Bon Chance!

Hello Friends,

Writing in to wish you all good luck and the rest...:) Have a great exam.

There will be a few surprises, so dont be fazed by them. Enjoy the writing process-but take care not to get emotional about certain questions and devote unwanted time on it :)

GS paper: no matter how well you prepare, its never enough, so take the questions you dont know anything about in your stride. Try and write something intelligible about most questions that you can make sense of. But dont irritate the examiner. I did 100mark ka hawabazi last time- didnt work for me :( But the plan stays the same this year, just hope to be more sensible.

Stats: agar abhi bhi taiyari shuru nahi ki hai, to kar lo ji. High scores in GS depends on performing well in Stats and it isnt too difficult. Dont forget to take a calculator (and practice on it before-hand), also protractor for making Pie-diagrams if required etc.

Also, for Indian language paper, I always find myself short of time- so if that is the case with you, plan your paper well. I think the english-to-language translation takes a lot of time and is only for 20mks. The precis writing is for 60mks. So, last time I decided to finish precis writing first, and didnt mind not completing the translation. I am writing this from memory, so just refer to the language question paper once. Also you will have to do 2 translations, and precis writing has to be done in separate sheets , wherein one word has to be inserted in one box (for first timers :)). Baaki most people with english-medium find it tough, so dont be too troubled by the paper. But still devote some time to prepare for it.

Hmm...those with sufficient break between optionals- you are lucky blokes- good luck to you and the rest of us too. Aur baaki badhiya...have a productive last 5 days.

And see you all after the exams.

Cheerio,

Spurthi

Bijolia Movement

Reproduced from: http://hssthistory.blogspot.in/2011/05/bijolia-movement-ugc-history.html

It was a pioneer agrarian movement in the Mewar State in present Udaipur District.

The Jagirdar of Bijolia was a Parmar Rajput having 96 villages in his jagir. There were 86 different taxes on peasants against which peasants revolted in 1905. The initial leadership was provided by Sitaram Das. The movement got linked to national movement. Vijay (Bijoy) Singh Pathik and Manik Lal Verma (future Chief Minister of Rajasthan) led a no tax movement in 1916. It was called Bijolia movement. The peasants refused to do begar and held back the taxes. The movement continued through 1920s and spread over to other States of Rajputana.

Important note: The no tax movement at Bijolia took place before the Champaran Indigo Satyagraha of Gandhi. Secondly, it was started in Princely States. 

Sec. 124A of Indian Penal Code: Sedition

Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code deals with Sedition.

Sedition is defined as:

Bringing hatred of contempt (or attempt to bring hatred or contempt) for the lawful Government in India, through words, signs, visual representation or otherwise.

Such person can be punished with a imprisonment for life and/or fines. The offence of sedition is non-bailable and cognizable.

Explanation:  
1.- The expression" disaffection" includes disloyalty and all feelings of enmity. 
2.- Comments expressing disapprobation of the measures of the Government with a view to obtain their alteration by lawful means, but without exciting or attempting to excite hatred, contempt or disaffection, do not constitute an offence under this section. 
3.- Comments expressing disapprobation of the administrative or other action of the Government without exciting or attempting to excite hatred, contempt or disaffection, do not constitute an offence under this section.1

• disapprobation: expressing strong disapproval, expecially on moral grounds.  
• A cognizable offence is a criminal offence in which thepolice is empowered to register an FIR, investigate, and arrest an accused without a court issued warrant.^[1]
• A non-cognizable offence is an offence in which police can neither register an FIR, investigate, nor effect arrest without the express permission or directions from the court. 

Recent Instances of use:

• Mr. Aseem Trivedi- cartoonist with India Against Corruption. Charged with sedition which led to widespread condemnation of the police and government. Subsequently the charges were removed. 2012
• Dr. Binayak Sen, a health and human rights activist, was sentenced to a life-term under this law for 'waging war against the state'.  Served 2010.
• Arundhati Roy was sought to be charged with sedition for advocating independence for the disputed Kashmir region. 2010.

Ahmedabad Trial of 1922

The Ahmedabad Trial of 1922 of Gandhi concerned, the writing of two articles in his paper 'Young India'. The prosecution alleged that he had incited violence in the articles, and was responsible for the violence that occurred in Chauri Chaura (Feb 1922) and at the visit of 
Prince of Wales to India in 1921. 

Gandhi was tried under Sec 124A of the Indian Penal Code which relates to Sedition. It is the same article under which Bal Ganagadhar Tilak was sentenced in 1916 (for speeches which were said to incite disaffection against the Government). 


Mahatma Gandhi said during the famous Ahmedabad trial in 1922: “Section 124 A under which I am happily charged is perhaps the prince among the   political sections of the IPC designed to suppress the liberty of the citizen. Affection cannot be manufactured or regulated by the law.” He also asserted that “What in law is a deliberate crime appears to me to be the highest duty of a citizen,” and finally, “to preach disaffection towards the existing system of Government has become almost a passion with me.” 

For details on the proceedings of the 1922 trial read below, else not required for exam.

Eurasian Union and Eurasian Commission

The Eurasian Union (EAU) is a proposed economic and political union of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan  and other Eurasian countries, in particular the post-Soviet states. The idea, based on the European Union's integration, was brought to attention in October 2011 by the Prime Minister of Russia, Vladimir Putin, but was first proposed as a concept by the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev in 1994. 

