According to CERC, of the 666.01 billion units (BUs) of electricity generated in 2007-08, 20.96 BUs, or 3.15% of the total, were traded. PTC India Ltd, NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd, Adani Enterprise Ltd, Tata Power Trading Co. (P) Ltd and Reliance Energy Trading (P) Ltd are among the companies that were active in the business that year.

WEF’s Global Risks 2009, the main risks that the world faces relate to deteriorating fiscal positions emanating from stimulus packages, a hard fall in China, lack of coordination in global governance, and natural resources and climate change issues.
oncerted global attention is that of protectionism.
India’s middle-class consumers number about 300-400 million, and are rapidly growing.
risk that the reform of international financial and development institutions will again be carried out by developed economies.
The financial crisis ultimately is a signal to the world to move towards better cooperation, better synchronization, and better joint response. While nationalistic sentiments are to be respected, there are certain issues where countries will have to set aside their national priorities in favour of global priorities. The world needs to act in unison and the voices of developing nations must be heard loudly and emphatically on global negotiating tables.”

A Keynesian recession represents a sudden fall in demand, and can be remedied within six months by pumping enough purchasing power into the economy. A Hayekian recession, however, is caused by misallocation of resources over a long period, driven by unrealistic interest rates, ending in a bust that requires years of structural adjustment. Such a recession can last a decade (as in Japan in the 1990s).

inter

(INTERVIEW) MY IAS INTERVIEW : TIRU (02 April 2007)

