Kisan Vikas Patra and Labour Reforms Discussed

Page No.
Index
Kisan Vikas Patra
JANUARY, 2012
2015
AUGUST,
Page No.
4
Labour Reforms
Page No.
6
Trade Facilitation Agreement
Page No.
7
Project Mausm and Maritime Silk Route
Designed by:
Chandan Kumar Raja
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Women Problems In India
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Project Mausam and Maritime Silk Route
KISAN VIKAS PATRA

India has faced slowdown of
economy our last few years. One of
the effects of declining growth in
economy is reduction in the savings
rate. Savings rate has declined from
peak of 38 percent to around 30
percent. Falling savings rate has long
term and short term impact on the
growth of the economy. When
people reduce savings in financial
assets they switch to gold and other
non-financial assets. Saving in gold
and other non-financial sectors like
real state lead to the problem of Black
money, Current account deficit etc.
Government has devised various
schemes to save in financial assets.
Each of the available saving option
has different features in terms of
eligibility to invest, rate of interest,
maturity period, lock-in-period, tax
treatment, pledging facility,
minimum and maximum ceilings etc.
One of those options is Kisan Vikas
patra.
Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) a
certificate savings scheme was
launched by the Government on 1st
April, 1988. The scheme provided
facility of unlimited investment by
way of purchase of certificates from
post
offices
in
various
denominations. The maturity period
of the scheme when launched was
5 years and the money invested
doubled on maturity. The scheme
was very popular among the
investors and the percentage share
of gross collections secured in KVP
was in the range of 9 % to 29 %
against the total collections received
under all National Savings Schemes
in the country. Scheme was
reasonably popular amongst all
2
sections of population. But

committee setup under Smt. Shyamal
gopinath to look into the functioning
of scheme observedThe continued popularity of
both KVP and National Savings
Certificate (NSC) among the urban
population who are not all small savers
could be prompted by an incentive
to avoid tax. As compared to NSC,
KVP is more popular as it is a bearerlike certificate due to its ease of
transfer. It also has an in built liquidity
due to the regulated premature
closure facility offered in the scheme.
The absence of Tax deduction at
Source (TDS) and ceiling on
investment, tax benefits on NSC and
higher than market rate of return have
posed considerable fiscal costs to the
Government. The deposits under
both KVP and NSC can be pledged
as a security with financial
intermediaries, including banks. The
Rakesh Mohan Committee had
recommended that both these
instruments are quite expensive in
terms of the effective cost to the
Government and felt that these
instruments should be discontinued
to ensure an equitable and
harmonious tax treatment across the
full spectrum of medium term savings
schemes. The Committee endorses
this recommendation
This lead to discontinuation of
the KVP scheme in 2011 but
government has relaunched the
scheme again in 2014 in order to
improve the savings and reduce
investment in gold and other nonfinancial assets.
Main features of relaunched
KISAN VIKAS PATRA scheme are:
The re-launched Kisan Vikas

Patra (KVP) will be available to
the investors in the
denomination of Rs. 1000,
5000, 10,000 and 50,000, with
no upper ceiling on
investment.
The certificates can be issued
in single or joint names and can
be transferred from one
person to any other person /
persons, multiple times. The
facility of transfer from one
post office to another
anywhere in India and of
nomination will be available.
The investment made in the
certificate will double in 100
months.
Kisan Vikas Patras have unique
liquidity feature, where an
investor can, if he so desires,
encash his certificates after the
lock-in period of 2 years and 6
months and thereafter in any
block of six months on predetermined maturity value.
The certificate can also be
pledged as security to avail
loans from the banks and in
other case where security is
required to be deposited.
Initially the certificates will be
sold through post offices, but
the same will soon be made
available to the investing
public through designated
branches of nationalised
banks.
Reintroduction of Kisan Vikas
Patra (KVP) is a welcome step
not only in the direction of
providing safe and secure
investment avenues to the
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small investors but will also
help in augmenting the savings
rate in the country. The scheme
will also safeguard small
investors from fraudulent
schemes. KVP will help in
mobilizing small investments
from poor population of the
country who otherwise invest
in bogus ponzi schemes or chit
funds. Post office being a
universally present in the

country makes the distribution
and availability of Kisan vikas
patra very easy for citizens.
Kisan vikas patra can also be
used as collateral as they are
easily transferable. This helps
in saving people from the high
rates of interest which
moneylenders take. As any
investment would have its
advantages as well as
disadvantages, similarly KVP
also has some disadvantages
like some banks provide more
interest rate in fixed deposit
than KVP and also investment
in KVP is taxable. But looking
into overall picture KVP
scheme has more benefits then
problems.
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LABOUR REFORMS
There are various labour laws for
regulating employment and
conditions of service of workers.
These laws also provide for
maintaining registers and furnishing
returns to the concerned
enforcement authorities. The labour
laws of independent India derive
their origin, inspiration and strength
partly from the views expressed by
important nationalist leaders during
the days of national freedom struggle,
partly from the debates of the
Constituent Assembly and partly from
the provisions of the Constitution and
the International Conventions and
Recommendations. The relevance of
the dignity of human labour and the
need for protecting and safeguarding
the interest of labour as human beings
has been enshrined in Chapter-III
(Articles 16, 19, 23 & 24) and Chapter
IV (Articles 39, 41, 42, 43, 43A & 54)
of the Constitution of India keeping
in line with Fundamental Rights and
Directive Principles of State Policy.
But according to some analysts
labour laws has become a hinderace
in the growth of industries in the
country. Under the Constitution of
India, Labour is a subject in the
concurrent list where both the Central
and State Governments are
competent to enact legislations.
There are 45 different national- and
state-level labour legislation in India.
Important among those are The Industrial Disputes Act,
1947.
The Child Labour (Prohibition
and Regulation) Act, 1986.
The Factories Act, 1948
The Trade Unions Act, 1926
4
The Apprentices Act, 1961

Labour laws in India are very
rigid and number of laws increase
with the size of industry. Industries in
India have demanded labour reforms
since a long time. Industry wants
flexibility in relation to hiring and
firing of employees. Industrys wants
to have laws which make it easy to
close down and introduce the
technological advancements without
the intervention of the government.
Archaic and old inspection system
has also been a bone of contention
for the industries, they claim
inspection system gives too much
power in the hands of inspectors. But
workers claim that these laws protect
the genuine interests of the workers.
In order to look into the matter
Standing Committee on Labour laws
under the Hemanand Biswal was
setup which has submitted its report
in
2011.
Based
on
the
recommendation
given
by
committee and opinions from various
quarters Rajya sabha has passed a bill
to simplify labour law procedures. Bill
is named as the Labour Laws
(Exemption from Furnishing Returns
and Maintaining Registers by Certain
Establishments) Amendment Bill,
2011.
Important features of the act are Bill redefines the small
establishment whichwill
include a unit employing
between 10-40 people.
The Bill increases the number
of laws under which units and
small establishments will be
exempt from maintaining
registers and filings returns.
The seven Acts that are added

to the list includes; Motor
Transport Workers Act, 1961;
Payment of Bonus Act, 1965;
Inter-State Migrant Workmen
(Regulation of Employment
and Conditions of Service)Act,
1979; Building and Other
Construction
Workers
and Conditions of Service)
Act, 1996; Beedi and Cigar
Workers (Conditions of
Employment) Act, 1966; Dock
Workers (Safety, Health and
Welfare) Act, 1986; Child
Labour (Prohibition and
Regulation) Act, 1986.
The Bill also adds that the
employer may maintain the
returns filed and the registers
on a computer, computer disk
or other electronic media.
Apart from central governments
initiative various state governments
has already made changes to the
labour laws in order to make it more
flexible to the industries. The
Rajasthan government cleared
amendments to three critical and
archaic Central government labour
legislations the Industrial Disputes
Act, Contract Labour Act and the
Factories Act.
According to the changes in
the Industrial Disputes Act,
there is no need for
government permission for
retrenching up to 300 workers
now it allows only up to 100
workers.
The Rajasthan Cabinet has also
increased the percentage of


workers
needed
for
registration as a representative
union from 15 per cent to 30
per cent.
Because of the rigid and
complex labor laws, it becomes
extremely difficult to hire and fire. So
Indian industries are becoming
capital intensive rather than labour
intensive which leads to less job
creation. And hiring is also on
contractual basis which makes it easy

to fire. Which in turn leads to more
labour in informal sector and they
dont receive social security benefits,
pension, insurance etc. labour
reforms becomes a necessity for
industries as well as workers. Proper
labour laws make it easy for industries
to hire and fire, which in turn increase
their employability. Employability in
turn increase the number of jobs

created and it overall increases the
employment level of the country.
There are also rigid laws related to
apprentice in country which creates
a problem for college graduates to
get the necessary work experience
and industries in turn does not get a
young workers.

TRADE FACILITATION AGREEMENT

The World Trade Organization
(WTO) is the only global international
organization which deals with the
rules of trade between nations. The
organization officially commenced
on 1 January 1995 under the
Marrakech Agreement, signed by 123
nations on 1994, replacing the
General Agreement on Tariffs and
Trade (GATT). The goal of WTO is to
help producers of goods and
services, exporters, and importers
conduct their business.
Bali conference has broadly
came out with these outcomesTrade
Facilitation
agreement- Agreement will
attempt to reduce red-tape and
streamline customs. It will help in
faster clearance of goods which are
perishable in nature. It will be legally
binding agreement and also have
coordinating bodies at national and
international level. This agreement
needs a upgradtion of technology to
reduce the redtape. Least Developed
Countries will receive the support to
build the capacities to implement the
changes.
Development and LDC
issues- Least developed countries
(LDCs) and developing countries
would be given preferential
treatment and market access. LeastDeveloped Countries will be given
Duty-Free and Quota-Free (DFQF)
Market Access. Operationalization of
the Waiver Concerning Preferential
Treatment to Services and Service
Suppliers of Least-Developed
Countries - allows preferential
treatment to be given to LDCs for 15
years from date of agreement
adoption.
Agriculture- Covers food
security in developing countries
6
which includes public Stockholding

for Food Security Purposes, Export
Competition etc.
Agriculture issue has become a
problem area for the negotiations
between the developed countries
and India. As per the original
Agreement on agriculture (AoA),
agriculture subsidies were divided
into three categories1. Green Box Subsidy
2. Amber box Subsidy
3. Blue box Subsidy
Out of all three only Amber box
subsidies are considered as subsidy
which disrupts the trade balance.
Subsidy on fertilizers, power etc.
comes under this kind of subsidy. It
was agreed in original Agreement-onAgriculture that the developed and
developing countries will have to
keep their Amber box subsidies
within 5% and 10% of their agriculture
production in 1986-88 respectively.
India has strongly opposed to this
clause because subsidies are
calculated on the basis of prices of
1987-88. Input costs have
skyrocketed in these decades. But,
De-minimus doesnt consider inflation
factor. As a temporary relief to Indias
demand a peace clause was
agreed in Bali summit. Therefore, as a
measure of temporary relief, Bali
summit enacted a peace clause for
the AoA. Peace clause has certain
provisions which provide temporary
relief to India. According to this
clause no member, can drag any
developing country to Dispute
settlement mechanism of WTO for
violation of De-minimus limits in AoA.
But developing countries should also
fulfill some criteria like1. Subsidy is provided only for
staple food crops .
2. Subsidy is used program which

is related to public
stockholding.
3. And also for the purpose of any
program related to food
security.
But peace clause provides
only temporary solution till 2017 and
developed countries might not
accept this clause as permanent
solution.
In this context India refused to
accept the Bali package until a
permanent solution for agriculture
subsidy is provided. Indian
government has a legally binding food
security act, 2013. Under this act
Indian government has to provide
subsidies food for around 82 crore
population. Right to food is one of
the fundamental human rights even
united nation charter for human rights
accepts this right. Millennium
development goals which talks about
nutrition and reduction in mortality
can never be fulfilled if food security
is not provided to poor population of
the country. And also subsidy given
by developed countries are much
higher than that of developing
countries e. g. India provide 12
billion dollars subsidy for 500 million
farmers and US provide 120 billion
dollars to 2 million farmers. The G33,
a group of developing countries that
coordinate on trade and economic
issues also supported Indias stand.
At the end India has been able to
convince that it contentions are valid.
India and the US settled the dispute
that had paralyzed the WTO, and
given the way to reforms that are seen
adding about $ 1 trillion to global
trade.
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PROJECT MAUSAM AND MARITIME SILK ROUTE
Project Mausam is a Ministry of

culture initiative with Indira Gandhi
National centre for the Arts(IGNCA)
as the nodal coordinating agency.
Mausam in literal sense refers to a
season where it becomes safer to sail
in the sea. Indian ocean has seasonal
wind pattern which follows a
particular direction in between May
and September and different
direction between October and
April. The project is considered the
new governments most significant
foreign policy initiative designed to
counter China. It is inspired by Indias
historical role as the focal point for
trade in the Indian Ocean. In
premodern
Times sailors used seasonal
winds to sail across the sea. This trip
usually involved starting from one of
the edges of the ocean and then
sailing to India, stopping in India and
allowing the crew to wait for seasonal
wind to reverse its direction and
finally start the sail back to original
place.
The endeavor of project
mausam is to project itself at two
levels: at the macro level, it aims to
reconnect
and
reestablish
communications between countries
of the Indian Ocean world, which
would lead to an enhanced
understanding of cultural values and
concerns~ while at the micro level,
the focus is on understanding
national cultures in their regional
maritime milieu. The central theme of
project Mausam is those routes which
linked the different parts of Indian
Ocean. These routes will help in
developing a shared knowledge

systems and knowledge which will
spread along these routes will impact
coastal centers.
Project Mausam is an project
which has benefits in multiple
dimensions for the member states, it
also restarts the lost ties and routes
between Indian ocean states. This
project will help in forgeing new
avenues of cooperation and
exchange of knowledge. The
project, launched by India in
partnership with member states, will
enable a significant step in recording
and celebrating this important phase
of world history from the African,
Arab and Asianworld perspectives.
The project purpose is to develop the
Indian Ocean world which will
expand between East Africa, the
Arabian Peninsula, the Indian
subcontinent and Sri Lanka to the
Southeast Asian archipelago. By
some it is considered as most
important step taken by New
government in foreign policy sphere.
Work for project has already been
started by India organizing a national
conference on Indian Ocean Region:
Cultural Landscapes and Maritime
Trade Routes of India, in connection
with Project Mausam. This project is
Indias initiative in face of Chinas
maritime silk route development.
Maritime Silk Route Project
Maritime silk route project is
Chinas plan to develop maritime
infrastructure in the boarders of Indopacific region. It was first proposed
by President Xi Jinpings during his

trip to Southeast Asia in October
2013. China has asked India to join
the project but till now India has not
given any answer for joining the
project. The Maritime Silk Route
started as an ASEAN-centered
project in order to improve chinas
influence in that region. But later
China expanded the scope of the
project to include the Indian Ocean.
China is projecting this project as only
a commercial venture and which will
help in developing the maritime
infrastructure and also the economic
development of member states. But
Chinas image of dominating nation
and lack of details provided for
project makes it difficult for countries
to join the project. Chinas
controversy with Vietnam regarding
the exploration in the region which
Vietnam claims to be in its Exclusive
Economic Zone and Chinese patrol
near japan islands makes it difficult
for the host countries of the region to
accept that maritime silk route project
is only a commercial activity and not
a project to increase the domination
of China in the region. Asean region
has another problem related to issues
of sovereignty over the islands and
region. There are various areas where
issues of sovereignty has still far from
settled, this makes the success of the
project all the more difficult. But on
the flip side host nations would not
want to be left out of this potentially
highly beneficial commercial
adventure. This maritime project
coupled with new silk route project
of china, which attempts to connect


the land scape from china to central
Asia, can be highly beneficial for the
region, so host nations may join it even
at the cost of potential problems.
China in order to show its seriousness
for the project has already
announced a 10 billion Yuan ($1.6
billion) fund for the maritime silk
road plan. This would include port
infrastructure development this will
help the nations of south Asian and
Indian ocean region in a large scale.

This financial benefit might come at
the cost of long term strategic
independence.
Both of these projects are good
initiatives for the development of the
Indian ocean region countries and
both can bring lot of development to
the nations of the region which are
suffering from the similar social
problems. In deciding which of the
two project to join, it will come down

to which country (India or China) is
more serious about the project; which
is offering better financial benefits,
and also the image of the nation. As
India provides a better democratic
opportunity, it will come down to
whether Indian project Mausam can
provide the financial benefits which
are relevant as compared to the
Maritime silk route project.

UNIVERSAL HEALTH ASSURANCE MISSION

India face problems related to
Infant mortality and Maternal
mortality at a large scale. India also
receives highest number of deaths in
many acute diseases. There are various
reasons for these problems but most
important among them is that in India
expenditure on health in very less
percentage of the GDP. While in USA
it is close to 14 percent in India it is
close to five percent. Among this
percentage government spending of
health is close to one percentage
only. This puts an added burden on
the public to spent from their pocket.
And in a country where large section
of population is poor this burden is
unsustainable. In last few decades
economic growth of India has been
very good but resultant public
spending on the health sector has not
improved much. The growth of
Indias economy now permits this
long overdue increase in public
financing of health. Good health has
implications for development of
countryas well this has been
recognized by government in recent
initiatives like National Rural Health
Mission (NRHM), the Rashtriya
Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) and a
multitude of state sponsored health
insurance schemes.
The social objectives of all of
these schemes would need to be
merged and their scope considerably
expanded to create a valued and
viable model of UHC in India. With
this objective in mind The
Government is considering to roll out
a National Health Assurance Mission
to reduce the hard earned money of

poor population in India. A Group has
been constituted for preparing a
comprehensive background paper
for this purpose.
Every human body is a
stakeholder in the health sector of
India. That is why every individual
must be motivated to a lead healthy
life and thereby keep the burden on
the public health infrastructure to the
minimum. Thankfully, we are a young
nation. With 65 percent of the
population under the age of 35, it
should not be too difficult to make
optimal use of every available Rupee.
Public Health is in state list, which
makes it a state subject, the Central
Government can only provide a
supplementing role to the efforts of
the States/UTs. Under the National
Rural Health Mission (NRHM) central
government provide accessible,
affordable and quality healthcare to
the rural population. National Health
Mission (NHM) was approved the
central government which subsumes
the National Urban Health Mission
(NUHM) and the National Rural
Health mission objective of national
health mission are also the same to
provide universal access to equitable,
affordable and quality health care
services to all the population.
Now
government
has
announced that it will bring Universal
health assurance mission under which
Universal health insurance mission
would also be covered. An expert
group under Dr. Ranjit Roy is formed
to prepare a roadmap for Universal
health assurance mission.

Projected Highlights of UHAM
Fifty essential drugs (in generic
form) with a package of diagnostics
and about 30 Ayush drugs will be
made available to all citizens at
government hospitals and health
centres across the country
A solid package of preventive
and positive health information will
be made available to all citizens
The Universal Health Insurance
component in UHAM is poised to
become the worlds largest public
health insurance programme which
would be free for those below the
poverty line and low-premium for the
rest of the population.
At present health insurance
touches about 25 percent of the
population. Government will spread
the population of the insured rapidly,
resulting in sharp fall in premium rates
and many consumer benefits.
An autonomous oversight body,
UHAM Agency, will be formed to
ensure above-board operations and
genuine protection of the insured
Government also announced to
achieve the objective of mass
awareness Ministry should mobilise
mass opinion and movements on
special days of the year. Partners for
this will be drawn from among NGOs,
faith-based
organisations,
educational institutions, medical
professionals of the government and
private sectors, clubs and related
social forums. Such pointed
campaigns will be instrumental in

Universal Health Assurance Mission

forging
public-private
and
government-citizen coalitions for
promotive and preventive health.
As given in report by planning
commission on Universal health
coverage that UHC is ensuring
equitable access for all Indian
citizens, resident in any part of the
country, regardless of income level,
social status, gender, caste or religion,
to affordable, accountable,
appropriate health services of assured
quality (promotive, preventive,
curative and rehabilitative) as well as
10
public health services addressing the

wider determinants of health
delivered to individuals and
populations, with the government
being the guarantor and enabler,,
although not necessarily the only
provider, of health and related
services.
Universal health cover is a
necessary component of nations
development. No nation can claim to
be developed unless its citizens are
healthy. Universal health coverage is
necessary for a country of Indias size
in order to ensure that use health

care. Insure a Health care which is
not only curative but also preventive.
This health care should be of good
quality and it should be provided at a
cost which does not provide financial
hardship to the common man of the
country. Significantly, the Millennium
Development Goals cannot be
achieved unless we provide the
universal health coverage to all the
population.
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Women Problems in India
WOMEN PROBLEMS IN INDIA

There are only two types of
women goddesses and doormats
says the famous artist Pablo Picasso.
India is a land which worships women
as goddesses yet burn them for
dowry and kill girls in the womb.
Multiple problems haunt them since
the day they are born. The position
of women has improved multifold
compared to the position centuries
ago. The practices like child marriage,
sati, devadasi system, purdah system
have almost disappeared. This could
be attributed to the changes brought
about by science and technology,
education, social and political
movements, modernization etc.
Constitution of India grants equal
status and where necessary provides
extra safeguards from exploitation
and injustice to women. It does not
make any discrimination on the
ground of sex. Though the position
of women has improved considerably
that what it used to be preindependence era now they are
beset with new stresses and strains.
Some major problems are analyzed
below.
Gender Discrimination
Female foeticide: Like many
societies around the world India is
also a patriarchal in nature. There is
an obsession for a male child who is
considered key to continue the family
lineage. With the legalization of
abortion in India lead to selective
abortion killing female fetus has
become an everyday reality. This lead
to the skewed growth of population.
The child sex ratio has dropped from

945 females per 1000 males in 1992
to 927 females per 1000 males
in2001. According to 2011 census
the ratio has slightly improved to 933
females per 1000 males but this cant
be attributed as a major improvement
over a decade period. This skewed
population growth has long term
impact on the society like female
trafficking, kidnapping and increase
in assault and rape against women.
Discrimination in distribution of
power and work : women is not
accepted as equal to male. They are
made to confine to domestic works
like cooking, cleaning, washing etc
termed as womens work. Women
workers are paid less than the male
workers. They were not allowed to
take part in politics. Reservation in
politics, education, jobs has
improved the condition of women.
Early marriage
marriage:
A vast
number of girls are married at an early
age. Approximately 60% of the rural
girls are married before they are 18
and bear children before they are 19.
Almost one third of the babies are
born with low birth weight. High
illiteracy , ignorance to sexual
behavior, malnutrition makes
pregnant girls take high risk of life.
Girls who get married before 18 are
more likely to experience domestic
violence compared to the those marry
later.
Dowry
Dowry: Max Radin has defined
dowry as the property, which a man
receives from his wife or her family at
the time of his marriage. Dowry may

be broadly defined as gifts and
valuables received in marriage by the
bride, the bridegroom and his
relatives. The age old practice of
dowry has now assumed a form of
social evil. The desire of a parent to
get his daughter married in a higher
and rich family makes them to accept
all the conditions from the boys side.
It has caused unhappiness and
misery to the brides family. Women
are ill-treated, disrespected, beaten
and subjected to all sorts of cruelties
and sometimes leading to deaths.
Dowry system degrades the self
respect of a women and reflects the
inferior status of women in the society.
Dowry prohibition act 1961amended
in 1986 was passed to curtail this but
still the practice continues to be in
vogue.
Violence: Women are the
most vulnerable section of the society
who are exposed to violence. Even
in the country which has improved
its education level still very day we
hear about the violence against the
women. This is the phenomena which
is not only restricted to the rural areas
the women ev in cities are also
equally vulnerable.. ganag rapes and
rapes of women in the houses and
public transport is frequent
phenemona in cites as developed as
delhi as well. As per the report [1994]
of the Crime Record Bureau of the
Central Home Ministry, crimes against
women increased to a great extent
in the year 1993-94. As per this
report, in India on an average,
11

Women Problems in India

(i) Every day for every 6 minutes
one atrocity is committed against
woman; (ii) for every 44 minutes a
woman is kidnapped;
(iii) For every 47 minutes a
woman is raped;
(iv) Every day 17 dowry deaths
take place. The same report says that
crimes against women increased two
times in the last 10 years; instances of
rape by 400% in the last two decades;
instances of kidnapping and
blackmailing women by 30%
between 1974 and 1993. In 1993
alone about 82,818 instances of
crimes against women were
registered. Many cases are not
12
registered. It is said that only 10% of

the rape cases are reported.
Justice Verma Committee
formed after the 16th December 2012
Delhi rape case made change to the
Indian penal code and made crimes
and violence against women highly
stringent and punishment for the
crimes has been made more severe.
The main recommendations of the
committee are:
Punishment of not less than 20
years, which may also extend to life
and gang-rape followed by death,
should be punished with life
imprisonment.
The panel has recognized the
urgent need to curb all forms of

sexual offences like voyeurism,
stalking, acid attacks etc.
Every complaint of rape must
be registered by the police and civil
society should perform its duty to
report any case of rape coming to its
knowledge.
Though the laws are made
stringent but in order for them to
make significant changes in society,
society should accept it in heart. As
we have seen we already have laws
related to dowry and female feticide
but these problems still persists in the
Indian society.

National Issues
NATIONAL ISSUES
PM Modi among worlds most
powerful people, ranked 15th:
Forbes
Prime Minister Narendra Modi

made his debut among the
worlds most powerful people,
ranked 15th on the Forbes list
topped by Russian President
Vladimir Putin who pipped his
U.S. counterpart Barack
Obama for a second year in a
row.
The list of 72 most powerful
people in the world also
included the names of Reliance
Industries Chairman Mukesh
Ambani at 36th, ArcelorMittal
Chairman and CEO Lakshmi
Mittal at 57th and Microsofts
Indian-born CEO Satya Nadella
at 64th.
Blue Revolution can start from
Kerala: Radha Mohan Singh
Kerala is the right place for a

start to Indias Blue Revolution,
said Union Minister for
Agriculture Radha Mohan

Singh in Kochi.
He said that issues related to
the makeover of the fisheries
sector would be discussed
before the next Union Budget.
He was speaking at the
inauguration of the three-day
Global Agro Meet and
exhibition of organic products
BIOFACH India 2014 at
Kurkutty, near Angamaly.
The Blue Revolution envisages
transformation of the fisheries
sector, chiefly marine fisheries
and the Centre had appointed
a committee to review Indias
marine fisheries policy.
The NGO alleged that Dr. Desai

had a role in the tainted poll
process.
The petitioner has also sought
prosecution of all the MCI
members involved in the
alleged
rigging
and
amendment to Section 3 of the
Indian Medical Council Act.
Make in India programme will
meet Russias Eastern pivot
SC issued notice to Health

Ministry on rigging in MCI
election
The Supreme Court issued

notice to the Ministry of Health
and Family Welfare and the
Medical Council of India (MCI)
on a PIL seeking a CBI
investigation into alleged
rigging in MCI election in 2013.
A Bench headed by Chief
Justice of India H.L. Dattu also
sought the response of Dr.
Ketan Desai, former president
of MCI, to the PIL filed by NGO
People for Better Treatment.
The governments Make in

India programme and Russias
Eastern pivot will meet as
Russian Deputy Prime Minister
Dmitry Rogozin will discuss
more cooperation on energy,
the co-production of fighter
aircraft
and
nuclear
cooperation with Prime
Minister Narendra Modi,
External Affairs Minister
Sushma Swaraj and National
Security Adviser Ajit Doval.
During the visit, Mr. Rogozin will
chair the 20th commission
(IRIGC-TEC) along with Ms.
Swaraj, as well as draw up the
plan for deliverables for
President Vladimir Putins visit
to Delhi, expected in
December for the annual IndiaRussia summit.
13

National Issues
Contrary to the perception
that we are behind time in
shaping the contours of the
smart cities plan, we have a fair

idea of what the smart cities are
going to look like, Mr. Naidu
told.
PM Promises Visa-on-Arrival Facility
Indias Prime Minister Narendra

assured Australia a visa-onarrival facility for tourists, and
announced a twomonth
deadline for the longpending
merger of OCI and PIO status
to woo the Indian diaspora from
whom he sought support for his
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
Addressing a frenzied crowd
of around 20,000 in the
packed Allphones Arena here,
Mr. Modi took a dig at the
previous governments saying
while they were happy to make
laws he was happier to
remove them.
Kisan Vikas Patra
Scheme (KVP) relaunched
Union Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley and Communication
Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad
relaunched the Kisan Vikas
Patra (KVP) investment scheme
to tap household savings for
funding
infrastructure
development in the country
and to lure them away from

ponzi schemes.
The savings instrument will be

available in the denomination
of Rs. 1000, Rs. 5,000, Rs.
10,000 and Rs. 50,000. There
will be no upper ceiling on
investments an investor can
make in them. However, no tax
benefits would be available on
these investments.
Banks will accept these
certificates as pledged security
for loans..
DoPT clarifies on CSE
The Centres decision in
February to allow two
additional attempts to all
categories of candidates for the
Civil Services Examination
(CSE) with effect from 2014

rendered infructuous the
Group of Ministers decision last
December to lower the upper
age limit for eligibility from CSE
2015.
While the age limit earlier was
30, 35, 33 and 40 years
respectively
for
the
unreserved, SC/ST, OBC and
the physically challenged
categories, consequential
changes in the age limit due to
provision of two additional
attempts are 32 years for the
unreserved, 37 for the SC/ST,
35 for the OBC and 12
additional years (30+12 for
General, 35+12 for SC/ST and
33+12 for OBC) for the
physically
challenged
candidates in each category.
Nanavati panel submits
its report on Gujarat riots
Twelve years after it was

constituted, the Nanavati
Commission of Enquiry probing
the 2002 post-Godhra riots
submitted its final report to
Chief Minister Anandiben Patel.
Justice
Nanavati
and
Commission member Justice
Akshay Mehta met Ms. Patel at
her residence and handed over
the report. Justice Nanavati
told PTI that the report was over
2,000 pages, but did not
divulge anything further.
The report will be forwarded
to the Home department. The
15

National Issues
NCW chief L. Kumaramangalam
wants legalisation of sex work
The chairperson of the National

Commission for Women (NCW),
Lalitha Kumaramangalam, has
advocated legalising sex work
to regulate the trade and
ensure better living conditions
for women engaged in
commercial sex work.
Legalising the trade, she says,
will also bring down trafficking
in women and lower the
incidence of HIV and other
sexually transmitted diseases.
Ms. Kumaramangalam said she
would put forth the proposal
at the empowered committee
meeting of the Cabinet on
November 8. It [legalisation] is
meant to regulate the trade. A
vast majority of women in sex
trade are trafficked; if it is
legalised then commercial
trafficking can be dealt with
stringently, she told.
In the absence of regulation,
she said sex workers were
forced to serve clients in
unhygienic and unhealthy
conditions and without
condoms, which led to the
spread of HIV and other STDs.
Government may clear
some Bills in winter session
The
Narendra
Modi
government has an ambitious
agenda for the winter session
of Parliament for which the
Cabinet Committee on
Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA)
has recommended 22 sittings,
starting November 24 and
concluding on December 23.
The government hopes to clear
over 30 Bills that are likely to
include the long-pending
Insurance Amendment Bill, the
Constitution Amendment Bills
relating to national Goods and
Services Tax (GST) and the
Land Border Agreement (LBA)
with Bangladesh.
At Mondays CCPA meeting,
convened by Union Home
Minister Rajnath Singh, who
heads the committee, the 67
Bills pending in both the
Houses were discussed. Later,
Union Parliamentary Affairs
Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu was
asked to circulate the list to all
Ministries concerned and seek
their response within a week.
Interestingly, when the UPA
government was in power, the
BJP had blocked the LBA Bill
citing reservations of its State
units in Assam and West
Bengal, which share a border
with Bangladesh, while some
BJP-ruled States, including
Gujarat (the Bill requires
ratification by at least half the
States), had objected to the
GST Bill.
The government also hopes to
bring the Small Factories
and Condition of Services) Bill,
2014 to govern small factories
employing less than 40
workers.
The key issue as far as
Constitution Amendment Bills
are concerned is that the NDA
is well short of a majority in the
Rajya Sabha, and the upcoming
11 biennial elections for Uttar
Pradesh and Uttarakhand
announced will not change the

composition in the NDAs
favour.
Newborns to get free treatment
till age one in Rajasthan under
JSSY
Extending the scope of the

Janani Shishu Suraksha Yojana
(JSSY) with an aim to bring
down the infant mortality rate
(IMR) in the State, the Rajasthan
government has decided to
provide free treatment to
newborns till they complete
one year. This will include
diagnostics, medicine and free
transportation facilities.
The scheme is applicable to all
children born in public health
facilities. The decision comes
amidst reports of suspected
diphtheria deaths in Alwar
district over the past few days.
As many as six children have
reportedly died of diphtheria
in Gothri village in Laxmangarh
block of Alwar and over a
dozen are being treated for
similar symptoms in the local
hospital.
Officials said swab samples
have been sent to SMS Hospital,
Jaipur, to ascertain whether
they are suffering from
diphtheria. Health authorities
have launched an immunisation
campaign in the area where
cases have been reported.
The JSSY, launched by the
United Progressive Alliance
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INTERNATIONAL ISSUES
U.S. air strikes target
IS convoy in Iraq
U.S. air strikes destroyed an

Islamic State convoy near the
Iraqi city of Mosul but U.S.
officials said it was unclear
whether the groups top
commander Abu Bakr alBaghdadi had been in any of
the 10 targeted vehicles.
Colonel Patrick Ryder, a Central
Command spokesman, said the
U.S. military had reason to
believe that the convoy was
carrying leaders of Islamic
State, an al-Qaeda offshoot
which controls large chunks of
Iraq and Syria.
The convoy consisted of 10
Islamic State armed trucks.
I can confirm that coalition
aircraft did conduct a series of
air strikes in Iraq against what
was assessed to be a gathering
of ISIL leaders near Mosul, said
Colonel Ryder, using another
name for Islamic State.
We cannot confirm if ISIL
leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
was among those present.
Islamic State had been
changing its strategy since the
air strikes began, switching to
lower profile vehicles to avoid
being targeted, according to

residents of towns the group
holds.
A Mosul morgue official said 50
bodies of Islamic State militants
were brought to the facility
after the air strike.
Mosul, northern Iraqs biggest
city, was overrun on June 10 in
an offensive that saw vast parts
of Iraqs Sunni regions fall to the
Islamic State and allied groups.
A month later a video posted
online purported to show the
reclusive Baghdadi preaching
at Mosuls grand mosque. AlHadath television channel said
U.S.-led air strikes targeted a
gathering of Islamic State
leaders in a town near the Syrian
border, possibly including
Baghdadi.
Iraqi security officials were not
immediately available for
comment on the report from the
station, part of Saudi-owned alArabiya television, but two
witnesses told Reuters an air
strike targeted a house where
senior Islamic State officers
were meeting, near the western
Iraqi border town of al-Qaim.
There is an attempt to create a

chilling effect: Kumi Naidoo
As a young man growing up in
South Africa, Kumi Naidoo
looked to India for inspiration.
Now there is a twinge of
disappointment. Mr. Naidoo,
the executive director of
Greenpeace International, is
puzzled at how the
government came to freeze the

organisations bank accounts in
India without giving a reason.
Though the Delhi High Court

sent a notice to the Ministry of
Home Affairs directing it to
unblock Greenpeace Indias
foreign funds, there is no
respite with the Ministry asking
for more details on remittances
from abroad.
Mr Naidoo is in India to discuss
the role of civil society in the
context of certain individual
and
non-governmental
organisations (NGO) being
targeted for being antinational.
He
said,
Thankfully
Greenpeace
India
is
quintessentially an Indian
entity, with 60 per cent of our
resources coming from
individual Indian citizens and
40 per cent from Greenpeace
International.
After the governments move,
Mr. Naidoo sought solace in
Mahatma Gandhi. First they
ignore you, then they laugh at
you, then they fight you and
then you win. We are not
panicking because of Gandhiji.
19

completed by Russias Rosatom corporation and started operation last
year.
agreement on a new route to

transfer copious quantities of
Russian natural gas into China.
Malaysian MH370
may be declared lost
According to the protocol

signed by Russian and Iranian
representatives in Moscow on
Tuesday, the two countries
agreed to eventually expand
the number of reactors using
Russian technology to eight in
Iran, including four at the
Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in
southern Iran.
Nuclear fuel for the eight
energy reactors will be
provided by Russia and the
used fuel rods will be returned
to Russia, RIA Novosti news
agency reported. Rosatom
corporation stressed in a
statement that the project will
be under the supervision of the
International Atomic Energy
Agency.
Chinas economic
vision wins over APEC
The members of Asia-Pacific
Economic
Cooperation
(APEC) members have agreed
to initiate the formation of a free
trade area in the Asia-Pacific
a vision steered by China,
which competes with the
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)

initiative of the United States.
Summit host Chinese President

Xi Jinping praised the in
principle endorsement of the
Free Trade Area of the AsiaPacific (FTAAP) as a decision
that will be written into history
books. He said backing for the
initiative demonstrated the
confidence and determination
of the APEC in advancing
regional economic integration.
In his closing address, Mr. Xi
said the business community
wanted the FTAAP, which is
expected to include Russia,
Beijings geostrategic partner.
Russian President Vladimir Putin
has praised the Chinese
initiative, a day after Beijing and
Moscow signed a preliminary
Relatives of passengers of the

Malaysian Airlines Flight
MH370, that vanished
mysteriously eight-months ago
with 239 people on board, have
expressed shock after a senior
airline official reportedly said
that the plane would be
declared lost by the year end.
The Airlines commercial
Director Hugh Dunleavy
reportedly said that the
Malaysian and Australian
governments were working
together with the national
carrier
to
determine
compensation details, adding
that the formal announcement
of the loss would likely be made
by the year end.
China will launch
about 120 satellites
China will launch about 120

satellites to meet the countrys
requirements
in
communication,
space
21

A previous World Bank analysis
showed that if Ebola continues
to surge in these three
countries and spreads to
neighbouring countries, the
two-year regional financial
impact would reach $32.6
billion by the end of 2015.
According to the World Health
Organisation, as of November
14, 2014, 14,413 Ebola cases
have been registered in eight
countries since the outbreak,
with 5,177 deaths.
Obama formally announces $3
billion contribution to Green
Climate Fund
U.S. President Barack Obama

formally announced a $3-billion
U.S. contribution to an
international fund to help poor
countries cope with the effects
of climate change.
Today, Im announcing that
the United States will take
another important step. We will
contribute $3 billion to the
Green Climate Fund to help
developing nations deal with
climate change, he said in a
speech at Queensland
University in Brisbane, where
he is attending the G20
meeting.
The contribution doubles what
other countries had previously
pledged ahead of a November
20, 2014 deadline.
United States warplanes

come to aid of Kurds
United States warplanes

renewed air strikes against
Islamic State jihadists near the
Syrian town of Kobane as Iraqi
peshmerga soldiers prepared
to reinforce their fellow Kurds
in the border area, the U.S.
military said.
U.S. fighter jets and bombers
had carried out eight air raids
near Kobane, targeting six
vehicles, a building and several
IS fighting positions over the
past 24 hours, said the militarys
Central Command, which
oversees the air war in Iraq and
Syria.
In Iraq, American unmanned
drones and fighter jets
conducted six bombing raids,
including three near Sinjar in
the north and three around
Fallujah, west of Baghdad,
Central Command said in a
statement.
The latest air strikes came as
heavily armed peshmerga
forces were poised to cross the
Turkish border into Kobane to
help the local Kurdish militia
that has held out against a
relentless assault by IS militants
for weeks.
Free Syrian Army rebels
crossed from Turkey to Kobane.
State
Department
spokeswoman Jen Psaki said
Washington had seen the
reports that FSA fighters were

crossing the border.
We welcome the support they
would provide to Kobanes
defence, Ms. Psaki told
reporters, adding it would be
up to officials on the ground to
confirm when the process was
completed.
Iraqi Kurdish officials said up to
200 fighters would be sent. The
town has become a crucial
symbol in the battle against IS,
an extremist Sunni Muslim
group that has seized large
parts of Syria and Iraq and
declared
an
Islamic
caliphate.
Drones seen over
French nuclear power plants
French authorities said that

they had detected drones over
two nuclear power plants, the
latest in a baffling series of
incidents across the country.
A spokesman for security forces
said: Drone-type machines
overflew two nuclear plants
during the night. They were
detected by police in charge
of protecting the plants and
staff.
These machines were not
neutralised because they did
not represent a direct threat
to the nuclear facilities, the
spokesman added.
It is against French law to fly
within a five km radius of a
nuclear plant.
23
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India & The World
INDIA & THE WORLD

Pakistan Taliban
threatens to attack India
and Gugrat (sic). The

message has since been
deleted, but sources said PM
Modi has been briefed about
the threat since, and security
agencies are taking the threat
very seriously.
U.S.-India pact paves
the way for global trade deal
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan
(Jamaat ul-Ahrar), the group
that claimed responsibility for
the suicide attack at a Pakistani
check post near the Wagah
border that killed 61 people,
has threatened attacks on India
next. In a telephone interview
to agency Reuters, the
spokesperson of the group
Ehsanullah Ehsan (assumed
name) said. I have already
conveyed it to Modi... that if our
suicide bombers can carry out
attacks.
On this side of the border, they
can easily do it on other side of
the border in India, he told
Reuters by telephone from an
undisclosed location.
I told him that his hands are
red with the blood of Kashmiri
mujahideen (fighters) and
innocent people of Gujarat for
which he would have to pay the
price.
Ehsan was probably referring
to an earlier message on his
twitter account, which said,
You (Modi) are the killer of
hundreds of Muslims. We wl
(will) take the revenge of
innocent people of Kashmir
Decks have been cleared for a

possible global trade deal after India and the U.S agreed on
the way forward to break the
logjam in global trade negotiations. With the agreement in
place, India is all set to move its
proposal on food security before the WTOs General Council at its next meeting scheduled for early December.
This proposal will seek to make
open-ended the interim protection of a peace clause that
was agreed to at the Bali Ministerial last December.
The clause safeguards support
prices for farmers against the
WTOs limits on agricultural
subsidies. India was in danger
of breaching these subsidy
caps.
India wants to make sure that
this protection would be
available in perpetuity, should
a permanent solution to the
problem of the WTO agriculture

subsidy caps not be found.
Whether the Bali Declaration
provides that the peace clause
could be available beyond
2017
was
open
to
interpretation.
Announcing that an agreement
had been reached with the
U.S, Minister of State for
Commerce and Industry
Nirmala Sitharaman said on
Thursday that the U.S had
agreed that Indias right to
protect its right to food security
cannot be denied by the WTO,
paving the way for removing the
imperfections in the Bali
Ministerial package.
U.S Trade Representative
Michael Froman also released
a statement which said the
agreement with India reflected
shared
understandings
regarding the WTOs work on
food security.
Sources on the Indian side
indicated that the resolution
was possible after an
understanding was reached
with the U.S that Indias
subsidies are not tradedistorting and aimed at
achieving food security. India,
on the other hand, was able to
reassure the U.S that it was not
opposed to trade facilitation
and in fact was on course to
implement it.
Germany hopeful of solution
over language row soon
Even as a row continued to
simmer over the Human
25

India & The World

Resource
Development
Ministrys decision to take off
German from the third language
slot of the Kendriya Vidyalaya
curriculum, Germany hoped a
solution would be found soon.
German Ambassador Michael

