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STATE SERVICE PRELIMINARY WRITTEN EXAM - 2009
MADHYA PRADESH PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION
ADVERTISEMENT NO. 05/EXAM/2009/21-12-2009 LAST DATE 31-01-2010

[1] CORRIGENDUM NO. 01/05/EXAM/2009/11-01-2010
[2] CORRIGENDUM NO. 02/05/EXAM/2009/01-02-2010
[3] CORRIGENDUM NO. 03/05/EXAM/2009/03-02-2010
[4] CORRIGENDUM NO. 04/05/EXAM/2009/15-02-2010
[5] SUCHNA DATE 09-04-2010
[6] CORRIGENDUM NO. 05/05/EXAM/2009/12-04-2010

ROLL NO. WISE LIST OF ALL PROVISIONALLY SELECTED CANDIDATES
FOR STATE SERVICE MAIN EXAM - 2009

• RESULT DECLARED DATE : 01-09-2010

Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has announced the results of the Combined Medical Services Examination, 2010 held on 17.01.2010 and Personality Test held from 12.7.2010 to 26.7.2010. Candidates have been recommended for appointment to medical posts in the Railways, Indian Ordnance Factories Health Service, Central Government Health Service, Municipal Corporation of Delhi and New Delhi Municipal Council. A total number of 357 candidates recommended for appointment include 157 General Candidates (including 11 Physically Handicapped candidates), 121 candidates belonging to Other Backward Classes (including 01 Physically Handicapped candidate), 55 Scheduled Caste (including 01 Physically Handicapped candidate), and 24 Scheduled Tribe candidates.

The candidature of the following Roll Numbers is provisional: -

00004, 00188, 00404, 00435, 00641, 00650, 00892, 00969, 00988, 01375, 01629, 01722, 01738, 01899, 02007, 02735, 03193, 03331, 03574, 03658, 03677, 03688, 03802, 03843, 03911, 03949, 04134, 04172, 04674, 04776, 05071, 05077, 05272, 05389, 05534, 05575, 05624, 05723, 05730, 05772, 07188, 07283, 07379, 07773, 08066, 08232, 08342, 08772, 08831, 09171, 09644, 09951, 10028, 10309, 10431, 10824, 10872, 11143, 11400, 11402, 11922, 12076, 12105, 12380, 12388, 12446, 12521, 12960, 12975, 13120, 13191, 13271, 13479, 13485, 13524, 13547, 13655, 13951, 14128, 14442, 14766, 14998, 15376, 15919, 16101, 16650, 16946, 17033, 17067, 17342, 18101, 18631, 19197, 19287, 19405, 19434, 19717, 19874, 20097, 20250, 21053, 21695, 21745, 21975, 22461, 22762, 22924, 22951, 23068, 23344, 23561, 24318, 24496, 25798, 25831, 26221, 26424, 26756, 26829, 27332, 27409, 28088, 28100, 28216, 29937, 30463, 30783, 31424, 31837, 31997, 34093, 36644, 38092, 38567

Appointments to the various posts will be made according to the number of vacancies available and subject to the candidates fulfilling all the prescribed eligibility conditions and all verifications, wherever due, being completed satisfactorily.

In accordance with Rule 13 & 14 of the Rules of the Combined Medical Services Exam., 2010, the Commission is maintaining a consolidated Reserve List of 84 candidates which includes 42 General, 40 Other Backward Classes and 02 Scheduled Caste candidates.

U.P.S.C. has a “Facilitation Counter” where Candidates can obtain any information/clarification during working hours in person or over telephone Nos. 23381125 / 23385271 / 23098543. Result will be available on the U.P.S.C Website i.e. www.upsc.gov.in However, marks on the website are likely to be available after 15 days from the date of declaration of results.

In case, any candidate desires to obtain printed/hard copies of his/her mark-sheet of the above mentioned examination, he/she should forward the request to the Commission along with self-addressed stamped envelope within a period of thirty days from the date of publication of the result.

