Lohit Ayas | Copper |
Syam Ayas | Iron |
Vanik | Traders |
Gramini | Village Head |
Bhagadugha | Tax collector |
Sthapati | Chief Judge |
Takshan | Carpenter |
Niska | Unit of currency |
Satamana | Unit of currency |
Pana | Term used for coin |
Shresthi | Guilds |
Vihara | Buddhist Monastery |
Chaitya | Sacred Enclosure |
Pradeshika | Head of district Administration |
Nagarka | City administration |
Jesthaka | Chief of a Guild |
Prathamakulika | Chief of artisans |
Uparika | Governor of Bhukti |
Didishu | Remarried woman |
Amatya | High official |
Dvija | Initiation into education |
Yukta | Revenue officer in the Mauryan period. |
Rajjukas | Land measurement & fixing land revenue |
Sabha | Assembly of few select ones |
Samiti | Larger Assembly |
Dharamamahamatya | Most important post created by Asoka. |
Major Monuments of Ancient Period
1. | Udaygiri Caves | During Chandragupta’s reign at Vidisha, M.P. | ||||||||||
2. | Angorwatt Temples | Suryavarman Ii | ||||||||||
3. | Vikramashila University | Pala King Dharampala | ||||||||||
4. | Kailash Temple (Ellora) | Rashtrakuta king Krishna I | ||||||||||
5. | Dilwara Temple | Tejapala | ||||||||||
6. | Rathas of Mamallapuram | Mahendravarman I (Pallava King) | ||||||||||
7. | Khajuraho temples | Chandelas | ||||||||||
8. | Martanda temple (Kashmir) | Lalitaditya Muktapida | ||||||||||
9. | Gommateswara (Son of Rishabnath) | Chamundaraya, Minister of the Ganga King, Rajamalla | ||||||||||
(Sravanbelagola, Karnataka) | ||||||||||||
10. | Hoysalesvara Temple (at Halebid) | Ketamalla, a minister of KingVishnuvardhana (Karnataka) |
Different Forms of Marriage Practiced in Ancient India
Different Schools of Indian Philosophy
Buddhist Councils
I Buddhist Council | 500 BC at | Ajatsataru . | Record the Buddha’s sayings (sutra) and codify | ||||
Rajgaha | Presided by | monastic rules (vinaya). Rajgaha is today’s | |||||
Mahakasyapa | Rajgir | ||||||
II Buddhist Council | 383 BC at | Kalasoka | The conservative schools insisted on monastic | ||||
Vaishali | rules (vinaya). The secessionist Mahasangikas | ||||||
argued for more relaxed monastic | |||||||
rules.Rejection of the Mahasanghikas | |||||||
III Buddhist Council | 250 BC | Ashoka.. | Purpose was to reconcile the different schools of | ||||
Pataliputra | Buddhism. Presided by Moggaliputta Tissa | ||||||
IV Buddhist Council | 100 AD | Kanishka | Division into Hinayana & Mahayana. Theravada | ||||
Kashmir | Presided by | Buddhism does not recognize the authenticity of | |||||
Vasumitra & | this council, and it is sometimes called the | ||||||
Asvaghosha | “council of heretical monks”. | ||||||
V Buddhist Council | 1871 | King Mindon | recite all the teachings of the Buddha and | ||||
Myanmar | examine them in minute detail to see if any of | ||||||
them had been altered | |||||||
VI Buddhist Council | 1954 | P.M. U Nu | |||||
Yangoon |
Famous Inscriptions
Inscription | King | Aspect | |||||
Junagarh Rock | Rudradaman (Saka) | Sanskrit. Says that a dam on the sudarshana lake | |||||
was constructed by Pushyagupta a governor of | |||||||
Chandragupta Maurya | |||||||
Allahabad Pillar | Samudragupta | Sanskrit. Composed by Harisena | |||||
Aihole Inscription | Pulakeshin II | Mentions Harsha defeat by Pulakeshin II. | |||||
Composed by Ravikriti Vishnuvardan son of King. | |||||||
Gwalior Inscription | Bhoja | Most famous Pratihara king. | |||||
Hathigumpha | Kharvela | ||||||
Boghaz koi | Proves Rig Veda to be | Indra, Varuna, Mitra, two Nasatyas mentioned | |||||
[1400 B.C.] | more than 1400 BC old. | ||||||
Nanaghat Inscription | Satkarni I | Achievements of the king | |||||
[Satvahana king] | |||||||
Nasik Inscription | Gautamiputra Satkarni | Achievements of the king. | |||||
Mehrauli Iron Pillar | Chandragupta II | ||||||
Mandsor Inscription | Kumaragupta I | Composed by Vatsabhatti. | |||||
Bhitari Stone pillar | Skandagupta | ||||||
Tiruvalangadu | Rajendra I (Chola) | His conquests (annexed whole of SriLanka) | |||||
Uttaramerur | Cholar Period | Chola village assemblies | |||||
Besnagar Inscription | Near Vidisa (MP). Mentions Heliodorus the ambassador of king Antialcidas | ||||||
called himself Bhagvata & erected garudadhvaja in his honour of Vasudev. |
Indian Religious Books
Puranas | Divided into sarga, pratisarga, manvantantar, vamsa (genealogical list of kings) & |
vamsanucharita. 18 main puranas & 18 subsidiary puranas. | |
Vedas | Meaning “knowledge”. Rigveda (hymns), Yajurveda (sacrificial formulae), Atharvaveda |
(magical charms & spell), Samveda. Vedas are called aparusheya (not created by man) & | |
nity | |
Upanishads | About 200 in number. Deal with philosophy. Oldest & most important are Chhandogya & |
Brihadranyaka. Other important are Kathak, Isa, Mundaka, Prasna etc. Do not believe in | |
sacrificial ceremonies. | |
