The emergence of IS

The emergence of IS

The ISIS is stated to have been formed by Abu Musab Al Zarqawi in 1999. During the 2003 Iraq War, it joined other Sunni insurgent groups.

The Islamic State, as it is known today, seems to be an outcome of the vacuum created by the US invasion of Iraq — first for a regime change and later in search of the Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs). But IS roots can be traced back much deeper into history.

Like al-Qaeda and many other jihadist groups, ISIS is believed to have emerged from the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, the world’s first Islamist group dating back to the late 1920s in Egypt.

IS follows an extreme interpretation of religion, promotes violence and regards those who do not agree with its interpretations as infidels or apostates. IS aims to establish a Salafist-orientated Islamist state in Iraq, Syria, and other parts of the Levant.

The Islamic State (IS), formerly the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) or the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), is a Sunni jihadist group in the Middle East.

It claims to have religious authority over Muslims across the world and aspires to bring most of the Muslim-inhabited regions of the world under its control beginning with Iraq, Syria and other territories in the Levant region, including Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Cyprus and part of southern Turkey.

It has been designated as a foreign terrorist organisation by the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, and has been described by the United Nations as a terrorist group. The United Nations and Amnesty International have accused the group of grave human rights abuses.

Successor to Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn—later commonly known as al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), the ISIS was formed by Abu Musab Al Zarqawi in 1999.

During the 2003 Iraq War, it joined other Sunni insurgent groups to form the Mujahideen Shura Council and consolidated further into the Islamic State of Iraq. At its height, it enjoyed a significant presence in the Iraqi governorates of Al Anbar, Nineveh, Kirkuk, most of Salah ad Din, parts of Babil, Diyala and Baghdad, and claimed Baqubahas a capital city.

The violent attempts by the Islamic State of Iraq to govern its territory led to a backlash from Sunni Iraqis and other insurgent groups circa 2008, which helped to propel the Awakening Movement and a temporary decline in the group.

ISIS grew significantly under the leadership of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi gaining support in Iraq as a result of alleged economic and political discrimination against Iraqi Sunnis. Then, after entering the Syrian Civil War, it established a large presence in the Syrian governorates of Ar-Raqqah, Idlib, Deir ez-Zor and Aleppo.

In June 2014, it had at least 4,000 fighters in its ranks in Iraq. It has claimed responsibility for attacks on government and military targets and for attacks that killed thousands of civilians.

In August 2014, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed that the number of fighters in the group had increased to 50,000 in Syria and 30,000 in Iraq.

ISIS had close links to al-Qaeda until February 2014 when, after an eight-month power struggle, al-Qaeda cut all ties with the group, reportedly for its brutality.

The original aim of ISIS was to establish a caliphate in the Sunni-majority regions of Iraq, and following its involvement in the Syrian Civil War, this expanded to include controlling Sunni-majority areas of Syria.

A caliphate was proclaimed on June 29, 2014, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi — now known as Amir al-Mu’minin Caliph Ibrahim — was named as its caliph and the group was renamed the Islamic State.

Some Sunni commentators, such as Adnan al-Aroor and Abu Basir al-Tartusi, say that ISIS and related terrorist groups are not Sunnis, but modern-day Kharijites — Muslims who have stepped outside the mainstream of Islam, serving an imperial anti-Islamic agenda.

By declaring a caliphate, al-Baghdadi demanded the allegiance of all Muslims according to Islamic jurisprudence — fiqah.

Following the 2013 expansion of the group into Syria and the announcement of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the number of wilayah — provinces — which it claimed increased to 16. In addition to the seven Iraqi wilayah, the Syrian divisions, largely lying along existing provincial boundaries, are Al Barakah, Al Kheir, Ar-Raqqah, Al Badiya, Halab, Idlib, Hama, Damascus and the Coast.

In mid-2014, ISIS created a new province incorporating both Syrian territory around Albu Kamal and Iraqi territory around Qaim. This new wilayah was designated al-Furat. In Syria, ISIS seat of power is in Ar-Raqqah Governorate. ISIS leaders, including Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, are known to have visited its provincial capital, Ar-Raqqah.

