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Articles:
8 Lokpal Bill
8 Libyan Crisis
Cirrent Affairs:
8 National Issues
8 International Issues
8 Economy
8 India & The World
8 Science & Technology
8 Sports
8 Awards & Prizes
8 Persons in News
Special Study Material
8 Bank Solved Paper (S.B.I.) P.O. Held on 18.04.2010
CONTENTS
http://upscportal.com/civilservices/alert/ias-mains-test-series-2011
Issues
3
The word Lokpal means an ombudsman in India. The word has been
derived from the Sanskrit words "loka" (people) and "pala" (protector/
caretaker). So the word Lokpal means 'protector of people'. The con-
cept of Lokpal has been drawn up to root out corruption at all levels in
the prevailing Indian polity.
The Lokpal will be a three-member body with a chairperson who is or
was a chief justice or Supreme Court judge, and two members who are
or have been high courts judges or chief justices.Implementation of
the Lokpal bill will hopefully reduce corruption in India. The basic
idea of the Lok Pal is borrowed from the office of ombudsman, which
has played an effective role in checking corruption and wrong-doing in Scandinavian and other nations.
In early 1960s, mounting corruption in public administration set the winds blowing in favour of an
Ombudsman in India too.
The Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) set up in 1966 recommended the constitution of a
two-tier machinery - of a Lokpal at the Centre, and Lokayukta(s) in the states.the Lokpal has to com-
plete the inquiry within six months.
Duties of Lokpal are as follows:
1. To judge the cases and make jurisdictions against corruption cases with the Lokpal.
2. To judge whether a case is legal or whether a fake complaint has been made.
3. To potentially impose fines on a fake complaint, or even a short span of jail time, if the case is not
proved to be legally true.
In India, the Jan Lokpal Bill (also referred to as the citizens' ombudsman bill) is a proposed anti-
corruption law designed to effectively deter corruption, redress grievances and protect whistleblowers.
The law would create an ombudsman called the Lokpal; this would be an independent body similar to
the Election Commission of India with the power to prosecute politicians and bureaucrats without prior
government permission.
A compromise bill, merging the Government's version and that of the civil group's version (Jan Lokpal),
is being drafted by a committee of five Cabinet Ministers and five social activists. As of July 2011, the
most current version of the bill is version 2.3, according to the government website. For 42 years, the
government-drafted bill has failed to pass the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India.The
first Lokpal Bill was passed in the 4th Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament, in 1969 but stalled
in the Rajya Sabha. Subsequent Lokpal bills were introduced in 1971, 1977, 1985, 1989, 1996, 1998,
2001, 2005 and 2008 but all failed to pass.
LOKPAL BILL
4
Latest Developments
Anna Hazare, a Gandhian rights activist, had
started a fast unto death at Jantar Mantar in New
Delhi demanding the passing of the bill. Hazare
called off his hunger strike on the 9th of April,
2011 bringing to an end his 98-hour protest after
the government issued a gazette notification con-
stituting a 10-member Joint Committee of govern-
ment ministers and civil society activists, includ-
ing him, to draft a bill for the creation of an effec-
tive Lokpal.
Drafting Committee
The drafting committee was officially formed on
8 April 2011. It consists of ten members, includ-
ing five from the government and five drawn from
society.
Chairmen
The Government of India accepted that the com-
mittee be co-chaired by a politician and an activ-
ist, non-politician. It is reported that Pranab
Mukherjee, from the political arena, and Shanti
Bhushan, from civil society, will fill those roles.
Government representation (Five Cabinet min-
isters )They are:
Pranab Mukherjee, Finance Minister, Co-Chair-
man;
P. Chidambaram, Minister of Home Affairs;
Veerappa Moily, Minister of Law and Justice;
Kapil Sibal, Minister for Communications and
Information Technology; and
Salman Khursid, Minister of Water Resources.
Civil society representation (Five leading social
activists). They are:
Shanti Bhushan, Former Minister of Law and
Justice, Co-Chairman;
Anna Hazare, Social Activist;
Prashant Bhushan, Lawyer;
N. Santosh Hegde, Lokayukta (Karnataka); and
Arvind Kejriwal.
Thousands of people from all over India, especially
the youth, supported Anna Hazare's cause by candle
light marches and online campaigns through so-
cial media.Recently Yoga guru, Swami Ramdev,
was on a fast for this cause for 9 consecutive days
from 4 June - 12 June 2011. He wanted the Gov-
ernment of India to accept various demands which
mainly included those related to the Lokpall
bill.Anna Hazare on the 8th of June, 2011, declared
that he will restart his fast unto death on the 16th
of August if the Lokpal bill is not passed by the
Parliament of India by 15 August, which is the
Inependence Day of India.On the 16th of June, the
civil society reported that only 15 points of total
71 that they recommended have been agreed to by
the Joint Committee consisting of five central min-
isters. Following differences with the Civil Soci-
ety, the team of five central ministers decided to
forward two drafts of the Lokpal Bill to the Cabi-
net, one from each side.
The Jan Lokpal Bill (Citizen's ombudsman Bill)
is a draft anti-corruption bill drawn up by promi-
nent civil society activists seeking the appointment
of a Jan Lokpal, an independent body that would
investigate corruption cases, complete the inves-
tigation within a year and envisages trial in the
case getting over in the next one year. Drafted by
Justice Santosh Hegde (former Supreme Court
Judge and present Lokayukta of Karnataka),
Prashant Bhushan (Supreme Court Lawyer) and
Arvind Kejriwal (RTI activist), the draft Bill en-
visages a system where a corrupt person found
guilty would go to jail within two years of the com-
plaint being made and his ill-gotten wealth being
confiscated. It also seeks power to the Jan Lokpal
to prosecute politicians and bureaucrats without
government permission.
Salient features of Jan Lokpal Bill:
1. An institution called LOKPAL at the centre and
LOKAYUKTA in each state will be set up.
2. Like Supreme Court and Election Commission,
5
they will be completely independent of the gov-
ernments. No minister or bureaucrat will be able
to influence their investigations.
3. Cases against corrupt people will not linger on
for years anymore: Investigations in any case will
have to be completed in one year. Trial should be
completed in next one year so that the corrupt poli-
tician, officer or judge is sent to jail within two
years.
4. The loss that a corrupt person caused to the gov-
ernment will be recovered at the time of
conviction.
5. How will it help a common citizen: If any work
of any citizen is not done in prescribed time in any
government office, Lokpal will impose financial
penalty on guilty officers, which will be given as
compensation to the complainant.
6. So, you could approach Lokpal if your ration
card or passport or voter card is not being made
or if police is not registering your case or any other
work is not being done in prescribed time.
Lokpal will have to get it done in a month's time.
You could also report any case of corruption to
Lokpal like ration being siphoned off, poor qual-
ity roads been constructed or panchayat funds be-
ing siphoned off. Lokpal will have to complete its
investigations in a year, trial will be over in next
one year and the guilty will go to jail within two
years.
7. But won't the government appoint corrupt and
weak people as Lokpal members? That won't be
possible because its members will be selected by
judges, citizens and constitutional authorities and
not by politicians, through a completely transpar-
ent and participatory process.
8. What if some officer in Lokpal becomes cor-
rupt? The entire functioning of Lokpal/ Lokayukta
will be completely transparent. Any complaint
against any officer of Lokpal shall be investigated
and the officer dismissed within two months.
9. What will happen to existing anti-corruption
agencies? CVC, departmental vigilance and anti-
corruption branch of CBI will be merged into
Lokpal. Lokpal will have complete powers and
machinery to independently investigate and pros-
ecute any officer, judge or politician.
10. It will be the duty of the Lokpal to provide
protection to those who are being victimized for
raising their voice against corruption.
Some people have opined that the Jan Lokpal Bill
is 'Nave' in its approach to combating corruption.
The Lokpal concept was criticized by the Human
Resource Development (HRD) minister Kapil
Sibal because of concerns that it will lack account-
ability, oppresively, and undemocratically.The
claim that the Lokpal will be an extra-constitu-
tional body has been derided by Hazares closest
lieutenant, Arvind Kejriwal. He states the Jan
Lokpal Bill drafted by civil society will only in-
vestigate corruption offences and submit a charge
sheet which would then tried and prosecuted,
through trial courts and higher courts. Kejriwal
further states that the proposed bill also lists clear
provisions in which the Supreme Court can abol-
ish the Lokpal.Although Kejriwal has stated that
all prosecutions will be carried out through trial
courts, the exact judicial powers of LokPal is rather
unclear in comparison with its investigative pow-
ers.
The bill requires "...members of Lokpal and the
officers in investigation wing of Lokpal shall be
deemed to be police officers". Although some sup-
porters have denied any judicial powers of
Lokpal,the government and some critics have rec-
ognized Lokpal to have quasi-judicial powers.The
bill states that "Lokpal shall have, and exercise the
same jurisdiction powers and authority in respect
of contempt of itself as a High court has and may
exercise, and, for this purpose, the provisions of
the Contempt of ourts Act, 1971 (Central Act 70
of 1971) shall have the effect subject to the modi-
fication that the ref rences therein to the High Court
shall be construed as including a reference to the
Lokpal." Review of proceedings and decisions by
6
Lokpal is prevented in the bill, stating "...no proceedings or decision of the Lokpal shall be liable to be
challenged, reviewed, quashed or called in question in any court of ordinary Civil Jurisdiction." With-
out judicial review, there is concern that Lokpal could become a extra-constitutional body with inves-
tigative and judicial powers whose decisions cannot be reviewed in regular courts.
Whether or not to include the Prime Minister and higher judiciary under the Lokpal remains as one of
the major issues of dispute. Although Hazare proposed Justice Verma, the former Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court, as the Chairman of the Lokpal Bill panel,Justice Verma later expressed his constitu-
tional objections for including the Prime Minister and higher judiciary under Lokpal, stating "this
would foul with the basic structure of the constitution".
India is a country where honesty and integrity in public and private life have been glorified andupheld
in great epics such as the Vedas, Upanishads and in the books and practices of everyreligion practiced
here.Yet, India today is one of the most corrupt countries in the world.Bringing public servants under a
scanner which makes them strictly accountable is the start of amovement against corruption in India.
And one significant step in attacking the spectre ofcorruption in India will be the implementation of the
lok pal bill.
In the regular dispensation of government there are implicit and explicit ways that citizens canvoice
their grievances and demand change. But these are often difficult. Within administrative departments,
for example, any decision of one official can be appealed to a higher official, all the way up to the head
Lokpal will have no power to initiate suo motu
action or receive complaints of corruption from
the general public. It can only probe.
Complaints forwarded by the Speaker of the
Lok Sabha or the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
Lokpal will only be an Advisory Body with a
role limited to forwarding reports to a "Compe-
tent Authority".
Lokpal will have no police powers and no abil-
ity to register an First Information Report or pro-
ceed with criminal investigations.
The CBI and Lokpal will be unconnected.
Punishment for corruption will be a minimum
of 6 months and a maximum of up to 7 years.
Lokpal will have powers to initiate suo
moto action or receive complaints of corrup-
tion from the general public.
Lokpal will have the power to initiate
prosecution of anyone found guilty.
Lokpal will have police powers as well as
the ability to register FIRs.
Lokpal and the anti corruption wing of the
CBI will be one independent body.
Punishments will be a minimum of 5 years
and a maximum of up to life imprisonment.
Jan Lokpal Bill
(Citizen's Ombudsman Bill)
Draft Lokpal Bill (2010)
Difference Between Draft Lokpal Bill 2010 and Jan Lokpal Bill
7
of a department. However, this mechanism has inherent flaws.But it can be said that Lokpal is the need
of the hour and it will have to be implemented first ,then only we can decide whether it is fruitful or not.
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Following a spate of protests in countries around the region,
protests broke out in several areas of Libya challenging Col.
Muammar Qaddafis 42-year rule. In late February, as the
governments response to these protests turned increasingly
violent, the UN Security Council responded by passing
Resolution 1970 to impose sanctions on Qaddafi and refer the
situation in Libya to the International Criminal Court (ICC). In
early March, the UN General Assembly suspended Libyas
membership to the Human Rights Council.On March 17th, the
UN Security Council passed Resolution 1973 calling for a no-fly zone to deter the bombardment of
civilian targets by government forces. Resolution 1973 marks the first time the Security Council passed
a resolution to authorize the use of force with an explicit reference to the responsibility to protect.An ad
hoc coalition composed of the US, France, and the UK began implementing the no-fly zone immediately
after the adoption of Resolution 1973. On March 27th, NATO assumed command of the military operation
in Libya. NATO follows Resolution 1973 in banning all flights in Libyan airspace, except those for
humanitarian and aid purposes, to make sure that civilians and civilian populated areas cannot be
subjected to air attack by Qaddafi forces.NATO should develop a civilian casualty tracking, analysis
and response mechanism with personnel in both Naples and in Benghazi. In addition to cataloguing all
available known data, the cell would also recognize and investigate all allegations of civilian casualties,
in anticipation of future development of an amends system.
France announced its official recognition for the Libyan National Council as the
sole representative of the Libyan people and became the first western country to
do so. France also handed over the building of the former Libyan Embassy to
Paris to the Council. It also announced to send an ambassador to Benghazi (Libyas
second largest city) which is the seat of Libyan National Council.The President of
France, Nicholas Sarkozy had presented the global plan on the Crisis in Libya at
an emergency summit of European Union heads of government in Brussels on 11
March 2011. European nations took actions to isolate the regime of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi
with France officially recognising the rebel group in Libya. Britain pressed for the imposition of a no-
fly zone and Germany freezed assets worth billions. Foreign ministers from the G8 failed to reach any
agreement on military intervention in Libya during the two-day summit in Paris. Despite France pushing
for a no-fly zone, G8 nations couldnt reach consensus on the establishment of a no-fly zone against
LIBYAN CRISIS
9
Qadhafis forces in Libya. International conference
called by UK and held at London urged Muammar
Qadhafi to resign as the ruler of Libya. The London
conference in its resolution called for an immediate
ceasefire and to stop all attacks on civilians and
providing full humanitarian access to needy people.
The London conference made a declaration that
the NATO-led military operations would continue
in Libya until the above mentioned requirements
were met.
Russian Angle
The air campaign against Colonel
Gaddafis forces in Libya has had
an unexpected consequence far
from the front lines: it has resulted
in the first distinct manifestation of disagreement
within Russias ruling duo. And the evident
difference in position between President Dmitry
Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has
revealed a fork in the road for Russias foreign
policy. When questions of war and peace are being
decided, powers that aspire to a global role should
occupy a clear position either for, or against. In
the case of Libya, Russia abstained from voting
on the UN Security Council resolution. Abstention
under President Medvedev contradicts Russias
prior strict adherence to a single foreign policy
principle: opposition of foreign interventions in
internal affairs.These days, the Kremlin remains
neutral, although the case of Libya is far more
urgent. As for the real goal of the military
campaign, there should be no illusions: the aim is
regime change. Any scenario that leaves Muammar
Gaddafi in power would be a moral and political
defeat for the West and West-friendly regimes in
the region.
To Moscow, Col Gaddafi is just one of many
partners, and for Russia to jeopardise the current
positive dynamic in relations with the US and the
EU for the sake of Tripoli makes no sense.
Deliberations about lost contracts in Libya are a
waste of breath: given the situation there now, there
would be no more business as usual with the
Libyan ruler anyway. The geopolitical purpose of
Operation Odyssey Dawn for Washington is to stop
the erosion of its influence in the Middle East,
while for Europe it is to prevent the definitive loss
of its international role. If they put a quick end to
the Gaddafi regime they will have achieved their
aim, at least for a while. But if the operation drags
on and requires more than air strikes, which looks
probable, the effect may be just the reverse:
Western influence may plummet in the region. Arab
regimes that supported the action will also be in a
vulnerable position. After the collapse of the Soviet
Union, Moscow was at pains for a long time to
assume or at least imitate the status of a global
power, participating in all decisions on the
international stage. But towards the end of the last
decade, Russia began to see itself not as a likeness
of the former Soviet Union, but as a major and
influential, although regional, power whose vital
interests have definite geographical contours. To
defend its interests, Moscow is ready to use force,
as it did in South Ossetia.Both approaches have
the right to exist, but it would be advisable to pick
one of them and stick to it. Simultaneously
declaring both puts the country in a weak and
ambivalent position, indicating that the Russian
leadership has no mutual understanding and no co-
ordinated policy. This is especially dispiriting at a
time when chaos is only increasing around the
world.
Indias Interests
Along with Russia and China, India
has been critical of the ongoing
western air strikes launched against
Libya on the ground that ordinary
Libyans would be affected and the air attacks
would prove counterproductive to the US
purported humanitarian objective. The External
Affairs Minister, Mr S. M. Krishna, has urged the
western nations, which have imposed a no fly
zone over Libya, to ceasefire and called upon the
Gaddafi regime and the rebel forces to abjure
violence and talk to each other. From an Indian
national security and foreign policy perspective,
the regime in Tripoli needs to be a friendly one
since Libya is an oil rich country and an eternal
10
shock western air attacks or civil war could
affect Indian industrial investments and energy
security interests there. New Delhis stand that air
attacks on Libya must cease is, therefore, grounded
in rational choice and Waltzian realism: Every big
or aspiring power weighs the costs and benefits of
the use of force and that their position on particular
matters in world politics is guided by self-interest.
In Indias case, it was protection of its vital interest
Libyan oil.
Indias national interests in Libya are essentially
economic in nature. Considering an estimated
18,000 Indians who work in that country, it is a
considerable contribution to the remittance
economy and adds to our foreign exchange kitty.
Otherwise, Indian companies, especially in the
hydrocarbon, power, construction and IT sector,
have several ongoing projects in Libya. Besides,
Indian oil majors Indian Oil, Oil India and
ONGC Videsh are increasingly involving
themselves with the Libyan hydrocarbon sector
both in upstream and downstream. Also, BHEL
has successfully completed execution of the
prestigious Western Mountain Gas Turbine Power
Project. Similarly, i-flex Solutions is implementing
a project on core banking solutions with the Central
Bank of Libya and five other banks. Also, over the
past three decades, Indian companies have
executed several projects there. These included
building hospitals, houses, schools, roads, power
plants, airports, dams, transmission lines etc. The
presence of Indian companies in Libya has risen
significantly in the last five years.
This includes major PSUs such as BHEL, OVL,
IOC, Oil India, and private companies such as Punj
Llyod, Unitech Ltd, KEC, Dastur Engineering,
Shapoorji Pallonji International, SECON Pvt Ltd,
Global Steel Ltd (Ispat Group Co.), NIIT, Sun
Pharma, Simplex Projects and Simplex
Infrastructure Ltd. The bilateral trade figures for
2009-10 were at $844.62 million, showing a
significant upward trend since 2004-05, peaking
to $ 1,366.65 million in 2007-08 compared to
$29.12 million in 2003-04.
Today, the western limited liability intervention in
Libya minus boots-on-the-ground aims to provide
the rebels a level-playing field against the more
organised military muscle of Gaddafis forces.
Perhaps, some level of western covert para-military
support like special forces/commandos may be
operationally deployed to advice the rebels on
tactics to adopt against the regimes forces.
Otherwise, the only advantage that the regimes
forces have would be in terms of some superior
weaponry such as shoulder fired rocket propelled
grenades/missile launchers.
Apart from this infantry-support weaponry, the
qualitative difference would be in terms of
command and control of the regimes forces that
in a sense would amount to a force multiplier vis-
a-vis the motley groups of rebels who lack such a
coordinated approach to combat. he ostensible
logic of the US-led western powers to embark on
this two-dimensional military adventure from the
air and sea was only to prevent a carnage of the
rebel forces through neutralisation of Gaddaffis
airpower, tanks and artillery by aerial and naval
bombardment. The opposition to western air strikes
is solely on the grounds that collateral damage
would ensue and innocent citizenry would be hurt
due to flaws in military target acquisit ion
procedures based on inaccurate intelligence inputs.
India abstained from voting in the UNSC and did
not go along with the NATO-EU and Arab League
countries. Clearly, the US anti-dictator policy over
Libya is a contradiction considering Washington
adopted a pro-dictator stance on Bahrain and
supported the Saudi Arabian force deployment to
quell the opposition to the entrenched monarchy
there. Similarly, India also was equally inconsistent
by voting with the western industrial democracies
against Iran in 2009 at the UN, but not doing so
now. But foreign policy and consistency are not
always synonymous with each other; instead,
foreign policy and national interests have to be in
tune with each other.
11
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Expansion of
Central List of OBCs
The Union Cabinet of India approved inclusion of
the names of some castes and communities in the
Central list of other backward classes. The Union
Cabinet gave this approval on the advice of Na-
tional Commission for backward Classes which
asked for amendment in the list of backward
classes. These caste and communities belong to
14 states namely Bihar, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal
Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, West
Bengal, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra
Pradesh and two union territories- Andaman and
Nicobar Islands and Puducherry.The Union Cabi-
net of India also approved a payment security
scheme to make sure that financial closure of
projects under phase-1 of the Jawaharlal Nehru
National Solar Mission.
Legislation to Curb
Honour Killings
The Law Commission headed by Justice P.
Venkatrama Reddi approved the proposed draft
legislation, The Endangerment of Life and Liberty
(protection, prosecution and other measures) Act,
2011 to prosecute persons or a group involved in
honour killings. Law commission member
R.Venkatramni draft ed t he proposed
legislation.The draft legislation prohibits village
elders to interfere with the life and liberty of young
couples who marry as per their choice even if they
belong to the same gotra. According to the legisla-
tion, village elders cannot place these couples in a
hostile environment in the village concerned.As
per the draft legislation, the act of endangerment
of life and liberty will mean and include measures
such as social boycott, forcing people to leave their
homes in the locality and deprivation of the means
of livelihood. However, the law commission
turned down the demand for introducing a clause
in Section 300 of the Indian Penal Code to bring
honour killings under its ambit (Section 300).The
act drafted by the law commission to curb honur
killings was necessary becuase Article 21 of the
Constitution of India clearly states that no person
shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty ex-
cept according to procedure established by law.
Khap Panchayats can't impose their dictats on
young couples.
Remote Sensing
Data Policy
The Union government unveiled a new remote
sensing data policy called the Remote Sensing Data
Policy 2011(RSDP2011) which allows all data of
resolutions up to 1 metre to be distributed on a
non-discriminatory basis. The new policy replaced
the 2001 policy.Apart from opening up the remote
sensing sector, the RSDP 2011 will remove restric-
tions to facilitate more users to get high resolution
data for developmental activities. Restrictions as
per the earlier 2001 policy, was removed. Now
there is no bar on publishing of high resolution,
remote sensing data of up t o one metre
resolution.However, the RSDP stated that all data
of better than 1 metre resolution shall be screened
and cleared by the appropriate agency before dis-
tribution. According to the RSDP2011, the Na-
tional Remote Sensing Centre will be vested with
the authority to acquire and disseminate all satel-
lite remote sensing data in India both from Indian
and foreign satellites for the purpose of develop-
NATIONAL ISSUES
13
ment activities. The RSDP-2011 comes into ef-
fect immediately.
Criticisism of State Governments
for Misusing Provisions of Land
Acquisition
|A Supreme Court bench including Justice GS
Singhvi and Justice AK Ganguly refused to stay
the Allahabad High Court order quashing the no-
tifications for land acquisition in the area adjoin-
ing New Delhi and NCR. The court slammed state
governments for misusing provisions of Land Ac-
quisition Act to divest farmers of their agricultural
land and giving it to builders. The court even ques-
tioned building of hotels, malls and commercial
complexes on land acquired for public purpose.The
bench made an observation that a sinister campaign
has been launched by many state governments to
take advantage of the law against the poor people
for taking away the land and giving it to builders
where multiplexes, malls, posh residential com-
plexes are developed which are beyond the reach
of common men. The bench questioned the change
in land use by Uttar Pradesh government in Greater
Noida.
Extension of
the RSBY Scheme
The Union Cabinet approved extension of the
Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) to all
the registered domestic workers in India. The
scheme will likely cover approximately 47.50 lakh
domestic workers in the country. The RSBY will
provide for smart card based cashless health in-
surance cover of Rs.30000 per annum to BPL
workers (a unit of five) in unorganised sector in
any empanelled hospital anywhere in India. More
than 2.34 crore smart cards were issued on 31 May
2011. The health insurance cover, available to do-
mestic workers in the 18-59 age bracket, will en-
title the beneficiary to cashless treatment at
empanelled hospitals. The beneficiaries will have
to get identification certificates from two of the
four eligible institutions namely- employer, resi-
dents welfare association, registered trade union
or the local police.The scheme has since then been
extended to building and other construction work-
ers registered with Welfare Boards constituted
under the Building and Other Construction Work-
ers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of
Service) Act, 1996, street vendors, beedi workers
and such MNREGA workers who have worked for
more than 15 days during the preceding year.
National Mission for Justice
Delivery and Legal Reforms
Union Cabinet of India approved of a proposal of
the law ministry for a National Mission for Justice
Delivery and Legal Reforms, providing for fast
track courts to clear the backlog in the judicial
system.The objective of the Mission is to increase
access to justice by reducing delays and arrears in
the system and enhance accountability through
structural changes and by setting performance stan-
dards. The objectives are to be achieved in a time
bound manner by 2015-16 through a mission mode
approach. The Mission is planned to have a Mis-
sion Directorate, an Advisory Council and a Gov-
erning Council for overseeing the implementation
of the Mission.
Areas covered : Policy and legislative changes,
re-engineering of procedures, human resource de-
velopment, leveraging ICT and improve physical
infrastructure of subordinate courts. Infrastructure
development is a much needed requirement of the
subordinate judiciary. It aimed to increase access
to justice by reducing delays and arrears and en-
hanced accountability through structural changes
and by setting performance standards. The focus
was on infrastructure development in the courts
through computerisation, improving physical in-
frastructure and human resource development.
The salient features:
The National Mission would comprise of Advi-
sory Council, Governing Council, National Mis-
sion Leader and the Mission Directorate.
The Advisory council is to advise on the goals,
objectives and strategies of the National Mission
and the Action Plan and its implementation and
14
performance of the Mission in meeting its objec-
tives and would be chaired by the Minister for Law
and Justice and would have membership from Par-
liament, State Governments, Jurists & senior of-
ficers of Government of India.
The Governing Council would facilitate imple-
mentation, give policy directions and oversee the
work of the Mission and would be headed by the
Minister for Law and Justice.
The Secretary, Department of Justice would be
the National Mission Leader.
A Mission Directorate would be constituted to
implement and monitor the various initiative/pro-
gram of the National Mission. It would be headed
by an officer of the rank of the Joint Secretary who
would act as the Mission Director.
An Action Plan has been drawn up which would
of course be subjected to change once the Gov-
erning Council meets to set out the agenda.
Inadequacy of infrastructure facilities in Dis-
trict and Subordinate courts has remained a major
bottleneck in the judicial system largely contrib-
uting to the accumulation of arrears. So, a pre-
liminary assessment of requirement of infrastruc-
ture for subordinate courts from the States was also
made.
High-powered Task Force of
Defence Management
The Union government decided to set up a high-
powered task force to review the unfinished tasks
and make further suggestions for implementation
with a view to revamp of defence management in
India. The government arrived at the decision ten
years after the Kargil Review Committee and a
Group of Ministers attempted the first major
revamp.The 14-member task force will be headed
by Naresh Chandra, a former bureaucrat who has
held top administrative jobs in the Ministry of
Defence and Prime Minister's Office. Task force
members include Air Chief Marshal (retd.) S.
