Important Autobiographies by Indians

Important Autobiographies by Indians.

1. The Test of My Life ‐ Yuvraj Singh
2. Wings of Fire ‐ APJ Abdul Kalam
3. Courage and Conviction ‐ Gen VK Singh
4. A Shot at History ‐ Abhinav Bindra
5. The Race of My Life ‐ Milkha Singh
6. One Life Is Not Enough ‐ K Natwar Singh
7. The Substance and The Shadow ‐ Dilip Kumar
8. The Unbreakable ‐ Mary Kom
9. Playing It My Way ‐ Sachin Tendulkar
10. Not Just an Accountant : The Diary of the
Nation's Conscience Keeper ‐ Vinod Rai
11. Straight from the Heart ‐ Kapil Dev
12. All From Memory ‐ BV Acharya
13. Matters of Discretion ‐ Inder Kumar Gujral
14. My Country My Life ‐ LK Advani
15. Truth, Love & a Little Malice ‐ Khushwant Singh
16. Jakhan Choto Chilam ‐ Satyajit Ray
17. Lucknow Boy: A Memoir ‐ Vinod Mehta
18. And then One Day : A Memoir ‐ Nasiruddin Shah
19. Sunny Days ‐ Sunil Gavaskar

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2016 Pulitzer Prizes Announced

2016 Pulitzer Prizes Announced 

The 2016 Pulitzer Prizes were announced on 18th April in the US. It is an award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature, and musical composition in the United States.

It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of American (Hungarian-born) Joseph Pulitzer who had made his fortune as a newspaper publisher, and is administered by Columbia University in New York City.


The prizes are awarded yearly in twenty-one categories. In this award, twenty of the categories, each winner receives a certificate and a US$10,000 cash award and the one winner in the public service category of the journalism competition is awarded a gold medal.


Here is the list of some winners.

Breaking News Reporting – Los Angeles Times Staff

Investigative Reporting – Leonora LaPeter Anton and Anthony Cormier of the Tampa Bay Times and Michael Braga of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Explanatory Reporting – T. Christian Miller of ProPublica and Ken Armstrong of The Marshall Project

Local Reporting – Michael LaForgia, Cara Fitzpatrick and Lisa Gartner of the Tampa Bay Times.

National Reporting – The Washington Post Staff

International Reporting – Alissa J. Rubin of The New York Times

Feature Writing – Kathryn Schulz of The New Yorker

Commentary – Farah Stockman of The Boston Globe

Criticism – Emily Nussbaum of The New Yorker

Editorial Writing – John Hackworth of Sun Newspapers, Charlotte Harbor, FL

Editorial Cartooning – Jack Ohman The Sacramento Bee

Breaking News Photography – Mauricio Lima, Sergey Ponomarev, Tyler Hicks and Daniel Etter of The New York Times and Photography Staff of Thomson Reuters.

Feature Photography – Jessica Rinaldi of The Boston Globe

Fiction – The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen (Grove Press)Drama – Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda

History – Custer’s Trials: A Life on the Frontier of a New America by T.J. Stiles (Alfred A. Knopf)

Biography – Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan (Penguin Press)

Poetry – Ozone Journal by Peter Balakian (University of  Chicago Press)

Nonfiction – Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS by Joby Warrick (Doubleday)

Music – In for a Penny, In for a Pound by Henry Threadgill (Pi Recordings)

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Impact of Non Performing Assets

1. What is the impact of Non Performing Assets (NPA) in the banking sector on the over all economy? What has union budget done to resolve this issue?

The NPA in the public sector banks is estimated to be at little over 6%. 11 public sector banks have declared losses after a long time  due to NPAs. The problem has substantially increased in the post crisis period.
NPA impact on the overall economy will be as follows –
1. Restrictions on the investment
2. Growth recovery is obstructed
3. Loans to the agricultural sector will decrease
4. Repo rate reduction does not result in reviving the investment cycle
5. There will be high inflation and large fiscal deficits (IMF)
The measures under taken by the 2016 budget to handle this twin balance sheet problem are –
1. Allocation of 25,000 crore as part of the recapitalisation process , if needed more will be allocated. ( it is a direct measure)
2. introduction of a comprehensive code of resolution of financial firms
3. Amendments in SARFAESI (The Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest)Act 2002 to enable the sponsor of an ARC(Asset Reconstruction Company) to hold up to 100% stake in the ARC and permit non institutional investors to invest in securitization Receipts.
4. Amendment to the Debt Recovery Tribunal law and making them functioning online
5. Introduction of comprehensive central legislation to deal with the menace of illicit deposit taking schemes
6. Increasing members and benches of the securities appellate tribunal
7. Increasing the amount sanctioned under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana
These measures would help the credit flow and remove credit constraints for real sector. In addition, there is also a need for -
a. Implementing the PJ Nayak Committee recommendations on the Review of Governance of Boards of Banks in India.
b. Continuing the fiscal consolidation measures
c. Banks have to adjust the liquidity to their assets

