Industrial output up 6% in Haryana

• Industrial production in Haryana during 2011-12 has recorded a growth of 6 per cent over 2010-11. 
• The index of industrial production for registered manufacturing and electricity sectors for 2011-12 stood at 165.9 and 230.4, respectively, with the corresponding growth rate of 3.9 per cent and 27.3 per cent, as compared to the 2010-11, a spokesman of Economic and Statistical Analysis Department, Haryana, said here on Tuesday. 
• The general index for the year 2011-12 stood at 171.2, he added. He said as per use-based classification, the growth rate during 2011-12 was 18.7 per cent in basic goods, 3.4 per cent in capital goods and 9.2 per cent in intermediate goods. 

‘Digitisation must for financial inclusion’

• Financial inclusion can be achieved only through digitisation, according to Mr B. Sambamurthy, Director, Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology.
• Speaking at a workshop on ‘Digitisation of Identity and the Financially Excluded’ here on Tuesday, he said only 40,000 habitats of 6.20 lakh villages were on the radar of financial inclusion.
• The cost and operational feasibility of digitisation would make financial inclusion possible, he added.

• There was a difference between business model and operating models in field, he said, adding: “How do we stitch an operational model for financial inclusion is important.”
• The last-mile connectivity, security and co-creation of viable technologies and methods were important issues, the IDRBT Director said.
• Mr Reddy Subrahmanayam, Principal Secretary, Department of Rural Development, Government of Andhra Pradesh, said it was important to arrive at an optimum cost of maintaining financial services in the villages.
• The digitisation of identity and financial inclusion might not always be the same and could have different implications based on the objectives.
• Financial inclusion should be made more comprehensive with regard to services being offered, Mr Subrahmanyam said.
• The apex cooperative credit society set up by AP Government, Sthreendhi, was making use of technology for all-levels of loan disbursals, the official added.
• The workshop was conducted by the Centre for Study of Culture and Society, Bangalore as part of a Ford Foundation-funded study on grassroots-level social impact of digitisation process of Aadhaar project in seven States.

Rupee faces hurdle at 54

Rupee faces hurdle at 54

• Buoyancy generated by change of guard at the Finance Ministry and resumption in foreign portfolio flows could only take the rupee up to 54.17. Sentiment in global forex market turned negative after the Chinese Central Bank and the European Central Bank cut policy rates last week and the Bank of England resorted to monetary easing; sending fears of slower global recovery through financial market.
• Concerns about Spain resurfaced too with Spanish bond yields rising above 7 per cent. Slowing import growth in China and weak jobs data out of US have also impeded the rupee’s progress over the past week. This is despite very strong foreign portfolio flows this month. FIIs have net purchased more than $1.1 billion so far in July. The rupee declined to 56 on Monday but recovered slightly in the next session.
• Resurging risk aversion made the dollar index rise higher to 83.4 on Monday. This index faces key long-term resistance at 83.5. Strong close above this level can take the index to 88.7 over the coming weeks.

Rupee outlook

• The rupee made a significant trough at 57.3 on June 22 against the dollar. The rally from this level however halted just below the key resistance at 54. This resistance occurs at 38.2 per cent retracement of the down-move from 48.6 peak. If rallies halt below this level, it would mean that the medium-term trend continues to be down. The rupee could fluctuate for few more weeks in the band between 54 and 57.4. The risk of a break below 57.3 remains open in such a scenario. Target on a firm close below 57.3 would be 59.6. Medium-term trend will turn positive only on a strong close above 54. Subsequent resistances will be at 52.9 and 51.9. Short-term support for the currency is at 56.1. Close below this level will pull the rupee back towards 57.3. Short-term resistance for the rupee would be at 54.

USD-INR futures: 

• This contract faces short-term resistance at 56.2. Reversal from this level implies that it can now move lower to 54.4 or 53.4.

Short-term view will turn positive on close above 56.2. Next resistance for the contract is at 57.3.

