Interview Prep

7/7/2014 Evernote Export

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IIM, IIT, Education, Blogging, Bharatpur, Hong Kong

Created: 2/18/2013 1:53 PM

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microblogging

Education

Q. What is your view about allowing foreign universities to establish their institutions in India?

1. welcome step - economy needs it. Safeguards have been built in the Bill to prevent against fraudulent entrants. But we need to also secure interests of poor students.2. Would also put pressure on domestic private and government institutions to improve. 3. we intend to increase R&D. we want to produce more phds. if professors paid well, good for R&D.

Q. Won't it threaten our existing government institutions? professors will go away.

1. faulty to assume pool of professors will remain constant. reverse migration of professors.2. threat of large scale migration overdone. Leading professors already have offers from other institutions. Money is not the only criteria for them. Other criteria like autonomy, quality of

students, reputation of institute are already important. 3. Reputation of harvard in india would always be less than harvard in US. Here we are blessed to have some excellent institutions.

Q. Won't it increase the cost of education? Won't it get out of reach of the deprived sections?

1. can have USO or RTE kind of solutions.

Q. What problems do you see in our educational system?

1. elitist - contrary to the claims no equality of opportunity. example, children of farmers in IITs.2. lack of infrastructure. 3. quality of education.

Added to this, the absence of the traditional annual examination (students cannot be detained in the same class until class VIII) means that the students failure to grasp what is being taught does not

ring any warning bells before class IX.

The basic qualification to apply for a diploma teacher training course is class XII. Only a minuscule number of these courses are up to the mark. Such teachers are recruited on low salaries and have

to work in abysmal conditions. It is hardly surprising that they are unable to impart good quality education

dropout rates betw een elementary and secondary schools continue to be high, and betw een the secondary and post-secondary stage they are even higher. This is a particularly serious problem for girls, w ho have to travel

longer distances to attend secondary schools

Q. What problems do you see in our higher educational system?

1. elitist.2. management - highly skewed.3. inefficiency in private sector - for profit clause.4. need strong regulator.

Q. Shouldn't we ban coachings?

1. We can ban it on paper but it would be very difficult to oversee its implementation. Because this is against the market forces. I think laws going against the market forces have a lesser chance to succeed. So we should instead focus on correcting the market forces. eg. girl child.

Q. recently we are seeing that quality has been decreasing in the private education institution, what we should do?

1. make education 'for profit'.2. strong regulator.3. Unfair Practices (Prohibition) in Higher Education Bill.

Q. Do you think there is any use of educating everyone in society?

1. modern thoughts - help solve many problems like outlook towards women, casteism, communalism, better governance.2. human resource development.

Q. there r so many institutes cropping up in the country what is ur opinion about the quality of education they r offering?

1. some good, but many not good. 2. that is why we need a for profit sector (transparency), strong regulator.

Q. most of d cream is in medical and engg college,is it good for country

1. job prospects... so inclination towards medical and engg. but not good.2. management, expand research sector, foreign universities.

Q. Do u know abt the research scenario in IITs.

1. not as good as one wants. but many steps taken.2. increased M Tech and PhD intake.3. Kakodkar committee - 1K to 10K, repayment of taxpayer money for those entering jobs.4. but ultimately have to make research an attractive career so that students don't go abroad for research.

Q. Dont u think in lower education system, there is stress on mugging and cramming?

1. to an extent, yes. 2. teacher training, regular accreditation. 3. board exam after 5th class. focus should be on concepts.

Q. How can we increase our R&D output?

1. need of the economy - can't follow foreign model because we have ample scope to adopt technologies. but innovations are needed to adapt those to our conditions. need frugal



innovations.2. increase venture capital and ease of doing business.

Prominent Indian Ornithologists

Bharatpur

Bharatpur- The 'Eastern Gateway to Rajasthan', was founded by Maharaja Suraj Mal in 1733 AD, it was once an impregnable well fortified city, carved out of the region formerly known

as Mewat. The trio of Bharatpur, Deeg and Dholpur has played an important part in the history of Rajasthan. The place was named as Bharatpur after the name of Bharat, the brother

of Lord Rama

Bharatpur is also known as 'LOHAGARH'. It is bound on the north by 'Gurgaon' district of Haryana, on the east by Mathura and Agra districts of Uttar Pradesh, on the south by Dholpur

and Karauli, on the southern west by Jaipur and on the west by Alwar, all in Rajasthan. There is a forest called 'GHANA' means dense forest within a distance of about 5 Km. from

District Head Quarter which remains green during the rainy season. Bharatpur Ghana's plan was prepared in 1896 by the State Engineer for driving and confining the wild cattle in the

dense forest with 250 species of migratory birds during the monsoon season and 'winter' season, which is famous all over India and world for being a great sanctuary of birds.

There are only three main seasonal rivers in this District, namely Ban Ganga, Rooparel and Gambhir. Ban Ganga starts from Ramgarh Dam of Jaipur district , passes from Bharatpur

and meets in river Gambhir near tehsil Bayana of District Bharatpur. Gambhir river starts from Panchna Dam of district Karauli and after passing from Bharatpur meets River Yamuna

in Uttar Pradesh. Rooparel River starts from hills of district Alwar and enters into Bharatpur from tehsil Kaman. Instead of this, a Dam, namely, Bandh Baretha is situated near the

village Baretha on river Kakund which starts from the hills of district Karauli. The water of this dam is used for drinking and irrigation purpose for this district.

Bharatpur district is known not only for agriculture production but also known for oil industries. Mustard seeds and other agriculture products come to the market

Bird Sanctuary- Keoladeo National Park

Siberian White Crane or the Snow Crane

A paradise for the avian world, and the pilgrimage for the bird lovers, it was known as the best duck shooting resort in the British empire. But was declared a reserve for birds in 1956 and later upgraded to National Park. UNESCO has listed it as a world heritage site.Water coming through the Ajan Bandh starts filling the various ponds and lakes of the Park.

hundreds of large, medium and little cormorant, darter, purple and Grey heron, various species of egret, painted, open-billed, white necked and black necked stork, white ibis,

spoonbill, night heron and other birds

lthough small in size, 29 sq. km. onl

The name "Keoladeo" is derived from the name of an ancient Hindu temple devoted to Lord Shiva in the sanctuary's central zone while the Hindi term "Ghana" implies dense, thick areas of

forest cover. It is mainly famous for siberian crane. It was the only habitat of siberian crane in the world, other than siberia. Now with course of time, this endangered species has stopped

reaching the park. The main reasons for this are being cited as lack of conservation measures in India, diversion of water for farmers instead of saving the wetlands as per then Chief

Minister Vasundhara Raje's orders,[10]hunting during migration in Pakistan and the Afghanistan as well as the war against Taliban in Afghanistan.

The sanctuary was created 250 years ago and is named after a Keoladeo (Shiva) temple within its boundaries. Initially, it was a natural depression; and was flooded after the Ajan Bund was

constructed by Maharaja Suraj Mal, the then ruler of the princely state of Bharatpur, between 17261763. The bund was created at the confluence of two rivers, the Gambhir and Banganga.

The park was a hunting ground for the maharajas of Bharatpur, a tradition dating back to 1850, and duck shoots were organised yearly in honor of the British viceroys

The park is a fresh water swamp and is flooded during the monsoon. For most part of the year, effective wetland is only 10 km2. The rest of the area remains dry

The management objective is to allow the area to flood and dry out annually, rather than be maintained as a system of permanent marshes. Water for the wetlands is supplied from the dam

outside the park boundaries. Usually some 14.17 million cubic meters of water is the estimated annual requirement of the park. The water level inside the park is regulated by means of

dykes and artificial embankments. The alternative arrangement of water in case of emergencies such as danger of marshes and water bodies drying out completely is ensured through four

boreholes so that survival of the aquatic flora and fauna is not endangered before the arrival of monsoon.

