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some basic info

2010-06-18T09:24:00.001+05:30

INDIA

 Land – 32,87,263 sq km; 7th largest in the world. 16.7% of World
 Population – 102.87 Cr. (2001 Census); 2nd most populated country after China
 Sex Ratio-933 Growth Rate- 21.24 ( 1991-2001)
 Density- 324 Literacy- 65.38 %
Maximums- Literacy-Kerala, Density- W.Bengal, Growth Rate- Nagaland
Minimums- Literacy- Bihar, Density- Arunachal pradesh

28 states, 7 UTs including 1 NCR (Delhi)
 Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand – 3 new states in order of their formation.
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National symbols

 Jana Gana Mana: adopted on Jan 24, ‘50, 1st sung on Dec 27, ‘11, at INC, Calcutta, originally in Bengali

 Vande Mataram: 1st sung at 1896 INC session, originally in Sanskrit by Bankim C Chatterji

 Saka Era (AD 78), adopted on March 22, 1957

 Tiger -Animal, Peacock-Bird, Lotus-Flower

Indian economy is MIXED ECONOMY

Contribution of major sectors of Indian economy (At the end of 11th five year plan)

 Primary – Agriculture & allied - 20%
 Secondary – Industry, which includes mining & quarrying; manufacturing; electricity, gas & water supply, and construction. 26%
 Tertiary – Services, which includes trade, hotels, transport & communication; financial services, and community, social & personal services. 54%

Imp Economic data

GDP – 1 Trillion . ON APRIL 25,2007 India has joined the elite club of 12 countries with a trillion dollar economy, thanks to the continuing rally in rupee against the US dollar.

The country's GDP crossed the trillion-dollar mark for the first time in history when rupee appreciated to below 41-level against the US greenback

- 12th largest economy in world

 At $3.13 trillion, 4th largest by PPP, after US, Japan, & China

2nd fastest growing among large economies

Growth Rate- 9.3 in Q1 & 8.9 per cent in Q2 (2006-07)

 External Debt - $138 billion , 15.8% of GDP (April 2007)
 U.P. is most debted state in India
Revolutions in Indian Economy

Green-Agri
White- Milk
Blue- Fish
Yellow-Oilseeds
Pink- Shrimps
Grey-Wool
Golden- Horticulture

Agriculture in India

Green Revolution in India- M.S. Swaminathan ( Evergreen Revolution-recent)
Norman Bourlog Received Nobel for Peace for his Contribution In food security at Global level

 About 64% labour dependent on agriculture

 Contributes 20% to GDP

 Targeted Foodgrain production in 2006-07 - 220 MT (Actual production 209 MT in 2005-06)

 Net sown area – 1412 lakh hectares (2000) 46.8%

 Area under forest – 690 lakh hectares (2000) 22.6%

 Arunachal- Largest % of area under forest cover

 Madhya Pradesh- Largest Area under forest cover

Harvesting Seasons in India

 3 harvesting seasons – Rabi, Kharif, & Zaid

 Major Rabi crops: wheat, barley, mustard, gram

 Major Kharif crops: rice, jowar, bajra, cotton

 Foodgrain cropping share comes down to 65 per cent of gross cropped area (2000)
 Rice – highest cropped area followed by Wheat

Agricultural Credit
National Cooperative Bank Of India-1993
RRB’s-1975
LDB
National Bank for Agriculture And Rural Development . July 12, 1982
National Agriculture Policy -2000
Dairy development ( White Revolution)

 NDDB – chairperson Dr Amrita Patel

 AMUL started by Dr Verghese Kurien, who also launched Operation Flood (White Revolution)

 229 MT of milk production (2004-05), World no. 1

UP – largest milk producer, also largest milch bovine population

485 million livestock population, world no.1
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Agri and related activities

 NDDB – chairperson Dr Amrita Patel

 AMUL started by Dr Verghese Kurien, who also launched Operation Flood (White Revolution)

 229 MT of milk production (2004-05), World no. 1

 UP – largest milk producer, also largest milch bovine population

 485 million livestock population, world no.1
institutions

Central Sheep Breeding Farm, Hissar (Haryana)

National Research Centre on Pigs at Rain (Guwahati)

Central Agriculture Research Inst., Port Blair

Locust Warning Center, Jodhpur (Rajasthan)

National Plant Protection Training Institute, Hyderabad
Education

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
 Launched in 2001, 75:25 expenditure sharing during 10th Plan between Centre & states

 All children in 6-14 yrs bracket in school

 Bridge all gender & social category gaps at primary stage by 2007 & elementary stage by 2010

 Universal retention by 2010

Schemes
 Mid-Day Meal Scheme – Launched in 1995, aims to increase enrolment & retention in schools

 Operation Blackboard – Launched 1987-88, 2 large classrooms, 2 teachers, essential teaching material

 Lok Jumbish – Launched in Rajasthan with assistance from Sweden, aims for education for all

 Shiksha Karmi Project – aims at universalition & qualitative improvement of primary education in remote places of Rajasthan, special emphasis on girl child

Environment

 22.6% area under forest cover

 Forest Survey of India – HO at Dehra Dun

 13 Biosphere Reserves, 3 recognized by UNESCO viz., Nilgiri, Sunderbans, & Gulf of Mannar

 Forest Policy – 1894, revised 1952 & 1988

 Project Tiger – 1973; 281 Tiger Reserves in 17 states

 Project Elephant – 1992; 14 reserves

 Eco-mark – to label environment-friendly consumer products
Most polluted city - Howrah

Welfare schemes

 Antyodaya Anna Yojana (2000) – Poorest of the poor, 35 kg of foodgrain at highly subsidised rates (Rs 2 - rice, Rs 3 – wheat)
 Annapurna Scheme (2000-01) – poor over 65 yrs of age with no pension are eligible, 10 kg of rice per month

 Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (2001) – Universal Food for Work scheme in all UTs / states, who are supplied with 50 lakh tonne food grain free of cost by MoRD

 NREGS – Food for Work programme in 200 most backward districts; 100 days employment guarantee for ONE member of a poor household or else compensation provided; Minimum Wage at Rs 60 per day
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employment

 Total labour force – Estimated 498 million

 Services – 23 per cent; Industry – 17-19 per cent

 Unemployment for males in 2004
Increases to 9% in rural areas (5.6. % in '93-94)
and 8.1% in urban areas (6.7% in '93-94)

 Unemployment for females in 2004
Increases to 9.3% in rural areas (5.6% in '93-94) and 11.7% in urban areas (10.5% in '93-94)
National Rural Emplyoment Guarantee Programme 2005-06

Poverty Alleviation programmes in India

1) P.M. Gramodaya Yojana for sustainable human development 2000-2001
2) Swarnajayanti Gram swarojgar Yojana self employment 1999
3) Sampurna Gramin Rojagar Yojana for wage employment in rural areas 2001
4)Bharat Nirman Yojana for rural infrastructure 2005
5) Baramati initiative for e-Agriculture
6) Drought Prone Area Development Programme 1973-74
7) Antyodaya Anna Yojana under TPDS 2000

Population

 Population growth – 1.91% (annual) 2006

 Decadal growth – 21.24 (1991 – 2001)

 Crude Birth Rate (CBR) – 25; CDR – 8.1

 IMR – 64 (2002); MMR – 487

 Total Fertility Rate (TFR) – 3.2

 Life Expectancy at Birth – 63.8 yrs (M); 66.9 yrs (F)

 Highest TFR – Bihar with 4.5

National health policy 2002

We need to Eliminate
 Malaria, Yaws, & Leprosy – 2005
 Kala Azar – 2010; Filariasis – 2015
 Achieved zero level growth of HIV / AIDS – 2007

We need to Reduce
 IMR to 30 / 100 & MMR 100 / lakh by 2010
 Prevalence of Blindness to 0.5% by 2010
 Mortality by 50% on a/c of vector diseases like TB / malaria

Facts

India is home to
 highest HIV-infected population (5.5 million)

 highest blind population

 highest polio-afflicted population

 highest TB population (1/3rd of global TB pop)

 highest diabetic population (nearly 15%)

National health programmes

 National Malaria Control Programme (1953)
 National Filaria Control Programme (1955)
 National TB Control Programme (1962)
 National Leprosy Control Programme (1955)
 National Programme for Control of Blindness (1953)
 National AIDS Control Programme (1987)
 National Goitre Control Programme (1962)
 National Mental Health Programme (1955)
 National Surveillance Programme for Communicable Diseases (1997-98)

Transportation

 17 Railway Zones; 11 International Airports

 14 Major Ports including one at Ennore (TN) – India’s first corporatised port, about 196 other ports

 219 National Highways; longest NH 7 between Kanya Kumari & Varanasi;shortest is NH 47A between Willingdon Island & Kochi (Kerala)
P.M. Bharat jodo pariyojana
P.M. Gram sadak yojana

 Golden Quadrilateral – 5,846 km (D-M-C-K)

 North-South Corridor ( Sri- Kanya) &
 East-West Corridor ( Silchar-Porbander) – 7300 km

 12 International Airports

Setusamudram progect

Facts

 Arvind Kejriwal – Ramon Magsaysay Award 2006 winner for Emergent Leadership

 Uttarakhand is the new name of Uttaranchal

Sector wise electricity consumption
Industry- Irrigation- Domestic- Commercial

Sector wise gas consumption
Power- Fertilizers- Petrochemicals- Industrial

Some science and tech for 2010 mains

2010-06-13T14:58:00.010+05:30

1)Magnetic Resonance Imaging-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mri#Applications
MRI is an application of Cryogenics,& Cryogenic Technology was in the news very recently...
http://beta.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article397441.ece
2)Thermographic Camera-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imaging_infrared..
Imaging Infrared is the technology in use in the Anti-Tank missile "Nag" that was test-fired recently...
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article448188.ece
3)HDTV-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDTV
DTH operators plan to launch it in India to coincide with the Commomwealth Games...
http://beta.profit.ndtv.com/news/show/dth-operators-to-launch-hdtv-for-cw-games-32366
Rust Spore-Website launched by FAo to track Ug99
http://beta.thehindu.com/sci-tech/agriculture/article447507.ece
Fuel Cell
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_cell
1)Bloom Box Technology-
http://www.thehindu.com/2010/02/26/stories/2010022655871800.htm
2)Solar Flare-
http://beta.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/article22247.ece?textsize=small&test=2
Wiki link-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_flare
3)Robodog-
http://www.hindu.com/seta/2008/09/18/stories/2008091850031500.htm
4)MQ-1 Predator
Used very frequently by the US Air Force to carry out strikes inside Pakistani territory..
Wiki link-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MQ-1_Predator#Pakistan
bacteria to clear oil spill
http://publication.samachar.com/pub_article.php?id=9308350&nextids=9308350|9308351|9308352|9308353|&nextIndex=1
)Digital Imaging-(Is a major technological application of CCD sensors,Nobel Prize for Physics 2009)
Wiki link-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_imaging
2)RT-LAMP methodology(Detection of Swine Flu)
http://www.thehindu.com/2010/03/24/stories/2010032466902200.htm
3)Biosensors-
http://expressbuzz.com/Cities/Kochi/biosensors-for-quality-control/138221.html
Wiki link-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosensors
4)Probiotics-
http://www.thehindu.com/mag/2009/03/01/stories/2009030150200600.htm
Rfid- Radio-frequency identification. this the tech. is being used for radio colloring of tigers and elephants in india.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio-frequency_identification
1)Carbon Footprint-
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/cities/Chennai/article451195.ece
Wiki link-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_footprint
2)Norin-10(Used by Norman Borlaug,the crossed varieties played a vital role in India's Green Revolution..Borlaug died in Sep 2009)..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norin_10_wheat
3)LBS Technolgy
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2010/03/15/stories/2010031550960200.htm
Wiki link-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Location-based_service
4)LIDAR Technology(In the news recently in Haiti & also because this technolgy uses laser pulses...Laser technology completes the 50th year of it's existence in 2010)..
http://beta.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/article93862.ece
Wiki link-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LIDAR#Applications
1)Cloud Computing-
http://www.thehindu.com/2009/05/10/stories/2009051059651300.htm
Wiki link-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing
2)Green Dam Youth Escort-
http://www.thehindu.com/2009/07/01/stories/2009070160561300.htm
Wiki link-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Dam_Youth_Escort
3)Voice over Internet Protocol(Technology used by the Pakistani handlers to communicate with the terrorists during the Mumbai attacks)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voip
4)God's particle,also known as Higgs-Boson(LHC Experiment at CERN)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God%27s_particle
)Link Hoffman Bush Technology
http://www.thehindu.com/2009/07/28/stories/2009072850390200.htm
2)Distributed Denial of Service attacks(Allegedly used by Chinese hackers & also by Russsia against Georgia in the recent past)
Wiki link-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ddos#Distributed_attack
Indigenous vaccine for Swine flu developed by India.. Vaxiflu
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_onset-of-monsoon-winter-may-see-return-of-swine-flu-say-experts_1391374
1)X-Ray Crystallography(Ramakrishnan used X-ray crystallography — the same method used by the discoverers of DNA — to map the thousands of microscopic atoms that make up a ribosome...Nobel Prize for Chem 2009)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_ray_crystallography
2)Solar Pond(News article on November 13th 2009,The Hindu)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_pond
3)JWST-James Webb Space Telescope(5th Jan 2010,The Hindu)
http://beta.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/article75641.ece

Fibertect : As British Petroleum struggles to contain the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, an Indian-origin scientist from Texas University has created a special cotton fabric that can clean up crude oil up to 40 times its weight and help in cleaning efforts.Seshadri Ramkumar, has created a non-woven, environment-friendly cotton carbon absorbent wipes called Fibertect.
http://www.hindu.com/2010/06/15/stories/2010061561002400.htm
E-waste (Cobalt -60 irrdiation in DL)

1)Magnetic Levitation-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_levitation
Technology used to run High-Speed Rail Networks/Bullet Trains in many countries..
The Govt of India plans to introduce such Bullet Trains in the country too..
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/Bullet-train-Rlys-studying-feasibility-report/articleshow/5600996.cms
2)Scatterometer-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scatterometer
Forms an important component of the Payload system aboard Oceansat-2,which was launched in Sept 2009..
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/09/23/stories/2009092351321700.htm
3)Free and open source software
http://beta.thehindu.com/education/article42059.ece
Wiki link-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_and_open_source_software

G20

2010-05-30T00:08:00.001+05:30

GROUP OF Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors

ESTABLISHED DATE:
·December 15-16, 1999 at Berlin, Inaugural meeting is hosted by German and Canadian finance ministers.

WHY G-20 CAME INTO EXISTENCE:
·Came into existence following the financial crises of 1990s in emergent market economies (EMEs).· Emerging economies were not presented popularly in Global economic discussions and Governance.

MEMBERS:
There are 20 members of the G-20. These include the finance ministers and central bank governors of 19 countries.
·Argentina·Australia·Brazil·Canada·China·France·Germany·India·Indonesia·Italy·Japan·Mexico·Russia·Saudi Arabia·South Africa·South Korea·Turkey·United Kingdom·United States of America 20th member of G-20 is European Union, which is represented by the rotating Council presidency and the European Central Bank.

OTHER BODIES PARTICIPATION IN G-20 MEET:
·The European Central Bank ·The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. ·The Chairman of the IMFC ·The President of the World Bank ·The Chairman of the Development Committee
MAIN FOCUS:
·Development of the global economic and financial system.·Reducing abuse of the financial system.·Dealing with financial crisis.·Reform of the international financial architecture
Chairs:
·

* 1999: Berlin, Germany
* 2000: Montreal, Canada
* 2001: Ottawa, Canada
* 2002: Delhi, India
* 2003: Morelia, Mexico
* 2004: Berlin, Germany
* 2005: Beijing, China
* 2006: Melbourne, Australia

* 2007: Cape Town, South Africa
* 2008: São Paulo, Brazil
* 2008: Washington, D.C., United States[14]
* 2009: London, United Kingdom
* 2009: Pittsburgh, United States
* 2010: Muskoka District Municipality,Canada
* 2010: South Korea

Canada’s Minister of Finance, Paul Martin, is the acting chairman of the G20 (as on July 2009).

Committees

2010-05-30T00:07:00.000+05:30

Committees on Education:

* 1854 = Charles Wood dispatch
* 1882 = Hunter Commission
* 1902 = Raleigh Commission
* 1917 = Sadler Comission
* 1929 = Hartog Commission
* 1944 = Sergeant Plan

Committees On Famine:

* 1866 = Campbell Commission
* 1880 = Stratchy Commission
* 1896 = Lyall Commission
* 1900 = Mac Donnel Commission

Committees on Public Service

* 1886 = Mansfield Commission
* 1912 = Islington Commission
* 1923 =Lee FarenhamCommission

Committees on Currency

* 1886 = Mansfield Commission
* 1893 = Herschel Commission
* 1898 = Fowler Commission
* 1919 = Babington Smith Commission
* 1939 = Hilton Young Commission

Committees on Army

* 1920 = Escher Commission
* 1925 = Skeen Commission
* 1932 = Garran Commission
* 1939 = Chatfield Commission

Committees on Railways

* 1892 = Acworth commission

Other Committees

* 1878 = Amini Commission on land revenue & famine
* 1919 = Hunter commission on punjab disturbances
* 1918 = Rowlett Commission on sedition
* 1902 = Fraser Commission on agriculture
* 1935 = Sapru Commission on unemployment
* 1929 = Whitley Commission on Lahore
* 1927 = Butler Commission on indian states
* 1940 = Flood Commission interrogated Dadabhai Nauroji on the drain of wealth charges.

Wavell plan and shimla conference

2010-05-11T00:10:00.002+05:30

In May 1945, Lord Wavell, the Viceroy of India, went to London and discussed his ideas about the future of India with the British administration. The talks resulted in the formulation of a plan of action that was made public in June 1945. The plan is known as Wavell Plan.

The Plan suggested reconstitution of the Viceroy's Executive Council in which the Viceroy was to select persons nominated by the political parties. Different communities were also to get their due share in the Council and parity was reserved for Cast-Hindus and Muslims. While declaring the plan, the Secretary of State for Indian Affairs made it clear that the British Government wanted to listen to the ideas of all major Indian communities. Yet he said that it was only possible if the leadership of the leading Indian political parties agreed with the suggestions of the British Government.

To discuss these proposals with the leadership of major Indian parties, Wavell called for a conference at Simla on June 25, 1945. Leaders of both the Congress and the Muslim League attended the conference, which is known as the Simla Conference. However, differences arose between the leadership of the two parties on the issue of representation of the Muslim community. The Muslim League claimed that it was the only representative party of the Muslims in India and thus all the Muslim representatives in the Viceroy's Executive Council should be the nominees of the party. Congress, which had sent Maulana Azad as the leader of their delegation, tried to prove that their party represented all the communities living in India and thus should be allowed to nominate Muslim representative as well. Congress also opposed the idea of parity between the Cast-Hindus and the Muslims. All this
resulted in a deadlock. Finally, Wavell announced the failure of his efforts on July 14. Thus the Simla Conference couldn't provide any hope of proceeding further

by vishal

Small facts

2010-04-25T20:46:00.002+05:30

10WHAT IS PRISONER'S DILEMMA?
ANS)The prisoner's dilemma is a fundamental problem in game theory that demonstrates why two people might not cooperate even if it is in both their best interests to do so. It was originally framed by Merrill Flood and Melvin Dresher working at RAND in 1950. Albert W. Tucker formalized the game with prison sentence payoffs and gave it the "prisoner's dilemma" name.

2)what is game theory?
ANS)What economists call game theory psychologists call the theory of social situations, which is an accurate description of what game theory is about. Although game theory is relevant to parlor games such as poker or bridge, most research in game theory focuses on how groups of people interact. There are two main branches of game theory: cooperative and noncooperative game theory. Noncooperative game theory deals largely with how intelligent individuals interact with one another in an effort to achieve their own goals.

3)WHAT IS PARETO OPTIMALITY?
Named after Italian sociologist and economist Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923), Pareto optimality is a situation which exists when economic resources and output have been allocated in such a way that no-one can be made better off without sacrificing the well-being of at least one person.

4)What is Balkanization?
Ans)Balkanization or balkanisation is a geopolitical term originally used to describe the process of fragmentation or division of a region or state into smaller regions or states that are often hostile or non-cooperative with each other.

RBI

2010-04-08T10:50:00.001+05:30

When a government agency reaches its 75th year, does this call for veneration? In the case of RBI, it is a wake up call for reform.
Age is a problem

Arms of government are monopolies and do not face a market test. Creative destruction of laws and government agencies does not happen by itself: it requires a special push called economic reform. A continual and harsh scrutiny is required, of each agency and law, asking whether it has reinvented itself adequately to reflect the needs of today’s India. The older an agency is, the bigger the shortcomings are likely to be.
Problems of role and function of RBI

The design of the RBI Act is rooted in British government committee reports of 1914 and 1925. As a consequence, there are two fatal flaws: (a) the designers did not intend a central bank for a free India, and, (b) essentially nothing about monetary economics was known at the time. To some extent, the age of RBI is worse than 75 years: in a few years there will be the 100th anniversary of the 1914 committee.
The role and function of RBI was further distorted in the decades of Indian socialism, and put under great stress with bank nationalisation. Far from maturing into a genuine central bank, it became a central planning agency for finance. When central planning died, the rationale for the existence of this central planner ended.
New thinking in public administration in India

We now do things very differently in India, when compared with the age of colonialism or the age of socialism. SEBI (which is 18 years old) presents a useful comparison of the present ethos of public administration:
SEBI regulates a competitive ecosystem of exchanges and depositories – it does not own or run them. RBI has the conflict of interest of owning and running a exchange and depository, thus combining (monopoly PSU) service provision with regulation in the manner of the old DOT.
SEBI does not trade on the markets that it regulates. The RBI is a big market manipulator on the very markets where it is supposed to be a regulator.
SEBI’s world is one with rule of law where all orders are public, and there is a vigorous appeals mechanism at the SAT. RBI’s world is one where actions are not public, where the same rule is interpreted differently for different supplicants, and where financial firms have neither an effective mechanism, nor the courage, to appeal.
RBI scores in the bottom decile of the central banks of the world on the question of transparency. The agenda papers of SEBI board meetings are on the SEBI website.
SEBI has overseen the greatest success in Indian finance — the rise of a world class equity market. This is the only area where India appears in top 10 rankings in global finance. RBI has overseen the greatest failures of Indian finance — the Bond-Currency-Derivatives Nexus and banking.
Looking forward

It is now time to reinvent RBI, drawing on what we have learned in recent decades worldwide about central bank reform, and what we have learned in recent decades about law, regulation and public administration through success stories such as SEBI. Such change will, of course, be resisted by the incumbent. The DOT did not support telecom reform; the Ministry of Steel resisted decontrol of steel prices; the EPFO detests pension reform. The RBI is no different. It comes up with many different elaborate arguments but always the same predictable conclusion: the RBI is always right and nothing should be done by way of reform. The views of RBI staff or loyalists are hence not useful in thinking about RBI reform.

India-Mayanmar relation

2010-03-31T11:06:00.001+05:30

India will seek to accelerate the path-breaking Kaladan multi-modal transit project that will provide an alternative route to the north-eastern states and later to South-East Asian countries through Myanmar. India will seek to hold discussions to ensure that the project is completed by May 2012, a year ahead of schedule.

This project will provide a shorter route to many north-eastern states. At present, all traffic is routed through the narrow and congested chicken neck corridor via Assam and West Bengal.

India will also sign four economic cooperation agreements, including a Bilateral Investment Promotion Agreement (BIPA) . The second pact would be for a $64 million credit line agreement for financing three transmission lines in Myanmar.

The third agreement would be for a $20 million credit line for an aluminium conductor steel reinforced wire manufacturing facility. The United Bank of India and the Myanmar Economic Bank would sign the fourth agreement for providing a banking arrangement to implement the border trade agreement at Moreh in Manipur.

India also donated $200,000 (about Rs.80 lakh) to the trustees of the sacred Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon. The contribution will assist in the repair of the holy shrine following damage caused to it by the recent Hurricane Nargis. India was among the very first countries to send relief supplies as well as team of doctors to Myanmar in the aftermath of Hurricane Nargis.

India-indoneisa relation

2010-03-31T11:04:00.000+05:30

India played an important role in helping Indonesian nationalists establish full national sovereignty over what was the former Dutch East Indies during the four years of struggle between August 17, 1945, when Indonesian independence was formally announced, and December 9, 1949, when freedom was finally wrested from the Dutch in an agreement signed between the two parties at The Hague under the auspices of the United Nations. Amongst the first political contacts made by the Indonesian nationalists after 1945 were with the leaders of the Indian National Congress, particularly with Jawaharlal Nehru, who had a personal relationship with Indonesian nationalist leaders like Mohammad Hatta and Soetan Sjahrir.

All India Radio functioned as the official ‘freedom radio’ of the Indonesian republic in the first years of its existence. India played an important role in the internationalisation of the Indonesian cause, first by giving it prominence at the Inter-Asian Relations Conference sponsored by the provisional government under Nehru in New Delhi in March 1947, and subsequently by bringing the issue before the United Nations later that year.

In January 1949, Nehru, on the urging of Prime Minister U Nu of Burma, convened a second conference, this time of independent Asian and African states, to discuss the Indonesian question. Its resolution and the general force of India’s moral authority amongst nations emerging from colonial rule helped galvanise international opinion against The Netherlands, leading finally to the independence of Indonesia.
. Indonesia is India’s third largest trading partner in ASEAN, with its trade valued at $6.5 billion in 2007. It has substantial Indian investments, particularly in the textile sector.

During the visit of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to India in November 2005, a Joint Declaration on the Establishment of a New Strategic Partnership between India and Indonesia was signed, followed in 2007 by an Action Plan between the two countries for its implementation.

India-EU relation

2010-03-31T11:02:00.000+05:30

India has been maintaining a cordial foreign policy that can be extended even to a non-friendly nation. As we have a sovereign power in making our own policy but drawing the policy in an inter-related way that depends upon the different nations of the world. It has been shifting a dramatic way in its policy from the Western centric to the East Policy in the name of ‘Look East Policy’. Out of the eastern countries which it tries to make friendly relations, Bangladesh is considered as one of the most important to it. Especially, India is focusing upon the South Asian countries over the few years. Inspite of many efforts and initiatives like South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC), Gujral Doctrine, Look East Policy, the relations between India and its neighbours have been far from satisfactory.

In case of Indo-Bangladesh relations, it is not only sharing its socio-cultural affinity with India. Even the credit of formation of Bangladesh goes to India, when the history dated back to December 1971. Earlier to that Bangladesh was called as East Pakistan, a part of Pakistan nation. It became independent with the help of India, by making a long liberation war. After the formation of Bangladesh, it made its first treaty of friendship and peace with India, by its founder and father of Afghanistan Mr. Mujib-ur-Rehman.

Out of 38 years of its Independence, it has been ruled by military rulers for 15 years – from 1975 to 1990. Again the restoration of democracy in 1991 revived hopes for better relations between the two countries. But it appears that the domestic politics of Bangladesh has infiltrated into its foreign policy establishment. Whenever, the Awami League (one of the three national parties), led by Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of father of Bangladesh, Mujib-ur-Rehman, is in power in Bangladesh, the relations between the two countries are cordial and friendly. On the other hand, when the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, BNP, led by Khalida Zia is in power in Bangladesh, the relations between the two countries are acrimonious and conflictual.

However, Awami League has regained its power in 1996, it lost it to the BNP by the year 2001, which led a major problem between the Indo-Bangladesh relations. The BNP government has been instrumental in developing warm ties with China, particularly in the last decade. Between the years 2006-07, trade between China and Bangladesh rose by 28.5% and there have been agreements between the two countries to grant various Bangladesh commodities tariff free access to Chinese market. Cooperation between the military of Bangladesh and the Chinese Army is also increasing with joint military agreements signed between the two countries. China’s growing influence on Bangladesh is a cause of worry for India.

At present, the Awami League has regained its power in December 2008, as the ruler of Bangladesh by its party leader Shiekh Hasina Wajed, the daughter of Mujib-ur-Rehman, which is also supported by another national party Jatiya Party, led by H. M. Ersad. This time, the Awami League has come to power with a 2/3 majority in its parliament, which led it to take independent decisions upon the foreign policy, which is a major determinat of cordial relations between India and Bangladesh.

Recent Visit of Bangladesh Prime Minister and Agreements

Earlier, the problem of Ganga Water sharing arose in 1975 when India consturcted Farakka Dam on the Ganga River to increase the supply of water for maintaing the navigabilityof Hoogly River. With many ups and downs, the two countries signed Ganga Water sharing agreement in 1996, which would guide the water sharing between the two countries for next 30 years. However, the sharing of water of other tributaries of Ganga between the two countries still remains unclear.

The Teen Bigha corridor is a small piece of Indian Territory which joins Bangladeshi enclaves of Dahagram and Angorpota. Agreements for the use of this corridor by Bangladesh were signed in 1972 and 1982. Following the Indian Supreme Court judgement, the Teen Bigha corridor was given to Bangladesh on perpertual lease, without any rent in 1992. However, this perpetual lease provided for the retention of Indian sovereignty over Teen Bigha with free movement of Indian Citizens living on either side of the corridor.

Both countries signed Chakma Hill Tract Agreement in 1997 which paved way for the repatriation of more than 50000 Chakma refugees living in Tripura. The repatriation of these refugees is almost complete. To check the further infiltration of Bangladeshi refugees, the Government of India has decided to put barbed wire fencing along the 3300 km border between the two countries. Bangladesh resents the fencing of the border. As a goodwill gesture, Kolkata-Dhaka Bus service was also initiated in 1999. More recently, Bangladesh has handed over some Indian insurgent leaders, notably Arbind Rajkhova, the chief of ULFA to India in December 2009.

Recent Five Agreements

Recently in January 2010, Bangladesh Prime Minister made a first visit to India. This visit has proved instrumental in reviving the friendly relations between India and Bangladesh. Further improvement, India and Bangladesh signed five agreements to enhance mutual co-operation. These agreements are:

Agreement to provide mutual legal assistance in criminal matters.
Transfer of persons, who are sentenced by each other.
Agreement to fight against terrorist activities, organised crimes and illegal drug-trafficking.
Agreement in the form of memorandum of understanding to enhance cooperation in the field of power generation.
Agreement to enhance cultural exchange programme.
And there was a memorandum of understanding (mou) on co-operation in Power sector, signed between the two countries is very significant. India has also promised $ 1 Billion line of credit to Bangladesh for building railway tracks in Bangladesh.

Both India and Bangladesh share common history and culture and that should reflect in the common sharing of interests, which can pave way for further development and peace in both of the nations.

India Bangladesh relations

2010-03-31T10:58:00.000+05:30

Initail public offering

2010-03-19T14:07:00.000+05:30

Definition

is a method to raise funds by a company which has been so far privately owned but now wants to offer its shares to the general public throughthe share market.

What Type of Companies do it?

Usually companies which have made a fair bit of progress and want to get to the next level adopt this method.

Advantage
It allows the company to reach a largepool of investors to acquire a substantal amount of money to finance its upcoming projects.

Disadvantage
The existing shareholders have to dilute their shares in order to accommodate the investor's share in the hope that additional capital and resultant boost in the company's performance will enhance the value of company's share.

How is it different from the normal share trading?

It is the first step of the company in going public..ie raising funds through the general public.

IPO

Share/ Secondary Market

The funds go directly from the share buyer to the company

money just exchanges hands between various investors in the market.

This is one reason why the IPO market is also referred to as the Primary Market.

The company is not obliged to repay the capital, but the investor has a right to future profits distributed by the company and the right to a capital distribution in case of a dissolution.

How it is done?
the companies cannot directly enter the market and offer shares to the public.
For this they need an underwriter.

Underwriters

The job of the underwriter is to determine the form, priceand structure for the IPO.
he works on a commission basis, based on a percentage of the value of the shares sold.
Underwriters, therefore, take many factors into consideration when pricing an IPO, and attempt to reach an offering price that is low enough to stimulate interest in thestock, but high enough to raise an adequate amount of capital for the company.
The process of determining an optimal price usually involves the underwriters arranging share purchase commitments from leading institutional investors (insurance companies, mutual funds etc.)

by mrunal

Chronology of Moghul Kings

2010-03-19T13:52:00.000+05:30

Babur
1483
Babur is born in Fergana
1526
Babur defeats Ibrahim, the sultan of Delhi at Panipat
1530
Death of Babur and Humayun assumes power
1540
Afghan Leader Sher Shah defeats Humayun and seizes the empire
1555
Humayun re-conquers Delhi
Akbar the Great
1556
Humayun dies, young Akbar is enthroned
1562
Akbar, a free thinking Muslim, marries Padmini, a Hindu princess of powerful kingdom Rajaputana
1564
Akbar abolishes Jizya, a tax on non-Muslims
Janangir
1605
Death of Akbar and succession of son Jahangir
1617
Revolt in the Southern states of the empire breaks out. Jahangir sends son Khurram to pacify them. Khurram received the title of Shah Jahan.
Shah Jahan
1627
Jahangir dies and Shah Jahan assumes the throne, crushing his rivals
1631
Shah Jahan's queen Mamtaz dies during childbirth; Shah Jahan commissions the building of her tomb, the Taj Mahal
Aurangjeb
1658
Shah Jahan's son Aurangajeb executes his brothers, imprisons his father and ascends to the throne of Delhi.
1666
Death of Shah Jahan
1679
Jijya is re-imposed; Aurangjeb's accesses into Deccan
1707
Aurangjeb dies
1739
Invading Persians massacre Delhi Weak Mogul Empire Collapses.
End of Mogul Empire
1862
Bahadur Shah II the last of the Mogul rulers dies. India becomes a British Colony.

by mrunal

How to answer question in mains

2010-03-19T13:22:00.000+05:30

How to Write Answers

The civil services main exam consists of descriptive type of questions. It focusses on testing the candidate on various levels. The time limit for the essay paper is 3 hrs without a word limit, but for the optional paper, there are questions with specific word limit like 250 words in optional subjects and 250 words, 150 words and 20 words in general studies. The candidate then has to prepare himself to answer all types of questions. The most important thing to be kept in mind is the time constraint. Therefore it becomes necessary to answer these questions quickly and effectively and in minimum words. One common doubt that students have is with regard to the style of answering questions, whether to adopt the paragraph or the point style of answering questions. Though there is no set rule, it is wise to adopt a style depending on the question asked. If the question says to discuss, analyse or critically examine, it would be better to answer the question the paragraph format. On the other hand, if the question asks you to list the advantages or give reasons for/ against etc., it is better to go in for the point format of answering.
HOW TO WRITE A GOOD ANSWER:

It is just not enough to know all the facts and information but the most important thing to be kept in mind is to write an answer which has a clear and a logical frame, which presents information in a clear and concise manner, which does not contain any irrelevant or piling up of information, which is interesting and able to hold one's attention. So the next logical step is to know how to write a good answer. The first step is to prepare the framework where one can list all ideas, thoughts and facts and write them down. It is important to adopt an answering style which is natural, original and to the point. Emphasis should be given to the kind of language used, one which is simple and clear without unnecessary use of nouns and verbs. Use of archaic and fancy words or language should be avoided at all costs. Care should be taken to avoid grammatical mistakes which will give a negative opinion however good the answer may be. Last but not the least, it is very important to have a good and a legible handwriting.

