India ranks 134 in human development index

India ranks a low 134 among 187 countries in terms of the human development index (HDI), which assesses long-term progress in health, education and income indicators, said a UN report released on Wednesday. Although placed in the "medium" category, India's standing is way behind scores of  economically less developed countries, including war-torn Iraq as well as the Philippines.

India's ranking in 2010 was 119 out of 169 countries.
Sri Lanka has been ranked 97, China 101 and the Maldives 109. Bhutan, otherwise respected for its qulity of life, has been placed at 141, behind India.
Pakistan and Bangladesh are ranked 145 and 146 in the list of countries that is headed by Norway and in which the Democratic Republic of Congo is at the very bottom.
The other two countries in South Asia, Nepal and Afghanistan, occupy ranks 157 and 172.
According to the "UN Human Development Report 2011: Sustainability and Inequality", India's HDI is 0.5 compared to 0.3 in 2010.
"The HDI for 2011 would be the same if the 2010 methodology was adopted and the sample size was the same. As many as 18 new countries were included in the survey this time."
India's gender inequality index was 0.6, the highest in South Asia.
The UN report said that India had the world's largest number of multidimensionally poor, more than half of the population, at 612 million.
However, the report appreciated India's progress in improving forest cover and protecting biodiversity.
"India is one of the seven developing countries like Bhutan, China, Costa Rica, Chile, El Salvador and Vietnam which have recently transitioned from deforesting to reforesting," said the report.
India increased its reforestation rate from 0.2% a year between 1990 and 2000 to 0.5% percent a year between 2000 and 2010.

Things are not improving in India at all. In fact, things are going from bad to worse. India’s rank in the Human Development Index (HDI) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has fallen from 119 in 2010 to 134 this year.
India’s HDI value for 2011 is 0.547—in the medium human development category—positioning the country at 134 out of 187 countries and territories. Between 1980 and 2011, India’s HDI value increased from 0.344 to 0.547, an increase of 59.0 per cent or average annual increase of about 1.5 per cent.
The rank of India’s HDI for 2010 based on data available in 2011 and methods used in 2011 is 134 out of 187 countries. In the 2010 HDR, India was ranked 119 out of 169 countries. However, the report cautioned, it could be misleading to compare values and rankings with those of previously published reports, because the underlying data and methods have changed, as well as the number of countries included in the HDI.
Norway, Australia and the Netherlands lead the world in the 2011 Human Development Index (HDI), while the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Niger and Burundi are at the bottom of the Human Development Report’s annual rankings of national achievement in health, education and income, released today by UNDP.
The United States, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Germany and Sweden round out the top 10 countries in the 2011 HDI, but when the Index is adjusted for internal inequalities in health, education and income, some of the wealthiest nations drop out of the HDI’s top 20: the United States falls from #4 to #23, the Republic of Korea from #15 to #32, and Israel from #17 to #25.
The 2011 Report—Sustainability and Equity: A Better Future for All—notes that income distribution has worsened in most of the world, with Latin America remaining the most unequal region in income terms, even though several countries including Brazil and Chile are narrowing internal income gaps. Yet in overall IHDI terms, including life expectancy
The HDI is a summary measure for assessing long-term progress in three basic dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, access to knowledge and a decent standard of living. As in the 2010 HDR a long and healthy life is measured by life expectancy, access to knowledge is measured by: i) mean years of adult education, which is the average number of years of education received in a life-time by people aged 25 years and older; and ii) expected years of schooling for children of school-entrance age, which is the total number of years of schooling a child of school-entrance age can expect to receive if prevailing patterns of age-specific enrolment rates stay the same throughout the child’s life. Standard of living is measured by Gross National Income (GNI) per capita expressed in constant 2005 PPP$.
Between 1980 and 2011, India’s life expectancy at birth increased by 10.1 years, mean years of schooling increased by 2.5 years and expected years of schooling increased by 3.9 years. India’s GNI per capita increased by about 287.0 per cent between 1980 and 2011.
India’s 2011 HDI of 0.547 is below the average of 0.630 for countries in the medium human development group and below the average of 0.548 for countries in South Asia. From South Asia, countries which are close to India in 2011 HDI rank and population size are Bangladesh and Pakistan which have HDIs ranked 146 and 145 respectively.
India’s HDI for 2011 is 0.547. However, when the value is discounted for inequality, the HDI falls to 0.392, a loss of 28.3 per cent due to inequality in the distribution of the dimension indices. Bangladesh and Pakistan show losses due to inequality of 27.4 per cent and 31.4 per cent respectively. The average loss due to inequality for medium HDI countries is 23.7 per cent and for South Asia it is 28.4 per cent.
India has a Gender Inequality Index (GII) value of 0.617, ranking it 129 out of 146 countries in the 2011 index. In India, 10.7 per cent of parliamentary seats are held by women, and 26.6 per cent of adult women have reached a secondary or higher level of education compared to 50.4 per cent of their male counterparts. For every 100,000 live births, 230 women die from pregnancy related causes; and the adolescent fertility rate is 86.3 births per 1000 live births. Female participation in the labour market is 32.8 per cent compared to 81.1 for men. In comparison, Bangladesh and Pakistan are ranked at 112 and 115 respectively on this index.
The most recent survey data that were publically available for India’s Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) estimation are from 2005. In India, 53.7 per cent of the population suffer multiple deprivations while an additional 16.4 per cent are vulnerable to multiple deprivations. The breadth of deprivation (intensity) in India, which is the average percentage of deprivation experienced by people in multidimensional poverty, is 52.7 per cent. The MPI, which is the share of the population that is multi-dimensionally poor, adjusted by the intensity of the deprivations, is 0.283. Bangladesh and Pakistan have MPIs of 0.292 and 0.264 respectively.

UN agencies stress on importance of farm co-operatives

The role of agricultural co-operatives in poverty reduction and ensuring food security for millions around the world is one of the themes of the International Year of Co-operatives 2012.

Being part of a larger group, small farmers can negotiate better terms in contract farming and lower prices for agricultural inputs such as seeds, fertilisers and equipment. Also, they can secure land rights and better marketing opportunities, which they may not be able to do individually.

The importance of agricultural co-operatives has been stressed by three United Nations agencies, namely, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and World Food Programme (WFP).

It has been pointed out that co-operatives in general cover small-scale to multi-million business across the globe and operate in all sectors of the economy. They have an estimated 800 million members and provide 100 million jobs worldwide, with an aggregate turnover of $ 1.1 trillion that is comparable to the GDP of many large countries.

In Brazil, co-operatives accounted for 37.2 per cent of agricultural GDP and 5.4 per cent of overall GDP in 2009, and earned $ 3.6 billion from exports. In Mauritius, co-operatives are responsible for more than 60 per cent of the national production in the food crops sector.

Agriculture, including farming, forestry, fisheries and livestock, is the main source of employment and income in rural areas, where the majority of the world's poor and hungry people live. The agricultural co-operatives can support small farm producers and marginalised groups by creating sustainable rural employment. They will also provide men and women small-holders with services such as better training in natural resource management and access to information, technologies, innovations and extension services.

