Showing posts with label APPSC GROUP-1. Show all posts
Showing posts with label APPSC GROUP-1. Show all posts

Saturday, March 12, 2011

INDIAN ECONOMY MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

1. The number of products reserved for small scale industry till October 2008 is—
(A) 35
(B) 21
(C) 81
(D) 106
Ans : (B)

2. From 2nd November, 2010, the Repo Rate has been fixed at—
(A) 3•5%
(B) 5•5%
(C) 4•5%
(D) 6•25%
Ans : (D)

3. The target company of making ‘Cell phone’ in the world is—
(A) Samsung
(B) Panasonic
(C) Nokia
(D) Motorola
Ans : (C)


4. For 2010-11, the CSO has predicted India’s GDP growth at—
(A) below 7%
(B) 8•6%
(C) 8•5%
(D) 9•5%
Ans : (B)

5. Which Indian city has the highest population?
(A) Kolkata
(B) New Delhi
(C) Chennai
(D) Mumbai
Ans : (D)

6. National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) was established in—
(A) 1950
(B) 1951
(C) 1952
(D) 1947
Ans : (A)

7. Which of the following Indian company has been listed at the top in Forbes-2000 list ?
(A) RIL
(B) ONGC
(C) IOL
(D) NTPC
Ans : (A)

8. Which state stands first in the length of roads in the country ?
(A) U. P.
(B) M. P.
(C) Maharashtra
(D) Rajasthan
Ans : (C)

9. On November 2, 2010 the Reserve Bank of India has fixed Reverse Repo Rate at—
(A) 6•25%
(B) 4•25%
(C) 5•0%
(D) 5•25%
Ans : (D)

10. Total receipts from service tax during 2011-12 has been estimated at—
(A) Rs. 58000 crore
(B) Rs. 82000 crore
(C) Rs. 78000 crore
(D) Rs. 88000 crore
Ans : (B)

11. From November 7, 2009, the SLR has been fixed at—
(A) 24%
(B) 26%
(C) 25•5%
(D) 25%
Ans : (D)

12. What minimum support price (per quintal) for the rabi 2010-11. Wheat to be marketed during 2011-12 marketing season has been fixed by the Government ?
(A) Rs. 1080
(B) Rs. 1100
(C) Rs. 1120
(D) Rs. 1180
Ans : (C)

13. On 14 January, 2011 the amount of foreign exchange reserves with RBI was—
(A) $ 183 billion
(B) $ 213 billion
(C) $ 233 billion
(D) $ 268 billion
Ans : (D)

14. Three nationalised public sector banks have joined hands with India Infrastructure Finance Co. Ltd. (IIFCL) for funding large infrastructure funds. The bank not including in this race is—
(A) Canara Bank
(B) Punjab National Bank
(C) Syndicate Bank
(D) Vijaya Bank
Ans : (B)

15. When was Focus Market Scheme introduced ?
(A) 2003-04
(B) 2004-05
(C) 2005-06
(D) 2006-07
Ans : (D)

16. The government has purchased the Reserve Bank of India’s ……… per cent stake in the country’s largest bank, the State Bank of India.
(A) 56•73
(B) 59•73
(C) 61•27
(D) 69•73
Ans : (B)

17. CENVAT is associated with—
(A) Direct Tax
(B) Income Tax
(C) Indirect Tax
(D) Service Tax
Ans : (C)

18. Which of the following occupied the highest place in growth rate during the 10th Plan period 2002-2007 ?
(A) Agricultural Sector
(B) Service Sector
(C) Industrial Sector
(D) Mining
Ans : (B)

19. As per the latest estimates of Petroleum Ministry. India’s refining capacity will be increased to …… million tonne per annum by the end of coming 11th plan, i.e., 2011-12.
(A) 210
(B) 220
(C) 230
(D) 240
Ans : (D)

20. Which one has become the 8th member of SAARC ?
(A) China
(B) Afghanistan
(C) Mauritius
(D) Myanmar
Ans : (B)

21. Agriculture sector registered 1•6% growth in 2008-09 and it is estimated for year 2010-11 at—
(A) 4•00%
(B) 4•30%
(C) 5•4%
(D) 3•61%
Ans : (C)

22. After merger, Tata-Corus has become the …… largest steel producer in the World.
(A) 3rd
(B) 4th
(C) 5th
(D) 6th
Ans : (C)

23. Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan Yojana is associated with—
(A) The development of Bihar
(B) Community toilets in slum areas
(C) Construction of houses for low income groups
(D) None of the above
Ans : (B)


24. The estimated World Gross Product for 2010 as declared by the recent report of UNO is—
(A) US $ 95•1 Trillion
(B) US $ 62•22 Trillion
(C) US $ 112•0 Trillion
(D) US $ 118•2 Trillion
Ans : (B)

25. “Pure Banking, Nothing Else” is a slogan raised by—
(A) ICICI Bank
(B) HDFC Bank
(C) SBI
(D) UTI Bank
Ans : (C)

26. “Smart Money” is a term used for—
(A) Internet Banking
(B) Credit Card
(C) Cash with Bank
(D) Cash with Public
Ans : (B)

27. Which one of the following stands at first rank in the list of top 10 steel producers in the world ?
(A) Nippon Steels
(B) Tata-Corus
(C) Arcelor-Mittal
(D) Bao Steel
Ans : (C)

28. Which of the following country has decided not to print its king’s photo on national currency ?
(A) Nepal
(B) Japan
(C) Denmark
(D) None of the above
Ans : (A)

29. The rate of Gross Domestic Savings for the 11th Plan as percentage of GDP is fixed at—
(A) 36•7%
(B) 34•8%
(C) 35•8%
(D) 33•8%
Ans : (B)

30. Who is the present (Nobember 2010) Director of Central Bureau Investigation ?
(A) Jyoti Krishna Dutt
(B) Kiran Mazumdar
(C) Amar Pratap Singh
(D) Arun Balkrishnan
Ans : (C)

31. Oil Refinery at Bhatinda is being established by—
(A) IOC
(B) HPCL
(C) Reliance
(D) BPCL
Ans : (B)

32. The maximum limit of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in public sector banking is—
(A) 51%
(B) 50%
(C) 33%
(D) 49%
Ans : (D)

33. Which of the following plan is meant for constructing houses for rural people ?
(A) Indra Avas Yojana
(B) Ambedkar Avas Yojana
(C) PURA
(D) None of the above
Ans : (A)

34. Recently foundation stone of a new rail coach making factory has been laid at—
(A) Saharsa
(B) Rae Bareli
(C) Amethi
(D) Amritsar
Ans : (B)

35. As per the declaration made in Railway Budget 2011-12, how many new Duranto Trains are to be introduced in 2011-12 ?
(A) 15
(B) 12
(C) 11
(D) 9
Ans : (D)

36. As per quick estimate for 2009-010 what is the gross domestic savings (GDS) at market price?
(A) 30•5% of GDP
(B) 33•7% of GDP
(C) 35•5% of GDP
(D) 37•5% of GDP
Ans : (B)

37. Per capita income at factor cost at constant prices (2004-05) for 2009-10 (Revised Estimates) stands at—
(A) Rs. 22580
(B) Rs. 24295
(C) Rs. 38084
(D) Rs. 33731
Ans : (D)

38. As per the latest data released by CSO, what share Indian Agriculture accounts in country’s GDP during 2009-10 ?
(A) 17•1%
(B) 17•6%
(C) 14•1%
(D) 26•6%
Ans : (C)

39. For 11th plan period 2007–2012 savings rate has been targeted at—
(A) 30.8%
(B) 31.6%
(C) 34.8%
(D) 33.6%
Ans : (C)

40. According to Small and Medium Enterprise Development Act, the maximum limit for medium enterprise is—
(A) Rs. 25 lakhs
(B) Rs. 1 crore
(C) Rs. 5 crore
(D) Rs. 10 crore
Ans : (D)

41. Recently, Ministry of Human Resource Development developed a new index termed as ‘Educational Development Index’ (EDI) related to primary and upper primary education.
The state at the top of this index is—
(A) Delhi
(B) Kerala
(C) Tamil Nadu
(D) Andhra Pradesh
Ans : (B)

42. India’s mobile market has been ranked at the……largest market of the world.
(A) Second
(B) Third
(C) Fourth
(D) Fifth
Ans : (B)

43. In 2010-11, contribution of service sector in country’s GDP is estimated at about—
(A) 48•6%
(B) 50•6%
(C) 57•3%
(D) 52•6%
Ans : (C)


44. Hutch-Essar has recently been acquired by—
(A) Bharti Airtel
(B) Vodafone
(C) Reliance
(D) Tata Mobile
Ans : (B)

45. In 2010-11 budget, the allocation for National Ganga River Basin Authority has been—
(A) Rs. 100 crore
(B) Rs. 200 crore
(C) Rs. 400 crore
(D) Rs. 500 crore
Ans : (D)

46. The tax-GDP ratio in 2010-11 is estimated at—
(A) 10•12%
(B) 10•38%
(C) 12•3%
(D) 11•98%
Ans : (B)

47. In 2011-12, the maximum limit of custom duty is proposed as—
(A) 11%
(B) 10%
(C) 9%
(D) 8%
Ans : (B)

48. In Human Development Report 2010, India has HDI ranking at—
(A) 126th
(B) 119th
(C) 127th
(D) 129th
Ans : (B)

49. As per the latest available data, in September 2010, India’s total external debt stood at—
(A) $ 122•610 billion
(B) $ 192•610 billion
(C) $ 295•8 billion
(D) $ 233•610 billion
Ans : (C)