The Keoladeo National Park (KNP) is a Ramsar Wetland Site and a World Heritage site. Due to acute water scarcity the ecosystem of the Park has been affected badly and this has

resulted in reduction in the arrival of migratory birds in the National Park. Water supply is essential for the National Park, which is a wetland and a Ramsar site facing acute shortage of

water for the last few years. Currently apart from rain fall the Park receives water from Ajan Bund, a temporary reservoir via the Dakan canal. Through a small canal dug last year water

from Khokhar Weir (Bees Mora) is also available. The total requirement of water for the Park is estimated at about 14.17 Million cubic meters (500 MCft). The supply from Ajan Bund is

irregular and subject to the bund being full to the extent of reservoir level at 8.5 meters. During the last several years either water is not supplied or supplied insufficiently. The project had

been prepared keeping in view the need for 400 MCFT of water during late July to August, for a period of 30 days to the Park which is to be had by diverting and lifting flood waters of

Yamuna. The project thus covered diversion of water during monsoon through underground pipes with lifting arrangements over a length of 16 km. from the off-take point of Goverdhan drain

near Santruk village

Slim Moizuddin Abdul Ali (12 November 1896 20 June 1987)[1] was an Indian ornithologist and naturalist. Sometimes referred to as the "birdman of India", Salim Ali was among the

first Indians to conduct systematic bird surveys across India and his bird bookshelped develop ornithology. he was instrumental to create the Bharatpur bird sanctuary. Ali influenced the

designation of the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary and in decisions that saved the Silent Valley National Park. One of Ali's later interventions at Bharatpur involved the exclusion of cattle and

graziers from the sanctuary and this was to prove costly and resulted in ecological changes that led to a decline in the numbers of many species of waterbirds

Silent Valley National Park (Malayalam: ), (Core zone: 236.74 square kilometres (91 sq mi)) is located in the Nilgiri Hills, Palakkad

District in Kerala, South India

Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the study of birds

Iron FortThe city and the fort of Bharatpur have been believed to be founded by Maharaja Suraj Mal in the early 17th century. During the British Raj, the state covered an area of 5,123 km and its



rulers enjoyed a salute of 17 guns

Bharatpur is also known asLohagarh and Eastern Gateway to Rajasthan The Iron Fort, also called as The Lohagarh Fort, true to its name stood solidly in front of many British attacks,

and frustrated them to ends. It faced the British onslaught four times and after a long siege they had to withdraw, but Lord Lake, however was successful in capturing it in 1805. It is very different from the other forts in state, there is no flamboyance associated to fort but it generates an aura of strength and magnificence. The fort is surrounded with moat which was previously filled with water to ward off the enemy attacks. The sandy ramparts were strengthened by sandy battlements, thus the enemy guns proved of no avail. Some interesting monuments in the fort are Kishori Mahal, Mahal Khas and Kothi Khas. Moti Mahal and towers like Jawahar Burj and Fateh Burj were erected to commemorate the victory over the Mughals and the British army . The Gateway has paintings of huge elephants. The Government Museum, Bharatpur is located inside the historic Lohagarh Fort

Microblogging is a broadcast medium that exists in the form of blogging. A microblog differs from a traditional blog in that its content is typically smaller in both actual and aggregated file

size. Microblogs "allow users to exchange small elements of content such as short sentences, individual images, or video links".[1] These small messages are sometimes called microposts

The term "weblog" was coined by Jorn Barger[10] on 17 December 1997. The short form, "blog", was coined by Peter Merholz, who jokingly broke the word weblog into the phrase we blog

Bruce Ableson launched Open Diary in October 1998, which soon grew to thousands of online diaries. Open Diary innovated the reader comment, becoming the first blog community where

readers could add comments to other writers' blog entries

In Russia, some political bloggers have started to challenge the dominance of official, overwhelmingly pro-government media. Bloggers such as Rustem Adagamov and Alexei Navalny have

many followers and the latter's nickname for the ruling United Russia party as the "party of crooks and thieves" and been adopted by anti-regime protesters.[24] This led to the Wall Street

Journal calling Navalny "the manVladimir Putin fears most" in March 2012.[25]

Google AdSense is a program run by Google that allows publishers in the Google Network of content sites to serve automatic text, image, video, or interactive media advertisements that

are targeted to site content and audience.

The webmaster inserts the AdSense JavaScript code into a webpage.

Each time this page is visited, the JavaScript code uses inlined JSON to display content fetched from Google's servers.

For contextual advertisements, Google's servers use a cache of the page to determine a set of high-value keywords. If keywords have been cached already, advertisements are served for

those keywords based on the AdWords bidding system. (More details are described in the AdSense patent .)

For site-targeted advertisements, the advertiser chooses the page(s) on which to display advertisements, and pays based on cost per mille (CPM), or the price advertisers choose to pay

for every thousand advertisements displayed

Consumer Generated Advertising refers to advertising on consumer generated media. This term is generally used to refer to sponsored content on blogs, wikis, forums, social networking

web sites and individual Web sites

Similarly, the term Communal marketing refers to a marketing practice that incorporates public involvement in the development of an advertising/marketing campaign. Such a campaign

invites consumers to share their ideas or express their articulation of what the brand means to them through their own personal stories, with the use of print media, film oraudio. The resulting

consumer-generated content is then incorporated into the campaign.

Blogs have led to some disintermediation and a breakdown of the traditional advertising model where companies can skip over the advertising agencies (previously the only interface with the

customer) and contact the customers directly themselves. On the other hand, new companies specialised in blog advertising have been established, to take advantage of this new

development as well.

However, there are many people who look negatively on this new development. Some believe that any form of commercial activity on blogs will destroy the blogospheres credibility

In 2009, NDTV issued a legal notice to Indian blogger Kunte for a blog post criticizing their coverage of the Mumbai attacks.[71] The blogger unconditionally withdrew his post, which resulted

in several Indian bloggers criticizing NDTV for trying to silence critics

In India, blogger Gaurav Sabnis resigned from IBM after his posts questioned the claims of a management school IIPM

In June 2005, an Indian online magazine called Just Another Magazine (JAM) published an article accusing IIPM of misleading students and the public with its advertisements by using

institutional rankings published in 2003 which were no longer valid. The article said that the IIPM is not accredited by UGC or AICTE.[66] After a court ruling, the article was removed from the

internet. JAM's editor Rashmi Bansal later published similar content in her blog. In response, IIPM called JAM's statements an attempt to spread baseless rumours and filed a lawsuit

against Bansal.[67] In a court ruling on June 2010, Bansal was ordered to take down her blog article.[68][69] Gaurav Sabnis, an IBM employee at that time, was forced to resign from his post

after IIPM threatened to burn IBM laptops in front of IBM's Delhi office

In December 2013, Livemint.com reported that public-interest litigation filed in 2010 by Mahesh Sarma, the editor of Careers 360, led to the Delhi High Court barring IIPM from publishing any

TV, print or online advertisements without first obtaining the courts approval, given that past IIPM advertisements had potentially misled the public.[62][63] According to Livemint.com, the

interim court order was based on an affidavit by the University Grants Commission (UGC), which stated that IIPM advertisements had the potential to mislead innocent students and public

at large; a UGC committee investigating the issue had found that the "practice of issuing such dubious advertisements by IIPM to attract students deceptively should be stopped forthwith

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of affecting the visibility of a website or a web page in a search engine's "natural" or un-paid ("organic") search results. In general, the

earlier (or higher ranked on the search results page), and more frequently a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine's users

As an Internet marketing strategy, SEO considers how search engines work, what people search for, the actual search terms or keywords typed into search engines and which search

engines are preferred by their targeted audience. Optimizing a website may involve editing its content, HTML and associated coding to both increase its relevance to specific keywords and to

remove barriers to the indexing activities of search engines. Promoting a site to increase the number of backlinks, or inbound links, is another SEO tactic.

A reverse blog is a type of blog that is characterized by the lack of a single, specific blogger. In a traditional blog a blogger will write his or her comments about a given topic and other

users may view and sometimes comment on the bloggers work. A reverse blog is written entirely by the users, who are given a topic. The blog posts are usually screened and chosen for

publication by a core group or the publisher of the blog



Blog-based books have been given the name blook. The book based on Julie Powell's blog "The Julie/Julia Project" was made into the film Julie & Julia, apparently the first to do so.



The GBP/USD pairing is known by traders as the cable, which has its origins from the time when a communications cable under the Atlantic Ocean synchronized the GBP/USD quote

between the London and New York markets.[4] The following nicknames are common: Fiber for EUR/USD,Chunnel for EUR/GBP, Loonie and The Funds for USD/CAD, Aussie for

AUD/USD, Guppy for GBP/JPY, Yuppy for EUR/JPY, and Kiwi for the New Zealand Dollar NZD/USD pairing. New innovations include Barney for USD/RUB and Betty for EUR/RUB after the

fictional characters the Rubbles in The Flintstones.

IIMs are registered as societies under the Indian Societies Registration Act.[4] However, the administration of all IIMs and the overall strategy of IIMs is overseen by the IIM council. The IIM

Council is headed by India's Minister of Human Resource Development and consists of the chairpersons and directors of all IIMs and senior officials from the Ministry of Human Resource

Development of the Government of India.[5][6]

Cal f irst, then A, lko in 84. Total 13 iim, latest is kashiour. Udaipur is under the mentorship of indore. In 1981, the first IIM Review Committee was convened to examine the progress of the three existing IIMs

and to make recommendations. The committee noted that the three IIMs were producing around 400 PGP graduates every year and that they had reached their optimum capacity. It

proposed the opening of two more IIMs to meet the rising demand of management professionals. IIM Lucknow also serves as the mentor institution for IIM Rohtak and IIM Kashipur.[2Board of

Governors of IIM Lucknow is chaired by Jamshed J. Irani, the former Managing Director ofTata Steel.[39

Iim bill w ill give legal sanction for iims to give degrees. Iim council pow ers w ill also be expanded.The proposed IIM Council will be a coordinating body and a forum to discuss, Thakur said. The

council will not be like the IIT Council. IIT Council has real power. They can fix their salary. They can give directions but this is (just) a coordinating body. I dont know what

kind of harm it will (cause), Thakur said.