The UN agencies said in a joint statement that they will promote the growth of agricultural co-operatives through a slew of initiatives. For one, the co-operatives will be supported to form networks for pooling their assets and competencies to overcome market barriers and other constraints such as lack of access to natural resources.

The agencies will assist policy-makers in the design and implementation of policies, laws, regulations and projects and create enabling environment for the successful operation of the co-operatives. They will also help strengthen the dialogue and cooperation between governments, agricultural co-operatives, the international research communities and civil society representatives.

BANK EXAMS GENERAL AWARENESS MCQs

1. Which British writer was awarded the 2011 Man Booker Prize for his book "The Sense of an Ending"?
1) Stephen Kelman
2) A.D.Miller
3) Carol Birch
4) Julian Barnes
5) Howard Jacobson

2. Helle Thorning-Schmidt is the first woman Prime Minister of which of the following European countries?
1) Denmark
2) Finland
3) Iceland
4) Norway
5) Sweden

3. The Rural Infrastructure Develo-pment Fund (RIDF) was set up by the Government in 1995-96 for financing rural infrastructure projects. Which of the following institutions/ agencies operates this fund?
1) RBI
2) NABARD
3) IFCI
4) SBI
5) IDBI Bank

4. What is the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in private sector banks?
1) 26%
2) 49%
3) 51%
4) 74%
5) 100%

5. The 60th anniversary of the Miss Universe pageant was held in Sao Paulo, Brazil in September 2011. Who was crowned the Miss Universe 2011?
1) Leila Lopes (Angola)
2) Olesya Stefanko (Ukraine)
3) Priscila Machado (Brazil)
4) Shamcey Supsup (Philippines)
5) Vasuki Sunkavalli (India)

6. B.C.Khanduri of the Bharatiya Janata Party was sworn in as the Chief Minister of which of the following states in September 2011?
1) Uttar Pradesh
2) Karnataka
3) Haryana
4) Uttarakhand
5) Chhattisgarh

7. Who became the first cricketer to play in 100 Test wins on September 3, 2011?
1) Rahul Dravid
2) Sachin Tendulkar
3) Ricky Ponting
4) Shane Warne
5) Kumar Sangakkara

8. The India International Bank (Malaysia) is a trio joint venture between Bank of Baroda, Indian Overseas Bank and ________.
1) Bank of India
2) Indian Bank
3) Andhra Bank
4) Canara Bank
5) Vijaya Bank

9. Who is the author of the book "Walking with the Comrades"?
1) Jyothi Basu
2) Arundhati Roy
3) Kamala Das
4) Aravind Adiga
5) None of these

10. The board of which of the following banks has approved the merger of the financial services of Enam Securities Private Ltd. with itself in September 2011?
1) Axis Bank
2) ICICI Bank
3) HDFC Bank
4) Yes Bank
5) None of these

11. Who replaced Shashank Mano-har as the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in September 2011?
1) K.Srikkanth
2) N.Srinivasan
3) Rajiv Shukla
4) Sharad Pawar
5) Mohinder Amarnath

12. Which country tops the list of nations for having the maximum representation of women in Parliament?
1) India
2) Switzerland
3) Rwanda
4) Denmark
5) New Zealand

13. Which Indian software firm has become the official technology partner of the Amsterdam Marathon for a period of five years, from 2011 to 2015?
1) Infosys
2) Mahindra Satyam
3) Wipro
4) TCS
5) None of these

14. Which football player has won the inaugural UEFA Best Player in Europe award for the 2010-2011 season?
1) Kaka
2) Xavi Hernandez
3) Lionel Messi
4) Cristiano Ronaldo
5) None of these

15. Who topped the list of 100 most powerful women in the world for the year 2011 released by the Forbes magazine recently?
1) Angela Merkel
2) Hillary Clinton
3) Dilma Rousseff
4) Indra Nooyi
5) Sheryl Sandberg

16. Which film has won the Nargis Dutt Award for the Best Feature Film on National Integration in the 58th National Film Awards?
1) Do Dooni Chaar
2) Dabangg
3) Moner Manush
4) Champions
5) Aadukalam

17. A working group constituted by the Reserve Bank of India has submitted its report on non-banking finance companies (NBFCs). Who headed this committee?
1) Y.V.Reddy
2) Bimal Jalan
3) Subir Gokarn
4) Usha Thorat
5) Shyamala Gopinath

18. Burhanuddin Rabbani was assassinated recently. He was the former President of which of the following countries?
1) Pakistan
2) Syria
3) Afghanistan
4) Libya
5) Iraq

19. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has released its "Trade and Development Report 2011". According to this report what is the projected economic growth rate for India in 2011?
1) 9%
2) 8.1%
3) 8.8%
4) 9.2%
5) None of these

20. Who became Japan's sixth Prime Minister in five years in September 2011?
1) Yukia Amano
2) Yukiya Hatoyama
3) Akihito
4) Yoshihiko Noda
5) None of these

21. India won the inaugural Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament held in Ordos, China in September 2011.Which country did India defeat in the final?
1) Pakistan
2) Malaysia
3) Japan
4) South Korea
5) China

22. Novak Djokovic of Serbia won his first US Open tennis championship and third Grand Slam tou-rnament of the year in September 2011. Whom did he defeat in the US Open men's final?
1) Roger Federer
2) Andy Roddick
3) Rafael Nadal
4) Andy Murray
5) Robin Soderling

23. Who has won the women's US Open tennis title in September 2011?
1) Samantha Stosur
2) Serena Williams
3) Kim Clijsters
4) Petra Kvitova
5) Venus Williams

24. Steve Jobs passed away in October 2011. Which of the following statements is/are true with regard to Steve Jobs?
1) Steve Jobs was the co-founder of Apple Inc.
2) iPod, iPhone and iPad are the renowned products of Apple.
3) Tim Cook is the present Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Apple. He replaced Jobs in August 2011.
4) "Steve Jobs" is the authorized biography of the late Apple chief, written by Walter Isaacson.
5) All the above statements are correct.

25. The Chief Minister of which of the following states undertook a three-day 'Sadbhavana mission' fast in September 2011?
1) Uttar Pradesh
2) Karnataka
3) Uttarakhand
4) Madhya Pradesh
5) Gujarat

26. Who was honoured with the first Hridaynath Mangeshkar Award in September 2011 for his/her outstanding contribution to Indian music?
1) Asha Bhonsle
2) Pandit Ravi Shankar
3) Lata Mangeshkar
4) Zakir Hussain
5) None of these

27. Chandrasekhar Kambar won the 46th Jnanpith Award for the year 2010. He is a renowned writer in which of the following languages?
1) Malayalam
2) Kannada
3) Hindi
4) Gujarati
5) Tamil

28. Agni II, a surface-to-surface missile, was successfully launched recently. What is its range?
1) 700 Km
2) 1000 Km
3) 2000 Km
4) 4000 Km
5) 5000 Km

29. The Bushehr plant is the first nuclear plant of which of the following countries?
1) Pakistan
2) Syria
3) Jordan
4) Iran
5) Iraq

30. The Union Cabinet has approved the Approach Paper for the 12th Five-Year Plan (2012-17). According to this Paper what is the economic growth rate target during the 12th plan period?
1) 9%
2) 9.5%
3) 9.3%
4) 9.4%
5) 9.2%

