| Civil Services (Main) Examination 2010 | |||
| Subject | Maximum Marks | Marks Obtained | |
| Essay(Paper III) | 200 | 105 | |
| General Studies (Paper-IV) | 300 | 154 | |
| General Studies(Paper-V) | 300 | 115 | |
| Optional I, ANTHROPOLOGY | Paper-VI | 300 | 131 |
| Paper-VII | 300 | 151 | |
| Optional II, PUBLIC ADMIN.. | Paper-VIII | 300 | 151 |
| Paper-IX | 300 | 163 | |
| Written Total | 2000 | 970 | |
| Interview Marks | 300 | 168 | |
| Final Total | 2300 | 1138 | |
Terming al Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden's killing as the "victorious milestone" in the global war against terrorism, India said the world "must not let down" its united effort to eliminate the safe havens that have been provided to terrorists in its neighbourhood.
"President (Barack) Obama of the US has just announced that his government has conducted a successful operation that has resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden deep inside Pakistan.
Noting the development as a "historic" and "victorious milestone", the minister said, "Over the years, thousands of innocent lives of men, women and children have been tragically lost at the hands of terrorist groups."
Asserting that the struggle must continue "unabated", External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said, "The world must not let down its united effort to overcome terrorism and eliminate the safe havens and sanctuaries that have been provided to terrorists in our own neighbourhood."
Osama bin Laden, the world's most wanted terrorist, was killed early by US special forces in a helicopter-borne operation at Abbottabad near the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, climaxing a over 10-year long massive manhunt.
The special forces personnel swooped down on the compound where bin Laden was holed up guarded by his ultra loyal Arab bodyguards in a pre-dawn operation killing the dreaded terrorist, US officials said.
The news of the slaying of the world's most prominent terror mastermind was broken to the world by US President Barack Obama, who made the announcement live from White House.
"Bin Laden, 54, is dead and his body is in US custody," President Obama said at half past 11 midnight US time after initial story had been broken by news channels.
Though it was dark, crowds massed outside White House chanting 'USA, USA'.
Besides the al-Qaeda chief who carried a bounty of USD 25 million, two couriers one of whom was his son and the other a woman, reportedly used as a human shields, were killed in the operation, unnamed American officials were quoted as saying by ABC News.
First reports said that it was through these couriers that bin Laden had been traced. Other women and children present in the compound were not harmed, according to Pakistani officials.
An American helicopter was destroyed by US Navy Seals after it was damaged and crashed during the operation that targeted a large compound in Bilal Town area near Abbottabad, 120 km from Islamabad.
There was no word from the Pakistani government or military on the operation.
Two US helicopters swept into the compound at 1:30 am and 2 am and 20 to 25 Navy Seals under the command of the Joint Special Operations Command stormed the compound in cooperation with the CIA and engaged bin Laden and his men in a firefight, US officials told ABC News.
Bin Laden fired his weapon during the fight, the US officials said.
The Americans took bin Laden's body into custody after the firefight and confirmed his identity. One of the US helicopters was damaged during the operation and the troops decided to destroy it themselves with explosives.
Several Pakistani news channels beamed grainy footage of a burning helicopter on the empty lawn of the compound. They also beamed footage of the compound surrounded by Pakistani troops on Monday morning.
Pakistani troops also conducted a house-to-house search in the area, reports said. The house in which bin Laden was living was located amidst agricultural fields and had seven-foot walls topped with electrified wire, Pakistani TV news channels reported.
Media reports said the house was occupied by some men from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. The Pakistan Military Academy is located near Abbottabad, a historic city named after Major James Abbott, a British military officer who founded it in 1853.
US officials had earlier said that they believed bin Laden was hiding in Pakistan's tribal belt bordering Afghanistan.
Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh granted final approval to Orissa for diversion of 1,253 hectares of forest land for Posco's steel project but said the South Korean steel major should not export raw material from the proposed project. "
In view of the state government's latest communication of 29th April,
final approval is accorded to the state government for diversion of 1253 hectares of forest land in favour of Posco," the Minister said in a statement in New Delhi.
