#CPF (AC)-2015 #SOLUTION,#UPSC,SAMVEG IAS

Dear Friends
We are providing #solution for #CPF(AC)-2015 EXAM  for your benefit.There may be erorr of 3%.So if someone  knows better ans ,please contribute TO OUR effort.if you feel it worth while ,share it with your friends too.

Paper was easier than last year.but the sur prise was less number of questions from current affairs.it seems on path  of civil services prelims.But from this paper only one can not guess anything about  ias pre exam. net 60 question seems safe if you consider last years cutoff.

1-B

2-B

3-D

4-C

5-B

6-A

7-C

8-A
9-B
10-A
11-C
12-A

13-D
14-A
15-B
16-C

17-D
18-D
19-C
20-A

21-D
22-B
23-C
24-C
25-D

26-A
27-
28-D
29-A
30-D

31-B
32-C
33-B
34-C
35-D
36-A

37-C
38-D
39-C
40-B
41-B

42-D

43-A

44-A

45-D

46-A

47-B
48-A
49-A
50-D
51-A
52B

53-A
54-B
55-B
56-A
57-D
58-D

59-A
60-A
61-A
62-A
63-D
64-C
65-C
66-A

67-B
68-A
69-C
70-A
71-C
72-D
73-A
74-A

75-B
76-B
77-
78-
79-C
80-B
81--A
82-C
83-D

84-B
85-B
86-C
87-D
88-A
89-B
90-A
91-

92-C
93-A
94-C
95-B
96-D

97-D
98-D
99-C
100-B
101-B
102-C
103-C

104-C
105-B
106-D
107-B
108-C
109-C

110-C
111-B
112-C
113-C
114-A
115-A
116-C
117-A

118-D
119-D
120-A
121-A
122-C

123-B
124-A
125-C

IISc coming in fifth place and 31 Indian Institutions figuring in top 200 in the QS BRICS Universities Ranking 2015

President of India expresses happiness over IISc coming in fifth place and 31 Indian Institutions figuring in top 200 in the QS BRICS Universities Ranking 2015

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee expressed happiness over Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru attaining the fifth position in the QS BRICS Universities Ranking 2015 and 31 Indian institutions figuring in the top 200 of the ranking.

He was speaking after receiving a detailed analysis of India’s performance in the QS BRICS Universities rankings today (July 11, 2015) from Mr. Mohandas Pai, Chairman of the Indian Centre for Academic Rankings and Excellence (ICARE) at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The ICARE has been helping Indian Institutions of higher learning better understand global ranking parameters and encouraging their pro-active participation in the global ranking process.

Mr. Pai informed the President that IISc not only ranks number 5 across Universities in all BRICS nations but is also ranked number 1 among BRICS countries in the parameter pertaining to research papers per faculty. He said 31 Indian Institutions have figured in top 200 in the 2015 QS BRICS Ranking, a rise from 20 in 2014. In the top 400, India has 94 institutions. More complete data from Universities in India has been responsible for much of the improvement in performance. Data collection still remains the greatest challenge in India. 50 Universities did not provide full data in spite of constant follow up and request.

Responding to the presentation, the President said it was a proud moment for him and his associates at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Over the last two and a half years, he has addressed around 100 academic congregations calling upon them to improve their position in global ranking. India has outstanding and inherent talent, in both students and teachers which should be given a conducive environment to blossom. Nobel laureates like Har Gobind Khorana, S. Chandrasekhar, Dr. Amartya Sen and V. Ramakrishnan did their graduate or post-graduate studies in Indian Universities before they went abroad for higher learning. Our institutions sometimes are complacent and presume that the world is aware of what they are doing. If they come out of this mindset, they can achieve wonders. It is important to let the world know what their achievements are.

The President expressed happiness that a large number of Central Universities have responded to his appeal to take measures to improve the quality of education, set up innovation clubs, create Networks of Inspired Teachers etc. He said Indian Universities have the potential to be the best, provided they can apply themselves to the task of improving quality and submit regularly relevant information to the ranking agencies. The President said he intends to interact with students and faculty of higher education institutions through video conferencing in the month of August using the National Knowledge Network.

