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2014-12-01T01:17:00.001+05:30

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2014-06-18T21:21:00.002+05:30

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2014-04-01T18:55:00.001+05:30

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2014-04-01T17:36:00.001+05:30

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2014-03-31T22:43:00.002+05:30

Economic and Social Development for IAS Examination

Lecture-4: Basic Concepts of Economics Part-III (Money and Banking ;International Economics;Poverty;Unemployment;Development Economics) by S.Maitra, Associate Professor, Civil Services Study Centre, Administrative Training Institute, Kolkata (Feb 2014)

2014-02-17T00:01:00.002+05:30

Money and Banking

Monetary Policy: The term monetary policy refers to actions taken by central banks to affect monetary magnitudes or other financial conditions.

Bank Rate: Bank rate is the rate at which the central bank of a country provides loan to the commercial banks.

Open Market Operations: Open market operation consists of purchase and sale of securities by the central bank of the country.

Cash Reserve Ratio: Cash Reserve Ratio is a certain percentage of bank deposits which banks are required to keep with RBI in the form of reserves or balances.

Selective Credit Control: Selective Credit Controls are aimed at regulating the distribution of credit amongst sectors or purposes.

Repo Rate: Repo (Repurchase) rate is the rate at which the RBI lends shot-term money to the banks against securities.

Reverse Repo Rate: Reverse Repo rate is the rate at which banks park their short-term excess liquidity with the RBI.

Financial inclusion: Financial inclusion is the process of ensuring access to appropriate financial products and services needed by vulnerable groups such as weaker sections and low-income groups at an affordable cost in a fair and transparent manner by mainstream institutional players.

Non-Performing Asset: An asset, including a leased asset, becomes non performing when it ceases to generate income for the bank. A non performing asset (NPA) is a loan or an advance where interest and/ or instalment of principal remain overdue for a period of more than 90 days in respect of a term loan.

Call money market: The call money market is an important segment of the money market where uncollateralized borrowing and lending of funds take place on overnight basis.

Liquidity Adjustment Facility: RBI stands ready, on daily basis, to lend or borrow money from the banking system, as per the latter’s requirement, at fixed interest rates. The primary aim of such an operation is to assist banks to adjust to their day-to-day mismatches in liquidity, via repo and reverse repo operations.

General Credit Card: With a view to helping the poor and the disadvantaged with access to easy credit, banks have been asked to consider introduction of a general purpose credit card facility up to Rs. 25,000 at their rural and semi-urban branches.

Lead Bank Scheme: Lead Bank Scheme emphasizes making specific banks in each district the key instruments of local development by entrusting them with the responsibility of locating growth centres, assessing deposit potential, identifying credit gaps and evolving a co-ordinated approach to credit deployment in each district, in concert with other banks and credit agencies.

Development banks: Specialized public and private financial intermediaries providing medium and long-term credit for development projects.

Price and Inflation

Inflation: A persistent and appreciable rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.

Demand-pull Inflation: It is a situation when “too many money chasing after too few goods”. An excess of aggregate demand over aggregate supply generates inflationary rise in prices. When money supply increases it creates more demand for goods but if supply of goods cannot be increased due to full employment or other reasons, demand-pull inflation is caused.

Cost-push inflation: Cost-push inflation is caused by wage increase enforced by labour unions, profit increase by the entrepreneurs and input price rise due to structural or external reasons

Inflation Tax: Printing of money to raise government revenue is like imposing a tax as it causes inflation and inflation eats up a part of the value of money. This is called inflation tax

Wholesale Price Index (WPI): WPI is a weighted average of price (whole sale) relatives of commodities, classified into three categories namely, primary, manufacturing and fuel and power.

Consumer Price Index (CPI): CPI is a weighted average of price relatives of a basket of goods and services consumed by the people.

Headline inflation: While ‘headline inflation’ covers the entire set of goods and services included in the general index, ‘core inflation’ otherwise known as ‘underlying inflation’ ignores the volatile items in the general index.

Inflation targeting: Inflation targeting refers to the practice of the central bank to set an inflation target and then adjust its monetary policy accordingly.

Inflationary Gap: The inflationary gap is the amount by which aggregate expenditure would exceed aggregate output at the full employment level of income.

Producer Price Index (PPI): The Producer Price Index is a family of indices that measures the average change over time in the selling prices received by domestic producers of goods and services. PPIs measure price change from the perspective of the seller.

Headline inflation: Headline inflation covers the entire set of goods and services included in the general index.

Core inflation: Core inflation, otherwise known as ‘underlying inflation’, ignores the volatile items in the general index.

International Economics

Autarky: A closed economy that has no trade relation with the rest of the world.

Balance of trade: The difference between the value of exports and the value of imports.

Trade deficit => imports > exports

Trade surplus => exports > imports

Balance of payments: A systematic record of a country’s transactions with the rest of the world.

Balanced trade: A situation in which the value of a country's exports and the value of its imports are equal.

Exchange Rate: An exchange rate is the rate at which one country’s currency can be traded for another country’s currency. The exchange rate is determined by demand and supply in the foreign exchange markets where traders buy and sell currencies.

Comparative advantage: The principle of comparative advantage states that as long as the relative opportunity costs of producing goods differ among nations, there are potential gains from trade.

Tariff: Tariffs (customs duties) are taxes governments place on internationally traded goods.

Quota: Quotas are quantity limits placed on imports.

Both tariffs and quotas increase price and reduce quantity.

Under a tariff, the government collects the tariff revenue.

With a quota, the domestic price increases, and the importer, not the government, gets the revenue.

Absolute advantage: If one country can produce more of a commodity with the same amount of real resources than another country, the country is said to have absolute advantage over other country.

Capital account: The portion of a country’s balance of payments that records the volume of private foreign investment and public grants and loans that flow into and out of a country during a given period.

Capital account convertibility: Absence of restrictions on the use and availability of a currency for buying and selling international assets. Unlike the current account, the rupee is not fully convertible on the capital account yet in India.

Capital inflow: Borrowing from foreigners .Example: foreigners purchasing domestic assets or surplus in capital account.

Capital outflow: Lending abroad. Example: Indians buying foreign assets or deficit in capital account.

Convertible currency: A currency that can be freely traded for other currencies. Indian rupee is almost convertible now.

Crawling peg: Exchange rate system in which the exchange rate is allowed to move in line with the excess of domestic over foreign inflation. The objective is to keep the real exchange rate stable.

Devaluation: Increase in the exchange rate by the government.

Exchange rate: The price of one national currency in terms of another.

Foreign exchange reserve: Foreign assets held by the central bank.

Hard currency The currency of a major country, suc as US dollar, German mark, or the Japanese yen, that is freely convertible into other "soft" currencies.

Stock Market Concepts

Arbitrage: The difference between price of a security in two different exchanges. The difference can be used to make profits by persons holding a security to sell the same at an exchange where its price is high and buy it at an exchange where it is available at a lower price.

Bad Debt: A debt that is not collectible and therefore worthless to the creditor. This debt, once considered to be bad, will be written off by the company as an expense.

Balance Sheet: A financial statement that summarizes a company's assets, liabilities and shareholders' equity at a specific point in time. These three balance sheet segments give investors an idea as to what the company owns and owes, as well as the amount invested by the shareholders.

Balanced Fund: A mutual fund that invests its assets into the money market, bonds, preferred stock, and common stock with the intention to provide both growth and income.

Bankruptcy: The state of a person or firm unable to repay debts.

Basis Point: A unit that is equal to 1/100th of 1%, and is used to denote the change in a financial instrument. The basis point is commonly used for calculating changes in interest rates, equity indexes and the yield of a fixed-income security.

Bear Market: A market condition in which the prices of shares are falling or are expected to fall.

Blue Chip: A nationally recognized, well-established and financially sound company.

Bond: A debt investment with which the investor loans money to an entity (company or government) that borrows the funds for a defined period of time at a specified interest rate.

Book Closure: A company's announcement of a dividend or bonus to investors.

Book Value: The net asset value of a company, calculated by total assets minus intangible assets (patents, goodwill) and liabilities.

Boom: A period of time during which sales or business activity increases rapidly.