Steiner said a solution would
be found to allow the language
to be taught in these schools.
He expressed confidence that
after raising the issue with the
Union government, both sides
would be able to work out a
way that would take care of
childrens desire to learn
foreign languages.
Human Resource Minister
Smriti Irani said an investigation
had been ordered since the
existing arrangement violated
the three-language formula.
After an MoU between the
Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan
and the German government in
2011, German was added to
the third language list.
further strengthen bilateral

cooperation
on
skill
development. The Indian
Government has also decided
to expand the capacities of
12,000 industrial training
institutes.
At the 3rd India Australia Skills
Conference: Skills for Better
Business in Mumbai, a memorandum of understanding
(MoU) was signed between
the National Skill Development
Corporation, India (NSDC) and
TAFE Directors, Australia, on
Technical and Vocational Education and Training cooperation.
The purpose is to further
strengthen
cooperation
between the two to enhance
and
extend
bilateral
cooperation between Australia
and India, a statement noted.
The aim is to contribute
positively to the development
of technical and vocational
education and training related
linkages between India and
Australia, it added.
Bandaru Dattatreya, Minister for

Labour and Employment, was
present at the signing. In a
statement, he said that with
India going to add 10 million
people to the work force each
year, for the next 15 years, they
would all need to be skilled and
employed.
He informed the ministry had
launched a scheme for flexi
memorandum
of
understandings between
industry and industrial training
institutes, which would lead to
a minimum of 80 per cent of
placement in the industry.
Around three years ago, the
India-Australia engagement on
skills development had made
an initial foray. The project has
made rapid progress. It may be
recalled that during the visit of
the Indian delegation to
Australia in July 2014, five
sectors were identified and
one or more critical job roles
were taken up for developing
the Indo-Australian Trans
National Standards.
India-Australia seek early closure of civil nuclear deal
Australia-India sign pact

to enhance skill development
Australia and India have

decided to map common
standards on job roles and
26
India and Australia sought early

conclusion of negotiations for
a comprehensive economic
partnership agreement and a

closure on the civil nuclear deal
as Prime Minister Narendra

India & The World

Modi and his counterpart Tony
Abbott held talks in Canberra.
After the two leaders held talks,
India and Australia signed five
pacts on social security, transfer
of sentenced prisoners,
combating narcotics trade,
tourism, and Arts and Culture.
We also agreed on seeking
early closure on the civil
nuclear agreement, which will
give Australia a chance to
participate in one of the most
secure and safe nuclear energy
programme in the world, Mr.
Modi said in a statement to the
media at a joint press
conference with Abbott.
Later, while addressing the Parliament, Australian Prime Minister Abbott said, If all goes
well, Australia will export uranium to India under suitable
safeguards because cleaner
energy is one of the most important contributions that Australia can make to wider world.
Musharraf warns of proxy
war with India in Afghanistan
tight security in his Karachi

home, facing Taliban death
threats and a litany of criminal
cases dating back to his near
decade-long rule that ended in
2008.
The 71-year-old who seized
power in a bloodless coup in
1999 praised new Afghan
President Ashraf Ghani, who
made his first official trip to
Pakistan last week in a bid to
reset fractious ties with
Islamabad.
Pakistans support is seen as
crucial to Afghan peace as USled forces pull out by the end
of this year after 13 years
battling the Taliban.
But the former strongman said
calming tension between India
and Pakistan running high at
the moment after some of the
worst cross-border firing in
years is key to peace in
Afghanistan.
The danger for Pakistan is... the
Indian
influence
in
Afghanistan, he told AFP at his
house in Karachi.
That is another danger for the
whole region and for Pakistan
because Indian involvement
there has an anti-Pakistan
connotation. They (India) want
to create an anti-Pakistan
Afghanistan.
UNICEF wants to support

India in Clean India Mission
The departure of Nato combat
forces from Afghanistan could
push India and Pakistan towards a proxy war in the
troubled state, Pakistans
former military ruler General
Pervez Musharraf warned in an
interview with AFP.
As Pakistans ruler, Musharraf
was a key US ally in its war on
terror, but he now lives under
UNICEF hailed Prime Minister

Narendra Modis ambitious
Swachh Bharat mission and
offered its support to the
government to successfully
implement the programme,
particularly in rural India.
We are really welcoming this
initiative....We are really putting
everything we can to support
this initiative, UNICEF India

Representative Louis-Georges
Arsenault said in New Delhi.
Noting that hygiene and

sanitation in many Indian
districts, particularly in Uttar
Pradesh are very weak,
Arsenault expressed hope that
the new initiative would help
spread awareness among
people about hygiene in their
surroundings.
He was reacting to a question
on UNICEFs role in cleanliness
and the new initiative of the
government.
UNICEF officials said that the
organisations long standing
support for improving water
supply, sanitation and hygiene
stems from a firm conviction and
based on sound evidence that
these are central to ensuring
the rights of children.
UNICEF supports the Centre
and State Governments in
developing and implementing
a range of replicable
intervention models for
sanitation, hygiene and water
supply.
On October 2, Modi launched
the ambitious Swachh Bharat
campaign that was joined by
Chief Ministers, lawmakers and
prominent personalities from
various fields, along with lakhs
of countrymen in a drive that is
expected to cost nearly Rs, 2
lakh crore.
27

Economy
Trilateral Coast Guard
exercise Dosti-XII ends
A four-day trilateral Coast Guard

exercise Dosti-XII among
India, Maldives and Sri Lanka
off the Maldives coast ended.
Five ships and two aircraft
participated in the event.
Two ships from Indian Coast
Guard, Samar with Integral
Helicopter, Rajdoot along with
a Dornier aircraft, one ship from
Sri Lankan Samudura and two
ships from Maldives, Huravee
and Shaheed Ali participated,
a Coast Guard release said.
Dosti was institutionalised in
1991 as bilateral exercise
between the Indian Coast
Guard and the Maldives
National Security Service. Sri
Lanka became part of the
exercise in 2012.
28
Tax-free bonds 2013 are

still a good investment
Stock investors may be celebrating, but even those who
invested in tax-free bonds have
got reasons to cheer. Tax-free
bonds issued in 2013 and earlier this year has churned out
terrific returns of up to 25%.
The 20-year tax-free bond from
the National Housing Bank
(NHB), which hit the market on
30 December 2013, is quoting
at Rs 6,225, a return of 24.5%
on its issue price of 5,000.
Other bonds issued around the
same time have also given good
returns.
A combination of factors has
led to the rally in these longterm bonds. First, there is no
new supply of tax-free bonds
because the 2014 Budget did
not allow new tax-free bond
issues. Second, the Budget also
changed the tax rules for debt
mutual funds, which drove
more high net worth investors
to tax-free bonds.
New GDP data with 2011-12
as base year in Jan 2015
Seeking to present a more
realistic picture of the

economy, the government will
release a new series of national
accounts with 2011-12 as base
year for computing the
economic growth rate.
The Gross Domestic Product

(GDP) data based on the new
series will be released for three
consecutive years from 201112 in January next year.
At present, the GDP is
computed on 2004-05 base
year. The new series will better
reflect the economy as it would
include more sectors.
However, it would be difficult
to say whether there would be
any significant change in
growth rates for the previous
years, National Statistical
Commission Chairman Pronab
Sen, who was associated with
formulation of the new series,
said.
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Economy
ECONOMY
Indian Rupee ends almost
flat at 61.41 against US dollar
The Indian rupee ended

almost flat at 61.41 against the
Greenback on alternate bouts
of buying and selling.
Despite a strong start, the rupee erased all its morning gains
during intra-day due to sharp
bouts of dollar demand from
importers. However, it fell later
before recouping losses to
close almost flat at 61.41 on the
back of fresh dollar selling from
banks and exporters.
Sustained capital inflows into
equities also helped the rupee
to cap the fall to some extend,
dealers said.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange market (Forex), the
domestic unit commenced
higher at 61.35 a dollar from
previous close of 61.40. It
moved in a range of 61.34 and
61.49 before settling at 61.41,
showing a marginal fall of one
paise.
Meanwhile, US dollar continued its strong rallying momentum against a basket of currencies in late Asian session trade
in the wake of Republican wins
during the mid-term elections
as well as steady improvement
in US data.
Five global banks slapped fines

totalling $3.4 b for forex market rigging
British, American and Swiss

regulators slapped fines
totalling $3.4 billion ( Rs.20, 900
crore) on five banks after a
global regulatory probe found
them guilty of rigging the
foreign exchange market.
Five banks, including HSBC,
Citibank, JP Morgan Chase, the
Royal Bank of Scotland and
UBS, have been fined 1.1
billion ($1.7 billion) by Britains
market regulator, the Financial
Conduct Authority for failings
over foreign exchange
operations.
Simultaneously, the US
Commodity Futures Trading
Commission imposed fines
totalling $1.4 billion on the
same five banks while UBS
faced an additional fine of $138
million from the Swiss regulator,
FINMA.
The FCA slapped a fine of
225.5 million on Citibank,
while HSBC faced a penalty of
216 million. JP Morgan Chase,

RBS and UBS were fined
222.1 million, 217 million,
and 233 million respectively.
The fines related to failure to
control business practices in
the banks G10 foreign
exchange trading operations, a
market that FCA said was
systematically important.
The banks failed in their
responsibility to manage
obvious risks that included
conflicts of interest and
confidentiality, the FCA said.
Between January 1, 2008 and
October 15, 2013 ineffective
controls at the banks allowed
G10 spot FX traders to put the
banks interests ahead of those
of their clients, other market
participants and the wider UK
financial system. As a result,
traders were able to behave
unacceptably as they shared
confidential information, often
colluding with other traders,
29

Economy
and attempted to manipulate
G10 spot FX currency rates.
Todays record fines mark the
gravity of the failings we found
and firms need to take
responsibility for putting it
right, said Martin Wheatley,
Chief Executive of the FCA.
October, slightly down from

6.35 per cent in the previous
month.
Universities may offer credit

transfer scheme from next year
RBI tightens norms for

NBFC Companies
Retail inflation declined

to 5.5% in October
Helped by softening prices of

food items, the retail inflation
declined to 5.52 per cent in
October, the lowest since the
new series of data was
introduced in January 2012.
This is the fourth consecutive
month of decline in the
Consumer Price Index based
inflation or retail inflation,
which had fallen to 6.46 per
cent in the previous month.
The overall food inflation
measured on CPI came down
to 5.59 per cent in October
against 7.67 per cent in the
previous month.
Retail prices of vegetables
declined by 1.45 per cent
against a rise of 8.59 per cent
in September, according the
data released by the Ministry of
Statistics and Programme
Implementation.
Inflation in fruits slowed to
17.49 per cent from 22.4 per
cent in September. Similarly the
rate of price rise in protein rich
items like eggs, fish and meat
was at 6.34 per cent in
30
Tightening norms for nonbanking financial companies

(NBFCs), the Reserve Bank of
India raised the capital
adequacy requirement and the
net owned fund limit, among
others, with an objective to
mitigate risks in the sector.
With a view to streamlining the
regulations for the sector, the
RBI also revoked temporary
suspension on issuance of
Certificate of Registration (CoR)
to companies that want to
conduct business of nonbanking financial institution
(NBFI).
As per the latest directives, the
RBI has raised the limit for
NBFCs to maintain the net
owned
fund
(NOF)
requirement to four times by
2017 to Rs.2 crore.
At present, the NOF
requirement is at Rs.25 lakh. In
a phased manner, the NBFCs
would be required to raise it to
Rs.1 crore by March, 2016, and
to further double it to Rs.2 crore
by 2017. NBFCs failing to
achieve the prescribed ceiling
within the stipulated time
period shall not be eligible to
hold the CoR (Certificate of
Registration) as NBFCs.
The Skill Assessment Matrix for

Vocational Advancement of
Youth (SAMVAY) was
launched to mark National
Education Day.
It defines the rules for credit
allotment and follows the
National Skill Qualification
Framework (NSQF)
approved by the Union
government last year which
allows students to alternate
between vocational and
general courses.
The University Grants
Commission in its meeting took
a decision on how various
Central universities can
practice choice-based credit
transfer, and I hope all our
universities will implement this
system in the next academic
year so that all our students can
seamlessly study from one
university to another, Human
Resource
Development
Minister Smriti Irani said at the
launch.
The Ministry also launched the
Know Your College portal in
the presence of President
Pranab Mukherjee, Minority
Affairs Minister Najma Heptulla
and Ministers of State for HRD
Upendra Kushwaha and Ram
Shankar Katheria.
The
portal
http://
www.knowyourcollege-gov.in/
has basic details of colleges

Economy
offering technical courses that
would help students make an
informed choice.
Indian IT services export
industry to grow at steady pace
The Indian IT services exports

industry was pegged at $50
billion in 2013-14. After
growing at a robust pace of 1718 per cent until 2011-12,
growth slowed down to 11-14
per cent in 2012-13 and 201314 amid lower discretionary
spending across companies.
The industry has shown signs
of recovery in volume terms in
2013-14 and 2014-15 due to
greater need for regulatory
compliance in the banking and
financial services sector
(example: the Dodd-Frank Act
and the Fair and Accurate
Credit Transactions Act),
increase in offshoring by
emerging verticals such as retail
and healthcare and adoption of
new technologies such as
social, mobility, analytics and
cloud.
But, billing rate pressures
continue in a highly
competitive environment, even
as global economic growth is
perking up. Consequently,
CRISIL Research forecasts the
industry growth rate to remain
below 15 per cent annually
over the next two years.
According to the disclosures
made by Tier-I IT companies,
volume growth (in terms of

man-month billing) bottomed
out since the second half of
2012-13. CRISIL Research
expects that growth in volumes
will be the only means for
Indian IT companies to boost
revenues in the medium-term.
Mid-tier players have lagged
larger players in overall revenue
growth recovery in the past few
quarters.
Taking
into
consideration the interactions
with players and their
guidance, CRISIL Research
expects mid-tier players to
grow faster than Tier-I players
in the second half of 2014-15
(over a low base).
Rate cut by RBI will give good
fillip to economy says Jaitley
Union Finance Minister Arun

Jaitley has said that since
inflation has moderated, if RBI
[Reserve Bank of India], which
is a highly professional
organisation, in its wisdom
decides to bring down the cost
of capital [it] will give a good
fillip to the Indian economy.
The Finance Minister was
delivering the key note address
at the Citis Investor Summit:
India Poised for Higher
Growth. Also present were
Finance Ministry officers and
RBI Deputy Governor S.S.
Mundra.
Indias Exports fall in October
Indias exports shrunk first time

this fiscal in October, declining
minus - 5.04 per cent to $26.09
billion.
Septembers exports were
$28.90 billion. A nearly fourfold surge to $4.17 billion in
gold imports during the Diwali
month of October against $1.09
billion in the same month last
year widened the trade deficit
to $13.36 billion. The trade
deficit was $14.25 billion in
September.
Reserve Bank Deputy Governor
S. S. Mundra told reporters here
on Monday that over the past
two-three days the central
bank was in deliberations with
the Modi Government on the
steps required to be taken in
view of the sharp surge in gold
imports. He was responding to
questions on if curbs on
importing gold could be
brought back.
Overall imports rose 3.62 per
cent to $39.45 billion,
according to the latest official
trade data released. Especially
worrying is a 9-per cent decline
in engineering exports.
JSW Energy agrees to acquire
two hydro projects from Jaypee
The prolonged Jaypee power
deal was closed with billionaire
Sajjan Jindal signing an
agreement with Manoj Gaur to
acquire two hydro power
31

Economy
projects of Jaiprakash Power
Ventures Ltd (JVPL) for Rs 9700
crore.
JSW Energy said it had

executed documents to
acquire 100 per cent stake in
the two power plants with a
combined capacity of 1391
MW from JPVL and other
shareholders.
The board of directors of JPVL
has approved the transfer of
300 MW Baspa II HydroElectric project and the 1091
MW Karcham Wangtoo HydroElectric project, both located
in Himachal Pradesh, into a
separate company called
Himachal Baspa Power
Company Ltd (HBPC Ltd) as a
going concern through a
scheme of arrangement which
would be acquired by JSW
Energy.
Subsequent to the scheme of
arrangement being made effective and subject to other terms
and conditions agreed between the company and JPVL,
JSW Energy proposes to acquire 100 per cent of the securities of HBPC Ltd held by
JPVL, JSW Energy said in a filing to the stock exchanges.
This acquisition opens a new
chapter in JSW Energy and
makes it the largest hydro energy producer in the private
sector. With this the company
total generation capacity including thermal will go up to
4531 MW.
32
Currently the company is

setting up a 240 MW hydro
power plant in Himachal
Pradesh. Both the acquired
power plants have 29 years and
37 years life respectively and
can be extended for another
20 years, the company said.
This is an attractive deal for our
shareholders as it is expected
to be earning accretive on
closure. Our strategy is to
increase capacity many fold
and create synergy through a
mix of organic and inorganic
opportunities supported by
excellence on operation,
Sajjan Jindal, Chairman and
Managing Director, JSW Energy
said.
ING Vysya Bank decided to
merge with Kotak Mahindra
Bank
In an all stock amalgamation,

ING Vysya Bank decided to
merge with Kotak Mahindra
Bank, creating the fourth largest
private sector bank in the
country.
ING Vysya shareholders will
receive 725 shares in Kotak for
1,000 shares of ING Vysya. The
share exchange ratio is
considered fair and reasonable
given the underlying value of
ING Vysya, as also giving
shareholders the ability to
benefit from the potential that
can be realised upon merging
into Kotak, a press release
issued jointly by Kotak

Mahindra Bank and ING Vysya
Bank stated.
This exchange ratio indicates
an implied price of Rs.790 for
each ING Vysya share based on
the average closing price of
Kotak shares during one month
to November 19, 2014, which
is a 16 per cent premium to a
like measure of ING Vysya
market price, it added.
The proposed merger would
result in issuance of
approximately 15.2 per cent of
the equity share capital of the
merged Kotak.
One of ING Vysyas directors
will be joining the Board of
Directors of Kotak.
The merger decision was taken
at their respective board
meetings of Kotak Mahindra
Bank and the ING Vysya Bank.
The amalgamation is subject to
the
approval
of
the
shareholders of Kotak and ING
Vysya respectively, Reserve
Bank of India under the
Banking Regulation Act, the
Competition Commission of
India and such other regulatory
approvals as may be required.
Upon obtaining all approvals,
when the merger becomes
effective, all ING Vysya
branches and employees will
become Kotak branches and
employees. ING Vysyas CEO
designate, Uday Sareen, will be
inducted into the top
management of Kotak reporting
directly to Uday Kotak,
Executive Vice Chairman and
Managing Director of Kotak.
Labour ministry proposed

new law for small factories
The Labour Ministry has
proposed the Small Factories

Economy
and Conditions of Services) Bill
to govern wages and
conditions of work in small and
medium enterprises (SMEs).
The Bill envisages rules for
wages, overtime hours, social
security and appointment of
factory inspectors in units
employing fewer than 40
workers.
While the government introduced the Factories Act

(Amendment) Bill, 2014 in the
Lok Sabha in August, the new
Bill has been proposed to align
the work conditions in the
SMEs with the Factories Act
amendments and allow enterprises to file compliance forms
online as the government announced earlier this month.
There was a demand from the
SME sector for a separate Act
to govern them. In line with
that, this Act will reduce the
number of forms required for
compliance with rules. It will
allow the SMEs to employ
women in night shifts based on
the fulfilment of certain conditions.
It will change the inspection
system to one based on selfcertification and inspections
based on computer lots as announced by the government
earlier this month, a senior
Labour Ministry official says.
The Bill builds on the Labour
Laws (Exemption from Furnishing Returns and Maintaining
Registers by Certain Establishments) Amendment Bill, 2011,

which increases the number of
laws under which units will be
exempt from maintaining registers and filings returns, he
adds.
interconnect charges, which

one telecom operator pays to
another for completing calls
and SMSs.
ATM use over 5

times will attract fee now
Using ATMs (automated teller

machines) to withdraw money
or for other purposes such as
balance enquiry beyond five
times in a month will attract a
levy of Rs.20 a transaction from
Saturday.
According to the Reserve Bank
of Indias new guidelines that
come into force from Saturday,
bank customers in six metros
Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai,
Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bangalore are allowed to withdraw
money and/or carry out non-financial transactions like ministatements at ATMs of banks,
where they hold saving/current
accounts, free of charge only
five times a month.
Every transaction beyond this
threshold will be charged Rs.20
per use. Besides, the number
of free transactions at ATMs of
non-home banks has been cut
to three times a month from five
times.
TRAI will start review of
telecom interconnect charges
Telecom regulator TRAI is likely
to review this week
In the previous review,

Telecom Regulatory Authority
of India has reduced interconnect charges, leading to reduction in tariffs.
TRAI has plans to start process
to review IUC (inter usage connection) charges this week,.
This would be second IUC review by TRAI after the one in
2009. The regulation was
framed in 2003.
At present, TRAI had fixed a
mobile call termination charge
at 20 paise per minute for all
local and national long-distance charges. This charge earlier varied between 15 to 50
paise depending on the distance.
This means that a telecom company now pays 20 paise per
minute charge to the other
company on whose network
call has been made.
The regulator raised the MTC
(mobile termination charge) for
incoming international calls to
40 paise per minute from 30
paise, while putting a ceiling on
carriage fee of 65 paise per
minute for domestic longdistance calls.
Core industries growth
drops to 1.9 % in September
Growth of the eight core
industries dropped to 1.9 per
33

Economy
cent in September from 9 per
cent in the same month last year
due to fall in output of crude
oil, natural gas, refinery
products and fertilizer. The
growth stood at 5.8 per cent in
August.
in global crude prices that will

reduce the oil subsidy bill.
Crude oil, natural gas, refinery

products and fertilizer output
registered a drop of 1.1 per
cent, 6.2 per cent, 2.5 per cent
and
11.6
per
cent,
respectively, in the month
under review, according to the
data released by the
Commerce and Industry
Ministry.
Expansion in other four sectors
coal, cement, steel and
electricity stood at 7.2 per
cent, 3.2 per cent, 4 per cent
and 3.8 per cent, respectively,
against a rise of 13.6 per cent,
12.1 per cent, 10.7 per cent
and 12.9 per cent rise,
respective, in September,
2013.
During the April-September
period, the eight sectors grew
by 4 per cent against 5 per cent
in the same period a year-ago.
Fiscal deficit touches 83% of
full-year target in first 6 months
The fiscal deficit reached
nearly 83 per cent of its fullyear target in the first half of this
fiscal, giving the government a
tough job meeting its budget
target even with help from a fall
34
A 25 per cent fall in oil prices

since June has helped Prime
Minister Narendra Modis
government contain oil and
fertilizer subsidies, but revenue
growth has been slow. In his
maiden budget, Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley had
targeted a reduction in the
fiscal deficit to 4.1 per cent of
the gross domestic product in
the current fiscal year, down
from 4.5 per cent in the previous
year.
Prime Minister Modi ordered
bureaucrats to stop flying firstclass, as part of austerity drive
aimed at reducing discretionary
spending by 10 per cent in the
fiscal year to March, 2015.
The fiscal deficit was Rs.4.39
lakh crore ($71.5 billion) during
April-September, or 82.6 per
cent of the full-year target,
government data showed on
Friday.
The deficit was 76 per cent
during the comparable period
in the previous fiscal year. Net
tax receipts totalled Rs.3.23
lakh crore ($52.60 billion) in six
months of the fiscal year.
Officials are worried that slow
growth in tax collections could
force the government to cut
capital spending as it has done
in the past two years, in order
to maintain its credit ratings.
The government aims to raise
about $9.5 billion from the sale
of shares in state-run
companies and minority stakes
in private companies this fiscal
year, but it has still to start the
process.
Committee on Economic Affairs
hikes MSP for Rabi crops
The Cabinet Committee on

Economic Affairs has hiked the
minimum support price (MSP)
for several Rabi crops.
These include wheat, barley,
gram, Masur lentil, rapeseed or
mustard and safflower. The
prices are for the 2014-2015
season which will be marketed
in next fiscal.
The MSP of wheat has been
hiked from Rs. 1,400 to Rs.
1,450, barley from Rs. 1,100 to
Rs. 1,150, gram from Rs. 3,100
to Rs. 3,175, Masur from Rs.
2,950 to Rs. 3,075, rapeseed
from Rs. 3,050 to Rs. 3,100 and
safflower from Rs. 3,000 to Rs.
3,050.
The prices have been decided
by the Commission for
Agricultural Costs and Prices.
Finance Ministry cuts
non-Plan spending by 10%
The Finance Ministry ordered
a mandatory 10 per cent cut in
the
Centres
non-Plan
expenditure for 2014-15.
The cut does not cover interest
payment, repayment of debt,
defence capital, salaries,
pension or Finance Commission

Economy
grants to States, says a circular.
Subsidies will face the brunt of
the cuts.
The UPA government too had

in place austerity measures. For
2013-14, former Finance
Minister P. Chidambaram rolled
out cuts of 15 per cent on
average across both Plan and
non-Plan expenditures. Union
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley
has spared Plan expenditure
from his 10 per cent spending
cut.
A Finance Ministry release said
the objective of the fiscal prudence and economy measures
was the need to rationalise expenditure and optimise available resources.
The Ministry revived its standard measures, including curbs
on conferences abroad or in
five-star hotels, purchase of
vehicles and staff cars, travel
curbs on flying first class and
ban on new posts.
Black money could add $30
billion to forex reserves: BofAML
The unearthing of capital flight

of black money Indians have
allegedly stashed away in Swiss

banks could add USD 30 billion
to the countrys forex reserves,
says a Bank of America Merrill
Lynch (BofA-ML) report.
According to the global
financial services major, though
there would not be any
immediate forex impact given
the legal issues involved, it
could add USD 30-35 billion to
the forex reserves over time.
BofA-ML has worked with an
estimate of capital flight of
about USD 200 billion based
on a recent research study.
According to the study,
Raghbendra Jha and Duc
Nguyen Truong, of Australian
National University, estimated
total capital flight of more than
USD 186 billion during 19982012.
If even half of this is
unearthed, it could add USD
30-35 billion (three to four
months of current import cover)
to forex reserves over time,
BofA-ML said in a research note.
What would normally be a

controversial move became
palatable as decontrol actually
made retail diesel prices in
India cheaper by more than
Rs.3 a litre. With petrol prices
having
already
been
deregulated, the government
has also rationalised the
payment of LPG subsidies to the
really needy.
However, the point needs to be
made that if the unexpected
fall in global prices has given a
unique opportunity for reform,
the real test for policymakers
will come when oil prices move
up from their present low
levels.
Real reform here would require
them to stay away during
different phases of the
petroleum price cycle. Unless
of course there are oil shocks
that create crisis situations
crying out for government
interventions.
India worlds 4th largest
steel maker in Jan-Sept
Reforming India faces

an uncertain global situation
The linkage between the
Indian economy and the global
economy, always important for
policymakers, has become
pronounced recently. As the
Modi-led NDA government
embarks on some long-pending
but overdue reforms in the
petroleum and energy sectors,
the dynamics of the global
environment
become
particularly evident.
The decontrol of diesel prices,
for long thought of but not
implemented due mainly to
political considerations, could
be implemented at last as
global oil prices took a tumble.
With 62.41 million tonnes

output, India remains the
worlds fourth largest steel
producer in the first nine
months of the current year,
preceded by China, Japan and
the US.
World Steel Association (WSA)
data showed Indias steel
production grew by 1.8 per
cent, the second highest
35

Economy
among the top four steel
producing nations, during the
January-September period
from 61.27 MT in the same
period last year.
India has been the worlds
fourth largest steel maker for the
last four years. The order is
likely to remain unchanged in
current year too, an industry
expert said.
36
During the first nine months,

China produced 618 MT steel
which is a little more than half
of worlds total production at
1,231 MT.
China logged 2.3 per cent
growth during the period. But
its steel production remained
static in September, as per data
revealed by WSA, at 67.5 MT
when compared with the same

month last year.
Japan remained the remote
second with 83.1 MT
production during the ninemonth period clocking just 0.8
per cent growth over 82.4 MT
production in the same period
last year.
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Science & Technology
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Virgin Galactic spacecraft
appears to have broken
apart in flight
The head of the federal agency

examining fatal crash of a Virgin
Galactic passenger spaceship
during a test flight in Californias
Mojave Desert confirmed that
the vehicle had broken apart
in flight.
The debris field indicates an
in-flight breakup, Christopher
Hart, acting chairman of the
National Transportation Safety
Board (NTSB), told Reuters.
Well know that for certainty
when we look at all the sources
we have, he said.
The NTSB is leading the
investigation into Fridays crash
of SpaceShip Two, which was
undergoing its first powered
test flight since January when
it crashed, spreading debris
over a 5-mile (8 km) swath of
the Mojave Desert north of Los
Angeles.
Citing a source familiar with the
nascent investigation, the
report said video and early data
was focusing on aerodynamic
forces that could have led to
its downing.
Wearing Google Glass may

cause blind spots in vision:
study
Wearing Google Glass may

partially obstruct peripheral
vision, causing blind spots that
could interfere with daily tasks
such as driving, a new study has
found.
Peripheral visual field is a main
component of vision and
essential for daily activities such
as driving, pedestrian safety
and sports.
Conventional spectacle frames
can reduce visual field,
sometimes causing absolute
blind spots, and head mounted
devices have even more
pronounced
frames,
researchers said.
Government cautious about
tapping nuclear energy for
power generation
Power, Coal and Renewable
Energy Minister Piyush Goyal
said nuclear energy offers
potential, but the government
will remain cautious about
tapping it for power generation.
Power, Coal and Renewable
Energy Minister Piyush Goyal
said nuclear energy offers
potential, but the government

will remain cautious about
tapping it for power generation.
On nuclear energy, Mr.Goyal

pointed out that the US and
many European nations have
stopped setting up nuclear
plants. This government would
like to be cautious so that we
are not saddled with something
only under the garb of clean
energy or alternate energy;
something which the West has
discarded and is sought to be
brought to India, he said.
Asked about the logjam that has
emerged due to the Nuclear
Liability Law, the minister said,
Nuclear has potential and
opportunities for India. This
government is opening to all
options... in nuclear, we are
seized of the problem and we
are already trying to see how
we can address nuclear liability
restrictions.
He also pointed out that as yet
there is no estimate on the lifecycle costs of nuclear power
right up to de-commissioning
stage.
Mr. Goyals observations
assume significance because
so far countries promised
contracts for nuclear reactors
37


had been pressurising India to
change its nuclear liability law.
The US, France and, to a lesser
extent, Russia are upset
because nothing has moved
since 2008 when then Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh
assured 10,000 MW of reactors
to two US companies, six
reactors to French company
Areva and up to 16 plants by
Russias Atomstroyexport.
The commitment was in exchange for ending Indias isolation from the civil nuclear
commerce mainstream after
the first nuclear explosion in
1974. As a result, the US along
with France and Russian
helped India secure an exemption from the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
French Scientists find
mechanism for spontaneous
HIV cure
This, in turn, was likely due to

stimulation of an enzyme that
may in future be targeted for
drug treatment to induce the
same response, they said.
This finding represents an
avenue for a cure, study coauthor Didier Raoult of the
French Institute of Health and
Medical Research (Inserm)
told.
Neither of the men, one
diagnosed HIV positive 30
years ago and the other in 2011,
have ever been ill, and the
AIDS-causing virus cannot be
detected with routine tests of
their blood.
In both, the virus was unable to
replicate due to DNA coding
changes that the researchers
proposed were the result of a
spontaneous
evolution
between humans and the virus
that is called endogenisation.
We propose that HIV cure
may occur through HIV
endogenisation in humans,
they wrote. The teams said they
did not believe the two
patients were unique or that
the phenomenon was new.
The Antarctic ozone
hole stands steady: scientists
As many as 1,482 French

scientists unveiled the genetic
mechanism by which they
believe two men were
spontaneously cured of HIV,
and said the discovery may
offer a new strategy in the fight
against AIDS.
In both asymptomatic men, the
AIDS-causing virus was inactivated due to an altered HIV
gene coding integrated into
human cells, they wrote in the
journal Clinical Microbiology
and Infection.
38
The Antarctic ozone hole

reached its peak size in
September, stretching to 24.1
million square kilometres,
almost the same size as last
years peak, scientists say.
The ozone hole, which forms

annually in the August to
October period, had peaked to
24 million square kilometres in
September last year.
In comparison, the largest
ozone hole area recorded to
date on a single day was on
September 9, 2000, at 29.9
million square kilometres.
The ozone layer helps shield
life on Earth from potentially
harmful ultraviolet (UV)
radiation that can cause skin
cancer, damage plants and
phytoplankton the top of the
oceanic food chain.
The good news is that our
measurements show less
thinning of the ozone over the
South Pole during the past three
years, said Bryan Johnson, a
researcher with The National
Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA)s Earth
System Research Laboratory in
Boulder, Colorado.
However, the rate at which
ozone thins during the month
of September has remained
about the same for the past two
decades. A decrease in this rate
will be an important sign of
recovery, said Johnson.
South Pole balloon-borne
ozonesonde observations
measured a minimum amount
of 120 Dobson Units of ozone
this year on September 29.
Ozonesonde measurements of
250 Dobson Units in August are
common just before the rapid
destruction of ozone in
September, researchers said.
European Space agency
published first picture
from the surface of a comet
The European Space Agency
published the first image taken


from the surface of a comet and
said that its Philae lander is still
stable despite a failure to
latch on properly to the rocky
terrain.
million miles) between Earth

and the Rosetta orbiter.
Schwehm said it may still be
possible to fire the harpoons
but that this would be done
only if it doesnt imperil the
lander.
Role of El Nino in heat

build-up in Indian Ocean: Study
The lander scored a historic first

Wednesday, touching down on
comet
67P/ChuryumovGerasimenko after a decadelong, 6.4 billion-kilometer (4
billion-mile) journey through
space aboard its mother ship
Rosetta.
Scientists jubilation was
slightly dampened because the
harpoons which were meant to
anchor the lander to the surface
failed to deploy, causing it to
bounce twice before it came
to rest on the comets 4
kilometer-wide body, or
nucleus.
Philae is stable, sitting on the
nucleus and is producing data,
Gerhard Schwehm, a scientist
on the Rosetta mission, told The
Associated Press. The lander
is very healthy.
The photo sent back to Earth
shows a rocky surface, with one
of the landers three feet in the
corner of the frame.
Scientists are still analyzing
what effect the two bounces
had on the spacecraft and plan
to release further details at a
news briefing at 2 p.m.
Communication with the lander
is slow, with signals taking more
than 28 minutes to travel some
500 million kilometres (300
The Indian Ocean has been

warming at a rate faster than
thought before (1.2 deg C
during the past century). It is
also the largest consistent
contributor to the global ocean
warming trends. Recent studies
show that a warm Indian
Ocean can in turn modulate the
Pacific conditions including
the El Nino events. So basically,
such large warming over the
Indian Ocean has implications
on the global climate.
The western Indian Ocean,
traditionally thought to have
cooler
sea
surface
temperatures (SSTs) than the
central and eastern Indian
Ocean, is surprisingly showing
an even stronger summer
warming trend over the whole
of the 20th century than the
central and eastern Indian
Ocean.
The warming is significantly so
large that it may alter the
monsoon circulation, monsoon
rainfall over the ocean and land,
marine food webs and fisheries
(western Indian Ocean is one
of the most productive oceans)
and global climate including
the El Nino.
A recent study focused on the
causes for this warming and
found that it was mainly due to
El Nino events, which are
getting stronger and more
frequent during recent
decades, possibly due to a

changing climate.
These El Nino events weaken
the summer westerly (blowing
from west to east) winds over
the Indian Ocean.
Winds have the effect of
cooling the sea surface. Strong
winds cause evaporation and
loss of latent heat from the
ocean leading to cooling.
When the winds are weakened
the opposite happens the
ocean warms.
The study published recently
in the Journal of Climate was
undertaken by Dr. Roxy
Mathew Koll of the Indian
Institute
of
Tropical
Meteorology, Pune and coauthored by Ritika Kapoor,
Pascal Terray and Sebastien
Masson.
This work is part of an IndoFrench collaboration, carried
out under the National
Monsoon Mission set up by the
Ministry of Earth Sciences.
Bone marrow stem cell

treatment has no added benefit
Bone marrow stem cell

treatment has no added
benefit over the conventional
treatment in paralysis, also
known as stroke, reveals a study
conducted by AIIMS.
According to the study,
people suffering from ischemic
stroke should exercise caution
while opting for stem cell
39

therapy of any kind until more

controlled studies come to the
fore.
The study financed by the
Department of Biotechnology,
Ministry of Science and
Technology, was conducted
over a period of six years
between 2008 and 2014 and
had sample size of 120 patients,
all of whom had suffered from
stroke.
Of the 120 patients, 60 patients
were assigned to receive
conventional treatment and the
rest were assigned to bone
marrow stem cells treatment
besides the conventional
treatment.
While half of the patients
underwent conventional
treatment, the other half
underwent stem cell aspiration
from hip bone. Bone marrow
cells were infused into the
veins of their forearms, the
study stated.
On an average 28 crore bone
marrow cells were injected of
which blood forming stem cells
were on average 29 lakhs per
patient. Later, the patients
faced difficulties in using arms
and legs.
They were assessed at an
interval of 3, 6 months and 12
months and the difficulties they
experienced doing various
activities of daily livings were
measured using two scales
which revealed that stem cell
treatment is safe but there is no
added benefits over the
conventional
treatment
method.
Agni-II ballistic missile

test-fired from Wheeler Island
India test-fired the nuclear
weapon-capable Agni-II
40
ballistic missile for its full strike

range of 2,000 km from Wheeler
Island off the Odisha Coast.
Personnel of the Strategic
Forces Command (SFC) fired
the surface-to-surface missile
from a mobile launcher.
The 20-metre-tall Agni-II

zoomed to an altitude of 600
km and began its descent
before splashing near its predesignated impact point in the
Bay of Bengal with two-digit
accuracy.
A battery of sophisticated
radars, electro-optical systems
and telemetry stations along
the east coast tracked the
trajectory and monitored
various parameters of the
missile from the launch till the
terminal phase during the 14minute flight. Two downrange
ships recorded the final event
as the dummy warhead
detonated.
The exercise was carried out
as regular user training under
the supervision of missile
scientists from the Defence
Research and Development
Organisation (DRDO), which
designed and developed the
weapon system. The two-stage
missile has been inducted for
military use and can carry a onetonne payload.
V.G. Sekaran, Director-General,
DRDO (Missiles and Strategic
Systems); M.V.K.V. Prasad,
Director of Integrated Test
Range; Lakshminarayana,
Project Director; senior DRDO
scientists; and Army officials
were present.
A top DRDO official lauded the
SFC team for displaying
clockwork precision. This
gives lot of confidence in a
combat kind of situation, he
said.
Terming Agni-II a workhorse,
the official said the overall
mission objectives were met
precisely. The navigation,
guidance and control aspects
of this class of missile were
proven once again.
NASA tests 3D-printed
parts for rocket engine
NASA has successfully tested

3D manufactured copper parts
for rocket engines and found
they could withstand the heat
and pressure required for
space launches.
Aerojet Rocketdyne (AR) at
NASAs Glenn Research Centre
in partnership with NASA
successfully completed the
first hot-fire tests on an
advanced rocket engine thrust
chamber assembly using
copper alloy materials.
This was the first time a series
of rigorous tests confirmed that
3D manufactured copper parts
could withstand the heat and
pressure
required
of
combustion engines used in
space launches, NASA said.