Krishnaswamy, Gen. (retd.) V.R. Raghavan, the
former Department of Atomic Energy chief Anil
Kakodkar, Admiral (retd.) Arun Prakash, the
former R&AW head K.C. Verma, the former Union
Home Secretary V.K. Duggal, G. Parthasarathy,
former diplomat, and senior journalist Manoj
Joshi.The panel is expected to start its work on 14
July and has six months to complete its report.The
Naresh Chandra committee will contemporarise
the Kargil Review Committees (KRC) recommen-
dations in view of the fact that 10 years have passed
since the report was submitted. It is also expected
to examine why some of the crucial recommenda-
tions relating to border management and restruc-
turing the apex command structure in the armed
forces have not been implemented. It will look at
the reasons why the post of first among equals
among the three service chiefs in the form of a
Chief of Defence Staff was never created.The for-
mation of the task force marked the first compre-
hensive attempt at reviewing the entire gamut of
defence preparedness and management in a decade.
Salwa Judum is Illegal
and Unconstitutional
Sudershan Reddy and Justice SS Nijjar declared
Salwa Judum as illegal and unconstitutional. The
court ordered the immediate disarming of tribal
youths who are deployed as Special Police Offic-
ers- either as Koya Commandos, Salwa Judum or
any other force- in the fight against the Maoist
insurgency. The court gave the ruling in response
to writ petition filed by social anthropologist
Nandini Sundar and others. The ruling given by
the court indicted the Chhattisgarh state for vio-
lating Constitutional principles in arming youth
who had passed only fifth standard and conferring
on them the powers of police.The bench held that
the policy of the Chhattisgarh state violated the
rights under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution
of those who were employed as SPOs and used in
counter-insurgency measures against Naxalites as
well as of citizens living in the concerned areas.The
bench asked the state of Chhattisgarh to recall all
firearms issued to any of the SPOs. The word fire-
arm means all forms of guns, rifles, launchers etc.
15
India International Institute of
Democracy and Election
Management
The Election Commission of India launched the
India International Institute of Democracy and
Election Management, IIDEM in New Delhi. It is
an advanced resource centre of learning, research,
training and extension for participatory democracy
and election management. The institute is set to
be a national and international hub for exchange
of good practices in election management. It was
inaugurated by the Chief Election Commissioner
Dr. S Y Quraishi at Nirvachan Sadan 17 June
2011.IIDEM is to work for enhancing voter edu-
cation, and developing human resource for effi-
cient conduct of free and fair elections in India.
Along with this it is also set to develop mutually
beneficial partnership with other countries. The
institute has four components. These are (1)
Training and Capacity Development, (2) Voter
Education and Civic Participation, (3) Research,
Innovation and Documentation and (4) Interna-
tional Projects and Technical Collaboration.
Centre for
Social Research Report
The Centre for Social Research (CSR) recently
released a report- Gender dimensions of interna-
tional migration from India and Bangladesh: Im-
pact on the families left behind on 5 August 2010.
The report was based on the study of the socio-
economic impact of migration on 1000 families
from migration pockets of India and Bangladesh
in 2009. In both these countries poverty, better pay
packets, employer relocation, landlessness, aban-
donment/divorce, husband's premature death, edu-
cation and children's dowry payment were the rea-
sons that compelled people mostly women to mi-
grate. Among the total number of people who mi-
grated only a handfull used formal government
migration channels while the majority relied on
informal channels like dalaals and agents. The
study showed that in India, United Arab Emirates
was the most favoured destination of male and fe-
male migrants, followed closely by Saudi Arabia.
Whereas in Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia was the most
preferred, followed by UAE and Kuwait.
India Signed Three Agreements
with the World Bank for
Cleaning the anga River
India signed three agreements with the World Bank
for cleaning the Ganga River on 14 June 2011.
Besides this, the agreement also held for strength-
ening Rural Livelihoods and Biodiversity Conser-
vation of India. The World Bank agreed to pro-
vide one billion US Dollars (approximately Rs
4,600 crore) for the Ganga river cleaning project.
It also agreed for a credit worth approximately 24
million dollars for the two projects, i.e. strength-
ening Rural Livelihoods and Biodiversity Conser-
vation of India. The agreements for the Biodiversity
Conservation and Rural Livelihood Improvement
Project were signed by Mr. Venu Rajamony, Joint
Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Min-
istry of Finance, on behalf of the Government of
India, and Mr. Roberto Zagha, World Bank Coun-
try Director in India in presence of Mr Jairam
Ramesh, Minister Environment and Forests, Gov-
ernment of India.The Ganga faces great challenges
from expanding population, urbanization and in-
dustrial growth. To stop the flow of untreated mu-
nicipal sewage and industrial effluent into the
Ganga river by 2020 is the objective of Ganga
project. The World Bank has been a major finan-
cier of biodiversity projects globally. With the as-
sistance of the World Bank, an empowered and
collaborative body of the Central and state gov-
ernments, National Ganga River Basin Authority
(NGRBA) decided to implement the National
Ganga River Basin Project. The focus of the project
is on (1) building and strengthening the National
Ganga River Basin Authoritys (NGRBA) related
institutions at the Central and state level; (2) es-
tablishing a world-class Ganga Knowledge Cen-
tre; (3) enhancing river basin management; and (4)
financing select priority investments to reduce
point-source pollution in a sustainable manner. A
complete new model of managing the protected
16
areas while safeguarding the livelihoods of local
communities is set to put in place in two protected
areas, one each in Uttarakhand and Gujarat.
Pension Age-limit
for BPL to 60
The Union Cabinet of India lowered the age limit
for the purpose from 65 to 60 years. The decision
taken by the cabinet will be effective from 1 April
2011. It is like to benefit an additional 72.32 lakh
people in the age-group of 60-64 years. The deci-
sion would lead to an additional expenditure of
1736 crore rupees.In 2007, the government had
launched the Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pen-
sion scheme to provide assistance to senior citi-
zens falling in the Below Poverty Line (BPL)
category.The Union Cabinet also decided to raise
the rate of pension to persons of 80 years and above
from 200 rupees to 500 rupees.
Navodaya Vidyalayas outside
the ambit of RTE Act
The Union Law Ministry decided to keep the
Navodaya Vidyalayas in the country outside the
ambit of the Right to Education (RTE) Act. The
decision was reached by the Law Ministry after
hearing out the logic of Human Resource Devel-
opment Ministry and consultation with the Attor-
ney General (AG). The two key provisions of the
RTE Act are- no screening and 25% reservation
for economically weaker sections will not be ap-
plicable to 444 Navodaya Vidyalayas across the
country. The RTE Act states that no screening test
of either children or their parents can be conducted
for admission in any school. Every school will have
to reserve 25 percent seats for the children belong-
ing to economically weaker section. However en-
trance examination is the basis for admission in
Navodaya Vidyalayas, which had refused to admit
children under RTE. Following the refusal of the
Navodaya Vidyalayas to abide by the prescribed
admission procedures, National Commission for
Child Protection had issued notice to Navodaya
Vidyalaya to cancel admission on the basis of en-
trance test.
There are a number of reasons for letting
Navodaya Vidyalayas off the RTE hook:
Navodaya Vidyalayas start from class VI and
not class I.
These schools, located in all districts, have 75%
seats reserved for rural children. Seats are also re-
served for children from SC and ST communities
in proportion to their population in the district, but
not less than the national average.
One-third of the seats are for girl students and
3% of the seats are for disabled children.
Till class IX there is no fee, and from IX to XII,
Rs 200 is charged per month.
CCS Gave Nod for
National Intelligence Grid
Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) chaired by
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, gave its nod for
Nat ional Intelligence Grid (NATGRID).
NATGRID would be a repository of information
ranging from train and air journey to Income Tax
and bank accounts of individuals. NATGRID will
facilitate sharing of such kind of information with
law enforcement agencies to combat terror
threat.The NATGRID will have access to 21 cat-
egories of database like air travel, railway, bank
account details, income tax, credit card transac-
tions, visa and immigration records.
Following the Mumbai terror attack on 26 Novem-
ber 2008, Home ministry had proposed a blue print
for countrys internal security, which included the
formation of NATGRID.
Janani-Shishu
Suraksha Programme
The UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi launched the
Janani-Shishu Suraksha Programme at Mewat in
Haryana. Janani-Shishu Suraksha programme was
sponsored by the Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare. The programme was launched for preg-
nant women with the objective to effectively ad-
dress the problem of maternal and child
mortality.Under the Janani-Shishu Suraksha
17
programme, pregnant mothers can avail govern-
ment health institutions for free deliveries. Both
the mother and her child will get free treatment,
free drugs and consumables, diagnostics, user
charges besides free provision of blood and
transportation.The free facilities will comprise
delivery including C-section, special diet, diagnos-
tics etc.
MPLAD Scheme
Revised
As part of an effort to ensure timely and effective
implementation of works proposed under the
Member of Parliament Local Area Development
Scheme (MPLADS), the Union Government de-
cided to raise the amount to be released in the first
instalment. The MPLADS allow MPs to suggest
works to the Head of District to be taken up in
their constituency.Projects implemented by gov-
ernment agencies would now be provided 75 per
cent of the project cost as the first instalment, while
the ones implemented by non-governmental agen-
cies would be provided 60 per cent. Currently only
50 per cent of the estimated cost is released as the
first instalment, irrespective of the nature of the
project, which led to complaints of delays in
completion.According to Union Minister for Sta-
tistics and Programme Implementation M.S. Gill,
the governments decision is likely to improve the
working of the Scheme as a whole. Conditions
were further relaxed for smaller projects costing
less than Rs.2 lakh. For such small projects the
entire amount would be released at one go.To en-
sure that funds were not spread too thinly, the gov-
ernment decided against sanctioning project cost-
ing less than Rs.1 lakh.The Centre aims at ensur-
ing that the MPLADS funds were utilised fruit-
fully for the benefit of the grassroots, therefore the
basket of works that could be taken up under the
scheme had been widened to include projects such
as the purchase of books for libraries, and ambu-
lances and hearse vans that would be owned and
controlled by district authorities.The scope and ex-
tent of the physical monitoring of completed
projects would also be expanded to cover 400 more
districts.
Highlights of revised MPLADS:
Projects implemented by government agencies
would now be provided 75 per cent of the project
cost as the first instalment.
Conditions relaxed for smaller projects costing
less than Rs.2 lakh.
Projects costing less than Rs 1 lakh will not to
be sanctioned.
Basket of works that could be taken up under
the scheme had been widened to include projects
such as the purchase of books for libraries.
MPs would be allowed to spend up to Rs.10
lakh a year on projects in any State or Union Terri-
tory.
Limit of Rs.50 lakh per annum was imposed on
contributions to trusts and societies.
Scope & extent of the physical monitoring of
completed projects expanded to cover 400 more
districts.
Security Audit
of Nuclear Stations
The Union government of India ordered security
audit of all important installations comprising
nuclear stations, military bases and oil refineries
across the nation. The order was issued after a high-
level meeting held by the Union Home Ministry
following the terrorist attack on a naval base in
Pakistan. A joint-team of local security heads and
Intelligence Bureau will survey and assess the level
of security of the important installations. The se-
curity audit will cover all nuclear plants, oil refin-
eries, Indian Space Research Organisation instal-
lations, military camps and airports.
20 More Districts in the
Naxal-hit states
The Union government of India decided to bring
20 more districts in the Naxal-hit states for declar-
ing more districts as ext reme Left Wing
Extremism(LWE) affected districts. If these dis-
tricts included in the list of LWE-hit distrcts, these
areas will receive special Central funds for infra-
structure and security- related expenses under the
18
Security Related Expenditure scheme. Under this
scheme, districts of Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkahnd
and Orissa will be benefitted. A proposal regard-
ing this was sent by the Union Ministry of Home
Affairs to the Planning Commission. At present,
60 districts receive 25 crore rupees each for the
scheme earmarked by a committee chaired by dis-
trict collector. It has been a long-time demand of
the Naxal-affected states that more districts be
declared LWE.
Diesel is dearer by Rs 3 a litre
& Kerosene by Rs 2 a litre
The Union government on 24 June 2011 decided
to increase the price of diesel by Rs. 3 a litre, kero-
sene by Rs. 2 a litre and domestic LPG by Rs.50 a
cylinder. The government also slashed the Cus-
toms duty on crude oil and all other petroleum
products by five percentage points. The excise duty
on diesel was reduced from Rs. 4.60 a litre to Rs.
2 a litre. As a result of the government decisions a
revenue loss of Rs Rs.49,000 crore was
entailed.The hike in the prices of the three com-
modities will lead to a revenue gain of Rs. 21000
crore to the oil marketing companies (OMCs), that
are currently suffering huge under-recoveries that
are being projected at Rs.170140 crore in 2011-
12. The under-recoveries will now come down to
Rs.1.20 lakh crore.The Trinamool Congress had
opposed any increase in the prices of petroleum
products, especially those of kerosene and
LPG.However Pranab Mukherjee described the
increase in fuel prices as modest. Mukherjee ex-
pressed the hope that the State governments would
reduce their taxes to provide relief to consumers.
Grievance Redressal Portal for
Insurance Policy Holders
SK Sharma, Secretary, Department of Financial
Services, Ministry of Finance launched an online
grievance redressal portal for insurance policy
holders in New Delhi. The portal would offer in-
tegrated grievance management system (IGMS).
The government launched this portal with the ob-
jective of putting in place a proper regulatory
mechanism to protect the interest of insurance
policyholders.Integrated Grievance Management
System (IGMS) is a comprehensive solution which
not only provides a centralized and online access
to the policyholder but also completes access and
control to Insurance Regulatory Development
Authority (IRDA) for monitoring grievance dis-
posal by insurance companies. The system will be
able to assign, store and track unique complaint
IDs and also enable intimation to various stake
holders as needed.
NAC directed the Tribal Affairs
Ministry to consult Jarawas
The National Advisory Council (NAC) directed
the Tribal Affairs Ministry consult the Jarawas, a
primitive tribal group in the Andaman and Nicobar
Islands who are threatened with extinction, before
drafting a policy on their future. The question on
their future revolves around whether they should
continue to live in their pristine habitat, in splen-
did isolation, or be allowed to mingle with the lo-
cal population.NACs concern was raised follow-
ing a recommendation made by the Andaman and
Nicobar Islands administration that as the Jarawas
have already begun mingling with the local popu-
lation, the policy of isolation should end. Earlier
in 2011, the NAC itself had sent an official to the
island to check whether the Jarawas were being
adversely affected by the droves of tourists. There
have been fears of exploitation, including sexual
exploitation of the Jarawas.Sonia Gandhi headed
NAC wanted a full-fledged discussion on the is-
sue regarding the future of Jarawas. Lieutenant
Governor of the Islands, Lt.Gen. (retd.) Bhopinder
Singh, made a presentation on the Jarawa policy
adopted by the government in 2004 and the cur-
rent status of the threatened tribal group.
The Survey of India Report
Submitted
The Survey of India report was submitted to the
submitted to the Supreme Court on 30 April 2010.
The report deals with the mining activities of the
Andhra Pradesh- Karnataka border that involved
19
the Karnataka Cabinet ministers- the Reddy brothers. The report recommended the Andhra Pradesh
government to redraw the leases of all their four mines and continue with the ban on their mining
activities until the demarcation is complete. The report became a cause of concern for the Reddy broth-
ers whose Obulapuram Mining Company has three mining leases and their partnership firm Anantapur
Mining Corporation has one lease in Andhra Pradesh. The boundary pillars in the Reddys mines were
reported missing. Reddys mines extended into Karnataka and overlapped with the mine of rival miner
Bellary Iron Ores Pvt Ltd, belonging to S K Modi.
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20
Germany to Shut its
Nuclear Plants
Germany announced its decision to phase out its
all the nuclear plants by 2022. This decision,
prompted by Japans Fukushima nuclear disaster,
will make Germany the first major industrialized
nation to go nuclear-free.People of Germany are
strongly opposed to nuclear power and took to
streets after Fukushima to urge the government to
shut down all reactors as soon as possible.Germany
(Europes largest economy) is determined to re-
place its nuclear power with renewable energy re-
sources. Energy from wind, solar and hydroelec-
tric power at present produces about 17 percent of
the countrys electricity.The decision taken by the
Germany suggests that there is no such compul-
sion on an industrialised society to meet the en-
ergy needs of economic growth and rising living
standards.
Amendments to
Swiss Banking Secrecy Laws
Swiss parliament gave approval to Switzerlands
amendments to tax treaties with other countries,
including India. This makes easier access for In-
dia, to collect information about the illegal funds
held by the Indian nationals in Swiss private banks.
The Swiss parliament endorsed amendments to
double-taxation agreements (DTAAs) in line with
internationally applicable standards. The benefi-
ciaries from the new amendments include India,
Germany, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, Greece,
Turkey, Uruguay, Kazakhstan, and Poland. These
countries are secured with easy legal assistance and
information. This also allows the countries to iden-
tify an account holder from their own territories
by providing an IBAN number or social security
number. It agreed to adopt its tax code, agreeing
to share information in cases involving tax which
is not a crime under Swiss law.The new amend-
ments to Swiss banking secrecy laws are however
be challenged by a popular referendum within 100
days from its announcement.
French Nationals to Sue Sarkozy
over Crimes in Libya
Two French lawyers have said that they are plan-
ning to sue French President Nicolas Sarkozy
against the Humanity crimes over the military cam-
paign in Libya that was led by NATO. Jacques
Verges and Roland Dumas two of the French law-
yers have decided to represent the families of the
victims during the military campaign. It was said
that the military campaign that was initiated as a
means to protect the civilians was in fact respon-
sible for their killings. The two lawyers said the
military campaign as an inhuman assault against
the common man and a sovereign country, and that
they have decided to defend the victims of the
military campaign. It was said that the two law-
yers have decided to defend the victims of the
NATO bombings because they themselves saw the
aftermath consequences of the bombings when
they visited Libya. Though the western government
has denied any civilian casualties caused during
the NATO bombings, Verges and Dumas have said
that they had seen several such casualties at vari-
ous such hospitals and there are almost 20,000 such
victims.
Constitution (15th Amendment)
Bill, 2011 passed in Bangladesh
The Parliament of Bangladesh, the Jatiyo Sangsad,
passed the Constitution (15th Amendment) Bill,
INTERNATIONAL
ISSUES
21
2011 on 30 June 2011 to amend its constitution
under which the caretaker government system for
holding general elections was scrapped. The bill
which contained 15 proposals was passed by divi-
sion vote with a majority of 291-1. However,
amendments moved by ruling alliance opposing
Islam as the state religion and religion-based poli-
tics were rejected. Islam has been retained as the
state religion alongwith Bismillahi-Ar-Rahman-
Ar-Rahim.The Constitutional amendments incor-
porate strict provisions against military takeovers.
It treats military takeovers as treachery and a sub-
versive act. Parliament has been given power to
hand down maximum penalty to those usurping
state power.The caretaker system was introduced
in 1996 under the 13th amendment to the consti-
tution of Bangladesh. Since then, the general elec-
tions were overseen by non-partisan caretaker gov-
ernments.
10th SCO Summit
The six-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
(SCO) celebrated its 10th anniversary on 15 June
2011 in Astana, the capital city of Kazakhstan, by
summing up its achievements and outlining its
future direction. The six-nation SCO member
states are China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. India, Pakistan and Iran
are with Observer status in the SCO. Indian Ex-
ternal Affairs Minister, SM Krishna attended the
summit.
SCOs Joint Declaration:
The joint declaration of the summit included (1)
establishing an inseparable international security
community to guard information security, (2)
fighting the three evil forces of terrorism, separat-
ism and extremism, and (3) combating drug traf-
ficking. aims they desire in the region for Afghani-
stan i.e. the Afghanistan becomes a geo-strategic
bridge as well as a terror-free zone.
About SCO:
SCO was founded on 15 June 2001.
The SCO was born of the need of sharing the
member countries growing desire to enhance mu-
tual trust, carry out mutually beneficial coopera-
tion and address challenges through joint efforts.
UN launched Drive
for Sustainable Sanitation
The United Nations launched a drive, Sustainable
sanitation: The Five-Year-Drive to 2015 to accel-
erate progress towards the goal of halving the
proportion of the population without access to ba-
sic sanitation by 2015. The drive was established
by the General Assembly in a resolution adopted
in December 2010 that called on Member States
to redouble efforts to close the sanitation gap, one
of the eight Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) that world leaders have pledged to achieve
by 2015.The UN had recognised access to sanita-
tion as a human right, a basic service required to
live a normal life. However despite the recogni-
tion, some 2.6 billion people or half the popula-
tion in the developing world still lack access to
improved sanitation.Sanitation is an unpopular
subject though it is an extremely sensitive issue.
The UN resolution of December 2010 had called
for an end to open defecation, the most dangerous
sanitation practice for public health and one prac-
tised by over 1.1 billion people who have no ac-
cess to facilities
Pakistan gets Chinese
Aid Against the US Raids
After the killing of the deadly terrorist Osama Bin
Laden, US have accused Pakistan Government for
harbouring the deadly terrorist for many years.
Now by doubling its military attacks on Pakistan
the US wants to enter into the sphere thats influ-
enced by the Chinese Government. But in retalia-
tion to the Obama Administration the Chinese gov-
ernment has again lend a helping hand towards
Pakistan by providing air arsenal and even warned
the US government that any sort of attack on Pa-
kistan would considered as an inhuman and un-
friendly attack on the Chinese government too. The
Chinese government has clearly said that any at-
tack on Pakistan will be considered as an attack
against China which will not be tolerated. This is
22
the 1st such blunt ultimatum for the US govern-
ment after the Soviet warning during the crisis in
Berlin in the year 1958-1961.
Yingluck Shinawatra to
Become the PM of Thailand
Yingluck Shinawatra from the Pheu Thai (PT)
party, had a stunning victory aginst her opposition
party, Democrat Party in Thailands election . She
is all set to become Thailands first female Prime
Minister. Pheu Thai was backed by exiled former
Premier of Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra.
Yingluck Shinawatra is Thaksins youngest sister.
Yingluck Shinawatra was a run-of-the-mill busi-
nesswoman by profession.The election commis-
sion of Thailand announced on 4 July 2011 that
Pheu Thai won an outright majority, taking 265 of
500 seats in the Thai parliament. The ruling Demo-
crat Party took just 159 seats, down from the 170
which they occupied in the Abhisit Vejjajivas
rulling assembly of 480 seats.
Arrest Warrant for Muammar
Gaddafi
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest
warrant for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, his
son Saif al-Islam and Libyan intelligence chief
Abdullah al-Senussi on charges of crimes against
humanity. The warrant was issued for them for
orchestrating the killing, injuring, arrest and im-
prisonment of hundreds of civilians during the first
12 days of unrest and for trying to cover up the
alleged crimes. It was felt that Gaddafi and com-
pany needed to be arrested so as to prevent them
covering up ongoing crimes and committing new
crimes. Presiding judge Sanji Mmasenono
Monageng declared that Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was
accused of conceiving and orchestrating a plan to
deter and quell by all means the civilian demon-
strations.
President of Yemen
Left Country
President of Yemen Ali Abdullah Saleh left for
Saudi Arabia for medical treatment and thus ended
his 33-year rule over the nation. On 3 June 2011
he was injured in a rocket attack by the rival
group.It created a political vacuum and a hope for
the pro-democracy movement to achieve its ob-
jective. But at the same time it will fuel violence
in the country because it is divided into armed
tribes and to unify them under one command wont
be an easy task.
IAEA Called for
Action on Nuclear Safety
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
in a concluding session of an international minis-
terial conference in Vienna on 24 June 2011 ex-
pressed urgency to take appropriate action on the
basis of lessons from the civil nuclear accident at
the quake-and-tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi
plant in Japan.Amid rising global consensus, the
authorities in Fukushima prefecture announced
plans to distribute dosimeters to schoolchildren to
continuously monitor their exposure to nuclear
radiation at the grassroots and take follow-up ac-
tion.
Parents however continued to express concern over
the public health hazard their children were ex-
posed to since the March 11 accident.In the mean
while a Chinese research ship was detected within
the Japanese exclusive economic zone. In this re-
gard, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano
mentioned that China should have first contacted
Japan about any radiation concerns even if the ship
was sent for collecting seawater samples in that
regard.IAEA promised widespread support for the
systematic review of the safety of all nuclear power
plants.The Ministers of the IAEA member-states
also recognised the need for a global nuclear li-
ability regime for appropriate compensation in the
event of a nuclear accident.
23
US Decided to pull-out
Troops from Afghanistan
US President Barack Obama set in motion a sub-
stantial withdrawal of American troops in an ac-
knowledgment of the shifting threat in the region
and the political and economic challenges in a war-
weary America. He announced that the United
St ates had largely achieved it s goals in
Afghanistan. Obama announced plans to withdraw
10000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2011.
The remaining 20000 troops from the 2009 surge
would leave by 2012 summer, amounting to about
a third of the 100000 troops in the country. The
pullout will continue at a steady pace until secu-
rity is handed over to Afghan authorities in 2014.
The withdrawals would signal the end of the
militarys counterinsurgency strategy adopted 18
months ago.
Syria's President
Recommended Reforms
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad proposed hold-
ing of a national dialogue that will recommend
sweeping reforms aimed at transforming the po-
litical landscape.It was declared that people from
all walks of life would participate in the national
dialogue, organised around committees, and rec-
ommendations would be made within 30 to 60
days.The Syrian President pledged his commitment
to fundamental reforms, including the drafting of
a new Constitution. The changes would cover the
political arena and would create greater media
freedoms.While speaking on the on-going protests,
Assad said the demonstrations comprised three
core sets of people: those who were peaceful and
had legitimate demands, those who were vandals
and outlaws and radical and blasphemous intel-
lectuals.
Germany Announced Easing of
Export Control Laws for India
Germany announced easing of export control laws
for India. The new laws$allow India, accessing
dual use items, marking a major development that
is beneficial in the expansion of the nuclear en-
ergy sector. Previously India was removed from
the list of countries subject to national export con-
trol restrictions.
The new norms allow Germany to treat India just
like any other EU countries. India had approached
Germany in 2010 to relax export control laws to
allow high technology trade with it. And in May
2011 Germany modified its export control legisla-
tion vis--vis India. Germany repealed their restric-
tions for the export of goods for nuclear power
plants in the same announcement.
Approval of the
Constitutional Reforms Moroco
People of Morocco approved the constitutional
reforms which is expected to bring democratic re-
forms in the country.According to an official esti-
mate, 98 percent of voters on the day of referen-
dum voted to approve the constitutional reforms,
with a 72 percent of the 13 million registered vot-
ers casting their votes.King of Morocco,
Mohammed VI had announced his proposed re-
forms in June 2011 according to which his power
would be limited while strengthening the prime
ministers office and the parliament.However, the
critics said the new constitution has not limited
the power of Mohammed because he can still
choose the Prime Minister from the party that won
the elections and continue to oversee the Moroccos
judiciary, security apparatus and religious matters.
The UN-HABITAT Report
According to the UN-HABITAT report on the State
of the World Cities 2010/2011: Bridging the Ur-
ban Divide, Governments across the world worked
collectively to lift 227 million people out of slum
conditions, surpassing the Millennium Develop-
ment target by 2.2 times. India was applauded for
bettering the lot of 59.7 million, therefore the pro-
portion of people living in slum conditions came
down from since 2000 from 41.5 per cent in 1990
to 28.1 per cent in 2010 in India.
24
The World in 2050 Report
According the report, The World in 2050 by PricewaterhouseCoopers, India can be expected to be the
fastest growing large economy in the world over the period to 2050. Indias share of global GDP,
measured at market exchange will rise to around 13 per cent, from 2 per cent in 2009. India will
overtake all G7 countries except the US, to become the world's third largest economy with a projected
GDP of $31313 billion. China, currently the world's third largest economy is estimated to move to the
No. 1 spot by 2040, with an estimated GDP of $51180 billion by 2050. PwC however warned that India
will only achieve this performance if it maintains a prudent fiscal policy as well as continues to open up
to foreign trade and investment, and further invest in transport and energy infrastructure, and
education.India's growing young population will spur its growth while China's rapidly aging popula-
tion will lead to its rate of gain. The Chinese economy will be 35 per cent larger than the US by 2050.
