Professional Documents
Culture Documents
April 2013nahsj
April 2013nahsj
April 2013nahsj
APRIL, 2013
AUGUST,
2012
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Sachchida Nand Jha
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PAGE NO.
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10
IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD,
ITS INDIA FADING
INDIAS BENIGN
CONSTITUTIONAL REVOLUTION
CURRENT AFFAIRS
National Issues
International Issues
India & the World
Economy
Science and Technology
Sports
Awards & Prizes
In the News
123
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IAS
Srishti Sinha
PCS
by
K.UJJWAL
250 Probales a book on G.S. Available
Website : www.ujjwalias.in
E-mail : info@ujjwalias.in
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Suhasini Haidar
KALINJAR PUBLICATIONS
GEOGRAPHY
&
ENVIRONMENT
MCQ Series
Buy online at: http://www.upscportal.com/civilservices/books
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Shivprasad Swaminathan
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Indias Largest Online Community for IAS, Civil Services Aspirants
for
IAS Prelims-2013
e
e
r
F
,
6th ry
on 1
a
lass Febru
C
o
h
Dem nd 18t
a
17th
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NATIONAL ISSUES
Justice JS Verma Panel Report
Submitted
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common law.
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Presidents Rule
Imposed on Jharkhand
Pranab Mukherjee, the
President of India on 18 January
2013 imposed Presidents Rule in
Jharkhand. The decision came as a
follow up of the recommendation
made by the Union Cabinet of India
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State
Production
(Lakh Tonnes)
Previous
Highest in last
Five years
Productivity
(Kg/ha)
2011-12
%
increase
Previous
Highest
in last
Five years
1.
2.
3.
Madhya Pradesh
Punjab
Rajasthan
160.16(2009-10)
278.66(2010-11)
188.32(2010-11)
190.46
283.52
189.63
18.91
1.74
0.70
1285(2009-10)
4280(2010-11)
1263(2008-09)
2011-12
%
increase
1411
4339
1316
9.81
1.37
4.19
1.
2.
3.
State
Tamil Nadu
Gujarat
Uttarakhand
Production
(Lakh Tonnes)
Previous Highest
in last five years
82.63(2006-07)
83.42(2010-11)
18.16(2010-11)
Productivity (Kg/ha)
2011-2012
%
Increase
96.41
90.66
18.53
16.67
8.68
2.06
Previous
Highest
in last
Fiveyears
2610(2006-07)
1843(2010-11)
1841(2010-11)
2011-12 %increase
2687
1961
1942
2.96
6.38
5.50
State
1.
2.
3.
4.
Production
(Lakh Tonnes)
Previous Highest
in last five years
Manipur
4.22(2007-08)
Nagaland
5.14(2008-09)
Arunachal Pradesh 3.09(2009-10)
Tripura
6.479(2009-10)
Productivity (Kg/ha)
2011-2012
%
Increase
5.93
5.68
3.34
7.124
40.52
10.52
8.02
9.96
Previous
Highest
in last
Fiveyears
2297(2007-08)
1811(2008-09)
1555(2009-10)
2563(2007-08)
5.
Mizoram
0.624(2009-10)
0.668
7.05
1047(2009-10)
Production
(Lakh Tonnes)
Previous Highest
in last five years
55.9(2008-09)
Productivity (Kg/ha)
2011-2012
%
Increase
72.01
28.81
Previous
Highest
in last
Fiveyears
1599(2008-09)
Production
(Lakh Tonnes)
Previous Highest
in last five years
Haryana
116.30(2010-11)
Himachal Pradesh 5.473(2008-09)
Productivity (Kg/ha)
2011-2012
%
Increase
126.84
5.958
9.07
8.86
State
Production
(Lakh Tonnes)
Previous Highest
in last five years
3.296(2010-11)
0.701(2010-11)
Productivity (Kg/ha)
2011-2012
%
Increase
4.923
1.08
49.34
54.06
Previous
Highest
in last
Fiveyears
773(2010-11)
567(2008-09)
1.761(2010-11)
1.878
6.63
898(2010-11)
2011-12 %increase
2244
1902
1663
2587
(-) 2.31
5.02
6.95
0.94
1246
19.01
Rice
Sn.
1.
State
Bihar
2011-12 %increase
2158
34.95
Wheat
Sn.
1.
2.
State
Previous
Highest
in last
Fiveyears
4624(2010-11)
1530(2010-11)
2011-12 %increase
5030
1671
8.77
9.23
Pulses
Sn.
1.
2.
