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Blog – Direct2lab Cow, Soy or Almond: Which ‘Milk’ Is Best for You? By Anita Das D2l HealthChowk Reporter THURSDAY, Feb. 1, 2018 (HealthChowk News) — Almond milk, soy milk, rice milk and coconut milk may all offer lactose-free alternatives to cow’s milk, but new research suggests that the dairy version remain...

The registration process for the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) civil services preliminary examination 2017 will close on Friday at 6pm.

UPSC civil service prelims registration to close tomorrow Aspirants who have not yet applied for the UPSC civil service prelims can submit the application on the official website till Friday evening

Hurry up!!! Today is the last day to fill the form for SBI PO.
Visit sbi.co.in/career

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Get ready for Mocks..............

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looking for home tuition, then this is for you..

Inter-State Relations

The term Inter-State relations refer to the relation among different States of the Union. The cooperation and cordial relation among different state is needed for the peace and development of the country. There are certain provisions within the constitution and outside it, which aim at improving the relationship among various states of the Union. These provisions are mechanisms are given below:

According to Article 261, full faith and credit shall be given throughout the territory of India to public acts, records and judicial proceedings of the Union and of every State.
Provisions for resolving disputes among them through judicial process. The Supreme Court has been given original jurisdiction with respect to the disputes arising among the States.
For the development of Inter-State river valleys, River Valley Development Board may be established by the Centre.
Parliament may by law establish Central Water Tribunal to resolve Inter-State Water Disputes. The Central Water Tribunal has the status of a High Court.
Inter-State Council – According to Article 263, the President can establish an Inter-State Council, if public interest so requires. The Inter State Council, if public interest so requires. The Inter-State Council shall perform the following functions –
To esquire into disputes among the States and advise upon to resolve such disputes;
Investigating and discussing subjects, on which some or all of the States or the Union and one or more of the States have a common interest; or
Making recommendations upon any such subject and, in particular, recommendation for the better co-ordination of policy and action with respect to that subject.
States of the Union
The organization and process of the Inter-State-Council are to be determined by the President. The Inter State Council was established in 1990, consisting of the Chief Ministers of the States. The effectiveness of the council depends upon the serious functioning of the Council in future. The Council will function as an advisory body. The Administrative Reforms Commission (1966-69) had recommendation in 1969 itself for the immediate establishment of the Inter-State Council under the provisions of Article 263 of the Constitution. According to the recommendations of Commission, the council shall consist of the Prime Minister as the Chairman and Home Minister, Finance Minister, the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha and five representatives from five Zonal Councils as Members. The then Chief Minister of Kerala, E. M. S. Namboodaripad in 1968, demanded the establishment of an Inter-State Council. The immediate cause of this demand was the difference in attitude of the Union and the State of Kerala with respect to the strike of Central government employees in 1968. Rajamannar Committee, constituted in 1969 by the government of Tamilnadu recommended, in 1971 the establishment of Inter-State-Council.
Zonal Councils – As provided in the State Reorganisation Act, 1956, five Zonal councils were established with a view to discussing and advising upon the matter of common interest to the State which constitute a zone. In August 1972 North-Eastern Council was also constituted. The country is divided in to six zones given below:
(i) Central Zone
(ii) Southern Zone
(iii) Western Zone
(iv) Eastern Zone
(v) Northern Zone
(vi) North-Eastern Council
Coordination in the field of Inter-State Commerce and Trade – Parliament has the power to regulate the Inter-State Commerce and Trade in the larger public interest.

Curtsy : Ias.org.in

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2013 to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) for its extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons

The OPCW is charged with overseeing the destruction of Syria’s arsenal of chemical weapons, following the atrocity – widely blamed on the regime of Bashar al-Assad – committed in Damascus on 21 August this year.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee decided to award OPCW the prize for its extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons. The Committee said "During World War One, chemical weapons were used to a considerable degree. The Geneva Convention of 1925 prohibited the use, but not the production or storage, of chemical weapons. During World War 2, chemical means were employed in Hitler's mass exterminations. Chemical weapons have subsequently been put to use on numerous occasions by both states and terrorists".

In 1992-93, therefore, a convention was drawn up prohibiting also the production and storage of such weapons. It came into force in 1997. Since then the OPCW has, through inspections, destruction and by other means, sought the implementation of the convention. 189 states have acceded to the convention to date.

Essay :-

If Women Ruled the World

From Julia Gillard in Australia to recent election of Dilma Vana Linhares Rousseff in Brazil, the world is experiencing an unprecedented wave of women being elected as Heads of government in countries from Asia to Africa to Europe. At present there are 29 women heading governments in the world with most recent being Brazil's newly elected President. This poses an interesting question what if women ruled the world? Would the world have been a better place, more peaceful place and more feminine place if women ruled the world in past?

In 1998, Francis Fukuyama wrote in Foreign Affairs that women's political leadership would bring about a more cooperative and less conflict-prone world.

But lot of women leaders have ruled in past too, from Indira Gandhi to Margaret Thatcher. But as it turned out these leaders tended to be strong willed leaders than males and followed unlikely conservative policies and won wars (in 1971 India Pakistan war to Falkland war between Britain and Argentina in 1982). This is exactly opposite to what was normally expected from a woman leader. Then what has been the reason behind such a difference between our perceived notions of feminine leadership and their actual work? If we closely ponder upon they were women leaders, but in men's world which has been shaped according to masculine ethos despite being women, they were forced to follow masculine ethos to carve out their way to power and then to work in a masculine world. Similarly in many cases women were just a representative of predominantly male political party and were just mere rubber stamps.

Can We Call This Women's Rule?

No, since males have played a dominant part in transforming the planet. The conquest of nature, the building of civilizations, and the exploration of intellectual and spiritual space, as well as of physical space, have been largely male enterprises. The role of females in creating culture and the human identity has been overshadowed and overlooked.

