another 365 Days.....

I remember that on 31-12-2008, I was on way to IIT from my home, the medium of transportation was train, and we ( entire coach) celebrated new year night in the train, and every one was happy, some were waiting for there dreams to come true, and some were making friendship with new people, and some were just waiting to be the happiest persons in 2008. and the 366 days passed, I don't know about rest of them how they are, and I think every one might have achieved some what less or even more to what they have thought to do in 2008, so here comes new year, hey happy new year, and we are again moving forward with our past ideas, let me say if this is not my figment, then every one will achieve great heights in 2009. so let us take an oath that we will be united in 2009, and we will make India much prosperous.

Whose media? Which people?

The coverage of the terror attacks showed that when the media becomes a purely business enterprise, news becomes a commodity, serving the interests of the few. It ceases to be the guardian of democracy or the protector of public interest.

Walter Cronkite of the CBS takes off his glasses while announcing the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. He puts them back on slowly, and takes about seven seconds to read the next sentence in a voice struggling to regain its composure.


Hastiness and superficiality are the psychic diseases of the 20th century, and more than anywhere else this disease is reflected in the press.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn

On November 22, 1963, some 38 minutes past two p.m., Eastern Standard Time, Walter Cronkite of the CBS takes off his glasses while announcing the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. He puts them back on slowly, and takes about seven seconds to read the next sentence in a voice struggling to regain its composure. Those few seconds of time, which are an eternity for live television, surely would rank among the most poignant moments of television journalism. Reams of pages could not have evoked the same pathos as those moments of silence. Contrast these with the plasticity and obscenity that characterised the 60 hours of visual media coverage of the terror in Mumbai, especially in English. As Jean Baudrillard puts it, the obscenity of media events “is no longer the traditional obscenity of what is hidden, repressed, forbidden or obscure; on the contrary, it is the obscenity of the visible, of the all-too-visible, of the more-visible-than-visible”. What the terror exposed was not just the underbelly of the Indian State but also the innards of the institution of media in India.

Role of commercial media

But the few critical responses to the terror coverage do not go beyond the superficial and technical aspects of this phenomenon to understand the deeper question, which is the role of a commercial media in a democratic society. The real issue, therefore, is the systematic erosion of the concept of the press as the fourth estate: the belief exemplified by people like the 19th-century historian Thomas Carlyle that “invent Writing” and “Democracy is inevitable”; the belief that the press is the guardian of democracy and the protector of the public interest. And this erosion is the inevitable culmination of the long process of the appropriation of the concept of public press for the private interests of a few, in short, the turning of the press into a business enterprise. The news here becomes like any other commodity in the market. Of course, the media in India has hardly assumed the scale and the depth of corporatisation in countries like the United States. But the signs are ominous and these are hardly encouraging for the miniscule number of media outlets that seek to be a real “public press”.

The most problematic aspect of the recent coverage is the media’s posturing as an “objective” and “neutral” entity — above all kinds of power interests — which merely seeks to bring the “truth” to the public. This posturing is seen in the shrill rhetoric of the blaming of the State and the political class for the tragedy. In this simplistic formulation of the “good” press versus the “evil” politicians, the media panders to something called the “public opinion” instead of acting as a critical catalyst of the latter. Public opinion must be the most abused term in a democracy. But what we forget in the aura of Obama is that it is public opinion that sanctioned the U.S. war in Iraq and it is public opinion that elected George Bush back to power. So a public opinion uncoupled from higher universal principles of justice and ethics is merely a mob stoning an alleged adulteress to death. Walter Cronkite went on to become the “most trusted man in America” for often going against the public opinion, even from within the confines of a commercial media. When he, against the logic of television ratings, delivered the verdict against the American war in Vietnam, President Lyndon B. Johnson famously remarked: “If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost America.” With hundreds of debates on television in the last few days, it was reprehensible that not even one proposed a political solution, rather than a technical or military solution, to the problem of terrorism.
A modern myth

The moral superiority of the media in relation to the political class and the State is the biggest myth in any capitalist democracy. The recent politician-bashing undertaken by the media hides the deep need of both for one another. Such a synergy could not be better illustrated than by the media celebrity status attained by politicians like the late Pramod Mahajan. The same goes for the media’s harmonious and mutually beneficial relationship with capitalist interests which include the entertainment industry. It is almost laughable that the media, after 60 hours of shameless voyeurism, chose to call Ramgopal Varma’s visit to the Taj as “disaster tourism”. The media’s defence that the lack of coverage of the victims at the CST railway station as compared to those at the five-star hotels was not “because of some deliberate socio-economic prejudice” but an aberration and imbalance that crept into the chaos of covering live tragedy ignores the deeper systemic problems hinted above. Even after the tragedy was over, the sanity of the studios could still not restore the imbalance. For instance, NDTV’s “We the People”, telecast on November 30, had among its expert panellists, Simi Grewal, Kunal Kohli, Ratna Pathak, Ness Wadia and Luke Kenny! These people are supposed to represent us, citizens, against the inept and carnivorous State. Through the magic wand of the media, the rich and the famous transmogrify into “we the people”. The philosopher Slavoj Zizek had noted that the “close door” button in the elevator is actually inoperable: it does nothing to hasten the closing of the door, but gives the impression that it does. The presumed power of the media as the representative of the people is something similar: it merely gives the illusion that we are all participating in it. And it has always been this way. That is why the suffering and tragedies of the few elites who lost their lives in the terror attack become more important than that of the other victims. That is why the media spectacle of terror has the habit of ignoring the systematic horrors and tragedies undergone by millions of Indians on a day-to-day basis. And that is why the Taj and the Oberoi will enter our wounded collective consciousness, unlike Kambalapalli and Khairlanji.

It is shocking that a slogan like “enough is enough” is bandied about in the media now after a terror attack. The moral angst of the media could not be roused all these years even when 1.5 lakh farmers committed suicide in a period of mere eight years from 1997 to 2005. How many channels did exclusive “breaking news” stories when India, the second fastest growing economy in the world, secured the 94th position, behind even Nepal, in the Global Hunger Index Report? Where were the Shobha Des and Ness Wadias then, who are now out on the streets mouthing revolutionary slogans like “boycott taxes”? Where were the candle light vigils and demonstrations when policemen rode on a motorbike with a human being tied to it? Or when a father and a child were crushed under a bus after being thrown off it for not being able to pay two rupees for the ticket? For the 40 crore Indians who live like worms, the prospect of being shot dead by terrorists would seem like a dream come true. At least it is more glorious and patriotic than swallowing pesticide!

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

POIGNANT MOMENT: Walter Cronkite announcing John F. Kennedy's Assassination.

The clamour for the accountability of the State and political class that has been occasioned by the terror was long overdue. And the media has played a role in giving a stage to vent this anger. But ultimately, it hides the fact that commercial media is just another partner in the State-corporate alliance. Otherwise, how can you explain the lopsided coverage in the English media about poverty, hunger, health, nutrition and violation of human rights (which would not exceed 10 per cent of the total number of stories and reports)? While a lot of questions have been raised about democracy after the terror attack, there is none about the need for a real independent media which is free not only from the clutches of the State but also from profit and commercial considerations. Enforcing some security guidelines for the media for wartime and emergency coverage does not address the larger question of the freedom of the press and its accountability to the public which can happen only if the latter are treated as citizens and not as consumers.