Jharkhand
Assam
3.
West Bengal
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2011-12 %increase
914
574
18.17
1.18
911
1.50
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1.
State
Uttar Pradesh
Production
(Lakh Tonnes)
Previous Highest
in last five years
Productivity (Kg/ha)
2011-2012
%
Increase
Previous
Highest
in last
Fiveyears
32.18(2010-11)
35.49
10.30
1561(2010-11)
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2011-12 %increase
1747
11.90
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Union Government on 2
January 2013 constituted the 14th
Finance Commission under former
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor
Yaga Venugopal Reddy. The
commission under YV Reddy is
going to primarily review finances
of the governments keeping in mind
the fiscal consolidation road map
that was laid out by his predecessor
Vijay Kelkar, the head of 13th
finance
Commission.
The
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Strength
Date of Expiry of
terms of State
Assemblies
10 March 2013
Tripura
23.52 lakh
16 March 2013
Nagaland
11.81 lakh
18 March 2013
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KALINJAR PUBLICATIONS
CSAT
Paper- 1 & 2
Combo Books
for
Civil Services Preliminary Examinations
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INTERNATIONAL ISSUES
Barack Obama Sworn in as the
US President
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Periphery
economies,
occurred due to the policy
actions undertaken by them
but these economies has yet
not improved in terms of the
borrowing conditions in
private sector.
In terms of United States, the
forecast remained broadly
unchanged to that of the of
October 2012 WEO to 2
percent, but predicted that
the support offered to the
financial market would
support the growth in
consumption in the country
In terms of Japan, the nearterm outlook has also
remained
unchanged
regardless of the recession
witnessed by the country in
recent past and its expected
that the monetary easing and
incentive package would
boost the growth in the
country
The report projected that the
developing economies and
the emerging market of the
world would grow by 5.5
percent in 2013 and it will
remain almost same as it was
predicted in October 2012
WEO.
In case of China, the IMF has
forecasted a growth rate of 7.8
percent, 8.2 percent and 8.5
percent in 2012, 2013 and
2014 respectively. In 2011, it
witnessed a growth rate of 9.3
percent.
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KALINJAR PUBLICATIONS
INDIAN ECONOMY
&
Indian Year Book
MCQ Series
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anniversaries of Swami
Vivekananda (in 2013-14) and
of Anagarika Dharmapala (in
2014-15).
Both sides agreed to enhance
cooperation in the energy
sector and to promote
dialogue on security and
defence issues of relevance to
the bilateral relationship. The
Joint Commission noted that
the trilateral cooperation
mechanism between India, Sri
Lanka and the Maldives was an
important initiative to
promote maritime security in
the region.
Both the sides, Sri Lanka and
India also expressed satisfaction at
the substantive developments in
bilateral relations between the two
countries in existence after the 7th
session of the Joint Commission
held at Colombo on 26 November
2010.
INDIA & BRICS
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ECONOMY
Import Duty on Gold and
Platinum by 2 Percent increased
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A team of researchers
including that of an Indian-origin, at
Oregon State University discovered
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Warnings on cigarettes
ef fective across races
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SPORTS
CRICKET
India Lost the Series against
Pakistan by 2-1
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TENNIS
Australian Open 2013
Novak Djokovic of Serbia
defeated Andy Murray of UK in four
sets to win Australian Open 2013
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FOOTBALL
FIFA Ballon dOr Award for
fourth time
Lionel Messi, the Argentine
footballer won FIFA BallondOr
Award on 7 January 2013 as a
reward to his 91-goal in a year for
Barcelona and Argentina, in the year
2012. Messi voted to be the best
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F1/MOTOR SPORTS
Mercedes to Launch New
Formula One Car
International Paralympic
Committee Decided to Launch
International GP Circuit for
Disabled
International Paralympic
Committee (IPC) decided to launch
the international grand prix circuit
especially for the elite athletes who
are disabled. This international
grand prix circuit is scheduled to be
launched in April 2013. The version
of IPC of the strong Diamond League
shall comprise of eight meetings in
all, at various venues across the
world. Two of these venues which
also include the final one shall be
held in Britain.
GOLF
Farmers Insurance Open
BADMINTON
Badminton World Federation
Rankings
Saina Nehwal, the Olympics
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ATHLETE
Athlete of the Year Award At
JAAA Golden Cleats Awards
Ceremony
WRESTLING
National Weightlifting
Championship 2013
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VARIOUS
International GP Circuit for
Disabled
International Paralympic
Committee (IPC) decided to launch
the international grand prix circuit
especially for the elite athletes who
are disabled. This international
grand prix circuit is scheduled to be
launched in April 2013. The version
of IPC of the strong Diamond League
shall comprise of eight meetings in
all, at various venues across the
world. Two of these venues which
also include the final one shall be
held in Britain.
