NEP ASSIGMNET Submitted By: Dipesh Bhimani Batch: FC 2 (1)

Contents: Question 1 : Indexes to measure Human Prosperity and HDI. Question 2: The Pillars Of Democracy . Question 3: Advantage. Explain The Theory of Comparative

Question 1 : Indexes to measure Human Prosperity. (ANS) Democracy Index

The Democracy Index is an index compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit that claims to measure the state of democracy in 167 countries, of which 166 are sovereign states and 165 are UN member states. The Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index is based on 60 indicators grouped in five different categories: electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, functioning of government, political participation and political culture. The Index was first produced in 2006, with updates produced in 2008 and 2010. According to the latest issue of the Index, for 2010 Norway scored a total of 9.80 on a scale from zero to ten, which was the highest result, replacing Sweden which had the highest score in 2008, but slipped to fourth position in 2010. North Korea scored the lowest with 1.08, remaining at the bottom in 167th place, the same as in 2008. The Democracy Index for 2010 hi ghlights the impact of the global financial crisis in 200809 on politics throughout most of the world, with the most significant changes happening in Europe. The Democracy Index score was lower in 2010 than in 2008 in 91 countries out of the 167 that are covered, although in the majority of these the deterioration was modest. [1] The countries are categorized into full democracies, flawed democracies, hybrid regimes and authoritarian regimes. In 13 countries there was a change in regime type between 2008 and 2010; in 11 of these there was regression. Notably, negative political trends in France in recent years have resulted in the country being downgraded from a full democracy to the flawed d emocracy category.[2] Italy was also downgraded to the flawed democracy category, which the report attributes to the deterioration of media situation since the prime minister Silvio Berlusconi returned to power in 2008. Only two countries ( Ghana and Mali in Sub-Saharan Africa) were upgraded, both from hybrid regimes to the flawed democracy category. Methodology the democracy index is a kind of weighted average based on the answers of 60 questions, each one with either two or three permitted alternative answers. Most answers are "experts' assessments"; the report does not indicate what kinds of experts, nor their number, nor whether the experts are employees of the Economist Intelligence Unit or independent scholars, nor the nationalities of the experts. Some answers are provided by public -opinion surveys from the respective countries. In the case of countries for which survey results are missing, survey results for similar countries and expert assessments are used in order to fill in gaps. The questions are distributed into the five categories enumerated above. Each answer is translated to a mark, either 0 or 1, or for the three -answer alternative questions, 0.5. With the exceptions mentioned below, seemingly, the sums are

added within each category, multiplied by ten, and divided by the total number of questions within the category. There are a few modifying dependencies, which are explained much more precisely than the main rule procedures. In a few cases, an answer yielding zero for one question voids another question; e.g., if the elections for the national legislature and head of government are not considered free (question 1), then the next question, "Are elections... fair?" is not considered, but automatically marked zero. Likewise, there are a few questions considered so important that a low score on them yields a penalty on the total score sum for their respective categories, namely: 1. 2. 3. 4. "Whether national elect ions are free and fair"; "The security of voters"; "The influence of foreign powers on government"; "The capability of the civil servants to implement policies".

The five category indices, which all are listed in the report, are then averaged to find the democracy index for a given country. Finally, the democracy index, rounded to one decimal, decides the classification of the country, as quoted: 1. 2. 3. 4. Full democraciesscores of 8 to 10. Flawed democraciesscores of 6 to 7.9. Hybrid regimesscores of 4 to 5.9. Authoritarian regimesscores below 4.

Question 2: The Pillars Of Democracy .

(ANS) Legislature in India

Indian Parliament After the independence of India, Constituent Assembly was enacted on 26th November, 1949. It implied that Union of India was not brought about by formerly sovereign independent states voluntarily coming together to form a federation. Instead, a federal system of government (in which the nation consists of group of states that have their own respective governments) was established by a unitary state re-organizing itself into a federation. It also implied that the term "Union" indicates that the federating un its do not have right to secede from the Union. Nonetheless, Indian Constitution has these major characteristics -:
y y y y

It is written constitution. It has dual polity (co-existence of two sets of governments) Powers are divided between Union & State governments Supreme court is the judicial tribunal of the nation.

