There is a change in pattern of marking. There are 10 questions carrying 10 marks each and has to be written in 150 words (First 10 questions) and the there are 10 questions carrying 15 marks each and has to be written in 250 words.
1)How do you justify the view that the level of excellence of the Gupta numismatics art is not at all noticeable in later times. (150 words-10 Mark)
2)Clarify how mid-eighteenth century India was beset with the spectre of a fragmented polity. (150 words-10 Mark)
3)Why did “moderates” fail to carry conviction with the nation about their proclaimed strategy and political goals by the end of nineteenth century. (150 words-10 Mark)
4)What problems were germane to the decolonization process in the Malay Peninsula ? (150 words-10 Mark)
5)How does Juno Mission of NASA help to understand the origin and evolution of earth ? (150 words-10 Mark)
6)”In spite of adverse environmental impact, coal mining is still inevitable for development.” Discuss. (150 words-10 Mark)
7) Mention advantages of cultivation of pulses because of which the year 2016 was declared as the International Year of Pulses by the United Nations. (150 words-10 Mark)
8)How does cryosphere affect global climate ? (150 words-10 Mark)
9) In the context of diversity of India, can it be said that the regions form cultural units rather than the states? Give reasons with examples for your viewpoint. (150 words-10 Mark)
10)What are the two major legal initiatives of state since independence, addressing discrimination against Scheduled Tribes ? (150 words-10 Mark)
11) The spirit of tolerance and love is not only an interesting feature of Indian society from very early times, but it is also playing an important part at present. Elaborate. (250 words-15 Mark)
12)Examine how decline of traditional artisan industry in colonial India crippled the rural economy. (250 words-15 marks)
13)Highlight the importance the new objectives that got added to the vision of Indian independence since the twenties of the last century. (250 words-15 marks)
14)Account for variation in ocean salinity and discuss the multi-dimensional effects. (250 words-15 marks)
15)Petroleum refineries are not necessarily located near to crude oil producing areas, particularly in many developing countries. Explain its implications. (250 words-15 marks)
16)In what ways can floods be converted into sustainable source of irrigation and all-weather inland navigation in India ? (250 words-15 marks)
17) What characteristics can be assigned to monsoon climate that succeeds in feeding more than 50% of the world population residing in Monsoon Asia ? (250 words-15 marks)
18)The Women’s question arose in modern India’s a part of the 19th century social reform movement. What were the major issues and debates concerning women in that period ? (250 words-15 marks)
19) Distinguish between religiousnesss/religiosity and communalism giving one example of how the former got transformed into latter in independent India (250 words-15 marks)
20)”The growth of cities as I.T. hubs has opened up new avenues of employment, but has also created new problems”. Substantiate this statement with example.(250 words-15 marks)
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Petrol in India is cheaper than in countries like Hong Kong, Germany and the UK but costlier than in China, Brazil, Japan, the US, Russia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, a Bank of Baroda Economics Research report showed.
Rising fuel prices in India have led to considerable debate on which government, state or central, should be lowering their taxes to keep prices under control.
The rise in fuel prices is mainly due to the global price of crude oil (raw material for making petrol and diesel) going up. Further, a stronger dollar has added to the cost of crude oil.
Amongst comparable countries (per capita wise), prices in India are higher than those in Vietnam, Kenya, Ukraine, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Venezuela. Countries that are major oil producers have much lower prices.
In the report, the Philippines has a comparable petrol price but has a per capita income higher than India by over 50 per cent.
Countries which have a lower per capita income like Kenya, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Venezuela have much lower prices of petrol and hence are impacted less than India.
“Therefore there is still a strong case for the government to consider lowering the taxes on fuel to protect the interest of the people,” the report argued.
India is the world’s third-biggest oil consuming and importing nation. It imports 85 per cent of its oil needs and so prices retail fuel at import parity rates.
With the global surge in energy prices, the cost of producing petrol, diesel and other petroleum products also went up for oil companies in India.
They raised petrol and diesel prices by Rs 10 a litre in just over a fortnight beginning March 22 but hit a pause button soon after as the move faced criticism and the opposition parties asked the government to cut taxes instead.
India imports most of its oil from a group of countries called the ‘OPEC +’ (i.e, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Russia, etc), which produces 40% of the world’s crude oil.
As they have the power to dictate fuel supply and prices, their decision of limiting the global supply reduces supply in India, thus raising prices
The government charges about 167% tax (excise) on petrol and 129% on diesel as compared to US (20%), UK (62%), Italy and Germany (65%).
The abominable excise duty is 2/3rd of the cost, and the base price, dealer commission and freight form the rest.
Here is an approximate break-up (in Rs):
a)Base Price | 39 |
b)Freight | 0.34 |
c) Price Charged to Dealers = (a+b) | 39.34 |
d) Excise Duty | 40.17 |
e) Dealer Commission | 4.68 |
f) VAT | 25.35 |
g) Retail Selling Price | 109.54 |
Looked closely, much of the cost of petrol and diesel is due to higher tax rate by govt, specifically excise duty.
So the question is why government is not reducing the prices ?
India, being a developing country, it does require gigantic amount of funding for its infrastructure projects as well as welfare schemes.
However, we as a society is yet to be tax-compliant. Many people evade the direct tax and that’s the reason why govt’s hands are tied. Govt. needs the money to fund various programs and at the same time it is not generating enough revenue from direct taxes.
That’s the reason why, govt is bumping up its revenue through higher indirect taxes such as GST or excise duty as in the case of petrol and diesel.
Direct taxes are progressive as it taxes according to an individuals’ income however indirect tax such as excise duty or GST are regressive in the sense that the poorest of the poor and richest of the rich have to pay the same amount.
Does not matter, if you are an auto-driver or owner of a Mercedes, end of the day both pay the same price for petrol/diesel-that’s why it is regressive in nature.
But unlike direct tax where tax evasion is rampant, indirect tax can not be evaded due to their very nature and as long as huge no of Indians keep evading direct taxes, indirect tax such as excise duty will be difficult for the govt to reduce, because it may reduce the revenue and hamper may programs of the govt.