The President of India is ‘Visitor’ to 114 Institutes of higher learning including all Central Universities, Indian Institutes of Technology, National Institutes of Technology, Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research, the Indian Institute of Science and Indian Maritime University. In his capacity as ‘Visitor’, the President has visited 99 institutions since he assumed office. He has also convened in Rashtrapati Bhavan three conferences of Vice Chancellors of Central Universities, two conferences of Directors of NITs and one conference of Chairmen, Board of Governors and Directors of IITs in the last three years. The President has instituted Visitor’s Awards for the best Central Universities to promote healthy competition and motivate them adopt best practices from around the world. Further, the President has in all his foreign visits, included representatives of academic institutions as part of his accompanying delegation with a view to promoting international collaboration in education and research in our universities. 

Open Doors, Broken Walls Foreign policymaking benefits from diverse inputs. But lateral entry is avoidable -

Open Doors, Broken Walls

Foreign policymaking benefits from diverse inputs. But lateral entry is avoidable

- That the ministry of external affairs (MEA) will soon start recruiting academics and private-sector candidates is no breaking news. The ministry’s doors have been so wide open all these years that IFS officers are now a minority in the MEA and our missions abroad.

Out of a total of 4,024 posts, IFS officers occupy only 917. The rest are from the IFS (B), IAS, IPS and other services, such as the Interpreters’ Cadre and the Legal and Treaties Cadre. Our passport operations are handled by a separate cadre altogether. The MEA itself has more than 70 deputationists in the territorial divisions doing the work that was earlier done by the IFS. The present move is not opening doors but breaking walls, which will endanger the structure itself. A new method of recruitment is being devised outside the UPSC to bring in short-term experts, who are not likely to leave. The move “runs the risk of degenerating into an uncontrollable spoils system”, as observed by a serving IAS officer.

The plan for lateral entry into the IFS was hatched in a New York think-tank and was embraced by vested interests in India. The thrust of the study was that India did not have enough diplomats to handle the responsibilities of the 21st century and, therefore, there was a need to recruit people from outside. The point was not about quality but numbers. “Growth in girth is the road to Nirvana,” according
to these analysts, as pointed out by a former foreign secretary.

The optimum size of our foreign service should not be determined by comparing it to China, Russia or the US. Indian diplomacy has never suffered because of a dearth of people. It will be uneconomical to match the numbers of richer countries.

India has been wary of expanding the foreign service beyond a point for quality and economy-related reasons. When a foreign secretary tried to increase recruitment in 1979 he was accused of extravagance. A second deputy permanent representative sent to our mission to the UN in 1994 was found to be a luxury we could ill afford. If 4,500 IAS officers can manage the whole country, would not 900 IFS officers be enough to man our missions?

Another argument for “opening the doors” is the alleged shortage of research in the MEA. The IT revolution has totally transformed the way diplomats function. Even while engaged in firefighting, it’s possible for officers to access information, analyses and insights. Today’s diplomats need to multitask as researchers, analysts, decision-makers and draftsmen. Political acumen, a general understanding of geopolitical realities and instinct, grown out of years of training and experience in the field, are important factors. If research
and access to information were enough, countries like the US would have made no mistakes in foreign policy.

The MEA has also experimented with different structures for long-term and short-term policyplanning. The limitations of long-term planning have been in evidence throughout history. What the territorial divisions need is a bridge between themselves and the political masters, a role normally performed by the foreign secretary. A policy-planning division in parallel with the territorial divisions has not been
effective. A high-level chairman of a policy-planning body was found eminently beneficial in the past.

The value of the contributions made to foreign policymaking by other ministries, think-tanks, universities and the media are beyond question. Some of their advice has been decisive in changing the course of policy. But it is best if they operate within their own domains rather than become part of the MEA. The government benefits from multiple entities that study issues and make recommendations. Most democracies rely on multiple agencies and forums for inputs into foreign policy.

The administrative complexities of recruitment into the MEA will also be formidable. The initiative to recruit more IFS officers through the UPSC, taken a few years ago, will be enough to make up for the shortage. By reducing routine training programmes, officers could be deployed more rapidly with quicker promotions.

Such a measure would also make the IFS more attractive to young people. Let the doors of the MEA remain open, but let them not be blown away.

-

“Promoting Energy Access Through Clean Energy (PEACE)”

India & USA Launch of a New Initiative “Promoting Energy Access Through Clean Energy (PEACE)”; Signs a MoU on Cooperation to Establish the PACESetter Fund

India and the United States of America signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Cooperation to Establish the PACESetter Fund – A fund to support the Promoting Energy Access Through Clean Energy (PEACE) track of the U.S.-India Partnership to Advance Clean Energy (PACE) to accelerate the commercialization of off-grid clean energy through early-stage grant funding grants to develop and test innovative products, systems, and business models

The MoU was signed by Shri Upendra Tripathy, Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy from Indian side and by Shri Richard Verma, United States Ambassador to the Republic of India from USA side on 30th June, 2015 at New Delhi.

