Watch out for MAINS-2007 SPECIAL BOOKS ON GENERAL …radiannews.pbworks.com/f/IASPRELIMS1.pdf · ALL THE BEST With warm regards R. Rajaboop athy . Honorary Director RADIAN IAS ACADEMY

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Dear IAS Aspirants,

As the PRELIMS-2007 is fast approaching, I would like to share a few words of advice on the NEGATIVEMARKING PATTERN. Absolutely, no need to scare about this. Actually the UPSC should have introduced this much earlier.If your preparation is well on the track, then no need to worry about this, in fact it will be much helpful for you. Let me clear

some of the mis-conceptions.

First of all, simply do not leave all the unknown questions. Because, for some questions, you may be in aposition to eliminate two incorrect options. In such case you can always guess the answer intelligently, as the probability

of marking the correct answer now increases from 0.25 to 0.50. Now, there is nothing wrong in guessing intelligently.

Definitely for 12 such questions you can answer at least 6 questions correct. So, net gain is at least 4 marks [6 – 1/3 (6)

= 4 for GS]. This mark is directly proportional to your intelligence.

Most importantly, avoid silly mistakes or tension mistakes ( making mistakes by unnecessary tension) inthe paper. Assume that you know the answer for a question, but due to tension or improper understanding (like if the

question bears the statement ‘Which among the following is not incorrect, they mean which one of the following is correct

but you may mis-understand it.). The loss is 1.33 Marks for General Studies and 3.33 marks in the case of Optionals.

Since I had to refer to a lot of sources, the repetitions of information were inevitable. To a great extent we have

corrected it with the sincere help of Ms. Saraswati. I extend my thanks to Mrs Gowri and Mr. Anand fro their assitance in

bringing out this book. I am also grateful to my Parents & wife in bringing this book successfully. Without their help it would

be impossible to release the book on time.

Keeping the civil services preliminary exam in mind, utmost care has been taken in collecting and editing the

information . Hence donot omit even a bit of information

ALL THE BEST

With warm regardsR. Rajaboopathy.Honorary DirectorRADIAN IAS ACADEMY

Send your valuable suggestions through e-mail or sms.Mail ID: [email protected] (or) Mobile: 98404-00825.

DELHI HIGH COURT DIRECTS UPSC TO DISCLOSE CUT-OFF MARKS

On 17.04.2007 The Delhi High Court directed the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to disclose the cut-off marksin the 2006 preliminary civil service Examinations and also model answer papers to candidates.

Upholding a Central Information Commission (CIC) order, Justice B.D.Ahmed said the disclosure “cannot harm theinterest of the UPSC or any third party” The CIC approach was in the “correct perspective.”The UPSC had submitted that if information on the marks of the candidates was given, there was a distinct possibility of

coaching institutes misusing it, and this would harm the interest of meritorious students. Also, its scaling system was very

sensitive and so could not be revealed in an open court the UPSC said.

Candidates who fought the case, under the banner of TRANSPARENCY SEEKERS.

Watch out for MAINS-2007 SPECIAL BOOKS ON GENERAL

STUDIES INCLUDING CURRENT EVENTS ANALYSIS

FREE MOCK TEST FOR IAS - 2007 PRELIMS

Write a Mock test* on 29-4-2007 Sunday 2-00 PM

Registration Fee Rs. 20 /- Only.

To Register Call 98404 00825* This is 8th Test in our TEST SERIES

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Index

1 General Studies Info - Analysis - 3

2 Science and Technology - 42

3 Personalities - 52

4 India - 64

5 Economy & Business - 120

6 World - 152

7 Awards - 189

8 Sports - 196

9 General Studies Mock Test - 208

10 Modern Indian History ( CAPSULE ) - 216

Published in April 2007

Price : Rs. 165 /-

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VITAL INFO- ANALYSIS

POPULATION (2001) 102,87,37,436

MALE 53,22,23,090

FEMALE 49,65,14,346

BIRTH RATE 26.4/1000 Population

Lowest: Kerala

Highest: UP

DEATH RATE 9.0 / 1000 Population

Lowest: Kerala

Highest: MP

AREA 2.4% of World Area

POPULATION 16.7% of World Population

POPULATION 1. Delhi

UNION TERRITORIES 2. Pondicherry

TOP MOST 3. Chandigarh

4. Andaman Nicobar

5. Dadra nagar haveli

6. Daman & Diu

7. Lakshadweep

POPULATION 1. Sikkim

(STATES) 2. Mizoram

LOWEST 3. Arunachal Pradesh

( Ttopmost 4. Goa

population states 5. Nagaland

are printed beside ) 6. Meghalaya

7. Manipur

8. Tripura

9. Himachal Pradesh

10.Uttaranchal

ANNUAL GROWTH 1.93%

RATE

(1991- 2001)

DECADAL 21.54%

(1991- 2001)

DECADAL (STATES) LOWEST:

1. Kerala : 9.43%

2. Tamil Nadu: 11.72%

3. Andhra Pradesh: 14.59%

HIGHEST:

1.Nagaland : 64.53%

2. Sikkim : 33.06

DECADAL (UT’S) LOWEST:

1. Lak : 17.3%

2. Pondicherry: 20.62%

3. A & N : 26.9

HIGHEST:

1. Dadra N. Haveli: 59.22%

2. Daman & Diu : 55.73

3. Delhi : 47.02%

4. Chandigarh 40.28%

RURAL 72.22%

URBAN 27.78%

POPULATION 1. U.P

(STATES) 2. Maharashtra

TOP MOST 3. Bihar

4. West Bengal

5. Andhra Pradesh

6. Tamil Nadu

7. Madhya Pradesh

8. Rajasthan

9. Karnataka

10.Gujarat

LITERACY 64.84%

MALE LITERACY 75.26%

FEMALE LITERACY 53.67%

LITERACY 1. Kerala – 90.86%

(TOP MOST) 2. Mizoram - 88.8%

STATES 3. Goa – 82.01%

4. Maharashtra - 76.88%

5. Him. Pradesh – 76.48%

6. Tamil Nadu – 73.45%

LITERACY 1. Lakshadweep– 86.66%

(TOP MOST) 2. Chandigarh – 81.94%

UT’S 3. Delhi – 81.67%

4. Andaman & N. - 81.30%

5. Pondicherry – 81.24%

6. Daman & Diu – 78.18%

7. Dadra Nagar – 57.63%

RADIAN ACADEMY ANNA NAGAR & NSK NAGAR-ARUMBAKKAM [email protected] Ph: 98404-00825, 98404-33955, 98404-32842

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LITERACY (LOWEST) 1. Bihar – 47.00%

STATES 2. Jharkhand – 53.56%

3. Arunachal P. – 54.34%

4. J & K - 55.52%

5. UP – 56.27%

6. Rajasthan – 60.41%

LITERACY (MALES) 1. Kerala – 94.24%

TOP MOST 2. Mizoram – 90.72%


4. Maharashtra – 85.97%


6. Uttarakhand – 83.28%


LITERACY (FEMALES) 1. Kerala – 87.72%

TOP MOST 2. Mizoram – 86.75%



5. Maharashtra – 67.03%

6. Tripura – 64.91%


DENSITY (PER KM2) 324

DENSITY (TOP MOST) 1. West Bengal – 903

STATES 2. Bihar – 881

(PERSONS/KM2) 3. Kerala – 819

4. UP – 690

5. Punjab – 484

6. Tamil Nadu – 480

DENSITY (LOWEST) 1. Arunachal Pradesh -13

STATES 2. Mizoram – 42

3. Sikkim – 76

4. J & K – 100

5. Meghalaya – 103

DENSITY (TOP MOST) 1. Delhi - 9,340

2. Chandigarh – 7900

3. Pondicherry – 2034

4. Lakshadweep – 1895

5. Daman & Diu – 1413

6. Dadra N. Haveli – 449

7. Andaman & Nicobar – 43

SEX RATIO 933 Females / 1000 males

SEX RATIO 1. Kerala (1058)

(TOP MOST) 2. Chhattisgarh (989)

3. Tamil Nadu (987)

4. Andhra & Manipur (978)

5. Meghalaya & Orissa (972)

SEX RATIO 1. Haryana (861)

LOWEST 2. Sikkim (875)

3. Punjab (876)

4. Jammu & Kashmir (892)

5. Arunachal Pradesh (893)

LOWEST SEX 1. Pondicherry – 1001

RATIO UT’S 2. Lakshadweep – 948

3. A & N – 846

4. Delhi – 821

5. Dadra Nagar haveli – 812

6. Chandigarh - 777

7. Daman and Diu - 710

SCHEDULED CASTES HIGHEST

ABSOLUTE VALUE 1. UP

STATES 2. West Bengal

3. Bihar

4. Andhra Pradesh

5. Tamil Nadu

6. Maharashtra

7. Rajasthan

8. MP

9. Karnataka

10. Punjab

SCHEDULED TRIBES HIGHEST

ABSOLUTE VALUE 1. MP

STATES 2. Maharashtra

3. Orissa

4. Gujarat

5. Rajasthan

6. Jharkhand

7.Chhattisgarh

8. Andhra Pradesh

9. West Bengal

10. Karnataka


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SCHEDULED CASTE HIGHEST

(%)STATES 1. Punjab- 28.9 %

2. Him. Pradesh – 24.72 %

3. West Bengal – 23.02 %

4. UP - 21.15%

5. Haryana – 19.35%


LOWEST

1. Mizoram - 0%

2. Nagaland - 0%

3. Megalaya – 0.48%

4. Arunachal Prade–0.56%

5. Goa – 1.77%

6. Manipur – 2.77%

SCHEDULED TRIBES HIGHEST

(%) STATES 1. Mizoram- 94.46 %

2. Nagaland – 89.15 %

3. Meghalaya – 85.94 %

4. Arunachal P. - 64.22%

5. Chhattisgarh – 31.76%

LOWEST

1. Punjab - 0%

2. Haryana – 0%

3. Goa – 0.04%

4. UP – 0.06%

5. Bihar – 0.91%

6. Tamil Nadu- 1.04%

SCHEDULED CASTES 1. Chandigarh- 17.5%

% WISE 2. Delhi – 16.92%

UT’S 3. Pondicherry – 16.19%

4. Daman & Diu – 3.06%

5. Dadra N. Haveli – 1.86%

6. Lakshadweep – 0%

7. Andaman & nicobar – 0%

SCHEDULED TRIBES 1. Lakshadweep – 94.51%

% WISE 2.Dadra Nagar Haveli-62.24%

UT’S 3. Daman & Diu – 8.85%

4. Andaman&Nicobar– 8.27%

5. Chandigargh – 0%

6. Pondicherry – 0%

7. Delhi – 0%

MUSLIMS 1. UP

(ABSOLUTE)

POPULATION 2. West Bengal

IN STATES. 3. Bihar

(TOP MOST) 4. Maharashtra

5. Assam

6. Kerala

7. Andhra Pradesh

8. J & K

9. Karnataka

10. Rajasthan

HIGHEST 1. Orissa (47.15%)

POOR STATES 2. Bihar (42.60%)

3. M. Pradesh (37.43%)

4. Sikkim (36.55%)

5. Assam (36.09%)

NEW STATES (2000) POPULATION

(ABSOLUTE) 1. Jharkha - 2,69,45,829

2. Chhattis - 2,08,33,803

3. Uttarankand - 84,89,349

LITERACY

1. Uttarakhand – 71.62%

2. Chhattisgarh – 64.66%

3. Jharkhand – 53.56

DENSITY

1. Jharkhand – 338

2. Uttarakhand – 159

3. Chhatishgarh - 154

LABOUR FORCE 32 %


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In Union Territories the highest number of Sched-uled Caste population is in Delhi (23,43,255) while highestpercentage is in Chandigarh, i.e., 17.5%. The lowest num-ber of Scheduled Case population is in Mizoram (272) andlowest percentage is in Mizoram (0.0%) in Union TerritoriesAndman and Nicobar Island, Lakshadweep do not haveany Scheduled Caste population.

