Reading Comprehension: Part 10

Reading Comprehension: Part 10

It’s this period of his life that a new exhibition at the British Museum seeks to display in an exhibition entitled ‘Hokusai: Beyond the Great Wave’. In his 70s, Hokusai would adopt a new name—Manji, meaning “ten thousand things” or “everything”. This was exactly what he wanted to draw.

Everything .

An understanding of the “form of things”—the Japanese Buddhist belief that all things, living and material, have a spiritual connection to one another—and the desire to portray—it was these that drove Hokusai in his *quest* for immortality as an artist.
Born in 1760 in Edo, modern Tokyo, Hokusai published his first Ukiyo-e prints in 1779. Meaning ‘floating world’, Ukiyo-e woodblock prints took *hedonism* and pleasure as their subjects, depicting gijin-ga (courtesans), yakusha-e (actors) and shunga (erotic couplings) in detail.
Hokusai’s work was no exception. But, in a career that saw him symbolically change his name 30 times, other themes began to interest him. Hokusai drew everyday life, images from ancient Japanese and Chinese mythology and nature, besides experimenting with new techniques.

Hundred years of art
He insisted he would achieve greatness only if he *honed* his craft till he turned 100. “I wish to work so that at one hundred years I will have achieved a divine state in my art,” he once wrote.
The ink he would use for Under the wave and other works was formed by blending traditional Japanese indigo with the newly available Prussian blue to create a fantastic deep, saturated colour that would define his most famous creations. One can almost feel the spray of the ocean in Kajikazawa in Kai Province , composed in early 1831. In Rainstorm beneath the summit , the deep blue at the top gives a real sense of the scale of the image, with the mighty Mt. Fuji nearly touching the heavens.
The mountain, sacred to both Buddhists and Shintoists, was a recurring subject in Hokusai’s work, appearing most famously in One Hundred Views. In drawing the famous mountain, Hokusai was also searching for his own permanence, for his legacy to bloom like a sakura tree and never wilt.
Fuji View Plain in Owari Province, printed in 1831, is vintage Hokusai: here, the mountain is but a small wedge on the horizon, the sky dissected into ocre, white and shades of blue. But the key element is the worker in the foreground. Hard at work, he is uninterested in the view behind him. Why would he be? For him, the spectacular has become *banal*.
That attention to the mundane— the worker’s tools drawn with as much detail as the delicate, wispy leaves of the tree beside him—is characteristic of Hokusai. For him, the pedestrian was worthy of commemoration. He captured urban life in Japan with a level of precision that would later inspire Western artists to do the same. 

