Feb 25, 2012

[Science] Pulse Polio Campaign, India a Polio Free country?

Demo Questions

#1) Identify Correct statement(s)
a. Polio virus directly damages the muscle cells and thus causes paralysis of legs.
b. Polio vaccine cannot be taken via Injection.
c. Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria are the only Polio Endemic nations in the world.
d. India achieved complete Polio Free Status in 2012.

Ans

Only 1 and 2.
Only 1,2,3
Only 3
All of them

#2) Name of the chemical compound used in Indelible Ink Marker Pens during Elections and Pulse-Polio Campaigns.

Lead Acetate
Silver Nitrate
Chromium Sulphate
Zink Bromide

What is this disease?

Polio virus enters the nervous system and infects nerve cells that control muscles. Then in most cases, it causes paralysis of legs.

How does is spread?

Polio-virus spreads in human feces. People become infected with the virus through contaminated food and water, especially in areas where sanitation and hygiene are poor.

Vaccination?

Jonas Salk of USA developed the vaccine to fight Polio in 1950s.
He could have made billions of dollars by getting Patent rights for his vaccine but he didnot patent his discovery.
Salk's vaccine, is known as the inactivated polio-virus vaccine (IPV)
World Health Organization (WHO) had launched massive campaign against Polio, they provided the funds and India started Pulse Polio campaign in 1995.
Polio vaccine can be given both orally as well as by injection. But in Pulse Polio campaigns, oral-vaccine is used, because it is cheap and doesn't require skilled medical staff for injections.

Prevalence

Till 2011, Pak, Afghan, India, Nigeria (PAIN) were in the list of Polio endemic countries.
In January 2011, last polio case in West Bengal. The traditional polio endemic states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have not reported any cases of polio.
So according to WHO protocol, India's name is removed from the list of Polio Endemic countries in 2012 (No new cases of polio for 12 months continuously.)
However, India is not yet a complete 'Polio Free' country, because According to protocol, India will have to remain polio-free for the next two years to achieve complete polio free status.

Problem in Vaccination

Sometimes infants get fever, diarrhea after vaccination as side effects, but then some people exaggerate and start spreading rumors that Polio vaccine causes Impotency in Children.
Because of this reason many poor and illiterate parents particularly in the Muslim communities of UP and Maharashtra, didnot allow the health-workers to enter into their areas.
Health workers and district administration did their best in spreading awareness and breaking myths. And hence not much public-resistance to Polio vaccination in those regions, nowadays.

Earlier
Tuberculosis and DOTS therapy
Answers of Demo Q?:
1. Only 3.
2. Silver Nitrate.

Feb 24, 2012

[Economy] National Investment Fund (NIF): Meaning Use and Demo CSAT question

What is National Investment Fund (NIF)?

Government has shareholding in PSUs (Public sector undertakings: ONGC, SAIL, LIC etc).
Government sells part of its shares in the market, and get ca$h. (it is called Disinvestment)
Government puts that cash in this NIF, instead of the consolidated fund of India.
SBI, UTI etc will act as fund managers, use this money to invest in sharemarket etc, and generate profit. (just like Mutual funds)
75% of profit, will be used for MNREGA, Indira Awas Yojana and other schemes of Union Government.
25% of the profit will be invested in profitable PSUs. (lolz e.g. Air India)
NIF was given approval in 2005 but in reality it started working in 2007.

What is Consolidated fund of India? (CFI)

For the moment, just a brief idea: all the money earned by Union Government should go in this fund, and all the expenses of Union Government will be made from this fund.
According to Constitution, The Union Government (Executive) cannot spend money out of this Consolidated fund of India without parliament's permission.
Hence they've to present budget every year: To get parliament's permission.
This ensures accountability of Executive to the legislature.
Ideally the disinvestment money should go in CFI, but UPA in its infinite wisdom has decided to put disinvestment money in NIF.
Official reason: better Money Management, more profit, can be used to social schemes.
Unofficial reason: No more parliamentary control over how Government spends the money out of this fund: for their (Bogus) pet-schemes and on the kinds of AIR-India.

