ALL COMPETITIVE GURU

HUSH - A TIKULI POETRY

2010-07-01T12:06:00.000-07:00

Hush

She stood on the edge
overlooking the valley.
Her elegant frame silhouetted
in the moonlit night.
Her intense eyes,
Pregnant with grief and pain.
Her gaze,
Penetrating into the quite lugubrious abyss.
The maelstrom inside her,
resounding in the stillness of the night.
Nothing is moving, not even the dewdrops
hanging precariously from the leaves.
A small cub rests in peace
cuddled between her paws.
It’s body cold as ice.
They had been there together
just one night
both mother and child.
Slowly she slumps beside the lifeless child
and licks the furry body.
Tucking it closer with her paws
she embraces it for One last time.
The forest watches quiescent.

- A poem by Tikuli.

RATAN N. TATA - TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICE - CHAIRMAN

2010-06-09T00:43:00.000-07:00

Ratan N Tata
(Chairman)

Ratan N Tata has been the Chairman of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group, since 1991. He is also the Chairman of the major Tata companies including Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Power, Tata Tea, Tata Chemicals, Indian Hotels and Tata Teleservices. During his tenure, the Group’s revenues have grown over 13-fold to annualized Group revenues of over $80 bn.

Ratan Tata joined the Tata Group in December 1962. After serving in various companies, he was appointed the Director-in-Charge of The National Radio & Electronics Company Limited (NELCO) in 1971. In 1981, he was named Chairman of Tata Industries, the Group’s other holding company, where he was responsible for transforming it into a Group strategy think-tank, and a promoter of new ventures in high technology businesses. He is also the Chairman of two of the largest private sector promoted philanthropic trusts in India.

Ratan Tata is associated with various organizations in India and abroad. He is the Chairman of the Government of India’s Investment Commission and a member of the Prime Minister’s Council on Trade and Industry, the National Hydrogen Energy Board and the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council. He also serves on the UK Prime Minister’s Business Council for Britain and the International Advisory Council of Singapore’s Economic Development Board. He is also on the international advisory boards of the Mitsubishi Corporation, the American International Group, JP Morgan Chase and Rolls Royce. He also serves on the board of directors of Fiat SpA and Alcoa.

Ratan Tata is President of the Court of the Indian Institute of Science and Chairman of the Council of Management of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of Cornell University and the University of Southern California. He is also a member of the Global Business Council on HIV/AIDS and the Program Board of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's India AIDS Initiative.

Ratan Tata received a Bachelor of Science degree in Architecture with Structural Engineering from Cornell University in 1962. He worked briefly with Jones and Emmons in Los Angeles, before returning to India in late 1962. He completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School in 1975.

The Government of India honored Ratan Tata with its second highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan, last year. He has also been conferred an honorary doctorate in Business Administration by the Ohio State University, an honorary doctorate in Technology by the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, an honorary doctorate in Science by the University of Warwick and the Indian Institutes of Technology of Kharagpur and Madras, and an honorary fellowship by the London School of Economics.

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RATAN N. TATA

BIHAR - AT A GLANCE

2010-06-09T00:16:00.000-07:00

History and Geography

Bihar finds mention in the Vedas, Puranas, epics, etc., and was the main scene of activities of Buddha, and 24 Jain Tirthankars. Great rulers of the State before the Christian era were Bimbisar, Udayin, who founded the city of Pataliputra. Chandragupta Maurya and Emperor Ashoka and Maurya dynasty, the Sungs and the Kanvas. Then came the Kushan rulers followed by Chandragupta Vikramaditya of the Gupta dynasty. Muslim rulers made in-roads into the territory during medieval period. The first conqueror of Bihar was Mohammed- bin-Bakhtiar Khalji. The Tughluqs and then the Mughals followed the Khaljis.

One of the major states of the Indian Union, Bihar is bounded on the north by Nepal, on the east by West Bengal, on west by Uttar Pradesh and on the south by Jharkhand. Bihar has a number of rivers, the most important of which is the Ganga. The other rivers are the Sone, Poonpoon, Falgu, Karmanasa, Durgawati, Kosi, Gandak, Ghaghara, etc.

Agriculture

Bihar has a total geographical area of about 93.60 lakh hectare, out of which only 56.03 lakh hectare is the net cultivated area and gross cultivated area being 79.46 lakh hectare. About 33.51 lakh hectare net area and 43.86 lakh hectare gross area receive irrigation from different sources. Principal food crops are paddy, wheat, maize and pulses. Main cash crops are sugarcane, potato, tobacco, oilseeds, onion, chillies, jute and roselle. Bihar has notified forest area of 6,764.14 sq. km, which is 7.1 per cent of its geographical area.

Industries

Major Industries are: Railway Wagon Plants of Bharat Wagon Limited at Muzaffarpur and Mokamah; Oil Refinery of Indian Oil Corporation at Barauni; Fertilizer Manufacturing Plant of HPCL at Barauni and PPCL at Amjhor; Cotton Spinning Mills at Siwan, Pandaul, Bhagalpur, Mokamah and Gaya; 13 sugar mills in private sector and 15 in the public sector located in south and north Bihar with a total crushing capacity of 45,000 TPD. In addition, distilleries at Gopalganj, West Champaran, Bhagalpur and Riga (in Sitamarhi district); Finished Leather Industry in West Champaran, Muzaffarpur and Barauni; Jute Mills at Katihar and Samastipur; Medicine Manufacturing Unit at Hajipur; Food Processing Units as also Vanaspati Manufacturing Units at Aurangabad and Patna; besides Kalyanpur Cement Limited at Banjari, are notable in the industrial map of Bihar.

Irrigation

Bihar has an irrigation potential of 28.63 lakh hectares. It is created through major and medium irrigation schemes and 48.97 lakh hectares through minor irrigation schemes.

Transport

Roads: Up to March 2008, Bihar had 45721.059 km of pucca roads including 3734.38 km of national highways and 3766.029 km of state highways, 7992.65 km of major District Roads, 2828.00 km. of other District Roads and 27400 km. of Rural Roads.

Railways: Bihar has a fairly good railway network. There is a railway bridge at Mokamaha in north Bihar. A few railway routes connecting important places like Muzaffarpur-Samastipur-Barauni-Katihar and Muzaffarpur-Chapra-Siwan have been converted into broad gauge. The main rail junctions are at Patna, Gaya, Muzaffarpur, Katihar and Samastipur, etc.

Aviation: There is an international airport at Patna, besides landing grounds in all major districts of the State.

Tourist Centres

Important places of tourist interest are Rajgir, Nalanda, Vaishali, Pawapuri (where Lord Mahavira breathed his last and attained Nirvana), Bodh Gaya, Vikramshila (ruins of Buddhist University of higher learning), Gaya, Patna (ancient city of Patliputra), Sasaram (tomb of Shershah Suri) and Madhubani (known for its famous Madhubani Paintings).

Mundeshwari Mandir (Kaimur), Rohtras Garh Fort (Rohtas), Jain Pilgrim Place, Kundalpur (Nalanda), Bihar School of Yoga (Munger), Manersharif Patna, Rural Tourist Place Nepura (Nalanda), Kesaria Stupa (East Champaran), Barabar Hills (Jehanabad) and Lauria Nandangarh are also important tourist places.

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BIHAR

ASSAM - AT A GLANCE

2010-06-05T08:36:00.000-07:00

History and Geography

The word 'Assam' as interpreted by some scholars is derived from the Sanskrit word Asoma meaning peerless or unparalleled. But the widely accepted opinion of the academic circles today is that the term has come from the original name of the Ahoms, who ruled the land for about six hundred years prior to its annexation by the British. The races like Austric, Mongolian, Dravidian and Aryan that came to this land long-long ago have contributed to its composite culture. Thus, Assam has a rich legacy of culture and civilization.

Assam was known as Pragjyotisha or the place of eastern astronomy during the epic period and later named as Kamrupa. The earliest epigraphic reference to the kingdom of Kamrupa is found in the Allahabad pillar inscription of king Samudragupta. Kamrupa is mentioned as a Pratyanta or frontier state outside the Gupta empire but with friendly and subordinate relation to it Hiuen Sang, the Chinese scholar pilgrim who visited Kamrupa in about 743 A.D. on an invitation of its monarch, Kumar Bhaskar Varman, left a record of the kingdom he called Kamolupa. Kamrupa also figured in the writings of the Arabian historian Alberuni in the eleventh century. Thus, from the epic period down to the twelfth century A.D., the eastern frontier kingdom was known as Pragjyotisha and Kamrupa and kings called themselves 'Lords of Pragjyotisha'.

The advent of the Ahoms across the eastern hills in 1228 A.D. was the turning point in Assam history. They ruled Assam nearly for six centuries. The Burmese entered through the eastern borders and overran the territory at a time when court intrigues and dissensions were sapping the vitality of the Ahom royalty. It became a British protectorate in 1826 when the Burmese ceded Assam to the British under the provision of the Treaty of Yandabo.

Assam is the sentinel of north-east India and gateway to the North-Eastern States. The State is close to India's international borders with Bangladesh and Bhutan. Assam is surrounded by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh on the north, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh on the east and Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram on the south.

Agriculture

Assam is an agricultural State. Agriculture occupies an important place in the economy of the State. The principal food crop is rice. The cash crops are jute, tea, cotton, oilseeds, sugarcane, potato, etc. Noteworthy horticulture items are orange, banana, pineapple, arecanut, coconut, guava, mango, jackfruit and citrus fruits. The State has an estimated 39.44 lakh hectares gross cropped area, of which net area sown is about 27.01 lakh hectares.

Forests

Assam is known for her rich forest wealth which constituted 22.21 per cent of the total forest area.

Wildlife

The State has five National Parks and eleven wildlife sanctuaries. The Kaziranga National Park and the Manas Tiger Project (National Park) are internationally famous for one horned Rhino and Royal Bengal Tiger respectively.

Industry

Of agriculture-based industries, tea occupies an important place. There are six industrial growth Centres in the State. A CIPET has been established at Amingaon near Guwahati. Assam has always enjoyed the highest reputation for her arts and crafts associated with her cottage industries. Cottage industries include handloom, sericulture, cane and bamboo articles, carpentry, brass and bell-metal crafts. Assam produces varieties of silk, Endi, Muga, Tassar, etc. Muga silk is produced only in Assam in the world.

Irrigation and Power

The major power stations are Chandrapur Thermal Project, Namrup Thermal Project and a few Mobile Gas Turbine Units along with a mini hydro-electric project. Revitalising the Thermal Power Station of Bongaigaon and completing the Karbi-Langpi Project will boost the power supply in the State. Approval has been received for Tipaimukh Dam Project.

Transport

Roads: The total length of roads in the State was 37,515 km which includes 2,754 kms of National Highways. The construction of 160 km of barbed wire fencing and 27 kms of the border road along the Indo-Bangladesh International have been completed.

Railways: The length of railway tract in Assam is 2,284.28 kms comprising 1,227.16 kms under broad-gauge and 1,057.12 km under meter-gauge lines.

Aviation: The regular civil air services operate from Lokopriya Gopinath Bordoloi Airport (Guwahati), Salonibari (Tezpur), Mohanbari (Dibrugarh), Kumbhirgram (Silchar), Rawriah (Jorhat) and Silonibari (North Lakhimpur).

FESTIVALS

Assam has an exclusive range of colourful festivals. Bihu is the chief festival celebrated on the three occasions. Rongali Bihu or Bohag Bihu marks the advent of the cropping season and it also ushers in the Assamese New Year. Bhogali Bihu or Magh Bihu is the harvest festival and Kati Bihu or Kongali Bihu coming in autumn is a simple affair.

Religion accounts for a large variety of festivals. Vaishnavites observe birth and death anniversaries of prominent Vaishnava saints through day-long singing of hymns and staging of Bhaonas (theatrical performances in traditional style). Ambubachi in Kamakhya shrine, Sivaratri Mela at Umananda and other places near Siva temples, Durga Puja, Diwali, Dol-Jatra, Id, Christmas, Ashokastami Mela, Rash Mela, Parasuram Mela are other religious festivals.

TOURISM

Important places of tourism in and around Guwahati are Kamakhya temple, Umananda (Peacock Island), Navagraha (temple of nine planets), Basistha Ashram, Dolgobinda, Gandhi Mandap, State Zoo, State Museum, Sukreswar temple, Gita Mandir, Madan Kamdev temple, a magnificent archaeological place of interest, and Saraighat bridge.

Other places of tourist interest in the State are: Kaziranga National Park (famous for one horned rhino), Manas Tiger Project, Pobi-tora and Orang (wildlife sanctuaries), Sibsagar (Shiv Temple-Rangghar-Karengghar), Tezpur (Bhairavi temple and scenic beauty), Bhalukpung (Angling), Haflong (health resort with Jatinga hills), Majuli (largest river island in the world), Chandubi lake (picnic spot), Hajo (meeting point of Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam), Batadrava (birth place of great Vaishnava saint Sankaradeva) and Sualkuchi (famous for silk industry).

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ASSAM

ARUNACHAL PRADESH - AT A GLANCE

2010-06-05T08:31:00.000-07:00

History and Geography

Arunachal Pradesh, the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency shares international boundaries with Bhutan, Tibet, China and Myanmar to the west, north-east, north and east respectively, and the state boundaries with Assam and Nagaland. The terrain consists of submontane and mountainous ranges, sloping down to the plains of Assam, divided into valleys by the rivers Kameng, Subansiri, Siang, Lohit and Tirap.

There are practically no records relating to the history of this area, except some oral literature and a number of historical ruins found mainly in the foothills. Subsequent explorations and excavations have identified the ruins as dating approximately from the early Christian era. The historical evidence indicates that not only was the area well known, but the people living here had close relations with the rest of the country too.

Modern history of Arunachal Pradesh begins with the inception of British rule in Assam after the treaty of Yandaboo, concluded on 24 February 1826.

Before 1962, the area was popularly known as the NEFA, and was constitutionally a part of Assam. Because of its strategic importance, however, it was administered by the Ministry of External Affairs until 1965, and subsequently by the Ministry of Home Affairs, through the Governor of Assam. In 1972, it was constituted as a Union Territory and renamed Arunachal Pradesh. On 20 February 1987, it became the 24^th state of the Indian Union.

Festivals

Some of the important festivals of the State are: Mopin and Solung of the Adis, Lossar of the Monpas and Boori-boot of the Hill Miris, Sherdukpens, Dree of the Apatanis, Si-Donyi of the Tagins, Reh of the ldu-Mishmis, Nyokum of the Nishs, etc. Animal sacrifice is a common ritual in most festivals.

