PCS Officers training manual as per Govt of Punjab

Qualified foreign Investors get direct entry

Who are qualified foreign investors?

Qualified foreign investors, or QFIs, can be individuals, groups or associations based abroad who are allowed by the government to invest directly in mutual funds and stocks of Indian companies.

Last year, the government opened a new window for this class of investors to buy into Indian mutual funds directly. It has now gone one step further and allowed them to buy into stocks, too, just like registered foreign institutional investors or nonresident Indians, or NRIs.

Are QFIS a separate class of foreign investors compared to FIIs?

Qualified Foreign Investors will be distinct from foreign portfolio investors and non-resident Indians. A QFI can, for instance, be a foreign individual investor in Singapore or Russia, who can buy into stocks of a Tata groupcompany or Coal India or any other listed stock after fulfilling the Know Your Customer norms through an Indian depository participant and obtaining the approval of the RBI.

QFIs can buy up to 5% of the paid-up capital of a company, with the overall limit capped at 10% in a company. And these investment limits are separate or over and above that for FIIs and NRIs.

How does it help by opening up the markets to one more category of investors?

Indian policy makers reckon that a diverse set of investors in the local markets will help ensure more capital inflows, reduce market volatility and deepen the markets. It would also mean facilitating the entry of a set of relatively wealthy investors who could not access the Indian markets as there were regulatory restrictions on their entry.

For a long time, the government and regulators kept foreign individual investors at bay owing to concerns relating to money laundering and due diligence. With restrictions in place, foreign individual investors had to either buy into Indian stocks through Participatory Notes, or PNs, or invest in India-focused offshore funds.

By allowing a new set of investors, the government and regulators are hoping that it will lead to more inflows at a time when capital inflows have virtually dried up

What is Fiscal Cliff?

What is Fiscal Cliff?

The phrase "fiscal cliff" was first used by Fed chairman Ben Bernanke to refer to the combination of tax increases and spending cuts that would come into effect at the end of the year. Here's a look at the possible consequences:

What impact will the fiscal cliff have?

A number of tax cuts, including Bush-era tax cuts, and unemployment benefits will expire almost together at the year-end. The result would be a drop in government spending and lower disposable incomes.

These tax benefits and higher government spending had supported the economic recovery at a time when private sector demand was low.

Expiry of tax benefits and lower government spending would help reduce the federal budget deficit but could temporarily arrest economic recovery, possibly even driving the US into a recession during the first half of the next year.

What does it imply for the rest of the world?

The current fiscal policy in the US has raised concerns over the country's long term fiscal stability and solvency. The increase in taxes and lower government spending are part of the solution.

But if the tax increases and spending cuts are allowed, the resulting recessionary climate would then cloud the prospects of even the fastest-growing economies, China and India.

Why is it a big talking point now?

It has become a big issue because the US presidential elections are due in November, which will leave little time for the new president to take appropriate action. Also, due to political reasons neither party in the US is backing down from its demands.

While the Dems want a combo of tax increases and some benefits, the Republicans want tax cuts coupled with benefit reductions.

So what is the alternative?

The two parties could arrive at a compromise before the elections start, which could calm financial markets. But so far they haven't shown any inclination to talk; probably both are waiting to see who will have more negotiating leverage 

Why does a power grid fail?

What is an electricity grid?

It is a network of power lines that evacuates electricity from a generating station. Its constituents are generating stations, transmission lines and substations (transformers that step down voltage). India's electricity grid is divided into five regional zones — north, east, west, south and north-east —to optimally utilise the unevenly distributed power resources in the country.

How does it function?

States in each region communicate their electricity drawl schedule to their respective load dispatch centers, which monitor grid frequency and voltage. The grid operates in a narrow frequency band of 49.5Hz to 50.2Hz. The grid frequency falls when there is excess drawl of electricity or the generation is less and increases when there is excess supply or the drawal is less.