Demo Question for CSAT 2012

Which of the following statements is/are correct about National Investment Fund?

It falls under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Commerce and Trade.
National Investment fund is created to increase investment in backward states.
NIF money is spent on advertizements to attract foreign investment in India, and to create investor friendly infrastructure such a rail, road, and electricity.
Government requires Parliamentary approval to spend money out of NIF.

Answer
a) Only 1, 2 and 3
b) Only 1 and 4
c) All of them
d) None of them

[Science] Tuberculosis and DOTs Therapy

Possible questions

4TF related to DOTs and TB for CSAT,
2 markers for mains: MDR:TB, DOTs etc.
Essay/Interview: Healthcare reforms in India. How to eradicate Polio, TB and Malaria etc?

Crux of DOTs program for TB is this:

If people don't take anti-TB drugs regularly, New version of TB bacteria will evolve,
New version of TB bacteria= hard to kill.
Pharma Cos don't have interest in investing for R&D of new TB drugs (because profit margin is low)
So what should Government or W.H.O. do?
ans. Make people take drugs regularly. That's why you need DOTs program.

Here goes the 'refined' answer:

MDR TB: Multi-drug resistant TB

TB patients have to complete the full six to nine months of antibiotic therapy required to cure the disease.
However Many people stop taking antibiotics when they begin to feel healthier, but successful treatment of TB requires therapy beyond the period of obvious symptoms.
When patients fail to follow the prescribed treatment, they may become actively infectious, spreading the disease to others.
The TB bateria who survive this phase become resistant to the given anti-biotic course and when they reproduce again, it is very hard to kill them.
When a strain (version) of tuberculosis bacteria is resistant to two or more 'first-line' antibiotic drugs it is called multi-drug resistant TB or MDR-TB.
When it is resistant to three or more 'second-line' antibiotics as well, it is classed as extreme drug resistant tuberculosis, or XDR-TB.
Big pharmaceutical companies donot like to invest billions of dollars in research and Development of new TB drugs because of the low profit.

So, This problem of non-compliance (i.e. patient not taking drugs regularly) has led WHO to initiate DOTS program.

What is DOTs therapy for TB?

World Health Organization (WHO) started a program called directly observed treatment, short-course (DOTS).
DOTS requires health workers to monitor patients to make sure that they follow the complete course of treatment.

Important elements of this program:

Political commitment to a National Tuberculosis Control Programme
Microscopy services to detect sputum.
Regular uninterrupted supply of anti-TB drugs.
Direct observation of the treatment for at least initial intensive phase. As a part of DOTS strategy health workers counsel and observe their patients swallowing each dose of powerful combination of medicines.

TB and HIV

Anyone can become infected with TB, but people with HIV are at greater risk of getting sick with TB disease.

Epicenters

Number of TB patients worldwide:

#1 is India (World's largest Democracy also has the largest number of TB patients)
#2 is China.

Similarly Polio is confined to four nations only: India, Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan.

BCG vaccine

It is a vaccine for TB protection.
but the vaccine is now very old and not very effective against new strains (versions) of bacteria.

[Economy] LIST of All Articles published by me to clear the basic concepts of Economy for any recruitment exam or interview

Since readers had some difficulties in accessing the entire list of Economy articles written by me: here it goes.
Total 100+ articles So far,
If someone is totally new, I suggest you start reading from bottom to top.

[Economy] Greenex : New BSE Stock index for Energy efficient companies

Before moving further, I suggest you read How do they calculate SENSEX (click Me0

What is Greenex?

it is a stock index similar to SENSE, launched in 2012.
It measures the share-trading activity of 20 top energy efficient companies of India in Bombay Stock Exchange.

What type of companies listed in Greenex?

Just like SENSEX this is a 'weighted' index, but comprising of energy efficient companies or 'green' companies.
biggest weightage in this index :Tata Steel.
Included : ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, HDFC, Sun Pharma and BHEL.
Not included: Infosys, wipro, ONGC, reliance etc big companies

Timeline

Baseyear: 1st October, 2008 (incase of SENSEX it is 1979)
Basevalue: 1000
Started in Feb. 2012, opened at 1488
Numbers are not important, but you must understand the meaning: If the value of all stocks traded in BSE, was Rs.1000 in 2008 then right now it is Rs.1488.
In case of SENSEX: the basevalue is 100, meaning
if value of all stocks traded in BSE in 1979 was Rs.100 right now it is 15000 (or whatever it is).

ok, but why create Greenex, where there is already SENSEX?

