Hinduism in 21st Century - Global Challenges & Opportunities

 

 

Social Cause

(Registered Society No. 614 of 2003)

 

Cordially invites you and your friends to

 

a Talk on

Hinduism in 21^st Century:

Global Challenges & Opportunities

by

 Dr. David Frawley*

Founder & Director,

The American Institute of Vedic Studies, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

 

Dr. Sahadeva Dasa

President, ISKCON, Secunderabad Chapter

will be the Guest of Honour.

 

        Dr. K. Aravinda Rao, IPS (retd.)

Former DGP of Andhra Pradesh

will preside.

 

Date & Time:

29^th February, 2012 (Wednesday) at 5:30 pm

 

Venue:

Mekaster Auditorium, Institute of Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering (IETE),

Osmania University Campus, Hyderabad

 

All are welcome.

 

* Dr. David Frawley (Pandit Vamadeva Shastri) (born 1950), a practicing Hindu in the Vedic traditions, is the founder and director of the American Institute of Vedic Studies, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA (www.vedanet.com). He has visited India a number of times and interacted with a number of savants, gurus, and religious leaders. He is one of the acknowledged authorities on Vedic, yogic, and tantric learning. He is also a professor of Vedic astrology and Ayurveda at the Hindu University of America at Orlando, Florida. His American Institute of Vedic Studies works with several important affiliated schools in countries as diverse as Germany, Russia, Czech Republic, Brazil, India and the USA.

 

He is the author of more than forty books on various aspects of Hinduism, Yoga, Vedanta, Ayurveda and Vedic astrology, published in more than twenty languages worldwide over the last thirty years. He has several books dealing with Hinduism itself, both its ancient origins and its modern challenges. His books in India are available mainly through Voice of India and Motilal Banarsidass.

virtual laboratories for ALL

Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal has launched virtual labs on 23 Feb.2012 -- a collection of 91 virtual laboratories containing hundreds of experiments in nine disciplines of science and engineering. Virtual labs would enable graduate and undergraduate college and university students to perform their required laboratory experiments using only the world wide web, a standard computer, and an internet connection. These labs also allow the sharing of costly equipment across the country, and in rural areas, students will be able to perform experiments that they would not otherwise be able to access. This project is part of the Ministry's National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT), which is aimed at providing easily accessible and high quality education in India. The pilot phase of the virtual labs project started in April 2009. During this phase, approximately 20 labs were developed as proof of concept. The main phase began in April 2010. So far, over 80 virtual labs have been developed, and are undergoing field trials in various parts of the country. Two types of virtual labs have been developed under this project. In the simulation-based virtual labs, the experiments are modeled using mathematical equations. The simulations are carried out remotely at a high-end server, and the results are communicated to the student over the internet. These labs are scalable and can cater to a large number of simultaneous users.

Highlights :

The 91 virtual laboratories will enable hundreds of experiments in nine disciplines of science and engineering.

This project is part of the ministry's National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT).

The primary focus of the labs is to provide graduate and undergraduate college and university students with the ability to perform their required laboratory experiments using only a standard computer and an Internet connection.


Nearly 300 department heads, faculty, and staff representing 152 institutions have been trained across India on the project. Over 20 Nodal Centres have been created from institutions interested in championing Virtual Labs in their organisations and geographical areas.

http://www.vlab.co.in/

100% visually impaired man cracks IAS

Guest Assistant Commissioner for a day

Bhopal,Feb 4.2012(TNN): Customs and Central Excise department has honoured a top private sector service tax payer Rajeev Dwivedi-proprietor of a manpower supply agency-by nominating him as first "Guest Assistant Commissioner" for a day on Friday. 

Dwivedi, who owns M/s Prime One Workforce Private Limited, has paid service tax to the tune of Rs three crore during nine months from April to December 2011. 
Customs and Central Excise Assistant Commissioner S K Bansal said honouring top service tax payer with guest assistant commissioner's designation is a new initiative to encourage tax payers to deposit taxes. 

After being designated as guest assistant commissioner of the day, Dwivedi was picked up from his home in the official vehicle and directively driven to the office of the commissioner in the Paryavas Bhawan. he incumbent assistant commissioner S K Bansal briefed him about the department's functioning. 

