careermakers-april2011

April 2011

Volume : 04

Editor

D.V.RAGHURAM

M.A., P.G.D.H.R.M., D.T.E.M

e-mail : [email protected]

Executive Editor

P. SUBHASHINI

M.Com

NOTE: Printing of this bookprocess through many stages - Writing,Composing, Proof Reading etc. We tryour best to make this book error free. ifany mistake has inadvertently crept in,we regret it and would be deeplyindebted to those who bring it to ournotice. We do not take any legalresponsibility. The publishers shall beobliged if mistakes are brought to theirnotice for carrying out correction in thenext edition.

“Fulfillin

g a great n

eed.....”

Career &

Com

petitio

n Series

CONTENTS

SPORTS - 3AWARDS / PRIZES - 7PERSONS - 7ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES - 9SUMMITS/ CONFERENCES - 11COMMITTEES - 13DEFENCE - 14SPACE RESEARCH - 15SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY - 16BILLS - 19ECONOMY GLOSSARY - 19INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - 21NATIONAL AFFAIRS - 23AN OBJECTIVE APPROACH TOALL COMPETITIVE EXAMS - 47

Career Makers April 2011, Volume: 04 2

1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234512345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123451234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234512345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123451234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234512345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123451234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234512345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123451234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234512345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123451234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234512345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123451234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234512345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123451234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234512345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123451234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345

FOR SURE SUCCESS INBANK EXAMS.... READ.......

JAYAM SERIES16-2-875/1, Sayeedabad,

Hyderabad - 500 059

Cell: 9849200706


123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890

SPORTS

Kings of the World

Twenty-eight years on fromthe match that transformed the his-tory of world cricket, India recap-tured the crown that Kapil Dev andhis men first lifted at Lord's in 1983,and this time they did it in their veryown back yard. An iron-willed 97from Gautam Gambhir was matchedfor intensity by the finest captain'sinnings since Ricky Ponting atJohannesburg eight years ago, asMahendra Singh Dhoni trumped apoetic century from MahelaJayawardene to pull off the highestrun-chase ever achieved in a WorldCup final.

Against a triumphant back-drop at the Wankhede Stadium, vic-tory was sealed by six wickets with10 balls to spare, as Dhoni - whohad promoted himself to No. 5 toheap extra lashings of responsibil-ity onto his own shoulders - rushedthrough the gears as the victory tar-get drew nearer. With 15 requiredfrom 17 balls, he flicked Sri Lanka'sonly true threat, Lasith Malinga,through midwicket for consecutiveboundaries, before smoking NuwanKulasekara over long-on to sparkthe most delirious scenes of celebra-tion ever seen on the subcontinent.

However, the final margin didlittle justice to the tussle that hadpreceded it. Even the toss ended upbeing disputed, as KumarSangakkara's initial call wasdrowned out by the crowd, but it wasthe ebb and flow of Zaheer Khan'sday that epitomised the fluctuationsof a compelling contest. Zaheeropened his account with three con-secutive maidens and the scalp ofUpul Tharanga in a peerless spellof 5-3-6-1, only to be clobbered for17 and 18 runs in his ninth and tenthovers respectively, as Sri Lanka

monstered 63 runs in the battingPowerplay to post an imposing 274for 6.

And India's day got muchworse before the team's fortunesbegan to inch upwards. VirenderSehwag had hit a boundary from thefirst ball of six of India's previouseight innings in the tournament, butthis time Malinga's slingers dealt hima second-ball duck, as he skiddeda full delivery into his back pad. Andthen Sachin Tendulkar, for whom thescript had seemingly been written,was drawn into a loose drive by afast Malinga outswinger, having setthe stadium on standby for instanthistory with 18 sumptuously accu-mulated runs from his first 12 deliv-eries.

At 31 for 2 in the seventhover, India were struggling to keeptheir toehold in the contest, and itwas all too much for a faithless fewin the crowd who turned their backsand set off for home. But Gambhirand Virat Kohli epitomise a genera-tion that does not easily accept de-feat, and their third-wicket stand of83 laid the foundations for an epicturnaround. The prospect of a seam-friendly surface, allied to the griev-ous loss of Angelo Mathews to athigh strain, had tempted Sri Lankainto four key changes to the teamthat had triumphed over New

Zealand in Colombo, and withMuttiah Muralitharan lacking bite inthe final wicketless appearance ofhis 19-year career, Malinga alonecould not carry the day.

The hard-hitting of NuwanKulasekara and Thisara Perera hadbeen instrumental in hoisting SriLanka's total to such heights, but intheir primary role as front-lineseamers they lacked menace andwere all too easy to squeeze as 119runs came from their combined al-location of 17.2 overs. The new-comer to the squad, Suraj Randiv,caused a moment of alarm with hishigh-kicking offspin when Gambhir,on 30, was dropped by a divingKulasekara at long-off, but as theinnings progressed, his lack of guileproved costly. The decision to omitboth Ajantha Mendis and RanganaHerath, whose combined efforts hadbeen so effective against Englandand New Zealand, is one that willhaunt Sri Lanka for years to come.

But this was a victory that stillhad to be grasped, and India foundthe men who were willing to do so.The 22-year-old Kohli, who wasgreeted with a stern word of encour-agement as he replaced the outgo-ing Tendulkar, showed all the mettlefor the big occasion as he easedalong to 35 from 49 balls before fall-ing to an outstanding return catch


by Tillakaratne Dilshan, who divedfull-length across the crease to in-tercept a lofted drive. But it wasGambhir and Dhoni to whom theultimate duty fell. Their 109-runstand was the highest by an Indianpairing in three World Cup final ap-pearances, and even when Gambhirgave away the chance for an unfor-gettable century with a tired chargeand slash at Perera, the result wasno longer in doubt.

Gambhir struck nine fours ina 122-ball statement of indomitabil-ity, and both he and Dhoni requiredtreatment for stiff backs as the sap-ping Mumbai heat took its toll. Dhoniat one stage looked so immobile thata precautionary retirement seemedthe only logical response, but aftersome harsh work from the physio heresumed his stance and respondedwith another trademark filleting ofthe extra cover boundary, an areain which he scored six of his eightfours - three of which helped to bluntMurali's attacking instincts.

Four years ago at SabinaPark, Jayawardene produced a su-preme century against New Zealandto carry his side to their secondWorld Cup final, but this was an in-nings of even more exquisite appli-cation. He came to the crease withhis side under the cosh at 60 for 2in the 17th over, having beenthrottled by Zaheer's supreme new-

ball spell. But he responded with atempo that scarcely wavered froma run a ball, until with Kulasekerafor company, he opened his shoul-ders to power through to his hun-dred from 83 balls.

For an occasion of this mag-nitude, cool heads were the orderof the day, and though his final fig-ures did not show it, no-one wascooler in the opening exchangesthan Zaheer. On his watch, SriLanka were limited to 31 for 1 in theirmandatory Powerplay, their lowestten-over score of the tournament,and the hapless Upul Tharanga wasrestricted to two runs from 20 ballsbefore snicking to Sehwag at slip.Then, when he returned in the 37thover, Zaheer deceived ChamaraKapugedera with a beautiful slowerball that was driven to short cover,on route to equalling Shahid Afridias the tournament's leading wicket-taker.

And yet, the speed withwhich his figures were vandalisedwas astounding. Though each ofJayawardene's 13 fours was aclassy stroke in its own right, nonewas better than the last of them, aninside-out cover-drive to one ofZaheer's trademark outswingers, ashe premeditated the late movementand filleted the ring of fielders on theoff-side. The outright accelerationcame from the other end, where

Kulasekera made 32 from 30 ballsbefore his sacrificial run-out led to apat of gratitude from Jayawardeneas they parted. And then, by the timePerera had sealed his onslaughtwith a dismissive thump for six overmidwicket, the decibel levels in theWankhede had plummeted.

Man of the Match:

Mahendra Singh Singhscripted history in Mumbai and ledIndia to a World Cup win after 28years. He played a captain's knockwhen it mattered the most and re-mained unbeaten on 91 runs. Hewas rightly adjudged the Man of theMatch.

Man of the Tournament:

Yuv Raj Singh grab the Manof the Tournament award in ICCWorld Cup 2011 for his All roundperformance in World Cup 2011. Hetakes 341 runs which includes acentury and 4 half centuries from atotal of 8 matches. He also takes 15wickets from this world cup. Whatmakes him really the Man of TheTournament Award is that he wonthe Man of the Match Award 4 times.His highest score in this world cupis 113.

ICC Cricket World Cup2015 Logo

International Cricket Council(ICC) unveils the logo of CricketWorld Cup 2015 on April 2nd 2011.Cricket World Cup 2015 will be Hostin Australia and New Zealand as apart of symbolic handover from thesuccessful 2011 hosts to their coun-terparts four years hence, during theclosing of 2011 World Cup inWankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

The ICC received applica-tions for the design from across theworld before awarding it to the in-ternational agency, FutureBrand,whose Australian arm was invited toproduce the logo for the ICC CricketWorld Cup 2015. It in turn commis-


sioned graphic consultancy, theJumbana Group/Balarinji to createboth Australian and New Zealandcultural motifs so as to reflect thetwo indigenous countries’ culturalidentities.

The result has been whatICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgatdescribes as “a dynamic logo whichcaptures the cultural influences inthe two host countries”.

He added: “The ICC, CricketAustralia and New Zealand Crickethave all worked together with theconsultancies to produce this beau-tiful logo. On the back of a hugelysuccessful ICC Cricket World Cup2011, I am sure that it will gain rec-ognition over the next four years aswe use it in promotional, marketingand partner activations.”

Each element of the logocontributes to building the story ofthe ICC’s flagship event featuringthe best players in the world com-peting for The Cup That Counts.

Sachin, Zaheer, Yuvrajin ICC team of the

tournament

Their crucial contribution inguiding India to their first World Cuptitle in 28 years on April 03 fetchedthe trio of Sachin Tendulkar, YuvrajSingh and Zaheer Khan a place inthe International Cricket Council’sTeam of the Tournament.

Kumar Sangakkara hasbeen named the captain of this team

of 12 that also features three SriLankans —Mahela Jayawardene,Tillakaratne Dilshan and MuttiahMuralitharan.

Indian captain MahendraSingh Dhoni, who won the man ofthe final award, however, didn’tmake it as his performance with thebat wasn’t up to the mark before thesummit clash.

According to a media releaseby ICC, the team was chosen by aselect group of experts who weregiven the task of picking a balancedside for sub-continental conditionson the basis of performances in thetournament. Statistics were used butwere not the sole basis for selec-tions.

Pakistan had only one rep-resentative in captain Shahid Afridiwhile South Africa’s AB de Villiersand Dale Steyn also found a berthin the side.

Shane Watson was the onlyAustralian representative while NewZealand pacer Tim Southee wasnamed the 12th man. No Englandplayer featured in the team.

Some of the other namesthat were discussed included RossTaylor and Jacob Oram of NewZealand, Jonathan Trott andGraeme Swann of England,Ireland’s Kevin O’Brien, KemarRoach and Kieron Pollard of theWest Indies, Imran Tahir of SouthAfrica, Upal Tharanga and LasithMalinga of Sri Lanka and the Neth-erlands’ Ryan ten Doeschate.

Team of the Tournament (inbatting order): Sachin Tendulkar,Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan (all fromIndia), Tillakaratne Dilshan, KumarSangakkara (WK and captain),Mahela Jayawardena,MuttiahMuralitharan (all from Sri Lanka), ABde Villiers, Dale Steyn (both SouthAfrica), Shane Watson (Australia),Shahid Afridi (Pakistan), Dale Steyn(South Africa). 12th man: TimSouthee (New Zealand).

Saina Nehwal winsSwiss Open title

Ace Indian shuttler SainaNehwal notched up her first title ofthe year, clinching the Swiss OpenGrand Prix Gold trophy with astraight-game victory in the summitclash against Ji Hyun Sung of Ko-rea in Switzerland on March 20.

Second seed Saina beat JiHyun 21-13 21-14 in 43 minutes tomake amends for her quarterfinalexit from the All England Super Se-ries in Birmingham last week.

The world number four In-dian had beaten the unseeded Ko-rean, ranked 19th, during the firstround of Indonesia Open SuperSeries last year. Saina, who had asubdued beginning to the year afterrecovering from a ligament injury,showed her mettle all through thetournament to swell her trophy cabi-net.

Ji Hyun tried to keep pacewith Saina till 7-7 but the Indian wasindomitable as she broke off fromtheir and surged ahead with gaintstrides to pocket the first game com-fortably. In the second game, Sainawas ruthless as she opened a four-point lead at 7-3, and held fort tocanter to her first title of the season.

The 21-year-old Saina hadwon three Super Series titles lastyear -- Singapore, Indonesia andHong Kong Open -- besides winningthe Commonwealth Games goldand India Grand Prix gold.

She also won the IndonesianSuper Series in 2009 besides win-ning the Chinese Taipei Open GrandPrix Gold in 2008.

Sania-Vesnina pairwins doubles' title in

Indian Wells

Sania Mirza and her Russianpartner Elena Vesnina clinched theirfirst title in just their third WTA eventas a team, lifting the BNP ParibasOpen women's double trophy afterupstaging Bethanie Mattek-Sandsand Meghann Shaughnessy in In-dian Wells,USA.


123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890

AWARDS /

PRIZES

Abel Prize awarded toJohn Willard Milnor

The Norwegian Academy ofScience and Letters has chosen oneof the living legends of mathematics,John Willard Milnor of the Institutefor Mathematical Sciences in theUniversity of Stony Brook, U.S.A, forthe award of its prestigious AbelPrize for the year 2011.

This was announced onWednesday in Oslo by NorwegianAcademy president Øyvind Østerud.Professor Milnor will receive thePrize from His Majesty King Haraldat an award ceremony in Oslo onMay 24, 2011. The award carries 6million Norwegian Kroner (approx.•750,000 or $1 m.)

The Prize is given inrecognition of contributions ofextraordinary depth and influence tomathematical sciences and hasbeen awarded annually since 2003.The Prize is named after the greatNorwegian mathematical genius,Niels Henrik Abel (1802-29), oftencompared with the Indian wizardSrinivasa Ramanujan, who died at

a very young age of 26. The pastwinners include such illustriousnames as Jean-Pierre Serr (2003),Sir Michael Atiyah and Isadore M.Singer (2004), Peter D. Lax (2005),Lennart Carleson (2006), SrinivasaS. R. Varadhan (2007), John GriggsThompson and Jacques Tits (2008),Mikhail Leonidovich Gromov (2009)and John Torrence Tate (2010).

The 2011 award is beinggiven to Professor Milnor, as thecitation notes, “for [his] pioneeringdiscoveries in topology, geometryand algebra.” He has even madesignificant contributions in numbertheory.

Major awards

Professor Milnor hasreceived all the major awards inMathematics: He was awarded theFields Medal in 1962, the Wolf Prizein 1989 and is the only person tohave won all the three Steele Prizesof the American MathematicalSociety (AMS) in 1982, 2004 andearly this year for seminalcontribution to research, formathematical exposition and forlifetime achievement respectively.He also received the U.S. NationalMedal of Science in 1967.

Hall of Fame Award forThe Hindu consultant

TheHindu's consultant V.Kalidas was conferred the ‘Hall ofFame' National Award for 2011 forhis contribution to the media industryby Punjab Education Minister SewaSingh Sekhwan at a function.

The awards were given to 10other public relations professionalson the opening day of the two-dayfifth edition of the Global PRConclave, organised by the PublicRelations Council of India (PRCI).

The other awardees are:Pragnya Ram (Aditya BirlaManagement Corporation Limited);S. Ramesh Krishnan (MarutiSuzuki); Deepak Jolly (Coca Cola);

Renuka B. Salwan (Bureau of IndianStandards); Jayaprakash Rao K.(Regional PRO, DRDO, Bangalore);B.K. Usha Didi (Brahmkumaris,Mount Abu); K.S. Narahari (TexasInstruments Limited); C.K. Sardana;Ujjwal Chowdhury (ISB&M Schoolof Communication); and RomeshKumar Mattoo (Suzlon EnergyLimited).

Mr. Kalidas has beenassociated with TheHindu group forthe past 45 years. He wasnominated mediaperson of the yearin October 1994 by a Mumbai-basedbody of media professionals. He hasalso been associated with theAdvertising Clubs and PRSIChapters in Kolkata, Mumbai andChennai.