The father of modernism 

Reading Comprehension: Part 9

 Reading Comprehension: Part 9

One of the unfortunate paradoxes of our lives today is that despite adequate food production and unimaginable advances in technology, one in three persons worldwide is not getting enough of the right food to eat and approximately 800 million of seven billion sleep hungry every night.
Not surprisingly, this makes poor diet the No. 1 risk factor by far, for the global burden of disease. Poor diets globally are more responsible for ill health as compared with the combined effect of drugs, tobacco and alcohol. Women and children continue to be the most vulnerable, with 156 million stunted children in the world and 40% women anaemic. Add to this the fact that the world adds 200,000 new people to its population every day, of which India adds 58,000. This translates to the need to feed two billion more people by 2050 and to support a higher demand for major crops, estimated to increase by 50%, from 2.5 to 3.5 billion tonnes.
Staying on target It is therefore with compelling reason that Target 3 for the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12 is to “halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer level, and reduce food losses along production and supply chains including post-harvest losses”. Food loss is valued at $1 trillion globally by the Food and Agriculture Organisation, enough to feed the 800 million who sleep hungry every night. Of this, over 200 million are in India, a country that grows sufficient food to feed its burgeoning population of 1.3 billion.
The SDGs have clearly put the spotlight on food loss and waste, and we are beginning to see more attentive discussion on the subject. At the recently held Food Congress in Dusseldorf in early May 2017, the focus was on identifying possible solutions for both — through better farming practices, use of technology, better information, change in consumer behaviour, etc. Estimates of “food waste and food loss” range between 30 and 50% for both developed and emerging countries.
In developed countries “food waste” happens more at the consumer household level, where more is purchased than consumed; and in emerging economies, it is the supply chain that leads to “food loss” during harvest, storage or in transit, largely due to poor infrastructure and inadequately aligned processes. As an example, India’s cold storage requirement is 66 million tonnes, and the national storage capacity currently available is approximately 30 million tonnes. Investment in creating adequate cold storage capacity alone will stem food loss substantially. With increasing wealth, India is, ironically, home to both food waste and food loss.
In either scenario, food that is produced (using depleting and critical resources such as water) but not consumed is a colossal waste which we cannot afford to ignore. Food loss is also nutrition loss, productivity loss and therefore GDP loss. The 40% food loss in India translates to approximately $7.5 billion, and for a country where agriculture contributes 15% to GDP and employs 53% of the workforce, this is clearly unaffordable.
These are serious statistics, and unless there is an effort to address food loss factors systemically, the state of health and nutrition of our people will continue to be inadequate, as food loss means loss of macronutrients such as calories, fats, proteins; but even more alarming, it means loss of micronutrients because foods that are rich in micronutrients are also perishable — fruits, vegetables, poultry, fish, dairy, etc. Additionally, with urbanisation and rising incomes, the length of the food value chain also increases, as what people eat becomes less and less connected to where they live.
The Global Nutrition Report 2016 has highlighted India’s overall tardy progress in addressing chronic undernutrition, manifest in stunting (low weight for age), wasting (low weight for height) and micronutrient deficiency or “hidden hunger”.
With 17% of the world’s population, India remains home to a quarter of the world’s undernourished people, a third of the world’s underweight children and a quarter of the world’s hungry. This demographic cannot possibly result in a productive and efficient workforce, or be converted into any meaningful economic dividend. The World Happiness Report 2017, which looks at quality of people’s life beyond GDP and per capita income and includes economic variables, social factors and health indicators, has ranked India at 122 of 155 countries. India’s decline in 2014-16, compared with 2005-07, is on account of poor and slow progress on social factors and health indicators.
Agriculture has to be one of the drivers of India’s growth, and even though we are the world’s third largest producer of food, our agriculture growth has fallen well below the targeted 4% over the last 15 years. According to the International Food Policy Research Institute, India needs to at least double its investment in agricultural research to double farmers’ incomes by 2022. This will not happen only with a focus on rice and wheat — more diversity is needed, with the addition of vegetables, fruits and dairy farming.
Harnessing technology to increase agricultural productivity, where we lag both our potential and competitive benchmarks will be critical to our overall well-being. As an example, since the 1960s India’s groundwater irrigation has increased dramatically, and since the 1980s groundwater levels have been dropping, thus stressing the system. Groundwater recharge therefore becomes a critical variable to augment agricultural productivity. Further, imports of agricultural commodities have increased from 4% of GDP in 2008-09 to 5.5% of GDP in 2013-14, according to the Economic Survey. Edible oil imports alone in the last year cost us Rs. 65,000 crore ($10 billion). This need not be the case in future.
Dignified quality of life
To provide even a baseline and dignified quality of life to its people, India has to address enhancing agricultural productivity, crop diversification and eliminating food loss and waste with a firm resolve, backed with the right and timely action. The last must be done on priority as it deals with food already available. So the key question is, how do we minimise food loss given that the government wants this, businesses want this, and people want this?
There is clearly a structural and behavioural component to this, and the door is open for investment in food system infrastructure: storage, transportation, processing, etc; investment in information systems that help identify loss by crop and region so solutions can be specifically tailored to the problem; use of technology to better connect supply and demand; public-private partnerships with companies to reduce spoilage and loss; creation of food banking networks that work with civil society and development agencies on getting food already available to those that need it. Among the several priorities we have, minimising food loss has the potential to be transformative in multiple ways
(1). Target 3 for the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12 is about 
(a) Food wastage
(b) Education
(c) Poverty
(d) Terrorism
(2). According to the passage, What percentage of the women is anaemic in the world? 
(a) 40 %
(b) 60 %
(c) 30 %
(d) 50 %
(3). Consider the following statements regarding the recently held Food Congress: 
1. It was held in Mumbai
2. It is an Indian Initiative to the world.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) Both are correct
(b) 2 only
(c) Neither 1 nor 2
(d) 1 only
(4). According to the passage, what is the reason behind the 'food loss' problem in emerging economies? 
(a) Supply chain problems
(b) Storage problems
(c) Poor infrastructure
(d) All of the above
(5). Which of the following statements given below is/are correct in context of food loss and agriculture sector in India? 
1. The 40% food loss in India translates to approximately $7.5 billion
2. Agriculture contribution in India's GDP is 15%
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
(a) 1 only
(b) Both are correct
(c) 2 only
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
(6). What is 'Hidden Hunger'? 
(a) Micronutrient deficiency
(b) Chronic Undernutrition
(c) Stunting
(d) Wasting
(7). What is India's rank in the World Happiness Report 2017? 
(a) 92
(b) 112
(c) 132
(d) 122
(8).). Choose the word which is MOST SIMILAR in meaning of the word printed in bold as used in the passage 
Paradoxes
(a) Dichotomy
(b) Incongruity
(c) Contradiction
(d) All of the above
(9). Choose the word which is MOST OPPOSITE in meaning of the word printed in bold as used in the passage 
Tardy
(a) Crawling
(b) Creeping
(c) Dawdling
(d) Bolting
(10). Choose the word which is MOST OPPOSITE in meaning of the word printed in bold as used in the passage 
Lag
(a) Advance
(b) Straggle
(c) Trail
(d) Linger