MY IAS INTERVIEW
I was interviewed by the UPSC by Air Marshal (Retd.) Satish Govind Inamdar's Board on 2nd of April 2007. I was scheduled to be interviewed in the afternoon session and was called to report at 1.15 PM. My interview started at 5. 30 PM in the evening and I was the fourth candidate to be interviewed that afternoon. It lasted for a little more than half an hour (in contrast to previous candidates who were interviewed for 45 or more minutes each).
I was wearing standard formal dress. A navy blue pant, white shirt with a bluish tinge and was sporting a half Windsor knot on my tie to give a confident look. My shoes were shining and my hairs and nails were neatly cut. In short, a perfectly conventional look for the job I aspired for. While waiting outside I remembered all the Gods that I have come across in my life. I did a bit of 'Baba Ramdev' brand pranayam too. That cooled me down a lot. The previous candidate came out and was wearing a sad look. I asked him what happened. He told me that the board is asking a lot of useless factual questions. In fact they asked him the per capita income of Russia (I came to know later that this guy was doing PhD on Russia). The bell rang and the peon indicated me to go in. I opened the door gently and before I finished my standard 'May I come in Sir?", the chairman called me in.
The room was quite big and the table was almost round and majestic. There were five people seated around it with one chair was empty (for me!). I walked with a smile and long steps. The table was around 7 steps from the door. The chairman told me to take the seat as I was walking down but I stood near my chair, saw that one of the members is a lady, wished her first and then wished the others and only then took my seat. (I speak loud and my voice boomed in this room or so I felt under pressure.) The chairman looked quite younger than what I had thought. He should be around 64 years as per websites but he looked not a day older than 50. He had quite a presence on the table and had a dominating appearance.
(for the sake of simplicity, CM stands for chairman, M1 is the lady member, M2, M3 and M4 are other male members)
CM: So you are Tirumala
Tiru: Yes Sir.
CM: Date of Birth?
Tiru: 23 Dec 78 sir
CM: Place?
Tiru: Shimoga sir
CM: Good.
CM: Tiru or Thiru?
Tiru: Tiru sir.
CM: What's the difference?
Tiru: Sir, It is not 'tha' but 'ta' (the pronunciation was in Hindi script) and my name being with 'ti' and not 'thi'
M1: OK, but how does TTD spell it?
Tiru: Sir they call it Tiru and not Thiru.
CM: What were you doing in Dhanbad?
Tiru: Sir, My father was in Central Industrial Security force and hence liable to be transferred all over India. As we stayed with him...X (I was stopped here)
CM: Oh, CISF?
Tiru: Yes Sir
CM: You are an Engineer then why do you want to be a Civil Servant?
Tiru: Sir, given an opportunity the best will move towards the best. (I had heard it from senior candidate) Moreover, the depth and breadth of experience that a person gets in civil services cannot be matched by any other job. One also gets an opportunity to serve the society in an effective way and that's why I want to become a civil servant.
CM: Do you say that non Engineers are not fit to be civil servants?
Tiru: No sir
CM: So you mean to say that non Engineers too can become civil servants?
Tiru: Sure Sir.
CM: But in order to be an Engineer, you have taken a seat which would have otherwise gone to someone else and he would have served the industry whereas you have decided to leave it? what do you say?
Tiru: Sir, In Karnataka, many seats remain vacant every year in many colleges and as such I don't think I have taken any one's share.
CM: You mean to say that the number of candidates are less than the number of seats in Karnataka?
Tiru: yes sir, it is so even in Tamil Nadu.
(Another member was nodding the head in affirmative while I said this and CM looked at him and understood that I am not lying)
CM: You passed out in 2002. This is 2007. What were you doing all these days?
Tiru: Sir, I was campus selected into Wipro fluid power in bangalore while in college and after college I worked with Wipro for two years and then changed my job and worked with Eaton Industries in Pune for 1 and half years. In Nov 2005 I quit that job and came to Delhi to prepare for civil services.
CM: Why Delhi?
Tiru: Sir, it is because in Delhi one get good material for stu...X (X symbol will mean that i was stopped at that point)
CM: Material?
Tiru: Yes sir, study material like books, magazines etc.
CM: Fine. (Looks towards the members and gestures them to ask questions)
M1 (lady member): I see that you had psychology as one of your optionals. How did you find it? Was in interesting?
Tiru: yes mam, it was very interesting.
M1: How many papers you had in psychology?
Tiru: 2 papers mam
M1: What were they?
Tiru: The first paper was on principles and theories of psychology and the second paper was on applied psychology.
M1: How will you apply psychology in administration?
Tiru: Mam applied psychology deals extensively in organizational behavior. The knowledge will come in handy to run any part of the administrative setup. The knowledge of various motivation theories will give me a chance to motivate my team to perform better. I also know community psychology. It is the application of psychological principles to solve social problems so that people can grow and realize their potential....X
M1: Why did you leave your job? Do you think you were a misfit there and that's why you want to move to civil services?
Tiru: No mam, in fact i was doing very well. I was a certified green belt in Six Sigma and my roles and responsibilities were growing every day...X
M1: What's your first option?
Tiru: IAS mam
M1: Why not IFS?
Tiru: (thinking for two seconds). Mam, to tell it in engineering terms, it all boils down to the leverage effect. An IAS (i lift my hands and place one finger of one hand on another finger of other hand to form a see saw lever) officer has a bigger leverage to work for society compared to IFS. The fulcrum position is better in his case. And mam, though I am proud to represent my country as an IFS, still I would prefer IAS due to this reason. However, it doesn't mean that I look down upon IFS. I consider both equally respectful. However the canvas to paint for an IAS is much bigger in scope due to the breadth and depth of the job.....X
CM: what is this breadth, depth and such terms? Did they teach you this in mock interviews or is it your own words? You know, coaching institutes and such places.
Tiru: (Smiling), Sir I don't believe in mocks or coaching as they are run now. These words are very much my own. In fact even to understand psychology I went to a reputed professor in Delhi University rather than going to run of the mill institutes. (The CM was looking at me as if he was expecting some more words on it but I kept quiet. I felt I had already spoken too much. He looked towards M2 and M2 takes over)
M2: So Tirumala, I saw that you said you can serve the society in an 'effective' way. What do you mean by that. What is effective?
Tiru: Sir, as an engineer I have a scientific approach towards any issue. As I said sir, I am a green belt in six sigma and that gives me a very effective tool to tackle processes....X
M2: Do you know anything about inflatable solar collector?
Tiru: I am sorry sir, I don't know.
M2: It's OK. Do you know about C A D and C A M. Can you tell me what is the advantages by using it?
Tiru: Sir, CAD stands for computer aided design and CAM stands for computer aided manufacturing but the latest buzz is CIM which stands for computer integrated manufacturing. It utilizes the synergies of CAD and CAM with an automated manufacturing setup. One can make a model using a CAD tool like Unigraphics and can readily export it after converting it to NC codes which is an inbuilt feature of the regular CAD tools and it goes to manufacturing....X
M2: You are explaining the process. I know it, can you tell me the advantages?
Tiru: yes sir, the errors comes down as the NC programming is automatic, that's number one. Number two, the total time from design to manufacturing comes down in such a setup and number three, because of these two the turnover time decreases and customer satisfaction increases.
M2: Good.
Tiru: thank you sir.
(when i was answering i was looking at all the members one by one and when i looked at the chairman, he indicated by hand to look at the member who asked the question and i devoted more time to M2 while answering his question)
M2: Tirumala, Rajiv Gandhi once said that out of every rupee allotted for the schemes, only 17 paise reaches the intended and remaining is wasted. What is your take on this sentence?
Tiru: Sir, When Raviv Gandhi said that, he was talking about our system. What he meant was that the system is so huge that the inertia and friction itself takes up so much money. He was not talking of corruption here but about the size of the system, the salaries to be given to people in it, the money that goes in maintaining files etc...X
M2: Don't call it system, call it delivery mechanism...and yes you are correct there but do you have any suggestions to bypass this mechanism so that this wastage is not there?
(I took a moment to think...around 2 seconds)
M2: Don't worry, you can take your own time...write it down if you wish..
Tiru: Thank you sir, I think decentralization is one answer. Sir, the funds can be directly allotted to grass root level panchayats. They can directly work on the schemes. That's one solution. Apart from that, one can also think of funding the NGOs who are working directly with people.
M2: Good.
Tiru: thank you sir.
M2: How can you apply IT in governance or in administration. And tell me very specifically how can it reduce wastage, time and corruption?
Tiru: Sir, IT as a process can be an integral part of administration. To answer corruption, in India corruption is basically what one calls speed money. The files goes into the system, one doesn't know where the file is, or how to move it and hence pays money to move the file or to know the status. Once the process is computerised, the whole process can be tracked online e.g. our passport system where a number is given and the status can be tracked online. That might weed out corruption. Coming to wastage, as the complete data is online it saves a lot of paperwork and trees and also the manual labor of calculations. Due to these two, the efficiency increases and will certainly lead to decrease in total turnover time for customers.
M2: How can you improve the process?
Tiru: Sir, if the process is already established one like our administrative setup, then one can use tools like DMAIC from six sigma which stands for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control. The process has to be studied in detail, to start with customers have to be identified which in this case might be the citizens using the services....X
M2: The customers are well known here.
Tiru: That's good sir. Now the Critical to quality issues for customers have to identified which....X
M2: Ok, how much time do you think will take to improve the whole system....is two or three years sufficient?
Tiru...mmmmmm in fact sir, I believe the system is too huge to change in one go, in say two or three years, it would take time.
M2: Look at your whole career or say 30 to 35 years...would that the enough?
Tiru: Certainly sir, that's quite enough time to completely overhaul the system but it has to be a joint effort by all.
M2: Good
Tiru: thank you sir.
(Till this point the interview was dominated by me...or so I felt, as i was talking aloud, in clear tone and the board members were very supportive. From this point onwards, they tested my composure in adverse conditions. My voice didn't change and i didn't waver. But yes, it was really tough to maintain my poise as situation took a turn for worse)
M3: OK, Tirumala there is some issue with currency exchange rate, something to do with dollar to rupee and things like that...any idea what is it?
Tiru: yes sir, the rupee is appreciating with respect to dollar and that is a cause for concern for exporters and at the same time a good news for importers. And sir, I am not sure how it works but I read that it would also bring down inflation.
M3: No, no...this is not what I meant....Tell me specifically, how would it affect IT industry?
Tiru: Sir, the IT industry bills their overseas customers in dollars or in Euros and hence for the same amount of euros or dollars coming in, they will have less rupees after conversion. That would decrease their margin.
M3: And what would happen to Auto industry?
Tiru: Sir, using the same logic the Auto exporters too will take a hit.
M3: No, that is wrong. Think like a mechanical engineer, the auto industry has anicilliary and main makers etc...can you now tell?
Tiru: I am extremely sorry sir but I don't know the answer.
M3: Ok leave it. There is some issue with petrol and diesel and there is some arguments going on..what is it?
Tiru: Sir the petrol and diesel prices are going up.
M3: No no, I mean there is some other issue. Using it in automobiles etc..think in that line.
Tiru: Sir the last century was oil century and this would be gas century. We will have more use of gases in automobiles and less and less petrol and diesel as we go along.
M3: No no. that won't happen for next thirty years. Think in lines of pollution.
Tiru: Yes sir, both are polluting in nature as they produce....X
M3: No no, you are a mechanical engineer, think in terms of the engines.
Tiru: Sir, in past thirty years or so, diesel technology has made a lot of progress due to improvement in fuel injection technology and they have become silent and hence all major car manufacturers are now releasing a diesel versions...X
M3: No no...i was not asking that. OK, leave it. Do you have any idea as to how many cars India produces each year?
Tiru: Sorry sir, I don't have the figures.
M3: Do you have any idea how big is our auto industry?
Tiru: I am sorry sir, I don't know.
M3: Looks like you don't know anything about industries. Tell me which industry do you know about.
Tiru: Sir, I have worked in hydraulic industry for more than 3 and half years. You can ask about that.
M3: (he had a pencil in hand all the time which he put it down now as if giving up): I don't know anything about hydraulic industry.
(I was quite relieved)
M4: Tirumala, I see that you do bodybuilding. Do you still do bodybuilding?
Tiru: No sir, that was during college days. I now concentrate more on maintaining my fitness.
M4: So you go to gym?
Tiru: Yes sir.
M4: How much weight do you lift?
Tiru: 90 kgs in bench press. 80 kgs in squats and 130 kgs in dead lift sir.
M4: What is the world record in olympics?
Tiru: Sir, powerlifting is not an olympic sport.
M4: Ok, in commonwealth?
Tiru: Not ever here sir but there are competitions at other places and in dead lifts people are lifting around 700 pounds and that works out around 320 kgs.
CM: What is difference between bodybuilding and powerlifting?
Tiru: Sir, powerlifting is all about strength and bodybuilding is about beauty of muscles. In powerlifting one has to perform squat, deadlift and benchpress and the combined total weight is taken to judge the strength and in bodybuilding one has to pose and show his muscles.
CM: You do blogging? What is it? What do you do?
Tiru: Sir, blogs are online diaries which can be used to express one's thoughts or events. Even to share points of view on issues of general nature. I maintain three blog sites sir.
CM: What kind of books do you read?
Tiru: Sir I read any book as long as it is interesting which I judge by reading first few pages. If you ask what i am reading right now, I am reading Malgudi days by R K Narayan and before that I was reading Foundation by Isaac Asimov which is a science fiction and before that I read The inscrutable americans by anurag mathur and before that mritunjaya by shivaji savant and and few novels by John Grisham...X
M4: Ok, tirumala have you seen the roads and the highways?
Tiru: yes sir,
M4: How are they?
Tiru: good sir.
M4: No I mean, what is the shape, convex, concave or straight...how does it look like. (makes shapes with hands and shows)
Tiru: (I make my hands convex and show the shape): Sir it is convex.
M4: What's that called?
Tiru: Banking....no sir, it is not banking....I am sorry I don't know.
M4: It is called camber.
Tiru: thank you sir.
M4: Now tell me, why is this camber there?
Tiru: I am not sure sir.
M4: Take a guess.
Tiru: Maybe sir because the wheels give loads on ends of the roads and over a period of time....X
M4: No no that's not the reason.
Tiru: I am sorry sir, I don't know.
M4: It is for drainage purposes. That way, the water will flow sidewards and not collect at the centre.
Tiru: yes sir, that's logical. Thank you sir.
M4: Why is banking given on turns?
Tiru: To avoid vehicles from toppling over or skidding while taking a turn.
M4: and why does vehicle topple or skid?
Tiru: Sir the centrifugal force acting on the vehicle makes them do so. The reaction force tries to balance the centrifugal force acting inwards and when centrifugal force is more the vehicle topples.
M4: Centrigual force acts inwards?
Tiru: mmmmm...
M4: How does the vehicle topple?
Tiru: Outwards
M4: Then how should the centrifugal force act?
Tiru: yes sir, I was wrong, it actually acts outwards and in fact centripetal is the one acting inwards.
M4: Think again. I think you were right earlier.
Tiru: (I was really confused now...and though i knew i was wrong earlier but i took a moment here. All the members on the board broke into smiles and started laughing slowly. I too looked at them and we all laughed): Sir...X
M4: So you are confused.
Tiru: Sir I accept that I am confused.
CM: But you should know this. This is basic.
Tiru: yes sir, I accept I should know this. I agree.
CM: Do you know about the differential gears used in two wheelers?
Tiru: Sir as per my knowledge they are used in four wheelers.
CM: yes yes, wahi wahi. Tell me why is it used?
Tiru: sir when a vehicle takes a turn the radius of turn for the outer wheels is more than that for inner wheels due to which the number of effective turns required for the outer wheels is more than that required for inner wheels....X
CM: Why do engineers speak so technically. Tell me what will happen?
Tiru: Sir the tyres will wear faster.
CM: That's all? What's the major effect? That's just a minor effect.
Tiru: I am sorry sir, I can't recall any other effect.
CM: The axle will break. Remember the horse drawn carriages? Have you seen bailgadis? (Bailgadi = bullock cart)
Tiru: yes sir, bailgadis don't have differentials.
(I don't know why but when i said that all members in the board laughed.)
CM: Ok, tell me what differential mechanism do they use in trains.
Tiru: I am not sure sir.
CM: Think again. Don't you think they need differentials?
Tiru: To take a guess sir, the effective turning radius is very big for trains and they may not need them.
CM: But the load is very high. So they do need them.
Tiru: yes sir, that's logical.
CM: Ok, then take a guess. There are many types of differentials. Hydraulic, pneumatic, mechanical etc. What type they are using?
Tiru: I am afraid sir, I don't have any idea. However it sounds interesting to me and next time I am on a train, I will make it a point to bend down and see what differential mechanism they are using.
CM smiles at me.
CM: Tirumala, your interview is now over. Good. Do you have any suggestions for the board?
Tiru: No sir.
CM: Do you have any suggestions for the exam system?
Tiru: No sir.
CM: You may leave now. Thank you.
Tiru: Thank you sirs. thank you mam.
I get up from the chair. Take two steps back. Turn around and walk out of the door.
I come out. I meet the last candidate who is waiting outside the room. I wish him all the best and come out of UPSC. Now I am waiting for the results. It all depends on how much I score in mains and in this interview. Hopefully things will work out well. Fingers crossed till then. The results are expected around Mid May.
Tiru