50. In New Direct Tax Code for senior citizens, income tax exemption slab has been raised to—
(A) Rs. 2•00 lakh
(B) Rs. 2•00 lakh
(C) Rs. 2•50 lakh
(D) Rs. 3•00 lakh
Ans : (C)

51. Now the latest CRR as declared by RBI w.e.f. April 24, 2010 is—
(A) 6•0%
(B) 5•5%
(C) 5•75%
(D) 6•5%
Ans : (A)

52. As per revised estimates for 2010-11 released by CSO, the growth rate for Indian economy has been estimated to be—
(A) 9•5%
(B) 8•6%
(C) 9•8%
(D) 6•7%
Ans : (B)

53. US-based “Novelis” has recently been acquired by—
(A) Tata Group
(B) Birla Group
(C) Reliance Group
(D) Jointly by Tata and Birla Group
Ans : (B)

54. When was RBI nationalised ?
(A) 1st April, 1935
(B) 1st January, 1949
(C) 1st January, 1935
(D) 1st July, 1969
Ans : (B)

55. According to the latest data published in World Trade Statistics of WTO. India’s share in world trade of goods and services in 2006 was—
(A) 1•0%
(B) 1•1%
(C) 1•2%
(D) 1•5%
Ans : (C)

56. As per quick estimates for the year 2010-11, Indian economy’s GDP at factor cost (at current prices) stood at—
(A) Rs. 3790063 crore
(B) Rs. 4713000 crore
(C) Rs. 4879232 crore
(D) Rs. 6426277 crore
Ans : (C)

57. What is the theme of World Development Report 2010 ?
(A) Poverty and Next Generation
(B) The Real Wealth of Nations : Path Ways to Human Development
(C) Incidence of Rural Poverty
(D) Development and the Next Generation
Ans : (B)

58. How many banks are there in public sector at present ?
(A) 28
(B) 27
(C) 19
(D) 20
Ans : (B)

59. What is the national minimum wage rate fixed under minimum wage legislation on November 2009 ?
(A) Rs. 56
(B) Rs. 60
(C) Rs. 100
(D) Rs. 76
Ans : (C)

60. For attaining 9% growth rate during 11th plan, investment level has been estimated to be—
(A) 31•4% of GDP
(B) 34•8% of GDP
(C) 38•7% of GDP
(D) 36•7% of GDP
Ans : (D)

61. Indian Rupee has got its symbol as This symbol has been designed by—
(A) D. Kumar Raju
(B) Udai D. Raj
(C) D. Udai Kumar
(D) D. Udai Reddy
Ans : (C)

62. Primary gold is a gold of—
(A) 20 carat
(B) 22 carat
(C) 23 carat
(D) 24 carat
Ans : (D)

63. First share market in India was established in—
(A) Delhi
(B) Kolkata
(C) Chennai
(D) Mumbai
Ans : (D)


64. ‘Aam Admi Bima Yojana’ is an insurance scheme for rural landless households executed by the nodal agency—
(A) National Insurance Co.
(B) State Government
(C) LIC
(D) Central Government
Ans : (B)

65. Revenue Deficit as a per cent of GDP in Budget 2011-12 has been estimated at—
(A) 4•2%
(B) 6•8%
(C) 6•0%
(D) 4•6%
Ans : (D)

66. GST would be introduced from—
(A) January 1, 2012
(B) August 1, 2011
(C) April 1, 2012
(D) August 15, 2011
Ans : (C)

67. The rate of Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) proposed in the budget 2011-12 is—
(A) 15%
(B) 18•5%
(C) 20%
(D) 22%
Ans : (B)

68. Which of the following is not a financial regulator ?
(A) IRDA
(B) AMFI
(C) PFRDA
(D) SEBI
Ans : (B)

69. Inflation in India is measured on which of the following indexes/indicators ?
(A) Cost of Living Index
(B) Consumer Price Index
(C) Wholesale Price Index
(D) Gross Domestic Product
Ans : (C)

70. As per 13th Finance Commission Recommendations during 2010-15, transfers to the states from the central tax pool are expected to be—
(A) Rs. 44000 crore
(B) Rs. 164832 crore
(C) Rs. 318581 crore
(D) Rs. 107552 crore
Ans : (C)

71. From which of the following taxes, the Central Government will get the maximum revenue in 2011-12 ?
(A) Custom Duties
(B) Income Tax
(C) Excise Duties
(D) Corporation Tax
Ans : (D)

72. How many economists shared Nobel Prize in Economics for the year 2010 ?
(A) 01
(B) 02
(C) 03
(D) 04
Ans : (C)

73. The target for exports in 2013-14 has been fixed at—
(A) $ 300 billion
(B) $ 275 billion
(C) $ 250 billion
(D) $ 450 billion
Ans : (D)

74. Global Hunger Index released by IFPRI in October 2010 places India at—
(A) 58th rank
(B) 64th rank
(C) 67th rank
(D) 74th rank
Ans : (C)

75. When was the first EPZ set-up in Kandla ?
(A) 1965
(B) 1970
(C) 1975
(D) 1995
Ans : (A)

76. For rural development allocation Union Budget 2011-12 is—
(A) Rs. 16,000 crore
(B) Rs. 46,000 crore
(C) Rs. 56,000 crore
(D) Rs. 87,800 crore
Ans : (D)

77. What is true for the service tax in Union Budget 2011-12 ?
(A) It is raised from 10 to 12%
(B) It is left unchanged at 11%
(C) It is left unchanged at 10%
(D) It is reduced from 14% to 12%
Ans : (C)

78. Which part of Indian rupee has been allotted in public expenditure for repaying interest on loans in 2011-12 budget proposals ?
(A) 18 Paise
(B) 21 Paise
(C) 22 Paise
(D) 23 Paise
Ans : (A)

79. In Forbes-2000 list of the year 2010 how many Indian companies got the place ?
(A) 16
(B) 56
(C) 37
(D) 27
Ans : (B)

80. As per the latest data available (for the year 2009). Infant Mortality Rate (per thousand live births) in India is—
(A) 72
(B) 68
(C) 60
(D) 50
Ans : (D)

Indian Economy Objective Questions

1. In which of the following states India’s largest tea is produced ?
(A) Tamil Nadu
(B) Assam
(C) Karnataka
(D) Kerala
Answer: Assam


2. Bilateral trade between India and Europe is expected to touch level of $ …… billion by 2010.
(A) 50
(B) 75
(C) 100
(D) 110
Answer: 100


3. How many members are there in APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation) ?
(A) 20
(B) 21
(C) 25
(D) 27
Answer: 21



4. When did we start our First Five Year Plan ?
(A) August 15, 1947
(B) April 1, 1950
(C) April 1, 1951
(D) January 26, 1952
Answer: April 1, 1951


5. Which of the following states in India has produced maximum foodgrains ?
(A) Punjab
(B) Andhra Pradesh
(C) Uttar Pradesh
(D) Haryana
Answer: Uttar Pradesh


6. Who has written the book “My Country My Life” ?
(A) Indira Gandhi
(B) Rajgopalachari
(C) Baljeet Singh
(D) Lal Krishna Advani
Answer: Lal Krishna Advani


7. Who was the Chairman of 13th Finance Commission?
(A) Vijay L. Kelkar
(B) C. Rangrajan
(C) Deepak Pareek
(D) Indira Bhargava
Answer: Vijay L. Kelkar


8. RBI holds……equity in National Housing Bank.
(A) 50%
(B) 60%
(C) 75%
(D) 100%
Answer: 100%


9. The most active and sensitive part of the organised money market is the—
(A) Call money market
(B) Treasury bill market
(C) Commercial bill market
(D) Gilt-edged market
Answer: Call money market


10. Reserve Bank of India, established on 1st April, 1935, was originally constituted as a shareholders, institution with a share capital of—
(A) Rs. 5 crore
(B) Rs. 7 crore
(C) Rs. 9 crore
(D) Rs. 10 crore
Answer: Rs. 5 crore


11. Which one of the following countries has achieved growth rates exceeding 9% for the last two to three decades ?
(A) India
(B) China
(C) USA
(D) None of the above
Answer: China


12. Which of the following is not a Tax ?
(A) MAT
(B) SAT
(C) GST
(D) VAT
Answer: SAT


13. “The Future of India” book is written by—
(A) R. N. Malhotra
(B) Jagdish Mukhi
(C) M. S. Ahluwalia
(D) Bimal Jalan
Answer: Bimal Jalan


14. The National Stock Exchange functions from—
(A) Mumbai
(B) Kolkata
(C) New Delhi
(D) Chennai
Answer: Mumbai


15. For a study of the long-term growth of the economy we use—
(A) Personal Income
(B) Disposable Income
(C) Money GNP
(D) Real GNP
Answer: Real GNP


16. What is the purpose of the India Brand Equity Fund ?
(A) To make ‘Made in India’ a label of quality
(B) To promote in bound tourism
(C) To organise trade fairs
(D) To provide venture capital to IT sector
Answer: To make ‘Made in India’ a label of quality