(Current Affairs) Dialogue India: Other Issues 10 to 18 August 2010

CAG Weekly
(Current Affairs & GK)
By Om Prakash (Goldy sir)

Other Issues

Endangered languages

• A language dies every 14 days, and half those spoken today are expected to vanish by 2100. The secret language of the Kallawaya, in central South America, is over 400 years old and spoken by fewer than a hundred people.
• In daily life the Kallawaya use Spanish or Aymara but when discussing medicinal plants, used in their role as healers, they speak their own private language.
• l Aboriginal Australia holds some of the most endangered languages such as Amurdag, which was believed extinct until a few years ago when linguists came across Charlie Mangulda living in the Northern Territory.
• l Mednyj Aleut is spoken by a handful of people in eastern Siberia. Unlike most languages it has two parents, a combination of largely Aleut vocabulary and Russian verb endings.
• l Siletz Dee—ni is spoken on the Siletz reservation in Oregon. When the reservation was created in 1855 it held speakers of many languages. To communicate with each other residents adopted a pidgin version of Chinook, in the process nearly wiping out their indigenous languages.
• l There are five first-language speakers of Euchee, an American Indian language, all over 80. The language went into decline in the 1900s when punishments were introduced for American Indian students heard speaking their own languages at school.
• l Nivkh, a Siberian language spoken by fewer than 300 people, has 26 different ways of saying every number depending on what the speaker is counting.

Key to success, sense of compassion and mission

True success goes beyond achieving something for oneself because unless success results in contributing meaningfully to the society, it would amount to very little.

This was observed by IAS topper Dr Shah Faesal from Kashmir who was at the Srimanta Sankardev Kalakshetra today to attend an interaction session with school and college students organized by the Regional Institute of Science and Technology, an engineering college run by ERD Foundation.

Dr Faesal who scripted a success story in the face of heavy odds, said that passion was the key to success but that would not be complete without a sense of ‘compassion and mission’ – more so in the context of India which was grappling with the scourge of all-pervasive poverty, squalor and corruption.

“Every success story begins with a dream and you need to put in that extra effort to realize the dream. Have belief in your abilities, and nothing will be impossible for you…getting into the IAS or even topping it is not such a big deal. I would like to urge all of you to think even bigger – like becoming a top scientist or a litterateur, a world-class athlete, or a Nobel Laureate,” Dr Faesal said.

The 27-year-old IAS topper felt that to get into the coveted IAS, hard work and perseverance were critical. “Money should not be a constraint if the will is there. Two of my friends from extremely humble backgrounds have made it to the IAS along with me,” he said, adding that one years’ preparation was enough for IAS exams.

TEST SERIES SCHEDULE FOR GEOGRAPHY:

18th July

• Geomorphology (Paper - I) MAP-NORTH AMERICA
• Resources (Paper - II)
• Transport, Communication and Trade (Paper - II)

25th July

• Climatology (Paper - I) MAP-SOUTH AMERICA
• Cultural Setting (Paper - II)

1st August

• Oceanography (Paper - I) MAP-ASIA
• Physical Setting (Paper - II)

8th August

• Biogeography (Paper - I) MAP – AFRICA & AUSTRALIA
• Environmental Geography (Paper - I)
• Agriculture (Paper - II)

14th August

• Geographical Thought (Paper - I) MAP- EUROPE
• Industries (Paper - II)

22nd August

• Economic Geography (Paper - I) MAP - INDIA
• Regional Planning (Paper - I)
• Regional Development and Planning (Paper - II)

29th August

• Population and Settlement Geography (Paper - I)
• Settlements (Paper - II) MAP - INDIA

5th September

• Models, Theories and Laws in Human Geography (Paper - I)
• Political Aspects (Paper - II)
• Contemporary Issues (Paper - II) MAP - INDIA

12th September

• Comprehensive Test (Paper - I) MAP - WORLD
• Comprehensive Test (Paper - II) MAP - INDIA

(MOCK TEST – III)

• Time allowed: 3 Hours
• Maximum marks: 300

Candidate should attempt questions 1 and 5 which are compulsory and any three of the remaining questions selecting at least one question from each section. Illustrate your answers with suitable sketches, maps and diagrams, where appropriate.