Broker: An individual or firm that charges a fee or commission for executing buy and sell orders submitted by an investor.

Bubble: A surge in equity prices, often more than warranted by the fundamentals and usually in a particular sector, followed by a drastic drop in prices as a massive selloff occurs.

Bull Market: A financial market of a certain group of shares in which prices are rising or are expected to rise.

Bullion: Gold and silver that is officially recognized as high quality (at least 99.5% pure), and is in the form of bars rather than coins.

CAGR: The year-over-year growth rate of an investment over a specified period of time. It's an imaginary number that describes the rate at which an investment would have grown if it grew at a steady rate

Capital Gain: An increase in the value of a capital asset (investment or real estate) that gives it a higher worth than the purchase price. The gain is not realized until the asset is sold.

Capital Gains Tax: A type of tax levied on capital gains incurred by individuals and corporations. Capital gains are the profits that an investor realizes when he or she sells the capital asset for a price that is higher than the purchase price.

Cash Flow Statement: This document provides aggregate data regarding all cash inflows a company receives from both its ongoing operations and external investment sources, as well as all cash outflows that pay for business activities and investments during a given quarter.

Closely Held Shares: The shares held by individuals closely related to a company.

Closing Price: The final price at which a security is traded on a given trading day.

Commodity: A basic good used in commerce that is interchangeable with other commodities of the same type. Commodities are most often used as inputs in the production of other goods or services.

Commodity Index: An index that tracks a basket of commodities to measure their performance.

Crash: A major decline in a financial market.

Demat – Dematerialization: Dematerialisation is the process by which physical certificates of an investor are converted to an equivalent number of securities in electronic form and credited into the BO’s account with his DP.

Dalal Street: A term that refers to the Bombay Stock Exchange, the major stock exchange in India. The street is home not only the Bombay Stock Exchange but also a large number of other financial institutions.

De-merger: A corporate strategy to sell off subsidiaries or divisions of a company.

Debenture: A type of debt instrument that is not secured by physical asset or collateral. Debentures are backed only by the general creditworthiness and reputation of the issuer. Both corporations and governments frequently issue this type of bond in order to secure capital.

Debt: An amount of money borrowed and owed by one party to another.

Debt Fund: An investment pool, such as a mutual fund or ETF, in which core holdings are fixed income investments. The fee ratios on debt funds are lower, on average, than equity funds because the overall management costs are lower.

Derivative: The term "Derivative" indicates that it has no independent value, i.e. its value is entirely "derived" from the value of the underlying asset. The underlying asset can be securities, commodities, bullion, currency, live stock or anything else. In other words, Derivative means a forward, future, option or any other hybrid contract of pre determined fixed duration, linked for the purpose of contract fulfillment to the value of a specified real or financial asset or to an index of securities.

Disinvestment: The action of an organization or government selling or liquidating an asset or subsidiary.

Diversification: A risk-management technique that mixes a wide variety of investments within a portfolio. The rationale behind this technique contends that a portfolio of different kinds of investments will, on average, yield higher returns and pose a lower risk than any individual investment found within the portfolio.

Dividend: Distribution of a portion of a company's earnings, decided by the board of directors, to a class of its shareholders.

EBITDA - Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization: EBITDA is a good metric to evaluate profitability

EPS - Earnings Per Share: EPS is the earning on each share of a company.

ESOP - Employee Stock Ownership Plan: A qualified, defined contribution, employee benefit plan designed to invest primarily in the stock of the sponsoring employer.

FCCB - Foreign Currency Convertible Bond: A type of convertible bond issued in a currency different than the issuer's domestic currency.

FDI - Foreign Direct Investment: An investment abroad, usually where the company being invested in is controlled by the foreign corporation.

FII - Foreign Institutional Investor: Foreign Institutional investors (FIIs) are entities established or incorporated outside India and make proposals for investments in India. The biggest source through which FIIs invest is the issuance of Participatory Notes (P-Notes), which are also known as Offshore Derivatives. Types of typical investors include banks, insurance companies, retirement or pension funds, hedge funds, investment advisors and mutual funds.

GAAP - Generally Accepted Accounting Principles: The common set of accounting principles, standards and procedures that companies use to compile their financial statements.

GDR - Global Depositary Receipt: A bank certificate issued in more than one country for shares in a foreign company. The shares are held by a foreign branch of an international bank.

Gilt Fund: A mutual fund that invests in several different types of medium and long-term government securities in addition to top quality corporate debt.

Growth Fund: A diversified portfolio of stocks that has capital appreciation as its primary goal, and thereby invests in companies that reinvest their earnings into expansion, acquisitions, and/or research and development.

Haircut: The difference between prices at which a market maker can buy and sell a security.

Hedge: Making an investment to reduce the risk of adverse price movements in an asset. Normally, a hedge consists of taking an offsetting position in a related security, such as a futures contract.

Hedge Fund: An aggressively managed portfolio of investments that uses advanced investment strategies such as leverage, long, short and derivative positions in both domestic and international markets with the goal of generating high returns.

Holding Period: In a long position, holding period refers to the time between an asset's purchase and its sale. In a short sale, the length of time for which the short position is held.

Initial Public Offering – IPO: The first sale of stock by a private company to the public.

Income Fund: A mutual fund that seeks to provide stable current income by investing in securities that pay interest or dividends.

Index: A statistical measure of change in an economy or a securities market. In the case of financial markets, an index is essentially an imaginary portfolio of securities representing a particular market or a portion of it.

Index Fund: A portfolio of investments that is weighted the same as a stock-exchange index in order to mirror its performance.

Insider Trading: The buying or selling of a security by someone who has access to material, nonpublic information about the security. Insider trading can be illegal or legal depending on when the insider makes the trade. It is illegal when the material information is still nonpublic.

Institutional Investor: A non-bank person or organization that trades securities in large enough share quantities or dollar amounts that they qualify for preferential treatment and lower commissions.

Liquidity: The degree to which an asset or security can be bought or sold in the market without affecting the asset's price.

Maturity Date: The date on which the principal amount of a note, draft, acceptance bond or other debt instrument becomes due and is repaid to the investor and interest payments stop.

Mid Cap: Companies having a market capitalization between Rs 500 cr. and Rs 1,000 cr.

Mutual Fund: A security that gives small investors access to a well-diversified portfolio of equities, bonds and other securities. Each shareholder participates in the gain or loss of the fund. Units are issued and can be redeemed as needed.

NAV - Net Asset Value: The total value of the fund's portfolio less liabilities.

Open End Fund: A type of mutual fund where there are no restrictions on the amount of shares the fund will issue. If demand is high enough, the fund will continue to issue shares no matter how many investors there are. Open-end funds also buy back shares when investors wish to sell.

Oversubscribed: A situation in which the demand for an initial public offering of securities exceeds the number of shares issued.

P/E Ratio - Price-Earnings Ratio: PE ratio or PE multiples is the ratio arrived by dividing Current market Price by Earnings per share of that stock.

Pension Fund: A fund established by an employer to facilitate and organize the investment of employees' retirement funds contributed by the employer and employees.

Portfolio: The group of assets - such as stocks, bonds and mutuals - held by an investor.

Redemption: The return of an investor's principal in a security, such as a stock, bond, or mutual fund.

Registrar: An institution or organization that is responsible for keeping records of bondholders and shareholders.

Sensex: An abbreviation of the Bombay Exchange Sensitive Index (Sensex) - the benchmark index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). It is composed of 30 of the largest and most actively-traded stocks on the BSE.

Warrant: A derivative security that gives the holder the right to purchase securities (usually equity) from the issuer at a specific price within a certain time frame.

Write-Off: A reduction in the value of an asset or earnings by the amount of an expense or loss.

YOY - Year Over Year: A method of evaluating two or more measured events that compares the results of measurement at one time period with those from another time period, on an annualized basis.

Yield: Yield is the annual rate of return for any investment and is expressed as a percentage.

Microeconomics

Allocative efficiency: Production of maximum output possible, using given quantities of inputs and available techniques of production in the most efficient manner.

Asymmetrlc informatlon: A situation in which one party (say, seller) in the market has more information than another party (i.e. buyer).