Union Parliament of India consists of Lok Sabha (House of People), Rajya Sabha (House of Commons) and the President. I'm going to explain each of them in brief, especially Lok Sabha and Rajy a Sabha since they're the main legislative bodies. Lok Sabha Lok Sabha, also known as House of People, is elected on the basis of Adult Suffrage (from single member constituencies). It has a maximum of 552 members - 530 from States, 20 from Union Territories, and 2 nominated by The President (from Anglo-Indian community). Its term is 5 years, but it can be dissolved before the expiry of its term (this is one of its major flaws). The presiding officer of the House is Speaker (elected by the members unanimously). He performs the major functions in the house for example maintaining decorum (discipline), chalking out the time table, selecting whether the bill is money bill or non-money bill etc. Major power of this house is that Money bills can be introduced only in Lok Sabha. Secondly, this house

alone has full control over the executive . It controls the executive by asking questions (interpelletion), criticism etc' . That's all the major things to know about Lok Sabha (in brief). Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha, also known as House of Commons, is elected indirectly by elected members of State Legislative Assemblies to represent the respective States. It has a maximum of 250 members - 238 elected and 12 nominated by the President ( who have shown excellence in fi elds of Literature, science, art etc'). Its term is 6 years, and it cannot be dissolved (unlike Lok Sabha). Its presiding officer is Vice President of India. Rajya Sabha's major power is that it cannot be dissolved and it performs the functions of Lok Sabha too when it gets dissolved, and second major power is Rajya Sabha alone can declare a subject on the State List of national importance to be legislated upon by Union Parliament. Powers common to both the Houses
y y

y y y

Both the Houses elect The President and the Vice President Impeachment's resolution against President or judges of Supreme court and High Courts can be passed in either of the two Houses Non-money bills can be introduced in either of the Two Houses Non money bills can be introduced in either of the two houses Both Houses exercise control over the Executive, though Lok Sabha alone can vote a ministry out of office.

Judiciary of India
The Judiciary of India is an independent body and is separate from the Executive and Legislative bodies of the Indian Government. The judicial system of India is stratified into various levels. At the apex is the Supreme Court, which is followed by High Courts at the state level, District Courts at the district level and Lok Adalats at the Village and Panchayat Level. The judiciary of India takes care of maintenance of law and order in the country along with solving problems related to civil and criminal of fences.

The judiciary system that is followed in India is based on the British Legal System that was prevalent in the country during pre -independence era. Very few amendments have been made in the judicial system of the country. Supreme Court in India The Supreme Court is the highest judicial body in India. The Supreme Court came into power on 28th January 1950; just two days after the Constitution of India came to effect. In the initial stages, it had its office in a part of the Parliament House. The Supreme Court is endowed with many duties and responsibilities. The biggest responsibility is that it is the highest court of appeal and is also the protector of the Constitution in the country. The Chief Justice of India and 25 other judges make up the Sup reme Court of India. The appointments are done directly by the President of India. There are certain criteria that have to be fulfilled by the advocates to become a judge of the Supreme Court. Being a citizen of India is one of the most important criteria. Apart from this, the person has to have an experience of minimum five years as a judge in the High Court or any other two courts one after another. He should also be a prominent jurist as per the President of the country, so that he can take up responsibilities well. The Chief Justice is also consulted at the time of appointment of the judges in the Supreme Court. The Judges of the Supreme Court are free to exercise their power as and when required. The process of removal of the Supreme Court judges is qu ite an interesting but lengthy process. An order from the President is mandatory in case of removal of the judges. A two-thirds majority has to be obtained from both the houses for the removal of the judges. The jurisdiction of the Supreme Court is divid ed into original jurisdiction, advisory jurisdiction and appellate jurisdiction. Original jurisdiction is required when there is a dispute between the Government and the states of India or any one state of India. The Supreme Court can also enforce fundamen tal Rights according to the Article 32 of the Constitution of India. The appellate jurisdiction is mentioned in Articles 132(1), 133(1) or 134 of the Constitution. The decision of the High Court can be questioned in the Supreme

Court of the country. One can appeal to the Supreme Court, if he or she is not satisfied with the decision of the High Court. The Supreme Court has the provision of accepting or rejecting the case at its own discretion. There are also provisions of pardoning criminals and canceling their lifetime imprisonment or death sentence by the Supreme Court. Apart from the original and appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, there is an advisory jurisdiction that needs special mention. There are many cases that are directly referred by the President of India and the Supreme Court has to look into those matters. This provision is mentioned in Article 143 of the Indian Constitution. The Supreme Court in India acts as an independent body and is free from any outer control. The contempt of law court in India is a punishable offence and the Supreme Court takes care of this immaculately. High Courts in India There are High Courts in almost all the states of India and the Union Territories. The High Courts work under the Supreme Court in the country. These courts are vested with lot of power. They decide on both civil as well as criminal cases. Most of the cases that are handled by the High Courts of the country are passed on from the district or lower courts. The judges of the High Courts are appointed by the President of India, in consultation with the Chief justice of India and the Governor of the state. The Chief Justice heads each of the High Courts in India. The numbers of judges vary from one court to other depending on the area that the High Court covers and the number of cases that it handles. There are also High Courts that serve more than one Indian state or Union Territory. Each of these courts have original and appellate jurisdiction under them. Summons can also be issued by the High Court. Revenue matters are dealt by original jurisdiction, while an eminent jury handles original criminal cases. Established in the year 1862, the Calcutta High Court is the oldest court in India. Apart from this, there are 18 total High Courts in the country, some of which are Bombay High Court, Delhi High Court, Chattisgarh High Court,