Blaming the media alone for our problems or not acknowledging some of the benefits of even a commercial media is naïve and one-sided. Nevertheless, the “public debates” that were staged on television in the last few days operated on a thoroughly emasculated notion of democracy and security. What the urban middle classes and the elite want is not democracy but Adam Smith’s night watchman State which does nothing more than the strong and efficient protection of the life, limbs and property of the people (read the classes). Once that is accomplished, whether the masses sell their blood, kidneys or their bodies to make a living is none of their problem. Despite the clamour for democracy, even the media is aware that if real democracy is established, it will not be able to sell many of the things that it is selling now, including terror as a packaged product. Until then, it will continue to be the vulture in the Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of photojournalist Kevin Carter: the Sudanese toddler, all skin and bones, lies slumped on the ground in her attempt to crawl to the feeding centre, while it waits in the background, for her to die. At least, Kevin Carter had the conscience to end his life.

The author is Assistant Professor with Dalhousie University, Canada.

No Orkutting.

I will not be available in orkut, and my account is no more due to some reasons. Any information needed by u, do reply me at my mail-id, ur reply will be answered.

one IITian creating 100 jobs, says the study

IITians' contribution to economy is Rs 20 lakh crore: Study

CHENNAI: Every one rupee invested in an IIT has had an economic impact of Rs 15 and each IIT graduate meant 100 new jobs, says a study
commissioned by an umbrella organisation of IIT alumni.

Raging debates over the contribution made by the IITians on whom the government has invested millions of rupees over the past over five decades could well be settled if the findings of the study by PanIIT are any indication.

The interim report of the IIT Alumni Impact Study 2008 says nearly 200,000 alumni of the country's premier technical institutions "have been associated with Rs 20 lakh crore of incremental economic value creation'' across industry, government and entrepreneurial activity over the past five decades.

The IITians have also been involved in the creation of 20 million new jobs, which roughly translates into one IITian creating 100 jobs, says the study.

Zinnov Management Consulting, a private consultancy firm, which undertook the survey, arrived at this estimation by extrapolating the figures submitted by 4,573 alumni who have till date participated in the web-based survey, according to Rajan Srikanth, the coordinator for the IIT Alumni Impact Study.

""Assuming that the government has invested between Rs 20,000 crore and 40,000 crore into the IITs during the last 58 years, based on the findings of this survey we could say that every one rupee invested in the IIT has led to an economic impact of Rs 15,'' argued B Santhanam, chairman PanIIT 2008 and managing director, Saint Gobain. PanIIT is the umbrella organization of the seven IIT alumni foundations.

The study was launched to take stock of contributions made by the IITians across professions and geographies since the first batch graduated out of IIT Kharagpur in 1956.

"The initial analysis reveals that among the IITians who had graduated before 2001, four out of 10 are in top leadership roles in corporations, educational institutions, research labs, NGOs, governmental agencies, politics and as entrepreneurial heads. Seven out of 10 are currently based in India with two out of 10 being returnees after careers abroad,'' said Santhanam. The IITians in senior positions in the industry and government across the world have an annual budgetary responsibility of over Rs 40 lakh crore.

Another fact that has emerged, according to Zinnov CEO Pari Natarajan, is that 54% of the top 500 Indian companies currently have at least one IIT alumnus on their board of directors. "These companies have cumulative revenue that is 10 times greater than that of the other companies on the list,'' he said.

The complete report documenting the details of the survey findings will be unveiled during the PanIIT conference to be held at the IIT Madras from December 19 to 21.

How the global financial crisis affects India

The key question confronting the economy now is the backwash effect of the American (or global) financial crisis. Central banks in several countries, including India, have moved quickly to improve liquidity, and the finance minister has warned that there could be some impact on credit availability. That implies more expensive credit (even public sector banks are said to be raising money at 11.5 per cent, so that lending rates have to head for 16 per cent and higher -- which, when one thinks about it, is not unreasonable when inflation is running at 12 per cent).

For those looking to raise capital, the alternative of funding through fresh equity is not cheap either, since stock valuations have suffered in the wake of the FII pull-out. In short, capital has suddenly become more expensive than a few months ago and, in many cases, it may not be available at all.

The big risk is a possible repeat of what happened in 1996: Projects that are halfway to completion, or companies that are stuck with cash flow issues on businesses that are yet to reach break even, will run out of cash. If the big casualty then was steel projects (recall Mesco, Usha and all the others), one of the casualties this time could be real estate, where building projects are half-done all over the country and some developers who touted their 'land banks' find now that these may not be bankable.

The only way out of the mess is for builders to drop prices, which had reached unrealistic levels and assumed the characteristics of a property bubble, so as to bring buyers back into the market, but there is not enough evidence of that happening.

The question meanwhile is: Who else is frozen in the sudden glare of the headlights? The answer could be consumers, many of whom are already quite leveraged. More expensive money means that floating rate loans begin to bite even more; even those not caught in such a pincer will decide that purchases of durables and cars are not desperately urgent.

And it is not just the impact of those caught on the margin who must be considered. The drop in real estate and stock prices robs a much larger body of consumers of the wealth effect, which could affect spending on a broader front. In short, the second round effects of the financial crisis will be felt straightaway in the credit-driven activities and sectors, but will spread beyond that in a perhaps slow wave that could take a year or more to die down.

One danger meanwhile is of a dip in the employment market. There is already anecdotal evidence of this in the IT and financial sectors, and reports of quiet downsizing in many other fields as companies cut costs. More than the downsizing itself, which may not involve large numbers, what this implies is a significant drop in new hiring -- and that will change the complexion of the job market.

At the heart of the problem lie questions of liquidity and confidence. What the RBI needs to do, as events unfold, is to neutralise the outflow of FII money by unwinding the market stabilisation securities that it had used to sterilise the inflows when they happened. This will mean drawing down the dollar reserves, but that is the logical thing to do at such a time. If done sensibly, it would prevent a sudden tightening of liquidity, and also not allow the credit market to overshoot by taking interest rates up too high.

Meanwhile, there is an upside to be considered as well. The falling rupee (against the dollar, more than against other currencies) will mean that exporters who felt squeezed by the earlier rise of the currency can breathe easy again, though buyers overseas may now become more scarce. Overheated markets in general (stocks, real estate, employment-among others) will all have an element of sanity restored. And for importers, the oil price fall (and the general fall in commodity prices) will neutralise the impact of the dollar's decline against the rupee.

Awaiting 3G

It's boom time for mobile phones in India. And people are looking forward to more information, faster data access and multimedia services through their mobile phones. 3G technology is here to turn this dream into reality. It's a technology anxiously awaited by telecom operations and subscribers in India.

How long do you have to wait?

Not very long! India is all set to launch 3G mobile telephone services by Jan 2009.

