markets cannot do, what the private sector will not
do, the State must.
Governments in all developed nations in Europe, the U.S., Canada, Japan,
Australia, South Korea, Singapore and many others have provided their
citizens social security, education, health care, mass transport etc. Such
public investments also generate many positive externalities and spur
private investment; they are indeed, a precondition for it. Cash transfers
cannot be a substitute for this. The challenge we face in India is of massive
government failure in these crucial sectors. We need to extend the process of
reform to these key parts of the economy, where the state is in close
interface with our most vulnerable regions and people.
The almost irresistible seductiveness to the idea of cash transfers is a
reflection of great intellectual, policy and political ennui. Since real change is
hard to come by, why not go with a lazy short cut? Just give everyone a dole.
Which is what unconditional cash transfers are? In fact, cash transfers are
just one element of Indias anti-poverty programmes. They work only when
they are accompanied by other enabling changes, each of which addresses
key elements of the poverty syndrome in India. We have many such
conditional cash transfer schemes, which I strongly support because their
success is contingent upon something more than mere cash transfer: such as
the creation of durable assets under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Guarantee Act; incentivising education of girls and disincentivising their early
marriage in the Ladli Lakshmi Yojanas of many States; or the Janani Suraksha

Yojana that incentivises institutional deliveries. The real challenge is to

reform their functioning and improve their quality, learning creatively from
best practices set up by many States, so that these programmes can deliver
up to their real potential.
In your opinion, why does black money thrive in Indian economy?
Explain the nature of black money that is circulated in India and
examine if encouraging more and more cashless transactions will be
effective in curbing its growth and circulation. (200 Words)
In fighting black money it is critical to understand what black money is and is
not. It is income that is not declared for income tax purposes. This can be
simply tax evasion by a businessman or a professional engaged in legitimate
activity. It can also be much more serious criminal offences like handling
money that fuels trafficking in drugs or humans.
An enormous amount of black money flows in and out of the banking system
and still remains black. A government official can take his family out for a
lavish meal at a five-star hotel or buy the choicest Scotch whisky from liquor
shops with cash taken as bribe. Once these sales enter the books of the hotel
chain or the legitimate foreign liquor importer who pay taxes, the black
money becomes "white". Then if the hotel chain's or the liquor importer's
liaison person pays a bribe to any official functionary (there are ingenious
ways of cloaking it as a legitimate cashless transaction), the amount paid,
which will not be declared by the official as income to the tax authorities,
becomes black money again.
It is widely believed that election costs at least Rs 5 crore and often much
more to contest a parliamentary seat today, whereas the Election
Commission-approved ceiling for such expenditure by a candidate is a mere
Rs 70 lakh.
It is easy to see what such electioneering lets loose. A person who has spent
Rs 5 crore in getting elected will want to recoup that principal, plus inflation
plus a reasonable return to create a corpus with which to fight for his reelection. Thus, in five years he will want to making close to Rs 10 crore in
black money or more. If legislators who rule the country face this kind of
compulsion to generate black money for their own political future, how can
they be expected to put in place a system that will bring an end to the
generation of black money?

It is, therefore, unsurprising that there is a big hole in the rules on

permissible election expenses. While there is a cap on what a candidate can
spend for his election, nothing like that exists for political parties. What is
more, donations up to Rs 20,000 are not treated as donations and can be
reported without any details. So all that a party needs to do to account for,
say, Rs 1 crore, is to claim that it received it in the form of 500 donations of
Rs 20,000 each!
Other rules, in this regard, are either of minuscule size and consequence
(companies can now officially make political contributions) or routinely
flouted (filing returns on expenses within 90 days of an election). There is no
attempt to change the rules where they matter. The entire political class,
across parties, is complicit in this.
The latest proposed amendments to different environment and
pollution related laws to ensure ease of doing business for
industries have given rise to concerns especially among
environmentalists. Critically examine why. (200 Words)
The Union environment ministry has begun work to ensure greater selfcertification and self-regulation by industries. It has also asked state
governments to do away with their licensing powers under environmental
laws. These changes, were being sought to provide ease of doing business
to industry.
In an advisory to all states, issued on December 23, the ministry said
industries should not require mandatory consent-to-establish (CTE)
certificates from state pollution control boards for power connections. In
another order, passed on December 31, it tasked a committee with drafting
rules to allow industries to self-certify and self-regulate their environmental
performance, against the practice of industries being subjected to inspection
and scrutiny by state environmental authorities.
Under the water and air Acts, it is mandatory for industries to obtain a CTE
certificate from the state pollution control board (SPCB) concerned by
submitting a form, along with the requisite documents and fees. This is also
applicable in case of expansion of output or any technological change and is
valid for a particular time limit. Without this certificate, industries cannot
secure a power connection.
At the same time, SPCBs are empowered to carry out inspections and
scrutiny of the workings of these industries. These bodies prosecute

industries found violating environmental laws.

Now, the ministry has issued a clarification stating a CTE certificate isnt
mandatory in every state, while in other states (where it is compulsory), the
provision might be done away with, as these arent the directives of the
Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). In such cases, the government can
only give advisories, as water and air fall under the state list.
The Centres advisory reads: As a result (of the provision), establishment of
coming projects and overall industrial development in the state concerned is
adversely affected. Since in some states, the pre-requisite of CTE certificate
for release of electricity connection doesnt exist, other states might consider
revisiting their provisions in this regard for improving ease of doing
business in the state.
CPCB seem to be concerned not with its duty of reducing pollution but ease
of doing businesses. If an industry does not have a CTE, why should it be
given an industrial electricity connection?
A CTE is used to ensure the site of industry is right. A state wouldnt want to
let a polluting plant come up behind, say, a school. In such a case, it wont
give a CTE. De-linking the CTE from the provision of electricity connection
makes the certificate redundant.Industry has often complained consent
certificates under the air and water Acts have led to a maze of licences at
the state level.
Meeting another long-standing industry demand, the central government has
also tasked a committee to develop norms through which industries will be
able to self-certify and self-regulate their environmental impacts. A working
group of pollution control board members have been asked to finalise a
report on the matter by this month. The group will come up with norms
through which inspection activities of state authorities will be replaced by
third-party audits and inspections. It will also review the frequency with
which these inspections are carried out. It has been asked to consider higher
penalties against industries providing wrong information through the selfcertification regime.The group will also look at the categorisation of
industries, based on their pollution loads..
Many of these changes were recommended by the T S R Subramanian
committee, which had recently reviewed six environmental laws. The panel
had sought state controls based on environmental regulations be done away
with, adding this be done through a new law. As the new orders show, the
Centre has decided to do so through executive orders that help it bypass
legislative amendments, or the passage of a new law.

9) Twelfth five year plan envisaged that nearly half of infrastructure

projects in India would be funded in PPP mode. However recent
evidence suggests falling interests of private players in many
sectors. Comment. Also Suggest alternative mechanisms to fund
infrastructure till the interest in PPP is revived. (200 Words)

The simple economic construct is that a 9 per cent growth aspiration consists
of 4.5 per cent consumption-driven growth and 4.5 per cent investment-led
growth. Of the investment portion, about 60 per cent consists of
infrastructure. Turbocharging infrastructure investments would thus impact
gross domestic product by about 3 per cent.
Three strategies are in order - two short-term, and one medium-term. The
short-term ones are "public expenditure-led infra investments" and "revival
of stalled projects." The medium-term is "restoring PPPs" (public-private
partnerships)." In this context, it seems imperative to consider the case for
reviving public investment as one of the key engines of growth going
forward, not to replace private investment, but to revive and complement it."
The real challenge is to look for sources of funding beyond the Consolidated
Fund of India to drive this strategy. This is where India's public finance
specialists should come forward and draw up a practical action-agenda for
tapping "off-budget" funding options. Surprisingly, the choices are many bilateral and multilateral funding, state governments' own fiscal space, taxfree infrastructure bonds from the market, dedicated funds with the support
of sovereign wealth funds, cash-rich public sector undertakings (PSUs) et al.
Incidentally, central PSUs are reportedly sitting on a cash pile of Rs 2 lakh
crore, which with a 3:1 debt-equity ratio can fund Rs 8 lakh crore worth of
projects.
One of the first tasks for the fledgling National Institution for Transforming
India (NITI) Aayog could be to draw up a creative resource-raising plan that
does not strain the fiscal deficit. Such a strategy, to be effective, also
requires identifying iconic, dynamic and empowered PSU chiefs to drive it.
Many names from the '60s to the '80s era come to mind, of top-notch
bureaucrats, who gave the nation the Navaratna PSUs we are proud of today.
The second short-term strategy is a no-brainer. It is about aggressively
resurrecting the phalanx of "stalled projects". The broad take here is that out
of the initial stock of Rs 25 lakh crore of stalled projects, apparently projects
worth Rs 7 lakh crore have revived, leaving now a stock of Rs 18 lakh crore

still log-jammed. Of this, Rs 11 lakh crore is infrastructure projects. Having

gasped at the enormity of the problem rather late in the day, the United
Progressive Alliance did indeed pump in a dose of political and bureaucratic
adrenaline by activating the Cabinet Committee on Investments, supported
by the Project Management Group (PMG). Somehow, that specific level of
energy and activity is not publicly discernible now.
Three suggestions are in order here; first, it may be a good idea to anchor
the PMG in the Prime Minister's Office; second, staff it with cutting-edge
leadership; third, present a fortnightly report card on the projects that have
been revived.
Finally, the medium-term strategy is unquestionably to get PPPs sizzling
again. To achieve this, it is important to pause after the decade-and-a-half
experience with PPPs and craft a far more robust model based on all we have
learned - encapsulated in this "5R" checklist:

Risk allocation (has to be more equitable between sovereign and

private sector);

Renegotiation (has to be accepted as a part and parcel of the long PPP

journey - handled transparently);

Regulation (has to create level-playing field conditions with

independent sector regulators);

Resourcing (has to reduce dependence on commercial banks by

creating non-bank long-term alternatives);

Rapid-ising (has to enable quicker implementation by removing hurdles

such as land acquisition/environment, and fostering seamless interministerial, and Centre-state co-ordination).

These are a formidable array of tasks, which is the reason it is a "mediumterm strategy". In his maiden Budget, FM allocated Rs 500 crore for an
institution called "3P India", whose mandate should be to address these
issues.
The government envisioned the generation of adequate power needed by
the burgeoning economy when it planned ambitious coal-fired ultra mega
power projects (UMPPs), each with a capacity of 4,000 Mw. A beginning was

made with the identification of 16 such projects in the mid-2000s. Now,

several years later, the story is not so electrifying. The four projects that
were awarded to private players find themselves embroiled in problems,
while the bidding for two others have been scrapped by the government.
Concern over the Design, Build, Finance, Operate, and Transfer (DBFOT)
model of the UMPPs. They pointed out that the DBFOT model did not
apportion risks equitably. All losses go to the power generator and gains to
the procurer, leaving the power producer as a contractor, the letter said.
Given the lack of enthusiasm of private players, the government has now
decided to draft a new standard bid document. All fresh bidding will take
place under its provisions. In a letter to the Power Finance Corporation, the
convenor for the bidding, the power ministry has said that fresh bidding
would now be held according to the new regulations, likely to be drafted
within a couple of months.
Any fresh round of bidding would require to be prepared and agreed upon
upfront not interim, he says. There needs to be clarity on coal price passthrough and power-purchase agreements. The sector cannot afford a bid
document that is standardised every now and then.
The earlier bidders in UMPPs are anxiously waiting for the government to
signal a reform in the UMPP model. There should be an umbrella policy
covering both public sector companies and the private sector that allows any
delay and change in regulation leading to increased or decreased cost of
power production to be passed on, Apart from the bid document, there were
issues regarding land in Tamil Nadu and coal reserve assessment in Odisha,
Of the 16 UMPPs that the earlier government had planned to set up, four
were awarded. The projects at Sasan in Madhya Pradesh, Tilaiya in Jharkhand
and Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh are operated by Reliance Power. The
Mundra UMPP in Gujarat is run by Tata Power. These projects were awarded
on competitive tariff-based bidding and executed through special purpose
vehicles.
Topic: Public/Civil service values and Ethics in Public administration
As an IAS officer, you are posted as CEO of Zilla Panchayat. Its just
been two years since you completed your probationary period. As
CEO you are in constant touch with senior bureaucrats in the
Panchayat Raj and Rural Development department. The secretary of
the department is known for his honesty and uprightness. However,
the director of the department who is also a senior IAS officer is
known for inefficiency and corruption. In one of your meetings with

the director, he advises you to receive the bribe whenever it is

offered to you. He tells you that saying no to bribe is akin to inviting
trouble from some vested interests. He tries to convince you by
saying that it is not morally wrong to receive when bribe is offered
with good faith from satisfied businessmen or a politician.
However, in his opinion, it is morally wrong to demand bribe from
someone whether rich or poor. He tells you that he and his wife, who
is also an IAS officer have received so much in gifts and bribes that
they and their grandchildren can lead a luxury life for generations.
He says that they have never been caught by Lokayukta because
they have never demanded bribe from anyone in their career, hence
they have kept everyone happy.
Critically analyse ethicality of statements made by the director of
your department and explain what advice you would have given to
an young IAS officer if you were in the directors position. (250
Words)
After evading arrest for over four months, dismissed Madhya Pradesh cadre
IAS officer Tinoo Joshi surrendered before the District Magistrate here on
Tuesday.
Arriving on a wheelchair at the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge
D.P. Mishra, Ms. Joshi applied for regular bail citing medical reasons. But, Mr.
Mishra rejected the plea and sent her to judicial custody.
Ms. Joshis counsel, Pratul Shandilya, sought bail on the ground that she was
scheduled to undergo hysterectomy and was in need of medical attention.
He stated that the condition of his client was serious and she suffered from
heart ailment as well.
Opposing the bail plea, counsel for the Lokayukta police, [the prosecuting
agency], L.S. Kadam, said if the court gave her relief, it would send a wrong
signal to the public. The next date of hearing is January 17.
Ms. Joshi and her husband Arvind Joshi are wanted in connection with a
disproportionate assets case. The two are accused of amassing wealth worth
over Rs. 350 crore.
Mr. Joshi was also an IAS officer of the MP cadre. The couple were dismissed
from service in August last year, nearly four years after Income-Tax officials

searched their house here and found cash and documents relating to
property.
Soon after, a special court issued arrest warrants against them as they failed
to turn up even for a single hearing.
The Lokayukta police had filed charge sheet against the couple and 18
others on February 22 last under various sections of the Prevention of
Corruption Act.
The couple reportedly bought agricultural and non-agricultural land at
several places, including near Kanha and Bandhavgarh national parks,
Raisen, Balaghat, Sehore and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, according to an
appraisal report by the Income-Tax department.
They had purchased 25 flats -- 18 in Guwahati, six in Bhopal and one in New
Delhi -- and papers of seven plots at Patel Nagar in central Delhi had been
recovered from their possession. The I-T officials recovered jewellery worth
Rs. 67 lakh and foreign currency worth Rs. 7 lakh in their search, the report
said.
Topic: Ethics in Human Actions; Strengthening of ethical & moral values in
governance; Ethical Issues in international relations & funding
11) a) One mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter. Do
you agree with this view? Justify. (150 Words)
b) If it is unethical to sponsor terrorism in an enemy country, can
outright war with a weaker enemy be considered as ethical?
Critically comment. (150 Words)
Q. Secretary General, you are here even as the world is mourning
the victims of the attack in Paris. You and PM Modi (Prime Minister
Narendra Modi) spoke at the Vibrant Gujarat conference about
global terrorism. How do you think the world can cooperate better,
or has the world failed?
We are deeply concerned about the increasing trend of growing terrorism,
extremism and radicalisation. To address all these we have to be united, to
show that nations are united and solid in addressing all this. At the same
time, we have to mobilise all possible resources and strength to deter.

Unfortunately with all the technological development and communication,

these terrorists are using internet and social media to propagate their hate.
This is very dangerous. The United Nations has adopted a resolution on
global counter-terrorism and we have set up a counter-terrorism centre on
training and assistance, and the Security Council has taken a leadership role
in the case of ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and Levent) or Daesh, in Iraq and
Syria, the UNSC has urged the world, whoever has the capacity and
resources to provide their support. If we dont address ISIL, Daesh and Boko
Haram, and all these terror groups, we will not be able to provide sustainable
development, or protect human rights and human dignity. Terrorism is a
common challenge for humanity.
Q: But is there a global double standard? Because its not just ISIL or
Boko Haram, or the attacks in France or Australia or Canada, but
also the terrorist attacks in the subcontinent. India has sponsored
an international convention of terror is that something you would
recommend?
UNSG: Member states are discussing the matter of just who are the
terrorists and other issues, but at this time rather than spending time and
energy on definitions, these ISIL and other groups have been doing
unspeakable acts of brutality against parts of humanity. It is important that
government authorities take a firm position, show solidarity domestically and
regionally, and in terms of their justice system, they have to ensure that all
these perpetrators should be brought to justice. At the same time it is
important to have good governance and inclusive dialogue with the people
so terrorists and extremist elements may not find any breeding ground on
the basis of peoples grievances.
Q. The problem is that in India as I said, there is a perception of a
double standard. For example, a UN designated global terrorist like
the Lashkar-e-Taiba founder and Jamat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed,
wanted for the Mumbai attacks, was in Lahore addressing a public
rally last month. He is a globally designated terrorist, and was redesignated by the UN just a few weeks agohow is it possible
without any comment from the UN?
" If we dont address ISIL, Daesh and Boko Haram, and all these
terror groups, we will not be able to provide sustainable
development, or protect human rights and human dignity."

UNSG: Well I was shocked when the Mumbai terror attacks took place and
we all expected that all these terrorists would be put to justice. I sincerely
hope that the Indian and Pakistani government authorities discuss this
matter that all the perpetrators should be punished as terrorists, brought to
trial. It is important not to allow room for terrorist groups, radical groups,
armed groups to take such chances with the lapse of the justice system.
Q: But its not just a lapse of the justice system, simply because this
is a UN designated global terrorist, under UNSC resolution 1267,
addressing a public rally. Is the UN mandate being flouted, not just
by the terrorist himself, but by the government?
UNSG: Yes, it is very important that the Pakistan government take necessary
and corrective measures in accordance with the UNSCs designated terrorist
counter-terrorism policies.
Q: Because if the UN allows its mandate to be flouted in this
manner, the UN loses its teeth when it comes to tackling terror
would you agree?
UNSG: It is important that all these resolutions and counter-terrorism
measures be fully implemented by national government and government
leaders must ensure they are engaged with their people so that their
aspirations and grievances are addressed before this kind of radicalisation is
allowed to take place.
Q: Will the UN then take note of this specific example of a
designated global terrorist being allowed by the government to
openly flout the UN resolution?
UNSG: Yes I have already taken note of it.
Q: The UN will celebrate its 70th year under you, its a big thing. At
the same time, there are concerns about the efficacy of the UN, that
it is too large and cant respond to problems swiftly. Will this also
be a year of stocktaking and reform?
This is a very significant anniversary member states have worked hard for
seven decades to provide peace and security, to bring people out of poverty,
and also protect human rights and dignity. We do understand that we have
not fully met the expectations. We are committed to shape the post-2015

millennium agenda with a set of sustainable development goals, covering

economic and the whole spectrum of human life. At the same time we should
do more especially on human rights so that nobody will be left behind.
" It is important that the Indian government should promote the
human rights of those people with diff erent sexual orientation. "
Q: What about Indias own role at the UN. India has long demanded
a seat at the Security Council, along with other countries. Do you
think that is a possibility, and could ever be a reality?
UNSG: I am aware of the aspirations of many member states including India
who really want to see the UNSC reformed in a much more democratic and
representative way. I think it needs the consensus view of member states. If
we consider the drastic changes that have taken place in the last 70 years, it
is necessary for the Security Council to adapt. The question is, the member
states should be able to find the modalities to meet the aspirations of states
like India.
Its a very important issue. The general assembly has taken this up
informally and I have urged them to accelerate the process, so that the
Security Council can be better equipped to address all the changing peace
and security issues.
Q: Many here feel that given the contribution of India to the UN, if
you look at peacekeeping alone, India has contributed to 44 (out) of
the 69 UN peacekeeping missions so far, yet it has been denied the
stature at the Security Council high table, that it would deserve.
UNSG: India has been serving as a non-permanent member of the Security
Council frequently, most recently three years ago, and India has contributed
a lot. By any standard, India is a critically important member state, in terms
of peace and security, we appreciate more than 8,000 peacekeepers working
in many dangerous and difficult circumstances and we also appreciate the
strong contribution for the democracy fund. India is the second largest
contributor in the world to that. We also expect India, one of the fastest
growing economies, to lead our sustainable development process and our
climate change negotiation process.

Q: When you speak of the expectations from India, you have made
strong statements over the past few months on issues in India, for
example violence against women, and here in Delhi have opposed
Indias law criminalising homosexuality in strong terms. Have you
taken up these concerns with Indias leadership?
UNSG: Its a matter of human rights. Human rights is one of the fundamental
principles of the UN Charter, a pillar along with peace and security, and
development. But human rights is the foremost pillar. In that regard, human
rights and dignity should be respected for all the people, regardless of
religion or ethnicity or gender or sexual orientation. It is important that the
Indian government should promote the human rights of those people with
different sexual orientation. The Indian penal code should decriminalise
homosexuality.
As the Secretary General of the UN I have been speaking out to promote the
human dignity of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgenders.
Q: Is that something you have taken up with PM Modi and External
Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj?
UNSG: Yes, it is something we are continuously discussing.
Q: You were at the Vibrant Gujarat delivering an unusual message
to speak about climate change at an investment conference. Are
you hopeful of a world climate change agreement at the conference
in Paris this year, as U.S. Secretary of State Kerry indicated?
" Remember India is no exception you are on the frontlines of the
climate change phenomena. "
UNSG: Yes, I would like to emphasise again that sustainable development
and climate change are two sides of the same coin. If you adequately
address climate change, you will help green growth, and make planet earth
more sustainable.
That is why the UN has for 2015 made its two top priorities sustainable
development and the adoption of a climate change agreement in December
this year. All this must be done in 2015, it is the most important priority for
humanity. We are targeting that by 2030 we should realise a world where
nobody is left behind and with this climate change agreement we can work

towards it. Remember India is no exception you are on the frontlines of the
climate change phenomena.
Q: The resistance in India to a deal on climate change is that its all
very well for developed countries to lecture India on climate change,
but India still needs energy, needs to develop. India is targeting
renewable energy of 100,000MW now. How do you explain it to
them?
UNSG: India has a lot of challenges. First they have several hundred million
in poverty. In Gujarat, I was encouraged that the way PM Modi is leading in
enhancing renewable energy and 100 smart cities, these are very good
policies in line with addressing climate change. I hope with these initiatives
India will join the international community in moving to achieve a climate
change deal.
Q: Finally, if I may ask, this is your fourth visit to India as UNSG, but
you have a deeper Indian connection your son was born here, your
daughter-in-law is Indian is that the reason you were happy to
facilitate Indias long pending request for International Yoga Day?
UNSG: I am looking forward to June 21st International Yoga Day, approved
by the UNGA. There are two days in a year, which are designated by an
Indian initiative, one is the International Day of Non-Violence on Mahatma
Gandhis birthday and the other is bringing health through Yoga, which is
part of a sustainable world.
When your body is healthy, and your family is healthy, then the world will be
healthy and prosperous.
Q: Do you practice Yoga yourself?
UNSG: It's one of my big regrets, even when I lived in India I did not learn
Yoga, but this will be a good occasion to make up for that.
Well we hope to see you at the forefront of that in June. Thank you
for speaking with us.
1) Weathering is a complex phenomenon involving a number of
processes and is influenced by various factors Elaborate? (200
Words)

2) Discuss, with examples, the influence of volcanism and

diastrophism on the evolution of landscape. (200 Words)
3) What is a Karst topology? What are the essential conditions for
its formation ? (200 Words)
4) Bring out the relevance of seismic study in determining the
structure of the interior of the earth. (150 Words)
5) Write a note on recent efforts by the government to bring NRIs
into the electoral process. Does this move deepen democracy in our
country in any way? (150 Words)
The Union government has agreed, in letter and spirit, to implement the
Supreme Court direction and the Election Commissions recommendation to
allow Non-Resident Indians to vote from overseas through postal ballots.
Given the large NRI community dispersed globally, this move will
undoubtedly have an impact on the countrys electoral politics in significant
ways. Parliament passed the Representation of the People (Amendment) Act
in 2010 to introduce Section 20A that enables a person who is a citizen of
India, and is away from her ordinary residence in India for employment,
education or other reasons, to be eligible to be registered as a voter in the
constituency mentioned in her Indian passport: before that amendment, only
ordinary residents could cast their vote. Although the 2010 amendment
intended to include NRI participation in national politics, Section 20A had
required NRIs to be physically present in their respective constituencies at
the time of elections. Making it impractical for voters, this requirement
defeated the intention of the legislature. A petition was filed in the Supreme
Court praying that Section 20A of the Act be read down so as to allow NRIs to
vote from abroad without having to be present in India. The petition argued
that the provision was in violation of Article 14 of the Constitution to the
extent that it impliedly treated persons on a different footing based on
economic classifications. The Supreme Court and the government agreed
with this contention without hesitation.
The traditional argument against such external voting has been that only
citizens who are present in the territory and affected by the consequences of
their vote should be entitled to vote. As per this argument, since NRIs lacked
sound knowledge about domestic conditions, they would be irresponsible in
their electoral choices. But this argument is fast being disproved by empirical
evidence. With the rapid increase in cross-border migrations, the concept of

nationhood and political membership is increasingly being decoupled from

territorial locations. Indias move towards enabling voting from overseas is
an instance of a larger global trend towards increased citizen participation.
The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, an intergovernmental organisation, lists different voting methods that can be
employed, such as personal voting, where voters can cast their vote at
diplomatic missions abroad; postal ballot method, where votes are sent by
regular post; proxy vote and electronic voting. From amongst these
alternatives, the government has decided to employ the postal ballot route
that the electoral system already uses for absentee-voters on official duty.
6) Not withstanding recent economic crisis, Russia under Putin has
witnessed resurgence in both the economic and geo-political front.
Assess the factors that were responsible for this resurgence. (200
Words)
Russia is at the forefront of geostrategic power shifts again. After witnessing
impressive economic growth over the past 15 years, the Russian rouble has
seen a dramatic fall, fuelling fears of a deep recession. This decline can be
attributed to falling global oil prices and the European Union/United States
sanctions in the wake of Russian aggression in Ukraine. The falling oil price
has hit oil and gas export economies, like Russia, Iran and Venezuela, far
worse than it has affected the nascent shale gas economy in the United
States. On another front, Russia has also adopted a revised military doctrine
that labels the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) build-up in East
Europe as a "violation of international law".
At such a precarious juncture, The New Cold War gives an insight about the
ideology, domestic political situation and foreign policy of Vladimir Putin's
Russia. The author, Edward Lucas, is a senior editor at The Economist who
has covered Central and Eastern Europe for more than 25 years. The book,
originally written in 2008, has been republished in 2014 with an updated
preface that covers the Crimean crisis. What adds value to the new edition is
that although the author's predictions in 2008 have largely been upheld, the
prospects of rapprochement with Russia remain just as bleak as the author
had portrayed six years ago.
In the first two chapters, Mr Lucas traces the rise and rise of Mr Putin through
the Yeltsin years. He begins by dividing the post-World War II Russia into
three eras: the Soviet Russia, where political loyalty was at a premium; the
Gorbachev/Yeltsin era, where talent and adaptability were rewarded; and the
Putin era, which punishes only dissent. The communist ideology of Soviet
Russia has very few buyers in Russia today, but it remains a powerful symbol
of Russian domination. The Yeltsin era is seen as a painful period of

transformation when the Kremlin sought to normalise relations with the West
and transitioned to a free economy. The delay in realising the benefits of this
churn combined with the subsequent oil price rise made it easier for Mr
Putin, the successor, to stake claim to a stable, growing economy. This
growth was a big deal for Russia, which faced a crippling financial crisis in
1998. Consequently, the Putin era emerged as a bullish and revisionist state
that, in Mr Putin's own words, sees the collapse of the Soviet Union as a
humiliating geopolitical setback the reversal of which was only a matter of
time.
Domestically, the author equates Mr Putin's rise with the growing control of
the KGB (or the FSB, to give it its new name) over all organs of the Russian
state and economy. Mr Lucas mentions detailed instances that befit a
Hollywood action thriller: murder in London with radioactive polonium,
whistle-blowers going missing, orchestrated bomb blasts and so on. The
author consistently reminds readers that dissent in any form is unacceptable
to the Kremlin. An indicator of this phenomenon is the shrinking space for
independent media houses. However, many Russians are extremely proud of
their new found prosperity in the Putin era. This, combined with the growth
of the projected personality cult of Mr Putin makes him the most popular
figure in the country.
It is believed that unlike Soviet Russia, the New Russia has no ideology. The
author disagrees. He refers to the governing ideology under Mr Putin's rule
as "New Tsarism". This ideology has three main pillars. One, the growth of
ethnic Russian nationalism, which finds its inspiration from the strength of
the Soviet Union as a geopolitical giant. Second, religion and orthodoxy are
very important to this ideology. Mr Lucas details the symbiotic relationship of
the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and the KGB. The ROC's fear of Roman
Catholicism nicely fits into the "belligerent West" conception of the KGB.
Third, autocracy-sovereignty characterised by terms such as "derzhavnost"
(meaning a strong centralised state) and "vlastnaya vertikal" (indicating
Kremlin's omnipresent control) forms another important pillar of this
ideology. As the Westphalian world view is assumed by default, The New
Cold War fails to consider that this New Tsarism ideology might be a new
civilisational world view altogether, akin to the Chinese or the Islamic
worldview. Ideologues like Alexander Dugin have, in their writings, referred to
the Russian conception of the world as the Eurasian world view.
The author sees Russian actions in Eastern Europe as a direct corollary to the
New Tsarist ideology. It is here that the new cold war will be fought, he says.
These countries, because of their Soviet Union history, have a large number
of ethnic Russians. Here, the modern Russian state is at odds with the
concept of the Russian nation. Russia's military doctrine explicitly warns
against discrimination against its citizens in these countries. In 2001, this
idea of a nation was further expanded to include all "compatriots" - meaning

any Russian speaker in the former Soviet republics. Such a stance is bound
to lead to conflicts. Estonia and Georgia are the hotspots of this conflict
because it is here that "Russia's geopolitical ambitions, economical muscle
and historical amnesia overlap". The sections on Ukraine, Belarus and the
Central Asian "-stans" are a compelling read. The author believes that the
best hope for a moth-eaten Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova is to make their
remaining parts successful - economically, socially and politically.
Russia's growing strength in the neighbourhood is partly attributed to its
status as the provider of natural gas and oil to energy-starved European
nation-states of all hues. By acquiring private companies, the Russian state
finds it easy to wield energy as a political weapon rather than a means of
doing business. The details in the book on "pipeline geopolitics" should serve
as a reminder of the threats to India if it is dependent on pipelines passing
through hostile countries.
For ending this new cold war, Mr Lucas suggests that rules of finance,
business and energy be rewritten so that countries can pose a joint
opposition to Russia. The author is in favour of removing Russia from groups
like the G8. Since the enemy is irreconcilable, he suggests an increase in
Nato deterrence in Poland and the Baltic states. What needs to be noted,
however, is that the foundation of Mr Putin's success over the last decade
has been that only a few individuals and nations have lost but many others
have gained. How this will change in the face of a looming deep recession
might well determine the fate of Mr Putin's Russia.
7) To what extent do you blame NATO and EU expansionism vis-a-vis Russian
resurgence for the eruption of Cold war 2.0 ? (200 Words)
To see Lithuanias euro adoption this month as an entry into a losers club is
to miss the geopolitical picture wherein several of the ex-Warsaw Pact states
have staked their future on forging a European identity to the
consternation of Russia. The admission of Vilnius into the single currency bloc
represents a landmark of sorts. The move completes the accession of the
three Baltic constituents of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
(USSR) Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to the three main western
institutions. These are the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the
European Union (EU) and now the eurozone. The European ambitions of
another erstwhile Soviet state, Ukraine, as demonstrated by its Parliaments
vote in December to join NATO, underpins in no small measure the ongoing
separatist conflict in Kiev. Slovenia and Slovakia are the only other former
Eastern bloc regions that have similarly acceded to all the three institutions.
Against this backdrop, the flow of western investment, greater export

potential and low borrowing cost resulting from integration into the eurozone
would seem far more attractive to the Lithuanian population of a few million.
The country has long felt the lock-in effects of a fixed exchange rate as the
litas, the national currency until 2014, was pegged to the euro some years
ago. Lithuanias entry was not without its share of controversy when some
legislators expressed scepticism about the countrys preparedness to
sacrifice the flexibility of a national currency. But the continuing crisis in the
eurozone would have deterred Vilnius. With the exception of the United
Kingdom and Denmark, accession to the EU implies a commitment to
eventual adoption of the common currency by member-states once they
have complied with the economic convergence criteria. Lithuania has so far
been the lone euro aspirant whose 2006 bid was put on hold as Vilnius
narrowly overshot the inflation limit for eligibility. But the expanded euro
area comprising 19 countries is not expected to witness further enlargement
in the foreseeable future. Except Romania, which has set itself a 2019 target,
none of the other states has even given itself a euro-entry deadline.
Realising the eurozone targets on fiscal deficits has been among the more
ticklish issues within the bloc, with major economies and the architects of the
rules themselves found to be in violation. Greater macroeconomic policy
coherence is an admirable objective and an imperative for countries that use
a common currency. But such an ideal must be balanced with political
pragmatism as long as national capitals remain in charge of policyformulation. That is the lesson from the euros 15-year history so far.
8) The amendments introduced through ordinance in LARR act, 2013 have
resulted in the making the law spineless and purely of ornamental value.
Critically Analyse. (200 Words)
Given industry concerns and the desire to accelerate
industrialisation, the government could have reopened the debate
on the land act. Instead, it has wholly accepted one perception of
the conflict, and sought to undo the compromise embodied in the
2013 Act without a review
This article will not go into the question of the propriety of the ordinance
route to legislation in this case, but will try to present a broad-brush picture
of what the ordinance does to The Right to Fair Compensation and
Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013,
hereafter LARR Act 2013.

The general industry view, accepted by the present government, is that the
LARR Act 2013 was a radical and draconian law which will bring industrial
development to a halt. That view led to the conclusion that the Act needed to
be urgently amended drastically. It is therefore necessary to take a brief look
at the history of the Act.
Attempt at fair resolution
The inter-ministerial debate on a national displacement/rehabilitation policy
and on the related issue of a need to overhaul the colonial Land Acquisition
Act 1894 began in the 1980s and continued over nearly three decades under
successive governments. In parallel, there were conferences and debates in
civil society too. The attempt to find a generally acceptable compromise
which would reconcile the conflicting interests of industry and
farmers/landowners continued intermittently. Eventually this resulted in the
LARR Act 2013. This was generally considered a well-meant attempt at a fair
resolution of a difficult and almost intractable conflict, though it continued to
be criticised by both sides to the conflict. The point to note is that the LARR
Act 2013 was not a hasty doctrinaire, ill-considered piece of legislation, but
the final outcome of almost three decades of debate and consultation within
government, among political parties and between state and civil society. The
Bharatiya Janata Party (National Democratic Alliance) was a party to the
passing of the 2013 Act. Barely a year later, with little experience of its
working, that Act is now regarded as wholly retrograde, unacceptable and in
need of root-and-branch reform. This arises out of industrys impatient
desire for the easy acquisition of land for its projects, and the centrality of
industry in the present governments view of development.
It is not being argued that the concerns expressed by industry and by
commentators sympathetic to it should not be considered, or that the
governments desire to accelerate industrial projects is illegitimate. However,
given those concerns, the government could have reopened the debate, held
wide-ranging consultations all over the country, and tried to arrive at a fresh
compromise between conflicting interests. Instead, it has wholly accepted
one perception of the conflict, and sought to undo the compromise embodied
in the 2013 Act without a review. Apart from the merits of the ordinance, this
is an authoritarian, partisan and undemocratic procedure.
Losing a way of life

It has been argued that development necessarily entails the transfer of land
from agriculture to industry, but this is something that happens over a period
of time. It does not follow that this must be actively facilitated, supported
and actually brought about by the state using its sovereign powers. It is
curious that those who argue for reducing the role of the state and
deregulating industry want the state to take land away from farmers and
give it to industry.
Should the process of diversion of land from agricultural use to industrial use
be in fact easy? Should there not be some salutary difficulty here? First, there
is the question of food security. The transfer of land from agriculture to other
use cannot and should not be prevented, but some consideration of what the
unregulated transfer of land away from agriculture implies for the food
security of the country seems necessary. LARR 2013 ruled out the acquisition
of multi-cropped agricultural land. That provision has been criticised, but it
showed a certain concern that was legitimate. That concern has disappeared
in the present ordinance.
A second justification for a degree of difficulty in land acquisition is the
protection of the interests of the landowner. No doubt the ordinance retains
the generous compensation provisions of the 2013 Act, but is it solely a
question of money? The acquisition of land means not merely loss of land
and homestead, but also loss of livelihoods, loss of a community and cultural
continuities, loss of a way of life. This is bound to be a traumatic experience.
The Social Impact Assessment (SIA) provisions of the 2013 Act would have
brought to notice the wider social and cultural implications of the acquisition
of land, but that Act itself had exempted irrigation projects from this
requirement, and now SIA has been virtually dropped in the amendment
ordinance, considering the very large number of cases to which it will not
apply.
The role of the state should surely be not merely to facilitate the availability
of land for industry but also to minimise pain to the landowners (who are also
citizens), protect their fundamental and human rights and ensure justice to
them. Should the state use its sovereign powers only to make things easy for
industry? Any such impression, if it gains ground, would unwittingly lend
weight to criticisms (doubtless wrong) of the present government as proindustry and anti-farmer, and as holding development to be synonymous
with industrial projects.

Acquisition by the state

Let us turn to eminent domain, which means the sovereign right of the state
to override private property. In the intermittent debate during the years from
the 1980s to 2013, this was a prominent issue. It was felt by many that the
continued use of the old colonial Act of 1894 for the acquisition of land was
unfortunate, and that there was no case at all for the state to exercise its
sovereign power to take over private property and give it to companies in the
private sector for projects regarded by the state as serving a public
purpose. While this was not the universal view, there was a strong body of
opinion in favour of limiting acquisition by the state for private entities. The
2013 Act met this partially by limiting the acquisition by the state to 20 per
cent in the case of a private company and 30 per cent in that of a publicprivate partnership (PPP) project, if the owners consent for the transfer of 80
per cent in the case of the former and 70 per cent in that of the latter had
been obtained. This meant that the view of the community as a whole on the
transfer of land had a certain weight. This safeguard virtually disappears in
the ordinance because it will not apply in most cases. Apart from the virtual
dropping of community consent, this change also means the return of the
eminent domain of the state in full strength. This again is a non-democratic,
authoritarian stance.
By way of a digression it may be added that property rights are presumably
sacrosanct in capitalism, but evidently this does not apply to a farmers right
to his or her land. The property of an industrialist is inviolable, and
nationalisation is socialism and therefore anathema; but the acquisition of
land from a farmer which corresponds to nationalisation in the industrial
sector is evidently good capitalism!
One has to ask: after the amendment what is left of the Act? If we consider
the huge exemption list (Section 10A introduced by the ordinance), and the
concomitant disappearance of the SIA and the 80 per cent/70 per cent
consent provision in most cases, it becomes clear that the Act has become
purely ornamental. What the ordinance does is not to amend the 2013 Act,
but virtually repeal it. Having done so, the ordinance sanctimoniously brings
acquisitions under a number of other Acts within the purview of the amended
Act and claims much credit for this. The Congress Party says that the
coverage of those Acts was already foreseen in the 2013 Act. That response
misses the point, which is that there is not much virtue in first rendering the
Act toothless and then bringing other Acts within its purview. This is
disingenuous, to say the least. One can only hope that the ordinance will be

withdrawn or lapse for want of parliamentary support to the needed

legislation. Alas, the hope is not very robust.
(Ramaswamy R. Iyer is a former Secretary, Water Resources, Government of
India.)
Keywords: Land acquisition Act, land acquisition, amendment
ordinance, Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Rehabilitation
and Resettlement Act- 2013, LARR Act
9) Global warming is causing flora and fauna to migrate. Account for the
reasons behind the phenomenon and its likely impact on humans. (200
Words)
Reuters
Comment print T T
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AP
The migration is linked to climate change and would continue. File Photo
Some polar bear clusters have slowly moved to islands situated in north of
Canada's mainland that are retaining the Arctic ice for longer says a new
scientific study. According to the study the migration is linked to climate
change and would continue.
The study published earlier this month in the journal PLOS ONE was based on
DNA taken from nearly 2,800 polar bears in countries where the animals live
- the United States, Russia, Canada, Greenland and Norway.
Researchers tracked the shift through genetic similarity in bears among four
regions.
Bear clusters from Canada's eastern Arctic area and a marine area off
eastern Greenland and Siberia are journeying to the Canadian Archipelago,
also known as the Arctic Archipelago, where ice is more abundant, the study
found.
The channels through the islands, known as the Northwest Passages, have
come to be seen as a potentially valuable shipping route as Arctic ice melts.
The region that has attracted a larger number of polar bears sits north of the
Canadian mainland, close to Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. It is
comprised of more than 36,000 islands and covers more than 550,000
square miles (1.4 million square km).
The migration has occurred during the last one to three generations of the
predators, or between 15 and 45 years, U.S. Geological Survey researcher
Elizabeth Peacock, the study's lead author, said in a statement.
The bears choose this area because that is "where the sea is more resilient
to summer melt due to circulation patterns, complex geography and cooler
northern latitudes," Peacock said.
The Canadian Archipelago could serve as a future refuge for polar bears, who
rely on Arctic ice to cross between land masses, to forage and to mate,
according to the researchers.

Since 1979, the spatial extent of Arctic sea-ice in autumn has declined by
over 9 per cent per decade through 2010, the researchers said, adding that
the recent study predicts that nearly ice-free summers will characterize the
Arctic before mid-century.
Keywords: Polar bears, migrate, Canada

Topic:- Social influence and persuation; Ethical Governance ; Ethics in

private & public relationships
10 ) Can sentiments of a particular community be ever allowed to be hurt
under the guise of freedom of speech and expression ? How to maintain the
delicate balance between the two ? Give real life examples to support your
case. (200 Words)
Blasphemy involves critiquing a tradition from within, of which Islam
has had a long and honourable history (Ijtihad), says renowned
academic Mahmood Mamdani.
Back with a Prophet Mohammed cartoon on its cover, Charlie Hebdo, the
French satirical magazine, has resolved to take on Islamic fundamentalists,
after a terror attack on its office premises in Paris last Wednesday claimed
the lives of 10 staff members including that of its editor, Stephane
Charbonnier. In an email interview to Vidya Venkat, Professor Mahmood
Mamdani, Herbert Lehman Professor of Government and Professor of
Anthropology at Columbia University, author of 'Good Muslim, Bad Muslim:
America, the Cold War, and the Roots of Terror', explained the difference
between critiquing a religion and ridiculing it, and why it is one thing to
oppose censorship and quite another thing to reprint Charlie Hebdo cartoons
in solidarity. Edited excerpts:
In the wake of the Charlie Hebdo terror attacks, there is widespread
condemnation of Islam itself. George Packer, in his New Yorker
article, for example, had held Islam and its tenets and those
believing in them responsible for the attacks. Are we misdiagnosing
the problem here?
In my view, George Packers is a knee-jerk response. It fails to recognise
what is new about the Charlie Hebdo killings. The information we have so far
suggests that it was a paramilitary operation. Though carried out by a local

unit, decentralised in both planning and execution, the attack was

strategised and sanctioned from headquarters. The killings need to be seen
as a strategic and organised military attack. As such, it is different from the
kind of grassroots demonstrations we have seen in the past, such as in
responses to the Danish Cartoons.
Proponents of the Charlie Hebdo brand of humour and satire see the
need to share and endorse the culture of free speech. Your view?
I support the right of free speech as part of a right of dissent. But that does
not mean that I support every particular exercise of free speech or dissent. It
is well known that the history of free speech is contradictory. We recognise it
by distinguishing hate speech from other forms of free speech. Some states
ban hate speech legally, other states refrain from a legal ban and leave it to
society to discourage it politically and morally.
When asked to comment on the Danish Cartoons on Prophet Mohamed, the
German novelist Gnter Grass said they reminded him of anti- Semitic
cartoons in a German magazine, Der Strmer. The New York Times piece that
carried the interview with Gunter Grass added that the publisher of Der
Strmer was tried at Nuremberg and executed. Among those tried in Arusha
following the Rwanda genocide was a radio journalist. Following mass
violence in the Rift Valley in Kenya, the ICC issued a list of those charged
with crimes against humanity; one of these was a radio journalist. In all three
cases, the journalists were accused of spreading hate speech.
My own preference is for the political and the intellectual over the legal. I am
against all forms of censorship. While I think you have a right to say what
you think, I will not support anything you say or write. I also reserve the right
to disagree with you, vehemently if necessary. It is one thing to support the
right of Charlie Hebdo journalists to print the cartoons they did, and quite
another to reprint them as an expression of support.
Blasphemous cartoons with a sexual theme, as some of Charlie
Hebdos cartoons were, are not new in Europe. But in places such as
Britain such cartoons, for example, that of Sin published by
Penguin books, have been removed having internalised legal
restraint as civility. Is that kind of compromise of power even
possible now with voices in the West strongly condemning the terror
attacks and using it to channelise their collective anger against
Islamic fundamentalism?

Western societies have worked out internal compromises over time in an

endeavour to build durable political societies. The scope and nature of these
compromises are politically defined. Their thrust is to call a ceasefire in
struggles of great historical significance in the name of civility. In many
Western countries, there are laws against blasphemy. But they are restricted
to official Christian denominations. For example, Britain has laws
criminalising blasphemy, as do several other European countries, but they do
not apply to Islam.
Before the Second World War, Jews were the customary target of satirists of a
particular type. Voltaire, popularly considered the founding father and grand
defender of the freedom to satire, was an ardent anti-Semite, and a number
of his satires targeted Jews and Judaism. After the Holocaust, Jews were
brought into the Western political fold. It became conventional to speak of a
Judeo-Christian heritage in the West, when it had been customary to speak of
a longstanding conflict between Judaism and Christianity before. So, today
the law in many European countries, including France, criminalises Holocaust
denial. But no law criminalises the denial of colonial genocide, including
widespread colonial massacres in Algeria, the country of origin of the largest
number of French Muslims.
The political and social compact in Europe has been evolving historically. The
state stepped in to moderate the conflict between ardent Christians and
secular Christians. Jews were included in this compact after the Holocaust.
Muslims have never been part of this compact. The Muslim minority in
Europe is the largest in France, around 10 per cent. In the Mediterranean city
of Marseille, it is roughly 30 per cent. It represents the weakest and the most
disenfranchised section of French society. There are more Muslims in the
French police and security services than there are in al-Qaeda or other
terrorist cells. But you would not know it. At the same time, the
representation of Muslims in the French elite, whether political, economic or
cultural, is nominal, the exception being the French football team, once led
by the legendary Zinnedine Zidane.
Of course, it is possible to include Muslims in the social and political compact
in France. But that will take a major political, intellectual and cultural
struggle. Centers of power and people in France will have to accept that it
is possible to be French and Muslim, that it is OK for a pious Muslim woman
to wear a hijab, as it is for a Catholic nun so long as this act of piety does

not banish either from participation in the public sphere. In other words, we
are talking of a political struggle for meaningful citizenship.
You have referred to the case of Sin published by Penguin Books. I wrote
about it when discussing the Danish Cartoon controversy. The example goes
back to 1967 when Britains leading publishing house, Penguin, published an
English addition of a book of cartoons by France's most acclaimed cartoonist,
Sin. The Penguin edition of Massacre was introduced by Malcolm
Muggeridge, and carried a number of anticlerical and blasphemous cartoons,
some of them with a sexual theme. In the wake of complaints by a number of
his bookshop friends that the cartoons were likely to offend practicing
Christians, Allen Lane took precipitate action: He went to Penguins
Harmondsworth warehouse with four accomplices, filled a trailer with all the
remaining copies of the book, drove away and burnt them. The next day the
Penguin trade department reported the book out of print.
In that same piece, I cited an additional case which is also relevant to this
discussion. This concerns the Amos and Andy show in the U.S. It began as a
radio program in 1928 and graduated to prime time television in 1951 and
then a syndicated show in 1953. Every year, the NAACP would protest that
the show was a racist caricature of black people, implying that Negroes are
inferior, lazy, dumb and dishonest, that every character in the all-Black
show is either a clown or a crook. The CBS turned a deaf year to this, every
year, until the Watts riots in 1965. CBS withdrew the show in the aftermath of
the Watts riots. Even then, CBS official Amos n Andy website said it hoped
that Black people will learn to laugh at themselves: Perhaps we will
collectively learn to lighten up, not get so bent out of shape, and learn to
laugh at ourselves a little more.
That people need to learn to laugh at themselves is often a point made by
publishers of provocative cartoons. You could place those same words in the
mouth of the publishers of the Danish Cartoons or Charlie Hebdo, and it
would reflect their views accurately, that the problem with Muslims is that
they lack a sense of humor, and that the solution is for Muslims to learn to
laugh at themselves. But laughing at oneself is not quite the same as being
laughed at, especially as a group. Let me return to the question of what you
call the blasphemous cartoons. I think they should be called bigoted
cartoons.

The problem with the ongoing discussion of Charlie Hebdo is that it tends to
confuse bigotry with blasphemy. I am personally more favorable to
blasphemy, but have no time for bigots or bigotry.
Blasphemy is part of an important historical practice that involves critiquing
a tradition from within. That kind of capacity for self-critique, for laughing at
oneself, is absolutely necessary for the ongoing reform of traditions and
cultures in the face of changing realities, changing mores and changing
intellectual constructs. In Islam, the right to critique tradition from within is
known as Ijtihad. It has a long and honourable history.
It is generally assumed that with the emergence of modernity,
religion as a social institution loses its hold over peoples lives and
over society in general. But given the emergence of fundamentalist
forces, in renewed forms like IS, do we have to rethink the role of
religion in shaping social phenomena?
You will excuse me if I disagree with the premise of your question. Durkheim
defined religion as a mode of thought and practice that defines objects and
actions as either sacred or profane. In this sense, the secular world can be
equally religious: the state takes the place of an official religion, the flag or
the national anthem becomes sacred objects, and so on.
Second, the notion that modernity will civilize the world by doing away with
barbarism and superstition (pre-modernity) has turned out to be a
superstition itself. The tendency of modernity has been to harness premodern practices and institutions to modern political projects, thereby
politicizing (and thus modernizing) them. Both religion and tradition (in a
secular sense) have become politicized. Just think of how the CIA militarised
madressas in Pakistan to wage the Afghan jihad during the Soviet
occupation.
We are going through a resurgence of politicized religion and politicized
tradition. Think of the parties in Europe that now organize in defense of
Europe and against immigrants (really Muslims). Think of born-again
Christianity and its remarkable political influence in the U.S. Think of political
Zionism, both in Israel and the U.S. Think of the BJP and the myriad Sangh
Sabha organisations in India who want a Hindu state as the surest guarantee
for the defense of Hindu tradition. And think of radical Islamist groups that
want an Islamic state as a guarantee of a return to Islam.

My point is that we are seeing a resurgence of movements around the world

that speak the language of nativism, tradition and religion. Not all of them
are reactionary. We should be careful not judge the contents largely by the
packaging. In my view, the debate inside tradition and religion is as
important the debate between secular and religious traditions.
Soon after 9/11 happened, you wrote: Ascribing the violence of
one's adversaries to their culture is self-serving: it goes a long way
toward absolving oneself of any responsibility. Do you see
European policies on immigration and assimilation of minorities at
home (or the failure to do that very well) as contributing to
terrorism?
The French like to think of themselves as the custodians of the tradition of
liberty, equality and fraternity. That is true but it is not the whole truth. The
French also need to think of the dark side of their tradition: the colonial
tradition, both in Indo-China and Africa. The French need to recognise that
the Algerians, the North Africans and the West Africans from the former
colonies are in France as immigrants, because the French were in their
countries in the first place. These immigrants have run away from the
consequences of colonialism. If the solution France - has turned sour, where
do these immigrants run to now? To an imaginary Islamic state? If a second
or third generation North African is still considered an immigrant in France,
should that not provide us a clue as to the nature of the problem? Where lies
the problem, the promise of the Islamist state, or the reality of immigrant
lives in contemporary France, or both?
Do you see an intensification of the post-9/11 type of Islamophobia
emerging in these countries now that the murders have provided
further justification?
9/11 was centrally planned, organised and executed. In contrast, Charlie
Hebdo was locally planned and executed, even if the strategy and the
sanction was central. This is one difference we need to appreciate. The
response to the Danish Cartoons was in the main a street-level response of
ordinary Muslims who saw themselves as being framed and set up by forces
of bigotry. The Charlie Hebdo killings were done by a military cell,
coordinated and guided from a centre. This was a strategic strike, not a
spontaneous demonstration. This is a second difference we need to
appreciate.

The tragedy is that neither the left nor the centre seem to take these
differences as the starting point for their response. So long as a knee-jerk
response is the order of the day, I am afraid we will concede both intellectual
and political leadership to the right. If this trend continues, Islamophobia is
likely to grow from an intellectual tendency to a hate movement in France
and other sections of Europe.
1) Describe the nature and mode of origin of the chief types of rock at the
earths crust. How will you distinguish them?(150 Words)
2) Are physical and chemical weathering processes independent of each
other? If not, why? Explain with examples. (150 Words)
3) Running water is by far the most dominating geomorphic agent in shaping
the earths surface in humid as well as in arid climates. Explain. (150 Words)
4) What do you understand by urban heat island effect? Discuss its causes
and consequences. (200 Words)
Even as the rest of the State buckles under record low temperatures,
Bengaluru was shielded due to the adverse affects of urbanisation.
Minimum temperatures dipped by over five degree Celsius since January 10,
when northerly winds blew across the State. While the mercury in north
Karnataka dipped to around seven degree Celsius, the temperatures in the
city hovered around 14 degrees.
Apart from clouds over the city, temperatures have not dipped to the levels
expected of a hill station (based on the altitude of Bengaluru) because of
pollution and the proliferation of concrete structures. While the minimum
recorded a century ago was seven degree Celsius, now the mercury doesnt
dip below 12 degree Celsius, said B. Puttanna, Director, Indian
Meteorological Department (IMD)-Bengaluru.
With the cold wave relenting, IMD expects the minimum temperature in the
city to rise by over five degrees by the weekend.
Over the past week, temperatures dipped to 6.4 degree Celsius (on Tuesday)
at Vijayapura, which is the lowest recorded in January in 123 years. Similarly,
Chitradurga town had seen its lowest temperature in over a century when
the mercury dipped to 8.5 degree Celsius on January 12. Over the past few

days, Dharwad and Haveri saw 11-year lows. With temperatures still at six
degree Celsius, which was the lowest in the State on Wednesday, Agumbe is
seeing a seven-year record low.
The conditions have started to change now. The cold wave is coming to an
end. Over the next few days, minimum temperatures will increase by around
one degree Celsius daily, said Mr. Puttanna.
Though temperatures had gone up marginally, north Karnataka continued to
shiver on Wednesday under temperatures that were a few degrees below
normal. Open fires were a common sight in the evenings and nights as
travellers and late-night workers sought refuge form the teeth-chattering
cold. However, by noon, the temperatures rose dramatically to touch 30
degree Celsius in some places.
http://www.epa.gov/heatisland/resources/pdf/BasicsCompendium.pdf
5) The latest ASER report has revealed that the proportion of children in
Class III who can read at least words is just over half in government schools
but nearly 80 per cent in private schools. Why do you think government
schools perform poorly compared to private schools? Critically examine. (200
Words)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has often, and correctly, stressed the fact that
laws can be made, but it is the government's implementation - its delivery of
services - that is important. Under the last government, the United
Progressive Alliance, the limits of the reverse approach had become all too
clear. Major schemes need to be revamped now to focus on effectiveness
and delivery. And, as new data from the Annual State of Education Report
(Rural) make clear, the task is daunting. Barely a quarter of rural students
enrolled in the fifth grade can read a basic sentence in English; and only a
similar proportion in the third grade is capable of subtraction.
Other numbers are equally damning. The percentage of children in Class II
who are completely innumerate actually increased - by nine percentage
points, to nearly 20 per cent - between 2009 and 2014. In some ways, this
number reveals a success as well as a failure. Under the expansion of the
school system - first under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government and then
under the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance - enrolment rates have
vastly increased. Now, almost every single Indian in the age group of
between six and 14 years is in school. But this has gone hand-in-hand with

increased stress on the public sector school system. Parents who care about
their children's education scrimp and save in order to send them to private
schools - even in rural India, almost a third of children are privately
educated. The reasons are clear. For example, twice as many children can
add and subtract in private schools as in public schools. The proportion of
children in Class III who can read at least words is just over half in
government schools - but nearly 80 per cent in private schools. Worse, the
proportion of such children has fallen in government schools from nearly
three-fourths in 2010 to half in 2014. Naturally, parents will respond by
paying out of pocket for private schooling. This is the indication of a massive
failure.
This is not a question of the scale of investment. Assigning money in the
Budget is not the task at hand. The task is making it simpler for money to
reach the schools on time; and for that money to then be used in the way the
school sees fit. Finally, it needs last-mile reform. Teachers must be held
accountable. If they are paid next to nothing and then left unsupervised,
then they will make money through moonlighting in private schools or as
tutors, rather than turning up to class. Radical changes in policy should not
be off the table. Local supervision of schools is one - parents, who are most
able to observe teacher quality, should be the basic source of accountability.
Mr Modi's government should not be held responsible for these findings. This
is a problem it has inherited. But its response should be constructive. Ways
to improve the quality of public schools, and to make private schooling
cheaper, should be on the anvil. This, and not rejigging institutions to
increase Hindutva representation, should be the focus of the human
resources development ministry.
6) In India, property rights are presumably sacrosanct in capitalism, but
evidently this does not apply to a farmers right to his or her land. In the
light of recent events related to land rights, critically comment on the
statement. (200 Words)
This article will not go into the question of the propriety of the ordinance
route to legislation in this case, but will try to present a broad-brush picture
of what the ordinance does to The Right to Fair Compensation and
Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013,
hereafter LARR Act 2013.

The general industry view, accepted by the present government, is that the
LARR Act 2013 was a radical and draconian law which will bring industrial
development to a halt. That view led to the conclusion that the Act needed to
be urgently amended drastically. It is therefore necessary to take a brief look
at the history of the Act.
Attempt at fair resolution
The inter-ministerial debate on a national displacement/rehabilitation policy
and on the related issue of a need to overhaul the colonial Land Acquisition
Act 1894 began in the 1980s and continued over nearly three decades under
successive governments. In parallel, there were conferences and debates in
civil society too. The attempt to find a generally acceptable compromise
which would reconcile the conflicting interests of industry and
farmers/landowners continued intermittently. Eventually this resulted in the
LARR Act 2013. This was generally considered a well-meant attempt at a fair
resolution of a difficult and almost intractable conflict, though it continued to
be criticised by both sides to the conflict. The point to note is that the LARR
Act 2013 was not a hasty doctrinaire, ill-considered piece of legislation, but
the final outcome of almost three decades of debate and consultation within
government, among political parties and between state and civil society. The
Bharatiya Janata Party (National Democratic Alliance) was a party to the
passing of the 2013 Act. Barely a year later, with little experience of its
working, that Act is now regarded as wholly retrograde, unacceptable and in
need of root-and-branch reform. This arises out of industrys impatient
desire for the easy acquisition of land for its projects, and the centrality of
industry in the present governments view of development.
It is not being argued that the concerns expressed by industry and by
commentators sympathetic to it should not be considered, or that the
governments desire to accelerate industrial projects is illegitimate. However,
given those concerns, the government could have reopened the debate, held
wide-ranging consultations all over the country, and tried to arrive at a fresh
compromise between conflicting interests. Instead, it has wholly accepted
one perception of the conflict, and sought to undo the compromise embodied
in the 2013 Act without a review. Apart from the merits of the ordinance, this
is an authoritarian, partisan and undemocratic procedure.
Losing a way of life

It has been argued that development necessarily entails the transfer of land
from agriculture to industry, but this is something that happens over a period
of time. It does not follow that this must be actively facilitated, supported
and actually brought about by the state using its sovereign powers. It is
curious that those who argue for reducing the role of the state and
deregulating industry want the state to take land away from farmers and
give it to industry.
Should the process of diversion of land from agricultural use to industrial use
be in fact easy? Should there not be some salutary difficulty here? First, there
is the question of food security. The transfer of land from agriculture to other
use cannot and should not be prevented, but some consideration of what the
unregulated transfer of land away from agriculture implies for the food
security of the country seems necessary. LARR 2013 ruled out the acquisition
of multi-cropped agricultural land. That provision has been criticised, but it
showed a certain concern that was legitimate. That concern has disappeared
in the present ordinance.
A second justification for a degree of difficulty in land acquisition is the
protection of the interests of the landowner. No doubt the ordinance retains
the generous compensation provisions of the 2013 Act, but is it solely a
question of money? The acquisition of land means not merely loss of land
and homestead, but also loss of livelihoods, loss of a community and cultural
continuities, loss of a way of life. This is bound to be a traumatic experience.
The Social Impact Assessment (SIA) provisions of the 2013 Act would have
brought to notice the wider social and cultural implications of the acquisition
of land, but that Act itself had exempted irrigation projects from this
requirement, and now SIA has been virtually dropped in the amendment
ordinance, considering the very large number of cases to which it will not
apply.
The role of the state should surely be not merely to facilitate the availability
of land for industry but also to minimise pain to the landowners (who are also
citizens), protect their fundamental and human rights and ensure justice to
them. Should the state use its sovereign powers only to make things easy for
industry? Any such impression, if it gains ground, would unwittingly lend
weight to criticisms (doubtless wrong) of the present government as proindustry and anti-farmer, and as holding development to be synonymous
with industrial projects.

Acquisition by the state

Let us turn to eminent domain, which means the sovereign right of the state
to override private property. In the intermittent debate during the years from
the 1980s to 2013, this was a prominent issue. It was felt by many that the
continued use of the old colonial Act of 1894 for the acquisition of land was
unfortunate, and that there was no case at all for the state to exercise its
sovereign power to take over private property and give it to companies in the
private sector for projects regarded by the state as serving a public
purpose. While this was not the universal view, there was a strong body of
opinion in favour of limiting acquisition by the state for private entities. The
2013 Act met this partially by limiting the acquisition by the state to 20 per
cent in the case of a private company and 30 per cent in that of a publicprivate partnership (PPP) project, if the owners consent for the transfer of 80
per cent in the case of the former and 70 per cent in that of the latter had
been obtained. This meant that the view of the community as a whole on the
transfer of land had a certain weight. This safeguard virtually disappears in
the ordinance because it will not apply in most cases. Apart from the virtual
dropping of community consent, this change also means the return of the
eminent domain of the state in full strength. This again is a non-democratic,
authoritarian stance.
By way of a digression it may be added that property rights are presumably
sacrosanct in capitalism, but evidently this does not apply to a farmers right
to his or her land. The property of an industrialist is inviolable, and
nationalisation is socialism and therefore anathema; but the acquisition of
land from a farmer which corresponds to nationalisation in the industrial
sector is evidently good capitalism!
One has to ask: after the amendment what is left of the Act? If we consider
the huge exemption list (Section 10A introduced by the ordinance), and the
concomitant disappearance of the SIA and the 80 per cent/70 per cent
consent provision in most cases, it becomes clear that the Act has become
purely ornamental. What the ordinance does is not to amend the 2013 Act,
but virtually repeal it. Having done so, the ordinance sanctimoniously brings
acquisitions under a number of other Acts within the purview of the amended
Act and claims much credit for this. The Congress Party says that the
coverage of those Acts was already foreseen in the 2013 Act. That response
misses the point, which is that there is not much virtue in first rendering the
Act toothless and then bringing other Acts within its purview. This is

disingenuous, to say the least. One can only hope that the ordinance will be
withdrawn or lapse for want of parliamentary support to the needed
legislation. Alas, the hope is not very robust.
(Ramaswamy R. Iyer is a former Secretary, Water Resources, Government of
India.)
It is curious that those who argue for reducing the role of the state
and deregulating industry want the state to take land away from
farmers and give it to industry.
Given industry concerns and the desire to accelerate
industrialisation, the government could have reopened the debate
on the land act. Instead, it has wholly accepted one perception of
the conflict, and sought to undo the compromise embodied in the
2013 Act without a review
7) The admission of Lithuania into the single currency bloc of Euro
represents a landmark of sorts. Critically analyse the geopolitical
significance of this event. (200 Words)
To see Lithuanias euro adoption this month as an entry into a losers club is
to miss the geopolitical picture wherein several of the ex-Warsaw Pact states
have staked their future on forging a European identity to the
consternation of Russia. The admission of Vilnius into the single currency bloc
represents a landmark of sorts. The move completes the accession of the
three Baltic constituents of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
(USSR) Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to the three main western
institutions. These are the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the
European Union (EU) and now the eurozone. The European ambitions of
another erstwhile Soviet state, Ukraine, as demonstrated by its Parliaments
vote in December to join NATO, underpins in no small measure the ongoing
separatist conflict in Kiev. Slovenia and Slovakia are the only other former
Eastern bloc regions that have similarly acceded to all the three institutions.
Against this backdrop, the flow of western investment, greater export
potential and low borrowing cost resulting from integration into the eurozone
would seem far more attractive to the Lithuanian population of a few million.
The country has long felt the lock-in effects of a fixed exchange rate as the
litas, the national currency until 2014, was pegged to the euro some years
ago. Lithuanias entry was not without its share of controversy when some
legislators expressed scepticism about the countrys preparedness to
sacrifice the flexibility of a national currency. But the continuing crisis in the

eurozone would have deterred Vilnius. With the exception of the United
Kingdom and Denmark, accession to the EU implies a commitment to
eventual adoption of the common currency by member-states once they
have complied with the economic convergence criteria. Lithuania has so far
been the lone euro aspirant whose 2006 bid was put on hold as Vilnius
narrowly overshot the inflation limit for eligibility. But the expanded euro
area comprising 19 countries is not expected to witness further enlargement
in the foreseeable future. Except Romania, which has set itself a 2019 target,
none of the other states has even given itself a euro-entry deadline.
Realising the eurozone targets on fiscal deficits has been among the more
ticklish issues within the bloc, with major economies and the architects of the
rules themselves found to be in violation. Greater macroeconomic policy
coherence is an admirable objective and an imperative for countries that use
a common currency. But such an ideal must be balanced with political
pragmatism as long as national capitals remain in charge of policyformulation. That is the lesson from the euros 15-year history so far.
8) Critically analyse the amendments made to the Representation of the
People Act in recent years and their significance to Indias polity. (200 Words)
The Union government has agreed, in letter and spirit, to implement the
Supreme Court direction and the Election Commissions recommendation to
allow Non-Resident Indians to vote from overseas through postal ballots.
Given the large NRI community dispersed globally, this move will
undoubtedly have an impact on the countrys electoral politics in significant
ways. Parliament passed the Representation of the People (Amendment) Act
in 2010 to introduce Section 20A that enables a person who is a citizen of
India, and is away from her ordinary residence in India for employment,
education or other reasons, to be eligible to be registered as a voter in the
constituency mentioned in her Indian passport: before that amendment, only
ordinary residents could cast their vote. Although the 2010 amendment
intended to include NRI participation in national politics, Section 20A had
required NRIs to be physically present in their respective constituencies at
the time of elections. Making it impractical for voters, this requirement
defeated the intention of the legislature. A petition was filed in the Supreme
Court praying that Section 20A of the Act be read down so as to allow NRIs to
vote from abroad without having to be present in India. The petition argued
that the provision was in violation of Article 14 of the Constitution to the
extent that it impliedly treated persons on a different footing based on
economic classifications. The Supreme Court and the government agreed
with this contention without hesitation.