Ramesh, who gave the clearance to the company in January on certain conditions including ensuring of tribal rights and compensatory afforestation, said, "Posco would also bear the cost of regeneration of an equivalent amount of open, degraded land in a district to be determined and indicated by the state Government."
Observing that the MoU signed between Orissa Government and Posco in 2005 had expired last year and "has yet to be renewed," the Minister said, "I would expect that the revised MoU between the state and Posco would be negotiated in such a manner that exports of the raw material are completely avoided."
Clearing the decks for the biggest foreign direct investment in the country, Ramesh noted that the environment and forest clearance for the USD 12-billion Posco project had generated huge interest both in India and abroad.
The Haryana government has introduced a system under which social security pensions will be credited to bank accounts of beneficiaries in 16 districts of the state.
The "Electronic Benefit Transfer" system will bring more transparency in distribution of social security pensions, a spokesman of the Social Justice and Empowerment Department said in Chandigarh.
Pension to widows, destitutes and children and allowance to Kashmiri migrants and eunuchs come under the category of social security pensions.
Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan has said the state govt would consider hiking the present compensation of Rs 600 being paid to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) people under various programmes while launching a biometric scheme for them.
Anusaya Baban Katkare became the first person in the state to get the benefit of the biometric system of special assistance programme launched on Sunday by the Chief Minister at Binar in Bhiwandi tehsil of Thane district.
Six persons were given the biometric card marking the 51st anniversary of the foundation of Maharashtra state.
The programme aims at using biometric system for disbursement of money to the needy citizens below poverty line and would cover around 1.75 lakh people from three districts of Thane, Beed and Kolhapur in initial stage.
To attract more tourists, the Jammu and Kashmir government has abolished toll tax on Srinagar-Leh national Highway, which was been thrown open to traffic.
"According to Chief Executive Officer of Sonamarg Development Authority, the Government has decided to give concession to vehicle owners and transport operators plying on Srinagar-KargilLeh highway," an official spokesman said in Srinagar.
Sonamarg Development Authority shall not levy entry fee from this year at Shutkadi in Sonamarg area, 85 kms from here, on any vehicle plying on the National Highway connecting the Valley to Ladakh region.
The Srinagar-KargilLeh National Highway was opened for traffic today after remaining closed for more than five months due to heavy snowfall.
Veteran BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi has been reappointed as chairperson of Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC), notwithstanding controversy surrounding him with regard to the draft report on the 2G spectrum scam.
Joshi was nominated by his party following which Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar has reappointed him as chairman of PAC which is responsible for conducting the financial audit of various departments and ministries.
The term of the previous committee ended. Joshi's reappointment will be effected from Sunday and he will be the chairperson for one year.
The 77-year-old leader has been recently at the centre of major controversy after he circulated the draft report of PAC on the 2G scam.
He was attacked by the PAC members belonging to UPA who alleged that the report was prepared with "malafide intention" to defame and destabilise the Government.
Rejecting the charges of being malafide, Joshi on Saturday sent the report to Lok Sabha Speaker and wanted her to table it in Parliament.
India and Malaysia are set to discuss key issues like politics, security and trade at their fifth Joint Commission meeting in Kuala Lumpur, in yet another step towards taking their ties to the strategic partnership- level as envisioned by their Prime Ministers.
The 5th Joint Commission meeting follows the recent signing of the ambitious Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement between the two countries.
The 4th meeting of the commission was held in New Delhi from February 14 to 16, 2007.
The talks will focus on issues like politics and security, trade and investment, tourism and culture, education, agriculture and commodities trade, health, medicine and pharmaceuticals, foreign workers, immigration and consular, air and shipping services, bioscience and biotechnology, information and communication technology, energy and green technology and cooperation at multilateral, regional and global levels such as the UN, NAM and ASEAN, sources told in Kuala Lumpur.
Krishna comes to Malaysia within six months of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit aiming to take the bilateral relationship towards the strategic partnership envisaged by Singh and his counterpart Najib Tun Razak.
The meeting will take stock of progress as well as give guidance in the fields of trade and investment, infrastructure development, information technology, education, tourism, culture, people-to-people exchanges as well as defence and security.
