Indian Governance and Policy

Assertion (A): The Supreme Court in Banwasi Seva Ashram vs. State of Uttar Pradesh permitted the government agency to acquire the forest land, ousting certain tribal dwellers to implement a power project only after they agreed to provide certain facilities approved by the Court. Reason (R): The governmental action had an environmental impact that threatened to dislocate poor forest dwellers and disrupt their lifestyle and infringing their fundamental right to life, which includes the right to livelihood.

Which of the following statements is/are correct?

a. The National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning is under the control of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). b. ICAR has classified Indian soils on the basis of their nature and character as per the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Soil Taxonomy. c. ICAR was established in 1956.

Which of the following statements is/are correct?

a. (STPI) Software Technology Parks of India have come up across 6 locations at different centres of India. b. 30 per cent of the people employed in the information technology and electronics sector are women. c. This industry has been a major foreign exchange earner in the last two or three years because of its fast growing BPO sector.

The Allahabad High Court verdict on the status of disputed land in Ayodhya was in the news in 2010-11. Which of the following issues received a unanimous verdict by the three judges? I. The disputed land should be partitioned between litigating parties II. The structure demolished in 1992 was a mosque III. A temple was demolished to build the mosque in 16^th century

As per the reports published in the newspapers some cement companies based in North-East States have decided to curtail their production. Which of the following is/are the reasons for the same?

1. Govt. of India has decided to curtail benefits of excise exemption to the cement manufacturers in these areas.
2. Because of erratic power supply the production has gone down substantially. Companies are planning to shift their plant to other locations.
3. Due to recent improvement in educational facilities there, trained and skilled labourers are not available.

Which of the following statements is/are correct?

a. The extraction of minerals in India is possible only after obtaining due permission from the government. b. In the north-east India, minerals are owned by individuals or tribal communities. c. Coal mining in Jowai and Cherapunjee is done in the form of a long narrow tunnel, known as ‘Rat hole’ mining.

Which of the following statements regarding recent Government policy measures towards the public sector is/are true?

a. Restructuring and reviving potentially viable PSU’s.

b. Closing down of those PSU’s that can not be revived.

c. Bringing down government equity in all non strategic PSU’s to 50 percent or lower.

d. Fully protecting the interest of workers.

What does carpetbagging refer to in the passage?

Directions: The questions in this section are based on a single passage. The questions are to be answered on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage. Kindly note that more than one of the choices may conceivably answer some of the questions. However, you are to choose the most appropriate answer; that is, the response that most accurately and completely answers the question.

The decision of the University Grants Commission to defer a move to accommodate foreign higher educational institutions as deemed universities, is sensible, considering that starting universities generally requires Parliamentary sanction. Using the UGC to help entities from abroad make a covert entry would be grossly improper when the Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operations) Bill, 2010 has stalled in the Rajya Sabha. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resource Development has raised several issues relating to the legislation and called for a centralised policy and regulatory regime. What needs to be done immediately is to curb the operation of many unauthorised entrants that are exploiting the prevailing policy vacuum. It is true that a large number of Indian students leave for foreign campuses every year to secure a degree. There is much to be gained, therefore, if the best universities abroad open campuses in India, and offer courses that live up to their reputation for academic rigour. For the student, such an option can mean much lower costs.

Evidently, the passing of a robust law is essential to make sure that exploitation of students by foreign institutions does not take place. What has happened so far in the area of technical education and management courses offered by foreign entities, under the rules of the All India Council for Technical Education, is far from encouraging. The Standing Committee says the AICTE rules have failed to regulate the activities of such institutions, and only a handful of unapproved entities have been proceeded against. A large number of foreign institutions operating twinning programmes partnered unaffiliated and unapproved domestic organisations.

As a result of such carpet bagging, the UGC has now initiated a clean-up by laying down that twinning or joint ventures can be undertaken only with the top 500 names in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, and a similar list of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University. This is a welcome advance over the present situation but no substitute for hard decisions on issues such as registration, transparent accreditation, socially-relevant medical education, faculty training, mutual recognition of degrees by the respective countries, and crucially, a check on profiteering. It must be emphasised that while an international education can expose some of India's youth to global excellence, equitable access to higher education will depend on a rapidly expanding public university system.

What will be the implications for the students of an expanded public university system?

Directions: The questions in this section are based on a single passage. The questions are to be answered on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage. Kindly note that more than one of the choices may conceivably answer some of the questions. However, you are to choose the most appropriate answer; that is, the response that most accurately and completely answers the question.

The decision of the University Grants Commission to defer a move to accommodate foreign higher educational institutions as deemed universities, is sensible, considering that starting universities generally requires Parliamentary sanction. Using the UGC to help entities from abroad make a covert entry would be grossly improper when the Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operations) Bill, 2010 has stalled in the Rajya Sabha. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resource Development has raised several issues relating to the legislation and called for a centralised policy and regulatory regime. What needs to be done immediately is to curb the operation of many unauthorised entrants that are exploiting the prevailing policy vacuum. It is true that a large number of Indian students leave for foreign campuses every year to secure a degree. There is much to be gained, therefore, if the best universities abroad open campuses in India, and offer courses that live up to their reputation for academic rigour. For the student, such an option can mean much lower costs.

Evidently, the passing of a robust law is essential to make sure that exploitation of students by foreign institutions does not take place. What has happened so far in the area of technical education and management courses offered by foreign entities, under the rules of the All India Council for Technical Education, is far from encouraging. The Standing Committee says the AICTE rules have failed to regulate the activities of such institutions, and only a handful of unapproved entities have been proceeded against. A large number of foreign institutions operating twinning programmes partnered unaffiliated and unapproved domestic organisations.

As a result of such carpet bagging, the UGC has now initiated a clean-up by laying down that twinning or joint ventures can be undertaken only with the top 500 names in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, and a similar list of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University. This is a welcome advance over the present situation but no substitute for hard decisions on issues such as registration, transparent accreditation, socially-relevant medical education, faculty training, mutual recognition of degrees by the respective countries, and crucially, a check on profiteering. It must be emphasised that while an international education can expose some of India's youth to global excellence, equitable access to higher education will depend on a rapidly expanding public university system.

What according to the author is the immediate need of the hour?

Directions: The questions in this section are based on a single passage. The questions are to be answered on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage. Kindly note that more than one of the choices may conceivably answer some of the questions. However, you are to choose the most appropriate answer; that is, the response that most accurately and completely answers the question.

The decision of the University Grants Commission to defer a move to accommodate foreign higher educational institutions as deemed universities, is sensible, considering that starting universities generally requires Parliamentary sanction. Using the UGC to help entities from abroad make a covert entry would be grossly improper when the Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operations) Bill, 2010 has stalled in the Rajya Sabha. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resource Development has raised several issues relating to the legislation and called for a centralised policy and regulatory regime. What needs to be done immediately is to curb the operations of many unauthorised entrants that are exploiting the prevailing policy vacuum. It is true that a large number of Indian students leave for foreign campuses every year to secure a degree. There is much to be gained, therefore, if the best universities abroad open campuses in India, and offer courses that live up to their reputation for academic rigour. For the student, such an option can mean much lower costs.

Evidently, the passing of a robust law is essential to make sure that exploitation of students by foreign institutions does not take place. What has happened so far in the area of technical education and management courses offered by foreign entities, under the rules of the All India Council for Technical Education, is far from encouraging. The Standing Committee says the AICTE rules have failed to regulate the activities of such institutions, and only a handful of unapproved entities have been proceeded against. A large number of foreign institutions operating twinning programmes partnered unaffiliated and unapproved domestic organisations.