Spotlight/News Analysis (18 Apr):

• Topic of Discussion: Protecting Manuments & Archeological Heritage
• Expert Panel: A. G. K. Menon (Convernor Indian National Trust for Art & Culture), Shailja Tripathi (The Hindu)

Contents of the Chapter:

• Indian Agriculture
• Commodity Futures Market
• Major Schemes/Programmes for the Agricultural Sector

Indian agriculture

Indian agriculture is broadly a story of success. It has done remarkably well in terms of output growth, despite weather and price shocks in the past few years. India is the first in the world in the production of milk, pulses, jute and jute-like fibres, second in rice, wheat, sugarcane, groundnut, vegetables, fruits and cotton production, and is a leading producer of spices and plantation crops as well as livestock, fisheries and poultry. The Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-12) witnessed an average annual growth of 3.6 per cent in the gross domestic product (GDP) from agriculture and allied sector against a target of 4.0 per cent. While it may appear that the performance of the agriculture and allied sector has fallen short of the target, production has improved remarkably, growing twice as fast as population. India's agricultural exports are booming at a time when many other leading producers are experiencing difficulties. The better agricultural performance is a result of: a) farmers' response to better prices; b) continued technology gains; and c) appropriate and timely policies coming together. Yet India is at a juncture where further reforms are urgently required to achieve greater efficiency and productivity in agriculture for sustaining growth. There is need to have stable and consistent policies where markets play a deserving role and private investment in infrastructure is stepped up. An efficient supply chain that firmly establishes the linkage between retail demand and the farmer will be important. Retionalization of agricultural incentives and strengthening of food price management will also help, toegether with a predictable trade policy for agriculture. These initiatives need to be coupled with skill development and better research and development in this sector along with improved delivery of credit, seeds, risk management tools, and other inputs ensuring sustainable and climate-resilient agricultural practices. Finally, while the sharp increase in prices of food articles, especially proteins, fruits and vegetables, and the growing foodgrains stocks in public sector continue to be subjects of debate, these may be the pointers towards the need for both relative price shifts responding to shifts in demand and reconsidering traditional instruments of food management.

Although agriculture, including allied activities, accounted for only 14.1 per cent of the GDP at constant (2004-5) prices in 2011-12, its role in the country's economy is much bigger with its share in total employment according to the 2001 census, continuing to be as high as 58.2 per cent. The declining share of the agriculture and allied sector in the country's GDP is consistent with normal development trajectory of any economy, but fast agricultural growth remains vital for jobs, incomes, and the food security. The growth target for agriculture in the Twelfth Five Year Plan remains at 4 per cent, as in the Eleventh Five Year Plan.

Rainfall Distribution during Monsoon 2012

Out of a total of 36 meteorological subdivisions in the country, 23 received excess/ normal rainfall and in the remaining 13 subdivisions rainfall was deficient.

With more than half of the cultivated area dependent on monsoon, advance information about the intensity and spread becomes very important. With the objective of improving monsoon forecasts for the country over all temporal scales (short to medium and long term), the Earth System Science Organization (ESSO)/ Ministry of Earth Sciences has initiated the National Monsoon Mission during the Twlefth Five Year Plan with an estimated budget of Rs. 400 crore. Under this Mission, a dynamic framework for prediction of monsoon over all time scales will be implemented during the next five years. Joint collaborative research projects will also be undertaken with national and international scientists involved in monsoon research. This is a crucial step towards improving the reliability of monsoon forecasts for appropriate and timely policy interventions to support farmers and food management.

Contents of the Chapter:

• Introduction
• Lok Sabha
• The Union and its Territory
• Parliamentary Committees

• Standing Committees
• Ad hoc committees

• Citizenship
• Fundamental Rights
• Fundamental Duties
• Minister/Departments of the Government
• Directive Principles of State Policy
• Comptroller and Auditor General
• President
• Public Services

• Union Public Service Commission
• Civil Services Reform

• Vice President
• Council of Ministers
• Legislature
• The States
• Rajya Sabha
• MCQs for Final Practice

Introduction

• The Republic is governed in terms of the Constitution, which was adopted by Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949 and came into force on 26 January 1950.
• The President of India is constitutional head of executive of the Union.