You and me purchase shares
Company makes profit and gives us 'dividend' on those shares. If company gets higher profit, we get higher dividend.
(assumption) In long term, energy efficient companies will get better profits than other companies.
So if there is a separate index to measure performance of Energy efficient companies in stock-market, the investors can make a better and informed decision about where should they put their money. That's why separate Greenex despite having a SENSEX.

Feb 22, 2012

[Free] Blank Answersheets for CSAT Prelim Mock Test Practice

I've designed a Blank Answersheet for practing GS and Aptitude questions at home.

Preview Screenshot

Preview of Blank Answersheet

Download Link for PDF File (size: 1.2 MB)
Click me to download from Google Docs
Alternative Link
Click Me to download from Mediafire

Print it once, photocopy it 10-20 times as per your requirement. Use it to solve old papers, mock-questions given after each topic in your GS / CSAT Manual or any other books.
You can never learn aptitude by merely studying the examples and formulas, you've to practice the questions by yourself at home. So use these blank answersheets for it.

Aukaat, Accuracy and Aim

Consider the case of this Amateur player:
He is too obsessed with cut-off marks thanks to his previous experience in other competitive exams. He just keeps asking coaching class 'sirs' and Veterans and anyone he can find online, about the 'cut-off'.

Given his preparation levels, it is beyond his 'aukaat' (औकात) to tick more than 50 correct answers in each paper, but thanks to the advice of Sirs and Seniors, he has setup an imaginary cut-off number in his mind: 70 attempt.!!

He goes inside the exam hall, ticks 50 correct and then keeps pushing his luck and guesspower to reach that imaginary cutoff number 70.
Now this isn't Kaun Banega Crorepati, UPSC's answer options are designed in such a meticulous way that when you're in doubt, atleast two of the given answers will appear correct and the moment you tick an answer based on guesswork- most of the time it'll turn out to be an incorrect answer.

So, This gentleman's score is doomed to fall down under, thanks to the negative marking. He was better off sticking to his fifty.

Each year the difficulty level and trend of UPSC is different so just because someone cracked the exam with ** number of correct answers last year, doesn't mean you'll be able to replicate the same victory with same number of attempts (and with same level of hardwork). So donot pay much attention to cut-off marks.
Your Aim must be

"I'm going to study hard and tick as many correct answers as I can, without any guesswork."

So No. of Attempts is important but equally important is the Accuracy.
Don't setup an imaginary cut-off number in your mind.
When you try enough mock-questions, your brain gets trained like a circus animal, you wouldn't dare to tick answers based on guesswork no matter how tempting it is, and thus you'll save yourself from the negative marking.

More about Negative Marking in my Older post (Click Me)

Technical (and Hence Boring) Details

Number of Questions
In CSAT-2011, the question setup was as following

Negative marking = one third of the mark award for a correct answer.
Paper I (General Studies) has 100 Q x 2 marks = 200 Marks. (Neg -0.66)
Paper II (Aptitude) has 72 Q x 2.5 marks = 180 Marks (Neg -0.83) + 8 Questions on Decision Making, that donot have any negative marking= Total 200 Marks.

According to previous RTI replies by UPSC
There is no separate cut-off for each paper. i.e. 200+200=400 Marks merit list.

FAQ

Q. U SAID PAPER I HAS 100 QUESTIONS, THEN WHY YOUR BLANK ANSWERSHEET HAS 245 ANSWER-BOXES IN IT ???????????????????

Ans. My blank answersheet has 245 boxes, So that you can use it to solve the 200-500 mock-questions given in General Studies manual after each topic = Optimum use of Printed Paper.

