GK-Questions

1.Who is the father of Geometry?


2.The Homolographic projection has the correct representation of

3.Who invented the BALLPOINT PEN?

4.B. C. Roy Award is given in the field of

5.Who wrote the famous book - 'We the people'?

6.Which of the following is not a chief organ of the United Nations Organisations?

7.The Battle of Plassey was fought in

8.The name of the Laccadive, Minicoy and Amindivi islands was changed to Lakshadweep by an Act of Parliament in

9.Development expenditure of the Central government does not include

10.The Paithan (Jayakwadi) Hydro-electric project, completed with the help of Japan, is on the river

11.The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology is situated at

12.Rabindranath Tagore's 'Jana Gana Mana' has been adopted as India's National Anthem. How many stanzas of the said song were adopted?

13.The first death anniversary day of Sri Rajiv Gandhi was observed as the

14.Brass gets discoloured in air because of the presence of which of the following gases in air?





ANSWERS

1.Euclid

2.Area

3.Biro Brothers

4.Medicine

5.Nani Palkhivala

6.International Labour Organisation

7.1757

8.1973

9.Defence expenditure

10.Godavari

11.Hyderabad

12.Only the first stanza

13.Anti-Terrorism Day

14.Hydrogen sulphide

WRITS

Writs - Provisions in Indian Constitution

The Indian Constitution empowers the Supreme Court to issue writs as mentioned above for enforcement of any of the fundamental rights conferred by Part III of Indian Constitution. (Article 32) Thus the power to issue writs is primarily a provision made to make available the Right to Constitutional Remedies to every citizen. The Right to Constitutional Remedies, as we know, is a guarantor of all other fundamental rights available to the people of India.
In addition to the above, the Constitution also provides for the Parliament to confer on the Supreme Court power to issue writs, for purposes other than those mentioned above.
Similary High Courts in India are also empowered to issue writs for the enforcement of any of the rights conferred by Part III and for any other purpose.

Types of Writs

There are five types of Writs - Habeas Corpus, Mandamus, Prohibition, Certiorari and Quo warranto.

1. Habeas Corpus

"Habeas Corpus" is a Latin term which literally means "you may have the body." The writ is issued to produce a person who has been detained , whether in prison or in private custody, before a court and to release him if such detention is found illegal.

2. Mandamus

Mandamus is a Latin word, which means "We Command". Mandamus is an order from the Supreme Court or High Court to a lower court or tribunal or public authority to perform a public or statutory duty. This writ of command is issued by the Supreme Court or High court when any government, court, corporation or any public authority has to do a public duty but fails to do so.

3. Certiorari

Literally, Certiorari means to be certified. The writ of certiorari can be issued by the Supreme Court or any High Court for quashing the order already passed by an inferior court, tribunal or quasi judicial authority. There are several conditions necessary for the issue of writ of certiorari

1. There should be court, tribunal or an officer having legal authority to determine the question with a duty to act judicially.
2. Such a court, tribunal or officer must have passed an order acting without jurisdiction or in excess of the judicial authority vested by law in such court, tribunal or officer.
3. The order could also be against the principles of natural justice or the order could contain an error of judgment in appreciating the facts of the case.

4. Prohibition

The Writ of prohibition means to forbid or to stop and it is popularly known as 'Stay Order'. This writ is issued when a lower court or a body tries to transgress the limits or powers vested in it. The writ of prohibition is issued by any High Court or the Supreme Court to any inferior court, or quasi judicial body prohibiting the latter from continuing the proceedings in a particular case, where it has no jurisdiction to try. After the issue of this writ, proceedings in the lower court etc. come to a stop.
Difference between Prohibition and Certiorari:

1. While the writ of prohibition is available during the pendency of proceedings, the writ of certiorari can be resorted to only after the order or decision has been announced.
2. Both the writs are issued against legal bodies.

5. The Writ of Quo-Warranto

The word Quo-Warranto literally means "by what warrants?" or "what is your authority"? It is a writ issued with a view to restrain a person from holding a public office to which he is not entitled. The writ requires the concerned person to explain to the Court by what authority he holds the office. If a person has usurped a public office, the Court may direct him not to carry out any activities in the office or may announce the office to be vacant. Thus High Court may issue a writ of quo-warranto if a person holds an office beyond his retirement age.

