Character v/s Reputation

“Character Is Made By What You Stand For, Reputation What You Fall For”

Simply stated – it is what we think of ourselves, the values we stand for and the definition of who we are as a person and the thoughts we resemble. It is about those things which matter the most to us and we are willing to go the extra mile cos it means so much to us and we relate to it so strongly.

Reputation:

This is simply what others think about us. We all like a little bit of publicity. We all like it when someone appreciates us for what we do and we would like to be known and celebrated for our good deeds. But it so happens that reputation is a binding factor whereas character is a much simpler aspect without many boundaries or limitations.

Character is what you do for yourself while reputation is what you do for others, for the society, for the people around you. It is what you want them to think about you. And it is not all true, is it?

Character on the other hand is simple plain truth, it is only for yourself and no one else. People at the receiving end don’t even get to see the half of it cos we can easily mask the distasteful aspects of character. But then what do we have to stand for – character or reputation?

Well, the answer is fairly simple, any 10 year old kid will tell us that we will have to stand up for character and we all know it too. But a part of being grown up is that we do expect the world to appreciate us and to an extend we do depend on it as well.

Don’t let the reputation rule you or define what you want in life and what your values are. You can’t care for people just cos the society expects you to. You can’t help someone in distress just cos your PR advises you to. These things are the ones which mean something to you and they retain their essence only cos you feel for it and do it accordingly. Not cos an idiot PR told you so. Reputation can be shallow but character goes beyond that.

It is deeper than that and more meaningful than that. Above all, your character is the true fibre of who you really are while reputation is what you want to be perceived as. It is as  simple as that!

10 Brilliant Quotes on Character:

1) Be more concerned about your character than your reputation cos character is what you really are, while reputation is merely what others think you are

– John Wooden

2) Character is like a tree and reputation is like a shadow, the shadow is what we think of, the tree is the real thing

– Abraham Lincoln

3) No change of circumstances can repair a defect in character

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

4) Character, not circumstance makes the person

– Booker.T. Washington

5) Character is the real foundation of all worthwhile success

– John Hays Hammond

6) Knowledge will give you power but character, respect

– Bruce Lee

7) Character is who you are under pressure, not when everything is looking fine

8) Character is the result of two things – mental attitude and the way we spend our time

9) Character like a photograph develops in darkness

10) Success is always temporary when all said and done, the only thing you’ll have left is character

(Courtest: Vinay Nagaraju, INSPIRE99)

CSE'2015; CSAT paper made Qualifying@33%

Civil Services Examination 2015

CSAT paper made Qualifying@33% score

  

 At last, GOI has conceded to the demands of last year protests by a large group of aspirants to existing biases and disparities in the CSE prelim exam since 2011, mainly on account of the GS Paper-II (Aptitude & Comprehension part) aka CSAT to the aspirants belonging to Rural & Hindi/ Regional languages background, and benefit only certain group of candidates from Engineering, Medical, Science, Management & other Technically Educated at the cost of Humanities & Social Sciences, which constitutes the major chunk engaged in the preparation from considerable period of time.

With these welcome changes, it is hoped that the undue tilt would be reduced to the extent possible as nothing is absolutely perfect.

The Government has approved the following in respect of Civil Services Examination:
ü  An Expert Committee would be constituted to comprehensively examine various issues raised from time to time namely, eligibility, syllabus, scheme and pattern of Civil Services Examination.

ü  Till such time the Government takes decision on the recommendation of the above Committee, the General Studies Paper-II(CSAT) in the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination will remain a qualifying paper with a minimum qualifying marks fixed at 33%.

ü  The English Language comprehension skill portion from General Studies Paper-II of Civil Services(Preliminary) Examination will continue to remain excluded.

ü  The above decisions are incorporated in the CSE Rules-2015.

ALL THE BEST for CSE’2015!

Burn waste, pay Rs 5,000 fine: NGT

Burn waste, pay Rs 5,000 fine: NGT

The bench noted that “it is on record” that while burning of garbage and other waste was not the only source of pollution, it accounted for “29.4% of air pollution, with regard to PM 10”.

In yet another bid to check air pollution in Delhi and the rest of the NCR, National Green Tribunal recently banned burning of waste in the open.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed authorities in Delhi and NCR to impose a fine of Rs 5,000 on anyone caught burning waste — garbage, leaves, plastic, rubber or other items — in open areas.

NGT said Deputy Commissioners, Director of Horticulture, Area SHOs, Assistant Commissioners and Sanitary Officers of the area would be held responsible if there was any violation of its order.

The bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said all authorities are duty bound to oblige with the tribunal's orders. "We make it clear that the orders of the NGT are to be complied with as a decree or order of the civil court," the order said.

The bench noted that “it is on record” that while burning of garbage and other waste was not the only source of pollution, it accounted for “29.4% of air pollution, with regard to PM 10”. It also noted that burning of waste emitted pollutants, some of which were even carcinogenic.

It had data to support the view that waste burning is responsible for a major portion of emissions in the city. Nearly 29.4% of the total PM10 (coarse, pollution particles) are from waste burning, the bench said.