The traditional argument against such external voting has been that only
citizens who are present in the territory and affected by the consequences of
their vote should be entitled to vote. As per this argument, since NRIs lacked
sound knowledge about domestic conditions, they would be irresponsible in
their electoral choices. But this argument is fast being disproved by empirical
evidence. With the rapid increase in cross-border migrations, the concept of
nationhood and political membership is increasingly being decoupled from
territorial locations. Indias move towards enabling voting from overseas is
an instance of a larger global trend towards increased citizen participation.
The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, an intergovernmental organisation, lists different voting methods that can be
employed, such as personal voting, where voters can cast their vote at
diplomatic missions abroad; postal ballot method, where votes are sent by
regular post; proxy vote and electronic voting. From amongst these
alternatives, the government has decided to employ the postal ballot route
that the electoral system already uses for absentee-voters on official duty.
9) Indias farm sector has had good run in the last 10 years in terms of
increased crop production. Examine the reasons and also discuss the future
prospects of Indias agriculture sector. (200 Words)
ts likely that Indias crop production this year will be lower compared to
2013-14, given deficient rains both in the southwest (June-September) and
northeast (October-December) monsoons impacting kharif as well as rabi
plantings. But that by itself neednt be cause for concern. We have seen oneoff farm output declines even in 2009-10, 2004-05 and 2002-03, which were
also drought years. What should worry us more, instead, is the prospect of
agriculture entering a renewed phase of stagnation or low growth.

Before considering that possibility, one must first acknowledge the relatively
good run the countrys farm sector has had in the last 10 years. Between
2004-05 and 2013-14, agricultural GDP grew by an average 3.7 per cent a
year, as against 2.9 per cent over the preceding 10-year period. The
accompanying table gives a more detailed crop-level picture by taking the
average production for three five-year periods ending 1993-94, 2003-04 and
2013-14. Doing so minimises the effects of extreme year-to-year fluctuations
induced by the vagaries of weather, thereby capturing the underlying output
trend better.

The numbers are revealing. During the five years ended 2013-14, Indias
foodgrain production averaged 249 million tonnes (mt), roughly 47 mt more
than that for the earlier period. The latter period, by contrast, recorded only
a 26 mt increase over the average for the five years ended 1993-94. The
same trend of higher output increases in the recent period is noticeable
for oilseeds, cotton, sugarcane, milk and even staple vegetables like onion
and potato. In pulses and oilseeds, the observed acceleration actually
reversed the decline/ stagnation seen over the previous period.
What explains the above turnaround, perceptible across crops? In some
cases Bt transgenics in cotton and single-cross hybrids for maize
technology played a part. But the real across-the-board driver was higher
prices and improved terms of trade, inducing farmers to produce more.
While overall inflation based on the GDP deflator averaged 6.8 per cent a
year during 2004-05 to 2013-14, the corresponding increase for agricultural
produce was higher at 9.7 per cent. It was the other way round from 1994-95
to 2003-04: general inflation was lower at 5.9 per cent per year, while farm
inflation averaged still lower at 5.8 per cent. The question, then, is: What
drove domestic farm produce prices higher in the last 10 years relative to the
previous period and also vis--vis other goods and services, making it that
much more attractive to ramp up production?
One reason, of course, was rising incomes from general growth, which
averaged 7.6 per cent annually over this period. These, at low levels of per
capita income, would obviously have boosted demand for farm commodities.
A more important factor, however, was global prices. Between 2003 and
2011, the Food and Agriculture Organisations (FAO) food price index went up
from 97.7 to 229.9, the effects of which were twofold.
First, it made the countrys farm exports globally price-competitive, resulting
in their surge from a mere $7.5 billion in 2003-04 to $43 billion in 2013-14.
Export-fuelled demand, in turn, helped improve domestic price realisations.
Second, it forced the government to raise minimum support prices (MSP) to
align them closer with global prices. Contrary to what some economists
believe, the compulsion here was more economic than political.
Globalisation, in other words, wasnt a bad deal at all for Indian farmers over
much of the last decade. Unfortunately for them, though, that situation has
changed radically recently.

From its 2011 peaks, the FAOs food price index has since dropped to 188.6
in December. Between December 2011 and December 2014, international
prices of soybean have fallen by a tenth. They have slid even sharper by 2836 per cent in cotton, rice, maize, palm oil and sugar, and 53 per cent for
rubber.
These declines are an outcome of both the lagged supply response to the
high prices prevailing till 2011-12, and also agri-commodities ceasing to be
an appealing asset class for global fund managers. Moreover, this bearish
sentiment exacerbated by collapsing crude prices, rendering diversion of
sugarcane, corn or palm oil for biofuel production uneconomical doesnt
appear reversible any time soon. The implications of this will not be small. To
start with, agri-exports could take a hit; they have already fallen 1.6 per cent
year-on-year during April-November. Further, it reduces the scope for MSP
hikes. In the past, the government did no favour to farmers by raising MSPs.
But the same today would be motivated more by political rather than
economic considerations.
For Indian farmers, the end of an extended global commodity price boom
may well reveal the flip side of globalisation. While the World Trade
Organisation (WTO) might have mattered little during the last decade, this
isnt going to be the case now. We are already seeing all sorts of disputes
being raised at the WTO: from Indias restrictions on imported American
chicken legs and raw sugar export subsidies to its public grain stockholding
for food security purposes. These will only intensify in the days ahead.
The point is, we ought to be prepared for the next agricultural downtrend.
The government should, first of all, recognise that the time has come to think
equally or more about producers, rather than consumers. There is a problem
when crude palm oil and sugar are trading at $650 per tonne and 15 cents
per pound respectively, as opposed to their levels of $1,300 and 30 cents
four years ago. If cars can attract up to 100 per cent import duty, why not
extend the same protection to farm products in the light of the changed
reality?
No less urgent is the need to address issues of farm-level productivity that
were ignored while the commodity price boom party lasted. The Indian
Council of Agricultural Researchs (Icar) budget must be significantly
increased, along with greater accountability to its primary clientele, farmers,

who are desperate for technologies to raise crop yields, pare production
costs, save on labour and reduce drudgery in agricultural operations.
For the moment, whether we like it or not, the only ones seemingly catering
to this demand are the likes of Monsanto, DuPont, Bayer CropScience and
Syngenta. It is a sad truth that nothing substantial has come out of our public
farm research system in recent times, except for the odd Pusa-1121 or 1509
Basmati rice varieties. Going forward, Icars model could perhaps be Brazils
Embrapa or the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
The renewed emphasis on farm research needs to be combined with
stepped-up investments in rural roads, 247 power and broadband
connectivity. These are key to improved agricultural productivity and
lowering of costs the only sustainable solutions to weather crop price
down-cycles.
10) Trade unions are required to prevent exploitation of workers, ensure
better working conditions and increase collective bargaining for wages. Do
you think the Indian Information Technology industry needs trade unions?
Critically discuss. (200 Words)
You can't blame trade unions for their desperation to gain a foothold in a
sector that employs over five and a half million people. That explains why
every single trade union grabbed the opportunity to be a part of the lay-off
drama involving Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India's largest information
technology (IT) company.
It was a well-orchestrated drama, no doubt, as the lay-off figures that were
being talked about in social media were in the range of 25,000-30,000 (about
10 per cent of TCS employees). In a belated move, TCS called the bluff by
saying that the actual number of "involuntary attrition" would be around 1
per cent, which is marginally more than similar exercises in the past couple
of years.
TCS could have avoided much of this mud-slinging by taking such proactive
action in the form of a definitive statement much earlier. Job losses are a
highly emotive issue in a country where the safety net amounts to zilch, and
should have been handled more carefully. The company did make a mistake
by treating it as an emotional outburst of a few employees.

While that is something the TCS brass should figure out, the question is: does
the Indian IT industry need trade unions? The answer should be in the
negative and here's why.
Trade unions are required to prevent exploitation of workers, ensure better
working conditions and increase collective bargaining for wages. But IT firms
are leaders in compensation and benefits. According to figures provided by
payscale.com, the median salary of software engineers is Rs 4 lakh per
annum and of senior software engineers Rs 6 lakh. The same for IT
consultants is Rs 7 lakh and project managers Rs 12 lakh.
In comparison, the median salaries for civil engineers is Rs 3.5 lakh,
electrical engineers Rs 3.34 lakh, finance analysts Rs 3.26 lakh, sales and
marketing managers Rs 5.34 lakh and general physicians Rs 5 lakh.
In addition, India's IT firms do make consistent efforts in keeping the
workforce employable. For example, large Indian IT firms spent Rs 4,000
crore on training last year and there are continuous learning programmes
through the online medium.
It's also a reality that tech firms are in the business of innovation and hence
the need for new skills keeps changing. While Oracle/SAP/mobile tech remain
popular, the industry now needs user experience or UX engineers, big data,
cloud engineers, process engineers, Python/Ruby programming and
proficiency in HTML5.
According to Tech Pro Research, "Working in IT today the pressure is on to
have a diverse knowledge set. This spells promise for IT pros who can
leverage a broad skill set and move among groups or companies to exercise
their talents." But a study by the firm says 59 per cent of the surveyed
candidates felt their skills were not current.
This demand for new skills from employers is something that IT sector
employees have to be alert about. If after a few years of experience, you
can't be inducted into leadership or project management roles, you add no
better value than a new entrant, even though your salary is many times
higher. For example, many "senior developers" now do the work of a junior
consultant. But that's when the problem starts, as companies, in their bid for
cost efficiency, will look for a fresh recruit who can come up to speed with a
little bit of training.

It's a fact that most industries that failed to keep up with modem technology
declined and ultimately failed; whereas industries that kept up with modem
technology survived and many of them expanded. In the former, workers lost
their jobs; whereas in the latter, some lost their jobs, some lost their skills,
some lost both their jobs and their skills, but many were retrained and most
retained their employment. Moreover, as the industries expanded, and new
industries emerged from the new technology, new skills were created and
employment expanded.
However, for the IT industry as a whole, the TCS saga is a wake-up call. As
the scale of employee lay-offs becomes bigger, the ramifications will become
bigger as well. The industry thus has no option but to reorient its HR
strategies (counselling of consistent under-performers, for example) to
counter such mass resentment. Keeping quiet till it's too late can't be a
permanent solution.
11) Real estate, more than one study has found, is perceived as the most
corrupt sector of the economy. Examine why and suggest ideas that can
make this sector more transparent. (200 Words)
The unthinkable has happened. During Google's Great Online Shopping
Festival last month, Tata Housing sold 200 houses across its various projects
in the country. In the 2013 edition of the shop-fest, it had sold 50 houses.
Most Indians buy one home during their lifetime. Luckier ones might buy two.
Every purchase is preceded by several visits to the site and a thousand
enquiries about the builder. Any broker will tell you that it takes at least three
months for a home buyer to make up his mind. That's because mistrust in
builders is high. Will he run away with my life's savings? Will he deliver on
time? Will he keep all the promises he made? Is the land title above board?
Has he got all the clearances?
The buyer cannot be accused of being unnecessarily paranoid: errant
builders have over the years committed every misdemeanor possible, which
has shaken the buyer's confidence. Several have vanished with the money
collected from buyers. Most have delayed projects extensively. Almost all
play around with the carpet area, the floor area and the super area to dupe
buyers. This way, they have steadily destroyed trust. Online property buying
shows that some trust has started to take shape. Of course, the "Tata" in the
company's name has helped. Still, this is a sign that things could be

changing for the better in real estate.

The conventional real estate business model is pretty straightforward. A
builder pools resources from several brokers to acquire the land and do the
construction. In return, the brokers get a certain number of flats at a deep
discount. The brokers then pre-sell these flats - even before the builder could
get all the clearances - and book their profits. Thus, it doesn't take deep
pockets to get started in real estate. The rule of thumb in the Delhi market is
that for an investment of Rs 100 crore all you need in your bank account is
Rs 10 crore. The slowdown of the last two years has put a spanner in the
works. Brokers are reluctant to invest because buyers have decided to stay
away. This has choked the cash flows of the builders. Those who had taken
debt for their projects have no money for the quarterly interest payments.
Many builders have raised debt from private sources, at interest rates of up
to 30 per cent, to repay the banks. Their projects are sure to become
unviable.
Real estate has, thus, become highly capital intensive - only those with
financial muscle will be left standing. A lot of the smaller builders could soon
be driven out of business. Some will get acquired by the larger ones. This is
how large corporations are getting into the picture. Apart from Tata Housing,
groups like Godrej, Mahindra and Bharti are preparing for a big play in real
estate. In a few years' time, there is the possibility that real estate may
become like any other business. The returns may fall from 100 per cent now
to 18-20 per cent, but the business will be predictable and transparent. Land
aggregators now want to sell to large corporations because their payment is
guaranteed. Buyers, too, are more comfortable dealing with these
corporations than run-of-the-mill builders.
These corporations had in the past stayed away from real estate because of
the inadequate regulatory ecosystem. Speed money had to be paid at every
stage. A lot of the transactions happened in cash. Many found it hard to do
business that way. But the sector may soon have a regulator. The United
Progressive Alliance had introduced a Bill in Parliament to this effect, and
now the Narendra Modi government wants to take it forward. Builders had
objected to the Bill on the grounds that the onus for all delays was put on
them, while these are caused by the long time taken in obtaining the various
permissions and clearances. There is substance in their argument. It can take
two to four years just to get the permission to develop barren land. Speed
money can inflate costs by up to six or seven per cent.

Builders would recover these "investments" either by cutting corners or overconstructing. Incidents have come to light where builders added extra floors,
although with permission from the authorities. Not only was this unfair to the
buyers who would now have to share the common infrastructure with more
people than initially promised but also a security hazard because the
foundation would now have to bear the extra load. The acquiescence of the
bureaucrats in these malpractices has been noticed even by the courts.
There has been a visible lack of enthusiasm on the part of the states to make
the various processes in real estate transparent and introduce time-bound
clearances. That's because there is so much money at stake. It will take a
bold man to clear the Augean stables. Real estate, more than one study has
found, is perceived as the most corrupt sector of the economy. However, one
state is known to be seriously looking at how to make processes transparent:
Haryana. Other states could follow its example. There might be some gentle
prodding from the Centre because of real estate's potential as a catalyst for
economic growth. One estimate suggests that it has a positive rub-off on as
many as 290 other industries. It is also a large employer of unskilled and
semi-skilled workers. All this could change real estate forever.
Topic: laws, rules, regulations and conscience as sources of ethical guidance
12) Live one day at a time emphasizing ethics rather than rules. What do
you understand by this statement? Explain with suitable examples. (200
Words)
General
1) In the annals of climatology, 2014 now surpasses 2010 as the warmest
year in a global temperature record that stretches back to 1880. Critically
comment on the causes and significance of this event. (200 Words)
Last year was the hottest on earth since record-keeping began in 1880,
scientists reported on Friday, underscoring warnings about the risks of
runaway greenhouse gas emissions and undermining claims by climate
change contrarians that global warming had somehow stopped.
Extreme heat blanketed Alaska and much of the western United States last
year. Records were set across large areas of every inhabited continent. And
the ocean surface was unusually warm virtually everywhere except near

Antarctica, the scientists said, providing the energy that fueled damaging
Pacific storms.
In the annals of climatology, 2014 surpassed 2010 as the warmest year. The
10 warmest years have all occurred since 1997, a reflection of the relentless
planetary warming that scientists say is a consequence of human activity
and poses profound long-term risks to civilization and nature.
Climate change is perhaps the major challenge of our generation, said
Michael H. Freilich, director of earth sciences at NASA, one of the agencies
that track global temperatures.
Of the large land areas where many people live, only the eastern portion of
the United States recorded below-average temperatures in 2014, in sharp
contrast to the unusual heat in the West. Some experts think the weather
pattern that produced those American extremes is an indirect consequence
of the release of greenhouse gases, though that is not proven.
Several scientists said the most remarkable thing about the 2014 record was
that it had occurred in a year that did not feature a strong El Nio, a largescale weather pattern in which the Pacific Ocean pumps an enormous
amount of heat into the atmosphere.
Skeptics of climate change have long argued that global warming stopped
around 1998, when an unusually powerful El Nio produced the hottest year
of the 20th century. Some politicians in Washington have seized on that
claim to justify inaction on emissions.
But the temperature of 1998 is now being surpassed every four or five years,
and 2014 was the first time that happened without a significant El Nio.
Gavin A. Schmidt, head of NASAs Goddard Institute for Space Studies in
Manhattan, said the next strong El Nio would probably rout all temperature
records.The Warmest Year on Record
Parts of the eastern United States were cooler than average last year, but
globally 2014 was the warmest year in recorded history.
Obviously, a single year, even if it is a record, cannot tell us much about
climate trends, said Stefan Rahmstorf, head of earth system analysis at the
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany. However, the
fact that the warmest years on record are 2014, 2010 and 2005 clearly

indicates that global warming has not stopped in 1998, as some like to
falsely claim.
Such claims are unlikely to go away, though. John R. Christy, an atmospheric
scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville who is known for his
skepticism about the seriousness of global warming, pointed out in an
interview that 2014 had surpassed the other record-warm years by only a
few hundredths of a degree, well within the error margin of global
temperature measurements. Since the end of the 20th century, the
temperature hasnt done much, Dr. Christy said. Its on this kind of
warmish plateau.
Despite such arguments from a handful of scientists, the vast majority of
those who study the climate say the earth is in a long-term warming trend
that is profoundly threatening and caused almost entirely by human activity.
They expect the heat to get much worse over coming decades, but already it
is killing forests around the world, driving plants and animals to extinction,
melting land ice and causing the seas to rise at an accelerating pace.
It is exceptionally unlikely that we would be witnessing a record year of
warmth, during a record-warm decade, during a several decades-long period
of warmth that appears to be unrivaled for more than a thousand years, were
it not for the rising levels of planet-warming gases produced by the burning
of fossil fuels, Michael E. Mann, a climate scientist at the Pennsylvania State
University, said in an email.
NASA and the other American agency that maintains long-term temperature
records, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, issued
separate data compilations on Friday that confirmed the 2014 record. A
Japanese agency had released preliminary information in early January
showing 2014 as the warmest year.
One more scientific group, in Britain, that curates the worlds temperature
record is scheduled to report in the coming weeks.
Separate temperature measurements taken from satellites do not show 2014
as a record year, although it is close. Several scientists said the satellite
readings reflected temperatures in the atmosphere, not at the earths
surface, so it was not surprising that they would differ slightly from the
ground and ocean-surface measurements that showed record warmth.

A competitor mushed across an oddly snowless section of land in Alaska

during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in March. Credit Bob Hallinen/The
Anchorage Daily News, via Associated Press
Why do we keep getting so many record-warm years? Dr. Schmidt asked in
an interview. Its because the planet is warming. The basic issue is the longterm trend, and it is not going away.
February 1985 was the last time global surface temperatures fell below the
20th-century average for a given month, meaning that no one younger than
30 has ever lived through a below-average month. The last full year that was
colder than the 20th-century average was 1976.
The contiguous United States set a temperature record in 2012, a year of
scorching heat waves and drought. But, mostly because of the unusual chill
in the East, 2014 was only the 34th warmest year on record for the lower 48
states.
That cold was drawn into the interior of the country by a loop in a current
called the jet stream that allowed Arctic air to spill southward. But an
offsetting kink allowed unusually warm tropical air to settle over the West,
large parts of Alaska and much of the Arctic.
A few recent scientific papers say that such long-lasting kinks in the jet
stream have become more likely because global warming is rapidly melting
the sea ice in the Arctic, but many leading scientists are not convinced on
that point.
Whatever the underlying cause, last years extreme warmth in the West
meant that Alaska, Arizona, California and Nevada all set temperature
records. Some parts of California essentially had no winter last year, with
temperatures sometimes running 10 to 15 degrees above normal for the
season. The temperature in Anchorage, Alaskas largest city, never fell below
zero in 2014, the first time that has happened in 101 years of record-keeping
for the city.
Twenty years of global negotiations aimed at slowing the growth of heattrapping emissions have yielded little progress. However, 2014 saw signs of
large-scale political mobilization on the issue, as more than 300,000 people
marched in New York City in September, and tens of thousands more took to
the streets in other cities around the world.

The next big attempt at a global climate agreement will come when
negotiators from around the world gather in Paris in December. Political
activists on climate change wasted no time Friday in citing the 2014 heat
record as proof that strong action was needed.
The steady and now record-breaking rise in average global temperatures is
not an issue for another day, Michael R. Bloomberg, the former New York
mayor who is spending tens of millions of dollars of his personal fortune to
battle climate change, said in a statement. Its a clear and present danger
that poses major economic, health, environmental and geopolitical risks.

2) India is set to become the worlds largest producer of cotton in 2014-15,

yet India faces numerous problems thanks to local and global factors.
Critically examine. (200 Words)
The cotton market in India is in a flux. The country is set to become the
worlds largest producer of cotton in 2014-15. Indias cotton production was
estimated to touch 6.8 million tonnes between September and December
2014, says a press release of the Cotton Advisory Board (CAB) under the
textiles ministry. But there is uncertainty about the bumper stock. With
global stockpiles of cotton rising and prices falling in both the domestic and
international markets, exports are likely to plummet. The fears are confirmed
by Chinathe biggest importer of cotton from India and the US.
China has been cutting back on cotton imports since September last year. In
2013-14, the country allowed imports of 1.5-1.7 million tonnes. This year, it
will reduce this to about 0.9 million tonnes. Such a measure is aimed at
offloading its stockpile to an optimum level and boosting domestic demand
in the long run. The Chinese government will also provide direct subsidies to
cotton producers, announed an official of the National Development and
Reform Commission in China in September 2014.
Struggling to find a market
Chinas drastic measure is likely to impact the cotton markets both in the US
and India, but the latter will struggle a lot more to compensate for the loss.
This is evident from the latest report of the United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA).
According to the report, during 2013-14, 26 per cent of the US cotton export
went to China, while for India it was almost 55 per cent of its cotton exports.
This also indicates that the US has a wider reach in the international market

for cotton. Its share of global cotton exports during 2014-15 is estimated to
be around 2.2 million tonnes as opposed to Indias 1.1 million tonnes.
This is despite the fact that India produced almost double the amount of
cotton than the US during 2013-14, claims USDA.
This has raised concerns in India about finding new markets for its cotton
produce. Sidhartha Rajagopal, executive director of the autonomous Cotton
Textile and Export Promotion Council, reassures that measures have been
thought of to deal with this volatility. We are looking at other emerging
markets like Vietnam, Bangladesh and Myanmar to make up for the deficit.
While cotton might have taken a hit, export of value-added products like yarn
and fabrics will see a rise, he says.
However, it is unlikely that new markets will be able to make up for the
deficit created by Chinas lack of demand.
P T Pillevar, chief general manager of the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI),
responsible for price support operations of cotton under the Ministry of
Textiles, says, We already procured 0.3 million tonnes of cotton from
farmers between October and December 2014 at a minimum support price
(MSP) of Rs 4,050 for the long, staple variety. This is just the beginning.
USDA estimates suggest that this year CCI might procure close to 0.8 million
tonnes of cotton to support farmers in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and
Maharashtra, where market prices are below MSP. The fact that CCI
hasstepped in to purchase cotton from farmers shows that cotton producers
are already going into losses in the open market.
Kavitha Kuruganti, convenor of Association for Sustainable and Holistic
Agriculture, says, My conversations with farmers indicate that MSP for
cotton will be Rs 500-1,000 less than last year. It was predictable that this
situation would arise because China had been stockpiling. But we made no
provisions to safeguard our farmers. The ultimate burden of this market
fluctuation will be borne by the small farmers. Under such circumstances,
the push to increase cotton production in the country makes little sense.
Kuruganti adds that the government must stop making decisions solely in
favour of industry without protecting the producers.
While farmers are bearing the brunt of falling prices, the fate of textile mills
and affiliated industries does not look promising either. We had been
exporting a large portion of our cotton produce to China, but since it is not
buying, there will be a surplus and prices are bound to fall, says R K
Dalmiya, president of Century Textiles, a cotton mill in Gujarat.

Textile owners do not prefer buying cotton from CCI as they cannot be sure of
quality at CCI auctions. Contamination with coloured threads or materials
like polypropylene is already a major concern, Dalmiya adds.
Another problem is the plummeting cost of artificial fibres like polyester due
to the fall in global petroleum prices. Cotton is not the only thing we should
look at. We are trying to promote and market more blended fabrics and
polyester-cotton mix exports. This will ease the pressure on the textile
industry, Rajagopal says (see Pure cotton v cotton blends).
Pure cotton v cotton blends
Despite THE turmoil in the international and domestic markets, the word on
the street is that cotton is still doing very well. Three store owners in Pune,
who deal in pure cotton, blended fabrics and synthetic materials, claim that
close to 50 per cent of their sales still come from cotton. Bharat Banthia,
owner of Deepak Readymade Stores in the city, says, "There are customers
for both cotton and synthetic materials, but people often prefer cotton
because it is a comfortable fabric, looks good and has a rich feel to it.
However, cotton blended with small amounts of synthetic fibre is almost 40
per cent cheaper than pure cotton and lasts about three years, so it is in
demand as well."
Shashi Chabria, owner of Sharmilee Store in Pune, reiterates that the sale of
cotton items has not gone down because of blended fabrics. Cotton will
always remain a staple in our wardrobe, even when fashion and fabrics
change, he adds.
While most people prefer to wear pure cotton, it may not be the best option
for Indian weather. In India, the best mix is a cotton-polyester blend in the
ratio of 70:30. This mix has the best of both materialscotton's comfort and
polyester's durability, says Seema Patel, technical manager in the textile
testing laboratory at the Ahmedabad Textile Industry's Research Association.

America's covert agenda

The US, however, is manipulating India to opt for pure cotton, not blends. An
ad campaign by the Cotton Council International urges consumers to check
the label on apparel to ensure they buy 100 per cent cotton. The ad tells
Indians to go back to the basics, because we have been spinning, weaving
and dying it since ancient times.

What is hidden is that the Council is the export promotion arm of the
National Cotton Council of America dedicated to increasing US exports of
cotton, cottonseed and their products. An expert on textiles, who does not
wish to be named, reveals this is part of the US strategy to ensure that
cotton produced in India is consumed here itself, leaving other markets to
the US. Cotton Council International did not respond to repeated queries
from Down To Earth about its campaign.
The Indian government has been aggressively pushing cotton production in
the past two decades. Given the current vagaries of the market, it is time to
re-think this strategy, focusing instead on protecting farmers and reducing
the acreage under cotton to more sustainable and remunerative farming.
India must ensure that it is not given the short end of the stick in the
international market.
3) Discuss how the poverty line computed by the Rangarajan group is
different from that of earlier groups formulae. (200 Words)
The problem in rural India is not one of too much credit to poor
households that leads to debt waivers that damage bank balance
sheets, but one of inadequate access to credit from formal sources.
IF Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan is to be believed, efforts
to help Indian farmers by providing them with cheap(er) credit and relieving
them of an unsustainable debt burden only harms them in the long run. In
his speech delivered at the annual conference of the Indian Economic
Association, Rajan is reported to have advanced a number of counterintuitive
arguments and raised a number of unusual questions on farm debt.
The first was that when governments in the States or at the Centre intervene
in periods of distress (resulting from damage due to floods, cyclones or
drought, for example) by requiring banks to waive farm debt with promise of
official support, they end up restricting credit flow to agriculture. Banks
become reluctant to lend to farmers because they fear that those new loans
too would be written off. Moreover, as happened with loans that were written
off when governments in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh declared loan
waivers when cyclone Phailin ravaged the region last year, the promise of
official support may not be kept. While the Telangana government did deliver
the mandated 25 per cent of the loan amount written off by the banks,
Andhra Pradesh has thus far not done so. This, in the governors view, would
only increase the reticence of the banks to lend. Clearly in his view, the
government cannot influence the behaviour of even banks that are publicly
owned, even though it seems to be able to force them to lend huge amounts

to privately operated infrastructure projects in areas varying from power to

civil aviation.
Second, there is, according to the governor, reason to believe that when debt
waiver schemes are implemented they are afflicted by significant errors of
inclusion and exclusion, providing benefits to those who are not eligible and
bypassing some who should be benefited. To illustrate this view, he refers to
the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report that found that in 2008
when the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government implemented an
Agricultural Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme, which provided debt relief
to the tune of Rs.52,516 crore, there were several instances when ineligible
farmers were given the benefit and eligible ones were ignored. Suggesting
that this evidence pointed to the possibility of fraud, the governor has
argued against such schemes. The strategy seems to be one of avoiding the
possibility of fraud rather than one of detecting and penalising fraud.
Since the submission of the report of the 2012 expert group on poverty
measurement, there have been a few comments on it. The purpose of this
note is to clarify some of the issues raised by researchers and others on this
report. The clarifi cations discussed here are (1) what is new in the approach
defining the poverty line; (2) the use of calories; (3) multidimensional
poverty; (4) high urban poverty in many states; (5) NAS-NSS consumption
differences; (6) poverty measures in other countries; (7) public expenditure
and poverty; and (8) poverty ratio eligibility for access to programmes. As
most of the researchers have commented on multidimensional poverty, this
note also elaborates on the reasons for not considering this measure in the
report.
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Finally, the governor argued that cheap and subsidised credit to the farm
sector in the form of short-term crop loans rather than long-term loans for
investment may be diverting credit away from capital formation with
attendant adverse consequences for productivity, even while the
indebtedness of farmers increases.
The thrust of these arguments seems to be that the policy adopted after
bank nationalisation, of directing credit to the priority sectors at reasonable
interest rates, with 18 per cent of total advances mandated to be provided to
the agricultural sector, should be revisited. It may be better to leave it to
banks to decide whether credit should be provided to the agricultural sector,

and if so to which activities and at what interest rate. Implicit in that view is
the perception that forced lending to agriculture has not only resulted in a
sharp expansion of credit to the farm sector, but also in indebtedness of a
kind that demands periodic debt waiver and relief schemes at the expense of
bank balance sheets and productive investment.
This amounts to turning hitherto received wisdom on its head. The policy of
directing credit to agriculture was adopted because evidence on the eve of
bank nationalisation pointed to the near-complete exclusion of agriculture
from bank credit. Despite accounting for as much as a third of the gross
domestic product (GDP) and more than two-thirds of total employment in the
mid-1960s, agriculture received around 2 per cent of total bank credit
advanced. Nationalisation was seen as breaking the control of the business
groups over much of the banking system which was seen as explaining this
exclusion of agriculture from bank credit flows, which went largely to the
corporate sector. It was also seen as creating conditions that ensured that it
was not just profit but the development objectives of the government that
were served by the banking system.
The evidence shows that with public ownership, the target of directing 40 per
cent of total credit to the priority sectors and the sub-target of channelling
18 per cent of total credit to agriculture were soon achieved. The change in
ownership had clearly transformed bank behaviour to yield the intended
result. Yet, in 1991, the first Narasimham Committee on the Financial System
recommended that the directed credit programme should be phased out, the
priority sector redefined and its share in total credit reduced from 40 to not
more than 10 per cent. The justification provided was largely that the
directed credited programme was adversely affecting profitability and
contributing disproportionately to the non-performing assets of the banking
sector.
Even though this recommendation of the Narasimham Committee was not
accepted by the Reserve Bank of India and the government, liberalisation of
the bank licensing policy after 1991 saw a reduction in the number of rural
branches and a decline in the share of commercial banks in outstanding
agricultural credit from about 61 per cent of total agricultural credit in 199091 to around 26 per cent in 1999-2000. Reform seemed to have encouraged
banks to withdraw from the direction pursued until then.

Interestingly, after 2004 the trend changed sharply with the share of
commercial banks in agricultural credit rising once again to reach 58 per cent
by 2010-11. However, as Pallavi Chavan has underlined, there was one major
difference in the trends in bank credit to agriculture in the years prior to and
after 2004. In the period between 1973-74 and 1997-98, while the ratio of
agricultural credit to agricultural GDP rose from around 10 to around 25 per
cent, the ratio of capital formation in agriculture to agricultural GDP also rose
from around 6.5 per cent to 8 per cent of GDP. While the divergence between
the two ratios had increased, the increase in credit was also supporting
increased investments in agriculture. However, starting from the end of the
1990s, while the ratio of agricultural credit to agricultural GDP shot up from
around 25 per cent to about 73 per cent by 2010-11, the ratio of capital
formation in agriculture to agricultural GDP rose only from around 8 to 17 per
cent. This huge increase in divergence implied that far more money was
going to non-productive purposes. This was also a period when agricultural
GDP was rising at a slow 2.8 per cent per annum. The boom in bank credit to
agriculture was contributing only marginally to capital formation and growth.
One reason is because, as suggested by the Narasimham Committee, the
notion of priority sector credit was redefined, with new areas such as lending
to input providers (such as seed suppliers), warehouses and microfinance
institutions being treated as indirect finance to agriculture. Even though
indirect finance to agriculture could only amount to 25 per cent of the
agricultural lending sub-target of 18 per cent (or 4.5 per cent of total
advances), any such lending in excess of 4.5 per cent could be included
when computing achievement of the 40 per cent aggregate priority sector
requirement. This opened a set of relatively lucrative lending avenues that
could serve to meet the priority sector lending target. According to Pallavi
Chavan, the share of indirect credit in total agricultural credit more than
doubled from 21.5 per cent in 1991-92 to 48.1 per cent by 2007-08. Thus, if
there is any distortion in the distribution of agricultural credit, it seems to
result from the liberalisation of policy rather than from excessive
intervention.
What is also remarkable is that despite the boom in bank credit to
agriculture, the access to credit in the rural areas still remains limited.
According to the recently released results of the All India Debt and
Investment Survey conducted by the National Sample Survey Organisation,
as on June 30, 2012, there were only 31.4 per cent of households in rural
India that were exposed to debt. That was not very much higher than the

26.5 per cent recorded in the previous survey relating to 2002. Moreover, 19
per cent of the rural households obtained credit from non-institutional
sources and only 17 per cent from institutional sources (including banks).
Clearly, the perception that rural households have been forced into excess
indebtedness because of availability of cheap bank credit seems to be
overstated.
What is more, an analysis of the class-wise distribution of the incidence of
indebtedness shows that while the incidence varied between 19.7 and 27.5
per cent in the lowest four deciles classified in terms of the size of asset
holding, the average debt of each of the households in these deciles varied
from just Rs.40,000 to Rs.50,000. On the other hand, the incidence of debt in
households in the richest decile in terms of assets was 41.3 per cent, with
the average debt of indebted households placed at Rs.2.7 lakh. Not
surprisingly, while the percentage of households indebted to institutional
sources was placed at 7.9 and 7.4 per cent respectively in the poorest asset
classes, the figure stood at 32.6 for the richest asset class. On the other
hand, in terms of exposure to non-institutional debt, the figures were 14 and
17 per cent in the poorest asset classes and 15.3 per cent in the richest.
Poorer households were being forced to rely disproportionately on noninstitutional sources for credit.
In sum, what the evidence seems to suggest is that the problem in rural India
is not one of too much credit to poor households that leads to debt waiver
schemes that damage bank balance sheets, but that of inadequate access to
credit from formal sources. If rural credit needs to be revisited, it must be to
expand credit access rather than to restrict it because of excessive
indebtedness. Moreover, it appears that when banks are given greater
freedom, they lend far less for capital formation rather than much more. And
the size of the loans involved is clearly small change when compared with
the loans handed out to those in the corporate sector who are increasingly
being seen as wilful defaulters. As the governor has flagged on another
occasion, those large wilful defaulters see the restructuring of debt which
they have stopped servicing as their right rather than (as ostensibly in the
case of debt waiver schemes) a favour from the government or the Reserve
Bank of India.
4) The US shale oil and gas production is likely to play a greater role in
keeping Russia at bay rather than Nato troops on Europes borders.
Examine. (200 Words)
For Europe, the defining event of 2014 was Russia's annexation of Crimea
and military intervention in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region. The Kremlin's
actions directly challenged key principles that have guided Europe for more

than six decades, particularly the renunciation of the use of force to alter
national borders. But Russia is in no position to sustain its aggressive foreign
policy.It has often been argued that Russia was reacting to the perceived
encroachment on its "near abroad" by the European Union (EU) and the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato). But history suggests a simpler
explanation: a decade of steadily rising oil prices had emboldened Russia,
leaving it ready to seize any opportunity to deploy its military power.
Indeed the Soviet Union had a similar experience 40 years ago, when a
protracted period of rising oil revenues fuelled an increasingly assertive
foreign policy, which culminated in the 1979 invasion of Afghanistan. Oil
prices quadrupled following the first oil embargo in 1973, and the discovery
of large reserves in the 1970s underpinned a massive increase in Soviet
output. As a result, from 1965 to 1980, the value of Soviet oil production
soared by a factor of almost 20.
Burgeoning oil wealth bolstered the regime's credibility - not least by
enabling a significant increase in military spending - and rising economic and
military strength gave the Soviet Union's geriatric leadership a rejuvenated
sense of invulnerability. The invasion of Afghanistan was not merely an
improvised response to a local development (a putsch in Kabul); it was also a
direct result of this trend.
Vladimir Putin's reaction to the Euromaidan demonstrations in Ukraine
followed a similar pattern. In both cases, a seemingly low-cost opportunity
was viewed as yielding a large strategic gain - at least in the short run.
Indeed while the devastating consequences of the Soviet Union's Afghan
adventure are now well known, at the time the invasion was viewed as a
major defeat for the West.
The Soviet army's retreat in 1988 is usually ascribed to the Afghan
insurgency, led by Pakistan-trained mujahideen with support from the United
States. But the decline in oil prices during the 1980s, which cut the value of
Soviet output to one-third of its peak level, undoubtedly played a role.
Indeed it led to a period of extreme economic weakness - a key factor in the
Soviet Union's dissolution just three years after its withdrawal from
Afghanistan.
During the 1990s, Russia was too preoccupied with its own post-Soviet
political turmoil to object to EU or Nato enlargement to the east. Nor did it

have the wherewithal, as its own production and oil prices continued to
decline, hitting a trough of $10 a barrel in 1999-2000.
Russia's stance changed gradually during the early 2000s, as world oil prices
- and Russian output - recovered, reinvigorating the country's economic base
at a time when its leadership was becoming increasingly autocratic. Only
then did Russia start to claim that the United States and its European allies
had offered some implicit pledge not to expand Nato eastward.
With oil prices steadily rising, the value of Russian oil production reached a
new peak, roughly 10 times the 1999 level, in 2008; Russia invaded Georgia
the same year. Though prices collapsed during the Great Recession of 2009,
they quickly recovered, with the value of Russian output reaching another
peak in 2012-2013 - precisely when Russia's position on the EU-Ukraine
association agreement hardened. Given that the EU and Ukraine had already
been negotiating the deal for more than two years, without much reaction
from Russia, the EU was blindsided by the Kremlin's sudden sharp objections.
Clearly, Russia's attitude toward its near abroad is not quite as erratic as it
may seem. When oil prices rise, Russia expresses its latent resentments
more aggressively, often employing its military. Moreover, at higher prices,
the oil industry crowds out other export sectors that support open markets
and a less aggressive foreign policy.
The Soviet war in Afghanistan was followed by a long-term decline in oil
prices. The recent price slide - to $50-60 a barrel, halving the value of
Russia's oil production - suggests that history is about to repeat itself.
And oil prices are not Russia's only problem. Western sanctions, which
seemed to constitute only a pinprick a few months ago, appear to have
inflicted serious damage, with the rouble having lost nearly half its value
against the dollar last year. Though financial markets will calm down when
the rouble's exchange rate settles into its new equilibrium, Russia's economy
will remain weak, forcing the country's leaders to make tough choices.
Against this background, a stalemate in the Donbas seems more likely than
an outright offensive aimed at occupying the remainder of the region and
establishing a land corridor to Crimea - the outcome that many in the West
initially feared. President Putin's new Novorossya project simply cannot
progress with oil prices at their current level.

To be sure, Russia will continue to challenge Europe. But no amount of

posturing can offset the disintegration of the economy's material base
caused by the new equilibrium in the oil market. In this sense, the United
States has come to Europe's rescue in a different way: its production of shale
oil and gas is likely to play a greater role in keeping Russia at bay than Nato
troops on Europe's eastern borders.
5) It is now argued by some economists that the forced lending to agriculture
has not only resulted in a sharp expansion of credit to the farm sector, but
also in indebtedness of a kind that demands periodic debt waiver and relief
schemes at the expense of bank balance sheets and productive investment.
Do you agree with this perception? Critically comment. (200 Words)
6) The United States offer to normalise relations and lift the economic
embargo imposed in 1960 is perceived as a victory for Cuba. Critically
examine why. (200 Words)
he United States offer to normalise relations and lift the economic
embargo imposed in 1960 has come as a victory for Cuba, which is
firm that the rapprochement will not make it renounce socialism. By
JOHN CHERIAN
THE SIMULTANEOUS ANNOUNCEMENTS by United States President Barack
Obama and his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro on December 17 that
relations between the two countries would be normalised have come in for
widespread praise internationally. Even within the U.S., only a minority of
right-wing politicians have criticised the Obama administrations move to
restore diplomatic relations with Cuba after more than 50 years. The CubanAmerican community in the U.S. has welcomed the move. Obama has
indicated that within a month he will take steps to steadily dismantle the
trade embargo that the U.S. imposed on the island nation in 1960.
Critics of the President in the Republican-dominated Senate and Congress
have vowed to stall the lifting of the economic blockade. Right-wing critics
are accusing the President of giving too many concessions to Cuba.
The blockade on Cuba started in 1960, in the last year of the Dwight
Eisenhower administration. President Eisenhower acceded to the wishes of
the State Department, which had proposed a line of action that makes the
greatest inroads in denying money and supplies to Cuba, to decrease
monetary and real wages, to bring about desperation, hunger and the

overthrow of the [Fidel Castro] government. The policy was revised in the
1980s and 1990s to make the sanctions more draconian. All the same, the
U.S. blockade did not achieve its stated goal but it did cause a lot of suffering
to the Cuban people and had an impact on the countrys economy. Cuba
estimates that its economy has lost more than $1 trillion as a result of the
blockade.
Obama administration officials have said that the President will immediately
use his executive powers to lift the sanctions on travel and business
activities. In his statement on Cuba policy changes, Obama said that with the
U.S. having established diplomatic relations with other communist countries
such as China and Vietnam, it made no sense to continue with the policy on
Cuba, another communist country. The decision to ease restrictions on Cuba
was influenced to an extent by the Summit of the Americas scheduled to be
held in Panama in April. Panama had invited the U.S. to the summit along
with Cuba. Many countries in the region threatened to boycott the summit if
the U.S. insisted on excluding Cuba from it. With the statement on easing of
relations, Obama and Raul Castro can sit across the table at the summit, in
what will be the first such meeting between the Presidents of the two
countries since the Cuban Revolution of 1959. Obama and Raul Castro did
briefly shake hands and greet each other during the funeral of South African
leader Nelson Mandela in December 2013.
It has been evident for some months that the relations between the two
countries were improving. Many U.S. Senators and Congressmen were calling
on the Obama administration to ease the sanctions on Cuba. The New York
Times, the voice of the U.S. East Coast Establishment, has been carrying on
a campaign for the speedy normalisation of relations between the two
countries. Obama had won votes from the Cuban community in Florida
during his first campaign for the presidency by promising to improve
relations with Havana. He did, in fact, make some changes in Washingtons
Cuba policy by allowing Cuban Americans to visit their homeland more
frequently and to send increased amounts of dollar remittances to relatives
on the island. But he also continued with many of the hostile policies of the
past, including subversion of the Cuban political system. U.S. government
agencies such as USAID were used for the purpose. The U.S. spy Alan Gross
was caught distributing money and computers to the minuscule minority of
dissident activists on the island. The Zunzuneo project was another plan
hatched by the agency aimed at subverting the socialist system through the
auspices of social media.

It was painstaking behind-the-scenes negotiations that finally brought about

a diplomatic breakthrough. Now it turns out that even the Vatican had a role
to play in the final outcome. The Vatican hosted secret talks between U.S.
and Cuban officials in Rome. The talks were held for 18 months in utmost
secrecy. The negotiations finally revolved around the fate of the three
Cubans who remained incarcerated in the U.S. and Alan Gross, serving a 12year prison term in Cuba. When Pope Benedict, before his surprise
retirement, visited Cuba in 2012, he called for the resumption of dialogue
between Havana and Washington. The Pope made it a point not to meet
Cuban dissidents backed by the U.S. during his visit. Pope Francis visited
Cuba before he was anointed as the head of the Church in 2013. Being from
Argentina, he is more conversant with the contemporary politics of the
region. Both Obama and Raul Castro thanked the Pope for helping in
finalising the historic deal.
For Cuba, the issue of the Cuban Five was the most important aspect of the
negotiations. Two of the five Cuban patriots were released in 2013 and early
2014 after they had served lengthy prison terms. The release of the
remaining three from U.S. prisons was the number one priority for the Cuban
government. Without their freedom, Cuba would not have handed Alan Gross
over to the U.S. authorities. The only crime of the Cuban Five was to expose
the activities of Cuban American terrorist groups operating from American
soil. Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labanino, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando
Gonzalez and Rene Gonzalez had infiltrated these terrorist groups, which had
been targeting Cuban cities and violating Cuban airspace with impunity.
Terrorist organisations such as Alpha 66, Commandos F4 and Brothers to the
Rescue operated from Florida. They were allowed a free run by U.S. security
agencies. They would routinely target Cuban Americans in Florida who called
for normalisation of relations. Among the notorious anti-Castro Cuban
terrorists operating in Florida were Orlando Bosch and Luis Possada Carriles.
They were the brains behind the bombing of a Cuban commercial airliner in
1976 that killed all 76 passengers on board.
The deal came in for effusive praise from leaders in Latin America and the
Caribbean region, cutting across political lines. Pro-American leaders in the
region, such as the Presidents of Mexico and Colombia, were among the first
to express their happiness with the diplomatic rapprochement. Colombian
President Juan Manuel Santos expressed the hope that the deal would pave
the way to the dream of having a continent where there will be total peace.
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which is currently

engaged in peace talks with the Colombian government, announced that it

was declaring a unilateral and indefinite ceasefire. The civil war in Colombia
has been going on almost uninterrupted since the early 1950s.
President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela hailed the agreement as a historic
victory for the Cuban people. A day after his statement announcing the
normalisation of relations with Cuba, Obama gave his approval for sanctions
against Venezuela. Strained relations with the U.S. did not stop Maduro from
congratulating Obama on his initiative to normalise relations with Cuba. We
have to recognise the gesture from Obama. A necessary and courageous
gesture, Maduro said. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Rafael Ramirez, however,
highlighted the U.S. double standards. He pointed out the contradiction of
Obama imposing sanctions on Venezuela when he had admitted that the
U.S. prolonged sanctions against Cuba had failed to advance its interests.
They want to sanction us because we carry the banner of socialism, he
said. Brazilian President Dilma Roussef, a guerilla fighter against the military
regime of the 1970s, described the normalisation of relations between
Havana and Washington as a historic development. For us, social fighters,
today is a historic day. We imagined we would never see such a moment,
she said.
The U.S. economic blockade of Cuba was deeply unpopular all over the
region. The Obama administration was alarmed by the diplomatic and
economic inroads made by China and Russia in a region that the U.S. once
considered its backyard. Many U.S. policymakers and analysts blamed the
diminishing influence on the countrys failed Cuba policy. In the last Summit
of the Americas, most of the time was wasted on talking about the U.S.
economic blockade on Cuba. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian
President Vladimir Putin made extensive visits to the region in 2014. When
Obama stated that the U.S. policy towards Cuba had failed to advance our
interests he was not talking only about its political interests.
In fact, many U.S. commentators say that it is the powerful commercial lobby
in the U.S. that has prompted Obama to speedily loosen the restrictions on
trade with Cuba. Although the U.S. trade embargo has not ended officially,
the White House has said that it will authorise expanded sales and export of
certain goods and services from the U.S. to Cuba. Tom Vilsack, Agriculture
Secretary, has said that the easing of restrictions expands opportunities for
U.S. farmers and ranchers to do business in Cuba. American economists

estimated that the U.S. would be able to sell $500 million worth of
agricultural products to Cuba. The U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) said that
American exports would grow from the current level of zero to around 80-90
per cent in Cuba, as it is in other Caribbean nations. The multinational
corporation Cargill hailed Obamas initiative by saying that there are clear
economic and social benefits and the potential for a new market for U.S.
farmers, ranchers and food companies.
But before relations between the two countries can truly normalise, the U.S.
has to first remove Cuba from the State Departments list of states
sponsoring terrorism. Cuba was unilaterally placed on the list in 1982. Cubas
crucial military support for the liberation movements in southern Africa had
prompted that move. Because of the sanctions and counterterrorism laws,
Cuba finds it difficult to access cheap credit from international financial
institutions. U.S. companies will also find it difficult to do business with Cuba
because of the restrictions that are still in force. Obama administration
officials have said that Cuba will be out of the terror list within months.
The other issues that need to be settled quickly are those connected to
migration, narcotics and the return of Guantanamo Bay. The U.S. has to scrap
the wet foot, dry foot policy which encourages Cubans to emigrate illegally.
Cubans rescued in the sea (wet foot) are allowed to take up residence in
third countries while those successful in reaching U.S. shores (dry foot) are
automatically given residency permits. This privilege is given only to illegal
immigrants from Cuba. There is no dispute over the sovereignty over
Guantanamo Bay. The 1903 treaty under which the U.S. signed a lease
agreement with Cuba recognises this fact. Communist Cuba, however, does
not recognise this agreement, which was signed when the island was
virtually run like a colony by the U.S. Washington must also stop its openly
subversive activities such as the daily propaganda broadcasts from Radio
Marti and Television Marti.
Raul Castro has emphasised that the detente with the U.S. will not make
Cuba waver from socialism. We shouldnt expect that in order for relations
to improve with the United States, Cuba is renouncing the ideas for which
weve fought for more than a century and for which our people have spilled
so much blood and run such great risks, he told Cubas National Assembly
in the last week of December. He said Cuba was always ready to engage in
a respectful dialogue on equal terms to address any issues without a shadow
over our independence and without renouncing a single one of our

principles. Raul Castro reminded the Cuban people that many of the odious
aspects of the blockade still remained. An important step has been taken,
but the essential thing remains, the end of the economic, commercial and
financial blockade against Cuba, which has grown in recent years,
particularly in financial transactions, he said.
After delivering his speech, he invited the Cuban Five and Elian Gonzalez to
share the podium with him. In 1999, Elian, who was aged five then, was
rescued from the sea and was at the centre of a bitter custody battle
between his father in Cuba and relatives in Florida. His return to Cuba in
2000 was another big victory for Cuban persistence and diplomacy.
7) There is no logic to the way in which the Indian government grants
Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) cards to citizens of certain countries and not to
others. Critically examine why the latest move by the government is viewed
as discriminatory. (200 Words)
PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modis announcement from the parapet of
Madison Square Garden in New York City apropos the grant of lifetime visas
to Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) card holders was greeted with jubilation by
Indian Americans. But it also brought to the fore prejudices embedded in the
treatment of people settled in Indias immediate neighbourhood. While
welcoming PIOs from First World nations such as the United States, the
United Kingdom and Australia, people from Bhutan, Afghanistan, Nepal,
Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Iran (excluding Iranian nationals of Indian
origin) and China have been at the receiving end of systematic
discrimination for years.
For passport holders of other countries who wished to enjoy benefits akin to
that of an Indian citizen or an NRI (non-resident Indian), a scheme was
launched in 1999, called Person of Indian Origin (PIO) Card Scheme, and it
was further revised in 2002. Those who could benefit from it were: persons
who, at any point in time, had held an Indian passport; persons whose
parents, grandparents or great-grandparents were born in and were
permanent residents of India; or persons who were foreign spouses of an
Indian citizen or a PIO holder. Any foreign national who was eligible to
become a citizen of India on or after January 26, 1950, (commencement of
the Indian Constitution) is eligible to benefit from an Overseas Citizenship of
India (OCI) Scheme.

The deadline for the merger of the PIO and OCI cards, as announced by
Narendra Modi, has been set for January 2015. If it goes through, it will
drastically ease visa norms for PIOs and enable frequent and hassle-free
travel for them. In making this announcement, Modi carried forward the
hackneyed agenda of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to reach out to the
Indian Diaspora. This endorsement of a certain class of people
(predominantly the business community) has opened a Pandoras box and
brought into sharp focus a policy of the Indian government that seeks to
exclude a lot of people from enjoying citizenship rights.
Naina Khurshid, born and brought up in New York, is the daughter of parents
who migrated to the United States from Karachi in Pakistan. Her family had
gone to Karachi from Patna after Partition. Of all the countries she has lived
in, she feels most at home in India but this is one country where she will
never become eligible for citizenship. Having lived in many countries in the
four decades of my youth, I feel completely at ease in Delhi and would love
nothing more than to spend more time here. But I have come to understand
and accept that as a person whose folks are perceived to be from Pakistan, I
will never be able to make India a home, she says.
Every time she has to visit, the establishment gives her a hard time through
bureaucratic rigmarole, and long-term work visas are hard to come by. All
this on the grounds that her grandparents chose to become citizens of
Pakistan post-Partition many decades before she was born. This might be her
last visit in a long time to come, she adds.
People who hold citizenships of Pakistan or Bangladesh have longer waiting
periods, sometimes many years, compared with citizens of other countries,
and have to complete piles of paperwork before they are able to visit family
or friends in India.
A circular from the Ministry of Home Affairs signed by Undersecretary to the
Government of India, M.K. Khanna, with a copy to Secretaries of Ministries of
Tourism, Human Resource Development, and Information & Broadcasting,
officials of the Ministry of External Affairs and the Foreigner Regional
Registration Offices of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Amritsar and the Chief
Immigration Officer, Chennai, specifies who is ineligible for availing
himself/herself of the PIO status:
Besides the nationals of Pakistan and Bangladesh, the nationals of Sri
Lanka, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Iran, China and any other country that
may be specified by the Central Government shall also not be eligible for
issue of PIO card. Further if the applicant himself or either of his parents,
grandparents or great grandparents held the nationality of these specified

countries at any time, he will not be granted PIO card. It goes on to add
that, stateless persons holding identity/ travel documents shall not be
eligible for grant of PIO card.
These policies bust the myth that India is a melting pot of different cultures
that assimilates refugees from all over, especially neighbouring countries,
with ease. It may still be easy for people to get inside the country illegally
due to its lax control but the officialdom makes it hard for people who want
to do things legally. In short, it excludes genuine requests for citizenship by
people who have been residing and working in the country for years,
condemning them to depend on applying for short-term visas with no
guarantee of extensions. While the notification states that all spouses of
Indian citizens are eligible to apply for a PIO card, in practice, spouses from
South Asian backgrounds are excluded without being given any reasons. It
especially hurts spouses of Indian citizens from South Asian countries who
have been residing here for decades.
The governments reasons for implementing such a policy could not be
verified as attempts to contact the Joint Secretary (Foreigners) and the
Minister of State for Home Affairs were unsuccessful. Email queries went
unanswered.
Ruling out citizens of Pakistan and Bangladesh on grounds of ancestry
could be because their ancestors were all citizens of British India. Likewise,
there are about a million Sri Lankan Tamils of recent Indian origin. (Whether
they would be able to produce the required documentation is of course very
doubtful.) But, this does not apply to spouses of Indian citizens, and I think
the PIO Notification has not excluded them precisely because that would
constitute racial discrimination. Yet, in practice, that is what is being done,
says Sanchari Nag who lives in a South Asian country and has been married
to an Indian citizen for close to four decades. She has been continuing in
domicile by applying for short-term visas almost annually.
Contrast this with the situation of Alec Martin, a British national, with no
Indian ancestry but married to an Indian citizen, who got his PIO within three
weeks of applying for it on the strength of his marriage to an Indian citizen
and one wonders if there is an exclusion policy practised by the state but not
spelt out as it would directly incriminate it for practising racism. If this is
indeed the case, the Ministry of Home Affairs practice is in blatant violation
of the United Nations convention against all forms of racial discrimination,
including discrimination on the basis of nationality. It would also seem to be a
violation of the terms of the PIO Notification, besides being a clear case of
discrimination on the basis of nationality, which is counted as racial
discrimination in the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Racial Discrimination.

Officials in bureaucratic and foreign affairs circles will tell you that most
countries have certain necessary protocols that need to be followed where
citizenship is concerned and that India is no different. But beyond the
questions of necessary safeguards for a nation state, there are questions of
whether, within the privileged concept of citizenship, the establishment
exhibits a trace of prejudice in the way it denies citizenship to people from
specific nationalities in a systematic manner and whether some rethinking is
not required about the way in which this has become the norm.
A long-standing demand of the Hindu minority community in Pakistan has
been for citizenship. Treated as a minority community in Pakistan and as
refugees in India, they are a people without a nation. Mostly poor and
homeless, hundreds of them have been arriving on trains from Pakistan and
camping in the towns of Rajasthan for decades now. In an election speech
given in the area, the BJP, specifically Narendra Modi, promised to help their
cause. But after the Lok Sabha victory, the party has forgotten them and is
instead busy wooing the richer diaspora elsewhere. Hindu Singh Sodha,
president of the Seemant Lok Sangathan, which has been actively
campaigning for their rights, gave a call for a dharna at Jantar Mantar, New
Delhi, earlier this year, along with 350 Hindu migrants. They are asking for
the inclusion of persecuted Hindu and Sikh minorities of Pakistan and
Bangladesh in the PIO scheme. They say that if a person or either of his
parents were earlier citizens of independent India and have been residing in
India for one year immediately before making an application for registration,
then the person should be considered for citizenship. Under this provision,
the majority of Hindu migrants from Pakistan staying in India on long-term
visas will be eligible to apply for citizenship.
8) Recently the government approved raising the quarterly buffer stock and
strategic reserve limits of Food Corporation of India (FCI) for both wheat and
rice, for the first time since 2005. Examine the reasons and its implications.
(150 Words)
The government on Friday approved raising the quarterly buffer stock and
strategic reserve limits of Food Corporation of India (FCI) for both wheat and
rice, for the first time since 2005.
FCI must compulsorily now hold 29 per cent more foodgrain in the central
pool than the current requirement as on each July 1, and around 45 per cent
more as on October 1 every year.

On every April 1 and January 1, it will have to hold around one per cent and
14.4 per cent less grain than the existing stipulation.
The buffer stocks and strategic reserve norms stipulate the amount to be
held at the start of each quarter in a financial year, to efficiently run social
welfare programmes like the Public Distribution System (PDS).However, due
to bumper foodgrain harvest and an open-ended purchase system, it usually
stores much more than stipulated by the buffer norms.
Some experts said Friday's move is also aimed at meeting World Trade
Organization obligations that governments must not store foodgrain much in
excess of requirement.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs also cleared the constitution of
an inter-ministerial group to offload excess foodgrain stock, if any, in the
domestic market through open sale or export. The group will have the
secretaries of the food, expenditure and consumer affairs departments.
In 2014-15, the government had approved sale of around 10 million tonnes
(mt) of foodgrain in the open market.
The previous government had also tried raising the buffer norm but could not
get cabinet approval because it was already holding much more than needed
for the PDS (see chart).
In the revised norms, FCI has to maintain a stock of 41.12 mt in the second
quarter as on July 1, instead of the earlier limit of 31.9 mt. And, 30.77 mt
should be kept in the third quarter as on October 1, against previous norm of
21.2 mt.
A marginally lower 21.04 mt is to be maintained in the first quarter as on
April 1, as against 21.2 mt now. Similarly, 21.41 mt to be kept in the financial
year's last quarter as on January 1, as against 25 mt.
The annual foodgrain requirement under the new food security law is
estimated to rise to 61.4 mt, as against the current 54-56 mt.
9) Discuss why the successful launch of ISROs GSLV-Mark III is seen as a
milestone event for Indias space ambitions. Also highlight the features
of GSLV-Mark III. (200 Words)

THE year 2014 was a great year for the Indian Space Research Organisation
(ISRO) with a row of successes that turned the worlds attention on it. On
January 5, 2014, its 20-year old tapas to build an indigenous cryogenic
engine ended on a triumphant note when its Geosynchronous Satellite
Launch Vehicle (GSAT-5), powered by an indigenous cryogenic engine, put
the communication satellite GSAT-14 into a precise orbit. On September 24,
India became the first country in the world to put its spacecraft Mangalyan
into Mars orbit in its very first attempt.
On December 18, ISROs GSLV-Mark III, the newest, heaviest and the most
powerful launch vehicle it has built so far, put a 3.75-tonne unmanned crew
module into a sub-orbit at an altitude of 126 kilometre. As per plan, the crew
module started coming down immediately, sliced through the earths
atmosphere at a perfect angle, surviving a fiery re-entry, decelerated and,
with its three huge parachutes opening up, splashed down in the Bay of
Bengal, about 700 km from Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The
Coast Guard personnel from the vessel Samudra Pehereden recovered the
module.
The spectacular event signalled that India had taken the first steps towards
its ambition to send Indian astronauts into space. The mission demonstrated
ISROs mastery of the re-entry technology and its ability to develop the
braking techniques, deceleration technology and thermal protection systems
for the crew module.
ISRO notched up two more successes in 2014. Its Polar Satellite Launch
Vehicles (PSLVs) put into orbit two navigation satellites, the Indian Regional
Navigation Satellite Systems, IRNSS-1B and 1C, on April 5 and October 16.
For ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan, who retired on December 31, it must
have been a professionally satisfying year.
Weighing 630 tonnes, the GSLV-Mk III is a new-generation launch vehicle. It is
43.43 metres long. Its core liquid stage, called L110, uses 110 tonnes of
liquid propellants. Clinging on to the core stage are two strap-on, solid
propellant booster motors, named S-200, each guzzling up 200 tonnes of
solid propellants. They are the biggest solid motors built by ISRO. Above the
core liquid stage is the indigenous cryogenic engine that will use 25 tonnes
of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. On December 18, ISRO did not fire the
cryogenic engine. It was a dummy cryogenic stage that sat on top of L110.
So the mission was an experimental, passive one. As the module was

unmanned it neither had life-support system nor crew escape systems in

case of an emergency.
The mission was remarkably smooth for a totally new vehicle. There were no
holds in the countdown that lasted 24 hours and a half. The majestic vehicle,
painted in white, stood on the launch platform of the second launch pad on
Sriharikotas beachfront. The legends ISRO, LVM3X were prominently
written on the vehicle. LVM-X stood for Launch Vehicle Mark III, Experimental
Mission. It was titled, LVM3-X/CARE Mission. CARE stands for Crew Module
Atmospheric Re-entry Experiment. On top of the dummy cryogenic stage was
mated the unmanned crew module which, in itself, was sheathed in heat
shields. The vehicle vaulted off the launch pad at the appointed time of 9-30
a.m. Lift-off normal came the announcement from the saucer-shaped
Mission Control Centre, situated about 6 km from the second pad. Then came
another announcement, S-200 performance normal
The L110 engine came to life at 114.71 seconds after the lift-off as planned.
A novel aspect of the mission was that the two S-200 motors continued to
fire for about 34 seconds after the L110 had ignited. So two solid motors and
one liquid engine were firing together for about 34 seconds. The two solid
motors fell away 148.98 seconds after the lift-off. About 84 seconds later, the
payload fairing (the heat shield protecting the unmanned crew module from
intense heat during the vehicles ascent into the atmosphere) parted in two
and fell into the Bay of Bengal. About 317 seconds after the lift-off, the L110
engine shut down. It separated from the vehicle three seconds later. At T
plus 325 seconds, at an altitude of 126 km, the unmanned crew module
separated from the dummy cryogenic stage and went into a sub-orbit. It
started coming down immediately and splashed down in the Bay of Bengal.
The entire mission, from the vehicles lift-off to the modules touchdown in
the waters, lasted 20 minutes.
Radhakrishnan hailed the GSLV-Mk III mission a great event and said this
was the largest launch vehicle programme that ISRO undertook. He
promised the country that the first developmental launch of GSLV-Mk III, with
its own cryogenic engine fuelled by 25 tonnes of liquid oxygen and liquid
hydrogen, would take place in two years.
Flourishing a golden-hued replica of the GSLV-Mk III, S. Somanath, Project
Director, GSLV-Mk III, declared: India has a new launch vehicle now. We have
done it again.

