COMBINED DEFENCE SERVICES EXAMINATION (II), 2012

The following are the lists, in order of merit, in respect of 372 (*Men 294 + ^Women 78) candidates who have finally qualified on the basis of the results of the Combined Defence Services Examination (II), 2012 conducted by the Union Public Service Commission and Interviews held by the Services Selection Board of the Ministry of Defence for admission to the (i) *Officers Training  Academy, Chennai, for 98th Short Service Commission Course (for Men) and (ii) ^Officers Training  Academy, Chennai, 12th Short Service Commission Women (Non-Technical) Course, commencing in  OCTOBER, 2013. The list of 98th Short Service Commission Course (for Men) also includes the names  of the candidates who were recommended earlier on the basis of the result of the same examination for  admission to Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, Naval Academy, Ezhimala, Kerala and Air Force  Academy, Hyderabad (Pre-Flying) Training Course(s). 

2. The number of vacancies as intimated by the Government, for (i) 98th Short Service Commission  Course (for Men) is 175 and for (ii) 12th Short Service Commission Women (Non-Technical) Course is  15.

3. The results of Medical Examination of candidates have not been taken into account in preparing  the merit list. The candidature of all the candidates is Provisional. Verification of Date of Birth and  Educational Qualification of these Candidates will be done by Army Head Quarter. 

4. Candidates can also obtain information regarding results by accessing to UPSC web-site  http.//www.upsc.gov.in. However, marks of the candidates will be available within 15 days from the  date of declaration of final results on Commission’s website for 60 days.

5. Union Public Service Commission have a Facilitation Counter near Examination Hall Building  in its Campus. Candidates may obtain any information/clarification regarding their examination on  working days between 10.00 AM to 5.00 PM, in person or over telephone No. 011-23385271, 011- 23381125 and 011-23098543 from this Counter.

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• Highlights of Amended Bill (Full Material Available Only For Premium Members)
• DNA Profiling Technology (Full Material Available Only For Premium Members)
• Development of Geothermal Based Power Projects (Full Material Available Only For Premium Members)
• Neutrino Observatory (Full Material Available Only For Premium Members)

National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) as a sub-mission under the National Health Mission (NHM)

The Union Cabinet gave its approval to launch a National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) as a new sub-mission under the over-arching National Health Mission (NHM). Under the Scheme the following proposals have been approved :

1. One Urban Primary Health Centre (U-PHC) for every fifty to sixty thousand population.
2. One Urban Community Health Centre (UCHC) for five to six U-PHCs in big cities.
3. One Auxiliary Nursing Midwives (ANM) for 10,000 population.
4. One Accredited Social Health Activist ASHA (community link worker) for 200 to 500 households.

The estimated cost of NUHM for 5 years period is Rs.22,507 crore with the Central Government share of Rs.16,955 crore. Centre-State funding pattern will be 75:25 except for North Eastern states and other special category states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand for whom the funding pattern will be 90:10.

The scheme will focus on primary health care needs of the urban poor. This Mission will be implemented in 779 cities and towns with more than 50,000 population and cover about 7.75 crore people.

The interventions under the sub-mission will result in

• Reduction in Infant Mortality Rate (IMR)
• Reduction in Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR)
• Universal access to reproductive health care
• Convergence of all health related interventions.

The existing institutional mechanism and management systems created and functioning under NRHM will be strengthened to meet the needs of NUHM. Citywise implementation plans will be prepared based on baseline survey and felt need. Urban local bodies will be fully involved in implementation of the scheme. NUHM aims to improve the health status of the urban population in general, particularly the poor and other disadvantaged sections by facilitating equitable access to quality health care, through a revamped primary public health care system, targeted outreach services and involvement of the community and urban local bodies.

Background

The Union Cabinet in its meeting held in April 2012 has already approved the continuation of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and the other sub-mission under NHM till 31.3.2017. Amendments in the National Food Security Bill Introduced in the Lok Sabha Bill Provides Rice at the Rate of Rs 3 and Wheat at Rs 2 Per Kg Food Security Allowance in Case of Non Supply of Foodgrains Proposed Special Focus on Nutritional Support to Women and Children Women to Get 6000 Rs Maternity Allowance Besides Nutritional Food .

The National Food Security Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 22nd December, 2011 to addresses the issue of food security in a comprehensive manner, by adopting a life cycle approach. The Bill was introduced after a wide-ranging consultation with various stakeholders.