When does a grid collapse?

A grid collapses when the frequency falls below the lower limit of the (49.5-50.2Hz) band or increases beyond the upper limit. As a result, transmission lines stop accepting power supply and other grid constituents, including the generating stations, go offline.

How is power restored?

Restoration of power is an extensive process involving all the grid constituents: the grid management authorities start restoring the transmission lines and simultaneously make alternative arrangements for power supply. Generating stations are restarted. Among all power projects, coal-based plants take the longest to resume operations.

How is the fault determined?This is a tough task as the authorities have to go through the details of per-second consumption and supply by each constituent of the grid at the time of the collapse. As a routine exercise, the regional load dispatch center authorities keep warning states and regulatory authorities at regular intervals about possible failure due to excess or lower drawl of power.

VARIOUS TYPE OF TAXES

Taxes come in various shapes and sizes, but primarily fit into two little slots.

DIRECT TAX

This is the tax that you, I (and India Inc) directly pay to the govern-ment for our income and wealth. So income tax, wealth tax, and STT are all direct taxes.

INDIRECT TAX

This one's a double whammy: It's essentially a tax on our expenditure, and includes customs, excise and service tax. It's not just you who thinks this isn't fair - governments too consider this tax 'regressive', as it doesn't check whether you're rich or poor. You spend, you pay. That's precisely why most governments aim to raise more through direct taxes.

MAKING YOU PAY

The various taxes that the government levies

CORPORATION (CORPORATE) TAX

It's the tax that India Inc pays on its profits.

TAXES ON INCOME OTHER THAN CORPORATION TAX

It's income-tax paid by 'non-corporate assessees' — people like us.

FRINGE BENEFIT TAX (FBT)

No free lunches here. If you want the jam with the bread and butter, you'd better pay for it. In the 2005-06 Budget, the government de-cided to tax all perks — what is calls the 'fringe benefit' — given to employees. No longer could companies get away with saying 'ordinary business expenses' and escape tax when they actually gave out club memberships to their employees. Employers have to now pay a tax (FBT) on a percentage of the expense incurred on such perquisites.

SECURITIES TRANSACTION TAX (STT)

If you're dealing in shares or mutual funds , you have to loosen those purse strings a wee bit too. STT is a small tax you need to pay on the total amount you pay or receive in a share deal. In the 2004-05 Budget, the government did away with the tax on profits earned on the sale of shares held for over a year (known as long-term capital gains tax) and replaced it with STT.

CUSTOMS

Anything you bring home from across the seas comes with a price. By levying a tax on imports, the government's firing on two fronts: it's filling its coffers and protecting Indian industry.

UNION EXCISE DUTY

Made in India? Either way, there's no escape. In other words, this is a duty imposed on goods manufactured in the country.

SERVICE TAX

If you text your friend a hundredtimes a day, or can't do with-out the coiffeured look at the neighbourhood salon, your monthly bill will show up a little charge for the services you use. It is a tax on services rendered.

Pattern and Structure of examination

The Structure of the Examination

It consists of two successive stages.

1. Civil services Preliminary Examination (Objective Type) for the selection of candidates for the Main Examination.
2. Civil Services Main Examination (Written & Interview) for the selection of candidates for the various services and posts such as Indian Administrative Services.

Preliminary Examination it consists of two papers of objective type. Two papers are

1. General Studies for 200 marks.
2. Civil Services Aptitude Test ( CSAT ) for 200 Marks. Total it consists of 400 marks.