Agriculture and Horticulture

Agriculture is the mainstay of the people of Arunachal Pradesh, and had mainly depended on jhum cultivation. Encouragement is being given to the cultivation of cash crops like potatoes and horticulture crops like apples, oranges and pineapples.

Industries and Minerals

For conservation and explorations of vast minerals, the APMDTCL were set up in 1991. Namchik-Namphuk coal fields are taken up by APMDTCL. To provide training to craftsmen in different trades, there are five Government Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) functioning in the state at Roing, Tabarijo, Dirang, Yupia & Miao. ITI Yupia, located at Papum Pare District it is the only ITI exclusive to Women in Arunachal Pradesh.

Irrigation and Power

An area of more than 87,500 hectares has been irrigated in Arunachal Pradesh. The installed capacity of the State is about 30,735 MW. Around 2,600 villages have been electrified out of 3,649 villages in the State.

Transport

Roads: Arunachal Pradesh has 330 km of national highway.

Tourist Centres

Places of tourist interest are: Tawang, Dirang, Bomdila, Tipi, Itanagar Malinithan, Likabali, Pasighat, Along, Tezu, Miao, Roing, Daporijo Namdapha, Bhismaknagar, Parashurarn Kund and Khonsa.

Panchayati Raj

The Arunachal Pradesh State Election Commission in support of State Govt. has successfully conducted and completed Panchayati Raj Elections in the State in the month of May 2008 for speedy development in the village and grass root level.

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ARUNACHAL PRADESH

CHHATTISGARH - AT A GLANCE

2010-06-05T08:19:00.000-07:00

History and Geography

Chhattisgarh, carved out of Madhya Pradesh came into being on 1 November 2000 as the 26^th State of the Union. It fulfills the long-cherished demand of the tribal people. In ancient times the region was known as Dakshin-Kausal. This finds mention in Ramayana and Mahabharata also. Between the sixth and twelfth centuries Sarabhpurias, Panduavanshi, Somvanshi, Kalchuri and Nagvanshi rulers dominated this region. Kalchuris ruled in Chhattisgarh from 980 to 1791 A.D. With the advent of Britishers in 1854, Raipur gained prominence instead of capital Ratanpur. In 1904, Sambalpur was transferred to Orissa and estates of Sarguja were transferred from Bengal to Chhattisgarh.

Chhattisgarh is bounded by southern Jharkhand and Orissa in the east, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra in the west, Uttar Pradesh and western Jharkhand in the north and Andhra Pradesh in the south. Areawise Chhattisgarh is the ninth largest state and population-wise it is seventeenth state of the nation.

Agriculture

Agriculture and allied activities account for nearly 80 per cent of the work force in the state. Out of the geographical area 13,790 thousand hectares, gross cropped area is about 35 per cent of the total geographical area. Kharif is the main cropping season. Rice is the predominant crop of the state; other important crops are maize, wheat, niger, groundnut and pulses. The state has one of the biggest collections of rice germ plasm. Horticulture crops are grown in an area of about 303.57 thousand hectares.

Industry

Chhattisgarh is generously bestowed with natural resources like forests, minerals and surface water. The State has undergone a radical change and is thriving with industrial activities now. Chhattisgarh produces 15 per cent of the steel made in the country. Many Government of India Undertakings like Bhilai Steel Plant, National Mineral Development Corporation, South-Eastern Coal Field Limited, NTPC and a number of large cement plants by groups like ACC, Gujarat Ambuja, Grasim, CCI and La-farge of France and 53 steel projects (sponge iron/pig iron route) in private sector are also under different stages of implementation. There are approximately 133 steel re-rolling mills and a number of mini steel plants. The state also boasts of 11 ferroalloy units, steel/cast iron casting units, engineering and fabrication units apart from large number of agro-based and food processing, chemical, plastic, construction material, forest produce based units.

Due to its conducive industrial environment, Chhattisgarh is now fetching huge amount of industrial investment. Approximately 80 MOUs worth Rs. 85,000 cores were signed for establishing new industries and expansion of existing units. Chhattisgarh stood first in IEM report released by Ministry of Industries, Government of India with the proposed investment of Rs. 1,07,899 crores during the period Jan-Dec 2006.

Strategically located in central India, Chhattisgarh is able to supply power to units for all the time. About 17 per cent of the countries coal reserves in the state, offering cheap pithead power generation opportunities with the potential to produce up to 50,000 MW of power. NTPC is now installing a new power generation unit, the largest ever, by it in Bilaspur district. NTPC has started construction on its 2,640 MW Super Thermal plant in Sipat and another 600 MW plant in Korba. Several other states are also interested in installing plants here. Private sector MoUs for more than 25,000 MW and more projects are in the pipeline. Chhattisgarh State Industrial Development Corp. Ltd., Raipur has developed, maintained and is managing approximately an area of 3,500 hectares of industrial land. More than 925 industries with investments of more than Rs. 18,000 million providing direct employment to 80,000 persons have already been setup on the land developed by this corporation.

Information Technology

E-Governance in Chhattisgarh is oriented towards ensuring people, access to government; this makes the government even more responsive and transparent. Chips was setup with a high powered governing council under the Chief Minister's chairpersonship, to act as a prime mover for IT and Biotechnology in the state. All citizen services of e-governance are under one umbrella project called CHOICE.

Chhattisgarh got the UNDP Award 2007 for its Human Development Report, using Information technology for the betterment of citizens.

Mineral Resources

Chhattisgarh hosts a wide variety of minerals found in igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic terrains. Large deposits of coal, iron ore, Limestone, Bauxite, Dolomite and Tin ore are located in several parts of the state. Lately, Diamondiferous Kimberlites identified in Raipur district are likely to yield substantial quantity of Diamonds. Medium to small deposits of gold, base metals, quartzite, soap stone, Fluroite, Corrundum, Graphite, Lepidolite, Amblygonite of workable size are also likely to graduate to the category of large deposits after prospecting. Twenty per cent of the country's steel and cement is produced in the State. It is the only tin-ore producing state in the country. The mineral resources have immense potential for large investment in mining, setting of mineral based industries and generating employment. Chhattisgarh is nestling atop the world's largest Kimberlite area. Eight blocks have been demarcated for diamond exploration. Apart from diamond, four blocks of gold exploration and five blocks for base metal investigation have been demarcated.

Irrigation and Power

When the state came into being, the total irrigation capacity was 13.28 lakh hectares (as on 1 November 2000). After that, 1.25 lakh hectare additional capacity was created within 2 years and nine months, by mobilising resources of various departments and public participation, construction of 50,000 debris on the farmer's land, a total of 5 lakh hectare additional capacity had been created. Major completed projects are Tandula, Kodar and Pairy. Hasdev, Mahanadi Reservoir Project, Sondhur and Jonk are some of the other projects.

The total capacity of State Electricity Board is 1,381.05 MW, out of which the thermal power share is 1,260 MW and rest is hydel power. The state government has introduced a very pro-active power policy under which the public sector represented by the Chhattisgarh state electricity board, as well as the private sector have well defined roles to play. Around 93 per cent of 19,720 inhabited villages of Chhattisgarh have been electrified.

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CHHATTISGARH

ANDHRA PRADESH - AT A GLANCE

2010-06-05T08:16:00.000-07:00

History and Geography

The earliest mention of the Andhras is said to be in Aitereya Brahmana (2000 B.C.). It indicates that the Andhras, originally an Aryan race living in north India migrated to south of the Vindhyas and later mixed with non-Aryans. Regular history of Andhra Desa, according to historians, begins with 236 B.C., the year of Ashoka's death. During the following centuries, Satavahanas, Sakas, Ikshvakus, Eastern Chalukyas, Kakatiyas ruled the Telugu country. Other dynasties that ruled over the area in succession were the kingdoms of Vijayanagar and Qutub Shahi followed by Mir Qumruddin and his successors, known as the Nizams. Gradually, from the 17^th century onwards, the British annexed territories of the Nizam and constituted the single province of Madras.

After Independence, Telugu-speaking areas were separated from the composite Madras Presidency and a new Andhra State came into being on 1 October 1953. With the passing of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, there was a merger of Hyderabad State and Andhra State, and consequently Andhra Pradesh came into being on 1 November 1956.

Andhra Pradesh is bound on the north by Orissa and Chhattisgarh, on the west by Maharashtra and Karnataka, on the south by Tamil Nadu and on the east by the Bay of Bengal with a coastline of 974 km.

Agriculture

Agriculture is the main occupation of about 62 per cent of the people in Andhra Pradesh. Rice is a major food crop and staple food of the State contributing about 77 per cent of the foodgrain production. Other important crops are jowar, bajra, maize, ragi, small millets, pulses, castor, tobacco, cotton and sugarcane. Forests cover 23 per cent of the State's area. Important forest products are teak, eucalyptus, cashew, casurina, bamboo, softwood, etc.

The Government decided to arrange crop loans to the farmer at concessional rates of interest from the kharif season (2008) under the 'Pavala Vaddi' (3% rate of interest) scheme and also increased the loan amount to farmers from Rs. 23,000 crores in 2007-08 to Rs. 26,000 crores in 2008-09 to achieve the goal of increasing food grain production. Under the Centre's Rs. 60,000 crore loan waiver scheme. 77 lakh farmers of the State benefit to the tune of Rs. 12,000 crore. The prestigious 'Jalayagnam' project is designed by the Government to save the farmer from the vagaries of monsoons and provide assured irrigation facility to every acre of land. Farming in Andhra Pradesh today is so encouraging and remunerative that no farmer entertains farmers' suicides.

Irrigation

Important irrigation schemes implemented in the State are Vamsadhara Project Stage-I, Godavari Delta System, Yeleru Reservoir Project, Krishna Delta System, Pennar Delta System, Pennar River Canal System, Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy Sagar Project, Tungabhadra Project high level canal Stage-I, Tungabhadra Project low level canal, Sriramsagar Stage-I, Nizamsagar Project, Nagarjuna Sagar Project and Rajolibanda Diversion scheme.

Andhra Pradesh is the first state to involve the farmers in the management of irrigation sources.

Power

Important power projects in the State are: the Nagarjunasagar and Neelam Sanjiva Reddy Sagar (Srisailam Hydel Project), Upper Sileru, Lower Sileru, Tungabhadra Hydel projects and Nellore, Ramagundam, Kothagudem, Vijayawada and Muddanur thermal power projects. The Srisailam Hydro Electric project (Right Bank) with an installed capacity of 770 MW and the Srisailam Left Bank HES capacity of 900 MWMW are the principal sources of hydel generation. Vijayawada Thermal Power station with an installed capacity of 1,260 MW and Kothagudem Thermal Power station with an installed capacity of 1,200 MW are the main sources of thermal power generation. The 1,000 MWMW For massive capacity addition of 8860 MW, 17 new projects are programmed by APGENCO which are expected to complete within next five years. and the Nagarjunasagar complex with 960 coal-based Simhadri Thermal Power station aims at supplying the entire energy generated to the State. Installed capacity of the state as on May'08 is 12,382

Industry and Minerals

There are several major industries in operation around Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam. They manufacture machine tools, synthetic drugs, pharmaceuticals, heavy electrical machinery, fertilizers, electronic equipments, aeronautical parts, cement and cement products, chemicals, asbestos, glass and watches. Andhra Pradesh has the largest deposits of quality chrysolite asbestos in the country. Other important minerals found in the state are copper ore, manganese, mica, coal and limestone. The Singareni Coal Mines supply coal to the entire South India.

The State Government has been promoting the manufacturing sector in a big way by providing concessions in power tariff, allotting land and relaxing labour laws in SEZs. AP has promoted 71 SEZs of which 52 have been notified by the Government of India with an investment potential of Rs. 35,000 crore and creation of employment for 25 lakh persons.

According to RBI Report of August 2007, Andhra Pradesh ranked second among States in the Country in attracting investments of Rs. 25,173 crore in 2006-07. The Confederation of Indian Industry lauded Andhra Pradesh as the Best Performing State in the manufacturing sector.

Information Technology

Andhra Pradesh has been forging ahead in the sphere of Information Technology. It is ahead of other states in exploiting the opportunities to the hilt. The State Government has introduced many schemes to utilize the maximum number of skilled human resources in the I.T. Sector. During 2007-08 I.T. exports crossed Rs. 26,000 crores.

The Government is making efforts to spread I.T. to Tier II cities like Warangal, Tirupathi, Kakinada, Vishakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Guntur and Kadapa. As a result, job opportunities in the I.T. sector in Tier II cities have improved. The IIT coming up in Medak district will become operational from the coming academic year. Further, the Government succeeded in persuading BITS Pilani to open a campus in Hyderabad which will become operational from the coming academic year.

The Government is according top priority to I.T. development by creating the requisite infrastructure and setting up of 3 Indian Institutes of Information Technology (Idupulapaya in Kadapa District, Nuzvid in Krishna District and Basara in Adilabad District) under Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies to turn out qualified personnel.

Transport

Roads: National Highways passing through Andhra Pradesh constitute 4,647 km. There are 63,863 km of state roads including 10,412 km of State highways and 1,24,142 km of Panchayati Raj roads in the State as on March 2008.

Railways: Of the railways route covering 5,107 km in Andhra Pradesh, 4,633 km is broad-gauge, 437 km is metre-gauge and 37 km is narrow gauge.

Aviation: Important airports in the State are located at Hyderabad, Tirupathi and Visakhapatnam. International flights are operated from Hyderabad.

Ports: Visakhapatnam is a major port. There are minor ports in the State. Andhra Pradesh has emerged as the country's no. 2 in the share of Cargo handling and its capacity has gone up.

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ANDHRA PRADESH

SUNGAS (HISTORY OF INDIA)

2010-06-05T07:31:00.000-07:00

Saving Private Ryan (Sapphire Series) [Blu-ray]

SUNGAS

The Sunga rule, extending a little over a century, is in interlude in the history of India. There is nothing extraordinary about the political events associated with the Sungas. The significance of their history, on the other hand, primarily consists in the place they occupy in the social and cultural history of India.

The founder of the dynasty, Pushyamitra Sunga, overthrew the Mauryas; either in 187 B.C. or 184 B.C. After him there were nine other rulers. Among them, Agnimitra, Vasumitra, Bhagvata and Devabhumi were the prominent ones. The names of the first two were associated with some events in political history, whereas the latter two were known for their long rule, they being 32 and 10 years respectively.