17. Under the Gadgil-Mukherjee Formula, which criterion gets highest weight ?
(A) Population
(B) Tax Effort and Fiscal Discipline
(C) Income Distance
(D) Area
Answer: Income Distance


18. How much amount has been proposed for defence expenditure in the budget for 2011-12?
(A) Rs. 164000 crore
(B) Rs. 141703 crore
(C) Rs. 157344 crore
(D) Rs. 137344 crore
Answer: Rs. 164000 crore


19. How many additional services have been brought under service tax in the budget for 2011-12 ?
(A) 06
(B) 07
(C) 04
(D) 10
Answer: 04


20. How much custom duty is to be paid on 10 gram of gold as per 2010-11 budget ?
(A) Rs. 100
(B) Rs. 200
(C) Rs. 300
(D) Rs. 500
Answer: Rs. 300


21. ‘Innovation Lab’ has been launched by—
(A) Tata Consultancy Services
(B) Infosys Tech
(C) Reliance Industries
(D) Anil’s Reliance Communications
Answer: Tata Consultancy Services


22. “Development and Climate Change” is the theme of—
(A) Human Development Report 2010
(B) World Development Report 2010
(C) World Development Report 2009
(D) World Development Report 2008
Answer: World Development Report 2010


23. As per the latest WTO report, the biggest exporter country in the world during 2007 was—
(A) Germany
(B) USA
(C) China
(D) Japan
Answer: USA



24. As per the latest WTO report, the biggest importer country in the world during 2007 was—
(A) Germany
(B) USA
(C) China
(D) Japan
Answer: USA


25. The state having the lowest Maternal Mortality Rate is—
(A) Tamil Nadu
(B) Maharashtra
(C) Kerala
(D) Gujarat
Answer: Kerala


26. Which of the following organisation publishes World Investment Report ?
(A) WTO
(B) UNCTAD
(C) IMF
(D) IFC
Answer: UNCTAD


27. The proposed Steel Plant of POSCO (Pohang Steel Company) is to be established in Jagatsinghpur distt. of Orissa. To which country POSCO belongs ?
(A) USA
(B) South Africa
(C) South Korea
(D) China
Answer: South Korea


28. Who is the richest Resident Indian in the latest estimates of Economic Magazine ‘Forbes’ 2010 released in April 2010 ?
(A) Azim Premji
(B) Mukesh Ambani
(C) Anil Ambani
(D) Luxmi Mittal
Answer: Mukesh Ambani


29. When was National Saving Scheme (NSS)-92 abolished ?
(A) Nov. 1999
(B) Nov. 2002
(C) Nov. 1, 2001
(D) Nov. 2003
Answer: Nov. 1, 2001


30. In which nation, the two day summit of Finance Ministers of G-20 nations was held in October 2010 ?
(A) India
(B) China
(C) South Korea
(D) Canada
Answer: South Korea


31. Which is correct for Foreign Trade Policy 2009-14 ?
(A) The benefit of ECGC Plan is extended till 2010
(B) DEPB Scheme extended till May 2012
(C) Export Target has been set for 2010-11 at $ 260 billion
(D) None of the above
Answer: The benefit of ECGC Plan is extended till 2010


32. ‘Micro-finance Bill’ 2007 is concerned with—
(A) Regional Rural Banks
(B) Co-operative Banks
(C) NABARD
(D) All the above
Answer: NABARD


33. Moradabad has retaining its first rank in handicrafts exports. Which city comes at second rank ?
(A) Ludhiana
(B) Tirupur
(C) Panipat
(D) Jodhpur
Answer: Jodhpur


34. According to China’s Xinhua News agency, China earned $ 33•5 billion from tourism during 2006 and acquired……place in earning the highest tourism revenue in the world.
(A) Second
(B) Fourth
(C) Sixth
(D) Tenth
Answer: Sixth


35. Former President Mr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam gave a call for…… per cent GDP growth rate to uplift Indian population below the poverty line.
(A) 9%
(B) 10%
(C) 11%
(D) 12%
Answer: 10%


36. OPEC (Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries) is an organisation of how many countries ?
(A) 13
(B) 12
(C) 11
(D) 10
Answer: 11


37. Which of the following Five Year Plan has achieved its growth targets ?
(A) 8th Plan
(B) 9th Plan
(C) 10th Plan
(D) None of the above
Answer: 8th Plan


38. Capital Output Ratio of a commodity measures—
(A) Its per unit cost of production
(B) The amount of capital inverted per unit of output
(C) The ratio of capital deficiency to quantity of output
(D) The ratio of working capital employed to quantity of output
Answer: The amount of capital inverted per unit of output


39. Name the company which has signed a production sharing contract with the government for exploratory rights to two new land blocks in Tripura and Cavery Basin.
(A) OIL
(B) IOC
(C) GAIL
(D) ONGC
Answer: ONGC


40. As per 2011-12 budget the CENVAT has been fixed at—
(A) 8%
(B) 9%
(C) 10%
(D) 12%
Answer: 10%

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Important Bills

1. Central Information Commission:-
• Central information commission is constituted by the central government through a gazette
notification.
• The commission includes one chief information and not more than 10 information commission.
• All are appointed by the president.
• Oath of office is administered by the president of India according to the form set out in the first
schedule.
• Central information commission and state information commission have power of civil court.
2. Election Commission celebrates diamond jubilee:-
• The president of India recently inaugurated the diamond jubilee celebration of the election
commission of India.
• The commission was set up on Jan 25, 1950. While the rest of the constitution came into force
on Jan 26, 1950.
• Article 324 that created the commission was one of those exceptional provisions given effect as
early as on Nov 26, 1949.
• Until Oct 1989 there was just one chief election commission. In 1991 a law providing for the
appointment of two election commissioners. This law was amended and renamed in 1993.
• The election commission enjoys complete autonomy and is insulated from any kind of
executive interference.
• It also functions as a quasi-judicial body in matters of electoral disputes and other matters
involving the conduct of elections.
• However the decisions of the body are liable for independent judicial reviews by courts acting
on electoral petitions.
Principal functions of Election Commission of India:-
• Demarcation of consistencies
• Preparation of electoral rolls
• Recognition of political parties and allotment of symbols
• Scrutiny of nomination papers
• Conduct of polls
• Scrutiny of election expenses of candidates.
• The national health bill – 2009
• It seeks to provide health , health equity and justice for all Indians
3. National Health Bill- 2009
It seeks to provide health, health equity and justice for all Indians.
Its Important Features are:-
• Right to heath care:- the bill seeks to legalize the right to health care along with other issues
associated with health rights.
• Emergency care:- no individual should be denied emergency treatment because of his inability
to pay fees or due to the requirement for police clearance.
• Patient complaints:- bill seeks to make it mandatory for the hospitals to address patient
complaints on 24x7 basis.
• Name of doctor involved in treatment:- every patient has the right to know the name of
doctor/ nurse involved in his treatment.
4. National Arrears Grid:-
• Union law minister had announced that the national arrears grid and the special purpose vehicle
would implement the action plan to bring down the arrears of cases pending in various courts.
• The action plans should focus on human resource development, infrastructure development and
procedural reforms.
• It is decided that special judges to deal with all pending criminal cases where the term of
sentences was less than 3 years.
• It favored creation of a national pool of judicial officers from retired judges to enable persons
from the pool to be appointed as high court judges.
5. Gram Nyayalayas:-
• The Gram Nyayalayas act 2008 had been enacted to provide for the establishment of the gram
nyayalayas at the grass root level for the purpose of providing access to justice to the citizens at
their door steps.
Salient features:-
• It is aimed at providing inexpensive justice to people in rural areas at their door steps.
• It will have its court of judicial magistrate of the first class and its presiding officers
( Nyayadhikri) shall be appointed by the state government in consultation with the High Court.
• The Gram Nyayalaya shall be established for every panchyats at intermediate level in a district
or where there is no panchayat at intermediate level in any state for a group of contiguous
panchayats.
• Gram nyayalaya shall be a mobile court and shall exercise the powers of both criminal and civil
courts.
• Officiating nyaydhikari will go to villages work there and dispose of the cases.
6. Law commission:-
• It is a non- statutory body.
• Constituted by the government from time to time originally constituted in 1955 and it is
reconstituted every three years.
7. Judges ( inquiry) bill , 2006:-
• The judges ( inquiry ) bill 2006 established a national judicial council ( NJC) to conduct
Inquiries into allegations of incapacity or misbehavior by high court and Supreme Court judges.
• The proposed NJC would consist of the chief justice of India, two Supreme Court judges and
two high court chief justices to investigate high court judge (It has been change again in the new
draft).
• The chief justice of India and four Supreme Court judges to investigate Supreme Court judges.
• The NJC shall investigate complaints submitted by any persons, or upon receiving a references
from parliament based on a motion moved by 50 Rajya Sabha or 100 Lok Sabha m.p.
• If the allegations are proven, the NJC may impose minor measures or recommended the removal of judges. Removal of judges shall be through impeachment by parliament.
8. Biotechnology Regulating Authority of India (BRAI) bill:-
• This Bill would bring about wide ranging changes in the process of regulating research,
transport, import, manufacture and use of G.M product in the country.
Controversy regarding the Bill:-
• According to section 81 of the bill the act will have an overriding effect over other state – level
acts. Activists allege that this ignores the constitutional powers of states over agriculture and
health
• This bill has no provisions for public participation, which is a violation of article 23.2 of the
Cartagena Protocol on bio- safety to which India is a signatory.
• The bill also states that whoever without any evidence or scientific record misleads the public
about the safety of organism and products shall be punished with imprisonment for a term
which shall not be less than six months. But which may extend to one year and with fine which
may extend to two lakh rupees or with both.
• The bill serves to over ride state specific concerns by making the proposed authority solely
responsible for releasing and controlling genetically modified organisms (GMOs) through out
the country and envisages only an advisory role for state.
9. The prohibitions of unfair practices in technical, medical
educations institutions and universities bill:-