"It's a good experience", Dwivedi told reporters after being honored with the designation of guest assistant commissioner.

source : http://tkbsen.com/2012/02/top-service-tax-payer-made-%E2%80%98guest-assistant-commissioner%E2%80%99/

Customs - Information for International Air Passengers

Hi, CLICK HERE to view frequently asked information reg. Customs (Procedures, Do's & Don'ts etc.) for international travellers. (The same was compiled as part of my initiative to develop a new website for Chennai Air Customs during my tenure there, last year). Hope you'll find it useful.

--
Best Wishes,

Ravi Kiran Edara, IRS, 

Chennai.

"We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give" - Sir Winston Churchill

Indian Railway Complaint register SMS System - 8121281212

Indian Railway Complaint register SMS System - 8121281212

The Railway Helpline Number named SMS based Suggestion or Complaint System (SPCSS) to which you can SMS is 8121281212. Indian Railways has a SMS complaint number 8121281212 which works very well according to a blog post AVS Astrology.com in its blog post here. All the Railway Passengers are requested to utilise the SMS based Suggestion or Complaint System (SPCSS) Service by sending your Suggestion or Complaint through SMS to 8121281212. Please pass o­n this message to your friends and it may help someone in need including you.

source : http://www.scr.indianrailways.gov.in/view_detail.jsp?lang=0&dcd=1008&id=0,4,268

Train PNR Status on the mobile phones

The PNR is the short form of Passenger Name Record which is a unique ten digit number printed on the ticket at the top left hand corner. It is primarily used by those passengers who have already reserved their accommodation and would like to know the status of their ticket. One can get the details and status of journey by quoting the PNR number.

PNR number is a record locator that is created and stored in the computer reservation database. It acts as the primary reference that helps in finding the updated reservation status and confirmation of ticket. Nowadays, Indian railways has offered a lot of facilities for checking the PNR of the ticket by mobile, SMS, telephone and over the internet.

If you are using the IRCTC website for checking the PNR status then you should note down that the online PNR Status Enquiry is available only during 0500 Hrs to 2300 Hrs IST.  For faster processing of the passenger enquiries, Indian Railways has decided that PNR Status is only available for those PNR's where the date of journey is within 10 days from the current day. One has to offer the details of journey date in addition to PNR number for obtaining the current status.

Indian Railways has made the lives of the passengers very convenient by offering the Train PNR Status on the mobile phones. It has markedly increase the relief and comfort level of the passengers.

In order to get the PNR Status via mobile phone, one is required to type in 10 digit PNR numberthat is printed on the ticket and sends it by SMS to 9773300000. Indian Railways is offering this facility in collaboration with Google. Passengers are only required to message their PNR number to 9773300000 through their cell phone for checking the current status of PNR. One should take care not to prefix 0 or +91 for sending SMS. Passengers will be charged at the price of standard SMS only and there are no premium SMS charges applied.

source : http://pnrstatus.co.in/irctc-pnr-status.html

GS - 2011 - CSAT Prelims paper Analysis

Introduction

CSAT 2011 exam was taken on 12 June 2011. There were 100 questions worth 2 marks each. Majority of them were "4 statements true and false" (4tf) questions, i.e.  4 statements are given for each question and then you're required to identify the correct and incorrect ones. So mere acquaintance with some topic doesn't help, you need to have idea about 'what, why and how' of a topic.

To compare this 2011 paper with 2010 paper, click me

Broad analysis

History

Ancient

1. Indus valley (secular/textile)
2. Jain philosophy- world is created by
3. Vedic civilization-meaning of dharma and rita

Medival

1. Reasons for cultural contacts between southeast asia and bay of bengal

Modern post 1857

1. Nehru report recommendations
2. Usha mehta-role indian freedom struggle
3. Home charges in drain of wealth.
4. Kheda satyagraha, why
5. Land settlement system of lord cornwallis
6. Quit india movment- false statement
7. Weddernburn and caine committee 1893
8. Gandhi-book unto this last

Again no point in mugging up those 150 places of harappa where painted gray pottery was found or the 1500 kings, 1500 timelines and 1500 places (stupa here and there, castle-mosque-tomb and temple in every city)  from medieval portion.