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Mini Moon

The moon will appear to be smaller in size on full moon day on Thursday, a phenomenon known as 'Mini Moon' which will recur only after 15 years.

On Thursday at 9.35pm IST, the moon will be close to its apogee - the farthest point in its orbit around the earth which is a distance of around 406,350 km from the earth.
On an average the moon is 384,000 km away from the earth.

"When the full moon happens tomorrow it will still be very close to its farthest point from the earth. So it will be smaller than an average full moon," Debiprosad Duari, Director of M P Birla Planetarium, Kolkata, told PTI on Wednesday

Sky-gazers in India will however not be able to see the 'Mini Moon' at its precise apogee, which will happen at 10.55am on Thursday, due to the presence of daylight.

However, at night the view of the 'Mini Moon' will only be a shade lighter, he said.

The next time when the moon will be farther than tomorrow will be on December 10, 2030, he said.

The colour of the celestial body will be its usual silvery pearl and not any shade of pink or green as was being rumored over the Internet, Duari said.

Compared to a super-moon, a phenomenon when the moon is nearest to the earth, the mini moon will be 14 percent smaller in size.

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Who Was/Is Dr. B. R. Ambedkar?

He is beyond slayer, prophet, a revolutionary or a dalit icon.
Reserve Bank Of India (RBI) was conceptualized by the guidelines from his book "Problem of Rupee; its origin and its solutions''.
Established finance commission of india.
To empower women at that time, presented Hindu Code Bill in parliament but it was opposed by almost every male member of parliament (including Nehru and Sardar Patel). If passed, it would have ended Sati Pratha, Dowry system in 1951 only. After the bill lapsed, he resigned. (the draft also included divorce rights to women, portions of inheritance to daughters, while giving widows complete property rights.)
"I Measure progress of a community by the degree of progress which women have achieved."
As Labour Minister in the Viceroy’s Council, he successfully led the struggle for reduction of work from 12 hours a day to 8 hours in 1942. He contributed the idea of setting up of Employment Exchanges in India.
He was almost single handedly responsible for establishing the Central Technical Power Board, the National Power Grid System and the Central Water Irrigation and Navigation Commission.
Rejected to draft article 370.
He proved the importance of price stability than exchange stability. He analysed the silver and gold rate exchange and its effect on Indian economy.
He contributed in Land Revenue Tax and excise duty policies to stabilize Indian economy.
He played an important role in the land reform and the state economic development.
According to him Hindu caste system, divided labours, was one of the hurdles for the economic progress. He emphasized on free economy with stable rupee which India has adopted recently.
He advocated the birth control rate to develop the Indian economy. This policy has been adopted by Indian government as national policy for family planning.
He emphasized on equal rights to women for economic development.
He laid the foundation of industrial relations after Indian independence.
"Dr. Ambedkar is my father in economics/ He is true celebrated champion of the underprivileged. He deserves more than what he achieved today. his contribution in economics is marvelous and will be remembered forever...."
-Amartya Sen | Nobel for economics
The Slogan Educate, Unite, Agitate.
ANNIVERSARIES are usually moments of stock taking, assessing achievements and failures. In the case of Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, such an exercise would be both presumptuous and foolish. With many great leaders, we assess how they measure up to standards and ideals of a civilization. In Ambedkar’s case, the reverse is true. He is the yardstick to which a whole civilization must measure up.
We don’t judge him by our ideals; he should be the ideal by which we judge ourselves. In engaging with Ambedkar, the question is not of assessing him; it is of assessing ourselves, and trying to understand why we continue to avoid confronting his bracing call to justice, his advocacy of reason, the depth of his institutional imagination. He is the mirror in which we dare not look at ourselves; his presence is a constant reminder of our bad conscience and bad faith.