Writs in brief

Type of Writ	Meaning of the word	Purpose of issue
Habeas Corpus	You may have the body	To release a person who has been detained unlawfully whether in prison or in private custody.
Mandamus	We Command	To secure the performance of public duties by lower court, tribunal or public authority.
Certiorari	To be certified	To quash the order already passed by an inferior court, tribunal or quasi judicial authority.
Prohibition	-	To prohibit an inferior court from continuing the proceedings in a particular case where it has no jurisdiction to try.
Quo Warranto	What is your authority?	To restrain a person from holding a public office which he is not entitled.

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Objective Questions on Writs

1. Which of the following writs is said to be a guarantor of personal freedom?

1. Mandamus
2. Quo Warranto
3. Habaes Corpus
4. Certiorari

2. Which of the following writs can be used against a person believed to be holding a public office he is not entitled to hold?

1. Mandamus
2. Quo Warranto
3. Habaes Corpus
4. Certiorari

3. The power to issue writs has been envisaged under the provisions of which of the following fundamental rights?

1. Right to Equality
2. Right to Freedom
3. Right to Constitutional Remedies
4. Right against Exploitation

4. Which of the following writs can be issued to force a public authority to perform a public or statutory duty.?

1. Mandamus
2. Habeas Corpus
3. Certiorari
4. Quo Warranto

5. Match the names of writs in List I with their meanings in List II.

Type of Writ List I	Meaning of the word List II
1. Habeas Corpus	A. We Command
2. Mandamus	B. What is your authority?
3. Certiorari	C. You may have the body
4. Quo Warranto	D. To be certified

1. 1 - B; 2 - D; 3 - A; 4 - C
2. 1 - B; 2 - A; 3 - D; 4 - C
3. 1 - C; 2 - D; 3 - A; 4 - B
4. 1 - C; 2 - A; 3 - D; 4 - B

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Difference Between CPI, CPM and other Communist Parties of India

What is the ideological difference between CPI and CPM? or isn't there any difference?

The Split of CPI, CPM

• CPI=Communist Party of India, CPM =Communist Party of India (Marxist)
• Official reason: After the Sino-India war of 1962, The Pro-Chinese members of CPI, walked out to form their own party CPI (Marxist) due to the ideological differences with the parent organization.
• In terms of Seats won in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and State assembly elections, CPM is stronger party than CPI.

Other Differences

	CPI	CPM (Marxist)
Leaders	A.B.Bardhan D.Raja	Prakash & Brinda Karat Sitaram Yechuri Buddhadeb Bhattachrya (Ex-CM of Bengal)
Election Symbol	Sickle and a cob of Wheat	Hammer, Sickle and Star.
Ideology	National Democracy Joint Leadership of Working class+ Bourgeoisie	People’s Democracy: Leadership of Working class only.
Power (Becoming Ministers)	Don’t mind becoming part of Government run by other coalition partners (Congress et al).	Don’t want to be part of any Government unless we enjoy majority in parliament/SLA.

CPI (Marxist and Leninist)

• Formed in 1969
• Leaders: Kanu Sanyal, Charu-Majmudaar.
• Responsible for the Naxalite movement of 70s.
• Later after splits and mergers among different groups: it became PWG (People’s War group).

CPI (Maoist)

• Founded in 2004, After merger of PWG with MCC (Maoist Communist Centre of India)
• Leader: Muppala Lakshmana Rao (Ganapati)
• It aims to overthrow Government of India via violent means.
• It is a banned organization under Unlawful activities prevention act.

Situation in Kerala

LDF (Left Democratic Front)

• It is the coalition of CPI, CPM and other leftist parties in Kerala. (Just like UPA at Centre).
• VS Achyutanand was their leader and CM.

UDF (United Democratic Front)

• Coalition of Congress, Indian Union muslim league et al
• It defeated LDF in 2011 Kerala State assembly elections, and Oman Chandy of Congress became the new CM of Kerala.

