Preparation Guide to the Indian Civil Services Exam

Chemistry 2: Composition of Earth

kcool — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 18:47:30 +0000

Composition of earth

1. Lithosphere:
->Consists of:

Igneous rocks
Sedimentary rocks
Metamorphic rocks

-> All rocks are made from magma.
* Magma: “Molten rock combined with gases and steam.”
* Lava: “Magma that has come out into the surface through cracks”

Chemical composition of lithosphere:

Chemical composition of the Lithosphere

2. Hydrosphere:
Distribution:
273 lt of hydrosphere would contain:
0.1 lt of fresh water
268lt of salt water
4.5 lt of ice

Chemical composition:

Chemical composition of the hydrosphere

3. Atmosphere:
Chemical composition:

Chemical composition of Atmosphere.

Indian National Movement 1: Emergence of National consciousness

kcool — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 17:37:17 +0000

There were various reasons that lead to the emergence of a united political will in the country. Let us look at the major reasons:

Political unification of the country:
This started in 1958 when India came under the crown.
Lead to uniform administration all over the country.

Modern Infrastructure:
Modern infrastructure helped people communicate and meet each other. The major improvements were:
Railways
Telegraph
Postal System
Development of Roads
Motor Transport
Railways

Economic Integration:
Railways managed to connect major cities.
Reduced isolation of villages
Reduced self sufficiency of villages
Creation of national market. The British used the national market as a cheap source of raw material. And a market for manufactured goods.
Labour now had inter-regional base.

Socio-religious reform movements (19th century):
Evolving national consciousness.
Intellectual and cultural renaissance.
Defended indigenous culture.
Reformation and rational interpretation of Hinduism.
Social reformers propounded the spiritual unity of India.

Modern literature in vernacular:
This gave a patriotic flavour to literature
Ex- Anand Math (1882)

Let us look at how the mindset of the Indian intellectuals slowly changed towards the British Empire.
- In the early 19th century, Indian intellectuals were supportive of British rule and wanted the British to introduce science, technology and economy to India.
- After 1860, thinkers started questioning the economic policies of the British govt.
- Famines from 1866 to 1901 brought the realization of poverty and misery of people. These brought to the forefront the extent of India’s economic under development.

Economic Analysis:
Around this time, Indian economists started questioning the British policies. Here are some prominent economists and their views.
- Dadabhai Naoroji:
Attributed poverty to British policies
Drain of India’s wealth by artificially created export surplus

- R C Dutt
Examined the economic records from 1757
Saw there was a destruction of handicrafts
Current policies were hindrances to Indian industry.
Excessive land revenue

- Justice Mahadev Ranade
Need for modern industrial development.

- P V Joshi
- Subramaniya Iyer
- G K Gokhle
- P C Ray

The major conclusion from all the economists was that colonialism was the main obstacle for India’s economic growth.

Political Analysis:
Let us look at some of the major political reasons which lead to an awakening in the Indian political consciousness.
- The British Indian administration was all white and despotic
- In 1861, some Indians were elected to the Provincial and Supreme Councils. But their powers were greatly reduced.
- Local self govt proposed by Ripon was only for financial decentralization.
- During the 1880s, only 16 posts in the ICS were meant for Indians.
- There was not a single Indian above the rank of Brigadier
- Unemployment was at an all time low.
- British were only consolidating links with:

    Princes
    Zamindars
    Rural and urban notables
    Indian native rulers (numbering about 662)

- British encouraged communalism, casteism and regionalism.
- Abandoned all attempts at social reform.
- Allied with backward religious, cultural and social forces.

Physics 1: Units

kcool — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 21:31:55 +0000

Physical Quantities:
This is one way of dividing the physical quantities that we encounter:

Division of physical quantities into fundamental and derived quantities.

