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Indi a i n Space : A Bag Ful l of Success 8
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CONTENTS
ARTICLES:
Cor rupt i on i n Indi a Root ed Deepl y 8
Indi a i n Space: A Bag Ful l of Success 8
CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Nat i onal Issues 12 8
Int ernat i onal Issues 16 8
Economy 21 8
Indi a & The Wor l d 31 8
Sci ence & Technol ogy 34 8
Sport s 43 8
Awar ds & Pri zes 50 8
In t he News 53 8
Bank PO Pract i ce Set 64 8
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One would say the
corruption in India
has an ancient
linkage, and it is
deeply rooted in our
tradition. The author
of the Arthasastra
made some remarks
on government officials of his time which are relevant
even today: Just as it is impossible not to taste the
honey or the poison that finds itself at the tip of the
tongue, so it is impossible for a government servant
not to eat up at least a bit of the kings revenue. These
in the post-war world became only bolder while eating
up government money and accepting bribes. A corrupt
person is termed immoral, dishonest and unscrupulous
in his dealings. His disregard for honesty,
righteousness and truth results in his alienation from
society. He is treated with contempt. But as erosion
of values leads to decadence, remedies for the social
malaise remain elusive, and so no amount of contempt
can eradicate corruption which is a symptom of
decadence.
When we ask a question to ourselves that why India
is still not a developed nation even after 60 years of
independence? Why there is not enough development
when India is having immense potential and talent at
par with any developed nation have? The answer is
very simple. The main culprit behind this situation is
widespread corruption in every field. To get an
admission in a collegeto get a legal paper from a
Government officeto get an approval for the
construction of a houseto get an electricity
connectionto do an urgent surgery for life
saving. Thus not even nook and corner of the
daily life is spared from this evil. Now, people so
adapted and well familiar with the situation and ready
to give bribe without any hesitation and accepted as
a part of the system. They also will demand bribe
when they are sitting in a decisive position. This is
the epicenter of this deadly evil which spread over
the entire system from executive to class IV level. The
only motive to become a peoples representative, a
civil servant or even an attender is how to get the
undeserved money.
The more dangourous factbribes and corruption got
reputation in society. If there is an official who dosent
accepts bribehe will be isolated even in public and
will have an image of usless person. In todays India
these officials representing all government
departments are very close to the most corrupt
businessmen who are too unscrupulous to let any
opportunity of amassing profits slip. This collusion
broadens the base of the vicious circle and corruption
spreads like wild fire to engulf the entire society. The
political and social guardians depend only too much
on the richer communities and they look indulgently
on while these communities hold the entire society
and the government to ransom.Corruption starts at the
top and percolates down to the whole society. Such
corruption cannot be confined to the towns alone. It
is as widespread in the villages where the dishonest
officials and the traders carry the germs of the disease.
Economic need and exposure to western luxuries are
CORRUPTION IN INDIA ROOTED DEEPLY
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tempting factors in society for the youth. They try to
find means and ways to make money, however
deceptive or defective these methods may be. It is
meaningless to blame the system, it is the defect of
people who handle the same.A number of reasons like
lack of stringent legislation, slow and delayed judicial
systems, poverty, illiteracy, lack of faith in Dharma
or righteousness, greedy mind and a tendency to be
smart are responsible behind corruption. It is not
prevalent in India only but Corruption is today a
world-wide phenomenon.
It is shameful that the officials meant for administering
public welfare themselves provide enough scope to
the offenders to commit the offence and go scot-free,
for equal compensation that they get from the
offenders. Here, if the statute provides severe
punishment (more than the one provided to the
offender) to the erring official, perhaps, corruption
could be minimised. Society itself has had a drastic
change in its behaviour today, to what it was earlier.
The need to be morally upright is irrelevant, under
the speed of its activity.
REMEDIES
Corruption can not be abolished overnigh, first,
political parties should take the responsibility and
highly principled & determined personalities have to
lead the executive. With persistent efforts, the mindset
of the public has to change. Cant say how much time
it will take this evil spread over and established by
taking 50 yearsany way let us transfer the hope and
luck to next generation. There are many legal as well
as illegal means and methods with which one can
come out unscathed after committing any offence. It
requires only a management skill to convince the right
forums. Therefore, if society has to be cleansed from
being immorality and illegal doings, just legislation,
however stringent will not help. The resistance to
commit offences should be developed from ones
conscience or heart and it can never be created fully
by legislation. Hence, inculcating moral values in
people right from infancy could provide the remedy
over a period of time. If the economic levels of the
society could be improved, so that luxuries become
basics and the value for them also become affordable,
corruption would be unnecessary.
Democratic spirit can flourish only in an environment
of openness and trust. Every citizen should know what
the administrators, working under the overall control
of peoples representatives, are doing. Since
administration in a democracy serves the public
interest, there is no need or justification for hiding
the decision making process from the public scrutiny
Transparency in public administration will bring about
a fundamental change in the attitude of people. Tenets
of transparency will require the civil servants to
publicly display the names of beneficiaries of a
development scheme along with selection criteria and
the procedure for making the selection. The
requirement for public disclosure will ensure that civil
servants take correct and defensible decisions. They
will, henceforth treat all the citizens as their masters
and they will have to keep them in good humour if
they have to retain their jobs and privileges.
Government agencies are financed by taxes and levies
imposed on citizens. They are, therefore, answerable
and accountable to the public for their acts of omission
and commission. Freedom of Information Act will put
premium on probity and integrity in the functioning
of the civil servants. Since all their activities subserve
the public interest they have nothing to hide.They will
readily supply all the information about government
policies and decisions to the people whenever
approached by them. People will then give them
respect and recognition that they rightly deserve. It is
only the dishonest and the devious that would be hard
pressed to hide their partisan decisions.
In a modern welfare and development administration,
the government provides a large number of services
to the citizens. If these services are indifferently or
inefficiently performed, people can rightfully protest
and complain. They can insist on optimum utilization
of the taxes and service charges paid by them to
finance the civic services like water supply, power
supply, sanitation and public health care. Dereliction
of duty by public servants will be immediately
detected and publicized and criticized by the public.
It will put a tremendous pressure on the civil servants
to perform or lose their face or even their jobs.The
advancement of Information technology is very much
conducive to the successful implementation of the
Right to Information if enacted by the government
now. The storage, retrieval and dissemination of vast
amount of information have been greatly facilitated
by the successive improvement in computers. Since
the enforcement of Right to Information requires an
enabling Freedom of Information Act, the existing
government can always formulate the provisions of
the Act in such a way as to leave for the government
sufficient leeway to conceal many decisions or
decision making processes from public scrutiny. The
Freedom of Information Bill, which has been
presented to the Parliament, has a very long list of
exceptional situations wherein it is not incumbent
upon the government agencies to part with
information. It is, however, expected that once the
people get used to obtain information contained in the
government files, their appetite for information will
be whetted and they will ask for more information.
Lokpal can be another milestone towards abolishing
corruption from india.
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The space activities in the
country were initiated with
the setting up of Indian
National Committee for
Space Research
(INCOSPAR) in 1962. In
the same year, the work on
Thumba Equatorial
Rocket Launching Station,
(TERLS) near Thiruvananthapuram was also
started. The Indian space programme was
institutionalized in November 1969 with the formation
of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The
Government of India constituted the Space
Commission and established the Department of Space
(DOS) in June 1972 and brought ISRO under DOS
in September 1972. Department of Space (DOS) has
the primary responsibility of promoting development
of space science, technology and applications towards
achieving self reliance and assisting in all round
development of the nation. Both the DOS and ISRO
Headquarters are located at Bangalore. The
development activities are carried out at the Centres
and Units spread over the country.
FIRST FEW STEPS TOWARDS SPACE
India launched its first experimental satellite,
Aryabhatta, in 1975 this was followed by a series of
experimental satellites like Bhaskara , Rohini,
stretched Rohini satellite series, SROSS. The first
Indian experimental satellite, APPLE, was launched.
Indian space programme reached the new stage with
the launch of the series of INSAT (Indian National
INDIA IN SPACE :
A BAG FULL OF SUCCESS
Satellite) in1983, we have entered the fourth
generation of these satellites. The first generations of
INSAT satellites were imported from United States.
DEVELOPMENT OF INDIGENOUS TECHNOLOGY
India has indigenously developed the subsequent
generation of INSAT satellites. The INSAT satellite
system was jointly owned by the departments of
Telecommunications, Space, All India Radio,
Doordarshan, Indian Meteorology department. The
super cyclone of Orissa has highlighted the limitation
of Indian space programme. This led to the
development of exclusive satellites. The first ever
exclusive satellite for weather monitoring called
METSAT was launched. This was named Kalpana
after the Indian born American astronaut Kalpana
Chawla who died in Colombia crash.India had
launched an exclusive satellite for education called
EDUSAT. This has revolutionized the fields of
education and health too. The tele education and tele
medicine projects got further boost with the
successful launching of this exclusive satellite. India
launched the series of remote sensing satellites in
1988. The latest in this series was RESOURCE SAT.
Apart from satellites and satellite launch vehicles,
India developed an impressive space infrastructure.
For instance, the Vikram Sarabai Space Centre-VSSC
at trivendrum, National Remote Sensing Agency in
Hyderabad, Space Application Centre-SAC, in
Ahmedabad., Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching
Station - TERLS at Thumba in Kerala. Physical
Research laboratories - PRL in Ahmedabad , and a
host of satellite tracking ground stations in India and
Abroad. Several universities, research institutions are
also actively associated with the development of space
programme in India.
OBJECTIVES & SPECIALITIES OF
INDIAN SPACE PROGRAMMES
The Space Commission formulates the policies and
oversees the implementation of the Indian space
programme to promote the development and
application of space science and technology for the
socio-economic benefit of the country. The speciality
of Indian space programme is that it is dedicated to
the socio economic development of our country. Even
before India had its first experimental satellite, India
conducted the Satellite Instructional Television
Experimen t- SITE in 1975-76. The American satellite
ATS-6 was leased out for this purpose. As a part of
this experiment, television programmes were beamed
to 2500 villages using satellite. This experiment paved
the way for the development of television in India. In
1977-79, India successfully conducted Satellite
Telecommuni-cation Experimental Project - STEP.
The Franco German satellite, Symphony was taken
on lease for this purpose. The INSAT satellites
provided benefits ranging from television
broadcasting to weather prediction.
Telecommunication, tele education, tele medicine
projects are carried out with the help of INSAT
satellites. The myriad hour multi channel television
boom would not have been possible without the
INSAT satellite system. The information revolution
and telecommuni-cation revolution were also the
result of the INSAT satellites. Indian National Satellite
(INSAT) programme for telecommunications, TV
broadcasting, meteorology, developmental education,
etc. Remote Sensing programme for application of
satellite imagery for various developmental purposes.
Indigenous capability for design and development of
spacecraft and associated technologies for
communications, resources survey and space sciences.
Design and development of launch vehicles with
indigenous technology for access to space and orbiting
INSAT, IRS spacecraft and space science missions.
Research and development in space sciences and
technologies as well as application programme for
national development.
REMOTE SENSING SATELITES
The Remote Sensing satellites provide a range of
benefits. They include the Exploration of natural
resources, flood zone mapping, drought assessment,
desert land identification and reclamation, estimating
the forest cover, assessing the extent of smoke
generated by thermal power stations, estimating the
crop yield and crop acreage, providing location
specific development information, monitoring of
command areas, etc. India is conducting National
Natural Resources Management Systems- NNRMS
using remote sensing data provided by these satellites.
We are also conducting Integrated Mission for
Sustainable Development-IMSD, with the service
provided by these satellites. The Vanjuvanka
watershed in Anantapur district in Andhra Pradesh is
also part of IMSD. These satellites are the most
advanced and sophisticated satellites making us
leaders in the area of remote sensing. For instance,
the OCEAN SAT can measure the oxygen quantity
in the algae underneath the oceans thereby giving an
accurate estimate of marine resources. Biennial forest
surveys are conducted using the data provided by
remote sensing satellites. Our remote sensing satellites
can provide reasonably accurate data about the extent
of crops sown helping us to undertake agricultural
plans. These remote sensing satellites can estimate the
possible crop yield one month before harvest.
Monitoring of command areas using these satellites
would ensure supply of irrigation water to the tail end
farmers. The very small aperture terminals VSATs
were set up to support the national information and
communication network.
INDIA IN ELITE LEAGUE & MARKETING PROCESS
Apart from satellites, India developed capabilities in
launch vehicle technology too. Starting with a
simple Satellite Launch Vehicle-SLV, India went on
to develop the Augmented Satellite Launch vehicle-
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ASLV, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-PSLV,
the Geo Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-
GSLV . India has also indigenously developed the
VIKAS engine used in the PSLV. The PSLV is used
for the launching of remote sensing satellites in earths
polar orbit. The PSLV was also used in the
Chandrayan, Indias first ever Lunar Mission. The
Geo Synchronous satellite launch vehicle is used in
the launching of communication satellites in earths
Geo Synchronous orbit. India has also indigenously
developed the cryogenic engine used in the GSLV.
India is not only self sufficient in space programme,
but infact attained international recognition. This
helped us to enter into highly competitive global space
products market. A special agency called ANTRIX
Corporation was set up for this purpose within the
Department of Space. Indias INSAT- 2 E
transponders were leased to INTELSAT, International
Telecommunication Satellite. India has also entered
into an agreement with the European space agency
AERIAN space for the marketing of its Launch
Vehicle Technology. We have also reached an
agreement with the American Remote Sensing
Company SIO SAT for marketing its remote sensing
data. India conducted a programme called sharing of
experience in space, shares to train the third world
space personnel. India is also becoming part of Russia
s GLOSNOS project. Indian Space Programme
developed many products which are now used in
industry. The space programme has several spin off
benefits which include production of low weight
material used in creation of artificial limbs.Against
this impressive background, India has now embarked
upon the ambitious programme of lunar mission. The
success of Chandrayaan-1 revealed to the world,
Indias capability in one of the highly sophisticated
areas of science and technology.
ACHIEVEMENTS OF ISRO SO FAR IN BRIEF
So far, 51 Indian Satellite Missions, and 27 Launches
from Sriharikota have been conducted.Namely they
are as follows:-
2011
PSLV-C16 successfully launches Three
SatellitesRESOURCESAT-2, YOUTHSAT,
X-SAT from Sriharikota (April 20, 2011).
2010
GSLV-F06 launched from Shriharikota (Dec
25, 2010). GSAT-5Pcould not be placed into
orbit as the GSLV-F06 mission was not
successful.
PSLV-C15 successfully launches Five Satellites
CARTOSAT-2B, ALSAT-2A, two
nanosatellites-NLS-6.1 & 6.2 and a pico-
satellite-STUDSAT from Sriharikota (July 12,
2010).
GSLV-D3 launched from Sriharikota (Apr 15,
2010). GSAT-4satellite could not be placed in
orbit as flight testing of the Indigenous
Cryogenic Stage in GSLV-D3 Mission was not
successful.
2009
PSLV-C14 successfully launches Seven
Satellites OCEANSAT-2, Four CUBESAT
Satellites and Two RUBIN-9 from Sriharikota
(Sept. 23, 2009).
PSLV-C12 successfully launches RISAT-2 and
ANUSAT from Sriharikota (April 20, 2009).
2008
PSLV-C11 successfully launches
CHANDRAYAAN-1 from Sriharikota
(October 22, 2008).
PSLV-C9 successfully launches CARTOSAT-
2A, IMS-1 and 8 foreign nano satellites from
Sriharikota (April 28,2008).
PSLV-C10 successfully launches TECSAR
satellite under a commercial contract with
Antrix Corporation (January 21, 2008).
2007
Successful launch of GSLV (GSLV-F04) with
INSAT-4CR on board from SDSC SHAR
(September 2, 2007).
ISROs Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-
C8, successfully launched Italian astronomical
satellite, AGILE from Sriharikota (April 23,
2007).
Successful launch of INSAT-4B by Ariane-5
from Kourou French Guyana, (March 12,
2007).
Successful recovery of SRE-1 after
manoeuvring it to reenter the earths atmosphere
and descend over the Bay of Bengal about 140
km east of Sriharikota (January 22, 2007).
C7 successfully launches four satellites
Indias CARTOSAT-2 and Space Capsule
Recovery Experiment (SRE-1) and Indonesias
LAPAN-TUBSAT and Argentinas
PEHUENSAT-1 (January 10, 2007).
2006
Second operational flight of GSLV (GSLV-F02)
from SDSC SHAR with INSAT-4C on board.
(July 10, 2006). Satellite could not be placed
in orbit.
2005
Successful launch of INSAT-4A by Ariane from
Kourou French Guyana, (December 22, 2005).
C6, successfully launched CARTOSAT-1 and
HAMSAT satellites from Sriharikota(May 5,
2005).
2004
The first operational flight of GSLV (GSLV-
F01) successfully launched EDUSAT from
SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota (September 20,
2004)
2003
C5, successfully launched RESOURCESAT-
1(IRS-P6) satellite from Sriharikota (October
17, 2003). Successful launch of INSAT-3E by
Ariane from Kourou French Guyana,
(September 28, 2003).
The Second developmental launch of GSLV-
D2 with GSAT-2on board from Sriharikota
(May 8, 2003).
Successful launch of INSAT-3A by Ariane from
Kourou French Guyana, (April 10, 2003).
2002
C4, successfully launched KALPANA-1
satellite from Sriharikota(September 12, 2002).
Successful launch of INSAT-3C by Ariane from
Kourou French Guyana, (January 24, 2002).
2001
C3,successfully launched three satellites
Technology Experiment Satellite (TES)of
ISRO, BIRD of Germany and PROBA of
Belgiuminto their intended orbits (October 22,
2001).
The first developmental launch of GSLV-D1
with GSAT-1 on board from Sriharikota (April
18, 2001).
2000
INSAT-3B, the first satellite in the third
generation INSAT-3 series, launched by Ariane
from Kourou French Guyana, (March 22,
2000).
1999
Indian Remote Sensing Satellite, IRS-P4
(OCEANSAT), launched byPolar Satellite
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Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C2) along with Korean
KITSAT-3 and German DLR-TUBSAT from
Sriharikota (May 26, 1999). INSAT-2E, the last
satellite in the multipurpose INSAT-2 series,
launched by Ariane from Kourou French
Guyana, (April 3, 1999).
1998
INSAT system capacity augmented with the
readiness of INSAT-2DTacquired from
ARABSAT (January 1998).
1997
INSAT-2D, fourth satellite in the INSAT series,
launched (June 4, 1997). Becomes inoperable
on October 4, 1997. (An in-orbit satellite,
ARABSAT-1C, since renamed INSAT-2DT,
was acquired in November 1997 to partly
augment the INSAT system).
First operational launch of PSLV with IRS-1D
on board (September 29, 1997). Satellite placed
in orbit.
1996
Third developmental launch of PSLV with IRS-
P3, on board (March 21, 1996). Satellite placed
in polar sunsynchronous orbit.
1995
Launch of third operational Indian Remote
Sensing Satellite, IRS-1C(December 28, 1995).
INSAT-2C, the third satellite in the INSAT-2
series, launched (December 7, 1995).
1994
Second developmental launch of PSLV with
IRS-P2, on board (October 15, 1994). Satellite
successfully placed in Polar Sunsynchronous
Orbit.
Fourth developmental launch of ASLV with
SROSS-C2, on board (May 4, 1994). Satellite
placed in orbit.
1993
First developmental launch of PSLV with IRS-
1E on board (September 20, 1993). Satellite
could not be placed in orbit
INSAT-2B, the second satellite in the INSAT-2
series, launched (July 23, 1993).
1992
INSAT-2A, the first satellite of the
indigenously-built second-generation INSAT
series, launched (July 10, 1992).
Third developmental launch of ASLV with
SROSS-Con board (May 20, 1992). Satellite
placed in orbit.
1991
Second operational Remote Sensing satellite,
IRS-1B, launched (August 29, 1991).
1990
INSAT-1D launched (June 12, 1990).
1988
INSAT-1C launched (July 21, 1988).
Abandoned in November 1989. Second
developmental launch of ASLV with SROSS-2
on board (July 13, 1988). Satellite could not
be placed in orbit.
Launch of first operational Indian Remote
Sensing Satellite, IRS-1A(March 17, 1988).
1987
First developmental launch of ASLV with
SROSS-1 satellite on board (March 24, 1987).
Satellite could not be placed in orbit.
1984
Indo-Soviet manned space mission (April
1984).
1983
INSAT-1B, launched (August 30, 1983).
Second developmental launch of SLV-3. RS-
D2 placed in orbit (April 17, 1983).
1982
INSAT-1A launched (April 10, 1982).
Deactivated on September 6, 1982.
1981
Bhaskara-II launched (November 20, 1981).
APPLE, an experimental geo-stationary
communication satellite successfully launched
(June 19, 1981). RS-D1 placed in orbit (May
31, 1981)First developmental launch of SLV-
3.
1980
Second Experimental launch of SLV-3, Rohini
satellite successfully placed in orbit. (July 18,
1980).
1979
First Experimental launch of SLV-3 with Rohini
Technology Payloadon board (August 10,
1979). Satellite could not be placed in orbit.
Bhaskara-I, an experimental satellite for earth
observations, launched (June 7, 1979).
1977
Satellite Telecommunication Experiments
Project (STEP) carried out.
19751976
Satellite Instructional Television Experiment
(SITE) conducted.
1975
ISRO First Indian Satellite, Aryabhata,
launched (April 19, 1975). Becomes
Government Organisation (April 1, 1975).
19721976
Air-borne remote sensing experiments.
1972
Space Commission and Department of Space
set up (June 1, 1972). ISRO brought under
DOS.
1969
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
formed under Department of Atomic Energy
(August 15, 1969).
1968
TERLS dedicated to the United Nations
(February 2, 1968).
1967
Satellite Telecommunication Earth Station set
up at Ahmedabad.
1965
Space Science & Technology Centre (SSTC)
established in Thumba.
1963
First sounding rocket launched from TERLS
(November 21, 1963).
1962
Indian National Committee for Space Research
(INCOSPAR) formed by the Department of
Atomic Energy and work on establishing
Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station
(TERLS) started.
Source : Indian Space Research Organisation
(ISRO)
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MORE MLAS RESIGNED IN AP
Now 27 MLAs announced their resignation from
Andhra Pradesh State Assembly landing the State
government in a political crisis. All these MLAs are
the supporters of YS Jaganmohan Reddy. Among
these MLAs, there are 24 Congress, two TDP rebels,
and one PRP MLA. These Congress MLAs resigned
in protest against the inclusion of late chief minister
YS Rajashekhar Reddys name in CBI Charge Sheet.
Though, YS Rajashekhar Reddys name is not
mentioned in the CBI FIR or Charge Sheet, as
accused, but, his name figures in the details about the
case. The YSR Congress leaders claim that there are
more Congress MLAs to follow.
BIHAR TO BECOME AN ORGANIC STATE BY 2015
Organic farming has the potential to generate over 20
lakh jobs in the state according to independent
research study by The Associated Chambers of
Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) titled
Organic Bihar Way to Agricultural Prosperity.
Promotion of organic farming in Bihar can raise
income of farmers and lead to wealth accumulation
of over Rs 1,000 crore besides generating exports
worth Rs 500 crore, according to apex industry
body.Around seven lakh additional jobs can also be
generated if on-farm storing, processing, value
addition, packaging and marketing facilities are
included, considering organic farms provide over 30
per cent more jobs per hectare as against non-organic
farms. This will also arrest migration of people from
Bihar to other states in search of jobs.Bihar is an
ideal state for organic farming as it is home to unique
commodities such as jute, litchi and cosmetic raw
materials like herbals, aromatic plants and makhana.
Besides, the state has the potential of being Indias
export hub for certified organic food to different world
markets, said the ASSOCHAM study.
Regional action plans should be developed for organic
farming stating direction and target for adoption and
combination of specific measures including direct
income support, marketing and processing support,
certification support, consumer education and
infrastructure support, said the ASSOCHAM study.
The state government should promote a concept to
set up an organic village in each district to encourage
usage of organic fertilisers to protect the land from
residual affect of chemical fertilisers.
SUPREME COURT TAKECOGNIGANCE OF
LOKAYUKTA REPORT
The Supreme Court decision banning both mining and
movement of ore in Bellary district in Karnataka,
following the LokAyukta report, is excessive. The
blanket ban penalises even those who did nothing
wrong. While the outrage over the illegal profiteering
of over Rs 12,000 crore by a politician-operator-
bureaucrat combine is understandable, applying the
brakes on all mining and related activity in the district
is an undifferentiated response. The court was of
course responding to the evidence of large-scale and
continuing flouting of mining leases and rules, but
would it ban all agriculture on the grounds that
farmers were drawing too much groundwater and
endangering underground aquifers?
NATIONAL ISSUES
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KARNATAKA LOKAYUKTA REPORT
The 25,228-page report of the Karnataka Lokayukta
SantoshHegde on illegal mining in the state has, as
expected, stirred the political establishment from its
usual torpor. Among other things, the report holdsMr
Yeddyurappa responsible for his failure to curb
illegal mining and for supporting corrupt ministers,
especially the Reddy brothers. Moreover, the
investigators found that a private company paid Rs
20 crore for a piece of land to a member of the chief
ministers family, an amount far above the lands
actual value of Rs 1.4 crore.
GORKHALAND HILLS TREATY
THE treaty for constituting a new Gorkhaland
Territorial Authority (GTA) in Darjeeling hills
in West Bengal has given rise to deep concern and fear
of more turmoil in the state. The treaty has been signed
between state and central government and Gorkha
Janamukti Morcha, the organisation leading the
movement for a separate state. No other political party
in the state, even in the hills, was consulted either
before or after the treaty was signed. Nothing was
reported in the assembly or in the all party meeting.
The state government under Mamata Banerjee refused
to reveal the agreement, not only before the signing
but also after that. The central government also
radically changed its position within days. The new
treaty has arranged for a high power committee to
examine demands of including Terai, Dooars and
Siliguri in the authority. GJM will have four members
in the five member committee. This has enraged large
sections of people in these areas. Another pertinent
point is the constitutional provision for such an
authority or administration. There is no mention of
such a provision in the treaty. Even union home
minister P Chidambaram, while attending the signing
ceremony, consciously avoided this important
question in his speech
TELENGANA MLAS RESIGNATIONS REJECTED
Andhrapradesh Assembly speaker Nadendla Manohar
rejected the en masse resignations of MLAs from
Telangana region speaker reportedly took this decision
stating that MLAs have submitted their resignations
en masse under emotional circumstances. In all, 101
MLAs from Telangana region, including 12 ministers
of the state cabinet, drawn from different parties
submitted their resignations on July 4 demanding that
the central government immediately create
Telanganastate. The Speaker noted that he was
rejecting the resignations after examining them and
ascertaining the circumstances in which they were
tendered. Resignations submitted in an emotion
cannot be accepted, Manohar reportedly noted.
NATIONAL SOCIAL SECURITY FUND (NSSF) FOR
UNORGANISED SECTORS
The Union Cabinet of India gave its approval for
setting up a national level security fund (NSSF) for
unorganized sectors named as National Social
Security Fund. The fund is likely to benefit 43.3 crore
workers in the unorganized sector. The fund will be
administered by the National Social Security Board.
The fund was announced during the budget 2010-11
by the Union Finance minister Pranav Mukherjee. The
Ministry of Labour & Employment will be the nodal
Ministry for the operation of the Fund.
RECOMMENDATIONS OF N.C. SAXENA COMMITTEE
Dr. N.C. Saxena Committee was set up by the Ministry
of Rural Development to advise it on the suitable
methodology for BPL Census and not for estimation
of poverty. However, in the Report submitted by the
Expert Group on 21st August 2009 it is mentioned
that the percentage of people entitled to BPL status
should be revised upwards to at least 50%. The
committee has suggested proportionate increase in the
state level poverty estimates also. The recommen-
dations of the Expert Group and other alternative
methodologies are being tested through a pilot socio-
economic survey and a Participatory Rural Appraisal
(PRA) exercise in order to finalize the methodology
for the final BPL Census.
NOTICE TO CENTRE ON A PIL SEEKING EXCLUSION OF
CREAMY LAYER AMONG SC & ST
The Supreme Court of India issued a notice to the
Centre and the States on a PIL seeking to bring
advanced and affluent Scheduled Caste and Scheduled
Tribes out of the purview of reservation. The bench
headed by Justice RB Raveendran and AK Patnaik
passed the order on a petition filed by a retired officer
of Indian Legal Services OP Shukla. He was seeking
the courts direction to exclude advanced and affluent
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes from the
ambit of reservation in job and education.
NATGRID WAS SET UP BY THE
UNION GOVERNMENT
The union government of India has set up a National
Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) to access all
intelligence data. It is to function as a tool for
strengthening the capability of the existing intelligence
and law enforcement agencies. It aims at improving
access to information and its sharing. NATGRID has
been formed to link databases for inputs to combat
terrorism. It is meant to improve Indias capability to
counter threats to its internal security.
TRANSPLANTATION OF HUMAN ORGANS
(AMENDMENT) BILL, 2011
The Lok Sabha of Indian Parliament approved the
Transplantation of Human Organs (Amendment) Bill,
2011. The bill entails stringent punishment for those
involved in organ trade. The amended bill will also
make swapping of vital organs between willing but
incompatible donors legal. Henceforth, when a
donors organ is not compatible with his own relative
but is suitable for the other, the two families (unknown
to each other) can go ahead and exchange the organs.
At present, rules restrict organ transplant to between
blood relatives (father, mother, daughter, son, sister
and brother) and between married couples. The bill
will help in curbing the countrys illegal organ trade.
The bill also allows uncles and aunts and grandparents
to donate their organs with the approval of
authorization committee.
INDIAN COMMUNITY WELFARE FUND
(ICWF) WAS SET UP
Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs has set up the
Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF), which is
operationalised in the Indian Missions in all the
Countries with effect from 24 March 2011 for
safeguarding the welfare and protection especially of
Indian workers going abroad. The fund aims to
provide on-site emergency assistance for the Overseas
Indian Citizens, who are in distress. The welfare
services provided by the ICWF includes boarding and
lodging for distressed household/domestic workers
and unskilled labourers, emergency medical care to
the overseas Indians in need, providing air passage
to stranded overseas Indians in distress, providing
initial legal assistance to the overseas Indians in
deserving cases and incurring expenditure on
incidentals and for airlifting the mortal remains to
India or local cremation/burial of the deceased
overseas Indians in cases where a sponsor is unable
or unwilling to do so as per the contract and the family
is unable to meet the cost. At present there is no such
proposal to increase the fund meant for that purpose
as it is felt that the existing fund being operated by
Indian Missions abroad are sufficient for the welfare
of the overseas Indians.
THE FOOD SAFETY AND
STANDARDS ACT OF 2006 BECAME EFFECTIVE
The Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006 became
effective in India from 5 August 2011 making it at
par with the international standards. The Act was
passed in Parliament in 2006. It includes several acts
like Prevention of Food Adulteration Act of 1954,
Fruit Products Order of 1955, Meat Food Products
Order of 1973, Vegetable Oil Products (Control)
Order of 1947, Edible Oils Packaging (Regulation)
Order of 1988, Solvent Extracted Oil, De-Oiled Meal
and Edible Flour (Control) Order of 1967, Milk and
Milk Products Order of 1992 and also any order
issued under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955
relating to food. The Food Safety and Standards
Authority of India (FSSAI) was established in 2008
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under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 as a
statutory body for prescribing science based standards
for articles of food and regulating manufacturing,
processing, distribution, sale and import of food to
ensure safe and wholesome food for human
consumption.
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US CREDIT RATING DOWNGRADED TO AA+
FROM AAA BY STANDARD& POORS
The US credit rating was downgraded to AA+ from
AAA by Standard and Poors on 5 August 2011. This
can increase the cost of borrowing for the US and
setting off more panic selling in stock markets. This
is the first time that Standard and Poor issued a
negative outlook on the US government since it
started rating the credit-worthiness of railroad bonds
in 1860. The rating may be cut to AA within two years
if spending reductions are lower than agreed to,
interest rates increase or new fiscal pressures result
in higher government debt.
THE UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL TO
INVESTIGATE CRACKDOWN ON PROTESTERS IN
SYRIA
The UN Human Rights Council ordered an
investigation into violations committed by the Syrian
regime during its crackdown on popular protests. The
council passed a resolution to send an independent
international commission of inquiry and demanded an
end to the violence by Syrian security forces against
protesters. There were 33 votes in favour, four against-
reportedly including China, Russia and Cuba- and
nine abstentions. The commission will investigate
violations of international human rights law in Syria
since July 2011. The UN says more than 2200 people
have died in the violence.The UN high commissioner
on human rights, Navi Pillay, opened an emergency
session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva
on 22 August 2011. A UN humanitarian mission
visited the central city of Homs on 22 August 2011,
but was advised to leave for security reasons when
protests started. The mission was sent to assess such
needs as food and medicine.
SONIA WORLDS 7TH MOST POWERFUL WOMAN:
FORBES
Forbes magazine on Wednesday named German
Chancellor Angela Merkel the worlds most powerful
woman, calling her the undisputed leader of the
European Union and head of its only real global
economy. Merkel, who has topped the list of the
worlds 100 most powerful women in all but one of
the years since she became chancellor in November
2005, beat out US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
and, in 3rd place, Dilma Rousseff, who became
Brazils first woman president on January 1 2011.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is head of the one
real global economy in Europe and is the undisputed
leader of the EU, Forbes said.Congress president
Sonia Gandhi figures as the seventh most powerful
woman of the world in theForbes list which is topped
by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. 64-year-old Sonia
Gandhi, who is recouping from an unspecified surgery
in a US hospital, is ranked seventh jus ahead of US
First Lady Michell Obama in a list of 100 most
powerful women of the world released by
the Forbesmagazine.
INTERNATIONAL ISSUES
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Rank Name Age Country Category
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Angela Merkel
Chanceler
Hillary Clinton
Secretary of State
Dilma Rousseff
President
Indra Nooyi
Chief Executive, Prpsi Co
Sheryl Sandberg
COO, Facebook
Melinda Gates
Cofounder, Cochair, Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation
Sonia Gandhi
President, India National Congress Party
Michelle Obama
First Lady
Christine Lagarde
Managing Director,
International Monetary Fund
57
63
63
55
41
47
64
47
55
Germany
United States
Brazil
United States
India
France
United States
United States
United States
Politics
Politics
Politics
Business
Business
Non-profit
Politics
Non-profit
Politics
PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF CHINA ANNOUNCED
MEASURES FOR HONK KONG COMPANIES
China on 17 August 2011 announced measures to
make it easier for Hong Kong companies to invest in
mainland securities, the latest step in a continuing
drive to make the yuan an international currency. Vice
Premier Li Keqiang announced an initial quota of
more than three billion dollars for foreign investors
based in Hong Kong seeking to purchase yuan-
denominated securities. China has long been using
Hong Kong as a test bed for a loosening of its strict
currency controls. Hong Kong is one of two special
administrative regions (SARs) of the Peoples
Republic of China (PRC), the other being Macau. A
city-state situated on Chinas south coast and enclosed
by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is
renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural
harbour. With a land mass of 1,104 km2 (426 sq mi)
and a population of seven million people, Hong Kong
is one of the most densely populated areas in the
world. Hong Kongs population is 95 percent ethnic
Chinese and 5 percent from other groups. Hong
Kongs Han Chinese majority originate mainly from
the cities of Guangzhou and Taishan in the
neighbouring Guangdong province.
GOOGLES TAKEOVER OF MOTOROLA MOBILITY
IS THE COSTLIEST IN THE LAST 12 YEARS
Googles $12.5 billion takeover of Motorola Mobility,
priced at 32 times the latters earnings, is the costliest
takeover in the last 12 years. It could also be the most
significant game changer in the rapidly evolving world
of high speed Internet that you can carry around with
you. So far, Google was content to be an Internet and
mobile phone operating system (OS) software player,
supplying its Android OS to companies like Samsung,
LG, Sony Ericsson and HTC, besides Motorola itself,
which decided to make Android its sole OS in 2008.
Now, the phone makers might start viewing Google-
Motorola as a rival, although Google has been quick
to address this apprehension, saying that it will
continue to run Android as an open platform and run
Motorola as a separate business. This makes sense.
The main reason, then, to do the deal is to get to own
Motorolas impressive array of more than 17,000
existing patents, and 7,500 more that are pending, in
mobile technology.
THE POLITICAL PARTIES IN NEPAL FAILED TO
SELECT A CONSENSUS CANDIDATE FOR THE POST
OF PRIME MINISTER
In Nepal, the political parties have failed to meet the
deadline for selecting a consensus candidate for the
post of the Prime Minister. President Dr. Ram Baran
Yadav has sent a letter to Parliament under Article
38(2) of the interim constitution to begin the process
for forming a majority government. Following the
resignation of Prime Minister JhalaNath Khanal on
14
th
August 2011, the President had directed the
political parties to form a national consensus
government within four days. While the main political
parties had emphasized the importance having a
consensus government they failed to come to an
agreement on who should lead the next government.
The CPN_UML and smaller parties have repeated the
stand of the nepali congress that it was difficult to
accept the leadership of the maoist while they still
have to give up arms and weapons. Nepal will have
to wait for some time before the next government is
formed. Nepals major political parties staked
competing claims on the prime ministers post
plunging the Himalayan nation back into the years-
long political squabbles that have left it without a
constitution or stable government.The countrys latest
Prime Minister, Jhalnath Khanal, resigned on 14
August 2011 after failing to make progress toward
adopting a constitution during his six months in office.
It took 17 votes in parliament over seven months to
get him elected in February 2011.
None of the parties have a parliamentary majority,
making it necessary for any new prime minister to
form a coalition government. The lawmakers have
twice extended the deadline for writing the new
constitution and face a third deadline at the end of
the month, which they are expected to miss. Khanal,
who was chosen to help break the deadlock, faced
demands that he step down from the opposition Nepali
Congress party, which accused him of failing to live
up to his promises to move forward the peace process
in Nepal. The opposition had blocked parliament since
late last month demanding Khanals resignation.
Khanal also faced turmoil from within his own party
and the main coalition partner the Maoists since
the day he took office. They were not satisfied with
the distribution of ministerial portfolios. Though
Maoist guerrillas gave up their armed revolt in 2006
to join mainstream politics, thousands of former
fighters still live in camps and their future is yet
undecided. Khanal had promised he would resolve the
issue but failed to do.
NORTH KOREA AGREED TO START
INTERNATIONAL TALKS ON DENUCLEARISATION
OF THE KOREAN PENINSULA
North Korea on 24 August 2011 agreed to go ahead
with international talks on denuclearisation of the
Korean peninsula. North Korea expressed its
readiness to impose a moratorium on tests of weapons
of mass destruction and resume the stalled six-party
talks on its nuclear programme. North Korea
expressed its inclination to resume the six-party talks
on the settlement of the nuclear problem in the Korean
Peninsula without pre-conditions. North Korean
leader Kim Jong II who was on a visit to Russia, held
crucial talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
at a secret military facility Sosnovy Bor in East
Siberia. Secret Soviet-era military facility Sosnovy
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Bor is situated near the capital of the Republic of
Buryatia, Ulan-Ude.
The two leaders also discussed the settlement of North
Koreas 11 billion US Dollars debt to Russia. It was
first visit of Kim Jong II to Russia in nine years. North
Korea is facing economic hardship because of the
economic sanctions imposed on it by the USA and
other western countries.
The six-party talks, suspended in 2008 were
announced on 22 July 2011 in Bali, Indonesia, during
the ASEAN security forum. ASEAN security forum
is only regular international occasion, in which both
Koreas participate. The six-party talks were initiated
in 2003, after North Korea declared its withdrawal
from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
The following six nations are part of the six-party
talks:
Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (North
Korea)
Republic of Korea (South Korea)
Peoples Republic of China
United States of America
Russia
Japan
THE OPPOSITION GROUP IN YEMEN ELECTED AN
UMBRELLA COUNCIL
The opposition group in Yemen elected an umbrella
council on 17 August 2011 to take over power from
President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who is in Riyadh. He
has been there for the past 10 weeks recovering from
a bomb balst. The umbrella council consists of 143
members and it is named National Council for the
Forces of the Peaceful Revolution. The council was
elected by around 800 representatives of diverse
opposition groups.
Those elected will choose 20 members to make up
an executive committee. The National Council will
lead the forces of the revolution, determined to remain
there until Ali Abdullah Salehs departure. The council
groups the parliamentary parties of the Common
Forum, which comprises the influential Islamist party
Al-Islah (reform), with the young protesters at the
forefront of anti-regime protests since January 2011.
In addition to those groups, the new council also
comprises representatives of civil society, members
of the secessionist Southern Movement, the northern
Shiite Huthi rebels and independent activists.
CHINA LAUNCHED ITS FIRST AIRCRAFT CARRIER
ON MAIDEN SEA TRIAL
China launched its first aircraft carrier for a maiden
run on 10 August 2011. The aircraft carrier is about
300 meters long. It will be used for training and as a
model for future carriers. The launch of the aircraft
carrier is considered a part of Chinese naval strategy
for expanding eastwards for the next 30 years.China
bought its aircraft carrier from Russia. The aircraft
was known as Varyag in Russia.
NEW ZEALAND BANNED SYNTHETIC CANNABIS
PRODUCTS INCLUDING KRONIC
New Zealand government imposed a 12-month ban
on Synthetic cannabis products which became
effective on 5 August 2011. The government said the
use of 43 artificial cannabis products could cause heart
problems. Among the prohibited substances is a
popular brand known as Kronic, which has been a
legal alternative to marijuana for many years. Kronic
is smoked like marijuana and has been available in
shops.
RECORD LOW IN ROAD DEATHS
INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT FORUM PUTS FIGURE
AT LESS THAN 150 000 FOR FIRST TIME EVER
For the first time ever the number of people killed in
road accidents has fallen below 150 000 in the 52
member countries of the International Transport
Forum (ITF), excluding India.According to data
released by the Paris based organization, which is part
of the OECD family, road fatalities recorded the
biggest decrease since 1990 with a drop of 8.9% in
2008 compared to 2007. Preliminary data for 2009
shows a continuing significant reduction in the
number of road deaths for most ITF member
countries, recording a drop of almost 10%.The
moderating effects of the economic crisis on road
traffic appear to be one reason for this favourable
trend, said Jack Short, Secretary General of the
International Transport Forum. But many
governments can also take credit for road safety
policies that are now starting to produce results. The
ITF is holding its annual global mobility summit on
Transport and Innovation: Unleashing the Potential
in Leipzig, Germany, from May 26-28.
USA PASSED DRAFT RESOLUTION FOR TOUGHER
UN SANCTIONS AGAINST SYRIAN PRESIDENT
BASHAR AL-ASSAD
US and European nations has passed draft resolution
for tougher UN sanctions against Syrias President
Bashar al-Assad and other top regime leaderships for
their deadly crackdown on opposition protests. The
draft resolution strongly condemns what it says
continued grave and systematic human rights
violations by the Syrian authorities. The draft
resolution also demands an immediate end to the
violence. It says that Western delegations hope to put
the draft resolution to a vote in the 15-nation Security
Council as soon as possible.
USA AND OTHER EUROPEAN NATIONS CALLED
FOR THE RESIGNATION OF SYRIAN PRESIDENT
President Barack Obama and the leaders of several
major European countries have called for the
resignation of the Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.
It is the first explicit call from the US and its allies
for President Assad to step down although Washington
previously said Syria would be better off without him.
The United States has also ordered the freeze of all
Syrian Government assets in the US and a ban on oil
imports from Syria. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
told UN chief Ban Ki-moon that military operations
against the protesters have stopped. The UN said in a
statement that Mr. Assad was responding to a demand
from Mr. Ban during a phone call that all military
operations and mass arrests must cease immediately.
Mr. Assad has come under mounting international
pressure to end his violent crackdown on
demonstrators. Syria is a country in Western Asia,
bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the
West, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, Turkey to
the north and Israel to the southwest.
CURRENT AFFAIRS
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DAMODARAN PANELS SUGGESTIONS
The report on Customer Service in Banks by a
committee chaired by M. Damodaran, former
Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of
India (SEBI) was released on 3 July 2011. The
Reserve Bank of India panel recommended an
increased deposit insurance cover of Rs.5 lakh so as
to encourage individuals to keep all their deposits in
banks. The Damodaran panel mentioned that in case
of sick banks, a possibility to enable customers to
immediately avail themselves of a part of their insured
deposits before the final fate of sick banks is decided
should be explored.
The recommendations were made in 3 broad
categories:
Home Loans:
The panel recommended that banks should not impose
exorbitant penal rates towards foreclosure of home
loans. A policy should be devised to ensure that
customers are not denied of opportunity to enhance
their economic welfare by making choices such as
switching to other banks/financial entities to enjoy the
benefits conferred by market competition. Measures
to stop practices of discriminating between new and
old customers with identical risk profiles on the basis
of interest rate offers were to be initiated.
Senior Citizens:
There should be prioritised service to senior citizens,
physically handicapped persons by effective crowd/
people management available at all branches. The
panel suggested introduction of provision of the SMS
alerts service about balance in the account at periodic
intervals and about due dates for submission of
important documents. Automatic updation of the
customers to the senior citizen category based on the
date of birth would be introduced. Pensioner may be
allowed to submit the annual life certificate at any of
the (linked) branches and not necessarily at the home
branch.
Rural Areas:
According to the panel banks should ensure proper
currency exchange facilities and also the quality of
notes in circulation in rural areas. Branches should
be made functioning at a time convenient to the
customers (agricultural labourers, workers and
artisans).
INDUSTRIAL OUTLOOK SURVEY
The Reserve Bank of India launched its Industrial
Outlook Survey for the July-September 2011 period.
The Industrial Outlook Survey provides for an insight
into the perception of non-financial public and private
limited companies that are engaged in manufacturing
activities about their performance and future
prospects. The responsibility for conducting the
research on behalf of the central bank was bestowed
on Centre for Research Planning and Action
(CERPA). The CERPA is to get in touch with several
manufacturing companies during the quarter July-
September for seeking their valuable feedback so that
it can be included in the survey. The survey is to cover
non-financial private and public limited companies
with a good size/industry representation. Those
ECONOMY
manufacturing companies which are not approached
by CERPA can also participate in the survey by
downloading the survey schedule from RBIs official
website.
WHAT IS CERPA ?
CERPA was established in 1972 and conducts social
science research, provides consultancy on
developmental issues, helps planners and
policymakers and provides charitable services to the
disadvantaged and poor sections of the country.
BY 2015 CLOUD MARKET IN INDIA WILL BE
$ 4.5 BILLION
According to a study Private Cloud Landscape in
India released by EMC Corporation and Zinnov
Management Consulting, a management consulting
firm, total cloud market in India will reach a market
value of $ 4.5 billion by 2015. The cloud market
currently stands at $ 400 million. According to the
study private cloud adoption will dominate and
account for $ 3.5 billion in revenues, growing at over
60%. The study estimated that private cloud
deployments could result in potential savings of up
to 50% on the IT investments on average, when
compared with a legacy IT model, with cost
optimization in areas such as telecom and networking,
facilities and fabric, hardware, software, internal
labour and external IT services. The study based on
a comprehensive survey of over 100 CIOs and IT
decision makers in India across industry verticals
pointed out that there is an increased preference of
cloud adoption over the next five years in India. In
cloud computing, a company can store applications
and information in its data centers, rather than on the
local servers. The information stored and processed
on computers in the data centers, can be tapped
remotely through a personal computer, cellphone or
other device. Cloud computing is expected to reshape
the Indian IT market by generating new opportunities
for IT vendors and driving changes in traditional IT
offerings.Private cloud market is likely to create 1 lakh
jobs by 2015 from 10000 today thereby providing an
opportunity for students and the workforce.
IT COMPANIES TO
GROW GLOBALLY AT 16-18%
The National Association of Software and Service
Companies (NASSCOM estimated that IT companies
would continue to grow globally at 16-18 per cent in
2011-12 despite the economic crisis in the U.S. and
European markets.Nasscom has been helping Indian
IT industry to find newer markets for their products
and no to remain over-dependant on the U.S. and the
European markets. The U.S. and European nations
account for over 85 per cent of the revenues of the
over $70 billion Indian IT sector.Nasscom had in the
beginning of 2011 presented a conservative outlook
of 16-18 per cent growth in IT exports in 2011-12 in
the wake of the slow economic recovery in the U.S.
and uncertainty in the European region. Nasscom
estimated the growth in software and services export
to be 16-18 per cent and the sector is slated to bring
in revenues of $68-70 billion.
INDIAN BANKING INDUSTRY TO BE 3
RD
LARGEST
IN THE WORLD BY 2025
A study titled Being five star in productivity:road
map for excellence in Indian banking was released
FICCI-IBA-BCG, the eve of IBA-FICCI annual
banking conference. The theme for the banking
conference was decided to be Productivity
Excellence.Indias gross domestic product (GDP)
growth will make the Indian banking industry third
largest in the world by 2025, According to the study.
The report chalked out an action agenda for banks,
based on insights from an extensive productivity
benchmarking exercise conducted across 40 banks.
The report highlighted that banks have to strive for
excellence on five dimensions: branch sales and
service, new channels, lean operations, organisation
design and bad debt management. The report stated
that branches of banks can generate higher levels of
revenue for the banks. Indian banks deploy 62 per cent
of staff in customer facing roles as against the
benchmark of 82 per cent observed by BCG
globally.Indian banks, the report mentioned were to
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be doing well overall with industry cost-income ratio
below 50 per cent. However, there remained plenty
of scope for betterment. On an average, Indian banks
have about 20 per cent of staff deployed in back-office
processing (for some banks, as high as 40 per cent)
as against a global best of 10 per cent observed by
BCG. Process re-engineering and operating model
change if employed could help reduce costs, improve
service, and contain operating risks.Public sector
banks were found to be under-investing in technology
with spends at about 25 per cent of global
benchmarks. The banking industry was holding low
headcount in HR and finance roles.
DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF HYDROCARBON WILL
BE MORE TRANSPARENT
The oil ministry accepted an Ashok Chawla
Committees recommendation to make functioning of
the Directorate General of Hydrocarbon (DGH) more
transparent to prevent corruption charges. The
ministry however firmly rejected the panels
suggestion to transfer the governments regulatory
powers to an independent body. The ministry did not
approve of the panels demand to carve out DGHs
regulatory functions into an independent regulator.
The ministry also decided to accept the panels
recommendation to adopt disclosure norms related to
investment audits and post-bid monitoring in tune with
the best practices existing elsewhere in the world. The
regulatory and contract management roles of the DGH
are under scrutiny amid allegations that it did not
safeguard the governments interests while dealing
with private energy firms - such as Cairn India,
Reliance Industries, and BG. The Comptroller &
Auditor General had criticised the DGHs role in its
draft report and the CBI registered a case against the
former head of DGH, VK Sibal and six others officials
of the directorate.
CPI NUMBERS FOR AGRICULTURAL & RURAL
LABOURERS RELEASED
The All-India Consumer Price Index (CPI) Numbers
for Agricultural Labourers (AL)and Rural Labourers
(RL) (Base: 1986-87=100) for July 2011 increased
by 6 and 7 points respectively Agricultural Labourers
and Rural Labourers to stand at 604 (Six hundred and
four) points for both the series. In case of Agricultural
Labourers, it recorded an increase between 2 to 15
points in 19 States and a decrease of 14 points in 1
State. Haryana with 669 points topped the index table
whereas Himachal Pradesh with the index level of 492
points stood at the bottom. In case of Rural Labourers,
it recorded an increase between 2 to 15 points in 19
States and a decrease of 11 points in 1 State. Haryana
with 663 points topped the index table whereas
Himachal Pradesh with the index level of 515 points
stood at the bottom.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) Numbers for
Agricultural and Rural Labourers in respect of
Haryana State registered the maximum increase of
15 points each mainly due to increase in the prices of
rice, wheat atta, gram dal, goat meat, milk, onion,
vegetables & fruits and bidi. On the other hand, the
Consumer Price Index Numbers for Agricultural
Labourers and Rural Labourers in respect of Tamil
Nadu State recorded a decline of 14 and 11 points
respectively mainly due to decrease in the prices of
rice, jowar, fish fresh and pan leaf. Point to point rate
of inflation based on the CPI-AL and CPI-RL
decreased from 9.32% and 9.14% respectively in June
2011 to 9.03% in July 2011 for both the series.
Inflation based on food index of CPI-AL and CPI
RL stood 6.39% and 6.38% respectively in July 2011.
FOOD INFLATION FALLS TO 9.03 %
According to the WPI (wholesale price index) data
released, food inflation eased to 9.03 per cent for the
week ended 6 August 2011 from 9.90 per cent in the
previous week even as prices of all edibles, barring
pulses, continued to rise. The marginal easing could
also be attributed to a week-on-week moderation in
inflation even as prices continued to move up. For
instance, the rate of price rise during the week ended
July 30 in items such as vegetables, potatoes, milk,
egg, meat and fish was higher on an annual basis
compared to the first week of August. The inflation
data for the week under supervision showed that
except pulses which turned 5.63 per cent cheaper on
a year-on-year basis, onion prices were up 37.62 per
cent as were fruits by 26.46 per cent. Eggs, meat and
fish were more expensive by 9.93 per cent, so was
milk by 9.76 per cent. Cereals and vegetables were
also dearer by 6.23 per cent and 2.59 per cent,
respectively.
The economic analysts pointed out that the volatile
trend in food inflation is likely to continue. Food
inflation was at over 14 per cent during the week
ended 6 August 2010. Overall, however, while
inflation in primary articles stood pegged lower at
11.64 per cent against 12.22 per cent in the previous
week, inflation in non-food articles rose to 16.07 per
cent from 15.05 per cent earlier. Inflation in fuel and
power was also higher at 13.13 per cent for the week
ended 6 August against 12.19 per cent a week ago.
GOVERNMENTS DEBT ROSE 6% IN THE
FIRST QUARTER
According to the public debt management report
released by the finance ministry, the Centres debt rose
nearly 6% in the first quarter (April - June) of the
current fiscal 2011-12 but dropped as a percentage
of GDP because of the revision in GDP estimates. The
total public debt of the government was Rs 31.5 lakh
crore at that end of June 2011 against Rs 29.7 lakh
crore at the end of March 2011. Internal debt
constituted 90.3% of the total public debt. The internal
debt figure increased marginally from 89.7% at the
end of the January to March quarter.Indias high
savings rate allows a larger share for internal debt vis-
a-vis other countries. A small share of external debt
is likely to improve the credibility of government debt
and increases sustainability. The report pointed out
that the overall 30.9% of outstanding stock has a
residual maturity of up to 5 years, which implies that
over the next five years, on an average, 6.2% of
outstanding stock needs to be rolled over annually.
The rollover risk in the debt portfolio therefore is
expected to remain low.
REVIVAL OF THE SINDRI UNIT OF FERTILISER
CORPORATION
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
approved SAILs proposal for revival of the Sindri
unit of Fertiliser Corporation of India at an investment
of nearly Rs 35000 crore. SAIL was selected on
nomination basis for allocation of land to set up a
steel, power and fertiliser plants at the site. The
proposed revival plan included setting up of a 5.6
million tonnes per annum (mtpa) greenfield steel
making plant at an investment of Rs 26000 crore. The
revival plan also included setting up of 1.15-mtpa
fertiliser plant with investment of Rs 4450 crore. In
addition, the plan envisaged setting up of a Rs 4000-
crore power plant. The total land available with FCIL
at Sindri is 6652.6 acres, out of which about 5,481.6
acres will be made available for the project proposed
by SAIL.
The entire project will be spearheaded through a
special purpose vehicle (SPV) with a PSU character.
Three subsidiaries will cater to the proposed steel,
fertiliser and power plants. The Sindri project will
create direct/indirect employment potential for more
than 5000 people. Cabinets approval to the revival
plan decision paved the way for SAILs plan to expand
its production capacity in Jharkhand. The Union
Cabinet decision will provide significant strategic
advantage to SAIL. Under the plan, the proposed steel
plant will have a diversified flat product-mix catering
to the highend steel market. With major growth
expected from steel-using sectors like oil & gas, auto
and power, SAIL will produce new products like auto-
body grades.Apart from the steel unit, a 1.15 mtpa
gas-based urea plant is to be set up after dismantling
and disposing of the existing urea plant at the site.
SEBI PROPOSED REGULATIONS FOR
ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENT FUNDS
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)
proposed to create regulations for alternative
investment funds under the title SEBI (Alternative
Investment Fund) Regulations. These alternative
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investment fund (AIF) raise capital from a number of
high networth investors (HNIs) with an objective of
investing in accordance with a defined investment
policy for the benefit of those investors.The funds
which would come under the proposed regulation
include-Venture Capital Funds, PIPE Funds, Private
Equity Fund, Debt Funds, Infrastructure Equity Fund,
Real Estate Fund, SME Fund, Social Venture Funds,
Strategy Fund. SEBI made it mandatory for all types
of private pools of capital or investment funds to seek
registration with SEBI. The funds could be formed
as companies, trusts or body corporate including LLP
structure. The fund manager/asset management
company or trustees of the fund is required to be
specified, and change of such entities is to be reported
to SEBI. The fund at the time of application would
specify the category under which it is sought
registration, the targeted size of the proposed fund and
its life cycle and the target investor. SEBI proposed
that the funds would be close-ended.
INDIA NEEDS 55 MILLION ADDITIONAL JOBS BY
2015
According to a report from CRISIL Research, an
independent research house, India needs at least 55
million additional jobs by 2015 to maintain the current
ratio of employed people to total population at 39 per
cent. Twice the number of jobs created during 2005-
2010 would be required to maintain the mark. The
CRISIL Research study is based on recently released
National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) data
on employment in India.CRISIL, after considering the
number of people retiring or losing their jobs by 2015,
