Answer- Glacial Process

Before glaciation, mountain valleys have a characteristic "V" shape, produced by downward erosion by water. However, during glaciation, these valleys widen and deepen, forming a "U"-shaped glacial valley. Besides the deepening and widening of the valley, the glacier also smooths the valley due to erosion. In this way, it eliminates the spurs of earth that extend across the valley. Because of this interaction, triangular cliffs called truncated spurs are formed.

Outwash

Striations

ARC has analyzed threadbare the provisions of Civil Services Conduct Rules which are in direct and indirect conflict with the RTI Act regime. It has taken into account of the Shourie committee recommendations and has suggested modifications in the existing Civil Services Conduct Rules applicable to the employees of the Central as well as the State governments. Currently prevalent conduct rules and the Manual of Office Procedure explicitly debar the government officials to communicate any information considered sensitive by them to the public. We have already seen that these provisions have used by the unscrupulous officials and politicians to hide their murky dealings. Therefore ARC recommended following changes-

Every Government servant shall, in performance of his duties in good faith, communicate to a member of public or any organization full and accurate information, which can be disclosed under the Right to Information Act, 2005.

These changes are to be made to both Civil Services Conduct Rules as well as the Manual of Office Procedure. This will not only protect the interests of honest civil servants, it will also facilitate the flow of information under the RTI Act, 2005 to the general public.

Regarding the Confidentiality Classification of the information by various departments, the ARC, in line with the Shourie Committee recommendations, has noted that besides Official Secrets Act, it’s the tendency to classify information by the government departments that has been abused way too much by the officials. ARC has recommended some 11 categories of information which deserve any kind of classification, which restricts the discretion of the officials in classifying information to a large extent. Regarding the duration of classification ARC has recommended that documents once classified as “Top Secret” or “Secret”, should remain so classified as long as required but not exceeding 30 years. Documents classified as confidential and restricted should remain so for a period not exceeding 10 years. However, the competent classifying officer may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, authorize continued classification beyond the period prescribed above if information, the disclosure of which would cause damage to national security or national interest. ARC has also restricted the rank of officer to sanction the top secret classification to a document to Joint Secretary and above.

Above steps as recommended by the ARC, if implemented, are going to go a long way in developing a culture of transparency in the administration. Before RTI came into force, the administrative culture in India was totally alienated from the general public due to the all pervasive secretive behavior. In fact one thinker has mentioned that corruption breeds in secrecy. The culture of secrecy as developed in Indian administration was one of the biggest reason as well as perpetrator of the malady of corruption at every level of the government. It was in this backdrop that RTI was introduced as a legally sanctioned right of the citizens. In our next article we will see the machinery proposed to implement RTI and ARC recommendation on that.

Right to Information is considered as one of the highest ideals of a democratic polity. Information is the tool in the hands of common man which helps him hold his political representatives and administration accountable. Though implied in the Fundamental Rights of the citizens as enumerated in our constitution, the Right to Information was finally given legal sanctity when the Parliament enacted one of the most important legislations of independent India- the Right to Information Act, 2005. The importance attached to this act can be gauged from the fact that the Prime Minister of India himself has emphasized the need for a statutory protection to the right of information. He has said in front of the Parliament that efficient and effective institutions are key to rapid social and economic development and for this happen the institutions must function in a transparent, responsible and accountable manner. This is the goal that RTI Act, 2005 aims to achieve.
RTI Act, 2005 replaces an earlier act passed during the NDA government regime in 2002. The earlier act had too many exemptions and was prone to manipulation by the persons in powerful positions. The RTI Act, 2005 plugs many of those loopholes. This law is very comprehensive and covers almost all matters of governance and has the widest possible reach, being applicable to government at all levels – Union, State and Local as well as recipients of government grants. Access to information under this Act is extensive with minimum exemptions. Even these exemptions are subject to strict safeguards. The act applies to all the branches of the government- Executive, Legislative and Judicial. But the Commission’s study has been primarily restricted to its application in the executive branch. With the law of this kind there are bound to be implementation issues. The biggest challenge lies in the entrenched mindset of the government departments which is very heavily biased towards secrecy. The archaic laws like Official Secrets Act etc have guided the functioning of government departments since before the independence.  These are the few areas that commission has centered its study. The terms of reference to the ARC were-

a.     To review the confidentiality classification of government documents specially with reference to the Official Secrets Act.
b.    To encourage transparency and access to non-classified data.
c.     Disclosure of information and transparency as a supplement to the Right to Information of the citizens.