Both Radhakrishnan and Somanath stressed that the GSLV-Mk IIIs two
booster motors, each powered by 200 tonnes of solid propellants, were the
biggest motors built by ISRO. Somanath said the indigenous cryogenic stage
had simulated propellants, which had the same mass, density and
temperature of the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. The simulated
propellants, which filled the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen tanks, were
liquid nitrogen and gaseous nitrogen respectively. It was the liquid engine,
fired by 110 tonnes of liquid propellants, that catapulted the unmanned crew
module into a sub-orbit at a velocity of 5.4 km a second
S. Unnikrishnan Nair, Project Director, Human Spaceflight Project, ISRO,
called the mission a grand success and a dream come true for us. After
the module separated from the vehicle, it [the module] performed as
expected, he said. Its re-entry into the earths atmosphere at an altitude of
80 km was perfect. Three parachutes opened in sequence and the modules
velocity of descent was reduced. The braking systems and the deceleration
technology worked to perfection. The mission was so precise that the module
splashed down just five nautical miles from the expected area, Unnikrishnan
Nair said.
M.C. Dathan, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, (VSSC),
Thiruvananthapuram, said: Once GSLV-Mark III is reliably proved, it will be
launch vehicle for Indias Human Spaceflight Programme, he said. Besides,
a lot of countries will be in a queue to launch their satellites, using GSLVMk III, he added. Dathan made a pitch for more allotment of funds from the
Centre for ISROs Human Spaceflight Programme. A.S. Kiran Kumar, Director,
Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad, said: This is the first step for GSLVMk III and CARE mission. ISRO is now looking forward to its manned mission
to space, Kiran Kumar added.
In the assessment of M.Y.S. Prasad, Director, Satish Dhawan Space Centre
(SDSC), Sriharikota, the missions primary objective of proving the vehicles
flight through the atmospheric phase was fully met in the mission. He was
proud that the 200-tonne solid motors were assembled at Sriharikota. A
massive plant for manufacturing the solid propellants for them had been
built at Sriharikota, Prasad said.
S. Ramakrishnan, former VSSC Director and former Project Director, GSLV-Mk
III, was happy that it was such a trouble-free mission for a newborn vehicle. It

was akin to the PSLV missions, which have had 27 successes in a row from
1993, he said.
ISRO cleverly made use of the current two-year delay in developing the
indigenous 25-tonne cryogenic engine for GSLV-Mark III in sending the
unmanned crew module into a sub-orbit. Since ISRO had not built a satellite
weighing four tonnes to put into orbit using this experimental mission in
which the cryogenic engine did not fire, it decided that it would build an
unmanned crew module and put it into a sub-orbit at an altitude of 126 km
and recover it when it returned to the earth. Indeed, the very first forerunner
to Indias manned mission to space was when the PSLV put a satellite called
Space Capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE) into orbit on January 10, 2007.
The SRE splashed down in the Bay of Bengal 12 days later and was
recovered.
It [GSLV-Mk III experimental mission] was a chance for us to take the
unmanned crew module on it and recover it because its overall shape and
mass will be simulated, said Dathan. (The VSSC, which he leads, was the
key agency for building both the vehicle and the module.) The re-entry
technologythe temperature and turbulence that the module will experience
when it re-enters the earths atmospherewill be proved. The thermal
protection systems will be proved, he added.
GSLV-Mk III is the third generation launch vehicle of ISRO to use a cryogenic
engine. The first-generation GSLV rockets used Russian cryogenic engines,
which were plagued by failures. GSLV-Mk II, with its indigenous cryogenic
engine, tasted its first success on January 5, 2014, and put into orbit GSAT14.
The Union government approved the GSLV-Mk III project in 2002 with an
outlay of Rs.2,500 crore. We were able to complete the project with
Rs.2,500 crore. Besides, we reached a stage where we could have this first
flight, said Somanath. GSLV-Mk IIIs design is totally new. It is not like that
of the PSLV or the earlier generation GSLVs, he added. While the PSLVs solid
motors have a diameter of 2.8 metres, GSLV-Mk IIIs S-200 motors have a
diameter of 3.2 metres each. Its flight on December 18, 2014, was to prove
the vehicles design and the maturity of the S-200 motors. The purpose of
the flight was to make the launch vehicle experience the rigours of the actual
flight, he added.

The two solid motors, together burning up 400 tonnes of solid propellants,
and the liquid engine, burning 110 tonnes of propellants, fired
simultaneously for 34 seconds before the two solid motors fell away. This
has not been done before. It is a complex thing to do, said Somanath. Since
the cryogenic stage was passive, the velocity that was imparted to the
module was only half of what a regular vehicle would give it, he explained.
The velocity of 5.4 km a second imparted to the module was not sufficient
for it to stay in orbit unless the cryogenic stage fired and gave it sufficient
velocity. So it started coming down immediately. As the module de-mated
from the dummy cryogenic stage and started coming down, it experienced
severe disturbances. But the control systems, that is, the six thrusters on
board the module, re-oriented the module for a proper re-entry into the
earths atmosphere.
The module re-entered the earths atmosphere at an altitude of 80 km at a
velocity of 11 Mach, surviving about 1,000 Celsius of heat generated during
the re-entry, said Unnikrishnan Nair. The angle of attack at the point of reentry was 0. The ablative carbon-phenolic tiles plastered around the
modules bowl-shaped outer surface enabled the module to survive this agni
pariksha [test by fire]. It was like a shuttle-cock, with the cock facing the
floor and coming down. From 80 km down, it was flying like a ballistic body.
This velocity was reduced by aero-braking.
At an altitude of 15 km, the parachutes came into play. The parachutes
developed by the Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment
(ADRDE) in Agra. The ADRDE is a premier Defence Research and
Development Organisation (DRDO) laboratory and only one of its kind in the
country that specialises in the design, development and production of paradrop systems for a comprehensive range of military applications. A variety of
parachute systems, such as Combat Free Fall Systems, Free Fall Systems and
those that are capable of dropping battle tanks and infantry combat vehicles
weighing between seven tonnes and 16 tonnes from aircraft, have been
realised by the ADRDE. Big aerostats, for surveillance, have been developed
by the ADRDE.
In the December 18 mission itself, three parachutes helped to arrest the
speed of descent of the module. One was a drogue parachute while the other
two were the main parachutes. The main parachutes were massive
contraptions with a diameter of 31 m each. As a measure of redundancy,

there was another set of these three parachutes in case the first set failed to
deploy.
When the parachutes opened up at a height of 15 km, the beacon aboard the
unmanned crew module started beaming data about the modules latitude
and longitude to ISTRAC, Bangalore. ISTRAC sent the data to Sriharikota
which, in turn, transmitted the coordinates to the Coast Guard vessel.
Once the parachutes opened up and the velocity of the modules descent
came to 7.2 metres a second, the module splashed down. Sensing the
impact, the parachutes disconnected autonomously. The module hit the
waters about 700 km from Port Blair. Soon, dye-markers from the module
sprayed the waters with a fluorescent green-coloured dye, which could be
seen from an aircraft. The Coast Guard vessel, which received the
coordinates of the splash-down point, reached the area soon to recover the
module.
ISRO engineers belonging to its Human Spaceflight Programme are happy
that the mission supplied them with enormous data on the modules
aerodynamics, the performance of the control thrusters and the thermal
protection systems, and the unfolding of the parachutes, among other
things. The Human Spaceflight Programme team includes P. Sunil, its Deputy
Project Director, P. Damodaran, B. Anzar and S.S. Vinod.
If the space suits the VSSC has developed are any indication, ISROs dream
of sending astronauts into space will be realised sooner than expected.
10) Recently the Indian Patent Controller rejected one of Gileads key patent
applications for the drug Sofosbuvir, used to treat hepatitis C (HCV). This
move was welcomed by activists fighting for access to affordable medicines.
Critically examine the issue and its significance to Indias healthcare sector.
(200 Words)
The Indian Patent Controller, on Thursday, rejected one of Gileads key
patent applications for the drug Sofosbuvir, used to treat hepatitis C (HCV).
People campaigning for affordable medicine have welcomed the decision.
The oral drug first received regulatory approval in the US in November 2013,
and has been priced by Gilead at US$84,000 for a treatment course ($1,000
per pill) in the US. It has caused a worldwide debate on the pricing of
patented medicines. Interestingly, a study from Liverpool University showed

that sofosbuvir could be produced for as little as $101 for a three-month

treatment course. Sofosbuvir is a nucleotide analog inhibitor that blocks a
specific protein needed by the hepatitis C virus to replicate itself.
Gilead has signed voluntary licence agreements with multiple generic
producers in IndiaCadila Healthcare Ltd, Cipla Ltd, Hetero Labs Ltd, Mylan
Laboratories Ltd., Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd, Sequent Scientific Ltd and
Strides Arcolab Ltd. But these agreements impose many restrictions,
including which countries can access the drugs produced under these
licences, as well as invasive restriction on medical providers and patients
with respect to distribution and use of the drug.
With the patent being denied, other companies that have not signed the
licence are now free to produce the drug. Entry by additional generic
manufacturers should increase the open competition needed to bring prices
down dramatically, especially in those countries that have been excluded
from the voluntary licence agreement, and thereby increase access to the
medicine.
Health activists said the move will improve access to the drug. Executive
director of Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) Access Campaign, Manica
Balasegaram, says, Indias status as the pharmacy of the developing world
is once again in the spotlight and this is a good opportunity for generic
producers in India to swiftly ramp up production to levels needed to treat the
185 million people infected with hepatitis C worldwide.
The move to reject Gileads patent application really opens up the playing
field, so we hope to now see many other generic companies starting to
produce more affordable versions of this drug. The bottom line here is that
Indias patent law doesnt give monopolies for old science, for compounds
that are already in the public domain. Gileads strategy of charging as much
as US$84,000 per treatment for a drug that is predicted to be simple and
cheap to produce, and is now un-patentable in India, has been exposed for
what it is seeking to squeeze as much profit out of the sick as possible,
said MSF.
Tahir Amin, lawyer and director of the Initiative for Medicines, Access &
Knowledge (I-MAK.org) which opposed the patent application, said, This is a
happy day for the millions of people who urgently need hepatitis C treatment
across the globe. People with hepatitis C everywhere should be able to have

access to this treatment, but millions of our friends in middle-income

countries have been left out in the cold by Gilead. This decision provides
hope that people in countries that have been excluded from Gileads
licensing deals will be able to access low-cost generic versions of sofosbuvir.
11) India has not produced any Nobel Prize winner in science in the last 85
years largely because of the lack of a scientific environment in the
country. Do you agree with this assessment? Justify. (200 Words)
Jawaharlal Nehru coined the term scientific temper in his book The
Discovery of India , which was published in 1946. He was also the President
of the Association of Scientific Workers of India (ASWI), which was registered
as a Trade Union, and with which I was closely associated with in the 1940s
and the early 1950s. (This may be the only example of a Prime Minister of a
democracy being the President of a Trade Union.) One of the objectives of
ASWI was to propagate scientific temper. It was very active in the beginning,
but fizzled out by the 1960s as the bulk of scientists in the country, including
many who were occupying high positions, were themselves not committed to
scientific temper which calls for rationality, reason and lack of belief in any
dogma, superstition or manifest falsehood.
The conclusion that our very own scientists who would be expected to be
leaders in the development of scientific temper did not possess scientific
temper themselves and were just as superstitious as any other group was
supported by another incident in 1964. Following a statement by Satish
Dhawan (who later became Secretary, Department of Space), Abdur Rahman
(a distinguished historian of science) and I, set up an organisation called The
Society for Scientific Temper, in January 1964, the founding members of
which included distinguished scientists like Francis Crick, a Nobel Prize
winner. For membership to the society, the following statement had to be
signed: I believe that knowledge can be acquired only through human
endeavour and not through revelation, and that all problems can and must
be faced in terms of mans moral and intellectual resources without invoking
supernatural powers .
We were disillusioned when we approached scientist after scientist and all of
them refused to sign the statement. Clearly they were devoid of scientific
temper. Following this disillusionment, I persuaded Professor Nurul Hasan,
then Education Minister, to have the following clause included in Article 51A
in the 42nd Amendment of the Constitution in 1976: It shall be the duty of
every citizen of Indian to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the
spirit of enquiry and reform.
This should have woken up our scientists and reminded them of their duty
vis--vis scientific temper, but I do not believe that the situation in this

respect is any better, even today, than what it was 50-60 years ago. Let me
cite three examples.
During the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, then Human
Resources Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi asked the University
Grants Commission to issue a circular to all universities stating that they
should start a degree course in astrology. For this, he said, a special grant
would be given. My colleague Chandana Chakrabarti and I filed a writ
petition in the Supreme Court challenging this dispensation. Our lawyer was
Prashant Bhushan. The petition was admitted but was eventually dismissed
(as could be expected), for belief in astrology which is totally unscientific
and irrational and has been repeatedly shown to be a myth is widespread,
with those who dispense justice also not being immune to it. Not one
scientist came forward in support of us; nor did any of the six national
science academies we have, on which a substantial amount of public funds
are spent every year. Our supporters, who even sent us unsolicited funds to
fight the case, were all non-scientists. In fact, recognising the above
inadequacies of our science academies and their insensitivity to sciencerelated social problems in general, I resigned from the fellowship of three of
our science academies in 1993.
The second example would be the silence of our scientists and the six
science academies when, last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while
addressing a group of scientists in Mumbai, claimed that organ
transplantation was known in ancient India he gave Ganesha with his
elephant head and human torso as an example.
The third example would be the much publicised symposium on Ancient
Sciences through Sanskrit at the 102nd Indian Science Congress in Mumbai,
which was held earlier this month. At this meeting, it was said that India had
jumbo aircraft (60 x 60 feet; in some cases 200 feet long) that flew between
continents and planets 9,000 years ago (some 4,500 years before Harappa
and Mohenjo-daro). Not only that, it was also claimed that we had a radar
system better than the present one, based on the principle that every
animate or inanimate object emits energy all the time. And in the 21st
century, fusion of science and spirituality will happen because of the law of
inter-penetration, it was said. I doubt if any serious academic would have
heard of this law which would not make any sense. These and many other
absurd claims made at the symposium were an insult to the several real
scientific accomplishments of ancient and medieval India.
Winding up academies
None of our so-called scientists of note and scientific academies has raised a
voice against these claims. Surely, the distinguished scientists who organised
the Science Congress knew what was likely to be said at the symposium, but,

perhaps, they believed in it all or were pressurised politically. Therefore,

there is a strong case for the annual Indian Science Congress to be banned
(as I also argued in my article in The Hindu, Why the Indian Science
Congress meets should be stopped (Open Page, September 30, 1997), or its
name to be changed to Indian Anti-science Congress.
As regards the science academies, they can easily be wound up without any
damage being caused to Indian science. India has not produced any Nobel
Prize winner in science in the last 85 years largely because of the lack of a
scientific environment in the country, of which scientific temper would be an
important component.
(Pushpa M. Bhargava is the founder-director of the Centre for Cellular and
Molecular Biology at Hyderabad, and chairman of the Southern Regional
Centre of Council for Social Development.)
The absurd claims at the Indian Science Congress were an insult to
the several real scientific accomplishments of ancient India
12) What do you understand by non-partisanship in public administration?
How will you ensure non-partisanship in administration when you become an
IAS officer? Elucidate. (200 Words)
Discuss the mechanism by means of which the atmosphere is able
to maintain its heat-balance. Is the atmosphere getting progressively hotter,
and if so, why? (200 Words)
The chemistry of the Antarctic polar vortex has created severe ozone
depletion . What is Polar Vortex ? How does it explain the absence of An
Arctic Hole as compared to a more prominent Antarctic Hole? (200 Words)
What is a 'polar vortex'?
What is a "polar vortex," and why is it bringing such cold weather to
the United States?
Temperatures across the United States were expected to plunge to their
lowest levels for 20 years, as almost half of the population were trapped
under what is known as a "polar vortex".
The wind chill from the rare climatic phenomena could make it feel as cold as
-60 Fahrenheit (-51 Celsius) in places prompting authorities in several
towns and cities to issue warnings that people should stay indoors and stock
up on food. Exposed skin could suffer frostbite in as little as five minutes in
such conditions, experts warn.

The National Weather Service described the weather as "life-threatening,"

while the Weather Prediction Center warned of a "dangerously cold
air mass."
A "polar vortex" is a persistent, large-scale cyclone. They are usually found
around either the north or south poles it is rare for them to swing as far as
to affect densely-inhabited areas.
Winds sweep around the area at 100mph, typically trapping the cold air in
the Arctic.
But when the polar vortex splits apart, it can fling the cold air far afield.
Cold air is dense so once it is released it travels a long way and that is why it
is penetrating so far southwards, John Hammond from the BBC Weather
Centre says.
The Weather Channel said the country should be prepared for an imminent
"blast of brutally cold air" that would buffet some states until Tuesday.
Deaths blamed on the freezing weather include a worker crushed by a 100foot pile of salt being prepared to treat roads in the Philadelphia area on
Friday, and a 71-year-old woman suffering from Alzheimer's disease who
froze to death after getting lost in New York state.
But forecasters said they expected the chill to pass in the next few days.
"The weather pattern across North America right now is set up to be very
favourable for the southward transport of Arctic air," said Bob Oravec, a
National Weather Service meteorologist.
"It's not going to be long-lived," he added.
"By the end of the week the temperatures definitely start to moderate across
the whole of the country."
Antarctica A Key Driver Of Global Climate, South Pole Temperatures Affect
Rest Of The Planet
Following a series of weekend winter storms across the northern U.S., belowfreezing temperatures have gripped large swaths of the county and thrown

many Americans into hardcore survival mode. In New York City, temperatures
are expected to plummet 49 degrees Fahrenheit in just 12 hours time.
In Minnesota, schools were closed for the first time in 17 years as winter
temperatures sank to as low as minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit. "A person not
properly dressed could die easily in those conditions," said Scott Trueett, a
meteorologist for the National Weather Service.
Its turning out to be a painfully cold winter, colder in many cities than it has
been in decades, and many are wondering why. Where are these extreme
temperatures coming from? And whats to be expected? While extreme
weather in the U.S. is in large part due to a polar vortex creeping down
over the Northern hemisphere from the North Pole, Scientists say weather
patterns around the globe are largely the result of climate change in
Antarctica.
"Antarctica is one of the key drivers of the global climate system," Tony
Press, head of the Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems Co-operative Research
Centre in Hobart, Australia, told The Sydney Morning Herald. "Changes in
Antarctica will affect not only the Antarctic region but Australia and the rest
of the planet."
Every year, Antarcticas ice shrinks in the summer and expands in the winter.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the change in Antarctic ice
coverage swells from about 3 million square kilometers at the end of every
summer to nearly 19 million square kilometers at the end of every winter. Its
a landmass in constant flux.
But every year, a little bit less of the ice refreezes during the winter. Studies
have found Antarctica has lost about 100 billion tons of ice a year since
1993, which has partly contributed to global sea levels rising 0.14 inches a
year since the early 1990s. Some regions of West Antarctic have seen a 7
percent drop in sea-ice extent each decade.
On the other hand, Antarctic ice coverage has increased 1 percent per
decade, which seems to contradict the notion that global warming -- average
overall surface temperatures have risen roughly 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit over
the last 100 years -- is causing the ice to melt. But scientists warn not to
confuse weather patterns with worldwide climate change.
Regionally, climate change can vary markedly across the Earth so to detect
human influences on the climate system climate scientists must consider the
Earth as a whole, John Turner, who leads the Climate Variability and
Modeling project at the British Antarctic Survey, wrote in an article for the
Guardian. "What is clear is that the impact of climate change on ice at both
poles is complex."

He added: In the Antarctic the increase in annual mean sea ice extent is
only just over 1 percent per decade, making it impossible at present to
separate natural variability from any human influence.
Scientists believe some of the additional sea ice in Antarctica, especially in
the eastern regions, might be the result of melting land-based ice sheets,
causing surrounding ocean temperatures to cool down. This fresh water then
freezes and becomes sea ice.
A 2013 study in the Journal of Climate found that converging winds around
the South Pole could also explain a majority of the increase in ice extent
around the Antarctic. The polar vortex that swirls around the South Pole is
not just stronger than it was when satellite records began in the 1970s, it has
more convergence, meaning it shoves the sea ice together to cause ridging,
the studys authors explained. Stronger winds also drive ice faster, which
leads to still more deformation and ridging. This creates thicker, longerlasting ice, while exposing surrounding water and thin ice to the blistering
cold winds that cause more ice growth.
Future research into Antarctic sea ice melt will focus on the thickness of the
ice around the edges of Antarctica and the effect of ice melt on global sea
levels.
Antarctica ice coverage expands and shrinks every year as South Pole
temperatures shift between the winter and summer months. Reuters
Following a series of weekend winter storms across the northern U.S., belowfreezing temperatures have gripped large swaths of the county and thrown
many Americans into hardcore survival mode. In New York City, temperatures
are expected to plummet 49 degrees Fahrenheit in just 12 hours time.
In Minnesota, schools were closed for the first time in 17 years as winter
temperatures sank to as low as minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit. "A person not
properly dressed could die easily in those conditions," said Scott Trueett, a
meteorologist for the National Weather Service.
Its turning out to be a painfully cold winter, colder in many cities than it has
been in decades, and many are wondering why. Where are these extreme
temperatures coming from? And whats to be expected? While extreme
weather in the U.S. is in large part due to a polar vortex creeping down
over the Northern hemisphere from the North Pole, Scientists say weather
patterns around the globe are largely the result of climate change in
Antarctica.
"Antarctica is one of the key drivers of the global climate system," Tony
Press, head of the Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems Co-operative Research

Centre in Hobart, Australia, told The Sydney Morning Herald. "Changes in

Antarctica will affect not only the Antarctic region but Australia and the rest
of the planet."
Every year, Antarcticas ice shrinks in the summer and expands in the winter.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the change in Antarctic ice
coverage swells from about 3 million square kilometers at the end of every
summer to nearly 19 million square kilometers at the end of every winter. Its
a landmass in constant flux.
But every year, a little bit less of the ice refreezes during the winter. Studies
have found Antarctica has lost about 100 billion tons of ice a year since
1993, which has partly contributed to global sea levels rising 0.14 inches a
year since the early 1990s. Some regions of West Antarctic have seen a 7
percent drop in sea-ice extent each decade.
On the other hand, Antarctic ice coverage has increased 1 percent per
decade, which seems to contradict the notion that global warming -- average
overall surface temperatures have risen roughly 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit over
the last 100 years -- is causing the ice to melt. But scientists warn not to
confuse weather patterns with worldwide climate change.
Regionally, climate change can vary markedly across the Earth so to detect
human influences on the climate system climate scientists must consider the
Earth as a whole, John Turner, who leads the Climate Variability and
Modeling project at the British Antarctic Survey, wrote in an article for the
Guardian. "What is clear is that the impact of climate change on ice at both
poles is complex."
He added: In the Antarctic the increase in annual mean sea ice extent is
only just over 1 percent per decade, making it impossible at present to
separate natural variability from any human influence.
Scientists believe some of the additional sea ice in Antarctica, especially in
the eastern regions, might be the result of melting land-based ice sheets,
causing surrounding ocean temperatures to cool down. This fresh water then
freezes and becomes sea ice.
A 2013 study in the Journal of Climate found that converging winds around
the South Pole could also explain a majority of the increase in ice extent
around the Antarctic. The polar vortex that swirls around the South Pole is
not just stronger than it was when satellite records began in the 1970s, it has
more convergence, meaning it shoves the sea ice together to cause ridging,
the studys authors explained. Stronger winds also drive ice faster, which
leads to still more deformation and ridging. This creates thicker, longer-

lasting ice, while exposing surrounding water and thin ice to the blistering
cold winds that cause more ice growth.
Future research into Antarctic sea ice melt will focus on the thickness of the
ice around the edges of Antarctica and the effect of ice melt on global sea
levels.
Write short notes on the following in 100 words each:

Inversion of Temperature

Mountain & Valley Breezes

Women empowerment is not possible without involving them in decisionmaking at all levels. Suggest measures to achieve the same. (200 Words)
If you are a lady in your late fifties or early sixties, a national of one of the
small states in Eastern Europe, with considerable experience of working in
the U.N. system either as a diplomat or as a senior member of the
Secretariat, with no strong views against the well known U.N. consensus
positions on fundamental issues, and also speak French, you have a high
level job waiting for you. Starting from January 2017, the job will be based
out of an office on the 38th floor of the U.N. building in New York and a town
house in Manhattan.
But the imponderables are many. The job description is extremely vague and
cursory. So are the prescribed qualifications of the Secretary-General of the
United Nations, who has to be the Chief Executive, negotiator, mediator and
the conscience of mankind. In fact, anyone who is acceptable to the majority
of the members of the Security Council, including the permanent members,
can be chosen in a private meeting. The person has to win two-thirds
majority of the General Assembly later, but so far, no recommended
candidate has failed to fulfil that requirement. But still, the next SecretaryGeneral of the U.N. should have the attributes mentioned because of the
history of the position, convention, practice and expectation.
Factors that matter
First and foremost, no woman has ever been elected Secretary-General so
far and, in these days of gender balance and empowerment of women, the
U.N. cannot overlook this fact. Equally sacrosanct is geographical rotation,
which is at the centre of selection of personnel at all levels. Competence is

often sacrificed at the altar of regional distribution. The fact that nearly half
the staff of the U.N. are selected on the basis of geographical representation
and not merit was acknowledged by Boutros Boutros-Ghali, when he said,
about fifty percent, when he was asked as to how many people worked at
the U.N. Among the five regional groups, one of which every member state
belongs to, only the East European Group has not had a chance to provide
the Secretary-General so far, while Asia (Myanmar and South Korea) West
Europe (Norway, Sweden and Austria) and Africa (Egypt and Ghana) have
provided more than one and Latin America (Peru) has provided one. The East
European Group has undergone major changes after the end of the Cold War
and it will be difficult to deny it the chance to nominate a Secretary-General
this time.
The leading state in the East European Group, Russia, does not qualify as
permanent members are excluded from consideration, as there will be too
much concentration of power in a permanent member, if it also nominates
the Secretary-General. This argument was used against India as India was a
candidate for permanent membership. Even while opposing Indias
permanent membership, the argument was used to deny support to an
Indian candidate. But some of the former Republics of the Soviet Union like
the Baltic States or some states, which were part of Yugoslavia may be able
to offer candidates that fit the bill.
Age is no bar, but in the traditional world of diplomacy, in which age and
experience are respected and the youth are seen as upstarts, persons with
no more than 10 working years to go have an advantage. The experience
can either be in the missions at the Ambassadorial level or in the Secretariat
or both. Kofi Annan was the only Secretary-General who came from the
Secretariat and some of his faults were attributed to his having been a part
of the U.N. Secretariat for long. Foreign Ministers and above look attractive,
but former Presidents or Prime Ministers have never made it.
Overqualification is as deadly as under qualification.
Holding strong views on any subject is not an asset to the aspirants. Inane
and colourless commitment to the consensus positions of the world body
should help. The smaller the country, the more committed it will be to nonproliferation, human rights and the environment as it does not have to give
up anything in espousing the consensus within the U.N. A representative of a
country like India, which has its own angularities on these issues has little
chance of leading the U.N., unless he disowns his national positions. No

wonder, then, that the Indian candidate last time had never represented
India at the U.N. Mr. Ghali was denied a second term basically because he
brought his own perspectives to the job. Initially, it was thought that his
Coptic Christianity and Jewish wife distanced him from the country of which
he was Foreign Minister. In the case of Kofi Annan, his European wife may
have been a helpful factor.
The permanent members
The permanent members have repeatedly made it clear that they will not
accept any procedure to elect the Secretary-General that would detract from
their own role in choosing the next Secretary-General. There have been
suggestions that a search committee should be constituted with Kofi Annan
at its head, with representatives of the permanent members as members.
Nothing would be more objectionable to the permanent five. They demand
absolute loyalty of the Secretary-General and will not be party to any
arrangement which brings in other king makers. For this reason, the
aspirants should be totally acceptable to all the five of them. It is the U.S.
which identifies a potential candidate and sells him or her to the rest of the
permanent members and then to the rest of the Security Council. The best
chance is for someone who is willing to abide by the wishes of the
permanent five without questioning as in the case of the previous
incumbents except Dag Hammarskjld and Boutros Ghali. The first was killed
in a mysterious aircraft accident and Ghali was denied the customary second
term. A head waiter image is the most suitable. Brilliant ideas or thinking
out of the box are not assets for them. Like it happened in the case of Javier
Prez de Cullar, after several rounds of voting, an exhausted Security
Council picked the one candidate who had nothing negative against him
even if he had nothing positive either. Prez de Cullar was fishing in Peru
when he was elected unanimously.
With the sartorial elegance associated with diplomats, the aspirant has to be
smartly turned out and well groomed. This is particularly important if a lady
becomes the next U.N. Secretary-General.
The run-up
If a senior official of the Secretariat or a senior diplomat begins taking French
lessons in New York, it is presumed that he or she aspires to be a candidate
for the post of Secretary-General. France absolutely insists that it will veto
any candidate who does not speak French. But mercifully, no desirable level

has been clearly established and the French vote is often determined by
other factors. Ban Ki-moons French is not particularly strong, but the French
had other reasons to support him. But the French trump card is a nightmare
for aspirants. If China and Russia too had imposed such conditions, the
language courses at the U.N. would be heavily subscribed.
Ban Ki-moon has nearly two more years to go, but the race for his successor
has already begun in the world capitals as well as in New York. Since there is
no established procedure, whispers in the delegates lounge and conference
corridors lead to speculation, emergence of candidates, controversies,
convergence of opinions and even consensus. One agreement that has been
reached so far is that the next Secretary-General shall be appointed as early
as possible, preferably not later than one month before the term of the
incumbent expires. The decision in November 2016 may be a surprise, but it
will be no surprise if a lady from East Europe walks away with the post.
Diversity is one of India's most outstanding features. It is home to a mosaic
of peoples from different cultures, ethnic groups, religions and languages.
In India and all countries, individuals are born free and equal. People deserve
respect, dignity and security regardless of their ethnicity, religion, sexual
orientation or gender identity. The United Nations (UN) defends those rights
everywhere - north, south, east and west. Development models must reach
all groups. Inclusive growth brings shared prosperity. India has already lifted
hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and it can bring the benefits of
inclusive growth to millions more.
Yesterday, I visited Mahatma Gandhi's Sabarmati Ashram in Gujarat. I was
deeply moved by how they are conserving Gandhi's letters and other
precious artefacts. And I reflected on our collective responsibility to conserve
the spirit of Gandhi's teachings. He confronted many forms of injustice,
including against people who were then called "untouchables". His struggle
led to the historic resolution banning discrimination based on caste. Today,
India has laws that not only enshrine equality, but also take positive steps to
address past discrimination. But millions of Dalits, tribals and others still face
discrimination, especially the women. In too many communities, religious
minorities also suffer. We must continue Gandhi's battle for equality.
Since, as a young diplomat, I visited Raj Ghat many times, whenever VIPs
came, I escorted. As Secretary-General and as foreign minister, I paid my
own tribute. If politicians, businessmen or scientists, or whatever professions
they do, they practise what he said, I think this world will be most
harmonious, and there will be no conflict, no corruption.

I just admire, at that time already, he taught us to keep all this. When I went
to the Ashram yesterday, again, I was humbled and inspired. Yesterday, in
my speech, I told world leaders: "Let his teachings inspire all of us."
The world faces a global pandemic of violence against women. India has a
special challenge. The UN will do everything possible to support government
efforts to prevent this violence, protect women and punish the perpetrators. I
started a global campaign called the "HeforShe" campaign to change
mindsets and mobilise men for gender equality. I thank Prime Minister
(Narendra) Modi for his support.
No country can advance as long as its women are held back. I have been
saying that, while in our world we use lot of different resources, technologies,
the least-utilised resource in our human lives is women. More than half the
world's population are women. Then it is only natural that if we cannot give
more, then at least they should be given equal treatment, equal status. That
is why, as Secretary-General, I have been promoting gender equality and
empowerment. I am proud to tell you the UN has changed a lot since I
became Secretary-General. Lakshmi Puri is now deputy head of UN-Women
[United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women].
It was I who established UN-Women. There were some fractured
departments, offices, small or big. I just combined all of them together to
establish one big huge department: UN-Women. I applaud the many civil
society groups across India that work to empower women and minority
groups. Two years ago, Justice J S Verma delivered valuable
recommendations to end violence against women in India. I count on the
government to act on them.
India has long displayed a commitment to gender equality. The world can
thank a daughter of India, Hansa Mehta, for replacing the phrase in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It said: "All men are born free and
equal." Now, it is changed: "All human beings are born free and equal". How
appropriate, how fitting it is.
The third area where I see potential in India is sustainable development.
When it comes to sustainable development and climate change, I become
much more energised than when talking about security issues, because I see
much more possibility and hope in the UN's contribution to sustainable
development.
The world is now shaping a new agenda to succeed the Millennium
Development Goals. I count on India to engage fully in this process. I
welcome "Make in India" - I thought it was "Made in India", now it is "Make in
India". It is a very good policy of Prime Minister Modi - this national
programme to turn this country into a manufacturing hub of the world. I saw
the possibilities of this yesterday in Gujarat at the Vibrant Gujarat Summit

meeting. It was really vibrating. I think the whole world is now vibrating with
this dynamism and vibration.
But, I would add two words to "Make in India" - "Make it Green in India". What
about it? "Make it Green in India".
By respecting the environment, India can grow economically while enjoying
greater human progress overall.
Climate action can power growth, reduce poverty, improve health and
increase energy security. Renewable energy offers huge business
opportunities. Energy efficiency reduces emissions and pollution, while
increasing productivity.
This year, the world must seize the chance to achieve a meaningful global
agreement at the Paris climate conference. That agreement can trigger large
investment flows, spark innovation and push low-carbon technologies into
global markets. India can be a major part of this new flow of goods and
resources.
India has shown remarkable global leadership from Gandhi's time until today.
I applaud India for its commitment to the UN. India is ranked at the top of our
troop-contributing countries, our corporate Global Compact members, our
contributors to the UN Democracy Fund and many other UN initiatives.
The challenges here mirror our global challenges: poverty, gender inequality,
discrimination, environmental degradation, extremism and other security
threats. The UN is mobilising countries to rise to these challenges in this, our
seventieth anniversary year. 2015 is a time for global action. If we rise to the
moment, we can address suffering that has engulfed our planet for too long.
Autonomy of censor board has its direct bearing on the protection of freedom
of speech and expression in the country. Elucidate. Suggest measures to
improve the functioning of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) in
the light of recent controversies. (200 Words)
The resignation of Leela Samson as the chairperson of the Central Board of
Film Certification (CBFC), and of several other members of the body, is a
pointer to a deeper malaise in the institution. Ms. Samson has spoken of
corruption, and interference by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
in the Boards functioning. Her stand has the endorsement of many other
members, who have also resigned, while Ministers have refuted the charge.
Whatever the truth behind the resignations, the outgoing CBFC chairperson
and members, while being on the right side of the debate on the functional
autonomy issue, are clearly on the wrong side of the issue so far as the

certification of one film is concerned. Their decision to deny a certificate to

Messenger of God, featuring Dera Sacha Sauda sect leader Gurmeet Ram
Rahim Singh, has been overturned by the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal
with some riders. Apart from claiming that Messenger of God promotes blind
faith and encourages superstition, the CBFC had advanced no substantive
argument on why it should not be exhibited. Ram Rahim Singh is a
controversial figure and faces some charges, but merely because his film
makes claims about his godly stature and miracle-making abilities, can it be
denied a certificate? Many films are the products of creative imagination, and
more absurd and obscurantist films have been allowed in the past. As a
quasi-judicial body, the CBFC cannot really be aggrieved by the appellate
forums verdict. Ms. Samsons appeal to colleagues to quit en masse, saying
they had been made a mockery of by the powers of the Ministry of I&B over
the film, is not an appropriate reaction.
Perhaps it is the culmination of a series of unpalatable incidents, but if film
certification in the country is indeed subject to interference, coercion and
corruption, she and the other members ought to have raised the matter
earlier and not in the context of their decision on one particular film being
reversed. The government has contended that corruption, if any, must be a
legacy of the earlier regime, and has asked for proof of interference in the
Boards functioning. However, it has been remiss in not reconstituting the
Board even after the tenure of its members had ended. Fast-tracking an
appeal, as in the case of Messenger of God, is a good thing in normal
circumstances, but it has also to be seen in the context of the ruling partys
closeness to the Ram Rahim sect whose support it secured in the recent
Haryana Assembly election. The situation presents an opportunity to reform
the CBFCs functioning, liberalise its approach and end the perception that it
is packed with regime favourites who may not necessarily be best suited to
evaluate the content of films.
Highlight the importance of United States to the Indian growth story. What
are the irritants in the relationship between two countries? Comment on
them. (200 Words)
The visit of United States President Barack Obama to India, as the first
American leader to be chief guest at the Republic Day parade, has raised
high expectations. Perhaps too high, as the difficulties that bedevil the
United States-India bilateral relationship are difficult indeed to overcome.
While the two countries retain a common view of the world in many ways,
and the desire to balance a rising China remains the unspoken lynchpin of

ever stronger co-operation between New Delhi and Washington, the many
roadblocks in the path cannot be wished away - especially since these
obstacles are essentially a product of bureaucratic slowness and
contradictions that are inherent to both capitals. This, for example, has
prevented realisation of potential benefits from the United States-India
civilian nuclear agreement - which certainly exists on paper, but in the
absence of enabling last-mile regulations, especially on liability, has not
translated into more investments on the ground.
For India, there are several issues on the table. The long-smouldering
demand for a "totalisation agreement", which would ensure that Indian
companies do not have to contribute to United States social security for the
employees that they send to that country, is one such. Chief Economic
Advisor Arvind Subramanian described these payouts as $3 billion worth of
"involuntary aid" from Indians to the United States government. Several
agreements to rule out such contributions have been signed by the United
States, and so India thinks it has a good case. However, all existing
totalisation agreements are between the United States and a high-income
country that has high-level social security nets and similarly high
contributions, and so the United States continues to be resistant to making
an exception for India. But the unfairness of not extending the coverage of
such an agreement to India is too obvious to be ignored. This must be
addressed.
Trade issues are also worth pointing out. The two countries have resolved
issues on food security at the World Trade Organization. But that is not
enough. The United States' focus is on grand regional trading blocs at the
moment, like the Trans-Pacific Partnership. These will enable harmonisation
of regulations across various jurisdictions. Increasingly, trade enhancement
is not about lowering tariff barriers, but dismantling such regulatory barriers.
India has been left behind on this. Its best chance is to focus on market
access for Indian agriculture, a joint group with a time-bound instruction to
harmonise agricultural standards, and to push the United States towards a
renewed focus on the global trading system and the Doha Round that India
itself did much to slow down. Now that the United States is emerging from
recession, the anti-trade and anti-"outsourcing" sentiment that builds up
there at times of slow growth may organically die down.
However, in the end, even incremental progress on such issues may not be
enough. When two countries are stuck in a rut such as India and the United

States are, a big push is needed to get them out of it. The two bureaucracies
have to be reminded of the strategic value of their partnership, so that the
relationship is not bogged down by transactional haggling. Perhaps, in this
respect, a giant step forward in terms of defence co-operation is the best
bet. The atmosphere will undoubtedly be cordial. But a solid shift in
orientation in both countries will need more than that. And once that
happens, many other negotiations should fall into place.
A co-operation agreement between India and the U.S. on clean or
renewable energy, set to be one of the highlights of President Barack
Obamas forthcoming visit to India, has run into U.S. concerns over the
governments Make in India plan.
According to officials, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, during his visit to
the Vibrant Gujarat summit, brought up the worries over the governments
push for use of indigenous technology, calling it the new make in India law.
In particular, sources told The Hindu, the U.S. administration is irked over the
governments announcement of a series of 1,000MW grid-connected solar
PV power projects that has a mandatory condition that all PV cells and
modules used in solar plants set up under this scheme will be made in India.
The announcement, made on December 18 last year, came amid the
ongoing dispute at the World Trade Organisation (WTO DISPUTE DS456),
where the U.S. has complained against India over the Jawaharlal Nehru
National Solar Missions domestic content requirement (DCR) for solar cells
and solar modules in projects that it awards.
India maintains that U.S. subsidies on solar products threaten Indian
manufacturers, and the domestic solar industry has accused the U.S. of
dumping cheap outdated technology on India.
The WTO composed its panel in September 2014, but even as the matter
over the UPA governments domestic content requirements was being
decided, the NDAs emphasis on Make in India has raised new questions
from the U.S. administration.
Speaking to The Hindu, Renewable Energy Minister Piyush Goyal, who met
with Mr. Kerry in Gandhinagar, said he was confident of ironing out the
creases with the U.S. officials, while maintaining that India was committed

to its recently announced target of 100,000MW solar power capacity by

2022.
We are going ahead with our new renewable energy policy regardless of
who will invest in it, Mr. Goyal said.
Indian and U.S. officials are discussing the announcement of a multi-billion
dollar fund to invest in Indian solar and wind power during President Barack
Obamas visit, with an understanding that the business generated would
benefit U.S. companies in the field.
Given where India is today, and the pace it wishes to develop, it should not
focus on making in India, but on taking technology where it gets it, said one
senior U.S. official to The Hindu.
In 2014, Indias installed solar power capacity was at about 2,600 MW, and
the increase to 100,000 MW (or 100 GW) will require an estimated $100
billion a year for the next five years for production and $50 billion a year for
transmission and distribution costs, much of which is expected from the
United States.
While Mr. Kerrys specific objections were to the policy on renewable
technology, officials say the U.S. has expressed all-round unease with Make
in India in other spheres of bilateral trade as well.
When U.S. Under Secretary of State Catherine Novelli met with
Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in Delhi last week, she
made a specific mention of the problems with the policy, saying the
constraints of global supply chain must also be understood while promoting
Make in India.
According to an official press release issued after the Novelli-Prasad meeting,
Mr. Prasad assured the Under Secretary that if U.S. companies are investing
in India, they will be treated on a par with the Indian companies.

Modern India has a lot to learn from the traditional water management from
the past. Explain in what ways this can be done with special focus on water
harvesting and disaster management. (200 Words)

I write this with considerable impatience and one question. Do we really have
the time to waste on controversies like what ancient India did or did not
achieve by way of scientific discoveries? This is when there is the huge
unfinished agenda to use the best of science to tackle current challenges and
crises.
At the recently concluded annual ritual of the Indian Science Congress, the
Union science and technology minister drew solace from the fact that ancient
India had mathematical prowess - we gifted the Pythagoras theorem and
algebra to the world. There is truth in this, no doubt. But all this is about the
past. At best, it tells us to be proud of our legacy. But what does it tell us
about what needs to be done to innovate for our needs?
There is no doubt that Indian science is losing ground; every indicator shows
this. The ranking of our top scientific educational institutions is consistently
falling and our achievements are fewer by the day. Most importantly, Indian
scientists are nowhere to be seen in the world you and I inhabit. This is when
our modern world requires science to be integrated into every aspect of daily
life.
This is also the problem I have with the current controversy about Vedic
science - whether we flew aircraft or mastered plastic surgery is immaterial
for modern India. What matters is if ancient Indians understood the science
and art of settlement planning, architecture and governance of natural
resources. This is the history we need to learn because it tells us what we
must do right. These are the real symbols of ancient India's scientific
prowess.
Take water, for instance. Traditionally, we built highly sophisticated systems,
which varied to suit different ecosystems, for harvesting every drop of water.
Archaeological excavations near Allahabad have found evidence of early
Indian hydraulic engineering. Dating back to the end of first century BC, the
Sringaverapura tank is a remarkable system to take the floodwater of Ganga
into a set of desilting chambers, including water weirs, to clean the water for

drinking. It can be a matter of belief that Lord Ram drank water from this
tank. But it is a fact that the technological system is so evolved that it would
put to shame all public works engineers of today's India.
Dholavira, a settlement off the coast of Gujarat, dates back to the Indus
Valley civilisation. Archaeologists have found this desert city had built lakes
to collect monsoon run-off, bunds and inlet channels to divert water, and
intricate drainage system for storm water, drinking water and waste. Today,
we cannot even build city roads that do not get flooded each monsoon, or
protect lakes for storing rainwater.
Till the time the British came to India, the water traditions were in vogue.
British gazettes speak of these systems, at times with awe, calling us a
hydraulic society. Sir William Willcocks, a British irrigation engineer, who was
called in 1920 to advise the administration on how to handle famines, said
the best answer was to go back to the ingenious system of flood
management of Bengal. This was never done, of course.
Ancient Indians also understood the art of water governance. Kautilya's
Arthasastra, written around 300 BC, has details of how tanks and canals are
to be built and managed. The key was to clarify the enabling role of the state
- the king - and the management role of local communities. The kings did not
have armies of public works engineers; they provided fiscal incentives to
communities and individuals who built water systems. The British changed
all this, by vesting the resource with the state and creating large
bureaucracies for management.
The British rulers also changed the tax system; collection of revenue became
paramount, even during droughts. There was little then to invest in
community assets. The decline came quickly and was cemented by polices of
independent India. This is the history of resource management we need to
learn.
But if we must be proud of our water heritage and relearn its art and science,
then we must also reject its ills - the focus on rituals and the evils of the
caste system. We are such a dirty nation today - look at the untreated
sewage in our rivers and garbage in our streets - because we come from a
society where waste is an "untouchable" business. As long as we can live
with the idea of manual scavenging - somebody from a "lower" caste will
carry our excreta away - we will never get a clean India.
If we must glorify the past, we must be proud of our present. This is what we
need to learn. Quickly.

The finance minister of India called GST as the biggest tax reform measure
since independence. Analyse the benefits that can incur to the Indian
economy with its introduction. (200 Words)
I found during my interaction with traders and manufacturers that they are
essentially interested to know about the structure of GST and the benefits
that are likely to come to them. The benefits are common in many cases, but
are also different in some other respects. I propose to discuss these specific
aspects in this article. The advantages for manufacturers and traders are the
following:

One tax: The common base for charging GST for Centre and the state
will consist of an amalgamation (subsuming) of several central taxes
and state taxes which will enable them to give one tax rather than
giving about 16 taxes.

Common market: There will be a common market in the absence of

CST and entry tax. At present, goods are being sold mostly within the
state in order to avoid paying the CST which is not credited at the
stage of manufacture or in course of trading. Good quality products
being manufactured in one part of the country will find more market in
the farthest part of the country because there will be no CST and no
entry tax

Distinction between goods and services will go: In some cases,

there is a distinction between goods and services when they are sold
as a package. These controversies will go.

Invoicing will be simpler: At present, the invoices are more detailed

since taxes on goods and services are written separately for one
transaction. With the introduction of GST only one rate will be written.

No entry tax: The Economist November 8, 2014 has reported (page

67) that India's long distance truckers are parked 60 per cent of the
time. This also leads to delaying of delivery of goods at destinations.
The abolition of entry tax will be a great boon for the movement of
goods by road transport.

Common exemptions between Centre and states: Now the

exemptions given by the Centre and the states being different, the
final price becomes different in different states. In the GST regime,
exemptions will be common between the Centre and the states which
will make the rates of duty same all over India.

Big central excise tariff will go: I will be the happiest to see when
this big and fat central excise tariff goes away. It has got eight digit
classifications like 44079990, 76069110. They attract different rates
many times. All these will be replaced by one rate. What a relief!

Concept of manufacture will go: Manufacture is a highly

complicated concept. It is defined mostly by judgements of Supreme
Court and high courts. It is a den of controversy. The concept of
manufacture will be replaced by the concept of value added which is
numerically measureable and is not controversial.

Classification controversies will go: Now, classification

controversies are galore since there are so many rates of duty. This
problem will also go if the exemptions are limited.

Problem of identification will go: At present, identifying a

commodity like whether it is rubber or resin, paper or board, ash, or
dross dominate the proceedings since rates of duty are different. These
controversies will be over.

Undue enrichment law will go: At present, there is a law in central

excise and service tax which provide for refusing refund of higher duty
paid in case the burden of higher rate of tax imposed already has not
been passed on to the consumer. This is a highly litigated law which
will necessarily have to go because GST will be a combination of so
many taxes apart from these two taxes. And these taxes do not have
the same provision. Moreover, if the unjust enrichment of law is made
to apply to GST as a whole, the purpose of seamless movement of
goods and services will be defeated.

Zero rating will be more comprehensive and more easy: Even

without GST, zero rating (giving relief for the input duty) is possible,
but it does not give relief for some of the duties. With GST, zero rating
will be more comprehensive.

Conclusion: All this is true if GST is made in an ideal manner with one rate
and covers all goods and services with minimum exemptions.
The complete guide to understanding India's biggest tax reform-the GST
India's biggest indirect tax reform since 1947 looks like it has finally arrivedthe Goods and Service Tax (GST).
From its first official mention in 2009 when a discussion paper was
introduced by theprevious United Progressive Alliance government to the

point when the current Modi government tabled the Constitution Amendment
Bill in the parliament, building consensus on the GST hasn't been easy.
The most prominent hurdle in introducing this new tax structure has been
the ongoing struggle between the states and the centre on the loss of
revenue. It's taken years to resolve, but even now it is an issue that isn't
anywhere close to being completely fixed.
Nonetheless, the introduction of the Constitution Amendment Bill in the
parliament seems like the first key step towards bringing in the belated GST
reform.
Why does India need the GST?
The GST is being introduced not only to get rid of the current patchwork of
indirect taxes that are partial and suffer from infirmities, mainly exemptions
and multiple rates, but also to improve tax compliances.
The spread of GST in different countries has been one of the most important
developments in taxation over the last six decades.
Owing to its capacity to raise revenue in the most transparent and neutral
manner, more than 150 countries have adopted the GST.
With the increase of international trade in services, the GST has become a
preferred global standard. All OECD countries, except the US, follow this
taxation structure.
The proposed framework
The center and the states are now trying to settle on the design and
implementation of a uniform GST across the country.
The unified tax will take the form of a "dual" GST, to be levied concurrently
by both the levels of government. The unified tax will comprise of a Central
GST and a State GST, which will be legislated, levied and administered by the
respective levels of government. The same taxable base will be subject to
both GSTs.
The words "legislate, levy and administer" are key, since the center and the
state will legislate the respective GST Acts and both will have power to
administer the taxes.
The proposed tax system will subsume a variety of central and state levies
such as Central Excise Duty, Service Tax and VAT, thereby simplifying the
complicated tax structure and reducing compliance costs.

For tackling the complicated issues related to inter-state transactions, an

innovative concept of IGST (Integrated Goods and Services Tax) is also under
consideration.
The fine print
The Bill, cleared by the cabinet on Dec. 17 and thereafter introduced in the
Parliament, has attempted to introduce the definition of GST.
It is defined as any tax on the supply of goods or services that will subsume
CENVAT, service tax, central excise duty, additional excise duties, excise
duties levied under the Medicinal and Toilet Preparations (Excise Duties) Act,
1955, service tax, additional customs duty (countervailing duty or CVD),
special additional duty of customs (SAD), central surcharges and cesses,
State VAT, State sales tax, entertainment tax not levied by local bodies,
luxury tax, taxes on lottery, betting, and gambling, tax on advertisements,
State cesses and surcharges related to supply of goods and services and
entry tax not levied by local bodies.
The primary reason for introducing the Bill is to pave the way for the centre
to tax sale of goods and the states to tax provision of services. The Bill
further proposes that the central government will have the exclusive power
to levy GST on imports and inter-state trade.
The bill has also recognized the need to have a GST council. The union
finance minister, the union minister of state in charge of revenue or finance,
and the minister in charge of finance or taxation or any other minister
nominated by each state government would constitute the council to ensure
that both the centre and the states are on an equal footings.
In addition, the Bill proposes to set up a Dispute Settlement Authority that
would look into disputes between the States and the Centre. Appeals from
the authority would directly lie with the Supreme Court.
But, for the time being, the Bill has kept certain goods out of the purview of
GST, which have been a point of contention between state governments and
the centre.
These include:

Petroleum crude

High speed diesel

Petrol

Natural gas

Aviation turbine fuel

Alcohol for human consumption.

States shall have the power to levy taxes on these items, except in the case
of imports and inter-state trade.
Another important feature of the Bill is a proposal to levy additional tax on
supply of goods on inter-state trade. The additional tax will not exceed 1%
and will be collected by the central government for a period of two years.
Finally, the amount so collected will be assigned to the states from where the
supply originates.
How does this help you?
A unified GST is an economically efficient solution even for the
multinationals, which have to compete with the companies in unorganized
sector, as it simplifies the indirect tax structure to one general rate that can
be paid by all companies.
Under the GST structure, every company gets a deduction on the taxes
already paid by its suppliers. That results in every buyer ensuring that his
supplier has paid his part to claim his deductions.
With the introduction of the Bill, the signal that the Modi government seems
keen to send is that all the key decisions could well be in the hands of the
GST Council. With both representatives from centre and states in place, the
latter would likely have a say in the implementation of tax laws in their
territories.
Moreover, full compensation for the first three years for any kind of revenue
loss may work wonders to dilute the initial apprehensions of the states
regarding losing income post the introduction of GST.
With the central government going that extra mile to take care of the interest
of the states, one will have to wait and see if the states too return the favour
by ratifying similar bills in their assemblies with the much needed two-third
majority.
In the meantime, the GST implementation deadline of April 2016 is looming.
Topic:- Human Values-Lessons from the lives of great leaders, reformers &
Administrators

9. Given below are quotations and for each of these bring out what it
means to you in present context in about 150 words each:(a) When a
man assumes a public trust, he should consider himself as public
property Thomas Jefferson.(b) Good people do not need laws to tell
them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the
laws. Plato
Topic:- ethical issues in international relations
Do you think it is ethical to spy a friendly country to serve ones national
interests ? Substantiate your stance with suitable examples. (150 Words)
New Delhi maintains that the official has been moved out after
completion of his three-year tenure.
India on Sunday dismissed reports that the Colombo station chief of RAW had
been expelled in the run up to this months Sri Lankan presidential election
and maintained that he has moved out after completion of his three-year
tenure.
Reports from Colombo said that the Sri Lankan government had asked India
to recall the official in December for allegedly helping gather support for joint
opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena who won the polls.
The normal tenure of an Indian diplomat in Sri Lanka is three years and all
officials who have been transferred during last year have completed that. Its
a normal transfer.
Do not read anything into it unless somebody stands up and says yes.
Using unnamed sources is just hiding behind and obscuring the truth,
External Affairs Ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said in New Delhi.
Rubbishing the reports, he further said, If somebody has proof otherwise, I
would stand ready to contest that. Otherwise take my view as the last word
on that.
Asked specifically whether he has denied the report, the spokesperson
replied in affirmative.
Sources said the RAW official had completed his three-year tenure in Sri
Lanka in September 2014.

Mr. Sirisena had trounced Mahinda Rajapaksa in the tightest-ever presidential

contest on January 8, 2015, ending his 10-year-rule.
Soon after taking charge as President, Mr. Sirisena said relations with India
will be high on his priority list and his first trip abroad will be to New Delhi.
The reports from Sri Lanka about expulsion of the RAW official came at a time
when new Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera is in India.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday held talks with Mr.
Samaraweera.
1) What is polar front? How does cyclone develop along this front? Describe
the weather condition associated with it. (150 Words)
2) Discuss critically the characteristics of tropical cyclones and analyse the
extent to which they differ from the temperate cyclones. (150 Words)
3) Why there are fewer cyclones over the Arabian Sea as compared to the
Bay of Bengal? Why there are very few Tropical Cyclones during southwest
monsoon season? (150 Words)
http://www.imd.gov.in/section/nhac/dynamic/faq/FAQP.htm#q25
Frequently Asked Questions on Tropical Cyclones
What is a tropical cyclone?
A tropical cyclone is a rotational low pressure system in tropics when the
central pressure falls by 5 to 6 hPa from the surrounding and maximum
sustained wind speed reaches 34 knots (about 62 kmph). It is a vast violent
whirl of 150 to 800 km, spiraling around a centre and progressing along the
surface of the sea at a rate of 300 to 500 km a day.
The word cyclone has been derived from Greek word cyclos which means
coiling of a snake. The word cyclone was coined by Heary Piddington who
worked as a Rapporteur in Kolkata during British rule. The terms "hurricane"
and "typhoon" are region specific names for a strong "tropical cyclone".
Tropical cyclones are called Hurricanes over the Atlantic Ocean and
Typhoons over the Pacific Ocean.
Why do 'tropical cyclones' winds rotate counter-clockwise
(clockwise) in the Northern (Southern) Hemisphere?

As the earth's rotation sets up an apparent force (called the Coriolis force)
that pulls the winds to the right in the Northern Hemisphere (and to the left
in the Southern Hemisphere). So, when a low pressure starts to form over
north of the equator, the surface winds will flow inward trying to fill in the low
and will be deflected to the right and a counter-clockwise rotation will be
initiated. The opposite (a deflection to the left and a clockwise rotation) will
occur south of the equator.
This Coriolis force is too tiny to effect rotation in, for example, water that is
going down the drains of sinks and toilets. The rotation in those will be
determined by the geometry of the container and the original motion of the
water. Thus, one can find both clockwise and counter-clockwise flowing
drains no matter what hemisphere you are located. If you don't believe this,
test it out for yourself.
What does "maximum sustained wind" mean ? How does it relate to
gusts in tropical cyclones?
India Meteorological Department (IMD) uses a 3 minutes averaging for the
sustained wind. The maximum sustained wind mentioned in the bulletins
used by IMD is the highest 3 minutes surface wind occurring within the
circulation of the system. These surface winds are observed (or, more often,
estimated) at the standard meteorological height of 10 m (33 ft) in an
unobstructed exposure (i.e., not blocked by buildings or trees).
The National Hurricane Centre uses a 1 minute averaging time for reporting
the sustained wind. Some countries also use 10 minutes averaging time for
this purpose. While one can utilize a simple ratio to convert from peak 10
minute wind to peak 1 minute wind or 3 minute wind, such systematic
differences to make interbasin comparison of tropical cyclones around the
world is problematic. However there is no significant difference between the
maximum sustained wind reported in different basis with different averaging
method.
What is the energy potential of a tropical cyclone?
Tropical Cyclone can be compared to a heat engine. The energy input is from
warm water and humid air over tropical oceans. Release of heat is through
condensation of water vapour to water droplets/rain. Only a small percentage
(3%) of this released energy is converted into Kinetic energy to maintain

cyclone circulation (windfield). A mature cyclone releases energy equivalent

to that of 100 hydrogen bombs.
How are low pressure system classified in India? What are the
differences between low, depression and cyclone?
The low pressure system over Indian region are classified based on the
maximum sustained winds speed associated with the system and the
pressure deficit/ number of closed isobars associated with the system. The
pressure criteria is used, when the system is over land and wind criteria is
used, when the system is over the sea. The system is called as low if there is
one closed isobar in the interval of 2 hPa. It is called depression, if there are
two closed isobars, a deep depression, if there are three closed isobars and
cyclonic storm if there are four or more closed isobars. The detailed
classification based on wind criteria are given in the Table below. Considering
wind criteria, the system with wind speed of 17-27 knots is called as
depression and the low pressure system with maximum sustained 3 minutes
surface winds between 28-33 knots is called a deep depression. The system
with maximum sustained 3 minutes surface winds of 34 knots or more is
called as cyclonic storm
System

Pressure
deficient

Associated wind
speed

hPa

Knots (Kmph)

Low pressure area

1.0

<17(<32)

Depression

1.0- 3.0

17-27 (3250)

Deep Depression

3.0 - 4.5

28-33 (5159)

Cyclonic Storm

4.5- 8.5

34-47 (60-90)

Severe Cyclonic Storm

(SCS)

8.5-15.5

48-63 (90-119)

Very Severe Cyclonic

Storm

15.5-65.6

64-119 (119-220)

Super Cyclonic Storm

>65.6

>119(>220)

Are all cyclonic storms equally dangerous?

No, all cyclonic storms are not equally dangerous. More the pressure drop at
the central region more will be the severity of the storm. The cyclonic storms
are generally categorised according to the maximum wind associated with
the storm. If the maximum wind is between 34 - 47 knots (about 60-90
kmph) it is called a Cyclonic storm. Severe Cyclonic storm will have
maximum wind speed between 48 - 63 knots (about 90-120 kmph). If the
maximum wind is 64-119 knots it will be called a very severe Cyclonic storm
and when the wind is 120 knots and above it will be called super cyclonic
storm. There is very little association between intensity (either measured by
maximum sustained winds or by the lowest central pressure) and size
(measured by radius of gale force winds)
What are the super cyclone, super-typhoon, a major hurricane and
an intense hurricane?
When the maximum sustained 3 minutes surface winds are more than 119
knots, the low pressure system is called as "Super Cyclone" over north Indian
Ocean. Similarly, Super-typhoon" is a term utilized by the U.S. Joint Typhoon
Warning Centre for typhoons that reach maximum sustained 1 minute
surface winds of at least 130 knots (65 m/s). This is the equivalent of a
strong Saffir-Simpson category 4 or category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic basin
or a category 5 severe tropical cyclone in the Australian basin.

Where do tropical cyclones form?

The tropical cyclones form over ocean basins in lower latitudes of all oceans
except south Atlantic and southeast Pacific. The tropical cyclones develop
over the warm water of the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. The
favourable ocean basins for development of cyclonic storms are shown in the
figure below.
TC breeding grounds are located over certain ocean basins. Arrows
indicate average trajectories over different basins
What is the size of a tropical cyclone over the north Indian Ocean
The size of a tropical cyclone over Indian seas varies from 50-100 km radius
to 2000 km with an average of 300 600 km.
What is the structure of a tropical cyclone?
A fully developed tropical cyclone has a central cloud free region of calm
winds, known as the eye of the cyclone with diameter varying from 10 to
50 km. Surrounding the eye is the wall cloud region characterised by
very strong winds and torrential rains, which has the width of about 10 to
150 km. The winds over this region rotate around the centre and resemble
the coils of a snake. Wind speed fall off gradually away from this core
region, which terminate over areas of weaker winds with overcast skies and
occasional squall .There may be one or more spiral branch in a cyclone
where higher rainfall occurs. The vertical extent of the cyclone is about 15
km. The INSAT imagery of Orissa Super cyclone on 29th October, 1999 is
shown in the figure below.
What is a "CDO"?
"CDO" is an acronym that stands for "central dense overcast". This is the
cirrus cloud shield that results from the thunderstorms in the eyewall of a
tropical cyclone and its rainbands. Before the tropical cyclone reaches very
severe cyclonic storm (64 knots,), typically the CDO is uniformly showing the

cold cloud tops of the cirrus with no eye apparent. Once the storm reaches
the hurricane strength threshold, usually an eye can be seen in either the
infrared or visible channels of the satellites. Tropical cyclones that have
nearly circular CDO's are indicative of favourable, low vertical shear
environments.
What is the "eye"? How is it formed and maintained? What is the
"eyewall"? What are "spiral bands"?

The "eye" is a roughly circular area of comparatively light winds and fair
weather found at the centre of a severe tropical cyclone. Although the winds
are calm at the axis of rotation, strong winds may extend well into the eye.
There is little or no precipitation and sometimes blue sky or stars can be
seen. The eye is the region of lowest surface pressure and warmest
temperatures aloft - the eye temperature may be 10C warmer or more at an
altitude of 12 km than the surrounding environment, but only 0-2C warmer
at the surface in the tropical cyclone. Eyes range in size from 8 km to over
200 km across, but most are approximately 30-60 km in diameter.
The eye is surrounded by the "eyewall", the roughly circular ring of deep
convection, which is the area of highest surface winds in the tropical cyclone.
The eye is composed of air that is slowly sinking and the eyewall has a net
upward flow as a result of many moderate - occasionally strong - updrafts
and downdrafts. The eye's warm temperatures are due to compressional
warming of the subsiding air. Most soundings taken within the eye show a
low-level layer, which is relatively moist, with an inversion above suggesting that the sinking in the eye typically does not reach the ocean
surface, but instead only gets to around 1-3 km of the surface.
The exact mechanism by which the eye forms remains somewhat
controversial. One idea suggests that the eye forms as a result of the
downward directed pressure gradient associated with the weakening and
radial spreading of the tangential wind field with height (Smith, 1980).

Another hypothesis suggests that the eye is formed when latent heat release
in the eyewall occurs, forcing subsidence in the storm's centre (Shapiro and
Willoughby, 1982). It is possible that these hypotheses are not inconsistent
with one another. In either case, as the air subsides, it is compressed and
warms relative to air at the same level outside the eye and thereby becomes
locally buoyant. This upward buoyancy approximately balances the
downward directed pressure gradient so that the actual subsidence is
produced by a small residual force.
Another feature of tropical cyclones that probably plays a role in forming and
maintaining the eye is the eyewall convection. Convection in tropical
cyclones is organized into long, narrow rainbands which are oriented in the
same direction as the horizontal wind. Because these bands seem to spiral
into the centre of a tropical cyclone, they are called "spiral bands". Along
these bands, low-level convergence is a maximum, and therefore, upperlevel divergence is most pronounced above. A direct circulation develops in
which warm, moist air converges at the surface, ascends through these
bands, diverges aloft, and descends on both sides of the bands. Subsidence
is distributed over a wide area on the outside of the rainband but is
concentrated in the small inside area. As the air subsides, adiabatic warming
takes place, and the air dries. Because subsidence is concentrated on the
inside of the band, the adiabatic warming is stronger inward from the band
causing a sharp contrast in pressure falls across the band since warm air is
lighter than cold air. Because of the pressure falls on the inside, the
tangential winds around the tropical cyclone increase due to increased
pressure gradient. Eventually, the band moves toward the centre and
encircles it and the eye and eyewall form.
Thus, the cloud-free eye may be due to a combination of dynamically forced
centrifuging of mass out of the eye into the eyewall and to a forced descent
caused by the moist convection of the eyewall. This topic is certainly one
that can use more research to ascertain which mechanism is primary.

Some of the most intense tropical cyclones exhibit concentric eyewalls, two
or more eyewall structures centreed at the circulation centre of the storm.