new job hires would have to exceed 55 million to
maintain the current ratio of employed people to total
population. Total employment is the sum of people
in jobs and self-employed.Job creation could not keep
pace with GDP growth. The GDP growth increased
to 8.6 per cent during 2005-10 from 6 per cent during
2000-05, but the net addition to jobs remained almost
flat at around 27 million during the two time
periodsThe CRISIL report pointed out that the
employment potential emanating from faster growth
in manufacturing and services could not be fully
exploited due to lack of policy support. In
manufacturing, employment declined by 7 per cent,
despite a faster growth in manufacturing output. In
contrast, employment grew by almost 70 per cent in
the construction sector.
RBI ANNUAL REPORT: CHALLENGES TO
INDIAN ECONOMY
The Reserve Bank of India in its Annual Report for
2010-11 released included discussion on (i) the
assessment of the macroeconomic performance during
2010-11 and the prospects for 2011-12, and (ii) the
working and operations of the Reserve Bank and its
financial accounts.The central bank presented it great
detail an analysis of the challenges faced by the Indian
economy. The RBI considered that the immediate
challenge to sustaining high growth lay in bringing
down inflation, growth sustainability over medium-
term depends on addressing the structural bottlenecks.
The Annual Report for 2010-11 discussed the
measures adopted by the RBI to deal with the
challenges that threatented to lower the economic
growth.
THE REAL ECONOMY
The RBI in its Annual Report presented a broader
picture of the real economic scenerio in Inida.
Following the US sovereign rating downgrade
by S&P, oil prices fell. The August price of the
Indian basket of crude was 25 per cent higher
than its average during 2010-11. Empirical
exercise revealed that a 10 percentage point
increase in oil price would lead to a reduction
in real GDP growth by about 0.3 percentage
point. It would also raise WPI inflation by 1.0
percentage point through direct impact and 2.0
percentage points in total impact.
Preliminary estimates based on latest available
information showed that financial savings of
the household sector moderated to 9.7 per cent
of GDP in 2010-11 from 12.1 per cent in 2010-
11. The decline in the financial savings rate of
the household sector reflected the lower growth
in their bank deposits and life insurance as well
as decline in investment in shares and
debentures.
PRICE SITUATION
Inflation became generalized since December
2010 with significant price pressures in non-
food manufacturing commodities. Drivers of
inflation were found to have changed during
the course of 2010-11.
Global commodity prices recovered faster than
the global economy as a result of surfeit of
liquidity which resulted in creating pressure on
headline inflation in India during 2010-11.
MONEY AND CREDIT
Money growth was moderate during 2010-11,
but it had picked up during the last quarter of
2010-11. Currency expansion was strong during
2010-11. The growth in currency demand was
explained by high GDP growth, high inflation
and low deposit rates initially.The RBI had
observed that the rate of decline in velocity had
accelerated. Accentuated liquidity preference
and slack credit demand in the aftermath of the
crisis were reflected in sharp fall in velocity.
FINANCIAL MARKETS
International financial markets witnessed
frequent re-pricing of risks during 2010-11,
reflecting persisting uncertainties. Sovereign
risk concerns, particularly in the Euro Area,
affected the financial markets. Monetary policy
transmission across the various segments of the
financial markets strengthened during 2010-11
and till mid 2011-12 with liquidity condition
shifting to a deficit mode from June 2010.
GOVERNMENT FINANCE
Combined GFD/GDP for Centre and States fell
from 9.3 per cent in 2009-10 to 7.7 per cent in
2010-11. The budgets of the Central and State
governments envisaged further fiscal
consolidation during 2011-12. The report
reccomended concerted efforts to avoid fiscal
slippages in 2011-12, especially arising from
higher expenditure on subsidies if global
commodity and fuel prices continue at an
elevated level.
EXTERNAL SECTOR-AN OVERVIEW
Indias balance of payments improved to 2.6 per cent
of GDP during 2010-11 from 2.8 per cent during
2009-10 led by a pick-up in exports during the second
half and a higher invisibles surplus.
Capital flows to India improved during 2010-11.
However the composition and volatility of capital
flows posed concern Overall, the BoP situation was
believed to manageable, though continuous
monitoring due to the global uncertainties would be
required for the same.
RBI ANNUAL REPORT :
PROSPECTS OF INDIAN ECONOMY
The Reserve Bank of India released its Annual Report
for 2010-11. In the Annual Report the Central Board
of the RBI discussed (i) the assessment of the
macroeconomic performance during 2010-11 and the
prospects for 2011-12, and (ii) the working and
operations of the Reserve Bank and its financial
accounts.Apart from providing for an assessment of
the Indian economy for the year 2010-11, the report
also discuused the economic prospects for 2011-12.
The RBI opined that global uncertainty, sticky
inflation, hardening interest rates and high base,
especially for agriculture is likely to have a
moderating effect on growth in 2011-12. Also,
inflation would be elevated in near term and fall only
towards the later part of the fiscal.
Growth Outlook
Growth was estimated to come down but remain
close to the trend of about 8.0 per cent in 2011-
12. However if global financial problems
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increase and slow down global growth
markedly, it would impart a downward bias to
the growth projection of around 8.0 per cent
indicated in the Monetary Policy.
According to the RBI report growth prospects
for the year 2011-12 would be subdued
compared to 2010-11. The slowdown in
performance of the economy could be attributed
to high global oil and commodity prices,
persistent inflationary pressures, rising input
costs, rise in cost of capital due to monetary
tightening and slow project execution.
Crop prospects remain good, though on a high
base the growth is likely to turn out to be less
than last year. The monsoon up to August 17,
2011 was 1 per cent below the Long Period
Average. RBIs overall foodgrains production
weighted rainfall index was 101 till August 17,
2011 (88 in the corresponding period last year).
Sowing up to August 12, 2011 was marginally
higher than in corresponding period of the
previous year.
In 2011-12 risks to the industrial growth was
believed to be arise from falling business
confidence. However robust growth of the
services sector would continue to support the
growth process.
Private consumption could be expected to decelerate.
In face of moderating demand, expenditure-switching
from government consumption expenditures to public
investments was likely to help.
OUTLOOK ON TWIN DEFICITS
The twin deficits required close monitoring in
the backdrop of weakening global economy and
the likelihood of some spillovers to the
domestic economy.
According to the report, the fiscal deficit in
2011-12 is expected to be more than the
budgeted projections. If the economy slows
down beyond what is currently anticipated, the
consequent revenue erosion woulod further
increase the fiscal deficit. The fiscal space to
support any counter-cyclical policies is limited
than what existed at the time of the global crisis
of 2008.
CAD was expected to remain at a sustainable
level in 2011-12. Estimates of sustainable CAD
suggest a threshold of 2.7-3.0 per cent of GDP.
Prospects for external sector for 2011-12
remain uncertain as global uncertainties could
adversely impact commodity prices and
exchange rate movements.
The robust performance of exports in 2010-11
and 2011-12 currently faces downside risks as
per the report. The impact of growth slowdown
in the advanced economies could partly be
mitigated by continued diversification of
exports.
With the US and Europe constituting the bulk
of Indian software exports, some impact from
a slowdown in advanced economies is to be
expected.
Capital flows, the RBI mentioned could surge or
diminish, depending upon the degree of risk aversion.
If global crisis turned deep, capital flows would
moderate. On the other hand, capital flows to India
could increase in spells on relative returns basis and
due to large interest differentials. FDI to India in
quarter 1 of 2011-12 was found to have doubled.
INFLATION OUTLOOK
Inflation, the RBI believed would remain high
and moderate only towards the latter part of
the year to about 7 per cent by March 2012. In
case the the global recovery weakened in the
latter part of the year, commodity prices would
decline further. The declining of the commodity
prices would go on to have a salutary impact
on domestic inflation. Near zero rate policy at
least till mid-2013 will be pursued. This policy
stance is expected to keep the commodity prices
elevated.
Given that the global oil prices stay at current
level, further increase in prices of administered
oil products will become necessary to contain
subsidies. Fertiliser and electricity prices will
have to be revised upward in view of sharp rise
in input costs.
The report mentioned that the monetary policy has
an important role to play in curbing the effects of
supply-led inflation.
SINGLE-WINDOW CLEARANCE SYSTEM FOR
APPROVAL
Market regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of
India (SEBI) approved a single-window clearance
system for market entities like stock brokers, for grant
of prior approval for change in control of their
management structures.SEBI approved of the single-
window system with an objective to expedite the
process of granting prior approval (in case of change
of control).In case an applicant holds multiple
registrations with the regulator, it shall make only one
application to SEBI providing certain information
about itself and the acquirer and its directors or
partners. The information sought relates to whether
any application was made in the past to Sebi seeking
registration in any capacity which was not granted and
its details, and what kind of action was initiated on
the application and its current status.The applicant is
also required to furnish details on any investor
complaint pending against it, details of litigation,
payment of due fees to SEBI, and a guarantee that
there will be no change in the Board of Directors of
the firm, till the time prior approval is granted.SEBIs
notification noted that any prior approval granted
under the single-window system shall be valid for a
period of 180 days from the date of communication.
FDI INTO INDIA UP TO 5.65 BILLION US
DOLLARS
Foreign Direct Investment into India grew 310 per
cent to 5.65 billion US dollar in June 2011 as per the
government data. The increase is highest in the past
11 years and it indicates revival of investor confidence
in the Indian economy. FDI inflows in India in June
2010 amounted to 1.38 billion dollars only. In the
April-June quarter of the current fiscal, the FDI went
up by a massive 133 per cent to 13.44 billion dollars.
In the last financial year 2010-11, FDI inflow into
India had declined to 19.43 billion US dollars. But
the inflows have maintained a positive outlook so far
in the financial year 2011-12, according to the data.
GOLD CROSSED 28000 RUPEES MARK
Gold prices breached the Rs 28000-level for the first
time ever in history. Gold set an all-time record of
28230 rupees per 10 grams in India on 20 August
2011. Because of the financial uncertainty in the
markets, gold appealed to investors as a safer option.
The heavy buying by stockists and investors in tandem
with rising global trend mainly resulted into the prices
touching record level. In addition, some local buying
ahead of marriage season also boosted the
price.Following downgrading of US credit rating by
Standard and Poors (S&P), investors shifted funds
from other options like equities and dollar to gold.
SHOW-CAUSE NOTICE TO NSE
The capital market regulator, the Securities and
Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in a first issued a
show-cause notice to the countrys leading stock
exchange, National Stock Exchange, following a
probe into alleged client code modifications by its
broker members.The bourse was asked to explain the
large number of client code modifications. NSE also
has to justify why action should not be taken against
it for not exercising caution over such transactions.
SEBI was alerted about the dealings by the Central
Board of Direct Taxes, which noticed that a large
number of trades were reversed by changing client
codes for tax evasion. The tax department came across
several instances where brokers transferred gains or
losses from one individual to another by modifying
client codes in the guise of rectifying an error. SEBI
independently verified the information given by the
income-tax authorities and found it to be true.A show-
cause notice is not an indictment; it however contains
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allegations of violation. A show-cause notice requires
the entity to which it is served to explain its side of
the story.
Stock exchanges allow client code modifications but
only to rectify a genuine error that could have
occurred at the time of placing or modifying the order.
Every client is given a code which is registered with
the stock exchanges. The broker is allowed to change
it between 3.30 pm and 4 pm to rectify a genuine error
that may have occurred while entering the code. The
facility ensures smooth functioning of the system and
is expected to be used more as an exception rather
than routine. SEBI instructed bourses to impose a
monetary penalty of 1% of the value of the transaction
where the client codes were modified.
DEMAND FOR EMPLOYMENT UNDER
MGNREGA GROWS
A total of 5.49 crore households was provided
employment under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee Scheme, MGNREGS, during
2010-2011 as against 5.26 crore households the
previous year, thus marking an increase in the number
of persons given jobs in rural areas under the scheme.
But the persondays generated in 2010-2011 was
257.15 crore as compared to 283.59 crore in 2009-
2010, showing a decline in average persondays per
household.
The employment is provided on demand and the
major reasons for the decline by some State
Governments are good monsoon, higher wage rate in
open market, other employment opportunities
available, greater transparency and accountability and
local disturbances and agitations. So far, the
participation of SCs, STs and Women under
MGNREGA is concerned, there was no decline this
year in comparison to 2009-2010. The participation
of SCs, STs and Women was 30%, 21% and 48%
respectively out of total persondays generated in
2009-2010, while it was 31%, 21% and 48%
respectively in 2010-2011.
AGGRESSIVE LENDING BY
PSBS BEHIND RISING NPAS
The countrys largest lender SBI has seen its NPAs
grow to 3.52% in the last quarter against 3.14% on a
quarter-on-quarter basis. It is not alone. In contrast,
private sector banks are sitting pretty. Unlike their
public sector brethren, they were able to use their
commercial judgment (read, be conservative in their
lending during the downturn). It is no surprise,
therefore, that the problem of rising NPAs is largely
limited to PSBs.Nonetheless, given their dominance
in the banking sector, the overall level of NPAs is
bound to increase as rising interest rates and
increasing input costs take their toll. Add to that the
prospect of a slowdown in GDP growth the baseline
projection is now 8.2% compared to 8.5% in the
previous yearand you have a recipe for a further
increase in NPAs. Inevitably, the Bankex (stock
market index of banks shares) has fallen more than
Sensex, reflecting fears that banks will be relatively
more severely affected by any slowdown in growth.
The Gross Non-performing Assets (NPA) of Public
Sector Banks (PSBs) for the period ending March,
2011 stood at Rs. 71,047 crore.The Gross NPA of
State Bank of India for the period ending March, 2011
was Rs. 23,074 crore which constitutes 32% of total
Gross NPAs of the PSBs.
PREPAID PAYMENT INSTRUMENTS TO
LISTED CORPORATES
In a circular issued the RBI declared that prepaid
payment instruments such as smart cards, magnetic
stripe cards, mobile wallets paper vouchers, gift cards
and travel cards could be issued by banks only to
corporates listed in India. Prepaid payment
instruments could be issued only to corporate entities
listed in any of the stock exchanges in India. The
corporate entities would have to verify the identity of
the employee to whom the card would be issued, along
with copies of photograph and a proof of identity.
Also, the corporate are required to provide details of
bank accounts of the employee to the bank.RBI
mentioned that the maximum value of an individual
prepaid payment instrument should not exceed
Rs.50000. The money in the prepaid instruments
would be loaded by debit to the bank account after
fulfilling all know-your-customer (KYC) norms.
Corporates usually avail themselves of this facility
from the bank for onward issuance to their employees.
Prepaid payment instruments facilitate purchase of
goods and services against the value stored in it and
the value
The central bank directed the banks to transfer funds
from such prepaid instruments to a regular bank
account of the employee if the same has been
requested for.
1200 CRORE INTO AIR INDIA
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)
approved equity infusion of Rs.1200 crore into the
cash-strapped national carrier Air India. Air India had
so far received financial assistance amounting to Rs
2000 crore in the last two financial years while its
cumulative loss and debt burden is around Rs 67000
crore. The equity induction would not only ease the
cash flow situation of the company Air India which
is passing through critical financial crunch. The cash
flow would also preclude borrowings from the
markets at high costs.The airline has a debt of Rs.4695
crore on an equity base of Rs.2145 crore.
FINANCE MINISTRIES STEPS TO
COMBAT BLACK-MONEY MENACE
The Finance Ministry under pressure to unearth black
money modified the format for reporting suspicious
transactions to help enforcement and regulatory
agencies take prompt action to deal with the menace.
The new reporting formats such as Suspicious
Transaction Reports (STRs), Cash Transaction
Reports (CTRs), Counterfeit Currency Reports
(CCRs) and Non-Profit Organisation Transaction
Reports (NTRs) were introduced after the
Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) made operational its
ambitious intelligence network project sanctioned in
2006.The earlier prescribed multiple data files
reporting format is set to be replaced by a new XML
file format. Three new formats -account-based
reporting, format and transaction-based reporting
format for filing STRs, CTRs and NTRs and a
separate reporting format to file CCRs were
introduced and notified to RBI , SEBI and IRDA and
other relevant entities. The new network, called
FINnet (Financial Intelligence Network)deployed to
tackle the menace of black money is a technology-
based secure platform for bringing together
investigative and enforcement agencies to collect,
analyse and disseminate valuable financial
information for combating money laundering and
related crimes. The civil society in the recent past
stepped up pressure on the government to unearth
black money and introduced various measures to
crack down on financial scams, frauds and large-scale
tax evasion.
PSBS TO BOOST CREDIT TO
SMALL INDUSTRY & FARMERS
The Union government suggested the state-run banks
to focus on traditionally-credit starved areas, such as
small industry and agriculture, while credit demand
from big industry moderates. Reserve Bank of India
revised the credit growth target to 18% from 19% in
2011-12 after it raised the key rates by sharp 0. 5
percentage points in its monetary policy review on 26
July 2011. The RBI raised the repo rate for the
eleventh time since March 2010 to curb runaway
inflation. Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee also
raised the issue of increased lending in the agriculture
sector. Currently, the banking system only covers 50%
of the farmers in India. The government set a target
of Rs. 475000 crore bank credit for the farm sector
in 2011-12. Banks that did not meet the targets for
agriculture lending in the last three years were asked
to step up their loan portfolios.
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AGREEMENT BETWEEN SAUDI ARABIA INDIA ON
HAJ PILGRIMEGE
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has announced
additional quota of 10000 seats for the Haj Season
2011 for use by India. The entire lot of these 10000
seats have been transferred to Haj Committee of India,
Mumbai. The seats will be distributed to the States/
Union Territories that have received applications in
excess of originally allotted quota on the basis of
proportionate Muslim population of the State/ UT
concerned. Saudi Arabia is the largest country in the
Middle East by land area, constituting the bulk of the
Arabian Peninsula, and the third-largest Arab country.
It is bordered by Jordan and Iraq on the north and
northeast, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab
Emirates on the east, ,Yemen on the south and Oman
on the southeast.
DOUBLE TAXATION AVOIDANCE AGREEMENT
BETWEEN INDIA & GEORGIA
The Government of India signed an Agreement for
Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of
Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income and
on Capital (DTAA) with Government of Georgia. The
Agreement was signed by M.C. Joshi, Chairman,
Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on behalf of
the Government of India and Zurab Katchkatchishvili,
Ambassador of Georgia to India on behalf of the
Government of Georgia. The DTAA provides that
business profits will be taxable in the source state if
the activities of an enterprise constitute a Permanent
Establishment (PE) in the source state. The Agreement
provides for fixed place PE, building site, construction
& installation PE, service PE, insurance PE and
agency PE. The Agreement incorporates para 2 in
Article concerning Associated Enterprises. This would
enhance recourse to Mutual Agreement Procedure to
relieve double taxation in cases involving transfer
pricing adjustments. Dividends, interest and royalties
& fees for technical services income will be taxed both
in the country of residence and in the country of
source. The low level of withholding rates of taxation
for dividend (10%), interest (10%) and royalties &
fess for technical services (10%) will promote greater
investments, flow of technology and technical services
between the two countries.
The Agreement incorporates provisions for effective
exchange of information between tax authorities of
the two countries in line with best international
standards, including exchange of banking information
and supplying of information without recourse to
domestic interest. The Agreement also provides for
sharing of information to other agencies with the
consent of supplying state.
MOU SIGNED BETWEEN UGC &
BRITISH COUNCIL
Chairman of University Grants Commission Ved
Prakash and Director of British Council Rob
Lynesformally signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) to support all activities and
programmes agreed under Phase Two of the UKIERI
programme relating to the University sector across the
four strands. The MoU was signed in the presence of
INDIA & THE WORLD
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Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for Human Resource
Development and Sir Richard Stagg, British High
Commissioner to India. This MoU aims to work with
UGC for implementation of strand programmes and
activities in the Higher Education Institutions in India.
This MoU is in continuation to the MoU signed
between Ministry of Human Resource Development
of the Government of India and the Department for
Business, Innovation and Skills on behalf of the
Government and the Devolved Administrations of the
UK including Northern Ireland, which sets out the
framework for UKIERI from 2011-2016.
The UGC British Council MoU will be the guiding
document for overall collaboration and the following
type of activities will be supported
Collaboration between Higher Education
Institutions in India and the UK to work with
key partners and stakeholders in both countries
with the aim of providing opportunities to
teachers, faculty members, senior staff and
students from universities, colleges and other
educational institutions to build capacity.
Programmes that aim to provide opportunities
for the UK and Indian universities to collaborate
on thematic partnerships on mutually agreed
areas.
Activities and strand programmes that aim to
foster mobility of students across the two
countries.
Activities and programmes that work towards
the transferability and equivalence of
qualifications through recognition of learning
and achievements between the two countries.
Activities and strand programmes for jointly
supported scholarships and fellowships.
AGREEMENT BETWEEN IRCON AND
SRI LANKA RAILWAYS
IRCON and Sri Lanka railways signed an agreement
for supply and installation of the signaling and
telecommunication system for railway network in
Northern Province of Sri Lanka. The cost of the
project is 86.5 million dollars.The project will cover
the Anuradhapura-Medawachchiya and
Kankasanthurai-Tallai Mannar sections. The total
route length will be 341 km and the project will have
28 stations. The signaling work includes provision of
centralized control panel, interlocking colour light
system with electrically operated points and track
detection system. All the level crossings will be
interlocked with new signaling system, which would
ensure safety at level crossings. The work on
telecommunication comprises provision of optical
fiber communication system throughout the section.
Besides, public address system will also be provided
at major stations. The project is a part of Indian Line
of Credit of 800 million dollars, which was extended
by India at concessional terms. Moreover, the credit
line was extended at an interest rate of LIBOR plus
0.5 percent with LIBOR capped at 3 percent. The
repayment period is 20 years with a five year
moratorium. IRCON is a specialized Constructions
organization covering the entire spectrum of
construction activities and services in the
infrastructure sector.
India Should Take Lead in Energizing BIMSTEC
With a gloomy economic scenario in the United States
and the European Union, India should take lead and
provide a new meaning to the BIMSTEC engagement
that has potential of generating trade worth 43 to 59
billion dollars under a proposed free trade agreement
(FTA), apex chamber ASSOCHAM .The Bay of
Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and
Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) brings together
1.3 billion people or 21 percent of the world
population, a combined GDP of 750 billion dollars
and a considerable amount of comple-mentarities, said
The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry
of India (ASSOCHAM). The sub-regional group
comprises of India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand,
Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan. BIMSTEC has a trade
negotiating committee which is working on the list
of goods regarding a framework agreement signed in
2004. An FTA is yet to be finalised.India is required
to play a lead role by integrating trade and investments
while promoting economic cooperation,. The
BIMSTEC member countries could jointly develop
infrastructure and technology in enhancing renewable
energy. Financial cooperation through currency swap
agreements, pooling of reserves among central banks
and evolving an exchange rate coordination
mechanism are essential requirements for enhancing
regional trade and investments. In the era of
competitive globalisation, innovative trade and
business strategies are required to lock in consumers.
India needs to give new meaning to the BIMSTEC
economic engagement at three levels.One, the country
could adopt a philosophy of preferential sourcing from
the BIMSTEC region. Two, Indian investment
proposals need to project counter-trade in the form
of buybacks and export obligations, switching or
transfer of export obligations. Three, the country may
promote value neutral transactions (swap trade /
switch export obligations) which encourage bilateral
and multi-lateral trade and significant reduction in
transportation costs.Seven members of the BIMSTEC
zone cover 13 priority sectors trade and investment,
technology, energy, transport and communication,
tourism, fisheries, agriculture, cultural cooperation,
environment and disaster management, public health,
people-to-people contacts, poverty alleviation, and
counter-terrorism and transnational crimes.In
Myanmar, India can focus on agriculture and allied
activities, mining and related products, hydro power,
chemicals, upstream and downstream oil and gas
operations, renewable energy, gems and jewellery. In
Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan, it can aim at skill
intensive sectors like light engineering goods,
consumer durables, food processing and information
technology. In Thailand, India can focus on
knowledge intensive sectors like bioscience and nano
science applications in agriculture, industry and
construction, automobiles and parts, renewable
energy, fashion industry, multimedia, petrochemicals,
engineering plastics and speciality chemicals.
Focusing in these areas, India will need a single
market plan by developing a regional production
network through backward and forward integration.
CURRENT AFFAIRS
Designed for IAS
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URANIUM RESERVES IN INDIA
The Atomoic Minerals Directorate for Exploration
and Research (AMD) has established the presence of
1,71,672 tonnes of Uranium (U3O8) as on last month
of June. This is a constituent unit of the Department
of Atomic Energy Commission. The indigenous
Uranium resources are adequate to fuel reactors of
the capacity of about 10,000MWe.At present AMD
is exploring uranium deposits at Tumallapalle-
Rachkun-tapalle, Kadapa district in Andhra Pradesh,
Rohil, Sikar district in Rajasthan, Wahkut and
Umthungkut in Meghalaya, Gogi, Gulburga district
in Karnataka, SinridungariBanadungri and
Bangurdih, Singhbhum district in Jharkhand. Out of
these deposits, 63,269 tonnes of uranium (U3O8) have
been established during the XI Plan Period. In Rohil,
the Exploratory Drilling done till date has established
5,100 tonnes of uranium (U3O8). In About 19,738
tonnes .4,682 tonnes and 50,987 tonnes of of uranium
(U3O8) has been established in Meghalaya, Gogi and
Jharkhand respectively. There are number of smaller
deposits in Chhattisgarh, UP and Katnataka.
LOW TEMPERATURE THERMAL DESALINATION
TECHNOLOGY
The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) had launched
a program for development of Low Temperature
Thermal Desalination (LTTD) technology for
conversion of seawater into potable water, suitable for
installation in the island territories and near the coastal
Power Plants. The National Institute of Ocean
Technology (NIOT) an autonomous body of the
Ministry of Earth Sciences has been responsible for
design, develop, demonstrate and commission the
LTTD plants in selected coastal locations. Till date,
4 LTTD plants have been successfully commissioned
in the country, one each at Kavaratti, Minicoy, Agatti
of Lakshadweep and one at Northern Chennai
Thermal Power Station (NCTPS), Chennai. Out of
these four plants, the Minicoy and Agatti plants were
established in April 2011 and July 2011, respectively.
The capacity of each of these LTTD plants is 1 lakh
liter per day of potable water. The water is used
locally. Besides, the ministry is working to set up 6
more plants being funded by the Lakshadweep
Administration, one each in the islands of
Lakshadweep viz., Amini, Chetlet, Kadamath,
Kalpeni, Kiltan and Andrott plants.The Reverse
Osmosis, a membrane process, is globally accepted
technology suitable for desalination of saline water,
which is quite different from LTTD technology
developed by the ministry. The LTTD is a process
under which the warm surface sea water is flash
evaporated at low pressure and the vapour is
condensed with cold deep sea water. The LTTD
technology does not require any chemical pre and
post-treatment of seawater and thus the pollution
problems are minimal and suitable for island
territories. Since no effluent treatment is required, it
gives less operational maintenance problems
compared to other desalination processes. The LTTD
technology is completely indigenous, robust and
environment friendly.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
RADIATION EMERGENCY RESPONSE CENTRES
The governments has set up twenty Emergency
Response Centres (DAE-ERCs) at the Department of
Atomic Energy (DAE) locations. These have been
developed to be in preparedness for response to any
nuclear and radiological emergencies affecting the
public domain. The ERCs are also meant to provide
appropriate advice to the administration and local
security agencies regarding the counter or rescue
measures required in the event of any radiation field,
contamination in public domain either due to any
accident or by deliberate acts. It is proosed to establish
10 more ERCs, 2 more at DAE sites and 8 at National
Disaster Response Force (NDRF) Sites.
NATURAL PRESERVATIVE BISIN
Scientists discovered a natural preservative that could
spell the end of rotting food. Researchers at the
University of Minnesota identified the substance,
called bisin, which destroys the bacteria that make
meat, fish, eggs and dairy products decompose. The
researchers said the preservative could extend the
foods life for several years. They claimed that it can
even work for opened bottles of wine and salad
dressing.
CHICKEN WITH CROC-LIKE SNOUT CREATED
Scientists have tweaked chicken DNA to create
embryos that grow alligator-like snouts instead of
beaks, a process they say has enabled them to rewind
65 million years of evolutionary history. Its claimed
that the breakthrough could pave the way for altering
DNA in the other direction and use the same process
to create species better able to adapt to Earths climate.
It could also help eliminate birth defects in humans,
the researchers at the Harvard University said. A team,
led by evolutionary biologist Arkhat Abzhanov,
changed the DNA of chicken embryos in the early
stage of their development which enabled them to give
the creatures snouts.
DEOXYRIBONUCLEIC ACID IN METEORITES
Scientists found components of DNA in meteorites
which confirms the theory that some of the materials
required to make early life forms came to Earth from
space. The study was funded by NASA and was
published in the Proceedings of the National Academy
of Sciences.
Scientists used advanced mass spectrometry
instruments to scan 11 organic-rich meteorites called
carbonaceous chondrites and one ureilite. Ureilite is
a very rare meteorite with a different chemical
composition. They discovered three nucleobases-
purine, 6, 8-diaminopurine and 2, 6-diamino-purine-
that are widely distributed in carbona-ceous
chondrites. Scientific research done in the past had
revealed a range of building blocks of life in
meteorites, such as the amino acids that form proteins.
This was the first time all but two of these meteorites
had been analysed for nucleobases. Finding
nucleobase compounds not usually found in Earths
biochemistry strongly supports an extraterrestrial
origin. This shows that meteorites were molecular tool
kits, which provided the necessary building blocks for
life on Earth.
2
ND
VERSION OF ARJUN TANK
Limited technical trials with some major and minor
improvements on Main Battle Tank (MBT) Arjun
Mark-I, as part of MBT Arjun Mark-II, have been
carried out by the Defence Research and Development
Organisation (DRDO) in the deserts of Rajasthan.
Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has cleared the
proposal for placement of indent for 124 Nos. of MBT
Arjun Mark-II on Heavy Vehicles Factory (HVF),
Avadi, Chennai. Placement of indent by the Army on
Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) is being further
processed. The likely estimated cost of each MBT
Arjun Mark-II with ail major/minor improvements
will be approximately Rs.37 crore.The first batch of
MBT Arjun Mark-II is likely to be productionised by
2015.
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CRITTERS HEADING NORTH FROM
GLOBAL WARMING
Animals across the world are fleeing global warming
by heading north much faster than they were less than
a decade ago, a new study says. About 2,000 species
examined are moving away from the equator at an
average rate of more than 15 feet per day, about a mile
per year, according to new research published
Thursday in the journal Science which analyzed
previous studies. Species are also moving up
mountains to escape the heat, but more slowly,
averaging about 4 feet a year. The species mostly
from the Northern Hemisphere and including plants
moved in fits and starts, but over several decades
it averages to about 8 inches an hour away from the
equator. Included in the analysis was a 2003 study that
found species moving north at a rate of just more than
a third of a mile per year and up at a rate of 2 feet a
year. Camille Parmesan of the University of Texas,
who conducted that study, said the new research
makes sense because her data ended around the late
1990s and the 2000s were far hotter. Federal weather
data show the last decade was the hottest on record,
and 2010 tied with 2005 for the hottest year on record.
Gases from the burning of fossil fuel, especially
carbon dioxide, are trapping heat in the atmosphere,
warming the Earth and changing the climate in several
ways, according to the overwhelming majority of
scientists and the worlds top scientific organizations.
As the temperatures soared in the 2000s, the species
studied moved faster to cooler places, Parmesan said.
She pointed specifically to the city copper butterfly
in Europe and the purple emperor butterfly in Sweden.
The comma butterfly in Great Britain has moved more
than 135 miles in 21 years, Thomas said.
TRES-2B: DARKER THAN ANY PLANET OR
MOON
Astronomers discovered that the planet named TrES-
2b was darker than any planet or moon in our solar
system. This planet reflects less than one percent of
the sunlight falling on it. NASAs Kepler spacecraft
was used by the astronomers to make this
observation.TrES-2b was discovered in 2006 by the
Trans-Atlantic Exoplanet Survey. It orbits its star at
a distance of only three million miles. The star heats
TrES-2b to a temperature of more than 1800 degrees
Fahrenheit. TrES-2b orbits the star GSC03549, which
is located about 750 ligh-years away. It can be
observed near the constellation Draco.
ENDO BARRIER TO CURE DIABETES
British scientists developed an implanted sleeve which
can cure diabetes. The implanted sleeve looks like a
giant sausage skin. Its two feet long device which can
reverse diabetes. The sleeve is made from a thin
plastic.The new device is called the EndoBarrier. It
is designed to have the same effects as the surgery
but far safer. It is a plastic sleeve that lines the
duodenum, meaning food can only be absorbed lower
down the intestine.The sleeve is inserted through the
mouth and passed into the digestive tract using a thin
tube. The implant also decreases cholesterol levels and
blood pressure.
ANTIBODY CH65 ACTS AGAINST INFLUENZA
US scientists found an antibody called CH65 that acts
against 30 of 36 strains of influenza, according to a
study published on 8 August 2011. The antibody,
CH65, can stick to the surface part of the flu virus
known as hemagglutinin which mutates every season.
CH65 was found in cells from a man who was given
the flu vaccine for 2007. It shows that the human
immune system can modify its response to the flu and
actually produce antibodies that neutralise a whole
series of strains. The goal of the scientists is to
understand how the immune system selects for
antibodies and use that information to get better at
making a vaccine.
EFFECTIVE WAY TO
PREVENT TRANSMISSION OF DENGUE
Scientists in Australia say they have discovered a
cheap and effective way to prevent transmission of
dengue fever, which kills more than 12000 people a
year. Writing in the journal Nature the researchers said
they infected mosquitoes, which spread the disease,
with bacterium that blocks development of the dengue
virus. When the resistant insects were released, they
successfully interbred with wild mosquitoes and
halted their ability to transmit dengue. The researchers
are hopeful that this could be a viable control for
Dengue that affects more than 50 million people all
over the world every year. According to the World
Health Organization, around one third of the worlds
population is at risk from dengue fever. The incidence
and severity of the dengue are increasing in many
parts of the world. Pesticides that kill the specific type
of mosquitoes that carry the virus have been the most
effective method of control. However, the resistance
to this method is rising. Now a team of Australian
scientists say that a simple bacterium called Wolbachia
that only infects insects could prevent dengue in its
tracks. Within months, a wave of infection by the
bacterium had spread to almost all the wild
mosquitoes rendering them incapable of passing on
dengue. The data suggests that the presence of
Wolbachia strengthens the immune system and helps
the mosquito resist the effects of dengue. The
researchers say that further experiments are required
in nations like Thailand, Vietnam, Brazil and
Indonesia where the disease is endemic.
NEW DRUG FOR HEREDITARY BREAST AND
OVARIAN CANCERS TESTED
The study, funded by Cancer Research UK and the
Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, is looking at a
drug called 6-mercaptopurine, or 6MP. The drug is
already used to treat leukaemia and is often given
alongside another chemotherapy drug called
methotrexate.Around 15 out of every 100 women with
breast and ovarian cancers have cancers likely to be
caused by inherited faults in BRCA1 or BRCA2
genes. Genetic testing for faulty BRCA genes is
available on the NHS for women with a very strong
family history. Treatments for these cancers can
include platinum-based chemotherapy drugs such as
cisplatin or a newer class of drugs called PARP
inhibitors. But, even with these new drugs, resistance
can develop meaning some women stop responding
to treatment.Previous laboratory studies suggest that
a class of drugs called thiopurines, which includes
6MP, are effective at killing cancer cells lacking
BRCA even after they have developed resistance
to treatments like PARP inhibitors and cisplatin.
PARP inhibitors are a powerful new class of drugs
developed specifically to target tumours caused by
BRCA 1 and BRCA2 faults, but drug resistance
remains a problem, explains Shibani Nicum, a
gynaecology specialist based at the Oxford
Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC), and
a researcher in Oxford Universitys Department of
Oncology. We hope that the very encouraging results
we have seen in early laboratory studies involving
6MP will lead to increased treatment options for these
patients in the future.
TARGETED TREATMENTS IN CANCER CARE
The trial is one of a growing number looking at
matching patients to the most appropriate treatment
based on their genetic makeup and that of their
canceran approach known as personalised medicine.
Trial participant Suzanne Cole, 54, from Newbury, has
a strong history of ovarian cancer in her family, with
her sister, mother and grandmother all having been
diagnosed with suspected cases of the disease at a
relatively young age. But it wasnt until many years
later, after she herself was diagnosed with cancer, that
doctors were able to trace the cause of this back to a
BRCA1 mutation in her family. The Oxford study
aims to recruit 65 patients at 10 centres around the
UK, all with advanced breast or ovarian cancer and
having either BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutations. If
successful, the results would pave the way for a larger
clinical trial, which would determine whether the drug
could become an important extra treatment option for
this patient group.
ANTI-MATTER AROUND EARTH DISCOVERED
Planetary scientists claim to have for the first time
spotted a thin band of anti-matter particles, called anti-
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protons, enveloping the Earth. The find, published in
the Astrophysical Journal Letters, confirms
theoretical work that predicted the Earths magnetic
field could trap antimatter, according to a team led
by the University of Bari. The astronomers say that a
small number of anti-protons lie between the Van
Allen belts of trapped normal matter. The anti-
protons were spotted by the Pamela satellite launched
in 2006 to study the nature of high-energy particles
from the Sun and from beyond our Solar System so-
called cosmic rays, the BBC reported. These cosmic
ray particles can slam into molecules that make up
the Earths atmosphere, creating showers of particles.
Many of the cosmic ray particles or these daughter
particles they create are caught in Van Allen belts,
doughnut-shaped regions where the Earths magnetic
field traps them. The new analysis shows that when
Pamela passes through a region called the South
Atlantic Anomaly, it sees thousands of times more
anti-protons than are expected to come from normal
particle decays, or from elsewhere in the cosmos.
CELLS THAT CAN DESTROY LEUKEMIA
US Scientists recently developed cells that can destroy
leukemia within three weeks. It could lead to new and
effective treatments for the fatal blood cancer. A new
technique was engineered that involved leukemia
patients being treated with their own T cells. T cells
are a type of white blood cell that was genetically
modified to attack and destroy tumours within the
body of the patient. White blood cells are unable to
distinguish tumour cells from healthy tissue, which
allows the cancer to spread unchecked.To overcome
this problem, scientists inserted a protein called a
chimeric antigen receptor in the white blood cells to
enable them to attack tumour cells. The inserted
protein will bind with another protein called CD19
which is present in Leukemia tumour cells. It results
into the multiplication of T cells.
GENE ACTIVITY MAPPED OUT IN
MOUSE BRAIN
The map shows which genes are switched on where
in the cerebral cortex of mice. It covers all genes from
across the whole genome in unprecedented detail.
The findings are published in the journal Neuron and
the data obtained has been made freely available as
an online research resource. The resource is expected
to assist future studies seeking to understand the way
the mammalian brain is organised. The brain is the
most mysterious of organs. If we are to understand
the way it works, we must understand its complex
structure, says Professor Chris Ponting of the MRC
Functional Genomics Unit at Oxford University, who
led the work with Professor Zoltn Molnr, also at
Oxford, and Dr Elliott Margulies of the National
Human Genome Research Institute. Cells in different
layers of the brain do different things, and this
organisation contributes to our levels of cognition.
Weve completed a massive sequencing effort to map
out which genes are active and in which layers of the
cortex. In doing so, were shining a light on to
cognitive processes.
CONNECTING BRAIN ANATOMY AND GENETICS
The cerebral cortex is the largest part of mammals
brains and is where memory, sensory perception,
language and higher-order cognitive functions are
understood to reside. Its been known to have a
layered structure since the 19th century, with each of
the six layers differing in the types of neurons and
connections seen there. By determining the gene
activity in the six layers, it should be possible to start
connecting brain anatomy, genetics and disease
processes with much greater precision. The research
team found that over half of the genes expressed in
the mouse brain showed different levels of activity in
different layers. This is likely to indicate the areas of
the brain in which these genes play an important role.
NEW TECHNIQUE WAS CRUCIAL
The researchers used a new sequencing technology
called RNAseq, a technology related to the latest DNA
sequencers used to decode our genomes, to map gene
activity in the different layers of the mouse cerebral
cortex. The brain is the most mysterious of organs. If
we are to understand the way it works, we must under-
stand its complex structure. RNAs are similar
molecules to DNA, but are only produced in a cell
when a gene is active. The DNA code for that gene is
then read off and an equivalent RNA molecule is
produced. So the RNAseq technique works not by
sequencing DNA to read our static genetic code but
by sequencing all the RNA molecules in a tissue
sample to detect which genes are active. Which genes
are active can indicate which biological processes are
occurring and are important in those cells. In the past,
we might have looked in the lab at a few select RNAs,
or used microarray chips to look at the activity of
many genes that may be of interest. Here we use the
latest techniques to look at absolutely everything
without making any presuppositions about what we
should be looking at. A previous project, the Allen
Mouse Brain Atlas, has sought to create gene activity
maps for the mouse brain using microarray
technology, not sequencing. It started in 2003, well
before this work, and has been a significant
undertaking involving many research groups. Yet to
date, it has not succeeded in mapping all known genes.
NEW INSIGHTS
The findings make it possible to look at where genes
previously associated with susceptibility to different
diseases act. Genes linked to Parkinsons disease, for
example, are particularly active in layer 5. This is just
a correlation, and does not necessarily imply
causation, but it does indicate the new research
avenues that are opened up by the study. The
technique is also able to detect noncoding RNAs,
ie RNAs produced from DNA in between known
genes that doesnt code for proteins but may play a
critical role in regulating genes and controlling
biological processes.
NEXT STEPS
The researchers now hope to do similar studies with
human brain tissue samples. Studies in mouse models
of human diseases like Parkinsons could also pinpoint
differences in gene activity which are important for
understanding the biological processes behind those
conditions. The study can be seen as an example of
how new techniques and approaches can lead to a
reduction of the number of animals used in research.
This bank of data, made available to all online, was
obtained from eight normal adult male lab mice.
Previous methods would have required dedicated
work in many laboratories over a long period to get
data that approached the same level of coverage of
the genome, potentially using many times the number
of animals.
SCIENTISTS DEVELOPED TINY CHIPS TO PREVENT
HIV AND AIDS
Scientists at the University of Columbia in New York
developed a portable blood test device which can
diagnose an infection within minutes. The device
could be used effectively to prevent HIV and AIDS.
The device is in the form of mChip, costing 1 dollar
and looks like a credit card.
ARTIFICIAL SKIN SPUN FROM SPIDER SILK
The secret to creating artificial skin might be
spider silk, researchers now suggest.Skin grafts are
vital for treating burn victims and other patients. For
instance, chronic wounds such as bedsores in
hospitalized patients afflict 6.5 million in the United
States alone for estimated costs of $25 billion
annually.Instead of using skin from a body for a graft,
scientists are investi-gating artificial skin. Ideally such
a graft would be of a material tolerated by the body,
have skin cells embedded within it to replace lost
tissue, degrade safely over time as the new skin grows
in and be strong enough to withstand all the rigors
ordinary skin experiences. Materials investigated until
now did not seem strong enough for the task, said
tissue engineer Hanna Wendt at Medical School
Hannover in Germany. Now Wendt and her colleagues
suggest silk might be up for the job. Spider silk is the
toughest known natural material. Moreover, there is
abody of folklore dating back at least 2,000 years
regarding the potential medical value of websfor
instance, in fighting infections, stemming
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bleeding, healing wounds and serving as artificial
ligaments. The extraordinary strength and stretchiness
of spider silk are important factors for easy handling
and transfer of many kinds of implants, Wendt said.
In addition, unlike silk from silkworms, that from
spiders apparently does not trigger the bodys
rejection reactions.To test spider silks usefulness, first
Wendt and her colleagues essentially milked golden
silk orb-weaver spiders by stroking their silk glands
and spooling up the silk fibers that came out. They
next wove meshes from this silk onto steel frames.
The researchers found that human skin cells placed
on these meshes could flourish, given proper nurturing
with nutrients, warmth and air. They were able to
cultivate the two main skin cell types, keratinocytes
and fibroblasts, into tissue-like patterns resembling
epidermis, the outermost layer of skin, and dermis,
the layer of living tissue below the epidermis that
contains blood capillaries, nerve endings, sweat
glands, hair follicles and other structures.
TUMOUR-SHRINKING DRUG PACLITAXEL (TAXOL)
The research offers several new targets for developing
future drugs to boost the success rate of the tumour-
shrinking drug paclitaxel (Taxol). Paclitaxel is a
chemotherapy drug commonly used to treat breast and
ovarian cancer, but some tumours can become
resistant over time and start growing again. The drug
blocks the growth of cancer by interfering with
microtubules structures that help chromosomes to
separate during cell division. The international team
of researchers found that blocking certain proteins
stabilised the microtubules and made ovarian cancer
cells more sensitive to paclitaxel. The findings are
published in the journal Cancer Research. Lead
researcher Dr Ahmed Ahmed of the University of
Oxford said: Our work provides further evidence for
the important link between the stability of
microtubules, the backbone of the cell, and sensitivity
to paclitaxel. And because the proteins weve
identified share the same target as paclitaxel, it raises
the prospect of developing more specific drugs that
sensitise cancer cells to paclitaxel without damaging
the surrounding tissues. Previous research by Dr
Ahmed and colleagues in the Nuffield Department of
Obstetrics and Gynaecology found that the loss of a
protein called TGFBI which sends messages that
stabilise the microtubules caused paclitaxel to fail.
So to test the theory that microtubule stability may
be essential for paclitaxel response, the researchers
systemati-cally blocked other signalling proteins in
ovarian cancer cells growing in the lab, to see which
might alter paclitaxel response.
BENEFITS OF GENOME RESEARCH
The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) is
implementing a major programme in the area of
Human Genetics & Analysis since 1990-91.
Department has established 21 genetic diagnosis cum
counselling units to provide patient services across
the country. The Centre for DNA Fingerprinting &
Diagnostics of DBT in collaboration with Nizams
Institute of Medical Science, Hyderabad is also
providing genetic diagnosis cum counselling services
to the affected families. The Department has recently
established National Institute of Biomedical
Genomics (NIBMG) in Kalyani, West Bangal. The
institute is devoted to research and training in
genomics in health and disease and to promote
genomics based services in West Bengal.The
Department is supporting over 200 projects in
genomic and genetic research related to health. Centre
of Excellence have been supported in leading
institutes including All India Institute of Medical
Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, Banaras Hindu
University, Varanasi; Christian Medical College &
Hospital, Vellore etc. India is a major participant in
the International Cancer Genomics Consortium with
focus on oral cancer.The Department has drawn
detailed plans to support research, education and
training under the 11th Plan, which is under
implementation. The Department in consultation with
Department of Health Research, Indian Council of
Medical Research and Ministry of Health & Family
Welfare is involved in planning and execution of
major projects in the area of human genetics and
genomics including the Asian Indian Donor Marrow
Registry (AIDMR) for organ transplant at AIIMS,
New Delhi. Close cooperation between the Ministry
of Science & Technology and Health & Family
Welfare would potentially benefit the larger masses
in terms of health care etc.
FAST BREEDER REACTOR TO BE READY BY 2012
A 500 Mwe prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR)
is an advanced technology reactor designed and built
indigenously. The plant is expected to be
commissioned in 2012. It is being built at Kalpakkam
near Chennai in tamilnadu with a project cost of Rs.
3492 crore. A proposal for upward revision of cost is
under conside-ration. Further Rs. 250 crore have been
allocated for pre-project activities of two more units
at the same site. The project is delayed due to the
initial setback in construction activities due to
Tsunami and in later stages due to technological
complexities in manufacturing several first of a kind
equipment.
INDIAS FIRST-EVER NUCLEAR GALLERY
Indias first-ever permanent exhibition on nuclear
power, called Hall of Nuclear Power has been
dedicated to the nation at Nehru Science Centre in
Worli, Mumbai on Saturday. The exhibition, titled
Hall of Nuclear Power, is spread over an area of
7500 sq. ft. and covers almost all the aspects of
nuclear energy, which include extensive information
about nuclear power generation, its basics,
productions, fuel processing, transportation, safety,
security, nuclear waste and its management. Also, it
talks about the non-power application which includes
nuclear medicines, food irradiation technology, etc.
A major attraction in the gallery is the state-of-the-
art virtual tour of a nuclear power plant in which
visitors can learn about nuclear energy through touch-
screen computer kiosks, video terminals, as well as
interactive exhibits and informative panels.
While the informative panels and photographs
provided relevant answers to queries most visitors had
about nuclear power and power plants, the virtual tour
of a nuclear plant was an instant hit. It is Indias first-
ever permanent exhibition on nuclear power and a
proud addition to the Nehru Science Centre in its
silver jubilee year. The exhibit explains in simple
terms the energy scenario in India and the important
role nuclear energy is playing in the energy mix. The
gallery has come in a nice way to educate people about
various safeguards put in place as well as various
applications of nuclear energy in a innovative and
interesting way. This will help people to know and
understand about the safety of Indian nuclear power
plants. Particularly after Fukushima accident, peoples
concern will be addressed to dispel the myths and
misconceptions associated with nuclear energy. The
gallery has been set up at the cost of about Rs 1.70
crores by NPCIL jointly with National Council of
Science Museums (NCSM), the apex organisation
engaged in the popularisation of science through its
26 science centres spread all over the country. NPCIL
is responsible for design, construction, operation and
maintenance of nuclear power plants in India. The
Nehru Science Centre at Worli, one of the largest
science centers in Asia, is a constituent unit of NCSM.
THE OLDEST FOSSILS ON EARTH
The Earths oldest fossils have been found in Australia
by a team from the University of Western Australia
and Oxford University. The microscopic fossils show
convincing evidence for cells and bacteria living in
an oxygen-free world over 3.4 billion years ago. The
Earth was still a hot, violent place at this time, with
volcanic activity dominating the early Earth. The sky
was cloudy and grey, keeping the heat in despite the
sun being weaker than today. The water temperature
of the oceans was much higher at 40-50 degrees the
temperature of a hot bath and circulating currents
were very strong. Any land masses were small, or
about the size of Caribbean islands, and the tidal range
was huge.Significantly, there was very little oxygen
present as there were no plants or algae yet to
photosynthesise and produce oxygen. The new
evidence points to early life being sulphur-based,
living off and metabolising compounds containing
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sulphur rather than oxygen for energy and growth.
Such bacteria are still common today. Sulphur bacteria
are found in smelly ditches, soil, hot springs,
hydrothermal vents anywhere where theres little
free oxygen and they can live off organic matter. The
microfossils were found in a remote part of Western
Australia called Strelley Pool. They are very well
preserved between the quartz sand grains of the oldest
beach or shoreline known on Earth, in some of the
oldest sedimentary rocks that can be found anywhere.
The microfossils satisfy three crucial tests that the
forms seen in the rocks are biological and have not
occurred through some mineralisation process. The
fossils are very clearly preserved showing precise cell-
like structures all of a similar size. They look like well
known but much newer microfossils from 2 billion
years ago, and are not odd or strained in shape. The
fossils suggest biological-like behaviour. The cells
are clustered in groups, are only present in appropriate
habitats and are found attached to sand grains. Should
there be life elsewhere in our solar system on Mars
or on the moons of Titan or Europa it is likely to be
similar sorts of bacteria and cells living in similar
environ-ments. So any fossils in rocks from these
planets and moons ought to look like these Australian
microfossils and pass the same evidence tests.
ARCHAEOPTERYX DETHRONED
The discovery of Archaeopteryx, the most primitive
bird fossil, in 1861, just two years after the publication
of Charles Darwins great work, On the Origin of
Species, could not have been better timed. Exhibiting
both dinosaur features and typical bird-like ones such
as feathers, wishbone, and three-fingered hands, the
150 million-year-old transitional fossil became the
first textbook specimen with the fundamental traits of
evolution in progress. The discovery, which played a
vital role in our understanding of bird origin, provided
the much-needed boost to palaeontologists for
unearthing other vital links in the dinosaur-bird
evolution chain, and other transitional forms. But even
as scientists are celebrating the sesquicentennial
anniversary of its discovery, the iconic specimen has
been robbed of glory by a paper published recently
inNature (An Archaeopteryx-like theropod from
China and the origin of Avialae, by Xing Xu et al.).
The Xiaotingia zhengi species reported in the paper,
which has morphological features similar
to Archaeopteryx and other confirmed
deinonychosaurs bird-like dinosaurs that are
outside the avian lineage has dethroned the iconic
fossil from its high pedestal and clubbed it along with
other non-avian dinosaurs. Indeed, the discovery of a
few non-avian dinosaur fossils during the last decade
served as a harbinger of things to come. These fossils,
exhibiting the same avian morphological features seen
in Archaeopteryx, raised serious doubts about the
basal fossils very presence in the evolutionary tree
of birds. Clinching evidence from the latest find has
only confirmed these doubts.
ACTINIDES IN SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL
The actinides contained in the spent nuclear fuel are
potentially a valuable resource.There are major and
minor Actinides present in the nuclear fuel. The major
actinides include Uranium and Plutonium and the
minor actinides include Neptunium, Americium and
Curium. Major actinides are most valuable resources
for our nuclear power programme and for strategic
application whereas minor actinides have medical,
industrial and strategic application.
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ATHLETICS
13
TH
WORLD ATHLETICS CHAMPIONS
At the 13
th
World Athletics Championships in Daegu,
South Korea, USA won gold in three events out of
the total six events held on 1 September 2011.
Lashinda Demus in the 400 metres hurdles, 1,500
metres runner Jenny Simpson and high jumper Jesse
Williams won the gold medals and lifted the United
States to the top of the medals table. Simpsons
winning time of four minutes 05.40 seconds was
however the slowest to win a world title.Demus ran
52.47 seconds in the 400 metres hurdles, beating
defending champion Melaine Walker of Jamaica into
silver with Russian Natalya Antyukh bronze. Williams
completed a hat-trick of golds for the United States
when he won the mens high jump with his first
attempt at 2.35 metres, the first U.S. gold in the event
in 20 years.
WOMENS 20KM WALK TITLE
In the 13th World Championships in Athletics that
started in Daegu, South Korea, olympic champion
Olga Kaniskina won her third consecutive World
womens 20km walk title on 31 August 2011. The
Russian completed the race in 1hr 29min 42sec, 18sec
ahead of her nearest rival, Chinas Liu Hong. Liu
Hong won silver and Anisya Kirdyapkina of Russia
won bronze (1:30.13). Silver medallist Liu had won
bronze in Berlin (2009 worldchampionship).
Kaniskinas three consecutive world titles matched the
feat of Jefferson Perez of Ecuador, who won the mens
20km titles in 2003, 2005 and 2007.
110M HURDLE
In the 13th World Championships in Athletics that
started in Daegu, South Korea on 27 August 2011,
Jason Richardson (USA) won gold in the 110m hurdle
on 29 August. Liu Xiang of China and Andrew Turner
won silver and bronxe respectively. Olympic
champion Dayron Robles was disqualified for pulling
rival Liu Xiang in the 110-meter hurdles on 29 August
2011 therby handing victory in one of the most
anticipated races of the world championships to
American outsider Jason Richardson. Pawel
Wojciechowski of Poland won gold in the pole vault
event. Lazaro Borges of Cuba and Renaud Lavillenie
of France was placed second and third. While in
Hammer throw Koji Murofushi of Japan won gold.
He was followed by Krisztian Pars (silver) of Hungary
and Primoz Kozmus (bronze). In the Womens 100m,
Carmelita Jeter (USA) won the gold. Veronica
Campbell-Brown and Kelly-Ann Baptiste won the
siver and bronze medals respectively. In the 400m
event of the womens category, Amantle Montsho was
palced first followed by Allyson Felix and Anastasiya
Kapachinskaya. While in shot put New Zealands
Valerie Adams won gold. Nadzeya Ostapchuk and
Jillian Camarena-Williams won silver and gold
respectively.
MENS MARATHON TITLE
Kenyan runner Abel Kirui retained his world title in
the mens marathon here Sunday after finishing the
SPORTS
42.195-kilometer race in two hours, seven minutes and
38 seconds. His fellow Kenyan Vincent Kipruto, a
newcomer to the world championships, crossed the
line second 2:28 minutes behind, which is the biggest
margin in the World Championships history.
Ethiopias debutant Feyisa Lilesa, losing the silver
medal battle in the final 1km, prevented a Kenyan
medal sweep by taking the bronze medal in 2:10:32.
The first final in Daegu last Saturday had seen the
Kenyan women making the first ever marathon medal
sweep in the Champion-ships history. Kirui pulled
away early from a leading pack of three Kenyans and
one Ethiopian after the halfway mark and ran all the
way alone to finish home with his seasonal best time.
Kipruto, the worlds third fastest man this year, who
clocked 2:05:33 when finishing runner up at the
Rotterdam Marathon in April, said he was happy to
secure a 1-2 finish for Kenya.With the two medals,
Kenya has temporarily moved to the second place in
the tally with 16 medals in total while their previous
best in the championships was 13 in Osaka 2007.
800M
David Rudisha of Kenya took the gold medal in the
mens 800m race clocking 1min 43.91sec at the World
Athletics Championships here Tuesday. Abubaker