31. India signed a treaty, which is aimed at solving a long-standing border dispute, with which of the following countries in September 2011?
1) Pakistan
2) Nepal
3) Bangladesh
4) Bhutan
5) China

32. Which country has launched Tiangong-1, its first space lab module?
1) South Korea
2) North Korea
3) China
4) Vietnam
5) Singapore

33. National Science Day is celebrated on which of the following days?
1) February 15
2) February 26
3) February 28
4) March 15
5) Match 26

34. Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner was re-elected the President of which of the following countries in October 2011?
1) Costa Rica
2) Brazil
3) Ireland
4) Argentina
5) Iceland

35. Which of the following rates has been increased by the Reserve Bank of India 13 times since March 2010?
1) CRR
2) SLR
3) Repo Rate
4) Bank Rate
5) Base Rate

Answers

1) 4 2) 1 3) 2 4) 4 5) 1 6) 4 7) 3 8) 3 9) 2 10) 1 11) 2 12) 3 13) 4 14) 3 15) 1 16) 3 17) 4 18) 3 19) 2 20) 4 21) 1 22) 3 23) 1 24) 5 25) 5 26) 3 27) 2 28) 3 29) 4 30) 1 31) 3 32) 3 33) 3 34) 4 35) 3

India confronts US, EU at WTO over national solar power generation programme

India has stoutly defended its national solar power generation programme at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), where the US and the EU raised objections to its requirement of mandatory use of locally-made equipment.

India refuted allegations at a recent meeting of the WTO's committee on trade related investment measures, or Trims, that the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission violated global trade rules.

"The mandatory use of solar modules manufactured in India, in the project, and the 30% local sourcing requirement is to give a boost to the nascent domestic industry and make non-renewable energy more affordable in the long run," the official said.

Along with the EU, the US, which has also taken up the issue bilaterally with India, raised the issue at the WTO meeting on Trims saying the mission requirements prevent them from exporting their technology and equipment.

India has, however, maintained that it is within its rights to lay down such guidelines for its energy security, especially since other countries like Canada and Italy also encourage local procurement for solar projects.

Yet, India is firming up its defence in case the US or the EU decides to lodge a formal complaint against the solar mission.

Japan has recently lodged a formal complaint against Ontario, Canada, at the WTO for establishing a feed-in tariff program, in which electricity generated by using renewable energy is subsidised. The programme favours equipment made in Ontario. "Although, in Canada's case local purchase is linked to tariff concessions, the basic regulatory requirement is similar in both countries," a Delhi-based trade lawyer who did not wish to be named said.

"One could also argue that since NTPC, which is a public sector body, will purchase solar power generated by the projects, it could amount to government procurement which is not bound by WTO rules," the lawyer said. He added that the Trims rules prohibiting local sourcing can be interpreted variously.

The national solar mission was launched last year to promote use of solar energy as part of the government's initiative under the national action plan on climate change. While investors in the solar projects will get incentives, such as relief on import duty for capital goods and exemption from excise on inputs, the government has put in place clauses of compulsory domestic sourcing of inputs, which will differ in the three phases of the mission.

World Bank may fund Mumbai'sTrans Harbour Link project

The Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) project that connects Sewri and Nhava port here is likely to get a boost as the World Bank has shown keen interest in funding the said project.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), which is implementing the project, said that it was in talks with the World Bank for funding the project. “The World Bank has been funding our few projects.

Six-lane road bridge

“They have now shown interest in funding our ambitious MTHL project,” the MMRDA Commissioner, Mr Rahul Asthana, said here. The 22-km, around Rs 8,300 crore MTHL will be a six-lane road bridge with provisions for two lanes for a Metro line.

The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) was handling the project initially, but it was later handed over to the MMRDA.

The World Bank had earlier tied up with the MMRDA to fund the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP). “MMRDA is also in talks with the World Bank for its metro rail projects,” another official said.

The Authority is also in talks with Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) for providing soft loans for its other projects, including the metro rail project, the official said.

In August, the MMRDA had appointed a consortium of Arup Consulting Engineers and KPMG to conduct a techno-economic feasibility study of the MTHL. The consortium is expected to submit the report by October next year.

World population to hit 10 billion, but 15 billion possible: UN

The world's population of seven billion is set to rise to at least 10 billion by 2100, but could top 15 billion if birth rates are just slightly higher than expected, the United Nations said on October 26.

In a report ahead of ceremonies on October 31 to mark the seven billionth human alive today, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) warned demographic pressure posed mighty challenges for easing poverty and conserving the environment.

New estimates see a global human tally of 9.3 billion at 2050, an increase over earlier figures, and more than 10 billion by century's end, UNFPA said.

But, it added, "with only a small variation in fertility, particularly in the most populous countries, the total could be higher: 10.6 billion people could be living on Earth by 2050 and more than 15 billion in 2100."

The 126-page document, "The State of the World Population 2011", highlights a surge that began with the post-World War II baby boom -- a numbers "bulge" that shows up in following generations as they in turn grow up and have children.

In contrast, prosperity, better education and access to contraception have slashed the global fertility rate to the point that some rich countries have to address a looming population fall.

Over the past six decades, fertility has declined from a statistical average of 6.0 children per women to about 2.5 today, varying from 1.7 in the most advanced economies to 4.2 in the least developed nations.

Even so, 80 million people each year are added to the world's population. People under 25 comprise 43 percent of the total.

"Our record population can be viewed in many ways as a success for humanity -- people are living longer, healthier lives," said Babatunde Osotimehin, UNFPA's executive director.

"How did we become so many How large a number can our Earth sustain" he asked.

"These are important questions, but perhaps not the right ones for our times. When we look only at the big number, we risk being overwhelmed and losing sight of new opportunities to make life better for everyone in the future."

The report highlighted these challenges:

Helping youth: Having large numbers of young adults offers many poor countries the hope of rising from poverty.

But, warns the UNFPA, "this opportunity of a 'demographic dividend' is a fleeting moment that must be claimed quickly or lost." Finding jobs for this swelling sea of youngsters is essential.

The report notably quotes from a report by the UN's International Labour Organisation ( ILO) which suggests the 23.4-percent youth unemployment in the Arab world was a major contributor to the uprisings there.

Green worries: The report cites environmental problems that are already pressing and set to intensify as demand grows for food, energy and homes.

Referring to a yardstick of sustainability used by the environmental thinktank Global Footprint Network, the report said it now takes the Earth 18 months to regenerate the natural resources that we use in a year.

"Climate change and rapid population growth are among the many factors contributing to the current drought and famine in the Horn of Africa, which has affected more than 12 million people," it says.

Future concerns focus especially on water stress. "Analysis suggests that the world will face a 40-percent global shortfall (in water) between forecast demand and available supply by 2030," says the report, citing Egypt -- hugely dependent on the Nile -- as a particular example.

City Futures: The balance between rural and urban populations "has tipped irreversibly" towards cities in today's world of seven billion. The biggest urban agglomeration, as defined by the UNFPA, is Tokyo, with 36.7 million people, followed by Delhi, with 22 million, Sao Paulo, 20 million and Mumbai, with 20 million.