• It is drafted by the Human Resource development ministry to provide for a central law to curb
malpractices.
• However in the T.M.A pai , case supreme court held that establishment of private unaided
educational institutions was in the exercise of fundamental rights to occupations under article 19
(1) (g) of the constitution.
10. Communal violence bill:-
• It is communal violence (prevention, control and rehabilitation) bill.
• The bill empowers the centre to intervene to tackle communal violence without the concurrence
of the state government , if it is believe that state is not doing enough to control the violence.
• The bill also empowers the centre to declare any area in any state communally disturbed, if it is
convinced that the state government is not following its directions to control or to check
communal violence.
• The bill gives the central government exclusive power to constitute a unified command to deal
with communal violence.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Disputed Areas of the World


Abu Musa : Iran & UAE
Aksai Chin : India & China
Vozrozhdeniya Island : Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan
Senkakku : Japan & China
Spratly Islands : China , Malaysia , Philippines and Vietnam
Bassas da India : France & Madagaskar
Bakassi : Nigeria & Cameroon
Chagos Archipelago
Hala'ib Triangle : Sudan & Egypt
Kuril Islands : Russia & Japan
Paracel Islands: China, Taiwan & Vietnam
Preah Vihear Temple : Thailand & Cambodia
Sabah : Malaysia, Indonesia & Phillipines
Shatt al-Arab : Iran & Irak


Abu Musa : Iran & UAE
Abu Musa is a 12-km² island in the eastern Persian Gulf, part of a six-island archipelago near the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz. The island is administered by Iran as part of the Iranian province of Hormozgan, but is also claimed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Aksai Chin : India & China
Aksai Chin, is a disputed region located in the northwestern region of the Tibetan Plateau just below the western Kunlun Mountains. It is administered by China , however, claimed by India as a part of its state of Jammu and Kashmir. The region contains the lake Aksayqin Hu and the river Aksayqin He. Aksai Chin is one of the two main border disputes between China and India, the other being the dispute over Arunachal Pradesh, which is administered by India and claimed by China as South Tibet. India claims Aksai Chin as the eastern-most part of the Jammu and Kashmir state. The line that separates Indian-administered areas of Kashmir from the Aksayqin is known as the Line of Actual Control . Aksai Chin is a vast high-altitude desert of salt that reaches heights up to 5,000 metres. It covers an area of 42,685 square kilometres of the disputed territory. Geographically part of the Tibetan Plateau, Aksai Chin is referred to as the Soda Plain. The region is almost uninhabited, has no permanent settlements, and receives little precipitation as the Himalayan and other mountains block the rains from the Indian monsoon.

Vozrozhdeniya Island : Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan
Vozrozhdeniya Island, is a former island, now a peninsula, in the Aral Sea. It became a peninsula in 2002, due to ongoing shrinkage of the Aral Sea.It is now shared by Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Located in the central Aral Sea, Vozrozhdeniya Island was one of the main laboratories and testing sites for the Soviet Union government’s Microbiological Warfare Group. In 1948, a top-secret Soviet bioweapons laboratory was established here. Word of the island's danger was further spread by Soviet defectors, including Ken Alibek, the former head of the Soviet Union's bioweapons program. It was here, according to just released documents, that anthrax spores and bubonic plague bacilli were made into weapons and stored. The main town on the island was Kantubek, which lies in ruins today, but once had approximately 1,500 inhabitants.

Senkakku : Japan & China
The Senkaku Islands also known as Diaoyutai Islands or the Pinnacle Islands, are a group of disputed, uninhabited islands currently controlled by Japan, but also claimed by the Republic of China (as part of Toucheng Township in Yilan County, Taiwan) and the People's Republic of China. The islands are located northeast of Taiwan, due west of Okinawa, and due north of the end of the Ryukyu Islands in the East China Sea. Their status has emerged as a major issue in foreign relations between the People's Republic of China and Japan and between Japan and the Republic of China. Japanese government regards these islands as a part of Okinawa prefecture. While the complexity of the PRC-ROC relation has affected efforts to demonstrate Chinese sovereignty over the islands, both governments agree that the islands are part of Taiwan province.

Spratly Islands : China , Malaysia , Philippines and Vietnam
The Spratly Islands are a group of more than 650 reefs, islets, atolls, cays and islands in the South China Sea between the Philippines and Vietnam. They comprise less than five square kilometers of land area, spread over more than 400,000 square kilometers of sea. The Spratlys, as they are called, are part of the three archipelagos of the South China Sea, comprising more than 30,000 islands and reefs and which so complicates geography, governance and economics in that region of Southeast Asia. Such small and remote islands have little economic value in themselves, but are important in establishing international boundaries. There are no native islanders but there are rich fishing grounds and initial surveys indicate the islands may contain significant oil and gas. About 45 islands are occupied by relatively small numbers of military forces from People's Republic of China, Republic of China, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Brunei has established a fishing zone that overlaps a southern reef but has not made any formal claim.

Bassas da India : France & Madagaskar
Bassas da India is an uninhabited, roughly circular atoll about 10 km in diameter, which corresponds to a total size (including lagoon) of 80 km². It is located in the southern Mozambique Channel, about half-way between Madagascar (which is 385 km to the east) and Mozambique, and 110 km northwest of Europa Island. It rises steeply from the seabed 3000 m below. The reef rim averages around 100 m across and completely encloses a shallow lagoon that has a maximum depth of 15 m. Its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 123,700 km² is contiguous with that of Europa Island.

Bakassi : Nigeria & Cameroon
Bakassi is the peninsular extension of the African territory of Calabar into the Atlantic Ocean. It is currently ruled by Cameroon following the transfer of sovereignty from neighbouring Nigeria as a result of a judgment by the International Court of Justice. On 22 November 2007, the Nigerian Senate rejected the transfer, since the Green Tree Agreement ceding the area to Cameroon was contrary to Section 12(1) of the 1999 Constitution. Regardless, the territory was formally transferred to Cameroon on August 14, 2008.

Chagos Archipelago : UK , Mauritius & Seychelles
The Chagos Archipelago is a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 individual tropical islands roughly in the centre of the Indian Ocean. The Chagos lies about 500 km (300 miles) due south of the Maldives, its nearest neighbour, 1600 km (1000 miles) southwest of India, half way between Tanzania and Java. The Chagos group is a combination of different coralline structures topping a submarine ridge running southwards across the centre of the Indian Ocean, formed by volcanoes above the Réunion hotspot. Unlike in the Maldives there is not a clearly discernible pattern of arrayed atolls, which makes the whole archipelago look somewhat chaotic. Most of the coralline structures of the Chagos are submerged reefs. Officially part of the British Indian Ocean Territory, the Chagos were home to the Chagossians for more than a century and a half until the United Kingdom and the United States expelled them in the 1960s in order to allow the US to build a military base on Diego Garcia, the largest of the Chagos Islands. The deal was sanctioned by the then British Secretary of State for Defence, Denis Healey.

Hala'ib Triangle : Sudan & Egypt
The Hala'ib Triangle is an area of land measuring 20,580 km² located on the Red Sea's African coast, between the political borders of Egypt (at the 22nd circle of latitude - as per the 1899 treaty) and the administrative boundary (as per the 1902 treaty) . The major town in this area is Hala'ib. The only other populated place is Abu Ramad, 30 km northwest of Hala'ib town on the Red Sea coast. Alshalateen is an Egyptian town just on the northern administrative boundary. The closest Sudanese town south of the disputed area is Osief (Marsa Osief), located 26 km south of the 22nd circle of latitude, the political borders line claimed by Egypt.

Kuril Islands : Russia & Japan
Matua Island as seen from Raikoke.The Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands in Russia's Sakhalin Oblast region, is a volcanic archipelago that stretches approximately 1,300 km (700 miles) northeast from Hokkaido, Japan, to Kamchatka, Russia, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific Ocean. There are 56 islands in total and many more minor rocks. All of the islands are under Russian jurisdiction, although the southernmost four are claimed by Japan as part of their territory.