The stage has been set for the launch of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C16) from the first launch pad at Sriharikota on April 20 at 10.12 a.m. The PSLV-C16 will put in orbit three satellites — India's Resourcesat-2, an Indo-Russian satellite called Youthsat and a micro-satellite named X-Sat from the Nangyang Technological University of Singapore.
Vice-Admiral D.K. Joshi will be the new Chief of the Western Naval Command. He will take charge from Vice-Admiral Sanjeev Bhasin, who attains superannuation on April 30.
The Supreme Court banned the employment of children in circuses and directed the government to rescue children employed in the sector and formulate a rehabilitation programme for them.
A bench headed by Justice Dalveer Bhandari said that in order to protect the fundamental rights of children, it is imperative that the government issues notification to prohibit employment of children in this sector.
The court also directed the government to conduct raids to rescue children working in circuses and formulate a proper rehabilitation programme for them.
The court passed the order on a petition filed by NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan seeking its direction to the government for rescue and rehabilitation of children below 14 years of age working in circuses.
A diplomatic row has erupted between China and Nepal asBeijing expressed dissatisfaction over the appointment of a minister of Tibetan ethnic origin by the communist party-led government of Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal said.
President Goodluck Jonathan has won Nigeria's presidential election by securing 60.02 percent of the vote, results showed, he will be sworn-in on 29th May to serve a four-year tenure after which he is free to go for a second term.
The new Consumer Price Index, introduced earlier this year, rose marginally by 1 point in March against 105 points in February this year.
While the Consumer Price Index (CPI), according to the new series unveiled in January this year, and has increased to 106 in March against the base of 100 in 2010, the exact inflation figures would only be released from next year.
As per the data released by the government, the General Indices for rural and urban stood at 107 and 104 points, respectively, in March.
In February, CPI overall had stood at 105, while the indices for rural and urban were reported at 107 and 104.
The new CPI is intended to reflect the actual movement of prices at the micro-level and help policymakers like the RBI in better framing of decisions.
The new consumer indices cover five major groups - food, beverages and tobacco; fuel and light; housing; clothing, bedding and footwear; and miscellaneous items.
India's GDP is projected to grow at a brisk pace of 8.8 percent in 2011-12 (FY 12), a leading economic think-tank has said.
The domestic environment is conducive for growth and private final consumption expenditure is projected to grow by a healthy 7.5 percent and gross fixed capital formation by 14.6 percent, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) said in its latest monthly review of the country's economy
In FY 11, the performance of India's economy has been robust, it said, adding that the real GDP is estimated to have grown by nine percent during the fiscal.
In FY 12, the agricultural and allied sector is projected to grow by 3.1 percent, on top of the 5.1 percent growth estimated in 2010-11. This will be the third consecutive year of positive growth, it said.
The industrial sector, including construction, is likely to grow by 9.4 percent during 2011-12, as compared to 8.5 percent estimated in 2010-11.
Growth in industrial production will be driven by a rise in consumption demand and investment demand, it added.
The G-20 announced that International Monetary Fund (IMF) would review policies of the world's seven largest economies, including India and China, with the objective of rectifying flaws before they imperil growth.
The US, Japan, Germany, France and Britain are the other five countries that influence the global economy.
The seven countries would be examined for economically destabilizing policies, such as large -government budget deficits and debt, high personal saving rates and debt, or big trade surpluses or deficits, the G-20 club said after taking the decision at a meeting of member finance ministers and heads of their central banks.
Having been described over the years as the best-laid natural garden in Asia and a “Botanist's Paradise”, the over 150-year-old Government Botanical Garden (GBG) here is now in the process of getting its natural beauty enhanced artificially.
In keeping with a beautification plan drawn up by the Department of Horticulture and Plantation Crops under its Development of Parks and Gardens programme, four massive stone structures were brought to the GBG. Made in Mahabalipuram, the structures were look-alikes of a monkey, fish, elephant and a fountain.
The proposal to add new features like stone structures has evoked mixed reactions among various sections of society here.
An asteroid as powerful as 15 atomic bombs has whizzed past the earth at a distance about 10 times that of the moon.
