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The Gist of Kurukshetra: May - 2016

The Gist of Kurukshetra: May 2016

Agriculture & Allied Sectors: Quantum Jump through New Initiatives

The first phase of transformation of Indian agriculture (1950-70) was mainly driven by the need to achieve self-sufficiency in food grains as India was importing a large quantity of cereals, for meeting domestic shortages in 1950s and 1960s. The growth in foodgrain production during the first two decades, following the country’s independence, was small.

Post independence era, the area under irrigation was low and there were frequent droughts and the prime objective at that time was to make adequate food supplies available to the increasing population and ensuring provision of raw materials for the expansion of industrial sector. This was to be achieved by way of - imports, reorganisation of the agricultural sector and a series of development measures encompassing expansion of irrigation and, extensive as well as intensive farming.

Selected Articles from Various News Paper: Civil Services Mentor Magazine - May 2016

Selected Articles from Various Newspapers & Journals

War and possible peace in Syria

The agreement reached in Munich by major world powers, including the United States and Russia, to work towards a cessation of hostilities in Syria within a week is the most constructive step yet to find a political solution to the country’s civil war. For years, the world looked away when Syria was transformed 0into a geopolitical battlefield where several countries were involved, either directly or through their proxies, to maximise their interests. The war has nearly destroyed the country, triggering an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. A report released last week by the Syrian Centre for Policy Research paints a picture graver than what even the UN had estimated. About 470,000 people have been killed and 1.9 million injured since the crisis began in March 2011. Nearly 45 per cent of the population has been displaced, while life expectancy has dropped from 70 to 55.4 in five years. That a civil war in a small nation of about 23 million people was allowed to get this catastrophic, itself points to the failures of the international system.

Myanmar Democratisation: Civil Services Mentor Magazine - May - 2016

Myanmar Democratisation

Myanmar is presently witnessing a major change towards democratic values. The National League for Democracy (NLD) under the leadership of Aung San Suu Kyi has won Myanmar’s Presidential election with a big margin. NLD won 80 percent of the seats both in the Lower House as well as in the Upper House of the parliament. Along with that they won 75 percent of seats in the regional legislatures. Myanmar had over five decades of military rule and about four years of ‘guided democracy’ or semi-democracy. After such a long period of military rule transition to democracy towards democracy is not complete in Myanmar. Though the president and one vice-president in the new administration will be of NLD’s choice, the second vice-president will be chosen by the military. Similarly, the military will retain control over the three top ministries - defence, home and border affairs. All this will have significant impact on Myanmar’s relationship with other countries. India will also have to balance its approach because problem of insurgency has significant relation with Myanmar’s defence and border affairs ministry.

UPSC Toppers 2015 from Kerala

UPSC Toppers 2015 from Kerala

Anand O, ranked 33, topped the list of Malayalis in the prestigious civil services examination results that were announced on Tuesday by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), according to the initial reports.

Tina Dabi from New Delhi grabbed the first rank while Athar Aamir Ul Shafi Khan from Jammu and Kashmir earned the second slot. The third rank went to Jasmeet Singh Sandhu.

No Keralites have found a place among the top 10 rank holders. Reproducing a list of 24 Keralites, shared to us by the director of state-run Kerala State Civil Service Academy.

(Success Story) UPSC Topper 2015 - Artika Shukla (AIR-04)

(Success Story) UPSC Topper 2015 - Artika Shukla (AIR-04)

Varanasi woman Artika Shukla, 25, made her city proud by securing fourth rank in the 2015 civil services examination in her first attempt. The results of the prestigious and one of the toughest exams were announced on Tuesday. She is a resident of Rohit Nagar, Naria.

“This is a great moment. I will work tirelessly for bringing a positive change in lives of the poor. I will be an honest officer with a difference as the god has given me a chance to serve the people. I will do it with utmost sincerity and dedication,” a jubilant Artika told HT.

“I want to see India on top of the world. As an IAS officer, I will make efforts for it,” she said.

(Success Story) UPSC Topper 2015 - Yogesh Kubejkar (AIR-08)

(Success Story) UPSC Topper 2015 - Yogesh Kubejkar (AIR-08)

Maharashtra topper of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) results -- Yogesh Kubejkar -- has perfectly lived up to his father Vijay Kulkarni's expectations.

Yogesh may have been born in the Kulkarni household in Pune, but the Kubejkar surname was given to him by his father on his birth. The name derives from their native place Kumbhej and was given as surname to Yogesh in the hope that he would be successful and make the name of his village famous.