Dates, places and kings have lost relevence for CSAT.

Polity

Panchayat

1.   metropolitan planning committee
2.   73rd amendment provides for-statements

Financial polity

1.   vote on account and interim budget-difference between them
2.   union budget is not pass it by the lok sabha when
3.   the functions of finance commission of india.
4.   consolidated fund of india-withdrawing money
5.   revenue of union government goes into each account

Static

1.   fundamental duty-which of the following is not

See majority of questions from budget /money related matters of constitution. And not a single question asking to match the article numbers or timelines. Economy is gaining importance and lime-light like never before and in future prelims, its going to the surpass the current Katrina kaif (geography). It is also time to put D.D.Basu on rest from now onwards for prelims.

Geography

Agriculture

1. Lower Gangetic climate good for which crops
2. Micro-irrigation
3. Name of state producing lot cash crops, central part producing cotton.
4. Salinization in irrigation
5. State with good climate for orchid cultivation

Physical

1. La nina is different from a el nino
2. Westerlies in southern hemisphere are stronger. Why
3. Jetcraft flies easily in lower stratosphere why?

World geography

1. Brahmaputra makes u turn because
2. African and eurasian desert belt, why formed?
3. Malacca strait-reducing travel time to east asia.

Only 11 questions (because lot has gone in to climate change topic). Agro profiles of states have became important. No mapping-questions. No specific place (city, district) based question. Only one, biodiversity area at Odisha.

Climate change-biodiversity

1. Animal living in sandy and saline area in india
2. Algal blooms in seawater
3. Carbon cycle, which adds co2
4. Biodiversity forms the basis for human existence by
5. Oil-zapper
6. Coal combustion at thermal plants, pollutants emitted
7. Ozone hole in antarctica why
8. Microbial fuel cells-statements
9. Bioasphalt important because
10. Mangroves in tsunami
11. Red data book for endangered species
12. Carbon credits-false statement.
13. Why western ghats and indo-burma regions are hot spots of biodiversity
14. Why carbon dioxide does not remain in lower atmosphere
15. Marine upwelling zones are important for ecosystem productivity because
16. Why tropical rainforest does not regenerate quickly
17. Himalayan range is rich in species diversity because
18. Central acts, having relevance with biodiversity conservation
19. Two rivers of jharkhant and odisha merging and forming biodiversity area at
20. Site for in-situ method of conservation of flora
21. Biodiversity between lower and higher latitudes

Almost 1/5th of the paper is from climate change.

Let me quote a passage from civil service times' december issue dedicated to biodiversity

Pteridophytes: india has about 1200 species under 204 genera. While species of marsilea, azolla and salvinia grow in aquatic habitats, those of acrostichum occur in mangrove ecosystems.

^See how deep and minute details are bombarded in various magazines and books, while here we find the question don't require that much depth. As UPSC itself said in syllabus "general issues on environment that donot require subject specialization" however, most questions are "4TF" type so you need to have your concepts clear.

Science and technology

Computers

1.     blu-ray disc is different from dvd
2.     bluetooth and wi-fi device -difference
3.     virtual private network

  physics

1.     lake frozen on top but bottom is liquid 
2.     cfl and led lamps-difference between them
3.     artificial satellite does not fall down because
4.     asteroids and comets-difference between them
5.     geostationary satellite meaning
6.     ionosphere facilitates radio-communication because

  chemistry

1.     brent crude oil meaning
2.     heavy water in nuclear reactor-its function

  biology

    biochemistry

1.       antioxidants and fruit
2.       aspartame artificial sweetener
3.       blood groups
4.       trans fats advertisement

    genetics

1.       bt-brinjal advantage
2.       dna sequencing will help us in

  botany

1.     tree dies when bark is removed because

Total 18 questions from science. If you count algae bloom and carbon-cycle like questions from climate change into science portion then it is around 25/100= 1/4th of the paper from science only.

No disease question this time. 3 bio-questions directly related to day-to-day life. We see ads of calorie-free sugar and trans-fat free cooking oil and antioxidants everyday. But in almost every question, they gave 4 statements and asked you to identify the true/false out of them. That's why mere acquaintance with a topic won't help, you need to have some idea on how and why of the topic. Botany makes comeback, carnivore plant last time, tree bark this time.