Mr. Sekhwan also presentedthe annual Chanakya Awards toleading professionals andorganisations for their contributionto the field of communication.123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890

PERSONS

Lalit Bhasin new chiefof Film Certification

Tribunal

Noted lawyer Lalit Bhasinhas been appointed Chairperson ofthe Film Certification Appellate Tri-bunal. “The appointment is for aperiod of three years.”

Mr. Bhasin is also the Vice-President of the Bar Association ofIndia and the Chairman of the Ser-vices Export Promotion Council es-tablished by the Ministry of Com-merce and a member of the ICC In-ternational Court of Arbitration. Heis also a Member of the Task Forceon Arbitration set up by ICC.

He has received severalawards, which include the GandhiNational Unity Award, 1991, thePlaque of Honour given by the PrimeMinister for his outstanding contri-bution to the Rule of Law in 2002


and the National Law Day Awardgiven by the President of India in2007. Deepa Dixit and Gurjeet SinghBehl have been appointed membersof the Film Certification AppellateTribunal for a period of three years.

Bangalore manclinches Guinness

Record

Spelling the word'Hippopotomonstrosesquipe-daliophobia' could stump many, butnot 25-year-old Guinness Bookrecord holder Shishir Hathwar, whocan not only do it without batting aneyelid but in the reverse order aswell.

It is not just this word (whichmeans fear of long words) but anumber of others including 'gro-tesqueness' which he can rattle off.

Bangalore-based Hatwar, anelectronics engineer in BHEL,clinched the world record this weekfor the "fastest backwards spellingof 50 words" in one minute 22.53seconds, beating the record of JobPottas from Kerala who clocked oneminute 40.14 seconds in March2010. The earlier record was heldby Deborah Prebble from UK (twomin 21 seconds).

Shishir won by a comfortablemargin of over 17 seconds when hespelt 50 randomly chosen words,including 20 six letter word, 15-seven letter words and 15-eight let-ter words.The time included thattaken by a person to read out thewords and spell it backward. "I tookjust 1.6 seconds per word includingthe time taken to read out the word",said Shishir, who was asked to spellout words chosen from a variety offields, including literature, arts andscience.

The words he spelt out back-wards during the event included'desolate', 'lavish', 'pharynx', 'exca-vate' and 'fragrant.' A voraciousreader, Shishir attributes his suc-cess to the environment provided by

his parents, his reading habit and outof the box thinking.

"Honing visualisation tech-niques to an extreme degree alsoaided in training his mind to achievethe goal. Asked how he felt aboutthe record, he said "Exultant, con-sidering that English is not mymother tongue".

Shishir can also read andwrite Kannada, Hindi and Sanskritand speak Tulu. It was a You Tubeclip of Pottas breaking the recordthat got him started on the idea hecould attempt a similar feat. Shishirsays he also reads books by Tho-mas Hardy, George Eliot, CharlesDickens and Bertrand Russell.

Apart from reading, he rev-els in outdoor activities like trekkingand swimming. He in fact completedthe 21.1 km half marathon in De-cember 2005 in 98 minutes.

He disapproves the currentSMS lingo and short spellings, say-ing, "It is mutilating the sublimebeauty of language."

Ask him about the most mis-spelt words, Shishir says, "It is wordswhere 'i' is contiguous with 'e' likeshriek, receive".

Shishir's advice to the youngwho struggle with spellings is "Taketo reading instead of video gaming".Shishir said he was aware of his tal-ent to spell backwards at a youngage and held several speechlesswhen he spelt words backward aswell as six word sentences.

Not content with the laurelswon, the spelling champion is nowout to conquer new records likespeaking three syllable words back-ward and being able to spell themaximum number of words back-ward in a minute.

The son of Dr Ramamurthy,a senior scientist of Center for Artifi-cial Intelligence and Robotics,DRDO, he says spellings havenever flummoxed him and there isno spelling which can leave himtongue tied.

Indian Army ChiefHonoured at the US

Army War

In a rare event of its kind,

General VK Singh becomes the first

Indian Officer to be inducted into the

‘Hall of Fame’ of US Army War Col-

lege, Carlisle, USA, on 11 Mar 2011.

This distinction is extended by the

US Army, to all officers from friendly

foreign countries, who rise to the

post of ‘Chief’ of their respective

Armies, after attending the coveted

Course at US Army War College. A

masters degree in Strategic Studies

is awarded on completion of the

course. General VK Singh (then

Brigadier) passed out from the US

Army War College in 2000-01.

The ceremony was hosted by

Major General Gregg F Martin, the

Commandant of US Army War Col-

lege, Carlisle, where General VK

Singh, PVSM, AVSM, YSM, ADC,

Chief of Army Staff was ceremoniously

inducted into the ‘Hall of Fame’. As

part of the ceremony the Chief’s pho-

tograph was placed in the hallowed

portals of the college. On this occa-

sion, General VK Singh also delivered

a talk on ‘Strategic & Defence Lead-

ership’ to the students of US Army War

College, where he highlighted the fu-

ture challenges, which will be faced

by future leaders.


Ashok ThakurAppointed Secretary

NCSC

The Appointments Commit-

tee of the Cabinet (ACC) has ap-

proved the following:

1. Cancellation of orders of

appointment of Shri Ram Lubhaya,

IAS(RJ:78), as Secretary, National

Commission for Scheduled Castes

in the rank and pay of Additional

Secretary.

2. Shri Ashok Thakur,

IAS(HP:77), presently Special Sec-

retary, Department of Higher Edu-

cation, Ministry of Human Resource

Development as Secretary, National

Commission for Scheduled Castes

(N.C.S.C.) in the rank and pay of

Secretary.

Lt Gen J.D.S. Rawat

He is the first officer of the

Corps of military Intelligence (MI) to

be elevated to the rank of Lt. Gen-

eral. Till now, the senior-most rank

that officers of MI could attain was

major general. MI is responsible for

counter-intelligence, field security

and information gathering.

Major Mitali

Madhumita

She is the first woman officer

of Indian army to get decorated with

a gallantry medal. She has been

honoured for her act of bravery dur-

ing the attack on guest house of In-

dian officials in Kabul, Afghanistan

Dilip Sanghvi

Chairman and Managing

Director of Sun Pharmaceutical In-

dustries, he has been named as the

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the

Year 2011.

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890

ENVIRONMENTAL

ISSUESISSUESISSUESISSUESISSUES

India’s latest tigercensus

India’s latest tiger censushas estimated 1,706 wild tigers, 226higher than a similar count fouryears ago, but government officialsand wildlife scientists havecautioned against complacencyamid disturbing losses and disputesover counting.

The estimates for 2010released by the Union environmentand forests ministry suggest a 16 percent increase in the number of tigers— from 1,410 to 1,636 — in all tigerlandscapes except the Sunderbanswhere no assessment had beendone in 2006.

But a conservation scientistsaid the 16 per cent increase wouldsuggest a reversal of the previousdecline of tigers. “Since the variousthreats faced by tigers do not appearto have diminished in the last fouryears, it is difficult to explain theclaimed reversal of the decline oftigers,” said Ulhas Karanth, directorof the Centre for Wildlife Studies inBangalore, who specialises in tigerconservation.

The 2010 count forSunderbans, described as the first-ever-scientific assessment of theiconic inhabitant of Bengal’smangrove and tidal zone, is 70. ButSunderbans forest officials believethe census has underestimated thetiger population there.

The analysis has shown thatIndia’s tiger territory — the areaacross the country where tigersroam — has reduced from93,600sqkm to about 72,800sqkmover the past four years, althoughtigers appear well protected withincore tiger reserve areas.

Madhya Pradesh loses‘Tiger State’ tag to

Karnataka

Despite a 12 per cent rise inthe population of big cats in thecountry, Madhya Pradesh popularlyknown as the ‘Tiger State’ witnesseda decline in their numbers resultingin loss of this coveted status toKarnataka, according to the latesttiger census report.

The big cat population hasdropped to 257 in the latest tigercensus from 300 tigers in 2006 inMadhya Pradesh.

“The decline in the tigerpopulation in the State is mainly dueto the loss of 24 tigers allegedly due


to poaching in Panna tiger reservewhich had as many striped animalsin the year 2006,” a forest official toldPTI today.

Efforts are underway torevive the big cat population inPanna. Three tigresses and a tigerhad been translocated to it fromothers parks since last year and theexercise has seemed to pay off withtwo felines giving birth to five cubslast year.

The famous Kanha TigerReserve too had lost more than 25tigers. In 2006, it had 89 tigers whichhad now dipped to 60, according tothe latest census, he said.

Reports regarding tigers’deaths had been trickling in fromKanha for more than two years.Forest officials contend that it wasmainly due to territorial fights amongthem.

The 2006 tiger census reporthad recommended the Stategovernment that Kanha buffer zoneneeds to be extended South - Westto increase the big cat habitat. Thiswas implemented in toto, officialssaid.

Now, Karnataka haswitnessed an increase of 10 tigerstaking its big cat population to 300,according to the recent All IndiaTiger Estimation Exercise for 2010.And MP, which is unhappy havinglost the ‘tiger State’ tag, has shot offa letter to the Wildlife Institute ofIndia (WII), in this regard.

“I am of view that the tigerpopulation was more than what hascome out in the latest big cat censusgiven that we too have an internalmechanism to monitor stripedanimals, Principal ChiefConservator (Wildlife) H S Pablasaid.

“Something has gone amiss.We have sent a letter requesting theWII to check their data base,” hesaid.

To press his point, Mr. Pablasaid that there were 424 beats

(areas having big cat) to monitor thetiger population in the state in 2006which has risen to 495 now.

“This shows that there hasbeen an increase in the tigerpopulation in the State,” he added.

“The latest census reportthat the tiger population has gonedown in Kanha too doesn’t appearto be correct as we send monthlyreports to National TigerConservation Authority (NTCA) onthe number of tigers in the reserve,”Mr. Pabla said.

He said that their fivereserves including Kanha wereranked high among the bestmanaged reserves in the country.

The last tiger census reportreleased on March 28 said that thestripped animal population has risento 1,707 from 1,411 in 2006.

Whale shark taggedwith satellite collar off

Gujarat coast

For the first time in India, awhale shark has been tagged witha ‘satellite collar ’ to track themigration routes, behaviour andecological preferences of thismember of the largest fish speciesin the world.

The satellite tag was put onthe fish last week by a team ofresearchers from the Whale SharkConservation Project, a joint ventureof the Gujarat Forest Departmentand Wildlife Trust of India (WTI).

According to WTI AssistantField Officer, Manoj Matwal, anotherwhale shark will be tagged by mid-May.

“The first set of data receivedindicated that the tagged whaleshark, a 6.5 m long male rescuedoff the Gujarat coast, had reachedthe coast of Maharashtra movingsouthward.”

“For the second tagging, weare exploring the sea near Veravaland Sutrapada in Junagadh districtwhere the spotting (of whale shark)

has been good.”Satellite-tagging is the latest

initiative under the Whale SharkConservation Project. Earlier therehave been efforts to do photo-identification, genetic analysis andvisual tagging of whale sharks inIndia.

“The satellite tag, which is amarine equivalent of a satellitecollar, was attached to the caudalfin of the fish.

“This tag is expected to lastfor about six months and give usdata related to movement of the fish,its preference in water temperature,diurnal and nocturnal activities andswimming patterns betweendifferent layers of water.”

The success of tagging wasconfirmed after receiving the firstsignal 68 hours after the tag wasfixed.

“The signal was received250 km off the coast of Mumbai,revealing that it had travelledsouthward,” Mr. Matwal said.

Over the coming months,researchers would be closelyfollowing the movement patterns ofthe whale shark.

During the tagging operation,WTI also collected a tissue sampleof the fish for genetic analysis.

The whale shark was listedunder Schedule I of the IndianWildlife (Protection) Act in 2001,according it the highest level ofprotection.

Whale shark is the largestfish species in the world with aflattened head, and a wide mouthpositioned at the tip of the snout thatstretches almost as wide as thebody. The creatures are greyish,


bluish or brownish above, with anupper surface pattern of creamywhite spots between pale, verticaland horizontal stripes.

Whale sharks were oncehunted off the Gujarat coast for itsliver oil, which was used to water-proof boats. But after initiation ofWhale Shark Conservation Projectin 2008, the local fishermen havebeen made aware of the importanceof the fish, and they now participatein conservation activities.

Vidarbha may soonbecome the tiger

capital

Maharashtra’s Vidarbharegion, which has several tigerprojects and wild life sanctuaries inclose proximity is fast shaping up asthe potential Tiger Capital of thecountry.

Former Union Minister andNagpur MP Vilas Muttemwar, whowrested the initiative in this directionhas approached all the top ministersat the State and Central level to pushfor the tiger capital project.

According to him, sinceTadoba Tiger project is situatedabout 160 kms from the city and Borsanctuary (about 90 kms),Navegaon and Nagzira wild lifesanctuaries (about 150 kms) arelocated in Vidarbha, besides theKanha National Park inneighbouring Seoni district (about200 kms from Nagpur), the regioncan be well-developed as the tigercapital.

More than 250 tigers out oftotal population of 1,400 in thecountry inhabit in the Vidarbharegion.

Special Tiger Protec-tion Force to be

formed

A Special Tiger ProtectionForce (STPF) will be formed basedon a recommendation by theNational Tiger Conservation

Authority (NTCA) to protect tigers inthe Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in the

Nilgiris, according to a senior wildlife

officer.

A board would be set up with

a member each representing the

Central police forces and the NTCA

to select the personnel for the armed

battalion, the officer said.

The battalion will be headed

by an officer in the rank of Assistant

Conservator of Forests, and will

have three Range Officers, 18

Foresters and 90 Forest Guards.

Of the total 90 Guards to be

recruited, 30 per cent should be

earmarked for local tribal youth.

Recruitment for the remaining posts

would be done through employment

exchanges concerned. The training

for the battalion would be imparted

by a central paramilitary force. The

NTCA would provide the financial

assistance for imparting the training,

the officer said.

To help the Board, the wildlife

wing of the State Forest Department

would identify tribals living in the

Mudumalai Tiger Reserve area.

The wing would also make

arrangements for officials from

employment exchanges to visit

Mudumalai and register the names

of youth selected by the Board. The

Forest Department would notify

vacancies to employment

exchanges.

The proposal has been sent

to the State government for its

approval. The forest authorities are

planning similar forces for the

Anamalai Tiger Reserve in Pollachi

and the Kalakkad Mundanthurai

Tiger Reserve in Tirunelveli district.

The tiger population in and

around the Mudumalai Tiger

Reserve is denser than the other two

declared Tiger Reserves.

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890

SUMMITS/

CONFERENCES

National Conferenceand Exhibition on

Technology Solutionsfor Rural Service

Delivery

A two day NationalConference and Exhibition onTechnology Solutions for RuralService Delivery began New Delhiat March 25. Inaugurating theconference Shri Kapil Sibal, theUnion Minister for Communicationsand Information Technology(C&IT)and HRD said that benefits ofInformation CommunicationTechnology ICT must reach villagesincluding the remote and far flungareas. Innovative Technologiesneed to be found which are ruggedto sustain the problems of electricityand rough use, the Minister added.

Speaking on the occasionShri R Chandrashekhar, Secretary,Department of InformationTechnology AndTelecommunications said thatuniqueness of Rural ServiceDelivery will be in solving theproblems of data in digital form atthe originating source of information.

Welcoming the participantsDr. B. K Gairola, Director GeneralNational Informatics Centre said thegap between the common man andsystem structure has to be bridgedto be effective. The saturation pointwill come only when a desired levelservice will be delivered to thecommon man.

The Conference will havefour sessions excluding inauguraland closing sessions. It willdeliberate on issues like UserPerspective of Rural ServiceDelivery: Issues and Challenges,Enabling Rural Service DeliveryThrough Technology Solutions,


Panel Discussion: Rural ServiceDelivery Process, EmergingChallenges and Road Ahead andEmerging Trends andDevelopments In TechnologySolutions For Rural ServiceDelivery. Representatives of thePolicy making bodies of Central andState Governments, User groups,Technology providers and ServiceProviders are participating in theConference.

The Conference will providea platform of meaningful interactionamong all stake holders todeliberate, interact and recommendan actionable strategy for goodgovernance and to improve thestandard of services rendered to thecommon man. It will also help inunderstanding the existing scenarioand challenges faced in RuralServices Delivery. It will providepolicy making bodies acomprehensive understanding ofsolutions for the challengesencountered in last mile delivery,distribution network developmentand also opportunities will becreated to help them in formulatingnew and better policies for desiredresults.