Courtesy: http://takethebreak.blogspot.com/2007/04/my-ias-interview.html

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Inter

ALL INDIA RANK - 10
CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATION 1995
Service : Indian Administrative Service
Cadre : Uttar Pradesh

Getting into IAS was like a dream coming true. Although I'd thought of joining this service much earlier in my school days, my mind kept wavering till few years back. It was in the third year of my engineering course that I firmly decided to take up this examination. Incidentally, I'm a graduate from IIT, Kanpur in Electrical Engineering and I passed out in 1994.

I started reading material on current affairs and on other subjects in the general studies paper from that very time. As far as optionals were concerned, I felt Physics and Electrical Engineering as the best bet for me. For the Prelims, I chose Physics. I'd decided not to attempt the exam unless I felt confident about my preparation. So I skipped the 1994 exam and took it up next year. By God's grace I made into the service in the very first attempt. I stood 10th in India. 18th June, the day I came to know about the result, was the happiest in my life. By the way a funny part of this story was that when I'd first inquired about my Prelims result, I was told that I'd failed.

As regard my other personal details, I'm a 24 year old bachelor and hail from a business family of Lucknow. I'm youngest among the four siblings of my family. I'd my schooling in Lucknow in Colvin Taluqdars' College till 8th standard after which I shifted to Mahanagar Boys' Inter College. My hobbies are traveling, particularly to places of natural beauty, and light music. I enjoy playing Billiards and am presently trying to pick up Tennis.

My suggestion to future aspirants of this service is that one should try to take one's subject of specialization as an optional in the exam. This saves lot of time and labor. The exam requires one year of full dedication provided one has a good base in general studies and good backing of graduation. One shouldn't rely solely on the optionals as G.S. and essay paper along with interview form a substantial portion in the total marks. The syllabus of mains should be finished before prelims so that one may get enough time for revision and updating current affairs before mains. As regards interview, one just needs to be natural and attentive before the board. The board members are in general very cooperative.

Presently, I'm having great fun in the academy at Musoorie. Here the main emphasis is on spirit de corp. among various services. Although the routine here is tightly packed, one gets enough time to learn new things and take up new hobbies. We received our cadres few days back and It's fortunate enough to get the home cadre.

ALL INDIA RANK - 10
CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATION 1995
Service : Indian
(more content follows the advertisement below)
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
Administrative Service
Cadre : Uttar Pradesh

Getting into IAS was like a dream coming true. Although I'd thought of joining this service much earlier in my school days, my mind kept wavering till few years back. It was in the third year of my engineering course that I firmly decided to take up this examination. Incidentally, I'm a graduate from IIT, Kanpur in Electrical Engineering and I passed out in 1994.

I started reading material on current affairs and on other subjects in the general studies paper from that very time. As far as optionals were concerned, I felt Physics and Electrical Engineering as the best bet for me. For the Prelims, I chose Physics. I'd decided not to attempt the exam unless I felt confident about my preparation. So I skipped the 1994 exam and took it up next year. By God's grace I made into the service in the very first attempt. I stood 10th in India. 18th June, the day I came to know about the result, was the happiest in my life. By the way a funny part of this story was that when I'd first inquired about my Prelims result, I was told that I'd failed.

As regard my other personal details, I'm a 24 year old bachelor and hail from a business family of Lucknow. I'm youngest among the four siblings of my family. I'd my schooling in Lucknow in Colvin Taluqdars' College till 8th standard after which I shifted to Mahanagar Boys' Inter College. My hobbies are traveling, particularly to places of natural beauty, and light music. I enjoy playing Billiards and am presently trying to pick up Tennis.

My suggestion to future aspirants of this service is that one should try to take one's subject of specialization as an optional in the exam. This saves lot of time and labor. The exam requires one year of full dedication provided one has a good base in general studies and good backing of graduation. One shouldn't rely solely on the optionals as G.S. and essay paper along with interview form a substantial portion in the total marks. The syllabus of mains should be finished before prelims so that one may get enough time for revision and updating current affairs before mains. As regards interview, one just needs to be natural and attentive before the board. The board members are in general very cooperative.

Presently, I'm having great fun in the academy at Musoorie. Here the main emphasis is on spirit de corp. among various services. Although the routine here is tightly packed, one gets enough time to learn new things and take up new hobbies. We received our cadres few days back and It's fortunate enough to get the home cadre.

inter

IAS topper, Manish Ranjan's tips on how to top the Civil Services Interview

He prefers to work at the grassroots level. Perhaps thats why he chose to study Sociology from Hindu College, Delhi University. He almost made it to his dream career when he got selected for the coveted PG Diploma course in Rural Management from the Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA). And soon he got a call from the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) Pune. That was all he could ask for. But destiny had something else in store for him.

In March 2000, after much deliberation, this youth from Bihar decided to tread the highly uneven track to the Civil Services. And in two years time, he created a wave by securing fourth rank in the 2002 Civil Services Exam.

Meet Manish Ranjan, IAS topper, who decided to quit a meaningful and satisfying career as a motivator at NDDB in order to opt for the Civils, as it offers challenges like diverse service opportunities, policy implementation, bigger responsibilities, social esteem and of course, involvement with the masses.

Currently posted in the Jharkhand District in Jamshedpur, Ranjan today owes his success to his retired government servant parents, teachers, friends, the Almighty and not to forget, the whopping 225 marks that he scored in the Civil Services Interview Test. I was confident of clearing the Mains. Hence, almost immediately after the exam was over, I started collecting relevant information on my resume, read newspapers and watched news channels on TV, and took at least 10 mock interviews conducted by the Chanakya IAS Academy in Delhi. These interviews helped me form a balanced opinion about current issues, improved my body language and enhanced my listening skills.

So how was his experience with the Board Says Ranjan, I appeared before the Board on May 10, 2002 in the afternoon session. P. Abraham was the Boards Chairman. I was quizzed for nearly 50 minutes with queries ranging from my job profile, marketing strategies of Mother Dairy and Kwality Walls, street plays (my hobby) and their social relevance, geographical indicators, the consumer grievance redressal forum, a blueprint for the development of my State, Bihar, ways of improving existing rural development plans, policies and their execution in India and the implication of the French Presidential elections on Indo-French relationship etc.

According to Ranjan, All aspirants must be thorough in areas like their bio-data, hobbies, their home state and district, their optionals, national and international current affairs. They must be clear as to why they want to join the Civil Services. Adds Ranjan, It's a highly uneven track to traverse. Hence, think twice before treading on it, as youll need to remain determined afterwards. Mock interviews and numerous discussions with friends definitely help in developing clarity of thought.

So does he think that the interview should be given more weight in the final selection No, not really, he says. The problem lies with inter-Board variation in the final assessment. Hence, I think it would be wise to take three short interviews of each candidate on different dates with different Boards and the average of all these could make the final score. In fact, if General Studies is given more weight, then that will remove the disparity in the marks obtained in different Optionals and the selection will thereby become relatively fairer. However, the entire selection should also be compressed within a six-month period.

And what does he think is the potential of future IAS officers With globalisation, ethical work cultures and an increasing interface between civil servants and highly professional corporates, the efficiency of both the IAS and the IPS in terms of problem solving, high responsiveness and alertness has increased. My endeavour will be to encourage the masses at the grassroots level to come forward to contribute towards innovative development.

IAS topper, Manish Ranjan's tips on how to top the Civil Services Interview

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(more content follows the advertisement below)
A D V E R T I S E M E N T

p class="text"> He prefers to work at the grassroots level. Perhaps thats why he chose to study Sociology from Hindu College, Delhi University. He almost made it to his dream career when he got selected for the coveted PG Diploma course in Rural Management from the Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA). And soon he got a call from the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) Pune. That was all he could ask for. But destiny had something else in store for him.

