Hi All,
I am planning to put solved portion of Statistics (Paper II) of previous years. but because of time constraint I would be doing that only if majority of you are interested. If you want me to put them on my blog just leave a comment saying yes you are interested. If response is good i would try to put them as soon as possible. Thanks
Monday, August 31, 2009
Time Table for IAS Mains 2009
IAS Mains Time table for 2009 is out. You can check the following site for details
http://www.upsc.gov.in/
Last year time table is below.
http://www.upsc.gov.in/
Last year time table is below.
Mains Examination Time Table - 2008
| Date/Day | Forenoon Session 09.00 AM to 12.00 PM | Afternoon Session 02.00 PM to 05.00 PM |
| 17.10.2008 (Friday) | General Studies Paper-I | General Studies |
| 18.10.2008 (Saturday) | Essay | English |
| 19.10.2008 (Sunday) | Indian Language{Assamese/Bengali/Bodo/Dogri/ | ---- |
| 21.10.2008 (Tuesday) | Political Science & International Relations | Political Science & International Relations Paper-II/ Public Administration Paper-II |
| 22.10.2008 (Wednesday) | History Paper-I | History Paper-II |
| 23.10.2008 (Thursday) | Geography Paper-I | Geography Paper-II |
| 24.10.2008 (Friday) | | Literature of Arabic/Assamese/Bengali/ Bodo/Chinese/Dogri/English/French/ German/Gujarati/Hindi/Kannada/ Kashmiri/Konkani/ Maithilli/ Malayalam/ Manipuri/ Marathi/Nepali/ Oriya/ Pali/ Persian/Punjabi/Russian/ Sanskrit/ Santali /Sindhi (Devanagari/ Arabic Script)/ Tamil/Telugu/Urdu Language Paper-II |
| 25.10.2008 (Saturday) | Philosophy Paper-I | Philosophy Paper-II |
| 31.10.2008 (Friday) | Sociology Paper-I/ Anthropology Paper-I | Sociology Paper-II/ Anthropology Paper-II |
| 01.11.2008 (Saturday) | Psychology Paper-I | Psychology Paper-II |
| 03.11.2008 (Monday) | Zoology Paper-I | Zoology Paper-II |
| 04.11.2008 (Tuesday) | Agriculture Paper-I/Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science Paper-I | Agriculture Paper-II/Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science Paper-II |
| 05.11.2008 (Wednesday) | Law Paper-I | Law Paper-II |
| 06.11.2008 (Thursday) | Economics Paper-I | Economics Paper-II |
| 07.11.2008 (Friday) | Botany Paper-I | Botany Paper-II |
| 08.11.2008 (Saturday) | Mathematics Paper-I/ Statistics Paper-I | Mathematics Paper-II/ Statistics Paper-II |
| 10.11.2008 (Monday) | Commerce & Accountancy Paper-I/ Management Paper-I | Commerce & Accountancy Paper-II/Management Paper-II |
| 11.11.2008 (Tuesday) | Physics Paper-I | Physics Paper-II |
| 12.11.2008 (Wednesday) | Civil Engg. Paper-I/ Electrical Engg. Paper-I/ Mechanical Engg. Paper-I | Civil Engg. Paper-II/ Electrical Engg. Paper-II/ |
| 14.11.2008 (Friday) | Chemistry Paper-I | Chemistry Paper-II |
| 15.11.2008 (Saturday) | Geology Paper-I | Geology Paper-II |
IMPORTANT: For First time IAS students
Before finalising your optionals I would like you to also look at date sheet of previous years. Reason being subjects like Geography and History are on consecutive days. You might not realise at this point of time but writing 4 papers (2 each of both subjects)in 2 days would be very challenging. So do keep this in my mind whether your subjects would be on consecutive days or not. I am not saying that you should not take optionals which r on consecutive days but my idea is just to let you know that you wont be getting ny time for preparation for your next optional and also you need to be mentally prepared for attempting 4 papers in 2 days and 1200 marks.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Download IGNOU material/notes for various Optionals
You can download IGNOU material for History, Public ad, Sociology, Psychology and other subjects from the link given below. IN case of any problem in downloading do let me know. Link is given below
http://learnwithme-target-ias.blogspot.com/search/label/Free%20Downloads
http://learnwithme-target-ias.blogspot.com/search/label/Free%20Downloads
GK : National Solar Mission
Solar Power in India
1. India is world's 6th largest energy consumer, accounting for 3.4% of global energy consumption.
2. Due to India's economic rise, the demand for energy has grown at an average of 3.6% per annum over the past 30 years.
3. In March 2009, the installed power generation capacity of India stood at 147,000 MW while the per capita power consumption stood at 612 kWH.
4. The country's annual power production increased from about 190 billion kWH in 1986 to more than 680 billion kWH in 2006.
5. The Government of India has set an ambitious target to add approximately 78,000 MW of installed generation capacity by 2012.
6. The total demand for electricity in India is expected to cross 950,000 MW by 2030.
7. About 75% of the electricity consumed in India is generated by thermal power plants, 21% by hydroelectric power plants and 4% by nuclear power plants.
8. More than 50% of India's commercial energy demand is met through the country's vast coal reserves.
9. India has invested heavily in recent years on renewable sources of energy such as wind energy.
10. As of 2008, India's installed wind power generation capacity stood at 9,655 MW.
11. India has committed massive amount of funds for the construction of various nuclear reactors which would generate at least 30,000 MW.
12. In July 2009, India unveiled a $19 billion plan to produce 20,000 MW of solar power by 2020.
India & Solar Energy :
1. India is most fortunate as it receives the highest global solar radiation on a horizontal surface.
2. India receives on a daily average over the year of 520-630 W/m2; 1660-1990 Btu/ft2 and 6.8-8.3 GJ/m2 annually.
3. The solar energy falling each year on each acre of land in India equals to energy obtained by burning efficiently more than 1,000 tons of coal.
4. India, one of the world's fastest-developing countries, currently has no electric grid to connect 400 million people who have no access to electricity.
5. With about 301 clear, sunny days a year, solar power stands to become the predominant energy source for the nation, which is currently exploring ways to deal with its energy shortage.
6. India has tremendous potentialities to harness the much-needed energy from renewable sources and considered as one of the ideal investment destinations for renewable energy equipment manufacturers and service providers.
7. India could become top player in world's solar market.
8. Considering the huge business opportunities in India, an International trade mission under the aegis of SolarPlaza, a world leader in connecting solar industry members, led an international trade mission to India in February 2008.
9.Indian government is currently envisaging large-scale expansion of solar power capacity by 2020.
10. The government is gearing up to provide 20 million un-reached rural households to access light energy.
11.In addition, the government plans 20 million sqm. to be built up for green buildings and 20 million sqm. for heating applications by 2020.
National Solar Mission : Background
1. Solar power generation has lagged behind other sources like wind, small hydropower, biomass etc. But now realizing the potential of Solar energy, Prime Minister of India unveiled a National Climate Change Action Plan in June 2008.
2. The plan will be implemented through eight missions with main focus on Solar energy in the total energy mix of the country.
The Mission Plan
1. It is a 30-year plan with an outlay of Rs.91,684 crore.
2. The outlay will be with Rs.10,130 crore in the current Five Year Plan (ending 2012), Rs.22,515 crore in the 2012-2017 second phase, and Rs.11,921 crore in the 2017-2020 third phase.
3. This plan aims to make India the global leader in solar energy
4. The plan has come up for the nod by the Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change on August 3, 2009.
5. National Solar Mission will add 20,000 MW of generation capacity by 2020 and make it as cheap as electricity from conventional sources.
6. The amount will be by taxing fossil fuels, mainly coal.
Mission Objectives:
1. 20,000 MW of installed solar generation capacity by 2020 and 100,000 MW by 2030; 200,000 MW by 2050
2. Reducing the cost of Solar power to achieve grid tariff parity by 2020
3. Achieve parity with coal-based thermal power generation by 2030
4. Achieve 4-5 GW of installed solar manufacturing capacity by 2017.
The 3-phases of National Solar Mission
The above objectives of National Solar Mission will be achieved in 3 phases.
Phase I (2009-12)
The objective in Phase I (2009-12) will be to achieve rapid scale up to drive down costs, to spur domestic manufacturing and to validate the technological and economic viability of different solar applications. This will be done through promotion of commercial scale solar utility plants, mandated deployment of solar rooftop or on-site solar PV (photovoltaic) applications in government and public sector undertaking buildings, promotion of these applications in other commercial buildings, and mandating that at least five percent of power generating capacity being added every year will be through solar sources.
Vacant land in existing power plants will be used for this purpose, and anybody who produces solar power at home or office will be able to sell the excess back to the power distributor. Solar PV panels will be promoted to charge invertors at homes and offices.
Phase II (2012-17)
Phase II will run from 2012 to 2017 during which schemes which are found to work in Phase I will be scaled up.
Phase III (2017-20)
Phase III, from 2017 to 2020, will see further scaling up with minimal or no subsidy. This envisages the installation of one million rooftop solar energy systems, plus solar lighting for 20 million households.
The Expected Outcomes of the Mission
1. India will reduce its emission of carbon dioxide -- the world's main greenhouse gas that is leading to climate change -- by almost 60 million tonnes a year.
2. India will be able to save 1.05 billion litres of diesel, a billion litres of kerosene and 350 million litres of fuel oil per year by 2020.
3. The plan advocates change in law to enable people to sell extra solar power they generate to utility firms.
4. A 10-year tax holiday and customs and excise duty exemptions on capital equipment and critical materials are proposed in the plan.
5. If the plan succeeds, India will become the world's largest solar energy market.
Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change:
This council comprises Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh, external affairs minister, finance minister, ministers of environment and forests, agriculture, water resources, science and technology, new and renewable energy, the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, the National Security Advisor, C. Rangarajan, chairman of the Economic Advisory Council, Ratan Tata, chairman of the Investment Commission, V. Krishnamurthy, chairman of the National Manufacturing Competitive Council, R. Chidambaram, Principal Scientific Advisor to PM, R.K. Pachauri, chairman of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), Prodipto Ghosh, Chandrashekhar Dasgupta and Nitin Desai of TERI, Sunita Narain of the Centre for Science and Environment, Ajay Mathur, chairman of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, Jyoti Parekh, director of IRADe, journalists Raj Chengappa and R. Ramachandran, the foreign secretary, the secretary in the ministry of environment and forests, and the principal secretary to the PM, who is the convenor.
Some Suggestions for Policy Makers (Excerpts from an article by Ramanathan Menon, Editor and Publisher, Sun Power)
1. Vigorous promotion of renewable energy by government agencies, corporate, public sector, academic institutions etc.;
2. Establishment of national-level body to increase awareness of renewable energy at grass-root level;
3. Financial support and sponsorship for research and development in renewable energy technologies;
4. Ambitious goals and targets for power generation non-conventional sources;
5. Installation of solar / wind / biomass power generation systems and energy saving in every government office to encourage and inspire people;
6. Restriction on using large battery energy storage systems;
7. Compulsory installation of solar water heating systems for all urban residential and commercial establishment;
8. Mandatory renewable energy systems provision for new residential, commercial and industrial buildings;
9. Attractive incentives and subsidies for installation and successful operation of renewable energy equipment;
10. Abolishing duties / taxes on import of small-scale renewable energy generating equipment;
11. Cultivation of energy crops on marginal and degraded land;
12. Use of biofuels in vehicles;
13. Soft loans for setting up renewable energy enterprises
14. Additional incentives for buyers and manufacturers of renewable energy equipments in rural areas.
Courtesy: www.gktoday.in/
1. India is world's 6th largest energy consumer, accounting for 3.4% of global energy consumption.
2. Due to India's economic rise, the demand for energy has grown at an average of 3.6% per annum over the past 30 years.
3. In March 2009, the installed power generation capacity of India stood at 147,000 MW while the per capita power consumption stood at 612 kWH.
4. The country's annual power production increased from about 190 billion kWH in 1986 to more than 680 billion kWH in 2006.
5. The Government of India has set an ambitious target to add approximately 78,000 MW of installed generation capacity by 2012.
6. The total demand for electricity in India is expected to cross 950,000 MW by 2030.
7. About 75% of the electricity consumed in India is generated by thermal power plants, 21% by hydroelectric power plants and 4% by nuclear power plants.
8. More than 50% of India's commercial energy demand is met through the country's vast coal reserves.
9. India has invested heavily in recent years on renewable sources of energy such as wind energy.
10. As of 2008, India's installed wind power generation capacity stood at 9,655 MW.
11. India has committed massive amount of funds for the construction of various nuclear reactors which would generate at least 30,000 MW.
12. In July 2009, India unveiled a $19 billion plan to produce 20,000 MW of solar power by 2020.
India & Solar Energy :
1. India is most fortunate as it receives the highest global solar radiation on a horizontal surface.
2. India receives on a daily average over the year of 520-630 W/m2; 1660-1990 Btu/ft2 and 6.8-8.3 GJ/m2 annually.
3. The solar energy falling each year on each acre of land in India equals to energy obtained by burning efficiently more than 1,000 tons of coal.
4. India, one of the world's fastest-developing countries, currently has no electric grid to connect 400 million people who have no access to electricity.
5. With about 301 clear, sunny days a year, solar power stands to become the predominant energy source for the nation, which is currently exploring ways to deal with its energy shortage.
6. India has tremendous potentialities to harness the much-needed energy from renewable sources and considered as one of the ideal investment destinations for renewable energy equipment manufacturers and service providers.
7. India could become top player in world's solar market.
8. Considering the huge business opportunities in India, an International trade mission under the aegis of SolarPlaza, a world leader in connecting solar industry members, led an international trade mission to India in February 2008.
9.Indian government is currently envisaging large-scale expansion of solar power capacity by 2020.
10. The government is gearing up to provide 20 million un-reached rural households to access light energy.
11.In addition, the government plans 20 million sqm. to be built up for green buildings and 20 million sqm. for heating applications by 2020.
National Solar Mission : Background
1. Solar power generation has lagged behind other sources like wind, small hydropower, biomass etc. But now realizing the potential of Solar energy, Prime Minister of India unveiled a National Climate Change Action Plan in June 2008.
2. The plan will be implemented through eight missions with main focus on Solar energy in the total energy mix of the country.
The Mission Plan
1. It is a 30-year plan with an outlay of Rs.91,684 crore.
2. The outlay will be with Rs.10,130 crore in the current Five Year Plan (ending 2012), Rs.22,515 crore in the 2012-2017 second phase, and Rs.11,921 crore in the 2017-2020 third phase.
3. This plan aims to make India the global leader in solar energy
4. The plan has come up for the nod by the Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change on August 3, 2009.
5. National Solar Mission will add 20,000 MW of generation capacity by 2020 and make it as cheap as electricity from conventional sources.
