participative process of decision making

Stem cells act as building blocks of our tissue, blood and immune systems. They can be derived from bone marrow, embryos and the blood that remains in the umbilical cord after a baby is born. According to Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) guidelines, only embryos up to 14 days old can be used for therapy and they should not be generated for the sole purpose of obtaining stem cells. And only surplus or spare embryos can be used after obtaining the consent of parents.

The Community Radio Station is expected to serve particularly, the women, farmers, fishermen and empower them with information and communication critical for disaster preparedness and management. The community management committee has made linkages with the local government institutions like panchayats, health centers, schools and disaster management related Government institutions to establish a disaster management mechanism to face natural calamities.

ield of environment, specially energy and Climate, Low Carbon and Adaptation Technologies, Indian National Action Plan on Climate Change, Energy efficiency and Increase in the share of renewable resources, Clean technology transfers and CDM and other medium term options for emission trading for specific sectors were also discussed in the meeting.
in India believe that it is the path of sustainable development alone that can offer long-ten protection climate. Irrespective of what happens in international negotiations on Climate Change, we are committed to evolve and pursue a strategy of sustainable development, for reasons of our own vital national interests.

Urban Economy and the Poor, MDGS, Social Infra Structure & Finance, Cities, Land & Basic Services, and Livelihoods and the Urban Poor.

http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=47242

http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=47241

This shift in tax incidence from indirect taxes to direct taxes is in consonance with the trend in the developed economies where the proportion of direct taxes is more than that of indirect taxes, said the Minister.- we r movinfg toward developed economy


it is a momentous opportunity for all the teachers and experts in the country to pool their collective wisdom for the benefit of every Indian learner and, thereby, help in reducing the digital divide. The Mission proposes a collaborative approach for implementation of a programme involving both central and state governments, as well as aided and private institutions. The State governments would be expected to be the very active partners and motivators in this endeavor.



he focus is on poverty eradication, wage payment, employment generation, enhancement in self-employment and strengthening of rural infrastructure.Under NREGA more than 30 lakh works have ensured the conservation of natural resources, the ground water table has gone up and more than 3.5 crore families have got ensured employment. He said financial inclusion of rural families has gone up and nearly 6 crore bank/post office accounts have been opened resulting in the financial and social empowerment of rural families
During the last five years the construction of rural roads has shot up on a very high note and so far road length of 3.5 lakh km. have been sanctioned at a construction cost of Rs.88,700 crore and a total of 1.34 lakh km. all weather road have been constructed in this period as compared to 51,511 km. road length constructed during the four year period of 2004-2004.

The Total Sanitation Campaign has witnessed remarkable improvement after enhancing the resources and stage is set now to achieve the Millenium Development Goal target by 2012 instead of 2015.omputerization of land records ,a major aspect related to land reforms in the country especially in the rural areasUnder the National Land Records Modernization Programme (NLRMP) the digitization of land revenue maps, computerization of land records, integration of written and local data, setting up of Tehsil and State level data centres, Computerisation of registration by interconnecting revenue offices along with the interconnecting of Deputy-Regisrar Offices have been planned in next 8 years across the country. It will help in solving land disputes, provide safety to farmers and will result in the increase in the government revenue.
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Regulator

How fearless regulators are made

The present system allows political executive to usurp regulatory mandate, says K G Narendranath