Deemed university is a status of autonomy granted to high performing institutes and departments of various universities in India. This status of "Deemed-to-be-University", is granted

by Department of Higher Education, Union Human Resource Development Ministry, on the advice of the University Grants Commission (UGC) of India, under Section 3 of the University

Grants Commission (UGC) Act, 1956.[1][2]

The UGC began in 1956 after Indian parliament passed the University Grants Commission Act "to make provision for the co-ordination and determination of standards in Universities and for

that purpose, to establish a University Grants Commission.".[3]

The deemed university status enables not just full autonomy in setting course work and syllabus of those institutes and research centers, but also allows it to set its own guidelines for the

admissions, fees, and instructions to the students.

Application of Act to institutions for higher studies other than Universities. The Central Government may, on the advice of the Commission, declare, by notification in the Official Gazette, that

any institution for higher education, other than a University, shall be deemed to be a University for the purposes of this Act, and on such a declaration being made, all the provisions of this

Act shall apply to such institution as if it were a University within the meaning of clause (f) of section 2.

and Section 2 clause (f) states

"University" means a University established or incorporated by or under a Central Act, a Provincial Act or a State Act, and includes any such institution as may, in consultation with the

University concerned, be recognized by the Commission in accordance with the regulations made in this behalf under this Act.

The UGC Act doesn't seem to provide any clear definition of a deemed university.

My own understanding of a deemed university is as follows.

1. It is autonomous in the sense of setting its own educational agenda (courses, syllabus, teaching methodologies etc.)

2. It is administratively autonomous in the sense that it does not need to abide by the rules and regulations of any other university on adminstrative matters.

3. It can award degrees under its own name, instead of that of an university to which it is affiliated.

4. It cannot be an affiliating university in the sense of allowing other institutions to affiliate themselves to it.

5. It cannot be a purely teaching institution. Research has to be an integral part of its activities.

Just two years after the University Grants Commission laid down stringent guidelines for granting deemed-to-be university status to educational institutions, the Human

Resource Development Ministry has constituted a committee to review the UGC (Institutions Deemed to be Universities) Regulations, 2010. It will also make provision for

foreign universities, ranked among the best in academia and intending to open campuses in India, to be recognised as deemed-to-be universities.

If the 2010 guidelines strongly opposed by private institutions, seeking the deemed university status are diluted, it will help the 44 deemed-to-be-universities escape de-

recognition as recommended by the Tandon Committee in 2009 for their overall poor performance, and also facilitate the entry of foreign universities through the deemed

universities route.

IITs are governed by the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961. 16 iits now.Each IIT is an autonomous institution, linked to the others through a common IIT Council, which oversees their

administration. Iitk 1959, kgp 51. Kanpur US assistance. Kanpur is mentor of jodhpur

On the recommendations of the Sarkar Committee, four campuses were established at Mumbai (1958), Chennai (1959), Kanpur (1959), and Delhi (1961). The President of India is the most

powerful person in the organisational structure of IITs, being the ex officio Visitor,[45] and having residual powers. Directly under the President is the IIT Council, which comprises the minister-

in-charge of technical education in the Union Government, the Chairmen of all IITs, the Directors of all IITs, the Chairman of the University Grants Commission, the Director General of CSIR,

the Chairman of IISc, the Director of IISc, three members of Parliament, the Joint Council Secretary of Ministry of Human Resource and Development, and three appointees each of the Union

Government, AICTE, and the Visitor.[46]

Under the IIT Council is the Board of Governors of each IIT. Under the Board of Governors is the Director, who is the chief academic and executive officer of the IIT.[47] Under the Director, in

A committee will examine and make provisions for foreign universities ranked amongst the best in academia and intending to open campuses in India to be recognised as deemed-to-be universities.



the organisational structure, comes the Deputy Director. Under the Director and the Deputy Director, come the Deans, Heads of Departments, Registrar, President of the Students' Council,

and Chairman of the Hall Management Committee. The Registrar is the chief administrative officer of the IIT and overviews the day-to-day operations.[47] Below the Heads of Department

(HOD) are the faculty members (Professors, Associate Professors, and Assistant Professors). The Wardens come under the Chairman of the Hall Management Committee.[48]

first test called the JEE (Main), will be held during the month of April 2013 (both offline and online). This test will be conducted by CBSE. The second test, called the JEE (Advanced), will be

held on 2 June 2013 (only offline). Only 1,50,000 of the top rankers in JEE(Main), which includes students from all categories( GE, OBC(NCL), SC and ST ) will be eligible to appear in

JEE(Advanced).Admissions to IITs will be based only on category wise All India Rank (AIR) in JEE(Advanced) subject to the condition that such candidates are in the top 20 percentile of

successful candidates of their Boards in applicable categories.

many western universities that have an elected senate, the IITs have an academic senate. It controls and approves the curriculum, courses, examinations and results, and appoints

committees to look into specific academic matters. The teaching, training and research activities of the institute are periodically reviewed by the senate to maintain educational

standards.[60] The Director of an IIT is the ex-officio Chairman

IITs have a special status as Institutes of National Importance under the Indian Institute of Technology Act, due to which the degrees provided by IITs need not be recognised by

the AICTE.[73] The

In Indian context, the issuances of banks, select financial institutions ( NABARD, EXIM, SIDBI), central and state governments' issuances are termed as bonds whereas all other corporates are allowed to issue debentures. The idea is that when it comes to debentures the issuances and approvals pertaining to the terms are governed by the companies act and therefore it's compulsory to have an account with exchange to trade in same. On the other hand, bonds are governed by RBI. For trading them, you don't need to be registered on an exchange. The requirement is of a direct account with RBI or a custody account with a bank.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong's WW2 history

Q. What is hong kong famous for?

1. financial hub, gateway to china, disneyland :-)

is hk monetary system good for india? economic system? laissez faire?

Q. Why can't we have a disneyland in India?

1. big affair, expensive tickets. HK caters to China. 2. As S Asian middle class grows, Disney won't be able to ignore India.

Q. Should government give subsidies for establishment of disneyland?

1. advantages - tourism, employment, investment.2. carefully weigh the opportunity costs of money, R&R.

Q. Do you mean governments should not incentivise investment?

1. should. because important to grow overall size of the pie.2. clear, objective guidelines. discretion and granting incentives on ad hoc basis should be avoided. often corporates misuse their influence. 3. parliament should wield more influence. example of coal mines.

Q. What are the differences in both societies?

1. women are truly liberated - demographic dividend pool in india.2. education - abide by rules, corruption, rule of law.3. poverty, equality of opportunity.

Q. But in India so many educated people openly flout rules. How can you say education makes people more law abiding and gives civic sense?

1. They do so because they think they can bend the system. even if they were uneducated they would have flouted rules. rule of law.2. other side of the story - some of them think these things are wrong because of education.

Q. Why is corruption so low in Hong Kong?

1. rule of law, educated people - know rights. overall a better system is created.2. e-governance, ombudsman.

Q. Don't you think HK is more materialistic than us?

1. insufficient experience to compare in detail - but I think we are already growing materialistic. even there i found people who value friendship, relationships, parents. I don't see how they are different from us.

HK is a special admin region of china.Hong Kong became a colony of the British Empire after the First Opium War (183942). Originally confined to Hong Kong Island, the colony's

boundaries were extended in stages to the Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 and then the New Territories in 1898. It was occupied by Japan during the Pacific War, after which the British resumed

control until 1997, whenChina resumed sovereignty.Under the principle of "one country, two systems", Hong Kong has a different political system from mainland China.Although it has a

burgeoning multi-party system, a small-circle electorate controls half of its legislature. That is, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, the head of government, is chosen by an Election

Committee of 400 to 1,200 members, a situation that will be in effect during the first 20 years of Chinese rule. public transport travelling rate exceeding 90 percent,

In 1839 the refusal by Qing Dynasty authorities to import opium resulted in the First Opium War between China and Britain. Hong Kong Island was occupied by British forces on 20 January

1841 and was initially ceded under the Convention of Chuenpee as part of a ceasefire agreement between Captain Charles Elliot and Governor Qishan, but the agreement was never ratified

due to a dispute between high-ranking officials in both governments.[62] It was not until 29 August 1842 that the island was formally ceded in perpetuity to the United Kingdom under

the Treaty of Nanking. The British established a crown colony with the founding of Victoria City the following year.[63]

Under British rule, the population of Hong Kong island had increased from 7,450 Chinese residents, mostly fishermen, in 1841 to over 115,000 Chinese and 8,754 Europeans in Hong Kong

(including Kowloon) in 1870.[64]

In 1860 after China's defeat in the Second Opium War, the Kowloon Peninsula andStonecutter's Island were ceded in perpetuity to Britain under the Convention of Peking.