Gujarat High Court, Jharkhand High Court, Madras High Court, Patna High Court and Sikkim High Court.

Executive Branch of India

Executive branch of government is the part of government that has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the republican idea of the separation of powers. The separation o f powers system is designed to distribute authority away from the executive branch an attempt to preserve individual liberty in response to tyrannical leadership throughout history. President The Constitution vests in the President of India all the executive powers of the Central Government. The President appoints the Prime Minister the person most likely to command the support of the majority in the Lok Sabha (usually the leader of the majority party or coalition). The President then appoints the other members of the Council of Ministers, distributing portfolios to them on the advice of the Prime Minister. The Council of Ministers remains in power during the 'pleasure' of the President. In practice, however, the Council of Ministers must retain the support of the Lok Sabha. If a President were to dismiss the Council of Ministers on his or her own initiative, it might trigger a constitutional crisis. Thus, in practice, the Council of Ministers cannot be dismissed as long as it commands the support of a majority in the Lok Sabha. The President is responsible for making a wide variety of appointments. These include:
y y

y y y y y

Governors of States The Chief Justice, other judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts of India. The Attorney General The President's Officer The Comptroller and Auditor General The Chief Election Commissioner and Cabinet Secretary The Chairman and other Members of the Union Public Service Commission

Ambassadors and High Commissioners to other countries.

The President also receives the credentials of Ambassadors and High Commissioners from other countries. The President is the de jure Commander in Chief of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India can grant a pardon to or reduce the sentence of a convicted person for one time, particularly in cases involving punishment of death. The decisions involving pardoning and other rights by the president are independent of the opinion of the Prime Minister or the Lok Sabha majority. In mos t other cases, however, the President exercises his or her executive powers on the advice of the Prime Minister. Cabinet Secretary The head of executive officers is after.The Cabinet Secretary is under the direct charge of the Prime Minister. As a matter of convention the senior most civil servant is appointed as a Cabinet Secretary. He belongs to the Indian Administrative Service. The incumbent has a fixed tenure of 4 years. The Cabinet Secretary is the head of all of the All India civil services under the constitution. Thus, he is the head of the (IAS), (IPS), (IFS), (IRS), and the (IFS). He ranks eleventh in the. The current Cabinet Secretary is. The following are the functions of a Cabinet Secretary: Provide assistance to the Council of Ministers Act as advisor and conscience keeper of the civil services Handle senior appointments Prepare of the agenda of the Cabinet Attend the meetings of the Cabinet Ensure that the Cabinet decisions are implemented Advise the Prime Minister Act as the Chairman of the Committee of Secretaries on Administration Act as the Chairman of the Chief Secretaries Committee Provide an element of continuity and stability to administration during crises In the Government of India Allocation of Business Rules, 1961 "Cabinet Secretariat" finds a place in the First Schedule to the Rules. The subjects allotted to this Secretariat are, firstly, secretarial assistance to Cabinet and Cabinet Committees, and secondly, the administration of the Rules of Business. The Cabinet Secretariat is responsible for the administration of the Government of India Transaction of Business Rules, 1961 and the Government of India Allocation of Business Rules 1961, facilitating smooth transaction of