Just as the inner eyewall forms, convection surrounding the eyewall can
become organized into distinct rings. Eventually, the inner eye begins to feel
the effects of the subsidence resulting from the outer eyewall, and the inner
eyewall weakens, to be replaced by the outer eyewall. The pressure rises due
to the destruction of the inner eyewall are usually more rapid than the
pressure falls due to the intensification of the outer eyewall, and the cyclone
itself weakens for a short period of time.
How does the cyclone look like in a Radar ?

According to Radar imagery, a matured cyclone consists of eye, eye wall,

spiral bands, pre-cyclone squall lines and streamers as shown in the above
figure.
What is the wind structure in a cyclone?
The ideal wind and cloud distribution in a cyclone is shown in the following
figure.

The band of maximum winds may vary between 10 and 150 Km. In this belt,
speed decreases rapidly towards the eye of the cyclone. But it decreases
slowly and in an irregular fashion outward from the eye wall.
How do the cyclones form and intensify?
In the tropics, weak pressure waves move from east to west. These are
called easterly waves. Under favourable situation, a low pressure area forms
over the area of an easterly trough. This gives rise to low level convergence.
If the sea is warm (sea surface temperature > = 26.50 C) and there is
sufficient upper level divergence i.e air is blown off at higher levels from the
area of low pressure, the pressure gradually falls. Low level convergence
coupled with upper level divergence gives rise to vertical motion taking
moist air upwards. These moistures condense at higher levels (middle
troposphere) and give out latent heat of condensation. Due to release of heat
of condensation the area warms up resulting into further fall in pressure. This

process continues and a low pressure system gradually intensifies into a

cyclonic storm.
Hence, for tropical cyclogenesis, there are several favourable environmental
conditions that must be in place. They are:1. Warm ocean waters (of at least 26.5C) throughout a sufficient depth
(unknown how deep, but at least on the order of 50 m). Warm waters
are necessary to fuel the heat engine of the tropical cyclone.
2. An atmosphere which cools fast enough with height such that it is
potentially unstable to moist convection. It is the thunderstorm activity
which allows the heat stored in the ocean waters to be liberated for the
tropical cyclone development.
3. Relatively moist layers near the mid-troposphere (5 km). Dry mid levels
are not conducive for allowing the continuing development of
widespread thunderstorm activity.
4. A minimum distance of at least 500 km from the equator. For tropical
cyclogenesis to occur, there is a requirement for non-negligible
amounts of the Coriolis Force (attributed to earths rotation) to provide
the near gradient wind balance to occur. Without the Coriolis Force, the
low pressure of the disturbance cannot be maintained. This is the
reason why the narrow corridor of width of about 300 km on either side
of the equator is free from cyclones. Because of this there is no interhemispheric migration of tropical cyclones across the equator.
5. A pre-existing near-surface disturbance with sufficient vorticity
(rotation) and convergence. Tropical cyclones cannot be generated
spontaneously. To develop, they require a weakly organized system
with sizable spin and low level inflow.

6. Low values (less than about 10 m/s or 20 kts) of vertical wind shear
between the lower (1.5 km) and the upper troposphere (12 km).
Vertical wind shear is the magnitude of wind change with height. Large
values of vertical wind shear disrupt the incipient tropical cyclone and
can prevent genesis, or, if a tropical cyclone has already formed, large
vertical shear can weaken or destroy the tropical cyclone by interfering
with the organization of deep convection around the cyclone centre.
The above conditions are necessary, but not sufficient as many
disturbances that appear to have favourable conditions do not develop.
However, these criteria fit well over the north Indian Ocean
What is the role of easterly waves on cyclogenesis in north Indian
Ocean ?
It has been recognized since at least the 1930s that lower tropospheric
westward traveling disturbances often serve as the "seedling" circulations for
a large proportion of tropical cyclones. These disturbances are known as
easterly waves. The waves move generally toward the west in the lower
tropospheric trade wind flow. They are first seen usually in October to April.
The waves have a period of about 3 or 4 days and a wavelength of 2000 to
2500 km. One should keep in mind that the "waves" can be more correctly
thought of as the convectively active troughs along an extended wave train.
Though, these waves are generated frequently, but it appears that the
number that is formed has no relationship to how much tropical cyclone
activity there is over the north Indian Ocean each year. It is currently
completely unknown, how, easterly waves change from year to year in both
intensity and location and how these might relate to the activity ?
Is there any extra-tropical cyclone?
Extra-tropical cyclones are low pressure systems with associated cold fronts,
warm fronts, and occluded fronts. The extra-tropical cyclone is a storm
system that primarily gets its energy from the horizontal temperature
contrasts that exist in the atmosphere. Extra-tropical cyclones are low
pressure systems with associated cold fronts, warm fronts, and occluded
fronts. Tropical cyclones, in contrast, typically have little to no temperature

differences across the storm at the surface and their winds are derived from
the release of energy due to cloud/rain formation from the warm moist air of
the tropics. Structurally, tropical cyclones have their strongest winds near
the earth's surface, while extra-tropical cyclones have their strongest winds
near the tropopause - about 12 km up. These differences are due to the
tropical cyclone being "warm-core" in the troposphere (below the
tropopause) and the extra-tropical cyclone being "warm-core" in the
stratosphere (above the tropopause) and "cold-core" in the troposphere.
"Warm-core" refers to being relatively warmer than the environment at any
level.
Often, a tropical cyclone will transform into an extra-tropical cyclone as it
recurves poleward and to the east. Occasionally, an extra-tropical cyclone
will lose its frontal features, develop convection near the centre of the storm
and transform into a full-fledged tropical cyclone. Such a process is most
common in the north Atlantic and northwest Pacific basins. The
transformation of tropical cyclone into an extra-tropical cyclone (and vice
versa) is currently one of the most challenging forecast problems.
What is the annual frequency of Cyclones over the Indian Seas?
What is its intra-annual variation?
The average annual frequency of tropical cyclones in the north Indian Ocean
(Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea) is about 5 (about 5-6 % of the Global annual
average) and about 80 cyclones form around the globe in a year. The
frequency is more in the Bay of Bengal than in the Arabian Sea, the ratio
being 4:1. The monthly frequency of tropical cyclones in the north Indian
Ocean display a bi-modal characteristic with a primary peak in November
and secondary peak in May. The months of May-June and October-November
are known to produce cyclones of severe intensity. Tropical cyclones
developing during the monsoon months (July to September) are generally not
so intense.

The frequencies of Cyclonic systems over north Indian Ocean during 18912006 are given in the figure below.
What are the average, most, and least tropical cyclones occurring in
this basin?
The most, least and average numbers of cyclonic storms and severe cyclonic
storms over the north Indian ocean is given in the Table below:

Minimum No. of cyclones in a year - One (1949)

Maximum No. of cyclones in a year Ten (1893,1926,1930,1976)

Out of total disturbances - 35% intensify to Cyclones

16 % intensify to severe cyclones

07% intensify to very severe cyclones

Basin

N Indian Ocean

Cyclonic storm

Severe cyclonic storm

Mos Leas
Average
t
t

Mos
Least Average
t

10

5.4

2.5

How many severe tropical storms occur around the world and over
north Indian Ocean every year?
About 20-30 severe tropical storms occur around the world every year. Over
the north Indian Ocean, 2-3 severe cyclonic storms form out of total 5-6
cyclonic storms
How many cyclones cross different coastal states of India?
The frequencies of cyclonic storms crossing different coastal states of India
during 1891-2006 are shown in the figure below. The frequency of severe
cyclonic storms is maximum for Andhra Pradesh while that of cyclone is

maximum for Orissa. Considering west coast only, Gujarat is most

vulnerable.
Which is the most intense tropical cyclone on record?
Typhoon Tip in the Northwest Pacific Ocean on 12 October, 1979 was
measured to have a central pressure of 870 hPa and estimated surface
sustained winds of 165 knots (85 m/s). Typhoon Nancy on 12 September,
1961 is listed in the best track data for the Northwest Pacific region as
having an estimated maximum sustained winds of 185 knots (95 m/s) with a
central pressure of 888 hPa. However, it is now recognized that the
maximum sustained winds estimated for typhoons during the 1940s to 1960s
were too strong and that the 95 m/s (and numerous 83 to 93 m/s reports) is
somewhat too high.
Note that Hurricane Gilbert's 888 hPa lowest pressure (estimated from flight
level data) in mid September, 1988 is the most intense [as measured by
lowest sea level pressure] for the Atlantic basin, it is almost 20 hPa weaker
(higher) than the above Typhoon Tip of the Northwest Pacific Ocean.
While the central pressures for the Northwest Pacific typhoons are the lowest
globally, the North Atlantic hurricanes have provided sustained wind speeds
possibly comparable to the Northwest Pacific. From the best track database,
both Hurricane Camille (1969) and Hurricane Allen (1980) have winds that
are estimated to be 165 knots (85 m/s). Measurements of such winds are
inherently going to be suspect as instruments often are completely
destroyed or damaged at these speeds.
Orissa super cyclone, 1999 which crossed Orissa coast near Paradip on 29th
October, 1999 was the most intense cyclonic storm over north Indian Ocean
in the recorded history of the region. The estimated sustained maximum
surface wind speed was about 140 knots at the time of landfall and lowest
estimated central pressure was 912 hPa.
A few cyclones that have originated over the Bay of Bengal have reached the
intensity of Super Cyclones and have caused great devastations to life and
property. The estimates of maximum sustained winds of these systems are
estimated from satellite imageries. The list of very intense Cyclones in the
Bay of Bengal since 1990 is given below.

.Place of landfall

Date of landfall

Maximum
sustained winds
(kmph) - estimated
on the basis of
satellite imageries

Chittagong

13 November, 1970

224

Chirala, Andhra
Pradesh

19 November, 1977

260

Rameshwaram

24 November 1978

204

Sriharikota

14 November, 1984

213

Bangla Desh

30 November, 1988

213

Kavali, Andhra
Pradesh

9 November, 1989

235

Machlipatnam, AP

9 May ,1990

235

Chittagong

29 April, 1991

235

Teknaf (Myanmar)

2 May, 1994

204

Teknaf

19 May, 1997

235

Paradip, Orissa

29 October, 1999

260

89.80E, Bangladesh

15 November, 2007

220

16.00N, Myanmar

02 May, 2008

200

Which are the largest and smallest tropical cyclones on record?

Typhoon Tip had gale force winds 34 knots (17 m/s), which extended out for
1100 km in radius in the Northwest Pacific on 12 October, 1979. Tropical
Cyclone Tracy had gale force winds that only extended 50 km radius when it
struck Darwin, Australia, on 24 December,1974.
Considering north Indian Ocean, Orissa super cyclone of October, 1999 and
the cyclone, Ogni were the largest and smallest cyclones during 1891-2007.

Which tropical cyclone over north Indian Ocean have caused the
most deaths and most damage?
The death toll in the infamous Bangladesh Cyclone of 1970 has had several
estimates, some wildly speculative, but it seems certain that at least
300,000 people died from the associated storm tide [surge] in the low-lying
deltas.
Why there are fewer cyclones over the Arabian Sea as compared to
the Bay of Bengal?
Cyclones that form over the Bay of Bengal are either those develop insitu
over southeast Bay of Bengal and adjoining Andaman Sea or remnants of
typhoons over Northwest Pacific and move across south China sea to Indian
Seas. As the frequency of typhoons over Northwest Pacific is quite high
(about 35 % of the global annual average), the Bay of Bengal also gets its
increased quota.
The cyclones over the Arabian Sea either originate insitu over southeast
Arabian Sea (which includes Lakshadweep area also) or remnants of cyclones
from the Bay of Bengal that move across south peninsula. As the majority of
Cyclones over the Bay of Bengal weaken over land after landfall, the
frequency of migration into Arabian Sea is low.

In addition to all the above the Arabian Sea is relatively colder than Bay of
Bengal and hence inhibits the formation and intensification of the system.
Why there are very few Tropical Cyclones during southwest
monsoon season?
The southwest monsoon is characterized by the presence of strong westerly
winds in the lower troposphere (below 5 km) and very strong easterly winds
in the upper troposphere (above 9 km) .This results in large vertical wind
shear. Strong vertical wind shear inhibits cyclone development.
Also the potential zone for the development of cyclones shifts to North Bay of
Bengal during southwest monsoon season. During this season, the low
pressure system upto the intensity of depressions form along the monsoon
trough, which extends from northwest India to the north Bay of Bengal. The
Depression forming over this area crosses Orissa West Bengal coast in a
day or two. These systems have shorter oceanic stay which is also one of the
reasons for their non-intensification into intense cyclones.
What is the life period of cyclones? Which tropical cyclone lasted the
longest?
Life period of a Tropical Cyclone over the north Indian Ocean is 5-6 days. It
will have hurricane intensity for 2-4 days as against 6 days of global average.
Life period of the longest lived Tropical cyclone in Indian seas is 14 days (2nd
-15th Nov, 1886 & 16th - 29th Nov, 1964). Hurricane/Typhoon John lasted 31
days as it traveled both the Northeast and Northwest Pacific basins during
August and September, 1994. (It formed in the Northeast Pacific, reached
hurricane force there, moved across the dateline and was renamed Typhoon
John, and then finally recurved back across the dateline and renamed
Hurricane John again.) Hurricane Ginger was a tropical cyclone for 28 days in
the North Atlantic Ocean back in 1971. It should be noted that prior to the

weather satellite era (1961) many tropical cyclones' life cycles could be
underestimated.
How are Tropical Cyclones monitored by IMD?
IMD has a well-established and time-tested organization for monitoring and
forecasting tropical cyclones. A good network of meteorological
observatories (both surface and upper air) is operated by IMD, covering the
entire coastline and islands. The conventional observations are
supplemented by observational data from automatic weather stations (AWS),
radar and satellite systems. INSAT imagery obtained at hourly intervals
during cyclone situations has proved to be immensely useful in monitoring
the development and movement of cyclones.
How is cyclone monitored by satellite technique ?
The satellite technique can be used to find out the centre and intensity of the
system. It can also be used to find out various derived parameters which are
useful for monitoring and prediction of the cyclones and associated
disastrous weather.
Dvoraks technique based on pattern recognition in the cloud imagery based
on satellite observation is used to determine the intensity of cyclonic storm.
For this purpose a T. No. where T stands for tropical cyclone is assigned to
the system. This scale of T Nos. varies from T 1.0 to T 8.0 at the interval of
0.5. The T 2.5 corresponds to the intensity of a cyclonic storm. The detailed
classification of cyclonic disturbances based on above technique is given
below:
T CLASSIFICATION OF CYCLONIC STORM AND CORRESPONDING
WIND SPEED AND PRESSURE DEFECT (P)

T. Number/

Classification of
Cyclonic
Disturbance

Wind
speed
in

Wind
speed
In

?P

Wind
criteria

Wind
criteria in

C.I.
Number

Knots

Kmph

in Knots

Kmph

?17

?31

17-27

31-49

T1.0

T1.5

25

46.3

T2.0

DD

30

55.6

4.5

28-33

50-61

T2.5

CS

35

64.9

6.1

34-47

62-88

45

83.4

10.0

T3.0
T3.5

SCS

55

101.9

15.0

48-63

89-117

T4.0

VSCS

65

120.5

20.9

64-119

119-221

T4.5

77

142.7

29.4

T5.0

90

166.8

40.2

T5.5

102

189.0

51.6

T6.0

115

213.1

65.6

127

235.4

80.0

120 AND
ABOVE

222 AND
ABOVE

140

259.5

97.2

T6.5

T7.0

SuCS

T7.5

155

287.3

119.
1

T8.0

170

315.1

143.
3

What is the utility of Radar in cyclone monitoring ?

The radar can be utilized to find out the location of the cyclonic storm more
accurately when the system comes within radar range. In addition it can find
out convective cloud cluster, wind distribution, rainfall rate etc.
What is the present network of Cyclone Detection Radars?
A network of conventional Cyclone Detection Radars (CDRs) has been
established at Kolkata, Paradip, Visakhapatnam, Machilipatnam, Chennai and
Karaikal along the east coast and Goa, Cochin, Mumbai and Bhuj along the
west coast. These conventional radars are being phased out and replaced by
Doppler Weather Radars (DWRs). DWR have already been installed and made
operational at Chennai, Kolkata, Visakhapatnam and Machlipatnam. An
indigenously developed DWR Radar by Indian Space Research Organisation
(ISRO) has been installed at Sriharikota.
It is proposed to replace all the conventional radars by DWRs during the next
3-4 years.
What are the basic differences between conventional analog type of
Cyclone Detection Radar and the Doppler Weather Radar?
While conventional weather radar can look deeper into a weather system to
provide information on intensity rain-rate, vertical extent, the capability to
probe internal motion of the hydrometers and hence to derive information on
velocity and turbulence structure has become available only with the advent

of Doppler Weather Radar (DWRs) which provide vital information on radial

velocity from which wind field of a tropical disturbance in the reconnaissance
area of DWR can be derived. In addition to above, a number of derived
parameters useful for cyclone monitoring and prediction are also available
from DWR.
What are the causes of disaster during cyclone?
The dangers associated with cyclonic storms are generally three fold.
Very heavy rains causing floods.
Strong wind.
Storm surge.
Let us discuss each separately:

(i) The rainfall associated with a storm vary from storm to storm even with
the same intensity. Record rainfall in a cyclonic storm has been as low as
trace to as high as 250 cms. It has been found that the intensity of rainfall is
about 85 cms/day within a radius of 50 kms and about 35 cms/day between
50 to 100 kms from the centre of the storm. Precipitation of about 50 cm/day
is quite common with a C.S. This phenomenal rain can cause flash flood.
(ii) The strong wind speed associated with a cyclonic storm. (60-90 kmph)
can result into some damage to kutcha houses and tree branches likely to
break off. Winds of a severe Cyclonic storm (90-120 kmph) can cause
uprooting of trees, damage to pucca houses and disruption of
communications. The wind associated with a very severe Cyclonic storm and
super cyclonic storm can uproot big trees, cause wide spread damages to
houses and installations and total disruption of communications. The

maximum wind speed associated with a very severe Cyclonic storm that hit
Indian coast in the past 100 years was 260 kmph in Oct., 1999 (Paradeep
Super cyclone).
(iii) The severest destructive feature of a tropical storm is the storm surge
popularly called tidal waves. The costal areas are subjected to storm surge
and is accentuated if the landfall time coincides with that of high tides. This
is again more if the sea bed is shallow. Storm surge as high as 15 to 20 ft.
may occur when all the factors contributing to storm surge are maximum.
This storm tide inundates low lying coastal areas which has far reaching
consequences apart from flooding. The fertility of land is lost due to
inundation by saline water for a few years to come.
When does a coastal station start experiencing bad weather
associated with a Cyclone?
Coasts come under the influence of bad weather in the form of heavy rain,
gale winds (exceeding 65 kmph) when the cyclone moves closer to the coast
within 200km. Heavy rainfall generally commences about 9-12 hours before
cyclone landfall. Gale force winds commence about 6-9 hours in advance of
cyclone landfall. Maximum storm surge may appear at or near the landfall
time.
What is the amount of rainfall expected during a cyclone? Which
sector gets more rainfall? What is the impact of heavy rainfall ?
Intensive Rainfall occurs to the left of the Cyclone. Maximum rainfall occurs
close to the centre of the storm. Secondary maximum of rainfall occurs 2
away from Primary maximum to the right of the storm centre. Slow
moving/big size cyclones give more rainfall, whereas, fast moving/small size
ones give less rainfall. More than 90% of rainfall is limited within 200 Km
radius of the storm. Extensive rainfall occurs in the left forward sector for
westward moving system and forward sector for northward moving system
and right forward sector for those re-curving to east and northeast.

The governing factors for rainfall distribution and intensity are intensity,
speed and size of the storm and local effects such as topography and
orientation of the coast.
What are the largest rainfalls associated with tropical cyclones over
north Indian Ocean?
The rainfall can vary from trace/ nil rainfall when the system moves skirting
the coast to maximum rainfall upto 50-60 cm per day. In the recent super
cyclone which crossed Orissa coast near Paradip on 29th October 1999,
Paradip recorded 24 hr cumulative rainfall of about 52 cm at 0830 IST of 30th
October 1999.
What may be the wind speed in most severe storm?
The wind speed may be as high as 300 kmph.
What is the wind speed at the centre of a storm? What is weather
there?
Nearly calm wind with fair weather prevails at the centre of the storm.
How is the damage that cyclones cause related with wind ?
The amount of damage does not increase linearly with the wind speed.
Instead, the damage produced increases exponentially with the winds.
Which sector of the cyclone experiences strongest winds?
In general, the strongest winds in a cyclone are found on the right side of the
storm. The "right side of the storm" is defined with respect to the storm's
motion: if the cyclone is moving to the west, the right side would be to the
north of the storm; if the cyclone is moving to the north, the right side would
be to the east of the storm, etc. The strongest wind on the right side of the
storm is mainly due to the fact that the motion of the cyclone also
contributes to its swirling winds. A cyclone with a 145 kmph winds while
stationary would have winds up to 160 kmph on the right side and only 130
kmph on the left side if it began moving (any direction) at 16 kmph. While

writing the cyclone warning bulletins, this asymmetry is taken into

consideration.
For tropical cyclones in the Southern Hemisphere, these differences are
reversed: the strongest winds are on the left side of the storm. This is
because the winds swirl clockwise south of the equator in tropical cyclones.
What causes each cyclone to have a different maximum wind speed
for a given minimum sea-level pressure?
The basic horizontal balance in a tropical cyclone above the boundary layer
is between the sum of the Coriolis 'acceleration' and the centripetal
'acceleration', balanced by the horizontal pressure gradient force. This
balance is referred to as gradient balance, where the Coriolis 'acceleration' is
defined as the horizontal velocity of an air parcel, v, times the Coriolis
parameter, f. Centripetal 'force' is defined as the acceleration on a parcel of
air moving in a curved path, directed toward the centre of curvature of the
path, with magnitude v2/r, where v is the horizontal velocity of the parcel
and r the radius of curvature of the path. The centripetal force alters the
original two-force geostrophic balance and creates a non-geostrophic
gradient wind. The reason that different peak winds can result in different
central pressures is caused by the fact that the radius, r, of the peak wind
varies. A storm with 40 m/s peak winds with a 100 km RMW will have a much
lower pressure drop than one with a 25 km RMW.
Why do very severe cyclone or hurricane force winds start at 64
knots ?
In 1805-06, Commander Francis Beaufort RN (later Admiral Sir Francis
Beaufort) devised a descriptive wind scale in an effort to standardize wind
reports in ship's logs. His scale divided wind speeds into 14 Forces (soon
after pared down to thirteen) with each Force assigned a number, a common
name, and a description of the effects such a wind would have on a sailing
ship. And since the worst storm an Atlantic sailor was likely to run into was a
hurricane that name was applied to the top Force on the scale.

During the 19th Century, with the

manufacture of accurate anemometers,
actual numerical values were assigned to
each Force level, but it wasn't until 1926
(with revisions in 1939 and 1946) that
the International Meteorological
Committee (predecessor of the WMO)
adopted a universal scale of wind speed
values. It was a progressive scale with
the range of speed for Forces increasing
as you go higher. Thus Force 1 is only 3 knots in range, while the Force 11 is
eight knots in range. So Force 12 starts out at 64 knots (74 mph, 33 m/s).
There is nothing magical in this number, and since hurricane force
winds are a rare experience chances are the committee which decided on
this number didn't do so because of any real observations during a
hurricane. Indeed the Smeaton-Rouse wind scale in 1759 pegged hurricane
force at 70 knots (80 mph, 36 m/s). Just the same, when a tropical cyclone
has maximum winds of approximately these speeds we do see the mature
structure (eye, eyewall, spiral rainbands) begin to form, so there is some
utility with setting hurricane force in this neighborhood.
What is a Storm Surge?

Storm Surge is an abnormal rise of sea level as the cyclone crosses the
coast. Sea water inundates the coastal strip causing loss of life, large scale
destruction to property & crop. Increased salinity in the soil over affected
area makes the land unfit for agricultural use for two or three seasons.
Storm surge depends on intensity of the cyclone (Maximum winds and lowest
pressure associated with it and Coastal bathymetry (shallower coastline
generates surges of greater heights).
In which direction of a storm the surge will appear?
The on shore wind gives rise to storm surge. Thus the forward right sector of
a storm gives rise to storm surge.
What is storm tide?
The storm tide is the combination of storm surge and the astronomical tide
What is the interaction of astronomical tide with storm surge?
In general one may expect that if there is a storm surge of x metres and tidal
wave of y metres then during high tide total surges would be x+y and during
low tide x-y. But, it is found that there is an interaction of storm surge with
astronomical tide, and during high tide time the total surge is little less than
x+y and during low tide time it is little more than x-y.
What are the disaster potential of Storm Surge?
Disaster potential due to cyclones is due to high storm surges occurring at
the time of landfall. The storm surges are by far the greatest killers in a
cyclone. as sea water inundates low lying areas of the coastal regions
causing heavy floods, erosion of beaches and embankments, damage to
vegetation and reducing soil fertility. Flooding due to storm surges pollute
drinking water sources resulting in shortage of drinking water and causing

out-break of epidemics, mostly water borne diseases Very strong winds

(Gales) may cause uprooting of trees, damage to dwellings, overhead
installations, communication lines etc., resulting in loss of life and property.
Past records show that very heavy loss of life due to tropical cyclones have
occurred in the coastal areas surrounding the Bay of Bengal. Cyclones are
also often accompanied by very intense & heavy precipitation (exceeding 4050 cm in a day or about 10cm or more per hour in some places)
What is the vulnerability our coastline from the point of view of
storm surge potential?

Entire Indian coast can be categorized into 4 zones

Very high risk zones (Surge height > 5m)

High risk Zone (Surge height between 3-5m)

Moderate risk zone (Surge height between 1.5 to 3m)

Minimal risk zone ( Surge height < 1.5m)

Accordingly

The coastal areas and off-shore islands of Bengal and adjoining

Bangladesh are the most storm-surge prone (~ 10-13m) VHRZ

East coast of India between Paradip and Balasore in Orissa (~ 5-7m)

VHRZ

Andhra coast between Bapatla and Kakinada holding estuaries of two

major rivers Krishna and Godavari (~ 5-7m) VHRZ

Tamilnadu coast between Pamban and Nagapattinam (~ 3-5m) HRZ

Gujarat along the west coast of India (~ 2-3m) -MRZ

Can we predict storm surge?

The storm surge is predicted by IMD using nomograms and dynemic model
developed by IIT, Delhi. Both these models taken into consideration different
characteristics, the cyclones and the coastal bathymetry to predict the storm
surge.
Which tropical cyclone has produced the highest storm surge?
The Bathurst Bay Hurricane, also known as Tropical Cyclone Mahina, struck
Bathurst Bay, Australia in 1899. It produced a 13 m (about 42 ft) surge, but
other contemporary accounts place the surge at 14.6 m (almost 48 ft).
Considering cyclones over north Indian Ocean, cyclone of 1970 has produced
maximum storm surge of 13 metres in recent years. Some of the significant
storm surges (metres) over the region are mentioned below
What is the damage potential of a deep depression (28 33 knots)
and what are the suggested actions?
Structures: Minor damage to loose/ unsecured structures Communication
& power:
Road/Rail: Some breaches in Kutcha road due to flooding
Agriculture: Minor damage to Banana trees and near coastal agriculture
due to salt spray. Damage to ripe paddy crops
Marine Interests: Very rough seas. Sea waves about 4-6 m high.
Coastal Zone: Minor damage to Kutcha embankments
Overall Damage Category: Minor
Suggested Actions: Fishermen advised not to venture into sea

What is the damage potential of a cyclonic storm (34-47 knots or 62

to 87 kmph) and what are the suggested actions?

Structures: Damage to thatched huts

Communication and power: Minor damage to power and communication
lines bdue to breaking of tree branches.
Road/Rail: Major damage to Kutcha and minor damage to Pucca roads.
Agriculture: Some damage to paddy crops, Banana, Papaya trees and
orchards.
Marine Interests: High to very high sea waves about 6-9 m high.
Coastal Zone: Sea water inundation in low lying areas after erosion of
Kutcha embankments
Overall Damage Category: Minor to Moderate
Suggested Actions: Fishermen advised not to venture into sea

What is the damage potential of a severe cyclonic storm 48-63

Knots (88-117 Kmph) and what are the suggested actions?
Structures: Major damage to thatched houses / huts. Roof tops may blow
off. Unattached metal sheets may fly.
Communication and power: Minor damage to power and communication
lines.
Road/Rail: Major damage to Kutcha and some damage to Pucca roads.
Flooding of escape routes.
Agriculture: Breaking of tree branches, uprooting of large avenue trees.
Moderate damage to Banana and Papaya trees: Large dead limbs
blown from trees.
Marine Interests: Phenomenal seas with wave height 9-14 m. Movement in
motor boats unsafe.

Coastal Zone: Major damage to coastal crops. Storm surge upto 1.5m (area
specific) causing damage to embankments/ salt pans. Inundation upto 5 Km
in specific areas.
Overall Damage Category: Moderate
Suggested Actions: Fishermen advised not to venture into sea. Coastal
hutment dwellers advised to move to safer places. Other people in the
affected areas to remain indoors.
What is the damage potential of a very severe cyclonic storm (64-90
Knots or 118-167 Kmph) and what are the suggested actions?
Structures: Total destruction of thatched houses/ extensive damage to
Kutcha houses. Some damage to Pucca houses. Potential threat from flying
objects.
Communication and power: Bending/ uprooting of power and communication
poles.
Road/Rail: Major damage to Kutcha and Pucca roads. Flooding of escape
routes. Minor disruption of railways, overhead power lines and signaling
systems.
Agriculture: Widespread damage to standing crops plantations, orchards,
falling of green coconuts and tearing of palm fronds Blowing down bushy
trees like mango.
Marine Interests: Phenomenal seas with wave heights more than 14m.
Visibility severely affected. Movement in motor boats and small ships unsafe.
Coastal Zone: Storm surge up to 2 m, Inundation up to 10 Km in specific
areas. Small boats, country crafts may get detached from moorings.
Overall Damage Category: Large
Suggested Actions: Fishermen not to venture into sea. Evacuation from
coastal areas needs to be mobilized. People advised to remain indoors.
Judicious regulation of rail and road traffic needed.

What is the damage potential of a very severe cyclonic storm (91119 Knots or 168-221 Kmph) and what are the suggested actions?

Structures: Extensive damage to all types Kutcha houses, some damage to

old badly managed Pucca structures. Potential threat from flying objects.
Communication and power: Extensive uprooting of power and
communication poles.
Road/Rail: Disruption of rail / road link at several places.
Agriculture: Extensive damage to standing crops plantations, orchards.
Blowing down of Palm and Coconut trees. Uprooting of large bushy trees.
Marine Interests: Phenomenal seas with wave heights more than 14m.
Movement in motor boats and small ships not advisable.
Coastal Zone: Storm surge up to 2 5 m, Inundation may extend up to 1015 Km over specific areas. Large boats and ships may get torn from their
moorings, country crafts may get detached from moorings
Overall Damage Category: Extensive
Suggested Actions: Fishermen not to venture into sea. Evacuation from
coastal areas essential. Diversion / suspension of rail traffic may be required.

What is the damage potential of a super cyclonic storm 120 Knots

(222 Kmph) & above? What are the suggested actions?

Structures: Extensive damage to non-concrete residential and industrial

building. Structural damage to concrete structures. Air full of large
projectiles.

Communication and power: Uprooting of power and communication poles.

Total disruption of communication and power supply.
Road/Rail: Extensive damage to Kutcha roads and some damage to poorly
repaired pucca roads. Large scale submerging of coastal roads due to
flooding and sea water inundation. Total disruption of railway and road traffic
due to major damages to bridges, signals and railway tracks. Washing away
of rail / road links at several places.
Agriculture: Total destruction of standing crops / orchards, uprooting of
large trees and blowing away of palm and coconut crowns, stripping of tree
barks.
Marine Interests: Phenomenal seas with wave heights more than 14m. All
shipping activity unsafe.
Coastal Zone: Extensive damage to port installations. Storm surge more
than 5m, Inundation up to 40 Km in specific areas and extensive beach
erosion. All ships torn from their moorings. Flooding of escape routes.
Overall Damage Category: Catastrophic
Suggested Actions: Fishermen not to venture into sea. Large scale
evacuations needed. Total stoppage of rail and road traffic needed in
vulnerable areas
What is the normal movement of a Tropical Cyclone?
Tropical Cyclones move as a whole. They casually move westnorthwestwards or northwestwards in the northern hemisphere. The average
speed is 15-20 kmph (360-480 km per day). They may change their direction
of movement towards north. During this change their speed of movement
decreases to 10 kmph or even less. A larger fraction of such storms later turn
towards northeast and move northeastwards very fast at a speed of 25 kmph
or more.

What are fast and slow moving cyclones?

When the speed of movement is 10-14 kmph, it is called as slow

moving cyclone. It is called as moderately moving cyclone, if the speed of
movement is 15-25 kmph. If the speed of movement is more than 25 kmph,
is called as fast moving cyclone.

How track prediction is done in IMD ?

Various Techniques are available for Track Prediction of the storm as
mentioned below:
I.

Methods based on climatology, persistence and both Climatology &

Persistence (CLIPER)

II.

Synoptic Techniques Empirical Techniques

III.

Satellite Techniques

IV.

Statistical Techniques using climatology, persistence and synoptic

V.

Analogue Techniques

VI.

Numerical weather prediction models

The tracks of the cyclonic storms over north India ocean during 1891-2007
are shown below:

What are the numerical weather prediction models used

operationally for Tropical Cyclone track Prediction and storm surges
in IMD?

T-254 model of NCMRWF, MM5 mesoscale model

Quasi-Lagrangian Limited Area Model (QLM) for track prediction

Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) mesoscale model for

intensification and track prediction

Prediction Models of IIT Delhi and NIOT Chennai for Storm Surge
rediction

In addition to above, IMD forecasters make use of various forecasts

available from international NWP models like BCBCMRF, UKMET and COLA
etc.
What is our accuracy of landfall prediction?
Probability of correct forecast decreases with increasing forecast validity
period. Mean forecast errors for 12, 24, 48 and 72 hours are about 50, 140,
300 and 500 km respectively, which are comparable to corresponding figures
of other centres like National Hurricane Centre, Miami, which monitor Atlantic
Hurricanes; Typhoon Warning Centre, Tokyo, which monitors Typhoons of
Northwest Pacific etc.
How does IMD predict intensity of the cyclone ?
Subjective techniques like Climatology, Synoptic and Satellite (Dvorak)
techniques and radar techniques are used. Though the performance of NWP
models in intensity prediction is not satisfactory, they provide valuable
guidance in intensity prediction also.
What is the role of upper tropospheric westerly trough ?
An Upper tropospheric westerly trough is important for tropical cyclone
forecasting as they can force large amounts of vertical wind shear over
tropical disturbances and tropical cyclones which may inhibit their
strengthening. There are also suggestions that these troughs can assist
tropical cyclone genesis and intensification by providing additional forced
ascent near the storm centre and/or by allowing for an efficient outflow
channel in the upper troposphere. The location of this trough and its intensity
can also influence the movement of the storm and hence can be used for
cyclone track forecasting.
Why Tropical Cyclones weaken over land after landfall ?

After just a few hours, a tropical cyclone over land begins to weaken rapidly
because the storm lacks the moisture and heat sources that the ocean
provided. This depletion of moisture and heat hurts the tropical cyclone's
ability to produce thunderstorms near the storm centre. Without this
convection the cyclone cannot survive.
However, there are instances like Orissa super cyclone of October 1999,
which maintained its intensity of cyclonic storm even 24 hours after landfall.
During this period, it remained practically stationary over coastal Orissa.
Doesn't the friction over land kill tropical cyclones?
No, during landfall, the increased friction over land acts - somewhat
contradictory - to both decrease the sustained winds and also to increase the
gusts felt at the surface. The sustained winds are reduced because of the
dampening effect of larger roughness over land (i.e. bushes, trees and
houses over land versus a relatively smooth ocean). The gusts are stronger
because turbulence increases and acts to bring faster winds down to the
surface in short (a few seconds) bursts.
What are the abnormal characteristics associated with Tropical
Cyclones?

Majority of Tropical Cyclones are associated with some sort of abnormal

behavior such as

Rapidly changing trends in motion and intensity

Remaining quasi-stationary close to landfall

Development or intensification close to a populated coastline

Approaching a vulnerable coastline at an acute angle so that even

minor forecast errors introduce large landfall uncertainties

Threatening the coastal community during high pitch of seasonal

activity such as harvesting, festivals, holidays etc.

Two examples of such cyclones are shown below.

What is the organizational set up in IMD for Cyclone forecasting and

Warning?
The Cyclone Warning Organization in India has a 3-tier system to cater to the
needs of the maritime States. These are : Cyclone Warning Division set up at
IMD Head Quarters to co-ordinate and supervise cyclone warning operations
in the country and to advise the Govt. at the apex level; Area Cyclone
Warning Centres at Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata and Cyclone Warning
Centres at Visakhapatnam, Ahmedabad and Bhubaneswar. The cyclone
warning work is also supervised and coordinated by the Forecasting Division
at Pune.
What are the different bulletins issued by IMD in connection with
the cyclone?
1. Weather and Sea area bulletins.
2. Bulletins for Indian Navy.

3. Bulletins for Departmental Exchange.

4. Port Warnings
5. Fisheries warnings
6. Four Stage Warnings
7. Bulletins for AIR
8. Bulletins for Press
9. Coastal bulletins
10.

Warnings to Designated/ Registered Officials

11.

Aviation Warnings

What is 4-stage warning system for Tropical Cyclones?

Expectations of Disaster Managers are longer lead time and improved
accuracy of landfall forecast. But the present state of art has limitations to
make the above requirements go hand in hand. Lead time depends on the
formation and duration of cyclone itself which may vary considerably from
one cyclone to another. However, since pre-monsoon cyclone season of
1999, IMD introduced a 4-Stage warning system to issue cyclone warnings to
the disaster managers. They are as follows:
(1) Pre-Cyclone Watch
Issued when a depression forms over the Bay of Bengal irrespective of its
distance from the coast and is likely to affect Indian coast in future. The precyclone watch is issued by the name of Director General of Meteorology and
is issued at least 72 hours in advance of the commencement of adverse
weather. It is issued at least once a day.

(2) Cyclone Alert

Issued atleast 48 hours before the commencement of the bad weather when
the cyclone is located beyond 500 Km from the coast. It is issued every three
hours.
(3) Cyclone Warning
Issued at least 24 hours before the commencement of the bad weather when
the cyclone is located within 500 Km from the coast. Information about
time /place of landfall are indicated in the bulletin. Confidence in estimation
increases as the cyclone comes closer to the coast
(4) Post landfall outlook
It is issued 12 hours before the cyclone landfall, when the cyclone is located
within 200 Km from the coast. More accurate & specific information about
time /place of landfall and associated bad weather indicated in the bulletin.
In addition, the interior distraction is likely to be affected due to the cyclone
are warned in this bulletin.
How frequently IMD issues these bulletins?
When cyclone is beyond the range of coastal cyclone detection radar, (more
than 400 km away from coast), cyclone warnings are issued 6 times a day to
air stations and each warning is broadcast at frequent intervals interrupting
routine programme. When the cyclone comes within radar range and tracked
by radar, cyclone warnings are issued every hour to air stations. During
cyclone period, concerned air stations keep round the clock watch for
broadcasting cyclone warnings.
Is there any order in mentioning the disastrous weather in the
bulletin?

A certain order depending upon the intensity and proximity of the system to
the coast will be observed during cyclone period while indicating the adverse
weather.
In case of a cyclone expected to strike the coast in

About 12 hrs: tidal wave / gales / heavy rain fall

Next 12-24 hrs: gales / tidal wave / heavy rain fall

About 24 hrs: rain / gales / tidal wave

What is port warning?

The strong winds and high seas pose dangers to port. Moreover if a storm is
at high seas the ships moving out of the port may fall into danger. Therefore
the port is informed accordingly and advised to hoist signals which can he
seen by mariners both during day and night. There are eleven such signals.
The significant features of this warning are as follows.

Port officers are warned about disturbed weather likely to affect their
Ports by IMD.

On receipt of warnings, Port officials hoist appropriate visual signals so

that they are visible from a distance.

Ports are warned 5 to 6 times a day during period of cyclonic storm.

Warning contains information about location, intensity, expected

direction, expected landfall point and type of signal the Port should
hoist.

Uniform system of storm warning signals introduced from 1st April

1898.

There are different types of signals for different ports as mentioned below.

1. GENERAL SYSTEM : General Ports (eleven signals)

2. EXTENDED SYSTEM: Extended Ports (Six section signals + eleven
signals)
3. BRIEF SYSTEM : Brief ports (III, IV, VII, X, XI signals)
4. MINOR PORTS : Special messages. No signals are hoisted.
PORT WARNINGS

Sign
al/
Flag
No.

NAM
E

Symbols
Day

1.

DC1

Description
Night

Depression far
at sea. Port NOT
affected.

Distant bad
weather
Cyclone for at
sea.
2.

3.

DW2

Local bad
weather

LC3

Warning for
vessels leaving
port.
Port Threatened
by local bad
weather like
squally winds.

4.

LW4

5.

D5

Cyclone at sea.
Likely to affect
the port later.

Cyclone likely to
cross coast
keeping port to
its left

6.

7.

Cyclone likely to
cross coast
keeping port to
its right.
Danger

D6

D7

8.

GD8

Cyclone likely to
cross coast
over/near to the
port.

Severe cyclone
to cross coast
keeping port to
its left

9.

GD9
Great danger

10.

GD1
0

11.

XI

Severe cyclone
to cross coast
keeping port to
its right
Severe cyclone
to cross coast
keeping port to
its right.

Communication
failed with
cyclone warning
office.

What are fishermen warning?

A fisherman warning is warning message for fishermen who ply on coastal
areas or may go out at sea. Dangers to fisherman due to storm are strong
winds and associated high seas, due to which fishing boats may capsize.
Hence, the fishermen are issued warning when one of the following
conditions of weather is expected along and off any coast
1. Strong off-shore and on-shore winds (or with appropriate direction),
speed exceeding 45 kmph
2. Squally weather frequent squalls with rain; or persistent type of
strong gusty winds (>20kts; 36kmph) accompanied by rain.
3. Gales and

4. State of sea very rough or above (wave heights are four metres or
more).
The warnings are disseminated to fishermen through
1. Port
2. Fisheries officials and
3. AIR broadcast daily three / four times in local language. The warnings
are broadcast as a routine four times a day (morning (0600 hrs), midday, evening (1800 hrs) and mid-night) from the air stations in the
local language. During a cyclonic storm, such warnings are covered in
the cyclone bulletins sent to the air stations at hourly or 3 hourly
intervals for frequent broadcast. The fisheries warnings issued in midday are incorporated in the general weather bulletin by forecasting
offices in maritime states.
The fishermen warning contains information about
1. Synoptic situation
2. Signals hoisted and
3. Advice not to go out in to the sea.
What is sea area bulletin?

Issued by ACWC for deep sea

Normally twice a day (based on 03 and 12 UTC

Thrice a day in case of depression/ deep depression (additional bulletin

based on 18 UTC)

Six times a day in case of a cyclone. There is also provision of special

bulletin.

The bulletin contains significant system, expected weather, wind, state

of sea, port warning etc.

What is coastal weather bulletin?

Issued by area cyclone warning centre/ cyclone warning centre for

coastal shipping

Normally twice a day (based on 03 and 12 UTC

Issued based on sea area bulletin

Thrice a day in case of depression/ deep depression (additional bulletin

based on 18 UTC)

Six times a day in case of a cyclone. There is also provision of special

bulletin

The bulletin contains significant system, expected weather, wind, state

of sea, port warning etc

What is the meaning of widespread /fairly wide

spread/scattered/isolated rainfall?
The rainfall distribution as mentioned in the bulletin are based on following
classification

DISTRIBUTION

NO. OF
PLACES

DESCRIPTION

Isolated

One or two
places

<25% of area gets rainfall

Scattered

A few places

(26 50)% of area gets

rainfall

Fairly Widespread

A many places

(51 75)% of area gets

rainfall

Wide Spread

Most place

(76 100)% of area gets

rainfall

What do you mean by heavy rainfall, very heavy rainfall and

extremely heavy rainfall ?
The intensity of rainfall mentioned in the bulletin is based on the following
criteria:
Descriptive term
used

Rainfall amount in mm

No rain

0.0

Very light rain

0.1- 2.4

Light rain

2.5 7.5

Moderate rain

7.6 35.5

Rather heavy

35.6 64.4

Heavy rain

64.5 124.4

Very heavy rain

124.5 244.4

Extremely heavy rain

>244.5

Exceptionally heavy
rain

When the amount is a value near about

highest recorded rainfall at or near the station
for the month or season. However, this term
will be used only when the actual rainfall

amount exceeds 12 cm.

How does IMD mention state of sea in the bulletins?

This is mentioned subjectively in plain language like rough sea, very rough
sea etc. based on the prevailing wind over the sea surface as mentioned
below.
Descriptive Term Height

Wind Speed

Inbeaufort

Metres

Knots (Kmph)

Scale

CALM (GLASSY)

CALM (RIPPLED)

0 - 0.1

1 - 3 (2 - 6)

SMOOTH

0.1 - 0.5

4 - 10 (7 - 19)

2-3

SLIGHT

0.5 - 1.25

11 - 16 (20 - 30) 4

MODERATE

1.25 - 2.5

17 - 21 (31 - 39) 5

ROUGH

2.5 - 4.0

22 - 27 (41 - 50) 6

VERY ROUGH

4.0 - 6.0

28 - 33 (52 - 61) 7

HIGH

6.0 - 9.0

34 - 40 (63 - 74) 8

VERY HIGH

9.0 - 14.0

41 - 63 (76 117)

9 - 11

PHENOMENAL

OVER 14

64 OR ABOVE

12

(WAVELESS)

(119 OR ABOVE)

What is meaning of the reference time mentioned in the bulletin ?

The meaning of different reference times mentioned in the bulletin are given
below.

EARLY HOURS 0000 - 0400 HRS. IST

MORNING 0400 - 0800 HRS. IST

FORENOON 0800 - 1200 HRS. IST

AFTERNOON 1200 - 1600 HRS. IST

EVENING 1600 - 2000 HRS. IST

NIGHT 2000 - 2400 HRS. IST

EARLY MORNING 0400 - 0600 HRS. IST

AROUNDNOON 1100 - 1300 HRS. IST)

How are Cyclone Warnings disseminated ?

The different telecommunication channels used are as follows

Landline

T/P (Internal)

Telex

Telephone

Telefax

VHF/HFRT (Internal)

Cyclone Warning Dissemination System (CWDS)

Police Wireless

AFTN (Aviation)

Internet (e-mail)

Websites

Radio/TV network

Interactive voice response system (IVRS)

Mobile Phones

However, the Telex is being phased out by Department of

Telecommunications, Govt. of India.
What are the bulletins available in the website? What is the website
address ? There are two cyclone related bulletins issued by Cyclone
Warning Division, IMD, New Delhi. These are as follows.
i.

Bulletin for Indian coast

ii.

Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre (RSMC) bulletin

In, addition, the predicted track of the cyclone based on quasi-Lagrangian

model (QLM) run by IMD. All these information/bulletins are available in the
Cyclone Page of IMDs Web site (www.imd.gov.in)
What is IVRS ? How does it work ?
IVRS stands for interactive voice response system. The requests for weather
information and forecasts from the general public are automatically
answered by this system. For this purpose, the person has to dial a toll-free
Number 18001801717 from anywhere in the country. This system has been

installed at 26 Meteorological Centres/ Regional Meteorological Centres. The

data on maximum & minimum temperatures and Rainfall for a large number
of towns/cities are provided. The local weather forecasts of cities and multihazard warnings including cyclone warnings are also provided.
What is Cyclone Warning Dissemination System (CWDS)?
This is a unique scheme not tried anywhere in the world. The scheme has
been extremely successful during the cyclones for last 24 years and gained
considerable confidence of the public of this country.

Designed by ISRO and implemented by IMD in the mid-eighties, the

CWDS is used all these years to disseminate cyclone warnings
effectively.

Selective addressing (Separate messages for each district) is done by

transmitting a digital code followed by the actual warning message

Cyclone warnings are generated in English and other local languages

(Tamil, Telugu, Oriya, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarathi etc)

Though Radio/TV broadcast are for one and all, the messages through
CWDS can be accessed only at centres equipped with a receiver and
addressed specifically for receiving the message

CWDS is one-way communication system and will be complimentary to

other systems of cyclone warning dissemination. Facility of
acknowledgement is available in the upgraded (Digital) version of
CWDS

The present CWDS network covers 252 stations spread over coastal
areas of maritime districts along the east and e west coast

Through World Bank assistance Govt. of Andhra Pradesh had installed

100 Digital CWDS receivers along Andhra Coast. For this purpose a
digital up-linking station also functions at Chennai.

Who are the recipients of Cyclone Warnings?

Warnings are issued for general public, fishermen, farmers and different
categories of users such as central and state government officials
responsible for disaster mitigation and relief, industrial and other
establishments located in the coastal areas, ports, coastal shipping, railways,
aviation, transport, communication and power authorities.
How a common man gets information about a cyclonic storm?
Local AIR broadcast hourly (or more frequently) bulletins in local language as
well as in Hindi and English. The bulletins give the location of the Cyclonic
storm, its direction of movement, place and time of landfall and details of
adverse weather expected over the areas likely to be affected by the storm.
AIR, New Delhi issues bulletins thrice in a day giving similar information.
Apart from that, the cyclone warning messages are sent to the collectors of
the districts likely to be affected and the chief secretary of concerned state.
The state Govt. takes necessary steps to inform the local population through
their machinery such as police wireless etc. They make necessary
arrangement for evacuation from coastal area and for removal of the
population to other places.
On the event of any doubt about approach of a cyclonic storm to
whom a common man can approach to get authentic information (in
absence of relevant AIR bulletins)?
Normally all collectors of coastal districts (subjected to adverse weather due
to cyclonic storm) are intimated by sending warning messages through fax.
They in turn inform junior officers under their control to take necessary

action. These informations will be therefore available with the state Govt.
officials. More over if any one is having phone facilities he may contact
nearest cyclone warning centre/ Area cyclone warning centre or Cyclone
Warning Division at IMD Head Quarters, New Delhi to get most authentic
information about storms over Bay of Bengal. Also one can take advantage of
IVRS system to get latest information.
How does IMD keep liaison with State officials?
Area Cyclone Warning Centres (ACWCs) and Cyclone Warning Centres (CWCs)
maintain liaison with the concerned state Governments in state and district
levels on cyclone related activities. The cyclone warning bulletins are
communicated to the Chief Secretary, Revenue Secretary, Special Relief
Commissioner, State control room, State Disaster Management Authority and
concerned district collectors every three hourly. In addition, the Chief
Secretary is personally briefed by Director, ACWC/CWC regularly. Before the
cyclone season, ACWC/CWC organizes the precyclone preparedness meeting
under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary where all the high state Govt.
officials from various departments participate.
What are the devastations which can not be protected by a common
man and has to be mentally prepared to accept the loss?

Inundations caused by storm surge, uprooting of trees and damage caused

by that, flooding of low lying areas due to heavy rain and damage to houses
and communication due to very strong winds.
How to understand that the cyclonic storm has weakened/moved
away?

With the approach of a storm squally weather commences. On the other land
the storm weakens or goes away from the station the /weather gradually
improves. The rainfall decreases. the wind speed weakens and gradually sky
clears. However one should be very careful about the situation when the
centre of the storm technically known as the "eye" of the storm passes
through the station. The station will first experience very severe weather
with approaching cyclone. When the eye of the storm passes over the station
the weather becomes practically fair with light winds and little or no clouds
at all. During night stars may he visible. But after a lapse of few minutes (say
10-15 minutes) very severe weather again commences. This time the wind
blows from exactly the opposite direction. A sharp change from very severe
weather to fair weather may be an indication that the eye of the storm is
approaching the station.
What are the pre-cyclone/during the cyclone/post cyclone
responsibilities of a common man?
1 Steps to be taken before the cyclone
i.

Check houses, secure loose tiles by cementing wherever necessary,

repair doors and windows.

ii.

Check the area around the house -remove dead or dying trees, anchor
removable objects like lumber piles, loose bricks, garbage cans, signboards, loose zinc sheets etc.

iii.

Keep some wooden boards ready so that glass windows can be

boarded.

iv.

Keep a hurricane Lantern filled with kerosene, flash light and enough
dry cells.

v.
vi.

Promptly demolish condemned buildings.

Those who have radio sets should ensure that the radio is fully
serviceable in the case of transistors an extra set of batteries should
be kept handy.

2. Steps to be taken during the cyclone.

i.

Keep your radio on and listen to latest weather warnings and

advisories from the nearest All India Radio station. Pass the information
to others.

ii.

Avoid being misled by rumors. Pass only the. Official information you
have got from the radio to others.

iii.

Get away from low lying beaches or other locations which may be
swept by high tides or storm waves. Leave sufficiently early before
your way to high ground gets flooded. Do not delay and run the risk of
being marooned.

iv.

If your house is out of danger from high tides and flooding from the
river, and it is well built, it is then probably the best place during
weather and storm. However, please act promptly if asked to evacuate.

v.

Be alert for high water in areas where streams of rivers may flood due
to heavy rains.

vi.

Board up glass windows or put storm shutters in place. Use good

wooden planks Securely fastened. Make-shift boarding may do more
damage than none at all. Provide strong suitable support for outside
doors.

vii.

If you do not have wooden boards handy paste paper strips on glasses
to prevent splinters flying into the, house.

viii.

Get extra food, specially things which can be eaten without cooking or
with very little preparation. Store extra drinking water in suitable
covered vessel.

ix.

If you are in one of the evacuation areas, move your valuable articles
to upper floors to minimise flood damage.

x.

Have hurricane lantern, flash lights and/or other emergency light in

working condition and keep them handy.

xi.

Check on everything that might blow away or be torn loose. Kerosene

tins, cans, agricultural implements, garden tools, road signs and other
objects become weapon of destruction in strong winds. Remove them
and store them in a covered room.

xii.

Be Sure that a window or door can be opened on the lee side of the
house i.e. the side opposite the one facing the wind.

xiii.

Make provisions for children and adults requiring special diets.

xiv.

If the centre of' eye' of the storm passes directly over your place,
there will be a lull in the wind and rain, lasting for half an hour or more.
During this period stay in safe place. Make emergency repairs during
the lull period if necessary, but remember that strong wind will return
suddenly from the opposite direction, frequently with even greater
violence.

(xv) Be calm. Your ability to meet emergency will inspire and help others.
3. Steps to be taken after Cyclone.
i.

They should remain in shelters until informed by those in charge that

they may return home.

ii.

Any loose and dangling wire from the lamp post should be strictly
avoided.

iii.

People should keep away from disaster areas unless they are required
to assist.

iv.

Anti-social elements should be prevented from doing mischief and

reported to the police.

v.

Cars, buses lorries and carts should be driven carefully.

vi.

The houses and dwellings should be cleared of debris.

vii.

The losses should be reported to the appropriate authorities.

viii.

Relatives should be promptly informed about the safety of persons in

the disaster area.

How IMD coordinates with National Disaster Management Division

(NDM) of the Ministry of Home Affairs?
IMD has established linkages/institutional arrangements with disaster
management agencies both at the centre and in the states. During normal
weather conditions two bulletins are transmitted to Control Room of National
Disaster Management Division (NDM). In a case of depression develops over
north Indian Ocean which has the potential to affect Indian coast, special
bulletins at-least three times a day are issued to NDM. When the system
intensifies into a cyclonic storm, the cyclone warning bulletins are every
three hourly. At present 4 stage warning procedure as discussed earlier is
followed for issuing bulletins to NDM Control Room. When the system
weakens or not going to affect Indian coast, a dewarning message is also
issued to NDM Control Room. The cyclone warning bulletins are also passed

on to State Government Authorities/District Collectors who are in constant

touch with Cyclone Warning Centres. The centres and local committees
consisting of various departments dealing with disaster management issues
meet at the time of crisis and take necessary follow up actions.
What is the role of IMD Tropical Cyclone management of north
Indian Ocean Rim countries?
A Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre (RSMC) has been established at
IMD, New Delhi. It is one of the six such centres recognized by the WMO
under a global system for monitoring tropical cyclones. As an international
commitment, through the WMO/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones, tropical
cyclone advisories are issued by RSMC, New Delhi to the Panel Member
countries during the tropical cyclones in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian
Sea. The other ESCAP Panel countries are Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh,
Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Oman.
What are the bulletins issued by RSMC, New Delhi?
RSMC New Delhi issues the following bulletins

Tropical Weather Outlook for WMO/ESCAP Panel member countries

Special Tropical Weather Outlook for WMO/ESCAP Panel member

countries

Tropical Cyclone Advisory for Panel member countries

Tropical Cyclone Advisory for International Aviation

RSMC, New Delhi is also designated as Tropical Cyclone Advisory Centre

(TCAC) and issues cyclone advisories for International Aviation as per the
guidelines of ICAO. These advisories are issued every six hours based on
observations at 0000, 0600, 1200 and 1800 UTC.

What is UTC? How do I tell at what time a satellite picture was

taken?
UTC stands for Universal Time Coordinated, what used to be called
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and Zulu Time (Z). This is the time at the Prime
Meridian (0 Longitude) given in hours and minutes on a 24 hour clock. For
example, 0000 UTC is 0530 hours IST. The Greenwich Royal Observatory at
Greenwich, England (at 0 Longitude) was where naval chronometers
(clocks) were set, a critical instrument for calculating longitude. This is why
GMT became the standard for world time. Meteorologists have used UTC or
GMT times for over a century to ensure that observations taken around the
globe are taken simultaneously.
On most satellite pictures and radar images the time will be given as UTC,
GMT, or Z time.
What is relation between kmph and knots (or m/s) ?
For winds:
1 mile per hour = 0.869 international nautical mile per hour (knot)
1 knot = 1.852 kilometers per hour
1 knot = 0.5144 meter per second
1 meter per second = 3.6 kilometers per hour

Why are tropical cyclones named?

Tropical cyclones are named to provide easy communication between
forecasters and the general public regarding forecasts, watches, and
warnings. Since the storms can often last a week or longer and that more
than one can be occurring in the same basin at the same time, names can
reduce the confusion about what storm is being described. The first use of a
proper name for a tropical cyclone was by an Australian forecaster early in
the 20th century. He gave tropical cyclone names "after political figures
whom he disliked. By properly naming a hurricane, the weatherman could
publicly describe a politician (who perhaps was not too generous with
weather-bureau appropriations) as 'causing great distress' or 'wandering
aimlessly about the Pacific.'" (Perhaps this should be brought back into use)

During World War II, tropical cyclones were informally given women's
names by US Army Air Corp and Navy meteorologists (after their girlfriends
or wives) who were monitoring and forecasting tropical cyclones over the
Pacific. From 1950 to 1952, tropical cyclones of the North Atlantic Ocean
were identified by the phonetic alphabet (Able-Baker-Charlie-etc.), but in
1953 the US Weather Bureau switched to women's names. In 1979, the WMO
and the US National Weather Service (NWS) switched to a list of names that
also included men's names.
The Northeast Pacific basin tropical cyclones were named using
women's names starting in 1959 for storms near Hawaii and in 1960 for the
remainder of the Northeast Pacific basin. In 1978, both men's and women's
names were utilized.
The Northwest Pacific basin tropical cyclones were given women's
names officially starting in 1945 and men's names were also included
beginning in 1979. Beginning on 1 January 2000, tropical cyclones in the
Northwest Pacific basin are being named from a new and very different list of
names. The new names are Asian names and were contributed by all the
nations and territories that are members of the WMO's Typhoon Committee.
These newly selected names have two major differences from the rest of the
world's tropical cyclone name rosters. One, the names by and large are not
personal names. There are a few men's and women's names, but the
majority are names of flowers, animals, birds, trees, or even foods, etc, while
some are descriptive adjectives. Secondly, the names will not be allotted in
alphabetical order, but are arranged by contributing nation with the
countries being alphabetized.
The Southwest Indian Ocean tropical cyclones were first named during
the 1960/1961 season.
The Australian and South Pacific region (east of 90E, south of the
equator) started giving women's names to the storms in 1964 and both
men's and women's names in 1974/1975.
The North Indian Ocean region tropical cyclones are being named since
October 2004. The list of approved names of the cyclones over north Indian
Ocean is given below:
List of approved names of tropical cyclones over the north Indian Ocean

WMO/ESCAP
Panel

Column one

Column two

Column
three

Column four

Member
contributing
the names

Nam
es

Pron

Nam
es

Pron

Name
s

Pro
n

Name
s

Pron

Bdesh

Onil

Onil

Ogni

Og-ni

Nisha

Nisha

Giri

Gi-ri

India

Agni

Agni

Akas
h

Aakaas
h

Bijli

Bijli

Jal

Jal

Maldives

Hibar
u

--

Gonu

--

Aila

--

Keila

--

Myanmar

Pyarr

Pyarr

Yemyi
n

Ye-myin

Phyan

Phya
n

Thane

Thane

Oman

Baaz

Ba-az

Sidr

Sidr

Ward

War
d

Murjan

Murjaa
n

Pakistan

Fano
os

Fanoo
s

Nargi
s

Nar gis

Laila

Lai
la

Nilam

Ni lam

Sri Lanka

Mala

--

Rashmi

Bandu

--

Mahas
en

--

Ki-muuk

Phet

Pet

Phailin

Pi-lin

Rash
mi
Thailand

Panel

Mukd
a

Muuk
-dar

Khai
Muk

Column five

Column six

Column
seven

Name
s

Pron

Names

Pron

Name
s

Pron

Name
s

Pron

Bdesh

Helen

Helen

Chapala

Chopo-la

Ockhi

Ok-khi

Fani

Foni

India

Lehar

Lehar

Megh

Megh

Sagar

Saaga
r

Vayu

Vaayu

Maldive
s

Madi

--

--

Hikaa

--

Myanm
ar

Nanau
k

Da-ye

Kyarr

Kyarr

Memb
er

-Roanu

Na-nauk

Kyant

Column eight

Mekun
u
Kyant

Daye

Oman

Hudh
ud

Hudhud

Nada

Nnada

Luban

Lluba
n

Maha

Mmaha

Pakista
n

Nilofa
r

Ni lofar

Vardah

Var dah

Titli

Titli

Bulbul

Bul bul

Sri
Lanka

Priya

--

Gigu
m

Soba

--

Gigum

Thailan
d

Kome
n

Pay-ti

Ampha
n

Um-pun

Aasiri
Asiri

Gohmen

Mora

Mohrar

Pheth
ai

How can I nominate a new name for the list?

The names to be included in the list must meet some fundamental
criteria. They should be short and readily understood when broadcast.
Further the names must be culturally sensitive and not convey some
unintended and potentially inflammatory meaning. Typically, over the
historical record, about one storm each year causes so much death and
destruction that its name is considered for retirement. The suggested name
may be communicated to Director General of Meteorology, India
Meteorological Department, Mausam Bhavan, Lodi Road, New Delhi-110003.
Can we tame a tropical Cyclone to reduce its damage potential?

Considering the huge energy potential of the Cyclones, all experiments

in US under he Project Storm Fury to tame them have turned futile. The
best solution is not to try to alter or destroy the tropical cyclones, but just
learn to co-exist better with them. Since we know that coastal regions are
vulnerable to the storms, enforce building codes that can have houses stand
up to the force of the tropical cyclones. In this regard the Building Material
Technology Promotion Council (BMTPC), Ministry of Uraban affairs has
brought out a vulnerability map in consultation with IMD which is very useful
for disaster mamagers.

What are the different methods tried to modified the cyclone?

i.

Seeding with silver iodide.

ii.

Placing a substance on the ocean surface.

iii.

By nuking them.

iv.

By cooling the surface waters with deep ocean water.

v.

By adding a water absorbing substance.

What are the future plans of IMD to strengthen the Cyclone warning
setup?

Strengthening of surface observational network with the state-of-theart automatic weather stations (AWSs) models.

A dense network of Satellite reporting rain gauges in the coastal

region.

Deployment of Wind Profilers and Cyclone Warning dissemination

system.

Increased S-Band Doppler Weather Radar network in the coastal region

The up gradation of the computing facility in IMD that will place a

computing platform capable of running high-resolution global and
regional models. It will be used for development of models for better
prediction of tropical cyclone track and intensity.

Augmentation of Cyclone Warning Dissemination System (CWDS) with

state-of-the-art Digital CWDS

Supply of satellite radio receivers to fishermen to receive cyclone

warnings.

IMD through Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is

coordinating with different mobile service providers including MTNL &
BSNL to work out the modalities of dissemination of disaster warning
messages (Cyclone warnings) directly to the general public who live in
vulnerable zones.