Analysts have underlined the deliberate inflammation of sectarian conflict between Iraqi Shias and Sunnis during the Iraq War by various Sunni and Shia players as the root cause of ISIS rise. The post-invasion policies of the international coalition forces have also been cited as a factor, citing the coalition forces during the Iraq War for enshrining identity politics as the key marker of Iraqi politics. By 2014, ISIS was increasingly being viewed as a militia rather than a terrorist group.

ISIS has been able to strengthen its military capability by capturing large quantities and varieties of weaponry during the Syrian Civil War and Post-US Iraq insurgency. These weapons seizures have improved the group’s capacity to carry out successful subsequent operations and obtain more equipment.

In mid-2014, Iraqi intelligence extracted information from an ISIS operative which revealed that the organisation had assets worth US$2 billion, making it the richest jihadist group in the world. About three quarters of this sum is said to be represented by assets seized after the group captured Mosul in June 2014; this includes possibly up to US$429 million looted from Mosul’s central bank.

The group is widely reported as receiving funding from private donors in the Gulf states, and both Iran and Iraq have accused Saudi Arabia and Qatar of funding ISIS.

ONE RANK ONE PENSION

UNITED FRONT OF EX –SERVICEMEN (UFESM)

ONE RANK ONE PENSION (OROP)

Dear Members of Parliament,

You are all aware of the issue of One Rank One Pension of Armed Forces. This issue is being debated since 1984 and finally OROP was strongly recommended by Koshyari Committee in 2011

As per Koshyari Committee Report, and the deposition by Secretary (ESW), Ministry of Defence, before the Committee One Rank One Pension is defined as.

Definition

“One Rank One Pension implies that uniform pension be paid to the Armed Forces Personnel retiring in the same rank with the same length of service irrespective of their date of retirement and any future enhancement in the rates of pension to be automatically passed on to the past pensioners”.

The above definition of OROP has been accepted by both houses of the Parliament. Honourable Supreme Court has also ruled in favour of OROP in many judgments. The same definition was included in the Executive Order of the Govt of India for the Implementation of OROP vide its letter No- 12(01)/2014-D (Pen/Pol) dated 26 Feb 2014 (Copy enclosed).

The One Rank One Pension which has been announced on Sep 5, 2015 and notified on Nov 7, 2015 is not the real OROP. It has many anomalies illustrated below which if not corrected will completely destroy the definition of OROP approved by the Parliament.

1. Revision every 5 years instead of every year: This defeats the very concept and definition of OROP.

Illustration: 20 YEARS OF SERVICE FOR THE FOLLOWING 2 SEPOYS:

Sepoy A and Sepoy B join army on 1 July 1991

Sepoy A- retires in Nov 2011- Rs.4000/- as basic wage. Pension = Rs.2000/-.

Sepoy B – retires in March 2012- Rs 4500/- as basic wage (Increment as per Jan 1st). Pension = Rs. 2250/-

A is getting Rs 250+ DA = Rs. 600/- less than B and having served for the same length of service of 20 yrs.

Loss incurred – Rs.7200/- per year or Rs 36,000/- in 5 years.

2. Govt has announced that Benefit of OROP will be effective with effect from 1.7.2014: Instead of 01 Apr 2014, thereby causing a loss to the ESM of 2100 Crores that is presuming annual expenditure of Rs 8400/ crore on OROP.

Illustration: All articles approved in any budget are applicable from 1st April each year. Hence OROP should also be effective from 1st April 2014.

By making it effective from 1st July 2014 government is putting ESM at a loss of Rs.2100/-Crores for three months

3. Govt has announced that Base year for award of OROP to be the calendar year of 2013 instead of Financial Year of 31 March 2014.This defeats the definition of OROP and puts the old pensioners at loss as compared to the present pensioners. This will also mean that a pensioner holding senior rank will get pension less than his junior rank.

Illustration: if Base year for pension is likely to be 2013 as against 31 Mar 2014 when OROP is applicable from 1st April 2014. This put a soldier behind by one year / annual increment which is Rs. 500/-. However if the effective date for implementation is planned to be 1 July 2014 then the pension should be based on 30 June 2014.

4. Fixation of pension as the mean average of the pay band instead of the top level: This adds insult to injury and defeats the definition of OROP. Puts the old pensioners at loss as compared to the present pensioners.

