UPSC (ias) prelims -2016 result out.

UPSC (ias) prelims -2016 result out.

On 7th August 2016, UPSC had conducted preliminary exam for civil services aka CSAT.
16th September 2016, they’ve declared result= within 40 days. Seems a new record for UPSC!
Total ~15,500 candidates qualified for Mains-2016 against 1,079 final vacancies. (15,445 to be precise.)

http://www.upsc.gov.in/…/Can…/Result%20of%20CS%28P%29%202016

IAS-2016 PRELIMS RESULT

Qualifying IAS Pre exam is start of great journey.we are happy that you have achieved this with your dedicated hard work.
many of our student failed due to getting one or two marks less than cutoff.we are feeling sad for them,but hope that they deserve it ,and they will make it next year.

Heartfelt Congratulations to Rahul shah for qualifying written exam of CAPF (ACs) .He is very hard working and disciplined guy.he will achieve many more success in coming time.
Best of luck for physical test and interview!!
saveg ias dehradun

WELL DONE ABHINAV

Task Force on Innovation

Task Force on Innovation
Innovation is widely recognized as a central driver of economic growth and development. The Global Innovation Index (GII) aims to capture the multi-dimensional facets of innovation. India’s ranking in GII-2016 jumped 15 places to 66th position. Aiming to strengthen the eco-system of innovation in the country, and thereby further improve India’s ranking in GII, the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion has decided to set up a Task Force on Innovation.
Global Innovation Index (GII) 2016 was recently launched in which India has retained the top rank in Information and Communication Technology Service Export for more than last three years. India is the top-ranked economy in Central and Southern Asia, and shows particular strengths in tertiary education and R&D, including global R&D intensive firms, the quality of its universities and scientific publications. India also over-performs in innovation relative to its GDP. India ranks second on innovation quality amongst middle-income economies. As per the report, “India is a good example of how policy is improving the innovation environment”. India moved up across all indicators within the Knowledge Absorption sub-pillar. It has also exhibited a solid performance in the GII model’s newly incorporated research talent in business enterprise, where it ranks 31st. Recognizing India’s potential to reach great heights in innovation, the Commerce & Industry Minister, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman had directed the setting up of a Task Force which would take forward innovation in India.
The Team comprises of Government officials and experts from private organisations - Mr. Naushad Forbes (Co- Chairman , Forbes Marshall Group; President, CII), Dr. Anil Wali (MD, FITT, IIT Delhi), Mr. Gopichand Katragadda (CTO, TATA Sons), Mr. Kris Gopalakrishnan (Executive Vice Chairman, Infosys), Dr. Nikolai Dobberstein (Partner, A.T. Kearney Limited), Mr. Rajeev Srinivasan (Adjunct Faculty, Innovation IIM-B),
Representative from the Department of Science and Technology and the Convenor of the Task Force Mr. Rajiv Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, DIPP. The Task Force will assess India’s position as an innovative country and suggest measures to enhance the innovation eco-system in India and thus improve India’s ranking in the GII. DIPP and CIPAM invite ideas and suggestions from the public. The Task Force may also hold discussions with some of these contributors.

Governmental Initiatives for Meeting Nutritional Needs of the Indians

Governmental Initiatives for Meeting Nutritional Needs of the Indians

Article 47 of the Constitution documents that it is “duty of the state to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living and to improve public health”. 

National Nutrition week (1-7 September), initiated by the Food and Nutrition Board in 1982, is an annual event of immense significance. It aims at intensifying nutrition/health related awareness among the masses which can profoundly impact productivity, economic growth and ultimately development of the nation. During this week, major emphasis is laid on nutrition education and training programmes carried out by the governmental/non-governmental organizations.

“The theme for 2016 is “Life Cycle Approach for Better Nutrition”

Nutrition constitutes the very foundation of human development by imparting immunity and, thus, reducing morbidity, mortality and disability. In addition, it promotes lifelong learning capacities and enhanced productivity. Malnutrition, on the other hand, tends to lower IQ and impairs cognitive ability of the children, thus, affecting their school performance and productivity in later life. Low-birth weight babies not only have impaired immune function but are at a greater risk of non-communicable diseases during their adulthood.