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Reading Comprehension: Part 8

 Reading Comprehension: Part 8

For the first time in 11 years, in 2015-16 the combined fiscal deficit of India’s 29 States as a proportion of the size of their economies breached the 3% threshold recommended as a fiscally prudent limit by successive Finance Commissions. The Reserve Bank of India has warned that the States’ expectation to revert to the 3% mark in their 2016-17 Budgets may not be realised, based on information from 25 States. While the Central government has projected a fiscal deficit of 3.2% of GDP for this year, States expect to bring theirs down further to 2.6% — still higher than the average of 2.5% clocked between 2011-12 and 2015-16.

Whichever way one looks at it, the steady gains made in States’ finances over the past decade seem to be unravelling. Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian has asserted that the 3% of GDP benchmark for the fiscal deficit of the States or the Centre is not a magic number. Yet, it serves as an anchor for fiscal discipline in a country whose two biggest crises in recent decades — the balance of payments trouble in 1991, the currency tumble in 2013 — were precipitated by fiscal irresponsibility.
Taking on the massive debt of their chronically loss-making power distribution companies, as part of the UDAY restructuring exercise steered by the Centre, has surely dented the States’ fiscal health significantly over the past couple of years. With private investment remaining elusive, the States’ focus on bolstering capital expenditure in sectors such as transport, irrigation and power is welcome (States’ capital expenditure as a proportion of their GDP has been higher than the Centre’s since 2011-12). But it is important that such funding remains sustainable and States stay solvent. Tepid economic growth hasn’t helped, and States have had to resort to higher market borrowings even after the Centre hiked their share from tax inflows to 42% from 32%, starting 2015-16. The Centre has been short-changing States by relying on special levies such as surcharges, cesses and duties that are not considered part of the divisible tax pool. So, instead of a 10% rise in the States’ share of gross tax revenue, the actual hike in 2015-16 was just 7.7%. The forthcoming Goods and Services Tax regime should, it is to be hoped, correct this anomaly to an extent. But there are other potential stress points: Pay Commission hikes, rising interest payments, the unstated risks from guaranteeing proxy off-budget borrowings by State enterprises, and the boisterous clamour for ad hoc loan waivers. The N.K. Singh panel on fiscal consolidation has recommended a focus on overall government debt along with fiscal deficit and a 20% debt-to-GDP ratio for States by 2022-23. Not just the Centre, but States (with outstanding liabilities to GDP of around 24% as of March 2017) also need to tighten their belts considerably from here, even as they await the constitution of the Fifteenth Finance Commission.