6. The amount will be by taxing fossil fuels, mainly coal.
Mission Objectives:
1. 20,000 MW of installed solar generation capacity by 2020 and 100,000 MW by 2030; 200,000 MW by 2050
2. Reducing the cost of Solar power to achieve grid tariff parity by 2020
3. Achieve parity with coal-based thermal power generation by 2030
4. Achieve 4-5 GW of installed solar manufacturing capacity by 2017.
The 3-phases of National Solar Mission
The above objectives of National Solar Mission will be achieved in 3 phases.
Phase I (2009-12)
The objective in Phase I (2009-12) will be to achieve rapid scale up to drive down costs, to spur domestic manufacturing and to validate the technological and economic viability of different solar applications. This will be done through promotion of commercial scale solar utility plants, mandated deployment of solar rooftop or on-site solar PV (photovoltaic) applications in government and public sector undertaking buildings, promotion of these applications in other commercial buildings, and mandating that at least five percent of power generating capacity being added every year will be through solar sources.
Vacant land in existing power plants will be used for this purpose, and anybody who produces solar power at home or office will be able to sell the excess back to the power distributor. Solar PV panels will be promoted to charge invertors at homes and offices.
Phase II (2012-17)
Phase II will run from 2012 to 2017 during which schemes which are found to work in Phase I will be scaled up.
Phase III (2017-20)
Phase III, from 2017 to 2020, will see further scaling up with minimal or no subsidy. This envisages the installation of one million rooftop solar energy systems, plus solar lighting for 20 million households.
The Expected Outcomes of the Mission
1. India will reduce its emission of carbon dioxide -- the world's main greenhouse gas that is leading to climate change -- by almost 60 million tonnes a year.
2. India will be able to save 1.05 billion litres of diesel, a billion litres of kerosene and 350 million litres of fuel oil per year by 2020.
3. The plan advocates change in law to enable people to sell extra solar power they generate to utility firms.
4. A 10-year tax holiday and customs and excise duty exemptions on capital equipment and critical materials are proposed in the plan.
5. If the plan succeeds, India will become the world's largest solar energy market.
Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change:
This council comprises Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh, external affairs minister, finance minister, ministers of environment and forests, agriculture, water resources, science and technology, new and renewable energy, the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, the National Security Advisor, C. Rangarajan, chairman of the Economic Advisory Council, Ratan Tata, chairman of the Investment Commission, V. Krishnamurthy, chairman of the National Manufacturing Competitive Council, R. Chidambaram, Principal Scientific Advisor to PM, R.K. Pachauri, chairman of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), Prodipto Ghosh, Chandrashekhar Dasgupta and Nitin Desai of TERI, Sunita Narain of the Centre for Science and Environment, Ajay Mathur, chairman of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, Jyoti Parekh, director of IRADe, journalists Raj Chengappa and R. Ramachandran, the foreign secretary, the secretary in the ministry of environment and forests, and the principal secretary to the PM, who is the convenor.
Some Suggestions for Policy Makers (Excerpts from an article by Ramanathan Menon, Editor and Publisher, Sun Power)
1. Vigorous promotion of renewable energy by government agencies, corporate, public sector, academic institutions etc.;
2. Establishment of national-level body to increase awareness of renewable energy at grass-root level;
3. Financial support and sponsorship for research and development in renewable energy technologies;
4. Ambitious goals and targets for power generation non-conventional sources;
5. Installation of solar / wind / biomass power generation systems and energy saving in every government office to encourage and inspire people;
6. Restriction on using large battery energy storage systems;
7. Compulsory installation of solar water heating systems for all urban residential and commercial establishment;
8. Mandatory renewable energy systems provision for new residential, commercial and industrial buildings;
9. Attractive incentives and subsidies for installation and successful operation of renewable energy equipment;
10. Abolishing duties / taxes on import of small-scale renewable energy generating equipment;
11. Cultivation of energy crops on marginal and degraded land;
12. Use of biofuels in vehicles;
13. Soft loans for setting up renewable energy enterprises
14. Additional incentives for buyers and manufacturers of renewable energy equipments in rural areas.
Courtesy: www.gktoday.in/
Current Affairs: Indo-China talks on Border disputes
On August 25, 2009 India and China have resumed the long stewing talks for the border dispute. India's side is being represented by National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan. From China side, the negotiator is China's State Counselor Dai Bingguo. Here are some facts :
The dispute and background of Sino-India war 1962:
1. The border which China and India share is a long stretch sectioned into three parts by Nepal and Bhutan which follows the Himalayan mountains between Myanmar & Pakistan.
2. The Aksai chin area was the main issue behind the 1962 war. Aksai chin is at the western end of this border.
3. In 1958, China had published a map showing the Aksai Chin plateau on the western stretch of the border as part of its territory. India had strongly protested this.
4. Another disputed area is Arunanchal Pradesh which was earlier known as North East Frontier Agency.
5. The Indo-China war in 1962 broke out because India objected to occupation of uninhabited Aksai Chin by China.
6. India said China occupied 38,000 square km (15,000 square miles) of territory in Aksai Chin. Aksai chin was considered as a strategic link between the Chinese-administered territories of Tibet and Xinjiang.
The War
1. China attacked on India in June 1962 and was able to advance beyond actual line of control because of its strategic position and thus capture Rezang la in Chushul in western theatre and Tawang in eastern theatre and further.
2. Chinese troops overran Indian military positions in Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh before a ceasefire.
3. China withdrew to pre-war positions behind the McMahon line dividing the two countries along Arunachal Pradesh. The ceasefire line became known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
4. The war ended when the Chinese secured the disputed area and unilaterally declared a ceasefire on 20 November 1962, which went into effect at midnight.
5. India had requested for United States air support but did not receive it for 2 days.
6. Meanwhile China had given the ceasefire announcement on 19 November,1962 & the aircraft carrier from United States was ordered back after the ceasefire and thus American intervention on India's side in the war was avoided.
What Was China's Advantage?
1.The Aksai Chin region is a vast desert of salt flats around 5,000 meters above sea level, and Arunachal Pradesh is extremely mountainous with a number of peaks exceeding 7000 meters.
2. According to military doctrine, to be successful an attacker generally requires a 3:1 ratio of numerical superiority over the defender; in mountain warfare this ratio should be considerably higher as the terrain favors defense.
3. China was able to take advantage of this as the Chinese Army had possession of the highest ridges in the regions. The high altitude and freezing conditions also caused logistical and welfare difficulties.
4. Many of 3128 soldiers of India were killed because of not the wounds but the freezing cold.
The Border Problem as of Today:
Both India & China still claim vast parts of each other's territory along the 3,500 km Himalayan border. The Indo China border was never demarcated as the Britishers saw little need to demarcate such a remote area.
What Is India's Claim?
India says Beijing is illegally holding 5,180 sq km of northern Kashmir ceded to it by Pakistan in 1963. India is also concerned about the modernization of Chinese Army and China's military aid to Pakistan.
What Is China's Claim?
China lays claim to 90,000 sq km of land on the eastern sector of the border in Arunachal Pradesh.
What Lesson India Learnt From The War ?
We learned from the war was that we need to strengthen our own defenses. There was a need to shift from Nehru's foreign policy of Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai as we could never anticipate the Chinese aggression. The folly of Jawahar Lal Nehru brutally exposed our weakness and our tacit alliance with the U.S. against China.
An investigation was commissioned by Indian Government which resulted in the Henderson-Brooks-Bhagat Report. This report blamed the High altitudes for India's defeat along with doctrine, training, organization and equipment.
Further Progress:
1. In 1993 and 1996, India and China signed the Sino-Indian Bilateral Peace and Tranquility Accords, an agreement to maintain peace and tranquility along the Line of Actual Control (LoAC). Several meetings of Sino-Indian Joint Working Group (SIJWG) and some of an expert group have taken place to determine where the LoAC lies, however there is little progress till now.
2. On 6 July 2006, Silk Road passing through this territory was reopened which is a milestone in the bilateral relationships.
3. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh signed an agreement on the "guiding principles" to resolve the dispute in 2005.
4. China had formally abandoned its claim to the Himalayan state of Sikkim.
Coutesy http://www.gktoday.in/
The dispute and background of Sino-India war 1962:
1. The border which China and India share is a long stretch sectioned into three parts by Nepal and Bhutan which follows the Himalayan mountains between Myanmar & Pakistan.
2. The Aksai chin area was the main issue behind the 1962 war. Aksai chin is at the western end of this border.
3. In 1958, China had published a map showing the Aksai Chin plateau on the western stretch of the border as part of its territory. India had strongly protested this.
4. Another disputed area is Arunanchal Pradesh which was earlier known as North East Frontier Agency.
5. The Indo-China war in 1962 broke out because India objected to occupation of uninhabited Aksai Chin by China.
6. India said China occupied 38,000 square km (15,000 square miles) of territory in Aksai Chin. Aksai chin was considered as a strategic link between the Chinese-administered territories of Tibet and Xinjiang.
The War
1. China attacked on India in June 1962 and was able to advance beyond actual line of control because of its strategic position and thus capture Rezang la in Chushul in western theatre and Tawang in eastern theatre and further.
2. Chinese troops overran Indian military positions in Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh before a ceasefire.
3. China withdrew to pre-war positions behind the McMahon line dividing the two countries along Arunachal Pradesh. The ceasefire line became known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
4. The war ended when the Chinese secured the disputed area and unilaterally declared a ceasefire on 20 November 1962, which went into effect at midnight.
5. India had requested for United States air support but did not receive it for 2 days.
6. Meanwhile China had given the ceasefire announcement on 19 November,1962 & the aircraft carrier from United States was ordered back after the ceasefire and thus American intervention on India's side in the war was avoided.
What Was China's Advantage?
1.The Aksai Chin region is a vast desert of salt flats around 5,000 meters above sea level, and Arunachal Pradesh is extremely mountainous with a number of peaks exceeding 7000 meters.
2. According to military doctrine, to be successful an attacker generally requires a 3:1 ratio of numerical superiority over the defender; in mountain warfare this ratio should be considerably higher as the terrain favors defense.
3. China was able to take advantage of this as the Chinese Army had possession of the highest ridges in the regions. The high altitude and freezing conditions also caused logistical and welfare difficulties.
4. Many of 3128 soldiers of India were killed because of not the wounds but the freezing cold.
The Border Problem as of Today:
Both India & China still claim vast parts of each other's territory along the 3,500 km Himalayan border. The Indo China border was never demarcated as the Britishers saw little need to demarcate such a remote area.
What Is India's Claim?
India says Beijing is illegally holding 5,180 sq km of northern Kashmir ceded to it by Pakistan in 1963. India is also concerned about the modernization of Chinese Army and China's military aid to Pakistan.
What Is China's Claim?
China lays claim to 90,000 sq km of land on the eastern sector of the border in Arunachal Pradesh.
What Lesson India Learnt From The War ?
We learned from the war was that we need to strengthen our own defenses. There was a need to shift from Nehru's foreign policy of Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai as we could never anticipate the Chinese aggression. The folly of Jawahar Lal Nehru brutally exposed our weakness and our tacit alliance with the U.S. against China.
An investigation was commissioned by Indian Government which resulted in the Henderson-Brooks-Bhagat Report. This report blamed the High altitudes for India's defeat along with doctrine, training, organization and equipment.
Further Progress:
1. In 1993 and 1996, India and China signed the Sino-Indian Bilateral Peace and Tranquility Accords, an agreement to maintain peace and tranquility along the Line of Actual Control (LoAC). Several meetings of Sino-Indian Joint Working Group (SIJWG) and some of an expert group have taken place to determine where the LoAC lies, however there is little progress till now.
2. On 6 July 2006, Silk Road passing through this territory was reopened which is a milestone in the bilateral relationships.
3. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh signed an agreement on the "guiding principles" to resolve the dispute in 2005.