Russia will also be adversely affected by its shrinking working age population, and will be the slowest
of the E7 countries.The World in 2050 report provides a strikingly gloomy picture for the G7 nations of
France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, US and Canada. The combined economies of the so-called E-7
group of countries, comprising India, China, Brazil, Mexico, Russia, Indonesia and Turkey is expected
to be 64 per cent larger than the G7 by 2050. Dependence on European and American export markets
will pose a problem for the G7 nations.Among the countries likely to see the biggest falls is Australia,
which could fall off the top 20 ranking. Also Britains ranking will dip from sixth to ninth position
(measured by MER) will be accentuated by its over-dependence on the EU and US as trading partners.

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25
India-Malaysia CECA
The India-Malaysia Comprehensive Economic
Cooperation Agreement (CECA) will be effective
from 1 July 2011. India-Malaysia CECA is Indias
fourth bilateral Comprehensive Economic Coop-
eration Agreement, after Singapore, Japan and
South Korea. The CECA envisages liberalization
of trade in goods, trade in services, investments
and other areas of economic cooperation.Under
India-Malaysia CECA, the items on which India
has got market access from Malaysia include
basmati rice, mangoes, eggs, trucks, motorcycles
and cotton garments, which are all items of con-
siderable export interest to India. At the same time,
India has provided adequate protection for sensi-
tive sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, textiles,
chemicals, auto, etc.The India-Malaysia CECA
also facilitates cross-border investments between
the two countries. The CECA creates favourable
conditions for the business communities of both
countries t o increase bilat eral trade and
investment. Trade between India and Malaysia
reached 10 billion US dollars in 2010-11, an in-
crease of 26 percent from the year 2009-10.
Chinese Currency
Renminbi in Srilanka
The Sri Lankan Central Bank Monetary Board on
27 June 2011 announced that Chinese Renminbi
would be included in the list of designated curren-
cies permitted for international transactions
through banks in Sri Lanka. People can now trans-
act in Renminbi (for cross-border transactions)
with banks authorized for such transactions. The
other currencies in the designated list are Cana-
dian dollar, Australian dollar, New Zealand dol-
lar, US Dollar, Hong Kong Dollar, Singapore dol-
lar, Danish kroner, Euro, Norwegian kroner, Brit-
ish pound sterling, Swiss franc, Swedish kroner
and Japanese yen.The Sri Lankan Monetary board
reasoned that China was a leading player in inter-
national trade had economic connections with
many countries. Recently, the Renminbi has
evolved as a globally acceptable currency. Besides,
Sri Lanka too has an increasing volume of trade
and investment transactions with China.
Christine Lagarde
is Chief of IMF
Christine Madeleine Odette Lagarde was the first
woman ever to become minister of Economic Af-
fairs of a G8 economy, and is the first woman to
ever head the IMF. She is a notable antitrust and
labour lawyer.Lagarde first made history as the first
female chair of the international law firm Baker &
McKenzi. Her personal interest in European af-
fairs led her to open the European Law Centre, an
office of Baker & McKenzie in Brussels exclu-
sively dedicated to the practice of European Union
law.On 16 November 2009, The Financial Times
ranked her the best minister of finance of the
Eurozone. In 2009, Lagarde was ranked the 17th
most powerful woman in the world by Forbes
magazine. Lagarde became president of the glo-
bal strategic committee in 2004.
Golden Peacock Environment
Management Award
for 2011 to SAIL
Maharatna Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL)
received the prestigious Golden Peacock Environ-
ment Management Award for the year 2011. The
award was presented to SAIL in recognition of its
ECONOMY ISSUES
26
initiatives and achievements in the field of envi-
ronment management. In the last four years the
company succeeded in reducing particulate emis-
sions by 52%, specific water consumption by 11%
and specific energy consumption by 5%, and in-
creased solid waste utilisation by 18%. SAIL in
accordance with the National Environment Policy,
built a management system at its different plants
and units for further environmental protection, in-
cluding acquisition of cert ification under
ISO:14001. All major units of SAIL, covering both
production and service departments, are ISO:14001
accredited. In addition, the townships of Bhilai,
Rourkela and Salem Steel Plants have also been
certified to ISO:14001.SAIL effectively adopted
waste minimisation strategies, including conser-
vation at source, recovery and recycling, to man-
age the wastes associated with steel making. Ex-
tensive afforestation programmes have been car-
ried out by the company in all its plants and mines
to develop sinks for absorbing air and noise
pollution.SAIL spent nearly Rs. 90 lakh on a
programme for ecological restoration of degraded
eco-systems over a period of five years up to 2010.
The Golden Peacock Awards, instituted by the In-
stitute of Directors, New Delhi, are presented an-
nually under various categories.The winners of the
Golden Peacock Awards for 2011 were finalised
by a jury headed by Justice P.N. Bhagwati, former
Chief Justice of India and Member, UN Human
Rights Commission, and presented on the occa-
sion of the 13th World Congress on Environment
Management.
Delhi Cabinet Waived
VAT on Increased Price of Diesel
The Delhi Cabinet on 27 June 2011 decided to
waive VAT on the increased price of diesel to pro-
vide 37 paise per litre benefit to consumers. The
government also offered Rs.40 per cylinder sub-
sidy on cooking gas to 4.50 lakh families under
the Below Poverty Line and Antyodaya Anna
Yojana (AAY) scheme.Union Finance Minister
Pranab Mukherjee's had requested all the State
Governments to lower Value Added Tax on oil
products to reduce the impact of the hike in diesel,
LPG and kerosene prices announced by the Cen-
tre. Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit announced the
marginal reduction in diesel price in Delhi and the
subsidy on cooking gas for the poorest of the fami-
lies in response to the finance ministers plea.Delhi
currently levies 12.5 per cent VAT on diesel in
comparison to neighbouring Haryana's 8.8 per
cent.Delhi Government would not levy any VAT
on the increased price of diesel. So the price of
diesel, which stood at Rs.37.75 prior to the hike,
would only increase by Rs.3 to Rs.40.75. The 37
paise VAT which the Government had levied tak-
ing the selling price to Rs.41.12 was cancelled.
Therefore diesel would sell at Rs.40.75 per
litre.The Chief Minister said the Cabinet has also
decided to grant a substantial relief to BPL and
AAY families in respect of LPG cylinders. The
earlier price of LPG was Rs.345.35 per cylinder
and after increase of Rs.50 the price of a LPG cyl-
inder had gone up to Rs.395.35. The Delhi Gov-
ernment has decided to provide a subsidy of Rs.40
on every 14.2 kg LPG cylinder. This would ben-
efit nearly 4.50 lakh BPL families and about 1 lakh
AAY families in Delhi.
Indias Rating for
Foreign & Local Currency Debt
Outlook upgraded
International credit rating agency DBRS in June
2011 upgraded Indias long term foreign and local
currency debt outlook from negative to stable.
Indias long term foreign and local currency debt
outlook was upgraded in view of robust policy
framework and ongoing reforms.The upgrade is
mainly on account of the governments stronger
commitment on reducing fiscal deficit and possi-
bility of a new Direct Tax Code that will contrib-
ute in enhanced efficiency in tax.DBRS mentioned
that the Indian government was addressing the
countrys infrastructure deficit by spending $514
billion, or 9 per cent of GDP, on infrastructure
between 2007-2012, and an additional $1 trillion
from 2013-2017, approximately one-half of which
may come from the private sector and public-pri-
vate partnerships.The rating agency raised the out-
look for the first time since it started rating the
27
India in June 2007 though it has cautioned against
the high debt ratios.
RBI extended
10 % Ceiling of Bank Investment
in Liquid Schemes of Mutual Funds
The Reserve Bank of India on 5 July 2011 extended
the 10 per cent ceiling of bank investment in liq-
uid schemes of mutual funds to include short-term
debt funds. Bank investment in debt schemes of
mutual funds with weighted average maturity of
portfolio of not more than one year, would be sub-
jected to the cap.
The RBI in its Monetary Policy Statement for 2011-
12 had directed banks to cap their investments in
the liquid schemes of mutual funds at 10 per cent
of their net worth.The central bank noted that with
a view to ensuring a smooth transition banks which
have investments in these schemes of mutual funds
in excess of the 10% limit, could comply with this
requirement at the earliest but not later than six
months from 5 July 2011.RBIs decision to extend
the ceiling was aimed at ensuring a smooth transi-
tion. Banks which already have investments in liq-
uid schemes of mutual funds in excess of the 10
per cent limit, are allowed to comply with this re-
quirement at the earliest but not later than six
months from the date of this circular.
RBI pointed out in the money policy statement that
banks investments in liquid schemes of mutual
funds grew manifold and that liquid schemes con-
tinued to rely heavily on institutional investors such
as commercial banks whose redemption require-
ments are likely to be large and simultaneous. The
RBI opined that money which was circularly mov-
ing between banks and the debt-oriented mutual
funds (DoMFs) could potentially lead to systemic
risk. Banks normally put in their surplus funds in
liquid schemes of mutual funds, which invest in
short-term debt schemes of duration of less than a
year. Such schemes give banks higher returns
within a short period.
FDI in May 2011 Inflows Jumped
111 per cent at $4.664 Billion
According to the Finance Ministrys data released
on 4 July 2011, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
in India saw an unprecedented growth in May with
the inflows jumping nearly 111 per cent at $4.664
billion, the second highest FDI inflow in any month
in the last 11 years. According to a statement re-
leased by the ministry of commerce, FDI in April-
May 2010 had stood at $2.213 billion.During the
first two months of the current fiscal 2011-12 the
foreign direct investments in the country stood a
whopping increased of around 77 per cent as
against the inflow during the corresponding pe-
riod in 2010.Recent investments like $7 billion BP-
Reliance tie-up are indicative of a positive trend.
Vodafone's purchase of Essar's stake of around $5
billion is also an indicator of continuing investor
confidence in India. The recent trend of dip in FDI
inflows thus appears to have been reversed in the
current financial year.
The last fiscal witnessed a 25 per cent dip in FDI
inflows amid uneven global recovery from the re-
cession of 2008. A slew of measures were taken
by the government to arrest the fall and boost in-
vestor confidence started showing results. Also the
approvals given to Posco and to the Cairn-Vedanta
acquisition are also likely to further increase FDI
in 2011.The ministry clarified foreign investment
rules in a move to ease the regulatory burden for
the government while at the same time simplified
the procedures as well.
As per the revised rules, only proposals involving
total FDI of more than Rs 1,200 crores would be
required to be placed before Cabinet Committee
on Economic Affairs (CCEA) for approval.The
increase in FDI inflow in May 2011 represents an
increase of nearly 111 per cent over the FDI equity
inflows of $2.213 billion received in the same
month in 2010.
28
Recommendation to Make
CEIB a Nodal Agency
The committee set up to review the role and struc-
ture of Central Economic Intelligence Bureau
(CEIB) recommended that the CEIB maintain a
national database of economic offences investi-
gated by various agencies at the Centre and in
states. Maintenance of national database by CIEB
will ensure effective coordination among the vari-
ous enforcement and regulatory agencies. The four
member committee to study the role of CEIB was
set up in March 2011 by the Finance Ministry and
was headed by S. S. Khan, retired member, Cen-
tral Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).The Union
government opined that in the face of growing
complexity and sophistication of economic of-
fences better collaboration among various agen-
cies is required for combating tax evasion and other
serious economic offences.The panel also recom-
mended a hub and spoke structure between the
CEIB and enforcement agencies at the central and
state levels with the CEIB as the nodal agency for
better collection and dissemination of financial
intelligence. The agencies will be expected to share
information with the CEIB, which, in turn, will
collate and analyze the data and provide an over-
all picture to the government. The sharing of in-
formation will enable CEIB to provide back-end
support, linkages and insights harnessing the power
of databases and data analytics to the agencies. The
committee also recommended a series of steps to
empower and modernise the CEIB and equip it
with IT enabled tools to effectively perform its role
in the changing economic scenario.
25 Lakh Penalty on Citibank
The Reserve Bank of India on 4 July 2011 imposed
a penalty of 25 lakh on Citibank for violation of
anti money laundering (AML) and know your cus-
tomer norms. The violation of normsby Citibank
had led to 400-crore fraud at one of its branches in
Gurgaon. According to the central bank, the fail-
ure in following the KYC/AML guidelines while
opening accounts led to the perpetration of a fraud
at its Gurgaon branch.A Citibank employee,
Shivraj Puri, in December 2010 was accused of
luring 40 high net-worth individuals and corpo-
rate entities to invest in bogus investment schemes,
promising returns beyond normal securities avail-
able in the market while diverting funds to wager-
ing in the stock market. Puri also duped the
Munjals-controlled Hero group to invest close to
200 crore in the sham investment scheme that
promised a high rate of return.The central bank
had issued a show cause notice to the bank on 21
April 2011, with a possible penalty of 50 lakh, in
response to which the bank submitted a written
reply dated 6 May 2011.After a personal hearing
on 7 June 2011 with RBI, it was concluded that
violations were substantiated and warranted im-
position of the penalty.The wealth management
business of banks has been under the regulatory
scanner.
RBI permitted Re-financing
of Foreign Currency
Convertible Bonds
The Reserve Bank of India on 4 July 2011 allowed
refinancing of redemption of foreign currency con-
vertible bonds (FCCBs) by allowing firms to raise
fresh overseas borrowing under the automatic
route. The measure is aimed at helping Indian com-
panies repay loans taken under bonds (FCCBs).The
RBI permitted Indian companies to raise fresh ex-
ternal commercial borrowings (ECB)/FCCB as per
the extant ECB guidelines under the automatic
route to refinance their outstanding FCCBs. The
amount of fresh ECB/FCCB should not exceed the
outstanding redemption value at maturity of the
outstanding FCCBs. The central bank observed
that companies could raise money through ECBs
provided the stipulated average maturity period and
applicable all-in-cost was as per the extant ECB
guidelines.
ECB Guidelines: The fresh ECB/FCCB shall not
be raised six months prior to the maturity date of
the outstanding FCCBs. The RBI also mentioned
in its notification that adding that the purpose for
raising the loans have to clearly mentioned while
29
obtaining the registration number from the bank.
ECB/FCCB beyond $500 million for the purpose
of redemption of the existing FCCB will be con-
sidered under the approval route. ECB/FCCB
availed of for the purpose of refinancing the exist-
ing outstanding FCCB will be considered as part
of the limit of $500 million available under the
automatic route as per the extant norms.The re-
structuring of FCCBs that involve a change in the
existing conversion price would not be permissible.
The central bank has asked banks to monitor the
end-use of funds.
Buyback of Foreign Currency
Convertible Bonds Extended
The RBI decided had on 30 June 2011 extended
the buyback of foreign currency convertible bonds
till March 2012. The earlier deadline was to ex-
pire on 30 June 2011. The RBIs move is expected
to benefit several companies facing severe fund-
ing problems for buyback due to lacklustre equity
markets. FCCBs issued by them are trading at big
discounts, making buyback an expensive proposi-
tion.
In its Financial Stability Report, the RBI estimated
that FCCBs worth Rs 31,500 crore would mature
in March 2013 and a major chunk of these may
not be converted into equity, the current stock
prices of issuing companies being significantly
below their conversion prices.According to the
RBI, during the three financial years in 2005-06
to 2007-08, Indian firms raised foreign capital
through FCCBs which were very popular at the
time. The conversion price on such bonds was 25-
150 per cent higher than the prevailing stock price
at the time of issuance and they carried zero or
very low coupons.FCCB proceeds were meant for
overseas acquisition (19 per cent) and import of
capital goods (16 per cent) as per returns filed by
firms.
Machendranathan
Committee Suggestions
A high-powered committee of the steel ministry
headed by additional secretary S Machendranathan
suggested that the state-run mineral giant NMDC
should fix its iron ore prices on a quarterly basis
for its domestic buyers. NMDC should benchmark
the price at which it exports to Japan and South
Korea.The committees suggestion is likely to trig-
ger resentment among the steel producers, who
have been lately demanding re-alignment of
NMDCs prices either on cost-plus basis or leav-
ing it to supply and demand forces.The committee
however rejected the demand on both counts. It
opined that cost-plus methodology (on the basis
of production cost along with some profit margins)
used for commodities sold under the administered
price mechanism, is not applicable to iron ore since
its distribution and pricing is free of government
control.The committee found no merit in ore prices
being determined by the forces of supply and de-
mand.
It reasoned that with production levels touching
30 million tonnes, it could not depend on spot
markets as it needs continuous and assured lifting
of its produce to sust ain the extraction
levels.NMDC exported over 12 per cent of its out-
put last year and will export fines (little over 62
per cent iron content) at over Rs 8,000 a tonne. It
had raised prices of iron-ore fines for domestic steel
companies by 35 per cent to Rs 2500 a tonne.The
high level committee recommended that the prices
settled by NMDC with its Japanese and South
Korean buyers were the most reliable and trans-
parent benchmark for settling prices with its do-
mestic consumers. It also suggested that NMDC
be allowed to negotiate quarterly prices with its
domestic customers as it does with its overseas
customers. In case of change of periodic prices both
groups of customers are to be treated on par. The
panel endorsed the decision of NMDC Board on
deducting export duty from export prices in order
to bring prices in line with those prevailing in do-
mestic markets.Reacting to a suggestion of steel
makers, NMDC mentioned that deducting service
30
charges paid to Minerals and Metals Trading Cor-
poration (MMTC), the canalising agency, from the
Freight On Board (FOB) realisation to calculate
net sales realisation was untenable.
Extention for Tax Incentive
Scheme for Exporters
The government of India extended the tax incen-
tive scheme for exporters, Duty Entitlement Pass
Book (DEPB), from 30 June 2011 to 30 Septem-
ber 2011. This was done to benefit the exports sec-
tor. Under the 14-year-old DEPB scheme, the gov-
ernment spends annually about 8,500 crore rupees
for re-reimbursing exporters on the taxes paid on
import equivalent content of export
products.About 60 per cent of the funds under the
DEPB goes to exporters in the chemical and engi-
neering sectors. During April-May of the fiscal
2011-12, India's exports increased by 45.3 per cent
to 49.8 billion US dollars in value terms.
New Food Security Bill in line
with NACs Recommendation
The food ministry prepared a new food security
bill, reworking an earlier version. In August 2010
the UPA government had dismissed the previous
draft of the Food Bill after it was found wanting
by the Congress leadership.The Sonia Gandhi-led
National Advisory Council, which oversees the
governments welfare agenda, had made number
of recommendations, including keeping the
countrys food distribution system open for all,
regardless of poverty status. PM Manmohan Singh
had asked his Economic Advisory Council (EAC),
led by C Rangarajan, to find out the financial im-
plications of the NACs recommendations.Even
though the EAC had suggested restricting cheap
grains to priority households only, or those below
the poverty line (BPL), the new bill provides for
legal entitlement for both priority and general cat-
egories, which takes care of a key concern of the
NAC. Under the new bill, entitlements for BPL
households are wholly in line with the NACs draft
food bill which was made public on 7 June
2011.All BPL households would be given 7 kg per
person or 35 kg per family of government-held
grains at a subsidised price of R1 a kg for millet,
wheat for R2 a kg and rice for R3 a kg.Those above
the poverty line would get 3 kg of grains per per-
son, though the NAC had recommended 5 kg per
person. These would be available at half the price
at which the government buys from farmers, also
called minimum support price (MSP).The new bill
also provides for cash benefits to meet enhanced
food requirements of pregnant women, who would
get Rs 1000 for first six months of pregnancy, and
lactating women, as well as children up to 14
years.The new requirements indicate that the
governments expenses on distributing cheap
grains is expected to rise from Rs 83000 crore to
Rs 1 lakh crore and it will have to procure 10 mil-
lion more tonnes of foodgrains.
Gopinath Committee
Suggestions
Committee on Small Savings headed by RBI
Deputy Governor Shyamala Gopinath on 7 June
2011 suggested raising interest rates on Post Of-
fice savings bank deposits to 4 per cent. The com-
mittee recommended linking returns on other small
savings schemes with interest rates on government
securities. It went on to suggest that Kisan Vikas
Patra (KVP) be withdrawn and the annual
investme.nt limit for the popular Public Provident
Fund (PPF) be raised to Rs.1 lakh from Rs.70000
at present.The committee recommended that in-
terest rates for Post Office savings deposits be
raised to 4 per cent from 3.5 per cent at present, in
line with the Reserve Bank's decision to hike rates
on savings bank deposits.Under the new formula,
suggested by the committee, small savings
schemes would provide better returns to investors.
Interest rate for one-year deposit scheme would
go up to 6.8 per cent from 6.25 per cent, while
returns for the PPF would improve to 8.2 per cent
from 8 per cent.The committee mentioned with
regard to taxing returns on the small savings
schemes that the issue should be considered by the
government while firming up the Direct Taxes
Code, which seeks to replace the Income-tax Act,
31
1961. Given that the small savings schemes are
agent-driven, the committee suggested that the
commission on them should be gradually reduced
from 4 per cent to 1 per cent. While recommend-
ing a raise in the interest rate on savings deposits
by 50 basis points to 4 per cent, the panel notified
that the Centre should introduce the system of cal-
culation of interest rate on a daily basis on post
office schemes as is being done by banks.
Committee on Natural Resources
Allocation called for Creation of
National Coal Market
A committee on natural resources allocation on 6
June 2011 called for the creation of a national coal
market to ensure greater transparency in the allo-
cation of the dry fuel and reduce the demand-sup-
ply mismatch.The committee pointed out the draw-
backs of the existing allocation mechanism for the
dry fuel. The committee headed by former Finance
Secretary Ashok Chawla recommended establish-
ing a national coal market by creating a platform
for commercial trading of coal by suppliers and
buyers. The committee suggested use of experi-
ence gained through the e-auction platform to cre-
ate a common one for all buyers and suppliers,
including the captive allotees that are permitted to
sell.The committee highlighted that introduction
of both captive mining and e-auctions were right
steps taken in the direction of moving toward mar-
ket-based allocation, the committee.The commit-
tee is of the opinion that it should be mandatory
for all sales in coal by the permitted entities to be
registered with the platform and pay a standard
fee, with details of price and mature of contract
and grade of coal transacted.The formation of a
platform like the national coal market will facili-
tate a gradual evolution of established prices and
terms of contract. The platform would ensure lower
prices of the fossil fuel, since competition from
imported coal would always act as an overall
check.The operation of the platform, which would
be owned by Coal India and register all approved
users, could be regulated by the proposed coal
regulator.According to the committee the current
mismatch between supply and demand of coal in
India can be attributed to lack of sufficient inter-
faces between consumers and producers.
Guidelines for
Public Financial Institutions
The Union government on 3 June 2011 amended
guidelines for Public Financial Institutions (PFIs)
permitting private companies, primarily engaged
in infrastructure funding, to attain the status of a
PFI as well as seek tax and other benefits.
Under the new guidelines for Public Financial In-
stitutions notified by the Ministry of Corporate
Affairs, any company which has been in existence
for more than three years and earns more than 50
per cent income from industrial and infrastructural
financing can opt to be a PFI.
The following are the revised guidelines:
A company should be established under a spe-
cial Act or the Companies Act;
The companys main business should be indus-
trial/ infrastructural financing;
The company must be in existence for at least 3
years and their financial statement should show
that their income from the area exceeds 50 per cent
of their income.
The companies should have a net-worth of Rs
1,000 crore and should be registered as a infra-
structure finance company with the RBI or as a
housing finance company. As per the earlier guide-
lines, companies were needed to fulfil just two
criteria for qualifying as a PFI: The company had
to established or constituted by or under any Cen-
tral Act, or if the government held more than 51
per cent of the paid-up share capital of such insti-
tution.
The ministry highlighted while issuing new guide-
lines that in case of central public sector undertak-
ings, the restrictions would not apply with respect
to financing specific sector(s) and net-worth.The
PFIs enjoy certain benefits under the Companies
Act, Recovery of Debts due to Banks and FIs Act,
and the Income Tax Act, among others. The PFI
status helps companies to raise funds by issuing
32
bonds to insurance companies, provident funds,
mutual funds and RNBCs.
Google Launched its Mapping
Service Street View in Bangalore
Google launched its popular but controversial
mapping service Street View in Bangalore, India
on 26 May 2011. The service will allow users to
view pedestrian-level photos of streets and houses.
Google has already started the process of captur-
ing images of Indian streets.Bearing a camera
mounted on the top, a Google car and a specially
made tri cycle called Trike would drive through
public places to capture street views for location
identification. Google has however assured that
the service will not be a threat to peoples privacy
or security. With the help of a special technology,
faces of people and number plates of cars will be
blurred.Assuring that the service will not be a threat
to peoples privacy or security, he said faces of
people and number plates of cars will be blurred
through a special technology. The service will only
capture streets and thoroughfares. Any private in-
formation accidentally caught by camera will be
taken off.Street View would provide additional
dimension to students learning of museums and
other historical places. To prepare the Google Art
project as well Street Views technology was used
to provide 360 view of museums and art works.
Ambuja Cements
Acquired 85 per cent stake in
Nepals Dang Cement
Ambuja Cements, a Holcim Group company de-
clared on 6 June 2011 that it acquired 85 per cent
stake in Dang Cement Industries in Nepal for a
consideration of Rs 19.13 crore. With this acqui-
sition, Dang Cement became a subsidiary of
Ambuja Cements.Besides cement manufacturing
facilities, Dang Cement holds limestone mining
lease in Nepal. Currently Dang is not carrying out
any business activity. Nepal has an annual cement
demand of about 3 million tonnes of which 85 per
cent is met through imports. Cement manufactur-
ers in Nepal import clinker from India for cement
production. Ambuja Cements is one of the major
exporters of cement and clinker in India.Ambuja
is also in the process of acquiring a further 5 per
cent stake for Rs 1.13 crore.
Wipro Technologies Won
A Contract from
Chaucer Syndicates
Wipro Technologies won a contract from Chaucer
Syndicates, a specialist insurer at Lloyd's. As per
the contract, Wipro will deliver a data warehouse
and associated extract, transform and load (ETL)
solution to ensure compliance to meet Lloyd's
management reporting requirements within
Chaucer's Solvency Smart Programme for Sol-
vency II compliance. Wipro Technologies was en-
gaged as a strategic partner for developing a tech-
nology platform to speed up the closure process
substantially and ensure compliance to Lloyd's 10-
day reporting framework.
HMV Saregama India
Bought 10% stake in
Timbre Media
RPG Groups music label HMV Saregama India
Ltd on 5 July 2011 announced that it bought 10
per cent stake in Timbre Media. Timbre Media is
a company floated by former Worldspace Radio
employees. The two firms announced their deci-
sion to launch a mobile radio channel. Saregama
had in the past partnered with Timbre Media to
launch a variety of genre-based radio channels.
Timbre and Saregama will together deliver mo-
bile, Internet and DTH services related to music.
33
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India and Uzbekistan
Signed 34 Agreements
India and Uzbekistan signed a total of 34 agree-
ments during the visit of Islam Abduganievich
Karimov(President of Uzbekistan) to India.
The major agreements between India and
Uzbekistan are as following:
Memorandum of Understanding between
ONGC Videsh Limited and Uzbekneftegaz on Co-
operation in Hydrocarbon Sector.
Memorandum of Understanding for coopera-
tion in Oil and Gas sector between Uzbekneftegaz
and ESSAR group.