Try to give answers in accordence with the logic of questions.
If a question seems to ask positive answer, then give a positive answer.,
if it seems to be negative approach, carefully approach the question to give a negative writing.
"never try to give a challenging answer to a challenging question ie against Constitution / govt policy"
for ex: Analyse the impact of SEZ , is it creating political charisma?
2.emergency provisions need to be revamped. comment
3.gandhianism, practically ignored concept in the constitution. Critically analyse
4. Critically analyse the indian foreign policy with US

you may feel that these questions are simple and need a wide kowledge. You are right but the trap of UPSC is there in hyde. for this question we have to give positive or balanced approach. Giving negative answer is not good. We are not officers or policy makers to criticise the emergency provision/indian forign policy, but we are just candidates to go by with the constitution/policy.

Give a continuty to the answer when you sift over to next page.

by sivaramani from IO.com

Money Market

2010-02-07T22:20:00.003+05:30

What is money market
· In simple terms, if I borrow money from you for less than 1 year = the place where we do this deal is Money market
· For long term loans = Capital market.

Technical definition
· market refers to the market for short-term funds, i.e., up to one-year maturity.
· money market is the place where lending and borrowing is done through instruments having an original maturity of up to one year.
Use of money market
· money market provides a mechanism to balance the demand for and supply of short-term funds.
· the opportunity for players to invest their short-term surplus funds and to borrow short-term funds in case of deficit.
· Its interlinked with Foreign Exchange market (read my article on currency devaluation for more on this)
Call/ Notice/Term Money Market
· It is the market for borrowing and lending for short-term periods (usually upto 14 days, but at times more than that)
· The deals mostly by commercial banks.
· It is a telephonic market, i.e., deals are struck over telephone and reported to RBI. (that’s why its ‘call’ market)
· Commercial banks often face temporary shortages of funds (e.g., to meet CRR and SLR requirements, or sudden outgo of funds) or temporary surpluses.
· When a bank is in shortage of funds, it telephones & borrows from another bank which is in surplus.
3 types of deals in Call Market

Call Money

· If borrowing (or lending) is made for one day (overnight), it is known as “Call Money”.
· This segment is also called overnight money market.
Notice Money
· If the maturity of borrowing (or lending) is more than 1 day but up to 14 days, then it is known as “Notice Money”.
Term Money
· “Term Money” refers to money borrowed (or lent) for more than 14 days but less than one year. In Indian money market, most of the transactions are of call money and notice money.

Players in Call Market

· commercial banks and primary dealers can both borrow and lend,
· LIC, UTI, GIC, IDBI, NABARD, ICICI & Mutual Fund managers can lend money in this market (but they’re not allowed to borrow from this market)
· RBI, as regulator, routinely participates in the market to inject liquidity (lend) or to mop up liquidity (borrow).

Repos/Reverse Repos
· repo (also known as ready forward contract) transaction,
Example
· Suppose I write on a piece of paper “anyone who gives me 100 Rs. I’ll give him 120 Rs. After 1 year”
· this piece of paper is security.
· Now I give that paper to you and collect 100 Rs. And tell you that I’ll buy (repurchase) that paper after 6 months and give you 110 Rs.
· This is called repo-contract
· And this period (6 months) is repo period.
Now remember the ‘mirror’ – in the mirror my left hand will show as my right hand.
Same is for ‘Reverse Repo Rate’

· When you buy a security and sign contract that you’ll sell it after 6 months = this is reverse repo contract.
· one party borrows funds for a specific period (known as repo period) against the collateral of specific securities at pre-determined rate (known as repo rate)

for buyer its reverse repo rate (RRR) and for seller its repo rate.(RR)
And whether the transection is RRR or RR is classified by who initiated the deal?
If the buyer initiated the deal– then its RRR
If the seller initiated the deal then its RR

To prevent the topic getting confusing and complicated. Lets take an example

First the easy example-
I’m the RBI manager.
· When I give you security (paper) & take money from you – this is Repo.
· When I buy the security (paper) from you and give you money- this is reverse Repo.
Now the more correct example
I’m the RBI manager.
· When I give you security (paper) & take money from you & promise you that I’ll buy the same paper back from you after few months – this is Repo.
· When I buy the security (paper) from you and give you money & you promise me that you’ll buy back that paper from me after few months- this is reverse Repo.

The players in Repo / Reverse Repo Rate

· RBI, Scheduled banks & Primary dealers can borrow and lend
· Non-Bank participants (Finacial institutions) + companies listed in stock market can only lend , they can’t borrow.
Lets rewind the liquidity tape
Liquidity = How much money in the market? = if money is plenty= easy to get loans @ cheaper interest rate = this is called cheap / easy money.
When there is less liquidity =hard to get loans and the interest rate will be higher = this is Dear money.
Where there is too much money= inflation
When there is too less money= bad to business as you can’t get loans easily to run your works.
So RBI’s work is to fine tune the liquidity (money supply.) = tuning the dear money / easy money policy based on the situation.

RBI & Repo
· absorption of short-term liquidity, RBI carries out overnight (one day) repo auction at a fixed rate.
· Currently, fixed-rate repo and reverse repo auctions are conducted by the RBI on a daily basis (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and other public holidays) for 1 day (overnight) tenor.
· This means, RBI is ready to sell as much securities as is demanded by the participants at the fixed rate.
· This rate is fixed in the sense that it does not change on a daily basis depending upon the supply-demand condition of short-term liquidity
· Changes in the fixed repo rate are usually made in the Annual Monetary and Credit Policy or in the Mid-Term Review of the Monetary and Credit Policy.
RBI & Reverse Repo
· In order to inject liquidity into the system, RBI conducts fixed rate auctions of reverse repo at a rate higher than the repo rate.
· The reverse repo rate is linked to the repo rate in the sense that it is set at specific percentage point above the repo rate.
Definition difference from international market.
· Keep in mind, the terms repo and reverse repo have been defined above, is just opposite to the international practice.
· That is, what is repo in Indian terminology is reverse repo in international parlance, and what is reverse repo in India is internationally known as repo.
· In a fast globalising environment, this may create confusion.
· Consequently, RBI has changed the definitions of repo and reverse repo to bring them in line with international practice with effect from 27th October 2004.
· However, in this article, we have throughout followed the older (Indian) definition.

Money market topic doesn’t stop here, there are other remaining items like Commercial papers, Treasury bills, Certificate of Deposits etc which will be dealt in some other article.

by mrunal

SEBI

2010-02-07T21:44:00.003+05:30

What is SEBI?

· Securities and Exchange Board of India = SEBI
· It regulates both the primary and secondary markets. (explained in my previous article)
· It protects the interests of the investors in securities
· It promotes the development of the securities market.
· SEBI was established in 1988 but was given statutory powers in 1992, and started working effectively since 1993.

Why did the government create SEBI?

As you know that in India, the Government won’t do any major reform or action unless the things get messed up really bad. The same was the case why SEBI was given the power to control both primary and secondary market because they were in complete mess. So lets first see, what was the problems in primary and secondary markets before SEBI came in picture.

The problems in Primary market before SEBI came
· primary market was extremely restrictive regulations on the issuers enforced by the
Controller of Capital Issues (CCI)
Now lets assume I'm the big businessman.
· Primary market is where i issue my security for the first time.
· I can't fix the prices of my shares, as I like, because i've to follow the rules made by CCI.
· but that dude always underprice my issues.
· When I put my equity shares for the first time in Primary market = this is IPO (initial public offering)
· but now as you know that I can't fix high prices for my IPO due to CCI dude.
· so my IPO is very cheap.
· so lots of people will send application to buy it because its cheap (= over subscription)
· so i'll have to give the IPO shares via lottery only to a few people.
· but those who get my cheap IPO via lottery will immediately go to secondary market and sell it at higher price.
· = I lost money (that I could have made if CCI dude allowed me to sell my IPO @ higer price.)
· and those lucky dudes who won the lottery made money without really doing anything.
· As you can see, all this is not good for industrial Development.

The problems in secondary market before SEBI came

Secondary market = where you trade the securities that you purchased from primary market.
For general understanding- the stock markets = secondary market = where you sell/buy shares.
So lets see the

problems of Stock markets before SEBI came

· first organized stock exchange was established in 1875 in Bombay (now Mumbai)
· there were almost 20 regional stock exchanges in 1992,
· but trading was concentrated in Bombay Stock Exchange and it enjoyed a monopoly
· Users from outside Bombay found it extremely difficult to trade in BSE due to poor technology and high cost of telecommunications. (they didn’t have internet or cellphones with free incoming calls in 1992!)
· BSE imposed a high entry barrier, so that competition among brokers was absent.
· That’s why services provided by the brokers were, thus, extremely inefficient and costly. (its same like Indian railway’s stinking toilets- you can’t complain because railway don’t have much competition.)
Specific problems in Share market before 1992
“open outcry” system
· means trading used to take place in trading ring where non-brokers were not allowed in.
· These traders will shout the prices like we've in vegetable markets.
· There wasn't any mechanism to verify the prices at which trading actually took place.
· So, brokers used to charge prices to the investors (buyers and sellers of securities) that were usually different from the actual prices
· =brokers used to report higher than actual prices for buy orders and lower than actual prices for sell orders).
· If investors (buyers or sellers) demanded a more accurate price, orders often got cancelled (for example, the broker could simply claim that such a favourable price was not obtained in the market).
The settlement system
· payment of money and delivery of securities after trade by the brokers to both parties (buyer and seller of shares)
· it favored the brokers and was to the disadvantage of the investors.
· the settlement was “futures-style” and was on a fortnightly basis.
· means that trading done during a fortnight would be settled at the end of the fortnight.
· system of badla =enabled the brokers to carry forward their liability (of money or securities) to next settlement.
· so, brokers could postpone settlement almost indefinitely, if the prices were not favorable to them.
· This led to a high degree of risks. Large-scale problems arising out of failure to make payment or deliver shares, would lead to closure of BSE for days together,
· this used to recur at the rate of almost once every other year.

“bad delivery” of Shares
· Even after you buy the shares and get the paper in your hands- you had to send the shares to the registrar of the company to register the ownership of that share in your name.
· At this stage, the problem of bad delivery arose due to a number of problems
· if the signature of the seller did not match with the one maintained with the registrar, the shares were sent back.
Reasons for inaccurate signature
· The seller of the shares, who probably purchased the shares years back, might unwillingly sign in a different manner.
· But in many cases, manipulations by unscrupulous operators were responsible.
· counterfeit shares (wherein any signature were put by the counterfeiter),
· Engineering bad deliveries by selling party’s brokers or by the companies themselves to delay settlement in order to support price manipulation.
· The time lag between buying shares and getting it registered in the name of the buyer used to take anything between 1-3 months if everything was alright.
· The time lag normally went up to six months on an average in case of bad delivery.

Anyways so above were the problems with primary + secondary market so Govt. made a law to give powers to SEBI to control them both. And so CCI was abolished.

NSE (National stock exchange) was established to end the monopoly of Bombay Stock Exchange.

NSE (National stock exchange)
· NSE was a new exchange promoted and owned by public sector financial institutions (like IDBI, UTI, LIC, GIC, IFCI, etc.) and banks.
· NSE is professionally-managed (as opposed to the other exchanges that are managed by brokers or members still today)

You saw the problems of BSE ago, and to curb them,NSE came with 4 innovations

Computerized trading
· First, physical, floor-based, brokers-dominated trading outside the eyes of the investors was replaced by anonymous, computerized order matching system
· where trading is done in front of the investors.
· The order-matching system is characterized by strict price-time priority,
· wherein an order is executed according to the price parameters set by the investors.
· The OTCEI, which was set up in 1992, was the first computerised exchange in India.
· NSE started operations in 1994 with electronic trading, while all other exchanges introduced electronic trading subsequently.
· By March 31, 1999, all the 23 stock exchanges in the country had computerised on-line screen based trading.
Satellite communication
· to spread the reach of the exchange to all over the country was attempted successfully, for the first time, by NSE.
· This was in stark contrast to the other exchanges which till then had the reach limited to their cities of operation for over a century.

Professional managers
· the traditional exchanges were and still are managed by the member brokers.
· This gave rise to many malpractices, a conflict of interest being the most important one. Since the brokers themselves were in charge of enforcement of rules and regulations, they never took a decision in favour of the investors that went against their interest.
· This gave rise to a conflict of interest between the members as brokers and members as responsible for enforcement of rules and regulations.
· NSE avoided this problem right from beginning because it was set up as a limited liability company with brokers as franchisees.
· This led to a situation where brokers were not held responsible for enforcement of rules and regulations, and
· those who were entrusted with enforcement (professional managers) were not brokers.
· As a result, NSE’s staff is free of pressures from brokers and is better able to perform regulatory and enforcement functions.

Weekly settlement
· If you buy shares from me, you’ve to give me the money in 1 week and I’ve to give you the shares in the same 1 week.
· the traditional practice of fortnightly settlement cycle + system of badla that allowed extension of even this fortnightly cycle was replaced by a strict weekly settlement cycle without badla.

Result-BSE Is busted
· Equity trading at NSE commenced in November 1994.
· Within one year of operation, NSE surpassed the BSE in terms of turnover.
· BSE was working since 1875, with monopoly now it had to face competition with N.S.E
· So in March 1995, BSE also adopted similar innovation to keep up in the race.

All this, lead to 5 good things Stock markets

Improved Transparency:
Investors can see with their own eyes the prices that are currently being quoted in the market, and choose to trade or not.
Anonymity= no cartels
· The electronic trading platform makes trading completely anonymous.
· Traditionally, lack of anonymity in trading in the floor-based system
· gave rise to cartels (of brokers) and made price manipulation easy. NSE
· was a break from this tradition as well and removed much of the scope for
· price manipulation.
More brokers = competition =good for clients
· NSE throws open the business of stock broking to all and everyone (subject to fulfillment of certain criteria).
· In contrast, BSE restricted new entry into the brokerage business until NSE came into picture.
· Now More than a thousand brokers entered the market with the NSE leading to steep increase in competition and the consequent fall in the brokerages* by a very substantial amount.
· This led to a drastic fall in transaction costs. (*the broker’s Commission)

No more bad delivery
Automation of the trading system eliminated all the problems associated with manual trading (e.g., bad delivery/ signature etc.)
Investors outside Mumbai can earn money
· Investors from all over the country have got access to an exchange on same terms and conditions as investors within Mumbai for the first time.
· Earlier, Bombay stock exchange was the pre-dominant one in the country,
· but investors outside the city found it extremely difficult and costly to do business in the exchange. (no cellphones with free incoming!)
· Thus, true to its name, NSE turned out to be the first national stock exchange.
· This benefited the investors from outside Mumbai more than perhaps the investors within the city.

National Securities Clearing Corporation Limited (NSCCL)
· It’s a subsidiary of N.S.E, to prevent the counter party risk. (established in August 1995)
· counter-party risk means the risk that one of the two parties in a transaction may fail to honour their commitment to pay cash [buyer] or stock [seller] on the scheduled settlement date
· For every trade (buy or sell) done on the NSE, NSCCL becomes the counter-party.
· means, the seller sells the securities to the NSCCL, and the buyer buys from the
· NSCCL.
· Even if a brokerage firm fails to make payment (or deliver securities), NSCCL makes the payment (or deliver securities).
· This has almost eliminated counter-party risk and contained the recurrence of payment crises that characterised Indian stock markets for almost a century.

Demat account

· You read above, how the ‘bad delivery of shares’ was engineering by the brokers.+ the menace of counterfeit shares. And the fear of theft of shares.
· To curb this problem, SEBI came up with the novel idea that is ‘Dematerialization of share holding’
· This means, you’ve to get a Demat account in the bank and
· when you buy shares, you don’t get a ‘piece of paper’. That share gets automatically credited to your demat account.
· In November 1996, the National Securities Depository Ltd. (NSDL), the first depository in India, was established For this purpose.
· SEBI played an active role in gradual shifting from physical certificates to dematerialised holding by introducing a mandatory element in the process.
· Currently almost cent percent trading and settlement are done in a dematerialised environment.
· But things are not that safe and sweet, thanks to IPO scam-Demat Queen Roopal Panchal

by mrunal patel

Securities , Derivatives and Financial Market

2010-02-07T21:39:00.001+05:30

Issues & Securities

1. If I write on a piece of paper saying “anyone who gives me 100 Rs., I’ll give him 120 rupees after 6 months” = this is public issue
2. If you give me 100 Rs. And take that paper- then that paper becomes the ‘security’
Keep in mind that The 100 Rs you give to me or the 120 Rs. I’ll give to you after 6 months- that is NOT Security. That Piece of paper is the security.
Technical definition

· Security means a formal declaration that documents a fact of relevance to finance and investment gives the holder a right to receive interest or dividends.
· Security means A guarantee that an obligation will be met

Shares, debentures.

They’re also securities of one type. You must be knowing about them already so just in brief--
1. If for your 100 rs, I give you a limited ownership in my company and promise to give you the share from my profit = this is share
2. But if I say that, I’ll give you 15 Rs. Every year no matter I get any profit / not = this is debenture.

Derivatives / Stock Market Derivatives

· you gave me 100 Rs and I gave you a paper saying I’ll payback 120 Rs. (=Mrunal’s security paper)
· there is another guy named Mitul who, same way borrowed 100 Rs. And gave you another paper saying he’ll pay you 120 Rs after 6 months. (Mitul’s security paper.)
· Now you need money before 6 months, so you write on a new paper, “anyone who gives me 220 Rs, I’ll give him 240 Rs. Worth Security papers of Mrunal and Mitul.”
· that new paper you crated is again a ‘security ’ but it doesn’t have ‘direct-money attached with it’ –instead, it derives its value from the security papers for Mrunal and Mitul. So your new paper is called ‘Derivatives’
lets now deviate from our article’s topic for a while to learn a few things related to recession from above talk.
Mortgage, Asset bubble & derivatives

· You give me 100 Rs. And I give you paper saying “if I don’t pay back, you can take away my house”
· this is mortgage. But again this is also one kind of ‘security paper’
· Now you’re a big bank, so you’ve plenty of such mortgage papers because you give loans to lot of people. (even to those who can’t afford to pay back the loan)
· Then you repack those mortgage papers (security ) and make a new security paper “anyone who gives me 500 Rs. I’ll give him mortgage papers of 5 houses” = this is derivative product.
· Suppose 3rd guy bought such derivative papers and after few months, he repacks them- makes another derivative product and sell it to 4th guy.
· Such papers are one sort of ‘asset’ (because you can get money from someone using it.)
· but as you can see, you did not create any ‘new asset’ you’re just keep reselling same stuff over and over to different people. So you’re blowing a ‘bubble’
· After few months, I refuse to pay money, and tell the 4th guy to take away my home. But the prices in reality sector are low so even if you sell my home you can’t recover your 100 Rs. = this is ‘toxic asset’ / NPA = non-performing asset and your asset bubble is ‘burst’

Financial Market (diagram)

· You gave me money I gave you a piece of paper (security)
· The place where we did this business is called financial market.
· If I had promised to pay back money in less than 1 year (=short term loan) , this will be called Money Market
· If I had promised to pay back money after long time like 10-20 years (=long term loan) , this will be called a CAPITAL MARKET.
Players in Capital Market (diagram)

Subparts of capital market.
· As said above, when I take long term loan = its capital market.
· When initially I took money from you and give you piece of paper = this is ‘PRIMARY market.’ *
· But after sometime, you need the money while I’m going to pay back after 10 years.
· So you borrow 100 Rs from another guy and give that piece of paper (=security) to that guy. And tell him to recover the money from Mrunal = you traded my security. This is ‘SECONDARY MARKET’(Sharemarket / BSE/NSE etc)
(*this primary market will be discussed in another article) our current article deals only with capital market.)
It’s the job of SEBI to control both Primary & Secondary Capital market in India. (detailed article about SEBI,BSE,&NSE is coming soon.)

As you saw on above diagram that Govt. is also a ‘player’ in capital market. So,

Why does Government issue securities?

· Suppose I’m the Govt.
· My expenses are more than my income
· = I’m in deficit (gap)
I’ve following options to cover that deficit

1. Increase tax rates (income tax, VAT, import duties)
But this will make people unhappy and they’ll not vote for me in next election
2. Print more money
But this will create inflation= again unhappy people= less votes.
3. Borrow from international institution (world bank / IMF)
But if I borrow too much, I’ll have to play by their tunes regarding Kashmir, Copenhagen, WTO-Doha.
4. Borrow from people within India
This sounds safer!

· So I’ll issue securities. (When you issue for the first time = you’re in primary market.)
· keep in mind that Govt. does this for short term deficits. (its like I need money in October 2010 but you’re going to pay income tax in March 2011 so I’ll use this trick to cover my money needs.)
· Govt. generally plays only in the primary market.
· When you give me your money and receive that piece of paper (security) = you can be certain that I’m going to pay back and won’t run away like Ashok Jadeja. After all I’m the Government. And I pay good profits.
· that’s why Govt. securities are called ‘Gilt-Edged securities’

How does this thing work?

· As I decided to issue security in primary market, but that doesn’t mean I’ll send my peon/clerk/Secretary to the primary market with bag full of papers (security) and sell it like vegetables.
· I give my piece of papers (security / treasury bills) to RBI- they’ll give me the money and then RBI’s men will sell it in the primary market. = RBI is Govt.’s debt manager.*
· *Security Paper -means I’m going to pay money after some time. -means-I’m in your debt. And RBI manager’s my security papers so they’re my ‘debt manager.’

Separate debt Management office.

· Ok so now you know that RBI is Govt.’s debt manager. But consider this
· RBI’s main job = maintain liquidity (=money supply) in market via monetary policy (=CRR, Bank Rate,Repo rate etc crap- if you want to see its diagram then click me )
· But, When RBI sells Govt. securities in primary market, and give the money to Govt. = money supply flow is interrupted = liquidity is drying = harder to get loans
· = conflict of interest.
· That’s why many people are calling for separate Public debt Management office and relieve RBI from this duty.

Ok now ,final part in this article-As we saw, there are 2 types of capital market : Primary and secondary. but

Why do we need Secondary market?

Gives Exit Route

· I’m going to return money to you after 10 years. So your hands are ‘tied’ – you can’t recover it from me until next 10 years, so what if you needed money in emergency? You’ve secondary market so you’ll sell my security to someone else and recover the money. Otherwise,
· In the absence of a secondary market, many of the investors would probably not agree to supply capital (money) in the primary market because they would not have an exit route for their investment.
Gives Price information

By active trading by millions of investor, you get price information regarding the securities.
This price information is used to judge
1. the corporate performance (share prices)
2. performance of the Government
3. economy (through interest rates on Government debt).
4. facilitating value-enhancing control activities (mergers & acquisitions) and
5. enabling implementation of incentive-based management contracts (employee stock options).

Infrastructure

2010-02-07T12:29:00.002+05:30

What is infrastructure?
· In simple terms, things like roads, dams, power-plants,schools, etc. help you in your life and business = this is infrastructure.
· “infrastructure” is defined in dictionary as “the underlying foundation or basic framework”
· Broadly, infrastructure includes all public services from law and order through education and public health to transportation, communications, power and water supply, as well as irrigation and drainage systems.

Classification

What’s the use of Infrastructure?
Why infrastructure in important?
How does it help in economic Development ?

Infrastructure contributes to development both directly and indirectly.

· When Govt. opens more polytechnique, IITs,IIMs you'll get better trained people to work in factories and business.thus,
Quality of labour is enhanced by human capital improvements via Social infrastructure

· Suppose you're running a cybercafe. So, the shop, the computers and internet connection is your 'capital' (=something that generates money.) But what if there is no electricity in 3 days per week?/ slow internet connection? = your business will be ruined.
· So, When Govt. opens more powerhouses, lays more telephone cables, sends more Satellites = your cybercafe will earn more money.
Thus,
productivity of physical capital is improved by power and transportation etc economic infrastructures.

If you're a truck driver. If the roads are bad then? Truck's tyres,engine will need more servicing.
If the roads are good then? you'll be able to drive your truck faster and make more trips.
Thus,
Infrastructure lowers the cost of producing a given level of output or, alternatively, can increase the amount of output produced by all other inputs for a given cost.

• Infrastructure enables markets to work better. Transactions are made less costly and this increases the benefits of trade. For example, advances in transport and communications have considerably lowered storage costs by permitting producers to respond rapidly to changing consumer demands
even in international trade. (this is referred to as “modern logistics management”).

If you're running a factory, and there is no electricity 3 days per week, then you'll waste lot of your money buying & running diesel generators & then you'll sell your products at higher cost, to recover that money you wasted in diesel.
Thus,
Unit costs tend to rise due to unreliable or inaccessible public infrastructure.
Both small and big firms spend a significant portion of their expenditure on buying infrastructure services and suffer when these are not available.

Now lets take a look @ some very important segments of infrastructure.
Physical Infrastructure
Roads

Roads are divided into five categories for administrative purposes.
1. National highways,
2. State highways,
3. major district roads,
4. other district roads
5. village roads

· Central Govt. is responsible for maintaining the National Highways, other 4 types of roads are maintained by State Govt.
· Before LPG in 1991, only Govt. could invest in making roads. but after LPG, National Highways Act was amended in 1995 to allow private sector participation.
· NHAI (National Highways Authority of India) was created to build and upgrade national highways.
· Funds have been made available to the NHAI for its capital base through a tax on motor spirit and cess on diesel.
but yet
NHAI isn't working @ its full potential because
1. Frequent change of officers ( 5 chairmans in last 3 years)
2. Environment ministry clearance (you want to chop down trees to make roads then you need permission from Forest Dept.)
3. Land Aquisition
Sam Pitroda has pointed out the difficulty -
· In old times (60s to 90s) when the land was cheap, Govt. didnot acquire it,
· so now it has to buy the land and pay very high prices per square meter + other compensation. (+ the pseudo-environmentalists)

Railways
· Railways provide energy efficient form of transportation compared to roads.
· i.e. you want to send tonnes of wheat/coal from one state to another, it'll consume more dieasel if you do it via trucks.
· railway services are intermediate inputs to production; any reduction in these input costs raises the profitability of production.

CROSS SUBSIDISATION

· Traditionally, railways are seen as part of essential public service
· =railways should not be denied to even those who are unable to pay fully.
· (=poor people should also be allowed to enjoy railways= Garib Rath / Student concession pass etc.)
· But it doesn't fall from sky, if someone is enjoy something then somebody has to pay money for it, right ?
· so, freight charges* and upper class passengers ticket prices are set high, to cover that cost.
· this is called "Cross subsidisation"

Railway's earning
· 30 % from Passenge tickets
· 70 % from Freight traffic.*
· <*when you send physical items like wheat / coal = this is 'Freight'>

Problem for Railways
as you saw, 70% of Railway's profit comes from Freight traffic but nowadays it's facing high compitition from other sectors. like road sector the four-laning of the “Golden quadrilateral” and tnew expressway stretches.
use of pipelines for the transportation of petroleum products
coal and cement have started moving via coastal shipping.
+ Cheaper airplane tickets so those previously moving via 1st class AC Railways, switch to Airlines when prices are low.

But above 4 are also 'infrastructure' (roads, pipelines,shipping ports, airports!) so any
Development of one infrastructure may degrade the Development of other infrastructure
But, ultimately the common people benefit from it.+ Compitition lowers the prices

To solve the problems, Railway had taken some steps

· Gauge conversion,
· doubling of existing single lanes,
· electrification projects,
· allowing Private companies to make wagons and passenger coaches
· running Duranto Expresses
· and many more.

Seaports
· India has coastline of 7,000+ kms and
· 12 major ports (managed by Central Govt.| account for over 75 % of total cargo)
· 185 minor ports (managed by State Govt. |25% Cargo transported via them)

· After LPG, Private companies are allowed to participate in Development of these ports.

· If you want to export Wheat to S.Africa, then it'll be expensive if you do it using aeroplanes.
· but cheaper via sea-routes.
· But first of all you've to transport the wheat grown in Punjab / UP/Haryana to Mumbai's port via Railway/Trucks.
· Thus,
· Ports require good inland connectivity (via rails/roads)

so Efficiency of one infrastructure depends on other infrastructures.

That's why, Government is investing in improving the road connectivity to major ports through the NHDP.

REGULATION of sea-ports
· as you know, there is TRAI (Telephone regulatory Authority of India) as 'judge' for telephone related matters. (otherwise BSNL will act as monopoly and pvt players like Vodaphone, Airtel won't get level playing field in spectrum allocation etc.)
· same way, for level playing field in sea-port operations Tariff Authority for Major Ports (TAMP) has been set up.

‘landlord’ ports
· when cargo handling is done by private players, such ports are called landlord ports. (just like airport Management given to pvt players.)
· but in India all major ports are run by Port Trust made by central Govt.
· the concept of Landlord ports is not yet implemented in 'Major Ports'.
· but A wholly private owned port of Pipavav is setup in Gujarat = this is Landlord Port.
· port of Sika ( Gujarat) accounts for the largest cargo handling among all ports in the country. (its connected to Reliance Refinery @ Jamnagar.)

Airports
· Airports are under the management of Airports Authority of India.
· Private investments are to be drafted for the upgradation of the four major airports (Delhi – Mumbai – Kolkata and Chennai).
· ‘greenfield’ airports under private ownership are coming up at Bangalore
· and Hyderabad.
· new airport promoted by Kerala State Government has come up in Kochi with private investor participation.

Problems
· Tax on Aviation fuel = air-tickets costly.
· Big burden on tax payers, known as Air-India.

Energy

estimated 80,000 villages yet to be electrified,
Problems in Electricity supply
· Uneconomic tariffs charged from the priority sectors,
· Factories have to pay higher bills per unit of electricity so that Govt. can give free/cheaper electricity to farmers. (again cross subsidisation)
· High transmission and distribution losses (T&D losses) because of bad equipements.
· Electricty theft.
· Financial constraints to undertake systems improvement schemes
· = since you're supplying electrictity @

communication
· New Telecom Policy (NTP) was introduced in 1999.
· its aim is to provide connectivity to all rural, hill villages & remote parts.
· + level playing field for pvt players.(against BSnL)

· over 2,00,000 villages were unconnected’ (as of June 2002)
· Many rural / hill areas don't get adequate telephone/mobile connectivity because they're "high cost service areas "
· =mobile companies don't earn enough revenues (income) to cover costs of operating in that area.
· Thus it falls on Govt's shoulders to do that work. (that's why Govt. PSU BSNL exists.) --> this is one of the arguments in favor of public sector undertakings
· = to serve the people where pvt players are not interested to work in. anyways, back to the topic:-

Universal Service Obligations: (USO)
· in short Govt. says it'll try to give phone connectivity to rural areas.
· for this they created a fund called USO fund. so when pvt players do something in rural areas, they'll get money from it.
· Govt. is trying to increase the teledensity in rural areas via 3 strategies

Niche Operators

It is assessed by TRAI that despite the USO support, existing big service
providers would not be interested to serve about 50 per cent of the villages. To
address this issue, TRAI in its Unified Licensing recommendations envisaged
that the Short Distance Charging Areas with teledensity less than 1 per cent be
notified as telecom-wise-backward areas. In these areas, niche operators,
defined as ‘the telecom service providers whose services are restricted to these
backward areas only’ will be inducted. These operators are entitled for
concessions of zero entry fees, lower license fees and funds. The scheme is aimed to promote local entrepreneurs who have the technical competence to provide communication solutions but cannot compete on equal footing with large operators.

Creating Mobile Telephone Infrastructure
means if you're setting up mobile tower / need land in backward area then Govt. will give you subsidy. but after 1 year you'll have to share that tower with other players by taking some fees from them.

Subsidising the Rural Household DELs
in short it means if you're the Tata/ Airtel/Vodafone and if setup phone lines in rural areas then Govt. gives you subsidy for that work.

Banking Infrastructure
What does the Bank do?
it saves your money, give you interest on it and it'll give that money as loan to someone else to buy home/start business.thus,
Banks transfers the savings into productive investment.
But its not just the banks- but share market as well that transfers savings into investment.

Inter-State Difference in infrastructure
In Bihar only 10% of households have access to electricity, While in Andhra its 67% (2001 Census )

(we’ll have to go to Development administration, polity ,centre –state relations, history etc things to understand this inter-state difference in infrastrucutre.) so not writing much on that here.

until now we talked of Physical infra. now lets see the
Social infrastructure

Health
Human Develpoement index has 3 components
· Income
· Knowledge
· Health.
Some Facts-
· 10th Plan talked about effectively using traditional Indian medicine system consisting of ayurveda, yoga, unani and siddha.
· These combined with homeopathy is named as AYUSH (was asked in mains 2009.)
· Generally Govt. funds are mostly spent on preventing the of communicable diseases.(AIDS, Cholera,Polio etc) + family planning schemes.
· But in 10th plan they talked about National Mental Health Programme (for 'mentally challanged')
· India has 1/6th of humans living in this world.
· By 2050 we'll be the country with largest population on earth.
· large population has its problem- drinking water, food etc.

Total Sanitation Campaign
= making toilets in the rural areas = sanitation
= people don't fall ill in water-bourne disease
= their productivity increases (since they're not in bed and doing work (=earing money)+ their savings saved from being wasted in medicines.)

Education
In today’s speech, Obama said
“the best poverty removal program is world class education”

You can find the data regarding Sarva-Siksha Abhiyaan + Mid day meal from yearbook or similar books/magazines. So I’m not writing much on it here.

Now the last part for this article

Who should create infrastructure?
· Govt. made a huge bridge on sea in Mumbai called Warli-Bandra sea link.
· Now every car passing from it has to pay about 25-50 Rs.
· But Govt. spent crores of rupees making the bridge + they’ve to maintain staff to collect those fees from cars , and pay that staff the salary.
· So it’ll take almost 100 Years to ‘recover’ the money Govt. invested it.

Second case
· We get water from Narmada dam, every morning for 2 hours. For that we’ve to pay about 450 Rs. A year. Again- as the same reason given above-- So it’ll take almost 100 Years to ‘recover’ the money Govt. invested it making the dam.