In 1894 the deadly Third Pandemic of bubonic plague spread from China to Hong Kong, causing 50,000100,000 deaths.[65]

In 1898 under the terms of the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory, Britain obtained a 99-year lease of Lantau Island and the adjacent northern lands, which became known

as the New Territories.[66] Hong Kong's territory has remained unchanged to the present.[67][68] Hong Kong's population recovered quickly as a wave of migrants from China arrived for refuge

from the ongoing Chinese Civil War. When the PRC was proclaimed in 1949, more migrants fled to Hong Kong for fear of persecution by the Communist Party.[66] Many corporations in

Shanghai and Guangzhou shifted their operations to Hong Kong.[66]

construction of Shek Kip Mei Estate in 1953 followed a massive slum fire, and marked the beginning of the public housing estate programme designed to cope with the huge influx of

immigrants. Trade in Hong Kong accelerated even further when Shenzhen, immediately north of Hong Kong, became a special economic zone of the PRC, and Hong Kong was established

as the main source of foreign investment in China.[73] The manufacturing competitiveness gradually declined in Hong Kong due to the development of the manufacturing industry in southern

China beginning in the early 1980s. By contrast, the service industry in Hong Kong experienced high rates of growth in the 1980s and 1990s after absorbing workers released from the

manufacturing industry

In accordance with the Sino-British Joint Declaration, and the underlying principle of one country, two systems, Hong Kong has a "high degree of autonomy as a special administrative

region in all areas except defence and foreign affairs.primary pillars of government are the Executive Council, the civil service, the Legislative Council, and the Judiciary. The Executive

Council is headed by the Chief Executive who is elected by the Election Committee and then appointed by the Central People's Government.[87][88] The civil service is a politically neutral

body that implements policies and provides government services, where public servants are appointed based on meritocracy.[24][89] The Legislative Council has 60 members, half of whom are

directly elected by universal suffrage by permanent residents of Hong Kongaccording to five geographical constituencies. The other half, known as functional constituencies, are directly

elected by a smaller electorate, which consists of corporate bodies and persons from various stipulated functional sectors. The entire council is headed by thePresident of the Legislative

Council who serves as the speaker.[90][91] Judges are appointed by the Chief Executive on the recommendation of an independent commission.[19][92] implementation of the Basic Law,

including how and when the universal suffrage promised therein is to be achieved, has been a major issue of political debate since the transfer of sovereignty. In 2002, the government's

proposed anti-subversion bill pursuant toArticle 23 of the Basic Law, which required the enactment of laws prohibiting acts of treason and subversion against the Chinese government, was

met with fierce opposition, and eventually shelved.

In 2004 the government failed to gain pan-democrat support to pass its so-called "district council model" for political reform.[96] In 2009, the government reissued the proposals as the

"Consultation Document on the Methods for Selecting the Chief Executive and for Forming the LegCo in 2012". The document proposed the enlargement of the Election Committee, Hong

Kong's electoral college, from 800 members to 1,200 in 2012 and expansion of the legislature from 60 to 70 seats. The ten new legislative seats would consist of five geographical

constituency seats and five functional constituency seats, to be voted in by elected district council members from among themselves.[97] The proposals were destined for rejection by pan-

democrats once again, but a significant breakthrough occurred after the Central People's Government accepted a counter-proposal by the Democratic Party. In particular, the Pan-democracy

camp was split when the proposal to directly elect five newly created functional seats was not acceptable to two constituent parties. The Democratic Party sided with the government for the

first time since the handover and passed the proposals with a vote of 4612.[98]Hong Kong has a unitary system of government; no local government has existed since the two municipal

councils were abolished in 2000.

The Hong Kong Government has traditionally played a mostly passive role in the economy, with little by way of industrial policy and almost no import or export controls. Market forces and

the private sector were allowed to determine practical development. Under the official policy of "positive non-interventionism", Hong Kong is often cited as an example of laissez-faire

capitalismFollowing the Second World War, Hong Kong industrialised rapidly as a manufacturing centre driven by exports, and then underwent a rapid transition to a service-based economy

in the 1980s.[143] Since then, it has grown to become a leading center for management, financial, IT, business consultation and professional services.[141] Government intervention, initiated

by the later colonial governments and continued since 1997, has steadily increased, with the introduction of export credit guarantees, a compulsory pension scheme, a minimum wage, anti-

discrimination laws, and a state mortgage backer.

The government maintains a policy of "mother tongue instruction" (Chinese: ) in which the medium of instruction is Cantonese,[178] with written Chinese and English. In secondary

schools, 'biliterate and trilingual' proficiency is emphasised, and Mandarin-language education has been increasing

All land in Hong Kong is owned by the government and leased to private users. By restricting the sale of land leases, the Hong Kong government keeps the price of land at what some would

say are artificially high prices and this allows the government to support public spending with a low tax rate

In general Hong Kong has no capital gains tax. However, employees who receive shares or options as part of their remuneration are taxed at the normal Hong Kong income tax rate on the

value of the shares or options at the end of any vesting period less any amount that the individual paid for the grant.

Hong Kong's mini-constitution under China promises eventual democracy for the SAR, but little progress has been made over the past decade 2004, Beijing decreed that Hong

Kong could not have universal suffrage before 2012. In 2007, after the pan-democrats defeated a package of reforms almost identical to the ones proposed in November,

Beijing again postponed the date until at least 2017.

There is also concern that Beijing will allow universal suffrage only after Hong Kong passes some sort of antisedition law that could make it illegal to campaign for democracy in

the mainland the way Liu Xiaobo did or to call for the independence of Hong Kong, Tibet or the Uighur autonomous region of Xinjiang. In 2003 an antisedition bill proposed by

the local government was defeated after a million people took to the streets in protest. Beijing has not formally made the antisedition law a precondition to democracy, but there

have been subtle hints that it may be a factor: in December, Chinese President Hu Jintao praised Macau, China's other SAR, which has passed one.

To help people survive on such low incomes, the government provides public housing to about 50% of the population.

It is a far higher proportion than in the UK where less than 10% live in subsidised housing, but is beaten by Singapore, another supposed bastion of economic liberty, where

about 85% of people live in public housing.

In October, Hong Kong's leader announced it would provide more subsidised homes amid widespread discontent over sky-high property prices. The Hong Kong government has a majority stake in Hong Kong Disneyland, which has made a loss each year since opening 2005, and is the major shareholder in MTR Corp, which runs the city's underground and light rail network.

With low corporate and personal tax rates and no capital gains or inheritance tax, the government relies on land sales for revenue.

But this policy has fuelled the belief that the government favours powerful property developers over ordinary people.

A small number of developers, often owned by high-profile tycoons such as Li Ka-shing, have built fortunes from this system and they now dominate many other sectors of

the economy.

The colonial government kept control of a critical resource: land. It granted only limited leases, with the sole exception of the local headquarters of the Anglican church.

The property market that has since developed, an almost impenetrable blend of government and tycoons, could satisfy no free-m. property market's distortions feed

through to other sectors, such as retailing. Another exception to the free-market rule is the currency's peg at around $7.80 to the American dollar. And the state has also

had a habit of granting or tolerating monopolies, for example in gambling. Hong Kong's way has by no means been synonymous with perfect competition.



The Haijin (Chinese: ; pinyin: Hi Jn; literally "sea ban") order was a ban on maritime activities imposed during China's Ming Dynasty and again at the time of the Qing Dynasty.

Intended to curb piracy, the ban proved ineffective for that purpose. Instead it imposed huge hardships on coastal communities and legitimate sea traders.

And in 2008, in the midst of the global financial crisis, Hong Kong introduced universal deposit

insurance, which it had explicitly rejected in the 1960s. The law is set to expire at the end of the year,

but regulators and bankers say unofficially that it would be unthinkable for the territory to allow a

bank to collapse.

Perhaps the most intriguing change, although little noticed so far, is a new monopoly law, a draft of

which was entered into the government records on July 2nd. In principle, such a law should foster

competition. In practice, it is likely to extend the purview of the state into private business, not least

mergerswhile leaving established monopolies, often associated with the government, entrenched.

Behind the scenes some of these have been busily seeking exemptions.Only a few years ago it appeared that the government's steps into the economy would be curtailed by experience. Heavy subsidies to create a Disney amusement park and a place called Cyberport, to encourage

the development of internet-related companies, both drew strong criticism. The park has not been a success and Cyberport is best known as an investment coup for the

tycoon who was able to obtain cheap land under an industrial scheme that could be resold as luxury flats.