Illustration: By making it the mean of the year 2013 the defence personnel retiring with pension above the mean will be at disadvantage. This would require application of protection clause for a large number of retirees.

Supposing A soldier retires in 1980 on completion of 20 years of service.

OROP means his pension should be brought at par with the pension of the soldier retiring on 31st March 2014 with 20 years of service. By taking mean of min and max pension of 2013, the soldier will be put to financial loss. This loss can only be calculated once pension tables are declared by CGDA.

5. One person judicial committee instead of a five person committee: This commission will not have representative from ESM but will have a member from IAS as secretary. Hence, it is expected that the recommendations of the committee will be influenced by IAS lobby (based on inputs from the IAS lobby). Recommendations of 7 CPC are indications wherein Armed Forces have not been given due justice. However announcement of judicial committee by GOI along with the notification is a clear indication that GOI is sure that this notification is faulty and will not be accepted by the Defence Fraternity.

In the age of smartphones and Social Media, no person is left unaware of the happenings in any part of the country. The serving members of the Armed forces are well aware of the acts of the government and the Protest Movement by the Ex-Servicemen at Jantar Mantar and across the country. The present Prime Minister made a promise to the Armed Forces at Rewari before the General Elections in 2014 that his Government will deliver OROP on taking oath of office if elected to form Govt. Implementation of OROP was also included in the President address to both houses of Parliament when the NDA Govt took over. That promise has not been fulfilled by this Government even after one and half year.

It is a common knowledge that more than 70% of serving soldiers are relatives of the Ex-servicemen. Ill treatments of veterans will have direct de-motivating effect on the serving soldiers.

It is also noteworthy that there is shortage of 30% in the Armed Forces. Policies adopted by the government have led to a situation where the youth of today is de-motivated to join the Armed Forces. Clearly, this shall lead to more reduced number than existing today. These deficiencies are serious nature and have direct bearing on National Security.

May we request you to ponder over the situation and think about the security of India in coming years. May we also request you to ask for serious discussion in Parliament on National Security and nail the Government so that every Indian is educated about the fraud being played on the nation by the GOI. May we also ask you to raise questions in the Parliament and ask the government to Implement One Rank One Pension (OROP) after removal of the seven shortcomings pointed out and issue fresh Notification exactly as per approved definition of OROP.

RAMAKRISHNA MISSION CLASS - III ADMISSION TEST QUESTION PAPER

SAMPLE TEST PAPER ON ENGLISH FOR CLASS – III ADMISSION

1.     Fill in the missing letters to complete the each word.    You can use the following Box.

o              e         a         g

a.       m____n          b.___nt           c. e___g      d. k___y

e.      ax_____.     f. wind__w

2. Choose the right word for each sentence.

         

a.      My father works in a_______hill/mill.

b.     I can see a_________ (big/small) duck.

c.     The girl plays with a________doll/ball.

d.     Look at the _______(sum/star) in the sky.

e.      A ­­_________(boy/man) drinks milk from a glass.

3. Write the missing numbers.

51_____53______55_____57_____59________61.

4. Read the passage and Fill in the blanks.

I am Mita. My family lives in a village. My father is a postmaster. My mother is a primary school teacher. I have a little sister. My grand father and my grandmother live with us. We are a happy family.

a.      Mita’s family lives in a____________________.

b.     Her father is a      ________________________.

c.     Her ______________is a primary school teacher.

d.     She has a little ___________________________.

e.      Her grandfather and____________live with them.

5. Match the items that go together.

a. Consonant b. Syllable c. Semi-vowel d. Vowel e. Alphabet

1.        O 2.        w / y 3.        26 4.        4 5.        21

a. Consonant______________________.

b. Syllable________________________.

c. Semi-vowel_____________________.

d. Vowel__________________________.

e. Alphabet________________________.

6. The following word groups are not in order. Arrange them and make sentences.

a.      eats, rice, karim

_____________________________________.

b.     has, four, the ,legs, cow

_____________________________________.

c.      in, we, live, Bangladesh.

______________________________________.

d.     is, milk, white.

______________________________________.

e.      is, name, my, sadia

______________________________________.

7. Divide each of these sentences into two parts subject and predicate.

a.      Milk is white

b.     Tuli is tall

c.     My mother is a teacher

d.     My father is honest

e.      Sadia is a girl.

