Why Is the Middle East So Important

The Middle East so important to the rest of the world because it contains most of the world’s known oil reserves and is the world’s top oil-producing region.
The Middle East is a strategically and economically important region because of the large quantities of crude oil reserves

[Diplomacy] Sir Creek Boundary dispute between India Pakistan : History and Future

What is Sir Creek Boundary?

What is Harami Nala?

Why is Sir Creek in news?

Pakistani Claim

Indian Claim

History

Solution

Conclusion

Line#1, Size=1cm

Line#1, Triangles Size=2cm

Consider this code

Construct a table

Final answer

The Constitution One Hundred and Fifteenth (Amendment) Bill 2011 (GST Bill)

Saturday 30 June 2012

root cause

Tuesday 19 June 2012

Thursday 14 June 2012

How many line segments of 1 cm are present in this figure?

How many line segments of 2 cm are present in this figure?

How many line segments of 3 cm present in this figure?

My approach

Repeat for other cells

Thursday 7 June 2012

Sunday 3 June 2012

Why Is Biodiversity Important? Who Cares?

Species depend on each other

Middle east turbulance

Sir Creek Boundary dispute between India Pakistan : History and Future

[Aptitude] PnC: How many triangles are present in this figure (without manual counting)!

FEW links which help u to make notes

Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill

The Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2011

Biodiversity

Highlights of the Bill

Key Issues and Analysis

The Middle East is a region that encompasses western asia and all of or part of northern africa
The Middle East lies at the juncture of eurasia and africa and of the Mediterranean Sea and the indian ocean.

Middle East has been a major center of world affairs; a strategically, economically, politically, culturally, and religiously sensitive area.

major isssues

1 us and iran confrontation on iran's nuclear programme

2 Syrian domestic armed confrontation or Syrian Civil War( core of the Syrian crisis are the deep strategic convergences between Syria and Iran. The aim of the US and the West is to prise away Syria from its Iran linkages by an engineered civil war which has yet not succeeded)

3The Israel-Palestine conflict is a festering sore in the Middle East and promises to continue as such for a long time

4 intense power struggle for regional supremacy between Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey

5 In terms of global power-play in the Middle East between the United States and russia and now chinaUnited States pursues a strategy of balance of artificially weak powers. Arabia has to be both immune from domination by Iraq or Iran and also weak enough not to threaten Israel

iran vs saudi arabia

Saudi Arabia and Iran lie squarely on both sides of the Persian Gulf, not only geographically opposite but also strategically opposite and confronting each other. In terms of power-potential, Iran enjoys a lead over Saudi Arabia. Religiously also both these Gulf Region rivals are diametrically opposite in that Saudi Arabia is Sunni Muslim whereas Iran is the largest and most powerful Shia Muslim nation in the world.

Prior to the discovery of oil, the region had been a hotbed for religious conflict and wars over other rich resources and land. The declining Ottoman Empire paved way for the rising European imperial and colonial powers interested in securing various territories and controlling access to Asia.

To maintain superiority, control and influence over the region, the West has placed corrupt Arab leaders into positions of power and supported the overthrow of those that are not seen as favorable. This has also served to keep their populations at bay, in return for militarization, power and personal wealth of the elite. Sometimes this has been done in the name of fighting communism. The common theme underlying it though has been the struggle to control access to important resources such as oil.

The Middle East is the most militarized region in the world and most arms sales head there. A suppressed people that sees US influence as a major root cause of the current problems in the Middle East has led to a rise in Islamic militancy, acts of terrorism and anti-west sentiment, anti-US in particular.

Sir Creek is a 96-km strip of water that is disputed between India and Pakistan in the Rann of Kutch marshlands. The creek, which opens into the Arabian Sea, divides the Kutch region of Gujarat and the Sindh province of Pakistan.

Harami Nala is a marshy, sluggish and shallow water channel, spread over 500 sq km in Kutch, in the Sir Creek region, where both Indian and Pakistani fishermen sail to catch the prized variety of fishes, and at times get caught by the Costal guards of either country and spend years in Jail.

