UPSC aspirants demands to disclose the cut-off marks of CSAT

Several UPSC aspirants who alleged discrepancies in the prelim exam results declared in the last week of August are demanding that the commission should increase the transparency in the entire process. They said the UPSC must release the cut-off list of the CSAT examination held in June this year.

The recently declared UPSC-CSAT results have left many aspirants in complete confusionas many students who were confident of getting through the prelim exam easily have not made in the list of passed candidates. 

This has even shocked the coaching class teachers. “Few students whose preparation was not up to the mark have cleared while those who were doing well have not,” said one teacher.

Raman sinha, 24, one of the aspirants said, “After the exam, I had checked my answers in the answer guide and according to it, I should have easily cleared the exams.

 Had UPSC come out with its own answer key we could have checked our answers but now there’s no way to cross check.”

While aspirants from other cities, including Mumbai, New Delhi, have similar complaints, this is not the first time that this has happened.

For sevear  years, aspirants have been complaining of discrepancies in the prelim results. But the number of complaints this year is alarmingly high.

For last few years there has been an increasing demand from students that UPSC declare the cut-off marks and the answer key as many public service commission’s in the country do.

MPSC not only declares the cut-off and answer key within few days of the examination, but it also provides a photocopy of the answer sheet.

BPSC and UPPSC also do same to create better transparency but UPSC don't do it.

This has made the whole process transparent, said Aditya srivastava, who teaches Public Administration at a Coaching Classes.

In 2006, CIC had directed UPSC to disclose students’ marks and cut-offs for the preliminary examination after the allegation made by the informal group Transparency seekers.

Latter matter went on court the Delhi high court and Supreme Court had upheld the decision and had directed UPSC to disclose the cut-off marks besides model answers and the scaling systems. 

But despite of court directive UPSC hasn’t taken any step in this direction. Students are planning to file a PIL in the High Court.

JPSC 4th PT Result no Respite yet ! for the Aspirants

Ranchi, Sept, 24: Jharkhand Public service commission (JPSC) Ranchi which is known as the most controversial public service commission in the India is now struggling to go ahead with the next level of examination amid controversy over the recently announced PT result.

Earlier JPSC had successfully conducted the examination after several postponements despite of claimed carefulness by the JPSC  the questions asked in the 4th PT examination are under the centre of controversy.

The toughness level of various optional papers was not at same level so the competitive advantage in this 4th civil service examination is extensively under the favor of some privileged optional. Especially the history optional paper was so easy that average students had marked more than 90 questions.

To tame the misbalance JPSC adopted the scaling system and this system has criticized by the aspirants furthermore several defaults are also reported by the media in the published result.

According to insiders ,Examination controller of JPSC Rantikant Jha has also admitted that there are several mistakes in PT result ,and it looks that commission is trying to rectify in result therefore students who passed in the PT is still waiting for the mains form.

If JPSC will revise the result it will show the exit way to some of the aspirants who has already cleared the PT and some new aspirant will appear in mains basket.

The credibility of the commission is still deteriorating under newly appointed chairman Shiv Basant.

Mains examination is already delayed it further raised the question over the competency of the JPSC to take the examination.

Meg Whitman the new CEO of HP

After her failure to became the governor of California, ex-eBay CEO Meg Whitman has got her appointment as president and CEO of US  tech giant HP.

She is at 55th year her residence  is at Atherton, Calofornia.having  Bachelor of Arts / Science, Princeton University; Master of Business Administration, Harvard University

 "She would love to champion female entrepreneurs in particular," says a spokesman. Good timing, as her fortune continues to rise thanks to a firm grip on millions of eBay shares.

Whitman is back on the board of directors of HP and Procter & Gamble where she served from 2003 to 2008 before taking time off for her political foray.

She also signed on to the board of ZipCar, which saw shares soar after its April debut on the NASDAQ exchange. Whitman turned down Warren Buffett's invitation last year to join the Giving Pledge, in which billionaires agree to donate half their fortune to charity.

World top 20 most debtor nation

As the developed world is gripped under the financial crisis, national economies have looked to their government and foreign lenders for financial support, which translates to improve the borrowing, spending and in most cases, growing national debt.

Deficit spending, government debt and private sector borrowing are the new normal in most western countries, but due in part to the financial crisis, some nations and economies are in deep trouble.Here i am citing world's top 20 debtor countries

20. United States - 101.1%,External debt (as % ): 101.1% ,Gross external debt: $14.825 trillion ,2009 GDP (est): $14.66 trillion ,External debt per capita: $48,258.

19. Hungary - 120.1%,External debt (as % of GDP): 120.1% ,Gross external debt: $225.24 billion 2009 GDP (est): $187.6 billion ,External debt per capita: $22,739.

18. Australia - 138.9%,External debt (as % of GDP): 138.9% ,Gross external debt: $1.23 trillion ,2010 GDP (est): $882.4 billion ,External debt per capita: $57,641.

17. Italy - 146.6%,External debt (as % of GDP): 146.6% ,Gross external debt: $2.602 trillion ,2010 GDP (est): $1.77 trillion ,External debt per capita: $44,760.

16. Spain - 179.4%,External debt (as % of GDP): 179.4% ,Gross external debt: $2.46 trillion ,2010 GDP (est): $1.37 trillion ,External debt per capita: $60,614.

15. Greece - 182.2%,External debt (as % of GDP): 182.2% ,Gross external debt: $579.7 billion,2010 GDP (est): $318.1 billion,External debt per capita: $53,984.

14. Germany - 185.1%,External debt (as % of GDP): 185.1% ,Gross external debt: $5.44 trillion 2010 GDP (est): $2.94 trillion ,External debt per capita: $51,572.