According to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India chairman Nripendra Misra, a total of 32.5 MHz is available for allocation within the next 6-9 months.

Trai has also recommended auctioning 200 MHz for broadband wireless access services like Wimax (worldwide interoperability for microwave access) and has proposed a national frequency management board to oversee spectrum availability and its efficient use.

He hopes that the allocated spectrum would be enough for the next two years and said Trai would recommend freeing up more spectrum for those who lose out in this auction.

So what is 3G spectrum all about? Read on.

What is spectrum?

Radio spectrum refers to a range of radio frequencies. The bandwidth of a radio signal is the difference between the upper and lower frequencies of the signal.

For example, in the case of a voice signal having a minimum frequency of 200 hertz (Hz) and a maximum frequency of 3,000 Hz, the bandwidth is 2,800 Hz (3 KHz). The amount of bandwidth needed for 3G services could be as much as 15-20 Mhz, whereas for 2G services a bandwidth of 30-200 KHz is used. Hence, for 3G huge bandwidth is required.

How is 3G different from 2G and 4G?

While 2G stands for second-generation wireless telephone technology, 1G networks used are analog, 2G networks are digital and 3G (third-generation) technology is used to enhance mobile phone standards.

3G helps to simultaneously transfer both voice data (a telephone call) and non-voice data (such as downloading information, exchanging e-mail, and instant messaging. The highlight of 3G is video telephony. 4G technology stands to be the future standard of wireless devices.

Currently, Japanese company NTT DoCoMo and Samsung are testing 4G communication.

How will 3G services help you?

3G services will enable video broadcast and data-intensive services such as stock transactions, e-learning and telemedicine through wireless communications

All telecom operators are waiting to launch 3G in India to cash in on revenues by providing high-end services to customers, which are voice data and video enabled. India lags behind many Asian countries in introducing 3G services.

What is Trai's recommendation on 3G pricing?

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has recommended auctioning radio frequencies for 3G telecom services at a reserve price of Rs 1,050 crore (Rs 10.50 billion) to companies seeking to offer nationwide high-speed Internet and streaming video.

The base price for spectrum in cities like Mumbai and Delhi and Category A telecom circles is Rs 80 crore (Rs 800 million); in cities like Chennai and Kolkata and Category B circles Rs 40 crore (Rs 400 million); and in all other cities Rs 15 crore (Rs 150 million).

What are the frequency bands and quota for CDMA?

Trai has recommended three sets of frequency bands - 450 mhz, 800 mhz and 2.1 ghz. For CDMA players like Reliance [Get Quote] and Tata Teleservices [Get Quote] 1.25 MHz each is offered. CDMA operators are free to bid both in the 2.1 GHz and the 450 MHz bands, but they will be allocated spectrum only in one. The pricing of these two bands is linked to the auction in the 2.1 GHz band.

CDMA operators will pay the same as the second-highest GSM bidder. And if there is more than one claimant in the 450 MHz band, the reserve price will be half of that arrived at in the 2.1 GHz band. Another rider is that if the highest bid is a quarter more than the lowest, the lowest bidder has to raise its bid to 75 per cent of the winning bid.

But CDMA operators are likely to face problems. Operating 3G services on 450 MHz is a problem because we they do not have dual-band phones that work both in 450 MHz and in 800 MHz (the band in which CDMA operates in India).

What are the issues regarding 3G for providers and users?

3G has successfully been introduced in Europe. But several issues continue to hamper its growth.

High spectrum licensing fees for the 3G services

Huge capital required to build infrastructure for 3G services.

Health impact of electromagnetic waves.

Prices are very high for 3G mobile services.

Will 2G users switch to 3G services.

Takes time to catch up as the service is new.

What are the issues regarding 3G pricing?

Pricing has been a cause of concern. Spectrum auctions ran into billions of euros in Europe. In Europe, spectrum licensing fees were collected years before the 3G service was developed and it required huge investments to build 3G networks, hitting mobile operators' margins.

However, in Japan and South Korea, spectrum licensing fees were not applicable as the focus of these countries were national IT infrastructure development.

Which companies have applied for 3G license?

3G spectrum has been provided to GSM players like BSNL, MTNL [Get Quote], Bharti, and Hutch to carry out an interface check on a non-commercial basis ahead of the start of 3G mobile services.

Trial spectrum has been given for a period of one month. This will be only 1/1000th of the actual 3G spectrum capability. Apart frm PSU majors, spectrum for carrying out 3G trials has been given to all those who have applied under the National Frequency Allocation Plan on the 2.1 GHz band. GSM players operate on 900 MHz and 1,800 MHz, while CDMA players operate on 800 MHz.

What is the pricing issue in India?

While Tatas have welcomed Trai's Rs 1,400-crore (Rs 14 billion) base price for a nationwide rollout of 3G services, the rest of the players find the price too exorbitant.

Bharti-Airtel is disappointed with the pricing as they were expecting it to be Rs 300-400 crore (Rs 3-4 billion). The reserve price is a disincentive for telecom companies in India. Bharti has appealed to lower the prices specially for rural penetration.

The Cellular Operators Association of India and the Association of Unified Service Providers of India are studying TRAI's recommendations and have not given their comments.

However, Trai chairman Nripendra Misra has said that there is no reason to worry as players will not bid exorbitantly and derail the auction. Misra said telecom operators had matured from their experiences and global developments, and would bid sincerely.

Where was 3G spectrum first introduced?

Japan was the first country to introduce 3G on a large commercial scale. In 2005, about 40 per cent of subscribers used only 3G networks. It is expected that during 2006 the subscribers would move from 2G to 3G and upgrade to the next 3.5 G level.

The success of 3G in Japan also shows that video telephony was the killer application for 3G networks. Downloading music was the biggest draw in 3G services.

In how many countries does 3G exist?

There are about 60 3G networks across 25 countries . In Asia, Europe and the USA, telecom firms use WCDMA technology. The WCDMA standard provides seamless global evolution from today's GSM with support of the worlds' largest mobile operators.

WCDMA technology is built on open standards, wide ranging mobile multimedia possibility, and vast potential economies of scale with the support of around 100 terminal designs to operate 3G mobile networks.

3G services were introduced in Europe in 2003

General Studies.