Kaki of Sudan took the silver clocking 1:44.41.
Russias Yuriy Borzakovskiy collected the bronze for
his effort of 1:44.49, Xinhua reported. Rudisha, 22,
is already a big name in the mens 800m. He set the
current world record of 1:41.01 in the Italian city of
Rieti last August.With the victory, he added another
gold medal for the African nation which swept all the
six medals on the opening day of the Championships.
PORTLAND ANNUAL ATHLETIC MEET
Ace Indian discus thrower Krishna Poonia won the
Gold medal on 14 August 2011 in the Annual Athletic
Meet at Portland in the United States. Taking part in
the first competition of her training stint in the USA,
she hurled the discus to 58.88 metres to bag the yellow
metal.
VOLLEYBALL
FIVB WORLD JUNIOR VOLLEYBALL TITLE
Russia defeated top-ranked Argentina 25-19, 23-25,
21-25, 25-18, 15-12 to win the FIVB World junior
volleyball title in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 11 August
2011. It was the second-seeded Russias eighth title
in the under-21 event. Russias Leonid Shchadilov,
the championships best spiker, was adjudged as the
most valuable player and his teammates Igor Filippov
(best blocker) and Aleksey Kabeshov (best libero)
won special prizes for their performance in the
tournament.Serbia on the other hand defeated the USA
25-15, 25-20, 23-25, 25-13 and won the bronze
medal.
CHESS
SUNITA SINGH MEMORIAL NATIONAL YOUTH
CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP
Top-seeded International Master Rahul Sangma of
Delhi won the Sunita Singh Memorial National youth
(under-25) chess championship at Indore on 27
August 2011. The championship was a 50-player
event. Sangma scored a final round victory with black
over Sai Agni Jeevitesh of Andhra to reach seven
points. Sriram Sarja of Karnataka defeated second
seed C.R.G. Krishna to tie for the first place. Of the
two undefeated players, Sangmas Buchholz tie-break
count was higher and he was declared winner. Sriram
gained about 10 Elo for finishing second. Sangma
picked up Rs. 20000 from the prize fund of Rs.
75000.The event was organised by S.K.M. Chess
Academy and J.J. Public School, Indore, from 21 to
27. August 2011. Pranesh Yadav of Shivamogga,
Karnataka was the chief arbiter.
FOOTBALL
BAICHUNG BHUTIA RETIRES
Veteran Indian footballer Baichung Bhutia announced
his retirement from international soccer on 24 August
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2011. He however will continue to play for his club
that he is currently associated with, Sikkim United.
The decision to retire was prompted by constant
injuries in the past year. He was picked for the
upcoming tour of England.
However calf-muscle injury caused him to retire.
Baichung Bhutia made his debut as a substitute in the
1995 Nehru Cup in Calcutta. In his career spread over
16 years he scored 42 goals in 107 international
appearances. Nicknamed the Sikkimese Sniper, he is
currently contracted by the club he owns, United
Sikkim. He has thrice in the past been named Indian
Player of the Year.
Bhutia had four spells at I-League football team East
Bengal Club, the club where he started his career.
When he signed up to play for the English club Bury
F.C. in 1999 he became the first Indian footballer to
play professional football in Europe. He played for
JCT Mills, which won the league once during his
tenure as well as Mohun Bagan, which failed to win
the league once during his two spells, in his native
India. His international footballing honours include
winning the Nehru Cup, LG Cup, South Asian
Football Federation (SAFF) Championship (three
times) and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC)
Challenge Cup.
He is also Indias most capped player, and in the 2009
Nehru Cup he received his 100th international cap.
He has a stadium named after him- Baichung Stadium
in Namchi, the district headquarters of South Sikkim
district in the state of Sikkim, India. He was honoured
with the Arjuna award in 1995 and Padma Shri in
2008.
TENNIS
CINCINNATI MASTERS
World No. 4 Andy Murray won the ATPs Cincinnati
Masters title for the second time after defeating World
No. 1 Novak Djokovic 6-4, 3-0. Murray made the
most of Djokovics sluggish start, opening the match
with a service break. Murray had won the Cincinnati
Masters title last in 2008. Djokovic who was hindered
during the match by a sore right shoulder conceded
just his second defeat of 2011 against 57 victories.
Fourth-seeded Russian Maria Sharapova defeated
Serbias Jelena Jankovic to win the womens title.
With the victory Sharapova earned her second title
of 2011 after a triumph in Rome.
In the doubles final, Leander Paes and Mahesh
Bhupathi won their third title of 2011 and first at
Cincinnati after 10 years, following a hard-fought win
over French-Serbian combination Michael Llodra and
Nenad Zimonjic.
The third seeds edged past the fourth-seeded French-
Serbian combination 7-6(4), 7-6(2) after battling for
one hour and 41 minutes. This is the third title of the
season for the Indian Express as they are referred.
They had earlier won titles at the Sony Ericsson Open
and Chennai Open.
MONTREAL MASTERS
Novak Djokovic defeated American Mardy Fish 6-2,
3-6, 6-4 to win the Montreal Masters on 14 August
2011 thereby winning his ninth ATP title of 2011.
Djokovic became the first man to win five Masters
1000 titles in the same season having also claimed
trophies at Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid and Rome.
He stands a phenomenal 53-1 in 2011, with his only
loss coming against Roger Federer in the French Open
semi-finals. The win also made him the first to capture
an ATP tournament on debut as number one since Pete
Sampras in 1993.
ATP WASHINGTON CLASSIC
Radek Stepanek on 7 August 2011 defeated Gael
Monfils of France 6-4, 6-4 to win the ATP
(Association of Tennis Professionals) Washington
Classic. With this win, Stepanek became the ATPs
oldest champion since Frances Fabrice Santoro at 35,
won at Newport in 2008.Radak is 32 years old and
from Czech Republic. He also became the oldest
winner of the ATP Washington Classic since Jimmy
Connors in 1988.
CRICKET
INDIA SLIPPED TO NO 3 POSITION IN
TEST RANKINGS
England under the captaincy of Andrew Strauss
defeated India 4-0 in the test series that concluded in
Oval on 22 August 2011. The hosts won the last Test
at oval by an innings and 8 runs. Team India, after
following on in the fourth and last Test was bundled
out at 283 on the final day of the match. Swann the
most successful English bowler took 6 wickets in the
final test. Broad took 2 wickets while Anderson and
Bresnan took 1 wicket each. England bowler Stuart
Broad was named man of the series for his side.
Seamer Broad excelled with the ball, taking a total
of 25 wickets across the four Tests. He was also
brilliant with the bat scoring unbeaten 74 in the first
Test at Lords to set an imposing target for India. In
the second Test Broad scored a total of 110 in two
spells at the crease to help England to a 319-run
victory. Indias man of the series was named as Rahul
Dravid, who averaged 76.83 in his eight innings of
the series, his three centuries were the only hundreds
scored by Indians
With this emphatic victory, England officially
crowned themselves the number one team in Test
rankings with 125 points followed by South Africa
with 118 points. The Indians, who started the series
as the number one Test team, surrendered the number
one tag after losing the third Test in Birmingham and
later slipped to the number three position following
the 4-0 defeat.Indias World Cup victory was preceded
by a tour of South Africa and less than a week after
winning the World Cup in Mumbai, Dhoni and his
men played in the Indian Premier League (IPL). A tour
of the West Indies followed and by the time they
landed in England, most of the players were either
jaded or injured.
RAHUL DRAVID-SECOND HIGHEST SCORER IN
TEST CRICKET ANNOUNCED RETIREMENT
Veteran Indian batsman Rahul Dravid announced his
retirement from both the versions of the game- Test
and ODI. His announced his retirement after he was
chosen for the ODI and T20 series in England. He
was recalled to the Indian squad for the one-off
Twenty20 and five match One-Day International
series against England two years since his last
appearance in an ODI. Dravid decided to play in the
five-match ODI series against England beginning on
3 September 2011 and the one-off T20 match on 31
August 2011 before retiring.Dravid had last played
an ODI match against the West Indies during the 2009
Champions Trophy in Johannesburg, South Africa. He
became the second highest run-getter in Test cricket-
12576 runs from 155 matches during the India-
England test series. Dravid also equalled Sunil
Gavaskars record of 34 Test tons during the ongoing
Test series against England. Dravid has to his credit
over 10000 runs in both the Test and ODI cricket, with
10765 runs in 339 one-dayers which is the seventh
highest scorer in that format. Dravid has made 10765
runs in 339 ODIs with an average of 39.43 with 12
hundreds and 82 fifties.
ENGLAND BEAT INDIA BY SIX WICKETS IN
TWENTY20
England beat India by six wickets in their Twenty20
international match at the Old Trafford here
Wednesday. Mahendra Singh Dhoni had won the toss
and opted to bat first. Opener Ajinkya Rahane scored
61 from 39 balls for India to power his team towards
a total of 165. England scored 169 for 4 (Morgan 49).
Needing 10 from the final over from Vinay Kumar,
Samit Patel squeezed a pair of fours, and then sealed
the match with a lofted drive over extra cover with
three balls of the contest remaining.
India: Parthiv Patel, Ajinkya Rahane, Rahul Dravid,
Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Mahendra
Singh Dhoni (captain/wicketkeeper), Praveen Kumar,
Ravichandran Ashwin, R. Vinay Kumar and Munaf
Patel. England: Alex Hales, Craig Kieswetter
(wicketkeeper), Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan, Ravi
Bopara, Samit Patel, Jos Buttler, Tim Bresnan, Stuart
Broad (captain), Graeme Swann and Jade Dernbach.
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MAHARASHTRA LIFT BUCHI BABU TROPHY
Maharashtra snatched a thrilling two-wicket victory
against Kerala in the final to lift the All-India Buchi
Babu cricket tournament trophy here Tuesday.
Chasing a target of 320 in 90 overs, openers Ashok
Khadiwale (55, 87b, 54, 16) and Chirag Khurana
(82, 133b, 84) provided Maharashtra a sound start
while Rohit Motwani (46, 87b, 14) and Ankit
Bhawne (59, 75b, 44, 16) added 75 for the fourth
wicket to have Kerala on the ropes. However, a flurry
of wickets reduced Maharashtra from 300 for four to
307 for eight before Ajinkya Joshi (13 not out) and
Dominic Joseph Muthusamy (6 not out) guided their
team home amidst mounting tension.For Kerala, off-
spinner K.R. Sreejith picked up five wickets, but bled
runs and his effort eventually went in vain as
Maharashtra coasted home with 3.2 overs to spare.
FOOTBALL
INDIAS UNDER-16 FOOTBALL TEAM DEFEATED
BY PAKISTAN IN SAFF CHAMPIONSHIP
Indias under-16 football team coached by India coach
Thomas Joseph was defeated by Pakistan 1-2 in the
title clash of the SAFF Championship on 10 August
2011. Mohammed Zaseen put Pakistan ahead when
he found the back of the net in the 25th minute. India
drew level through Daniel Lalhlimpuias strike at the
stroke of half-time. Lalhlimpuia restored parity
scoring off a goal-mouth melee as both teams went
to the breather with the scoreline reading 1-1.
However, Pakistan took the lead again when
Mohammed Mansoor scored early in the second half,
a strike which eventually decided the fate of the
match.Indian was shocked as Mansoor sealed the deal
for Pakistan off a corner four minutes from the change
of ends. From there on India desperately looked for
an equaliser, but Pakistans defence stood tall.
MESSI IN KOLKATA
Football magician Lionel Messi arrived in Kolkata on
31
st
of August amid stringent security for Fridays first
ever FIFA official international friendly in the Indian
sub-continent featuring Argentina and Venezuela.
However, the large number of people, who were
waiting for hours at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose
International Airport to welcome the Argentine
superstar, were left heartbroken as the organisers
packed him into a vehicle from the tarmac and drove
him out of the airport through a sidegate.Messi was
accompanied by his Barcelona FC teammate Javier
Mascherano. The duo reached the eastern Indian
metropolis after playing the clubs La Liga game with
Villareal Monday. Messi scored twice in the second
half as Barca cantered to a 5-0 victory.
SPAIN WON THE TENTH EDITION OF THE UEFA
EUROPEAN UNDER-19 CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE
Spain won the tenth edition of the UEFA European
Under-19 Championship title in Romania beating the
Czech Republic 3-2 on 1 August 2011. Spain become
the first country to hold both u-19 and u-21 title in
the same year. Spain which is European and World
champion at senior level defeated Switzerland 2-0 in
the under-21 final on 25 June 2011. Paco Alccer who
came off the bench to score twice in the final 12
minutes played a significant role in helping Spain
attain the title.Spain was Champion in European
Under-19 Championship in the years 2002, 2004,
2006 and 2007. The victory achieved on 1 August
marked the fourth for their coach, the irrepressible
Gins Melndez.
GOLF
INDIAN GOLF TEAM WON BRONZE
An amateur Indian golf team won bronze in a team
event at the 48-year old Nomura Cup in Fiji on 19
August 2011. The competition witnessed participation
by teams from 18 countries. The Indians edged past
golf power-house and defending champions Korea by
five strokes for the third place on the final day. They
finished at a four-day total of 865, and 5-under on
the final day. Indias Khalin Joshi, who also finished
tied third in the individual category, saved the day for
his team with a 4-under 68 as teammates Faldo Series
Asian champion Abhijeet Chaddha, reigning All-India
winner S Chikkaran-gappa and Angad Cheema shot
average scores. The best of three scores were counted
every day for the team total. The victory at Fiji came
a fortnight after Indian golfers bagged silver at the
Asia-Pacific Junior Championships. Australia and
New Zealand won gold and silver.
SNOOKER
NATIONAL SNOOKER TITLE
Aditya Mehta claimed his maiden National snooker
title by defeating Alok Kumar 6-2 (66-6, 29-69, 72-
65, 67-41, 67-10, 74-58, 43-52, 82-5) in the best-of-
eleven frame final at the Hash10 World Sim
championships on 9 August 2011. Successive breaks
of 24, 14 and 21 gave Aditya Mehta the first frame
but Alok Kumar soon levelled the frame-score with a
69-29 verdict in the second. Leading 51-16 in the
third, Alok Kumars slightly heavy touch on the cue
ball directed it into one of the pockets after having
potted a colour (he later admitted to his touch being
either too heavy or too light all match) to let Mehta
back into the frame again.Alok Kumar is a 13-time
National champion.
VARIOUS
SIX CITIES BID FOR 2020 OLYMPICS
Six cities have officially lodged bids to host the 2020
Olympic Games, the International Olympic
Committee (IOC) said Friday. The cities that have
shown interest are Baku, Doha, Istanbul, Madrid,
Rome and Tokyo. The deadline for bidding was at
midnight Thursday. The IOC will vote on the host city
for the 2020 edition on Sep 7, 2013 in Buenos Aires,
Argentina.The cities will now undergo a technical
review leading to the IOC drawing up a shortlist in
May next year, the Xinhua reported. In January 2013,
the candidate cities should submit bid documents to
the IOC which will then send its evaluation committee
to each city between February and April 2013 to
assess their respective merits.The 2012 Olympics will
be staged in London and the 2016 edition in Rio de
Janeiro.
INDIAN COURT OF ARBITRATION FOR SPORTS TO
SETTLE SPORTS DISPUTE
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) set up an eight
member Indian Court of Arbitration for Sports
(ICAS). ICAS was set up under the Chairmanship of
Dr. AR. Lakshmanan, former Supreme Court Judge
and former Law Commission chairman to resolve all
sports related disputes in India. The other Members
of ICAS include M.R. Culla and retired judges,
Justices R.S. Sodhi, B.A. Khan, Usha Mehra,
Lokeshwar Prasad and S.N. Sapra.All sports related
disputes in the whole world are settled by the
International Court of Arbitration for Sports situated
at Lausanne, Switzerland through a panel of eminent
experts in the field of law, medicine, sports and others.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had
given directions to the IOA to constitute the Indian
court of Arbitration for Sports in order to resolve all
sports related disputes within the territory of India.
All disputes in relation to sports under the Indian
Olympic Association will therefore be decided by the
Indian Court of Arbitration for Sports.
CABINET REJECTS PROPOSED SPORTS BILL
The union cabinet Tuesday rejected the proposed
National Sports Development Bill aimed at bringing
more transparency and accountability in the
functioning of the National Sports Federations (NSF),
saying the legislation needs to be reworked. The
cabinet decided not to table the bill in this session of
parliament and asked Sports Minister Ajay Maken to
rework it. At the cabinet meeting chaired by Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh, five cabinet ministers
were present Sharad Pawar, Praful Patel, C.P. Joshi,
Farooq Abdullah and Vilasrao Deshmukh. Under the
current version of the bill, all sports federations would
have been covered by the Right to Information (RTI)
Act and would need to submit their audited reports
to parliament.A clause in the bill also aimed at making
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the Board of Control of Cricket India a public
organisation like other sports federations and bringing
it under the purview of the RTI. The sports ministrys
move to include the BCCI in the bill drew support
from most of the former Indian cricketers earlier in
the day.
Former India captain Kapil Dev, who led the team to
1983 World Cup win, acknowledged the good work
done by the BCCI but said it should work with the
government. It is a vast issue and we cant talk about
it off-hand but in my opinion every organisation
should come under a uniform system. At the same
time, BCCI is doing well as a private organisation and
we should respect that. But at the end of the day,
everything should come under the government, Kapil
said on the sidelines of a seminar of the Confederation
of Indian Industries (CII) here Tuesday. Another
former captain, Mohammad Azharuddin, now a
Congress MP, hoped the bill will improve sports in
the country. BCCI has done a good job in running
the sport but nobody is above the law. When a
government passes a law, you cant look at one
individual or one body. And if they are going to come
out with a bill covering sports bodies, I dont see
anything wrong in that, he said.On BCCI coming
under the RTI, Jadeja added: There is nothing wrong
if they fall under the RTI. But you have to leave out
key things like players selection away from public
scrutiny.
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NATIONAL AWARD OF MINISTRY OF
EARTH SCIENCES CONFERRED
The Union Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES)
conferred its national awards for outstanding lifetime
contributions on the foundation of MoES which is.
The award was conferred upon the former Director
of the Hyderabad-based National Remote Sensing
Agency, B. L. Deekshatulu, and the former Director
of the Pune-based Indian Institute of Tropical
Meteorology, R.N. Keshavamurthy. Dr. Deekshatulu
won the award for his work in ocean science and
technology while Dr. Keshavamurthy received it for
his contributions in atmospheric science and
technology. The awards conferred by Union Minister
for Earth Sciences Vilasrao Deshmukh carry a cash
prize of Rs.1 lakh each and a citation.The nominations
for the award are normally recommended by heads
of universities, national institutes and scientific
departments of the Centre. A high level committee of
distinguished scientists then selects the winners. The
Minister also presented certificates of merit to eminent
scientists and engineers like P. John Kurian of the
National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research
(Goa), C. Patanjali Kumar of the Indian National
Centre for Ocean Information Services (Hyderabad),
R. Saravanan of the National Institute of Ocean
Technology (Chennai), John P. George of the National
Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecast (Delhi),
C. Gunaseelan of IITM and D. R. Pattanaik, A. D.
Tathe and Ravi Kant Singh of the India
Meteorological Department.
MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS 2011
The 2011 MTV Video Music Awards was held at
Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles to honour the best
music videos from 2010. Britney Spears was honored
with the MTV Video Vanguard Award for her
contribution to the recent history of MTV.Lady Gaga
was the recipient of a new award, Best Video With A
Message for Born This Way.
LIST OF WINNERS AT THE MTV VMAS 2011 IS
AS FOLLOWS:
Video of the Year: Katy Perry - Firework
Best New Artist: Tyler, The Creator - Yonkers
Best Hip-Hop Video: Nicki Minaj - Super Bass
Best Male Video: Justin Bieber - U Smile
Best Female Video: Lady Gaga - Born This
Way
Best Pop Video: Britney Spears - Till The
World Ends
Best Rock Video: Foo Fighters - Walk
Best Collaboration: Katy Perry Featuring
Kanye West - E.T.
Best Art Direction: Adele - Rolling in the Deep
Best Choreography: Beyonce - Run The
World (Girls)
Best Cinematography: Adele - Rolling in the
Deep
Best Direction: Adele - Rolling in the Deep
Best Editing: Adele - Rolling in the Deep
AWARDS & PRIZES
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Best Special Effects: Katy Perry featuring
Kanye West - E.T.
Best Video With A Message: Lady Gaga -
Born This Way
RAJIV GANDHI MANAV SEVA AWARD FOR THE
YEAR 2010
Rajiv Gandhi Manav Seva Award for the year, 2010
was announced. The Selection Committee chose Mira
Kagti (Assam), Dr. S.A. Thasleem Sulthana (Andhara
Pradesh) and for Dr.Mallika Nadda (Himachal
Pradesh) for conferment of the prestigious award.
Mira Kagti established Shishu Sarothi in 1987 for
providing education, rehabilitation and training
services to the children suffering from Cerebral Palsy
and persons with disability. Dr. S.A. Thasleem
Sulthana renders service to the orphaned and mentally
handicapped children and works for the welfare,
rehabilitation of mentally retarted, hearing impaired,
visually challenged and physically challenged
children. Dr. Mallika Nadda is a leading social activist
in Himachal Pradesh. She founded Chetna, at Bilaspur
a civil society initiative with a vision to integrate
physically and mentally challenged children. She
provides voluntary services and, material in kind,
equipments, surgery intervention support, clothing etc.
to the children.
ABOUT THE RAJIV GANDHI MANAV SEVA AWARD
The Award was instituted on 20 August1 994, the 50th
Birth Anniversary of the late Prime Minister, Rajiv
Gandhi who had deep love and concern for children.
In pursuance of the Government of Indias policy to
support and promote voluntary action in the area of
Child Development/Welfare, the Ministry of Women
and Child Development, Government of India
instituted the Rajiv Gandhi Manav Seva Award for
Service to Children in 1994 to honour individuals who
have made outstanding contribution towards the cause
of children.The Award carries a cash prize of Rupees
One lakh and a citation to each awardee.
KENDRA SAHITYA AKADEMI AWARD 2011
Six novels, five collections of short stories, seven
books of poetry and one book of folk tales and plays
in 24 Indian languages were selected for the 2011
Kendra Sahitya Akademi Awards for Childrens
Literature. The awards comprise a prize purse of Rs.
50000 and a copper plaque. Five writers have been
chosen for the Akademis Bala Sahitya Puraskar for
lifetime contribution to childrens literature: Sailen
Ghosh (Bengali), Shyam Dutt Parag (Dogri), Ramesh
Parekh (Gujarati), Harikrishna Devsare (Hindi) and
Maheswar Mohanty (Oriya). Gh. Nabi Aatash
(Kashmiri), Snehalata Rai (Nepali), Darshan Singh
Asht (Punjabi), Abhiraj Rajendra Mishra (Sanskrit),
Nuhum Hembram (Santali), M.L. Thangappa (Tamil)
and Aasil Aseer Dehlavi (Urdu) won the award for
poetry.
The short-story writers selected included Maheswar
Narzary (Bodo), Mayanath Jha (Maithili), Dileep
Prabhavalkar (Marathi), Harish B. Sharma
(Rajasthani) and M. Bhoopal Reddy (Telugu).Bandita
Phukan (Assamese), Siddhartha Sarma (English),
Hundraj Balwani (Sindhi), N. Dsouza (Kannada),
Gajanan Jog (Konkani) and K. Pappootty
(Malayalam) were the novelists selected for the award.
Shantibala Devi (Manipuri) was chosen for her book
of folk tales and plays.
SENA MEDAL FOR GALLANTRY
Three Army doctors were awarded the Sena Medal
for gallantry for taking on terrorists and saving the
lives of their colleagues during an attack on Indians
in Kabul in 2010. A total of 114 Army personnel were
awarded the Sena Medal for gallantry on
Independence Day, 15 August 2011 for their acts of
valour in different operations across India.Lieutenant
Colonel Sanjiv Kumar Kakkar, Major Sumit Arora
and Major Sibashish Metia of the Army Medical
Corps were part of the Indian medical mission in
Kabul when the terrorists carried out a suicide attack
on the hotel where the Indian team was staying.
Lieutenant Colonel Sanjiv Kumar Kakkar of the Army
Medical Corps was heading the Indian medical
mission in Kabul. The officers displayed exceptional
bravery, rushed into a hail of bullets to take on the
terrorists and herded their colleagues to safety. For
fighting militants barehandedly in the same attack,
Major Laishram Jyotin Singh was posthumously
conferred the highest peacetime gallantry award
Ashok Chakra on Republic Day 2011.
Major Atul Garje and Major Bhanu Chander were
awarded the Sena Medal posthumously for
manoeuvring their helicopter away from civilian
habitat and ensuring no loss of civilian life on 2
February 2011. The helicopter was manoeuvred away
from civilian habitat and ensured no loss to civilian
life and property. In the process of recovery, the
helicopter impacted the ground and crash landed
which resulted in the loss of their lives.
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UPSCPORTALS
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APPOINTED
NAOTO KAN
Prime Minister of Japan Naoto Kan announced his
resignation after almost 15 months in office amid
dipping approval ratings over his governments
handling of the tsunami disaster and nuclear crisis.
Kan steeped down as chief of the ruling Democratic
Party of Japan that effectively ended his tenure as
leader of the country. Kan had in June 2011 promised
to quit once lawmakers passed three key pieces of
legislation. The final two bills cleared the parliament
on 26 August 2011.Kan had finally achieved a seat
in the lower house in 1980 as a member of Socialist
Democratic Federation after losing elections in 1976,
1979 general elections and 1977 Upper House
election. He had gained national wide popularity in
1996 while serving as the Minister of Health and
Welfare, admitting governments responsibility for the
spread of HIV-tainted blood in 1980s and directly
apologized to victims. On 6 January 2010, he was
picked by Yukio Hatoyama to be the new Finance
Minister, assuming the post in addition to deputy
prime minister.
YOSHIHIKO NODA
The Japanese parliaments lower house voted in
Yoshihiko Noda as the nations sixth prime minister
in five years. Yoshihiko Noda won the runoff vote
against Banri Kaieda in the leadership election. He
succeeded outgoing Prime Minister of Japan Naoto
Kan who resigned on 26 August 2011 after almost 15
months in office. Japans new Prime Minister is faced
with the task of rebuilding from the massive March
2011 tsunami that devastated the northeast coast and
ending the nuclear crisis it triggered. He also has to
to address a myriad of economic ills including a strong
yen and a ballooning public debt.
BABURAM BHATTARAI
Maoists Vice-Chairman Baburam Bhattarai was
elected Nepals 35th prime minister marking the
countrys attempt to form a stable government after
extended political uncertainty. The vice chairman of
Maoist party, Bhattarai won the vote after securing
the support of the Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi
Marcha, a loose alliance of five regional parties from
the countrys southern plains. Bhattarai completed his
PhD degree from Jawaharlal Nehru University (New
Delhi)in 1986. His Ph.D. thesis was later published
as a book- The Nature of Underdevelopment and
Regional Structure of Nepal- A Marxist Analysis. He
is a senior Standing Committee Member and vice
chairperson of Unified Communist Party of Nepal
(Maoist), which began fighting a revolutionary
Peoples War in Nepal in 1996 that ultimately led to
the change of the political system in Nepal from a
monarchy into a republic. He was elected to the
Constituent Assembly from Gorkha in 2008 and
became Finance Minister in the Cabinet formed after
the election.
TORY TAN
Former Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Tony Tan
won the presidential election in Singapore to become
IN THE NEWS
the countrys seventh President. The results were
declared. Tan received 35 percent of about 2.1 million
votes in the election. Tory Tan was backed by the
ruling Peoples Action Party (PAP). The election was
Singapores first contested vote for President since
1993. The post of President in Singapore is mainly a
ceremonial position in the countrys parliamentary
government.
NEW GOVERNORS APPOINTED
Former Andhra Pradesh chief minister K Rosaiah was
appointed as the new Governor of Tamil Nadu.
Rosaiah replaced Surjit Singh Barnala who had taken
over as Tamil Nadu Governor in 2006. Rosaiah was
the finance minister in the Y S Rajashekhara Reddy
Cabinet and was appointed Andhra Pradesh chief
minister after the death of Reddy in a helicopter crash.
However, he was removed after the demand for a
separate state of Telangana resulted in violent protests.
The President also appointed former Uttar Pradesh
chief minister Ram Naresh Yadav as Governor of
Madhya Pradesh. Ram Naresh Yadav (83) from
Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh was the chief minister of
the state from 1977 to 79 as Janata Party MLA. He
had contested the 2004 Lok Sabha elections from
Azamgarh on the Congress ticket but had lost.
LIST OF GOVERNORS APPOINTED
Ram Naresh Yadav: Madhya Pradesh
Vakkom Purushothaman: Mizoram
M O H Farook: Kerela
Syed Ahmed: Jharkhand
ROHIT NANDAN
Rohit Nandan, a joint secretary in the civil aviation
ministry was appointed as Chairman and Managing
Director (CMD) of Air India for a three-year term on
12 August 2011. Nandan was appointed after removal
of Arvind Jadhav from the position of Chairman and
CMD. Nandan was one of ten IAS officers selected
by the cabinet secretary to monitor and expedite the
completion of venues in the run-up to last years
Commonwealth Games.
NEW HEADS OF ITBP, BSF & SSB
The appointments committee of the Cabinet cleared
the names of three senior Indian Police Service (IPS)
officers as the head of three paramilitary organisations
namely the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP),
Border Security Force (BSF) and Sashastra Seema Bal
(SSB). Secretary (Internal Security) in the Ministry
of Home Affairs, U K Bansal was named as the next
Director General of the Border Security Force (BSF).
Bansal who is a 1974 batch IPS officer of Uttar
Pradesh cadre is to replace Raman Srivastava. The
government has also appointed Secretary (Security)
in the Cabinet Secretariat, Pranay Sahay, as the next
Director General of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).
Sahay is set to succeed Y S Dadwal. Ranjit Sinha, the
former director general of the Railway Protection
Force (RPF), was selected to head the Indo-Tibetan
Border Police (ITBP) which guards Indias borders
with China. A 1974 batch officer, Sinha earlier had
stints in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and
the ITBP.
ANIL KUMAR CHAUDHARY
State-run Steel Authority of India (SAIL) announced
the appointment of Anil Kumar Chaudhary as its
director, finance. He succeeded Soiles Bhattacharya.
Prior to being appointed as Director (Finace), he
served as the Executive Director (Finance &
Accounts) at SAILs Bokaro Steel Plant. After
completing his graduation in commerce from Delhi
University, Chaudhary joined SAIL Corporate Office
in New Delhi in 1984 as Junior Manager (F&A), and
rose to the rank of Executive Director (F&A).
Chaudhary made significant contributions in the areas
of treasury and banking operations, foreign exchange
management, capital budgeting, cost & operations
budget, financial concurrence and administration of
centralised gratuity and superannuation funds during
his tenure. An Associate Member of the Institute of
Cost & Works Accountants of India (ICWAI) &
Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI),
Chaudhary is an alumni of Faculty of Law Studies
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(FLS), from where he completed his bachelors degree
in law.
M.P. VEERENDRAKUMAR
Chairman and managing director of the
Mathrubhoomi group of newspapers, M. P.
Veerendrakumar, was elected chairman of the Board
of Directors of Press Trust of India (PTI).
Veerendrakumar had twice before served as the PTI
chairman.He succeeded Vineet Jain, Managing
Director of the Times of India Group. Former Union
Minister, Veerendrakumar also served as president of
the Indian Newspaper Society (INS). He has written
18 books in Malayalam, one of which won the Kendra
Sahitya Akademy Award in 2010.R Lakshmipathy,
Publisher of the Tamil daily Dinamalar, was elected
vice-chairman. He has been president of the INS,
chairman of the Audit Bureau of Circulation and a
member of the Press Council of India. He runs several
educational institutions.
R A MEHTA
Gujarat governor Dr Kamla appointed former justice
of the Gujarat High Court, R A Mehta, as the new
Gujarat Lokayukta. The governors order was based
on the recommendation of the chief justice of Gujarat
HC. Section 3 of the Gujarat Lokayukta Act,
1986,provides for the appointment of a Lokyukta in
the state. The position for Lokayukta in Gujarat lay
vacant for seven years prior to the appointment of
Mehta. The last Gujarat Lokayukta SM Soni had
retired in 2003.Narendra Modis government had sent
a proposal to the governor that a committee consisting
of three ministers, the leader of opposition and chief
justice should suggest a panel of three judges and one
of them be selected on the basis of a majority vote.
The Modi government moved the Gujarat High Court
seeking quashing of the governors order.
DEATH
SHAMMI KAPOOR
Veteran actor and leading star of Bollywood of the
1960s, Shammi Kapoor died in Mumbai on 14 August
2011. Shammi Kapoor was known to be an extremely
versatile actor. He debuted in Bollywood in 1953 with
the film Jeevan Jyoti, and went on to deliver hits like
Tumsa Nahin Dekha, Dil Deke Dekho, Junglee, Dil
Tera Diwana, Professor, China Town, Rajkumar,
Kashmir Ki Kali, Janwar, Teesri Manzil, An Evening
in Paris, Bramhachari, Andaz and Vidhaata.Born to
theatre actor Prithviraj Kapoor and Ramsarni Mehra.
Kapoor, he had started out with serious roles but it
was with Nasir Hussain directed Tumsa Nahin Dekha
(1957) opposite Ameeta and Dil Deke Dekho (1959)
with Asha Parekh that he attained the image of a light-
hearted, stylish playboy. His new image was cemented
with Junglee (1961).
He received the first Filmfare Best Actor award of
his career for the film Bramhachari in 1968. He
received the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting
Actor for Vidhaata in 1982 and in 1995 he received
the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2002
he was honoured Invaluable Contribution To Indian
Cinema at the IIFA. He went on to receive the Lifetime
Achievement Award for his contribution to Indian
cinema at the Pune International Film Festival (PIFF)
in 2008. Phalke Legend Actor Award by the
Dadasaheb Phalke Academy was conferred upon him
in 2009. He was also the recipient of the prestigious
Living Legend Award by the Federation of Indian
Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in
recognition of his outstanding contribution to the
Indian entertainment industry. Shammi Kapoor was
the founder and chairman of Internet Users
Community of India (IUCI). He had also played a
major role in setting up internet organisations like the
Ethical Hackers Association.
P C ALEXANDER
Padinjarethalakal Cherian Alexander, a former IAS
officer who served in Prime Minister Indira Gandhis
staff died of cancer in Chennai.Born in 1921, at
Mavelikkara in Kerala, Alexander post-graduated
from the then Travancore University and joined the
Indian Administrative Service in 1948. He served in
the then Madras and Travancore-Cochin states before
moving to the Central Government in 1955.P.C.
Alexander was at different times Principal Secretary
to two Prime Ministers- Indira Gandhi and Rajiv
Gandhi, Indian High Commissioner in the United
Kingdom, Governor of Tamil Nadu and, Maharashtra,
a United Nations civil servant and even a Rajya Sabha
MP.
A 1948 batch Kerala cadre IAS officer, Alexander was
picked by Indira Gandhi in 1980, she had to become
Principal Secretary and, in the process, he became her
political adviser, conscience keeper and administrative
trouble-shooter. After her assassination in 1984, Rajiv
Gandhi, who succeeded his mother kept him on in the
same post. However in 1985, he was forced to quit
after a spy scandal surfaced. He also served as the
high commissioner in London. He had held senior
posts in the UN civil service for 10 years. He was a
Senior Adviser to the UN in New York during 1963-
66. He served as principal secretary from 1981-85.
He also served as Indian High Commissioner to the
UK in 1985-88. He was instrumental in acquiring
Gandhis 260-odd letters to Herman Kallenbach.
Alexander authored several books, including My
Years with Indira Gandhi and The Perils of
Democracy and Through the Corridors of Power.
RS SHARMA
Noted historian and indologist RS Sharma died.
Sharma who was born in a village near Barauni in
Bihar s Begusarai district, was a historian of
international repute. He taught ancient and early
medieval history of India at Patna University, Delhi
University and the University of Toronto. He wrote
115 books which have been published in 15 languages
around the world. He was the first historian who
critically studied the various aspects of early Indian
social, economic and political structure and brought
into focus the exploitation of weaker sections of
Indian society. He was particularly known for his
trenchant observations on institutions in ancient Indian
society and his report on the Bihar-Bengal boundary
dispute.
He was the founding chairman of the Indian Council
of Historical Research (ICHR) in 1972. He also
served as President of the Indian History Congress in
1975. He was a recipient of the prestigious Jawaharlal
Nehru Award in 1989 and was earlier awarded the
Campbell Memorial Gold Medal by the Bombay
Asiatic Society in 1987.
KALYAN K. CHAUDHURI
Veteran journalist Kalyan K. Chaudhuri died. He was
a Special Correspondent for Frontline magazine from
August 1991 till retirement in December 2003.
Chaudhuri was known for his informed journalistic
writing. As a journalist he focussed primarily on
political developments in the eastern region. He was
president of the Indian Journalists Association in
1988.He was a man of varied interest. He translated
The Scalpel, the Sword, the story of Doctor Norman
Bethune, by Ted Allan and Sydney Gordon; and
Platero Y Yo, a prose work of Spanish poet Juan
Ramon Jimenez, into Bengali. Along with his wife,
Kajal Chaudhuri, he had founded the theatre group
Bhoomika in the late-1970s.
MADHUKAR KASHINATH PANDHE
Veteran trade unionist and Communist Party of India-
Marxist Politburo member Madhukar Kashinath
Pandhe died of cardiac arrest in New Delhi. Pandhe
was the senior-most leader of the trade union
movement in India. He had joined the Communist
Party in 1943.He completed his post-graduation from
Pune University from where he earned a doctorate
from the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics.
Pandhe, who was the Secretary of the Sholapur City
Committee of the CPI, later took an active part in the
Goa liberation struggle.
NANCY WAKE
Australian Nancy Wake, who worked as a spy and had
gone on to become the Allies most decorated
servicewomen for her role in the French resistance
during World War II, died in London on 8 August
2011. Nancy was code named The White Mouse by
the Gestapo during the war. Nancy Wake was a
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WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
woman of exceptional courage and resourcefulness
whose daring exploits saved the lives of hundreds of
Allied personnel and helped bring the Nazi occupation
of France to an end. Born in 1912, Nancy was trained
by British intelligence in espionage and sabotage.
Wake lead 7000 resistance fighters in weakening
German defences before the D-Day invasion in the
last months of the war. She evaded capture during the
distribution of weapons. She had reached the top of
the Gestapos wanted list. France had honoured her
with its highest military honour, the Legion
dHonneur. Her biography was penned down by Peter
Fitzsimons.
USTAD AZIZUDDIN KHAN
Exponent of Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana (school of music),
Ustad Azizuddin Khan passed away. Affectionately
called as Baba among his disciples, Azizuddin Khan
along with his father Bhurji Khan who founded the
Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana had settled down in Kolhapur
at the insistence of Chhatrapati Shhahu Maharaj. He
originally hailed from Uniara of Rajasthan. Khan was
initiated in Khyal-based singing style of the Jaipur-
Atrauli Gharana by legendary vocalist and his
grandfather Ustad Alladiya Khan who trained him for
over 12 years. Khan will be remembered for his
selfless attitude and zeal to popularise the singing style
of the gharana. Some of his disciples included
Mallikarjun Mansur, Dhondutai Kulkarni, Shruti
Sadolikar-katkar among others.
SYED HABIB
Former Indian No 2 snooker player Syed Habib
passed away.Habib was India No.2 in snooker for
three years from 1980. Syed reached the semifinals
of the National billiards championships twice in 1987
and 1988.He entered the billiards when he defeated
the then World billiards champion Michael Ferreira
in the Pune Nationals in 1987.
R. NARASIMHAN
Veteran journalist and advertising professional, R.
Narasimhan passed away. He was 86. Narasimhan
joined The Hindu as a sub-editor in 1950. After
working for seven years, he shifted to The Hindustan
Times before becoming an editor of the Tamil evening
daily, Navamani. He was responsible for the formation
of The Hindu Office and National Press Employees
Union and held the posts of vice-president and general
secretary of the Madras Union of Journalists.
SHIV KUMAR VERMA
The founder member of the Nehru Hockey Society,
Shiv Kumar Verma died. He was associated with with
the activities of the Nehru Hockey Society for 47
years. He was at the helm of affairs and led from the
front when a group of people came together to form
the Nehru Hockey Society following Indias defeat in
the hockey final of the 1960 Olympics. Verma later
became the honorary secretary and administrator of
the s Nehru Hockey Society. He was instrumental in
ensuring the inclusion of junior, sub-junior and
champion college tournaments. Verma was
responsible for bringing the junior, sub-junior,
womens and college tournaments under the Nehru
Society fold.
SUMANT MISHRA
Former Davis Cupper and secretary of the All-India
Lawn Tennis Association Sumant Misra. Mishra who
was Indias first national tennis champion was called
Grandfather of Indian tennis. He represented the
country at the Davis Cup between 1947- 1956 and
also played in the Wimbledon and US Nationals in
the pre-Open era in world tennis. Misra was one of
the only three Indians to win the national title. Misra
was the member of Indias Davis Cup squad for a
decade, captaining it in 1952-53. He went on to
become the secretary of the All-India Lawn tennis
Association (AILTA) in 1963-66 when former
president of the Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI)
MA Chidambaram was its president. Misra became
the first mens singles champion when the national was
split into grass and hard court championships in 1946-
47 at Calcuttas South Club. He won the singles title
again in 1952-53.He entered the mens doubles
quarterfinals twice at Wimbledon in 1947-48 and the
US championships in 1947, partnering Jimmy Mehta.
He had won both the Ceylon and Malay national
championships in 1958-59 and 1959 respectively.
RESIGNATION & ACCUSED
SOUMITRA SEN
Calcutta judge Soumitra Sen resigned from the
position of judge. He submitted his resignation to the
President prior to impeachment process scheduled in
the Lok Sabha and after the upper House had
overwhelmingly voted to declare him guilty of
financial misconduct. To complete the impeachment
process began against Sen the Lok Sabha had to pass
a motion, which was to taken up on 5 and 6 September
2011.The Rajya Sabha on 18 August 2011 had passed
a motion overwhelmingly to impeach the judge, who
was accused of misappropriating Rs 33.23 lakh under
his custody as a court-appointed receiver and
misrepresenting facts before a court in a 1983 case.
Sen became the first judge to be impeached by the
Rajya Sabha.After his elevation as judge in 2003, Sen
had failed to declare that he had collected an amount
of Rs 33 lakh earlier as a receiver in a case. He
returned the money with interest only after the High
Court in 2006 directed him to do so. He turned down
then Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnans advice
in 2008 to step down because of the controversy. Even
after the Rajya Sabha voted in favour of his
impeachment he had refused to step down.
Justice Sen was found guilty of misappropriating sale
proceeds to the tune of Rs 24 lakh in a case in 1984
where he was appointed as receiver by the Calcutta
High Court. He was an advocate at that time. He was
later directed to deposit Rs 52 lakh by the High Court.
He had allegedly unauthorisedly taken out Rs 25 lakh
from another account and invested it elsewhere. An
in-house committee in its 6 February 2008 report had
found him guilty of breach of trust and mis-
appropriation of receivers funds for his personal
gain. A three-member committee headed Supreme
Court judge Justice B Sudershan Reddy in its report
of September 2010 found Justice Sen guilty of
misbehaviour.
M RAMADOSS
The Union government suspended New India
Assurance chairman M Ramadoss for alleged
violations in issuing insurance cover to an airline
during his stint as head of another state-run insurer.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) examined
Ramadoss role in irregularities in granting credit
insurance cover to Paramount Airways when he was
chairman and managing director of general insurance
firm Oriental Insurance. The government started
looking into the affairs of New India Assurance, the
countrys largest general insurance firm, after it posted
a net loss of Rs 421 crore last fiscal, the first time in
90 years of operations. This is the second instance of
action being taken against a head of a public sector
insurance firm. Earlier, TS Vijayan, the chairman of
the countrys largest insurer, Life Insurance
Corporation was denied an extension after complaints
against him surfaced.
RANJIT KUMAR BHATIA
Ranjit Kumar Bhatia, Director General of Indo-
Tibetan Border Police retired. He had taken over as
Director General on 31 January 2010. During his 19-
month-long tenure in ITBP, the much needed re-
structuring of the force was done. The ITBP got four
training centers, one high altitude medical training
school and one mountain driving school during his
tenure. A separate water wing was established and
intelligence set-up was reorganised to suit the
changing security scenario. Ranjit Sinha, a Bihar cadre
IPS officer of the 1974 batch was selected to be the
next director-general of the Indo-Tibetan Border
Police, a paramilitary force that guards the borders
with China. Sinha had earlier served the force as
additional director-general.
AMAR SINGH
The former Samajwadi Party general secretary, Amar
Singh was chargesheeted for allegedly bribing MPs
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for their votes during the confidence motion in the
Lok Sabha over the India-U.S. nuclear deal in 2008.
BJP leader L.K. Advanis former aide, Sudheendra
Kulkarni, two former BJP MPs were also
chargesheeted. The charge sheet submitted by the
Delhi Police Crime Branch alleged that Kulkarni was
the brain behind the conspiracy to conduct the sting
operation showing that the MPs had been approached
and bribed to vote in favour of the trust motion. He
remained in touch with the other conspirators when
bribes were paid to the former BJP MPs- Phagan
Singh Kuleste and Mahaveer Singh Bhagoda, and the
incumbent MP Ashok Argal. The police sought
sanction for prosecution from the Lok Sabha Speaker
to initiate proceedings against Argal for having
received bribe.
DOMINIQUE STRAUSS-KAHN
The sexual-assault case against Dominique Strauss-
Kahn was dismissed bringing an abrupt end to what
had been a three-month criminal investigation. The
dismissal order was issued by Justice Michael J. Obus
of State Supreme Court in Manhattan. Former IMF
chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was accused of
sexually assaulting an immigrant hotel housekeeper
after she entered his suite to clean it. Strauss-Kahn
was taken into custody on 14 May 2011 aboard an
Air France jet at Kennedy International Airport.
Nafissatou Diallo, an African immigrant had accused
Mr Strauss-Kahn of chasing her in his luxury hotel
suite in New York on 14 May and subsequently
forcing her to perform oral sex on him. Strauss-Kahn
also faces charges over a claim by French writer
Tristane Banon that he tried to rape her during a 2003
interview.
MOHAMMAD ARIF ALIAS ASHFAQ
The Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for
Mohammad Arif alias Ashfaq in connection with the
2000 Red Fort attack case. A division bench
comprising justice VS Sirpukar and justice TS Thakur
dismissed Ashfaqs appeal which had challenged the
death penalty awarded to him for the attack carried
out on Delhis historic 17th century Red Fort by the
sessions court and upheld by the Delhi high court
while six others sentenced for various jail terms had
been acquitted. The high court had previously
dismissed Ashfaqs appeal against a trial court verdict
awarding death penalty to him for waging war against
India and killing an army soldier and an army barber
and a civilian working for the army in the 22
December 2000 attack on the Red Fort.The High
Court had reversed the trial court findings against six
convicts including the father-son duo Nazir Ahmed
Qasid and Farooq Ahmed Qasid, sentenced to life
imprisonment, and Ashfaqs Indian wife Rehana Yosuf
Farooqui, a Pakistani national.
MOHAMMED AL-FORTIYA
Rebels have closed in on Muammar Gaddafis
hometown of Sirte from both east and west, in Libya.
The rebel commander in Misrata, Mohammed al-
Fortiya said that that rebel forces moved within 30km
of Sirte from the west and captured Bin Jawad, 100
kilometres to the east. Rebel fighters have captured
Muammar Gaddafis heavily fortified Bab al-Aziziya
compound and headquarters in Tripoli after a day of
fierce fighting, an Agence France-Presse
correspondent witnessed. Libya is a country in the
Maghreb region of North Africa Bordered by the
Mediterranean Sea to the north, Libya faces Egypt to
the east, Sudan to the south east, Chad and Niger to
the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west.
VARIOUS
AGRINDIA WILL BE LAUNCHED
The Union Cabinet approved the proposal of Ministry
of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Research
& Education (DARE) for setting up of a new
company, called AGRlNDIA. The AGRlNDIA will be
a registered company under the Companies Act, fully
owned by Government of India in the Department of
Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) with a
share capital of Rs.100 crore and initial paid up capital
of Rs.50 crore.
AGRlNDIA would undertake the following major
activities:
Protection and management of intellectual
properties generated in the system and its
commercialization / distribution for public
benefit.
Production, marketing and popularization of
ICARs products, processes and technologies
in agriculture and allied sectors.
Providing skilled services from ICAR, such as
consultancies, contract research, contract
service, customized capacity building, technical
support for turnkey project etc.
Setting up research and development farms and
assist in setting up production units outside
India, especially in Africa and in the Asia-
Pacific region and perhaps other regions of the
world such as Latin America.
Foster public-private partnerships in research,
education and other capacity building in
agriculture and allied sectors.
AGRlNDIA would promote spread of R&D outcomes
through IPR protection, commer-cialisation and
forging partnerships both in the country and without.
The farmers of the country would benefit from the
formation of the company because of the following:
The company would provide a model for quality
seed availability in the country.
The company would enable manufacturing and
marketing models of good quality vaccines and
diagnostic kits etc.
It would establish ICARs R&D presence in
other countries/region, such as in Africa and
the Asia Pacific region.
Intellectual Property Rights in ICAR would be
efficiently managed for their protection and
consequent commercialization.
SEX TAX METRES IN GERMANY
The German city of Bonn introduced sex tax metres
for street prostitutes with the objective of taxing the
worlds oldest profession. Prostitutes in Bonn would
now have to buy a ticket from converted roadside
vending machines. Prostitution is legal in Bonn
between 8.15 pm and 6 am. A nights ticket will set a
sex worker back 5.30 pounds, irrespective of the
number of clients they have. If a cop catches a sex
worker without ticket, she will be fined or banned
from working. The ticket machine is intended to bring
street prostitutes into fiscal line with their peers in
registered sex establishments.
ACHEULIAN TOOLS DISCOVERED IN KENYA
New geological study reported in the journal Nature
mentioned the recovery of rare haul of picks, flakes
and hand axes from ancient sediments in Kenya. The
stone tools are believed to be the oldest remains of
advanced stone tools yet discovered. Archaeologists
unearthed the implements while excavating mudstone
banks on the shores of Lake Turkana in the remote
north-west of the country. American researchers at the
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, part of Columbia
University, established the age of the Turkana tools
by dating the surrounding mudstone with a
paleomagnetic technique.
The largest of the tools are around 20 cm long and
have been chipped into shape on two sides, a hallmark
of more sophisticated stone tool making techniques
probably developed by Homo erectus, a long-dead
ancestor of modern humans. Known as Acheulian
tools, they are larger, heavier and have sharp cutting
edges that are chipped from opposite sides into the
familiar teardrop shape. Researchers dated the
sediments where the tools were found to 1.76 million
years old. Until now, the earliest stone tools of this
kind were estimated to be 1.4m years old and came
from a haul in Konso, Ethiopia. Others found in India
are dated more vaguely, between 1m and 1.5m years
old.
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JULIUS BAER FORECASTS
According to the forecast of Swiss wealth manager,
Julius Baer, Asia will add 1.66 million dollar-
millionaires by 2015, taking the total number of
wealthy to 2.82 million. According to the report, the
wealth of high networth individuals (HNIs), those with
$1 million or more in investable assets, would nearly
triple to $15.8 trillion in the five years to 2015. China
alone would be home to nearly half of the millionaires
in Asia with combined wealth of $8.8 trillion. The
worlds most populous nation would have 502,000
million HNIs with investable assets totaling $2.6
trillion. India would more than double the number of
HNIs to 403000 by 2015, while Indonesia would see
the highest growth rate in the number of wealthy, up
by a quarter to 99000.As per the forecast that China
and India would collectively contribute 40 percent to
global growth for 2011 and 2012.
T-50 STEALTH FIGHTER
T-50 stealth fighter which is being jointly developed
by Russia and India made its first international public
appearance at the MAKS air show in Moscow. During
the air show Moscow also unveiled its newest space
shuttle, armed drones and a new range of upgraded
weapons. The T-50 was making test flights since
January 2010. However it is the fighters first
appearance at an air show. Even after the
demonstration flight, the fighter jets are classified and
are not displayed on the ground. Two prototypes of
the single seater jet, estimated to cost USD 6 billion,
are expected to fly over Zhukovsky air field on the
outskirts of Moscow. The T-50 resembles Russias
best-selling Su-30 fighter jet but will have all its
weapons hidden inside its body and wings to avoid
radar detection and will fly at supersonic cruising
speeds. The aircraft also boasts of ultra-maneuver-
ability and high-technology avionics.
JAYA HEY, THE COMPLETE NATIONAL ANTHEM
LAUNCHED
The complete national anthem, Jaya Hey, with four
additional and barely known stanzas was launched.
The full anthem was sung by Indias top artists, from
Girija Devi, M Balamuralikrishna to Shankar
Mahadevan, Shaan and Sunidhi Chauhan. The
presentation features five verses, sung and played by
39 celebrated Indian artists. The audio-visual
presentation was brought out on poet Rabindranath
Tagores 150th birth anniversary. The limited edition
was produced by Saregama and is being unveiled by
Times Now channel.
HIMAYAT FOR EMPLOYMENT
The Union ministry of Rural Development in Srinagar
launched the programme called Himayat, for giving
training and placement to over one lakh youth from
poor families in Jammu and Kashmir. The Programme
Himayat will be implemented in five years. The Union
Cabinet has already approved 235 crore rupees for
this programme.
IRENE SLAMMED NEW YORK
Tropical storm Irene slammed New York with strong
winds and heavy rain after battering the eastern coast
of the US where it left at least 14 people dead and
millions without power. An emergency was declared
in eight affected states on the eastern coast even as
the hurricane monitors said wind speeds have
diminished as the storm moved north. Americas
economic nerve centre New York virtually shut down
as New Yorkers prepared for the onslaught of violent
winds and flooding. Irene means peace.
CLOSEST YOUNG STAR TO EARTH
Planetary scientists have discovered the closest young
star to Earth. An international team carried out a
research and showed that the star, named AP
Columbae, is the closest so-called pre main sequence
star. Scientists used the telescopes in Coonabarabran,
Chile, Hawai and California to show that the red-
dwarf star AP Columbae is the closest to the Earth.
Scientists added that for decades it was believed that
young stars only resided in vast star-forming regions
like Orion Nebula. These regions are usually hundreds
of light years away from Earth. Scientists have carried
out accurate, all sky surveys to find young stars much
closer to home.
DEBARSHI DUTTAGUPTA
A Kolkata photographer, Debarshi Duttagupta was
declared the Grand Prix winner among 60,000 entries
in the 33 year old Nikon Photo Contest International.
Debarshi Duttagupta won the award for his picture
titled Learning to Fly. The picture was shot at a ghat
in Varanasi and captured a moment that conveys the
story of a small fishing community. The success of
the photograph lay in its capturing that magical
moment of beauty as evening slips into the night. The
33-year-old contest attracted 60000 entries this year,
the highest in its history, from over 23000 applicants
in 153 countries. The winning photograph will be
showcased at exhibitions in Tokyo, Osaka and London
in late 2011.
SURENDRA NATH JAUHAR
Minister for Communications & IT and HRD, Kapil
Sibal released a commemorative Postage Stamp on
Surendra Nath Jauhar, noted freedom fighter, social
worker, industrialist and philanthropist. Jauhar born
in 1903 joined the freedom struggle at the age of 16
in response to a call to the youth of the country by
Mahatma Gandhi. As a leading Congressman of Delhi,
he was thrown behind the bars several times, two of
the longest spells being 15 months for reading the
Purna Swaraj pledge in 1930, and for participating
in the Quit India Movement from 1942 to 1944. He
became an ardent devotee of Sri Aurobindo and the
Mother in 1939. He gave away his land to establish
the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Delhi Branch in 1956,
and also became the founder of Sri Aurobindo
Education Society, under which he started The
Mothers International School in 1956 and Mirambika
in 1982.
35 INDIAN COMPANIES IN FORBES ASIAS LIST
Thirty-five Indian companies are included in the top
200 Asia-Pacific corporations in Forbes Asias Best
Under a Billion list for 2011 released. The number
of Indian companies was second only to the 65 firms
from both China and Hong Kong that found a place
in the list. Among the Indian companies that made the
grade were SRF which manufactures chemical-based
industrial intermediates, Polyplex, which makes
polyester film and Glodyne Technoserve, an IT
services company. However, Indias largest storage-
battery producer, Exide Industries which was present
in the list in 2010 grew too big to be included in the
200-company list for 2011 since it breached the USD
1 billion sales mark in the past 12 months.
MELBOURNE IS WORLDS MOST LIVEABLE CITY
According to the economic intelligence units new
Global Liveability Survey, Australian city Melbourne
was found to be the worlds most liveable city, while
Indias business capital Mumbai was placed at 116th
position. The annual survey assessed living conditions
in 140 global cities. Melbourne surpassed Vancouver
to become the best city in the world to live. The
Canadian capital city, Vancouver had topped the
survey since 2002. However vancouver fell to third
place in 2011 behind Vienna which was at the second
place. According to the report, Indias commercial hub
Mumbai is ranked 116th, one place up from its
previous years ranking. In 2010, Mumbai was ranked
117th while Delhi was at 113
th
position.
Other Australian cities in the top 10 included Sydney,
placed at 6th, while Perth and Adelaide ranked 8th
and 9th. The top 10 cities included Toronto at (4th),
Calgary (5th), Helsinki (7th) and Auckland (10th).
London was ranked 53, while at 26 Honolulu was the
top US city.The worst to live in among the 140
locations were Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea,
Bangladeshs Dhaka and Zimbabwes Harare.
ISA KHANS TOMB
Restoration work on Isa Khans tomb in New Delhi
led to the discovery of the countrys oldest sunken
garden. Restorers at the Isa Khans tomb in the
precincts of the Humayuns Tomb World Heritage Site
discovered that the Isa Khans tomb stood within a
hitherto unknown sunken garden. The sunken garden
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predates the famed gardens that the Mughals built and
popularised. Pieces of underlying archaeology were
also uncovered at the site. The sunken garden Isa
Khans Tomb site predates the Humanyuns Tomb
garden by two decades. Isa Khans garden tomb is the
earliest example of a sunken garden in India attached
to a tomb. The concept of a sunken garden attached
to a tomb was later found manifestation at Akbars
Tomb and at the Taj Mahal.
The discovery is significant as it shed light on the
grandeur of the tombs, rising above the gardens and
overlooking the trees and the landscaping. Over the
years gardens have come up at the level of the
monuments, however the garden at Isa Khans tomb
revealed that originally gardens used to be three to
four feet below the monument with the tomb sitting
high.
UPSCPORTALS
INDIA 2011
Comprehensive Coverage on
India General Studies
Coming Son
TEST I: GENERAL AWARENESS
1. Russia, in May 2010, announced plans to open
naval bases in __ in response to NATOs
eastward expansion.
(1) Turkmenistan (2) Uzbekistan
(3) Belarus (4) Ukraine
(5) None of these
2. The International Monetary Fund, on May 14,
2010, approved immediate disbursement of
$1.3 billion of financial assistance to _.
(1) Greece (2) Turkey
(3) Pakistan (4) Afghanistan
(5) None of these
3. Iran, on May 16, 2010, freed Clotilde Reiss,
___ lecturer charged with spying following June
20009 disputed presidential elections.
(1) German (2) Italian
(3) Swiss (4) French
(5) None of these
4. Egypt, in May 2010, objected to an agreement
signed by four Nile Basin countries in _ for
changing the way the river waters are shared.
(1) Kenya (2) Algeria
(3) Morocco (4) Uganda
(5) None of these
5. On which date in 2010 did President Barack
Obama sign the Daniel Pearl Freedom of the
Press Act into law?
(1) May 17 (2) May 16
(3) May 18 (4) May 21
(5) None of these
6. Iran, in May 2010, agreed to swap a major part
of its low enriched uranium stocks on Turkish
soil for an equivalent amount of uranium
enriched to per cent.
(1) 12.5 (2) 15.0
(3) 19.75 (4) 22.55
(5) None of these
7. On which date in 2010 did Thailands military
and civilian leaders assume full control of the
situation after crushing a two-month protest?
(1) May 17 (2) May 18
(3) May 19 (4) May 20
(5) None of these
8. Social networking website _ was, on May 19,
2010, blocked in Pakistan following protests
over an Everybody Draw Mohammad Day
contest.
(1) MySpace (2) Facebook
(3) Orkut (4) Twitter
(5) None of these
9. Which European country, on May 20, 2010,
pledged to impose an annual cap on
immigration from non-European Union
countries?
(1) France (2) Britain
(3) Germany (4) Italy
(5) None of these
10. __born Scot John ShepherdBarron, inventor
of the Automated Teller Machine (ATM), died
after a short illness in London on May 20, 2010.
(1) India (2) South Africa
(3) USA (4) France
(5) None of these
BANK PO PRACTICE SET
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11. Nicolaus Copernicus was reburied as a hero in
Frombork, northern - in May 2010, nearly 500
years after he was laid to rest in an unmarked
grave.
(1) Romania (2) Slovenia
(3) Poland (4) Belarus
(5) None of these
12. Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Foreign
Ministers at their meeting in _, on May 22,
2010, approved draft rules for admitting new
members into the security grouping.
(1) Beijing (2) Moscow
(3) New Delhi (4) Tashkent
(5) None of these
13. On which date in 2010 did the United States
and South Korea agree to explore raising their
defence posture to deter future military threats
from North Korea?
(1) May 24 (2) May 25
(3) May 26 (4) May 22
(5) None of these
14. On which date in 2010 did Nepal political
parties agree to extend the term of the
Constituent Assembly by one year?
(1) May 28 (2) May 31
(3) May 27 (4) May 30
(5) None of these
15. The United Nations, on May 28. 2010, asked
_. to join NPT and CTBT without further delay
and pre-conditions.
(1) India (2) Pakistan
(3) Israel (4) All of the above
(5) None of these
16. , the premium apparel brand from Madura
Garments, a division of Aditya Birla Nuvo,
announced its foray into footwear on May 1,
2010.
(1) Louis Philippe (2) Benetton
(3) Zodiac (4) Peter England
(5) None of these
17. On which date in 2010 did the Insurance
Regulatory and Development Authority issue
further modifications on guidelines related to
unit linked products?
(1) May 1 (2) May 2
(3) May 3 (4) May 4
(5) None of these
18. __ was, on May 4, 2010, barred from doing
any business with the World Bank for violating
procurement guidelines, for three years,
beginning January 11. 2010.
(1) LG Electronics
(2) Videocon Industries
(3) Samsung India
(4) Maruti Udyog Ltd.
(5) None of these
19. On which date in 2010 did India and Australia
release the Feasibility Study report on India-
Australia Free Trade Agreement?
(1) May 4 (2) May 1 1
(3) May 21 (4) May 29
(5) None of these
20. The SEBI, on May 4, 2010, permitted stock
exchanges to introduce Index options contracts
on the Sensex and the Nifty for a longer tenure
of