Global Nutrition Report-2016 clearly indicates how India still lags behind in tackling malnutrition effectively. Malnutrition manifests in the form of stunting, wasting, micronutrient deficiencies and over­weight/obesity. In terms of stunting, India ranks 114^th out of 132 nations (incidence: 38.7%) while for wasting, it is 120^th among 130 countries (incidence: 15.1%). Regarding anaemia prevalence among women of reproductive ages, India ranks 170^th out of 185 countries (incidence: 48.1%) – and this is a matter of grave concern.

Over the years, the Government has accorded the highest priority to combat malnutrition among its people. The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme was launched in 1975.

ICDS is one of the world’s largest and most unique outreach programme for early childhood care and development and covers all the districts and blocks in the country.

Similarly, the Mid- Day Meal Scheme was universalized in 1995. However, there is a lack of multi­sectoral coordination which is most essential to address the inter­generational and multifaceted nature of malnutrition.

Similarly, although, globally it is well acknowledged that focusing on the first 1000 days (conception to 2 years post-partum) is a critical window of opportunity to address child malnutrition; in India, focus of the nutrition programmes has chiefly been post­birth. Researches indicate that 50% of the growth failure accrued by the age of 2 years occurs in the womb itself, mainly owing to poor maternal nutrition –during and prior to pregnancy. Therefore, maintaining an adequate nutritional status (pre-conception and first trimester when majority of the women may not even be aware of their pregnancy) is rather crucial for appropriate foetal development.

Undernourished girls have greater chances of becoming undernourished mothers as they inevitably bear low birth weight babies, and thus, perpetuate an intergenerational cycle of malnutrition. This gets further compounded in adolescent mothers, who simultaneously carry the burden of two physiological stages (adolescence and pregnancy). This also holds true for closely spaced high parity pregnancies – often exacerbating nutrition deficits, which are passed on to their offspring/s.

For inclusive growth, under the eleventh 5­year plan, universalization of ICDS coupled with setting up of mini­ Anganwadi centers in deprived areas was undertaken; yet, there is a need to further strengthen ICDS in poor­ performing states based on the lessons learnt from various successful models.  Overhauling of ICDS by the Ministry of WCD (May 2016) is expected to improve nutrition scenario of the country.

The Government is now working on close Monitoring of the Nutrition programmes by digitisation of the Anganwadis.

Anganwadis

This is expected to turnaround the entire system since it will help in real time monitoring of nutrition status of each child and take up immediate interventions wherever required. Similarly, diarrhoea has a direct impact on nutrition status of a child. Constructing toilets and providing clean drinking water are being taken up by the Government on a war footing to provide clean living conditions and good health to one and all.

In 2013, government passed the food security bill entitling 5 kg food grain/person/month at highly subsidised rates. It is commendable that food and nutrition security is being promoted through several national level programmes like TPDS, MGNREGA, ICDS and MDMS. Further, programmes like Swachh Bharat, ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padao’ address critical nutrition­ sensitive issues. Fortification of food items especially those being distributed through the PDS is also being taken up to address the issue of malnutrition in the country.

A high level responsiveness is mandated to effectively manage the emergency situations like droughts, floods, and infection. It is important that nutrition related data are collected more frequently (currently gathered once in 5-7 years) to reflect the changing nutritional needs as well as impact of the nutrition interventions. It is important that a national nutrition strategy is designed to ensure that under-nutrition gets utmost priority. India’s nutrition challenges call for urgent action for ensuring faster, gender-sensitive, inclusive and sustainable growth.

Nutrition is a double edged  sword  – both under and over nutrition being harmful…. 

…. Optimum nutrition combined with regular physical activity is the cornerstone of good health!!

 