INDIAN HISTORY

1. Ancient India, Medieval India –NCERT books
2. Modern India- NCERT book by Bipin Chandra
3. India Struggle for Independence by Bipin Chandra
4. Modern India –Grover &Grover
5. IGNOU – Freedom movement part only
6. SYNERGYIAS’s Hand Book on Modern India by O.P.Siddharth
7. SYNERGYIAS’s Modern India Question Papers by O.P.Siddharth

GEOGRAPHY

1. Geography Books All NCERT books from VI – XII Std
From Class IX- XII compulsory
2. Geography of India - Gopal Singh
3. Economic & Commercial Geography of India - C.B. Mamoria
4. One School Atlas. Orient Longman or Oxford

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY:

1. NCERT School books
2. Science (X std) Biology XI &XII
3. Science &Technology
4. Physics XII std
5. Tata Mc Graw Hill Guide Science Part &Questions
6. Popular Science Series (CSIR)
7. Reports of the Ministry of Science and Technology & Yojana
8. Science Reporter
9. Official Web Sites of CSIR and its Associated Organisations

POLITY

1. Indian Political System- NCERT (+1 level)—
2. Indian Constitution D.D. Basu
3. Indian Constitution by M.V.Pylee
4. Publication Division: Our Constitution of India- Kashyap
5. Publication Division— Our Parliament by C. Kashyap
6. Indian Constitution - P.M. Bakshi
7. Perspective on Constitution: S.C. Kashyap
8. Frontline Magazine

ECONOMY

1. NCERT (+1 level)—Evolution of Indian Economy by C Dhingra).
2.Mishra & Puri or Dutt & Sundaram - Indian Economy
3.Economic Survey
4.The Economic Times, Business Standard
5.National journal - Kurukshetra, Yojana etc.

MENTAL ABILITY

1. Any one of the Mental Ability Guide.
2. Mental Ability - Quantitative Aptitude by R.S. Agarwal
3. Statistical Part.
NCERT (XI Std) Elementary Statistics
S.C.Gupta: Statistical Methods
Spectrum Mains guide.

Note from SYNERGYIAS. After the introduction of Negative marking system Mental Ability acquires greater importance. After answering WELL KNOWN QUESTIONS candidates can try to answer these questions in the remaining time. So till then, the usually less important topic for Prelims now gets importance
CURRENT AFFAIRS
Some magazines and Newspapers

1. The Hindu/ The Times of India
2. Frontline
3. The Economic Times
4. Any One Competitive Magazine
Civil Service Chronicle
Chanakya
Competition WIZARD

Yojana/ Kurukshetra
Civil Services Today
Civil Services Times
SYNERGYIAS’ Weekly Current Affairs
SYNERGYIAS’S Questions on Current Affairs
3. India & World
Journal of Peace Studies
World Focus
Strategic Analysis
South Asian Journal
The Hindu


SUGGESTED READINGS

GENERAL STUDIES:

HISTORY:
1. Ancient India - NCERT - 11th standard book - RAM SHARAN SHARMA
2. Medieval India - NCERT – 11th Standard Book - SATISH CHANDRA
3. Modern India - NCERT - - BIPAN CHANDRA
4. Modern India - Modern Indian History - GROVER & GROVER
5. India’s struggle for Independence - BIPAN CHANDRA
6. Modern India - SUMIT SARKAR
7. Modern India - SPECTROM PUBLICATION

GEOGRAPHY:

1. Text book of Geography - NCERT 11th Std.
2. Fundamentals of Human Geography - NCERT 12th Std.
3. Fundamentals of Physical Geography - NCERT 11th Std.
4. India – People & Economy - NCERT 12th Std.
5. Atlas – Orient Longman
6. Certificate physical and Human Geography - GOHCHENGLEONG
7. India Resources and Regional Development - NCERT 12th Std.

INDIAN POLITY:

1. Introduction to the Constitution of India - D.D. BASU
2. India’s Constitution - M.V. PYLEE
3. Indian Polity - LAXIMIKANT
4. The Constitution of India - P.M. BAKSHI
5. Our Parliament - SUBASH C.KASHYAP
6. Our Constitution - ”

GENERAL SCIENCE:

1. Biology - NCERT 10th, 11th and 12th Std.
2. Physics - NCERT 11th & 12th Std.
3. Chemistry - NCERT 11th Std.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY:

1. Publications of CSIR, ISRO,
2. Science and Technology - Spectrum guide
3. Official Websites of ISRO, AEC, Dept. of S&T
4. The Hindu (Newspaper)
5. Annual Reports of ISRO, AEC

INDIAN ECONOMY:

1. Introduction to Indian Economy -
2. Indian Economy - Uma Kapila (or)
3. Indian Economy - Madan Lal Dhingra (or)
4. Indian Economy - Dutt & Sundaram
5. Prathiyogita Darpan - Magazine
6. Economic Survey -
7. The Hindu (Newspaper)
8. The Economic times (Newspaper)
9. Official website of Planning Commission of India

BOOKS IN GENERAL:

1. India Year book
2. CSR year Book
3. General Studies Manual - TATA Mcgraw Hills
4. International Organisations - Spectrum guide
5. Ecology and Environment - P.D. Sharma
6. UPSC past years Questions bank

Strategy for Mathematics as an optional in IAS Exam.

Mathematics is amongst one of the most scoring optionals in Civil Services examination. This is the only subject which can easily give one 400 + marks like 431 scored by Pradeep Agrawal (Rank. 30, CSE 2005). Top 20 is always replete with candidates having Mathematics as their one of the two optionals. Topper of 2006 exam M. Veluraju also had it as one of his optionals. In the last decade Mathematics has produced maximum number of toppers. In last few years, popularity of Maths has declined little bit due to false propeganda against the subject . Along with Physics/ engg. subject, it can be safely opted as a first or second optional .
Who can opt for it
Apart from main stream Mathematics students, any one from engineering / Physics background can opt for it. Beauty of the Subject is its language / presentation neutral approach. Mathematics is truly regarded as language of Physics/ engineering disciplines, so it comes very handy to them.

What is against the subject ?.
Perceived notion of its time consuming nature, which is not true. This subject, by judicious planning can be easily prepared within 4 months like any other subject and believe me, if prepared well, Maths will never disappoint you.
Strategy for Mathematics in Mains Examination
Like any other optional, Mathematics in CSE comprise of two papers of 300 marks each. Each paper being divided into two sections of 4 questions each. Section A of paper I Comprise of the courses like Linear Algebra & Matrices, Integral & Differential calculus & Geometry of 2D & 3D. In this section if one prepares any two courses thoroughly , then one is preparing for minimum of 165 marks( 2 full questions and three bits) from the compulsory question. At the most one has to leave one bit from the compulsory question. Courses of Algebra & Calculus should not be omitted due to their linkages from the courses of paper II.

In Section B, we have the courses of Ordinary Differential Equations (ODE) , Vector Analysis & Mechanics. ODE and Vectors are regarded as simple courses, so normally “good “ questions are asked from them. These days more weight is given to their applied aspects . Therefore they should be well prepared from the Schaum series books by
M R Spiegel apart from standard books by Indian writers like diff. equations by M D Raisinghania / N M Kapoor/ Vector Analysis by J N Sharma. With . the latest revision of syllabus , syllabus of Statics/ dynamics has been trimmed . This portion is scoring and can be well prepared from Krishna Series (Meerut ) books
Strategy for paper II
Section A of paper II comprises of Modern Algebra, Real Analysis, Complex Analysis & Linear programming problems. Courses of Real Analysis & Calculus are overlapping, therefore one must definitely prepare for this course. According to prevailing opinion among experts, questions from Modern Algebra are short & scoring provided they have been adequately prepared & presented. Here help of good teachers like Prof. Ramakotaih (former V. C of Nagarjun University and having 45 years of teaching experience, associated with DIAS since last many years) proves very beneficial to students. From complex Analysis & LPP, one full question & two bits in the compulsory part are asked. One may prepare LPP question and may or may not prepare complex
Analysis part This way, If one prepares Modern Algebra, Real Analysis and LPP, then 3 full questions can be prepared from this section
Section B comprises of Partial differential equations (P D E), Numerical Analysis (NA) and Computer programming and .Mechanics and Fluid Dynamics.
P D E and NA being simple courses should be prepared .