It is because the efforts of women to make their marks in a male-dominated world have been systematically ignored, thwarted or appropriated by men. Just as importantly, because a certain section of power hungry elite men have been able and driven to impose his leadership on society, the voice of the feminine has been muted in the patriarchal era and the masculine idealism that dominates it has acquired its particular tone. Male and female alike have been conscripted into the masculine ethos, and even compassionate men too have been seduced by masculine concepts and values (progress, power, success, and consumerism) that are against general will and the common good. The repression of the feminine has served to keep in their place not only women but also the majority of men. We have not witnessed a world defined by women, neither have we seen one produced by a positive masculinity: one that is not defined against women, the body, and nature, nor one that is not controlled by elite of other men.

Women rule shall mean rule of feminine characteristics and feminine ethos and sensitivities which have over time been idealised as compassion, love, beauty and virtue whereby, characteristic masculine features are what we know as "ego satisfaction", power, status, dominance, recognition, accomplishment, etc. Perhaps these reflect the extent to which social values have been defined by dominant men in this world. Thus in a society dominated by such traits it's impossible to conceive any woman leader to rule according to feminine virtues and it requires a paradigm shift in world's ideology to incorporate the feminine virtues of peace, aesthetics and compassion.

However any such paradigm shift will come through more and more participation of women in political process and that too in long term only. In short term though greater female participation would bring significant rewards. World Bank conducted studies have revealed that in the past those countries with a high number of women in parliament enjoy lower levels of corruption. Similarly another study showed that women are less likely to be involved in bribery and corruption is less in countries where women make up large part of government officials and parliament. Similarly women leadership has been good for overall economy as well.

Similarly in case of political participation it has turned out women need some initial persuasion and thrust in the beginning, but once they find their feet they tend to be as competitive as their male counterparts. Reservation for women in local body elections in India has revealed that reserved constituency for females were called "Pati Panchayats" by locals and it was believed that female candidates were just namesake for their husband's candidature. However to people's surprise females were re-elected in many of such constituencies despite competing against male counterparts and sometimes even their own husbands. This process of political participation has provided a great deal of exposure to women candidates and is a progressive step as it opens new arena in politics for them as some of them were simple housewives before contesting elections. It was found by a Ministry of Rural Development study that re-election rate of female candidates who won first time in female reserved seats increased with every progressive election from 1995 to 2007. In case of Andhra Pradesh such women leaders have contributed a great deal to local prosperity and economic growth, particularly in case of women who were previously connected with NGO's and self help groups.This is very encouraging as this develops mass leaders with great deal of social and local understanding. It would be great if ordinary women with self belief drop the male dependency syndrome thereby feminine virtues can gain universal acceptance in politics and international relations.

courtesy :- Ias100

UPSC Civil Services Examination Dates has been Changed

for more details www.upsc.gov.in
http://www.iastimes.com/2013/07/upsc-civil-services-examination-dates.html #.UfFHJm1RcYN

A landmark judgement given by the Supreme Court : Ownership of minerals vests with owner of land

The Supreme Court while hearing a petition by Kerala land owners came out with an important judgment that, the ownership of minerals should be vested with the owner of the land and not with the government. The land owners have challenged the high court verdict which favoured the state government.

A three-judge bench headed by justice RM Lodha stated that there was no law in the country which declared that the state was the owner of sub-soil or mineral wealth.

It has also rejected the argument that individual owners cannot claim any proprietary right on the sub-soil resources as Section 425 of the Mines and Minerals

(Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, prohibits carrying out of any mining activity in this country except in accordance with a permit, licence or mining lease. According to SC, the Act states that that the assertion of government to collect duty or tax is in the realm of the sovereign authority, but not a proprietary right. Proprietary right is a compendium of rights consisting of various constituent, rights. If a person has only a share in the produce of some property, it can never be said that such property vests in such a person.

It, however during the verdict, refused to go into the issue of liability of land owners to pay royalty to the State as it would be decided by a larger bench.

Economic survey to be a bi-annual publication

The Country's pulse check-up, documented in the annual annual Economic Surveys, will be done twice a year. According to a report published a National English daily, government is considering bringing out the ES twice, one in Feb and the other in the first week of August.

While the first Economic Survey was released in the year 1957-58, the Mid-year Review was begun by Ashok Lahiri in the year 2002. Raghuram Rajan , Chief economic adviser to the government and also apparently running for the top post of RBI will have the credit of beginning another significant annual document from the finance ministry.

Military Coup in Egypt

Egypt's powerful military ousted country's first democratically elected President Mohammed Morsi and suspended the constitution after the 48-hour army deadline for him to meet people's demands expired. President Morsi has been replaced by chief justice of constitutional court. The armed forces have in recent months made great efforts, directly and indirectly, to contain the domestic situation and bring about national reconciliation between all political forces, including the presidency.

After the coup, a travel ban has been issued against Morsi. On the issue of ban, they stated that ban on Morsi has to do with his escape from prison with more than 30 other Muslim Brotherhood members during the 2011 uprising against Hosni Mubarak. Also banned from travel was Brotherhood leader Mohammed Badie, his deputy Khairat el-Shater.

Military chief, Mr Al-Sissi outlined details of a roadmap for the transition. The roadmap contains the following: the constitution will be temporarily suspended; the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court will take the oath in front of the full body of the court; early presidential elections will be held, etc.

Impact of coup on Egypt's economy

Egypt had been inching closer for securing a critical $4.8 billion International Monetary Fund loan. But the recent Political turmoil will almost certainly put a multi-billion dollar international bailout on hold and lead to an even more painful economic crisis with worsening fuel shortages and higher prices on basic goods.