In Union Territories the highest number of Sched-uled Tribe population is in Dadar Nagar Haveli (1,37,225),while the highest percentage is in Lakshadweep 94.5%.

The percentage of working population is concernMizoram ranks first, i.e., 52.6% of the working populationwhile Kerala ranks last, i.e., 32.3%. In Union TerritoriesDadar Nagar Haveli ranks first (51.8%) while Lakshadweepranks last, i.e., (25.3%).

POPULATION of INDIA by RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES

1961 1971 1981 1991 2001

Hindus 84.4 83.5 83.1 82.4 81.4

Muslims 9.9 10.4 10.9 11.7 12.4

Christians 2.4 2.6 2.5 2.3 2.3

Sikhs 1.8 1.9 2.0 2.0 1.9

Buddhists 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.8

Jains 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.4

Others 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.7

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) HQ:PARIS

XIXth IAU General Assembly (1985): New Delhi,India

XXVIth IAU General Assembly (2006): Prague, CzechRepublic

The 2006 definition of “planet” by the InternationalAstronomical Union (IAU) states that, in the solarsystem, a planet is a celestial body that:1) is in orbit around the Sun,2) has sufficient mass so that it assumes a hydro-

static equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and3) has “cleared the neighborhood” around its orbit.

According to the definition there are currently eightplanets and three dwarf planets known in the solarsystem.

Three dwarf planets are currently recognized: Ceres,Pluto and Eris (Formerly Xena or 2003UB

313).

The Kuiper belt is an area of the solar systemextending from the orbit of Neptune (at 30 AU) to 50AU from the Sun.

MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENTGOALS

The Millennium Declaration is a United Nations reso-lution, adopted at the 8th plenary of the MillenniumSummit meeting on September 8, 2000, with eightmajor development goals. The implementation of theDeclaration was reviewed at the September 2005World Summit.

Then 191 United Nations member states have agreedto try to achieve by the year 2015.

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hungerReduce by half the proportion of people living on less

than one U.S. dollar a day.Reduce by half the proportion of people who suffer

from hunger.Increase the amount of food for those who suffer

from hunger.2. Achieve universal primary educationEnsure that all boys and girls complete a full course

of primary schooling.Increased enrollment must be accompanied by ef-

forts to ensure that all children remain in schooland receive a high-quality education

3. Promote gender equality and empower womenEliminate gender disparity in primary and sec-ondary education preferably by 2005, and at alllevels by 2015.

4. Reduce child mortalityReduce the mortality rate among children underfive by two thirds.

5. Improve maternal healthReduce by three quarters the maternal mortalityratio.

6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseasesHalt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS.Halt and begin to reverse the incidence of malaria

and other major diseases.7. Ensure environmental sustainabilityIntegrate the principles of sustainable development

into country policies and programmes; reverseloss of environmental resources.

Reduce by half the proportion of people without sus-tainable access to safe drinking water (for moreinformation see the entry on water supply).

Achieve significant improvement in lives of at least100 million slum dwellers, by 2020.


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8. Develop a global partnership for developmentDevelop further an open trading and financial sys-

tem that is rule-based, predictable and non-dis-criminatory. Includes a commitment to good gov-ernance, development and poverty reduction—nationally and internationally.

Address the least developed countries’ specialneeds. This includes tariff- and quota-free accessfor their exports; enhanced debt relief for heavilyindebted poor countries; cancellation of officialbilateral debt; and more generous official devel-opment assistance for countries committed topoverty reduction.

Address the special needs of landlocked and smallisland developing States.

Deal comprehensively with developing countries’debt problems through national and internationalmeasures to make debt sustainable in the longterm.

In cooperation with the developing countries, developdecent and productive work for youth.

In cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, pro-vide access to affordable essential drugs in de-veloping countries.

In cooperation with the private sector, make availablethe benefits of new technologies—especially in-formation and communications technologies.

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT INDIASource: www.india.gov.in

Ø Sanskrit is considered as the mother of all higher

languages. This is because it is the most pre-cise and therefore the suitable language for com-puter software (a report in Forbes magazine, July1987).

Ø The name ‘India’ is derived from the River Indus,

the valleys around which were the home of theearly settlers. The Aryan worshippers referred tothe river Indus as the Sindhu.

Ø Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus also

orignated in India. Quadratic Equations wereused by Sridharacharya in the 11th century. Thelargest numbers the Greeks and the Romansused were 106 whereas Hindus used numbersas big as 10*53 (i.e 10 to the power of 53) withspecific names as early as 5000 B.C. during theVedic period. Even today, the largest used num-ber is Tera: 10*12(10 to the power of 12).

Ø The Persian invaders converted it into Hindu. The

name ‘Hindustan’ combines Sindhu and Hinduand thus refers to the land of the Hindus.

Ø Chess was invented in India.

Ø Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus are studies,

which originated in India.

Ø The ‘Place Value System’ and the ‘Decimal

System’ were developed in India in 100 B.C.

Ø The World’s First Granite Temple is the

Brihadeswara Temple at Tanjavur, Tamil Nadu.The shikhara of the temple is made from a single80-tonne piece of granite. This magnificienttemple was built in just five years, (between 1004AD and 1009 AD) during the reign of RajarajaChola.

Ø India is the largest democracy in the world, the

6th largest Country in the world, and one of themost ancient civilizations.

Ø The game of Snakes & Ladders was created by

the 13th century poet saint Gyandev. It wasoriginally called ‘Mokshapat’. The ladders in thegame represented virtues and the snakes indi-cated vices. The game was played with cowrieshells and dices. In time, the game underwentseveral modifications, but its meaning remainedthe same, i.e good deeds take people to heavenand evil to a cycle of re-births.

Ø The world’s highest cricket ground is in Chail,

Himachal Pradesh. Built in 1893 after levelling ahilltop, this cricket pitch is 2444 meters abovesea level.

Ø India has the largest number of Post Offices in

the world.

Ø The largest employer in the world is the Indian

Railways, employing over a million people.

Ø The world’s first university was established in

Takshila in 700 BC. More than 10,500 studentsfrom all over the world studied more than 60 sub-jects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4thcentury was one of the greatest achievements ofancient India in the field of education.

Ø Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known

to mankind. The Father of Medicine, Charaka,consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago.

Ø India was one of the richest countries till the time

of British rule in the early 17th Century. Christo-pher Columbus, attracted by India’s wealth, had


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come looking for a sea route to India when hediscovered America by mistake.

Ø The Art of Navigation & Navigating was born in

the river Sindh over 6000 years ago. The very wordNavigation is derived from the Sanskrit word‘NAVGATIH’. The word navy is also derived fromthe Sanskrit word ‘Nou’.

Ø Bhaskaracharya rightly calculated the time taken

by the earth to orbit the Sun hundreds of yearsbefore the astronomer Smart. According to hiscalculation, the time taken by the Earth to orbit theSun was 365.258756484 days.

Ø The value of “pi” was first calculated by the Indian

Mathematician Budhayana, and he explained theconcept of what is known as the PythagoreanTheorem. He discovered this in the 6th century,long before the European mathematicians.

Ø Until 1896, India was the only source of diamonds

in the world (Source : Gemological Institute ofAmerica).

Ø The Baily Bridge is the highest bridge in the

world. It is located in the Ladakh valley betweenthe Dras and Suru rivers in the Himalayan moun-tains. It was built by the Indian Army in August1982.

Ø Sushruta is regarded as the Father of Surgery.

Over 2600 years ago Sushrata & histeam conducted complicated surgerieslike cataract, artificial limbs, cesareans, fractures,urinary stones, plastic surgery and brain surger-ies.

Ø Usage of anesthesia was well known in ancient

Indian medicine. Detailed knowledge of anatomy,embryology, digestion, metabolism, physiology,etiology, genetics and immunity is also found inmany ancient Indian texts.

Ø India exports software to 90 countries.

Ø The four religions born in India - Hinduism, Bud-

dhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, are followed by25% of the world’s population.

Ø Jainism and Buddhism were founded in India in

600 B.C. and 500 B.C. respectively.

Ø Islam is India’s and the world’s second largest

religion.

Ø There are 300,000 active mosques in India, more

than in any other country, including the Muslimworld.

Ø The oldest European church and synagogue in

India are in the city of Cochin. They were built in1503 and 1568 respectively.

Ø Jews and Christians have lived continuously in

India since 200 B.C. and 52 A.D respectively

Ø The largest religious building in the world is

Angkor Wat, a Hindu Temple in Cambodia built atthe end of the 11th century.

Ø The Vishnu Temple in the city of Tirupathi built in

the 10th century, is the world’s largest religiouspilgrimage destination. Larger than either Romeor Mecca, an average of 30,000 visitors donate$6 million (US) to the temple everyday.

Ø Sikhism originated in the Holy city of Amritsar in

Punjab. Famous for housing the Golden Temple,the city was founded in 1577.

Ø Varanasi, also known as Benaras, was called

“the Ancient City” when Lord Buddha visited it in500 B.C., and is the oldest, continuously inhab-ited city in the world today.

Ø India provides safety for more than 300,000 refu-

gees originally from Sri Lanka, Tibet, Bhutan, Af-ghanistan and Bangladesh, who escaped to fleereligious and political persecution.

Ø His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiri-

tual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, runs his gov-ernment in exile from Dharamsala in northernIndia.

Ø Martial Arts were first created in India, and later

spread to Asia by Buddhist missionaries.

Ø Yoga has its origins in India and has existed for

over 5,000 years.