The first and foremost task is to analyze the strength of RTI Act in the face of draconian provisions of Official Secrets Act, 1923 which governs almost every aspect of government decision making and record keeping. While decisions related to national security and the decisions taken inside the confines of the Cabinet meetings certainly need some protection from public gaze, lest harm should be done to the wider public interest, most of other information available with the government can be declassified and be made available to the public on the request. It must be remembered that the Official Secrets Act (henceforth called OSA) is a draconian law enacted during the colonial times to suppress the voice of the people, it certainly did not have any relevance in free and democratic India. Section 5 of the OSA has a catch all language and literally provides immunity to any government decision from public scrutiny. This has bred a culture of secrecy where secrecy is the norm and disclosure is an exception as far as the information available with the government is concerned. It is here that RTI Act tries to correct almost a century old anomaly. RTI Act says, “Sec. 8(2): Notwithstanding anything in the Official Secrets Act, 1923 nor any of the exemptions permissible in accordance with sub-section (1), a public authority may allow access to information,if public interest in disclosure outweighs the harm to the protected interests”

It further provides under its Section 22 that ,” The provisions of this Act shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in the Official Secrets Act, 1923, and any other law for the time being in force or any instrument having effect by virtue of any law other than this Act”. Thus it can be seen that in one stroke RTI Act overrides following draconian laws-
1.    chapters 6 and 7 of the Indian Penal Code ;
2.    The Foreign Recruiting Act, 1874;
3.    The Official Secrets Act, 1923;
4.    The Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1938;
5.    The Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1961; and
6.    The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

Recommendations-
ARC has recommended that the OSA, 1923 be repealed altogether and some of it provisions dealing with espionage may be included as a chapter in the National Security Act. Only the information considered extremely confidential, the disclosure of which may be prejudicial to the National Security and public safety and interest, should be held back and that too after due consideration by the highest authority. Regarding the Indian Evidence Act  ARC has recommended steps broadly along the ‘Shourie Committee’ and the ‘Law Commission’. The relevant sections of the act under consideration are Section 123 and Section 124. These section have been used and misused by various government officials to withhold a variety of information even from the courts. Though this provision was meant to protect officials from giving forcible evidence against their acts in official capacity, it has been mostly used to protect the unscrupulous dealings of the officials. ARC has recommended that Section 123 should be modified to make sure that only that information which is exempted under RTI Act 2005 be allowed to be withheld. In case of non presentation any non exempt or even exempt information the concerned will have to make a written affidavit in front of the court and mention the reasons for non presentation of the information in front of the court. Further, the court must be given the power to scrutinize such withheld information itself and decide itself that its disclosure will indeed harm national interest grievously. As far as section 124 is concerned it will become redundant if above changes are made and must be repealed.
Regarding the ‘Oath of Secrecy’ taken by the minister before their induction into the ministry, the National Commission for Review of the Working of the Constitution (NCRWC) has recommended that instead of secrecy the minister must take an ‘Oath of Transparency’. Same has been recommended by the ARC, which went on to recommend that Article 74 and 75 of the constitution should be amended to incorporate the provision for an oath of transparency. ARC has gone on to explain that a minister is a bridge between people and the government and legislature. This relationship must be governed by absolute trust and openness. The oath of transparency will not only be in line with the new RTI regime it will help develop confidence of people in their elected representatives.
In the next article we will deal with the ARC’s recommendation on other aspects of secrecy in administration.

Its German Ideology. In this book for the first time, Marx and Engels systematized their theory of Historical Materialism or Dialectical Materialism.