After introduction, the Bill was referred to Standing Committee on Food, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, who interacted with other Central Ministries, various other organizations and individuals and visited States before submitting its report to the Speaker, Lok Sabha on 17th January, 2013. The recommendations of the Standing Committee were examined in consultation with concerned Central Ministries and also with the Food Ministers and Food Secretaries of States/UT. Based on the recommendations of the Standing Committee and views of various stakeholders thereon, the Government decided to move certain amendments to the Bill. These amendments seek to make the framework of the proposed legislation simpler, provide more flexibility to States/UTs in its implementation and to address some of the concerns raised by them.

Snowden granted Russian asylum

• U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden has been granted asylum in Russia and left the transit zone of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport for an undisclosed “safe location”.
• Mr. Snowden (30), a former CIA employee and NSA contractor had been stuck at Sheremetyevo Airport since June 23, when he arrived in Moscow on the way from Hong Kong. However, he could

Cheer as tiger population in Nepal’s Terai rises

• The tiger is faring better in Nepal compared to four years ago, the tiger survey, whose findings were presented in Lalitpur earlier this week to mark the International Tiger Day, shows. The findings of the survey — conducted jointly with India to avoid double counting in the protected areas that overlap the national boundaries — revealed that the estimated number of tigers in Nepal has risen from 121 in 2008 to 198 in 2012, a growth of 63 per cent that has elated the conservationists.

• Though conducted simultaneously in the border areas of both countries, the survey’s India results are still being tallied and a joint status report is expected in December.

• The International Tiger Day was created in 2010, at the St. Petersburg Tigers Summit of 13 tiger range countries. It resulted in a pledge to heighten national efforts to double the number of tigers in each country by 2022, the “year of the tiger” in the Chinese calendar.

• The Terai Arc Landscape is the conservation area to the west of River Bhagmati and east of River Yamuna.It includes four important national parks — in terms of tiger population — two in Nepal Chitwan and Bardiya; and two in India, the Dudhwa and Valmiki.
• It has the world’s highest density of Bengal tiger population

Durga Sakthi Nagpal, a 2010 batch officer from Delhi, is from Indira Gandhi Delhi Technological University for Women and holds a first-class B.Tech degree in computer science. Born in June 1985, Nagpal cleared the civil service examination in 2009. Of 875 candidates who were recommended for appointment, Nagpal ranked 20 on the merit list. She was awarded the Punjab cadre.

Contents

• Empowering Gram Sabha Through Social Audit (Full Material Available Only For Premium Members)
• Dimensions of Child Labour (Full Material Available Only For Premium Members)

GRAMA SABHA–A MILESTONE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN RURAL INDIA

The 73rd Amendment to the Indian Constitution (1992) is a milestone in the evolution of Panchayats in India which carved out the third tier of the Indian Political System. While the Panchayats have been the backbone of Indian villages to achieve economic development and social justice in rural areas.

Grama Sabha which is an entity of constitution of India is legitimized statutory body to do multifaced work at the village level.

Zimbabwe votes in historic elections

• The day began early for most Zimbabweans as hundreds lined up at dawn to vote in a controversialpresidential election that could prove as significant as the one that heralded independence in 1980.

• Since that day, 33 years ago, Robert Gabriel Mugabe – an 89 year old liberation hero - and his ZANU PF party have ruled the country with an iron fist.

• “There is no other party that has conducted a revolution to redeem the country from the colonial grip

Government to dilute FDI retail norms

• Yielding to pressure from multinational retail giants and worried at not a single proposal having come through in the past nine months, the Manmohan Singh-led government is set to “dilute” various conditions, including effecting a change in the definition of investment in backend infrastructure and the 30 per cent sourcing clause, brushing aside opposition from the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Ministry.

• Furthermore, with the Commerce and Industry Ministry at the spearhead, the government proposes to increase the number of cities to be covered under the policy for 49 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail trade.

• This will be done by amending the clause to permit cities or States with less than 10 lakh population to allow opening frontend stores.

• According to a Cabinet note, proposed to be put up before the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, the clause requiring 30 per cent sourcing from small-scale industries will be scrapped.

• It is argued that the present condition of making those industries that outgrow this status ineligible for fulfilment of mandatory local sourcing would result in loss of business for small industries and also discourage retailers from developing a supply chain.