4. China had formally abandoned its claim to the Himalayan state of Sikkim.
Coutesy http://www.gktoday.in/
Important Facts : Gupta and Sangam Age
# Guptas belonged to Dharana gotra
# Pushyavarman, a Kamprupa ruler placed as the ruler of North eastern part of the empire
# The poetic work"Krishna Charitam" is supposed to have been written by Samudragupta and for his poetic brilliance he got the title"Kaviraja"
# Some of the famous inscriptions of Kumaragupta were Bilsad, Damodarpur,Karmandaka ,Mandasore
# The Eran insciption(510 AD)is the first reference to Sati in India
# Yashodharman of Malwa defeated Mihirkula who then retreated to Kashmir and there he embraced Shaivism
# Apart from Chandragupta II Skandagupta also took the title Vikramaditya
# Samudragupta and Skandagupta both performed ashwamedha yajna
# Rulers after Skandagupta Purugupta-Buddhagupta-Vanyagupta-Bhanugupta-Narasimhagupta-KumaraguptaII-Vishnugupta
# Aprahata-Forest land
# Nivi Dharma-Land endowment in perpetuity
# Talavataka was village accountant
# According to Visakhadutta Vasana the saka ruler killed Ramagupta
# Allhabad pillar inscription is the first epigraphic evidence of zero
# The term Bhukti first apeared in the Bhojdeva inscription of Gwalior
# Tadaga was a reservoir
# Audrangika collected the King's share in kind
# Nivartana, Dronavapa, Kulavapa were all units of measurement
# Total 42 inscriptions of this age are found with maximum belonging to Kumaragupta
# The great boar image was installed at the gate of Udaygiri
# Kumaragupta is said to have embraced Buddhism towards the end of his reign
# Samudragupta sent an embassy to China in 361 AD and Skandagupta sent an embassy to China
# Mahapratihara was the palace guard
# Gadhiya was a series of coins during this period
# Fields owned by cultivators themselves were known as Kutumba Kshetra
# Dandin wrote Dasakumaracharita
# Bhattin wrote Ravanabadha
# According to T'sing Srigupta built a temple for the chinese pilgrims at Mrigashikhavahana
# Toramana was converted to jainism
# Earliest evidence of temple prostitution in India, Ramgarh inscription
# Narada smriti talks about 15 kinds of slaves
# Drangik-Official for collection of custom duties
# Yajnavalka Smriti was the official lawbook of the Guptas
# Kulika-Guild of artisans
# Karaikal , the greatest Chola ruler transferred the capital to Kaveripattinam and he converted the Oliyar community from nomadic to settled life.He also fought a battle at Reuni
# Perunarkilli,the Chola ruler was the only Chola king to perform Rajsuya yajna
# Nedunjelian, the Pandya ruler was the hero of Silpapadikaram and he defeated Chola and Chera rulers in the battle of Talaiyangam
# Ahom was the story of love whereas Puram was the story of battles
# Thirunavukkarasu coined the term Sangam
# Thirukural, written by Thiruvaluvar is known as the Bible of the Tamil land and also the 5th Veda
# Senguttuvan, the Red Chera started Pattini cult was known as Kodal Pirakottiyama and he destroyed the efficacy of sea as a refuge
# Tolakappiyam was a book on grammer
# Kadimaram or kavalaram was the worship of tutelary tree
# Perundevanar translated Mahabharata into Tamil
# Tamil is the oldest Dravidian language
# Tolakappiyam is the earliest Tamil literary work extant today
# Sati or Tippaidal was common
# Kuppidu-Unit of measurement
# Nalikal-Unit of time
# Kalam-Unit of grain
# Kanam-Gold
# Velli-Silver
# Velvi-yajna
# Kadamai-King's customary tax
# Variyam-Land yielding tax
# Variyar-Tax collecting official
# Alakkus or Ulakku- Revenue measurement
# Pattinapattu-A work on Kaveripattanam
# Kalabhras rose against the Brahmins and ended the Sangam period
# Tirumal was the name of Vishnu
# Kalanju was a type of gold coin
# Korkai was known as Kolchi and Mahabalipuram as Melange
# Malayalam is the latest Dravidian language
# Spy was known as Orrayiar
# Nadukkal or virakkal was hero stone
# Alumbi Vel was revenue accountant
# Bhasa's Swapnovasavdutta was the earliest Sanskrit drama
# Earliest evidence of Vishti was in Bhagvata Purana
# Ritusamhara was the earliest work of Kalidasa
# Kumardasa wrote Janakiharana
# Chronlogical order of some Puranas: Manu-Brihaspati-Narada-Katyana-Vayu-Devala
# Auranasthanika-Officers in charge of wool market during the Gupta period
# Navaniketan-a book on medicine
# Vatsvatta wrote the famous Mandasore inscription of Kumargupta
# Maniyar Math was a circular temple only one of its kind
# Bhairavi wrote Kiratarjuniyam
# Yajnavalkya Smriti was the official lawbook of the Gupta
Courtesy: saptarshinag1.blogspot.com
# Pushyavarman, a Kamprupa ruler placed as the ruler of North eastern part of the empire
# The poetic work"Krishna Charitam" is supposed to have been written by Samudragupta and for his poetic brilliance he got the title"Kaviraja"
# Some of the famous inscriptions of Kumaragupta were Bilsad, Damodarpur,Karmandaka ,Mandasore
# The Eran insciption(510 AD)is the first reference to Sati in India
# Yashodharman of Malwa defeated Mihirkula who then retreated to Kashmir and there he embraced Shaivism
# Apart from Chandragupta II Skandagupta also took the title Vikramaditya
# Samudragupta and Skandagupta both performed ashwamedha yajna
# Rulers after Skandagupta Purugupta-Buddhagupta-Vanyagupta-Bhanugupta-Narasimhagupta-KumaraguptaII-Vishnugupta
# Aprahata-Forest land
# Nivi Dharma-Land endowment in perpetuity
# Talavataka was village accountant
# According to Visakhadutta Vasana the saka ruler killed Ramagupta
# Allhabad pillar inscription is the first epigraphic evidence of zero
# The term Bhukti first apeared in the Bhojdeva inscription of Gwalior
# Tadaga was a reservoir
# Audrangika collected the King's share in kind
# Nivartana, Dronavapa, Kulavapa were all units of measurement
# Total 42 inscriptions of this age are found with maximum belonging to Kumaragupta
# The great boar image was installed at the gate of Udaygiri
# Kumaragupta is said to have embraced Buddhism towards the end of his reign
# Samudragupta sent an embassy to China in 361 AD and Skandagupta sent an embassy to China
# Mahapratihara was the palace guard
# Gadhiya was a series of coins during this period
# Fields owned by cultivators themselves were known as Kutumba Kshetra
# Dandin wrote Dasakumaracharita
# Bhattin wrote Ravanabadha
# According to T'sing Srigupta built a temple for the chinese pilgrims at Mrigashikhavahana
# Toramana was converted to jainism
# Earliest evidence of temple prostitution in India, Ramgarh inscription
# Narada smriti talks about 15 kinds of slaves
# Drangik-Official for collection of custom duties
# Yajnavalka Smriti was the official lawbook of the Guptas
# Kulika-Guild of artisans
# Karaikal , the greatest Chola ruler transferred the capital to Kaveripattinam and he converted the Oliyar community from nomadic to settled life.He also fought a battle at Reuni
# Perunarkilli,the Chola ruler was the only Chola king to perform Rajsuya yajna
# Nedunjelian, the Pandya ruler was the hero of Silpapadikaram and he defeated Chola and Chera rulers in the battle of Talaiyangam
# Ahom was the story of love whereas Puram was the story of battles
# Thirunavukkarasu coined the term Sangam
# Thirukural, written by Thiruvaluvar is known as the Bible of the Tamil land and also the 5th Veda
# Senguttuvan, the Red Chera started Pattini cult was known as Kodal Pirakottiyama and he destroyed the efficacy of sea as a refuge
# Tolakappiyam was a book on grammer
# Kadimaram or kavalaram was the worship of tutelary tree
# Perundevanar translated Mahabharata into Tamil
# Tamil is the oldest Dravidian language
# Tolakappiyam is the earliest Tamil literary work extant today
# Sati or Tippaidal was common
# Kuppidu-Unit of measurement
# Nalikal-Unit of time
# Kalam-Unit of grain
# Kanam-Gold
# Velli-Silver
# Velvi-yajna
# Kadamai-King's customary tax
# Variyam-Land yielding tax
# Variyar-Tax collecting official
# Alakkus or Ulakku- Revenue measurement
# Pattinapattu-A work on Kaveripattanam
# Kalabhras rose against the Brahmins and ended the Sangam period
# Tirumal was the name of Vishnu
# Kalanju was a type of gold coin
# Korkai was known as Kolchi and Mahabalipuram as Melange
# Malayalam is the latest Dravidian language
# Spy was known as Orrayiar
# Nadukkal or virakkal was hero stone
# Alumbi Vel was revenue accountant
# Bhasa's Swapnovasavdutta was the earliest Sanskrit drama
# Earliest evidence of Vishti was in Bhagvata Purana
# Ritusamhara was the earliest work of Kalidasa
# Kumardasa wrote Janakiharana
# Chronlogical order of some Puranas: Manu-Brihaspati-Narada-Katyana-Vayu-Devala
# Auranasthanika-Officers in charge of wool market during the Gupta period
# Navaniketan-a book on medicine
# Vatsvatta wrote the famous Mandasore inscription of Kumargupta
# Maniyar Math was a circular temple only one of its kind
# Bhairavi wrote Kiratarjuniyam
# Yajnavalkya Smriti was the official lawbook of the Gupta
Courtesy: saptarshinag1.blogspot.com
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Current Affairs : India Asean Free Trade Pact
What is ASEAN?
Association of Southeast Asian Nations is a geo-political and economic organization of 10 countries located in Southeast Asia, which was formed on 8 August 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Membership has expanded since then to include Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. So there are 10 economies in ASEAN.
Aims of ASEAN:
1. Acceleration of economic growth,
2. Social progress,
3. Cultural development among its members,
4. The protection of the peace and stability of the region,
5. To provide opportunities for member countries to discuss differences peacefully.
ASEAN is a area with combined nominal GDP of USD $1.4 trillion in 2008.
What is ASEAN Free Trade Area?
1. ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) is a trade bloc agreement by the ASEAN supporting local manufacturing in all ASEAN countries.
2. The AFTA agreement was signed on 28 January 1992 in Singapore.
3. When the AFTA agreement was originally signed, ASEAN had six members, namely, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
4. Vietnam joined in 1995, Laos and Myanmar in 1997 and Cambodia in 1999.
5. AFTA now comprises the ten countries of ASEAN.
6. All the four latecomers were required to sign the AFTA agreement in order to join ASEAN, however they were were given longer time frames in which to meet AFTA's tariff reduction obligations.
What is Background of India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement?
1. The Indo-Asean Free trade pact will be signed this December at the India-Asean summit at Bangkok, which is expected to be attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
2. This agreement will require India to lower and abolish duties on 85 percent of its imports from the region between 2010 and 2019.
3. Initial bilateral framework of this agreement was signed in Bali on 8 October 2003, and the pact was supposed to be finalised by 30 June 2005. Negotiations on services would start in 2005 and end in 2007.
4. However there were a lot of impediments over a period of five years, India and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) have finally negotiated a bilateral free trade agreement — with plenty of difficulty.
5. The negotiations came to a halt in June 2006 when India released its ’negative list’ of items to be excluded from tariff reductions — with 900 products, both industrial and agricultural, figuring on the list. India had initially given the negative list of 1410 items which was reduced in 2006 to 900 items.
6.India’s agriculture ministry, in particular, was arguing hard to exclude commodities like rubber, pepper, tea, coffee and palm oil from the deal. Rules of origin have been the other thorny issue.
7.In August 2006, Delhi issued a revised list, the number of the negative list items was cut down to 560 items.
8. By early 2007, in the midst of the new bio fuels boom, palm oil became a central blockage point as Indonesia and Malaysia, both top palm oil exporters, struggled to get India to lower its tariffs.
Some Main Points:
1.This pact Reduces tariffs to zero in over 4,000 goods out of 5,000 that are traded. To be done in a phased manner over a period of 6 to 10 years.
2. The Pact also includes Partial reduction in import tariffs on highly sensitive farm goods. Tea, coffee — 45%, pepper — 50%, crude palm oil — 37.5%, refined palm oil — 45%.
3.The list of goods including partial duty cuts includes 606 items viz. Agricultural — 16, Textile — 304, Machinery & auto — 60, chemicals & plastic — 226,
4. The goods with no duty cuts (the negative list ) includes 489 items viz. Agricultural — 302, Textile — 81, Machinery & auto — 52, chemicals & plastic — 32, Others — 22)
Why India Needs This Pact ?
1. China has already signed a pact with ASEAN and this has dramatically increased the exports of China.
2. Since India's trade agreements with European Union will take a long time, to boost her exports India needs to sign this kind of bilateral agreements.
3. ASEAN has 600 million people and its GDP is about the same as India's ( India is a $1.1 trillion Economy), so the FTA will open up a substantial market, not far from home, for Indian exporters.
4. ASEAN is also a critical component in the country's "Look East" policy, and there is already a regrettable history of failure to meet past FTA signing deadlines.
5. China is already active in the ,market and we can't afford any economically set back by not signing this agreement.
6. The FTA is said to have the potential to multiply bilateral trade between India and ASEAN. India has several compulsions under its ‘Look East’ policy to be in good terms with its southeastern neighbours which are close to China.
7.In 2008, bilateral trade between China and ASEAN totalled US$231.1 billion, up 14 percent from 2007.
Why There is Fury in Kerala Over This Pact ?
1. Farmers of Kerala produce & survive upon almost same products which ASEAN has-tea, coffee, pepper, rubber, edible oil and marine products.
2. The leaders of Kerala (including chief minister ) say that if the import duty from the farm sensitive items being imported from ASEAN is partially reduced they would not be able to survive in the market, and ASEAN will grab their pie of the trade.
3. So the leaders of Kerala are mainly fear with the provisions having far-reaching adverse impact on Kerala’s agricultural economy.
4. Import of sea food will throw more than a million people out of jobs in the fishery sector.
5. Farmers and local governments will not be able to control in determining the prices in the market, so farmers interests will be ruined and this would cause the cash crop production to come to an end.
6. The negative list of the pact which includes the cash crops duty reduction equal to zero for 10 years, is also a point of objection for them, as they say that rubber, tea, coffee productivity can not be made competitive in 10 years, because the conditions in which the cultivation is done is different in the ASEAN countries and not comparable.
7. Green revolution could not add more than a tonne per hectare in Kerala and so Kerala's economy is much dependent upon cash crops , which going to be badly affected by this pact.
8. Kerala's economy has been badly affected by previous treaties like South Asian Free Trade Area Agreement in 2006.
9. The cheap palm oil is available from Indonesia and Malaysia and this has totally ruined Coconut industry of Kerala. Since Coconut is a livelihood crop for 3.5 million households and 6 billion coconuts are produced in Kerala, the Kerala economy has been worse affected by these previous pacts.
10.The Fishes which shall come from Thailand are also produced in Kerala, thus exposing 20 lakh fishermen to risk.
11. There is a question on productivity too. If pepper productivity is 380 kg per hectare in India, it is 1,000 kg per hectare in Vietnam and 3,000 kg per hectare in Indonesia.
12. For Kerala this is a shock because the state has been consistently demanding that the customs tariff of not just the primary agricultural products but also processed products like cashew kernels, tyres and coir products should be maintained at the maximum levels to protect the domestic sector.
13. The prospects of Kerala’s pepper, tea, coffee, spices and rubber could be hurt when the markets is flooded with imports from other countries.
14. When the agreement is implemented, the present 70 percent import duty on pepper will come down by 2 percent every year.
15. Likewise, the import duty on tea and coffee, which is now 80 percent, would come down to 45 percent and that on rubber would come down to 50 percent after 10 years.
What is Central Govt. Stand?
1. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has assured Kerala that interests of the state farmers will be taken care of. There is a positive side of the pact that is not being seen by the leaders of Kerala.
2. India's share in business with ASEAN jumped from $6.93 billion in 2001-02 to $39.40 billion in 2007-08. Such a pact will improve the exports of India to these nearby markets.
3. The govt. assures that out of the total 489 items in the negative list (list with zero duty cuts) , 303 items are from the agriculture sector.
4. According to the agreement, India will have the right to decide the tariff on the items in the negative list for 10 years.
Courtesy www.gktoday.in
Association of Southeast Asian Nations is a geo-political and economic organization of 10 countries located in Southeast Asia, which was formed on 8 August 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Membership has expanded since then to include Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. So there are 10 economies in ASEAN.
Aims of ASEAN:
1. Acceleration of economic growth,
2. Social progress,
3. Cultural development among its members,
4. The protection of the peace and stability of the region,
5. To provide opportunities for member countries to discuss differences peacefully.
ASEAN is a area with combined nominal GDP of USD $1.4 trillion in 2008.
What is ASEAN Free Trade Area?
1. ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) is a trade bloc agreement by the ASEAN supporting local manufacturing in all ASEAN countries.
2. The AFTA agreement was signed on 28 January 1992 in Singapore.
3. When the AFTA agreement was originally signed, ASEAN had six members, namely, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
4. Vietnam joined in 1995, Laos and Myanmar in 1997 and Cambodia in 1999.
5. AFTA now comprises the ten countries of ASEAN.
6. All the four latecomers were required to sign the AFTA agreement in order to join ASEAN, however they were were given longer time frames in which to meet AFTA's tariff reduction obligations.
What is Background of India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement?
1. The Indo-Asean Free trade pact will be signed this December at the India-Asean summit at Bangkok, which is expected to be attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
2. This agreement will require India to lower and abolish duties on 85 percent of its imports from the region between 2010 and 2019.
3. Initial bilateral framework of this agreement was signed in Bali on 8 October 2003, and the pact was supposed to be finalised by 30 June 2005. Negotiations on services would start in 2005 and end in 2007.