In all, NASA and AR
conducted 19 hot-fire tests on
four injector and thrust chamber
assembly configurations,
exploring various mixture ratios
and injector operability points
and were deemed fully
successful against the planned
test programme.
The successful hot fire test of
subscale engine components
provides confidence in the
additive
manufacturing
process and paves the way for
full scale development, said
Tyler Hickman, lead engineer
for the test at Glenn.
The work is a major milestone
in the development and
certification of different
materials used in this
manufacturing process, NASA
said.
According to AR, copper
alloys offer unique challenges
to the additive manufacturing
processes. The micro-structure
and material properties can be
well below typical copper.
So they have worked through a
regimented process to optimise
and lock down processing
characteristics and have
performed rigorous materials
tests to know how the alloy
performs structurally.
Air Force personnel to destroy

one fast moving Banshee
unmanned aerial vehicles and
a simulated electronic target at
the Integrated Test Range at
Chandipur, in Odisha.
While one missile hit and
destroyed the target in a low
altitude near boundary mission,
the other missile war head
detonated in the vicinity of the
simulated target in a far
boundary high altitude
exercise.
Fridays flight trials were
preceded by simultaneous
launch of two Akash missiles
against flying targets.
The current series of tests,
which culminated, were
conducted for acceptance of
new production lot of the
missiles. In all, nine missiles
were tested since November
17 as part of the training
exercise for IAF personnel.
CO2 emissions must be zero by

2070 to prevent disaster: U.N.
Two Akash missiles

tested again
Two Akash Surface-to-Air

supersonic missiles were fired
in quick succession by Indian
The world must cut CO2 emissions to zero by 2070 at the latest to keep global warming
below dangerous levels and
prevent a global catastrophe,
the U.N. warns.
By 2100, all greenhouse gas
emissions including
methane, nitrous oxide and
ozone, as well as CO2 must
fall to zero, the United Nationals
Environment Programme
(UNEP) report says , or the

world will face what
Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC)
scientists have described as
severe, widespread and
irreversible effects from
climate change.
The UNEP report published is
based on the idea that the
planet has a finite carbon
budget. Since emissions
surged in the late 19th century,
some 1,900 Gigatonnes (Gt) of
CO2 and 1,000 Gt of other
greenhouse gases have already
been emitted, leaving less than
1,000 Gt of CO2 left to emit
before locking the planet in to
dangerous temperature rises of
more than 2C above preindustrial levels.
Jacqueline McGlade, UNEPs
chief scientist, told The
Guardian that scientific
uncertainties about the
remaining carbon budget had
diminished and the real
uncertainty now was whether
politicians had the will to act.
The big uncertainty is whether
you can put enough policies in
place from 2020-2030 in the
critical window to allow the
least-cost pathways [to lower
emissions and temperatures] to
still stand a chance of being
followed, she said. The uncertainties have shifted from the
science to the politics.
All scenarios in the UNEP
report now require some
degree of negative CO2
emissions in the second half of
the
century,
through
technologies such as carbon
capture and storage or,
possibly,
controversial,
planetary wide engineering of
the climate known as geoengineering.
UNEP
is
41


extremely interested in the
subject and is planning a report
in the months ahead.
Consideration should also be
given to compensatory
schemes for investors in fossil
fuels companies to address the
stranded assets issue, Ms.
McGlade added.
Western Ghats facing significant
conservation concerns: IUCN
World Heritage Sites such as
the Western Ghats, Manas
Wildlife Sanctuary, Kaziranga
National Park and Sundarbans
are
facing
significant
conservation
concerns,
according to an International
Union for Conservation of
Nature (IUCN) assessment.
The IUCN World Heritage
Outlook report, released at the
ongoing World Park Congress
at Sydney, had assessed 228
World Heritage sites for natural
values.
While none of the seven Indian
sites qualified to be included
in the good category, the
Great Himalayan National Park,
Nanda Devi and Valley of
Flowers National Parks and
Keoladeo National Parks were
assessed as good with some
concerns. There were no
Indian sites in the critical
category.
The report attempted to
recognise well-managed sites
for their conservation efforts
and encourage the transfer of
good management practices
between sites and identified
the
most
pressing
conservation issues affecting
natural World Heritage sites and
the actions needed to remedy
those issues.
42
The 39 serial sites of Ghats,

which were inscribed in 2012
amid some controversy, are
under increasing population
and developmental pressure
that requires intensive and
targeted management efforts to
ensure that not only are existing
values conserved, but that
some past damage may be
remediated, it said.
The sites that are traditionally
conserved
by
small
populations of indigenous
people leading sustainable
lifestyles,
face
many
challenges. The serial sites of
Ghats are spread across Kerala,
Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and
Maharashtra.
NASA successfully installs first
zero-gravity 3D printer on ISS
NASA successfully installed the

worlds first zero-gravity 3D
printer on the International
Space Station (ISS) to help
astronauts experiment with
additive manufacturing in
microgravity.
NASA astronaut Barry Wilmore
installed the 3D printer,
designed and built by Made in
Space, inside the Microgravity
Science Glovebox (MSG) on
the ISS.
The printer was launched in
September aboard the
SpaceX 4 resupply mission to
the ISS.
This is a very exciting day for
me and the rest of the team. We
had to conquer many technical
challenges to get the 3D printer
to this stage, said Mike Snyder,
lead engineer of Californiabased startup Made in Space,
in a statement.
The goal of the 3D Printing in
Zero-G
technology
demonstration
is
an
experiment to explore the use
of additive manufacturing
technology as a reliable
platform for sustained in-space
manufacturing.
The first phase of printing will
include, among other things, a
series of engineering test
coupons which will be
returned to Earth for analysis
and compared to control
samples which were made
with the same 3D printer while
it was at NASAs Marshall
Space Flight Centre in
Huntsville, Alabama, prior to
launch.
This experiment has been an
advantageous first stepping
stone to the future ability to
manufacture a large portion of
materials and equipment in
space that has been
traditionally launched from
Earth surface, which will
completely change our
methods of exploration, said
Mr. Snyder.
The science collected from this
printer will directly feed into
the commercial printer flying
up in 2015, which will enable a
fast and cost-effective way for
people to get hardware to
space.
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SPORTS
Manavaditya Rathore wins
gold at Asian Championships
Manavaditya Rathore, son of

Olympic silver medallist
Rajyavardhan Rathore, clinched
the gold medal in junior mens
trap at the 4th Asian Shotgun
Championships. Rathore shot
114 out of 125 to win the junior
trap event in a shoot-off.
Lewis Hamilton wins US
Grand Prix
Race by race and point by

point, Lewis Hamilton is
tightening his grip on the
Formula
One
world
championship and squeezing
out Mercedes teammate Nico
Rosberg.
This whole season has been
incredible, Hamilton said after
playfully taking former world
champion Mario Andrettis
black Stetson cowboy hat on
the winners podium. I

pushed as hard as I could.
Mercedes had another 1-2 finish in a dominating season that
has pushed Hamilton and
Rosberg well clear of the pack
in the title chase. Red Bulls
Daniel Ricciardo was third for
his eighth podium finish on the
season.
603 runs to beat Pakistan in the

second test after captain
Misbah-ul Haq matched the
record for the fastest century
in Tests and broke that of the
fastest fifty.
Sardar singh to lead hockey

squad for Australia tour
Sardar Singh will lead a 21member Indian mens hockey

squad for the four-match Test
tour of Australia to be held in
Perth from November 4 to 9.
Post bagging the gold medal at
the 17th Asian Games in
Incheon, the tour of Australia is
being organised as part of
preparation for the upcoming
FIH Champions Trophy 2014,
to be held in Bhubaneswar December 6-14.
Besides the four Tests, India
will also play a training game
against Australia A on November 1 at the Perth Hockey Stadium.
Misbah-ul Haq record
ton leads Pakistan
Australia lost two quick wickets
chasing a mammoth target of
Misbah reached his century in

56 balls, matching the record
set by West Indian great Sir
Vivian Richards, who achieved
the feat against England in
1986.
Earlier, the 40-year-old reached
his 50 in just 21 deliveries with
the last ball before lunch,
turning Mitchell Starc toward
the mid-wicket boundary for
three runs, eclipsing the
previous record of fastest 50
from 24 balls by South Africas
Jacques Kallis against
Zimbabwe at Newlands in
2005.
It was only the second time that
two teammates made centuries
in both innings of a test match.
The previous occasion was in
Wellington in 1974 when Australian brothers Ian (145, 121)
and Greg Chappell (247 not
out, 133) managed to do it.
Misbah got to his fifty in just 23
minutes, and took a further 34
balls and 51 minutes to reach
his hundred. In all, Misbah
43

Sports
slammed five sixes and 11
fours.
MS Dhoni as captain of
ICC ODI Team of the Year
Mahendra Singh Dhoni was

named captain of ICC ODI
Team of the Year but none of
the Indian players found berth
in governing bodys Test Team
of the Year led by Sri Lankan
Angelo Mathews.
The ICC cricket committee
headed by former India
captain
Anil
Kumble
announced the two teams
consisting of 12 players each.
While 12-member ODI team for
performance during 2014 had
Dhoni as captain along with his
Indian team deputy Virat Kohli
and pacer Mohammed Shami
in the XI, opener Rohit Sharma
has been named as the 12th
man.
The resignation, however, is

subject to further talks between
the parties concerned in the
next one month, but the blame
game has already begun.
Walsh, who took charge of the
team exactly a year ago, led
India to its only third Asian
Games title recently at
Incheon, securing a berth at the
2016 Olympics. However, despite visible improvements during his tenure, Walsh had been
under constant pressure. It was
said he was close to losing his
job after Indias disappointing
performance at the World Cup
earlier this year.
I am finding considerable difficulty adjusting to the deci-
sion-making style of the sporting bureaucracy in India which

I believe, in the long term, is
not in the best interests of Indian hockey or its players,
Walsh wrote in his resignation
letter to the Sports Authority of
India (SAI) director-general Jiji
Thomson.
The entire issue is about the
decision-making process in Indian bureaucracy. I find it difficult to work in a professional
manner in this system. We are
now at a place where we are
seeing if we can adjust the way
it operates. But there are issues
that we have to solve if we have
to go forward, Walsh said. He,
however, ruled out any monetary dispute with SAI.
ODI World record by Rohit Sharma (264), Sri Lanka 251
Terry Walsh quits as chief coach

of hockey team
A world record 264 by Indias
Rohit Sharma and a mammoth
404 for five in 50 overs was
enough for India to plunge Sri
Lanka to its fourth straight defeat in the fourth ODI of the
Micromax Cup series.
The Indian mens hockey team
chief coach Terry Walsh
resigned from the post, citing
difficulty in working under the
present system of governance.
44
Prakash creates new

national record
Sajan Prakash of Railways sank
the mens 1500m freestyle
record before booking a ticket
to the FINA World championships on the second day of 68th

senior National aquatic championship at the Subhas Sarobar
swimming complex.
Prakash was definitely the toast
of the day, creating the lone
record with his brilliant effort
even as Sandeep Sejwal and
Virdhawal Khade won their
races 50m breaststroke and
50m freestyle to maintain
their supremacy in the format.

Sports
Owner of a host of National
records Richa Mishra returned
from a two-year ban for doping
violation
keeping
her
dominance
almost
unmitigated.
Russia, Qatar to host
World Cups
Russia and Qatar were cleared

by a FIFA judge of corruption
in their winning bids for the
2018 and 2022 World Cups.
FIFA ethics judge Joachim
Eckert formally ended a probe
into the bidding contests, almost four years after the vote
by the governing bodys scandal-tainted executive committee. No proof was found of
bribes or voting pacts.
The evaluation of the 2018/
2022 FIFA World Cups bidding
process is closed for the FIFA
Ethics Committee, the German
judge wrote in a statement
released by FIFA.
The 2022 World Cup will
finally, it seems, be played in
Qatar though exactly when is
still unclear as FIFA seeks an
alternative to the desert heat in
June and July.
FIFA welcomes the fact that a
degree of closure has been
reached, the governing body
said Thursday in a statement.
As such, FIFA looks forward
to continuing the preparations
for Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022,
which are already well
underway.
The Qatari organizing

committee said it would study
the report before commenting.
Despite finding wrongdoing
among the 11 bidding nations,
Eckert said the integrity of the
December 2010 votes was not
affected.
In particular, the effects of
these occurrences on the
bidding process as a whole
were far from reaching any
threshold that would require
returning to the bidding
process, let alone reopening it,
he summarized.
The corruption case is still open
for past and current members
of FIFAs ruling board.
Maana Patel, Saurabh and P.S.
Madhu swim to new marks
Indias new wonder girl of

swimming, Maana Patel of
Gujarat, bettered her own mark
in the womens 100m
backstroke at the 68th senior
National
aquatic
championship.
The opening day saw two more
records in the mens section
with Saurabh Sangvekar of
Maharashtra and Services P.S.
Madhu eclipsing the previous
bests while winning the 400m
freestyle and 100m backstroke
events respectively.
The 14-year-old Maana
maintained the sequence of
creating records that she had

started in the senior nationals
at Thiruvananthapuram last
year. Manaa cut short her
previous best of 1:06.58 (set in
2013) by recording 1:05.47 in
the 100m backstroke heats.
She won the final but could not
better the timing set in the
morning.
I felt a lot energised in the
heats and also enjoyed a nice
rhythm to get that timing in the
heats. I could not warn up
properly ahead of the final and
that seemed to upset the
tempo, said Maana, who has
won five gold medals in the
junior Nationals with a record
in each effort.
Saurabhs outstanding performance in the first event of the
day where he beat the defending champion Sajan
Prakash of Railways to win the
mens 400m freestyle with a
record timing lit up the proceedings.
Saurabh made a perfect start
and led all along to win in
3:56.17 seconds, erasing the
record of 3:58.51 set by Sajan
in the previous Nationals. I had
timed 3.59 in the Incheon Asian
Games. Since then I am targeting 3.54 and am happy to reach
nearer to it today, said
Saurabh.
Madhu peaked at the right
moment as clocked a recordbreaking 57.95 seconds to beat
back the challenges of M.
Arvind of Karnataka and Rohit
Havaldar of Maharashtra, who
had the top two positions in the
heats.
Viswanathan Anand hits

back in style to level scores
As the popular phrase goes,
Revenge is a dish best served
cold. But in a match for the
45

Sports
World chess title, the sooner
you get even, the better it gets.
how much better Viswanathan

Anand was feeling on avenging
Sundays defeat to World
champion Magnus Carlsen
could be gauged by the return
of his customary, disarming
smile. By hitting back with
white pieces in Game 3 of the
12-game World championship
match in Sochi, Russia, Anand
has levelled the score to 1.51.5.
Tough draw for Srikanth; easy
for Saina in Hong Kong Open
Super Series
After their triumphant

campaign in China, where Saina
Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth
won titles, the Indian
contingent arrived in Kowloon
for the Hong Kong Open Super
Series which begins with the
qualifying round.
The Indian team will also be
bolstered by the arrival of twotime bronze medallist at the
world championships PV
Sindhu. The teen opted out of
the China Open due to illness.
46
Novak Djokovic wins

ATP world tour final
A mouthwatering finale to the

season ended before it even
began when Roger Federer
was forced to pull out prior to
the ATP World Tour Final showdown with Novak Djokovic.
The 33-year-old Swiss, who
spent nearly three hours late
beating compatriot Stanislas
Wawrinka in a gruelling semifinal, announced his decision on
court as the O2 Arena filled up
for the expected final.
Federer, who was bidding for
a seventh title at the yearender, apologised but said he
was not match-fit after
developing a back problem.
I hope you understand I
wanted to come out personally
and excuse myself for not
playing ... I cant compete
without a back at this level, he
told the crowd who still warmly
applauded, despite their
obvious disappointment.
ATP president Chris Kermode,
standing alongside Federer,
then announced that Andy
Murray, who failed to qualify for
the semifinals after being
thrashed by Federer, would
play Djokovic in a one-set exhibition match instead.
India wins silver
in Asian Beech Games
India settled for the mens 3x3
basketball silver medal at the
Asian Beach Games after losing
a close final to Qatar 21-20 at

Phuket, Thailand.
Vishesh Bhriguvanshi topscored for India with eight

points, while Amritpal Singh
netted six. India had beaten
Bangladesh 21-6 in the
semifinals and Turkmenistan 2111 in the quarterfinals earlier in
the day.
Deborah takes gold
at Track Asia Cup
Deborah overcame a bout of

fever and cold to claim the
womens 500m time trial gold
medal on the opening day of
the Track Asia Cup.
The youngster from Car
Nicobar of Andaman and
Nicobar islands performed
close to her best timing.
K. Srikanth breaks into
top ten in badminton ranking
Owing to his recent title victory
at the China Open in Fuzhou,
K. Srikanth climbed up six
places to achieve a career-best
10th in the mens singles
category of the latest
Badminton World Federation
(BWF) rankings released.

Sports
Yash Aradhya won the titles in
the Senior Max, Junior Max and
Micro Max events respectively
at the 11th JK Tyre-FMSCI
National
karting
championships,
which
concluded with the fifth and
final leg.
Olympic medallist Saina
Nehwal also jumped up a place
to move up the ladder to number 4 in the womens singles
rankings, even as P.V. Sindhu
managed to maintain her 10th
position in the list.
Srikanth, Saina win China Open
Bafna (Rayo Racing) played it

safe in the final leg and finished
fourth to make sure of the
overall championship.
Asian Beach Games in Phuket,

Thailand.
Apart from Sandhu, India won
two bronze medals from Kush
Kumar (mens singles) and
Aparajitha Balamurukan
(womens singles).
Harinder later said: This is a
superb tournament and I am
proud to win a gold medal for
my country. It has been a
memorable week.
Firstly, I was honoured when
IOA selected me to carry the
Indian flag at the opening ceremony and now, I am going
home with a gold medal. Playing outdoors was special, he
added.
Dhoni buys Ranchi
franchise of HIL
Championship winners :
Olympic bronze-medallist
Saina Nehwal clinched the $
700,000 China Open Super
Series Premier tournament after beating young Akane
Yamaguchi of Japan in the summit clash, in Fuzhou.
The World No. 5 Indian prevailed over the 17-year-old
Akane 21-12 22-20 in the
womens singles finals which
lasted 42 minutes at the Haixia
Olympic Sport Centre.
Young Indian shuttler K
Srikanth clinched his maiden
Super Series title after defeating two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan of China in the
mens singles events of China
Open Super Series Premier.
Bafna assured of title in
National karting championships
Ameya Bafna of Mumbai and
Bengalurus Ricky Donison and
Senior Max: Ameya Bafna (Rayo

Racing); Junior Max: Ricky
Donison (BFC Racing); Mirco
Max:Yash Aradhya (MECO
Racing) 196 points.
Final leg results: Senior Max: 1.
Chittesh Mandody (Mohites
Racing); 2. Nayan Chatterjee
(Rayo Racing); 3. Dhruv Mohite
(Mohites Racing).
Harinder Pal wins gold
in Asian Beach Games
Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu held

his own to defeat Hong Kongs
Yip Tsz Fung in an exciting
three-game affair to win gold
in the mens squash event at the
India cricket captain Mahendra

Singh Dhoni and Sahara Adventure Sports Limited are co
owners of new Ranchifranchise of Hockey Indian League
(HIL), Ranchi Rays, which was
unveiled.
Ranchi Rhinos, who were the
inaugural champions of HIL,
was scrapped following distrust between owners (Patel
PS Group and Uniexcel Group)
and Hockey India (HI).
Pankaj Advani first player
to bag billiards triple double
Pankaj Advani outplayed
Englands Robert Hall 1928893 in the final of the IBSF
World Billiards championship
47

Sports
(timed format) to complete a
grand double.
6-Red championship besides

the World Team billiards
championship before the
double here that took his
individual haul of world titles
to 10.
Lawis Hamilton emerges
the fastest
The 29-year-old, Bangalorebased Advani had won the title

in the points format (150-up)
last week.
Advani, who took a
stranglehold of the match
leading 746-485 at the half-way
mark, thus became the first
player ever to win titles in both
formats thrice, following his
double in 2005 and 2008.
Advani capped a phenomenal
year that saw him win the World
48
Lewis Hamilton topped the

charts ahead of Mercedes
teammate Nico Rosberg in
opening free practice session
for United States Grand Prix.
The 29-year-old Briton clocked
a best lap time of 1m 39.941s
to finish two-tenths of a second
clear of the German after the
pair took its time to get into top
form at the Circuit of the
Americas.
Hamilton leads Rosberg by 17
points with three races
remaining, including the final
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix where
double points will be awarded.

McLarens Jenson Button, the
2009 champion, was third
fastest ahead of Russian Daniil
Kvyat of Toro Rosso, Dane Kevin
Magnussen in the second
McLaren and two-time
champion Fernando Alonso of
Ferrari.
Last years winner and four-time
champion Sebastian Vettel was
seventh ahead of Felipe Nasr,
making an impression as the
Williams test driver, Nico
Hulkenberg of Force India and
Dutch
teenager
Max
Verstappen, back in action for
Toro Rosso, after his first outing
in Japan.
Vettels Red Bull teammate
Daniel Ricciardo suffered an
engine failure and wound up
17th out of 18 cars on the
smallest F1 grid for a decade
since the Monaco Grand Prix.
CSAT Comprehensive Manual For Civil Services Pre Examination

(Paper -2) - 2015
BOOK DETAILS
Medium: English
Price: Rs. 850
Pages: 1000
ISBN: 9789351720362
TOPICS OF THE BOOK
SOLVED PAPER - 2014

SOLVED PAPER - 2013
SOLVED PAPER - 2012
1. Comprehension & English Language Comprehension
PART - I: Comprehension
PART - II: English Language Comprehension
2. Interpersonal & Communication Skills & Decision Making & Problem Solving
PART - I: Interpersonal & Communication Skills

PART - II: Decision Making & Problem Solving
3. General Mental Ability, Logical Reasoning & Analytical Ability
PART - I: General Mental Ability

PART - II: Logical Reasoning & Analytical Ability
4. Basic Numeracy
5. Data Interpretation & Data Sufficiency

http://iasexamportal.com/civilservices/books/csat-comprehensive-manual-paper-2

Awards and Prizes
AWARDS & PRIZES

Erach Bharucha gets
Earth Hero award
A pioneer of environment
education in India, Erach
Bharucha, has been named for
the Royal Bank of Scotland
(RBS) Earth Hero award for
this year.
All of you need to work with
conservation, whichever
profession you are in. The
significance of these awards
are that it brings recognition for
hotspots of biodiversity and the
need for conservation... For
conservation to be successful,
we need the number of
conservation
conscious
individuals to reach a tipping
point and the press and
schools are the two mediums
which can make this happen,
he said.
Mr. Bharucha is currently the
Director of Bharati Vidyapeeth
Deemed University in Pune.
Dr. Manmohan Singh chosen
for Japan national award
Former Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh has been
chosen for one of Japans top
national awards for his
contribution to India-Japan
ties, becoming the first Indian
to receive the rare honour.
Dr. Singh will be awarded The

Grand Cordon of the Order of
the Paulownia Flowers for his
significant contribution to the
enhancement of relations and
promotion of friendship between Japan and India for

about 35 years, a Japanese
Embassy statement said.
It is a high level National Order and a rare honour awarded
to those who are recognised for
their distinguished contribution, it said, adding Manmohan
Singh is the first Indian recipient of this Order.
IPI Award
The IPI India Award for Excellence in Journalism, 2014, has
been awarded jointly to
Hindustan Times and The
Week for outstanding journalistic work during 2013.
Hindustan Times has been chosen for the award for a series of
stories it did last year on acid
attacks on women, sufferings of
the victims and how some of
them carried on with the fight.
The series culminated in a campaign called Stop Acid Attacks to enlist the support of
society for the cause.
Jnanpith award
President Pranab Mukherjee
conferred the 49th Jnanpith
award upon eminent Hindi

poet Kedarnath Singh for his
outstanding contribution towards Indian literature.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr.

Mukherjee said Mr. Singh had
offered, through his poetry, a
rare assimilation of rhymes and
lyrical prose, exploring both
the realms of reality and fantasy
with equal felicity.
A poet of unique stature, his
approach is not only sensitive
to modern aesthetics but also
to traditional rural communities
while at all times being
committed to the celebration
called life, the President said.
The
Jnanpith
award,
institutionalised
by
philanthropist couple Sahu
Shanti Prasad Jain and Late
Rama Jain, commemorates
Indian authors for their
contribution to Indian
literature.
Science literature awards
The Kerala State Council for
Science, Technology and
Environment (KSCSTE) has
announced the winners of the
Science Literature Awards for
2013.
C.P. Aravindakshan, K.V.
Mathew, A. Achuthan,
Aranmula Hariharaputhran,
49

Awards and Prizes

V.P.N. Namboothiri, and
Sasidharan Mangathil won the
awards in various categories for
their science-related works in
Malayalam published in 2013,
an official press note quoting
KSCSTE Director George
Varghese said.
C.K. Nayudu
Lifetime Achievement Award
Dilip Vengsarkar who earned
the sobriquet colonel has
been chosen for the BCCIs Col.
C.K.
Nayudu
Lifetime
Achievement Award for 201314.
He will receive a citation,
trophy and cheque for Rs. 25
50
won the Worlds Childrens

Prize, after a global vote
involving millions of children.
lakh at the BCCIs eighth annual

awards ceremony to be held on
November 21.
Worlds Childrens
Prize for Malala Yousafzai
Champion for girls rights Malala
Yousafzai, the youngest Nobel
Peace Prize laureate in history,
Millions of children have voted

to award Malala this years
Worlds Childrens Prize for the
rights of the child, the
organisation said in a statement.

In The News
IN THE NEWS
Indian-origin radiographer
elected as the President of
ISRRT
Dr Fawzia Peer, who has been

a radiographer for three decades, is the Manager of the
Department of Nuclear Medicine and also an honorary lecturer at the Albert Luthuli Central Hospitals Nuclear Medicine Department in Durban.
Robin Raphel
The U.S. State Department has

launched a counterintelligence
investigation against Robin
Raphel (67), a former Assistant
Secretary of State for South
Asia who served in India and
Pakistan, and also as an advisor
on Israel, West Asia and as an
analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency.
Keith Vaz
Indian-origin British politician
Keith Vaz has been named as

the Labour MP of the year 2014
for his valuable work for

underrepresented, deprived
and minority sections of the
country.
of the Year as well as the ICC

Test cricketer of the Year.
The 33-year-old has won the
coveted Cricketer of the Year
award for the second time in
his career while he is only third
Australian after Ricky Ponting
(2006) and Michael Clarke
(2013) to win the Test Cricketer
of the Year award.
Farhan Akhtar
M.V. Raghavan
Veteran Communist leader and
Communist Marxist Party (CMP)
general secretary M.V.
Raghavan passed away at the
Pariyaram Medical College
Hospital (PMCH). He was 81.
He had also been founder
chairman of the Pariyaram
Medical College (PMC) started
in the cooperative sector. He
had earlier founded the
Pappinissery Visha Chikilsa
Society (PVCS) which runs a
snake park and an Ayurveda
medical college, among others.
Mitchell Johnson
Bollywood actor-director
Farhan Akhtar has become the
first man in UN Womens history
to be appointed its Goodwill
Ambassador for South Asia.
In his new role, the 40-year-old
actor will serve as an advocate
for UN Womens newlylaunched HeForShe initiative
for gender equality and
womens empowerment.
N. Ram
It was double delight Mitchell

Johnson as the Australian fast
bowler declared ICC Cricketer
N. Ram, former Editor-in-Chief

of The Hindu and chairman of
Kasturi and Sons, publishers of
The Hindu, has been selected
for the first N. Ramachandran
Foundation Award.
The former Chief Justice of India, M.N. Venkatachaliah,
would present the award at a
51

In the News
Tabare Vazquez
function to be held on November 25, Foundation president

B.R.P. Bhaskar said.
52
Left-leaning former President

Tabare Vazquez won the most
votes in Uruguays presidential

election, but he fell short of the
outright majority needed to
avoid a Nov. 30 runoff, exit
polls said.
Three polls indicated that Mr.
Vazquez, 74, the candidate of
the outgoing presidents Broad
Front coalition, would face
centre-right challenger Luis
Alberto Lacalle Pou, 41, of the
National Party in a secondround vote.

SelectedFROM
Articles
from Various
Newspapers & &
Journals
SELECTED ARTICLES
VARIOUS
NEWSPAPERS
JOURNALS
Taking ties beyond the Beltway

Prime Minister Narendra Modis
visit to the United States has to be
measured against the principal
challenge he faced: how to engage
with an already preoccupied partner.
He overcame this challenge by
interacting with a much broader
American audience than any of his
predecessors. A very special feature
of his visit was his determination to
open new doors in the U.S. and take
the relationship beyond the beltway
in Washington DC. All previous
Summit level U.S. visits by Indian
leaders featured a mandatory speech
at a think tank, interaction with a few
Congressional leaders, and a meeting
each with businessmen and the
Indian community. The public
diplomacy effort this time included
multiple energetic exchanges with
business and industry leaders, the
Indian-American community, and
U.S. lawmakers, surpassing all
previous efforts.
U.S President Barack Obama
commented about Mr. Modis rockstar performance at the Madison
Square Garden arena. Far from being
just a tamasha, the spectacle
mobilised the Indian community
across the U.S. and imparted to them
a sense of pride and hope. Several
Congressmen and Senators were
present at the event, including some
who have been critical of India on IT
visas and compulsory licensing.
These lawmakers saw at first hand the
size, scale and connectedness of the
Indian-American community to India,
as also Mr. Modis crowd-pulling
power. The message that this
community is now a force whose
expectations cannot be ignored,
including for better India-U.S. ties, is
a positive asset.
While engaging new audiences,
Mr. Modi did not ignore his host, with

whom he established an excellent
entente, overcoming the negative
overhang of visa-denial since 2002.
Moreover, he did not use the visit for
inventorying deliverables, but to
convey to all his interlocutors, within
and outside the U.S. government,
Indias aspirations for the future
contours of the relationship. Much of
this is encapsulated within the Joint
Statement, the joint editorial by the
two leaders published on the
website of The Washington Post, and
the Vision Statement of the India-U.S.
Strategic Partnership cleverly
captioned by a new mantra:
Chalein Saath Saath: Forward
together we go. Such a vision could
help in taking steps towards its
progressive concretion.
The National Security Agency
(NSA) revelations hurt U.S. credibility
with its partners. Long-established
U.S. ascendancy in the China-RussiaU.S. triangular relationship passed to
China. Mr. Obama announced the
strategic defeat of al-Qaeda, the
same way Mr. George W. Bush had
announced success in Iraq, but the
rise of the Islamic State shows that
Islamists are arguably stronger and
more spread out than at any other
time in history. Relative neglect, fear
of over-commitment, and waging the
wrong wars with the wrong local
partners have led to the crises in Iraq
and Syria and the resurgence of the
Taliban in Afghanistan. With added
tensions in Ukraine and the East and
South China Seas, the environment
for rebuilding India-U.S. relations has
become even more complex.
What India and the U.S. need
to do together is clear; they simply
have been unable to do it. The areas
of strategic convergence are known.
A growing, pluralistic and democratic
India is a constructive force in Asia

and the world. India needs U.S.
investments and technology. The U.S.
needs Indian markets and skilled
service providers. The gap between
promise and performance of the two
countries lies in the mutual timidity
of their governments in treading the
path signposted after considerable
effort. Roadblocks need to be
removed by resolving differences, for
which both sides must sit and talk.
The renewal of the 2005 Framework
for the India-U.S. Defense
Relationship is a reminder that in the
10 years of its operation, nothing
whatsoever was done to increase
opportunities for technology transfer,
collaboration, co-production, and
research and development. Indias
contingent and reactive defence
policy, including on procurement,
compromises security and is a drain
on national resources. India has
stepped up buying of U.S. weapons;
but has not so far co-developed or
built them.
Similarly, the absence of
energetic pursuit of U.S. support for
a reformed UN Security Council with
India as a permanent member, and
the U.S. resolve to continue work
towards Indias phased entry into the
Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), the
Missile Technology Control Regime
(MTCR), the Wassenaar Arrangement
and the Australia Group almost
exactly the same words used when
Mr. Obama had visited India in 2010
persuade many Indians that
inaction on these commitments might
be a sign of equivocation.
Mr. Modi was well briefed in
addressing areas of contention,
including climate change and World
Trade Organization (WTO) issues,
indeed, a range of bread-and-butter
issues of concern to both countries
53

Selected Articles from Various Newspapers & Journals

on which equitable solutions must be
explored. In his self-confident
interactions on these, he showed his
hand on what gives and what does
not. On agricultural subsidies, he put
across that a large and populous
country like India needs flexibility to
take care of food security, rural
employment, and livelihood
concerns through continued
domestic support. At the joint press
briefing with Mr. Obama, he made
public advocacy for continued
openness and ease of access for
Indian services companies in the U.S.
market.
At the very least, this visit
restored a degree of confidence to a
neglected relationship. It has
prepared the ground for a lift to
bilateral ties, while ensuring in the
meanwhile that India and the U.S. get
on with operationalising what they
can from our multilayered agenda,
bridging differences on managing
the global commons, resolving
bilateral roadblocks on commercial
exchanges and investments, building
cooperation in science and
technology and defence production,
and forging a closer strategic
partnership in the Indo-Pacific
region. Notwithstanding shared
values and interests, the real traction
in India-U.S. relations lies ahead,
perhaps with a new U.S. President
just over two years away, as India
begins to realise its economic
potential and augments all aspects of
what the Chinese describe as
comprehensive national power.
Issues of Surrogacy
With a range of alternative
medical solutions to childlessness
becoming available, surrogacy has
emerged as one route for many
couples. While some countries have
banned the practice, commercial
gestational surrogacy, in which a
woman is paid to have a baby to
whom she has no genetic link, has
54
caught on in countries such as Mexico

and India. After the first surrogate
delivery in India in June 1994, India
has steadily emerged as an
international destination. Relatively
inexpensive medical facilities, knowhow in reproductive technology, and
the availability of women, largely from
poor socio-economic situations and
who are willing to take up the task,
have aided the growth. Today there
are thousands of clinics in India that
offer such services. From what was
generally confined to close relatives
or friends in altruistic mode, the
network has become extended, with
payment of money to surrogate
mothers becoming the norm.
Services are even being advertised.
Such commercialisation of
motherhood has raised ethical,
philosophical, and social questions
and raised fears of the exploitation
of women as baby-producers, and
the possibility of selective breeding.
In several instances, complications
have arisen regarding the interests
and rights of the surrogate mother,
child, and intending parents. Yet,
there are no clear legal provisions in
place yet. The Indian Council of
Medical Research in 2005 issued
guidelines for the accreditation,
supervision and regulation of
surrogacy clinics, but those remain on
paper. An expert committee drafted
the Assisted Reproductive
Technologies (Regulation) Bill, 2010.
The Union government is now
set to table in Parliament the Assisted
Reproductive
Technologies
(Regulation) Bill 2013. Letting single
parents and foreign nationals to have
children through surrogates in India
is one issue in focus. The question
relating to the citizenship of children
born through an Indian surrogate and
claimed by a foreign couple is one
outstanding issue. Unscrupulous or
mismanaged agencies could wreak
havoc with lives. Many surrogacy
agencies claim they are offering a
legitimate service but in truth they

operate in a grey area. The absence
of appropriate legal provisions to
ensure that surrogate mothers, who
often enter into loosely drafted
agreements with commissioning
parents, do not become vulnerable
is a serious issue. Right now, the
surrogate mother could find herself
with a child she did not plan for,
should the clients change their mind.
On the other hand, the big worry of
the intending parents would be that
the baby may not be handed over to
them. A comprehensive regulatory
framework and binding legal
provisions could bring order to the
field, but the larger moral question
whether human reproduction should
be commercialised would still
remain.
Politics without Opposition
The new political dispensation
is caught between two visible
political discourses that do not look
compatible at the moment but the
political experiment to find a middle
ground that obliterates the tension
between them is on. The conflict is
between development and
governance on the one hand and
communalism on the other, where the
former is ostensibly universal and allinclusive, while the latter is divisive,
discriminatory and sectarian. The
possible way to balance this is to
browbeat the religious minorities in
terms of their claims to an
independent cultural identity and
visible religious practices; thus the
announcement by the Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief that
all Indians are Hindus or Narendra
Modis refusal to wear the skullcap,
while making appeals to Muslims and
attempts to reach out to them to be a
part of the new development agenda.
Therefore, it is important to claim that
Muslims in Gujarat are better off than
under any other government that
claims to be secular. This resonates


with the slogan that the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) went to the polls
with Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas.
This further leads to the BJPs
claims that while it is prepared to
integrate the religious minorities, it is
they who are unprepared to do so. If
there is tension between
communities or between the
discourse of the government and the
minority community, the blame can
squarely be laid on the latter. In this
new mode, the universalism and
integrative capacity of the
development discourse sits well with
the homogenisation of the cultural
sphere, and therefore with the
project of radical Hinduisation.
Further, secular discourse here
signifying protective policies and
social welfare schemes for specific
communities can easily be made to
look like appeasement and
unsustainable doles, in place of an
efficient and robust economy.
Secularism is therefore an outmoded
discourse of the Nehruvian era that
holds back economic advancement.
This logic however does not or
cannot be limited to the religious
minorities but needs to necessarily be
inclusive of the Other Backward
Classes (OBC), Dalits and also tribals.
In only such an inclusion can the
discourse look universal and all
encompassing. It is in order to make
this adjustment that the BJP has to
reach out to OBCs, Dalits and tribals.
It is this project which is visible in the
anointment of Mr. Modi as the prime
ministerial candidate of the BJP,
signifying a process of the
Bahujanisation of the Hindu rightwing party. The BJP, as is widely
believed, is the first party to have
taken upon itself to make an OBC the
Prime Minister, unlike all other
mainstream political parties,
including the Left parties.
Representation trumps all other forms
of pursuing social justice. It is to
further this very mode of pursuing a
new kind of politics that Mr. Bhagwat

has recently and for the first time
publicly supported the policy of
reservations for the Scheduled Castes
and Scheduled Tribes at an event in
Delhi marked by the release of three
volumes on the history of three
Scheduled Castes that included the
Balmikis, the Khatiks and the
Charmakars.
The volume on Charmakars
claims that the word chamar is an
Arabic word, denoting those dealing
with leather work. It was with the
advent of the British, colonial rule and
the process of codification, that the
practice of untouchability against the
depressed classes came to be rigid.
The volumes make a further claim that
Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism are all
variants of Hinduism; therefore, there
were no forced conversions in any of
these religions; in fact, even Brahmins
willingly converted to these forms
of practising Hinduism. The volumes
make a further plea to write a more
detailed history of the tribals also
(which the RSS has already taken up).
As these were the communities that
also resisted attempts at conversion
but were unable to resist the might
of the Muslim invaders, they chose
to run away into the forests in order
to protect themselves. It is these
Hindu communities that began to
inhabit forests that are the tribes of
today and who have been deprived
of the benefits of modern
development.
The volumes suggest an
interesting way out of the current
logjam. They argue that the idea of
equality is alien to our culture as it
promotes antagonism, and what our
civilisation is based on is cultural
diversity. Therefore, what we need is
not equality Samantha, but
Samarastha social harmony. The
volumes further suggest that by
repeatedly referring to certain castes
as being Dalits, we only further
reinforce their demeaned status.
Instead, we need to look at the history

of how they have come to be one
and pull them out. Therefore, we
need to preserve our cultural and
community differences but also fight
against untouchability, resonating the
Gandhian strategy (which partly
explains the newfound love of the
current dispensation for Gandhi). We
also need to celebrate the glorious
legends of/in each of the castes in
order to restore to them their original
pride in Hindu society. These
volumes clearly reflect a move
towards a de-Brahmanising of the
Hindu religion by finding a place of
pride for Dalit castes, while blaming
the Muslim rulers and not the Hindu
sacred scripts or ritual hierarchy or
other Brahmanical practices.
The recent shift in leadership in
the BJP is a pointer to this, and
undoubtedly presents new
opportunities to the caste groups that
were perhaps kept at some distance
in the past by the BJP that was known
as the Brahmin-Bania party. It was in
this context that Dalit-Bahujan scholar
Kancha Ilaiah, in a recent interview,
remarked that if Modi starts the
liberation of backward classes, castes
and tribes, he can become a cultfigure for backwards and can be
comparable to Abraham Lincoln. With
no effective imagination outside
modern development and growth,
and little reason to have effective
opposition to a more representative
and de-Brahmanised Hindusim
pursued by the BJP-RSS combine,
there is a clear possibility of moving
towards a new kind of politics without
opposition. There is no doubt that the
current dispensation is being
reasonable in expecting itself to be
playing a long innings.
The Message behind the Broom
In launching the Swachh Bharat
Abhiyan, or Clean India Mission, on
Gandhi Jayanthi day, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi sought to highlight
the importance his administration
55


attached to both sanitation and
Mahatma Gandhi. Mr. Modi was
evidently carrying forward the
message in his Independence Day
address on the need for more toilets
in schools, and for Indias villages and
towns to be free of dirt. But the highprofile launch of the mission on
October 2 had its own meaning. Mr.
Modi wanted to link his campaign to
the toilet-cleaning ritual in Gandhis
ashrams, to emphasise that the
seemingly demeaning, menial work
was of great import in nationbuilding. The noise surrounding the
launch of the mission was intended
to draw in all Indians to the
cleanliness drive: everyone was
expected to devote two hours a
week to cleaning their surroundings.
Surely, the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
has been successful as an event in
increasing public awareness of the
importance of sanitation. The imagery
of the Prime Minister taking time off
to wield the broom in central Delhi
might be of some effect in some areas
for some time. But if Mr. Modi was
hoping for mass participation in a
cleanliness drive that would keep
India perpetually clean, public policy
must go far beyond symbolism.
If Indias villages and towns are
to be dirt-free, what is required is not
the involvement of each and every
citizen for two hours every week in
the clean-up. While that would lend
a Gandhian touch of personal
involvement, it would surely be a
colossal waste of productive hours of
skilled personnel. It is one thing to
involve political leaders, industrialists
and celebrities in sweeping the
streets to raise general awareness on
sanitation, and quite another to
expect every working adult to put in
two hours a week in cleaning. True,
without the cooperation of citizens,
it would be impossible for any
government or civic body to ensure
clean streets and public places. But
this is not the same as requiring
56
everyone in the workforce to engage

in actual cleaning. Efforts must be
made to de-stigmatise the act of
cleaning, and the participation of
citizens in large numbers in a mass
cleaning exercise, even if as a oneoff or annual event, will have a
positive effect. The government may
not be able to do everything, but
voluntarism cannot be a substitute for
strengthening civic infrastructure. For
ensuring cleanliness and hygiene and
improving solid waste management,
Indias civic bodies will need to be
at the centre of the Clean India
Campaign. The Swachh Bharat
Abhiyan will have to be a sustainable
programme, and its success ought not
to depend on the hours each citizen
puts in to sweep streets. A lot can be
done to further the ideal of
cleanliness without wielding the
broom.
For a Place on the World Stage
Prime Minister Narendra Modi,
while campaigning in Mumbai
recently, declared that India has
arrived on the world stage. Election
rhetoric apart, what does it imply? We
have been on the world stage but are
not treated as equals. So, the question
is this: after Mr. Modi has become the
Prime Minister, are we now being
treated as equals? Mr. Modis visit to
Japan and the United States, and the
visits by the Chinese President and
the Australian Prime Minister to India,
would suggest that India is being
wooed by the major world economic
powers. The Mars Orbiter Mission
signifies Indias growing space
prowess, though the credit for that
goes to the United Progressive
Alliance.
Japan has offered India $35
billion of investments in the next
five years and China, $20 billion.
This includes a Japanese offer of a
bullet train between Ahmedabad
and Mumbai and a Chinese offer of
cheaper and faster trains. Australia
has proposed the supply of nuclear

material and investments, while
the U.S. has promised investment
in defence production and
cooperation in defence ties and
energy. There have been offers as
well of teaming up with Indian
cities to make them clean and hitech, which would help fulfil Mr.
Modis dream of creating 100 new/
smart cities. That all this is
happening in the first 120 days of
Mr. Modi having taken over is
creditable.
The importance of the Modi visit
to Japan can be gauged by the fact
that the Japanese Prime Minister
accompanied him during much of his
programme there. The Chinese
President landed in Ahmedabad and
went sightseeing with Mr. Modi. In
the U.S., there was a grand welcome
by the Indian-American community
and where Mr. Modis speech in
Madison Square Garden was a grand
show. He met the CEOs of some of
the biggest U.S. companies and got
commitments for further investments
in India. There was movement on
jointly fighting terrorism in South Asia.
Collaboration between some key
Indian and U.S. institutions of higher
learning has been proposed. The U.S.
is also to help India in its fight against
poverty and cleaning up its cities.
These promises need to be
balanced with reality such as the
Japanese refusal to relent on the
nuclear issue till India signs the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
(NPT). The Chinese committed
much less investment than was
expected given the rapidly rising
trade with them, and which is
skewed in their favour. It is not yet
clear how the commitments to
more balanced trade would work.
The
dampener
was
the
confrontation between Chinese


and Indian troops at Aksai Chin a
few days before the arrival of the
Chinese President in India and
which continued much after. The
Chinese also did not resolve the
problems India faces in the
production of oil in the South
China Sea.
What is India offering in return
for what it is getting? Mr. Modi
mentioned it in the U.N. General
Assembly; he referred to it again at
Madison Square Garden in the form
of the three Ds Democracy,
Demographic dividend and
Demand. Is this a big deal for any of
the countries under reference? A
Prime Minister who is active and takes
charge of situations does not
necessarily lead to the building of a
strong democracy. That requires the
poor and the marginalised to be
empowered politically, socially and
economically. Yes, it is necessary to
boost the investment climate in the
country but it need not be anti-poor
or anti-worker or anti farmer. Mr.
Modis economic programme is
largely pro-business despite the
announcement of the Pradhan Mantri
Jan Dhan Yojana. Thus, the
democratic credentials of the new
government are weak. The idea of
building 100 new cities would mean
the draining of resources from the
existing 8,000 towns and 6.5 lakh
villages or more and which are already
in poor shape. The creation of a bullet
train service can only be at the
expense of the existing and troubled
railway network. The Make in India
programme is targeted at big industry
though there is talk of Micro, Small
and Medium Enterprises (MSME).
This would adversely impact
employment generation by
displacing the small-scale sector and
that could aggravate the already acute
problem of unemployment. The
democratic content of these and
other programmes is weak at best.
We have a large population but

does that imply a large demand which
could be attractive to international
capital? Indias current per capita
income is $1,500 which is only 4 per
cent of that in the advanced
countries. Thus, the average demand
generated by an individual is small.
India produces only 3 per cent of
world GDP, implying a small market
size. Since a majority of Indians are
below the $2 per capita per day line,
their demand is for cheap, low-quality
products which the multinational
corporations of the advanced nations
cannot cater to. It is only if we are
able to raise our people substantially
above poverty that India can begin
to offer demand to the advanced
nations.
Forty-five years ago, we
introduced the Rajdhani train service
but have hardly speeded up our
other train services since then; in the
meantime, China has introduced fast
trains. Why has our Light Combat
Aircraft (LCA) programme not
fructified since it was conceived in
the 1970s? Why have we not been
able to make a nuclear submarine?
Our mission to Mars is admittedly a
success but it has come 50 years after
the first interplanetary missions. The
more than 40 missions to Mars have
laid the ground for our successful
mission. Remember, in the 1960s
there were no microchips or the
massive computing power that exists
today. So, it is an achievement but
we need to be circumspect about it.
Why are we so focussed on
getting foreign investments when
foreign direct investment (FDI) is
only 2 per cent of GDP? Our
internal investment is 28 per cent
of GDP and that is what has
dramatically come down since its
peak in 2008. It needs to be revived
while foreign investment can only
make a marginal difference to
growth. Given the sluggish growth
in Japan and the U.S., they are