business in Ministries/Departments of the Government by ensuring adherence to these rules. The Secretariat assists in decision-making in Government by ensuring Inter-Ministerial coordination, ironing out differences amongst Ministries/Departments and evolving consensus through the instrumentality of the standing/adhoc Committees of Secretaries. Through this mechanism new policy initiatives are also promoted. The Cabinet Secretariat ensures that the President of India, the Vice-President and Ministers are kept informed of the major activities of all Departments by means of a monthly summary of their activities. Management of major crisis situations in the country and coordinating activities of the various Ministries in such a situation is also one of the functions of the Cabinet Secretariat. The Cabinet Secretariat has 3 wings: Civil, Military and Intelligence. The Civil wing is the main wing and provides aid, advise and assistance to the Union Cabinet. The Military wing provides secretarial assistance to the Defence Committee of the Cabinet, the Military Affairs Commit tee, the National Defence Council and other committees dealing with defence matters. The Intelligence wing deals with matters pertaining to the Joint Intelligence Committee of the Union Cabinet. The chief of Research and Analysis Wing R&AW also officially first reports to the Cabinet Secretary, and is officially designated Secretary R in the Cabinet Secretariat. The Cabinet Secretary is arguably India's most powerful bureaucrat and right hand of Prime Minister of India. Media in India

The Media in enjoys a great amount of freedom and is therefore flourishing. Whole new segments are opening up for this Rs 10,000 crore industry. Perhaps the most significant possibility is in emerging as a back -end destination for digitising television and film content as well as managing video servers for global companies in the pay -per-view TV market. The previous year has been a landmark year for television broadcasting. Many new news channels like the two from NDTV and one each from TV Today and Star w ere launched. Television viewers were to enjoy much more freedom in metros with the rollout of Conditional Access System, which was quietly introduced in Chennai, but trouble was just round the corner. In Chennai there are very few customers for channels in languages other than Tamil and all Tamil Channels are free to air. As a result there was no objection, only people did not go for the top box. Delhi however has been a different story what with CAS being first put off, then implemented and then the total confusion on its status. The launch of a choice private FM radio stations has got the metro residents hooked on to the otherwise

almost obsolete radio service. Lots of multiplexes opened across the country and many more are on the pipeline. Overseas studi os were bullish on producing. Piracy however, continued to bother the Indian film and music industry. The Internet continues to grow.
Print And Newspapers India has four news agencies namely, the Press Trust of India (PTI), United News of India (UNI), Samachar Bharti and Hindustan Smachar.

Newspapers and magazines in India are independent and largely privately owned. About 5,000 newspapers, 150 of them major publications, are published daily in nearly 100 languages. Over 40,000 periodicals are also pu blished in India. The periodicals specialize in various subjects but the majority of them deal with subjects of general interest. The Times Of India he Times of India is one of the leading newspapers of India and is very old. Some of the features of the paper are news from various Indian cities, sports, business (Indian and international), entertainment, health, and the world. As a policy it lays more stress on human-interest stories. It also carries features like Sports, Entertainment, Stocks, Infotech, Editorials, Interviews, Letters, Crosswords, and Horoscopes etc. The Times group also owns The Economic Times, Femina, Filmfare, etc.

The Economic Times The Economic Times is one of the India's leading business newspapers. It carries news about the Economy, Companies, Infrastructure, Trends in the Economy, Finance, Stocks, Forex and Commodities, news from around the world and from the world of politics besides Editorial and Features. The magazine section has Investor's Guide, Brand Equity and Corporate Dossier. It is part of the Times Group. Indian Express The Indian Express is another leading newspaper of the country. This group's publications include the Indian Express, the Financial Express, Loksatta, Screen and Express Computer. India Today India Today is part of Living Media India Ltd, one of India's leading names in news and publishing which includes the television production group of Aaj Tak and Headlines Today, along with Business Today, Computers Today, India Today Hindi, India Today Plus, Teens Today and Music Today. It contains

everything from hardcore political and business news and analysis to the movies, music, art, books, computers, lifes tyle and business resources.
Malayala Manorama The Malayala Manorama releases daily, weekly, monthly and annual publications. The annual publication is called the Manorama Year Book. Started in 1988 in Tamil and Telegu languages, it is now published in ot her regional languages like Hindi & Bengali, as well as in English. Among the various publications, the Malayala Manorama Daily has the largest circulation, selling about 11 lakhs 50 thousand copies at Rs. 2.90 each, daily. Several other magazines are a lso published in Tamil & English. The English publications include "The Week", a weekly magazine & "Magic Pot", a fortnightly magazine for children. The Airwaves All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan (DD), which were totally under government control since their inception, are now governed by an independent body of eminent persons who constitute the Prasar Bharati Board. From a single channel Doordarshan now has numerous channels like DD News, DD Metro, DD Sports, Bharati etc. A large number of private cha nnels also beam their programs across the country through the satellites. Some of the major groups are Zee, Star, Sony, Sahara, Aaj Tak, NDTV, Sun TV, Raj TV and Jaya TV. Apart from regular channels which air serials, specific channels cater to movies, sports, news, cartoons and children specific programs, nature and religion. In the FM sector we have Radio Mirchi and Radio City in the private sector and AIR FM is state owned.