· But we cannot deny the fact the bridges and dams are important.
· But private players won’t be interested in making them because it takes long time to recover the money invested = long gestation time.
· That’s why the physical infrastructure like heavy industries, dams, roads, bridges etc. is considered to be responsibility of the Govt.

· Problem when Govt. starts doing something = red tape, inefficiency, corruption. + nowadays Govt. doesn’t have lot money to make new project.
· That’s why they talk about keeping the private players
· So we get PPP = public pvt partnership project.
· Then we’ve BOT= build operate transfer type of project. I’ll talk about this two (PPP/BOT) in detail in another article.

by mrunal

how to read news articles in newspaper

2010-02-07T11:32:00.002+05:30

Learn to dissect the current affairs for prelim, mains, interview

first lets take an example -- I'm copy pasting a news article from TimesofIndia.

NEW DELHI: Myanmar's ruling junta plans to launch coordinated operations with India to flush out Northeast militants in its territories and has promised to help track down elusive ULFA 'commander-in-chief' Paresh Baruah.

The assurance to New Delhi was given at a three-day home secretary-level talks between the two countries which concluded in Myanmar capital Nay Pay Taw on Thursday.

"Security forces of India and Myanmar will conduct coordinated operation in their respective territories in the next two-three months. The objective of the operation is that no militant can escape to the other side after facing heat in one side," a home ministry official said.

Major insurgent groups in the Northeast like NSCN and ULFA have over two dozen camps and training centres along both sides of 1,650 km long India-Myanmar border, which touches Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram.

ULFA 'commander-in-chief' Paresh Baruah is also believed to have been hiding in the Kachin area of Myanmar.

"We have conveyed to the Myanmar delegation that we have information that Paresh Baruah is hiding in their territory and they assured us to track him down if found in their territory," the official said.

The security forces of both India and Myanmar will also intensify their vigil along the border to check smuggling of arms, narcotic drugs and other goods.

The Indian delegation, headed by union home secretary G K Pillai, had held extensive discussions with the Myanmar contingent led by Brigadier General Phone Swe on issues like border security, cross-border movement of militants, border trade and cross-border projects.

"The meeting was very positive as Myanmar has assured us to address all our security concern and promised us to carry forward the cordial relations between the two countries," the official said.

just another boring kind of article, isn't it?
Well you need to train your eyes to spot the exam oriented content from this.
Lets see how the UPSC's examiner will ask questions from this!

prelim : important facts

Nay Pay Taw is capital of Myanmaar.
India-Myanmar border is 1,650 km long.
this border touches Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram.
3rd fact is especially imp. they'll generally give you 4 statements and ask you to find the correct one.

a.Indo-Myanmar border touches only Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram.
b.Indo-Myanmar border touches only Sikkim, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram.
c.Indo-Myanmar border touches only Assam, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram.
d.Indo-Myanmar border touches only Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram.

Now what was not important in above news-item for the prelims exam.

1)name of ULFA chief is Paresh Barua (they won't ask it in prelims because its like indirectly giving him publicity, same rule applies for naxals / maoists leaders.)
2)Brigadier General Phone Swe (this is absolutely not required to be remembered. besides if you waste your energy in remembering such tiny information you'll end up wasting your time and memory which could be used to remember something more important.)
3)union home secretary G K Pillai, (as far as i remember they don't ask you names of Secretaries.)

Mains

What is Nay Pay Taw / Write about Indo-Myanmar border. (2 Marks / 20 words)
Indo-Myanmar relations (15-20-30 marks)
Essay - Insurgency in India (200 Marks)

Interview

tell us something about recent trends in Indo-Myanmar relations?
What solutions do you suggest to fight insurgency in North East?
you won't get any 100% full content for any answer in mains /essay / interview from just one particular news-article. but slow and steady when you read newspapers everyday, you'll build up enough material and knowledge in your brain to answer a genuine, unique & good answer.

by mrunal patel

Devaluation

2010-01-22T11:44:00.003+05:30

First read the Balance of Payment (BoP) article, to understand this concept better.
Consider this example.
1$ = 50 Rs.
Price of one diamond = 50 Rs.= you can buy only 1 diamond in 1$
Now Suppose, RBI and Govt. of India declares that from now on 1$ will be equal to 100 Rs.
Then ??
1$= 100 Rs= 50+50 = you can buy 2 diamonds in 1$!
So as an American you’ll import lot more, if the Rupee is ‘devalued.’

Devaluation means

- The reduction of something's value or worth
- An official lowering of a nation's currency; a decrease in the value of a country's currency relative to that of foreign countries

Timeline of Rupee Devaluation

-Before 1966: 1$ = 4.76 Rs.

-In 1966: 1$= 7.50 Rs. (Rupee was devalued for the first time)

This is ‘fixed rate system’ means Govt. says 1$= 7.50 Rs. = it’s permanent; It doesn’t keep changing every now and then. This fixed rate system is also known as ‘Bretton Woods system’ or ‘pegged currency’

This system was abandoned by most countries in 1973.

India also abandoned this ‘Fixed Rate system’ in 1975, and moved to the floating rate system. In the Floting rate system , the market forces of supply and demand decide the value of Dollar and rupee.

Why Devaluation ?

Like I showed ago, if Rupee is devalued, Americans can buy more diamond in 1 dollar = Export increases.

China uses this strategy. They intentionally keep their Yuan weak compared to Dollar. So in 1 Dollar, the Americans can import more ‘quantity’ of products from China, compared to India.
This way, China is major exporter of most electronic and consumer items, because its cheap!
Thus, China made a huge Foreign Exchange reserve by exporting.
Currently China has more than 1400 Billion Dollars in their reserve! While India has only about 270 Billion Dollars in its reserve.

Then lets do Rupee Devaluation?

Now if you think we should also keep our Rupee very weak (like 1$= 5000 Rs.) to boost our exports and get lot of Forex like Chinese… you are forgetting something.

When you declare that 1$= 5000 Rs. Then obviously, Americans will import a LOT from India. But,When you’re buying Crude Oil Barrels from Middle East, you’ve to Pay in Dollars!!
Suppose if 1 Oil Barrel ‘s price was 1 Dollar, then now you’ll have to pay 5000 Rs. To buy just one Barrel! (earlier you were paying only 50 Rs. To buy one barrel.)

Thus diesel & petrol becomes very costly, = road transport cost increased = milk, veggies and everything transported by trucks become very costly.=inflation. So whatever money you gained in export, you lose here.

That’s why you’ve to maintain a fine balance between your Rupee’s Value against Dollar vs. How much import items you need to run your Country + the well being of your citizens.

In short

1. Devaluation increase exports and decreases imports
2.Devaluation gives a price advantage to the exporting contry.

How does Currency Devaluation help in Solving BoP Deficit

- In BoP Deficit, you’re importing more than what you’re exporting.
- When your currency is devalued, your export increases (1$ buys 2 diamonds)
- And you decrease your import (people will stop using cars, when 1 Liter petrol is sold for 5000 Rs.)
- Thus Export is increased and import is decrease = Deficit solved!

Why India had to go Devaluation?
1966 Economic crisis
·Since 1950, India ran continued trade deficits because of the Quota-Licence-inspector raj. (Already explained in LPG article.)
·Government of India had a budget deficit problem and could not borrow money from abroad or from the private corporate sector.
·As a result, the government issued bonds to the RBI, which increased the money supply, leading to inflation.
·In 1966, America stopped foreign aid to India (because Americans were friendly to Pakis) and we were fighting Indo-Pak war of 1965. During this war, Govt.’s 25% expenditure was spent in fighting pakis.
·All this lead to problems, you’ve high inflation, you don’t have enough money to buy crude oil. And you can’t print more money to buy crude oil ,
·so what will you do? You’ve to boost your exports to earn from $$. And for that you’ve to reduce the value of your Rs.
·Same thing had to be done in 1991, due to BOP crisis.

Who exactly determines the Exchange Rate?
·1$= 50 Rs. =this is exchange rate, but who exactly determines this?
·In 1991, India still had a fixed exchange rate system, where the rupee was pegged to the value of a basket of currencies of major trading partners. (= Central Govt. + RBI deciding 1$ = will be equal to how many rupees?)
.But then they had to liberalize and Nowadays, it’s the market forces of Supply and demand who will decide the Exchange rate. = it’s the players @ Foreign Exchange market.

What is foreign exchange market (forex, FX, or currency market)
· Its a worldwide financial market for the trading of currencies.
· (just like you’ve sharemarket to sell and buy shares)
· The foreign exchange market allows businesses to convert one currency to another.
For example, you’ve a factory in Noida to make bikes, you sell these bikes in India = you earn in Rupees. But the engines of those bikes are imported from America, so you’ve to pay in Dollars to that American supplier. So how will you get dollars? Simple, go to the Forex Market, give you rupees and buy the dollars. Here the ‘supply and demand’ rules will decide the value of 1$= How many rupees.
Its almost same like vegetable market, today it can be 10 Rs. Per kg potato, tomorrow it might go 20 Rs. /kg, depending on demand and supply.

Consider this talk @ Forex Market
Rupeeguy: hey man! take this 50 Rs. And give me 1 dollar.
$ guy: dude, we’ve only few dollars, and I know you’ve plenty of Liquidity In India, your economy is booming and you people are earning lot of money. so give me 100 Rs. Otherwise I’ll not sell. (=$ supply is low)
Rs.Guy: damn it, anyways I need to pay $$ do my American supplier so here take this 100 Rs. And give me 1$. (=$ demand is high)=Rs. Is devalued

Let see another deal.
Suppose American banks pay 18% interest rate on your deposit. And Indian Banks are giving only 7% interest per year on your deposit. Then? If you’re a big player, you want to put your money in American banks. but they’ll accept only dollars. So what will you do? You go to the Forex Market to get your Rupees converted into Dollars. But After a few days, there will be huge rush to buy Dollars. So value of Rs. Will decrease.

Rs.guy = hey man take this 50 Rs. Give me 1 $
$ Guy= I know you want to put that dollar in American bank to earn high interest! I’ve plenty of people offering me more than 100 Rs. To get 1 Dollar, so you better give me 100 Rs. Or get lost from here.
Rs. Guy= Ok I agree.(= rupee is devalued)

3rd deal
There is economic boom in India. If you start a mobile phone factory in Noida, then you can make a mobile only for 500 Rs and sell it for 1000 Rs. = 100% profit.
Now you’re a Rich American, and American banks are giving you only 18% interest rate for your deposits. = you’re earning only 18% profit, so You want to invest your money in setting up Mobile phone factory in India. (= Foreign direct investment/FDI) but for that you’ve to buy land, cement, labors and they’ll accept payments in only Rupees. So you’ll go to Forex market, to get your Dollars converted into Rupees.

$ Guy= take this 1$ and gimme 100 Rs.
Rs.Guy= I know you’re going to invest it in India and get 100% profit, plenty of Americans like you are offering me Dollars. So give me 2$ and I’ll give you 100 Rs. Otherwise get lost from here.
$ Guy= well that still better than parking my $$ in American banks and earn only 18% interest. so ok, I accept, here are 2$, give me 100 Rs. [1$=50 Rs.](=Rs. Is revalued)

However things are not this straightforward in real life deals.
Many factors including rumors, Govt. policies, Tax rates, speculative purchase etc. will shift the trends in currency trading, just like your sharemarket.
RBI and Central Govt. will not intervene in minor fluctuations. They’ll let the market forces of supply and demand decide the exchange rates and play their games. But if there is major problem, then RBI & Central Govt. will intervene to stop the heavy fluctuations.

Weapons of RBI to control Exchange Rate

Monetary policy
For example,
IF there is plenty of liquidity in Indian market. (= lot of Rs. In circulation) thus, within India you’ll not get good interest rates from bank and not high profit from your investment so you want to park your Rs. Abroad. = supply is more= Value of Rs. Will go down. Hence 1$ =100 Rs.

So RBI will step in and change the CRR,Repo,Reverse Repo, Bank rates etc. to suck up the extra liquidity in market. And value of Rs. Will go up. Thus 1$ becomes 50 Rs.

FERA & FEMA
If there is too much dollars in Indian Market or if there is too less Rupees in Indian market, then Exchange Rates will change. (based on supply-Demand principles).
If there are fluctuations like today 1$= 49 Rs. And after 15 days, 1$=47 Rs. This is normal healthy fluctuation but if there is sudden drastic change like in 15 days, 1$=100 Rs. that means bad guys are not playing by the rules. So to prevent such things, we’ve certain Laws.

Foreign Exchange Regulation Act of 1973 (FERA) (repealed in 2000.)
Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA),1999
By these acts, RBI is empowered to oversee and control the forex markets within india.
And the Enforcement Directorate (ED) get the power to investigate and prevent leakage of foreign exchange which generally occurs through the following malpractices :

·Remittances of Indians abroad otherwise than through normal banking channels, i.e. through compensatory payments. (eg Many Indian living abroad send money to their wives and relatievs via Hawala)

·Acquisition of foreign currency illegally by person in India. (for example, Ashwarya Rai faced inquiry from the Customs department, which has stumbled upon a mysterious postal parcel addressed to her containing 65,000 euros (Rs.3.7 million) in cash. In another case The ED found evidence of alleged 50 Lakh hawala payments by a Dubai event manager to Ash, and others. (refer CNN-IBN)

· Non-repatriation of the proceeds of the exported goods.
· Unauthorised maintenance of accounts in foreign countries.
· Under-invoicing of exports and over-invoicing of imports and any other type of invoice manipulation.
· Siphoning off of foreign exchange against fictitious and bogus imports.
· Illegal acquisition of foreign exchange through Hawala.
· Secreting of commission abroad.

Third trick is current and capital account convertibility (will write about it in another article.)

RBI’s own Forex Reserve

Another trick- when 1$= 100 Rs. This means, the dollar supply is low in the market compared to Rupee supply. So RBI will release the dollars from its Forex reserve, or sell its gold in foreign market and buy some dollars and release them in Indian Market.

Revaluation

·In the period 2000–2007, the Rupee stopped declining and stabilized ranging between 1 $ = 44–48 Rs..
· In 2007, it was 1$ = 39 Rs. , on sustained foreign investment flows into the country .
· This posed problems for major exporters and BPO firms located in the country.
·The trend has reversed lately with the 2008 financial crisis.

Table: Value of 1 Dollar to Rs.
(just to reference, you don’t have to remember every value in it.)

· 1970= 7.576
· 1975= 8.409
· 1980= 7.887
· 1985= 12.369
· 1990= 17.504
· 1995= 32.427
· 2000= 45.000
· 2006= 48.336
· 2007 (Oct)= 38.48
· 2008 (June)= 42.51
· 2008 (October)= 48.88
· 2009 (October)= 46.37

Now a sidenote- currency devaluation and building Forex Reserve.

Advantages of Huge Forex reserves.

Now you might wonder what exactly is the use of building a huge Forex Reserve by keeping the currency devalued / weak, like China has done? And why do they keep the value of Yuan very low compared to Dollars?

Well Huge Forex has its own uses… lets see
Indo-China War

Suppose China and India goto war against each other. (and assuming that no one will intervene to stop the war and they will not use nuke missiles.)
Now what items do you need the most during a war?
1. Missiles, guns, bullets, bombs.
2. Medical supplies
3. Diesel, Petrol
4. Fighter jet planes
Diesel, Petrol is most important in war because
1. You need to transport your soldiers to the borders using aero plane , trucks, trains,
2. You need to setup base camps in remote jungles, but you need electricity to maintain communication with your Head Quarters= you need wireless sets, and to run them, you’ll need diesel generators.
3. If you want to use Jet-Fighters planes like MiG, to attack on enemy’s positions, then again you need very expensive type of petrol to run those Jet Fighter planes.
4. Battle Tanks like Arjun don’t give an average like Bajaj’s Bike (1 Litre goes 100 km) so again you need lot diesel to run these tanks.

· So ultimately, you’ll have to import huge quantity of crude oil to run a war, and your foreign exchange reserve (whatever dollars or gold you’ve in RBI) = will be reduced.
· And you can’t print more money to buy oil from middle east. (read BoP article to know why?) + if the United Nations intervenes, then they’ll place trade and arms embargo on us (= quantitative restrictions on your oil imports)
· As you know we’ve only 270 Billion $, while China got 1400 Billion $ in their forex, so ultimately our pockets will get empty before their pockets go empty,
· And there will be no diesel in our tanks and fighter planes and they’ll win the war.
· Same is the reason why we’ll win against Pakis in a traditional war.

China-America War
· Lets assume China and America go to war against each other. (again assuming nobody intervenes, and nobody uses nuke missles.)
· Both have got plenty of money so buying Oil is not a problem for them.
· But China has 1400 Billion Dollars in their Forex reseve.
· Suppose it sends all those dollars in American market, then?
· Suppose China buys plenty of cars, food, etc from American market using the same American Dollars?
· Too much liquidity in America= everyone has more $$ in pocket than the physical products available in the market. = heavy inflation =1 potato will sell in 1000 $
· So American economy will collapse. And ultimately they’ll have to declare a ceasefire.

Infact China doesn’t even have to go on a ‘traditional war’, all they need to do is just flood American market with Dollars without firing a bullet and let the economy of America collapse. Americans will automatically accept their defeat. Same case, for China vs. France / Russia / Britain/ Canada or any other 1st world nation.

Thus, having a big Foreign Exchange reserve – makes China a nation, feared and respected by the Western World compared to India.

Low Forex Reserves, is one of the many reasons why India is not getting a permanent seat in UN Security council.

Role of Forex Reserve in Foreign Policy

-When you’ve plenty of Forex, you can give loans or ‘Donations’ to poor nations in Africa, and then they’ll support your every resolution and policy in United Nation’s General Assembly! They’ll even support your permanent seat in security council (UNSC)
-China is buying lot agriculture land in poor African nations & in that land, they’re growing Maize and other crops to produce bio-dieasel. = again China doesn’t have to worry about Crude oil like India. (=getting powerful for war)
-You can buy latest fighter jets, missiles, bombs, machine guns from France and America. (=again getting powerful for war)

And finally, you can use that Forex reserve to import pulses, sugar, wheat etc. to control food prices with in your domestic market.

BY MRUNAL

BOP balance of payment

2010-01-15T12:13:00.000+05:30

Balance of Payment, Currency Devaluation & Convertibility are 3 topics related to each other, I’ll write on them one by one.

First we start with BOP [Balance of Payment]
What is BOP / Balance of Payment?

In simple terms,

Balance of Payment = Export minus Import.

When you’re exporting more than your imports = you’ve Surplus BOP

When you’re importing more than exports = You’ve BOP Deficit

Now lets get ‘technically correct’ definition.

Bop is summery record all economic transections of one nation with the rest of the world.

But what exactly do we understand by this?

Export = just the diamonds we sell in America? No! Export contains a lot more than that,
Export here means

1. Goods exported (like Diamond, Textiles, Chemicals)

2. Services Rendered (like Call Centres of Banglore working for American company)

3. Capital received from Abroad (like American company sending money to build factory here, Or your brother sending money from America [remittances] & you buy a restaurant here)

Import means

1. Goods imported (like crude oil)

2. Money paid for getting services (like when you watch movie ‘Avatar’ and ultimately your ticket money goes to Hollywood)

3. Capital[1] purchased abroad (like Madhu Koda buys coal mines in Africa)
Classification of BOP

BOP Classication

Its in 2 parts- current Account & Capital Account

See the diagram below

Problems with BOP Deficit

BOP deficit means when you’re importing more than what you export.

BOP deficit is bad. Because it leads to
Forex Depletion

Foreign Exchange reserves gets depleted (= gets reduced.)

First lets see
What is Foreign Exchange reserves? (forex)

It’s the total sum of

1. Money with RBI

2. Gold in RBI

3. India’s special drawing right in IMF (will write on this in another article.)

Now how does BOP Deficit lead to Forex depletion ?

If you’re importing something, you’ve to pay for it.

Most of our money goes in importing the petroleum.

Now you might say, lets just print 1 lakh crore rupees and give it to the Sheikh in middle east and he sells us the petrol.

No its not that simple, because the same Sheikh will send that same Rupees to buy something from india like food / cars= too much liquidity[2] in India = everyone has more rupees than the quantity of physical products like food / car within Indian market= price rise = inflation.

So when you run into BOP deficit, you can’t ‘PRINT MORE MONEY’ to fill that gap.

Instead you’ve to sell your gold from RBI and pay for it. (like we did in 1991) or whatever dollars you’ve piled up in RBI, you’ve to give it to them.

External borrowing & forced change in foreign policy.

When you run out of your Foreign Exchange reserves, you’ve to borrow from another country or IMF, World Bank etc. this is called External borrowing.

The problem here is that a nation in debt can’t be completely independent in its foreign policy.

So if we borrow a lot from IMF or America then we’ll have to dance in their tunes on our relations with Pakis or Kashmir issue or climate change pacts etc.

The Economy reforms in 1991-92 are example of it. During that that time, we barely had enough money for purchase petroleum to run India for 7 days! So we had to borrow from IMF, and they put strict conditions on us to change our economic policies. Thus we had to end the licence-quota-inspector raj and open up our economy to American and other MNCs. [to read more on that LPG click me.]

Reduced foreign investments

When a nation has huge BOP deficit, the MNCs and Foreign players will not get confidence to invest in that nation.
Debt trap

Ultimately, the deficit becomes so huge that you’ve to borrow just to pay interest of your previous debt.
Causes of BoP Deficit

When we are importing more than our exports = we are in BOP deficit. But why are we importing more?
When importing more

1. Petroleum : we don’t have it much in India so we’ve to import.

2. Five year plans & infrastructure = like National highways, dams – for that we need to purchase foreign machinery.
When Export is less

1. The goods & products of 3rd world don’t have the quality /price range to compete with 1st world products inside 1st world’s market. E.g. Indian bicycle in American market.

2. When those nation put heavy import duty on our exported products. Like in British times they put heavy tax on our clothes sent to England = we can’t compete with their Manchester clothes because our Indian cloths will be expensive in their market.

a. This is called Tariff Barriers , we talked about it in WTO article, (in case you missed, click me)

Apart from this, the structural bottlenecks like

1. Licence-quota-inspector raj, (abolished now)

2. red-taps in govt. administration

3. multiple taxes in interstate transport of products (GST intends to remove this)

4. Bad infrastructure (poor roads, electricity problems etc.) also reduce the exports.
How to control BoP Deficit?

1. Heavy duty on luxury items (Tariff Barrier)

BOP Deficit = import is more than export. So we need to control import so we put heavy tax on Imported Perfumes / Gold watches / Toys and other luxury items = their MRP becomes high = less people buying = low import. This sounds great on paper, but very difficult to do after the WTO agreements.

[Click me to read my previous article on WTO / Doha made easy]

2. Use the Gold

Sell that Gold in RBI and pay the money for petroleum you’re importing, or any other BoP Deficit.

3. Devaluation of Currency

**Will write in detail, in another article

4. Rupee Convertibility (current & capital account convertibility)

**Will write in detail, in another article

For more articles, visit his site www.mrunalpatel.co.nr

[1] capital is something that generates money like a Factory, building, truck etc.

[2] Liquidity = when there is too much money supply in the market.