SECTION A

1. (a) Mark the following ten features/locations/entries on the World Map provided to you. Each item carries 2 marks. 2X10=20  Marks
(i) Great Karoo
(ii) Canary Islands
(iii) L.Volta
(iv) Akhmara
(v) Victoria Falls
(vi) Ubangi Plateau
(vii) Sahel
(viii) Cabinda
(ix) Maputo
(x) Bab-al-mandab

(b) Provide a write-up on the significance of the feature/location in approximately 40 words. This carries four marks each. 4X10=40 Marks

2. Give a detailed account of the marine resources. 60 Marks

3. (a) Discuss the mid-oceanic ridges of the world. 30 Marks

(b) Make a comparative study of the ocean currents in the northern hemisphere and southern hemisphere. 30 Marks

4. (a) Discuss the heat and salt budgets of the ocean. 30 Marks

(b) Explain UNCLOS. 30 Marks

TEST SERIES SCHEDULE FOR PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION:

• Every Test-paper carries 300 marks with three-hour duration.
• Two Comprehensive tests (Paper – I and Paper – II) will be held on 12th September.

Test – 1 (18th July)

• Topics related to introduction part of Paper – I.
• Main approaches to Public Administration.
• Kautilya, Woodrow Wilson, Taylor, Fayol, Gulic, Urwick and Max Weber.

Test – 2 (25th July)

• Mary Parker Follet, Elton Mayo, Maslow, Herzberg, Barnard, Simon, Mcgregor, Likert, Chris Argyris, Dror-Policy Science.

Test – 3 (1st August)

• Comparative Public Administration, Development Dynamics and Public Policy.

Test – 4 (8th August)

• Personnel Administration, Administrative Law, Accountability and control, Organisations, Techniques of Administrative Improvement and Financial Administration.

Test – 5 (14th August)

• Evolution of Indian Administration, Philosophical and Constitutional Framework of Government, Union Government and Administration and State Government and Administration.

Test – 6 (22nd August)

• District Administration since Independence, Rural Development, Urban Local Government and Plans and Priorities.

Test – 7 (29th August)

• Civil Services, Administrative Reforms Since Independence, Public Sector Undertakings and Financial Management.

Test – 8 (5th September)

• Law and Order Administration and Significant Issues in Indian Administration.

(MOCK TEST – 4)

• Time allowed: 3 Hours
• Maximum marks: 300

Section A

Question 1:
(a) Strong bureaucracy is not suitable for Democracy. Comment (250 words) 30 Marks
(b) What is World Bank’s concept of good governance? Explain. 60 Marks

Question 2: How far do you agree that findings of Elton Mayo are very much useful in understanding and solving of industrial problems in India also. Put your views. 60  Marks

Question 3: Chanakya’s Arthashastra can be compared with “GITA”, Chanayka himself with Dronacharya and Chandragupta with Arjuna. Explain. 60  Marks

Section B

Question 4.
(a) Analyse methods and techniques of Rigg’s research. (250 words) 30 Marks
(b) Rule of exception was rejected by Renesis Likert. Comment. (250 words) 30 Marks

TEST SERIES SCHEDULE FOR GENERAL STUDIES:

(GEOGRAPHY)

• Time allowed: 3 Hours
• Maximum marks: 300

1. Answer any two of the following in about 150 words 2X10=20
a) Discuss the social forestry programme in India.
b) Highlight the features of the National Water Grid.
c) ‘India has more enemies within than outside’. Comment.

2. Answer any one of the following in about 200 words each. 1X15=15
a) Multi-purpose hydel projects are no longer ‘Temples of Modern India’. Comment.
b) Is the demand for new states in India justified. Give your opinion.

