India-Pakistan "Cricket Diplomacy" - Timelines

The meeting of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan's Yousuf Raza Gilani at the cricket World Cup semi-final is the latest attempt at cricket diplomacy in South Asia.     Cricket has frequently been the victim of poor relations between the neighbours, with tours blocked for years because of bad-blood, but it has also been used to build trust and confidence when ties are improving.     Here are key dates in the troubled history of India and Pakistan as well as the attempts to mend fences through the sub-continent's shared passion for cricket:         - 1947: End of...

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General Studies - RAILWAYS IN INDIA

RAILWAYS IN INDIA Overview The railway network in India is the fourth largest in the world India’s railway network transports over 6 billion passengers and 350 million tonnes of freight annually Railways in India traverse the length and breadth of the country, with about 7000 stations and total route length of over 63,000 km. About 28% of the route length has been electrified History of railways in India Extent of the railway network in India in 1909 The first railway line in the Indian subcontinent was established in Madras in 1836. The first line was established near Chintadripet Bridge on an experimental basis. In 1837, a 3.5 mile line...

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General Studies - RECENT NOTEWORTHY DEVELOPMENTS

RECENT NOTEWORTHY DEVELOPMENTS Critically Endangered Sumatran Rhino expecting calf This development is considered as a breakthrough in conservation efforts to save the Sumatran rhino from extinction The Sumatran Rhino is listed as Critically Endangered, and is mostly found in the island of Sumatra (Indonesia) The number of Sumatran rhinos have halved in the past fifteen years, with only about 200 surviving in the world today The eight year old rhino in a wildlife reserve in Sumatra is expected to give birth in May 2010. It will be the fourth Sumatran rhino calf to be born in captivity The two-horned Sumatran rhino is the smallest of the...

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General Studies - GEOGRAPHY - DESERTS

Overview A desert is a region that receives almost no rainfall. In general deserts are areas with a moisture deficit i.e. lose more moisture than receive Deserts are defined as areas with average precipitation less than 250 mm per year or where more water is lost by evaporation and transpiration than falls by precipitation Deserts are located where vegetation is sparse or nonexistent Deserts constitute about one third (33%) of the Earth’s land surface The largest desert on Earth is Antarctica Classification of deserts The world's largest deserts (excluding polar deserts) Hot deserts This is the most common form of desert They have...

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General Studies - DELHI SULTANATE

DELHI SULTANATE Overview The Delhi Sultanate was a period from the 13th to the 16th centuries when several Turkic and Afghan dynasties ruled northern India from Delhi The dynasties of the Delhi Sultanate were Mamluk dynasty (1206-1290) Khilji dynasty (1290-1320) Tughlaq dynasty (1320-1413) Sayyid dynasty (1414-1451) Lodi dynasty (1451-1526) The Delhi Sultanate was established upon the death of Muhammad Ghori in 1206 CE and was absorbed by the newly emerging Mughal Empire in 1526 CE Mamluk Dynasty Also known as the Slave Dynasty, the Mamluk dynasty was the first dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate and ruled from 1206-1290 CE The Mamluks were...

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General Studies - CIVIL AVIATION IN INDIA

Overview India is the 9th largest civil aviation market in the world The Indian civil aviation sector handles about 414,000 passengers every month. Annual passenger traffic growth is about 20% Civil aviation in India falls under the purview of the Ministry of Civil Aviation Civil aviation is regulated under the Aircraft Act 1934 and Aircraft Rules 1937 The oldest airport in the country is the Nagpur airport The oldest airline in India was Tata Airlines, founded in 1932. It was re-named as Air India in 1946 The first airline service in India was by Tata Airlines in 1932, flying mail from Karachi...

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Tips for IAS Exams

1. Be very particular about the subject you choose for prelims, as you will be appearing for an objective type of paper. History, maths, geography may prove to be very scoring. Choose subjects which have availability of books, reading material and guidance. In recent years engineering subjects like civil and electrical can be chosen, giving BEs and IITians an edge (yes! even here they are giving the BAs and BScs a tough fight!) 2. G.K. will definitely pay in your prelims. Reading newspapers, watching TV news and of course quiz shows like KBC is a must. 3. If you have been lucky enough to reach the interview stage book knowledge may not...

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IAS Papers : Method of Making Notes

There are different methods of making notes and one should decide which method suits you the best. There are two types of making notes, one is the LINEAR NOTES and the other PATTERN NOTES. Linear Notes Let us start with Linear notes first, it is a method in which you condense the material you have read using headings and sub headings and jotting down the most important points. This method works best when making notes from a book where the material is already properly organized. But one disadvantage of this method is that you end up copying a lot of material from the book which defeats the very purpose of condensing. The right...

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POST-MAURYAN PERIOD (20BC - 300AD)

ECONOMY AND SOCIETY In the post-Mauryan era (200 BC. To 300 A.D.) the economy moved at an accelerated tempo. Society witnessed structural reorientation as significant groups of foreigners penetrated into India and chose to be identified with the rest of the community. The occupation of craftsmen was an important segement of the day's socio-economic milieu. The craftsment were not only associated with the towns but also villages like Karimnagar in the Telengana region of Andhra Pradesh. The categories of craftsmen who were known in this period bear out the truth that there was considerable specialization in mining and metallurgy. A...

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