4. However there were a lot of impediments over a period of five years, India and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) have finally negotiated a bilateral free trade agreement — with plenty of difficulty.
5. The negotiations came to a halt in June 2006 when India released its ’negative list’ of items to be excluded from tariff reductions — with 900 products, both industrial and agricultural, figuring on the list. India had initially given the negative list of 1410 items which was reduced in 2006 to 900 items.
6.India’s agriculture ministry, in particular, was arguing hard to exclude commodities like rubber, pepper, tea, coffee and palm oil from the deal. Rules of origin have been the other thorny issue.
7.In August 2006, Delhi issued a revised list, the number of the negative list items was cut down to 560 items.
8. By early 2007, in the midst of the new bio fuels boom, palm oil became a central blockage point as Indonesia and Malaysia, both top palm oil exporters, struggled to get India to lower its tariffs.
Some Main Points:
1.This pact Reduces tariffs to zero in over 4,000 goods out of 5,000 that are traded. To be done in a phased manner over a period of 6 to 10 years.
2. The Pact also includes Partial reduction in import tariffs on highly sensitive farm goods. Tea, coffee — 45%, pepper — 50%, crude palm oil — 37.5%, refined palm oil — 45%.
3.The list of goods including partial duty cuts includes 606 items viz. Agricultural — 16, Textile — 304, Machinery & auto — 60, chemicals & plastic — 226,
4. The goods with no duty cuts (the negative list ) includes 489 items viz. Agricultural — 302, Textile — 81, Machinery & auto — 52, chemicals & plastic — 32, Others — 22)
Why India Needs This Pact ?
1. China has already signed a pact with ASEAN and this has dramatically increased the exports of China.
2. Since India's trade agreements with European Union will take a long time, to boost her exports India needs to sign this kind of bilateral agreements.
3. ASEAN has 600 million people and its GDP is about the same as India's ( India is a $1.1 trillion Economy), so the FTA will open up a substantial market, not far from home, for Indian exporters.
4. ASEAN is also a critical component in the country's "Look East" policy, and there is already a regrettable history of failure to meet past FTA signing deadlines.
5. China is already active in the ,market and we can't afford any economically set back by not signing this agreement.
6. The FTA is said to have the potential to multiply bilateral trade between India and ASEAN. India has several compulsions under its ‘Look East’ policy to be in good terms with its southeastern neighbours which are close to China.
7.In 2008, bilateral trade between China and ASEAN totalled US$231.1 billion, up 14 percent from 2007.
Why There is Fury in Kerala Over This Pact ?
1. Farmers of Kerala produce & survive upon almost same products which ASEAN has-tea, coffee, pepper, rubber, edible oil and marine products.
2. The leaders of Kerala (including chief minister ) say that if the import duty from the farm sensitive items being imported from ASEAN is partially reduced they would not be able to survive in the market, and ASEAN will grab their pie of the trade.
3. So the leaders of Kerala are mainly fear with the provisions having far-reaching adverse impact on Kerala’s agricultural economy.
4. Import of sea food will throw more than a million people out of jobs in the fishery sector.
5. Farmers and local governments will not be able to control in determining the prices in the market, so farmers interests will be ruined and this would cause the cash crop production to come to an end.
6. The negative list of the pact which includes the cash crops duty reduction equal to zero for 10 years, is also a point of objection for them, as they say that rubber, tea, coffee productivity can not be made competitive in 10 years, because the conditions in which the cultivation is done is different in the ASEAN countries and not comparable.
7. Green revolution could not add more than a tonne per hectare in Kerala and so Kerala's economy is much dependent upon cash crops , which going to be badly affected by this pact.
8. Kerala's economy has been badly affected by previous treaties like South Asian Free Trade Area Agreement in 2006.
9. The cheap palm oil is available from Indonesia and Malaysia and this has totally ruined Coconut industry of Kerala. Since Coconut is a livelihood crop for 3.5 million households and 6 billion coconuts are produced in Kerala, the Kerala economy has been worse affected by these previous pacts.
10.The Fishes which shall come from Thailand are also produced in Kerala, thus exposing 20 lakh fishermen to risk.
11. There is a question on productivity too. If pepper productivity is 380 kg per hectare in India, it is 1,000 kg per hectare in Vietnam and 3,000 kg per hectare in Indonesia.
12. For Kerala this is a shock because the state has been consistently demanding that the customs tariff of not just the primary agricultural products but also processed products like cashew kernels, tyres and coir products should be maintained at the maximum levels to protect the domestic sector.
13. The prospects of Kerala’s pepper, tea, coffee, spices and rubber could be hurt when the markets is flooded with imports from other countries.
14. When the agreement is implemented, the present 70 percent import duty on pepper will come down by 2 percent every year.
15. Likewise, the import duty on tea and coffee, which is now 80 percent, would come down to 45 percent and that on rubber would come down to 50 percent after 10 years.
What is Central Govt. Stand?
1. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has assured Kerala that interests of the state farmers will be taken care of. There is a positive side of the pact that is not being seen by the leaders of Kerala.
2. India's share in business with ASEAN jumped from $6.93 billion in 2001-02 to $39.40 billion in 2007-08. Such a pact will improve the exports of India to these nearby markets.
3. The govt. assures that out of the total 489 items in the negative list (list with zero duty cuts) , 303 items are from the agriculture sector.
4. According to the agreement, India will have the right to decide the tariff on the items in the negative list for 10 years.
Courtesy www.gktoday.in
Thursday, August 20, 2009
How to prepare for IAS
I really liked this article. Hope it would be useful to all who are planning to appear for IAS.
It was in 1981 when I had my first encounters with UPSC through the aspirants (for IAS etc.) who sought my help to prepare for certain specific topics in GS and my parent discipline, i.e. Anthropology. Today, 13 years later, through regular interaction with the UPSC experts and students all over India, particularly at Delhi, Lucknow, Patna, Chandigarh and Hyderabad, I find myself in a favourable position to pen down my experiences and suggestions to the young aspirants.
In the early eighties, there were three (Delhi, Allahabad and Patna) major centre of UPSC related activities, while Hyderabad was coming up fast. There used to be 40 to 60 thousand contenders for the coveted posts. Today, while the number of aspirants has risen by over 200 percent, many new centres have come up in almost every state capital and many other major cities. In those days professionals did not see any merit in contention for these jobs, but recent years have witnessed a flood of such aspirants, at times sweeping the top positions in the merit list. In those days History, Sociology, Political Science etc. used to be the most popular optionals while today, many hitherto less known subjects have taken over. Besides, many states have changed their pattern of PCS examination in line with UPSC examination.
This change in the scenario, resultant of a number of factors, demands that the serious contenders to the job must adopt a more rational, more systematic strategy and approach, right from the moment they think of preparing for the civil services examination.
On the first thought of appearing in the Civil Services Examination (C.S.E.), the first issue is the selection of optionals. In a way, selection of right optionals is the most crucial step. Post-graduates in any discipline, generally prefer taking up their parent subject for Prelims. Though such selection is quite logical, aspirants with any science discipline as their base subject must ponder over the issue more seriously. Maths, Physics, Geology etc., optionals for Prelims must be opted for, only if one is out and out thorough with the subject. As UPSC ensures that 'some' candidates from every discipline must qualify for the Mains, aspirants with a science subject must judge themselves correctly regarding their own capability to be included in these 'some'. Some of the social sciences (e.g. History, Sociology and Public Administration) opted by quite a significant majority can, however, be a much safer bet, particularly for those (ordinary science graduates) who do not have any specific parent subject or for those who are not able to develop confidence in their parental subject. In either case, the formal preparation must start from the basic fundamentals, even if a person is already a post-graduate in that subject.
General Studies (GS) has to be prepared on quite a different plane because the content of this paper is too spread out and because any issue, major or minor, can be asked objectively. Traditionally, 10 + 2 level books of NCERT or any state education board had been covering a major part of the content but, these days, the items in news during the last one year or so, are being asked quite frequently. Problems are generally faced in everyday science (by the candidates with social sciences background) or in mental ability or in the fundamentals of economics. The most important aspect for the preparation of GS Prelims, therefore, is to identify the loop-holes and plug them urgently.
Many of you prepare a subject in terms of "reading" (once, twice, thrice etc.) with or without underlining the important facts. It results not only in longer time of preparation, but also many important points may skip. Also, even if you underline the highlighting points, most of you have the tendency to read the text in full while going for the subsequent readings. It is, therefore, advisable that texts must be read once and all important points (likely to be forgotten) recorded separately so that you need not study volumious texts again. This would save on your time and should result in greater efficiency.
The Mains:
For right approach, the preparation of Mains should start before or at least concurrent with Prelims. Just because you have to prepare for Essay, GS and the two optionals (English and a regional language, the one/two other compulsory, do not require a separate preparation) you never get enough time (to prepare for all these) after the declaration of Prelims' results. Further, while Prelims is only a screening test, it is on the basis of your performance in Mains, on which mainly depends the final outcome of your efforts. Strategically, therefore, the preparation for the examination should start about one year in advance and you should think about appearing in the Prelims only when you have had a strong grip over the Mains' subject matter.
Many of you, particularly those with a professional degree in science, tend to ignore the preparation of GS and concentrate mainly on their optional subjects. This attitude is more like a bad gamble because you are not aware about the level of preparation of other aspirants. Economy (for the science background aspirants), Science & Technology (for the social science background aspirants) and Statistical Analysis are the only three areas that can pose problems in scoring. If you have prepared economy for your Prelims, doing it for the mains must not be difficult. Statistical analysis has to be practised with the help of previous years' solved questions given in all the guides as also the NCERT's Statistical Analysis. One year regular reading of a good national daily, India Yearbook (Publication Division) relevant NCERT books and a good magazine for the purpose are the basic necessities that you must go through. Scoring in GS is mathematical and any additional score gained through serious preparations should be welcome.
Essay paper, re-introduced in 1993, created a sort of storm among the aspirants. A rumour was spread that the step has been taken to neutralize the scoring pattern which is highly skewed in favour of some subjects. Though there is no denying the fact that many subjects (like Maths, Physics, Commerce etc.) do not encourage the development of language skill, those of you with such an academic background but a natural flair for writing developed during school or college days, should be definitely at an advantage. Writing an essay is an art and if you are not naturally inclined to write that way, you will have to spend at least some time in practising; more so because many of the issues asked in the form of essay are the ones that you generally prepare for your GS where you limit your preparation upto about 250 words. Stretching this content to form an essay is really an uphill task. Candidates are, therefore, advised to keep a thorough eye on all the happenings (in terms of broad areas) of the last one year with critical evaluation of those which could be asked in the form of an essay.
Regarding the compulsory language paper(s) which is (are) of qualifying nature only, I should just say that if you are apprehensive about the language papers too, better forget about the civil services.
The two optionals, that form a major part of your score, have to be decided judiciously. Candidates living in the major centres of Civil Services related activities, generally do not face much problem in finalising their optionals but others, living in smaller towns or where there is no such environment, do faulter. For those of you post-graduate in any subject or having a professional degree, the first optional is the one that you have pursued for the last few years. But, for ordinary graduates the choice of first optional too, is equally problematic . Most of the candidates undecided about the optionals, are strongly influenced by the interviews (given by the previous years' successful candidates) that appear in various magazines. Decisions made on this basis, can, at times, land you in the no man's land.
While selecting an optional I would suggest that you care for the following : (a) The Syllabus : Whether it looks comprehensible at the first glance. (b) Content : Find out whether the relevant books/study-material are easily available. (c) Interest : After going through some of the literature, find out whether it has been able to generate interest in you. (d) Expertise : Whether any specialist of the subject is available or approachable, the one that You can solve your problems and satisfy your queries. (e) Success rate : What has been the scoring pattern and the success-rate of the subject—this you can know from any coaching institute of repute or from some of the magazines too. (f) Friends' advise : Particularly of those who have not made into the list of successful aspirants of the previous years. The steps need not be followed in this sequence.
The last decade has seen a catastrophic change of the sort, regarding the preference of the candidates for traditional subjects as also regarding the scoring pattern. The last five years in particular have seen the emergence of Physics-Maths combination opted by the IITians, as the most successful one. Mid-Eighties saw the upsurge of Anthropology, a subject which is taught in the least number of Universities in India, followed by creation of Public Administration as a separate subject and its instant success in terms of candidates attracted as also in the scoring pattern. Geography has been making silent strides and the literatures of various regional languages have proved their credibility time and again. These subjects affected the popularity of History and Psychology that went out of favour because of revision and substantial increase in the syllabus undertaken during that period. Sociology suffered at the hands of Anthropology because the two can not be opted together and the wind favoured Anthropology.
During the last three years, however, Psychology and Sociology gained some ground while Public Administration has declined slightly in popularity. Regional languages have shown a spectacular rise while Anthropology has stagnated at the top. Philosophy, another fascinating optional, is restricted in popularity and there is not much to write about it. Change in the syllabi of many popular optionals along with bringing parity in the papers of various optionals is bound to bring many significant changes that should be reflected in the results of IAS ’2000. Maths is not going to be a popular subject any more. Engineering subjects, too are likely to lose in popularity. Anthropology, Geography and Litt. (despite revision of syllabi) should emerge as major successful optionals. Psychology too may improve is tally. Sociology and Public Administration should attract larger chunk of aspirants but in terms of results, both these optionals may prove disastrous.
If you ask me to rate various optionals and to opt for which one of them, my suggestions should be as follows:
If you are looking for the smallest syllabus, the obvious choice should fall on Anthropology, but wait, preparing this subject through self-study may not be that easy because the subject combines biological and sociological aspects. If you intend to choose a subject with scientific orientation, your choice should fall on Geography, Psychology or Anthropology. If you have a good command on the language, any subject can be chosen provided you can develop interest in that subject. Otherwise, those of you who do not have good writing skill, then please for your sake do not opt for History, Sociology, Philosophy or Political Science. Candidates with a command on any regional language or Hindi can taste success by opting for a literature as an optional paper. With a strong base in Economics or Commerce, Geography can be a good second optional.
There is no standard formula for success in the competition. The only rule is that you realise your real capacities and capabilities and chalk out your own strategy. How to perform well in Mains and Personality Test are the issues that should be dealt at length and I shall discuss these issue with you at the appropriate time.
Your basic quarries and their Solution
Q. 1. I Want to appear in IAS (ICS Exam). How Should I prepare for it to get through? Ans. There is no standard yardstick to be followed. It all depends on your capacity and capability, irrespective of your performance/score in basic/higher degree exam. To get through the ICSE, however, two basic qualities must be there.
First, you should be mentally fully prepared to bear the strain of this one-year-long exam; and second, you should have (or develop) a sound expression (written as well as verbal) in the medium (language) you want to appear with. Once you have obtained these two qualifications, other issues regarding preparation for the exam can be handled better and easily.