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QUOTES ON INDIA

KEITH BELLOWS: There are some parts ofthe world that, once visited, get into your heart andwon’t go. For me, India is such a place. When I firstvisited, I was stunned by the richness of the land, byits lush beauty and exotic architecture, by its ability tooverload the senses with the pure, concentratedintensity of its colors, smells, tastes, and sounds. Itwas as if all my life I had been seeing the world inblack and white and, when brought face-to-face withIndia, experienced everything re-rendered in brillianttechnicolor.

ALBERT EINSTEIN: We owe a lot to the

Indians, who taught us how to count, without whichno worthwhile scientific discovery could have beenmade.

MARK TWAIN: India is, the cradle of the hu-

man race, the birthplace of human speech, themother of history, the grandmother of legend, and thegreat grand mother of tradition. Our most valuableand most instructive materials in the history of manare treasured up in India only.

FRENCH SCHOLAR ROMAIN ROLLAND: If

there is one place on the face of earth where all thedreams of living men have found a home from thevery earliest days when man began the dream ofexistence, it is India.

DEPENDENCIES & AREAS OFSPECIAL SOVEREIGNTY

AUSTRALIA - Ashmore and Cartier Islands, ChristmasIsland, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Coral Sea Islands, HeardIsland and McDonald Islands, Norfolk Island

CHINA - Hong Kong, Macau

DENMARK - Faroe Islands, Greenland

FRANCE - Bassas da India*, Clipperton Island, EuropaIsland*, French Polynesia, French Southern and AntarcticLands, Glorioso Islands*, Juan de Nova Island*, Mayotte,New Caledonia, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, TromelinIsland*, Wallis and Futuna (* consolidated in Iles Eparsesentry)

NETHERLANDS - Aruba, Netherlands Antilles

NEW ZEALAND - Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau

NORWAY - Bouvet Island, Jan Mayen, Svalbard

UK - Akrotiri, Anguilla, Bermuda, British Indian OceanTerritory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dhekelia,Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Jersey, Isle of Man,Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, South Georgiaand the South Sandwich Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands

US - American Samoa, Baker Island*, Guam, HowlandIsland*, Jarvis Island*, Johnston Atoll*, Kingman Reef*,Midway Islands*, Navassa Island, Northern Mariana Islands,Palmyra Atoll*, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Wake Island(* consolidated in United States Pacific Island Wildlife Ref-uges entry)

MISCELLANEOUSAntarctica, Gaza Strip, Paracel Islands, Spratly Islands,West Bank, Western Sahara.

ECONOMIC, SCIENTIFIC &OTHER INFO

BALANCE OF TRADE: The difference in value over aperiod of time between a country’s imports and exports.

BREAK EVEN: This is a term used to describe a point atwhich revenues equal costs (fixed and variable).

BRETTON WOODS TWINS: World Bank (IBRD- InternationBank for Reconstruction and Developement) and IMF. TheWorld Bank & IMF had its origins in the negotiations thatculminated in the United Nations Monetary and FinancialConference at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, USAin July 1944.

CALL MONEY: Price paid by an investor for a call option.There is no fixed rate for call money. It depends on the typeof stock, its performance prior to the purchase of the calloption, and the period of the contract. It is an interest bear-ing band deposits that can be withdrawn on 24 hours no-tice.

CAPITAL ACCOUNT; Part of a nation’s balance of pay-ments that includes purchases and sales of assets, suchas stocks, bonds, and land.

CARTEL: An organization of producers seeking to limit oreliminate competition among its members, most often byagreeing to restrict output to keep prices higher thanwould occur under competitive conditions. Cartels areinherently unstable because of the potential for producersto defect from the agreement and capture larger marketsby selling at lower prices.


10

CORRELATION COEFFICIENT: Denoted as “r”, a measureof the linear relationship between two variables. The abso-lute value of “r” provides an indication of the strength of therelationship. The value of “r” varies between positive 1and negative 1, with -1 or 1 indicating a perfect linearrelationship, and r = 0 indicating no relationship. The sign ofthe correlation coefficient indicates whether the slope ofthe line is positive or negative when the two variables areplotted in a scatter plot.

COUNTERVAILING DUTIES: duties (tariffs) that are im-posed by a country to counteract subsidies provided to aforeign producer Current account: Part of a nation’s bal-ance of payments which includes the value of all goods andservices imported and exported, as well as the paymentand receipt of dividends and interest. A nation has a currentaccount surplus if exports exceed imports plus net trans-fers to foreigners. The sum of the current and capital ac-counts is the overall balance of payments.

DUMPING occurs when goods are exported at a price lessthan their normal value, generally meaning they are ex-ported for less than they are sold in the domestic market orthird country markets, or at less than production cost.

ECONOMETRICS: The application of statistical and math-ematical methods in the field of economics to test and quan-tify economic theories and the solutions to economic prob-lems.

FISCAL DEFICIT is the gap between the government’stotal spending and the sum of its revenue receipts andnon-debt capital receipts. It represents the total amount ofborrowed funds required by the government to com-pletely meet its expenditure.

FISCAL POLICY is the use of government expenditureand taxation to try to influence the level of economicactivity. An expansionary (or reflationary) fiscal policycould mean: cutting levels of direct or indirect taxincreasing government expenditure The effect of thesepolicies would be to encourage more spending and boostthe economy. A contractionary (or deflationary) fiscalpolicy could be: increasing taxation - either direct orindirect cutting government expenditure These policieswould reduce the level of demand in the economy andhelp to reduce inflation.

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT (FDI): Overseas invest-ments by private multinational corporations.

FRINGE BENEFIT: A benefit in addition to salary offered toemployees such as use of company’s car, house, lunchcoupons, health care subscriptions etc.

GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TARIFFS AND TRADE (GATT)An international body set up in 1947 to probe into the waysand means of reducing tariffs on internationally traded goods

and services. Between 1947 and 1962, GATT held sevenconferences but met with only moderate success. Its majorsuccess was achieved in 1967 during the so-calledKennedy Round of talks when tariffs on primary commodi-ties were drastically slashed and then in 1994 with thesigning of the Uruguay Round agreement. Replaced in1.1.1995 by World Trade Organization (WTO).

GRESHAM’S LAW: “Bad money (if not limited in quantity)drives good money out of circulation” – This statement wasgiven by Sir Thomas Gresham, the economic Adviser ofQueen Elizabeth. this law states that people always wantto hoard good money and spend bad money when twoforms of money are in circulation at the same time.

ENGEL’S LAW: This law was formulated by Ernst Engel.This law states that the given taste and preference, theportion of income spent on food diminishes as income in-crease. According to this law , the smaller a person’sincome he greater the proportion (%) of it that he will spendon food and vice versa.

GDI: Gender Related Development Index is a compositeindex measuring average achievement in the three basicdimensions captured in the human development index-a longand healthy life, knowledge and a decent standardof living-adjusted to account for inequalities between menand women.

GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP) Gross Domestic Prod-uct: The total of goods and services produced by a nationover a given period, usually 1 year. Gross Domestic Productmeasures the total output from all the resources located in acountry, wherever the owners of the resources live.

GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT (GNP) is the value of all finalgoods and services produced within a nation in a givenyear, plus income earned by its citizens abroad, minus in-come earned by foreigners from domestic production.

GLOBALISATION: The process whereby trade is now be-ing conducted on ever widening geographical boundaries.Countries now trade across continents and companies alsotrade all over the world.

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION (ILO) One ofthe functional organizations of the United Nations, based inGeneva, Switzerland, whose central task is to look intoproblems of world labour supply, its training, utilization, do-mestic and international distribution, etc. Its aim in this en-deavour is to increase world output through maximum utili-zation of available human resources and thus improve lev-els of living.

INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND (IMF) An autonomousinternational financial institution that originated in the BrettonWoods Conference of 1944. Its main purpose is to regulatethe international monetary exchange system, which also


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stems from that conference but has since been modified. Inparticular, one of the central tasks of the IMF is to controlfluctuations in exchange rates of world currencies in a bidto alleviate severe balance of payments problems.

MACRO ECONOMICS The branch of economics that con-siders the relationships among broad economic aggregatessuch as national income, total volumes of saving, invest-ment, consumption expenditure, employment, and moneysupply.MICRO ECONOMICS: The branch of economics concernedwith individual decision units—firms and households—andthe way in which their decisions interact to determine rela-tive prices of goods and factors of production and howmuch of these will be bought and sold. The market is thecentral concept in microeconomics.

MONETARY POLICY: The regulation of the money supplyand interest rates by a central bank in order to control infla-tion and stabilize currency. If the economy is heating up, thecentral bank (such as RBI in India) can withdraw moneyfrom the banking system, raise the reserve requirement orraise the discount rate to make it cool down. If growth isslowing, it can reverse the process - increase the moneysupply, lower the reserve requirement and decrease thediscount rate. The monetary policy influences interest ratesand money supply.

OFFICIAL DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE (ODA) Net dis-bursements of loans or grants made on concessional termsby official agencies of member countries of the Organiza-tion for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

ORGANIZATION FOR ECONOMIC COOPERATION ANDDEVELOPMENT (OECD):An organization of 20 countriesfrom the Western world including all of those in Europe andNorth America. Its major objective is to assist the economicgrowth of its member nations by promoting cooperation andtechnical analysis of national and international economictrends.

PORTFOLIO INVESTMENT Financial investments by pri-vate individuals, corporations, pension funds, and mutualfunds in stocks, bonds, certificates of deposit, and notesissued by private companies and the public agencies ofLDCs.

POVERTY LINE: A level of income below, which people aredeemed poor. A global poverty line of $1 per personper day was suggested in 1990 (World Bank 1990). InIndia as per Planning commission a rural person must con-sume 2400 calories per day where as urbanites consume2100.

REPO RATE: This is one of the credit management toolsused by the Reserve Bank to regulate liquidity. The bank

borrows money from the Reserve Bank to cover its short-fall. The Reserve Bank only makes a certain amount ofmoney available and this determines the repo rate. If thebank requires more money than what is available, this willincrease the repo rate - and vice versa.REVENUE EXPENDITURE: This is expenditure on recurringitems, including the running of services and financing capi-tal spending that is paid for by borrowing. This is meant fornormal running of governments’ maintenance expenditures,interest payments, subsidies and transfers etc. It is currentexpenditure which does not result in the creation of assets.Grants given to State governments or other parties are alsotreated as revenue expenditure even if some of the grantsmay be meant for creating assets.

SUBSIDY: Financial assistance (often from the government)to a specific group of producers or consumers.

REVENUE RECEIPTS: Additions to assets that do not incuran obligation that must be met at some future date and donot represent exchanges of property for money. Assetsmust be available for expenditures. These include proceedsof taxes and duties levied by the government, interest anddividend on investments made by the government, fees andother receipts for services rendered by the government.

STATUTORY LIQUIDITY RATIO (SLR) is the amount whicha bank has to maintain in the form of cash, gold or approvedsecurities. The quantum is specified as some % of the totaldemand and time liabilities of a bank. This % is fixed by theReserve Bank of India. The date which is taken to calculatethe demand and time liabilities of the bank is the last Fridayof the preceding fortnight.