Agreement of establishment of Joint Business
Council between the Federation of Indian Cham-
ber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the
Chamber of Commerce and Industry of
Uzbekistan.
India and Uzbekistan also issued a joint statement
on strategic partnership during this visit. The im-
portant features of the joint statement are as fol-
lowing:
The strategic partnership between India and
Uzbekistan would include active cooperation in a
wide spectrum of areas such as political, economic,
counter-terrorism, education, health, human re-
source development, science and technology, tour-
ism and culture.
India and Uzbekistan noted the importance of
improving the financial infrastructure for promot-
ing trade and investment.
The two sides also welcomed the intialling of
the Protocol amending the bilateral Double Taxa-
tion Avoidance Agreement .
India and Uzbekistan agreed to continue their
work in terms of looking for several options for
surface connectivity between India and Uzbekistan.
They stressed on the need for adoption of the
Comprehensive Convention on International Ter-
rorism.
India Extended Duty-free
Market Access to Afghanistan
India extended duty-free market access to Afghani-
stan as part of its economic package for LDCs
(Least Developed Countries). Under this scheme,
the import of most products from the neighbouring
nation will be allowed at zero duty.Indias duty-
free tariff preference (DFTP) scheme was launched
by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2008. The
scheme provides preferential duty access on prod-
ucts including 92.5 percent of global LDC
exports.The DFTP scheme allows duty-free access
on 85 per cent of Indias total tariff lines. The
scheme is to be executed over a period of five years.
It will be done through five equal tariff reductions
of 20 percent each on the current applied rates to
decrease the duty rates to zero.Some of the prod-
ucts of interest for LDCs which are covered in-
clude cotton, aluminium ore, cashewnut, cane
sugar, readymade garments, fish fillets and non-
industrial diamonds.
India and ADB
Signed Agreement
The Government of India and Asian Development
Bank (ADB) signed a $132 million loan agreement
for strengthening Bihars power sector. The project
is expected to be completed by 31 December 2015.
There is a provision for providing/transmitting
additional 472,579 megawatt-hours (MWh) to con-
sumers annually by the end of 2015 and reduce
system losses by 3% by 2016 in seven districts of
Bihar.
INDIA & THE WORLD
35
Areas in which the loan to be used:
The major portion of the ADB loan ($130.3 million) planned to be used to finance infrastructure such
as transmission lines.
The remaining ($1.9 million) is planned be used for strengthening the internal capacity of the Bihar
State Electricity Board (BSEB).
The loan is also planned to be used to install new transmission lines and to renovate and modernize
transmission and distribution facilities to improve the quality and reliability of the state's electricity
supply network.
ADB assured to provide a technical assistance grant of $300,000 for training and other capacity
development to improve project and financial management in BSEB.
ADB also assured to assist BSEB with project implementation and construction supervision, includ-
ing training in the maintenance and operation of high-voltage distribution systems (HVDS).
India and Japan
Signed Agreement
India and Japan signed an agreement for six development projects. As soft loan, Japan promised to
provide 7361 crore rupees under this agreement. The agreement was meant to support Indias quest for
energy and its efforts to improve infrastructure necessary for rapid growth in economy.
The six projects for which the loan will be used are:
Rural High Voltage Distribution System
Transmission System Modernisation
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Energy Saving Project (Phase II)
New and Renewable Energy Development Project
Metro Rail Project in Bangalore
Forestry and Bio-Diversity Project (Phase II) in Rajasthan
What is a Soft Loan?
Soft Loan is a financing that offers flexible or lenient terms for repayment, usually at lower than market
interest rates. Soft loan is provided customarily by government agencies and not by financial institu-
tions. It is also called a concessional funding.
36
The Universe
May Bave Been Born Spinning
A new study found an excess of counter-clockwise
rotating or "left-handed" spiral galaxies like this
one, compared to their right-handed counterparts.
This provides evidence that the universe does not
have mirror symmet ry. Credit: NASA,
ESAPhysicists and astronomers have long believed
that the universe has mirror symmetry, like a bas-
ketball. But recent findings from the University of
Michigan suggest that the shape of the Big Bang
might be more complicated than previously
thought, and that the early universe spun on an axis.
To test for the assumed mirror symmetry, physics
professor Michael Longo and a team of five un-
dergraduates catalogued the rotation direction of
tens of thousands of spiral galaxies photographed
in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.The mirror image
of a counter-clockwise rotating galaxy would have
clockwise rotation. More of one type than the other
would be evidence for a breakdown of symmetry,
or, in physics speak, a parity violation on cosmic
scales, Longo said.
Discovery of Natural Antibody
Brings a Universal
Flu Vaccine a Step Closer
Annually changing flu vaccines with their hit-and-
miss effectiveness may soon give way to a single,
near-universal flu vaccine, according to a new re-
port from scientists at The Scripps Research Insti-
tute and the Dutch biopharmaceutical company
Crucell. They describe an antibody that, in animal
tests, can prevent or cure infections with a broad
variety of influenza viruses, including seasonal and
potentially pandemic strains. The finding, pub-
lished in the journal Science Express on July 7,
2011, shows the influenza subtypes neutralized
with the new antibody include H3N2, strains of
which killed an estimated one million people in
Asia in the late 1960s."Together this antibody and
the one we reported in 2009 have the potential to
protect people against most influenza viruses," said
Ian Wilson, who is the Hansen Professor of Struc-
tural Biology and a member of the Skaggs Insti-
tute for Chemical Biology at Scripps Research, as
well as senior author of the new paper with
Crucell's chief scientific officer Jaap Goudsmit.
Spermocomet
Scientists from Northern Irelands Queens
Univeristy Belfast developed a new test called
spermocomet for male infertility which will save
time, money and heartache for couples around the
world.The Spermocomet provides unique informa-
tion that no other test offers. It can predict the suc-
cess of infertility treatments by measuring dam-
aged DNA in individual sperm. This will result
into reduced waiting times and improved chances
of conception.The Sperm Comet test is so called
because it appears like a comet in the sky.
Our Milky Way
in Midst of Life Crisis
Planetary scientist say that our Milky way is in its
mid life crisis as a result of which it will slow down
its process of production of stars in the next bil-
lion years. As per the aeronautics the galaxies are
classified under two categories namely- energetic
blue galaxies and the lethargic red galaxies. The
blue galaxies produce stars at a massive rate while
the other one are slowly dying. But a team of sci-
entist from the Swinburne University of Technol-
SCIENCE & TECH
37
ogy says that our Milky Way falls into neither of
the two categories. It is in fact a green valley gal-
axy that lays half way between the blue galaxy and
the red galaxy. This is the first time ever that sci-
entists have compared both the galaxies with our
Milky Way as the Astrophysical Journal reported.
Though we are in our own galaxy and to deter-
mine its state was a tough job to accomplish was
reported by the Astrophysical Journal.
Indian communication
Satellite GSAT-8
Successfully launched
Indias communication satellite GSAT-8 was
launched successfully. The satellite was launched
by Arianespace from Kourou in French Guiana.
The satellite was launched to enable powerful ser-
vices direct to our home. The satellite weighs
3100kg and is one the heaviest and high powered
satellite developed by the Indian Scientist at the
Bangalore- headquarters ISRO.
Hubble Observes
Aftermath of Possible
Asteroid Collision
Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Tele-
scope have captured rare images of a suspected
asteroid collision. The snapshots show a bizarre
X-shaped object at the head of a comet-like trail
of material. Their findings will be published in the
Oct. 14th issue of Nature. In January 2010, astrono-
mers began using Hubble to track the object, named
"P/2010 A2," for five months. At first they thought
they had witnessed a fresh asteroid collision, but
were surprised to learn the collision occurred in
early 2009. "We expected the debris field to ex-
pand dramatically, like shrapnel flying from a hand
grenade," says astronomer David Jewitt of the
University of California in Los Angeles, who is a
leader of the Hubble observations. "But what hap-
pened was quite the opposite. We found that the
object is expanding very, very slowly." This sug-
gested an older collision than the team had antici-
pated. P/2010 A2 is located in the asteroid belt, a
reservoir of millions of rocky bodies between the
orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Astronomers estimate
that modest-sized asteroids in the main belt smash
into each other about once a year. Catching aster-
oids in the act of colliding, however, is difficult
because large impacts are rare while small ones,
such as the one that produced P/2010 A2, are ex-
ceedingly faint. The Lincoln Near-Earth Research
(LINEAR) Program Sky Survey first spotted the
objects comet-like tail in January 2010, and in-
deed some astronomers thought it might be a
comet. But only Hubble discerned the X pattern,
offering unequivocal evidence that something
stranger than a comet outgassing had occurred.
Drug Shield for Bacteria
A new technique which targets antibiotic-resistant
bacteria and shields patients from the toxic parts
of an antibiotic drug has been developed by Cardiff
University scientists. Dr Elaine Ferguson from
Cardiff University's School of Dentistry has
utilised a new technique which attaches tiny nano-
sized biodegradable polymers to the antibiotic drug
- colistin. Use of the drug colistin to fight infec-
tion has been limited as it is known to be toxic to
the kidneys and nerves despite the fact that it has
been found to be effective against new multi-drug
resistant bacteria, like NDM-1. Cardiff University
scientists believe the new technique will help un-
der-used antibiotic drugs like colistin to be used
to fight against the spread of life-threatening bac-
terial infections.
"The technology we've developed came as a di-
rect response to an urgent medical need for better
antibiotics to safely treat patients with life threat-
ening infections. Very few new antimicrobial drugs
have emerged despite intensive research, with only
two new classes of antibiotics developed in the
last 30 years," according to Dr Ferguson who
worked alongside Cardiff University's Professor
David Thomas and Professor Timothy Walsh to
develop the technique. "Our new approach allows
existing effective therapies to be improved to help
patients with severe infections who may otherwise
suffer significant side effects after treatment. "The
38
polymer shields the drug molecule making it less
toxic to the body while, at sites of infection, there
is an enzyme present which removes the polymer-
specifically activating the drug where it is needed"
she added.
Best-Performing
Machine of the World
A Japanese supercomputer, K Computer built by
Fujitsu Co. grabbed the title of world's best-per-
forming machine thereby returning Japan to the
top of the computer arms race for the first time in
seven years. Installed at Japan's Institute of Physi-
cal and Chemical Research, K Computer is also
known as Riken. Japan last held the top spot in
2004, with NEC Corp.'s Earth Simulator.The Japa-
nese government-funded K Computer performs
more than eight quadrillion (8,000 trillion) calcula-
tions per second. K Computer is a play on the Japa-
nese word kei for the number 10 quadrillion, which
will be the number of calculations the machine is
targeted to handle once it is completed in 2012.The
Japanese machine is a major step up from existing
supercomputers. It is more powerful than the next
five fastest computer systems combined. Accord-
ing to the Top500, a compilation of the 500 most
powerful computer systems in the world, deter-
mined by a group of academic and government
researchers, Riken can perform three times as many
calculations per second as the No. 2
supercomputer, designed by China's National Uni-
versity of Defense Technology. The Japanese gov-
ernment invested more than 100 billion yen ($1.25
billion) in the K Computer project and aims to
position Japan among t he leaders for
supercomputers, which can be used to tackle com-
plex problems related to climate change and
weather patterns. The project also aims to increase
the competitiveness of Japan Inc. by providing a
powerful computational tool to develop break-
throughs in drugs, mat erials and new
technologies.Riken can also be used to bolster the
push for renewable energy by discovering the most
efficient materials to convert the sun's rays to elec-
tricity, or protect people from natural disasters by
predicting the impact from earthquakes and
tsunami.The K Computer is packed with comput-
ing muscle. It stitches together 68,544 processors,
each equipped with eight cores for a total 548,352
electronic brains. At full capacity, it aims to have
640000 electronic brains. The machine will be
equipped with enough horsepower to slash the time
required to run a simulation of a beating human
heart reacting to new medicine to two days from
two years.
There are five U.S. supercomputers in the top 10
ranking, including the third-ranked system called
Jaguar at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak
Ridge, Tenn. The rest of the top 10 include two
machines from China, two from Japan and one
from France.The Top500 list is compiled by re-
searchers at the University of Mannheim in Ger-
many, the University of Tennessee and the National
Energy Research Scientific Computing Center,
which is affiliated with Lawrence Berkeley Na-
tional Laboratory in California.
Anti Mosquito Gas
US scientists from the University of California on
1 June 2011 developed a gas that can get rid of
mosquitoes. The Scientists created three classes
of odour molecules that swamp the mosquitoes
senses and as a result it becomes impossible for
the mosquitoes to sniff out human blood. The
chemicals used by scientists bamboozled the tiny
censors helping the mosquitoes to trace CO2 (Car-
bon Di-oxide) in the air.This discovery will help
in providing protection against mosquito-borne
disease like dengue, yellow fevers and malaria.
Cure for Glaucoma
French Scientists developed a two-minute cure for
glaucoma that uses intensely focused beams of
ultrasound. This technique enabled scientists to
heat up and kill cells in the tiny gland that pro-
duces an eye liquid called aqueous humour and
stop it secreting so much.The new technique could
benefit thousands of people who suffer from the
eye disorder. Glaucoma is caused by a build-up of
pressure in the eye which can damage the optic
39
nerve and result into loss of vision and even blind-
ness. Those who suffer from serious glaucoma
undergo surgery to unblock thin tubes which drain
away aqueous humour.
First Ever Drug
to Treat Celtic Gene
A research team led by Queen's University devel-
oped the first ever drug to treat Celtic gene in pa-
tients suffering from cystic fibrosis (CF). Those
patients suffering from cystic fibrosis who took
the drug showed significant improvement in the
lung function, quality of life and a reduction in
disease flare-ups.The drug (VX-770) is a signifi-
cant breakthrough not only for those with the Celtic
Gene, known as G551D, but also for all other Cys-
tic Fibrosis sufferers because it indicates that the
basic defect in Cystic Fibrosis can be treated. This
is the first drug aimed at the basic defect in Cystic
Fibrosis to show an effect.Though it may or may
not improve the life expectancy, the improvements
in the breathing tests and the reduction in flare-
ups suggested the survival will be better.This is
the first drug to show that treating the underlying
cause of Cystic Fibrosis may have profound ef-
fects on the disease, even among people who have
been living with it for decades. The remarkable
reductions in sweat chloride observed in this study
support the idea that VX-770 improves protein
function thereby addressing the fundamental de-
fect that leads to CF.VX-770 will open the defec-
tive channel in the lung cells of people with Cys-
tic Fibrosis and allow proper lung clearance of
bacteria. This is a ground breaking treatment be-
cause it treats the basic defect caused by the gene
mutation in patients.
Werewolf Gene
Discovered
The Scientists on 5 June 2011 discovered a
werewolf gene which causes hair to grow all over
the body. The discovery could provide a remedy
for baldness. According to the Scientists, a genetic
fault is behind a rare condition called hyper-tri-
chosis also known as werewolf syndrome, where
thick hair covers the face and upper body. Based
on this finding, Scientists could use drugs to trig-
ger a similar gene mutation in people to cause hair
grow on bald patches.It should be noted that
Werewolf syndrome is very rare, in the past 300
years only 50 cases were recorded. Thick hair simi-
lar to wolf grows on upper part of the body and
face of a human being under this syndrome.
Hereditary Disease Idiopathic
Infantile Hypercalcemia
A breakthrough in genetic research uncovered the
defect behind a rare hereditary children's disease
that inhibits the body's ability to break down vita-
min D. This discovery led researchers to develop
the first genetic and biochemical tests that posi-
tively identify the disease. Until the discovery there
was no way of confirming the diagnosis.The he-
reditary children's disease, Idiopathic Infantile
Hypercalcemia (IIH) is among the top ten most
common inherited diseases. The body's inability
to break down vitamin D results in an excess of
calcium in the blood. Children with IIH suffer from
calcifications and tissue hardening throughout the
body, as well as calcification of the kidneys and
renal failure.According to estimates by research-
ers one in every 47000 people around 600 Cana-
dians and 6000 Americans may suffer from
IIH.Developing a positive diagnostic test for IIH
is being deemed as a first major step in understand-
ing the disease.This research was conducted in
collaboration with pediatricians Martin Konrad and
Karl-Peter Schlingmann from the University
Children's Hospital in Munster, Germany, and
funded in part by the Canadian Institutes of Health
Research. The findings were published on 15 June
in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Laser Light Created with Living
Biological Material
For the first time laser light was created by scien-
tists, using living biological material; a single hu-
man cell and some jellyfish protein. Seok-Hyun
Yun, an optical physicist at Harvard Medical
School and Massachusetts General Hospital in
40
Boston created the living laser with his colleague
Malte Gather. This was the first time that biologi-
cal materials were used to build a laser and gener-
ate light from something living.
The Criteria for Building a Laser:
Building a laser requires two things; (1) a lasing
material that amplifies light from an external
source (a gain medium) and (2) an arrangement of
mirrors (an optical cavity), which concentrates and
aligns the light waves into a tight beam.
Before the creation of living laser, the gain me-
dium has only been made from non-biological sub-
stances such as doped crystals, semiconductors or
gases. But in living laser, the researchers used en-
hanced green fluorescent protein (GFP). Green
fluorescent protein (GFP) makes jellyfish biolu-
minescent, which is used extensively in cell biol-
ogy to label cells.
Seok-Hyun Yun and his team engineered human
embryonic kidney cells to produce GFP, then
placed a single cell between two mirrors to make
an optical cavity just 20 micrometres across. When
they fed the cell pulses of blue light, it emitted a
directional laser beam visible with the naked eye
and the cell wasn't harmed.
The width of the laser beam is tiny and fairly weak.
It is brighter than natural jellyfish fluorescence,
with a beautiful green colour.
How the technology can be used:
Biologists could turn cells of interest into lasers
to study them.
The light produced has a unique emission spec-
trum related to both the structure of the cell and
the proteins inside it. By analysing the pattern one
can get some idea of what is happening inside the
cell.
Doctors shine lasers into the body to gather im-
ages or to treat disease by attacking cells. Lasers
could instead be generated or amplified inside the
body, where they could penetrate the relevant tis-
sues more deeply.
Scientists Set New
Data Speed Record
A team of scientists on 23 May 2011 set a new
data speed record transmitting 26 terabits equiva-
lent of 700 DVDs- per second using a single laser.
According to this team, the discovery will help to
fulfill the worlds burgeoning high-capacity band-
width needs of cloud computing and 3D-high defi-
nition TV. It will also provide an environment
friendly method of transmitting data over long
distances.The scientists used a single laser to gen-
erate 325 optical frequencies within a narrow spec-
tral band of laser wavelengths and transmitted the
data over 50 kilometres of single mode fibre.Earlier
in 2011, Scientists from Japan set a world record
sending 109 terabits per second using multiple la-
sers. However, the date rate of 26 terabits per sec-
ond achieved by the UK, Swiss and German sci-
entists is the largest line rate ever recorded using a
single light source.
WASP-17b
Moves Opposite
A team of astronomers from the Australian Na-
tional University (ANU) on 6 June 2011 discov-
ered that a planet named WASP-17b moves in the
opposite direction to the spin of the star around
which it orbits. In fact, planets move around their
stars in the same direction as the star spins.This
discovery questions the planetary theories which
are based on assumptions that any planet orbiting
a star would be moving in the same direction in
which the star spins. This theory is applicable even
to our own solar system.
Cure for Prostrate
Tumours Found
International scientists claimed on 24 May 2011
that they have found evidence that a medicinal
mushroom used in Asia can completely suppress
prostate tumours by targeting cancer stem cells. A
team led by the Queensland University of Tech-
nology found that the turkey tail mushroom was
41
100 per cent effective in suppressing prostate tu-
mour development in laboratory mice during early
trials. The compound, poly-saccharo-peptide,
which is extracted from the turkey tail mushroom,
was found to target prostate cancer stem cells and
suppress tumour formation in mice.The results
could be an important step towards fighting the
disease. The findings are quite significant and
there were no side effects during the trial.
Exemestane
The health-researchers found that a drug named
exemestane not only prevents breast cancer but also
has no side effects. Exemestane is also known by
the brand name Aromasin belongs to a class of
compounds known as aromatase inhibitors.
Exemestane is considered better than tamoxifen
in preventing recurrence of cancer after a breast
tumour is removed.The health researchers con-
cluded these facts after a trial which involved 4560
postmenopausal women in the Canada, France,
USA and Spain.
17 Lost Pyramids Found
A new satellite survey of Egypt identified seven-
teen lost pyramids and more than a thousand
unexcavated tombs. The research was carried out
at a US laboratory sponsored by NASA using high
power infra-red images which can identify differ-
ent material underground. Preliminary excavations
have already confirmed some of the findings in-
cluding the existence of two of the burried pyra-
mids, identified from space.
Flexible Solar Sheet
Developed
An engineer from the University of Missouri de-
veloped a flexible solar sheet that captures more
than 90 percent of available light. Todays solar
planes only collect about 20 percent of available
light. This new device was developed by using a
thin mouldable ssheet of small antennas called
nantenna. It could harvest the heat from industrial
processes and convert it into usable
electricity.Within five years the new discovery
could be incorporated into roof shingle products,
or be custom-made to power vehicles.
Juno Mission: Gas Giant
Spacecraft All Gassed Up
The Juno spacecraft completed hydrazine fuel
loading, oxidizer loading and final tank pressur-
izations this week, and now the complete propul-
sion system is ready for the trip to Jupiter. The
spacecraft is currently at the Astrotech processing
facility in Titusville, Fla.Hydrazine is the fuel of
choice for most spacecraft because of its stored
energy. When the fuel is mixed with the oxidizer,
the liquid ignites in the propulsion system's main
engine to perform the spacecraft's four large ma-
neuvers. One of these maneuvers includes insert-
ing the spacecraft into orbit around Jupiter in
2016.With the fueling completion, the spacecraft
is 99 percent ready for launch. Once the final ther-
mal blanket closeouts and wet spin tests are com-
plete, the spacecraft will be 100 percent ready for
installation onto t he Atlas 551 launch
vehicle.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasa-
dena, Calif., manages the Juno mission for the prin-
cipal investigator, Scott Bolton, of Southwest Re-
search Institute in San Antonio. The Juno mission
is part of the New Frontiers Program managed at
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Hunts-
ville, Ala. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Den-
ver, built the spacecraft. Launch management for
the mission is the responsibility of NASA's Launch
Services Program at the Kennedy Space Center in
Florida. JPL is a division of the California Insti-
tute of Technology in Pasadena.
Herschel Helps Solve
Mystery of Cosmic Dust Origins
New observations from the infrared Herschel
Space Observatory reveal that an exploding star
expelled the equivalent of between 160,000 and
230,000 Earth masses of fresh dust. This enormous
quantity suggests that exploding stars, called su-
pernovae, are the answer to the long-standing
puzzle of what supplied our early universe with
42
dust."This discovery illustrates the power of tackling a problem in astronomy with different wave-
lengths of light," said Paul Goldsmith, the NASA Herschel project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., who is not a part of the current study. "Herschel's eye for longer-wave-
length infrared light has given us new tools for addressing a profound cosmic mystery."Herschel is led
by the European Space Agency with important contributions from NASA.Cosmic dust is made of
various elements, such as carbon, oxygen, iron and other atoms heavier than hydrogen and helium. It is
the stuff of which planets and people are made, and it is essential for star formation.
Stars like our sun churn out flecks of dust as they age, spawning new generations of stars and their
orbiting planets.Astronomers have for decades wondered how dust was made in our early universe.
Back then, sun-like stars had not been around long enough to produce the enormous amounts of dust
observed in distant, early galaxies. Supernovae, on the other hand, are the explosions of massive stars
that do not live long.The new Herschel observations are the best evidence yet that supernovae are, in
fact, the dust-making machines of the early cosmos.
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43
Cricket
Master blaster the leading cricketer of Wisden 2010
The master blaster became the 7th recipient of the
Wisden award joining the league of other recipi-
ent like Ricky Ponting, Shane Warne, Muttiah
Muralitharan, Jacques Kallis, and Andrew W
Flintoff etc. Wisden regarded as the Bible of cricket
named Indias Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar as
its seventh recipient. Sachin if the 2nd Indian crick-
eter after Virender Sehwag whos also among the
wisden awardees league. In February itself sachin
became the 1st world cricketer to score a double
100 in one dayers and before this he became the
1st cricketer to score 50 test tons. The 148th wisden
edition was launched on Wednesday and this is
the 1st time that master blaster has won this award
since it began in the year 2004. Also sachin was
even positioned at number 4 rank in the Wisdens
2009 Test XI.
IPL-4 (2011) : Chennai Super Kings beat Royal
Challengers Bangalore by 58 runs to become DLF
Indian Premiere League champions for the second
time in a row at the MA Chidambaram stadium in
Chennai. Bangalore could make only 147 runs in
reply of Chennai's huge total of 205 runs. Earlier a
record 159-runpartnership between openers Murali
Vijay (95, 52b, 6 x 6, 4 x 4) and Michael Hussey
(63, 54b, 3 x 6, 3 x 4) powered the Chennai Super
Kings to 205 for five in 20 overs against the Royal
Challengers Bangalore
Badminton
Indonesian Open super series: Defending cham-
pion Saina Nehwal failed to complete the hat-trick
of titles at the Indonesian Open Super Series after
SPORTS
losing to Chinese World No. 3 Wang Yihan in the
final on 26 June 2011.Fourth seed Saina, who won
the title in 2009 and 2010, faltered and suffered a
21-12, 21-23, 14-21 loss to her equally error-prone
rival. The contest lasted a little over an hour as a
result of Wang's numerous errors of judgments and
misplaced shots.2011 thus continues to be unim-
pressive year for Saina who had won three titles
Indian Open Grand Prix Gold, Singapore Su-
per Series and Indonesian Super Series in June
2010, before winning the Commonwealth Games
gold medal and the Hong Kong Super Series. Till
date in the current year 2011, Saina has just one
title, Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold to her
name.World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei thrashed Dan-
ish veteran Peter Gade to win the Indonesian Open
for a third time in the mens category. The 28-year-
old Malaysian defeated the fifth-seeded Gade 21-
11, 21-7.
Asia Under-19 Championship
China retained the title by defeating Malaysia 3-1
in the mixed team event final of the Badminton
Asia youth under-19 championship at the U.P.
Badminton Academy courts, Gomti Nagar on 5
July 2011. Malaysian shuttlers who gave their best
to stop the Chinese had to be satisfied with the
silver medal. The extraordinary exhibition of
power, skill and temperament provided immense
entertainment for the crowd. China, which made
one change in its team by fielding Huang Yuxiang
in place of the battle-scarred Kai Guo in boys'
singles surged ahead by winning the first two
matches.However, the Malaysian pair of Nelson
Wei Keat Heg and Ee Yi Teo rallied to beat Chen
Zhuofu and Pei Tiyani 13-21, 21-12, 30-29 in a
thrilling boys' doubles clash last ing 62
minutes.Sonia Cheah of India gave a spirited per-
44
formance in the girls' singles but could not go past
her Chinese competitor Sun Yu and lost 21-18, 17-
21, 14-21. Tak Ching Chang (Hkg) defeated
Sadredin Sadeghi 21-6, 21-12 in the mens single
event.
Tennis
Wimbledon 2011
Men: Serbia's Novak Djokovic won his first
Wimbledon title and proved himself the best player
in the world with a stunning win over Rafael
Nadal.Djokovic came through 6-4 6-1 1-6 6-3 to
end Nadal's reign as Wimbledon champion, before
overtaking the Spaniard as world number one on
Monday.It was his 50th win in 51 matches and his
fifth win over Nadal this year.He becomes the first
Serbian man to win Wimbledon, his third Grand
Slam title after two Australian Open victories.