As the world's population expands, better urban planning, with closer involvement of residents, will be essential. Adequate housing, sanitation and green spaces should be incorporated in the shaping of cities rather than ad-hoc growth that leads to shanty towns.

Immigration: In rich countries where populations are becoming top-heavy with the elderly, the task will be to meet growing demands for labour. Immigration, one of the options, needs to be orderly and managed so that migrants are better integrated and protected.

Family planning: Dozens of countries are lagging in achieving the UN's Millennium Development Goal of providing universal access to reproductive health, said the report.

"A stable population is a sine qua non for accelerated, planned economic growth and development," said Osotimehin.

India elected to serve on UN ECOSOC

India is among 21 countries which were October 25 elected to serve on the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), one of the six principal organs of the UN and the main body tasked with furthering economic and social cooperation and development worldwide.

UN member states elected 18 countries to serve three-year terms starting next year and three other nations through by-elections held as some countries were stepping down from the 54-member Council before the formal end of their terms.

Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Nigeria and Libya were elected to the five African vacancies, while Indonesia, India and Japan won the three seats allotted to Asia-Pacific States. Belarus claimed the only Eastern European vacancy.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Brazil and Cuba were victorious, while Spain, France, Germany, Ireland and Turkey were successful in the Western European and other States category.

In the three by-elections, Switzerland replaced the outgoing Norway, the Netherlands succeeded Belgium, and Bulgaria took over from Hungary.

INDIA HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2011

The Human Development Index (HDI) in the country rose by 21 per cent, says a report while cautioning that health, nutrition and sanitation remained key challenges for India.
India Human Development Report, 2011, prepared by the government's Institute of Applied Manpower Research, placed Kerala on top of the index for achieving highest literacy rate, quality health services and consumption expenditure of people. Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Goa were placed at second, third and fourth positions respectively. 
The report was released on October 21 by Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia in the presence of Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh. It said, as on today, two-thirds of the households in the country reside in pucca (cemented) houses and three-fourth of families have access to electricity for domestic use. According to the report, India's HDI has registered an impressive gains in the last decade as the index increased by 21 per cent to 0.467 in 2007-08, from 0.387 in 1999-2000.


However, it noted that Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Assam are those states which continue to lag behind in HDI and remain below the national average of 0.467. At the same time, the quantum of improvement in HDI in some of the poor states was higher than the national average, the report said, citing the cases of Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Assam. The overall improvement in the index was largely attributed to the 28.5 per cent increase in education index across the country.

It ranges from 0.92 for Kerala to 0.41 in the case of Bihar. The improvement in the education index was the "greatest" in states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh to name a few, the report said. The analysis also indicates that improvement in the health index, as compared to education, has been lower. It ranges from 0.82 in Kerala to 0.41 in Assam. It observed that despite the Right to Education Act, school education faces challenges of quality and employability. The report also said that despite improvements, health, nutrition and sanitation challenges are most serious.

Stating that open defecation was posing a serious threat to health and nutritional status, the report said even though half of the population had access to sanitation in 2008-09, there was still wide inter-state variation. It said 75% households in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa and Uttarakhand do not have toilet facilities. The report revealed even in Nirmal Gram Puraskar winning villages, toilets are often being used for storing, bathing and washing purposes. On the issue of right to food and nutrition, the Human Index Report revealed that calorie consumption has been declining and the intake of calories by poor are way below the recommended norm.

The report said Gujarat fares the worst in terms of overall hunger and nutrition among the industrial high per capita income states. The report also noted that "India is the worst performer in terms of low birth weight, underweight and wasting among children in BRIC and SAARC countries”. Reacting to the findings, Ramesh said increased focus should be laid on health and nutrition during the 12th Plan period even as he lauded the growth in the education sector. "On nutrition, I am puzzled as to why high rate of malnutrition continue to persist even in pockets of high economic growth," he said referring to findings of Gujarat. The minister said total expenditure on sanitation has been only one-tenth of the resources allocated for the water sector.

Ramesh attributed the positive growth in education to Central "interventions" like Sarva Sikshya Abhiyan and RTE. The report said between 2002-03 and 2008-09, there has been an improvement in condition of people's housing with 66% population residing in pucca housing. In rural areas, share of household in pucca houses has increased from 36% to 55%. It said a greater proportion of Muslims than the SCs and STs live in pucca houses due to their urban concentration. The report revealed that three-fourths of all households had access to electricity, with 75% households having access to electricity for domestic use. Insofar as tele-density was concerned, the report said it increased at an "impressive pace" over time from 22% in 2008 to 66% till December 2010, largely led by growth in urban tele-density.

It said good governance and social mobilisation by state governments was reflected by the fact that SCs and OBCs in Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala were better off than even the upper castes in Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh in terms of various health outcome indicators. The report also highlighted the fact that 60% of the poor were concentrated in states like Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. It said though incidence of poverty declined over the years across states, the above said states performed much worse than others in terms of poverty reduction. Further, asset ownership both in urban and rural areas continued to be highly unequal and concentrated among top five per cent of households. 


The report, by the Institute of Applied Manpower Research, an autonomous body under the Planning Commission, suggests a lowering of poverty rates, provided poverty is seen through national accounts or gross domestic product, rather than the consumption data, which is normally used to calculate poverty.

The report, released by Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Friday, said India recorded 21 per cent growth in the human development indicators (HDI) of health, education and income. HDI is a composite index, comprising three indicators—consumption expenditure (a proxy for income), education and health. The report estimates HDI at the beginning of the decade and 2007-08, and the top five ranks during both the years are accounted for by Kerala, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Goa and Punjab. States that fared better on health and education were also the states with higher HDI, and thus, higher per capita income.

At the other end of the spectrum were northern and eastern states—Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Assam, which have an HDI below the national average. HDI ranged from 0.79 in Kerala to 0.39 in Chhattisgarh.
The report compares HDI growth to the global human development report rankings. It says over the eight-year period, HDI rose 21 per cent, compared with a rise of 18 per cent in India's HDI over 2000-2010, as reported by global HDR-2010. In comparison, China recorded a rise of only 17 per cent, the report said.

According to the report, the leap in development was mainly on account of the 28 per cent jump in education index alone, compared to a decade ago, when the first such report was released. It ranged from 0.92 in Kerala to 0.41 in Bihar. The rise has been the highest in educationally-backward states.
The improvement in the health index stands at a mere 13 per cent between 2000 and 2008. The states with the most serious health concerns—Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa and Assam—showed the most improvement.

The report also cites a fall in the overall fertility rate as the greatest achievement in health, while open defecation continued to be the biggest threat. Malnutrition, hunger and anaemia rates, besides infant mortality, remain grim, as reported in the National Family Health Survey.
The report also indicated economic prosperity was no guarantee of better social indicators. Gujarat, with a high per capita income, ranks below some poor states in terms of hunger, the report said. Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh also fare poorly in terms of hunger, Punjab fared the best. Gujarat had a hunger index of 24.70 per cent, just above Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh.

"This clearly suggests economic prosperity alone cannot reduce hunger. Hence, there is a need for specific target-oriented policies to improve the hunger and malnutrition situation," the report said.
In Gujarat, the percentage of severely underweight children was also higher than the national average. Only six other states, including Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand, which have low per capita income than Gujarat, saw the percentage of severely underweight children more than that of Gujarat, the report showed.

Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011

Bowing to agrarian States like Punjab and Haryana, the Government has introduced in the Lok Sabha an amended version of the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill 2011, deleting from it the previously proposed provision to impose a blanket-ban on the acquisition of multi-cropped, irrigated land.

The new Bill, which, as and when it is passed, will replace the 117-year old Act of 1894 and will allow acquisition of multi-cropped irrigated land as a “last resort”.

The Bill makes even the permission ‘as a last resort’ conditional by providing that an equivalent area of culturable wasteland would have to be developed if multi-crop land is acquired. In districts with net sown less than 50 per cent of the geographical area, not more than 10 per cent of the net sown area will be allowed to be acquired.

The Bill states that the law will apply when the government acquires land for its own use or with the ultimate aim of transferring it for use of private companies for stated public purpose or for immediate and declared use by private companies for public purpose.

The consent of 80 per cent project affected families would have to be obtained prior to acquisition and urgency clause has been limited to exigencies of national defence, security and rehabilitation following calamities.

The Bill also provides that any land, not used within 10 years for the purpose for which it was acquired, will be transferred to the States' land bank and upon every such transfer, 20 per cent of its appreciated value will be shared with the original land owner.

The Bill, for the first time, ensures a comprehensive compensation package for land owners and livelihood losers. It proposes that market value calculated for the land will be multiplied by a factor of two in the rural areas.

Solatium will also be increased up to 100 per cent of the total compensation. Where land is acquired for urbanisation, 20 per cent of developed land will be offered to the affected owners.

For SCs and STs affected by acquisition, protections have been given. The Bill envisages additional benefits of 2.5 acres of land to each affected SC/ST family; one-time financial assistance of Rs 50,000; 25 per cent additional rehabilitation/resettlement benefits for families settled outside the district.

Draft Mining Bill

In a landmark decision that will impact the entire mining and mineral-based industry in India, the government has announced an overhaul of the law governing the sector. The new framework will introduce a benefit-sharing regime while laying down the policy contours for leases given out by state governments. The changes are aimed at dealing with popular resistance to mining projects on the grounds of corruption and adverse social and environmental impact. The industry fears it will make mining unattractive in the country.

The government plans to repeal the existing Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 and instead place a new Bill in Parliament in the Winter session. To tackle illegal mining, the Bill proposes punitive action, as well as creation of special courts at the state level for speedier disposal of cases.

It will also make it compulsory for all non-coal mining companies to share an amount equal to their royalty payment to State governments for the benefit of project-affected people. In the case of coal companies, the amount will be equal to 26 per cent of their profit. This will directly impact purely mining companies like Coal India, Sesa Goa and NMDC, as well as companies like Tata Steel, SAIL, NTPC and RPower that have captive mines associated with their projects. Besides, it will increase the cost of companies into the businesses of cement, aluminium and other mineral-based produce.

The industry had opposed the benefit-sharing proposal, saying it would squeeze their margins. In the case of coal, the effective rate of taxation will rise to 61 per cent from 43 per cent at present. On iron ore, it will increase to 55 per cent from 43 per cent.

Industry also sees the proposal would create problems for existing mines where affected persons are not easily identifiable. Besides, the increased revenues collected with District Mineral Development Fund will be frittered away as the absorptive capacity does not exist.

Though mining activities are controlled by the States, the Centre’s overarching legislation, MMDR Act, set the rules of the game.

Apart from compensating the project-affected people through profit-sharing and royalty, the new Bill also obligates mining companies to pay a Central cess equivalent to 2.5 per cent of excise or customs duty. The activities of an independent National Mining Tribunal and National Mining Regulatory Authority at the Central level, and the expenditure involved in the capacity building of the Indian Bureau of Mines would be met from the cess levy. Besides, there will be a State cess of 10 per cent of total royalty.

The Bill also had punitive provisions to prevent illegal mining. The new Bill would introduce a better legislative environment for attracting investment and technology into the mining sector.

Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Ranks

As per data compiled on participation of women in the Parliaments, by Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), a group of 154 national Parliaments across the world, India ranks 100th, with just 10.8 per cent women in the Parliament.  The highest representation of women is in Rwanda (56.3%), followed by Sweden (46.4%) and South Africa (44.5%). The lowest—nil—is in Saudi Arabia, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu. In South Asia, Nepal is best placed at 17th rank, with 33.2% women in Parliament, beating Germany which stands at rank 18th. Also ahead of India are Singapore, Pakistan and China, at 44th, 49,th and 55th levels, respectively.

India’s first Bamboo Museum

India’s first “Bamboo Museum” is located at the Institute of Himalayan Bio-resource Technology (IHBT) in Palampur, Himachal Pradesh. The museum happens to be the largest bamboo structure in India. It has been built by the Uttarakhand Bamboo Board at a cost of Rs 65 lakh.

First public-private participation in defence

In the first public-private participation in defence sector, Pipavav Defence anfd Offshore Engineering Company (earlier Pipavav Shipyard) has entered into a joint venture with Mazagon Dock to build warships for the Indian Navy.

Namma Metro rolls into Bangalore

The Metro rail rolled into the IT hub of Bangalore on October 20, promising the beginning of the end of the city’s traffic woes.

The three-coach service can carry 1,000 commuters and link the eastern suburb of Byappanahalli to M.G. Road, covering a distance of 6.7 km.

Union Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath inaugurated the service opens to public from 4 p.m. October 20. The Metro service will run between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.

Karnataka Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda, several State ministers, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley, and a number of State Congress leaders were present at the inauguration at the decked up M.G. Road station.

Almost all of them, along with senior officials of the State government and the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd, special invitees and media personnel took the first ride in the “Namma Metro” (Our Metro) flagged off by Nath.

The Byappanahalli-M.G. Road link has six stations and travel time is around 14 minutes.

This is Reach 1 of the first phase of metro.

In another three years, the first phase is to have a 42.3-km network on the East-West (Byappanahalli-Mysore Road Terminal) and North-West (Hesarghatta Cross-Puttenahalli Cross) corridors with 41 stations. The phase-1 has an 8.88-km underground network.

The foundation for the Metro project was laid by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2006.

World Bank Report ranked India 132 on Business-friendly Reforms

A new report from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank titled- Doing Business 2012: Doing Business in a More Transparent World was released on 20 October 2011.

Doing Business 2012: Doing Business in a More Transparent World assessed regulations affecting domestic firms in 183 economies and ranked the economies in 10 areas of business regulation, such as starting a business, resolving insolvency, and trading across borders.  Singapore topped the rankings on ease of doing business for the sixth straight year. Hong Kong SAR, China, held onto the second spot.

In the report, the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation mentioned that between June 2010 and May 2011, there were 245 business regulatory reforms worldwide, which was 13 per cent more reforms than in the previous year.

China, India, and the Russian Federation were among the 30 economies that improved the most over time. Singapore led on the overall ease of doing business, followed by Hong Kong, New Zealand, the U.S. and Denmark. The Republic of Korea was the new entrant to the top ten list that ranked countries according to their business environment.