• It proposes that this requirement would be reckoned only at the time of first engagement with the retailer and such industries will continue to qualify even if they outgrow the investment of $2 million during their relationship with the retailer.

Content

• Judges have to watch their Scorecard (Free Available)
• Is the New TB Drug Already being Misused? (Free Available)
• At WTO, A Defender of the South (Free Available)
• Access to the Printed Word (Only For Premium Members)
• Between Mass Hunger and Bursting Granaries (Only For Premium Members)
• Cabinet nod for Loans at Low Interest for Women Self Help Groups (Only For Premium Members)
• Arabian Sea: Why more Cyclones in Some Years (Only For Premium Members)
• Sixty Years of a DNA World View (Only For Premium Members)
• White Bengal Tiger Enigma Solved (Only For Premium Members)
• An Anglo-Indian Insurance Policy (Only For Premium Members)
• Indo-Japan Relation (Only For Premium Members)
• Schemes to Reshape (Only For Premium Members)
• China approves Environment Assessment of ‘Tallest Dam’ (Only For Premium Members)
• Judicial Appointments Commission  (Only For Premium Members)
• North Pole Drifts East due to Climate Change (Only For Premium Members)
• Financial Assistance under JSY to Institutional Deliveries (Only For Premium Members)
• U.S. Clears Shale Gas Export to India (Only For Premium Members)
• Cash Transfers are bad for Food Security (Only For Premium Members)

JUDGES HAVE TO WATCH THEIR SCORECARD

The Indian Supreme Court is an extraordinarily powerful institution in the world. It can make and unmake laws; it can keep the executive accountable, and seek to ensure the autonomy of institutions. It can rewrite the Constitution the way it wants, through its creative interpretation yet remain largely unaccountable for its omissions and commissions. Its collegium has the responsibility to choose judges to fill its own vacancies, but it sees little merit in adopting an open and transparent process while exercising it.

As a result, very little is known about the merits of a judge, before he or she is appointed to the Supreme Court, unless there are serious allegations damaging to the judge’s integrity. There is a vast pool of post-retirement jobs that awaits a retiring judge from the Supreme Court, in the form of membership of statutory tribunals and commissions, yet there is no mechanism to evaluate the suitability of former judges to these bodies.

Issue Description:

The New World Disorder, Ready to run, Half-baked scheme, Ordinance route, Foreign hand, Islamist Riposte and more...

Magazine Description:

India's National Magazine.

Frontline, the fortnightly English magazine from the stable of The Hindu, has been a distinguished presence in the media world for the past 27 years. As per the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) Q4, Frontline’s average issue readership is 152000.

Its journalism is characterised by in-depth, insightful reporting and analysis of issues and events at the regional, national and international levels. It excels in long-form journalism.

The topics Frontline covers range from politics, economics and social issues to the environment, nature, culture and cinema. Its cover stories are comprehensive. No other magazine reports world affairs as exhaustively as Frontline does. Its science coverage has won international acclaim. Intellectually stimulating books reviews and informative, exciting photo features are regular items on the Frontline menu.

Contents

• Democratisation of Information (Full Material Available Only For Premium Members)
• India and the Ascendency of the Global South (Full Material Available Only For Premium Members)
• Explosion in Digital Space: Opportunities and Challenges for India (Full Material Available Only For Premium Members)
• Social Capital Creation Through Social Media (Full Material Available Only For Premium Members)
• Social Media and Political Communication in India (Full Material Available Only For Premium Members)
• Social Media: Reconstructing the Fourth Pillar (Full Material Available Only For Premium Members)
• Social Meida in Education— Help or Hindrance? (Full Material Available Only For Premium Members)
• Grama Sabha–A Milestone for Sustainable Development in Rural India (Full Material Available Only For Premium Members)

DEMOCRATISATION OF INFORMATION

Recognizing that we are increasingly a nation of a connected billion people, this Government is committed to democratising information and building a unique public information infrastructure in the country. This infrastructure will leverage ‘ICT to revolutionise our current governance and service delivery paradigm. Networks such as the National Knowledge Network, which connects Universities and Research Institutions, and the Rural Broadband Network, which connects Panchayats, will emerge as the new highways for connecting ideas and disseminating knowledge. Initiatives such as Aadhaar and the National GIS will enhance policy planning to make it more efficient and effective, and numerous applications riding on this ICT infrastructure will unleash unforeseen innovation at all levels of the citizenry. As and when this new infrastructure becomes ubiquitous, connecting people and ideas in an ever faster manner, we will witness a generational change in our current processes towards openness, accessibility, transparency, accountability and decentralisation - essentially ‘democratisation of information’. And this democratisation of information will challenge established structures of power built on the premise of information control to change towards a new paradigm of a more transparent and accountable society.