looking for markets and that is
why they are offering investment
in order to increase their exports to
India. Is it in our interests to offer
them our markets? If we keep
aggravating social divisions and
diverting our energies, can we
become strong? Clearly, we lack a
long-term strategy. In conclusion,
it is not that India has not been on
the world stage but its
relationship with other major
economic powers has largely been
one-way given that it has had little
to offer due to its internal
weaknesses. These need to be
addressed urgently.
Doctrine of Graduated
Escalation
The India-Pakistan peace
process has produced a lot of
process over the decades but no
peace. While India is a vibrant,
buoyant nation, Pakistan remains a
notion in search of a national identity.
Yet, given Pakistans foundational
loathing of India, many among
Pakistani strategic elites still pine for
Indias unravelling or at least
Balkanisation. In this light, the
Pakistani military has again escalated
border tensions with India. Since the
deadly 2008 Mumbai attacks it
scripted, it has initiated intermittent
exchanges of fire along the Line of
Control (LoC), including this summer
and then in recent days. This months
artillery exchanges along the LoC
were unusual in terms of their ferocity
and the sudden eruption in violence,
resulting in the highest single-day
death toll in over a decade.
In provoking a second series of
firing duels along the LoC since Prime
Minister Narendra Modi took office,
the Pakistani military establishment
which includes the rogue InterServices Intelligence (ISI) was
57


doing more than using gunfire as
cover to allow Pakistan-trained
militants to infiltrate into India. It was
also testing the resolve of Indias new
government while simultaneously
undermining Pakistani Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif and derailing any
prospect of a rapprochement with
India. Every time a Pakistani leader
wishes to build better ties with New
Delhi, his effort is undermined by the
military masterminding a serious crossborder attack or terror strike. Indeed,
it was during Mr. Sharifs previous stint
in office that a major Indian peace
initiative as symbolised by then
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayees
bus diplomacy collapsed
spectacularly, with the bus itself
getting hijacked allegorically to
Kargil, triggering a war. This has
served as a cautionary lesson on how
the pursuit of peace can lead to war
when one sides military is not
answerable to the civilian
government.
The Pakistani military actually
sought to test Mr. Modi soon after he
won the national election. On the eve
of his inauguration, ISI-backed
militants stormed the Indian
consulate in Afghanistans western
city of Herat. The Pakistani plan was
to take some Indians hostage and
bring India under siege just as Mr.
Modi took office. The plan, however,
went awry as Indian security guards
at the consulate heroically killed all
the attackers. The U.S. blamed the
Herat attack on the same ISI front
organisation it held responsible for
the 2008 Mumbai strikes the
Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). The LeTs
leader, Hafiz Saeed, remains the
Pakistani militarys darling, with his
public life mocking Americas $10million bounty on his head and the
U.N.s inclusion of him on a terrorist
list.
The ISIs war by terror is a
reminder that the scourge of crossborder terrorism emanates more from
58
Pakistans whisky-sipping generals

than its rosary-holding mullahs. The
real jihadists are the self-styled secular
generals, who have reared the forces
of jihad and fathered the LeT, the
Taliban and other terror groups. In
fact, Pakistans descent into a jihadist
dungeon occurred not under civilian
rule but under two military dictators
one (Zia ul-Haq) who nurtured and
let loose jihadist forces, and another
(Pervez Musharraf) who took his
country to the very edge of the
precipice. Another reminder is that
India-Pakistan relations will be
shaped largely by Pakistans internal
dynamics, especially its civil-military
relations. Although it is in Indias
interest to help strengthen Pakistani
civilian institutions, Pakistans civil
society remains too weak to influence
the direction of ties with India. In the
absence of a structural correction to
Pakistans historically skewed civilmilitary power equation, a peace
dialogue with India only encourages
the Pakistani military to carry out
cross-border shootings, ambushes
and acts of terror.
Such has been Mr. Sharifs
weakening that he not only had little
say in the recent appointment of the
new ISI chief, but also his
government, at the behest of the
military, has sought to reinternationalise the Kashmir issue.
The intensity of ceasefire violations
indeed was designed to help shine
an international spotlight on Kashmir
and also demonstrate as to who is in
charge of Pakistans foreign policy.
Mr. Modis cautious, measured start
has masked his discreet gradualism.
Border and other provocations are
moulding his policy approach,
founded on the premise that
preventing hostile actions hinges on
Indias capacity and political will to
impose deterrent costs in response
to any aggression. In Mr. Modis policy
of graduated escalation, pressure on
the adversary begins at low levels and
then progressively increases in

response to the targets continued
provocations and aggression.
There was no Indian reprisal to
the Herat attack, and Indias response
to the summertime border shootings
was circumspect. But, in keeping
with the doctrine of graduated
escalation, this months Pakistani
machine-gun fire along the LoC
brought a heavy response, including
retaliation with 81-mm mortars, which
have a range of up to five kilometres.
Mr. Modi wasnt exaggerating when
he said publicly, Pakistan has been
taught a befitting lesson.
Mr. Modi is showing he is no
Vajpayee, whose roller-coaster policy
on Pakistan traversed through Lahore,
Kargil, Kandahar, Agra, Parliament
House and Islamabad, inviting only
greater cross-border terrorism. And
Mr. Modi is clearly no Manmohan
Singh, whose peace-at-any-price
approach was founded on the naive
belief that the only alternative to do
nothing in response to terror is to go
to war. So, whether it was the Mumbai
attacks or a border savagery, such as
a captured Indian soldiers
beheading, Dr. Singh responded by
doing nothing.
The Modi government, by
building a range of options, including
to neuter Pakistans nuclear
blackmail, is indicating that Pakistani
aggression will attract increasing
costs. If the ISI is planning new
attacks in India, with the intent to fob
them off as the work of al-Qaedas
supposed new India franchise, it can
be sure that it will invite an Indian
response imposing serious costs on
the entire Pakistani security
establishment.
The Economic
Consequences of Nehru
A call to burn history books

has upped the ante as the 125th
birth anniversary of Jawaharlal
Nehru approaches. The trouble


with histor y though is that it
would be prudent for us to first
learn its lessons lest we end up
repeating our mistakes. As Nehru
was Indias longest serving Prime
Minister, and both triumph as well
as tragedy had accompanied his
tenure, this is a fit occasion for a
public debate on what had been
attempted in the Nehru era and the
extent of its success. I must per
force confine myself to the
economics. This, though would
ser ve as a corrective to the
tendency of political historians to
most often concentrate on the
other aspects of his leadership. For
instance, Sarvepalli Gopals noted
three-volume biography bestows a
single chapter on Nehr us
economic policy. However, reading
through the speeches of Nehru, we
find that the economy had
remained
his
continuing
preoccupation even amidst the
debates on social policy in the Lok
Sabha and on decolonisation in the
United Nations. Reading them is in
any case advisable, as strongly held
positions on the economy in the
Nehru era have often been crowded
in by ideological predilection when
they have not been clouded over by
ignorance.
The objective of the economic
policy in the 1950s was to raise per
capita income in the country via
industrialisation. The vehicle for this
was the Nehru-Mahalanobis strategy,
the decision on this having been
taken as early as 1938 by the National
Planning Committee of the Congress
constituted by Subhas Chandra Bose
during his all-too-brief and ill-fated
presidentship of the party. The
committee was chaired by Nehru.
The cornerstone of the strategy was
to build machines as fast as possible
as capital goods were seen as a basic

input in all lines of production. While
a mathematical model devised by
Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis had
lent a formal status to the strategy, it
was the so-called plan frame that
had guided the allocation of
spending. In retrospect, the
allocation of investment across lines
of production in the Second FiveYear Plan was quite balanced with
attention given also to infrastructure,
the building of which given the
state of the economy then the
public sector alone would have
initiated.
The
Nehru-Mahalanobis
strategy had criticised even at the
outset. I shall discuss two of the
criticisms at this stage and turn to a
third at a later stage. Thus, Vakil and
Brahmananda argued that the
Mahalanobis model neglected wage
goods, being those consumed by
workers who were the majority of the
country. While important per se, in
practical terms, this criticism turned
out to be somewhat academic as the
plan frame as opposed to the
model had given due importance
to agriculture. In fact, the Green
Revolution which is dated from the
late 1960s cannot entirely be
divorced from the attention paid to
agriculture in the Nehru era. The
Grow More Food campaign and the
trials in the countrys extended
agricultural research network both
contributed to it. Next, B.R. Shenoy
had famously dissented from his
fellow economists by querying the
use of controls as part of the planning
process. Shenoys is a well-known
position in economic theory that the
allocative efficiency of the
competitive market-mechanism
cannot be improved upon. While this
is a useful corrective to ham-handed
government intervention, it was
known even by the 1950s that a free
market need not necessarily take the
economy to the next level. The Pax
Britannica had been a time of free

markets, though coated with political
repression, and this had not helped
India much during the two centuries
since Plassey. Moreover, many of the
extant controls were wartime controls
that had not been rescinded.
Investment licensing though was a
central element in planning in India
and Shenoy was right in identifying it
as such.
As the maxim the proof of
the pudding lies in the eating
must apply most closely to matters
economic, the Nehru-Mahalanobis
strategy can be considered only as
good as its outcome. It had aimed
to raise the rate of growth of the
economy. With the distance that
half a century affords us and the
aid of superior statistical methods,
we are now in the position to see
that its early success was nothing
short of spectacular. Depending
upon your source, per capita income
in India had either declined or
stagnated during the period 190047. Over 1950-65, its growth was
approximately 1.7 per cent. Indias
economy, which was no more than
a colonial enclave for more than
two centuries, had been quickened.
It is made out that this quickening
achieved in the 1950s was no great
shakes as the initial level of
income was low and a given
increase in it would register a
higher rate of growth than at a
later stage in the progression. This
confounds statistical description
with economic assessment. It is a
widely recognised feature of
economic growth that ever y
increase in wealth makes the next
step that much easier to take due to
increasing returns to scale. The
principle works both ways,
rendering the revival of an
59


economy trapped at a low level of
income that much more difficult.
It is worth stating in the context
that the acceleration of growth
achieved in the 1950s has not been
exceeded since. Also, that India
grew faster than China in the
Nehru era.
Even though we now have
reason to believe that the
mechanism of long-term growth
that remains to this day, which is
that of cumulative causation, had
been ignited by the NehruMahalanobis strategy, the strategy
itself was incomplete. This is best
understood by reference to the
Asian Development Model as it
had played out in the economies of
east Asia. These economies had
pursued more or less the same
strategy as India in that the state
fostered industrialisation. But a
glaring difference marks the Indian
experience. This was the absence
of a serious effort to build human
capabilities via education and
training. In the east this had taken
the form of a spreading of
schooling, vocational training and
engineering education. In India, on
the other hand, public spending on
education had turned towards
technical education at the tertiary
level too early on. The slow spread
of schooling ensured that the
growth of productivity in the farm
and the factory remained far too
slow. Now the pace of pover ty
reduction also remained slow, and,
via positive feedback, slowed the
expansion of demand needed for
faster growth of the economy.
While the failure to initiate a
programme of building the
capabilities of the overwhelming
majority of our people is a moral
60
failure of colossal proportions, we

would be missing the wood for the
trees if we do not recognise the
economic significance of the short
Nehru era in the long haul of Indias
history. It was path-breaking in that a
moribund economy had been
quickened. This would have been the
precondition for most changes in a
country with unacceptably low levels
of per capita income. It is yet to be
demonstrated how this could have
been achieved in the absence of the
economic strategy navigated through
a democratic polity by Jawaharlal
Nehru.
Economic Growth and Nutrition
However, the 2014 Global

Hunger Index report of the
International Food Policy Research
Institute
(IFPRI)
shows
considerable improvement in
Indias hunger index and in the
percentage of underweight
children from 24.2 in 2005 to
17.8 in 2014 an increase of 6.4
points. Also, out of 76 countries,
Indias rank improved by around 8
points, from 63 to 55. While India
is no longer in the categor y of
alarming cases, its hunger status
is still classified in the category of
serious. This improvement is
attributable mainly to a reduction
in the percentage of underweight
children, from 43.5 per cent in
2005-06 (NFHS-III) to 30.7 per
cent in 2013-14 (a sur vey
conducted by the Ministr y of
Women and Child Development
with support from UNICEF). This
shows a remarkable reduction of 13
percentage points in eight years
during 2005-06 to 2013-14.
However, the latest survey is a
source
of
encouragement
regarding the reduction in
undernutrition. One has to wait
for a year more for the findings of

NFHS-IV.
The report should have also
discussed the impact of economic
growth on nutrition. It is known that
India focusses on a twin-track policy
of economic growth and direct
universal and targeted programmes
for a reduction in poverty and an
improvement in social indicators.
India had a high economic growth of
9 per cent per annum during 200506 to 2008-09, which helped in an
increase in tax-GDP ratio and an
allocation of higher expenditure to
the social sector. Similarly, India also
had a higher agriculture growth rate
of 4 per cent per annum during the
11th Plan period (2007-12). This too
must have helped in raising nutrition.
At this point, one may ask a valid
question: we had six per cent growth
during the period 1992-93 to 200506 but why was there no significant
decline in malnutrition? It may be
noted that there was a decline in
malnutrition during 1992-93 to 199899 but there was stagnation in
nutrition status during 1998-99 to
2005-06. During this phase as well,
economic growth and agricultural
growth were relatively low.
As the IFPRI report suggests,
the expansion and increase in the
efficiency of the direct programmes
have helped in reducing
undernutrition during 2005-06 to
2013-14. However, it is fair to say that
economic growth that includes high
agricultural growth and direct
programmes has been a responsible
factor in the recent finding of a
significant reduction in malnutrition.
Post-2005, the development agenda
at the global level has, among other
things, been focussing on the
elimination of hunger and
malnutrition. The UN Secretary
General recently announced
meeting the challenge of Zero
Hunger to be achieved by 2025.
One of the elements in this challenge


is to ensure zero stunted children in
less than two years. If this is to be
achieved at the global level, then
progress in India is important.
Inspite of significant
progress in the last eight years, a
lot of work has to be done in order
to reduce malnutrition in India.
This also poses challenges at the
global level because figures
released by UNICEF show that in
2011, 55 million out of 102 million
underweight children under five in
the world or 54 per cent of the
global total live in India.
Similarly, 62 million out of 166
million stunted children of the
world are from India (37 per cent).
In other words, one out of two
underweight children and two out
of five stunted children are in
India. It is true that with recent
progress, the absolute numbers of
children with malnutrition will
come down.
It is known that a reduction in
malnutrition needs the application of
a multi-pronged strategy. The
determinants of malnutrition are
agriculture, health, womens
empowerment including maternal
and child care practices, ensuring
sanitation, enabling safe drinking
water, and activating social
protection programmes and nutrition
education apart from economic
growth, as mentioned earlier. The
evidence so far shows that
malnutrition can be reduced by
enhancing womens health,
promoting gender equality and
ensuring the empowerment of
women including female education.
Gender equality and the well-being
of children go hand in hand. The
rights of women and children are
mutually reinforcing. Gender
empowerment is relatively better in
Africa. Although poverty and other
numbers are higher in South Asia,
Africa had a lesser percentage of

children under nutrition than South
Asia because of better womens
status.
Recently, there has been a lot
of emphasis on the linkages between
agriculture and nutrition, which can
be improved by three entry points.
The first of these is in ensuring
inclusiveness and equity in agriculture
that can be achieved by increasing
agricultural productivity in rainfed
and resource-poor areas. This in turn
will help raise the productivity and
income of small and marginal farmers.
The bulk of the rural poor, as well as
small and marginal farmers, live in
such resource-poor areas, where
undernutrition is largely prevalent.
The second is in policies to diversify
diet in order to improve
micronutrients and the third is in
having agricultural policies to
empower women. In all this, it must
not be forgotten that climate change
poses a major challenge to
agriculture.
The importance of sanitation
and safe drinking water in reducing
malnutrition is well known. Therefore,
ensuring improvements in sanitation
is urgently needed as it is a big
predictor of malnutrition. It is
heartening to see that social
protection programmes have helped
in improving nutrition. Further, the
strengthening of social protection
programmes like ICDS, PDS, mid-day
meal schemes and MGNREGA are
needed to achieve nutrition security.
Although delivery systems have
improved in programmes like PDS,
the leakages are still high. A recent
survey of women and child welfare
does not give us the numbers at the
State level. This must be noted as
figures for 2005-06 show that the
proportion of children who are
underweight is high in States such as
Madhya Pradesh (60.3 per cent),
Jharkhand (59.2 per cent), Bihar (59
per cent), Chhattisgarh (52 per cent)
and Uttar Pradesh (47.3 per cent).

Therefore, there is a need to focus
on these States.
The
consequences
of
undernutrition are well known.
Stunting and undernutrition are the
main contributing factors for child
mortality, disability and disease. There
are also the harmful effects of an
inadequate intake of specific
micronutrients essential for brain
development and the nervous
system. For example, iron deficiency
is known to affect a childs
performance in school. In short,
hidden hunger has to be reduced.
In conclusion, it has to be recognised
that ignoring hunger and malnutrition
will have significant costs to any
countrys development. Nutrition
improvement has both intrinsic and
instrumental value. Some estimates
indicate that there is a 2 to 3 per cent
GDP loss due to low productivity. The
returns to investments in food and
nutrition are quite high. Every dollar
spent on interventions to reduce
stunting is estimated to generate
about $20-$30 in economic returns.
The government should understand
the intrinsic value to people and
instrumental value of nutrition in terms
of GDP gain and returns to
investment. Countries like China,
Brazil and Vietnam have been
successful in reducing malnutrition.
Evidence of recent success shows
that India is also capable of reducing
undernutrition. Therefore, some
urgency needs to be shown by the
government and others concerned in
order to eliminate hunger and
malnutrition particularly among
children and women.
Fuelling Reform
It was a long-awaited reform

measure but when the Narendra
Modi government eventually
deregulated diesel pricing on
Saturday, the timing, in the
backdrop of falling global oil prices,
61


was just perfect. With oil
companies wiping off the underrecoveries on diesel and going into
surplus, the government could
sweet-coat what is essentially a
bitter pill with a cut in retail price
of the transportation fuel. While
consumers may rejoice over the
benefit now, they need to be
conscious of the fact that when
the wheel of global oil prices turns
into an up-cycle once again, the
domestic retail price of diesel will
go up. That is also when the
governments commitment to the
reform measure will be tested. In a
deregulated regime, oil companies
will adjust diesel prices at periodic
intervals to reflect the prevailing
international price of oil, just as
they do now in the case of petrol.
This is as it should be. Subsidies,
including on diesel, have been
exerting tremendous pressure on
government finances, leading to a
widening fiscal deficit. The 201415 Budget had projected a subsidy
burden of Rs.2,46,000 crore, of
which
petroleum
subsidy
accounted for Rs.63,500 crore.
Thanks to falling oil prices in the
last few months and deregulation
of diesel now, the petroleum
subsidy is expected to be
substantially lower than the
budgeted level, thus easing the
burden on the fisc.
The Modi government has
also done well in deciding to
deposit the subsidy on cooking gas
directly into the bank accounts of
consumers. The government
should do the same for kerosene
subsidy as well given that leakages
are the highest there, but only after
ensur ing that no deser ving
recipient is left out. The new Jan
62
Dhan accounts could be used for

this purpose. With petroleum
subsidies now being addressed, the
focus should shift to reducing
fertilizer subsidy, which is about
the same quantum as that on
petroleum. Meanwhile, in the other
major announcement on Saturday,
the government finally addressed
the contentious issue of domestic
gas pricing which has been
hanging in the balance since the
start of this year. The formula has
been tweaked to curtail the
increase envisaged under the
Rangarajan formula by over twothirds thus containing the final
base price to $5.61 per million
metric British thermal unit. The
government has done well in
granting a premium to gas
produced in ultra-deep water, deepwater and technologically
challenging areas as production
costs will be high but the fine print
that provides details on premium
calculation has to be read closely
before a final assessment is made.
The point, ultimately, is to balance
the interests of consumers who
desire the cheapest price, and of
producers who would want their
costs covered fully and topped by a
decent margin.
A Balancing of Interests
The range of measures Prime

Minister
Narendra
Modi
passionately spelt out at the Pandit
Deendayal Upadhyay Shramev
Jayate programme on labour
reforms reads like a road map to
his Independence Day invitation
to multinational corporations to
Make in India. The most
significant of them all is the move
to simplify the cumbrous current
inspection processes, including by

allowing
enterprises
the
convenience of self-certification of
documents. The random inspection
process that is to be set in motion
is expected at one stroke to cut
through administrative red tape
involving some 1,800 labour
inspectors. Indeed, the removal of
arcane procedural hurdles could
curb rampant corruption and
improve overall efficiency. But this
is a bold policy shift for a country
where a culture of industrial safety
is woefully lacking. The system of
inspections should be effective and
should ensure that the protection
of thousands of human lives is not
compromised in any manner. The
2007 Minneapolis bridge collapse
in the United States, the fires at
Bangladeshs garment units and
the December 1984 gas leakage in
Bhopal were all linked to a greater
or lesser degree to the lack of
proper inspections.
The digitisation of data on
thousands of firms to facilitate a
single-window system of compliance
with various labour and social security
laws is a laudable initiative. In
particular, the friendly provident fund
facility to unfreeze a whopping Rs.
27,000 crore of hard-earned savings
and the portability of PFaccount
numbers across employers is a reform
long overdue. These conveniences
are consistent with the welcome
increase in the Employees Pension
Scheme (EPS-95) up to Rs.1,000
from the earlier Rs.300 announced
in the Union Budget. It is another
matter that the Bharatiya Janata Party
had canvassed for an enhancement
of the pension to Rs.3,000 prior to the
last Lok Sabha election. Evidently, the
politically sensitive nature of
these labour reform measures
even within the BJP-affiliated trade


union bodies was not lost on Mr.
Modi. Only a few months ago, the
Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh opposed
the Rajasthan Governments
amendments to the Contract Labour
Act that sought to create flexibility
for employers. Thus, Mr. Modis
announcements were carefully
couched in a conciliatory and
accommodating tone that the new
measures would be no less beneficial
to workers. If protracted delays of the
past to obtain clearances hurt
productivity, they also caused an
adverse impact on the interests of the
workforce. Mr. Modis plan to draft a
band of technology ambassadors to
showcase the quality of existing
vocational training programmes in
India is well-conceived. There is no
gainsaying the need for more such
institutions.
The Tasks of Governance
It is not often that a firsttime legislator gets to be Chief

Minister. In Haryana, Manohar Lal
Khattar was chosen by the
Bharatiya Janata Party for the top
job not for his legislative
experience or administrative
expertise, but for his organisational
skill and political savvy. Mr.
Khattar joined the BJP from the
ranks
of
the
Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh, where he was
an active pracharak, and was put in
charge of the partys affairs in
several States in the last two
decades. In Haryana, his inputs
went into the BJPs making and
breaking of alliances with some of
the regional parties the Haryana
Vikas Party, the Indian National
Lok Dal and the Haryana Janhit
Congress. With every new alliance
the BJP grew stronger, until in the
latest Assembly election it found
the confidence to fight on its own.
At least some of the credit for the
partys growth in the State at the

expense of its allies should go to
Mr. Khattar. In many ways, this is
a reward for Mr. Khattar, a form of
recognition for his efforts to
overcome the BJPs weaknesses in
Haryana. It is also an expression of
gratitude by the Narendra ModiAmit Shah team to Mr. Khattar for
his having worked closely with
them. Mr. Modi was himself an
organisation man before he
became Chief Minister of Gujarat,
and he would have seen Mr.
Khattar as embodying some of his
own abilities that go beyond mere
tact and rhetoric.
In choosing Mr. Khattar over
other aspirants, the BJP also signalled
that it was not getting into the game
of playing the Jat card in Haryana. Jats
constitute a dominant caste group in
the State, and large sections of them
now form the backbone of the Indian
National Lok Dal led by Om Prakash
Chautala, which finished second
behind the BJP. But for the BJP, as
for the Congress, the support base is
more diverse, and the choice of Mr.
Khattar reflects this fact. As is the
normal practice in the BJP, the
candidature was proposed and
endorsed by the principal rivals for
the Chief Ministers post. While State
party chief Ram Bilas Sharma
proposed his name, Captain
Abhimanyu was among those who
seconded the proposal. Mr. Khattar
will now have to shift his focus to
governance from
political
manoeuvres. Haryana is a small State,
but the challenges for the new
government are formidable. Food
security, employment opportunities,
rural development and prevention of
female foeticide are issues that cry
out for attention more than cow
slaughter or free pilgrimages, which
too figured in the BJPs election
manifesto. Mr. Khattar in office is soon
going to realise that expanding the

support base as an Opposition party
is easier than consolidating it as a
ruling party. After the smooth
takeover, he must focus on
governance and meeting the
expectations behind the mandate.
Ebola and Lessons from Nigeria
In late July this year, the
international airport in the bustling
Nigerian metropolis of Lagos received
an extremely unwelcome visitor. A
man from Liberia, a West African
nation where Ebola is rampant, had
been caring for his sister when she
came down with the disease.
Refusing to stay in quarantine, he had
taken a flight out of the country and
brought the deadly virus to Africas
largest city, a major air, sea and land
hub in the region. In Lagos, with a
population size similar to that of
Mumbai and a large slum population,
there was the frightening possibility
of the virus spiralling out of control.
The citys dense population and
overburdened infrastructure create
an environment where diseases can
be easily transmitted and transmission
sustained, commented a journal
paper on the outbreak that ensued.
The potential for a dangerous
conflagration increased when a close
contact of the Liberian man secretly
slipped out of quarantine and went
off to seek medical treatment in Port
Harcourt, Nigerias oil hub. The
doctor who treated him died of Ebola
later and was found to have had an
alarming number of high-risk contacts
with various people. Yet, thanks to the
rapidity with which the Nigerian
government acted, the virus has been
snuffed out. Nigeria is now free of
Ebola virus transmission, the World
Health Organization declared
categorically on October 20.
Nigerias resounding success
comes as a useful antidote to the
fear evoked by the desperate
situation in the West African
63


countries of Guinea, Liberia and
Sierra Leone where Ebola is still out
of control. Africas most populous
nation has now shown that even
when a traveller brings the disease
in, developing countries can, with
quick and decisive steps, stamp out
the virus. As has been
demonstrated in Ebola outbreaks
that occurred in earlier years, the
key lies in swiftly identifying and
isolating infected persons,
tracking down all their close
contacts and meticulously
monitoring those individuals for
signs of infection. Nigeria utilised
trained personnel, technology and
management methods put in place
to control polio outbreaks, to trace
contacts and look for Ebola cases.
Altogether, nearly 900 contacts
were located. It is worth noting
that ultimately the countr y
reported only 19 confirmed cases,
many of the victims healthcare
workers, several of whom acquired
the virus from the Liberian man
before he was diagnosed with
Ebola. Seven of the confirmed
cases died, giving the Nigerian
outbreak a case fatality rate of 40
per cent, substantially lower than
the 70 per cent estimated for the
ongoing outbreaks in Guinea,
Liberia and Sierra Leone. Other
nations, including India, must
learn from Nigerias achievement.
In Furtherance
of Good Governance
The right to judicial remedies
is a constitutional right of the subjects
Employees of the State cannot
become members of a different class
to whom such right is not available.
Justice J. Chelameswar and Justice
A.K. Sikri of the Supreme Court of
India (September 22, 2014) in Vijay
64
Shankar Pandey vs Union of India and

Another. Amid the din raised over the
case involving the All India Anna
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
(AIADMK) leader J. Jayalalithaa, an
important and recent ruling by the
Supreme Court of India in an entirely
different domain has gone virtually
unnoticed. This judgment was in the
cause of good public administration,
a sector vital to economic
development. The message that the
top court possibly wanted to send
through its order was that an honest
civil servant can bank on the Court if
blatant injustice has been done to him
or her by an unfair executive.
The judgment possibly took
cognisance of the fact that over the
years, the Indian bureaucracy has
become a spineless structure that
cannot stand up to unethical
pressures by the Executive or the
moneyed in society, thereby belying
the worthy dream of Sardar
Vallabhbhai Patel, free Indias first
Home Minister. It was the doughty
Sardars vision and resoluteness that
ensured that efforts in some quarters
in post-Independence India to
abolish the centrally recruited and
overseen All India Services did not
succeed. The nation has greatly
benefited from the continuance of
the Indian Administrative Service
(IAS) and the Indian Police Service
(IPS) in particular. Certain events
since 1975, viz., the period postEmergency, have however been the
cause for dismay among those who
have been looking for a professional,
honest and independent civil service
that would bolster an equally
dedicated political class. It is against
this backdrop that one should analyse
the recent Supreme Court decision.
It all began in 2010 when V.S.
Pandey, a senior IAS officer, Uttar
Pradesh cadre, joined hands with
Julio Ribeiro, the former police chief,
and a few others, under the auspices
of a non-governmental organisation-
styled India Rejuvenation Initiative

(IRI), to file a writ petition on the need
to ferret out black money owned by
Indians and stashed abroad. The
petition culminated in the Supreme
Court decision (2011) known as Ram
Jethmalani and Others vs the Union
of India. Reacting to this, Pandey was
served a charge sheet by the U.P.
government on five counts for alleged
violation of four clauses of the All
India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968.
The gravamen of the charge
against Pandey was that, in being a
co-signatory to the said writ petition
by Ribeiro and others, he had
endorsed an affidavit by one Jasbeer
Singh that was critical of some senior
officers of the Government of India
(mainly from the Enforcement
Directorate). The charge sheet added
that in not having obtained the
governments permission before
joining the said NGO and deposing
in an inquiry where the Central and
State governments were likely to be
criticised, he had violated the
conduct rules.
An enquiry officer appointed to
look into the charges against Pandey
exonerated him of all the charges on
August 30, 2012. Strangely, a copy
of this report of exoneration was not
served on Pandey. On September 9,
2012, a selection committee that was
considering cases of IAS officers in
U.P. for promotion to the super
timescale ignored Pandeys case,
although he had been exonerated
and was eligible for promotion. The
committees decision was in a sealed
cover, a usual practice in respect of
officers against whom disciplinary
action was pending.
Worse was to follow. The
enquiry officers finding was rejected
by the U.P. government on
September 26, 2012, on the ground
that his report was cursory and that
he had failed to properly investigate
all relevant facts. The State
government went on to invoke the


Public Servants (Inquiries) Act, 1850
and appoint a two-member
committee to look once more into the
charges against Pandey. Significantly,
the State governments action came
on the same day as the Central
Administrative Tribunal (CAT)
dismissing Pandeys appeal seeking
his promotion. Following this, Pandey
went to the Supreme Court on a writ
that was recently disposed of by a
bench comprising Justices
Chelameswar and Sikri in favour of
Pandey. In doing so, the judges made
some comments on what was
palpably an act of rancour and
vindictiveness by the government.
What was striking about this
remarkable judicial order was the
thoroughness with which the bench
demolished each averment against
Pandey.
First, the Court held that
since Pandey never disputed the
charges made against him, there
were no facts to be investigated by
the enquiry officer. Second, relying
on the decision (1971) of the
Supreme Cour t inK.R . Deb vs
Collector of Central Excise, Shillong,
the bench held that a second
inquir y against Pandey was
untenable. There could at best be a
further inquiry, but not a second
one on the same facts. And, in the
Pandey case, the facts were such
that a further inquiry was hardly
warranted. As regards violation of a
stipulation of the All India Services
(Conduct) Rules that an officer
could not depose before an
individual, or committee or any
other authority without the
sanction of the government, the
bench held that joining in
averments made in a writ petition
before a court was equivalent to
taking part in a judicial process for
which no citizen needed to get the
governments nod. An individuals

fundamental right did not get
diminished just because he was a
member of the civil service.
The two judges were
categorical that this was a clear case
of harassment of a hapless civil
servant. (The purpose behind the
proceedings appears calculated to
harass the appellant since he dared
to point out certain aspects of mal
administration ... The whole attempt
appears to be to suppress any probe
into the question of black money. A
part of the strategy to intimidate not
only the appellant but also to send a
signal to others who might dare in
future to expose any mal
administration.) They did not also fail
to notice that while the government
chose to proceed against Pandey, it
ignored the action of another official,
Jasbeer Singh, who had filed an
additional affidavit that was critical
of the government. The bench
allowed Pandeys petition and went
beyond, to award him the costs
involved. In doing so it said, The
requirement of (a) democratic
republic is that every action of the
State is to be informed with reason.
State is not a hierarchy of regressively
genuflecting
coterie
of
bureaucracy.
Civil servant independence in
the country is at best nominal.
Nonconformity even to spurn
whimsical and arbitrary directives
received from above is widely
recognised as a very risky proposition.
Signs of defiance are fraught with
such serious consequences that even
the most courageous civil servant
thinks many times over before turning
down even a palpably unethical and
illegal direction. The few mavericks
who display a semblance of
remonstrance are heavily penalised
so as to deter potential dissenters. It
is this sordid state of affairs that
convinces me that Justices
Chelameshwar and Sikri will have to
be hailed for coming squarely to the

rescue of a hapless senior official of
the U.P. government for his alleged
intransigence. I am not pleading here
for a total licence to honest civil
servants to do whatever they want or
indulge in intemperate criticism of a
constitutionally installed government.
What is required is a freedom to speak
their minds in furtherance of good
governance.
I am happy that Prime
Minister Narendra Modi in his
first meeting with the Secretaries
to the Union Government
exhorted exactly this and made
himself available to hear them,
especially when they were at
loggerheads with their Ministers.
There cannot be a better way to get
the best out of each government
official whatever be his status in
the hierarchy. The Prime Ministers
Office has again to be
complimented for issuing a
directive to the bureaucracy that it
should not act on oral instructions.
I am confident that this stand
would
greatly
promote
transparency and honesty in
governance.
Civilian Supremacy
and Defence Reforms
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
should appoint a defence minister
a full-time one and demonstrate a
great deal of administrative acumen
and political will if he is serious about
his declared intent to strengthen
Indias national security and defence
preparedness. Indeed, the absence
of a full-time defence minister is
merely symptomatic of a larger set of
serious structural problems being
faced by the countrys higher
defence management today, which
is in urgent need of innovative reforms
and radical restructuring. Mr. Modis
address to the Combined
65


Commanders Conference in New
Delhi on October 17 found no
mention of structural reforms in higher
defence management whereas his
predecessor did mention it from time
to time even though the United
Progressive Alliance (UPA)
government had sidestepped
implementing the crucial reforms.
The disturbing reality today is
that in the absence of a full-time
defence minister and by not
introducing defence reforms, it is the
civilian bureaucracy having
generalist IAS officers whose
expertise in defence matters is
questionable that has a major say
in the countrys defence planning
and decision-making. This needs to
change.
The demand for reforms in
Indias higher defence management
is a long-standing one and has grown
in strength ever since the Kargil
Review
Committee
(KRC)
recommended a number of reforms.
In 2000, the then National Democratic
Alliance (NDA) government
appointed a Group of Ministers
(GoM), with four task forces on
intelligence reforms, internal security,
border management, and higher
defence management, to review the
countrys defence preparedness in
the light
of
the
KRCs
recommendations. Many of the
recommendations made by the GoM
were only partially implemented.
And the most important one, of
creating the post of Chief of Defence
Staff (CDS), was ignored.
As a result, it has been widely
perceived over the past decade or
so that the countrys defence sector
needs further restructuring. In
response, the UPA government
appointed a task force on national
security under the chairmanship of
Mr. Naresh Chandra in 2011; it
submitted its report a year later.
Although classified, some of its
content has been leaked to the press.
66
Many of its recommendations were

not to the liking of the Ministry of
Defence (MoD) and the Defence
Minister. As a result, the UPA
government lost an opportunity to
introduce crucial reforms. The report
was to have been taken up by the
Cabinet Committee on Security in
February this year after the
government sat on it for no less than
one-and-a-half years, but it was too
late by then as the UPA government
felt that it should not take key national
security decisions in its final days in
office. Its now the turn of the NDA
government to act.
One of the key issues that
should be addressed by the Modi
government is the GoMs
recommendation to appoint a fivestar military officer to serve as the Chief
of Defence Staff (CDS) who then will
be the single-point military adviser to
the government. The CDS will chair
the meetings of the Chiefs of Staff
Committee (CoSC) and smoothen
the process of military planning,
streamlining budgetary requisitions
and effecting coordination between
the three services. This proposal was
earlier shot down by the MoD as it
feared that a super general would
bypass the civilian bureaucracy in
defence decision-making. There has
also been opposition to the idea from
within the military, by the Indian Air
Force (IAF). The Chandra committee,
being cognisant of the bureaucratic
opposition to the CDS proposal,
watered down the authority of the
CDS and instead recommended the
creation of a four-star permanent
chairman of the CoSC. According to
reports, this chairman, to be
appointed on a two-year tenure on a
rotational basis among the three
services, will not only coordinate
various inter-service issues but will
also be in charge of the countrys triService Commands: the Strategic
Forces Command (SFC) dealing with
Indias nuclear forces and the
Andaman and Nicobar Command

(ANC). This too was put on the back
burner after opposition from the
MoD.
The other area of concern is the
absence of synergy among the various
arms of the state dealing with defence
and national security: the armed
forces, the MoD, the Ministry of
External Affairs and the Defence
Research and Development
Organisation (DRDO). An attempt at
synergy was made in 1986 when the
Directorate General of Defence
Planning Staff (DGDPS) was formed,
but it never got anywhere because
civilian officers were not keen on
working in the DGDPS which
functioned under the CoSC. PostKargil, the KRC report had proposed
the integration of the armed forces
headquarters with the MoD, as doing
so would have led to more cohesion
in the countrys defence planning.
Instead, the government created the
Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) run
by three-star officers and with hardly
any role in the defence decisionmaking. It does not fulfil any of the
intended purposes. In June this year,
Union Defence Minister Arun Jaitley
laid the foundation stone of the IDS
building in New Delhi. He
emphasised the need to develop
synergy between the services to
achieve optimum force application.
But the IDS, Mr. Jaitley should know,
is a stillborn institution and cannot
contribute to synergy among the
forces.
The GoM and Chandra
committee reports strongly
recommended the posting of military
officers to important posts in the MoD
to improve defence planning.
Generalist IAS officers who spend
one or two years in the MoD are
unlikely to understand the highly
complex nature of defence issues
and strategic planning. This is the
result of an unhealthy tendency in the
government to prioritise routine


administrative management over
strategic planning based on
specialised domain knowledge. It is
time the government realised the
need for specialised knowledge and
expertise in the MoD. This can be
taken care of by encouraging civilian
officers to build expertise in strategic
affairs and involving the services in
strategic decision-making.
It is not as if politicians are
unaware of what ails Indias higher
defence structures. Various defence
related parliamentary standing
committee reports have not only
supported reforms but have often
expressed displeasure over the lack
of their implementation by the MoD.
In 2007, one such report, on the CDS,
said that the Government should
take the GoMs recommendations as
well as this Committees concern in
this matter seriously and take the final
decision on CDS at the earliest.
In 2009, another standing
committee on defence (SCD) said
that it is of the considered view that
the creation of an additional post of
Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) to act
as Chairman of the CoSC is essential
to ensure optimum level of jointness
among the different wings of the
Armed Forces and to provide singlepoint military advice to the
Government.
Parliamentary
committees have also been critical of
the Defence Ministrys unwillingness
to implement the required reforms.
The second SCD report of the 15th
Lok Sabha said: Merely writing
letters even from the level of the
Defence Minister is not sufficient.
There is an urgent need to use the
various fora of interaction with the
leaders of the political parties The
Committee expects the Ministry to
take the effective steps as suggested
above so that the institution of CDS is
set up expeditiously.
The other excuse is that
keeping the military out of decisionmaking strengthens civilian
supremacy over the armed forces, a

flawed argument for a number of
reasons. One, while civilian
supremacy should imply the
supremacy of the political
leadership, in India it translates into
the overlordship of the civil services
over the armed forces given that
political bosses hardly have any time
to manage defence related issues. As
a result, the defence secretary, a
generalist IAS officer, is the one who
advises the minister on defence
issues besides managing the armed
forces. Second, since generalist
bureaucrats in the Defence Ministry
are not experts in the defence sector,
they are either reluctant to carry out
reforms whose importance they dont
understand, or actively obstruct them
fearing the loss of the authority they
have traditionally enjoyed. Creating
a special cadre of defence specialists
is one way to overcome this problem.
India should not wait for
another crisis to recognise, all over
again, the need for higher defence
reforms. There are already sufficient
studies,
reports
and
recommendations that the
government can depend on while
planning the restructuring process.
The government could also consider
an Act of Parliament to offset the
existing resistance to defence
reforms.
Fair Deal For Transgenders
The Union Social Justice

Ministr y s move to seek
clarifications and modifications to
the Supreme Courts April 15, 2014
judgment that directed that the
transgender community be
formally recognised as the third
gender and accorded backward
class reservation in education and
employment has some validity, but
it
also
indicates
some
misunderstanding of the landmark
ruling. The Court had directed that
the recommendations of an expert

committee, formed earlier to study
the problems of the transgender
community, be implemented within
six months in the light of its legal
declaration. The government now
says the committee had submitted
its report on January 27 itself
months before the verdict and
that it would require more than six
months to implement the
recommendations. The Court
would have noted its contents,
more crucially, the panels
comprehensive definition of
transgender in a manner that
would not leave out anyone from
that marginalised section, had it
been brought to its notice in time.
The Ministry has also sought to
make an issue out of some
obser vations
regarding
transgender being used as an
umbrella term to include lesbian,
gay and bisexual individuals too.
The government is right when it
says giving a wider sense to the
term transgender may create
needless complications, but it has
failed to note that the judgment
unequivocally states, not once but
twice, that it is restricting itself to
hijras and other variants of the
term, excluding categories such as
lesbian and gay.
The judgment essentially dealt
with two major aspects one, that
gender identity is not a mere binary
concept; and two, that a section of
society is vulnerable to discrimination
based on apparent non-conformity to
such a binary notion of gender as well
as sexual orientation. In principle, it
has made non-discrimination against
the entire marginalised community a
constitutional norm. The Ministry may
require some more time or feel
entitled to a clarification or two, but
67


it is difficult to believe that it finds
the references to the LGBT
community and the term eunuch in
the judgment to be major obstacles
to complying with the directions.
Also, it has raised a doubt whether
transgenders can be straightaway
declared backward when such
classification is within the province
of the National Commission for
Backward Classes. This is hardly an
insurmountable difficulty. The
Commission may be approached for
such
an
enquiry
and
recommendation, as the reasons to
consider them backward are already
set out in the judgment. The
clarification petition may be an
opportunity for the Court to marry its
own legal declaration with the expert
panels conclusions so that the
transgender community gets the
constitutional relief it is entitled to.
ISIS Problem
Syria provides no easy

answers. This time, IS knows that
the U.S. will not send massive
troop deployments into Syrian
territory and has signalled that it
does not care about international
norms and western reaction. It
recognises that the West has its
hands tied. Drawn into a
confrontation with Abu Bakr alBaghdadis Islamic State (IS) by the
execution of western journalists
and aid workers, United States
President Barack Obama asks his
bombers to start their engines.
Domestic political entanglements
make anything more than aerial
strikes hard to promote: the U.S.
public is exhausted by the long War
on Terror. Mr. Obama, unlike Mr.
George W. Bush, is too suave for
braggadocio. He tried to downgrade
the War on Terror to Overseas
Contingency Operations, but this
did not have the necessary ring for
68
public opinion. Like Mr. Bush, Mr.