There is some controversy about the identity of Pushyamitra Sunga. It was stated in a Sutra that he belonged to a family of teachers. Patanjali claims that he was a brahminor the Bhardwaja gotra. Ivyavadana stated that the Sungas were related to the Mauryas. A Malavikagnimitram refers to them as brahmins belonging to Kashyap gotra.

After the overthrow of Brihadrata, Pushyamitra Sunga waged a few wars to consolidate his position. Evidence shows that Pushyamitra Sunga defeated the Yavanas. This is confirmed by Patanjali's Mahabashva. And the claim made in the Hathigumpha inscription that Kharavela of Kalinga defeated Pushyamitra Sunga cannot be sustained because Kharavela ruled in the second half of the first century B.C. Later, Vasumitra, the grandson of Pushyamitra Sunga, defeated the Yavanas. This is confirmed by the Malavikaganimtiram and gargi Samhita. Both Agnimmitra and Veerasena fought against Vidarbha rule of the Sungas ended C. 75 B.C.

Some scholars regard that the establishment of Sunga dynasty ws symbolic of the brahminical reaction to the Mauryan bias towards Buddhism. Pushyamitra Sunga performed the vedic sacrifices of asvamedha, and the others like aginstoma, Rajasuya and vajpeiya. But some facts of his region clearly show that he did not persecute Buddhists. The claim of Divyavandana, that Pushyamitra Sunga destroyed 84,000 Buddhist stupas and slaughtered srameans, has no corroborative evidence. Interestingly, the sculptured stone gateway and the massive stone railing aroused Sanchi stupa were executed during the time of Pushyamitra Sunga. Also the Bharhut stupa and the sculpture relating to Jataka stories around it came into existence during the same period. One of the donors of Bharhut stupa was Champadevi wife of the Idisha King, who was a worshipper of Vishnu. This fact bears testimony to the high degree of tolerance prevailing during the period. (And some minor works of Sunga art are to be found at Mathura, Kausambi and Sarnath).

It at all there was anyting like persecution of Buddhists during the days of Pushyamitra Sunga, it could be in the context of Menander's invasion. May be, the Buddhists of India welcomed the invasion of Menander' and this might have resulted in Pushyamitra Sunga wrath falling on the Buddhists. Or, may be withdrawal of royal patronage with the coming of the Sungas apparently enraged the Buddhists and thus the Buddhists writers present an exaggerated account of their troubles.

The importance of the Sungas, therefore, was primarily in the context of cultural and social development. In the social field, the emergence of Hinduism had a wide impact. The Sungas attempted to revive the caste system with the social supremacy of the brahmins. This is more than evident in the work of Manu (Manusmriti) wherein he reassures the position of the brahmins in the fourfold society. Even then, the most significant development of the Sunga era was marked by various adjustment and adaptations leading to the emergence of mixed castes and the assimilation of the foreigners in India society. Thus we notice that Brahminism gradually transformed itself in a direction towards Hinduism.

In the field of literature Sanskrit gradually gained ascendancy and became the language of the court. Patanjali was patronized by Pushyamitra Sunga and he was the second great grammarian of Sanskrit. Patanjali refers to a Sanskrit poet, Varauchi, who wrote in the Kavya style and which was later perfected by Kalidasa. Some Buddhist works of this age were written in Sanskrit.

In the field of art, there was immediate reaction against the Buddhist era of the Mauryas. Nevertheless, there were certain differences. The Sunga art reflects more of the mind, culture, tradition and ideology than what the Mauryan art did. During the Sunga period, stone replaced wood in the railings and the gateways of the Buddhist stupas as noticed at Bharhut and Sanchi. Bharhut stupa is replete with sculptures - apart from floral designs, animal, figures, Yakshas and human figures. Even the stone railing around the Sanchi Stupa is in rich belief work. This age definitely witnessed the increasing use of symbols and human figures in architecture. Besides, the Sungas art is a manifestation of popular artistic genious - the artistic activity was because of the initiative of individuals, corporation or villages. A part of the gateway of Sanchi was constructed by the artisans of Vidisha. Even temple building began in this period. A Vishnu temple was build near Vidisha. There was an increase in the construction of rock-cut temple as noticed in the Chaitya Hall. In the temples and household worship we find the idols of Shiva and Vishnu.

All told the importance of the sunga dynasty lies in the restoration of Real politik while abandoning the asokan approach. In the cultural field the beginnings as well as accomplishments in sculpture and architecture are of tremendous significance. In the field of religion too they not only revived the earlier tradition but also gave an impetus to new approaches combative towards the heterodox sects the cult of katakana the god of war the resurgence of Bhagvata cult and the supremacy of Vasudeva in the Hindu pantheon.

PALLAVA SOCIETY (HISTORY OF INDIA)

2010-06-05T07:28:00.001-07:00

Kingston 4 GB Class 4 SDHC Flash Memory Card SD4/4GB

PALLAVA SOCIETY

The Pallavas political history covering four centuries is tortous and complex but their contribution to society is singnificant in two ways - comletion of Aryanisation of southern India, and consmation of traditional or indigenous art.

The Aryanisation of south India as completed during the period of the Pallavas. Their grants show that the Aryan structure of society has gained frim hold on the south by the sixth century. Grants to brahmins are specifically mentioned which show that the north Indian Dharma Sastras had acquired authority in the Pallava kingdom. Sanskrit had established its sway. The university of Kanchi played to doubt a great part in India, and we know from Hiuen-Tsang that it was the greatest center of education in the south. Vatsyayana, the logician, the author of Nyaya Bhashya who lived in the fourth century. A.D, seems tohave been Pandit of Kanchi. Denage the famous Buddhist dialectian is also said to have had his training in the souther capital. In the fifth century we have epigraphic record of Nayurrasarman of the Kadamba family going for higher studies to Kanchi. In fact it can ligtimately be calimed that Kanchi of the Paalvas was the great center from which the Sanksritisation of the south as well as the Indian colonies in the far-east proceeded.

Pallavas were orthdox Hindus and they patronized the great reformation of the medival ages. Most of the kings ere brahminical Hindus devoted to the worship of Shiva. Mahendravarman was the first, who about the middle of his reign, adopted the worship of Siva and he was influenced by the famous saints of the age. He showed reverence to other Hindu gods also. But, he was intolerant of Jainism and destroyed some Jain monastries. Some Vaishnava and Saiva saints lived during his time. In general, the Pallavas were tolerant to other sects. Buddhism and Jainism lost their appeal. Indeed Hiuen-Tsang saw at Kanchi one hundred Buddhist monastries and 10,000 priests belonging to the Mahayana school but this has to be taken with a pinch of salt.

In general, the vedic tradition was super imposed on the local traditions, As brahmins were custodians of Vedic tradition, they automaticalldy enjoyed privillages. The Vedic tradition, a little later, received stimulus because of Sankarcharya. The Temples were the focal points. The out-castes were not permitted to enter the precincts of the temple.

Even then, Tamil saints of the 6th and 7th centuries, who were the progenitors of the bhakti movement, mostly belonged to the lower castes. The hymns and sermonsof the nayanaras (Shaivism) and the slvars (vaishnavism) continued the tradition. Amongst the Shaiva saints the important were Appar (supposed to have converted Mahendravarman) Sambandar, Manikkawasagar, and Sundarar. The most ………………………….. about them was the presence of women, Saints, such as Andal. This Bhakti cult was derived from the ideas in the Upanishads and also from the heterodox doctrines. Dr. Thapar opines that the concepts of comapassonate God was a resultant of the impact of Buddhist ideas particularly the bodhisttava concept, although the chirstians in malabar might have provided a new perception of religion. What the bhakti movement contributed was great. The religious hymns and music as popularized by Tamil saints were sung during temple rituals. Dancing was also included. From the Pallavi period onwards dancers were maintained by all the prosperous temples.

Regarding education, in the early days, education was imparted by Jains and Buddhists. The Jaina institutions were located at Madurai and Kanchi. Soon brahminical institutions superseded them. Ghatkias or Hindu colleges were attached to the temples. They were primarily Brahmin institutions are mostly confined themselves to advanced studies. And in the 8th century the maths also became popular, which was an ominous institutions because of its being a rest-house, a feeding center and an education center. In all these colleges Sanskrit was the medium of instruction which was also the official language. Kanchi, the capital, was a great cencentre of Sanskrit learning. The scientific works of Varahmihira and the poetry of Kalidasa and Bhairvi were-known in the Pallava country. And Parameshvaravarman I granted the Kurran copper-plate that was made for the recitation of the Mahabharata in a mandapa at the village of Kurram, near Conjeevaram.

By the beginning of the 7th century the Pallavas of Kanchi, the Chalukyas of Badami and the Pandyas of Madurai emerged as the three major states. By the time the political rule of these dynasties came to an end, an event known as the revolt of the Kalabharas took place. The Pallavas, the Kadambas (North Canara in Karnataka) and the Chalukyas of Badami along with along with a large number of their contemporaries were the protage of vedic sacrifices. Logically, the brahmins emerged as an important segment of society but at the expense of the peasantry. Possibly, this predominance was oppressive leading to the revoltof the kalabhars in the 6th century. A.D. It is also said that they overthrew in numberable kings and established their old inTamilnadu. They ended the Brahmadeva rights earlier granted to brahmins in numerous villages. It is also said that the Kalabhras patronized Buddhism. In the end, the revolt of the kalabhras could be ended only by the Joint efforts of the Pandays, the Pallavas and the Chalukays.

ANDHRA BANK PROBATIONARY EXAM - 2006 (ENGLISH LANGUAGE)

2010-06-05T07:14:00.000-07:00

Live At The Troubadour [CD / DVD Combo]