National Informatics Centre(NIC) and National InformaticsCentre Service Incorporation(NICSI) are organizing thisConference and Exhibition ontechnology solutions and theirpotential usage in developmentinitiatives in Rural India.

SAARC sanitationmeet in Colombo

As many as 500 experts fromSAARC countries will meet herefrom April 4 to 7 to discuss thecomplex sanitation needs of southAsian countries and methods toimprove sanitation. More than 700million people in south Asia practiceopen defecation. India has amongthe lowest sanitation coverage in theregion, 31 per cent.

South Asian Conference onSanitation (SACOSAN) IV will haverepresentatives of Afghanistan,Bangladesh, Bhutan, India,Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and SriLanka review the progress ofcommitments made in 2008 in Delhi.SACOSAN IV will identify specificobjectives for the member countriesto accelerate the progress ofprovision of sanitation services inSouth Asia, enhancing people’squality of life.

The Ministers in charge ofsanitation in the region will attend aministerial summit on April 6. ThePresident of Sri Lanka, MahindaRajapaksa, will inaugurate the meet.At the conclusion of the Conference,a declaration will be made andcountries will agree to act upon thespecific objectives identified in theConference.

The Conference onSanitation is a biennial Conference.The first conference was held inBangladesh in 2003, the second inPakistan in 2006 and the third inIndia in 2008.

Conference onConsumer Rights

A Two day Conference of thePresidents, State Commissions andthe Secretaries, Incharge,Consumer Affairs of the StateGovernments/UT Administrations isbeing organised by the NationalConsumer Disputes RedressalCommission from Monday 14thMarch 2011 in New Delhi to markthe World Consumer Rights Day.The World Consumer Rights isobserved on 15th March every year.

The Conference will beinaugurated by Mr. Justice DalveerBhandari, Judge, Supreme Court ofIndia. Union Minister for Law &Justice Mr. M. Veerappa Moily willbe the Chief Guest and UnionMinister of State (IndependentCharge) for Consumer Affairs, Food& Public Distribution Prof. K.V.

Thomas will preside over theconference.

Issues likely to be taken upduring the Conference includeprogress on the implementation ofthe Resolutions passed in theprevious Conferences; UniformProcedure in Listing of Cases forAdmission and SubsequentDisposal; Steps required to be takento reduce the arrears and ensurespeedy Disposal; Holding of LokAdalats in the Consumer Fora;Upgrading and augmenting theinfrastructure of the Consumer Foraunder the Integrated Project;Progress made in modernizationand computerization of quickredressal System; Training for theMembers of the State Commissionsand District Fora and, Holding ofconference of the Presidents ofDistrict Forums in the respectiveState.

Consumers in India aregiven legal rights under theConsumer Protection Act, 1986 (inshort, ‘the Act’) which is abenevolent social legislation thatlays down the rights of theconsumers and provides their forpromotion and protection of therights of the consumers. The firstand the only Act of its kind in India,it has enabled ordinary consumersto secure less expensive and oftenspeedy redressal of theirgrievances. By spelling out the rightsand remedies of the consumers ina market so far dominated byorganized manufacturers andtraders of goods and providers ofvarious types of services, the Actmakes the dictum, caveat emptor(‘buyer beware’) a thing of the past.

The Act mandatesestablishment of ConsumerProtection Councils at the Centre aswell as in each State and District,with a view to promoting consumerawareness.

The Central Council isheaded by Minster, In-charge of the


Department of Consumer Affairs inthe Central Government and theState Councils by the Minister In-charge of the Consumer Affairs inthe State Governments. It alsoprovides for a 3-tier structure of theNational and State Commissionsand District Forums for speedyresolution of consumer disputes.

At present, there are 604District Forums and 34 StateCommissions with the NationalConsumer Disputes RedressalCommission (NCDRC) at the apex.123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890

COMMITTEES

Resolution NofifyingConstitution of Finan-cial Sector LegislativeReforms Commission

(FSLRC)

The Resolution notifying theconstitution of Financial Sector Leg-islative Reforms Commission(FSLRC) was issued today by theGovernment of India. This is in pur-suance to the announcement madeby the Union Finance Minister ShriPranab Mukherjee in his budgetspeech of 2010-11 to rewrite andharmonise financial sector legisla-tions, rules and regulations. Thishad become necessary as the insti-tutional framework governing India’sfinancial sector was built over a cen-tury.

The composition of the Com-mission is as follows:Justice (Retd.) B. N. Srikrishna

ChairmanJustice (Retd.) Debi Prasad Pal

MemberDr. P.J. Nayak Member

Smt. K.J. Udeshi Member

ShriYezdiH.Malegam MemberProf. JayantVarma MemberProf. M. GovindaRao MemberShri C. Achutan Member

ShriDhirendraSwarupMemberConvenor

Joint Secretary, Capital MarketsNominee Member

Shri C K G Nair is Secretary to theCommission.

The budget announcementwas made with a view to rewritingand streamlining the financial sec-tor Laws, Rules and Regulations tobring them in harmony with the re-quirements of India’s fast growingfinancial sector.

There are over 60 Acts andmultiple Rules/Regulations in thesector and many of them date backdecades when the financial land-scape was very different from whatis obtaining today. Large number ofamendments made in in these Actsover time has increased the ambi-guity and complexity of the system.

The Commission would sim-plify and rewrite financial sector leg-islations, including subordinate leg-islations, to achieve harmony andsynergy among them.This will re-move ambiguity, regulatory gapsand overlaps among the variouslegislationsmaking them more co-herent and dynamic and help caterto the requirements of a large andfast growing economy in tune withthe changing financial landscape inan inter-connected financial world.In the long-term, it would help usherin the next generation of reforms,contribute to efficient financial inter-mediation enhancing the growthpotential of the nation.

The Terms of Reference ofthe Commission include the follow-ing:

(i) Examining the architectureof the legislative and regulatory sys-tem governing the Financial sectorin India,

(ii) Examine if legislationshould mandate statement of prin-ciples of legislative intent behindevery piece of subordinate legisla-tion in order to make the purposiveintent of the legislation clear and

transparent to users of the law andto the Courts.

(iii) Examine if public feedbackfor draft subordinate legislationshould be made mandatory, withexception for emergency measures.

(iv) Examine prescription ofparameters for invocation of emer-gency powers where regulatory ac-tion may be taken on ex parte ba-sis.

(v) Examine the interplay ofexchange controls under FEMA andFDI Policy with other regulatory re-gimes within the financial sector.

(vi) Examine the most appro-priate means of oversight over regu-lators and their autonomy from gov-ernment.

(vii) Examine the need for re-statement of the law and immediaterepeal of any out-dated legislationon the basis of judicial decisions andpolicy shifts in the last two decadesof the financial sector post-liberalisation.

(viii) Examination of issues ofdata privacy and protection of con-sumer of financial services in theIndian market.

(ix) Examination of legislationrelating to the role of informationtechnology in the delivery of finan-cial services in India, and their ef-fectiveness.

(x) Examination of all recom-mendations already made by vari-ous expert committees set up by thegovernment and by regulators andto implement measures that can beeasily accepted.

(xi)Examine the role of stategovernments and legislatures inensuring a smooth inter-state finan-cial services infrastructure in India.

(xii) Examination of any otherrelated issues.

The Commission’s head-quarter would be in Delhi. The Com-mission will submit its report to theUnion Finance Minister within 24months.

The first meeting of the Com-mission is scheduled to be held on5th April 2011.


123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890

DEFENCE

Coast Guard Ships C-150 and C-151Commissioned

Indian Coast Guard Ships C-150 and C-151 were commissionedby Vice Admiral Anil Chopra, Direc-tor General Coast Guard at an im-pressive ceremony in Kochi atMarch 28.

The two ships are the 8th and9th of the 11 Interceptor Boat (IB)class, designed and built indig-enously by M/s ABG Shipyard,Surat. They are fitted with ultra mod-ern navigational and communicationequipment, and will be deployed forenhancing the close coast surveil-lance capability of Indian CoastGuard.

The 28 metre ships displace90 tons each, and have an endur-ance of 500 nautical miles with aneconomical speed of 25 knots. Theycan achieve a maximum speed of45 knots for responding to urgentcalls at sea, and are equipped withadvanced navigational and commu-nication equipment. In addition tosmall arms, the IBs are fitted with12.7 mm ‘Prahari’ Heavy MachineGun (HMG).

C-150 and C-151 are com-manded by Commandant AshokKumar and Commandant RK Sinha,and will be based at Vizhinjam andKakinada respectively. The commis-sioning ceremony was attended byInspector General SPS Basra, Com-mander Coast Guard Region(West), senior officers from the Navyand Central and State Governments.

Singapore and IndianNavies Conduct Mari-

time Exercise

The Republic of SingaporeNavy (RSN) and the Indian Navy(IN) are conducting the annualSingapore Indian Maritime Bilateral

Exercise (SIMBEX) from 18 to 25Mar 2011. Hosted by Singapore, thisyear's exercise is the 18th in theseries of bilateral exercise held since1994. The exercise comprises ashore phase, already held at theChangi Naval Base and a sea phasecurrently being carried out in theSouth China Sea.

SIMBEX 2011 which seesthe RSN and IN conducting ad-vanced naval warfare training involv-ing air, surface and sub-surface di-mensions, aims to enhance theinteroperability and mutual under-standing between the two navies.The RSN is participating in SIMBEX2011 with three frigates, a missilecorvette, a submarine and a mari-time patrol aircraft, while the Repub-lic of Singapore Air Force is deploy-ing fighter aircraft for the exercise.Joining them are three destroyers,a corvette, a fleet tanker as well asa maritime patrol aircraft from theIndian Navy.

SIMBEX started in 1994 asa training-oriented anti-submarinewarfare exercise and has sincegrown in scale and complexity overthe years. The exercise underscoresthe long-standing defence ties be-tween the RSN and IN. The twonavies also interact regularlythrough a range of activities, includ-ing professional exchangeprogrammes, staff talks andcourses.

Indian Army ChiefHonoured at the US

Army War

In a rare event of its kind,General VK Singh becomes the firstIndian Officer to be inducted into the‘Hall of Fame’ of US Army War Col-lege, Carlisle, USA, on 11 Mar 2011.This distinction is extended by theUS Army, to all officers from friendlyforeign countries, who rise to thepost of ‘Chief’ of their respectiveArmies, after attending the covetedCourse at US Army War College. A

masters degree in Strategic Studiesis awarded on completion of thecourse. General VK Singh (thenBrigadier) passed out from the USArmy War College in 2000-01.

The ceremony was hostedby Major General Gregg F Martin,the Commandant of US Army WarCollege, Carlisle, where General VKSingh, PVSM, AVSM, YSM, ADC,Chief of Army Staff was ceremoni-ously inducted into the ‘Hall ofFame’. As part of the ceremony theChief’s photograph was placed inthe hallowed portals of the college.On this occasion, General VK Singhalso delivered a talk on ‘Strategic &Defence Leadership’ to the studentsof US Army War College, where hehighlighted the future challenges,which will be faced by future lead-ers.

First C-130J SuperHercules air-lifter

inducted in Air Force

The Indian Air Force (IAF)kicked off the induction of its latestmulti-mission aircraft imported fromthe US at the Hindon airbase outsideNew Delhi on February 4, 2011,sharpening the capability of India’sspecial forces to carry out airborneday and night strikes. Squadron 77,named ‘Veiled Vipers’, will handlethe aircraft.

Hindon, which was oncehome to the Mig-23s and MiG-27s,was abandoned as a fighter base in1997 after the IAF lost severalaircraft to bird hits.

The aircraft is the first of sixC-130J Super Hercules airliftersordered from the US for $1.2 billion(Rs 5,400 crore). The remainingdeliveries will be completed by theend of 2011.

The new fleet is one of thebiggest contracts executed so farunder Washington’s foreign militarysales programme, a government-to-government method for selling USdefence equipment, services andtraining.


123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890

SPACE

RESEARCH

Final mission of Dis-covery shuttle

On February 25, 2011, USspace shuttle Discovery lifted off forits final flight from NASA's KennedySpace Center in Florida to deliver anew module and critical supplies tothe International Space Station(ISS).

The STS-133 mission is de-livered the Permanent MultipurposeModule (PMM), a facility createdfrom the Multi-Purpose LogisticsModule named Leonardo. The mod-ule can support microgravity experi-ments in areas such as fluid phys-ics, materials science, biology andbiotechnology.

Inside the PMM is Robonaut2, a dextrous robot that will becomea permanent resident of the station.

Discovery also carried criti-cal spare components to the spacestation and the Express LogisticsCarrier 4, an external platform thatholds large equipment.

Sun snapped in stereo

The sun has for the first timebeen photographed on all sides atonce in an historic image. NASA, theUS space agency, released a full360-degree portrait of the Sun onFebruary 9, 2011, after two identi-cal spacecraft were aligned in theirsolar orbits precisely opposite oneanother on each side of the star.

Scientists believe that view-ing the Sun in stereoscopic visionmight enable them to predict dan-gerous magnetic storms on Earthcaused by the immense solar flaresthat fling out billions of tonnes ofmatter through the solar system.

The 3-D images were cap-tured by ultraviolet-sensitive cam-eras on board the Solar Terrestrial

Relations Observatory (Stereo), apair of spacecraft launched in Octo-ber 2006 on the same orbital patharound the Sun as the Earth, butwith one moving progressivelyahead of the Earth and the othertrailing regressively behind. Febru-ary 9 marked the point when bothspacecraft—known as Stereo Be-hind (B) and Stereo Ahead (A)—were exactly opposite one anotheron each side of the Sun, with theEarth positioned precisely midwaybetween both space observatories.

Scientists believe that beingable to see both sides of the Sunsimultaneously in 3-D will allow themto study and better understand howthe vast coils of magnetic energyswirling around the solar surface in-teract with one another over vastdistances—sometimes spanningtwo hemispheres.

The solar surface is writhingwith magnetic forces which twist andcontort themselves into huge knotsof energy that explode regularly,rather like a rubber band that hasbeen wound up tightly before beingsuddenly released.

One of the things that Ste-reo is trying to predict is when theseknots are going to fling things intospace. All of the cameras on boardthe mission were designed and builtin Britain.

Getting the Stereo space-craft into orbit around the Sun wasnot simple. It involved using theMoon's gravity to "slingshot" thespacecraft in their proper orbits.Both spacecraft were originallylaunched together on a single DeltaII rocket on October 26, 2006. Im-mediately after launch, they wereplaced into highly elliptical orbits,which ranged from just a few hun-dred kilometers above Earth's sur-face out to a little beyond the dis-tance of the Moon.

Over the next few weeks thetwo spacecraft slowly separated

from each other, and NASA Mission

Operations carefully adjusted the

orbits of each to line them up for

when both flew by the Moon a few

minutes apart on December 15,

2006. The Moon's gravity grabbed

both spacecraft, and flung Stereo-

Ahead completely away from Earth

into its orbit about the Sun. Stereo-

Behind was also flung out, but not

completely, and came back to swing

by the Moon again on January 21,

2007, when it was then completely

flung away in the opposite direction

into its own orbit around the Sun.

Comet-hunting space-craft shuts down after

12 years

NASA ordered its comet-

hunting Stardust probe to burn its

remaining fuel on March 24, setting

off a sequence that shut down the

spacecraft after a 12-year career.

Stardust had finished its

main mission in 2006, sending par-

ticles from a comet to Earth. It took

on another job last month, photo-

graphing a crater on an asteroid.

It accomplished one last ex-

periment on Thursday, firing its

thrusters until its last hydrazine fuel

was gone. The length of that burn,

a little under 2 1/2 minutes, will tell

engineers exactly how much fuel

was left so they can see how accu-

rate their calculations were.

That in turn will help with the

design and operation of future

probes.

Spacecraft don’t carry fuel

gauges because they don’t work in

zero gravity.

It will take a few days to ana-

lyze the fuel data, said Jim Neuman,

a mission operations manager for

Lockheed Martin, which built and

operated the probe at its complex

south of Denver.


NASA’s Messenger tomake historic arrival

at Mercury

NASA’s Messenger space-craft is all set to create history whenit enters the orbit of the solarsystem’s innermost planet Mercuryon March 17.

According to the US spaceagency, the Messenger probe,which has been making its way to-ward Mercury for more than sixyears, will fire its main thruster for14 minutes to slow itself downenough to enter orbit around Mer-cury on March 17.

If all goes well, Messengeris expected to spend the next yearstudying the solar system’s inner-most planet, mapping its surfaceand investigating its compositionand magnetic environment, amongother features, the Space.com re-ported.

