Map showing the literacy rate of each district in India. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Do we know that in terms of Women Literacy BIHAR ranks at Bottom with 53% as per Statistical Year Book 2012. Find other fact about Indian Literacy rates(85% Male & 65% for Female)…
Find further details in link below
Literacy Rate in India
Alexander and Hephaistion (Photo credit: █ Slices of Light █▀ ▀ ▀)
By about 380 BC the Persian hold on Indian regions slackened and many small local kingdoms arose. In 327 BC Alexander the Great overran the Persian Empire and located small political entities within these territories. The next year, Alexander fought a difficult battle against the Indian monarch Porus near the modern Jhelum River. East of Porus’ kingdom, near the Ganges River, was the powerful kingdom of Magadha, under the Nanda Dynasty.
Plutarch (AD 46 – 120) was a Greek historian, biographer and essayist, known primarily for his Parallel Livesand Moralia. He gives an interesting description of the situation:
As for the Macedonians, however, their struggle with Porus blunted their courage and stayed their further advance into India. For having had all they could do to repulse an enemy who mustered only twenty thousand infantry and two thousand horse, they violently opposed Alexander when he insisted on crossing the river Ganges also, the width of which, as they learned, was thirty-two furlongs, its depth a hundred fathoms, while its banks on the further side were covered with multitudes of men-at arms and horsemen and elephants.
Exhausted and frightened by the prospect of facing another giant Indian army at the Ganges River, his army mutinied at the Hyphasis (modern Beas River), refusing to march further East. Alexander left behind Greek forces which established themselves in the City of Taxila, now in Pakistan.
After the death of Alexander in 323 BC, Seleucus was nominated as the satrap of Babylon in 320 BC.Antigonus forced Seleucus to flee from Babylon, but, supported by Ptolemy, he was able to return in 312 BC. Seleucus’ later conquests include Persia and Media. He invaded what is now Punjab in northern India and Pakistan in 305 BC.
Further reading as published by Sanujit
published on 12 February 2011, 12:51
Can be downloaded here: Indo-greek connection
Troy: Definition
English: Hectōr (Ἕκτωρ), or Hektōr, is a Trojan prince and the greatest fighter for Troy in the Trojan War. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Troy is the name of the Bronze Age City featured in theTrojan War of ancient Greek oral and literary tradition and the name given to the archaeological site in the north west of Asia Minor (now Turkey) which has revealed a large and prosperous city occupied over millennia. There has been much scholarly debate as to whether mythical Troy actually existed and if so whether the archaeological site was the same city, however, it is now almost universally accepted that the archaeological excavations have revealed the city of Homer’s Iliad. Other names for Troy include Hisarlik (Turkish), Ilios (Homer), Ilion (Greek) and Ilium (Roman).
Mythological Troy
Troy is the setting for Homer’s Iliad in which he recounts the final year of the Trojan War some time in the thirteenth century BC. The war was in fact a ten-year siege of the city by a coalition of Greek forces led by King Agamemnon of Mycenae. The purpose of the expedition was to reclaim Helen, wife of Menelaos, king of Argos and brother of Agamemnon. Helen was abducted by the Trojan prince Paris and taken as his prize for choosing Aphrodite as the most beautiful goddess in a competition with Athena and Hera. The Trojan War is also told in other sources such as the Epic Cycle poems (of which only fragments survive) and is also briefly mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey. Troy and the Trojan War later became a staple myth of Classical Greek and Roman literature. Futher Readings……………….. click below and download
Troy
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) declared the results for the written test of the Combined Defence Services Examination (I)-2012 on Wednesday, June13.
The exam was held by the UPSC in February, 2012.
A total of 10,815 candidates have cleared the written part of CDS (I) – 2012 who will now have to appear for the interview conducted by the Service Selection Board of the Ministry of Defence. Read the rest of this entry »
Cropped from an icon of Saint Charalampus, Greek – Central School, early 17th century Χαραλάμπος is variously transliterated as Charalampus, Charalampos, Charalambos, Haralampus, Haralampos or Haralambos. Source http://www.templegallery.com/getfullpage.php?stockno=322 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Sociology Paper – 1 by Kshitij Tyagi (AIR 148/2011) as published by_Mrunal
Kshitij Tyagi got 293/600 in Sociology papers in 2011’s UPSC (Mains) exam. I’m merely copy pasting his study plan here:
For initiation into the subject, NCERTs and Haralambos are good enough. I also watched a few videos of IGNOU uploaded on the net for some of the topics.