"Its contribution in terms of PM2.5 is not placed before us, despite our earlier orders. Burning trash in the open area produces many pollutants, including dioxins, particulate pollution, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), carbon monoxide (CO), hexachlorobenzene—ash and fumes released from such burning can be carcinogenic," the bench noted.

It added that there was a need to issue prohibitory orders and “imposition of fine and heavy compensation” on those who for “short gains avoid hard work required of them in discharge of their duties and allow burning of garbage”.

The Central government approached the NGT with a plea seeking a “reasonable time of six months for suggesting measures for addressing pollution concerns”, in reference to the Tribunal’s previous order banning 10-year-old diesel vehicles and 15-year-old petrol vehicles. The NGT is expected to hear issues related to vehicular pollution on the next date of hearing.

In addition, the NGT asked the Delhi government to take a decision regarding new landfill sites “as soon as possible” and not later than three weeks. It also directed the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to conduct an inspection of air quality around all thermal power plants in Delhi and NCR within two weeks and submit a report to the bench. The NGT also inquired about the “extent of fly ash” used in brick kilns, while directing authorities to submit a report to check whether brick kilns “operating in NCR have the consent of Boards and are adhering to the prescribed emission norms”.

While reiterating its previous order on prohibition on burning of waste in open areas, it added that “any person who notices burning of any material” will have the right to register a complaint with the station house officer, civic corporations, DPCC or other local authorities.

The NGT directed authorities that for every incident of burning of these material, the person who is found burning such material and/or responsible for/or abating such burning would be liable to pay compensation in terms of the Section 15 of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010. He/she will be liable to pay a sum Rs 5,000, instantaneously.

This money would be maintained by corporations and authorities as a “separate fund to be utilised for improvement, restoration, restitution of the environmental degradation resulting from such activity,” it said.

The bench also directed corporations to provide area-wise composting pits within one week so that there is proper disposal of organic waste. It directed DDA and Delhi government to provide alternative landfill sites within three weeks as the three landfills are already saturated.

Following an NGT order, DPCC had recently provided a complaint page on a social networking site and a WhatsApp number but lawyers claimed it was not being used widely.

The green bench directed all corporations to notify “within two days” numbers, websites or any other process through which complaints can be made.

Ambitious Social Security Schemes of Govt of India

Govt of India to launch much awaited and ambitious Social Sector Schemes in Insurance & Pension on 1 June, 2015. 

This will be the highest ever Social Security measure by Govt. at affordable costs to the last men & women of the country. It may prove to be a breaking point for the incumbent government which is facing flak, particularly of the rural & farming community in view of the farmers' suicides and ongoing farm crises. 

Besides, this would be also a real bold step towards Financial Inclusion for the last mile coverage. 

S. No.	Scheme	Nature of Insurance	Reasons	Eligible Age Group	Premium	Risk coverage amount	Remarks
1.	Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY)	Life Insurance	Death	18-50 yr	Rs. 330/- per year	Death for any reason - Rs. 2 lakh	One year insurance cover, Renewable from year to year
2.	Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY)	Accidental  Insurance	Death or Disability	18-70 yr	Rs. 12/- per year	Accidental death and full disability – Rs 2 Lakh and Partial disability – Rs 1 Lakh
3.	Atal Pension Yojna  (APY)	Pension	Working in Unorganised sector & attaining the age of 60 yrs	18-40 yr joining & contribute till 60 yrs. under 40 yr,  receive the fixed monthly pension –  Rs. 1000 At the age of 60 yr- Rs 5000	Rs. 1000- Rs. 5000	Pension depending on the contributions	Open to all bank account holders who are not members of any statutory social security scheme.

Any person having a bank account and Aadhaar number linked to the bank account can give a simple form to the bank every year before 1st of June in order to join the scheme. 

Name of nominee to be given in the form.

The payment of premium will be directly auto-debited by the bank from the subscribers account.

The premium paid will be tax-free under section 80C and also the proceeds amount will get tax-exemption u/s 10(10D).But if the proceeds from insurance policy exceed Rs.1 lakh , TDS at the rate of 2% from the total proceeds if no Form 15G or Form 15H is submitted to the insurer.

 Comparison between PMJJBY vs PMSBY:

Features	Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY)	Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY)
Eligibility	18-70 years	18-50 years
Number of Policy	One Policy Per Person	One Policy Per Person
When to Join the Scheme?	Any time	Any time
Sum Assured (Fixed)	Rs 2 lakhs	Rs 2 lakhs
Premium	Rs 12 per annum	Rs. 330 per annum
Cover stops at age	At the age of 70 years	At the age of 55 years
Maturity Benefit	Nil	Nil
Death Benefit (Natural Death)	Nil	Rs 2 lakhs
Death Benefit (Accidental Death)	Rs 2 lakhs	Rs 2 lakhs
Disability of both eyes, both hands, both legs or one eye and one limb	Rs 2 lakhs	Nil
Disability of one eye or one limb	Rs 1 lakh	Nil
Maximum Insurance cover	Rs 2 lakhs	Rs.2 lakhs
Risk Period	1st June to 31st May every year.	1st June to 31st May every year.
Mode of Payment	Auto debit from bank account	Auto debit from bank account