3. Answer the following in about 100 words each. 5X5=25
a) Genetically Modified Crops
b) CADP
c) JNNURM
d) Disaster Management
e) Dry farming

4. Answer the following in about 80 words each. 3X10=30
a) Laterites
b) ENSO
c) National Waterway 3
d) Cartosat
e) Himadri
f) Kaladan Project
g) SEZs
h) Rohtang Tunnel Project
i) Carbon Credits
j) Global Seed Vault

(Current Affairs) Dialogue India: Economy - Minor Issues 10 to 18 August 2010

CAG Weekly
(Current Affairs & GK)
By Om Prakash (Goldy sir)

Economy (Minor Issues)

Commission to probe illegal mining

• The Centre has set up a Commission of Inquiry to look into cases of illegal mining of coal, iron ore and manganese across the country.
• The decision seems to be fallout of the cases involving the controversial Reddy brothers in Karnataka and some multinational companies.
• The inquiry will cover the most affected States of Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Orissa.
• The Commission has been asked to submit its report in 18 months. But it will also submit interim reports to the Cabinet.
• The Commission will initially have the mandate for investigating cases of illegal mining of iron ore and manganese, and later its mandate could be extended for covering cases of illegal coal extraction too.
• The sources said the Commission could be headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court or High Court.

Plan to give tribals a share of mining profits

• The Centre is planning to give a 26 per cent share in mining profits to tribal people and to set up a regulatory body to check illegal mining, Union Minister of Mines B.K. Handique informed the Rajya Sabha.
• The draft of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Bill — prepared on the basis of the policy directions set forth in the 2008 National Mineral Policy and the recommendations of the Hooda Committee, and now with a Group of Ministers — was aimed at doing justice to tribal people of areas where mining would be carried out, he said.

Credit cards seen losing out as debit gets preferred status

• The Indian consumer is slowly warming up to spending through debit cards as more point of sale terminals (POS) at merchant establishments are becoming debit card compliant. Besides, debit card is also emerging as a preferred transaction tool for e-commerce payments.
• There are 19 crore debit cards in the system. While there are only around 1.9 crore credit cards. The share of debit cards in total card spend has gone up sharply from just about 17% in FY08 to 30% in FY10. This fiscal too, consumer spend through debit card has grown, with its share in total card spend going up to 32% as of end June 2010, according to the Reserve Bank of India data.

Vedanta set to buy out Cairn India for $9.6 b

• Vedanta Resources agreed to buy as much as 60% of oil & gas explorer Cairn India for $9.6 billion. Vedanta proposes to buy as much as 40% of the company from Cairn UK at 405 a share, including 50 a share as non-compete fees. Sesa Goa (another of Mr. Anil Aggarwal controlled firms) would offer to buy 20% of Cairn India’s minority shareholders at 355 apiece to meet regulations.
• The deal may close by the first quarter of 2011, before which it has to convince many about the benefits, including the oil ministry, partner Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Sesa shareholders. Also, there is the likely $1-billion tax bill.
• Vedanta, which draws most of its revenues from India in mining and producing copper, zinc and aluminium, may be the second global metals firm to expand into oil & gas after BHP Billion to smoothen earnings fluctuations. This may be in line with Mr Agarwal’s desire to dominate the resources business in India, but may lead to conflict with minority holders in Sesa Goa.
• Cairn India, the second-biggest private refiner in the nation, produces 125,000 barrels of oil a day from fields in Rajasthan. Vedanta believes it can more than double the output from those fields, which contain an estimated 6.5 billion barrels of oil and gas equivalent.

AI’s Star entry faces delay again

• Air India's (AI) plans of joining the global airline network Star Alliance could get delayed again as the air carrier has not been able to get its employees appropriate training. The airline had fixed March 2011 as its outer deadline to join Alliance, which will open new routes and boost traffic for the carrier.
• The delay comes despite the airline setting up a three-member committee to chart a course for the training so that Air India could join the alliance on time.
• In November 2009, Air India signed an agreement with London-headquartered management consulting firm Mckinsey and Co to implement the training project at a fee of Rs. 12.86 crore.