Fauja Singh Announced
Retirement
KALINJAR PUBLICATIONS
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LIST OF AWARDEES
Padma Vibhushan
Name
Shri Raghunath Mohapatra
Shri S. Haider Raza
Prof. Yash Pal
Prof. Roddam Narasimha
Dr. Ramanaidu Daggubati
Smt. Sreeramamurthy Janaki
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Discipline
Art
Art
Science and Engineering
Science and Engineering
Art
Art
80
State/ Domicile
Orissa
Delhi
Uttar Pradesh
Karnataka
Andhra Pradesh
Tamil Nadu
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Art
Art
Art
Art
Art
Art
Public Affairs
Science and Engineering
Science and Engineering
Science and Engineering
Science and Engineering
Science and Engineering
Science and Engineering
Trade and Industry
Trade and Industry
Medicine
Literature & Education
Literature & Education
Civil Service
Civil Service
Sports
Sports
Maharashtra
Delhi
Delhi
West Bengal
Maharashtra #
Punjab #
Maharashtra
Delhi
Delhi
Uttar Pradesh
Karnataka
USA *
USA *
Tamil Nadu
Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra
USA*
Madhya Pradesh
Delhi
Karnataka
Manipur
Discipline
Art
Art
Art
Art
Art
Art
State/ Domicile
Andhra Pradesh
Chhattisgarh
Karnataka
Maharashtra
Orissa
Maharashtra
Art
Maharashtra
Art
Art
Art
Art
Art
Art
Art
Art
Andhra Pradesh
Tamil Nadu
Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Kerala
Maharashtra
Assam
Sikkim
Padma Shree
Name
Shri Gajam Anjaiah
Swami G.C.D. Bharti alias Bharati Bandhu
Ms. B. Jayashree
Smt. Sridevi Kapoor
Shri Kailash Chandra Meher
Shri Brahmdeo Ram Pandit
Shri Vishwanath Dinkar
Patekaralias Nana Patekar
Shri Rekandar Nageswara Rao
alias Surabhi Babji
Shri Lakshmi Narayana Sathiraju
Smt. Jaymala Shiledar
Shri Suresh Dattatray Talwalkar
Shri P. Madhavan Nair alias Madhu
Shri Apurba Kishore Bir
Shri Ghana kanta Bora Borbayan
Smt. Hilda Mit Lepcha
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Art
Art
Art
Art
Art
Art
Art
Art
Art
Social Work
Social Work
Social Work
Social Work
Social Work
Social Work
Science and Engineering
Science and Engineering
Science and Engineering
Science and Engineering
Science and Engineering
Science and Engineering
Science and Engineering
Science and Engineering
Science and Engineering
Science and Engineering
Science and Engineering
Trade and Industry
Trade and Industry
Trade and Industry
Trade and Industry
Trade and Industry
Medicine
Maharashtra
Jammu and Kashmir
Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Jammu & Kashmir
West Bengal
Jammu & Kashmir
Delhi
Rajasthan
Tamil Nadu
Maharashtra
Gujarat
Bangladesh *
Uttar Pradesh #
Delhi #
Maharashtra
Delhi
Uttar Pradesh
West Bengal
Maharashtra
Andhra Pradesh
Karnataka
Karnataka
Uttar Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh
Maharashtra
Delhi
Tamil Nadu
Assam
Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Delhi
Medicine
Medicine
Medicine
Medicine
Medicine
Medicine
Medicine
Medicine
Medicine
Andhra Pradesh
Maharashtra
Orissa
Tamil Nadu
Uttar Pradesh
Delhi
Delhi
Delhi
Maharashtra
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Medicine
Medicine
Medicine
Maharashtra
Uttar Pradesh
Delhi
Bihar
Andhra Pradesh
Mizoram
Gujarat
Delhi
Delhi
Delhi
Madhya Pradesh
Delhi
Bihar
West Bengal#
Japan *
UK *
Jharkhand
Haryana
Karnataka
Himachal Pradesh
Maharashtra
Rajasthan
Delhi
Uttar Pradesh
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1966.
He was shortlisted for DSC
Prize for South Asian literature
in 2012 for Bharatipura, the
novel which came in 2010 in
English language.
