UKPCS-2012 PAPER ANALYSIS,SAMVEG IAS DEHRADUN

NOTE:PAPER ONE 100-110 QUESTIONS WILL BE GOOD SCORE.WHILE IN CSAT PAPER 55-65 QUESTION WILL BE ENOUGH TO QUALIFY THE PRE.DUE TO NEGATIVE MARKING SCORING HIGH IS DIFFICUT IN PCS EXAM.

UKPCS-2012 CSAT SOLUTION,SAMVEG IAS DEHRADUN

Dear candidate

we are providing tentative solution of csat(ukpcs-2012).there may be variation of 5%.suggestions are invited to make it more useful.
modified ans(SET D)
Q12-A
Q15-C
Q35-D
Q37-C
Q41-A
Q62 -D
Q65-B
Q66-A
Q68-D
Q70-C
Q77-D
Q87-C
Q97--B/C

SOLUTION OF UKPCS-2012 GS PAPER,SAMVEG IAS DEHRADUN

Dear candidate
we are providing tentative solution of GS PAPER of UKPCS-2012 for your conveneince.there may be error of 2-3%.plz high light the wrong answer so that we can correct it .
we will start UKPCS-2012 MAINS BATCH (CLASS ROOM +TEST SERIES) IN FIRST WEEK OF DECEMBER.

MODIFIED ANS
Q7-A
Q16-C
Q43-D
Q44-B
Q51-D
Q52-D
Q125-D
Q149-D

Critically endangered Forest Owlet spotted in Western Ghats

Researchers have found the critically endangered ‘Forest Owlet’ in the northern part of the Western Ghats, 100 km from Mumbai.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List has named this bird as the one facing a high risk of extinction. Till now, Forest Owlet was known endemic to Satpuda mountain ranges in central India. Its discovery in the Western Ghats has brought new hope about its survival.

Naturalist Sunil Laad, associated with the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), spotted the Forest Owlet in Tansa Wildlife Sanctuary in Maharashtra’s Palghar district in October.

On subsequent study tours to Tansa, visitors and conservationists were greeted with calls of the bird around seven km from the location. A research paper authored by Sunil Laad and Rohidas Dagale, based on this finding, will shortly be published in the Journal of BNHS (JBNHS).

“I am extremely delighted to know about the discovery of this extremely rare bird so close to Mumbai. I hope the authorities will take proper steps to protect the Forest Owlet in Tansa,” Dr. Asad Rahmani, Director, BNHS, told The Hindu

For nearly 113 years, Forest Owlet was considered to be extinct, until researchers rediscovered it in 1997 in Toranmal Reserve Forest near Shahada in the Satpuda ranges in Nandurbar District, Maharashtra. Later studies established its presence across Satpuda ranges from Piplod in Gujarat and Toranmal to Yawal and Melghat in Maharashtra and Kalibhit in Madhya Pradesh.

The place where it was located is a dry deciduous forest, with open patches, which is very similar to the typical Forest Owlet habitat in the Satpuda ranges. However, this location in Tansa is partially degraded due to human disturbances.

Scientists working on Forest Owlet too are excited over the discovery. “This species was for long known to be endemic to Satpuda ranges and has now been recorded in northern Western Ghats. This clearly highlights the need to conserve crucial avian habitats such as Tansa and other areas which are potential homes of Forest Owlet,” Girish Jathar, an Ornithologist with the BNHS, said.

How to eat a free lunch

India is the third largest importer of crude oil, the third largest importer of coal and the fifth or sixth largest importer of natural gas. Overall, it is probably the fourth largest importer of energy. So the news on oil prices makes India one of the largest beneficiaries. The country’s net energyimports (mostly oil) account for more than six per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP). With the price of energy cut by nearly 40 per cent in the last six months, the net import bill falls in a full year by 2.5 per cent of GDP (or Rs 3.2 lakh crore). If oil prices stay at their new level of $72 or drop further, as the big oil exporters seem to think they will, and nothing else changes dramatically on the trade front, India will be in the happy position next year of enjoying a surplus on the trade account (both goods and services). That will be the first “current account” surplus in over a decade — the last such surplus was in 2004, when oil prices were at about $25 per barrel.