References:
Jones, S.C., Harr, P.A., Abraham, J., Bosart, L.F., Bowyer, P.J., Evans, J.L.,
Hanley, D.E., Hanstrum, B.N., Hart, R.E., Lalaurette, F., Sinclair, M.R., Smith,
R.K., Thorncroft, C. 2003: The Extratropical Transition of Tropical Cyclones:

Forecast Challenges, Current Understanding, and Future Directions. Weather

and Forecasting, 18, 1052-1092.
Merrill, R. T., (1993): "Tropical Cyclone Structure" - Chapter 2, Global Guide to
Tropical Cyclone Forecasting, WMO/TC-No. 560, Report No. TCP-31, World
Meteorological Organization; Geneva, Switzerland Web version of Guide
Graham, N. E., and T. P. Barnett, 1987: Sea surface temperature, surface
wind divergence, and convection over tropical oceans. Science, No.238, pp.
657-659.
Gray, W.M. 1979: "Hurricanes: Their formation, structure and likely role in the
tropical circulation" Meteorology Over Tropical Oceans. D. B. Shaw (Ed.), Roy.
Meteor. Soc., James Glaisher House, Grenville Place, Bracknell, Berkshire,
RG12 1BX, pp.155-218
Palmen, E. H., 1948: On the formation and structure of tropical cyclones.
Geophysica , Univ. of Helsinki, Vol. 3, 1948, pp. 26-38.
Powell, M.D., S.H. Houston, and T.A. Reinhold, 1996:"Hurricane Andrew's
Landfall in South Florida, Part I: Standardizing measurements for
documentation of surface wind fields." Wea. Forecast. v.11, p.329-349
Hamblyn, Richard "The Invention of Clouds: How an Amateur Meteorologist
Forged the Language of the Skies", (2001) Farrar, Straus, and Giroux New
York, NY .
DeBlieu, Jan "Wind: How the Flow of Air Has Shaped Life, Myth, and the Land"
(1998) Houghton Mifflin Co. New York, NY
FAQ, Joint Typhoon Warning Centre, USA
FAQ, National Hurricane Centre, USA
4) Why is Coriolis Force zero at the Equator? Also explain why cyclones
rotate clockwise in Northern Hemisphere? (150 Words)

5) Executive cannot misuse the extraordinary provisions of Ordinance

making and Joint session to undermine the legitimate role of legislature
and Rajya Sabha in particular. Explain using recent examples. (200 Words)

President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday disapproved of the ordinance route

to law making, but also termed the mechanism of joint session of Parliament
to break a deadlock and a pass laws not practicable.
The President, himself a veteran parliamentarian, called for Parliament
becoming a more effective platform to discuss peoples concerns, and
deplored frequent disruption of proceedings. A noisy minority cannot be
allowed to gag a patient majority, he said.
Mukherjee made these observations replying to questions after his address
to central universities and research institutions. The president said
Parliament should not yield its space for legislation and policy-making to
mass mobilisations and street protests.
It is, however, his views on ordinances that would make the Narendra Modi
government sit up and take note. The president had recently called three
senior ministers, including Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, and raised questions
over the urgency of the ordinance relating to acquisition of land. However, he
later gave assent to it.
The government has promulgated as many as nine ordinances in its nearly
eight-month tenure. The Coal Mines (Special) Provisions ordinance has been
promulgated twice. Other ordinances include amending rules to facilitate the
appointment of the prime ministers principal secretary, Nripendra Misra,
land acquisition, raising the foreign direct investment limit in insurance, etc.
Mukherjee said ordinances were meant for specific purpose, to meet an
extraordinary situation under extraordinary circumstances. Explaining
provisions under the Constitution, he said when the government issues an
ordinance, it is also taking the risk of getting them lapsed if these cannot get
them approved by the Houses the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha
within a maximum of six months. He said the Constitution had all the
safeguards to ensure such a provision was meant only for an extraordinary
situation under extraordinary circumstances.
Referring to the supremacy of regional parties in states affecting the strength
of national parties in the Rajya Sabha, the president said, Therefore, their
(Rajya Sabha) consent is required to avert extreme cases through the joint
session, which is a constitutional provision but it is not practicable because I
have seen from 1952 till today, only four times laws were passed by a joint
session.
The last such joint session was in March 2002. The Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led
National Democratic Alliance government convened a joint session to get the
Prevention of Terrorism Act passed. Other instances of joint sessions were for
the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961 and the Banking Services Commission

Repeal Bill of 1978.

The president said it was incumbent on the ruling party and opposition to sit
together and find a workable solution to avoid disruptions. He said
disruptions were not the way to parliamentary intervention.
The ruling party has a major role in the running of Parliament and should
take an initiative and the Opposition should cooperate because only
informed discussion and dialogue in the spirit of accommodation should
allow enactment of law for the betterment of people, the president said.
I request both ruling and Opposition parties to share their concerns, to see
that disruptions be avoided and Parliament should start functioning, he said.
The president said: Dissent is a recognised democratic expression, but
disruption leads to loss of time and resources, and paralyses policy
formulation... But, under no circumstances should there be disruption of the
proceedings. A noisy minority cannot be allowed to gag a patient majority.
He said Indias diversity and the magnitude of its problems require that the
Parliament becomes a more effective platform to build consensus on public
policies and a bulwark of our democratic ideals. The proceedings in
Parliament must be conducted in a spirit of cooperation, harmony and
purpose. The content and quality of debates should be of a high order.
Maintenance of discipline and decorum in the House and observance of
etiquette and decency are necessary, Mukherjee said.
He said mass mobilisations might not always provide considered solutions to
our problems, and Parliament should not surrender its law and policy making
responsibilities to street protests.
To retain the trust and faith of the people, Parliament must enact laws to put
in place policies that address the concerns and aspirations of the people, he
said.

6) How does the early conclusion of The Bilateral Investment Treaty between
India and USA benefit the two countries? What are the roadblocks in its path?
(200 Words)
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The US is going to make a heavy-duty pitch for starting negotiations on a
much-delayed bilateral investment treaty (BIT) with India even as executives
from both sides meet on January 26.
The US has been urging India to begin negotiations for a BIT or Bilateral
Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPPA) since 2010, when
President Obama last visited India.
"The government agrees that an early conclusion of the BIT negotiations will
significantly improve the investment sentiments. But the US is well aware of
our problems. We are revising the model BIT agreement to do away with
investment-state disputes [related to telecom multinationals whose licences

were cancelled]. Once that is finalised, we will be in a position to resume

negotiations," a senior official told Business Standard.
However, according to diplomatic sources, it seems American companies
were "not willing to wait any further" and were putting pressure on their
government to have it sealed with the new Indian administration.
Subsequently, the US has been stepping up pressure on the Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP)-led government to conclude the talks and sign an agreement.
"The matter has been taken up in every meeting that the new government
had with American authorities," said another official.
This will also be the most important agenda for the India-US CEO Forum that
will meet on January 26; both Modi and Obama will be present. This will be
followed by a joint address by the two leaders to Confederation of Indian
Industry, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the
Associated Chambers of Commerce of India.
This meeting between Obama and Modi will be in addition to the one on
January 24.
BIT is expected to ensure protection for investments as well as intellectual
property rights. Although India has BIPPAs with 83 countries, it has not
signed one with the US yet, leaving companies from the world's biggest
economy unsure about their investments here.
US Secretary of State John Kerry is believed to have expressed his concerns
over delay in BIT talks and said to have raised the issue with Modi during
their meeting on the sidelines of the 'Vibrant Gujarat' summit earlier this
month.
During his speech at the summit, MasterCard's Ajay Banga had made a
strong pitch to restart BIT negotiations.
"High time BIT talks gain momentum. This is certainly the most important
issue for American companies. If the government wants investments to come
in from there, then protection is a crucial factor," said Ajay Singha, executive
director, American Chamber of Commerce in India.

The US has already had 15 round of talks with China for a BIT. With India, the
last round of talks took place in February 2011.
Of the 83 BIPPAs, India has enforced 72. Following disputes with telecom
multinationals over cancellation of their licences the United Progressive
Alliance government had decided to review the treaties.
"When making investment decisions, companies need an environment that is
predictable, transparent and consistent. A bilateral investment treaty
between India and the US would create this environment and significantly
increase investment flows," said Diane Farrell, acting President, US-India
Business Council.
During 2000-2014 India received foreign direct investments of $13.28 billion,
according to data from the ministry of commerce and industry. Trade in
goods and services between India and the US is around $100 billion. Both
governments aim to achieve $500 billion worth of trade.
7) Critically examine how does the latest political, economic and security
transitions in Afghanistan pose new challenges to Indias interests in the
region. (200 Words)
Indias Afghan dilemma
Rakesh Sood
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By the end of 2014, two important transitions in Afghanistan had taken
place. A political transition to a post-Karzai period had begun after a difficult
election process. Second, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)
flag had come down marking the end of the 13-year-long Operation
Enduring Freedom, transferring primary responsibility for security to the
Afghan Army and police forces. Neither has been a smooth transition despite
the fact that the timelines for both transitions were known for the last five
years. This poses questions about the stability of these transitions and the
interests and role of the key external actors.
Political and security transition

The first phase of the two-stage Presidential election took place on April 5,
2014 with a turnout of 58 per cent. Expectedly, Dr. Abdullah and Dr. Ashraf
Ghani led the race with 44 per cent and 32 per cent of the votes
respectively, but since neither crossed the 50 per cent mark, a run-off was
held on June 14. The turnout went up to 60 per cent and preliminary results
indicated Dr. Ghani winning with 56 per cent of the votes cast. Dr. Abdullah
rejected the outcome alleging electoral fraud and raising a number of valid
questions. Realising the implications of a flawed outcome, the United States
resorted to diplomatic heavy lifting with multiple visits by its Secretary of
State John Kerry to Kabul. Election results were set aside and a National Unity
Government was sworn in on September 29 with Dr. Ghani as President and
Dr. Abdullah assuming charge as CEO, a new position of a coequal but with
distribution of powers yet to be defined. The first challenge for the two
leaders was the formation of the Cabinet. Last week, a list of 27 names (25
Ministers, Central Bank Governor and an Intelligence chief) was finally
submitted after numerous deadlines had lapsed, but it remains to be seen
whether these candidates will clear the confirmation hearings in the Wolesi
Jirga (Assembly). There are rumblings of discontent from Dr. Abdullahs camp
that he is not too happy with the current, ambiguous power-sharing
arrangement which is supposed to be formally settled in a two-year time
frame by constitutionally creating the position of a Prime Minister. And two
years is a long time in Afghan politics!
The timeline of the security transition was laid out when U.S. President
Barack Obama announced the surge in 2009, simultaneously laying out the
schedule of the drawdown and withdrawal of U.S. forces from combat
operations in Afghanistan. It was not a decision dictated by the ground
situation in Afghanistan, but by U.S. domestic political considerations.
Objectives were scaled down so that the illusion of success could be
maintained. The original objective in 2002 was to build a stable, strong,
effectively governed Afghanistan which will not degenerate into chaos;
following the Iraq distraction, this was perceived as nation building and too
ambitious during Mr. Bushs second term, and Mr. Obama settled for the
more modest goal of preventing Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven
for global terrorism.
During the 13-year-long Op Enduring Freedom, the foreign troop presence
exceeded 150,000 in 2011, contributed by 50 countries, though the U.S.
share was nearly two-thirds in terms of troops and higher in terms of air
support, air and satellite surveillance and intelligence gathering. Out of

nearly 3,500 foreign troop casualties, approximately 2,300 were American

soldiers. In terms of treasure, while the Congressional Research Service
has estimated the U.S. cost of the Afghan war at $686 billion, an
independent study undertaken by Harvard University pegs the cost at over
$2 trillion. The Harvard study cautions that the major part of this cost is yet
to be paid in terms of long-term medical care and disability compensations to
serving soldiers, about two million veterans and families, military
replenishments and social and economic costs.
Civilian Afghan casualties exceeded 20,000 during this period. Afghan
security forces (both Police and Army) today stand at 352,000 and are
expected to be reduced to 228,000 by 2017. Meanwhile, their casualty rate
has risen sharply in recent years surpassing 15,000, leading to demotivation
and resulting in large-scale desertions; $4.1 billion of international assistance
is needed annually to sustain these force levels, with the U.S. providing more
than half this amount. Yet, it is far cheaper than maintaining a foreign
presence. An Afghan soldiers annual salary is approximately $2,000 and his
training and equipment costs $200,000, compared to $2 million that it takes
to keep an American soldier there for a year.
Economic transition
In contrast, U.S. expenditure on rebuilding Afghanistan stands at $104 billion,
slightly more than what the U.S. spent on the Marshall Plan (adjusted for
inflation) for rebuilding 16 European countries after World War II. However,
delivery on the ground averages below 25 per cent, given inefficient delivery
mechanisms, poor planning and excessively high administration overheads.
Progress has been registered in terms of life expectancy (up from 40 to 61
years), literacy (up from 12 per cent to 33 per cent), school attendance
especially for girls, health care, urbanisation, roads, mobile telephony, TV
coverage is 60 per cent and GDP has gone up from $2 billion to $20 billion
but is far short of what could have been achieved. Development plans need
more than $5 billion of external aid annually. The fragility of both the political
and the security transitions creates uncertainty and, consequently, raises the
likelihood of instability.
India has played a significant role in Afghanistans economic reconstruction
committing and delivering upwards of $2 billion distributed between
humanitarian assistance, rebuilding infrastructure and human resource
development. In surveys year after year, India has been described as the

most friendly country. This was possible because of a special trust that
developed early on with President Hamid Karzai and his colleagues about the
shared vision of Afghanistan emerging as an independent, sovereign, stable,
plural and moderate country, focussed on development and determined to
turn its back on decades of conflict which had consumed an entire
generation. The U.S. too was bought into the vision in the early years but
after involvement in the Iraq war, Washington had neither the bandwidth nor
the political commitment to stay the course.
Pakistans role
Pakistan was uncomfortable with Indias role in Afghanistan which had
remained restricted to the economic sphere. Certain sections of the Pakistani
establishment, particularly the Army and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI),
were nostalgic about the Taliban period when Afghanistans isolation had
made it dependent on Pakistan. General Musharrafs paranoia about the
activities of twenty Indian consulates in Afghanistan (there are four) only
soured his relations with Mr. Karzai. The Indian Embassy and other
cooperation projects became targets of murderous attacks by the Lashkar-eTaiba (LeT) and Haqqani group, with the support of the S Wing of the ISI.
Clearly, Pakistan had a different vision for Afghanistan.
Mr. Karzai had seen the writing on the wall before the Germans and the
British started promoting the idea of reconciliation with the Taliban. He
reached out to some of them on the ethnic Pashtun network but failed to
make headway because he was unable to wrest them away from the ISI
stranglehold. The Germans and the Americans learnt the same lesson with
the Doha office initiative. Clearly, Pakistan was back in the Afghan end game.
President Ashraf Ghanis early visits to China, Saudi Arabia and Islamabad
show that he understands Pakistans abilities to exploit the fragile transition
and the U.S. is unlikely to provide much comfort. The key is whether the
Afghan forces can last out the 2015 fighting season because in 2016, the
U.S. will be caught up in its election year fever.
The India-Afghanistan Strategic Partnership Agreement (2011) positioned
India for a security role post-2014, but U.S. reluctance to annoy Pakistan and
Indian reticence prevented any significant development. Today, the situation
is different and Mr. Ghani is unlikely to be as forthcoming as Mr. Karzai.
However, it is just a question of time before the contradictions of Pakistans
efforts to bring back the Taliban unfold. The Taliban is no longer the simple

monolithic group under a single leader, subject to the ISIs control. In fact,
there are rumours that Mullah Omar may be dead; Taliban has many clones
and offshoots with differing loyalties and some are hostile to the Pakistani
establishment. A decade of democracy has opened up Afghan society and
Indias cooperation programmes have helped develop sustainable linkages
cutting across ethnic lines around the shared vision. Dialogues with
Afghanistans neighbours will become important as these countries start
feeling nervous about the return of instability. To manage its exit and keep
the transitions on track for 2015 implies that U.S. dependence on Pakistan
will only rise in the near term. Normally, this would cast a shadow on IndiaU.S. ties but given its temporary character, the Indian leadership should work
to insulate the wider relationship by keeping the focus on broader counterterrorism cooperation and deepening the many other aspects of the bilateral
relationship. At times like these, patience is a strategic asset, better used to
consolidate strengths. For now, the wheel turns, and will turn again.
(Rakesh Sood is a former diplomat who has served as Ambassador to
Afghanistan. E-mail: rakeshsood2001@yahoo.com )
The fragility of both the political and the security transitions
creates uncertainty and, consequently, raises the likelihood of
instability.
A decade of democracy has opened up Afghan society and Indias
cooperation programmes have helped develop sustainable links
around a shared vision. Dialogues with Afghanistans neighbours
will become important as these countries start feeling nervous
about the return of instability
8) The draft Bill that seeks to amend the provisions of the Cigarettes and
Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade
and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003 is a right step
towards reducing the consumption of tobacco products in India. Examine.
(200 Words)
The war against tobacco has gained further vigour and momentum with the
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare recently placing in the public domain a
draft Bill that seeks to amend the provisions of the Cigarettes and Other
Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and
Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003. Among the
changes proposed, the one that will have an immediate and lasting impact

on reducing tobacco consumption is the prohibition on using a name or

brand of tobacco products for marketing, promoting or advertising other
goods, services and events. Falling within the ambit of indirect advertising,
the use of a brand name of a tobacco product to market and advertise a nontobacco product is a clear case of brand-sharing, which the WHO Framework
Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) prohibits. Using the brand name of a
tobacco product to market a non-tobacco product is a ploy that is routinely
resorted to by companies to get round the ban on tobacco product
advertising, which has been singularly responsible for the dramatic reduction
in tobacco consumption in India and across the world. It is one of the
changes that the government can easily implement and effectively enforce.
The draft Bill removes the ambiguity around point-of-sale display by banning
the showcasing of tobacco products at the entrance to or inside a shop; it is
in line with the FCTC recommendation to keep these products out of public
view. Displaying tobacco products prominently inside a shop is a key
means to promote them. Besides effectively bypassing the ban on tobacco
product advertising, it fuels impulse buying. While the prohibition can further
reduce tobacco consumption, putting it into effect will be a major problem as
tobacco products are sold predominantly at small shops. For the same
reason, banning the sale of these products to anyone under the age of 21
can hardly be enforced. The very fact that 15- to 24-year-olds account for
over 27 per cent of tobacco consumption in India clearly indicates that sale
to those below 18 years, which is currently not allowed, is a reality. The
outcome will be no different in the case of a ban on the sale of cigarettes or
bidis in the loose. Since ensuring that users are forced to notice the pictorial
warning and message on the packets is one of the main reasons for banning
the sale of tobacco products except as a whole packet, the amendment, on
paper, will have a significant impact, particularly on bidi-smokers. Bidis
constitute nearly 85 per cent of all tobacco smoked in India, involving mainly
those in the lower economic stratum, on whom pictorial warnings could be
expected to have the maximum impact.
9) Reforms, economic growth, progress all are empty words if they do not
translate into jobs. Write a note on initiatives taken by the government to
improve employment opportunities in the country. (200 Words)
Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources,
growth, development and employment

10) In what ways higher levels of economic inequality hinders economic

growth and social mobility in the long run ? Discuss this statement in the
light of growing inequality in India. Make a case for re-introduction of
inheritance tax in India. (200 Words)
Eighty billionaires have more wealth than 50% people of world
WASHINGTON: "The rich grow richer and the poor grow poorer" may be an
overworked aphorism, but never has it been truer than in 2015.
A study by Oxfam revealed that the world's top 80 billionaires in 2014 had a
collective wealth of $1.9 trillion, which is close to India's entire GDP in that
year. Oxfam made headlines at Davos last year with the revelation that the
85 richest people on the planet have the same wealth as the poorest 50%
(3.5 billion people).
That figure is now 80 a dramatic fall from 388 people in 2010, and
attesting to the growing wealth disparity in the world. The wealth of the
richest 80 actually doubled in cash terms between 2009 and 2014.
The study shows that the very richest of the top 1% of the billionaires on the
Forbes list have seen their wealth accumulate even faster over the past five
years. In 2010, the richest 80 people in the world had a net wealth of $1.3
trillion. By 2014, the 80 people who top the Forbes rich list, whose data
Oxfam used, had a collective wealth of $1.9 trillion; an increase of $600
billion in just four years, or 50% in nominal terms.
And, it's not as if the very poor have the remaining 52% of global wealth.
Almost all of it (46%) is owned by the "less wealthy" the remaining richest
19% of the world's population.
The other bottom 80% share just 5.5%, and had an average wealth of $3,851
per adult that's 1/700th of the average wealth of the 1%.
The Oxfam report says wealthy individuals have generated and sustained
their vast riches through their interests and activities in a few important
economic sectors, including finance and pharmaceuticals/healthcare.
Companies from these sectors spend millions of dollars every year on
lobbying mostly in the US to create a policy environment that protects
and enhances their interests.

The most prolific lobbying activities in the US are on budget and tax issues,
''public resources that should be directed to benefit the whole population,
rather than reflect the interests of powerful lobbyists.''

Inheritance tax unlikely to be re-imposed

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is unlikely to heed economists' suggestion that
an inheritance tax be introduced in Budget 201415 as an additional revenue
stream.
For a government that is struggling to keep its fiscal deficit low, levying a tax
on inherited wealth might be a tempting way to shore up tax revenues.
However, according to officials, "the finance minister is of the view that
inheritance tax won't make much sense, as people in India don't inherit
much".
In a preBudget meeting with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, economists had
batted for introduction of this tax, also known as estate duty, above a certain
threshold - as in many developed countries.
INHERITING A TAX
HISTORY

Inheritance tax was known as

an estate duty in India

Abolished in 1985 by the Rajiv

Gandhi govt

V P Singh, the then FM said it

failed to reduce wealth
inequality

ECONOMICS

Economists want it
reintroduced for lowering
inequality and boosting
revenue

Jaitley is said to believe Indian

taxpayers dont inherit as

much as those in developed
nations
MATHEMATICS

The tax garnered Rs 20 cr in

FY85 (0.4% of direct taxes)

If the share remains the same,

it could fetch Rs 3,029 crore in
201415

GEOGRAPHY

Levied in the US, UK, Spain,

Belgium, Netherlands, Finland
and Germany

Australia, Sweden, scrapped it;

China brought rules but didnt
introduce it

"The biggest source of economic inequality today is inherited wealth. It's an

anomaly in tax structure that the least distorting tax is absent from there,"
said economist Nitin Desai. Calling for a debate on the issue, he said the tax
could always be calibrated by offering exemptions to certain people.
Rajiv Kumar, a senior fellow at the Centre for Policy Research, said: "I fully
support inheritance tax. It discourages rentier income and encourages
professionalism and enterprise."
But Bajaj Group Chairman Rahul Bajaj was against it. He said he would be
surprised if it was imposed in this year's Budget. "Our economy needs
investments and higher growth. Inheritance tax could lead to people taking
their business income abroad. When we become a well-developed society
like the US, we could consider it for reducing inequality and making children
fend for themselves."
He said if inheritance tax is also imposed on shares of companies owned by

promoters, the issue of control could emerge in groups like his, as 90 per
cent of its wealth was in shares of group companies.
Inheritance tax, then referred to as estate duty in India, was scrapped in
1985 by the then finance minister
V P Singh. His argument was that benefits from the tax were not as high as
cost of its administration. "Estate duty hasn't achieved the twin objectives
with which it was introduced - to reduce unequal distribution of wealth and
assist states in financing their development schemes," Singh had said.
The tax garnered from the duty had stood at Rs 20 crore in 1984-85, which
was 0.4 per cent of the Rs 5,329 crore collected through direct taxes that
year. The interim budget target for direct tax collections in 2014-15 is Rs
7,57,471 crore. Assuming a share of 0.4 per cent in direct taxes, inheritance
tax, if imposed, could fetch the government about Rs 3,029 crore this year.
But the estate duty earlier used to be as high as 85 per cent over Rs 20 lakh
of assets inherited. Such a high tax cannot be levied today.
Economists, however, say the tax collection would still be high, as asset
generation is much more today. India's gross domestic product had increased
45 times from 2.5 lakh crore in 1984-85 to Rs 113 lakh crore in 2013-14.
Globally, the debate was sparked off by French economist Thomas Piketty,
who in his renowned book, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, mooted the
idea of imposing a tax to reduce wealth inequalities.
In India, the issue of imposition of inheritance tax/estate duty again was
started by former Finance Minister P Chidambaram ahead of Budget 201314.
But industry chambers had strongly opposed the tax, calling it regressive
-something that could dampen sentiment.
"Sometimes, I doubt whether we have taken moderation (in tax rates) too
far. Have we paid little attention to accumulation of wealth in few hands? I
am still hesitant to talk about intergenerational equity and, therefore,
inheritance tax," Chidambaram had said in late 2012.
He, however, did not introduce the levy, and instead imposed a 10 per cent
surcharge on annual income above Rs 1 crore. Draft Direct Taxes Code also
proposed 35 per cent tax on annual income above Rs 10 crore, clearly

indicating the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government wanted the rich
to pay more tax. Already, wealth tax is levied at one per cent if one
possesses more than one property and the value of one's assets is more than
Rs 30 lakh.
In some countries where inheritance tax is levied - and is referred to as death
tax - the maximum rate is as high as 80 per cent. It is usually levied on the
net value of assets passed on to legal heirs of a deceased person. China
brought out the rules for inheritance tax in 2002 but has not yet been able to
introduce it due to widespread opposition. The US, UK, Spain, Belgium, the
Netherlands, Finland and Germany levy this tax. But, unlike India, many of
these countries also provide social security to their citizens.
Coincidentally, the abolition, restoration and change in duty rate of the tax
law have an impact on death numbers in some countries. During a one-year
inheritance tax holiday in the US, the country saw many billionaires passing
away and their heirs paying much less tax than those whose parents died in
earlier or later years. When Sweden scrapped it on January 1, 2005, more
people died on the New Year than on December 31, 2004.
Topic:- Human Values-Lessons from the lives of great leaders, reformers &
Administrators
11) Max Weber lauded impersonality and dehumanization as the special
virtues of bureaucracy. But, this has resulted in bureaucracy becoming
byword for red tape, lack of initiative and innovation and poor public service
delivery. Suggest how improved emotional intelligence can help fight these
deficiencies? (150 Words)
General

Topic:- Information sharing and transparency in government, Right to

Information; Corporate Governance issues
12) Many see Whistle-blowers as a snitch or a low life who betray a sacred
trust largely for personal gains. How far do you agree with the statement?
Substantiate with suitable examples. (150 Words)
General

Contemporary global climate change is an anthropogenic

phenomenon.Discuss with suitable illustrations.(200 Words)
Discuss the consequences of Climate Change on agriculture and food
security, and on the Coastal Zones of the world. (200 Words)
Why are Temperate Grasslands known as Granaries of the world? (100
words)
Nepali leaders should work together in the final stage of peace process in
drawing up a Constitution that honours past agreements as well as mandate
of Constituent Assembly elections. Trace the major milestones in Nepals
peace process and Highlight the various contested issues in framing the
constitution. (200 Words)
Opposition parties continued their protests on Tuesday inside the Constituent
Assembly (CA) as well outside to prevent the ruling parties from adopting the
procedure to discuss the new Constitution.
The nationwide bandh (general strike) called by the alliance of Opposition
parties led by UCPN (Maoist) turned violent in several parts of the country
while their MPs shouted slogans inside the Assembly to prevent CA Chairman
Subas Nembang from entering the process of voting.
Mr. Nembang adjourned the CA meeting until 11 a.m. on Wednesday after
nearly two hours of slogan-shouting by Opposition lawmakers. In the wee
hour of Tuesday, they attacked some UML leaders, and CA chairman, forcing
another adjournment.
Prime Minister Sushil Koirala termed Tuesdays attack inside the CA as
conspiracy to prevent the CA from writing the Constitution. It did not turn
nastier due to patience exercised by the ruling parties, he said. The UCPN
(Maoist) leaders are expert at changing their words.
The deadline to promulgate the new statute which the parties set
themselves is just two days away. Leaders from the Nepali Congress, the
CPN-UML and the UCPN (Maoist) have been saying that the Constitution
would be passed once they reached consensus. In that event, the likely step
would be to suspend all regulations and processes and adopt the draft of the
Constitution to be promulgated at a later date.

With the parties failing to reach consensus or agreeing on a compromise

despite many rounds of bilateral and multi-party discussions, the deadline of
January 22 is likely to be missed, several leaders from various political
parties have been saying.
State restructuring has appeared to be the most difficult issue. The NC and
the UML want no more than six or seven States and mostly drawn on the
bases of economic viability, geography and culture. They also want the
names of the new States to be decided by elected state assemblies.
The UCPN (Maoist) and Madhes-based parties want between eight and 10
States, one, or at the most two, States in Tarai and are in favour of the states
being carved and named mainly on single ethnic identity.
With discussions yielding no result, the NC and the UML suggested that the
disputes be decided by adopting the CA procedure which the parties
including the UCPN (Maoist) and Madhes-based ones had agreed to in
March last year. The ruling parties have more than the required two-thirds
majority to get the Constitution passed if voting is adopted. The Opposition
has insisted on consensus only approach.
Meanwhile, responding to the situation in Nepal, Spokesperson of from
Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi said, It is our expectation that all
Nepalese leaders will work together in the final stage of the peace process,
in drawing up a Constitution that honours past agreements and
understandings as well as the mandate of the CA elections.
Despite the importance of Safai Karamcharis in ensuring Clean India; they
live in dire conditions and perish. What are the problems faced by Safai
Karmacharis? Discuss the initiatives taken by the government in addressing
these problems and evaluate their successes. (200 Words)
It was the morning of September 11, 2014. For Mahinderi, 50, an MC safai
karamchari working in Sector 15, where her 26-year-old son was one of her
fellow workers, it was a usual day at work. She saw her son taking a short
break from work, and then chatting and laughing with his colleagues, until he
suddenly collapsed and died, which doctors said was due to cardiac arrest.
It was dj vu for Mahinderi, who had seen her husband die in a similar way
at the same age 27 years ago, following which she was given a job by the MC
on compassionate grounds. Her son was nine months old then, and her

grandson is 18 months old now. However, this time, none of her family
members was given a compensatory job.
The world crashed before my eyes twice. Im myself undergoing treatment
at PGI for heart-related problems. I cant say whether or not my son and
husband died due to their work, but when so many karamcharis are dying,
somebody should take notice. We make this city beautiful, clean all the
germ-infested filth, and bear the stench, yet we are not even provided basic
gear like gloves and mask to keep off the dust. Were given soap, oil and
jaggery but I cannot even have the latter as Im diabetic, lamented
Mahinderi, who lives in Sector 15.
In the absence of adequate protective gear, and the hazardous working
conditions, the mortality rate among safai karamcharis is unusually high.
More than 225 safai karamcharis have died in the last six years, mostly due
to heart-related problems, asthma and tuberculosis. The workers say that
many of them have also died in on-duty road accidents.
This means that since 2009, around 38 workers have been dying per year on
average, excluding the contractual employees. During this time, their total
strength ranged from 2,800 to 1,400. Thus, the death rate per thousand
workers per year roughly ranges from 13 to 27, which is several times higher
than the crude death rate of 4 per 1,000 persons per year in Chandigarh,
according to the website of the National Health Mission.
The issue has been brought to the fore by the recent prolonged strike
launched by the Safai Karamchari Union, during which protesters demanded
jobs to dependents of workers who died since 2009 when the UT
Administration stopped giving them employment on compassionate grounds.
A large number of workers dying during duty are aged below 40. On
Monday, a worker aged around 35 collapsed while working in the Industrial
Area and died. Another time, a worker fell down from the sanitation tractortrolley he was sitting on, and got crushed under the wheels of trolley.
Sometimes, workers have to collect really hazardous garbage, especially in
slums and colonies. They have to inhale hazardous gases emanating from
the rotting garbage, said Brijpal Mehrolia, the unions chief advisor.
MC Medical Officer of Health P S Bhatti said, Im busy right now. But you can
take my comment on Wednesday. Another MC official said, It is not just the
garbage. The high death rate among the workers is also due to their socio-

economic background. Were providing soap, oil and jaggery to them and for
the last several months, gloves and masks are being provided to some of the
workers.
On Sunday, the commissioner held a meeting with the protesters, whose
minutes read, Keeping in view higher death rate among safai karamcharis,
the matter of providing jobs to their dependents has been referred to the UT
administration The policy prevalent in the MCs of Delhi will be examined.
Former mayor Subhash Chawla said, As per the service rules, the MC holds
regular health check-up camps for the workers and they are also vaccinated
against certain diseases. Whenever they raise any demand, we look into it
on a priority basis.
AAP takes up their cause
On tuesday, a delegation of AAP members met Advisor Vijay Dev and asked
him to look into the matter. There are always occupational hazards related
to the job. All karamcharis are at high risk Three months ago, a safai
karamchari died after inhaling toxic gas from a manhole near the lake. We
suggest that they be provided with industrial safety gloves and should also
be given periodic training on how to safeguard themselves against diseases,
said a statement by the AAP.
Study commissioned
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation recently commissioned a study to
assess the reasons for the death of 1,386 sanitation workers, out of a total of
35,000, in the last six years.
The Taliban, Boko Haram, al-Qaeda and IS are organisations born out of
particular configurations of geopolitics and superpower interventions and
invasions Critically analyse. (200 Words)
The first two weeks of 2015 have not helped moderate Muslims anywhere in
the world. Between the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Syria) [ISIS/ISIL
and now IS], the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, Boko Haram and the renegade
gunmen claiming allegiance to the al-Qaeda in Yemen that shot the
cartoonists of Charlie Hebdo , the world seems to have exploded in a frenzy
of Islamic ideology-fuelled killing. Reactions to Islamic radicals conducting
acts of terror have been varied. Between the Moroccan-born Mayor of

Rotterdam, Ahmed Aboutaleb, rudely telling Muslims to get out of his

country, the thousands of people in Germany marching in an anti-Islam
demonstration, anchor Jeanine Pirro on Fox News saying we need to kill
them and Rupert Murdoch tweeting about holding Muslims collectively
responsible for terrorism, common Muslims everywhere are being forced to
apologise and take responsibility for the dangerous actions of less than one
per cent of the worlds total Muslim population.
People that believe such things seem to have missed some key pieces of
information pertaining to the rise of some of these movements. In this piece,
I will attempt to historicise the rise of some militant Islamic movements so
that in our public debate we may have balance and some context. This is
important because the rationalisations that are coming our way use Islam as
the driving force behind all recent acts of terror. I believe that we need to
shift this debate onto more logical terrain, i.e., we need to understand the
conditions which beget certain types of insurgent and terrorist organisations.
I assert here that Islamic ideology alone is not the driving force behind these
organisations. Islamic ideology is merely the fabric in which an articulation of
inequality, marginalisation, and alienation is embedded or stitched. Islamic
ideology is deployed to get new recruits to particular terrorist groups. Think
of such ideology as an advertising strategy or a marketing campaign to get
people to adhere to the political causes being championed by these groups
at the barrel of a gun.
Lets start with the usual suspect, the Taliban. Raised by the Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) to fight the Soviet invasion in Afghanistan in 1979,
the Taliban went on to capture power in Afghanistan after its western
handlers left and the Cold War ended. What followed in Afghanistan was
brutal fighting between several Taliban leaders; some of whom under Mullah
Omar were able to consolidate a new Afghan state. Common Afghans
suffered during this period of civil war and deal brokering. Osama bin Laden,
initially a Taliban recruit, floated al-Qaeda, which, after 9/11, was forced into
a partnership with the Taliban in a resistance against the American invasion
of Afghanistan. The war with the U.S. destroyed whatever state the Taliban
had created and fragmented both organisations the Taliban and al-Qaeda
leading to different splinters of the same groups in West Asia and South
Asia, each practising deadlier violence to distinguish itself from its
competitors.

Similarly, IS was once known as Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) led by the Jordanian
terrorist Al Zarqawi, who was killed in 2006 in a targeted attack by the U.S.
Air Force. In 2003, AQI began fighting the American occupation of Iraq. Later
it merged with other small resistance groups and turned into the Mujahideen
Shura Council, before emerging as the ISIS under the leadership of Abu Bakr
al-Baghdadi. Again, IS also emerged as a reaction to western intervention in
West Asia and gradually broadened its scope to Syria during the protests
against President Bashar al-Assad.
Boko Haram (western education is forbidden) arose in Nigeria in the mid1990s as a moderate Islamic group in the aftermath of the Biafran War,
which left two million people dead between 1967-1970 following the brutal
suppression of the people of Biafra by the Nigerian government, supported
by prominent western countries and oil companies. Boko Haram started as a
movement that criticised the corrupt, oil-wealthy government of Nigeria and
became a provider for the poor undertaking state-like welfare functions in
northeast Nigeria. As Boko Haram receded into the jungles of northeast
Nigeria, successive governments repeatedly ignored the growing radical and
militant nature of the group.
The Taliban, Boko Haram, al-Qaeda and IS are organisations born out of
particular configurations of geopolitics and superpower interventions and
invasions. They started as resistance movements that were aimed at
creating more ideal states and opposed foreign invasions, bad governance
and despotic regimes. These groups are trying to create new states. This is
why their strategies have been ideological and extremely violent with scant
regard for human rights; for state formation is a messy, bloody affair. Just
think of Europe between 900 and 1900 AD.
So what about Islam? I suggest here that Islam is the only commonly known
ideology and script in these regions in which an articulation of resistance can
be embedded, which common folk can understand, practise and stand by.
Islam gives these movements legitimacy. It gives them a discourse and it
attracts money. It is their USP. The movements are not initially motivated by
Islam but by bad and corrupt governments, unequal power relations between
countries, invasions by foreign powers and global income inequalities made
persistent by the current global economic regime where the metaphorical
one per cent has captured half of the worlds wealth. Let us not for one
moment forget that most Muslims live in democratic countries like India,
Malaysia and Indonesia and practise their religions peacefully and within the

bounds of law. Let us also not forget that there are strong overlaps between
Muslim countries with terrorist groups aspiring to statehood and where there
has been a prolonged war with at least one great power. Similarly, the
Algerians who killed 12 people in France last week lived on the margins of
French society and were immigrants from a country which had been virtually
socially, economically and politically destroyed by France, which many
historians agree was always the worst country to get colonised by. One
million Algerians died to overthrow French colonialism. This was followed by
a postcolonial regime (the FLN state) that willingly killed over 1,00,000 of its
own people in order to safeguard its oil interests backed by western powers.
Let me be clear that historicising these groups does not mean that one
condones their actions. None of these groups can find ethical support
because indiscriminate violence used by IS, Boko Haram, al-Qaeda, the
Taliban and their hydra-headed babies has snatched away the human rights
of thousands of people. However, we absolutely must understand the current
rise of religious extremism as what it really is the only readily available
response in a shrinking political discourse that can challenge, or even
attempts to challenge, the current world system. The left is popularly
discredited and doesnt find purchase in societies with strong ethnic and
religious sentiments, so the fallback ideology of rebellion is mostly religionbased.
If we want to make sense of terrorism we need to launch a strong challenge
to the current economic system that breeds and perpetuates global
inequality and encourages a neo-mercantilism of sorts where western
nations have encouraged and backed despots to preserve economic
interests, and have undertaken military invasions to cement control over
economic and natural resources.
But we must not, under any circumstance, demand that Muslims all over the
world take collective responsibility for the actions of a fraction. In doing so
terrorism unwittingly wins, because the whole point about terrorism is to
fracture communities, destroy social capital and scare people into changing
how they relate to each other. The need of the hour is to think carefully and
hard about the factors and variables that have led to the formation of antistate groups, treat each case as unique and not indulge in religion blaming.
Terrorism and insurgency are businesses motivated by greed and grievance
as Collier and Hoeffler told us many years ago. Islam, like any other ideology

like Maoism (China and India), Marxism (USSR) or Catholicism (Northern

Ireland) is the glue that holds the plot together.
DRDO has not lived upto its expectations in achieving indigenisation of
defence equipment. Critically examine the factors responsible for its suboptimal performance and suggest measures to improve the same. (200
Words)
DRDO chief sacked
The Centre on Tuesday removed the chief of Defence Research and
Development Organisation Avinash Chander, 15 months before his contract
was to end.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, approved the termination of the contract of Avinash
Chander with effect from January 31, an official notification said.
Chander, who was Secretary, Defence Research and Development-cumDirector General of DRDO and Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister, had
retired on November 30 last on attaining 64 years of age and was given a
contract for 18 months till May 31 next year.
Analysts believe that the action could have been taken against the backdrop
of Narendra Modis comment that the laid back attitude in the DRDO will
not be tolerated during a visit last year. Efforts to contact Chander did not
fructify.
Explain the rationale behind imposing restrictions on Indian pharmaceutical
companies in charging a free market price. What are the mechanisms used
by the government and add a note on recent controversy regarding drug
pricing. (200 Words)
Prices of one in four essential drugs that were on the list of 489 formulations
covered under the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authoritys drug price
control order last year have crashed by over 40 per cent in comparison to
the highest price of each of these drugs prevalent prior to the imposition of
the price caps.
Apart from these 122 drugs where prices have fallen over 40 per cent, the
prices of the remaining 367 formulations including anti-AIDS and anti-

cancer drugs, painkillers, sedatives and steroids have dropped between 5

per cent and 40 per cent, according to the Department of Pharmaceuticals
data.
The findings of the study that covers the impact of the price caps notified up
to September 15, 2014, assume importance in the wake of the continuing
slugfest between Big Pharma and the drug regulator over the issue of price
caps, something that is expected to come up during the course of official
discussions during the US President Barack Obamas upcoming visit to India.
Domestic regulations allow the NPPA to fix prices of drugs on a list of
essential medicines. The pharmaceutical industry lobby groups had filed two
separate lawsuits against the NPPA in July 2014 over its notice to cap the
prices of 108 drugs that were not on the governments national list of
essential medicines.
The NPPAs powers to cap the prices of non-essential medicines were
subsequently revoked by a higher authority, even as the price caps on the
108 drugs continue, while hearings in the cases are underway.
On the industrys contention, the regulator had cited the sharp surge in
prices of drugs in India over the last decade as a justification for the
intervening by way of the price control order.
There was a reported 40 per cent surge in all drug prices between 1996 and
2006, during when the price of controlled drugs rose by less than 1 per cent
even as those in the essential drug list increased by 15 per cent.
The price of drugs that were neither under price control nor under the drugs
list rose by 137 per cent.
Out of the 628 essential medicines specified in the Schedule-I of the NPPAs
Drug price control order, 2013, the regulator had notified the ceiling prices
for 489 medicines up to September 15, 2014, under the provisions of the
regulators order. Till May 2014, the NPPA had fixed ceiling prices of 440
scheduled drugs and since then, ceiling prices were fixed for additional 49
scheduled drugs.
Under the price control order, the ceiling price calculations are based on
market-based data wherein the average price to retailer is considered for

pricing. Manufacturers are barred from selling any scheduled drug or

formulation at a price higher than the ceiling price fixed by NPPA.
Topic:- Human Values-Lessons from the lives of great leaders, reformers &
Administrators
9. Being ethical may not be the same as following the laws. Discuss.
Give examples from your real life when there was a conflict between
being ethical and being legal. How did you resolve the dilemma? (200
Words)
The recent case of a TV crew allowing a woman to drive while drunk reminds
us, when the law falls short, refer to the higher authority of ethics
Imagine that you are producing a reality TV series about alcoholism. You like
the cin??ma v??rit?? approach (otherwise known as the "fly on the wall"
school of filmmaking), so you have your crew follow the routine of a woman,
Pam, who is struggling with this disease. At one point, Pam decides to go for
a drive. Before leaving the house, Pam takes a swig of vodka. She is in no
position to get behind the wheel, so you ask her if she would like for
someone in the crew to assist her.
She mumbles, "No, I can drive," and heads out to her Pontiac Sunbird.
Fearing that the woman could be a danger to herself and others, you prevent
her from getting into her car and turning it into a killing machine, right?
Wrong. You let her drive off.
WHAT?
Well, according to an article in the Oct. 8 issue of The New York Times (NYT),
this is actually how a member of the team responsible for the A&E program,
Intervention, responded to the situation. As disturbing as the choice to do
nothing is, The Times notes that "legally, producers are treated like
witnesses: They bear no responsibility to intervene." Consider the following
statement from Michael J. O'Connor, an attorney who has represented reality
shows such as Survivor and America's Next Top Model, as quoted in The
Times:
"Television producers are not policemen. On a moral level, you get to the
point where stepping in seems like it would be something you'd want to do.

But from a legal standpoint, third parties causing injuries to other third
parties is not something a television program is really responsible for."
O'Connor' statement raises three meaningful questions that apply not just to
the world of TV but to the world at large:
??re our responsibilities limited to what the law requires of us?
??f we are legally allowed to do something, does that mean we ought to?
??f there is no relevant law to speak of with respect to a "What should I do?"
problem we're facing, does that mean that anything goes?
The answers to these questions are: No. No. No.
Ethics vs. the Law
Imagine that you are at the end of your life and you are looking back on all
you did and didn't do over the years. Imagine also that your life was
dedicated primarily to satisfying your own needs and desires. When faced
with the question, "What should I do?," you inevitably chose the solution that
benefited you in some way, no matter how this choice affected others. How
would you evaluate a life lived in this fashion?
Even if it was the case that you never broke any laws, you cannot say that
you lived your best life, because life should not be solely about "me, myself,
and I." To be fully human and be a part of civilized society means to go
beyond what the law demands of us. It means to live according to ethical
rules and principles, many of which ask more of us than the law does. The
answer to "What should I do?" should therefore not be, "What can I get away
with legally?" but "What does ethics ask or even require of me?"
There are other differences between ethics and the law. Laws change over
time. Laws vary from state to state. Most significantly, political and economic
interests, and not the interests of the people, often determine which laws get
passed and what is in those laws. Ethical standards, however, transcend
time, place, and the whims of politics.
Forms of Punishment

For example, when you encounter an inebriated person who is about to go

for a drive, you may not legally be required to get involved, but ethically you
are, even if you are a producer of reality TV shows. It is no defense to say, as
Intervention Executive Producer Sam Mettler does in The Times article, that
"this is their life with me or without me." As soon as you show up with a
camera, you are ethically implicated in the choices your subject makes.
In fact, simply by being an observer, you are ethically accountable for what
happens on your watch. To be a member of the human race is to care for
what transpires in the world around us. It is hard to imagine how any law
could demand that we care for strangers or require punishment if we don't.
This is the proper role, however, of ethics. The penalty for violating an ethical
requirement may not involve a prison term, but it can involve scorn or
ridicule from others, or feelings of guilt or shame for having let ourselves
down or disappointed our family and friends. All of these are forms of
punishment just the same.
In 1965, Hebrew National playfully seized upon the split between our legal
and ethical responsibilities when it coined the slogan, "We answer to a higher
authority." They were on to something. Whether it's cold cuts for lunch, a
reliable computer for work, or a safe toy for your child, don't you want the
companies with which you do business to go beyond merely what the law
requires of them and be the very best they can be?
From the Pages of History
Let's delve more deeply into the schism between ethics and the law.
Consider the following facts from U.S. history:
??lavery was perfectly legal until the 13th Amendment to the Constitution
abolished it in 1865.
??hildren were allowed to work in mines, glass factories, and textile and
other industries instead of going to school until the Fair Labor Standards Act
was passed in 1938.
??omen didn't have the right to vote until 1920.
??n Dec. 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Ala., Rosa Parks broke the law when she
refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger.

How is it possible that a practice that was legal in the past is now against the
law? Is it the case that slavery, for example, used to be ethical, but now it
isn't? Of course not. Ethics hasn't changed. The law just took awhile to
become aligned with what is right.
Although business as an institution has been getting a bad rap in the
mainstream media for the wrongful conduct committed at Enron, Adelphia,
WorldCom, Tyco (TYC), and other companies, let's not forget those
organizations that took the high road, went beyond what the law required of
them, and ultimately reaped many rewards. For example, in 1982, seven
people in the Chicago area died of cyanide poisoning after unwittingly
consuming tainted Tylenol capsules. Within a matter of days, Johnson &
Johnson (JNJ) responded aggressively by withdrawing all 31 million bottles of
the drug (with a retail value of over $100 million), creating a new, triplesealed package, and offering consumers deep discounts.
Effectively and Ethically Managing Crisis
The law did not require Johnson & Johnson to take such measures, but by
doing so, the company earned the respect of consumers and the media alike,
and this case is now widely taught in business schools as an example of how
to manage a crisis effectively??nd continue to prosper. Those seven who died
can never be brought back, but J&J took extraordinary steps to ensure that
no one else would be in jeopardy. Here we are, 25 years after the fact, still
talking about how the company conducted itself admirably. (Disclosure:
Several years ago, I gave a few speeches that were sponsored by Vistakon, a
subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.)
For many more examples of companies that took the high road, even when
they had no legal obligation to do so, see the latest issue of Ethisphere
magazine.
For any law, we can and should ask: Is it right? Is it fair? Is it just?
The ultimate standards for deciding what we ought to do are ethical, not
legal, ones. As the Intervention example shows, sometimes we are not
legally obligated to do what we ought to do. Our history of failing to
recognize the inherent dignity of women, children, and African-Americans
shows that the law sometimes gets it all wrong. And the Tylenol case
suggests that companies that value doing the right thing rather than what is
merely legally required of them may not only endure, but prevail. As this

column has endeavored to show over and over, the reason to do the right
thing is simply because it is the right thing to do. Businesses that take ethics
seriously, however, often find themselves winning over consumers and a
skeptical media alike.
We are a nation of laws, and our society would quickly devolve into anarchy
without the rule of law as a binding, motivating force for all of us.
Nevertheless, the ethical principles of Do No Harm (BusinessWeek, 1/10/07),
Make Things Better (BusinessWeek, 1/18/07), Respect Others (BusinessWeek,
1/25/07), Be Fair (BusinessWeek, 2/8/07), and Be Loving (BusinessWeek,
2/22/07) are the true basis of our society, and it is to those principles we
ought to return every day when we ask ourselves: "What should I do? What
kind of person should I be? How can I bring out the best in myself and
others?"
Yes, laws are important. But all of us, and not just the employees of a certain
manufacturer of hot dogs and salami, should answer to a higher authority
Topic:- Human Values-Lessons from the lives of great leaders, reformers &
Administrators
10.
Kautilya said, One should not be too straightforward. Go and see
the forest. The straight trees are cut down, the crooked ones are left
standing. What do you understand by this statement? Discuss it in
the context of public service. Also throw light on ethicality of the
statement. (200 Words)
General
1) Examine economic significance of the resources of the Continental Shelf of
the Indian Ocean. (200 Words)
2) Temperature, salinity and density differences in ocean water are the
prime causes of ocean water circulation. Elaborate. (200 Words)
3) Describe and account for the surface currents of the Indian Ocean and
explain how and why they differ from those of the Atlantic. (200 Words)
4) In 1994 the Supreme Court gave a verdict that all fundamental rights had
positive as well as negative connotations. Can the same logic be applied to
Right to Life ? Critically examine in the light of Governments recent

decision to decriminalise section 309 of IPC which makes Suicide a criminal

offence. (200 Words)
A police constable, T. Karupayee (30), allegedly committed suicide by
shooting herself with a service pistol at Nagaiyapuram police station under
Peraiyur sub-division in the small hours of Wednesday.
The woman is said to have taken the extreme step following frequent
quarrels with her husband Pethanan. The victim had turned up for sentry
duty around 8 p.m. Around 12.45 a.m., she phoned one of her colleagues
who was at home and expressed her intention to commit suicide.
Deputy Superintendent of Police of Peraiyur M. Balasubramanian said that
she was alone at the police station as others were on night patrol. She locked
herself inside the station and pulled the trigger on her right temple around
1.30 a.m.. The bullet made its exit through the forehead.
Station Writer V. Katturaja (42), who was alerted by Sathyamoorthi, had tried
to call Karuppayee over her mobile and the police station number. However,
she was not reachable, the police said. On coming to the station, the other
police personnel found her lying dead in a pool of blood.
A constable of 2005-batch, she had married her maternal uncle. She was
depressed over frequent quarrels with her husband, said to be an alcoholic.
Even on Tuesday night, he had a quarrel with the constable before she came
for night duty, the DSP said.
The couple, married for seven years, do not have a child. The man, employed
in Army, has not reported for duty for some time now. He used to fleece
money from her after giving an assurance that he would report for duty, but
return after spending the money, the police said.
The Nagaiyapuram police have registered a case of suspicious death and
also under provisions of the Arms Act.
5) To achieve the full potential of the relationship, India and US need to
deepen strategic and economic cooperation and set new goals for the
relationship. Discuss. (200 Words)

Where India and the United States cannot agree on a given issue, it
is important that they seek other avenues of cooperation
As President Barack Obama sets out for India, he will find that the same
favourable winds which are driving Indias economy are also moving the U.S.India relationship. The President will be the first American chief of state to
visit India twice during his incumbency. He will also be the first President to
be received as Prime Minister Narendra Modis guest at Indias Republic Day.
The invitation to Mr. Obama and his decision to visit India speak volumes
about prospects for the Indian-American relationship.
We have come a long way over the past two decades. Indian and American
trade and investment are buoyant, defence trade has surged, and strategic
consultations, intelligence sharing and counter-terror cooperation are closer
than ever in history. The U.S., including our two political parties, believe that
a strong India is good for this country; India believes a successful and
prosperous America is good for India. This said, to achieve the potential of
the relationship, we need to deepen strategic and economic cooperation and
set new goals for the relationship.
Common problems
The first issues President Obama and Prime Minister Modi need to address
are strategic. The U.S. and India face common problems in dealing with the
rise of China. We have many friends in the region, notably Korea, Japan, the
Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore and Indonesia. These countries have similar
views about China and recognise the importance of maintaining an Asian
balance of power. India and the U.S. have an interest in reinforcing our
respective ties to each of these powers. Our common objective should not be
to confront or contain China. Rather it should be to shape the environment
within which China pursues legitimate ambitions, so that Chinas quest for
status does not threaten its neighbourhood and the U.S.
India and the U.S. should not confront or contain China, but shape
the environment within which China pursues legitimate ambitions
Similarly, India and the U.S. are preoccupied with Afghanistans future and
with the deteriorating situation in Pakistan. Both questions demand close
attention and frequent exchanges on strategy. The U.S. has serious issues
with Russia and in the Middle East. We face a common threat from terrorism.
This said, we have different points of view and must be careful not to

surprise one another. Where we cannot agree on a given issue, it is

important that our two countries seek other avenues of cooperation.
We have challenges ahead in coordinating our respective approaches to
climate change; this subject will require hard and specialised work.
An additional word on terrorism is in order. The use of terror affects India, the
U.S., Europe, Russia and China, among many other nations. It springs from
deep political and cultural causes and has no single point of origin. It cannot
be dealt with by military means alone; in fact the use of military force can be
counterproductive.
To deal with terror, we need to use the full box of tools available to
governments political, intelligence, religious messaging, and police
cooperation. Prime Minister Modi and President Obama should give U.S.Indian cooperation in counter terror the highest priority.
Expanding defence cooperation is an especially promising area in the IndianAmerican relationship. While our two countries will not be allies as the term
is classically defined, the security of our two nations is enhanced by the
closest possible cooperation.
No two countries exercise their military forces more frequently than India and
the U.S. We are not, however, cooperating as we should in preparing Indias
industrial base to provide the systems it will need to cope with the security
challenges of the future. Modern warfare is increasingly about intelligence
systems communications and electronic warfare. India needs to strengthen
its capabilities in these fields as it continues its defence modernisation. Other
than the U.S., no nation offers as extensive a range of high-tech defence
capabilities. Furthermore, to be able to work together in moments of crises,
India and the U.S. should aim to have common defence platforms. To build
these platforms, India must reach an agreement with the U.S. on the
protection of defence information. Without it, the U.S. cannot share its
defence crown jewels. The President and the Prime Minister would be well
advised to reach agreement on this important question.
Prime Minister Modi is determined to grow Indias economy. He wishes to
expand rapidly Indias manufacturing base, and he welcomes American and
foreign investment as key drivers in Indias economic performance. To attract
foreign and mobilised domestic investment, the Prime Minister, Indias
government and its Chief Ministers must tackle key growth impediments.

These include infrastructural inadequacies, as well as tax, land, labour and

Intellectual Property Rights questions, and Indias financial services regime.
The landscape of U.S.-India economic cooperation is crowded with
investment disputes, which undermine confidence in India as an investment
destination. Our 2005 civil nuclear agreement has yet to produce the first
investment.
The upcoming budget session of Parliament gives the Indian government an
important opportunity to lay out an economic reform agenda. American
investors will be watching closely the promises which the Indian government
makes, and more importantly, its ability to put those promises into practice.
India can reasonably look to President Obama to set out his administrations
policy on high-tech immigration and other irksome issues like social security
totalisation. India can also look forward to the Presidents help in securing
early passage of GSP, the trade enhancing regime that has long facilitated
Indias exports to the U.S.
Setting bold goals
Finally, we need to look ahead and set bold goals for the relationship. These
goals must serve Indian and American interests. For Make in India to
succeed, India must sell at home and have markets abroad. To assure foreign
markets, India must be competitive and able to trade without impediment.
India has yet to complete a bilateral investment treaty with the U.S., and it is
not party to current WTO negotiations on subjects as important as IT services
and government procurement. More importantly, India is not a member of
the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and is not in consideration for
membership in Trans-Pacific trade negotiations. President Obama will shortly
seek Trade Promotion Authority to permit the U.S. to advance these new
super-trade regimes for the Atlantic area and the Pacific. India risks falling
between two stools and being excluded from the worlds most potentially
dynamic market areas. Securing Indias trade future requires tough
negotiations, and a willingness by India to become a competitive world-class
economy. This subject is worth discussion between President Obama and
Prime Minister Modi. It is reasonable to expect the U.S. to be Indias friend
and sponsor if India decides to refocus its trade policy and go global.
Expanding Indias trade horizon is central to building Indian strategic
strength and in consolidating the U.S.-India relationship. The most promising

days of that relationship lie ahead. Prime Minister Modi and President Obama
have the opportunity later this month to align our policies and give our very
promising relationship a fresh impulse.
6) The recently concluded Sri-lankan elections have opened new doors for
transition peacefully from what was becoming a military state into the
democratic norms of a civilised nation. How will it impact the interests of
India and the mutual relations between the two nations? (200 Words)
January 9 was the beginning of a new era for Sri Lanka, domestically and
internationally. After my first week as Foreign Minister, I feel encouraged by
the level of warmth, openness and goodwill shown to the new Sri Lankan
government by an overwhelming number of representatives of the
international community.
For too long now, a culture of paranoia and a debilitating fear psychosis has
gripped Sri Lanka and we have isolated ourselves within a rapidly globalising
world. Now as we open up to the world, and re-establish ties equally with all
nations, we also look forward to the world opening up to us. Despite many
election law violations, the misuse of state resources during campaigning as
well as a last-minute attempt at a coup d'tat , thanks to the bravery of the
Sri Lankan voters and the dedication and integrity of our armed forces,
police, public servants and elections commissioner, we were able to
transition peacefully from what was becoming a military state into the
democratic norms of a civilised nation. In this uniquely Sri Lankan concoction
of the Arab Spring, instead of bullets, pellets and stones, Sri Lankans of all
races, religions, classes, castes and creeds united in a rainbow revolution by
using the ballot box to make clear their determined stance against nepotism,
corruption and oppression.
The challenge we face today is to rebuild our institutions while maintaining
the principles upon which our campaign was developed, and to re-emerge
into the global sphere as a key stakeholder in Asia and thereafter the world,
as a nation committed to democracy, good governance, law and order and
pluralism. Our first steps as a new government have been to open our doors
without fear to all journalists and to replace the Northern Province Governor
with a respected diplomat. We have also begun the process of initiating farreaching political reforms in Parliament regarding the right to information,
the 19th amendment, and the abolition of the executive presidency which
President Maithripala Sirisena has promised in his manifesto and will fulfil in
the coming months.

Embarking on our first diplomatic trip to India was symbolic of our intentions
to restore a relationship that grew strained under the Rajapaksa regime. Our
closest neighbour, India received us as if it were welcoming back after many
years of absence a dear and old friend. We spent three hours discussing our
bilateral relationship in detail with the Indian External Affairs Minister, and
committed ourselves to the early resolution of mutually problematic issues
such as fisheries, while also acknowledging the increased opportunities for
regional integration, connectivity and economic development that
accompany the restoration of favourable relations. As India emerges as one
of the worlds foremost economic superpowers, we will extend our support
and friendship to it, and after my meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi,
I am confident not only that India will take utmost pride in our successes and
feel deepest sorrow for our grievances, but will also act wholeheartedly to
support us in our difficult journey ahead.
Motivated by fear of war crimes allegations, the Rajapaksas continue to
spread unfounded rumours about our international allies and our fellow Sri
Lankans living abroad, while attempting to fuel communal tensions locally.
Our vision for Sri Lanka is one of post-war unity, and this means appealing to
the hearts and minds of our fellow citizens in the North and East, without
compromising on the integrity or security of the rest of the country. This
means also reducing the cost of living, ensuring the freedom to practise
religion, and eliminating corruption while also constructing a meritocracy
with streamlined, fair and efficient internal processes so we can accelerate
development. These reforms in our political culture will ultimately benefit
tourism, investment and local industry, so the common Sri Lankan men or
women, a majority of whom are Sinhalese and who were critical in securing
this change, will be able to reap the benefits. This government will take into
account the interests and the history of long-suffering minorities and address
their needs as equal citizens of Sri Lanka. If the Tamil and Muslim people can
trust our government to govern without discrimination and without
neglecting their many grievances, then we can truly begin on the journey
towards reconciliation and national unity. This will not be an easy task and
calls for the demonstration of concrete actions that reflect our vision and
resolve to achieve it. The ghosts of suspicion, distrust and uncertainty
created by the previous government in the minds of the minorities towards
state actors will not be easy to banish.
Beam of hope

I am privy to the collective sigh of relief that Sri Lankans are feeling, as the
fear and intimidation dissipate, and signs of true reconciliation begin to
precipitate. I hope the story of our people and their rainbow revolution is
able to provide a beam of hope for the rest of the world. In the last few days,
we have seen our very own Burma moment, where in a story similar to our
own, decades-long military rule and oppression were abandoned for the
promise of democracy.
The effects of many years of state propaganda by the Mahinda Rajapaksa
regime to coerce Sri Lankans into believing in the myth of an international
conspiracy will not wear away easily, without the informed and active
leadership of politicians, businessmen, civil society, artists and that of the
international community. Making the congratulatory voices coming from the
international community audible to those who need to hear it the most will
go a long way in eroding some of the politically cultivated doubts and fear
among some Sri Lankans towards the international community. I sincerely
hope that in the next few challenging days, the international community will
rally behind Sri Lankans, who fought against unimaginable odds and
oppression to vote in conditions of fear and uncertainty, and realised a
miraculous victory for their country. I also hope the international community
will support us to help secure and entrench the progressive constitutional
reforms that are part of the vision to make Sri Lanka an advanced modern
democracy.
7) FCI is a lynch pin in the food security program of India, yet failure of
successive governments to reform the organization has resulted in huge
losses to the exchequer. Highlight the deficiencies in the running of Food
Corporation of India and suggest measures to revamp it. (200 Words)
A committee asked to study how to reform the Food Corporation of India
(FCI) gave its report to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday.
It is believed to have recommended that food subsidies be transferred in
cash for the 52 cities having a population of more than a million, over the
next two years.
The panel was chaired by Shanta Kumar, a two-time chief minister of
Himachal Pradesh and a former Union food minister.
The prime minister has asked the department of food and public distribution
to expeditiously give its comments on the report, so that it can then be

implemented in a time-bound manner, went an official statement.

Officials said Ashok Gulati, former chairman of the Commission on
Agricultural Costs and Prices, also a member of this panel, gave a
presentation on Wednesday regarding the various recommendations. Food
Minister Ram Vilas Paswan was present.
FCI is the nodal agency for procurement of foodgrain and its distribution
through the Public Distribution System. Its chairman and managing director,
C Viswanath, was part of the committee.
Officials said the panel had also recommended that the major foodgrain
growing states of Punjab, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh become
decentralised procurement ones, taking over the job of purchases from the
Corporation. FCI should, it has reportedly said, focus on the eastern states,
where it has a limited role as of now, due to lack of an appropriate structure.
The previous government had explored the idea of providing the food
subsidy in cash and planned an experimental project in 2012 for six months
in the Union Territories of Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh,
Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu and Lakshawadeep. However, this was
discontinued after a while, for lack of political backing.
The eight-member committee was set up in August 2014. It was asked to
suggest a model for restructuring FCI, to improve its operational efficiency
and financial management. And, suggest measures for overall improvement
in management of foodgrain by FCI, the nodal agency for procurement and
distribution of foodgrains through PDS.
The committee was initially asked to give its recommendations in three
months. It later sought and got a five-month extension.
Other members of the committee were Ram Sewak Sharma, the
governments secretary, electronics and information technology; the chief
secretaries of the governments of Punjab and Chhattisgarh; academicians G
Raghuram and G Nancharaiah from the Indian Institute of Management,
Ahmedabad, and Hyderabad University, respectively.
8) Though the tiger census has brought the good news of increase in the
number of tigers by thirty percent, the survey methodology has drawn

criticism from some quarters. Discuss. Give your suggestions to further

improve tiger conservation efforts in the country. (200 Words)
Topic:- ethical issues in international relations and funding ;
9) Morality does not play a role in international relations and what ever the
mighty countries do is considered right. Do you agree with this assessment?
Give examples to support your stance. (200 Words)
General
Topic:-laws, rules, regulations and conscience as sources of ethical guidance
10) In what ways do codes increase the culture of ethics in an organization?
Throw light on the efficacy of ethical codes that exist in India and suggest
reforms, if needed. (200 Words)
General
1) Future climate change will likely negatively affect crop production in low
latitude countries, while effects in northern latitudes may be positive or
negative. Explain how does this have an impact on global poverty? (200
Words)
If the U.S. partners with India for more efficient industrialisation, it
could be the kind of investment that cements ties between the two
countries
As India and the U.S. build closer ties, they should pursue a win-win
agreement on climate. It is in the U.S.s strategic interest that India grows
into a regional power, which can only be accomplished if India is given
sufficient development space to grow its economy and eliminate poverty. It is
in Indias interest to diversify its energy portfolio a prospect that can be
strengthened with the U.S.s assistance. The way to achieve these objectives
is to forge an India exception at the global climate talks in Paris; doing so is
the only realistic pathway to a global climate deal and will cement the
growing ties between the two critical actors in an evolving international
order.
A unique dilemma

India faces a predicament which previous countries that used energy to grow
their economies did not face. It stands on the cusp of industrialisation just as
the world may finally be willing to take multilateral action to reduce carbon
emissions. As it possesses vulnerable coastlines and is reliant on the
monsoon and glacial melt, India is as susceptible as any other country to the
consequences of collective action failure on climate. But for India, the
tradeoffs between environment and growth (and poverty elimination) are
harsher than perhaps anywhere else. Indias overall size of both population
and emissions makes it the most critical low-income country at the Paris
climate talks.
Despite Indias importance to the climate debate, it continues to pollute
below its weight. Though Indias emission intensity would be expected to rise
in the coming decades, it has committed to reducing emission intensity by
20 to 25 per cent by 2020 (from 2007 levels). Prime Minister Narendra Modis
victory has created the opportunity for all of India to benefit from the
renewable energy-friendly policies he pursued as Chief Minister of Gujarat
and has opened up the possibility for it to become a leader in costcompetitive renewables. India is already the worlds largest biomass, third
largest solar and fourth largest wind energy producer.
There is a strong strategic imperative for the U.S. in supporting Indias role in
Asia. A successful India can play a major role in stabilising Asia during an
otherwise turbulent transition, and can be a vital partner to the U.S. India
could act on climate change on its own by reprioritising spending away from
its planned naval expansion or other defence expenditures, but as Chinas
defence budget soars, nations around the region are becoming more
invested in a balance of power that includes India. It is profoundly in the
U.S.s interest that there be a strong India an India that is prosperous and
contributing to a stable Asia and Indian Ocean.
The U.S. could reapportion part of its international development budget
towards Indias green modernisation, create a way for U.S. cities that have
successfully used clean building techniques to work with Indian cities, and
invest in Indian efforts on energy-efficient urbanisation. It can help ensure
that the Green Climate Fund and the World Bank support and crowd in
private sector and other investments towards this end.
There would have to be a generational partnership between the U.S. and
India. Challenges in aligning the private incentives of U.S. financiers with

public incentives in India can be solved by a high-level agreement between

President Obama and Prime Minister Modi on public monies through bilateral
or multilateral tools.
Indias unique circumstances necessitate specific exceptions. Any climate
agreement must exclude India from obligations that do not befit a country in
an earlier stage of development. It must be allowed lifeline energy at
affordable prices. India cannot agree to a peaking date; Indian poverty
cannot be frozen by a dateline. A global peaking date will depend on other
nations taking on mitigation commitments to account for Indias exceptional
challenge. However, certain pathways could be pursued that would allow a
U.S.-India partnership to contribute to the global effort. These could include:
continuing and supporting Indias voluntary emission intensity reduction
goals that move its economy from a business as usual trajectory; focussing
the spending of the Green Carbon Fund and similar instruments, including
technology transfer, on Indian energy options; following common but
differentiated responsibility within India, requiring rich states and cities to
develop further mitigation methods; initiating a universal agreement on
corporate emissions mitigation that would involve large Indian companies on
equal footing with developed country corporations and mandating sectoral
efficiency goals for these large corporations; and a decadal review of Indias
development status, as no exception should outlive its rationale.
Such a deal is the only way to maintain climate progress. If India chooses to
grow through the traditional carbon-intensive pathway, there will be no
credible prospect for global carbon reduction and India will soon add another
European Union to the worlds carbon emissions budget. India has a veto on
a global climate agreement both in the room, and more importantly in how
any deal is implemented. India has walked away from global deals like the
World Trade Organization, when they are perceived to be counter to its core
interests.
If the U.S. partners with India for more efficient industrialisation and supports
an India exception in global climate talks using bilateral ties and the
Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate to help build a clean energy
ladder for India it could be the kind of investment that cements ties
between these two countries. From the perspective of a stable international
order, it would be a big deal; from the perspective of global climate talks, it is
the only realistic path forward.