Paracel Islands: China, Taiwan & Vietnam
The Paracel Islands consist of over 30 islets, sandbanks or reefs, occupy about 15,000 km2 of the ocean surface, and located in the South China Sea, also known as East Vietnam Sea or East Sea. Turtles live on the islands, and seabirds have left nests and guano deposits, but there are no permanent human residents except for a small number of troops. The archipelago is approximately equidistant from the coastlines of Vietnam and China, and about one-third of the way from central Vietnam to the northern Philippines. The islands comprise of two main groups. The Amphitrite group is in the northeast and the Crescent group is in the west, and about 70 km from one another. Subject to hot and humid climate, with abundant rainfall and frequent typhoons, the archipelago is surrounded by productive fishing grounds and potential oil and gas reserves. Notably, up until the early 18th century, the present-day Spratly Islands were still delineated as part of the Paracel archipelago, and that the sovereignty over the islands has been inflaming the century-old dispute.
Preah Vihear Temple : Thailand & Cambodia
The Preah Vihear Temple or Prasat Preah Vihear is a Khmer temple situated atop a 525-metre (1,720 ft) cliff in the Dângrêk Mountains, in the Preah Vihear province of northern Cambodia and near the border of the Kantharalak district (amphoe) in the Sisaket province of northeastern Thailand. In 1962, following a significant dispute between Thailand and Cambodia over ownership of the temple, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague awarded the ownership to Cambodia.

Sabah : Malaysia, Indonesia & Phillipines
Sabah is a Malaysian state located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo . It is the second largest state in Malaysia after Sarawak, which it borders on its south-west. It also shares a border with the province of East Kalimantan of Indonesia in the south. In spite of its status as a Malaysian state, Sabah remains a disputed territory; the Philippines has a dormant claim over much of the eastern part of the territory. The capital of Sabah is Kota Kinabalu, formerly known as Jesselton. Sabah is known as "Sabah, negeri di bawah bayu", which means "Sabah, the land below the winds", because of its location just south of the typhoon-prone region around the Philippines.

Shatt al-Arab : Iran & Irak
The Shatt al-Arab is a river in Southwest Asia of some 200 kilometres in length, formed by the confluence of the Euphrates and the Tigris in the town of al-Qurnah in the Basra Governorate of southern Iraq. The southern end of the river constitutes the border between Iraq and Iran down to the mouth of the river as it discharges into the Persian Gulf. It varies in width from about 232 metres at Basra to 800 metres (2,600 ft) at its mouth. It is thought that the waterway formed relatively recently in geologic time, with the Tigris and Euphrates originally emptying into the Persian Gulf via a channel further to the west. The Karun river, a tributary which joins the waterway from the Iranian side, deposits large amounts of silt into the river; this necessitates continuous dredging to keep it navigable. The area is judged to hold the largest date palm forest in the world. In the mid-1970s, the region included 17 to 18 million date palms, an estimated one-fifth of the world's 90 million palm trees. But by 2002, war, salt, and pests had wiped out more than 14 million of the palms, including around 9 million in Iraq and 5 million in Iran. Many of the remaining 3 to 4 million trees are in poor condition.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Naxalism Problem in India

The problem of Naxalism is more dangerous than any other form of violence in India, either terrorism or religion or caste related violence. The number of people died in Naxalite violence is more than the deaths caused by insurgents in Kashmir and north-eastern states. Naxalism is an informal name given to communist groups that were born out of the Sino-Soviet split in the Indian communist movement. Ideologically they belong to various trends of Maoism. Initially the movement had its centre in West Bengal.

In recent years, Naxalites have spread into less developed areas of rural central and eastern India, such as Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh through the activities of underground groups like the Communist Party of India (Maoist). They are conducting an insurgency, the Naxalite-Maoist insurgency. They now have a presence in 40% of India’s geographical area, and are especially concentrated in an area known as the ‘Naxal Belt,’ comprising 92,000 square kilometers. According to India’s intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing, 20,000 insurgents are currently in operation, and their growing influence prompted Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to declare them as the most serious threat to India’s national security.

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
The term comes from Naxalbari, a small village in West Bengal, where a section of Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) led by Charu Majumdar and Kanu Sanyal led a violent uprising in 1967, trying to develop a ‘revolutionary opposition’ in opposition to the CPI(M) leadership. The insurrection started on May 25, 1967 in Naxalbari village when a peasant was attacked by hired hands over a land dispute. Local peasants retaliated by attacking the local landlords and the violence escalated. Majumdar greatly admired Mao Zedong of China and advocated that Indian peasants and lower classes must follow in his footsteps and overthrow the government and upper classes whom he held responsible for their plight. He engendered the Naxalite movement through his writings, the most famous being the ‘Historic Eight Documents’ which formed the basis of Naxalite ideology. In 1967 ‘Naxalites’ organized the All India Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries (AICCCR), and later broke away from CPI (M). Uprisings were organized in several parts of the country. In 1969 AICCCR gave birth to Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist).

During the 1970s, the movement was fragmented into several disputing factions. By 1980, it was estimated that around 30 Naxalite groups were active, with a combined membership of 30 000. A 2004 Home Ministry estimate puts numbers at that time as ‘9,300 hardcore underground cadre…( holding) around 6,500 regular weapons beside a large number of unlicensed country-made arms’. More recent figures put the strength of the movement at 15,000, and claim the guerrillas control an estimated one fifth of India’s forests, as well as being active in 160 of the country’s 604 administrative districts.’ India’s Research and Analysis Wing believed in 2006 that 20,000 Naxals are currently involved in the growing insurgency.

Today some groups have become legal organisations participating in parliamentary elections, such as Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation. Others, such as Communist Party of India (Maoist) and Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Janashakti are engaged in armed guerrilla struggles.

Naxalite-Maoist insurgency
The Naxalite-Maoist insurgency is a low-level war of maoists against the Indian government. The insurgency started as a peasant rebellion in the eastern Indian village of Naxalbari in 1967 and has now spread to a large swath in the central and eastern parts of the country. In 2004 the Maoist rebel organisation People’s War Group and the Maoist Communist Centre of India merged to form the Communist Party of India (Maoist). In 2006 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called the Naxalites “The single biggest internal security challenge ever faced by our country.” In 2009 Manmohan Singh said the country was “losing the battle against Maoist rebels”.

Naxalites claim to be supported by poorest rural population, especially Dalits and Adivasis. They have frequently targeted tribals, police and government workers in what they say is a fight for improved land rights and more jobs for neglected agricultural labourers and the poor and follow a strategy of rural rebellion similar to that of protracted people’s war against the government.

Region affected
The rebels claim to operate in 182 districts in India, mainly in the states of Jharkhand, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal. The area affected by Naxalism stretches from the border with Nepal to Karnataka in the South (2006). In West Bengal areas west of Howrah are affected by the insurgency. Chhattisgarh is the epicenter of the conflict (2007).

THE RED CORRIDOR
The Red Corridor is a term used to describe an impoverished region in the east of India that experiences considerable Naxalite maoist militant activity. These are also areas that suffer from the greatest illiteracy, poverty and overpopulation in modern India, and span parts of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal states.

According to Judith Vidal-Hall (2006), “More recent figures put the strength of the movement at 15,000, and claim the guerrillas control an estimated one fifth of India’s forests, as well as being active in 180 of the country’s 630 administrative districts.

There exists the pro-democratic and anti-Maoist Salwa Judum, which is a government sponsored self defense force which was constituted after the maoists unleashed a campaign of violence against the tribals of Chhattisgarh.The Ranvir Sena, a caste-supremacist paramilitary of the upper-caste landlords and proscribed terrorist organisation by the Indian government, is anti-communist and has been known to kill Dalit civilians in retaliation to Naxalite activity.

Similar self-defense groups have emerged in Andhra Pradesh during the last decade. Some of these groups are Fear Vikas, Green Tigers, Nalladandu, Red Tigers, Tirumala Tigers, Palnadu Tigers, Kakatiya Cobras, Narsa Cobras, Nallamalla Nallatrachu (Cobras) and Kranthi Sena. Over ground activists of maoists were axed to death by the Nayeem gang in 1998 and 2000. On 24 August 2005, alleged members of the self-styled Narsi Cobras killed a maoist activist in Mahbubnagar district.

Urbanization in India and issues

It is more than half of a century that India became independent. The country has evolved and emerged a lot from pre independence to post independence era. At the time of independence, the country was poverty stricken, impoverished and a rural agrarian society. In 1947, only 15 per cent of the population in cities and towns were classified under urban areas. The rapid development and economic growth helped the country achieve the status of emerged nations.

The country is now one of the leading nations among the developing countries and the progress has made the country leave behind many developed nations as well. As per recent United Nations development reports on urbanization, India has achieved 30 per cent urbanization in 2010. The urbanization in India increased from meager 10 per cent in 1901 to more than 30 per cent. However it was much lesser in terms of rank when compared to other nations that have achieved a higher rate of urbanization and much less below the world urbanization population of 50 per cent (UNPD World Urbanization Prospects: The2009 Revision).

Urbanization implicates increase in population living in urban areas. An urban area, according to the Census definition, is one that has (i) a minimum population of 5,000; (ii) at least 75 per cent of the male working population engaged in non-agricultural pursuits; and (iii) a density of population of at least 400 per square kilometre (1,000 per square mile). With increase in population, the country’s urban population also increased. The Census 2001 reports that almost 29 percent of Indians in urban India.

Apart from increase in population the other factors that have contributed to rapid urbanization are migration from rural sector to urban. This happened mainly on account of the increasing infrastructural development to facilitate growth for corporate sector. While the major factor in initiating migration from rural areas to urban sector was increased landlessness in agricultural sector, reduced livelihood potentials in rural sector and increasing employment opportunities in the urban sector with the growth of industries. The high level of income in urban areas, education, availabilities of basic amenities, improved infrastructural facilities and increase in medical facilities were some other factors that helped increase rapid urbanization.