Reading Comprehension Practice: Part 7

Reading Comprehension Practice: Part 7

Every day, since 1904, staff at the Kodaikanal Solar Observatory in Tamil Nadu have aimed their telescope at the sun, freezing the images of its disc. This data, spanning a hundred years and more, has now been digitised by astrophysicists from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru, and made available to the public.
Apart from use in academic studies of long-term behaviour of the sun, the data can be used to better understand sunspot activity which impacts climate and affects telecommunication systems. It also throws light on major events in the past which had an impact on the earth’s magnetic field. “From that knowledge we may understand the current and future events with greater precision. This also allows us to predict future [sunspot] activity levels with better accuracy,” says Dipankar Banerjee, IIAP, the Principal Investigator.
While ‘spectroheliograms’ were taken at the Kodai observatory since 1902, it was in 1909 that the data was used to discover the Evershed effect – those gases in the sunspots flowed radially outwards. The discovery by John Evershed put the KSO at par with the best observatories in the world. But its importance eventually declined as it was not upgraded or maintained. In a backhanded way, though, this turned out to be beneficial, because “the pictures had all been taken with the same instrument over the years, and this made it much easier to calibrate and digitise,” says Sudip Mandal, a Ph.D student who has worked on the project.
The data is unique not only in that it spans a hundred years, but that there are three sets of images, taken using different filters – White light, H-alpha and Calcium-K. It is known that the sun has a layered structure, and each of these data sets exposes a different layer.
Under white light filtering, the sun’s photosphere and the sunspots are visible, while the Calcium-K light can show layers some 2,000 km above this, in the chromosphere. The H-alpha images show up layers a little above the Calcium-K images. Features called “filaments” which are related to large expulsions of material from the sun’s surface can be viewed in the sets.
Opening up the digitised data has attracted international attention: Max Planck Institute, Gottingen; National Astronomical Observatories of China, Beijing and Big Bear Solar Observatory, US are interested in studying the way the sun’s luminosity changes. Though the sun appears to have a steady brightness, its luminosity actually undergoes changes over time. Some of the groups. The Big Bear Solar Observatory and the Beijing teams are interested in the H-alpha data in order to study the filaments that can be observed in those shots. Within India, groups from IUCAA, Pune; Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad; and IISER, Kolkata, want to make studies.
A movie that the scientists made out of a sequence of hundreds of white light images shows how the sunspots appear and disappear periodically over an eleven-year cycle. Such movies offer immense possibilities for developing educational software, as classes of students can visually experience how the sun and the sunspots behave over the years. Just like CERN offers its data to science hobbyists, for analysis that does not require much training and yet cannot be carried out without human intervention, this data, too, could be used by science fora in India to build citizen science projects.
The data was historically archived in photographic plates and film. After the digitisation, the images are preserved in high-resolution digital format. “We store it in FITS [flexible image transport system] which is the most commonly used digital file format,” clarifies Dr Banerjee.
The project which was initiated about six years ago by S.S. Hasan, then the director of IIAP, has succeeded in converting to digitised format some sixty-seventy thousand images previously stored in photographic plates. The team includes scientists and the big team of research assistants at the Kodaikanal lab.
At the moment, the group has released the “lowest level” or raw data and plans are on to eventually release the processed ones, too.