And this is the second way of dividing them:

Division of physical quantities in terms of vector and scalar

Unit of length:
-> Definition: “Length of path travelled by light in vaccum during the time interval of 1/299792458 of a second”
-> Some units to measure small distances:
(Note: ^ stands for “to the power of”)
1 micron or micrometer = 10^-6 meters
1 nano meter = 10^-9 meters
1 Angstrom = 10^-10 meters
1 Femto meter = 10^-15 meters

-> Some units to measure large distances:
1 light year = 9.46 x 10^15 meters

Unit of mass:
-> Definition: “Mass of a particular solid cylinder of platinum-iridium kept at Sevres

Unit of time:
-> Definition: “Defined using atomic clock which works on energy changes in gaseous cesium atoms.

Indian Polity 1: Before the Constitution

kcool — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 18:08:10 +0000

The constitution:
- Contains the fundamental law of the country
- Defines the framework and principal functioning of organs of the goverment.
- Defines interactions between the government and citizens.
It was only in 1950 that we obtained our Constitution in all its glory. Let us re trace our steps and get the history before we had our Constitution.

Constitutional Development:
- Britishers came in as traders in 1600s
- Britishers formed the East India Company for trading
- East India Company secured charter from the Queen to organise and send trading expeditions to India.
- The first charter for the East India Company was granted for 15 years.
This charter could be terminated with a 2 years notice.
The conditions for renewal of charter = Interest of crown and people are not affected.
- According to the charter, East India Company could make laws, constitutions, orders and ordinances.
- Charter was extended by Charters of 1609 and 1661
- Company stuck to only trading till late 1750s.
- But after that, started taking advantage of the disintegration of the Mughal Empire.
- This was further strenghtened by their victory in the Battle of Plassey in 1757
- The East India Company later acquired the Diwani of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa from Shah Alam in 1765.
The Company collected revenue and administered civil justice in this region.
- The British Crown did pass a lot of laws to regulate the conduct of the Company:
Regulating Act, 1773
Amending Act, 1781
Pitt’s India Act, 1784
Act of 1786
Charter Acts – 1793, 1813, 1833, 1853
- The revolt of 1857 transferred power to the British Crown.
- Direct control was established by – Government of India Act, 1858
- Several laws were passed for the governance of India
Indian Council Acts: 1861, 1892, 1909
Govt. of India Act, 1919
But all these laws failed to satisfy the aspirations of the Indian people.
- In 1935, Indian National Congress demanded that people should have right to frame their own constitution without outside interference.
- In 1938, Nehru demanded that the Constituent Assembly be elected by adult franchise.
This was opposed till the end of the Second World War.
- In 1940, the British govt. accepted that Indians should frame their own constitution.
- In 1942, Sir Stafford Cripes came up with a declaration.
This was not acceptable to INC and Muslim League.
- The British Govt. made further efforts
CR Formula, 1944
Wavell Plan, 1945
- In 1946, Cabinet Mission Plan suggested setting up a Constituent Assembly.
Till the Constituent Assembly was ready, there would be a provisional government in place.
- In 1947, Indian Independence Act. Two dominions were formed.
- Midnight of 14-15 August, 1947, Special session of Constituent Assembly.
- After independence, Constituent Assembly was formulating the constitution and making laws.
- Constituent Assembly was the first parliament till 1952.

In the next lesson, we shall learn about how the Constitution was framed.

History 2: Indus Valley Civilization

kcool — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 17:22:16 +0000

Archeological discovery:
- Expedition led by Marshall and R D Banerji

Theories on Origin of Harappan Civilization:
- Mortimes Wheeler in 1968: Civilization came from outside, most probably Mesopotamia. Rejected

Chronological Evolution:
This graph illustrates the possible evolution of the Indus Valley civilization.