The Government of India and the United States of America have announced the launch of a new initiative “Promoting Energy Access through Clean Energy (PEACE)”. This ambitious cooperation is a new tract under the U.S.-India Partnership to Advance Clean Energy (PACE), a flagship initiative on Clean Energy that combines the resources of several U.S. agencies and GOI Ministries. This has also been listed in the Joint Statement during the visit of President of USA to India in January, 2015.

India-U.S. corpus of about Rs.500 Million ($8 Million U.S. Dollars) have been drawn on 50:50 sharing basis.

Under this, a Steering Committee comprising the Secretary of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and the United States Ambassador to India, and three representatives from each side has been constituted.

It was agreed to cooperate through technical and commercial innovation and the advancement of clean energy in off-grid space. 

Isro successfully launches PSLV-C28 carrying 5 UK satellites

 Indian Space Research Organization's commercial launch capability reached a new high on Friday night when it successfully launched five satellites for the UK.

Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C28) lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 9.58pm. Less than 20 minutes later, the rocket placed in the designated orbits three identical DMC3 optical earth observation satellites, an auxiliary earth observation micro satellite (CBNT-1) and one technology demonstrator nanosatellite (De-OrbitSail), built by SSTL.

It was PSLV's 30th flight and 29th consecutive successful one. For the ninth time, Isro used an XL version of the rocket with an additional strap-on. The heaviest commercial mission undertaken by the space agency underlines Isro not only as a major player for space industries globally but also as a leading foreign exchange earner for the country.



"It was a wonderful launch," said Isro chairman AS Kiran Kumar soon after the launch. "We've put all the five satellites of our customers in orbit."

The overall liftoff mass of the five satellites added up to 1,440kg — more than twice the mass of its last commercial launch of SPOT 7 — a French satellite weighing 712kg which was put in orbit by PSLV on June 30, 2014.

The four-stage PSLV-C28 stood at 44.4m, with a liftoff mass of 320 tonnes. The mission was not without challenges. New designs comprising a circular launcher adaptor called as L-adaptor and a triangular deck called Multiple Satellite Adapter-Version 2 (MSA-V2), were realised by Isro to overcome the tough task of mounting the three DMC3 satellites each with a height of about 3m within the existing payload fairing of the launcher.

These international customer satellites were launched as part of the arrangement between DMC International Imaging (DMCii), a wholly owned subsidiary of SSTL, UK and Antrix Corporation Limited (Antrix), the commercial arm of Isro.



The DMC3 constellation, comprising three advanced mini-satellites DMC3-1, DMC3-2 and DMC3-3, is designed to address the need for simultaneous high spatial resolution and high temporal resolution optical Earth observation.

Launched into a single low-Earth orbit plane and phased with a separation of 120° between them, these satellites can image any target on earth's surface every day. Major application areas include surveying the resources on earth and its environment, managing urban infrastructure and monitoring of disasters.

CBNT-1, weighing 91 kg, is an optical Earth Observation technology demonstration micro satellite built by SSTL. The 7kg De-orbit Sail from Surrey Space Centre is an experimental nanosatellite for demonstration of large thin membrane sail and drag deorbiting using this sail.

The DMC constellation satellites which have a mission life of seven years weighs 447kg. CBNT-1 and De-Orbit Sail weigh 91kg and 7kg respectively.



Earlier, Isro launched SSTL's and SSC's (Surrey Space Centre) nanosatellite STRAND-1 on February 25, 2013. The other countries which have launched their satellites using Isro's launch facilities include Germany, Republic of Korea, Belgium, Indonesia, Argentina, Italy, Israel, Canada, Japan, The Netherlands, Denmark, Turkey, Switzerland, Algeria, Singapore, Luxembourg, France and Austria.

This is the second launch by Isro in 2015 with the previous one being launch navigation satellite — IRNSS-1D in March.The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), in its thirtieth flight (PSLV-C28), launched three identical DMC3 optical earth observation satellites built by Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL), United Kingdom (UK).  The three DMC3 satellites, each weighing 447 kg, launched into a 647 km Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) using the high-end version of PSLV (PSLV-XL) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota (SDSC-SHAR), the spaceport of India. PSLV-C28 will be the ninth flight of  PSLV in ‘XL’ configuration.