Obama has sought a Coalition of
the Willing, but unlike Mr. Bush
he will not involve U.S. ground
troops. There will be boots on the
ground, but the feet in them will
be local.
Syria provides no easy answers.
In Syria, IS faces three adversaries:
Kurdish fighters, the Syrian
government and an assortment of the
Syrian opposition. Of these three, the
U.S. will not overtly cooperate with
the first two. Mr. Obamas
commitment to the overthrow of
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
means that he has rejected the calls
from Damascus for a coordinated
strategy against the Islamic State. Mr.
Assad has mainly ignored the IS,
allowing it to fester in the northern
reaches as he had recalled his armies
to defend Damascus and the western
coastline. With the Syrian Army tied
down with the defence of Syrias
heartland, the IS has been able to
concentrate its firepower against the
other rebels.
The most capable force to
tackle the IS has been the Kurdish
fighters of the YPG (Syria) and the
PKK (Turkey), the latter considered
by the U.S. and Turkey as a terrorist
organisation. Turkey is loathe to join
the U.S. mission in Syria not because
the Islamic State holds Turkish
hostages but for two other reasons.
First, the anti-IS campaign would
strengthen the prestige of the PKK
and the YPG. Inside Turkey, the
government of Recip Tayyip
Erdogan
has
conducted
negotiations with the imprisoned
leader of the PKK, Abdullah calan;
but this Imrali Process has not
provided sufficient confidence to
allow the PKK a free run in Syria.
Second, Turkeys government
remains committed to the overthrow
of Mr. Assad. Mr. Erdogans panIslamism is in line with the Syrian
Muslim Brotherhood, who also

rejected the Obama plan unless the
first bullet is directed at Assads
head. Turkey is loathed to close its
border. Jihadis continue to stream
across the border, while injured IS
fighters rush to hospitals in Urfa
(Turkey) for free medical care.
The United States preferred
Syrian rebels, the Free Syrian Army
(FSA) and the Harakat al-Hazm, do
not elicit confidence. The FSA, built
mainly of defectors from the Syrian
armed forces, is a shadow of its former
self. Blocked from any major victory,
and squeezed by the much more
fierce Islamist rebels and by the
Syrian Army, the FSA has gone in two
directions toward extortion and
smuggling, and toward coordination
with the Islamist rebels for territorial
gains. The FSAs Colonel Riad alAssad went along the grain of the
Syrian Muslim Brotherhood no
coordination with the U.S. unless they
get assurances on toppling the
Assad regime. In Damascus, the
FSAs Front (Jabhat Thuwar Suriyya)
has decided not to target the Islamic
State, but to concentrate on the
Assad regime. The Harkat al-Hazm,
meanwhile, has been fighting
alongside al-Qaedas official
representative in Syria, the Jabhat alNusra. Backed by Qatar and Turkey,
as well as the U.S., the Harkat al-Hazm
has made little advance in Syria.
The largest group of fighters is
in Ahrar as-Sham, the leading section
in the Islamic Front. Its principal
leadership including its
charismatic leader Hassan Abboud
was wiped out in early September
in a huge suffocation bomb. Abboud
had tried to fashion himself as a
moderate. He was the protg of
Abu Khaled al-Suri, who was killed
earlier this year. Al-Suri had a close
relationship with the al-Qaeda, having
been chosen to mediate between the
Jabhat al-Nusra and the IS during
their 2013 conflict. Abu Jaber, the


new leader, has a less broad-minded
reputation than Abboud. The strange
alliances and routes are clear in Abu
Jabers itinerary. He went from the
FSA to the al-Fajr Islamic Movement,
and now to leadership of Ahrar and
the Islamic Front. Qatar wants the U.S.
to adopt Ahrar as its moderate entity.
All the Islamist groups have turned to
the camouflage of moderation. A
new front, the al-Faylaq al-Khamis
(The Fifth Legion) has claimed to be
nationalist, with the Syrian flag on its
materials rather than the pennants of
jihad. But its leadership had been
Islamist just before it decided to hide
its beards under a balaclava.
Public atrocities by the Islamic
State are a curious business. Brutality
by the IS has been commonplace.
They have used YouTube videos of
mass executions to cower their
enemies into surrender or flight. This
is precisely what happened in Mosul,
when Iraqi troops fled in fear of the
consequences of capture. But the
beheadings of western journalists and
aid workers are of a different quality.
These are not to scare the Iraqi troops
or the other Syrian rebels. The new
killings are a message to the West.
Osama bin Ladens attack on the U.S.
on 9/11 had been calculated to draw
the West to Afghanistan. That is the
reason why the al-Qaeda assassinated
the Northern Alliance leader, Ahmad
Shah Massoud a little before the 9/11
attacks. But this time, IS knows that
the U.S. will not send massive troop
deployments into Syria. IS has
signalled that it simply does not care
about international norms and
western reaction. It recognises that
the West has its hands tied. It will
bomb from the air, but this is as likely
as not to bring recruits to the side of
the Islamic State. Among the takfiri
fighters, the animosity to the U.S. is
great. By staking out a position as the
pre-eminent group that stands against
the West, the IS might be trying to
draw in fighters from other groups.
No easy political agreement can

come in Syria. The rebels remain
obdurate that Mr. Assad must go,
even if this means delivery of Syria to
the Islamic State. Mr. Assad will not
throw his troops at the IS unless he
has an assurance that the rebellion
against him is over. Regional tensions
between Iran and Saudi Arabia
remain on a boil. Mr. Obamas gesture
appears resolute, but empty (as idle
as the speeches at the Paris
conference of September 15).
Confidence fell even lower when a
senior Obama aide noted, Saudi
Arabia has an extensive border with
Syria. Such geographical gaffes
dampen faith in the Obama strategy.
Chinese President India Visit
Chinese President Xi Jinping
arrives in India under extraordinary
circumstances, when the political
and economic dimensions of the
international system are undergoing
a profound transformation. There are
distinct indicators that the era of a
unipolar world, led by the United
States following the 1991 collapse of
the Soviet Union, is giving way to
multipolarity, anchored also by
countries that are part of the BrazilRussia-India-China-South Africa
(BRICS) grouping and the G-20. Both
President Xi and Prime Minister
Narendra Modi are fully aware of the
larger geopolitical context, where
emerging powers have a first-rate
chance of reshaping the global
political and economic architecture
in more equitable terms. The two had
worked closely during the BRICS
summit in Brazil; their chemistry
playing its part in pragmatic
negotiations that resulted in the
formation of the BRICS Bank.
Hemmed in by the Pivot to
Asia led by Washington and its
allies, including Japan, Australia
and the Philippines, to contain the
perceived rise of an aggressive
China, Beijing has responded with
its bold home-grown riposte

the Silk Road initiatives, that
include the proposal to form the
Maritime Silk Road (MSR). The
Chinese are bending over
backwards to assign a benign role
to the MSR based on trade and
investment as well as physical and
cyber-connectivity among a large
number of countries belonging to
the Association of South East
Asian Nations (ASEAN) and South
Asia, including India, Sri Lanka and
the Maldives. India has already
supported Chinas initiative on the
formation of the BangladeshChina-India-Myanmar (BCIM)
corridor, but would have to take a
call on the MSR, at a time when
Chinas detractors are slamming
Beijing for its alleged Indiacontainment strategy, borrowing
from the string of pearls theory.
With its enhanced strategic
autonomy, New Delhi is now wellplaced to positively and deeply
engage with China with confidence
on a bilateral platform or within
the larger collective folds of the
MSR initiative and the Shanghai
Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
As President Xi arrives, Mr. Modi
has a rare chance to seize the
moment by stating Indias political
intent of solving the border row
between the two countries,
beginning with solid and
measurable steps to clarify the Line
of Actual Control, and to root out
distracting and headline-grabbing
border incidents. With the two
countries accounting for a
collective population of 2.5 billion,
Sino-Indian cooperation is based
on hard-headed realism and
goodwill. It can have a major
impact on shifting the global
69


balance of power, as well as on the
realisation of an Asian century
visualised ahead of Independence
by Jawaharlal Nehru, during the
historic
Asian
Relations
Conference.
For a Victim-Centric Approach
Closed-door proceedings
place an additional responsibility
on a judge to ensure that he or she
is duty-bound to maintain the
delicate balance between the rights
of an accused for a fair trial and the
rights of a rape victim for
protection against the violation of
her dignity. Court proceedings are
generally held in open courtrooms
to ensure transparency under the
maxim, not only must justice be
done, it must also be seen to be
done. The recent trend of incamera trial has evolved contrary
to this maxim to ensure
confidentiality and to lessen the
trauma and stigma caused to a
victim. It also provides protection
from voyeuristic intrusion by the
media. Apart from the actual
incident of rape, what rape victims
fear the most is the courtroom
ordeal. What comes to mind is a
slogan coined during the anti-rape
campaign in the early 1980s in the
context of the acquittal of two
policemen. They were charged with
the rape of a 16-year-old tribal girl,
who was poor, in a police station,
and had termed her a liar as there
were no marks of injury on her
body. She was raped twice, first by
the police and then by the courts.
This still holds true for many
victims, despite the introduction
of statutory changes and positive
rulings of the Supreme Court.
Within the hostile environment of
70
a criminal court, the victim looks

up to the judge to get the wrinkles
out of what is a gruelling process.
It is the sensitivity displayed by
the judge which alone can save the
situation. On this subject, trial
court judges try to pass the buck on
to defence lawyers saying that it is
they who need to be sensitised.
However, it is entirely up to the
judge to take control of the
situation. A confident judge wellversed in statutory provisions and
positive rulings will be in a
commanding position to maintain
the dignity and decorum of the
court; only those who lack in
confidence will allow themselves
to be cowed down by the
intimidating tactics of defence
lawyers.
As an example, let me discuss
the case of 16-year-old K, a victim of
gang rape which happened in the
pre-amendment era. She was
dragged out of her paying guest
accommodation in a slum to a vacant
room down the street and brutally
raped by five men until she fell
unconscious. The first information
report (FIR) could be lodged after
about a month, and after the
Herculean efforts of a social worker.
The plea by the defence was that K
was the daughter of a sex worker.
And as she had a boyfriend, she
herself was of questionable character.
This background provided ample
scope for her humiliating crossexamination by five astute lawyers.
However, the presiding judge
remained firm, relying on the pathbreaking Supreme Court ruling in
Gurmit Singh (1996), and did not
permit any questions regarding the
victims past sexual history.
In that case, while overturning
the verdict of the two lower courts,
which had acquitted the accused in
a case of the gang rape of a 16-year-
old schoolchild who had been

kidnapped from her examination
centre, the Supreme Court had ruled:
Even in cases where there is some
acceptable material on record to
show that the victim was habituated
to sexual intercourse, no such
inference like the victim is a girl of
loose moral character is permissible
to be drawn from that circumstance
alone. No stigma, like the one as cast
in the present case can be cast
against such a witness, for after all, it
is the accused and not the victim of
sex crime who is on trial in the court.
The trial court judge ruled that
questions regarding the credibility of
the witness, or her past sexual history
can no longer be entertained after
this ruling. She further commented
that it was not a case of a complaint
of sexual assault arising out of a love
affair, but was a case of gang rape.
The judge ensured that the
deposition of the victim was
concluded on the same day, even if
it meant a sitting beyond the court
timings. The case finally ended in a
conviction, despite the lapses.
Let us contrast this with the case
of an eight-year-old who lived in a
lower class tenement, and sexually
abused by a neighbour, a 26-year-old
man. The incident lasted barely 10
minutes as the child heard her mother
calling out to her and began to
scream. The girl experienced great
trauma and could not describe the
incident even to her mother for two
days. During the trial, the child was
cross-examined by a reputed criminal
lawyer over three court dates, where
her parents and she had to travel a
distance of two hours each way. The
busy lawyer either came late or
pleaded his inability to complete the
cross-examination as he had other
matters to attend to. The court gave
in to his request, disregarding the
hardship being caused to the family
of meagre means. The trial was in the
designated Special Court,


constituted under the Protection of
Children from Sexual Offences
(POCSO) Act, 2012, which stipulates
special child-friendly trial
procedures.
Throughout her deposition, the
child, of a small build, was
precariously perched on the ledge
of the witness box, so that the
presiding judge could see her and
listen to her scared and muffled
voice. This case too ended in
conviction. The manner in which the
two trials were conducted shows that
there is a world of difference. The
Sakshi Guidelines (2004) stipulate
that in cases concerning children, the
defence lawyer must first submit the
questions in writing to the judge, and
the judge, at his/her discretion, ask
only those questions which are
relevant to the incident. But these
guidelines are seldom followed.
Due to the presumption that
a victim of sexual abuse would feel
more at ease deposing before a lady
judge, there is a stipulation that, as
far as possible, only lady judges
should be assigned to special
courts. However, the belief that all
lady judges are equally sensitive to
victims, and that as a class, lady
judges are more sensitive to
victims of sexual crimes than men
is not substantiated. It is not
biolog y which deter mines
sensitivity. Judges assigned to
these courts must be specially
exposed not only to statutor y
provisions but also to the
mandator y protective measures
that are required to be diligently
followed before their assignment
to these courts. There is also a need
to monitor the functioning of
these courts and provide
mechanisms of redress, in case of
lapses. Closed-door trials cannot be
construed as sacrosanct spaces
beyond the scope of a social audit.

Campaigners
who
were
instrumental in bringing about
these changes cannot abdicate
their responsibility once the
statute is enacted. The enactments
are only the beginning of a longdrawn and challenging process.
Within their limitations, some
judges have been using simple
measures such as the setting up of a
temporary screen or placing a
cupboard in a manner so as to shield
the victim during the deposition and
allowing frequent breaks during the
gruelling process of crossexamination. (We have come across
instances where victims have fainted
during the deposition.) Some judges
also permit the victim to enter from
the entrance meant for judges and
allow them to wait in their own
chambers until the matter is called
out. These are small but significant
gestures which will help ease the
trauma of the victim.
Lessons from a Disaster
As life slowly acquires a

semblance of normalcy in Jammu
and Kashmir, the extent of damage
caused by the floods is unfolding.
People who had abandoned their
marooned houses or were
evacuated are slowly getting back
and assessing the damage as the
water level recedes. A long haul is
ahead. According to industry body
Assocham, the loss in terms of
damage to trade establishments,
hotels
and
restaurants,
horticulture, the handicrafts
sector, transport infrastructure and
communications facilities may add
up to Rs.5,700 crore. While traffic
on the arterial Jammu-Srinagar
highway has been restored
partially, most other road systems
are still in limbo. The ambitious
Jammu-Srinagar-Baramulla railway
line project has suffered setbacks.
The death toll cannot be reliably
determined as yet, given the
number of persons who have been
listed as missing. A major source of
worry pertains to the possibility of
spread of diseases after the water
recedes. Livelihoods, including in
the tourism and farming sectors,
need to be restored. The number of
people rescued by the armed forces
and the National Disaster
Response Force is close to 2.5 lakh.
The armed forces and the NDRF
have played a stellar role here. The
Army alone deployed around 30,000
troops. Some questions have been
raised about the level of
coordination among different
agencies, but overall it has been a
creditable effort so far.
While looking at the challenges
of relief and reconstruction that lie
ahead, this is also the time to consider
the lessons for the State from the
extreme event. While there is
agreement over the fact that the level
of rainfall was unprecedented,
intense and rather sudden, leaving
little room for timely warnings, the
environmental factors that underlie
the tragedy need to be given a hard
look. Ecological degradation caused
by unplanned development and
urbanisation, and failure to preserve
wetlands, has played a role. Wetlands
act as a sponge, and their loss is
bound to have serious repercussions.
A report by the Bombay Natural
History Society has mentioned that
the Wular lake, once spread over
20,200 ha, has shrunk to 2,400 ha. The
Dal lake in Srinagar has been reduced
to almost half its earlier size, to 1,200
ha. According to the Centre for
Science and Environment, over the
last century more than 50 per cent of
the lakes, ponds and wetlands of
Srinagar have been encroached
71


upon. The banks of the Jhelum have
been overrun, reducing its drainage
capacity. The story is the same with
the Tawi in Jammu. Flash floods in this
river washed away some 400
buildings and inundated scores of
colonies, many of them in breach of
the Jammu Master Plan. This, then,
has been a costly environmental
wake-up call for Jammu and Kashmir
as it was for Uttarakhand a year
ago.
Neither Warmongers
Nor Wimps
The debate over Europes
economic, political and military
readiness to retaliate against Russia
shows in a nutshell what is currently
at stake in Ukraine: the future of
European foreign policy. But every
crisis carries with it the seed of a
chance, and this one is pushing the
EU in the right direction. It is a very
German discussion that has been
occupying the media of Europes
largest economy for the last few
months. It started with a cover story
in the leading news magazine Der
Spiegel that called on policymakers
to Stop Putin. Now. The
conservative daily Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) followed
suit with an op-ed demanding a new
double-track-decision that would
show Europes economic, political
and military readiness to retaliate
against Russia.
In a largely pacifist country, this
air of hawkishness that brings back
memories of the Cold War could not
pass uncontradicted. Garbor
Steingart, Editor-in-Chief of the
business weekly Das Handelsblatt
rubbished these articles as mental
conscription calls, an accusation that
led FAZ to speculate about the
amount of pressure Mr. Steingart
might face from the German business
lobby: Be nice to Putin, whatever he
does, otherwise our economy will be
in trouble. The debate shows in a
72
nutshell what is currently at stake in

the Ukraine: the future of European
foreign policy. The crisis not only
reveals the centrifugal forces that are
always at work within the European
Union (EU): different economic
interests and political cultures of its
member states versus a growing need
to speak and act as a unified player.
It also shows a deep sense of
insecurity of what a European foreign
policy should be. But every crisis
carries with it the seed of a chance.
And this one is pushing the EU in the
right direction.
More than two decades after
the end of the Cold War, it is clear to
everybody that Europe cannot afford
to remain divided and indecisive in a
conflict at its own doorstep. The
shooting down in July of Malaysia
Airlines flight MH17 over the Ukraine,
widely believed to be by Russiabacked rebels, brought back
memories of war to a continent that
liked to believe that the age of wars
in this part of the world is over.
Pictures of rotting bodies in the
badlands of the Ukraine all 298
passengers died did not only prove
the contrary. In an Open Letter to
German Chancellor Angela Merkel
and Foreign Minister Frank-Walter
Steinmeier, 21 German intellectuals
from across the political spectrum
claim: The German government
resists persistently to talk about
Russias war against the Ukraine. But
every realistic policy has to call a
spade a spade. The EU must not leave
any doubt that the aggression against
a state, with which it has an
association agreement will come at a
high political and economic price.
Thats one part of the problem.
The other is that the relationship
between the EU and Russia has not
delivered on the promise of a
genuine partnership that seemed to
be possible after the fall of the Berlin
Wall in 1989. One might call that hope
for an age of peace, prosperity and
democracy as naive, but it has shaped

public opinion in Europe after the
Cold War at a large scale. Instead,
Vladimir Putin, who was once called
a flawless democrat by former
German Chancellor Gerhard
Schreder, has proven an
unpredictable neighbour, to say the
least. In a drive to secure his own
fragile power basis at home, he seems
to be determined to bring the
Ukraine back into Russias orbit, at any
cost.
And
here,
the
misunderstanding begins.
While Mr. Putin might satisfy the
demand for a strong Russian posture
at home, he has little to offer even to
his own people in the long run.
Andrew Kuchins, Director of the
Russia and Eurasia Program, Center
for Strategic and International Studies
(CSIS) in Washington DC, believes
that Mr. Putin, like his Soviet
predecessors, might have decided to
avoid necessary economic reforms
because they could destroy his
authoritarian system. While prospects
of a positive economic development
in Russia seem to be bleak, former
communist countries that joined the
EU, like Poland, are flourishing
economically. Europe therefore
needs to take a closer look at the
implications of its value-based foreign
policy. The EU has taken the right
decision to impose strict economic
sanctions on Russia as a reaction to
the Crimean crisis. Under the
leadership of Ms. Merkel, Europe
stands united in a major security crisis
for the first time and it proves those
critics wrong who prematurely
assumed that a shaken EU makes no
real effort to confront Russia over
Ukraine. It should be added here
that the European extreme right that
has gained influence especially
the French National Front and even
the German Euro-critical party AfD
(Alternative fr Deutschland)
count among the staunch supporters
of Mr. Putin. And it is clear why: both


Mr. Putin and the populist parties of
the right want to weaken the
European Union, for different
reasons. But so far, their influence
remains limited.
Economic sanctions can only be
one part of an overall strategy towards
Russia. The role of the military is
another element that needs to be
reflected on. While the European
public is largely pacifist as a result of
two devastating wars in the 20th
century, policymakers must be aware
that European values become an
empty phrase if nothing follows in
case of their violation. Will Europe
stand by and watch how a state is
being destroyed that has opted for
European values? This is the
question the signatories of the Open
Letter to Ms. Merkel ask. They suggest
an expansion of the sanctions against
Russia and large-scale financial
support for the Ukraine. But do not
mention the military.
That is the crux of European
foreign policy at the moment. In the
European Unions world, things such
as balance of power and armed
intervention are simply not on the
table, although individual member
states such as France continue to
undertake military interventions on
their own, writes Kathleen
McNamara. In Germany, things are
even more complicated because
national interest hardly counts as a
relevant element of foreign policy.
Therefore, every action has to be
justified on moral grounds. The
problem of German security policy is
that it neither asks itself what German
interests are nor does it explain these
interests to the people, writes Alan
Posener, correspondent at the
conservative daily, Die Welt.
Apart from Russias aggression
against the Ukraine and Mr. Putins
plan for a neo-imperialist
Novorossiya (New Russia), there
are several frozen conflicts in South
Eastern Europe and the Caucasus
that remain unresolved and represent

a continuing risk of military conflict:
South Ossetia, Abkhazia, NagornoKarabakh, Transnistria, to name just a
few. At the same time, thousands of
nuclear weapons are still central to
the security arrangements of the
continent. The Ukraine, under the
Budapest Memorandum on Security
Assurances of 1994, gave up the
worlds third largest nuclear weapons
stockpile that it had inherited from
the Soviet Union. The memorandum
that was signed by the United States,
the United Kingdom and the Russian
Federation included security
assurances against threats or the use
of force against the territorial integrity
or political independence of Ukraine.
Europe sees the invasion of Crimea
and Russias interference in the
Ukraine as a breach of international
law and Russias obligations of the
Budapest Memorandum.
But this might not be the case
anymore. Russia cannot be seen as
our strategic partner anymore, writes
Wolfgang Ischinger, Chairman of the
Munich Security Conference and
asks: When, if not now, is the right
time to take steps towards a European
Defence Union? Given this
psychological situation of the German
public and the strong economical
interests in the German business
community, one cannot expect that
German foreign policy will be
coming-of-age overnight.
Neither will the European
Union start acting as the United
States of Europe any time soon. But
driven by the dramatic events in the
Ukraine, a far-reaching process has
started, in Germany and in other
European countries. For this time, the
EU is on the right path.
Talking Trade
and Peace with China
Xi Jinpings visit was billed as
the third by a Chinese President. This
may be right in a technical sense; not
so from a historical perspective. Mr.

Xi is actually the fourth Chinese
President to visit India. The first was
Chiang Kai-Shek, President of the
Republic of China. Chiang visited
India in early 1942 soon after Japan
entered the Second World War. As
the Tokyo typhoon swept Southeast
Asia, India became vital for Chinas
survival. Chiang travelled to India
seeking to persuade the Indian
National Congress to fully support the
British war effort. His long meetings
with Nehru and with Gandhi did not
yield much. And Chiang returned
with little more than the spinning
wheel that Gandhi had gifted to his
wife.
Yet the visits by Presidents
Chiang and Mr. Xi have more in
common than the Gandhian
spinning wheel. For one thing,
they underscore Indias importance
in any Asian security architecture.
In the 1940s, when the hegemon in
Asia Britain was knocked off
its perch by a rising power, India
played a pivotal strategic role in
stopping Japan in its tracks. Today
the situation is very different. Yet,
as Chinas swaggering rise rattles
its neighbours, India is seen as a
key player in ensuring a balanced
regional order. Further, both the
visits point to the strategic
quadrangle of China, Japan, India
and the United States. In 1942,
China sought American assistance
in enabling India to hold Japan at
bay. Now it is India and Japan that
are working together against any
unilateral Chinese attempt to
rewrite the rules of the game in
Asia. And the Americans are keenly
backing their moves.
These wider considerations
clearly underpin Mr. Xis desire to
woo India. At any rate, his visit may
turn out to be rather more successful
73


than the maiden foray by Chiang. From
Chinas standpoint, India now
appears an attractive destination for
investment. Prime Minister Modi has
given unprecedented political
salience to infrastructure and
industry. So, the Chinese are well
placed to play to their strengths. From
Indias standpoint, attracting Chinese
investment is imperative for reviving
growth. Besides, its deepening ties
with Japan, Australia and Vietnam
have opened up more room for
manoeuvre in Asia.
In Commerce,
Testing the Waters
Yet, for a range of reasons, it may
be prudent to temper expectations.
First, China is not rushing to open its
coffers to India. Prior to the visit,
Chinese officials had claimed that Mr.
Xi would commit to invest at least
$100 billion. But the five-year plan
inked by the two sides envisages $20
billion of Chinese investment. Clearly,
Beijing is waiting to see if New Delhi
can walk the talk. This is not
surprising. Outside of Gujarat, Chinas
experience with big ticket
investments has not been
encouraging. This is precisely why the
Prime Minister received Mr. Xi in
Ahmedabad. Moreover, China
unlike Japan does not have long
experience of working in India.
Nevertheless,
Chinas
inclination to test the waters
implies that Indias trade deficit
may not be adequately offset by
capital inflows. To be sure, the
Chinese have also agreed to
improve market access for Indian
firms. But it remains to be seen
whether they will deliver on this.
The economic imbalance between
India and China, then, may not be
set right anytime soon. Second,
Mr. Modi appears lukewarm to Mr.
Xis ambitious plans for building
multiple silk roads. Although
74
India has finally agreed to consider

the Bangladesh-China-IndiaMyanmar (BCIM) Corridor, it is
unlikely to move with alacrity.
Indias own backward linkages
from the Northeast leave much to
be desired. In such a situation,
going ahead with a corridor
connecting the Northeast with
these countries will be seen as
working mainly to Chinas
advantage. Nor does the proposed
maritime silk road connecting
Chinas coastline with various hubs
in the Indian Ocean have much
traction in New Delhi.
Placing these proposals in
the ice pail is not good idea,
however. India must realise that
these routes will come up
irrespective of its participation.
Countries across the region are
drooling at the prospect of big
infrastructure and cheap Chinese
finance. Sri Lanka and the
Maldives have lapped up Mr. Xis
plans for a maritime silk road.
India, too, could benefit much from
joining these ventures. For
instance, the upgradation of our
coastal infrastructure would
considerably aid our emergence as a
serious maritime not just naval
power. Concerns about Chinese
presence in the Indian Ocean can
be overdone. In the past three years,
New Delhi has put in place
practical arrangements for
maritime security with Sri Lanka
and the Maldives, Seychelles and
Mauritius.
Finally, there is the disputed
boundary which cast a shadow on
the summit. The Prime Minister
rightly observed that peace and
stability along the borders was
crucial to realising the enormous
economic potential of Sino-Indian

relations. But his call for the
resumption of talks on clarifying
the Line of Actual Control (LAC)
was off-beam. This can hardly help
prevent incursions. The LAC is
supposed to divide the areas that
are under Indian and Chinese
control since the end of the 1962
war. The line, however, was not
mutually agreed upon by the two
sides. This was because the war
ended with a unilateral ceasefire
and the subsequent withdrawal by
China. In the Ladakh sector, the
question of where exactly Chinese
forces stood after the war remains
contested. The areas where Chinese
incursions occur are claimed by
both sides as lying on their side of
the LAC. In the Arunachal Pradesh
sector, the Chinese treat the
McMahon Line as the LAC. But
they challenge Indias claim that
the Line should follow the
watershed or the highest line of
mountains. They point out that the
coordinates of the McMahon Line
as set out in the Simla
Conference of 1914 depart at
places from the watershed. These
grey areas south of the watershed
are the places where Chinese
incursions occur in this sector.
Given these differing notions of
the LAC, any exercise in clarification
is unlikely to succeed. We can only
agree to disagree. The good thing is
that we know the areas of
disagreement. Whats more, both
sides will continue to intrude into
these areas. At one level, this is
tactical jockeying. Chumar, for
instance, is the only place along the
LAC in Ladakh which the Chinese
cannot directly access. Hence, the
spurt in Chinese probing near
Chumar. Demchok is one of two


mutually agreed disputed areas,
but that does not stop India from
going ahead with its activities. At
another level, incursions are
essential for both sides to keep alive
their territorial claims.
Indeed, the only way to put an
end to incursions is to settle the
boundary dispute. It is worth
recalling that under Prime Minister
A.B. Vajpayee, India had initially
insisted on talks to clarify the LAC. By
2003, however, the government
came round to the sensible view that
these would not help and that it was
essential to kick-start negotiations on
the boundary by appointing special
representatives. The subsequent
agreement of 2005 provides an ideal
basis for settlement by mutual
concessions. It acknowledges Indias
concerns over places like Tawang by
tacitly agreeing that settled areas are
not up for bargaining. It takes Chinas
demands into account by suggesting
that the watershed principle may not
be ironclad.
All along, a settlement has
proved elusive owing to political
concerns. Governments in both
India and China have baulked at
the prospect of selling a deal to
their domestic audiences. Having
insistently laid claims to
Arunachal Pradesh, Beijing is
concerned about dropping them
for good. Indian governments, for
their part, have paled at the
thought of pushing through a
constitutional amendment one
that will require two-thirds
majority in both Houses as well as
ratification by 50 per cent of the
State legislatures. The problem is
not just of numbers. Even
governments with commanding
majorities such as those led by
Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv
Gandhi have hesitated to grasp the
nettle owing mainly to
opposition from within their own

party and concerns about adverse
political fall out.
Contours of Caste Disadvantage
Traditional hierarchies are too
deeply entrenched to be reversed
through one single measure; they
need a concerted push, backed by
strong will from different segments
of society, including, but not
confined to, politicians. The rise of
Other Backward Classes (OBC) and
Dalit-Adivasi leaders in the political
sphere is celebrated as Indias silent
revolution. At the national level, this
phenomenon has been especially
marked since the early 1990s, leading
to
comments
about
the
Mandalisation of the Indian polity.
The political ascendancy of
individuals from traditionally
marginalised groups has been
viewed as a large enough flux that it
is believed to have either reversed,
or certainly flattened, the centuriesold traditional caste hierarchies. The
contemporary caste system is often
represented as one where
horizontally placed entities compete
for government favours and for a
space among the elites, often using
the trump card of marginalisation,
despite being powerful, rich and
dominant groups within their local
contexts. The pictures vary
depending on the commentator: it is
either one of competition between
equals; or one where the upper castes
are now the new marginalised and
the so-called lower castes, especially
the OBCs, the new elite. A running
theme underlying these analyses is
one that minimises the actual extent
of disadvantage and discrimination,
and celebrates the end of the caste
system, or at least its dehumanising,
hierarchical and exploitative avatar.
Indeed, the change in the
political sphere is rather striking,
especially in the Hindi belt. Until
the early 1970s, upper caste
Members
of
Parliament
represented more than 50 per cent
of North Indian MPs, compared to
5 per cent for the intermediate
castes and at most 10 per cent for
OBCs. In the South (and also in
Maharashtra), due
to a
combination of reasons, including
a long history of intense social
reform movements, upper castes
lost their predominant position in
the political sphere rather early on.
Even though the implementation
of the Mandal Commission report
is seen as the turning point, in
actual fact, the share of
intermediate castes and OBCs
started rising in 1977. By 1989,
upper caste MPs from Uttar
Pradesh fell below 40 per cent for
the first time, and the OBC share
was 21 per cent. The same trend
was getting reflected in the State
Assemblies: e.g. in Uttar Pradesh,
the share of upper caste MLAs
decreased from 58 per cent in 1962
to 37.7 per cent in 1998.
Has this shift in the social
composition of political leaders led
to a corresponding change in
material conditions of broad caste
groups? The OBCs-are-the-newelite theory certainly believes that
it has: the personal enrichment of
individual political leaders, coupled
with some rags-to-riches stories
are offered as evidence of this
change. However, like several
debates, this one has generated
more heat than light, because
these individual stories, dramatic
as they are, do not give any sense of
the broader contours of change in
the relative ranking of the three
broad social groups DalitsAdivasis, OBCs and Others
(everyone else). In the absence of
75


jati-specific data, Others are often
taken as a loose proxy for upper
castes, but it should be noted that
the actual disparity between upper
and lower castes would be larger
than what is revealed by these
broad data categories. Also, the
OBC category in these data sets is
the legal one, i.e. all jatis classified
as OBCs, including dominant
castes. Thus, the gaps between the
truly backward OBCs and upper
castes would be larger than what
are revealed by aggregate data.
We examine gaps in several
indicators
(landholding,
urbanisation, years of education,
proportions of those with different
levels of education, various
employment indicators, wages and
so forth) across caste groups,
between each cohort, and see if the
gaps are increasing or decreasing
across cohorts. Suppose that upper
castes have a higher proportion
(than OBCs) of those who hold
elite, white-collar jobs. That
indicates
disparity
along
traditional lines. But if this gap is
lower for younger cohorts than it
was for older cohorts, it would
mean that OBCs are catching up
with upper castes in terms of
access to this tier of occupation. If,
hypothetically, we were to find
that among the younger cohorts, a
greater proportion of OBCs had
access to white-collar jobs than
upper castes, it would suggest that
the older hierarchy of access to
such jobs had been overturned, and
the OBCs are indeed the new elite
in this dimension. We examined
each of our indicators using this
methodology, and heres what we
found. We find evidence of
convergence between the three
76
broad groups in literacy and

primary education over successive
cohorts. However, in access to
higher education, the groups are
growing further apart. The fact
that for education after the primary
stage, and especially for higher
education critical to achieving
social mobility, traditional
hierarchies have not only
persisted, but widened over the last
50 years is significant. This
suggests that policies targeted
towards closing the gaps at the
higher education levels are not
entirely misplaced, as the gaps
would probably have been larger in
the absence of such policies. In a
three way division of all jobs into
agricultural, blue collar and white
collar, SC-STs record the highest
proportion in agricultural jobs
consistently for all cohorts,
followed by OBCs and upper castes;
whereas for white-collar jobs, upper
castes record the highest
proportions for all cohorts,
followed by OBCs and then SC-STs.
For blue-collar jobs, the picture is
mixed, in that OBCs record the
highest proportions, followed by
upper castes and then SC-STs.
Here, change can be seen in the
fact that younger cohorts among
OBCs seem to be closing the gap
vis--vis upper castes in terms of
access to prestigious white-collar
jobs, whereas SC-STs continue to
lag behind.
We find that SC-ST
percentages with access to public
sector jobs are consistently higher
than those for OBCs, a trend at
variance with access to whitecollar jobs. We believe that the
difference in the relative picture
between SC-STs and OBCs reflects
the longer operation of SC-ST

quotas. Note, however, that upper
castes as a group continue to have
the highest percentage of public
sector jobs across cohorts. Here
again, the OBCs are catching up,
both with SC-STs and with upper
castes. This is most strikingly true
for the cohort born between 19561965, individuals who would have
been between 35 and 25 years old
in 1990 and hence eligible to take
advantage of the new quotas. This
catch up continues onwards to
younger cohorts. We see a similar
convergence between SC-ST and
upper castes, which is in contrast
to the picture of divergence
between SC-ST and upper castes in
access to white-collar jobs.
A standard method of
estimating discrimination in the
labour market is via decomposition
of the wage gap between two
groups. A part of the wage gap
between any two groups can be
explained by the fact that members
of one group are likely to be better
educated, more skilled or have
other attributes that command
higher wages. However, if the
entire wage gap cannot be
explained by these factors, the
residual gap is taken as a proxy for
labour market discrimination.
Comparing the oldest cohort born
after independence to the youngest
cohort, we find that average wage
gaps between OBCs and upper
castes have been narrowing over
the years, but notably, the
discriminator y component is
rising. The gaps between SC-STs
and upper castes are larger than
those for OBCs, and the trend is
again of rising discrimination for
younger cohorts.


Overall, despite significant gaps
in all indicators (consumption
expenditure, wages, educational
attainment, occupational attainment
and so forth), we find substantial
evidence of catch up between OBCs
and upper castes among younger
cohorts (especially in literacy, primary
education, access to white-collar
jobs, wages), but we find continued
divergence in all education
categories after the middle school
level. The convergence for SC-STs is
very limited, confined only to literacy
and primary education. However, our
disaggregated regional examination
reveals that the association of these
changes with political representation
is weak, at best. That should not be
taken to mean that political
representation has not worked or that
it is not vital to achieve an inclusive,
and broad-based structure of
governance and decision-making.
What the evidence indicates is that
traditional hierarchies are too deeply
entrenched to be reversed through
one single measure; they need a
concerted push, backed by strong
will from different segments of
society, including, but not confined
to, politicians.
Mars Mission Success
After a journey of over 660

million kilometres that took 10
months, Indias Mars Orbiter
Mission has swept with effortless
ease into orbit around the Red
Planet, making this country the
first to achieve such a feat in a
maiden attempt. Probes despatched
to Earths sibling planet over the
last half a century have often run
into trouble of one kind or another,
with only less than half of those
spacecraft ending the voyage
successfully. Thus far, only the
United States, the former Soviet
Union and the European Space
Agency have succeeded in doing so.
India and its space agency, the

Indian
Space
Research
Organisation (ISRO), now proudly
join their ranks. Although ISRO
could draw on its experience with
the lunar probe, Chandrayaan-1,
launched six years back, the
challenges involved in sending a
spacecraft all the way to Mars are
far greater. That includes
propelling the spacecraft with
sufficient velocity to escape Earths
gravitational grasp, guiding it
along the proper trajectory over
vast distances, and then slowing it
down sufficiently to go into orbit
around that planet. The spacecraft
had to be capable of operating
autonomously as communication
signals to and from ground
stations could take minutes to
reach it. All of this has gone
remarkably smoothly, including the
orbit insertion manoeuvre with the
spacecrafts main engine, which
had lain idle for almost 300 days. It
is a tribute to ISRO and the
professionalism of its scientists
and engineers that every minute
detail for such a complex mission
could be attended to in the course
of a project completed in just one
and a half years. Indias Mars effort
costs Rs.460 crore, an economical
price tag by Western standards.
The Indian probe joins four
spacecraft already circling Mars,
including Amer icas MAVEN
(acronym for Mars Atmosphere and
Volatile Evolution) that went into
orbit just two days earlier, as well
as two U.S. rovers exploring the
planets surface. The Indian and
U.S. space agencies are holding
discussions on possible scientific
collaboration. Success with the
Mars Orbiter will give ISRO the
confidence and capability to

undertake more challenging
missions. However, if the country
wants to send heavier and more
powerful spacecraft to Mars, it
cannot do so with the Polar
Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)
that was used for the current
mission.
However,
the
Geosynchronous Satellite Launch
Vehicle (GSLV) equipped with an
indigenous cryogenic stage made
its first successful flight only in
January this year, and a few more
f lights will be necessar y to
establish its reliability. Further
improvements to the rocket may
also prove essential. ISRO has
achieved much, and more will be
expected of it in the years to come.
Dealing with the Coal Burden
The cancellation of all but four
of the coal blocks allocated in an
arbitrary manner since 1993, was the
only logical course open to the
Supreme Court after it held the entire
process illegal last month. While
corporate India agonises over the
development, which undoubtedly
will have far-reaching consequences,
it is also an opportunity to usher in a
fresh, transparent means of
apportioning finite natural resources.
For far too long the country has been
beset by a morally compromised
system in which public policy is often
overshadowed by power, influence
and connections. Arbitrary, nontransparent and ad hoc processes
have eroded public faith in decisionmaking. The verdict, similar to the
earlier one that cancelled 122
telecom licences allotted illegally, is
an affirmation of the principle that the
courts will not countenance the
undesirable nexus between public
office holders and big business, or
anyone profiting from venality. The
Court was largely encouraged to take
77


the decisive step of scrapping all the
214 coal block allocations because
the National Democratic Alliance
regime took the unambiguous stand
that it is capable of handling the fallout
of such a sweeping measure. It has
given the government and the
functional mines some breathing time
by making the cancellations
operative from March 31, 2015. Six
months on, the public sector Coal
India Ltd. will step in to take over the
40 mines that are functional now and
the six that are on the verge of
starting operations. The Court also
wants the ongoing CBI investigations
to continue.
78
While the verdict is quite sound,

some questions remain. The Court has
accepted the governments claim
that it is prepared to face the
consequences of the cancellation of
all allocations and move forward. It
has based its order solely on its faith
that the government and Coal India
Ltd. have all the answers. If CIL had
the capability to supply the required
quantity of coal of sufficient quality
to all users, the need for captive
mining would not have arisen in the
first place. If there is a significant
shortfall in supply after CIL takes over,
users may have to import coal at high
cost. While it has imposed an
additional levy of Rs.295 a tonne on

the companies, there is no guidance
on the fate of the loans advanced by
banks. If and when an auction is held
to allocate the coal blocks in a fair
manner, will the successful bidders
be asked to pay for the amount spent
by the earlier allottees and also take
over the debt owed to banks? The
future of end-use projects that have
commenced solely on the
expectation that these blocks would
supply the coal needed for their
operation is also not clear. The
government will now have to come
up with a plan of action to deal with
the economic fallout of this
extraordinary verdict.
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India and Bhutan
SAANSAD ADARSH GRAM YOJANA

All the governments, from the
time of independence, have worked
for the development of rural areas.
Rural development implies both the
economic betterment of people as
well as greater social transformation.
Increased participation of people in
the rural development programs,
decentralization of planning, better
enforcement of land reforms and
greater access to credit are envisaged
for providing the rural people with
better prospects. Immediately after
the independence agriculture,
education, health etc. were the main
focus areas for government. But it was
rightly realized that development
efforts in rural areas are sustainable
only if local community and
population is involved in the
development programs. So
community development program
was launched in order to develop the
community as a whole. In order to
ensure that the fruits of economic
reform are shared by all sections of
societies, efforts and schemes are
progressively modified with time like
Department of rural development
was elevated to the status of ministry
in 1974. Keeping in view the needs
and aspirations of the local people,
Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) have
been given the constitutional status
by 73rd constitutional amendment.
PRIs are now involved at every step
from programme formulation till
implementation, which helps in
fulfilling the aspirations of the local
population.
In keeping with the tradition of

giving importance towards the village
development Pradhan mantri has
launched a new scheme known as
Saansad Adarsh gram yojana.
Under this scheme each Member of
Parliament will take the responsibility
of developing physical and
institutional infrastructure in three
villages by 2019. The goal is to
develop three Adarsh Grams or
model villages by March 2019, of
which one would be achieved by
2016. Thereafter, five such Adarsh
Grams (one per year) will be selected
and developed by 2024. The Project
was launched on the occasion of
birth anniversary of Jai Prakash
Narayan who was pioneer in working
towards rural development. Some
important features of the scheme are The Scheme takes a holistic approach towards development
across multiple areas such as
agriculture, health, education,
sanitation, environment, livelihoods etc.
Apart from infrastructural development scheme also aims
at instilling certain values, such
as peoples participation,
Antyodaya, gender equality,
dignity of women, social justice,
spirit of community service,
cleanliness, eco-friendliness,
maintaining ecological balance, peace and harmony etc.
Gram Panchayat would be the
basic unit for development.
Village will have a population
of 3000-5000 in plain areas and
1000-3000 in hilly, tribal and

difficult areas. In districts
where this unit size is not available, Gram Panchayats approximating the desirable population size may be chosen.
Plan for development will be
devised by gram panchayat
with special emphasis for development of poor households.
Women participation in the decision-making process will be
encouraged. In fact the
Scheme envisages holding
Mahila Sabhas and Bal Sabhas
to discuss women and children
specific issues and concerns.
Ensuring universal access to
education facilities, adult literacy, e-literacy are also important goals of SAGY. Apart from
education, these villages will
have quality health care.
All these programs need use of
information technology as well
as internet. Proper infrastructure would be provided for
these.
At the national level, a separate,
real time web based monitoring system will be put in place
for the scheme covering all aspects and components.
Like some previous schemes
Saansad Adarsh gram Yojana focuses
on participation of community as a
whole. There are various benefits
which can be achieved through this
community participation. Social
mobilization of people will not only
in proper monitoring of projects, it
79

India and Bhutan

will also help in giving other benefits
like reduction in crime rate, reduction
in alcohol consumption etc. One of
the primary objectives of Saansad
Adarsh gram Yojana is to strengthen
the local democracy. Other
important objective is to remove the
shortfalls in the functioning of gram
panchayats and gram sabhas and
make them active decision making
80
centers. E-governance which is

largely restricted to urban areas will
be provided with the necessary push
in rural area. Responsibility of
monitoring of scheme has been given
to various officers at various levels.
District Collectors will have the
responsibility to carry out survey as
well as chair monthly meetings but
after five months independent

monitoring will also be done. At the
State-level, Chief Secretaries will look
after proper implementation of the
scheme. As given above large
number of benefits can come to rural
community if this scheme is properly
implemented.