(Samir Saran is a senior fellow and vice president at the Observer Research
Foundation and Bruce Jones is deputy director of the Foreign Policy Program
at the Brookings Institution. This is an adaptation of an article published by
the authors for Brookings and ORF earlier this month.)
2) Man must realize the importance of maximizing agricultural production
without destroying the ecological basis on which our entire food production
systems rests. Explain with examples. (200 Words)
3) The Sunderbans have been massively impacted due to habitat
fragmentation both due to natural geological cause as well anthropogenic
factors severely interfering into the life cycle of local flora and fauna. What is
Habitat Fragmentation? Why is it happening? What are its consequences?
(200 Words)
Habitat fragmentation involves alteration of habitat resulting in spatial
separation of habitat units from a previous state of greater continuity.
This phenomenon occurs naturally on a geologic time-scale or in unusual and
catastrophic events: however, since the Holocene era, humans have
produced dramatic and swift transformation of landscapes throughout the
world, resulting in a level of habitat fragmentation that has induced
worldwide reduction in biodiversity and interuption of sustainable yields of
natural resources.
Humans produce habitat fragmentation chiefly from agricultural land
conversion, urbanization, pollution, deforestation and introduction of alien
species; ironically, both human caused wildfires as well as the systematic
practice of fire suppression can also create habitat fragmentation. Prior to
the dominance of mankind, long term changes engendered by geologic
processes or climate oscillations contributed to habitat fragmentation.
Geometric
factors
Habitat
fragmentation can
manifest in an endless array of geometries, depending on the shape and
extent of the separation zone.
It is important to note that the separation distance required for effecting
fragmentation may vary considerably depending upon the dynamics of

reproduction of key species involved. These factors include such spatially

related parameters as distance typically traveled for faunal mating, seed
dispersal radii, seasonal migration patterns and diurnal faunal foraging. In
general, the smallest of these characteristic distances must be regarded as
the controlling factor in order to respect the integrity of the ecosystem.
There is a sizeable suite of geometric measures that can be useful in
describing the patch geometry of a fragmented habitat[1]; some of these
major factors are patch area, number of patches, ratio of patch size
distribution and the patch edge length to area ratio. Fundamentally, the risk
of extinction from habitat fragmentation generally increases with terrestrial
animal size, since home range and migration needs are largest; however,
small terrestrial fauna and plants with compact seed dispersal patterns are
vulnerable to very small separations of habitat patches.
Natural processes of fragmentation
The chief natural phenomena that have driven fragmentation are glacial
advances, volcanic activity, geologic faulting, tectonic movement, mass land
slumping, serpentinization, major sea level rise and climate oscillation. Each
of these actions
has the potential to
create irreversible
effective isolation
of previously connected habitat units; note that, for example, climate
oscillations or minor glacial advances lasting only a few centuries have a
reasonable probability that the landscape will revert, since mass extinctions
are not necessarily produced from natural oscillatory functions having an
effective time scale this small, especially since regional refugia can mitigate
losses of such scale.
Major glacial advances may have taken tens or hundreds of thousands of
years, such that the resulting habitat fragmentation is likely to have
translated into new speciation as well as extinction of populations that were
driven below minimum viable population size. One notable example of long
timescale fragmentation on a large scale is the Andean uplift in the Amazon
Basin. In this pre-Pleistocene epoch topographic change occurred so slowly
that the uplift engendered further speciation and actually enhanced
biodiversity.[2]

Biodiversity implications
Habitat fragmentation is a significant cause of biodiversity destruction.[3]
Research has demonstrated that fragmentation characteristically reduces
species richness and taxon diversity, and may reduce the efficacy of
ecosystem functioning. Fragmentation not only reduces the amount of
functional habitat, but it may isolate a species population into
subpopulations, that may be sufficiently near the minimum viable population
size to risk local extinction from successive demographic processes or
catastrophic events. The mechanics of these impacts often relate to the
alteration of relationships among species. In some cases the population of
certain species may actually increase within the fragmented habitat
complex; however, these few increases are typically already dominant or
keystone species, and such increases are usually at the expense of reducing
populations of (if not elimination of) other species. With an original habitat
becoming fragmented, some species have insufficient dispersal robustness
to travel among the fragmented patches. In these cases such taxa may
suffer from genetic drift or inbreeding due to restricted gene flow, and may
have difficulty in re-colonizing[4] or rescuing a subpopulation from local
extirpation. Even if a given species has dispersal strength, it may suffer from
insufficient dispersal and survival of taxa with which it interacts.
Considerable research has been conducted on species impacts to
vertebrates, being macroscopically observable in the landscape, and on
flora, since they are somewhat stationary whilst being analyzed. Notably
there is a lack of data on arthropods, which comprise most of the extant
biomass of our planet. Furthermore, the position of arthropods within an
ecosystem place them in a role of considerable influence on the entirety of
ecosystem services. Conservation biologists have developed the concept of
habitat corridors as partial mitigation for the adverse impacts of habitat
fragmentation.
The adverse biodiversity impacts can be extended in time consequence. For,
example Lovejoy and Hannah note that the massive pre-1850 New Zealand
and Australian deforestation by aborigines and Europeans continues to
express and magnify its adverse manifestation on the landscape. [5] The same
authors make the interesting conjecture that the presently extant species
which have successfully survived the dramatic climate fluctuations of the
Quaternary (with attendant large swings in species populations) may be
somewhat immunized to future climate oscillations.

One of the most widely studied examples of habitat fragmentation is in the

Central Amazon Conservation Complex of Brazil, where a number of
controlled studies were conducted in the 1980s. Due to pressures of an
expanding human population and associated economic pressures, the
Brazilian government embarked on a permissive policy of systematic and
large scale forest destruction. In one study north of Manaus these residual
patches were variously created in one, ten and 100 hectare sizes.[6] Resident
bird species, both frugivores and insectivores, were studied over a seven
year period post-clearing. Results showed that bird densities declined in
residual patches, with the smaller patches suffering the greatest species
loss, even though initial response of small patches showed fewer initial
losses as measured by bird density. An even larger long time scale loss of
species richness was evident from the century long trend of deforestation in
the area, since many of the plots cleared from 100 years ago were enjoying
no economic use, but did not effectively rebound with complete forest cover;
in a certain number of cases reasonable regrowth of secondary forest
occurred. The conclusion drawn is that the ecological damage from long term
deforestation and resulting habitat fragmentation has been
disproportionately related to the actual economic taking of forest.
A small scale example of grassland fragmentation has yielded considerable
evidence of biodiversity change. While dominant grass species were not
severely altered, there were significant changes in arthropod and other
faunal characteristics.[7] The target location were calcareous grasslands in
central Europe, that are high in species richness. This class of European
grasslands often include considerable hectarage that have been partially
cultivated by humans, are which are, in fact, effective refugia for grass and
forb taxa that might otherwise have become extinct. Ongoing threats to
further fragmentation are over-fertilisation and ironically reforestation and
abandonment. That is to say, these human induced constructs contain many
species that are now dependent on man's continued tending as these units
co-evolved with the advent of agriculture in the early Holocene. Braschler
found that butterfly species richness declined in the face of habitat
fragmentation. While populations of certain dominant ant species (notably
Lasius paralienus) as well as certain aphid taxa increased, these increases
came at the expense of population losses of numerous rarer taxa. The
implications of abetting an already dominant arthropod taxon at the
diminution of a plethora of other species suggests adverse impacts of habitat
fragmentation upon biodiversity..

The Three Gorges Dam on China's Yangtze River represents the largest scale
anthropomorphic intrusion into freshwater habitat in history. This aquatic
barrier is a threat to the survival of numerous fish species and other aquatic
biota. Besides the obvious impact to migratory species that utilize river
reaches above and below the dam, there are extensive impacts to turbidity
and hydrological characteristics that alter the natural habitat of hundreds of
species.[8] There were 162 endemic fish species recorded prior to dam
development, 44 of which are endemic to the Yangtze Basin. Severing the
upstream and downstream portions of the river by dam construction is
expected to threaten the survival of 20 fish species, with six of them having
a high probability of extinction. In addition to severing the aquatic habitat,
the dam construction also severs the riparian zone on both sides of the river
with dam anchorages and other industrial infrastructure, leading to
fragmentation of that terrestrial habitat.
4) The Prime Minister denounced the practice of female foeticide, saying
such discrimination reflects mental illness and displays a mindset worse
than people in the 18th century. Discuss comprehensively the reasons
responsible for such mindset in our country? Give innovative solutions to
tackle the issue, while mentioning the recent initiatives taken by government
in this regard. (200 Words)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the blight of country's dwindling
number of girls on Thursday, launching 'Beti Bachchao Beti Padhao'
campaign to address the problem the United Nations has said amounts to a
national emergency.
"In our neighbourhood, girls are commonly killed in their mothers' wombs
and we don't feel the pain," Modi said in a speech in the northern state of
Haryana. "We don't have a right to kill our daughters," he said.
Modi presents Sukanya Samriddhi account pass-book to a girl during its
launch at Beti Bachao Beti Padhao programme in Panipat on Thursday.
Haryana CM ML Khattar, Union minister vManeka Gandhi and actress
Madhuri Dixit are also seen. (Source: PTI)
The "Beti Bachao Beti Padhao" campaign is aimed at improving India's child
sex ratio - the number of girls born for every 1,000 boys - and gender
equality through access to education. India's child sex ratio dropped from
964 in 1971 to a low of 918 in 2011, according to U.N. data.

Seen here with Madhuri Dixit at the event. Madhuri is the brand ambassador
of the campaign. (Source: PTI)
PM Narendra Modi and Madhuri Dixit with Governor Haryana Kaptan Singh
Solanki during launching of 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' abhiyan in Panipat,
Haryana, on Thursday. (Source: Express photo by Jasbir Malhi)
Between 2001 and 2011, the decline was seen in more than two-thirds of the
districts in the nation. A 2011 study published in the British medical journal
the Lancet found that as many as 12 million Indian girls may have been
selectively aborted between 1980 and 2010. This trend, in a deeply
patriarchal society where daughters can be seen as a financial liability, has
led to an uptick in crimes including rape, trafficking and the emergence of
"wife-sharing" in villages where the sex ratio is low, experts say.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is welcomed by Haryana Governor Kaptan
Singh Solanki and CM Manohar Lal Khattar at the Beti Bachao Beti-Padhao
programme. (Source: PTI)
He also launched Sukanya Samridhi Yojna, under which girl children below 10
years will have bank accounts with more interest and income tax benefits.
(Source: Express photo by Jasbir Malhi)
"For every 1,000 male child births, there should be 1,000 girl child births,"
Modi said on Thursday, adding that placing importance on sons above
daughters is "a psychological illness of the entire country".
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar at the
Beti Bachao Beti-Padhao programme in Panipat on Thursday. (Source: PTI)
The campaign will be initially implemented in the 100 districts, including 12
in Haryana, across country where sex ratio is rather poor. (Source: Express
photo by Jasbir Malhi)
The PM also criticised doctors for using their expertise meant to save lives
for killing and betraying society. He administered a pledge to the huge
crowd that they would work towards ending discrimination against the girl
child at all stages.
The Prime Minister of this country has come to you like a beggar and is
begging for the lives of daughters, he said.

He also launched the Sukanya Samridhi Yojna (girl child prosperity scheme),
under which girl children below 10 years will have bank accounts with more
interest and income tax benefits. Parents need to deposit only Rs 1,000 at
the time of her birth, followed by any amount in multiples of 100 thereafter,
for the girl to get Rs 1,50,000 when she is 18 years old.
The Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao scheme will be initially implemented in 100
districts across the country, including 12 in Haryana. These include 87
districts where the child sex ratio is below the national average, 8 districts
where it is above the national average but is showing a declining trend and
five districts where it above the national average and improving. The last five
have been selected so that the child sex ratio levels can be maintained and
they can become models for other districts.
Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar,
Union ministers Maneka Gandhi, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Smriti Irani and J P
Nadda shared the stage with Modi. Bollywood actress Madhuri Dixit was also
present to promote the drive against female foeticide.
5) The recent Supreme Court judgement for Institutional integrity from BCCI
and classifying it as a Public functionary will advance public accountability in
all the sports bodies in India . In the light of the verdict discuss the problems
faced by the sports sector .Also suggest the solutions for the same. (200
Words)
Demanding institutional integrity from the BCCI, the Supreme Court classified
the Boards administration of cricket in India as a public function.
However, a Bench of Justices T.S. Thakur and Fakir Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifulla
said the BCCI did not come under the definition of State under Article 12,
which means a public body.
BCCI is a very important institution that discharges important public
functions. Demands of institutional integrity are, therefore, heavy and need
to be met suitably in larger public interest, Justice Thakur wrote in his
judgment.
The court said the BCCIs functioning cannot be called a private activity as
the Board monopolises national cricket with the tacit support of the
government. It said how players chosen by the BCCI were later recognised
with Bharat Ratna, Padma Vibhushan and prestigious medals. It said the

Board sets the standards and norms of selection of players for the national
team.
The Board had the power to make dreams come true or make them end up in
smoke, the apex court observed.
With all these powers, the court observed, the BCCIs public function should
not be compromised for individuals as individuals are birds of passage while
institutions are forever.
The court dismissed the argument of senior advocate Kapil Sibal, for BCCI
president-in-exile N. Srinivasan, portraying IPL as a commercial venture of
the BCCI and a platform for Indian and international cricketers to make a
living from the sport. This argument, the court said, was neither here nor
there.
No one has found fault with IPL as a format, nor is there any challenge to
the wisdom of BCCI in introducing this format for the benefit of cricketers or
for its own benefit, the apex court said.
The question, the judgment asks, is whether the BCCI can afford to see the
game lose its credibility in the eyes of those who watch it, by allowing an
impression to gather ground that what goes on in the name of the game is
no more than a farce because of sporting frauds like betting, match fixing
and the like.
Can the BCCI live with the idea of the game being seen only as a means to
cheat the unsuspecting and gullible spectators watching the proceedings
whether in the stadium or on the television with the passion one rarely sees
in any other sporting enterprise, Justice Thakur wrote in the 138-page
verdict.
It said that unless the BCCI cleans up its act, its commercial plans for its
own benefit and the benefit of the players are bound to blow up in smoke
once the public gets to know that some business interests have hijacked the
game for their own ends or that the game is no longer the game they know
or love because of frauds on and off the field.
6) This body (International Criminal Court) represents no one. It is a political
body There are quite a few countries that also think there is no justification

for this bodys existence. Critically evaluate the given statement. How does
ICC differ from ICJ? (200 Words)
The recent decision of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court
(ICC), Fatou Bensouda, to open a preliminary examination of alleged war
crimes committed during Israels military offensive on Gaza in June 2014 is
once again stirring up Israel-Palestine relations, and polarising the global
politics around it. This decision of the ICC follows Palestines accession to the
Rome Statute earlier this month and its acceptance of the jurisdiction of the
ICC over crimes committed in the occupied Palestinian territory, including
East Jerusalem, since June 13, 2014. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
as well as Hamas have welcomed this move, while Israel, which has signed
but not ratified the Rome Statute, has strongly denounced it. Until Palestine
joined the ICC, Israel was principally in favour of the Court, but is now clearly
infuriated by it. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected the
ICCs move outright and is lobbying with states such as Canada, Australia
and Germany to withhold their funding to it. Attempting to delegitimise the
Court, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told an Israeli radio station: This
body represents no one. It is a political body There are quite a few
countries that also think there is no justification for this bodys existence.
Israel has frozen tax funds it collects on behalf of Palestinians.
Some of the points of criticism against the ICC are in fact valid. These are
that the juridical nature of the ICC tends to hinder the peace process rather
than build it, and that with an arguably grim record the Court has been
ineffective and slow in investigating crimes. Also, Israel claims to be fighting
the war against Hamas that it considers a terrorist organisation; so the move
of the ICC, it argues, amounts to an absurdity. Such reasons, although partly
true, still do not trump the need for an international criminal justice system
to adjudicate war crimes. First, the role of the ICC must be clearly
understood. The ICC is not meant to be a political body mediating a peace
process; it is envisaged as a judicial body meant to end impunity and hold
accountable those who have committed the gravest of crimes. Given this,
even if the ICC may harm a peace process, which in the case of IsraelPalestine is anyway in deadlock, the politics of peace cannot prevail over
justice, accountability for heinous crimes, and the upholding of dignity,
womens rights and other human rights. Second, even if the ICC is a slow and
ineffective mechanism, holding those responsible for human rights violations
in war crimes is necessary. Third, the investigation is against any person who

may have committed war crimes during the conflict. So, both Hamas and
Israel would be under the ICCs investigation.
7) Rather than increasing tax rates, the government should initiate
comprehensive tax reforms and rationalization of subsidies and government
expenditure to curb fiscal deficit. Explain the statement along with the
measures being taken by government in that direction. (200 Words)
Ahead of Budget 2015-16, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said
more fuel subsidy reforms were on the anvil to cut the Centre's fiscal deficit.
He also gave indications of benign tax rates, more income in the hands of
consumers and a correction in the inverted duty structure faced by some
sectors.
Adherence to the fiscal consolidation timeframe set by Jaitley's predecessor P
Chidambaram is significant, as there were suggestions from advisors in North
Block that the government divert from this, at least in the next financial year.
The road map mandates the government cut its fiscal deficit to 3.6 per cent
of gross domestic product (GDP) next financial year from 4.2 per cent in the
current one and to three per cent by 2016-17.
Read our full coverage on Union Budget
JAITLEYSPEAK

On subsidies: Elimination of
subsidy is not possibleIt has
to be rationalised

On taxes: We believe in
putting more money in the
hands of consumers

On an inverted duty
structure: We are correcting
inverted duty taxation, which
could hit some sectors

On MAT: If I lower MAT, I will

have to raise income tax rates

On fiscal deficit: We have a

road map to bring it to below

3% in a couple of years

On insurance ordinance:
Hopeful the insurance Bill will
be approved in the Upper
Houseif it isnt, we will go for
a joint session of Parliament

At the World Economic Forum summit in Davos, Jaitley did not specify the
deficit target for the next financial year, though he committed to meeting the
target this financial year and cutting it to less than three per cent in the next
couple of years. For the first eight months of 2014-15, the deficit stood at
almost 99 per cent of the full-year target. Jaitley said a fiscal deficit of 4.1 per
cent of GDP wasn't acceptable to him.
He expressed inability to do away with the minimum alternate tax, as
demanded by certain sections such as exporters, at a time when a slowdown
in manufacturing wasn't yielding much to the government's kitty.
At Davos, he said the government would carry out further reforms in the area
of subsidies on liquefied petroleum gas and kerosene. "After directly
transferring subsidies to 150 million families for liquefied petroleum gas
since January 1 this year, the government will carve out families that don't
need these subsidies," Jaitley said. The government, he said, would also
address the misuse of kerosene subsidies. He, however, clarified subsidies
for the poor would be rationalised, not eliminated.
On Wednesday, a panel headed by former Reserve Bank of India governor
Bimal Jalan had said it had advised the government to restrict its fiscal deficit
for the next financial year at 3.6 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).
Asked about the coming Budget, he asserted the government wasn't a hightax one. "Last year, we didn't raise almost a single tax rate. We believe in
putting more money into the hands of consumers. So, there were three sets
of relief the Budget had given to small- and medium-level taxpayers." He
said he would simplify taxes, but wouldn't raise even "a rupee in the Budget
from aggressive taxation". Jaitley said his ministry was correcting the
inverted duty structure that had hit a few industries. He, however, added the

government needed tax revenues to finance various activities.

On whether the government would consider abolishing MAT, he said if that
was the case, the Centre would have to raise income tax rates. "Certainly, if I
was in a position to get rid of MAT, it helps in lowering costs but creates
difficulty in balancing the Budget."
He said because of a slowdown in manufacturing, the tax on this segment
had taken a hit. It wasn't possible for a finance minister to start offering
rebates unless manufacturing rose substantially, he added. On the sidelines
of an event here, he assured investors of the government's commitment to
continue with reforms. He, however, said he didn't want to build expectations
in the run-up to the Budget, scheduled to be presented on February 28.
Pointing out the government faced legacy issues with regard to stability in
the tax policy, Jaitley said an adversarial tax policy had discouraged
investors and was counterproductive to the economy. "We will not resort to
sovereign power of retrospective taxation. We are coming up with nonadversarial tax policies," he said, adding the government was putting in
place advance rulings for taxation of foreign investors.
The finance minister said he was hopeful the constitutional amendment Bill
on a goods and services tax would be passed in the Budget session of
Parliament, beginning February 23 and ending on May 8, with a month's
recess in between.
When asked about an article in The Economist stating the government wasn't
taking steps as fast as it should have, Jaitley quipped the questioner must
have read the July edition of the magazine. "In fact, the complaint against us
is we are moving too fast and bringing in ordinances instead of waiting for
Parliament's nod," he said.
On an ordinance to raise the foreign investment cap for private insurers from
26 per cent to 49 per cent, Jaitley expressed confidence that the Bill would
be passed in the Rajya Sabha, as the Congress, too, favoured this. "If it is not
approved, we will go for a joint session of Parliament. If it is delayed beyond
six months, we will go for joint session, where we will have majority," he said
at another event.
On foreign investors complaining about procedural bottlenecks, Jaitley said

the government was trying to address these and put in place a system
through which investors didn't have to go to secretaries and officers often.
But to achieve that, the cooperation of state governments was important, he
said, adding states were taking many steps to attract investment.
Speaking at another event, he said the number of industry leaders visiting
his office in North Block had come down drastically, as now, they didn't need
approvals. He added the government was considering attracting more
investment from non-resident Indians.
On a realistic growth rate for India in the near future, the finance minister
said, "I think our real potential is nine per cent plus. Therefore, we would like
to take India in that direction." The growth rate had fallen below five per cent
in the previous two financial years, low by Indian standards, he said.
"Hopefully, we will do a little better this year. I think the next year is going to
be significantly better."
On corruption, Jaitley said in the past eight months, no one had even raised
an allegation on this front.
8) Despite conservation efforts by the state the number of South
African rhinos killed by poachers has increased in the last decade. What
efforts have been initiated in this regard and how can the poaching menace
tackled to achieve a positive conservation future? (200 Words)
The number of rhinos killed in South Africa last year jumped by nearly a fifth,
marking a new record for poaching, driven by Asian demand for rhino horn
which is more valuable by weight than gold.
A total of 1,215 rhinos were killed in 2014, statistics published by the
Environment Ministry on Thursday showed, in what environmentalists said
was now a do or die situation.
The number of rhinos killed by poachers 827 of which were in the
countrys famous Kruger national park in 2014 has risen rapidly in the last
decade.
Just 13 were killed in 2007, but demand from a growing affluent middle class
in Asia has seen new records broken every year, with 1,020 killed in 2013. In
Vietnam, ground horn sold as rhino horn wine is erroneously viewed to have
health benefits and is seen as a status symbol.

Tom Milliken, elephant and rhino programme leader at illegal wildlife trade
NGO Traffic, said: Another year of poaching like 2014 and it becomes
increasingly difficult to see a positive conservation future for South African
rhinos.
Topic:- Ethics & Human Interface: Essence,Determinants,consequences of
Ethics in Human Actions
9) There is a wide spread view in India that persons committing heinous
crimes like rape, murder or terrorism must be subjected to instant justice. Do
you agree with this view and provide suitable arguments to justify your
stance? (200 Words)
General
Topic:- Ethics & Human Interface: Essence,Determinants,consequences of
Ethics in Human Actions
10) Can ethics and morals be taught in educational institutions? If yes, make
a case for introducing a course on ethics right from school. (200 Words)
Many of the objectionable contents or mistakes are likely to remain in
primary and high school textbooks for the next academic year.
For the last two years, experts and the Committee for Resisting
Saffronisation of Textbooks in Karnataka, an NGO, have been pointing out
mistakes in textbooks.
On Thursday, members of the new textbook committees met here to discuss
the revision of books. As many as 171 members have been appointed for the
textbook committees and they will revise 352 titles in seven mediums.
While some changes have been made and will be reflected in the next
academic year, a majority of the changes that are being sought will be
reflected only in 201617, a source in Karnataka Textbook Society said.
Several committee members acknowledged that there were glaring errors
and attempts to saffronise the textbooks.
The new textbook committees were formed in December and the old
committees term ended in March last. So we have tried to correct as many
mistakes as possible. The complete revision of textbooks will be done for the

2016-17 academic year, a source said. Minister of State for Primary and
Secondary Education Kimmane Ratnakar said, Textbooks should ensure the
values enshrined in our Constitution. Sentiments of any community or
religion should not be hurt.
1) After the World War 2, the strategy of the West towards Soviet block
crystallised as a Policy of Containment. Critically analyse. (200 Words)
The end of the political blockade by the United States allows Cuba a rare
opportunity to renew socialism.
2) The story of Bhopal of the 30 years of disaster is not that of
corporate crime alone but also that of the nexus between national
governments and transnational corporations; of state and capital. Discuss
(200 Words)
The story of "Bhopal" - of the 30 years of disaster - is not that of corporate
crime alone but also that of the nexus between national governments and
transnational corporations; of state and capital. And, irrespective of the
government in power, the nature of the state has not changed.
3) The end of the political blockade by the United States allows Cuba a rare
opportunity to renew socialism. What had led to the Cuban Missile crisis?
How will the recent developments towards thawing of mutual animosity
impact the Geo-political and Economic interests of both the nations. (200
Words)
The end of the political blockade by the United States allows Cuba a rare
opportunity to renew socialism.
4) The politics of exclusion of a number of states by putting restrictions on
people aspiring to contest local elections is unconstitutional and should be
re-looked. In the light of recent laws passed by states, analyse how they
affect the democratic nature of our polity.What should be done to achieve
the desired objectives? (200 Words)
On December 21, 2014, the Rajasthan government passed an ordinance
which barred illiterate candidates from contesting panchayat elections.
Earlier that month, on December 8, it had passed another ordinance that
made it compulsory for people contesting panchayat elections to have a
toilet in their house.

On the face of it, the laws appear progressive. But experts say that they are
just a mechanism used by state governments to keep institutions of local self
governance in check. The trend is not new and Rajasthan is not the only
state in the country to have passed such laws. On November 9, 2014,
Gujarat made voting compulsory in municipal and panchayat elections. The
law goes against an earlier provision of the same government which called
for electing local representatives by consensus, instead of polls. Under the
provision, titled Samras, a village gets Rs 10 lakh if panchayat members are
chosen through consensus.
The beginning of such laws can be traced to the late 1990s when several
states barred people having more than two children from contesting
municipal and panchayat elections. The rule was conceptualised as a
measure to check population. Whether it helped or not is yet to be assessed,
but many studies have indicated that marginalised classeswomen, dalits
and minoritieshave been targeted by such provisions. A study by Delhibased non-profit Hunger Project showed that till 2007, about 900 women in
Madhya Pradesh and 800 in Chhattisgarh had been disqualified for violating
the two-child norm.
We have documented hundreds of cases where elected women, dalits, and
people belonging to the minorities were made to resign. Cases of forced
abortion, abandonment of children, divorce, forging of birth certificates also
became rampant due to such laws, says Shaheena Parveen of Hunger
Project. The 73rd amendment of the Constitution ensured reservation of 50
per cent seats for women at the local level, but such provisions have come
under attack by draconian laws made by states, she adds.
Parveen is working in Bihar on issues
related to women empowerment. There are cases that substantiate her
point. In 2011, Rehana Khatoon, 35, was removed as ward councillor in
Patnas Phulwari Sharif municipality after the birth of her fourth child. I had
three daughters when I was elected ward councillor, says Rehana. Desiring
a boy, my husband compelled me to have another baby. Later, the state
election commission removed me from the post, she says.
In another case in Gaya district, a dalit woman representative was removed
in 2010 through a conspiracy by opposite parties. They forged documents to
show that the woman had had her third child after she got elected. But this
was not the case, says Parveen.

In 2005, the Union Ministry of Panachayti Raj issued an advisory to Madhya

Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Maharashtra,
Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Haryana to do away with the two-child policy.
But only Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have done so. In 2007, Bihar
too introduced the policy in urban local bodies, with the promise to include
such provision in panchayats.
Right to remove
Right to remove is another provision which has faced severe opposition. The
rule, which is in force in all the states of the country, empowers bureaucrats
to remove elected representatives on criminal or corruption charges, says S
C Behar, former chief secretary of Madhya Pradesh.
In the absence of clear guidelines, the rule is often used by bureaucrats, at
the behest of their political bosses, to target leaders belonging to opposition
parties. There are no defined regulations to implement this law, says
Amitabh Singh, a Bhopal-based social worker who studied the impact of the
provision. Bureaucrats make arbitrary rules and officials of sub-divisional
magistrate rank are empowered to remove elected representatives, he
says.

In 2010, while hearing the case of Sharda Kailash Mittal, who was removed
from the post of councillor in Madhya Pradeshs Muraina district on charges
of corruption, the Supreme Court termed the removal illegal. The judgement
pointed out that such laws are an insult to local democracy, says Singh.
During the British period, the government had the right to dissolve elected
bodies. This provision reminds one of that era, says Behar. After the 73rd
Amendment in 1993, states cannot keep local bodies in a dissolved state for
more than six months, but the removal provision has raised new questions,
Behar adds. Empowering bureaucrats to remove elected representatives
belittles the democratic process. Empowering gram sabhas to remove its
representatives would have been a better move, says Ved Bhardwaj of
Hunger Project. Madhya Pradesh has a similar provision in its panchayat rules
under which people can be allowed to recall their representatives to local
bodies. But the provision has not been implemented.
Power game

Yogesh Kumar of Bhopal-based non-profit Samarthan says such laws are

aimed at keeping local governance weak. The Centre does not want strong
states and the states do not want strong local bodies, says Kumar. We call
it a politics of exclusion, says Subhas Mendhapurkar, a Himachal Pradeshbased social activist working on local governance issues. The class which
wields power imposes its wishes to exclude those who are weak.
Experts also argue against the educational and compulsory voting provisions.
The literacy criterion is another way of telling women and tribal people not to
contest, says Renuka Pamecha of Jaipur-based non-profit Vividha. Nandana
Reddy, convener of Karnataka-based Gram Panchayat Hakkathay Andolan
goes a step further and says the rule is unconstitutional. Literacy certificate
is not the sole criterion of being intelligent, nor does it guarantee
incorruptibility, she says. Similarly, the compulsory voting provision of the
Gujarat government has not found much support. The decision is not going
to stand the test of law, says T R Raghunadan, former joint secretary in the
Union Ministry of Rural Development. It is constitutionally unacceptable. If I
have the right to vote, then I also have the right to not vote, he says.
B K Sinha, who is working for strengthening local governance in Bihar, offers
the clinching argument: Why doesnt the government implement such
provisions for MLAs and MPs?
5) The state governments inability to effectively enforce liquor prohibition in
Manipur over the last two decades and its need for additional revenue has
compelled it to mull over the option to lift the ban on alcohol in the state.
How will such a decision impact the people and the state? Analyse the pro
and cons of such a move keeping in mind the ground realities which exist in
the state. (200 Words)
The state governments inability to effectively enforce liquor prohibition in
Manipur over the last two decades and its need for additional revenue has
compelled it to mull over the option to lift the ban on alcohol in the state.
Lifting of the 17-year-old prohibition on alcohol in Mizoram, and the decision
of the Kerala government to implement a phased ban on alcohol in the state
in recent months, has brought the issue of prohibition in the limelight. The
former move is seen as a step towards curbing illicit liquor production and
consumption and generation of revenue for the state, while the latter is seen
as a move to gradually curb the selling and consumption of alcohol. Both
these states are ruled by the Congress party. The issue of prohibition has

come up for discussion in yet another Congress ruled state, with Manipur
recently signalling that it will reconsider its stance on prohibition, which has
been in place since 1991.
In July 2014, Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh stated in the Manipur state
assembly that the state government was looking at the option of lifting
prohibition in the state. He also suggested that the country liquor produced
in Manipur could be sold in other states, and he sought support across
political parties to implement the proposed plan. Voicing his opinion in the
assembly, the opposition member Th. Shyamkumar of All India Trinamool
Congress emphasised the easy availability of local liquor and its huge
consumption along with that of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL), which was
thriving in the state despite its dry state status.[i] He supported the chief
ministers proposal by stating that prohibition needs to be lifted, and the
focus should be on producing quality country liquor to be sold to other
states to strengthen the state economy.
Both the ruling and the opposition party seemed to be on the same platform
in regard to revoking the dry state status of Manipur. The ruling partys
intention has spurred a debate on the liquor policy in Manipur, and the
participants range from members of Meira Paibi a womens movement to
other civil society organisations to people who brew and sell country liquor.

The decade prior to the declaration of Manipur as a dry state in 1991

witnessed strong anti-liquor campaigns by various civil society
organisations. Meira Paibis spearheaded the movement to stop sale and
consumption of alcohol. The objective of the anti-alcohol movement was to
curb social evils like domestic violence resulting from alcoholism. With the
passing of the Liquor Prohibition Act in 1991, Manipur officially became a
dry state, with an exemption granted to scheduled caste (SC) and
scheduled tribe (ST) communities to brew liquor for traditional purposes.[ii]
The excise department was given the task to regulate and implement the
prohibition.
The alcohol business has thrived in Manipur irrespective of its dry state
status in the last two decades. Despite crackdowns by the excise
department and vigilantism practised by civil society groups, alcohol is freely
available in the black market. Other than locally brewed alcohol, which is
easily available, IMFL can be sourced from several places, including canteens

of Assam Rifles and Manipur Rifles.[iii] Foreign-made liquor is also smuggled

into Manipur from bordering states and from Myanmar via Tamu.[iv]
The indigenous alcohol industry the main source of country liquor
provides employment to many people. Interestingly, women are actively
involved in this industry. Illiteracy, lack of access to health services, and
poverty are some of the main reasons why they have taken to brewing
alcohol. This occupation is an age old one and is integral to their culture,
custom and tradition. A local from Namthanlong village in Imphal narrated
that the tradition of selling alcohol spanned several decades and narrated an
account where British, Japanese and Indian soldiers came by to drink country
liquor there during the Second World War.
For ST and SC communities, brewing liquor is to do with upholding their
customs and traditions, and they are allowed to do so under the 1991
Prohibition Act. But most of them are selling liquor illicitly to make ends
meet, as they have no alternative livelihood options to bank upon. The skills
they possess of weaving cloth, rearing cattles/pig etc do not provide them
with means to support their family. They are used to crackdowns and raids
by the excise department and civil society organisations.
Country liquor, which is made from rice, is popular among customers
because of its quality and affordability. However, the younger generation
prefers IMFL to country liquor. The reason for this shift could be attributed to
rising prosperity and exposure to drinking cultures prevalent in other parts of
India and the world. The rising demand for IMFL has led to an increase in its
smuggling from adjoining states Assam and Meghalaya and across the
border from Myanmar to Manipur. The government is toying with the
proposal of lifting prohibition in the state because of two reasons one, it is
unable to enforce prohibition and two, there is an urgent need to expand the
states economy. So far the sale of IMFL has not been made legal in Manipur
due to the strong opposition voiced by many civil society organisations.
Exercising vigilante justice, these organisations have resorted to punishing
both the vendors and consumers of alcohol. It was chiefly the civil societys
anti-alcohol drive which was instrumental in passing of the Prohibition Act by
the state in 1991.
Local response
Many locals in Namthanlong village, Imphal voiced their opinions about lifting
of prohibition and issuance of licenses to sell IMFL in Manipur. Many believed

that this move would result in opening of wine shops and possibly bars in the
state. They maintained that if this proposal came into effect, the indigenous
alcohol industry will be affected negatively. They held that the demand for
country liquor would dwindle eventually leading to a steep decline in its sale.
The state governments assurance of exporting country liquor to other states
finds no takers among the locals; they asserted that with youth preferring
IMFL over country liquor, the proposed market for country liquor is just lipservice. They were skeptical about the governments assurance that
employment would be generated with export of the local brew to other
states in the country.
However, a few people believed that introduction of IMFL would have little
effect on the indigenous alcohol industry as country liquor caters to a
different set of customers. There were also a few who opined that the civil
society organisations like Meira Paibis, which are very strong in the state, will
be vehemently opposed to the proposal of introducing IMFLs and lifting of
prohibition and would ensure that the government does not take such a step.
Before the state government takes concrete steps to revoke the dry state
status of Manipur, it should thoroughly analyse the pro and cons of such a
move keeping in mind the ground realities which exist in the state.
6) The fact that Section 498-A is a cognizable and non-bailable offence has
lent it a dubious place of pride amongst the provisions that are used as
weapons rather than shield by disgruntled wives. Critically analyse in the
light of recent Supreme Court judgement. (200 Words)
http://www.epw.in/system/files/pdf/2014_49/52/Fallacies_of_a_Supreme_Court
_Judgment.pdf
7) According to the latest NSSO survey data, about 52% of the agricultural
households are in debt, which has increased over the past decade. What are
the major reasons for the high indebtedness of the Indian Farmers? What
initiatives are required to be taken in order to improve the situation at
ground level? (200 Words)
The lot of the embattled Indian farmer only keeps on getting worse with the
passage of time. In the last 10 years, the voluminous debt of Indian
agricultural households has increased almost four-fold whereas their
undersized monthly income from cultivation has increased three-fold. Even
the number of indebted agricultural households has increased in the last 10

years. At the same time, there has been a micro-increment in the number of
agricultural households in India.
All this is according to the recent report of the National Sample Survey Office
(NSSO), released on December 19, 2014. The report, titled Situation
Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households in India, is based on a
countrywide survey of 35,000 households by NSSO during 2012-2013.
It states that 52 per cent of the total agricultural households in the country
are in debt. The average debt is Rs 47,000 per agricultural household in this
country, where the yearly income from cultivation per household is Rs
36,972.
The report comes after a gap of 10 years. The last Situation Assessment
Survey by the NSSO was for 2002-03. In that year, 48.6 per cent of
agricultural households were in debt. The average debt was Rs 12,585. And
the yearly income from cultivation per household was Rs 11,628. At the time,
India had a little less than 89.35 million agricultural households.
In fact, some think that the report may not even be reflecting the entire
truth. The NSSO survey gives us an idea of the existing situation but not the
clear picture. In my opinion, it is not just 52 per cent agricultural households
that are in debt but 80 per cent, says Devinder Sharma, a food analyst. If
you adjust for inflation, on an average 7 per cent every year, farmers
incomes have remained frozen in the past 10 years, says Sharma.
The other main takeaway from the NSSO report is that the debt is being
incurred by the the richer, more prosperous farmers. NSSO data shows that
richer agricultural states like Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab have the
highest average outstanding loans per agricultural household, whereas
poorer states like Assam, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh have the lowest
amount of average outstanding loans.
This is substantiated by the data which shows that among agricultural
households which possess less than 0.01 ha the share was only 15 per cent
of the total outstanding institutional loan, whereas for households which
possess more than 10 ha the share was about 79 per cent.
Reasons behind the rise

The question then is: why have farmers debts increased? Ashok Gulati,
former chairperson of Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP),
thinks outstanding loans to farmers are natural because of increasing
intensification in agriculture. As the intensification of agriculture increases,
so does the loan.
The loan would be in the form of working capital, else the fixed capital will
increase, says Gulati.
Others believe that this report is like the one in 2002-2003 and brings out
the same systemic problems. They add that India has not learnt anything in
the past one decade. One such issue is investment in the sector. Even as
agriculture has intensified, investment in it is very less. Even the yearly
agriculture budget is not more than that of the flagship employment
guarantee programme, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
The current years budget of agriculture was nearly Rs 31,000 crore while
the MGNREGA budget was nearly Rs 34,000 crore. If we see the seven-year
budget, the ministry budget was never more than MGNREGA, says Sharma.
According to A note on Trends in Public Investment in India by S Mahendra
Dev, Director, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, the
share of private investment in total investment in agriculture increased
significantly over time from about 50 per cent in the early 1980s to 80 per
cent in the decade of the 2000s. In other words, the share of public
investment declined from 50 per cent to 20 per cent during the same period.
The public sector investment showed a negative growth in the 1980s and
1990s and a growth of 15 per cent in the 2000s. On the other hand, growth
rate of private investment increased gradually from 2.5 per cent in the 1980s
to 4.1 per cent in the 1990s and 52 per cent in the 2000s.
Another reason debt has increased is that market price of agricultural
produce is not commensurate with rising input cost. Dev says that two-thirds
of farmers do not get minimum support price (MSP) for their crops and are
compelled to sell their crops at lower rates in the open market.
Seventy-five per cent of farmers in India sell in the open market at lower
than fixed MSP. Only the farmers of Punjab and Haryana get MSP. The
situation of other states is deplorable, says Dev. For instance, in 2009,

when I was the chairperson of CACP, in states like Bihar, farmers used to get
Rs 700- Rs 800 for paddy when the MSP was fixed at Rs 1,000.
The reason for farmers not being able to get MSP, according to the NSSO
data, is that large numbers of them are not even aware of it. As per the data,
only 32 per cent of paddy farmers are aware of MSP. But even then, less than
half are able to sell their produce in government procurement centres.
In collusion with local traders and commission agents, government agencies
delay in starting procurement centres by 30 to 50 days. In between, farmers
sell their produce to traders at lower than minimum price, says Yudhveer
Singh, a farmers leader.

Gopal Naik, who teaches agro-economy at IIM Bangalore, feels that total
collapse of agriculture extension centres could also be the reason behind the
outstanding loans and poor conditions of farmers. The agriculture extension
centres have collapsed. At one time, they were helping and guiding farmers
in a number of situations like making the best use of pesticide, fertiliser
consumption and modern tech, and making them aware of MSP and the
nearest procurement centres, he says. Now farmers depend on dealers and
sellers of pesticide for all that, which results in losses and non-profitability,
he adds.
Skewed debt
Naik believes the loan-waiving culture of the government also fuels
continuation of outstanding loans. Government policies are uncertain and
increase the tendency of not repaying loans. It can also be a reason of
increasing outstanding loans.encourage non-repayment of loans. The big
land holders have high outstanding loans because they can easily access
credit from institutions. They can access loan for other activities like setting
poultry and other farms and wait till the government waives their loans,
says Naik.
The data shows that about 60 per cent of the outstanding loans were taken
from institutional sources which included government (2.1 per cent),
cooperative societies (14.8 per cent) and banks (42.9 per cent). But while the
big farmers can afford to take loans, the small farmers still have no access to
them.

Credit from institutional sources is still a dream for small and marginal
farmers, says Jasveer Singh, a Bengaluru-based senior researcher who
works on agricultural labourers issues. Anshuman Das, an activist who works
with small farmers in Jharkhand, thinks that while they do not get
institutional loans, they help in maintaining food security of the country.
The small farmers practise farming which is different from that of big land
holders. They try to keep investment low and innovate. For this, they do not
access institutions for loans but are still dependent on non-institutional
money lenders, says Das.
The increasing debt and its skewed nature are surely driving many farmers
away from agriculture. Agricultural house-holds are moving away to
livestock, other agricultural activities, non-agricultural enterprises and wage
employment. Data shows that 37 per cent of agricultural households no
longer have agriculture as their principal source of income.
The contribution of agriculture in Indias GDP is nearly 18 per cent and it
provides employment to nearly 56 per cent of the total workforce of the
country. Despite this, as the NSSO report shows, the sector is no longer the
first preference of rural households in India. It is heading towards a huge
debt crisis and will need serious policy intervention instead of an ad-hoc
approach.
IF Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan is to be believed, efforts
to help Indian farmers by providing them with cheap(er) credit and relieving
them of an unsustainable debt burden only harms them in the long run. In
his speech delivered at the annual conference of the Indian Economic
Association, Rajan is reported to have advanced a number of counterintuitive
arguments and raised a number of unusual questions on farm debt.
The first was that when governments in the States or at the Centre intervene
in periods of distress (resulting from damage due to floods, cyclones or
drought, for example) by requiring banks to waive farm debt with promise of
official support, they end up restricting credit flow to agriculture. Banks
become reluctant to lend to farmers because they fear that those new loans
too would be written off. Moreover, as happened with loans that were written
off when governments in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh declared loan
waivers when cyclone Phailin ravaged the region last year, the promise of
official support may not be kept. While the Telangana government did deliver
the mandated 25 per cent of the loan amount written off by the banks,

Andhra Pradesh has thus far not done so. This, in the governors view, would
only increase the reticence of the banks to lend. Clearly in his view, the
government cannot influence the behaviour of even banks that are publicly
owned, even though it seems to be able to force them to lend huge amounts
to privately operated infrastructure projects in areas varying from power to
civil aviation.
Second, there is, according to the governor, reason to believe that when debt
waiver schemes are implemented they are afflicted by significant errors of
inclusion and exclusion, providing benefits to those who are not eligible and
bypassing some who should be benefited. To illustrate this view, he refers to
the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report that found that in 2008
when the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government implemented an
Agricultural Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme, which provided debt relief
to the tune of Rs.52,516 crore, there were several instances when ineligible
farmers were given the benefit and eligible ones were ignored. Suggesting
that this evidence pointed to the possibility of fraud, the governor has
argued against such schemes. The strategy seems to be one of avoiding the
possibility of fraud rather than one of detecting and penalising fraud.
Finally, the governor argued that cheap and subsidised credit to the farm
sector in the form of short-term crop loans rather than long-term loans for
investment may be diverting credit away from capital formation with
attendant adverse consequences for productivity, even while the
indebtedness of farmers increases.
The thrust of these arguments seems to be that the policy adopted after
bank nationalisation, of directing credit to the priority sectors at reasonable
interest rates, with 18 per cent of total advances mandated to be provided to
the agricultural sector, should be revisited. It may be better to leave it to
banks to decide whether credit should be provided to the agricultural sector,
and if so to which activities and at what interest rate. Implicit in that view is
the perception that forced lending to agriculture has not only resulted in a
sharp expansion of credit to the farm sector, but also in indebtedness of a
kind that demands periodic debt waiver and relief schemes at the expense of
bank balance sheets and productive investment.
This amounts to turning hitherto received wisdom on its head. The policy of
directing credit to agriculture was adopted because evidence on the eve of
bank nationalisation pointed to the near-complete exclusion of agriculture

from bank credit. Despite accounting for as much as a third of the gross
domestic product (GDP) and more than two-thirds of total employment in the
mid-1960s, agriculture received around 2 per cent of total bank credit
advanced. Nationalisation was seen as breaking the control of the business
groups over much of the banking system which was seen as explaining this
exclusion of agriculture from bank credit flows, which went largely to the
corporate sector. It was also seen as creating conditions that ensured that it
was not just profit but the development objectives of the government that
were served by the banking system.
The evidence shows that with public ownership, the target of directing 40 per
cent of total credit to the priority sectors and the sub-target of channelling
18 per cent of total credit to agriculture were soon achieved. The change in
ownership had clearly transformed bank behaviour to yield the intended
result. Yet, in 1991, the first Narasimham Committee on the Financial System
recommended that the directed credit programme should be phased out, the
priority sector redefined and its share in total credit reduced from 40 to not
more than 10 per cent. The justification provided was largely that the
directed credited programme was adversely affecting profitability and
contributing disproportionately to the non-performing assets of the banking
sector.
Even though this recommendation of the Narasimham Committee was not
accepted by the Reserve Bank of India and the government, liberalisation of
the bank licensing policy after 1991 saw a reduction in the number of rural
branches and a decline in the share of commercial banks in outstanding
agricultural credit from about 61 per cent of total agricultural credit in 199091 to around 26 per cent in 1999-2000. Reform seemed to have encouraged
banks to withdraw from the direction pursued until then.
Interestingly, after 2004 the trend changed sharply with the share of
commercial banks in agricultural credit rising once again to reach 58 per cent
by 2010-11. However, as Pallavi Chavan has underlined, there was one major
difference in the trends in bank credit to agriculture in the years prior to and
after 2004. In the period between 1973-74 and 1997-98, while the ratio of
agricultural credit to agricultural GDP rose from around 10 to around 25 per
cent, the ratio of capital formation in agriculture to agricultural GDP also rose
from around 6.5 per cent to 8 per cent of GDP. While the divergence between
the two ratios had increased, the increase in credit was also supporting
increased investments in agriculture. However, starting from the end of the

1990s, while the ratio of agricultural credit to agricultural GDP shot up from
around 25 per cent to about 73 per cent by 2010-11, the ratio of capital
formation in agriculture to agricultural GDP rose only from around 8 to 17 per
cent. This huge increase in divergence implied that far more money was
going to non-productive purposes. This was also a period when agricultural
GDP was rising at a slow 2.8 per cent per annum. The boom in bank credit to
agriculture was contributing only marginally to capital formation and growth.
One reason is because, as suggested by the Narasimham Committee, the
notion of priority sector credit was redefined, with new areas such as lending
to input providers (such as seed suppliers), warehouses and microfinance
institutions being treated as indirect finance to agriculture. Even though
indirect finance to agriculture could only amount to 25 per cent of the
agricultural lending sub-target of 18 per cent (or 4.5 per cent of total
advances), any such lending in excess of 4.5 per cent could be included
when computing achievement of the 40 per cent aggregate priority sector
requirement. This opened a set of relatively lucrative lending avenues that
could serve to meet the priority sector lending target. According to Pallavi
Chavan, the share of indirect credit in total agricultural credit more than
doubled from 21.5 per cent in 1991-92 to 48.1 per cent by 2007-08. Thus, if
there is any distortion in the distribution of agricultural credit, it seems to
result from the liberalisation of policy rather than from excessive
intervention.
What is also remarkable is that despite the boom in bank credit to
agriculture, the access to credit in the rural areas still remains limited.
According to the recently released results of the All India Debt and
Investment Survey conducted by the National Sample Survey Organisation,
as on June 30, 2012, there were only 31.4 per cent of households in rural
India that were exposed to debt. That was not very much higher than the
26.5 per cent recorded in the previous survey relating to 2002. Moreover, 19
per cent of the rural households obtained credit from non-institutional
sources and only 17 per cent from institutional sources (including banks).
Clearly, the perception that rural households have been forced into excess
indebtedness because of availability of cheap bank credit seems to be
overstated.
What is more, an analysis of the class-wise distribution of the incidence of
indebtedness shows that while the incidence varied between 19.7 and 27.5
per cent in the lowest four deciles classified in terms of the size of asset

holding, the average debt of each of the households in these deciles varied
from just Rs.40,000 to Rs.50,000. On the other hand, the incidence of debt in
households in the richest decile in terms of assets was 41.3 per cent, with
the average debt of indebted households placed at Rs.2.7 lakh. Not
surprisingly, while the percentage of households indebted to institutional
sources was placed at 7.9 and 7.4 per cent respectively in the poorest asset
classes, the figure stood at 32.6 for the richest asset class. On the other
hand, in terms of exposure to non-institutional debt, the figures were 14 and
17 per cent in the poorest asset classes and 15.3 per cent in the richest.
Poorer households were being forced to rely disproportionately on noninstitutional sources for credit.
In sum, what the evidence seems to suggest is that the problem in rural India
is not one of too much credit to poor households that leads to debt waiver
schemes that damage bank balance sheets, but that of inadequate access to
credit from formal sources. If rural credit needs to be revisited, it must be to
expand credit access rather than to restrict it because of excessive
indebtedness. Moreover, it appears that when banks are given greater
freedom, they lend far less for capital formation rather than much more. And
the size of the loans involved is clearly small change when compared with
the loans handed out to those in the corporate sector who are increasingly
being seen as wilful defaulters. As the governor has flagged on another
occasion, those large wilful defaulters see the restructuring of debt which
they have stopped servicing as their right rather than (as ostensibly in the
case of debt waiver schemes) a favour from the government or the Reserve
Bank of India.
8) Market reform, investment subsidies, and better overall public service
provision and good governance are the key to tap the huge potential of the
Food processing industry in India. In light of statement discuss the problems
faced by the industry. Also suggest ways to address them. (200 Words)
http://www.epw.in/system/files/pdf/2014_49/52/The_New_and_Changing_Role
s_of_Cold_Storages_in_the_Potato_Supply_Chain_in_Bihar.pdf
Topic: Citizens Charter
9) Merely announcing Citizens charter will not change the way we
function.Its important to create conditions for a responsive climate. Discuss
the above statement in the context of Indian Administration. (200 Words)

General

Topic: Ethics & Human Interface: Essence,Determinants,consequences of

Ethics in Human Actions
10) Refugees are not identified as participants in ethical debates concerning
their own fortunes. Illustrate (200 Words)
General
Topic: Corporate Governance.
11) Discuss the recommendations of the Narayan Murthy Committee on
Corporate Governance. (200 Words)
Narayana Murthy panel report on corporate governance Is whistle
blower policy practical?
Rabindra Nath Sinha
KOLKATA, April 7
THE whistle blower policy recommended in the recent report of SEBI's
committee on corporate governance and Clause 49 of the Listing Agreement,
which was headed by Mr N.R. Narayana Murthy, Chairman and chief mentor
of Infosys Technologies, seems to have evoked the sharpest response from
veteran company secretaries, who have studied the key suggestions in
detail.
In fact, judging by what they have to say, it is apparent that this particular
recommendation, which is intended to curb unethical and improper practices
in corporates, is being singled out by company law experts as simply
impractical.
What is `whistle blower' policy? It is an internal policy on access to audit
committees. What is the committee's recommendation? Personnel who come
to know about unethical or improper practices, which may not necessarily be
a violation of law, should be able to approach the company's audit
committee "without necessarily informing their supervisors".

The committee wants corporates to take steps to see that this right of access
is communicated to all employees through internal circulars. Further, a
company's employment and personnel policy should provide a mechanism to
protect whistle blowers from "unfair termination and other unfair, prejudicial
employment practices."
Senior company secretaries Business Line spoke to said that this
recommendation, if implemented, would be instrumental in breeding
indiscipline as most likely the audit committee would be flooded with
frivolous complaints and minor issues. Many complainants might go by their
personal likes and dislikes and thus the possibility of the right of access to
the audit committee being misused would always be there.
They noted that the committee had not said anything on providing evidence
in support of a complaint, disclosure of the identity of the complainant and
the maximum number of complaints that an employee could make in a year.
Elimination of unethical or improper practices is the responsibility of
respective corporate promoters and management, for which they have to put
in place systems for efficient administration and transparent transactions.
Much also depends on the environment in which corporates operate and the
policies that govern their operations. A whistle blower policy can't be a
foolproof safeguard against unethical and improper practices, they contend.
The recommendation regarding composition of an audit committee has given
rise to confusion. While this panel has suggested that audit committee
members should be non-executive directors, the Naresh Chandra committee
that preceded it suggested that only independent directors should be on
audit committee. The reality is that while all independent directors are nonexecutive directors it is not so vice versa.
Regarding contingent liabilities, it has been suggested that management's
views thereon and auditor's comments on management's views should be
given in the annual report.
According to senior company secretaries, there are instances where
contingent liability cannot be ascertained, such as, labour disputes, court
cases etc. As the description suggests, it's all contingent upon future
developments and, therefore, it can't be proper for a management to pass a
judgement about the risk involved. Ideally, a management should only give
the background of a contingent liability.

The Narayana Murthy panel is for restricting the tenure of non-executive

directors to three terms of three years each, running continuously. The
Naresh Chandra panel said that after a nine year-term the director would not
be considered independent, but surely the concerned person would be able
to continue as a non-executive director.
Company secretaries make two points: If the intention is to follow the Naresh
Chandra committee's suggestion, the Narayana Murthy panel's
recommendation should be redrafted. Representatives of a promoter remain
on the board of a company as non-independent directors. The
recommendation now made rules out continuation of promoter-directors on
the board beyond nine years at a stretch.
It needs to be clarified whether a partner of an audit firm or a solicitor's firm
can be treated as an independent director of a company if his firm is the
auditor or legal advisor of another company in the same group. THE
Narayana Murthy committee on corporate governance also discussed reports
brought out from time to time by security analysts and the media, specially
the financial press.
As for reports of security analysts, the committee has desired SEBI to make
rules for:
* Disclosure whether the company that is being written about is a client of
the analyst's employer or an associate of the analyst's employer, and the
nature of services rendered to such company, if any
* Disclosure whether the analyst or the analyst's employer or an associate of
the analyst's employer hold or held (in the 12 months immediately preceding
the date of the report) or intend to hold any debt or equity instrument in the
issuer company that is the subject matter of the report of the analyst.
Regarding scrutiny of the media, particularly the financial press, it has
observed the committee considered views expressed by members.
The Press Council of India has prescribed a code of conduct for the financial
media. However, verifying adherence to the code is difficult. A detailed
review by SEBI on the subject is desirable, keeping in mind issues such as
transparency and disclosures, conflicts of interest, etc. before making any
rule. SEBI should consider having a discussion with the representatives of the
media, specially the financial press.

N.R Narayan Murthy Committee

With the belief that the efforts to improve corporate governance standards in
India must continue because these standards themselves were evolving in
keeping with the market dynamics, the Securities and Exchange Board of
India (SEBI) had constituted a Committee on Corporate Governance in 2002 ,
in order to evaluate the adequacy of existing corporate governance practices
and further improve these practices. It was set up to review Clause 49, and
suggest measures to improve corporate governance standards.
The SEBI Committee was constituted under the Chairmanship of Shri N. R.
Narayana Murthy, Chairman and Chief Mentor of Infosys Technologies
Limited. The Committee comprised members from various walks of public
and professional life. This included captains of industry, academicians, public
accountants and people from financial press and industry forums.
The terms of reference of the committee were to:

review the performance of corporate governance; and

determine the role of companies in responding to rumour and other

price sensitive information circulating in the market, in order to
enhance the transparency and integrity of the market.

The issues discussed by the committee primarily related to audit

committees, audit reports, independent directors, related parties, risk
management, directorships and director compensation, codes of conduct and
financial disclosures.
The committee's recommendations in the final report were selected based on
parameters including their relative importance, fairness, accountability,
transparency, ease of implementation, verifiability and enforceability.
The key mandatory recommendations focused on:

strengthening the responsibilities of audit committees;

improving the quality of financial disclosures, including those related to

related party transactions and proceeds from initial public offerings;

requiring corporate executive boards to assess and disclose business

risks in the annual reports of companies;

introducing responsibilities on boards to adopt formal codes of

conduct; the position of nominee directors; and

stock holder approval and improved disclosures relating to

compensation paid to non-executive directors.

Non-mandatory recommendations included:

moving to a regime where corporate financial statements are not

qualified;

instituting a system of training of board members; and

evaluation of performance of board members.