Invisible hand: According to Adam Smith if individuals conduct their economic activities in their own best interests, the economy will operate at maximum efficiency, without government requiring to intervene.

Cartel: An organization of producers agreeing to limit the output of their product in an effort to raise prices and Profits. Example: OPEC.

Colluslon: An agreement among sellers of a commodity to set a common price or share their commodity market so as to reduce competition among them.

Cost-benefit analysis: The actual and potential private and social costs of various economic decisions are compared with actual and potential private and social benefits. Decisions or projects that yield the highest ratio of benefit to cost are usually selected for implementation.

Diminishing returns: If one factor of production is kept unchanged and other factors are added in constant increments, the marginal productivity of variable factors will eventually decline.

Division of labor: Allocation of tasks among workers such that each one engages in tasks that-he or she performs most efficiently. Division of labor promotes worker specialization and thereby adds to overall labor productivity.

Economies of scale: Economies of scale refers to increase in the scale of production, resulting in reduction in the cost of production per unit of output.

Externality: Any benefit or cost borne by an individual resulting from another person’s behaviour. Factor mobility: The unrestricted transference or free voluntary movement of. factors of production among different uses and geographic locations.

Factor-price distortions: When prices of the factors of production do not reflect their true scarcity values i.e. their competitive market prices. Factor-price distortions may lead to the use of inappropriate techniques of production.

Imperfect competition: A market situation in which producers have some degree of control over the price of their product. Examples: Monopoly and oligopoly.

Imperfect market: A market where any (or some) features of perfect competition such as, large number of buyers and sellers, free entry and exit, homogeneous product and complete information is absent.

Increasing returns: A more than proportional increase in output that results from a change in the scale of production leading to a reduction in cost per unit as scale enlarges. Generally public utility services such as water supply, electricity etc. are characterized by increasing returns. This leads to natural monopoly.

Market failure: A phenomenon that results from the existence of market imperfections that weaken the functioning of a free-market economy and the market fails to realize Pareto optimality.Market failure often provides the justification for government intervention.

Pareto optimality: A situation in which no one can be made better off without making someone else worse off.

Perfect competition: A market situation characterized by (i) Large number of buyers and sellers; (ii) homogeneous products; (iii) free entry and exit and (iv) perfect knowledge.

Prisoners' dilemma: A situation in game theory in which all parties would be better off cooperating than competing, but, given that cooperation has been initially achieved, each party would gain the most by cheating while others stick to the cooperative agreements.

Product differentiation: The practice of some producers to differentiate their products from similar ones through differential packaging and/or advertisements.

(For detail study you may refer to my book: General Studies Paper-I by Access Publishing available on Flipkart:

http://www.flipkart.com/general-studies-civil-services-preliminary-examination-paper-1-2014-1st/p/itmdpf9fynss9rgc?pid=9788192679600&otracker=from-search&srno=t_3&query=general+studies+2014&ref=d9ca9dc0-2caa-4889-ab3c-51979772b1c2)

Lecture-3: Basic Concepts of Economics Part-II (Demography and Census;Five Year Plans;Poverty;Unemployment;Development Economics) by S.Maitra, Associate Professor, Civil Services Study Centre, Administrative Training Institute, Kolkata (Feb 2014)

2014-02-16T23:28:00.001+05:30

Demography and Census

Demography: Demography is the statistical study of human population. It encompasses the study of the size, structure, and distribution of these populations.

Crude Birth Rate (CBR): CBR measures the number of live births per 1000 population in a given year.

Age-Specific Fertility Rate (ASFR): ASFR measures the annual number of births to women of a specified age or age group per 1,000 women in that age group.

General Fertility Rate (GFR): GFR is the number of live births per 1000 women ages 15-49 in a given year.

Total Fertility Rate (TFR): TFR is the sum of the Age-Specific Fertility Rates (5-year age groups between 15 and 49) for female residents during a year multiplied by 5, whole divided by 1000.

Crude Death Rate (CDR): CDR is the total number of deaths to residents in a given year divided by the total population of that year per thousand.

Infant Mortality Rate (IMR): IMR is the number of newborns dying under one year of age divided by the number of live births per thousand.

Neonatal mortality rate (NMR): NMR the ratio of the number of deaths of children less than 29 days of age in one year to the number of live births in that year per thousand.

Post neonatal mortality rate (PNMR): PNMR the ratio of the number of deaths in one year of children more than 29 days upto one year of age to the number of live births in that year per thousand.

Demographic Dividend: An increase in the working age ratio can raise the rate of economic growth. This is known as “demographic dividend.”

Five Year Plans

Economic planning:

Economic planning is a sort of conceiving, initiating, regulating and controlling economic activity by the State according to set priorities with a view to achieving well defined objectives within a given time span.

Differentiate between plan and non-plan expenditure

The expenditure in developing ‘planned’ projects is plan expenditure while that on maintenance and running of the existing projects is known as non-plan expenditure.

Democratic planning:

Planning is ‘democratic’ if people are associated at both formulation and implementation stages and it is finalized through debate among people’s representatives.

Regional planning:

Regional planning is a sort of spatial planning at various territorial levels (such as block/district/state) for achieving sustainable development for the region.

Indicative planning: Indicative planning is peculiar to the mixed economy. In a mixed economy, the public and private sectors work together. In indicative planning the private sector is neither rigidly controlled nor directed to fulfill the targets and priorities of the plan. The state provides all types of facilities to the private sector but does not direct it, rather indicates the areas in which it can help in implementing the plan.

Imperative planning:

Under imperative planning all economic activities and resources of the economy operate under the direction of the state. There is complete control over the factors of production by the state. There is no consumers sovereignty in such planning.

Comprehensive plan: An economic plan that sets targets to cover all the major sectors of the national economy.

Poverty

Poverty: According to the World Bank (2000), “poverty is pronounced deprivation in wellbeing.”

Headcount Index

By far, the most widely used measure is the headcount index, which simply measures the proportion of the population that is counted as poor, often denoted by P₀.

Poverty Gap Index

A moderately popular measure of poverty is the poverty gap index (PGI), which adds up the extent to which individuals on average fall below the poverty line, and expresses it as a percentage of the poverty line.

Definition of Poverty Line

Defining a poverty line is the first step in estimating poverty. A poverty line which distinguishes the poor from the non-poor is derived by estimating the value of the minimum required consumption levels of food, clothing, shelter, fuel and health care, etc.

Absolute poverty: The people are said to be in absolute poverty if the minimum amounts of food, clothing and shelter necessary for survival absorb all of their income.

Poverty trap A bad equilibrium for a family, community, or nation, involving a vicious cycle in which poverty and underdevelopment breed more poverty and underdevelopment, often from one generation to the next.

Basic needs A term used by the International Labor Organization to describe the basic goods and services (food, shelter, clothing, sanitation, education, etc.) necessary for a minimum standard of living.

Poverty line: A poverty line which distinguishes the poor from the non-poor is derived by estimating the value of the minimum required consumption levels of food, clothing, shelter, fuel and health care, etc.

Unemployment

Frictional Unemployment: A temporary phenomenon which arises when workers are temporarily out of work while changing jobs or are suspended due to strikes or lockouts.

Casual Unemployment: In industries /services such as construction, catering etc., also in agriculture, where workers are employment on a day to day basis, there are chances of casual unemployment occurring due to short-term contracts which are terminable anytime.

Seasonal Unemployment: Industries or occupations such as agriculture, catering, holiday resorts, where production activities are seasonal in nature offer employment only for a certain period of time in a year. People engaged in such type of work may remain unemployed during the off-season, which is known as seasonal unemployment.

Structural Unemployment: Unemployment which arises due to change in the pattern of demand leading to changes in the structure of production in the economy is termed as the structural unemployment.

Technological Unemployment: Due to introduction of new machinery, improvements in methods of production, labour-saving devices etc. some workers tend to be replaced by machines. This unemployment is known as technological unemployment. For example, use of synthetic rubber is bound to reduce demand for natural rubber leading to unemployment in rubber plantation.

Cyclical Unemployment: Associated with cyclical fluctuations of economic activity due to trade cycle; Mostly found in the capitalist countries like USA etc.