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India's first printed BankNotes

India's first printed Banknotes

1812 Along with the Bank of Madras and the Bank of Bombay, the Bank of Bengal is one of the three Presidency Bank operating within the country. While it started as the Bank of Calcutta, the Bank of Bengal was officially  renamed on June 2, 1809 when it received its first Royal Charter incorporating it as theBank of Bengal. Today, it issued the first confirmed banknote, which was of 250 Sicca Rupees. These nnotes pay an interest of 10-12 percent a year, and are expected to be profitable investment. The notes will be printed by Perkins, Heath & co. in England.

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This is what Surrounds us.

Earth is surrounded with...

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What are Panama papers ?

Mossack Fonseca is not a household name, but the Panamanian law firm has long been well-known to the global financial and political elite, and thanks to a massive 2.6-terabyte leak of its confidential papers to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists it's about to become much better known. A huge team of hundreds of journalists is poring over the documents they are calling the Panama Papers.

The firm's operations are diverse and international in scope, but they originate in a single specialty — helping foreigners set up Panamanian shell companies to hold financial assets while obscuring the identities of their real owners. Since its founding in 1977, it's expanded its interests outside of Panama to include more than 40 offices worldwide, helping a global client base work with shell companies not just in Panama but also the Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands, and other notorious tax havens around the world.

The documents provide details on some shocking acts of corruption in Russia, hint at scandalous goings-on in a range of developing nations, and may prompt a political crisis in Iceland.

But they also offer the most granular look ever at a banal reality that's long been hiding in plain sight. Even as the world's wealthiest and most powerful nations have engaged in increasingly complex and intensive efforts at international cooperation to smooth the wheels of global commerce, they have willfully chosen to allow the wealthiest members of Western society to shield their financial assets from taxation (and in many cases divorce or bankruptcy settlement) by taking advantage of shell companies and tax havens.

If Panama or the Cayman Islands were acting to undermine the integrity of the global pharmaceutical patent system, the United States would stop them. But the political elite of powerful Western nations have not acted to stop relatively puny Caribbean nations from undermining the integrity of the global tax system — largely because Western economic elites don't want them to.

What do the Panama Papers show?

As you would imagine, there is quite a lot in the 2.6 terabytes. Here are a few of the highlights the team found, with links to the full stories where you can read the details:

• Vladimir Putin's inner circle appears to control about $2 billion worth of offshore assets.
• The prime minister of Iceland secretly owned the debt of failed Icelandic bankswhile he was involved in political negotiations over their fate.
• The family of Pakistan's prime minister owns millions of dollars' worth of real estate via offshore accounts.
• Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko pledged to sell his Ukrainian business interests during his campaign, but appears instead to have transferred them to an offshore company he controls.

What's a shell company? Why would someone want one?

Sometimes a person or a well-known company or institution wants to buy things or own assets in a way that obscures who the real buyer is.

The typical reason for this is a kind of routine corporate secrecy. Apple, for example, appears to have created a shell company called Sixty Eight Research that journalists believe to be a front for its interest in building a car. Since Apple happens to be the most covered company on the planet, this hasn't been incredible effective — and when  Sixty Eight Research staff showed up at an auto industry conference, everybody noticed.

But in general, companies don't like to tip their hand to what they are doing, and the use of shell companies to undertake not-ready-for-public-announcement projects can be a useful tool.

Shell companies are often used for simple privacy reasons. Real estate transactions, for example, are generally a matter of public record. So an athlete, actor, or other celebrity who wants to buy a house without his name and address ending up in the papers might want to pay a lawyer to set up a shell company to do the purchasing.

Okay, but how about the shady stuff?

As is generally the case in life, secrecy can have illegitimate purposes as well. This is particularly true for shell companies set up in international centers of banking secrecy that offer a level of anonymity and obscurity that goes beyond simply making it hard to look up the real owner's name online.

Your soon-to-be-ex-wife cannot seize half of the money in an account that she and her lawyers don't know exists and can't prove that you own, for example. Nor can your creditors seize such an account in a bankruptcy proceeding. Nor can the government levy estate taxes on it when you die and pass it on to your kids. In all those circumstances, a Panamanian company that you secretly control and that holds stocks, bonds, and other financial assets on your behalf could be the ideal vehicle.