As per the committee, these recommendations codify certain standards of

'good governance' into specific requirements, since certain corporate
responsibilities are too important to be left to loose concepts of fiduciary
responsibility. Their implementation through SEBI's regulatory framework will
strengthen existing governance practices and also provide a strong incentive
to avoid corporate failures.
The Committee noted that the recommendations contained in their report
can be implemented by means of an amendment to the Listing Agreement,
with changes made to the existing clause 49.
1) The changes which the Brititsh colonisation brought in the Indian Society
were irreversible and formed the basis of nationalism. Analyse what changes
in Indian society occurred due to colonisation and how it helped in growth of
Indian nationalism. (200 Words)
2) The history of Indias National Family Welfare Program teaches us that
while the state can do a lot to try and create the conditions for demographic
change, most demographic variables are ultimately matters of economic,
social and cultural change. Critically analyse. (200 Words)
3) It is a concern that the lowest child sex ratios are found in the most
prosperous regions of India. Discuss the causes for the low child sex ratio
and its effects on the Indian society. (150 Words)
http://www.epw.in/system/files/SA_L_1_030115_Sanchita_Bakshi_Arunish_Cha
wla_Mihir_Shah.pdf

As one of the worlds most socially heterogeneous societies, building

solidarity across social groups has been a singular challenge in India. Social
bias in India is pervasive across a range of key cleavages whether caste or
class, region or religion.
In this piece we discuss a different social bias, not between different castes
and religions but within all castes and religions, namely gender. Last week,
while launching the beti bachao, beti padhao initiative, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi called female foeticide a mental illness ailing the whole
country. We cannot call ourselves citizens of 21st century by practising such
a crime, he said. His comments describe the distressing persistence of
female foeticide in contemporary India and underscore the broader scourge
of gender bias in Indian society.
One might have expected that the major societal changes that have
occurred over the past three decades improvements in literacy and levels
of education, rapid economic growth, and urbanisation would have led to a
decline in gender bias. While there is undoubtedly some improvement in the
gender gap, the growing sex ratio problem and continued gender-based
violence reveal just how far India still has to travel to bring dignity to half its
population.
We focus on two different issues related to gender bias son preference and
norms on appropriate attire for women, which can be a form of social control.
Between 2001 and 2011, the infant (0-6 years) sex ratio in India dropped
from 927 females per 1,000 males to 914. In an attempt to understand the
underlying attitudes which are behind Indias falling sex ratio, we asked Lok
Survey respondents about their preference for the gender of their child.
Respondents were asked the following question: For your family, is having
more boys than girls preferred?
Overall, 34 per cent of respondents readily admitted that their family
preferred having more boys. Given the sensitive nature of this question, this
number is a lower bound since some people will undoubtedly give socially
desirable responses. In order to estimate the true levels of son preference,
we ran a list experiment which protects the anonymity of the survey
responses. The respondents were randomly divided into two groups, given a
list of statements, and then asked the number of statements with which they
agreed. Only half of respondents were given a statement about son
preference, and therefore, we were able to estimate the share of

respondents who agreed to the sensitive statement by comparing the means

of the two respondent groups. Using this technique, we found that once
granted the cloak of anonymity, 48 per cent of respondents have a
preference for sons in their family.
Son preference is widespread across Indian society with little variance across
income classes, education levels, and rural/ urban areas.
Rather, what matters most is region. Inter-State variation on this issue
exceeds variation on any other social cleavage in Indian society. The NorthWestern States do poorly, as expected, with Haryana (78 per cent) and Delhi
(65 per cent) topping the list. Haryana and Delhi also had the largest gap
between how people responded directly and how they responded in the
experimental question, demonstrating that despite the high levels of son
preference in those places, there is a social taboo in openly admitting it.
Madhya Pradesh (59 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (58 per cent), and Punjab (55
per cent) also reported high levels of son preference in the experimental
question and Kerala (15 per cent) reported the lowest. There was a strong
correlation between the State-wise son preference as revealed in the
experiment and the actual sex ratios of the States, suggesting that these
attitudes are manifesting in sex-selective behaviours.
While son preference is manifest evidence of gender bias in the early years
of childhood, there are many additional forms of bias and social control that
women face throughout their lives, such as suitable occupations or
suitable marriage partners. These are life-altering choices. But one
dimension that is pervasive in the daily lives of young women is social
control on what women wear. The survey explored this aspect by asking:
Would you consider (the following clothing choices) inappropriate for young
women in your neighbourhood when they go out with friends?
The part of the question in brackets was replaced by a type of clothing like
pants and shirt or shorts. Although we first considered asking about
young women in your household instead of in your neighbourhood in the
pilot, we found that the question provoked conflicts in respondent
households, which led us to rephrase the question. Clearly the question was
fraught because young women are trying to make their own choices
instead of pliantly accepting what they are told is appropriate.
Seventy seven per cent of respondents felt that pants and shirt were
inappropriate for young women and 92 per cent felt that shorts were

inappropriate. However, there was a large difference between rural and

urban respondents on this question, with 85 per cent of rural respondents
disapproving of pants and shirt compared to 60 per cent of urban
respondents. We attempted to understand which household attributes might
drive respondents to report less restrictive attitudes on womens clothing
using multivariate regression analysis. Contrary to our finding on son
preference, attitudes on womens dress were driven by income, urbanisation
and education. Ascriptive identities like caste and religion played a less
significant role in how people evaluated the appropriateness of womens
clothing. In urban areas the income level of the household was the single
most important factor impacting how respondents evaluated the
appropriateness of clothing. For city dwellers, 65 per cent of the poorest
families did not think that pants were appropriate for young women
compared to 50 per cent of those with the highest incomes in our sample.
Conservative views on female attire are less prevalent amongst the more
urban, wealthy, and educated members of Indian society, which may come
as no surprise. The acceptance of different types of womens attire is not just
about patriarchy, it is also related to social status. Clothing is a marker of
consumption, and adopting Western modes of attire is often used to signal
status in urban areas.
As with son preference, there is significant regional variation in how families
perceive the appropriateness of pants and shirt for young women. Goa (23
per cent disapproved) and Odisha (61 per cent) were the most open to
women wearing pants. Although the smaller sample size for Goa data may
have affected the results, the numbers for Goa are not too different than
those for Mumbai. Haryana (88 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (88 per cent) and
Bihar (86 per cent) were the least open. There were large differences in how
respondents in major metro areas responded to the question. In Mumbai only
28 per cent of people thought that pants and shirt were inappropriate for
young women compared to the 61 per cent in Delhi and 54 per cent in
Kolkata.
Shameful reality
Gender discrimination in India is undoubtedly one of the countys most
shameful social realities. It is not just that it is inequitable and unfair; quite
simply, any society where half the population suffers from social bias has
already hobbled itself and its future. Although urban Indians are gradually

showing more openness in their attitudes on womens attire, this is not the
case on the critical issue of son preference, an attitude that remains deeply
rooted in Indias family ideals and social structure across a wide cross-section
of society.
Clearly economic growth does not appear to be sufficient to remove the
social incentives for having fewer daughters. Without frontally addressing
some norms and structures, and fundamentally delegitimising gender bias in
wider social discourse, there is little reason to believe that India will see a
reversal in male child preferences in the foreseeable future.
4) The resorting of Central banks to unconventional monetary policies to
ward off recession and deflation has caused serious problems for Emerging
economies like India. In the light of the Fed Quantitative Easing followed by
latest decision of the EU critically examine how such policies impact India?
(200 Words)
Even as the global economy grapples with the after-effects of the U.S.
Federal Reserves quantitative easing (QE) programme and its withdrawal,
QE is back with a bang again, this time from Europe. Though it was expected,
the scale of the European Central Banks (ECB) bond-buying programme,
declared last week, stunned markets, economists and central banks across
the world. As per the terms of the programme, beginning March the ECB will
buy as much as 1.1 trillion euros worth of bonds from eurozone governments
over 18 months. The programme will last till September 2016 or until there is
a sustained adjustment in the path of inflation. The planned infusion of
cash into the eurozone is double the size of what the markets expected, and
the ECB has said it would continue to buy government debt until inflation
rose to a targeted level of near 2 per cent. It is not surprising, then, that
bond prices rallied and the euro fell by 2 per cent versus the dollar to the
weakest level seen in over 11 years. ECB president Mario Draghi has pointed
to the deflationary trends in the eurozone exacerbated by falling oil prices
as justification for the QE programme, which is bound to raise the hackles
of central banks in emerging economies that were impacted by the U.S.
stimulus and its withdrawal.
The ECB now joins the Fed, the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan in the
list of central banks of developed economies that resorted to unconventional
monetary policies to ward off recession and deflation. While such policies
may or may not work for them, they certainly are a cause for serious

problems for emerging economies such as India. The effect of the withdrawal
of the U.S. stimulus programme on Indias markets, currency and the
economy is well-documented. The inflation in stock prices driven by
generous capital flows and the subsequent problems when the bubble was
pricked are too well known for elaboration. And that is precisely why Reserve
Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan questioned the extended application
of unconventional monetary policies; in a public speech last year, he decried
the competitive monetary easing by developed economies without regard
to how it affects other countries. Already, Switzerland and Denmark have felt
the impact of the ECB stimulus; the Swiss National Bank was forced to delink
the franc from the euro last week leading to a massive jump in its value
overnight, while Denmark had to cut rates to maintain its currencys peg with
the euro. The EU is Indias largest trading partner and any depreciation of the
euro will affect exporters even as there is the likelihood of strong capital
flows into the Indian markets, driving up asset prices. It is time to brace for
volatility, once again
5) The US presidents visit is important fom the perspective of furthering
bilateral ties, as it is to show the world that India is ready to play a central
role well beyond its borders. What are the important areas of collaboration
between the two nations and how will it impact Indias interests? (200 Words)
Beyond the immediate present
There is a peculiar appropriateness about this January 26 for this day links
up the past with the present and this present is seen to grow out of that
past. This was the central argument in Jawaharlal Nehrus message to the
nation prior to the inauguration of the Republic in 1950. That the day itself
was of great significance is hardly contestable. It demonstrated the
fulfilment to a dream, as Nehru put it. It was to communicate an
achievement accomplished by no other nation in the modern world. History,
as Nehru argued, was full of examples of the chaos giving birth to the
dancing star of freedom. India was an exception. On the whole, the great
change that ushered Independence had taken place by agreement. This is
perhaps the single most important fact that connects India and the United
States. This was as true in 1947 as it is today. It was not just that India won
her independence from colonialism, but that she did so minus violent
rebellion. Similarly, its not just that India is the largest democracy in the
world that attracts American entrepreneurs and political leaders today, but

that it is a democracy able to absorb huge amounts of variance and remain

largely steady.
Opportunities created by history
The invitation to President Barack Obama to be the chief guest at the 66th
Republic Day is both a reflection of something bold and at the same time
unsurprising, when understood in historical context. Bold because concerns
about perception and the bogeyman of empire matter little to a Prime
Minister more interested in the future than in history. Unsurprising because
much like Nehrus message in 1950, the relationship between India and the
U.S. too is an example of how the present has in fact grown out of the past.
Most commentators have preferred to look at the opportunity of today.
Nuclear agreements, defence contracts and export control laws absorb the
headlines and for good reason.
At the same time, there is a historicity that has been lost in debating the
immediate. More obvious explanations such as the change in leadership in
India and a general transformation in the mood of the country appear to
explain Mr. Obamas special visit. In fact, the close relations in the present
are but the palpable outcome of almost 70 years of crises, understanding,
and dialogue. That Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been able to capitalise
on opportunities created by history is a feat. But this history is worth
remembering as we look to celebrate our Republic and better understand
why the U.S. Presidents attendance on this January 26 is less shocking than
otherwise suggested.
Funny People. This is how President Dwight Eisenhower once described
Indians. The chief of Army Staff turned President could not bring himself to
trust India. They were, after all, led, according to him, by a personality of
unusual contradictions. Nehrus India remained paradoxical to an entire
generation of American Presidents, businessmen, and even journalists. India
was a democracy but believed in giving the Peoples Republic of China a
place in the United Nations Security Council. It accepted military assistance
from the U.S. during the war with China without once saying thank you.
When a group of American and British military officials and diplomats arrived
in New Delhi to meet the Prime Minister in the third week of November 1962,
Nehru, as one American in the group recollected, was withdrawn. The snub
aside, President Kennedy was found more understanding. Curiously, he
accepted that America was wrong to expect a gracious nation: India was

simply too self aware as a new born democracy to cede any space even if
only by way of rhetoric that risked jeopardising the freedom it fought so
hard to win. Whether it is Kennedy, his successor Lyndon Johnson, or Richard
Nixon after, American leaders well understood that India could not be pushed
around.
This was a period of learning. Indians were no longer funny in the sense
Eisenhower once quipped. The paradoxes slowly came to be accepted as
fact: India would be moved by her own interests. Of the 12 U.S. Presidents
who have dealt with India since 1947, Nixon gratingly internalised this the
quickest. During Indira Gandhis visit to the U.S. in 1971, Nixon invested in
silly ploys to put both her and India in its place. He kept her waiting for 45
minutes to demonstrate a kind of one-upmanship, as an aide later wrote.
That he intently disliked Mrs. Gandhi was clear. After all, whilst Nixon worked
with Pakistan to break the ice with China, India would not let him ignore the
atrocities committed in and around Dacca. Interestingly, following the 1971
war, Henry Kissinger was quick to admit that the White House backed the
wrong horse on the subcontinent.
Mrs. Gandhi too realised that it was imperative to seek new ties and cut
across old rigidities. Whether it was her or Rajiv Gandhi, the relationship
was found changing well before the collapse of the Soviet Union. The end of
the Cold War merely provided the space for something structural to allow a
period of engagement to what was already acceptable to Indian leaders and
populations alike. Such change was premised on an understanding that the
dancing stars of democracy that survived the Cold War left nothing to
chance. Unlike the U.Ss relationship with France or Britain, there was a
rough edge to an advance with India where disagreement and come-back
incrementally invested in strategic resilience. Such resilience is what has
allowed Mr. Modi to envisage a future with America, despite disagreements
over a whole range of issues whether at the World Trade Organization or to
do with insurance liabilities.
Chalein Saath Saath . This is of course the professed joint vision shared by
both Mr. Modi and Mr. Obama. Such agreed rhetoric was unthinkable at the
time of Nixon and Gandhi or Nehru and Kennedy. After all, the first four
decades following Independence was about investing in what might be
considered a mutual fund, the dividends of which facilitated the
transformational changes witnessed between the late 1990s till 2014. Prime
Ministers Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh essentially used this

fund to their advantage. By 2004, when the Congress-led government was

elected to power, the Bush administration was clear that India was a
strategic prize. The sanctions imposed by the Clinton Presidency following
Indias nuclear tests were a mere detail in the fog of history. The idea was to
now transform the relationship into something deeper that would allow both
these outsized democracies to walk more firmly together. The nuclear
agreement achieved this. Despite three years of intense debate and at times
hopeless attempts at a breakthrough, not to mention the near disintegration
of the Congress-led coalition, it unlocked, as then Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice put it, a new and far broader world of potential for India
and America. In a sense, the agreement did something more than realise
potential. It led to a makeover in the relationship, whilst clearly recognising
that the Indian star only dances to its own tune. In short, the Bush White
House conceded a lot more than what many of its critics thought a prize was
worth.
Prior to 2014, the focus of the relationship between India and the U.S. was
primarily dependent upon a fund that conditioned bilateral transactions. The
rules governing the fund was equally shaped by a mix of old and new biases
and prejudices that informed the way in which capital was built and
dividends distributed. A degree of distance was important for Indian officials
should China or even Pakistan feel betrayed by unlimited levels of U.S.-India
market capitalisation. For the present government, these rules no longer
matter. Free market politics is what seems to motivate Mr. Modi. Mr. Obamas
attendance on this January 26 is as important from the perspective of
furthering bilateral ties, as it is to show the world that India is ready to play a
central role well beyond its borders. Yet, like many funds, levels of interest
may change depending upon the managers at the helm, but the basis on
which capital is built ought not to be ignored. This is especially moot when
considering a role in the world alongside an older democracy that
understands funds and interests better than most.
(Dr. Rudra Chaudhuri is Senior Lecturer, Kings College London and author of
Forged in Crisis: India and the United States Since 1947 .)
During the five-year period 2003-08, even as the world economy was
barrelling along, three countries accounted for about half of the cumulative
increase in global economic growth. These were, as one might have guessed,
China, the United States and India. Over the next few years, the world
economy is virtually certain not to repeat its performance of that period. It is

also quite clear, based on current and projected patterns, that these three
economies will have as significant, if not larger, share of the global increase
in gross domestic product (GDP) during this period. In this scenario, each of
these countries should, logically, be searching for every opportunity to
expand economic linkages with each other. Growth, trade and investment
are mutually reinforcing in a virtuous circle.
The skewed pattern of global growth and its implications for bilateral
relationships provides a useful context in which to understand the greater
emphasis that all three countries appear to be putting on bilateral
relationships within the triangle. Of course, security considerations will
always be a critical component of each relationship, but even as these ebb
and flow, the economic dimensions of the relationships are clearly becoming
more central.
This is clearly reflected in the short interval between summit meetings
between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and United States President Barack
Obama and the high visibility of economic issues on the agenda for the
meetings currently under way. United States Secretary of State John Kerry's
aspiration that Indo-US trade relations expand fivefold over the next five
years indicates the importance that is being placed on this aspect of the
relationship.
Several of my colleagues collaborated on a collection of articles highlighting
the issues on which progress was being made in the Indo-US relationship and
suggesting ways of reinforcing the momentum.* Among the economic issues
discussed were macro-considerations like a bilateral investment treaty and
intellectual property rights (IPR) regimes, and sectoral issues in energy,
education, defence and urban development.
While a bilateral investment treaty is certainly not a guarantee that
investment flows will increase, it does provide a basis for greater comfort
among investors. By assuring them of national treatment with respect to
many regulatory and fiscal mechanisms, it takes a lot of the uncertainty of
investing in another country - remember that Indian companies also have
significant investments in the United States. At a broader level, it commits
the signatories to a broad investor- and market-friendly policy regime, adding
a greater degree of assurance, not just to investors from the two countries
but globally as well.

On the IPR front, the state of the relationship before the first summit in
September was fractious, with the office of the United States Trade
Representative having placed India on a priority watch list and scheduled an
out-of-cycle review of India's regime. India argued that its regime was
entirely compliant with global standards, which both countries had signed on
to. Be that as it may, since the September summit, during which a high-level
working group on the issue was set up, there are clear signs of convergence.
The Indian government set up a group to assess the regime and recommend
changes. The United States conducted its out-of-cycle review, which,
reportedly, has not come out with adverse findings. Given that growth in
bilateral trade and investment flows will come significantly from technologyintensive sectors, these early signs of convergence are reassuring. But it will
take some deft balancing to address commercial considerations with welfare
objectives, for instance, in the pharmaceuticals domain.
Energy is a domain in which many opportunities exist. There is the issue of
supply, with the United States likely to become an exporter when its shale
reserves come on stream. The current oil price scenario may introduce some
uncertainty about the short-term viability of shale oil and gas extraction, but
in a medium-to-long-term scenario, the United States is going to be a net
global supplier. Bilateral arrangements that lock in supply commitments are
an important part of India's energy security framework.
Beyond this, there is the issue of civil nuclear co-operation, which will add
another important element to India's energy strategy, both from security and
sustainability perspectives. One critical sticking point in this regard is that of
liability; operationalising nuclear co-operation will require some restructuring
in the liability framework, which puts some bounds on the exposure of the
equipment suppliers. There seem to be high expectations that this will be a
major achievement of the summit.
From the perspective of environmental sustainability, both knowledge and
resource transfers relating to conservation and alternative and renewable
energy sources will be significant. A framework that facilitates this will
encompass both the investment and IPR issues alluded to above and an
arrangement on climate change. The recent bilateral agreement between
China and the United States on climate change may be seen as something of
a precedent. However, from India's perspective, as in the IPR domain, the
imperative will be to balance the needs of development and welfare with the

contributions to the global efforts to mitigate and adapt to the effects of

climate change.
On higher education, India is becoming a significant source of fee-paying
students in United States universities. Both supply constraints in the Indian
system and greater affordability are driving this, but a huge opportunity
exists for both expanding domestic capacity and enhancing the overall
quality of the Indian higher education system through greater flexibility for
United States presence in India.
These are just a few examples of ways in which the bilateral imperative can
be realised. Essentially, two fundamentals need to be recognised. One, the
skew in global growth patterns, mentioned earlier, make the bilateral
relationships within this group of three countries more and more significant
for their individual economic objectives. Two, as far as the Indo-US
relationship goes, a significant increase in its economic magnitudes will
certainly not happen in a business-as-usual way. It will require transaction
volumes to be built up in a number of new areas of engagement. Some of
these were provided as examples above, but there are several more.
Realising the imperative will require a two-tier approach. The first tier will be
the overarching enabling framework, such as a bilateral treaty. But below
this, each sector of potential has special requirements, which will need to be
addressed in a customised way.
The visit of US president Barack Obama to India is being described as a
seminal moment in the bilateral ties between the two countries. One of the
issues that figures very high on Obamas agenda is to make a heavy-duty
pitch for reviving the stalled negotiations for a bilateral investment treaty
(BIT) between the two countries. American companies are very keen on the
BIT, as that will ensure protection of their investment under international law.
From Indias perspective, it is argued that this might boost US investment
flows to India, which is critical for the success of Make-in-India. India and the
US started negotiating a BIT in 2008-09. However, these negotiations were
interrupted when India decided to launch a review of its BITs and adopt a
new model.
The major speed-breaker in US-India BIT negotiations is the lack of clarity on
Indias stand on BITs. India discovered in 2011, more than 15 years after
having signed the first BIT in 1994, that these treaties could be used by

foreign investors to challenge sovereign regulatory measures of Indian state

at international arbitral forums. This late learning happened after India lost
a BIT dispute in 2011 to White Industries, an Australian company; and after
being sued by major foreign corporations like Vodafone, Nokia, Telenor,
Deutsche Telekom under various Indian BITs. Academics working in the area,
including this author, have been arguing for review of BITs given Indias
susceptibility to such BIT claims much before India was sued by these foreign
corporations. However, wisdom dawned on the Indian government only after
it was sued!
Unfortunately, the review of Indias BITs and the work towards developing a
new model BIT has been kept away from public glare and is shrouded in
bureaucratic opaqueness. Supposedly, India has developed a new model BIT,
which will serve as a template for Indias future BIT negotiations. However,
apart from media reports and analyses by individual academics and experts
based on media reports, mighty little information is publicly available about
the new model.
Why has the draft text of the new model BIT not been publicly shared to
solicit comments from public at large? Also, reportedly, there is divergence
within Indian government on BITs with some favouring their abrogation, while
some in favour of retaining BITs after overhauling the current model.
Consequently, while the US position on BITs is well-known from its model BIT
of 2012, Indias position on BITs is uncertain. This raises many questions,
which have to be answered for any meaningful negotiation to take place
between the two countries on signing a BIT. First, the 2012 model US BIT
contains elaborate provisions for investor-state arbitration. This provision
empowers private investors to directly bring claims against sovereign action
of host states as treaty breaches at international arbitral forums. Indias
position on this issue is not clear. In view of the fact that many foreign
corporations have served BIT arbitration notices to India, some in the Indian
government, reportedly, want the abolition of the investor-state arbitration
provision in BITs whereas some favour retaining it though with modifications.
The modification could be in the form of introducing a strict fork-in-the-road
clause in investor-state arbitration so that the investor is compelled to
choose between domestic courts and international arbitration to pursue its
claims against host state. Will the US accept a BIT with India without the
investor-state arbitration provision or with a severely curtailed investor-state
arbitration provision?

Second, in addition to the typical provisions contained in most BITs, the US

model BIT contains provisions on investment and environment, investment
and labour, etc. This is at variance with Indias existing model BIT and treaty
practice. Will India be comfortable linking investment with labour and
environment given its traditional opposition to linking trade and investment
issues with non-economic matters?
Third, if media reports are to be believed, India might prefer a very
restrictive most favoured nation (MFN) clause in its BITs to ensure that
foreign companies including American corporations do not circumvent BIT
provisions by treaty shopping. There is also speculation that India might
prefer not to have MFN provision in BITs at all. India loosing the BIT dispute to
White Industries due to the interpretation of the MFN provision is hugely
responsible for this. Will the US sign a BIT with India without a MFN provision?
Fourth, the US model BIT recognises pre-entry national treatment protection.
This means that foreign investors and investments enjoy the right not to be
treated less favourably in comparison to domestic investors and investments
even before the investment has actually entered the country. Will India
accept this given its existing FDI policy that screens investment at borders in
many sectors?
Fifth, the US model BIT covers intellectual property rights (IPR) under the
definition of investment. This means that foreign investors can use BIT to
protect their IPRs in host states. Given Indias sensitivity with regard to IPR
protection and reports that India wishes to have a truncated definition of
investment in its future BITs, will India agree to a provision that allows US
companies, especially pharmaceutical corporations, to use BIT to enforce IPR
protection?
Currently, there is very little meeting ground between the two countries on
core issues of a BIT. For any positive movement forward, it is imperative that
India articulates its clear stand on BITs putting an end to all speculative
analysis.
6) The banning of Amazons Indian arm selling electronics from warehouses
and imposition of heavy penalties by Kerala government on e-retailers like
Flipkart, Jabong is an example of the burgeoning unregulated e-commerce
which calls for a comprehensive policy and regulation of the e-commerce
business in India. Critically comment. (200 Words)

Internet retailer Amazon and its fast-growing local rivals are driving a boom
in commercial property leasing in India as their storage needs rise, with
shoppers in the country going online to buy everything from televisions to
groceries.
Demand from e-commerce firms, a tiny fraction of Indias retail industry,
accounted for as much as 40 per cent of 1.7 million square feet of
warehouses leased in 2014 a seven-fold increase from 2013, according to
consultants CBRE South Asia. Warehouse rents have risen by a quarter over
the past year.
Other estimates indicate office rents in Indias tech hub Bangalore could rise
by as much as a fifth in the next six to nine months as e-commerce
companies add to demand.
The result, say developers and analysts, is a speedier than expected
recovery for Indias commercial property sector, badly dented by two
successive years of sub-5 per cent economic growth.
The best has yet to come for the sector and that will have a snowball effect
on the property sector with increased appetite for office space, logistics and
warehouse, said Sigrid Zialcita, managing director, research for Asia Pacific
at consultant Cushman & Wakefield.
In October, online retailer Flipkart, one of Indias largest market place sites,
agreed to lease 3.25 million square feet of office space in Bangalore from
developer Embassy Group, making it one of the biggest commercial property
leasing deals ever.
There will be large requirements from these kinds of companies, said
Jitendra Virwani, chairman and managing director of Embassy, adding such
deals were few, but growing.
While e-commerce companies comprised less than 5 percent of the 30
million square feet of offices leased in 2014, they are expected to drive
demand over the next three to six years.
Uptake of total warehouse space is likely to more than double to 4 million
square feet in 2015, as more Indians shop online.

Revenues of e-commerce companies in Asias third-largest economy are

expected to rise to $1.5 to $2 trillion over the next 10 years, says Cushman.
India already has the worlds third-largest population of Internet users.
Among those looking for space is Amazon, which needs a million square feet
of offices in Bengaluru, according to property consultants. Amazon had no
immediate comment.
Indian classifieds portal Quikr said it is looking for 50,000 square feet.
Furniture retailer Pepperfry said it plans to grow its shed space to 3 million
square feet by 2017 from 250,000 square feet, while rival FabFurnish said it
would more than double its space to 800,000 square feet by mid-2016.
Cushmans Zialcita said that while technology and outsourcing companies
will make up the lions share of demand for now, e-commerce firms will
contribute notably in future.
This is still in its nascent stage it has the potential to grow, she said.
CLOSE on the heels of Karnataka governments decision to ban Amazons
Indian arm from selling electronics and a few other select products from its
warehouses situated in the state, the Kerala state department has slapped a
fine of up to Rs 54 crore on a slew of e-retail players for evasion of sales tax
in 2012-13 and 2013-14.
The companies that have come under the scanner are Flipkart; Jabong;
Vector E-commerce, which has a stake in Myntra; and Robemall Apparels,
which operates garments retailer Zovi.com. The harshest penalty crackdown
came on FlipkartR47.15 crore. Meanwhile, Jabong has been fined R3.89
crore, Vector E-commerce R2.23 crore and Robemall Apparels R36 lakh.
Last year, Jabong, Myntra, Flipkart and Snapdeal had stopped delivery to
cities in Kerala as the states commercial taxes department had banned their
cash on delivery (COD) mode. Despite a brief spell of vacuum in online
retailing in the state, the companies had resumed their COD services.
Officials, however, insist the ban was still in place.
The states commercial taxes department has reportedly said it will make the
swoopdown on other online retailers too. Since the online retail firms do not
have brick-and-mortar showrooms, their websites will be treated as
showrooms that display products and prices. If the products are sold to local

customers, regional taxes will be applicable. All transactions are taxable,

said a senior official.
The sales tax department has said the companies have been penalised for
evading taxes for the last two years and that they are looking at other online
retailers too. Once found guilty, they will also be fined, tax officials.
As per Keralas department of commercial taxes, the online retail falls under
the purview of the definition of business, trade, goods and sales as per the
General Clauses Act 1897, Sales of Goods Act 1930, Transfer of Property Act
1882 and Kerala Value Added Tax Act 2003. The state is confident that it will
succeed even if the companies approach the court.
Offline traders in Kerala, who have high stakesconsidering the state is
among the countrys toppers in household monthly per capita expenditure as
per annual studies conducted by the National Sample Survey Organisation
have also been complaining of sales tax evasion by online players. Every
day, at least R10 crore worth of products are sold by online retailers. Since
they can evade the states tax net, they can pass on discounts to the tune of
16% to the customer in the state. They do business at the opportunity cost
of offline traders, who also have to cough up on overhead costs like
showroom and staff wages, E Binny, president of the Kerala Samsthana
Vyapari Vyvasayai Samithi, told FE.
Besides active consumption behaviour, which makes Kerala more vulnerable
to online retail transactions, there is the high literacy rate and high Internet
penetration. In any case, a state, which is dependent on commodity taxes,
cannot afford to ignore the tax revenue from online retail transactions, said
Jose Sebastian, faculty, Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation.
Before Keralas taxmen, their counterparts in Karnataka had banned
Amazons Indian arm from selling electronics and a few other select products
from its warehouses situated in the state.
Meanwhile, a Flipkart spokesperson said: It is our endeavour to be
transparent in all our dealings with authorities. We are compliant with the
laws of the land in which we operate and will work together with the
authorities to ensure that there are no information gaps between us.

7) Highlight the important features of the Nuclear Liability Act while throwing
light on grounds on which it was criticised both domestically and by foreign
suppliers. Add a note on the recent breakthrough in this regard. (200 Words)
PM Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama shake hands during their
joint press conference in New Delhi. India and the US broke the 7-year-old
logjam in operationalising their landmark civil nuclear deal besides deciding
to jointly produce military hardware. (PTI)
US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a
deal aimed at unlocking billions of dollars in nuclear trade and deepening
defence ties, steps both sides hope will help establish an enduring strategic
partnership.
Following are some key agreements and points of discussion during Obamas
visit:
India and the United States struck a deal that could open the door for U.S.
companies to build nuclear reactors in India by promising insurance cover to
U.S. companies that had shied away from an Indian law placing liability on
suppliers in case of an accident. It remains to be seen whether the new pact
will satisfy companies such as GE and Toshiba-owned Westinghouse, who had
stayed away since a landmark 2008 agreement that ended Indias nuclear
isolation. The new pact also resolved differences over U.S. demands on
tracking the whereabouts of material supplied to the country.
Indias size, location, fast-growing economy and potential as a democratic
counterbalance to China makes the South Asian nation an increasingly
important element of U.S. military and commercial strategy. Prime Minister
Narendra Modis assertiveness in the region has already aligned India more
with Washington, and the two leaders reiterated a September statement
affirming the importance of safeguarding maritime security and ensuring
freedom of navigation and over flight throughout the region, especially in the
South China Sea, a veiled reference to China, which is asserting territorial
claims in the region.
We call on all parties to avoid the threat or use of force and pursue
resolution of territorial and maritime disputes through all peaceful means, in
accordance with universally recognized principles of international law,
including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, they said in
a statement.
India and the United States do not see eye-to-eye on Pakistan, and India is
worried about the exit of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. India wants greater

cooperation on terrorism and access to high-technology goods for civilian

and military use.

DEFENCE
The United States overtook Russia as the biggest weapons supplier to India,
the Indian government said in August. India is the worlds biggest weapons
importer. The two countries finalised a defence framework pact for 10 years.
Four deals were unveiled on the trip, including joint production of Raven
drones and systems for Lockheeds C-130 transport planes. The two
countries will also explore jointly developing jet engine technology.
CLIMATE CHANGE
The United States and India are expected to announce efforts to work
together to combat climate change ahead of key global talks in Paris later
this year. India, the worlds third largest carbon emitter, is reluctant to follow

the United States and China in committing to a peak year for emissions on
the grounds it needs economic growth to alleviate poverty. Instead, India is
likely to trumpet its plans for a rapid expansion of renewable energy, for
which it needs U.S. investment and technology, and improving energy
efficiency.
RENEWABLE ENERGY
India wants U.S. companies to help lead investments of $100 billion in
renewable energy. Modi promised to help renewable energy companies
overcome entry to the Indian market during his trip to Washington last year.
A barrier to investment is a requirement that foreign companies make much
of the equipment within India, which business leaders say will push up costs.
ECONOMIC TIES
India and the United States said they will establish several bilateral
mechanisms to identify opportunities to boost business, trade and
investment ties. Modi and Obama last year targeted a five-fold increase in
annual trade to $500 billion. But U.S. business leaders have been frustrated
by limits on their access to the Indian market, and battles over intellectual
property protection. Both the countries have also filed several cases against
each other at the World Trade Organisation over protection of their domestic
steel, poultry and solar industries.
Topic: Public/Civil service values and Ethics in Public administration: Status
and problems;
8) Do you think it is ethical for a civil servant to lie before citizens even in
public interest? Justify your stance with suitable examples. (150 Words)
General
Topic: Human Values-Lessons from the lives of great leaders, reformers &
Administrators
9) Some believe that the high level of corruption levels in the country can be
traced back to certain elements in Indian Culture. Critically analyse. (150
Words)
General

Topic: Human Values-Lessons from the lives of great leaders, reformers &
Administrators
10) The three key societal members who can make a difference are father,
mother and teacher -A P J Abdul Kalam.
What role does society at large play vis--vis these individuals in creating an
ethical individual? (150 Words)
General
1) With the rising literacy rates and urbanisation is it true to say that the
caste system is dying? Discuss in the context of political, social and
economic spheres? (200 Words)
2) The early school of anthropologists tended to emphasise the cultural
aspects of tribal absorption into the mainstream, while the later writers have
concentrated on the exploitative and political nature of the incorporation.
Which of the views did the government of India and its visionary leaders
adopt for tribal development in post independence era and why? (200
Words)
3) Critically analyse the impact of globalisation on Indian villages and
agrarian structures. (200 Words)
4) The report on the annual status of higher educational universities and
colleges in India pointed out that, states that lay more emphasis on the
quality and depth of their higher education are economically better placed
than those that do not. Analyse the reasons behind this linkage ? What
initiatives must the states take to improve higher education in the country ?
(200 Words)
If individual states want to improve their economic situations, they should
concentrate and invest in the higher education sector.
In a report on the annual status of higher educational universities and
colleges in India, data analysis shows a very direct link between states that
have higher "knowledge direction" and the state of their economies. In other
words, states that lay more emphasis on the quality and depth of their higher
education are economically better placed than those that do not.

Establishing this direct link will encourage states to come forward to invest in
higher education. Or this is what the Centre and the Ministry of Human
Resources Development hope.
Rohin Kapoor, senior manager, Deloitte India, who has worked on this report
for two years, said: "The strength of correlation between education and
economy is startling. States with superior knowledge direction have in
general superior economies."
The Centre has allocated almost Rs 99,000 crore under the Rashtriya
Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) for improvement in higher education
institutes, especially in infrastructure in the 12th and 13th Five- Year Plans.
Of this, the Centre is to provide Rs 69,675 crore and states are expected to
contribute Rs 28,459 crore.
The states are required to contribute financially to make the scheme a
success. But states have so far in the past been reluctant to invest
generously in the sector. Unless the states recognise the relevance of
investment in education, the state of colleges and universities cannot be
improved.
Further, at a macro level, to attract foreign investment in the education
sector, the government needs to clear the foreign universities Bill but it also
needs to amend and align the way different arms of the government treat
foreign direct investment(FDI) in the education sector. Also, different wings of
the government prescribe different things. The Department of Industrial
Policy and Promotion (DIPP) says 100 per cent foreign investment is
permitted in the education sector. This is one arm of government. Then, the
AICTE (All India Council of Technical Education) Act says no foreign
investment is allowed, directly or indirectly, in setting up a technical institute
in the country. So, FDI is out. The University Grants Commission (UGC), a
third aspect, simply does not recognise foreign universities, so that rules out
foreign investment totally.
Says Deloitte's Kapoor: "The different wings of the government need to echo
the same voice. The UGC Act 1956 needs to be amended urgently. At
present, it does not recognise foreign universities. It does not define it. So, it
clearly cannot regulate it. If you do not recognise something, how can you
regulate it?"

As a result, so far, India has only got Rs 4,900 crore of foreign investment in
the education sector - not in formal education but in skill development,
training schools and so on. The government has to realise that it cannot
solve this problem on its own.
The number of institutes that can be set up through philanthropy will always
be limited. "You can build a regulatory mechanism that has a strong
monitoring and quality control process. There are companies in the US that
run very high quality colleges and are firms listed on the stock exchange.
This model can be replicated here too. A crystal clear regulatory framework
will help eliminate the fly by night operators or those who are in it for a quick
buck," explains Kapoor.
At a countrywide level, issues like enrolment and gender disparity have been
addressed to some extent over the years. "The new issues are poor quality of
teaching and staff. Our focus needs to shift altogether. Some of the softer
issues need to be addressed far more seriously," says a former advisor to the
Planning Commission. He argues that what is worrisome is that there is no
plan for instance to set up teacher training academies to bridge the shortage
of teachers. Nor is there any clear attempt to improve the quality of teaching
staff. There are no attempts being made to try and raise salaries of teachers
and make teaching a career of choice.
The HRD ministry is now trying through the setting up of an Indian Institute
of Technology (IIT) and an Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in each state.
For one, there is such a high demand for seats in these institutes; this will
make them more accessible for everyone. Two, this is expected to have a rub
off on other educational institutes in the state. They will act as a role model,
so to speak, for other colleges in the region to emulate.
But there is already a 40 per cent shortage of teachers at the existing IITs
and IIMs. It is possible that retiring faculty from the IITs and IIMs might be
asked to mentor staff at the new institutes.
At a micro level, there are several problems across states that need to be
fixed. For instance, 40 per cent of enrolments in all colleges are for
humanities, social sciences (even higher than engineering and medical); yet,
in India, there are hardly any liberal arts colleges or even courses on offer,
which would allow students to sample all the liberal arts before choosing
what they specialise in.

Then, non-teaching staff in colleges in some states is way too high. So, in
states like Delhi (where jobs are typically handed out on sifarish), the
average non-teaching staff per college is 171 instead of the national average
of 34. States such as Bihar have a very high pupil-teacher ratio of 37 against
the all India average of 13.1.
Gender disparity, which is not as sharp as one would expect in enrolments
(55 per cent males and 44 per cent females), in teaching staff, however,
remains significant. Sixty-one per cent of the teaching staff is male and 39
per cent is female. This drops further when one looks at the non-teaching
staff with the percentage of males at 73 per cent.
5) Indias relationship with US should not be solely seen from Chinese angle.
Instead we should move towards developing a prosperity triangle between
the future worlds three largest economies. Critically analyse. (200 Words)
China has offered to lift its strategic partnership with India to a higher
level, and prompted New Delhi to avoid a zero-sum trap that was being
set up by Washington and its allies.
In a message, on the occasion of 66th Republic Day, to President Pranab
Mukherjee, his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping expressed Chinas willingness
to make concerted efforts with India to lift their strategic cooperative
partnership oriented to peace and prosperity to a higher level. The
felicitations coincided with the New Delhi visit of U.S. President Barack
Obama.
An article on Monday that appeared in the Global Times and Peoples Daily,
cautioned India, not to fall into the trap that was being laid, to pit New
Delhi against Beijing, by Washington, as part of its pivot to Asia doctrine.
The commentary noted that "the second visit by a sitting U.S. President to
India, the first time on record, has undoubtedly drawn wide attention from
the international community.
It added that many Western media reports have pointed out that the U.S.,
regardless of historical complications, is putting more efforts into soliciting
India to act as a partner, even an ally, to support Washington's "pivot to
Asia" strategy, which is mainly devised to counter China's rise.

In a further elaboration, the daily pointed to the Wests ulterior motives to

frame the "Chinese dragon" and the "Indian elephant" as natural rivals. The
West is egging India on to be fully prepared for "threats" posed by its large
neighbour.
Considering the fact that both sides still have territorial disputes and will
probably have wider engagement at many levels, this so-called rivalry
between India and China will not stop making headlines in Western media.
However, it cautioned India that it was facing a carefully positioned trap.
Although craftily set, it will be revealed eventually.
The daily advised both countries to put aside their debates over specific
issues, and ensure that their relations cannot take a life-or-death struggle
as a foothold.
The common interests they share are way larger than any differences. As
both are emerging powers, which have the huge potential of being important
forces in the international community, China and India should see more
space for cooperation instead of contention. This agreement is fundamental
to bilateral relations.
The article counselled Beijing and New Delhi to come to terms with a
bottom line of interactions, making sure the big picture remains intact,
although both sides still have disagreements on some specific matters, and
steer clear of a zero-sum game, that India, under Western influence was
sliding into.
Diplomatic sources told The Hindu that Indias diplomacy is pursuing a
multi-vectored approach that is geared to promote New Delhis core
interests, through simultaneous engagement, in carefully defined areas, with
several countries, which may have problems with each other.
6) The recent election in Greece is a verdict against the austerity which
ruined the country. Critically analyse in the light of recent developments in
Greece and its impact on EU. (200 Words)
Radical Left triumphs in Greece
A radical Left-wing party vowing to end Greeces painful austerity
programme won a historic victory in Sundays parliamentary elections,

setting up a showdown with the countrys international creditors that could

shake the eurozone.
Alexis Tsipras, leader of the communist-rooted Syriza Party, immediately
promised to end the five years of humiliation and pain that Greece had
endured since an international bailout saved it from bankruptcy in 2010.
The verdict of the Greek people ends, beyond any doubt, the vicious circle
of austerity in our country, Mr. Tsipras told a crowd of rapturous supporters.
AP
The EU issued Monday a stern warning to Greece that its place in the
eurozone is at risk if new Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras fails to meet the
countrys austerity and debt commitments.
From Brussels to Berlin, officials said they were ready to talk to the new
government led by Mr. Tsipras radical left party Syriza, but insisted that
Athens must stick to prior agreements with its international creditors.
Eurozone Finance Ministers were meeting in Brussels a day after Syriza
stormed to victory in elections on the back of Mr. Tsipras promises to end
disastrous austerity and seek a cancellation of Greek debt.
In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkels spokesman took a similar line on
what Europe expected.
In our view it is important for the new government to take action to foster
Greeces continued economic recovery, spokesman Steffen Seibert told
reporters. That also means Greece sticking to its previous commitments.
Mr. Tsipras is set to meet other European leaders for the first time as Prime
Minister at a summit on February 12, when Greeces fate in the euro and
unsustainable debt levels are sure to be key issues. AFP
The momentous victory of the radical left-wing Syriza party in Greece is
certain to send shock waves through Brussels, already trying to contend with
the rising popularity of forces lined up against the European Union. The
impact will be felt most notably in Spain and Britain, where elections are due
in weeks. But the outcome of Sundays poll would have surprised few in
Greece, whose macroeconomic indicators must cause near-disbelief
considering that the country is clubbed with the states of the developed

world. Nearly a third of the population is below the poverty line and about a
quarter of the workforce is jobless. The hundreds of health clinics, social
kitchens, education centres and legal aid hubs that sprang up in recent
months testify to the collapse of Greeces welfare state under the weight of
half a decade of austerity. It is this Solidarity for All movement that
constitutes the backbone of Syrizas political programme that swung its
fortunes: from being the principal Opposition in the outgoing government it
has become the largest party in the new Parliament.
The coalition government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsiprass Syriza and the
right-wing Independent Greeks party has a common objective: of giving
citizens a swift respite from the painful austerity of the recent past. To what
extent the left extreme factions within Syriza would countenance this
pragmatic arrangement remains to be seen. Equally crucial will be the ability
of the ruling combine to rise above the ideological divide. The new coalitions
first and arguably the biggest challenge in office will be to renegotiate
the terms of the international bailout that is to run out at the end of
February, and to secure a write-down of Greek debt by half, as it had
promised. That will also be the moment to watch for the EUs broader
response to the threat from protesting parties in different countries of the 28member bloc. The Finnish Prime Ministers recent conciliatory tone at Davos
on renegotiating the Greek debt burden is significant considering Helsinkis
previous unwillingness to relax the terms. As the largest creditor-nation, the
domestic fallout in Germany to the EUs economic rescue programmes has
been enormous. Berlin will look to such accommodation from fellow eurozone
members. Syrizas triumph must also renew hope within the European Left
that has largely remained politically divided and electorally decimated since
the end of the Cold War. Its critical role in forging strategic alliances with the
political centre to counter the forces of the far-right could not be overstated.
Mr. Tsipras himself attributed the rise of the extreme right as a reaction to
the failure of austerity. The Greeks have voted for change; their hopes should
not be belie
7) Nanotechnology can be used to develop simple, effective, low-cost and
environment friendly techniques of pest control. Discuss. (200 Words)
Consignments of Indian fruit and vegetables often face quarantine
restrictions or rejections in export markets because of pest infestation or
high pesticide residues. In the domestic market, too, unsafe levels of
pesticide residues in food items have become a major concern, inviting

injunctions from courts to curb this menace. The solution lies in finding and
promoting safer, preferably non-toxic means of pest control. Options for
implementing this include the use of bio-pesticides or natural enemies
(predators) of the pests; hot and cold treatment and irradiation of the
produce; and equipping plants with inbuilt resistance against pests and
diseases through genetic modification, among others. However, most of
these methods have their own limitations that restrict their usage.
Another hi-tech, yet easy-to-use method that has shown good potential for
controlling pests is the deployment of pheromones - natural or artificial
odours, including sex aromas - that lure insects to either trap and destroy
them or disrupt their breeding. These aromas, similar to the ones emitted by
insects themselves, are species-specific. They, therefore, do not result in
killing all insects indiscriminately - as is done by most pesticides - regardless
of whether they are harmful or useful to the crops as pollinators or predators
of pests. Besides, these are required to be used in extremely low doses and
do not leave any harmful residue that affects the marketability of the
produce. In the past half century, scientists have identified and synthesised
around 1,500 pheromones for different insect species. These have found
widespread application in agriculture, forestry and urban pest management.
However, for using pheromones on a mass scale, the techniques for
dispensing them in fields need to be reliable, economical and simple enough
for the farmers to use. For this, many methods, including aerial spraying,
have been tried out but with limited success. Many medium (carrier)-based
pheromone dispensers have also been developed and are commercially
available. But most of them are sensitive to ambient temperature and other
atmospheric conditions that limit their use to certain seasons only. In recent
years, various kinds of gels have been used as the medium or carrier for
pheromones for field application. However, many of the commonly used gels,
notably hydrogel, swell or shrink, depending on the obtaining humidity level,
or tend to degenerate under other adverse circumstances.
To get over these constraints, scientists have now used state-of-the-art
nanotechnology to evolve hassle-free gel-based carriers for pheromones
called nanogels. They have been found to be the most convenient option for
field application of pheromones in all seasons, regardless of the temperature
or humidity. Besides, they are easy to transport and do not require
specialised storage. Pheromones absorbed in nanogels are released slowly
over an extended period to provide longer-term protection against pests.

Nanogels are now also used in human and animal health care for slow
delivery of drugs in the required quantity to targeted spots in the body. In
pest control, too, pheromone-doped nanogels have displayed the ability to
release pheromones gradually in the needed quantity.
The technology for preparing these nanogels for agricultural use has been
evolved by a team of scientists belonging to the Bengaluru-based Indian
Institute of Science and the National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources
(NBAIR) of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. "This simple, practical
and low-cost environment-friendly method of pest management has a
significant potential for crop protection due to its long-lasting beneficial
activity, excellent efficacy and favourable safety profile", says NBAIR senior
scientist Deepa Bhagat, who was part of the team that invented the nanogel.
This technology can be efficiently and economically carried forward from the
research laboratory to agricultural fields to control pests of crops such as
cotton, pigeon pea, chickpea, tomato, brinjal, coffee, guava, mango, rice and
others, Bhagat points out. The developers of the nanogel have already
initiated the patent process before it is licensed to entrepreneurs for
commercial production and promotion.
Topic: Public/Civil service values and Ethics in Public administration: Status
and problems;
8) The tyranny of a prince in an oligarchy is not so dangerous to the public
welfare as the apathy of a citizen in a democracy. Elaborate. (200 Words)
General
9) You are working as Sub Inspector and the place where you work is also the
constituency of powerful politician who is now a very influential minister in
the state government. Recently a woman social activist was tied to tree and
was badly beaten and molested by few political activists belonging to the
ruling party. After registering the case and preliminary investigation you
come to know that the men who molested were staunch followers of the
minister. The minister frequently calls you and pressurises you to either go
slow with investigation or close the case citing lack of evidence. In your
investigation you have found strong evidence to give justice to the woman
and punish ministers followers. However, the minister has threatened to
transfer you to a distant place if you do not heed to his requests. Despite
threats and pressures you continue with your investigation and files a strong

case against the perpetrators. Later you come to know that the minister had
used his influence and bribed the judges to get bail to his followers.
a) How do you deal with political pressure when performing your duty? (100
Words)
b) In the above case, your wife advises you to record your conversations with
the minister in your cellphone and make them public via media. Will you do
so? Justify. (150 Words)
c) Some of your friends suggest you to get transfer and move to new place
so that you are saved from the wrath of the minister whose requests you
neglected. (100 Words)
A 40-year-old widowed woman in South 24 Parganas district, near here, was
stripped, tied to a tree and tortured by a group of armed men. The accused,
allegedly associated with the ruling Trinamool Congress, got bail on Monday
within 24 hours of the incident.
The victim was picked up from her house at Maipith village in Kultali block on
Sunday afternoon. The accused stripped her and tied her to a tree with her
sari. She was molested ... tortured and she became unconscious, Latika
Thakur, an eyewitness, said. The women of the village virtually chased
away the accused. Two persons were arrested at night, but they managed to
secure bail.
Kanti Ganguly, senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader and former
Minister, met the woman late on Sunday. I have seen the video clip on
mobile phone and can tell you that she was most brutally tortured, he said.
The victim was not a member of any political party. She often used to
protest against misdeeds in the area and that is one reason she was tortured
by the Trinamool goons, Mr. Ganguly said.
Condemning the incident, local Trinamool leaders demanded proper
punishment for the accused.
On January 17, a police team, accompanied by local Trinamool leaders,
allegedly took a woman to a nearby forest and tortured her to extract
information from her about her nephew, a local leader of the Bharatiya
Janata Party. Members of the National Women for Commission visited
Birbhum.

10) Changing attitudes of people lie at the heart of empowerment and

development. What attitudinal changes have to be brought among citizens to
improve functioning of democracy? Give innovative solutions to bring about
the above changes suggested. (200 Words)
General
1) Communalism is more about politics and less about religion. Discuss
with a special reference to the South Asian nations. (200 Words)
2) Indian secularism is considered as pseudo-secularism by certain sections
of the society.Do you agree with this view? Critically analyse. (200 Words)
The Narendra Modi government on Wednesday jumped into the controversy
created by the remarks of the Shiv Sena earlier in the day that the words
socialist and secular should be dropped from the Preamble to the
Constitution.
Union Telecommunications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad indicated that the
government wanted a debate on whether the words should be in the
Preamble.
We do not need these words to be a secular country; even without them we
are a secular country, Mr. Prasad said.
Pointing out that the two words were introduced in the Preamble in 1976
during the Emergency, Mr. Prasad told presspersons: What is wrong if there
is a debate on these two words. Let us see what the nation wants.
On whether the government would continue to use the original Preamble for
official purposes, he said that was the plan.
Mr. Prasad was responding to questions on the controversy over the
Information and Broadcasting Ministry using a watermark of the original
Preamble in two Republic Day print advertisements.
Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan
Rathore had on Tuesday described the controversy as uncalled-for, and
pointed out that the same picture had been used in official advertisements
earlier also.

Underlining the fact that the founding fathers of the Constitution had not
included the words socialist and secular in the original Preamble to the
Constitution, Mr. Prasad sought to draw a distinction between Jawaharlal
Nehrus understanding of secularism and that of the Congress now.
Was Pandit Nehrus understanding of secularism less than that of the
present-day Congress leaders, he asked.
To this, Congress spokesman Randeep Surjewala said: No other party has a
doubtful integrity clause on secularism like the Bharatiya Janata Party and
that is the reason this has become an issue.
He pointed out that the 42nd Constitution Amendment was with
retrospective effect.
As for Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Rauts remark that his party welcomed the
omission of the two words even if it was inadvertent the Congress
maintained that this only proved that the 1950 Preamble had been chosen
for the advertisement with a clear agenda. And, to test waters.
Describing the omission of the two words from the Preamble used in
government advertisements as a sacrilegious insult to the ethos of the
Constitution, Mr. Surjewala demanded an apology from the government and
a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his position and
understanding on secularism and socialism.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Raut had said that India had never been secular.
Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray and before him Sarvarkar always said
that if Pakistan was carved out after Partition for Muslims, then the rest of
the country is a Hindu Rashtra. The Shiv Sena has always believed in this,
he said.
Even as the omission of the words secular and socialist from the Preamble
text in a government advertisement has stoked a controversy, the
Constituent Assembly debates clearly show why the words were omitted in
the original text. The debates saw Dr. B.R. Ambedkar reason that there was
no need to include the term secular as the entire Constitution embodied the
concept of secular state, which meant non-discrimination on grounds of
religion and equal rights and status to all citizens.

On the inclusion of the term socialist, he said it is against the very grain of
democracy to decide in the Constitution what kind of society the people of
India should live in.
It is perfectly possible today, for the majority people to hold that the
socialist organisation of society is better than the capitalist organisation of
society. But it would be perfectly possible for thinking people to devise some
other form of social organisation which might be better than the socialist
organisation of today or of tomorrow. I do not see therefore why the
Constitution should tie down the people to live in a particular form and not
leave it to the people themselves to decide it for themselves, he had said.
His words had influenced the final decision to omit the two words.
However, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi re-introduced the two words for
political reasons in the 42nd Constitution Amendment of 1976. Constitutional
expert Subhash Kashyap said: The word socialist was added to send a
message politically that she stood for the poor. The word secular was
obviously meant for the minorities in the context of the birth control
programmes of the emergency period. It was not as if the Constitution was
not secular or socialist before the words were added. India has been secular
before the 42nd Amendment and continues to be secular after it. It was
merely playing politics, Mr. Kashyap said.
He said the present controversy over the government advertisement was
innocuous. The advertisement only shows the Preamble originally signed
by the Constituent Assembly members with the calligraphy of the famous
artist, Nandalal Bose.
It shows the Preamble as on January 26, 1950 when the country became a
republic, he said.
3) Do you agree with the view that in the emergence of modern nation state
system, the realities had come first before principles and ideals? (200 Words)
4) Women Army officers are still denied permanent commission on a par with
men. Analyse the reasons behind it. How far patriarchal and macho mindset
is responsible for such discrimination? (200 Words)
On its 66th Republic Day, during a mighty parade in the national capital,
India showcased woman power with all-women contingents of the three
Services for the first time. A day earlier, Wing Commander Pooja Thakur

became the first woman to lead a ceremonial tri-service guard of honour,

which the visiting U.S. President inspected. But when it comes to the overall
status of women in the Indian armed forces, especially in the Army, all this
represents a travesty of gender justice. Since being inducted into the Army in
1992 under the Women Special Entry Scheme (they were in even earlier in
the Military Nursing Service from 1927 and in the Medical Officers Cadre from
1943), women Army officers are still denied permanent commission on a par
with men: they have to be content with the short service commission. On a
batch of petitions filed in 2003 by women officers demanding an end to the
discriminatory practice, the Delhi High Court in March 2010 granted their just
and fair claim for permanent commission with the singeing words that it
was not some charity being sought but enforcement of their constitutional
rights. While this prompted the Air Force and the Navy to grant women
officers permanent commission, the Army took a different stand, arguing,
among other things, that the bulk of the armys Junior Commissioned
Officers and other ranks hail from rural India, who are not yet ready to accept
a woman as their leader in combat situations. In an affidavit filed before the
Supreme Court in 2012 while appealing against the High Court order, the
Army added: In theory women in the army may sound good but in practical
terms the arrangement has not worked well in the Indian Army and as a
concept also our society is not prepared to accept women in combat role.
As the issue remains in the Supreme Court for more than four years now, the
Army needs to get real, and persuade itself to go beyond symbolic and
cosmetic steps. It needs to recognise womens capabilities as many
advanced armed forces across the world have done, even committing them
to combat roles and their right to a full-fledged career in the force, on a
par with men. During the 14-year short service commission tenure they now
enjoy, women officers in various corps are assigned duties similar to those of
men officers without distinction, to all possible field units with men officers. If
it is the Armys claim that beyond that point in permanent commission
tenure women could be exposed to hostile environments it has cited the
unique nature of responsibility and organisational requirement that the
Army Act necessitates that truly smacks of gender discrimination. The
time has come for the Army to end this iniquitous situation.
5) Highlight the salient features of SC/ST sub-plan. Review its
implementation on the ground and suggest measures to correct the
inadequacies. Make a case for bringing about a legislation for SC/ST sub-plan
to ensure funds are not diverted for other purposes. (200 Words)

Expressing disappointment over some government departments spending

less than the budgeted expenditure on SC/ST sub-plans, Chief Minister Harish
Rawat said the heads of departments concerned will be held responsible if
the targeted expenses are not met in the ongoing financial year.
Reviewing the manner in which the Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe subplans budget was spent during the year, Uttarakhand Chief Minister on
Tuesday said the departments concerned should send in their budgetry
requirements to the government keeping in view the targets set under the
sub-plans.
Rawat said the departments should ensure that every penny of the approved
budget outlay is spent within the given time frame.
"If this is not done, the concerned department heads will be held
responsible," he said, adding that expenses under the sub-plans will again be
reviewed next month.
If any discrepancies are found, the concerned department heads will be
taken to task, he said.
6) The revenue-sharing contract which seeks to replace the New Exploration
Licensing Policy production-sharing contract regime for oil and gas
exploration in India with a revenue-sharing model, reveals an attitude of
extreme suspicion towards the private investor. Critically analyse. (200
Words)
It is ironic that at a time when the prime minister is talking about making
India an easier place to do business, one of his ministries is moving in
exactly the opposite direction. The draft revenue-sharing contract (DRSC),
which seeks to replace the New Exploration Licensing Policy productionsharing contract (NELP-PSC) regime for oil and gas exploration in India with a
revenue-sharing model, reveals an attitude of extreme suspicion of the
private investor. It also indicates that the government has learned nothing
from the fiascos in this sector over the past decade. The committee headed
by Vijay Kelkar, formed to prepare a road map for enhancing domestic oil and
gas production, submitted its report to the government of India in January
last year. Eight months after the new government came to power at the
Centre, no action has been taken on the recommendations of the committee.

There are four areas in which the DRSC has, in a sense, moved in an
investor-unfriendly direction, especially compared to the NELP-PSC format.
Production of oil and gas is, by its very nature, an uncertain and risk-laden
process, subject to reservoir behaviour. By penalising an investor for underproduction, the government fails to recognise that many factors other than a
force majeure could have an impact on production. As if this were not
enough, the DRSC goes on to prescribe the creation of an escrow account
into which all oil/ gas revenues will flow in the first instance, ostensibly to
safeguard the revenue interests of the government. Any dispute on
payments between the government and the investor will choke the flow of
revenue to the latter, depriving it of the financial resources to carry on
production.
Moreover, such an arrangement is likely to adversely affect confidence in
lending funds to the investor, given the uncertainty of future payment
schedules. The revenue-sharing model is not cost sensitive: this could lead to
the failure to develop marginal fields since the extraction of royalty by the
government, followed by revenue shares determined prior to the assessment
of post-exploration oil/ gas prospects, could make the development of such
fields unviable for the investor. Finally, the DRSC has done away with the
contractual stability clause in the earlier NELP-PSC that gave confidence to
the investor that tax and other fiscal terms would not be altered by the
government to the disadvantage of the investor during the contract period.
Apart from imposing more onerous terms, as described above, the DRSC has
also failed to address some of the concerns repeatedly raised by investors in
recent years, especially in the wake of the Reliance and Cairn-Vedanta
controversies. No effort seems to have been made to address vexatious
contract management issues that have dogged almost every productionsharing contract signed in the past. The Kelkar Committee report had
suggested measures to strengthen the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons
(DGH) to enable it to fulfil its regulatory functions more competently.
However, the DRSC retains the control of the ministry over decision-making
processes, in spite of the fact that almost no company has managed to get
clearances for work programmes, gas pricing or other contractual issues in a
time-bound manner from the government.
It would seem that past practices will continue the DGH will refer every
matter to the government and there will be inordinate delays in decisionmaking. Even a simple matter like permitting exploration activities in a

producing field area to better exploit its potential has been bogged down by
bureaucratic red tape in the past. The same opacity in decision-making was
also evident in the lack of a clear decision by the government when the
investor, having made recent discoveries (as in Cairns Rajasthan block),
requested an extension in the contract period to fully exploit the production
potential of the field. The DRSC holds out little hope that such issues will be
resolved in a timely, pragmatic manner. While the government of India has
announced a price for the sale of natural gas, there is still no clarity on the
move towards market-determined gas prices. Uncertainty regarding how
administered gas prices may be tweaked by the government in the future
could well affect investor sentiment.
Ultimately, no contract can hope to substitute for a competent, strong
regulatory framework. The government needs to urgently build up the
capabilities of the DGH to manage exploration and production contracts and
put in place processes that enable companies to focus on their primary task
of looking for oil rather than complying with unnecessary procedural
formalities. The government appears to be focused on short-term revenue
gains rather than the primary objective of enhancing oil and gas production
in India, a classic case of killing the goose that lays golden eggs.
The writer, a retired IAS officer, was director (exploration contracts), ministry
of petroleum and natural gas
7) A World Bank report underscored the role of urbanisation and private
sector participation as being critical to mitigating socio-economic
disadvantages. Discuss. What are reasons behind growing inequality in South
Asia and suggest measures to bridge them? (200 Words)
Occupational and geographic mobility across the region are bridging income
and consumption-related disparities, says the World Bank report, Addressing
Inequality in South Asia. The findings accordingly underscore the role of
urbanisation and private sector participation as being critical to mitigating
socio-economic disadvantages. Inequality should be understood in terms of
monetary and non-monetary dimensions of well-being, contends the report.
The share of the poorest 40 per cent of households in total consumption
shows that inequality in South Asia is moderate by international standards.
The comparison is valid even though estimates elsewhere are based on
income per capita. Significantly, but not surprisingly, economic mobility of
the recent decades has proved beneficial to the population at large, cutting

across traditional divides and challenging stereotypes. This finding, if

anything, underscores the positive effects of legal safeguards for the
protection of minorities. Indeed, monetary inequality of enormous
significance is manifested in Indias highly disproportionate billionaire wealth,
amounting to 12 per cent of gross domestic product in 2012. The ratio is
considerably large even compared with other countries at a similar level of
economic development, says the report.
Conversely, non-monetary indices of well-being pertain to opportunities
available to people in the early years, outcomes during adulthood and
support systems through the life-cycle. Thus, although it is not the poorest
region, South Asia accounts for some of the worst human development
outcomes in basic education and health care. Besides the highest rates of
infant and child mortality that prevail in many parts of the region, more than
50 per cent of poor children below five years of age in Bangladesh and Nepal
are stunted; the proportion for India is over 60 per cent. Pervasive tax
avoidance and regressive fuel and electricity subsidies are primarily
responsible for the inadequate provisioning of public services. Of no
insignificant value is the non-dogmatic stance the report adopts on a
fundamental moral question such as inequality. Drawing upon influential
academic debates in economics and philosophy, the study argues that the
rewards linked to hard work and entrepreneurship serve as incentives to give
ones best and enhance overall well-being. It would be fair to infer that nonmonetary inequalities are arbitrary and potentially more detrimental to
economic growth over the long term. To bring such ideas into the public and
political mainstream would enhance the quality of the debate, and further
consolidate contemporary competitive electoral democracies.
Topic: Public/Civil service values and Ethics in Public administration: Status
and problems;
8) All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
(a)How far is this statement true in Indian context and how much did it
contribute to the growth of corruption in the country? ( 200 words )
(b) Many civil servants who are personally honest have done great disservice
to the nation by not taking on the corrupt elements in their tribe heads on.
Comment. (200 words)
General

Topic: Human Values-Lessons from the lives of great leaders, reformers &
Administrators
9) There is a widespread view in the society today that, every man has his
price. Do you agree with this view? Critically analyse. (150 Words)
1) Social stigma remains an obstacle to helping Indians cope with mental
health illness. In this backdrop how does the new mental health policy seek
to reach out to people with mental disabilities? (200 Words)

The Right of Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2014

The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2014 was introduced in the
Rajya Sabha on February 7, 2013 by the Minister of Social Justice and
Empowerment, Mr. Mallikarjun Kharge.

The Bill repeals the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities

Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995.

Definition of disability: Disability is defined to include 19 conditions

such as: autism; low vision and blindness; cerebral palsy; deaf
blindness; haemophilia; hearing impairment; leprosy; intellectual
disability; mental illness; muscular dystrophy; multiple sclerosis;
learning disability; speech and language disability; sickle cell disease;
thalassemia; chronic neurological conditions; and multiple disability.
Persons with benchmark disabilities are defined as those with at least
40 per cent of any of the above specified disabilities.

Rights of persons with disabilities: The Bill states that persons with
disabilities shall have the right to equality and shall not be
discriminated against on grounds of their disability. Rights of disabled
persons include protection from inhuman treatment and equal
protection and safety in situations of risk, armed conflict, humanitarian
emergencies and natural disasters. All existing public buildings shall be
made accessible for disabled persons within five years of the
regulations being formulated by the National Commission for Persons
with Disabilities. No establishment will be granted permission to build
any structure, issued a completion certification or allowed to occupy a
building, if the building does not adhere to the regulations formulated

by the Commission.

Education, skill development and employment: The Bill provides for

the access to inclusive education, vocational training and selfemployment of disabled persons. All government institutions of higher
education and those getting aid from the government are required to
reserve at least five percent of seats for persons with benchmark
disabilities.

The central and state governments have to identify posts in

establishments under them to be reserved for persons with benchmark
disabilities. At least five percent of the vacancies are to be filled by
persons or class of persons with at least 40 percent of any of the
disabilities. Of this, one per cent shall be reserved for persons with (i)
blindness and low vision; (ii) hearing and speech impairment; (iii)
locomotor disability; (iv) autism, intellectual disability and mental
illness; and (v) multiple disabilities. The Bill provides that the
reservation has to be computed on the basis of total number of
vacancies in the strength of a cadre. The government may exempt any
establishment from this provision.

Legal Capacity: Disabled persons have the right, equally with others, to
own and inherit movable and immovable property, as well as control
their financial affairs.

Guardianship: The Bill provides that if a district court finds that a

mentally ill person is not capable of taking care of himself or of taking
legally binding decisions, it may order guardianship to the person. The
nature of such guardianship is also specified.

National and State Commissions for persons with disabilities: The

central and state governments are required to establish a National and
State Commissions for Persons with Disabilities, respectively. The
Commissions will be composed of experts and be required to (i)
identify any laws, policies or programmes that are inconsistent with the
Act; (ii) inquire into matters relating to deprivation of rights and
safeguards available to disabled persons, (iv) monitor implementation
of the Act and utilisation of funds disbursed by governments for the
benefit of disabled persons.

Central and state advisory boards: The central government and state
governments shall constitute Central and State Advisory Boards on
Disability. The boards shall advise governments on policies and
programmes on disability and review the activities of organisations

dealing with disabled persons.

2) The womens question arose in modern India as part of the nineteenth

century middle class social reform movements. Critically analyse. (200
Words)
3) In the name of national development and economic growth,
government policies have resulted in internal colonialism, subjugating tribes
and alienating their land and forest resources upon which they
depend.Elucidate. (200 Words)
4) The states limited revenue sources proved as a hindrance to the
development of effective federalism in the country and this needs to
change. Substantiate. (200 Words)
Ads by Google
The states of India deserve a break. They have been living under harsh
budget constraints that New Delhi has seldom accepted for itself. The
upcoming Budget gives Finance Minister Arun Jaitley a chance to let states
boost spending even as the federal government turns more austere. This
rebalancing is required to lift languishing growth. It is also a wise political
move.
Many of Indias 29 states are large emerging markets in themselves: Uttar
Pradesh has more people than Brazil; Maharashtra is as populous as Mexico.
The Indian constitution is effectively federal. In theory, the states are
supposed to have considerable sway over their economic destiny.
Yet they have been forced to stand still. The states combined development
expenditure Budget last year was a little over 10 per cent of gross domestic
product (GDP). This is almost unchanged from early 1990s, when India had
just begun opening its economy. Today, about half of this inadequate
spending is paid for by the federal government, which gives the states their
share of central taxes as well as grants and loans. But federal support has
only just climbed back to this level after a sharp decline in the late 1990s.

The states own revenue sources, meanwhile, are limited. The Constitution
doesnt allow them to tax non-farm income, so they charge levies on
transactions and consumption. Different levels of state taxation for
instance, on petroleum products prevent India from becoming an efficient
single market. Now that the federal government is about to change the
Constitution and take away the states right to tax most consumption, Mr
Jaitley needs to ensure that sub-national governments dont skimp further on
useful spending.
Already, the states are earmarking less than half as much money to public
health as they spend on servicing debt. Expenditure on transport and
communication is a similar fraction of pension payments. Such has been the
resource crunch that with the exception of the mini-state of Delhi state
governments have been forced to turn to private capital to build suburban
railway networks. The experience hasnt been great. Ten years after
Maharashtra approved a plan for the Mumbai metro rail, Reliance
Infrastructure, controlled by tycoon Anil Ambani, has walked away from the
second phase of the project. Now Maharashtra will build the rest of the line
on its own. The original concessionaire for Hyderabads metro network had to
be booted out after a corruption scandal.
State governments should have built critical urban infrastructure out of their
own resources with some assistance from the federal government. Though
some didnt have the foresight, most dont have the money. Blame it on the
fiscal heavy lifting that New Delhi forced upon them after a massive increase
in civil servant wages in the late 1990s threatened their finances. The states
have stuck to the script. After excluding loans, the gap between what they
spend and what they earn has been below one per cent of national GDP in
nine out of the last 10 years. The only exception to this belt-tightening was
the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Over the same period, New Delhi
has been almost three times as profligate.
Indias mini-currency crisis in 2013 came as a wake-up call. Since then, the
federal governments focus has been on curbing the deficit. But despite
falling oil prices, and a welcome reduction in fuel subsidies, austerity is
proving quite tough to execute. Thats because the economy is sluggish:
industrial production is stagnant and tax collections tepid. Even then, the
Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which cut interest rates this month, has made it
quite plain that further monetary easing depends on fiscal consolidation. The
ongoing disinflation gives the central bank the perfect opportunity to slash

borrowing costs and revive private investment.