I began with the old edition of Haralambos. It is a fantastic book for understanding the subject and its scope. I did not read the book from cover to cover and confined myself strictly to the syllabus. This initiated me into the realm of sociology. I then moved on to IGNOU’s BA notes which are an extremely useful compilation of sociological knowledge.
I also scanned through a few chapters of Giddens to get a hang of the subject. Before Prelims, I had made some notes for the first 3 chapters of paper 1 and had read some of the thinkers. I had by then acclimatized myself with the subject and also understood that the old edition of Haralambos was necessary but insufficient.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Anthropology Study-plan and Booklist by Dr.Vijay (IAS) for UPSC Civil Service (Mains) Exam
This article, is a compilation of gems given by Dr. K.Vijayakarthikeyan (AIR 22 / CSE 2010) on the IOforum. At present, He is an IAS officer in Tamilnadu cadre.
Disclaimer
Disclaimer
It’s completely based on my anthro strategy which helped me (Dr. Vijay) get 375 marks in Anthropology, in 1st attempt in cse 2010, it worked wonders with me, it may or may not work with you
Getting started with Anthropology
Entire syllabus of Anthropology can be seen on my other blogpost
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A revenue surplus budget of Rs 78,686.83 crore for 2012-13 for Bihar with thrust on agriculture and education, increasing taxes on Works contract, vehicle tax, VAT on tobacco products and brick-kilns was on Friday presented by Deputy Chief Minister S.K. Modi, who is also the finance minister.
Mr. Modi said for 2012-13 the revenue surplus is Rs 7088.59 crore and will be used for investment in physical infrastructure, generating productive capital assets like roads, buildings, power, schools, health centres and irrigation schemes.
The fiscal deficit for 2012-13 is Rs 7569.43 crore, which is 2.87 per cent of the GSDP. The fiscal deficit to GSDP has been limited to three per cent as per FRBM Act.
The net borrowing for 2012-13 has been limited at Rs 7916 crore by the Government of India and the GSDP estimate arrived at for the year is in accordance with 13th Finance Commission recommendations.
The public debt is estimated to be Rs 59,732.81 crore which is 22.64 per cent of GSDP, he said.
The department-wise allocation for the state plan for 2012-13 is Rs 3670.26 crore for education, Rs 3613.63 crore for road construction, Rs 2192.47 crore for water resources, Rs 2118.40 crore for social welfare, Rs 2001.75 crore for energy, Rs 8663.37 crore for planning and development, Rs 1661.78 crore for rural works, Rs 1574.84 crore for rural development, Rs 1200 crore for agriculture, Rs 1186.00 crore for panchayati raj and Rs 6917.50 crore for others.
Credits: The hindu; Timesofindia, Mauryatv, DD-Bihar.
Budget speech in hindi and english can be downloaded here:
http://finance.bih.nic.in/Budget/Budget-Speech.pdf
Public Service Commission preparation
Social media in the Arab Spring, Japanese megaquake and nuclear disaster, orgasms in the brain, HIV drugs, faster-than-light neutrinos, Higgs and more
Read more: “Smart Guide 2012: 10 ideas you’ll want to understand”
JANUARY
• Egypt cuts its people off from the internet as the “Arab Spring” begins. In Syria, Tunisia and elsewhere citizens use social media to organise street protests
FEBRUARY
• IBM‘s supercomputer Watson takes on, and beats, two former winners of the US gameshow Jeopardy! Despite a few mistakes it easily wins the $1 million prize
MARCH
• Magnitude 9.0 earthquake rocks Japan, followed by a tsunami that devastates towns and leaves 20,000 dead or missing. Explosions at Fukushima nuclear plant lead to meltdown when the cooling system fails
APRIL
• A software bot called LIDA shows the first hints of consciousness by reacting just like a human when carrying out simple tasks
• Personal details of 77 million users are stolen after Sony’s PlayStation Network is hacked – forcing the firm to take it offline
MAY
• Author Kayt Sukel stimulates herself to climax in an fMRI scanner to learn more about the female orgasm, brains and the control of pain
JUNE
• Physicists at CERN manage to bottle atoms of anti-hydrogen for 1000 seconds – about 10,000 times longer than before
• Infamous “hacktivist” group LulzSec announces it is disbanding after “50 days of lulz”, during which it attacked a number of corporate targets, including Fox News
JULY
• Space shuttle Atlantis lands at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for the last time, bringing the curtain down on the shuttle era after 135 missions
• Antiretroviral drugs shown to not only help those with HIV stay alive but also greatly reduce transmission of the virus to others
AUGUST
• World’s first 3D-printed aircraft makes its maiden flight in the UK. The parts took just two days to design and five to print
SEPTEMBER
• Shock at claims that neutrinos have travelled faster than the speed of light – apparently breaking the existing laws of physics
OCTOBER
• First analysis of network of 43,000 companies shows a minority – mainly banks – hold a disproportionate amount of power over the global economy
NOVEMBER
• Breakthrough in Alzheimer’s research as cognitive decline is reduced in two people – by jolting brain tissue with electrical impulses
• Launch of NASA’s Martian rover, Curiosity, as part of the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft. It is due to arrive at the Red Planet in August 2012
DECEMBER
• Two teams at the Large Hadron Collider announce they have found hints of a lightweight Higgs boson
• Climate change conference in Durban, South Africa, ends with agreement to accept targets on emissions in 2020
Public Service Commission preparationImage via Wikipedia
In 2011 New Scientist saw genetic engineering on fast forward, foxes zeroing in on their prey using Earth’s magnetic field, and a game of primordial Pac-Man.