Q. 2. With simple graduation (BA)/post-graduation (MA) as my background what should be my strategy for Prelims?
Ans. It may sound absurd but the best way to prepare for Prelims is to prepare for Mains first. Generally, for Prelims, the questions asked can be grouped into two broad categories : factual & conceptual. Conceptual questions can be handled more effectively only if Mains is prepared first. Besides, objective facts can be related and remembered easily only when a sound conceptual base is pre-existing. Therefore, your strategy for preparation of Prelims should be such that you are thorough in your first optional (that you take in Prelims as well as in Mains) as also in G.S. This is important because you do not get enough time after Prelims to prepare for the Mains.
Q. 3. What optionals should be more suitable optionals for me?
Ans. It is a highly sensitive issue, and the most crucial too, because choice of optionals goes a long way in deciding your prospects. However, the answer to your question can not be as straight-forward. It you have command on language, you can achieve your goal by keeping any optional. My suggestion, however, would be as follows: If you are a post-graduate in any discipline, that should be your first and obvious choice; the same would be true if you have done honours in a social science. Selection of first optional for IIT/Medical graduates too has become difficult. The puzzle, therefore relates to graduates in arts and literature who do feel confused. These days, at Mains level, some literature subjects, Anthro, Geography and Public Administration have been doing very well. Of these, the first two are only second optionals, and hence, your choice could fall on either Geography or Public Admn. However, History and Sociology have been counted as safe subjects for Prelims. So, if you intend to take Anthropology and any literature for Mains, you can, for Prelims, rely either on Sociology (most of which is covered in the Anthro syllabus and hence you get rid of the agony of reading a third subject) or History (that covers quite a significant part of GS).
It was in 1981 when I had my first encounters with UPSC through the aspirants (for IAS etc.) who sought my help to prepare for certain specific topics in GS and my parent discipline, i.e. Anthropology. Today, 13 years later, through regular interaction with the UPSC experts and students all over India, particularly at Delhi, Lucknow, Patna, Chandigarh and Hyderabad, I find myself in a favourable position to pen down my experiences and suggestions to the young aspirants.
In the early eighties, there were three (Delhi, Allahabad and Patna) major centre of UPSC related activities, while Hyderabad was coming up fast. There used to be 40 to 60 thousand contenders for the coveted posts. Today, while the number of aspirants has risen by over 200 percent, many new centres have come up in almost every state capital and many other major cities. In those days professionals did not see any merit in contention for these jobs, but recent years have witnessed a flood of such aspirants, at times sweeping the top positions in the merit list. In those days History, Sociology, Political Science etc. used to be the most popular optionals while today, many hitherto less known subjects have taken over. Besides, many states have changed their pattern of PCS examination in line with UPSC examination.
This change in the scenario, resultant of a number of factors, demands that the serious contenders to the job must adopt a more rational, more systematic strategy and approach, right from the moment they think of preparing for the civil services examination.
On the first thought of appearing in the Civil Services Examination (C.S.E.), the first issue is the selection of optionals. In a way, selection of right optionals is the most crucial step. Post-graduates in any discipline, generally prefer taking up their parent subject for Prelims. Though such selection is quite logical, aspirants with any science discipline as their base subject must ponder over the issue more seriously. Maths, Physics, Geology etc., optionals for Prelims must be opted for, only if one is out and out thorough with the subject. As UPSC ensures that 'some' candidates from every discipline must qualify for the Mains, aspirants with a science subject must judge themselves correctly regarding their own capability to be included in these 'some'. Some of the social sciences (e.g. History, Sociology and Public Administration) opted by quite a significant majority can, however, be a much safer bet, particularly for those (ordinary science graduates) who do not have any specific parent subject or for those who are not able to develop confidence in their parental subject. In either case, the formal preparation must start from the basic fundamentals, even if a person is already a post-graduate in that subject.
General Studies (GS) has to be prepared on quite a different plane because the content of this paper is too spread out and because any issue, major or minor, can be asked objectively. Traditionally, 10 + 2 level books of NCERT or any state education board had been covering a major part of the content but, these days, the items in news during the last one year or so, are being asked quite frequently. Problems are generally faced in everyday science (by the candidates with social sciences background) or in mental ability or in the fundamentals of economics. The most important aspect for the preparation of GS Prelims, therefore, is to identify the loop-holes and plug them urgently.
Many of you prepare a subject in terms of "reading" (once, twice, thrice etc.) with or without underlining the important facts. It results not only in longer time of preparation, but also many important points may skip. Also, even if you underline the highlighting points, most of you have the tendency to read the text in full while going for the subsequent readings. It is, therefore, advisable that texts must be read once and all important points (likely to be forgotten) recorded separately so that you need not study volumious texts again. This would save on your time and should result in greater efficiency.
The Mains:
For right approach, the preparation of Mains should start before or at least concurrent with Prelims. Just because you have to prepare for Essay, GS and the two optionals (English and a regional language, the one/two other compulsory, do not require a separate preparation) you never get enough time (to prepare for all these) after the declaration of Prelims' results. Further, while Prelims is only a screening test, it is on the basis of your performance in Mains, on which mainly depends the final outcome of your efforts. Strategically, therefore, the preparation for the examination should start about one year in advance and you should think about appearing in the Prelims only when you have had a strong grip over the Mains' subject matter.
Many of you, particularly those with a professional degree in science, tend to ignore the preparation of GS and concentrate mainly on their optional subjects. This attitude is more like a bad gamble because you are not aware about the level of preparation of other aspirants. Economy (for the science background aspirants), Science & Technology (for the social science background aspirants) and Statistical Analysis are the only three areas that can pose problems in scoring. If you have prepared economy for your Prelims, doing it for the mains must not be difficult. Statistical analysis has to be practised with the help of previous years' solved questions given in all the guides as also the NCERT's Statistical Analysis. One year regular reading of a good national daily, India Yearbook (Publication Division) relevant NCERT books and a good magazine for the purpose are the basic necessities that you must go through. Scoring in GS is mathematical and any additional score gained through serious preparations should be welcome.
Essay paper, re-introduced in 1993, created a sort of storm among the aspirants. A rumour was spread that the step has been taken to neutralize the scoring pattern which is highly skewed in favour of some subjects. Though there is no denying the fact that many subjects (like Maths, Physics, Commerce etc.) do not encourage the development of language skill, those of you with such an academic background but a natural flair for writing developed during school or college days, should be definitely at an advantage. Writing an essay is an art and if you are not naturally inclined to write that way, you will have to spend at least some time in practising; more so because many of the issues asked in the form of essay are the ones that you generally prepare for your GS where you limit your preparation upto about 250 words. Stretching this content to form an essay is really an uphill task. Candidates are, therefore, advised to keep a thorough eye on all the happenings (in terms of broad areas) of the last one year with critical evaluation of those which could be asked in the form of an essay.
Regarding the compulsory language paper(s) which is (are) of qualifying nature only, I should just say that if you are apprehensive about the language papers too, better forget about the civil services.
The two optionals, that form a major part of your score, have to be decided judiciously. Candidates living in the major centres of Civil Services related activities, generally do not face much problem in finalising their optionals but others, living in smaller towns or where there is no such environment, do faulter. For those of you post-graduate in any subject or having a professional degree, the first optional is the one that you have pursued for the last few years. But, for ordinary graduates the choice of first optional too, is equally problematic . Most of the candidates undecided about the optionals, are strongly influenced by the interviews (given by the previous years' successful candidates) that appear in various magazines. Decisions made on this basis, can, at times, land you in the no man's land.
While selecting an optional I would suggest that you care for the following : (a) The Syllabus : Whether it looks comprehensible at the first glance. (b) Content : Find out whether the relevant books/study-material are easily available. (c) Interest : After going through some of the literature, find out whether it has been able to generate interest in you. (d) Expertise : Whether any specialist of the subject is available or approachable, the one that You can solve your problems and satisfy your queries. (e) Success rate : What has been the scoring pattern and the success-rate of the subject—this you can know from any coaching institute of repute or from some of the magazines too. (f) Friends' advise : Particularly of those who have not made into the list of successful aspirants of the previous years. The steps need not be followed in this sequence.
The last decade has seen a catastrophic change of the sort, regarding the preference of the candidates for traditional subjects as also regarding the scoring pattern. The last five years in particular have seen the emergence of Physics-Maths combination opted by the IITians, as the most successful one. Mid-Eighties saw the upsurge of Anthropology, a subject which is taught in the least number of Universities in India, followed by creation of Public Administration as a separate subject and its instant success in terms of candidates attracted as also in the scoring pattern. Geography has been making silent strides and the literatures of various regional languages have proved their credibility time and again. These subjects affected the popularity of History and Psychology that went out of favour because of revision and substantial increase in the syllabus undertaken during that period. Sociology suffered at the hands of Anthropology because the two can not be opted together and the wind favoured Anthropology.
During the last three years, however, Psychology and Sociology gained some ground while Public Administration has declined slightly in popularity. Regional languages have shown a spectacular rise while Anthropology has stagnated at the top. Philosophy, another fascinating optional, is restricted in popularity and there is not much to write about it. Change in the syllabi of many popular optionals along with bringing parity in the papers of various optionals is bound to bring many significant changes that should be reflected in the results of IAS ’2000. Maths is not going to be a popular subject any more. Engineering subjects, too are likely to lose in popularity. Anthropology, Geography and Litt. (despite revision of syllabi) should emerge as major successful optionals. Psychology too may improve is tally. Sociology and Public Administration should attract larger chunk of aspirants but in terms of results, both these optionals may prove disastrous.
If you ask me to rate various optionals and to opt for which one of them, my suggestions should be as follows:
If you are looking for the smallest syllabus, the obvious choice should fall on Anthropology, but wait, preparing this subject through self-study may not be that easy because the subject combines biological and sociological aspects. If you intend to choose a subject with scientific orientation, your choice should fall on Geography, Psychology or Anthropology. If you have a good command on the language, any subject can be chosen provided you can develop interest in that subject. Otherwise, those of you who do not have good writing skill, then please for your sake do not opt for History, Sociology, Philosophy or Political Science. Candidates with a command on any regional language or Hindi can taste success by opting for a literature as an optional paper. With a strong base in Economics or Commerce, Geography can be a good second optional.
There is no standard formula for success in the competition. The only rule is that you realise your real capacities and capabilities and chalk out your own strategy. How to perform well in Mains and Personality Test are the issues that should be dealt at length and I shall discuss these issue with you at the appropriate time.
Your basic quarries and their Solution
Q. 1. I Want to appear in IAS (ICS Exam). How Should I prepare for it to get through? Ans. There is no standard yardstick to be followed. It all depends on your capacity and capability, irrespective of your performance/score in basic/higher degree exam. To get through the ICSE, however, two basic qualities must be there.
First, you should be mentally fully prepared to bear the strain of this one-year-long exam; and second, you should have (or develop) a sound expression (written as well as verbal) in the medium (language) you want to appear with. Once you have obtained these two qualifications, other issues regarding preparation for the exam can be handled better and easily.
Q. 2. With simple graduation (BA)/post-graduation (MA) as my background what should be my strategy for Prelims?
Ans. It may sound absurd but the best way to prepare for Prelims is to prepare for Mains first. Generally, for Prelims, the questions asked can be grouped into two broad categories : factual & conceptual. Conceptual questions can be handled more effectively only if Mains is prepared first. Besides, objective facts can be related and remembered easily only when a sound conceptual base is pre-existing. Therefore, your strategy for preparation of Prelims should be such that you are thorough in your first optional (that you take in Prelims as well as in Mains) as also in G.S. This is important because you do not get enough time after Prelims to prepare for the Mains.
Q. 3. What optionals should be more suitable optionals for me?
Ans. It is a highly sensitive issue, and the most crucial too, because choice of optionals goes a long way in deciding your prospects. However, the answer to your question can not be as straight-forward. It you have command on language, you can achieve your goal by keeping any optional. My suggestion, however, would be as follows: If you are a post-graduate in any discipline, that should be your first and obvious choice; the same would be true if you have done honours in a social science. Selection of first optional for IIT/Medical graduates too has become difficult. The puzzle, therefore relates to graduates in arts and literature who do feel confused. These days, at Mains level, some literature subjects, Anthro, Geography and Public Administration have been doing very well. Of these, the first two are only second optionals, and hence, your choice could fall on either Geography or Public Admn. However, History and Sociology have been counted as safe subjects for Prelims. So, if you intend to take Anthropology and any literature for Mains, you can, for Prelims, rely either on Sociology (most of which is covered in the Anthro syllabus and hence you get rid of the agony of reading a third subject) or History (that covers quite a significant part of GS).
Monday, August 17, 2009
Preparing Geography for UPSC/IAS Prelims
Below is the experience shared by one of our friend which might be very useful for all those who are taking Geography as their optional
Geography is a subject taken mostly by geography students and science students. I did my engineering in IIT Madras with electrical optional but was not very good in electrical and so I had to change my optional and I felt the most scientific subject among social studies was geography. After 3 years of preparation I can tell you that geography is a very good optional. The subject has a scientific flavour and is objective and analytical. It is this scientific nature of the subject which has made geography a very popular optional. Many people feel it is very factual but I sincerely feel it is very conceptual and understanding of concepts will make this optional very easy and interesting , so get your basics right. To get your basics right I would suggest you to thoroughly go through all NCERT’s and G C Leong(certificate physical and human geography).Once u do this, then u can start preparing it more exhaustively. The following books would help you in this direction. Before that I would suggest you to complete the whole portion at least once by march end, so as to revise it at least twice . Chart out your own timetable and study the subject daily and not in discontinuous spurts. The subject is also very scoring in Mains as it is not subjective and questions asked are direct and also the mapping carries 120 marks which if practiced daily will get you good scores. Mapping is also very important in prelims so practice it regularly. The pattern of prelims appears to have changed recently by asking of conceptual question and also more questions from ‘thought’ and ‘cartography’ so concentrate on these areas.
In my first attempt I blindly followed some guides like volume I and 2 of Siddhartha and tried to mug up facts without understanding the concepts and hence failed in my first attempt to clear prelims. I changed my strategy completely and cleared both prelims and mains the next time, but scored very low in interview in both my second and third attempt and was unable to get any service and awaiting my results this time and hope to get moksha. So I would sincerely advise you all not to mug up guides and read different text books which are good on that particular topic. Selective reading of topics is therefore important. For example, geomorphology ,climatology and oceanography are dealt well in Savindra Singh but biogeography is not dealt well in it, and Rupa Series should be read for biogeography, so keep your prelims portion in front of you and deal with different subtopics from different sources which are as follows:
(1)Physical Geography:
geomorphology , climatology and oceanography can be covered from physical geography by Savindra Singh but bio geography part should be covered either from Rupa Series orTtata Mcgraw Hill. G C Leong 1-14th chapter should also be covered.