Learning more about Mer-cury would help scientists betterunderstand how the solar system —and, in particular, the rocky planetsMercury, Mars, Venus and Earth —formed and evolved, the research-ers said.

Sean Solomon, of theCarnegie Institution of Washington,who is the chief investigator of theUSD 446-million Messenger probesaid “the cruise phase of the Mes-senger mission has reached the endgame“.

“Orbit insertion is the lasthurdle to a new game level, opera-tion of the first spacecraft in orbitabout the solar system’s innermostplanet,” Solomon said in a state-ment.

The spacecraft waslaunched in August 2004. Over thepast six and half years, the probehas taken a circuitous, 4.9 billion-mile, or 7.9 billion-km, route throughthe inner solar system, completingone flyby of Earth, two flybys of Ve-nus and three flybys of Mercury inthe process.

These Mercury close en-counters have already producedsome amazing photos, returning thefirst new spacecraft data from theplanet since NASA’s Mariner 10 mis-sion more than 30 years ago.

But Messenger hasn’t evenbroken a sweat yet, mission man-agers said. The probe’s real workbegins late Thursday, when theprobe drops into a highly ellipticalorbit around desolate, scorchedMercury.

It is expected to circle theplanet once every 12 hours, re-searchers said.

At times, it will come as closeas 124 miles (200 km) from theplanet’s surface; at others, it will driftoff to more than 9,300 miles (15,000km) away on its long, looping circuit.

According to the research-ers, the spacecraft’s science missionwill last just two Mercury days, whichis equivalent of a year on Earth.Mercury rotates on its axis just onceevery 176 Earth days.

During the mission, the sci-entists hope the probe will help themunderstand better about the planet’score structure, its geologic history,its atmosphere among others.123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890

SCIENCE &

TECHNOLOGY

The world’s firstartificial leaf created

Scientists have created theworld’s first practical artificial leafthat can turn sunlight and water intoenergy, which they claim could pavethe way for a cheaper source ofpower in developing countries likeIndia.

A team at MassachusettsInstitute of Technology says that theartificial leaf from silicon, electronicsand various catalysts which spurchemical reactions within the device,

can use sunlight to break water intohydrogen and oxygen which canthen be used to create electricity ina separate fuel cell.

“A practical artificial leaf hasbeen one of the Holy Grails ofscience for decades. We believe wehave done it. And placed in a gallonof water and left in sun, theseartificial leaves could provide ahome in the developing world withbasic electricity for a day,” DanielNocera, who led the team, said.

He added: “Our goal is tomake each home its own powerstation. One can envision villages inIndia and Africa not long from nowpurchasing an affordable basicpower system based on thistechnology.”

For their research, thescientists identified a set ofinexpensive, common catalystsincluding nickel and cobalt that getthe job done with far less expense.And, in the laboratory their playing-card-sized leaves have workedcontinuously for 45 straight hourswithout a drop in output.

Though in laboratory, anartificial leaf prototype could operatecontinuously for at least 45 hourswithout a drop in activity, thescientists say that they will next tryto boost both efficiency and lifespanof their photosynthetic material.

The findings were presentedat the National Meeting of theAmerican Chemical Society.

How the nuclear plantcrisis happened

The fuel in all the 3 Units isthought to have at least partiallymelted down despite pumping seawater and boric acid into the Units

The crisis at the threeFukushima Daiichi nuclear powerstations did not come from buildingscollapsing due to the March 11earthquake of magnitude 9 but frompower failure following the quake.The tsunami knocked out the


generators that produced the power.Lack of power in turn caused thecooling systems of the reactors tofail.

The Fukushima nuclearreactor 1 went critical on March 1971and is a 460 MW reactor. Unit-2 andUnit-3 are 784 MW each and wentcritical in July 1974 and March 1976respectively. All the three are BoilingWater Reactors (BWR) and usedemineralised water for coolingnuclear fuel.

The fuel, in the form ofpellets, is kept inside a casing calledcladding. The cladding is made ofzirconium alloy, and it completelyseals the fuel. Fuel pins in the formof bundles are kept in the reactorcore. Heat is generated in thereactor core through a fissionprocess sustained by chain reaction.

The fuel bundles are placedin such a way that the coolant caneasily flow around the fuel pins. Thecoolant never comes in directcontact with the fuel as the fuel iskept sealed inside the zirconiumalloy cladding. The coolant changesinto steam as it cools the hot fuel. It

is this steam that generateselectricity by driving the turbines.

All the heat that is producedby nuclear fission is not used forproducing electricity. The efficiencyof a power plant, including nuclear,is not 100 per cent. In the case of anuclear power plant the efficiency is30-35 per cent. “About 3 MW ofthermal energy is required toproduce 1 MW of electrical energy.Hence for the 460 MW Unit-1, 1,380MW of thermal energy is produced,”said Dr. K.S. Parthasarathy, formerSecretary, Atomic EnergyRegulatory Board, Mumbai. “Thisheat has to be removedcontinuously.”

In the case of the Fukushimaunits, demineralised water is usedas coolant. Uranium-235 is used asfuel in Unit-1 and Unit-2, and MOX(a mixture of oxides of Uranium-Plutonium-239) is used as fuel inUnit-3.

Coolant flow

Since a very high amount ofheat is generated, the flow of thecoolant should never be disrupted.But on March 11, pumping of the

coolant failed aseven the dieselgenerator failedafter an hour'soperation.

T h o u g hthe power producing fission process was stoppedby using controlrods thatabsorbed theneutrons immediately after thequake, the fuelstill containsfission productssuch as iodine-131 and caesium-137 and activation productssuch asplutonium-239.

Decay heat

“These radionuclides decayat different timescales, and theycontinue to produce heat during thedecay period,” Dr. Parthasarathysaid.

The heat produced byradioactive decay of theseradionuclides is called “decay heat.”

“Just prior to the shut downof the reactor the decay heat is 7per cent. It reduces exponentially, toabout 2 per cent in the first hour.After one day, the decay heat isabout 1 per cent. Then it reducesvery slowly,” he said.

While the uranium fissionprocess can be stopped and heatgeneration can be halted, there isno way of stopping radioactivedecay of the fission products.

Apart from the original heat,the heat produced continuously bythe fission products and activationproducts has to be removed evenafter the uranium fission process hasbeen stopped.

Inability to remove this heatled to a rise in coolant temperature.According to the Nature journal,when the temperature reachedaround 1,000 degree C, thezirconium alloy that encased the fuel(cladding) probably began to melt orsplit apart. “In the process it reactedwith the steam and createdhydrogen gas, which is highlyvolatile,” Nature notes.

Though the pressure createdby hydrogen gas was reduced bycontrolled release, the massivebuild-up of hydrogen led to theexplosion that blew the roof of thesecondary confinement (outerbuildings around the reactor) in allthe three units (Unit-1, Unit-2 andUnit-3). The reactor core is presentinside the primary containment.

But the real danger arisesfrom fuel melting. This wouldhappen following the rupture of thezirconium casing. “If the heat is notremoved, the zirconium cladding


along with the fuel would melt andbecome liquid,” Dr. Parthasarathyexplained. The government has saidthat fuel rods in Unit-3 were likelyalready damaged.

Effect of melted fuel

Melted fuel is called“corium.” Since melted fuel is at avery high temperature it can even“burn through the concretecontainment vessel.”

According to Nature, ifenough melted fuel gathers outsidethe fuel assembly it can “restart thepower-producing reactions, and ina completely uncontrolled way.”

What may result is a “full-scale nuclear meltdown.”

Pumping of sea-water is oneway to reduce the heat and avoidsuch catastrophic consequences.The use of boric acid, which is anexcellent neutron absorber, wouldreduce the chances of nuclearreactions restarting even if the fuelis found loose inside the reactorcore. Both these measures havebeen resorted to in all three Units.Despite these measures, the fuelrods were found exposed in Unit-2on two occasions.

Fate of reactor core

While the use of sea-watercan prevent fuel melt, it makes thereactor core completely useless dueto corrosion.

The case of Unit-4 is differentfrom the other three units. Unlike inthe case of Unit-1, 2 and 3, the Unit-4 is under maintenance and the corehas been taken out, and the spentfuel rods are kept in the coolingpond.

Whatever led to a decreasein water level, the storage pondcaught fire on March 15 possibly dueto hydrogen explosion. Theradioactivity was released directlyinto the atmosphere.

Spent fuel fate unknown

It is not known if the integrityof the cladding has been already

affected and the fuel exposed. Sincethe core of a Boiling Water Reactor(BWR) is removed only once a yearor so, the number of spent rods inthe pond will be more.

If the fuel is indeed exposed,the possibility of fuel melt is verylikely. Though the fuel will be at alower temperature than found insidea working reactor, there are chancesof the fuel melting.

Since it does not have anycontainment unlike the fuel foundinside a reactor, the consequencesof a fuel melt would be really bad.Radioactivity is released directly intothe atmosphere. Radioactivity ofabout 400 milliSv/hour was reportedat the site immediately after the fire.

First dinosaur fossildiscovered in Angola

Scientists say they havediscovered the first fossil of adinosaur in Angola, and that it’s anew creature, heralding a researchrenaissance in a country slowlyemerging from decades of war.

A paper published in theAnnals of the Brazilian Academy ofSciences describes a long—necked, plant—eating sauropod,among the largest creatures ever tohave walked the earth. Theinternational team that found andidentified the fossilized forelimbbone say it is from a previouslyunknown dinosaur, citing uniqueskeletal characteristics.

The fossil was found alongwith fish and shark teeth in whatwould have been a sea bed 90million years ago, leading itsdiscoverers to believe the dinosaurmight have been washed into thesea and torn apart by ancientsharks.

The new dinosaur has beendubbed Angolatitan adamastor -Angolatitan means “Angolan giant”and the adamastor is a sea giantfrom Portuguese sailing myths.

Matthew F. Bonnan, asauropod expert at Western IllinoisUniversity, was not involved with theAngolan research. But after readingthe report, he said he expected theirclaim to have found a new dinosaurto hold up.

“I think they’ve been verycareful,” he said, adding the findcould add to knowledge about howsauropods adapted to differentenvironments

Bonnan also said it was“really cool” to see such researchcoming out of Angola.

“The neat thing aboutdinosaur paleontology is that it’sbecoming more global,” he said,saying that was giving scientists aglobal perspective on the evolutionof dinosaurs.

“The more people andplaces that we involve in science,the better off we all are,” Bonnansaid.

The researchers in Angolasay their PaleoAngola project thatyielded the fossil, started in 2005, isthe first systematic paleontologicalexpedition in Angola since the early1960s.

“Angola has had more thanits share of civil war,” said Dutchproject member Anne Schulp of theNatuurhistorisch MuseumMaastricht. He said science hasn’tbeen a priority, but “Angola iscatching up right now.”

An anti—colonial war brokeout in Angola in the 1960s, and civilwar followed independence fromPortugal in 1975. The fighting endedin 2002 when the army killed rebelleader Jonas Savimbi. The countrywas left littered with land mines andimpoverished. The discovery of oilin recent years has set off aneconomic boom, but many Angolanshave been left behind.

PaleoAngola memberOctavio Mateus of Portugal’sUniversidade Nova de Lisboa andMuseum of Lourinha said lack ofmoney has been the greatest barrierto research.


Difference between 2Gand 3G

2G refers to secondgeneration wireless telecommunication technology developedmainly for voice services and slowdata services with data rates upto9.6Kbps whereas, the 3G (3rdgeneration) mobile telecommunications is the generic name for thenext generation of mobile networksthat combines wireless mobiletechnology with high data ratetransmission capabilities. The 3Gnetwork is capable of providinghigher data rates upto 2 Mbps andsupporting a variety of services suchas high-resolution video and multimedia services in addition to voice,fax and conventional data services.

Recently conducted auctionof 3G spectrum has fetchedRs.3350.116 Crores per MHz,whereas there is no upfront cost of2G spectrum as per the existinglicense conditions.

As on record no informationis available where the price of 2Gspectrum has been equated with 3Gin any country of the world.123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890

BILLS

National Consultationon Mental Health Care

Bill

Ministry of Health & FamilyWelfare has convened a NationalConsultation to discuss the pro-posed Mental Health Care Bill, 2010on the 22nd March, 2011.

For some time, the Ministryhas been aware of the need toamend the Mental Health Act, 1987,especially in the light of complaintsof abuse of the law and of the rightsof persons with mental illness. Adecision was taken in January, 2010to address the question of amend-ments to the Mental Health Act,1987. Draft amendments to the Act

were discussed intensively at Con-sultations held in Chandigarh, Pune,Bangalore, Ranchi and Tezpur inmid-2010 following which an entirelyre-written Draft Bill has been put intothe public domain for discussion.

The Consultation due tomor-row would include representatives ofall State Governments, doctors andadministrators involved in the ad-ministration of the District MentalHealth Programme (DMHP), repre-sentatives of care givers and all per-sons living with mental illness. Inaddition, representatives of the Min-istries of Social Justice and Empow-erment, Women and Child Develop-ment, Home Affairs and Legal Affairshave also been invited along withrepresentatives of National HumanRights Commission (NHRC), etc.

Important issues likely toarise during the Consultation includethe protection of rights of personswith mental illness, the need forgreater focus on community careand issues related to the relation-ship between illness and disability.Legislation regarding disability iscurrently contained in the Personswith Disability Act, 1995 and TheNational Trust for the Welfare ofPersons with Autism, CerebralPalsy, Mental Retardation and Mul-tiple Disabilities Act, 1999. The Per-sons with Disabilities Act, 1995 iscurrently also being separately dis-cussed with a view to make majoramendments.

Implementation ofForest Rights Act

Ministry of Tribal Affairs is theNodal Ministry for the implementa-tion of Forest Rights Act. Basedupon the information available withthe Ministry of Tribal Affairs, theStates have reported progress invarying degrees in implementationof the Act. While States like AndhraPradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh,Gujarat, Jharkhand , Karnataka,Kerala, Madhya Pradesh,

Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan,Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and WestBengal have established the pre-scribed structures and procedures,have received a large number ofclaims and have started distributingthe title deeds, other States, be-cause of various reasons, are stillto catch up. As per the informationcollected by Ministry of Tribal Affairs,from various States/ UTs till 31stJanuary 2011, more than 30.39 lakhclaims have been filed and morethan 11.09 lakh titles have been dis-tributed. More than 34 thousandtitles are ready for distribution. A to-tal 25,53,315 claims have been dis-posed of (84.00%).

The report of the NationalCommittee on Forest Rights Act isstill under examination in the Minis-try of Tribal Affairs.

This information was givenby the Minister of State for Environ-ment and Forests (independentcharge) Shri Jairam Ramesh in awritten reply to a question by ShriMoinul Hassan in Rajya Sabha Feb-ruary 22.123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890

ECONOMY

GLOSSARY

World Bank approves $150 mn loan for India’s

e-Governance plan

The World Bank has ap-proved $ 150 million in loan for In-dia to accelerate implementation ofits National e—Governance Plan(NeGP), which is aimed at trans-forming the service delivery systemacross the country.

While this World Bank loanwill not target specific services perse, it will initiate policy and institu-tional actions that will impact all theservices.

The loan will support NeGP- approved in May 2006 as a national


programme - to operate on a singlecommon IT infrastructure, thus al-lowing faster and easier sharing ofinformation between departments,saving infrastructure costs and low-ering cost of service delivery for citi-zens as well as government agen-cies, the Bank said in a statement.

Citizens will no longer haveto go to multiple departments, butwill have the option of accessing e-services either through the interneton the government’s commonwebsite, or through a ‘single window’Common Service Centres (CSC),set up to assist villages or remoteareas, it said.

“The Government of India’saim of providing web-enabled any-time, anywhere access to informa-tion and e-services can have signifi-cant social and economic benefits.Reducing the financial and oppor-tunity costs of obtaining specific ser-vices through enabling policy mea-sures can go a long way in trans-forming service delivery in the coun-try,” said Roberto Zagha, WorldBank Country Director in India.

Centre moves aheadwith GST, introduces

Bill in Lok Sabha

The government introduceda Constitution Amendment Bill in theLok Sabha with a view to create acommon market for goods and ser-vices and replace the existing indi-rect taxation regime with a uniformGoods and Services Tax (GST) sys-tem.

The Bill that was tabled in theLower House despite opposition,mainly from BJP-ruled states, seeksto amend the Constitution to confersimultaneous powers to the Centreand states to levy taxes on goodsand services.

Now, the Bill is likely to bereferred to the Parliamentary Stand-ing Committee for scrutiny.