We also discovered that the key to humanity may be in our missing DNA, lab yeast can make the evolutionary leap to multicellularity, and one vertebrate can eat with its mouth shut.
Meanwhile, our understanding of human evolution took a sharp left turn. In the wake of the 2010 discovery that humans and Neanderthals interbred, it emerged that our ancestors interbred with several other hominin species – and that the interbreeding may have helped us go global.
Here are our 10 favourite stories from 2011, from the earliest life on Earth to Egyptian archaeology and the latest developments in synthetic biology.
Life began with a planetary mega-organism
The last universal common ancestor may have filled the planet’s oceans before giving birth to the ancestors of all living things on Earth today Read the rest of this entry »
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In a joint excavation carried out by the Department of Archaeology of Pune’s Deccan College and Gujarat’s archaeology department, a new Harappan site has been discovered at Kotada Bhadali village area in Nakhatrana taluka of Kutch district. The site dates back to 3000 BC.
The state’s archaeology department and Deccan College have planned a detailed excavation in January to gather more information related to the site.
Y S Rawat, the state’s director of archaeology, said, “Primary excavations have showed that the site probably belongs to late Harappan period around 3000 BC, but the data available from the excavation is too little to determine the exact period. We will carry out more studies to confirm the period and other facts.” Read the rest of this entry »
Image via Wikipedia
Top 10 Discoveries of 2011: Please refer ARCHAEOLOGY Volume 65 Number 1, January/February 2012. (world)
Giant leaps: Science breakthroughs of the year
Image via Wikipedia
The Hayabusa mission After some near-disastrous technical difficulties and a stunningly successful recovery, Japan‘s Hayabusa spacecraft returned to Earth with dust from the surface of a large, S-type asteroid – the first direct sampling of a planetary body in 35 years.
Unravelling human origins Studies of the genetic code of both ancient and modern humans revealed that many humans still carry variations in their DNA that were inherited from archaic humans who lived tens of thousands of years ago, such as the mysterious Denisovans in Asia and still-unidentified ancestors in Africa. Read the rest of this entry »
Public Service Commission preparation
दिल्ली ने देश की राजधानी बने सौ वर्ष पूरे कर लिए। दिल्ली ने इन सौ वर्षो में बहुत कुछ देखा और बहुत कुछ सहा भी। दिल्ली ने जहां भारत को बनते देखा वहीं इसके दामन पर खून के छींटे भी लगते देखा। सौ वर्ष पहले जब जार्ज पंचम का राज्यभिषेक हुआ और कलकत्ता से दिल्ली को राजधानी बनाने का फैसला हुआ तो कोई नहीं जानता था कि दिल्ली उसके बाद हमेशा के लिए राजनीतिक गलियारों की अहम जगह बन जाएगी। इस बनती बिगड़ती की कहानी भी बड़ी अनूठी है। 12 दिसंबर 1911 में दिल्ली को भारत की राजधानी बनाया गया और दिल्ली को मिली अपनी नई पहचान। 