[Economy Q] Basel III Norms: Tier 1 and Tier 2 Capital meaning use

[Economy Q] Basel III Norms: Tier 1 and Tier 2 Capital meaning use

• Keep in mind friends, for a regular Government job recruitment exam [UPSC, State PSC] or MBA admission GDPI, you need to have only a basic idea about BASEL. No need to dwell into extreme details such as exact numbers of Tier 1 and Tier 2, credit valuation adjustment or Net Stable Funding Ratio.

What is BASEL?

It is a city in Switzerland.

Why Do we Need BASEL norms?

Consider these cases

ICICI bank collapse hoax

• Back in 2003, Someone started a rumor in Ahmedabad that ICICI bank is going to collapse. Suddenly thousands of panicked account holders lined up at the nearest ICICI branch to take out their money and hence there was such a money-shortage in ICICI's Ahmedabad branches, they had to actually call up trucks loaded with cash from their Mumbai branches.
• Things settled out after a while and it was confined only to a few cities of Gujarat, but if it was an entire-countrywide hoax, just imagine the fallout!

SBI: Imaginary case

• SBI takes deposits from you and me, pays us 7% interest rate, and gives same money as loan to car-home seekers, businessmen etc at 12% interest rate, thus earning 5% in profit.
• SBI gave Rs.1500 as loan to Kingfisher.
• SBI gave loan of Rs.4500 crores to Telecom players for 2G auction and now the licenses are cancelled.
• What if  those telecom players run away without paying back the loan and Kingfisher goes broke?
• Adding insult to the injuries, someone starts a systematic campaign on facebook and twitter to spread rumors that SBI itself is going to collapse.
• Lakhs of middleclass account holders will run to the nearest SBI branch to take out their deposited money (as it happened in ICICI, Ahmedabad in 2003 in real-life).
• Overnight entire banking sector will collapse and You already know about the sub-prime crisis etc: the aftershocks were felt everywhere in every sector.

Here comes BASEL in picture

• The BASEL Norm is kinda safeguards / backup plan for Banking sector.
• It provides internationally accepted detailed guidelines about how much money should a bank keep aside, to deal with such financial crisis.
• Even if loan-takers run away without paying, Bank should have money to give back to deposit holders.
• More risk the bank takes, more money it has to keep aside in reserve to counter the risk.

What is Tier 1 and Tier 2 Capital?

• Tier 1 and 2 capital is way too technical and detailed, to be asked in a routine Government recruitment exam for Generalist posts, so not much point in getting to that depth and numbers. But still for the sake of discussion:
• Capital= Wealth in form of Money, Property, Bonds etc.
• As we saw earlier, banks need to keep some money aside to deal with crisis. It meant the word "capital".
• If bank keeps aside capital, in form of real-estate investment (say buying 5 farm houses) then during the crisis, it won't be easy to sell away farm-houses and get money within a day or two. So this 'Capital' is not 'liquid'.

Tier 1 and 2 is way of classifying the capital of a bank.

Tier 1

Easily liquid. For example

• currency notes and coins in the bank value
• Stocks held by Bank, can be easily sold off in share-market.

Tier 2

• Not easily Liquid, for example the building or land owned by the bank.

For BASEL norm will be something like this
[technically totally incorrect, just for the purpose of basic understanding]

1. If a Bank loans 1 crore rupee to a company with "B" Credit Rating, it must keep capital worth 20 lakhs aside for crisis.
2. And out of that 20 lakhs, Rs. 15 lakhs must in form of Tier 1 Capital and 5 lakhs can be in form of Tier 2.
3. If the Company has credit rating of "AAA" then Capital worth Rs.xyz and so on.....

Governor of RBI signs on this BASEL agreement, comes back home and forces all the Indian banks to follow these norms. Same thing will be done by French, Chinese, Americans etc. and thus banks in every country will function prudently thus preventing another Global financial crisis.
Latest is BASEL III accord, came in 2010. It has stringent provisions keeping in mind the sub-prime crisis.

Criticism of BASEL

1. One shoe doesn't fit all. 
2. Just because American Banks were so imprudent in their functioning and ran into trouble, doesn't mean WE the Indian banks need be so overcautious and keep so much of money aside for 'safety', it could be used for giving loans to needy people.
3. Already existing complex Monetary policies of Central Banks in each country (example RBI's CRR, SLR, Repo etc.) make it difficult to uniformly implement BASEL norms.