On 19^th June 2012, India and Pakistan failed to make any headway on their maritime boundary dispute in the Sir Creek region at the 12th round of the talks.
The Indian delegation was led by Surveyor General of India.
Talks on Siachen Glacier also failed to make any progress. Both the countries had reiterated their positions on the issue.

Pakistan claims the creek lies in its territory; with the international border falling on the east of the creek. Since 2011, it has extended its claim to Pir Sanai Creek. The landmass separating Pir Sanai from Sir Creek has disappeared, it says, and the mouths of the two water bodies have “almost merged”.

The creek should be divided between the two countries along the thalweg or the main navigable channel.

Since Indian naval assets use Pir Sanai, it is not thrilled about Pakistan’s latest claim either.

After the Indo-Pak was of 1965, a UN tribunal was formed to settle the border between Sindh and Kutch.
Till 1968, India and Pakistan were providing competing histories of the region.
In arguments made at the UN tribunal, India claims that Kutch was a well-defined entity. The Raos of Kutch only paid tribute to imperial powers, first Mughal, then British.
Pakistan uses different colonial sources to say the Kutch never had an existence of its own, that the rulers of Sindh had invaded and occupied parts of the Rann in the 18th century, and that the whole breadth of the Rann was the boundary between Kutch and Sindh.
In spite of this historical nebulosity, the tribunal supported India’s claim to 90 per cent of the Rann, fixed the land border up to a point called the Western Terminus, but left the westernmost part of the border fluid. This includes the stretch of water under Sir Creek, now under dispute.
India and Pakistan are said to have been close to an agreement in 2007; the two sides had reportedly exchanged maps that matched. The process was derailed by the 26/11 attacks and it was not until 2011 that talks started again.

If Sir Creek is to be treated as a water border, it must be divided according to international laws that govern such boundaries. Under such laws, the international boundary in a navigable river lies along the thalweg.
But application of international laws becomes difficult in terrains that constantly change shape.
In marshy areas like the Rann, landmasses emerge and slip back into water. The joint survey held by India and Pakistan held in 2007 claimed Sir Creek had shifted nearly 1.5 km eastwards.

The resolution of the Sir Creek dispute would have resonances in larger economic and strategic matters.
The boundary at the creek would have a direct bearing on maritime borders between India and Pakistan, determining the exclusive economic zone of each country in the Arabian Sea.
Solving Sir Creek has also been held up as a first step to the resolution of graver border conflicts between India and Pakistan.
copied from mrunal's blog

How many triangles in following figure? This question was asked in actual CSAT-2011 Paper II.

Answer Choices

A.27
B.26
C.23
D.22

If you start counting manually 1,2,3,4 ….You might overcount or skip a few a triangles
And the answer choice are so close to each other, you’ll have to count it 2-3 times to verify the answer = waste of time.
But We can use the principles of PnC to solve this problem quickly and precisely.
First consider this straight line with five points, A,B,C,D and E.

The distance between two consecutive points is 1 cm. e.g. AB=1, BC=1 and so on.

Total “5” dots, we’ve to pick “2” consecutive dots
formula to pick k consecutive things out of “n” total things = n – k +1.
Total selections = 5-2+1=4
Manually counting :AB,BC,CD,DE=total 4.

For example AC=2.
But AC is made up of AB+BC, so we’ve to choose three consecutive dots and we get one line segment of 2 cm.
Total “5” dots, we’ve to pick “3” consecutive dots
Total selection =5-3+1=3
Manually counting: AC,BD,CF=total 3.
Let’s try one more:

AD=3cm
But AD=AB+BC+CD so you pick four consecutive dots A,B,C,D and you get one line segment.
So total selection =n-k+1=5-4+1=2
Manually count: AD,BF.
We’ll use this principle to solve this triangle figure problem.

I’m labeling the three “Main” outer corners of this triangles as A, B and C.
Consider this: You pick up any two dots on any straight line and you’ll get one triangle.
Except that Danger zone highlighted in “RED”. Those are not triangles, they’re parallelograms.