(2)Human Geography:
Man and environment relationship from geographical thought by Majid
Hussein
Population from geography of population by R C Chandana
Economic activities would be covered in world geography so need not
prepare it seperately
Settlements from Rupa Series and Ramachandran
G C Leong 15th to 25th chapter and the last chapter i.e “The
First People” from human geography by Majid Hussein should be
covered
(3)Geography of the World :
From Darshan Singh Manku or Tikka. Manku has recent data i.e of 2001
so manku is better. Don’t try to remember all places remember only
very important places for example mexico is famous for silver and
therefore need you need not worry about coal and iron industries in
mexico. I have seen many people unnecessarily getting tensed and
confused trying to remember all places and rankings in production
which is quite unnecessary.
(4)Geographical Thought :
From Majid Hussein and Adhikari. Recent pattern shows that thought
has become very crucial in prelims and they are asking questions in
depth so study both these books thoroughly and read in between lines.
(5)Techniques of Geographical Analysis :
From 11th qnd 12th NCERT books and
R L Singh and classnotes of either SK Manocha or Interactions.
Do this topic thoroughly as the questions asked in this topic have
increased over the years. Don’t just mug up projections rather try to understand how they are derived.
(6)Indian Geography :
From Khuller would suffice.
(7)Map Pointing :
From Oxford and Orient Longman.
Geography is a subject taken mostly by geography students and science students. I did my engineering in IIT Madras with electrical optional but was not very good in electrical and so I had to change my optional and I felt the most scientific subject among social studies was geography. After 3 years of preparation I can tell you that geography is a very good optional. The subject has a scientific flavour and is objective and analytical. It is this scientific nature of the subject which has made geography a very popular optional. Many people feel it is very factual but I sincerely feel it is very conceptual and understanding of concepts will make this optional very easy and interesting , so get your basics right. To get your basics right I would suggest you to thoroughly go through all NCERT’s and G C Leong(certificate physical and human geography).Once u do this, then u can start preparing it more exhaustively. The following books would help you in this direction. Before that I would suggest you to complete the whole portion at least once by march end, so as to revise it at least twice . Chart out your own timetable and study the subject daily and not in discontinuous spurts. The subject is also very scoring in Mains as it is not subjective and questions asked are direct and also the mapping carries 120 marks which if practiced daily will get you good scores. Mapping is also very important in prelims so practice it regularly. The pattern of prelims appears to have changed recently by asking of conceptual question and also more questions from ‘thought’ and ‘cartography’ so concentrate on these areas.
In my first attempt I blindly followed some guides like volume I and 2 of Siddhartha and tried to mug up facts without understanding the concepts and hence failed in my first attempt to clear prelims. I changed my strategy completely and cleared both prelims and mains the next time, but scored very low in interview in both my second and third attempt and was unable to get any service and awaiting my results this time and hope to get moksha. So I would sincerely advise you all not to mug up guides and read different text books which are good on that particular topic. Selective reading of topics is therefore important. For example, geomorphology ,climatology and oceanography are dealt well in Savindra Singh but biogeography is not dealt well in it, and Rupa Series should be read for biogeography, so keep your prelims portion in front of you and deal with different subtopics from different sources which are as follows:
(1)Physical Geography:
geomorphology , climatology and oceanography can be covered from physical geography by Savindra Singh but bio geography part should be covered either from Rupa Series orTtata Mcgraw Hill. G C Leong 1-14th chapter should also be covered.
(2)Human Geography:
Man and environment relationship from geographical thought by Majid
Hussein
Population from geography of population by R C Chandana
Economic activities would be covered in world geography so need not
prepare it seperately
Settlements from Rupa Series and Ramachandran
G C Leong 15th to 25th chapter and the last chapter i.e “The
First People” from human geography by Majid Hussein should be
covered
(3)Geography of the World :
From Darshan Singh Manku or Tikka. Manku has recent data i.e of 2001
so manku is better. Don’t try to remember all places remember only
very important places for example mexico is famous for silver and
therefore need you need not worry about coal and iron industries in
mexico. I have seen many people unnecessarily getting tensed and
confused trying to remember all places and rankings in production
which is quite unnecessary.
(4)Geographical Thought :
From Majid Hussein and Adhikari. Recent pattern shows that thought
has become very crucial in prelims and they are asking questions in
depth so study both these books thoroughly and read in between lines.
(5)Techniques of Geographical Analysis :
From 11th qnd 12th NCERT books and
R L Singh and classnotes of either SK Manocha or Interactions.
Do this topic thoroughly as the questions asked in this topic have
increased over the years. Don’t just mug up projections rather try to understand how they are derived.
(6)Indian Geography :
From Khuller would suffice.
(7)Map Pointing :
From Oxford and Orient Longman.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
How to prepare History optional for UPSC Prelims
History is ‘The Optional’ as far as appearing in UPSC/IAS examination is concerned. Every year, the highest number of aspirants take History as their first optional in this most coveted examination.
Here is experience of Trilochan's in his own words what one needs to do if one has decided to take History in UPSC Prelims ….
I (Trilochan) had done MSc Biotechnology before entering into civil services preparation and my optionals are History(1st) and Geography(2nd) .One might have this doubt that how this guy managed these optionals while coming from a science background. My answer is simple, it was my interest in knowing our hisorical facts and stories and places of ecological, economical significance that prompted me to opt for these subjects.
Few of my seniors advised me to take History as my first optional, they told me the advantages of taking history as it is safest and intake for mains from history is also more(because most people appear with history optional).
I listened to what seniors told me, that is different, but at the same time I also introspected regarding subject and important areas. One thing I have realized is that "revision and comparision" is very important to succeed with this optional as it contains more facts like years, names and other theoretical facts.
I did not attend any coaching classes for History as it is theory based and especially for prelims I feel coaching is not required. After the introduction of negative marking, safest mark to clear prelims is to get 70+ questions correct.
There are so many books in the market which helps us to become master in the subject .I, myself have studied all NCERT books for history which gave me an idea about the limits of the subject and later on i studied TMH(Tata McGraw Hill) written by Krishna Reddy .Here, I prepared my notes from NCERTs and TMH , I emphasised on facts which require at least 5 revisions ( i revised my notes 3 times and 2 times those books) . With this kind of preparation, I landed in 50+ mark which includes both direct questions and indirect questions (means through elimination process). After this home work, I opened Romila Thapar for Ancient , Satish Chandra for Medieval, Bipin Chandra for Modern (this includes both books that is struggle for freedom and after independence) . These books I revised only once which helped me to touch 80 marks.
Generally ,few of my friends studied only text books by avoiding TMH, this is also good because during mains it will save our time and one can have very good concept of any particular topic.
I also had IGNOU material, Gazetteer Volume2 (Publication Division) and Grover & Grover, but I did not get time to read all these books.
I didn’t take coaching anywhere, so naturally I committed few blunders while in preparation, later on I rectified those after taking suggestions from my friends. Facts are very important for prelims, at the same time one should not neglect their mains preparation, I mean to say take 2008 mains history paper , those who have studied texts books which I have suggested are well placed to get very good marks. Of course revision and comparision is always required, i.e. take "society", how was it during pre vedic, vedic, post vedic periods; what are the additions in the later stages and like that...this kind of analysis is important in solving assertion and reasoning type questions and true and false questions in prelims. These type of questions are most tricky and eat our marks as these had maximum weightage in 2006, 2007 and 2008 papers.
Preparing notes is the best method for remembering facts, because we'll write only those points which would need revision.
General Studies
Every time I could cross 75+ in general studies paper as my preparation was extensive which generally eats lot of time and memory power to be honest. I followed the current trend, suppose geography is my optional I have to study many things for map pointing so i focused on atlas .In prelims questions on geography part contains questions like this ... one country and capital, island, river , mountain, transport, mineral etc .So, I always kept one thing in my mind that i have to pick up the answer from the given multiple choice question. For example ,i can tell more than 100 countries and its capitals ,but i can pick up the capitals for all 200+ countries if i get multiple choice .Though i was little bit tensed regarding prelims general studies, i was never afraid even if i dont remember any fact. But I kept on revising...as general studies contains many segments we need to be perfect in at least 2 to 3 segments along with current affairs which would help us to clear prelims easily .
Last but not the least, after reading all these areas if any body feels that paper is tough ,be relaxed because paper will be much much tougher for all others and one can start mains preparation without counting on cutoff mark. Just stick to few standard books and keep revising, naturally success will come …. All the very best to you all !!!
Best Wishes
Trilochan Rao
Courtesy - upsc-prelims.blogspot.com
Here is experience of Trilochan's in his own words what one needs to do if one has decided to take History in UPSC Prelims ….
I (Trilochan) had done MSc Biotechnology before entering into civil services preparation and my optionals are History(1st) and Geography(2nd) .One might have this doubt that how this guy managed these optionals while coming from a science background. My answer is simple, it was my interest in knowing our hisorical facts and stories and places of ecological, economical significance that prompted me to opt for these subjects.
Few of my seniors advised me to take History as my first optional, they told me the advantages of taking history as it is safest and intake for mains from history is also more(because most people appear with history optional).
I listened to what seniors told me, that is different, but at the same time I also introspected regarding subject and important areas. One thing I have realized is that "revision and comparision" is very important to succeed with this optional as it contains more facts like years, names and other theoretical facts.
I did not attend any coaching classes for History as it is theory based and especially for prelims I feel coaching is not required. After the introduction of negative marking, safest mark to clear prelims is to get 70+ questions correct.
There are so many books in the market which helps us to become master in the subject .I, myself have studied all NCERT books for history which gave me an idea about the limits of the subject and later on i studied TMH(Tata McGraw Hill) written by Krishna Reddy .Here, I prepared my notes from NCERTs and TMH , I emphasised on facts which require at least 5 revisions ( i revised my notes 3 times and 2 times those books) . With this kind of preparation, I landed in 50+ mark which includes both direct questions and indirect questions (means through elimination process). After this home work, I opened Romila Thapar for Ancient , Satish Chandra for Medieval, Bipin Chandra for Modern (this includes both books that is struggle for freedom and after independence) . These books I revised only once which helped me to touch 80 marks.
Generally ,few of my friends studied only text books by avoiding TMH, this is also good because during mains it will save our time and one can have very good concept of any particular topic.
I also had IGNOU material, Gazetteer Volume2 (Publication Division) and Grover & Grover, but I did not get time to read all these books.
I didn’t take coaching anywhere, so naturally I committed few blunders while in preparation, later on I rectified those after taking suggestions from my friends. Facts are very important for prelims, at the same time one should not neglect their mains preparation, I mean to say take 2008 mains history paper , those who have studied texts books which I have suggested are well placed to get very good marks. Of course revision and comparision is always required, i.e. take "society", how was it during pre vedic, vedic, post vedic periods; what are the additions in the later stages and like that...this kind of analysis is important in solving assertion and reasoning type questions and true and false questions in prelims. These type of questions are most tricky and eat our marks as these had maximum weightage in 2006, 2007 and 2008 papers.
Preparing notes is the best method for remembering facts, because we'll write only those points which would need revision.
General Studies
Every time I could cross 75+ in general studies paper as my preparation was extensive which generally eats lot of time and memory power to be honest. I followed the current trend, suppose geography is my optional I have to study many things for map pointing so i focused on atlas .In prelims questions on geography part contains questions like this ... one country and capital, island, river , mountain, transport, mineral etc .So, I always kept one thing in my mind that i have to pick up the answer from the given multiple choice question. For example ,i can tell more than 100 countries and its capitals ,but i can pick up the capitals for all 200+ countries if i get multiple choice .Though i was little bit tensed regarding prelims general studies, i was never afraid even if i dont remember any fact. But I kept on revising...as general studies contains many segments we need to be perfect in at least 2 to 3 segments along with current affairs which would help us to clear prelims easily .
Last but not the least, after reading all these areas if any body feels that paper is tough ,be relaxed because paper will be much much tougher for all others and one can start mains preparation without counting on cutoff mark. Just stick to few standard books and keep revising, naturally success will come …. All the very best to you all !!!
Best Wishes
Trilochan Rao
Courtesy - upsc-prelims.blogspot.com
Friday, August 14, 2009
Geography for General Studies
* The Karakoram is situated in the disputed region of Kashmir. It has more than sixty peaks above 7,000 m (22,966 ft), including K2, the second highest peak in the world 8,611 m (28,251 ft). K2 is just 237 m (778 ft) smaller than the 8,848 m (29,029 ft) tall Mount Everest. The range is about 500 km (311 mi) in length and is the most heavily glaciated part of the world outside of the polar regions. The Siachen Glacier at 70 km (43 mi) and the Biafo Glacier at 63 km (39 mi) rank as the world's second and third-longest glaciers outside the polar regions.
* Vavul Mela is the highest peak of Sahyadri.Nilgiris join Sahyadri near Gudalur and marks the junction of Eastern and Western ghats
* Anai Mudi is the highest peak of Western Ghat
* Highest range of the Aravallis is Mt Gurushikhar.Mt Abu, Piplighat are also its part
* Western ghat was formed in the late Cenozoic era
* he Aravali Range is the oldest mountain range in India
* The Thar Desert (also known as the Great Indian Desert) is world's seventh largest desert;[15] it forms a significant portion of western India and covers an area of 238,700 km² (92,200 mile²).[15] The desert continues into Pakistan as the Cholistan Desert
* Thalghat connects Mumbai and Nasik whereas Bhorghat connects Mumbai and Pune
* Gangotri,Yamunotri,Nandadevi,Vadrinath and Kedarnath are all parts of Kumayon Himalayas
* Pir Panjal,Nagtibba,Dhauladhar,Mahabharat,Mussourie are all parts of Middle Himalayas or Himachal
* Beautiful hill stations like Shimla,Kulu,Manali,Nainital are all parts of Middle Himalayas
* Aravalli was formed in the Precambian era
* Mahendragiri is the tallest peak of Eastern ghat
* The backwater of Kerala is known as Kayal
* Mt Everest is also known as Chomo Langma and Sagarmatha
* Aksai Chin is in Ladakh plateau
* Siachen is in Nubra Valley
* Kangra valley is a strike valley whereas Kullu valley is a transverse valley
* Deccan Plateau was formed in the Cretaceous Eocene era and the highest peak of it is Mulangiri
* Cyclone 05B, a supercyclone that struck Orissa on 29 October 1999, was the deadliest in more than a quarter-century
* Alwar, on the fringes of the Thar Desert, registered a temperature of 50.6 °C (123 °F), India's highest.
Name of various cyclonic disturbances in India
T Shower-Assam
Mango Shower-Kerala,TN,AP
Cherry Blossom-Karnataka
Aandhi-UP
Kalbaisakhi-WB
Such disturbances occur most in Oct-November period
* Rainfall over 2.5 mm in 24 hours causes Rainy Day
* Monsoon does not occur in Aravalli as it lies parallel to the air flow
* Indian monsoon is orographic in nature
* P Koteswaram-Worked on Monsoon
* Southern Oscillation Index= Pressure in Tahiti-Pressure in Darwin.When there is Low pressure in Darwin, thus a positive SO Index,India gets maximum rainfall whereas low pressure in Tahiti causes negative SO Index and less rainfall in India.This is known as Walker phenomenon
* Jet Stream Theory first given by M.T.Yin.The height of it is 12 km,it is in the troposphere.