In March 2000, after much deliberation, this youth from Bihar decided to tread the highly uneven track to the Civil Services. And in two years time, he created a wave by securing fourth rank in the 2002 Civil Services Exam.

Meet Manish Ranjan, IAS topper, who decided to quit a meaningful and satisfying career as a motivator at NDDB in order to opt for the Civils, as it offers challenges like diverse service opportunities, policy implementation, bigger responsibilities, social esteem and of course, involvement with the masses.

Currently posted in the Jharkhand District in Jamshedpur, Ranjan today owes his success to his retired government servant parents, teachers, friends, the Almighty and not to forget, the whopping 225 marks that he scored in the Civil Services Interview Test. I was confident of clearing the Mains. Hence, almost immediately after the exam was over, I started collecting relevant information on my resume, read newspapers and watched news channels on TV, and took at least 10 mock interviews conducted by the Chanakya IAS Academy in Delhi. These interviews helped me form a balanced opinion about current issues, improved my body language and enhanced my listening skills.

So how was his experience with the Board Says Ranjan, I appeared before the Board on May 10, 2002 in the afternoon session. P. Abraham was the Boards Chairman. I was quizzed for nearly 50 minutes with queries ranging from my job profile, marketing strategies of Mother Dairy and Kwality Walls, street plays (my hobby) and their social relevance, geographical indicators, the consumer grievance redressal forum, a blueprint for the development of my State, Bihar, ways of improving existing rural development plans, policies and their execution in India and the implication of the French Presidential elections on Indo-French relationship etc.

According to Ranjan, All aspirants must be thorough in areas like their bio-data, hobbies, their home state and district, their optionals, national and international current affairs. They must be clear as to why they want to join the Civil Services. Adds Ranjan, It's a highly uneven track to traverse. Hence, think twice before treading on it, as youll need to remain determined afterwards. Mock interviews and numerous discussions with friends definitely help in developing clarity of thought.

So does he think that the interview should be given more weight in the final selection No, not really, he says. The problem lies with inter-Board variation in the final assessment. Hence, I think it would be wise to take three short interviews of each candidate on different dates with different Boards and the average of all these could make the final score. In fact, if General Studies is given more weight, then that will remove the disparity in the marks obtained in different Optionals and the selection will thereby become relatively fairer. However, the entire selection should also be compressed within a six-month period.

And what does he think is the potential of future IAS officers With globalisation, ethical work cultures and an increasing interface between civil servants and highly professional corporates, the efficiency of both the IAS and the IPS in terms of problem solving, high responsiveness and alertness has increased. My endeavour will be to encourage the masses at the grassroots level to come forward to contribute towards innovative development.

Interview

nterview took place on 17^th april in New Delhi for 35 mins

Raju: May I come in Sir?
Chairman: Yes, please.
Raju: Good morning, Sir. Good morning, Madam. Good morning, Sirs.
Chairman: You are Mr...
Raju: (Still in standing position), Matyalaraju Revu Sir.
(Chairman is writing something. Other members are keenly watching the candidate.)
Member 2: Please take your seat.
Raju: Thank you, sir.
Chairman: Mr. Revu, You did B.Tech from REC Warangal, ME from IISc, Bangalore. But why did you do diploma?
Raju: Sir, After completion of my 10th class, based on my financial background, my father joined me in polytechnic. After completion of polytechnic, we do get jobs. Also, since I will get scholarship, the amount of money spent on me is less.
Chairman: That means you will get job after diploma.
Raju: Yes Sir, I got a private job. Company is Cain energy limited.
Chairman: Then, why did you join B.Tech?
Raju: Sir, After completion of my diploma, I wrote ECET and I got state 1st rank. So I convinced my father that I will join REC which is a premier Engineering institute in our state.
Chairman: Then, you joined ME because your father insisted on that?
Raju: No Sir, It is based on my project guide ճ suggestion.

Sir, infact there are two streams to enter into B.Tech. One through EAMCET after Intermediate and other is through ECET. After ECET...

Chairman: What question I have asked?
Raju: Sorry Sir, you have asked me why I joined ME after B.Tech.
Chairman: OK. Then stick on to the question.
Raju: Sir, I am explaining it.
Chairman: Be specific.
Raju: OK sir, during my final year I got all India rank 3 in Gate. My guide on knowing this result suggested me to join IISc. He further told that this is the golden opportunity for me. ԉf you miss it you will not get it again! ՠ he told sir. Then, I informed about my career option as civil services. He then convinced me by saying that I can write civil services after M.E. also.

Chairman: That means you are preparing for civil services while you are in IISc?
Raju: I beg to differ with you sir. I started my preparation only after completion of M.E.
Chairman: You have written that you joined Railways in September 2004. That is of which exam?
Raju: Sir, This is based on IES-2003.
Chairman: That means you are in IISc.
Raju: Sir, I completed my second semester at that time.
Chairman: That means you have prepared for IES in IISc.
Raju: Sir, I have given IES in my own background i.e., Electrical Engineering. Hence I need not prepare much for this exam. I just gave the exam.
Chairman: For how many years you are in Railways?
Raju: Sir, I joined Railways on September 2004. Then I took leave for 1 year, i.e., leave on loss of pay.
Chairman: What did you do in that year?
Raju: Sir, I have prepared for this exam.
Chairman: How many months you are in Railways?
Raju: Sir, roughly 5 months.
Chairman: That means you are in Railways till February.
Raju: Sir, I am in Railways till the result of civil services exam 2005 was out. I was given leave for interview preparation in March.
Chairman: Then what did you do after the declaration of the result?
Raju: Sir, Once the result of out, I came to know that I will get IPS. So, I convinced my director for leave to appear civil services again. My director gave me leave.
Chairman: When did you join IPS?
Raju: Sir, I joined IPS on December 18, 2006.
Chairman: Which part of training you missed?
Raju: Sir, I missed foundation training in Mussorie. At SVPNPA, training started on December 18, 2006. So, I haven մ missed any training at Hyderabad.
Chairman: How many days you have taken leave for interview?
Raju: Sir, 4 days.

Member 2: How was your IPS training?
Raju: Sir, training is good and we are enjoying every aspect of training.
member 2: What are you learning in training?
Raju: Sir, our training is divided into two parts. Indoor and outdoor. In indoor, we have subjects like police in modern India, criminology and law subjects like IE Act, CrPC, IPC and other subjects.
Member 2: You are in IPS for 4 months. So I can ask some questions.
Raju: Yes, sir.
Member 2: Do you aware that the confession admitted to police is not allowed as witness. Why?
Raju: Yes sir. Confession admitted to police is not allowed as witness. Since there is always a possibility of getting the confession in the way the police like, law doesn մ allow it.
Member 2: What is Res gestae?
Raju: Sir, All the circumstances leading to the same transaction are allowable as evidence.
Member 2: You are on the line. Could you explain more?
Raju: (after 2-3 seconds), If some people wanted to commit dacoity and in the process if they theft a vehicle, eventhough theft of vehicle is not connected with dacoity but it is admissible as it forms the circumstance leading to dacoity.
Member 2: Could you tell me the section which deals with Res gestae?
Raju: Sorry sir, I could not remember the exact section.
Member 2: Then how sections you were taught in IE Act?
Raju: Sir, In our academy our sirs are not teaching according to sections. They are teaching the sections which are more useful for the police at first.
Member 2: Do you aware of RTI?
Raju: Yes. Sir. It is Right to Information Act.
Member 2: What are the provisions in RTI?
Raju: Sir, According to provisions of RTI, every government department has to nominate one officer as information commissioner to give information about duties, responsibilities and functions of various officers working in those departments...
Member 2: Then what is the benefit to common man?
Raju: Sir, Common man can know the functions, duties & responsibilities of various officers. They can know the status of their applications. This also increases transparency and accountability of officers. Hence reduces corruption.
Member 2: How can you say that people will get required information?
Raju: Sir, There is a provision in RTI that any one who refuses to give information or delays 30 days for giving information, they are liable for cut in salary.
Member 2: How much salary cut?
Raju: Sir, I think it is 250 Rs./ day.
Member 2: It is not cut from salary. It is separately cut.
Raju: Thank you Sir.
Member 2: Can you tell me what is the maximum limit?
Raju: Sorry sir, I don մ know.

Chairman: Your hobbies are meditation, motivating others and Indian Mythology. Don մ you think that all are inward looking?
Raju: Sir, Whenever possible I play cricket in addition my hobbies, which is a team game.

