Monday 17 September 2012

Who cares for efficiency?


Reservation in government jobs and educational institutions has been anathema for long for many in the civil society, although they have reconciled to this as a unique reality of our affirmative action. However, recent efforts of Parliament to pass laws which in perpetuity reserve posts for promotions of SC/ST civil servants has given rise to fears that it is a ruse to distract attention by all political parties from the ongoing fracas on corruption and scams.
It appears that the demand to amend the law arises out of the observation that even after six decades of reservations at entry point, the top bureaucrats are invariably the likes of Sharmas and Guptas. Earlier efforts at amending laws to provide quotas in promotions were struck down by the Supreme Court, which stipulated specific and compelling reasons demonstrative of backwardness and inadequacy of representation, without impacting maintenance of efficiency in administration. During TV debates, both supporters and critics cite the poor representation of SCs and STs at the senior levels of civil service. A constant refrain from the critics has been that the proposal would divide the civil service. However, this overlooks the fact that it is already divided into All India Services, Central Services, technical services, provincial services and so on. The moot point remains whether it brings about administrative efficiency. 

Non-IAS services 

That only 4 out of 150 or so secretaries to the Government are SCs/STs even after six decades of affirmative action is galling. But what about the even pitiably scarce representation of non-IAS services at the top echelons of government? Referring to this, a former Chief Election Commissioner once said that this was not a glass ceiling but an “iron ceiling”. One of the reasons that has led to the paucity of SCs/STs at senior levels is said to be their age disadvantage compared with the general candidates. They join rather late and are, therefore, not able to put in 30 years of service, which is the norm for being promoted to the level of secretary. One way of remedying this, as suggested by a Hindu columnist, is to grant a tenure of 35 years so that SCs/STs do not have to retire at junior levels. Of course, apart from its acceptability, how far this proposal will be conducive to administrative efficiency will remain a matter of conjecture. 

Reverse discrimination 

The entire political class seems to back the proposal of quotas for promotion and only the beneficiaries of the current system seem to entertain vague fears of further deterioration in administrative efficiency. However, no one seems to have thought how the quota of 22.5 per cent for SCs/STs for promotions may result in reverse discrimination after 30 years. If any ceiling has to be torn down at any level of government service, it would be necessary to convert that level from a promotion position to an entry-level position. The First Administrative Reforms Commission (1956) recommended lateral recruitment for joint secretaries. If, say, the joint secretary and the secretary levels become entry points, the laws on quotas for entry points can be used without bending the Constitution out of shape. It will help attract diverse domain expertise, including from the academia or the private sector.
By the way, the UK is all set to advertise vacancy for the Governor of Bank of England. 
Source :  http://www.thehindubusinessline.com

Government plans fastest supercomputer by 2017



 (Telecom and IT Minister Kapil Sibal is understood to have written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sharing the roadmap to develop "petaflop and exaflop range of supercomputers".)
NEW DELHI: The government has drawn a blueprint for developing the next generation of supercomputers that could be 61 times faster than existing machines.

Telecom and IT Minister Kapil Sibal is understood to have written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sharing the roadmap to develop "petaflop and exaflop range of supercomputers" at an estimated cost of Rs 4,700 crore over 5 years.

"In his (Sibal) letter, he has said that C-DAC has developed a proposal with a roadmap to develop a petaflop and exaflop range of supercomputers in the country with an outlay of Rs 4,700 crore," a government official said.

A petaflop is a measure of a computer s processing speed and can be expressed as a thousand trillion floating point operations per second. Exaflop is one quintillion computer operations per second. Simply put, one exaflop is thousand times faster than one petaflop.

The fastest supercomputer in the world, Sequoia, has registered a top computing speed of 16.32 petaflops which is equivalent of computing of power from over 7.8 lakhs high-end laptops put together.

If the Indian government approves building exaflop supercomputers, these will be at least 61 times faster than Sequoia, officials said.

India's top supercomputer at present ranks 58th globally in terms of computing speed.

Sibal has cited the past record of Center for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) which was set up in 1987 by then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi after technologically advanced nations denied supply of supercomputer to India in mid-1980s.

"The Minister has written that C-DAC developed first supercomputers in the country, the PARAM series. Presently Param Yuva with 54 teraflop computing power is serving many researchers through Garuda Computing Grid," the official said.

Sibal has proposed that Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DEITY) should be given tasks to coordinate overall supercomputing activities in the country as it has been done in the past.

