GS3 (Agriculture)
The future of India’s food security lies in genetically modified crops. Critically comment on the statement in the light of the recent GM Mustard issue.
Year: 2016
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9 Nov 2016 | GS2 | What is the difference between competitive and cooperative federalism? Are both mutually exclusive concepts or can they go together? Discuss.
GS2 (Polity and Governance)
What is the difference between competitive and cooperative federalism? Are both mutually exclusive concepts or can they go together? Discuss.
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9 Nov 2016 | GS1 | What factors accounted for the rather sudden rise of Europe to world dominance? How was this small region was able to transform immensely larger portions of the world and to maintain its commanding position for so long?
GS1 (World History)
What factors accounted for the rather sudden rise of Europe to world dominance? How was this small region was able to transform immensely larger portions of the world and to maintain its commanding position for so long?
For a background/discussion of this question, read this blog by K Siddhartha
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9 Nov 2016 | Prelims Daily: CA Questions with Tikdams & Tidbits
Dear students,
When you submit your answer, if possible, give some reasoning & more info. along with the ABACAA format. Elaborate on what you know. This helps the whole community to know more and learn more!
Q.1) Recently, Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMS) was in the news for Guinness World Record for highest altitude fix of a GPS signal. Which of the following space agency is related to MMS.
a) European Space Agency (ESA)
b) NASA
c) ISRO
d) Russia’s Roscosmos
Q.2) Consider the following statements about ‘International Regulatory Cooperation for Herbal Medicines’ (IRCH)
1.IRCH is a global network of regulatory authorities created by Ministry of AYUSH.
2.Its mission is to protect and promote public health and safety through improved regulation for herbal medicines.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) Neither 1 nor 2
Q.3) Consider the following statements about ‘WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control’ (WHO FCTC).
1.It is the first global evidence-based public health treaty that recognises the right of all people to the highest standard of health.
2.The Treaty was developed by countries in response to the globalization of the tobacco epidemic.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) Neither 1 nor 2
Q.4) Consider the following statements about Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA).
1.IANA body is responsible for delegating and managing domain names and Internet protocol addresses globally.
2.It is headquartered in the Geneva, Switzerland.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) Neither 1 nor 2
Q.5) Which of the following is the first state in the country to join new GST (Goods and Service Tax) System.
a) Tamil Nadu
b) Delhi
c) Puducherry
d) Maharashtra
IMPORTANT STUFF:
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Government scrapping the notes carrying value of Rs. 500 & Rs. 1000
Flawless decision by the government. Pondered over the pros & cons of the decision of scrapping the old series of notes of denomination of Rs. 500 & Rs. 1000.
Arrived to a conclusion (my personal opinion, experts may disagree):
Pros:
1. The value of the Hard EARNED money of corrupt officials across the country stands NIL as the notes of biggest denominations they had in their houses or GODOWNS are scrapped. They are as good as any colorful piece of paper available in the market. On a lighter note, no difference between the notes of Rs. 500 & Rs. 1000 issued of RBI & Bhartiya Manoranjan Bank. ?
2. The same is applicable to all the corporate houses, businessmen, Sports betters etc who had amashed black money as they will not find any taker of this black money be it Capital Market, Money Market, Real Estate, Hawala etc. Since they themselves are under pressure due to increased regulation made by several authorities viz SEBI, RBI, INCOME TAX, ED, Economic Offence Wing of CBI & State Police among others.
3. The influence that the black money market had on our economy is massive. Because of the black money which is present in the economy but not accountable for the purposes of monitoring the Health of the economy shall be neutralised. Say for an example, the data for foreign remittances will be correctly matched with what sent officially unlike in past. There shall be a huge blow on the Black Money which is considered by many as a Parrallel Economy.Cons:
1. With the reintroduction of the bigger denomination, it is likely that the game of Black Money may resume. To ensure that this does not happen, greater enforcement should be made. Efforts to reduce the cash economy and encourage the cashless transactions.
2. The present govt or any succeeding govt may change the decison taken and resume the circulation of old notes. This may create a grater panic situation than what we have now as all the black money holders shall be injecting the money kept till such time into the market. To avoid this, there needs to have a political will which can very well be seen in this govt. Need of the hour is to epower the law enforcement wings viz. Income tax, ED among others to another scale and digitalise the country to keep an eye on the suspicious transactions.
3. The law brought with an intention to curb Black Money & Corruption shall be having an adverse effect on the poor. A major portion of our population who happen to reside in villages and still have very limited access to banks and that too at some places through banking correspondents (BC) may find it difficult to get the money in time as they are not well equipped with ATMs offering money instantly. Efforts would be that the rural areas should also be in focus while circulating the money. The duty of the Rural Branches and the respective BCs increases here as they have to carry out the work of assisting the needy ones immediately.
4. The panic observed among the general public is obvious and well understood. The need of the hour is to sensitise them about the law and the steps are to be taken for avoiding any kind of confusion grown out of this law by making ads, radio, TV, social media etc.
The cons of the law are not influensive in nature and can be easily done away with if worked upon properly. -
Debate: Scrapping the 500, 1000 rupee notes – Good or bad?
When I read the news, I didnt believe it at 1st. How could they simply de-recognise bills overnight? What about the money I have?
Okay, then I read further and saw options:
– ATMs closed tomorrow (Where do I get the 100s from?)
– You can get them exchanged in banks starting in a few days with daily and weekly caps (Q: How is this different from me getting notes exchanged when they phased out, eg 2005 series of 100 notes for new notes)
– you can still use them in Petrol pumps and govt hospitalson top of it all, “HOW DOES IT END BLACK MONEY?!”