India and Bhutan
U.S. CHINA CLIMATE DEAL

The United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) is a treaty for climate
change it was agreed at the Earth
Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro in
1992. The objective of the treaty is to
stabilize
greenhouse
gas
concentrations in the atmosphere at
a level that would prevent dangerous
anthropogenic interference with the
climate system. Parties of UNFCCC
regularly meet after 1995 and finally
a iternationally binding treaty known
as Kyoto protocol was agreed in
1997. Recognizing that developed
countries are principally responsible
for the current high levels of Green
House Gases(GHG) emissions in the
atmosphere as a result of more than
150 years of industrial activity, the
Kyoto Protocol places a heavier
burden on developed nations under
the principle of common but
differentiated responsibilities. Kyoto
protocol came into force in 2005 and
it sets a target for 37 developed
nations, referred as Annex I cuntries,
to reduce GHG emmissions by five
percent from 1990 levels. Final year
to complete this target was 2012 and
negotiations are still ongoing on what
should be the mechanism to take
post kyoto. The targets apply to the
four greenhouse gases namely Carbon dioxide (CO2),
Methane (CH4),
Nitrous oxide (N2O),
Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6),
and two groups of gases,
Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)
and
Perfluorocarbons (PFCs).
The total emission of six GHG
will be made equivalent to CO2
emissions for calculating the total
emmission by country. However, the
Protocol also offers them an
additional means to meet their targets
by way of three market-based
mechanisms named as International
Emissions
Trading,
Clean
Development Mechanism (CDM),
Joint implementation (JI).
After that in 2010 The Cancun
Agreements were agreed which are
a set of significant decisions by the
international community to address
the long-term challenge of climate
change
collectively
and
comprehensively over time and to
take concrete action now to speed
up the global response. The
agreement states that global warming
should be limited to below 2.0 C (3.6
F) relative to the pre-industrial level.
Although agreement is the most
comprehensive package ever agreed
by Governments to help developing
nations deal with climate change
which encompasses finance,
technology and capacity-building
support to help them meet urgent
needs to adapt to climate change and
to speed up their plans to adopt
sustainable paths to low emission
economies which can also resist the
negative impacts of climate change.
But no concrete decisions have been
agreed about how to move forward
after the expiry of kyoto period.

In order to end the impasse in
climate change deals, China-U.S., two
highest polluting nations agreed on
various issues related to climate
change in Beijing in November 2014.
Important agreements are U.S. and China will along with
other countries adopt a protocol, another legal instrument or
an agreed outcome with legal
force under the Convention
applicable to all Parties at the
United Nations Climate Conference in Paris in 2015.
The United States intends to
achieve an economy-wide target of reducing its emissions by
26%-28% below its 2005 level
in 2025 and to make best efforts to reduce its emissions by
28%. China intends to achieve
the peaking of CO2 emissions
around 2030 and to make best
efforts to peak early and intends
to increase the share of nonfossil fuels in primary energy
consumption to around 20% by
2030.
In response to growing urbanization and increasingly significant greenhouse gas emissions
from cities and recognizing the
potential for local leaders to undertake significant climate action, the United States and
China will establish a new initiative on Climate-Smart/LowCarbon Cities under the CCWG.
81

India and Bhutan

Accelerating climate change
has caused serious impacts on
humanity. Higher temperatures and
extreme weather events are
damaging food production, rising sea
levels and more damaging storms are
82
putting our coastal cities increasingly

at risk and the impacts of climate
change are already harming
economies around the world. These
developments urgently require
enhanced actions to tackle the

challenge. Deal between U.S. and
China is a welcome step towards
solving this global problem.

India and Bhutan
INDIA AND BHUTAN

Bhutan is a Himalayan Buddhist
Kingdom it is a physically small state
and economic development is also
less as compared to its neighbours.
Despite all this Bhutan was never
colonised while its neighbors were
colonised for decades. Bhutan and
India has always had special ties
between each other. The first visit of
Indias Prime Minister Jawahalal
Nehru in 1958 was the initiation of a
special relationship between the
two countries. India has always
extended its support to Bhutan in
every possible field, although Bhutan
has several donors India still provide
the highest assistance for the
Himalayan country. Indias relations
with Bhutan are not only economical
they are centuries-old cultural links.
And these cultural ties are always
maintained despite the changing
times. Indias new Prime Minister
Narendra Modi has chosen Bhutan for
his first state visit to a foreign country.
The choice of Bhutan as a first state
visit is strategic and natural, it shows
the importance new government is
placing on its neighbours.
The basic framework of IndiaBhutan bilateral relations is the Treaty
of Friendship and Cooperation
signed in 1949 between the two
countries, which was updated and
signed in February 2007. The
updated treaty reflects the need of
changing times and provides more
importance to contemporary issues.
It also reflects that both country are
considered as equal and it provides
a win-win situation for all the parties.
India is Bhutans largest trading
partner and also trade between India

and Bhutan is covered under free
trade agreement. The India-Bhutan
Trade and Commerce Agreement
provides for duty free transit of
Bhutanese merchandise for trade
with third countries. During 2012,
trade between the two countries
reached approximately 7000 crore
rupees, which represents a total
bilateral trade growth by about 13%
in 2012. Major exports from India to
Bhutan are High Speed Diesel,
ferrous products, Motor Spirit
including aviation spirit (petrol),
Copper wire, Rice, Wheat Flour,
Wood Charcoal, Hydraulic turbines,
machinery items, Coke and semi coke
of coal, soyabean oil, milk Powder etc.
Both countries quest for
development this provides a
powerful reason to energize the
relation between the worlds largest
and youngest democracies. India
contributes a hefty chunk of financial
assistance to Bhutan. Indian
government provided assistance of
4500 crore in 11th plan. Recently India
announced the assistance of Rs 500
crore to a special Economic Stimulus
Package (ESP) devised by Thimphu
to facilitate loans for private sector
from banks and enhance youth
employment. This assistance go for
health
infrastructure,
ICT
development, schools and housing
projects. India provides a backbone
for the development of Bhutan.
Hydropower is one of the main
pillars of bilateral cooperation. Three
hydropower projects from Bhutan are
presently supplying the electrivity to
India. Recently both governments

has identified more projects which
will provide 10,000 MW electricity by
2020. AS India is power deficient
nation and it needs power for the
development of the country, Bhutan
provides a valuable assistance to India
in this field. Prime Minister Narendra
Modi during his visit to Bhutan in June
2014 laid the foundation stone of
Kholongchhu HEP. Cooperation in
the hydropower sector between our
two countries is a true example of
mutually beneficial relationship.
Bhutan is strategically well
situated and it provides a good cover
to India. Location of Bhutan makes
the nation highly important to the
India. In the face of aggressive
neighbours and reports of insurgent
groups in border towns relationship
based on trust between India and
Bhutan in the strategic sphere is of
paramount importance. And no one
can forget how Bhutanese
government ousted the anti-India
insurgents from Bhutanese soil.
India which is putting more and
more emphasis on neighbours it
becomes increasingly important to
keep its trusted neighbours on its
side. Good relationship between the
nations can help India in solving the
multilateral and international issues for
India. India is facing the challenge it
WTO and also in the issue of climate
change, with Bhutan putting great
emphasis
on
environment
relationship between the two can be
of benefit to all.
The bonding between the
people of India and Bhutan is a
83

India and Bhutan

bonding for life, as Bhutans young
king Speaking at a state banquet in
his honour on the eve of Indias
Republic Day in 2013 said My bond
with India is for life, for it arises from
two loves my love for India and,
my love for Bhutan and my people.
Both the governments kwon and fully
appreciate the value of relationship
between each other and it should be
further enhanced in the light of
contemporary developments.
84
Relationship between India and

Bhutan is unique and it is based on
trust and mutual understanding of
each other cultural values. In modern
times the economic development
also plays a deep role in the
development of relations between
the countries. Economic relation
between the countries is of mutual
benefit to both the nations, with India
getting hydropower and Bhutan
economic backbone comes from the
assistance from India. People to

people relationship between the two
countries is also great, with similar
cultural values both side of the border
citizens of both the countries find
fondness in the relationship. And
there is no doubt that relationship will
continue to grow and produce the
best possible outcomes which will
work to the benefit of both our
countries.
CSAT Comprehensive Manual For Civil Services Pre Examination

(Paper -2) - 2015
BOOK DETAILS
Medium: English
Price: Rs. 850
Pages: 1000
ISBN: 9789351720362
TOPICS OF THE BOOK
SOLVED PAPER - 2014

SOLVED PAPER - 2013
SOLVED PAPER - 2012
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PART - I: Comprehension
PART - II: English Language Comprehension
2. Interpersonal & Communication Skills & Decision Making & Problem Solving
PART - I: Interpersonal & Communication Skills

PART - II: Decision Making & Problem Solving
3. General Mental Ability, Logical Reasoning & Analytical Ability
PART - I: General Mental Ability

PART - II: Logical Reasoning & Analytical Ability
4. Basic Numeracy
5. Data Interpretation & Data Sufficiency

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Delhi University FYUP Row
MINSK AGREEMENT, 2014

The Ukraine crisis started after
Ukrainian revolution, in which people
came on streets. Ukrainian revolution
has its genesis Ukraine joining European Union. Whole conflict started
with Russia annexing the Crimean region of Ukraine. New governments
anti-Russia actions also helped in
forming public opinion in reions
which are dominated by Russian
speaking population. The conflict in
eastern Ukraine began in April 2014
with fighting between the Ukrainian
military and Russian-backed separatist rebels. These rebels seized some
towns like Sloviansk and Donetsk
which are dominated by Russian
speaking population. It has since escalated to outright-if-undeclared war
between Russia and Ukraine.
New government in Ukraine
came with a promise that it will end
the conflict in weeks, is not able to
achieve its objective. Fighting between the government and rebels is
happening for months and it is not
near to an end. During this period of
fighting one commercial airplane was
shot down in the region which led to
the death of 280 people. Although
both rebels and government blame
each other for this but need for cease
fire was felt by all world.
In order to achieve the objective of ceasefire for east Ukraine and
bring the region out conflict a conference has been organised in Minsk
between Ukrainiangovernment representatives and separatist
leaders.This agreement came in the
presence of officials from Russia and
the Organisation for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Representatives of Ukraine, the Russian
Federation, the Donetsk Peoples

Republic (DPR), and the Lugansk
Peoples Republic (LPR) were the
parties to the agreement signed in the
Minsk, it is an agreement to halt the
war in the Donbass region of Ukraine.
Trilateral contact group composed of representatives from
Ukraine, Russian Federation and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, agreed to take following steps to end the violence in the
region:
1. Provide for immediate and two
sided ceasefire.
2. Provide monitoring and verification from the side of OSCE
of the ceasefire.
3. Conduct decentralization of
power, including through approval of the Law of Ukraine
On temporary order of local
selfgovernment in certain districts of Donetsk and Luhansk
regions (Law on special status)
4. Provide permanent monitoring
at the UkrainianRussian state
border, and verification by
OSCE, with creation of a safety
zone in the areas adjacent to
the border in Ukraine and Russian Federation.
5. Immediately free all hostages
and illegally held persons.
6. Approve a law to prevent persecution and punishment of
persons in relation to events
that took place in certain districts of Donetsk and Luhansk
regions of Ukraine.
7. Continue an inclusive national
dialogue.
8. Take measures to improve the
humanitarian situation in
Donbas.
9. Conduct early local elections in
accordance with the Law of
Ukraine On temporary order of
local selfgovernment in certain
districts of Donetsk and
Luhansk regions (Law on special status).
10. Remove illegal military formations, military equipment and
militants and mercenaries from
the territory of Ukraine.
11. Approve a program for economic development of Donbas
and renew the vital functions
of the region.
12. Give guarantees of personal security for participants of consultations.
But On Nov. 2, 2014 the
Luhansk and Donetsk region held
elections for local administrative and
legislative posts. The elections have
been condemned by the Ukrainian
government and the EU as illegitimate
elections but Russian governments
support to the election has voiced a
serious concern to the future of minsk
agreement. Both Ukraine and the EU
have voiced opinions that the election is a direct violation of the Minsk
agreement. Ukrainian issue has implications for whole world, to some it
could start a new cold war era which
will again divide the world into two
blocks which are fighting to gain superiority. For the benefit of the region and world at large 12 points
agreed at the Minsk agreement
should be followed by both the governments. Failing to do so it will affect the population of the region and
it might hamper the world economy
also which is battling to come out of
recession.
85


th
Religious Movements (6RELIGIOUS
Century B.C.) MOVEMENTS
(6TH CENTURY B.C.)
The period between 7th and 5th

century BC was a turning point
in the intellectual and spiritual
development of the whole
world, for it witnessed the
emergence of early philosophers of Greece, the great Hebrew poets, Confucius in China
and Zoroaster in Persia. It was
at this time that Jainism and
Buddhism arose in India,each
based on a distinctive set of
doctrines and each laying
down distinctive rules of conduct for attaining salvation.
We come to know of about

62 religious sects, many of
which were based on local
customs and rituals. Both
Jainism and Buddhism are
organised as ascetic orders
and brotherhoods. Asceticism in fact, has its origin in
the Vedic thought and has
been directly encouraged by
the Upanishads.
Some of these. were
Ajivikas,
Nirgranthas,
Jatilakas, etc. Some of the
prominent teachers of these
sects were Purana Kasyapa,
Makkhali
Gosal,
Ajitkeshakambalin, Nigantha
Natputta and Sanjaya
Belatthaputta.
Causes of New vements
The Vedic philosophy had

lost its original purity. The
Vedic religion had become
very complex and degenerated into superstitions, dogmas, and rituals.
Supremacy of the Brahmans
created unrest in the society
and Kshatriya reacted against
86
the Brahmanical domination.

Introduction of a new agricultural economy in eastern
India. The desire of Vaishyas
to improve their social position with the increase in
their economic position due
to the growth of trade.
Buddhism
Gautam Buddha
Buddhism was founded by

Gautam Buddha. He was
born on the vaisakha
purnima day at Lumbini,
near Kapilvastu, capital of
the Sakya republic in 563 B.
C. His family name was
Gautama who was born in
Sakya clan. His father,
Suddhodhan, was the king of
Sakya republic. His mother
was Mayadevi who died after seven days of his birth.
The popular legend has it
that an astrologer predicted
that Gautama would either
be a great chakravartin
samrat or a great sanyasin.
Fearing his sons reflective
cast of mind, his father married him at an early age to
beautiful Yasodhara from
whom he had a son, Rahul.
Gautama was horrified at the
sight of an old man, a diseased person, a dead by,
and then being attracted by
the saintly appearance of an
ascetic.
One night he left his home,
wife and son and renounced
the worldly life. Thereafter,
six years of profound meditation led to the discovery of

truths, Gautarna became the
Buddha i. e. the enlightened
ore.
Left home at the age of 29
and attained Nirvana at the
age of 35 at Bodh Gaya. The
Buddha extended the teaching of two elder contemporaries, Alara Kalama, and
Udlaka. According to Buddhism there is no-self, no
God, no soul and no spirit.
Once Buddha himself said If
women were not admitted into
the monasteries, Buddhism
would have continued for a
thousand years, but because
this admission has been
granted, it would last only five
hundred years.
Buddha delivered his first
sermon at Sarnath. He attained Mahaparinir-vana at
Kusinara in 483 BC
Five Great Events of
Buddha s Life and their
Symbols
Birth: Lotus and Bull

Great
Renunciation:
Horse
Nirvana: Bodhi tree
Sermon:
First
Dharmachakra or wheel
Parinirvana or Death:
Stupa
Buddhist Scriptures
The Vinaya Pitaka:

(a) mainly deals with rules and
regulations, which the Buddha promulgated,
(b) it describes in detail the
gradual development of the

Religious Movements (6th Century B.C.)

Sangha. An account of the
life and leaching of the Buddha is also given.
The Suta Pitaka:
(a) Consists chiefly of discourses delivered by Buddha himself on different

occasions,
(b) Few discourses delivered
by Sariputta, Ananda.
Moggalana and others are
also included in it. It lays
down the principles of Buddhism.
The Abhidhamma Pitaka:

(a) Contains the profound philosophy of the Buddhas
teachings,
(b) It investigates mind and
matter, to help the understanding of things as they
truly are.
The Khandhakas: contain

regulations on the course or
life in the monastic order
and have two sections - the
Mahavagga
and
the
Cullavagga. The thud part
the Parivara is an insignificant composition by a
Ceylonese monk.
Among the non-canonical literature
Milindapanho,
Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa
are important. The later two
are the great chronicles of
Ceylon.
The Profounders
AsvaghoshaContemporary
of Kanishka. He was poet, dramatist. musician, scholar and
debator.
NagarjunaHe was a friend

and contemporary of
Satavahana king Yajnasri
Gautamiputra of Andhra. He
propounded
the
Madhyamika School of Buddhist philosophy popularly
known as Sunyavada.
Asanga and Vasubandhu

Two brothers who flourished in the Punjab region in
fourth century AD. Asanga
was the most important
teacher of the Yogachara or
Vijnanavada School founded
by his guru, Maitreyanatha.
Vasubandhus greatest work,
Abhidharmakosa is still considered an important
encyclopaedia of Buddhism.
Buddhaghosha Who lived
in the fifth century AD was a
great Pali scholar. The commentaries
and
the
Visuddhimaga written by
him are a great achievement
in the Post- Tripitaka literature.
DinnagaThe last mighty
intellectual of the fifth century, is well known as the
founder of the Buddhist
logic.
Dharmakirtilived in the
seventh century AD was anther great Buddhist logician.
He was a subtle philosophical thinker and dialectician.
Buddhist Philosophy
Idealism: Two source of

valid knowledge:
(a) Perception and
(b) Inference.
dependent
Doctrineof
o r i g i n a t i o n
(Pratisamutpada): Central
theory of Buddhist Philosophy. It tells us that in the
empirical worid dominated
by the intellect, everything is
relative, conditional, dependent, subject to birth and
death and therefore impermanent.
Theory of momentariness (Kshana-bhanga or

Impermanence): It tells
that everything, in this world
is merely a conglomeration
of perishable qualities. According to it. Things that can
produce effect exist and
whatever can not produce
effect has no existence.
Four Noble Truths
The world is full of sorrows.

Desire is root cause of sorrow.
If Desire is conquered, all
sorrows can be removed.
Desire can be removed by
following the eight-fold path.
The Eight Fold Path
Right understanding
Right speech
Right livelihood
Right mindfulness
Right thought
Right action
Right effort
Right concentration
Buddhist Councils
Council:
First
At
Sattapanni cave near
Rajgriha under the chairmanship of Mahakasappa and
patronage of Ajatasatru (483
B. C); Result-settlement of
the Suta Pitaka (Budhas sayings) and the Vinaya Pitaka
(monastic code).
Second Council: At Vaisali
under the chairmanship of
Sabakami and patronage of
Kalasoka (383 B. C. ). The
monks of Vaisali wanted
some change in the rites. It
resulted into division of the
Buddhist Sangha into the orthodox Sthaviravadins (or
87

Religious Movements (6 th Century B.C.)

Theravadins) and the unorthodox Mahasanghikas.
Council
Third
Council:
At
Pataliputra under the patronage of Asoka (around 250
B.C) and the chairmanship of
Moggaliputta Tissa; Results :
(a) Establishment of the
Sthaviravadins as the true
followers,
(b) Final compilation of the
Tripitakas (a third one
was added to the earlier
two, Abhidhamma Pitaka).
Fourth Council: In Kashmir under the patronage of

Kanishka (1st century
A.D) and the chairmanship of
Vasumitra helped by
Asvaghosa, author of
Buddacharitra; Results
(a) Division of all the Buddhist
into two major sects
Mahayanists
and
Hinayanists;
(b) Deliberations of the council in Sanskrit instead of
Pali;
(c) Spread of Buddhism to
other
countries
Mahayanism in Central Asia
China, and Hinayanism in
Ceylon, Burma, Thailand
and parts of South East
Asia.
Schism in Buddhism
Hinayana
(a) Its followers believed in the
original teachings of Buddha,
(b) They sought individual salvation through self-discipline and meditation.
(c) They did not believe in idolworship,
(d) Hinayana, like Jainism, is a
religion without God,
Karma taking the place of
God.
88
(e) Nirvana is regarded as the

extinction of all.
(f) The oldest school of
Hinayana Buddhism is the
Sthaviravada (Theravada in
Pali) or the Doctrine of the
Elders,
(g) Its Sanskrit counterpart,
which is more philosophical
is
known
as
Sarvastivada or the doctrine which maintains the
existence of all things,
physical as well as mental,
(h) Gradually,
from
Sarvastivada or Vaibhasika
branched oft another
school called Sautantrika,
which was more critical in
outlook.
Mahayana
(a) Its followers believed in the
heavenliness of Buddha and
sought the salvation of all
through the grace and help
of
Buddha
and
Bodhisatvas.
(b) Believes in idolworship,
(c) Believes that Nirvana is not
a negative cessation of misery but a positive state of
bliss,
(d) Mahayana had two chief
philosophical schools: the
Madhyamika and the
Yogachara.
(e) The former took a line midway between the uncompromising realism of
Hinayanism and the idealism of Yogachara.
(f) The Yogachara school
founded by Maitreyanatha
completely rejected the realism of Hinayana and maintained absolute idealism.
Vajrayanism
Its followers believed that

salvation could be best attained by acquiring the magical power, which they called
Vajra, (thunder- bolt or diamond). The chief divinities
of this new sect were the
Taras (wives of the Bud-
dhas and Bodhisattvas) who

should be compelled rather
than persuaded to bestow
magical power on the worshipper by performing the
tantra (rites) and reciting the
mantra (religious hymns)
within the yantra (geometrical designs).
Three Ratnas
Buddha
Dhamma
Sangha
Contribution to Society
The doctrine of Ahimsaso

strongly stressed, devoutly
preached and sincerely
practiced by the Buddhists.
Was incorporated in Hinduism of later days. The practice of worshipping personal
Gods, making their images
and erecting temples in their
honour became a part of the
later day Hinduism.
Buddhism proved to be one
of the greatest civilising
forces, which India gave to
the neighbouring countries.
Buddhism broke the isolation
of India and helped in establishment of intimate contacts
between India and foreign
countries.
Jainism
The
names
of
two
Tirthankaras
namely,
Rishabhanath
and
Aristhanemi find mention in
Rigveda. Vayu Purana and
Bhagawat Purana mention
Rishabha as the incarnation
of Narayana.


The Jain tradition traces
Jainism to a remote antiquity
represented by a succession
of twenty-four Tirthankaras.
The first Tirthankara was
Rishabhanath. We know a
little more about the twentythird Tirthankara, Parsva,
who was the son of Ikshvaku
king Asvasena of Kashi and
was born to the daughter of
Narvanman,
king
of
Kausasthala.
Vardhman Mahavira
Vardhamana Mahavira was

the last Tirthankara. He was
born in the village
Kundagrama near Vaishali
about 540 B. C. His father
Siddhartha was the head of
famous Kshatriya Jnatrika
clan and his mother Trisala
was the sister of Chetaka, an
eminent Lichchhavi noble of
Vaishali. Chetakas daughter
was married to Bimbisara,
the king of Magadha.
Mahavira was married to
Yashoda and lived a life of a
householder. He had a daughter also. Vardhamana left his
home, and became an ascetic
at the age of thirty. During the
next twelve years he practised
most rigorous asceticism. At the
age of 42, he attained kaivalya
i. e. the supreme knowledge
and final deliverance from the
bonds of pleasure and pain, at
Jrimbhikagrama. Henceforth,
he came to be known as
Mahavira and Jina of the conqueror.
His followers came to be
known as Jainas. Originally
they were designated as

Nirgranthas, i. e. free from
fetters. He was called Jina
or Jitendriya, Nirgrantha and
Mahavira.
Mahavira spent the remaining thirty years of his life in
preaching. He passed away
at Pawapuri, in 468 B. C. at
the age of seventy-two.
Born in 540 BC at
Kundagrama near Vaisali.
Five Main Teachings
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
Non-injury (ahimsa)
Non-lying (satya)
Non-stealing (asateya)
Non-possession
(aparigraha)
(v) Observe
continence
(Bralmmcharya).
(The first four principles are
of Parsavanath and the fifth
Brahmacharya was included by Mahavira).
Sacred Literature
The sacred literature of the

Svetambaras is written in a
form of Prakrit called
Ardhamagadhi, and may be
classified as follows:
(a) The twelve Angas
(b) The twelve Upangas
(c) The ten Parikarnas
(d) The six Chhedasutras
(e) The four Mulasutras.
Jaina Philosophy
Syadvada: All our judgements are necessarily relative, conditional and limited.
According to Syadvada (the
theory of may be) seven
modes of predication
(saptabhangi) are possible.
Absolute affirmation and
absolute negation both are
wrong. All judgements are
conditional.
Anekantavada: The Jaina

metaphysics is a realistic
and relativistic pluralism. It
is called Anekantavada or
the doctrine of the manyness
of reality. Matter (Pudgala)
and Spirit (Jiva) are regarded as separate and independent realities.
Main Principles of
Jainism
Rejected the authority of the

Vedas and the Vedic rituals.
Believed in karma and the
transmigration of soul. Did
not believe in the existence
of God. Laid great emphasis
on equality.
Three Ratnas
Right faith (Samyak vishwas)

Right knowledge (Samyak
jnan)
Right conduct (Samyak
karma)
Jaina Councils
By the end of fourth century

BC, there was a serious famine in the Ganges valley leading to a great exodus of many
Jaina monks to the Deccan
and South India (Sravana
Belgola)
along
with
Bhadrabahu
and
Chandragupta Maurya. They
returned to the Gangetic valley after 12 years. The leader
of the group, which stayed
back at Magadha was
Sthulabahu. The changes that
took place in the code of
conduct of the followers of
Sthulabahu led to the division of the Jainas into
Digambaras (sky-clad or na-
89

Religious Movements (6 th Century B.C.)

ked) and Svetambaras
(white-clad).
First Council was held at
Pataliputra by Sthulabahu in
the beginning of the third
AD under the leadership of

Devaradhi Kshamasr-amana
and resulted in final compilation of 12 Angas and 12
Upangas.
century BC and resulted in

the compilation of 12 Angas
to replace the lost 14 Purvas.
Second Council was held
at Valabhi in the 5th century
OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS
1. Which of the following texts
recommend retirement to
forests as essential to those
who seek the highest knowledge?
(a) Aranyakas
(b) Upanishads
(c) Puranas
(d) None of the above
2. Nirgranthas discuss as many
as sixty-two systems of doctrines before Buddhism
arose. According to SutraKritanga the number was
(a) 300
(b) 222
(c) 444
(d)363
3. Which of the following texts
mention Rishabha as the incarnation of Narayana?
(a) Bhagwat Purana
(b) Vayu Purana
(c) Narad Purana
(d) Both (a) and (b)
4. The Jain tradition traces
Jainism to a remote antiquity
represented by a succession
of
(a) Fourteen Tirthankaras
(b) Twenty Thirthankaras
(c) T w e n t y - f o u r
Tirthankaras
(d) Eight Thirthankaras
5. The twenty-third Tirthankara,
Parsva, was the son the of
Ikshvaku king, Asvasena of
(a) Koshala
(b) Kashi
(c) Magadha
(d) Videha
90
6. His (Mahaviras) followers

came to be known a Jainas.
Originally they were designated as
(a) Agama
(b) Vasadi
(c) Nirgranthas
(d) None of these
7. Mahavira accepted four doctrines of Parsva and added
a fifth one namely
(a) Criticism
(b) Slavery
(c) Celibacy
(d) All of the above
8. According to Jainism, the
universe is eternal, its existence is divided into cycles
of
(a) Progress (utsarpini)
(b) Decline ( avasarpini)
(c) Both (a) and (b)
9. The soul which has finally set
itself free rises at once to the
top of the universe, above
the highest heaven where it
remains in an inactive omniscient bliss through eternity.
For the Jainas. This is:
(a) Celibacy
(b) Nirvana
(c) Nirgranthas
(d) Vasadi
10. It is said that about two hundred years after the death of
Mahavira a terrible famine
broke out in
(a) Karnataka
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
(b) Magadha
(c) Koshala
(d) Kashmir
Who of the following convoked a council at
Pataliputra in which the
Jaina canon was arranged?
(a) Bhadrabahu
(b) Chandragupta Maurya
(c) Sthulabhadra
(d) Mahavira
Those who remain stark naked are called
(a) Jain saint
(b) Digambaras
(c) Vasadi
(d) Jina
Six years of profound meditation led to the discovery of
truths to Gautam who now
became
(a) Vardhamana
(b) Mahavijeta
(c) Buddha
(d) None of these
One could get out of this
chain (misery) of suffering
and achieve the final salvation (nirvana) by following
the
(a) Four fold path
(b) Ten fold path
(c) Eight fold path
(d) Six fold path
In some places Buddha is
said to have summarised the
whole process in three
words (1) Sangha (2) Sila (3)
Smadhi (4) Prajna.


Select the correct answer:
(a) 1, 2 and 3
(b) 1; 3 and 4
(c) 2, 3 and 4
16. Buddha advocated
(a) Extreme worship
(b) Extreme meditation
(c) The middle path
(d) All of the above
17. Which of the following is
also known as set in motion
the wheel of law
(a) Buddhas first sermon
(b) Buddhas
second
sermon
(c) Buddhas third sermon
18. Who of the following renounced the world and led
the life of an ascetic?
(a) Upasakas
(b) Bhikshus
(c) Both (a) and (b)
(d) None of these
19. Mahavira and Gautama Buddha derived their basic principles from
(a) The Bhagavad Gita

(b) The Aranyakas
(c) The Upanishadas
(d) The Ramayana
ANSWERS
1. (b)
4. (c)
7. (c)
10. (b)
13. (c)
16. (c)
19. (c)
2. (d)
5. (b)
8. (c)
11. (a)
14. (c)
17. (a)
3. (d)
6. (c)
9. (b)
12. (b)
15. (c)
18. (b)
91

Model Paper G.S. Paper

I
MODEL
1. Which of the following statements is true in context of

Meningitis?
(a) Japanese Encephalitis is
called Meningitis in
common language,
which
is
a
noncommunicable
disease arising from
virus.
(b) Culex species of fl y is
the carrier of the
disease.
(c) To deal with this
disease
drug
manufacturer BEL has
developed a vaccine
called JEEV.
(d) All Asian countries/
regions are aff ected
with the disease.
2. Match the following in relation to nuclear medicine:
A. Medical
B. Bio
Chemical
C. Radio
Therapy
(i) External and

Internal Diag
nosis Irradia
tion using Co
balt 60.
(ii) Radio
immuno as
say Analysis
technique
which uses
radio iso
topes for de
termining the
constituents
of blood, se
rum, urine etc.
(iii) Positron
Emission To
mography
(PET) with fl
uorine-18 as
Tracer.
CodeA
(a) (i)
(b) (iii)
(c) (i)
92
B
(ii)
(i)
(iii)
C
(iii)
(ii)
(ii)
PAPER G.S. PAPER I
(d) (iii) (ii)
(i)
3. Which one is not correctly

matched?
(a) Nirmal Bharat is a clean
Abhiyan
water
project.
(b) N. Rangachari Review on
Committee
taxation of
development
centres and IT
sector Taxa
tion.
(c) MGNREGA
New activities
added includ
ing flood man
agement, live
stock, fisher
ies, agriculture,
sanitation.
(d) CPSMS
Called Central
Plan Scheme
Monitoring Sys
tem. Software
to keep track
of money utili
zation in a
scheme on day
to day basis.
4. Match the List-I with List-II.

A.
B.
C.
D.
List-I
(Personalities)
Henry Vivian (i)
Derozio
Dadabhai (ii)
Nauroji
M N Roy (iii)
Raja Ram (iv)
Mohan Roy
List-II
(Newspaper)
Sambad
Kaumadi
Rast Goftar
East Indian
Vanguard
Code(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
A
(iii)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
B
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(i)
C
(iv)
(iv)
(i)
(ii)
D
(i)
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
5. A monkey is sitting on a tree

at a distance. The shooter
takes an aim. When the
shooter fi res, the monkey
also falls at the same time.
Th e bullet still hits the falling monkey. Th e phenom-
enon of monkey still being

hit despite falling from the
tree is explained by:
(a) Simple
Harmonic
Motion.
(b) Oscillatory Motion.
(c) Projectile Motion.
(d) Brownian Motion.
6. What is not the component
of Reserve money?
(a) Currency in circulation.
(b) Bankers deposits with
RBI.
(c) Other deposits with RBI.
(d) Other deposits with SBI.
7. Which one of the following
statements is wrong?
(a) Apple, Guava are false
fruits because fl oral
parts other than ovary
take part in the
formation of fruit.
(b) Striga is the parasite
plant growing in the
roots of the sorghum
and causing loss in the
yield.
(c) Insectivorous plants trap
insects and obtain
proteins from their
bodies, e.g. utricularia,
sun dew.
(d) Flame cells are part of
intestines which secrete
important enzymes of
digestion.
8. Match the Schedules with associated contents:
A. First
(i) Disqualifica
Schedule
tion of mem
bers of state
legislatures &
union legisla
tures due to
defection.
B. Second (ii) Name, States,
Schedule
Union Territo
ries, & their


territorial juris
diction
C. 4th
(iii) Emoluments,
Schedule
allowances,
privileges, etc
of certain
constitutional
authorities.
D. 10th
(iv) Allocation of
Schedule
seats in Rajya
Sabha to the
States & UTs.
Code(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
A
(ii)
(i)
(iii)
(iv)
B
(iii)
(ii)
(i)
(ii)
C
(iv)
(iii)
(ii)
(iii)
D
(i)
(iv)
(iv)
(i)
9. Match of the following:.

A. Hot
Currents
B. Dry
Winds
C. Cold
D. Cold
Winds
(i) Fohn, Chi

nook, Harmat
tan, Berg
(ii) Canaries,
Humboldt
(iii) Mozambique
Current, Gulf
Currents
Stream,
Kurisheo
(iv) Southerly
Buster, Pam
pero
Code(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
A
(iv)
(iv)
(iii)
(ii)
B
(i)
(i)
(i)
(iv)
C
(ii)
(iii)
(ii)
(i)
D
(iii)
(ii)
(iv)
(iii)
10. Which of the following statements is not true?

(a) Revenue does not
increase
the
governments liability
(b) Disinvestment receipts
are displayed in revenue
account.
(c) All revenues related
problems to direct and
indirect taxes are
regulated and controlled
by
the
Revenue
Department.
(d) Without authorized by
the Parliament any

withdrawal cannot be
possible from the
Consolidated Fund.
11. Match the traditional theatres
with their states/ regions:
A. Swang
B. Tamasha
C. Yakshagaan
D. Dash
avatar
(i) Goa & Konkan

(ii) Karnataka
(iii) Maharashtra
(iv) Rohtak &
Hathras
Code(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
A
(iv)
(iv)
(iii)
(ii)
B
(iii)
(i)
(i)
(iv)
C
(ii)
(iii)
(ii)
(i)
D
(i)
(ii)
(iv)
(iii)
12. Which of the following statement/s is/are true for National Food Processing Mission?
(i) Its basic aim is to
centralize the plans of
the
ministries of
agriculture and food
processing industry,
(ii) A National Food
P r o c e s s i n g
Development Council
has been formed for its
monitoring
and
guidance,
(iii)The mission will be
launched to increase the
income of farmers and
to protect foods.
Code(a) (i) (ii) (iii)
(b) (ii) and (iii)
(c) (i) and (iii)
(d) All of the above.
13. Which of the following forms
are the basis of rocket propulsion?
(i) Newtons third law of
motion,
(ii) Law of Conservation of
linear momentum,
(iii)Law of Conservation of
angular momentum,
(iv)Ferrels law
Code(a) (i), (ii) and (iii)
(b) (i) and (ii)
(c) (i), (iii) and (iv)
(d) (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv)
14. Atlees Statement on Feb
20,1947 fi xed deadline of
June 30, 1948 for transfer of
power even if Indian politicians did not agree by that
time on the constitution.;
Which were the reasons for
this decision?
(i) The government wanted
to give a shock to
parties so as to arrive to
an agreement,
(ii) The government was
trying to show sincerity
on its part,
(iii)Th e government hoped
to
avert
the
constitutional crisis,
(iv)The government had
realized that Waveils
assessment that the
governments authority
had
declined
irreversibly
was
correct.
(b) (ii), (iii) and (iv)
(c) (i), (ii) and (iv)
(d) (i), (ii), (iii) and
15. Direction: Th e following
question consists of two
statements; one labelled as
the Assertion (a) and the
other as Reason (R). You
have to examine these statements carefully and select
the answers to these items
using the codes given below:
Assertion (a): Infl ation has
adverse impact on investments.
93


Reason (R): Not only it discourages to save, it leads to
investments into unproductive areas like gold.
Code(a) Both A and R are
individually true and R
is
the
correct
explanation of A.
(b) Both A and R are
individually true but R is
not
the
correct
explanation.
(c) A is true but R is false.
(d) A is false but R is true.
16. Which of the following is not
matched?
(Source)
(Provision
which has
taken)
(a) Government Office of
of India Act, Governor, Ju
1935
diciary, Public
Service Com
mission, etc.
(b) British Consti P a r l i a m e n
-tution
t a r y govern
ment, Rule of
Law, Legisla
tive Procedure,
Single Citizen
ship, Cabinet
System etc.
(c) Irish Const
D.P.S.P, Nomi
itution
nation of
members to
Rajya Sabha &
method of
election of
President.
(d) Canadian
Concurrent list,
freedom
of trade and
Constitution joint sitting of
two Houses.
17. Which of the following statements are correct?

