AKHAND-JYOTI

In pre-colonial times, goods manufactured in India were not only exported to every nook and corner of the world, but also loved and much appreciated for their durability, quality, and excellence of workmanship. However, with the end of the colonial rule, the manufacturing industry of India faced heightened challenge form imported goods, since by that time, Indian consumers found the imported goods cheaper compared to goods manufactured by Indian workers. Consequently, Indian manufacturers faced unemployment, and the country’s ‘Balance of Trade’ was permanently disoriented. With time, the much cheaper Chinese goods made inroads and further caused destruction of Indian manufacturers. Thus, there emerged an ill-famous practice, i.e., ‘Made in India’ stickers were pasted on the imported goods, which were sold to Indian consumers. Successive governments did less than expected to revitalize the goods manufacturing in the country. However, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has shown cou...

In India, we have a powerful transparency tool. It is called the Right To Information (RTI) Act. The Government of India has made it compulsory for all government offices and enterprises to implement the RTI act. With the passage of time, all government transactions, businesses and operations have fallen under the scanner of the public view. The general public can now raise queries and inquire about what’s going on in a particular government office at a particular time regarding a particular task. The power of this information is amazing. In a short span of time, a lot of RTI activists have established themselves as active participants working to put responsibilities back on the shoulders of the government servants for completing the referred tasks as soon as possible. The RTI act has revolutionized the government-public interaction. At the international level, India is now considered as a progressive nation-state that values transparency in the public works. The RTI act has also l...

Arvind Kejriwal has just established a political party. This is  really  a good sign and I congratulate him for this; I also regret for being late in congratulating him. With the establishment of his political party, although the name of this party remains undisclosed, he has been making political allegations against every Tom, Dick, and Harry in the ruling party in India, or is related to this party in some way or the other. This fundamental task of identifying the corrupt persons, officials, and ministers is seen as the first and primary task of his political party. This, Arvind Kejriwal and his team think, could be an election-winning issue and help in gaining power in a state or at centre. Well the abovementioned actions do tell us all that Arvind’s political party is determined to identify the corrupt people, bring them in front of investigating agencies, and see that they get punished for whatever wrong they have done. However, when we look at all this from a bigg...

Just a week ago, the central government had increased the prices of petrol in the country. The decision brought immense pressure on the state governments as to do something in order to give some relief to the citizens. The best thing that a state can do something about the price of petrol is to decrease the tax on the same. In this way, due to lesser tax, the price of petrol will automatically in a particular state. Showing the willingness to give relief to its citizens from the increased prices of petrol, the Delhi Government, led by Sheila Dixit, has taken am welcome step by decreasing the value added tax (VAT) on petrol. This will decrease the price of petrol in Delhi. Therefore, at every filling, the petrol users will have to less than what they used to pay after the prices were increased by the central government. Sheila Dixit However, at the same time, the Dixit government has increased the VAT on the compressed natural gas (CNG). Due to this, the prices of CNG h...

What will happen if you are asked to pickup and hold or keep as many apples as you can in your hands from a big basket full of big-sized apples? Of course, you will be able to pick up apples according to your capacity, i.e., according to the size of your hands.  Similarly, the current Indian government has been facing several issues, and is seriously trying to resolve them during the limited tenure it has. Some of the major issues that the government is trying to resolve at present are: a). the issue of pilots who have gone on a strike, b) the issue of corruption charges on its ministers, c) the issue of keeping a good working relationship with its coalition partners, d) the issue of price rise and inflation, e) the issue of getting the Lokpal Bill passed in both the Houses, f) the issue of decline in the value of rupee in comparison to dollar, g) the issue of FDI in the retail market, h) the issue of ending Naxal terrorism, etc. etc. This means we ca...

ANSWERS TO TEST PAPER -- IV MORDEN INDIAN HISTORY – DECLINE OF MUGHAL EMPIRE Students are requested to first try to solve the test papers on their own, and then see the answers provided herein for the verification of the answers (SHOWN IN RED COLOUR) which they arrived at. Although utmost care has been taken while listing the answers, students are requested to bring about error, if any, in the same.  1.      When Aurangzeb died, he was …………… years old. a.      86 b.      87 c.      88 d.       89 2.    After the execution of ……………., Saiyid brothers raised in quick succession Emperor Rafi-ud-Darjat, Rafi-ud-Daula, and then Muhammad Shah. a.      Hussain Ali b.      Abdulla  Khan c.       Farrukhsiyar d.      Saadat Khan 3.      Jah...

TEST PAPER -- IV MORDEN INDIAN HISTORY – DECLINE OF MUGHAL EMPIRE The following is an effort for extending a helping hand towards UPSC aspirants. This is a set of a model test paper. The questions are based on a particular topic that has been mentioned above. These are multiple choice questions as are asked in the UPSC exam. These questions are also helpful for the other competitive exams held in the country from time to time. The students are required to answer them based on the best of their knowledge and ability. The questions include some very easy, easy, hard and very hard queries on the particular topic. It is hoped that students will find this test engaging. The answers to these questions will be provided in next two days, along with a new test. 1.     When Aurangzeb died, he was …………… years old. a.     86 b.     87 c.     88 d.     89 2.   After the execution of ……...

Since today it’s Gandhi Jayanti, all newspapers and news channels have been displaying content on Mahatma Gandhi’s life, his thoughts and the messages he gave to the world on the various matters that directly or indirectly influence the human life. The write ups of several senior journalists, editors and experts on Gandhian thoughts are stimulating enough for me to attempt to conjure up and present my thoughts about this great man. I was in school when I first read about Gandhi. Just like the rest of my friends in class, I was more concerned about scoring well-enough marks in my exams rather than ‘actually’ understanding the messages of Mahatma Gandhi. Appreciating his philosophy behind the call for Non-violence and Satyagraha was an uphill task for almost all of us, then. However, I used to feel ‘something’ whenever, on the occasions of Gandhi Jayanti and the Independence-Day function, our chief guests and principal used to praise the deeds of Mahatma Gandhi. Those school functions ...

Recently, Anna Hazare has become an icon. He has the history of going on hunger strike for more than 10 times. Anna hails from a small village in Maharashtra . However, due to his movement in support of “Janlokpal Bill”, he has come to the limelight. At present, he is carrying on a hunger strike at the famous Ramlila Ground in New Delhi . Before giving a call for the hunger strike for the implementation of “Janlokpal Bill”, Anna and his core team, which comprises some reputed advocates, social activists and a retired IPS officer, have participated in the Joint Drafting Committee of the government-sponsored Lokpal Bill, which has been recently presented in the Parliament for further discussion. Anna Hazare                                                                 ...