The Eurasian Union is said to be a continuation of the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia, which has already brought partial economic unity between the three states. 

On 18 November 2011, the presidents of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia signed an agreement, setting a target of establishing the Eurasian Union by 2015.The agreement included the roadmap for the future integration and established the: (i) Eurasian Commission (modelled on the European Commission) and (ii) the Eurasian Economic Space, which started work on 1 January 2012.^[6][7]

The Eurasian Union is said to be the brainchild of Vladimir Putin in the wake of his planned third term as the President of Russia. If realised, it would comprise a number of states which were part of the formerSoviet Union. However critics claim that this drive towards integration aims to restore the Soviet Empire.

Eurasian Commission:  The Eurasian Economic Commission is the supranational governing body of the Eurasian Economic Space, which started work on 1 January 2012. 

The headquarters of the commission will be in Moscow, and the expenses of the infrastructure and accommodation of commission workers will be financed by Russia, while in general the commission budget will be financed by all three countries and dependent on taxation shares received from the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia. 

The Eurasian Commission will be eligible to make decisions with regard to:customs policies, macroeconomics, regulation of economic competition, energy policy, and financial policy. The Commission will also be involved in government procurement and labour migration control.The agreement on the Commission contains stringent anti-corruption regulations. 1

ADMM & ADMM-Plus

The ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting (ADMM) is the highest defence mechanism within ASEAN. The annual ADMM facilitates the ASEAN defence ministers to discuss and exchange views on current defence and security issues and challenges faced in the region. The ADMM aims to promote mutual trust and confidence through greater understanding of defence and security challenges as well as enhancement of transparency and openness.

The ADMM-Plus process is a tool to engage ASEAN Dialogue Partners in dialogue and cooperation on defence and security matters. At the Inaugural ADMM-Plus meeting in 2010, the Defence Ministers agreed on five areas of practical cooperation to pursue under this new mechanism. These areas are:
maritime security, 
counter-terrorism, 
disaster management, 
peacekeeping operations and 
military medicine. 
To facilitate cooperation on these areas, five Experts' Working Groups (EWGs) are established.  Practical cooperation is now moving apace on the five priority areas. 2
Addressing the first ADMM-Plus Defence Minister AK Antony today called for adoption of 'cooperative approaches' for ensuring the security of sea-lanes in the Asia-Pacific Region. 3
The 2^nd ADMM-Plus will be convened in Brunei Darussalam in October 2013. 2

Issues in US-China relationship

1. Yuan exchange rate
2. Human rights in China: Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng sought refuge in US embassy
3. How to deal with N.Korean nuclear ambitions
4. China's claims on South-China Sea and freedom to use waters for navigation etc. Other territorial disputes in the area, and US involvement. The US has military facilities located in Singapore and the Philippines and its army has a good working relationship with the Malay and Thai military forces. Coupled with US Navy regular patrols in the South China Sea, which Beijing considers to be under its jurisdiction, the stage could be set for military conflict between the US and China. A clash between the USNS Impeccable and five Chinese ships in March 2009 seems to confirm this assertion.[http://hyd-n-spook.blogspot.com/2011/07/controversies-in-south-china-sea.html]   
5. US' 'Asian Pivot' strategy and concerns in China [http://hyd-n-spook.blogspot.in/2012/09/us-asian-pivot-strategy.html]

 Also read about ADMM Plus (ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting Plus): http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/ideas/2011/04/china-the-us-and-admm-plus-towards-confidence-building-in-southeast-asia/

Anything else I am forgetting? 

Mighty Eagle

The Mighty Eagle is a Robotic Prototype Lander being developed by NASA at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.^[1]

The vehicle with its guidance, navigation and control software could aid in the capture of orbiting space debris, in-space docking with a fuel depot, docking of a robotic lander with an orbiting command module and the rendezvous of multiple unmanned stages for deep space human exploration of the solar system.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mighty_Eagle

IBM Sequoia

IBM's Sequoia is the world's fastest supercomputer. 

It achieved 16.32 petaflops – trillions of floating-point calculations per second – using more than 1.5m processor cores.

Sequoia is also one of the most energy-efficient systems 

Ashoke Sen, Atul Khare, Mario Miranda, Khurshid Khan, Qieyang Shenjie

Ashoke Sen: Indian theoretical physicist  won the $3 million Fundamental Physics Prize — more than double of what the Nobel Prize brings with it — for his research on string theory. Sen works at Allahabad’s Harish-Chandra Research Institute, which is funded by the Department of Atomic Energy.

Atul Khare: IFS 1984 batch officer. On June 1, 2011 UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed Atul Khare of India to spearhead efforts to implement a reform agenda aimed at streamlining and improving the efficiency of the world body.^[2][3] Khare, will lead the Change Management Team (CMT) at the UN, working with both departments and offices within the Secretariat and with other bodies in the UN system and the 193 member states. The CMT is tasked with guiding the implementation of a reform agenda at the UN that starts with the devising of a wide-ranging plan to streamline activities, increase accountability and ensure the organization is more effective and efficient in delivering its many mandates.