Among the states, Tamil Nadu is the most urbanized in large states with almost half of its population living in more than 600 towns. Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab, Karnataka and Haryana are the other states where the urban population exceeds 30 per cent of the total. In terms of absolute number of people living in urban areas, Maharashtra led with 41 million in 2001, followed by Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Orissa, Assam and Bihar are very low in terms of urbanization and remained largely agricultural states, where less than 20 per cent of the population lives in urban areas. These are also the states with low per capita incomes since their residents have little recourse to the opportunities in cities.

The basic features of urban development is increasing infrastructural facilities, access to improved communication and information technologies, qualitative living standard, high income spending, consumerism and improvement in other socio economic parameters. These areas are also distinguished from the rural counterpart in terms of demographic indicators like low birth rate, low mortality, increased longevity, etc. the issues of migration, unemployment are linked to increasing the urbanization in the country. The seasonal unemployment, disguised unemployment and other factors that reduce the rural livelihood potential leads to increased migration towards urban sector. Improvements in connectivity through better communication and transport facilities have also made the migration, which was transitory in nature to permanent migration.

Besides, the increase in population the other factors that increased the urbanization in India are the development of the sub urban areas that got upgraded to the urban sector. Thus the peripheral areas got the status of urban sector. Some other semi urban areas also got upgraded to urban sector with increased amenities and setting up of institutions. Increase in village population with improved civic amenities also made these villages get the status.

Along with increased urbanization some issues emerged with the urbanization in India. The increase in slums in urban sector became a major problem. Unplanned growth of residential and commercial structures, inadequate supply of drinking water facility and increase in traffic were some other adverse effects that emerged with increase in urbanization. Also increasing urban population in absence of proportionate increase in employment opportunities also increased urban rate of unemployment.

The civic amenities were also curtailed with more persons to benefit from the existing ones. Some of the cities across India are failing to provide essential resources to the residents. Some states have managed their cities better than others. Karnataka is now reportedly the first state to plan for night shelters for the urban homeless. To address some of the issues, Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission and multiple government schemes were initiated by the central and state governments. Still the urban infrastructure is inadequate to cope even with the present rate of urbanization, with many cities turning into haphazard concrete jungles, grappling with growing problems of traffic, garbage, water and power supply.

The increase in property and assets prices is some other repercussions of the urban development. Increase in essential commodity price and non essential commodities price resulted as the demands from urban sector grew. However issues on inflation and increasing prices pertained to whole of India which has failed to increase the supply in tandem with growing population.

Conclusion:
Urbanization in India increased rapidly in post independence era. Despite the rapid growth rate the country was ranked much lower as compared to other developing nations of South East Asia. The major factors that affected urbanization were increase in population, migration from rural areas and peripheral suburban and semi-urban areas getting the urban status. However with the urban growth issues related to development also emerged. There has been increase in slums, reduction in civic amenities, increase in property prices, increase in prices of other essentials and non essential commodities.

Dowry: a social stigma

In spite of modernization and the increasing role of women in all walks of life, the practice of the dowry in India is becoming widespread, and the value of dowry is increasing. Now the dowry has become a great criterion in the marriages instead of a proper bride. If a bride’s family fails to pay the amount of dowry demanded by the prospective groom’s family, the bride will be cruelly treated by the in-laws, and in many cases will be burnt to death.

“No dowry, no marriage,” is a widespread fear in present day society. There has also been an emergence of a feudal mindset with a materialistic attitude in a new globalized economy. The price tag for the groom is now bigger and bolder. The emergence of an affluent middle class, the torchbearer of social change in modern India, is the main factor for the perpetuation of the dowry system.

Dowry is derived from the ancient Hindu customs of “kanyadan” and “stridhan”. In “kanyadan”, the father of the bride offers the father of the groom money or property, etc. whereas for “stridhan”, the bride herself gets jewelry and clothes at the time of her marriage, usually from her relatives or friends. In “varadakshina”, the father of the bride presents the groom cash or kind. All of these could be done voluntarily and out of affection and love. Payment of a dowry, gift—often financial, has a long history in many parts of the world. In India, the payments of a dowry was prohibited in 1961 under Indian civil law and subsequently by Sections 304B and 498a of the Indian Penal Code were enacted to make it easier for the wife to seek redress from potential harassment by the husband’s family. Dowry laws have come under criticism as they have been misused by women and their families.

It has become politically fashionable to attribute all forms of violence and discrimination against women, including female infanticide and female foeticide to the economic burden of dowry that a daughter is said to represent.

Dowry requirements are used as another excuse for considering daughters a burden. The anti-dowry movement, by limiting itself to the constant repetition of 'dowry abolition' as a panacea for women's empowerment and as the primary strategy for ending their oppression, has only helped give further legitimacy to the conventional belief that daughters are an economic liability.

We need to combat the culture of disinheritance if we wish to effectively combat the growing hold of dowry culture.

There is little mention of exorbitant dowries causing the ruin of families in the literature of pre-British India. Ruin due to exorbitant dowry payments became a major theme in nineteenth century literature because this period witnessed an unprecedented erosion of women's economic importance and inheritance rights due to the manner in which the colonial rulers carried out land settlement operations in India.

In conformity with Victorian norms that they were familiar with in their home country, land entitlements were given to 'male heads of the family', bypassing our customary laws that allowed various categories of entitlements to women. This concentrated property in the hands of men in an unprecedented way and paved the way for the disinheritance of women. In addition, the rapacious land revenue demands drained large amounts of the economic surplus from the rural economy. It made the peasants extremely cash poor.

However, with rural society and artisan groups becoming extremely cash poor, the tradition of ‘stridhan’ seems to have become burdensome. The traditional view of daughters as ‘paraya dhan’ got a new and deadlier meaning. The term ‘paraya dhan’ had the connotation of viewing women as wealth. This is an apt description in a society in which women carried their ‘stridhan’ with them, that is, property that is theirs by right Traditionally, the entry of a bride into her new family would be referred to as the coming of Lakshmi (Lakshmi aayi hai). Even today vestiges of that tradition remain in most communities. A young bride enters her marital home with haldi (turmeric) soaked feet, leaving auspicious marks on the floor, marks associated with Lakshmi, goddess of wealth.

Thus, our modem inheritance laws have increasingly moved in favour of men and against the interests of women. All those communities that practiced matrilineal inheritance, such as the Nairs in Kerala, have also been forced through legislation to move towards patrilineal inheritance. Systems that provided reasonable or adequate protection of women's economic rights have been steamrollered out of existence

This can only be accomplished through a fundamental shift in Indian social attitudes about both marriage and women. Perceptions about appropriate roles for women must evolve to include education and employment, the current requirement that brides surrender all future assets to in-laws must be changed so that parents can depend on daughters as well as sons in their old age, and finally, the government must undertake sustained action to prevent employment and wage discrimination against women in the labor market. Unfortunately, there was an enormous period of lag time between the time when calls for social change are actually made and the time when societal beliefs and customs actually began to transform. Today, dowry continues to be a socially accepted and rational outcome of the current Indian marriage market. True progress in the elimination of the dowry system will only come through endeavors to create awareness among Indian communities about the negative effects of dowry, through programs and government sanctions that endorse education and employment for women of all ages, and through a fundamental change in the attitudes of Indian peoples.

The laws enacted to eradicate the evil system of dowry from the society should be supported and backed by the public opinion. If progressive legislations lacks the support of public opinion it is no more than a waste bundle of papers and are regarded as dead law; as is case with the Indian Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, it must be asserted that a social reform should be done in consonance with social thinking, behaviour and after creation of a strong public opinion, as laws could only be effective when they are hacked by major section of the society. Moreover, law can only catalyze change in social behaviour, but the real change in society can be brought through the creation of new values and aspirations and willingness of the people to change their centuries old attitude. The massive task of social engineering cannot be achieved as long as the centuries old attitude and thinking remains deep rooted in the prevailing society. Apart, from this public awareness through education, media and through other means should be created; political will and commitment combined with efficient administrative support are needed to tackle the problem of dowry. Social legislations must be backed by the social awareness and must match the letter and spirit of law. As it is rightly said by Pluto, No law or ordinance is mightier than understanding.

Mid-day Meal: A Social Equity Program

All social equity programs are started with a view to make an impact on the social problems at grassroots levels. However their effectiveness depends on the program structure and strategies adopted to address the issue. In a country like India with wide cultural diversity, no single program can make a substantial dent at grassroots level without the dedication of the implementing agencies. One such project that is being undertaken by the government to address the social issues related to education in India is Mid-day Meal Scheme.

The Mid-day meal scheme can be traced for its origin way back to pre-independent India in 1925 when some school authorities in Madras district implemented the noon meal program to take care of the students need. Similar program was started in Kolkata in 1927 and Kerala in 1941. This scheme was formally adopted by the government in 1958 in independent India. However it was only in 1982 that the government undertook serious step to promote the scheme. It was then implemented with the objective to universalize the scheme in all the states with decentralized features. It was implemented in all government run primary school with the help of local authorities playing the role of implementing agencies. This was further expanded from primary age group to cover the students between the 6-14 years. By 1995, most of the South Indian states had implemented the scheme.