2009 reform package

Main article: Consultation Document on the Methods for Selecting the Chief Executive and for Forming the LegCo in 2012

On 18 November 2009, the government published the "Consultation Document on the Methods for Selecting the Chief Executive and for Forming the LegCo in 2012" which proposed to

enlarge the Election Committee for the chief executive election from 800 members to 1,200 in 2012 and increasing the number of Legislative Council members from 60 to 70. It would also

give elected District Council members more seats on the Election Committee and five of the new LegCo seats.[22]

2005 reform package

The government put out its blueprint for the so-called 'district council model' for electing the chief executive and the legislature in 2007 and 2008. It suggest increasing the number of Legco seats from 60 to 70. Of the 10 new seats, five will go to geographical constituencies. The remaining five will be elected among 529 district council members, including 102 government

appointees.[17]

Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23 is the basis of a security law proposed by theGovernment of Hong Kong. It states:[1]

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall enact laws on its own to prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition, subversion against the Central People's Government, or theft of state secrets, to prohibit foreign political organizations or bodies from conducting political activities in the Region, and to prohibit political organizations or bodies of the Region from establishing ties with foreign political organizations or bodies.

On 24 September 2002, the government released its proposals for the anti-subversion law. It is the cause of considerable controversy and division in Hong Kong, which operates as a separate legal system in accordance with the Sino-British Joint Declaration. Protests against the bill resulted in a massive demonstrations on 1 July 2003. In the aftermath, two Executive Committee members resigned and the bill was withdrawn after it became clear that it would not get the necessary support from theLegislative Council for it to be passed. The bill was then shelved indefinitely.

to advise on the eradication of corruption. It supported the creation of the Basic Law on Independent Commission against Corruption Ordinance in February of 1974, which instantiated the Independent Commission against Corruption (ICAC). Hong Kongs success in substantially reducing corruption has been hard earned by a close partnership between the community and the ICAC. ICAC has the powers of investigation, arrest, and detention and of granting bail, which are fundamental to any law enforcement agency. It contributed to maintaining Hong Kong as a fair, just, stable and prosperous community. It also educated the public against the evils of corruption by the use of television and radio commercials, as well as by printing advertisements to publicize the work of the ICAC.The Corruption Prevention Department examines practices and procedures of government departments and public bodies to reduce corruption opportunities and offers corruption prevention advice to private organizations upon request. so ICAC officers can arrest and detain each other without a warrant. They are not affected by personnel

administration, and usually get higher salaries than other governmental officials which helps combat any inclination to accept monetary gifts.Singapore demands

that administrative officials strengthen self-control or self-inspection for the purpose of eradicating the causes of corruption. By providing high salaries, rewards

and excellent working conditions for the public officials, Singapore makes them more devoted to their work and thus helps prevent possible corruption (Quah, 1995,

1999).

Thousands of people joined in this cry. The proverbial last straw on the camel's back came when a corrupt expatriate police officer Peter Godber, who amassed assets worth HK$4 million.

During the week when he had been given notice by the Attorney General to explain details of his assets, he managed to flee the country on June 8, 1973.

Godber's escape unleashed a public outcry. Students spearheaded a mass rally in Victoria Park, protesting and condemning the government for failing to tackle the corruption problem.

Demanding prompt government action, protesters took to the streets.Under pressure, the government was quick to take action. Sir Alastair Blair-Kerr, a senior judge, was appointed to form a

commission of inquiry into Godber's escape.

Sir Alastair, in his report, pointed out that unless an independent agency of anticorruption is set up, the people will never be convinced that the government is serious about fighting

corruption.

This led Governor Sir Murray MacLehose (who then was the head of the government) to vociferously advocate an independent anticorruption organisation in a speech at the Legislative

Council in October 1973.

Thus, the ICAC was established in February 1974. The first job of the ICAC was to complete Godber's trial. He was extradited from England, found guilty of conspiracy and taking bribes, and

sentenced to four years' imprisonment.This landmark judgment kicked off a new era of transparency in Hong Kong. Initially, newspaper editorials and cartoons poked fun and showed

cynicism towards the ICAC, stating that if a corrupt head is in charge of it, there is no hope.

However, when over 200 police officers were arrested in the first year itself on charges of corruption, people realised that the ICAC meant business. A survey 2010 showed that 95% of people



had faith in the working of the ICAC.The ICAC right from its inception has adopted a strategy to fighting corruption on three fronts the operations department, the corruption prevention

department and the community relations department.In a recent public speech, Tony Kwak Man-wai, former head of operations for 27 years with the ICAC, stated: "One of (the ICAC's)

success factors is its three-pronged strategy fighting corruption through deterrence, prevention and education. All three are important but in my view, deterrence is the most important.

On trial are property-mogul brothers Thomas and Raymond Kwok of Sun Hung Kai Properties HK:0016 +0.97% SUHJY +1.53% and two others who are accused of providing former chief secretary Raphael Hui with 34 million Hong Kong dollars ($4.4 million) in cash, loans and other inducements.

Rajasthan, Jaipur, Kanpur, Lucknow, Hyderabad

Created: 1/19/2013 8:56 PM

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganesh_Shankar_Vidyarthi

Dara Singh and Sorahbuddin encounter cases

Solar energy in Rajasthan

1. Rajasthan is one of the leading states of India in the field of solar energy. The total photovoltaic capacity has passed 500 MW, at the end of the 2012-13 fiscal year.2. Jodhpur leads with 293 MW, followed by Jaisalmer and Bikaner. 3. A 4,000MW Ultra Mega Green Solar Power Project (UMPP) is being built near Sambhar Lake in Rajasthan.

1. It would be set up and run by a joint venture of five public sector utilities Bhel, Powergrid Corporation of India, Solar Energy Corporation of India, Hindustan Salts limited and Rajasthan Electronics & Instruments Limited.

2. The first phase of the project, which would be 1,000 mw is expected to be commissioned in 2016. 3. Notably, Rs 5.50 per unit would be the lowest ever tariff for solar power in the country.

Solar Processing Zone

1. A 35,000 km2 (14,000 sq mi) area of the Thar Desert has been set aside for solar power projects, sufficient to generate 700 to 2,100 GW. 2. The Dhirubhai Ambani Solar Park at Dhursar village near Pokran in the Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan is one of a large number of solar parks expected to be built in a 35,000 km2

area of the Thar Desert that has been reserved for solar power projects.3. Jodhpur, for long the capital of Marwar Kingdom, is called the Sun City and Jaisalmer, famous for sand dunes, is known as the Desert City. In between these two historic cities, in

the interiors of the Thar desert we have created a solar oasis called as Rajasthan Solar Processing Zone (Raj SPZ). The first private solar park in India with 100MW capacity.

Bhadla Solar Park, Jodhpur District, Rajasthan.

Key features of Solar Park:

10,000 hectares of land identified for the park

3000 MW capacity of solar power plants to be set up

Three more solar parks

Three more solar parks

In addition to Bhadla Solar Park in Jodhpur, three additional solar parks are in the pipeline; one in Jaisalmer, where 16,000 hectares of government land

have been identified as potential sites, and the other two in the city of Bikaner and the town of Barmer, both in the northwest of Rajasthan.

Tourism in Rajasthan

1. The share of Rajasthan tourism to the state Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is 13.68 per cent.2. Total foreign tourist in India: 6.5 mm. Rajasthan gets 1.5 mm.

Q. Reasons for Rajasthan being a bimarou state.

1. Backward economy. Per capita income (47K < 60K) < national average. Share of agriculture is 22%, share of services is only 48%.2. Water scarcity and other resources.3. High tribal population (13%).4. Traditional discrimination against women. 5. Difficult terrain.

Q. Rajasthan's position according to HDI ? Why is it so low ?

1. Backward economy. Per capita income (47K < 60K) < national average. Share of agriculture is 22%, share of services is only 48%.2. Literacy poor, high tribal population.3. Poor health delivery.4. Difficult terrain.

Rajasthan's position is 17th with 0.434 HDI and is low HDI state.

Q. What do u know about SEZs in Rajasthan?

1. Mahindra World City (Jaipur) Ltd. Kalwara Village, Jaipur, Rajasthan IT/ITES2. Kisan Udyog khara, Bikaner.



3. AIC Hindoun City.4. Kaladwas Industrial Estate (SEZ) Udaipur

Q. What are the problems of industry in Rajasthan?

1. Creation of skilled manpower is required, low literacy, low female participation. 2. Acquisition of land is another problem.3. No effective single window system. SWS do not have a common application form (CAF). As a result, entrepreneurs have to separately fill the requisite forms of each

department/agency. This process leads to multiple visits by the entrepreneurs to the departments concerned. 4. Lack of water.5. Low income leading to lack of local demand. Poverty now is 25%.

Q. What are the strengths of Rajasthan for industrial development?

1. Delhi - Gujarat corridor.2. Higher education.3. Low cost.4. Good roads, power situation.

Q. Why is Rajasthan lagging behind in services (only 48% compared to 60% national)

1. Poorer state (5% of population, 3% of GDP).2. Backward in education.

Jal Mahal SC Decision

The Supreme Court has given its nod to the controversial Jal Mahal tourism development project near Jaipur's Mansagar lake with certain modifications in the 2005 lease deed, executed by the state government and scrapped by the Rajasthan High Court in 2012.