EUR-INR futures: 

• This contract is also declining since the peak of 71.8 recorded on June 22. Key medium-term support for the contract is at 68.7. This level was breached on Tuesday. The contract can now decline to 67.8 or 67 over the medium-term.

Resistances for the contract are at 69.6, 70 and 70.4.

Merger of Welspun Global Brands into Welspun India approved

Merger of Welspun Global Brands into Welspun India approved

 

The Competition Commission of India has approved the proposed merger of Welspun Global Brands Ltd (WGBL) into Welspun India (WIL). The anti-monopoly watchdog has also given its nod to hiving off of the marketing business of WIL into another group firm, Welspun Retail Ltd (WRL). “... the Commission is of the opinion that the proposed combination is not likely to have an appreciable adverse effect on competition in India and, therefore, the Commission hereby approves the proposed combination under the Act,” it said. In May, WGBL had approved the merger of the company into group firm WIL

Tackle Negative Marking in IAS Prelims

Now that the Prelims are just a fortnight away it makes sense to focus on tacklingnegative marking which was first introduced in the 2007 IAS Prelims. First things first. Don’t fear negative marking, in fact, negative marking complements the new IAS pattern to be introduced from 2011 Prelims. And how’s that you may ask.

Let’s start out with the facts first. Each question in the Prelims carries one mark for every right answer and minus (-) 0.33 marks for every wrong one. So let’s say you get one right answer and three wrong ones, then the net score for these four questions would be zero. Fine?

• You now need to solve 200 questions in 120 minutes as compared to 150 in the past. This means you need to be more selective in attempting the questions. And negative marking enables you to do just this. As I said in the first point, every correct answer will fetch you one mark. But as you only have 120 minutes to attempt 200 questions, in the first run go for those questions whose answers you’re sure of and also those questions that you may not be 100 % sure but still feel that you know the right option. Guess what, most of the time you will be right in such scenarios.
• But skip questions answers to which you have no idea about and questions where you know only one of the four options but not the rest three. So basically what I’m saying is leave those questions where you know only two or less options out of four.
• Now let’s assume you are fairly confident of 110 questions and attempt these in the first run. Then, assuming that you get at least 85 correct out of the 110 questions you’re at the provisional score of 85-25/3= 76.67 (as each wrong answer receives a penalty of 1/3 marks). At this stage you should have about 50 minutes remaining. In these 50 minutes or so go for those questions of which you have some clue about. Maybe you know 2 out of 4 options but not the rest 2. So you can still take a chance as a right answer will fetch you one mark as compared to a penalty of -0.33 marks for every wrong attempt.
• There should be 60 odd questions that fit this category and even if you get 35 correct out of 60, you reach 76.67 + (35 – 25/3) = 103.34 marks. This is quite good for clearing the Prelims. Obviously, I assume you will score about 100 marks in both the papers to get a total score of 200 marks out of 400. And believe me, to crack the IAS Prelims, especially, from 2011 onwards, a 50 percent score in each paper is good enough. Don’t think you need to get 160 or 170 in both the papers. With the introduction of negative marking, you don’t.
• As far as the remaining 30 questions are concerned about which you’re totally clueless just skip them. You don’t and should not attempt the entire 200 questions as this can lead to heavy negative marking penalty overall.

I hope this cleared some of the confusion about how to tackle negative marking in the IAS Prelims and what score is adequate to crack the Prelims. But don’t think you need to stick just what I said. The more right answers you know the easier it will be tackle the answers that fit into the 50-50 category.  I hope you found this guide to tackle negative marking in IAS prelims helpful.

Getting start up IAS :

Getting start up IAS :

To get started with IAS preparation you should first have some idea about the service itself. This will ensure your IAS preparation efforts are channelized in the right direction. The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is a career nonpareil – one that cannot be compared to other jobs or services. True, it doesn’t offer the best salary; still the salary of an IAS officer is nothing to laugh at.

But people aspire to IAS for reason  much more than just remuneration. For instance, the IAS is a means to perform noble deeds like serving the nation and humanity at large. Now how many jobs or careers provide this opportunity? Along the way, there are attractive privileges, perks and career goals that you can achieve. In fact, the IAS is the perfect harmony of social and personal good, an opportunity, that only few can careers can provide. Be inspired.