(i) Valves prevent back fl
ow of blood inside heart
during contraction.
(ii) Oxygen liberated during
photosynthesis comes
from water,
94
(iii)Th e Alveoli increases

surface
area
for
exchange of gases and
that in the Alveoli,
exchange of gases takes
place viz. oxygen from
alveolar air diff uses into
blood and carbon
dioxide from blood into
alveolar air.
(iv)Anaerobic respiration
involves conversion
from Pyruvic Acid to
Ethyl Alcohol in absence
of oxygen & presence of
yeast fermentation.
Code(a) (i) and (iii)
18. Match the following:
A. IFBN
(i) Provides for

compensation
to victims of
crimes like
kidnap, acid
attack, child
abuse, human
trafficking by
amending Sec
357A in CrPC
(Amend) Act,
2008.
B. Victim
(ii) Indias food
Compen
bank Scheme
-sation
network . 1 st
food bank to
be in Delhi and
MOU signed. It
works on the
principle of
reaching the
donor on call
and collecting
the food.
C. B. K.
(iii) Plan cleared by
Chaturvedi
Committee
Cabinet on
eco-friendly
electric vehicles by 2020.
D. Electro (iv) to review
Mobility
Mission
Plan
power
projects on
Ganga and
tributaries.
Code(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
A
(ii)
(iii)
(ii)
(i)
B
(i)
(i)
(i)
(ii)
C
(iv)
(iv)
(iii)
(iv)
D
(iii)
(ii)
(iv)
(iii)
19. Which of the following statements about Biosphere are

correct?
(i) Th e portion of earth in
which life exists is
known as biosphere. It
is few kilometers below
and above the earth
surface.
(ii) Biosphere
and
environment infl uence
each other.
(iii)Levels of oxygen and
carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere depends
entirely on the plant
kingdom which is part
of the biosphere.
(iv)In the biosphere, the
radiant energy is
converted into chemical
form (carbohydrate)
through process of
photosynthesis. It is only
then that the transfer of
energy takes place from
chemical to mechanical
and heat forms during
cellular metabolism.
List-I
(Dance)
A. Mohini
attam
List-II
(Facts)
(i) Kerala, Present
form by Vitthal
Narayan
Menon, Group


not solo, dra
matic nature
with themes of
Hindu Epics,
Myths & leg
ends.
B. Kuchipudi (ii) Kerala, origi
nated of
Devdasi tradi
tion. Focus on
feminine style
with flow of
body move
ments. Theme
of Shringara or
love to god.
C. Kathakali (iii) Andhra
Pradesh.
Present form
by Satyendra
Yogi. Pure
dance no
drama with
themes of
Hindu Epics,
Myths & leg
ends. Focus on
Abhinaya,
dancing, sing
ing, music.
D. Odissi
(iv) Tribhaga i.e.
division of the
body into 3
parts and
more twist of
body than
other forms.
Lord Jaga
nnath, Geet
Govind &
Dashavtaar,
one of the im
portant per
formances.
Code(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
A
(iv)
(iv)
(ii)
(ii)
B
(iii)
(i)
(iii)
(iv)
C
(ii)
(iii)
(i)
(i)
D
(i)
(ii)
(iv)
(iii)
21. Consider the following statements:

(i) Economic growth of the
country does not
depend on the rate of
capital formation in the

country because it is not
necessary that if rate of
the capital formation is
high then production
capacity will also
increase.
(ii) Increasing capital output
ratio will display
increasing productivity
of capital or reduced
amount of capital for
per unit output.
Which of the above
statement(s) is/are true?
(a) Only (i)
(b) Only (ii)
(c) Both (i) and (ii)
(d) Neither (i) Nor (ii)
22. Consider the following statements in context with the
12th Five Year Plan:
(i) After liberalization, it is
the first time that the
growth rate in the fi rst
year of a fi ve-year plan
will be below target,
(ii) Investment in infras
tructure is targeted to
increase to 9 percent of
the GDP.
Which of thefollowing
statement(s) is/are correct?
(a) Only (i)
(b) Only (ii)
(c) (i) and (ii) Both
(d) Neither (i) nor (ii)
23. What are the strategies of reducing Unemployment?
(i) Growth
oriented
strategy by accelerating
investment to create
jobs,
(ii) Wage goods strategy.
(iii) Strategy of using labour
intensive technology,
(iv)Rural public works for
employment.
Code-
(a) Only (i)

(b) (ii) and (iii)
(c) (i), (ii) and (iii)
24. During Wardha Session, diff
erent views emerged regarding position to be taken on
the war. In this context which
of the following statement is
not correct?
(a) Nehru advocated no
participation in war till
India was itself free. But
he also felt that
situation should not be
exploited in our favour
as he felt a distinction
between fascism and
democracy and also that
the justice was on the
side of the British.
(b) Congress took the line
of action of Bose and
the culmination was
Quit India Movement.
(c) Governments response
was
negative
to
Congress response and
tried to play Muslim
League and Princely
States against Congress.
It ended at announcing
a
consultative
committee.
(d) None of the above.
25. Which of the following is not
true about Global dimming?
(a) It refers to the drop in
amount of sunlight
reaching the earth
surface.
(b) It is caused by sulphate
particles-.
(c) There was a drop of 4%
between 1960-90. The
planet further dimmed in
the last decade.
(d) Can act as a milding eff
ect to global warming.
95


26. Match the followings:
A. COSPAR (i)
B. New
(ii)
Mission
C. Integr- (iii)
ated
Mysore
Sriharikota
Control Centre
A Ahemdabad
Vaccine estab
ished Centre
under Assisted
Reproductive
Technology
(ART) Bill.
D. 1st Eggs (iv) Chengalpattu
ated
near Embryo
Bank . Chennai.
Code(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
A
(iii)
(i)
(ii)
(i)
B
(ii)
(ii)
(i)
(iii)
C
(i)
(iv)
(iii)
(iv)
D
(iv)
(iii)
(iv)
(ii)
27. Which ones are true regarding Fundamental Right under

Article 15?
(i) Crucial word in Article
15 is only
(ii) Th is is because state
cannot discriminate
solely on the basis of
religion, race, caste, sex
or place of birth but can
do so on other grounds.
(iii)There
are
three
exceptions even to this
right.
(iv)These include for
making
special
provision for women
and children or for
advancement
of
socially
and
educationally backward
class citizens or SC/ST
including admission in
educational institution.
is not matched?
96
Assertion
(a) Milkman adds
little baking
soda to fresh
milk which
has PH of 6.
Reason
It prevents
milk from sour
ing as it
neutralises lac
tic acid
formed by
fermentation.
(b) Plaster of
It would react
Paris needs
water to pro
with to be
duce lime,
kept
in a proof con
moisture
tainer.
(c) Rainwater is Rainwater is
conductor
acidic and
of electricity has H+ions
but distilled and that for
water is not. conduction of
electricity, H+
or any other
ion is required
(d) Sometimes, Fuel is not
the bottom of burning
utensils gets
blackened,
properly
29. Exposure to Radioactive radiation can occur in which

of the following situations?
(i) Mining and refi ning of
Plutonium and Thorium,
(ii) Production
and
explosion of nuclear
weapons,
(iii)Wastes from atomic
reactors,
(iv)X-rays and radiation
therapy for cancer.
Code(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(i), (ii) and (iii)

(ii), (iii) and (iv)
(i), (hi) and (iv)
(i), (ii), (hi) and (iv)
30. What is not a true statement

for Bio diesel as an alternative fuel in context of India?
(a) It is fatty acid of methyl
and ethyl esters made
from virgin or used
vegetable oils (both
edible or non edible)
and animal fats.
(b) The main focus of Bio

diesel projects in India
is
on
Jatropha
(Ratanjyot) as it has
advantage of non usage
of cultivable lands.
(c) Other sources can be
sunfl
ower,
r a p e s e e d ,s o y a b e a n ,
corn, sugarcane, palm
oil, animal fats, etc.
(d) It has advantage that it
results in substantial
reduction of unburnt
hydrocarbons, carbon
monoxides
and
particular matters, has
higher octane number
and almost no sulphur.
Its disadvantage is that
it requires change of
engine design.
(i) As the Lorenz Curve will
near the absolute parity
line, the higher the
income disparities,
(ii) Gini coeffi cient shows
the ratio between the
area of Lorenz Curve
and absolute-parity line
and the entire area
below the absolute
parity line.
Which of the above
(a) Only (i)
(b) Only(ii)
32. Banking Law Amendment
Bill 2012 was recently
passed by the Parliament.
Which of these provisions is
wrong?
(a) Th is bill will strengthen
the RBIs regulatory
powers.


(b) This bill will enable the
RBI to examine the
banking companies and
their subsidiaries.
(c) To
start
banking
business,
Primary
Cooperative Society
will not need to get
licence from the RBI.
(d) None of these
33. Match the countries with issues involved in the news
during agreements/visits:
A. Indo
(i) Civil Nuclear
Bangladesh
pact in Octo
Relations:
ber but reser
vation of other
countries on
Uranium.
B. Indo
(ii) Expansion of
Australian
UNSC & re
Relations
forms in Glo
bal Gover
nance System.
C. Indo(iii) Indias issues
Switzerland of demarca
Relations
tion of mari
time and op
eration of
groups in their
land and other
countries, dis
content on
non-imple
mentation of
land boundary
agreement
and delay in
river water
sharing pact.
D. Indo(iv) are revised
Brazil
version of
Relations
DTAA (Double
Taxation
Avoidance
Agreements)
per OECDs
model tax
evasion con
vention guide
lines on infor
mation ex
change.
Code-
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
A
(iii)
(iii)
(ii)
(i)
B
(ii)
(i)
(i)
(iii)
C
(i)
(iv)
(iii)
(iv)
D
(iv)
(ii)
(iv)
(ii)
34. Th ese forests with immense

utility are found in areas of
100-200cm rainfall in Northern and Central India Th e
composition of trees includes Sal, Teak, Sandal
Shisham^ etc. Th ese forests
are:
(a) Evergreen or rain
forests.
(b) Deciduous or monsoon
forest.
(c) Mountain forest.
(d) Tidal forest.
35. Which of the following Assertion-Reason pair is not
correct?
Assertion
(a) We slip while
moving
on a muddy
track.
(b) Wheels are
made as
circular.
(c) Bridges are
unsafe
after long
use.
(d) Casing of a
rocket
in flight gets
burnt on
the way.
Reason
The layer of
mud in be
tween breaks
the interlock
and reduces
friction.
Rolling friction
is less than slid
ing friction.
They lose their
elastic
strength due to
repeated alte
rnating strains.
The burning is
caused by the
heat energy of
the atmo
sphere.
36. Which of the following was

not the background conditions in building up the
Khilafat and Non Cooperation Movements?
(a) Economic hardships.
(b) Rowlatt Act, imposition
of Martial Law and
Jallianwala
Bagh
Massacre.
(c) Hunter Commission on
Punjab atrocities being
an eyewash, British
House
of
Lords
endorsing Gen. Dyres
action and Morning Post
collecting
30,000
pounds for him.
(d) No
response
of
government
on
Gandhijis 11 Demands.
A. Th e Wildlife (i)
Protection Act.
B. Th e Forest
(ii)
Conservation
Act.
C. Th e Water
(iii)
(Prevention and
Control of Pollu
tion) Act.
D. Th e Environ (iv)
ment Protection
Act.
1986
1972
1980
1974
Code(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
A
(ii)
(i)
(iii)
(iv)
B
(iii)
(ii)
(i)
(ii)
C
(i)
(iii)
(ii)
(iii)
D
(iv)
(iv)
(iv)
(i)

the answers to these items
using the!codes given below: Assertion (a)- India has
welcomed the Americas
pivot policy.
Reason (R): India feels that
the policy of US engagement
in the Asia-Pacifi c is in resonance with the Indias vision
of a web of inter linkages for
the shared prosperity & security and the region gets
97


developed as a zone of cooperation & not one of competition and domination.
Code(a) Both A and R are individually
true and R is the correct explanation of A.
(b) Both A and R are individually
true but R is not the correct
explanation.
(d) A is false but R. is true.
39. Which of the following

statement(s) is/are not true
regarding Pardoning power
of President?
(i) Th e only diff erence
between powers of
President and Governor
in this regard is that
President can pardon a
death sentence but
Governor cannot.
(ii) Th e Pardoning power of
President is not subject
to judicial review
except if it is arbitrary
decision or malafi de or
discriminatory.
(iii)Pardoning power of
President is not an
appellate one over a
judicial decision. It is an
executive power which
gives a relief on a
sentence felt to be
erroneous or harsh.
(iv)Pardoning power of
President includes forms
like
Pardon,
Commutation,
Remission, Respite
Reprieve.
(v) Pardoning power of
President is to be
excercised on advice of
the Union Cabinet and
he is not bound to give
reasons for his decision.
Code98
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
Only (i)
Only (ii) and (iii)
(iv) and (v)
Only (v)
40. One of the, focus of government of India has been on

energy policies & initiatives
for addressing the issue of
Climate Change. In this context which one is not true?
(a) NMEEE i.e. National
Mission on Enhanced
Energy Effi ciency,
Energy Conservation
Act 2001, etc focusing on
energy effi ciency.
(b) Electricity Act 2003 and
National Energy Policy
2005 focussing on
renewable
energy
promotion including
preferential tariff for
renewable energy.
(c) Establishment of INCCA
to-carry lab researches
on environment in
agriculture and forestry
to the fi eld.
(d) Chalking out a 3 stage
nuclear
power
programme as it is a
sustainable source of
energy.
41. Which of the following
would benefi t from infl
ation?
(i) Lenders
(ii) Business Class
(iii)Manufacturer
(iv)Pensioners
(v) Borrowers
Code:
(a) (i), (ii) and (iv)
(b) (ii),(ih)and(v)
(c) (ii), (iii) and (iv)
(d) All of the above.
List-I
(Books)
List-II
(Author)
A. Interven (i)
tions: A Life
in War and
Peace
B. Bring up (ii)
Bodies
C. Th e World(iii)
in Our Time:
A Memoire
D. Micro
(iv)
Finance in
India
Kofi Annan
Tapan Roy
chaudhury
Hilary Mentel
S.L. Shetty
Code:
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
A
(ii)
(i)
(iv)
(iv)
B
(iii)
(iii)
(iii)
(i)
C
(i)
(ii)
(i)
(iii)
D
(iv)
(iv)
(ii)
(ii)
43. Which of the following factors will not help in improving the fertility of soils?
(a) Crop rotation and use of
manures & fertilizers.
(b) Adoption
of
combination of crops.
(c) Keeping fallow.
(d) Excessive use Of
irrigation in areas of
intensive cultivation.
List-I
List-II
A. Rig Veda (i) Ruling Aryan
Clans.
B. Avesta
(ii) Oldest text in
Iranian Language.
C. Kassite & (iii) Oldest speci
Mittani
men in Indo
European Language.
D. Bharatas &(iv) Names of Ary
Tritsu
ans mentioned
in the inscrip
tions of Iraq of
14th Century
BC.
Code(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
A
(iii)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
B
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(i)
C
(iv)
(iv)
(i)
(ii)
D
(i)
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
45. What of the following state-


ments is true about blood
pressure?
(i) It is measured in mm of
mercury,
(ii) When the heart contracts
to
its
minimum
(diastolic), the blood is
pumped to its peak and
the pressure in the
arteries is 120 mm of
mercury.
(iii)When the heart expands
to
its
maximum
(systolic) reverse is the
phenomenon and the
pressure in the arteries
is 80 mm of mercury.
Code(a) Only (i)
(b) (i) and (iii)
46. Match the following :
A. Tumblelog (i) A computer vi
rus used as
weapon as de
tected by a
Russian com
puter firm.
B. Flame
(ii) Fastest Super
computer at
the Lawrence
Levermore
National Lab
at California.
C. Sequoia (iii) Earthworm
like Robot.
D. Meshworm(iv) 1st micro
blogs i.e. blogs
with small size
& small mes
sages called
Microposts.
Code(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
A
(iii)
(i)
(ii)
(iv)
B
(ii)
(ii)
(i)
(i)
C
(i)
(iv)
(iii)
(ii)
D
(iv)
(iii)
(iv)
(iii)


the .answers to these items
using the codes given below:
Assertion (a): Contingency
Fund of India is an executive
creation and involves executive operation.
Reason (R): It is at the disposal of President and the
President can make advances
out of it pending its authorization by Parliament.
Code(a) Both A and R are
individually true and R
is
the
correct
explanation of A.
(b) Both A and R are
individually true but R is
not
the
correct
explanation.
(d) A Is false but R is true.
48. It is in news that the defence
budget may get subjected to
cuts in an eff ort towards fi
scal consolidation. Which of
the following is not true for
the defence budget?
(a) Th at defence is one of
the
important
unavoidable non plan
expenditure.
(b) Th at defence is in the
process of going for
modernization.
(c) Two most important
projects are MMRCA &
Project-75 India. Former
is MediumMulti Role
Combat Aircraft project
of acquiring 126 French
Rafale fi ghters worth
almost $ 20 billion.
Latter is purchase of six
generation conventional
submarines worth $ 10
Billion. It is also going
for replacement of old
Cheetah/
Chetak
helicopters
and
decision boiled down
between Russian Kamov
&Eurocopter.
(d) Th e defence cut would
technically be a revenue
cut.
A. Food
Chain
(i) Number of
food chain op
erates simulta
neously and
are interlinked.
B. Food
(ii) Th e sequence
Web
of organisms
that feed on
one another
for their survival.
C. Ecological (iii) Cyclic move
ment of Pyra
mid matter
through atmo
sphere hydro
sphere, bio
sphere and
lithosphere
D. Bioche (iv) Graphical pre
mical
sentation of
cycle the or
ganisms posi
tion in the food
chain.
Code(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
A
(ii)
(i)
(iii)
(iv)
B
(i)
(ii)
(i)
(ii)
C
(iv)
(iii)
(ii)
(iii)
D
(iii)
(iv)
(iv)
(i)
50. Which is not fully correct

about the pollution caused
by the Carbon Monooxide?
(a) It accounts for 50% of
the total atmospheric
pollutants.
(b) Th e natural source of
CO are animals.
(c) Artifi cial sources of CO
99


are industry, vehicle,
kitchen and cigarette
smoke etc.
(d) Its higher level causes
discomforts
like
giddiness,.headache
because CO combines
with the Haemoglobin in
the blood impairing its
oxygen
carrying
capacity.
(i) Current account balance
is extremely important
to check the status of
the soundness of the
economy.
(ii) Due
to
constant
unfavourable position
of Indias balance of
trade the position of loss
in current account defi
cit remained constant.
Which of the above statements) is/are true?
(a) Only (i)
(b) Only (ii)
52. Consider the following aspects/provisions related to
the National Science and
Technology and Innovation
Policy.
(i) Its aim is to place India
among the top fi ve
scientifi c powers in the
world by 2020.
(ii) To increase private
sector participation in
research
and
development,
(iii)It will replace the
National Science Policy
2005.
Which of the above
statement(s) is/are wrong?
(a) Only (i)
100
(b) Only (iii)

(c) (ii) and (iii)
(d) None of these.
53. Which of the following statements is wrong?
(a) Arabian Sea is a result
of volcanic erruption in
North-western plateau
resulting in subsiding of
the western part and fi
lled by water of Indian
Ocean.
(b) The hill stations like
Shimla,
Dalhousie,
Nainital, Mussorie fall in
lesser
or
Lower
Himalayas.
(c) Bangladesh
shares
longest land frontier
with India.
(d) The salty marshes or)
the western most part of
India is Pygmallion
point.
54. Match the following personalities directly/indirectly involved at the time of Quit India Movement with their contributions.
A. Rash Bihari (i) Arch Moder
Bose
ates who were
of the view of
giving right to
Muslim majori
ty provinces
to secede.
B. Ram
(ii) Harijan issues
Manohar
on Aruna
Lohia, Asaf
arrest of
Ali &
Mahadev
Sucheta
Desai.
Kriplani
C. C. Rajgop (iii) India Indepen
alachari &
dence League
Bhulabhai
& mobilisation
Desai
of Indian sol
diers arrested
by Japan
against British.
D. KG
(iv) Pioneers in un
Mashruwala der-ground act
ivities.
Code(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
A
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
B
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(i)
C
(iii)
(iv)
(i)
(ii)
D
(iv)
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
55. Which of the following Assertion-Reason pair is not

correct?
Assertion
(a) Black body
radiations
become
white on
heating.
Reason
It absorbs all
possible wave
lengths hence
emits the,
same on being
heated.
(b) Rusting of
Rusting is a
iron is
chemical
an irrever
change of
sible process oxidisation of
but electrol iron. In elec
-ysis is not.
trolysis, the di
rection of ions
can be re
versed.
(c) Sharp knife
It has far lesser
cuts the
area of cross
apple better section result
than blunt
ing in higher
knife.
pressure on the
apple surface.
(d) We feel
The cooling of
pleasant if
air takes
the fan is
place.
switched
on in a closed
room.
56. Which of the statements are

true regarding recommendations of Parekh Committee on
Infrastructure?
(i) Encourage investment in
infrastructure
andcharges, fees, etc
related to infrastructure.
(ii) Raise
FDI
in
infrastructure from 74%
to 100%
(iii)Allowing coal import by
MMTC, STC or through
power producers.
(iv)It also recommended a
new system of long term


credit by fi nancial
institutions
on
guarantee by IFICL
instead of system of
direct lending by it.
Code(a) (i) and (ii)
(b)(ii) and (iii)
(d)(i), (ii), (iii) and (iv)
statement is not true regarding Estimates Committee?
(a) Was set up in 1921 and
has 30 members -25
Lok Sabha & 5 Rajya
Sabha who are elected
every
year
by
P r o p o r t i o n a l
Representation
by
Single Transferable Vote
system.
(b)Minister cant be elected
asmembef & Speaker
appoints Chairman who
generally is from ruling
party.
(c) It is described as a
continuous economy
committee.
(d)It
reports
what
economy, improvement
in the organisation and
administrative reforms
consistent with the
policy underlying the
estimates can be eff
ected as well as
suggests
alternate
policy and also the form
in which estimates need
to be presented to the
Parliament.
58. When the price of a commodity falls and some
people would decrease its
demand thinking so that the
decline in its price is due to
poor quality. What it is
called?
(a) Snob effect
(b) Veblen effect
(c) Bandwagon effect
(d) None of these.
59. Match the following :
A. National (i) Dissipation of
Clean
energy during
Energy Fund its transmis
sion during one
Trohpic level
to another.
B. Second (ii) Always get
Law of
more energy
Thermody
than organisms
-namics
present nearer
to the producer.
C. Top
(iii) Funding of
Carnivores
projects/
schemes of
clean energy
technology
and such inno
vative meth
ods financed
from Clean
Energy Cess.
Code(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
A
(ii)
(i)
(iii)
(iii)
B
(iii)
(ii)
(i)
(ii)
C
(i)
(iii)
(ii)
(i)
60. What is not true for UNDP report on Earths environment?

(a) 20% of vertebrates are
under
threat
of
extinction, coral reefs
have declined by 38%
since 1980.
(b) GHG emissions may
double over next 50
years.
(c) 90% of water & fi sh
samples are found to be
contaminated by pests.
(d) Asia Pacifi c is not a
signifi cant source of
green house gases. But
India and China are one
of
the
biggest
contributers of pollution
due to automobiles.
61. The terms off er for sale,
Digital Signature, token
card are related to:
(a) Automated process of
applying visa with
certain
diplomatic
missions and certain
European
mission
introduced it recently.
(b) Automated process of
auction or e-auction and
NTPC became 4th to go
for e-auction of its stakes
aft er Hindustan Copper,
NMDC and Oil India.
(c) Automated process of
applying for a gas
connection in a scheme
of ONGC.
(d) None of these.
(i) Rajasthan was the fi rst
state to empower local
bodies with the Right to
Recall,
(ii) Recently Mangrol in
Baran
district
of
Rajasthan voted under
Right to Recall,
(iii)The beginning of
Panchayati Raj was
fromNagaur.
Which of the above
statement(s) is/ are true?
(a) (i), (ii) and (iii)
(b) (ii) and (iii)
(c) (i) and (ii)
(d) Only (iii)
63. Which one of the AssertionReason match is wrong?
Assertion
Reason
A. Rajasthan is (i) The SW mon
arid despite soons run par
Aravali Hills, allel to the
hills, hence the
winds do not
get inter
101

B. Shillong (ii)
has more
rains than
Kolkata.
C. The S.E (iii)

monsoons
have spells
of dry
D. The
(iv)
vegetation
of Himalayas
is Uniformly
equatorial.
rupted. Fur
ther little pos
sibility of
monsoon from
Bay of Bengal
due to dis
tance.
The topogra
phy of Shillong
provides a re
lief barrier for
its monsoon
branch but not
so for Kolkata.
It is caused
due to inflow
of fluctuating
weather in be
tween. tropi
cal depres
sions.
The Himalayan
height brings
this uniformity.
64. Which ones of these were not

Peasant movements?
(i) Bardoli Movement
(ii) Eka Movement
(iii) Tana Bhagat Movement
(iv) Rampa Uprising
(c) (i), (ii) and
(d) (ii), (iii) and (iv)
65. Match the following parts of
brain with their functions.
A. Olfactory (i) Center of re
Lobes
flexes, blood
pressure, heart
beat & breath
ing.
B. Medulla (ii) Sight
Oblongata
C. Occipital (iii) Hunger, Thrust,
Lobes
Fatigue, Sleep,
Sweat, Tem
perature emo
tion. D! Dien
cephalon
(iv) Reception and
relay of sensa
tion.
102
Code(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
A
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(i)
B
(i)
(i)
(i)
(ii)
C
(iv)
(ii)
(ii)
(iii)
D
(iii)
(iv)
(iii)
(iv)
66. Which of the following statements is not true about a subcritical nuclear test?
(a) It does not involve a
nuclear explosion.
(b) This is because no
critical mass gets formed
and no chain reaction is
triggered.
(c) USA recently conducted
such a test called Pollux.
(d) Pollux was conducted
by USA for testing
Einsteins Th eory.
67. Which of the following statements is not true for the
Gandar movement?
(a) Th e Gandar Party had
its headquarter at San
Fransiscoin 1913
(b) Komgata Maru ship
from Singapore to
Vancouver turned back
at Canada was the
background cause to
trigger it.
(c) Other triggering point
as declaration of Indian
support for World War I
by British.
(d) Th e Gandar fi ghters
maintained a hold at
certain strategic places
for sometime before
being suppressed by
British taking aid of
Defence of India Rules
1915.
Concept
A. TFT
Comment
(i) Used in Bio toi
let in which the
bacteria feed
and digest the
fecal content
leaving out
water and gas
which can be
used for irriga
tion & cook
ing.
B. Bio(ii) Gene which
digestor
can indicate
technology the
risk of breast
cancer.
C. XRCC2 (iii) A medical
technique
used in detec
tion of rape.
Code(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
A
(iii)
(i)
(ii)
(i)
B
(i)
(iii)
(i)
(ii)
C
(ii)
(ii)
(iii)
(iii)

A. Two new (i) Achanakmar &
Elephant
Amarkantak.
Reserves.
B. Addition (ii) Bundelkhand
in to
region of
UNESCOSs
Madhya
of Madhya
Pradesh.
Pradesh.
global
Biosphere
reserve list
which now
has 599 such
reserves from
117 countries.
C. Indias first (iii)Churu District
river-lake
in Rajasthan.
linking project.
D. Indias new (iv) District
est and
Gandhari in
smallest
Tripura.
national park
having attra
-ction of black
bugs & variety
of birds.
Code(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
A
(ii)
(i)
(iii)
(iv)
B
(i)
(ii)
(i)
(i)
C
(iv)
(iii)
(ii)
(ii)
D
(iii)
(iv)
(iv)
(iii)


70. Which of the following statements are true regarding the
Attorney General of India?
(i) Term of offi ce of the AG
is fixed by constitution
to
maintain
his
neutrality,
(ii) Has the right to audience
in all courts in the
territory of India.
(iii)He has the right to take
part in the proceedings
of both the Houses of
the Parliament or their
joint sittings.
(iv)He is debarred from
private legal practice
till the time he is the
Attorney General but
can practice once he is
not Attorney General.
(b) (ii) and (iii)
(d) (i) and (iv)
(i) High GDP growth rate is
a necessary condition of
economic growth but
not suffi cient condition.
(ii) High economic growth
rate does not ensure in
itself that growth is
inclusive.
(iii)In Indian economy
where employment
appropriation extremely
low coeffi cient and
employment elasticity is
falling fast, to solve the
problem
of
unemployment and
poverty government
initiatives and eff orts
are inevitable.
Which of the above statement/s is/are true?
(a) Only (iii)

(b) (i) and (iii)
(c) (ii) and (iii)
(d) (i), (ii) and (iii)
72. Which of the factors contributed to high headline infl
ation in 2011?
(i) High primary article
prices like egg, meat, fi
sh, vegetables,
(ii) High global commodity
prices especially metal
& chemical,
(iii) Persistent high crude
petroleum prices.
Code(a) Only (i)
(b) (ii) and (iii)
(c) (i) and (ii)
73. Which of the following is
wrongly matched?
(a) Truck
Farming
Specialised farming in
Vegetables.
(b) Rice Cultivation Labour
intensive cultivation.
(c) Market
Gardening
Specialised farming in
Fruits, Flowers, Veg
etables & Horticulture.
(d) Forging Specialised
farming in commercial
products.
A. Kankut
(i) system of col

lection of land
revenue in the
form of grain
or in some
other kind (not
in cash) during
the reign of
Akbar.
B. Zawabit (ii) Secular Laws.
C. Shariah (iii) Islamic Laws.
D. Bargirs (iv) Loose Auxilia
ries in Maratha
troops.
Code-
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
A
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
B
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(i)
C
(iii)
(iv)
(i)
(ii)
D
(iv)
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
75. Match the following plant

hormones with their functions:
A. Elongation (i) Gibberellin
of cells.
B. Growth of (ii) Auxin
stem.
C. Promotion (iii) Cytokinin
of cell
division.
Code(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
A
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(ii)
B
(iii)
(iii)
(ii)
(i)
C
(ii)
(i)
(i)
(iii)
76. Consider the following statements with respect to Micro

and Small Enterprises:
(i) Credit Guarantee Fund
Scheme for Micro and
Small Enterprises is
being implemented.
Under it, without the
guarantee of third party,
guarantee cover for
loans up to Rs 100
million is provided,
particularly for the
microenterprises.
(ii) To support and assist
the second generation
entrepreneurs Rajiv
Gandhi Udyami. Mitra
Yojana has been
planned. It will help
3000 new entrepreneurs.
Select the correct Code(a) Only (i)
(b) Only (ii)
A. Janani
(i) to include ur
Suraksha
ban poor, also
Yojana
called NHM,
103


now with pro
vision of
health care
and free medi
cine.
B. Aajivika (ii) rearing for
Yojna
providing em
ployment to
poor.
C. NRHM (iii) to reduce ma
ternal and Neo
Natal Mortal
ity. Integrates
cash assis
tance with de
livery and post
delivery care
for BPL
women up to 2
births.
Code
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
A
(iii)
(iii)
(ii)
(i)
B
(ii)
(i)
(i)
(ii)
C
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iii)
78. Which of the following statements is wrong?

(a) Devanampiya Piyadassi
is the name mentioned
for King Ashoka in his
inscriptions.
(b)Rupiya was introduced
by Shershah Suri which
is still the name of the
currency today while
Panas were gold coins
issued by Kushanas.
(c) As per Abul Fazl, the
relationship between
sovereignity and people
was a social contract.
While the emperor
protected Jaan, Maal,
Namus or honour and
din or.faith, the people
returned by obedience
& sharing of resources.
(d)Sijda, Chahar Taslim &
Zaminbos were highest
forms of salutations for
Mughal courtiers.
104

A. Doppler
Radar
System
(i) Dedicated for

environmental
cases. All
pending cases
in HC & future
cases to go
there as per
order of S.C.
B. National (ii) Inter-nation
Green
project Tribu
nal on Bay of
Bengal to take
stock of Indian
Mackerel
C. BoBLME (iii) Installed by
IMD at New
Delhi for in
forming the
people in NCR
on weather
conditions &
detect avia
tion hazards.
Code(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
A
(ii)
(i)
(iii)
(iii)
B
(iii)
(ii)
(i)
(ii)
C
(i)
(iii)
(i)
(i)
80. Consider the following statements regarding the financial

emergency:
(i) If Lok Sabha is
dissolved within 2
months
without
approving
the
proclamation then the
proclamation survives
until 30 days from the fi
rst sitting of Lok Sabha
aft er its reconstitution.
(ii) Once approved by both
houses,
financial
emergency continues
indefi nitely till revoked.
(iii)Proclamation
of
revoking fi nancial
emergency does not
require Parliamentary
approval.
(iv)President may reduce
salaries and allowances

of all or any class of
persons serving union
and judges of SC and
HC.
Which of the above
statements(s) is/are untrue?
(a) Only (iii)
(b) Only (iv)
(c) (i) and (ii)
(d) None of the above.
(i) Consumption type of
VAT. is the most
prevalent VAT and this
type of VAT is
applicable in India and
under-developed
countries.
(ii) In Consumption type of
VAT consumption goods
are not only taxed but
capital goods are taken,
from
which
depreciation
is
reduced.
Which of the above
(a) Only (i)
(b) Only (ii)
82. Which of the following statements is not correct?
(a) Food and Agriculture
Organisation has led to
global eff orts to end
hunger.
(b) FAO provides changing
technology in the
context of agricultural,
environmental
nutritional and food
security for developed
and
developing
countries.
(c) According to UN
Hunger Report-2012


almost every eighth
person in the world is
the
victim
of
undernourishment.
(d) According to UN
Hunger Report-2012
17.5% population in
India
was
undernourished
in
2010.-12. In terms of
numbers it is the highest
in the world.
83. Match the following Industries with their locations. Industry Their Locations
A. Sugar
Industry
B. Petro
chemical
Industry
C. Cotton
Textile
Industry
D. Knowledge
based
industry
(i) Mumbai,
Auraia,
Jamnagar,
Haldia.
(ii) Manmad,
Kolhapur
Saharanpur,
Mujaffar
nagar.
(iii) Delhi,
Banglore,
Noida,
Kolkata.
(iv) Mumbai,
Ahmedabad,
Coimbatore,
Madurai.
Code(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
A
(iv)
(iv)
(iii)
(ii)
B
(i)
(i)
(i)
(i)
C
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(iv)
D
(iii)
(ii)
(ii)
(iii)
84. Match the organism kingdoms with their features :

Kingdom
Features
A. Monera
(i) Unicellular,
mainly
aquatic.
B. Protista (ii) Multicellular
photosynthetic plants.
C. Plantae (iii) Single cell mi
croscopic organisms.
D. Fungi
(iv) Multicellular
animal consumers.
E. Animalia (v) Multicellular

Bio-decomposers.
Code(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
A
(iv)
(ii)
(iii)
(i)
B
(v)
(iii)
(i)
(iv)
C
(iii)
(iv)
(ii)
(iii)
D
E
(i) (ii)
(v) (i)
(v) (iv)
(ii) (v)
85. Consider the assertions and

reasons and find correct
one:
Assertion
(i) Placenta
has an
important
role in the
development
of embryo.
(ii) The basis of

similarities
between
parents and
children is
founded in
the process
of reprod
uction,
(iii) The enzyme
found in
saliva called
ptyalin or
Salivary
Amylase is
helpful in
digestion,
(iv) Players deve
lop cramps
while playing.
Reason
It plays crucial
role in ex
change of ma
terial between
mother and
child and
waste from
blood.
DNA copying
takes place
which creates
copies which
are similar
but not identi
-cal,
It helps in
breaking down
of Starch.
Pyruvate gets
converted into
lactic acid.
Code(a) (i),(ii) and (iii)

(b) (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv)
(d) (i), (iii) and (iv)
86. What is not true for Micro,
Small and Medium / enterprises as contributor for future Indian growth?
(a) It employs 59.7 million
persons spread over
26.1 million enterprises.
(b) It accounts for 45% of

manufacturing output &
40% of total exports of
the country.
(c) Th ey are viewed as
tools
to
ensure
balanced, sustained and
inclusive
growth.
Further, they have
potential of catering to
local demand as well as
graduating to future
giant industrial unit
provided they are
nurtured.
(d) Their biggest weakness
is that it gets impacted
by global recession and
depreciation of the
rupee.
87. Which of the following statement is not true about
Swadesi Movement?
(a) The key issue was
partition of Bengal.
(b) Partition was done by
Lord Curzon to divide
the nerve centre of
nationalism though the
humble plea of a large
state with diffi culty to
govern was taken.
(c) Th e movement involved
burning of British
clothes and promotion
of swadeshi goods.
(d) The cultural innovations,
revival of national
identity and self pride
was on forefront in the
movement.
A. Saksham (i) Performance
related incen
tive scheme
meant for
Government
Employees
suggested by
Sixth Pay
105


Commission
on which a
committee of
secretaries has
been instituted
for recommendations.
B. PRIS
(ii) Andhra
Pradesh
Model of Mid
Day Meal
which Govt, of
India has recmmended to
other states as
model.
C. Amulya (iii) Empower and
Dharohar
sensitise ado
Project
lescent boys
towards val
ues and
woman issues.
D. Green
(iv) Conservation
Channel
of historical
Scheme
ites, involving
ONGC and Arc
haeological
Survey of
India.
Code
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
A
(iii)
(iii)
(ii)
(i)
B
(ii)
(i)
(i)
(ii)
C
(i)
(iv)
(iii)
(iv)
D
(iv)
(ii)
(iv)
(iii)
89. What is/are true for Indian

Forest (Amendment) Bill
2012?
(i) Its main aim is to stop
harassment
and
prosecution of forest
dwellers and tribals for
minor off ences.
(ii)Proposes to hike for
compounding of minor
off ences under the
Forest Act from Rs 50/to 10,000/-.
(iii) Proposes to omit the
salary limit of forest offi
cer for doing the
compounding of off
ence.
106
Code(a) Only (i)

(b) (ii) and (iii)
(c) (i) and (ii)
90. Which of the following statements are correct about
Speaker of Lok Sabha?
(i) Can allow a secret
sitting of the house at the
request of Leader of the
House. In this no
stranger can be present
in the chamber, lobby
or galleries except with
his permission.
(ii) He acts as the chairman
of the Business Advisory
Committee, the Rules
Committee and the
General
Purpose
Committee.
(iii)In the order of
precedence, he ranks at
7th position along with
CJI.
(iv)Deputy
Speakeris
subordinate to him.
(d) (i),(iii) and (iv)
91. Which of the following statements is false?
(a) Th e budgetary defi cit
is equal to the total
balance of revenue
account balance and
capital
account
balance.
(b) Revenue defi cit shows
the total of budgetary
defi cit and the net
liabilities
of
the
government.
(c) Growing fi scal defi cit
does not show the
increase in governments
borrowing.
(d) Since the budgetary defi

cit is the governments
liability to RBI, so the fi
scal defi cit will show
the total liability of the
government.
92. Consider fi scal strengthening roadmap:
(i) Gradually reducing
Fiscal defi cit to bring it
to 13 percent of GDP by
2017.
(ii) In the Budget for 201213 fiscal deficit target
was limited to 5.1%,
which
has
been
increased to 5.3% in the
roadmap.
Which of the following
statement(s) is/are correct?
(a) Only (i)
(b) Only (ii)
93. What is true for the Siberian
type climate region?
(i) It is experienced only in
Northern hemisphere,
(ii) Greatest stretch of
coniferous forest is
Taiga in Siberia,
(iii)Characterised
by
bitterly cold winter of
long duration and brief
cool summer,
(iv)Lumbering
is
an
important activity.
Code(a) only (i)
(b) (ii) and (iii)
(d) (i), (ii) (iii) and (iv).
94. Match the minerals with their
applied use in industries:
A. Chromite (i) Tyre industry.
B. Dolomite (ii) Steel industry.
C. Zinc
(iii) Metallurgical
industry &
chemical in


dustry. Mixed
with iron to
make it corro
sion free.
D. Lime stone (iv)Cement indus
try.
E. Aluminium (v) Coating of
tents, hydrox
-ide
Code(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
A
(iv)
(ii)
(iii)
(i)
B
(v)
(iii)
(ii)
(iv)
C
(iii)
(iv)
(i)
(iii)
D
E
(i) (ii)
(v) (i)
(iv) (v)
(ii) (v)
95. Match the following;

A. Nephron
B.
C.
D.
E.
(i) Lining in the

stomach
which pro
tects from
HCL.
Mucus
(ii) Trypsin di
gests proteins
and Lypase
emulsifies fats.
Pancreatic (iii) Translocation
Juice
of food.
Phloem (iv) Enzyme in
Photosynthesis which ini
tiates respira
tion in plants.
Rubisco (v) Filters the ex
cess water,
urea, waste
salts from
blood while
useful one get
reabsorbed by
a bundle of
blood capillaries called
glomerulus in
Bowmans
capsule.
Code(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
A
(v)
(iii)
(iv)
(i)
B
(i)
(i)
(i)
(ii)
C
(ii)
(ii)
(ii)
(iii)
D
E
(iii) (iv)
(v) (iv)
(iii) (v)
(iv) (v)
96. What is not true about 11th

Five Year Plan?
(a) It aimed at both fast as
well as inclusive
growth.
(b) It could achieve good
performance in fast
growth with the average
of all the years (8.2%)
despite the fact that
signifi
cant
periodremained under
global depression.
(c) Recognising
the
importance
of
inclusiveness being a
multidimentional
phenomenon, it used 27
factors to assess the
multidimensionality
which include poverty,
agriculture, growth of
e m p l o y m e n t
opportunities etc with
GDP only one of them.
(d) Inflation remained at
moderate levels in the
plan period.
97. The density of population &
sex ratio in the Census 2011
(Provisional) are respectively:
(a) 698 and 890
(b) 382 and 940
(c) 305 and 987
(d) None of these.
98. Which of the following statements are true about PMGA
Yojana?
(i) It was announced in
2009 -10 for integrated
development of all
villages with more than
50% SC population,
(ii) It has been decided to
transfer it from Ministry
of S ocial Justice and
Empowerment
to
Ministry of Rural
Development,
(iii)As a pilot project, it has
been implemented in
1000 villages.
Code
(a) (i) and (iii)
(b) (ii) and (iii)
(c) (i) and (ii)
99. What is not true about PKC
(Public Key Cryptography)?
(a) It is a technique of data
security on a computer
or a network.
(b) It involves encryption of
symmetric nature.
(c) It involves 2 keys namely public key
which is known to all
and private key which is
known to a specifi c
individual user.
(d) Th e arrangement is such
that, if encryption is by
one key (generally
public key), decryption
is done by other key.
100.Which of the Assertion-Reason combination is not correct?
Assertion
(a) A judicious
mix of rigidity
and flexibility
(b) Federal
system
with unitary
Reason
Neither it is like
US constitution requiring
special proce
dure to amend
the constitution nor like
British consti
tution where
amendment
procedure is
same as ordinary law.
Federal features embed
ded like dual
government,
Division of
power, written
constitution,
supremacy of
constitution
along with uni
tary features
like. no right
107


to secede, no
agreement for
forming of fed
eration and
certain pow
ers of unitary
nature with
centre.
(c) Choice of
Parliamentary
sovereignty
over
judicial
Parliamentary
sovereignty is
the core of
West minister
supremecy
model of UK
adopted by
India.
(d) Secular
State
Principles en
shrined in pre
amble, article
14,15,16, 25,
26, 27, 28, 29,
30 and 44.
ANSWERS
1. (c)
11. (a)
21. (d)
31. (b)
41. (b)
51. (c)
61. (b)
71. (d)
81. (a)
91. (c)
108
2. (d)
12. (b)
22. (c)
32. (c)
42. (d)
52. (b)
62. (b)
72. (d)
82. (b)
92. (c)
3. (a)
13. (b)
23. (d)
33. (b)
43. (a)
53. (d)
63. (d)
73. (d)
83. (d)
93. (d)
4. (a)
14. (d)
24. (b)
34. (b)
44. (a)
54. (c)
64. (d)
74. (a)
84. (c)
94. (c)
5. (c)
15. (a)
25. (c)
35. (d)
45. (d)
55. (d)
65. (c)
75. (d)
85. (b)
95. (a)
6. (d)
16. (d)
26. (b)
36. (d)
46. (d)
56. (d)
66. (d)
76. (c)
86. (d)
96. (d)
7. (d)
17. (d)
27. (d)
37. (a)
47. (d)
57. (a)
67. (d)
77. (a)
87. (d)
97. (b)
8. (a)
18. (a)
28. (b)
38. (a)
48. (d)
58. (b)
68. (a)
78. (b)
88. (b)
98. (d)
9. (c)
19. (d)
29. (d)
39. (a)
49. (a)
59. (c)
69. (d)
79. (c)
89. (d)
99. (b)
10. (b)
20. (c)
30. (d)
40. (c)
50. (b)
60. (d)
70. (b)
80. (d)
90. (a)
100. (c)

MULTIPLE CHOICE
QUESTIONS
1. 1. Rajasthan started the
countrys first olive refinery.
2. PM Modi inaugurated the
refinery set up in
Lunkaransar area.
3. The olive oil produced in
the refinery will be
marked under the brand
name of Raj Olive Oil.
Which of the following statements is/are true-?
a. Only 1
b. 1 & 3
c. 2 & 3
d. All of the above
2. 1. ISRO will launch IRNSS
1C on October 10.
2. As part of its aspirations
to build a regional navigational system equivalent to GPS of the US,
ISRO plans to send seven
satellites to put in place
the IRNSS.
3. ISROs headquarter is in
Pune, established in 15
August 1949.
a. Only 1
b. 1& 2
c. 1 & 3
d. All of the above
3. 1. Indian
mens
and
womens teams win two
kabaddi gold medals at
the Asian Games at
Incheon.
2. India, who has won every
single gold since mens
kabaddi was introduced
in 1990 in Beijing.
4.
5.
6.
7.
3. Mens kabaddi team bags

7th successive gold, beats
Iran in final.
Which of the following statement is/are true-?
a. Only 1
b. 1 & 2
c. 1 & 3
d. All of the above
Agricultural income tax is
assigned to the state government bya. The
National
Development Council
b. Reserve Bank of India
c. The Finance commission
d. The Constitution of India
1. World Animal Day was
observed across the
world on 4 October 2014.
2. World Animal Day is an
international day of action
for animal rights and welfare celebrated annually
on October 4, the Feast
Day of St Francis of Assisi,
the patron saint of animals.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Both 1 & 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
PVC is used in plastic, the
term PVC stands fora. Polyvinyl chloride
b. P o l y v i n y l
chlorobenzene
c. Polyvinyl calcium
d. Polyvinyl carbonate
1. The Union home ministry
notified changes to the Persons of Indian Origin
(PIO) scheme to make the