Women: Petra Kvitova won her first Grand Slam
title June 02 by beating Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-4
in the Wimbledon final.Kvitova was playing in her
first major final, but it was three-time Grand Slam
champion Sharapova that showed her nerves. The
21-year-old Kvitova is the first left-handed woman
to win the Wimbledon t itle since Martina
Navratilova in 1990.
Double: American twins Bob and Mike Bryan won
a record-tying 11th Grand Slam mens doubles title
together on July 02, beating Robert Lindstedt of
Sweden and Horia Tecau of Romania 6-3, 6-4, 7-6
(2) in the Wimbledon final.The Bryan brothers won
at Wimbledon for the second time and matched
Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridges Open
era record of 11 major titles.
French Open
Men: Rafael Nadal of Spain won a record-equal-
ling sixth French Open title when he beat Roger
Federer of Switzerland 7-5, 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-1 at the
Rolland Garros on Sunday. With this win he
equalled Bjorn Borg's record of six wins at the
French Open.Reigning champion Nadal was
outplayed for seven games in the first set as he fell
5-2 behind but reeled off five games in a row, in-
cluding saving a set point.Federer, who won the
last of his 16 Grand Slam titles at the 2010 Austra-
lian Open, started with a confident service game
on a humid day on court Philippe Chatrier.
Women: Chinas long wait for a Grand Slam
champion ended June 04, when Li Na beat
Francesca Schiavone 64, 76 (0) in the French
Open final.The Australian Open runnerup fell
flat on her back in the red clay after Schiavone hit
a backhand long on match point.
ATP Rankings: The ATP rankings released on 4
July 2011 conferred the World No.1 position
Novak Djokovic of Serbia who defeated Nadal in
the Wimbledon final. His rise to the World No. 1
position was confirmed after he defeated Jo-
Wilfred Tsonga in the Wimbledon semi-final. His
rise to the No 1 position ended Nadal's 56-week
reign at the World No 1 position since he took over
from Roger Federer on 7 June 2010.No one other
than Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer had been
ranked number one since Andy Roddick in the
week of 26 January 2004.
Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki remained on top
of the women's singles rankings, in spite of her
failure once again to land a Grand Slam title.The
semifinal appearance in the women's doubles event
at Wimbledon catapulted Sania Mirza and Vesnina
to number two slot in womens doubles category
in the WTA Race to the year-end Championships
with 4506 points.
ATP Tour Top 5 List is as follows: Novak
Djokovic (13285), Rafael Nadal (11270), Roger
Federer (9230), Andy Murray (6855), Robin
Soderling (4325)
WTA Tour Top 5 List is as follows: Caroline
Wozniacki (9915 pts), Kim Clijsters (7625), Vera
Zvonareva 6695), Victoria Azarenka (6465), Maria
Sharapova (6141)
Eastbourne International: Italian Andreas Seppi
won the first ATP title of his career on 18 June
45
2011 when Serbian opponent Janko Tipsarevic
retired hurt in a rain-interrupted Eastbourne Inter-
national final.Seppi won 7-6 3-6 5-3 after two
hours 35 minutes when the third seed retired after
injuring his leg following a tumble on the greasy
surface. Officials halted play for around 20 min-
utes with Seppi leading 4-0 in the final set before
the match resumed in an almost desert ed
stadium.Tipsarevic fought back to 4-3 before play
was halted for another 10 minutes when he was
strapped up after being wrong-footed by a return
at the baseline, splaying his legs as he fell to the
ground.
Chess
AAI International Grandmasters Chess Tour-
nament: Italian top seed Fabiano Caruana defeated
Filipino Wesley to emerge winner of the AAI In-
ternational Grandmasters chess tournament on 2
July 2011. With his seven points bagged from the
tournament, Caruana was richer by $8,000. The
30-move draw against Wesley raised Caruana's
tally to seven points. Caruana performed at a rat-
ing of 2800, way above his starting rating of 2714.
For the first time in 10 rounds, all three games
ended as draws that, in turn, maintained the over-
night positions of the six competing
Grandmasters.Sasikiran, following his 49-move
draw against Hou Yifan, finished runner-up and
was richer by $6000. Laznicka whose perfor-
mance-level touched 2694 against his own rating
of 2681 was placed third. Parimarjan Negi, who
played to his fifth seeding after drawing with
Laznicka in 42 moves of Carokann was placed fifth
while Wesley stood fourth.
Asian Junior Title in Chess: Shyam Sundar of
Chennai retained his Asian junior title, in the Asian
Chess championship which concluded in Sri Lanka
on 8 June 2011. He scored 7.5 points out of 9
rounds in the championship.IM Srinath won the
silver medal. In the girls section R Bharathi and J
Saranya won the silver and bronze medals by scor-
ing 7 points each.
Hockey
Michael Nobbs appointed chief hockey coach
Mohd. Riaz, Clarence Lobo and Jugraj Singh to
assist himHe loves Indian hockey, its flair and flu-
ency. It is quite close to what he had practised and
later preached in Australian hockey. The result was
Michael Nobbs landing up the job of India's chief
hockey coach here on June 29. His credentials were
found superior to the other two candidates, both
Dut ch, Roelant Oltmans and Jacques
Brinkman.The 57-year-old Australian's name was
finalised after a series of interactions with officials
from Hockey India (HI) and the Sports Authority
of India (SAI). A formal approval from the Union
Sports Ministry is awaited.
Senior National
Hockey Championship
Haryana annexed Senior National Hockey Cham-
pionship title by defeating Karnataka, at the
Aishbagh Stadium in Bhopal on 19 June 2011.
Haryana defeated Karnataka by 2-1 in the final
match of the Senior National Hockey Champion-
ship. Olympian Sandeep Singh and Mandeep Antil
scored on either side of the break that finally led
to the victory.Karnataka defender S.K. Uthappa
defeated Sandeep to emerge as tournament's top
scorer with 12 goals. Sandeep finished with 11.
F1 European Grand Prix
Red Bull's Formula One World champion
Sebastian Vettel of Germany on 26 June 2011 won
the European Grand Prix into a stroll in the Span-
ish sunshine on Sunday as he racked up his sixth
victory in eight races this season. He finished 10.8
seconds ahead of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.After
the win Vettel is 77 points clear of McLaren's
Jenson Button and his own Australian teammate
Mark Webber, who finished a solitary third and
27. 2 seconds down t he road in t he
championship.The German's 16th career triumph
put him level with British great Stirling Moss in
the all-time winners' list. Vettel can be sure of lead-
ing the championship to the end of August even
46
without scoring another point.Fernando Alonso
(Ferrari), Mark Webber (Red Bull Renault),
Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
followed him from the second to the fifth position
respectively.
111th U.S. Open
Golf Championship
Northern Ireland prodigy Rory McIlroy captured
his first Major golf title with his victory in the 111th
U.S. Open on 19 June 2011.The 22-year-old fired
a two-under par 69 to finish 72 holes at Congres-
sional Country Club on 16-under par 268, the low-
est winning total in US Open history. He became
the youngest US Open winner in 88 years. This
victory made him become the youngest Major win-
ner since Woods at the 1997 Masters and the
youngest US Open winner since Bobby Jones in
1923.Masters runner-up Jason Day of Australia
was a distant second on 276. South Korean Yang
Yong-Eun, England's Lee Westwood and Ameri-
cans Robert Garrigus and Kevin Chappell shared
third on 278.
National Senior
Athletic Meet
Kerala won the overall trophy in the National Se-
nior Athletic Meet that was held at Bangalores
Sree Kanteerava Stadium. Kerala became the
champion in both categories i.e.men and women
get ting past Tamil Nadu and Punjab
respectively.Meet record holder Mayookha Johny
and Sajeesh Joseph were selected best athletes of
the meet. Mayookha scored 1,123 points while
Sajeesh scored 1,103 points to claim the title.In
addition to this Kerala athletes swept almost all
the major trophies that were on to be won at the
valedictory ceremony. Kerala improved its medal
tally bagging 27 medals overall; out of which 13
were gold.
Annu Singh the Indian
Shooter to book
Berth for Londons Olympic
Annu Raj Singh became the 5th Indian shooter to
book her berth for the Londons Olympic to be
held next year. She qualified for the Olympic seat
after winning a silver medal at the ongoing ISSF
World Cup in Fort Benning for the 10m Air Pistol.
Singh who never won the world cup earlier quali-
fied for the finals with a maximum of 389 points
win. After this Singh is ranked at number 33 in the
world. She is the next Indian to join the league for
the Olympics after shooters Gagan Narang, Hari
Om Singh, Sanjeev Rajput and Ronjan Sodhi. Her
win was tied up with gold medallist Olena
Kostevych of Ukraine.
Mary Kom Strikes
Gold in Asian Cup
Indias five time world champion M C Mary Kom
won 1st gold medal of the year by winning in the
Asian Cup Womens Boxing tournament in
Haikou, china. She won the medal for the 48Kg
category. Kom became the winner after defeating
Asian champion Kim Myong Sim of North Ko-
rea. The winning strike was lead by 4-3points in
the finals. This was her 1st tournament since her
bronze medal win at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian
Games after which she made a place for herself in
the weight division category after beating Kate
Appari of Philippines. Though her North Korean
counterpart was a stiff challenge for her but it was
her skill and the agility of the champion that she
made her way through the finals and won the gold.
On the other hand another Indian in the line Pavitra
(57kg) faced defeat in the finals against Tossamalee
Thonalan of Thailand. She lost to her counterpart
47
G. D. Birla Award for
Scientific Research
Professor Subhasis Chaudhuri of Indian Institute
of Technology-Mumbai was selected for the pres-
tigious G. D. Birla Award for Scientific
Research.Prof. Chaudhuri who works in the De-
partment of Electrical Engineering was chosen for
the award for his important contributions in the
area of electronic communications. He made origi-
nal and substantive contributions in the specific
areas of depth recovery from defocused observa-
tions and generation of super resolution
images.Prof. Chaudhury joined IIT-Mumbai in
1990 and is currently serving as an Institute Chair
Professor and Dean of International Relations. He
also works in the area of computer vision and im-
age processing.The award, constituted by the K.
K. Birla Foundation, carries a cash prize of Rs.1.50
lakh and is given to scientists below the age of 50.
Dadasaheb Phalke Award
Director K. Balachander was declared the winner
of Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 2010 by
the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.K.
Balachander born in July 1930 is one of the influ-
ential filmmakers and trendsetters in Indian cin-
ema. Most of his movies are directed in Tamil
though he has directed movies in other languages
like Hindi and Kannada languages as well. He
came to prominence in 1960 as an amateur play-
wright wit h his dynamic plays like Major
Chandrakanth, Server Sundaram, Neerkumizhi,
Mezhuguvarthi, Naanal and Navagraham.
Anuvrat Ahimsa
International Peace Award
Rajasthan Chief Minister, Ashok Gehlot gave away
the Anuvrat Ahimsa international peace award to
noted Gandhian philosophy exponent Thomas
Clough Daffern. The award consisted of a me-
mento, a cheque for Rs.1 lakh and a certificate of
merit.Dr. Daffern is a Director of London-based
International Institute of Peace Studies and Glo-
bal Philosophy. The institute works across several
academic fields for study and application of peace
and philosophy to various spheres of life.
Crans Montana Forum Award
Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar be-
came the first Indian to receive the Crans Mon-
tana Forum Award. The Crans Montana Forum
Award was conferred upon him at a ceremony in
Brussels on 24 June 2011.Ravi Shankar usually
known as Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was born asborn
Ravi Shankar Ratnam on 13 May 1956. He is a
spiritual leader and founder of the Art of Living
Foundation (1982) which aims at relieving both
individual stress and societal problems and vio-
lence, and which is an NGO with UNESCO con-
sultative status. He also established in 1997 a
Geneva-based charity, International Association for
Human Values along with the 14th Dalai Lama.
International Association for Human Values is an
NGO that engages in relief work and rural devel-
opment and aims to foster shared global
values.According to him, science and spirituality
are linked and compatible, both springing from the
urge to know.
AWARDS & PRIZES
48
Winners of the Past: The award has been mainly
conferred on politicians in the past. The recipients
in the past include Angela Merkel, Chancellor of
Germany, Shimon Peres, President of Israel, Yasser
Arafat, former leader of Palestine Liberation
Organisation, Jose Manuel Barroso, President of
the European Commission and Mikhail Gorbachev,
Former President of the Soviet Union.
Meghdoot Awards
Minster of Communications & Information Tech-
nology and Human Resource Development con-
ferred the Meghdoot Awards on postal employees
for 2009 and 2010. Fifteen individuals including
five women bagged the award. The Best Post Of-
fice award was given to Chandragiri Head Post
Office, Andhra Pradesh.The scheme of National
awards known as Meghdoot Awards was instituted
in the year 1984 to provide encouragement to the
postal employees by recognizing performance of
high standard.
The awards given for outstanding contribution in
the sphere of official work were earlier given in
six individual categories.In order to motivate the
personnel in the field of technology, a new cat-
egory namely, For Technology Excellence was in-
troduced for the year 2006. For the years 2009
and2010 another category, Best Woman Employee
was introduced for the first time. Meghdoot
awardees in individual category were given a
medal, a scroll and cash award of Rs. 11000 (Ru-
pees eleven thousand). The awards are given ev-
ery year to the officials selected from amongst the
nominations received from various postal circles
Jawaharlal Nehru Award
for International
Understanding for 2009
German Chancellor Angela Merkel was chosen for
the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru Award for Inter-
national Understanding for 2009 for her enormous
efforts toward sustainable and equitable develop-
ment. The External Affairs Ministry release re-
vealed that that the jury chaired by Vice-President
Mohammad Hamid Ansari, has decided to confer
the award for 2009 on Dr. Merkel.
Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Under-
standing founded in 1965 is an international award
presented by the Government of India. The award
is administered by the Indian Council for Cultural
Relations (ICCR) to people for their outstanding
contribution to the promotion of international un-
derstanding, goodwill and friendship among people
of the world. The award carries prize money of
Rs.1 crore besides a trophy and citation.Olafur
Ragnar Grimsson was the winner of Jawaharlal
Nehru Award for International Understanding for
2007.Martin Luther King, Jr., Khan Abdul Gaffar
Khan, Mother Teresa, Kenneth Kaunda, Aung San
Suu Kyi, Hosni Mubarak, Josip Broz Tito and
Nelson Mandela are some of past recipients of the
award.
Hindi Academy
Shalaka Samman
Eminent Hindi litterateur Arvind Kumar was pre-
sented the Hindi Academy Shalaka Samman by
well known poet and former bureaucrat Dr. Sita
Kant Mahapatra at Delhi Secretariat on 24 June
2011. The award carried a citation, shawl, memento
and a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh.Arvind Kumar started
his career as a child labour in a publishing house
in Delhi in 1945 but with his dedication and work
he become editor of magzines like Madhuri,
Sarvottam. He has also created several dictionar-
ies and thesaurus in Hindi-English and Hindi-
Sanskrit.Shalaka Samman is the highest honour
of Delhi state in the field of Hindi literature.
Novelist Aminatta Forna won 2011 Common-
wealth Writers' Prize for The Memory of Love
British-born Sierra Leonean novelist Aminatta
Forna won the 2011 Commonwealth Writers' Prize
for her novel, The Memory of Love. Aminatta
Forna's The Memory of Love was praised by the
judges for its powerful portrayal of human resil-
ience. Forna won a prize of 10,000 for the award.
First published in April 2010, Memory of Love
was shortlisted for The Orange Prize for Fiction
49
2011.The prize for the Best First Book was given
to Craig Cliff of New Zealand for A Man Melting,
a collection of short stories. The prize money for
the Best First Book is 5,000.
12th IIFA Awards
12th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA)
awards ceremony was organised in Toronto on 25
June 2011. Salman Khan starrer Dabangg directed
by Abhinav Kashyap bagged seven major awards
at the IIFA including the Best Film. Maneesh
Sharma's Band Baaja Baaraat won three IIFA
awards. My Name is Khan starring Shah Rukh
Khan and Kajol also won accolades. Shah Rukh
Khan won the Best Actor Award for his perfor-
mance in the film.The hottest pair award went to
Anushka Sharma and Ranvir Singh. The first ever
Green IIFA Award by Panasonic went to actress
Priyanka Chopra.Special honours were conferred
on veteran actor Dharmendra and singer Asha
Bhosle. Veteran actor Dharmendra was presented
with a lifetime achievement award for his 50 years
of acting in Bollywood. Sharmila Tagore, who has
won several Indian National Film Awards, was also
presented an award for outstanding achievement.
The list of winners in the different categories is
as follows:
Best Film: Dabangg
Best Direction: Karan Johar for My Name is
Khan
Best Actor: Shah Rukh Khan for My Name is
Khan
Best Actress: Anushka Sharma for Band Baaja
Baaraat
Best Supporting Actor: Arjun Rampal for
Rajneeti
Best Supporting Actress: Prachi Desai for Once
upon a time in Mumbai
Outstanding achievement in international
cinema: Irrfan khan
Best performance in a Negative role: Sonu
sood for Dabangg
Best comic role: Riteish Deshmukh for
Housefull
Best Debut (female): Sonakshi Sinha
Best Debut (male): Ranveer Sing
Debuting in 2000 in London, the IIFA's have been
held on four continents in cities including Dubai,
Bangkok, Colombo, Singapore, Macau and
Johannesburg but never in India.
Education in Excellence
Award-2011
Super 30 founder Anand Kumar, whose initiative
helped several students from underprivileged fami-
lies make it to the IIT-JEE was chosen for the Edu-
cation in Excellence Award-2011 to be awarded
on Doha on 13 May 2011. Anand Kumar consis-
tently worked to raise a ray of hope in the under-
privileged lot and helping them join Indias pre-
miere institutions.On the occasion of Bihars 100th
year of foundation the award will be given by the
Bihar Foundation, Doha chapter and the Indian
Association for Bihar and Jharkhand at a function
Ek Shaam Bihar ke Naam.Bihar Foundation is a
Bihar government initiative set up in 2008. It has
seven chapters across the world.
International Merlin Award
India's ace magician Gopinath Muthukad received
the International Merlin Award also known as the
magicians' Oscar for the year 2011 from Tony
Hassini, President of the US based International
Magicians Society. Gopinath Muthukad is the sec-
ond Indian to be chosen to receive the Merlin
Award after PC Sorkar Jr.Muthukad held that the
award will definitely add to the popularity of the
art and attract more young people to pick it up.
Muthukad had ventured into the world of magic at
the age of 10.Muthukads motto is Magic with a
mission. His aim is to use magic as a tool for so-
cial upliftment. He mentioned that the he conducts
shows to promote national integration and fight
against social evils like alcoholism, tobacco and
terrorism.
50
INSEAD
Honoured Sunil Bharti Mittal
Leading international business school INSEAD
honoured Sunil Bharti Mittal, Founder, Chairman
and Group CEO of Bharti Enterprises, with its
Business Leader for the World Award. Sunil Bharti
Mittal was given the award for his success in hav-
ing grown Bharti Enterprises from a manufacturer
of push button phones to India's leading business
conglomerate. He was recognised for his vision of
developing businesses that have a transformational
impact on the regions in which Bharti is
present.The award is given to business leaders who
have set new standards in building successful, sus-
tainable, global enterprises that span multiple cul-
tures, embrace diversity, and contribute to eco-
nomic and social prosperity.
Man Booker
International Prize
Philip Roth was announced as the winner of the
fourth Man Booker International Prize at a press
conference at the Sydney Opera House. Roth was
chosen from a list of 13 eminent
contenders.American novelist Philip Roth is a lit-
erary giant and one of the world's most prolific,
celebrated - and controversial - writers. Born in
March 1933 in New Jersey, Roth is best known
for his 1969 novel Portnoy's Complaint, and for
his late-1990s trilogy comprising the Pulitzer Prize-
winning American Pastoral (1997),I Married a
Communist (1998), and The Human Stain (2000).
The Man Booker International Prize, worth
60,000, is awarded for an achievement in fiction
on the world stage. The prize is once every two
years to a living author for a body of work pub-
lished either originally in English or widely avail-
able in translation in the English language. It has
previously been awarded to Ismail Kadar in 2005,
Chinua Achebe in 2007 and Alice Munro in 2009.
58th National Film Awards
The Information and Broadcasting Ministry an-
nounced the list of awardees for the 58th National
Film Awards. Feature Films jury was headed by
J.P. Dutta, Non-Feature Films jury was headed by
A.K. Bir and Best Writing on Cinema jury was
headed by Ashok Vajpeyi.The movie Adaminte
Makan Abu directed by Salim Ahamed was ad-
judged best Feature Film. Adaminte Makan Abu
shows humanist values freeing matters of faith
from the constrictions of narrow parochialism.
The film bagged four awards. The list of the
awardess is as follows:
Best Feature Film: Adaminte Makan Abu di-
rected by Salim Ahamed
Best Direction: Vetrimaran for Aadukalam
(Tamil)
Best Actor: Dhanush for Aadukalam (Tamil) &
Salim Kumar for Adamint e makan Abu
(Malayalam)
Best Actress: Mitalee Jagtap Varadkar for Baboo
Band Baaja (Marathi) & Saranya Ponvannan for
Thenmerkku Paruvakkatru (Tamil)
Best Supporting Actor: J Thambi Ramaiah for
Mynaa (Tamil)
Best Supporting Actress: Sukumari for Namma
Gramam (Tamil)
Best Cinematography: Madhu Ambat for
Adaminte Makan Abu
Best Screenplay Original: etrimaran for
Aadukalam
Best Screenplay Adapted: Anant Mahadevan
& Sanjay for Mee Sindhutai Sapkal (Marathi)
Best Editing: T E Kishore for Aadukalam
Best Music direction: Vishal Bhardwaj for
Ishqiya & issak Thomas Kottakapally for Adaminte
Makan Abu
Best Lyrics: Vairamuthu for Thenmerkku
Paruvakkatru
51
Best Male Playback Singer: Suresh Wadkar for Mee Sindhutai Sapkal
Best Playback Singer Female: Rekha Bhardwaj: Ishqiya
Best Special Effects: V. Srinivas & M Mohan for Enthiran (Tamil)
Special Jury Award: Mee Sindhutai Sapkal (Marathi) directed by Anant Narayan Mahadevan
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Smriti Irani
In nominating actor-turned-politician Smriti Irani
for a Rajya Sabha seat from Gujarat, the BJP cen-
tral leadership overruled party veteran L K
Advani's nominee Najma Heptullah at the central
election committee meeting to choose two nomi-
nees for the Upper House from the state.
Devendra Pal Singh Bhullar
The Supreme Court has issued fresh notice to
Union government on Devender Pal Singh
Bhullar's plea on mercy petition. Bhullar had
sought a stay on execution during pendency of his
petition in the court.
The apex court said there was no need of a stay
order as it was understood that no such step will
be taken during the pendency of petition. Bhullar
was sentenced to death in 2001 for his role in the
September 10, 1993 bomb blast in Delhi target-
ing AIYC president Maninderjit Singh Bitta, who
escaped with serious injuries. Nine security per-
sonnel were killed in the attack. President Pratibha
Patil has rejected his mercy plea.
Controversial' Birs
The privately published birs of Guru Granth
Sahib, using goldenriched ink, which have cre-
ated a lot of controversy and acrimony between
SGPC and Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Managing
Committee(DSGMC) because of the printing mis-
takes, were published in Mumbai and a Ludhiana-
based printer had managed the job. Each bir cost
around Rs 2 lakh.
Ashok Gehlot
Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot has been
drawn into a controversy after a multiple-choice
question on who the Gandhi of Marwar is sug-
gested his name as one of the options. The ques-
tion Choose who is the Gandhi of Marwar
had provided the names of Rahul Gandhi,
Tusshar Gandhi, Sachin Pilot and Gehlot as pos-
sible options for the title. The correct answer would
have been obvious as only Gehlot hails from
Marwar in Rajasthan.
Syed Saleem Shahzad
Syed Saleem Shahzad, the Pakistani journalist re-
ported missing from Islamabad since Sunday
evening, was found dead 150 km south of the fed-
eral capital 48 hours after he disappeared.
Shahzad's disappearance had set off speculation
of him being picked up by intelligence agencies
for his article suggesting that the attack on the na-
val airbase, PNS Mehran, was in retaliation to the
Navy's crackdown on al-Qaeda operatives and
sympathisers within the service, and its refusal to
release some of these elements who had been ar-
rested. The first of his two-part article appeared
on May 27 in Asia Times Online of which he was
the Pakistan bureau chief. Shahzad who cov-
ered terrorism-related issues extensively was
last seen on Sunday at 5 p.m. when he left his home
to participate in a television programme.On Mon-
day, 24 hours after he went missing, some Paki-
stani
Sushma Swaraj
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma
Swaraj dismissed reports about her differences
PERSONS IN NEWS
53
with senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley as media cre-
ation'' and said she enjoyed good relations with
Mr. Jaitley. Asked about the debate on bringing
the Prime Minister under the purview of the
Lokpal, Ms. Swaraj said she would comment on
the issue after studying the draft. The former Prime
Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, favoured bringing
the Prime Minister's office under the Lok Pal's
ambit and Atalji said this before demitting of-
fice.
Gopal Subrahmaniam
Gopal Subrahmaniam is Solicitor General of
India.Subramaniam imaintained silence on the is-
sue but sources close to him said he was firm on
the issue of dignity of his office. "He would rather
quit than allow the dignity to be compromised," a
source said. At the heart of the controversy is the
legacy of distrust that a group of government lead-
ers have developed towards Subramaniam. They
fear that he will not be able to protect the
government's interests in the case based on the PIL,
thus giving another opening to the opposition. The
backing of some sections of the government has
allowed Subramaniam to continue so far despite
criticism, but this particular matter has become a
test case for him. Sibal, who has emerged as a
troubleshooter for the PM and knows his law, is
sticking to his stand.
Piyush Guha
Observing that mere possession of materials
eulogising Maoist ideologies could not be consid-
ered sedition, the Supreme Court on Tuesday
granted bail to Kolkata-based businessman Piyush
Guha, co-accused with rights activist Binayak Sen
in the sedition case, and sentenced to life impris-
onment. Mr. Guha was convicted along with Dr.
Sen and Naxal ideologue Narayan Sanyal. Dr. Sen
was granted bail by the Supreme Court after the
Chhattisgarh High Court had denied his plea. In
his appeal, Mr. Guha pleaded that he be granted
bail, saying that he had already spent four years in
jail.
News of the World
Britain's best-selling Sunday tabloid the News of
the World signed off with a simple front page mes-
sage _ "THANK YOU & GOODBYE" _ leaving
the media establishment here reeling from the ex-
panding phone-hacking scandal that brought down
the muckraking newspaper after 168 years. Jour-
nalists crafted the newspaper's own obituary be-
fore sending the tabloid's final edition to the print-
ing presses on Saturday night, apologizing for let-
ting its readers down but stopping short of ac-
knowledging recent allegations that staff paid po-
lice for information. "We praised high standards,
we demanded high standards but, as we are now
only too painfully aware, for a period of a few years
up to 2006 some who worked for us, or in our
name, fell shamefully short of those standards,"
read a message posted on the tabloid's website.
"Quite simply, we lost our way. Phones were
hacked, and for that this newspaper is truly sorry."