SPECIAL DRAWING RIGHTS (SDRs) is a potential claim onthe freely usable currencies of International Monetary Fundmembers. It is neither a currency, nor a claim on the IMF.SDRs are defined in terms of a basket of major currenciesused in international trade and finance. At present, the cur-rencies in the basket are the euro, the pound sterling,the Japanese yen and the United States dollar.

LAKES ON TITAN: Scientists have found the first wide-spread evidence of giant hydrocarbon lakes on thesurface of Saturn’s planet size moon Titan, Spotted ByCASSINI, in 1997 and took seven years to reach Saturn toexplore the ringed planet and its moons. Cassini’s ac-companying probe, Huygens, developed and controlled byEuropean Space Agency, touched down on Titan in 2005.

ISO 9000 (H.Q: Geneva) is a family of ISO (theInternational Organization for Standardization)standards for quality management systems. ISO 9000 wasdeveloped from the British Standards Institution’s BS 5750.ISO 9000 does not guarantee the quality of endproducts and services; rather, it certifies that consistentbusiness processes are being applied.


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ISO 14000 environmental management standards exist tohelp organizations (a) minimize how their operations(processes, etc.) negatively affect the environment (i.e.cause adverse changes to air, water, or land); (b) complywith applicable laws, regulations, and other environmentallyoriented requirements, and (c) continually improve in theabove. ISO 14000 is similar to ISO 9000 quality managementin that both pertain to the process-the comprehensiveoutcome-of how a product is produced, rather than to theproduct itself. As with ISO 9000, certification is performedby third-party organisations rather than being awarded byISO directly. The ISO 19011 audit standard applies whenauditing for both 9000 and 14000 compliance at once

OPPORTUNITY COST, or ECONOMIC COST, is the cost of

something in terms of an opportunity forgone (and thebenefits that could be received from that opportunity), orthe most valuable forgone alternative, i.e. the second bestalternative. For example, if a city decides to build a hospitalon vacant land that it owns, the opportunity cost is some

other thing that might have been done with the land andconstruction funds instead. In building the hospital, the cityhas forgone the opportunity to build a sporting center onthat land, or a parking lot, or the ability to sell the land toreduce the city’s debt, and so on.

LIBOR, the London Interbank Offered Rate, is the mostactive interest rate market in the world. It is determined byrates that banks participating in the London money marketoffer each other for short-term deposits. LIBOR is used indetermining the price of many other financial derivatives,including interest rate futures, swaps and Eurodollars. Dueto London’s importance as a global financial center, LIBORapplies not only to the Pound Sterling, but also to majorcurrencies such as the US Dollar, Swiss Franc, Japa-nese Yen and Canadian Dollar.

OLED (ORGANIC LIGHT EMITTING DIODE) consists of anemissive organic material, that when supplied with an elec-trical current, can produce a superior full color flat paneldisplay. Several factors make OLED superior to LCD orCRT technology. The most obvious difference is that OLEDis so ultra-thin it can even be placed on plastic film! Thismakes it much lighter than older technology and a greatadvantage for hand-held devices, laptops and notebooks. Iteven opens the door to flexible displays. OLED is alsobrighter and has better contrast than LCD, but does notrequire back-lighting. It consumes about 20% less powerthan LCD, and has a response time every bit as fast as CRTdisplays. Add to this favorable list that OLED displays canbe clearly viewed at nearly any angle — a full 170 degrees.

PURCHASING POWER PARITY is an economic techniqueused when attempting to determine the relative values oftwo currencies. It is useful because often the amount ofgoods a currency can purchase within two nations variesdrastically, based on availability of goods, demand for thegoods, and a number of other, difficult to determine factors.

Purchasing power parity solves this problem by taking someinternational measure and determining the cost for that mea-sure in each of the two currencies, then comparing thatamount.

ELECTRONIC DATA INTERCHANGE (EDI) is the process ofusing computers to exchange business documents betweencompanies. Previously, fax machines or traditional mailwas used to exchange documents. Mailing and faxing arestill used in business, but EDI is a much quicker way to dothe same thing.EIN stands for Employer Identification Number. Em-ployer Identification Numbers can also be referred to asFederal Employer Identification Numbers, Tax Identifica-

tion Numbers, and Federal Tax Identification Numbers. AnEIN is issued to all corporations established in the US. TheEIN is analogous to a Social Security Number (SSN). It is away for the federal government to examine the status ofany corporation operating inside the US. Any legal docu-ment sent to any branch of the federal, and sometimes astate, government requires one to list an Employer Identifi-cation Number.

MERGER occurs when two companies combine toform a single company. A merger is very similar to anACQUISITION or takeover, except that in the case of amerger existing stockholders of both companies involvedretain a shared interest in the new corporation. By contrast,in an acquisition one company purchases a bulk of a sec-ond company’s stock, creating an uneven balance of own-ership in the new combined company

JOINT VENTURE takes place when two parties come to-gether to take on one project. In a joint venture, both partiesare equally invested in the project in terms of money, time,and effort to build on the original concept. While joint ven-tures are generally small projects, major corporations alsouse this method in order to diversify. A joint venture canensure the success of smaller projects for those that arejust starting in the business world or for established corpo-rations. Since the cost of starting new projects is generallyhigh, a joint venture allows both parties to share the burdenof the project, as well as the resulting profits.

POP stands for Post Office Protocol, and is one of thetechnologies used for that all-important medium of commu-nication: email.

PODCASTING refers to broadcasting programs made avail-able online through a subscription feed such as RSS (RichSite Summary), to be played on iPods or MP3 players.

FLASH CARD is a mini storage device that uses a FLASHMEMORY chip to store data. Flash cards can be as small asthe size of a wafer, while capacity can range anywherefrom 8MB to several gigabytes. Flash cards are highlyreliable because there are no moving parts. Flash memory


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is also fairly fast because it erases and writes in blocks,rather than byte by byte as did its predecessor, EEPROM.Flash memory is erased by electrical charges or flashes,hence the name, flash card.

A TFT MONITOR uses thin-film transistor technologyfor the ultimate LCD or liquid crystal display. LCD monitors,also called flat panel displays, are replacing the old stylecathode ray tubes (CRTs) as the display of choice. Nearlyall LCD monitors today use TFT technology. The benefit of aTFT monitor is a separate, tiny transistor for each pixel onthe display. Because each transistor is so small, the amountof charge needed to control it is also small. This allows forvery fast re-drawing of the display, as the image is re-painted or refreshed several times per second.

A DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER LINE (DSL) modem is a type ofmodem used to connect a personal computer (PC) tothe Internet.

PARSEC (PARallax of 1 arc SECond) is an astronomicalunit of measurement that is equivalent to 3.26 light yearsdistance, or the distance photons will travel in vacuum overthe period of 3.26 years. Light travels at a speed of 186,000miles per second (300,000 kilometers per second), so aparsec represents a distance of 19,131,554,000,000 miles,or just over 19 trillion miles, (close to 31 trillion kilometers).By comparison the average distance to the Sun from Earthis only 93 million miles (150,000,000 km). This distance isreferred to as ONE ASTRONOMICAL UNIT (AU).

EXPERT SYSTEM also known as a knowledge basedsystem, is a computer program that contains some of thesubject-specific knowledge of one or more humanexperts. This class of program was first developed byresearchers in artificial intelligence during the 1960s and1970s and applied commercially throughout the 1980s.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) is a branch of computerscience that deals with intelligent behavior, learning, andadaptation in machines.John McCarthy, the father ofAI, were to coin this new phrase.

SONOLUMINESCENCE is a mysterious phenomenoncaused when ultrasound waves excite a liquid, creat-ing tiny bubbles which emit light when they collapse. Theeffect is magnified when the bubbles contain a noble gas.The phrase sonoluminescence means “sound light”. Thereare various theories about sonoluminescence, none ofwhich have been conclusively proven. Temperatures ofabove 20,000 K have been measured at the centres ofthese tiny bubbles. This is hot enough to boil diamond.

A TOKAMAK is a toroidal (doughnut-shaped) magneticplasma confinement device, the leading candidate for pro-ducing magnetic fusion energy. The term tokamak comesfrom the Russian words: “toroidalnaya”, “kamera”, and“magnitnaya”, which mean “toroidal, chamber, magnetic”.

The last letter g was replaced by k to avoid analogy with theword magic. It was invented in the 1950s by IgorYevgenyevich Tamm and Andrei Sakharov

COPYLEFT is a play on the word copyright and is the prac-tice of using copyright law to remove restrictions on thedistribution of copies and modified versions of a work forothers and require that the same freedoms be preserved inmodified versions.

COPYRIGHT is a set of exclusive rights regulating the useof a particular expression of an idea or information. At itsmost general, it is literally “the right to copy” an originalcreation. In most cases, these rights are of limited duration.

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT (FDI) is defined as a longterm investment by a foreign direct investor in an enterpriseresident in an economy other than that in which the foreigndirect investor is based. The FDI relationship, consists of aparent enterprise and a foreign affiliate which together forma Transnational Corporation (TNC). As per the FDIConfidence Index compiled by A.T. Kearney for 2005, Chinaand India hold the first and second position respec-tively, whereas United States has slipped to the third posi-tion.

TYPES OF FDI

• GREENFIELD INVESTMENT: direct investment in new

facilities or the expansion of existing facilities. Greenfieldinvestments are the primary target of a host nation’s promo-tional efforts because they create new production capacityand jobs, transfer technology and know-how, and can leadto linkages to the global marketplace. However, it often doesthis by crowding out local industry; multinationals are ableto produce goods more cheaply (because of advancedtechnology and efficient processes) and uses up resources(labour, intermediate goods, etc). Another downside ofgreenfield investment is that profits from production do notfeed back into the local economy, but instead to themultinational’s home economy. This is in contrast to localindustries whose profits flow back into the domesticeconomy to promote growth.

• MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS: occur when a trans-

fer of existing assets from local firms to foreign firms takesplace, this is the primary type of FDI. Cross-border merg-ers occur when the assets and operation of firms fromdifferent countries are combined to establish a new legalentity. Cross-border acquisitions occur when the controlof assets and operations is transferred from a local to aforeign company, with the local company becoming an af-filiate of the foreign company. Unlike greenfield invest-ment, acquisitions provide no long term benefits to thelocal economy— even in most deals the owners of the


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local firm are paid in stock from the acquiring firm, meaningthat the money from the sale could never reach the localeconomy. Nevertheless, mergers and acquisitions are asignificant form of FDI and until around 1997, accountedfor nearly 90% of the FDI flow into the United States.

• HORIZONTAL FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT: is in-

vestment in the same industry abroad as a firm operates inat home.