Main Examination

The second and most crucial stage of selThe UPSC interview test for Civil Services Exam is third and final lap of three parts process to evaluate the administrative potential of the candidates in order to find their suitability for joining one of the civil services

ection is the main examination. The number of candidates admitted to the main examination is roughly around 11 to 12 times of approx. number of vacancies existing in a year. It consists of following nine papers

1. 1^st Paper: One of the Indian languages to be selected by candidates from the languages included in the eighth schedule of the constitution.
2. 2^nd Paper: English language paper too is compulsory and is of matriculation standard and qualifying in nature.
3. 3^rd Paper: This is compulsory Essay paper.
4. 4^th & 5^th Paper: These are two various papers on various segments of General studies.
5. 6^th & 7^th Paper: Two papers of chosen first optional subject.
6. 8^th & 9^th Paper: likewise two papers of second optional subject.
7. Total main examination consists of 2000 marks.

Interview Test

The UPSC interview test for Civil Services Exam is third and final lap of three parts process to evaluate the administrative potential of the candidates in order to find their suitability for joining one of the civil services

PCS EXAMINATION is same in all aspects ,only the marks for every paper are 100 each and total marks for mains is 900 marks.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)

Q1. I am a beginner. From where can I get knowledge about this exam?
Ans. Please visit http://upsc.gov.in/exams/notifications/csp2010/notcvl.htm#PageTop for All India civil services exam(ias,ips etc).For punjab state civil services please visit http://ppsc.gov.in 

Q2. How should I decide about my optionals?
Ans. Interest and aptitude should be the foremost criteria for deciding the optionals. If you are comfortable in your graduation subject go ahead with it. Carefully look at the syllabus, previous year papers and some basic text books of that subject before deciding.

Q3. How much time should I devote daily?
Ans. I would say you should try to utilize every moment if you are preparing for this exam. But do not take too much stress. I used to study regularly for 10-12 hours. A couple of weeks before the main exams, I increased that to 14-15 hours.

Q4. Which newspaper/magazine should I read?
Ans. The Hindu is a very good newspaper for all stages of the exam. I did not refer to any magazine for the Mains exam. They are irrelevant if newspapers are followed regularly.

Q5. What books I should follow for GS?
Ans. This will be discussed in detail in a separate article.

Q6. How should I manage time for both the optionals and GS?
Ans. One should allocate the available time (from day1 till exam date) in weeks/months among the optionals and GS on the basis of extent and difficulty of syllabus as well as her confidence level. Try to study GS on a daily basis. For optional I followed the cycle Optional I-Paper I -> Optional II-Paper I -> Optional I-Paper II -> Optional II-Paper II -> Revision in the same order. One can follow any pattern according to her comfort level.

Q7. Do I need to make notes?

Ans. It is a personal choice. Ideally one should have a mixture of notes and underlining. I did not have the habit of preparing notes, and preferred underlining. But one should have regular practice of answer writing.

Q8. How much time should I devote to the newspaper?
Ans. During initial days it is natural to devote more time to newspaper. But one should be selective. For example, during later days in the preparation I devoted half-hour only. I will cover in GS article what I used to read in a newspaper.

Q9. Should I go for selective or exhaustive study?
Ans. I went for exhaustive study. But if time does not permit one can go for selective study.

Q10. Do I need to attend coaching?
Ans. There are both pros and cons of joining coaching. For me cons were: It would affect my study schedule, my independent thinking, risk of getting bad teachers and thereby wasting time and money. However they might be helpful if one is totally new to a particular subject. I did not join any classroom coaching or mock interview for any subject for CSE-2009.

In subsequent articles, I will be talking about all exam-related issues in more detail.

Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline (TAPI)

The Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline (TAP or TAPI) is a proposed natural gas pipeline being developed by the Asian Development Bank.The pipeline will transport Caspian Sea natural gas from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan into Pakistan and then to India. The abbreviation comes from the first letters of those countries. Proponents of the project see it as a modern continuation of the Silk Road. The Afghan government is expected to receive 8% of the project's revenue.GAIL India may became a part of TAPI project.

Route

The 1,735 kilometres (1,078 mi) pipeline will run from the Turkmenistan gas fields to Afghanistan. Most of sources reports that the pipeline will start from the Dauletabad gas field while some other sources say that it will start from the Iolotan gas field.