Subject	Predicate
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

9. Put in is or are in the sentence.

a.      Ice is cold but fire ­­__________hot.

b.     We ________boys  but they______ girls.

c.     Horses _______ strong but kittens ______ weak.

d.     Collars _______ round, but ties _______not.

e.      _________ milk black or white?

10. Put in has or have.

a.      They are soldiers. They ____________ guns.

b.     He is a shopkeeper. He ____________ a shop.

c.     He is an engine driver. He ________ an engine.

d.     They are fishermen. They __________ boats.

e.      He is a farmer. He _________________a farm.

11.Write 5 lines on ‘Rice’.

                

                           

12. Here is a list of the things you have recently purchased for your new house. The words in the box have wandered. Put the words in their proper places.

Bed-sheet,  bolster,  fork, cup, curtain,  clock  spoon, tub, pan, carpet, Mirror, Tub

Kitchen Room	Bed Room

 Consonant :-  A consonant is a speech sound that is not a vowel. It also refers to letters of the alphabet that represent those sounds: Z, B, T, G, and H are all consonants. Consonants are all the non-vowel sounds, or their corresponding letters: A, E, I, O, U and sometimes Y are not consonants.

Syllable:-          A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. For example, the word water is composed of two syllables: wa and ter. A syllable is typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants).

Semi-vowel :-  In phonetics and phonology, a semivowel or glide is a sound that is phonetically similar to a vowel sound but functions as the syllable boundary rather than as the nucleus of a syllable. Examples of semivowels in English are the consonants y and w, in yes and west. Ex- "y" and "w".

Vowel :-            A vowel is a speech sound made by the vocal cords. It is also a type of letter in the alphabet. The letters of the English alphabet are either vowels or consonants or both. A vowel sound comes from the lungs, through the vocal cords, and is not blocked, so there is no friction.

The Grand Slam

The Grand Slam tournaments, or Majors, are the four most important annual tennis events. They offer the most ranking points, prize money, public and media attention, the greatest strength and size of field, and greater number of "best of" sets for men. The Grand Slam itinerary consists of the Australian Open in mid January, the French Open in May and June, Wimbledon in June and July, and the US Open in August and September. Each tournament is played over a period of two weeks. The Australian and US tournaments are played on hard courts, the French on clay, and Wimbledon on grass. Wimbledon is the oldest, founded in 1877, followed by the US in 1881, the French in 1891, and the Australian in 1905. However, of these four, only Wimbledon was a major before 1924/25, the time when all four became designated Grand Slam tournaments.

CHAKLA ROSHNABAD

Chakla Roshnabad :- A permanently settled estate, with an area of 570 square miles, belonging to the Raja of Hill Tippera, situated in the Eastern Bengal Districts of Tippera and Noakhali, and in the Assam District of Sylhet. In 1901-02 the demand for revenue was 1.53 lakhs and for cess of Rs. 56,000 the annual income from rents and cess is 8 lakhs. 

The estate originally formed part of the State of Hill Tippera, which came into the possession of the Muhammadans in 1733. The Muhammadans never troubled themselves about the hills, but they assessed the plains to revenue, and the East India Company followed their example. The revenue assessed at the Permanent Settlement in 1793 was cess of Rs. 1,39,676. At the request of the Raja, the estate was brought under survey and settlement in 1892-99, and the final report supplies complete information regarding it. Excluding the portion in Sylhet, which was not surveyed, the area measured was 558 square miles, of which 401 were cultivated, 39 cultivable waste, and the rest was made up of uncultivable lands and water.

517 square miles were rent paying, and of this area 252 square miles were held direct by riots, 208 square miles by tenure-holders with variable rents, and the balance by tenure-holders at fixed rents. The tendency is towards subdivision of the tenures rather than in the direction of further sub-infatuation. The average area of a riot's holding is 34 acres, from which he derives a net income of Rs. 133 per annum. Rice covered four-fifths of the cultivated area, the other important crops being jute (8,ooo acres), chillies (6,700 acres), mustard (4,932 acres), and sugar-cane (1,687 acres). The population of the estate in 1891 was 467,000, or 837 persons per square mile. The settlement increased the rental of the estate from 5.84 lakhs to 6.76 lakhs, or by 6 per cent., the cost of the operations being 5.28 lakhs, or Rs. 1-8 an acre. Chaklasi.-Town in the Nadiad tdluka of Kaira District, Bombay, situated in 22.39' N. and 72.57' E. Population (1901), 7,340. In 1898 an outbreak occurred here among persons of the Dharala caste, who had been led to believe that the British Government had ceased to exist. The police were at first repulsed, but eventually arrested the ringleaders. The town contains a boys' school with 303 pupils. 