Bt-brijal, DNA sequencing= current affairs from magazine. (Otherwise the 'current S&T portion of Mags dealing with all those Graphene etc. didnot turn out to be very helpful)

Economy

1. Gdp and per capita income increased during last 5 years or not
2. Credit to agriculture and allied activities by various institutes
3. Economic growth is coupled with
4. Lowering of bank rate leads to
5. Value added tax. False statement
6. Closed economy, meaning
7. Class struggle process in karl marx's theory
8. Fdi and fii difference between
9. High food inflation because
10. Fiscal stimulus.
11. Current account deficit, how to reduce
12. Economically-foreign visitors in common wealth games amounts to
13. Teaser loans by commercial banks
14. Base effect's role in inflation
15. Why disinvestment in public sector enterprises
16. Mega food parks- why
17. Imf gives loans to which nations.

Like 2010, this new economy is not about numbers but understanding. Prime reason for giving economy such an important, imo is to put coaching classes at disadvantage, because their GS strategy heavily relies upon current affairs and geography.

Some coaching classes used to show off like by merely doing geography one can crack prelims. Economy has been their weakest link.

In 2010 there were 26/150 questions from economy (17%). This time it 17/100= 17%. So economy is given equal importance like last time. If you count financial polity's 5 questions in economy then it is 22/100 marks = even more than climate change.

Social economical development, rights issue, empowerment etc

1. Human rights given under universal declaration of human rights
2. Tribal insurrection in 19th-century
3. National minority-advantages given
4. Physically disabled people-benefits available under the law
5. Inclusive growth can be furthered by
6. Aam admi bima yojana
7. Micro-finance includes which facilities
8. Who is eligible for mnrega
9. Demographic dividend meaning

Again for empowerment and socio-economic topics were covered from theoretical angles by books and mags. (lifted from M.A. Sociology) child-women rights from un declarations, 500+government schemes named after rajiv and indira since the independence: big list of chronology, names-dates. Nothing asked. These questions could be solved by self study of routine books without having any special material.

Current international affairs

1. Look east policy means
2. New start
3. Australia group, and wassenaar arrangement
4. South-east Asia has got attention of global community  because

Manmohan singh and Patil's visits to southeast asia were making lot news in magazines and recently concluded trade pacts with asian nations, hence I'm putting look east in current-international. You may have prepared lot from current based national and international affairs, and here it is barely 4 marks of international! But don't get disappointed, it'll help in mains.

Public policy or yearbook stuff

Public policy study-material in market, was designed according to college-syllabus and was leading nowhere. Example, public policy topic in magazines and books was going towards all the theoretical and philosophical stuff, minister-bureaucrat relations etc. (lifted from m.a. Socio/pub.ad) while here we see the public policy questions are not philosophical but to the point e.g. Disinvestment in PSE, food parks etc. So I'm putting them in to relevant sections (economy) rather than classifying them strictly according to syllabus.

Person in news, sports and awards

Just like 2010, it is a very sad day for all those Shantiswaroop Bhatnagars, Magsaysay, Nobles and national film awards, CWG and Asian games winners. Not a single question! What a shame. Now they're doomed to be remembered only by their wives, kids, friends and neighbors…not by 

competitive exam candidates anymore. I call upon all the civil service aspirants to stop paying attention to them. Pratiyogita darpan should totally scrap down their monthly sections dedicated to these (and give us discount for less number of pages)…lol wait a minute! You may get some 2 markers related to bigwig NRI and sportsmen in mains so don't totally neglect, just because they did not ask it in prelims. Think of them as cash-crops, if you get good market price, then nothing better than that.

Conclusion

Basically the brief of whatever I've already mentioned above +not looking for any debates.