Public Administration Terminology

2010-01-06T19:01:00.004+05:30

Public Administration Glossary of Terms
The following list of selected terms and concepts are commonly used in public administration and finance.
ABILITY TO PAY: The principle of taxation that holds that the tax burden should be distributed according to a person's wealth. It is based on the assumption that, as a person's income increases, the person or corporation can and should contribute a larger percentage of income to support government activities. The progressive income tax is based on the ability to pay principle.
ABSOLUTISM: A government with no limits to its power and under which the people have no guaranteed or constitutional rights.
ABUSE: 1. The use of an existing authority for purposes that extend beyond or even contradict the intentions of the grantors of that authority.
2. The furnishing of excessive services to beneficiaries of government programs, violating program regulations, or performing improper practices, none of which involves prosecutable fraud.
ACCESS: 1. The ability to gain the attention and to influence the decisions of key political agents.
Political party leaders, the heads of major interest groups, and those who make large campaign contributions are typically said to have access.
2. Lobbying; getting information to key decision makers at critical times.
ACCLAMATION: Overwhelming approval by voice vote.
ACCOUNTABILITY: A political principle according to which agencies or organizations, such as those in government, are subject to some form of external control, causing them to give a general
accounting of and for their actions; an essential concept in democratic public administration.
ACCOUNTING: The process of classifying, measuring, and interpreting financial transactions.
Cash accounting is the recording of transactions at the time the payment is actually made; accrual accounting means that revenues are recorded when they are earned and expenses are recorded as they are incurred.
ACT: A written bill formally passed by a legislature, such as the U.S. Congress, and signed by an executive, such as the U.S. president. An act is a bill from its introduction until its passage by a legislature. An act becomes a law; becomes a formal statute, when it is signed by (or passed over the veto of) a chief executive, such as the U.S. president.
2. A bill that has been passed by only one house of a legislature.
ACTING: Temporary. For example, someone might be the acting director of a government agency.Acting appointments are sometimes automatic, as when a lieutenant governor is the acting governor whenever the elected governor leaves the state.
ACTIVIST: One who is seriously and passionately involved in politics by running for office,mobilizing support for issues, participating in campaigns, and so on.
ACT OF CONGRESS: A statute; a law passed by the U.S. Congress(US parliament) and signed (or passed over theveto of) the president. All of the acts passed by the Congress are published, in chronological order according to term and session of Congress in the U.S. Statutes-at-Large. The statutes are organized by subject in the U.S. Code.
ACT OF STATE: The judicial policy that a court in one nation should not rule on the legality of the internal acts of a foreign country.
AD HOC: A Latin term meaning temporarily; for this one time. It is sometimes used to criticized methods that substitute for standard procedures.
AD INTERIM: A Latin term meaning in the meantime. A public official is ad interim when serving the unexpired term of a predecessor (who has died, resigned, or been removed) until a permanent official can be appointed or elected.
ADJOURNMENT: The putting off of a business to another time or place; the decision of a court,legislature, or other group to stop meeting either temporarily or permanently.
ADJOURNMENT SINE DIE: The adjournment of a legislature that does not fix a day for reconvening. (Sine die is a Latin term meaning without a day.) It is used to indicate the final adjournment of a session of the Congress or of a state legislature.
ADJUDICATION:
1. The resolution of a dispute by means of judicial or quasi-judicial processing in which the parties are able to present evidence and reasoned arguments.
2. The formal pronouncing and recording of the decisions of a court or quasi-judicial entity.
ADJUSTED GROSS INCOME: An income tax term referring to the money a person earns minus allowable deductions for certain expenses for travel, work, business, moving, etc.
ADMINISTERED PRICES: Prices determined by other than market forces such as those set by monopolies, cartels, or governments.
ADMINISTRATION:
1. The management and direction of the affairs of governments and institutions.
2. A collective term for all policy making officials of a government.
3. The execution and implementation of public policy.
4. The time in office of a chief executive such as a president,governor, or mayor.
5. The supervision of the estate of a dead person to pay taxes and assign assets
to heirs.
ADMINISTRATIVE ACCOUNTABILITY: That aspect of administrative responsibility by which officials are held answerable for general notions of democracy and morality as well as for specific legal mandates.
ADMINISTRATIVE ADVOCACY: The presentation of alternative policies to an administrative agency. This practice recognizes that public administration is a highly political process involving significant differences of judgement. The most feasible course of action often emerges from the
competition produced when each interested group pleads the case it presents, whether that cause be more funds to carry out agency policies, the survival of a particular program, or the desire for a more efficient system of administrative decision making.
ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCY:
1. A government organization set up to implement a law.
2. Any civilian government body (board, bureau, department, or individual), other than a court or legislature, that deals with the rights of private parties by adjudication, rule making, investigation,prosecuting, and so on.
ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS OF TAXATION: Costs related to administering the tax system.
ADMINISTRATIVE DISCRETION: The ability of individual administrators in a bureaucracy to make significant choices affecting management and operation of programs for which they are responsible; particularly evident in separation-of-powers systems.
ADMINISTRATIVE DUE PROCESS: Term encompassing a number of points in administrative law that require that the administrative procedures of government agencies and regulatory commissions, as they affect private parties, be based upon written guidelines that safeguard individual rights and protect against the arbitrary or inequitable exercise of government authority.
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW:
1. That branch of law concerned with the procedures by which administrative agencies make rules and adjudicate cases; the conditions under which these actions can be reviewed by courts.
2. The legislation that creates administrative agencies.
3. The rules and regulations promulgated by administrative agencies.
4. The law governing judicial review of administrative actions.
ADMINISTRATIVE MORALITY: The use of ethical, political, or social precepts to create standards by which the quality of public administration may be judged; such as the standards of honesty, responsiveness, efficiency effectiveness, competence, effect on individual rights, adherence
to democratic procedures, and social equity.
ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER: A directive carrying the force of law issued by an administrative agency after adjudication.
ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDY: A means of enforcing a right by going to an administrative agency either for help or for a decision. People are often required to exhaust all administrative remedies by submitting their problems to the proper agency before taking their cases to court.
ADMINISTRATOR:
1. A manager.
2. The head of a government agency.
3. Someone appointed by a court to handle a deceased person's estate.
4. Anyone with fiduciary responsibility.
AD VALOREM TAXES: Those levied as a percentage of product price.
ADVERSE OR DISPARATE IMPACT: Criterion for showing that employment practices affect one group more harshly than another.
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PLAN: An organization's written plan to remedy past discrimination against, or underutilization of, women and minorities. The plan itself usually consists of a statement of goals, timetables for achieving them, and specific program efforts.
AGENCY:
1. Any department, office, commission, authority, administration, board, government owned corporation, or other independent establishment of any branch of government in the United States.
2. A formal relation whereby one person is authorized to act for another.
AGENCY MISSION: Responsibility assigned to a specific agency and its components, in terms of the purpose served.
AGENDA SETTING:
1. The process of deciding what issues will be considered at a formal meeting.
2. The process by which ideas or issues come up through the various political processes to wind up on the agenda of a political institution, such as a legislature or court. The process makes extensive use of the mass media to take a relatively unknown or unsupported issue and through publicity expand the numbers who care about the issue, so an institution whether it be city hall or the U.S. Congress, is forced to take some action.
ALLOCATIONAL EFFECTS: The ways in which policies influence of the use of resources.
ALLOCATION FUNCTION: The shifting of resources into preferred (and out of non-preferred)areas.
ALTERNATIVE MINIMUM TAX (AMT): The lease possible legal amount that must be paid by high-income taxpayers.
AMENDMENT:
1. A change in a prior law by the enactment of a new law.
2. A change in a bill during its time of consideration in a legislature.
3. A provision of a constitution adopted since its original ratification.
AMICUS CURIAE: A Latin term for friend of the court; any person or organization allowed to participate in a lawsuit who would not otherwise have a right to do so. Participation is usually limited to filing a brief on behalf of one side or the other.
ANARCHISM: The belief that government and its administrative institutions are intrinsically evil and should be abolished (typically by violence) so they can be replaced by arrangements not corrupted by exploitative and oppressive governments.
APOLITICAL:
1. Outside of politics; not concerned with political dominance; apathetic toward voting or politics.
2. Nonpartisan; not affiliated with a political party.
APPEAL:
1. Any proceeding or request to a higher authority that a lower authority's decision be reviewed.
2. A formal request to a higher court that it review the actions of a lower court. 3. A challenge to a ruling made by a presiding officer of a legislature. If the challenge is supported by a majority vote of the legislators, the initial ruling is overridden.
APPOINTMENT: A non-elected government job. Most jurisdictions offer several kinds of appointments. A noncompetitive appointment is government employment obtained without competing with others, in the sense that is done without regard to civil service registers.
APPORTIONMENT: Process by which funds are allocated to agencies for specific portion of the year.
APPROPRIATION: 1. Funds set aside by a legislature to pay for something authorized by law.
AUTHORITY: Power defined according to a legal and institutional framework, and vested in a formal structure (a nation,organization, profession); power exercised through recognized, legitimate
channels.
AUTHORIZING LEGISLATION: Legislation action that permits establishment or continuation of a particular program or agency.
AUTOCRACY: Government by one.
6
AVERAGE TAX RATE: Calculated by dividing tax liability by taxable income.
BASE: The point from which most budgetary calculations begin, generally that appropriation which the agency received in the previous fiscal year, with the expectation that spending in each agency will approximate the existing level of expenditures.
BASE BROADENING: Increasing the tax base to eliminate or reduce tax expenditures.
BENEFIT-COST RATIO: The ratio of the present value of benefits over the present value of costs.
BENFITE PRINCIPLE: Taxation principle whereby taxes are assigned on the basis of benefits received.
BLOCK GRANTS: Grants in which the money can be used for nearly any purpose within a specific function field.
BOND: Promise to repay a certain amount (principal) at a certain time (maturity date) at a particular rate of interest.
BOUNDARY SPANNING: Representing an organization to outside groups and organizations.
BOUNDED RATIONALITY: Seeking the best possible solution, but not necessarily the most rational from a purely economic standpoint.
BRACKET CREEP: When increases in nominal income result in higher marginal tax rates.
BUDGET PADDING: Proposing a higher budget than is actually needed.
BUDGET DEFICIT: When public spending exceeds tax revenues.
BUDGET SURPLUS: When tax revenues exceed public spending.
BUREAUCRACY: A formal organizational arrangement characterized by division of labor, job specialization with no functional overlap, exercise of authority through a vertical hierarchy (chain of
command) and a system of internal rules, regulations, and record keeping; the administrative branch of government (national, state, local).
CAPITAL BUDGETING: The separation of expenditures that produce long-term benefits,especially those involving the construction of public facilities, from the annual operating costs of government; the process for reviewing expenditure decisions for capital projects and deciding on the methods for financing them, usually through the sale of bonds.
CAPITAL GAINS: Increases in the value of assets realized at the time of their sale.
CAPITAL GRANTS: Grants for use in construction or renovation.
CASH TRANSFERS: Transfer policies that give money to recipients.
CATEGORICAL OR PROJECT GRANTS: Grants requiring that the money may be spent for only
a limited purpose; typically available on a competitive basis.
CHARTER: Local government's equivalent of a constitution.
CITIZEN PARTICIPATION: The involvement of citizens in a wide range of administrative policymaking activities, including the determination of levels of service, budget priorities, and the acceptability of physical construction projects, in order to orient government programs toward
community needs, build public support, and encourage a sense of cohesiveness within
neighborhoods.
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING: The process by which an agent chosen by public employees negotiates a formal labor agreement or settles day-to-day labor disputes on behalf of the employees in the areas of wages, benefits, working conditions, and administrative policy with parties representing the top politically elected or appointed executives.
COMMON-POOL PROBLEMS: Problems that occur when public stewardship of resources
allocates resources inefficiently.
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: An approach to the administration of social and economic development programs in which government officials are dispatched to the field to act as catalysts at the local level, encouraging local residents to form groups, define their own needs, and develop selfhelp projects. The government provides technical and material assistance and helps the community establish institutions, such as farm cooperatives, to carry on the development programs after the officials have left.
COMPARABLE WORTH: Notion that men and women in jobs that are not identical but require similar levels of skill and training should be paid equally.
COMPLIANCE COSTS OF TAXATION: Costs taxpayers incur in order to comply with tax laws.
CONSTITUENCY: Any group or organization interested in the work and actions of a given official, agency, or organization, and a potential source of support for it; also, the interest (sometimes geographic area) served by an elected or appointed public official.
CONSTITUENT POLICY: Policy designed to benefit the public generally or to serve the government.
CONSUMER SURPLUS: The difference between maximum possible expenditures and actual expenditures.
CONTINGENCY APPROACH: The use of different administrative strategies under different conditions; the study of the relationship between factors such as the task an agency performs or the technology it uses and the style of supervision, type of organizational design, and other administrative strategies that will work best given those factors.
CONTINUING RESOLUTION: Resolution permitting the government to continue operating until an appropriations measure is passed.
COOPERATIVE FEDERALISM: Greater sharing of responsibilities between federal and state governments.
CO-OPTATION: Alliance building between an administrative agency and a clientele group in which the clientele group is allowed to influence agency policy making, in return for which the clientele group tacitly agrees to support the general mission of the agency, provide it with political
support, and defend the agency against assaults on its powers, programs, or budget.
CORPORATIONS: Legal entities created by states, which approve charters submitted by founders.
CORRECTIVE TAXATION: Tax policy that forces market participants to account for the opportunity costs of all resources.
COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS: Technique designed to measure relative gains and losses resulting from alternative policy or program options; emphasizes identification of the most desirable costbenefit
ratio, in quantitative or other terms.
COST-BENEFIT RATIO: The proportional relationship between expenditure of a given quantity of resources and the benefits derived therefrom; a guideline for choosing among alternatives, of greatest relevance to the rational model of decision making.
COUNCILS OF GOVERNMENT: Oversight bodies representing various localities to help coordinate local affairs.
CROSS-CUTTING REQUIREMENTS: Rules that apply to most grant programs.
CURRENT SERVICES BUDGET: Allows for automatic spending increases to maintain post levels of service.
CUTBACK MANAGEMENT: A management strategy made necessary by the advent of fiscal stress; tactics can include, among others, systematic priority setting, diversifying programs, adopting user charges, improving productivity, eliminating weak programs, and decreasing services.
DEBT CAPACITY: Value of a city's resources combined with the ability of the government to draw on them to provide payment.
DECISION ANALYSIS: Technique where decisions are likely to be made sequentially and under some degree of uncertainty.
DECISION TREE: Technique that identifies various possible outcomes, given the risks associated with each.
DELEGATION: Assigning tasks to others.
DEMOCRACY: A political system in which decision making power is widely shared among members of the society.
DIALECTICAL ORGANIZATION: A post-bureaucratic form of organization designed to be responsive to clientele needs; dialectical refers to the permanent state of tension between the tendency toward bureaucratization and the tendency toward responsiveness to clients, a tension the
organization uses to continually renew itself.
DIFFERENTIAL TAX INCIDENT: Evaluates the incidence of taxation under the assumption that public spending does not change.
DILLON'S RULE: Municipalities have only those powers granted in their charters; cities are creatures of the state.
DISCRETIONARY SPENDING: That portion of the budget still open to changes by the president and Congress.
DISTRIBUTIONAL EFFECTS: The ways in which policies transfer income from one person to another.
DISTRIBUTIVE POLICY: Policy involving use of general tax funds to provide assistance and benefits to individuals or groups.
DIVIDENDS: Payments made to owners of corporations.
DIVISION OF WORK: One of the fundamental principles upon which the science of administration is based; increased specialization in the organization of work in order to narrow the range of tasks for which each person is responsible, which in turn increases the need for administrative planning and coordination and raises the productivity of the organization as a whole.
DOUBLE-DECLINING BALANCE: A variant of straight-line depreciation whereby the majority of depreciation is deducted in the early years of an asset’s tax life.
DOUBLE TAXATION: The taxing of income when it is earned by corporations and againwhen it is distributed to stockholders.
DUAL FEDERALISM: Pattern in which federal and state governments are struggling for power and influenced with little inter-governmental cooperation.
EARNED INCOME TAX CREDITS: lower tax liabilities of poor taxpayers.
ECONOMIC DEPRECIATION: The process by which capital resources are actually consumed or made obsolete.
ECONOMIC INCIDENCE: Indicates who actually bears the burden of taxation.
ECONOMIES OF SCALE: When increased levels of production result in decreased average costs of production.
EFFECTIVENESS: Extent to which a program is achieving or failing to achieve its stated objectives.
EFFECTIVE TAX RATE: Tax rates calculated by dividing tax liability by a comprehensive measure of income.
EFFICIENCY: Relationship between inputs and outputs.
ENTITLEMENT GRANTS: Grants that provide assistance to persons who meet certain criteria.
ENTITLEMENT PROGRAMS: Programs that provide a specified set of benefits to those who meet certain eligibility requirements.
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY: Refers to efforts to eliminate employment discrimination on the basis of race, ethnic background, sex, age, or physical handicap; ensures that all persons have an equal chance to compete for employment and promotions based on job qualifications.
EQUALITY: The idea that all persons have an equal claim to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
EQUITY: A criterion for allocating resources on the basis of fairness.
ESTATE TAXES: taxes imposed on the transfer of wealth after the death of a taxpayer.
ETHICS: Process by which we clarify right and wrong and act on what we take to be right.
EVALUATION: The use of research techniques to measure the past performance of a specific program--in particular, the program's impact on the conditions it seeks to modify--for the purposes of changing the operation of the program so as to improve its effectiveness at achieving its
objectives.
EXCISE SUBSIDIES: Subsidies given to the purchasers of particular goods or services.
EXCISE TAX: Tax applied to the sale of specific commodities.
EXECUTIVE ORDER: A presidential mandate directed to and governing, with the effect of law, the actions of government officials and agencies.
EXPENDITURE TAX: A comprehensive consumption tax.
EXPENSING: Allows for the depreciation of the entire cost of an asset during the first year of purchase.
EXPERT SYSTEMS: Computer programs that mimic the decision making processes of human experts within a particular field.
EXTERNAL COSTS: Those costs imposed by majorities on minorities.
FEDERALISM: A constitutional division of governmental power between a central or national government and regional governmental units (such as states), with each having some independent authority over its citizens.
FIDUCIARY FUNDS: Funds used when government must hold assets for individuals or when government holds resources to be transmitted to another organization.
FISCAL CENTRALIZATION: The degree to which government responsibilities are borne by the central government.
FISCAL POLICY: Public policy concerned with the impact of government taxation and spending on the economy.
FISCAL STRESS: A condition confronting increasing numbers of governments and public agencies, resulting from a combination of economic inflation, declining productivity, slower economic growth, and taxpayer resistance to shouldering a larger tax burden; a prime cause for the need to engage in "cutback management."
FISCAL YEAR (FY): Government's basic accounting period.
FOREIGN SHARE OF DEBT: That share of the national debt held by foreigners.
FORMAL THEORIES OF ORGANIZATION: Theories stressing formal, structural arrangements within organizations, and "correct" or "scientific" methods to be followed in order to achieve the highest degree of organizational efficiency; examples include Weber's theory of bureaucracy and
Taylor's scientific management approach.
FORMULA GRANTS: Grants that employ a specific division rule to indicate how much money any given jurisdiction will receive.
FREE RIDERS: Individuals who let others pay for goods they themselves consume.
FULLY FUNDED PENSION FUND: A pension fund that has the financial resources necessary to meet future retirement benefits.
"GARBAGE CAN" theory of organizational choice: A theory of organizational decision making applicable to organizations where goals are unclear, technologies are imperfectly understood,histories are difficult to interpret, and participants wander in and out; such "organized anarchies"
operate under conditions of pervasive ambiguity, with so much uncertainty in the decision making process that traditional theories about coping with uncertainty do not apply.
GENERAL FUND: Fund that handles "unrestricted" funds of government.
GENERAL OBLIGATION BOND: A bond that guarantees that all taxpayers will be responsible for the bond’s principal and interest payments.
GENERATIONAL ACCOUNTING: A method of recording long-term liabilities inorder to measure their impact on future generations.
GIFT TAXES: Taxes imposed on the transfer of wealth while a taxpayer is living.
GOAL ARTICULATION: A process of defining and clearly expressing goals generally held by hose in an organization or group; usually regarded as a function of organization or group leaders; a key step in developing support for official goals.
GOAL CONGRUENCE: Agreement on fundamental goals in the context of an organization, refers to agreement among leaders and followers in the organization on central objectives; in practice, its absence in many instances creates internal tension and difficulties in goal definition.
GOVERNMENT FAILURE: When a public policy results in an inefficient or inequitable outcome.
GOVERNMENT-SPONSORED ENTERPRISES (GSEs): Off-budget government agencies that reallocate resources in credit markets.
GRANTS: Transfers of money (and/or property) from one government to another.
GROSS FEDERAL DEBT: The debt held by federal government agencies plus that held by the public.
GROSS INCOME: Sum of all income sources subject to taxation.
HIERARCHY: A characteristic of formal bureaucratic organizations; a clear vertical "chain of command" in which each unit is subordinate to the one above it and superior to the one below it; one of the most common features of governmental and other bureaucratic organizations.
HOME RULE: Provision allowing cities greater autonomy over local activities.
HORIZONTAL EQUITY: All individuals with identical abilities to pay are assigned identical tax burdens.
HUMAN RELATIONS THEORIES OF ORGANIZATION: Theories stressing workers' noneconomic needs and motivations on the job that seek to identify these needs and how to satisfy them; focused on working conditions and social interactions among workers.
IMPLICIT FEDERAL GUARANTEES: Unstated or indirectly stated promises by the federal government to cover any losses in cases of default by government-sponsored enterprises.
IMPOUNDMENT: Withholding of funds authorized and appropriated by law.
INCREMENTALISM: A model of decision making that stresses making decisions through limited successive comparisons, in contrast to the rational model; also focuses on simplifying choices rather than aspiring to complete problem analyses, on "satisfying" rather than "maximizing."
INDEPENDENT AGENCIES: Agencies intentionally created outside the normal cabinet organization.
IN-KIND INCOME: Income in the form of goods and services rather than cash.
INTEREST GROUP: A private organization representing a portion (usually small) of the general adult population; it exists in order to pursue particular public policy objectives and seeks to influence
government activity so as to achieve its particular objectives.
INTERGOVERNMENTAL COMPETITION: A fiscal structure characterized by many competing governments.
INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS: All the activities and interactions occurring between or among governmental units of all types and levels within the American federal system.
INTERJURISDICTIONAL EXTERNALITIES: Arise when governments fail to fully account for costs and benefits imposed on citizens of other governments.
INTERNAL RATE OF DISCOUNT: Discount rate at which the present value of a project is zero.
INTERNALIZATION OF COSTS: The allocation of resources by private markets on the basis of full social costs.
INTERORGANIZATIONAL NETWORKS: Patterns of relationships within and among various groups and organizations working in a single policy area.
IRON TRIANGLE: Term given to a coalition of interest groups, agency personnel, and members of Congress created to exert influence on a particular policy issue.
ISSUE NETWORKS: Open and fluid groupings of various political actors (in and out of government) attempting to influence policy.
ITEM VETO: A constitutional power available to more than forty of America's governors, under which they may disapprove some provisions of a bill while approving the others.
JURIDICAL DEMOCRACY: The restoration of the rule of law and the requirements of administrative formality in which a corps of professional administrators would implement detailed legislative policies through formal administrative procedures instead of receiving broad delegations of power and developing governmental policy themselves in conjunction with special interest
groups.
JURISDICTION: In bureaucratic politics, the area of programmatic responsibility assigned to an agency by the legislature or chief executive; also, a term used to describe the territory within the
boundaries of a government entity (as a local jurisdiction).
LACK OF EXCLUSION: Characteristic of public goods making it difficult of impossible to restrict the enjoyment of benefits to any individual.
LEGISLATIVE INTENT: The purposes and objectives of a legislative body, given concrete form in its enactment (though actual intent may change over time); the bureaucracy is assumed to follow legislative intent in implementing laws.
LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT: The process by which a legislative body continually supervises the work of the bureaucracy in order to ensure its conformity with legislative intent.
LIBERAL DEMOCRACY: A fundamental form of political arrangement, founded on the concepts of popular sovereignty and limited government.
LIBERTY: The idea that individual citizens of a democracy should have a high degree of selfdetermination.
LIMITED GOVERNMENT: A central concept of American politics, holding that because government poses a fundamental threat to individual liberties, it must be carefully limited in its capacity to act arbitrarily; the Founders of American government believed it was to be achieved
through separation of powers, checks and balances, federalism, and judicial review.
LINE-ITEM BUDGET: Budget format for listing categories of expenditures along with amounts allocated to each.
LOAN GUARANTEES: Loans guaranteed by the public sector.
LONG-LIVED RESOURCES: Assets with a useful life of one year or more.
LUMP SUM TAX: A tax that does not vary with units of goods purchased or sold.
MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVES (MBO): A management technique designed to facilitate goaland
priority-setting, development of plans, resource allocation, monitoring progress towards goals,evaluating results, and generating and implementing improvements in performance.
MANAGERIAL SUBSYSTEM: Concerned with providing necessary resources for accomplishing a technical task and mediating between the technical and institutional subsystems.
MANDATE: Order requiring a government to do something.
MANDATORY SPENDING: Disbursements not subject to annual review or budgeting.
MARGINAL TAX RATES: Rates that change at various thresholds of income.
MARKET FAILURE: When the private market fails to produce an efficient or equitable outcome.
MERIT PAY: Increases in salary and wages that are tied to actual quality of work performed.
MERIT PRINCIPLE: Concept that selections of government employees should be based on merit or competence rather than personal or political favoritism.
MERIT SYSTEM: A professional system of personnel administration, free from political interference, in which selection and progress in the service are based upon the performance,expertise, and technical qualifications of each employee, measured objectively, (often through open, competitive examinations), accompanied by the development of a position classification and salary standardization system and administered through offices of personnel administration and a central civil service commission.
MIXED SCANNING: A model of decision making that combines the rational-comprehensive model's emphasis on fundamental choices and long-term consequences with the incrementalists' emphasis on changing only what needs to be changed in the immediate situation.
MODERN ORGANIZATION THEORY: A body of theory emphasizing empirical examination of organizational behavior, interdisciplinary research employing varied approaches, and attempts to arrive at generalizations applicable to many different kinds of organizations.
MONOPOLY GOVERNMENT: A public sector characterized by a single government.
NATIONAL CONSUMPTION TAX: Federal taxes levied on the consumption of goods and services.
NATIONAL DEBT: The sum of all unpaid public debt.
NEGATIVE EXTERNALITIES: When private markets fail to allocate resources on the basis of full social costs.
NEGATIVE INCOME TAX POLICY: Provides a minimum amount of income for all members of society.
NET FEDERAL DEBT: Gross federal debt minus debt held by federal agencies.
NET INTEREST EXPENDITURES: Interest expenses from borrowing less the interest fees from lending.
NEW PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION: A general movement inspired mainly by younger scholars who challenged several tenets of public administration, primarily the emphasis upon value-neutrality in administrative research and practice, and appealed to scholars and practitioners to take a more
proactive role, guided not only by the search for efficiency, but by a sensitivity to the forces of change, the needs of clients, and the problems of social equity in service delivery.
NEUTRAL COMPETENCE: The belief that a neutral public bureaucracy following the mandates of a legislative body will meet the requirements of democracy.
NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS: Organizations prohibited by law from distributing surplus revenues to individuals.
NONCASH TRANSFERS: Transfer policies that provide goods or services, such as housing or food, rather than money.
OFF-BUDGET POLICIES: Credit and insurance policies that do not directly show up on the government budget; versus ON-BUDGET POLICIES in which spending and tax policies show up directly on the government budget.
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET (OMB): An important entity in the Executive Office of the U.S. President that assists the president in assembling executive-branch budget requests, coordinating programs, developing executive talent, and supervising program management processes in national government agencies.
OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT (OPM): A key administrative unit in the national government operating under presidential direction; it is responsible for managing the national government personnel system, consistent with presidential personnel policy.
OLIGARCHY: Government by the few.
OMBUDSMAN: Permanent office that receives complaints and acts on behalf of citizens to secure information, request services, or pursue grievances.
OPEN SYSTEMS THEORY: A theory of organization that views organizations not as simple,"closed" bureaucratic structures separate from their surroundings, but as highly complex, facing considerable uncertainty in their operations, and constantly interacting with their environment;assumes that organizational components will seek an "equilibrium" among the forces pressing on
them and their own responses to those forces.
OPERATING GRANTS: Grants for use in development and operation of specific programs.
ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT: A theory of organization that concentrates on increasing the ability of an organization to solve internal problems of organizational behavior as one of its routine functions; concerned primarily with identification and analysis of such problems.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE: A theory of organization that focuses on those characteristics of an organization that promote or hinder change; assumes that demands for change originate in the external environment, and that the organization should be in the best position to respond to them.
ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE: Basic patterns of attitudes, beliefs, and values that underlie an organization's operation.
ORGANIZATIONAL HUMANISM: A set of organization theories stressing that work holds intrinsic interest for the worker, that workers seek satisfaction in their work, that they want to work rather than avoid it, and that they can be motivated through systems of positive incentives (such as participation in decision making).
PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY: A political and philosophical belief in direct involvement by affected citizens in the processes of governmental decision making; believed by some to be essential to the existence of democratic government; related term is citizen participation.
PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL: Specific evaluation with respect to an individual's progress in completing specified tasks.
PERFORMANCE AUDITING: Analysis and evaluation of the effective performance of agencies in carrying out their objectives.
PERFORMANCE BUDGET: Budget format organized around programs or activities (rather than the objects it purchases), including various performance measurements that indicate the relationship between work actually done and its cost.
PLANNING-PROGRAMMING-BUDGETING SYSTEM (PPBS): Effort to connect planning,systems analysis, and budgeting in a single exercise.
PLURALISM: A social and political concept stressing the appropriateness of group organization,and diversity of groups and their activities, as a means of protecting broad group interests in society;assumes that groups are good and that bargaining and competition among them will benefit the public interest.
POLICY: Statement of goals and intentions with respect to a particular problem or set of problems.
POLICY ANALYSIS: Process of researching or analyzing public problems to provide policy makers with specific information about the range of available policy options and advantages and disadvantages of different approaches.
POLICY ENTREPRENEUR: A person willing to invest person time, energy, and money in pursuit of particular policy changes.
POLICY IMPLEMENTATION: A general political and governmental process of carrying out
programs in order to fulfill specified policy objectives; a responsibility chiefly of administrative agencies, under chief executive and/or legislative guidance; also the activities directed toward putting a policy into effect.
POLITICAL ECONOMY APPROACH: Focusing on politics and economies as categories for analyzing organizational behavior.
POLITICS/ADMINISTRATION DICHOTOMY: The belief, growing out of the early administrative reform movement and its reaction against the spoils system, which held that political interference in administration would erode the opportunity for administrative efficiency, that the policy making activities of government ought to be wholly separated from the administrative functions, and that administrators had to have an explicit assignment of objectives before they could begin to develop an efficient administrative system.
POLITICS OF THE BUDGETARY PROCESS: The requirement that administrators act asadvocates for their own programs during the appropriation process by soliciting outside support,protecting their budgetary base, and inching ahead with new programs; a budgetary system thatdeals with complex problems by relying upon incremental methods of decision making, information
drawn from past experience rather than analysis, and satisfactory rather than optimal standards of quality.
POSITION CLASSIFICATION: Analyzing and organizing jobs on the basis of duties,responsibilities, and the knowledge and skills required to perform them.
PREEMPTION: Federal government efforts to preempt an area traditionally associated with state government.
PRIVATIZATION: Use of nongovernmental agencies to provide goods and services previously provided by government, also known as "contracting out."
PROGRESSIVE TAX: One that taxes those with higher incomes at a higher rate.
PROPORTIONAL TAX: One that taxes everyone at the same rate.
PROPRIETARY FUNDS: Used to account for government activities hat more closely resemble private business.
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION: The management and administration of public programs.
PUBLIC-CHOICE ECONOMICS: An approach to public administration based on micro-economic theory which views the citizen as a consumer of government goods and services and would attempt to maximize administrative responsiveness to citizen demand by creating a market system for
governmental activities in which public agencies would compete to provide citizens with goods and services. This would replace the current system under which administrative agencies in effect act as monopolies under the influence of organized pressure groups which, the public-choice economists argue, are institutionally incapable of representing the demands of individual citizens.
PUBLIC MANAGEMENT: A field of practice and study central to public administration, emphasizing internal operations of public agencies, focuses on managerial concerns related to control and direction, such as planning, organizational maintenance, information systems, personnel management, and performance evaluation.
PUBLIC POLICY: 1. The organizing framework of purposes and rationales for government programs that deal with specified societal problems; 2. the complex of programs enacted and implemented by the government.
RATIONAL MODEL OF DECISION MAKING: Derived from economic theories of how to make the "best" decisions; involves efforts to move toward consciously-held goals in a way that requires the smallest input of scarce resources; assumes the ability to separate ends from means, rank all alternatives, gather all possible data, and objectively weigh alternatives; stresses rationality in the process of reaching decisions.
RECONCILIATION BILL: Legislative action that attempts to reconcile individual actions in taxes,authorizations, or appropriations with the totals.
REDISTRIBUTIVE POLICY: Policy designed to take taxes from certain groups and give them to another group.
REGRESSIVE TAX: One that taxes those with lower incomes at a proportionately higher rate than those with higher incomes.
REGULATION: Government activity designed to monitor and guide private economic competition;specific actions (characterized as economic regulation) have included placing limits on producers'prices and practices, and promoting commerce through grants or subsidies; other actions emerging more recently (termed social regulation) have included regulating conditions under which goods and services are produced and attempting to minimize product hazards and risks to consumers.
REGULATORY COMMISSION: Group formed to regulate a particular area of the economy:usually headed by a group of individuals appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate.
REGULATORY POLICY: Policy designed to limit actions of persons or groups to protect all or parts of the general public.
REINVENTING GOVERNMENT: 1. The title of a book written by David Osborne and Ted Gaebler in 1992. 2. Term referring to ideas used in government that are entrepreneurial in nature whose purpose is to improve government services.
RESCISSION: Presidential decision to permanently withhold funds.
REVENUE SHARING: Grant pattern in which the money can be used in any way the recipient government chooses.
RULE MAKING: Administrative establishment of general guidelines for application to a class of people or a class of actions at some future time.
SATISFICING: The process of decision making that characterizes most governmental action; a limited search through familiar patterns of behavior for a course of action that meets pre-established,minimum standards of performance, rather than an exhaustive review of all alternatives in search of the optimal solution to a particular problem.
SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT: A formal theory of organization developed by Frederick Taylor in the early 1900s; concerned with achieving efficiency in production, rational work procedures,maximum productivity, and profit; focused on management's responsibilities and on "scientifically"
developed work procedures, based on "time and motion" studies.
SENIOR EXECUTIVE SERVICE (SES): Established in the national Civil Service Reform Act of 1978; designed to foster professional growth, mobility, and versatility among senior career officials (and some "political" appointees); incorporated into national government personnel management
broad emphasis on performance appraisal and merit pay concepts, as part of both the SES itself and broader merit system reform.
SPECIAL DISTRICTS: Local governments created for a specific purpose within a specific area.
SPAN OF CONTROL: One of the early principles of administration which states that there is an upper limit to the number of subordinates any administrator can directly supervise, generally set at twelve, and advises administrators to eliminate any violations of this principle by reducing the
number of officials reporting to them by either merging certain offices or stretching out the hierarchy.
SPOILS SYSTEM: A system of hiring personnel based on political loyalty and connections; can also extend to government contracts and the like; usually takes the form of rewarding party supporters with government jobs.
STAKEHOLDERS: The many different persons or interest groups that are involved in a policy decision and are affected by the results.
STRATEGIC PLANNING: Matching organizational objectives and capabilities to the anticipated demands of the environment to produce a plan of action that will ensure achievement of objectives.
SUBGOVERNMENTS: The tendency of bureaucrats to seek political support for their programs by building informal alliances outside of the official hierarchy with groups that possess resources the bureaucrats lack, primarily with legislative committees and organized interest or pressure groups
(also known as iron triangles).
SUNSET LAW: Provision that sets a specific termination date for a program.
SUNSHINE LAW: Provision that requires agencies to conduct business in public view.
SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATION: Bill passed during the fiscal year, adding new money to an agency's budget for the same fiscal year.
SYSTEM: Set of regularized interactions configured or "bounded" in a way that differentiates and separates them from other actions that constitute the system's environment.
SYSTEMS THEORY: A theory of social organizations, holding that organizations--like other organisms--may behave according to inputs from their environment, outputs resulting from
organizational activity, and feedback leading to further inputs; also, change in any one part of a group or organizational system that affects all other parts.
TASK FORCES: Groups brought together to work on specific organizational problems.
THEORY X and THEORY Y: Two opposing assumptions about people at work that lead to opposing styles of management. Theory X assumes that most people hate work, avoid
responsibility, prefer to be directed, and have to be controlled and coerced to put out a fair day's work; Theory Y assumes that people will seek responsibility, demonstrate a high degree of imagination, and exercise self-direction if they have a creative, challenging job to which they can become committed.
WHISTLE-BLOWING: Making any disclosure of legal violations (especially within public organizations), mismanagement, a gross waste of funds, an abuse of authority, or a danger to public health or safety, whether the disclosure is made within or outside the formal chain of command.
ZERO-BASE BUDGETING: Budget format that presents information about the efficiency and effectiveness of existing programs and highlights possibilities for eliminating or reducing programs by assuming that the minimum funding level for the agency is zero, thereby requiring agency administrators to justify all expenditures by the same standard of review that normally are applied only to new programs or increments above the base.

By Sunil IAS from io.com

2010-01-02T22:39:00.001+05:30

[Body language] 18 ways to improve it for interview

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1. Don’t cross your arms or legs – You have probably already heard you shouldn’t cross your arms as it might make you seem defensive or guarded. This goes for your legs too. Keep your arms and legs open.
2. Have eye contact, but don’t stare – If there are several people you are talking to, give them all some eye contact to create a better connection and see if they are listening. Keeping too much eye-contact might creep people out. Giving no eye-contact might make you seem insecure. If you are not used to keeping eye-contact it might feel a little hard or scary in the beginning but keep working on it and you’ll get used to it.
3. Don’t be afraid to take up some space – Taking up space by for example sitting or standing with your legs apart a bit signals self-confidence and that you are comfortable in your own skin.
4. Relax your shoulders – When you feel tense it’s easily winds up as tension in your shoulders. They might move up and forward a bit. Try to relax. Try to loosen up by shaking the shoulders a bit and move them back slightly.
5. Nod when they are talking – nod once in a while to signal that you are listening. But don’t overdo it and peck like Woody Woodpecker.
6. Don’t slouch, sit up straight – but in a relaxed way, not in a too tense manner.
7. Lean, but not too much – If you want to show that you are interested in what someone is saying, lean toward the person talking. If you want to show that you’re confident in yourself and relaxed lean back a bit. But don’t lean in too much or you might seem needy and desperate for some approval. Or lean back too much or you might seem arrogant and distant.
8. Smile and laugh – lighten up, don’t take yourself too seriously. Relax a bit, smile and laugh when someone says something funny. People will be a lot more inclined to listen to you if you seem to be a positive person. But don’t be the first to laugh at your own jokes, it makes you seem nervous and needy. Smile when you are introduced to someone but don’t keep a smile plastered on your face, you’ll seem insincere.
9. Don’t touch your face – it might make you seem nervous and can be distracting for the listeners or the people in the conversation.
10. Keep you head up – Don’t keep your eyes on the ground, it might make you seem insecure and a bit lost. Keep your head up straight and your eyes towards the horizon.
11. Slow down a bit – this goes for many things. Walking slower not only makes you seem more calm and confident, it will also make you feel less stressed. If someone addresses you, don’t snap you’re neck in their direction, turn it a bit more slowly instead.
12. Don’t fidget – try to avoid, phase out or transform fidgety movement and nervous ticks such as shaking your leg or tapping your fingers against the table rapidly. You’ll seem nervous and fidgeting can be a distracting when you try to get something across. Declutter your movements if you are all over the place. Try to relax, slow down and focus your movements.
13. Use your hands more confidently – instead of fidgeting with your hands and scratching your face use them to communicate what you are trying to say. Use your hands to describe something or to add weight to a point you are trying to make. But don’t use them to much or it might become distracting. And don’t let your hands flail around, use them with some control.
14. Lower your drink – don’t hold your drink in front of your chest. In fact, don’t hold anything in front of your heart as it will make you seem guarded and distant. Lower it and hold it beside your leg instead.
15. Realise where you spine ends – many people (including me until recently) might sit or stand with a straight back in a good posture. However, they might think that the spine ends where the neck begins and therefore crane the neck forward in a Montgomery Burns-pose. Your spine ends in the back of your head. Keep you whole spine straight and aligned for better posture.
16. Don’t stand too close –one of the things we learned from Seinfeld is that everybody gets weirded out by a close-talker. Let people have their personal space, don’t invade it.
17. Mirror – Often when you get along with a person, when the two of you get a good connection, you will start to mirror each other unconsciously. That means that you mirror the other person’s body language a bit. To make the connection better you can try a bit of proactive mirroring. If he leans forward, you might lean forward. If she holds her hands on her thighs, you might do the same. But don’t react instantly and don’t mirror every change in body language. Then weirdness will ensue.
18. Keep a good attitude – last but not least, keep a positive, open and relaxed attitude. How you feel will come through in your body language and can make a major difference.
You can change your body language but as all new habits it takes a while. Especially things like keeping you head up might take time to correct if you have spent thousands of days looking at your feet. And if you try and change to many things at once it might become confusing and feel overwhelming.
Take a couple of these body language bits to work on every day for three to four weeks. By then they should have developed into new habits and something you’ll do without even thinking about it. If not, keep on until it sticks. Then take another couple of things you’d like to change and work on them.

Deficit Debt deficit Finacing

2009-12-28T17:30:00.001+05:30

Debt & Deficit are same things?

No,

- when you’re spending more than your income = you're in deficit

- when you borrow money to fill that gap / deficit = you're in debt.
Why deficit?

· Ideally, Govt. should not spend more than what it earns.

· but, in real life situation its not that easy.

· Govt. has to spend crores of Rs. in military, poverty removal schemes, floods, draughts, tsunami reliefs etc. so they're bound to run in deficit. And ultimately have to borrow from someone to fill that gap.
Is Deficit bad?

that depends on whether you’re borrowing for Development work or not?.

there are 2 types of Govt. Expenditure (spending)
Revenue Expenditure

· = when Govt. spends money paying salaries to its employees.

· or buys some machine guns or missiles.

· such Expenditure is non-productive (Of course these things are essential to run the nation, but its 'non-productive' in this classification)

· this spending Doesn’t create assets* but money wasted in

o Salary & perks to Govt. employees

o Administration

o Defense – law –order

o Interest payment on previously borrowed loans

o Subsidy <-- majority of tax payers’ money goes here. (I’ll talk about subsidy in another article)
*by the way what are assets?

· Asset is something that generates money. For example you purchase a house & rent it to someone- then you’re earning money. Thus its your asset.

· NPA = Non-performing Asset. = its not generating money / making losses. (for e.g. you buy house but you neither live in it nor you rent it to others.)

Borrowing to fill up Revenue deficits is poisonous for the health of nation. (e.g. Currently Revenue deficit of UK is 60% of its GDP)
Capital Expenditure

· When Govt. makes roads, dams, bridges, ports, schools, etc.

· such work is productive. It will lead to further economic Development.

· So, if Govt. spends money here & runs into deficit / takes debt to finance it = its not bad. because it'll be recovered later on.

· e.g. kids learn in school, they grow up - do some job / business = ultimately pay taxes directly / indirectly thus money is recovered. and so on...

· Another example, Govt. gives free meal via Mid-day meal schemes. Now you might think, all those kids are poor, and they’ll never earn enough money to be in the ‘income-tax slabs’ group. So what’s the point in giving them free food?

· but no matter how rich / poor those kids are when they grow up- they’ll still have to buy things like petrol, matchsticks, cinema tickets, milk, food oil, soap etc.

· and on all such things, Govt. takes taxes (Vat, entertainment tax etc.) . So even if the poor people are not paying direct income tax- they still end up paying money to Govt. this is called ‘indirect Tax’

in short, if Govt. runs into deficit, while paying for the capital formation spending = good for nation.
3 types of Deficit?

#1- Total or Budgetary deficit (BD)

= spending – income

=Total Expenditure - total receipts ; (the income of Govt. is written as ‘reciepts’)

= [Total (Revenue + Capital) Expenditure] –MINUS- [Total (Revenue + Capital) receipts]

#2- Fiscal Deficit (FD)

BD + Market borrowing + other liabilities

This Measures total borrowing requirement of govt from

1. internal

2. external sources
#3- Primary Deficit / Non Interest Deficit

=FD – Interest paid
What is Monetized Deficit?

Ans. That is When RBI prints more currency notes to fill up Govt.’s deficit. (Technically its RBI selling Govt. treasury bills in market & giving money to Govt.)

To finance the Deficit, where does Govt. get money from?

1. Govt Savings

2. PSU Surplus

3. Budget surplus

4. Public Borrowing (if Govt. has low cash on above 3 items) ->> this is public DEBT. (via treasure bills etc)

5. External Assistance (borrow from World Bank , IMF etc.)
Can’t we just print more currency notes to pay-off the debts?

· We’ve lot poor people in India, how about RBI printing 1LaKh rupee notes, & giving that to each poor family, then all our poverty problems will solve isn’t it?

· Nope, it’s not that easy.

· When each poor has 1 Lakh rs. In his pocket, he’ll go to market & buy 1 kg potato.

· Ultimately there will be shortage of potato because every poor will have more money.

· So then, some poor will offer the veggie vendor- 30,000 Rs. Just for one kg potato

· Then some other will offer 40,000 Rs. And so on.