Directions (Qs 176 to 185): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words/phrases have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.
Right of entry to education, an ample teaching-learning environment, a suitable curriculum and an empowered and all-encompassing faculty are four essential prerequisites of an education system that seeks to enable social transformation. While educational reform since the 1980s was strongly focused on the first two elements, the late 1990s brought the role of the curriculum into national focus. The critical link that binds these four critical elements together – the activity of the faculty – countries to be cast aside, by political ideologies of most hues, contemporary curriculum reform efforts and the professional practices of the faculty.
Far-reaching educational initiatives of both the Left and the Right have recongised the potential power of the faculty. In multiple experiments, they have used this dormant force to build committed institutions and cadres of faculties dedicated to their particular causes. In may instances this has led to extreme politicization of the college faculty. In others it has led to the education of a generation of students in half-truths underpinned by the personal beliefs, sectarian concerns and folk pedagogy of facilities who have had little access themselves to education and training in related areas.
Over the last decade or so, educational reform has included, apart from access, a focus on developing alternative text materials and the training of faculty to handle these materials, without directly engaging with the issue of curriculum revamp. At the turn of the 20th century, a major national curriculum redesign was initiated following the change of political regime at the centre. The subsequent development of college programme came under wide public scrutiny and debate. Issues of equity, inclusion and exclusion, learner medley religious identity and communalism gained considerable importance in the curriculum debates that followed. For instance, scholars argued that “…the curriculum, while loud on rhetoric, fails to address the quality of education that students of underprivileged and marginalized groups experience.” Several other critics described the revised curriculum as a retrogressive step in education that sought to impose the religious agenda in the garb of a national identity.
The subsequent change of national government in 2004 led to the curriculum review in 2005, underlining a new political interest in the role of education in national development, its role in social mobilization and transformation directed specifically at questions of caste and gender asymmetry and minority empowerment. Deeper than these politically driven initiatives, however, the professional need for curriculum review emerges from the long ossification of a national education system that continues to view faculty as “dispensers of information” and students as “passive recipients” of an “education” sought to be “delivered” in four-walled classrooms with little scope to develop critical thinking and understanding.
1. Which of the following best describes the phrase “passive recipients” as used in the passage?
(a) The users of the educational system
(b) The political ideology of right and left parties
(c) Well-framed curriculum guiding the teaching/learning process
(d) Free access to education system
(e) The faculty
2. To facilitate social transformation, which of the following has been identified by the author as one of the factors?
(a) A committed political ideology
(b) Support of the well-framed curriculum
(c) A strong administration system
(d) Carefully planned education delivery
(e) None of these
3. Prior to 1990 what was NOT on the agenda of the education reforms?
(1) An appropriate curriculum (2) Well-managed admission process
(a) Only 1 (b) Only 2 (c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Either 1 or 2 (e) None of these
4. Which of the following is the most opposite in meaning of the word medley as used in the passage?
(a) amalgamate (b) united (c) unity
(d) diffuse (e) focusing
5. Which of the following best describes the word ossification as used in the passage?
(a) hardening (b) plasticity (c) imbibition
(d) incorporation (e) coalescing
6. Revamping of the text material was the main focus in
(a) early eighties (b) late nineties
(c) 21st century (d) evolving curriculum framework
(e) training faculty
7. Which of the following best describes the meaning of the word underpinned as used in the passage?
(a) advocated (b) supported (c) prepared
(d) bolstered (e) boosted
8. What hampers the critical thinking ability of college-going students?
(a) The emphasis on rote memorization and recalling the facts of education based on real experience
(b) Lack of political will to develop these abilities
(c) Absence of focus while designing curriculum framework
(d) Ignoring the active role of faculty and the student
(e) Lack of proper tests of critical thinking ability
9. How did personal beliefs and folk pedagogy enter into education system?
(a) The college acted as an agent of local communities.
(b) The faculties were not properly trained.
(c) College faculties started acting as passive listeners.
(d) The loopholes in the education system allowed it to happen.
(e) It was by design.
10. Development of textbooks generated public debate on many issues except
(1) making the curriculum student-centred.
(2) using teaching community as an agency to bring change.
(a) Only 1 (b) Only 2
(c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Either 1 or 2
(e) None of these
Directions (Qs 186 to 192): Read each sentences to find out whether there is any grammatical error or idiomatic error in it. The error, if any, will be in one part of the sentence. The number of that part is the answer. If there is no error, the answer is (5). (Ignore errors of punctuation, if any.)
11. 1) They have invited/2) Sushma and I/3) for the meeting to be /4) held in the next month. /5) No error
12. 1) The city people stayed/2) fearlessly despite of/3) rumor of terrorist attack/4) in the area./5) No error
13. 1) the Director asked me/2) how I have not/3) taken his permission/4) before applying for the new job./5) No error
14. 1) Buy presents for ladies/2) in their absence/3) is a very/4) difficult task./5) No error
15. 1) A disaster management cell is opened/2) by the state government/3) before the rainy season/4) as a precautionary measure./5). No error.
16. 1) This college has/2) a glorious tradition/3) that attract/4) good students to the college./5) No error.
17. 1) Manasi is too busy/2) in her current/3) programmes to take/4) up any new ones./5) No error.
Directions (Qs 193 to 199): In each of the following questions four words are given of which two words are most nearly the same or opposite in meaning. Find the two words which are most nearly the same or opposite in meaning and indicate the number of the correct letter combination by darkening the appropriate oval in your answer sheet.
18.
(1) census (2) censure
(3) reprimand (4) universe
(a) 1-2 (b) 1-4 (c) 1-3
(d) 2-3 (e) 3-4
19.
(1) reason (2) discernible
(3) valid (4) perceptible
(a) 1-4 (b) 2-3 (c) 1-3
(d) 3-4 (e) 2-4
20.
(1) critical (2) space
(3) concourse (4) courtyard
(a) 1-4 (b) 2-4 (c) 3-4
(d) 2-3 (e) 1-2
21.
(1) mitigation (2) risking
(3) appreciation (4) alleviation
(a) 3-1 (b) 3-4 (c) 1-4
(d) 1-2 (e) 2-4
22.
(1) reiteration (2) honouring
(3) reverberation (4) hollow
(a) 1-3 (b) 2-3 (c) 3-4
(d) 1-2 (e) 2-4
23.
(1) refurbish (2) furnish
(3) innovate (4) renovate
(a) 3-1 (b) 3-4 (c) 3-2
(d) 2-1 (e) 1-4
24.
(1) articulate (2) decipher
(3) senseless (4) decode
(a) 3-2 (b) 1-4 (c) 2-1
(d) 4-3 (e) 4-2
Directions (Qs 200 to 210): Which of the phrases (1), (2), (3) and (4) given below each sentence should replace the phrase printed in bold type to make the sentence grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is, mark (5) i.e. ‘No correction required’ as the answer.
25. Lift the handset only after paid a one rupee coin.
(a) paying a one-rupee coin (b) you pay one rupee coin
(c) pay one rupee-coin (d) you paid one rupee coin
(e) No correction required
26. Good life, according to many people, is to making more and more money.
(a) is making (b) is made
(c) are made (d) are making
(e) No correction required
27. His behaviour with all his employees is so pleasing that everyone come forward for helping him.
(a) came towards him for help (b) comes towards him for help
(c) comes forward to help him (d) comes forward for help him
(e) No correction required
28. A master should never impose his servants too much work.
(a) his servants with too much work (b) too much work with his servants
(c) too much work on his servants (d) too much work for his servants
(e) No correction required
29. What matter does most is the quality and not the quantity.
(a) What does matter (b) What does it matter
(c) That matters (d) What matters
(e) No correction required
30. The police commissioner burst into rage and ordered immediately suspension of the inspector who had arrested the innocent boy.
(a) order immediately (b) order immediate
(c) ordered immediate (d) ordering immediate
(e) No correction required
31. He would be like to have some ice-cream.
(a) would like to (b) would be liked to
(c) was to be liking to (d) would being liked to
(e) No correction required
32. Not knowing the language and had no friends in the country, he found it possible to get a job.
(a) has no (b) with having
(c) with having not (d) having no
(e) No correction required
33. She will not attend the meeting until she is asked to
(a) except (b) even with
(c) even except (d) unless
(e) No correction required
34. Because of his smart work, he is in the best books of his employer.
(a) in the better books (b) in the good book
(c) in the good books (d) into the good books
(e) No correction required
35. With the introduction of the new system, the number of candidates who resort to unfair means is decreasing year after year.
(a) resorting to (b) to resort to
(c) resorted to (d) to resorting
(e) No correction required
Directions (Qs 211 to 225): In the following passage there are blanks, each of which has been numbered. These numbers are again printed below the passage and against each, five words are suggested, one of which fits the blank appropriately. Find out the appropriate word in each case.
Though I had hired cabins in Bandra and a house in Andheri, divinity would not let me settle down. 211 had I moved into my new house when my brother Balmukund, who had already been through an 212 attack of jaundice some year bank, had a 213 attack a typhoid, 214 with pneumonia and signs of restlessness at night. The doctor was 215 in. He said medicine would have 216 effect, but eggs and chicken both might be given. Balmukund was only five years old. To confer with his wishes was out of the question. Being his 217 I had to 218. The doctor was very good. I told him that we were all vegetarians and that I could not possibly give either of the two things to my brother. Would he therefore 219 something else? ‘Your brother’s life is in danger’ said the 220 doctor. ‘We could give him milk diluted 221 water, but that will not give him enough 222. As you know, I am called in by many vegetarian families, and they do not 223 to anything I 224. I think you will be well advised not to be so 225 on your brother.’
36.
(a) Then (b) Hardly (c) Wherever
(d) Quicker (e) Why
37.
(a) heart (b) big (c) acute
(d) hard (e) harsh
38.
(a) unforgiving (b) hard (c) burly
(d) severe (e) tough
39.
(a) couple (b) felt (c) combined
(d) joint (e) adjoining
40.
(a) brought (b) called (c) invited
(d) sent (e) commissioned
41.
(a) negligent (b) soothed (c) rough
(d) little (e) deep
42.
(a) doctor (b) attendant (c) nurse
(d) forefather (e) guardian
43.
(a) plead (b) hide (c) pressurize
(d) decide (e) proceed
44.
(a) resolve (b) order (c) observe
(d) diagnose (e) recommend
45.
(a) casual (b) good (c) surgeon
(d) handsome (e) insincere
46.
(a) with (b) for (c) at
(d) upon (e) in
47.
(a) dose (b) drug (c) intake
(d) nourishment (e) punishment
48.
(a) oppose (b) protest (c) subject
(d) care (e) object
49.
(a) oppose (b) take (c) prescribe
(d) describe (e) propose
50.
(a) hard (b) unkind (c) easy
(d) wise (e) careful
ANSWERS
1. (a)
2. (b)
3. (a)
4. (c)
5. (a)
6. (c)
7. (b)
8. (c)
9. (b)
10. (c)
11. (b)
12. (b)
13. (b)
14. (a)
15. (e)
16. (c)
17. (b)
18. (d)
19. (e)
20. (c)
21. (c)
22. (a)
23. (e)
24. (e)
25. (a)
26. (a)
27. (c)
28. (c)
29. (d)
30. (c)
31. (a)
32. (d)
33. (d)
34. (c)
35. (e)
36. (b)
37. (c)
38. (d)
39. (c)
40. (b)
41. (d)
42. (e)
43. (a)
44. (e)
45. (b)
46. (a)
47. (d)
48. (e)
49. (c)
50. (a)

UGC NET EXAMINATION - 2007 (JUNIOR FELLOW RESEARCH)

2010-06-05T07:11:00.000-07:00

Rage of Angels

1. Which novel has a nameless narrator?
(a) Moby Dick (b) Anna Karenina
(c) Invisible Man (d) The Grapes of Wrath
2. Samuel Beckett wrote -
(a) Volpone (b) Mother Courage and Her Children
(c) A Doll’s House (d) Endgame
3. Which one of the following author-book pairs is correctly matched?
(a) Elfride Jelinek – The Pianist (b) J.M. Coetzee- Shame
(c) Saul Bellow – Herzog (d) Salman Rushdie – Disgrace
4. The Plough and the ‘Stars’ was written by -
(a) G.B. Shaw (b) Sean O’Casey
(c) Lady Gregory (d) J.M. Synge
5. Willy Loman is a character in-
(a) Waiting for Godot (b) A Doll’s House
(c) The Cherry Orchard (d) The Death of a Salesman
6. John Evellyn and Samuel Pepys were the famous writers of -
(a) Editorials (b) Letters
(c) Essays (d) Diaries
7. The subtitle of Dryden’s Absalom and Achitophel is -
(a) There was no subtitle (b) A Poem
(c) A Satire (d) A satire on the True Blue Protestant Poets
8. Who of the following is not a periodical essayist?
(a) Richard Steele (b) Lancelot Andrews
(c) Joseph Addison (d) Jonathan Swift
9. “Did he who made the Lamb made thee” appears in-
(a) ‘Introduction’ (b) ‘ The Tyger’
(c) ‘Chimney Sweeper’ (d) ‘London’
10. Which of the following thinker- concept pairs is rightly matched?
(a) I.A. Richards – Archetypal criticism
(b) Northrop Frye-Practical criticism
(c) Jacqes Devide – New Historicism
(d) Stanley Fish – Reader Response
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11. “Essays of Eila” are-
(a) Economic disparity (b) Literary criticism
(c) Political ideology (d) Personal impressions
12. Which of the following thinker – concept pairs is rightly matched?
(a) Mamata – Vakrokti (b) Abhinava Gupta- Kavya Alankar
(c) Bharata – Natya Shastra (d) Vaman – Dhwanyaloka
13. Choose the correct sequence of the following schools of criticism -
(a) Deconstruction, New Criticism, Structuralism, Reader Response
(b) Reader Response, Deconstruction, Structuralism, New Criticism
(c) New Criticism, Structuralism, Deconstruction, Reader Response
(d) Structuralism, New Criticism, Deconstruction, Reader Response
14. ‘Peripeteia’ means -
(a) Tragic flaw (b) Recognition of error
(c) Purgation of emotion (d) Reversal of fortune
15. ‘Gynocriticism’ focuses on -
(a) Criticism of male writers by women writers
(b) Criticism on women
(c) Criticism by women
(d) Women as writers
16. Samuel Butler’s Hudibras is modeled upon -
(a) Don Quixote (b) Endymion
(c) Annus Mirabilis (d) Pilgrim’s Progress
17. Who was the last of the Christian Humanists?
(a) John Bunyan (b) Oliver Cromwell
(c) John Milton (d) Richard Crashaw
18. The narrative of Raja Rao’s Kanthapura is based on-
(a) The Ramayana (b) The Mahabharata
(c) Puranas (d) Shastras
19. Which of the following author- book pairs is correctly matched?
(a) Arundhati Roy
- Algebra of Infinite Justice
(b) Shashi Tharoor
- Trotter’s Name
(c) C.L.R. James
- The English Patient
(d) David Madouf
- The Cityof Djins
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20. Who wrote ‘A tiger does not proclaim its tigretude’ ?
(a) Derek Walcott (b) Soyinka
(c) Achebe (d) Ngugi
21. ‘Jindiworobak’ movement relates to -
(a) Caribbean literature (b) Canadian literature
(c) Australian literature (d) New Zealand literature
22. The Montreal group of poets championed the cause of-
(a) Modernist poetry (b) Imagist poetry
(c) Symbolist poetry (d) Nature poetry
23. The figure of the ‘Abyssinian Maid’ appears in-
(a) ‘Kubla Khan’ (b) ‘Frost at Midnight’
(c) ‘Dejection : an Ode’ (d) ‘Christabel’
24. Coleridge’s statement that imagination “dissolves, diffuse, dissipates in order to
recreate” relates to -
(a) secondary imagination (b) esemplastic imagination
(c) fancy (d) primary imagination
25. Who among the following is a writer of historical romances?
(a) Walter Savage (b) Walter Scott
(c) Jane Austen (d) Emily Bronte
26. Which of the following sequences is correct?
(a) Vanity Fair, Henry Esmond, Middlemarch, The Return of the Native
(b) Henry Esmond, Vanity Fair, Middlemarch, The Return of the Native
(c) Middlemarch, The Return of the Native, Vanity Fair, Henry Esmond
(d) The Return of the Native, Middlemarch, Vanity Fair, Henry Esmond
27. Queen Victoria’s reign, after whom the Victorian period is named, spans-
(a) 1833 – 1901
(b) 1837 – 1901
(c) 1840 – 1905
(d) 1843 – 1905
28. Pre- Raphaelite poetry is mainly concerned with -
(a) narrative and style
(b) narrative and nature
(c) form and design
(d) form and value
29. The concept of “mad woman in the attic” can be traced to-
(a) The Tenant of Wildfell- Hall (b) Villette
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(c) Wuthering Heights (d) Jane Eyre
30. Who among the Victorians is called “the prophet of modern society” ?
(a) Ruskin (b) Carlyle
(c) Macaulay (d) Arnold
31. Who among the following is not a pilgrim in The Canterbury Tales?
(a) The Haberdasher (b) The Tapyser
(c) The Blacksmith (d) The Summoner
32. Bosola is the executioner in -
(a) The Spanish Tragedy (b) The Duchess of Malfi
(c) The White Devil (d) The Jew of Malta
33. The mystery plays deal with -
(a) The life of Christ (b) The New Testament
(c) Psalms (d) Apocrypha
34. The Faerie Queene is based on -
(a) Utopia (b) Tottel’s Miscellany
(c) Morte d’ Arthur (d) Orlando Furioso
35. Choose the correct chronological sequence of the following plays-
(a) King Lear, Othello, Macbeth, Hamlet
(b) Othello, Macbeth, King Lear, Hamlet
(c) Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth
(d) Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, Macbeth
36. Pope’s ‘Essay on Criticism’ sums up the art of poetry as taught first by-
(a) Aristotle (b) Horace
(c) Longinus (d) Plato
37. Swift’s Tale of a Tub is a satire on -
(a) Science and philosophy (b) Art and morality
(c) Dogma and superstition (d) Fake morals and manners
38. Dr. Johnson started -
(a) The Postman (b) The Spectator
(c) The Rambler (d) The Tatler
39. Who among the following cautioned against the dangers of popular liberty?
(a) Mary Wollstonecraft (b) Edmund Burke
(c) Thomas Hobbes (d) John Locke
40. Which famous American classic opens with “Call me Ishmael”?
(a) Rip Van Winkle (b) The Scarlet Letter
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(c) The Grapes of Wrath (d) Moby Dick
41. Allen Ginsberg’s Vision of America is inspired by -
(a) Walt Whitman (b) Robert Frost
(c) Ralph Waldo Emerson (d) Edgar A. Poe
42. Who among the following represents the Sri Lankan diaspora ?
(a) M.G. Vassanji (b) Cyril Debydeen
(c) Michael Ondaatje (d) Arnold H. Itwaru
43. Out of Africa is a film adaptation of a work by -
(a) Alice Walker (b) Margaret Lawrence
(c) Margaret Atwood (d) Alice Munro
44. The Empire Writes Back was written by -
(a) Bill Ashcroft, Helen Tiffin, Ngugi Wa Thinngo
(b) Bill Ashcroft, Helen Tiffin, Stephen Slemon
(c) Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths, Chinua Achebe
(d) Bill Ashcroft, Helen Tiffin, Gareth Griffiths
45. The Theatre of Cruelty is associated with -
(a) Stanislavosky (b) Grotovsky
(c) Antonin Artand (d) Eugino Barba
46. A particle is -
(a) A patchwork of words, sentences, passages
(b) A satirical poem
(c) A love song
(d) A collection of lines from different poems
47. “Careless she is with artful Care/ Affecting to seem unaffected” is an example of -
(a) Irony (b) Paradox
(c) Simile (d) Metaphor
48. A metrical foot containing a stressed, followed by an unstressed, syllable is -
(a) Anapaest (b) Iamb
(c) Trochee (d) Dacty 1
49. The rhyme scheme of a Spenserian sonnet is -
(a) abba, cbcb, cdcd, ee
(b) abab, bccb, ccdd, ee
(c) aabb, bcbc, ccdd, ee
(d) abab, bcbc, cdcd, ee
50. Using the expression ‘Crown’ for the monarchy is an example of -
(a) Metonymy (b) Synecdoche
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(c) Irony (d) Metaphor
Answer Keys
1. (c)
2. (d)
3. (c)
4. (b)
5. (d)
6. (d)
7. (b)
8. (d)
9. (c)
10. (d)
11. (d)
12. (c)
13. (b)
14. (d)
15. (d)
16. (a)
17. (a)
18. (c)
19. (a)
20. (c)
21. (a)
22. (a)
23. (a)
24. (d)
25. (b)
26. (a)
27. (b)
28. (c)
29. (c)
30. (d)
31. (b)
32. (b)
33. (b)
34. (c)
35. (c)
36. (c)
37. (c)
38. (c)
39. (b)
40. (a)
41. (a)
42. (c)
43. (b)
44. (c)
45. (b)
46. (a)
47. (b)
48. (c)
49. (d)
50. (a)