Brahmanas | Talks about vedic hymns, their application, stories of their origin. Each Brahmana is |
associated with one of the four VedasAitareya brahmana is associated with Rig Veda & | |
Satapatha Brahmana with Yajur veda. | |
Aranyakas | Meaning ‘the forest books’. They discuss philosophical meditation & sacrifice. |
Vedangas | Evolved for proper understanding of the Vedas. Six in all: Siksha (phonetics), Kalpa |
(rituals), Vyakarna, Nirukta (Etymology) Chhanda (metrics) & Jyotisha. | |
Vedanta | Advaita Vedanta of Adi Sankara. |
Ancient Books & Authors
Immunity and Vaccination
Immunity is disease resistance and is of following two types:-
- Natural or Innate Immunity:- It is present from birth and is inherited from birth by the offspring from the mother.In this form of immunity the response from the organism against the pathogen is immediate in the form of non-specific immune response without the need of recognizing the pathogens.
- Acquired or Adaptive Immunity:- It is non- Inherited and is acquired as an enhanced response to a disease during the lifetime of an organism. It takes time to develop and can be more effective in the next encounter with the said Pathogen.The Process of adaptive immunity is the basis of vaccination.
Vaccination or immunization:-
- Vaccination or immunization is based on the property of the memory of the immune system. In vaccination an inactivated on weaknd pathogen is introduced into the body. Vaccine helps in generating the primary immune response whereby immunological memory is established in the body. Vaccine generate memory cell that quickly identifies the pathogen on subsequent exposure and produces a robust secondary immunity response quickly including mass production of antibodies during the actual infection of pathogen.
- Immune memory formation of antibodies occur on 1st exposure to a specific antigen and secondary response occur after the second exposure to the same antigen. It began very quickly.
Active immunity :-it is immunity which is developed by the person own body either in the form of antibodies or memory cells in response to exposure to living or dead microorganisms. While when preformed antibodies are directly inducted into the body to obtain temporary immunity is called passive immunity.
For example:-The yellow fluid colostrol secreted by mother during the initial days of lactation has abundant antibodies to protect the infant.
Examples of antimicrobial resistance
- Increase number of cases of the hospital acquired infection
- Multidrug resistant tuberculosis
It was launched in India in collaboration with World Health Organisation to directly observed treatment short course for the complete services monitoring diagnosis and provision of the second line anti TB drugs under the supervision of dedicated health circles
Types of Vaccines:-
Conventional Vaccines- These vaccines use live attenuated(Ex SABIN)
or killed Pathogen(IPV) in VaccineRecombination Vaccines:-They use Antigen,Dna or Part of genetic material of pathogen as vaccine like hepatitis B vaccine.
Public Finance, Monetary Policies, Inflation & Control Mechanism, Repo Rate, Reverse Repo Rate, CRR & SLR.
Table of Content:-
- Public Finance
- Monetary Policies
- Inflation & Control Mechanism,
- Repo Rate
- Reverse Repo Rate
- CRR
- SLR.
Public Finance
Public finance is the study of the role of the government in the economy. It is the branch of economics which assesses the government revenue and government expenditure of the public authorities and the adjustment of one or the other to achieve desirable effects and avoid undesirable ones.
It includes the study of :-
- Fiscal Policy
- Deficits and Deficit Financing
- Fiscal Consolidation
- Public Debt- Internal and External debt
Fiscal policy relates to raising and expenditure of money in quantitative and qualitative manner.Fiscal policy is the use of government spending and taxation to influence the economy. Governments typically use fiscal policy to promote strong and sustainable growth and reduce poverty. The role and objectives of fiscal policy gained prominence during the recent global economic crisis, when governments stepped in to support financial systems, jump-start growth, and mitigate the impact of the crisis on vulnerable groups.
Historically, the prominence of fiscal policy as a policy tool has waxed and waned. Before 1930, an approach of limited government, or laissez-faire, prevailed. With the stock market crash and the Great Depression, policymakers pushed for governments to play a more proactive role in the economy. More recently, countries had scaled back the size and function of government—with markets taking on an enhanced role in the allocation of goods and services—but when the global financial crisis threatened worldwide recession, many countries returned to a more active fiscal policy.