By the same token, if you have made a bunch of money illegally (taking bribes, trafficking drugs, etc.) you need to do something with the money that won't attract the attention of the authorities or the media. A secret offshore shell company is perfect. Not only does it help you avoid scrutiny in real time, but if you are found out its assets can't be taken from you if you have to flee the jurisdiction or even serve jail time.

But even though various criminal money-laundering schemes are the sexiest possible use of shell companies, the day-to-day tax dodging is what really pays the bills. As a manager of offshore bank accounts told me years ago, "People think of banking secrecy as all about terrorists and drug smugglers, but the truth is there are a lot of rich people who don't want to pay taxes." And the system persists because there are a lot of politicians in the West who don't particularly want to make them.

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About The ICIJ

The international consortium of investigative journalists is a global network of more than 190 investigative journalists in more than 65 countries who collaborate on in-depth investigative stories.

Founded in 1997 by the respected american journalist Chuck Lewis, ICIJ was launched as a project of the center for public integrity to extend the center’s style of watchdog journalism, focusing on issues that do not stop at national frontiers: cross-border crime, corruption, and the accountability of power. Backed by the center and its computer-assisted reporting specialists, public records experts, fact-checkers and lawyers, icij reporters and editors provide real-time resources and state-of-the-art tools and techniques to journalists around the world.

Our advisory committee consists of some of the biggest names in investigative journalism worldwide: Bill Kovach, Chuck Lewis, Rosental Calmon Alves, Phillip Knightley, Gwen Lister, Goenawan Mohamad, Reginald Chua And Brant Houston.

Why we exist

The need for such an organization has never been greater. Globalization and development have placed extraordinary pressures on human societies, posing unprecedented threats from polluting industries, transnational crime networks, rogue states, and the actions of powerful figures in business and government.

The news media, hobbled by short attention spans and lack of resources, are even less of a match for those who would harm the public interest. Broadcast networks and major newspapers have closed foreign bureaus, cut travel budgets, and disbanded investigative teams. We are losing our eyes and ears around the world precisely when we need them most.

Our aim is to bring journalists from different countries together in teams - eliminating rivalry and promoting collaboration. Together, we aim to be the world’s best cross-border investigative team.

What we do

ICIJ projects are typically staffed by teams ranging from as few as three to as many as 100-plus reporters spread around the world. These journalists work with counterparts in other countries and with our Washington, D.C., staff to report, edit, and produce groundbreaking multimedia reports that adhere to the highest standards of fairness and accuracy.

Over the years, our teams have exposed smuggling by multinational tobacco companies and by organized crime syndicates; investigated private military cartels, asbestos companies, and climate change lobbyists; and broke new ground by publicizing details of Iraq and Afghanistan war contracts.

Who we work with

To release its findings, ICIJ works with leading news organizations worldwide.  We are always open to new collaborations. Our stories have appeared in more than a dozen languages and with such partners as the bbc, including flagship program PANORAMA, LE MONDE (FRANCE), EL MUNDO (SPAIN), EL PAIS (SPAIN), FOLHA DE SAO PAULO (BRAZIL), LE SOIR (BELGIUM),  THE SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST (HONG KONG), STERN (GERMANY), THE GUARDIAN (UK), THE SUNDAY TIMES (UK), PROCESO (MEXICO), THE HUFFINGTON POST (USA), THE AGE (AUSTRALIA),24CHASA (BULGARIA), ABC COLOR DIGITAL (PARAGUAY),ARMANDO.INFO/IPYS (VENEZUELA), THE ASAHI SHIMBUN (JAPAN), CANADIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION (CBC) (CANADA), CENTER FOR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING - INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM CENTER (CIN -IJC) (CROATIA), CIPER (CHILE), COMMONWEALTH MAGAZINE (HONG KONG), EL COMERCIO (ECUADOR), EL CONFIDENCIAL (SPAIN), FINNISH BROADCASTING COMPANY YLE (FINLAND), FOKUS (SWEDEN), HETQ - ASSOCIATION OF INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISTS (ARMENIA), THE INDIAN EXPRESS (INDIA), ISRA NEWS AGENCY (THAILAND), THE IRISH TIMES (IRELAND), KOREA CENTER FOR INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM - NEWSTAPA (SOUTH KOREA), KYIV POST (UKRAINE), LA NACIÓN (ARGENTINA), LA NACIÓN (COSTA RICA), LE MATIN DIMANCHE AND SONNTAGSZEITUNG (SWITZERLAND), L'ESPRESSO (ITALY), M&G CENTRE FOR INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM (AMABHUNGANE) (SOUTH AFRICA), MALAYSIA KINI (MALAYSIA), MING PAO (HONG KONG), NDR (GERMANY), NEW AGE (BANGLADESH), NEWS (AUSTRIA), NORWEGIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION NRK (NORWAY), NOVAYA GAZETA (RUSSIA), NOVI MAGAZIN (SERBIA), ORIGO (HUNGARY), PAK TRIBUNE - PAKISTAN NEWS SERVICE (PAKISTAN), PHILIPPINE CENTER FOR INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM (PHILIPPINES), PREMIUM TIMES (NIGERIA),RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY (AZERBAIJAN), ROMANIAN CENTRE FOR INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM (ROMANIA), RUSTAVI TV (GEORGIA), SÜDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG (GERMANY), THE NEW YORK TIMES,THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (AUSTRALIA), THE SUNDAY TIMES (UK), TA NEA (GREECE),TROUW (NETHERLANDS), THE WASHINGTON POST (USA)