ANDHRA BANK PROBATIONARY EXAM - 2006

2010-06-05T07:09:00.000-07:00

Breach of Trust

1. Govt. of India recently decided to import wheat at a lower rate of custom duty. The effective rate of the duty would be
(a) 15% (b) 12% (c) 10%
(d) 5% (e) None of these
2. As per the reports published recently in the newspapers, banks surpassed the target set for farm credit in 2005-06. How much more credit was given to this sector in terms of percentage?
(a) 15% (b) 20% (c) 26%
(d) 33% (e) 43%
3. The Government of India recently extended the deadline for telecom companies to comply with the new FDI norms by another three months. Which is the new deadline?
2nd October, 2006 (b) 30th October, 2006 (c) 15th November, 2006
(d) 30th November, 2006 (e) None of these
4. As per the reports published in the newspapers, the National Housing Bank (NHB) is planning to launch a Reverse Mortgage scheme specially to help which of the following sections of society?
(a) People in rural India
(b) Senior citizens
(c) People living in Govt accommodations
(d) Women who are sole breadwinners
(e) None of these
5. Which of the following companies has got two contracts to establish two power projects in Afghanistan?
(a) Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL)
(b) National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC)
(c) National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC)
(d) Reliance Energy Ltd
(e) None of these
6. The final match of the Uber Cup badminton 2006 was played between China and
(a) Japan (b) Denmark (c) Italy
(d) The Netherlands (e) None of these
7. Which of the following organizations/agencies recently prepared a charter of the Banking Codes and Services? (All banks are required to sign the same)
(a) Indian Bank Association (IBA)
(b) Indian Institute of Banking & Finance (IIBF)
(c) All India Bank Employees' Union
(d) Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
(e) None of these
8. A four-day Ministerial level meeting of G-20 and G-33 countries was held in June 2006 in
(a) Hong Kong (b) Beijing (c) New Delhi
(d) Jakarta (e) Geneva
9. Why was the name of SY Quereshi recently in news?
(a) He is the new Election Commissioner of India.
(b) He is the new Foreign Secretary, Govt. of India.
(c) He will be our new Permanent Representative in the UNO.
(d) He is India’s new Permanent Representative in the World Trade Organisation
(e) None of these
10. Govt. of India recently introduced sortie measures/incentives to improve tourism in India. Which of the following is one of these measures?
(a) Issuance of electronic visa
(b) Free stay for three days and Govt. hotels in four metros for business travelers and frequent flyers
(c) Highly subsidized air travel on metro routes for frequent flyers
(d) Free trip to Agra, Delhi and Jaipur to those coming on education/study tours
(e) None of these
11. Women in which of the following OPEC countries participated in elections for the first time? (Elections were held recently)
(a) UAE (b) Kuwait (c) Iran
(d) Saudi Arabia (e) None of these
12. Which of the following agencies recently laid down guidelines for foreign companies who wish to raise money from the Indian capital markets?
(a) RBI (b) IRDA (c) Registrar of Companies
(d) SEBI (e) None of these
13. The Government of India recently advised which of the following to have uniform accounting standards and also to amortize premium on their investment without fail?
(a) Provident Fund Companies (b) Mutual Fund Operators
(c) Co-operative Banks (d) Insurance Companies
(e) None of these
14. SEBI recently decided to give an exemption to some companies from the requirement of the minimum 25 per cent public shareholding. Companies exempted from such requirement should fulfil which of the following norms?
(1) They should have market capitalization of Rs. 1,000 crore.
(2) They should have 20 million shares listed.
(3) They should have a turnover of Rs. 400 crore per annum.
(a) Only (1) (b) Only (2) (c) Only (3)
(d) (1) & (3) both (e) (1) & (2) both
15. Which of the following organizations/agencies has agreed to setup an ‘Institute in India to Train Manpower in commodities?
(a) World Bank (b) Asian Development Bank
(c) International Monetary Fund (d) New York Stock Exchange
(e) None of these
16. More and More banks in India these days are setting up their ATMS and discourage people to visit their branches for transaction. Which of the following is/are the limitation(s) of the ATMs which force people to got to branch for transactions?
(1) Lack of human interface (2) Communication gap
(3) Limited cash dispensing ability
(a) Only (1) (b) Only (2) (c) Only (3)
(d) (1) & (2) both (e) (1), (2) & (3) all
17. How much amount can the Postal Department invest in revenue-generating instruments and/or stock market to reduce its budgetary deficit? (amount is from its insurance schemes)
(a) Rs. 1,400 crore (b) Rs. 2,500 crore (c) Rs. 4,500 crore
(d) Rs. 7,400 crore (e) Rs. 10,000 crore
18. The Non-Profit Companies which were unlisted but have accessed Foreign Currency were asked to get themselves listed within three months or latest by March 31, 2006. This rule is now relaxed and such companies can get listed in a period of
(a) 1 years (b) 2 years (c) 3 years
(d) 5 years (e) 10 years
19. Which of the following countries won World team table tennis championship 2006 for men and women both?
(a) Japan (b) China (c) Hong Kong
(d) Germany (e) USA
20. The Government of India recently cleared Rs. 1,00,000 crore of investment in Special Economic Zones (SEZs). The investment will be helpful in many way. Which of the following is/are among such benefits?
(1) About 40,000 hectares of the land will be converted into SEZs.
(2) About 5,00,000 people will get various types of jobs in those units.
(3) Export of agro products would get an enormous boost as all such SEZ units are to be established for agro exports only.
(a) 1 and 2 both (b) Only 1 (c) Only 2
(d) Only 3 (e) 1, 2 and 3 all
21. Which of the following is NOT one of the core areas identified under the Bharat Nirman Programme?
(a) Irrigation (b) Rural electrification (c) Drinking water supply
(d) Rural Housing (e) Computer education in Schools
22. The World Sports Award ceremony was held recently in
(a) Spain (b) Italy (c) France
(d) Germany (e) Canada
23. All day-to-day functions of the Panchayat in which of the following states are being operated on electronic system and are web-based? (This is being done for the first time in India for a panchayat)
(a) Kerala (b) Karnataka (c) Andhra Pradesh
(d) Maharashtra (e) None of these
24. Marion Jones is a well-known
(a) Badminton player (b) Tennis player (c) Golfer
(d) Athlete (e) None of these
25. Who amongst the following is the author of the book The City of Joy?
(a) Dominique Lapierre (b) Guenter Grass (c) Daniel Steele
(d) Graham Greene (e) None of these
26. Why was Vijay Nambiar’s name recently in the news?
(a) He has taken over as the new Cabinet Secretary, Govt of India.
(b) He will be our permanent representative in the UNO.
(c) He has taken over as the Undersecretary-General in the UNO.
(d) He is new Foreign Secretary, Govt. of India.
(e) None of these.
27. Which of the following cups/trophics is associated with the game of volleyball?
(a) Indian Cup (b) Ramanujam Trophy (c) Lincoln Trophy
(d) Dhyanchand Trophy (e) Him Gold Cup
28. The Basel II Accord for Banking Industry is based on three pillars. Which of the following is/are NOT included in the same?
(1) Minimum Capital Requirement (2) Supervisory Review
(3) Market Discipline (4) Credit Risk
(a) Only 1 (b) Both 1 and 3 (c) Only 4
(d) Only 1, 2 and 3 (e) None of these
29. Alan Garcia, whose name was recently in the news, is the
(a) Prime Minister of Peru (b) President of Peru
(c) Prime Minister of Italy (d) President of Italy
(e) None of these
30. In which of the following states one village in each block is being developed as a model village?
(a) Jammu & Kashmir (b) Himachal Pradesh (c) Karnataka
(d) Tamil Nadu (e) None of these
31. ‘Sheqel’ is the currency of
(a) Israel (b) Kenya (c) Iraq
(d) Iran (e) None of these
32. Which of the following is True about Prime Minister’s Rozgar Yojana (PMRY)?
(1) Youth of the age of 18-45 years are eligible for taking loan under the scheme.
(2) Loans are possible only for non-agricultural activities in rural/semi-urban areas.
(3) In the 10th plan about 16.5 lakh persons are likely to get employment under this scheme.
(a) Only 1 (b) Only 2 (c) Both 1 and 3
(d) Only 3 (e) All 1, 2, and 3
33. Which of the following terms is NOT related with the game of hockey?
(a) Soda line (b) Tie-breaker (c) Hat-trick
(d) Half-Volley (e) Follow-on
34. Indian exports recorded an increase in May 2006. What was the increase in terms of percentage?
(a) 15% (b) 20% (c) 25%
(d) 30% (e) 35%
35. Which of the following countries has the largest stock of foreign exchange reserves in the world?
(a) USA (b) China (c) Japan
(d) India (e) None of these
36. The 9th National e-Governance Conference was recently organized in
(a) New Delhi (b) Jaipur (c) Mumbai
(d) Bangalore (e) Kochi
37. FIFA World Cup 2010 will be organized in
(a) Italy (b) Brazil (c) South Africa
(d) Britain (e) None of these
38. As per the reports published in the newspapers, which of the following countries is first in the production of gold jewellery?
(a) China (b) India (c) Turkey
(d) Italy (e) None of these
39. Mr Ramjrishna Suryabhanji Gavai has recently taken over as the Governor of
(a) West Bengal (b) Madhya Pradesh (c) Punjab
(d) Bihar (e) None of these
40. Who amongst the following was adjudged best actress in the 7th IIFA Award ceremony held in Dubai?
(a) Lara Dutta (b) Priyanka Chopra (c) Kajol
(d) Rani Mukherjee (e) None of these
41. Who amongst the following is the first Chairman of the newly constituted National Statistical Commission?
(a) Prof. Suresh D Tendhulkar (b) Dr. Ashok Lahiri
(c) Dr. Rakesh Mohan (d) Prof. SK Ghosh
(e) None of these
42. Mr Percy Sonn, who is the newly appointed President of the International Cricket Council (ICC), if from which of the following countries?
(a) South Africa (b) Britain (c) New Zealand
(d) Australia (e) None of these
43. Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan states are planning to link which of the following two rivers?
(a) Chambal-Betwa (b) Narmada-Chambal (c) Narmada-Kali Sindh
(d) Chambal-Kali Sindh (e) None of these
44. Which of the following countries recently test-fired a series of missiles?
(a) Russia (b) South Korea (c) North Korea
(d) France (e) None of these
45. Who amongst the following is the author of the book Bearder-My Life in Cricket?
(a) Shane Warne (b) Bill Frindall (c) Brain Lara
(d) Imran Khan (e) None of these
46. India along with which of the following countries is planning to launch Chandrayaan I?
(a) Russia (b) France (c) USA
(d) China (e) None of these
47. The Fifth D-8 Summit of Developing Nations was organized recently in
(a) Indonesia (b) India (c) Brazil
(d) Malaysia (e) None of these
48. India recently signed an MoU on Military Ties with which of the following countries?
(a) UK (b) USA (c) China
(d) Italy (e) Russia
49. Which of the following countries is NOT one of the four former Soviet States who have jointly formed a forum “Organisation for Democracy and Economic Development GUAM”?
(a) Georgia (b) Ukraine (c) Croatia
(d) Azerbaijan (e) Moldova
50. Which of the following countries has awarded congressional Gold Medal to Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso?
(a) Britain (b) France (c) Italy
(d) USA (e) None of these
ANSWERS
1. (d)
2. (a)
3. (a)
4. (b)
5. (a)
6. (d)
7. (a)
8. (b)
9. (a)
10. (a)
11. (b)
12. (d)
13. (c)
14. (e)
15. (d)
16. (e)
17. (e)
18. (c)
19. (b)
20. (c)
21. (e)
22. (a)
23. (a)
24. (d)
25. (a)
26. (b)
27. (c)
28. (c)
29. (b)
30. (a)
31. (a)
32. (b)
33. (e)
34. (d)
35. (b)
36. (e)
37. (c)
38. (b)
39. (d)
40. (d)
41. (a)
42. (a)
43. (d)
44. (c)
45. (b)
46. (c)
47. (a)
48. (b)
49. (c)
50. (d)

PALLAVA ART (HISTORY OF INDIA)

2010-06-05T06:54:00.000-07:00

Kingston 4 GB Class 4 SDHC Flash Memory Card SD4/4GBET

PALLAVA ART

Four distinct stages of architecture can be gleaned from the Pallava temples. The first is the Mahendra style. The influence of the cave style of architecture is to be seen in an ancient pillar engraved in the Ekambaranatha (Kanchipuram) temple. The second is the Mamalla style. The seven Pagodas are small temples, each of which is hewn out of a single rock boulder. They lie near Mahabalipura Mahabalipuram, founded by Narasimhavarman. These monolithic temples are complete with all the details of an ordinary temples and stand as an undying testimony to the superb quality of the Pallava art. The third is the Rajasimha style. The most famous temple of this style is the kailasha style. The most famous temple of this style is the Kailasha temple of kanchi. It has a pyramidal tower, a flat-roofed mandapam and a series of cells surround it resembling rathas. This style is a very elaborate one foreshadowing the ornate Chola architecuture. The fourth is the Aparajita style. This is more ornate resembling the Chola architecture. A few temples built in the style are found at Dalavanur. The note worthy feature of some shrines is that they are aborned by beautiful life-like images of Pallava kings and their queens. All told they are unique in the history of temple architecture.