Strategy for IAS Examination with CHEMISTRY as an optional “ Secret of scoring maximum marks in chemistry “

Careful study of Chemistry syllabus and pattern of recent year questions reveals that it is one of scoring subjects in Mains examination with minimum effort. One requires focussed approach. good selection of books, well understanding and proper guidance to score good marks in Mains examination.

How to Prepare for prelims Examination
In the syllabus of preliminary this subject has three sections. First section includes Inorganic Chemistry, second section Organic Chemistry and third section Physical Chemistry. All three sections have been given equal weightage and forty questions are asked from each section Prelims examination, requires thorough study of each section and each topic. One thing important here is that the questions asked in Prelims examination are new and based on the concept and generally not found in any book or study matter A deep and thorough study of standard books will help in this respect. Proper understanding and development of concept will definitely help to score good marks in this examination. Here, proper selection of books, guidance from a well experienced teacher and proper practice from previous year papers or from our study material be extremely helpful.
Suggested Reading for Prelims
1. Physical Chemistry – Puri, Sharma – Pathania & K.L. Kapoor Vol 1 to 4.
2. Inorganic Chemistry – J.D. Lee/Madan, Malik & Tuli,

How to Prepare for Mains Examination?
In Mains the whole subject is divided into two papers, First paper includes Physical Chemistry and portions of Inorganic Chemistry while second paper includes Organic Chemistry, Polymers and
Spectroscopy. For the Physical Chemistry part, a good understanding of the topics and proper presentation will fetch good marks. In Physical Chemistry for any derivation, all the assumptions, proper figures / diagrams, thorough analysis along with its practical applications will bring good marks. To elaborate it further ,I take here one example, say, the question is to derive Clausius- claypeyeron equation. In answering this question your approach shouldl be
Step (a) It is applicable only for one component- two phase system like- solid- liquid, liquid- gas etc.
Step (b) Mention the thermodynamic criteria of equilibrium.
Step (c) Write down thermodynamic relation of free energy.
Step (d) Write down assumptions in the derivation.
Step (e) Write down its usefulness and applications.
If one writes this way, he can score upto 80 percent marks in Physical Chemistry.
For Inorganic Chemistry, a thorough- understanding is required. Sometimes the questions asked in the Physical Chemistry part are not scoring enough and the questions asked in Inorganic Chemistry are scoring , therfore a good preparation of Inorganic
Chemistry will give you good marks. One thing is to be noted here if proper presentation is done one can score more in Inorganic Chemisitry than Physical Chemistry. Proper presentation, in–depth analysis along with examples will helpful in scoring more. For both Physical and Inorganic Chemistry, the question papers of previous years are very helpful and by solving the previous year papers under proper guidance one can score around seventy- five percent marks in Paper I.
Second paper includes Organic Chemistry, Polymer and Spectroscopy. Here strategy should be different. To score good in this paper proper understanding and linkages are necessary. Organic Chemistry is always a building and dynamic concept so daily revision, practice, discussion under proper efficient and effective guidance will be helpful. For building good concepts
in Organic Chemistry, in read Morison &Boyd and I.L Finar (vol) for basics. These books are also helpful in the Prelims examination. Now a days, question asked in the Organic Chemistry, are directly taken from standard books. So after building the concepts one must follow these advanced books thoroughly Previous year question bank is necessary but not sufficient. For sufficiency and gaining confidence in this paper, one has to do at least 50 good questions from each topic and in this respect our institute will be very helpful. If one does all the above things thoroughly, one can score upto seventy percent marks in Chemistry, For this, proper guidance, hard work revision and proper practice will be very useful.

FRESHER’S TOOL- KIT

Physical Chemistry
(a) Physical Chemistry: Sharma Puri, & Pathania.
(b) A text book of Physical Chemistry: P.W. Atkins.
(c) Physical Chemistry Vol. 1 to 4:K.L Kapoor.
(d) Electrochemistry : Glasstone.

Inorganic Chemistry
(a) Inorganic Chemistry: Principle of structure and reactivity james E. Huheey, Ellen A Keiter, Richar L. Ketter.
(b) A text book of Inorganic Chemistry: JD.Lee
(c) A text book of Inorganic Chemistry: Madan Malik & Tuli Organic Chemistry
(a) Advanced Organic Chemistry: Francis A.Corey, Richard J Wothers
(b) Organic Chemistry: Claydon. Greeves. S.Warren. P. Wothers
(c) Principle of organic synthesis: Norman & Coxon.
(d) Advanced Organic chemistry. Reaction Mechanism and Structure: J March
(e) Principle of Spectroscopy: Silversteen
(f) Organic Spectroscopy: Kemp
(g) Reaction Mechanism: Mukherjee & Singh
(h) Organic Chemistry: A. Pine
(i) Text book of Spectroscopy : P.S. Kalsi

Strategy for IAS Examination with PHYSICS as an optional Best Optional in Science/Engineering Group

Strategy for IAS Examination with PHYSICS as an optional
Best Optional in Science/Engineering Group

By D P Vajpeyi

Civil Services examination these days have become one of the toughest nuts to crack. Looking at the level of competition involved in this exam., one can sail through this ‘hurdle race’ in flying colours only by proper planning, hard work, perseverance and patience. Proper planning is must for getting good ranks in this exam. And first step in proper planning is right selection of optionals. In my opinion, optionals should be chosen on the basis of one’s interest in that subject, scoring pattern of that subject in previous few years, availability of study material and expert guidance.
First optional should be generally the subject studied during graduation/Post graduation. (There is no hard and fast rule in this regard, but my advice to the aspirants is that choosing “parent subject” as first optional proves beneficial, until and unless there are some very genuine points against that subject). And second optional should be chosen by applying the above mentioned four point criterion of interest, scoring pattern, availability of study material and expert guidance. On the basis of above criterion of choosing optionals Physics stands tallest amongst the Science/Eng. stream optionals. Reasons in its favour are:

1. Its well defined and well structured syllabus. It is least among all science/Engineering. Subjects.
2. Its scoring nature. Every year lot many Physics candidates make it to “Top-10”
3. Easy availability of study material.
4. Its reliable nature. If it has been prepared well one can easily score up to 60-75% of marks i.e. between 360-450 marks.
5. Highest success Rate of 12% among popular optionals