Mohan Kohali
Indians being honoured in countries of their adop-
tion is now scarcely news, especially with the
growth of the white collar diaspora. But Mohan
Kohli, honoured by Paraguay earlier this month,
is different.Having worked under the legendry
Norman Borlaug at a time when agricultural re-
search was yet to slip entirely into the domain of
corporates, Dr. Kohli has got recognition for nearly
four decades of unremitting research to step up
wheat production in a wide swathe of Latin Ameri-
can countries, including Brazil, Argentina, Uru-
guay, Paraguay, Bolivia and Chile.Dr. Kohli
walked up the dais at San Carlos University in
Asuncion to receive an Honorary Doctorate as a
mark of gratitude from Paraguayans for transform-
ing their country to a net wheat exporter pro-
duction increased from a meagre 30,000 tonnes in
1978 to 1.2 million tonnes today. Thanks to Dr.
Kohli's efforts, Paraguay earned $230 million from
wheat exports last year.Dr. Kohli started off his
career with Nobel laureate Norman Borlaug and
worked with him for six years in Mexico. In 1978,
he came to South America as a regional wheat
54
breeder. In all, Dr. Kohli has spent a total of 39
years in Latin America. Married to a Mexican, he
lives in Paraguay and is also working as senior
technical consultant to the Argentine wheat project.
Khodorkovsky
Russia's former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky
and his business partner Platon Lebedev have ap-
plied for an early release from prison, where they
are serving a 13-year term.The two inmates are
entitled to ask for parole, having served more than
half of their two sentences. Their first sentence for
tax evasion expires later this year, but in Decem-
ber 2010 a Moscow court had slapped on them a
new prison term for fraud.On Tuesday the Euro-
pean Court of Human Rights, based in Strasbourg,
ordered the Russian government to pay $35,000
to Khodorkovsky and Lebedev as compensation
for violation of their rights after they were arrested
in 2003 but said there were no sufficient grounds
for seeing political motives behind their first trial.
Khodorkovsky continues to insist he is not guilty.
Nobel winner Blumberg dies
Dr. Baruch Blumberg, a Nobel laureate for his work
discovering the hepatitis B virus and developing a
vaccine against it, died in April. Known as Barry,
Blumberg spent most of his career at Philadelphias
Fox Chase Cancer Center. He served on Fogartys
Advisory Board from 1989 to 1993.
Daulaire new U.S. Rep at WHO
Dr. Nils Daulaire, director of the Office of Global
Health Affairs at HHS since March 2010, was con-
firmed by the U.S. Senate to be the representative
of the U.S. on the executive board of the World
Health Organization. He holds the rank of ambas-
sador.
Tendulkar & Durrani
Sachin Tendulkar and former all-rounder Salim
Durani bagged top honours, while the World Cup
winning Indian team, led by captain Mahendra
Singh Dhoni, was felicitated by the Board of Con-
trol for Cricket in India (BCCI) at its annual awards
function, here, Tuesday evening.Sachin was be-
stowed with the Polly Umrigar Trophy for Indias
Best Cricketer of 2009-10 and received a trophy
and cheque for Rs five lakh, while Durani was fe-
licitated with the CK Nayudu Lifetime Achieve-
ment Award for which he received a trophy, a
cheque for Rs 15 lakh and a citation.
Shahid Afridi
Huge-hitting Shahid Afridi makes such a noise on
the field that they call him Boom Boom', but the
crowd-pleaser is leaving the game quietly after
clashing with Pakistan's cricket hierarchy. But
Afridi, 31, announced his retirement late on Mon-
day after a row with coach Waqar Younis which
saw him stripped of the one-day captaincy, despite
taking scandal-hit Pakistan to the World Cup semi-
finals in March.I play for my country and for my
people, he said. I led the team to the semifinal
of the World Cup but the reward was such that I
was not sure about my captaincy.Although he left
the door open for a possible return if the Paki-
stan Cricket Board (PCB) undergoes wholesale
changes it seems likely that cricket has lost one
of its most exciting and passionate talents.Afridi
cracked the world's fastest one-day century in his
first ever international innings, and holds the World
record for ODI sixes 289.
Baba Ramdev
The news of Baba Ramdev's eviction was one of
the most searched items by Indians today, accord-
ing to data by Google Trends. Google Trends, the
web facility which ranks the most searched topics
on the Internet, showed 'Ramdev Arrested' as the
second most searched item. Police cracked down
on Ramdev and his supporters in New Delhi's
Ramlila Ground after midnight Saturday and forc-
ibly removed the yoga guru from the site. He was
then evicted from the capital. The incident created
ripples on social networking sites Twitter and
Facebook with young India fiercely expressing its
views on the action against yoga guru's satyagraha.
55
Various groups in support of the yoga guru also
saw active posting of comments and new mem-
bers joining in to express their views. It was not
that long back that Baba Ramdev, a Yadav from
Haryana, was just a superior yoga instructor with
a mass following, a people's Sri Sri Ravi Shankar,
whose clientele was at the upper end of the social
spectrum.Today, Baba Ramdev heads a yoga and
health empire, worth hundreds of crores, with even
an island off the coast of Scotland, gifted to him
by grateful devotees, to run a yoga ashram and a
spa. He swishes around in chartered private planes
and, significantly, has a team of advisers with
impressive credentials.
Salman Taseer
The outspoken Governor of Pakistan's Punjab
province, Salman Taseer, was gunned down, al-
legedly by one of his own security guards here on
Tuesday afternoon.The guard, who surrendered to
the police soon after, is said to have been upset
with Taseer for his support to a Christian woman
charged with blasphemy. Taseer angered the reli-
gious' right wing after he visited Aasia Bibi who
was sentenced to death by a sessions court in No-
vember last for allegedly committing blasphemy
in the Sheikhupura jail. He also forwarded her
mercy petition to President Asif Ali Zardari and
stuck to his guns despite threats from hardliners.
Vikram Pandit
Vikram Pandit, Indian-born global CEO of
Citibank, and its chairman William R Rhodes were
on Tuesday named in a first information report
(FIR) filed with the police accusing the bank of
cheating and a criminal breach of trust in connec-
tion with the Rs. 300-crore fraud here.Several high
networth individuals have also complained that
their securities were encashed without their knowl-
edge in the fraud, allegedly masterminded by the
Gurgaon branch relationship officer Shivraj
Puri.The local police registered a case on the ba-
sis of an FIR, naming Mr. Pandit and 10 other of-
ficials, filed by high networth individual (HNI)
Sanjeev Aggarwal, Managing Director, Helion
Advisors. The others named in the FIR include
Citibank's chief financial officer John Gerspach
and chief operating officer Doughlas Peterson
(both based in New York). The case has been reg-
istered under Sections 409, 477A, 420 and 120B
of the Indian Penal Code. The fraud, involving
diversion of depositors' money into the stock mar-
ket.
K.G. Bhaskaran
K.G. Bhaskaran, brother of the former Chief Jus-
tice of India, K.G. Balakrishnan, and Special Gov-
ernment Pleader for Scheduled Caste and Sched-
uled Tribe cases in the Kerala High Court, went
on medical leave on Tuesday, amid media reports
that he had amassed wealth disproportionate to the
known sources of his income.The leave letter was
sent to Advocate-General C.P. Sudhakara Prasad
through a special messenger. Mr. Bhaskaran was
appointed Special Government Pleader in July
2009. Earlier, he was working as public prosecu-
tor in the High Court. In the letter, he said he was
suffering from chronic respiratory problems.
Lalit Modi
Former Indian Premier League chairman Lalit
Kumar Modi has refused to accept summons is-
sued by the Chennai police in connection with a
Rs. 468-crore cheating case. The case pertains to
the complaint lodged by the Board of Control for
Cricket in India (BCCI) against Mr. Modi and oth-
ers. The CCB had registered a case under Sections
409 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 468
(forgery for the purpose of cheating), 477 (A) (fal-
sification of accounts) and 120 B (criminal con-
spiracy) of IPC.
Maqbool Fida Hussain
Maqbool Fida Hussain, who rose from a
Bollywood billboard artist to India's most cel-
ebrated painter worldwide, died here today, away
from home on a self-imposed exile.India's very
own 'Picasso', who earned both fame and wrath
for his paintings, died a Qatari citizen at the Royal
56
Brompton Hospital here where he was admitted
after being in "indifferent health" for the last one-
and-a-half month, family sources told PTI.The leg-
endary Husain, breathed his last at 2.30 am local
time (0700 IST) at the age of 95. The cause of his
death was not immediately known.India's biggest
grosser as a painter with his works fetching astro-
nomical sums in auctions in London and New
York, Hussain turned away from his homeland in
2006 following a series of legal cases and death
threats over his depiction of Hindu goddesses in
nude.
Dayanidhi Maran
Union Textile Minister Dayanidhi Maran resigned
from the government after being named by CBI in
the 2G scam. He handed over his resignation to
the prime minister on 7 July, around 1:30 pm. Ear-
lier that day he attended his last cabinet meeting
and was seen leaving early.
Jyotirmoy Dey
Noted Mid Day crime reporter of Mumbai
Jyotirmoy Dey was shot dead in Mumbai on 11th
June. Learn more about dead Mumbai crime re-
porter J Dey biography, career as a journalist and
more. Yet another onslaught attempted to hush the
democratic voice of the journalist as the noted
crime reporter Jyotirmoy Dey was shot dead in
Mumbai in the Hiranandani Gardens at the Powai
region by four motorbike borne gunmen, so far
unidentified, on Saturday afternoon, 11th June,
2011. Mr. Dey was the Head of the Crime Bureau
at Mid-Day and in over a prolonged period of 22
years, this veteran crime reporter has been tirelessly
unveiling the manifold masks of the Mumbai un-
derworld and producing investigative crime reports
one after another. So it was quite natural that some
individual criminal or gang would have developed
an enmity with him, which resulted in his untimely
death, as the age of Jyotirmoy Dey Mumbai re-
porter was only 50 years.
Delhi University
Cut-off marks for admission to undergraduate
courses in Delhi University have ballooned, largely
because of suspected guess work by colleges fol-
lowing a change intended at helping students from
other states.However, teachers are trying to reas-
sure students and parents by telling them that the
cut-offs should come down in subsequent lists
expected next Monday.The matter had become a
subject of furious debate in the capital following
disclosures that Sri Ram College of Commerce
(SRCC) has pushed up the cut-off marks stu-
dents scoring below this floor in the school leav-
ing examinations cannot apply for a particular
course to as high as 100 per cent.The lightning
rod was enough to compel the HRD minister to
take time off graver affairs of state and declare that
the government is on parents and students
side.SRCC has not made the 100 per cent cut-off
for all students. Such a high floor was set for stu-
dents without a commerce background applying
to a course in the subject something the college
said has been in place for years as part of a screen-
ing process. But the cut-offs have gone up by about
3 per cent this year in many colleges, prompting
suggestions that something more than a screen-
ing process is behind the unusual spike. The cut-
off ranges between 95 and 99 per cent for popular
courses like commerce and economics in colleges
like SRCC, Hindu, Lady Sri Ram, Kirori Mal,
Venkateswara, Hansraj and Miranda House.
Ranjan Mathai
Seasoned diplomat Ranjan Mathai, India's ambas-
sador to France, will be the next Foreign Secre-
tary, succeeding Nirupama Rao. A 1974-batch IFS
officer, 59-year-old Mathai will assume charge on
August one and will have a two-year term, official
spokesperson Vishnu Prakash announced today.He
will occupy the top post at a time when India's
relations with Pakistan are gradually getting back
on track and its strategic partnership with the US
has reached new heights.Mathai, who did his MA
in Political science from Pune University, has
57
served in Indian missions in Vienna, Colombo,
Washington, Tehran and Brussels.
Nandan and Rohini Nilekani
IT industry veteran and Chairman of the Unique
Identification Authority of India Nandan Nilekani,
and his wife Rohini Nilekani have donated Rs. 50
crore to the Indian Institute for Human Settlements
(IIHS). A statement released by the institute on
Monday quoted the couple as saying the donation
was made because the IIHS is at the convergence
of both our interests in education, urbanisation and
sustainability. Thanking the Nilekanis for one
of the largest gifts in India's history for a new school
at a prospective national university, Aromar Revi,
Director, IIHS, said:India is returning to a tradi-
tion of philanthropy to build independent national
institutions for the common good.The IIHS said
the donation marked a major step in its endeav-
our to mobilise Rs. 300 crore in order to fund five
interdisciplinary schools, build one of South Asia's
largest reference and digital libraries and estab-
lish other facilities on its campus near Kengeri.
The IIHS is also raising Rs. 100 crore for chair
professorships at the university.
Sree Padmanabhaswamy
Temple
The seven-member committee, appointed by the
Supreme Court to take an inventory of the six
vaults (kallaras) at the Sree Padmanabhaswamy
Temple here, on Monday unsealed one vault.The
kallara' on the north-western side inside the
nalambalam' of the temple vault C was un-
sealed shortly before 11 a.m. The committee re-
portedly completed the inventory by 7 p.m. Each
article in the vault was counted and weighed on a
digital balance. Three gold assessors' were also
present on the occasion. This vault, which is
opened many times a year, is said to contain uten-
sils used for various rituals in the temple. The com-
mittee is expected to open a second vault on
Tuesday.The court directive was in response to a
quo warranto petition filed by the former IPS of-
ficer and Supreme Court lawyer, T.P. Sundara
Rajan.Those present during the unsealing included,
apart from Mr. Rajan, former judges of the Kerala
High Court, M.N. Krishnan and C.S. Rajan, Addi-
tional Chief Secretary to the Government of Kerala
K. Jayakumar, Executive Officer of the temple
Harikumar, an official from the Department of
Archaeology, and a representative of Uthradom
Thirunal Marthanda Varma, the head of the royal
family of erstwhile Travancore.The contents of two
vaults, A and B, are the subject of a controversy.
These vaults have supposedly not been opened for
more than a century and are rumoured to contain
priceless jewels, precious stones and artefacts. The
two priests of the temple, the Periya Nambi' and
the Thekkedom Nambi', are the custodians of the
four vaults, C to F, which are opened
periodically.The Supreme Court had directed that
the existing practices, procedures and rituals of
the temple be followed while opening vaults C to
F and using the articles inside. Vaults A and B
shall be opened only for the purposes of making
an inventory of the articles and then closed.
N. Murali
N. Murali, Senior Managing Director of Kasturi
and Sons Ltd., has been re-elected president of the
Music Academy, Chennai.Mr. Murali was elected
unopposed at the annual general meeting of the
Academy held on Sunday. It is for a three-year
term.N. Gopalaswami, Habibulla Badsha, C.V.
Karthik Narayanan, R. Seshasayee and R.
Srinivasan were elected vice-presidents, and K.V.
Krishna Prasad, Dr. Malathi Rangaswami, N.
Ramji and Dr. Pappu Venugopala Rao, secretar-
ies. R. Ramakrishnan was elected treasurer.The
vice-presidents, secretaries, treasurer and execu-
tive committee members were also elected unop-
posed for the second time after 2008.
Bhupen Hazarika
Music maestro Bhupen Hazarika was today admit-
ted to the intensive care unit of the Kokilaben
Ambani Hospital after he complained of breath-
lessness and drowsiness. His condition was de-
scribed as stable by the doctors. Hospital doctors
58
said Bhupen was admitted to the hospital about
1.30am and was kept under observation in the in-
tensive care unit of the hospital, located in Versova
in Mumbais western suburbs.
The 25 paise coin
The 25 paise coin, which has been fading out of
the pocket change in recent years because of low
acceptability, will finally become history from
Thursday.The coin, along with those with lower
denominations, will be demonetised or cease to
be legal tender.Coins of the denomination of 25
paise and below will cease to be legal tender from
June 30, 2011. These will not be accepted for ex-
change at bank branches from July 1, 2011 on-
wards, the Reserve Bank of India said recently.In
December 2010, the government had decided to
withdraw the coins of denomination of 25 paise
and below from circulation from June 30.Even
before price inflation killed the 25 paise coin, the
RBI had been receiving complaints that shops,
business establishments, utility services and even
public sector organisations and government depart-
ments were not accepting it.The RBI then had to
issue notice that the coin was in circulation and
continued to be legal tender. Coins of 1 paisa, 2, 3
and 5 paise denominations have already been
demonetised.The Frozen Series 1947-50 repre-
sented the currency arrangements during the tran-
sition period up to the establishment of the Indian
Republic.The Monetary System remained un-
changed at One Rupee consisting of 192 pice.The
Anna Series was introduced on August 15, 1950
and represented the first coinage of Republic In-
dia. The King's Portrait was replaced by the Lion
Capital of the Ashoka Pillar, according to an RBI
document.In September 1955, the Indian Coinage
Act was amended for the country to adopt a met-
ric system for coinage. The rupee remained un-
changed in value and nomenclature. It, however,
was now divided into 100 paise' instead of 16
annas or 64 pice.The 2.5 gram nickel 25 paise coin
was born. The latest 25 paise coin, weighing 2.83
gram, was ferrite stainless steel.Stainless steel coin-
age of 10, 25 and 50 paise, was introduced in 1988
and of one rupee in 1992.
Amartya Sen
Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen will be the
adviser to the Mentor Group which has been set
up by the West Bengal government to help Presi-
dency University regain its excellence. The first
meeting of the Mentor Group is now scheduled to
be held in July. The aim is to turn the university
into a world class research and teaching institu-
tion by its 200th anniversary in 2017-18.Chief
Minister Mamata Banerjee said here on Wednes-
day that Professor Sen has agreed to the proposal
and would advise the 10-member committee,
which is chaired by Sugata Bose. The committee
has been constituted by Professor Bose, Gardiner
professor of Oceanic History and Affairs, Harvard
University, and a grand-nephew of Subhash
Chandra Bose.Mr. Bose said that while eight per-
sons have already agreed to be part of the Mentor
Group, approval was awaited from the remaining
two. He said that the group is charged with the
task of making a set of short, medium and long-
term recommendations and monitoring implemen-
tation of these over the next two years. The first
report was expected in by August 2011 and the
last by June 2013.
Akhil Gogoi
Akhil Gogoi was associated with the CPI(M-L) in
Assam, but had no links with Maoists, sources here
said today, while raising questions whether an
Assam police officer was transferred for not trump-
ing up charges against the RTI activist. The mys-
tery of police action and subsequent allegations
by one other than the chief minister of Assam,
Tarun Gogoi, against Akhil are seen with suspi-
cion in New Delhi. former home secretary G.K.
Pillai had told that there was no evidence to sug-
gest Gogoi was linked to Naxals, even though the
Maoists have made inroads into that state.
59
60
61
SBI P.O. Solved Paper
Held on: 18-04-10
Continue Next Page...
62
SBI P.O.
Solved Paper
REASONING ABILITY
1. In a certain code language how many goals
scored is written as 5 3 9 7; many more
matches is written as 9 8 2 and he scored five
is written as 1 6 3. How is goals written in
that code language ?
(1) 5 (2) 7 (3) 5 or 7
(4) Data inadequate
(5) None of these
2. In a certain code TEMPORAL is written as
OLDSMBSP. How is CONSIDER written in that
code?
(1) RMNBSFEJ (2) BNMRSFEJ
(3) RMNBJEFS (4) TOPDQDCH
(5) None of these
3. How many meaningful English words can be
made with the letters DLEI using each letter only
once in each word ?
(1) None (2) One (3) Two
(4) Three (5) More than three
4. Among A, B, C, D and E each having different
weight, D is heavier than only A and C is lighter
than B and E. Who among them is the heaviest ?
(1) B (2) E (3) C
(4) Data inadequate
(5) None of these
5. Each odd digit in the number 5263187 is
substituted by the next higher digit and each even
digit is substituted by the previous lower digit
and the digits so obtained are rearranged in
ascending order, which of the following will be
the
,
third digit from the left end after the
rearrangement ?
(1) 2 (2) 4 (3) 5
(4) 6 (5) None of these
6. Pratap corrrectly remembers that his mothers
birthday is before twenty third April but after
Nineteenth April, whert as his sister correctly
remembers that their mothers birthday is not on
or after twenty second April. On which day in
April is definitely their mothers birthday ?
(1) Twentieth (2) Twenty-first
(3) Twentieth or twenty-first
(4) Cannot be determined
(5) None of these
7. Ashok started walking towards South. After
walking 50 meters he took a right turn and
walked 30 meters. He then took a right turn and
walked 100 meters. He again took a right turn
and walked 30 meters and stopped. How far and
in which direction was he from the starting point?
(1) 50 meters South (2) 150 meters North
(3) 180 meters East (4) 50 meters North
(5) None of these
8. If means +; means

means and
+means ; then 15 8 6 + 12 + 4 = ?
(1) 20 (2) 28 (3)
(4) 2 3 (5) None of these
9. Town D is towards East of town F. Town B is
towards North of town D. Town H is towards
South of town B. Towards which direction is
town H from town F ?
(1) East (2) South-East
(3) North-East (4) Data inadequate
(5) None of these
Held on:
18-04-10
63
10. How many such pairs of letters are there in the
word SEARCHES each of which has as many
letters between them in the word as in the English
alphabet ?
(1) None (2) One (3) Two
(4) Three (5) More than three
Direction: In each of the questions below are given
four statements followed by four conclusions
numbered I, II, III 8s IV. You have to take the given
statements to be true even if they seem to be at given
conclusions logically follows from the given
statements disregarding commonly known facts.
11. Statements: All cups are bottles. Some bottles
are jugs. No jug is plate. Some plates are tables.
Conclusions:
I. Some tables are bottles.
II. Some plates are cups.
III. No table is bottle.
IV. Some jugs are cups.
(1) Only I follows (2) Only II follows
(3) Only III follows (4) Only IV follows
(5) Only either I or III follows
12. Statements: Some chairs are handles. All
handles are pots. All pots are mats. Some mats
are buses.
Conclusions:
I. Some buses are handles.
II. Some mats are chairs.
III. No bus is handle.
IV. Some mats are handles.
(1) Only I, II and IV follow
(2) Only II, III and IV follow
(3) Only either I or III and II follow
(4) Only either I or III and IV follow
(5) Only either I or III and II and IV follow
13. Statements: All birds are horses. All horses are
tigers. Some tigers are lions. Some lions are
monkeys.
Conclusions:
I. Some tigers are horses.
II. Some monkeys are birds.
III. Some tigers are birds.
IV. Some monkeys are horses.
(1) Only I and III follow
(2) Only I, II and III follow
(4) All I, II, III and IV follow
(5) None of these
14. Statements: Some benches are walls. All walls
are houses. Some houses are jungles. All jungles
are roads.
Conclusions:
I. Some roads are benches.
II. Some jungles are walls.
III. Some houses are benches.
IV. Some roads are houses.
(1) Only land II follow
(2) Only I and III follow
(3) Only III and IV follow
(5) None of these
15. Statements: Some sticks are lamps. Some
flowers are lamps. Some lamps are dresses. All
dresses are shirts.
Conclusions:
I. Some shirts are sticks.
II. Some shirts are flowers.
III. Some flowers are sticks.
IV. Some dresses are sticks.
(1) None follows (2) Only I follows
(3) Only II follows (4) Only III follows
(5) Only IV follows
Direction: Study the following information
carefully and answer the questions given below:
A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H are eight employees
of an organization working in three departments viz.
Personnel, Administration and Marketing with not
more than three of them in any department. Each of
them has a different choice of sports from football,
cricket, volleyball, badminton, lawn tennis, basketball,
hockey and table tennis not necessarily in the same
order.
D works in Administration and does not like
either football or cricket. F works in Personnel with
only A who likes table tennis. Eand H do not work in
the same department as D. C likes hockey and does
64
not work in marketing. G does not work in
administration and does not like either cricket or
badminton. One of those who work in administration
likes football. The one who likes volleyball works in
personnel. None of those who work in administration
likes either badminton or lawn tennis. H does not like
cricket.
16. Which of the following groups of employees
work in Administration department ?
(1) EGH (2) AF (3) BCD
(4) BGD (5) Data inadequate
17. In which department does E work ?
(1) Personnel (2) Marketing
(3) Administration (4) Data inadequate
(5) None of these
18. Which of the following combinations of
employee-department-favourite sport is correct?
(1) E Administration Cricket
(2) F Personnel Lawn Tennis
(3) H Marketing Lawn Tennis
(4) B Administration Table Tennis
(5) None of these
19. What is Es favourite sport ?
(1) Cricket (2) Badminton
(3) Basketball (4) Lawn Tennis
(5) None of these
20. What is Gs favourite sport ?
(1) Cricket (2) Badminton
(3) Basketball (4) Lawn Tennis
(5) None of these
Direction: In the following questions, the symbols
#and S are used with the following meaning as
illustrated below.
P $ Q means P is not smaller than Q.
P @ Q means P is neither smaller than nor equal to Q
P # Q means P is neither greater than nor equal to Q.
P Q means P is neither greater than nor smaller than
Q.
P Q means P is not greater than Q.
Now in each of the following questions
assuming the given statements to be true, find which
of the four conclusions I, II, III and IV given below
them is/are definitely true and give your answer
accordingly.
21. Statements: H @ T, T # F, F E, E VV
Conclusions: I. V $ F II. E @ T
III. H @ V IV. T # V
(1) Only I, II and III are true
(2) Only I, II and IV are true
(3) Only II, III and IV are true
(4) Only I, III and IV are true
(5) All I, II, III and IV are true
22. Statements: D#R, R K, K@F, F$J
Conclusions: I. J # R II. J # K
III. R # F IV. K @ D
(3) Only I, III and IV are true
(4) All I, II, III and IV are true
(5) None of these
23. Statements: N B, B $ W, W # H, H M
Conclusions : I. M @ W II. H @ N
III. W S N IV. W# N
(1) Only I is true (2) Only III is true
(3) Only IV is true
(4) Only either III or IV is true
(5) Only either III or IV and I are true
24. Statements: R D, D $ J, J # M, M @ K
Conclusions: I. K # J II. D @ M
III. R # M
IV. D @ K
(1) None is true (2) Only I is true
(3) Only II is true (4) Only III is true
(5) Only IV is true
25. Statements: M $ K, K @ N, N R, R # W W
Conclusions: I. W @ K II. M $ R
III. K @ W
IV. M @ N
(1) Only I and II are true
(3) Only III and IV are true
(5) None of these
65
carefully and answer the questions given below
Following are the conditions for selecting Senior
Manager-Credit in a bank. The candidate must
(i) be a graduate in any discipline with atleast 60
percent marks.
(ii) have post qualification work experience of at
least ten years in the Advances Section of a bank.
(iii) be at least 30 years and not more than 40 years
as on 1.4.2010. (iv) have secured at least 40
percent marks in the group discussion. (v) have
secured at least 50 percent marks in interview.
In the case of a candidate who satisfies all the
conditions EXCEPT
(A) at (i) above but has secured at least 50 percent
marks in graduation and at least 60 percent marks
in post graduation in any discipline the case is
to be referred to the General Manager Advances.
(B) at (ii) above but has total post qualification work
experience of at least seven years out of which
at least three years as Manager-Credit in a bank,
the case is to be referred to Executive
Director.
In each question below details of one candidate
is given. You have to take one of the following
courses of action based on the information
provided and the conditions and sub-conditions
given above and mark the number of that course
of action as your answer. You are not to assume
anything other than the information provided in
each question. All these cases are given to you
as on 01.04.2010.
Give answer
(1) if the case is to be referred to Executive
Director.
(2) if the case is to be referred to General
Manager-Advances.
(3) if the data are inadequate to take a decision.
(4) if the candidate is not to be selected.
(5) if the candidate is to be selected.
26. Shobha Gupta has secured 50 percent marks in
the Interview and 40 percent marks in the Group
Discussion. She has been working for the past
eight years out of which four years as Manager-
Credit in a bank after completing her B. A. degree
with 60 percent marks. She was born on 12th
September 1978.
27. Rohan Maskare was born on 8th March 1974. He
has been working in a bank for the past twelve years
after completing his B.Com. degree with 70 percent
marks. He has secured 50 percent marks in both
the Group Discussion and the Interview.