Ethanol pricing -- Government gives an interim price

• The cabinet committee on economic affairs approved an interim price of Rs. 27 per litre for ethanol, compared with Rs. 21.50 a litre earlier. The final price will be fixed after an expert group gives its recommendations for the mandatory blending with petrol up to a maximum of 10%.
• A committee chaired by Planning Commission member Saumitra Chaudhuri is looking into ethanol pricing. The government made the sale of ethanol-added petrol mandatory in 2007 to rein in fuel cost, reduce dependence on imported hydrocarbons and reduce pollution levels. The plan did not take off due to a shortage of ethanol and opposition from the chemicals ministry.
• The current production of ethanol is about 1.8 billion litres.

Brokers hurt as FIIs go for direct punch

• With an increasing number of institutional clients warming up to the direct market access (DMA) concept, broking commissions are shrinking.
• In direct market access, a fund manager sitting abroad can place an order to buy or sell shares directly on the exchange’s trading system, using his broker’s trading infrastructure, but without any manual intervention. In the traditional method, the fund manager would have to call a dealer at the broking house in India, who would then punch the order into the trading system.
• The direct market access route for order placement was approved by Sebi in 2008. But it was only in 2009, that fund managers abroad started availing of this facility.
• Broking firms charge 20-25 basis points as commission on cash market trades placed through the conventional route i.e calling up a dealer in India, and placing the order with him. For trades done through DMA, the commission is 7-8 basis points, and is expected to shrink further as volumes rise.
• Market experts belieive that the catalysts for the further growth of DMA in India will be the omnibus trading and smart order router facility receiving regulatory approvals. The latter facility allows a client to look at two exchanges at the same time and enables the trading engines to decide the best price for the trader.

Tata Group to form ‘elite task force’ for PE play

• The Tata Group is putting in place an elite task force of senior executives, working and retired who will act as mentors and give operational guidance to the portfolio companies of Tata Capital’s private equity practice.
• These senior executives will be drawn from various industries within the group from levels upward of middle management in the organisational hierarchy. They will include people who have recently retired and also those from the different inhouse training and developing centres that the group owns. The $71-billion conglomerate has presence in a variety of sectors ranging from salt to telecom to software.
• Exposure to large private equity deals in India over the past seven to eight years has commoditised the space, with promoters now opting to partner with private equity firms that provide value, in addition to financial capital. This value could be in the form of operational expertise — technological guidance for a manufacturing or pharma company — or managerial expertise in overseeing operations.
• The newly-founded Tata Capital, which is the financial services arm of the Tata group and is widely identified as the vehicle for the Tata group’s future banking plans, will raise $1 billion to invest across four themes, including the Growth Fund. Tata Capital is currently raising about $500 million for the Growth Fund, which will look at investing in small, unlisted and profitable Indian companies.

Weak security links may put e-comm at risk

• Security experts are warning that websites that use encryption to communicate with users are more vulnerable to security threats. Those sites, which are typically identified by a closed lock displayed somewhere in the web browser, rely on a third-party organisation to issue a certificate that guarantees to a user’s web browser that the sites are authentic. But as the number of such third-party “certificate authorities” has proliferated into hundreds spread across the world, it has become increasingly difficult to trust that those who issue the certificates are not misusing them to eavesdrop on the activities of internet users, the security experts say.
• The power to appoint certificate authorities has been delegated by browser makers like Microsoft, Mozilla, Google and Apple to various companies, including Verizon. Those entities, in turn, have certified others, creating a proliferation of trusted “certificate authorities,” according to internet security researchers. According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, more than 650 organisations can issue certificates that will be accepted by Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Mozilla’s Firefox. Some of these organisations are in countries like Russia and China, which are suspected of engaging in widespread surveillance of their citizens.