With the RBI pushing the growth levers, Mr Jaitley can aim for bolder
reductions in the federal deficit. At the same time, however, he should relax
the budget constraints on the states. Economists at the central bank have
shown that a dollar of public spending produces three times as much output
if it is spent by the states rather than the central government. The economic
rationale for moving more spending decisions to sub-national governments is
clear.
There would be political benefits, too. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has
addressed a long-standing demand of the state governments by scrapping
Indias socialist-era Planning Commission, an extra-constitutional body whose
bureaucrats controlled the flow of funds to state governments.
The genuine and continuing partnership of states that Mr Modi has
promised in replacing the commission with a National Institution for
Transforming India (NITI) Aayog has yet to be tested. But if the state chief
ministers have more money to create new private-sector jobs by boosting
infrastructure and government services, then the more savvy spenders will
become more electable. The quality of politics will improve.
The fiscal challenge for Indian states is the opposite of Chinas. Chinese local
governments saw their revenue mainly from land sales grow by an
average 24 per cent a year between 2009 and 2013. That gave the
provincial authorities resources to build bridges to nowhere. Deutsche Bank
analysts are now predicting a fiscal slide as land prices fall and local
government revenues shrink by two per cent this year. GDP growth could
take a hit.
By contrast, the Indian states aggregate debt-to-output ratio is under control
at slightly above 20 per cent. The central government has borrowed the
equivalent of 50 per cent of GDP. Mr Jaitley doesnt need to push the Indian
states to live as recklessly as their Chinese counterparts; but he can give
them bigger spending clout, backed by a more liberal sharing of tax
resources. The sub-national governments would still be expected to run
balanced Budgets, but the Budgets would be bigger. Once the fiscal squeeze
on the Indian states ends, the national economy would be able to stretch
itself.

5) The Supreme Court was meant to be a constitutional court by the

founding fathers. However, only 7 per cent of its judgements deal with
constitutional issues. Make a case for SC to deal mainly with
only constitutional issues. Suggest innovative solutions to reduce the
backlogs of cases at all levels. (200 Words)
The Supreme Court was meant to be a constitutional court by the founding
fathers. However, only 7 per cent of its judgments deal with constitutional
issues, according to a recent study. Most of the 50,000 and more cases
pending in the court are appeals from the high courts or appellate tribunals.
They might have trundled from the subordinate courts to the apex court,
spending years and bundles of money. Even after the Supreme Court delivers
its judgment, there are two more stages to challenge its final word. They are
review petitions and 'curative petitions'.
Though the last two kinds of petitions are meant to correct obvious errors
that escaped the attention of the judges (like typing mistakes or wrong
figures) these are increasingly used as stratagems to reargue decided cases.
It would seem that the judges are so careless in writing judgments that they
should pass two more tests set by the bar. These two post-decision petitions
have begun to choke the court. In an average week, over 30 pages of the list
of cases contain review petitions and curative petitions. They are heard in
chambers of the judges during lunch time, and mostly crunched within
minutes. Hardly any of them succeeds in opening up the cases again.
However, lawyers advise clients who still have money left after losing all the
way to file review petitions, and as a last resort, curative petitions.
Earlier this month, a number of firms moved the Supreme Court challenging
a proviso introduced in 1996 in the Supreme Court Rule that obligated judges
who once dismissed the case to re-examine it in open court. The court
rejected the demand outright (Sesa Sterlite vs Supreme Court). This was a
welcome decision as open court hearing means more adjournments,
affidavits, counter affidavits, rejoinders and compilations. That process would
have bloated not only the files but also the lawyers. Thus, the review
petitions will continue to be massacred in lunch time.
The Supreme Court, in one of its weak moments in 2003, aspired to deliver
absolute justice and opened up yet another path to rehear decided cases. It
allowed the disappointed litigants to return to it even after losing the review
petition. This is by way of a 'curative petition', devised by the court in its

judgment, Rupa Hurra vs Ashok Hurra. A curative petition must be

accompanied by a recommendation of a "senior" advocate stating that the
case requires re-examination as there was violation of the principles of
natural justice in the earlier decisions. The curative petition has to be first
circulated to a bench of three senior-most judges. They will decide by a
majority that the case should be re-examined. Only then will the case be
heard by the judges who heard the case originally. Such strict conditions
were imposed to prevent a floodgate of curative petitions.
The court has since regretted its decision to set a revolving door to failed
litigants. In its judgment in Sumer vs State of UP, the court said that "the
apprehension of the bench which delivered the Hurra judgment that the
remedy provided may not open the floodgates for filing a second review
petition has come true as is evident from the filing of large numbers of
petitions. It was expected that the curative petitions will be filed in
exceptional and in the rarest of rare cases, but in practice, it has just been
opposite."
There is a strong current of opinion among jurists that the Supreme Court
should take up only constitutional questions. However, Article 136 of the
Constitution allows appeals in the garb of "special leave petitions". The
constitution makers would not have imagined that this provision would open
the doors to gamblers in justice. Long ago, former Attorney General M C
Setalvad told the bench when asked the difference between wager and
lottery, "what happens in this court every morning from 10.30 am to about
11.30 am is a lottery." The difference, perhaps, is that you can lose lottery
only once. But in the courts, you can try and try again while moving up the
judicial ladder.
6) What is algorithmic trading? How does increasing adoption of algorithmic
trading affect the stock markets? (200 Words)
Attempts by foreign investors to trade at ever-increasing speeds might be up
against a tax hurdle. Foreign institutional investors (now called foreign
portfolio investors, or FPIs) use co-location servers for faster trade on
exchanges. To cut the time taken for signals to travel to a bourse, such
servers are located on the exchange premises. The fraction of a second
saved through this helps algorithms, or programmes that execute orders
more efficiently than a human dealer. These can execute thousands of orders
in a second.

However, these can also open the door to tax ambiguity. It is felt the use of
co-location servers by FPIs might be construed as evidence of having a
permanent establishment in India, resulting in tax woes, according to Rajesh
Gandhi, director, Deloitte Haskins & Sells. Lets say a Mauritius-based FPI
trades in Indian markets through co-location servers. There is some
uncertainty over whether such servers located in India could be construed as
a permanent establishment, he says.
"There is ambiguity in the Indian tax law on whether co-location services
created a Permanent Establishment (PE) for an FII in India....Hence, if the
intent of the Indian Government is to make co-location a success, it would be
good if they could clarify that a co-location arrangement in India will not
trigger PE implications for an FII in India. For example, in the case of Japan,
the Japanese tax authorities have issued a circular which clarifies that colocation arrangements would not trigger PE implications in Japan." said
Russell Gaitonde, Partner at BMR & Associates.
If co-location is construed as a permanent establishment, investors could be
subjected to tax of up to 40 per cent.
Whether it means a permanent establishment for a foreign investor will
have to be evaluated on a case-to-case basis. The recent Budget
amendment that classifies all income as capital gains dilutes the risk, said
Pranay Bhatia, partner, BDO India. Gaitonde agreed.
However, Gandhi of Deloitte says, It is unclear whether FPIs could rely on
the 2014 amendment and continue to claim exemption under the treaty
despite having a permanent establishment in India.
The proportion of algorithmic trading as percentage of overall trading has
been on the rise. In December last year, it accounted for 30.82 per cent,
against less than 20 per cent a year earlier, according to BSE data. Historical
data for the National Stock Exchange (NSE) wasnt immediately available. For
December, algorithmic trading and co-location accounted for 38.5 per cent of
overall NSE trade, while co-location accounted for 22.6 per cent.
This translates into average volumes of Rs 58,975 crore through co-location.
If one assumes the same proportion for the BSE, it means an additional Rs
23,229 crore. Thus, co-location could account for up to Rs 82,204 crore of

daily volumes on stock exchanges.

Naveen Kumar, managing director of QuantXpress Financial Technologies,
which provides algorithmic trading solutions, estimates 20-30 per cent of the
co-location volume is accounted for by foreign investors. This translates into
Rs 16,000-25,000 crore of volume a day.
A source says the Securities and Exchange Board of India had raised this
issue with the tax department. However, there hasnt been a clarification in
this regard.An email sent to the capital markets regulator on the matter
wasnt immediately replied to.
Sebi to issue discussion paper on algorithmic trading
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) plans a discussion paper
on additional measures for algorithmic trading. A note on the conversion of
bank loans into equity was also likely, said Sebi Chairman UK Sinha.
Speaking at an Association of Mutual Funds in India meeting, he said Sebi
had taken a number of steps on algo trading. We are likely to take more. We
are trying to evaluate what measures to take and what will be their impact.
As and when we decide, and it wont be too long in the future, we will take
more measures, he said.
The discussion paper will focus on the impact of liquidity brought by algo
trading programmes, especially the possibility of it drying in case of mass
exits from the market. It will also examine whether the use of such
algorithms will be fair to all investors, some of whom dont participate
through this.
Earlier, the Reserve Bank of India had indicated talks were underway to see
whether banks could convert bad loans taken by companies into an equity
stake in such entities. On this, Sinha said, It will take some more time. We
are in dialogue with the Reserve Bank of India and the ministry. We will come
out with a discussion paper on this before we implement it.
He added after passing orders against illegal activities relating to the
preferential allotment of shares and alleged money laundering worth about
Rs 600 crore, the regulator was looking into a number of other companies.
Sebi officials, he said, were meeting officials from the mutual fund sector, as

well as advisors, on the issue of distributor commissions. There had been

reports of violation of Sebi regulations, he said, adding they hadnt found
such instances.
Earlier in the day, at a CRISIL seminar on the corporate bond market, Sinha
said Sebi was raising the issue of bond holder protection with the
government. Such entities didnt have the safeguards that banks and other
lending institutions did, he said, adding he was hopeful the government
would address this. My sense is the FPI (foreign portfolio investor) limit in
the corporate bond sector is going to be enhanced, he said. In April 2013,
the regulator had put a limit of $51 billion for foreign investment in corporate
bonds.
The central bank was in talks for partial credit enhancement for such bonds,
Sinha added. He said he was hopeful of some real estate investment trust
issuances soon. Recently, Sebi had amended its regulations for such
vehicles.
7) The departure of the Indo-US climate talks from equity and common but
differentiated responsibilities is an attempt to evade historical responsibility
by USA. Critically analyse. (200 Words)
The much-touted US-India bonhomie failed when it came to climate-change
talks between the two countries. The US government refused to accept an
insertion in a joint statement between the two heads of states that
reasserted the 2015 Paris climate agreement would be under the existing UN
Convention on Climate Change, following the principle of common but
differentiated responsibilities (CBDR) and the principle of equity. With the
disagreement continuing, all references to the principles and the UN climate
convention were dropped in the joint statement Prime Minister Narendra
Modi and US president Barack Obama signed.
But India did kowtow when it came to the US demand on a phase-down of
climate-warming refrigerant gases under the Montreal Protocol, something
India had resisted for several years. This is an issue in which Obama has
invested personal stake to showcase the US as a climate leader. India's
changed position was reflected in the joint statement, which read, "agreed
to cooperate on making concrete progress in the Montreal Protocol this year."
Refrigerant gases, used for refrigeration and air-conditioning, cause global

warming. India is a growing market for these gases. It has consistently

sought their phase-down be carried out under the new global climate
agreement only once the alternatives are available cheaply and the
compensation for replacing these gases is higher.
A new global climate agreement has to be signed this year at Paris. India and
several other developing countries have demanded the agreement respect
all provisions and principles of the existing UN Framework Convention on
Climate Change, especially the principles of equity and CBDR. These two
principles have the potential to protect India's developmental space even as
it takes climate change action.
The US did not agree to insert these references in the Indo-US joint
statement, as it would have to bear a far greater burden of emission cuts
and providing financial and technological support to developing countries
than it does at the moment.
Summing the decisions and joint statement on climate change between the
US and India, a senior Indian official said, "It did not go as bad as we feared
but it was worse than what we hoped for."
"There was complete disagreement on language such as 'under the
convention' and 'principles of CBDR and equity' in the paragraph on climate
change in the joint statement. Therefore, it was mutually decided to drop the
text and have a watered-down paragraph instead," said an Indian official
privy to the backroom negotiations.
"Texts on the climate change issue (for the joint statement) have been
exchanged almost 10 times in the past months. The US tried to link the
power pact with climate change issues and make it a comprehensive
package, presumably thinking we would be under pressure to deliver on one
to get another. Eventually, it has come out as a weak statement," another
official told Business Standard. "On the issue of HFCs (a family of climatewarming refrigerant gases), I am bit surprised why we gave away entirely,"
he added.
The US embassy did not respond to an emailed request for a response to the
story. The emailed queries were sent late in the evening.
The failure of talks on climate change was evident when Prime Minister Modi

gave an aggressive reply to a media query on India being under pressure on

the issue, following the Sino-US announcement. "It's my feeling that the
agreement concluded between the US and China does not impose any
pressure on us. India is a sovereign country and there is no pressure on us
from any country or any person," he said.
Before leaving, the US president got an opportunity to take on the Indian
position publicly. In a speech at the Sri Fort auditorium here on Tuesday, he
suggested India had to do more to fight climate change, claiming the US had
already shown leadership on the issue. He said US emissions were at their
lowest in the past two decades. Obama said, "I know of the argument made
by some that it's unfair for countries such as the US to ask developing and
emerging economies such as India to reduce their dependence on the same
fossil fuels that helped power our growth for more than a century. But here is
the truth: Even if countries such as the US curb our emissions and countries
that are growing rapidly, such as India, with soaring energy needs don't
embrace cleaner fuels, we don't stand a chance." He asked Indian youth to
speak up (in favour of more climate action) as the world negotiated the
global climate agreement.
US emissions peaked by 2005 and, on a per capita level and historically, are
still the highest in the world. The emission reduction plan the US had offered
under the US-China announcement is weaker than the one offered by US in
2010.
"At the moment, on climate change, India expected US support for its
developmental rights stated formally and then respected at multilateral
forums, too (formal UN climate negotiations). This we did not get," said an
official. "The government realised this during backroom negotiations in the
past months. That made us (the Indian government) scale back from the
preliminary internal discussions of what India could show-case as climate
actions under a joint statement."
The official was referring to preliminary discussions within the government
on whether India should provide targets and climate actions under a US-India
announcement, similar to the way China had. These discussions included
providing an indicative peaking year for Indian emissions, as well as sectorspecific indicative targets.

US President Barack Obama on Tuesday said that unless countries like India
embraced cleaner fuel, the world stood no chance against climate change.
I know the argument made by some that it is unfair on part of countries like
the US to ask developing countries and emerging economies like India to
reduce your dependence on same fossil fuel that powered our growth, he
said in his Town Hall address.
But here is the truth: Even if countries like the US curb emissions, if
countries that are growing rapidly like India with soaring needs dont also
embrace cleaner fuels we dont stand a chance. He welcomed Indias
ambitious targets for generating clean energy.
8) Martin Luther King Jr. believed that a life worth living should include a
principle worth dying for. Do you stand for any such principles in life and
explain why they are so important for you? (150 Words)
General
Topic: Human Values-Lessons from the lives of great leaders, reformers &
Administrators
9) Gandhian idea of trusteeship can help solve many problems plaguing
corporate India today. Comment. (150 Words)
General

Topic: Human Values-Lessons from the lives of great leaders, reformers &
Administrators
10) Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to
be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which
knowledge gives. James Madison.
Discuss this statement in the light of recent developments that are
empowering citizens. (200 Words)
General
1) India is moving towards third stage of demographic transition i.e.
replacement-level fertility. Discuss. What measures can be adopted by
government to stabilize the population at a faster pace? What are the
reasons behind difference in fertility rates across the states? (200 Words)
2) Poverty is clearly not a reason for falling sex ratio. Elucidate. (200
Words)
3) While the overall sex ratio has improved to 940 as compared to 933 in
2001, the child (0-6 years) sex ratio has shown an unabated decline since
1961. How do you explain this contradiction? (200 Words)
4) When we take land away from tribals, we take their life spirit. Discuss this
statement in the light of forceful land acquisition in tribal areas since
independence. Highlight the special provisions made for STs in the recent
land acquisition act to protect their interests. (200 Words)
5) India has an ambitious target of creating 100 smart cities. What are
Smart cities and how does it help us to cope with the burgeoning
urbanization in the country? (200 Words)
The Centre will meet secretaries of state governments and union territories
starting from Jan 30 to give a final shape to the smart cities development
plan, said Union Urban Development minister M Venkaiah Naidu.
Speaking at a conference on Tamil Nadu smart cities organised by the CII
here today, he said, During the meeting, we will give a final shape to the
concept of smart cities, and added at least four cities from each state would
be covered under the plan.

The identified cities would be developed in partnership between Centre,

state and urban local bodies and a public, private partnership (PPP) model,
he said. The Centre will offer the viability gap funding (VGF) for taking up the
works, he added.
During the meeting, issues including the kind of support, how to ensure
citizen participation in urban governance, what kind of initiatives are needed
to ensure good urban governance, kind of reforms that had been
implemented under the JNNURM and reasons for inadequacies noticed and
employment generation, will be raised, said Naidu.
Earlier this week, he noted the Centre had signed MoUs with the United
States Trade and Development Agency for developing Visakhapatnam,
Allahabad and Ajmer as smart cities. Germany too had agreed to develop
three smart cities. The other interested countries include Japan, UK, Sweden,
Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Netherlands.
The Centre would establish a new task force to formulate action plans for
these cities over the next three months, he said.
Besides, global companies like KPMG, Cisco, Infosys, IBM, GE, Honeywell, 3M,
Timken and others have indicated their support to the initiative, said the
minister.
As far as Tamil Nadu is concerned, Naidu said, Japan had shown interest to
develop Ponneri as a smart city.
The Centre is also planning to roll out a City Challenge initiative under
which all the aspiring cities and towns will be evaluated based on progress
on reforms front, revenue collection, sanitation, new initiatives,
creditworthiness and rating of sanitation will be assessed, said the Union
Minister, adding that to provide basic infrastructure in Urban areas alone
would require around Rs 40 lakh crore over the next 20 years.
An additional Rs 20 lakh crore would be required for the operation &
maintenance of urban assets during the same period, he added.

6) To what extent has the Consumer protection act succeeded in achieving

its intended objective ? Critically analyze the recently proposed amendments
to strengthen the act. (200 Words)

Changes in Consumer Protection Act: Devil is in implementation

The Government of India has proposed several amendments to the
Consumer Protection Act, 1986. The proposals admit that the
implementation of the Act has been tardy, which is reflected in the
statistics available on the subject. The National Consumer Disputes
Redressal Commission is grappling with appeals and original
complaints filed in the period 2008-2010, which means consumers
are being made to suffer for an average of five years to get their
grievances redressed. For example, the Maharashtra State
Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has recently opened up
cases kept aside in the sine die list for the period 1998-2004.
There are certain interesting and innovative changes proposed in the
dictionary Section 2 of the proposed amendments. For the first time, the
definition of the word advertisement, unfair contract and e-commerce have
been incorporated to clear the air and update the Act to the modern era.
There are excellent provisions for online filing of complaints, converting nonissue of a bill on completion of a sale as an offence, increasing the pecuniary
jurisdiction of District Forums from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 50 lakh, a provision for
scrutiny of cases prior to admission to be completed within 21 days and
provisions for punitive damages in cases which should not be less than 10
times of the cost of the goods/ services provided.
Then there are provisions like compulsory depositing of 50 per cent of the
amount passed in an order of the lower court before filing an appeal against
an order and the power of review given to the Forums in case of clerical or
technical errors, which was not permitted under the current law. These would
be the non-controversial and widely accepted amendments.
There are however, many other amendments which are well-meaning but
face huge logistical walls for implementation. A whole new chapter has been
devoted to mediation, appointment of mediators and the system of
mediation to settle disputes. While there can be no argument on these
proposals, the concept of mediation has failed repeatedly over the decades
in India, as experience by consumer bodies has shown.

The producers/service providers who land in tiffs with consumers, are

reluctant to solve problems across the table for a wide array of reasons
varying from it will set up a bad precedent, let him do his worst, we are the
stronger party to under legal advice. Lok Adalats set up to try and resolve
consumer problems have thus been dismal failures, as past experience has
shown. In addition, mediation is not compulsory. With such lenient terms, it is
highly unlikely that defaulting companies will approach the mediation panel.
In Western countries, where the costs and consequences of litigation are
heavy, mediation works because the consequences of non-mediation are
often catastrophic.
Another contentious amendment proposed is for the barring of advocates
from appearance in the Forums, both in complaints and appeals, if the
matters pertaining to amounts under dispute are lesser than Rs 2 lakh. Such
a move is not without parallel, since labour courts and other tribunals also
have similar restrictions on appearances of advocates. While consumers
would welcome this move in favour of quick settlement of their disputes,
expect a furore from the legal profession which will see sinister designs to
prevent from earning their livelihood in this amendment.
Many other amendments are consumer friendly, but possibly difficult to
implement. One such is the provision that only one appeal is to be allowed in
any dispute, no matter what the outcome is. Goods once sold will not be
taken back or exchanged this classic Indian sentence on most cash memos
and bills will be part of history if an amendment barring such onerous
conditions makes its way through Parliament.Complainants will be allowed to
file complaints in places where they reside an excellent amendment in
cases of e-commerce and in large multi-state companies. But what will
happen if a doctor or petrol pump offering services is sued in a district a
thousand km away from which services were procured? A Consumer
Authority is proposed to be set up to rein in misleading ads, prevent unfair
trade practices and in general, to protect consumer rights, but will this be
one more regulatory authority with powers on paper but very little action
being seen on the ground as has occurred with SEBI and IRDA?
The amendments are, however, silent on one important fact which worries
every litigant who walks into a Consumer Forum: why are there interminable
delays in the passing of orders in the simple, common-sense law system?
Why are litigants forced to give their complaints in specific formats, submit
loads of papers and subject to the torture of replying to multiple applications

for adjournments and unwarranted documents by lawyers who throng

consumer courts?
The amendments do not speak of methods to cut down the pernicious
adjournment tactics and prolonged arguments that have made consumer
forums as good or as bad as regular courts. There is no roadmap available on
funding the quasi-judicial consumer law implementation system along with
the proposal for the amendments, which will help it increase its efficiency
and time-bound delivery mandate (the original law mandates passing of
orders within ninety days in contested matters).
The more complicated the law, the more difficult is its implementation. By
expanding the scope and reach of the Consumer Protection Act through the
current amendments, the governments intentions may be noble but the
devil lies in the implementation of the Act. Or else, like in many other laws in
India, There are Acts and Acts and Acts but nobody a
7) If GAAR is not implemented properly it may result in tax
terrorism.Examine how and its impact on Indians economy and ease of
doing business? (200 Words)
Tax law uncertainty remains a concern for foreign investors
The governments Wednesday decision of not going for an appeal in the
Vodafone tax case removed uncertainty over transfer of shares by Indian
subsidiaries of multinational companies (MNCs) to their foreign parents. Now,
tax analysts say, foreign investors are eyeing similar steps by the authorities
in other areas of dispute those related to other transfer pricing issues,
retrospective taxation in cases of indirect transfers and royalty payments
carried out in 2012.
The government has mostly settled cases similar to the Vodafone one but it
is yet to sort out issues related to mark-ups in other transfer-pricing (TP)
cases.
The other worry of investors relate to retrospective amendments about
which the government had earlier assured investors about extreme caution
in using these laws in practice. The amendments, though, remain in statute
and have not been removed.

On Wednesday, the government had decided against challenging the

Bombay High Courts ruling in favour of telecom operator Vodafone in a TP
case related to transfer of Vodafone India Services Pvt Ltd (VISPL) shares to
parent company.
VISPL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Vodafone Tele-Services (India) Holdings
Ltd, Mauritius, a non-resident company. In August 2008, VISPL had issued
shares (at a premium of Rs 8,509) for a total consideration of Rs 246.4 crore
to Vodafone Mauritius. This was shown as capital receipts in the books of
accounts. VISPL reported this transaction as an international transaction
and stated this did not affect its income. The transfer-pricing officers did not
accept the companys share valuation. There also were questions whether
income arising out of such share transfers could be taxed in India.
With the Bombay High Court ruling that this income could not be taxed in
India, and the government not appealing against it, similar cases now stand
settled.
However, there still are TP cases where there are disagreements between
firms and taxmen over margins or mark-ups in transactions between MNCs
and their Indian subsidiaries. This issue is yet to be settled, particularly with
regard to the business process outsourcing and knowledge process
outsourcing sectors. While this issue has been settled with the US, as New
Delhi and Washington have sealed an agreement to this effect, MNCs and
other nations major concern are mark-ups and tax dues on costs for services
provided.
Instead of a fixed mark-up, the framework sets out the process for
determining it. The mark-up is now based on activities of the company. That
will make it easier for companies and tax authorities to work through cases,
said a tax official.
Deloitte India Partner Neeru Ahuja says tax authorities are taking margins of
as high as 30-35 per cent, which BPO and KPO companies find too high.
After signing of agreement with the US, tax authorities are now looking
forward to similar pacts with the UK, France and other European markets, to
settle such controversies with MNCs.
Also, the government might sign bilateral advance-pricing agreement with
the US after assessing the impact of the agreement on the mark-up issue.

Many MNCs adopt advance-pricing agreements to avoid litigation while doing

business in India 146 such applications were filed in 2012, and 232 the
next year. India recently signed a bilateral advance-pricing agreement with
Japans Mitsui for five years. Such bilateral agreements involve the
governments on the two sides, as well as the companies concerned, unlike
unilateral ones where the foreign government concerned is not involved.
The finance ministry also tries to prevent TP disputes through safe harbour
rules for companies engaged in IT, KPO, BPO, pharma, auto components etc.
However, these have not drawn much takers as margins are too high at 2030 per cent.
In the first tranche, the governments are hoping to resolve 60 cases in
various stages of litigation and assessment, pending with the income-tax
department.
There are more than 250 cases against US companies, some dating back to
2004. Many of these include royalty and permanent establishment and
involve software development and infotech-enabled services.
In this respect, retrospective amendments related to widening of ambit of
royalty for software payments and payments to telecasting companies still
remain in statute. The amendment, carried out in the Finance Act of 2012, is
valid since 1976.
The more publicised and controversial retrospective amendment related to
indirect transfers is also there in law, though the government has assured
the investors it will apply this in practice with extreme caution. The
government has acknowledged on several occasions, the amendment that
led to a dispute with Vodafone, even after the Supreme Court verdict in the
companys favour, has scared investors away. Vodafone and India have gone
for an arbitration in this case.
Ahuja said though the government had assured investors, the fact that
amendments were there in the Finance Act created uncertainty in the minds
of foreign investors.
In the Budget for 2014-15, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said: The
sovereign right of the government to undertake retrospective legislation is
unquestionable. However, this power has to be exercised with extreme

caution and judiciousness, keeping in mind the impact of each such measure
on the economy and the overall investment climate.
He had assured investors the government ordinarily would not bring about
any change retrospectively. The finance minister had also said the
government had decided all fresh cases arising out of retrospective
amendments of 2012 in respect of indirect transfers would be scrutinised by
a high-level committee of the Central Board of Direct Taxes, before any
action is initiated in such cases.
This only refers such cases to higher authorities but does not remove
uncertainty, said a tax expert who did not wish to be named.
Besides, there are subjective phrases, such as assets of foreign companies
have to be substantial in India if retrospective amendment on indirect
transfer is to be applied. While the draft Direct Taxes Code had proposed
assets of foreign companies in India have to be 20 per cent of its total assets
to trigger retrospective amendment, the existing Income-Tax Act is silent on
the matter. The initial DTC draft had proposed the definition of substantial to
include 50 per cent of assets of foreign companies in India.
This refers to the report "Govt won't appeal in Vodafone case" (January 29).
By veering away from the path trodden by the United Progressive Alliance,
the Bharatiya Janata Party government has sent out a strong message that it
believes in a fair and transparent tax regime. The decision not only gave the
world's second-largest telecom firm a relief, but also raised hope among 20
such multinational companies facing similar disputes in India. While the
move would bring much cheer to global investors, there are other vexing
issues that need to be sorted out by the tax authorities. More sops and an
investor-friendly tax administration are the need of the hour.
The governments decision not to appeal against the adverse verdict of the
Bombay High Court in its Rs.3,200-crore tax case against Vodafone is the
first concrete demonstration of its resolve to do away with what Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley termed
adversarial taxation policies of the erstwhile UPA government. Though the
BJP had during its election campaign, referred to tax terrorism in its
election campaign there was little that happened in the first eight months of
the new government to show that such policies would be reversed. The latest
Cabinet decision sends out a strong signal to foreign investors that this
government will be fair in its tax policies and avoid needless litigation. The

decision not to appeal has implications for other such similar cases involving
multinationals and is, in that sense, a significant one. It is also an
acknowledgment that the Income Tax Departments assessment of the case
was erroneous. The Vodafone case was about wrong classification of a capital
receipt as taxable income at the hands of the company. Applying transferpricing guidelines, the I.T. Department held that Vodafone had underpriced
its shares issued to the parent. So it revalued the shares and deemed the
difference to be a loan given to the parent. This was clearly high-handed and
a wrong application of transfer-pricing regulations.
The governments decision to accept the High Court verdict is also a signal to
assessing officers that they should refrain from making unreasonable tax
demands, relying on aggressive and faulty interpretations of rules and
sections. Yet, it is also true that the government turns the heat on these
officers when it decides that tax collections need to be augmented. If the tax
official is confused he cannot be blamed. What is needed is a stable policy
that sends out the signal to both assessing officers and taxpayers that the
government will crack down on evasion but within the framework of the law;
there will be no extraordinary interpretations of rules and sections even in
times of revenue distress. The focus will now shift to whether the
government moves to neutralise the mischief caused by the retrospective
tax amendment; this is a major demand of foreign investors who were
disappointed that it was not addressed in the first budget of this government
in July last year. The General Anti Avoidance Rules, or GAAR, are a cause for
worry for taxpayers and foreign investors as they confer wide discretionary
powers on the I.T. Department. It will be interesting to see if Mr. Jaitley makes
a Budget announcement to postpone its implementation once again as per
the recommendations of the Parthasarathi Shome Committee.
8) What are the various generation of bio-fuels? Why are the previous
generation bio-fuels seen as threat to food security? How do 3rd generation
bio-fuels manage to address those problems? (200 Words)
Punjab is set to ink a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for setting up of
bio-ethanol refinery with a consortium of Beta Renewables, Novozymes and
CVC India Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, for an estimated project worth Rs 950 crore.
This will go a long way in tackling the major problem of paddy straw burning,
resulting in irreparable loss to land's fertility and environment.
Bikram Singh Majithia, new and renewable energy minister, Punjab, on

Thursday, was presented a conceptual plan to set up Asia's first ever Rs 950crore second generation bio-ethanol, producing refinery leading to setting up
of five more such refineries with $1-billion investment.
Making a detailed presentation to Majithia here at Chandigarh, CVC India
Chairman K Krishan proposed initially one bio-refinery project with design
capacity of 60,000 tonnes of cellulosic ethanol per year (75 million litres per
year) would be set up in the state, with three lakh tonnes of paddy straw as
feedstock. He said the proposed plant would also generate co-products of
biogas, pellets and compost through processing bio-refinery effluents and
pellets through processing surplus lignin, residue of bio-refinery and lignin
further could be used for a captive co-generation plant. This would be
followed by five more projects, with an investment of $1 billion.
He further said the state produces 15 million tonnes of paddy straw and its
maximum usage for such bio-ethanol refineries could result in avoiding major
environmental problem of burning of paddy straw. Naveen Sharma, project
director, bio fuels, World Agro Forestry Centre, added the proposed plant can
also use Napier grass as feedstock.
And other crops grown in high saline and waterlogged areas. This would help
in a big way to achieve diversification targets of the state government. The
farmers with option of these crops would be able to get revenue year around
with less use of water.
Novozymes Regional President G S Krishnan pointed out the other benefits of
such projects to state farmer include additional income for supply of paddy
straw, availability of bio-compost generated from the plant as bio-fertiliser,
high level of direct/indirect investment i.e. $150 million per 60,000
tonnes/annum plant, large number of direct/indirect jobs, energy security
through replacement of petrol/diesel produced from imported crude oil
besides bio-CNG replacing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and vehicular fuels.
This would provide opportunity to rural entrepreneurs to set up feedstock
(paddy straw) management and supply units.
Majithia informed the representatives that these second generation bioethanol projects would play a significant role in dealing with the challenge of
paddy straw burning as three lakh tonnes of paddy straw could be used in a
single plant. He was hopeful that once investors see a successfully-running
project, there would be lot of investment in such projects. Keeping in view

the availability of 15 million tonnes of feedstock and the hardworking nature

of Punjabis, the state is poised to become a major hub in Asia for producing
bio-ethanol and related products.
Topic: Public/Civil service values and Ethics in Public administration: Status
and problems;
9) As a senior public servant, what techniques would you adopt to influence
and persuade your staff to maintain high ethical conduct in your
organization? (150 Words)
General
Topic: Information sharing and transparency in government, Right to
Information;
10) Recently, we have witnessed the trend of secret information leaks by
anonymous persons with in the government to expose malpractices. Debate
whether this act done with good intentions be considered as ethical. (150
Words)
General

1) Extreme nationalism of fascist variety has various faces in various

countries,but it has everywhere in common characteristics. Critically
analyse. (200 Words)
As one stalwart after another of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS)
raises the decibel level in his screams for the various planks of the Hindutva
campaign, overpaid, undereducated TV anchors, besides Prime Minister
Narendra Modis fawning fans in the print media, the corporate world and
elsewhere, shuffle in their seats in deep embarrassment and cry in unison:
Modiji must distance himself from all this. It will harm his development
programme. The RSS supremo, Mohan Bhagwat, cares two hoots for their
embarrassment. On December 20, he said in Kolkata apropos the RSS
conversion drive (ghar wapsi, returning home) that those who lost their
way were separated from us. It is like a thief who steals our valuables. When
the thief is caught, we will get our valuables back. They are ours (Hindustan
Times, December 21, 2014). Coarseness of language is typical of the RSS-

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) style, which Modi exemplified during the election
campaign not long ago. Up went the criesIs the fringe hijacking Modis
programme?, and He should disown them.
They forget that Modi spent all his life in the service of the RSS as a
pracharak, an active promoter. He is himself one of the lot and thinks and
speaks no differently from them. He cannot bridle the hard core, Modi
himself is the hard core. The great constitutional lawyer Diceys remarks,
quoted above, were made in the context of the internal limits on Parliaments
sovereignty: its members reflect the views of British society. And Narendra
Modi shares the rabid outlook of the Sangh Parivar which groomed him. That
explains his studied silence in the entire fortnight during which the cry for
conversion rent the air. He inwardly rejoices at it.
Whether the willing dupes accept this or not, everyone who cares for Indias
democracy ought to sit up and take notice of the trends of which these
developments are but a partthe pulverisation of the Cabinet system, the
gag on Ministers, the remoteness of the supreme leader, and attacks on the
independence of the civil service. The BJP itself is a creature of a fascist
body, the RSS. Meanwhile, in the last decade or so, the RSS has riveted its
control over the BJP. The working of the Constitution will be distorted if the
ruling party is a front of a fascist body.
That the RSS was a fascist body was known to all. Donald Eugene Smith
recalled in his definitive work India as a Secular State that Nehru once
remarked that Hindu communalism was the Indian version of fascism, and, in
the case of the RSS, it is not difficult to perceive certain similarities. The
leader principle, the stress on militarism, the doctrine of racial-cultural
superiority, ultra-nationalism infused with religious idealism, the use of
symbols of past greatness, the emphasis on national solidarity, the exclusion
of religious or ethnic minorities from the nation-conceptall of these
features of the RSS are highly reminiscent of fascist movements in Europe.
Fascism, however, is associated with a concept of state-worship, the state as
the all-absorbing reality in which the individual loses himself and in so doing
finds ultimate meaning.
This conception has no counterpart in RSS ideology; in fact, the Sangh
explicitly rejects the notion that its objectives could be attained through the
power of the state. Its aim is the regeneration of Hindu society, which must
come from within. However, it is impossible to say how the RSS would

respond if political power ever came within reach, either directly or through
the Jana Sangh. The implementation of certain aspects of its ideology, the
policy toward Muslims and other minorities, for example, presupposes
extensive use of the machinery of the state. The foresight is impressive
(emphasis added, throughout).
There has appeared a work of impeccable scholarship by an Italian scholar
which exposes, from authentic archival material, the clandestine links
between the Hindu Mahasabha and the RSS and Italian fascism. In doing so,
she has also brought out the close relationship between the Mahasabha and
the RSS.
On January 22, 2000, the highly respected Economic & Political Weekly
published an essay entitled Hindutvas Foreign Tie-up in the 1930s: Archival
Evidence by the scholar Marzia Casolari (pages 218-228). On April 13, 2002,
the journal published her essay Role of Benares in Constructing Political
Hindu Identity (pages 1,413-1,420), also based on archival material.
Fortunately, Marzia Casolari has put the fruits of her stupendous research in
book form (In the Shade of the Swastika: The Ambiguous Relationship
between Indian Nationalism and Nazi Fascism, I Libri di Emil, Via Benedetto
Marcello 7, 40141, Bologna; http://www.ilibridiemil.it/, 218 pages).
A word about the author. Marzia Casolari is lecturer in History of Asia at the
Faculty of Political Science, University of Perugia, since 2010. She read
History of Eastern Asia at the University of Bologna, and carried out research
in India from 1991 to 1993 as a Fellow of the Italian Ministry of External
Affairs. The topic of her research was Italian foreign policy in India during the
fascist regime and the relations between fascism and Indian nationalism.
This research continued in 1994, under a PhD in History, Institutions and
International Relations from the University of Pisa. She obtained the doctoral
title in 1998. In 1994, she was also a Fellow of the Indian Council of Historical
Research with a short-term scholarship. Since 1999, she has visited India
several times, doing research on Hindu political radicalism and the Muslim
issue in India.
In 2006, she published the paper Lislam in India (prima e) dopo 111
settembre (Islam in India before (and after) 9.11), in a volume edited by
Diego Abenante and Elisa Giunchi. She has also published several papers
about the conflict in Sri Lanka and connected issues. Since 2010, she has

been chairman of Asia Maior, an association of Italian scholars working on

contemporary South, Eastern, and Southern Asia.
2) The popular rise of the slogan for azaadi in Kashmir in the late 1990s was
on the account of religious fundamentalism which was left unchallenged
and an Indian state which viewed a community merely as pawns in their
geostrategic game. Critically comment. (200 Words)
Kashmir's Pandits have been abandoned by a callous state and society, and
cynical supporters.
It has been a quarter of a century since the current phase of protests and
militancy began in Kashmir and there has been no solution or settlement in
sight. These 25 years have seen tens of thousands of people killed by the
bullets of the Indian state, separatists and fundamentalists, among them
many thousands who have been killed in fake encounters and disappeared
by the security forces and those buried in unmarked graves, and also the
thousands who have been raped and tortured and jailed. The people of
Kashmir have long suffered between the Scylla and Charybdis of militants
and Muslim fundamentalists hijacking their demands for azaadi and the
security forces targeting the civilian Muslim population as enemy hostiles,
turning the entire Valley into a military camp.
This chapter, if it can be called thus, in the life of our socialist, secular,
democratic republic is a blight which distorts everything else in it and is a
warning to all those who are its citizens that this state of exception can well
become the norm.
Unfortunately, even most accounts of the atrocities and sufferings of the
Kashmiri people are divided on communal lines. There has been a long, and
inexplicable, silence about the atrocities on the Kashmiri Pandits. The only
force which has consistently raised the issue of the killings and exile of
KashmiriPandits has been the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and its
affiliated organisations, and as the political developments of the past few
months have made clear once again, they have done this with cynical
intentions to use their tragedies in the propaganda war against secularism
and for consolidating a Hindu majoritarian polity.
The popular rise of the slogan for azaadi in Kashmir in the late 1990s came
riding on a consolidation of the Muslim identity together with the sidelining of
voices that framed this demand in ecumenical terms. It is difficult to

apportion exact blame for the sudden exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the
Valley starting on the night of 19 January 1990, but it falls largely to the
account of a Muslim fundamentalism which was left unchallenged and an
Indian state which viewed this community merely as pawns in their
geostrategic game.
What is known quite well is that the popular mobilisations for azaadi, growing
in numbers since the autumn of 1989, had often turned communal and
slogans directed at theKashmiri Pandits started being heard with
increasingfrequency. It was not just threatening slogans but the targeted
killings of KashmiriPandits by militants who called them agents of the Indian
state. On the night of 19 January 1990 there seems to have been a planned
escalation in this, as many of the first person accounts of Kashmiri Pandits
who fledsubsequently attest to. Houses and localities where Kashmiri Pandits
lived were targeted with threats and actual violence. The plight of the
Pandits seems to have been compounded by the effective silencing of all
voices of reason and fraternity within the Kashmiris by the gun of the
fundamentalists and militants.
The representatives of the Indian state, particularly the then Governor
Jagmohan and the military establishment, did precious little to protect the
Pandits. On the contrary, all evidence suggests that the violence directed at
the Pandits by the militants was used to deepen the communal cleavage and
their exodus from the Valley was encouraged so as to help the security forces
deal with the militancy. The massacre of Gawakadal stands testimony to
this cynical politics of the representatives of the Indian state.
That the Pandits have remained merely a pawn in the political games of the
Indian state and Hindutva forces, who have done precious little to help them
in real terms, is reciprocated by the leadership of the Kashmiri separatists
who mouth platitudes about their return but have done nothing to prevent
the despoliation of their property and the threats to them, if not actively
participating in this.
Mirroring the capture of Kashmirs azaadi movement by militants and
fundamentalists, much of the leadership of the Kashmiri Pandits has turned
communal and reduced the demand for justice to a subset of the politics of
Hindu rashtra. This appropriation of the tragedy of the Kashmiri Pandits by
Hindutva forces has also had the unfortunate effect of turning the Left and

progressive forces away from them, an inexcusable lapse which needs urgent
redressal.
It has been a quarter century of impossibility of a political path which keeps
away from fundamentalisms, extremisms and military solutions of all kinds,
which builds solidarity across religious divides. Today, to remember the
tragedies on the Pandits or call out the Muslim fundamentalism which drove
them out is to be seen to be identifying with the atrocities of the Indian state
and the majoritarian politics ofHindutva; to mourn the atrocities on the
Kashmiri Muslims and hold the Indian state to account are seen as support
for Muslim fundamentalism or even treason. Few have had the courage to
stand up to the violation of every fundamental right enshrined in our
Constitution on a people it calls its own citizens, irrespective of identity or
political affiliations. An entire generation of Kashmiris have been born and
brought up on two sides of this communal divide. Is there still space for a
politics of solidarity and justice to blossom in Kashmir or will this morbid
winter still envelop the land?
3) There is a growing realisation that citizen participation lies at the heart of
good governance. What are the initiatives taken by government in this
regard? How can these initiatives be more successful? (200 Words)
http://yojana.gov.in/CMS/%28S
%28kdrn2245hrays345op0myc55%29%29/pdf/Yojana/English/2014/Yojana
%20March%202014.pdf
4) Surrogacy in India has flourished into a Commercial Industry and lead
to reproductive tourism. Analyse both the positive and negative impacts
this had on India. To what extent, the proposed ART bill seeks to address the
above concerns. (200 Words)
http://www.epw.in/system/files/pdf/2015_50/2/Right_to_Abort_in_Surrogacy_C
ontracts.pdf
http://www.epw.in/system/files/pdf/2015_50/1/Outsourcing_Reproduction.pdf
5) The recently released Shanta Kumar Committee report on issues related
to procurement, storage and distribution of food grains in India is deeply
flawed and runs contrary to the aim of achieving the MDGs Critically
analyse. (200 Words)

Investing in strong road and railway connections is one of the best ways to
curb hunger as better roads can cut down food wastage that takes place
while transporting food from the farms to markets, says a new study.
Commissioned by the Copenhagen Consensus Centre, the study estimates
that investing US $239 billion over the next 15 years in building good roads
and in electricity supplies to improve cold storage would yield benefits of US
$3.1 trillion by safeguarding food, reports Reuters. This could curb hunger by
2030.
According to Mark Rosegrant, lead author of the study, rural infrastructure is
often overlooked by governments and investors as a way to cut food
wastage. Halving such losses could feed a billion people, says the news
report.
The theory of food wastage, however, is different for developed and
developing nations. Bjorn Lomborg, head of the Copenhagen Consensus
Centre, explains that in rich nations the task is to discourage consumers from
buying too much food and then throwing away large amounts uneaten, while
in developing nations, waste is linked to a lack of basic infrastructure before
it reaches markets. Food can get eaten by rats in the fields or get spoiled
because there is not enough cold storage, he told Reuters.
The study is an attempt to help the United Nations set targets for 2030 to
succeed the global Millennium Development Goals for 2000-15 that includes
halving rates of poverty. The authors also recommend a 160 per cent rise in
research to improve crop yields. The agency quotes Christopher Barrett, a
reviewer at Cornell University, who considers Rosegrants study to be the
most serious attempt to date to estimate how cuts in post-harvest losses
could feed a rising population.
The Shanta Kumar Committee report, released last week, on a range of
issues relating to procurement, storage and distribution of food grains is not
only deeply flawed in its reading of the situation on food security, but also
short on facts. It was prepared under the guidance of the Prime Ministers
Office.
For example, the report asserts that only six per cent of all farmers have
benefited from Minimum Support Price (MSP) through sale of food grains to
an official procurement agency, according to data of the National Sample
Survey Organisations 70th round. But analysts have found discrepancies

between the surveys estimates of the food grains sold to official

procurement agencies and the actual amount of grains procured by official
agencies for that year.
For kharif, the NSSO survey estimates that 13 million tonnes were sold to a
procurement agency while the actual procurement that year by government
agencies was 34 million tonnes. For rabi, the gap is even larger: 10 million
tonnes estimated in the survey while the actual amount procured by an
official agency was 38 million tonnes.
Why did the Shanta Kumar Committee overlook these possible
underestimates? Was it just to arrive at the sensational figure of six per cent
and then argue that since only six per cent of farmers get the benefit of MSP
and procurement, why have the Food Corporation of India (FCI) at all?
But there is another way of looking at it. It is true that large numbers of
farmers are deprived of the benefits of MSP. It is not because they do not
want to sell to the procurement agencies but because they do not have
access to official procurement centre, which are set up only in selective
States and regions. The majority of farmers sell at distress prices which push
them deeper into debt. For this large section of rural India, reforming the
system would mean a substantial increase in the number of procurement
centres and easier access, so as to enable it to benefit from MSP.
As soon as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) assumed office, the first thing it
did was to bring down the rate of increase of MSP to just about three per
cent over the previous year this when the prices of farm inputs have
increased phenomenally.
Some States under pressure from Kisan movements decided to give a bonus
over and above the MSP to help farmers. The Modi government stepped in to
punish such States. It decreed that it would not procure any food grains
over and above the requirement for the Public Distribution System (PDS)
from such States which gave the farmers a bonus.
Confronted with the Central governments policy, the Chhattisgarh
government, for example, which had given such a bonus, issued a circular
that it would procure only 10 quintals of paddy per acre from individual
farmers. Andhra Pradesh has also limited its procurement. Thus, open-ended
procurement which ensured Indias food security and farmer security is now
in the process of being whittled down while the rate of increase of MSP is

delinked from the increases in the cost of production and adequate profit
margins. This is in contrast to the Swaminathan Commissions
recommendation for MSP to be calculated at the cost of production plus 50
per cent profit, to keep agriculture viable.
The immediate impact in Chhattisgarh has been distress sales by farmers to
private traders who can dictate prices, buoyed by the assurance from the
government that it would not procure more grains.
The Shanta Kumar Committee report takes these dangerous steps further by
advocating limited procurement as the officially declared policy.
This is directly linked to its recommendation to scrap the existing Food
Security Act (FSA). The Committee wants to reduce the coverage from 67 per
cent to 40 per cent of the population. It also wants to double the prices that
these food grains are to be sold at under the present Act by linking the price
to the MSP. This means resurrecting the fraudulent and discredited Above
Poverty Line and Below Poverty Line estimations and depriving equally poor
people of subsidised grains. In fact, as the Left has consistently argued and
fought for, it is only a universalised PDS that can meet the requirement to
make India hunger-free. The Shanta Kumar Committee wants to eliminate
even the inadequate provisions under the existing FSA and push the country
back to the worst days of food insecurity.
Ironically, such a recommendation comes at a time when the United Nations
agencies monitoring country-wise performances towards meeting the
Millennium goals have praised India for its reduction of malnutrition, giving
credit for this to food security systems like the ICDS [Integrated Child
Development Services] as well as the public distribution system. In spite of
the reduction, which brings India from the most alarming category to the
seriously affected category, the country is still home to the largest
malnourished population in the world; its rank in the Global Hunger Index at
55 out of 76 emerging economies is only slightly ahead of Pakistan and
Bangladesh but worse than Sri Lanka and Nepal.
As in the case of procurement, the Modi government has started to subvert
the FSA in the case of implementation too. The FSA became law in
September 2013. More than a year later, it is being implemented in only 11
States. The Central government has excluded 25 States and Union Territories
from the ambit of the Act. According to a release on November 28, 2014,
these States and Union Territories have not completed the preparatory

measures required for the implementation of the Act. It was further stated
that the Central Government extended the deadline for the implementation
of the Act by another six months, namely till April 2014.
The Government of India has no right to make the implementation of the Act
conditional to preparedness on the basis of parameters it has decided
arbitrarily. There is no such legal provision in the Act, nor is there any legal
deadline. But the official release reflects clearly the present governments
hostility towards taking any responsibility for food security. This is also
reflected in the allocation of food grains. If the FSA is to be implemented,
then according to the calculations of the Food Ministry, the allocations will go
up to 550 lakh tonnes of food grains compared to the pre-FSA allocations in
2012-2013 of 504 lakh tonnes.
According to the Ministrys food grains bulletin till December 2014,
allocations to the States were just 388 lakh tonnes of food grains. This is
roughly the same as it was the previous year, before the Act was passed. In
other words, the Modi government has already stayed the implementation of
the FSA. It is preparing to shift to direct cash transfers for a more restricted
number of families.
The Shanta Kumar Committees recommendations to unbundle the FCI,
allowing the free play of market forces in procurement and storage of food
grains, and restricting the FSA are in tune with the demands raised by the
western world led by the U.S. in the World Trade Organisation against Indias
systems of procurement, storage and distribution. The India-U.S. agreement
to end the stalemate in the WTO process is clearly premised on the changes
being suggested by the Committee.
The government can be expected to try and bulldoze the required
amendments to the FSA through Parliament using its majority. But
undoubtedly it will face the resistance of the people.
6) The alleged increment in tax rate would not be able to make smoking
tobacco a less affordable product because of its obvious loopholes in the
differential treatment of different tobacco products or different tiers of the
same product. Comment. (200 Words)
The tax hikes on smoking tobacco in 2014 appear large in the aggregate, but
have little effect on the price of single cigarette sticks, a popular mode of
retail in India. Analysing the seemingly large tax hikes on smoking tobacco, it

is argued that taxes can and must go higher to ensure substantial increases
in single cigarette stick prices.
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7) Coal remains the main fossil fuel for power generation in India. What are
the health impacts of air pollution from these coal-fired power plants? Also
assess the success of current environment regulatory framework for coal
power plants in India. (200 Words)
http://www.epw.in/system/files/Regulating%20Air%20Pollution%20from
%20Coal%20Fired%20Power%20Plants%20in%20India.pdf
8) India and USA recently committed to multi-sectoral actions to counter the
emergence and spread of Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR) and cooperation in
training of health workers in preparedness for threats of infectious
diseases.What is AMR? Why is it seen as a threat and what action can be
taken to counter its effects? (200 Words)
Is America the right partner for India to deal with antimicrobial
resistance?
The joint statement issued by the US President Barack Obama and Prime
Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday covers antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as
an area of health cooperation. The two leaders committed to multi-sectoral
actions to counter the emergence and spread of AMR and cooperation in
training of health workers in preparedness for threats of infectious diseases.
Both the leaders also agreed to focus on science and technology
partnerships to counter resistant bacteria and promote the availability,
efficacy and quality of therapeutics.
Commenting on the development, Ramanan Laxminarayan, vice-president
(research and policy) with the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), a
public-private initiative, said, This is a very welcome development that
recognises that the US and India face a common threat of resistance. Much
progress needs to be made in both countries and this is an opportunity to
work together.
But first a vital question: is the US the right choice for India to build a
partnership with in order to counter AMR? Let us look at US and the European
Union (EU) on how they have been addressing use of antibiotics in foodproducing animals, which contributes to the development of AMR. With an

objective of eliminating medically important antibiotics as growth promoters,

the US has largely relied upon voluntary measures to curb the misuse of
antibiotics in livestock and poultry, and that too in 2012-13 after having
debated the matter for about 40 years when the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) issued guidance for industry on labelling of antibiotics
to remove growth promotion claims. So, in practice antibiotic growth
promoters (AGPs) can still be used as there is no mandatory law to ban it.
The executive order by President Obama in September 2014, also talks about
continuing with FDAs measures.
The EU, meanwhile, has adopted a legislation-based approach. It banned the
use of AGPs in animal feed about a decade ago in 2006 and antibiotics can
only be administered therapeutically under the supervision of a veterinarian.
Laxminarayan said, The US executive order does call for the phasing out of
AGPs. This faces challenges from the livestock industry that does not
recognise the impact of use of antibiotics on resistance even in the face of
growing evidence. India has not taken this issue seriously enough and needs
to act before AGP use gets out of hand. When asked if India can learn much
better from the EU than the US, Laxminarayan said, Certainly a lot from the
EU but the political challenges in the EU are quite different and there is
greater recognition of the AGP problem.
In a related development this week, India challenged before World Trade
Organization (WTO) its October, 2014 ruling, which forces India to lift the
ban on imports of poultry products from the US. Also, as part of Indias first
regulatory move on this issue, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of
India (FSSAI) has proposed ban on AGP use in food-producing animals.
Experts at Delhi-based non-profit, Centre for Science and Environment,
supports both developments because this will safeguard Indian consumers
from poultry products made with high inputs of antibiotics. Curtailing chicken
meat imports from the US would also prove more meaningful to the proposed
cooperation. (see: Indias move to curb antibiotic use in livestock, poultry
may hit imports from US)
Seventy years ago, before we had antibiotics, a simple cut or wound could
kill because of a bacterial infection. Antibiotics changed that. These
remarkable drugs are capable of killing off biological organisms in our body
without harming us. Under the illusion that taking antibiotics is essential for
every sneeze and cold (which by the way, are unaffected by antibiotics), we
have collectively overused antibiotics.

There is a reason why these are meant to be sold only under a doctors
prescription. Firstly, because using antibiotics unnecessarily can expose us to
unnecessary side effects. Secondly, because each time we use antibiotics,
we allow the few superbugsbacteria that are able to survive the antibiotic
to thrive. Over time, the entire population of bacteria is made up only of
these superbugs and our antibiotics no longer work.
Many reports and studies have been sounding the alarm that we have placed
ourselves at risk for a world without antibiotics. The most recent one was
released by the World Health Organization (WHO) last week that reported
data from 114 countries across all WHO regions. In every country and region,
resistance is a problem but is much worse in those where restrictions on use
of antibiotics are fewer.
Even if resistance emerges in one country, it can spread easily to other
countries and put others at risk even if they have never taken a course of
antibiotics. What was also troubling about the WHO report was that so little
resistance data were available from important countries like India.
India does not have standardised national data on resistance rates and
everything we know about resistance comes from a few reports from
hospitals and communities. From all studies in India with 30 isolates or more,
resistance rates of E coli to third-generation cephalosporins (new powerful
drugs) were 82 per cent and to fluoroquinolones was 86.4 per cent. In other
words, the next time we need an antibiotic for a urinary tract infection, the
antibiotics we take are not going to work most of the time.
Indias response to the threat of antibiotic resistance has been unfolding ever
since the NDM-1 strain was discovered in a patient who had been
hospitalized in New Delhi. Although much of the media attention was
focused on controversy over this strain being named New Delhi metallo-beta
lactamase (NDM 1), which is frankly irrelevant (the most common strain of
community associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is called
USA 300, for example), little attention was paid to the fact that patients in
India were suffering from infections that are now essentially untreatable (see
'Fatal resistance').
Why is resistance getting worse in India? The use of antibiotics is increasing
nationwide. Between 2005 and 2009, 40 per cent more units of antibiotics
were sold. Powerful drugs like newer generation cephalosporins are sold far

more frequently for no apparent reasonbetween 2005 and 2009, sales of

cephalosporins increased 60 per cent.
Antibiotics are also used in animals and a significant proportion of antibiotic
resistance is due to its use in animals. India is a large exporter animal food
products and 160,000 livestock animals were reported to have been affected
by bacterial infections in 2009. Antibiotics are used in animals to treat
infections, for growth promotion using sub-theraputic levels, and for
prophylactic purposes to prevent disease. There is high levels of antibiotic
resistance in veterinary sectors. Resistant bacteria in animals can spread to
humans in several ways with the consumption of animal products, exposure
to raw meat products, and direct contact between animals and humans as
the main modes of transfer. Current Indian laws regulate antibiotic use in
animals but both new laws and stronger enforcement of existing laws could
slow the spread of antibiotic resistance in animals and, therefore, humans
We have a serious problem that we will each face when we or a loved one
gets an infection that will simply not go away. It has been a long time since
people died of untreatable bacterial infections and the prospect of returning
to that world is worrying.
9) Satyagraha seeks the ethics of responsibility. Terror owns the act of
violence but disowns the responsibility for it. Comment. (150 Words)
The ritual of political spectacles creates its own frenzy of anticipation. U.S.
President Barack Obamas visit to India was expected to create a sense of
magical politics before it faded into banality. For all the hysteria of expert
commentary, no new regime of intellectual property is going to emerge, and
no nuclear deal will have the qualities of transparency both sides will
demand. But there was a second piece of drama which was relevant to the
themes of the visit. Mr. Obama was searching for a new compact to fight
terror. The second event challenged the security discourse he was urging by
talking of peace in a different language. This was Irom Sharmilas decision to
continue her fast after the High Court had cleared her of charges of suicide.
Sharmilas fast, one of the classic acts of satyagraha in history, has often
been read as a local event. For all its drama, it is seen as a footnote to the
problems of the so-called North East, a local struggle in Manipur. Yet, politics
has a way of transforming itself from a local anecdote to a national symbol.
Sharmilas years of fasting, protesting against the Armed Forces (Special
Powers) Act (AFSPA) is relevant for a world which is combating terror. Terror

today is not an act confined to rebels and insurgents. Terror is also a part of
the policy of the state. AFSPA, formalised by Parliament in 1958, has
destroyed the normalcy of Manipur. Sharmilas fast began as a simple, naive
act of protest by a young girl who decides to refuse food till AFSPA is
repealed. She was protesting against the rape and murder of Manipuri
women by an Army which used the law to commit atrocities with impunity.
Over the years, the simple message of courage has made Sharmilas act, a
major message of non-violence today.
Terror today dominates state politics, immobilising democracies which are
addicted to the security discourse. When the state mirrors the violence of the
terrorists, a political impasse is born. Sharmila shows that satyagraha might
be an answer to the indignity of terror. Satyagraha can fight terror and
shame it into civility. Let us first examine the contrast.
Terror is contemptuous of the body, indifferent to the suffering of the victim.
Satyagraha uses the body as the vehicle of truth and uses suffering to create
compassion. It offers the dignity of vulnerability to the indifference of
terrorism.
Terror paralyses through anonymity. It is always masked. Satyagraha is
always a face which seeks to communicate. Terror paralyses discourse while
satyagraha opens up conversation. A Gandhi would always talk to his
oppressors while IS would at most telegram its ownership of the act of
violence. Satyagraha seeks the ethics of responsibility. Terror owns the act of
violence but disowns the responsibility for it.
Terror emphasises invulnerability. Satayagraha begins from vulnerability.
Terror paralyses agency and satyagraha seeks to revive it. Watching
Sharmila, one senses the vulnerability of a fragile woman and yet the
strength of agency which has survived over decades.
Terror creates shock but no surprise. It fuses politics and technology into
repetitive acts of cannibalising bodies. The satyagrahi is constantly
inventing. Terror destroys normalcy while the satyagrahi seeks to restore
normalcy and in pondering over its delights. Irom Sharmila insists that when
AFSPA is repealed, she will marry a man she loves and live an ordinary life.
The satyagraha speaks truth to power while terror seeks to challenge power
through violence. The women of Manipur know that insurgence is no answer

to development. They are not looking for mock heroics but the ordinariness
and everydayness of life and its rituals.
Satyagraha seeks justice. Terror, at the most, can speak the language of
revenge. In fact, terror depoliticises politics by invoking the redundancy of
security discourse, while satyagraha is an invitation to politics, to its constant
reinventions. The satyagrahi summons speech while terror invites the
constant noise of violence.
In terms of drama, satyagraha is the politics of theatre, but terror has no real
sense of dialogue, drama or spectatorship. The protests of the women of
Manipur standing naked before the Assam Rifles headquarters saying, Rape
us too conveys drama while bin Laden, for all the publicity, conveys no
sense of speech, no inventiveness of language, no sense of surprise. The
redundancy and the excess of terror elude drama. Terror destroys storytelling
while satyagraha unfolds as an epic story.
The message of Irom Sharmila is the message of Vclav Havel, of Mahatma
Gandhi, of Martin Luther King; that out of vulnerability can come the agency
which emancipates, which understands the other as it battles him.
Our terrorists and our security discourses seek only dominance and control,
not understanding. The discourse that Mr. Obama spouts shows little
understanding of the evils enacted by the U.S. Narendra Modi shows little
sense of the suffering of the North East. In fact the term North East is itself
violence to the diversity of communities in the area. The women of Manipur
are asking for the gift of normalcy, the right to everydayness which allows a
citizen to pursue life and liberty.
In fact, my mind was toying with the idea that Obama-Modi would enact their
lifeless politics on Republic Day. Their battle hymn of the republic seeks deals
about nuclear energy, defence and intellectual property. Think of these
negotiations along with the tableaux of militarism that the Indian state
presented on January 26. This Republic Day had two sets of tableaux, one
enacted on Rajpath but the more elaborate one is the tableau of security, the
seven rounds of security cordons that protected Mr. Obama. At this moment
one realises the voyeurism of India in seeking the same securitarian
pomposity as the U.S. Yet, as spectacles, Mr. Obama will be forgotten while
Sharmilas acts of conscience prompt us to rethink history.

Sharmila too talks of development but it is the story of village and family, of
craft and biomass societies confronting the new developmentalist state.
Security, and its sibling, terror, create spectacles while satyagraha unfolds as
a drama. Imagine for a moment that one narrowed such drama to a
spectacle of tableaux on Republic Day. Imagine a Republic Day without the
military, the uniforms and the preening aircraft. Think of our satyagrahis as a
tableau of events beginning with Gandhi and Ghaffar Khan. Add to it
Mahasweta Devi, the Bengali writer, talking of bonded labour like a sad old
aunt. Think of Aruna Roy leading the protest of the poor of Rajasthan,
demanding a right to information. Imagine the displaced survivors of the
Narmada Dam sitting immersed in water to remind India that development is
a kind of amnesia. Think of Ela Bhatt of SEWA claiming that world peace
begins with womens work. Add to it the protest of Manipur and of Irom
Sharmila sitting quietly, giggling over one of her drawings and surrounded by
security guards. Such tableaux make words like security, development,
sovereignty empty. They seek to create a new kind of democracy.
The juxtaposition of two news events this week showed us the possibility of
two kinds of politics. The reports of Irom Sharmila hardly extended to a
paragraph; an indifferent footnote in some newspapers. The Modi-Obama
serenade, with its chorus of commentary, swallowed our newspapers, where
even attention went into First Lady Michelle Obamas dress. I do not think
there was a photograph of Irom in any newspaper. I think The Telegraph was
possibly the one newspaper that reported the struggle in detail.
As I sat and wrote this article on a cold winters day, while roads all over
Delhi were blocked in a display of efficiency, I wondered who would survive
as history; who would be the greater exemplar of politics and the politics of
hope that democracy creates.
Would it be Narendra Modi and his dreams of India as Prussian state? Was it
Mr. Obama, the President, who promised so much and offered so little,
desperate to create a few crumbs of history by clinching a nuclear deal with
India? Or would it be Irom Sharmila and her craft of peace, seeking normalcy,
an ordinariness in a society which prefers the state as a constant spectacle,
and where politics is a continuous act of conspicuous consumption in terms
of security, luxury and the pomposity of power? To me, the quietness of
Sharmila wins over the noise of the Modi-Obama political machine.

As a satyagrahi, I am sure Sharmila would have liked to send them a greeting

card, inviting them to come to Manipur. I think it is the Irom Sharmilas, the
Mahasweta Devis and the Ela Bhatts who have to colour the imagination of
India and take it beyond the triteness of state politics. The storyteller has to
return to narrate these events, for what goes as news today is a travesty of
peace and history.
Topic: Public/Civil service values and Ethics in Public administration: Status
and problems;
10) Recruitment to civil servants is done mainly on the basis of testing their
domain knowledge with negligible emphasis on ethical competencies. How
far do you think has this approach resulted in increasing corruption in
government? Explain. (200 Words)
http://yojana.gov.in/CMS/
(S(kdrn2245hrays345op0myc55))/pdf/Yojana/English/2014/Yojana%20March
%202014.pdf

Topic: Accountability and ethical governance; Strengthening of ethical and

moral values in governance;
11) In todays society, greed is increasing being viewed as good and a
necessary factor for development. Do you agree with this view? Critically
analyse. (150 Words)
General