Member 2: Tell me which countries will reach final in the present world cup?
Raju: Sir, I think Australia and Srilanka.
Member 2: Already two countries reached semifinals i.e., Sri Lanka & Newzealand. What do you think about other two?
Raju: Sir, I beg to differ with you. Actually three countries i.e., Srilanka, New Zealand and Australia reached semifinals. 4th team depends on the outcome of the today ճ match between England & South Africa.
Member 2: Do you know about fly ash?
Raju: Sir, Thermal power stations produce fly ash while generating electrical power.
Member 2: Which state is using it more? Definitely it is not Haryana, My own state.
Raju: Sorry Sir, I don մ know.

Member 3 : (X-A) (X-B) has highest X power of 2. Do you agree?
Raju: Yes, Sir.
Member 3: (X-A) (X-B) (X-C) has highest X power...
Raju: 3, Sir.
Member 3: Then, tell me. What is the answer for (X-A) (X-B).... (X-Z).
Raju: (after 3-4 seconds), It must be Zero. Sir, because of the presence of the term (X-X).
Member 3: Whom do you think a greatest mathematician of all times?
Raju: Sir, Srinivasa Ramanujan, because even though he lived for only 33 years, he contributed more to mathematics in the areas like Numerical methods, Solution of algebraic equations, number theory like prime numbers etc.

Member 3: Can you tell me the formula for prime numbers?
Raju: Sir, exactly I don մ know but recently IIT, Kanpur professor along with his students wrote a software program which gives whether a number is prime or not within less time.
Member 3: You are an electrical engineer. Tell me where prime numbers are used?
Raju: Sir, they are used in coding.
Member 3: I am asking a question in your engineering only. Tell me how prime numbers are used in coding?
Raju: Sir, exactly I don մ know. But to the best of my knowledge, if the code length is prime, decoding and encoding are easy.
Member 3: You are on the line, but not exact answer.
Member 1: Your hobbies are meditation, motivating others and Indian Mythology. What you do in motivation?
Raju: Madam, many of classmates and Juniors came to me for clearing their doubts in subjects as I am the toper of my class. I usually listen to their problems regarding their understanding of concepts as many have problems either in one or many subjects. I tell them that every subject is easy if knew the concepts clear and we should like the subject what we are studying...
Madam: Do your response same for all?
Raju: Madam, I usually spend more time with those who are very much lagging. I take classes to clear their doubts.
Madam: Then do you call it motivation or strategic learning?
Raju: Madam, strategic learning may be the correct term.
Madam: What is the difference between these two?
Raju: Madam, motivation is a general term which includes not only academic motivation but also others like psychological, etc., Madam, I don մ know exactly the meaning of strategic learning.

Madam: Which books you read in Indian Mythology?
Raju: Madam, I read Ramayana and Mahabharata.

Madam: Since your hobbies are motivating others and Indian Mythology, tell me how Krishna motivated Arjuna?
Raju: Madam, When Arjuna refused to fight with friends, teachers, Krishna told him that it is the duty of the king to protect Dharma and fight wars for protecting it. We should not move away from our duty. Since soul is immortal and of which is born, death is certain, of which death happened, birth is certain. Hence you should not think that you are committing crime. Also he motivated him by saying that we should do our work only. We should not think about the results of our actions. Otherwise, attachment to the results will occur which is a major reason for unhappiness.

Madam: Do you practise it?
Raju: Madam, It is very difficult to practise.

Madam: Why?
Raju: Madam, for example, if we are about to play a cricket match, we will think about the winning of the match which is actually the result of the playing that match.

Madam: One last question. What kind of training our team got during our last year world cup?
Raju: Madam, exactly I am not able to recollect it. But it is like ҷe can do it this time Ӽ /span>
Madam: Sorry, It is not last year world cup but it is 2003 world cup. The team was given psychological training.
Raju: Yes, Madam
Member 4: You studied your B.Tech. from REC Warangal and M.E. from IISc Bangalore. Do you proud of your institutions like IISc?
Raju: Sir, I am proud that I have studied in a great institution like IISc, which according UNESCO survey conducted in 1997 was in 18th place among world universities. Recently a Chinese university conducted a survey in which IISc was placed at around 250th position.
Member 4: Do you think that 250th position is a good position?
Raju: Sir, even though it is not a good position, the position depended on the parameters they have taken into consideration like no. of nobel laureates present, no. of research papers presented, etc.
Member 4: Who are nobel laureate present in IISc?
Raju: Sir, now there is no nobel laureate in IISc. Earlier Sir C.V.Raman worked in IISc. Now, there are two internationally reputed professors working there.
Member 4: Last year government proposed to stop B.Tech entry into IITs. Do you support that?
Raju: Sir, I support it. Sir, due to hectic schedule, the professors of IITs are not able to concentrate much on research. Once the B.Tech entry is stopped, they will get more time for research and quality of research will increase.
Member 4: Don մ you think the quality of B.Tech students will reduce as IITs are known for better professors?
Raju: Sir, those students who are earlier eligible for entry into IITs, they will join NITs. Since they are the core students I don մ think the quality will reduce. But the professors in other institutes should get sufficient training to reach the level of IIT professors.
Member 4: You agree to that proposal. But the government has withdrawn the proposal due to very good argument against it. Can you tell me?
Raju: Sorry sir, I don մ know.
Member 4: What do you think is responsible for reduction in research?
Raju: Sir, IISc is not able to retain those students who completed M.E. and other courses there. One reason is brain drain, Sir. Second one is that research is not attractive in India, Sir. For example, in our batch out of 230 students who completed M.E. only 2 joined for Ph.D. in IISc. At the end of our M.E. we got campus placements. The minimum salary is around 6 lakhs/ annum. It is attracting most of us. Those who are really interested in research, they are going abroad as they will get more money and research is attractive there. Here, a Ph.D. student gets 12,000 - 15,000 Rs per month. Also material considerations have risen these days, sir. We have to include some compulsory courses in morale & ethics to stop this.
Member 4: Instead of choosing job or research, why did you choose services as career option?
Raju: Sir, The incident that took place in my village in November 2000, when I am in 3rd year of B.Tech, has changed my career options. Nearby Engineering college students came to our village for picnic as our village has excellent beach. 7 of them drowned in the Bay of Bengal and all of them has taken sand into their lungs in addition to water. Since our village is an island, there are no transportation, medical & meagre educational facilities, it took 2 hours to reach nearest town which is 16 Km away from my village. By that time, 6 out 7 were died, Sir.

Chairman: You are telling about an incident in your village. In that case who will respond first?
Raju: (3-4 seconds silence)
Chairman: Whether it is Block development officer, Doctor, or Police.
Raju: Sir, It is the police to respond first.
Chairman: Then, you are in IPS. Why did you come?
Raju: Sir, even for police it took 2 hours to reach that place as there is not enough transportation facilities.
Chairman: Thank you.
Raju: Thank you, Sir. Thank you, Madam. Thank you, Sirs.

PM speech-PRi

The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, addressed the conference of chairpersons of district planning committees in New Delhi today. Following is the text of the Prime Minister’s remarks on the occasion:

“I am very happy to be here today to inaugurate the First Conference of Chairpersons of District Planning Committees. I am also happy to note that District Panchayat Chairpersons, Mayors of selected municipalities and Chief Executive Members of District and Regional Autonomous Councils are also present here. The distinguished audience present today represents truly the backbone of India’s Local Self Government system. I extend to each one of you a very warm welcome.

The Local Governments of India are the unsung heroes of our nation’s march forward to development and prosperity. It was Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi who spearheaded moves towards evolving a national consensus on revitalizing local governments and repositioning them as vital, integral partners in local development. His efforts bore fruit with the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments, which gave a new lease of life to Panchayats and Nagarpalikas.

While the progress on genuine empowerment may have been uneven, and it has been uneven, remarkable success has been achieved in deepening democratic practice by holding regular elections to local governments with reservations provided for women, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. At one stroke, panchayat elections combined political empowerment with social empowerment of our people.

The UPA Government established the Ministry of Panchayati Raj at the Centre to translate this silent political and social revolution into concrete task oriented actions for the welfare and well being of our people. We have been able to take several significant steps towards strengthening and improving upon Panchayati Raj.

A national consensus on the road map for the full empowerment of Panchayats was arrived at. 22 States and Union Territories have individually agreed with the Ministry of Panchayati Raj on State and UT specific road maps aimed at empowering of Panchayats. At the Central level, we have been able to modify the guidelines of several important Centrally Sponsored Schemes, other programmes and national policies to enunciate a clear role for planning and implementation at the three levels of Panchayats.

In the last four years we have strengthened the district as the unit of planning in almost all our Centrally sponsored programmes. We have consciously structured our flagship programmes in a manner that strengthens decentralized management through local institutions.

In the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and the National Rural Health Mission, District level Plans are being prepared and funded. In the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme, village panchayat level plans are prepared and aggregated at the District level as a District Plan and funds released to executing agencies which happen to be largely the panchayats. Similarly in the urban areas, under JNNURM, 63 cities have evolved medium term development plans for the cities and have been supported with Central Government funds.