The proposal made in the letter says that DEITY should be given tasks to set up a National Apex Committee to oversee the implementation of the proposed Supercomputing Mission and C- DAC should establish peta and exascale supercomputing facilities and development activities. 
Source : The Economic Times, Sept 16, 2012

Do Not Respond To Mails Asking For Your Internet Banking Account Details : RBI Cautions Public



It has come to the notice of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that a fraudulent email has been sent and signed in its name as `Reserve Bank of India'. The mail has referred to provisions of Banking Regulation act, 1949 and Prevention of Money Laundering Rules, 2005 and informs bank account holders about the Reserve Bank setting up a new 24×7 Centralised Monitoring Centre to monitor financial transaction flow from the Internet Banking Accounts. The email then gives a link asking bank account holders to update their account information for updation in their database.
The Reserve Bank clarifies that it has not sent any such mail and has not set up any 24×7 Centralised Monitoring Centre to monitor financial transaction flow from the Internet Banking Accounts. Members of the public receiving such emails are cautioned not to open the mail or attachment and / or try to download it on their computer or provide their data on such links as it may lead to their data being compromised.
Source: RBI Press Release

Fireproof yourself against high BP


Every fourth adult in India has high BP, and 1/3 don't know they do. Here's how to set it right.


India is sprinting in the opposite direction from the rest of the world when it comes to incidence of high blood pressure. TheWorld Health Organisation says, globally, the average BP went down by 2.7mm mercury among women, while increasing by 2.4mm mercury in India. In men, it has decreased by 2.3 mm mercury globally in the past three decades, but in India it's gone up by 2.2 mm mercury.

Blood pressure refers to the pressure exerted by circulating blood on the walls of blood vessels, and is one of the principal vital signs.

Hypertension (high blood pressure) puts stress on the heart and blood vessels and is one of the major preventable risk factors for premature death from cardiovascular disease worldwide. It kills 7.5 million people worldwide each year — more than AIDS, road accidents, diabetes and tuberculosis together.

But a recent Finnish study found that the right diet and lifestyle choices could cut your chances of developing high blood pressure by up to two-thirds. What's worrying is that an estimated third of people with high blood pressure have no idea they have it. There may be no symptoms until disaster strikes, so it's important to get it checked.

Most doctors agree that you have high blood pressure if your level is consistently at or above 140mmHg/ 90mmHg (which doctors refer to as '140 over 90'). The '140' refers to the systolic pressure — the maximum pressure reached when the heart beats — and the '90' figure is the diastolic pressure — the lowest level it falls to when the heart relaxes. Even within the acceptable range, it's good to go lower if you can.

A blood pressure of 135 over 85 may be 'normal' but someone with this reading is twice as likely to have a heart attack orstroke as someone with a reading of 115 over 75, say experts.

Here's how to get your pressure down and keep it there 

Get moving: Exercise strengthens the heart, so we can pump more blood with less effort, thereby decreasing the force on our arteries. It also helps with shedding kilos — which in itself helps slash your blood pressure.

You should aim for 30 minutes a day of activity. It should leave you warm and slightly out of breath — brisk walking, for example.

If you can manage something more strenuous, that's great. But even easily achievable activities — walking to work instead of driving, for example — can reduce it.

Get your daily five: All fruits and vegetables are high in blood pressure-lowering nutrients, such as potassium, magnesium and fibre. Five-a-day is great (aim for handful-sized portions).

Ditch saltThe evidence that links salt to blood pressure is as strong as that linking cigarette smoking to cancer and heart disease, say doctors. Simply put, salt draws in fluid, raising the volume and pressure of blood in your arteries.

Most of the salt we eat is not what we add to food, but what is already there in foods such as bread, sauces, breakfast cereals and packaged foods. A useful guide when you're checking labels is this: more than 1.5g salt per 100g is a lot, but less than 0.3mg per 100g is little.

Go for purple: Purple-red fruits and vegetables — like aubergines and beetroot — seem to have particular blood pressure benefits. It may be because the anthocyanins they contain increase the output of nitric oxide, which relaxes blood vessels and improves blood flow.

Control the peg: Drinking too much will raise blood pressure over time. Heavy drinking may affect the function of muscles within the blood vessels, causing them to constrict. Keeping to recommended limits of no more that three units a day (for example, a 175 ml glass of wine), with preferably an alcohol-free day or two every week, is what's needed to help keep your rate at a healthy level.

Go for wholegrain: Swapping a refined grain cereal for a wholegrain oat one helps reduce the blood pressure readings and allows some patients to reduce or quit their medication, says a study in the Journal of Family Practice. Go for wholemeal bread and porridge, wholegrain breakfast cereals, brown rice and wholewheat pasta.

Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Via : http://aipeup3bbsr.blogspot.in/

FOR PA/SA EXAM - INDIAN HISTORY OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS


1. The youngest Prime Minister of India:
Ans. Rajiv Gandhi

2. The first Indian Prime Minister to get Bharat Ratna:
Ans. Jawaharlal Nehru

3. The Indian prime minister who signed on Shimla Pact:
Ans. Indira Gandhi

4. The Prime Minister of India when India made its nuclear explosion:
Ans. Indira Gandhi

5. The first non-congress Prime Minister of India to complete tenure:
Ans. A.B Vajpayee

6. In which year Indira Gandhi nationalized banks?
Ans. 1969

7. Indira Gandhi abolished privy purses through the ……….th amendment of the constitution.
Ans. 26

8. Which slogan was given by Indira Gandhi?
Ans. Garibi Hatao

9. Which country was formed with the support of Indira Gandhi in 1971?
Ans. Bangladesh

10. Which of the following events as happened during the period of Indira Gandhi?
Ans. Bhopal Gas tragedy of 1984

11. Morarji Dasai started his official career as:
Ans. Deputy Collector

12. Morarji Dasai was the Prime Minister of India when ‘Right to Property’ was deleted from Fundamental Rights through the …………… amendment of the Constitution:
Ans. 44

13. Morarji Desai is the first Indian prime minister whose resting place is outside Delhi. His Samadhi is at:
Ans. Ahmadabad

14. The prime minister who re-established the tenure of LokSabha from six years to five years:
Ans. Morarji Desai

15. First non-congress prime minister sto get Bharat Ratna:
Ans. Morarji Desai
16. Which was introduced for the first time during the period of Rajiv Gandhi?
Ans. Navodaya Vidhyalaya

17. Rajiv Gandhi announced new education Policy in …………….
Ans. 1986

18. The first person to become PM of India without any previous experience of holding the post of minister in centre or state.
Ans. Rajiv Gandhi

19. The finance minister who resigned during the period of Rajiv Gandhi:
Ans. VP Singh

20. Anti Defection Law came into force in:
Ans. 1985

21. First Asian Games was held in 1951 in:
Ans. New Delhi

22. The venue of the first international Film Festival of Indiaheld in 1952:
Ans. Mumbai

23. STD was introduced for the first time in India between Kanpur and Lucknow in:
Ans. 1960

24. The first ISD line was established between Mumbai and ……………. In 1976.
Ans. London

25. Who was the first woman Governor of an Indian State ?
Ans. Sarojini Naidu

26. Who is the first non-Indian to receive the Bharat Ratna ?
Ans. Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan

27. Dr. M.S. Subbulakshmi has distinguished herself in the field of..........
Ans. Vocal Music

28. Which of the following is not correctly matched ?
Ans. M.F. Hussain–Tabla

29. Who said, “You give me blood, I will give you freedom” ?
Ans. Subhash Chandra Bose

30. Nobel Prizes are not given for which of the following fields ?
Ans. Music

31. When is the ‘International Women’s Day’ observed ?
Ans. March 8

32. Indra Nooyi is the Chief Executive Officer of which company ?
Ans. Pepsi

33. The 2008 Olympics will be held in.........
Ans. Beijing

34. 6th April, 1930 is well known in the history of India because this date is associated with ……
Ans. Dandi March by Mahatma Gandhi

35. The concept of ‘Din-e-Elahi’ was founded by which king ?
Ans. Akbar

36. The central point in Ashoka’s Dharma was.........
Ans. Religious toleration

37. ‘Do or Die’ was one of the most powerful slogans of India’s freedom struggle. Who gave it ?
Ans. Gandhiji

38. Who among the following formed a party named as ‘Forward Block’ ?
Ans. Subhash Chandra Bose
39. Jaspal Rana is a distinguished athlete in which of the following games ?
Ans. Shooting

40. ‘The Dronacharya Award’ is associated with.........
Ans. Sport Coaches

41. The author of ‘Gitagovinda’ was...........
Ans. Jayadeva

42. Who wrote the book ‘India Wins Freedom’ ?
Ans. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad

43. Baba Amte is famous as a ………
Ans. Social Worker

44. Where are the Dilwara Temple’s located ?
Ans. Mt. Abu

45. Who was the first Indian lady to preside over the Congress ?
Ans. Annie Besant

46. In India, there are three crop seasons. Two of them are Kharif and Rabi, name the third one ?
Ans. Zaid

47. In India agriculture of jute is maximum on which Delta area ?
Ans. Ganga

48. The most discussed Tehri Dam Project is located in which of the following States ?
Ans. Uttarakhand

49. Mahatma Gandhi for the first time practised his Satyagraha in India at..........
Ans. Champaran

Upgradation Procedure of Update 3 to Meghdoot 7.0


 Please upgrade the applications in the following order:(Manual upgradation) or Use Installer Application from Update 3 CD


Please ensure u have take back up of all data base, MDB and Day end is over in all modules.After that do up gradation in the following order 



  1.                         eMO
  2.                         ePayment
  3.                         Point of Sale
  4.                         Despatch
  5.                         Sub Accounts
  6.                         Treasury
  7.                         Postman
  8.                         AccountsMIS
  9.                         R Net Communication
  10.                         MO Compilation
  11.                         Accounts
  12.                         AccountsPBS 

Update 3 to Meghdoot 7.0 released


Update 3 to Meghdoot 7.0 released


 Center for Excellence in Postal Technology is constantly making efforts to bring in comfort at Post offices in implementing various Departmental software. 