• VERTICAL FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT: Takes

two forms:1) backward vertical FDI: where an industry abroad pro-vides inputs for a firm’s domestic production processes.2) forward verticle FDI: in which an industry abroad sellsthe outputs of a firm’s domestic production processes.

LEPTOSPIROSIS (also known as Weil’s disease,canicola fever, canefield fever, nanukayami fever or7-day fever) is a BACTERIAL ZOONOTIC DISEASE causedby spirochaetes of the genus Leptospira that affects hu-mans and a wide range of animals, including mammals,birds, amphibians, and reptiles. It was first described byAdolf Weil in 1886 when he reported an “acute infectiousdisease with enlargement of spleen, jaundice and nephri-tis”. The pathogen, Leptospira-genus bacteria was iso-lated in 1907 from post mortem renal tissue slice. Thoughbeing recognised among the world’s most common zoono-sis, leptospirosis is a relatively rare bacterial infection inhumans. The infection is commonly transmitted to humansby allowing fresh water that has been contaminated byanimal urine to come in contact with unhealed breaks in theskin, eyes or with the mucous membranes. Except for tropi-cal areas, leptospirosis cases have a relatively distinctseasonality with most of them occurring Augustthrough September (in the Northern Hemisphere).

PNA is PEPTIDE NUCLEIC ACID, a chemical similar to DNAor RNA but differing in the composition of its “backbone.”PNA is not known to occur naturally in existing life onEarth but is artificially synthesized and used in some biologi-cal research and medical treatments.

CHIKUNGUNYA is a relatively rare form of viral fever causedby an alphavirus that is spread by mosquito bites from theAedes aegypti mosquito, though recent research by thePasteur Institute in Paris claims the virus has suffered amutation that enables it to be transmitted by AedesAlbopictus (Tiger mosquito). This was the cause of theactual plague in the Indian Ocean and a threat to themediterranean coast at present, requiring urgent meetingsof health officials of France, Italy and Spain, but nothingseems to be moving that way. Chikungunya is not consid-ered to be fatal. However, in 2005-2006, 200 deaths havebeen associated with chikungunya on Réunion island anda widespread outbreak in Southern India (especially inKarnataka and Andhra Pradesh);

SAP AG is the largest European software enterprise, withheadquarters in Walldorf, Germany. SAP was founded in1972 as Systemanalyse und Programmentwicklungby five former IBM engineers in Mannheim, Germany. Theacronym was later changed to stand for Systeme,Anwendungen und Produkte in derDatenverarbeitung (“Systems, Applications And Productsin Data Processing”) and since the 2005 annual generalmeeting the company’s official name is just SAP AG. SAP isthe third-largest software company in the world. It ranksafter Microsoft and Oracle in terms of market capitalization.SAP is the largest business application and Enterprise Re-source Planning (ERP) solution software provider in termsof revenue.

BLUETOOTH is an industrial specification for wirelesspersonal area networks (PANs), also known as IEEE802.15.1. Bluetooth provides a way to connect and ex-change information between devices like personal digitalassistants (PDAs), mobile phones, laptops, PCs, printers,digital cameras and video game consoles. The nameBluetooth is derived from the cognomen of a 10th centuryking of Denmark, Harald Bluetooth. According to theinventors of the Bluetooth technology, Harald engaged indiplomacy which led warring parties to negotiate with eachother, making Bluetooth a fitting name for their technology,which allows different devices to talk to each other.

In computing, PHISHING is a criminal activity using socialengineering techniques. Phishers attempt to fraudulentlyacquire sensitive information, such as passwords and creditcard details, by masquerading as a trustworthy person orbusiness in an electronic communication. Phishing is typi-cally carried out using email or an instant message, althoughphone contact has been used as well. Attempts to deal withthe growing number of reported phishing incidents includelegislation, user training, and technical measures.

ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING systems (ERPs) inte-grate (or attempt to integrate) all data and processes of anorganization into a single unified system. A typical ERP sys-tem will use multiple components of computer software andhardware to achieve the integration. A key ingredient ofmost ERP systems is the use of a single, unified database tostore data for the various system modules.

IIT: Indian Institutes of Technology are a group of sevenautonomous engineering and technology-oriented institutes(Kharagpur, Mumbai, Chennai, New Delhi, Kanpur,Guwahati and Roorkee) of higher education establishedby the Government of India. IIT Kharagpur was the first IIT tobe established, in 1951.

NIT: NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF TECHNOLOGY are pre-

mier colleges of engineering and technology education in

India. They were originally called as Regional Engineer-ing Colleges (RECs). In 2002, the Union Ministry of Hu-

man Resource Development, Government of India, decided

to upgrade, in phases, all 17 Regional Engineering Col-RADIAN ACADEMY ANNA NAGAR & NSK NAGAR-ARUMBAKKAM [email protected] Ph: 98404-00825, 98404-33955, 98404-32842

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leges (RECs) as National Institutes of Technology (NITs),

on the lines of the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technol-

ogy (IITs). These institutes are rated just next to the IITs in

terms of student quality, research and placements. There

are currently 20 of them, the latest being NIT, Agartala.

List of National Institutes of Technology1) Dr B R Ambedkar NIT, Jalandhar2) S V NIT, Surat3) Malaviya NIT, Jaipur4) Maulana Azad NIT, Bhopal5) Motilal Nehru NIT, Allahabad6) NIT, Agartala7) NIT, Calicut8) NIT, Durgapur9) NIT, Hamirpur10) NIT, Jamshedpur11) NIT, Kurukshetra12) NIT, Patna13) NIT, Raipur14) NIT, Rourkela15) NIT Silchar16) NIT, Srinagar17) NIT, Trichy18) NIT, Warangal19) NIT Karnataka, Surathkal20) Visvesvaraya NIT, Nagpur

IIM: Indian Institutes of Management, are the premiermanagement / business schools of India, located in the cit-ies of Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Indore, Kolkata,Kozhikode, and Lucknow. The IIMs are the top businessschools in India. These six IIMs along with the IndianInstitutes of Technology (Engineering and Technol-ogy), the Indian Institute of Science (Science) Banga-lore, the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata (Founded byProfessor P.C. Mahalanobis in Kolkata on 17 Decem-ber 1931, the institute gained the status of an Insti-tution of National Importance by an act of the IndianParliament in 1959), the National Law School of India(NLS) University (Law), Bangalore (1987) and the All In-dia Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS- 1956) formthe elite club of the best centers for higher education in Indiaand are comparable to the best in the world.

IISC: The industrialist Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata (1839-1904) constituted a Provisional Committee to prepare a planfor setting up of an Institute of higher education. On 31December 1898, a draft prepared by this committee waspresented to Lord Curzon, the Viceroy-designate. Thesecretary of State for India requested the Royal Society ofEngland for an expert opinion. The Royal Society in turn,sought the opinion of Prof. Wiliam Ramsay, Nobel Laure-ate and the discoverer of Noble Gases. Prof. Ramsaytoured the country and recommended Bangalore as theideal location for the proposed institute. On the initiativeespecially of the Diwan of Mysore, Sir K. Seshadri Iyer,His Highness Shri Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV, the Maharaja

of Mysore donated 372 acres (1.5 km²) of land in BANGA-LORE. The institute’s first director was Morris TraversFRS, Ramsay’s co-worker in the discovery of the noblegases.

GENERAL PACKET RADIO SERVICE (GPRS) is a mobiledata service available to users of GSM mobile phones. It isoften described as “2.5G”, that is, a technology betweenthe second (2G) and third (3G) generations of mobile tele-phony. It provides moderate speed data transfer, by usingunused TDMA channels in the GSM network. Originally therewas some thought to extend GPRS to cover other stan-dards, but instead those networks are being converted touse the GSM standard, so that is the only kind of networkwhere GPRS is in use.

FREDERICK WILLIAMS STEVENS, the architect who builtVictoria Terminus and many other public buildings in Mumbai.

WORLDSPACE is a digital satellite radio network basedin Washington DC. Founded in 1990. It covers most ofAsia and Europe plus all of Africa by satellite.

A NEBULA is an interstellar cloud of dust, gas and plasma.Originally nebula was a general name for any extendedastronomical object, including galaxies beyond the MilkyWay.

PLASMA is typically an ionized gas, and is usually con-sidered to be a distinct phase of matter in contrast to solids,liquids, and gases because of its unique properties. “Ion-ized” means that at least one electron has been dissoci-ated from a proportion of the atoms or molecules. The freeelectric charges make the plasma electrically conductive sothat it responds strongly to electromagnetic fields. This fourthstate of matter was first identified in a discharge tube (orCrookes tube), and so described by Sir William Crookesin 1879. FOURTH DIMENSION is one that is often describedin considering its physical implications; that is, we knowthat in three dimensions, we have dimensions of length (ordepth), width, and height. The fourth dimension is orthogo-nal to the other three spatial dimensions. The cardinal direc-tions in the three known dimensions are called up/down(altitude), north/south (longitude), and east/west(latitude). When speaking of the fourth dimension, an addi-tional pair of terms is needed.

PULSARS are rotating neutron stars that are observable assources of electromagnetic radiation in radio wavebands.The radiation intensity varies with a regular period, believedto correspond to the rotation period of the star. Pulsars alsocreate what is called the lighthouse effect, this is when thelight from a pulsar is only seen at a specific position and notall of the time.

A QUASAR (contraction of QUASi-stellAR radio source)is an astronomical source of electromagnetic energy, in-cluding light, that dwarfs the energy output of the brightest


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stars. A quasar may readily release energy in levels equalto the output of hundreds of average galaxies combined. Inoptical telescopes, a quasar looks like a very faint star (i.e.it is a point source), and has a very high red shift. Thegeneral consensus is that this high red shift is cosmologi-cal, the result of Hubble’s law, which implies that quasarsmust be very distant and hence very luminous.

Wi-Fi, also, WiFi, Wi-fi or wifi, is a brand originally licensedby the Wi-Fi Alliance to describe the underlying technologyof wireless local area networks (WLAN) based on the IEEE802.11 specifications. Wi-Fi was intended to be used formobile computing devices, such as laptops, in LANs, but isnow often used for increasingly more applications, includ-ing Internet and VoIP phone access, gaming, and basic con-nectivity of consumer electronics such as televisions andDVD players.

SIMPUTER is a small handheld computer, intended to bringcomputing power to the masses of India and other develop-ing countries. The word “Simputer” is an acronym for “simple,inexpensive and multilingual people’s computer”, and is atrademark of the Simputer Trust. It includes text-to-speechsoftware and runs the GNU/Linux operating system. Simi-lar in appearance to the Palm Pilot class of handheld com-puters, the touch sensitive screen is operated on with astylus; simple handwriting recognition software is providedby the program Tapatap.