Narendra Modi’s essential vision of Indian institutions

Narendra Modi’s essential vision of Indian institutions
Creating prosperity for India will involve changing the rules of the game
n an annual lecture organized by NITI Aayog on 26 August, Prime Minister Narendra Modi remarked: “There was a time when development was believed to depend on the quantity of capital and labour. Today, we know that it depends as much on the quality of institutions and ideas.” Modi’s comment seems to be inspired, partly, from Why Nations Fail (2012) by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson. In their thought-provoking book, Acemoglu and Robinson argue that institutions, and they alone, determine the prosperity of a nation. Before proceeding, it is important to distinguish between two kinds of institutions. The first refers to rules of the game—formal laws and informal norms. The second is in the nature of organizations.
Douglas North makes a distinction: “If institutions are the rules of the game, organizations and their entrepreneurs are the players.” Geoffrey Hodgson clarifies that North’s treatment of organizations as players does not rule out their becoming institutions themselves, especially when intra-organizational conflicts are taken into account. Since Modi went on to talk about NITI Aayog, which he set up as an evidence-based think tank, he was most probably talking about the second kind of institution—the organization. But his repeated reference to “ideas”—and transformative ones at that—means he did not preclude the first kind. After all, the concept of limited liability was just an idea before New York made it a law in 1811 and moved towards becoming the financial centre of the world.
“Inclusive economic institutions that enforce property rights, create a level playing field, and encourage investments in new technologies and skills,” say Acemoglu and Robinson, need to be supported by “inclusive political institutions, that is, those that distribute political power widely in a pluralistic manner and are able to achieve some amount of political centralization…” If NITI Aayog is an example of a new organization set up by the Modi government, the monetary policy framework has brought in new rules for fighting inflation. The goods and services tax (GST) council can be an example of the inclusive political institution that Acemoglu and Robinson talk about. The GST council centralizes indirect tax collection while providing both the states and centre a voice in setting tax rates.
Acemoglu and Robinson’s theory is not without sceptics. Jared Diamond has criticized it for ignoring geography; Arvind Subramanian says it fails to explain the development trajectory of both India and China. With India too poor for its level of political institutions and China too behind in its institutions for its level of income, Subramanian says Acemoglu and Robinson fail to explain the development trajectory of “one-third of humanity”.
Francis Fukuyama blames it for not elaborating on what makes an inclusive institution as opposed to an “extractive” one. Crucially, Fukuyama does not find the theory original as he says there is “no real difference between the ‘extractive/inclusive’ distinction” in Acemoglu-Robinson “and the ‘limited/open’ access distinction” in Violence and Social Orders (2009) by North, John Wallis and Barry Weingast. The latter three have argued that limited access order—the default state of human societies—create political stability by limiting economic and political participation. Not many nations have been able to break out of this by creating open access order which maintains political stability along with open economic and political participation.
While agreeing that the institutions are important, the critics don’t think they alone can explain prosperity. But Modi’s focus on institutions is not misplaced either. The critics of Acemoglu and Robinson will be satisfied with his verbiage. India’s bridge to open access order will involve changing the rules of the game—creating competitive markets and liberal institutions, not just seeking higher cash flows under the same old rules.
But when speaking of organizations as institutions, Modi will also have to focus on institutional design. Devesh Kapur and Pratap Bhanu Mehta argue that “limited effectiveness of its public institutions” is both “a critical factor explaining India’s modest record in governance and development” and a result of poor institutional design. Therefore, even if the monetary policy framework is a commendable development, it does not take away from the challenge of appointing the right people to man the monetary policy committee. Creating a culture of evidence-based thinking at NITI Aayog is also an institutional design problem. An institution in place tasked with evidence-based thinking is not enough.
Should India focus on building inclusive institutions?