In 1995, the government reoriented its strategy when the stress was paid on the spread of literacy drive making it apt time to reorient the strategy. The scheme provided the government with the best alternative method to not only increase the enrolment of school going children but also addressing the other social problems such as eradication of poverty, eradication of malnourishment and undernourishment among the children. It also provided the government with the opportunity to increase the coverage of the social program with minimal cost incurred which the other poverty schemes failed to do as it was implemented through the primary school. Another benefit it entailed was giving the opportunity to address the issues at the grass root level.

The objectives and strategies of the program have been changed to suit and adjust to the national policy objectives. Initially the scheme sought to integrate the noon meals schemes that were being already implemented by some States and to cover all the States. Under the scheme, the children were given free supply of 100 grams of food grain per child per day. The State governments were required to meet the costs of infrastructure and the cooking cost. Initially, the scheme was introduced in the 2,368 blocks where the RPDS or Employment Guarantee Schemes (EGS) were being implemented and in forty low female literacy (LFL) blocks all over India. Local bodies were declared to be the implementing agencies, with supervision from the district and State levels of the government’s administrative machinery. However with the initial success of the program, the government was encouraged to implement it in all the states.

In 2000, the government’s national policies were focused on making the education and access to education a basic right of its citizen. Thus, literacy drive was launched and the government increased spending on educational infrastructure substantially. A number of primary schools were opened especially in rural areas. The existing one got the fund for improving the infrastructure by setting up buildings. The middle schools and high schools were also covered under the national literacy mission. Despite much spending, the government could not increase the literacy rate as it only helped in increasing the enrollment without substantial decrease in dropout rates.

Thus the re-strategizing of Mid-day meal scheme was done. The authorities combined it with the National Literacy Mission. Also the form was changed as now the school authorities were given the responsibility of providing the cooked food based on nutritional norms prescribed by the UN. This strategy was implemented with the twin objective. First it helped increase in enrolment and retention at the same time it also addressed the issue related to reduce the chronic hunger and malnourishment among the school going age group of children. The Mid-day meal scheme helped in increasing the learning capabilities of the children. Also the parents did not have to bear the additional cost of food.

Initially, the State governments were advised to derive finance from poverty alleviation schemes such as JRY for providing necessary infrastructure and meeting the costs. But, from April 1999 onwards, responsibility for raising their share of funding was transferred to States and Union Territories. In December 2003, Planning Commission of India asked the States to earmark a minimum of 15 per cent of additional Central assistance under the Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana (PMGY) for the financial requirements of converting grains into cooked meals.

The scheme also helped in impacting the social problem associated with the rural infrastructure. Thus the gender equity issue and social equity was also addressed as the scheme helped in making the children learn the sharing basis by sitting together and eating from the common kitchen. The school enrolment improved substantially as both the genders entering the literacy drive. This also increased the school enrolment for irrespective of the caste and cultural groups. At the level of India as a whole, the number of children covered under the MDMS rose gradually from 10.36 crore in 2001 – 02 to10.87 crore in 2004 – 05, and then registered a sharp increase to 11.94 crore in 2005 – 06.

MDMS also has the potential for creating awareness among the children about hygiene and clean environment. The Mid-day meal scheme in school provided an opportunity to educate students about the importance of washing hands and plates, of hygienic toilets and of maintaining a clean environment in and around the school. Similarly, a participatory MDMS, where parents will be involved in monitoring the programme, can play an indirect role in improving basic knowledge about nutrition and elementary education among the parents of school-going children.

Despite massive achievement, the scheme is marked with a number of weaknesses and limitations. The scheme lacks the onus to cover the children out of school and drop outs. This is major issue in making the right to education and right to food a fundamental right of the citizen. Another problem associated is resource to fund the scheme is limited. Most of the states failed to meet the cost incurred to provide the cooked food. Also in absence of adequate infrastructure, the scheme could not be provided to many schools. The infrastructural problems associated with the scheme were in terms of not only physical infrastructure as most schools did not even have the proper building and shades to carry out the project. Moreover the human laborer required for cooking the food also lacked, for which the government paid a meager amount.

Thus some of these limitations and weaknesses are being looked into and adequate measures are being taken to step up efforts to make the scheme a big success.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Secularism in India

"I do not expect India of my dreams to develop one religion, i.e., to be wholly Hindu or wholly Christian or wholly Mussalman, but I want it to be wholly tolerant, with its religions working side by side with one another.'' So said Mahatma Gandhi.

India has been declared a secular state by its written constitution and it is every Indians duty to stand by and believe in this declaration. And yet recent political and social events have questioned this declaration. Is India a secular country only on paper or does secularism actually exist in India; or is in the form of pseudo- secularism, a term the BJP and its allies seem to repeatedly harp on.

During the freedom struggle, secularism was emerging as the most dominant principle. The leaders of the Indian National Congress; Gandhi, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Nehru and others were deeply committed to the ideal of secularism, though each expressed it in very different manners. Secularism became the mantra of the Indian nation, a nation exhausted by partition and sectarian riots and above all the assassination of Gandhiji, did not want any more divisive talk. The founding fathers represented the aspirations of the different sections of society and it is due to the struggles of these different people that secular principles got enshrined into the Indian constitution.

Under Jawaharlal Nehru and later under his successors in the Congress Party, the concept of a secular nation-state was officially adopted as India's path to political modernity and national integration. Unlike in the West, where secularism came mainly out of the conflict between the Church and the State, secularism in India was conceived as a system that sustained religious and cultural pluralism.

In the post Independent scenario the social dynamics was very complex. The process of secularisation/industrialisation was going on at a slow pace. Even at this stage, though constitution was secular, the state apparatus: the bureaucracy, the judiciary, the army and the police were infiltrated by communal elements. The Congress government, though predominantly secular, had many leaders in important positions who were influenced by a Hindu communal ideology. This resulted in a social development that was mixed; on the one hand secularism thrived and on the other though communalism remained dormant, was never dead. With the social changes of the late 70's and the early 80's, communalism got a strong boost and it started attacking secularism in a big way.

The B.J.P. was quick to take up the mantle of 'the' communal party, riding on the wave of the post-mandal upper class/caste backlash. The BJP began attacking, what they called "pseudo-secularism", which pampered the minorities at the expense of the majority and demanded that special rights for minorities be taken away.

Supporting the BJP was the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, a relatively new outfit with branches all over the world and drawing on support, both moral and financial, from the Hindu diaspora in the West. This took an aggressive form when the Babri Masjid\Ramjanambhoomi controversy erupted. This period also saw the rise of other militant Hindu organizations such as the BajrangDal and the Shivsena. These groups quickly mushroomed and poisoned the social space with communal rhetoric and the agenda of Hindu Rashtra; and launched an ideological, social and political onslaught on secular ethos, syncretic culture and composite nationalism. They refused to recognize the contributions of Muslims and other minorities, to India's history and culture. They selectively concentrated on intolerant Muslim rulers, extending their often-brutal conduct to the entire period of Muslim rule and, even to all Muslims. But such prejudices were not openly aired in public; but now they have not only gained legitimacy, but have also almost become the mainstream opinion.

The attack on the Mosque at Ayodhya led to a rash of violence across the country. The events leading to the demolition of Babri Masjid and their aftermath of communal carnage mark a watershed in the history of free India. The traumatic events clearly exposed the chasm that had been created between the two communities by communal forces.

The year 2002 witnessed one of the most devastating riots in Gujarat where mobs went on a rampage, destroying Muslim homes and businesses, killed Muslims, including men women and children and drove thousands of people away from their homes. The ostensible reason for this fury was the burning of a train coach that was carrying Hindu pilgrims returning from Ayodhya. Fifty-nine people including women and children died in the fire. This action, sparked off, as the state's Chief Minister put it, in Newtonian terms, a reaction, except that it was grossly disproportionate to the original crime. A Human Right's Watch report paints a chilling picture of state complicity in the religious violence in Gujarat. This marks the first time when the state has emerged as a major player and actor in violence by mobs, a qualitative change from previous such situations in India. It is in this backdrop that one has to understand, as to why it is only during the last decade and a half that secularism has come under a cloud and the concept of a Hindu Rashtra is being asserted aggressively.

Today, the biggest challenge to the Indian nation is coming from forces claiming to represent the mainstream majority. There is an emergence of extremist voices that claim to speak for Hindus and they are laying down demands that threaten the very idea of a secular India. The biggest area of concern is that the state has emerged to be complicit, as an actor and player in mounting this challenge to Indian pluralism, which goes under the name of Hindutva.

The communal forces are actively propagating the myth that Secularism is a new mask of fundamentalism. They denigrate the secular policies, which are a hindrance to Hindu Right's unobstructed march to subjugate the oppressed in general and minorities in particular. They are equating fundamentalism with Islam; and the policies of Indian rulers with secularism, and the appeasement of mullahs as being synonymous with secular policies. Further, Hindutva forces accuse that secularism pampers the Muslims as a vote bank. The Muslims are accused of extra-territorial loyalty because they allegedly cheer for Pakistan whenever India and Pakistan play cricket. Since Muslims are being thought synonymous to fundamentalism; therefore the assertion that the Indian state is appeasing fundamentalists in the name of secularism. It is precisely on this charge that the Father of Indian Nationalism, Mahatma Gandhi, was assassinated by one of the votaries of Hindutva.