But to aspire for this golden service you need to prepare for IAS smartly, persistently, andpatiently. The 3 golden tips for IAS preparation. You may have heard a thousand and one times from friends, IAS exam veterans, mentors and assorted coaching institutes that you require smart hard work to crack the IAS. But exactly is smart hard work?

IAS Preparation Tip 1 – Work Smart Not Just Hard

Most of us are used to working hard. Our education system is such that unless we cram tens of books each year, whether or not we understand what’s inside the book is immaterial, we cannot progress to the higher level. So most of us are accustomed to working hard which in the context of ias preparation refers to studying 10 hours or more, every day. So much for hard work.

Now comes the smart part. Smartness could mean different things to different readers. It could mean reading selectively but reading well, reading many books selectively, mixing books and notes, making micro notes, proper time management, taking mock tests and so on.

Smart work is all this and more. In fact smartness is the approach you adopt in aparticular situation. To prepare for IAS smartly requires you to be flexible as opposed to rigid, to experiment as opposed to sticking with the familiar, to plan ahead as opposed to the short term only.

Let’s say you plan to appear for the 2013 Prelims. The right approach would be to start preparing for the IAS prelims at least 10 months in advance. 10 months’ time is just right to crack the prelims. Neither too much nor too less. With too much time in hand, just like other things in excess, we tend to waste it. In fact, we should always have a little less time in hand to feel some sense of urgency to get things done. Most people tend to work best under reasonable pressure. Neither too much nor too less.

The next step when starting your IAS preparation is to get familiar with the Prelims syllabus. Doing this you will know exactly what you need to cover within this time frame to crack the prelims. The good part about the new CSAT syllabus is that optional subjects have been done away with. So you can just concentrate on General Studies. And if you’re like me then studying GS is like listening to music; there’s no hard work involved. Just pure fun. Preparing for IAS need not necessarily mean monotony. The more you enjoy preparing GS the easier the Prelims goal will become. That’s smart.

Once you know the syllabus get started with the actual preparation. Obviously everyone can’t prepare for 10 hours, particularly working people. But even working people can crack the IAS. The exact time is not important here. Some can achieve in 6 hours what others can in 10 hours. It depends on you. If you’re just starting out I’d suggest you start with 4-5 hours and scale up gradually.

IAS Preparation Tip 2 – Try Single-tasking it’s more efficient than Multi-tasking   

Yes I know you need to prepare history, geography, current affairs, mental ability etc. Only thing is don’t prepare all at once. Chunk it down. Pick one subject, let’s say Polity and combine it with current affairs which you should cover for some time everyday. Current affairs preparation consists of reading the newspaper, a good current events magazine and a year book.

You can read a good news paper like The Hindu, magazine like Civil Services Chronicle or Pratyogita Darpan and the Manorama Year Book. Schedule a particular time for newspaper reading, but in any case, don’t read the newspaper for more than an hour. It’s not required.

Next, you can continue with the year book or start off with Indian polity. Whichever topic you choose get the right books only. Don’t refer more books than are absolutely essential. You don’t want a PhD in General Studies, just need to clear it.

But before you start with the topic get the past 5 year’s solved question papers and combine it with the syllabus as the question papers and syllabus are your best guide for IAS preparation.

Once you have started with polity or any other topic see it through completion. Don’t try to multi-task. Mixing polity with history and geography will lead to loss of concentration and lower your output. Besides it will make your progress lower. On other other once you’ve covered a topic in full you will gain confidence as you’ve pocketed x number of marks beforehand.

IAS Preparation Tip 3 – Adopt the Just in Time Approach

The JiT (Just in Time) Approach says we should seek information only when required at that moment. In this hyper-connected world there is an overdose of information and if you seek to acquire all information and knowledge before starting a task, you can never get started as you will lose yourself in the information maze.