Q. BUT I'VE 600 QUESTIONS AFTER HISTORY TOPIC IN MY General Studies MANUAL! PROVIDE BLANK ANSWERSHEET WITH 600 QUESTIONS IN IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ans. *Please* apply the common sense. 1-200 can be used to answer 201-400.

Q. Why have you not provided the space to calculate marks and negative marks?

Ans. There are boxes given to calculate Total number of Attempts + Accuracy.
How many marks are awarded or deducted for each question is irrelevant during the practice session at home.

Q. What was the cut-off for CSAT 2011?

Ans. UPSC in the RTI reply: We'll release the data only after the entire selection process for 2011's Exam cycle is over (i.e. in April-May 2012).

Q. What was the cut-off for Preliminary Exam in 2010?

Ans. Click me to read my older post about UPSC's RTI reply for cutoffs in 2010, Keep in mind it was a different era with optional papers in preliminary stage.

End of discussion on cut-offs.
Any further email or comment about cutoffs, will not be entertained.

If you wish to do Ph.D on cut-offs please visit,

http://www.indianofficer.com/forums/forum.php

Feb 21, 2012

[Yearbook] Kakodkar Panel on Railway safety

By [Yearbook] I mean any Government scheme, Committee recommendation, etc which may or may not be covered in the India Yearbook itself.

Who?

Anil Kakodkar, Ex-Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission
E. Sreedharan, Ex-Chief of Delhi Metro Rail Corp.

When?

2011

Why?

70 passengers died in Kalka Mail accident in July 2011, necessitated a "holistic assessment" of additional measures to enhance rail safety.
So, Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi formed this panel, to lay down a road map on the long- and short-term safety-related issues of Railways.

What are the problems?

30 per cent of the derailments are caused by "defective tracks"
Department is procuring "sub-standard sparesparts"
40 percent of all railway accidents happen at the unmanned level crossings.
42 per cent accidents are caused by railways' own staff between 10pm and 6am, because they're overworked and hence not alert enough.
3,000-plus rail bridges are very old and not monitored scientifically= a perennial safety hazard each time a train passes over.
Indian Railways is using most corridors beyond 100 per cent and it is difficult to carry out planned and systematic maintenance on trunk routes, as there is no time available due to excess traffic.

Recommendations of Kakodkar Panel on Railway Safety

Setup New institutes

An independent rail safety authority and put commissioners of railway safety under it.
Set up Railway Research and Development Council (RRDC)

Replace Toilets

Due to pH content etc. of the toilet discharge, there is widespread corrosion of the railway trackss. These toilets need to be discontinued.
Maintenance workers often refuse to service the undercarriage of the trains because discharge from toilets keep the undercarriage extremely dirty."
Railways have been experimenting with zero-discharge toilets for years but have not yet completed the field trials to deploy them in passenger coaches.

Elimination of all level crossings.

Replace r 32,000 crossings with overbridges and subways over the next five years
It'll Require Rs 50,000 crore, but the Railways would save Rs 7,000 crore by way of not having to maintain the crossings.

New Infrastructure and technology

Adopt an advanced signaling system based on continuous track circuiting and cab signaling similar to European train control system.
All new coaches should only be of LHB design, which is safer for present speeds and train lengths.

Where is the Money?

The Railways will need Rs 1 lakh crore in the next five years to implement Kakodkar's recommendations. Panel suggests at least one-third of the cost, about 30,000 crore, is recovered from passengers in surcharges over and above the ticket fare.
Given the populist bent of most leaders who have headed the department, this is an unlikely course. The railways, it seems, is headed for disaster.

Ref

Feb 19, 2012

[Strategy] Art of Note Making for Public Administration Mains in UPSC Civil Service Exam

Only for candidates with Public Administration optional subject, questions from Atul Roy.

Size of Notes

My notes will run into around 600 pages each for each optional. Have i over done it? What according 2 you shud b optimal no of pages for notes?

Notes should be revision friendly and hence they should be as small and compact as possible.
But since you've prepared it by yourself, it is well and good, no matter what size it is.
I suggest prepare a 25-30 ultra-condensed note that summarizes the crux of everything you've in that 600 page note.
Example for an Administrative Thinker: His Tag line or USP, His Critiques.