A bench of justices Gyan Sudha Misra and Pinaki Chandra Ghose last month set aside the High Court verdict cancelling the multi-crore rupees Jal Mahal tourism development project adjoining the 17th century lake.

It, however, reduced the lease period for from 99 to 30 years and also said that some portion of the leased out 100- acre land will be kept aside to be under the control of the state government as it formed part of the adjoining lake.

Police Performance Measuring System

In a bid to increase the efficiency of cops including the station house officers (SHO)s and investigating officers, the Rajasthan police headquarters have introduced a new monthly grading system. Cops would be given marks starting from one to 10 while dealing and solving different crime cases and in case of negligence, corruption charges and indiscipline minus marking would be done. And this would be done by computer-generated system to avoid biases.

There are at least 17 indicators which are put in software which will have to be filled up by the police station level officers on everyday basis. Out of every month he or she will get marks. And these marks would be added in the annual performance appraisal of the cops.

There would be separate marking in plus for promptness in investigation, reaching at the crime scene and control the situation, behavior with the complainants, reduction of crime in the area, execution of warrants, seizure of stolen goods, getting breakthrough in crimes varying from theft, murder and dacoity."

And most importantly scoring goods marks can also fetch out of the way promotion to the concern cop and also demotion.

However if he will face any disciplinary action on any negligence, facing corruption charges and is unable to control a mob where SP or IG rank officer intervened, he will have to get a negative marking,"

Jaisalmer Fort Cleanup & Manvendra Singh Shekhawat

- I love Jaisalmer campaign was started by him. - In the first, I mobilized hoteliers, members of guide welfare, some residents , officials and tourism department. All I asked for was manpower, not money,"

- After scrubbing clean the approach road, Shekhawat has now taken upon himself the job of cleaning the Gadisagar Lake and Sonar fort.

Rajendra Singh - Waterman

- Johad / Tankas: These are simple mud and rubble barriers built across the contour of a slope to arrest rainwater. They are built across a slope with a high embankment on the three sides while the fourth side is left open for the rainwater to enter. They are very common in the Thar - There was a severe drought in Alwar district in Rajasthan during 1985-86. In 1985, volunteers from the Tarun Bharat Sangh (TBS), a voluntary organization led by Rajendra Singh, came to Alwar.

- The Alwar District had once thrived, but logging, mining, and other industrial activities resulted in land degradation that intensified flooding and droughts. The traditional water management system using Johads was abandoned. TBS revived the tradition of building Johads.

- Rajendra Singh (born 6 August 1959) is a well known water conservationist from Alwar district, Rajasthan in India. Also known as "waterman of India", he won the RamonMagsaysay Award for community leadership in 2001

Lucknow

History

- Lakshmana, who was the brother of Lord Rama, laid the foundation of the ancient city. It was then called Lakshmanpur.

- Awadh's political unity can be traced back to the ancient Hindu kingdom of Kosala, withAyodhya as its capital. Modern Awadh finds historical mention only in the time of Akbar, in the late 16th century.

- Nawab - the plural of the Arabic word 'naib', meaning 'assistant' - was the term given to governors appointed by the Mughal emperor all over India to assist him in managing the Empire.



- In the beginning, Faizabad (founded by Nawab Saadat Khan) was the capital of Oudh. It was shifted to Lucknow by Nawab Asaf ud daula in 1775 and also built Bara Imambara. Oudh Nawabs were Iranis.

- The Bara Imambara was built in the year 1784 by the fourth Nawab of Awadh known as Asaf-ud-Daula. It was built as a part of a relief project for a major famine that took place in the year 1784. It is also called Asfi Imambara after the name of the Nawab who got it constructed. The central hall of Bara Imambara is said to be the largest arched hall in the world. The roof stands steady till date without any pillars to support it.

- The Bara Imambara is known for its incredible maze called Bhulbhulaiya. It is said that great treasures are hidden in the secret tunnels of this maze.

- Chhota Imambara also known as Hussainabad Imambara was built by Muhammad Ali Shah, it was to serve as his own mausoleum. It is also known as the Palace of Lights because of its decorations during special festivals. The chandeliers used to decorate the interior of this building was brought from Belgium. Thousands of labourers worked on the project to gain famine relief.

- The British Residency of Lucknow is a famous historical landmark of this place. It served as a refuge for approximately 3000 British inhabitants for almost 90 days during the uprising of 1857. The Residency still has the graves of around 2000 British soldiers who died in the Revolt of 1857. Only a 1000 inhabitant survived this tough ordeal. On November 17th, the British troops led by Sir Colin Campbell defeated the Indian forces.

- The British appointed a resident in 1773, and over time gained control of more territory and authority in the state. They were disinclined to capture Awadh outright, because that would bring them face to face with the Marathas and the remnants of the Mughal Empire.

- In 1798, the fifth Nawab Wazir Ali Khan alienated both his people and the British, and was forced to abdicate. The British then helped Saadat Ali Khan to the throne. Saadat Ali Khan was a puppet king, who in the treaty of 1801 ceded half of Awadh to the British East India Company and also agreed to disband his troops in favour of a hugely expensive, British-run army.

- Coins in the name of the Mughal emperor continued to be struck. It was only in 1819 that Nawab Ghaziuddin Haidar finally started to strike coins in his own name.

- Lucknow became the provincial capital in 1920 when the seat of government was moved from Allahabad.

Economy

Lucknow is famous for its small scale industries that are based on unique styles of embroidery, namely, Chikan and Lakhnawi Zardozi, both of which are significant foreign exchange earners.

Zardozi is a Persian word that means Sewing with gold string.

Chikan was introduced by Nur Jehan Creation of a chikan piece begins with the use of one or more pattern blocks that are used to block-print a pattern on the ground fabric. The

embroiderer then stitches the pattern, and the finished piece is carefully washed to remove all traces of the printed pattern.[4]

Kanpur

History

- Just after creating the universe, Lord Brahma performed the Ashvamedha at Bithoor and established a lingam there.

- Another legendary site at Bithoor is the Valmiki Ashram, where Valmiki wrote Ramayana. Seeta spent her days in seclusion at the Bithoor ashram bringing up her twin sons, Lava and Kush.

- Kanpur is believed to have been founded by members of the Chandela dynasty. The city's name is believed to derive from Kanhiyapur Others believe that the name is derived

from Karnapur .

- 1207 AD, Raja Kanti Deo of Prayag (connected to the throne of Kannauj) established the village Kohna, which later came to be known as Kanpur.

- The first mention of Kanpur was made in 1579 during Sher Shah's regime.

- Up to the first half of the 18th century, Kanpur was an insignificant village. Kanpur passed into British hands under the treaty of 1801 with Nawab Saadat Ali Khan of Awadh. Kanpur was an important British garrison.

Satti Chaura Massacre & Kanpur Massacre

- During the Indian Rebellion of 1857, 900 British were besieged in the fortifications for 22 days by rebels under Nana Sahib Peshwa. They surrendered on the agreement that they would get safe passage to the nearby Satti Chaura Ghat whereupon they would board boats and be allowed to go by river to Allahabad.

- Soon afterwards, the departing British were shot at, by the rebel sepoys, and were either killed or captured. Many were killed and the remaining 200 British women and children were brought back to shore and sent to a building called the Bibighar.

- After some time, the commanders of the rebels decided to execute their hostages. The rebel soldiers refused to carry out orders, and butchers from the nearby town were brought in to kill the hostages three days before the British entered the city on July 18. The dismembered bodies were thrown into a deep well nearby.

- The British under General Neill retook the city and committed a series of retaliations against the rebel Sepoys and those unfortunate civilians caught in the area, including women, children and old men. The Kanpur Massacre, as well as similar events elsewhere, were seen by the British as justification for unrestrained vengeance.

- The British dismantled the Bibighar and raised a memorial railing and a cross at the site of the well. In 1862, they built a church called All Souls' Cathedral in memory of those killed; renamed the Kanpur Memorial Church.

Economy

- Kanpur was known as the "Manchester of India" during the 20th century.

- Industries like leather and textiles, pan masala (The famous brands -"Pan Bahaar" & "Pan Parag" and many others originated in the city), soaps and detergent, plastics, food



processing, 2 wheelers, engineering are important.

- Kanpur has several locational advantages, i.e., location at a vantage point on four national highways; raw material availability for many industries, viz. leather, food processing, plastics etc., proximity to large markets, availability of skilled manpower due to various institutes located within Kanpur and existing traditional industrial base attracting skilled workers to the city.

- Akhilesh Yadav wants to set up a high-tech city in Kanpur on PPP model. It would house IT, financial institutions and hotels, auto companies, sewage and effluent treatment plants.

Education

- HBTI = Harcourt Butler Technological Institute is the oldest technology institute in Kanpur.

- GSVM College = Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Medical College

- Kanpur University is now called Chatrapati Shahuji Maharaj University

- Chandr Shekhar Azad Agricultural University, Central Pulse Research Institute, Leather Institute

Chandra Shekhar Azad & Kanpur

- After suspension of the non-cooperation movement in 1922 by Gandhi, Azad became more aggressive, socialist and revolutionary.