Global electric vehicle revolution by 2020

Global electric vehicle revolution by 2020
Every major auto maker is developing or has developed an electric vehicle for launch in the next three years
Transportation accounts for more than 25% of worldwide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, making it the second largest contributor of GHG emissions after the energy sector. Worse, GHG emissions from road transportation have grown 30% since 2005 and show no sign of declining. Hence, reducing transportation emissions is one of the most vital steps in fighting global warming.
To cut GHG emissions drastically, and maximize renewable energy adoption, we have to replace the internal combustion engine (ICE) with hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles (EVs). By flipping the switch to electrified transportation, we can drive climate solutions.
Evolution of the EV industry
Electric vehicles are cleaner than petroleum-fuelled vehicles and are seen as a promising solution to global warming. While several starts and stops of the EV industry in the second half of the 20th century helped show the world the promise of the technology, two turning points led to the true revival of the EV.
The first was the introduction of the Toyota Prius in Japan in 1997, which became the world’s first mass-produced hybrid electric vehicle after its global release in 2000. Second came the announcement in 2006 that a small Silicon Valley start-up, Tesla Motors Inc., would start producing a luxury electric sports car that could go more than 200 miles on a single charge. Tesla has won wide acclaim for its cars and is now the largest auto industry employer in California. It sold over 50,000 Model S sedans in 2015, up 52% year-on-year and a new annual sales record in the EV industry. Model S sales grew 45% in the first quarter of 2016 from a year earlier.
EV market share was just 1.4% in March 2016. However, the unsubsidized total cost of ownership of EVs is likely to fall below that of ICE vehicles by 2020. The widespread adoption of EVs in the succeeding decades, due to price competitiveness and a strong regulatory and incentive framework, would boost overall EV market share to 25% by 2040, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
In terms of market share, no country can compare with Norway, where one in three vehicles (33.1%) registered is plug-in electric. India and China, the emerging economic powers, which are primarily driven by coal and oil, have also strengthened their cooperation in clean energy technologies, renewable energy, EVs and low-carbon urbanization.
China has sold 100 million electric motorbikes and scooters so far, the world’s largest vehicle electrification success to date, by quite some distance. The Chinese make 30 million every year and only 8% are exported. China has also sold almost 200 million e-bikes by now. India is working on a scheme to provide electric cars on zero down-payments for which people can pay out of their savings on expensive fossil fuels, for becoming a 100% EV nation by 2030, as per a recent statement by power minister Piyush Goyal.
On a global level, even though EVs like the Tesla Model S, Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt are mature product offerings that fit into a lot of people’s lifestyles, we are still in the “innovator” phase of the product adoption curve. When we hit the latter stage of the “early adopters” phase, we will see a noticeable downward pressure in oil sales resulting from EVs by 2020.
Impact on oil industry
From 2011 to 2013, US oil production surged almost 50% due to fracking of shale oil. Typically, in that situation, Opec countries would control their production to keep prices high. But Opec declined to do that, resulting in a supply glut and a fall in oil prices. After a brief recovery in 2015, prices kept going down, eventually under $30 a barrel. What precipitated all this was about 2 million barrels a day of surplus supply, over and above demand.
In 2015, EV sales grew by about 60% worldwide. (As a comparison, solar photovoltaic panels are following a similar curve at around 50% growth each year.) At this rate, EVs would displace 2 million barrels a day by 2020. When that happens, EV adoption is likely to accelerate, driving economies of scale that hasten it even further. A large volume of oil will go unused. And long before global oil use declines in large absolute terms, it will decline enough to substantially affect the prices.
Top challenge
The primary reason for the current high prices of EVs is the expensive battery. Batteries account for a third of the cost of building an EV. Costs for lithium-ion batteries have plummeted from $750 per kWh in 2010 to $350 per kWh in 2016, a 65% reduction. With three multi-trillion-dollar industries—information technology/electronics, automotive and energy investing in battery storage, by 2020, battery costs are likely to fall to $100 per kWh, or less than half of present levels. From there, costs will continue to decline. These costs, alongside technological innovations, have a direct correlation with the EV pricing. For example, the base price of the Tesla Roadster in the US was $109,000 in 2010 while the price of the upcoming Model 3 is targeted at $35,000 (Rs.18-25 lakh in India), signifying a steep drop in vehicle price with battery costs.
Government as catalyst
For EVs to achieve widespread adoption, governments will have to launch strong incentive programmes that will bring down car prices and spur consumer adoption of the technology.
In the Indian scenario, the government should provide the initial user base and demand to help technologies cross the chasm. The government could consider making all new government and corporate vehicles electric. Eventually, all police cars and other municipal vehicles can also be made electric. This would force government buildings to install EV infrastructure, and hopefully create a large enough ecosystem for the maintenance market in petrol pumps and service shops to take off.
With less than 50 motor vehicles per 1,000 people in India, cars and other means of transport from aggregator companies such as Ola Cabs are projected to become the major use of transportation in India by 2020. India imposes 60% customs duty on import of completely built electric cars that are priced less than $40,000 (a Rs.23 lakh priced Tesla Model 3 will cost Rs.37 lakh if imported).
Although some organizations in India are working hard to help India switch to electric transportation, utilizing what Tesla and other EV manufacturers have to offer will save a lot of time. The government’s EV programme should waive taxes and customs on such vehicles, at least until the local manufacturers catch up with the technology. This, in addition to the recently launched FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric vehicles) programme will act as a distinct incentive at least to the drivers who drive on aggregator companies to buy/operate these cars.
Three major shifts are happening. First, auto makers like BMW, Volkswagen AG, General Motors Co., Daimler AG, Ford Motor Co., Tesla and others have a solid vision to run EVs on renewables and realize green manufacturing is good for business and reduces costs. Second, the auto industry is evolving toward EVs as every major original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is developing or has developed an EV to launch in the next three years. Third, auto manufacturers are adapting renewable energy to power OEM plants all over the world with solar and wind technologies.
Moreover, since 2013, the world has been adding more electricity generating capacity from wind and solar than from coal, natural gas and oil combined. It is anticipated that the 2020s will be the decade of the electric car and a step forward towards a clean environment for the next generation.