Chronic Unemployment: When unemployment tends to a long time feature of a country, it is called chronic unemployment. Underdeveloped countries suffer from chronic unemployment on account of the vicious cycle of poverty, resource scarcity, high population growth, low capital formation etc.

• Disguised Unemployment

Refers to a situation where people may be working and apparently employed, yet their contribution to output may be zero or negative. Found mainly in agriculture, public sector enterprises etc.

Labour force participation rate (LFPR): LFPR is defined as the number of persons/ person-days in the labour force per 1000 persons /person-days.

Worker Population Ratio (WPR): WPR defined as the number of persons/person days employed per 1000 persons/person-days.

Proportion Unemployed (PU): It is defined as the number of persons/person-days unemployed per 1000 persons/person-days.

Unemployment Rate (UR): UR is defined as the number of persons/person-days unemployed per 1000 persons/person-days in the labour force (which includes both the employed and unemployed).

Development Economics

Agrarian System: The pattern of land distribution, ownership and management, also the institutional and social structure of the agro-based economy.

Agricultural extension services: Services offered to the farmers, usually by the government or non-governmental organizations, in the form of transmitting information, new ideas, methods, and advice relating to use of fertilizers, pest control, soil testing and conservation methods etc. with a view to encouraging and assisting them to achieve larger agricultural output.

Approprtate technology: Technology of production that is appropriate a country given its factor endowments.

Capability: Amartya Sen introduced the concept of ‘capability’ in development economics. Sen defined capabilities of an individual as "the freedom that a person has in terms of the choice of functionings, given his personal features and his command over commodities.”

Capital accumulation: Increase in a country's stock of real capital like plants, machineries and productive equipments. Economic development of a country largely depends on the rate of capital accumulation.

Foreign direct investment (FDI): Overseas investments by private multinational corporations. Broadly, foreign direct investment includes "mergers and acquisitions, building new facilities, reinvesting profits earned from overseas operations and intra-company loans.

Amortlzation: Gradual payoff of a loan principal.

Approprtate technology: Technology that is appropriate for an economy given its existing factor endowments. For example, a technology employing a higher proportion of labor relative to other factors in a labor-abundant economy is usually more appropriate than one that uses smaller labor proportions relative to other factors.

Basic needs: The basic goods and services (food, shelter, clothing, sanitation, education, etc.) necessary for a minimum standard of living.

Big push: A concerted effort, led often by the Government policy, to initiate or accelerate economic development across a broad spectrum of sectors and industries in the economy.

Blodlverslty: The variety of life forms within an ecosystem.

Biomass fuels: Any combustible organic matter that may be used as fuel, such as firewood, dung, or agricultural residues.

Brain drain: The emigration of highly educated and skilled professional and technical manpower from the developing to the developed countries.

Buffer stocks: Stocks of commodities such as food items held by some authority to be used during scarcity or to moderate price fluctuations.

Capability: The freedom that a person has in terms of the choice of functionings, given his personal features and his command over commodities.

Capltal intenslve technlque: A technique of production that uses a higher proportion of capital relative to other factors of production such as labor or land per unit output.

Capltal-labor ratio: The number of units of' capital per unit of labour,

Capital-output ratio: The units of capital required to produce a unit of output over a given period of time.

Capital stock: The total amount of physical goods existing at a particular time that have been produced for use in the production of other goods (including services).

Casual employment: Employment on an ad hoc basis without regular hours or a wage contract most often found in the informal sector.

Common market: A form of. economic integration in which there is free internal trade, a common tariff, and the free movement of labor and capital among partner states. The European Union is an example.

Common property resource: A resource that is publicly owned and allocated under a system of unrestricted access.

Customs union: A form of economic integration in which two or more nations agree to free all internal trade among nations while levying a common tariff for trade with other nations..

Debt-service ratio: The ratio of interest and principal payments due in a year to export receipts for that year.

Deforestation: The clearing/destruction of forested land.

Dependency burden: The proportion of the people aged 0 to 15 and above 65 to total population. The people in this age group is considered economically unproductive and therefore not counted in the labor force.

Dualism: Two situations or systems, (one desirable and the other not) coexisting side by side in one place. For example, modern and traditional sectors, urban and rural, extreme poverty and affluence, etc.

Economic union: Complete integration of two or more economics into a single economic entity.

Export promotion Government policy to increase the volume of a country's exports through export incentives and other means with a view to generating more foreign exchange.

Incremental capital-output ratio (ICOR): The amount of additional capital needed to increase output by one unit.

Infant industry: A newly set-up domestic industry which requires the protection of a tariff barrier to grow.

Informal sector: In many countries, a large part of the urban economy is characterized by small competitive individual or family firms, petty retail trade and services, labor-intensive methods, free entry and non-observance of labour laws etc.

Innovation: The application of scientific inventions in production processes and methods to produce new products with a view to making profit.

Financial intermediary Any financial institution, public or private, that serves to channel loanable

funds from savers to borrowers. Examples include commercial banks, cooperative banks, non-banking finance companies and development banks.

Fixed exchange rate When exchange value of a national currency remain fixed in relation to another (usually the U.S. dollar) and is not allowed to fluctuate on the international money market.

Flexible exchange rate The exchange value of a national currency that is free to fluctuate in response to shifts in demand and supply of foreign exchange.

Foreign direct investment (FDI): Overseas investments by private multinational corporations.

Formal educational system The organized and accredited educational system, with qualified teachers, standard curricula, regular academic years, and recognized certification.

Free-rider problem: Situation in which people enjoys benefits without paying for it.

Free-trade area: A form of economic integration in which there exists free internal trade among member countries but each member is free to levy different external tariffs against non-member nations.

Globalization: The increasing integration of national economies with the international markets.

Government failure Situation in which government intervention in an economy worsens outcomes.

Human capital: Productive investments embodied in human beings. These include skills, abilities, and health resulting from expenditures on education, training and medical care.

Inward-looking development policies: Policies that stress economic self-reliance of a nation, by promoting development of indigenous appropriate technology, the imposition of substantial

protective tariff and non-tariff trade barriers to promote import substitution, and the general discouragement of private foreign investment.

Market economy: A free private-enterprise economy governed by consumer sovereignty, a price system, and the forces of supply and demand.

Mixed economic systems: Economic systems that are a mixture of both capitalist and socialist economies. Public and private sectors co-exist in such economic system.

Multi-fiber arrngement (MFA): A set of nontariff bilateral quotas established by developed countries on imports of cotton, wool, and synthetic textiles and clothing from individual developing countries.

Non formal education: Any non-school-based program that provides basic skills and training to

individuals. Examples include adult education, on-the-job training programs, and agricultural

and other extension services.

Outward-looking development policies: Policies that encourage free trade; the free movement of capital, workers, enterprises; a welcome to multinational corporations etc.

Privatization: Selling public assets (corporations) to individuals or private business interests.

Property rights: Legal titles given to natural resources such as land to people enabling them freely to buy and sell their assets, and other rights to use, gain income from, or sell property.

Purchasing power parity (PPP): The purchasing power of a country's currency: the number of units

of that currency required to purchase the same basket of goods and services that a U.S. dollar

buys in the United States.

Rent seeking: Efforts by individuals and businesses in an economy to capture the economic rent arising from price distortions and physical controls caused by excessive government intervention,

such as licenses, quotas, interest rate ceilings, and exchange control.

Social safety net: A set of government programs such as public distribution system, welfare payments, free health clinics, and unemployment insurance designed to ensure a minimum level of living for the poor.

Urban bias: When the urban sector is favoured in the development policies, thereby creating a widening gap between the urban and rural economies.

Trickle-down theory of development: The notion that an overall growth of gross national product and income per capita would automatically benefit (trickle down) the poor.

(For detail study you may refer to my book: General Studies Paper-I by Access Publishing available at Flipkart:

Lecture-2: Basic Concepts of Economics Part-I (Macroeconomics) by S.Maitra, Associate Professor, Civil Services Study Centre, Administrative Training Institute, Kolkata (Feb 2014)

2014-02-12T22:19:00.001+05:30

Gross domestic product (GDP): The sum of values of all final goods and services produced within the geographical limit of a country.