The Christians, who are much lesser in number, are accused of being more loyal to the Vatican, another outside force and of trying to convert poor Hindus with inducements of education and food. Who can forget the brutal burning of Graham Staines and his two minor sons by a member of the Bajrang Dal in the name of religion? Or even the rape of some sisters in Gujarat, their fault being the spreading of the word of their God.

The fact, however, is that the social and the economic conditions of the Muslim community is dismal. If at all the opportunist political policies of various governments have struck compromises, it has been with certain religious leaders of the minorities and the minorities have been kept in abysmal conditions. In that sense, the govt. policies have been anti-oppressed, rather than pro Muslim. Further, the fact that 130 million Muslims decided to stay back in India rather than joining Pakistan, should settle their status as true citizens.

Secularism introduces science, technology and rationalism in the society and forms the basis of a modern secular state. In the process, it has to oppose and struggle against the clergy and vested forces in the society. And as such, the fundamentalist communal onslaughts are the 'other' of secularism and secularization. The oppressed sections join the secular movement to wrest the accompanying liberal space that can be the base for launching the struggles for their rights. Fundamentalism is the regressive reaction of feudal elements and sections of middle classes in league with the clergy, to crush the aspirations of oppressed class, whose movements for their rights is a big source of tension for them. The secularization process and the accompanying movements of the oppressed increase the insecurity of fundamentalist forces. They try to lure these classes into their fold through religion and liberal use of money and muscle power.

The burgeoning neo-middle classes have emerged as pivotal points that embraced consumerism as modernity but simultaneously began looking towards culture and tradition for support. The advent of globalization has been welcomed in India but it has also shaken people who fear that their own cultures will be destroyed. Hence they show an inclination towards the conservative Hindu identity. It's all about culture, religion and ritual, all cleverly juxtaposed with nationalism: what is Hindu is Indian and from that follows, what is not Hindu is not Indian.

A new disturbing trend has been witnessed in recent years where villages are no longer tranquil as urban-rural interactions have become much more intense. With subdivisions of land holdings, there are few jobs left in the villages for the agricultural class. They are looking outside the village and getting involved with the issues and ideas that have a reach beyond the village. The prosperous classes in rural India have also actively promoted the VHP and other communal forces. We can no longer ignore the possibility that post Gujarat 2002, villages too can become sites of ethnic riots.

There is a blatant attempt to subvert history, change school curricula and create a new set up in line with a Hindu Rastra. There is a new, muscular nationalism, one that holds up the nuclear bomb as a sign of strength and wants to keep neighbours and internal minorities in their place, and which derives its strength from invented mythology; and has taken over the polity. Indian secularism, once thought to be non-negotiable, is beginning to look shaky now. In a country with over 140 million Muslims and million of Christians, to say nothing of hundreds of other castes and communities, this can have very dangerous consequences.

It is not so much a question of defending or preserving the existing secular character of the Indian polity, but rather a need to create and build a secular polity in the nation. Only the ideal of building a secular democratic nation can stem the tide of communal fascism in the country. Sarva Dharma Sambhav has to operate at the personal as well as the social level, while Dharma Nirpekshata or Secularism per se continues to be the state policy. Religious clergy, bigotry, dogmas and rituals cannot be allowed to guide the state.

Mahatma Gandhi has rightly said: "I swear by my religion, I will die for it. But it is my personal affair. The State has nothing to do with it. The State would look after your secular welfare, health, communications, foreign relations, currency and so on, but not your or my religion. That is everybody's personal concern!!"

Hinduism is a faith that on the whole is favorable to the development of the secular state in India. It also has a strong tradition of freedom of conscience and tolerance of religious diversity that is not rightly projected by the Hindutva forces.

This strength of the Hindu religion is now viewed as a weakness. Secularism in the Indian context should imply respect for pluralism and a non-coercive and a voluntary recourse to change. Respect for diversity not only embodies the democratic spirit, it is the real guarantee of unity. We should value democratic, not fascistic, unity. No democratic society can downgrade diversity and pluralism in the name of unity. Secular ethics can be strengthened only when the acts of vandalism are sternly dealt with and the guilty are made to pay for it. With secularism that insists on the inalienable rights of the citizens and a due process of law, it will be easier to mount public pressure against sectarian killers and those who promote hatred. The battle of secularism and democracy has also to be fought at the grass root levels where a set ideals generating strong idealism is required to mobilize and prepare the masses for struggle.

In the end, secularism begins in the heart of every individual. There should be no feeling of "otherness" as we all have is a shared history. India being a traditional society that contains not one, but many traditions owing their origin in part to the different religions that exist here, has so far managed to retain the secular character of its polity. Ours is a society where Sufis and Bhakti saints have brought in a cultural acceptance for each other. Are we going to let it all go to waste and listen to people who have concern for their careers as politicians or leaders rather than our welfare at heart? Let us instead concentrate our efforts at making India a powerful and progressive nation.

Corruption In India

All luxury corrupts either the morals or the state.

- Joubert

Corruption in the Indian society has prevailed from time immemorial in one form or the other. The basic inception of corruption started with our opportunistic leaders who have already done greater damage to our nation. People who work on right principles are unrecognized and considered to be foolish in the modern society. Corruption in India is a result of the connection between bureaucrats, politicians and criminals. Earlier, bribes were paid for getting wrong things done, but now bribe is paid for getting right things done at right time. Further, corruption has become something respectable in India, because respectable people are involved in it. Social corruption like less weighing of products, adulteration in edible items, and bribery of various kind have incessantly prevailed in the society.

In today’s scenario, if a person wants a government job he has to pay lakhs of rupees to the higher officials irrespective of satisfying all the eligibility criteria. In every office one has either to give money to the employee concerned or arrange for some sources to get work done. There is adulteration and duplicate weighing of products in food and civil supplies department by unscrupulous workers who cheat the consumers by playing with the health and lives of the people. In the assessment of property tax the officers charge money even if the house is built properly according to the Government rules and regulations.

Political corruption is worst in India. The major cause of concern is that corruption is weakening the political body and damaging the supreme importance of the law governing the society. Nowadays politics is only for criminals and criminals are meant to be in politics. Elections in many parts of the country have become associated with a host of criminal activities. Threatening voters to vote for a particular candidate or physically prevent voters from going in to the polling booth – especially weaker sections of the society like tribals, dalits and rural woman occurs frequently in several parts of the country. Recently, the Government increased the salary of the M.P.’s from Rs.16, 000 to Rs.50, 000, that is 300% increase to the existing salary. But many of them are unhappy with rise and want the Government to increase the salary to a much more extent. This clearly shows how the politicians are in constant thirst for monetary benefits and not caring about the welfare of the people. Tax evasion is one of the most popular forms of corruption. It is mostly practiced by Government officials and politicians who lead to the accumulation of black money which in turn spoils the moral of the people.

Major Factors Responsible For Corruption:

  1. The most important factor is the nature of the human being. People in general, have a great thirst for luxuries and comforts and as a result of which they get themselves involved in all unscrupulous activities that result in monetary or material benefits.
  2. Moral and spiritual values are not given utmost importance in educational system, which is highly responsible for the deterioration of the society.
  3. The salary paid to employees is very less and as a result of which they are forced to earn money by illegal ways.
  4. The punishments imposed on the criminals are inadequate.
    1. The political leaders have spoiled the society completely. They lead a luxurious life and do not even care about the society.
    2. People of India are not awakened and enlightened. They fear to raise their voice against anti-social elements prevailing in the society.

Measures To Control Corruption:

There are some specific measures to control increasing corruption.
  1. The Right to Information Act (RTI) gives one all the required information about the Government, such as what the Government is doing with our tax payments. Under this act, one has the right to ask the Government on any problem which one faces. There is a Public Information Officer (PIO) appointed in every Government department, who is responsible for collecting information wanted by the citizens and providing them with the relevant information on payment of a nominal fee to the PIO. If the PIO refuses to accept the application or if the applicant does not receive the required information on time then the applicant can make a complaint to the respective information commission, which has the power to impose a penalty up to Rs.25, 000 on the errant PIO.
  2. Another potent check on corruption is Central Vigilance Commission (CVC). It was setup by the Government to advise and guide Central Government agencies in the areas of vigilance. If there are any cases of corruption or any complaints thereof, then that can be reported to the CVC. CVC also shoulders the responsibility of creating more awareness among people regarding the consequences of giving and taking of bribes and corruption.
  3. Establishment of special courts for speedy justice can be a huge positive aspect. Much time should not elapse between the registration of a case and the delivery of judgment.
  4. Strong and stringent laws need to be enacted which gives no room for the guilty to escape.
  5. In many cases, the employees opt for corrupt means out of compulsion and not by choice. Some people are of the opinion that the wages paid are insufficient to feed their families. If they are paid better, they would not be forced to accept bribe.

The one thing that needs to be ensured is proper, impartial, and unbiased use of various anti-social regulations to take strong, deterrent, and timely legal action against the offenders, irrespective of their political influences or money power. Firm and strong steps are needed to curb the menace and an atmosphere has to created where the good, patriotic, intellectuals come forward to serve the country with pride, virtue, and honesty for the welfare of the people of India.