SCRAMJET: Another Upward Stride by ISRO

Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO successfully tested two indigenously developed scramjet engines on the 28^th August. The test of the engines was conducted on board a Rohini sounding rocket, also called Advanced Technology Vehicle, ATV which was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. The successful technology demonstration of scramjet engines in flight is a modest yet important milestone in ISRO’s endeavour to design and develop such engines. With this, India has now joined the elite club of nations that have designed, developed and successfully tested scramjet engines. The United States first successfully tested scramjet engines in July 2002. It was followed by Russia, European Agency, Japan and then China.  Significantly, the Indian space agency achieved this feat in its maiden attempt.

The 3277 kg ATV which carried the scramjet engines touched down in the Bay of Bengal approximately 320 km from Sriharikota after a flight of 300 seconds. ISRO later informed that when the ATV reached a height of 11 km, the on board scramjet engines started breathing air directly from the atmosphere. ISRO’s main concern was igniting the engines in the air and then sustaining the flame at supersonic speed. However both the engines on board the ATV ran for six seconds and they enabled the rocket to fly at  Mach  6 speed which is at about 7200 km per hour. Prime Minister, Narendra Modi in his congratulatory message said that the successful testing of scramjet rocket engines is a testimony to the hard work and excellence of Indian scientists.

What is a scramjet engine? 

A scramjet engine means a supersonic combusting ramjet engine. Both scramjet and ramjet engines use the space craft’s forward motion to compress incoming air without an axial compressor. Since scramjets cannot produce thrust at zero airspeed, they cannot move a space craft from a standstill. A scramjet-powered vehicle, therefore, requires an assisted take off by a rocket to accelerate it to a speed where it begins to produce thrust. It has been found that scramjet engines work most efficiently at supersonic speeds between Mach 3 and Mach 6.  A ramjet engine on the other hand can work at subsonic speed. Both ramjet and scramjet engines use atmospheric oxygen as oxidizer. While exit flow from the inlet of a ramjet engine is subsonic that from a scramjet engine is supersonic.  The word Mach comes from Ernst Mach, a brilliant 19th century scientist whose most famous contribution was in the area of the speed of sound.  Mach 1 means the speed of sound that is 1195 km/hr in air.  A rocket flying at Mach 1 speed means it is going at the speed of sound in a particular medium say air. Mach 2 means twice the speed of sound.

Scramjet vital for ISRO’s future plans

Scramjets are very important for ISRO’s future plans. The space agency currently uses rocket launch vehicles like the PSLV to deliver satellites into orbit. PSLVs are expendable, meaning that they can only be used once. In future, ISRO wants to use rockets fitted with scramjets because their launching cost it will be much less than that of the conventional rockets.

The difference between a rocket fitted with a scramjet engine and a conventional rocket  is that while the former carries  on board only liquid Hydrogen as fuel and uses Oxygen  from atmosphere for combustion to produce thrust, the latter carries both liquid Hydrogen as fuel and liquid Oxygen. Since the rocket fitted with scramjet engine does not have to carry Oxygen as oxidiser, it is lighter and can carry an extra payload equal to the weight of Oxygen. So, ISRO’s rockets in future, fitted with scramjet engines will be able to carry heavier satellites. Currently the cost of lifting one kg of payload by ISRO’s conventional rockets ranges between 12,000 to 15000 US dollars. So, when this cost comes down substantially, the ISRO already launching satellites of other nations at competitive rates, is likely to be flooded with orders for launching not only from foreign governments but also from many organizations who need specialized services.

ISRO is now working on a launch vehicle platform called Avatar with which  the space agency plans to launch  re-useable space crafts.

This reusable launch vehicle platform will be capable of carrying out satellite launches – takes off vertically and lands back on a runway. The rockets launched from Avatar will use both ramjets and scramjets for thrust and, flight and also cryogenic engines for landing. Each of these engines will be used in different stages of the flight –ramjet at lower speeds, scramjet at hypersonic speeds and cryogenic engines when the craft reaches the edge of the atmosphere. Incidentally, both these engines are different from turbojets. While in turbojets there are moving parts, in ramjet and scramjet there is no moving part.