Henry Fayol

Tagline: Adm. science same in pub+pvt, gangplank, training, one head one plan...
Activities =6
Elements = 5 [POCCC]
Principles = 14 [Brief on each principle]
VS. Taylor's Scientific Management: similar and dissimilar.
Criticism: Good for small scale only, No experiments, Value loaded, U/C=coordination problem.

Now this may even run into 50-60 pages, no problem. It should be ultra-condensed.
Keep revising it frequently, until you know the structure of every topic of Public Administration, like the back of your hand.
For the mains exam, everyone reads the important books and understands every topic. But during the actual exam, Most people have hard time recollecting their thoughts and structuring them in a proper answer-format within the given timelimit.
That's why Notes making+ Revision + Answer writing practice is so important.

In PA i hv read laxmi, New Horizons Of Public Administration by Mohit Bhattacharya, Administrative Thinkers by Prasad and Prasad, Henry, Robbins, F&F, nd material of bhawani singh nd sunil gupta(inspiration) nd made notes from these sources(those 600 pages i mentioned). While revising i dnt need 2 visit these again. What do u say?

Download BA and MA booklets of Public Administration from www.egyankosh.ac.in (ofcourse free) else if you can afford to buy them in paper format, do it.
UPSC's Public Administration syllabus is directly lifted from IGNOU's BA/MA (Public Administration) Syllabus. Even Questions follow similar patterns and themes presented in those booklets.
In those booklets, Study the language, Study the flow and method of presenting a thought.
But again that doesn't make Prasad, Henry or Robbins any less important.
Mohit Bhattacharya's book is THE Bible of Public Administration, should be kept at your bedside along with that ultra-condensed note and must read frequently to unlock the vision and see Public Administration from a macro view in the sky.
Don't rely much on these Sunil Gupta, Mohanty or Vajiram's readymade notes of Public Administration. If you can find some good information not given in other books, well and good. They don't fetch good marks in mains. Half of the junta writes mugged up answers from those notes, they don't make you stand outside the crowd.

My study plan for 2012:
Jan- Mar: finish both optionals nd make notes

If you're planning for CSAT 2012, Leave the optionals, concentrate on prelims. Else if you're preparing for 2013 then good keep going.

Putting emphasis on essay. Noted down gud qoutes, words, sentences 4m newspapers etc.

Excellent

Newspaper Cuttings

For current aff i m relying on paper cuttings. I hv underlined imp parts while reading so dnt think it wud b a big prblm revising those. Plus mags, gkt are there so won't b a prblm i think.

Never cut Editorials or newspaper articles unless you've the guts to do the follow up action before going to bed.
(i.e. note down the 2-3-5 most important arguments presented in the Editorial)
Otherwise that 'Newspaper cutting-file' will just keep increasing in weight and later you won't have time to even touch it.
If you do something, finish it all the way, don't leave business half-unfinished.

What acc 2 u is differentiating factor in pa. I will attempt all the ques easily. But ur views on value additions in answers? I will use my gs knowledge in pa as much as possible nd diagrams graphs etc.

Anyone who has prepared even half seriously, can attempt the Public Administration paper. So, What separates a topper from the junta: His language, structure and presentation.
That's why I recommend study of those IGNOU booklets to get the vocabulary, language and finesse in expressing yourself + Practice answer writing of all Excercise-questions given in those booklets at the end of every topic.
Try to integrate current-affairs related to governance, which you can cite as examples in your paper-I answers.

Previously
How to make notes? and why is it important to make notes?
update: 20 February 2012
Follow up question by another reader

I saw one of your posts in that you were saying if you are peparing for 2013 civil service prelim then also make notes of both the optional of main ....
what is this ?

It is called a Custom-made advice.

Mr.Roy has already given two attempts in civil service and prepared 600 pages notes out of his optionals at the moment. Hence My advice to him: Create an ultra condensed 25 pages note out of that 600 pages note and be done with the books and the subjects.