In Afghanistan, the TAPI will be constructed alongside the highway running from Herat to Kandahar, and then via Quetta and Multan in Pakistan. The final destination of the pipeline will be the Indian town of Fazilka, near the border between Pakistan and India.

For security reasons, the Asian Development Bank had proposed alternative routes in Afghanistan. One alternative was through Taskepri in Turkmenistan to Shebarghan and then through Balakh, Mazar-i-Sharif, Samangan, Kabul and Jalalabad in Afghanistan, and Peshawar, Nowshera, Islamabad and Lahore in Pakistan to India. Another alternative was a route through Serhetabat, Shindand, Delaram, Kandahar, Quetta, Lora Lai, Dera Ghazi Khan and Multan anf finally to FAZILKA (PUNJAB INDIA).

Technical features

The pipeline will be 1,420 millimetres (56 in) in diameter with a working pressure of 100 standard atmospheres (10,000 kPa).^[13] The initial capacity will be 27 billion cubic metres (950 billion cubic feet) of natural gas per year of which 2 billion cubic metres (71 billion cubic feet) will be provided to Afghanistan and 12.5 billion cubic metres (440 billion cubic feet) to each Pakistan and India. Later the capacity will increase to 33 billion cubic metres (1.2 trillion cubic feet).^[17] Six compressor stations would be constructed along the pipeline.^[13] The pipeline was expected to be operational by 2014.^[18]

The cost of the pipeline is estimated cost at US$7.6 billion.^[10] The Asian Development Bank has played a leading role in coordinating and facilitating the TAPI negotiation process. The four TAPI nations must still attract commercial partners to build, finance, and operate the pipeline, estimated in 2008 to cost at least $7.6 billion.^[19]

ISSUES(CHALLENGES)

1) REMANANTS OF DISRUPTIVE TALIBAN IN AFHANISTAN AND HOSTILE PAKISTAN INCREASES CONCERN ABPOT SECURITY OF THE PIPLINE

2)ITS USA SUPPORTED INTIATIVE TO BYPASS IRAN AND CONTAIN CHINA,(REGIONAL STABILITY CHALLENGED)

3)COST OF PIPELINE PROJECT,THE DIVISIONS OF TRANSPOT FEES AND AMOUNT OF NATURAL GAS,TIME FRAME OF PROJECT COMPLETION AND THE DIFFICULT TERRAIN ARE THE OTHER MAJOR ISSUES.

MGNREGA (Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Gurantee Act)

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is an Indian job guarantee scheme, enacted by legislation on August 25, 2005. The scheme provides a legal guarantee for one hundred days of employment in every financial year to adult members of any rural household willing to do public work-related unskilled manual work at the statutory minimum wage of 120 (US$2.39) per day in 2009 prices. The Central government outlay for scheme is 40,000 crore (US$7.98 billion) in FY 2010–11.

This act was introduced with an aim of improving the purchasing power of the rural people, primarily semi or un-skilled work to people living in rural India, whether or not they are below the poverty line. Around one-third of the stipulated work force is women. The law was initially called the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) but was renamed on 2 October 2009.

Works/Activities

The MGNREGA achieves twin objectives of rural development and employment. The MGNREGA stipulates that works must be targeted towards a set of specific rural development activities such as: water conservation and harvesting, afforestation, rural connectivity, flood control and protection such as construction and repair of embankments, etc. Digging of new tanks/ponds, percolation tanks and construction of small check dams are also given importance. The employers are given work such as land leveling, tree plantation, etc. First a proposal is given by the Panchayat to the Block Office and then the Block Office decides whether the work should be sanctioned.In Rangareddy district manchal mandal the dry land horticulture and plantation of trees on the bunds of the fields taken up under MGVN programme is taken up in a big way.