We need to continue this process and programmes and extend it to cover programmes like Rural Water Supply and others.

Almost every State is undertaking one or the other reform for empowerment of Panchayat. And that is a very welcome development. Some states have gone beyond the Constitutional provision to reserve up to 50% seats for women in panchayats.. Fiscal reform, such as matching of the extensive devolution of functions with adequate finances and rapid transfer of funds through electronic means, has taken place. Administrative reforms, such as placement of staff and devolving powers of control and superintendence of staff to Panchayats, have also moved forward. Several states are also engaged in the process of providing connectivity and undertaking e-governance measures at the Panchayat level.

The Ministry of Panchayati Raj and the Planning Commission have prepared a blueprint that forms the basis of the guidelines for the Backward Regions Grant Fund that now operates in 250 poorer districts and provides, as Shri Mani Shankar Aiyer mentioned, 15 crores for the development of each district in the form of untied grants. It aims at embedding the participatory planning process and provides untied funds to local governments for filling gaps in flagship programmes based on local needs. The Handbook on District Planning being released today details this process of participatory planning.

Every plan must start with a vision and it is important for us to look at what our collective vision ought to be. To my mind, the most important issues before us are to meet the challenge of reducing inequity and inequality. We should focus on meeting core development needs essential for human growth and well being. These could include combating of disease, eliminating malnutrition, particularly among our women and children, providing safe drinking water, good quality universal education, providing people with skills and employment opportunities and preserving and protecting our environment. Each one of you has a crucial role in building a thoughtful vision for your district through a participative and inclusive process.

Following the envisioning process, a plan will need to emerge from the gram Sabha at village level upwards. When these plans move to the next level of local government, such as the intermediate and district Panchayats, they in turn would add what comes within their purview of responsibility. This is also an appropriate time to fit together priorities that cut across the jurisdictions of Gram Panchayats and municipalities into larger projects. Finally, it is for the District Planning Committees to consolidate the urban and rural plans into draft development plans for the district as a whole.

The next step is to match resources with the plan. Over the past nearly 5 years, Central government transfers to Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) have increased nearly threefold from Rs.36,000 crores in 2004-05 to Rs.1,20,000 crores in 2008-09. The top 15 CSS with the NREGA at the fore front now account for nearly Rs.85,000 crores. Such massive transfers were never a part of our planning process before the last four years. Besides schemes and programmes of the States and the Centre, you could look at what local initiatives can trigger through the Panchayats and municipalities.

Given the immense resources at your command now, the pressure on local governments and administrations to perform is indeed going to be, and rightly so, very high. It is important - and I must say that we have not yet focused adequately on this - that we need to build the capacity of our elected representatives in the local institutions. They need to be equipped through training to discharge their duties effectively and efficiently and assert the authority vested in them in our democracy. For example, if NREGA is largely implemented by Panchayats, capacity building of panchayat functionaries on managing of the programme should be taken up invariably as a major task.

Of all the provisions in the 73rd and 74th Amendments, Article 243 ZD of the Constitution which provides for District Planning Committees has perhaps been the last to be implemented in full measure. Till four years back, only 12 of the 24 States to which the Panchayati Raj and Nagarpalika provisions of the Constitution applied, had constituted DPCs. I am happy to note now that 19 States have constituted these Committees and I sincerely appeal to the remaining States to adhere to these mandatory provisions of the Constitution without any further loss of time.

We are a large, young and restless nation. On the move. There is no other way to include the aspirations of all our people to guide our collective destiny other than to develop a strong local government system. Inclusive growth, which is the motto of the 11th five year plan, can be achieved only through inclusive governance. And the key to this is an effective, well functioning system of panchayats. I therefore sincerely hope that interaction of this nature between the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, the Planning Commission and the Ministry of Urban Development becomes an annual feature. I look forward to a creative and constructive debate in this conference and await your deliberations eagerly. I wish your conference all success.”

PRI

The two-day National Conference of Chairpersons/CEOs of District Planning Committees was inaugurated by the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in New Delhi today. Speaking on the occasion Dr. Singh said, “Every plan must start with a vision and it is important for us to look at what our collective vision ought to be. To my mind, the most important issues before us are to meet the challenge of reducing inequity and inequality. Following the envisioning process, a plan will need to emerge from the Gram Sabha at village level upwards. When these plans move to the next level of local government, such as the intermediate and district Panchayats, they in turn would add what comes within their purview of responsibility. This is also an appropriate time to fit together priorities that cut across the jurisdictions of Gram Panchayats and municipalities into larger projects. Finally, it is for the District Planning Committees to consolidate the urban and rural plans into draft development plans for the district as a whole. The next step is to match resources with the plan. Over the past nearly 5 years, Central government transfers to Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) have increased nearly threefold from Rs.36,000 crores in 2004-05 to Rs.1,20,000 crores in 2008-09. The top 15 CSS with the NREGA at the fore front now account for nearly Rs.85,000 crores. Of all the provisions in the 73rd and 74th Amendments, Article 243 ZD of the Constitution which provides for District Planning Committees has perhaps been the last to be implemented in full measure. Till four years back, only 12 of the 24 States to which the Panchayati Raj and Nagarpalika provisions of the Constitution applied, had constituted DPCs. I am happy to note now that 19 States have constituted these Committees and I sincerely appeal to the remaining States to adhere to these mandatory provisions of the Constitution without any further loss of time. There is no other way to include the aspirations of all our people to guide our collective destiny other than to develop a strong local government system. Inclusive growth, which is the motto of the 11th five year plan, can be achieved only through inclusive governance.”

The Minister for Panchayati Raj, Mr. Mani Shankar Aiyar laid emphasis on the fact that the District Planning Committees should take into account the plans and aspirations of people at the grassroots. A manual on Integrated District Planning was also released by the Prime Minister on this occasion.

The Ministry of Panchayati Raj along with the Planning Commission and the Ministry of Urban Development has organized this National Conference of the Chairpersons of the District Planning Committees. The Chairpersons of the Zilla Parishads, Chief Executive Officers of the Zilla Parishads, representatives of the national Institutions involved in supporting the process of district planning and State Institutes of Rural Development are participating in the Conference. The Conference is also being attended by the State Secretaries in the Departments of Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Planning and Urban Development. Representatives of concerned Central Ministries are also present. Overall, around 1000 persons are attending the Conference.

The two-day Conference on 16th and 17th January 2009 will see presentations on subjects related to district planning by officials and experts. Shri Mani Shankar Aiyar, Union Minister for Panchayati Raj, Dr. Yoginder Alagh, Chairperson, IRMA and former Minister for Planning, Government of India and Dr. Rangarajan, former Governor of the RBI will also be addressing the delegates.

PM speech ET

Following is the text of the speech of the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh at the award function organized by the Economic Times in Mumbai:

“This function, originally scheduled for November had to be postponed because of the terrorist attack on Mumbai in that month. Although I visited the city along with Congress President Smt. Sonia Gandhi, immediately after that event, I had no opportunity to speak in public on that occasion. I would, therefore, like to use this opportunity to say a few words on that painful subject.

Although that horrific event is behind us, the scars it has left remain. I was a resident of Mumbai for three happy years and I feel keenly the pain and anger of the city. To the people of Mumbai, I can only say that we will spare no effort to ensure that their city does not suffer any such attack in the future.

My heart goes out to the families of those who lost their lives and also those who suffered injuries. I particularly wish to salute the bravery and sacrifice of the men of the Mumbai police and the NSG who laid down their lives fighting against this attack.

Before I proceed further, I would request you to rise and observe one minute of silence as a mark of respect to the victims of the tragedy

The choice of Mumbai as the target of this barbaric attack was not without deeper intent. It was meant to be an attack on our very nationhood. Mumbai is the best-known symbol of free, pluralistic, dynamic and cosmopolitan India. That is precisely why the terrorists chose to attack it.

But the terrorists should know that the civilized world is against them. They must know that this onslaught on the founding ideals of India and on its secular, pluralistic and vibrant democracy is an onslaught on all civilized nations. They must know that this is something that no country can or will tolerate.

We have shared the evidence that we have gathered so far on the incidents with Pakistan and others. Pakistan has admitted that the arrested terrorist is their national. We expect Pakistan to take all the consequent next steps against all those who have planned, organized and executed these horrific crimes.

The Pakistani government has announced that the results of their investigations will be made public in a few days. I urge the Pakistani authorities to come out with a full and complete disclosure of all the facts surrounding the case, without attempts at denial, diversion or obfuscation.

Pakistan should act against the LeT and other terrorist groups and their sponsors - in its own interest, in the discharge of its obligations under international instruments, and to honour the bilateral commitments it has given us at the highest level. It should ensure that nothing like Mumbai, or the attack on our Embassy in Kabul ever happens again.