(1). Consider the following statement regarding the ‘Kodaikanal Solar Observatory’: 
1. The data from observatory can be used to better understand sunspot activity which impacts climate.
2. The data from ovservatory can be used to better understand sunspot activity which affects telecommunication systems.
Which of the following statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both are correct
(d) None is correct
(2). Where is Kodaikanal Solar Observatory located? 
(a) Kerala
(b) Karnataka
(c) Andhra Pradesh
(d) Tamil Nadu

(3). The data collected by ‘Kodaikanal Solar Observatory’ has been digitised by 
(a) The Indian Institute of Technology
(b) The Indian Institute of Astrophysics
(c) The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
(d) None of the above
(4). National Astronomical Observatories of China, Beijing and Big Bear Solar Observatory, US are interested in studying 
(a) Calcium-K light
(b) the way the sun’s luminosity changes
(c) White light
(d) All of the above

(5). Which of the following instiutes in India want to make studies in the same field as National Astronomical Observatories of China, Beijing and Big Bear Solar Observatory, US? 
(a) IISER, Kolkata
(b) IUCAA, Pune
(c) Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad
(d) All of the above

(6). Choose the word which is Most Opposite to the word printed in bold in the passage.
Radially
(a) Spiral
(b) Spreading
(c) Spoked
(d) Asymmetric

(7). Choose the word which is Most Similar to the word printed in bold in the passage. 
Calibrate
(a) Overhaul
(b) Disorganize
(c) Damage
(d) derange

(8). Choose the word which is Most Opposite to the word printed in bold in the passage.
Expulsions
(a) Banishment
(b) Discharge
(c) Debarment
(d) import

 (9). Choose the word which is Most Similar to the word printed in bold in the passage. 
Immense
(a) Teeny
(b) Finite
(c) Insignificant
(d) Humongous

(10). Choose the word which is Most Opposite to the word printed in bold in the passage. 
Archived
(a) Chronicles
(b) Scrolls
(c) Extracts
(d) None of the above

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Reading Comprehension Practice: Part 6

Reading Comprehension Practice: Part 6

The total stress in the Indian banking system is about Rs. 14 lakh crores. In other words, this is the amount for which loans have been given to industry and for which there is now no certainty of repayment.

The figure is set to increase with the banking regulator recently raising a red flag over the indebtedness of the telecom sector and asking banks to increase standard asset provisioning. This means that even if the account is not a non-performing asset (NPA), banks have to set aside higher capital. In fact, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked banks to identify stressed sectors and to make higher provisions to prepare for bad days ahead.