Administrative Reforms Commission or ARC as it is popularly known is a gigantic exercise in Administrative Reforms undertaken by the Government of India, only twice since India became independent. First ARC was appointed in 1966 under the chairmanship of Moraji Desai. This was commission which expanded into a huge machinery consisting of 20 Study groups and scores of subcommittees. It submitted its report within two years of intensive research and analysis. This report contained a wealth of highly valuable recommendations to infuse life into an essentially colonial and outdated system of administration. Many of its recommendations were put into practice by the Government. But due to changed socio-economic and political landscape of the country the need for setting up a Second Administrative Reforms Commission was being increasingly felt. This led to formation of Second ARC by the Government of India in the year 2005 under the chairmanship of Shri Veerappa Moily.
The need to setup a Second ARC was felt due to the changing priorities being set before Indian Administration. The socio-economic reality of 21st century India is way too different from the Mid-Twentieth century India when First ARC was setup. In current scenario of Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization the administration has to shoulder new responsibilities and shed some older ones. The role of state as the most important economic in erstwhile pre liberalization India has given way to the role as the most important facilitator of economic activity in the country as whole. In view of total opening up of the economy for private investment the administration has to shift its focus primarily to the welfare activities. But, the role of state as a regulator of economic activities and ensuring fair and smooth functioning of the markets has become even more important. Thus regulatory and welfare responsibilities of the government have increased exponentially in past couple of decades. In addition, government has to continuously upgrade its capability in view of onset of the information society in India where people are demanding equal status with the government in governing the country. The issue of public accountability and citizens’ right to information has been ensured by an act of the parliament. The challenges faced by the country are also tremendous- Centre State relations, Issues of Corruption and inefficiency in the administration, growing impatience in the citizenry, impact of global culture, spurt in regional and sectarian tendencies and last but not the least the menace of the terrorism are some of the herculean challenges staring in the face of administration.
With this background let us analyze the recommendations of the Second Administrative Reforms Commission of India and their implications. Second ARC (we will call it only ‘ARC’ hence forth) has submitted 11 reports till now and a short brief on terrorism. These reports deal primarily with following areas-
1st Report of ARC    - 'Right to Information : Master Key to Good Governance', June 2006
2nd  report of ARC   - Unlocking Human Capital: Entitlements and Governance - a case study
3rd  report ARC        -Crisis management
4th  report ARC         -Ethics in Governance'
5th  report of ARC    -PUBLIC ORDER
6th  report of ARC    -Local Governance
7th Report                 - 'Capacity Building for Conflict Resolution'
8th Report                 - COMBATTING TERRORISM- PROTECTING BY RIGHTEOUSNESS 
9th Report                 - Social Capital-A shared Destiny
10th Report              - Refurbishing of Personnel Administration – Scaling New Heights
11th Report              - PROMOTING e-GOVERNANCE: The SMART Way Forward

Here I would suggest that you memorize the issues dealt in each report as given here. This can actually come as a question in prelims and certainly one of these reports will come in Mains this year, especially in the papers of Public Administration, Sociology and Political Science and in all probability in GS also as a short question. In the next few articles we are going to analyze the ARC recommendations in detail.

Remaining Topics in GS

Geography
Like in other traditional topics Geography also has acquired a distinct Current Affairs flavor. Nowadays more is the emphasis on testing as much knowledge as possible out of every single question. Take for example, in a certain year several parts of the world might have received ‘cyclones’ or ‘typhoons’ or ‘hurricanes’ as cyclonic disturbances are called in various countries. These disturbances are named as per some convention if they exceed a certain intensity. Then a question in geography may look like finding the places on the map of the world and match them with the name of cyclones given in the question. This not only tests your current awareness but also your traditional knowledge when you are asked to locate these places in the map.
For traditional part you will have to rely on NCERT books of 11th and 12th. Besides, a very popular book for learning the basic concepts in Geography is by the author ‘Goh Chi Leong’. Geography portions in India year book and Preliminary guide book by Unique will help you cover most of the traditional portion that can be asked in geography. In any case you must memorize names of all major capitals, rivers, mountain ranges, countries’ old names and new names, epithets, mineral distribution and in the world, and crop distribution in India and the world.

Science and Technology
To master this portion you will have to keep a tab on all the recent happenings in the field of Science and Technology through the Competitive exam oriented magazines and newspaper like Science and Technology portions that come every Thursday or Friday in the Hindu. Besides, there are various guides which come for current affairs before the prelims and mains both. They always contain a comprehensive section on Science and Tech. which means the question on Science and Tech actually form a part of the current affairs preparation.

Quantitative Aptitude
Here I am taking all the questions on Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics together under the heading Quantitative aptitude only. In my first article I had told you how and when to deal with these questions now let us see how to prepare for them. If you had Physics and Math in your twelfth class then it will be easier for you to deal with these questions. But remember you still will have to prepare for these portions because you have to have all concepts on your tips because if you get stuck in these questions you will fail to complete rest of the paper. Same is true for the Mathematics and Life Sciences portion. For Life Sciences portion you can’t do much if you did not have life sciences in your twelfth or graduation. But still you can at least remember some important facts, especially relating to Human anatomy and various diseases and their causes and symptoms. To gain this minimum information, the science portion of the Guide book for Preliminary preparation like the one from Unique publications, should suffice. For mathematics you will have to practice a lot especially the questions on permutation and combination and probability, which seems to have become the favorite area for the paper setters in UPSC to frame questions.

So with this I hope you must have got a fair idea as what to expect in the paper. The composition of the preliminary will remain more or less same only but with varying emphasis on one topic or other from year to year. But let me emphasize once more that throughout your preparation you will have to keep your focus current affairs centric only, that is, whatever subject you study try to link it with the current happenings. This approach will make your studies really powerful and oriented in right direction.