1772 से 1911 तक कलकत्ता ही भारत की राजधानी थी। आज के ही दिन जार्ज पंचम का भारत के शासक के तौर पर राज्यभिषेक हुआ और दिल्ली में एक विशाल दरबार लगाया गया। यह दरबार कोई मामूली दरबार नहीं था, बल्कि इस दरबार में अंग्रेजी हुकुमरानों ने अपने को शासक के तौर पर भारत पर काबिज कर दिया था। इस राज्यभिषेक के दौरान हाजिरी लगाने पूरे देश के नवाब और राजा पहुंचे थे। इसका अर्थ यह था कि उन्होंने अंग्रेजी हुकुमत को स्वीकार कर लिया था। वर्षो पहले व्यापार करने भारत में आई ब्रिटिश इंडिया कंपनी ने भारत पर राज करने की शुरूआत सही मायने में यहीं से की थी। राजधानी बनने के बाद दिल्ली की पहचान बदल गई। अब दिल्ली एक अलग मुकाम बना चुकी थी। सियासी गलियारों में अहम हो चुकी थी दिल्ली। मुगल सल्तनत और मिर्जा गालिब की दिल्ली अब बहुत कुछ देखने वाली थी। निजामुद्दीन औलिया पर गाए जाने वाली कव्वालियों और दिल्ली के लाल किले में होने वाले शाही मुशायरों के बीच पश्चिम संस्कृति भी बसने लगी थी। चांदनी चौक के आस पास अंग्रेजी हुकुमरानों के घोड़ों की टापों से दिल्ली का रोज आमना सामना होने लगा था। दिल्ली अब आजादी के मतवालों का गढ़ बनने लगा था। दिल्ली ने आजादी की आखिरी लड़ाई को भी बेहद करीब से देखा। दिल्ली कभी अंग्रेजी सत्ता और कभी भारतीयों को इस पर काबिज होते देखा। दिल्ली पर काबिज आखिरी मुगल बादशाह खुद बड़े आला दर्जे के शायर थे और उनके मुशायरे में अकसर मिर्जा गालिब और जौक जैसे शायर शिरकत करते थे। उस वक्त के लालकिला में इस मुशायरे के बीच वाह वाही की आवाजें खूब जोर शोर से गूजां करती थीं। उस वक्त की श्वेत श्याम दिल्ली आज पूरी तरह से तबदील हो चुकी है। वक्त के साथ दिल्ली की खूबसूरती पर भी चार चांद लग गए हैं। उस वक्त की हवेलियां आज भी दिल्ली में शानौशौकत की मिसाल पेश करती हैं। चंद दरवाजों में रची बसी उस वक्त की दिल्ली आज भारत के सियासी गलियारों में कितनी अहम है इसे बताने की कोई जरूरत यहां समझ नहीं आती। दिल्ली की खूबसूरती और यहां की आबौ हवा पर ही दिल्ली के शायर ने कहा था कौन जाए जौक अब दिल्ली की गलियां छोड़ कर। वहीं मिर्जा गालिब को भी दिल्ली इतनी रास आई कि आखिर तक उन्होंने इस दिल्ली का साथ नहीं छोड़ा। दिल्ली के बल्लीमारान में आज भी मिर्जा गालिब की हवेली मौजूद है जहां के दरो दीवार से उनके कलाम की खुशबू आज भी महसूस की जा सकती है। दिल्ली में आज भी जहां तहां पुरानी हवेलियां देखने को मिल जाती हैं। हालांकि मौजूदा दौर में यह भले ही बदल चुकी हैं लेकिन इन्हें देखकर उस वक्त की खूबसूरत दिल्ली की कल्पना जरूरी की जा सकती है। उस वक्त के वायसराए हाउस को आज का राष्ट्रपति भवन कहा जाता है। जिस वक्त सर लूटियन ने इसका निर्माण करवाया था उस वक्त उनके जहन में दिल्ली की सबसे ऊंची पहाड़ी से पूरी दिल्ली पर नजर डालना हुआ करता था। लेकिन वक्त के साथ इसमें भी बदलाव आ गया और आज यह बाकि दिल्ली के बराबर आ खड़ा हुआ है। दिल्ली का कश्मीरी गेट जहां आज बड़ी आटो पार्टस की मार्किट दिखाई देती है वह वास्तव में अंग्रेजों के लिए बनाई गई खास किस्म का बाजार हुआ करती थी जहां हिंदुस्तानियों का आने पर पाबंदी थी। तब से अब तक दिल्ली की सूरत भले ही बदल गई हो लेकिन नहीं बदली इसकी शान जो आज भी ज्यों की त्यों बनी हुई है।
Courtesy: Jagran Samachar.
Darkness report, India 2010-2011
Public Service Commission preparation
Business leaders today need to achieve success in the face of fierce global competitive pressure and uncertainty. The paradox of our times is that focus on securing economic returns has become the least reliable way of achieving business success. The very drivers of value creation are changing as key links in the value chain, such as natural resources and human talent, become scarce. CIMA and Tomorrow’s Company have started a unique journey to explore the future and purpose of business, researching the development of leadership, future talent, the co-creation of value, business accounting, sustainability and integrated reporting.