The PSLV-C28, in addition to the three DMC3 satellites, also carried two auxiliary satellites from UK, viz., CBNT-1, a technology demonstrator earth observation micro satellite built by SSTL, and De-OrbitSail, a technology demonstrator nano satellite built by Surrey Space Centre.

With the overall lift-off mass of the five satellites amounting to about 1440 kg, this mission becomes the heaviest commercial mission undertaken by Antrix/ISRO till date.

Accommodating the three DMC3 satellites each with a height of about 3 metre within the existing payload fairing of PSLV, was a challenge. To mount these satellites onto the launcher, a circular Launcher adaptor called as L-adaptor and a triangular deck called Multiple Satellite Adapter-Version 2 (MSA-V2), were newly designed and realized by ISRO for this specific purpose.

These international customer satellites have been launched as part of the arrangement entered into between DMC International Imaging (DMCii), a wholly owned subsidiary of SSTL, UK; and Antrix Corporation Limited (Antrix), the commercial arm of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), a Government of India Company under Department of Space.

DMC3

The DMC3 constellation, comprising of three advanced mini-satellites DMC3-1, DMC3-2 and DMC3-3, is designed to address the need for simultaneous high spatial resolution and high temporal resolution optical Earth Observation. Launched into a single Low-Earth Orbit plane and phased with a separation of 120° between them, these satellites can image any target on the Earth’s surface every day. Major application areas include surveying the resources on earth and its environment, managing urban infrastructure and monitoring of disasters.

CBNT-1, weighing 91 kg, is an optical Earth Observation technology demonstration micro satellite built by SSTL. The 7 kg De-orbitSail from Surrey Space Centre, is an experimental nano satellite for demonstration of large thin membrane sail and drag deorbiting using this sail.

 

Kalpakkam breeder reactor to go on stream

It will signal India’s entry into the next stage of its n-power programme.

The 500-MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam, near here, is getting ready to be commissioned in September. When the reactor goes critical, it will signal India’s triumphant entry into the second stage of its three-stage nuclear power programme.

The PFBR will use plutonium-uranium oxide as fuel and 1,750 tonnes of liquid sodium as coolant. It is called a breeder reactor because it breeds more fuel than it consumes. “We are committed to making the PFBR attain criticality in September,” said P. Chellapandi, chairman and managing director, Bharatiya Nabikhiya Vidyut Nigam Limited (BHAVINI), a public sector undertaking of the Department of Atomic Energy, tasked with building breeder reactors.

The PFBR construction had been completed and equipment energised. “We are awaiting clearance from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) for sodium charging, fuel loading, reactor criticality and then stepping up power generation,” Dr. Chellapandi said.

The AERB had sent several safety committees to the PFBR for inspection of design compliance and component specifications.

Dr. Chellapandi said: “We have kept the sodium frozen in 10 big tanks.

“All heat transport systems, comprising the pipelines, the heat exchanger components and tanks, have been filled with pure argon to avoid any chemical reaction with sodium and oxygen. We have to melt the sodium and pump it into the reactor circuits.”

After the sodium charging, engineers will perform thermal hydraulics experiments to check the functioning of the pumps and the heat exchanger.

Later, the AERB will give clearance for loading the fuel. In the first stage of the nuclear power programme, a fleet of Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors, running on natural uranium, had been built. In the second stage, a series of breeder reactors will come up. Reactors running on thorium will form the third stage.

NJAC: Objection overruled

The new judicial appointments act is clearly a superior alternative to the collegium system and, in fact, raises the consultative process in the selection of judges to an almost philosophical level.

The observation by the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, which is presently hearing the petition challenging the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act and the Constitution Amendment Act, that the collegium system was good but its implementation was bad is the subject of much speculation in government circles. There is apprehension that the court may even strike down the two enactments on the ground that judicial primacy in the appointment of judges has been done away with.

However, from a closer reading of the judgment in the Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association versus Union of India (or Second Judges Case) it would appear that it may not be easy for the Constitution Bench to strike down these two laws on the ground that they destroy judicial independence and thus violate the basic structure of the Constitution.