PERSONAL DIGITAL ASSISTANTS (PDA’s) are handhelddevices that were originally designed as personal organiz-ers, but became much more versatile over the years. Themany uses and tasks of a basic PDA include many features:calculating, use as a clock and calendar, playing computergames, accessing the Internet, sending and receiving E-mails, use as a radio or stereo, video recording, recordingnotes, use as an address book, and use as a spreadsheet.

The EUROPEAN ORGANIZATION FOR NUCLEAR RE-SEARCH, commonly known as CERN, is the world’s larg-est particle physics laboratory, situated just west ofGeneva on the border between France and Switzerland. Itis also known for being the birthplace of the World WideWeb. The convention establishing it was signed on 29 Sep-tember 1954. From the original 12 signatories of the CERNconvention, membership has grown to the present 20 mem-ber states.

INTERNET ASSIGNED NUMBERS AUTHORITY (IANA) isthe entity that oversees global IP address allocation,DNS root zone management, and other Internet protocolassignments. It is operated by ICANN.

ICANN (pronounced “I can”) is the Internet Corporationfor Assigned Names and Numbers. Headquartered inMarina Del Rey, California, ICANN is a California non-profitcorporation that was created on September 18, 1998 inorder to oversee a number of Internet-related tasks previ-

ously performed directly on behalf of the U.S. Governmentby other organizations, notably IANA.

FILE ALLOCATION TABLE (FAT) is a partially patented, filesystem developed by Microsoft for MS-DOS and is the pri-mary file system for consumer versions of Microsoft Win-dows up to and including Windows Me.

UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS (USB) FLASH DRIVES are NAND-type flash memory data storage devices integratedwith a USB interface. They are typically small, lightweight,removable and rewritable. Memory capacity typically rangesfrom 8 megabytes up to 64 gigabytes, limited only by currentflash memory densities. The radio spectrum-based USBimplementation is known as Wireless USB

iPod is a brand of portable media players designed andmarketed by Apple Computer. Apple chose to focus its de-velopment on the iPod’s simple user interface, rather thanon technical capability. Devices in the iPod family are de-signed around a central scroll wheel except for the iPodshuffle, until recently, and the full-sized model stores mediaon an internal hard drive, while the smaller iPod nano andiPod shuffle use flash memory. Like many digital audio play-ers, iPods can also serve as external data storage devices.

LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY (LCD) is a thin, flat displaydevice made up of any number of color or monochromepixels arrayed in front of a light source or reflector. It isprized by engineers because it uses very small amounts ofelectric power, and is therefore suitable for use in battery-powered electronic devices. Each pixel consists of a layerof liquid crystal molecules suspended between two trans-parent electrodes, and two polarizing filters, the axes ofpolarity of which are perpendicular to each other. Withoutthe liquid crystals between them, light passing through onewould be blocked by the other.

JAGDISH BHAGWATI, renowned professor member of UNSecretary General Kofi Annan’s High-level Advisory Groupand the External Advisor to the Director General World TradeOrganisation (WTO) , is regarded as one of the foremostinternational trade economists of his generation. Bhagwatiis currently Director of the Program on International Migra-tion: Economics, Ethics and La at the Columbia UniversityLaw School. He presents himself as the human face ofglobal laissez-faire economics.

MIRA NAIR (FILM MAKER) Ms Mira Nair was born in 1958n Bhubaneswar, Orissa. Mira began her career as adocumentarist and later turned to commercial films. Shewon her first film award the ‘golden Camera’ from the CannesFilm Festival for her renowned film ‘Salaam Bombay’ andthis film was nominated for Oscar for Best Foreign Film in1988.

SALMAN RUSHDIE Salman Rushdie is a famous writer. Hewas born in a Kashmiri Muslim Family of Bombay and later


17

migrated to Great Britain. Some of his well known booksare ‘Rome’, ‘Midnight’s Children’. ‘Haroun and thesea of Stories’, ‘Moor’s Last Sigh’ and ‘SatanicVerses’. He created a worldwide furore and commotionwith the publication of his book ‘Satanic Verses’.

VIKRAM SETH Vikram Seth was born in Calcutta in 1952.He earned degrees in Philosophy, Politics and Economicsfrom Oxford University. His novel “A suitable boy” wonthe W.H. Smith prize in 1993. Vikram Seth received one ofBritain top honours for his services to literature. The awardof the commander of the order-3 of the British Empire wasannounced earlier in the year by Queen Elizabeth II ad givento Seth on 14 February 2001.

VINOD KHOSLA (VENTURE CAPITALIST) Vinod Khosla, anative Indian and the world’s No.2 ranked Venture Capitalistis considered as one of the most influential personalities inSilicon valley. He is a partner in the venture capital firmKleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

SABEER BHATIA (COMPUTER WIZARD) Sabeer Bhatia,the pioneer in the field of first web based e-mail-The Hotmail,was born in Chandigarh in the year 1969. After graduation,Sabeer briefly worked for Apple Computers as a hardwareengineer and Firepower Systems Inc. He along with hiscolleague Jack Smith, set up Hotmail.

ISMAIL MERCHANT: In his career spanning three and ahalf decades, he has made some 40 feature films. Thefamous Merchant-Ivory duo has made a mark of theirown in the film world. Adaptation of E M Forster’s ‘A roomwith a view’. Kazuo Ishiguro’s “Remains of the Day’, ‘RoseLand’ and ‘Heat & Dust’ are some of the best Merchant-Ivorymovies.

Dr SAM PITRODA He ushered the telecom revolution inIndia. His vision and technology helped connect India andprovide telephone access to a billion people. Ironically,Satyanarayan Gangaram Pitroda, better known as SamPitroda, first used a telephone only after moving to the USAto study electrical engineering.

SHRI VIJAY SINGH He was born in Fiji. He began playingprofessional golf in 1982 and won several international vic-tories. In 1993 he won his first PGA tour event and has notlooked back. He has so far won three Major PGA tourna-ments – the Masters in 2000 and the PGA Championship in1998 ad 2004.

DISGUISED UNEMPLOYMENT: The situation where morethan required number of people are engaged in a work dueto lack of opportunities. Ex: Indian agricultural labourers.

DISINVESTMENT: A deliberate activity by which the gov-ernment divests some of its shares from a company to bringabout better management.

FOUR ACTIVITIES UNDER PRIMARY SECTOR: Agricul-ture, Forestry, Mining & Quarrying and Fisheries.

FOUR COMPONENTS OF MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENTGOALS: To reduce and eradicate poverty and hunger,universalisation of primary education, reducing gender dis-parity and reducing child and maternal mortality.

PRIME LENDING RATE: The rate at which the banks lend totheir prime customers or high ranging companies/blue chipcompanies.

LEAD BANK SCHEME: Set up in 1969 under which a publicsector bank is allotted certain districts and given the re-sponsibility of developing potential of that district by identi-fying their credit problems.

HOT MONEY: The capital which flows rapidly from onecountry to another to reap the benefit of differences in theinterest rates is hot money.

DUMPING: The phenomenon whereby the goods of a coun-try are sold in a country at a price lower than the cost ofproduction to phase out the domestic industries from com-petition.

FOUR TRIBES OF DANDAMAN: Jarwa, Onges, Nicobariand Sentinelese.

6 MAIN GREEN HOUSE GASES: the three Primary gases-carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane and thethree secondary (synthetic) gases-hydrofluorocarbons(HFCs), Perfluorocarbons (PFCs) or perfluoro com-pounds and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6).The contributions of the USA, Japan, Germany and UK tothe global emission in 1994 were 20 %, 5 %, 4 % and 2 %respectively.

RAMSAR CONVENTION: Convention on Wetlands signedin Iran in 1971. It is an inter-governmental treaty that pro-vides the framework for National action and Internationalcooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlandsand their resources. Around 145 contracting parties to theConvention with 1590 wetland sites, totalling 125.1 mha,designated for inclusion in the Ramsar list. There are 25Ramsar sites in India.

WETLANDS IN RAMSAR LIST:1. Chilika Lake, Orissa.2. Keoladeo Ntional Park, Rajasthan3. Wular Lake, Jammu and Kashmir4. Harike Lakhe, Punjab5. Loktak Lake, Manipur6. Sambhar Lake, Rajasthan7. Kanjli, Punjab8. Ropar, Punjab9. Ashtamudi Wetland, Kerala10. Bhitarkanika Mangroves, Orissa.11. Bhoj Wetland, Madhya Pradesh


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12. Deepor Beel, Assam13. East Calcutta Wetlands, West Bengal14. Kolleru Lake, Andhra Pradesh15. Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary,

Tamil Nadu.16. Pong Dam Lake, Himachal Pradesh.17. Sasthamkotta Lake, Kerala18. Tsomoriri, Jammu and Kashmir19. Vembanad-Kol Wetland, Kerala20. Chandertal Wetlands21. Hokera Wetlands22. Renuka Wetlands23. Rudrasagar Wetlands24. Surinsar-Mansar Lake25. Upper Ganga River(Brijghat to Narora strech).

WORLD WIDE FUND (WWF): A rent survey conducted bythe for Nature-India, in association with the Centre forBiodiversity Management (CBM), Australia, has placedthe North Bank Landscape (NBL) among the world’s rich-est biodiversity hotspots. NBL is an area in the Himalayanfoothills, north of the Brahmaputra River and includesparts of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

THE HIGHEST-EVER RAINFALL in a single day in India wasrecorded on July 26, 2005, in Mumbai. It measured 94.4 cm(37.1 inches) in one day in some areas of Mumbai. India’sprevious heaviest rainfall, recorded at Cherrapunji in theMeghalaya, one of the rainiest places on Earth, on July 12,1910, was 83.82 cm (33 inches), recorded on July 12,

1910.

Swawlamban Programme known as Women’s EconomicProgramme.

TIFAC carried out a long-term Technology Vision (Fore-casting) exercise known as “Technology Vision for India upto 2020”, covering 17 sectors important to Indian economy.

INDIA is the first country in the world to officially sponsoredfamily planning programmes (1962). The first two familyplanning clinics were opened in Karnataka in 1930 whichwere supposed to be the first in the world.

The UGC has established NAAC evaluating the performanceof the universities and courses conducted by the universi-ties, in order to improve the quality and standard of theinstitution. The office of NAAC was established in Banga-lore and the accreditation, at present, is done on a voluntarybasis. National Assessment and Accreditation Coun-cil (NAAC) was established by the UGC in September 1994at Bangalore.

DAKSHIN GANGOTRI: The importance of Antarctica as apedestal for front-ranking scientific research was recog-nized by India in 1981, when the first Indian Antarctic Expe-dition was launched.

In the year 1988 an ice free, rocky area on the Schirmacheroasis was selected to build the Second Research Station“Maitri”.

TÜVs (short for Technischer Überwachungs-Verein, Tech-

nical Monitoring Association in English) are German orga-nizations that aim to protect humans and the environmentagainst hazards coming from factories and mechanisms ofall kinds.