India ranked low overall in the Doing Business assessment, with its rank improving marginally from 139 to 132 between the 2011 and 2012 reports. When India dismantled a strict licensing regime controlling business entry and production the benefits were greater in states that had more flexible labour regulations. The report noted that the progressive elimination of the licence raj led to a 6 per cent increase in new firm registrations in India, and resulted in highly productive firms entering the market larger increases in real output than less productive firms.

The report claimed that at a time when persistent unemployment and the need for job creation are in the headlines, governments around the world continue sought ways to improve the regulatory climate for domestic business. Small and medium businesses that benefit most from these improvements are the key engines for job creation in many parts of the world.

The report noted that Indonesia's ranking on regulatory environments for local entrepreneurs dropped three levels from 123 to 126. In spite of the fall, Indonesia is still ranked better than India (132) and the Philippines (136th).

Singapore and Hong Kong SAR, China, provide the friendliest regulatory environments for local entrepreneurs. Indonesia is left far behind other Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand (17), Malaysia (18) and Brunei Darussalam (86). Indonesia is even behind Vietnam (98) and Papua New Guinea (101).

Irrigation Potential Created and Utilised Under Minor Irrigation Scheme (Expenditure Incurred and Potential Created)

Period	Outlay/expenditure (Rs. in crore)	Potential created (million hectares)	Cumulative (million hectares)
Pre-Plan period	Not available	9.70	9.70
First Plan (1951-56)	376	2.50	12.20
Second Plan (1956-61)	380	2.13	14.33
Third Plan (1961-66)	576	2.24	16.57
Annual Plans (1966-69)	430	1.53	18.10
Fourth Plan (1969-74)	1,242	2.60	20.70
Fifth Plan (1974-78)	2,516	4.02	24.72
Annual Plans (1978-80)	2,079	1.89	26.61
Sixth Plan (1980-85)	7,369	1.09	27.70
Seventh Plan (1985-90)	11,107	2.22	29.92
Annual Plans (1990-92)	5,459	0.82	30.74
Eighth Plan (1992-97)	21,669	2.22	32.96
Ninth Plan (1997-2002)	42,968	4.10	37.06
Tenth Plan outlay (2002-2007)	71,213	6.50 (Target)*	43.56

SOCIO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

1. Nano knowledge city has been established at which Indian city?

a. Ahmedabad

b. Tiruchi

c. Chandigarh

d. Lucknow

2. Which finance company will soon offer loans again gold ETF units?

a. Muthoot Finance

b. ICICI Loans

c. Bajaj Capital

d. Birla Global Finance  Limited

3. Infosys’ Executive Council will now have how many members?

a. 12

b.  13

c. 14

d. 15

4. Which company bought the .CO domain just before the completion of one year of its public

launch?

a. Yahoo

b. Hotmail

c. Google

d. Rediff

5. Who is the newly appointed CEO of Sun TV Network?

a. Rakesh Singh

b. K.Vijay Kumar

c. Dinesh Trivedi

d. Kishore Chandra Rao

6. Which of the following brands is NOT a part of Sony Corporation?

a. VIAO

b. Bravia

c. Xbox

d. Play stations

7. Which of the brands follow a ‘fast fashion’ trend?

a. Lee

b. Adidas

c. Levis

d. Zara

8. June 2011 infl ation closed at what rate?

a. 8.44%

b. 9.44%

c. 10.44%

d. 11.44%

9. French tyre maker Michilen is going to start its Indian operations from which city?

a. New Delhi

b. Chennai

c. Mumbai

d. Kolkatta

10. Which country is set to roll out its first phase of National internet for home users in August with a speed of 8MB?

a. Iraq

b. Iran

c. Afganistan

d. Saudi Arabia

11. According to March 2010 estimation, how much land is under  organic certifi cation?

a. 4.4 million hectares

b. 4.6 million hectares

c. 6.4 million hectares

d. 6.6 million hectares

12. Where has Posco planned its latest project costing more than `50,000 Crores in India?

a. Rajasthan

b. West Bengal

c. Orissa

d. Gujarat

13. Who is the newly appointed CEO of Fortis Healthcare?

a. Bhavdeep Singh

b. Aditya Vij

c. Suneeta Reddy

d. Shivinder Singh

14. Which Indian city is hosting the 3 day International Leather Fair from 28th July 2011?

a. New Delhi

b. Chennai

c. Mumbai

d. Kolkata

15. Which of these brands DO NOT belong to Hindustan Uni Lever?

a. Bru

b. Taj Mahal

c. Ashirwad

d. Annapurna

16. Who is the new RBI Deputy Governor?

a. Shyamala Gopinath

b. Y. Vnugopal Reddy

c. Harun Rashid Khan

d. D. Subbarao

17. What is the public offer made by Zyanga Inc.?

a. $2 billion

b. $1 billion

c. $1.5 billion

d. $3 billion

18. Which website is used most popularly in Brazil?

a. Facebook

b. LinkedIn

c. Orkut

d. MySpace

19. Keki Mistry is CEO of which bank?

a. HDFC

b. ICICI

c. Standard Chartered

d. Deutsche Bank

20. Which Indian City will be home for Nano Science and Technology?

a. Hyderabad

b. Bangalore

c. Ahmedabad

d. Bhubaneshwar

21. Which Indian state suffers most from lack of opportunity of Jobs?

a. Uttarakhand

b. Goa

c. Jammu and Kashmir

d. Chattisgarh

22. To which country does the new Director General of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

belong?

a. India

b. United States of America

c. Brazil

d. China

23. Which Indian city will host the 11th conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity in October 2012?

a. New Delhi

b. Chennai

c. Bangalore

d. Hyderabad

24. How many FDI proposals did Indian Govt approve in June 2011?

a. 16

b. 17

c. 18

d. 19

25. ‘Beta’ range of pens belong to which brand?

a. Parker

b. Emonte

c. Luxor

d. Pilot

26. Brands like Parachute, Saffola, Sweekar, Medikar, Top Ramen etc., are owned by which Indian

giant?

a. HUL

b. P&G

c. Marico Industries

d. Nestle

27. what is India’s position among  the top 20 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) recipients, according

to World investment report released by UNCTAD?

a. 12th

b. 14th

c. 16th

d. 18^th

28. General Motors launched the diesel version of which car?

a. Chevrolet Beat

b. Chevrolet Optra

c. Chevrolet Cruze

d. Spark

29. Which Public sector bank selected Metlife as its partner in the life insurance segment?

a. Syndicate Bank

b. Corporation Bank

c. United Bank of India

d. Punjab National Bank

30. Which telecom announced its decision to merge its divisions providing GSM and CDMA?

a. Tata

b. Bharti Airtel

c. Aircel

d. Vodafone

31. Maharashtra Electrosmelt is merging which PSU?

a. IOC

b. SAIL

c. BHEL

d. HPCL

32. What does ‘M’ in IMFA stand for?

a. Metal

b. Mineral

c. Micro

d. Money

33. Usha  Ananathsubramanian is the Executive Director of which Pubic sector bank?

a. Gramin Bank

b. Punjab National Bank

c. United Bank of India

d. Central Bank of India

34. Who amongst the following is the recipient of best CFO in public sector?

a. R.K. Aggarwal

b. P.K.Bajpai

c. A.K.Singhal

d. D.K. Sarraf

35. Which of the following Indian states will host the limestone mining operations of Lafarge India?

a. West Bengal

b. Chattisgarh

c. Meghalaya

d. Maharashtra

36. How many Indian companies featured in the list of 500 companies released by Fortune magazine in July 2011?

a. 6

b. 7

c. 8

d. 9

37. P.K. Bajpai is the Director of which Navratna company?

a. BHEL

b. SAIL

c. IOC

d. HAL

38. According to the report compiled by Swiss Re named World Insurance in 2010, India stands

at what position as an insurance market in the world?