1. Dates, places and people = not important. (be it history, geography or current affairs)
2. Economy = new katrina kaif.
3. Geography= fast losing its popularity like Akshay kumar. Specific names of city, village, mountain or waterfalls not important because of the new climate change-biodiversity topic. May be this was done to crush the coaching factories.In short, Wizard's Geography special book (and any other 'special Geography book') blasting your head off with 50000 x 10^20 place names in India and World, are not important anymore. Same is true for all those 'prelim special issues' of various magazines dealing with Geography, Economy etc. because all they do is throw date-place-name-height and length details at you without clearing your concepts.
4. Self-study is sufficient for biodiversity –climate change topic, you don't need some magic-material by coaching class/magazines copied from M.sc (botany) or IPCC journals and bombarding you with tones of minute details. Climate change is taken over geography as the new 'hot topic'. 
5. Aint no point in studying in depth for medieval/ancient anymore. (hardly 4 marks) if you're feeling lucky, you may even sell your books related to that, it'd not hurt much.(unless history is your optional subject) because GS (History) mains syllabus is only post- 1857 mutiny onwards. *GS (Mains) also has Art-culture portion from Ancient-medieval, but it requires different books and different approach. Not the conventional kings and battles stuff.
6. The glorious era of India yearbook is finally over. Don't throw it away though, you can use it as dumbbells or to kill cockroaches.
7. Polity very easy, financial polity given emphasis, you could solve most by merely going through the legendary Laxmikanth. DD basu is as irrelevant for prelims as Mimoh Chakhrabarti is for bollywood. 
8. Say Goodbye to PSLV chronology and Planet :size and number of moons tables. The new 'Space/Astronomy GS' is about basic understanding only.
9. Sayonara to All the sports-related terms,famous players of each sports, measurements of playgrounds, countries participating in FIFA, CWG or Asian Games, All the Hindustani and Carnatic musicians, dancers and painters.
10. Government  has setup 5000+ National institutes on each subject (dairy,fisheries,pulses,...) in each town. But no need to remember it anymore.

source : http://mrunal-exam.blogspot.in 

Indian Forest Service Examination, 2011- Results

On the basis of results of the written part of the Indian Forest Service Examination, 2011 held by Union Public Service Commission in July 2011, the candidates with the Roll Numbers given below have qualified for Interview for the  Personality Test.

The candidature of all these candidates is PROVISIONAL subject to their being found eligible in all respects.   The candidates would  be required to produce the  original certificates in support of their claims relating to age, educational qualification, community etc.  at the time of  the  Personality Test.  They are, therefore, advised to keep the said certificates ready with them.

In accordance with the Rules of the examination, all these candidates are required to fill up the Detailed Application Form (DAF), which is available on the Commission's website http://www.upsc.gov.in.  All the qualified candidates are required to fill up the DAF and submit the same ONLINE.   The DAF will be available on the website of the Commission till 23-02-2012.  Important Instructions regarding filling up of the DAF and submitting the same ONLINE to the Commission are also available on the website.     The qualified candidates are further advised to refer to the Rules of the Indian Forest Service Examination, 2011 published in the gazette of India, dated 19th March, 2011, which is also available on the website of the Commission. 

The candidates who have been declared successful have to first get themselves registered on the relevant page of the website before filling up the ONLINE Detailed Application Form .   After submitting the DAF duly filled in ONLINE, the candidates are required to take    print out of the finally submitted DAF, separately and will have to send the printed copy of the DAF with each page  duly signed by the candidates along with all relevant documents to the  Under Secretary (IFoS),  Room No. 305, Ayog Sachivalaya Building , Union Public Service Commission, Shahjahan Road, New Delhi-110069 so as to reach the Commission's office latest by 27-02-2012.  The envelope containing the print out of the DAF submitted ONLINE should be superscribed "DAF for Indian Forest Service Examination, 2011."  It can also be delivered at UPSC by hand till   27-02-2012 (5.00 P.M.)

The exact date of interview will be intimated to the candidates through Interview Letter/e-mail.  Roll Number wise Interview Schedule will also be made available on Commission's Website in due course. The  candidates are advised to check their e-mail also for further information. No request for change in the date and time of Personality Test intimated to the candidates will be entertained under any circumstances.

The marks-sheet of candidates who have not qualified, will be put on the Commission's Website within 15 days from the date of publication of the  final result  and will remain available on the website for a period of 60 days.

