CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set- 1
India won Independence on August 15, 1947. Nearly seventy years have passed since then. So it is time to take stock of our achievements during this period. But before we take up this exercise, the background of the country’s independence has to be considered. The land was then in a state of great turmoil. It was torn by bitter communal feelings ; some of the important Native Princes were dreaming of their political independence. The situation took a worse turn when the age long geographical entity of the country was ruptured by partition. There were horrible communal disturbances all over the land. Millions of shattered refugees flew into India from their ancestral homes in pitiable conditions. All these had their inevitable effects on the country’s economy. The refugee problem drained the treasury, while agriculture and industry were rotting in their old grooves. India was in a very shattered state when she won her independence and also for some time after it. Many outsiders believed that the country would go to pieces within a short period. Thanks, however, to the genius of her people and her leaders, the country has not only survived but also made tremendous advance in many respects.
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set- 2
Polio is a disease caused by a virus and it affects mainly the children under five. The polio virus normally enters the body through the mouth, usually from hands contaminated with the stool of an infected person. It multiplies inside the body and invades the nerve cells that control muscle movements. The result of the attack is paralysis, crippled bodies and sometimes death, causing emotional burden not only on the victim but also on the family. Polio was one of the most dreaded diseases that created a near panic during the epidemics of 1940s and 50s. Then in 1955, a breakthrough occurred when Dr Jonas Salk invented the vaccine which proved effective in preventing polio. There is no cure for polio, it is preventable only by immunization. The global initiative to eradicate polio by the end of the year 2000 through immunization is the largest disease control programme ever taken. Since polio immunization has become widespread, cases of polio are now rare in developed countries like the West. However, polio remains a problem in many parts of the world located in South Asia and the Central and West Africa. In pursuance of the World Health Assembly Resolution of 1988 to eradicate polio by 2000 A.D., in addition to routine polio immunization, Pulse Polio Immunization Programme was launched in India in 1995.
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set- 3
It is strange that though “prohibition” has been enshrined in the directive principles in our Constitution, the States have been extremely lax in enforcing it. New licenses are being issued one after the other by the Central Government to set up breweries all over India. Consumption has almost doubled over the years and now stands at a whopping 340 million litres (1985 figures). New brands of liquor are flooding the market, all with official patronage. The annual toll on life has also increased alarmingly. The recent Baroda hooch tragedy claimed some 300 lives. Every now and then, newspapers carry reports of gruesome deaths caused by consumption of illicit, privately brewed liquor. Hundreds of deaths go unreported. In major hospitals in the cities, alcoholics now constitute 20 to 30% of the patients in psychiatric wards. Only a few years back this figure was as low as 2 to 4%. In fact, alcoholism is a disease. It attacks the central nervous system of the patient. Apart from the physical harm it causes, the patient is also wrecked morally and financially. It is also responsible for hooliganism and other antisocial acts. Road accidents due to drunken driving, broken marriages, etc. are a few of the unhappy fallouts of alcoholism. The tragedy is that, people realize their folly too late. By then it becomes impossible for them to abandon their habit. Their addiction eventually leads them to their doom.
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set- 4
Ever since independence, India has been following a steady foreign policy of neutrality to promote peace and harmony among the different power blocks of the world. She rightly felt that only peace could accelerate the progress of the millions of downtrodden masses, not only in India, but in all the other developing countries also. Hence she has never supported aggression, whether it was in Korea, the Middle East, Ghana, the Far East, Libya or in the South American countries. It has always been her firm faith that any dispute could be successfully solved by discussions across the table. Use of force could only serve to aggravate the situation. Immediately after the Second World War, the world was divided into two distinct power blocks. During the Korean war, it was justly feared that the dispute was snowballing into a big international crisis, which might lead to another world war. Trouble was brewing up also in Indo-China, Ghana and in the Middle East. When all efforts to stop war failed, India agreed to send her army, not to fight, but to put an end to fighting. That India never supported aggression was amply proved by the stand she took during the Anglo-French military action during the Suez crisis.