Question 3: Advantage.

Explain

The

Theory

of

Comparative

(ANS) David Ricardo was one of those rare people who achieved both tremendous success and lasting fame. After his family disinherited him for marrying outside his Jewish faith, Ricardo made a fortune as a stockbroker and loan broker. When he died, his estate was worth more than $100 million in today s dollars. At age twenty-seven, after reading ADAM SMITH s The Wealth of Nations, Ricardo got excited about economics. He wrote his first economics article at age thirty-seven and then spent the following fourteen year s his last ones as a professional economist. Ricardo first gained notice among economists over the bullion controversy. In 1809 he wrote that England s INFLATION was the result of the Bank of England s propensity to issue excess banknotes. In short, Ricardo was an early believer in the quantity theory of money, or what is known today as MONETARISM. In his Essay on the Influence of a Low Price of Corn on the Profit s of Stock (1815), Ricardo articulated what came to be known as the law of diminishing marginal returns. One of the most famous laws of economics, it holds that as more and more resources are combined in production with a fixed resource for example, as more labor and machinery are used on a fixed amount of land the additions to output will diminish. Ricardo also opposed the protectionist Corn Laws, which restricted imports of wheat. In arguing for FREE TRADE, Ricardo formulated the idea of comparative costs, today called COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE a very subtle idea that is the main basis for most economists belief in free trade today. The idea is this: a country that trades for products it can get at lower cost from another country is better off than if it had made the products at home. Say, for example, Poorland can produce one bottle of wine with five hours of labor and one loaf of bread with ten hours. Richland s workers, on the other hand, are more productive. They produce a bottle of wine with three hours o f labor and a loaf of bread with one hour. One might think at first that because Richland requires fewer labor hours to produce either good, it has nothing to gain from trade.

Think again. Poorland s cost of producing wine, although higher than Richland s in terms of hours of labor, is lower in terms of bread. For every bottle produced, Poorland gives up half of a loaf, while Richland has to give up three loaves to make a bottle of wine. Therefore, Poorland has a comparative advantage in producing wine. Sim ilarly, for every loaf of bread it produces, Poorland gives up two bottles of wine, but Richland gives up only a third of a bottle. Therefore, Richland has a comparative advantage in producing bread. If they exchange wine and bread one for one, Poorland ca n specialize in producing wine and trading some of it to Richland, and Richland can specialize in producing bread. Both Richland and Poorland will be better off than if they had not traded. By shifting, say, ten hours of labor out of producing bread, Poorland gives up the one loaf that this labor could have produced. But the reallocated labor produces two bottles of wine, which will trade for two loaves of bread. Result: trade nets Poorland one additional loaf of bread. Nor does Poorland s gain come at Rich land s expense. Richland gains also, or else it would not trade. By shifting three hours out of producing wine, Richland cuts wine production by one bottle but increases bread production by three loaves. It trades two of these loaves for Poorland s two bot tles of wine. Richland has one more bottle of wine than it had before, and an extra loaf of bread. These gains come, Ricardo observed, because each country specializes in producing the good for which its comparative cost is lower. Writing a century before PAUL SAMUELSON and other modern economists popularized the use of equations, Ricardo is still esteemed for his uncanny ability to arrive at complex conclusions without any of the mathematical tools now deemed essential. As economist David Friedman put it i n his 1990 textbook, Price Theory, The modern economist reading Ricardo s Principles feels rather as a member of one of the Mount Everest expeditions would feel if, arriving at the top of the mountain, he encountered a hiker clad in T -shirt and tennis shoes. 1 One of Ricardo s chief contributions, arrived at without mathematical tools, is his theory of rents. Borrowing from THOMAS MALTHUS, with whom Ricardo was closely associated but often diametrically opposed, Ricardo explained that as more land was cultivated, farmers would have to start using less productive land. But because a bushel of corn from less productive land sells for the same price as a bushel from highly productive land, tenant farmers would be willing to pay more to rent the highly productive land. Result: the landowners, not the tenant farmers, are the ones who gain from productive land. This finding has

withstood the test of time. Economists use Ricardian reasoning today to explain why agricultural price supports do not help farmers per se but do make owners of farmland wealthier. Economists use similar reasoning to explain why the beneficiaries of laws that restrict the number of taxicabs are not cab drivers per se but rather those who owned the limited number of taxi medallions (licenses) when the restriction was first imposed.