PIO cards valid for the
duration of the card
holders lifetime instead of the existing 15
days.
2. The UPA had first announced their intention to
amend the citizenship law
in 2011.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Both 1 & 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
8. 1. Under the Indian Penal
Code Section 375, sexual
intercourse or sexual acts
by man with his own wife,
the wife not being under
15 years of age, is not
rape.
2. In India, marital rape is
not covered by the ordinary rape laws and is a
form of non-criminal domestic violence.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
9. Who won the gold medal for
India after 28 years at 2014
Asian Games wrestling?
a. Sushil kumar
b. Yogeshwer Dutt
c. Manoj Kumar
d. Neeraj Kumar
10. 1. The Reserve Bank of India
in its fourth bi-monthly
109


monetary policy review
did not change the policy
repo rate, which remains
at 8 per cent.
2. The main determinant of
monetary policy has been
to get a handle on import.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
11. 1. India along with Japan,
the US, China and Canada
will start work on the
worlds biggest telescope
on Hawaii Island that will
enable to identify an object as small as coin from
a distance of 500 kms.
2. The telescope will be
larger than Japans Subaru
Telescope, one of the
worlds biggest.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
12. 1. The
Nobel
Prize
for physiology
or
medicine has
been
awarded to three scientists who discovered the
brains GPS system. John
OKeefe and a Norwegian
couple, Edvard Moser
and May-Britt Moser share
the award.
2. They discovered how the
brain knows where we
are and is able to navigate
from one place to another.
Their findings may help
110
explain
why
in
Alzheimers disease patients cannot recognise
their surroundings.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
13. Which Indian boxer returned
her bronze medal in protest
against her controversial
loss to a South Korean in
Asian Games 2014?
a. Sarita devi
b. Mary kom
c. Anju bala
d. Babita kumari
14. 1. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
was launched by Prime
Minister of India Narendra
Modi on 2 Oct 2014, on
the birth anniversary of
Mahatma Gandhi & former
PM Lal Bahadur Shastri.
2. This campaign aims to accomplish the vision of
clean India by 2nd October 2019, 150th birthday
o f Mahatma Gandhi.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
15. 1. Britain and Ireland inked
a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on visa
cooperation to allow Russian and Indian visitors to
travel to the two island
nations on a single visa.
2. The visa deal will help Britain and Ireland share data
and exchange information

to inform and determine
immigration decisions
and allow visitors from
India and Russia to travel
more easily between the
two countries.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
16. 1. The Indian Railways have
decided to allow publicprivate partnership in the
establishment and operation of computerised Passenger Reservation System-cum-Unreserved Ticketing System terminals.
2. At
present,
only
authorised travel agents
are allowed to sell e-tickets while all the PRS
counters across the country are operated by the
Commercial Department
of the Ministry.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
17. 1. Isamu Akasaki and
Hiroshi Amano of Japan
and U.S. scientist Shuji
Nakamura won the Nobel
Prize in physics for the
invention of blue lightemitting diodes a new energy efficient and environment-friendly light source.
2. Last years physics award
went to Britains Peter
Higgs and Belgian col-


league Francois Englert
for helping to explain how
matter formed after the Big
Bang.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
18. 1. Canada is among dozens
of countries that have
joined the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic
State militant group.
2. Indian Parliament has
voted to authorise
airstrikes against the Islamic State militant group
in Iraq on 7th October.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
19. 1. India launched an ingeniously manufactured microscope that generates
3D images of objects. The
Broad Spectrum Confocal
Microscope has several
applications in medicine
and materials sciences.
2. It uses an infra red beam
which passes through a
patented photonic crystal
fibre made by the Central
Glass and Ceramics Research Institute (CGCRI),
Kolkata.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
20. 1. USA Swimming has suspended Michael Phelps

for six months, forced him
to withdraw from next
years world championships and taken away his
funding from the sports
national governing body.
2. Michael Fred Phelps is
an American swimmer and
the most decorated Olympian of all time, with a
total of 22 medals, also
holds the all-time records
for Olympic gold medals.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
21. 1. The government is shortly
going to launch a comprehensive
programme
named Sardar Patel National Housing Mission by
merging and improving
existing urban housing
schemes,
2. There are several schemes
including Jawaharlal
Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, Rajiv
Awas Yojana, Indira Awas
Yojana, Rajiv Rinn Yojana
meant for providing facilities to economically
weaker sections.
3. The UPA government had
earlier named its ambitious skill development
programme Deendayal
Antodaya Yojana after
Jan
Sangh
leader
Deendayal Upadhayay.

a. 1 & 2
b. 2 & 3
c. All of the above
d. None of the above
22. Who won the 2014 Nobel
Prize for Literature as announced by the Swedish
Academy on 9 October
2014?
a. Patrick Modiano of
France
b. Hiroshi Amano of Japan
c. Shuji Nakamura of US
d. May-Britt Moser of
Norway
23. 1. Veteran journalist and
former chairman of Prasar
Bharati MV Kamath, who
was one of the earliest biographers of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, died
on 9 October.
2. Kamath was the Washington correspondent of the
Times of India from 1969
to 1978. He was also the
editor of Illustrated
Weekly of India and has
also worked for the Press
Trust of India.
3. He was awarded Padma
Bhushan for his contributions to Indian journalism
in 2004.
a. Only 1
b. 2 & 3
c. All of the above
24. 1. Global Infrastructure Facility (GIF) is launched
by the World Bank on 9
October 2014.
2. GIF aims at mobilising the
111


private sector to help
tackle the massive infrastructure deficit facing
developing countries.
3. GIF was launched by
World Bank President Jim
Yong Kim at Washington
D.C.
a. Only 1
b. 1 & 2
c. Only 3
d. All of the above
25. Worlds oldest rock art has
discovered in which of the
following countries?
a. Australia
b. Indonesia
c. Iran
d. Egypt
26. 1. India and Finland are expected to reach an agreement on nuclear safety
measures.
2. It is expected during the
upcoming visit of President Pranab Mukherjee to
Helsinki, the first-ever by
an Indian head of State to
that country.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
27. 1. Sangeet Natak Akademi is
an autonomous body fully
funded by the Ministry of
home affairs.
2. Leela Samson is the chairman of Sangeet Natak
Akademi.
112
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
28. 1. Kailash Satyarthi is the 4 th
Indian to win Nobel Prize.
2. The Nobel peace prize
winner has saved thousands of children from
bonded labour in factories
through the Bachpan
Bachao Andolan which he
founded in 1980.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
29. 1. China and Russia have begun implementing their
$400 billion mega-gas
deal.
2. The project would allow
Moscow to lower its dependence on the European
market, and open prospects of tapping the growing energy demand in the
Asia-Pacific, with Beijing
as the star consumer.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
30. 1. Prime Minister Narendra
Modi unveiled a blueprint
for the Saansad Adarsh
Gram Yojana (SAGY) on
Jayaprakash Narayans
birth anniversary on 11 th
October.
2. The scheme encourages
Members of Parliament
from both Houses to identify and develop one village from their constituency as a model village by
2016, and two more by
2019, covering over 2,500
villages of the 6 lakh villages country-wide.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
31. 1. Indias first ever mental
health
policy
was
launched with the primary
objective of providing
access to good quality
treatment to mentally ill
people.
2. It is announced on 10 October, which is observed
as the world mental
health day, would now
also be observed as the
National Mental Health
Day.
3. Name of this policy is
Mental Health Action
Plan 365.
a. 1 & 2
b. 2 & 3
c. All of the above
32. 1. India has deferred the India-Africa Forum Summit
2014, which was proposed to be held on 4
December 2014.
2. Ebola scare is the reason
for deferring this summit
in which 54 African nations were set to partici-


pate.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
33. What is the name of the Syrian town which has become
the centre of the Syrian Civil
War, with the ongoing siege
between the militants of Islamic State and Kurds?
a. Damascus
b. Hama
c. Kobani
d. Hasakah
34. 1. Indias strongest tropical
cyclone of 2014 Hudhud
made its landfall near
Vishakhapatnam
in
Andhra Pradesh on 12
October 2014.
2. The name of this cyclone
Hudhud was suggested
by Russia.
3. Hudhud stands for a bird
called Hoopoe, mentioned in the holy Quran.
a. 1 & 2
b. 1 & 3
c. All of the above
35. 1. C.V. Raman won the
Nobel for Physics in 1930.
2. The Albanian-born Mother
Teresa was awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize in
1979.
3. Amartya Sen won Nobel
Prize for Economics in
1998.
36.
37.
38.
39.
a. 1 & 2
b. 1 & 3
c. All of the above
d.None of the above
1. The Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) began a 67-hour countdown
ahead of the launch of the
third regional navigation
satellite, the IRNSS-1C.
2. The 1400-kg-plus spacecraft is slated to be flown
on October 16, at 1.32
a.m. on the PSLV-C26
launch vehicle from the
space port located in
coastal Andhra Pradesh.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
Who won the first edition of
Russian F1 Grand Prix on 12
October 2014?
a. Sebastian Vettel
b. Jenson Button
c. Lewis Hamilton
d. Nico Rosberg
What is the name of the relief and rescue operation
launched by the Indian
armed forces in Andhra
Pradeshs cyclone-affected
districts after the havoc
brought by cyclonic storm
Hudhud?
a. Operation Lehar
b. Operation Rahat
c. Operation Surya Hope
d. Operation Tsumani
1. DLF Limited along with its
founder-chairman K.P.
Singh and 5 top executives were barred from
accessing Indias capital
markets for three years.

2. This penalty was imposed
due to some non-disclosure violations related to
DLFs initial public offering (IPO) of 2007.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
40. 1. Tata Value Homes (TVH),
a fully-owned subsidiary
of Tata Housing Development Company, plans to
launch three new Value
Home projects in the
Mumbai metropolitan
area, the Delhi NCR region
and Kolkata.
2. These projects, to be
launched this financial
year, will develop 12,000
flats, and these will be
ready in phases over a 78 year horizon.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Both 1 & 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
41. 1. The Nobel Prize for Economics 2014 announced
by the Royal Swedish
Academy of Sciences on
13 October 2014.
2. French economist Jean
Tirole was chosen for this
prize for his analysis of
market power and regulation.
a. Only 1
113

42.
43.
44.
45.
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
1. Nirbhay, a subsonic cruise
missile developed by the
DRDO will be test-fired
for the second time from
the Integrated Test Range
at Balasore in Odisha.
2. Its debut flight on March
12, 2013, was a failure.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Both 1 & 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
What was Indias position in
the Global Hunger Index
2014 (GHI) that was released
on 13 October 2014 by the
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)?
a. 50th out of 80 countries
b. 35th out of 115 countries
c. 51st out of 90 countries
d. 55th out of 76 countries
1. India lost a case filed by
the U.S. in the WTO against
restrictions it imposed on
poultry imports from
America.
2. In March 2012, the U.S.
dragged India to the WTO
against Indias ban on imports of certain American
farm products, including
poultry meat and eggs.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
1. Australian author Richard
Flanagan was awarded
the prestigious Man
114
Booker literature prize for

2014 on 14 October 2014.
2. Flanagans literary work
The Narrow Road to the
Deep North was chosen
for this award.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
46. 1. Woman police inspector
from India Inspector
Shakti Devi has been
named recipient of the International Female Police
Peacekeeper Award 2014
by the UNs Police Division for her exceptional
achievements with the UN
mission in Afghanistan.
2. She is currently deployed
in the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan
(UNAMA).
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Both 1 & 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
47. 1. Wholesale Price Inflation
dropped to a near five
year low in September to
2.38 per cent, helped by
moderation in food and
fuel
prices.
The
favourable base effect of
last year has also benefited the WPI.
2. The WPI based inflation
August 2014 and 7.05 per
cent in September 2013.
Which of the following state-
ments is/are true-?

a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Both 1 & 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
48. 1. Indias third navigation
satellite IRNSS-1C was
launched and placed successfully in its pre-designated orbit on 16 October
2014.
2. PSLV-C26 stands for Polar
Satellite Launch Vehicle
C26 while IRNSS-1C
stands for Indian Regional
Navigational Satellite System-1C.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
49. 1. India had announced an
ambitious project to construct highway along the
McMahon
Line
in
Arunachal Pradesh, mainly
to counter China.
2. The proposed Indo-China
frontier highway, that will
be monitored by the
Home Ministry will run
parallel along the China
border and will be 1,800
km long.
3. This road project will be
the biggest single infrastructure project in the history of India with an estimated cost of over Rs
40,000 crore.
a. 1 & 2
b. 1 & 3


c. All of the above
50. 1. The Best Central Bank Governor award for 2014 by
Euromoney magazine conferred to Raghuram Rajan,
Governor of Reserve Bank
of India.
2. This prestigious award
was given to him for the
tough monetary measures
adopted by him to battle
the storm ravaging the
deficit-ridden Indian
economy in the recent
market crisis.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
51. 1. The U.S. has launched a review of Indias Intellectual Property Regime, in
which the focus is to measure the engagement that
New Delhi has pursued in
terms of intellectual property.
2. The USTRs Out-of-Cycle
(OCR) Review follows the
2014 Special 301 Report
that came out in April, in
which the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) had
placed India on the Priority Watch List
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
52. Who was chosen as the Most
Valuable Player (MVP) of
Indias Incheon Asian Games
campaign at a felicitation of
the medal winners on 13
October 2014?
a. Abhinav Bindra
b. M.C. Mary Kom
c. Babita kumari
d. Sarita Devi
53. 1. Indias indigenously developed nuclear capable
sub-sonic cruise missile
Nag, which can strike targets more than 700 km
away, was test-fired from
a test range at Chandipur
in Odisha.
2. India has in its arsenal the
290-km range supersonic
BrahMos cruise missile
which is jointly developed
by India and Russia.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
54. 1. Peru launched its first domestically built communications satellite.
2. The ARSAT-1 satellite is
the first to be constructed
with local technology in
Latin America.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
55. 1. Former IMF economist
Arvind Subramanian was
appointed as the Chief
Economic Adviser.
2. Rajasthan cadre IAS officer Rajiv Mehrishi was
appointed as the finance
secretary.
3. Mr. Mehrishi replaces
Arvind Mayaram, who has
been appointed the new
Tourism Secretary.
a. Only 1
b. 2 & 3
c. All of the above
d. None of these
56. 1. Sanjaya Rajaram, an eminent Indian scientist, has
been awarded the World
Food Prize in recognition
of his significant contributions to global wheat production.
2. Mr. Rajaram, currently a
Senior Scientific Advisor
at the International Centre
for Agricultural Research
in the Dry Areas
(ICARDA), has developed
some 480 wheat varieties
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
57. 1. On October 15, 1994,
Indias Polar Satellite
Launch Vehicle (PSLV-D2)
for the first time successfully placed an Indian Remote-sensing Satellite
into orbit.
2. Twenty years later, on
October 16, 2014, the
PSLV-C26 lobbed the
1,425 kg Indian Regional
Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS-1C) satellite
into its precise orbit.
3. This mission was ISROs
115


twenty-seventh consecutively successful PSLV
flight.
a. Only 1
b. 2 & 3
c. All of the above
d. None of these
58. 1. In an important decision
the Union Government on
18 October 2014 completely de-regulated the
prices of retail diesel. This
was the first price cut in
diesel in India Since January 2009
2. Public sector oil marketing companies had been
making a profit of Rs. 3.56
a litre (over-recovery) on
diesel between 2 October
and 16 October 2014 according to the Petroleum
Planning and Analysis
Cell.
3. This was due to the falling price of crude oil internationally, which had
brought down the Indian
basket to $83.85 a barrel
as on 15 October.
a. Only 1
b. 2 & 3
c. All of the above
d. None of these
59. 1. The Union Cabinet on 18
October 2014 approved a
proposal to develop
Chahbahar Port in Iran
wherein an Indian joint
venture company will undertake this project.
2. A leasing agreement will
be signed to operate the
116
port for 10 years, two

I
n
d
i
a
n
companies Jawaharlal
Nehru Port Trust (JNPT)
and Kandla Port Trust
(KPT) would comprise this
venture.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
60. Which bank won the IDRBT
Banking Technology Excellence award for 2013-14 in
four out of total five categories in the mid-sized lenders
segment?
a. Federal Bank
b. Bank of India
c. Karur Vysya Bank
d. Indian bank
61. 1. More than 20 per cent of
frogs and toads 78 of
the 340 species found
in India are under threat,
according recent findings
of the Zoological Survey
of India.
2. According to the ZSI, of
the 17 critically-endangered species one particular species of frog,
known as Resplendent
Bush Frog (Raorchestes
resplendens), can only be
found in a 3 sq km area
atop the Anamudi Peak in
Keralas Idukki district.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
62. 1. A case of alleged cheat-
ing and corruption has

been registered by the CBI
against Jindal Steel and
Power company relating
to the probe into coal
blocks allocated during
1993-2005 period.
2. It was the 36th FIR in connection with its probe in
the coal allocation scam
according CBI.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
63. 1. Pritam
Munde (BJP)
clinches Beed Lok Sabha
seat by whopping 7 lakh
votes; the new national
record.
2. She won the seat, vacated
due to the death of her father Gopinath Munde, in
the by-election held
alongside state assembly
election.
3. The previous record was
held by Anil Basu of CPM,
who had a victory margin
of 5,92,502 votes, from
Arambagh (West Bengal)
in 2004 Lok Sabha elections.
a. Only 1
b. 2 & 3
c. All of the above
d. None of these
64. 1. U.N. Women launched a
campaign, aiming at ensuring greater participation of men in promoting
womens rights and gender equality.


2. The goal is to engage men
and boys as advocates
and agents of change in the
effort to achieve equality.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
65. 1. 2nd
Asian
Para
Games 2014 gets underway in Incheon, South
Korea. About 4,500 disabled athletes from 41
countries are competing
across 23 sports.
2. It will take place from October 18 to October 24,
2014.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
66. Which Bank bags the sixth
consecutive Best Bank
Award
for
Business
Intelligence Initiatives
among small banks for the
year 2013-14.?
a. Federal Bank
b. Bank of India
c. Karur Vysya Bank
d. Indian bank
67. 1. India received the most
number of votes in the
Asia-Pacific group of the
U.N. Human Rights Council, winning a second consecutive two-year term at
the world body.
2. This was a reflection of
Indias standing in the
world. India was a com-
mitted supporter of the

U.N. human rights system
and would continue to
work towards strengthening of the Council.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Both 1 & 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
68. 1. First-time
legislator
Manohar Lal Khattar, 61,
is set to become the 21st
Chief Minister of Haryana.
2. Mr. Khattar, pipped other
aspirants to the post owing to his RSS background
and proximity to top BJP
leaders, including Prime
Minister Narendra Modi
and party president Amit
Shah.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Both 1 & 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
69. 1. The differences in opinion
between the Central and
State governments over
fixing the number of Below the Poverty Line (BPL)
cardholders are likely to
delay the implementation
of the Food Security Act
in the State.
2. The State governments
plan to implement the Act
from November 1 is likely
to be deferred at least by
a month.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Both 1 & 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
70. 1. A group of amateur herpetologists from Kerala
claimed to have discovered a non-venomous
snake in the State.
2. The common name of the
snake has been given as
Subhendus Wolf Snake by
the team who studied the
snake.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Both 1 & 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
71. 1. The Board of Control for
Cricket in India (BCCI) has
suspended all bilateral
cricket tours with the West
Indies Cricket Board and
accepted the Sri Lankan
proposal to play a fivematch one-day series
starting November 2.
2. The decision followed the
West Indies cricket teams
pull-out from the tour of
India after playing just
four one-dayers of the
scheduled five one-dayer
and three-Test series.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Both 1 & 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
72. 1. When meat or fish is
cooked directly over fire,
it gets covered with cancer-causing carcinogens,
making it more dangerous
117


than even smoking or consumption of alcohol.
2. People eating smoked
meat were at up to nine
times higher risk of developing cancer compared
to people who did not
have it on their diet.
Which of the above statements is/are true-?
a. only 1
b. only 2
c. neither 1 nor 2
d. both 1 & 2
73. Ebola was in news recently,
which statement is/are true
about Ebola1. Ebola is a disease of
humans
and
other primates caused
by an ebolavirus
2. The virus is transmitted
to people from wild
animals and spreads in
the human population
through
human-tohuman transmission.
3. The first EVD outbreaks
occurred in remote
villages in America, but
the most recent outbreak
is in west Africa has
involved major urban as
well as rural areas.
a. Only 1
b. 1 & 3
c. 1, 2 & 3
d. 1 & 2
74. 1. The U.N.s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change won the Nobel
Peace Prize in 2007
2. The Conference of Parties
III (COP3), on climate
change took place in
Kyoto, Japan in 1997.
3. Lima (Peru) will host the
20th yearly session of the
118
conference of parties to
the UNFCCC.
Which of the statements is/
are true-?
a. Only 1
b. 1 & 3
c. 1, 2 & 3
d. 1 & 2
75. 1. The Mars Orbiter Mission
is Indias first interplanetary mission to planet
Mars.
2. It was launched on November 5, 2013 from
Sriharikota in Andhra
Pradesh.
3. India is only country
which has been successful in its very first attempt.
are true-?
a. Only 1
b. 1 & 3
c. 1,2 & 3
d. 1 & 2
76. 1. The right to freedom of religion is a fundamental
right guaranteed under
Article 25 of the Constitution of India.
2. Any person in India can be
compelled to declare his
religion.
are true-?
a. only 1
b. only 2
c. neither 1 nor 2
d. both 1 & 2
77. 1. Edward Snowden got the
alternative Nobel for his
disclosures of top secret
surveillance programs.
2. The Swedish human rights
award is also known as
the alternative Nobel,.

a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Both 1 & 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
78. 1. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is responsible for enforcing
federal laws that make it
illegal to discriminate
against a job applicant or
an employee.
2. It provides leadership
and guidance to federal
agencies on all aspects of
the federal governments
equal employment opportunity program.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Both 1 & 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
79. 1. Mars, the red planet is the
2 nd planet from the Sun.
2. Mars has two moons
named Phobos and
Deimos.
3. Mars is known as the Red
Planet because iron minerals in the Martian soil
oxidize, or rust, causing
the soil and the dusty atmosphere to look red.
a. 1 & 2
b. 1 & 3
c. 2 & 3
d. All of the above
80. 1. Synthetic biology is an interdisciplinary science,
combining disciplines


such
as
biotechnology, evolutionary
biology,
molecular
biology, systems biology
and biophysics.
2. It is the application of engineering principles to biology.
3. Synthetic Biology in microbial systems can generate microbial factories
to produce drugs, vaccines, fuel components
and other chemicals with
diverse applications.
a. 1 & 2
b. 1 & 3
c. 2 & 3
d. All of the above
81. 1. Ganga basin constitutes
26 per cent of Indias land
mass.
2. Namami Ganga project
was announced by the Indian Government in 2010
budget.
3. Bansagar Dam is on river
Ganga.
a. Only 1
b. 1 & 3
c. 2 & 3
d. All of the above
82. 1. The Arms Trade Treaty
which is going to take effects in December 2014
aims to set standards for
all cross-border transfers
of conventional weapons
ranging from small firearms to tanks and attack
helicopters.
2. The 102-member U.N.
General
Assembly
adopted this treaty in
April 2013.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
83. 1. Bamiyan selected to be
SAARC cultural capital for
2016-17.
2. Dhaka will be the SAARC
cultural capital in 2015.
3. Bamiyan was once famous for Jainism.
a. Only 1 & 2
b. Only 2 & 3
c. All of the above
84. 1. The Central Drugs Standard
Control
Organization (CDSCO) is
the national regulatory
body for Indian pharmaceuticals and medical devices.
2. A.C. Sekhara Rao is the
dupty drug controller at
CDSCO.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Both 1 & 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
85. 1. Union Government announced 25 September
as Antyodya Diwas to
mark the 98th birth anniversary
of
Pandit
Deendayal Upadhyay.
2. He was a coordinator and
a famous leader of Jan
Sangh.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Both 1 & 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
86. 1. The Reserve Bank of India
was established on April
1, 1935 in accordance
with the provisions of the
Reserve Bank of India Act,
1934.
2. The Governor of RBI is D.
Subbarao.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Both 1 & 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
87. 1. Govind Mishra was conferred the Saraswati
Samman 2013 for his
novel Dhool Paudhon
Par.
2. Govind Mishra is the first
Hindi author who was
conferred this honour.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Both 1 & 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
88. 1. A new international bus
service was inaugurated
by Union Road Transport
and Highways Minister
Nitin Gadkari from Delhis
Ambedkar Stadium bus
terminal. This daily bus
service is between Delhi
and Kathmandu.
2. The bus will reach its destination via Lucknow-
119


Gorakhpur-SunauliBhairahawa and will
cover the distance of 1250
km between two cities in
about 30 hours.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. All of the above
89. 1. A new bird species discovered more than 15
years after it was first seen
on the Indonesian island
of Sulawesi has been
named after late ecologist
and ornithologist Navjot
Sodhi.
2. A mottled throat and short
w
i
n
g
s
distinguish Muscicapa
sodhii, the newly named
Sulawesi streaked flycatcher.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. All of the above
90. 1. Kotak Mahindra Bank
(KMB) received approval
from the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) to enter the
general insurance business.
2. KMB has also floated the
new venture with an initial capital of Rs. 100
crore and Executive VicePresident
Mahesh
Balasubramanium was
named the Chief Executive
Officer (CEO) of the new
venture.
120

a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. All of the above
91. 1. Justice Chandramauli
Kumar Prasad (CK Prasad)
was chosen as the next
chairperson of the Press
Council of India (PCI) to
replace
Justice
Markandey Katju.
2. Justice CK Prasad, is a
former judge of the Supreme Court.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. All of the above
92. 1. Violence erupted in
Ferguson, a small town in
Missouri State of the US,
after the grand jury found
there was no probable
cause to charge the white
officer for shooting an 18year old black youth.
2. This incident of August
2014 had shocked the
country for having partial
white-dominated power
structure. Darren Wilson
was involved in this incident.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. All of the above
93. 1. CRR is the portion of deposits banks are required
to maintain in the form of
gold or government securities, before providing

credit to customers.
2. SLR is the portion of total
deposits of customers,
which commercial banks
have to hold as reserves
either in cash or as deposits with the central bank.
3. The repo rate is the rate
at which the central bank
lends money to banks.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2 & 3
c. Only 3
d. All of the above
94. 1. Prime Minister Narendra
Modi on 27 September
2014 made his first address to the United Nations (UN) General Assembly. His speech was in
Hindi. Mr. Modi becomes
the 2 nd Person to address
the UN General Assembly
in Hindi. Who was the 1 st?
a. Atal Bihari Vajpayee
b. Rajnath singh
c. Morarji desai
d. Indira Gandhi
95. Which railway station of India on 26 September 2014
became the first one to offer
free Wi-Fi Internet access?
a. New Delhi
b. Kolkata
c. Bangalore
d. Chennai Central
96. 1. Currently PIO cards, given
to those who themselves,
their parents or grandparents or their spouse, were
one-time Indian citizens,
allow for visa-free travel


to and from India. However, a PIO card is only
valid for 15 years.
2. On the other hand, the
Overseas Citizenship of
India (OCI) card given to
only those who themselves or their parents
were one time citizens,
has lifelong visa-free
travel and does not require the holder to register with any office regardless of the length of their
stay.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Both 1 & 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
97. 1. Cloaking is the process by
which an object becomes
hidden from view, while
everything else around the
cloaked object appears
undisturbed.
2. Scientists at the University
of Rochester have discovered a way to hide large
objects from sight using
inexpensive and readily
available lenses.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Both 1 & 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
98. 1. Justice
Handyala
Lakshminarayana swamy
Dattu will be the 40th CJI.
2. Chief Justice was sworn in
by the Justice R.M. Lodha.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Both 1 & 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
99. Delhi Metro is the 2nd best
international Metro systems
in the world in terms of
overall customer satisfaction after Londons.
1. The survey was done by
global
Metro
benchmarking groups
NOVA and CoMET
featuring 18 metros
around the world.
2. Bangkok metro gets the
3rd place.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Both 1 & 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
100.1. Indian Army observes
Gunners
Day
on September 28.
2. Its celebrated by Regiment
of Artillery - the first artillery unit and the 2nd largest arm of the Indian
Army.
3. Artillery was first used in
India in the 14th century
by the Bahmani kings during the Deccan War
against Vijaynagar Kingdom.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2 & 3
c. Only 3
d. All of the above
101.1. WHOs Worlds heart day
is celebrated on 29th September.
2. Cutting down on salt can
lower the risk of developing heart disease and

stroke.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Both 1 & 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
102.Blue revolution is associated
witha. Fish
b. Horticulture
c. N o n - c o n v e n t i o n a l
energy sources
d. Drinking water
103.Most favoured nations (MFN)
clause under GATT impliesa. Most favour to some
countries
b. Most favour to all
countries
c. No favour
to any
country
d. No favour to some
country
104.1. Vigilance Awareness
Week
is
being observed this year
from October 27, 2014 to
November 01, 2014.
2. It begins with the theme
Combating CorruptionTechnology as an enabler.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
105.Infantry day was observed
on which date of October-?
a. 26th oct
b. 27th oct
c. 28th oct
d. 29th oct
121


106.1. Dilma
Rousseff was
elected for 2nd term as
the president of Brazil.
She won narrowly with
51.64% votes.
2. She is the 1st women
president of the world 3rd
largest economy.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
107.Nguyen Tan Dung who began
his two-day India visit on 27
October 2014 is the Prime
Minister of which country?
a. Taiwan
b. Vietnam
c. Japan
d. Singapore
108.1. World
banks
predicts 5.6% growth this
fiscal year for India
2. It also predicted that for
the fiscal year 2015-16 and
2016-17 growth will be
6.4% and 7% respectively.
3. It also said that implementing GST will transform India into a common
market, eliminate inefficient tax cascading and
will boost manufacturing
sector.
a. Only 1
b. 1 & 2
c. 2 & 3
d. All of the above
109.1. A group of 69 non-resident
Indian investors have
moved the Supreme Court
of Mauritius seeking $103
122
million (Rs. 618 crore) in

damages from the ICICI
group for a fund that under-performed.
2. The petitioners allege that
the Dynamic India Fund III
invested in real estate
projects in India failed
miserably, though the promoters, ICICI Venture and
ICICI Bank, made tall
promises while mobilising
funds.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
110.1. Indias rank in World Economic Forums 2014 gender gap index that was
released on 27 October
2014 is 114 th.
2. Indias rank of 114 was
out of 142 countries that
were analysed in this index. India slipped 13
spots from its last years
ranking of 101 due to low
score in parameters like
economic participation,
educational attainment
and health and survival.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
111.1. 44-year-old Devendra
Fadnavis will be the new
Chief
Minister
of
Maharashtra and will take
oath on 31 October 2014.
2. He was elected as the
leader of the Maharashtra

Legislature
Party,
Fadnavis, who will be the
first BJP Chief Minister of
the state, has been a
Mayor of Nagpur.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
112.Who was appointed as the
new Chairman of the Prasar
Bharti Board recently?
a. A. Surya Prakash
b. Markandey Katju
c. Kailash Satyarthi
d. Vrinda Karat
113.1. The logo of 2018 FIFA
World Cup was revealed
by FIFA President Sepp
Blatter. Brazil is hosting
this World Cup?
2. The 2018 FIFA World Cup
to be hosted by Brazil
would be the 21 st edition
of Football World Cup.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
114.1. The
World
Health
Organisation (WHO) has
revealed a new drug to
stem the global spread of
multi-drug resistant (MDR)
tuberculosis, but has cautioned that its use must
follow a set of guidelines
issued by it.
2. The WHO has issued interim policy guidance that
lists five conditions that


must be in place if the new
drug is used to for treatment of MDR-TB.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
115.1. The Finance Ministry ordered a mandatory 10 per
cent cut in the Centres
non-Plan expenditure for
2014-15.
2. The cut does not cover interest payment, repayment of debt, defence
capital, salaries, pension
or Finance Commission
grants to States, says a circular. Subsidies will face
the brunt of the cuts.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Both 1 & 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
116.1. Italy on 30 October 2014
became the first major European nation to accord
official recognition to Palestine and thus drawing
sharp criticism from Israel.
2. Italy announcement about
giving recognition to Palestine came just a few
weeks after new Prime
Minister Stefan Lofven
said his government
would become the first
major European nation to
make this move.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Both 1 & 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
117.1. Guy Scott named as the
acting President of Zambia on 29 October 2014
after death of President
Michael Sata.
2. Scott is the first white
leader of an African nation since F.W. de Klerk,
the last president of apartheid, the South African
system of white racist rule
that ended in 1994.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Both 1 & 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
118.1. Diabetes triples the risk
that a person will develop
tuberculosis, claims a
new report by the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) and the
World Diabetes Foundation.
2. The report that screened
TB patients in India for
diabetes mellitus (DM)
shows significantly higher
rates of diabetes among
TB patients than the general population and cautions against a co-epidemic of TB and diabetes.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Both 1 & 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
119.What is the name of the tropical cyclonic building over

the north Andaman Sea
which is expected to hit the
coast of Andhra Pradesh and
Odisha on 12 October 2014?
a. Katrina
b. Hudhud
c. Hanna
d. Phailin
120.1. Dr.Apathukatha Sivathanu
Pillai awarded with Lal
Bahadur Shastri National
Award 2014.
2. The award gives in the
field of aerospace and
missile technology.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
121.1. On 06th October 2014 i.e.
the first Monday of October celebrated as World
Habitat Day by the UN
under the theme Voices
from Slums.
2. World Habitat Day firstly
celebrated in the year
1986.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Both 1 & 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
122.1. Two Americans and a German scientist won the
Nobel Prize in chemistry
for finding ways to make
microscopes more powerful than previously
thought possible, allowing scientists to see how
diseases develop inside
123


the tiniest cells.
2. Two scientists, Hiroshi
Amano of Japan and U.S.
scientist Shuji Nakamura
won the Nobel Prize in
medicine for the invention
of blue light-emitting diodes a new energy efficient and environmentfriendly light source.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
123. 1. Taking a serious note on
the growing menace of
Ebola virus in West Africa,
the W.H.O. declared the
Ebola outbreak as an international public health
emergency.
2. WHO declared the similar
emergency for swine flu in
2009 & for polio in the
same year.
3. The current outbreak of
Ebola began in Liberia &
Egypt.
a. Only 1
b. 1 & 2
c. Only 3
d. All of the above
124. What is the name of the relief and rescue operation
launched by the Indian
armed forces in Andhra
Pradeshs cyclone-affected
districts after the havoc
brought by cyclonic storm
Hudhud?
a. Operation Lehar
b. Operation Rahat
c. Operation Surya Hope
d. Operation Tsumani
124
125.What was Indias position in

the Global Hunger Index
2014 (GHI) that was released
on 13 October 2014 by the
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)?
a. 50th out of 80 countries
b. 35th out of 115 countries
c. 51st out of 90 countries
d. 55th out of 76 countries
126.1. India lost a case filed by
the U.S. in the WTO against
restrictions it imposed on
poultry imports from
America.
2. In March 2012, the U.S.
dragged India to the WTO
against Indias ban on imports of certain American
farm products, including
poultry meat and eggs.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
127.1. DLF Limited along with its
founder-chairman K.P.
Singh and 5 top executives were barred from
accessing Indias capital
markets for three years.
2. This penalty was imposed
due to some non-disclosure violations related to
DLFs initial public offering (IPO) of 2007.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
128.1. Tata Value Homes (TVH),
a fully-owned subsidiary
of Tata Housing Development Company, plans to

launch three new Value
Home projects in the
Mumbai metropolitan
area, the Delhi NCR region
and Kolkata.
2. These projects, to be
launched this financial
year, will develop 12,000
flats, and these will be
ready in phases over a 78 year horizon.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Both 1 & 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
129.1. Wholesale Price Inflation
dropped to a near five
year low in September to
2.38 per cent, helped by
moderation in food and
fuel
prices.
The
favourable base effect of
last year has also benefited the WPI.
2. The WPI based inflation
August 2014 and 7.05 per
cent in September 2013.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Both 1 & 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
130.1. The U.S. has launched a review of Indias Intellectual Property Regime, in
which the focus is to measure the engagement that
New Delhi has pursued in
terms of intellectual property.


2. The USTRs Out-of-Cycle
(OCR) Review follows the
2014 Special 301 Report
that came out in April, in
which the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) had
placed India on the Priority Watch List
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
131.1. Peru launched its first domestically built communications satellite.
2. The ARSAT-1 satellite is
the first to be constructed
with local technology in
Latin America.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
132.1. The Nobel Prize for Economics 2014 announced
by the Royal Swedish
Academy of Sciences on
13 October 2014.
2. French economist Jean
Tirole was chosen for this
prize for his analysis of
market power and regulation.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
133.1. Australian author Richard
Flanagan was awarded
the prestigious Man
Booker literature prize for

2014 on 14 October 2014.
2. Flanagans literary work
The Narrow Road to the
Deep North was chosen
for this award.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d.l Both 1 & 2
134.1. Former IMF economist
Arvind Subramanian was
appointed as the Chief
Economic Adviser.
2. Rajasthan cadre IAS officer Rajiv Mehrishi was
appointed as the finance
secretary.
3. Mr. Mehrishi replaces
Arvind Mayaram, who has
been appointed the new
Tourism Secretary.
a. Only 1
b. 2 & 3
c. All of the above
d. None of these
135.1. Nirbhay, a subsonic cruise
missile developed by the
DRDO will be test-fired
for the second time from
the Integrated Test Range
at Balasore in Odisha.
2. Its debut flight on March
12, 2013, was a failure.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Both 1 & 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
136.Who was chosen as the Most
Valuable Player (MVP) of
Indias Incheon Asian Games

campaign at a felicitation of
the medal winners on 13
October 2014?
a. Abhinav Bindra
b. M.C. Mary Kom
c. Babita kumari
d. Sarita Devi
137.1. Centre rolls out a string of
labour reforms under the
Pandit
Deendayal
U p a d h y a y
Shramev Jayate programme
to boost Make in India
campaign.
2. The reforms will make doing business easy by offering industry-friendly
labour laws.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. All of the above
d. Neither 1 nor 2
138.1. International Day for the
Eradication of Poverty is
celebrated on October 17.
2. Theme of year 2014 is
Leave no one behind
think, decide and act together against extreme
poverty.
3. The annual day, in observance since 1993, is celebrated to promote
awareness of the need
to eradicate poverty and
destitution in all countries.
a. Only 1
b. 2 & 3
c. All of the above
d. None of these
139.1. World Food Day 2014
was celebrated across the
125


globe on October 16.
2. This year theme is: Family Farming: Feeding the
world, caring for the
earth, to focus on the significant role it plays in
eradicating hunger and
poverty.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
140.Who has been appointed as
the new Managing Director
(MD) of Chennai Petroleum
Corporation Ltd (CPCL) on
14 October?
a. Rajiv Mehrishi
b. Arvind Subramanian
c. Gautham Roy
d. N. Raghupatti
141.Which party is set to lose its
status as a national party after it failed to win the two
seats in Assembly elections
of Maharashtra and Haryana,
which were needed to hold
on to this status?
a. INLD
b Bahujan Samaj Party
(BSP)
c. AIADMK
d. Samta Party (SP)
142.1. He For She is a solidarity
campaign to end gender
inequality by 2030 initiated by U.N. Women.
2. The campaign was started
at UN headquarters in
New York on 20 September 2014.
3. The goal is to engage men
and boys as advocates
and agents of change in the
effort to achieve equality.
126

a. 1 & 2
b. 1 & 3
c. All of the above
143.1. The
World
Health
Organisation (WHO) on
20 October declared Nigeria officially free of
Ebola infections and
called this outcome the triumphal result of worldclass epidemiological detective work.
2. The announcement came
42 days after the last reported infection in
Nigerias outbreak, twice
the maximum incubation
period for the Ebola virus.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
144.Who was appointed as the
Ebola Czar to oversee the
Ebola response of United
States by President Barack
Obama?
a. Ron Klain
b. Eric Duncan
c. Joe Biden
d. Al Gore
145.1. Joko Widodo was sworn
in as Indonesias new
President on 20 October
2014.
2. He becomes the first Indonesian President not to
come from the ranks of the
countrys established political, business and military elite.

a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
146.1. Laser physicists in Australia have built a tractor
beam that can repel and
attract objects, using a
hollow laser beam that is
bright around the edges
and dark in its centre.
2. It is the first long-distance
optical tractor beam and
moved particles one-fifth
of a millimeter in diameter
a distance of up to 20 cm,
around 100 times further
than previous experiments.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Neither 1 nor 2
d. Both 1 & 2
147.1. The coastal districts in
Andhra are taking steps to
face Cyclone Nilofar,
2. The India Meteorological
Department will give clear
guidelines to the State on
the progress of the cyclone on 28th.
a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Both 1 & 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
148.1. India is to purchase 8,356
units of Israels Spike antitank guided missile as
agreed in the meeting of
the Defence Acquisition
Council (DAC).


2. Spike is a man-portable
fire and forget anti-tank
missile that locks on to
targets before shooting.
3. It is produced by Israels
Rafael Advanced Defence
Systems.
a. Only 1
b. Only 3
c. 1 & 2
d. All of the above
149.1. The Indian Air Force (IAF)
has recently asked its personnel and their families

not to use a mobile phone
of Chinese make which is
believed to be capable of
transferring data to
companys servers in
China and hence be a security risk.
2. The name of this Chinese
mobile phone is Xiaomi
Redmi 1s.
Which of the following state-
ment is/are true-?

a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Both 1 & 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
150.Which Indian player won the
World Billiards Championship 2014 on 24 October
2014 that was held in Leeds
(UK)?
a. Pankaj Advani
b. Gagan Narang
c. Geet Sethi
d. Ashok Sharma
ANSWERS
1. (b)
11. (d)
21. (a)
31. (c)
41. (d)
51. (d)
61. (d)
71. (c)
81. (a)
91. (d)
101. (c)
111. (d)
121. (c)
131. (b)
141. (b)
2. (b)
12. (d)
22. (a)
32. (d)
42. (c)
52. (b)
62. (d)
72. (d)
82. (a)
92. (d)
102. (a)
112. (a)
122. (a)
132. (d)
142. (c)
3. (d)
13. (a)
23. (c)
33. (c)
43. (d)
53. (b)
63. (c)
73. (d)
83. (d)
93. (c)
103. (d)
113. (c)
123. (b)
133. (d)
143. (d)
4. (d)
14. (d)
24. (d)
34. (b)
44. (d)
54. (b)
64. (d)
74. (c)
84. (c)
94. (a)
104. (d)
114. (d)
124. (a)
134. (c)
144. (a)
5. (c)
15. (c)
25. (b)
35. (c)
45. (d)
55. (c)
65. (d)
75. (c)
85. (c)
95. (d)
105. (b)
115. (c)
125. (d)
135. (c)
145. (d)
6. (a)
16. (d)
26. (c)
36. (d)
46. (c)
56. (d)
66. (c)
76. (a)
86. (a)
96. (c)
106. (a)
116. (d)
126. (d)
136. (b)
146. (d)
7. (c)
17. (d)
27. (c)
37. (c)
47. (c)
57. (c)
67. (c)
77. (c)
87. (a)
97. (c)
107. (b)
117. (c)
127. (d)
137. (c)
147. (b)
8. (d)
18. (a)
28. (b)
38. (a)
48. (d)
58. (c)
68. (c)
78. (c)
88. (d)
98. (d)
108. (d)
118. (c)
128. (c)
138. (c)
148. (d)
9. (b)
19. (d)
29. (d)
39. (d)
49. (c)
59. (d)
69. (c)
79. (c)
89. (d)
99. (c)
109. (d)
119. (b)
129. (c)
139. (d)
149. (c)
10. (a)
20. (d)
30. (d)
40. (c)
50. (d)
60. (a)
70. (a)
80. (d)
90. (d)
100. (d)
110. (d)
120. (d)
130. (d)
140. (c)
150. (a)
127
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