The candidates can access the marks-sheets after keying in their Roll Numbers and date of birth.  The printed/hard copies of the marks-sheet would, however, be issued by UPSC to candidates based on specific request accompanied by a self addressed stamped envelope.  Candidates desirous of obtaining printed/hard copies of the marks-sheet should make the request within thirty days of the display of the marks on the Commission's Website, beyond which such requests would not be entertained.

The result will also be available on the UPSC Website http://www.upsc.gov.in The Union Public Service Commission have a Facilitation Counter at its campus.   Candidates may obtain any information/clarification regarding their examination/ result on working days between 10.00 A.M. to 5.00 P.M. in person or over telephone Nos. (011)-23385271/23381125/23098543 from this counter.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW RESULTS

Railway Reservation can be made 4 months in advance

The Ministry of Railways has decided to increase the advance reservation period for booking reserved train tickets from existing 90 days to 120 days on experimental basis (excluding the date of journey) w.e.f. March 10, 2012.

However, there will be no change in case of certain day-time express trains like Taj Express, Gomti Express etc. where lower time limits for advance reservations are at present in force. There will also be no change in case of the limit of 360 days for foreign tourists.

Source: Press Information Bureau

Economy topic - IIP introduction

 IIP: Index of Industrial Production: Meaning, implication, impact on Rupee-strength

Introduction

When we say economy is booming or industry is facing a slump: how do we know? Mere by perception? But Government or Banks or investors cannot make their policies and decisions on perception, they need some quantifiable data to work on. Hence they need IIP (index of Industrial production). It is a number, that gives you idea on how industries are performing.

<without getting technically so correct or in minute details>
Suppose industrial output of India, in the year 2004-05 was 100 crore rupees.
In 2010-11 it is 105 crore rupees.
So simple percentage calculation: 5% increase in the industrial output over the base year.
Newspaper headline: IIP shows growth of 5%. 

For this 'industrial output' value, we've to measure the output in three sectors (MEM)
1.    Mining 
2.    Electricity
3.    Manufacturing 
Then we take out the weighted arithmetic mean and that is our 'industrial output' value. Then do all the index calculation of current year and baseyear.

Meaning

•    It is a single representative figure to measure the general level of industrial activity in the economy.
•    It measures the absolute level and percentage growth of industrial production. 

Who calculates this IIP?

•    Central Statistical  Organisation  (CSO) under the Ministry of statistics and program implementation.

When do they calculate this IIP?

Every month.

Why do they calculate it every month?

Because if they calculate every year, it'll be too late for the Government or RBI to make necessary amendments in the policy ! They've to keep a constant eye on this number.

For example
1.    Automobile sector is facing very negative growth, Government may give them tax-holidays or allow them to import foreign machinery without paying import tax. [Fiscal Policy]
2.    Negative IIP may mean People don't have money in their hands, so they're not purchasing products (less demand) hence industry had to reduce the production or Businessman are having hard time borrowing because of high interest rates. = Change the repo, reverse repo CRR etc to increase money supply in people's hands. [Monetary Policy]

What are other 'Indexes'?

1.    Wholesale price index (WPI) (click me to read more)
2.    Consumer price index (CPI): four subparts

a.    Industrial Workers (CPI-IW)

b.    for Agricultural Labourers (CPI-AL);

c.    for Rural Labourers (CPI -RL)

d.    for Urban Non-Manual Employees (CPI-UNME).

What is the impact of poor Industrial Production?

Here goes mere rephrasing of another article from Firstpost.com

As a job seeker

•    Lower demand will force businesses to invest less and scale back expansion plans. That means lower hiring.
•    So, if you're looking for a job in the manufacturing/industrial sector, expect the going to get a little bit tougher. 

As a stock investor

•    Lower industrial output means lower revenues and profits (which are also getting hit by higher borrowing costs). That lowers earnings per share for investors
•    continuation of the poor IIP trend could lead to more earnings downgrades and lower stock valuations. Means FIIs start pulling their money out of India and invest it in different country   = leads to weakening of rupee.(more below)

As a shopper

•    manufacturers to offers discounts and freebies, to attract shoppers to stores. 
•    Of course, shoppers will only be inclined to spend if they still have jobs or enough disposable income.

As a borrower

•    RBI may lower the rates, to increase the money supply in the market and make borrowing easier.