And then it hit me. I SMILED, then thought of putting an FB status update.
This was sheer brilliance!!Now lets analyse
Black money is mostly carried as cash in 500 and 1000 bills. If you have 1 crore as black money, you’d need (7 zeroes divided by 3 zeroes = 4 zeroes) 10,000 Rs 1000 notes. Double that for Rs 500 notes and keep extrapolating because 1 crore is such a paltry sum. People have stashed far more than that!!
Converting all of that into 100s makes a humongous storage problem and then there’s the problem of exchange too as that entails going to the bank with your PAN in hand..Lets analyse other options
– Get the tanks filled of all your ill gotten Audi’s, BMWs, Mercs and the like. Still “Bhai kitna tel dalwa loge?”
– Get yourself the best and costliest treatment in a govt hospital. (Fir bhi, bhai kya kya karva loge?”)
– Go to the bank and get Rs 4000, 10,000… exchanged everyday into 100s (storage problem) or get it deposited in your account by showing a PAN card.Let’s say you keep doing that everyday till March 2017 (with project INSIGHT a couple of weeks should be enough to realize a pattern) and suddenly you’ve exchanged either too much money or deposited too big an amount and guess who shall know – “The IT DEPT <without Kejriwal>!!!!”
Where do you run now? All that stash ain’t gonna help you mate!!
Isnt this awesome??
Tonight at the stroke of Midnight hour, a new India awakes!!! and rises!!! And whatever happens in the US, this is a TRiUMPh!!! <no absolutely not supporting him>
<Let’s discuss>
Have I got this wrong? Is there something else at play?
Isn’t printing new money (with the 2000 bill and all) going to make this exercise moot?
Is a chance missed to bring Black money into the system? -
Know Your Service | Indian P&T Accounts and Finance Service
source
Indian P&T Accounts and Finance Service is a group A service, wherein, the senior most person of the service is the Deputy Director General who heads this organisation.
The Service was started in 1972 for prudent and professional management of the finances of the Department of Posts and Department of Telecommunications which were the sole provider of the communications needs of the country at that time.
Training:
Training is split into three parts:
- After selection through the civil services exam, the IP&TAFS officers get trained in the Foundation Course at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie
- This is followed by training in the financial management at the National Institute of Financial Management, Faridabad, for 48 weeks along with officers of other organised accounts and finance services.
- The final phase of training is at the advanced level telecom training centre at Ghaziabad with emphasis on postal and telecom functioning and rules. Here the training schedule has an intensive course in advanced accountancy.
After these training programmes, the officers handle posts in the Departments of Telecom and Posts, TRAI and a number of PSUs under the Communications Ministry.
All the finance posts in the largest PSUs in the country – BSNL and MTNL – are also manned by the officers of this service – Indian P&T Accounts and Finance Service.
Career Progression:
Assistant Chief Controllers of Imports and Exports > Deputy Chief Controller of Imports and Exports > Joint Chief Controller Imports and Exports or Chairman of a Public Sector unit.
Why IP&TAFS:
This is a service of prestige and power. It involves postings at some of the prominent posts of the country. In Department of Telecommunications, the officers are posted at DOT Headquarters as Adviser, Sr DDG, DDG, Directors & ADG.
In field units the officers are posted as Controller or Joint Controller of Communication Accounts (CCA/JCCA) which is involved in the collection of License fees and Spectrum Usage Charges from Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, BSNL, MTNL and other service providers.
The CCA units also assist in the administration of Universal Service Obligation Fund under the Ministry of Communications & IT for providing telecom service in rural or remote areas of the country.
This involves: (a) planning & forecasting, (b) tendering, (c) costing, (d) disbursement of support to service providers, and (e) monitoring.
In the Department of Post, the officers from this service are manning the offices of Postal Accounts located at DOP Headquarters and in all states. The work in these offices mainly comprises maintaining General Provident Fund accounts of the staff employed in a particular postal circle, settlement of pension cases, checking of money order deliveries and NSCs, budgeting and financial control, Internal Audit of Postal Units and rendering financial advice to the concerned Head of the Circle.
With such important departments to serve in, respectable job, easy timings and good pay packages, the service becomes another of the coveted posts of India.
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8 Nov 2016 | GS4 | Are women at a disadvantage in the workplace in terms of moving up the hierarchy, pay etc? Explain the reasons and also discuss why we should aim for gender parity.
GS4 (Ethics)
Are women at a disadvantage in the workplace in terms of moving up the hierarchy, pay etc? Explain the reasons and also discuss why we should aim for gender parity.
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8 Nov 2016 | GS3 | In order to attract more investment in the hydrocarbon sector the government has replaced production sharing mechanism with revenue sharing mechanism. Explain the differences between both of these models. Will revenue sharing model be able to solve the issues related to production sharing? Discuss.
GS3 (Indian Economy)
In order to attract more investment in the hydrocarbon sector the government has replaced production sharing mechanism with revenue sharing mechanism. Explain the differences between both of these models. Will revenue sharing model be able to solve the issues related to production sharing? Discuss.
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8 Nov 2016 | GS2 | MPLADS scheme in India is not only a blunt violation of the principle of separation of power, there have also been reports of gross misappropriation of funds under this scheme. Comment with respect to the CAG observation on the functioning of the MPLADS. Should it be abolished?Give pros and cons.
GS2 (Polity and Governance)
MPLADS scheme in India is not only a blunt violation of the principle of separation of power, there have also been reports of gross misappropriation of funds under this scheme. Comment with respect to the CAG observation on the functioning of the MPLADS. Should it be abolished?.Give pros and cons.