The plan

The act directs state governments to implement MGNREGA "schemes". Under the MGNREGA the Central Government meets the cost towards the payment of wage, 3/4 of material cost and some percentage of administrative cost. State Governments meet the cost of unemployment allowance, 1/4 of material cost and administrative cost of State council. Since the State Governments pay the unemployment allowance, they are heavily incentivized to offer employment to workers.

However, it is up to the State Government to decide the amount of unemployment allowance, subject to the stipulation that it not be less than 1/4 the minimum wage for the first 30 days, and not less than 1/2 the minimum wage thereafter. 100 days of employment (or unemployment allowance) per household must be provided to able and willing workers every financial year.

Provisions under NREGA

• Adult members of a rural household, willing to do unskilled manual work, are required to make registration in writing or orally to the local Gram Panchayat
• The Gram Panchayat after due verification will issue a Job Card. The Job Card will bear the photograph of all adult members of the household willing to work under NREGA and is free of cost.
• The Job Card should be issued within 15 days of application.
• A Job Card holder may submit a written application for employment to the Gram Panchayat, stating the time and duration for which work is sought. The minimum days of employment have to be at least fourteen.
• The Gram Panchayat will issue a dated receipt of the written application for employment, against which the guarantee of providing employment within 15 days operates
• Employment will be given within 15 days of application for work, if it is not then daily unemployment allowance as per the Act, has to be paid liability of payment of unemployment allowance is of the States.
• Work should ordinarily be provided within 5 km radius of the village. In case work is provided beyond 5 km, extra wages of 10% are payable to meet additional transportation and living expenses
• Wages are to be paid according to the Minimum Wages Act 1948 for agricultural labourers in the State, unless the Centre notices a wage rate which will not be less than 60 (US$1.2) per day. Equal wages will be provided to both men and women.

Note: The original version of the Act was passed with Rs 60/ day as the minimum wage that needs to be paid under NREGA. However, a lot of states in India already have wage regulations with minimum wages set at more than 100 (US$2) per day. NREGA's minimum wage has since been changed to 130 (US$2.59) per day.

• Wages are to be paid according to piece rate or daily rate. Disbursement of wages has to be done on weekly basis and not beyond a fortnight in any case.
• At least one-third beneficiaries shall be women who have registered and requested work under the scheme.
• Work site facilities such as crèche, drinking water, shade have to be provided
• The shelf of project for a village will be recommended by the gram sabha and approved by the zilla panchayat.
• At least 50% of works will be allotted to Gram Panchayats for execution
• Permissible works predominantly include water and soil conservation, afforestation and land development works
• A 60:40 wage and material ratio has to be maintained. No contractors and machinery is allowed
• The Central Govt. bears the 100 percent wage cost of unskilled manual labour and 75 percent of the material cost including the wages of skilled and semi skilled workers
• Social Audit has to be done by the Gram Sabha
• Grievance redressal mechanisms have to be put in place for ensuring a responsive implementation process
• All accounts and records relating to the Scheme should be available

• for public scrutiny

History

MNREGA was launched on February 2, 2006 from Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh and initially covered 200 "poorest" districts of the country. The Act was implemented in phased manner – 130 districts were added in 2007–08. With its spread over 625 districts across the country, the flagship program of the UPA Government has the potential to increase the purchasing power of rural poor, reduce distress migration and to create useful assets in rural India. Also, it can foster social and gender equality as 23% workers under the scheme are Scheduled Castes, 17% Scheduled Tribes and 50% women. In 2010–11, 41 million households were employed on NREGA worksites.

Criticisms

Many criticisms have been levelled at the programme, which has been argued to be no more effective than other poverty reduction programs in India. The program is beset with controversy about corrupt officials, deficit financing as the source of funds for the program, poor implementation, and unintended destructive effect on poverty. A 2008 report claimed the state of Rajasthan as an exception wherein the rural population was well informed of their rights and about half of the population had gained an income from the entitlement program.^[11] However, a 2011 WSJ report claims that the program has been a failure. Even in Rajasthan, despite years of spending and the creation of government mandated unskilled rural work, no major roads have been built, no new homes, schools or hospitals or any infrastructure to speak of has resulted from the program.