Pallava sculpture owed more to the Buddhist tradition. On the whole it is more monumental and linear in form, thus avoiding the typical ornamentation of the Deccan sculpture. The free standing temples at Aithole and Badami in the Deccan and the Kanchipuram and Mahabalipuram in the Tamil country, provided a better background for sculpture than the rock-cut temples. And the Pallava sculpture was monumental and linear in form resembling the Gupta sculpture. Although the basic form was derived from the older tradition, the end result clearly reflected its local genius.

Now for literature it has been recently proved that Bharavi and Dandinlived in the Pallava court. Bharavi's Kiratarjuniyam and Dandin's Dashakumaracharita were the two masterpieces. One of Dandin's poems was written with such skill that when read normally it gives the story of the Ramayana; and whe read in reverse, the study of Mahabharata. Dandin was the author of a standard work on poetics. Till the eight century Pallava influence was predominant in Cambodia. Saivism was the of ficial form of worship. And the Pallava type of sikhara is to be found in the temples of Java, Cambodia and Annam. This dissemination of Hindu culture proves that it was dynamic till 1,000 A.D. in southern India.

Thus, the Pallavas rendered invaluable service to the country both within and without as they were one of the torch bearers of Hindu civilization to south-east Asia. Far more singular is their contribution to architecture-transforming the architecture and suculpture from wood to stone. Smith opines that this grat disparimmense length of the course of Indian history, and the extreme slowness with which changes have been effeated.

ADDITIONAL POINT

The temples of the Pallavas bear resemblance to the Buddhsit cave shrines. The temples of Mahabalipuram reveal traces of barrel-vaults and archways associated with Buddhist cave shrines.

GUPTA EFFLORESCENCE (HISTORY OF INDIA)

2010-06-05T06:46:00.000-07:00

Glee: The Music, Volume 3 Showstoppers (Deluxe)

GUPTA EFFLORESCENCE

Introduction :
Not a golden age but it was a period consummation.

Administration :
Administration was not found overnight. Began with Bimbisara and elaborated by the Nandas and then inherited by the Mauryans. Such was the legacy of the Gupta's Mahamatras and the provincial viceroys were inherited from the Mauryan system. Mauryan administrative system became mellowed - less sever punishment one - sixth of the land produce.

ECONOMIC PROSPERITY

(a) Capitalism emerged in the Mauryan period along with the guilds and ports.

(b) Trad with west on a grand scale.

(c) Material prosperity was reflected in the art and architecture of the period.

(d) Use of the silk was common.

(e) Use of intoxicants by the rich was popular.

(f) Prosperity was not achieved overnight trade routes during the time of the Sakas and the Kushanas.

BEFORE THE GUTPAS :

(a) Udayana of Kausambi, 6th century B.C. (Veena - Buddhist books talk of palaces, gardens and Chaityas.

(b) Artistic tradition goes back -the stupas of Sanchi and Bharhut, the chaityas of Ajanta, Nasik and Karle the rock-cutcaves of Barabar, and the vihara caves of Udaigiri, Khandagiri and Ajanta.

(c) In the first century AD Mathura art became active. It was the Mathura school that first created images of the Buddha. It was also patronized by the Kushanas as borne out by a series of portraits of the Kushana kins.

DURING THE GUPTAS :

They key note of Gupta art is balance and freedom from convention - a ment between the right of naturalism and the bizarre symbolism of medieval art. In the beginning, the temple was in the form of leafy bower, than a hut of reeds, and then a cellarof wood and bricks. In the Gupta period appears garbha-griha having a small door as entrance - interior walls are bare whereas the exterior are richly carved - Tigowa temple in Jabalpur district, Narasimha temple in Eran and the Udayagiri Sanctuary near Sanchi.

The Gupta sculpture was an improvement over the Gandhara sculpture. Their sculptures show close fitting garments and decorated haloes, sculptures also appear in the form of relief on temples. Carved brick work and the terracotta panels in the Bhitoragaon temple. Deogarh temple - a panel representing Vishnu reclining or Ananta - Shiva as a Yogi in this temple is a masterpiece - the same category of the cave temples in the Udayagiri hills. Buddhist sculptures in thisperiod had grown typically India. The Buddha of alm repose and mild serenity and abandonment of drpery of the Gandhara art, a floral decoration showing the triumph of indigenous tradition, seated images of the Buddha preaching are of great delicacy. Metal images of the Buddha at Nalanda.

The Gupta coins also reached classical levels : one side portrait of the king and there verse side appropriate goddess with symbols. Monarchs in various postures : feeding a peacock, shooting a tiger, playing on Veena.The quality of line drawn on the coins and their metallurgical skill are of higher level.

Number 16 and 17 cave-paintings of the Ajanta, the finest belong to this period. These two paintings constitute a culmination of classical Indian paintings - resemblance to Sigiriya frescoes.

POST- MAURYAN ERA (HISTORY OF INDIA)

2010-06-05T06:44:00.000-07:00

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7)

ADDITIONAL NOTE

The post-Mauryan era is known for meaningdul contacts between central Asia and India. North-western India came under the rule of a number of dynasties hailing from Central Asia.

The first were the Indo-Greeks who earlier ruled over Bactria situated to the South of Oxus river in the area covered by north of Afghanistan. (For details see Indo-Greeks.)

The Indo-Greeks were followed by the Sakas. One of their branches settled in India with Taxila as their capital. Another branch ruled over western India. The latter came into conflict with the Satavahanas. There is nothing conspicuous regarding this contact. The only famous ruler was Rudradaman (130 to 150 A.D.) who undertook repairs to improve Sudarshana lake in Kathiawar, this lake was used for a very long time. Also, he was a patron of Sanskrit. It was the who first issued a long inscription in chaste Sanskrit.

After the Sakas, the Central Asians who influenced India were the Kushans. They originally came from the steppes of north Central Asia and lived in the neighbourhood of China. (Refer to the topic on the Kushans for further details).

In general the central Asia contactsled to certain developments. Building activity was very brisk. Burnt brick was used for flooring and tiles were used forboth flooring and roofing. Also, brick wells wre constructed. The typical pottery of the Saka-Kushan period was the red ware, both plain and polished. Some pots have spouted channels. Such like objects have been found in Soviet Central Asia also.

More important is the fact that the Sakas and the Kushans settled in India for good. They adopted the scripts, languages and religious of India. Thus they became integral parts of Indian society and this fusion of the Sakas and the Kushans with Indian society left its own imprint. They introduced better cavalry and use of riding hourses on a large scale. Use of reins and Saddles became common as shown in the Buddhist sculptures of the second and the third centuries A.D. Numerous equestian terracotta figures of the Kushan period have been found. Horsemen were heavily armed and fought with spears and lances. More important are the changes introduced by them in the ordinary pattern of life - turbans, tunics, truousers and heavy long coat. The first one is worn by the Afghans and Punjabis till today and probably the Sherwani of today is the successor of the long coat.

The close contacts between Central Asia and India also led to the import of gold from the Altai mountains in Central Asia. Also, as the Kushans controlled the silk Route they derived large revenues. This made the Kushans issue gold coins for the first time on a wide scale in India.

Furthermore, the rule of central Asian conquerors strengthened the feudal tendencies of society. The very fact that the Kushans called themselves 'King of kings' shows that they exercised suzerainty over small princes. Along with this new dimension in polity, the Sakas and Kushans introduced the concept of Divieright of kingship. The Kushan kings called themselves sons of god. Possibly this has made manu state that the king should be obeyed because he is a great god ruling in the form of human beings.

In matters relating to society, the Greeks, the Sakas, the parthians and the Kushans came to be absorbed as the Kshatriya community. These were known as the falled kshatriyas.

In matters of religion, a good number of foreign rulers believed in Vaishanavism. The greek ambassador Heliodorus got a pillar constructed in honour of Vishnu near Vidisa in Madhya Pradesh. A few took to Buddhism like the Greek ruler. Menander. The exchange of views between the Buddhist teacher Nagasena of nagarjuna and Menander constitutes a good source for the cultural history of this period. Finaly, some Kushan rulers took to worship of Shiva and the Buddha.

These contects with foreigners led to some changes in Indian religions. The old form of Buddhism was too puritanical and too abstract for foreigners. They were in no position to apprecie the philosophy of Buddhism as emphasized by the existing Buddhist schools. To satisfy these foreigners, the Mahayana or the Great Vehicle came into existence in which the Buddha is worshipped in the form of images. Those who followed the older version of Buddhism or lesser Vehicle were known as Hinayanists. Kanishaka was a great patron of Mahayana. He convened a council in Kashmir and he had set up many stupas in memory of the Buddha.

Also, these foreign rulers became patrons of Indian ort and literature. Masons and artisans trained in different schools of thought were employed by the Kushans particularly in north-western India Indian artisans came into contact with their Greek and roman counterparts. Such was the beginning of the Gandhara art in which images of the Buddha were made in Graeco-Roman style. This from of art gradually spread to Mathura is borne out by the famous headless statue of Kanishaka. This particular school of art was also instrumental for a good number of stone images of Mahavir.

It was this impetus that activated the artistic impulse of India. In several places south of the Vindhyas beautiful Buddhist caves were carved out of rocks, the famous ones in Maharashtra. In Andhra Pradesh, nagarjunkunda and Amravati were the centers of Buddhist art. The stories related to the Buddha have been portrayed in numerous panels.

The foreign rulers were also instrumental for providing a stimulus to literature and learning. The inscription of Rudradaman in Kathawar reveals the Kavya style in Sanskrit. More and more inscriptions came to be composed in chaste Sanskrit. It is also held that Asvaghosa was probably patronized by the Kushans. He wrote Buddha Charita, a biography of the Buddha. He also wrote Saundarananda which is a fine example of Sanskrit Kavya. In matters relating to theeatre also, the contact with central Asian rulers led to some changes. The feature of curtain in dramatic performances was borrowed from the Greeks.

Finally, in the field of science and technology contacts with central Asian foreigners led to certain developments. The presence of a great number of Greek terms in Sanskrit shows that Indian astronomy and astrology benefited from their contact with the Greeks. It is said that the term Horasastra' meaning astrology in Sanskrit was adapted from the Greek term horoscope. In technology, Indian gained from its contacts with the Central Asians. Kanishaka is represented as wearing trousers and long boots. It is conjectured that the practice of making leather shoes began in this period. Also, the copper and gold coins of the Kushans were imitations of the Roman coins. There was exchange of embassises between India and the Roman experors. These contactw might have led to new practices in technology. For certain, working in glass during this period was influenced by foreign ideas and practices.

PALLAVA ADMINISTRATION (HISTORY OF INDIA)

2010-06-05T00:40:00.000-07:00

Avatar (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo) [Blu-ray]

PALLAVA ADMINISTRATION

Kingship was attributed to define origin. The kings claimed their descent from the God Brahma. It has hereditary. Yet, on one occasion a king was elected. Most of the kings were accomplished scholars. Mahendravarman I wrote the famous burlesque, Masttavilasa Prahsana. Many of the vaishnava alvars and saiva nayanars flourished during their rule.

The kings adopted high-sounding titles like maharajadhiraja, dharma-maharjadhiraja (great king of kings rulling in accordance with the dharma), agnistomavajpeya, asvamedha-yaji (he who has performed the agnithtoma-vajapeya and asvamedha sacrifices) They were assisted by ministers. History shows that the ministerial council played a great part in the state policy in the later period.

A hierarchy of officials in provincial administration, the governor ofa province was assisted by district officers, who in turn worked in collaboration with automous local bodies. In local administration the meeting of assembles were frequent, and the administration the meeting of assemblies were frequent, and the assemblies were of many varieities and of many levels. Often special meetings were held. As the village levelthe assembly was the sabha which looked after almost all the matters of the village, along with endowments, irrigation, crime, maintaining census and other necessary records, Courts at villages level dealt with minor criminal cases. The judicial courts of the town and districts were presided over by government officials, climaxing with the king as the supreme arbiter of justice. The sabha worked in close association with the urar, and informal gathering of the entire village. Above this unit was a district administration. Finally, the head man of the villages was the link between the village assembly and the official administration.

Theoretically the king owned the land. The status of a village depended on the prevalent land tenure. The fist variety was the village with inter-caste population where in the people paid taxes to the king. The second was the brahmadeya village in which the entire land was donated to a single Brahmin or a group of brahmins. A variation of this village was the agrahars grant which, was an entire village settlement of brahmins. Both these forms were exempt from royal taxes. In the devadana village the revenue was donated to a temple, and the temple authorities in turn provided employment for the villagers in the temple whenever possible. In the Pallava period the first two categories of villages were in vogue.

Apart from these major points relating to land there was a special category of land, the sripatti or tank land. The revenue from such a land was sent apart for the maintenance of the village tank. The tank itself was built by the efforts of the entire village. All shared the water stored in the tank. Very many inscriptions of the Pallavas refer to the up-keep of tanks.

There are two Points about taxes. The land revenue varied from one-sixth to one tenth of the produce of the land. This was paid to the State. The local taxes that were collected in a village were spent for the needs of the village. As land revenue was necessarily small, the State revenue was supplemented by additional taxes on draught cattle, marriage-parties, potters, makers of clarified butter, textile manufacturers, washermen and weavers. The major source of revenue was from land, since the revenue from mercantile activity was not fully exploited.

Regarding expenditure, most to the revenue want for the maintenance of army. The king preferred a standing army instead of feudal levie. The army primarily consisting of food soldiers and cavalry along with a sprinkling of elephants. Indeed the Pallavas developed a navy although the mercantile activity was not great. Two dockyards were built at Mahablipuram and Nagabatnam. This pioneeringh effort of the Pallavas reached its climax during the days of cholas. The navy served a double purpose. It was meant for defence and also assisted the maritime trade with sout-east Asia, particularly with the three kingdoms of Kambuja (Cambodia) Champa (Annam) and Shrivijaya (Malayan peninsula and Sumatra).

DYNAMICS OF CULTURE (HISTORY OF INDIA)

2010-06-05T00:36:00.000-07:00

Exile on Main Street

The Dynamics of Cultural Borrowings

What was the role of the people of Southeast Asia in this process of cultural borrowing ?
Were they merely passive recipients of a culture bestowed upon them by them by the Indians ?
or
Did they actively participate in this transfer ?