On cloud computing

• It can be defined as ‘a standardised IT capability, such as software, app platform or infrastructure, delivered via Internet technologies in a pay-per-use and self-service way’.
• If we were to break down the services that the cloud today provides, they can be classified into: one, software-as-a-service (SaaS), which comprises end-user applications delivered as a service rather than traditional on-premise software.
• Two, platform-as-a-service (PaaS), which provides an independent platform as a service on which developers can build and deploy customer applications.
• Three, infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), which primarily comprises the hardware and technology for computing power, storage, operating systems or other infrastructure delivered as an on-demand service rather than a dedicated onsite resource.
• India has the potential to emerge as the global competency centre for cloud services. An international study estimated the global cloud computing market to be over $70 billion by 2015 and that India, with its powerful ecosystem of independent software vendors, developers and system integrators, is ideally poised to address this growing opportunity. An additional 3,00,000 jobs related to cloud services are estimated to be created in the country over the next five years.

Investment & holding cos under RBI net

• Holding companies and investment firms of large Indian business houses will for the first time come under the regulator’s glare. All such entities with assets above 100 crore will have to register with the Reserve Bank of India, maintain a minimum level of capital and will be restricted from borrowing beyond a point.
• Huge fund-raising by corporate investment companies with shallow capital base has been a gowing concern for the central bank which finalised a new a regulatory framework for these ‘core investment companies’ (CICs).
• A core investment company, as per RBI’s definition, means a nonbanking finance company that holds not less than 90% of its total assets in the form of investment in equity shares, preference shares, debt or loans in group companies.
• In recent times, Indian corporates have borrowed aggressively through investment arms and holding firms to fund growth. Often holding companies pledge shares of a group company to borrow from a bank or a finance firm and, then, invest the money to fund another group entity.
• In the second stage, the shares of the newly-capitalised entity are pledged for fresh borrowings to fund yet another company. The holding company can do this as long as it pays interest on the loans and maintains margins with the lenders.
• While some of the biggest corporate houses were lobbying against the new rules, the central bank felt that such over-leveraging was a risk to the system.

Public banks may not get to shop for RRB loans to meet priority targets

• In a push to financial inclusion drive, the government may not allow state banks to buy priority sector loans of rural banks sponsored by them.
• There are 82 regional rural banks with a network of 15,475 branches, 17 of which are sponsored by the country’s largest lender, State Bank of India.
• The Reserve Bank of India guidelines say commercial banks have to earmark 40% of their bank credit towards priority sector, which include agriculture, small scale industries, education and advances towards weaker sections. Within this limit, banks have to carve out 18% for agriculture and set aside 10% for weaker sections.
• Instead of trying to meet these targets on their own, banks take the easier way of lending to these sectors indirectly.
• The other option is to make up for the shortfall in priority sector lending through participation in rural infrastructure development by a contribution towards Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF).
• Banks prefer to buy out farm loans of RRB’s, offering a 7-8% return to them, instead of contributing towards the RIDF which pays an interest of 6%, barely more than the cost of funds.
• A bird's eye view of the performance of the RRBs:

• 79 RRBs out of toal 82 are profitable
• The profits of these increased to 1970 crore in 2009-10 from 1371 crore in 2008-09
• The losses of other three dropped to 6 crore from 36 crore
• Accumulated losses down to 1808 crore end March 2010 from 2300 crore a year ago
• Average net NPAs of RRBs down to 1.62% in 2009-10 from 1.81% in previous year
• 53 RRBs had a capital adequacy ratio of more than 9% .

Germany’s best show in 23 yrs

• European economic growth accelerated sharply in the second quarter of 2010 as Germany’s best performance (a growth of 2.2% in its GDP quarter on quarter)
• Since reunification more than made up for the struggles of Spain, Ireland and recession-ravaged Greece.
• The euro zone has seen an aggregate GDP growth rate of 1% from the previous quarter. This is the fastest growth rate for the currency bloc in more than three years compared with a rise of just 0.2% in the first quarter, and was higher than a comparable US secondquarter increase of about 0.6%.