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set- 5
Secularism can also be non-religious, anti-religious and sceptical. Indian secularism, from this point of view is just non-religious. So long religious functions are held within its legitimate domain, Indian secularism is strictly neutral. It is remarkable that though the words ‘secular’ and ‘secularism’ are not mentioned in our constitution, it guarantees equality of all religions before law. In that respect our constitution is strictly and essentially founded on secular concept. Our constitution guarantees fundamental rights of religious freedom. Our constitution makers were aware that religions as practised all over the world assume an organised communal form and sometimes this organisation may attempt to regulate socioeconomic matters even. Such an attempt will not be tolerated by the Indian constitution. Let us cite one instance. When the Hindu code Bill was placed before Parliament, considerable opposition was voiced by the conservative section of the Hindu community. According to them, Parliament was interfering with the age old provisions of the Vedas in matters of personal law. Parliament ignored the sentimental opposition of the conservative Hindu community and put the Hindu Code Bill on the statute book. The enactment of the Hindu Code Bill is a triumph of Indian secularism. It firmly established that personal law is a secular matter with which religion has nothing to do. Secular concept in India has become fully mature in the eyes of the world.
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set- 6
All forms of work, manual or intellectual, are called labour. When we till a land or carry a load, we work with our hands, and are said to do manual work. But when we read a book or write a letter, our tongue or hand is at work, but our brain or intellect plays the main part. We are then said to be engaged in intellectual work. Dignity of labour chiefly means respectability of manual labour. Manual labour is very useful to us. The daily affairs of life cannot run without it. Ploughmen supply us with bread by toiling in the field ; masons build us houses ; carpenters make us furniture ; smiths shape our ploughshares and other implements by the sweat of their face. Unfortunately, in our country, the educated youths are generally averse to manual labour under a false sense of dignity. They forget that respectability lies, not in whether a work is done with the hand or with the intellect, but in how well it is done. A sweeper who does his work well is more praiseworthy and hence more honourable than a high-placed official who neglects his duties. A story is told of a man who once, when angry, thus spoke to a person who had risen to high position, “Sir, I remember when you were only a drummer boy.”
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set- 7
Census means an official count of the people of a country, with details about sex, age, occupations, religion, culture, etc. Its origin dates back to very ancient days. A census was going on when Jesus Christ was born, we are told. In our country this is taken every ten years. The latest census was taken in our country in 2011 that showed the total population to be 1.2 billion. The object of every government is to bring about improvements in every sphere of the country’s life. To do this the government must have full information about the number of people it will have to take care of and their lives. The census is meant to provide these details under different heads. This enables the government and the people to have a clear idea of where they stand, and what their wants and resources are, and to plan for the future on a scientific basis. Thus the figure about total population informs the government of how many people it has to feed and clothe ; the figures about different age groups and educational qualifications show the level of education the country has already attained and what yet remains to be done in the matter. The figures about occupation are necessary to know what the principal occupations of the people are, how many are gainfully employed and how many are unemployed.
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set- 8
When supply is finite, it is a no-brainer that a burgeoning demand will not be met. Tailoring supply for optimal effect would then be the prudent way ahead, a strategy that the Centre would do well to employ in its COVID-19 vaccination programme. Though the ideal, distant at this stage, is to achieve vaccination of the entire population or enough to create herd immunity, supply considerations will necessarily mean prioritisation of groups for vaccination. While the vaccines have been shown to be effective in preventing death or severe disease by and large, the vaccine’s effect on interrupting or reducing transmission is also an important consideration in deployment. Studies have shown an inverse correlation between vaccinations and infections; a study in Tamil Nadu showed that the percentage of people over 60 years infected in the second wave had come down by 7%, even as the numbers in other age groups rose. This age segment was among the early priority groups for vaccination. With the government opening up vaccinations for all adults, it is imperative that some line list of priority be readied, on the basis of vulnerability and societal role. Primary among them are people in the services sector- those whose jobs mandate interactions with multiple people.