In spite of all above-mentioned factors, few people are creating an environment that these days Physics is not very scoring. You have to put lot of efforts to score “well” in this subject. So on and so forth. My answer to all these is that only those candidates do not score well in this subject who either leave many portions of the syllabus, do not give to-the-point answers or do not practice right way of answering the questions. A to Z of the present syllabus can be studied within 200 hours of study (this is the time, I take in Completing the whole course). Hence allegation of requirement of lot of time is not all that correct. Successful candidates every year score 400+ Marks in this subject. Therefore Science and Engineering Background candidates can safely opt for physics as their first or second optional.
PHYSICS AS AN OPTIONAL IN MAINS

Now let me discuss the nature of Physics question papers in Mains examination. Like any other optional, Physics too have two papers of 300 marks each. Each paper being divided into two sections of 4 questions each. And out of these 8 questions, one has to attempt only 5. First question of both sections being compulsory, meaning there by that one has to choose remaining 3 questions out of 6. (Good 50% choice). All questions typically have 3 bits each barring compulsory questions, where out of 4 bits one has to attempt only 3: This is the format of the question papers. Now let’s come to topic wise emphasis in both the papers.
Paper I comprises of (i) Mechanics (ii) Waves and Optics and (iii) Electricity & Magnetism and (iv) Thermal and statistical physics. Two full questions are normally expected from all the four sections. Bunching (Mixing) of questions is also possible. Therefore all the sections must be prepared. Each bit is of 20 marks and should be answered within 12 minutes.
Mechanics have four well defined topics: Particle dynamics, Rigid body dynamics, Mechanics of continuous media and special relativity. Two bits are expected from each topic. Hence you should not leave any topic. This course can be well prepared from text books of Mechanics by D S Mathur/ Kleppner and Kolenkov . From Special Relativity, at the most two bits may be asked. Hence all old topics like Lorentz transforms, Length contraction, time dilation, velocity addition, Mass-Energy equivalence are important.
In Waves, damped and forced oscillations, phase and group velocity should be given due importance. This portion can be prepared from any book because all topics are very common and given in all text books.
In Geometrical optics, Fermat’s principle and matrix method should be prepared well. Geometrical optics along with Physical optics can be prepared from book on optics by Prof. Ajay Ghatak. Physical optics also has three well defined topics providing one bit each. In interference, division of amplitude class should be prepared well, in diffraction topic of Cornu’s spiral should not be omitted and in modern optics, optical fibres, spatial and temporal coherence and lasers be given due weightage.
Electricity & Magnetism has two well defined topics of electrostatics/ magntostatics and current electricity. This course along with EM theory have been very straight forward and quite scoring. This course can be very well prepared from the books by David Griffiths/ Satya Prakash. Thermal and statistical Physics can be prepared from textbook by Garg, Bansal and Ghosh/ Satya Prakash.
Second paper of physics can be very well covered in 80-90 hours and therefore, if prepared well, can fetch rich dividends. Section A of paper II consists of Quantum mechanics and Spectroscopy, while section “B” has Nuclear & Particle Physics and Electronics & Solid state physics.
Whole of the second paper excluding electronics can be prepared from quantum physics by Resnick and Eisberg/ Modern Physics by Arthur Beiser. Above books can be supplemented by Quantum mechanics by H. C Verma, Spectroscopy by Rajkumar, and Nuclear physics by D C Tayal. Electronics can be prepared from text book by Allan Mottershed/ B. L. Thareja Vol. 4 and for solid state Physics, text book by Kittel is of immense help.
In Nuclear physics, semi-empirical mass formula, deuteron problem, Shell model of nucleus and theory of b-decay should be prepared well.
With the latest revision of syllabus, in paper 1, syllabus of Mechanics has been enhanced and questions are also expected from the topics like relationship between
Y, K and / Poiseuelle formula. Therefore due importance should be given to them. Among the courses of Paper II, electronics has maximum syllabus. Therefore non-electronics background candidates should make some extra efforts to master this part of syllabus or may also omit it.
This was all about different courses and their probable sources now I’ll give few general tips:

* My first advice is that one should not skip any portion of the syllabus. Thorough study is a must to get 400+marks at the most; one course could be omitted from both the papers. Although I do not recommend it.
* Analyse the examination papers of previous few years. You’ll know yourself where the focus is.
* Take practice tests and get them evaluated by a teacher and see yourself, what improvements can be made.
* While taking the exams, read the questions correctly. Your reply should be to the point, beating about the bush only wastes your time and doesn’t fetch you any extra mark. Units and terms used in formulas should be clearly explained.
* Do not give the derivation if it has not been asked. I’ll elaborate on this point, with the help of a problem asked in 2002’s exam. “Using rocket equation and its integral find the final velocity of a single stage rocket. Data for velocity of escaping gases is given”. In this problem, you may start from rocket equation, clearly explaining all the terms and then you may integrate it and obtain desired quantities. Here there is no need to derive rocket equation. Apart from wasting your valuable time it does not fetch you any extra credit hence this type of “extras” should be avoided.
* Finally one must stay ‘cool’ during the examination. Do not get panicky, even if you do not know few things.

Mr. D P VAJPEYI, B. Tech (IIT Bombay, M. Phil JNU) is the most popular teacher in Physics for Civil Services examination in India.

RECOMMENDED BOOKS
Paper I


* Mechanics : D S Mathur/ B S Agrawal/ Kleppner & Kolenkov
* Waves/Special Relativity : R. Resnick / Gupta & Goyal
* Optics : Ajay Ghatak / B S Agrwal
* Electrodynamics & EM Theory : David Griffiths / Chopra & Agrwal/ Satya Prakash
* Thermal & Statistical Physics : Garg, Bansal and Ghosh/ Satya Prakash.

Paper II

* Quantum Physics : Resnick & Eisberg
* Concepts of Modern Physics : Arthur Beiser
* Quantum Mechanics : H C Verma /Satya Prakash
* Atomic & Molecular Spectra : Raj Kumar
* Nuclear Physics : D C Tayal
* Solid State Physics : Kittel
* Electronics : B L Thareja Vol. IV

Coaching

Due to the complex exam procedure, the coaching assumes a crucial role. Unfortunately, it is a costly affair.

But the coaching has the following advantages:
• Helps in understanding the requirements of the exam quickly, so that the preparation is focused.
• Reduces the efforts in preparation, as subject experts teach the topics in exam orientation. Anyhow, the candidate has to prepare for at least one new optional.
• Helps in getting many contacts with co-aspirants, which is useful for exam related information. Never prepare for this exam in complete isolation. In any complex situation, information plays the key role.

Please take into account the following points while joining any institute:
• Do not merely go by the advertisements, nor the claims made in magazines or the interviews supposedly given by the toppers.
• Meet the successful candidates and the seniors who have taken coaching from that institute.
• Do not go by the advise of only one person. It is better to contact as many as possible and get a general opinion.
• Meet the teacher personally, ask for their programme details, results, etc, and assess yourself if it is worth joining there.

If you are working somewhere or economically under privileged, and therefore, cannot go for coaching, please do not get discouraged. There are many people who cleared the exam without coaching. You can device ways of getting the required information about the exam. But you should always be aware that you would have to work harder than others to clear the exam. So be prepared for that and believe that hard work will always be paid back in the end.

Check out the competition magazines to get the addresses of various coaching institutes.