Apart from hundreds of innocent Indians, innocent civilians from 21 countries were either killed or injured in the attacks. We expect the international community to use its full weight to see that the investigations are pursued vigorously and brought to a speedy and logical conclusion and that terror groups operating from Pakistan are completely shut down. If Pakistan is sincere in its words, it should show through its actions that it will not tolerate these assaults on civilized norms of behaviour.

However, at the end of the day I recognize that this is a problem that we will have to tackle ourselves, with our own sources and our own determination. We need to strengthen our own ability to deal with such attacks and our intelligence capability to anticipate them. The Mumbai attacks revealed deficiencies in our systems that we are working to remedy. After the attacks, we have taken a number of steps to strengthen our ability to fight with terrorism. We have tightened our laws to deal with terrorist crimes. We have established a National Investigating Agency, which is primarily intended to coordinate investigations into terrorist offences. The flow of information from various agencies and the processing of such information for action has been improved. We have finalized details of a coastal defence system in which the Navy would play a key role while the coastal command would directly function under the Coast Guard. Steps to improve our intelligence gathering capability, including the use of more sophisticated technology, have also been initiated.

Let me now turn to the agenda of this meeting.

I would like to offer my sincere congratulations to all those receiving awards today. These awards recognize the superior performance of the recipients as individuals and companies in different fields. They, and the teams working with them which made their achievement possible, fully deserve our applause and accolades. We hope that their performance will be a beacon to others to emulate their achievements and perhaps even exceed them.

And yet, I must also point out that superior economic performance will not be easy in the year ahead. The global economic horizon is cloudier than it has been for a long time. It will be a testing time for the economy and for individual businesses in all sectors.

Before the year 2008-09 began, we knew that it was going to be a year of cyclical downturn in the industrialised world. We did not know at that time that the financial difficulties in the sub-prime mortgage lending sector in the US, which had already surfaced in 2007, would quickly snowball into a truly global financial crisis and that in turn, would lead to a severe recession which has been described by many as the worst crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

The US, Europe and Japan are currently in recession and are expected to show negative growth for the year 2009 as a whole. Global financial markets remain clogged with very high levels of risk perception. Capital flows to emerging markets have been choked.

A global crisis of this magnitude was bound to affect India and it has. Export demand has contracted. The stock market has come down sharply, as it has all over the world, posing severe financing difficulties, in addition to the hardship caused to individual stock holders. Traditional sources of finance have dried up.

The governments of the industrialised world are well aware of the seriousness of the crisis and are taking an unprecedented series of proactive steps to counter the recession. Our government has also taken a number of steps to counter the global downturn. We have relaxed monetary policy in a series of steps since October 2008. We are encouraging the banks, especially the public sector banks, to lend more freely to help otherwise viable production units to cope with the temporary stress of the economic downturn. Steps have also been taken to allow a greater flow of credit to the non bank finance companies which have become an important part of our financial system.

Special efforts have been made to expand credit to small and medium industry and to sectors such as housing and automobiles which are especially hit.

These steps in monetary and credit policy have been supplemented by measures to ease restrictions on commercial borrowing abroad.

We have also taken major steps in fiscal policy to give a stimulus to the economy. Tax rates have been reduced in a number of areas. Budgetary provisions made for expenditure in a number of schemes in the current fiscal year have been substantially increased. These increases are largely for the development of much needed infrastructure in rural and urban areas.

Infrastructure development through Public Private Partnership based on competitive bidding has been an important part of our strategy. However, these projects will now face a difficult financing environment. To deal with this problem, a new mechanism for providing refinancing through the India Infrastructure Financing Company Ltd. has been announced. IIFCL will provide low cost refinancing to banks against long term loans provided by the banks for competitively bid infrastructure projects.

Exporters are another group that are directly impacted by the global downturn. We have paid special attention to their needs. Various export incentive schemes have been strengthened and export credit facilities have been enhanced.

The range of steps taken within a few weeks is unprecedented. Nevertheless, I recognise that they do not take care of all problems. This is because domestic policy action cannot completely negate the effect of a global downturn as severe as the one we face today. We can at best minimise its negative impact. There will be a full recovery to our normal economic potential, but this will take place when the global economy reaches normalcy.

Meanwhile, growth in the current year will be lower than last year. GDP grew by 7.7% in the first half of 2008-09. It will be much lower in the second half of the year. The latest estimates for the final outcome in 2008-09 vary between 6.5 and 7 percent. The exact figure is not critical. The important point is that although growth is lower it is still much higher than most other countries. Furthermore our agricultural sector is doing well. The brunt of the recession is being felt in the areas which had seen rapid growth earlier. This imposes pain, but hopefully these sectors are more able to cope with temporary difficulties.

I must also emphasise that our problems will not be over in the current year. The difficult period will continue into 2009-10. The Government will plan on continuing its efforts for a supporting environment next year also. Both monetary and fiscal policy will have to be tailored to that objective.

Fortunately, the rate of inflation has eased considerably. Inflation is now 5.2% and is expected to decline further. This gives ample flexibility for monetary policy.

On the fiscal side, our space is limited. The fiscal deficit in the current fiscal year will be much higher than originally planned. This is not something to be tolerated indefinitely. However, we will have to tolerate a high fiscal deficit for the next year to accommodate expenditure needed to stimulate the economy. This expenditure should be mainly in infrastructure development and in schemes that help support incomes of the poor.

Our business leaders in both the corporate and smaller sectors will have to cope with difficult and changing market circumstances. I am sure that they will respond to the challenge. Crises are also opportunities to reposition oneself, overcome weaknesses and be ready to resume growth as the world turns upward. The award winners of next few years will be those that have coped best with these difficult times.

Finally, let me comment on the very recent and shocking developments relating to one of the well known firms in the IT sector. The Satyam episode is a blot on our corporate image. It indicates how fraud and malfeasance in one company can inflict suffering on many and can also tarnish India’s image more broadly. The Government is determined to unravel the full nature of the fraud and to punish those involved under the due process of law.

I would also urge Indian corporate leaders, many of whom are assembled here, to look closely into their operations to ensure that their systems are fully operational and fraudulent activity is as effectively prevented as is humanly possible.

Corporate leaders and managements hold positions of trust for shareholders, workers, and other stake holders. Their actions have reputational impact much beyond the reputation of their companies. I seek your support in setting the highest standards for Indian industry so that the world can say that we emerged from the Satyam scandal stronger and more credible.

I have no doubt we can do it.

Let me end by once again congratulating the award winners and wishing all of you all the very best.”

On the Doha Round of talks at WTO, the Minister said: “We cannot have a Development Round without an outcome which provides full comfort to the livelihood and food security concerns of the poor in the developing countries. These are too vital to be the subject of trade-offs. There cannot be a one size fits all approach. While developing countries have aspirations of moving from poverty to a semblance of the prosperity enjoyed by common people in countries of the North, the developed countries, quite validly have expectations from the rest of the WTO membership. The challenge that we have to grapple with is how to reconcile the legitimate aspirations of some with the understandable expectations of others. The key to finding this convergence would also be, I presume, the key to finding the convergence between globalisation and social justice”.

The current global economic crisis, which has impacted our country with a liquidity crunch that has threatened our pace of growth, calls for a response from Governments for a stimulus to demand.

Khushwant Singh’s “INDIA,”
India 2020″ by APJ Kalam?
India in slowmotion’ by Mark Tully
“Discovery of India” by Jawaharlal nehru
Jagdish Bhagwati, India’s Economic Reforms
Khushwant (Train to Pakistan)
he Vedas, Bhagavad Gita
Raag Darbari
Everybody loves a good draught - by P. Sainath
India After Gandhi, by Ramachandra Guha (nonfiction).
Pather Panchali by Bhibhuti Bhushan Bandhopadhyay

Anne Frank

The Diary of Anne Frank

Salman Rushdie

Midnight's Children

Jostein Gaarder Sophie's World

Stephen Hawking

A Brief History of Time

Stephen Hawking

A Brief History of Time

Robert Persig Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Meetings

to running successful meetings follow:

1. Set a firm agenda.

Mayer requests a meeting agenda ahead of time that outlines what the participants want to discuss and the best way of using the allotted time. Agendas need to have flexibility, of course, but Mayer finds that agendas act as tools that force individuals to think about what they want to accomplish in meetings. It helps all those involved to focus on what they are really trying to achieve and how best to reach that goal.

2. Assign a note-taker.

A Google meeting features a lot of displays. On one wall, a projector displays the presentation, while right next to it, another projector shows the transcription of the meeting. (Yet another displays a 4-foot image of a ticking stopwatch.) Google executives are big believers in capturing an official set of notes, so inaccuracies and inconsistencies can be caught immediately.

Those who missed the meetings receive a copy of the notes. When people are trying to remember what decisions were made, in what direction the team is going, and what actions need to be taken, they can simply review the notes.