• Article 74(1) of the Constitution provides that there shall be a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister as head to aid and advise President who shall in exercise of his functions, act in accordance with such advice.

• Power to amend the Constitution also vests in Parliament. The Constitution has provision for independence of judiciary, Comptroller and Auditor-General, Public Service Commissions and Chief Election Commissioner.

THE UNION AND ITS TERRITORY

• India comprises 28 States and seven Union Territories.

CITIZENSHIP

• Every person who was at the commencement of the Constitution (26 January 1950) domiciled in the territory of India and: (a) who was born in India; or (b) either of whose parents was born in India; or (c) who has been ordinarily resident in India for not less than five years became a citizen of India. The Citizenship Act, 1955, deals with matters relating to acquisition, determination and termination of Indian citizenship after the commencement of the Constitution.

FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS

• These are guaranteed in the Constitution in the form of six broad categories of Fundamental Rights which are justiciable.

• Article 12 to 35 contained in Part III of the Constitution deal with Fundamental Rights. These are : (i) right to equality including equality before law, prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth and equality of opportunity in matters of employment; (ii) right to freedom of speech and expression; assembly; association or union; movement; residence; and right to practice any profession or occupation (some of these rights are subject to security of the State, friendly relations with foreign countries, public order, decency or morality); (iii) right against exploitation, prohibiting all forms of forced labour, child labour and traffic in human beings; (iv) right to freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion; (v) right of any section of citizens to conserve their culture, language or script and right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice; and (vi) right to constitutional remedies for enforcement of Fundamental Rights.

Spotlight/News Analysis (17 Apr):

• Topic of Discussion: Relocating Asiatic Lions
• Expert Panel: Dr. M. A. Haq (Environmentalist), Parash Venkateshwar Rao Junior (D.N.A.)

Contents of the Chapter:

• Introduction
• Non-Debt Capital Receipts
• Non-Debt Receipts
• Subsidies
• Direct Taxes
• Pay Allowances and Pension
• Indirect Taxes
• Central Plan Outlay
• Service Tax
• Deficit Outcome in 2012-13
• Tax Expenditure
• Government Debt
• Non-Tax Revenue
• Performance of Departmental Enterprises ....

Introduction

The fiscal outcome of the Central government in 2012-13 so far indicates significant improvement over 2011-12. The fiscal outcome in 2011-12 was affected by macroeconomic developments of growth slowdown, high global crude oil prices, and sluggish financial market conditions for effecting the budgeted disinvestment programme. These developments continued through the first half of the current year. The government then pushed harder for reforms. An initial step was to set up the Kelkar Committee. Following its recommendations, the government unveiled a revised fiscal consolidation roadmap. The fiscal position of states has continued to progress with fiscal deficit budgeted at 2.1 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). Staying on the indicated fiscal consolidation path is critical to sustaining the desirable macroeconomic outcomes not only in terms of higher growth in real GDP and lower inflation, but also in easing the financing of the widening current account deficit (CAD), for which India’s sovereign credit rating is important. Widening of the tax base and prioritization of expenditure are key factors in effecting the desired reduction in the Central government’s fiscal deficit over the medium term, and in reducing the key risks to fiscal marksmanship (the difference between actual outcomes and budgetary estimates as a proportion of GDP).

Latest available data indicate nascent signs of a turnaround in the macroeconomic environment. The stress witnessed in 2011-12 continued through the first half of the current year delaying the recovery process. This was manifest with growth continuing to be below 5.5 per cent, inflation moderating somewhat but continuing to be above 7 per cent, and only a brief moderation in the global crude oil prices. A pickup in financial markets, which gained steam as reforms were rolled out, the moderation in WPI inflation to 6.6 per cent in January 2013 and a bottoming out of industrial slowdown are broad indications of the turnaround. Indicating the trends in fiscal outcome in the first half of the current fiscal, the Mid-Year Economic Analysis 2012-13, pointed out that the mid-year threshold benchmarks in terms of fiscal responsibility and budget management (FRBM) rules had not been met and with the corrective measures proposed, fiscal deficit was likely to exceed budget estimates by 0.2 percentage point. The seriousness of the challenge can be seen by comparing the assumptions that were made when the Budget was presented with the actual outcome so far.