Choosing the Optional Subjects

This is the first and most important stage of your journey and should be accomplished most carefully as coming things hinge on it and a wrong decision may prove to be disastrous. Careful analysis of syllabus, previous years' papers, your caliber, requirement of subject (Visionary, Numerical, Theoretical), comfort level with the subject and past trends should be done. Advice from seniors and fellow candidates should also be sought. To avoid dithering in choice at later stage, initial deep thinking and consultations are a must. Having decided the subject, it is advisable to stick to your choice even if the perception of others about it is not favourable.

Major criteria, which should guide you in choosing optionals, are:

1. Interest in the subject. This is quite important for sustaining the momentum in studies and completing the huge syllabus.
2. Availability of guidance – in the form of seniors who cleared with the optional, coaching, material, etc.
3. Performance of the optional in the last few years.
4. Time gap between the two optionals. Some people try to choose the optionals combination so that there is some time gap between them.

Please note that there is no subject that can be said to be scoring. UPSC is maintaining utmost balance between the subjects. It has brought all the optional subjects onto the same platform as far as scoring is concerned.

Some of the optionals which a majority take are: Anthropology, Geography, History, Political Science and International Relations, Psychology, Public Administration, Sociology and Literature.

The main advantages with these optionals are:

1. Availability of guidance, which reduces the efforts to a large extent
2. The knowledge also helps in GS, Essay and interview.
3. They are also relevant for an administrative career.

If a person is from professional education background (i.e. Engineering /Medicine), which optionals should he choose? This is a basic question for many. There is a tendency to opt for the graduating subject. Lets understand the problems associated with these subjects.

· Previously, science and Engineering Optionals used to do very well. In top 20, there used to be 15-16 from IIT and engineering background. But after 2000, UPSC has modified the syllabus. It became a very huge syllabus and even the exam questions are made tough. That’s the reason why, very few are writing the exam from IITs now. Many engineers are taking arts optionals instead of sciences. Just observe the background of the toppers and their optionals.

· There will be no guidance available for engineering/medical/science subjects. So, lots of time will have to be spent in understanding the requirements of the exam. Then, searching for the material. It becomes a trial and error process. All the energies will be spent on this, while you get exhausted when really studying. At the same time, you will also have to complete the huge syllabus of another optional and GS.

· Because of the above problem, it will take more time and more attempts. While, your friends in other fields go far ahead. So, both peer and social pressure starts. The exam is anyhow psychologically demanding, if other pressures add to it, then it becomes unbearable. Finally, your goal of cracking the exam becomes impossible.

· You will have to do every thing on your own. Initially it might be fine. But the exam is of long duration. It becomes difficult to sustain the momentum on your own.

A person might be University topper, but we have to understand the difference between an academic exam and a competitive exam. So it is very important to be careful, while choosing optionals, even though you might feel you are really good in a particular subject.

Still, if you are confident about your subject, then do take that optional. There are some people who cleared with optionals that others don’t take generally. But take into consideration the following points

• Whether you have a senior who has cleared with this optional and who can guide you well
• Whether you have close association with professors who have good understanding about this exam.
• Are you clear about the requirements of the exam? Study the previous papers thoroughly and assess yourself
• Be clear about the books to follow. Don’t do trial and error process. Do a focused exam oriented preparation.
• Do not neglect other optional and GS. Give equal importance.
• Form a group of aspirants with same optional. If you prepare in isolation, then there will be no flow of information.

Do not be in a hurry to decide about the optional. Be very cautious and consult the right people about the information. Analyse carefully all the pros and cons, and then take a decision purely based on your assessment.

Endless meltdown

Independent investment banks face crisis after crisis, but these do not seem enough to force governments to rethink their policy of financial liberalisation.

THOUGH it has been more than a year since the sub-prime crisis in the United States mortgage sector came to light, the meltdown in global financial markets, especially its Wall Street frontage, persists. Just days after the Treasury and the Federal Reserve chose to nationalise Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and pump in as much as $200 billion to keep them solvent, a troubled Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the fourth largest investment bank on Wall Street, came to the table wit h requests for support.
This was to be expected, not just because of the nationalisation of the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) in the mortgage market but because of the role that the Federal Reserve and the Treasury had taken on to inject liquidity into the market and support and part-finance the merger of Bear Stearns with J.P. Morgan Chase. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson declared that the government was unwilling to bail out Lehman. The government tried to arm-twist the big banks into buying into the company, but the effort failed because it was not willing to underwrite the process with taxpayers’ money.
What followed is the beginning of a tale still being told. The 158-year-old Lehman filed for bankruptcy, and Merrill Lynch, another Wall Street icon, chose to pre-empt a similar fate by deciding to sell out to the Bank of America in a $50 billion all-stock deal. That may appear a good price relative to its then prevalent market capitalisation of $26 billion, but it was way below the $80-billion high it had reached in the previous 52 weeks.

Meanwhile, the insurance and investment management major AIG (American International Group) has been struck by a major ratings downgrade. And the group is in Fed-mediated talks to secure a $75-billion line of credit that would help it cover the additional collateral it would have to provide its derivatives trading partners because of that downgrade. If that line of credit does not materialise (or perhaps even if it does), AIG too is heading towards bankruptcy.
What accounts for the recent spate of problems? All of them are related to the now-not-so-new sub-prime crisis and the unwillingness of both regulators and the institutions concerned to properly assess the effects of that crisis on the financial viability of the institutions. On the contrary, they have been strenuously engaged in concealing those effects. Consider, for example, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: they acquire mortgages from banks, housing finance companies or other financial institutions so as to ensure that lending for housing acquisitions goes on.
According to reports, just before they were placed under conservatorship, they together held or backed $5.3 trillion in mortgages. What is more, with the mortgage markets facing a credit squeeze over the last year, they were providing 70 to 80 per cent of new mortgage loans. To undertake these activities, these firms were indebted to a range of creditors; credit from many of these creditors would freeze up if these GSEs defaulted on their commitments. Any effort on the part of these creditors to sell their debt would result in a decline in value that would threaten the financial viability of many of them.

hus, there were two important reasons, among many, for these institutions not being allowed to close. First, mortgage credit would dry up, resulting in a collapse of the already declining prices in the housing market. Second, the fallout could be dire for the viability of other financial firms and the stability of financial markets.
An implication was that institutions such as these should exercise caution in their operations and be subject to stringent supervision, neither of which seems to have been the case. Managers, who paid themselves fat salaries and bonuses, backed suspect mortgage loans and bought into suspect mortgage-backed securities on the presumption that defaults would be low.
And regulators not merely turned a blind eye to such activities but missed the use of accounting practices that, though not in violation of rules, overestimated the capital resources and financial strength of these firms. At the time of the nationalisation, losses on mortgage-related securities were estimated at $34.3 billion in the case of Freddie and $11.2 billion in the case of Fannie, both of which were kept out of calculations of regulatory capital by treating them as temporary losses.
On the other hand, these losses were used to generate deferred tax assets on the firms’ balance sheets on the assumption that they would make large enough profits in future for these losses to be offset against the tax to be paid on the profits. In reality, however, these firms were on the verge of insolvency and ended up being dependent on huge taxpayer-financed bailout packages to survive. The Fannie and Freddie experience illustrated a larger feature of the increasingly deregulated financial markets across the globe: the tendency to exploit easy liquidity conditions to leverage investments in areas varying from housing and real estate to stock and derivatives markets. According to Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy filing, it owes more than $600 billion to creditors worldwide.