Other authors shortlisted for the
International Man Booker Prize
for Fiction 2013
Other finalists for International
Man Booker Prize for Fiction 2013
are:
Aharon Appelfeld (Israel)
Lydia Davis (USA)
Intizar Husain (Pakistan)
Yan Lianke (China)
Marie Ndiaye (France)
Josip Novakovich (Canada)
Marilynne Robinson (USA)
Vladimir Sorokin (Russia)
Peter Stamm (Switzerland)
About the International Man
Booker Prize
UR Ananthamurthy, the
Kannada author was shortlisted
among other ten authors for
prestigious International Man
Booker Prize for Fiction 2013. UR
Ananthamurthy, 80, is an only Indian
who was shortlisted in the final list
of this prestigious award. The list of
the awardees was announced at the
Jaipur Literature Festival on 24
January 2013. UR Ananthamurthy is
considered as the important author
bringing reforms in the form of new
movement in the Kannada language.
The author has so far written 5
novels, 8 short story collections and
3 poetry collections.
About UR Ananthamurthy
UR Ananthamurthy studied
English Literature at Univesity
of Mysore. He got his
doctorate from the University
of Birmingham.
Ananthamurthy is popularly
known for his novel called
Samskara which came up in
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Sates
Madhya Pradesh, Tamil
Nadu, Manipur and
Nagaland
Award for Contribution to Production and Bihar
Productivity of Rice
Award for Contribution to Production and
Productivity of Wheat
Haryana
Award for Contribution to Production
andProductivity of Pulses
Jharkhand
Award for Contribution to Production and
Productivity of Coarse Cereals
Uttar Pradesh
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From the list of 119 films released in 2012, 27 films were green signaled in
the Screen Academy Selection singled for consideration by the Jury. The
screen jury comprised the eminent members of the Indian Film Industry.
These panelists after several rounds of discussions and debates were able
to finalise the nominations.
For details read the table
Award Category
Best Film
Best Actor Male
Winners
Paan Singh Tomar
Irfan Khan for Paan Singh
Tomar and Ranbir Kapoor
for Barfi
Best Actress Female
Vidya Balan for Kahaani
Best Director
Anurag Basu for Barfi
Best Actor in a Negative Role
Tigmanshu Dhulia for
(Male/Female)
Gangs Of Wasseypur
Best Actor in a Comic Role (Male/Female) Annu Kapoor for Vicky
Donor) and Abhishek
Bachchan for Bol Bachchan
Best Playback Singer (Female)
Shalmali Kholgade for
Ishaqzaade
Best Music
Pritam for Barfi
Best Playback Singer (Male)
Javed Ali for Ishaqzaade
Best Story
Sujoy Ghosh & Advaita Kala
for Kahaani
Best Lyrics
Javed Akhtar for Talaash
and Muskanein Jhoothi
Hain
Best Choreography
Prabhu Deva & Vishnu
Deva for Go Govinda and
OMG: Oh My God
Legend of Indian Cinema Award
Amitabh Bachchan
Lifetime Achievement: Award
Yash Chopra
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IN THE NEWS
APPOINTED
Justice D.K. Jain
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The
Information
and
Broadcasting Ministry on 29 January
2013 constituted a seven-member
expert committee to review the
institutional framework of Prasar
Bharti. The committee will be
headed by the Advisor to the Prime
Minister on Public Information
Infrastructure, Sam Pitroda. The
committee will have Prasar Bharati
CEO Jawhar Sircar as its convener.
The committee will review the
relationship of Prasar Bharti with the
government, its continuing role as a
public broadcaster and measures
needed to ensure its technical
upgradation. It will also suggest
ways of using the new media to
deliver digital content both in
broadcast mode (DTH) and in a
demand based mode like YouTube.
The
committee
comprises
members; retired IAS officer Asha
Swaroop, who had earlier served as
secretary in the I&B Ministry,
Professor M P Gupta of IIT Delhi, B
K Gairola (Mission Director eGovernance), Jitendra Shankar
Mathur, additional secretary and
nominated member on the Prasar
Bharati Board and Shekhar Kapur (a
member of the National Innovation
Council).
Kamal Nath
Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh elected Kamal Nath, the Union
Minister for Urban Development
and Parliamentary Affairs, as a leader
of Indian delegation for annual
meetings for World Economic
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Jaipur
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Indian-American Srikanth
Srinivasan on 4th January 2013 renominated by US President Barack
Obama as Federal Judge for the
District of Columbia Circuit. Srikanth
Srinivasan is among the 33 federal
judges re-nominated by the
President Barack Obama for the US
Court of Appeals and the only Indian
American re-nominated by Obama
for the District of Columbia Circuit.