Irrespective of the size and nature of an organization, the board should aim for the long-term, sustainable success of the company. They are engaged in approving, monitoring and determining the short and long-term strategy of the business, an effective business model and, most importantly, the risk management strategy of the business. The ability to make quality decisions regarding strategic development, risk assessment and risk mitigation, appropriate resource allocation, and talent management are some of the key skills that leaders of today must demonstrate. A board leading by example, and aligning the short and long-term business strategy to the vision, mission and values of the organization, will successfully influence customers, stakeholders, management and shareholders.
This unprecedented change in the demands of leadership over the last 10 – 15 years has been created by social and technological change, by globalization and a growing concern for the future of our planet. We are now at a turning point in the 21st century. The context in which companies now operate is a triple context – where future and enduring business success will rely on understanding and responding to the links between the economic, social and environmental sub-systems and the opportunities.
Thus, there is an increasing requirement for leaders who will prioritize the stakeholders of their organisations (customers, employees, suppliers, the community, the planet, and the shareholders), rather than personal reward, and personal power and prestige. Read the rest of this entry »
Public Service Commission preparation
India’s electorate emphasized political stability and governance coherence in the 15th national elections in 2009. Predictions of a fragmented electorate and party system emboldened small groups to envision obtaining power in third and fourth fronts emphasizing regional, caste, ideological, and personality considerations. Instead, the Congress Party gambled successfully on a minimum rather than a maximum1winning coalition.
The Congress initially allied with a few partners in its minimal winning coalition, so as to highlight the Congress Party rather than the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition label. This successful strategic gamble provided more coherence, clearer messages, and a revitalizing leadership. Lacking only 10 seats for a majority, the UPA coalition quickly attracted other parties for a comfortable 2 majority (see Table 1.1 for Lok Sabha results by party, Table 1.2 for coalition formations, and 1.3 for party symbols).Prime Minister Manmohan Singh signifies integrity, continuity, and competence in the 2009 campaign, which contrasts sharply with contestants burdened by criminal charge sheets. More than one-quarter of the elected Members of Parliament (MPs) fall into this category. And that does not include major criminal/political figures failing to win 3seats. Party and Alliance leader Sonia Gandhi, in addition, represents dynastic continuity. It now is a long chain stemming from Motilal Nehru to his son Jawaharlal Nehru, to Jawaharlal’s daughter Indira Gandhi, other son Rajiv Gandhi, and now to Rajiv’s wife Sonia Gandhi. Read the rest of this entry »
Public Service Commission preparation
After techniques on how to recall what you study, please read further for another very strong and most effective article on NOTE TAKING AND REVISING techniques at here at bpscjpsc.com .
This info graphic is propriety of “Course Hero” a channel partner of CIVIL SERVICES EXAM HELP. Read the rest of this entry »
Public Service Commission preparation
2011 onward, all public commission is definitely focusing on topic like green house affect, carbon footprint and expect a definite question from this area of Environmental science. I hope the concise display of energy consumption and carbon footprint of India and USA along with all major nation will help you writing answer effectively.
“Clearly, Western Nations have been the key driver of climate change so far. Between 1950 and 2000, the United States was responsible for 212 gigatons of carbon dioxide, Read the rest of this entry »
Public Service Commission preparation
As the BPSC and JPSC failed to impress with their results and openness. I feel it is the time to take a break from their murkier and malign affair and start talking what most of you are demanding. Read the rest of this entry »
Part-2
One to two days before the test, prepareand reinforcean appropriate Power List covering the key points of the material. What’s a Power List? It’s the natural culmination of the acronym, replacement/exaggeration and numeric sounds techniques you learned in the previous chapter. It can be expanded or contracted as you see fit, and can accommodate whatever materials you feel are important to review. Developing a Power List is not a substitute for studying your material, but a convenient way to memorize key points that you can later reconstructon paper, if that’s an optionduring the test.
If you have the three strategies from the previous chapter down, and if you’ve effectively highlighted your written text and taken good notes, you’re ready to supercharge your study and memorization efforts. Here’s how:
Step 1
Develop an acronym appropriate to the material you’ve been studying. In the case of the misdeeds that occurred within the Grant administration, you’d probably want one that reminds you of Grant himself and of each of the five main scandals:
1. Black Friday
2. Credit Mobilier Affair
3. Delinquent tax collection abuse
4. Whiskey Ring
5. Belknap Bribery Read the rest of this entry »
Civil Services Exam Help 