Bad loans in the Indian banking system have almost doubled in the past year. According to Reserve Bank of India data, gross NPA, as a percentage of gross advances, went up to 9.1% in September 2016 from 5.1% in September 2015. In the same period, stressed assets (which is gross NPA plus standard restructured advances and write-offs) moved up from 11.3% to 12.3%. Some estimates suggested it had doubled since 2013. Public sector banks share a disproportionate burden of this stress. Stressed assets in some public sector banks have approached or even exceeded 20%.
A PARA solution
Amid the sharp rise in NPA, talks of setting up a ‘bad’ bank have been gaining momentum. The government and the RBI are drawing up strategies on how to operationlise such a scheme. The economic survey of 2016-17 pointed out the twin balance sheet problem — stressed companies on one hand and NPA-laden banks on the other — and advocated a centralised Public Sector Asset Rehabilitation Agency (PARA) be established to deal with the bad loans problem.
“Private Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs) haven’t proved any more successful than banks in resolving bad debts,” the economic survey had said while proposing the ‘bad’ bank. “But international experience shows that a professionally-run central agency with government backing — while not without its own difficulties — can overcome the difficulties that have impeded progress,” it added.
One challenge private sector ARCs face is that of capital. None of the entities till now has been allowed to tap the capital market for raising funds. Kotak Mahindra Bank, which recently took its board’s approval to raise Rs. 5,300 crore equity said the bank also wanted to capitalise on opportunities in acquisition and resolution of stressed assets in the banking sector including participation in a ‘bad’ bank. Kotak Mahindra Prime and Kotak Mahindra Investments, companies in the Kotak Mahindra Group are sponsors of the asset reconstruction company Phoenix and together own 49% stake in it.
“The ARCs are badly capitalised. We see significant opportunity for Kotak in this,” Mr. Kotak said adding the country would need 2-3 well-capitalised ‘bad’ banks.
Some central bank as well as government officials also admitted capital was the biggest challenge in setting up a ‘bad’ bank. “At least Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 30,000 crore of capital will be required to set up a bad bank in the initial stages. Where will the money come from?” asked a senior central bank official.
Two models 
RBI deputy governor Viral Acharya recently suggested two models to solve the problem of stressed assets. The first, Private Asset Management Company (PAMC), is said to be suitable for sectors where the stress is such that assets are likely to have economic value in the short run, with moderate levels of debt forgiveness. Some of the sectors which this model could address metals are telecom and textiles.
In this model, each resolution plan would get vetted and rated by at least two credit rating agencies to assess the financial health and in terms of timeline, the banking sector may be asked to resolve and restructure, say, its 50 largest stressed exposures in these sectors, by December 31, 2017, the deputy governor had proposed.
The second model is the National Asset Management Company (NAMC), which would be necessary for sectors where the problem is not just one of excess capacity but possibly also of economically unviable assets in the short- to medium-term. Mr. Acharya cited the example of the power sector, where projects have been created to deliver aggregate capacity that is beyond the estimated peak utilisation any time soon.

Uttarakhand Becomes the First State to Implement Uniform Civil Code 2025

Uttarakhand's Uniform Civil Code Approved by President

The Uttarakhand state government has officially implemented the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), making it the first state in India to do so, nearly a year after the Uttarakhand Assembly passed the UCC Bill in 2024.

The announcement was made by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who also introduced a rulebook for the UCC and launched an online portal for applications under the new regulations at his office in Dehradun.

Key provisions of the UCC include mandatory registration of live-in relationships, guidelines for contract marriages, a ban on halal practices, iddat, and polygamy, as well as equal inheritance rights for men and women.

The law applies not only to Uttarakhand but also to its residents living outside the state. However, it does not apply to Scheduled Tribes.

A major provision of the UCC mandates that individuals in live-in relationships must register within one month of entering into the relationship. Failure to do so could result in a fine, jail time, or both.

President Droupadi Murmu had given her assent to the UCC Bill in March of last year.