Contents of the Chapter:

• Intoduction
• Fauna
• Physical Features
• Demographic Background
• River System
• Census

• Quick Facts
• Floristic Regions 8 MCQs for Final Practice

• Flora
• MCQs for Final Practice

Introduction

• India has a unique culture and is one of the oldest and greatest civilizations of the world. It covers an area of 32,87,263 sq. km. India has become self-sufficient in agricultural production and is now the tenth industrialised country in the world and the sixth nation to have gone into outer space to conquer nature for the benefit of the people.

• As the 7th largest country in the world, India stands apart from the rest of Asia. Lying entirely in the northern hemisphere, the mainland extends between latitudes 8°4' and 37°6' north, longitudes 68°7' and 97°25' east and measures about 3,214 km from north to south between the extreme latitudes and about 2,933 km from east to west between the extreme longitudes.

• It has a land frontier of about 15,200 km. The total length of the coastline of the mainland, Lakshadweep Islands and Andaman & Nicobar Islands is 7,516.6 km.

PHYSICAL FEATURES

• The mainland comprises four regions, namely, the great mountain zone, plains of the Ganga and the Indus, the desert region and the southern peninsula. The high altitudes admit travel only to a few passes, notably the Jelep La and Nathu La on the main Indo-Tibet trade route through the Chumbi Valley, north-east of Darjeeling and Shipki La in the Satluj valley, north-east of Kalpa(Kinnaur).

• The mountain wall extends over a distance of about 2,400 km with a varying depth of 240 to 320 km. In the east, between India and Myanmar and India and Bangladesh, hill ranges are much lower. Garo, Khasi, Jaintia and Naga Hills, running almost east-west, join the chain to Mizo and Rkhine Hills running northsouth.

• The plains of the Ganga and the Indus, about 2,400 km long and 240 to 320 km broad, are formed by basins of three distinct river systems - the Indus, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra.

The desert region can be divided into two parts - the great desert and the little desert. The great desert extends from the edge of the Rann ko Kuchch beyond the Luni river northwawrd. The whole of the Rajasthan-Sind frontier runs thrugh this. The little desert extends from the Luni between Jaisalmer and Jodhpur up to the northern wastes. Between the great and the little deserts lies a zon of absolutely sterile country, consisting of rocky land, cut up by limestone ridges.

The Peninsular Plateau is marked off from the plains of the Ganga and the Indus by a mass of mountain and hill ranges varying from 460 to 1,220 metres in height. Prominent among these are the Aravalli, Vindhya, Satpura, Maikala and Ajanta.

• The Peninsula is flanked on the one side by the Eastern Ghats where average elevation is about 610 metres and on the other by the Western Ghats where it is generally from 915 to 1,220 metres, rising in places to over 2,440 metres. The Cardamom Hills lying beyond may be regarded as a continuation of the Western Ghats.

CRICKET:

India Lost the Series against Pakistan by 2-1

India won the last match of the Pakistan in India ODI Series on 6 January 2013 against Pakistan by 10 Runs. With this win over Pakistan, India lost the three matches one day series by 1-2.

1st Match: The first match was played at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, at Chennai on 30 December 2012. India scored 228 runs at a loss of 6 wickets and Pakistan managed to achieve the target to win the match by 6 wickets (with 11 balls remaining). At the end of the match Dhoni was chosen as the player of the match.

APPOINTED:

Justice D.K. Jain

Union Government of India on 7 January 2012 appointed Justice D.K. Jain as Chairman of the 20th Law Commission of India. Justice Jain would take on the chair of the Chairman of the Law Commission on 24 January 2012 after he retires of a Judge of Supreme Court on the same day. The Law Commission is responsible for offering advices on complex issues to the Government. He would be heading the commission as its chief for a period of three-years from the date of being in the office.