(Current Affairs) Dialogue India: Economy - Major Issues 10 to 18 August 2010

CAG Weekly
(Current Affairs & GK)
By Om Prakash (Goldy sir)

Reasons for the country's economic sweet spot

• The economy is growing much faster than the interest rate charged on government debt, ensuring a moderation in the debt-to-GDP ratio due to positive debt dynamics. India also has the advantage that more than 95% of its debt is financed internally. The country’s fiscal consolidation in 2010-11 has progressed much faster than anticipated. The factors that are responsible for this turnaround:
• First, the deterioration in central government’s fiscal deficit was as much a result of the cyclical slowdown as it was the large one-off payments made by the government. With one-off factors set to fade, the burden on fiscal finances will ease.
• Second, the government is benefiting from the return of cyclical buoyancy and an inflation tax. Nominal GDP growth has rebounded from a low of 5.6% year-on-year in Q2 of 2009 to a staggering 21% in Q1 of 2010. On an average, both real GDP growth and inflation are likely to exceed 8% in 2010-11, ensuring that the trend of inflationary recovery continues. In this backdrop, the government’s Budget estimate of 12.5% nominal GDP growth in 2010-11 is clearly an underestimate and we are likely to end up with nominal growth of 16% or higher.

• Tax buoyancy — defined as the percentage change in tax revenues divided by the percentage change in GDP — should rise too. Last year, the slowdown and tax cuts by the government had decelerated tax buoyancy from an average of 1.5 during 2004-08 to 0.3 in 2009-10. This is likely to rebound to above 1.

• Third, the government has enjoyed a bonanza on telecom spectrum and will benefit from higher disinvestment proceeds in 2010-11. Even in the coming years, disinvestment should continue to provide a cushion as new norms announced by the government on June 4 make it mandatory for listed companies to have a minimum 25% public holding, although public sector companies have been given a waiver and need only have a minimum of 10% public holding.
• Fourth, other incremental fiscal reforms are also ongoing. Petrol prices have been deregulated and the government has expressed its intent to deregulate diesel prices too. The government aims to implement structural tax reforms — such as the direct taxes code and the goods and services tax — on April 1, 2011, which should also add to revenue buoyancy.

(Current Affairs) Dialogue India: International - Minor Issues 10 to 18 August 2010

CAG Weekly
(Current Affairs & GK)
By Om Prakash (Goldy sir)

International Relations (Minor Issues)

Obama in firing line over mosque comments

• The latest political casualty of the sizzling controversy around the Ground Zero mosque, as it has come to be known, might be none other than President Barack Obama.
• After he broke months of silence on the issue and threw his weight behind the proponents of the Cordoba House community centre, planned two blocks away from the site of the 9/11 attacks, he has found himself lacking the support of Senate Majority leader Harry Reid, and watched as Republicans began to attack his position on the subject.
• As a citizen, and as President, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country. That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community centre on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances.”

Julia Gillard favours timeline for republic

• Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard proposed that her country turn into a republic at the time of succession to Queen Elizabeth II in Britain.
• She set this timeline while responding to a question in a network interview, a transcript of which was released by the ruling Australian Labour Party.
• Asked why she was not pressing for that now itself, Ms. Gillard said “the move to a new monarch” in Britain would be “the appropriate transition time.”

Zero emissions race

• Teams from Australia, Germany and Switzerland have set off from Geneva for what they hope will be the first carbon neutral race around the world.
• Participants are using custom built two-seater electric vehicles that will be charged from regular power outlets along the way.
• At the same time they are feeding electricity generated from solar and wind plants into the grid.
• Australian Jason Jones says his team expects to pay only a little over $350 for the electricity needed to power their three-wheel car around the globe.
• The race set up by Swiss inventor Louis Palmer will pass through 150 cities including Berlin, Moscow, Shanghai, Los Angeles and Cancun before returning to Geneva in January after 30,000 km on the road. —

Ex-dictator seeks to contest in Nigerian election

• The former Nigerian military dictator, General Ibrahim Babangida, has decided to run in the presidential election due next year, nearly two decades after he controversially overturned a ballot widely regarded as fair.
• General Babangida, a Muslim from the north who held power for eight years, announced his intention to seek the ruling party's nomination for the President's post.
• Given my wealth of experience and decades of leadership study, plus the urgent need to confront the challenges of our national lives.
• General Babangida (68) becomes the second Muslim from the north to seek the ruling party's nomination for the election, which could occur as early as January, though a date has not yet been set.