years.
(1) Two (2) Three
(3) Four (4) Five
(5) None of these
21. HCL Technologies, in May 2010, signed a five-
year $500 million agreement with MSD (also
known as Merck & Co of__., a global research-
driven pharmaceutical company.
(1) USA (2) U. K.
(3) France (4) Italy
(5) None of these
22. The Finance Ministry, on May 5, 2010, agreed
to give Rs. 14,000 crore to oil marketing
companies _ to make up for the losses incurred
on sale of fuel and cooking gas.
(1) Indian Oil Corporation
(2) Bharat Petroleum Corporation
(3) Hindustan Petroleum Corporation
(4) All of the above
(5) None of these
23. On which date in 2010 did the board of directors
of Tata Tea Ltd (TTL) approve the name change
to Tata Global Beverages Ltd?
(1) May 5 (2) May 4
(3) May 6 (4) May 9
(5) None of these
24. EIH Ltd., which runs the _ group of hotels, on
May 6, 2010, acquired the 45.38 per cent
interest of Amex Investment of Hong Kong.
(1) Taj (2) Ashoka
(3) Oberoi (4) All of the above
(5) None of these
25. On which date in 2010 did shares of Essar
Energy Plc, begin formally trading on the
London Stock Exchange, after its 1.3-billion
pound public offer?
(1) May 7 (2) May 8
(3) May 11 (4) May 19
(5) None of these
26. India and _, on May 11, 2010, decided to double
their trade in the next five years from $16 billion
to $32 billion.
(1) Japan (2) Taiwan
(3) Singapore (4) Japan
(5) None of these
27. On which date in 2010 did the Reserve Bank
of India allow infrastructure finance companies
to raise money from overseas markets through
the automatic route?
(1) May 12 (2) May 11
(3) May 18 (4) May 21.
(5) None of these
28. Industrial growth slipped marginally to - per
cent in March 2010 from a robust expansion of
15.1 per cent in February 2010.
(1) 13.5 (2) 14.2
(3) 12.6 (4) 11.3
(5) None of these
29. Wipro Infotech, on May 14, 2010, won three
State mission mode projects for data centres
from _.
(1) Maharashtra (2) West Bengal
(3) Gujarat (4) All of the above
(5) None of these
30. North Americas SunEdison, on May 15, 2010,
announced its entry into India with the
development of a photovoltaic solar power
plant in __
(1) Goa (2) Kerala
(3) Maharashtra (4) Gujarat
(5) None of these
31. ___on May 17, 2010, called on India to provide
an open investment environment, in its first
response to the reported restrictions on the
import of its telecom equipment.
(1) Japan (2) Malaysia
(3) China (4) Indonesia
(5) None of these
32. The Union Cabinet, on May 19, 2010, approved
hike in the price of natural gas supplied under
APM by __ doubling it to $4.20 per m Btu.
(1) GAIL (2) ONGC
(3) Oil India Limited
(4) Only 2 and 3
(5) None of these
33. Exports registered a share rise of 36.2 per cent
at $16.9 billion, while imports also registered
a - per cent surge at $27.3 billion in April 2010.
(1) 43.3 (2) 37.9
(3) 33.6 (4) 49.6
(5) None of these
34. SBI Funds, the joint venture between State
Bank of India, and Societe Generale Asset
Management __, in May 2010, announced the
launch of its PSU Fund.
(1) Norway (2) Sweden
(3) Denmark (4) France
(5) None of these
35. Naveen Jindal-owned Jindal Steel and Power
Limited, on May 20, 2010, announced the
acquisition of _based Shadeed Iron and Steel
Co for $464 million.
(1) Qatar (2) Saudi Arabia
(3) Oman (4) Kuwait
(5) None of these
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36. The Hinduja Group, on May 21, 2010,
announced to acquire European private bank
___epb, one of the largest onshore private
banking groups.
(1) MHL (2) KBL (3) SVP
(4) DEN (5) None of these
37. Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, on
May 29. 2010, said the country is poised to
achieve a growth rate of __ per cent during the
current year.
(1) 8.5 (2) 8.9 (3) 9.3
(4) 9.7 (5) None of these
38. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on May 26,
2010, asked industry leaders, including Ratan
Tata and Mukesb Ambani, to reach out to the_.
(1) Downtrodden
(2) Women and children
(3) Rural economy
(4) All of the above
(5) None of these
39. The Lok Sabha, on May 3, 2010, passed the
Payment of Gratuity Bill, 2010, to raise the
ceiling of gratuity for employees in private
sector to Rs. 10 lakh from Rs._ lakh.
(1) 2.5 (2) 3.5
(3) 4.5 (4) 5
(5) None of these
40. On which date in 2010 were top 13 cities in the
country announced to adopt stricter Bharat
Stage-III emission norms for two and three-
wheelers with retrospective effect?
(1) May 11 (2) May 28
(3) May 31 (4) May 14
(5) None of these
41. __,, on May 21, 2010, became the first Indian
in 13 years to qualify for the mens singles event
of the French Open after defeating Adrian
Mannarino in Paris.
(1) Manish Mathur (2) Ajit Solanki
(3) Somdev Dewarman
(4) Kirpal Tyagi
(5) None of these
42. Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares of
-
, on May
22, 2010, defeated Rohan Bopanna and
Aisamul-Haq Qureshi in the doubles final of
the Nice Open.
(1) Mexico (2) Argentina (3) Peru
(4) Brazil (5) None of these
43. __, in May 2010, won the discus title in the
Tucson Elite Throwers Classic at Tucson,
Arizona, US, with a throw of 62.87 metres.
(1) Vikas Gowda (2) Vijay Dubey
(3) Saurabh Mishra (4) Mohnish Saxena
(5) None of these
44. Joshna Chinappa, on May 23, 2010, won the
German ladies Open beating Swiss
opponent___in the final of the WISPA World
Tour event in Saarbrucken.
(1) Rachael McAdams
(2) Michelle Rosario
(3) Gaby Schmohl (4) Annie Skinner
(5) None of these
45. Lewis Hamilton, on May 30, 2010, claimed the
12th victory of his career when he won the
Grand Prix.
(1) Brazilian (2) Turkish
(3) Chinese (4) Japanese
(5) None of these
46. __, Chairman and Managing Director of Rural
Electrification Corporation, took over as new
Secretary, Union Power Ministry, on May 1,
2010.
(1) P. Uma Shankar
(2) A. Swaminathan
(3) D. Kasturirangan
(4) S. Chelliar
(5) None of these
47. __, CMD, Indian Bank, was appointed ex-
officio director on the board of United India
Insurance Company by the Central Government
on May 7, 2010.
(1) T. M. Bhasin (2) Anil Aggarwal
(3) Prakash Tiwary (4) Suresh Thakkar
(5) None of these
48. Australias former World motocross No. 2 died
in a crash at the countrys National
championship in Melbourne on May 2, 2010.
(1) Andrew McFarlane
(2) John Nolan (3) Andrew Zwick
(4) Ron Williams (5) None of these
49. U.S. ___star Shawn Crawford, an Olympic gold
medallist, was named as the Event Ambassador
for the Sunfeast World 10k Bangalore 2010 in
May 2010.
(1) Swimming (2) Tennis
(3) Sprint (4) Soccer
(5) None of these
50. Indian football captain Baichung Bhutia was
given an honorary lifetime membership by the
football players association in May 2010.
(1) British (2) Portugal
(3) The Netherlands
(4) Spain (5) None of these
TEST II: QUANTITATIVE APTITUDE
Directions (Q. 51-55): What approximate value
should come in place of question mark(?) in the
following questions? (You are not expected to
calculate the exact value.)
51. 561204 58 = ? 55555
(1) 606 (2) 646 (3) 556
(4) 716 (5) 586
52. 459.008 + 3.0056 88.862=?
(1) 738 (2) 725 (3) 695
(4) 752 (5) 666
53. (444% of 531) 972 = ?
(1) 4.5 (2) 0.5 (3) 2.5
(4) 8.5 (5) 6.5
54. (9321 + 5406 + 1001) (498 + 929 + 660) =?
(1) 13.5 (2) 4.5 (3) 16.5
(4) 7.5 (5) 10.5
55. (621.52)
2
=?
(1) 386300 (2) 379300
(3) 398300 (4) 365300
(5) 356300
Directions (Q. 56-60): What should come in place
of question mark(?) in the following number series?
56. 444 467 513 582 674 789 ?
(1) 950 (2) 904 (3) 927
(4) 881 (5) 973
57. 23 25 53 163 657 3291 ?
(1) 16461 (2) 13169 (3) 9877
(4) 23045 (5) 19753
58. 13 13 65 585 7605 129285 ?
(1) 2456415 (2) 2235675
(3) 2980565 (4) 2714985
(5) 2197845
59. 1 16 81 256 625 1296 ?
(1) 4096 (2) 2401 (3) 1764
(4) 3136 (5) 6561
60. 12 12 18 45 180 1170 ?
(1) 12285 (2) 10530 (3) 11700
(4) 12870 (5) 7605
Directions (Q. 61-70): What should come in place
of question mark (?) in the following questions?
61. 4 + 4.44 + 0.4 + 44.04 + 444 =?
(1) 497.24 (2) 487.66 (3) 496.88
(4) 469.88 (5) None of these
62. [(130)
2
= 25 15]30=?
(1) 352 (2) 314 (3) 326
(4) 338 (5) None of these
63. 38 + 16 0.8=?
(1) 43.2 (2) 50.8 (3) 44.8
64. (?)
2
+ (65)
2
= (160)
2
(90)
2
7191
(1) 75 (2) 77 (3) 79
65. 398 ? 7 = 47362
(1) 15 (2) 13 (3) 17
66. 1485 ? = 594
(1) (2) (3)
(4) (5) None of these
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67. 2116 + 692 ? = 1111
(1) 1667 (2) 1677 (3) 1687
68. 6.896 + 3.753 2.005 + 1.004 = ?
(1) 9.486 (2) 9.648 (3) 9.864
69. (6.5% of 375) (0.85% of 230)=?
(1) 23.42 (2) 24.24 (3) 21.64
70. (13)
54
(13)
5
=?
(1) 2197 (2) 39 (3) 169
Direcitons (Q. 71-75): Study the table carefully to
answer the questions that follow:
Sale (in crores) of number of units by six different
companies over the years
Year
Company 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
A 110 118 143 126 152 195
B 91 93 85 99 69 35
C 103 153 100 1289 6 56
D 112 166 78 83 135 198
E 72 169 154 98 140 192
F 64 56 120 70 176 54
71. Number of units sold by Company B in the year
2003 is what per cent of the total number of
units sold by all the companies together in that
year?
(1) 12.76 2) 15.5 (3) 12.5
72. What is the average number of units sold (in
crores) in the year 2005?
(1) 130 (2) 133 (3) 127
73. What is the difference between the number of
units sold by Company D in the year 2001 and
that in the year 2003?
(1) 3400000 (2) 3400000000
(3) 34000000 (4) 340000000
(5) None of these
74. Which company has sold the minimum number
of units over the years ?
(1) A (2) B (3) D
(4) E (5) None of these
75. Which company has sold the maximum number
of units over the years?
(1) A (2) C (3) E
(4) F (5) None of these
Directions (Q. 76-80): Study the table carefully to
answer the questions that follow :
Price in Rs per kg of Products over the years.
Year
Product 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
A 11 14 14 20 22 32
B 25 37 45 53 63 72
C 9 10 12 15 17 20
D 100 120 135 160 172 200
E 25 32 37 46 62 68
F 14 21 25 29 34 40
76. Per cent increase in the price of which product is
the highest in the year 2006 from the year 2002?
(1) A (2) C (3) E
(4) F (5) None of these
77. If in the year 2005, a shopkeeper wished to buy
only those products whose price was above the
average price per kg of all the products together
in that year, how many products could the
shopkeeper have bought?
(1) One (2) Two (3) Three
(4) More than three
(5) None of these
78. If in the year 2003, 3475 kg each of products B
and F was sold, what was the difference in the
money earned from their sale?
(1) Rs 55,600 (2) Rs 58,700
(3) Rs 61,600 (4) Rs 69,500
(5) None of these
79. Which product shows the least change in price
per kg in the year 2004 from the year 2002?
(1) B (2) C (3) D
(4) E (5) None of these
80. If a shopkeeper bought 25 kg of product F in
the year 2002 and then sold 22 kgs of it in the
year 2005, what was the approximate percent
profit earned by him, considering he will not
be able to sell the remaining 3 kg?
(1) 39% (2) 51% (3) 35%
(4) 48% (5) 42%
Directions (Q. 81-85): Study the following graph
carefully to answer the questions that follow:
Profit earned by a company over the years
81. What is the percent profit of the company in
the year 2004, if the income of the company
was Rs 120 cr?
(1) 100% (2) 120% (3) 133%
(4) 125% (5) 140%
82. The expenditure of the company in the year
2005 was Rs 85 cr. What is the ratio of income
to expenditure of the company in that year?
(1) 23: 17 (2) 5 : 4 (3) 11 :8
(4) 21:16 (5) None of these
83. What is (the approximate) average (in Rs
crores) profit made by the company over the
years?
(1) 50 (2) 48 (3) 53
(4) 57 (5) 61
84. The income of the company in the year 2001
was Rs 950000000. What was the expenditures
(in Rs) of the company in that year?
(1) 50000000 (2) 550000000
(3) 40000000 (4) 350000000
(5) None of these
85. What is the percent increase in the profit of the
company in the year 2004 from the previous
year?
(1) 43% (2) 46% (3) 50%
(4) 40% (5) None of these
86. 15 men can do a piece of work in 6 days. How
many men would be required to do the same
work in 7.5 days?
(1) 10 (2) 16 (3) 12
87. The average age of a class of 65 boys was 14
years, the average age of 20 of them was 14
years, and that of another 15 was 12 years. Find
the average age of the remaining boys.
(1) 16 years (2) 13 years
(5) None of these
88. The profit earned after selling an article for Rs
522 is the same as the loss incurred after selling
the article for Rs 378. What is the cost price (in
Rs) of the article?
(1) Rs 460 (2) Rs 490 (3) Rs 520
(4) Rs 550 (5) None of these
89. A sum of money is divided among A, B, C and
D in the ratio 3 : 5 :7: 11. If the share of C is Rs
1,668 more than the share of A, then what is
the total amount of money of B and D together?
(1) Rs 6,762 (2) Rs 6,672
(3) Rs 7,506 (4) Rs 6,255
(5) None of these
90. Which number should replace both the question
marks in the following equation?
(1) 204 (2) 214 (3) 216
91. What is 30% of 70% of 5 of 3500?
(1) 400 (2) 441 (3) 361
92. Keshav spent Rs 55,475 on his birthday party,
Rs 28,525 on buying home appliances and the
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remaining 25% of the total amount he had as
cash with him. What was the total amount?
(1) Rs 1,05,000 (2) Rs 1,00,000
(3) Rs 1, 12,000 (4) Rs 1,24,000
(5) None of these
93. Pankaj started a business investing Rs 42,000.
After 4 months Nitin joined him with a capital
of Rs 57,000. At the end of the year the total
profit was Rs 26,000. What is the difference
between the share of profits of Pankaj and
Nitin?
(1) Rs 1,200 (2) Rs 1,400
(3) Rs 1,600 (4) Rs 1,800
(5) None of these
94. One-fifth of a number is 19. What will 42% of
that number be?
(1) 38 (2) 41.1 (3) 39.9
95. In a class of 80 students, each student got sweets
that are 15% of the total number of students.
How many sweets were there?
(1) 1200 (2) 850 (3) 900
(4) Cannot be determined
(5) None of these
96. The simple interest accrued on an amount of
Rs 15,500 at the end of three years is Rs 5,580.
What would be the compound interest accrued
on the same amount at the same rate in the same
period?
(1) Rs 6726.348 (2) Rs 6276.3 84
(3) Rs 6267.834 (4) Rs 6627.438
(5) None of these
97. By how much is
3
of 93 lesser than
4
of 104?
(1) 22 (2) 28 (3) 18
98. The ages of Sachin and Jatin are in the ratio 8 :
11. After 10 years the ratio of their ages will be
13 :16. What is the difference in their ages?
(5) None of these
99. Mr Sinha invests 12% of his monthly salary, ie
RL 3,660 in Insurance Policies. Later he invests
16% of his monthly salary on Family Mediclaim
Policies; also he invests another 3% of his salary
on NSCs. What is the total annual amount
invested by Mr Sinha?
(1) Rs 1,13,460 (2) Rs 1,22,440
(3) Rs 1,06,540
(5) None of these
100. If the numerator of a fraction is increased by
400% and the denominator is increased by
500%. The resultant fraction is