· At the end, they won’t be able to buy much potato even with 1 Lakh rs. In their pocket. This is inflation

· So printing more money to solve problems doesn’t help= you’ve to produce more products as well so that people can buy it using their money.

Ok so in short, Govt. borrows money from somewhere to finance its gaps (deficit) – that’s called Deficit Financing.
What’re the uses of Deficit Financing?

Use #1 Fighting Depression / Recession ( Keynesian Theory)

In 1930, an Economist named JM Keynes gave this concept.

· during recession – there is low demand in market because people don’t have enough money to buy things.

· So, if Govt. starts some project, people get employment= they’ve money = they’ll buy something = boost in production = boost in economy.

· Like Hoover Dam was made during 1930s recession in America.

· This is “dig wells and fill wells”

Use #2 Economic Development

· Suppose you want to start a canteen, but don’t have enough money. So you can do two things

o Work as a waiter in someone else’s canteen until you save enough money to buy your own canteen (but this will take a long time)

o Or, borrow loan from bank to start a canteen (quick solution) … same way

· Developing countries (3rd world) Don’t have enough money, so this way fast capital formation can be done. (borrow money to make Dams, roads)

· Thus Deficit financing Breaks bottlenecks, structural rigidities.
Negative effect of Deficit Financing

· Increase inflation [like I told ago- poors & potato]

· Changes pattern of investment

· Forced savings (since everything Is so costly, you can’t buy it, so you’ll park your money in the Bank account as savings.)
Use #3 in War

· During war we need lot money to buy oil, missiles, food /medicines for army etc.

· Nations print more money to finance it. (because its hard for a nation to get loans during war.)

· For Example, Germany printed more money during World war 1 (1914-18)

· But then Inflation destroyed German money’s value.

· That’s why there will be steep inflation after war. (poor potato.)

· USSR did the reverse of it- it refused to pay loans in 1917 – that’s called ‘repudiation’
SAFETY LIMITs FOR DEFICIT FINANCING

· TO PREVENT INFLATION deficit financing should be made so that it leads to capital formation

o Means Govt. must not use the money to pay interest / subsidy / salary.

· surplus money must be sucked away from market by higher tax- loan interest

· Newly created (printed) money used in capital formation Which have short gestation period*

o Means you print more money to build a dam but it takes long years to build dams. Thus you won’t be able to recover the costs quickly = during this time, it spoils market with inflation.

o If you use newly printed money to build a superfast highway (which takes quite less time compared to Dams) then you’ll recover the money quickly.

o Again you might think how can Govt. recover money used in building roads?

o Ans- more roads = more transport & business = more Sales / Excise / GST / VAT etc taxes.

· Import of luxury items must be discouraged

o Suppose you’re a road contractor, and Govt. gave you payment for building a highway.

o But you use that money to buy expensive imported perfumes / gold watches/ i-pods!

o that doesn’t help the Indian Economy. That’s why.

Now moving to another part-
Public Debt

When does Govt. borrow from public?

1. When Govt. doesn’t have enough surplus money.

2. When Taxes can’t be increased beyond a level (not like you can ask every middle-class man to pay 1 Lakh rs. To help build the dams/highways)

3. When printing more money is making inflation (after safe limit)
How does Govt. borrow from public?

- One example is By issuing

o Kisan Vikas Patra,

o Indira vikas patra

o Narmada Vikas patra

o The money gathered from such certificates is used for building dams & other things.

o And the advantage is, Govt. will double your money after some 10-15-20 years. So Govt. doesn’t have to repay you interest every month / year.

o So its in a way- loan taken from you (the public) by the Govt.
Via Treasury bills

- here RBI (have to) buy Govt. treasury bills- gives money to Govt. & sells these bills in Capital market*.

- When you buy a Govt. security- you can be sure: its safe and give you good profit- that’s why its called ‘Gild Edged market’

- It deals with Govt. & semi Govt. securities

- Generally commercial banks (have to) purchase Govt. securities (remember the SLR: statutory liquidity ratio)

- SLR = banks to invest a certain percentage of their liabilities in government securities – the rate was

o 38.5 per cent in 1990

o 25 per cent in 1997

-

*{will write in detail about capital market, in another article}
What’s the Treasury bill?

- When Govt. has small temporary gap/deficit in the Revenue part, it’ll sell the treasury bills to RBI.

- RBI has to buy it. (because there is some law / deal)

- Then RBI sells it to Commercial Banks (thus recovers money)

- But here as you can see money is just printed / given without actual creation of any direct ‘physical product’ so this is bad for economy in long run.

Debt trap

When you borrow just to pay your previous debts.

That is the act of borrowing money just to keep up with debt servicing*

*Debt servicing = interest + installment payment
(FRBM) Fiscal Responsibility + Budget Management Bill (2000)

- It was made to eliminate fiscal deficit

- It put limits on central government’s borrowings, debt, deficits

- It said that total liabilities of central government should not exceed 50 per cent of GDP. (it was 76% in 2002.)

- However its provisions are diluted now, because Govt. had to pay lot money due to 6th pay Commission / debt waiver & recession.
Separate Public debt Management office

- Currently RBI is responsible for managing Govt.’s debt.

- But as you know- RBI is also responsible for monetary policy (control money supply + inflation via CRR, SLR, Repo etc.)

- Both tasks are conflicting with each other.

- On one hand, RBI has to print more money / sell Govt.’s treasury bills in market to fill Govt.’s deficit

- On the other hand same RBI also has to control money supply in market in such a way that there is no inflation.

- That’s why there are talks of separate debt Management office other than RBI.
by Mrunal patel

GDP,GNP,NNP,

2009-12-28T17:27:00.001+05:30

the First Step:-

GDP, GNP, NNP

Gdp-Gross Domestic Product

total market values of goods and services produced by workers and capital within a nation's borders during 1 year.

Remember the word 'Within NAtional borders'.
that means,

1. ONGC buys some oil-wells in Russia, then whatever ONGC earns from it- is NOT counted here.
2. Your NRI-son sends you money from America - that is also NOT counted.

GNP-Gross National Product.

the total market value of goods and services produced by all citizens and capital during a given period (usually 1 yr)

here

* ONGC's Income from Russia's oil wells is COUNTED!
* + Your NRI-son sends you money from America - that is counted.
* Minus if some American works in India, and sends money back to his family @ US - then you've to deduct it.

Calculating the NET
remember this easy formula

Gross minus Depreciation* = Net

{depreciation explained later}
now see following formulas based on above formula! :-

GDP - Depreciation = NET Domestic Product
GNP- Depreciation = Net National Product (NNP)

Problem with GDP:-

GDP doesn't count negative things associated with market activities.
For Example, if you chop down trees to make furniture, & export it, then India's GDP value will increase.
But as you know cutting down trees = bad for environment : but this is negative thing is not counted in GDP. same can be applied for making medicinal drugs/ chemicals but rivers / atmosphere getting polluted in the process and so on....

GDP is a concept evolved during & after WW2, when situation was different.
Thus GDP is outdated, and we need to look @ other things like Human Development index, etc.
(now whenever you read editorials on GDP etc., keep this in mind, and you'll learn new things to write in the Essay.)

*What is Depreciation ?
When you're making some product (mobile phone)
or providing some service (internet, travelbus etc.)
Then you need to use machines to produce it.
And that machinery has wear and tear cost. (annual Maintenance, service, repair costs)
That cost of repair / maintenance of machinery etc. is called Depreciation.

What's the use of Depreciation ?
You'll get income deduction for depreciation.
for Example, Govt. of India provided depreciation of 50% for commercial vehicles purchased on or between January-March 2009

that means suppose you're a businessman with a car worth 10 Lakh rs. for your business purpose.
so 50% depreciation value of 10 Lakh. = 5 LaKh Rs.
and for that you don't have to pay tax
e.g. if you were in the 30% tax bracket then you don't have to pay
5 LaKh X 30 / 100 = 1.5 Lakh Rs. to Govt. as income tax. <-- you don't have to pay that money.
By Mrunal

SLR,CRR,BANK RATE,REPO RATE,REVERSE REPO

2009-12-28T17:17:00.001+05:30

What is all this CRR, SLR,Repo,Bank Rate etc. crap ?

ans. it shows the money releationship of banks with RBI.

in short it works like this. I've created following diagram,- click on it which should explain all of those concepts with ease.(yes its watermarked because i don't like people plagiarizing my work.)
CRR, SLR,Repo, reverse repo,Bank Rate UPSC General studies

but before you understand the diagram, read following things

RBI is the banker of the banks (it lends money to other normal banks)
now these normal banks will give us loans - charge interest, thus earn profits.

Now as you know, if people have lot money in their hands then price of products will rise.
So RBI needs to control the amt of money available in the Market = maintain Liquidity.

*What is liquidity ?

* when is there more money in the market & banks = more liquidity= easy to get loans
* less money in market = less liquidity. = hard to get loans

Why do we need liquidity ?

* more money in market = more money for people get borrow.
* so people borrow- invest some where or start some activity / business with it.
* if there is less money in market (and banks) then they'll charge higher interest rate on it. thus getting loans become difficult with less liquidity.
* too much liquidity = easy loans = inflation (price rise of products)

now back to main thing.
its job of RBI to maintain liquidity.
as we know, commerical banks borrow from RBI & lend it to customers to earn profits.
So to control liquidity in the market, RBI will change its CRR, SLR, Bank Rate & Reverse Bank rates, depending on the situation.

BY Mrunal patel

WTO

2009-12-26T21:48:00.000+05:30

before we understand WTO, lets see
Tariff barriers

- Tariff = A government tax on imports or exports
- When Indian Govt. puts heavy import duty / custom duty on Foreign Products – either that import item becomes very costly so people will buy desi* items. (and there will be smuggling of foreign items! Like Gold watches/ perfumes etc in the 80s.) *Desi= domestic / indian
- This protects domestic players. (= industrialists/ businessmen.) from competition from foreign players.
Non-Tariff barriers.

- When Desi players are given subsidies / preference over the foreign players by Govt. of India.
- For example,
o when Govt. is buying some phones/ Xerox Machines, in the tender it’ll mention that only Domestic companies can fill the tender.
o making polices in such a way that its hard for foreign player to start factory / introduce his product in India
o Intentionally setting the Quality standards so high that certain players can’t sell their products here.
- Here no tariff (=tax/money) is involved but still there is a barrier for foreign players. That’s why its called Non-Tariff barrier.
what was happening before WTO.

· Nations would put heavy custom duties on foriegn items. (to protect the domestic / Swadeshi industries)- this is called 'protectionism / Tarrif Barriers'
· this all sounds good from patriotic point but
· When there is less competition - products will be expansive & customer won't have much choice. for Example….. compare-
o prices of Mobiles in 1999, with current prices!
o features of current mobiles with 1999 (was there any MP3, radio,Camera, Color Screen etc features, if yes- how expensive was it!)
o talk-time plans (in 1999 it was about 7 Rs./minute + incoming wasn't free, now its around 50 Paisa / minute + Free incoming/)

Today we have this fun, because of globalization + import of foreign products & Govt. doesn't put high custom / import tax on it. (no high tarrif barriers)

So, The Primary objective of WTO is to remove the tarrif barriers / Custom duties. = integrate all nations in international economy.
For this, WTO will consult with all member-nations, and will make legally binding agreements.
Why agreements?

- there are total 19 Agreements in WTO, but most imp. are 3. (i'll explain it later in this article.)
- these agreements talk about what is compulsory & what is non-compulsory for each nation.
- And what will be the penalties if a nation doesn't follow these agreements.
- Every Agreement has an 'Annex'- in that you'll find the detailed provisions & items included in the agreements.
- The Secretariat of WTO keeps an eye on every nation – seeing whether agreements are followed or not.

But there will be some bad-nations who won't play by the rules & try to cheat such agreements. So second objective of WTO is 'Dispute Resolution'
that's like an international civil court.

Now lets see the 3 most imp agreements of WTO. See this chart

Like I said ago, they’ve annexes which provide operation details about how to implement these agreements. (only TRIPS doesn’t have any annex)
Now lets see their annex 1 by 1 via charts.
Annex

#1 Annex : GATT

1 – SPS came after Doha
Now another mimp annex of GATT is, SCM = subsidies & counter veiling measures (=the Red, Green & Amber list) – see this chart-

Apart from this, shipment inspection and anti-dumping are also included in GATT annex.

#2 : Annex of GATS (services)

#3 : TRIPS – like I said ago, TRIPS doesn’t have any annex!

But TRIPS is very imp agreement in today’s world full of technologies-so lets see what’s it about t.

TRIPS =Trade related intellectual property rights

Its one of the agreement between WTO member nations.
TRIPS doesn’t have any annexes.
What is TRIPS all about?

· In short, under TRIPS agreement, every member-nation has to make laws and tough punishments for anyone who breaks / copies other people's copyright / patent etc.
why TRIPS is imp?

· otherwise, there will be wide spread piracy & then Inventors of 1st world won't invest / come in 3rd world market.
· there are certain items whose actual price can't be counted based on 'physical material used in it' (e.g. Books are not sold based on number of pages/ cost of paper but content & fame of author.) so we can't apply GATT (which is for physical goods ) and Book is not a 'service' either (so can't apply GATS)
· Research & Development.(R&D)
o it takes years and billions of rupees to make a new drug.
o but retail price of one tablet of that drug would be about 5 Rs.
o here, if the patent / copyright wasn't protected, then inventors will not invest in R&D.& then world will be deprived of better products.
· the GI (Geographical indicator)
o like Darjiling tea- only the tea made in Darjiling can be sold as 'Darjiling tea'
o otherwise, Britishers would also sell their tea claiming it to be 'Darjiling variety' and then our tea makers will face unfair compitition.

India's Problem with GI

· Pakis also claim GI for their Basmati Rice.
· TRIPS doesn't talk about trans-border GIs.

Time limit

· it came in force from 1st January 1995. and according to its provision
· Developed nations have to make such laws within 1 year.
· developing nations (like India) have to make such laws within 5 years.
· Least Developing countries (like Zimbabway/ Somalia) were given time limit upto 11 years (=2006) , but now the time is extended upto 2016 for pharmaceutical patent laws.

Apart from above 3 agreements (GATT, GATS, TRIPS) other 3 imp agreements are-(see this diagram)

What is the Use of these agreements? / What are the trading principles in WTO?

Without Discrimination

· MFN = Most favored nation
· In WTO, every nation is MFN
· So, if India grants a special favor to one nation – India will have to give that special favor to all member-nations of WTO.
· India will have to treat locals & foreign players equally. (e.g. you can’t have a system like Local businessman’s file will be cleared first or local man will be given preference in contract / tenders/ 3G frequency allocation.)
· Exception to this principle
a. Group of nations can form FTA = Free trade agreements
b. Country can give special favors to 3rd world / poor nations.
c. A nation can impose high import duty/ prevent entry of goods from a nation that’s doing unfair trade practices (like dumping* / Products dangerous to health**)
d. But there are strict conditions in WTO, before you can do above things.
i. *Dumping =China intentionally sends extremely cheap toys in india, so Indian toy makers collapse and toy market in India is captured by China.
ii. ** Products dangerous to health like China’s milk powder which had melamine.
Freer Trade (bringing down barriers in international trade) –

· WTO agreements try to abolish following things-
1. custom duties
2. Quota
3. subsidies
4. non-tariff barriers* (explained later.)
5. red tape
6. Artificially propped up exchange rates
a. like China intentionally keeps the value of Yuan low, so Americans will find it cheap to buy from China compared to other nations.)
Predictability

· When there are legally binding agreements between member nations of WTO- it means, even after change in Govt. (BJP / Congress / whatever) – the Indian policy of international trades won’t alter very much.
· This gives confidence of foreign investors because of
· Promise of stability (=Ceilings on customs tariffs.)
· policy environment is predictable.(= Transparency in trade rules)
· Equal treatment to Local players & foreign players. (=open access to markets)
· binding commitments (WTO keeps an eye on each nation – so Govt. can’t cheat. And if you cheat- you’ll have to pay fines.)
· And foreign investment helps the domestic economy as well.

Fair compitition

WTO agreements prevent unfair dumping, subsidies, government procurement

Economic Reforms

to implement WTO Agreements, the 3rd world nations have to change their policies. = reform
(remember the pre-LPG Era - quota,licence,inspctor raj)

What was before WTO?

- Before WTO, there was GATT.
- GATT was criticized for being 'Rich men's club'
- Everything in GATT used to work in a manner that'd suit the rich nations.
so WTO is better than GATT?

- Yes, because of following reasons.
1. WTO dispute resolution is quicker than GATT (disputes have to be solved within 18 months)
2. in GATT, the bad-nation was free to determine its own penalty.
3. but in WTO, bad nation has to pay high penalties for not following the rules.
4. GATT talked only about goods (physical products) . WTO talks about services (phone lines, BPO) & Intellectual property rights, along with those goods.
5. The working of WTO is more transparent.
6. In WTO, every nation has one vote only. Unlike IMF where rich nations have more voting powers.

India & WTO

first lets see what positive things happened then we talk of Doha Rounds and finally about What's India's problem in Doha rounds.

What did India Gain from WTO?

1. India got boom in exports because WTO gradually lowered Barriers internationally.
2. our export was only $33.22 billion in 1998-99.
3. right now India's exports are worth more than $100 billion
4. India won multilateral dispute settlement against such powerful economies as USA
5. because of TRIPS, India had to adopt international standards in Intellectual property rights.=
6. ↑ flow of Foreign investment & technology.
7. (because Foreigners established research labs/ manufacturing units in India & started selling their products here.)
8. Textiles boom (because MFA = Multilateral Fiber Agreement was scrapped under WTO's ATC=Agreement on Texttile clothings.) otherwise previously UK and other nation had put quantitative limits on Indian Cotton's Entry in their market.
DOHA

what is DOHA?

Doha is capital city of a small nation called Qatar.
4th Ministerial conference of WTO was held in that city in Nov.2001.
and they (member nations) started talking about some new agreements & issues- and the talks continued.. so this entire package is called 'Doha round of talks.' aka "DDA = Doha Development agenda."
Fifth Ministerial Conference was held in Cancun, Mexico in September 2003.
What were they talking in Doha?

Developing nations were complaining that they're facing difficulties in implementing WTO agreements.
so concessions were given to them.

1. SPS annex added under GATT (hope you saw the previous diagram of GATT annex)
a. SPS: Sanitary+ Phytosanitary Measures Agreement (on farm products)
b. Each nation can make its own Quality control rules
c. but they've to be scientific.
2. Earlier TRIPS (intellectual property rights) was strict.
a. now it was relaxed- and agreement changed saying that Laws should be made which supports existing medicines and public health interest at large.

items for new negotiations in Doha

1. Multilateral environmental agreements
2. Trade barriers on environmental goods & services
3. Fisheries subsidies =they harm environment, by encouraging too many fishermen to chase insufficient fish

the Doha conference failed because it ended with out any consensus.
· Members were divided on competition policy & transparency in Govt. procurements.
· First world blames India to be the main villain for failure of Doha talks.

What was India's Problem in Doha?

SSM=special safeguard mechanism

· its a measure designed to protect poor farmers by allowing countries to impose a special tariff on certain agricultural goods in the event of an import surge or price fall
· For example, if USA sends so much cheap corn to India, that price of Corn become 50 paisa per kg. then India can put tariff barrier (= increase import duty on American Corn) so that prices become high again.
· otherwise, no one would by Indian Corn, and our farmers will starve.
· United States arguing that the threshold had been set too low.
· (e.g. if it was decided that if price fall to 5 Rs. / kg corn, then India could do this. but US wants that India shouldn't be allowed to act, unless price of corn falls very low, something like 50 paisa / kg.!)
· India doesn't agree with US on this.
Apart from this, India has insisted on a large number of special products that would not be exposed to wider market opening

Like I said ago, more mobile companies are good. Because it increases employment. (you can be a representative of some mobile co. or if you’ve retail store, you can sell pre-paid cards etc. or you can start your own mobile repair shop and so on…)
But same is not true about agriculture sector, since 70% of India’s population depends on one way or another with the agriculture sector. So if cheap foreign items are allowed, then it’ll create huge problem for their employment. Its easy for each American farmer to produce tonnes of grain (and sell his produce cheap), because every farmer has huge farms, latest machinery, fertilizers & great seeds+ continuous water supply + subsidy. But same is not true in India.

However the problem of food-price inflation should also be taken into account. (= read editorials, you’ll face such topics in mains / essay.)

More trouble for India

NAMA= Non-agricultural market access negotiations
European Union has threatened to approach the World Trade Organisation (WTO) again if India does not remove the inter-state tariff disparities. “We want India to get rid of its taxes on wines and spirits in different states to allow easier access to European wines, failing which we will approach the WTO again,"

Criticism of WTO

Mostly comes from environment activities.
1. WTO promotes industries, MNC (Multi-national corporations)
a. But these MNCs sometimes are involved in bad things. Eg. They pay huge bribes to Burma’s military regime for operating the gas lines, nickel mines etc. and employ forced laborers in it.
2. The infrastructure boom because of WTO (more foreign companies making factories in India) – leads to habitat / bio-diversity loss & pollution etc.
3. Its hard to put barriers on imported items, thus the domestic industries face tough competition which sometimes ruins them. (e.g. its not possible for Indian Toy maker to compete with Chinese toys in retail price.) and yet not much the Indian Govt. can do. If they put some ban on it, then China will go to WTO, and WTO will impose heavy fines on India.
4. 3rd world has to open its market for first world product without much benefit in the reverse process. (=3rd world’s products lag in race in 1st world’s market.)
e.g. as you know in colonial era, when India was under British Rule, if we exported our Indian Textiles to Britain, they’d put huge import tax on it. Thus our cloths would become very expensive in their market. So Britishers would only buy locally made cloths from Manchester. This sort of ‘protectionism’ in old times (almost upto 1995) = their companies made lot of profit during that era & had lot profit invested in Research and technology, so currently their products will be technically and in quality far superior than ours. So even if there is no barrier today, British people will buy their product and not ours. This argument runs on the same line like of climate change. America allowed its factories to pollute the atmosphere and thus became a developed nation but now, it wants the developing nations to stop polluting the world & cut their emissions!
Timeline – Evolution of WTO

1944

· Bretton Woods conference,
· they wanted to make ITO (International Trade Org.) but it didn’t happen.
1947:

· GATT (General Agreement on Trade & Tariffs) established
· It was criticized as being 'RICH MEN'S CLUB'
1986

· Uruguay Round of Talks
· Service & Intellectual Property rights related topics included in the debate
· 1993, everyone agreed on it
1994 (Marrakesh, Morocco)

- All nations signed on agreement & WTO was established
2004

- 148 nations are members of WTO, covering 94% of international trade

LPG

2009-12-24T10:36:00.004+05:30

What is it?
in 1990-91-, Govt. was very low on cash, so they changed their economic policy, that's called LPG.

Why should I learn it?

1. Economy worth 100+M in Mains GS
2. International Relations worth 100+ Marks (GS paper 2 in Mains)

Whenever You want to understand india's Diplomatic relations with other nations, you've to see it pre & post cold war. same way
India's economic relation with others, you need to understand from pre & post LPG phase. that's why LPG is imp for international relation questions as well.

Why Govt. was low on cash?

1. First Gulf War = High crude oil prices
2. Fall of USSR (no one to help/ protect us)
3. Loss making Public sector undertakings (PSU)
4. Govt. was investing heavily in PSU, Development schemes, defence sectors.
5. these areas need lot money and it takes long gestation period after you see the recovery / benifit of that invested money.
6. + the usual Licence-Quota-Inspector raj. (explained later)

Govt. has to borrow a lot from inside and outside the nation to run itself.

We were so much out of money, that we could buy only 7 day's crude oil for the nation !

How did we get through it.
* We borrowed 7 billion Dollars from IBRD (Internation board of reconstruction & Development ) aka(also known as) world bank
* But for that, we had to obey World bank's conditions - they wanted us to change our economic policies.
* thus the concept of LPG came .

so LPG is one thing?
No its 3 different things L(Liberalistion)P (Privataisation)G (Globalisation)

Liberalization

what does that mean?

* to put end on rules / Regulation to control economy
* Open up various sectors of Economy

wasn't our economy opened before LPG?

* No we had Licence-Quota-Inspector Raj.

what is Licence Raj?

* you want to open a new mobile phone making company you need to get licence from Govt..(means u have to sought permission from govt)

Quota Raj

* even after you get the licence, you can't produce as many phones as you wish, you'll be given a quota

* say 1000 mobiles per month - you can't manufacture more than that.

Inspector Raj

* there will be a factory inspector, who will come and check how many phones you actually made,
* he gives you the certification only then you can take out your phones from warehouse to retail shops!

so when all 3 combine -its heavy delay, red tape and corruption.

Methods for Liberalisation .(Govt. used following)

End of Licence Raj (Liberlaisation Method #1)

*no more licence required for
* starting factory
* closing it or,
* deciding amount of production (= end of Quota Raj)

However you still need license for starting
1. Wine
2. Cigar
3. Hazardous Chem
4. Explosive
5. Drug-Pharma
6. Electronic
7. Aerospace

Dereservation of many things produced by Small scale industries
sectors reserved for PSU -are now only limited to(means only govt can manufacture such items)
1. Defence
2. Atom
3. Railways
= means pvt players can't open machine gun making factory.

Finacial Sector Reformed (Liberalistionzn method #2)

*RBI role reduced from regulator to facilitator
*Financial institutions (Stock market, Forex market etc) can take decision with out consulting RBI like
1. freedom to setup new Branches
2. generate resources from India- Abroad
Result = introduction of
1. pvt Sector Banks,
2. Foreign Institutionl investors
3. Merchant Bankers
4. Mutual / Pension Funds

Tax Reform (Liberalisation method #3)

* Earlier income tax was high, so people used every trick to evade it.
* Now tax rates were reduced, more people came in Tax net.
* Method to collect indirect Taxes - also simplified.

Forex Reform (Libzn method #4)

* to solve BOP(balance of payment) Crisis
* Rupee was Devalued = increased inflow of Forex
* Market to Determine Exchange Rate based on supply & demand of foreign currency. (earlier RBI was doing that)

Trade investment reform

* Quota barriers removed
* you don't have to pay high taxes on imported luxery items (gold watches / perfumes) like you had to do previously.
* no more import licence required except for Harardous materials.

Privatisation ( the 'P' of LPG)

Means Sheeding of Ownership / Management of Govt. owned companies.
How? = by Disinvestment = Privatization of PSU
by Govt. ,Selling of part of Equity(shares of psu) to Public

Benifit of privatization

1. increased finacial discipline
2. modernisation
3. increased performance of PSU by
4. pvt Capital
5. Managerial tech.
6. FDI incoming

Problem

1. instead of making Navaratna a Global Player,
2. income generated from Disinvestment used to fill Revenue deficit

NavRatna

* profit making PSUs were given Nav ratna statuts they get more autonomy in their work
* (Govt. doesn't interfere much when they're buying raw material or taking other decisions.)

Globalisation (the 'G' Of LPG)

its result of L+P
e.g. Outsourcing = Co. hires regular service from External Source (country ) due to Cheap - Skilled Labour Force
Globalisation is facilitated via WTO(world trade organisation)

What is the use of WTO?

1. to administrater Multilateral Trade Agrement
2. provide Equal opportunity to all in international market
3. Govt.s can't put arbitrary restriction on imports.

Criticism of Globalization / WTO

1. Major volume of International trade between Developed Nations
2. 3rd World has to open up for 1st world but their products can't get access to 1st world.

How LPG changed India's international relations?

* Before LPG we were doing 'Import Substitution' strategy.
* Means Govt. would either prevent entry of foreign players in our local market or put so much tax on imported items that we can't afford to buy it.
* Import substitution is when we'll (or have to) buy Bajaj Scooter even when Japanese Honda (foreigner) has a cheaper / better vehicle to offer. (but Honda prevented by Govt. using above methods.)
* this sounds great from patriotic point of view,but citizens are denied all luxeries of life, even when they want to enjoy it.
* Result of Import Substion strategy was that we were not importing any luxery electronic items , walkman, VHS players, Stereos, cars etcs from Japan, Taiwan, America, etc.
* thus we did not have any high business relations with ASEAN or any other nation.
* After LPG, our market was flooded with cheap electronic goodies. Our trade relations with Japan, Singapore, ASEAN, & America improved.
* Once Established, the Economic ties are harder to break than diplomatic / military pacts.
* Thus more economic relations we have with the world= more friends we make.

How LPG changed your life?

* Today you're able to surf internet, buy computer, mobile phones,
* have dozens of toothpastes, cars, bikes to select from...
* all that thanks to LPG.

By Mrunal patel

Rangnathan Mishra committee

2009-12-23T16:26:00.003+05:30

It s a very nice report .. infact ..

To understand this report first we should be aware of
1> mandal Commisson Report ( Read DD Basu and Wizard Polity)
2> TMA Pai Case and Islamia University case

So basically our Consti has not defined what "backward" means .. in Art 16(4) We say ..State may reserve any post to any backward class of citizen ..

Now please note two things
a> The word "backward"
b> The word "Class"( not caste)

So in this background Mandal commison sat to identify what exactly the word "Backward" means ?
The commison said " backward means socially and economically backward "
and In Hindus we can see caste as a class but in other socities which has no caste indicators like hold of land , education , trade etc can determine the backwardness

Now what Ranganath Commison has said on this

1. No discrimination whatsoever between the majority community and the minorities;
and, therefore, the criteria now applied for this purpose to the majority community —
whatever that criteria may be – must be unreservedly applied also to all the minorities.

2.recommend that all those classes, sections and groups among the minorities should
be treated as backward whose counterparts in the majority community are regarded as
backward under the present scheme of things.

3.social and vocational groups among the minorities who but for their religious identity would have been covered by the present net of Scheduled Castes should be
unquestionably treated as socially backward, irrespective of whether the religion of
those other communities recognises the caste system or not.

4.The minorities whose counterparts in the majority community are at present covered by the net of Scheduled Tribes should also be included in that net; and also,
more specifically, members of the minority communities living in any Tribal Area
from pre-independence days should be so included irrespective of their ethnic
characteristics.

which originally restricted the Scheduled Caste net to the Hindus and later opened it to Sikhs and Buddhists, thus still excluding from its purview the Muslims,Christians, Jains and Parsis, etc.

___________________________________________________________________________________
TMA Pai and Islamia case

Here judicary has given two counter statements .. regarding the admissons to Unaided collegs ..
The Art 30 says " establish and administer educational institutions of their choice"
Please note the word used is "of their choice" ==> professional also ...!!

N also this article gives the right to property for minorites .

Plese read these case before ..

RM commison says

1.Article 30 of the Constitution has become quite uncertain, complicated and diluted due to their varied and sometimes conflicting judicial interpretations, we recommend that a comprehensive law should be enacted without delay to detail all aspects of minorities, educational rights under that provision with a view to reinforcing its original dictates in letter and spirit.

2.National Minority Educational Institute Commission should be amended to make it wide-based in its composition, powers, functions and responsibilities and to enable it to work as the watchdog for a meticulous enforcement of all aspects of minorities, educational rights under the Constitution.

3.in minority educational institutions has, in the interest of national integration, been restricted to about 50%, thus virtually earmarking the remaining 50% or so for the majority community – we strongly recommend that, by the same analogy and for the same purpose, at least 15% seats in all non-minority educational institutions should be earmarked by law for the minorities as follows:-

4.(a) The break up within the recommended 15% earmarked seats in institutions shall be 10% for the Muslims (commensurate with their 73% share of the former in the total minority population at the national level) and the remaining 5 % for the other minorities.

(b) Minor adjustments inter se can be made in the 15% earmarked seats. In the case of non-availability of Muslim candidates to fill 10% earmarked seats, the remaining vacancies may be given to the other minorities if their members are available over and above their share of 5%; but in no case shall any seat within the recommended 15% go to the majority community.

(c) As is the case with the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes at present those minority community candidates who can compete with others and secure admission on their own merit shall not be included in these 15% earmarked seats.

5.backward sections among all the minorities, we recommend that the concessions now available in terms of lower eligibility criteria for admission and lower rate of fee, now available to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, should be extended also to such sections among the minorities.

______________________________ ____________

For Muslims

Select institutions in the country like the Aligarh Muslim University and the Jamia Millia Islamia should be legally given a special responsibility to promote education at all levels to Muslim students by taking all possible steps for this purpose. At least one such institution should be selected for this purpose in each of those states and Union Territories which has a substantial Muslim population.

Lingusitic minorites

(a) The law relating to the Linguistic Minorities Commissioner should be amended so as to make this office responsible for ensuring full implementation of all the relevant Constitutional provisions for the benefit of each such minority in all the States and Union Territories.

(b) The three-language formula should be implemented everywhere in the country making it compulsory for the authorities to includes in it the mother-tongue of every child – including, especially, Urdu and Punjabi – and all necessary facilities, financial and logistic, should be provided by the State for education in accordance with this dispensation.

______________________________ _______

1.8.4% of the total OBC population, in the 27% OBC quota an 8.4% sub-quota should be earmarked for the minorities with an internal break-up of 6% for the Muslims (commensurate with their 73% share in the total minority population at the national level) and 2.4% for the other minorities with minor adjustment inter se in accordance with population of various minorities in various States & UT

2. which originally restricted the Scheduled Caste net to the Hindus and later opened it to Sikhs and Buddhists, thus still excluding from its purview the Muslims, Christians, Jains and Parsis, etc.

3. at as the Constitution of India guarantees freedom of conscience and religious freedom as a Fundamental Right, once a person has been included in a Scheduled Caste list a willful change of religion on his part should not effect adversely his or her Scheduled Caste status.

Chronology of India’s freedom struggle

2009-12-22T16:46:00.000+05:30

Vandana Jain

Time
Event

1905
Partition of Bengal annouced to come in force from Oct 15 1906.

1906 DEC 31
Muslim League founded at Dacca.

1908 April 30
Khudiram Bose executed.

1908 July 22
Tilak sentenced to six years jail on charges of sedition.

1909 May 21
Minto Morley reforms Of Indian Council Act 1909

1911
The coronation or Delhi Durbar held at which the Partition of Bengal was cancelled.

1912
Delhi becomes the new capital of India.

1912 Dec 23
Bomb thrown on Lord Hardinge on his state entry in India.

1913 Nov 1
Ghadar Party formed at San franscisco.

1914 June 16
B G Tilak Realeased from Jail.

1914 Aug 4
Out Break of the First World War.

1914 Sep 29
Komagatu ship reaches Budge Budge

1915 Jan
Gandhiji arrives in Delhi.

1915 Feb 19
Death of Gopal Krishna Gokhale.

1916 April 28
Tilak found the Home Rule League with its HQ at Poona.

1916 Sep 25
Another Home Rule League started by Annie Besant

1917 April
Gandhi Launches the Champaran Campaign in Bihar to focus attention on the grievances of indigo planters.

1917 Aug 20
The Secretary of State for India, Montagu, declares that the goal of British Govt in Ind is the introduction of Responsible Govt.