Applied to IAS preparation what this implies is don’t try to cover all the books referred by your friends on a given topic, say GK. Since GK is so vast and constantly expanding you can never hope to “master” it. Rather, refer a good book like Manorama Year Book and a magazine along with the daily newspaper to build up your knowledge base.

If, while referring the past Prelims papers, you come across a new topic you can quickly refer the reference books at hand or head over to the library or internet and find out more. This way you retain the information for a much longer time rather than by trying to read everything at one go.

Smart IAS Preparation Tip 4 – Test Yourself Constantly

Taking the above JiT approach further let’s apply this to evaluating yourself. Instead of waiting till the last few days to take mock tests you should evaluate yourself right after completing a particular section in a topic. For instance refer the previous year’s question papers before starting Quit India Movement in Modern Indian History and after completing it. I’ve already written about the benefits of this approach so I need not repeat it here.

Adopting this JiT approach you know exactly where you stand, which topics have been covered well and which require more consideration. But more importantly it removes the uncertainty and anxiety to a certain level, if not completely. Before entering the examination hall you know what kind of questions to expect and this will boost your confidence and calm your nerves so you perform better than expected.

Prepare for IAS Tip 5 – Make Micro Notes 

Notes help us to revise quickly before the Prelims; the last 15 days that can determine whether or not you will appear for the mains that year. These micro notes can be on current affairs, GK, as well as other GS and optional topics. In fact I’ve already shownhow to make notes for IAS exam preparation. Learn from it and profit.

IAS Preparation Tip 6 – Shoot then Aim

Most IAS aspirants prefer to wait till the end moment to take mock tests or prepare for 2-3 years before making their first attempt waiting for the perfect preparation level. Unfortunately your preparation can never be perfect no matter how hard you try. The latest syllabus is such that questions will always be unpredictable. Gone are the days when you could rely on certain number of questions from a particular topic.

So instead of preparing for 2-3 years during which time the pattern (not the syllabus) could change so many times prepare for a year and jump into the fray. You can improvise along the way.

This also holds true for taking practice tests. I suggested constantly evaluating yourself after going through every topic rather than waiting till the end hoping to finish the entire syllabus before going through the question papers.

Guess what, we are never able to finish the syllabus completely. There’s always something left in the end, some topics that we wish we should have prepared differently. So shoot first then aim.

Smart IAS Preparation Tip 7 – Read Only What’s Absolutely Essential

Your friend tells you to refer THM GS manual because that’s the best one around, another refers Unique, while a third one suggests XYZ classes notes. And you unwittingly jump from book to book hoping to cover every source that’s considered important for that subject. Stop taking this information overload that you will never be able to process within the limited time at your disposal.

Refer the standard books and supplement the missing information from other book for notes. Instead of reading three books for polity stick to one for detailed explanation and one for the bare acts. Similarly, I suggest just NCERTs for Ancient and Medival Indian History. No need for epic titles.

Whether it’s books for prelims, or public administration, sociology, political science orgeography books stick to the above strategy.

You’ll discover you can extract so much more by re-reading limited number of books than running after the next shiny book just launched.

ALL THE BEST ASPIRANTS......

$163-billion EU GROWTH PLAN

$163-billion EU GROWTH PLAN

Current affairs:

• The leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Spain agreed to push for a growth package worth up to $163 billion at a key EU summit next week aimed at kickstarting the economy and safeguarding the currency bloc.
• President Francois Hollande of France, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and Italian Premier Mario Monti, playing host, provided few concrete details beyond agreement on pursuing a financial transaction tax something that Germany has championed.
• Perhaps the biggest breakthrough of the brief summit was Ms. Merkel’s acknowledgement that austerity alone won’t cure the euro’s woes. Ms. Merkel has come under increasing pressure to give ground on key pro—growth measures such as jointly—issued debt. “We say that growth and solid financials are two sides of a coin. Solid financials are not sufficient,” Merkel said.
• Mr. Monti is trying to build a bridge between Ms. Merkel’s insistence on fiscal discipline and the focus on growth by recently elected Mr. Hollande.