RECENTLY, speaking at a seminar in the capital, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) Chairman Nripendra Misra minced almost no words to criticise the government’s reluctance to give adequate powers to the regulator. He sounded worried over the department of telecoms’ dillydallying on the implementation of the regulator’s key, recommendations — be they about rolling out of third generation (3G) mobile services, number portability or internet telephony. “Licensing and spectrum management functions are not with Trai. Also, inter-connection powers are not given to the regulator. How can there be enough competition in the sector?,” he asked, with apparent vehemence. Mr Misra’s remarks are indeed vindicatory. Consider that some of the Trai recommendations like that on mobile number portability, a key measure intended to ensure competition in the sector, were made in 2005 and the DoT is smugly sitting on them!
Trai’s compliant however is not a oneoff event, although the candour of Mr Misra (he is stepping down soon) is noted for its rarity. Lack of freedom for the regulators to perform their functions effectively is a universal problem in India. Other wings of the executive, notably the ministries and their political heads routinely usurp the regulatory mandate officially given to various regulators, resulting in the gradual weakening of the latter.
The attempts to weaken a regulator begin right at the stage of law-making. Many regulators are constrained by law or its (deliberate) ambiguity. Not only the main piece of legislation but also the rules and procedures framed thereunder are ‘carefully drafted’ to undermine the regulators. Moreover, with the regulator often being a political appointee, it is hard for him to muster the requisite strength to stand for a cause even if it is totally in sync with his formal, given mandate.
The higher bureaucracy and the political government of the day take an undue amount of powers that can reasonably and even lawfully be considered to be regulators’ due. The representatives of the higher bureaucracy and their political masters are uncomfortable talking about this issue. If pressed, they would normally flag the need for ‘co-ordinated action’ as defence. Agreed that not always are such apologies a mere ploy of the power-mongering. For example, the finance ministry, RBI and Sebi often need to consult each other and jointly ensure appropriate, balanced and swift response to the vicissitudes of the financial system. The past year’s developments have amply illustrated this. Yet, very clearly there are numerous instances of wilful circumscribing of the regulatory mandate with ulterior motives. This might at times help those who are regulated; but those for whom the regulation is primarily intended, namely the consumers and the country at large, would most certainly suffer as a result.
A key issue is that most regulators are not directly answerable to the Parliament. The ministers speak in Parliament on behalf of the regulators, often using the pronoun “they” to refer to the regulator while, actually, the regulator is an appointee of the minister himself who ipso facto is in a position to influence the regulator. This allows the minister to somewhat escape Parliamentary censure for any suspect regulatory action. So parliament control on the executive is virtually whittled down even as regulatory doings are very much the government’s own and are merely outsourced to the regulator.
Only the regulators which are the creations of the Constitution, like the Election Commission and the CAG, are exceptions to this practice. Even quasi judicial bodies like the Company Law Board are not always manned with people selected through a transparent, bipartisan process because the political government finds it rather easy to quietly circumvent such process.
While these are man-made problems, there are also some issues in this context which are more real in nature. Because of the federal structure of the government, many central regulators willy nilly run into conflicts with state-level regulators. One example is the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) struggling to push distribution reforms while some state power regulators do not seem to share its enthusiasm in the matter. Blurred regulatory boundaries and regulatory overlapping also create problems. Witness the constant bickering among the pharma price regulator NPPA, the quality regulator Drugs Controller of India and the Patent Controllers.
Another sticky object in the country’s regulatory landscape is the regulator being the dominant player in the relevant market itself. Look at Power Grid Corporation, the power transmission utility, trying hard to retain its grid manager role notwithstanding the reform-oriented Central Electricity Act 2003. With the Competition Commission of India, the proposed generic regulator of the market, expected to be fully functional soon, a host of new issues of jurisdictional overlap and conflict of objectives between it and various sector regulators could come up, too. (Thankfully, the selection of its top functionaries is apparently being done by a panel headed by an SC judge as CJI nominee).
Giving regulators unbridled freedom is not the panacea for the problem of regulatory capture by the political government. Regulatory bodies could sometimes be capricious in their decisionmaking, even if they are manned with the most competent and fair-minded. Direct parliamentary scrutiny could be of some help as it would minimise partisan nature of decisions. Critical to regulatory verity is to institute a merit-based, transparent process for selecting the personnel, independent of the political executive. This too is however only part solution as the rot in the Indian system is deep and widespread.
kg.narendranath@timesgroup.com

Inter

UPSC Interview Questions

UPSC Interview questions range from questions about your choice of subject to why you want to join the civil services. It is good to answer honestly but at the same time avoid cliches like wanting to do service to the nation etc. Questions on your hobbies are imperative so prepare well as they expect some indepth knowledge on that. Questions relating to your name, your college or school name are also a big posibility. If someone well-know shares one of these names please also prepare on that. Also learn up about important events on the year or date of your birth. As you can see, UPSC Interview questions are mainly from what you have filled in your form including your subject but here it is more a test of logic and presentation and awareness rather than pure subject knowledge. In the UPSC interview many questions are situational like what will you do if a Tsunami strikes your district and you are the DM/Collector/SP. Questions on your choice of service preference also need to be prepared. Current affairs analysis is important too.

Tips to improve your performance at the UPSC Interview

• There are generally 5 members at the board with the Chairperson seated at the center. Enter confidently and greet the Chairperson, who will probably welcome you, and pleasantly nod at other members. Wait till you are asked to sit.
• Intelligent listing is the mantra, and for this maintaining eye contact is very important. You should not glare but all the same appear attentive and do not glance at other members, it can be very distracting for the interviewer. However if some other member asks you anything, look at that member and answer and turn back to the first - this is what we do in normal attentive listening.
• Do not fidget or throw your hands around, or shake your head. Less amount of movement does not mean you should sit unnaturally stiff. Your posture should be attentive and relaxed at the same time. Do not crouch/bend forward or place your hands on the table.
• Cut your answer short to the required patience shown by the member talking to you. They usually like to talk more, so listen carefully and think for a few seconds before you start answering the question. This will show that you are organising your thoughts in mind before starting to speak.
• Leave some room for difference in opinion. Do take a stand, but do not look adamant or unwilling to appreciate the board's opinion.
• Use couple of words from the question while answering any question. It shows you have listened to the question carefully. But at the same time limit the use the technical jargon.
• Listen very carefully. Come to the central issue of the enquiry immediately. Wild guessing or speculation are a complete no no.
• Do not start evaluating your performance while still inthe interview. Even if you have committed mistakes in the beginning, do not think that you have already lost the game. They are looking for warm, sensitive respectful and attentive youngsters. They know you are good or you would not have come so far.
• Talk humbly about your achievements and hobbies. You may have mentioned some hobbies in the form without serious background in them, but before the interview it would be useful to pick up some basic info on the hobby.
• Say less to convey more. Less is more these days as per the minimalist creed. Argue logically and generalise correctly. Do not try to read too much between the lines.
• Remember, while answering any question, what is easy to see is easy to miss. We often tend to miss the obvious and go for some non-crucial aspect of the subject.
• Get up to leave only when the chairperson asks you to, not because you think everyone has asked a question. Similarly, even if someone has not asked a question and the chairperson asks you to leave then please leave. Some members do not ask questions at all, due to various reasons like limited time.
• Before leaving politely thank the chairperson and nod at the others politely. Avoid saying "Have a good day sir". A "Thank you Sir/Madam" is enough.