The implications of this amazing turnaround are dramatic. If capital inflows (portfolio as well as foreign direct investment) continue at their present rate of $40 billion annually, India will be awash in dollars, and there will be upward pressure on the rupee. The fiscal arithmetic will improve because the only surviving petro-product subsidies will be on kerosene and cooking gas, and these, too, will stand reduced. Indian Oil and the other oil marketing companies will report a surge in profits, and inflation rates will drop. Narendra Modi and Arun Jaitley should send up a thank-you prayer to the oil god.

Should they and we merely enjoy the party, or think strategically? Through the last decade, as oil prices quadrupled, the government was forced to virtually eliminate central taxes on crude and petro-products in an effort to keep down prices and tackle rampant inflation. Petrol and diesel are now among the lowest taxed goods in the country. There is no customs duty on crude imports, and the excise on unbranded petrol and diesel (even after the hikes earlier this month) is less than Rs 3 per litre. State governments levy taxes, for sure, but there is a good case for Mr Jaitley to jack up the customs duty. A 10 per cent tariff (done incrementally in two or three stages, to avoid a price shock) would yield Rs 60,000 crore — enough to pay for the subsidies on kerosene and cooking gas.

The combined effect of lower subsidies and higher revenues could shrink the fiscal deficit by one percentage point — a bonanza if ever there was one. The higher duty can be absorbed by companies on account of the cushion provided by falling crude prices, so there will be no danger of stoking inflation afresh. Consumers have already enjoyed a Rs 10 drop in the price of petrol, and even a drop in the price of diesel. This once-in-a-decade opportunity to capitalise on cheaper oil should not be wasted in any desire to win easy popularity, especially since consumers as a class stand to benefit from better macroeconomic numbers.

 

 

As for the exchange value of the rupee, if Mr Modi is serious about “Make in India and sell anywhere”, he has to keep the rupee competitive. That means asking the Reserve Bank to repeat what it did in the mid-2000s: buy dollars as much as it can, and shore up foreign exchange reserves. Most observers are agreed that the reserves need to get to $400 billion, from a little over $300 billion today. That cannot be achieved overnight, but now is a good time to start getting there.

ad enactment, no enforcement

India’s approach in tackling the age-old problem of corruption has been Janus-faced. On the one hand, being responsive to public clamour for the eradication of corruption of all kinds, grand or petty, India’s Parliament has been steadily engaged in passing legislation, commencing with the extension of powers granted to the wartime Special Staff in 1942 till the enactment, in 2014, of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act. On the other hand, lawmakers, public servants and law enforcement agencies, who can count among their lot the vast majority of perpetrators of corruption, have been seeking loopholes in the law and avenues to avoid punishment. Political and administrative expediency, not principles of good governance and the rule of law, rule the roost, regardless of which set of political parties is in power.

CBI’s colonial antecedents

Even though the Indian Penal Code, which came into operation on January 1, 1862, defined the ‘public servant’ and identified offences that can be classified as ‘corruption’, the British Raj did not demonstrate any great anxiety about prosecuting its officials for abusing their authority and robbing the public. The onset of World War II forced the Government of India, the chief supporter of Britain’s war effort, to draw urgent attention to the different forms of corruption prevalent in the War Department. The War Resources Committee created, in April 1941, an outfit (called Special Staff) to investigate and check ‘bribery and corruption’ in various supplying departments.

When the war ended, emergency laws enacted during its duration lapsed. The Special Police Establishment (SPE) became the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) by an ordinance, followed by the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, XXV of 1946, which still governs the operations of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The scope of the DSPE was expanded through a new Act of 1952 to cope with the new situation when new institutions and financial concerns arose and developmental activities expanded. The DPSE was empowered to investigate corruption in statutory corporations and entities administered directly or indirectly by the Union government.