a. 8th

b. 10th

c. 11th

d. 13^th

39. What does ‘F’ in IRFC stand for?

a. Force

b. Finance

c. Facilitating

d. None of the above

40. Jeevan Arogya, is a health insurance plan of which Indian insurance company?

a. LIC

b. HDFC

c. SBI Life insurance

d. IDBI Fortis life insurance

41. Who is India’s largest Liquefi ed natural gas (LNG) exporter?

a. GAIL

b. PFC

c. RasGas

d. Petronet

 

ANSWERS:

 

1. C. Chandigarh

2. A. Muthoot Finance

3. B. 13

4. C. Google

5. B. K. Vijay Kumar

6. C. Xbox

7. D. Zara

8. B. 9.44%

9. B.  Chennai

10. B. Iran

11. A. 4.4 million hectares

12. C. Orissa

13. B. Aditya Vij

14. A. New Delhi

15. C. Ashirwad

16. C. Harun Rashid Khan

17. B. $1 billion

18. C. Orkut

19. A. HDFC

20. B. Bangalore

21. C. Jammu & Kashmir

22. C. Brazil

23. D. Hyderabad

24. A. 16

25. A. Parker

26. C. Marico Industries

27. B. 14th

28. A. Chevrolet Beat

29. D. Punjab National Bank

30. A. Tata

31. C. BHEL

32. A. Metal

33. B. Punjab National Bank

34. D. D.K. Sarraf

35. C. Meghalaya

36. C.– 8

37. A. BHEL

38. C. 11th

39. C. Facilitating

40. A. LIC

41. D. Petronet

SOCIO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS MCQs

1.     According to the Economic survey 2010-11 what percentage growth was recorded by the manufacturing sector in 2010?
a.    9.1%
b.    8.6%
c.    7.3%
d.    8%
Answer: a
2.     As per the economic Survey of India 2010-11, the production of food grains is estimated at over 232 million tonnes with record production of which food crop?
a.    Rice
b.    Wheat
c.    Bajra
d.    Maize
Answer: b
3.    What is the percentage growth of GDP predicted by The Economic Survey for the financial year 2010-11?
a.    8.6%
b.    8.3%
c.    8.0%
d.    9.1%
Answer: a
4.      The Economic Survey estimated the Forex reserves of India at over 297 billion US dollars. The surge in Forex is attributed to growth in which of the following sector?
a.    Export sector
b.    Foreign Direct Investments
c.    Agricultural output
d.    Industrial output
Answer: a
5.        Gross Fiscal Deficit stands at 4.8% of GDP. What was the percentage of Gross Fiscal Deficit in 2010?
a.    6.3%
b.    5.8%
c.    5.0%
d.    7.1%
Answer: a
6.   Agriculture is expected to grow by what percentage in 2010-11 as per the Economic Survey?
a.    5.0%
b.    5.1%
c.    5.4%
d.    5.5%
Answer: c
7.      What percentage of GDP growth at market prices was estimated by the Economic Survey 2010-11?    a.    9.0%
b.    9.5%
c.    9.7%
d.    10.0%
Answer: c
8.        Exports surged by what percentage in the period between April to December 2010?
a.    25.0%
b.    29.5%
c.    18.1%
d.    33.0%
Answer: b
9.     Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee proposed to increase the Income Tax Exemption Limit for individual tax payers from 1 lakh 60 to _?
a.    1 lakh 80 thousand
b.    1 lakh 90 thousand
c.    2 lakh
d.    2 lakh 20 thousand
Answer: a
10. Which of the following was not proposed in the Union Budget 2011-12 presented by pranab Mukherjee?
1.    Special vehicles were proposed to be created in the form of Infrastructure Debt Funds to attract foreign funds.
2.    Rs. 300 crore expenditure was proposed to promote horticulture centres in rain fed areas for increasing crop productivity.
3.    For the manufacturing sector, the budget proposed reduction of basic customs duty on raw silk from 30 to 5 per cent.
4.    Concessional 10 per cent Excise Duty was also proposed for fuel cell or Hydrogen cell-technology-based vehicles.
a.    1 & 3
b.    Only 2
c.    Only 4
d.    3 & 4
Answer: b
11.     In the Budget it was proposed to provide sum of money for implementation of vegetable initiative to set in motion a virtuous cycle of higher production and incomes for the farmers. What was the proposed amount?
a.    Rs 500 crore
b.    Rs 300 crore
c.    Rs 10000 crore
d.    Rs 650 crore
Answer: b
12. Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana was proposed to be being extended to the beneficiaries of which of the following Union Government schemes?
a.  Mahatma Gandhi NREGA beneficiaries
b. Beneficiaries of Swavlamban pension scheme
c. Indira Gandhi National old Age Pension scheme beneficiaries
d.Beneficiaries of Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana
Answer: a
13. Acknowledging the need for development of J&K and North-east, Mamata Banerjee introduced in the Railway Budget 2011 a number measures for these two regions. In which of the following North-eastern cities did the budget propose to set up a diesel locomotive centre?
a.    Imphal
b.    Manipur
c.    Guwahati
d.    Tripura
Answer: b
14.    Read the two statements with regard to the passenger benefit plans proposed in the Railway Budget 2011.
1.The budget proposed extension of Train Management System to New Delhi, Bangalore, Secunderabad, Ahmedabad and Lucknow stations to provide information on running of trains.
2.Mamta Banerjee introduced a new concept of Smart Card – Go India for long distance travel by Indian railways.
Which of the two statements are true?
a.    Only 1
b.    Only 2
c.    Both 1 & 2
d.    None of the above
Answer: c
15. According to Railway Budget 2011, railway card passes would be extended to the parents of the unmarried posthumous winners of which of the following Awards?
1.    Param Vir Chakra
2.    Bharat Ratna
3.    Ashok Chakra gallantry award
4.    Padma Shri
a.    1 & 2
b.    2 & 3
c.    1, 2 & 3
d.    1 & 3
Answer: d
16. Which of the following schemes proposed in the Railway Budget 2011 is/are not meant for Railway Employees?
1.    Expansion of Liberalized Active Retirement Scheme for Guaranteed Employment
2.    Railway Vidyalaya Prabandhan Board
3.    Sukhi Griha Scheme
4.    Pradhan Mantri Rail Vikas Yojana
a.    1 & 3
b.    3 & 4
c.    2 & 4
d.    1 & 4
Answer: b
17. The electrical energy requirement of railways is growing rapidly with the expansion of the rail infrastructure and traffic. Considering the rising demand the Ministry of Railways proposed to set up 700 MW power plant at Thakurli in Maharashtra. The power plant is proposed to be based on what form of energy?
a.    gas-based
b.    coal-based
c.    solar power
d.    nuclear energy based
Answer: a
18.     Ministry of Railways proposed to extend Anti Collision Device (ACD) to which of the following Railway zones in India?
1.    Eastern zone
2.    East Central
3.    North Eastern
4.    South Central
a.    1 & 4
b.    2 & 4
c.    1 & 2
d.    1 & 3
Answer: c
19.     With regard to the infrastructure development of Railways as proposed in Railway Budget 2011 which statement/statements is/are false?
1.    The budget proposed to lay 40 new lines, covering 1075 km.
2.    The Ministry has allocated Rs 5406 crore for doubling of 867 km of lines
3.    A greater thrust was given to the expansion of the rail network with a larger allocation of Rs 9583 cr for new lines.
4.    for gauge conversion over 1017 km. Rs 13820 crore was proposed
a.    Only 1
b.    1 & 2
c.    Only 4
d.    2 & 4
Answer: c
20.     Read the two statements mentioned with regard to the budgetary allocations for addressing environmental concerns.
1.    The budget proposed that the solar lantern used in far-flung villages will attract no duty from 10 per cent charged earlier.
2.    To provide green and clean transportation for the masses, National Mission for Hybrid and Electric Vehicles will be launched in the year 2011 in collaboration with all stakeholders.
Which of them is true?
a.    Only 1
b.    Only 2
c.    Both 1 & 2
d.    None of the above
Answer: b
21.     To enhance credit worthiness of economically weaker sections and LIG households, a Mortgage Risk Guarantee Fund was announced to be created under which of the following scheme or Yojana?
a. Rajiv Awas Yojana
b. Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana
c. Indira Awas Yojana
d. Mahatama Gandhi NREGA
Answer: a
22.    Read the following statements with regard to the allocation in the Educational sector as proposed by Union Budget 2011-12.
1. For Sarva Siksha Abhiyan the allocation was increased by 40 percent to 21000 crore rupees.
2. All institutions of higher learning will be connected through optical fibers by March 2012.
3. 500 crore rupees was proposed to be provided for national skill development fund.
4. For the needy scheduled castes ad scheduled tribe candidates studying in class-IX and Xth pre-matric scholarship scheme was proposed to be introduced.
Which of the above mentioned statements is not true?
a.    1
b.    2
c.    3 & 4
d.    4
Answer: b
23. The Basic Customs Duty exemption was proposed to be extended to which of the following sectors?
a. art and antiquities for exhibition or display in private art galleries
b. Cinematographic film, factory-built ambulances
c. syringes and needles
d. agricultural machinery
Answer: a
24.    What amount of money was allocated for Bharat Nirman?
a. 1000 crore
b.  58000 crore
c. 55438 crore
d.  14362 crore
Answer: b
25. Which of the following statement/statements is/are true with reference to the Railway Budget 2011?
1.    Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee proposed Annual Plan for the year 2011-12 at Rs 57630 cr which is the highest ever plan investment by the railways in a single year.
2.    Under the proposed Pradhan Mantri Rail Vikas Yojana the pending socially desirable lines would be completed and other similar new line projects would also be taken up.
3.    Mamata Banerjee declared 2010-11 as the Year of Green Energy.
4.    2 AC Double Decker Trains in the Jaipur-Delhi and Delhi-Ahmedabad routes were proposed.
Choose Answers:
a. 1,2 & 3
b. 1 & 4
c.  2 & 3
d. 1 & 2
Answer: d