The nomination is pended over the
United States Senate Committee on
the Judiciary which is charged with
conducting hearings prior to the
Senate votes on confirmation of
federal judges nominated by the
president. Srinivasan was born in
Chandigarh, and grew up in
Lawrence, Kansas and had received
his BA with honors and distinction
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Koto Okubo
Padma
Bhushan
M.S.
Gopalakrishnan, the Violin maestro
died on 3 January 2012 at the age of
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ACCUSED/RESIGNED/CONTROVERSY
still enjoys the support of six
members of the AJSU, two of the
Janata Dal (United), two
independents and one nominated
member who has voting right in a
trial of strength.
Arjun Munda
Akbaruddin Owaisi
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Nitin Gadkari
Nitin Gadkari resigned from his
post as the BJP President on 22
January 2013. After his resignation,
Rajnath Singh was appointed as the
party chief. A lot of senior BJP
leaders had earlier sought removal
of Gadkari as BJP chief after his
name came up in the Purti scam in
2012. Nitin Gadkaris name surfaced
in the corruption charges in his
company purti Group.
BOOKS
Chinas Travel Attractions
Zhao Jiang the Director of the
Government-run China Radio
Internationals (CRI) Tamil station
has written a book in Tamil titled
Chinas Travel Attractions. The book
will carry her Tamil name
Kalaimakal. This is her first book in
Tamil and would make a debut in
the Chennai Book fair that is going
on in YMCA College Ground in
Nandanam and will continue till 23
January 2013. The book by Zhao
Jiang would be available on the stall
of the publication house named
Gowtham Pathippagam. The book
named Chinas Travel Attraction is
a compilation of the history and
culture of the Beijing, Sanghai and
VARIOUS
Silk Letter Movement
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World Conference on
International
Telecommunications (WCIT-12)
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Sunmeet Kaur
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Navi Pillay
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Emergency in
Three Major Cities of Egypt
Sreeramamurthy Janaki
Sreeramamurthy Janaki, the
renowned playback singer, refused
to accept the Padma Bhushan
award. She refused on the grounds
that only some people from the
Southern states were awarded and
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Kalyan Singh
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For an understanding
It is noteworthy that the Kabul
delegation included a sprinkling of nonPashtun tribes Massoud, a Tajik,
Mohaqqeq, a Hazara leader, and
Faizullah Zaki, an Uzbek. Mr. Massoud
said there was a new generation which
did not believe in war and sought an
understanding with the Taliban. The
Taliban, for its part, clarified in no
uncertain terms that no negotiations
with anyone were involved and that the
Taliban wants the world community to
listen to our goals; in other words, the
A concession
This was the first time senior
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Significant
The announcement of the Paris
talks signifies several things. Firstly, it
means that the U.S. and NATO have
given up, once and for all, the objective
of defeating the Taliban. Secondly, there
is more than a tacit admission that the
Afghan National Security Force will be
incapable of ensuring security in the
country post-2014,considering that only
one out of 23 Afghan brigades is
considered capable of operating on its
own. The green on blue attacks have
also played their part in this. Thirdly, it
proves that the British are still far ahead
of the Americans in understanding the
region. The U.K. called for co-opting the
Taliban in the government years before
even Mr. Karzai did, as the only way out
for the country.
Fourthly, and importantly, it must
be borne in mind that the West,
especially the Americans, never had any
problem with the Taliban. It was the
treatment of women that made the then
U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright anti-Taliban. The forceful action
after 9/11 was aimed at al-Qaeda, not
the Taliban. Had the Taliban agreed to
cut ties with al-Qaeda then, it would still
be ruling in Kabul. The West by and large
would have nothing to worry as and
when, not if, the Taliban obtains a share
in the government. The roadmap
explicitly states that the Taliban will be
included not only in the state power
structure but will also be given nonelective positions at different levels. This
is a clear reference to governorships in
provinces such as Paktia, Paktita and
Khost. India should watch these
developments most warily. There is no
reason for us to rejoice at the possibility
of the Taliban becoming a part of the
government. We did support the
reconciliation process some time ago,
but it was probably more theoretical at
that time when the three red lines were
still in place, namely, respecting the
constitution, renunciation of violence
and severing ties with al-Qaeda. These
red lines have since been given up and
are now projected as objectives to be
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Ignoring Pressure
I must add that certain important
people did try to influence me in this
connection, but I paid no heed to them
as I was determined to do my duty to
the Madras High Court, come what may.