Gross National Product (GNP): The sum of values of all final goods and services produced by the citizens of a country within the country and the rest of the world. Gross National Product (GNP) = Gross Domestic Product (GDP) + Net Factor Income from Abroad (NFIA)

Gross domestic product at market price (GDP_MP): While deriving GDP of a country we estimate value added at the market prices. The estimate of GDP obtained this way is known as GDP at market price.

Gross National Product at Factor Cost (GNP_FC): Market prices normally include indirect taxes net of subsidies. Gross national product at factor cost {GNP_FC) is simply, Gross national product at market price (GNP_MP) minus net indirect taxes (Net IT), i.e. GNP_FC = GNP_MP – Net IT

Net National Product (NNP): Net National Product (NNP) is simply obtained as gross national product (GNP) minus depreciation (D) i.e. Net National Product (NNP) = Gross National Product (NDP) -- Total Depreciation (D). Fixed capitals have their own life-time and depreciates in value every period of time after their participation in the productive process. Depreciation of fixed capital takes place because of their normal ‘wear and tear’.

National income (NI): Net national product at factor cost is equivalent to the notion of national income {NI), which the accrual of income to all normal residents in a country due to their participation in production anywhere in the world. Therefore, National Income(NI) = NNP_FC

GDP Deflator: The GDP deflator, also called the implicit price deflator for GDP, is defined as the ratio of nominal GDP to real GDP:

GDP Deflator = (Nominal GDP/ Real GDP)

Nominal GDP measures the value of the output of the economy at current prices. Real GDP measures output valued at constant prices. The GDP deflator measures the price of output relative to its price in the base year.

Aggregate demand shock: Shocks such as change in government expenditure or change in money supply that cause a change in aggregate demand in an economy.

Aggregate supply shock: Shocks such as increase in petroleum price, a drought etc. that lead to a change in aggregate supply in an economy.

Depreciation: The reduction in value of asset through wear and tear. Also, fall in the value of a currency in terms of another currency.

Rational expectations: Expectations about the future making best use of available information.

Efficiency wage: Modern-sector urban employers sometimes pay a higher wage than the equilibrium wage rate in order to attract a higher-quality work-force or to obtain higher productivity on the job.

Keynesian model: Model developed by Lord John Maynard Keynes in the early 1930s to explain the cause of economic depression and hence the unemployment of that period. The model states that unemployment is caused by insufficient aggregate demand and can be eliminated by increasing government expenditure. Increase in aggregate demand would lead to increase in production and hence create further employment.

Laissez-faire: Free-enterprise market economy without any government intervention.

Macroeconomic instability: When an economy is passing through a phase with high inflation accompanied by rising budget and trade deficits and a rapidly expanding money supply.

Macroeconomlc stablllzatlon: Policies designed to eliminate macroeconomic instability.

Procyclical fiscal policy: Changes in government spending and taxes that increase the cyclical fluctuations in the economy instead of reducing them.

Natural rate of unemployment The average rate of unemployment around which the economy fluctuates. The natural rate is the rate of unemployment toward which the economy gravitates in the long run, given all the labor-market imperfections that impede workers from instantly finding jobs.

Recession: A recession is a decline in a country's gross domestic product growth for two or more consecutive quarters of a year.

Accounting classification of government expenditure:

(i) Revenue and Capital (ii) Developmental and Non-Developmental and (iii) Plan and Non-Plan.

Revenue and capital expenditure:

Expenditures that result in the creation of new assets and those which do not.

Revenue expenditure is for the normal running of government departments and various services, interest charges etc.

The main purpose of the capital account is to show the gross and net capital formation in the public sector during the accounting period. Capital expenditure results in creation of assets in the economy.

Revenue and capital budget:

Government budget comprises Revenue Budget and Capital Budget.

Revenue budget consists of revenue receipts of government (tax revenues and other revenues) and the expenditure met from these revenues.

Tax revenues comprise proceeds of taxes and other duties levied by the Union.

Revenue expenditure is for the normal running of government departments and various services. Broadly speaking, expenditure which does not result in creation of assets is treated as 'Revenue expenditure'. All financial administration grants given to state governments and other parties are also treated as revenue expenditure.

Capital budget consists of capital receipts and payments.

The main items of capital receipts are: a) loans raised by government from public which are called market loans, b) borrowings from Reserve Bank of India and other parties through sale of Treasury Bills, c) loans received from foreign governments and d) loans granted by Central government to state and union territory governments and other parties.

Capital expenditure:

A capital expenditure may be defined as any expenditure the benefits of which extend over a period of time exceeding one year.

Capital expenditure is the expenditure which is intended for creating concrete assets of a material character in the economy.

Examples of capital expenditure are the acquisition of assets like land, buildings machinery, equipment and also investment in shares and loans and advances granted by Central government to state and union territory governments, government companies etc.

Developmental and non-developmental expenditure:

Developmental expenditure comprises expenditure incurred on education. medical care, public health and family planning, labour and employment, agriculture, cooperation, irrigation, transport and communication and other miscellaneous services. Expenditure incurred on these items both on Revenue and Capital accounts is also treated as development expenditure.

Non-Developmental expenditure, on the other hand, comprises expenditure incurred on items like defence, collection of taxes and duties, administrative services, interest on debt and other services, stationery and printing and other expenditure on general services.

Developmental expenditure leads to economic growth and development whereas Non-Developmental expenditure does not, at least directly.

Plan and Non-Plan Expenditure:

Plan expenditure refers to the expenditure incurred by the Central Government on programmes / projects, which are recommended by the Planning Commission.

Non-Plan expenditure, on the contrary, is a generic term used to cover all expenditure of government, not included in the plan.

The distinction between 'plan expenditure' and non-plan expenditure' is purely an administrative classification.

Non-Plan expenditure consists of many items of expenditure, which are obligatory in nature.

Items of expenditure, such as interest payments, pensionary charges, statutory transfer to states come under the obligatory nature.

Defence, internal security are essential obligations of a state.

Besides, there are special responsibilities of the Central Government like external affairs, currency and mint, cooperation with other countries and the expenditure incurred in this connection are treated as "non-plan" expenditure.

Of all the major items of Non-plan expenditure of the Central Government, interest payments, defence, subsidies take the lion's share of expenditure.

Revenue Deficit, Fiscal Deficit and Primary Deficit of Central Government:

Revenue Deficit = Revenue expenditure – Revenue receipts

Fiscal Deficit = Total expenditure—Revenue receipt— Recovery of loans — Other receipt

Primary Deficit = Fiscal Deficit – Interest payment

Lecture-1: How to prepare for CSE Prelims--Introductory Lecture by Subir Maitra, Associate Professor at Civil Services Study Centre, Administrative Training Institute, Kolkata (February, 2014)

2014-02-12T21:40:00.002+05:30

The civil services examination is basically a test to choose suitable administrators. It tests the candidate right from the stage when one starts the preparation. One common misconception about the prelims is that it is a test of facts and figures. This is not so. A candidate should have the right frame of mind and the will power to succeed in the exam. A proper action plan is needed for the preparation itself since he /she will be tested for some essential qualities like power of retention, clarity of concepts, ability to identify the correct alternatives with efficiency and accuracy. All this requires a quick decision making power. Since the preliminary exam in particular is a test of endurance the candidate needs to prepare himself on the physical as well as mental level. The main constraint is the time one gets to answer questions. On an average one gets around 70 seconds for each question for GS Paper-1 and around 90 seconds for GS Paper-2. One sure way of dealing with this stress is to count numbers or to take a few deep breaths. Meditation and Yoga also help in dealing with stress to a great extent.