* Arabian sea branch of South West Monsoon causes more rainfall tha Bay of Bengal branch because of more volume of water and because India does not get full part of the Bay of Bengal branch of Monsoon
* India's major areas in terms of height from the sea level in ascending order Calcutta-Chennai-Mumbai-Trivandam-Delhi-Jodhpur-Nagpur-Bangalore-Shillong-Leh
* India's major areas in terms of rainfall Leh- Jodhpur-Delhi-Bangalore-Nagpur-Chennai-Calcutta--Trivandam-Mumbai-Port Blair-Shillong
WETLANDS
Loriga-Andhra Pradesh
Pt Calimere-Tamil Nadu
Pichavaram-Tamilnadu
Ratnagiri-Maharashtra
Achra Cundapore-Karnataka and Maharashtra
Vembanad-kerala
Bhittar kanika-Orissa
SOIL
* Khadar-new alluvial, fertile soil
* Bhangar-Old alluvial soil.Middle pleistocoene
* Kankar-lime nodules few meters below the surface of bhangar
* Bhur-alkaline khadar
* Bhabar-Alluvial fans at the foothills of shivalik
* Terai-murshy land to the south of bhabar
* Black soil-Highest % of soil in India.Black color due to titaniferous magnetite or iron.also known as reguda soil as cotton in AP is known as Reguda.Poor in P,N and organic matters
* Red soil-Rich in Potash
* Laterite soil-rich in iron,aluminium and manganese and thus infertile.brick is prepared from it
* Desert soil-Formed due to mechanical disintegration of rocks,rich in phosphate
* Saline soil-Also known as Reh,kallar, thur,rakar,chopan,usar.High Ca,Na, k content
ENVIRONMENT
* Out of 15 biosphere reserves 4 are UNESCO sites-Gulf of mannar,sundarbans,nilgiri and nanda devi
* India is a party to UNFCC
* National Institute of animal welfare-faridabad
* Ozone depleting substances- Halon,CFC,CHBr3,CHCl3,CCl4
* Central pollution control board-1974
* Coral reef found in Gulf of mannar, A&N,Lakshadweep,Gulf of kachchh
* Hawksbill turtle is found in A& N and Tamil Nadu
* Arna or wild buffalo in Assam and MP
* Centre for social forestry-Allahabad
* Inst of forest management-Bhopal
* Salim Ali centre for ornithology-Coimbatore
* Heritera kanikensis found in Bittarkanika(orissa)
* Rhizophora annamalaya-Pichavaram(TN)
* Jim Corbett national park earlier known as Hailey National Park is the earliest national park of India
Courtesy: saptarshinag1.blogspot.com
* Vavul Mela is the highest peak of Sahyadri.Nilgiris join Sahyadri near Gudalur and marks the junction of Eastern and Western ghats
* Anai Mudi is the highest peak of Western Ghat
* Highest range of the Aravallis is Mt Gurushikhar.Mt Abu, Piplighat are also its part
* Western ghat was formed in the late Cenozoic era
* he Aravali Range is the oldest mountain range in India
* The Thar Desert (also known as the Great Indian Desert) is world's seventh largest desert;[15] it forms a significant portion of western India and covers an area of 238,700 km² (92,200 mile²).[15] The desert continues into Pakistan as the Cholistan Desert
* Thalghat connects Mumbai and Nasik whereas Bhorghat connects Mumbai and Pune
* Gangotri,Yamunotri,Nandadevi,Vadrinath and Kedarnath are all parts of Kumayon Himalayas
* Pir Panjal,Nagtibba,Dhauladhar,Mahabharat,Mussourie are all parts of Middle Himalayas or Himachal
* Beautiful hill stations like Shimla,Kulu,Manali,Nainital are all parts of Middle Himalayas
* Aravalli was formed in the Precambian era
* Mahendragiri is the tallest peak of Eastern ghat
* The backwater of Kerala is known as Kayal
* Mt Everest is also known as Chomo Langma and Sagarmatha
* Aksai Chin is in Ladakh plateau
* Siachen is in Nubra Valley
* Kangra valley is a strike valley whereas Kullu valley is a transverse valley
* Deccan Plateau was formed in the Cretaceous Eocene era and the highest peak of it is Mulangiri
* Cyclone 05B, a supercyclone that struck Orissa on 29 October 1999, was the deadliest in more than a quarter-century
* Alwar, on the fringes of the Thar Desert, registered a temperature of 50.6 °C (123 °F), India's highest.
Name of various cyclonic disturbances in India
T Shower-Assam
Mango Shower-Kerala,TN,AP
Cherry Blossom-Karnataka
Aandhi-UP
Kalbaisakhi-WB
Such disturbances occur most in Oct-November period
* Rainfall over 2.5 mm in 24 hours causes Rainy Day
* Monsoon does not occur in Aravalli as it lies parallel to the air flow
* Indian monsoon is orographic in nature
* P Koteswaram-Worked on Monsoon
* Southern Oscillation Index= Pressure in Tahiti-Pressure in Darwin.When there is Low pressure in Darwin, thus a positive SO Index,India gets maximum rainfall whereas low pressure in Tahiti causes negative SO Index and less rainfall in India.This is known as Walker phenomenon
* Jet Stream Theory first given by M.T.Yin.The height of it is 12 km,it is in the troposphere.
* Arabian sea branch of South West Monsoon causes more rainfall tha Bay of Bengal branch because of more volume of water and because India does not get full part of the Bay of Bengal branch of Monsoon
* India's major areas in terms of height from the sea level in ascending order Calcutta-Chennai-Mumbai-Trivandam-Delhi-Jodhpur-Nagpur-Bangalore-Shillong-Leh
* India's major areas in terms of rainfall Leh- Jodhpur-Delhi-Bangalore-Nagpur-Chennai-Calcutta--Trivandam-Mumbai-Port Blair-Shillong
WETLANDS
Loriga-Andhra Pradesh
Pt Calimere-Tamil Nadu
Pichavaram-Tamilnadu
Ratnagiri-Maharashtra
Achra Cundapore-Karnataka and Maharashtra
Vembanad-kerala
Bhittar kanika-Orissa
SOIL
* Khadar-new alluvial, fertile soil
* Bhangar-Old alluvial soil.Middle pleistocoene
* Kankar-lime nodules few meters below the surface of bhangar
* Bhur-alkaline khadar
* Bhabar-Alluvial fans at the foothills of shivalik
* Terai-murshy land to the south of bhabar
* Black soil-Highest % of soil in India.Black color due to titaniferous magnetite or iron.also known as reguda soil as cotton in AP is known as Reguda.Poor in P,N and organic matters
* Red soil-Rich in Potash
* Laterite soil-rich in iron,aluminium and manganese and thus infertile.brick is prepared from it
* Desert soil-Formed due to mechanical disintegration of rocks,rich in phosphate
* Saline soil-Also known as Reh,kallar, thur,rakar,chopan,usar.High Ca,Na, k content
ENVIRONMENT
* Out of 15 biosphere reserves 4 are UNESCO sites-Gulf of mannar,sundarbans,nilgiri and nanda devi
* India is a party to UNFCC
* National Institute of animal welfare-faridabad
* Ozone depleting substances- Halon,CFC,CHBr3,CHCl3,CCl4
* Central pollution control board-1974
* Coral reef found in Gulf of mannar, A&N,Lakshadweep,Gulf of kachchh
* Hawksbill turtle is found in A& N and Tamil Nadu
* Arna or wild buffalo in Assam and MP
* Centre for social forestry-Allahabad
* Inst of forest management-Bhopal
* Salim Ali centre for ornithology-Coimbatore
* Heritera kanikensis found in Bittarkanika(orissa)
* Rhizophora annamalaya-Pichavaram(TN)
* Jim Corbett national park earlier known as Hailey National Park is the earliest national park of India
Courtesy: saptarshinag1.blogspot.com
Mauryas - Facts to Remember
* Diodorus's account was the earliest foreign account on India and it was written in Latin whereas Arrian's account was the latest and it was written in Greek
* Dasaratha also adopted the title piyadassi
* Radhagupta helped Asoka in his battle against his brothers
* Selukos Samvat-312 BC
* Asoka's wife Tissarakha killed the Bodhi tree as she was jealous and felt his husband was spending more time with the tree
* Arthashastra was the first written evidence of census in the world
* Adeva matraka meant the land which needed no irrigation
* Asoka's mother was Subhadrangi
* Justin stated that Chandragupta met Alexander whereas Strabo tells that Chandragupta developed marital relation with CelukosMashaka was copper coin
* During Asoka the name of Barabara hills was Khalantika
* In the edict of Lauriya nandangirh there was a single lion in the capital whereas Lauriya araraj had Garuda as the capital
* I'Tsing saw Asoka's statue in monk's garb
* Asoka's daughter Charumati was married to Nepala king Devpala
* Yona meant Greek
* Nanda army in the war against the Mauryas was led by Bhaddassala
* Vishnu Purana talks about the Mauryans
* According to Parishista Parvana the Parvataka sect made an alliance with Chandragupta to depose the Nandas
* Bivita was cattle tax whereas Set was irrigation tax
* Pingalvatsa an Ajivika fortune teller first told Bindusara that one day Asoka will be the king
* The Sohugara edict talks about famine during Asoka
* Kautilya talks about 15 mixed classes or Antyavasinas
* Megasthenes calls Shiva as Dionysus and Krishna as Heracles
* The name Asoka can be found in Maski, Gujjara and Nettur edicts
* The philosophers were exempted from taxation
* In the Bhabru edict Asoka declares his faith for Buddhism
* Errgundi was the only place where both major and minor edicts of Asoka can be found
* Dasaratha also adopted the title piyadassi
* Radhagupta helped Asoka in his battle against his brothers
* Selukos Samvat-312 BC
* Asoka's wife Tissarakha killed the Bodhi tree as she was jealous and felt his husband was spending more time with the tree
* Arthashastra was the first written evidence of census in the world
* Adeva matraka meant the land which needed no irrigation
* Asoka's mother was Subhadrangi
* Justin stated that Chandragupta met Alexander whereas Strabo tells that Chandragupta developed marital relation with CelukosMashaka was copper coin
* During Asoka the name of Barabara hills was Khalantika
* In the edict of Lauriya nandangirh there was a single lion in the capital whereas Lauriya araraj had Garuda as the capital
* I'Tsing saw Asoka's statue in monk's garb
* Asoka's daughter Charumati was married to Nepala king Devpala
* Yona meant Greek
* Nanda army in the war against the Mauryas was led by Bhaddassala
* Vishnu Purana talks about the Mauryans
* According to Parishista Parvana the Parvataka sect made an alliance with Chandragupta to depose the Nandas
* Bivita was cattle tax whereas Set was irrigation tax
* Pingalvatsa an Ajivika fortune teller first told Bindusara that one day Asoka will be the king
* The Sohugara edict talks about famine during Asoka
* Kautilya talks about 15 mixed classes or Antyavasinas
* Megasthenes calls Shiva as Dionysus and Krishna as Heracles
* The name Asoka can be found in Maski, Gujjara and Nettur edicts
* The philosophers were exempted from taxation
* In the Bhabru edict Asoka declares his faith for Buddhism
* Errgundi was the only place where both major and minor edicts of Asoka can be found
Thursday, August 13, 2009
History - Ancient India
Some facts which may be useful in pre exam.