For 2013, UPSC (again) may or may not remove the optionals. **

So, for a veteran like Roy, better finish what he has started (notes making), because right now he is in the flow and has the experience. It wouldn't take more than a fortnight for him to finish the said activity in his current state.
If he has tries to do it in 2013, he'll have to go through entire reference booklist all over again. Better for him to walk an extra mile right now, than walk the whole journey all over again next year, incase if UPSC doesn't remove the optionals.
There is no clear indication or firm commitment made by UPSC about when they'll remove the optionals. It all runs on whims and fancies of the UPSC Chairman.

** If one looks at the past experience about rumor-market:

Since 2007, every year, there were heavy rumors of UPSC removing optional subjects.
Finally in 2011 UPSC removed optionals from preliminary exam.
From September 2011 to almost December 2011, again heavy rumor of UPSC removing optional subjects from mains as well (thanks to The Hindu Article), but UPSC has still kept optionals in mains exam for 2012.
It is hard to predict what may happen for 2013, I'm not an astrologer, that's why for a newcomer I donot advice investing money in coaching for optional subjects at the moment, At the same time, for a veteran player better just finish whatever he is upto in his optional subjects.

Whether you should prepare for optionals in 2013's Exam or not??

ask UPSC Chairman, I don't know the answer whether you should prepare
optionals for 2013 or not. It all depends on his whims and fancies,
there is no official confirmation or rejection by UPSC yet, about the
rumors related to optional subjects in 2013.

[Economy Q] Basel III Norms: Tier 1 and Tier 2 Capital meaning use

Keep in mind friends, for a regular Government job recruitment exam [UPSC, State PSC] or MBA admission GDPI, you need to have only a basic idea about BASEL. No need to dwell into extreme details such as exact numbers of Tier 1 and Tier 2, credit valuation adjustment or Net Stable Funding Ratio.

What is BASEL?

It is a city in Switzerland.

Why Do we Need BASEL norms?

Consider these cases

ICICI bank collapse hoax

Back in 2003, Someone started a rumor in Ahmedabad that ICICI bank is going to collapse. Suddenly thousands of panicked account holders lined up at the nearest ICICI branch to take out their money and hence there was such a money-shortage in ICICI's Ahmedabad branches, they had to actually call up trucks loaded with cash from their Mumbai branches.
Things settled out after a while and it was confined only to a few cities of Gujarat, but if it was an entire-countrywide hoax, just imagine the fallout!

SBI: Imaginary case

SBI takes deposits from you and me, pays us 7% interest rate, and gives same money as loan to car-home seekers, businessmen etc at 12% interest rate, thus earning 5% in profit.
SBI gave Rs.1500 as loan to Kingfisher.
SBI gave loan of Rs.4500 crores to Telecom players for 2G auction and now the licenses are cancelled.
What if those telecom players run away without paying back the loan and Kingfisher goes broke?
Adding insult to the injuries, someone starts a systematic campaign on facebook and twitter to spread rumors that SBI itself is going to collapse.
Lakhs of middleclass account holders will run to the nearest SBI branch to take out their deposited money (as it happened in ICICI, Ahmedabad in 2003 in real-life).
Overnight entire banking sector will collapse and You already know about the sub-prime crisis etc: the aftershocks were felt everywhere in every sector.

Here comes BASEL in picture

The BASEL Norm is kinda safeguards / backup plan for Banking sector.
It provides internationally accepted detailed guidelines about how much money should a bank keep aside, to deal with such financial crisis.
Even if loan-takers run away without paying, Bank should have money to give back to deposit holders.
More risk the bank takes, more money it has to keep aside in reserve to counter the risk.

What is Tier 1 and Tier 2 Capital?

Tier 1 and 2 capital is way too technical and detailed, to be asked in a routine Government recruitment exam for Generalist posts, so not much point in getting to that depth and numbers. But still for the sake of discussion:
Capital= Wealth in form of Money, Property, Bonds etc.
As we saw earlier, banks need to keep some money aside to deal with crisis. It meant the word "capital".
If bank keeps aside capital, in form of real-estate investment (say buying 5 farm houses) then during the crisis, it won't be easy to sell away farm-houses and get money within a day or two. So this 'Capital' is not 'liquid'.