In 1962, in the aftermath of a high profile corruption scandal (the Mundhra scandal) which led to the resignation of the then Finance Minister, T.T. Krishnamachari, in 1958, the Government appointed a committee under the chairmanship of K. Santhanam. In the first of its two reports, submitted in 1963, the Santhanam Committee recommended the creation of a Central Vigilance Commission headed by a Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) with considerable autonomy and status so as to consolidate the fragmented anti-corruption work that was being performed by the various ministries of the Union government. In April 1963, the government set up the CBI to investigate not only cases of bribery and corruption, but also violations of Central fiscal laws and serious crimes committed by organised gangs and thugs, besides collecting supporting intelligence, statistics of crime and conducting research to inform policy-making. The CBI drew its power of investigation from the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946. It has been reported that the DSPE Act will be again amended to enable selection of the CBI Director by a body which includes the leader of the largest Opposition party in the Lok Sabha (as there is no Leader of the Opposition now) and also to specifically state that vacancies on the selection panel should not vitiate the selection.

Offences by public servants

The CVC was accorded statutory status in 2003 only after a directive in the judgment of the Supreme Court in Vineet Narain v. Union of India . In September 2010, the CVC released the Draft National Anti-Corruption Strategy, a good document that deserves more attention than it has received. It contains a thoughtful critique of shortcomings in India’s legislative framework. The CVC Act 2003 gives the CVC powers to inquire into alleged offences committed by officials under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. The CVC does not have direct powers to investigate and must depend on the CBI for that. The requirement of obtaining prior sanction of an appropriate authority before any court takes cognisance of an offence by a public servant is a serious limitation. There have been long delays before sanction is accorded. The provision serves to protect public servants though a wrong has been committed because the sanctioning authority is normally a senior officer of the “accused” officer. A sanction after having been accorded can be challenged at the trial stage and cases have been discharged on the basis that the sanctioning authority had not applied its mind while according sanction. This provision goes beyond the protection offered under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (which only protects actions in discharge of official duty).

It is desirable to remove prior sanction requirement in cases where a public servant officer is caught red-handed. A time limit should be prescribed for decisions sanctioning prosecution. However, the power of public servants in India is vast and strong. Instead of easing prior sanction requirements, an amendment Bill was tabled in Parliament in August 2013 which increases the protection of public servants from prosecution.

The Supreme Court had earlier struck down the “single directive” that had provided immunity to senior civil servants from suo motu action of the CBI. The government has restored this provision through statute and entrusted the authority of pre-inquiry scrutiny to the secretary of the administrative department. This has diluted the powers of superintendence of the CVC and the CBI. There is a system of dual control over the CBI — one exercised by the CVC in respect of corruption cases only, and the other by the Central government in respect of all its other work.

Administrative control of the CBI by the Central government makes it vulnerable to the criticism that the agency often compromises its corruption investigations of government officials. During the last decade, at least four former Directors of the agency have been given high-level government positions such as appointments as State Governors. There is criticism of the CBI’s highhandedness and a lack of sensitivity to a loss of reputation of senior members of the bureaucracy against whom it announced inquiries. There have also been selective leaks to the media of material gathered by the CBI in the course of investigation.

Lokpal and Lokayuktha

The Santhanam Committee, in effect, recommended that the CVC should also function as an ombudsman in India, taking cognisance of cases of maladministration as well as corruption. The Government of India ruled out accepting this recommendation claiming that the importance and urgency of providing machinery to look into the grievances of citizens against the administration and to ensure the just and fair exercise of administrative power would require a separate agency. But no such agency was created. It took a Gandhian-style movement led by Anna Hazare to put this matter back on the policy agenda of Parliament in 2011. During 2012, little was done with the Lokpal Bill except for the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha committee. The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, led by the Congress Party, meanwhile lost Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, forcing it to yield ground on the Lokpal Bill, accept all amendments adopted by the Upper House, and pass the Bill on December 17, 2013. The Lokpal law came into force on January 16, 2014.