28. Prakash Gokhale was born on 4th August 1977.
He has secured 65 percent marks in. post
graduation and 58 percent marks in graduation.
He has been working for the past ten years in
the Advances Department of a bank after
completing his post graduation. He has secured
45 percent marks in the Group Discussion and
50 percent marks in the Interview.
29. Sudha Mehrotra has been working in the
Advances department of a bank for the past
twelve years after completing her B.Com. degree
with 60 percent marks. She has secured 50
percent marks in the Group Discussion and 40
percent marks in the Interview. She was born on
15th February 1972.
30. Amit Narayan was born on 28th May 1974. He
has been working in the Advances department of a
bank for the past eleven years after completing his
B.Sc. degree with 65 percent marks. He has secured
55 percent marks in the Group discussion and 50
percent marks in the interview.
Direcion: I n each question below is given a
statement followed by three courses of action
numbered (A), (B) and (C). A course of action is a
step or administrative decision to be taken for.
improvement, follow-up or further action in regard
to the problem, policy, etc. On the basis of the
information given in the statement, you have to
assume everything in the statement to be true, then
decide which of the suggested courses of action
logically follow(s) for pursuing.
31. Statement : A heavy unseasonal downpour
during tho last two days has paralysed the,
normal life in the state in which five persons were
66
killed but this has provided a huge relief to the
problem of acute water crisis in the state.
Courses of action:
(A) The state government should set up a
committee to review the alarming situation.
(B) The state government should immediately
remove all the restrictions, on use of potable
water in all the major cities in the state.
(C) The state government should send relief
supplies to all the affected areas in the state.
(1) None (2) Only (A)
(3) Only (B) and (C) (4) Only (C)
(5) All (A), (B), (C)
32. Statement: A large private bank has decided to
retrench one-third of its employees in view of
the huge losses incurred by it during the past
three quarters.
Courses of action:
(A) The Govt. should issue a notification to
general public to immediately: stop all
transactions with the bank.
(B) The Govt. should direct the bank to refrain
from retrenching its employees.
(C) The Govt. should ask the central bank of the
country to initiate an enquiry into the banks
activities and submit its report.
(1) None (2) Only (A)
(3) Only (B) (4) Only (C)
(5) Only (A) and (C)
33. Statement: Many political activists have
decided to stage demonstrations and block traffic
movement in the city during peak hours to protest
against the steep rise in prices of essential
commodities.
Courses of action:
(A) The Govt. should immediately ban all forms
of agitations in the country.
(B) The police authority of the city should deploy
additional forces all over the city to help
traffic movement in the city.
(C) The state administration should carry out
preventive arrests of the known criminals
staying in the city.
(1) Only (A) (2) Only (B)
(3) Only (C) (4) Only (A) and (B)
(5) None of these
34. Statement: The school dropout rate in many
districts in the state has increased sharply during
the last few years as the parents of these children
make them work in the fields owned by others
to earn enough for them to get at least one meal
a day.
Courses of action:
(A) The Govt. should put up a mechanism to
provide foodgrains to the poor people in these
districts through public distribution system
to encourage the parents to send their wards
to school.
(B) The Govt. should close down some of these
schools in the district and deploy the teachers
of these schools to nearby schools and also
ask remaining students to join these schools.
(C) Govt. should issue arrest warrants for all the
parents who force their children to work in
fields instead of attending classes.
(3) Only (C) (4) Only (A) and (B)
(5) None of these
35. Statement: One aspirant was killed due to
stampede while participating in a recruitment
drive of police constables.
Courses of action:
(A) The officials incharge of the recruitment
process should immediately be suspended.
(B) A team of officials should be asked to find
out the circumstances which led to the death
of the aspirant and submit its report within a
week.
(C) The Govt. should ask the home department
to stagger the number of aspirants over more
number of days to avoid such incidents in
future.
(3) Only (C) (4) Only (B) and (C)
(5) None of these
36. Effect: Majority of the employees of the ailing
organization opted for voluntary retirement
scheme and left the organization with all their
67
retirement benefits within a fortnight of
launching the scheme.
Which of the following can be a probable cause
of the above effect ?
(1) The company has been making huge losses
for the past five years and is unable to pay
salaryto its employees in time.
(2) The management of the company made huge
personal gains through unlawful activities.
(3) One of the competitors of the company went
bankrupt last year.
(4) The company owns large tracts of land in the
state which will fetch huge sum to its owners.
(5) None of these
37. Statement: Most of the companies in IT and
ITES sectors in India have started hiring from
engineering college campuses this year and are
likely to recruit much more than yearly
recruitment of the earlier years.
Which of the following substantiates the facts
stated in the above statement ?
(1) IT and ITES are the only sectors in India
which are hiring from engineering college
campuses.
(2) Govt. has stepped up recruitment activities
after a gap of five years.
(3) The IT and ITES companies have now
decided to vi sit the engineering college
campuses for tier II cities in India as well.
(4) Availability of qualified engineers will
substantially in crease in the near future.
(5) None of these
38. Cause: The Govt. has recently increased its taxes
or, petrol and diesel by about 10 percent. Which
of the following can be a possible effect of the
above cause ?
(1) The petroleum companies will reduce the
prices of petrol and diesel by about 10
percent.
(3) The petroleum companies will increase the
prices of petrol and diesel by about 5 percent.
(4) The petrol pumps will stop selling petrol and
diesel till the taxes are rolled back by the govt.
(5) None of these
39. Statement : The Govt. has decided to instruct
the banks to open new branches in such a way
that there is one branch of any of the banks in
every village of population 1000 and above or a
cluster of villages with population less than 1000
to provide banking services to all the citizens.
Which of the following will weaken the step
taken by the Govt. ?
(1) The private sector banks in India have
stepped up their branch expansion activities
in rural India.
(2) Many Govt. owned banks have surplus
manpower in its urban branches.
(3) All the banks including those in private sector
will follow the govt. directive.
(4) Large number of branches of many Govt.
owned banks in the rural areas are making
huge losses every year due to lack of adequate
business activities.
(5) None of these
carefully and answer the questions given below.
The centre reportedly wants to continue
providing subsidy to consumers for cooking gas and
kerosene for five more years. This is not good news
from the point of view of reining in the fiscal deficit.
Mounting subventions for subsidies means diversion
of savings by the government from investment to
consumption, raising the cost of capital in the process.
The government must cut expenditure on subsidies
to create more fiscal space for investments in both
physical and social infrastructure. It should outline a
plan for comprehensive reform in major subsidies
including petroleum, food and fertilizers and set goal
posts.
40. Which of the following is a conclusion which
can be drawn from the facts stated in the above
paragraph ?
(1) Subsidy provided by the government under
various heads to the citizen increases the cost
of capital.
(2) Govt. is unable to withdraw subsidies
provided to various items.
68
(3) Govt. subsidy on kerosene is purely a
political decision.
(4) Govt. does not have enough resources to
continue providing subsidy on petroleum
products.
(5) None of these
41. Which of the following is an inference which
can be made from the facts stated in the above
paragraph ?
(1) Indias fiscal deficit is negligible in
(omparison to other emerging economies in
the world.
(2) Subsidy on food and fertilizers are essential
for growth of Indian economy.
(3) Reform in financial sector will weaken
Indias position in the international arena.
(4) Gradual withdrawal of subsidy is essential
for effectively managing fiscal deficit in
India.
(5) None of these
42. Which of the following is an assumption which
is implicit in the facts stated in the above
paragraph ?
(1) People in India may not be able to pay more
for petroleum products.
(2) Many people in India are rich enough to buy
petroleum products at market cost.
(3) Govt. may not be able to create more
infrastructural facilities if the present level
of subsidy continues for a longer time.
(4) Govt. of India has sought assistance from
international financial organizations for its
infrastructural projects
(5) None of these
Direcion: Study the following information carefully
and answer the questions given below.
Poverty measurement is an unsettled issue, both
conceptually and methodologically. Since poverty is
a process as well as an outcome; many come out of it
while others may be falling into it. The net effect of
these two parallel processes is a proportion commonly
identified as the head count ratio, but these ratios
hide the fundamental dynamism that characterizes
poverty in practice. The most recent poverty
reestimates by an expert group has also missed the
crucial dynamism. In a study conducted on 13,000
households which represented the crucial dynamism.
In a study conducted on 13,000 households which
represented the entire country in 1993-94 and again
on 2004-05, it was found that in the ten-year period
18.2% rural population moved out of poverty whereas
another 22.1 % fell into it over this period. This net
increase of about four percentage points was seen to
have a considerable variation across states and
regions.
43. Which of the following is a conclusion which
can be drawn from the facts stated in the above
paragraph ?
(1) Accurate estimates of number of people
living below poverty line in India is possible
to be made.
(2) Many expert groups in India are not
interested to measure poverty objectively.
(3) Process of poverty measurement needs to
take into account various factors to tackle its
dynamic nature.
(4) People living below poverty line remain in
that position for a very long time.
(5) None of these
44. Which of the following is an assumption which
is implicit in the facts stated in the above
paragraph ?
(1) It may not be possible to have an accurate
poverty measurement in India.
(2) Level of poverty in India is static over the
years.
(3) Researchers avoid making conclusions on
poverty measurement data in India.
(4) Govt. of India has a mechanism to measure
level of poverty effectively and accurately.
(5) None of these
45. Which of the following is an inference which
can be made from the facts stated in the above
paragraph ?
(1) Poverty measurement tools in India are
outdated.
(2) Increase in number of persons falling into
poverty varies considerably across the
country over a period of time.
(3) Govt. of India has stopped measuring poverty
related studies.
69
(4) People living in rural areas are more
susceptible to fall into poverty over the time.
(5) None of these
Direction: In each of the questions given below
which one of the five answer figures on the right
should come after the problem figures on the left,
if the sequence were continued ?
46. Problem Figure
Answer Figure
1 2 3 4 5
47. Problem Figure
Answer Figure
1 2 3 4 5
48. Problem Figure
A O T
A
T
T
A
T
A
Z
T A
Answer Figure
1 2 3 4 5
49. Problem Figure
A
A
A
A
A K K
K
K K
O OO O OO O
Answer Figure
A A
A
A
A K
K K K K O
OO O OO O O
1 2 3 4 5
50. Problem Figure
DD
D
DD Z
Z
Z Z Z
O O
O
O O
Answer Figure
D
D
DDD
Z Z Z
Z
Z
O O O
O
O
1 2 3 4 5
DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
Direction: Study the following table carefully to answer the questions that follow
Number (n) of candidates (in lakhs) appearing for an entrance examination From six different states
and the percentage (p) of candidates clearing the same over the years
STATE A B C D E F
YEAR N P N P N P N P N P N P
2004 1.23 42 1.04 51 1.11 32 1.32 24 1.23 36 1.33 31
2005 1.05 43 1.12 62 1.07 47 1.15 49 1.18 55 1.24 24
2006 2.04 38 1.48 32 1.08 28 1.96 35 1.42 49 1.58 26
2007 1.98 41 2.07 43 1.19 30 1.88 46 1.36 47 1.79 29
2008 1.66 53 1.81 50 1.56 42 1.83 60 1.73 57 1.86 34
2009 1.57 39 1.73 36 1.64 52 2.01 56 1.69 55 1.95 37
70
51. What is the respective ratio of total number of
candidates clearing the entrance exam from State
B in the year 2004 to those clearing the entrance
exam from State C in the same year
(1) 221: 148 (2) 218: 143
(3) 148: 221 (4) 143: 218
(5) None of these
52. In which year did the highest number of candidates
clear the entrance exam from State D ?
(1) 2008 (2) 2006
(3) 2009 (4) 2007
(5) None of these
53. What is the number of candidates not clearing
the entrance exam from State A in the year 2007?
(1) 186820 (2)
.
11682
(3) 1868200 (4) 1.16820
(5) None of these
54. What is the total numberof candidates clearing
the entrance exam from States E and F together
in the year 2006 ?
(1) 16160 (2) 110660
(3) 1.1066 (4) 1106600
(5) None of these
55. What is the average number of candidates
appearing for the entrance exam from State D in
the years 2007, 2008 and 2009 together ?
(1)
2
1.907
3
(2)
1
18666
3
(3)
1
1.866
3
(4)
2
190666
3
(5) None of these
Direction: Study the given information carefully
and answer the questions that follow
An urn contains 6 red, 4 blue, 2 green and 3
yellow marbles.
56. If four marbles are picked at random, what is
the probability that at least one is blue ?
(1)
4
15
(2)
69
91
(3)
11
15
(4)
22
91
(5) None of these
57. If two marbles are picked at random, what is the
probability that both are red ?
(1)
1
6
(2)
1
3
(3)
2
15
(4)
2
5
(5) None of these
58. If three marbles are picked at random, what is
the probability that two are blue and one is
yellow?
(1)
3
91
(2)
1
5
(3)
18
455
(4)
7
15
(5) None of these
59. If four marbles are picked at random, what is
the probability that one is green, two are blue
and one is red ?
(1)
24
455
(2)
13
35
(3)
11
15
(4)
7
91
(5) None of these
60. If two marbles are picked at random, what is the
probability that either both are green or both are
yellow ?
(1)
5
91
(2)
1
35
(3)
1
3
(4)
4
105
(5) None of these
Direction: Study the given pie-charts carefully to
answer the questions that follow
Breakup of number of employees working
in different departments of an organisation,
the, number of males and the number of
employees who recently got promoted in
each department break-up of employees
working in different departments total
number of employees = 3,600 Employees
working in different departments:
71
Accounts
20%
Production
35%
Marketing
18%
HR
12%
IT
15%
Break-up of number of males in each
department
Total number of males in the organisation
= 2,040
Break-up of number of males working in
each department
A
c
c
t
s
.

5
%
M
a
r
k
e
t
i
n
g
1
5
%
HR 10%
IT 20%
Production
50%
Break-up of number of employees who
recently got promoted in each department
Total number of employees who got
promoted = 1,200
Number of employees who recently got
promoted from each department
A
c
c
o
u
n
t
8
%
Marketing
22%
H
R

1
1
%
IT 26%
Production
33%
61. If half of the number of employees who got
promoted from the IT department were males,
what was the approximate percentage of males
who got promoted from the IT department ?
(1) 61 (2) 29 (3) 54
(4) 42 (5) 38
62. What is the total number of females working in
the Production and Marketing departments
together ?
(1) 468 (2) 812 (3) 582
63. How many females work in the Accounts
department ?
(1) 618 (2) 592 (3) 566
64. The total number of employees who got
promoted from all the departments together was
what percent of the total number of employees
working in all the departments together ?
(Rounded off to the nearest integer)
(1) 56 (2) 21 (3) 45
(4) 33 (5) 51
65. The number of employees who got promoted
from the HR department was what percent of
the total number of employees working in that
department ? (rounded off to two digits after
decimal)
(1) 36.18 (2) 30.56 (3) 47.22
(4) 28.16 (5) None of these
Direction: Study the graph carefully to answer the
questions that follow
Percent rise in profit of two companies over the years
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
P
r
o
f
i
t

P
e
r
c
e
n
t
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Company L Company M
66. If the profit earned by Company L in the year
2005 was Rs. 1.84 lakhs, what was the profit
earned by the company in the year 2006 ?
(1) Rs. 2.12 lakhs (2) Rs. 2.3 lakhs
(3) Rs. 2.04 lakhs
(5) None of these
72
67. If the profit earned by Company M in the year
2008 was Rs. 3.63 lakhs, what was he amount
of profit earned by it in the year 2006 ?
(1) Rs. 2.16 lakhs (2) Rs.1.98 lakhs
(3) Rs. 2.42 lakhs
(5) None of these
68. What is the average percent rise in profit of
Company L over all the years together ?
(1)
1
15
3
(2)
1
25
3
(3)
5
18
6
(4)
5
21
6
(5) None of these
69. Which of the following statements is TRUE with
respect to the above graph ?
(1) Company M made the highest profit in the
year 2009
(2) Company L made least profit in the year 2005
(3) The respective ratio between the profits
earned by Company L and M In the year 2006
was 6:5
(4) Company L made the highest profit in the
year 2008
(5) All are true
70. What is the percentage increase in percent rise
in profit of Company M in the year 2009 from
the previour year ?
(1) 25 (2) 15 (3) 50
Direction: Study th a information carefully to
answer the questions that follow.
A school consisting of a total of 1560 students
has boys and girls in the ratio of 7:5 respectively. All
the students are enrolled in different types of hobby
classes, viz: Singing, Dancing and Painting. One-fifth
of the boys are enrolled in only Dancing classes.
Twenty percent of the girls are enrolled in only
Painting classes. Ten percent of the boys are enrolled
in only Singing classes. Twenty four percent of the
girls are enrolled in both Singing and Dancing classes
together. The number of girls enrolled in only Singing
classes is two hundred percent of the boys enrolled
in the same. One-thirteenth of the boys are enrolled
in all the three classes together. The respective ratio
of boys enrolled in Dancing and Painting classes
together to the girls enrolled in the same is 2 :1
respectively. Ten percent of the girls are enrolled in
only Dancing classes whereas eight percent of the girls
are enrolled in both Dancing and Painting classes
together. The remaining girls are enrolled in all the
three classes together. The number of boys enrolled
in Singing and Dancing classes together is fifty
percent of the number of girls enrolled in the same.
The remaining boys are enrolled in only Painting
classes.
71. What is the total number of boys who are
enrolled in Dancing ?
(1) 318 (2) 364
(3) 292 (4) 434
(5) None of these
72. Total number of girls enrolled in Singing is
approximately what percent of the total number
of students in the school ?
(1) 37 (2) 19
(3) 32 (4) 14
(5) 26
73. What is the total number of students enrolled in
all the three classes together ?
(1) 135 (2) 164
(3) 187 (4) 142
(5) None of these
74. Number of girls enrolled in only Dancing classes
is what percent of the boys enrolled in the same?
(rounded off to two digits after decimal)
(1) 38.67 (2) 35.71
(3) 41.83 (4) 28.62
(5) None of these
75. What is the respective ratio of the number of
girls enrolled in only Painting classes to the
number of boys enrolled in the same ?
(1) 77 : 26 (2) 21 : 73
(3) 26 : 77 (4) 73 : 21
(5) None of these
73
76. What is the respective ratio between the profit
earned by shopkeeper U in the months
February-2010 and March - 2010 together to that
earned by shopkeeper Q in the same months ?
(1) 637: 512 (2) 621 : 508
(3) 512: 637 (4) 508: 621
(5) None of these
77. What is the percent increase in profit of
shopkeeper S in the month of December - 2009
over the previous month ? (rounded off to two
digits after decimal)
(1) 3.15 (2) 2.67
(3) 2.18 (4) 3.33
(5) None of these
78. Which shopkeepers profit kept increasing
continuously over the given months ?
(1) R (2) Q (3) T
(4) U (5) None of these
79. What is the difference in profit earned by
shopkeeper T in January - 2010 from the
previous month ?
(1) Rs. 640/- (2) Rs. 420/-
(3) Rs. 380/- (4) Rs. 760/-
(5) None of these
80. What was the average profit earned by
shopkeeper R in the months of October 2009
and November 2009 together ?
(1) 5405 (2) 5040 (3) 4825
Direction: Study the given graph carefully to answer
the questions that follow
Number of days taken by three carpenters to
finish making one piece each of four different
items of furniture
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Chair Table Bed Cupboard
Company X Company Y Company Z
81. If Carpenter X and Carpenter Y were to make a
chair together how many days would they take?
(1) 1 day (2) 4 days (3) 3 days
(4) 2 days (5) None of these
82. If Carpenters X, Y and Z were to make a table
together how many days would they take ?
(1) 4 days (2) 3 days (3) 1 day
83. What is the total number of days that Carpenter
Z will take to make one piece each of all the
four items together ?
(1) 32 days (2) 24 days
(3)
1
1
59

days (4)
1
1
32

days
(5) None of these
Direction: Study the table carefully to answer the questions that follow.
Profit (in rs. 000) made by six different shopkeepers over the months
Month October November December January February March
Shopkeeper 2009 2009 2009 2010 2010 2010
P 5.25 6.04 5.84 6.10 5.95 6.02
Q 4.84 4.28 4.97 4.88 5.04 5.12
R 4.99 5.82 5.48 5.45 5.68 5.36
S 5.06 5.11 5.28 5.38 5.44 5.59
T 5.28 4.96 5.31 5.69 4.93 5.72
U 5.94 6.23 5.87 6.07 6.19 6.23
74
84. The radius of a circular field is equal to the side
of a square field whose perimeter is 784 feet.
What is the area of the circular field ?
(1) 107914 Sq.ft (2) 120736 Sq.ft.
(3) 107362 Sq.ft. (4) 127306 Sq.ft.
(5) None of these
85. In how many different ways can the letters of
the word STRESS be arranged
(1) 360 (2) 240
(3) 720
(4) 120
(5) None of these
86. Total number of people staying in locality J forms
approximately what percent of the total number
of people staying in locality F ?
(1) 81 (2) 72 (3) 78
(4) 93 (5) 87
87. What is the total number of children staying in
localities H and I together ?
(1) 1287 (2) 1278 (3) 1827
88. The number of women staying in which locality
is the highest ?
(1) H (2) J (3) F
(4) G (5) None of these
89. What is the total number of men and children
staying in locality I together
(1) 4115 (2) 4551 (3) 4515
90. What is the respective ratio of number of men
staying in locality F to the number of men staying
in locality H ?
(1) 517: 416 (2) 403: 522
(3) 416: 517 (4) 522: 403
(5) None of these
91. The compound interest earned by Suresh on a
certain amount at the end of two years at the rate
of 8 p.c.p.a was Rs. 1,414.4. What was the total
Direction: Study the given table carefully to answer the questions that follow
Number of people staying in five different localities and the percentage breakup of men, women and
children in them
LOCALITY TOTAL NO. PERCENTAGE
OF PEOPLE MEN WOMEN CHILDREN
F 5640 55 35 10
G 4850 34 44 22
H 5200 48 39 13
I 6020 65 25 10
J 4900 42 41 17
amount that Suresh got back at the end of two
years in the form of principal plus interest
earned?
(1) Rs. 9,414.4 (2) Rs. 9,914.4
(3) Rs. 9,014.4 (4) Rs. 8,914.4
(5) None of these
92. The respective ratio of the present ages of a
mother and daughter is 7 : 1. Four years ago the
respective ratio of their ages was 19:1. What will
be the mothers age four years from now ?
(1) 42 years (2) 38 years
(3) 46 years (4) 36 years
(5) None of these
93. Three friends J, K and Ljog around a circular
stadium and complete one round in 12, 18 and
20 seconds respectively. In how many minutes
will all the three meet again at the starting point
(1) 5 (2) 8 (3) 12
94. 4 men can complete a piece of work in 2 days. 4
women can complete the same piece of work in
4 days whereas 5 children can complete the same
piece of work in 4 days. If, 2 men, 4 women
anW 10 children work together, in how many
days can the work be completed ?
(1) 1 day (2) 3 days (3) 2 days
75
95. The speed of a boat when travelling downstream
is 32 Kms. / Hr. , whereas when travelling
upstream it is 28 kms/hr. What is the speed of
the boat in still water ?
(1) 27 Kms./Hr. (2) 29 Kms./ Hr.
(3) 31 Kms./ Hr.
(5) None of these
Direction: Study the following tables carefully and
answer the questions given below
Number of Candidates appeared in a
CompetitiveExamination from five centres over
the years
NUMBER
Center Mumbai Delhi Kolkata Hydera Chennai
Year -bad
2001 35145 65139 45192 51124 37346
2002 17264 58248 52314 50248 48932
2003 24800 63309 56469 52368 51406
2004 28316 70316 71253 54196 52315
2005 36503 69294 69632 58350 55492
2006 29129 59216 64178 48230 57365
2007 32438 61345 563041 49178 58492
Approximate-Percentages of candidatesqualified
to appeared in the
-
Competitiveexamination from
five centres over the years
PERCENTAGE
Mumbai Delhi Kolkata Hyderabad Chennai
12 24 18 17 9
10 28 12 21 12
15 21 23 25 10
11 27 19 24 8
13 23 16 23 13
14 20 21 19 11
16 19 24 20 14
96. In which of the following years was the
difference in number of candidates appeared
from Mumbai over the previous year the
minimum ?
(1) 2004 (2) 2006 (3) 2007
97. In which of the following years was the number
of candidates qualified from Chennai, the
maximum among the given years ?
(1) 2007 (2) 2006 (3) 2005
98. Approximately what was the total number of
candidates qualified from Delhi in 2002 and
2006 together ?
(1) 27250 (2) 25230 (3) 30150
(4) 28150 (5) 26250
99. Approximately how many candidates appearing
from Kolkata in 2004 qualified in the
competitive examination ?
(1) 13230 (2) 13540 (3) 15130
(4) 15400 (5) 19240
100.Approximately what was the difference between
the number of candidates qualified from
Hyderabad in 2001 and 2002 ?
(1) 1680 (2) 2440 (3) 1450
(4) 2060 (5) 1860
GENERAL AWARENESS /
MARKETING / COMPUTERS
101. What is the full form of NBFC as used in the
Fir ancial Sector ?
(1) New Banking Finance Company
(2) National Banking & Finance Corporation
(3) New Business Finance & Credit
(4) Non Business Fund Company
(5) None of these
102.100% concession has been given for travelling
in the Indian Railways for patients of ...
(1) AIDS (2) Cancer (3) Swine Flu
(4) T. B. (5) None of these
103.Many a times, we read about Special Drawing
Right (SDR) in newspapers. As per its definition,
SDR is a monetary unit of the reserve assets of
which of the following organizations / agencies?
(1) World Bank
(2) International Monetary Fund (IMF)
(3) Asian Development Bank
(4) Reserve Bank of India
(5) None of these
76
104.Which of the following is/are the highlights of
the Union Budget 2010-11 ?
(A) Number of new steps taken to simplify the
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) regime.
(B) Rs. 16,500 crore provided to ensure that the
Public Sector Banks are able to attain a
minimum 8% capital (Tier I) by March 2011.
(C) More than Rs. 1,74,000 crore provided for
the development of the infrastructure in the
country.
(1) Only A (2) Only B
(3) Only C (4) All A, B & C
(5) None of these
105.In how many Routes special tourist trains called
Bharat Tirth is to start?
(1) 19 (2) 16 (3) 17
106.As per the newspaper reports, the Govt. of India
made an auction of the Third Generation
Spectrum (3G) recently. Which of the following
ministries was actively involved in the process a
(1) Ministry of Heavy Industries
(2) Ministry of Science & Technology
(3) Ministry of Commerce
(4) Ministry of Foreign Affairs
(5) None of these
107.As per the recent announcement, the Govt. of
India will provide an amount of Rs.48,000 crore
to develop Rural Infrastructure in the country.
This planned development is being undertaken
under which of the following schemes ?
(1) Bharat Nirman
(2) Indira Aawas Yojana
(3) Backward Region Grant Fund
(4) Drought Mitigation Fund
(5) None of these
108.Ladies special trains to be renamed with the
Name of ...
(1) Bharat Bhoomi Specials
(2) Sonia Gandhi Specials
(3) Matri Bhoomi Specials
(4) Rajiv Gandhi Specials
(5) None of these
109.How much funds has been allocated to the
Unique Identification Authority of India?
(1) Rs 1,500 Crore (2) Rs 1,900 Crore
(3) Rs 1,600 Crore (4) Rs 1,800 Crore
(5) None of these
110. What is the rate of Income Tax for incomesz
above Rs 1.6 lakh upto Rs 5 lakh?