 NEWEST SET OF CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURE DATA FOR 2011-12, RELEASED BY NSSO

• The National Sample Survey Organisation’s newest set of consumption expenditure data for 2011-12 gives an insight into how those across the spectrum, from the poorest to the richest, live in different parts of India.

• An individual who spends over Rs. 2,886 per month in a rural area or Rs. 6,383 per month in an urban area is in the top 5% of the country (and this is using the modified mixed reference period, which gives the most generous expenditure estimates). This translates to spending Rs. 96.2 and Rs. 212.77 per day. The top 10% of the country includes anyone who spends over Rs. 2296 per month in a rural area and Rs. 4610 per month in an urban area.

• Moreover, even though poverty rates are converging, massive inter-State differences remain. A person spending over Rs. 1995 per head would be well into the top 5% of rural Bihar, but more than half of Kerala is spending at that level. Similarly, spending Rs. 1710 per month would put a person in rural Jharkhand into the top 5% of her State, but over 60% of Punjab is spending at that level.

• In urban India, spending Rs. 3400 per month in urban Bihar would put a person into the top 5% of that State, but only the top 30% of Delhi. Conversely, 30% of urban Chhattisgarh lives on a monthly per capita expenditure of Rs. 1046, while less than 5% of Kerala lives at that level of expenditure.

• Then there is the question of what the rich and poor are spending their money on; absolute spending on food rises as one climbs the income ladder in both rural and urban India, even as its proportion in total expenditure falls.

Joint CSIR-UGC Test For Junior Research Fellowship And Eligibility for Lectureship: 22nd December, 2013

CSIR will hold the Joint CSIR-UGC Test on 22nd December, 2013 for determining the eligibility of the  Indian National candidates for the award of Junior Research Fellowships (JRF) NET and for determining  eligibility for appointment of Lecturers (NET) in certain subject areas falling under the faculty of Science &  Technology. The award of Junior Research Fellowship (NET) to the successful eligible candidates will depend  on their finding admission/placement in a university/ national laboratory/ institution of higher learning and  research, as applicable.

SUBJECTS OF THE TEST:

The Test will be held in the subjects as given under:

1. Chemical Sciences
2. Earth, Atmospheric, Ocean and Planetary Sciences
3. Life Sciences
4. Mathematical Sciences
5. Physical Sciences
6. Engineering Sciences

EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION:

BS-4 years program/BE/BTech/BPharma/MBBS/Integrated BS-MS/MSc or equivalent degree with at least  55% marks for general and OBC (50% for SC/ST candidates, physically and Visually Handicapped  candidates).

Candidates enrolled for M.Sc or having completed 10+2+3 years of the above qualifying examination are also  eligible to apply in the above subject under the Result Awaited (RA) category on the condition that they  complete the qualifying degree with requisite percentage of marks within the validity period of two years to  avail the fellowship from the effective date of award.

ISRO to the rescue after red flag over Thai satellite for CCTNS

Warned by intelligence agencies that using a foreign satellite in the proposed nationwide Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) could make a critical database vulnerable to eavesdropping by other countries, the Union Home Ministry has decided to take the help of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to make the project fully indigenous.

Despite high bandwidth charges being proposed by the ISRO — almost three times that of the IPSTAR satellite managed by Thaicomm of Thailand — the CCTNS will get half of its 800-odd VSATs (two-way ground satellite systems) from the BSNL (network agency) while the remaining VSAT requirements will be met by the ISRO.

Advt.NO.10/2013

Online Recruitment Application (ORA)

(Vacancy No. 13071001527)

Assistant Director in Central Fertilizer Quality Control and Training Institute (CFQC&TI), Department of Agriculture & Cooperation Ministry of Agriculture.

Total Posts: 03

Qualifications :

• Educational: Master's Degree in Chemistry with specialization in Inorganic or Organic or Analytical Chemistry or M.Sc. (Agriculture) with specialization in Soil Science or Agricultural Chemistry of a University or Institute recognized by the Central Government or State Government.

• Experience: Three years' experience in analytical work in the field of fertilizers.

(Vacancy No. 13071002527)