In brief, the Lokpal is empowered to investigate complaints against the Prime Minister, other ministers, current and former legislators, government employees, employees of firms funded or controlled by the Centre, societies and trusts that collect public money, receive funds from foreign sources, and have an income level above a certain threshold. Bodies creating endowments for or performing religious or charitable functions have been excluded from the Lokpal’s purview. Inquiries are to be completed within 60 days and investigation to be completed within six months. The Lokpal shall order a probe only after hearing the public servant. Inquiry against the Prime Minister has to be held in-camera and approved by two-thirds of a full bench of the Lokpal. The Lokpal will exercise superintendence over the CBI in relation to the cases referred by it. CBI officers investigating cases referred by the Lokpal can be transferred without its approval. The Lokpal can initiate prosecution through its prosecution wing before the special court. Lokpal-initiated trials are to be completed within two years. States are expected to set up Lokayuktas by law within 365 days and have the freedom to determine the powers and the functions of the Lokayukta.

In its twilight hour, when its days were ended, when according to Hegel, the owl of Minerva spreads her wings and wisdom dawns, the UPA government managed to enact legislation to partially protect whistle-blowers, but none of the other complementary laws, which India is obligated to pass after becoming party to the U.N. Convention Against Corruption, has been enacted. The present government does not seem to be in a hurry to constitute the Lokpal and enact those complementary anti-corruption laws, including the Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill, 2010, the Citizen’s Charter and Grievance Redressal Bill 2011, the Public Procurement Bill, 2012, the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill of 2013, and the Prevention of Bribery of Foreign Public Officials and Officials of Public International Organizations Bill, 2011. Maybe Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a modern-day Tacitus who claimed: “The more corrupt the state, the more laws.” Sadly, our lot seems to be both the non-enactment of essential legislation and the non-enforcement of laws we already hav

Saarc nations sign energy deal Pact to facilitate integrated operation of the regional power grid

Saarc (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) countries on Thursday managed to salvage their summit by agreeing to a last-minute deal to trade electricity among them after Pakistan torpedoed proposals backed by India and other nations of the bloc for greater regional connectivity.

Before the Saarc Summit concluded here, foreign ministers of all the eight countries signed the framework agreement on cooperation in the power sector which would ensure electricity trading through grid connectivity but the two pacts on motor vehicle and railways could not be inked, following resistance by Pakistan.

Pakistan had opposed the energy pact, citing non-completion of internal process but finally agreed to sign it after heads of states and governments took up the matter with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at a retreat session in Dhulikhel.

Saarc chair and Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koiralaannounced at the concluding session that a timeframe of three months had been fixed for according approval to the connectivity pacts which will encourage people-to-people contact and movement of goods. At the end of the two-day Summit, which took place after a gap of three years, a “Kathmandu Declaration” was also adopted which said the leaders recognised that after 30 years of its existence, it was time to “reinvigorate” Saarc's regional cooperation and “revitalise” the bloc as an effective vehicle to fulfill the developmental aspirations of the people.

 

 

Describing the Summit as “successful”, India’s External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said there were some “difficulties” on Thursday which were resolved in a “graduated” manner.

He said the Indian side returned “satisfied” with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's “first successful Saarc Summit”.

The declaration said the leaders unequivocally condemned terrorism and violent extremism and underlined the need for effective cooperation among the member states to combat them.

“They (Saarc leaders) directed respective authorities to ensure full and effective implementation of the Saarc Regional Convention on Suppression of Terrorism,” the declaration said.

Thanking the leaders for giving the opportunity to host the next Saarc Summit in Islamabad, Pakistan’s Sharif said, “We must adopt a realistic, pragmatic and step-by-step approach towards solution of issues which will open up new channel of cooperation,” he said
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