Tier 1 and 2 is way of classifying the capital of a bank.

Tier 1

Easily liquid. For example

currency notes and coins in the bank value
Stocks held by Bank, can be easily sold off in share-market.

Tier 2

Not easily Liquid, for example the building or land owned by the bank.

For BASEL norm will be something like this
[technically totally incorrect, just for the purpose of basic understanding]

If a Bank loans 1 crore rupee to a company with "B" Credit Rating, it must keep capital worth 20 lakhs aside for crisis.

And out of that 20 lakhs, Rs. 15 lakhs must in form of Tier 1 Capital and 5 lakhs can be in form of Tier 2.

If the Company has credit rating of "AAA" then Capital worth Rs.xyz and so on.....

Governor of RBI signs on this BASEL agreement, comes back home and forces all the Indian banks to follow these norms. Same thing will be done by French, Chinese, Americans etc. and thus banks in every country will function prudently thus preventing another Global financial crisis.
Latest is BASEL III accord, came in 2010. It has stringent provisions keeping in mind the sub-prime crisis.

Criticism of BASEL

One shoe doesn't fit all.
Just because American Banks were so imprudent in their functioning and ran into trouble, doesn't mean WE the Indian banks need be so overcautious and keep so much of money aside for 'safety', it could be used for giving loans to needy people.
Already existing complex Monetary policies of Central Banks in each country (example RBI's CRR, SLR, Repo etc.) make it difficult to uniformly implement BASEL norms.

Related to This
Capital Adequecy ratio(CAR/ C.A.R.)

Feb 17, 2012

[Strategy] How NOT to prepare a Study Time-table for UPSC Civil service exam

...In continuation to my previous articles related to strategy

I've received a 'Study Time Table' for UPSC civil service exam preparation from a reader.

Click on the Photo to see enlarge it. Uploaded with ImageShack.us

What's the problem in this time table?

Implausible,
Beating around the bush
Putting way too much emphasis on current-affairs
Wrong way of preparing notes.

What's the solution?

Just shortlist the topics to be prepared: finish them one by one, simultaneously preparing notes out of them.
Donot bind yourself to minute-by-minute time table, it cannot be followed in real life, it only leads to frustration. Once again read the Subtopic "Plausible" under "100 Days Strategy article"

Same goes for newspapers and magazines

Just any one: Either The Hindu or Indianexpess.
Same goes for Magazines, pick anyone. Refering multiple competitive magazines doesn't serve much purpose as lot of the content keeps getting overlapped and repeated.
This Outlook and India Today etc. Magz may help you for interview preparation but at this stage emphasis should be on cracking prelims.
You don't have to read 6 magazines a day, CSE is not just about current-affairs.

Feb 16, 2012

[RTI] No. of students failed in Compulsory Language Paper in Civil Service Mains 2010 Exam

All Courtesy Mr.Alok Kumar Singh's email and his RTI application
---copy pasting---

Some time back I filed an RTI query regarding cut off and no. of failed candidates in CSM-2010. They gave reply. I want to share this information to you and if you want you can share on your blog for benefit of larger public.

Language No. of candidates failed
Assamese 1

Gujarati                                    1
Hindi                                       318
Kannada                                   4
Malayalam                               4
Marathi                                    96
Tamil                                        1
Telugu                                     20
English                                   819

Screenshot of the RTI reply

Recommend Book for Compulsory English language paper

This is really sad, 819 students failed in the easiest of all papers: Compulsory English language. Although it doesn't require any special practice, just check the old papers online. But still if you want to a have book: use Compulsory English For Civil And Judicial Services by A. P. Bhardwaj (Tata Mcgraw Hill publication)

Click me to Buy Compulsory English For Civil And Judicial Services from Flipkart.com. No Credit card required. Pay on delivery, Delivery on 2-3 businessdays.