The proposed GST will sub-sume most indirect taxes like excise

duty and service tax at the centrallevel and VAT on the state front,besides local levies.

“The GST would replace anumber of indirect taxes presentlybeing levied by the central govern-ment and the state governmentsand is intended to remove cascad-ing of taxes and provide a commonnational market for goods and ser-vices,” said the Statement of Objectsand Reasons of the Bill.

However, crude petroleum,diesel, petrol, aviation turbine fuel,natural gas and alcohol for humanconsumption have been kept out ofthe GST ambit.

According to Ernst andYoung Tax Partner HarishankerSubramaniam, “Finance MinisterPranab Mukherjee’s decision totable the Bill is a positive develop-ment in the direction of tax reform.

He was committed to bring it in the

current session and he did that.”

The Bill provides for creation

of a GST Council to be headed by

the Union Finance Minister. The

Council will be empowered to rec-

ommend tax rates and exemption

and threshold limits for good and

services.

The Council, which is to be

constituted by the President, is pro-

posed to be chaired by the Union

Finance Minister, with the Minister

of State for Finance, in-charge of

revenue, as member.

Besides, the minister in

charge of finance or taxation, or any

other minister nominated by each

State government, will be members.

“Every decision of the GST

Council taken at a meeting shall be

with the consensus of all the mem-

bers present at the meeting,” the Bill

said.

It also proposed a GST Dis-

pute Settlement Authority, created

by Parliament, to deal with griev-

ances of the Centre and the state

with regard to GST. “The GST Dis-

pute Settlement Authority shall con-

sist of a chairperson and two other

members,” the Bill said.

The chairperson of the au-

thority is proposed to be a person

who has been a judge of the Su-

preme Court or a Chief Justice of

the High Court, while the members

shall be persons of “proven capac-

ity and expertise in the field of law,

economics or public affairs.”

GST, which is considered to

be a major tax reform, has been

pending for the past few years due

to differences between the Centre

and some states over the structure

of the new tax regime.

The Bill is the fourth draft

prepared by the Centre after the first

three drafts were rejected by the

states, citing autonomy issues. How-

ever, a few states, mainly those

ruled by the BJP, continue to oppose

the existing GST structure.

After missing the original

April, 2010, deadline for GST rollout,

the government proposed to intro-

duce it in April, 2011.


Performance of SEZs

In addition to seven CentralGovernment Special EconomicZones (SEZs) and 12 State/PrivateSector SEZs set up prior to the en-actment of SEZ Act, 2005, formalapproval has been accorded to 582proposals out of which 374 SEZshave been notified. A total of 130SEZs have commenced export.Statements containing state-wiseand sector-wise distribution of SEZsare enclosed.

As on 31st December, 2010,an investment of Rs. 1,95,348 crorehas been made in SEZs and the to-tal direct employment in SEZs is6,44,073 persons. The total physi-cal Exports of Rs. 2,20,711 croreapproximately have been madefrom SEZs during the year 2009-10registering a growth of about121.40% over the exports for theprevious financial year. A statementshowing sector-wise distribution ofexports for the financial year 2009-10 is also enclosed.

Exports from SEZs havebeen 26.10% of the total exports ofthe country during the said financialyear. The total physical exports fromSEZs as on 31st December, 2010i.e. in the first three quarters of thecurrent financial year, has been tothe tune of Rs. 2,23,132 crore ap-proximately registering a growth of46.7% over the exports of corre-sponding period of the previous fi-nancial year. Total land area of noti-fied SEZs is 44,414 hectares. SEZbeing set up under the SEZ Act,2005 are primarily private invest-ment driven. The fiscal concessionsand duty benefits allowed to SEZsare in built into the SEZ Act, 2005.

The Approval Committeesunder the Development Commis-sioners constituted for each Zone,which comprise representativesfrom Customs, Income-tax, StateGovernments etc. have been di-rected to monitor the performance

of the SEZ Units. This includes scru-tiny of Annual Performance Report(APR), Quarterly Performance Re-port (QPR) and details of rent recov-ery. Failure to meet the require-ments of the scheme or any viola-tion attracts action under ForeignTrade (Development and Regula-tion) Act, 1992.

On a request received fromthe developer, Board of Approvalconsiders the request of extensionof formal approval beyond the pe-riod of initial three years on case tocase basis.

Welfare of DomesticWorkers

The Government set-up aTask Force to evolve a policy framework for domestic workers in thecontext of regulatory mechanismand providing social security. TheTask Force has submitted its firstreport which makes the followingrecommendations:

i) Extension of the welfareschemes to the domestic workersincluding Health and Maternity ben-efit, Death and Disability benefit andold age benefits.

ii) Rashtriya Swasthya BimaYojana (RSBY) should be the firstwelfare scheme to be extended tothe domestic workers. The smartcards used under RSBY can laterbe used to load other welfareschemes rolled out for domesticworkers.

iii) Domestic workers shouldbe identified and registered by theState Labour Department.

iv) The domestic work shouldbe included in the Central List ofscheduled employment vide a noti-fication under the Minimum WagesAct, 1948 for fixation and enforce-ment of minimum wages in respectof domestic workers. The State Gov-ernments which have not fixed mini-mum wages for domestic workshould fix minimum rates of wagesfor domestic workers.

v) Mandatory registration ofall placement agencies and individu-als providing placement, sourcingand recruitment service relating todomestic work under Shops andEstablishment Act.

vi) Formulation of NationalPolicy for the Domestic Workers.

vii) Scaling up of the skill andre-skill training programme initiatedby International LabourOrganisation.

The proposal to extendhealth insurance scheme viz.Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana(RSBY) to domestic workers is un-der consideration of the Govern-ment.

The State Governments havebeen asked to take necessary stepsfor registration of placement agen-cies providing domestic workers.123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890

INTERNATIONAL

AFFAIRS

Asha Bhosle felici-tated in House of

Commons

Playback singer AshaBhosle was felicitated in the Houseof Commons here for her outstand-ing achievements in music.

NRI Labour MP Keith Vaz,who organised the felicitation dinner,


described the 77-year-old PadmaVibhushan awardee as an “icon”who has made India proud.

“I am deeply touched by thehonour bestowed on me. I neverthought I would be felicitated in theBritish Parliament. It is a great privi-lege,” said Bhosle, who performedto a full house at the Royal FestivalHall, Symphony Hall in Birminghamand Leicester's De Montfort Hallduring her current tour.

She also lauded the effortsof Mr. Vaz in promoting Indianartistes in the U.K., saying, “I amvery proud of you. Like you, my rootsare also in Goa.”

Rami Ranger, an NRI entre-preneur, described the felicitation as“historic.” “Your presence here is likea dream come true. We are all veryproud of you,” he told the veteransinger.

Bhosle, whose career as aBollywood singer started in 1943and spans a staggering six decades,has contributed to the soundtracksof over 1,000 Bollywood films.

Japan fights to avertmeltdown at nuclear

reactors

Japan fought March 13 toavert a disastrous meltdown at twoearthquake-crippled nuclear reac-tors as estimates of the death tollfrom the tsunami that chargedacross its northeast rose to morethan 10,000. Officials worked des-perately to stop fuel rods in the dam-aged reactors from overheating af-ter some controlled radiation leaksinto the air to relieve pressure. Thegovernment said a building housinga second reactor was at risk of ex-ploding after a blast blew the roofoff the first the day before at the com-plex, 150 miles north of Tokyo. Thefear is that if the fuel rods do notcool, they could melt the containerthat houses the core, or even ex-plode, releasing radioactive mate-rial into the wind.

Broadcaster NHK, quoting apolice official, said more than 10,000people may have been killed as thewall of water triggered by Friday's8.9-magnitude quake surged acrossthe coastline, reducing whole townsto rubble.

Authorities have set up a 20-km exclusion zone around theFukushima Daiichi plant and a 10km zone around another nuclearfacility close by. Around 140,000people have been moved from thearea, while authorities prepared todistribute iodine to protect peoplefrom radioactive exposure.

Meanwhile, millions of Japa-nese were without drinking water orelectricity today, surviving on instantnoodles and rice balls. Kyodo newsagency said, almost two millionhouseholds were without power inthe freezing north and about 1.4million without running water. About300,000 people were evacuatednationwide, many seeking refuge inshelters, wrapped in blankets, someclutching each other sobbing. Al-though the government doubled thenumber of soldiers deployed in theaid effort to 100,000, it seemed over-whelmed by what's turning out to bea triple disaster. Teams searched forthe missing along hundreds of milesof the Japanese coast, and thou-sands of hungry survivors huddledin darkened emergency centres thatwere cut off from rescuers and aid.Large areas of the countryside weresurrounded by water and unreach-able. Fuel stations were closed andpeople were running out of gasolinefor their cars.

US, Russia launchnuclear arms reduc-

tion pact

On February 5, 2011, USSecretary of State Hillary Clintonlaunched a landmark nuclear armsreduction pact with Russia, a show-piece of Washington’s “reset” of tieswith its former Cold War enemy.

The new START officially

came into force when Clinton and

Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov

exchanged ratification documents at

a security conference in the German

city of Munich.

“Today we exchange the

instruments of ratification for a treaty

that lessens the nuclear danger

facing the Russian and American

people and the world,” Clinton said.

The chief US diplomat hailed

the pact as another example of

“clear-eyed” cooperation between

the two military powers, “part of a

journey we have been taking for

more than 60 years.” Lavrov told the

Munich conference that the

agreement would “enhance

international stability.”

The pact slashes existing

warhead ceilings by 30 per cent over

the next 10 years and limits each

side to 700 deployed long-range

missiles and heavy bombers. The

original 1991 pact expired at the end

of 2009 amid stark differences over

how the two sides planned to

proceed.

China has emerged asthe world’s largest

economy

China has emerged as the

world’s largest economy, surpassing

Japan, which had held on to the

position for over four decades. At the

end of 2010, Japanese economy

was estimated to be worth about

$5.5 trillion and that of China $5.8

trillion. USA continues to be the

largest economy of the world with

the economy worth $14.6 trillion.

SAARC ForeignMinisters’ meet

The SAARC Foreign

Ministers’ meet was held in Thimpu,

Bhutan on February 8, 2011.


123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901234567890121234567890

NATIONAL

AFFAIRS

population pegged at1,210.2 million

India’s population hasjumped to 1.21 billion, showing anincrease by more than 181 millionduring the 2001-2011 decade,according to the provisional data ofCensus 2011 which was released onThursday.

Though the country’spopulation is almost equal to thecombined population of the U.S.,Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan,Bangladesh and Japan put together(1214.3 million), the silver lining isthat 2001-2011 is the first decadewith the exception of 1911-1921which has actually added lesserpopulation compared to the previousdecade.

Of the total provisionalpopulation of 1210.2 million, thenumber of males was pegged at

623.7 million and the population offemales stood at 586.5 million. Thepercentage growth in 2001-2011was 17.64 – males 17.19 andfemales 18.12. India’s populationaccounts for world’s 17.5 per centpopulation.

The provisional data ofCensus 2011 was released by theRegistrar General and CensusCommissioner of India C.Chandramouli in the presence ofUnion Home Secretary G. K. Pillai.

Provisional population isarrived at by adding the populationas reported by each enumerator andthe final population data is likely tobe released next year.

Uttar Pradesh most popu-

lous state

Among the States and UnionTerritories, Uttar Pradesh is the mostpopulous State with 199 millionpeople followed by Maharashtra at112 million people andLakshadweep is the least populatedat 64,429 persons. The combinedpopulation of U.P. and Maharashtrais greater than that of the U.S.

The percentage decadalgrowth rates of the six most popu-lous States have declined during2001-2011 as compared to 1991-2001. The graph of populationgrowth in U.P. shows a decline from25.85 per cent to 20.09 per cent, inMaharashtra from 22.73 per cent to15.99 per cent, Bihar from 28.62 percent to 25.07 per cent, West Ben-gal from 17.77 per cent to 13.93 percent, Andhra Pradesh from 14.59per cent to 11.10 per cent andMadhya Pradesh from 24.26 percent to 20.30 per cent. ̀ `This showsthat we have added population butthe growth has been less.’’

Sex-ratio at national level

increases

Overall sex ratio at the na-tional level has increased by sevenpoints to reach 940 as provisionaldata for Census 2011 showed asagainst 933 in Census 2001. In-crease in sex ratio was observed in29 States/Union Territories.

Kerala with 1084 has thehighest sex ratio followed byPuducherry with 1038. Daman andDiu has the lowest sex ratio of 618.``This is the highest sex ratio at thenational level since Census 1971and a shade lower than 1961. Threemajor States – Jammu and Kash-mir, Bihar and Gujarat – have showna decline in sex ratio as comparedto Census 2001,’’ Dr. Chandramoulisaid. India’s skewed sex ratio dueto female foeticide and the practiceof selective sex determination hasbeen a cause for concern. Sex ratiois the number of females per 1000males.

Child sex ratio a concern

However, the areas of graveconcern, Dr. Chanramouli said, re-mains the lowest ever child sex ra-tio of 914. The provisional datashowed that the child sex ratio [0 to6 years] came down to 914 femalesper 1000 males as against 927 inthe Census 2001. It showed a con-


tinuing preference for male childrenover females in the last decade. In-creasing trend in the child sex ratiowas seen in Punjab, Haryana,Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, TamilNadu, Mizoram and Andaman andNicobar Island but in all the remain-ing 27 States / Union Territories, thechild sex ratio showed decline overCensus 2001. Whereas overall sexratio has shown improvement since1991, decline in child sex ratio hasbeen unabated since 1961 Census.The total number of children in 0 to6 year age group is now 158.8 mil-lion, less by five million since 2001.

Literacy rate has gone upfrom 64.83 per cent in 2001 to 74.04per cent, showing an increase of9.21 percentage points.

Major highlights of theCensus 2011

The population of the coun-try as per the provisional figures ofCensus 2011 is 1210.19 million ofwhich 623.7 million (51.54%) aremales and 586.46 million (48.46%)are females. The provisional figuresof Census 2011 were released inNew Delhi on March 31 by Unionhome secretary Shri G.K.Pillai andRGI Shri C Chandramouli.

The major highlights of

the Census 2011 (Provi-

sional figures) are as un-

der:

* The population of India has in-creased by more than 181 mil-lion during the decade 2001-2011.

* Percentage growth in 2001-2011 is 17.64; males 17.19 andfemales 18.12.

* 2001-2011 is the first decade(with the exception of 1911-1921) which has actuallyadded lesser population com-pared to the previous decade.

* Uttar Pradesh (199.5 million) isthe most populous State in thecountry followed byMaharashtra with 112 million.

* The percentage decadalgrowth rates of the six mostpopulous States have declinedduring 2001-2011 compared to1991-2001:

Uttar Pradesh (25.85% to20.09%)

Maharashtra (22.73% to15.99%)

Bihar (28.62% to 25.07%)

West Bengal (17.77 % to13.93%)

Andhra Pradesh (14.59% to11.10%)

Madhya Pradesh (24.26% to20.30%)

* During 2001-2011, as many as25 States/UTs with a share ofabout 85% of the country'spopulation registered an an-nual growth rate of less than2% as compared to, 15 States/UTs with a share of about 42%

during the period 1991-2001.* 15 States/UTs have grown by

less than 1.5 per cent per an-num during 2001-2011, whilethe number of such States/UTswas only 4 during the previousdecade.

* The total number of children inthe age-group 0-6 is 158.8 mil-lion (-5 million since 2001)

* Twenty States and Union Ter-ritories now have over one mil-lion children in the age group0-6 years. On the other ex-treme, there are five States andUnion Territories in the coun-try that are yet to reach the onehundred thousand mark.

* Uttar Pradesh (29.7 million),Bihar (18.6 million),Maharashtra (12.8 million),Madhya Pradesh (10.5 million)and Rajasthan (10.5 million)constitute 52% children in theage group of 0-6 years.


* Population (0-6 years) 2001-2011 registered minus (-)3.08percent growth with minus (-)2.42 for males and -3.80 forfemales.

* The proportion of Child Popu-lation in the age group of 0-6years to total population is 13.1percent while the correspond-ing figure in 2001 was 15.9 per-cent. The decline has been tothe extent of 2.8 points.

* Overall sex ratio at the nationallevel has increased by 7 pointsto reach 940 at Census 2011as against 933 in Census2001. This is the highest sexratio recorded since Census1971 and a shade lower than1961. Increase in sex ratio isobserved in 29 States/UTs.

* Three major States (J&K, Bihar& Gujarat) have shown declinein sex ratio as compared toCensus 2001.