At national level, a key criticism is corruption. Workers hired under the MGNREGA program say they are frequently not paid in full or forced to pay bribes to get jobs, and aren't learning any new skills that could 

improve their long-term prospects and break the cycle of poverty. There are also claims of fictitious laborers and job cards by corrupt officials causing so called leakage in program spending.

Another important criticism is the poor quality of public works schemes' completed product. In a February 2012 interview, Jairam Ramesh, the Minister of Rural Development for the central government of India, admitted that the roads and irrigation canals built by unskilled labor under this program are of very poor quality and wash away with any significant rains. Villagers simply dig new irrigation pits every time one is washed away in the monsoons. The completed works do not add to the desperately needed rural infrastructure.^[12][5]

Another criticism is financial. The MGNREGA programme spent US$ 9 billion in the 2011 fiscal year according to official data. Economists have raised some concerns about the sustainability of this subsidy scheme – India’s fiscal deficit is expected to reach 5.6 per cent of GDP this year, compared with 5.1 per cent last year. The MGNREGA program has been found to distort labor markets and has helped — along with fuel and fertilizer subsidies — to balloon India's federal fiscal deficit.^[13][14]

Yet another criticism is the unintended effect of MGNREGA in terms of skill growth. A review published by India in September 2011 conceded that the lack of skilled technicians at almost every site under MGNREGA program, along with rules banning the use of machinery or contractors (labour is usually by shovel). Such bureaucratic regulations mean that the labourers learn no new skill, and that the ponds, roads, drains, dams and other assets built with manual labour are often of wretched quality. The idea behind MGNREGA program is to create as many jobs as possible for unskilled workers. But in practice, say critics, it means no one learns new skills, only basic projects get completed and the poor stay poor — dependent on government checks.

A multi-crore fraud has also been suspected where many people who have been issued the NREGA card are either employed with other Government Jobs or are not even aware that they have a Job Card. The productivity of laborers involved under NREGA is considered to be lower because of the fact that laborers consider it as a better alternative to working under major projects. There is criticism from construction companies that NREGA has affected the availability of labor as laborers prefer to working under NREGA to working under construction projects. ^[15]

It is also widely criticized that NREGA has contributed to farm labour shortage. In July 2011, the government has advised the states to suspend the NREGA programme during peak farming periods.

The National Advisory Committee(NAC) advocated the government for NREGA wages linkage with statutory minimum wages which is under Minimum wages act as NREGA workers get only Rs100 per day.

NRHM (National Rural Health Mission)

National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) is an Indian health program for improving health care delivery across rural India. The mission, initially mooted for 7 years (2005-2012), is run by the Ministry of Health. The scheme proposes a number of new mechanisms for healthcare delivery including training local residents asAccredited Social Health Activists (ASHA),^[1] and the Janani Surakshay Yojana (motherhood protection program). It also aims at improving hygiene and sanitationinfrastructure.^[2] Noted economists Ajay Mahal and Bibek Debroy have called it "the most ambitious rural health initiative ever".^[3]

The mission has a special focus on 18 states Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Mizoram,Meghalaya, Madhya Pradesh, Nagaland, Orissa, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttarkhand and Uttar Pradesh.

Under the mission, health funding had increased from 27,700 crores in 2004-05 to 39,000 crores in 2005-06 (from 0.95% of GDP to 1.05%).^[4] As of 2009, economists noted that "the mid-term appraisal of the NRHM has found that there has been a significant improvement in health indicators even in this short period".^[3]However, in many situations, the state level apparatus have not been able to deploy the additional funds, often owing to inadequacies in the Panchayati Raj functioning. Fund utilization in many states is around 70%.^[3]

The largest programm under NRHM, covering India's most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, has been clouded by a large-scale corruption scandal in which two apex health officials have been murdered.^[5] The state government headed by Chief Minister Mayawati has been accused of fraud to the tune of Rs. 10,000 crores (USD2 billion).