- He met Ram Prasad Bismil who had formed the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA). Azad was impressed with the aim of HRA, i.e., an independent India with equal rights and opportunity to everyone without discrimination of caste, creed, religion or social status.

- On introduction, Bismil was impressed by Azad, when Azad reportedly put his hand over a lamp and did not remove it till his skin burnt.

- He was involved in the famous Kakori Train Robbery of 1925 and the shooting of J.P. Saunders at Lahore in 1928 to avenge the killing of Lala Lajpat Rai.

- Alfred Park, where he became "Shaheed", has been renamed Chandrashekhar Azad Park.

HRA

- HRA was formed by Bismil, Sachindra Sanyal in 1924 just after two year of the non co-operation movement. In the aftermath of the Kakori train robbery in 1925, the British clamped down on revolutionary activities. Prasad,Ashfaqulla Khan, Thakur Roshan Singh and Rajendra Nath Lahiri were sentenced to death for.

- In 1912, Rasbihari Bose and Sachindra Nath Sanyal made an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Lord Hardinge by throwing a bomb at him in Delhi.

Sukhdev Thapar

- Sukhdev himself took active part in several revolutionary activities like the 'Prison hunger strike' in 1929;

- Sukhdev was the accomplice of Bhagat Singh, and Shivaram Rajguru who were involved in the assassination of Deputy Superintendent of Police, J.P. Saunders in 1928.

- Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw the bomb in the central assembly.

Kakori Train Robbery (1925) by Bismil and Ashfaqullah Khan

- One day while traveling on a train from Shahjahanpur to Lucknow Pandit Ram Prasad Bismil noticed every station master bringing money bags into the guard's cabin which was kept there in cash chest. This cash chest was handed over to the station superintendent of Lucknow junction. Bismil decided to loot the government money.

- On August 9, 1925, train travelling from Saharanpur to Lucknow was approaching the town of Kakori, when one of the revolutionaries pulled the chain to stop the train and overpowered the guard.

- Bismil was the pen name, real name was ram prasad. While Ashfaqullah Khan wrote under name of 'Hasrat'.

Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi

- Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi was born in Kanpur, was an Indian journalist, a leader of the Indian National Congress. He is mostly known as the founder-editor of the Hindi

language newspaper, Pratap

- It was through this paper that he waged his famous fights for the oppressed peasants of Rae Bareli, and faced many sedition charges and jail.

- He was a member of Swaraj Party.

- In 1931, Kanpur fell into an orgy of communal rioting. Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi threw himself in the midst of furious mobs. It was on this mission of mercy that he was butchered to

death by a mob.

Kachchwahas and Mughals

- Bharmal's elder brother Puranmal succeeded the throne in 1527 after Rana Sanga had lost Battle of Khanua (1527).

- Puranmal was the first person to realize that Mughals were trustworthy and was the first to offer services of Rajputs to Mughals.

- Puranmal fought in the battle of Mandrail in favour of Mughals in 1534 to win the fort of Bayana for them.

- Next year Bahadur Shah of Gujrat besieged the fort of Chittor, upon which Humayun himself started to fight against him. Rani Karmawati sent a Rakhi, but Humayun did not arrive in time.

- If he would have arrived in time and helped Karmawati, perhaps it would have been Sisodias as their close allies.



- Bharmal's policy towards Mughals was merely extension of his brothers policy.

Humayun and Karnawati and Panna Dhaya and Chittor Fort

- After Babur had captured the throne of Delhi in 1526 AD, Rana Sangram Singh or Rana Sanga of Mewar lead a confederation of RajputKings against Babur but lost the Battle of Khanua in 1527 and died shortly afterwards from his wounds.

- Rani Karnavati was his widow and took up the regency in the name of her elder son Vikramjeet, a weak ruler.

- In the meantime, Mewar was attacked for the second time by Bahadur Shah of Gujarat, at whose hands Vikramjeet had earlier received an defeat.

- Rani Karnavati wrote to the nobles to come forward for the sake of the honour of the Sisodias, and was able to persuade the nobles to fight for Mewar, if not for Vikramjeet. Their sole condition was that Vikramjeet and Uday Singh should go to Bundi during the war for their personal safety.

- Rani also sent a Rakhi to his brother Mughal Emperor Humayun, calling him a brother and asking for help. Humayun abandoned an ongoing military campaign to ride to her rescue, thus her name became irrevocably linked to the festival ofRaksha Bandhan.

- Rani Karnavati agreed to send her sons to Bundi and told her trusted maid Panna to accompany them and take good care of them.

- In 1537, Banbir killed Vikramaditya and usurped the throne. He tried to kill Udai Singh also, but Udai's nurse Panna Dhai sacrificed her own son to save him from his uncle Banbir and

took him to Kumbhalgarh.

- The fort was sacked three times between 14th and 16th centuries; in 1303 Allauddin Khilji defeated Rana Ratan Singh, in 1535 Bahadur Shah, the Sultan of Gujarat defeated

Bikramjeet Singh and in 1567 Emperor Akbar defeated Maharana Udai Singh II who left the fort ( jaimala and patta bravely fought but died) and founded Udaipur. Each time the men

fought bravely rushing out of the fort walls charging the enemy but lost every time. Following these defeats, Jauhar was committed thrice by more than 13,000 ladies and children of the

Rajput heroes who laid their lives in battles at Chittorgarh Fort, first led by Rani Padmini wife of Rana Rattan Singh who was killed in the battle in 1303, and later by Rani Karnavati in

1537 AD.( siege of 1303, 1535, 1567 AD).

Jaipur

History

- Vidyadhar Bhattacharya was the chief architect of Jaipur under Sawai Jai Singh II. The Eastern gate is called Suraj (Sun) Pol, while the Western gate is called Chand (Moon) Pol.

- first planned city of its time, Jaipur was planned by Vidhyadhar Bhattacharya, a Bengali architect, in a grid system with wide straight avenues, roads, streets and lanes and uniform rows of shops on either side of the main bazaars, all arranged in nine rectangular city sectors (chokris).

- In 1876, during the regime of Sawai Ram Singh, the whole city was painted pink to welcome Prince of Wales. Albert Museum also came up then only.

Tourist Attractions

Nahargarh

- The fort was originally named Sudarshangarh, but it became known as Nahargarh, which means 'abode of tigers'.

- The popular belief is that Nahar here stands for Nahar Singh Bhomia,[1] whose spirit haunted the place and obstructed construction of the fort.[2] Nahar's spirit was pacified by building

a temple in his memory within the fort, which thus became known by his name.

- It was built in 1734 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the founder of Jaipur.

- During the Indian Mutiny of 1857, the Europeans of the region, including the British Resident's wife, were moved to Nahargarh fort by the king of Jaipur, Sawai Ram Singh, for their

protection

Hawa Mahal

- It was built in 1799 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh, and designed by Lal Chand Ustad in the form of the crown of Krishna.

- The original intention of the lattice was to allow royal ladies to observe everyday life in the street below without being seen.

- Royal family of Jaipur, during their reign, also used the palace as a hot weather retreat, during the suffocating summer season of Jaipur, for several years, since the unusually designed window screens provided the much needed cool breeze and ventilation.

Jantar Mantar

- Therefore jantar mantar means literally 'calculation instrument

- The Samrat Yantra, the largest instrument, ts shadow carefully plotted to tell the time of day.

Amber Fort

- Amer Fort was built by Raja Man Singh I.

- built with red sandstone and marble consisting of the Diwan-e-Aam, the Diwan-e-Khas, the Sheesh Mahal or Jai Mandir, and the Sukh Niwas where a cool climate is artificially created

by winds that blow over the water cascade within the palace.



- At the entrance to the palace near the forts Ganesh Gate, there is also a temple dedicated to Sila Devi, a goddess of the Chaitanya cult which was given to Raja Man Singh when he

had defeated the Raja of Jessore, Bengal in 1604. called it as Sila Devi as it was carved out of one single piece of a stone slab.

- This fort, along with Jaigarh Fort, located immediately above on the Cheel ka Teela (Hill of Eagles) of the sameAravalli range of hills, is considered as one complex, as the two are well

connected by a subterranean passage. This passage was meant as an escape route

- Amer was known in the medieval period as Dhundar (got its name from the Dhund river) and ruled by the Kachwahas from the 11th century onwards between 1037 and 1727 AD, till

the capital was moved from Amer to Jaipur.

- Earlier to the Kachwahas, Amer was a small place built by [Meenas] in the town they consecrated to Amba, the Mother Goddess, whom they knew as `Gatta Rani'. Founded by

the Meena Raja Alan Singh.

- Main entry is through the Suraj Pole (Sun Gate) which leads to Jaleb Chowk. This was the place where armies would hold victory parades with their war bounty on their return from

battles. Ganesh Pol is the entry into the private palaces of the Maharajas. On the right side of the Jaleb Chowk there is a small but an elegant temple called the Sila Devi

Jaigarh

- The fort was built by Jai Singh II in 1726 to protect the Amber Fort.