* Kerala with 1084 has the high-est sex ratio followed by

Puducherry with 1038, Daman& Diu has the lowest sex ratioof 618.

* Child sex ratio (0-6 years) is914. Increasing trend in thechild sex ratio (0-6) seen inPunjab, Haryana, HimachalPradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu,Mizoram and A&N Islands. Inall remaining 27 States/UTs,the child sex ratio show declineover Census 2001.

* Mizoram has the highest childsex ratio (0-6 years) of 971 fol-lowed by Meghalaya with 970.Haryana is at the bottom withratio of 830 followed by Punjabwith 846.

* Literacy rate has gone up from64.83 per cent in 2001 to 74.04per cent in 2011 showing an in-crease of 9.21 percentagepoints.

* Percentage growth in literacyduring 2001-2011 is 38.82;males : 31.98% & females :49.10%.

* Literates constitute 74 per centof the total population agedseven and above and illiteratesform 26 per cent.

At 914, child sex ratiois the lowest since

Independence

The lowest-ever child sexratio of 914 overshadowed an in-crease in the overall sex ratio, whichis now 940 — the highest nationwidesince Census 1971 and a shadelower than 1961 — as it reflects acontinued preference for a malechild.

As per the provisional dataof Census 2011 released here onThursday, while the overall sex ra-tio had gone up by seven points totouch 940, against 933 in Census2001, the child sex ratio plummetedto 914 from 927.

Sex ratio is the number ofwomen against 1,000 men, whilechild sex ratio is the number of girlsagainst 1,000 boys in the age groupof 0-6.

Minister of State (Indepen-dent Charge) for Women and ChildDevelopment Krishna Tirath washappy that the overall sex ratio hadincreased, but expressed concern atthe decline in the child sex ratio.

Ms. Tirath said she wouldtake up the issue with the ‘problem'States and stressed the need forproper implementation of womenand child development schemes.

The increasing child sex ra-tio that came as a shocker in thelatest census figures shows 914girls, and this is the lowest eversince Independence, slipping from927 in 2001.

The increasing trend hasbeen seen in Punjab, Haryana,Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, TamilNadu, Mizoram and the Andamanand Nicobar Islands, while in all theremaining 27 States and Union Ter-ritories, the ratio has shown a de-cline.

It was the highest inMizoram at 971, closely followed byMeghalaya (970), while at the rockbottom was Haryana with 830 andPunjab with 846.

At the district level, Lahul andSpiti in Himachal Pradesh had thehighest sex ratio in the age group of0-6 at 1,013, while in Twang(Arunachal Pradesh), it was 1,005.It was shamefully low in Jhajjar andMahendragarh (Haryana) at 774and 778.

The census figures indicatean increase in sex ratio in 29 Statesand Union Territories, with womenoutnumbering men in Kerala.

There were 1,084 womenagainst 1,000 men in Kerala, fol-lowed by Puducherry where the fig-ure was 1038.

Daman and Diu has a sexratio of 618, next only to Dadra andNagar Haveli at 775. Among the dis-tricts, Mahe (Puducherry) has thehighest sex ratio of 1,176, followed


by Almora in Uttarakhand, where it

is 1,142. In Daman, it is the lowest

at 533, and in Leh of Ladakh, it is

583.

The three major States of

Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar and

Gujarat have shown a decline in the

sex ratio compared with the figures

of Census 2001, while 29 States and

Union Territories have shown an in-

crease.

Significant boost inliteracy

The provisional data of the

2011 census released here on

Thursday gave the country some

good tidings on the literacy front, as

the literacy level has increased by

9.21 percentage points in the past

decade to touch 74.04 per cent.

Literates constitute 74 per

cent of the total population aged

seven years and above and the data

shows 26 per cent of the population

is still unlettered. The literacy rate

went up from 64.83 per cent in 2001

to 74.04 per cent in 2011 — show-

ing an increase of 9.21 percentage

points.

Significantly, the female lit-

eracy level saw a significant jump

as compared to males. The female

literacy in 2001 was 53.67 per cent

and it has gone up to 65.46 per cent

in 2011. The male literacy, in com-

parison, rose from 75.26 to 82.14

per cent.

Kerala, with 93.91 per cent,

continues to occupy the top position

among States as far as literacy is

concerned, while Mizoram's

Serchhip district (98.76 per cent)

and Aizawl (98.50 per cent) re-

corded the highest literacy rates

among districts. Madhya Pradesh's

Alirajpur district has the lowest lit-

eracy rate of 37.22 per cent as also

the naxalite-affected Chhattisgarh's

Bijapur district, where the literacy

rate is 41.58 per cent.

Lakshadweep followed

Kerala with a literacy level of 92.28

per cent, while Bihar remained at the

bottom of the ladder at 63.82 per

cent, followed by Arunachal Pradesh

at 66.95 per cent. Ten States and

Union Territories, including Kerala,

Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Tripura,

Goa, Daman and Diu, Puducherry,

Chandigarh, NCT of Delhi and

Andaman and Nicobar Islands

achieved a literacy rate of above 85

per cent, which met the Planning

Commission's target set to be

achieved by 2011-12.

The gap of 21.59 percentage

points recorded between male and

female literacy rates in 2001 census

has reduced to 16.68 percentage

points in 2011. The Planning Com-

mission is targeting a reduction of

this gap to 10 percentage points by

2011-12.

A significant milestone

reached in the 2011 census is the

fall in the number of illiterate persons

by 31,196,847. Of the total decrease

in the number of illiterates, women

comprise 17,122,197 and men were

14,074,650. It was also encourag-

ing to note that out of a total of

217,700,941 literates added during

the decade, females outnumbered

males by 110,069,001 to

107,631,940.

Literacy rises by 9.2%,now 74.04%

India's effective literacy rate

has recorded a 9.2 percent rise to

reach 74.04 percent, according to

provisional data of the 2011 census

released on March 31.

Effective literacy rate in the

2001 census was 64.83, which im-

proved to 74.04, said Registrar Gen-

eral of India and census commis-

sioner C Chandramauli.

Interestingly, literacy rate

improved sharply among females as

compared to males. While the effec-

tive literacy rate for males rose from

75.26 to 82.14 percent marking a

rise of 6.9 percent, it increased by

11.8 percent for females to go from

53.67 to 65.46 percent.

According to provisional to-

tals of the latest census, literates

constitute 74 percent of total popu-

lation aged seven and above.

Chandramauli said it was

encouraging to note that out of total

217,700,941 literates added during

the decade, females at 110,069.001

outnumbered males at 107,631,940.

He said a significant mile-

stone reached in 2011 census was

the decline of illiterates by

31,196,847.

Ten states and union territo-

ries, including Kerala,

Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Tripura,

Goa, Daman and Diu, Puducherry,

Chandigarh, National Capital Terri-

tory of Delhi and the Andaman and

Nicobar Islands, have attained lit-

eracy rate of above 85 percent, the

target set by the Planning Commis-

sion to be achieved by 2011-12.

The gap of 21.59 percentage

points recorded between male and

female literacy rates in 2001 census

reduced to 16.68 percentage points

in 2011. The Planning Commission

had set up a target of reducing this

gap to 10 percentage points by

2011-12.

Kerala has the highest lit-

eracy rate at 93.91 percent followed

by Lakshadweep at 92.28 percent.

Bihar is at the bottom of the ladder

with literacy rate of 63.82 followed

by Arunachal Pradesh at 66.95.


Persons Males Females

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8INDIA 1,210,193,422 623,724,248 586,469,174 940 382 17.64

01 Jammu & Kashmir 12,548,926 6,665,561 5,883,365 883 124 23.71

02 Himachal Pradesh 6,856,509 3,473,892 3,382,617 974 123 12.81

03 Punjab 27,704,236 14,634,819 13,069,417 893 550 13.73

04 Chandigarh # 1,054,686 580,282 474,404 818 9,252 17.10

05 Uttarakhand 10,116,752 5,154,178 4,962,574 963 189 19.17

06 Haryana 25,353,081 13,505,130 11,847,951 877 573 19.90

07 NCT of Delhi # 16,753,235 8,976,410 7,776,825 866 11,297 20.96

08 Rajasthan 68,621,012 35,620,086 33,000,926 926 201 21.44

09 Uttar Pradesh 199,581,477 104,596,415 94,985,062 908 828 20.09

10 Bihar 103,804,637 54,185,347 49,619,290 916 1,102 25.07

11 Sikkim 607,688 321,661 286,027 889 86 12.36

12 Arunachal Pradesh 1,382,611 720,232 662,379 920 17 25.92

13 Nagaland 1,980,602 1,025,707 954,895 931 119 -0.47

14 Manipur 2,721,756 1,369,764 1,351,992 987 122 18.65

15 Mizoram 1,091,014 552,339 538,675 975 52 22.78

16 Tripura 3,671,032 1,871,867 1,799,165 961 350 14.75

17 Meghalaya 2,964,007 1,492,668 1,471,339 986 132 27.82

18 Assam 31,169,272 15,954,927 15,214,345 954 397 16.93

19 West Bengal 91,347,736 46,927,389 44,420,347 947 1,029 13.93

20 Jharkhand 32,966,238 16,931,688 16,034,550 947 414 22.34

21 Orissa 41,947,358 21,201,678 20,745,680 978 269 13.97

22 Chhattisgarh 25,540,196 12,827,915 12,712,281 991 189 22.59

23 Madhya Pradesh 72,597,565 37,612,920 34,984,645 930 236 20.30

24 Gujarat 60,383,628 31,482,282 28,901,346 918 308 19.17

25 Daman & Diu # 242,911 150,100 92,811 618 2,169 53.54

26 Dadra & Nagar Haveli # 342,853 193,178 149,675 775 698 55.50

27 Maharashtra 112,372,972 58,361,397 54,011,575 925 365 15.99

28 Andhra Pradesh 84,665,533 42,509,881 42,155,652 992 308 11.10

29 Karnataka 61,130,704 31,057,742 30,072,962 968 319 15.67

30 Goa 1,457,723 740,711 717,012 968 394 8.17

31 Lakshadweep # 64,429 33,106 31,323 946 2,013 6.23

32 Kerala 33,387,677 16,021,290 17,366,387 1,084 859 4.86

33 Tamil Nadu 72,138,958 36,158,871 35,980,087 995 555 15.60

34 Puducherry # 1,244,464 610,485 633,979 1,038 2,598 27.72

35 Andaman & Nicobar Island 379,944 202,330 177,614 878 46 6.68

Distribution of population, sex ratio, density and decadal growth rate of population : 2011State/UT Code

India/State/Union Territory #

Total population Sex ratio(females per 1000 males)

Density(Per sq.km)

Decadalgrowth rate


Persons Males Females

INDIA 1,21,01,93,422 62,37,24,248 58,64,69,174 100.00

01 Jammu & Kashmir 1,25,48,926 66,65,561 58,83,365 1.04

02 Himachal Pradesh 68,56,509 34,73,892 33,82,617 0.57

03 Punjab 2,77,04,236 1,46,34,819 1,30,69,417 2.29

04 Chandigarh # 10,54,686 5,80,282 4,74,404 0.09

05 Uttarakhand 1,01,16,752 51,54,178 49,62,574 0.84

06 Haryana 2,53,53,081 1,35,05,130 1,18,47,951 2.09

07 NCT of Delhi # 1,67,53,235 89,76,410 77,76,825 1.38

08 Rajasthan 6,86,21,012 3,56,20,086 3,30,00,926 5.67

09 Uttar Pradesh 19,95,81,477 10,45,96,415 9,49,85,062 16.49

10 Bihar 10,38,04,637 5,41,85,347 4,96,19,290 8.58

11 Sikkim 6,07,688 3,21,661 2,86,027 0.05

12 Arunachal Pradesh 13,82,611 7,20,232 6,62,379 0.11

13 Nagaland 19,80,602 10,25,707 9,54,895 0.16

14 Manipur 27,21,756 13,69,764 13,51,992 0.22

15 Mizoram 10,91,014 5,52,339 5,38,675 0.09

16 Tripura 36,71,032 18,71,867 17,99,165 0.30

17 Meghalaya 29,64,007 14,92,668 14,71,339 0.24

18 Assam 3,11,69,272 1,59,54,927 1,52,14,345 2.58

19 West Bengal 9,13,47,736 4,69,27,389 4,44,20,347 7.55

20 Jharkhand 3,29,66,238 1,69,31,688 1,60,34,550 2.72

21 Orissa 4,19,47,358 2,12,01,678 2,07,45,680 3.47

22 Chhattisgarh 2,55,40,196 1,28,27,915 1,27,12,281 2.11

23 Madhya Pradesh 7,25,97,565 3,76,12,920 3,49,84,645 6.00

24 Gujarat 6,03,83,628 3,14,82,282 2,89,01,346 4.99

25 Daman & Diu # 2,42,911 1,50,100 92,811 0.02

26 Dadra & Nagar Haveli # 3,42,853 1,93,178 1,49,675 0.03

27 Maharashtra 11,23,72,972 5,83,61,397 5,40,11,575 9.29

28 Andhra Pradesh 8,46,65,533 4,25,09,881 4,21,55,652 7.00

29 Karnataka 6,11,30,704 3,10,57,742 3,00,72,962 5.05

30 Goa 14,57,723 7,40,711 7,17,012 0.12

31 Lakshadweep # 64,429 33,106 31,323 0.01

32 Kerala 3,33,87,677 1,60,21,290 1,73,66,387 2.76

33 Tamil Nadu 7,21,38,958 3,61,58,871 3,59,80,087 5.96

34 Puducherry # 12,44,464 6,10,485 6,33,979 0.10

35 Andaman & Nicobar Islands # 3,79,944 2,02,330 1,77,614 0.03

Population of States /Union Territories by sex and percentage share of population in total population: 2011

State

/UT

Code

India/State/Union Territory # Total population Percentage

share in total

population


Persons Males Females Percentage

share in total

population

INDIA 1,21,01,93,422 62,37,24,248 58,64,69,174 100.00

1 Andaman & Nicobar Islands # 3,79,944 2,02,330 1,77,614 0.03

2 Andhra Pradesh 8,46,65,533 4,25,09,881 4,21,55,652 7.00

3 Arunachal Pradesh 13,82,611 7,20,232 6,62,379 0.11

4 Assam 3,11,69,272 1,59,54,927 1,52,14,345 2.58

5 Bihar 10,38,04,637 5,41,85,347 4,96,19,290 8.58

6 Chandigarh # 10,54,686 5,80,282 4,74,404 0.09

7 Chhattisgarh 2,55,40,196 1,28,27,915 1,27,12,281 2.11

8 Dadra & Nagar Haveli # 3,42,853 1,93,178 1,49,675 0.03

9 Daman & Diu # 2,42,911 1,50,100 92,811 0.02

10 Goa 14,57,723 7,40,711 7,17,012 0.12

11 Gujarat 6,03,83,628 3,14,82,282 2,89,01,346 4.99

12 Haryana 2,53,53,081 1,35,05,130 1,18,47,951 2.09

13 Himachal Pradesh 68,56,509 34,73,892 33,82,617 0.57

14 Jammu & Kashmir 1,25,48,926 66,65,561 58,83,365 1.04

15 Jharkhand 3,29,66,238 1,69,31,688 1,60,34,550 2.72

16 Karnataka 6,11,30,704 3,10,57,742 3,00,72,962 5.05

17 Kerala 3,33,87,677 1,60,21,290 1,73,66,387 2.76

18 Lakshadweep # 64,429 33,106 31,323 0.01

19 Madhya Pradesh 7,25,97,565 3,76,12,920 3,49,84,645 6.00

20 Maharashtra 11,23,72,972 5,83,61,397 5,40,11,575 9.29

21 Manipur 27,21,756 13,69,764 13,51,992 0.22

22 Meghalaya 29,64,007 14,92,668 14,71,339 0.24

23 Mizoram 10,91,014 5,52,339 5,38,675 0.09

24 Nagaland 19,80,602 10,25,707 9,54,895 0.16

25 NCT of Delhi # 1,67,53,235 89,76,410 77,76,825 1.38

26 Orissa 4,19,47,358 2,12,01,678 2,07,45,680 3.47

27 Puducherry # 12,44,464 6,10,485 6,33,979 0.10

28 Punjab 2,77,04,236 1,46,34,819 1,30,69,417 2.29

29 Rajasthan 6,86,21,012 3,56,20,086 3,30,00,926 5.67

30 Sikkim 6,07,688 3,21,661 2,86,027 0.05

31 Tamil Nadu 7,21,38,958 3,61,58,871 3,59,80,087 5.96

32 Tripura 36,71,032 18,71,867 17,99,165 0.30

33 Uttar Pradesh 19,95,81,477 10,45,96,415 9,49,85,062 16.49

34 Uttarakhand 1,01,16,752 51,54,178 49,62,574 0.84

35 West Bengal 9,13,47,736 4,69,27,389 4,44,20,347 7.55

Population of States /Union Territories by sex and percentage share of population in total population: 2011

Total population

(States /Union Territories arranged in alphabetical order)

India/State/Union Territory #Sl. No.