With much of that money being invested in mortgage-backed securities, the collapse in the value of those securities must have increased demands for additional collateral, which Lehman was hard-pressed to find.
It contemplated sale of either parts of its business or of equity, with the state-controlled Korea Development Bank emerging as a potential suitor. When that did not work, the value of Lehman’s shares collapsed, touching less than $10 a share as compared with $80 in May-June 2007, making it even more difficult for it to find additional funding.
Lehman then sought a solution in an “innovative” scheme of hiving off its real estate assets, originally valued at $30 billion, into a separate public company, which would look for a suitor. That would help save the parent. But when that too failed to materialise, bankruptcy seemed a real possibility. This forced the Treasury and the Fed to bring other private financial institutions to the table, as it did a few years earlier with Long Term Capital Management, to work out a takeover or at least an acquisition of the worst bit of the firm’s assets with some help from the Fed.

The offer of marginal support from the Fed and the Treasury proved inadequate because the institutions concerned were unsure whether this could stall the crisis creeping through other firms as well. The Treasury, on the other hand, had had enough of using taxpayers’ money to save firms that had erred their way into trouble. The refusal of the state to take over the responsibility of managing failing firms sent a strong message. Not only was Lehman forced to file for bankruptcy but a giant like Merrill Lynch, which had also notched up large losses due to sub-prime-related exposures, decided that it should sort matters out before there were no suitors interested in salvaging its position as well.
In a surprise move, Bank of America, which was being spoken to as a potential buyer of Lehman, was persuaded to acquire Merrill Lynch instead, bringing down two of the major independent investment banks on Wall Street. With Bear Stearns already dead, that leaves only Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, whose fortunes too are being dissected, on Wall Street. Whether they too will disappear into the vaults of some large bank is an issue being debated.

Impact on creditors
This is, however, only part of the problem that Lehman leaves behind. The other major issue is the impact its bankruptcy will have on its creditors. Citigroup and The Bank of New York Mellon have an exposure to the institution that is placed at upwards of a staggering $155 billion. Lehman owes a clutch of Japanese banks, led by Aozora Bank, an amount in excess of a billion. There are European banks that have a significant exposure. And all of these are already faced with strained balance sheets. More trouble in financial markets seems inevitable.
This, therefore, is truly the end of an era. Independent investment banks are under threat. The state is no more seen as an agency that can buy its way out of any crisis. And the crisis that has dragged on for more than a year just refuses to go away. But all this still seems inadequate to force a rethink of the financial liberalisation that triggered these problems.

- from frontline

Five Simple Techniques to Improve Your Memory

Introduction

Most of us might have complained about our memory one time or other. But some of you have been frequently complaining about your poor memory. When we generally talk about poor memory we are really talking about poor recollection. Recollection is possible only if the content is retained in memory. This is possible only if we have recorded it into memory. That is, unless we have not assimilated, we cannot recall at all. That is why William James and many others including mnemonists give emphasis to how we record things into our memory.

Even if we record something correctly in our memory, we may not be able to recall it. This is due to many reasons, the main reasons being problems in retention and stress. The former can be solved by systematic revision and the latter by practicing some Stress Management Techniques or using Stress Management Tools like HIT (Holistic Integration Technique) of Dr.V.George Mathew or the Award winning Guided Somato-Psychic Relaxation (GSPR) Technique of Dr.Krishna Prasad Sreedhar The latter can be learned by using audio cassettes.

Now let us discuss five simple techniques to improve memory: Four of these techniques are used to improve assimilation and thus to have longer retention. The last one is a simple strategy for recollection.

Chunking

Perhaps Chunking is the oldest method used in memorization. In this method, the items to be memorized are divided into small and easily memorizable chunks or groups. This method works best when the order of the items is not important.

This method is found to be particularly well suited for memorizing multi-digit numbers (eg., ID nos., telephone nos., etc.) and for committing complicated spellings to memory.

Example:

1. The number 472627607 may be memorized easily if it is grouped as 472, 627,607 or as 47, 26, 27,607.
   These chunks may then be learned by rote. Learning and retention are much facilitated if you further explore the nos. by finding some relationship among these different chunks. Finding the digital root will also be helpful. The more explorations or relations you do, the better.
2. Words like mathematics may be divided into mat +he +mat +ics, Together may be divided into to + get + her; Important may be divided into im + port + ant. This technique will make us learn much faster.
3. The list Apple, cucumber, paper, ink, cabbage, banana, grapes, beans, stapler, orange can be better learned by rearranging and applying chunking as :-
   Apple, banana, grapes, orange, cucumber, cabbage, beans, paper, ink, stapler
   -- 4 fruits, 3 vegitables and 3 stationary items.

If possible, organize the material as meaningfully as you can and think out relationships among each group. This not only improves learnability and retention but also aids in faster and effortless recollection.

Psychologists doing research on Human Memory have found that the capacity of Short Term Memory (STM) for humans is 7± 2 that is from the range 5 to 9 items. So you should take care to keep the chunks you create within this limit.

Rhyming

This is also one of the popular and oldest methods in memorization. This technique makes use of the fact that we have a natural tendency to remember rhymes and rhythms. The following is a very popular example of application of this technique which almost all school students are familiar with.

"Thirty days haveth September

April, June and November

All the rest have thirty-one

February has twenty-eight alone

Except in leap year, then the time

When Febs days are twenty-nine."

If possible create rhymes like this and it will not only aid in improving your memory but in improving your creativity as well.

Mediation/Bridging

In this method, a bridge is built in between the items given to be memorized. This technique is best suited for learning material involving word pairs or material that can be reduced to word pairs. An example often cited by memory experts is the learning of the capital of Poland. The capital of Poland is Warsaw. World War II started with Germany's attack on Poland. Thus it may be arranged as Poland SAW War first.

Here, the word pair to be connected together is Poland and Warsaw. The additional information of the World War II is used as a bridge or mediator in bringing these two words together.

Again, like other techniques, the mediation technique calls for the learner's active participation in the learning process. This is because one is to bring in the mediator or the bridge from relevant items one has learned.

Bed-time Recital

In this technique, you do your recital or rote learning just before going to bed. The mind in the process of sleeping would then arrange the information in a systematic and effective way when you are sleeping. Psychologists have also found that if you sleep after thinking about your problems there is a better chance that you arrive at a solution the next day.

Steps for Memory Improvement

1. Be in a relaxed mood
2. Write down the things that you are supposed to remember in a piece of paper.
3. Read it aloud (if possible) once or twice and recite it two to three times.
4. Now go to sleep without worrying or thinking about anything.

You will surely retain the item longer and find it more easy to recall it when in need.