The passive thesis was originally emphasized by Indian advocates of the 'Greater India' idea, as well by as European scholars who belonged to the elite of the colonial powers then dominant in Southeast Asia. The concept of an earlier 'Indianisation' of Southeast Asia seemed to provide a close parallel with the later 'Europeanisation' under colonial to provide a close parallel with the later "Europeanisation" under colonial rule. The first transchant criticism of this point of view came from the young Dutch scholar JC van Leur.

Van Leur highlighted the great skill and courage of Indonesian seafarers and emphasized the fact that Indonesian rulers them selves had invited Indian Brahmins and had thus taken a very active role in the process of cultural borrowing. Van Leur's book an Indonesian trade and society was published posthumously, in 1955. In the meantime, further research has vindicated his point of view.

The Indian influence is no longer regarded as the prime cause of cultural development; rather, it was a consequence of a development, which was already in progress in Southeast Asia. Early Indonesian inscriptions show that there was a considerable development of agriculture, before Indian influence made itself felt. However, indigenous tribal organization was egalitarian and prevented the emergence of higer forms of political organization. The introduction of such forms required at least a rudimentary form of administration and a kind of legimation of these now governmental forms which would make them, in the initial stages, acceptale to the people. It was at this point that chieftains and clan heads required Brahmin assitance. Althoug trade might have helped to spread the necessary information the inititative came forr those indigenous rulers. The invited Brahmins were isolated from the ruler. People and kept in touch only with their patrons. In this way the royal styles emerged in South-East Asia just as it had done in India.

A good example of this kind of development is provided by thed earliest Sanksrit inscription found of Indonasia (it was recorded in Eastern Borneo around 400 A.D.) Several inscription on large Megaltihs mention a ruler whose name, Kundunga shows not the slightest trace of Sanskrit influence. His son assumed a Sanskrit name, Ashavavarman, and founded a dynasty (vansa). His grand son Mulavarman, the author of the incription, celebrated great sacrifices and gave valuable presents to the Brahmins. Of the latter it is explicitly state that they had come here - most likely from India. After being consecrated by the Brahmins, Mulavarman subjected the nighbouring rulers and made them tribute givers (kara--da) Thus these inscription present in a nutshell the history of the rise of an early Indonesian dynasty. It seems that the dynasty had been founded by a son of clan chiefly independently of the Brahmins, who on their arrival consecrate the ruler of the third generation. With this kind of moral support and the new administrative know-how the ruler could subject his neighbours and otain tribute from them.

The process paralleled that which we have observe in south and Central India. In its initial stages, however, it was not necessarily due to Indian influence at all. Around the middle of the first millennium AD several of such small states seem to have arisen in this way in South-East Asia. They have left only a few inscription and some ruins of temples, most of them were obviously very short lived. There must have been a great deal of competition, with many petty rajas vying with each other and all wishing to be recognized as maharajas entitled to all the Indian paraphernalia of Kingship. Indian influenced increased in this way and in the second half of the first millennium AD a hectic activity of temple erection could be observed on Java and in Combadiam, wher the first larger realms hac dome into existence.

Though it is now generally accepted that southeast Asian rulers played on active role in this process of state formation, we cannot entirely rule out the occasional direct contrbutin of Indian adventures who proceeded to the East. The most important example of this kind is that of the early history of Fuman at the mouth of the Mekong. Chinese sources report the tale of a Brahmin, Kaundinya, who was inspired bya divine dream to go to the Funan. There he vanquished the local Naga princess by means of his holy bow and married her, thus founding the first dynasty of Funan in the late first century AD. We have heard of a similar legend in a connection with the rise of the Pallava dynasty and this way indicate that Kundinya came from south India where the Kundinyas were known as a famous Brahmin lineage. A Chineage source of the fourth century AD describes an Indian usurper of th throne of Funan. His name is given as Chu Chan-t' an' 'Chu' always indicates a person of Indian origin and Chan-t-an could have been a transliteration of the title 'Chandana' which can be traced to the Indo-Scythians of northern India.

Presumably a member of the dynasty went to southeast Asia after having been defeated by Samnudragupta. In the beginning of the fifth century AD another Kaudinya arrived in Funan and of his it is said in the Chinses annals :

He was originally a Brahmin from India. There a supernatural voice told him: 'You must go to Funan, Kaundinya rejoiced in his heart. In the south he arrived at "P" an-p' an. The people of Funan appeared to him. The whole kingdom rose up with joy, went before him and chose him king. He changed all the laws to confirm to the system of India.

This report on the second Kaundinya is the most explicit refernce to an Indian ruler who introduced his laws in southeast Asia. In the same period we notice a general wave of Indian influence in southeast Asia, for which the earliest Sanskrit inscription of Indonasia - discussed above - also provide striking evidence. We must however, note that even in the case of early Funan there was no military intervention. Kaundinya had obviously stayed for some time at P'an-P'an at the Isthmus of Siam, then under the control of Funan and he ewas later invited by the notables of the court of Funan to ascent the throne at a time of political unrest.

EASTERN BENGAL AND BALKH (HISTORY OF INDIA)

2010-06-05T00:34:00.000-07:00

Breach of Trust

EASTERN BENGAL AND BALKH

It is almost certain that Chandragupta had other successful military operations to this credit the basis of refernces mentioned in Virasena's Udaygiri cave inscription that the king set out 'to conquer the whole world', and in Sanchi inscription in which one of Chandragupta's military officer is said to have obtained great glory by winning many battles. But we have no definite and detailed information regarding the nature and result of these campaigns.

The military exploits of a king called Chandra are mentioned in Mahrauli iron Pillar inscription. It is stated in the inscription that the king defeated a confederacy of hostile chiefs in Vanga and having crossed in warfare the seven months of the river Sindhu, conquered the Vahilkas.

Vanga denotes Eastern Bengal, verynearly the same country as Samatata which is included in the tributary frontier states of Samudragupta. It is possible that some of the rulers refused to accept Chandragupta's authority and consequently the latter had to fight against them. The compaign resulted in the inconporation of the province in the Gutpta empire.

Vahilka, according to Dr. R.C. Majumdar, is almost certainly to be identified with Balkh (Bactria) beyond the Hindukush mountains. 'Here too,' the motive of the compaign was probably similar tothat against eastern Bengal, i.e. either the Kushans who referred to sas Daivaputra-Shahi - Shahanushani in Allahabad Pillar Inscription had acknowledged the supremacy of Samudragupta rebelled, or Chandragupta II wanted to establish his authorirty on a firmer basis'.

Samudragupta had begun the work of conquest. But it was his son who completed the task and kingdoms on the border but also the territories ruled by foreign hordes like the Sakas and Kushanas. Chadragupta too the title of Vikramaditya (Sun of power) and for this tilte he had a better claim than any other sovereign of northern India. That he was the real architect of the Gupta empire, there can be no two opinions.

Chadragupta II ruled for nearly 35 years. And he was succeeded by Kumar Gupta -O in 415 A.D. He, too, ruled the empire for about 40 years. Details of his reign art not known. However as he, too. Performed the horse sacrifice, probably he added to his inherited dominions.

ESSENCE OF BHAGATISM

2010-06-05T00:23:00.000-07:00

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

ESSENCE OF BHAGATISM

Bhagvatism believes in : action performed attached to its fruit is fetter causing endless of briths while nishakama karma is release and true renunciation, selfless, loving pursuit of personal God is true bhakti which inspires selfless action and service, pursuit of one's varnasharma-dharma i.e. social obligations is one's true dharma, God incarnates Himself from time to time in human or any other form in order to uphold dharma and wipe out sin; and every human being has a right to achiev moksha provided he finds shelter in God.

CAUSES OF POPULARITY

Significantly the cult of Vasudeva-Krishna spread rapidly and became most popular. Reason being, Krishna, satisfied all human urges and emotions as son (of Devaki and Yashoda as conwerd (protecting cows much venerated both by the Aryans and the non-Aryanas), as human or divine lover (of gopis and young women), as saviour (of the oppressed by killing his maternal uncle Kansa and demons, of the non-Aryans by hcallenging the Vedic God Indra, of the women by saving Draupadi's honour) as ambassador (playing this role for the Pandavas), as charioteer (by driving Ajruya's rath) as preacher (upadesha in Kurukshetra), as dvarapala (gatekeeper and receptionist when the Pandavas conducted the Yajna) as the lover of tradition (his presence at the time of the conduct of sacrifices) as friend (of the poor, the cowherds and Sudama), as lover of music (playing flute), as just kind (of Dwarka) and by his emphasis on a combined pursuit of Inana, karma and bhakti made brahminical religion more flexible and more easily acceptable. It was this tradition which cound and did attract foreign mlecchas and which transformed Brahmanism into Hinduism.

To sum up, Krishna probably even more popular than Rama, is a divinity of a rare completeness and catholicity, meeting almost every human need. As the divine child he satisfies the war maternal drives of Indian womehood. As the divine lover, he provides romantic wish-fulfillment in a society still little tightly controlled by ancient norms of sexual relations. As charioteer of the hero Arjuna on the battle filed of Kurkshetra, he is the helper of all those who turn to him and even saving the sinner from evil of rebirths if the has sufficient faith in the Lord.

POLITICAL BACKGROUND - HAMID KARZAI

2010-06-03T09:05:00.000-07:00

POLITICAL BACKGROUND
The former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) occupied Afghanistan from 1979 until early 1989. By late 1987, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated that one million Afghans had died in the fighting between Soviet troops and the mujahidin resistance forces (supported by arms from the United States and Islamic nations such as Pakistan). The Soviets withdrew in 1989, partly because of instability in their own government. (The USSR broke apart into independent states in 1991.) Afghanistan
experienced internal chaos and President Muhammad
Najibullah struggled to maintain control of the country as
pressure from the mujahidin and outside forces increased.
The country floundered, with rival factions battling for
control of the government. In 1992, the mujahidin gained
control of Kabul and Najibullah’s government fell.
An interim government was established by a coalition of
Islamic groups known as the Seven Party Alliance (SPA).
Rival groups continued to clash violently and UN attempts to
broker peace among the groups were unsuccessful.
Burhanuddin Rabbani became president of the Interim
Government in 1992, but maintaining control of the various
factions in the country proved nearly impossible. Alliances
continually shifted after President Rabbani took office; he
was scheduled to leave office in December 1994 but refused
on the grounds that political authority would disintegrate
totally.
One of the major forces vying for power was the Uzbek
militia of General Abdul Rashid Dostum, whose break with
Najibullah in early 1992 helped overthrow the communist
regime. In January 1994, Dostum led an unsuccessful
rebellion against Rabbani. Another faction was the Iranbacked
Hizb-e-Wahdat (Unity Party, an alliance of eight Shia
Muslim groups). In early June 1992 Hizb-e-Wahdat had
agreed to join the mujahidin regime but broke with Rabbani
in January 1994.
In 1994, a new group known as the Taliban (Students of
Religion, or Seekers) formed and began rallying to control the
country. Consisting of Islamic clerics and students from
seminaries that sprung up in Pakistan among the communities
of Afghan refugees, the Taliban movement came into
being after the war against the Soviets and Najibullah. The
Taliban seized control of the southeastern city of Kandahar in
November 1994 and continued to gather strength.
In February 1995, the Taliban gained control of areas on
the outskirts of Kabul and demanded that Rabbani surrender.
When Rabbani refused, and the Taliban rejected UN efforts
to include it in a peaceful transition, an 18-month stalemate
around Kabul ensued. In its drive to Kabul, the Taliban
amassed about 25,000 troops, a few hundred tanks, and ten combat aircraft. In September 1996, Taliban victories east of
Kabul led to the destruction of the Rabbani government’s
defenses, and the government withdrew to the valley north of
Kabul. With the Taliban capture of Kabul, the Northern
Alliance formed, made up of differing factions that had one
thing in common: their passionate interest in ousting the
Taliban. Northern Alliance forces continued to fight for
control of the north.
In spring 2000, the Taliban, claiming a series of defections
from the Rabbani Northern Alliance camp, began preparations
for a renewed offensive to gain the remaining part of
Afghanistan not under their control. The Taliban government
was led by mujahidin fighter-turned-religious-scholar,
Muhammad Omar. He is thought to have been born in
Kandahar in 1962. Described as a determined man, Omar
had served as deputy chief commander in the Harakat-i-
Inqilab-i Islamic party of Mohammad Nabi Mohammadi
during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s.
Virtually unknown until the Taliban’s capture of Kandahar,
Omar remained a mysterious figure with reportedly strong
ties to Osama bin Laden and other Islamist radicals. Under
Omar’s Taliban government, the Afghan people were
subjected to harsh imposition of Islamic law. Women were
forbidden from working outside the home (except health
workers), girls’ schools were closed, and a strict Islamic dress
code was imposed. The Taliban lost international support as
it imposed harsh punishments on those who violated Islamic
law. The UN and other international aid organizations
(including UNHCR, UNICEF, Save the Children, and Oxfam)
cut back or ceased operations in protest; many staff members
were female and unable to adhere to the strict regulations.
Taliban control did restore peace by suppressing and
disarming members of rival militias. The roads were
reopened, leading to a greater availability of food in areas
under Taliban control.
When terrorists attacked the World Trade Center in New
York and The Pentagon in Washington, D.C., on 11
September 2001, international attention focused on Afghanistan.
Most experts implicated Osama bin Laden and his close
associate, Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar, in the
attacks. The U.S. government, with support of its allies,
undertook a month of massive air attacks until the Taliban
was driven out of power in October 2001 and an interim
government was installed in December 2001. Hamid Karzai
was named chairman of the interim government.
In the weeks and months following the fall of the Taliban,
life in Afghanistan was fraught with danger. U.S.-led military
operations were ongoing. International peacekeepers, aid
workers, and Afghans became victims of grenade attacks, fire
fights, and bombings, making the security situation
precarious. Thus, the task of reconstruction and providing
aid to Afghanistan has proven difficult. In January 2002,
donor countries pledged US$4.5 billion for the reconstruction
effort. However, less than half of the amount earmarked for
2002 was ever actually delivered.
In June 2002, a loya jirga (council of elders) was convened
to choose a government to lead the country for 18 months to
two years until elections are held. Karzai was elected transitional
head of state, garnering 1,295 of a possible 1,575
votes. On 19 and 22 June Karzai introduced a 28-member
cabinet representative of many different ethnic and political
backgrounds. He named three vice presidents—Mohammed
Qasim Fahim, Karim Khalili, and Haji Abdul Qadir. Vice
President Qadir was assassinated on 6 July 2002. Karzai
himself narrowly escaped assassination on 5 September 2002,
as a gunman dressed in an Afghan military uniform shot at
him and Kandahar’s governor Gul Agha Sherzai as they were
getting into their car. On 22 November 2002, a plot to
assassinate Karzai or his defense minister, Mohammed Fahim,
was thwarted.
As of January 2003, there were still two million Afghan
refugees in Iran and approximately 1.5 million in Pakistan. In
2002, an estimated two million Afghans returned home.