2001 2011 2001 2011 2001 20111 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

INDIA 933 940 927 914 934 944

01 Jammu & Kashmir 892 883 941 859 884 887

02 Himachal Pradesh 968 974 896 906 980 983

03 Punjab 876 893 798 846 888 899

04 Chandigarh # 777 818 845 867 767 812

05 Uttarakhand 962 963 908 886 973 975

06 Haryana 861 877 819 830 869 885

07 NCT of Delhi # 821 866 868 866 813 866

08 Rajasthan 921 926 909 883 923 935

09 Uttar Pradesh 898 908 916 899 894 910

10 Bihar 919 916 942 933 914 912

11 Sikkim 875 889 963 944 861 883

12 Arunachal Pradesh 893 920 964 960 878 913

13 Nagaland 900 931 964 944 890 929

14 Manipur 974 987 957 934 977 995

15 Mizoram 935 975 964 971 930 976

16 Tripura 948 961 966 953 945 962

17 Meghalaya 972 986 973 970 971 989

18 Assam 935 954 965 957 929 953

19 West Bengal 934 947 960 950 929 946

20 Jharkhand 941 947 965 943 935 948

21 Orissa 972 978 953 934 976 985

22 Chhattisgarh 989 991 975 964 992 995

23 Madhya Pradesh 919 930 932 912 916 933

24 Gujarat 920 918 883 886 927 923

25 Daman & Diu # 710 618 926 909 682 589

26 Dadra & Nagar Haveli # 812 775 979 924 779 752

27 Maharashtra 922 925 913 883 924 931

28 Andhra Pradesh 978 992 961 943 981 997

29 Karnataka 965 968 946 943 968 971

30 Goa 961 968 938 920 964 973

31 Lakshadweep # 948 946 959 908 946 951

32 Kerala 1058 1084 960 959 1,072 1,099

33 Tamil Nadu 987 995 942 946 993 1,000

34 Puducherry # 1001 1038 967 965 1,006 1,047

35 Andaman & Nicobar Islands # 846 878 957 966 831 868

Sex Ratio of Total population and child population in the age group 0-6 and 7+ years : 2001 and 2011State/UT Code

India/States/Union Territory # Sex ratio (females per 1,000 males)Total population

Child population in the age group 0-6

Populatiion aged 7 and above


Persons Males Females Persons Males Females

1 2 9 10 11 12 13 14INDIA 778,454,120 444,203,762 334,250,358 74.04 82.14 65.46

01 Jammu & Kashmir 7,245,053 4,370,604 2,874,449 68.74 78.26 58.01

02 Himachal Pradesh 5,104,506 2,791,542 2,312,964 83.78 90.83 76.60

03 Punjab 18,988,611 10,626,788 8,361,823 76.68 81.48 71.34

04 Chandigarh # 809,653 468,166 341,487 86.43 90.54 81.38

05 Uttarakhand 6,997,433 3,930,174 3,067,259 79.63 88.33 70.70

06 Haryana 16,904,324 9,991,838 6,912,486 76.64 85.38 66.77

07 NCT of Delhi # 12,763,352 7,210,050 5,553,302 86.34 91.03 80.93

08 Rajasthan 38,970,500 24,184,782 14,785,718 67.06 80.51 52.66

09 Uttar Pradesh 118,423,805 70,479,196 47,944,609 69.72 79.24 59.26

10 Bihar 54,390,254 32,711,975 21,678,279 63.82 73.39 53.33

11 Sikkim 449,294 253,364 195,930 82.20 87.29 76.43

12 Arunachal Pradesh 789,943 454,532 335,411 66.95 73.69 59.57

13 Nagaland 1,357,579 731,796 625,783 80.11 83.29 76.69

14 Manipur 1,891,196 1,026,733 864,463 79.85 86.49 73.17

15 Mizoram 847,592 438,949 408,643 91.58 93.72 89.40

16 Tripura 2,831,742 1,515,973 1,315,769 87.75 92.18 83.15

17 Meghalaya 1,817,761 934,091 883,670 75.48 77.17 73.78

18 Assam 19,507,017 10,756,937 8,750,080 73.18 78.81 67.27

19 West Bengal 62,614,556 34,508,159 28,106,397 77.08 82.67 71.16

20 Jharkhand 18,753,660 11,168,649 7,585,011 67.63 78.45 56.21

21 Orissa 27,112,376 15,326,036 11,786,340 73.45 82.40 64.36

22 Chhattisgarh 15,598,314 8,962,121 6,636,193 71.04 81.45 60.59

23 Madhya Pradesh 43,827,193 25,848,137 17,979,056 70.63 80.53 60.02

24 Gujarat 41,948,677 23,995,500 17,953,177 79.31 87.23 70.73

25 Daman & Diu # 188,974 124,911 64,063 87.07 91.48 79.59

26 Dadra & Nagar Haveli # 228,028 144,916 83,112 77.65 86.46 65.93

27 Maharashtra 82,512,225 46,294,041 36,218,184 82.91 89.82 75.48

28 Andhra Pradesh 51,438,510 28,759,782 22,678,728 67.66 75.56 59.74

29 Karnataka 41,029,323 22,808,468 18,220,855 75.60 82.85 68.13

30 Goa 1,152,117 620,026 532,091 87.40 92.81 81.84

31 Lakshadweep # 52,914 28,249 24,665 92.28 96.11 88.25

32 Kerala 28,234,227 13,755,888 14,478,339 93.91 96.02 91.98

33 Tamil Nadu 52,413,116 28,314,595 24,098,521 80.33 86.81 73.86

34 Puducherry # 966,600 502,575 464,025 86.55 92.12 81.22

35 Andaman & Nicobar Island 293,695 164,219 129,476 86.27 90.11 81.84

( )Literates and literacy rates by sex : 2011State/UTCode


Literates Literacy rate (%)


State/UTCode


Persons Males Females1 2 6 7 8

INDIA 1,051,404,135 540,772,113 510,632,02201 Jammu & Kashmir 10,540,284 5,584,899 4,955,385

02 Himachal Pradesh 6,092,645 3,073,211 3,019,434

03 Punjab 24,762,666 13,041,557 11,721,109

04 Chandigarh # 936,733 517,095 419,638

05 Uttarakhand 8,787,908 4,449,409 4,338,499

06 Haryana 22,055,357 11,703,083 10,352,274

07 NCT of Delhi # 14,782,725 7,920,675 6,862,050

08 Rajasthan 58,116,096 30,039,874 28,076,222

09 Uttar Pradesh 169,853,242 88,943,240 80,910,002

10 Bihar 85,222,408 44,570,067 40,652,341

11 Sikkim 546,611 290,243 256,368

12 Arunachal Pradesh 1,179,852 616,802 563,050

13 Nagaland 1,694,621 878,596 816,025

14 Manipur 2,368,519 1,187,080 1,181,439

15 Mizoram 925,478 468,374 457,104

16 Tripura 3,226,977 1,644,513 1,582,464

17 Meghalaya 2,408,185 1,210,479 1,197,706

18 Assam 26,657,965 13,649,839 13,008,126

19 West Bengal 81,235,137 41,740,125 39,495,012

20 Jharkhand 27,728,656 14,235,767 13,492,889

21 Orissa 36,911,708 18,598,470 18,313,238

22 Chhattisgarh 21,956,168 11,002,928 10,953,240

23 Madhya Pradesh 62,049,270 32,095,963 29,953,307

24 Gujarat 52,889,452 27,507,996 25,381,456

25 Daman & Diu # 217,031 136,544 80,487

26 Dadra & Nagar Haveli # 293,657 167,603 126,054

27 Maharashtra 99,524,597 51,539,135 47,985,462

28 Andhra Pradesh 76,022,847 38,061,551 37,961,296

29 Karnataka 54,274,903 27,529,898 26,745,005

30 Goa 1,318,228 668,042 650,186

31 Lakshadweep # 57,341 29,391 27,950

32 Kerala 30,065,430 14,325,355 15,740,075

33 Tamil Nadu 65,244,137 32,616,520 32,627,617

34 Puducherry # 1,116,854 545,553 571,301

35 Andaman & Nicobar Islands # 340,447 182,236 158,211

Population aged 7 years and above by sex : 2011Population aged 7 years and above


Hyderabad interna-tional airport

The Hyderabad internationalairport has bagged the first rank inits category in the latest Airport Ser-vice Quality (ASQ) rankings of theAirports Council International (ACI).

India’s first inland fishprocessing unit

India’s first inland fish pro-cessing unit has been set up in thevillage of Bhutana in Karnal districtof Haryana. The unit has been setup in technical collaboration withZTM BPD Unit, South Zone, Cen-tral Institute of Fisheries Technology,Cochin, which comes under the In-dian Council of Agricultural Re-search (ICAR).

15795 MW HighestEver Capacity Addition

in the Power SectorDuring 2010-11

Sushilkumar Shinde, UnionMinister of Power has informed thatthe highest ever record capacity of15795 MW has been added in thepower sector in the country during2010-11. The prominent companieswhich added to the capacity includeNTPC, Adani Power, ReliancePower and Tata Power etc.

National Mission forElectric Mobility

The Union Cabinet March31st approved a proposal to set upa National Mission for ElectricMobility (NCEM) to promote electricmobility and manufacturing ofelectric vehicles in India.

The Cabinet also approvedthe setting up of a National Boardfor Electric Mobility (NBEM) by theDepartment of Heavy Industry. TheNCEM will be the apex body in theGovernment of India for makingrecommendations in these matters.

The National AutomotiveBoard (NAB), after its formation willbe the technical advisor and

secretariat for both the NCEM andNBEM.

The present proposal doesnot involve any financial implication.

Background :

In wake of the fast dwindlingpetroleum resources, growingconcerns on the impact of vehicleson the environment and climatechange; the automobile industryworldwide is gradually shifting tomore efficient drive technologiesand alternative fuels includingelectric vehicles. Accordingly, worldover major investments, incentivesand policies are being introduced topropagate the development,adoption of electric vehicles (EV)and their manufacturing.

At present, the barriers togreater adoption of Electric Vehicles(EVs) include higher cost of EVs,challenges in battery technology,limited range of EVs, lack ofinfrastructure, consumer mindsetand inadequate governmentsupport. In order to resolve thesebarriers and for electric mobility totake off it is essential that continuedgovernment intervention/support,high level ownership, adoption ofmission mode approach for fastdecision making, collaborationamongst various stakeholders, longterm commitment with clearlydefined short term and long termobjectives and a synergized - holisticapproach is essential. Accordingly,the promotion and manufacturing ofelectric vehicles is being taken upon a mission mode approach as"National Mission for ElectricMobility".

Further, as a first step anenabling, empowered, fast decisionand policy making structure at theapex level in the form of NationalCouncil for Electric Mobility (NCEM)and the National Board for ElectricMobility (NBEM) is being set up. TheCouncil will comprise of Ministersfrom the key Central Ministries/Departments, eminent

representatives from the industryand academia and will be chairedby the Minister (Heavy Industries &Public Enterprises).

The Council will be aided bya 25 member National Board forElectric Mobility comprising ofsecretaries of stakeholder CentralMinistries/ Departments withrepresentation from industry andacademia. The National Council andthe Board will be serviced byNATRiP Implementation Society(NATIS) for the time being and infuture by the National AutomotiveBoard (NAB), which is beingcreated.

India among the mostcorrupt nationssurveyed by PERC

India finds itself bracketedwith countries like Philippines andCambodia, rated as the fourth mostcorrupt nation among 16 countriesof the Asia Pacific region surveyedby leading Hong Kong-basedbusiness consultancy firm PERC.

The Political & EconomicRisk Consultancy Ltd (PERC) ratedIndia at 8.67 on a scale of zero to10 with the high end being the worstcase of corruption scenario andahead of the Philippines (8.9 points),Indonesia (9.25 points) andCambodia (9.27 points).

Among the 16 countriesreviewed in its latest report, Thailandwas rated at 11 with a scale of 7.55,followed by China (7.93) andVietnam (8.3).

Comparatively, Singaporewas given a clean sheet with a scoreof 0.37, followed by Hong Kong(1.10), Australia (1.39), Japan (1.90)and USA (2.39), putting them in thetop five.

In India, according to thereport, civil and other local-levelpolitical leaders were found morecorrupt than the national-levelpolitical leaders, with the formergiven a score of 9.25 and the latterslightly better at 8.97.


Indian civil servants at thecity level too were rated at 8.18,worst than the civil servants at thenational level (7.76).

“The issue of corruption hasgrown and overshadowed thesecond term in office of theCongress-led coalition headed byPrime Minister Manmohan Singh,”said PERC in its Asian Intelligencereport on Asian business andpolitics.

The government has beenwracked by a series of scandalsinvolving the sale of telecomlicenses, preparations for theCommonwealth Games, a landscam involving high level militaryofficers, and improper propertyloans made by State-ownedfinancial institutions, it pointed out.

Though investigations wereunderway to be followed by courttrials, Indians were still questioningwhether or not the prime ministerhas the political muscle to fight graftand whether the actions now beingtaken were more for show thanproof that the government wasreally cracking down on businesspractices that were common butcorrupt, it said.

Prime Minister Singh hasbeen put in such a defensiveposition that most of his recentstatements have been to stresshow he has not personally beeninvolved with corruption, eventhough it appears that almosteveryone around him was,observed PERC.

First unit ofKoteshwar power

project commissioned

The Tehri HydroDevelopment Corporation (THDC)has commissioned the first 100 MWunit of the 400 MW KoteshwarHydro Power project synchronisingit with the Northern Grid.

The THDC has been able toachieve this feet despite all odds itfaced as the project power househad got submerged in September

2010 due to floods. However, theCorporation overcame the crisis andwas able to commission the first unitso fast.

An official statement issuedhere said the mechanical spinningof unit-1 got accomplished inJanuary this year. Thensubsequently the testing andcommissioning works machine ofunit-I was synchronised with theNorthern grid.

Koteshwar Hydro-ElectricProject is located 22 Kmdownstream of Tehri Dam on riverBhagirathi. Koteshwar Project is oneof the constituents of Tehri. Otherconstituents of Tehri Power Complex(2400 MW) are Tehri Dam (1000MW) and PSP (1000 MW).

Tehri is already in operationand Tehri PSP is underimplementation. It will facilitate thefunctioning of Tehri Power complexas a major peaking station inNorthern Grid. It is run-off the riverscheme and will generate 1234 MUof energy annually. The reservoircreated by Koteshwar Dam has livestorage capacity of 35.0 MCM andwill also function as lower(balancing) reservoir of Tehri PSP.

This project will also regulatewater releases from Tehri Reservoirfor irrigation purposes. The otherthree units will also be completedwithin the 11th plan. The Koteshwardam is being built with a revised costestimate of Rs. 2,466.9 crore.

Shortest Budget ses-sion in recent years

ends

The shortest Budget Sessionof Parliament in recent years cameto a close on March 25 afteracrimony over diverse issuesranging from the CVC controversyto the cash-for-votes scam.

A highlight of the month-longsession having 23 sittings was thesetting up of the Joint ParliamentaryCommittee to probe the 2Gspectrum scam, an issue that hadwashed out the entire Winter

Session.The session witnessed

uproar over many issues and theLok Sabha lost over 25 hours dueto interruptions followed byadjournments. However, themembers made up for the lost timeby sitting late for more than 26hours.

In the Rajya Sabha 20 hourswere lost due to interruptions andmembers partly compensated theloss by sitting late for over 12 hours.

In view of the “unfortunatelogjam” in the previous session,Speaker Meira Kumar expressedsatisfaction over the “successful”transaction of the business duringthis session.

After 2006, the BudgetSession this year saw thecompletion of the Budgetaryexercise before the end of thecurrent financial year.

The second phase of theBudget Session, which was earlierscheduled to start in April, wasdispensed with in view of assemblyelections in five states.

A highpoint of the sessionwas the confrontation between thegovernment and the Opposition overthe cash-for-votes scam in the wakeof a WikiLeaks report, first accessedby The Hindu daily, which spoke ofmembers being bribed to win theJuly 2008 trust vote.