Reading Comprehension Practice: Part 4

Reading Comprehension Practice: Part 4

There’s the crush of traffic outside and the air is still with the heat of summer and the aroma of baking. At the junction of Perambur’s Paper Mills Road and Foxen Street, at the cusp of the slowly-vanishing world of Anglo India, is Ajantha Bakers.
A mosaic-tiled stairway leads to the bakery on the first floor, overlooking tin-roofed garages and tiled houses that have risen and slept under the warm blanket of comfort this aroma exudes. Ajantha Bakers has been part of this Anglo-Indian stronghold since 1972, baking wedding cakes, pound cakes and marzipan-rich, chewy Easter eggs.
But, during the week between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday, it is hot cross buns — soft, slightly spiced and tinged in nostalgia — that sell by the thousands. Says KS Subhash, managing director, “When my father KT Sekhar started the bakery, he had plenty of Anglo-Indian friends and customers. They still form the backbone of our clientèle, and it is their recipes that we largely use, whether in our butter cakes or whole-wheat breads. Our Easter eggs and bunnies made of marzipan and chocolates are ready at least two weeks ahead of the festival. For the hot cross buns, which are eggless, we use the best of spices blended with raisins. That flavour is unmistakeable and we bake about 25,000 buns. They sell out within a few hours.”
Ajantha Bakers sells its buns on Thursday, “so they keep fresh” on Good Friday, when they are traditionally eaten. “Priced at Rs. 65 for a pack of five, the buns are retailed at our 14 outlets and ordered in bulk by churches.”
Choose your flavour
In Britain, where it first originated, hot cross buns have been celebrated in a nursery rhyme and sold in supermarkets through the year.
The bar at The Bell Inn, Essex, has buns from every Good Friday since 1906 suspended as buntings. Belief is that hot cross buns hung in kitchens prevent fires, and the faith behind them would never let them go mouldy. Hot cross buns have also been mixed with unusual flavours such as Earl Grey tea, rum-soaked sultanas and potato-bread dough.
In Chennai, though, it is the standard recipe that is followed. At the iconic Buhari Hotel on Anna Salai, hot cross buns will be available from Thursday. The hotel that has stood here since 1951, has had an in-house bakery since the 1960s. Above the roar of traffic and customers tucking into plates of biryani on a busy Friday afternoon, Nawaz Buhari, managing director, says, “The egg-free recipe for hot cross buns that we follow comes from the Vietnamese bakers who worked here when we started out.” While the famed McRennett will stock hot cross buns priced at Rs. 40 for a pack of four from tomorrow, hotels such as ITC Grand Chola and Hyatt Regency already have trays laden with Good Friday and Easter goodies at their gourmet shops.
Family tradition
Harry MacLure, editor, Anglos in the Wind, says of his childhood in Tiruchi, “It was tradition at home — the air used to be filled with the spiced aroma of hot cross buns baking, but now we just buy it off store shelves. We look forward to breaking the fast with this simple delicacy and a coconut milk-rice gruel with coconut chutney.”
Lenten treat
Hot cross buns have long been a symbol of spring and fertility. According to pagan legend, oxen were sacrificed and their horns symbolically emblazoned on freshly baked bread. The words ‘bun’ and ‘Easter’ are derived from the Anglo-Saxon lexicon meaning ‘sacred ox’ and ‘Eostre’, the goddess of spring. The four quadrants made by the cross on the bread are said to have represented the phases of the moon. The modern version of the hot cross bun is a British invention that came with Europe opening up to trade with the East. Spices and salt started to cost less and the sweet-savoury bun with a pasty white cross on its brown top became a Good Friday baker’s treat. The cross came to symbolise Christ’s passion and death, and the spices, the mixture with which his body was embalmed. So popular and wholesome were the buns, that they were baked through the year, and Queen Elizabeth I had to issue a royal decree to stop their year-round baking, so that their religious symbolism wouldn’t be lost.
(1). Consider the following statements regarding the Ajantha Bakers as given in the above passage:
1. It is situated in Perambur.
2. It has been part of Anglo-Indian stronghold since 1872.