Now we come to the actual preparation for the prelims exam. Since it is a multiple choice question paper, it needs a different preparation and a proper strategy. The first thing a candidate needs to bear in mind is that the examination is designed to evaluate certain qualities like a sharp memory and basic retention power. There are ways to increase one's memory like preparing charts. One gets confused when faced with mind boggling facts and figures. Important facts and figures can be simplified and represented on charts and they can be arranged in the form of tables or graphs. Another thing to remember is to make short and brief notes on each topic so that the entire syllabus can be revised a day before the exam. It is better to use diagrams and link words which make it easier to understand difficult concepts. One more technique to help in retaining information is the use of abbreviations. Since the syllabus involves exhaustive information abbreviations help you to remember it better. It is a good method to remember dates, facts and figures in a picture format and to break up complex names and places into smaller and simpler words. The last and the most important technique is doing regular revision. This helps in retaining the maximum information. A separate time slot should be given to doing not only regular but multiple revisions like daily, weekly, monthly etc.

Many candidates make a mistake of overloading themselves with lots of information and end up remembering nothing. One should be able to differentiate between relevant and irrelevant information. Since the preliminary exam is an elimination round the candidate should also learn to focus only on the information needed and filter out the rest. It helps to discuss with friends and teachers but the most reliable way is to past years question papers for the optional subject whereas for the general studies paper, one should keep abreast with current events and information related to them.

An important thing to remember is that for this exam it is just enough to remember information but to understand the concepts well instead of memorizing facts and figures. The questions asked in the General Studies paper are of 10+2 level. Therefore emphasis has to be on conceptual clarity. Any concept has to be understood with its origin, merits and de-merits, then it needs to be analysed with other relevant topics and lastly it has to be correlated with the events that have taken place during the year.

The preliminary exam requires candidates who have the acumen and the ability to choose the right option of many given options. This needs a proper method of elimination. It is a good idea to go through previous years and model question papers and solve as many as possible. Taking a mock test of a certain number of G.S. questions would be a good practice and help to pick out the most appropriate option.

Each prelims paper is for two hours but a lot of time is wasted in signing attendance sheets etc, therefore there is a lot of need for effective Time Management not only for the exam but in the preparation as well. It is not enough to know the right answer but it has to be marked correctly on the answer sheet. Speed and Accuracy are important, so solving model question papers on a regular basis would be a great help.

A good presence of mind is needed to eliminate the least appropriate options and arrive at the right one. Tick out the least correct answer first and go on to the next option. Even when faced with a question for which you do not have a ready answer, with basic common sense and a good presence of mind, it is possible to make your guess a smart and a correct one.

Throughout the preparation for the prelims exam, it is important to remember that any topic or concept should not be studied in isolation. It is better to understand and establish a correlation between related concepts from other subjects and current events and happenings.

Even with all this preparation, it is necessary to have a positive attitude and a great amount of will power to succeed to achieve your goal, that of getting through the civil services examination with flying colors!

Success Secrets:

Hard work:

Remember that there is no substitute to hard work. All successful candidates say the hard work is one of the first pre-requisites for the success. There is no short cut to success and hard work never goes unrewarded.

Planning and systematic study:

Proper planning right from the stage of selection of optional subjects and selection of text books is absolutely necessary. Though there is no one way of studying, there are ways to study more effectively and with less stress and more enjoyment. It is important to know how to make use of the sources available to you in the best possible way. It is wise to take a three pronged approach to preparation, reading to learn, making effective notes and able to write answers to various kinds of questions.

Time management:

Effective time management is another requirement. If we spend our time in a frenzy of activity, we can achieve very little because we are not concentrating on the right things. We keep hearing the word "Busy" a lot. There are two kinds of ‘busy’(ness): chaotic, disorganized busy and calm, effective busy. It goes without saying that being the latter helps to pack in more productivity in your work. Improving our "effectiveness quotient" calls for mastery of basic time management skills.

Self-confidence:

Your self-confidence can make the difference. Your self-confidence should be at an all time high - always. You should be in the company of people, who can increase your motivational levels high and can inspire you. Form a group of close friends, who are as determined as you are to make it to the Civil Services Examination.

Dedication:

Be totally dedicated and focused in your studies. You have to sacrifice something like movies, parties, and entertainments etc at this stage of your life to achieve bigger things.

Patience:

As the CSE preparation spans a minimum of one year, right from the Preliminary stage to the interview state, it requires a lot of patience to maintain your tempo. One should not lose patience and the tempo throughout the preparation period till success.

Tips for answering questions at the Prelims:

( I am indebted to Mr. Parvez Dewan, IAS for giving me some of these tips.)

Don’t waste time:

Start answering the questions from the minute you get them. The time allotted is very limited, so waste no time on reading the entire question paper first. First answer all the question you are sure you know the answers to. Skip all the difficult questions in the first round: in this round if you find yourself stuck in a question for more than 10 seconds, just skip it.

However, keep making a small mark on the question paper to indicate that you have skipped that question in the first round. This will enable you to save time in the next rounds. If you answer a question in the second round, cancel this mark, so that in third round you know which questions still remain unanswered. Three rounds should be sufficient, but you could break the process into a fourth round too.

Allocate time for each answer:

In GS Prelims Paper-1, since you are to answer 100 questions (80 questions for Paper-2) in two hours, you have an average of 72 seconds (90 seconds for Paper-2) for each question. So on pro rata basis you should answer 25 questions every 30 minutes (20 questions every half an hour for Paper-2). But be harsh with yourself in the first hour. Allocate 40-45 seconds for each question (55-60 seconds in case of Paper-2).

Thus if in the first 30 minutes you haven’t answered 30-35 questions (25-27 questions in case of optional subject), you should tell yourself that you are not doing well. This is because in the first hour you will be answering the easiest questions and in the last half-hour you will need plenty of spare time for “logic and guesswork”. Even bright candidates sometimes find themselves slower than the pro-rata speed in the first half-hour. So unless you consciously try to be faster than that speed, you will run into trouble later.

Negative marking:

There will be penalty for wrong answers marked by a candidate in the objective type question papers. There will be four alternatives for the answer to every question. For each question for which a wrong answer has been given by the candidate, one-third (0.33) of the marks assigned to that question will be deducted as penalty. If a candidate gives more than one answer, it will be treated as a wrong even if one of the given answers happens to be correct and there will be same penalty. But if a question is left blank, i.e. no answer is given by the candidate, there will be no penalty for that question. Hence you need be very cautious in the second and third rounds when you are attempting those questions you are fairly, but not absolutely, certain about or those questions that you know absolutely nothing about.

Analysis of GS Prelims questions related to Indian Economy (2005-2013):

The questions were asked on the following topics:

CSE GS Prelims 2013

1.Balance of payments;

2.RBI’s regulation;

3.Bank Rate;

4.Deficit financing;

5.Disguised unemployment;

6.Capital account;

7.Inflation;

8.Liquid asset of bank;

9.Open market operations;

10. Priority sector lending by banks;

11.Demographic dividend;

12.Inflation;

13.Economic growth;

14.National income;

15.Credit to rural poor;

16.Foreign exchange reserve;

17.Inflation;

18.Demand and supply of money;

CSE GS Prelims 2012

1. National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) and Indian agriculture;

2. National Rural Health Mission;

3. National Rural Livelihood Mission;

4. Multi-dimensional Poverty Index of UNDP;

5. Thirteenth Finance Commission;

6. Industrial Policy;

7. Ryotwari Settlement;

8. Demographic transition;

9. Index of Industrial Production;

10. Janani Suraksha Yojana;

11. Employees’ State Insurance Scheme;

12. District Rural Development Agencies;

13. Reserve Bank of India;

14. Capital gains;

15. Measures to increase in the money supply in the economy;

16. Foreign Direct Investment;

17. Price of a currency in international market;

18. Lead Bank Scheme;

CSE GS Prelims 2011

1. Union Budget 2011-12;

2. Food Inflation;

3. Fiscal Stimulus;

4. Visit by foreign nationals to India;

5. Current Account Deficit;

6. Base Effect of Inflation;

7. Demographic dividend;

8. Value Added Tax;

9. Closed economy;

10. Difference between FDI and FII;

11. Aam Admi Bima Yojana;

12. Mega Food Parks;

13. Micro Finance;

14. MGNREGA;

15. Union Budget;

16. Finance Commission;

17. Australia Group and Wassenaar Arrangement;

18. Difference between Vote on Account and Interim Budget;

19. IMF;

20. Teaser Loan by commercial Bank;

21. Growth of Indian economy;

22. Agricultural credit;

23. Inclusive Growth;

24. Disinvestment of the public sector;

25. Economic growth and Inflation;

26. Bank Rate;

CSE GS Prelims 2009

1.Infant Mortality Rate;