.

What was
the original fraction?
(1) (2) (3)
(4) (5) None of these
TEST III: REASONING
101. How many meaningful words can be made from
the letters AINTS using each letter only once?
(1) None (2) One (3) Two
(4) Three (5) More than three
102. Four of the following five are alike in a certain
way and so form a group. Which is the one that
does not belong to the group?
(1) Tree (2) Plant (3) Shrub
(4) Creeper (5) Farm
103. In a certain code BAKE is written as 5796 and
FIRE is written as 3146. How is FEAR written
in that code?
(1) 3564 (2) 3674 (3) 3574
104. If it is possible to make only one meaningful
word from the second, the sixth, the seventh,
the eight and the tenth letters of the word
PERFORMANCE, using each letter only once,
first letter of the word is your answer. If no such
word can be formed your answer is X and if
more than one such word can be formed your
answer is Y.
(1) C (2) R (3) M
(4) X (5) Y
105. If the first and second digits are interchanged
in each number from the following set of
numbers, and then the numbers are arranged in
descending order, which number will be
second?
376 438 476 389 567
(1) 376 (2) 438 (3) 476
(4) 389 (5) 567
106. How many such pairs of letters are there in the
word EDUCATION, each of which has as many
letters between them in the word, as they have
in the English alphabet?
107. Five friends P, Q, R, S and T went to college
independently. Each one of them reached at a
different time. If only Q reached after R and S,
who was the last person to reach?
(1) P (2) T (3) Q
(5) None of these
108. If + means , means , means ,
and means +, then what is the value of 40
360 24 4 + 18 = ?
(1) 118 (2) 82 (3) 72
109. If in the word PROJECTING, all the vowels
are first arranged alphabetically and then all the
consonants are arranged alphabetically, which
letter will be fifth from the left ?
(1) C (2) N (3) J
(4) G (5) None of these
(1) Sharpener (2) Calculator
(3) Eraser (4) Pencil
(5) Stapler
111. If the digits of the number 375486 are arranged
in ascending order, how many digits will remain
at the same position?
(1) None (2) One
(3) Two (4) Three
(5) More than three
(1) 17 (2) 19 (3) 23
(4) 27 (5) 29
113. If in the word LUBRICATOR the positions of
the first and the sixth letters are interchanged,
similarly the positions of the second and the
seventh letters are interchanged, and so on,
which letter will be second to the right of sixth
letter from the right?
(1) B (2) T
(3) A (4) O
(5) None of these
114. In a certain code DURATION is written as
VEBSJUOP, how is FORECAST written in that
code?
(1) PGSFBDTU (2) PGFSUTBD
(3) PGSFUTBD (4) PGFSBDT UT
(5) None of these
115. If A $ B means A is father of B, A # B
means A is daughter of B, A @ B means A
is sister of B, then how is K related to M in H
@ K $ L # M ?
(1) Husband (2) Uncle (3) Father
(5) None of these
Direcations (Q. 116-122): Study the following
arrangement carefully to answer these questions.
5 H I 7 $ K J 4 % L A T 3 8 @ F 6 U # V P I E * 9 D 2
way on the basis of their positions in the above
arrangement and so form a group. Which is the
one that does not belong to the group?
(1) J%4 (2) H71 (3) T38
(4) E9* (5) FU6
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117. What will come in place of the question mark
(?) in the following series based on the above
arrangement?
H7$ K4% LT3
(1) F 6 # (2) 8 @ 6 (3) 8 F 6
(4) F U # (5) None of these
118. How many such vowels are there in the above
arrangement, each of which is immediately
followed by a symbol?
(4) Three (5) Four
119. Which element is sixth to the right of fourteenth
from the right end ?
(1) # (2) P (3) U
120. If from the above arrangement, all the digits
are dropped which element will be tenth from
the left end?
(1) F (2) @ (3) T
(4) U (5) None of these
121. How many such digits are there in the above
arrangement each of which is immediately
followed by a symbol which is immediately
followed by a consonant?
122. How many such consonants are there in the
above arrangement each of which. is
immediately followed by a vowel but not
immediately preceded by a symbol?
(4) Three (5) Four
Direcations (Q. 123-130): In each of the questions
below are given three statements followed by two
conclusions numbered I and IL You have to take
the given statements to be true even if they seem to
be at variance with commonly known facts. Read
all the conclusions and then decide which of the
given conclusions logically follow from the given
statements disregarding commonly known facts.
Give answer (1) if only Conclusion I follows.
Give answer (2) if only Conclusion II follows.
Give answer (3) if either Conclusion I or II
follows.
Give answer (4) if neither Conclusion I nor II
follows.
Give answer (5) if both Conclusions I and II
follow.
123. Statement: All books are magazines.
Some magazines are note-
books.
Some notebooks are papers.
Conclusions: I. Some books are notebooks.
II. Some magazines are papers.
124. Statements: Some pearls are stones.
All stones are bricks.
All bricks are walls.
Conclusions: I. Some pearls are bricks.
II. Some pearls are walls.
125. Statements: Some apples are oranges.
Some oranges are grapes.
All grapes are bananas.
Conclusions: I. Some apples are bananas.
II. Some oranges are bananas.
126. Statements: All mobiles are phones.
All phones are computers.
All computers are scanners.
Conclusions: I. All mobiles are computers.
II. All phones are scanners.
127. Statements : Some boxes are bags.
All bags are trunks.
All trunks are drawers.
Conclusions: I. All bags are drawers.
II. All trunks are bags.
128. Statements: All cars are buses.
Some buses are scooters.
No scooter is a train.
Conclusions: I. No bus is a train.
II. Some buses are trains.
129. Statements: Some chairs are wheels.
Some wheels are sofa sets.
All sofa sets are cupboards.
Conclusions: I. Some wheels are cupboards.
II. Some chairs are sofa sets.
130. Statements: Some coins are notes.
All notes are cards.
All cards are plastics.
Conclusions: I. Some coins are cards.
II. All notes are plastics.
Directions (Q. 131-135): These questions are based
on the following information:
Eight persons L, M, N, P, Q, R, S and T are sitting
around a circular table facing the centre. Q is not the
neighbour of P or R. M is second to the left of T and
third to the right of P. R is third to the left of N, who
is to the immediate left of T. L is second to the right
of P.
131. Which of the following pairs of persons
represents the neighbours of T?
(1) MN (2) QS (3) RP
(4) ML (5) None of these
132. Which of the following is definitely true?
(1) Q is to the immediate right of S.
(2) R is to the immediate right of P.
(3) M is between N and Q.
(4) R is between P and S.
(5) None of these
133. Who is to the immediate right of T?
(1) R (2) S (3) N
(4) Q (5) None of these
134. Who is to the immediate left of P?
(1) S (2) R (3) Q
(4) L (5) None of these
135. In which off the following pairs of persons the
second person is to the immediate left of the
first person?
(1) QS (2) NT (3) ML
(4) RL (5) None of these
Directions (Q. 136-140): In these questions symbols
@, #, $, % and are used with different meanings
as follows:
<A @ B means À is smaller than B.
> À # B means À is greater than B.
< A $ B means À is either smaller than or
equal to B.
>A % B means À is either greater than or
equal to B.
= A B means À is neither greater than nor
smallerthan B.
In each question, three statements showing
relationships have been given, which are followed
by two conclusions I & II. Assuming that the given
statements are true, find out which conclusion(s)
is/are definitely true.
Mark answer (1), if only conclusion I is true;
mark answer (2), if only conclusion II is true;
mark answer (3), if either conclusion I or II is
true; mark answer (4), if neither I nor II is true
and mark answer (5), if both conclusions I and
II arc true.
136. Statements: L$K, K@M, J%M
Conclusions: I. L @ M
II. K @ J
137. Statements: E$W, W@Q, Q%H
Conclusions: I. E$Q
II. ECH
138. Statements: JOT, T#W, W%R
Conclusions: I. J#R
II. T%R
139. Statements: T # R, R%H, H@F
Conclusions: I. H @ T
II. F T
140. Statements: FOD, D#V, V@P
Conclusions: I. FP
II. V#F
Directions (Q. 141-145): In each of these questions
a group of digits is given followed by four
combinations of letter/ symbol codes numbered (1),
(2), (3) & (4). The group of digits is to be coded as
per the following scheme and conditions. The serial
number of the combination that represents the
group of digits is your answer. If none of the
combinations is correct, your answer is 5), ie None
of these.
Digit: 5 1 4 8 9 3 6 2 7 0
Letter/Symbol: Q T%# E F $ L W@
Conditions:
i. If the first digit is odd and the last digit is even,
their I,codes are to be swapped.
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ii. If the first as well as the last digit is even both
are to be coded by the code for first digit.
iii. if the first digit is even and the last digit is odd,
both are to be coded by the code for odd digit.
141. 431068
(1) %FT@$# (2) %FT$@#
(3) %FT@$% (4) #FT@$#
(5) None of these p
142. 803279
(1) E@FLWE (2) #@FLWE
(3) #@FLW# (4) E@FLW#
(5) None of these
143. 765984
(1) W$QE#% (2) W$QE#W
(3) %$QE#% (4) %$QE#L
(5) None of these
144. 584632
(1) Q#%$FL (2) L#$%FQ
(3) L#%$QF (4) L#%$FQ
(5) None of these
145. 384695
(1) F#%$EF (2) F#%$EQ
(3) Q#%$EQ (4) Q#%$EF
(5) None of these
Directions (Q. 146-150): Study the following
information carefully to answer these questions.
Seven friends H, I, J, K, V, W and X study different
disciplines, viz. Arts, Commerce, Science,
Engineering, Architecture, Management and
Pharmacy, not necessarily in the same order. Each of
them belongs to a different state, viz Andhra Pradesh,
Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala,
Madhya Pradesh and Punjab, but not necessarily in
the same order.
J studies Engineering and does not belong to either
Uttar Pradesh or Punjab. The one who belongs to
Madhya Pradesh does not study Architecture or
Pharmacy. H belongs to Maharashtra. V belongs to
Kerala and studies Science. The one who belongs to
Andhra Pradesh studies Commerce. K studies
Management and X studies Arts. I belongs to
Karnataka and does not study Architecture. The one
who studies Arts does not belong to Punjab.
146. Who studies Architecture?
(1) V (2) X (3) W
(5) None of these
147. Which of the following combination of state
and subject is correct?
(1) Uttar Pradesh-Arts
(2) Uttar Pradesh-Science
(3) Kerala-Management
(4) Punjab-Science
(5) None of these
148. Which subject is studied by I?
(1) Arts (2) Commerce
(3) Pharmacy (4) Management
(5) None of these
149. Who belongs to Madhya Pradesh?
(1) W (2) J (4) X
(4) X (5) None of these
150. W belongs to which state?
(1) Kerala
(2) Madhya Pradesh
(3) Uttar Pradesh
(4) Andhra Pradesh
(5) None of these
Directions (Q. 151-155): Below in each question
are given two statements (A) and (B). These
statements may be either independent causes or may
be effects of independent causes or a common
cause. One of these statements may be the effect of
the other statement. Read both the statements and
decide which of the following answer choices
correctly depicts the relationship between these two
statements.
Mark answer (1) if statement (A) is the cause and
statement (B) is its effect.
Mark answer (2) if statement (B) is the cause and
statement (A) is its effect.
Mark answer (3) if both the statements (A) and (B)
are independent causes.
are effects of independent
causes.
are effects of some common
cause.
151. A. The State Education Board has decided to
do away with preparing merit lists for SSC
and HSC examinations.
B. A large number of students scored very high
marks in the recently held SSC examination.
152. A. The State Government decided to grant
permission for opening more junior colleges
in the state.
B. Percentage of qualified students in SSC
examination was higher this year compared
to the past few years.
153. A. Increase in rainfall and rising flood situations
are regular phenomena for past few years.
B. People avoid going out in heavy rains.
154. A.The health department has advised people
to drink boiled and filtered water and
maintain hygiene during the monsoon.
B. The health department has instructed the civic
hospitals to equip themselves with adequate
stock of medicines during monsoon.
155. A.The Government has made it compulsory to
wear a helmet for the riders of two-wheelers.
B. The number of cases of road accident
involving two-wheelers has been increasing
every year.
Directions (Q. 156-160): In making decisions about
important questions, it is desirable to be able to
distinguish between strong arguments and
weak arguments. Strong arguments must be
both important and directly related to the question.
Weak arguments may not be directly related to
the question and may be of minorimportance or may
be related to the trivial aspects of the question.
Each question below is followed by two arguments
numbered I and II. You have to decide which of the
arguments is a strong argument and which is a
weak argument.
Give answer (1) if only argument I is strong.
Give answer (2) if only argument II is strong.
Give answer (3) if either argument I or II is
strong.
Give answer (4) if neither argument I nor II
is strong.
Give answer (5) if both arguments I and II are
strong.
156. Should the major part of school examinations
be made objective-type?
Arguments: I. No, objective-type exami-
nation does not test the
students ability to express.
II. Yes, this is the best method
of assessing ones ability
and knowledge.
157. Should the Government service in rural areas
at least for two years after completion of
graduation be made compulsory for the students
of medicine?
Arguments: I. Yes, it is everyones duty to
serve the people in rural
areas and contribute to their
upliftment.
II. No, it cannot be applied
only to the medicine
students since anyways they
are contributing during their
studies and particularly in
the period of internship.
158. Should all the factories in the cities be shifted
to the outskirts, far away from the main city?
Arguments: I. Yes, this is an essential step
for controlling pollution in
the city.
II. No, such a step will lead to
lot of inconvenience to the
employees of the factories
and their families as well.
159. Should the practice of rewarding high scores
be stopped to handle frustration among the
moderate scorers?
Arguments: I. No, it is necessary to
motivate the high scorers
and reward is one of the best
ways of motivating.
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II. Yes, too much appreciation
for high scores affects the
moderate students advers-
ely at times leading to
extreme situations.
160. Should there be a total ban on use of plastic
bags?
Arguments: I. No, instead the thickness of
plastic bags, which can be
used without much damage
to the environment, should
be specified.
II. Yes, use of plastic bags
causes various problems
like water pollution and
water-logging and hence it
is necessary to ban it.
Directions (Q. 161-170): For recruiting
Management Trainees in an organisation, the
following criteria have been laid down. The
candidate must:
(a) be a first-class graduate in Commerce with at
least 65% marks.
(b) have secured at least 70% marks in SSC.
(c) be not more than 26 years and not less than 21
years of age as on 1.8.2007.
(d) have secured at least 60% marks in selection
test. (e) have secured at least 50% marks in
selection interview.
However, if a candidate fulfils all the above-
mentioned criteria except
(i) at (a) above but is an Economics graduate with
at least 70% marks, the case may be referred
to the GM of the organisation.
(ii) (n) at (e) above but has secured at least 40%
marks in selection interview and at least 70%
marks in selection test, the case may be referred
to the