As a result of that, almost all my
recommendations were accepted, and
17 judges were appointed to the Madras
High Court in December 2005, a record
for that High Court.
In my opinion, the methodology
which was adopted by me should also
be
adopted
for
making
recommendations for appointment of
judges in the Supreme Court as well as
in all High Courts. The present system,
based on the decisions of the Supreme
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Foreword by President, PM
A glimpse into the book, which
has a foreword by the President of India,
the Prime Minister, and the President of
the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna
Mission, reveals a rich trove of thoughts
from scholars across the world, as well
as monks and nuns of the order. The
book will be formally released in midJanuary. It includes a poem, titled Hold
on yet a while braveheart, written by
Swami Vivekananda. Several sections of
Rousing Rreception
Dialogue process
Our strategic objectives are to
work for good neighbourly relations
marked by normal trade, people to
people contacts, greater sporting and
cultural interactions, hassle-free travel
and a confidence-building mechanism.
A sustained dialogue process is
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Green Books,
Red herring and the LoC War
Late one night in the summer of
2009, four improvised 107-millimetre
rockets arced over the Pul Kanjari
border outpost in Punjab, and exploded
in the fields outside the village of Attari.
For the first time since the war of 1971,
there was an attack across the IndiaPakistan border. In September that year,
four more rockets were fired; then, in
New Doctrine
Pakistans military literature
provides some insight into what is going
on. The countrys generals, it shows,
hope heightened tensions with India will
help rebuild their legitimacy, extricate
themselves from a domestic insurgency
they are losing, and push jihadist groups
now ranged against the Pakistani state
to turn their energies eastwards. India,
driven by a barrage of ill-conceived war
polemic, is pushing itself into this trap.
Earlier this month, reports
emerged that Pakistan had amended its
doctrinal manual, called the Green
Book , to include a chapter identifying
internal insurgent forces as the countrys
principal national security threat. No
one, though, has quoted as much as a
single line from the Green Book i n
question one of several reasons to
suspect it might just be a red herring.
Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervez
Ashraf, in a January 4 address at the
National Defence University, called on
the armed forces to redesign and
redefine our military doctrine to fight
terrorism. It seems reasonable to infer
that, on that date, he at least was
unaware of a new doctrine.
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Suspicions of India
From the very first essay in the
current Green Book , it becomes clear
the Pakistani officer corps maniacal
suspiciousness of India hasnt stilled.
Brigadier Umar Farooq Durranis
Treatise
on
Indian-backed
Psychological Warfare Against Pakistan,
asserts that the Research and Analysis
Wing funds many Indian newspapers
and even television channels, such as
Zee Television, which is considered to
be its media headquarters to wage
psychological war. The creation of
[the] South Asian Free Media
Association a few years back, Brigadier
Farooq claims, was a step in the same
direction. Even the eminent scholar
Ayesha Siddiqas work, he insists, is a
classical example of psychological war
against Pakistan.
The most subtle form of this
psychological war, the Brigadier states,
is found in movies where Muslim and
Hindu friendship is screened within
[ sic. ] the backdrop of melodrama.
Indian soaps and movies are readily
welcomed in most households in
Pakistan. The effects desired to be
achieved through this is to undermine
the Two National Theory [as] being a
person obsession of [Muhammad Ali]
Jinnah.
Had the Green Books not been
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Tough Challenge
Like all forms of madness, the texts
in the Green Book arent without
method: crisis with India is, after all, a
precondition for ensuring the Pakistan
Armys preeminent position in the
countrys power structure. 26/11, it is
surprisingly little remarked upon, almost
did pay off for Pakistans Army. Less than
a week after the attack, a senior Army
commander was reported as calling the
jihadist chief Baitullah Mehsud a
patriot. The officer said the armys war
with the Taliban leaders like Mehsud
was merely the result of minor
misunderstandings. There is plenty of
evidence that jihadists in Pakistan are
growing more powerful and that
organisations like the Tehreek-e-Taliban
are seriously considering expanding
their operations eastwards. The
practical struggle for a sharia system
that we are carrying out in Pakistan, its
deputy chief Maulana Wali-ur-Rahman
said in a recently-released video, the
same way we will continue it in Kashmir,
and the same way we will implement
the sharia system in India.
