UPSC Important Topics

NON – BANKING FINANCIAL COMPANY. ✓Bank is a financial institution engaged primarily in mobilizing deposits and forwarding loans. ✓Banks are regulated by the Central bank of the country—in case of India, the RBI (Reserve Bank. ✓Another category of financial institution—the non-bank—is almost similar in its functions but main difference (though, highly simplified) being that it […]

EMERGENCY PROVISIONS ◇ The Indian Constitution contains elaborate emergency provisions to enable the President to meet any extraordinary situation effectively. ◇ The rationality behind the incorporation of these provisions is to safeguard the sovereignty, unity, integrity and security of the country, the democratic political system, and the Constitution. □ The Constitution envisages three types of

CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES ◇ The 97th Constitutional Amendment Act of 2011 gave constitutional status and protection to co-operative societies. In this context, it made the following three changes in the Constitution:  ◇  It made the right to form cooperative societies a fundamental right (Article 19). ◇  It included a new Directive Principle of State Policy on

COMPASS ◇ A compass point north because all magnets have two poles, a north pole and a south pole, and the north pole of one magnet is attracted to the south pole of another magnet. ◇ The Earth is a magnet that can interact with other magnets in this way, so the north end of

THE INNER CORE ◇ Inner core extends from the centre of the earth to 5100 km below the earth’s surface. ◇ Inner core is generally believed to be composed primarily of iron (80%) and some nickel (nife). ◇ Since this layer can transmit shear waves (transverse seismic waves), it is solid. (When P-waves strike the

THE OUTER CORE ◇ The outer core, surrounding the inner core, lies between 2900 km and 5100 km below the earth’s surface. ◇ The outer core is composed of iron mixed with nickel (nife) and trace amounts of lighter elements. ◇ The outer core is not under enough pressure to be solid, so it is

THE MANTLE ◇ It forms about 83 per cent of the earth’s volume and holds 67% of the earth’s mass. ◇  It extends from Moho’s discontinuity to a depth of 2,900 km. ◇ The density of the upper mantle varies between 2.9 g/cm3 and 3.3 g/cm3. ◇ The lower mantle extends beyond the asthenosphere. It

■ THE CRUST ◇ The crust is the outermost layer of the earth making up 0.5-1.0 percent of the earth’s volume and less than 1 per cent of Earth’s mass. ◇ Density increases with depth, and the average density is about 2.7 g/cm3 (the average density of the earth is 5.51 g/cm³). ◇ The thickness

■ INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF THE EARTH. ◇ The interior of the earth is made up of several concentric layers of which the crust, the mantle, the outer core and the inner core are significant because of their unique physical and chemical properties. ◇ The crust is a silicate solid, the mantle is a viscous molten

Stock exchanges It is a physically existing institutionalised set-up where instruments of security stock market (shares, bonds, debentures, securities, etc.) are traded. It serves the following major functions: ✓Makes a floor available to the buyers and sellers of stocks. It is the single most important institution in the secondary market for securities ✓Makes available the