Timeline for evolution of the Indus Valley Civilization

Period of existence of the Indus Valley Civilization:
2800/2900 BC to 1800 BC

Geographical Extent:
At that time, North-west India were not deserts. They had a hot, humid climate.
Major areas:

Sind
Baluchistan
Kathiawar
Punjab
northern Rajasthan
Gujurat

There were a few far away places that had centres of the Indus Valley Civilization. These were most probably trade centres. Ex:

Shartughai (Afghanistan)
Surakotada (Gujurat)

Important Centres

Harappa

Location: Bank of Ravi
Occupation:Administration, trade, craft, religion
- Premier city
- Located on trade routes to Central Asia, Afghanistan, Jammu

Mohenjodaro

Location: Bank of Indus
Population: 35,000 (largest city)
- Houses were built and re built on top of older ones
- Faced regular floods

Kalibagan

Location: Bed of river Ghaggar
- Largest concentration of population
- Evidence of early Harappan period

Lothal

Location: Coastal flats of Gulf of Cambay
-> Outpost for sea trade
-> Dockyard has been discovered

Sutkagen-Dor

Location: Makran coast. On the Pakistan-Iran border
-> Landlocked, dry plains
-> Citadel surrounded by walls.

Economics 2: Role of Govt in Indian economic development

kcool — Thu, 28 May 2009 17:03:27 +0000

The Indian government has always played a major role in regulating the direction that the economy must take. This is a broad break up of how economic policies have been shaped since the time of independence.

1947 – mid 1960s
Economic aim after independence:

Planned economy
Channelization of capital into social channels.

State sponsored industrialized
Industrial licensing
State control over key industries

Foreign exchange was saved by curtailing imports
Self sufficiency
No foreign trade

mid 1960s – late 1970s
There were a lot of droughts and food shortage.
Development of agriculture
Poverty alleviation

late 1970s – present
Subsidies had become unsustainable
|
Control on imports and exports relaxed.

Subsidies were curtailed
Promotion of foreign investment
Imports liberalized
Currency devalued
Disinvestments

Chemistry 1: Introduction

kcool — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 19:29:18 +0000

Branches of Chemistry:

Different Branches of Chemistry

Classification of matter:

Biology 1: Cells and Living Organisms

kcool — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 18:35:05 +0000

Introduction:
Father of Biology = Aristotle
“Biology” coined by Jean Lamarck

Living Creatures:
Here are some characteristics of living creatures. Everyone knows what living creatures are, but this is how the books define a living creature..

1. Organisation:
Living creatures are complex organization of cell and tissues

2. Metabolism:
Plants synthesize carbohydrates
Animals take organic compounds and synthesize them.

3. Growth and Development:
Formed from single cell which divides and re-divides to form complex organisms.

4. Reproduction:
All living things reproduce

5. Responsiveness:
All living things respond to stimuli

6. Adaptation:
Living things adapt according to needs of the environment.

Cells:
- Robert Hooke: suggested honeycomb structure.
- Cell Theory (by M. Schlciden and T.Schwann)

All organisms are made up of cells

Cell is the basic unit of structure and function.

Types of cells:

Cell Classification

History 1: Prehistoric Period

kcool — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 07:31:52 +0000

Let us take a look at human development in the pre historic ages in India. They can be broadly classified into the following periods:

Prehistoric India: Timesheet

These cultures were younger than Harappan civilization but had no influence on the Harrapan Civilization.

Economics 1: Introduction & Role of Goverment

kcool — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:58:03 +0000

Economic Development:
Defination: ” Economic Development refers to methods of utilising natural and human resources for achieving higher standards of living than what their parents had enjoyed.”

Economic growth and development:

Difference between Economic growth and Economic Development

Role of Government:
The production of goods
depends on
Policies of the government
depends on
Political ideology of the government

Ideologies in terms of economic policies:
1. Socialist/Communist: Controls factors of production and distribution.
2. Capitalist/laissez faire: Lets markets determine production and distribution.

Current economies believe in:
1. Growth model based on foreign investment
2. Stronger independent regulators.

-> The govt. handles public goods (ie, defence)
(Defence is a pure public good)
Defination: “A pure public good is one which everyone avails irrespective of who’s paying.”
->Govt. policies should encourage merit goods (housing, education, etc.) and discourage non-merit goods (cigarettes, etc.)
-> Govt. policies should encourage positive externalities (immunisation, etc.) and discourage negative externalities (polluting vehicles, etc.)
-> Govt. policies should focus on poverty reduction. Why? Cause only the rich can afford products from the market.
-> Govt. policies should focus on economic stability.

Role of govt. in Indian Economic Development:

Timesheet: Economic Overview