It is self-evident that preventing a
rapprochement between jihadists and
the generals is in Indias best interest
one reason why Prime Ministers Atal
Behari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh
proved willing to pay the political price
for a policy of strategic restraint. That
the will to continue doing so is fraying
in the build-up to the General Election
is evident. India has, so far, punished
Pakistani aggression with a variety of
means, conventional and covert but
the seduction of grandiose gestures is
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On Shaky Foundation
The draft of the 12th Five Year Plan
covering the period 2012-13 to 2016-17,
approved by the National Development
Council last week, aims to achieve an
annual average growth rate of 8 per cent,
scaled down from 8.2 per cent. The
Prime Minister has called the target
aspirational, while a few Chief
Ministers, notably Narendra Modi, found
it lacking in ambition. Political
statements apart, it is clear that the focus
on growth rates has tended to distract
attention from the rest of the planning
exercise. In retrospect, most official
projections have been over-optimistic.
The approach paper of the 12th Plan
talked of an annual average growth rate
of between 9 and 9.5 per cent. The
Prime Minister had gone even further,
hoping for double-digit growth rates
during the latter part of the Plan. What
made those projections totally
unrealistic was the fact that the
economic slowdown was already
getting reflected in successive quarterly
GDP data. The Union Budget (2012)
projected an ambitious growth rate of
7.6 per cent, way above what most other
forecasters had estimated at that time.
The government has been slow in
lowering the forecasts even when
conclusive evidence of deceleration has
been coming in. True to form, the
government expects the economy to
grow by between 5.7 and 5.9 per cent
this year the first year of the 12th Plan
when the growth during the first half
has been at just 5.4 per cent.
Considering that a revival in
manufacturing where the slowdown is
most pronounced cannot happen that
quickly, an annual average rate of 8 per
cent over the plan period can be
achieved only if the growth rate in each
of the last three years is well above 9
per cent.
The Planning Commission is
banking on reinvigorating a few existing
policies while expecting vastly
improved performance in certain key
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Making a Mockery of
Domestic Gas Pricing
Dr. Rangarajan was my professor
and I worship him as an economist and
academician. However, I fail to
understand why he lends his enormous
reputation to reports on the energy
sector that are far removed from his area
of experience and expertise, especially
when the Committee he recently
chaired did not have a single member
with any notable knowledge or
understanding of the complex global
gas markets. A one-hour consultation
with an independent industry expert
would have informed the Committee
that its recommended methodology has
no relevance to determining the basis
or formula for the price of domestically
produced gas in India a task it set
out to deliver under its terms of
reference.
Price Sensitivity
The report recognises the price
sensitivity of gas demand in India, yet,
like most government documents, it
presents indefensible demand and
supply
numbers
completely
independent of gas prices. The report
confirms that most Indian natural gas
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Disequilibrium
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Disconnect
Indeed, there is a fundamental
disjuncture
between
Indias
overwhelming domestic imperatives of
equitable growth on the one hand and
the nations external policies on the
other. Too often we are content to act
the part of a powerful and
technologically sophisticated nation
without actually pursuing a foreign
policy that might serve our basic
developmental goals. Nowhere are such
failures more evident than on the
Millennium Development Goals (MDG).
Signed into existence in 2000 by 190
countries, they represent a historic
global framework and universal goals
(with specific targets and indicators) in
the areas of poverty, gender, health,
education and the environment for all
signatories to achieve by 2015. Powered
in part by the MDGs, 600 million people
have been lifted out of poverty, 56
million more children go to school and
14,000 children escape death each day.
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for
example,
sustainability, financial inclusion,
information and communications
technologies can no longer be
effectively addressed within nationally
circumscribed approaches.
The second major opportunity lies
in the international realm. The post-2015
effort offers emerging powers,
particularly India, an opening to shape
Courtesy-The Hindu
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114
Transfers Work
While meaning well, the United
Progressive Alliance (UPA) is putting at
risk the great idea of cash transfers by
designing them primarily as
substitutions for subsidised consumer
goods. That may be a laudable longerterm aim; the Public Distribution System
(PDS) is in a mess. But strategically, cash
transfers must boost economic growth
and be a progressive measure to reduce
income inequality and poverty, both at
the outset and in the longer-term. They
can be both. The reduction of cheating,
repeatedly mentioned by government
spokesmen, must be a secondary gain,
not the main one.
If, as with the ill-advised Kotkasim
model, the intention is simply to
substitute cash payments for a subsidy,
many people will become worse off in
the first few months. While the price of
kerosene will be raised, teething
problems with the banks or with the
cash flow will mean they will not obtain
the cash repayment to compensate. It
is all very well for planners to say this
will be sorted out eventually. The poor
live on the edge, and cannot tolerate
short-term costs. While they struggle,
the legitimacy of the cash transfer policy
will be eroded.