These unique collaborations have been honored repeatedly. Among icij’s awards: george polk award, overseas press club award, john oakes award, editor and publisher award, society of professional journalists, kc kulish award and the investigative reporters and editors award.

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Literacy and Education

Literacy level and educational attainment are vital developmental indicators in a developing nation like India as they are key variable of measure of development as they indicate quality of life, awareness level and also level of skill of people in the society. Better literacy and educational level definitely have a positive impact on the health parameters. Education parameters have an equal weight-age in the Human Development Index as well. Condering the importance of education, India has enacted Right to Education to ensure free and compulsory Education for children in the age group 6- 14 years.

Following tables have been framed to analyse gender disaggregated data on literacy and education:-

Literacy Rate:-

 As per 2011 census, literacy rate in India has been reported as 74.04% with a 14% increase to that in 2001, whereas the hike is maximum for rural women at 26% in the last decade, which may be attributed to literacy mission of Government of India. Overall female literacy rate in India much lower than that of male literacy rate.

The female literacy levels according to the Literacy Rate 2011 census are 65.46% whereas the male literacy rate is over 80%.

Kerala is the state with highest literacy rate at 94% and Bihar with the lowest literacy rate at just 63.82. Being a very vast country with second largest population, India has limited resources to make aware its below poverty line population about the Government interventions and the law providing them the Right to Education.

The highest male literacy rate is also observed in Kerala at 96.1% followed by Lakshadweep at 95.6% and minimum for Bihar & Arunachal Pradesh. Female literacy is maximum for Kerala, followed by Lakshadweep and lowest for Bihar & followed by Rajasthan. A little more than half of the females are literate in these States

( Details may be seen in Tables  3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4 )

Adult Literacy Rate:-

The adult literacy rate (15+) for male has increased from 73.4 to 78.8 whereas increase in adult literacy is more in case of females from 47.8 to 59.3 from 2001 to 2011. In 2011, just half of the rural adult females are literate against 76.9% urban females. 88.3% Urban adult males are literate against 74.1 rural adult males. Overall adult literacy is increasing over decades (details in Tables 3.5 and 3.6).

Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER):-
The Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) for females at the primary level stood at 102.65 compared with 100.20 for males in 2013-14. At the middle class level, the GER for females has been reported as 92.75 against 86.31 for males and at the higher secondary level, 51.58 and 52.77 is the Gross enrollment ratio for females and males during 2013-14. There were 93 girls per 100 boys in primary classes, 95 in middles classes and 90 in secondary classes during 2013- 14 against lesser ratios in the earlier decade (Details in Table 3.7).

Drop-out Rates:-
The Drop-out Rates were observed to be 4.66 and 4.68 in the classes I-V, 4.01 and 2.3 in classes I-VIII for females and males respectively indicating that the drop out at primary level is at par for both the genders but the gap increases in higher classes (Details may be seen in Table 3.9).