- The fort features a cannon named Jaivana, which was then the world's largest cannon.

- It became one of the worlds most efficient Cannon foundry mainly due to the abundance of Iron ore mines in the vicinity of the fort. Most of those Cannons were massive mostly 16 ft

long and had to be prepared within a single day.

- Jaivana Cannon was never used in any battle. The cannon was fired only once with a charge of 100 kilograms of gunpowder and when fired covered a distance of about 35 kilometres.

The barrel is 20.19 foot (6.15 m) in length and weighs 50 tonnes. It has a diameter of 11 inches (280 mm).

City Palace

- The palace was built between 1729 and 1732, by Sawai Jai Singh II.

- It includes the Chandra Mahal and Mubarak Mahal

Sisodia Rani ka Bagh

- It is a hallmark of Sawai Jai Singh-2 love for his queen from Udaipur. The garden constructed in the year 1728 was a gift that the erstwhile founder of the Pink City gave to his beloved queen

Jal Mahal

- Jal Mahal (meaning "Water Palace") is a palace located in the middle of the Man Sagar Lake. Jal Mahal, built by Sawai Pratap Singh in 1799 in the middle of the picturesque

Mansagar Lake as a summer palace.

- It got silted up heavily thereby reducing the surface area of the lake. The silt deposited (estimated to be about 2,500,000 cubic metres) was contaminated with effluents (untreated

sewage) from the city drainage causing intense eutrophication.

- As part of the restoration effort Jal Mahal, along with Mansagar Lake was leased out in 2005 for 99 years to Jal Mahal Resorts Pvt Ltd (JMRPL) -- a firm jointly owned by Kalpatru

Group and Jaipur jeweller Navrattan Kothari and Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation (RTDC) under a public private partnership by Ashok Gehlot. The government had provided

100 acres of land and permitted reclamation of 15 acres of land from the lake for the construction of resorts and hotels for a nominal fee of Rs 2.5 crore per annum.

- But the project has courted its share of controversies delaying the ambitious multi crore tourism project. JMRPL submitted a revised plan that permit increasing the number of rooms

from 200 to 435 in two proposed hotels, claiming additional land and this grossly violates the original conditions of the contract.

- The Ashok Gehlot government is accused of reversing the previous government's restriction of 35,000 sq m of built-up area as mentioned in the bid proposal to increase it three times,

thus allowing hotel capacity to increase from 200 rooms to 435 rooms with a likely provision of one more hotel.

- Also, the developer is accused of grossly undervaluing the property at Rs 35 crore and paid up Rs 1.43 crore as stamp duty. The states Director General Stamps reassessed the

property at Rs 1,600 crore in July this year and asked the company to deposit Rs 63 crore as stamp duty which has not yet been complied with.

- Complaints about violation in construction plan in the first phase and acquiring 15,000 sq m additional land have also been made against the company.

- Compounding the matter, the Rajasthan pollution control board has mentioned in its audit report that even after the implementation of a centrally sponsored Rs 20 crore projects for

cleaning up the Mansagar Lake, the quality of the water in the lake has not improved to the desired level which contradicts the claim of the JMRPL.

- The Supreme Court will now determine the future of Jaipur's Man Sagar lake and the famed 17th century monument in its middle, Jal Mahal. The construction of a seven-star hotel and market complex spanning 100 acres of land around the monument was struck down by the Rajasthan High Court on May 17, 2012 after three PILs claimed that the Ashok Gehlot government went out of its way to approve the project, on a 435 acre area estimated to be worth Rs.15,000 crore, at an annual lease fee of Rs.2.52 crore.

- On September 4, a Supreme Court bench of Justices P. Sathasivam and Ranjan Gogoi adjourned until September 20 the hearing on an appeal against a criminal case and arrest warrants against Vinod Zutshi, who headed Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation when the project contract was signed in 2005, and Navratan Kothari of JRPL, who was represented by lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi.

- The government seemingly looked the other way as JRPLrolled out plans for massive commercial construction by reducing the lake size. Rajasthan High Court, in its May 17 verdict, had observed that work in the first phase, where 15 acres of submerged land was reclaimed and the lake's water level reduced to get another 85 acres of the lake bed, has already damaged the Man Sagar's ecosystem. The lake area has also been shrunk to ensure that commercial establishments planned in the second phase-including two 435-room hotels, 200 shops, a multiplex, mall, convention centre, bar and a wedding court-are



safe from water.

- But on August 21, 2012, the court's apprehensions were vindicated when just 177 mm of rain flooded Jaipur and outlying areas. The change in the lake basin in the first phase appears to have affected the water flow and alignment of two crucial drains, Brahmapuri and Nagtalai. As a result, the lake water began flowing in the reverse direction on August 21, the first time in four centuries. The flow razed most of the lake embankment along the Jaipur-Delhi road, submerging it eight feet under water. The road leading to Amer Fort was cut off from the walled city and thousands of houses were flooded.

- Gehlot faces allegations of having been unduly accommodating towards the company, owned by Mofatraj Munot, billionaire promoter of the Kalpataru Group, his friend of three decades. KGK Enterprises, which later became JRPL on November 10, 2004, was allowed by the government on October 17, 2003, to compete even though it had no prior experience in such projects.

Albert Hall

- fine example of Indo-Saracenic architecture. The building was designed by Sir Samuel Jacob and was opened as public museum in 1887.

- It is named after King Edward VII (Albert Edward), during whose visit to the city as the Prince of Wales, its foundation stone was laid on 6 February 1876. built by ram singh.

Govind Dev Temple

- The image of the deity (murti) was brought from Vrindavan here by Raja Sawai Jai Singh II, the founder of Jaipur. According to popular legend, Lord Krishna's image in the temple looks

exactly like Krishna's form during his incarnation on Earth.

- SHRI BAJRANABH WAS AROUND 13 YEARS OF AGE, he asked his Grand Mother(daughter-in-law of Lord Krishna) as to how Lord Shri Krishna looked like; Then He made an

image as per the description given by her. She however, said that not all but the Feet of that image looked like those of Lord Shri Krishna. He made another image, yet she said that the

Chest looked like that of Lord Shri Krishna. Thereafter, He made the Third Image and looking at the same she felt Blush and Nodded that yes that was what Lord Shri Krishna Looked

Like!!! The First One came to be known with the Name Lord "Madan Mohanji". The Second One got recognition as Lord "GOPI NATHJI". AND the Third One, The LIVE Divine Majestic

Holy Image is LORD "GOVIND DEVJI"

Galtaji

- The site consists of several temples and sacred kunds (water tanks) in which pilgrims bathe. It is believed that Saint Galav spent his life at Galtaji, practiced meditation, and did penance

- The temple is dedicated to sun god.

8 Gates

- Eight gates for entering into the walled city of Jaipur. They are namely, Ajmeri gate, New gate, Sanganeri gate, Ghat gate, Surajpole gate, Samrat gate, Zoravor Singh gate and Gangapole gate.

JLF

Asia's biggest literary festival. happening since 2006

- The Diggi Palace Hotel serves as the main venue of the festival.The festival directors are the writers Namita Gokhale and William Dalrymple and is produced by Sanjoy Roy of

Teamwork Productions. The Festival is an Initiative of the Jaipur Virasat Foundation founded by Faith Singh,

Economy

- Chief industries are metals, marble, jewelry (gold, diamond and stones), handicrafts.

- The 'Mojri' footwear is very common in Jaipur. It is made of soft camel leather and is designed and embroidered.

- The rulers of Jaipur patronized a number of arts and crafts. They also had good relations with the Mughals. They invited skilled artisans, artists and craftsmen from India and abroad. The communities settled in the city and made Jaipur their home. As a result, Jaipur is a major hub for arts and crafts.

- Blue Pottery is Turko-Persian in origin. The name 'blue pottery' comes from the eye-catching blue dye used to color the pottery No clay is used: the 'dough' for the pottery is

prepared by mixing quartz stone powder, powdered glass, Multani Mitti, borax, gum and water. Some of this pottery is semi-transparent and mostly decorated with animal and

bird motifs. Being fired at very low temperature makes them fragile. The range of items is primarily decorative. It was brought to Jaipur by Sawai Ram Singh II. The Jaipur king had sent

local artisans to Delhi to be trained in the craft. However, by the 1950s, blue pottery had all but vanished from Jaipur, when it was re-introduced through the efforts of the muralist and

painter Kripal Singh Shekhawat,[3] with the support of patron Gayatri Devi.

Demography

- According to the 2011 census Jaipur district has a population of 66,63,971. ( 10th most populous dist in india ). Jaipur District has an area of 11,152 km. Pop density 598, female ratio: 909, more than 50% urban pop.

- City pop: 36 lacs, city area: 467 sq. km. Jaipur is a metropolitan city coz pop > 1 mm. Mayor: Smt. Jyot

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