Pilot scheme
This is why SEWA and Unicef have
been implementing a cash transfer pilot
scheme in which the cash provided has
been a small top-up to existing
subsidies. As a result, nobody in the
villages is worse off than before. There
have been teething problems associated
with opening bank accounts and with
learning how to use the cash. But these
have taken place in an atmosphere of
net gain for the recipients. As people
have learned to adapt, support has
grown not only for the idea of cash
transfers but for substitution for rationed
items. As a result, planners could now
implement a substitution scheme in
those villages that would be welcomed,
would improve welfare and save
government money.
The biggest mistake the
government is making in rolling out the
Kotkasim model is trying to save money
in the short-term rather than treating the
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An example
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Alumni Involvement
The top 19 out of the 20
universities in the U.S. News rankings
have a common dominating
denominator. All of them are run
predominately by alumni of the
institutions. Even in public universities
such as Purdue, there is a significant
alumni involvement in the boards. In
India, this is an idea nonexistent in
government institutes and very rare in
private institutes.
Alumni involvement ensures that
the universities interest is the most
supreme (especially in an era where
education is non profit) and everything
else becomes secondary. As such, it
would be an interesting idea for the state
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Necessity to Act
The situation in Mali was
increasingly dangerous. Terrorist groups
setting up in northern Mali have been
destabilising the country, brutalising and
killing civilians and destroying
invaluable cultural heritage. Malis
integrity was at stake. The stability of the
entire Sahelian region and beyond was
threatened. The security of Europe as
well.
The terrorist groups have
launched a southward attack early
January, involving hundreds of armed
militants. They had realised that time
was running out for them. Last
December, the adoption of U.N.
Security Council Resolution 2085, with
the help of our Indian partner,
authorised an African-led International
Support Mission to Mali, or Afisma.
Terrorists tried to take advantage of the
delay before its full deployment. Their
objective was to seize new strategic
positions by force and trigger the
collapse of the whole country to
establish a stronghold. By getting closer
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Algerian incident
Terrorism is one of the most
serious threats to international security.
We know what sort of barbaric acts the
terrorist groups in Mali are committing.
We know what their objectives are. We
will not let them achieve them. We are
grateful for the overwhelming
international support we are receiving
since the beginning of our operation. It
shows that the international community
is united in fighting a threat which is
characterised by global links and
interaction between individuals and
groups, wherever they are.
The brutal large-scale terrorist
attack in the south of Algeria which has
just taken place proves it once again. A
large number of foreign nationals
Courtesy-The Hindu
In Myanmar, a
Winning Hand for America
The recent upturn in the United
States relations with Myanmar a key
neighbour of India was the outcome
of years of diplomatic manoeuvring
following the 1988 democracy uprising
and the State Law and Order Restoration
Council (SLORC) military governments
refusal to acknowledge the 1990 general
election results. It was also a result of
the U.S. governments dual-track policy
of using carrots and sticks. Unlike India,
which moved to normalise relations
with SLORC by the mid-1990s, the U.S.
made some fundamental demands as a
condition for normalising bilateral ties.
These included: the release of all
political prisoners (over 2,000 held in
different prisons across Myanmar in the
beginning of 2012), inclusive dialogue
with opposition parties and ethnic
minorities, adherence to United Nations
non-proliferation agreements on nuclear
weapons and an end to any illicit
cooperation with North Korea, greater
accountability on human rights issues,
and an end to violence against ethnic
minorities. The U.S. also asked the
Myanmar government to hold free and
fair by-elections.
Steady steps
On January 13, 2012, a total of 651
political prisoners were either released
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Obamas visit
The
positive
diplomacy
culminated in President Barack Obamas
visit to Myanmar on November 19, the
first ever visit by a sitting U.S. President.
His historic tour was, however, criticised
by several rights groups, which argued
that it was premature to make such a
high-profile visit when violence still
continued in the Kachin and Rakhine
states, and when political prisoners
remained behind bars. The Obama
administration said the Presidents visit
was to acknowledge the democratic
reforms and to encourage further
reforms.
On a positive note, both
governments must be congratulated for
taking the necessary steps to improve
bilateral relations. However, the primary
concern now is whether political
gestures from the Myanmar government
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21 Mock Tests of each for G.S & CSAT for P.T. 2013 (Total 42 Test)
Varanas i
S rijan IAS A cad emy
Te l: 09935619602
INDO RE
K autilya A cade my
Te l: 07314266821
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ENVIRONMENT
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