President of the organisation.
In each of the questions below, information of one
candidate is given. You have to take one of the
following five decisions based on tho information
provided and the criteria and conditions given
above. You are not to assume anything other than
the information provided in each question. All these
cases are given to you as on 1.08.2007. You have to
indicate your decision by marking answers to each
question as follows:
Give Answer (1) if the candidate is to be selected.
Give Answer (2) if the candidate is not to be selected.
Give Answer (3) if the case is to be referred to GM.
Give Answer (4) if the case is to be referred to
President.
Give Answer (5) if the data is inadequate to decide
the course of action.
161. Abhishek has passed degree examination in
Commerce with Economics as one of the
subjects in first class with 68% marks in 2006
at the age of 22 years. His marks n SSC was
73%. He has cleared the selection test with 64%
marks and selection interview with 62% marks.
162. Sharad Bhatia has passed B Com in first class
with 69% marks and SSC with 78% marks. He
joined a private organisation as an Officer in
Jun 2005 immediately after completing 23 years
of age. He has scored 65% marks in selection
test and 48% marks in selection interview.
163. Priyanka Ghate has passed graduation in Arts
with specialisation in Economics in first class
with 75% marks. Her date of birth is 8.7.1985.
She had scored 89% marks in SSC, 63% in
selection interview and 61% marks in selection
test.
164. Rakesh has passed SSC with 85% marks and
graduation in Arts with specialisation in
Economics with 72% marks. His date of birth
is 12.6.1985. He has scored 65% marks in
selection test as well as in interview.
165. Sarita Dere is a postgraduate in Commerce
passed in first class with 62% marks. Her score
in SSC was 75%. She completed 23 years of
age on 23rd December, 2006. She has scored
64% marks in selection test and 55% marks in
selection interview.
166. Ashish Gharpure is a Commerce graduate
passed out in Jun 2006, at the age of 21 years
with 72% marks and first class. Presently he is
pursuing his postgraduation in Economics. He
had scored 82% marks in SSC. He has cleared
the selection test with 67% marks and selection
interview with 56% marks.
167. Radhika has passed BA examination with
specialisation in Economics securing 76%
marks and first class. She had topped her class
in SSC examination with 82% marks. She has
completed 24 years of age on 25th May, 2007.
She cleared the selection test with 66% marks
and the selection interview with 54% marks.
168. Ashwini is a B Com passed in first class with
68% marks. She had scored 75% marks in SSC.
Her date of birth is 14.9.1984. She had cleared
the selection test with 74% marks and selection
interview with 45% marks.
169. Rajesh is a graduate and postgraduate in
Commerce and has passed both these
examinations in first class. He had scored 75%
marks in SSC. He completed 23 years of age
on 23rd Jun 2007. He has scored 65% marks in
interview as well as selection test.
170. Rashmi is B Com in first class with 62% marks
and M Com also in first class with 67% marks.
He marks in SSC were 85%. She completed 24
years of age on 3rd October 2006. She has
scored 66% marks in selection test and 56%
marks in interview.
Directions (Q. 171-175): In each of the questions
given below which one of the five answer figures
on the right should come after the problem
figures on the left, if the sequesce were
continued?
171.
.
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
172.
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
173.
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
174.
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
175.
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
TEST IV: ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Directions (Q. 176-185): Read the following passage
carefully and answer the questions given below it.
Certain words/phrases are given in bold to help you
locate them while answering some of the questions.
We arne well into the 21th century yet half the worlds
population live in squatter settlements and work in
shadow economies, which generate more than one-
third of the developing worlds GDP. Slums are not
caused by the poor but by governments denying
people the right to own and exchange property. When
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people own their own property they have incentives
to invest time, money and energy to improve it
because they know that they will be able to benefit
from any such improvements, ie the ability to obtain
mortgages etc. In short, property rights beget capital,
which begets is innovation, which begets wealth.
Sadly, the poor typically dont have secure title to their
land as there are bureaucratic restrictions on
transferring title or there is no clear system for titling.
Without legal deeds they live in constant fear of being
evicted by landlords or municipal officials. Illiteracy
is a major a reason poor people often choose not to
seek the protection of local courts since in so many
countries laws established under colonial rule have
never been translated into local languages. When
entrepreneurs do set out to legally register business
they are discouraged by red tape and costly fees.
In Egypt, starting a bakery takes 500 days, compliance
with 315 laws and 27 times the monthly minimum
wage. The proprietors of such businesses cannot get
loans, enforce contracts or expand a personal network
of familiar customers and partners. As a result the poor
have no choice but to accept insecurity and instability
as a way of life.
In India severe restrictions on free transfer of property
in most rural areas inhibit investment and encourage
urban flight. Planning policies however discourage
building homes for these migrants as numerous homes
are destroyed if they do not comply with planning
rules, essentially forcing people to live in slums and
perversely blaming it on population growth. UN
Habitat, the UN agency for housing the poor, has
implemented more plans to stabilise the unplanned
aspects of urban growth but grandiose plans like UN
Schemes and government housing projects simply
ignore or worsen the underlying problems. It is when
governments grant people legal means to control their
assets that they empower them to invest and plan
ahead. In Buenos Aires, economists studied the
experience of two Argentine communities. One had
received legal title to its land in the 1980s and
surpassed the other group which had not, in a range
of social indicators including quality of house
construction and education levels. The Commission
on Legal Empowerment of the Poor - a UN - affiliated
initiative made up of two dozen leaders - is exploring
ideas to extend enforceable legal rights to
impoverished members of society and is seeking to
bring about a consensus on incentives for national and
local leaders. As the growth of illegal settlements
amply demonstrates, the poor are not helpless, all they
need is governments to grant them fundamental
human rights of freedom and responsibility.
176. What did the Argentine study indicate?
(A) Argentinas economy is booming and the
percentage of poor has fallen.
(B) When the government gives people the
legal means to control their assets they
plan for the future.
(C) The Government succeeded in widening
the gap between the rich and the poor.
(1) Only (A) (2) Both (A) & (B)
(3) Only (B) (4) All (A), (B) &
C) (5) None of these
177. According to the author, which of the following
factors is responsible for the creation of a slum?
(1) Migration of landless labourers to cities
(2) Municipal authorities building low-cost
housing for the poor
(3) Unchecked population growth
(4) Government failure to secure property
rights for citizens
(5) Exorbitant cost of living in cities
178. The authors main objective in writing the
passage is to
(1) exhort the UN to play a greater role in
rehabilitating slum-dwellers.
(2) praise government initiatives for migrant
slum-dwellers.
(3) convince governments to empower the
poor.
(4) enlist the aid of developed countries to
tackle the issue of slums.
(5) chastise slum-dwellers for illegal activities
that they engage in.
179. What benefit does the author see in providing
land ownership rights to the poor?
(1) Steady increase in GDP
(2) Gaining independence from colonial
rulers
(3) Municipal services afforded to the poor
will improve.
(4) It will be an inheritance for future
generations.
(5) None of these
180. Which of the following is TRUE in the context
of the passage?
(1) Additional UN projects will exacerbate the
plight of slum-dwellers.
(2) Although the government allocates land
for them the poor choose net to invest in
building houses.
(3) With the spread of slums populations are
drifting back to rural areas.
(4) In order to accumulate profit slum-
dwellers avoid legally registering their
business.
(5) UN has declared the right to housing as a
fundamental right.
181. What impact do planning policies have on the
development of slums?
(1) They encourage the poor to invest in land
thereby perpetuating slums.
(2) They focus on developing rural rather than
urban areas so people have to live in slums.
(3) They offer alternative practical
suggestions for construction of low-cost
housing.
(4) They advocate demolishing homes which
violate planning rules, encouraging slums.
(5) None of these
182. What is the objective of the Commission on
Legal Empowerment of the Poor?
(1) Coerce international leaders to implement
housing projects
(2) Bring sanctions against countries denying
their citizens the right to housing
(3) Selecting experts to recommend ideas to
do away with poverty
(4) Establish practical ways for governments
to empower the underprivileged
(5) None of these
183. Which of the following difficulties do
unregistered businesses face?
(A) Banks do not give loans in the absence of
security.
(B) They are unable to earn the loyalty of any
customer.
(C) They cannot enforce contracts.
(1) Only (A) (2) Both (A) & (C)
(3) Both (A) & (B) (4) Only (B)
(5) None of these
184. What does the growth of illegal settlements
indicate?
(1) The Government needs to implement more
restrictions on property transfer.
(2) Capital earned from underground
economies is beneficial to a countrys
economy.
(3) The poor are capable of investing
resources in their development.
(4) UN housing projects are not properly
implemented.
(5) None of these
185. Which of the following prevents the poor from
obtaining a business license?
(1) They do not want to make an effort.
(2) Government officials are discourteous.
(3) They lack funds to bribe government
officials.
(4) They do not want to pay taxes.
(5) They are intimidated by bureaucratic
procedures.
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Dirctions (Q. 186-188): Choose the word which is
most nearly the SAME in meaning as the word
printed in bold as used in the passage.
186. severe
(1) acute (2) dangerous
(3) bad (4) flexible
(5) demanding
187. beget
(1) lead (2) produce
(3) happens (4) effect
(5) result
188. surpassed
(1) excel (2) matched
(3) outshone (4) won
(5) competed
Directions (Q. 189-190): Choose the word which is
most OPPOSITE in meaning of the word printed
in bold as used in the passage.
189. perversely
(1) reasonably (2) stubbornly
(3) conveniently (4) formally
(5) helpfully
190. stabilise
(1) insecure (2) fixed
(3) weaken (4) unsure
(5) unreliable
Directions (Q. 191-200): Read each sentence to find
out if there is any error in it. The error, if any, will
be in one part of the sentence. The number of that
part is the answer. If there is no error the answer is
5). (Ignore errors in punctuation, if any).
191. The company has launched/a creative
1 2
marketing campaign/to reach for/its rural
3
4
customers. No error
5
192. After her retiring / she established many /
1 2
institutions to train / underprivileged but
3 4
talented children. No error
5
193. Against his familys wishes/Rajesh plans to
1 2
/ take up a job / as a journalist. No error
3 4 5
194. The candidate has appealed / for donations
1 2
from younger voters,/who will be used/to
3 4
defray campaign expenses. No error
5
195. Most of that countrys/hilly land is not only
1 2
/ unsuitable for building / but also for
3 4
agriculture. No error
5
196. It is now/possible for customers/to handle
1 2 3
nearly all/their transactions online. No error
4 5
197. The minister has / recently announced /
1 2
a detail insurance plan to/meet the needs
3 4
the poor. No error
5
198. In the circumstance/the manager has/no
1 2
option / except to resign. No error
3 4
199. On account of / its new investment rules /
1 2
more companies are planning/for open its
3 4
business in China. No error
5
200. He deserves a lot/of praise for all/the
1 2
records he achieves / during his career.
3 4
No error.
5
Directions (Q. 201-205): Which of the phrases (1),
(2), (3), (4) given below each sentence should
replace the phrase printed in bold type to make the
sentence grammatically correct? If the sentence is
correct, mark (5). ie No correction required, as
the answer.
201. For honour to the social worker on her tenth
death anniversary the government has planned
a series of events.
(1) In honouring of (2) With honour
(3) The honouring of
(4) To honour
(5) No correction required
202. He is decided to build a luxury hotel for the
convenience of tourists visiting the ancient
monument.
(1) Having decided to
(2) He has decided to
(3) His decision to
(4) Deciding to
203. Except another restaurants this one offers no
discounts.
(1) Unlike other (2) Beside other
(3) Without another (4) Unless other
204. He made it a rule to arrive early in order to
avoid no delay in the presentation.
(1) to no delay (2) not to avoid
(3) to avoid any delay
(4) without avoiding
205. The so serious challenge to companies face is
to retain its younger staff.
(1) more serious of challenge to
(2) very serious challenge for
(3) most serious challenge
(4) quite serious challenge against
Direcations (Q. 206-210): In each of the following
sentences there are two blank spaces. Below each
five words have been denoted by numbers (1), (2),
(3), (4) and (5). Find out which pair of words can
be filled up in the blanks in the sentence in the same
sequence to make the sentence meaningfully
complete.
206. The___business trips though___at times gave
the executive a unique chance to meet
interesting people.
(1) demanding .... memorable
(2) frequent .... monotonous
(3) crucial .... regular
(4) prolonged... .exhausted
(5) significant .... influential
207. In order to put an end to the___that exist
regarding the implementation of the policy the
company should issue___ guidelines.
(1) ambiguities .... clear-cut
(2) differences... .cautious
(3) burden .... stringent
(4) inhibition .... appropriate
(5) reservations .... fundamental
208. The government has______that the
infrastructure for the new project must be
completed_____the next six months.
(1) stipulated .... for
(2) sanction .... by
(3) assurance .... in
(4) mandated .... within
(5) envisage .... during
209. The official not only_____the renewal of the
contract but also_____the information about its
status.
(1) revealed .... classified
(2) withdrawn .... leaked
(3) delayed .... withheld
(4) interfere .... refused
(5) impeded .... excluding
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210. To
______
any tensions in the minds of the
employees and investors alike the company has
promised to consider job cuts as a last______.
(1) erase .... effort
(2) rid .... hurdle
(3) overcome .... decision
(4) address ....phase
(5) ease.... resort
Directions (Q. 211-215): Rearrange the following
sentences (A), (B), (C), (D), (E) and (F) into a
meaningful paragraph and then answer the
questions given below it.
(A) According to conventional wisdom, no amount
can suffice.
(B) In the process of seeking it is money which
unfortunately gets a bad name.
(C) How much money is enough?
(D) The modern reasoning is that money coming
in should cover our basic needs.
(E) The real culprit, however, is a living thing called
desire, which although it is difficult to, can be
controlled.
(F) However, from the basics of food, clothing and
shelter we gradually seek luxury cars and
holidays.
211. Which of the following is the FIRST sentence
after rearrangement?
(1) (A) (2) (B) (3) (C)
(4) (D) (5) (E)
212. Which of the following is the SIXTH (LAST)
sentence after rearrangement?
(1) (A) (2) (B) (3) (C)
(4) (D) (5) (E)
213. Which of the following is the FIFTH sentence
(1) (A) (2) (B) (3) (C)
(4) (D) (5) (F)
214. Which of the following is the SECOND
sentence after rearrangement?
(1) (A) (2) (B) (3) (C)
(4) (D) (5) (E)
215. Which of the following is the THIRD sentence
(1) (A) (2) (B) (3) (C)
(4) (D) (5) (E)
Directions (Q. 216-225): In the following passage
there are blanks each of which has been numbered.
These numbers are printed below the passage and
against each five words have been suggested, one
of which fills the blanks appropriately. Find out the
appropriate word in each case.
At just (216) midnight on July 1, 1997 in a glittering
and poignant ceremony, Hong Kong passed from
being a jewel of the British empire to a (217) of a
new global power. Hong Kong people (218) their
citys handover from the UK to China with (219)
feelings: apprehension over the future, joy at a fresh
start, sadness at seeing the British go, pride over
returning to their motherland. On the eve of the
handover, the stock market index, a key barometer of
Hong Kongs wealth, (220) at a record 15,200 points
and today it (221) near the 21,000 mark. Being a part
of a booming China almost guarantees that Hong
Kong will remain (222). But mainland China is a
(223) as well as a partner. Chinas new ports, for
example, will siphon trade (224) from Hong Kong and
its lower labour costs will impact the jobs. However,
there is little doubt that Hong Kong is fortunate to
have become a part of China at a time when mainland
China can provide (225) opportunity.
216. (1) recorded (2) near
(3) close (4) past
(5) quite
217. (1) component (2) premises
(3) captive (4) merger
(5) list
218. (1) encounter (2) decided
(3) viewed (4) restraine
(5) told
219. (1) flexible (2) emotional
(3) mixed (4) changed
(5) negative
220. (1) plunged (2) rose
(3) valued(4) climbed
(5) stood
221. (1) follows (2) pauses
(3) fell (4) hovers
(5) measure
222. (1) marginalised (2) prosperous
(3) orderly (4) friendly
(5) poor
223. (1) competitor (2) representative
(3) adversary (4) colleague
(5) member
224. (1) against (2) away
(3) illegally (4) moving
(5) through
225. (1) full (2) risky
(3) lucky (4) unfair
(5) immense
ANSWERS
1. (4) 2. (3) 3. (4) 4. (4) 5. (1) 6. (3) 7. (3) 8. (2) 9. (2) 10. (1)
11. (3) 12. (4) 13. (3) 14. (1) 15. (4) 16. (1) 17. (3) 18. (2) 19. (b) 20. (4)
21. (1) 22. (4) 23. (d3) 24. (3) 25. (1) 26. (3) 27. (2) 28. (1) 29. (4) 30. (4)
31. (3) 32. (4) 33. (1) 34. (4) 35. (3) 36. (2) 37. (1) 38. (3) 39. (2) 40. (4)
41. (3) 42. (4) 43. (1) 44. (3) 45. (2) 46. (1) 47. (1) 48. (1) 49. (3) 50. (2)
51. (5) 52. (2) 53. (3) 54. (4) 55. (1) 56. (3) 57. (5) 58. (4) 59. (2) 60. (1)
61. (3) 62. (4) 63. (2) 64. (5) 65. (3) 66. (1) 67. (4) 68. (2) 69. (5) 70. (1)
71. (3) 72. (5) 73. (4) 74. (2) 75. (1) 76. (1) 77. (2) 78. (4) 79. (2) 80. (5)
81. (5) 82. (1) 83. (3) 84. (2) 85. (4) 86. (3) 87. (4) 88. (5) 89. (2) 90. (1)
91. (2) 92. (3) 93. (5) 94. (3) 95. (5) 96. (2) 97. (4) 98. (4) 99. (1) 100. (1)
101. (4) 102. (5) 103. (2) 104. (1) 105. (3) 106. (5) 107. (3) 108. (2) 109. (4) 110. (2)
111. (3) 112. (4) 113. (5) 114. (4) 115. (1) 116. (3) 117. (3) 118. (3) 119. (5) 120. (2)
121. (4) 122. (2) 123. (4) 124. (5) 125. (2) 126. (5) 127. (1) 128. (3) 129. (1) 130. (5)
131. (5) 132. (2) 133. (4) 134. (1) 135. (3) 136. (5) 137. (4) 138. (1) 139. (1) 140. (2)
141. (3) 142. (1) 143. (5) 144. (4) 145. (2) 146. (5) 147. (1) 148. (3) 149. (2) 150. (4)
151. (2) 152. (2) 153. (4) 154. (5) 155. (2) 156. (1) 157. (4) 158. (1) 159. (1) 160. (5)
161. (1) 162. (2) 163. (3) 164. (3) 165. (5) 166. (1) 167. (3) 168. (4) 169. (5) 170. (2)
171. (4) 172. (4) 173. (5) 174. (1) 175. (3) 176. (3) 177. (4) 178. (3) 179. (5) 180. (2)
181. (1) 182. (4) 183. (2) 184. (3) 185. (5) 186. (1) 187. (2) 188. (3) 189. (1) 190. (1)
191. (3) 192. (1) 193. (1) 194. (3) 195. (3) 196. (5) 197. (3) 198. (4) 199. (4) 200. (3)
201. (4) 202. (2) 203. (1) 204. (3) 205. (3) 206. (2) 207. (1) 208. (4) 209. (3) 210. (5)
211. (3) 212. (5) 213. (2) 214. (1) 215. (4) 216. (4) 217. (1) 218. (3) 219. (3) 220. (5)
221. (4) 222. (2) 223. (1) 224. (2) 225. (5)
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HINTS & SOLUTIONS
51.