Start from line segment BC, take each horizontal line and the dots and move towards “A”. (Bottom up)

You can see in above figure, There are four horizontal lines 1,2,3,4
Assume that distance between any two consecutive dots =1cm.
Bottom up from Line #2,3,4 is easy because there is no danger zone.
Start with Line#1. It has danger zone (red).

I want triangles of size 1 on line #1 (BC)
But there are two red zones.

So we can only use the three middle points D,E,F of line#1.
Total 3(n) middle points and we want line segment of 1cm
So we’ve to pick 2(k) consecutive points
Total selection
=n-k+1
=3-2+1
=2 triangles
In above figure you can see two of them yellow triangle. Notice that I’ve ignored green “top down” triangle. We’ll calculate all of the “top-down” triangles later.

The red zone doesn’t hurt us here.
Directly total points on Line#1= 5. So n=5.
We want triangle of size 2cm, therefore have to pick three consecutive dots so k=3
Total triangles
=n-k+1
=5-3+1
=3
I hope your concept is clear by now. Else re-read the article again upto this point. Because now I’m constructing a table to quickly finish the whole thing.

S3(n,k)
It says equilateral Triangle of Size 3cm.
To get a line segment of size 3 cm you’ve take 4 consecutive points, right?
so k is always “4” for this case.
The code will become S3(n,4)
The “n” (total dots) will vary according to line number 1,2,3,4

Line#1 was danger zone, so I carefully calculated it outside table.
But the remaining lines are easy. Now fill up the empty-cells by doing simple subtraction in your head.
For example line#3, S2(n,3)
S2(n,3)
=n-k+1
=(n+1)-k
Simply check (n+1) cell of Line3 and subtract (k=3) from it.
4-3=1. Write “1″ in the corresponding cell (highlighted in green). Repeat the procedure for all the remaining cells.

In some cells we got negative numbers, it simplify means those lines don’t have the ‘aukaat’ to construct the triangle of that size.
So, Discard those negative numbers or replace them with zeros.

			Triangles
Line number	Total Dots (n) on this line	n+1	S1(n,2)	S2(n,3)	S3(n,4)	S4(n,5)
1 (danger zone)	5	6	2	3	2	1
2	4	5	3	2	1	0
3	3	4	2	1	0	0
4	2	3	1	0	0	0
Total triangles	xxx	xxx	8	6	3	1

Add the last row
8+6+3+1=18
That means total 18 triangles from bottom-up.
But we have not yet counted the “top-down”
Now we go reverse: from line #4 towards line #2. The Line#1 is irrelevant here because we can’t construct a “Top-down” triangle on it.

Make a new table. Discard the cells where you get negative answer and replace it with zeros.
This time line #2 becomes danger zone. But as you can see, there is only one “top down” triangle possible, the green colored. So Line 2’s row is filled after manual verification.

Total of last row=4+1+0+0=5
Means there are 5 top-down triangles.

=bottom up triangles + top down triangles
=18+5
=23
Answer choice (c) There are 23 triangles in the given figure.
from MRUNAL'S BLOG

NATIONAL ACTION PLAN ON CLIMATE CHANGE:

http://www.indg.in/rural-energy/environment/national-action-plan-on-climate-change

2CROPPING PATTERNS IN INDIA

http://cab.org.in/Lists/Knowledge%20Bank/DispForm.aspx?ID=9

3INTER –STATE WATER DISPUTES

http://mowr.gov.in/index1.asp?linkid=151&langid=1

4BHARAT NIRMAN –IRRIGATION COMPONENT:
http://mowr.gov.in/bharatnirman/index.htm

5DROUGHTS:
http://mowr.gov.in/index2.asp?sublinkid=351&langid=1&slid=359

6
FLOOD AND CENTRALLY SPONSORED SCHEMES:
http://mowr.gov.in/index2.asp?sublinkid=352&langid=1&slid=353

GROUND WATER QUALITY IN INDIA:
7http://mowr.gov.in/index3.asp?sslid=801&subsublinkid=782&langid=1

8BILATERAL WATER TREATIES;
http://mowr.gov.in/index2.asp?sublinkid=365&langid=1&slid=368