The judgment lays down the following propositions: (a) Judicial independence extends also to the stage of appointment of judges. It is not enough to have security of tenure, salary, pension, and so on ; (b) Selection of judges is a participatory, consultative, constitutional function performed by high constitutional functionaries whose objective is to pick the best persons for the higher levels of judiciary; (c) In this exercise, no one is higher or lower than the other; (d) normally a judge should be selected through a process of consensus. In case that is not possible, more weightage should be given to the opinion of the Chief Justice because he or she is the expert who can judge the competence of the candidate better. This is necessary to avoid a stalemate and also to avoid an incompetent person with political backing getting through.

Participatory exercise

In the narrative part of the judgment, the court has adopted a larger perspective on the issue. Note the following observation of the court: “The emphasis has to be on the importance of the purpose and not on the comparative importance of the participants working together to achieve the purpose. Each of them has some inherent limitation and it is only collectively that they constitute the selector.”

It further says, “Appointment of judges is a participatory constitutional function. It is perhaps inappropriate to refer to any ‘power’ or ‘right’ to appoint judges. It is essentially a discharge of a constitutional trust of which certain constitutional functionaries are collectively repositories.”

Here, the court emphasises the point that selection of judges is a participatory exercise to be performed by the highest constitutional functionaries and consultation is the essence of this process. The question of the primacy of opinion will arise only when all other efforts fail to select an agreed candidate. “The joint venture of all the constitutional functionaries will help to transcend the concept of primacy between them,” said the court.

Somehow, this conciliatory approach of the court is missing towards the end of the judgment, where it firmly says that appointment shall be made of only those proposed by the Chief Justice. The court laid down an elaborate procedure on the selection and appointment of judges and other related matters, which, in fact was the province of the legislature.

Thus, the primacy of the executive was replaced by the primacy of the Chief Justice. This was done after making the following observations: “It is obvious that the provision for consultation with the Chief Justice was introduced because of the realisation that the Chief Justice is best equipped to know and assess the worth of the candidate and his suitability for appointment as a superior judge.… At the same time, the phraseology used indicated that giving absolute discretion or the power to veto to the Chief Justice of India as an individual in the matter of appointment was not considered desirable (by the framers of the Constitution) so there should remain some power with the executive to be exercised as a check whenever necessary.”

The Constitution Amendment Act and the NJAC Act can be struck down only on the ground that these enactments violate the basic structure, namely judicial independence.

The First Judges Case (or the S.P. Gupta case) judgment was overruled because the court felt that primacy of the executive in the appointment of judges is destructive of judicial independence. In fact, the Constitution Amendment Act does not confer primacy on the executive, which is represented by only one member on the commission. So it cannot be attacked on the ground that it gives primacy to the executive.

Does it take away the primacy of the Chief Justice? Well, the judiciary is represented by the Chief Justice and two senior-most judges who have a powerful voice in this body. Their knowledge and expertise, their formidable status, and so on, are enough to influence the other members and bring them around to their view. If the judges do not approve of a certain name, they can veto it. Once a proposal is vetoed, it cannot be revived.

While it is true that the judges require the support of other members of the commission to get a name through, that by itself is not going to cause any serious erosion of the independence of the judiciary. After all, the learned judges who wrote the judgment made the following significant statement: “The joint venture of all the constitutional functionaries will help to transcend the concept of primacy between them.”

The judiciary could share their knowledge and expertise with other members and elevate the exercise of collective consultation to a higher level. The fact that no one individual or group has primacy in the new scheme accords with the sentiments expressed by the court in the Second Judges Case and the overall perspective adopted by the judges in dealing with the issue.

In fact, the integrated participatory consultative process has been raised to an almost philosophical level by the learned judges. The new enactments provide for a qualitatively better and more broad-based consultation than the consultation among a few judges as per the collegium system.

Constitutional safeguards

The Constitution safeguards judicial independence. Apart from the specific provisions that safeguard that independence, the new enactments extend the concept of independence to the stage of appointment also by providing for the largest number of judges compared to other representatives on the commission and a veto power for them.

Judicial independence is not an end in itself. It is also a means to realise a higher objective, namely to find competent, independent-minded judges for India’s higher judiciary. It is not the means to select judges arbitrarily and without any sense of accountability using the power of primacy. The true merit of a judge will become known only through the process of wider consultation. The two enactments provide for such consultation.

The collegium system lacked transparency and was therefore susceptible to abuse. The present Constitution Bench admitted that there was bad implementation of the collegium system and that is the severest indictment of the system by the judges themselves. The NJAC is by all accounts a superior alternative, and there is no ground to strike down the laws.

(P.D.T Achary is former secretary general of the Lok Sabha.)