52. ? = 459.008 + 3.0056 88.862
459 + 3 89 = 459 + 267 = 726
53. ? = (444% of 531) 972
(440 % of 531) 972
(4.4 531)+ 972
2300 970 2.5
54. ? = (9321 + 5406 + 1001) (498 + 929 + 660)
= 15728 + 2087 7.5
55. ? = (621.52)
2
(621.5)
2
386.262 386 300
56. The series is : +23, +46, +69, +92, +...
57. The series is:
23 1 + 2 = 25
25 2 + 3 = 53
53 3 + 4 = 163
163 4 + 5 = 657
657 5 + 6 = 3291
3291 6 + 7 = 19753
58. The series is:
l, 5, 9, 13, 17, 21
59. The series is:
1
4
, 2
4
, 3
4
, 4
4
, 5
4
, 6
4
, 7
4

(= 2401)
60. The series is:
12 1 = 12
12 1.5 = 18
18 2.5 = 45
45 4 = 180
180 6.5 = 1170
1170 10.5 = 12285
Note that each multiplier is the sum of the two
previous multipliers.
61. [(130)
2
] 25 15] 30
=
63. 38 + 16 0.8
38 + 12.8 = 50.8
64. (?)
2
= 25600 8100 7191 4225 = 6084
? = = 78
115.
66. ? =