Reading Comprehension Practice: Part 3

Reading Comprehension Practice: Part 3

India is the world’s most populous democracy and will, by 2030, be the most populous country, overtaking China. And it is young — there are more Indian 10-year-olds than there are Australians.
With more than a dozen distinct languages, scripts and religions, India is multiculturalism on the grandest scale. And to sustain a vibrant modern democracy, surely India is one of the greatest political achievements of our times.
Once you appreciate its size, you see its potential. Think of all those 10-year-olds who will one day be voting in India’s elections and who will also, one day, belong to India’s middle class, the engine of its booming economy.Put all that together and it’s easy to understand why India will play a central role in our region and the world and, I hope for Australians, it is easier to see why the relationship between our two countries has never been more important.
That formal relationship began for many Australians in 1950, when Robert Menzies became the first Australian leader to visit independent India. Since then, both countries have been transformed. Now we must turn our attention to transforming the relationship to one that matches India’s huge needs and its enormous potential with our people, Australia’s best assets, as well as our resources and our shared democratic traditions.
I am delighted to be taking up Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s invitation to make my first official visit to India as Prime Minister, from April 9-12.
Three focus areas
During the visit we will focus on three areas of our relationship that show great potential: our economic, knowledge and strategic partnerships.
India is inspiring the world with its explosive economic growth. Its economic take-off is lifting millions out of poverty, transforming the country into the world’s fastest-growing major economy, with forecasted growth of 7.5% in 2017. This is a stunning result for India, and a rare opportunity for Australia. From Mumbai to Melbourne, from Bengaluru to Brisbane, India will be in the market to buy some of the best things Australia has to offer.
Two-way trade is growing, and approaching $20 billion, but that’s far too low and there’s so much more we can do. This will be a key focus of my visit. I’ll meet with executives from some of India’s biggest companies, and speak with Australian entrepreneurs in India who are expanding their market reach into this extraordinary country.
The Government will announce the results of the tenth round of the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund. Worth more than $100 million, this initiative has enabled our sharpest minds to collaborate in areas such as food security and health, and advance the boundaries of human knowledge in quantum computing, nanotechnology and astronomy. By combining our talents, we can add to the technological achievements already made in both our countries.
As an education destination
For decades our citizens have been criss-crossing the Indian Ocean in search of knowledge. Last year, Australia was the second-most popular study destination for Indian students — 60,000 came to Australia to learn. Through the Government’s New Colombo Plan, I want to see more and more young Australians choosing India as a place to study and boost their own qualifications and experience. India’s demand for our minerals and resources remains high. But education is a new pathway to shared prosperity. Consider the numbers — the Indian Government is aiming to train 400 million people by 2022. We can help them achieve this goal.
A great strength of our education relationship is found in the higher education and research sector. Collaboration between our institutes on high-end research, innovation, science and technology are central to developing our knowledge partnership.Having met twice already, Mr. Modi and I know that our close economic cooperation is also matched by shared strategic priorities.

Reading Comprehension Practice: Part 2

Reading Comprehension Practice: Part 2

Marcus Bartley hails from a family of renowned doctors in Yercaud. It was expected that Bartley too would enter that profession. But even in school, he knew what he wanted to do. His parents left him to make his own choices, and in 1940, Bartley headed to Bombay and got a job as a rookie photographer/reporter with a leading newspaper.

Starting young
In the small, closely-knit coterie of press photographers, he met Ellis R Dungan, Shantilal Shah (whom I married much later), BK Dilwali of Simla Studios, Carlo Marconi, and Homai Vyarawalla. Bartley did not have any formal training in photography, but he was willing to work hard and do the smallest of jobs. He observed, read, watched and absorbed. My husband would say that as a press photographer, you clicked on the run, and considered yourself lucky if you got four to five clear photographs from a roll of 36. With Bartley, it was almost always 36 out of 36.
In 1945, with the War over, Bartley returned to Madras and cranked his first film. When we caught up with him in 1956, this tall, welcoming man with bright blue eyes was head of the photography department of Vauhini Studios owned by B Nagi Reddy.
Much has been said of Bartley being a difficult person to get along with, because of his bad temper. The truth is that he was a perfectionist, and could not deal with an unprofessional attitude. He didn’t believe in hierarchies and treated everyone the same; it is possible he didn’t even know the names of the stars in his films. All that mattered to him was that they were punctual.
The lensman
He did not understand Hindi, spoke fractured Tamil and Telugu, but he made it a point to sit with the script writer and director, understanding the screenplay, so he could work on his lighting style. His specialty was special effects, particularly for mythological films. Bartley had hand-picked a team of light boys and assistants, who carried out his instructions, working in efficient silence. He rarely allowed anyone to handle his lenses. I have seen him holding on to them as though they were the Holy Grail. He was focussed and would work for nights before the actual shooting, lighting the set to make it perfect. He worked with glamorous film stars, but rarely socialised with them. He was teased for being one of the rare Anglo Indians who never danced.