Black money campaign and the Indian response

The fiscal year 2011-12 will go down in India's financial history as a year in which black money stashed in Swiss banks became a big enough issue to rouse the public conscience for demanding swift and stern action for retrieving the money lost in tax havens. Baba Ram Dev and Anna Hazare kindled the fire and the Supreme Court further stoked the fire by calling it “Plunder of the Nation”.

The Government was forced to come up with a response detailing the measures taken to fight the menace. It explained that India has joined the global crusade against black money and will create a legislative frame work for this purpose. Institutions have been set up to deal with illicit funds. A new manpower policy is being brought out. There will hereafter be constant training for skill development.

India has joined the Task Force on Financial Integrity and Economic Development in the hope that it will help India build the capacity to trace terror funds and to successfully investigate and prosecute money-laundering and terrorist-financing offences.

India insisted at the G-20 summit that countries should enter into Tax Information Exchange Agreements wherever required. Accordingly, India has so far completed negotiations of 22 new Tax Information Exchange Agreements with various tax havens. New Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements have been finalised for incorporation of Tax Exchange Information provisions. The revised agreement with Switzerland will allow India to obtain banking information from Switzerland in specific cases from April 1, 2011.

General Anti-Avoidance Rule has been incorporated in the Direct Taxes Code to deal with aggressive tax-planning devices meant to circumvent tax laws. Existing transfer pricing provisions have been remodelled on the basis of the law prevailing in developed countries and these changes will meet the challenges of a growing intangible economy and complex cost-sharing arrangements. The Prevention of Money Laundering Act was amended to expand the predicate offences substantially. This amendment will widen the scope of money-laundering investigations.

Will these agreements help?

Critics are not wanting in pointing out that too much reliance on Exchange Information Agreements will not be of much help. A former Joint Secretary to the Central Board of Direct Taxes points out inherent limitations of the system in place.

The Information Exchange Agreements do not provide for automatic or spontaneous exchange . None of our tax agreements will permit “fishing expedition”.

But then, as a first step, the Government is right in highlighting that the Income-Tax Department has collected 7,704 discrete items of information from treaty countries containing details of payments received by Indians in various countries, besides information on accounts in Liechtenstein's LGT Bank.

More than 175 requests have been made to our treaty partners in case of specific tax payers in the last financial year. Efforts to prevent new ways of transferring illicit funds outside the country through mis-invoicing resulted in detection of mis-pricing of Rs 33,784 crore in the last two years. It has been repeatedly pointed out that illicit funds are ploughed back into the Indian financial system as ‘hot-money' flows through available channels like participatory notes, which currently account for 16 per cent of the assets under the custody of the FIIs in India.

Such channels are said to be used to raise funds from our capital markets to finance terrorism and other criminal activities. A word from the Finance Minister that participatory notes will be banned will significantly arrest the flow of such illicit funds into our stock markets.

An Indian Amnesty?

Ever since the US and the UK announced their amnesty schemes, pressure has been mounting on India to come up with an amnesty scheme to bring back secret moneys in foreign accounts.

Industry captains like Mr Ratan Tata, Mr Y.C. Deveshwar and Mr N.R. Narayana Murthy have been urging the Government to devise an amnesty scheme mainly for funding investments into the infrastructure sector, which requires over $1 trillion over the next Plan period.

Malegam re-appointed on RBI board

The Government has appointed two more members — Mr Y.H. Malegam and Prof. M.V. Rajeev Gowda — on the Central Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of India. While Mr Malegam, who is also the Chairman of the National Advisory Committee on Accounting Standards, has been re-appointed from October 7, Prof. Gowda, who is Professor of Economics and Social Sciences, IIM-Bangalore, has been appointed from October 17.