2.Private companies—Business house associated;

3.Financial organization—Service provided;

4. International auctioneers;

5. Funds from UNFCC;

6. Carbon credit;

7. World Economic Forum;

8. The Climate Change Accountability Bill—country

9. Important events of Indian economy;

10.Population density in south Asian countries;

11.Different taxes in India;

12.Stock Exchanges in India;

13.Energy Statistics;

14.Stock indices in different countries;

15.CACP—National Food Security Mission;

16.Deepak Parekh Committee;

17.Five Year Plans-Objectives;

CSE GS Prelims 2008

1.Green Revolution –Father of;

2.Stock Index—S & P 500;

3.Census 2001—State with minimum population;

4.Prisoner’s Dilemma;

5.Census 2001—State with highest % of rural population;

6.World Summit on Sustainable Development;

7.Clean Development Mechanism-carbon credits;

8.Census 2001-Million plus cities;

9.Name of PSUs;

10.UN Monetary and Financial Conference;

11.BRIT (GOI);

12.Important International Organisations—India as a member;

13.Census 2001-Persons above 65 years of age;

14.GDP per capita, Wheat and Rice production;

15.Rural Electrification Policy;

16.National Population Policy,2000;

17.Biodiesel Mission;

18.Indira Gandhi Old Age Pension Scheme;

19.Scheme to provide training and skills to women in trades.

CSE GS Prelims 2007

1.National Child Labour Project and Gurupadaswamy Committee;

2.Aluminum company—Location;

3.National Highways and States;

4.International companies-Products;

5.Changing sectoral contribution to Indian GDP;

6.Steel Industry in India;

7.National Housing Bank;

8.Food grains production in India;

CSE GS Prelims 2006

1.Famous companies-area of work;

2.Census 2001-Area,Literacy rate, Population;

3.BOP concept;

4.Bharat Nirman Plan and National Rural Employment Guarantee Act,2005;

5.Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act;

6.Indonext;

7.Non nationalized Bank;

8.Value of India’s export and India’s share in merchandise exports;

9.SAFTA;

10.Carbon tax-world’s first;

11.ASEAN members;

12.National Rural Employment Guarantee Act,2005;

13.World Economic Forum meeting at Davos;

14.Life Insurance Corporation, National Insurance Company and United India Insurance Company;

15.Service Tax;

16.Nirmal Gram Puraskar;

CSE GS Prelims 2005

1.Census 2001-States with 2^nd largest population;

2.Chamber of commerce-FICCI-President;

3.India’s Forex reserve and whole sale price index;

4.First airport owned by Public Limited Company;

5.ASEAN members;

6.PRGF of IMF and Singapore Regional Training Institute(STI)

7.Sensex and New York Stock Exchange;

8.Important companies-Business House;

9.Census 2001-Area and population of different state;

10.Census 2001-% of scheduled caste; decadal growth of population; State with least population; State with highest sex ratio;

11.Global Trust Bank and PNB amalgamation;

12.National Family Planning Programme and National Population Policy;

13.No. of Post Offices; Year of formation of BSNL and TRAI;

Major topics of GS Prelims questions related to Indian Economy (2005-2013):

Census 2001 and Census 2011;
Basic statistics relating to Indian Economy;
Five Year Plans;
Government Policies;
Government Schemes, Projects and Missions;
Committees and their recommendations;
Public Sector Enterprises;
Stock Exchanges and Stock Indices—National and International;
Bank and insurance sector-Role and functions of Reserve Bank of India;
Famous private companies—business houses associated with them and their products/services;
International trading blocks—India as a member;
Environment Economics-- National and International;
Taxes and subsidies;
Miscellaneous;

Reading List:

1. NCERT textbooks (XI-XII) on Economics: Read the following sections:

From XI: Course II, Units I—IV;

From XII: Course II, Units IV—V;

2. Census 2001 and 2011Reports;

3. Economic Surveys, GOI,(2012-13 and 2013-14);

4. India 2013 and 2014;

5. One good guide book on CSE Prelims (Access/TMH/Unique/Spectrum);

6. One/two good monthly magazine on competitive examination;

7. One/two national English dailies;

8. One economic/business daily, if possible.

FOR IAS ASPIRANTS: 2 Additional Attempts from 2014 EXAM..

2014-02-10T23:34:00.001+05:30

HUGE BOOST FOR IAS ASPIRANTS: 2 Additional Attempts from 2014 EXAM..

Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Govt. of India has just released a notice mentioning no of attempts to be increased for all categories(including GEN and OBC)

official notice from UPSC is awaited.

Subject: Civil Service Examination – Relaxation of number of attempts

The Central Government has approved “two additional attempts to all categories of candidates w.e.f. Civil Services Examination 2014, with consequential age relaxation of maximum age for all categories of candidates, if required.”

Cut off of marks CSE 2012

2014-02-08T23:54:00.000+05:30

http://www.upsc.gov.in/exams/marks/2012/cse/csm2012.pdf

General Studies Paper I: New Book

2013-09-26T14:23:00.000+05:30

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Cover page of my latest book on IAS Prelims General Studies in English--now available on Flipkart and at leading bookstores all over India soon. In Kolkata, one may contact 'Swastik' bookstore on College Street (+919051874376) to buy this book at a whooping 40% discount.

2013-09-04T23:15:00.001+05:30

Click here to buy this book:

Cover Page of my latest book on IAS Prelims General Studies in Hindi published by Access Publishing, New Delhi--available on Flipkart and at leading bookstores all over India. Leading experts in different subjects are co-authors of this book. Price: Rs.1265. For details, visit http://accesspublishing.in/

2013-08-11T14:35:00.001+05:30

Cover Page of my latest book on IAS Prelims General Studies in English published by Access Publishing, New Delhi--available on Flipkart and Amazon.in and at leading bookstores all over India. Leading experts in different subjects are co-authors of this book. Price: Rs.1265. For details, visit http://accesspublishing.in/

2013-08-11T14:26:00.002+05:30

Economics, Development Economics and Indian Economics for Civil Services Main Exam, 2013

2013-05-30T23:17:00.003+05:30

Economics, Development Economics and Indian Economics for Civil Services Main Exam, 2013

· Paper-V

General Studies -II (Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations) of 250 marks which may include following topics:

· Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

· Development processes and the development industry- the role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other stakeholders

· Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.

· Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

· Issues relating to poverty and hunger.

· Paper-VI

General Studies -III (Technology, Economic Development, Bio-diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management) of 250 marks which may include following topics:

· Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment.

· Inclusive growth and issues arising from it.

· Government Budgeting.

· Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and minimum support prices; Public Distribution System- objectives, functioning, limitations, revamping; issues of buffer stocks and food security; Technology missions; economics of animal-rearing.

· Food processing and related industries in India- scope and significance, location, upstream and downstream requirements, supply chain management.

· Land reforms in India.

· Effects of liberalization on the economy, changes in industrial policy and their effects on industrial growth.

· Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.

· Investment models.

My course is available online.

2013-05-14T21:57:00.000+05:30

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2013-05-11T21:24:00.000+05:30

IAS Study Room

IAS Study Room-Join Through Wiziq

2013-05-10T22:47:00.000+05:30

http://www.wiziq.com/course/21874-economic-and-social-development-for-upsc-ias-mains

Important Announcement

2013-05-09T20:13:00.000+05:30

IAS Study Room is now available on WizIQ: A Portal for Online Education

Now you can join IAS Study Room through online education portal http://www.wiziq.com/iasstudyroom. Prepare Economics for IAS General Studies (Prelims and Mains) by joining online educational portal http://www.wiziq.com/iasstudyroom.

About the online educator:
Economics Professor; Ex-Civil Servant (Ex-Magistrate); Stood Fourth in the University with a First Class; NET Qualified; Guest Professor, Institute for Civil Services Aspirants; Author of a Manual for IAS Prelims (in English and Hindi) (forthcoming); Prize winner in CSR Essay Competition; Author of undergraduate text book; Teaching Civil Service Aspirants for the last 10 years;Edited one magazine for competitive examination;Providing special training for interview for written-test qualified candidates at different institutes; Author of a IAS Mains General Studies Economics (in English and Hindi) (forthcoming), Has own Blog for IAS aspirants: iasstudymat.blogspot.com (nearly 23000 visitors so far)

CIVIL SERVICES (MAIN) EXAMINATION, 2012: Final Results

2013-05-03T23:47:00.000+05:30

CIVIL SERVICES (MAIN) EXAMINATION, 2012 results are out.

TOP position has been taken by Female candidate, Ms. Haritha V. Kumar (Roll No.075502). She has done B.Tech (E&C) from Kerala University. This is her 4th attempt.

2nd rank is of Shri V. Sriram (Roll No.494891). He has done MBBS from Kerala University. This is his 2nd Attempt.

3rd position is bagged by another Female candidate Ms. Stuti Charan (Roll No.038970). She has done B.Sc from Jodhpur University and PG Diploma in Personnel & Marketing Management from IIPM, Delhi.This is her 3rd attempt.

TOP position in GENERAL, ST and SC categories have been secured by Female candidates. Amongst top 25 candidates there are 13 Male and 12 Female candidates.

The result also showcases the pan-India distribution of successful candidates of this Examination. Amongst the top 25 candidates, there are candidates claiming domicile from as many as 12 States/UTs i.e. Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamilnadu, & Uttar Pradesh.

The family background of top 25 candidates shows diverse representation from all walks of life with their parents being Farmer, Teacher, Businessman, Govt. servant, Doctor, Advocate, Professor & Civil servant.

Amongst top 25 candidates 6 have made to the merit list in their 1st attempt; 9 in 2nd attempt; 8 in 3rd attempt; and 01 each in 4th & 6th attempts. As many as 04 have already been recommended to services other than IAS on the basis of Civil Services Examinations of previous years.

Of the top 25 candidates - 12 appeared from Delhi; 4 from Thiruvanathapuram, 2 each from Chennai & Hyderabad; and 1 each from Jammu, Mumbai, Jaipur, Chandigarh and Allahabad Centres.

Final cut off marks in UPSC Civil Services Exams 2011

2013-04-22T18:50:00.001+05:30

Information sought by someone through RTI and provided by UPSC regarding the final cut off, marks obtained by last person per category in 2011 Civil Services Exams.

Category	Marks obtained
Category	CSP 2011 (out of 400)	CS( Main) (out of 2000)	Finally recommended (out of 2300)
GEN	198	842	1090
OBCs	175	822	1059
SC	165	807	1023
ST	161	798	1009
O H	135	767	1008
V I	124	767	1047
H I	096	663	911

Civil Services General Studies Manual for Preliminary Examination, 2014 Edition

2013-04-21T20:46:00.001+05:30

New IAS General Studies Preliminary Manual being published by Access Publishing, New Delhi will be out in June/July, 2013. An editorial board comprising experts in this field is contributing and editing different sections. The section relating to Economics, named 'Economic and Social Development' of India is contributed by S.Maitra. This manual will be helpful for State Civil Services Exams also. The manual will be in both English and Hindi. It will be available all over India through book shops and online portals. Watch out for further announcement in leading national dailies. Watch out this blog for sample chapters of the new book.

ANNOUNCEMENT: NEW IAS GENERAL STUDIES MANUAL IN ENGLISH AND HINDI

2013-04-09T22:32:00.002+05:30

A all new IAS General Studies Manual from a very reputed publisher of Delhi is going to hit the market in a couple of weeks. The contribution from my part relates to the section 'Economic and Social Development' of India. The manual will be in both English and Hindi. Its arrival in the market will be announced in leading national dailies. It will be available all over India through book shops and online portals.

New Pattern of Civil Services Exam 2013

2013-03-05T22:47:00.000+05:30

Section-I
PLAN OF EXAMINATION
The competitive examination comprises two successive stages:
(i) Civil Services (Preliminary) Examinations (Objective Type) for the selection of candidates for Main Examination; and
(ii) Civil Services (Main) Examination (Written and Interview) for the selection of candidates for the various services and posts.
2. The Preliminary Examination will consist of two papers of Objective type (multiple choice questions) and carry a maximum of 400 marks in the subjects set out in subsection (A) of Section-II. This examination is meant to serve as a screening test only; the marks obtained in the Preliminary Examination by the candidates who are declared qualified for admission to the Main Examination will not be counted for determining their final order of merit. The number of candidates to be admitted to the Main Examination will be about twelve to thirteen times the total approximate number of vacancies to be filled in the year in the various Services and Posts. Only those candidates who are declared by the Commission to have qualified in the Preliminary Examination in the year will be eligible for admission to the Main Examination of that year
provided they are otherwise eligible for admission to the Main Examination.
3. Candidates who obtain such minimum qualifying marks in the written part of the Main Examination as may be fixed by the Commission at their discretion, shall be summoned by them for interview for a Personality Test vide sub-section ‘C’ of Section-II. Marks obtained in the papers will be counted for ranking. The number of candidates to be summoned for interview will be about twice the number of vacancies to be filled.
Marks thus obtained by the candidates in the Main Examination (written part as well as interview) would determine their final ranking. Candidates will be allotted to the various Services keeping in view their ranks in the examination and the preferences expressed by them for the various Services and Posts.

Section-II
Scheme and subjects for the Preliminary and Main Examinations
A. Preliminary Examination
The Examination shall comprise two compulsory papers of 200 marks each.
NOTE (i) Both the question papers will be of the objective type (multiple choice questions).
(ii) The question papers will be set both in Hindi and English. However, questions relating to English Language Comprehension skills of Class X level will be tested through passages from English Language only without providing Hindi translation thereof in the question paper.
(iii) Details of the syllabi are indicated in Part A of Section III.
(iv) Each paper will be of two hours duration. Blind candidates will however; be allowed an extra time of twenty minutes at each paper.

Section-III

SYLLABI FOR THE EXAMINATION

PART-A

PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION

The Examination shall comprise two compulsory papers of 200 marks each.

Paper I - (200 marks) Duration : Two hours

Current events of national and international importance.

History of India and Indian National Movement.

Indian and World Geography - Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.

Indian Polity and Governance - Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights

Issues, etc.

Economic and Social Development Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics,

Social Sector initiatives, etc.

General issues on Environmental Ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change - that do not require

subject specialization.

General Science.

Paper II- (200 marks) Duration: Two hours

Comprehension

Interpersonal skills including communication skills;

Logical reasoning and analytical ability

Decision-making and problem-solving

General mental ability

Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) (Class X level), Data

interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. - Class X level)

English Language Comprehension skills (Class X level).

Note 1 : Questions relating to English Language Comprehension skills of Class X level (last item in the Syllabus

of PaperII) will be tested through passages from English language only without providing Hindi translation

thereof in the question paper.

Note 2 : The questions will be of multiple choice, objective type.

B. Main Examination
The written examination will consist of the following papers:
Paper-I
Section 1 Essay 200 Marks
Section 2 English Comprehension
& English Précis 100 Marks
(Of Matriculation/ Xth standard
level)
Paper-II
General Studies–I 250Marks
(Indian Heritage and Culture,
History and Geography of the World
and Society)
Paper-III
General Studies –II 250 Marks
(Governance, Constitution,
Polity, Social Justice and
International relations)
Paper-IV
General Studies –III 250 Marks
(Technology, Economic Development,
Bio-diversity, Environment, Security
and Disaster Management)
Paper-V
General Studies –IV 250 Marks
(Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude)
Paper-VI
Optional Subject – Paper 1 250 Marks
Paper-VII
Optional Subject – Paper 2 250 Marks
Sub Total (Written test) 1800 Marks
Personality Test 275 Marks.
Grand Total 2075 Marks
{Candidates may choose any optional subject from amongst the list of subjects given in para 2 below (Group 1).
However, a candidate can opt for the literatures of a language, indicated in Group-2 below para 2, as an optional
subject, only if the candidate has graduated in the literature of that particular language as the main subject}.