Number of Girls per 100 Boys Enrolled in Schools:- Table 3.8
Number of Female Teachers per 100 Male Teachers at Different Levels of Education:- Table 3.10
Number of Females per 100 Males in University Education in Major Disciplines:- Table 3.11

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Union Budget-key features

Agriculture and allied - Key Features (Union Budget 2016-17) 

Focus areas:
 • First Pillar is Agriculture - focus on doubling farmers’ income in five years.
 • Enhancing expenditure in priority areas of farm and rural sector, social sector, infrastructure sector employment generation.

Agriculture and Farmers’ Wellbeing: 
• Thanks to farmers, we can think beyond Food Security. Need to bring income security. Govt. interventions to be reoriented so as to double the income of farmers by 2022.
• Optimal use of water – bring 28.5 lakh hectares under irrigation under mission mode implementation of PMKSY.
• Initial corpus of approx Rs. 20,000 crore under NABARD to create a dedicated Long Term Irrigation Fund.
• Multilateral funding for implementing major programme for sustainable management of ground water resources, estimated cost of Rs. 6,000 crore.
• Soil health card scheme has target to cover all 14 crore farm holdings by March 2017.
• 2000 model retail outlets of Fertilizers to be provided soil and seed testing facilities in 3 years.
• Fertilizer companies to co-market city compost – a policy to convert city waste into compost approved under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
• 5 lakh farm ponds and dug wells in rain fed areas to be taken up under MNREGA.
• Creation of 10 lakh compost pits for organic manure to be taken up under MNREGA.
• Promotion of organic farming with Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojna (PKVY) and value chain development in North East. Total provision of Rs 412 crore made for both.
• Assigned Rs 500 crore for enhancing production of pulses under National Food Security Mission (NFSM). Number of districts to be covered increased to 622.
• Common e-market platform in wholesale markets for a Unified Agricultural Marketing to be dedicated to Nation on 14-April-2016. States require to amend APMC Acts to join this platform.
• Provision of Rs 19,000 crore made to target adding of 2.23 lakh kms of roads under PMGSY (PM Gram Sadak Yojna) to connect remaining 65,000 habitats by 2019.
• Target for Agricultural credit increased to Rs 9 lakh crore. Provided Rs 15000 crore BE for interest subvention for farmers.
• Provision of Rs 5500 crore made for Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).
• Promoting the use of refrigerated containers, by reducing basic custom duty (BCD) to 5% and   excise duty to 6%.
• Promoting pack-houses and ripening chambers – concessional BCD of 5% for ‘cold chain including pre-cooling unit, pack houses, sorting and grading lines and ripening chambers’.
• 100% FDI through FIPB route for marketing of food products that are produced or manufactured in India. To make food trade and processing industry more efficient.

Allied Provisions:
• All remaining villages to be electrified within next 1000 days. As of 23-Feb-2016, a total of 13,000 villages are not electrified.
• 89 irrigation projects languishing under Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) to be fast tracked. Ensure 23 of these completed before March 2017.
• Farmers to be encouraged to take up allied activities. Rs 850 crore over next few years for Pasudhan Sanjivini, Nakul Swasthya Patra, E-Pashudhan Haat and National Genomic centre.
• Online Procurement System to be undertaken by FCI. States to be encouraged to take up decentralised procurement.
• To improve efficiency and performance of Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) - National Level Competition for KVKs with award of Rs 50 lakhs.
• Modernisation of land records with a revamped program from 1-April-2016.
• On the whole, for rural development, total of Rs 87,765 crore provided.
• New ports to be created and works expedited in National Waterways.
• Every new scheme being sanctioned will have a sunset date and outcome review.
• National Centre for Cold-chain Development (NCCD) exempted from Service Tax for its knowledge dissemination activities.

Allocations of Important Ministries, Sectors

For details on Direct Tax Click Here

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Project Loon

 What is Project Loon?

This is a R&D project being developed by Google X with the mission of providing Internet access to rural and remote areas

Project uses high-altitude balloons placed in the stratosphere at an altitude of about 32 km to create an aerial wireless network with up to 3G-like speeds

Why Stratosphere? because of its relatively low wind speeds and minimal turbulence

Pilot Project:  New Zealand, California(U.S.), and BrazilTechnology designed in the project could allow countries to avoid using expensive fiber cable that would have to be installed underground to allow users to connect to Internet.