As a producer/exporter:

•    businesses using locally-priced inputs, there might be a silver lining in terms of costs, which could come down.
•    if the prices of those inputs are based on international prices, they might not be so lucky because a falling rupee will increase prices in local terms.
Now some real life examples

End of rephrasing, now writing further on my own. 

IIP for October'11 : Rupee weakens

• had negative growth (-5 .1 percent).
• (This data was released in Dec'11)
• It sent panic among investors and SENSEX fell by 343 points.
• FIIs started pulling out money from our stock-market, they'd sell their stock-get rupees, get them converted into dollars and invest it elsewhere in different country.
• You get the picture: Demand of dollar$ increase and demand of rupee decrease hence the rupee made a new lifetime low of 52.** against the dollar

IIP for December 2011

• Very low +1.8 growth (In Dec'10 it was 8.1%!)
• This data was released in Feb'12.

FII

• in crude terms, it is the foreign investors who invest money in Indian stock-market.
• They pull out their money immediatly if they see problem.
• More on FII vs FDI Click Me

Source : http://mrunal-exam.blogspot.in/ 

useful computer or mobile info. from నల్లమోతు శ్రీధర్

You may visit the following locations for useful computer or mobile info. from నల్లమోతు శ్రీధర్

http://computerera.co.in/

http://computerera.co.in/blog/

http://youtube.com/nallamothu

You will find really useful info on

1. Computer & Mobile Tips and Tricks

2. Basics on Photoshop,C,C++ etc.

3. Computer Troubleshooting

4. Web designing

5. Interesting websites

6. Various useful softwares etc.

Perform or Perish: Govt amends rule for premature retirement of babus after 15 yrs

IN a significant jolting move, which may be seen as a rude shock, the Union Government has finally notified the amendment in the All India Services (Death-cum-Retirement Benefits) Rules, 1958, prescribing mandatory 'Review' of their Service Records after 15 years and 25 years in place of prevailing 30 years. The DoP&T Notification has substituted sub-rule (3) of rule 16 in this respect.

To get rid of the deadwood in the All India Services like IAS, IFS, IPS and also 58 Central Services Group 'A' like IRS, Postal Service, the Centre has, after due consultantion with the State Governments, amended the rule to compulsorily retire those officers who are found unfit to hold their posts after detailed 'Review' of their performance. Such an option was available to the Govt but only after one completed 30 years of service. Although such option was frugally exercised by the Govt but as per DoP&T Annual Report, three IAS officers were prematurely retired in 2010 by invoking the provisions of rule 16(3) of the All India Services(DCRB) Rules, 1958. And they were Dr. Desh Deepak, IAS (HP: 83); Vijendra Kumar, IAS (HP:87) and Shalini Vasisht, IAS (TN: 87).

As per the amended rule, the first review will be done after 15 years, and the second after 25 years. However, in case of the forced retirement, they will not lose their post-retirement benefits. To this extent, the Govt has decided to be compassionate. Whether such a rule is going to be the rule of the day or will sparingly be used, is to be seen in future. Meanwhile, the loud and clear message for our babudom is that perform or perish

source : http://www.taxindiaonline.com/RC2/inside2.php3?filename=bnews_detail.php3&newsid=14241

you may also read : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Bureaucrats-beware-Inept-can-be-sacked-after-15-years/opinions/11800297.cms

National Council for Senior Citizens

Prime Minister has approved the constitution of a National Council for Senior Citizens. The Council would advise the Central and State Governments on issues related to welfare of senior citizens and enhancement of their quality of life with special reference to (a) policies, programmes and legislative measures; (b) promotion of physical and financial security, health and independent and productive living, and (c) awareness generation and community mobilization.

 

The Council would be chaired by the Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment. Other members of the Council include the Minister of State, Social Justice & Empowerment, the oldest Members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, representatives of 5 State Governments (one each from the North, South, East, West & North Eastern Regions) and 1 Union Territory by rotation, 5 representatives each from Senior Citizens' Associations, Pensioners' Association, NGOs working for Senior Citizens and Experts, and five senior citizens who have distinguished themselves in various fields.

 

The Council would be anchored in the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment.