Wednesday 4 December 2013
WESTERN POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY;PLATO (UGC-NET JRF)
QUICK REVISION OF PLATO'S PHILOSOPHY
In The Republic, Plato, speaking through his teacher Socrates, sets out to answer two questions. What is justice? Why should we be just? Book I sets up these challenges. The interlocutors engage in a Socratic dialogue similar to that found in Plato’s earlier works. While among a group of both friends and enemies, Socrates poses the question, “What is justice?”
In The Republic, Plato, speaking through his teacher Socrates, sets out to answer two questions. What is justice? Why should we be just? Book I sets up these challenges. The interlocutors engage in a Socratic dialogue similar to that found in Plato’s earlier works. While among a group of both friends and enemies, Socrates poses the question, “What is justice?”
Friday 25 October 2013
World Health Days
World Health Days
Health Days List
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Thursday 24 October 2013
United Nations History
| United Nations History |
The United Nations was established to foster global peace, prosperity and justice. It has succeeded in its fundamental mission of preventing a third world war and improving global quality of life. But over the last 60 years, the UN’s mission and membership have been broadened dramatically.
Great Moments in the UN's History:
 1945: United Nations FoundedPresident Harry Truman, along with representatives from 50 other countries, signed the UN Charter in San Francisco, California. 1948: Universal Declaration of Human Rights SignedFirst Lady Eleanor Roosevelt personally helped prepare the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the first document considered to have international normative value. 1950-1953: The Korean WarWith news that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) attacked the Republic of Korea (South Korea), the Security Council declared the attack to be a breach of peace and recommended that Member States make forces available to a UN Unified Command under the United States. In all, 16 nations supplied troops. UN agencies such as UNDP assisted South Korea in rebuilding and providing development assistance, allowing it to become one of the largest economies in the world today. 1962: Cuban Missile Crisis ResolvedUN Secretary-General U Thant is widely credited for having defused the Cuban Missile Crisis by interceding between U.S. President John F. Kennedy and Soviet General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev, thereby avoiding a nuclear war. 1980: Smallpox EradicatedA 13-year effort by the UN's World Health Organization resulted in the complete eradication of smallpox in 1980 — saving an estimated $1 billion a year in vaccination and monitoring.  2005: Humanitarian Response to the South Asian Tsunami Led by UNThe United Nations was credited with coordinating and leading the historic international relief effort in 12 countries undertaken in response to the 2004 South Asian Tsunami. 2011: UN Admits South Sudan as 193rd Member StateThe UN General Assembly admitted the Republic of South Sudan as the 193rd member state, welcoming the newly independent country to the community of nations. |
[IR-Person In News] President/PM of Foreign countries
[IR-PIN] Prez/PM of Foreign countries
Some carried forward from 2012’s news items:
| African national congress | President Jacob Zuma |
| African Union | Nkosazana Zuma, first woman |
| Asian forum of parliamentarians | Rajyasabha Dy.Chairman PJ Kurien became its President |
| Australia | PM Tony Abbott (liberal) defeated Kelvin Rudd (Labour) |
| Bangladesh | President Abdul Hamid.PM Sheikh Hasina (Awami League party)Speaker: Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury. First lady speaker in Bangladesh |
| Bhutan |
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| Boby Ghosh | New editor of TIME international. |
| Brazil | Dilma Rousseff |
| Central African Republic | President Michel Djotodia belonging to Seleka rebels. |
| China | Prez Xi Jinping replaced Hu JintaoPremeir Li Kequiang replaced Wen Jiabao. Li also got Pakistan’s highest civilian award “Nishan-e-Pakistan”. |
| Congo | Made peace agreement with M23 rebels. |
| Cuba | Prez Raul Castro Replaced Fidel Castro |
| Czech Republic | PM Milos Zeman. Capital Prague |
| Ecuador | President Rafel Correa. Capital Quito |
| Egypt | Adil Mansour interim prez after army threw out Mohd.MorsiMohd. El Baradei became VPPM: Hazem Al BeblawiTamarod campaign:Anti-Morsey campaign, massive street demonstration. |
| EU | Herman Van Rompuy |
| Fiji | President Ratu Epeli NailatikauNew Constitution |
| France | President Francois Hollander replaced Sarkozy |
| Germany | Chancellor Angela Markel won again. |
| IOC, International olymic Committee | Thomas Batch (Germany) repalced Jacques Rogge. |
| Iran | President Hassan Rouhani. He replaced Ahmadinejad.Iran’s supreme leader: Ayatollah Khamenei. |
| Israel |
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| Italy | President Giorgio NapolitanoEnrica Lexie: name of the ship from which two Italian marines killed Indian fishermen. |
| Japan | PM Shinzo Abe. DyPM Taro Aso. Their parliament is called Diet Japan has shut down all her nuke powerplant in Sep’13, because of the Fukushima disaster. |
| Jordan | King Abdulla II setup parliament for his country. |
| Kenya | Prez Uhuru Kenyatta |
| Liberia | President Ellen Johnson, had came to India |
| Malaysia | PM Najib Razak |
| Maldives | President Nasheed N Waheed replaced Nasheed after coup |
| Mali | Ibrahim Keita new President.Problem: Tuareg rebels. |
| Mexico | Enrique Nieto |
| Myanmar |
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| N.Korea | Kim Jong-Un |
| Nepal | Khil Raj Regmi |
| Pakistan | Prez Mamnoon Hussain replaced Zardari.PM: Nawaz Sharif (PML-N) party replaced Mir Hazar Khan Khoso Fair trial bill 2012 in Pakistan. It allows intelligence agency to collect electronic data of citizens. Mohhammed sarwar: Pakistani- Britain’s first muslim lawmaker. Served 3 terms as MP of Glasgow. Now Punjab province (Pakistan)Governor. |
| Palestine | Pres. Mahmud AbbasPM Salam Fayyad resigned.Became Observer state in UN |
| Paraguay | President Horacio Cartes.Country admitted back in UNASUR |
| Pope | Bennedict XVI, German, Resigned.New Pope: Francis I, (Jorge Mario Bergoglio) first South American pope. He is from Argentina |
| Ramsar Convention | Christopher Briggs became the new Secretary-General |
| S.Korea | President Park Geun-Hye replaced Lee myung Bak. First Lady prez. |
| Scotland | Will hold referendum in 2014 to decide whether Scotland should get independence from rest of United Kingdom. |
| Srilanka | Mahinda Rajpakshe. He threw out CJI Shiran Bandaranyake. Gen.Sarath Fonseca was Ex-Was jailed after power struggle with President. |
| Syria | Prez Bashar Al AsadPM Wael Nader al-Halqi |
| Thailand | Yingluck Shinawatra, first lady PM |
| Tunisia | PM Hamadi Jebali resigned after protests. Capital Tunis |
| UK | PM David Cameron (Conservative)DyPM Nick Clegg (liberal democrats)Ex-PM Margaret Thatcher,Dead.Conservative Party. Known as Iron Lady. |
| UN | Secretary General Ban ki Moon. President for 68th session: John Ashe of Antigua. Head of UN Women: Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka From south Africa. |
| Venezuela | Prez Nicolas Maduro after Huge Chavez died. |
| Zimbabwe | President Robert Mugabe won again. New Constitution approved. Now President can be elected for two 5-year terms only. |
[IR] Summits/Treaties 2013/Controversies (for net aspirants of political science subject)
[IR] Summits/Treaties 2013/Controversies
| Arctic council | India gets observer status |
| ASEAN human rights declaration | In Phnom Penh, Cambodia 2012 |
| ASEAN summit |
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| BASIC ministerial meeting on climate change | Chennai |
| BRICS 2013 | At Durban, S.Africa (5th Summit)Theme: BRICS and Africa: Partnership for development, Integration and industralizationeThekwini DeclarationDiscussed to create an infrastructure focused “development bank” |
| Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) | Conference of Parties (COP)11th Summit in Hyderabad (2012)12th Summit in PyeongChang, S.Korea (theme = Biodiversity forSustainable Development) |
| Falkland islands | Voted for British rule |
| First Arctic Summit | Oslo, Norway |
| G20 summit | 2013: St.Petersburg, Russia2013: Finance ministers meeting held in Moscow, Russia2012: Los Cabos. |
| G8 | Lough Erne, N.Ireland. Theme: tax evasion and transparency |
| Global Arms trade treaty of UN | India abstained from voting. |
| High seas conference | Paris |
| IBSA resolution for women empowerment | India signed this. |
| Indian chapter of World Economic Forum sumit | Will be held in Kochi, Kerala. |
| Indian ocean rim | USA became dialouge partner. |
| Indian ocean rim | First economic and business conference held in Mauritius |
| IPCC | Its fifth assessment report will come in 2014. |
| Mekong-Ganga Summit | Delhi, Dec12 |
| Minamata Mercury treaty | In Minamata city of Japan, to sign the world’s first legally binding treaty on mercury pollution under United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) |
| National conference on E-governance | Jaipur |
| NATO | General Joeseph Dunford (USA)Afghani forces tookover the security ops from NATO in June 2013. |
| Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas 2013 | Kochi, Kerala |
| Silk road festival | Bamiyan, Afghanistan |
| Surajkund International Crafts Mela 2013 | Organized by Haryana government in Surajkund, Faridabad district. This year focus was Karnataka state. |
| Tokyo Summit’12 | In Tokyo for rebuilding of Afghanistan. |
| UN resolution on Death Penalty ban | India voted against |
| UN Resolution on Syria |
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| UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka | Condemning Sri Lanka for violation against Tamil minorities. India voted against Sri Lanka. |
| WCIT-2012 | World Conference on International telecommunication @Dubai |
| WHO SEARO | International conference for traditional medicine in south-east Asia was held in Delhi. Led to Delhi declaration. |
Visits to India
- US Vice Prez Biden
- French President Hollande
- UK PM David Cameroon
- Egyptian President Morsi
- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang
- Liberian President Ellen Johnson
- Afghani President Hamid Karzai
Visits from India
- Pranab to Mauritius
- PM Mohan to Japan, Thailand, Germany
- PM Mohan to 68th Session of UN general assembly + Met Paki PM Sharif in Sep’13.
- AK Antony to Singapore, China
- PM to Russia and then China
Important Committees and Commissions in 2013
Committees Commissions Task forces
| 7th Pay Commission | To revise salary of 80 lakh workers and pensioners. Its recommendations will be effective from January 2016.6th PC was formed in 2006. |
| Adi Godrej | Corporate governance |
| Arvind Mayaram |
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| Bimal Jalan | To scrutinize application for New Bank Licenses |
| BK Chaturvedi | Revamping power sector Restructuring of centrally sponsored schemes |
| Chindu | GoM for CBI autonomy |
| Cyrus Mistry, Anil Ambani | Advisory group for electricity sector. For power ministry |
| Dr. Saroj | Illegal sand mining by MoEF |
| JS Mathur | To review the rate revisions of newspaper advertisements. By Ministry of information and broadcasting |
| Justice Bilal Nazaki | Functioning of Haj Committee |
| Justice BN SriKrisha |
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| Justice DK Jain | 20th Law commission of India |
| Justice JS Verma | Delhi Gangrape.Dead. was a part of the nine-judge bench in 1994 which gave the landmark verdict in the S R Bommai case relating to proclamation of President’s Rule under Article 356 of the Constitution in Karnataka. Presidential rule can be invoked only after parliament approval.Chief Justice of India,he was also a former Chairman of National Human Rights Commission. and the 1st Chairperson of News Broadcasting Standards Authority. |
| Justice Mukul Mudgal |
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| Justice RC Gandhi | By JK government for Kishtwar Communal riots |
| Justice Santosh Hegde | Judicial Commission on Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) by SC |
| Justice Usha Mehra | For probing lapses in Delhi Gangrape. |
| K Ratnaprabha | Indecent Representation of Women in Media |
| K. Vijay Raghavan | Evaluation of Research And Rankings of higher edu. Institutes |
| KK Vohra | By RBI for loan products |
| MBN Rao | For setting up All-women’s bank |
| Mudgal | For reviewing Cinematograph Act 1952. By Ministry of information and broadcasting |
| Nachiketi Mor | RBI Committee for FINANCIAL INCLUSION (financial services to small business) |
| Parthasarathi Shome | Tax administration reform commission. |
| Raghuram Panel | To determine a new index of backwardness to see which states need special assistance. Most Developed: GOA,KERALALeast developed: ODHISSA,BIHAR. |
| Rangarajan |
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| Ranjit Roychaudhari | Clinical trials, drug bans. |
| Sam Pitroda | For restructuring Prasar Bharti. By Ministry of information and broadcasting |
| Sanjay Dhande | For National Testing Agency (NTA) by HRD |
| SK Roongta | By planning commission. For reforms in Central PSUs |
| Srikant Malte | Dhule Riots in Maharashtra |
| Vijay Kelkar |
|
| Virginius Xaxa |
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| Yashwant Sinha | Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance-Report on Guidelines of new banking licenses |
| YV Reddy | 14th Finance commission. Under Art280. He was ex-gov. of RBI |
National Eligibility Tests: HC allows writ appeals by UGC
Kerala High Court allowed a batch of writ appeals filed by University Grants Commission (UGC) against a single judge verdict on change of criteria for National Eligibility Tests.
During the pendency of appeals, Supreme Court had upheld the UGC stand following which a division bench comprising Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice K Vinod Chandran also upheld the claims of UGC.
Earlier, a single judge had set aside the change of criteria of NET examination of UGC.
Justice Chellur and Justice Chandran said the judgement shall be declaratory and applicable to all students, who appeared for NET exams during June 2012.
In March 2012, the UGC had called for applications for NET exam and in its notification it had prescribed the minimum marks for general category as 40 per cent in papers 1 and 2, and 50 per cent in paper 3.
OBC and SC/ST candidates were given a relaxation of five per cent and 10 per cent respectively.
After the test in June 2012, the UGC had added a clause prescribing 65 per cent aggregate marks in all three subjects for general candidates, 60 per cent for OBC and 55 per cent for SC/ST as final qualifying criteria.
Nearly 12,000 students approached High Court challenging change of criteria.
During the pendency of appeals, Supreme Court had upheld the UGC stand following which a division bench comprising Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice K Vinod Chandran also upheld the claims of UGC.
Earlier, a single judge had set aside the change of criteria of NET examination of UGC.
Justice Chellur and Justice Chandran said the judgement shall be declaratory and applicable to all students, who appeared for NET exams during June 2012.
In March 2012, the UGC had called for applications for NET exam and in its notification it had prescribed the minimum marks for general category as 40 per cent in papers 1 and 2, and 50 per cent in paper 3.
OBC and SC/ST candidates were given a relaxation of five per cent and 10 per cent respectively.
After the test in June 2012, the UGC had added a clause prescribing 65 per cent aggregate marks in all three subjects for general candidates, 60 per cent for OBC and 55 per cent for SC/ST as final qualifying criteria.
Nearly 12,000 students approached High Court challenging change of criteria.
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