13. Portugal - 223.6%,External debt (as % of GDP): 223.6% ,Gross external debt: $552.23 billion,2010 GDP (est): $247 billion,External debt per capita: $51,572.

12. France - 250%,External debt (as % of GDP): 250% ,Gross external debt: $5.37 trillion ,2010 GDP (est): $2.15 trillion ,External debt per capita: $83,781.

11. Hong Kong - 250.4%,External debt (as % of GDP): 250.4% ,Gross external debt: $815.65 billion ,2010 GDP (est): $325.8 billion ,External debt per capita: $115,612.

10. Norway - 251%,External debt (as % of GDP): 251% ,Gross external debt: $640.7 billion ,2010 GDP (est): $255.3 billion ,External debt per capita: $137,476.

9. Austria - 261.1%,External debt (as % of GDP): 261.1% ,Gross external debt: $867.14 billion,2010 GDP (est): $332 billion ,External debt per capita: $105,616.

8. Finland - 271.5%,External debt (as % of GDP): 271.5% ,Gross external debt: $505.06 billion,2010 GDP (est): $186 billion ,External debt per capita: $96,197.

7. Sweden - 282.2%,External debt (as % of GDP): 282.2% ,Gross external debt: $1.001 trillion,2010 GDP (est): $354.7 billion ,External debt per capita: $110,479.

6. Denmark - 310.4%,External debt (as % of GDP): 310.4% ,Gross external debt: $626.1 billion,2010 GDP (est): $201.7 billion ,External debt per capita: $113,826.

5. Belgium - 335.9%,External debt (as % of GDP): 335.9% ,Gross external debt: $1.324 trillion,2010 GDP (est): $394.3 billion ,External debt per capita: $127,197.

4. Netherlands - 376.3%,External debt (as % of GDP): 376.3% ,Gross external debt: $2.55 trillion ,2010 GDP (est): $676.9 billion,External debt per capita: $152,380.

3. Switzerland - 401.9%,External debt (as % of GDP): 401.9% ,Gross external debt: $1.304 trillion ,2010 GDP (est): $324.5 billion ,External debt per capita: $171,528.

2. United Kingdom - 413.3%,External debt (as % of GDP): 413.3% ,Gross external debt: $8.981 trillion ,2010 GDP (est): $2.173 trillion ,External debt per capita: $146,953.

1. Ireland - 1,382%,External debt (as % of GDP): 1,382% ,Gross external debt: $2.38 trillion,2010 GDP (est): $172.3 billion ,External debt per capita: $566,756.

Patna Kalam Paintings an Introduction

Mughal Emperors of India has influenced the social, cultural, political and economic life style of the Indians. Its effect was so deep that it was seen over art and architecture of the country. Mughal style of painting is a brightest feature of cultural landscape of the Indian history, which matured in the regime of Jahangir and his period was considered as the golden era of Mughal paintings.

                                          Patna Kalam Art: Domestic work by women


Mughal style of paintings is the fusion of Persian style with the Indian traditional style and created their distinct identity. Many Indian schools of paintings were founded, enriched, nourished and flourished afterwards and they were heavily influenced by Mughal paintings.

Patna School of Painting which is popularly known as the Patna Kalam or Company painting was  derivative from Mughal painting and it was developed during early 18th to mid 20th century in Bihar particularly around Patna. 

During the relinquish rule of Aurangzeb Hindu artisans of Mughal painting faced mass prosecution amid his widely practiced anti-Hindu doctrine and aversion in art and painting.

Hindu painters migrated and taken shelter in Patna and laid the foundation of their own school of painting known as Patna Kalam.

                                                        Patna Kalam Art: A Lohar working

Patna Kalam was build upon the basic features of Mughal painting but their subject matter was quite different. Unlike the Mughal painting, which was centered over the royalty and court scenes, flag bearers of Patna Kalam were deeply influenced by daily life of common man. Their main subjects were local festival, ceremonies, bazaar scenes, local rulers, and domestic activities.

Some well known painters of Patna kalam were Sewak Ram,Hulas Lall, Shiv Lal,Shiva Dayal,Mahadeo Lal and Ishwari Prasad Verma. 

The practitioners of the Patna kalam used to extract indigenously colors from plants, barks, flowers and metals .The canvas they used were made up of glass, mica and ivory sheets.

The prominent centers of Patna Kalam schools were centered Patna, Danapur and Arrah.

These paintings were featured by light colored sketches and life-size representations. One of the most distinguishing characteristic of Patna Kalam is that, they do not have any landscape, foreground or background.

The figures of such paintings are depicted by the heavy eyebrows, pointed noses, lean and gaunt faces, big mustaches sunken and deep-set staring eyes.

Second unique component of the Patna School of Painting was the development in the shading of solid forms.

Patna Kalam paintings are painted straightway with the brush without marking with pencil to delineate the contours of the picture and the procedure of painting is popularly known as 'Kajli Seahi.

The Patna School of Painting has faced a gradual decline and inching towards the extinction with the lapse of time as new artists are not coming forward to carry on this beautiful tradition and the old ones are passing away one by one.

It's basically a miniature form of painting which has, because of its unique style and form, occupied separate shelves at art galleries in London and museums in Prague.

                                                        Patna Kalam Art: Money lender

This is the most unfortunate things about the Patna Kalam,like the world-famous Madhubani paintings, it has not received its due share of acknowledgement despite of that many believes that the eponymous painting was far superior to the more popular Mithila paintings.

The “Patna Kalam” faced competition from the "Madhubani paintings which is marketed professionally both at home and abroad. Also, Maghubani painting is a folk form which could be easily transferred from one generation to another".

Today, only few existing miniatures of this rare form lie in unkempt and dusty shelves in the Patna museum where it was fondly created and adopted at one time.