Boolen algebra was developed to deal with binary num-bers. Under the binary system all ordinary arithmetical op-erations are reduced to their simplest form. The binarysystem of numeration was used early in the seventeenthcentury by Thomas Harriot.

Megahertz (MHZ) Memory chips ahs the ability tosynchronise themselves with computer’s system clock,making it easier to measure speed in megahertz, or millionsof cycles per second. Therefore, it makes it easier to com-pare the speeds of different components and synchronisetheir functions. In order to understand speed better, it’simportant to understand the system clock.

System Clock A computer’s system clock resides on themotherboard. It sends out a signal to all other computercomponents in rhythm. Each wave in this signal measuresone clock cycle. If a system clock runs at 100MHz, thatmeans there are 100 million clock cycles in one second.Every action in the computer is timed by these clock cycles,and every action takes a certain number of clock cycles toperform. It’s possible for the CPU and other devices to runfaster or slower than the system clock. Components ofdifferent speeds simply require a multiplication or divisionfactor to synchronise them. The variations could be be-cause most of the time, the system bus and other compo-nents run at different speeds.

Cache Memory Cache memory is a relatively small amount(normally less than 1 MB) of high speed memory that re-sides very close to the CPU. Cache memory is designed tosupply the CPU with the most frequently requested dataand instructions. Because retrieving data from cache takesa fraction of the time that it takes to access it from mainmemory, having cache memory can save a lot of time. Ifthe information is not in cache, it still has to be retrieved frommain memory but checking cache memory takes so littletime, it’s worth it.

Linux is a scaled-down UNIX operating system originallydeveloped by Linus Torvalds, then a university student inFinland, now used in everything from PDAs, watches, PCs,consumer electronics, servers and supercomputers.

Internet was conceived in the form of computer network-ing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1962.


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After a incubation period of seven years the firstborn of thespecies appeared on the scene in September 1969 as Ad-vanced Research Project Agency Network (ARPANET) ofDepartment of Defense of Government of USA.

Hi-Fi means ‘wireless fidelity’. It is the popular term for ahigh-frequency wireless local area network (WLAN) that isgenerically referred to as 802.11 network, more specificallythe 802.11b nomencla-ture given by the Institute of Electri-cal and Electronics Engineers (IEE).

A blog is a web page made up of usually short, frequentlyupdated posts that are arranged chronologically – like awhat’s new page or a journal. The content and purposes ofblogs varies greatly – from links and commentary aboutother web sites, to news about a company/person/idea, todiaries, photos, poetry, mini-essays, project updates, evenfiction.

A Blu-ray Disc (BD) and HD DVD are net-generation opti-cal disc formats meant for high-density storage of high-definition video and data. The Blue-ray Disc Association’sBlu-ray technology is spearheaded by Sony. As of 2006,Blu-ray has information capacity per layer of 25GB . HDDVD is the primary rival to Blu-ray, championed by Toshiba,NEC Corporation , Microsoft, and Inter, HD-DVD has a disccapacity of 30 GB.All movies currently released have been done on single-layer discs. The goal is to reach the standard of 50 GB+dual-layer discs capable of storing four hours of high-defi-nition MPEG-2 video content-similar to the four hour of high-definition video content. Initially it may be more expensive toproduce.

DEFICIENCY DISEASES: due to deficiency in the diet ofnutrients. They can generally be cured by providing themissing nutrients.a) Protein deficiency causes two major diseases

Kwashiorkar and Marasmus.b) Mineral deficiency causes specific diseases. (i)

Anaemia: Iron deficiency causes haemoglobin defi-ciency in blood. (ii) Goitre: Iodine deficiency causingno synthesis of tyroxine hormone of thyroid gland).(iii) Hypokalemia: potassium deficiency. (iv) Hyponatre-mia: sodium deficiency causes this state of low bloodpressure and loss o body weight.

c) Vitamin deficiency causes a variety of diseases.(i) Night Blindness: (Vitamin a), (ii) Xerophthalmia:(dryness of eye due to lack of Vitamin A.(iii) Dermatosis: (Vitamin A). (iv) Beri-beri : (Vitamin B-Thiamine. ) (v) Ariboflavinosis : (Vitamin B

2- riboflavin).

(vi) Pellagra : (nicotinic acid/niacin-part of B complexgroup_. (vii) Pernicious Anaemia: (Vitamin B

12 –

Cabalamin). (viii) Scuvy: (Vitamin C – ascorbic acid).(ix) Rickets: (a disease causing disorder of calciumand phosphorus metabolism due to Vitamin D defi-ciency, often found in the early childhood: 6 monthsand 2 years. (x) Ostemalacia; (Vitamin (D).

INFECTIOUS DISEASES are caused by various agents suchas virus, bacteria, fungi and protozoa .

(a) BACTERIA: Cholera, Diphtheria, Tuberculosis, Leprosy,Tetanus, Typhoid, Plague, Whooping Cough, Sore Throat,Pneumonia, Bacillar dysentery, Gonorrhea, Syphills andBotulism.

(b) VIRUSES: Chickenpox, Measles, Poliomyletis, Rabies,Mumps, Infuenze, Hepatitis, Herpes, Viral Encephalitis andAIDS.

(c) FUNGI: Ringworm, Athlete’s foot , Dhobie itch.

(d) PROTOZOANS: Amoebiasis, Malaria, Sleeping sickenss,Kalaazar, Diarrhoea

(e) HELMINTHES OR WORMS: Filaria, Tapeworm ad Hook-worm transmission.

DEGENERATIVE DISEASES occur due to mal-functioning ofsome organ or organ system in the body. They are: HeartAttack, Diabetes mellitus , Arthritis.

DISEASE OF EYE:Name of disease and symptoms Astigmatism: Visual activ-ity is decreased, eye strain causes headache, cylindricallens should be used.Cataract: Normal vision is hampered, blindness may becaused. Lens is removed and artificial lens is used.Glaucoma: Aqueous humour pressure increases. It maycause blindness.Hypermetropia (far sightedness): Distant objects canbe seen clearly, near objects can’t be seen clearly. Imageformed behind retina. Biconvex lens should be used.Strabismus (Squint): Eye ball turns to any of the sides.Trachoma: Redness in the eye, sensation for foreign bodyin eye.

NATIONAL INSTITUTES

Bose Institute – KolkataIndian Association for the Cultivation of Sciences - KolkataIndian Institute of Tropical Meteorology – PuneIndian Institute of Astrophysics – BangaloreJawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research- BangaloreBirbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany – LucknowIndian Institute of Geomagnetism – MumbaiWadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun.International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metal-lurgy and New Materials – Hyderabad.Technology Information Forecasting and Assessment Council– New DelhiNational Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Labo-ratories – New Delhi.


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Centre for Liquid Crystal Research – BangaloreAryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences(ARIES) – Nainital.The National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research(NCAOR), Vasco, Goa.National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) at Chennai,National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR)at Goa, Indian National Centre for Ocean and InformationServices (INCOIS) at Hyderabad, Project Directorate, Inte-grated Coastal and Marine Area Management (PD-ICMAM)at Chennai and Centre for Marine Living Resources andEcology (CMLRE) at Kochi.

THE STATE-WISE DETAILS OFTRIBAL AREAS:

Part-I Assam 1.The North Cachar Hills District

2.The Karbi-Anglong District

3.The Bodo Land

Territorial Area Districts

Part-II Meghalaya 1.Khasi Hills District

2.Jaintia Hills District

3.The Garo Hills District

Part-IIA Tripura Tripura Tribal Areas District

Part III Mizoram 1.The Chakma District

2.The Mara District

3. The Lai District

PRESIDENTS OF INDIA

NAME TENURE

Dr. Rajendra Prasad (1884-63) 26 Jan 1950-13 May

1962

Dr. Sarvepalli Rhadakrishnan 13 May 1962-13 May

(1888-1975) 1967

Dr. Zakir Husain (1897-1969) 13 May 1967-3 May

1969

Varahagiri Venkatagiri 3 May1969-20 July 1969

(1884-1980) (Acting)

Justice Mohammad Hidayatullah 20 July 1969-24 August

(1905-1992) 1969 (Acting)

Varahagiri Venkatagiri 24 Aug 1969-24

(1884-1980) Aug1974

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed 24 Aug 1974-11 Feb

(1905-1977) 1977

B.D. Jatti (1913-2002) 11 Feb 1977-25 July

1977 (Acting)

Neelam Sanjiva Reddy 25 July 1977-25 July

(1913-1996) 1982

Giani Zail Singh (1961-1994) 25 July 1982-25 July

1987

R. Venkataraman (b-1910) 25 July 1987-25 July

1992

Dr. Shanker Dayal Sharma 25 July 1992-25 July

(1918-1999) 1997

K.R. Narayanan (1920-1925) 25 July 1997-25 July

2002

Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (b-1931) 25 July 2002-till date

THE UNIVERSE

Total Planet in our solar system (Milky Way): 8

Dwarf Planets: Pluto, Ceres, Xena (2003UB313) now Eris

Hottest Planet: Venus

Nearest Galaxy: Andromeda

No Moon: Mercury & Venus

Densest Planet : Earth

Other than sun nearest star: Proxima or Alpha Centauri.

Brightest: Sirius.

Twinkleness of Star: Vast Distance & Refraction.

Sun light takes: 8.3 min (8 min and 18 sec)

Moon light takes: 1.3 Sec

Proxima Centauri: 4.22 Light years

THE SUN: The glowing surface of the Sun - Photosphere’.

Above the Photosphere is the ‘Chromosphere’, so called

because of its reddish colour. Beyond this layer is the

magnificent ‘corona’ of the Sun which is visible during

eclipses.

SUN SPOTS: Sunspots are dark patches (relatively

cooler areas – around 1500°C) noticed on the surface of

the Sun. Surface temperature of about 6000° C.

POLAR AURORAS: Two Auroras, the Aurora Borealis

or Northern Lights and the Aurora Australis or South-

ern Lights. They occur in the Arctic and the Antarctica

regions respectively.


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ASTEROIDS: Asteroids are minor planets whose orbits

between Jupiter and Mars. Ceres (Dwarf planet),

the first to be discovered is the largest asteroid having a

diameter of 670 km.

METEORS: Meteors are small bodies coming from interplan-

etary space. They become luminous by friction on entering

the Earth’s atmosphere and are popularly called “Shooting

Stars’. Meteorites are the larger meteors that reach the

Earth. All meteorites were meteors when in flight.

COMET: Comet is a luminous celestial body which moves

about the Solar System in elliptical or hyperbolic orbits.

Comets are usually accompanied by a long shining tail.

Hyperbolic comets are seen only once and they do not

reappear. Elliptical Comets are periodic and their recur-

rence can be calculated, as in the case of Halley’s Comet

(76 years; Last appeared-1986).