New dinosaur bones found in Russia

• New dinosaur bones have been found at an excavation site in Russia's south-eastern region of Primorsky Krai, the Vostok Media news agency has reported.
• Palaeontologists believe the dinosaurs were killed by a mudslide because the bone fragments were buried in solidified mud and stone, according to the report.
• The palaeontologists have been digging up bones of dinosaurs at the excavation site for two years, inch by inch removing soil from the finds.

Iran's nuclear plant launch next week

• Russia will begin the start-up of the reactor at Iran's first atomic power plant in Bushehr next weekend.
• The ceremony will be attended by Rosatom chief Sergei Kiriyenko and Iran's vice-president Ali Akbar Salehi, who also heads the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, he said.
• Construction of the plant began in 1974 by but was shelved after the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979. Russia in mid-1990s agreed to step in and complete the project despite vehement protests from the United States and Israel. The reactor was originally due to go online in 2007, but was delayed by financing problems and difficulties in integrating 12 tonnes of installed German equipment with Russian technology.

Combined Defence Services Examination (II), 2010

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) will be conducting the Combined Defence Services Examination (II), 2010 at 232 venues located in 41 Centers throughout the country on 19.09.2010 (Sunday). Admission Certificates to the candidates have been dispatched. Letters of rejection to the candidates stating reason(s) for rejection have also been issued. If any applicant has not received any of the above mentioned communication, he/she may contact UPSC Facilitation Counter on Telephone Nos. 011-23385271, 011-23381125, or 011-23098543 on working days.

Details:

• File Size: 4.87 MB
• Medium : English
• Publisher: UPSCPORTAL.COM
• Page: 80

PRESS NOTE:

The Union Public Service Commission will be conducting the Combined Defence Services Examination (II), 2010 at 232 venues located in 41 Centers throughout the country on 19.09.2010 (Sunday). Admission Certificates to the candidates have been dispatched. Letters of rejection to the candidates stating reason(s) for rejection have also been issued. If any applicant has not received any of the above mentioned communication, he/she may contact UPSC Facilitation Counter on Telephone Nos. 011-23385271, 011-23381125, or 011-23098543 on working days. The candidates may also get Venue information through Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) of the Commission by dialing 011-23074458. The candidates may also send FAX Messages on Fax No.011-23387310.

Information regarding venues of the examination is also available at the Union Public Service Commission's website at http://www.upsc.gov.in. The eligible candidates who have not received the Admission Certificates may download the Venue Information from the above mentioned website and use it for appearing in the examination. The candidates intending to appear in the examination using downloaded Venue Information are advised to reach the venue of their examination. Such candidates are also advised to carry three identical photographs (each photograph for each session), otherwise they may not be allowed to take the examination. They may also carry proof of their identity such as Identity card, Election Identity Card, Driving License etc. to the venue of Examination.

Union Public Service Commission has announced the results of the Indian Economic Service/Indian Statistical Service Exam, 2009. The list for the Indian Economic Service contains 15 candidates, including 06 belonging to the Other Backward Classes (including 1 PH-1), 02 to the Scheduled Castes and 01 to the Scheduled Tribe and that for the Indian Statistical Service contains names of 30 candidates including 06 belonging to the Other Backward Classes, 01 to the Scheduled Caste and 01 to the Scheduled Tribe.

• The candidature of the Roll Nos. 002283, 033208, 001761, 005811, 007291, 001837 & 001190 is provisional.

Union Public Service Commission has a Facilitation Counter in its campus. Candidate may obtain any information/clarification regarding their result  during working hours in person or over telephone Nos. (011)-23385271/23381125/23098543.  The result is also available on the UPSC website i.e. http://www.upsc.gov.in.

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