With elections scheduled inWest Bengal, Kerala, Assam, TamilNadu and Puducherry, the rivalsides utilised the session to scorepoints against each other.

The BJP found itself isolatedwhen it made Parliamentary AffairsMinister P.K. Bansal a target overthe issue of allotment of kiosks inChandigarh.

The evacuation of Indiansfrom troubled Libya, radio collaringof Indian students in an Americanuniversity, the Income Tax notice toGujarat Government and attacks onIndian fishermen by Sri Lankan navyalso figured prominently inParliament.


1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234512345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123451234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234512345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123451234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234512345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123451234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234512345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123451234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234512345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123451234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234512345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123451234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234512345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123451234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234512345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123451234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345

AN OBJECTIVE APPROACH TO

ALL COMPETITIVE EXAMS1) Corporation tax: (c)

a. is a direct tax and it islevied by the StateGovernments.b. is a indirect tax and it islevied by the StateGovernments.c. is a direct tax and it islevied by the UnionGovernment.d. is a indirect tax and it islevied by the UnionGovernment.e. is a indirect tax and it islevied by both the UnionGovernment and StateGovernments.

2) Which of the followingconstitute the World BankGroup? (d)A. International Bank forRecon-struction andDevelopment (IBRD)B . I n t e r n a t i o n a lDevelopment Asso-ciation(IDA)C. International FinanceCorpora-tion(IFC)D. International Centre forSettle-ment of InvestmentDisputes-(ICSID)E. International MonetaryFund-(IMF)a. A, C and Eb. C, D and Ec. D, E and Ad. A, B, C and De. A, B, C, D and E

3) The cause of Inflation is:a. decrease in moneysupply and rise inproduction (b)b. increase in money supplyand fall in productionc. decrease in moneysupply

d. rise in productione. None of these

4) Which of the following is anaward presented by thegovernment of India forexcellence in sportscoaching? (c)a) Rajiv Gandhi Khel RatnaAward b) Arjuna Awardc) Dronacharya Awardd) Dhyan Chand Awarde) Dadasaheb PhalkeAward

5) Which of the followingcountries co-hosting theworld cup cricket 2011?(c)a) India, Pakistan, Sri Lankaand Bangladeshb) Pakistan, India andBangladeshc) India, Sri Lanka andBangladeshd) India, Sri Lanka andPakistane) India and Pakistan

6) In which country is DubaiLocated? (b)a) Saudi Arabiab) United Arab Emiratesc) Irand) Iraqe) Oman

7) Wall Street, which isassociated with stockmarket, is located in? (e)a) Londonb) Tokyoc) Berlind) Mumbaie) None of these

8) Which of the following is apublic sector undertaking?a) Wipro (d)b) Reliance

c) Hindalcod) HALe) HCL Technologies

9) Currently, how manycountries are members ofthe European Union (EU)?a) 25 (c)b) 26c) 27d) 28e) 29

10) Arcelor Mittal, the largeststeel producing company inthe world, based in? (b)a) Londonb)Luxembourgc) Romed) Mumbaie) New York

11) Peso is currency of whichcountry? (e)a) Japanb) Brazilc) Chinad) South Koreae) Argentina

12) Which country is the largestproducer of Tea? (e)a) Sri Lankab) USAc) Brazild) Cubae) India

13) "Nestle" is an MNC, dealsin? (c)a) Autob) Textilec) Food processingd) Soft Drinkse) Pharmaceutical

14) Who declares the "CreditPolicy" of India? (b)a) Ministry of Financeb) Reserve Bank of Indiac) Planning Commissiond) Finance Commission


e) National DevelopmentCouncil

15) What is current rate of SLRby RBI? (b)a) 20%b) 24%c) 25%d) 26%e) None of these

16) Gaganjeet Bhullar isassociated with? (e)a) Cricketb) Chessc) Footballd) Badmintone) Golf

17) Which team won theirmaiden Ranji Trophy title forthe first time in 77 years?a) Baroda (b)b) Rajasthanc) Karnatakad) Keralae) Punjab

18) Vijay Merchant Trophy isassociated with? (a)a) Cricketb) Golfc) Footballd) Hockeye) None of these

19) Novak Djokovic, the winnerof Australian Open 2011Men's Singles, belongs to?a) USA (e)b) Germanyc) UKd) Francee) Serbia

20) Kim Clijsters, the winner ofAustralian Open 2011Women's Singles, belongsto? (d)a) Franceb) Germanyc) USAd) Belgiume) None of these

21) Pohang Steel Company(POSCO) is belongs to?a) China (e)b) Japanc) Germany

d) USAe) South Korea

22) The re-elected President ofTanzania? (a)a) Jakaya Kikweteb) Robert Mugabec) Morgan Tsvangiraid) Jacob Zumae) Kgalema Motlanthe

23) "Makers of Modern India" isa book written by? (b)a) Arvind Adigab) Ramchandra Guhac) Vikram Sethd) Chetan Bhagate) None of these

24) One-rupee currency notesbear the signature of? (d)a) Finance Minister of Indiab) Governor of RBIc) President of Indiad) Finance Secretary ofIndiae) Prime Minister of India

25) What is the animal on theinsignia of the RBI? (e)a) Lionb) Tigerc) Elephantd) Cowe) Panther

26) Which of the following is theBankers Bank in India? (c)a) SBIb) Ministry of Financec) RBId) IDBIe) ICICI Bank

27) National Bank forAgriculture and RuralDevelopment (NABARD)was set-up in? (d)a) 1935b) 1955c) 1964d) 1982e) 1994

28) Which of the following is thepremier export financeinstitution of the country, setup in 1982? (e)a) IDBI Bankb) HDFC Bank

c) ICICI Bankd) AXIS Banke) Exim Bank

29) Excise duties are taxes on?a) Import of commodities(d)b) Export of commoditiesc) Sale of commoditiesd)Production of commoditiese) None of these

30) Which of the following is nota direct tax? (c)a) Corporation taxb) Income taxc) Sales taxd) Wealth taxe) Gift tax

31) Which of the following is aninternational prizepresented annually by theKing of Norway to one ormore outstanding mathe-maticians? (e)a) Nobel Prizeb) Templeton Prizec) Pritzker Prized) Ramon MagsaysayAwarde) Abel Prize

32) The winner of Abel Prize for2011? (a)a) John Willard Milnorb) Robert G. Edwardsc) Mario Vargas Llosad) Liu Xiaoboe) None of these

33) Which of the following is adirect tax? (e)a) Excise Dutyb) Sales Taxc) Custom Dutyd) Service Taxe) Income Tax

34) Dalal Street is at? (e)a) New Delhib) New Yorkc) Shanghaid) Londone) Mumbai

35) The Headquarters of IMF isin? (e)a) New Yorkb) Geneva


c) Manilad) Brusselse) Washington DC,.

36) Which one of the followingpairs is not correctlymatched? (e)a) West Bengal:Buddhadeb Bhattacharjeeb)Kerala: V.S.Achuthanandanc)Tamil Nadu: M.Karunanidhid) Assam: Tarun KumarGogoie) Puducherry: RameshPokhriyal

37) The Finance Commission isappointed every _____years or earlier? (a)a) 5b) 7c) 8d) 9e) 10

38) IRDA stands for ? (c)a)Indian Rural Development Authorityb) Inter Rural DevelopmentAssociationc) Insurance Regulatoryand Development Authorityd)Integrated RuralDevelopment Authoritye) None of these

39) Which among the followingis Oldest? (a)a) IDBIb) EXIM BANKc) NABARDd) NHBe) SIDBI

40) Which among the followingis Oldest? (a)a) RBIb) SEBIc) TRAId) IRDAe) None of these

41) From which date Banks hadimplemented the base ratesystem? (a)a) July 1, 2010b) August 1, 2010

c) September 1, 2010d) October 1, 2010e) January 1, 2011

42) Which scheme waslaunched for theDevelopment of rural Indiathrough irrigation, Watersupply, Housing, Road,Telephone and electricity?a) NREGS (d)b) JNNURMc) Rajiv Awas Yojnad) Bharat Nirmane) None of these

43) Which of the following prizeis often been described asthe "Mathematician's Nobelprize"? (e)a) Man Booker Prizeb) Pulitzer Prizec) Grammy Awardd) Oscar Awarde) Abel Prize

44) Which of the following is anindirect tax? (e)a) Income Taxb) Corporate Taxc) Gift Taxd) Wealth Taxe) Service Tax

45) Wall Street is at? (c)a) Mumbaib) Singaporec) New Yorkd) Beijinge) Tokyo

46) The headquarters of WorldBank is in? (d)a) Genevab) Tokyoc) Viennad) Washington DCe) None of these

47) What is the number ofmember countries of UNO?a) 27 (d)b) 28c) 153d) 192e) 187

48) Which of the following is ani n t e r g o v e r n m e n t a lorganization of central

banks which "fostersinternational monetary andfinancial cooperation andserves as a bank for centralbanks? (c)a) IBRDb) IMFc) BISd) Federal Reservee) ADB

49) Who is Indra Nooyi? (c)a) CEO of Arcelor Mittalb) CEO of Coca Colac) CEO of Pepsicod) Chairman of RILe) Chairman of RelianceGroup

50) The new deputy governor ofRBI? (b)a) U.K.Sinhab) Anand Sinhac) C.Rangarajand) Vijay Kelkare) None of these

51) The Final match of CricketWorld Cup 2011 was playedin? (c)a) Chennaib) New Delhic) Mumbaid) Kolkatae) None of these

52) S.P.Sethuraman is associated with? (b)a) Cricketb) Chessc) Badmintond) Footballe) None of these

53) The Laureus WorldSportsman of the year for2011 is ? (b)a) Roger Federerb) Rafael Nadalc) Kim Clijstersd) Sachin Tendulkare) None of these

54) Consider the following? (e)A. International CricketCouncil (ICC) is theinternational governingbody of cricket.


B. Federation Internationalede Football Association(FIFA) is responsible for theorganisation andgovernance of football'smajor internationaltournaments, most notablythe FIFA World Cup.C. International OlympicComm-ittee (IOC)organizes the modernOlympic Games held inSummer and Winter, everyfour years.D. International HockeyFederation (FIH), the globalgoverning body for the sportof field hockey.E. Federation Internationaledes Echecs (FIDE) or WorldChess Federation is aninternational organizationthat connects the variousnational chess federa-tionsaround the world and actsas the governing body ofinternational chesscompetition.Which of the abovestatement(s) is/are correct?a) A & B onlyb) B & C onlyc) C & D onlyd) D & E onlye) All of the above

55) What is the current rate ofRepo Rate? (c)a) 6 %b) 6.5 %c) 6.75 %d) 7 %e) None of these

56) The Shivraj Patil Committeeis on? (a)a) 2G Spectrum allocationsb) Demolition of the BabriMasjidc)Commonwealth Gamesirregula-ritiesd) Gujarat Riotse) None of these

57) The Indian Railways hasinaug-urated Indian firstGreen Railway Station at?a) Manwal (a)b) Udipic) Mangalored) Barodae) None of these

58) Krishna Water DisputeTribunal headed by? (b)a) justice B.N.SriKrishnab) Justice Brijesh Kumarc) Justice KG Balakrishnand) Justice S.H. Kapadiae) Justice P.V.Reddy

59) Al Jazeera TV channelheadquartered in? (b)a) Tehranb) Dohac) Riyadhd) Dubaie) None of these

60) Who is the chairperson ofNational Green Tribunal, aspecial court environmentissues? (a)a) Lokeshwar Singh Patnab) U.K.Sinhac) J.Hari Narayand) J.S.Sarmae) D.Subbarao

61) Bad loans in bankingterminology are generallyknown as? (c)a) CBSb) PLRc) NPAsd) CRRe) SLR

62) XX Commonwealth Games2014 will be held in? (d)a) Manchesterb) Melbournec) New Delhid) Glasgowe) None of these

63) Asian Games-2014 will beheld in? (b)a) Guangzhob) Incheonc) New Delhid) Jakartae) None of these

64) Who is sworn in as Brazil'sfirst woman president onJanuary 1, 2011? (a)a) Dilma Rousseffb) Angel Merkelc) Ellen Johnson Sirleafd) Kamla Persad-Bissessare) Julia Gillard

65) The Prime Minister ofNepal? (b)a) Ram Baran Yadavb) Jhala Nath Khanalc) Pushpa Kamal Dahald) Aung San Suu Kyie) Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono

66) G-8 summit 2011 will beheld in? (b)a) Canadab) Francec) Japand) Germanye) India

67) United Nations declared theyear 2011 as? (b)a) International Year ofPotatob) International Year ofChemistryc) International Year ofFresh Waterd) International Year ofAstronomye) International Year ofMountains

68) The new chairman ofCentral Board of DirectTaxes (CBDT)? (a)a) Sudhir Chandrab) S.S.Menonc) U.K.Sinhad) K.V.Kamate) None of these

69) Which district of Keralabecame the second totallyelectrified district in India?a) Palakkad (b)b) Thrissurc)Thiruvananthapuramd) Kottayame) Kozhikode

70) Who is the United States'sspecial envoy to


Afghanistan and Pakistan?a) Richard Holbrooke (b)b) Marc Grossmanc) Barack Obamad) Joe Bidene) Hillary Rodham Clinton

71) "Standing My Ground" is theauto biography of ? (b)a) Kapil Devb) Mathew Haydenc) Steve Waughd) Andre Agassie) None of these

72) The chairman of NationalCommission for Minorities(NCM)? (a)a) Wajahat Habibullahb) K G Balakrishnanc) Girija Vyasd) Vijay Kelkare) Veerappa Moily

73) Who is U.K.Sinha? (a)a) Chairman of SEBIb) Chairman of IRDAc) Chairman of TRAId) Chairman of PFRDAe) Chairman of SBI

74) Who are leading the "GivingPledge" campaign thaturges rich people to pledgeat least half of their wealthto charity? (a)a) Bill Gates and WarrenBuffetb) Sergey M. Brin andLawrence E. Pagec) Mark Zuckerberg andJack Dorseyd) Lakshmi Mittal and SunilMittale) Mukesh Ambani and AnilAmbani

75) Which of the followingpairing is wrong? (e)a) Novak Djokoveic - Serbiab) Andy Murray - Britainc) Kim Clijsters - Belgiumd) Daniel Nestor - Canadae) Bob Bryan - France

76) Essam Sharaf has beenappointed as Prime Ministerof which among thefollowing countries? (b)

a) Afghanistanb) Egyptc) Maldivesd) Mauritiuse) None of these

77) Which of the followingserves as an apex financingagency for the institutionsproviding investm-ent andproduction credit forpromoting various developmental activities in ruralareas? (d)a) SIDBIb) IDBIc) NHBd) NABARDe) EXIM Bank

78) Which of the following is anindependent financialinstitution aimed to aid thegrowth and development ofmicro, small and medium-scale enterprises in India?a) EXIM Bank (e)b) IFCIc) HDFCd) UTIe) SIDBI

79) Economic Survey 2010-11was presented by……… inParliament on February 25,2011? (c)a) RBI GovernorD.Subbaraob) Prime Minister of IndiaManmohan Singhc) Finance Minister PranabMukherjeed)Railway Minister MamataBanerjeee) Loksabha Speaker MeiraKumar

80) The State Bank of India(Amendment) Bill-2010,which was passed in theparliament in the later halfof 2010, apart from otherthings, reduces thestatutory minimumshareholding of the CentralGovernment in the bankfrom _____to ______%.

Which among the followingset of figures fills the blankcorrectly? (b)a) 59, 51b) 55, 51c) 51, 50d) 50, 49e) None of these

81) India's highest award forlifetime achievement insports and games? (c)a) Rajiv Gandhi Khel RatnaAwardb) Arjuna Awardc) Dhyan Chand Awardd) Dronacharya Awarde) Dadasaheb PhalkeAward

82) The second highest civilianaward in the country? (b)a)Bharat Ratna b)PadmaVibhushanc) Rajiv Gandhi Khel RatnaAwardd) Dadasaheb PhalkeAward e) Param Vir Chakra

83) "Andhra Bank" wasfounded in? (a)a) 1923b) 1935c)1955d) 1964e) 1994

84) The deputy chairman ofPlanning Commission?(a)a) Montek Singh Ahluwaliab)Manmohan Singhc) C.Rangarajand) D.Subbaraoe) S.S.Menon

85) What is Tejas? (e)a) Anti-tank missileb) Intercontinental rangeballistic missilec) Main battle tankd) Supersonic cruisemissilee) Light Combat Aircraft

careermakers-april2011

Documents