BLACK HOLES: Super high Density and Super High

Gravity

Equotorial Gravity 9.78 m/s2

Equatorial circumference 40,067 km

Polar circumference 12,754 km

Mean radius 6,367 km

Radius at the Equator 6,378 km

Radius at the Poles 6356 km

Mean dist from the Sun 149,407,000 km (AU)

Time of rotation on its 23:56:4.09

own axis

Period of revolution 365 days, 5 hrs

around the Sun 48m, 45.51 sec

Inclination of the axis

To the plane of the elliptic 23° 27’

Average Orbital Speed 30 km/s

Escape velocity 11.2 km/sec

The Earth is FARTHEST from the sun on July 4th, or APH-ELION. (152.1 million kms)

The Earth is CLOSEST to the sun on Jan 3rd, or PERIHE-LION. (147.5 million kms)

The Greek, ERATOSTHENES (276 - 194 BC), first deter-mined the Earth’s RADIUS (4182 miles, 6731 km).

The Union of India is made up of 28 States (including thethree new states formed in November, 2000 namelyChhattisgarh (Raipur) Uttaranchal (Dehradun) and

Jharkhand (Ranchi)) and 6 Union Territories and aNational Capital Territory (Delhi).

NATIONAL FLAG:Date of adoption by the Constituent Assembly: 22 July,1947.Presented to the Nation on: 14 August, 1947.

Sarnath Museum – ‘Satyameva Jayate’ – MundakaUpanishad – Devanagari script

NATIONAL ANTHEM:

Composer : Rabindranath TagoreFirst Sung : 27 December,1911 at CalcuttaFirst Published : January, 1912.

Date of Adoption by the Constituent Assembly:24 Jan, 1950:

The song ‘Jana-gana-mana’ by Rabindranath Tagorewhich was published under the title ‘Bharat Vidhata’ inthe ‘Tatva Bodhini Patrika’ . It was translated byTagore himself in 1919 under the title ‘Morning Song ofIndia’.

NATIONAL SONG (VANDEMATARAM):

COMPOSER : Bankim Chandra ChatterjeeFIRST SUNG: 1896 session of the CongressADOPTION BY THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY:24 Jan, 1950 (along with National Anthem);English Translation Sri Aurobindo

The National Song has been taken from Bankim ChandraChatterjee’s novel ‘Ananda Math’ published in 1882.METRIC SYSTEM introduced in India: 1956India adopted decimal monetary system in 1957

NATIONAL CALENDAR (SAKA):From 22 March, 1957 (Saka, 1879) a unified NationalCalendar, to be used for official purposes, was introducedbased on the Saka Era which began with vernal equinox of78 AD. Chaitra is the first and Phalguna the last month ofthe Saka year.

NATIONAL BIRD : PEACOCKNATIONAL FLOWER: LOTUSNATIONAL ANIMAL : TIGER


22

NAME COUNTRY/ KMCONTINENT

Nile Africa 6,650

Amazon S. America 6,437

Mississippi-Missouri USA 6,020

Yangtze Kiang China 5,494

Ob Russia 5,410

Zaire Africa 4,700

Lena Russia 4,400

Hwang Ho China 4,344

Mackenzie Canada 4,241

Mekong Asia 4,180

Niger Africa 4,180

GREAT DESERTS

NAME COUNTRY AREA KM2

Sahara N. Africa 8,400,000

Libya N. Africa 1,550,000

Nubian N. Africa 260,000

Australian Australia 1,550,000

Great Victoria Australia 325,000

Great Sandy Australia 420,400

Simpson(Arunta) Australia 310,000

Arabian Arabia 1,300,000

Gobi Mongolia,China 1,040,000

Kalahari Botwana,Namibia 520,000

WORLD’S LARGEST ISLANDS:

NAME AREA KM2 OCEAN

Australia 7,618,493 Indian

Greenland 2,175,600 Arctic

New Guinea 777,000 W. Pacific

Borneo 725,545 Indian

Malagasy repub 590,000 Indian

Baffin Island 476,065 Arctic

Sumatra 473,600 Indian

PRINCIPAL SEAS

NAME AREA KM2

South China Sea 2,974,600

Caribbean Sea 2,753,000

Mediterranean Sea 2,503,000

Bering sea 2,268,180

Gulf of Mexico 1,542,985

HIGHEST WATERFALLS:

NAME COUNTRY DROP (M)

Angel Venezuela 807

Mongefossen Norway 774

Kukenaan Venezuela 610

Utigord Norway 600

Ribbon USA 491

WORLD MINERALS

Mineral Major Producing Country

1. Iron Ore USA, Russia, China, Germany, India

2. Manganese Russia, India, South Africa

3. Coal USA, China, Russia, Germany

(Ruhr basin)

4. Petroleum Saudi Arabia, Iran, USA, Russia,

Kuwait

5. Gold South Africa, Russia, Zaire, USA

6. Diamond South Africa

7. Nickel Canada, Mexico

8. Silver Canada, Mexico

9. Mica India, USA

10 Copper Zaire, Zambia, Canada

11 Bauxite Australia, Bolivia, Nigeria

12 Uranium South Africa, USA

13 Thorium India, USA, South Africa

14 Lignite Germany, Russia

15 Tin Malaysia, Bolivia

16 Platinum Canada, South Africa

17 Tungsten Russia, China

POPULATION WISE

1 China

2 India

3 USA

4 Indonesia

5 Brazil

6 Pakistan

7 Russia

8 Bangladesh

9 Japan

10 Nigeria


23

NATIONAL INSTITUTES

Central Electronic Engineering Pilani

Research Institute

Central Scientific Instruments Chandigarh

Organisation

National Geo-Physical Research Hyderabad

Institute

National Institute of Oceanography Panaji (Goa)

National Physical Laboratory New Delhi

Central Electro-Chemical Research Karaikudi

Institute

Central Fuel Research Institute Dhanbad

Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Bhavnagar

Research Institute

Indian Institute of Petroleum Dehra Dun

National Chemical Laboratory Pune

Central Drug Research Institute Lucknow

Chemical Food Technological Mysore

Research Institute

Central Leather Research Institute Chennai

Central Public Health Engineering Nagpur

Research Institute

Centre for Cellular and Molecular Hyderabaad

Biology

Central Institute of Medicinal Lucknow

and Aromatic Plants

Indian Institute of Chemical Biology Kolkata

Industrial Toxicology Research Lucknow

Centre

Institute of Plasma Research Gandhinagar

BHAT,

National Botanical Research Institute Lucknow

Indian Institute of Chemical Hyderabad

Technology

Central Building Research Institute Roorkee

Central Glass and Ceramic Jadhavpur

Research Institute (Kolkata)

Central Mechanical Engineering Durgapur

Research Institute

Central Mining Research Station Dhanbad

Central Road Research Institute New Delhi

Indian Institute of Advanced Study Shimla

National Aeronautical Laboratory Bangalore

National Dairy Research Institute Karnal

National Environmental Engineering Napur

Research Institute

National Metallurgical Laboratory Jamshedpur

Structural Engineering Research Roorkee and

Centre Chennai

Birla Industrial Technological Museum Kolkata

Indian National Scientific New Delhi

Documentation Centre

Visvesvaraya Industrial and Bangalore

Technological Museum

Ahmedabad Textile Industry’s Ahmedabad

Research Association

Automotive Research Mumbai

Association of India

Mumbai Textile Research Association Mumbai

Cement Research Institute of India Ballabhgarh

Indian Jute Industries’ Research Kolkata

Association

Indian Plywood Industries’ Research Bangalore

Institute

Silk and Art Silk Mills Research Mumbai

Institute

South India Textile Research Coimbatore

Association

Tocklai Experimental Station Jorhat

Wool Research Association Mumbai

All-India Institute of Medical Sciences New Delhi

All-India Institute of Speech and Mysore

Hearing

Cholera Research Centre Kolkata

Indian Council of Medical Research New Delhi

Institute of Research in Reproduction Mumbai

National Institute of Cholera and Kolkata

Enteric Diseases


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National Institute of Occupational Ahmedabad

Health, Ahmedabad

National Institute of Nutrition Hyderabad

National Institute of Virology Pune

Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Chandigarh

Education and Research

Tuberculosis Research Centre Chennai

All-India Institute of Hygiene and Kolkata

Public Health

Cancer Institute Chennai

Central Drugs Laboratory Kolkata

Central Leprosy Teaching and Chinglepet

Research Institute

Indian Cancer Research Centre Mumbai

National Institute of Communicable Delhi

Diseases

National Tuberculosis Institute Bangalore

School of Tropical Medicine Kolkata

Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute Delhi

Central Research Institute Kasauli

King Institute of Preventive Medicine Guindy (Chennai)

Pasteur Institute Coonoor

Anthropological Survey of India Kolkata

Central Water Power Research Khadakvasala

Station (Pune)

Central Power Research Institute Bangalore and

Bhopal

Forest Research Institute Dehra Dun

Geological Survey of India Kolkata

Indian Institute of Tropical Pune

Meteorology

Indian Institute of Astrophysics Kodaikanal

Indian Institute of Geomagnetism Mumbai

Indian Roads Congress New Delhi

Telecommunication Research Centre New Delhi

Research, Designs and Standards Lucknow

Organisation (Railways)

Atomic Energy Commission Mumbai

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre Trombay

(Mumbai)

Electronic Corporation of India Hyderabad

High Attitude Research Laboratory Gulmarg

(Kashmir)

Indian Rare Earths Ltd Alwaye

Radio Astronomy Centre Oottacamund

Saha Institute of Fundamental Mumbai

Research

Tata Memorial Centre Mumbai

Uranium Corporation of India Jaduguda (Bihar)

Indian Scientific Satellite Project Bangalore

Indian Space Research Organisation Bangalore

Physical Research Laboratory Ahmedabad

Propelling Fuel Complex Thiruvanantha-

puram

Satellite Launch Vehical Project Thiruvanantha-

puram

Space Commission Bangalore

Sriharikota Range Andhra Pradesh

Thumba Equatorial Rocket Thumba

Launching Station

Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre Thiruvanantha-

puram

Botanical Survey of India Kolkata

Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany Lucknow

Bose Research Institute Kolkata

Indian Association for the Kolkata

Cultivation of Science

National Atlas Organisation Kolkata

Indian National Science Academy New Delhi

Indian National Science Congress Kolkata

Association

Raman Research Institute Bangalore

Survey of India Dehra Dun

Wadia Institute of Himalayan Zoology Delhi

Zoological Survey of India Kolkata

Netaji Subash National Institute of Patiala

Sports

Lakshmibai National College of Gwalior

Physical Education


Documents

Watch out for MAINS-2007 SPECIAL BOOKS ON GENERAL …radiannews.pbworks.com/f/IASPRELIMS1.pdf · ALL THE BEST With warm regards R. Rajaboop athy . Honorary Director RADIAN IAS ACADEMY