How does fiscal policy work?
When policymakers
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Fiscal consolidation is a term that is used to describe the creation of strategies that are aimed at minimizing deficits while also curtailing the accumulation of more debt. The term is most commonly employed when referring to efforts of a local or national government to lower the level of debt carried by the jurisdiction, but can also be applied to the efforts of businesses or even households to reduce debt while simultaneously limiting the generation of new debt obligations. From this perspective, the goal of fiscal consolidation in any setting is to improve financial stability by creating a more desirable financial position.
The public debt is defined as how much a country owes to lenders outside of itself. These can include individuals, businesses and even other governments.public debt is the accumulation of annual budget deficits. It’s the result of years of government leaders spending more than they take in via tax revenues.
Monetary Policies
- Accelerated growth of the economy
- Balancing saving and investments
- Exchange rate stabilization
- Price stability
- Employment generation
Monetary Policy could be expansionary or contractionary; Expansionary policy would increase the total money supply in the economy while contractionary policy would decrease the money supply in the economy.
RBI issues the Bi-Monthly monetary policy statement. The tools available with RBI to achieve the targets of monetary policy are:-
- Bank rates
- Reserve Ratios
- Open Market Operations
- Intervention in forex market
- Moral suasion
Repo Rate- Repo rate is the rate at which the central bank of a country (RBI in case of India) lends money to commercial banks in the event of any shortfall of funds. In the event of inflation, central banks increase repo rate as this acts as a disincentive for banks to borrow from the central bank. This ultimately reduces the money supply in the economy and thus helps in arresting inflation.
Reverse Repo Rate is the rate at which RBI borrows money from the commercial banks.An increase in the reverse repo rate will decrease the money supply and vice-versa, other things remaining constant. An increase in reverse repo rate means that commercial banks will get more incentives to park their funds with the RBI, thereby decreasing the supply of money in the market.
Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) is a specified minimum fraction of the total deposits of customers, which commercial banks have to hold as reserves either in cash or as deposits with the central bank. CRR is set according to the guidelines of the central bank of a country.The amount specified as the CRR is held in cash and cash equivalents, is stored in bank vaults or parked with the Reserve Bank of India. The aim here is to ensure that banks do not run out of cash to meet the payment demands of their depositors. CRR is a crucial monetary policy tool and is used for controlling money supply in an economy.
CRR specifications give greater control to the central bank over money supply. Commercial banks have to hold only some specified part of the total deposits as reserves. This is called fractional reserve banking.
Statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) is the Indian government term for reserve requirement that the commercial banks in India require to maintain in the form of gold, government approved securities before providing credit to the customers.its the ratio of liquid assets to net demand and time liabilities.Apart from Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR), banks have to maintain a stipulated proportion of their net demand and time liabilities in the form of liquid assets like cash, gold and unencumbered securities. Treasury bills, dated securities issued under market borrowing programme and market stabilisation schemes (MSS), etc also form part of the SLR. Banks have to report to the RBI every alternate Friday their SLR maintenance, and pay penalties for failing to maintain SLR as mandated.
Inflation & Control Mechanism
inflation is a sustained increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy over a period of time. When the price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services.It is the percentage change in the value of the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) on a year-on year basis. It effectively measures the change in the prices of a basket of goods and services in a year. In India, inflation is calculated by taking the WPI as base.
Formula for calculating Inflation=
(WPI in month of current year-WPI in same month of previous year)
————————————————————————————– X 100
WPI in same month of previous year
Inflation occurs due to an imbalance between demand and supply of money, changes in production and distribution cost or increase in taxes on products. When economy experiences inflation, i.e. when the price level of goods and services rises, the value of currency reduces. This means now each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services.
It has its worst impact on consumers. High prices of day-to-day goods make it difficult for consumers to afford even the basic commodities in life. This leaves them with no choice but to ask for higher incomes. Hence the government tries to keep inflation under control.
Contrary to its negative effects, a moderate level of inflation characterizes a good economy. An inflation rate of 2 or 3% is beneficial for an economy as it encourages people to buy more and borrow more, because during times of lower inflation, the level of interest rate also remains low. Hence the government as well as the central bank always strive to achieve a limited level of inflation.
Various measures of Inflation are:-
- GDP Deflator
- Cost of Living Index
- Producer Price Index(PPI)
- Wholesale Price Index(WPI)
- Consumer Price Index(CPI)
There are following types on Inflation based on their causes:-
- Demand pull inflation
- cost push inflation
- structural inflation
- speculation
- cartelization
- hoarding
Various control measures to curb rising inflation are:-
- Fiscal measures like reduction in indirect taxes
- Dual pricing
- Monetary measures
- Supply side measures like importing the shortage goods to meet the demand
- Administrative measures to curb hoarding, Cratelization.