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Test- articles of constitution

Test-articles of constitution

1  Which Const. U/A lays down the provision for a National Commission for SC and ST—
(A) U/A 337
(B) U/A 334
(C) U/A 338
(D) U/A 339

2  Which Const. article defines the SC—
(A) U/A 345
(B) U/A 346
(C) U/A 341
(D) U/A 342

3. Which Const. article defines the ST—
(A) U/A 345
(B) U/A 343
(C) U/A 347
(D) U/A 342

4. Which Const. article specifies official language of the Union—
(A) U/A 343
(B) U/A 344
(C) U/A 345
(D) U/A 346

5. Under Const. article 343, which is the official language of the Union—
(A) Urdu
(B) Hindi
(C) English
(D) b & c

6. Which Const. article empowers the State Legislature to adopt Hindi or any state language as the official language of that state—
(A) U/A 345
(B) U/A 346
(C) U/A 348
(D) U/A 349

7. Which Const. article defines official language for communication between the state and another state and the Union—
(A) U/A 349
(B) U/A 346
(C) U/A 243
(D) U/A 305

8. Which Const. article defines the Panchayati Raj—
(A) 243O
(B) 243A
(C) 243
(D) 243I

9. Under Const. article 243, what is the meaning of Panchayat—
(1) Self Gram Panchayat Raj
(2) Government of Village
(3) Self Government
(4) None of the above

10. Under Const. article 243D, in Panchayat who gets reservation—
(A) Scheduled Caste
(B) Scheduled Tribes
(C) A & B
(D) None of the above

11. Which Const. article defines disqualification for the members of Panchayat—
(A) U/A 243F
(B) U/A 243G
(C) U/A 243I
(D) None of the above

12. Which Const. article defines the duration of the Panchayat—
(A) U/A 243N
(B) U/A 243O
(C) U/A 243E
(D) U/A 243B

13. Which Const. article define `Municipalities'—
(A) U/A 243P
(B) U/A 243Q
(C) U/A 243T
(D) U/A 343U

14. Which Const. article defines `constitution of Municipalities'—
(A) U/A 243M
(B) U/A 243I
(C) U/A 243L
(D) U/A 243Q

15. U/A 343D, a metropolitan area represent how many number of population—
(A) 10 Lakhs or more
(B) 15 Lakhs or more
(C) Less than 10 Lakhs
(D) Less than 5 Lakhs

16. U/A  243U, what is the max. duration of Municipalities—
(A) 4 yrs
(B) 6 yrs
(C) 5 yrs
(D) 3 yrs

17. U/A 394A which lang. is the authoritative text of the constitution of India—
(1) Punjabi
(2) Manipuri
(3) Hindis
(4) Urdu

18. Which Const. article states ‘This Constitution may be called the Constitution of India’
(A) U/A 397
(B) U/A 396
(C) U/A 395
(D) U/A 394

19. Which Const. article states that Hindi is the official language—
(A) U/A 343
(B) U/A 346
(C) U/A 345
(D) U/A 347

20. Which Const. article defines the ‘Provision in case of failure of Constitutional Authority in the state—
(A) U/A 356
(B) U/A 357
(C) U/A 353
(D) U/A 351

21. Who has the constitutional power not to approve `President Rule' in the state under U/A 356—
(A) Prime Minister
(B) Parliament
(C) Union Council of Ministers
(D) State Government

22. How many Schedules are incorporated in the Constitution of India—
(A) 11th Schedule
(B) 10th Schedule
(C) 9th Schedule
(D) 12th Schedule

23. Which Const. article lays down distribution of work through the State List, concurrent  List, and union List between the Union and State—
(A) 246
(B) 247
(C) 248
(D) 249

24.What does U/A 17 of the Constitution Say?
(1) Untouchability is abolished
(2) The practice of untouchability is forbidden
(3) Practice untouchability is an offence
(4) All of the above

25. Under which Const. article, Union Government has the power to give direction to the State Govt. regarding any of the provisions of the Constitution ?
(A) U/A 368
(B) U/A 362
(C) U/A 365
(D) U/A 367

26. Which Const. article lays down the provision for a National Commission for SC and ST ?
(A) U/A 337
(B) U/A 334
(C) U/A 338
(D) U/A 339

27. U/A 32 confers the right to remedies for the enforcement of the Fundamemtal Rights of an aggrieved citizen. Consider the following statements with respect to article 32.