"Yogesh certainly has stood up to his father’s expectations," said his mother Sunita Kulkarni, who is a bank employee.

The family, which hails from Solapur has been living in Pune since 2006.

“We shifted to Pune for Yogesh’s preparation for IIT entrance test,” Sunita said.

(Success Story) UPSC Topper 2015 - Ansar Shaikh (AIR-361)

(Success Story) UPSC Topper 2015 - Ansar Shaikh (AIR-361)

Ansar Shaikh, one among the 34 Muslims out of the total 1,078 candidates recommended by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) based on the 2015 Civil Service Examination for different government posts, is son of an auto-rickshaw driver.

Even more intriguing is that his mother works in fields and the family lives in a rented home at Shelgaon in Jalna - a dictrict place in Maharashtra's Marathwada region.

"When we visited the family after receiving the news about Ansar Shaikh's fabulous success, we found that the house didn't even had a lamp", Majid Shaikh, a Corporator at local civic body, said while talking to ummid.com on phone.

"Ansar's younger brother rushed for a CFL lamp even as his parents were crying out of emotion and joy", he added.

Ansar Shaikh, first to crack the all-important exam from Jalna, is yet to reach his home town and is away in Pune.

The Gist of Yojana: May 2016

The Gist of Yojana: May 2016

Union Budget 2016-17 - Highlights

Growth of Economy accelerated to 7.6% in 2015-16

Allocation for Agriculture and Farmers’ welfare is Rs 35,984 crore. ‘Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana’ to be implemented in mission mode. 28.5 lakh hectares will be brought under irrigation.

  • Implementation of 89 irrigation projects under AIBP, which are languishing for a long time, will be fast tracked
  • A dedicated Long Term Irrigation Fund will be created in NABARD with an initial corpus of about Rs 20,000 crore .

Allocation for rural sector - Rs 87,765 crore. A sum of Rs 38,500 crore allocated for MGNREGS.

  • 100% village electrification by 1st May, 2018.
  • A new Digital Literacy Mission Scheme for rural India to cover around 6 crore additional household within the next 3 years.
  • New scheme Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan proposed with allocation of Rs 655 crore

Allocation for social sector including education and health care - Rs 1,51,581 crore.

  • Rs 2,000 crore allocated for initial cost of providing LPG connections to BPL families.
  • 3,000 Stores under Prime Minister’s Jan Aushadhi Yojana will be opened during 2016-17.
  • ‘National Dialysis Services Programme’ to be started under National Health Mission through PPP mode.
  • “Stand Up India Scheme” to facilitate at least two projects per bank branch. This will benefit at least 2.5 lakh entrepreneurs.
  • National Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Hub to be set up in partnership with industry associations.

Small Savings Schemes: Civil Services Mentor Magazine - May - 2016

Small Savings Schemes

Small savings schemes include PPF, Senior Citizens Savings Scheme, Post office deposit etc. They were initially created to mobilise saving by encouraging “small earners” to save. They offered abovemarket deposit rates in accessible locations like post offices for this purpose. Each of the small saving scheme is designed for different purpose. Some of them look to target specific target groups like girl child, working class, senior citizens etc. Though good for the targetted group, small savings schemes are presenting a problem to banks. Because small savings schemes offer high and fixed deposit rates (within year) and compete with banks, it is difficult for banks to reduce their own deposit rates and hence pass on policy rate cuts to consumers in form of lower lending rates.

Presently thirteen National Saving Schemes (NSS) viz Post Office Savings Accounts, Time Deposits (1 year, 2 year, 3 year and 5 years), Monthly Income Scheme, Post Office Recurring Deposit Scheme, National Savings Certificate (VIII Issue), Kisan Vikas Patra Scheme, Public Provident Fund Scheme, Sukanya Samriddhi Account Scheme and Senior Citizens Savings Schemes are under operation.

Various important small savings schemes details are given below:

Senior Citizen Savings Scheme

  • There shall be only one deposit in the account in multiple of INR.1000/- maximum not exceeding INR 15 lakh.
  • An individual of the Age of 60 years or more may open the account.
  • An individual of the age of 55 years or more but less than 60 years who has retired on superannuation or under VRS can also open account subject to the condition that the account is opened within one month of receipt of retirement benefits and amount should not exceed the amount of retirement benefits.
  • Maturity period is 5 years.