67. ?=2116 + 692 1111 = 1697
68. ? = 9.648
69. ? = 6.5% of 375 0.85% of 230
= 6.5 3.75 0.85 2.3 = 24.375 1.955
= 22.42
70. ? = (13)
54 51
= (13)
3
= 2197
71. Required %
=

72. Required average
=
+ + + + +
=
73. Required diff = (112 78) crores

= 34 crores = 34 10
7
76. Two products (A and E) are showing more-than-
double price in 2006 as compared to 2002.
Clearly, the percentage increase is more for
product A.
77. Average price
=
+ + + + +
=
= 61.67
So, the shopkeeper bought products B and D
only.
78. Required difference = Rs(45 25) 3475 =
Rs 69,500
79. Product C shows the least change (Rs 5 per
kg) from 2002 to 2004.
80. % profit =

81. Expenditure of the company
= 120 70 = 50 cr
% Profit = =140%
82. Reqd ratio = (85 + 30) : 85
= 15:85 = 23:17
+ + + + +
=
cr
84. Reqd exp= 95 cr 40 cr = 55 cr
= 55 10
7
85. Reqd % =

86. Reqd men =
_

,
=
( ) ( )
( )
+ +
+
=

88. Cost Price = Rs
+
= Rs 450
89. Total share of B and D together
= Rs
( )
1
+
1
]
90. ? =
=

=

91. 30% of 70% of

of 3500
92. 75% of total amount
= 55, 475 + 28525 = 84000
Total amount = 8400
_

,
= Rs 1,12,000
93. Ratio of their shares
= 4212:57 8
= 14 12:19 8
= 21:19
Required difference in shares
= ( )
+
= Rs 1300
94. The number = 19 5 = 95
Reqd answer = 42% of 95 =
= 39.9
95. Total no. of sweets
= (15% of 80) (80) = = 960
96. Rate of interest =
After compounding 12% for 3 years, the

equivalent rate of simple interest = 40.4928%
Now, (12 3 =) 36% = 5580
40.4928% =
= Rs 6276.384
Note: Remember that at the rate of 12% the
difference in SI and CI after 3 years
= 40.4928 36 = 4.4928% of Principal
90
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97.

98.
+
+
128x + 160 = 143x + 130
101. SAINT, SATIN and STAIN.
102. All others are forms of vegetation.
103. B A K E F I R
5 7 9 6 3 1 4
FEAR 3674
104. The letters are E, R, M, A and C. And the only
meaningful word obtained from these letters is
CREAM.
105. Given set: 376 438 476 389 567 After
interchanging digits: 736 348 746 839 657 In
descending order: 839 746 736 657 348
107. Since only Q reached after R and S, he must be
the last person to reach.
108. 40 360 24 4 + 18
40 + 360 24 4 18
= 40 + 60 18 = 82
110. All others are stationery items that work
mechanically.
111. Given number:3 7 5 4 8 6
Rearranged number: 3 4 5 6 7 8
112. All others are prime numbers.
113. 2nd to the right of 6th from the right
= (6 2 =) 4th from the right in CATORLUB
RI = U
116. In all others the third element precedes the
second in the given arrangement.
117. The corresponding element in each term is four
positions after that in the previous term.
118. UandE.
119. 6th to the right of 14th from the right _ (14 6
= ) 8th from the right = V
120. Dropping the digits, the arrangement becomes
H I $ K J % L A T @ F U # V P E * D
121. 7, 4 and 8.
123. All books are magazines + Some magazines are
notebooks = A + I = No conclusion. Hence I
does not follow. Some magazines are notebooks
+ Some notebooks are papers = I + I = No
conclusion. Hence II does not follow.
124. Some pearls are stones + All stones are bricks
= I + A = I = Some pearls are bricks. Hence i
follows. Again, Some pearls are bricks + AI I
bricks are walls = I + A = I = Some pearls are
walls. Hence II follows.
125. Some oranges are grapes + All grapes are
bananas = I + A = I = Some oranges are bananas.
Hence 11 follows. Again, Some apples are
oranges + Some oranges are bananas = I + I =
No conclusion. Hence I does not follow.
126. All mobiles are phones + All phones are
computers = A + A = A = All mobiles are
computers. Hence I follows. All phones are
computers + All computers are scanners = A +
A =A= All phones are scanners. Hence II
follows.
127. All bags are trunks + All trunks are drawers =
A + A = A = All bags are drawers. Hence I
follows. All bags are trunks (A) conversion
Some trunks are bags (I). Hence II does not
follow.
128. Some buses are scooters + No scooter is a train
= I + E = 0 = Some buses are not trains. From
this I or II does not follow. However, they form
an E-I complementary pair. Hence either I or II
must follow.
129. Some wheels are sofa sets + All sofa sets are
cupboards = I + A = I = Some wheels are
cupboards. Hence I follows. Some chairs are
wheels + Some-wheels are sofa sets = I + I =
No conclusion. Hence II does not follow.
130. Some coins are notes + All notes are cards = I +
A = I = Some coins are cards. Hence I follows.
All notes are cards + All cards are plastics = All
notes are plastics. Hence II follows.
136. L:5 K ... (i); K < M ... (ii); J > M... (iii)
Combining all, we get L S K< M!9 J. Hence L <
M and I follows. Again, K < J and II follows.
137. E s W ...(i) ; W< Q ... (ii); Q > H ...(iii).
From (i) and (ii), E 5 W < Q or E < Q ... (iv).
Hence I does not follow. Again, from (iv) and
(iii), E and H cant be compared. Hence II does
not follow.
138. J = T ... (i); T > W ... (ii); W > R ...(iii)
Combining all, we get J = T > W ? R. Hence J
> R and so I follows.
Also, T > R and so II does not follow
139. T > R ... (i); R > H ...(ii) ; H < F ...(iii)
From (i) and (ii), T > R 2 H or H < T. Hence I
follows.
But from I and (iii) F and T cant be compared.
Hence II does not follow.
140. F = D ... (i); D > V ... (ii); V < P ...(iii) From (i)
and (ii), F = D > V or V < F. Hence II follows.
But from II and (iii) F and P cant be compared.
Hence I does not follow.
151. High marks have become so commonplace that
merit lists have lost their meaning.
152. The large number of SSC qualifiers has necessitated
the opening of more junior colleges.
153. A is the effect of some climate change. But B is
something that has been happening since time
immemorial.
154. Both the statements have been necessitated by
a common cause: the fear of outbreak of
diseases during monsoon.
155. The increase in accidents again and again has
led the govt to strike a cautionary note.
156. 1 is strong: the ability to express gives
roundness to ones education. II is weak
because to call a method the best without
giving any reason is a simplistic assertion.
157. I is weak because it is not true. You cant sweep
everyone with the same brush. II is
ambiguous. It first says, it cannot be applied
only to the medicine students. But the
remaining part of the argument has got nothing
to do with this only.
158. I is strong because pollution control is highly
desirable. II is weak. There may be some
inconvenience initially but in fact their families
would live better lives in the outskirts.
159. I is strong as motivation is a desirable action.
II is weak as it is superfluous. It is simply
restating the question.
160. I is strong as it takes a wise, reconciliatory
approach to the problem. II is also strong
because water pollution, etc may severely harm
mankind.
Q.No. Name a/(i) (b) (c) (d) (e)/(iii)
161. Abhishek
162. Sharad
163. Priyanka ( )
164. Rakesh ( )
165. Sarita ( )
166. Ashish
167. Radhika ( )
168. Ashwini ( )
179. Rajesh
170. Rashmi
171. In the first step the left-column elements
interchange places. The element coming to
lower left rotates by 90 ACW while the right-
column elements remains static. In the next
step upper-row elements interchange places
and the element coming to the upper-left
position rotates by 90 CW. The lower-right
element gets inverted in alternate steps.
92
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172. In each step one of the end elements alternately
on each end remains static while others shift
one step towards the other end in cyclic order.
The line of orientation itself rotates by 45
ACW.
173. In each step the elements shift half-a-side ACW
while a new element is added on ACW end.
The CW-end element is also replaced by a new
one.
174. The whole figure rotates by 90 and 45 CW
alternately while the shifting takes place shifts
from corner to centre and then to next ACW
corner.
175. In each step three elements shift one step
ACW in cyclic order while the fourth one is
replaced by a new one. The process is
repeated twice with the same set of elements.
UPSC
Hindi/English/Essay
(Compulsory)
(Mains) Examination
UPSCPORTALS
Buy online at: www.upscportal.com/order-books
UPSCPORTAL PUBLICATIONS
India' s Lar gest Online Community for
IAS, Civil Ser vices Aspir ants
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3. Basic Numeracy & General Mental Ability ` 175
4. Logical Reasoning & Analytical Ability ` 150
5. CSAT PaperI General Studies Question Bank ` 170
6. General Knowledge Manual ` 175
7. English Grammar and Usage ` 150
8. f l f o y l f o Zl st , I VhV~; wM VsLV ( f g Un h) ` 390
9. CSAT Comprehensive Manual ` 495
10. India2011 ` 220
11. General Studies Preliminary Examination
Topic Wise Solved Question Paper (1995-2010) ` 210
12. l a?k y ksd l so k v k; ksx l ke kU; v / ; ; u ( i zkj af Hkd i j h{ kk) f o " k; o kj
g y i z' u &i =k ( 2 0 0 1 &2 0 1 0 ) ` 140
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Topic Wise Question Analysis (1989-2010) ` 110
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17. SSC Graduate Level Examination Solved & Practice Paper ` 240
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20. BANK PO Practice Set ` 230
21. S.B.I. Probationary Officer (Recruitment Examination 2011) ` 210
22. Geography IAS (Mains) Optional Topic Wise Question Analysis ` 140
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24. Hindi/English/Essay (Mains) Compulsory
Topic Wise Question Analysis ` 150
25. LAW (Mains) Optional Topic Wise Question Analysis ` 140
26. Public Administration Optional (Mains) Topic Wise Question Analysis ` 140
27. General Studies IAS (Main) Solved Paper 2001-2010 ` 250
28. History (Mains) Optional Topic Wise Question Analysis ` 140
29. 2 Markers for IAS (Mains) / PCS (Main) Genral Study ` 185

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73. Required diff = (112 78) crores

After compounding 12% for 3 years, the

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