[Science] Physics 4TF

Latest trend of UPSC in General Studies prelim paper, is
Give 2 or 4 statements and ask the candidate to identify the true/false statements.
I call them 4TF questions (4 Statements: True or False)

So here is something for practice in Physics section.
Identify the true and false statements from following list

If the Rainbow is in front of you, the Sun must be on your left Side.
The order of colors from outside to inside is : VIBGYOR.
Mirage occours only on land.
Mirage occours only in hot areas.
A Matador uses red cape during Bull fight because Bulls (and other bovines) hate red color.
A bat uses Echo to determine location of an object.
Ultra Sound imaging and X-ray Machines run on same principle.
Diesel-Trucks don't have spark-plugs in their engine.
In a Vaccum chamber, Helium Ballon and stone will fall at the same velocity.
Solar cell produces AC current (Alternative current).

[Polity] Difference Between CPI, CPM and other Communist Parties of India

Question by Shinos of IOForum

What is the ideological difference between CPI and CPM? or isn't there any difference?

The Split of CPI, CPM

CPI=Communist Party of India, CPM =Communist Party of India (Marxist)
Official reason: After the Sino-India war of 1962, The Pro-Chinese members of CPI, walked out to form their own party CPI (Marxist) due to the ideological differences with the parent organization.
In terms of Seats won in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and State assembly elections, CPM is stronger party than CPI.

Other Differences

	CPI	CPM (Marxist)
Leaders	A.B.Bardhan D.Raja	Prakash & Brinda Karat Sitaram Yechuri Buddhadeb Bhattachrya (Ex-CM of Bengal)
Election Symbol	Sickle and a cob of Wheat	Hammer, Sickle and Star.
Ideology	National Democracy Joint Leadership of Working class+ Bourgeoisie	People’s Democracy: Leadership of Working class only.
Power (Becoming Ministers)	Don’t mind becoming part of Government run by other coalition partners (Congress et al).	Don’t want to be part of any Government unless we enjoy majority in parliament/SLA.

CPI (Marxist and Leninist)

Formed in 1969
Leaders: Kanu Sanyal, Charu-Majmudaar.
Responsible for the Naxalite movement of 70s.
Later after splits and mergers among different groups: it became PWG (People’s War group).

CPI (Maoist)

Founded in 2004, After merger of PWG with MCC (Maoist Communist Centre of India)
Leader: Muppala Lakshmana Rao (Ganapati)
It aims to overthrow Government of India via violent means.
It is a banned organization under Unlawful activities prevention act.

Situation in Kerala

LDF (Left Democratic Front)

It is the coalition of CPI, CPM and other leftist parties in Kerala. (Just like UPA at Centre).
VS Achyutanand was their leader and CM.

UDF (United Democratic Front)

Coalition of Congress, Indian Union muslim league et al
It defeated LDF in 2011 Kerala State assembly elections, and Oman Chandy of Congress became the new CM of Kerala.

Feb 15, 2012

[Yearbook] National Social Assistance Programme(NSAP)

National Social Assistance Programme(NSAP)

Who?

Ministry of Rural Development → Department of Rural Development.

When?

1995

Why?

Directive principles of State Policy (DPSP)
Article 41 of the Constitution of India directs the State to provide public assistance to its citizens in case of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement etc.

Where?

Both rural areas as well as urban areas

Who and What?

See the table

Name	Who (BPL person+)	What?
Old Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS)	Senior citizen (60-79 years)	Rs. 200 pm
Old Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS)	Senior citizen >80 years	Rs. 500 pm
Widow Pension Scheme (IGNWPS)	Widow 40-59 years	Rs. 200pm
Disability Pension Scheme (IGNDPS)	18-59 years	Rs. 200pm
National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS)	Death of primary breadwinner in 18-64 age	Rs. 10000/-
Annapurna	Senior citizen uncovered in above schemes.	10 kg grains pm

IGN=Indira Gandhi
pm= Per month.

How?

Gram Panchayat / Municipalities shortlist the beneficiaries.
Beneficiaries get money via their accounts in Banks or in Post Office Savings or through Postal Money Order

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The Split of CPI, CPM

Other Differences

CPI (Marxist and Leninist)

CPI (Maoist)

Situation in Kerala

LDF (Left Democratic Front)

UDF (United Democratic Front)

Feb 15, 2012

Who?

When?

Why?

Where?

Who and What?