Health status and problem in India

India is 2nd most populous country in the world having 1,210,193,422 people as of 1 march 2012. It shares almost 18% of the world population and has increased its population by 181 million in a decade. By 2030 India will overtake china in population. Increase in population will have great stress on economy, providing nutrition and will also affect overall health status of the country.^[8]

Life expectancy

Its very notable that their occurs a bridge in overall socioeconomic and health status between urban and rural population of India and even between the states. Healthy life expectancy at birth in India was estimated to be 53.5 in 2002. This was 53.3 for males and 53.6 for females Life expectancy at birth has increased for male and female in India. It is 64.1 years for males and 65.8 years for females (2005). This has revealed the decrease in death rate and the better improvement of quantity and quality health services in India. However, there are inter-state, inter-district and rural-urban differences in life expectancy at birth due to low literacy, differential income levels and socioeconomic conditions and beliefs. In Kerala, a person at birth is expected to live for 73 years while in states like Bihar, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, etc, the expectancy is in the range of 55–60 years.^[9]

Mortality

A diverse set of factors are thought to be associated with maternal mortality: factors that influence delays in deciding to seek medical care, in reaching a place where care is available, and in receiving appropriate care. The tenth plan document of India has targeted to reduce the IMR to 45 per 1000 live births by 2007 and 28 per 1000 live births by 2012. The main causes of high MMR being socio­economic status of women, inadequate antenatal care, the low proportion of institutional deliveries|birth, and the non-availability of skilled birth attendants in two-thirds of cases. A World Health Report (1999) gives the main causes of death in India as non­communicable diseases (48 percent), communicable diseases (42 percent) and injuries (10 percent). The dominant communicable diseases are infectious and parasitic diseases, respiratory diseases, maternal conditions, perinatal conditions and nutritional deficiencies. Non-communicable diseases are malignant neoplasm, diabetes mellitus, neuropsychiatric disorders, sense organ disorders,cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, digestive diseases, musculo-skeletal diseases, congenital anomalies, oral diseases and other non-communicable diseases^[10]

Morbidity

NFHS-II (National Family Health Survey-II,http://www.nfhsindia.org/) conducted a study on four major diseases prevailing in India, i.e., asthma, tuberculosis, jaundice, malaria. In India around 2,468 persons per 

100,000 populations were reported to be suffering from asthma at the time of survey. The prevalence of asthma is high in rural areas than in urban areas and is slightly higher in males than in females. The overall prevalence of tuberculosis in India is 544 per 100,000 populations. This is 16 percent higher than the survey done by NFHS-I (467 per 100,000). It is more in case of rural areas than in urban areas and more for male than females. It is more in males because of males are in contact with more people who might have TB and smoking is more in men. The prevalence of TB increases with age. Jaundice cases were reported to be 1361 persons per 100,000 populations. This is more prevalent in rural areas than in urban areas. However, it decreases with age. Thus, highest numbers of jaundice patients are in the age of 0-14. 3,697 persons per 100,000 populations were reported to have suffered from malaria. People of rural area suffer twice than that of urban area and it is slightly high for males than for females. All these diseases however vary and differ from state to state depending on the climate and geographical locations of the areas^[10]

Disability

4 to 14 million people are blind, 3.2 million people with hearing impairment, 16 million people are affected by locomotor disabilities and 3 percent of India's children are mentally retarded. The government of India has policies related for the disabled, rehabilitation schemes, grant-­in-aid schemes and schemes run through NGOs.