9THE AIR (PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF POLLUTION) ACT, 1981 :

http://envfor.nic.in/legis/air/air1.html

10AGRI FINANCE IN INDIA ;
http://www.scribd.com/doc/19494126/Agriculture-Finance-in-India

11ORGANIC FARMING:
http://agritech.tnau.ac.in/org_farm/orgfarm_introduction.html

12
PUBLIC SECTOR POLLICY OF INDIA:
http://www.damodarcollege.org/dhiru_final/bavavol3.1.html

The Constitution (One Hundred and Fifteenth Amendment) Bill, 2011 seeks to introduce the Goods and Services Tax to give concurrent taxing powers to both the Union and States. The bill suggests the creation of Goods and Services Tax council and a Goods and Services Tax Dispute Settlement Authority.

The Bill seeks to amend the Constitution to provide for the introduction of a Goods and Services Tax (GST).
The Bill allows both Parliament and state legislatures to frame laws with respect to GST. Parliament will have the exclusive power to levy GST on imports and inter-state trade.
The Bill creates a Goods and Services Tax Council consisting of state Finance Ministers, the Union Finance Minister, and Union Minister of State for Revenue to make recommendations with respect to GST.
The Bill provides for a Dispute Settlement Authority to settle disputes between states or between states and the Union with regard to GST. Appeals from the Authority lie with the Supreme Court.
The Bill exempts certain commodities from GST, including petroleum products and alcoholic liquor for human consumption.

The GST Council will recommend harmonised tax rates, and disputes regarding these rates will be adjudicated by the Dispute Settlement Authority (with appeal to the Supreme Court). This structure, in which executive and judicial bodies determine tax rates, may impinge on the rights of legislatures.
The Bill seeks to amend the Constitution to provide that Parliament and state legislatures may both frame laws with regard to GST without providing for Parliamentary supremacy.
The GST Council shall make all decisions by “consensus”. It is unclear whether this may be interpreted as majority or unanimity.
The exclusion of certain commodities from GST is contrary to the recommendations of the Thirteenth Finance Commission and Department of Revenue.
The Bill constitutionally requires a “Union Finance Minister” and “Union Minister of State in charge of Revenue”. This could undermine the flexibility of the Prime Minister in forming a Council of Ministers.
******Impact of introducing a GST
Reduced cascading of taxes
Prior to the introduction of VAT, producers faced a burden of ‘tax on tax’. Producers procured input items upon which
taxes would have been paid. After production, the output value (inclusive of input costs) was taxed. As a result, the tax
paid on inputs was again taxed at the output stage. This cascading effect continued further down the chain of production,
resulting in a high tax burden on retail consumers and less competitive exports
However, the existing VAT regime is incomplete. Many taxes are not included within VAT.

These taxes continue to
have a cascading effect. Certain sectors are also exempt from VAT.

Exempt sectors cannot claim set-offs for VAT paid
on inputs, which leads to cascading.Introducing a GST would eliminate such cascading of taxes by
including all taxes, and all goods and services, under a VAT regime with set-offs across state and central jurisdictions
*******Simplification and harmonisation
Under the Constitution, states do not have the power to tax services. In many cases it is difficult to classify a product as
either a good or service, particularly due to recent advancements in technology. In addition, certain goods and services
are bundled as a single product. Distinguishing between goods and services complicates the taxation of these products.

Under GST, this distinction will no longer be required.
Redistribution of tax revenue across states
Currently, some taxes are levied by states, some by the centre, and some by both. Introduction of a GST will change
these mechanisms and may lead to redistribution of tax revenue across states as well as between the centre and the states.

The Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2011 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on November 28, 2011 by Ms. Ambika Soni, Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting. The Bill amends the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995, and repeals the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Amendment Ordinance, 2011.

The Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 requires and provides a mechanism for registration of all cable operators. The Act empowers the central government to appoint a registering authority to review applications and grant registrations.

Image Credit: www.ap.nic.in

The Act defines ‘pay channels’ as channels for which ‘addressable systems’ are required to be attached to the set top box. The Bill redefines ‘pay channels’ to mean channels for which the cable operator pays the broadcaster and the broadcaster’s permission is required for transmission of the channel.