One of the three circles into which the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Eastern Bengal and Assam, are divided for administrative purposes. It occupies the centre and north of the District, lying between 22. 7' and 23.13' N. and 9"43' and 92'36'E., with an area of 2,421 square miles. It is a land of hills and valleys, bounded on the south by the Bomong circle, on the north-west by the Mong circle, on the north and east by forest Reserves, and on the west by the District boundary. Population (1901), 48,789, having increased by 7.1 per cent. since 1891. The people mostly belong to a tribe known as Chakmas.

FACTORS EFFECTING SOIL FORMATION

FACTORS EFFECTING SOIL FORMATION:-

It takes a very long time to make soil, sometimes a thousand years or more. Basically, when surface rocks break down, they mix with decaying organic material, like plants and animals. As this organic material breaks down, it returns nutrients back to the ground, which provides food for plants.

Specifically, there are five main factors that create soil:-

(i)      Parent material;

(ii)     Climate;

(iii)    Biology;

(iv)     Topography; and

(v)      Time.

(i) Parent material:- This is the material that new soil forms from. Parent material includes both mineral and organic material. The organic material is usually very dark and spongy, and this is also known as humus. The mineral material comes from sediments and weathered rocks, and the type of mineral material present helps determine which type of soil will form and how long it will take to form.

(ii) Climate:- Climate affects soil formation because temperature, moisture, rainfall and wind influence mineral material weathering and the production of organic matter. In climates that are warm and moist like rain-forests, plants grow much faster and more consistently throughout the year. This creates a soil with more organic matter than a climate that is dry and cool, but this organic matter also gets broken down faster, so there is less accumulation in the soil.

(iii) Biology:- Soil formation is also impacted by biological influences such as plants, animals, bacteria and fungi. Plants help recycle nutrients by decaying as well as by taking up nutrients. Plants also put down roots into the soil, which helps anchor the soil in place and prevent erosion. There are millions of tiny organisms in the soil that you can't even see, and they help mix the soil and recycle nutrients.

(iv) Topography :- Topography is the shape of the land, including the steepness and features like mountains, depressions and floodplains. Soil is affected by water and the sediments and rocks that are present. If the land is very steep, there will be more runoff from rainfall, which will transport more rocks and minerals. This increased level of erosion also means that there will likely be less organic material, and, as we know, this also influences the soil.

(v) Time:- Finally, time plays a critical role in soil formation because the interaction of all the previous factors is a slow and continuous process. It takes a long time for sediments to be transported and weathered, and organic material needs time to decay.

Achal K Jyoti takes over as new Election Commissioner

Achal Kumar Jyoti, a former chief secretary of Gujarat during Narendra Modi's tenure as chief minister, on Wednesday took over as the new Election Commissioner, filling one of the two vacancies in the three-member body.

"Jyoti took charge on Wednesday at the Election Commission of India," a senior official said.

Jyoti is a 1975-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer who retired as state Gujarat chief secretary in January 2013.

He served in the top post in Gujarat when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was chief minister.

Jyoti (62) had also served as the state Vigilance Commissioner and worked in various capacities in his cadre including as chairman of the Kandla Port Trust between 1999 and 2004 and managing director of the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd (SSNNL).

Born on January 23, 1953, Jyoti will have a tenure of nearly three years as ECs demit office at the age of 65.

An EC or a CEC has a tenure of six years in office or till he or she attains the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.

After V S Sampath demitted office in January, H S Brahma was elevated as CEC. But after Brahma demitted office, two posts of ECs in the three-member body have remained vacant.

Between April 19, when Nasim Zaidi took over as the CEC till today, he was the only member in the poll body.

The government is soon expected to appoint one more Election Commissioner to fill up the last vacancy.

Jyoti has also worked as Secretary in the Industry, Revenue and Water Supply Departments.