According to ICMR (Indian council of Medical Research), cataract is the main cause of 55 percent of blindness. The major causes of blindness as seen in the survey conducted by the National Programme for Control of Blindness (NCB), included cataract, refractive errors, corneal opacity, glaucoma, trachoma and vitamin A deficiency.^[10]

Objectives and aims

The overall aim of the Program is to strengthen and improve the whole public health delivery and health of the rural sector. NRHM tries to improve the monitoring and planning process involved within health care. NRHM also aims to bring private sectors to help in the rural health^[3]

STEM CELL

Stem cells are biological cells found in all multicellular organisms, that can divide (through mitosis) and differentiate into diverse specialized cell types and can self-renew to produce more stem cells. In mammals, there are two broad types of stem cells: embryonic stem cells, which are isolated from the inner cell mass of blastocysts, and adult stem cells, which are found in various tissues. In adult organisms, stem cells and progenitor cells act as a repair system for the body, replenishing adult tissues. In a developing embryo, stem cells can differentiate into all the specialized cells (these are called pluripotent cells), but also maintain the normal turnover of regenerative organs, such as blood, skin, or intestinal tissues.

There are three sources of autologous adult stem cells: 1) Bone marrow, which requires extraction by harvesting, that is, drilling into bone (typically thefemur or iliac crest), 2) Adipose tissue (lipid cells), which requires extraction by liposuction, and 3) Blood, which requires extraction through pheresis, wherein blood is drawn from the donor (similar to a blood donation), passed through a machine that extracts the stem cells and returns other portions of the blood to the donor. Stem cells can also be taken from umbilical cord blood. Of all stem cell types, autologous harvesting involves the least risk. By definition, autologous cells are obtained from one's own body, just as one may bank his or her own blood for elective surgical procedures.

Highly plastic adult stem cells are routinely used in medical therapies, for example bone marrow transplantation. Stem cells can now be artificially grown and transformed (differentiated) into specialized cell types with characteristics consistent with cells of various tissues such as muscles or nerves through cell culture. Embryonic cell lines and autologous embryonic stem cells generated through therapeutic cloning have also been proposed as promising candidates for future therapies.^[1] Research into stem cells grew out of findings by Ernest A. McCulloch and James E. Till at the University of Toronto in the 1960s.^[2][3]

Properties

The classical definition of a stem cell requires that it possess two properties:

• Self-renewal: the ability to go through numerous cycles of cell division while maintaining the undifferentiated state.
• Potency: the capacity to differentiate into specialized cell types. In the strictest sense, this requires stem cells to be either totipotent or pluripotent—to be able to give rise to any mature cell type, althoughmultipotent or unipotent progenitor cells are sometimes referred to as stem cells. Apart from this it is said that stem cell function is regulated in a feed back mechanism.

Self-renewal

Two mechanisms to ensure that a stem cell population is maintained exist:

1. Obligatory asymmetric replication: a stem cell divides into one father cell that is identical to the original stem cell, and another daughter cell that is differentiated
2. Stochastic differentiation: when one stem cell develops into two differentiated daughter cells, another stem cell undergoes mitosis and produces two stem cells identical to the original.

Potency definitions

otency specifies the differentiation potential (the potential to differentiate into different cell types) of the stem cell.^[4]

• Totipotent (a.k.a. omnipotent) stem cells can differentiate into embryonic and extraembryonic cell types. Such cells can construct a complete, viable organism.^[4] These cells are produced from the fusion of an egg and sperm cell. Cells produced by the first few divisions of the fertilized egg are also totipotent.^[5]
• Pluripotent stem cells are the descendants of totipotent cells and can differentiate into nearly all cells,^[4] i.e. cells derived from any of the three germ layers.^[6]
• Multipotent stem cells can differentiate into a number of cells, but only those of a closely related family of cells.^[4]
• Oligopotent stem cells can differentiate into only a few cells, such as lymphoid or myeloid stem cells.^[4]
• Unipotent cells can produce only one cell type, their own,^[4] but have the property of self-renewal, which distinguishes them from non-stem cells (e.g., muscle stem cells).