1918
Beggining of Trade Union Movement In India.

1918 April
Rowlatt Committee Submits its Report. Rowlatt Bill introduces in Feb 1919.

1919 April 6
All India Hartal over Rowlatt Bill.

1919 April 13
Jallianwala Bagh Tragedy.

1919 Dec 5
The House of Commons Passed the Montagu Chelmsford Reform or the Govt of India Act,1919. The new reforms under this act came in peration in 1921.

1920
First Meeting of the All India Trade Union Congress.(Narain Malhar Joshi)

1920 Dec
The INC adopts the Non Cooperation Resolution (Started in Aug 31 1920)

1920-22
The Non coperation Movement suspended on Feb 11 12, after the voilent incidents at Chauri Chaura on Feb 5 1922.

1922 Aug
Moplah rebellion on the Malabar Coast.

1923 Jan 1
Swarajist Party formed by Motilal Nehru and others.

1924
The Communist Party of India starts its activities first at Kanpur.

1925 Aug
Kakori Train Conspiracy

1927 Nov 8
The British PM Annouces the appointment of the Simon Commission to suggest future constitutional reforms in India.Simon Commission arrives in Bombay on Feb 3 1928 and all India Hartal.Lala Lajpat Rai assaulted by police at Lahore.

1928
Nehru Report Recommends principles for the new constitution of India . All Parties Conference considers the Nehru Report Aug 28

1928 nov 17
Death of Lala Lajpat Rai.

1929
Sarda Act Passed prohibiting marriage of girls below 14 and boys below 18 of age with effect from 1930.

1929 Mar 9
All Parties Muslim Conference formulates the Forteen points under the leadership Of Jinnah.

1929 April 8
Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt drops bombs on Central Legislative Assembly.

1929 Oct 31
Lord Irwin's Announcement that goal of British policy in India was the grant of Dominion status.

1929 Dec 31
the Lahore session of INC adopts the goal of complete independece-poorna Swaraj for India.

1930 Jan 1
Nehru hoists the tricolour of Indian Independence on the banks of Ravi at Lahore.

1930 Jan 26
First Independence Day Observed.

1930 Feb 14
The working committee of the INC meets at Sabarmati and passes the civil Disobedience resolution.

1930 March 12
Gandhi Launches the Civil Disobedience movement with his epic Dandi March (March 12 to April 5),First phase of the C D Movement March 12 1930 to March 5 1931.

1930 Nov 30
First round table conference begins in London to consider the report of Simon.

1931 March 5
Gandhi Irwin Pact signed , Civil Dosobedience Movement Suspended.

1931 March 23
Bhagat Sing, Sukh Dev and Rajguru Executed.

1931 Sep 7
Second Round Table Conference.

1931 Dec 28
1930 Mar 12 Gandhi Launches the Civil Disobedience movement with his epic Dandi March (March 12 to April 5),First phase of the C D Movement March 12 1930 to March 5 1931.

1932 Jan 4
Gandhiji Arrested and imprisoned without Trial.

1932 Aug 16
British Prime minister Pamsay Macdonald annouces his infamous "Communal Awards".

1932 Sep 20
Gandhiji in jail begins the epic fast unto death against teh Communal Awards and the fat on sep 26 after the Poona Pact.

1932 Nov 17
The IIrd RTC begins in London.

1933 May 9
Gandhiji released from prison as he begins the fast for self purification .INC suspends C D Movement but Authorizes Satyagraha by ndividuals.

1934
Gandhiji withdraws from active politics and and Devote himself to Constructive programmes.

1935 Aug 4
The GOvt India Act Passed.

1937
Elections held in India Under the Act of 1935 (Feb 1937).The INC contest election and forms ministries in 7 provinces.

1938 feb 19-20
Haripura session of INC Subhas Chandra Bose elected Congress President.

1939 March 10-12
Tripura session of INC.

1939 April
Subhash Chandra Bose resignd as the president of INC.

1939 Sep 3
Second World War.

1939 Oct 27
the INC ministries in Province.

1939 Nov 5
The congress ministries in province resign in protest against the war policy of British Govt.

1939 Dec 22
The Muslim League observes the resignation of the congress minister as the Deliverance Day.

1940 March
Lahore session of the Muslim League passes the Pakistan Resolution.

1940 Aug 10
Vice roy Linlithgow annouces the August Offer.

1940 Aug 18-22
The congress working committe rejects the August Offer.

1941 Jauary 17
Subhas Chandra bose escapes from India Arrives in Berlin (March 28).

1942 March 11
Churchill annonces the Cripps Mission

1942 Aug 7-8
The INC meets in Bombay Adopts Quit India resolution.8

1942 Aug 9
Gandhiji and other Congress leaders arrested.

1942 Aug 11
Quit India Movement begins the great August Uprising.

1942 Sep 1
Subhas Chandra Bose establish the Indian National army (Azad Hind Fauz)

1943 oct 21
Subhash Chandra bose proclaims the formation of Provisional Government of free India.

1943 Dec
Karachi session of the Muslim League adopts the slogan Divide and Quit.

1944 June 25
Wavell calls Simla Conference in a bid to form the Executive Council of Indian Political leaders.

1946 Feb 18
Mutiny of the Indian Naval Ratings in Bombay.

1946 March 15
British P M Attlee annonces Cabinet Mission to propose new solution to the Indian Deadlock Cabinet Mission Arrives in New Delhi (March 14) issue proposal (May 16)

946 July 6
Jawaharlal Nehru takes over as Congress President.

1946 Aug 6
Wavell invites Nehru to form an Interim Govt Interim Governmnet takes office.(Sep 2).

1946 Dec 9
First session of Constituent Assebly starts .Muslim League boycotts it.

1947 Feb 20
British PM Atlee Declared that the british govt would leave India not later than june 1948.

1947 March 24
Lord Mountbatten the last British Viceroy and Governor Genral of India sworn in (March 24 1947 to june 21 1948).

1947 June 3
Mountbatten Plan for the partition for the partition of India and the annoucement (june 4) that the transfer of power will take place on Aug 15.

1947 Aug 15
India wins Freedom.

Pubad qustion Analysis

2009-12-22T15:32:00.003+05:30

Theory
1. "Not to be comparative is to be naively parochial" (Riggs). Comment.
2. Taylor’s scientific management ignored social and psychological factors. Comment.
3.Analyze McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y. Do you agree with the view that with every passing year, McGregor's message has become more relevant and more important? Substantiate your answer. 60
4.calling woodrow wilson, the father of public administration is doing injustice to equally or even more eminent contributions made prior to him. comment.
5.mary parker follett was far ahead of her times. discuss.
truly comparitive administration studies are empirical, nomothetic & ecological. (riggs) in this perspective, examine the current status of comparitive public administration.
6.Critically examine the Classical Science of Administration with special reference to its criticism by Dwight Waldo and Robert Dahl. 60
7.The main problem with Mary Parker Follett’s work is that her idealism is showing. Explain.
8.If public administration is to play a major legitimizing role in governing our complex society, it needs to be more fully conceptualized. Discuss.
9. "No science of public administration is possible unless.... there is a body of
comparative studies from which it may be possible to discover principles and
10."Administrative question are not political questions." Discuss.
11."Organisation is a system of consciously coordinated activities or forces of two or more persons." Comment.
12. In Follett's view, "authority belongs to the job and stays with the job."
13. "The failure of classical science of administration lies in its capacity to
confront theory with evidence." Discuss.
14.Give an account of major landmarks in the growth of the discipline of public administration in the 20th century. What are the possible trends in its growth in the first decades of 21st century? (60)
15. "Weberian model of bureaucracy lacks empirical validity when applied to modern democratic administration." Examine.
16. "The new public administration (NPM) is an incarnation of a new model of public sector management in response of the challenge of liberalization, international competitiveness and technological changes". Explain.
17. How did Fred W. Riggs conceptualize the interactions between administration systems and their environment? (60)
18. Compare Abraham Maslow's theory of motivation and Herzberg's motivation-hygiene theory. Do you think that they are universally applicable? If so, why? If not, why not? (60)
19. Describe the evolution of the discipline of public administration with special emphasis on post - 1970 developments. (60)
20. Explain the contribution of George Elton Mayo to the development of the Human relations school. How did behavioral scientist modify his basic findings? (60)
21. Critically examine the approach and methodology adopted by Fred W. Riggs in his study of prismatic and sala societies. What is valid-content of Raj Krishna's criticism of refraction ? 60
22) "Political environment conditions administrative system." - (F. W Riggs) 20
23) "A science of administration would be a body of for mal statements describing invariant relationships between measurable objects, units, or elements. 24.Unquestionably, administrative research has produced definite precepts and hypotheses that are applicable to concrete situations."(Fritz Morstein Marx) 20
25. "... The paradigms of public administration may be understood in terms of locus an focus." - Golembiewski
In the light of the above statement describe the "five-paradigms" of Nicholas Henry about the evolution of the discipline of public administration. 60
26."Administrative efficiency is enhanced by keeping at a minimum the number of organizational levels through which a matter must pass before it is acted upon." - (Herbert A. Simon) 20
27. "a more thorough consideration leads to the understanding that communication, authority, specialisation and purpose are all aspects comprehended in coordination." - (Chester I. Barnard) 20
28."Political environment conditions administrative system." - (F. W Riggs) 20
29. "... The paradigms of public administration may be understood in terms of locus an focus." - Golembiewski, In the light of the above statement describe the "five-paradigms" of Nicholas Henry about the evolution of the discipline of public administration. 60
30. Critically examine the approach and methodology adopted by Fred W. Riggs in his study of prismatic and sala societies. What is valid-content of Raj Krishna's criticism of refraction ? 60
31 “ ….. non –western states often , If not always , have unbalance politics , but these may not necessarily be bureaucratic politics.” Discuss.
32. From Woodrow Wilson to Herbert Simon most writers on public administration have taken the achievement of efficiency as the central objective. Justify the statement with reference to the work of major writers. 60
33) Which of the model(s) in development administration is / are characterised by ‘ Selectivism’ , ‘ Attainment’ and ‘Poly-functionalism’ ? Describe the corresponding theoretical roots and attributes.
34. It is said that “ the perspective of public administration ,developed over a century , with a tradition of management of Public institution and services has received a jolt from the novelty of New Public Management”.
Bring out the core values,approaches and assumptions of traditional public administration and show how the new Public Management has attempted to change or retain them , and to what extent.60
35.“ The Field of Public Administration is a field of business.”( Woodrow Wilson )
36.“ New Public Administration is …… a revolution or radicalism in words , and ( at best ) status –quo in skills or technologies.”
37.“ Taylor’s contribution was not a set of general principles for organizing work efficiency , nut a set of operating procedures that could be employed in each concrete situation to secure their application.”
38.“ The Barnard – Simon Theory of organization is essentially a theory of motivation.”
39. “Technically, the bureaucracy represents the purest type of legal rational authority” 30
40). “Bureaucracy does not represent the only type of legal authority” 30

Public vs pvt & PSU
1.Public and Private Administrations are two species of the same genus, but they also have special values and techniques of their own. Comment.
2."The advent of the concept of "roll back of the state" since the nineteen eighties has been altering the role of public administration but certainly not diminishing its central place in human society." Discuss
(3) "The rule of public sector has been changing tremendously in the context of liberalization.
4."Though there are certain points of similarity between public and private administration yet no private organization can ever be exactly the name as a public one". Examine.
5."Public corporations are not an end in themselves but an extension of the government activities designed to promote public welfare." - Substantiate.
6."Public undertakings no longer occupy commanding heights".
7. Discuss the major problems of management and working of Public Sector Undertakings in India. Give suggestions in the light of liberalization policy to improve their performance.
8. Discuss the major problems of management and working of Public Sector Undertakings in India. Give suggestions in the light of liberalization policy to improve their performance.

Concepts
1. What is meant by morale? There is a belief that "morale and productivity go hand in hand and higher the morale, higher the productivity." Do you agree? Substantiate. 60
2) Delegated legislation is a necessary evil. Examine.
(3) The distinction between line and staff is relative rather than absolute. Discuss.
4. leaders do the right things, manager do them rightly. (bennis). comment.
5.What is morale? State its significance and suggest methods to foster and sustain morale in an organization. (60)
6."Administrative efficiency is enhanced by keeping at a minimum the number of organizational levels through which a matter must pass before it is acted upon." - (Herbert A. Simon) 20
7.... "a more thorough consideration leads to the understanding that communication, authority, specialisation and purpose are all aspects comprehended in coordination." - (Chester I. Barnard) 20
8. "Information constitutes the life-blood of the functioning of organization." In the light of this statement, explain the utility and importance of communication in decision-making. 60
9.“ There is no doubts that departmentalization is fraught with complexities. These are in part technical , in part political .” Discuss.
Decision Making
10.. examine the respective roles of facts & values in the decision-making process. is it possible to make value-free decisions in government system? how can government decisions be made more rational? 60mks
11)Simon’s work has had major implications for the study of public administration and the practice of public administration professionalism. Comment.
12. "Information constitutes the life-blood of the functioning of organization." In the light of this statement, explain the utility and importance of communication in decision-making. 60

Personnel
1."The widening gap in the emoluments of government employees versus the public sector corporations and private sector employees has a strong bearing on the motivation and ability to work." Comment. 60
2) "Training is essential not only for efficiency and effectiveness but also for broadening the vision of the employees." Substantiate.
3. to talk of administrative modernization & still continue with the conventional practice of personnel administration is a gross incongruity. offer suggestions to initiate radical reforms in human resource management of public administrative systems. 60mks
4) training has proved its incapacity to change the attitudes, behaviour & values of civil servants. do you agree with this statement?
5. describe the changing character & new orientations of public service in india since independence. 60mks.
(6)The generalist character of I.A.S. is its chief characteristic as well as its chief criticism. Comment.
7.To what extent has the human relations movement contributed to the knowledge and practice within the field of personnel administration? 60
8."One of the most distinctive characteristics of Indian Administrative Service is its multipurpose character."
9. Why do public organisations evaluate employees' performance? How can
performance evaluation systems affect employees' behaviour? How can
administration effectively evaluate employees? 60
10."If positions are the raw material of classification, the class is the operating unit." Discuss.
11."training is practical education in any profession, not only to improve skills but also to develop attitudes and scheme of values necessary for effective performance." Elaborate.
(12) "All India Services play a crucial unifying role in the whole administrative system of the country." Explain.
13.Effectiveness and utility of Central and State Administrative Tribunals. 20
14. What opportunities are available to All India Services and state services in career development ? Do you agree that days of generalists in modern administrative state are numbered ? 60
(15) "All India Services play a crucial unifying role in the whole administrative system of the country." Explain.
16."A middle way- should be worked out to utilize the services of both generalists and specialists for the national development."
17."Reservation policy and its implementation has had some positive impact in relative terms on the socio-economic development of the SCs and STs but it is very meagre in absolute terms. Comment.
18. It is said that ‘ position classification’, as originally conceived is sound in terms of its operational characterics , but complicated and unresponsive in practice. Why is it still considered better than other models of civil service classification ? 60

Finance
1. ''Parliamentary Departmental Committees have played their role effectively in analyzing the demands for grants." Evaluate.
What is performance budgeting? Bring out its merits, limitations and difficulties. 60
2. the bidget is more than the economic horoscope of the nation. comment.
3)Audit, like the judiciary, the executive and the legislature is one of the Important ingredients of democracy. Comment.
(4)Successfully implementing budgeting approach requires favourable incentive structures. Discuss.
(5)Audit continues to be considered as something alien, something extraneous and something of the nature of an impediment. Explain.
(6) "Public Accounts Committee conducts a post-mortem examination of Public Accounts."
(7) "Audit provides a healthy safeguard against pub1ic Money going dowm the drain." Comment.
8. Why does the issue of budgeting as politics versus budgeting as analysis remain
important in the budgeting process? Do you agree that some synthesis of the two
positions seems possible? Illustrate. 60
(9) "The budget is an instrument of coordination." .
10."The steady expansion and the gradual decline of the public sector has been one of the most conspicuous development in post-independence India. Discuss this statement and suggest measures to arrest the decline of the public sector in India (60)
(11) "Questions represent a powerful technique of parliament control over expenditure".
(12) "Legislative controls over finances are inadequate and incomplete." Comment.
13. Examine the government budget as an instrument of public policy and a local legislative control? (60)
(14) "Auditing in Government is an exercise in post-mortem". - Examine.
(15) "The role of comptroller and auditor general is a limited one."
16. Give reasons for the failure of Government of India to introduce the performance programme budgetary technique in Union Ministries. What type of budgetary system is being currently practised in India and why ? 60
17. "Among several other problems, the Problem of financial relationship is perhaps the most complex one." Explain in the context of recent developments in Union-State relations in India.
18.Budget as an instrument of socio-economic transformation. 20
19.. Give reasons for the failure of Government of India to introduce the performance programme budgetary technique in Union Ministries. What type of budgetary system is being currently practised in India and why ? 60
20. "Among several other problems, the Problem of financial relationship is perhaps the most complex one." Explain in the context of recent developments in Union-State relations in India.
21. Examine the role of Finance Ministry of the Union Government in designing and implementing monetary and Fiscal 30

Accountability
1.''If information is power, nothing can perhaps empower a citizen more than the secret and developmental information held by various public authorities." Analyse the merits and demerits of RTI Act, 2005 in the light of this statement. 60
(2) Define Civil Society. Is it an effective organ to control administrative machinery? Comment. 10
3.'Right to information promotes transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority . Explain. 60
4) right to information act has led to greater transparency & accountability of administration. comment.
5) instruments of public accountability can be truly effective only if the people & their associations, backed by a responsible media, are assertively pro-active. comment.
6.to claim that a company / a corporation form is always more effective than a departmental form of organisation is an outdated view. the real test of a sound structure is its capacity to balance decisional autonomy & operational flexibility with optimal accountability. critically examine this statement. 60mks
7) e-governance has the potentially to emerge as the most effective instrument of efficiency, transparency & accountability. comment.
8.Lok-Ayuktas are judicial institutions without adequate teeth. Comment. 60
9.Define the term ˜civil society’. How does civil society influence the public policy? 60
(10)Autonomy and accountability in Public Enterprises cannot walk together. Explain.
11."The Lokayuktas in States have not succeeded in tackling maladministration,
while the Bill on Lokpal still faces stiff oppostion on the floor of the Parliament."
12. What are the various institutional devices available for the redressal of citizen's grievances against the excess and malfunctioning of administration? How successful have they been (60).
(13) " A distinctive feature of the Indian Administration, since independence, has been the noticeable efforts under taken to make administrative system effectively reach and respond to citizen's grievances."
(14) 'Citizen's charter' is the most important innovation in the context of promotion of customer-orientation of administration". Discuss.
(15) The doctrine of political neutrality and anonymity is no more relevant to modern civil service." - Comment.
(16) "Civil society exists to ensure that government does provide good governance." Discuss.
17. "The weakest aspect of Indian Administrative System is utter disregard of accountability." Examine the current mechanism for enforcing accountability. What steps are necessary to make it more effective ? 60
18. Do you think that our administration is sensitive to public grievances ? Discuss the existing grievances redressal mechanism and give suggestions for enhancing its capabilities.
(19) Judicial control over administration in India and concept of judicial activism.20
20. "The weakest aspect of Indian Administrative System is utter disregard of accountability." Examine the current mechanism for enforcing accountability. What steps are necessary to make it more effective ? 60
21) “The weakest aspect of Indian Administration is grievance redressal machinery.” Discuss.
22. “ There is no basic contradiction between Civil Service neutrality and Civil Service activism.” Comment.

Reform & E-gov
1) "'Memorandum of understanding scheme' between govemment and public enterprise has forced public undertakings to improve the overall performance." Comment.
(2) "The blame for our poor public sector performance can be laid on the way our bureaucracy is structured." Comment.
3) "A well-designed module-based training for Civil Servants is the best way to achieve the goals of good governance." Analyse.
4. National Commission to review the working of the Constitution has suggested revolutionary changes in administrative culture. Analyse its major recommendations on Civil Services and Administration. 60
5. Bring out the various techniques of 0 & M adopted in India to improve efficiency in administration. 60
(6) "Implementing a public policy is a process of discovering what works and what does not." Examine.
(7)All efforts in the field of reforms in public administration by the political executive have resulted in no significant output. Comment.
8.Discuss the main approaches to increase the efficiency of government and public administration. 60
(9)The rise of information technology is an opportunity to overcome historical disabilities. Explain.
10."Efforts made towards administrative reforms so far have been lacking in a congruence between strategy, structure and substance."
11. In what ways and how can information technology playa crucial role in effective
government-citizen interaction in the context of good governance 60
12."The size of the leviathan goes on expanding, despite the country's recent commitment to downsizing or rightsizing".
13. Examine the needs and facets of administrative reforms in the fast changing scenario of the 21st century. What are the obstacles to administrative reforms? Give suggestion to overcome them. (60)
14."Organization today seems to invest in information and information systems, but their investments often do not seem to make sense". Comment.
15.Account for the increasing corruption in administration. Suggest remedies to curb administrative corruption. (60)
16."Information technology, if properly used, can bring about sweeping changes in the nature of governance in India." Discuss the current status and future possibilities about the use of information technology in the governance of India
17.The problem of administrative improvement in India are longer and more complex than in any other country in the world". Comment (30)
18.Work study and work-measurement in Indian Administration. 20
19."Most administrative reforms have a political cost."
20.Work study and work-measurement in Indian Administration. 20
21. In your view , which have been the five most important administrative reforms implemented after Independence? What has been their impact?
22). Briefly discuss the main recommendations of any two of the followings :30 i). Paul Appleby ( 1953 and 1956 )
ii). Santhanam Committee
iii). Hota Committee
iv). Sixth Pay Commission
23). “ The Recommendations of the second Administrative Reform Commission on reforming the Civil Service are radical yet implementable.” Do you agree? 30
24) “Administrative talent of a minister determines his success.”
25.“ A fix tenure in Civil Service postings can increase productivity , accountability and probity in Government.”
26.Do you agree with the view that citizen’s Charters in India have not succeeded in their objective of making of administrative system citizen –centric ? Analyze and give your suggestions in this regard. 30
27.“ Technical like PERT and CPM help in effective office management.” Elaborate.
policy
1.laxity in monitoring & evaluation can render even the best policies infructuous. discuss.
(2)Nothing comes across more strongly than the great naivete about policy implementation. Discuss.
3. Give an assessment of the processes of policy formulation and discuss the
problems of policy implementation. 60
4. Comment on the role of public administration in policy making and its implementation. What are the other factors influencing the policy process? (60)
5."Public policy is what politics is about". - Substantiate.
6.“ …….. even if policies are well organized , efficiently operated ,idely utilized , adequately financed and supported , we may still ask , so what ? Do they work? …. What about their costs outputs and impact ?” Discuss.60
7) “ Yehezkel Dror’s normative models of policy making tend to be academic in perspective with poor operational utility.” Comment.
Evolution or History
1."Kautilya was not only the foremost politico-administrative thinker of Ancient India but he was an advocate and preacher of moral values too." Comment.
2) some features of mugal administration, in essence, do wxist in indian administration. elaborate.
(3)In the happiness of his subjects lies the king’s happiness; in their welfare his welfare. Comment on Kautilyan state administration. In what respects is modern democratic rulers’ behavior different from Kautilyan rulers?
4."The Mughal Administrative System was a military rule by nature and was
centralized despotism."
5.generalities that transcend national boundaries and peculiar historical
ecperiences." Discuss.
6."The Arthashastra is India's oldest complete text on public administration".
7."All Indian service is an institution - is the result of history".
8."The period of British rule generated most of the structural and behavioural values of Indian Administration not by imitation but through interaction."
9."The period of British rule generated most of the structural and behavioural values of Indian Administration not by imitation but through interaction."
10.“Bureaucracy developed by the British stifled the village self rule.” Comment.
11) “Comment on the view that despite different contexts, administrative maxims of 12.Kautilya’s Arthashatra bear considerable similarity with features of Weber’s ideal bureaucratic model.
Development administration
1."Social (Welfare) Administration in India is witnessing specialization and faster expansion of its administrative agencies." Evaluate. 10
2."People's participation is crucial to development administration." Comment.
in certain discources, there is a reflected basic distrust against bureaucracy as an instrument of development. do you think bureaucracy is more appropriate for regulatory administration than for development administration? in the changing profile of development administration in a liberalizing environment , what role of bureaucracy can be envisaged?
3.the shift from the nehruvian to the liberalisation model of development has necessitated reinventing government. commnet.
4. there is constant & continous collision between bureaucratic values & democratic values which adversly affects & development. in the light of this statement examine the role of bureaucracy in development. 60mks
5. good economics & bad politics cannot coexist in a sound budgetary process. discuss this statement in the context of the developmental challenges in countries experiencing competitive politics. 60mks
6) training of civil servants for capacity building should be in consonance with the needs of the socio-economic & technological development of the country. explain.
7. in the last two decades, almost all countries of the world have experienced transformations in their administrative systems. explain this phenomenon with examples from the developed & the developing nations in the context of new public management movement. 60mks
8.Do you agree with the view that development administration has in recent years lost its impetus without making any significant intellectual breakthrough? Discuss.60
9."Development administration is starved for theories which will guide the
pooling of empirical knowledge, orient new research, and recommend
administrative policy." .
10."In-service training of officers belonging to higher civil services has been perhaps the most conspicuous development in Indian administration." Discuss with reference to raining designed for the Indian administrative service officers.
11."development administration has two important aspects viz. 'the administration of development and the development of administration'. Explain.
12."NGOs are fast replacing the government in the implementation of a large number of programs." Elucidate.
13. "After independence, despite the change in socio-economic and political milieu, the basic features of colonial impact on administration continues to exist in our administrative system." Comment. (60)
14."Development administration is concerned with maximizing innovation for development." - Discuss.
(15) "Culturally sanctioned values and symbols have acted as important influencing catalyst in administration". Elaborate (30)
16. What opportunities are available to All India Services and state services in career development ? Do you agree that days of generalists in modern administrative state are numbered ? 60
17."A middle way- should be worked out to utilize the services of both generalists and specialists for the national development."
18. Self-Help Groups ( SHGs ) enables women to realize their full potential in some spheres of life.
19). Self-Help Groups ( SHGs ) are providing avenues of political mobilization. Examine the implication of these two statements and assess the potential of SHGs for development. 60
Union
1. There is a separate Central Ministry or Department on each subject allocated to State List. Does it mean supremacy of the Union Government or an emphasis on development administration? Analyze. 60
(2) Critically analyse the functions and role of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment with regard to development of disabled persons in India in not more than 200 words. 40
3. what are the tension areas in union-state relations in planning?
4) Critically evaluate the policies of the Union Government with regard to the welfare of women and children of India in not more than 200 words.
(5) "A strong PMO is a salvation for any Indian Prime Minister, but concentration
of power is a danger to democracy."
6. "The Cabinet Secretariat provides the eyes and ears for the Prime Minister to
keep in touch with the process of official business in Central Government."
7."From highly centralized planning system, India has moved towards indicative
planning under which long-term strategic vision of the future is built and nation's
priorities are decided." Elucidate. 60
8."Despite all the powers that he has, the Indian prime minister cannot become a dictator.
9. "Indian planning is highly centralized."
10. The central secretariat is a policy formulating, coordinating and supervisory agency besides being the principal executive agency of the government." - Explain (30)
11."Though the dictatorship of the Cabinet is a stark reality in modern times, it does not mean that the Cabinet is omnipotent."
12. "The leadership qualities of a civil servant are tested most during his tenure as the Cabinet Secretary - a dream-post for even-bureaucrat.- Elucidate.
13. "Though the dictatorship of the Cabinet is a stark reality in modern times, it does not mean that the Cabinet is omnipotent."
14. "The leadership qualities of a civil servant are tested most during his tenure as the Cabinet Secretary - a dream-post for even-bureaucrat.- Elucidate.
15.compare Chief Secretary vs Cabinet Secretary. 30
State
1.''The dispute between Secretariat and Directorate is the result of Generalist us Specialist controversy." Analyse. 60
2) district administration is like a small tortise carrying the load of an elephant. discuss.
3) discuss the problems in the planning process at the state & sub-state levels.
4) the chief minister is the real executive of the state, whose effectiveness is largly related to his personality trait & equation with central leadership. explain & illustrate with relevant examples. 60mks.
5.The District Collector, the additional Deputy Commissioner and Sub-Divisional Officer, have virtually become ‘officers-in-attendance’ and have lost initiative and independence of judgement . Comment. 60
6. "The Chief Minister symbolizes ruling power structure and is the real executive
head of the State Government." Discuss the above statement in the light of his
position in a Coalition Government.
7."The primary emphasis in District Administration has to be on implementation of development programmes in cooperation with active support of people." Elucidate.
8."The District Collector is an overburdened officer due to the expansion and
increasing developmental activities."
9."district collector has increasingly become multi dimensional".
10) "It is at the district level that the common man comes into direct contact with the administration." Elucidate. (30 x 2 = 60)
(11) "Collector is the representative of the state government in the district and also represents public interest". Comment (30).
(12) "It is a major challenge to balance the role of District Collector with the powers of democratic bodies."
13) "In the Chief Secretary, the State Government has an officer whose counterpart does not obtain in the Union Government.' Elucidate.
14."Maintenance of law and order is a State subject but the Union Government can deploy armed forces in any State."
15."It is a major challenge to balance the role of District Collector with the powers of democratic bodies."
16."In the Chief Secretary, the State Government has an officer whose counterpart does not obtain in the Union Government.' Elucidate.
17) . “Law and order problems of the twenty first century cannot be tackled through legislations and structures of the nineteenth century.” Give suggestions for transforming the law and order machinery at the State level. 30
18). Discuss the relationship between governance and development in any one Indian state , giving illustrations. 30
19. Do state Services suffer in comparison with All India and Central Services ? Suggest measures for enhancing the role , competence and impact of state services. 30
20)What measures have been taken by the Union and the States for the Welfare of women in the profession of sex?
(21)What concrete steps have been taken by the Union and the State Governments to protect child labour and prevent abuse of children?40+10+10=60
22."Women's development programs of recent have shifted from welfarist approach to empowerment of women". Elaborate (60).
23) "Reservation policy and its implementation has had some positive impact in relative terms on the socio-economic development of the SCs and STs but it is very meagre in absolute terms. Comment.
Constitution
1."The President of India acts like grandparent in a family. If younger generation does not follow his/her advice, he/she is just unable to do anything." Comment.
2."Because of several judicial pronouncements, Governors in States are no longer viewed as agents of the 'Party in Power' at the Central level." Evaluate.
3.The role played by the National Human Rights commission in Maintaining and preserving dignity of India’s citizens has been satisfactory and up to the expectations. Elucidate. 60
(4)Not the Potomac, but the Thames, fertilizes the flow of Yamuna. In the light of the statement comment on the symbolic institution of the President of India.
5.Indian Prime Minister should not only be accountable to the Indian Parliament but should appear to be so. Comment on the accountability of the Prime Minister to the Indian Parliament in the context of extra-constitutional power. 60
6)The basic values of the Constitution of India enshrine social, political and economic philosophy symbolizing sovereignty of the people, rule of law and basic characteristics of a socialist, secular, democratic republic. comment.
(7)By taking some offices out of the jurisdiction of the Office of Profit Act, the Government of India has doubly assured the public mind of its duplicity. Comment.
8.The main problem of Centre-State relations in India is bottlenecks in fiscal federalism. Comment. 60
(9) "The veto-power of the Indian President is a combination of the absolute,suspensive and pocket veto."
10."The role played by Central and State Governments in maintaining law and-order is inadequate and unmatched to growing criminalization."
(11) "National Development Council is criticized as an usurping authority -functioning as a virtual supercabinet." . 30 x 2 = 60
12.What is judicial activism? How far has it been successful in exercising a check over administration? 60
(13) "Though India emerged as a sovereign state after independence, the administrative system remained the same as was during the British period".
14. "Looking back to our past experience, the fear that the emergency provisions can be misused have at times proved right and wrong at other times. Discuss with examples. (60)
15) "Article 163 makes the governor the sole judge in matters in which he is required to act in his discretion." Explain.
(16) "Criminalization of politics in India has been extended to politicization of criminals. Comment.
(17) Indian federalism is described as federal in form but unitary in spirit.
Analyze the constitutional political and operational dimensions of employer-employee relations. What are your suggestions to bring about a satisfactory relationship between them? (60)
(18) "National development council has virtually become a super-cabinet and tries to arrogate itself the functions of parliament.
(19) "National Development Council, it seems, is like a super-Cabinet."
20"Indian Constitution confers vast legislative powers on the President."
(21) Judicial control over administration in India and concept of judicial activism. 20
22."Maintenance of law and order is a State subject but the Union Government can deploy armed forces in any State."
23). “ Value of Indian administration must be rooted in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution.” Discuss. 30
24). “Many of the programmes of development being implemented at the state and the local level have been initiated or financed by the Union Government. This has transformed the nature of Indian federalism.” Critically examine this asessment. 30
25. “ The National Human Rights Commissions has done a commendable job in developing job in developinga sense responsibility among organization towards the protection of human rights.” Comment on this assessment. 30
Local Administration
26."73rd Constitutional Amendment has provided permanent structural framework to PRI's resulting into silent social revolution." Comment. 60
27.''In spite of having Constitutional status the District Planning Committee is not able to implement decentralized planning due to centralized nature of economic planning." Comment.
28.economic development & social justice are the hallmarks of the 1992 constitutional amemndment acts. elucidate.
29.in urban governance, uni-funtional agencies & development authoritiesz create a "functional jungle. explain.
30.what are the basic hurdles & pitfalls in the implementation of the national rural employment guarantee act?
31.new localism is identifies with the new local-state & local activism. examine how this has impacted city management in india.
(32)The 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments are major landmarks in India’s Constitutional History and Local Governance. Comment.
33. "Even after a decade of having adopted the 73rd Amendment to the Constitution,
the Panchayat Raj institution still faces a number of problems towards making it a
strong and vibrant unit of Government." Comment.
(34) "Rural and urban development programs have gained in importance, but implementation has been a failure."
35. The role of local self-government in the state administration is of considerable importance. Evaluate the statement in the context of the 73rd and 74th amendments made. (60).
36.“ Sound municipal governance requires a cadre of specilised municipal services executives equal in status to state services.”
Adjudication
37.Today the content of administrative law is driven primarily by the scope of public administrative activity. Explain. 60
38."Today the content of administrative law is driven primarily by. the scope of
public administration activity." . 60
39. "dicey was wrong not only in his concept of the rule of law, but he also overlooked the significance of the administrative law". - Comment.
40.Effectiveness and utility of Central and State Administrative Tribunals. 20
International
1."The value premises of our constitution in the era of global constitutionalism."
2."the machinery for welfare administration at the national and state level trickling down to grassroots becomes meaningless in the context of global constitutionalism. - Discuss (60)
3. Do you agree that globalization, liberalization and privatization policies are going to change the very fabric of Indian Administration? What, according to you, are the major challenges before it in the 21st century?
4.Do you agree that globalization, liberalization and privatization policies are going to change the very fabric of Indian Administration? What, according to you, are the major challenges before it in the 21st century?