ALBANIA - FATOS THANA NANO - PRIME MINISTER

2010-06-03T08:49:00.000-07:00

The Republic of Albania is situated in southeastern Europe
and is bordered to the south by Greece, to the east by the
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), to the
north by Serbia and Montenegro, and to the west by the
Adriatic Sea. The total area is 28,748 sq km (17,864 sq mi),
of which over two-thirds is mountainous and the rest river
valleys and coastal lowlands.
The country’s total population was estimated at 3.5
million in July 2002. Over 95% are ethnic Albanian, with
Greeks comprising most of the rest. Outside of the country’s
borders live about an equal number of ethnic Albanians,
mainly in the Kosovo region within Serbia and Montenegro,
and also in Macedonia, Greece, and Italy. About 70% of the
population are Muslim; however, atheism is also widespread
as a result of an official ban on religious worship from the
1960s to 1990. By 2002 the government had relaxed this ban,
and the practice of religion increased slightly. The Albanian
language has two main dialects, Geg and Tosk (considered
the official dialect).
The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) was
estimated at US$13.2 billion in 2001, with per capita GDP
estimated at US$3,800 that year. The national currency is the
lek. Albania’s natural resources include oil, gas, coal, and
metals. Agriculture and mining constitute the largest industries.
Frequent drought, obsolete equipment, and the need to
consolidate numerous small farms have hampered the growth
of the agriculture sector.

AFGHANISTAN - HAMID KARZAI

2010-06-03T08:39:00.000-07:00

The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, located in Central Asia,
is a landlocked nation slightly smaller than Texas. It has a
total land area of 647,500 sq km (250,001 sq mi). It is
bordered on the north by the former Soviet republics of
Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, on the east and
south by Pakistan, and on the west by Iran. A strip of land
less than 80 km (50 mi) wide and known as the Wakhan
corridor extends to the northeast. It forms a 76-km (47-mi)
border with China. The population was estimated in 2002 at
27.7 million, although decades of warfare make accurate
population counts impossible. The capital, Kabul, is located
in the east-central part of the country. The 2002 population
of Kabul was estimated at 2.1 million; a large number of
displaced persons, many of them refugees from neighboring
countries, returned to the city in 2002.
The average elevation is 1,200 m (4,000 ft). The towering
Hindu Kush mountain range, running southwest from the
Wakhan corridor in the northeast, has elevations of more
than 6,200 m (20,000 ft). In the provinces north of the Hindu
Kush the altitude drops to about 460 m (1,500 ft), enabling
farmers to grow cotton, fruit, grains, and other crops. The
central part of the country features a plateau with lush valleys
suitable for grazing sheep, goats, and camels. In the
southwest, the land is a barren desert where the temperature
extremes are the greatest found anywhere in the country.
Decades of violent civil and international conflicts have
caused widespread poverty, devastated the roads, bridges,
and infrastructure, and left the countryside riddled with
dangerous land mines. (The United Nations [UN] estimates
that 7–10 million land mines remain buried in Afghanistan,
rendering much farming and grazing land useless.) Earthquakes
in the northern Hindu Kush region, overgrazing, and
rampant deforestation by citizens in search of fuel and
building materials all combine to present the government in
2002 with the challenge of resurrecting even the most basic
services.
Pashtu and Dari (Afghani variant of Persian) are the
official languages. Dari is the language spoken in Kabul and
has historically been the principal language of Afghan literature,
government, and business. Many Afghans are bilingual
and almost all are Muslim.

KASHMIR SAIVISM (HISTORY OF INDIA)

2010-06-02T12:49:00.001-07:00

Kashmir Saivism
1. Kashmir Saivism traced to the Siva-sutras whose authorship is attributed to Siva himself. The Sutras are said to have been revealed to a sage by name Vasugupta who lived towards the end of the eight or the beginning of the nineth century AD. A succession of talented exponents of the system followed Vasugupta. Kallata who was Vasugupta's chosen pupil wrote among other works Spanda-sarvasva in which he explained the meaning of the Siva-Sutras as taught by his master. Somananda the author of Siva-dristi and a vritti thoreon was probably another pupil of Vasugupta.

2. Kashmir seivism advocated a kind of monism or non-dualism. The names by which the system is known are Trika, Spanda and Pratyabhina. The name Trika primarily refers to the triple principle with which the system deals viz Siva-sakti-anu or pati-pasa-pasu. Though the other schools of saivism also accept these three categories Kashmir saivism regards the individual soul and the world as essentially identical with Siva and so the three according to it are reducible to one. The term Spanda indicates the principle of apparent movement of change from the state of absolute unity to the plurality of the world. And the expression Pratyabhija which means recognition refers to the way of realizing the soul's identity with Siva.

3. The Ultimate reality in Kashmir Saivism as in every school of Saiva philosophy is Sambhu or Siva the supreme God. Siva is the Atman the self of all beings immutable and ever perfect. He is pure consciousness (chaitanya) absolute experience (para samviti) supreme lord (paramesvara). He is the ground of all existence the substrate of all beings. He is called anuttara the reality beyond which there is nothing.

4. Sakti (power) is Siva's creative energy and is spoken of as his femine aspect. Siva in his aspects as Sakti manifests himself as the univorse. That is there is nothing other than siva. If the universe appears as if different such appearance is a delusion.

5. The supreme aim of the Partyabhij a system is to enable the individual soul to find its salvation. The salvation consists in the soul's recognition of its identity with the Ultimate reality. As bondage is the result of ignorance release is to be attained through knowledgs.

H. Kashmir Saivism

1. Kashmir Saivism traced to the Siva-sutras whose authorship is attributed to Siva himself. The Sutras are said to have been revealed to a sage by name Vasugupta who lived towards the end of the eight or the beginning of the nineth century AD. A succession of talented exponents of the system followed Vasugupta. Kallata who was Vasugupta's chosen pupil wrote among other works Spanda-sarvasva in which he explained the meaning of the Siva-Sutras as taught by his master. Somananda the author of Siva-dristi and a vritti thoreon was probably another pupil of Vasugupta.

2. Kashmir seivism advocated a kind of monism or non-dualism. The names by which the system is known are Trika, Spanda and Pratyabhina. The name Trika primarily refers to the triple principle with which the system deals viz Siva-sakti-anu or pati-pasa-pasu. Though the other schools of saivism also accept these three categories Kashmir saivism regards the individual soul and the world as essentially identical with Siva and so the three according to it are reducible to one. The term Spanda indicates the principle of apparent movement of change from the state of absolute unity to the plurality of the world. And the expression Pratyabhija which means recognition refers to the way of realizing the soul's identity with Siva.

3. The Ultimate reality in Kashmir Saivism as in every school of Saiva philosophy is Sambhu or Siva the supreme God. Siva is the Atman the self of all beings immutable and ever perfect. He is pure consciousness (chaitanya) absolute experience (para samviti) supreme lord (paramesvara). He is the ground of all existence the substrate of all beings. He is called anuttara the reality beyond which there is nothing.

4. Sakti (power) is Siva's creative energy and is spoken of as his femine aspect. Siva in his aspects as Sakti manifests himself as the univorse. That is there is nothing other than siva. If the universe appears as if different such appearance is a delusion.

5. The supreme aim of the Partyabhij a system is to enable the individual soul to find its salvation. The salvation consists in the soul's recognition of its identity with the Ultimate reality. As bondage is the result of ignorance release is to be attained through knowledgs.

WAR WITH SAKAS (HISTORY OF INDIA)

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WAR WITH SAKAS

The principal military achievement of Chandragupta-II was the conquest of Malwa, Gujarat and Saurashtra. All of them were ruled for several centuries by Saka chiefs known as Satraps of Great Satraps, since they paid tribute to the Kushans. This particular advaace of Chadragupta-II also involved the subjugation of the Malavas and certain other tribes which were outside the frontiers of Samudragupta. The details of the campaign are not known but Chadragupta's prolonged stay in Malva along with his feudatory chiefs, ministers and generals is proved by the least three inscriptions. The capaign was eminently successful. Rudra Simha, the last of the Satraps was killed. The fall of Saka Satrap is allueded to by Bana in his Harsha Charita "Chandragupta in the disguise of a female killed the Saka king possessed of lust for another's wife at the very city of the enemy". The Gupta Kingdom. The numismatic evidence proves the annexation. On the lion-slaver type of coins, Chandragupta is represented as slaying a lion with the lengedn 'Simha-Vikram' (one who has the prowess of a lion), signifaying probably his conquestof Gujarat where lions were then early common. But the conclusive evidene is that of the silver coins issued by Chandragupta II in the Saka rgions.
RESULTS OF THE WAR WITH SAKA SATRAPS :
(1) End of the domination of the foreigners.

(2) Chandragupta became the pramaount soverign of all Northern India.

(3) With the addition of the rice and fertile provinces of Gujarat and Kathiawar, Gupta empire extended fropm the bay of Bengal to the Arabian Sea.

(4) The Gupta empire now controlled a large part of the Indian commerce and trade with the western world since the western ports were now in Gupta hands and was brought into closer contact with the western civilization.

(5) Western border of India was now no longer a source of anxiety.

(6) Internal trade also received a fillip

(7) Ujjain now because a great center of trade, commerce, education and politics, the Guptaking realisingits importance and it has second capital.

FOREIGN RELATIONS OF ASHOKA (HISTORY OF INDIA)

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FOREIGN RELATIONS OF ASHOKA

Diplomacy and geographical proximity primarily determined the foreign relations maintained by Asoka. Particularly, the century in which, Asoka lived was one of continued interactions between the Eastern Mediterranean and South Asia. That is why most of Asoka's contacts were with South Asia and the West. It appears that this interest was not one sided. A fair number of foreigners lived in Pataliputra to necessitate a special committee under the municipal management to look after the needs of welfare of the visitors. Apart from these major factors determining the foreign relations of Asoka, one more parameter was the desire of Asoka to spread his policy of dhamma to distant lands.

To begin with, Asoka in his foreign relations was a realist defeat and annexation of Kalinga. Also his realism is to be seen in Asoka not annexing the southern kingdoms (Cholas, Pandvas, Satyaputras and Keralaputras) while being satisfied with theirac knowledgement of his suzerainty. He probably felt that it was not worth the trouble to annex the small territories too.

In other foreign relations Asoka reveals as an idealist or a monarch who wore the robes of a monk. He sent various missions, though not embassies, to various countries. Their main purpose was to acquaint the countries they visited with his policies, particularly that of dhamma. They may be compared to modern goodwill missions helping to create an interest in the ideas and peoples of the country from which they came. Also, the fact that they are quite unheard of in contemporary literature or in later sources would suggest that they made only a short-lived impression.

In spite of the above reservations, the missions must have opened a number of channels for the flow of Indian ideas and goods. It is unlikely that Asoka expected all the kings who had received missions to put the policy of dhamma into practice, although he claims that his did happen. It is curious to observe that there is no reference to these missions in the last important public declaration of Asoka, the seventh pillar edict. In this edict Asoka mentions the success he had with his welfare services and the widespread propagation of dhamma but all within the empire.

The territory immediately adjoining the empire of Asoka on the West and that Antiochus. There is ample evidence of contacts of similarity in cultures. The use of Kharoshti in the Shahbazgarhi and Mansehra edicts in the north is evidence of strong contact with Iran. The fragmentary Aramaic inscription at Taxila and another of the same kind from Kashmir point to continue inter communication between the two areas.

Apart from contacts with Iran, Asoka Empire was close to various Greek kingdoms. There are references to the Greeks in the rock edicts of Asoka. On certain occasions the word used refers to the Greek settlements in the north-west and on others to the Hellenic Kingdoms. Antiochus II these of Syria is more frequently mentioned. He other Hellenic Kings where missions were sent were Ptolemy-II Philadephus of Egypt, Magas of Cyrene, Antigonus gonatas of Messedonia, and Alexander of Eorius.

Apart from these western contacts, tradition maintains that Asoka visited Khotan. This cannot be substantiated. On the other hand, Asoka maintained close relations with modern Nepal. Tradition states that his daughter, Charumati was married to Devapala of Nepal.

On the East, the Mauryan empire included the provice of Vanga, Since Tamralipti was the principal port of the area, Indian missions to and from Ceylon are said to have traveled via Tamaralipti.

The extent of the influence of Asoka's power in South India is better documented than in north India. The edicts of Asoka are found at Gavimathi, Palkignuda, Brahmagiri, Maski, yerragudi and Siddapur, Tamil poets also make references to the Mauryas.

More Important were the contacts with Ceylon. Information is available in the Ceylonese Chronicles on contacts between India and Ceylon. Coming of Mahindra to Ceylon was not the first official contact. Earlier, Dhamma missions were sent. A Ceylonese king was so captivated by Asoka that the top called himself as Devanampiya. Asoka maintained close relations with Tissa, the ruler of Ceylon. Relationship between Asoka and Tissa was based on mutual admiration for each other.

What interests of the country or the aims of Asoka were served through his missions? Asoka primarily tried to propagate his dhamma and may be incidentally Buddhims. He claimed that he made a spiritual conquest of all the territories specified by him as well as a few more territories beyond them. This claim definitely appears to bean exaggeration. There is no historical evidence to show that Asoka missions did succeed in achieving their aim particularly when the dhamma happened to be highly humanistic and ethical in nature. After all, Asoka was neither a Buddha nor a Christ to appeal to various people. Neither a St. Peter nor an Ananda to successful spread the message of their Masters. Not did he possess fighting men to spread his message just as the followers of prophet Mohammed. Thus, when there is no follow up action after the missions visited the various parts of the world, it is understandable that no one paid any heed to his message.

Evertheless, there is one intriguing point about the success of his foreign missions. In likelihood, the history of the Buddha and his message must have spread to the various parts. What did they need to? Although it is difficult to answer this question, it is of importance to observe that there are certain similarities between Christianity and Buddhism - suffering of man, Mara & Satan, Sangha Monasteries with Bikshus and Monks, and the use of rosary by Buddhist and Christian's monks.