US Presidential Election Process: Civil Services Mentor Magazine - May - 2016

US Presidential Election Process

An election for President of the United States occurs every four years on Election Day, held the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. The 2016 Presidential election will be held on November 8, 2016. The election process begins with the primary elections and caucuses and moves to nominating conventions, during which political parties each select a nominee to unite behind. The nominee also announces a Vice Presidential running mate at this time. The candidates then campaign across the country to explain their views and plans to voters and participate in debates with candidates from other parties.

During the general election, Americans head to the polls to cast their vote for President. But the tally of those votes—the popular vote—does not determine the winner. Instead, Presidential elections use the Electoral College. To win the election, a candidate must receive a majority of electoral votes. In the event no candidate receives the majority, the House of Representatives chooses the President and the Senate chooses the Vice President.

The US Presidential election process runs for more than a year. The typical process follows this pattern. Spring of the year before an election – Candidates announce their intentions to run. Summer of the year before an election through spring of the election year – Primary and caucus debates take place. January to June of election year – States and parties hold primaries and caucuses. July to early September – Parties hold nominating conventions to choose their candidates. September and October – Candidates participate in Presidential debates. Early November election for the President happens. Electors cast their votes in the Electoral College in December.

US constitution provides some necessary requirements for the Presidential candidates. These requirements include:

UPSC IAS (Pre.), Mains & Final Official Cut-off Marks 2015

UPSC IAS (Pre.), Mains & Final Official Cut-off Marks 2015

In the Civil Services Examination, 2015 the minimum qualifying standards (marks)/marks secured by the last recommended candidate in various categories at various stages are as under :

Exam General OBC SC ST  PH-1 PH-2 PH-3
CS (Prel.) 107.34 106.00 94.00 91.34 90.66 76.66 40.00
CS (Main)# 676 630 622 617 580 627 504
CS (Final) 877 834 810 801 802 830 697

(Success Story) IAS Topper 2015 - Sharanya A (AIR-7)

(Success Story) IAS Topper 2015 - Sharanya A (AIR-7)

Twenty-six-year-old Sharanya A could have easily been an IT professional like many engineering grads who pass out every year. But she chose not to. When she graduated from SRM University with a B Tech in Information Technology five years ago, she set her mind on becoming a civil servant.

On Tuesday, she realised her dream and in style. Having secured the All India seventh rank, she is the highest rank holder from Tamil Nadu.

Her success comes after a determined pursuit of her dream. It was on her fourth attempt that she cleared the exam.

“This time, I was expecting to crack it but to find myself as the All India seventh rank holder is a pleasant surprise,” she told Express. Busy handling congratulatory calls and giving media bytes, Sharanya credits her family’s support as a big factor that enabled her success. “Everytime I was down, they encouraged me. Their words and support were a great source of hope for me.”

UPSC Toppers 2015 from Telangana & Andhra Pradesh

UPSC Toppers 2015 from Telangana & Andhra Pradesh

Nearly 50 students from the Telugu states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were selected in the 2015 civil services examination, announced by the UPSC on Tuesday.

Among the toppers from the Telugu states is Chekuri Kirti, who secured 14th rank. other toppers include Valluri Kranthi (65), CH Ramakrishna (84), Vidyanagar Naidu (101), Jonnalagadda Snehaj (103), VL Ambareesh (150), Potharaju Sai Chaitanya (158), Nivedita Naidu (159), Pawan Kumar Reddy (179), Rishanth Reddy (180), Guntupalli Varun (183) and PVG Satish (191).

Delhi girl Tina Dabi has topped the 2015 civil services examination, while railway officer Athar Aamir Ul Shafi Khan from Jammu and Kashmir has got second rank in the exam results that were declared on Tuesday.

Gist of The Hindu: May 2016

Gist of The Hindu: May 2016

War and possible peace in Syria

The agreement reached in Munich by major world powers, including the United States and Russia, to work towards a cessation of hostilities in Syria within a week is the most constructive step yet to find a political solution to the country’s civil war. For years, the world looked away when Syria was transformed 0into a geopolitical battlefield where several countries were involved, either directly or through their proxies, to maximise their interests. The war has nearly destroyed the country, triggering an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. A report released last week by the Syrian Centre for Policy Research paints a picture graver than what even the UN had estimated. About 470,000 people have been killed and 1.9 million injured since the crisis began in March 2011. Nearly 45 per cent of the population has been displaced, while life expectancy has dropped from 70 to 55.4 in five years. That a civil war in a small nation of about 23 million people was allowed to get this catastrophic, itself points to the failures of the international system.