Distaster of Management
b1. in india, there appears to be more disaster of management than management of disaster. comment.
2.“ India has failed to devise a long term strategy for drought management.”

This excellent job done by Mrunal Patel

LokAdalat

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Lok Adalat (people’s courts), established by the government, settles dispute through conciliation and compromise. The First Lok Adalat was held in Chennai in 1986. Lok Adalat accepts the cases which could be settled by conciliation and compromise, and pending in the regular courts within their jurisdiction.

The Lok Adalat is presided over by a sitting or retired judicial officer or other person of respect and legal knowledge as the chairman, with two other members, usually a lawyer and a social worker. There is no court fee. If the case is already filed in the regular court, the fee paid will be refunded if the dispute is settled at the Lok Adalat. The procedural laws, and the Evidence Act are not strictly followed while assessing the merits of the claim by the Lok Adalat.it make processes fast.

Main condition of the Lok Adalat is that both parties in dispute should agree for settlement. The decision of the Lok Adalat is binding on the parties to the dispute and its order is capable of execution through legal process. No appeal lies against the order of the Lok Adalat.
(not even in supreme court)
Lok Adalat is very effective in settlement of money claims. Disputes like partition suits, damages and matrimonial cases can also be easily settled before Lok Adalat as the scope for compromise through an approach of give and take is high in these cases.

The focus in Lok Adalats is on compromise. When no compromise is reached, the matter goes back to the court. However, if a compromise is reached, an award is made and is binding on the parties. It is enforced as a decree of a civil court. An important aspect is that the award is final and cannot be appealed, not even under Article 226 because it is a judgement by consent. All proceedings of a Lok Adalat are deemed to be judicial proceedings and every Lok Adalat is deemed to be a Civil Court.

Lok Adalat is a boon to the litigant public, where they can get their disputes settled fast and free of cost.

High Court

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The High Courts
• The High Courts stands at the head of the judiciary in a State.
• There shall be a High Court for each State (Article 214).
• The Judiciary in the States consists of a High Court (and two or more states have 1 common high court) and the Subordinate Courts.
• The Parliament can, however, establish by law, a common High Court for one or more State(s) and one or more Union Territory (Article 231).
• Every High Court shall be a Court of record (Article 215),

Appointment of the Judges

Every High Court consists of a Chief Justice and such other Judges as appointed by the President from time to time (Article 216). The Constitution, unlike in the case of the Supreme Court, does not fix any maximum number of Judges for a High Court. Apart from appointing the Judges of the High Courts, the President has the power to appoint:
1. Additional Judges for a temporary period, not exceeding two years, for the clearance of arrears of work in a High Court.
2. An acting Judge, when a permanent Judge of a High Court (other than a Chief Justice) is temporarily absent or unable to perform his duties or is appointed to act temporarily as the Chief Justice.
An acting Judge holds office until the permanent Judge resumes his office. Neither an additional nor an acting Judge can hold office beyond the age of 62 years (now 64 years).
• While appointing a Judge of a High Court, the President is to consult the Chief Justice of India, the Governor of the State and the Chief Justice of that High Court in the matter of appointment of a Judge other than the Chief Justice.

Qualifications for Appointment as a Judge of a High Court

The qualifications required under the Constitution for a person to be appointed as a Judge of a High Court:
a) must be a citizen of India; and
b) must have held a judicial office in the territory of India for at least ten years; or
c) must have been an advocate of a High Court or two or more such Courts in succession for atleast ten years.

Provision for Independence of the Judges of the High Court

The Constitution seeks to secure the independence of Judges of the High Courts in the following ways:
• A Judge of a High Court can only be removed by the President on an address of each House of the Parliament, passed by not less than two-third of the members present and voting and by a majority of that House only on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity.(impeachment)
• After retirement, a Judge of a High Court cannot serve in any Court or before any authority in India except in the Supreme Court and a High Court other than the High Court in which he had held the office.
• Their salaries and allowances cannot be changed to their disadvantage after their appointment except during a Financial Emergency.
• Their salaries and allowances are charged on the Consolidated Fund of State and are not subject to vote in the State Legislature.
• The conduct of the Judges of the High Courts cannot be discussed in the Parliament, except on a resolution for the removal of the Judges.
Transfer of a Judge from one High Court to another

• A Judge of a High Court can be transferred without his consent by the President (Article 222).
• Consultation with the Chief Justice of India must be full and effective.
• All relevant facts relating to the transfer of a Judge of a High Court must be provided to the Chief Justice of India.
• The opinion provided by the Chief Justice shall have primacy and is binding on the President.

Jurisdiction of the High Court

1. Original Jurisdiction
• In their judicial capacity, the High Courts of \ Presidency towns (Bombay, Calcutta and Madras) have both original and appellate jurisdictions, while other High Courts have mostly appellate jurisdiction.
• Only in matters of admiralty, probate matrimonial and contempt of Court, they have original jurisdiction.
• The Presidency High Courts have original jurisdiction in which the amount involved is more than Rs 2,000 and in criminal cases which are committed to them by the Presidency Magistrates.

2. Appellate Jurisdiction
• As Courts of appeal, all High Courts entertain appeals in civil and criminal cases from their subordinate Courts as well as on their own.
• They have, however, no jurisdiction over tribunals established under the laws relating to the Armed Forces of the Country.

3. Writ Jurisdiction
• Under Article 226 of the Constitution, the High Courts are given powers of issuing writs not only for the enforcement of the Fundamental Rights, but also for other purposes.
• In exercise of this power, a Court may issue the same type of writs, orders or directions which the Supreme Court is empowered to issue under Article 32.
• The jurisdiction to issue writs under this Article is larger in the case of High Courts, for which the Supreme Court can issue them only where a Fundamental Right has been infringed, a High Court can issue them not only in such cases, but also where an ordinary legal right has been infringed.

Administrative functions of the High Courts

• The High Courts control and supervise the working of the Courts subordinate to them and frame rules and regulations for the transaction of their business.
• Under Article 227, every High Court has the power of superintendence over all the Courts and tribunals except those dealing with the Armed Forces functioning within its territorial jurisdiction.
• In exercise of this power, the High Court may:
i) call for returns from such Courts;
ii) make and issue general rules and prescribe forms for regulating the practice and proceedings of such courts;
iii)prescribe forms in which books and accounts shall be kept by the offices of any such Courts, and
iv) transfer cases from one Court to another.
• Under Article 235, the High Courts exercise control over the District Courts and the subordinate Courts in matters of posting, promotion etc.
• According to Article 229 of the Constitution, every High Court has been ensured a complete control over the members of its staff.
• The Chief Justice of the High Court is empowered to appoint officers and servants of the Court.

Judiciary in India - Supreme Court

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JUDICIARY
• Unlike the distribution of legislative and executive powers between the States and the Union, the Indian Constitution does not adopt a similar division of judicial powers; the judicial system in India is unified and integrated.
• Of The three organs of the State, the judiciary enjoys supreme position in the Constitution.
• In order to maintain the supremacy of the Constitution, there must be an independent and impartial authority to adjudicate on the disputes between the Centre and the State/ States or between the States.

The Supreme Court
• The Constitution consists provisions related to the Union Judiciary in Art. 124-147.
• Initially, there was a Chief Justice and seven other Judges in the Supreme Court.
• The number of the Judges excluding the Chief Justice was increased to 25 in 1985.
• At present, there is one Chief Justice and 30 other Judges in the Supreme Court.
• The power to increase or decrease the number of Judges in the Supreme Court rests with the Parliament.
• The President, if deems fit, may appoint ad hoc Judges in the Supreme Court.
• The senior most Judge of the Supreme Court is appointed as the Chief Justice of India.(it is convection not rule)
• The Judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President after consultation with such Judges of the Supreme Court and of the High Courts as the President may deem necessary.
• In the appointment of a Judge, other than Chief Justice, the Chief Justice of India shall always be consulted.
• Article 129 of the Constitution declares that the Supreme Court shall be a Court of record and shall have all the powers of such a Court including the power to punish for contempt of itself.

Qualifications for the Appointment as a Judge of the Supreme Court

A person shall not be qualified for appointment as a Judge of the Supreme Court unless he:
a) is a citizen of India, and
b) has been for atleast five years a judge of a High Court or a two such Courts in succession; or
c) has been for atleast ten years an advocate of a High Court or of two or more such Courts in succession; or
d) is, in the opinion of the President, a distinguished jurist.

• Every person appointed to be a Judge of the Supreme Court shall, before he enters upon his office, make and subscribe before the President an oath of affirmation according to the form set out in the Third Schedule of the Constitution.
• The Constitution does not prescribe time limit for a Judge to occupy his office.
• A Judge of the Supreme Court continues to hold the office till(or say retire) he attains the age of 65 years.
• A Judge of the Supreme Court may tender his resignation to the President even before he is reaches age of 65 years.

Salary and Allowances
• There is difference in salary between Chief Justice of India and other judges.
• Besides the salary, they are entitled to a rent free accommodation and other allowances.
• The Parliament has the power to regulate the salary and allowances of the Judges and other allowances of a Judge during his term of office.
• The only exception is that during financial emergency, the salary and other allowances of the Judges can be reduced.
• The salary and other allowances of the Judges are charged upon the Consolidated Fund of India.
• A Judge of the Supreme Court, after retirement, shall not do legal practice in any Court in the territory of India and shall not plead before any authority under the Government.

Rules of Procedure
The Constitution mentions the following rules of procedure to be followed in the functioning of the Supreme Court:
• The Judgements of the Supreme Court shall be delivered in an open Court only.
• The report on the advisory opinion of the Court shall be made in an open Court.
• The Judgement of the Supreme Court shall be delivered with the concurrence of the majority of the Judges presenting the hearing of the case.
• The Judge who does not concur with the majority judgment, has the right to give a dissenting opinion.
• In the following cases, the matter shall be decided by a bench of not less than five judges: if
a) the case involves the interpretation of the Constitution.
b) it involves a substantial question of law.
c) the matter has been entrusted by the President to the Supreme Court for its consideration.

Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court
The Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court are fivefold viz. Original, Writ, Appellate, Advisory and Revisory jurisdictions.

1. Original Jurisdiction
• The Original Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court as a federal character.
• It has the exclusive authority to decide any dispute involving a question of law or fact between the Government of India and one or more states or between two or more States inter se.
• According to the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956, the Original Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court does not extend to dispute that arises out of any provision of a treaty, agreement, covenant, management etc. which has been entered into or executed before 26th January, 1950, and has been continued in operation after that, or which provides that the said jurisdiction shall not extend to such a dispute.
• There are certain provisions in the Constitution which exclude from the Original Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, certain disputes, the determination of which is vested in other tribunals:
a) Disputes specified in the provision to Article 363(1).
ii) Complaints as to interference with Inter-State water supplies, referred to the statutory tribunal mentioned in Article 262 (since the Parliament has enacted the Inter-State Water Disputes Act 1956).
ii) Matters referred to the Finance Commission (Article 280).
iii) Adjustment of certain expenses between the Union and the State (Article 290).

2. Writ Jurisdiction
• Article 32 imposes duty on the Supreme Court to enforce the Fundamental Rights.
• Under this Article, every individual has a right to move the Supreme Court dried there has been any infringement on his Fundamental Rights.
• The Writ Jurisdiction sometimes is referred to as the Original Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, but in the strict sense, Original Jurisdiction relates to the federal character of the Constitution.

3. Appellate Jurisdiction
The Appellate Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court is three fold:
a) Constitutional: In the Constitutional matters, an appeal lies to the Supreme Court if the High Court certifies that the case involves a substantial question of law as to the interpretation of the Constitution.
• If the High Court refuses to give the certificate, the Supreme Court may grant special leave for appeal if it is satisfied that the case does involve such a question.
b) Civil: In civil cases, an appeal lies to the Supreme Court if a High Court certifies that the value of the subject matter of the dispute is not less than Rs 20,000 or that the case is fit for appeal to the Supreme Court.
• The appellate jurisdiction of the Court in civil cases can be enlarged if the Parliament passes a law to that effect.
c) Criminal: In the criminal cases, an appeal lies to the Supreme Court if the High Court-
i) has on appeal, reversed the order of acquittal of an accused and sentenced him to death; or
ii) has withdrawn for trial before itself any case from any subordinate and has in such trial convicted the accused and sentenced him to death; or
iii) certifies that the case is fit for appeal to the Supreme Court.
• The Appellate Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court in criminal matters can be extended by the Parliament, subject to such conditions and limitations as may be specified therein.
• The Supreme Court under Article 136 enjoys the power of granting special leave to appeal from any judgment, decree, order or sentence in any case or matter passed by any Court or tribunal except court martial’s.

4. Advisory Jurisdiction
• One of the salient features of the Supreme Court of India is its consultative role (Art 143).
• The President can refer to the Court either a question of law or a question of fact, provided that it is of public importance.
• However, it is not compulsory for the Court to give its advice.
• The President is empowered to refer to the Supreme Court for its opinion (under An 138), disputes arising out of any treaty, agreement etc., which had been entered into or executed before the commencement of the Constitution.
• In such cases, it is obligatory for the Courts, under the Indian Constitution, to give its opinion to the President.

5. Revisory Jurisdiction
• The Supreme Court under Article 137 is empowered to review any judgement or order made by it with a view to remove any mistake or error that might have crept in the judgement or order.
• This means that even though all the judgements and orders passed by the
Supreme Court are binding on all the Courts of India, they are not binding on the Supreme Court.

Removal of the Judges of the Supreme Court
• The Constitution under Article 124(4) provides that a Judge of the Supreme Court can be removed by the President after an address by each of the House of the Parliament supported by a majority of the total membership of that House and by a majority of not less than two-third of the members of that House present and voting, on the ground of proved misbehavior or incapacity.
• The Parliament under Article 124 (5) may, by law, regulate the procedure for the presentation of an address and for the investigation and proof of the misbehavior or incapacity of a Judge. Accordingly, the Parliament in 1968 passed the Judges (inquiry) Act.
• Under this Act, a motion seeking the removal of a Judge can be preferred before either House of the Parliament.
• If it is to be introduced in the Lok Sabha, it should be signed in by not less than 100 members of the Lok Sabha.
• If it is to be introduced in the Rajya Sabha, the motion should be signed in by not less than 50 members.
• The motion can be moved only after a prior notice of 14 days to that Judge.
• After being properly introduced, the presiding officer of that House appoints a three-member Judicial Committee to inquire into the misbehaviour or incapacity of the accused Judge.
• The head of the Judicial Committee shall be a serving Judge of the Supreme Court.
• Of the other two members, one should be a serving member of the Supreme Court or a High Court and another one may be an eminent jurist.
• The Judge in question has the right to defend himself or through his counsel before the Judicial Committee.
• The Committee submits its report to the presiding officer of the House in which the motion has been introduced.
• The Parliament may or may not act upon the report of the Judicial Committee.
• If the Judicial Committee fail to establish proof of misbehavior or incapacity, the Parliament cannot take up the motion.
• If the motion is passed by the originating House with the required majority, it moves to the other House which should also pass the motion with the same majority.
• After that it goes for the assent of the President in the same session of the Parliament. If the address has been passed, then the President removes the Judge in question from the House.

Revision temperature,wind and atmosphere

2009-12-18T23:18:00.002+05:30

Temperature is affected by:
l)Latitude: at high latitude(means at hilly places or extreme north-south) there is low temperature and at low latitude(platuea,plains or near equator), there is high temperature due to longer and shorter distances. Thus equator will be affected due to isolation(sun rays) or sunstroke and tropics will be most affected between 6° north- 6° south. Because the vertical motion is relatively rapid during its passage over the equator(i.e it fall straight in equator region), but its rate slows down as it reaches the tropic(as it get bend or tilted);

2)Altitude: places near the earth's surface(land) are warmer, thus the temperature decreases with the increasing height above the sea level because of the lapse rate i.e. every 1 km decreases by 6.5 degree c.

3)Continentality:
Continental Climate: summer - 70 degree F; winter - 28 degree F; range - 42 degree F.;
Maritime Climate: summer -62 degree F; winter- 48 degree F; range - 14 degree F.
4)Oceanic Currents and Winds

PRESSURE and PLANETARY WINDS
1) O'-5"degree North and South:
► Called Equatorial Low Pressure Belt;
► Intense heating, with expanding air and ascending convection currents;
► It is the closest point to the sun, therefore, the air is relatively more hot due to which, the air becomes less denser, lighter and moves upward.
► It is called DOLDRUMS or calm;
► It is a Zone of Wind Convergence.

2) 10*-15° North and South:
► Due to high pressure belt around this area, there is subtropical high pressure belt where the air is comparatively dry, light and calm.
► This is very beneficial in maritime trade, hence, is called maritime trade.
Since the air becomes hotter at the equator, it raises upward and around 30 degree north and south starts coming down. Due to this, a high-pressure belt is created. Hence, horse latitude i.e. 25° -35° north and south, no wind blows.

3) 30°- North- South:
► Subtropical High Pressure Belt;
► Air is comparatively dry and winds are calm and light.
► It is a region of descending air currents of wind divergence with cyclonic activity;
► Referred as HORSE LATITUDE.

4) 30°-60° North and South:
► It is the area of temperate low pressure belt or the antitrade wind area. There is rainfall all round the year and cyclones and anti-cyclones are developed.
► Comparatively, anti-trade winds are faster in southern hemisphere than in the northern;
► Due to Coriolis force, they become South Westerlies in the north and North Westerlies in the south.
In the southern hemisphere, due to oceans between 40 degree-60 degree South Westerlies blow with much greater force with regularity throughout the year. Here three types of winds are found:- Roaring 40s, Furious 50s, and Shrieking or Storming 50s.

5) 60°-North-South:
► Two Temperate Low Pressure Belts which are also zones of convergence with cyclonic activity;
► The sub-polar low pressure areas are best developed over oceans.

6) 90°-North-South
► Temperatures are permanently low, are the Polar High Pressure Belt.

HORSE LATITUDE -The dynamically induced subtropical high pressure belt ex-tends between 30°-35° (25°-35°) latitudes in both the hemispheres.
-This belt separates two wind systems, viz. trade winds and westerlies.
-This zone 30°-35° is characterized by weak and variable winds and calm. -It is known as horse latitude because of the fact that in ancient times had be sailed through the calm conditions of these latitudes.

DOLDRUM
-A belt of low pressure, popularly known as equatorial trough of low pressure, extends along the equator within a zone of 50 degree North and 50 degree South latitudes. This is the belt of calm or doldrums because of light and variable winds. -This belt is subjected to seasonal and spatial variations due to northward and southward movement of the overhead sun (summer and winter solstices).

Polar Belt:
Temperature is permanently low, so this region is the high pressure belt. In the northern hemisphere, they blow north east and in southern hemisphere, south east. The polar easterlies blows towards the temperate low pressure belt. They are extremely cold as they come from Tundra and Icecap region. They are more regular in the south than the north.

Planetary Winds
Winds tend to blow from the high pressure belts to the low pressure belts, are the planetary winds.

Coriolis Force or Ferrel's Law of Deflection:
► Instead of blowing directly from one pressure belt to another, however the effect of the rotation of the earth (Coriolis force) tends to deflect the direction of the winds. In the northern hemisphere, winds are deflected to their right and in the southern hemisphere to their left.
► This is known as Ferrel's Law of Deflection.
► The Coriolis Force is about along the equator but increases progressively towards the Poles.

Trade Winds:
► These winds blow out from the Sub-Tropical High Pressure Belt in the northern hemisphere towards the Equatorial low become North East Trade Winds and those in the southern hemisphere become the South East Trade Winds. These trade winds are the most regular of all the planetary winds.
► They blow with great force and in constant direction.
► Therefore , helpful to traders to sail. Trade winds bring heavy rainfall.
► They sometimes contain intense depressions.
► The word 'trade' comes from the Saxon word'tredan' which means to tread or follow a regular path.
► They blow from north -east towards the equator, in the northern hemisphere and from south-east towards the equator, in the southern hemisphere.

Permanent Winds
They blow throughout the equator.

Westerlies:
► From the Subtropical High Pressure Belts, winds blow towards the Temperature Low Pressure Belts.
► Under the effect of Coriolis Force(bcoz of earth rotation), they become the South-Westerlies in the northern hemisphere and North-Westerlies in the southern hemisphere.
► This warming effect and other local pressure differences have resulted in a very variable climate in the temperature zones, dominated by the movement of cyclones and anti-cyclones.
► In the southern hemisphere, where there is a large expanse of ocean, from 40 degree south to 60 degree south; westerlies blow with much greater force and regularity throughout the year.
► There is much variation in the weather conditions in their poleward parts where there is convergence of cold and denser polar winds and warms and lighter westerlies.
► Their velocity increases south ward and they become stormy. They are also associated with boisterous gales. The velocity of the westerlies became so great that they are called:
(a)Roaring forties between the latitudes 40-50 degree S;
(b)Furious fifties at 50 degree South latitude; and
(c)Shrieking sixties at 60 degree S'latitude.

Polar Easterlies:
► It blows from the Polar Easterlies towards the Temperate Low Pressure Belts.
► It is extremely cold winds as it comes from Tundra and Ice-Cap regions. thats is why It is more regular in the south(antratica) than in the north.
► It is defected to the right to become the N.E. Polar Winds in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left to become the S.E. Poter Winds in the Southern Hemisphere.
► These polar cold winds converge with warm westerlies near 60-65 latitudes and form polar front or mid-latitude front or mid-latitude front, which becomes the centre for the origin of temperate cyclones.

Fohn and Chinook:

Fohn is a warm, dry and local wind- Northern Alps- Switzerland in spring; and called climate oasis.

Chinook is a warm, dry and local wind- Eastern slopes in Rockies in USA and Canada in winters.
► It increases temperature 35 degree F within 15 minutes.
► It causes Avalanches.(An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, from either natural triggers or human activity)
► In North America, it is called Chinook, meaning 'the snow eater'.
► Chinook winds are more common during winter and early spring along the eastern slopes (leeward side) of the Rocky Mountains from Colorado (USA) in the south to British Columbia (Canada).

Sirocco:
Sirocco is a warm, dry and dusty local wind, which blows in northerly direction from Sahara desert(noth africa) and after crossing over the Mediterranean Sea, reaches Italy and Spain,
► Becomes extremely warm and dry while descending through the northern slopes of the Atlas Mountain.
► It is known as Khamsin in Egypt; Gibli in Libya; Chili in Tunisia; Simoom in Arabian Desert; Blood Rain in South Italy; Leveche in Spain; Gharbi in Adriatic and Aegean Sea.

Mistral:
► It is a cold wind which blows in Spain and France from North-east direction; especially in winter
► The average velocity of mistral is 56-64 km/h to 128 kmph

Bora:
► Bora is an extremely cold and dry north-easterly wind in Adriatic Sea, with a velocity of 128 kmph to 196 kmph
► It is also called Tramontana and Gregale.

Harmattan:
► It is warm and dry winds blowing from north-east and east to west in the eastern part of Sahara desert.
► Called as Doctor in Guinea coastal of Western Africa
► Called Brickfielder in Victoria in Australia; Blackroller in the Great plains of USA; Shamal in Mesopotamia; Norwester in New Zealand.

Blizzard:
► It is a violent stormy cold and powdery polar wind laden with dry snow and is prevalent in North and South polar regions, Siberia,-Canada and the USA.
► Northers in the Southern USA and Burran in Siberia.

Tropical Cyclones
Typhoons:
. It occurs mainly in the region 6 degree and 20 degree North and South of the equator and are most frequent from July to October. It's velocity is 100 m.p.h. Torrential downpour is accompanied by Thunder and Lightening.
Hurricanes:
. Same feature, but only differs in intensity, duration and locality. It has calm, rainless centres, where pressure is lowest.
Tornadoes:
. Its velocity is 500 m.p.h. It appears as a dark funnel cloud. 250-1400 ft. in diameter. It is most frequent in spring.

International borders

2009-12-18T23:10:00.003+05:30

Indian States International Boundaries-
1. Bordering Pakistan- Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat.
2. Bordering China- Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh.
3. Bordering Nepal- Bihar, Uttarakhand, UP, Sikkim, West Bengal
4. Bordering Bangladesh- West Bengal,Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura,Mizoram
5. Bordering Bhutan- West Bengal, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam
6 Bordering Myanmar- Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram
7 Bordering Afghanistan- Jammu and Kashmir (Pakistan - occupied area)

Do refer Atlas with this info useful for understanding geo-political construct of India

Revision of president

2009-12-18T22:49:00.003+05:30

1.Qualification

. Must be a citizen of India.
. Completed 35 yrs in age.
. Eligible to be a member of Lok Sabha.
. Must not hold any Government post.
Exceptions:
President and Vice-President.
Governor of any State.
Minister of Union or State.(as this offices is not consider as office of profit)

2.Election

. Indirectly elected through 'Electoral College' consisting of Elected members of both the Houses of Parliament & Elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States. (No nominated members).

. Supreme Court inquires all disputes regarding President's election.
. Takes OATH in presence of Chief Justice of India, or in his absence, senior most judge of Supreme Court.

3.Term and Emoulment

. 5 year term
. Article 57 says that there is no upper limit on the no. of times a person can become President.
. Can give resignation to Vice President before full-term.
Present Salary including allowances & emoluments charged on Consolidated fund of India

4.Impeachment

. Quasi-judicial procedure.
. Can be impeached only on the ground of violation of Constitution.
. he impeachment procedure can be initiated in either House of the Parliament.

5.Vacancy

. In case the office falls vacant due to death, resignation or removal, the Vice-President acts as President. If he(vice-president) is not available then Chief Justice, if not then senior-most judge of Supreme Court shall act as the President of India.
. The election is must be held within 6 months of the vacancy.

7.Powers
EXECUTIVE
. Appoints PM, ministers, Chief Justice & Judges of Supreme Court & High courts, Chairman & members of UPSC, Comptroller and Auditor General, Attorney General, Chief Election Commissioner and other members of Election Commission, Governors, Members of Finance Commission, Ambassadors, etc.
. Appoints Finance Commission (after every 5 yrs) that recommends distribution of taxes between Union & State govts.

PARLIAMENT
. Can summon & prorogue the sessions of the 2 houses & can dissolve Lok Sabha.
JUDICIAL

. Appoints the Chief Justice and the judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts.
. Can pardon,respite,reprive,commute etc punishment including capital sentence i.e death punishemnt.

EMERGENCY
The President can promulgate 3 types of Emergencies:
. National Emergency (Article 352)
. State Emergency also known as President's Rule (Article 356)
. Financial Emergency (Article 360)

MILITARY
. He is the Supreme Commander of the Defence Forces of India.
. President appoints Chiefs of Army, Navy & Air Force.
. Declares wars & concludes peace subject to the approval of the Parliament.

revision of governor

2009-12-18T22:37:00.003+05:30

1.Qualification

· Citizen of India

· Completed 35 yrs of age.

· Shouldn't be a member of either house of parliament or the State legislature.

· Must possess the qualification for membership of State Legislature.

· Mustn't hold any office of profit.

2.Status

· Nominal executive in States.

· Normally each State has its own Governor, but under the Seventh Amendment Act 1956, the same person can be appointed as Governor of one or more States or Lt. Governor of the Union Territory.

· Appointed by the President on the recommendations of Union Council of Ministers.

· His usual term of office is 5 yrs but he holds office during the pleasure of the President. He can be asked to continue for more time until his successor takes the charge.

· Can give his resignation or can be removed earlier by the President. The legislature of a State or a High Court has no role in the removal of a Governor.

· Salary from the Consolidated Fund of the State and is not subject to the vote of the State Legislature. When the same person is appointed as the Governor of two or more States, the emoluments and allowances payable to him shall be allocated among the States in such proportion as determined by the President of India.

· His oath is administrated by the Chief Justice of the concerned State High Court and in his absence, the senior - most of that state High Court.

3.Powers

EXECUTIVE
· Appoints Chief Minister, Council of Ministers, Chairman & members of State Public Service Commission, Advocate General of the State and Election Commissioner of the State.

PARLIAMENT
· Summons, Prorogues, dissolves and send messages to the State Legislature.

JUDICIAL
· President consults Governor while appointing Chief Justice and other judges of High Court.i.e President appoint not governor
. Governor appoints judges of courts below the High Court.i.e subordinates courts
. Can pardon,reprive,respite,commute etc punsihment but except capital punishment.i.e death punishment

Agent to President
· Reports to the President if the State Government is not running constitutionally and recommends the President's rule (Article 356). When the President's Rule is in progress, he becomes the 'Agent of the Union Government in the State'. He takes over the reigns of administration directly into his own hands and runs the State with the aid of the Civil Servants.

Current

2009-12-16T14:42:00.002+05:30

[After RTI] Two Great Reforms coming-Compulsory Voting & Services

Service level Agreement (SLA) in Delhi

Feature
in short, if officer doesn't give you

1. birth /Death certi,
2. BPL/ Ration card card/
3. Caste/ Domicile certi

etc. within the stipulated time, he'll have to pay fines from his salary!!

How it works?

1. All branches departments will be connected with ICT (Info.communication tech.)
2. The moment a Department accepts your application for some service, the timer starts ticking
3. your application will be sent to the concenrned branch
4. if the officer fails to provide the service within that timer, penalties will be put on his salary.

Who is the brain behind it?
PM and PMO

Why only Delhi

* Because many servies fall in the hands of States like registration of FIRs etc
* So Centre can't coerce them to make laws for it.

When will this be implemented?

* PMO is making the draft, this is going to be implemented soon.

Compulsory Voting in Gujarat for PRI & ULB

* PRI = Panchayati Raj institution
* ULB= Urban local bodies

Feature:-

* ‘duty to vote’’ will apply to all qualified voters for municipal corporations, municipalities, district, taluka and village panchayats.
* if you don't vote in the election of PRI / ULB, you'll be made ineligible for Govt. schemes etc.
* negative voting if the voter does not wish to vote for any of the listed contestants.

What if you don't vote?

* voter failing to turn up to vote will be declared ‘‘defaulter’’.
* you'll be given one month's time to explain yourself in front of the election officer (show some Medical certi. etc crap)
* if the Election officer finds your explaination unsatisfactory, you'll be made ineligible for
* below poverty line (BPL) card,
* government service,
* subsidised loan,
* (i wish they added more punishment in this. because posh people doesn't need most of above things !)

Can you skip voting?
yes you can if

* you are physically incapable due to illness, or
* absent on the date of election from the country or the state of Gujarat.

When will this be implemented?

* Today,Gujarat Govt. will table the bill in Vidhan-Sabha (State Legislative Assembly) and it'll be passed soon.

Important topic to understand Indian Polity

2009-12-15T22:11:00.004+05:30

1.ConstituentAssembly :
Formation,Members,Election,Dis cussions,Decisions,Committes, Adoptation, Commencement-Preamble
2.StatesNewFormation :
Part ABCD States,Reorganisation Act, Linguistic State,Formation-Parliament-Art 3 and 4-Cessation
3.Citizenship :
Citizenship Act 1955-5, methods of Acquiring,Loosing
4.Fundamental Rights :
Definition of Fundamental-Constitutional-Human Rights-6 Kinds-Available to Citizens only-Suspension of-5 kinds of Writs-Public Interest Litigation-Art 12-35
5.Directive Principles :
Defn-Difference from Fundamental Rights,Welfare State, Art 40,43,44,45,46,50,51-Uniform Civil Code
6.Fundamental duties :
Art 51 A-10 concepts added through 42nd Amendment
7.President :
Election,Qualfn and disqualfn-Powers-Privileges-Impeachment-Art 74 -Not controlled by Art 74
8.Parliament :
2 Houses, Qualfn,Disqualfn,Defection, SpeakerCommittes, Joint Sitting,Privilege,Money Bill Ordinance Making Power of President
9.Supreme Court :
Chief Justice and Others-Qualfn-Appointment-Removal-Adhoc Judges-Original, Appellate Jurisdiction-Special Leace Petition-Advisory Opinion-Judicial Precedent
10.CAG :
Appt-Powers-Constitutional Safeguard-Jurisdiction
11.Governor :
Appt-Qualfn-Tenure-Powers-How better placed than President,Art 200 Ordinance
12.State Legislature :
Two Houses-Qualfn-Disqualfn-Powers-Creation or Abolition of Council
13.Judiciary :
Qualfn-Removal -Art 226-Subordinate Judiciary
14.Panchayat :
Art 243 a to end -Municipalities-Panchayat Raj-Importance of 73rd and 74th Amendment
15.State - Central Relationships :
Legislative Relations-Art245-255-When Union can enact on State List-Traty Making Power.Administrative Relations-Art 256-263-Inter State water Dispute-Inter State CouncilsFinancial-Art 264-300-Sharing of Taxes-FinCommn
16.New Service :
Art 312-Powers of Rajya Sabha-AI Judicial Service
17.UPSC :
Art 315-323-Set Up-Qualfn-Powers and Functions
18.Tribunals :
Art 323A &B-Administrative-Other tribunals
19.Election Commission :
Art 324-329-Powwrs-Electoral Laws-People Rep Act-New Schemes
20.Minorities :
Art 330-342-Special Provisions Relating toBC, SC ,ST and other Weaker Sections
21.Official Language :
Art 343-351-Official Languages-Use of English-Languages in Courts-Mother Tongue Education
22.Emergency :
3 Kinds of Emergencies-Art 352-360-National-Effects-When can proclaim,Duration Art356-Effects-S.R.Bommai's CaseArt
23.Misc :
Art 316-367
24.Amendments :
Art 368-3 Methods-Special Majority-Ratification by States-Judicial Review-Basic Structures-42nd
25.Schedule 1
Number of States and UT-Art3&4-No amendment
26.Schedule 2
Salaries of High Dignitaries
27.Schedule 3
Forms of oath
28.Schedule 4
Representation of States in Rajya Sabha
29.Schedule 5
Administration of Scheduled Areas-Art 244
30.Schedule 6
Administration of Tribal Areas-Art 244(2) and 275(1)
31.Schedule 7
Union -State-Concurrent Lists-Subjects-Art 246
32.Schedule 8
Official Languages-18-Art 344(1) and 345
33.Schedule 9
Art31B-Validity excluded from Court's Review
34.Schedule 10
Anti Defection-Art 102 and 191-Exemptions
35.Schedule 11
Panchayat Raj-243 G
36.Schedule 12
Municipalities-243W

read each topic in detail to understand polity

Insurance Industry

2009-12-13T23:38:00.000+05:30

Insurance Industry - the story so far

Opening Up Insures Competition

Almost a decade back, in 1999 December, the government decided to amend the Insurance Act and allowed entry to private players in the industry. The entry of private sector galvanised the industry, and even forced the Life Insurance Corporation, which had a virtual monopoly 1956 onwards, to innovate and rise to the challenge.