Golden Globe Awards 2013

In the prestigious Golden Globe Awards 2013 , the hostagecrisis movie Argo thrashed Lincoln to bag best picture as well as best director awards on 13 January 2013. Les Miserables , on the other hand won the awards in best musical or comedy category with the actors Anne Hathaway and Hugh Jackman winning one trophy each. The award-winning movie Argo is actually inspired by 1979 crisis US diplomats in Iran. In the category of Best Drama, other nominees were Django Unchained, Zero Dark Thirty as well as Life of Pi. Lincoln which was leading the race with a total of seven nominations took away just the trophy of best actor which was awarded to Daniel Day-Lewis for his role as the 16 President of US. However, the film might have better opportunities at Oscars where it is running first with 12 nominations. The Golden Globe Awards 2013 also did not stand with Life of Pi and the film only took home a single award, the best original score by Mychael Danna.

Red Wine can distort the results of Testosterone Level in Body

Researchers from the Kingston University, London in January 2013 declared that Red Wine helps in boosting the performance enhancing hormone testosterone in the body of the athletes and players. The researchers also claimed that the beverage would not only help them in winning the trophies, but an athlete under influence of red wine can also cross all the anti-doping tests. A team at the University’s School of Life Sciences led by Professor Declan Naughton in their findings confirmed that there are chances in which, the amount of testosterone excreted by the body is distorted under the influence of Red Wine and can easily skip the drug tests from the Urine Samples. Quercetin is the compound found in red wine that have abilities of blocking the action of enzyme called UGT2B17 partially. UGT2B17 is an enzyme that finds out testosterone in the human body and then signals kidney to excrete it. Testosterone is a natural steroid hormone available in the body of men and women with abilities of increasing the muscle mass, speed up the recovery process and boost stamina to a different level. The research was conducted in test tubes till date and the human trial is yet to be done. The clinical study of its effects on human beings would help in determining the effects of red wine on human being.

Spotlight/News Analysis (15 Apr):

• Topic of Discussion: India, Bangladesh, Nepal Alliance for cooperation in Hydropower Sector
• Expert Panel: Narendra Taneja (Energy Expert), M. Rajendran (Senoir Economic Journalist)

INDIA & SYRIA:

India announced an assistance of 2.5 million US dollars to Syria on 30 January 2013 at the High-level International Humanitarian Pledging Conference for Syria held in Kuwait. Syria continues to face acute crisis as the impasse has become explosive and could engulf the region. India has strongly expressed its concern on the steep escalation of violence and has called upon all sides in Syria particularly the Syrian leadership to abjure violence and resolve all issues peacefully through discussions taking into account the aspirations of the people of Syria. India is extremely concerned about the security situation in Syria and the increasing violence. India considers that the only acceptable way to resolve the internal crisis in Syria is through urgent peaceful negotiations with participation of all parties taking into account the legitimate aspirations of all Syrians.

Import Duty on Gold and Platinum by 2 Percent increased

The Union Government of India on 21 January 2013 hiked the import duty on Gold and Platinum from 4 percent to 6 percent. The step of the Government came in effect to control the import of the precious metals leading a widening gap in the Current Account Deficit of the country as the import of gold has shown tumbling effects on different economic fronts and has also played a major role in distortion of the balance of trade. The Government has also linked the Gold ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) along with the Gold Deposit Schemes, so that the supply of the physical gold in the market can be increased. These regulations and increased in the import duty would also show changes on the customs duty as well as the excise duty of gold ores, refined gold, gold dore bars and more. Within a year, the import duty on gold has been hiked for third time. Before this, the government increased the duty on import of gold from 1 percent to 2 percent in January 2012 and it doubled the import duty on standard gold from 2 percent to 4 percent in March 2012.

Interview Programme: 53rd-55th Common Combined Competitive Examination.

Spotlight/News Analysis (14 Apr):

• Topic of Discussion: Ambedkar Vision's of Equitable Society
• Expert Panel: Prof. G. Sriniwas (Sociologist - J.N.V.), B. Murlidhar Reddy (The Hindu)