(1.)Parliament can suspend this right during national emergency.

(2.)Only SC shall have the power to issue writs for the enforcement of any of the FR.

Correct statement/s is/are:

(A) 1 only.

(B)2 only.

(C)Both.

(D)None

28. Which of the following articles are correctly matched:

1. Election Commission – U/A 338.

2. Finance Commission – U/A 280.

3. National Commission for SCs – U/A. 324

4. CAG – U/A 148.

5. Attorney General of India – U/A 76.

(A)  All except 1 & 5.

(B)All except 1 & 3.

(C) All except 2 & 5.

(D) None of the above options are correct.

29. The method of amendment of Indian Constitution has been incorporated in U/A

(a ) 368

(b) 299

(c) 378

(d) 301

30. Fundamental Rights are incorporated in which part of the Constitution?

a) Part 3

b) Part 2

c) Part 4

d) Part 9

31. U/A 14- 18 of the Const. deal with

a) Rgt to equality b)Rgt to Assembly c) Rgt to Property d) Rgt to Expression

32. U/A 16 deals with

a) Equality before law        b) Equality of Opportunity

c) Equality of Participation d) Equality of Expression

33. Freedom of Expression deals with

 a) Art. 17 b) Art. 32 c) Art.19 d) Art. 18

34. Which of the following articles incorporated with international peace and security ?

 a) U/A 25 b) U/A 29

(c) U/A 44 d) U/A 51

35. Under which art.  of the constitution, the executive power of the Union is vested in the President ?

a) U/A 25 b) U/A 53) U/A 54 d) U/A 55

36. The High Court has the power to issue writs under   

a) 224  b)  226  c) 225 d) 227

37. Which Const. article deals with representation of the Anglo-Indian Community in the Legislative Assembly—
(A) U/A 334
(B) U/A 335
(C) U/A 336
(D) U/A 333

38. How the election to either House of Parliament or to either House of the Legislature of the State shall be called in question in the courts whose manner of presentation may be provided made by law by appropriate Legislature—
(A) Election petition
(B) Special Leave Petition
(C) Action  U/A 32
(D) Public interest litigation

39. Under Const. articles 327 or 328, which subject shall not be called to be questioned in any Court
(A) Delimitation of Constituencies
(B) The allotment of seats to such Constituency
(C) A & B
(D) None of the above

40. Which art. defines qualifications for the Indian citizen for election to a State Legislature—
(A) U/A 173
(B) U/A 175
(C) U/A 177
(D) U/A 178

41. Which Const. article lays down qualifications for the Indian citizens for election to Parliament—
(A) U/A 81
(B) U/A 80
(C) U/A 83
(D) U/A 84

42. Which Const. article lays down qualification for becoming a voter—
(A) U/A 328
(B) U/A 339
(C) U/A 326
(D) U/A 295

43. Under which Const. article, the Election Commission is a Tribunal—
(A) U/A 136
(B) U/A 136(3)
(C) U/A 136(2)

(D) U/A 136(1)

44. Through which Const. article duties and powers of `Comptroller and Auditor General’ is detailed
(A) U/A 153
(B) U/A 149
(C) U/A 199
(D) U/A 168

45. Which Const. article defines, Comptroller and Auditor General of India—
(A) U/A 148
(B) U/A 149
(C) U/A 150
(D) U/A 151

46. Which article defines ‘Interpretation’ of Constitutional right of S.C.—
(A) U/A 163
(B) U/A 162
(C) U/A 147
(D) U/A 161

47. Under which Const. article, President has the power to consult Supreme Court—
(A) U/A 145
(B) U/A 146
(C) U/A 143
(D) U/A 144

48. Which Constitutional article defines the work of Administrative Tribunal—
(A) U/A 323A
(B) U/A 233B
(C) U/A 223B
(D) None of the above

49. Which constitutional article defines the provision in respect of financial emergency—
(A) U/A 348
(B) U/A 351
(C) U/A 360
(D) U/A 362

50. Under which article of the Indian Constitution proclamation of emergency has been defined—
(A) U/A 352
(B) U/A 353
(C) U/A 354
(D) U/A 358


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