Vedic AGe
# Saraswati is identified with Ghagghar Hakra and it was the most sacred river and known as Naditarna
# Valkhilya hymns can be found in RigVeda
# Divodasa was the father of Sudas
# Agastya aryanised South India
# Language of Upanishads was classical Sanskrit
# Samitis were most important during the selection of the King
# Gopatha Brahmana was attached to Atharva Veda
# Sautramani was the festival of Soma Drinking
# Aranyakas highligjhted the mysticism prevailing during the Vedic age
# Atharva veda talks about Sati
# Indra, Agni,Varuna,Mitra and Nyasa were the Indo-Iranian gods
# Orgin of universe was in the 10th mandala of Rigveda
# Sulagava meant sacrifice
# Ratnavamsi ceremony was a part of Rajasuya yajna
# In maitryeani upanishad the doctrine of Trimurti discussed
# Dialogue between Nachiketa and Yama in Katha Upanishad
# Yajurveda was the manual of Adhvaryus who prepared fire altars and the ground of sacrifice
# Valkhilya hymns are in the 8th mandala of Rigveda
# Nirukta written by Yaksha is the oldest work on Rigveda
# Chandogya upanishad discusses three ashramas
# First literary evidence of Gotra is Atharvaveda
# Gayatri mantra in the 3rd mandala of Rigveda
# Purush Sukta andNasadiya hymns are in the 10th mandala of RigVeda
# Sankhya was the oldest among the various philosophical schools
# Upanishads in prose form-shatpatha and chandogya
# Aghoris were the successor of the kapalikas.They had two branches -Shuddha and malina
# Namma and Tirumalisay wre the most popular Alvar saint
# Kulashekhara was an Alvar saint
# Pashupata cult was most popular in Kashmir, Gujarat and Nepal
# Of all the Brahmanical offshoots, Shaivism was the earliest
# Agamanta, Aghori, kapalika,Verrasaiva, Suddha, Pashupat,Lingayat were all shaivite offshoots
# Satvata vidhi and pancharatra agama were cults of Bhagvatism
# Manu talked about 6 kinds of slaves
# The Mora inscription talks about Panchaveera.They were Samkarshana, Aniruddha, Pradyumna, Samba and Vasudeva
# Earliest refrence to Vyuha doctrine was Brahma sutra
# Shandilya propounded Pancharatra cult
# The text of the nyanaras was known as Tevaram whereas the text of the Alvaras was known as Prabhandha
# Thirunabhukkarasu was also known as Appar
# Gautamiputra satakarni was known as Ekabrahmana
Ancient India
1. Lingusur was the first neolithic site in India
2. Pallavaram was the first neolithic site in India
3. Man started the use of fire in mesolithic age
4. Shishunaga transferred the capital of Magadh to Vaishali but Kalashoka transferred it permanently to Patliputra
5. The doctrine of Trimurti can be found in Maitreyani upanishad
6. Sautramani was a soma drinking festival
7. "No one is above the Kshatriyas"- Vrihadryanka upanishad
8. Malavas started Vikram era in 57 AD
9. Pravarsena Vakataka wrote Setubandha and Vatsbhatti wrote the Mandasore inscription
10. Cylindrical granary was found in Kalibangan
11. Auranasthanikas were the officers in cahrge of the wool market during Gupta age
12. Alexander was injured by the Malavas in the battle of Aspasoi
13. In Ramayana Magadha was known as Vasumati
14. Earliest capital of Magadha was Kusugpura.Bimbisar made Rajgir the capital
15. Agnimitra a Shunga king was the hero of Malavikagnimitram
16. Ratnavamsin ceremony was a part of Rajasuya yajna
17. Nagarjuna was a contemporary of Gautamiputra satakarni
18. Ropar was the first fortified town in Ancient India
19. In Kalibangan and Rangpur Mother Goddess was not worshipped
20. Kartipura was the earlier name of Kashmir
21. Panini hailed from Gandhara,Parsvanath from Benaras,Aryabhatta from Ujjain and Asnaga from Peshwar
22. Sites of ash mound-Kupgal,Kodekal,Utnur,Pallavoy.Ash mounds refer to the remnants of the settlements of neolithic cattle keepers
23. Only Harappan site in Afghanistan-Shortugai
24. Smritis in chronological order Manu-Yajnavalkya-Brihaspati-Narada-Katyana-Vayu-Debala
25. Nanaghat inscription recorded by Gautamiputra satakarni's mother is the earliest evidence of land grant in India
26. The Indian deities referred to by Megasthenes as Dionysus and Heracles are Shiva and Krishna
27. Anticlidas sent Helodorous to King Bhagvata
28. Kharvela was the ruler of Cheta dynastri founded by Mahameghavahana
29. Mitakshara commentary on Yajnavalkya sutra was written by Vijnanesvara
30. Buddha delivered maximum number of sermons at Sravasti
31. Gatha Sattasai a collection of love lores by Hala of Satvahana dynasty
32. Upasampada in Buddhism refers to initial conversion
33. Anguttaranikaya talks about 16 mahajanapadas
34. The Kushanas assumed divine kingship and started installing the statues of the kings in temples.This is known as Devakula.In the coins of Kushana the word Boddo is found
35. Bahrut inscription talks about Buddha's meeting with Ajatshatru.In ancient arts Buddha is shown as empty throne
36. Tundiya and Akasiya in ancient age were two tax collecting officials
37. Senguttuvan was the real hero of Silpapadikaram
38. Ulakku or alakkus meant revenue measurement during Chola period
39. Kalanju was a type of gold coin
40. Perundevanar translated Mahabharata in Tamil
41. Mahabalipuram was known as Melange during the sangam age
42. In Periplus "Damrike" referred to Tamil land
43. There was no guild for the carpenters during post mauryan era
44. Coffin burial in Harappa and double burial in Lothal
45. Dani,Mahadevan,Guntur and Fairservice worked on Harappan script
46. Alumbi Vel was revenue accountant during Sangam age
47. Manimekhalai by Sittalai Sattanar deals with Buddhism whereas Jeevakachintamani by Thiruttkkadevar deals with Jainism
48. Bhagvata Purana is the first literary evidence of Vishti
49. Ramgrah inscription belonging to the Gupta age is the first litrary evidence of prostitution
50. The Sarnath image inscription of Kanishka talks about two military generals Vanshpara and Kharapallana.Rabataka iscription also belongs to Kanishka
Courtest - saptarshinag1.blogspot.com
Vedic AGe
# Saraswati is identified with Ghagghar Hakra and it was the most sacred river and known as Naditarna
# Valkhilya hymns can be found in RigVeda
# Divodasa was the father of Sudas
# Agastya aryanised South India
# Language of Upanishads was classical Sanskrit
# Samitis were most important during the selection of the King
# Gopatha Brahmana was attached to Atharva Veda
# Sautramani was the festival of Soma Drinking
# Aranyakas highligjhted the mysticism prevailing during the Vedic age
# Atharva veda talks about Sati
# Indra, Agni,Varuna,Mitra and Nyasa were the Indo-Iranian gods
# Orgin of universe was in the 10th mandala of Rigveda
# Sulagava meant sacrifice
# Ratnavamsi ceremony was a part of Rajasuya yajna
# In maitryeani upanishad the doctrine of Trimurti discussed
# Dialogue between Nachiketa and Yama in Katha Upanishad
# Yajurveda was the manual of Adhvaryus who prepared fire altars and the ground of sacrifice
# Valkhilya hymns are in the 8th mandala of Rigveda
# Nirukta written by Yaksha is the oldest work on Rigveda
# Chandogya upanishad discusses three ashramas
# First literary evidence of Gotra is Atharvaveda
# Gayatri mantra in the 3rd mandala of Rigveda
# Purush Sukta andNasadiya hymns are in the 10th mandala of RigVeda
# Sankhya was the oldest among the various philosophical schools
# Upanishads in prose form-shatpatha and chandogya
# Aghoris were the successor of the kapalikas.They had two branches -Shuddha and malina
# Namma and Tirumalisay wre the most popular Alvar saint
# Kulashekhara was an Alvar saint
# Pashupata cult was most popular in Kashmir, Gujarat and Nepal
# Of all the Brahmanical offshoots, Shaivism was the earliest
# Agamanta, Aghori, kapalika,Verrasaiva, Suddha, Pashupat,Lingayat were all shaivite offshoots
# Satvata vidhi and pancharatra agama were cults of Bhagvatism
# Manu talked about 6 kinds of slaves
# The Mora inscription talks about Panchaveera.They were Samkarshana, Aniruddha, Pradyumna, Samba and Vasudeva
# Earliest refrence to Vyuha doctrine was Brahma sutra
# Shandilya propounded Pancharatra cult
# The text of the nyanaras was known as Tevaram whereas the text of the Alvaras was known as Prabhandha
# Thirunabhukkarasu was also known as Appar
# Gautamiputra satakarni was known as Ekabrahmana
Ancient India
1. Lingusur was the first neolithic site in India
2. Pallavaram was the first neolithic site in India
3. Man started the use of fire in mesolithic age
4. Shishunaga transferred the capital of Magadh to Vaishali but Kalashoka transferred it permanently to Patliputra
5. The doctrine of Trimurti can be found in Maitreyani upanishad
6. Sautramani was a soma drinking festival
7. "No one is above the Kshatriyas"- Vrihadryanka upanishad
8. Malavas started Vikram era in 57 AD
9. Pravarsena Vakataka wrote Setubandha and Vatsbhatti wrote the Mandasore inscription
10. Cylindrical granary was found in Kalibangan
11. Auranasthanikas were the officers in cahrge of the wool market during Gupta age
12. Alexander was injured by the Malavas in the battle of Aspasoi
13. In Ramayana Magadha was known as Vasumati
14. Earliest capital of Magadha was Kusugpura.Bimbisar made Rajgir the capital
15. Agnimitra a Shunga king was the hero of Malavikagnimitram
16. Ratnavamsin ceremony was a part of Rajasuya yajna
17. Nagarjuna was a contemporary of Gautamiputra satakarni
18. Ropar was the first fortified town in Ancient India
19. In Kalibangan and Rangpur Mother Goddess was not worshipped
20. Kartipura was the earlier name of Kashmir
21. Panini hailed from Gandhara,Parsvanath from Benaras,Aryabhatta from Ujjain and Asnaga from Peshwar
22. Sites of ash mound-Kupgal,Kodekal,Utnur,Pallavoy.Ash mounds refer to the remnants of the settlements of neolithic cattle keepers
23. Only Harappan site in Afghanistan-Shortugai
24. Smritis in chronological order Manu-Yajnavalkya-Brihaspati-Narada-Katyana-Vayu-Debala
25. Nanaghat inscription recorded by Gautamiputra satakarni's mother is the earliest evidence of land grant in India
26. The Indian deities referred to by Megasthenes as Dionysus and Heracles are Shiva and Krishna
27. Anticlidas sent Helodorous to King Bhagvata
28. Kharvela was the ruler of Cheta dynastri founded by Mahameghavahana
29. Mitakshara commentary on Yajnavalkya sutra was written by Vijnanesvara
30. Buddha delivered maximum number of sermons at Sravasti
31. Gatha Sattasai a collection of love lores by Hala of Satvahana dynasty
32. Upasampada in Buddhism refers to initial conversion
33. Anguttaranikaya talks about 16 mahajanapadas
34. The Kushanas assumed divine kingship and started installing the statues of the kings in temples.This is known as Devakula.In the coins of Kushana the word Boddo is found
35. Bahrut inscription talks about Buddha's meeting with Ajatshatru.In ancient arts Buddha is shown as empty throne
36. Tundiya and Akasiya in ancient age were two tax collecting officials
37. Senguttuvan was the real hero of Silpapadikaram
38. Ulakku or alakkus meant revenue measurement during Chola period
39. Kalanju was a type of gold coin
40. Perundevanar translated Mahabharata in Tamil
41. Mahabalipuram was known as Melange during the sangam age
42. In Periplus "Damrike" referred to Tamil land
43. There was no guild for the carpenters during post mauryan era
44. Coffin burial in Harappa and double burial in Lothal
45. Dani,Mahadevan,Guntur and Fairservice worked on Harappan script
46. Alumbi Vel was revenue accountant during Sangam age
47. Manimekhalai by Sittalai Sattanar deals with Buddhism whereas Jeevakachintamani by Thiruttkkadevar deals with Jainism
48. Bhagvata Purana is the first literary evidence of Vishti
49. Ramgrah inscription belonging to the Gupta age is the first litrary evidence of prostitution
50. The Sarnath image inscription of Kanishka talks about two military generals Vanshpara and Kharapallana.Rabataka iscription also belongs to Kanishka
Courtest - saptarshinag1.blogspot.com
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Very Useful book for History Pre
Hi. For all those who are comfortable in reading Hindi, I would suggest you to buy "Bharatiya Ithihaas" by Kiran Publication for IAS pre exam. This book has almost all the facts in very crisp way and is very useful for IAS. This year in pre exam almost 100 questions (out of 120 questions) were asked from this book. So, I would suggest you all to go though it atleast once.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Please give feedback for the blog
Request you all to kindly write your comments whether the blog has been useful for you or not. You can also participate in the survey at the end of this page. All suggestions for improvement are most welcome. Thanks.
Download NCERT books and last year papers for IAS
You can download NCERT books from the link given below
http://www.ncert.nic.in/textbooks/testing/Index.htm
You can download last year papers for IAS (both mains and pre) from the link given below
http://examrace.com/IAS_previousyearpapers.aspx
http://www.ncert.nic.in/textbooks/testing/Index.htm
You can download last year papers for IAS (both mains and pre) from the link given below
http://examrace.com/IAS_previousyearpapers.aspx
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
3 must things to clear IAS pre exam
1) Keep an Atlas with you whenever you are reading newspaper/Magazines. Mark all locations in India and abroad which are in news. For eg- Last month 15th NAM summit was held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. Try to first locate Egypt in world map, then important rivers and other Physical Features of Egypt and then locate Sharm El Sheikh also. It would be very helpful if you can gather any other important fact about Egypt. Also try to remember name of its President and Prime Minister. (in fact write it on that page in Atlas). In this way over a period of 3-4 months, just by reading newspapers and using Atlas, not only you would be able to improve your Current Affairs but also you would be able to attempt questions on Geography. Also it would give you a better understand of International relations, since physical location is one of the most important factor in IR.
2) Just keep in mind always that You don't need to attempt 150 questions to clear prelims stage. You just need around 70-80 questions right to clear prelims. ( There is no unanimity on this cut off in General Studies - Some say 60 is ok and some institutes say 90, but from my experience i think if you get around 75 questions right you will clear it easily- Of course Optional marks would also be counted but we will discuss about its cutoff later). I would suggest you to focus more on Current Affairs, Economics (here also focus on current developments), Polity (it is getting more weightage day by dayin Pre and in Mains also it has significant weightage), Geography (follow above tip, it will help alot), Some important facts about Indian culture, society
Current Affairs - Hindu, Frontline, Competition Wizard Monthly Issues, Pratiyogita Darpan Monthly Issues, Competition Wizard Yearly Issue (it is must, dont miss on this)
Economics - Read Newspaper with focus on schemes launched by Government, try to remember Chairman of important Companies, figures about Indian Economy. Pratiyogita Darpan yearly issue would help you alot.
Polity - I liked Indian Constitution by DD Basu. For quick reference TMH guide Polity portion is also good
Geography - Try to remember as much as possible by Maps. Be it Power plants or wildlife sanctuaries and National Pard or be it Rivers or Mountains. I think NCERT from class 9th to 12th would be enough.
Buy India Yearbook also. You can download softcopy from this link http://www.publicationsdivision.nic.in/others/India_2009.pdf
3) No one is superhuman, atleast not most of us are. Everyone forgets things, everyone makes mistakes. Crux is don't be disappointed if you are forgeting things, don't be disappointed if you are making mistakes. This is part of learning. Only solution is work hard and work hard and have confidence on yourself. You have decided to appear for this exam. So just have belief on yourself that you will definitely clear this exam and I am sure you will definitely. There is no one in this world who can stop you from achieving your target if you have 100% determination and focus.
I hope these 3 tips would be useful to you. ALL THE BEST. In case of any other query please leave a comment on my blog. I would be more than happy to answer your query. And Please let me know if information on this blog is useful for you or not. Thanks.
2) Just keep in mind always that You don't need to attempt 150 questions to clear prelims stage. You just need around 70-80 questions right to clear prelims. ( There is no unanimity on this cut off in General Studies - Some say 60 is ok and some institutes say 90, but from my experience i think if you get around 75 questions right you will clear it easily- Of course Optional marks would also be counted but we will discuss about its cutoff later). I would suggest you to focus more on Current Affairs, Economics (here also focus on current developments), Polity (it is getting more weightage day by dayin Pre and in Mains also it has significant weightage), Geography (follow above tip, it will help alot), Some important facts about Indian culture, society
Current Affairs - Hindu, Frontline, Competition Wizard Monthly Issues, Pratiyogita Darpan Monthly Issues, Competition Wizard Yearly Issue (it is must, dont miss on this)
Economics - Read Newspaper with focus on schemes launched by Government, try to remember Chairman of important Companies, figures about Indian Economy. Pratiyogita Darpan yearly issue would help you alot.
Polity - I liked Indian Constitution by DD Basu. For quick reference TMH guide Polity portion is also good
Geography - Try to remember as much as possible by Maps. Be it Power plants or wildlife sanctuaries and National Pard or be it Rivers or Mountains. I think NCERT from class 9th to 12th would be enough.
Buy India Yearbook also. You can download softcopy from this link http://www.publicationsdivision.nic.in/others/India_2009.pdf
3) No one is superhuman, atleast not most of us are. Everyone forgets things, everyone makes mistakes. Crux is don't be disappointed if you are forgeting things, don't be disappointed if you are making mistakes. This is part of learning. Only solution is work hard and work hard and have confidence on yourself. You have decided to appear for this exam. So just have belief on yourself that you will definitely clear this exam and I am sure you will definitely. There is no one in this world who can stop you from achieving your target if you have 100% determination and focus.
I hope these 3 tips would be useful to you. ALL THE BEST. In case of any other query please leave a comment on my blog. I would be more than happy to answer your query. And Please let me know if information on this blog is useful for you or not. Thanks.
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