            The expectations of the customers are rapidly changing.  To meet the changing requirements of the customers Department is making efforts to upgrade the existing products or introducing new products.    This update takes care of all the upgrades and new products being introduced by the Department.

            The most salient features of this update are
i).    Customized installer for upgrading Meghdoot to update-3.
ii).   Online acceptance of fee for entrance examination.
iii). Disabling booking of Registered letters without barcode.
iv). Offline booking of WNX articles.
v).   e-Money order Compilation
vi). MNOP implementation in Rnet.
Detailed information is furnished below about each change implemented in the software.

                       
General Manager,
Center for Excellence in Postal Technology,
Mysore.


Detailed information about each change implemented in the software

Reason for release:  Update-3 to Meghdoot 7.0 is being released in order to implement major changes in most of  the Meghdoot modules besides provision of some other minor changes and  rectifying the erros/bugs brought to the notice of CEPT till now.

Who has to Upgrade:  Update-3 has to be implemented by all the Computerized Post Offices in the Country.

Pre-requisite:  Update-1 to  Meghdoot version 7.0 released by CEPT on 05.12.2011.

Location to download the Software:   ftp://ftp.ptcinfo.org/Meghdoot7/Updates/Update-3/
Detailed Release document containing Installation procedure and the modifications done in each module is also available the release document.   The Software containing UPDATE-3 TO MEGHDOOT 7.0 can be downloaded from 15.09.2012.







Module wise major modifications

ModuleChanges made to the SoftwareImprovement in Operations/Service
Point of SaleBooking of Offline WNX TransactionsHitherto,  WNX server needs to be connected for every event of booking process.  This offline booking reduces the transaction time at counter considerably.
VP booking facility for the Registered NewspaperBooking of Registered Newspaper with VP facility is introduced, which was not available earlier.
PLI/RPLI validations prescribed by PLI Directorate, at the time of bookingDue to these validations, data mis-match between the NIC PLI data file and Meghdoot can be reduced considerably.
DespatchClosing of more than one bag to the same destination in same despatchTill now, only one bag can be closed in Despatch module to a particular destination Post Office in a single despatch. This is relaxed.
Implementation of MNOP concept for the Rigistered Bags
Post Offices can close bags only to the L1/L2 Mail Offices, as per the MNOP concept. 

Postman
All Delivery related options for  Speed Post Cash on Delivery articles.   The product is yet to be launched.
Facilitates delivery/despatch of SPCOD articles through Post office and its attached BOs.
Bag Receipt and Bag Opening Options for Registered Bags
Facilitates capturing the Bag receipt and Bag opening scan as required for MNOP review on RNet
Transmission of data of eVP articles to RNet server
Facilitates complete tracking of eVP articles through RNet website.

MO Compilation
eMO Compilation options provided
eMO Compilation options introduced with this release automates the process of submitting Issue/paid returns to DA(P).

eMO
Flushing of old Bulk payee data in addition to    flushing of Booking data to backup database
This enhances the performance of eMO module operation especially in  bigger offices where Bulk Booking and Bulk Delivery is happening.  It is ensured that even after flushing the old data, the reports for the older dates can be seen as usual.
Capturing the data of eMO Compilation and transmission to Central Server
Facilitates cross checking of eMO compilation figures received from Head Offices

ePayemnt
Collection of Examination Fee
New service for Collection of online Examination Fee introduced
Speed Post Cash on Delivery data transmission. articles.   The product is yet to be launched.
Transmission SPCOD articles data from the Office of Delivery to Office of payment for effecting payment through Treasury.

Treasury
Capturing the Western Union Transaction Data
Provision to feed data of individual WUIMT transactions, so as to transmit the data through AccountsMIS application for consolidated figures at central server
Provision for Speed Post Cash on Delivery Payment .  .   The product is yet to be launched.
Facilitates payment of SPCOD delivered amount

Accounts
Calculation of Income Tax as per new rates

SchedulesPLI/RPLI validations prescribed by PLI Directorate, at the time of data entry by Schedules Clerk.Due to these validations, data mis-match between the NIC PLI data file and Meghdoot can be reduced considerably.
AccountsMIS (DET)Identification of offices doing fake reporting .Post Offices cannot resort to transmit duplicate DET data.
Capturing the Western Union Money Order TransactionsCreation of a separate file with individual transactions of WUMT transactions and transmission of the same to Central Server for centralized pairing.
Installer ApplicationNew Application to upgrade all the modules of Update-3Automates the up-gradation process of all the applications in a particular system