BUDGET 2016-17: Civil Services Mentor Magazine - May - 2016

BUDGET 2016-17

Union government presented its second full budget in the parliament on 29th feb 2015. This year’s budget gives special emphasis for the development of rural India. Although India has to go through various external challenges but still India is fastest growing major economy in the world. Budget continued the path setup in last budget of improving the fiscal discipline and making legislative and tax reforms. This was the first budget presented after recommendation of pay commission has been accepted and also government has implemented One rank one pension for Armed forces. This will provide additional burden on the government finances. However government has nicely maintained its fiscal discipline. Along with rural economy government’s focus on improving the infrastructure of the country has continued from last year’s budget.

Important decisions of budget are given below sector wise:

Rural Economy

  • Allocation of 5500 crore under PM fasal Bima yojana. 28.5 lakh hectares will be brought under irrigation under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana.
  • 15000 crore allocation for interest subvention to reduce burden of loan repayments.
  • Soil health card to cover all the land holdings.
  • Unified Agricultural marketing platform for wholesale markets.
  • Farmer’s income to be doubled by 2022.
  • Dedicated Long Term Irrigation Fund will be created in NABARD with initial corpus of Rs. 20,000 crore.
  • Rs. 9 lakh crore will be given as Agricultural credit in 2016-17.
  • FCI will undertake online procurement of food grains. This will bring transparency and convenience to farmers through prior registration and monitoring of procurement.
  • R. 2.87 lakh crore will be given as Grant in Aid to Gram Panchayats and Municpalities as per the recommendations of the 14th FC. This translates to Rs. 81 lakh per gram panchayat and over Rs. 21 crore per Municipality.
  • Every Block in drought and rural distress areas will be taken up under Deen Dayal Antoyodaya Mission.
  • 300 Rurban Clusters will incubate growth Centres in Rural Area.
  • MUDRA – Loan target of 1,80,000 crore in 2016-17.

Economic Survey: Civil Services Mentor Magazine - May - 2016

Economic Survey

The Economic Survey 2015-16 was tabled in Parliament by the Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley. Survey expects Indian economy to perform well dispute the gloomy picture of international economic environment. Survey says India stands as a haven of stability and an outpost of opportunity. Survey says Indian economy will doing well because of mainly two reasons; the government’s commitment to fiscal consolidation and low inflation. The Survey also praised reorientation of government spending toward needed public infrastructure. Describing these achievements as remarkable, the Survey emphasizes that the task is now to sustain them in an even more difficult global environment.

The Survey further states that the country’s performance reflects the implementation of number of meaningful reforms. Economic environment in country has been helped by the government’s commitment towards reducing corruption, which is imminent in auctioning the assets. Survey also praised the government’s initiative to liberalise the FDI across the board and vigorous efforts have been undertaken to ease the cost of doing business.
Survey said agriculture being the important section of Indian economy. Government’s initiative of a major crop insurance programme will help this sector. The Survey has highlighted creation of bank accounts for over 200 million people under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), the world’s largest direct benefit transfer programme in case of LPG with about 151 million beneficiaries receiving Rs. 29,000 crore in their bank accounts has been praised by Suvey. However, the Survey has expressed concern over approval of GST Bill being elusive so far, the disinvestment programme falling short of targets and the next stage of subsidy rationalization being a work-in-progress. It adds that corporate and bank balance sheets remain stressed affecting the prospects for reviving private investments. It further says that perhaps the underlying anxiety is that the Indian economy is not realizing its full potential.

(Final Result) UPSC IAS Civil Services Examination, 2015

(Final Result) UPSC IAS Civil Services Examination, 2015

1. Based on the results of the written part of Civil Services Examination, 2015 held by the Union Public Service Commission in December, 2015 and the interviews for Personality Test held in March-May, 2016, following is the list, in order of merit, of candidates who have been recommended for appointment to:

(i) Indian Administrative Service;
(ii) Indian Foreign Service;
(iii) Indian Police Service; and
(iv) Central Services, Group ‘A’ and Group ‘B’