3. Carve out micro-meetings.

Mayer sets aside large blocks of time that she slices into smaller, self-contained gatherings on a particular subject or project. For example, during her weekly two-hour confab with the co-founders and CEO Eric Schmidt, she sets aside five- to 10-minute segments—or longer, depending on the subject—devoted to such specific areas as weekly reports on how the site is performing, new product launches, etc.

This method offers enough flexibility to modify the agenda just before the meeting, should anything pressing occur. It also instills discipline that keeps the meeting tightly focused. Mayer does the same with members of her teams who might need only five or 10 minutes of her time instead of 30 minutes—the shortest block of time her calendar permits. By setting aside micro-meetings within a larger block of time, she accomplishes more.

Mayer, who has a background in engineering and computer science, jokingly refers to micro-meetings as "reducing latency in the pipeline." That means if she has an employee with an issue that comes up Tuesday, he or she can schedule a 10-minute micro-meeting during Mayer's large time block, instead of waiting for her next 30-minute opening, which might not be available for two weeks.

4. Hold office hours.

Mayer brought this idea from her experience teaching computer science at Stanford, where she first met the two guys who would go on to revolutionize how the world gets its information. Beginning at 4 p.m., for 90 minutes a day, Mayer holds office hours.

Employees add their name to a board outside her office, and she sees them on a first-come, first-serve basis. Sometimes project managers need approval on a marketing campaign; sometimes staffers want a few minutes to pitch a design (see BusinessWeek.com, 6/30/06, "Inside Google's New-Product Process").

Says Mayer: "Many of our most technologically interesting products have shown up during office hours. Google News, Orkut [Google's social networking site], Google Reviews, and Google Desktop all showed up first in office hours." During office hours, Mayer can get through up to 15 meetings, averaging seven minutes per person.

5. Discourage politics, use data.

One of Mayer's "Nine Notions of Innovation" is "Don't politic, use data" (see BusinessWeek.com, 6/19/06, "9 Notions of Innovation").

This idea can and should apply to meetings in organizations in which people feel as though the boss will give the green light to a design created by the person he or she likes the best, showing favoritism for the individual instead of the idea.

Mayer believes this mindset can demoralize employees, so she goes out of her way to make the approval process a science. Google chooses designs on a clearly defined set of metrics and how well they perform against those metrics. Designs are chosen based on merit and evidence, not personal relationships.

Mayer discourages using the phrase "I like" in design meetings, such as "I like the way the screen looks." Instead, she encourages such comments as "The experimentation on the site shows that his design performed 10% better." This works for Google, because it builds a culture driven by customer feedback data, not the internal politics that pervade so many of today's corporations.

6. Stick to the clock.

To add a little pressure to keep meetings focused, Google gatherings often feature a giant timer on the wall, counting down the minutes left for a particular meeting or topic. It's literally a downloadable timer that runs off a computer and is projected 4 feet tall.

Imagine how chaotic it must look to outsiders when the wall shows several displays at once—the presentation, transcription, and a mega-timer! And yet, at Google, it makes sense, imposing structure amidst creative chaos. The timer exerts a subtle pressure to keep meetings running on schedule.

Mayer does have one caveat when it comes to the timer—maintain a healthy sense of humor about it. (The timer was counting down to the end of my interview with Mayer—but she turned it into a fun and friendly reminder instead of an abrupt end to our discussion.)

Please keep in mind that these meeting techniques work well for Google. They may or may not be appropriate for your place of business. But these six keys should give you some new ideas about how to transform your meetings from a waste of time to time well spent.

PM speech

The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, addressed the Platinum Jubilee celebrations of the Indian National Science Academy in New Delhi today. Following is the text of the Prime Minister’s remarks on the occasion:

“It gives me great pleasure to be here at the Platinum Jubilee celebration of the Indian National Science Academy. This is indeed a major milestone, that few institutions of science have achieved in India thus far. It gives us an opportunity, both, to celebrate its role in furthering the cause of Indian science over more than seven decades and, perhaps more important, to look forward to the future, towards the looming centenary of your organisation.

When INSA was established, during the colonial period, Indian scientists had already begun to excel. Sir C. V. Raman had won the Nobel Prize for his work in Physics four years earlier. Professor Jagdish Chandra Bose had already demonstrated the power and utility of microwaves. Many others, like Srinivasa Ramanujam, P. C. Ray, S. N. Bose, and Meghnad Saha, had made their seminal contributions before India became independent. Globally, science was then primarily pursued for creation of knowledge and scholarship formed the main driving force for scientific research; India was no exception.

With Independence came rapid change and a new and different commitment to science. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, our first Prime Minister, brought to governance his abiding belief in the need to propagate a scientific temper and the spirit of rational, scientific inquiry among the people of our country. He saw a close interconnect between scientific, progressive and secular values. He was convinced of the necessity of the application of science and technology in tackling the enormous economic and social challenges facing the newly independent India.

Indeed, Indian scientists did solve many pressing national problems. Prof Vijayan mentioned the Green revolution, I add that the White and Blue revolutions, are -- along with the nuclear and space revolutions, to name just a few – significant achievements of Indian science and technology .

INSA has played a major role in this process. We value its role as an apex body advising the government and the country on issues relating to the development of science and technology.

Today, the world is moving rapidly towards knowledge-based societies and economies. The pace of scientific and technological transformation all over the world has accelerated beyond our expectations. Yet, as the frontiers of knowledge are pushed forward, new and seemingly intractable problems arise which test our creativity as well as intellect.

It is against this background that we should look at the role that the Indian scientific community in general and INSA in particular could seek to play in our national life. Our priorities must reflect the many challenges and opportunities that we face as a nation. I would like to highlight a few where Indian scientists can make a tangible contribution.

The first area that comes to mind is education. Over the years we have built many institutions of excellence and I can say with some satisfaction that since the early years of Independence, no government has done more to increase the number of institutions of excellence in the country than the present government, be they institutes of science, institutes of technology, centres for research or universities in general.

Maintaining standards in sciences and education while expanding the base at such a pace is indeed a difficult task. I would expect institutions like INSA to reflect on ways to combine expansion with excellence. At the same time it is important that we raise the standards of science teaching and research uniformly so that we are not left with islands of excellence in a vast sea of mediocrity. The centre of gravity of scientific research appears to have moved away from universities, a trend that I do have worries about. The government can help with financial support but it is the scientific community that must give scholastic substance to the infrastructure that exists or is coming into being.

It is in this context some what disturbing that, committed as we are to making science education attractive to our youth, the enrollment of students in science in universities is not going up as fast as we expect it to .We cannot expect to create a large talent pool of scientists to service a knowledge economy if this share does not pick up significantly in the years to come. We need to look into the reasons for this unsatisfactory situation and I hope that you will deliberate on this as well.

I believe that we need to examine our curriculums and our approach to teaching and to research. We must ensure that our universities and our leading institutions keep up with the very best in the world and impart education on par with them.

In this effort we should make full use of the enormous pool of Indian scientific talent resident abroad. The many distinguished scientists and engineers I meet during my visits abroad are without exception eager to contribute to the development of scientific capabilities in India.

I sincerely believe that our universities must make use of the vast talent bank that exists in our country. Today, we know where the priorities lie: the scientific community must come forward to tell us how to achieve our goals. We should strengthen the emphasis that Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru laid on using science and technology to overcome developmental challlneges. This legacy was carried forward by his successors. Mrs Indira Gandhi’s personal interest in the green revolution ensured its success. Shri Rajiv Gandhi instituted the New Education Policy and the many technology missions that helped millions especially in our rural areas. Four years ago, apart from expanding many of these programmes, our government established the Knowledge Commission.

The two sectors that call for immediate attention are energy and the environment. Our priorities are very clear. We need greater energy efficiency. We need new and sustainable sources of commercially viable energy. We need equity in the consumption of energy. We need to reduce the human imprint on the environment. We need to establish and proliferate “best practices”. And we need to meet human needs and our development goals without threatening our planet and its limited resources.

The India of the 21st Century is going to be a force to reckon with. It derives its strength from our composite culture, from our youthful population, from our democratic way of life and from the freedom of thought and deed that are guaranteed to all our citizens by our magnificent constitution. It also derives its strength from its huge pool of talent, from its scientists and technologists, its knowledge workers and its millions aspiring to a better life through better education and better opportunity.

India’s challenge is in rendering the benefits of development equitably to all its citizens. We need an educational system that provides opportunity for all. We need research and development that delivers innovations and practical and pragmatic solutions to the social problems we face. We need our scientists to take the lead and help us create a world in which we are able to combine the advance of the knowledge society and the challenge of providing adequate food, good health care and nutrition, housing, energy and environment security to all our people.

I hope that when the time comes and INSA celebrates its centenary, it will have the satisfaction of knowing that it was able to chart new pathways and to play its part in transforming India into one of the world’s leading powers, a truly equitable, knowledge society able to fulfill the potential of its youthful, aspiring population.”