PRIVATE PLAYERS INVITED

In the year 2000, the Insurance Act of 1938 was amended and a new regulator for the sector, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), was appointed. IRDA started issuing licences to private life insurers with FDI up to 26% from the same year Today there are 23 life insurance companies in India, including the state-owned Life Insurance Corporation.

INSURANCE PENETRATION SO FAR

Before the entry of private insurance players the insurance penetration in India was a less than 2%. In a decade of private presence, it has more than doubled as intense competition and high pitch sales have increased awareness and brought down premiums. The gather more market share, private insurers came out with new products including Unit Linked Products, currently commanding 75% of life insurance market. The latest product to get approval of IRDA was the Universal Life Product.

KEY ISSUES

Insurance penetration is still weaker than other Asian nations, which have reached 8-10% of the GDP.

Distorted commission structure has caused rampant misselling, positioning insurance mostly as a savings product.

Though life insurance has a wider reach in terms of people covered, even those having life cover are under insured.

The concept of protecting loss of earnings for the dependents is still not appreciated.

Though tariffs have fallen, a meaningful insurance cover is out of reach for a vast majority of Indians.

Low-income groups do not have many choices.
LIC continues to lead the way with over 60% market share despite intense competition.

Hike in the FDI cap to 49% is yet to happen as the insurance amendment bill, which was first tabled in the Parliament in 2005, is yet to be passed.

The industry needs capital to expand, as life insurance is a long-gestation business

There is no clarity on M&A regime or the norms for raising equity from public.

Many insurance companies are facing problems due to capital constraints as they are not allowed to raise debt and due to the 26% FDI cap, the domestic promoters have to meet the lion's share of capital infusion.
from gscurentaffair

Women and related social issues

2009-12-11T21:01:00.002+05:30

Social Problems Faced by Women

Dowry

Max Radin has defined dowry as the property, which a man receives from his wife or her family at the time of his marriage. Dowry may be broadly defined as gifts and valuables received in marriage by the bride, the bridegroom and his relatives.

The amount of dowry is regulated by factors like boy's service and salary, social and economic status of the girl's father, the social prestige of the boy's family, educational qualifications of the girl and the boy, girl's working and her salary, girl's and boy's beauty and features, future prospects of economic security, size and the composition of the girl's and boy's family and factors like that. What is significant is that girl's parents give her money and gifts not only at the time of her wedding but they continue to give gifts to her husband's family throughout the life.

McKim Marriott holds that the feeling behind this is that one's daughter and sister at marriage become the helpless possession of an alien kinship group and to secure her good treatment, lavish hospitality must be offered to her in-laws from time to time.

One of the causes of dowry is the desire and aspiration of every parent to marry his daughter in a higher and a rich family to keep up or to add to his prestige and also to prove comforts and security to the daughter. The high marriage- market values of the boys belonging to rich and high social status families have swelled the amount of dowry.

Other cause of the existence of dowry is that giving dowry is a social custom and it is very difficult to change customs all of a sudden. The feeling is that practicing customs generates and strengthens solidarity and cohesiveness among people.

Many people give and take dowry only because their parents and ancestors had been practicing it. Custom has stereotyped the old dowry system and till some rebellious youth muster courage to abolish it and girls resist social pressures to give it, people will stick to it.

Amongst Hindus, marriage in the same caste and sub-caste has been prescribed by the social and religious practices with the result that choice of selecting a mate is always restricted. This results in the paucity of young boys who have high salaried jobs or promising careers in the profession.

They become scarce commodities and their parents demand huge amount of money from the girl's parents to accept her as their daughter-in-law, as if girls and chattel for which the bargain has to be made. Nevertheless, their scarcity is exacerbated and aggravated by the custom of marriage in the same caste.

A few people give more dowries just to exhibit their high social and economic status. Jains and Rajputs, for example, spend lakhs of rupees in the marriage of their daughters just to show their high status or keep their prestige in the society even if they have to borrow money.

The most important cause of accepting dowry by the grooms' parents is that they have to give dowry to their daughters and sisters. Naturally, they look to the dowry of their sons to meet their obligations in finding husbands for their daughters.

For instance, an individual who may be against the dowry system is compelled to accept fifty to sixty thousand rupees in cash in dowry only because he has to spend an equal amount in his sister's or daughter's marriage. The vicious circle starts and the amount of dowry goes on increasing till it assumes a scandalous proportion.

Child Marriages

Many people marry their daughters in childhood to escape from dowry, and pre-puberty marriage is an evil in itself. On maturity, the boys may or may not be able to adjust with their wives. This crisis situation is by no means left behind after the child marriage is consummated on attaining maturity. If by chance a husband becomes educated or professionally trained and his wife remains uneducated, both partners face crises.

Death During Childbirth

Early marriage exposes women to longer childbearing period. This means greater health hazards to women and children. Several studies show that teenaged mothers risk to health for both themselves and their children. This risk is further enhanced by poor nutrition.

Various surveys indicate that women's caloric content is about 100 calories (per women per day) less than they spend, whereas men show an 800 caloric surplus intake. Women expend a great deal of energy working inside and outside the house, whereas they often have insufficient food.

Customarily they often eat after the men and other members of the family have eaten. The lack of knowledge and improper care during postnatal period, and frequent pregnancies lead to larger fetal wastage, birth of larger number of low eight babies, and death of young women.

Neglect During Early Childhood

The neglect of the girl child starts very early in life. The extent of neglect varies from family to family depending on their economic position. But in comparison to her male counterpart a female child is relatively neglected in most of the socioeconomic strata.
Throughout the country it has been noticed that when the girl child depends on breast-feeding the chances of her survival are relatively more.
Data from various sources shows that from infancy till the age of 15 the death rate for female child far exceeds the mortality rate for male child. There are several causes underlying this. Firstly, the female children are breast fed for a far shorter period than their male counterparts.
Secondly, during illness parents show a greater concern towards male children. This neglect is quite often enforced by poor economic condition. Finally, in addition to the intake of insufficient and non-nutritious food the female child is exposed to a greater workload very early in life.
Often in families of weaker economic strength the girl child is found attending the household chores as well as taking care of her younger brothers and sisters.

Atrocities on Women

Male violence against women is a worldwide phenomenon. Although not every woman has experienced it, and many expect not to, fear of violence is an important factor in the lives of most women. It determines what they do, when they do it, where they do it, and with whom.
Fear of violence is a cause of women's lack of participation in activities beyond the home, as well as inside it. Within the home, women and girls may be subjected to physical and sexual abuse as punishment or as culturally justified assaults. These acts shape their attitude to life, and their expectations of themselves
There are various forms of crime against women. Sometimes, it begins even before their birth, sometimes in the adulthood and other phrases of life. In the Indian society, the position of women is always perceived in relation to the man, from birth onwards and at every stage of life, she is dependent on him.
This perception has given birth to various social customs and practices. One important manifestation of these customs and practices has been that of Sati. It is seen as a pinnacle of achievement for a woman. This custom of self-immolation of the widow on her husband's pyre was an age-old practice in some parts of the counter, which received deification.
The popular belief ran that the goddess enters into the body of the woman who resolves to become a sati. The practice of sati has been abolished by law with the initiative of Raja Ram Mohan Roy in the early decades of nineteenth century. However, there has been a significant revival of the practice of sati in the last few decades. Indeed, Rajasthan has been the focal point for this practice in recent years.
Violence against women both inside and outside of their home has been a crucial issue in the contemporary Indian society. Women in India constitute near about half of its population and most of them are grinding under the socio-cultural and religious structures. One gender has been controlling the space of the India's social economic, political and religious fabric since time immemorial
The condition of widows is one of the most neglected social issues in India. Because of widowhood the quality of life is lowered for many Indian women. Three percent of all Indian women are widows and on an average, mortality rate is 86 percent higher among elderly widows in comparison to married women of the same age group.
Various studies indicated that
(i) legal rights of widows are violated,
(ii) they suffer forceful social isolation,
(iii) they have limited freedom to marry,
(iv) restrictive employment opportunities for widows,
(v) most widows get little economic support from their family or from the community.

It is common to read news about violation or wrongs committed on women everyday. Our orthodox society is so much prejudiced by age-old habits and customs that a violated woman, whether she is forced or helpless, has no place in the society.
Another danger in India is that, Indian law does not differentiate between major and minor rape. In every ten-rape case, six are of minor girls. In every seven minutes a crime is committed against women in India. Every 26 minutes a woman is molested. Every 34 minutes a rape takes place.
Every 42 minutes a sexual harassment incident occurs. Every 43 minutes a woman is kidnapped. And every 93 minutes a woman is burnt to death over dowry. One-quarter of the reported rapes involve girls under the age of 16 but the vast majority are never reported. Although the penalty is severe, convictions are rare.

Marriage Legislation

In March 1961, when the bill on unequal marriages was being discussed in the Rajya Sabha, one member quoted epic against its inclusion in the institution of Hindu marriage. Dr. Radhakrishnan, the then chairman of the Rajya Sabha, had remarked: the ancient history cannot solve the problems of modern society. This is an answer in one sentence to those critics who want to maintain a gap between social opinion and social legislation.
Legislation must meet the social needs of the people; and because the social needs change, legislation also must change from time to time. The function of social legislation is to adjust the legal system continually to a society, which is constantly outgrowing that system.
The gulf between the current needs of the society and the old laws must be bridged. The laws have got to give recognition to certain de facto changes in society. One of the changes in modern India is the change in the attitude towards marriage; hence the necessity of laws on different aspects of marriage.
The laws enacted in India relate to:
(i) age at marriage
(ii) field of mate selection,
ii) number of spouses in marriage,
(iv) breaking of marriage,
(v) dowry to be given and taken, and
(vi) remarriage.
The important legislations relating to these six aspects of marriage passed from time to time are:
(i) The Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929 (dealing with age at marriage),
(ii) The Hindu Marriage Disabilities Removal Act 1946 and Hindu Marriage Validity Act, 1949 (dealing with field of mate selection),
(iii) The Special Act. 1954 (dealing with age at marriage, freedom to children in marriage without parental consent, bigamy, and breaking up of marriage),
(iv) the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (dealing with age at marriage with the consent of parents bigamy, and breaking up of marriage)
(v) The Dowry Act 1961, and
(vi) The Widow Remarriage Act, 1856

The Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929

It came into force on April 1, 1930. It restrains the marriage of a child, though the marriage itself is not declared void. Accordingly, contracting, performing and facilitating the marriage of boys under eighteen and girls less than fourteen years of age were an offence.
The age of girls was later on raised to fifteen years. The amendment made in 1978 further rose the age for boys to twenty-one years and for girls to eighteen years. The violation of the Act prescribes penalty but the marriage itself remains valid.
The offence under the Act is non-cognizable and provides punishment for the bridegroom, parent, guardian, and the priest, which are three months of simple imprisonment and a fine of up to Rs. 1000.
No woman is, however, punishable with imprisonment under this Act. The Act also provides for the issue of injunction order prohibiting the child marriage. But no action can be taken for the offence if a period of more than one year has expired from the date of the alleged marriage.

The Hindu Marriage Disabilities Removal Act,1946
Among Hindus, no marriage is valid between persons related to each other within the prohibited degrees, unless such marriage is sanctioned by custom. However, this Act validated marriages between persons belonging to the same gotra or parivara (agnatic groups). This Act now stands repealed after the passing of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.

The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955
This Act came into force from May 18, 1955 and applies to whole of India, except Jammu and Kashmir. The word Hindu in the Act includes Jains, Sikhs, Buddhists and the Scheduled Castes.
The conditions for marriage between any two Hindus as provided in the Act are:
(i) neither party has a spouse living;
(ii) neither party is an idiot or lunatic;
(iii) the groom must have completed eighteen years age and the bride fifteen years age. The amendment in the Act made in 1978 has raised this age to twenty-one years for boys and eighteen years for girls
(iv) the parties should not be within the degrees of prohibited relationships, unless the custom permits the marriage between the two;
(v) the parties should not be sapindas of each other unless the custom permits the marriage between the two;
(vi) where the bride is under eighteen years of age and the groom is under twenty-one years of age the consent of her/his guardian in marriage must have been obtained.
The persons whose consent may be obtained in order of preference are: father, mother, paternal grandfather, paternal grandmother, brother paternal uncle, maternal, maternal grandmother and maternal uncle. No particular form of solemnization is prescribed by the Act. The parties are free to solemnize the marriage in accordance with the customary rites and ceremonies. The Act permits judicial separation as well as annulment of marriage.
Either party can seek judicial separation on any one of the four grounds; desertion for a continuous of two years, cruel treatment, leprosy, and adultery.
The annulment of marriage may be on any one of the following four grounds:
(i) the spouse must have been impotent at the time of marriage and continues to be so until the institution of the proceedings,
(ii) party to the marriage was an idiot or lunatic at the time of marriage,
(iii) consent of the petitioner or of the guardian was obtained by force or fraud. However, the petition presented on this ground will not be entertained after one years of marriage, and
(iv) the wife was pregnant by some person other than the petitioner at the time of marriage.
The dissolution of marriage may be on the grounds of adultery, conversion of religion, unsound mind, leprosy, venereal disease, renunciation, desertion for seven years, and cohabitation not resumed after two years after judicial separation.
A wife may also apply for divorce if her husband had already a wife before marriage, and he is guilty of rape or bestiality. The 1986 amendment permits divorce on the ground of incompatibility and mutual consent also. The petition for dissolution of marriage can be submitted to the court only when three years have elapsed after marriage.
This period has, however, been reduced to one year after the 1986 amendment. The divorcees cannot remarry till one year elapses since the decree of divorce. The Act also provides for the maintenance allowance during judicial separation and alimony after divorce. Not only wife but also husband can also claim the maintenance allowances.

The Special Marriage Act, 1954

This Act came into force on April 1, 1955. It repealed the Special Marriage Act, 1872 which provided a form of marriage for those who did not wish to conform to the existing forms. The 1872 Act provided that persons wishing to marry (under the Act) had to declare that they did not profess Hindu, Jain, Sikh, Muslim, Parsis, Christian or any other religion.
In 1923, an amendment was made in the Act under which a person wanting to marry (under the Act) had not to give any such declaration. Each party was simply required to make a declaration that it professed one or other religion.
The Act, thus, recognized inter-religion marriages. The conditions pertaining to age, living spouse, prohibited relationship and mental state as prescribed by the 1954 Act for marriage are the same as provided in the 1955 Act. Under the 1954 Act, a marriage officer solemnizes the marriage.
The parties have to notify him at least a month before the marriage date. One of the parties must have resided in the district in which the marriage officer's office is located.
During this one month, any person can raise objection against the marriage. If the marriage is not solemnized within three months from the date of notice, a fresh notice is required. Presence of two witnesses is necessary at the time of marriage. This Act also provides for the annulment of marriage, judicial separation, as well as divorce and alimony. The grounds for these are the same as provided in the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.

Hindu Widows Remarriage Act, 1856

From Smriti period onwards, widows were not permitted to remarry. According to Manu, a widow who marries again brings disgrace on herself; she should, therefore, be excluded from the seat of her lord. The 1856 Act removed all legal obstacles to the marriage of Hindu widows.
The object was to promote good morals and public welfare. The Act declares that the remarriage of a widow whose husband is dead at the time of her second marriage is valid and no issue of such marriage will be illegitimate.
In case the remarrying widow is a minor whose marriage has not been consummated, the consent of father, mother, grandfather, and elder brother or nearest male relative is required.
Any marriage contracted without such consent is void. However, if the marriage has been consummated, it will not be declared void. The Act forfeits the widow her right of maintenance out of the estate of her first husband.

The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961

This Act was passed on May 20, 1961. The Act does not apply to Muslims. It permits exchange of gifts for not more than Rs. 2,000. It prescribes the penalty of six month's imprisonment or a fine up to Rs. 5,000 or both for its violation. The police, on its own, cannot take any action for the violation of the Act unless some complaint is lodged with it. No action can be taken after one year of marriage.

Socio-Economic Programme

Under this programme, the Central Social Welfare Board gives financial assistance to voluntary organizations for undertaking a wide variety of income-generating activities which include the production of central components in ancillaries units, handlooms, handicrafts, agro-based activities such as animal husbandry sericulture and fisheries and self-employment ventures like vegetables or fish-vending, etc.
For production units, only women organization and organizations working for the handicapped women cooperatives and institution like jails, and Nariniketans, are eligible for grants to the extent of 85 percent of the project cost and the remaining 15 percent is to be met by the grantee institutions.
The dairy scheme focuses exclusively on women's organizations having at least 20 women members, including Mahila Mandals, Indira Mahila Kendras, Self Help Groups and organizations already assisted under STEP schemes. The benefits of the scheme are meant for women whose families are below the poverty line.

Rural women's Development and Employment Project

The Rural Women's Development and Empowerment Project (now also being called "SWA-SAKTI Project" has been sanctioned on 16 October 1998 as a Centrally-sponsored project for five years at an estimated outlay of Rs. 186.21 crore. In addition, an amount of Rs. Five crore is to be provided, over the project period but outside the project outlay, for facilitating setting up in the project States of revolving funds for giving interest-bearing loans to beneficiary groups primarily during their initial formative stage.
The objectives of the project are
(i) Establishment of self-reliant women's self-help-groups (SHGs) between 7,400 and 12,000 having 15-20 members each, which will improve the quality of their lives, through greater access to and control over, resources;
(ii) Sensitizing and strengthening the institutional capacity of support agencies to proactively address women's needs;
(iii) Developing linkages between SHGs and leading institutions to ensure women's continued access to credit facilities for income generation activities;
(iv) Enhancing women's access to resources for better quality of life, including those for drudgery reduction and time-saving devices; and
(v) Increased control of women, particularly poor women, over income and spending, through their involvement in income generating activities.
The implementing agencies will be the Women's Development Corporation of the concerned States of Bihar, Haryana, and Karnataka; Gujarat Women's Economic Development Corporation in Gujarat; M.P. Mahila Arthik Vikas Nigam in Madhya Pradesh and Mahila Kalyan Nigam in Uttar Pradesh, who will actively associate NGOs in the implementation tasks. The Government of India in the form of grant-in-aid will provide funds.
At the Central level, the Department of Women and Child Development, assisted by the Central Project Support Unit (CPSU), handle the project. NIPCCD has been identified as the Lead Training Agency, while Agricultural Finance Corporation has been contracted as the Lead Monitoring and Evaluation Agency. Both of them work in close liaison with the CPSU, under the directions of the Department.

Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas (DWCRA)

Development of Women and Children in Rural Area Programme (DWCRA) was started in September 1982 in the form of a sub-plan of Integrated Rural Development Programme. The main aim of this programme was to provide proper self-employment opportunities to the women of those rural families who are living below the poverty line, so that their social and economic standard could be improved.
The main points of this programme are as under:
1. Under this programme, the policy of making a group of 10-15 women has been adopted corresponding to the local resources, their own choices and skills to complete the economic activities.
2. The targeted women are financed by the loans and subsidies under IRDP.
3. Since 1995-96, Revolving Fund of Rs. 25,000 has been provided to each women group for meeting their working capital requirements.
4. The amount of the Revolving Fund was being shared by the Central Government, the State Government and UNICEF in the ratio of 40:40:20. Since 1 Jan. 1996 UNICEF has refused to contribute its share. That is why, now the ratio of 50:50 is being shared between the Centre and the State Government.
5. The District Rural Development Agency has the responsibility of implementing the DWCRA plan.
6. Since 1995-96 the childcare activities have also been included under DWCRA programme. For this purpose, each district has been allotted an amount of Rs. 1.50 lakh p.a. In this, the share of the Central Government will be Rs. 1 lakh and remaining Rs. 50,000 will be the share of the State Government.
7. In order to encourage the projects of DWCRA in the rural area, CAPART extends its support to the voluntary institutions also.
8. During the Sixth plan, 3,308 women group were formed under this programmes and the total number of members was 52,170. In the Seventh plan, 28,031 women groups were formed and the total number of members was 4.70 lakhs. During Eighth plan, 1, 41,397 women groups were formed with total membership of 22.67 lakh. During 1997-98, 36,436 lakh women were benefited. During 1998-99, 19,657 groups were formed in which 2.35 Lakh women were benefited. Upto March 31, 1999, 38.04 lakh women were benefited under DWCRA since its inception. Since April, 1, 1999 DWCRA has been merged with newly introduced scheme namely Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana.

Indira Mahila Yojna

The Indira Mahila Yojana (IMY) aims at organizing at the grass-root level to facilitate their participation in decision-making and their empowerment was launched on 20 August 1995, to start with, in 200 ICDS blocks. The strength of the scheme lies in the strength of group dynamics.
The objectives of the scheme are: convergence of the schemes of every sectoral department; awareness generation among the women from rural areas and urban slums; and economic empowerment of women.

Balika Samriddhi Yojana

The Balika Samriddhi Yojana (BSY) is a scheme to raise the status of the girl child. The first component of the scheme of BSY was launched with effect from 2 October 1997. Under this, the mother of a girl child born on or after 15 August 1997 in family living below the poverty line was given a grant of Rs. 500. The benefits and means of delivery have been redesigned in the current financial years.
The post-delivery grant of Rs. 500 per girl child (up to two girls in a family living below the poverty line) will be deposited in bank account in the name of the girl child or in a post office if there is no bank nearby.
In the same account will be deposited annual scholarships ranging from Rs. 300 for class I to Rs. 1,000 for class X when the girl starts going to school. The matured value of the deposits (along with interest) will be repayable to the girl on her attaining the age of 18 years and having remained unmarried till then.

National Commission for Women

The National Commission for Women was set up on 31 January 1992 in pursuance of the National Commission for Women Act 1990.
The functions assigned to the Commission are wide and varied covering almost all facets of issues relating to safeguarding women's rights and promotion. The Commission has a Chairman, five members and a Member Secretary, all nominated by the Central government.
The Commission continues to pursue its mandated activities, namely, review of legislation, interventions in specific individual complaints of atrocities and remedial action to safeguard the interest of women where appropriate and feasible.
The Commission has accorded highest priority to securing speedy justice to women. Towards this end, the Commission is organizing Parivarik Mahila Lok Adalats, offering counseling in family disputes and conducting training programmes for creating legal awareness among women.

Plan of Action to Combat Sexual Exploitation of Women and Children

The Supreme Court in a case passed an order on 9 July 1997, directing interalia the constituting of a committee to make an in-depth study of the problem of prostitution, child prostitutes and children of prostitutes and to evolve suitable schemes for their rescue and rehabilitation.
Accordingly the Committee on Prostitution, Child Prostitutes and Children of Prostitutes of commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking of women and children and children of the women victims was constituted to evolve such schemes as are appropriate and consistent with the directions given by the Supreme Court.
A draft plan of Action prepared by the Committee has been approved in a meeting chaired by the Hon'ble Prime Minister. The Plan of Action would guide the actions of the Ministries/ Departments of the Central government, NGOs, the public and private sectors and other sections of society.
The Plan of Action consists of action points grouped under prevention, trafficking, awareness generation and social mobilization, health care services, education and childcare, housing, shelter and civic amenities, economic empowerment, legal reforms and law enforcement, rescue and rehabilitation, institutional machinery and methodology.
The report of the Committee and the plan of Action to combat trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of women and children have been sent to the concerned Central Ministries/ Departments and State governments/ UT administrations for implementation of the action points.

National Women Fund

In 1992-93 a National Women Fund was established to meet the loan requirements of the poor women. This fund was established in the form of a society under the Society Registration Act by a collected sum of 31 crore rupees. This fund has given help to more than 250 non-government organizations. Women and Children Development Minister of State is the ex-official chairman of this fund.

Mahila Samridhi Yojana

With the objective of providing economic security to the rural women and to encourage, the saving habit among them, the Mahila Samridhi Yojna was started on 2 October 1993. Under this plan, the rural women of 18 years of above age can open their saving account in the rural post office of their own area with a minimum Rs. 4 or its multiplier.
On the amount not withdrawn for 1 year, 25% of the deposited amount is given to the depositor by the government in the form of encouragement amount. Such accounts opened under the scheme account opened under the scheme are provided 25% bonus with a maximum of Rs. 300 every year.
Up to 31 March 1997 2.45 crore accounts were opened under this scheme with a total collection of Rs. 265.09 crore. The Department of Women and Child Development, the nodal agency for MSY, decided in April 1997 that now new MSY accounts should be opened from 1 April 1997 onwards but the existing account could be maintained.

Climate of India

2009-12-10T16:07:00.001+05:30

The climate of India belongs to the 'Tropical monsoon type'. Although a sizeable part of the country lying north of the tropic of Cancer falls in the northern temperature zone but the shutting effects of the Himalayas and the existence of the Indian Ocean have played significant role in giving India a distinctive characteristics of Salient features of the Indian climate:
1. Seasonal Reversal of winds
Winter season Winds blow from NE to SW
Summer season Winds blow from SW to NE
2. Formation of Alternatively High and Low Pressure Areas over the land-
Winter season due to low temperature conditions high pressure area is formed. Summer season Intense heating of the land leads to the formation of thermally induced low pressure cell over NW part of the country.
3. Seasonal and Variable Rainfall
Over 80% of annual rainfall is obtained during the five month of the rainy season.
There is variability in rainfall so far time and place are considered.
There is considerable spatial variation in the general distribution of rainfall.
4. Plurality of Seasons That is constantly changing weather conditions
5. Characterized by National Calamities.-The word 'Monsoon' is derived from the Arabic word 'Mausim' Monsoon is flow pattern of the general atmosphere circulation over a wide geographical area, in which there is a clearly dominant wind in one direction in every port of the region concerned, but in which this prevailing direction is reversed (or almost reversed) from winter to summer and from summer to winter."

Concepts of the origin of Monsoon
1. Thermal concept: From Classical Theory of Hally (1686)
- Generated by the differential seasoned heating of continental and oceanic areas. High pressure is developed over the continent (near Lake Baikal and Peshawar), where low pressure over southern Indian ocean. Therefore outflow of air from the high pressure land areas to the low pressure areas resulting into NE Monsoon

2. Aerological Concept - Given by a German Meterologist R. Seherhag (1948)
According to him the changes in the direction of winds at all levels in the atmosphere are directly related to the temperature changes in the air above the friction layer.

3. Dynamic Concept-Propounded by Flohn (1951): Based on the dynamic origin of monsoons. According to him monsoon is the seasonal migration of planetary winds and presure belts following the sun. Over the land the annual temperature changes are relatively larger because of which the seasonal shifts of temperature and pressure belts amount to many degrees. 4 Due to the shifting the major part of the Indian subcontinent comes under impact of Equatorial Westerlies. During winter due to southward shifting of pressure and wind belt (he planetary system of northeast trade winds is established over the region. Hence this theory explains the existence of monsoon not by the temperature, contrasts between land and sea, but by the annual migration of thermally produced planetary winds and pressure belts.
4. Recent Concepts
(a) Jet Streams
Jet streams are high altitude geostrophic winds (i.e. blowing parallel to equator) blowing between middle latitude at high speed in a meandering course.
During winter season the upper air westerly jet streams are positioned in Asia. These are bifurcated in two branches due to Tibet Himalayan obstruction. North branch blows north of Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau. Southern branch blows south of the mighty mountains.
The southern branch inscribes an anticyclone (Clockwise) arc across Afghanistan followed by a cyclonic (Anticlockwise) are along the southern flank of the Himalayas. A high pressure system gets formed south of the jet stream over Afghanistan and NW Pakistan where air tends to subside leading to atmospheric stability and dry conditions there by causing NE winter monsoons. The jet stream helps disturbances in the NW of the subcontinent, which tend to follow paths immediately beneath the jet stream. These disturbances move long the eastern Mediterranean and into NW India appearing here as waves rather then as well developed frontal cyclones.
During summer season as sun falls vertically over the Tropic of Cancer the polar surface high pressure is weakened and upper air circum polar whirl shift northward as a result of which the upper air westerly jet are also withdrawn from southern slopes of the Himalayas.
The removal of jet stream to north of the Tibetan plateau results in reversal of the curvature of How of free air to the north and north west of the subcontinent. This event may well be the trigger that sets off the 'burst' of the monsoon.
(b) Tibet Plateau
4 In 1973, the Monsoon Expedition (MONEX) was organized under the joint auspices of the erstwhile Soviet Union and India. Experiments concluded that summer time heating of Tibetan Highland plays a dominant role in the origin of Monsoon circulation. 4 Due to its protected height Tibetan plateau receives 23°C more insolation than the neighboring areas. The plateau affects the atmosphere in two ways (a) as a mechanical barrier and (b) as a high level heat sources. Infact the plateau accentuates the northland displacement of the jet stream. 4 The summer time heating of the Tibetan Plateau makes it a high level heat source, which produces thermal anticyclone over this region, thereby weakening the western subtropical jet stream south of the Himalayas and intensifying the move of S.W monsoon.
(c) Effect because of ocean
El Nino a warm ocean current appears along the Peru coast in December. It replaces the Peru or Humboldt Cold Ocean current flowing over this region during normal years. Under normal times the layer over the eastern Pacific is cool and shallow, while over the western Pacific it is warm and deep. Such conditions are helpful for strong southwest monsoons. The appearance of El Nino reverses the conditions (warm condition over eastern Pacific and cold in western Pacific). Since El Nino represents large atmospheric perturbations to which the ocean responds with warm of colder surface temperature, it lands to extreme events, such as drought, flood and poor monsoons. The Southern Oscillation is the name ascribed to a seesaw pattern of meteorological changes that are often observed between the Pacific, the pressures over the Indian Ocean tend to be low, and vice versa. The oscillation was discovered by Sir Gilber Walker and is therefore also known as "Walker circulation". The oscillation has a period varying from 27 years. The intensity of the Southern Oscillation is measured by the difference in sea level pressures of Tahiti and Port Darwin
El Nino Southern Oscillations
(d) The Somali Current: It is one of the few currents, which reverse its direction with the overlying wind. Summer Flows northward Winters Flows southward

Weather conditions
Cold Weather Season Southerly branch of the jet stream occupies its position south of the Himalayas, which is accompanied with the restoration of light northeast trade winds (monsoons) to the surface, withdrawal of the inter tropical convergence zone, formation of anti cyclonic cell over north western India and dry weather prevailing, over most of the areas in the country

Temperature conditions: General increase of temperature from North to South, Isotherms run almost parallel to the latitudes (in January the 21 °C isotherm runs through the middle of the country connecting Tapti estuary to the Mahanadi delta) in the east. West India Punjab, Haryana West U.P and Northern Rajasthan Less than 15°C.
In South India the isotherm, tend to bend southward and run parallel to the coast. The western coast is warmer than the eastern one by about LT C. This season is characterized by the inflow of depression from the west and the North West. These low pressure systems originate in West Asia near the Mediterranean Sea and are known as Western Disturbances. Their average frequency is four to five depressions per month and highly intensified Between December and February. (Rainfall due to these disturbances is highly helpful for RABI crops) Fine weather, clear skies, low humidity, absence of rainfall, low temperature and a large diurnal variation in it are the usual features of the winter season.

-North East parts of India also get some rainfall during this season.
A low pressure area occupies the northern parts of the Bay of Bengal during October, which moves southward and get deflecting towards, the coromandal coast thereby producing rains on this coast. The presence of inter tropical convergence and the easterly depression are responsible for these rains. Hot and Dry Weather is characterized by low pressure system high temperature, unstable pressure and wind circulation. -The dust storms of Punjab and Haryana, the Loos of UP, the Norwesters (Kalbaisakhis) of W. Bengal and cyclonic depressions of the eastern coast produce a stormy and turbulent weather.

-The rains caused by thunderstorm in Karnataka are called 'Cherry Blossoms'. These are beneficial for coffee plantation. Elsewhere in South India they are known as 'Mango Showers'
- Dry and dusty westerly winds flow in the northern western parts of the country which make the outdoor life difficult are known as Loo. The Wet Season: The southern branch of the western jet is withdrawn from south of the Himalaya thereby leading to the formation of a dynamic depression over the surface thermal low. The ITC shifts northwards allowing equatorial westerlies to in the subcontinent.

- Indian subcontinent receives bulk of its rainfall (around 80%) from the southwest
- The Arabian Sea current causes rainfall all along the Western Coast, Western Ghats, Gujarat, Maharashtra, parts of M.P and Rajasthan.
- While crossing the Sahyadris (Western Ghats), the monsoonal current produce heavy rainfall on the windward and scanty rainfall on the leeward side thereby producing a rain shadow area. The rainfall is also erratic on the leeward side, which results in frequent drought in Maharashtra and Karnataka

-The Tamil Nadu coast goes dry in this season.
- The Arabian Sea branch meets the Bay of Bengal branch over ChhotaNagpur Plateau producing copious rainfall.
-Absence of moutain barrier in Kutch, parallel position of the Aravalli, effect of the hot and dry air results in failure of Arabian Sea branch to produce adequate rainfall. The Bay of Bengal branch, obstructed by the eastern hill is deflected westward towards the Ganga Plain. Entrapped in the valleys of Meghalaya, the current produces very heavy rainfall [Cherapunji (1087cm) and Mawsynram (1141 cm)]
- The weather is also affected by a number of cyclonic depressions entering the country through the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. About 20 to 25 such depressions develop during monsoon period.
- With the exception of J & K and Parts of Tamil Nadu, most of the country receives heavy rainfall.

Season of Retreating Monsoon

- South West begins to retreat from the second or third week of September.
- Unlike the Sudden burst, the retreat is highly gradual.
-The southerly branch of the jet stream returns to its winter position by October and this is
accompanied by the restoration of light North East trade winds to the surface.
- Cloudiness and moisture are low except in the southern parts of the Peninsula.
- It is this retreating monsoon which brings rain to the Tamil Nadu coast as North East Monsoon.