2. A total number of 1078 candidates have been recommended for appointment as per following break-up:

GENERAL OBC SC ST TOTAL
499 ( incl. 14 PH-1, 05 PH-2 & 13 PH-3 ) 314 ( incl. 06 PH-1, 01 PH-2 & 06 PH-3) 176 ( incl. 01 PH-2 ) 89 1078 (incl. 20 PH-1, 07 PH-2 & 19 PH-3)

3. In accordance with Rule 16 (4) & (5) of the Civil Services Examination Rules 2015, the Commission is maintaining a consolidated Reserve List of 172 candidates as under:

GENERAL OBC SC ST TOTAL
86 74 08 04 172

4. Appointment to the various Services will be made according to the number of vacancies available with due consideration to the provisions contained in the Rules for the Examination. The number of vacancies reported by the Government to be filled are as under:

(Success Story) UPSC Topper - TINA DABI (AIR-1) 2015

(Success Story) UPSC Topper - TINA DABI (AIR-1) 2015

Twenty-two-year-old Tina Dabi woke up from a nap Tuesday evening and discovered she had topped the Union Public Service Commission’s (UPSC) civil services examination in her very first attempt. The rest of the evening, at the family home in BSNL Colony on Kali Bari Marg near Gole Market in the heart of New Delhi, was taken up by interviews to the press, congratulatory phone calls and visits from friends and family.

“I was sleeping when the results came. I knew they would be out today but there’s usually no particular time. When my phone started buzzing repeatedly, I realised the results had been announced. Since then we have been so busy that I still haven’t had time to actually register what has happened,” Tina said.

Congratulating Tina, Northwest Delhi MP and Dalit leader Udit Raj tweeted, “Napoleon said that without opportunity ability can’t be cultivated. Dalit girl topped IAS & this could not have been possible 40-50 yrs back.”

Tina has opted for the IAS, with Haryana as her cadre preference.

“I opted for Haryana because it presents such an interesting example, where you have a lot of economic progress but when it comes to social indicators you are lagging behind, and that is a very big paradox.”

“What is actually holding Haryana back is its patriarchal mindset and the gender inequality, which is a subject very close to my heart, since I am a woman from a progressive family and have also studied in a college that lays great emphasis on gender equality, so that is something I want to change about the state,” she said.

(Success Story) UPSC Topper - Athar Aamir-ul-Shafi Khan (AIR-2) 2015

(Success Story) UPSC Topper - Athar Aamir-ul-Shafi Khan (AIR-2) 2015

He saw an opportunity in failure and today Athar Aamir-ul-Shafi Khan is all smiles after securing second rank in the prestigious civil services examination, 2015.

The 23-year-old Khan made it to the coveted Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in his second attempt.

"I had appeared last year but my ranking was down and, therefore, I was offered Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS). I joined but IAS was my first love and I planned to to do both -- join the training and appear again."

Hailing from Devipora-Mattan village in Anantnag district, 60 km south of Srinagar, Khan, son of a school teacher, says he became interested in joining IAS after Shah Faesal from the Kashmir Valley topped civil services examination in 2009.

"I did not have a great exposure to coaching classes but I was confident that I can do it. Extensive reading and complete dedication made me realise my dream," he said.

Besides this, he said, he always wanted to be of use to the society by being "with the people" and doing something "for the people".

Khan, who did his 11th and 12th from prestigious Tyndale Biscoe School in Srinagar, said he had made it to the IIT but did not join as he was offered a B-Tech course when he wanted to pursue BE. "This also acted as a catalyst for me to appear for the civil services and I qualified last year.

"I met Mr Shah Faesal and took his advice on whether I should join the services. We had a long discussion and after that we arrived at a conclusion that I should join as well as appear again.

(Success Story) Sarika Jain (AIR Rank - 527) for Civil Services Examination 2013

(Success Story) Sarika Jain (AIR Rank - 527) for Civil Services Examination 2013

Disability failed to dampen Sarika Jain’s spirit. It was her strong determination that helped her secure 527th rank in the Union Public Service Commission examination, the results of which were announced on Thursday.

Sarika belongs to Kantabanji town. She was affected by polio during childhood but did not stop her from pursuing higher education. Laborious, she completed her degree in Commerce and Accounting from Kantabanji Women’s College. She did her schooling from Saraswati Vidya Mandir.

After her college, Sarika joined an IAS coaching centre in New Delhi last year.

“I was inspired by Arvind Agarwal, a 2007 batch IAS officer, from our town who had qualified IAS,” says the girl who gave 13 hours per day for preparations.

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