(1) 10% (2) 12% (3) 15%
(4) 20% (5) None of these
111. Recently, India took part in Nuclear New Build
2010 Conference organized in -
(1) New Delhi (2) London
(3) Paris (4) Hong Kong
(5) None of these
112. What is the reduction in Service Charges on e-
tickets?
(1) Sleeper Class Rs. 20 & AC Class Rs. 10
(5) None of these
113. As we know, with the launch of Nano by Tatas,
India has become favourite Small Car
Destination of the world. Other than India, which
of the following countries is also a popular
destination of small cars ?
(1) Britain (2) France
(3) Germany (4) Thailand
(5) None of these
114. Imports from China in the Year of 2008-09 in
Rs...
(1) 100,000 Crore (2) 140,000 Crore
(3) 147,605 Crore (4) 151,000 Crore
(5) None of these
115. How many new teams have been added in IPL
2010?
(1) 2 (2) 1 (3) 4
116.Which countries have recently faced Tsunami
Waves?
(1) Japan & Chile (2) Sallie & Korea
(3) China & Thailand (4) Japan & China
(5) None of these
77
117. North Korea and USA decided to resume their
peace talks after a gap of several months. Both
the countries have a dispute over which of the
following issues ?
(1) Bailout package offered by USA
(2) Membership of ASEAN to North Korea
(3) Nuclear programme of North Korea
(4) Soaring relations of China with North Korea
(5) None of these
118. Who amongst the following was the Chairperson
of the 13th Finance Commission which
submitted its report to the President of India
recently ?
(1) Mr. M. V. Kamath (2) Dr. C. Rangarajan
(3) Dr. D. Subbarao (4) Dr. Rakesh Mohan
(5) Dr. Vijay Kelkar
119.As per the news published in various
newspapers, the RBI is considering the grant of
licence to some new companies, particularly
NBFCs to act as full-fledged banks. Which of
the following will be considered NBFC ?
(1) NABARD
(2) Life Insurance Corporation of India
(3) Reliance Capital
(4) SEBI
(5) None of these
120.Who has scored the highest individual ODI
Score?
(1) Saeed Anwar (Pak)
(2) Charls Coventry (Zim)
(3) Sachin Tendulkar (IND)
(5) Ricky Pointing (Aus)
(5) None of these
121. What is an intranet
(1) Internal internet used to transfer information
internally
(2) Internal internet used to transfer information
to the outside company
(3) Internal network designed to serve the
internal informational needs of a single
organization
(4) Internal network designed to transfer the
information between two organizations
(5) None of these
122.Which of the following groups of cricket teams
was declared joint winner of the Col. C K Naidu
Trophy for 2009 ?
(1) Tamil Nadu & Gujarat
(2) Maharashtra & Kerala
(3) Punjab & Delhi
(4) West Bengal & Maharashtra
(5) None of these
123. Kaiane Aldorino who was crowned Miss World
2009 is from which of the following countries?
(1) Germany (2) Russia
(3) Austria (4) Belgium
(5) Gibraltar
124. Which of the following teams won the Davis Cup
Tennis Finals 2009 ?
(1) Germany (2) Spain
(3) Russia (4) France
(5) None of these
125. Who amongst the following is the recipient of
the CNN-IBN Indian of the Year Award for
2009?
(1) Ratan Tata (2) A.R.Rahman
(3) Manmohan Singh (4) Sachin Tendulkar
(5) None of these
126. The deficit reduction plan of which of the
following countries was reviewed recently in the
meeting of the Finance Ministers of the European
Union ?
(1) Germany (2) Romania
(3) Brazil (4) Hungary
(5) Greece
127. The database administrators function in an
organization is
(1) To be responsible for the more technical
aspects of managing the information
contained in organizational databases
(2) To be responsible for the executive level
aspects of decisions regarding the
information management
(3) To show the relationship among entity classes
in a data warehouse
(4) To define which data mining tools must be
used to extract data
(5) None of these
78
128.Every device on the Internet has a unique______
address (also called an Internet address) that
identifies it in the same way that a street address
identifies the location of a house.
(1) DH (2) DA (3) IP
(4) IA (5) None of these
129. To send another station a message, the main thing
a user has to know is
(1) how the network works
(2) the other stations address
(3) whether the network is packet-switched or
circuit-switched
(4) whether this is a voice or data network
(5) None of these
130. In a client/ server model, a client orogram -
(1) asks for information
(2) provides information and files
(3) serves software files to other computers
(4) distributes data files to other computers
(5) None of these
131. Control in design of an information system is
used to
(1) inspect the system and check that it is buiit
as per specifications
(2) ensure that the system processes data as it
was designed to and that the results are
reliable
(3) ensure privacy of data processed by it
(4) protect data from accidental or intentional
loss
(5) None of these
132. Each of the following is a true statement
except
(1) on-line systems continually update the master
file
(2) in on-line processing, the user enters
transactions into a device that is directly
connected to the computer system
(3) batch processing is still used today in older
systems or in some systems with massive
volumes of transactions
(4) information in batch systems will always be
up-to-date
(5) None of these
133.A set of interrelated components that collect,
process, store, and distribute information to
support decision making and control in an
organization best defines -
(1) communications technology
(2) a network
(3) an information system
(4) hardware
(5) None of these
134.Ais a computer connected to two networks.
(1) link (2) server
(3) gateway (4) bridge way
(5) None of these
135. When you save a presentation,
(1) all slides in a presentation are saved in the
same file
(2) two files are created; one for graphics and
one for content
(3) a file is created for each slide
(4) a file is created for each animation or graphic
(5) None of these
136.In a customer database, a customers surname
would be keyed into a
(1) row (2) text field
(3) record (4) computed field
(5) None of these
137. Who is the new Prime Minister of Hungry ?
(1) Victor Orban (2) Gorden Bajnai
(3) Jeno Fock (4) Ference Gyurcsany
(5) None of these
138. Storing same data in many places is called
(1) iteration (2) concurrency
(3) redundancy (4) enumeration
(5) None of these
139.Which of the following is the first step in the
transaction processing cycle, which captures
business data through various modes such as
optical scanning or at an electronic commerce
website ?
(1) Document and report generation
(2) Database maintenance
(3) Transaction processing
(4) Data Entry
(5) None of these
79
140.CRM (Customer Relationship Management)
is
(1) Apre-sales activity
(2) A tool for lead generation
(3) An ongoing daily activity
(4) The task of a DSA
(5) All of the above
141. Who is the new prime minister of Denmark ?
(1) Anders Fogh Rasmussen
(2) Lars Looke Rasmussen
(3) Poul Nyrup Rasmussen
(4) Poul Hartling
(5) None of these
142. Who is the Author of the book My China Diary
(1) Kanwal Sibal (2) Salman Haider
(3) J.N. Dixit (4) Natwar Singh
(5) None of these
143.One of the following is not involved in the
Growth Strategies of a Company -
(1) Horizontal integration
(2) Vertical integration
(3) Diversification
(4) Intensification (5) None of these
144.A successful Blue Ocean Strategy requires -
(1) Effective communication
(2) Innovative skills
(3) Motivation
(4) All of the above (5) None of these
145.Programs from the same developer , sold
bundled together , that provide better integration
and share common features , toolbars and menus
are known as ....
(1) software suites
(2) integrated software packages
(3) software processing packages
(4) personal information managers
(5) none of these
146.A data warehouse is which of the following ?
(1) Can be updated by the end users
(2) Contains numerous naming conventions and
formats
(3) Organized around important subject areas
(4) Contains only current data
(5) None of these
147.__________ servers store and manages files for
network users.
(1) Authentication (2) Main
(3) Web (4) File
(5) None of these
148.One of the following is not included in the 7 Ps
of Marketing. Find the same
(1) Product (2) Price
(3) Production (4) Promotion
(5) None of these
149. The target group for SME loans is -
(1) All Businessmen (2) All Professionals
(3) All SSIs (4) All of the above
(5) None of these
150. Home Loans can be best canvassed among -
(1) Builders (2) Flat owners
(3) Land developers (4) Agriculturists
(5) Individuals wanting to buy a flat or house
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Direction: Read the following passage carefully and
answer the questions given below it. Certain words/
phrases have been printec in bold to help you locate
them while answering some of the questions.
Governments have traditionally equated
economic progress with steel mills and cement
factories. While urban centers thrive and city dwellers
get rich, hundreds of millions of farmers remain mired
in poverty. However, fears of food shortages, a
rethinking of antipoverty priorities and the crushing
recession in 2008 are causing a dramatic shift in world
economic policy in favour of greater support for
agriculture.
The last time when the worlds farmers felt such
love was in the 1970s. At that time, as food prices
spiked, there was real concern that the world was
facing a crisis in which the planet was simply unable
to produce enough grain and meat for an expanding
population. Governments across the developing world
and international aid organisations plowed investment
into agriculture in the early 1970s, while technological
breakthroughs, like high-yield strains of important
80
food crops, boosted production. The result was the
Green Revolution and food production exploded.
But the Green Revolution became a victim of
its own success. Food prices plunged by some 60%
by the late 1980s from their peak in the mid- 1970s.
Policymakers and aid workers turned their attention
to the poors other pressing needs, such as health care
and education. Farming got starved of resources and
investment. By 2004, aid directed at agriculture sank
to 3.5% and Agriculture lost its glitter. Also, as
consumers in high-growth giants such as China and
India became wealthier, they began eating more meat,
so grain once used for human consumption got
diverted to beef up livestock. By early 2008, panicked
buying by importing countries and restrictions slapped
on grain exports by some big producers helped drive
prices upto heights not seen for three decades. Making
matters worse, land and resources got reallocated to
produce cash crops such as biofuels and the result was
that voluminous reserves of grain evaporated. Protests
broke out across the emerging world and fierce food
riots toppled governments.
This spurred global leaders into action. This
made them aware that food security is one of the
fundamental issues in the world that has to be dealt
with in order to maintain administrative and political
stability. This also spurred the U.S. which traditionally
provisioned food aid from American grain surpluses
to help needy nations, to move towards investing in
farm sectors around the globe to boost productivity.
This move helped countries become more productive
for themselves and be in a better position to feed their
own people.
Africa, which missed out on the first Green
Revolution due to poor policy and limited resources,
also witnessed a change. Swayed by the success of
East Asia, the primary poverty-fighting method
favoured by many policymakers in Africa was to get
farmers off their farms and into modern jobs in
factories and urban centers. But that strategy proved
to be highly insufficient. Income levels in the
countryside badly trailed those in cities while the FAO
estimated that the number of poor going hungry in
2009 reached an all time high at more than one billion.
In India on the other hand, with only 40% of its
farmland irrigated, entire economic boom currently
underway is held hostage by the unpredictable
monsoon. With much of Indias farming areas
suffering from drought this year, the government will
have a tough time meeting its economic growth
targets. In a report, Goldman Sachs predicted that if
this year too receives weak rains, it could cause
agriculture to contract by 2% this fiscal year, making
the governments 7% GDP-growth target look a bit
rich. Another green revolution is the need of the hour
and to make it a reality, the global community still
has much backbreaking farm work to do.
151. What is the authors main objective in writing
the passage
(1) Criticising developed countries for not
bolstering economic growth in poor nations
(2) Analysing the disadvantages of the Green
Revolution
(3) Persuading experts that a strong economy
depends on industrialization and not
agriculture
(4) Making a case for the international society
to engineer a second Green Revolution
(5) Rationalising the faulty agriculture policies
of emerging countries
152.Which of the following is an adverse impact of
the Green Revolution ?
(1) Unchecked crop yields resulted in large tracts
of land becoming barren
(2) Withdrawal of fiscal impetus from agriculture
to other sectors
(3) Farmers began soliciting government
subsidies for their produce
(4) Farmers rioted as food prices fell so low that
they could not make ends meet
(5) None of these
153.What is the author trying to convey through the
phrase making the governments 7% GDP
growth target look a bit rich ?
(1) India is unlikely to achieve the targeted
growth rate
(2) Allocation of funds to agriculture has raised
Indias chances of having a high GDP
81
(3) Agricultural growth has artificially inflated
Indias GDP and such growth is not real
(4) India is likely to rave one of the highest GDP
growth rates
(5) A large portion of Indias GDP is contributed
by agriculture
154.Which of the following factors was/were
responsible for the neglect of the farming sector
after the green revolution ?
(A) Steel and cement sectors generated more
revenue for the government as compared to
agriculture.
(B) Large scale protests against favouring
agriculture at the cost of other important
sectors such as education and healthcare.
(C) Attention of policy makers and aid
organizations was diverted from agriculture
to other sectors.
(1) None (2) Only (C)
(3) Only (B) & (C) (4) Only (A) 8s (B)
(5) All (A), (B) & (C)
155.What prompted leaders throughout the world to
take action to boost the agriculture sector in
2008?
(1) Coercive tactics by the U.S. which restricted
food aid to poor nations
(2) The realization of the link between food
security and political stability
(3) Awareness that performance in agriculture is
necessary in order to achieve the targeted
GDP
(4) Reports that high-growth countries like China
and India were boosting their agriculture
sectors to capture the international markets
(5) Their desire to influence developing nations
to slow down their industrial development.
156.What motivated the U.S. to focus on investing
in agriculture across the globe ?
(1) To make developing countries become more
reliant on U.S. aid
(2) To ensure grain surpluses so that the U.S. had
no need to import food
(3) To make those countries more self sufficient
to whom it previously provided food
(4) To establish itself in the market before the
high-growth giants such as India and China
could establish themselves
(5) None of these
157. What impact did the economic recession of 2008
have on agriculture ?
(1) Governments equated economic stability
with industrial development and shifted away
from agriculture
(2) Lack of implementation of several innovative
agriculture programmes owing to shortage of
funds
(3) It prompted increased investment and interest
in agriculture
(4) The GDP as targeted by India was never
achieved because of losses in agriculture
(5) None of these
158. What encouraged African policymakers to focus
on urban jobs ?
(1) Misapprehension that it would alleviate
poverty as it did in other countries
(2) Rural development outstripped urban
development in many parts of Africa
(3) Breaking out of protests in the country and
the fear that the government would topple
(4) Blind imitation of western models of
development
(5) None of these
159.Which of the following had contributed to
exorbitant food prices in 2008 ?
(A) Hoarding of food stocks by local wholesalers
which inadvertently created a food shortage.
(B) Export of foodgrains was reduced by large
producers.
(C) Diverting resources from cultivation of
foodgrains to that of more profitable crops.
(1) None (2) Only (C)
(3) Only (B) (4) All (A), (B) & (C)
(5) Only (B) & (C)
160.Which of the following is true about the state of
agriculture in India at present ?
(A) Of all the sectors, agriculture needs the
highest allocation of funds.
(B) Contribution of agriculture to Indias GDP
82
this year would depend greatly upon the
monsoon rains.
(C) As India is one of the high-growth countries,
it has s jrplus food reserves to export to other
nations.
(1) Only (A) and (C) (2) Only (C)
(3) Only (B) (4) Only (B) and (C)
(5) None of these
Direction: Choose the word/group of words which
is most similar it meaning to the word printed in
bold as used in the passage.
161. STARVED
(1) Deprived (2) Disadvantaged
(3) Hungry (4) Fasting
(5) Emaciated
162. SLAPPED
(1) Beaten (2) Imposed
(3) Withdrawn (4) Avoided
(5) Persuaded
163. PLOWED
(1) Cultivated (2) Bulldozed
(3) Recovered (4) Instilled
(5) Withdrew
Direction: Choose the word/phrase which is most
opposite in meaning to the word printed in bold as
used in the passage.
164. PRESSING
(1) Unpopular (2) Undemanding
(3) Unobtrusive (4) Unsuitable
(5) Unimportant
165. EVAPORATED
(1) Absorbed (2) Accelerated
(3) Grew (4) Plunged
(5) Mismanaged
Direction: Which of the phrases (1), (2),(3) and (4)
given below each statement should be placed in the
blank space provided so as to make a meaningful
and grammatically correct sentence ? If none of
the sentences is appropriate, mark (5) i.e. None of
these as the answer.
166.Refuting the rationale behind frequent agitations
for formation of separate States, a recent report
(1) proved that such agitations result in loss of
governmental property
(2) indicated that the formation of small states
does not necessarily improve the economy
(3) suggested that only large scale agitations have
been effective in bringing out desired change
in the past
(4) recommended dividing large States into
smaller ones to improve governance
(5) None of these
167. Overlooking the fact that water scarcity
intensifies during summer,
(1) the government issued guidelines to all
builders to limit their consumption to
acceptable limits
(2) provision for rainwater harvesting has been
made to aid irrigation in drought prone areas
(3) the water table did not improve even after
receiving normal monsoon in the current year
(4) many residential areas continue to use
swimming pools, wasting large quantities of
water
(5) None of these
168.He has lost most of his lifes earning in the stock
market but
(1) He still seems to be leading his life
luxuriously and extravagantly
(2) he could not save enough to repay his
enormous debts
(3) stock market is not a safe option to invest
money unless done with caution
(4) experts have been suggesting to avoid
investments in stock market because of its
unpredictable nature
(5) None of these
169.Achieving equality for women is not only a
laudable goal,
(1) political reforms are also neglected
preventing women from entering legislatures
and positions of power
(2) the problem is also deep rooted in the society
and supported by it
(3) their empowerment is purposefully hampered
by people with vested interests in all sections
of the society
83
(4) it is also equally difficult to achieve and
maintain for a long term
(5) None of these
170. _______or else they would not keep electing him
year after year.
(1) The party leader gave a strong message to
the mayor for improving his political style
(2) Owing to numerous scandals against the
mayor, he was told to resign from the post
immed iately
(3) The mayor threatened the residents against
filing a complaint against him
(4) The residents must really be impressed with
the political style of their mayor
(5) None of these
Direction: Each question below has two blanks,
each blank indicating that something has been
omitted. Choose the set of words for each blank that
best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.
171. Drawing attention to the pitfalls of______solely
on Uranium as a fuel for nuclear reactors, Indian
scientists warned that Uranium will not last for
long and thus research on Thorium as its____
must be revived.
(1) using, substitute
(2) believing, replacement
(3) depending, reserve
(4) reckoning, option
(5) relying, alternative
172. In an effort to provide ______ for higher
education to all, most of the universities have
been providing education without adequate
infrastructure, thus churning out ______
graduates every year.
(1) chances, fresh
(2) platform, capable
(3) opportunities, unemployable
(4) prospects, eligible
(5) policy, incompetent
173.The move to allow dumping of mercury _____
an outcry from residents of the area who _____
that high levels of mercury will affect their health
and destroy ecologically sensitive forest area.
(1) resulted, insist
(2) provoked, fear
(3) incited, determined
(4) activated, accept
(5) angered, believe
174. _______ has been taken against some wholesale
drug dealers for dealing in surgical items without
a valid license and maintaining a stock of _____
drugs.
(1) Note, overwhelming
(2) Step, impressive
(3) Execution, outdated
(4) Action, expired
(5) Lawsuit, invalid
175. Even as the _____ else where in the world are
struggling to come out of recession, Indian
consumers are splurging on consumer goods and
to _____ this growth, companies are investing
heavily in various sectors.
(1) economies, meet
(2) countries, inhibit
(3) governments, measure
(4) nations, inflict
(5) companies, counter
Direction:Rearrange the following sentences (A),
(B), (C), (D), (E) and (F) to make a meaningful
paragraph and then answer the questions which
follow
(A) While these disadvantages of bio fuels are
serious, they are the only alternate energy source
of the future and the sooner we find solutions to
these problems the faster we will be able to solve
the problems wo are now facing with gasoline.
(B) This fuel can also help to stimulate jobs locally
since they are also much safer to handle thaw
gasoline and can thus have the potential to
turnaround a global economy.
(C) These include dependence on fossil fuels for the
machinery required to produce biofuel which
ends up polluting as much as the burning of fossil
fuels on roads and exorbitant cost of biofuels
which makes it very difficult for the common
man to switch to this option.
84
(D) This turnaround can potentially help to bring
world peace and end the need to depend on
foreign countries for energy requirements.
(E) Biofuels are made from plant sources and since
these sources are available in abundance and can
be reproduced on a massive scale they form an
energy source that is potentially unlimited.
(F) However everything is not as green with the
biofuels as it seems as there are numerous
disadvantages involved which at times
overshadow their positive impact.
176. Which of the following sentence should be the
FIFTH after rearrangement ?
(1) A (2) B (3) C
(4) E (5) F
THIRD after rearrangement ?
(1) A (2) B (3) C
(4) D (5) E
FIRST after rearrangement ?
(1) A (2) B (3) C
(4) D (5) E
SIXTH (LAST) after rearrangement ?
(1) A (2) C (3) D
(4) E (5) F
SECOND after rearrangement ?
(1) A (2) B (3) D
(4) E (5) F
Direction: Which of the phrases (1), (2), (3) and
(4) given below each statement should replace the
phrase printed in bold in the sentence to make it
grammatically correct ? If the sentence is correct
as it is given and No correction is required, mark
(5) as the answer.
181. Soon after the Tsunami had killed thousands of
people along the coasts of southern India,
parliament psssas a bill that proposed to set up
an institutional mechanism to respond promptly
to natural disasters.
(1) passed a bill that proposed
(2) passes a bill with purpose
(3) pass a bill proposing
(4) passed a bill which propose
(5) No correction required
182. Denial of wages forced scientists and teachers
at the agriculture universities throughout the
country to go on strike, crippling crucial
research that could help the state of agriculture
in the country.
(1) from going on strike
(2) which went on strike
(3) on going for a strike
(4) for going to strike
183. In an attempt to boost their profits many edible
oil producing companies have been engaging
themselves in propaganda against commonly
used oils and. promoting exotic and expensive
varieties of oils as more healthier options.
(1) as most healthiest options
(2) as less healthy option
(3) as a healthier option
(4) as much healthiest option
184. Thanks to numerous government initiatives, rural
masses which was earlier unaware of the
luxuries of urban ways of living are now
connected to the same lifestyle.
(1) who was earlier unaware
(2) which were earlier aware
(3) who were earlier conversant
(4) who were earlier unaware
185. Over the last few months, while most industries
are busy in restructuring operations, cutting costs
and firing, the Indian pharmaceutical and
healthcare industry was adding manpower and
giving salary hikes.
(1) as many industries are
(2) while most industries were
(3) while many industries is
(4) where many industries were
85
Direction: In the following passage there are blanks,
each of which ]as been numbered. These numbers
are printed below the passage and against each, five
words/phrases are suggested, one of which fits the
blank appropriately. Find out the appropriate word/
phrase in each case.
There is a considerable amount of research about
the factors that make a company innovate. So is it
possible to create an environment (186 ) to
innovation? This is a particularly pertinent (187) for
India today. Massive problems in health, education
etc. (188) be solved using a conventional approach
but (189) creative and innovative solutions that can
ensure radical change and (190). There are several
factors in Indias (191). Few countries have the rich
diversity that India or its large, young population
(192). While these (193) innovation policy
interventions certain additional steps are also required.
These include (194) investment in research and
development by (195) the government and the private
sector, easy transfer of technology from the academic
world etc. To fulfill its promise of beng prosperous
and to be at the forefront, India must be innovative.
186. (1) stimuli (2) conducive
(3) incentive (4) facilitated
(5) impetus
187. (1) objective (2) controversy
(3) doubt (4) question
(5) inference
188. (1) cannot (2) possibly
(3) should (4) never
(5) must
189. (1) necessary (2) apply
(3) need (4) consider
(5) requires
190. (1) quantity (2) advantages
(3) increase (4) chaos
(5) growth
191. (1) challenges (2) praises
(3) favour (4) leverage
(5) esteem
192. (1) blessed (2) enjoys
(3) endows (4) prevails
(5) occurs
193. (1) aid . (2) jeopardise
(3) promotes (4) endure
(5) cater
194. (1) acute (2) utilising
(3) restricting (4) inspiring
(5) increased
195. (1) both (2) besides
(3) combining (4) participating
(5) a ;o
Direction: In each of the following questions four
words are given of which two words are most nearly
the same or opposite in meaning. Find the two words
which are most nearly the same or opposite in
meaning and indicate the number of the correct
letter combination, by darkening the appropriate
oval in your answer sheet.
196.(A) consent (B) nascent
(C) emerging (D) insecure
(1) AC (2) BD
(3) BC (4) AD
(5) AB
197.(A) elated (B) eccentric
(C) explicit (D) abnormal
(1) AB (2) BD
(3) AC (4) AD
(5) DC
198.(A) abundance (B) incomparable
(C) projection (D) plethora
(1) AC (2) AB
(3) CD (4) BD
(5) AD
199.(A) purposefully (B) inaccurately
(C) inadvertently (D) unchangeably
(1) AC (2) AB
(3) BC (4) BD
(5) AD
200.(A) germane (B) generate
(C) reliable (D) irrelevant
(1) BD (2) BC
(3) AB (4) CD
(5) AD
86
An s we r s
1. (3) 2. (1) 3. (2) 4. (4) 5. (2) 6. (2) 7. (4) 8. (2) 9. (4) 10. (2)
11. (5) 12. (5) 13. (1) 14. (3) 15. (1) 16. (3) 17. (2) 18. (5) 19. (1) 20. (4)
21. (5) 22. (5) 23. (5) 24. (1) 25. (5) 26. (1) 27. (5) 28. (2) 29. (4) 30. (5)
31. (4) 32. (4) 33. (2) 34. (1) 35. (4) 36. (2) 37. (4) 38. (5) 39. (3) 40. (2)
41. (4) 42. (3) 43. (3) 44. (1) 45. (5) 46. (4) 47. (2) 48. (3) 49. (1) 50. (5)
51. (1) 52. (3) 53. (5) 54. (2) 55. (4) 56. (2) 57. (5) 58. (3) 59. (1) 60. (5)
61. (5) 62. (3) 63. (1) 64. (4) 65. (2) 66. (2) 67. (3) 68. (5) 69. (1) 70. (4)
71. (4) 72. (5) 73. (1) 74. (1) 75. (3) 76. (2) 77. (4) 78. (5) 79. (3) 80. (1)
81. (5) 82. (3) 83. (1) 84. (2) 85. (5) 86. (5) 87. (2) 88. (4) 89. (3) 90. (1)
91. (2) 92. (3) 93. (4) 94. (1) 95. (5) 96. (5) 97. (1) 98. (1) 99. (2) 100. (5)
101. (5) 102. (2) 103. (2) 104. (4) 105. (2) 106. (4) 107. (1) 108. (3) 109. (2) 110. (1)
111. (2) 112. (2) 113. (5) 114. (3) 115. (3) 116. (1) 117. (3) 118. (5) 119. (3) 120. (3)
121. (1) 122. (1) 123. (5) 124. (2) 125. (2) 126. (5) 127. (1) 128. (3) 129. (2) 130. (1)
131. (4) 132. (4) 133. (3) 134. (3) 135. (1) 136. (1) 137. (2) 138. (3) 139. (4) 140. (5)
141. (2) 142. (2) 143. (4) 144. (4) 145. (1) 146. (3) 147. (4) 148. (5) 149. (4) 150. (5)
151. (4) 152. (4) 153. (1) 154. (2) 155. (2) 156. (3) 157. (3) 158. (1) 159. (5) 160. (3)
161. (1) 162. (2) 163. (2) 164. (2) 165. (3) 166. (2) 167. (4) 168. (5) 169. (4) 170. (4)
171. (5) 172. (2) 173. (2) 174. (4) 175. (1) 176. (3) 177. (4) 178. (5) 179. (1) 180. (2)
181. (1) 182. (5) 183. (5) 184. (2) 185. (2) 186. (2) 187. (4) 188. (1) 189. (5) 190. (5)
191. (3) 192. (3) 193. (3) 194. (5) 195. (1) 196. (3) 197. (2) 198. (5) 199. (1) 200. (5)
87
138
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