An addressable system consists of electronic devices in an integrated system through which signals of cable television can be sent. In the Act, the addressable system could transmit signals that were both encrypted and decrypted. However, under the Bill, the addressable system may only transmit encrypted signals.

The Act empowers the central government to make it obligatory for cable operators to transmit any pay channel through addressable systems. The Act also requires the cable operators to submit reports on the total number of subscribers, subscription rates, and the number of subscribers for free-to-air and pay channels.

The Bill would empower the central government to issue notifications requiring all cable operators to transmit any channel, including free-to-air channels, in an encrypted form through a digital addressable system. The cable operators will be given a minimum of six months to install the equipment required for such transmission. In the interim, in order to be registered, new cable operators would have to make an undertaking to transmit channels in encrypted form.

The central government may direct the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to specify the free-to-air channels to be included in the basic service tier. It may also direct TRAI to specify the tariff rate at which the cable operators would provide basic service tier to the consumer.

Under the Bill, a cable operator may lay cables and erect posts on public property upon receiving permission from the relevant public authority. The public authority may impose a liability to pay expenses, and conditions on the time and mode of execution of such work on the cable operator. This right of way is subject to the cable operator’s obligation of restoration of property.

The Bill would empower the registration authority to refuse registration if the cable operator does not meet eligibility requirements that may be prescribed under the amended Act. The central government may prescribe additional eligibility criteria related to matters such as, sovereignty, integrity and security of India, public order, decency and morality.

The decisions of the registering authority to refuse grant or renewal of registration may be appealed against before the central government.

The Bill would authorise the central government to inspect cable networks and services. Prior notice may not be given to the cable operator or broadcaster if it would defeat the purpose of the inspection.

The Act authorised the seizure of the cable operators’ equipment if the cable operator violates provisions of the Act. This per
The Bill would empower the central government to revoke or suspend a cable operator’s registration if he violates the terms of registration. Prior to taking such action, the cable operator has to be given an opportunity to be heard.

The variety of life on Earth, its biological diversity, is commonly referred to as biodiversity. The number of species of plants, animals, and microorganisms, the enormous diversity of genes in these species, the different ecosystems on the planet, such as deserts, rainforests and coral reefs are all part of a biologically diverse Earth

Biodiversity boosts ecosystem productivity where each species, no matter how small, all have an important role to play.

For example,

A larger number of plant species means a greater variety of crops
Greater species diversity ensures natural sustainability for all life forms
Healthy ecosystems can better withstand and recover from a variety of disasters.

And so, while we dominate this planet, we still need to preserve the diversity in wildlife.

Total Triangles=Consecutive dots (n,k)

Line number

Total Dots (n) on this line

1 (danger zone)

While there might be “survival of the fittest” within a given species, each species depends on the services provided by other species to ensure survival. It is a type of cooperation based on mutual survival and is often what a “balanced ecosystem” refers to.

A healthy biodiversity offers many natural services

A healthy biodiversity provides a number of natural services for everyone:

Ecosystem services, such as
- Protection of water resources
- Soils formation and protection
- Nutrient storage and recycling
- Pollution breakdown and absorption
- Contribution to climate stability
- Maintenance of ecosystems
- Recovery from unpredictable events
Biological resources, such as
- Food
- Medicinal resources and pharmaceutical drugs
- Wood products
- Ornamental plants
- Breeding stocks, population reservoirs
- Future resources
- Diversity in genes, species and ecosystems
Social benefits, such as
- Research, education and monitoring
- Recreation and tourism
- Cultural values

That is quite a lot of services we get for free!

The cost of replacing these (if possible) would be extremely expensive. It therefore makes economic and development sense to move towards sustainability.

A report from Nature magazine also explains that genetic diversity helps to prevent the chances of extinction in the wild (and claims to have shown proof of this).

To prevent the well known and well documented problems of genetic defects caused by in-breeding, species need a variety of genes to ensure successful survival. Without this, the chances of extinction increases.

And as we start destroying, reducing and isolating habitats, the chances for interaction from species with a large gene pool decreases.