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set– 9
The national income estimates released by the NSO posit an economy that appears to have found some footing in the January-March quarter before the pandemic’s second wave hit. GDP expanded by 1.6% in the final quarter of the last fiscal, an acceleration from the 0.5% growth in the preceding three-month period, that marginally softened the extent of the full-year’s record contraction to 7.3%. The Centre had earlier projected full-year GDP to contract by 8%. There was a 3.7% growth in fourth-quarter gross value added, with all but two of the economy’s eight broad sectors posting expansions. Mining and quarrying and the worst-hit contact-intensive omnibus services category of trade, hotels, transport, communications and broadcasting contracted 5.7% and 2.3%, respectively. Still, the pandemic’s crushing impact over the preceding three quarters meant that only the agriculture, forestry and fishing and the utility services recorded full-year growth. On the expenditure side, private consumption spending appeared to have rebounded to growth for the first time in four quarters, posting an expansion of 2.7% that moderated the full-year’s contraction to 9.1%. And gross fixed capital formation, a proxy for private investment, jumped 11% in the three-month period, most likely helped in fair measure by an increase in capital spending by the Government.
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set– 10
The police and the security forces had some good news from the Maoist-affected areas of Sukma district of Chhattisgarh and Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra recently. Three Maoists were killed due to firing by CRPF from its newly established camp at Mukru near Silger village of Sukma. CRPF had to retaliate when the newly established camp, which is in an area dominated by Maoists, faced protests by villagers with some Maoist cadres present in the crowd. They wanted the camp to be closed down but the police/CRPF did not oblige. They attacked the camp and fired gunshots too, leading to this escalation. Whereas the protesters claim that those killed were simple village folks, the police have confirmed after verifying the identity of the dead that they were Maoists who were feeling threatened about their activities in the area due to this newly established camp. In Gadchiroli, the police killed 13 Maoist cadres- many of whom had rewards on their heads — during a routine search operation in the forests of Kotmi in Etapalli tehsil of the district in an encounter. These incidents may not have drawn much national attention, but do have lot of importance as they show a slow and steady domination by the security forces over the Maoists.
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set– 11
As of now, none of us know whether the SARS-CoV-2, or COVID-19 virus, was accidentally leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan, China, or jumped on to humans ‘zoonotically’ from some animal. But the hypothesis that it did escape a lab, which was earlier confined to the margins of opinion, has now gone mainstream. Last week, President Biden announced a further investigation into the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic. He said in a statement that the majority of the US intelligence community believed there was insufficient evidence to give a clear-cut verdict, but there were elements in the intelligence community who believed that it could be a laboratory accident. So, Biden has now tasked the intelligence community and the national labs to give him a more detailed report within 90 days, which “could bring us closer to a definitive conclusion”. This is a dangerous conjuncture. If, indeed, the lab escape hypothesis can be confirmed, its political consequences for China’s relations with the world would be devastating. But that is not a likely scenario, as China is unlikely to acknowledge any accidental leak theory and without its cooperation, it would be near impossible to validate it. In many ways, the trigger for the current speculation, if we can call it that at this stage, arises from the remarks made by WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on March 30 following the China- WHO investigation earlier this year.
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set– 12
Yesterday, on May 31, the Reserve Bank of India issued a circular that offered some clarification towards the official state of cryptocurrencies in India. After widespread reports claimed that both private and public sector banks have been actively advising users against investing in cryptocurrencies, while withdrawing payment support for Indian crypto trading platforms, the RBI circular underlined that banks can no longer prevent users from making crypto investments by citing the 2018 circular. However, the circular may not be viewed as a direct endorsement of cryptocurrencies by the central bank, therefore still leaving the Indian crypto space wide open for an official regulatory framework, which cannot arrive soon enough. In the circular, RBI’s chief general manager, Shrimohan Yadav states, “References to the (old) circular by banks / regulated entities are not in order, as it was set aside by the Hon’ble Supreme Court on March 4, 2020. As such, the circular is no longer valid from the date of the Supreme Court judgement, and therefore cannot be cited or quoted from.” However, it is important to note that while the clarification is certainly of value, the RBI has left room open for banks to take their own call by not mandating that not complying with cryptocurrency trading platforms and wallets in India would go against the law.
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set– 13
The pandemic has disrupted India’s education system and widened the existing digital divide. Governments have rightly focused on lives and livelihoods and tried to strike a balance during the first and second waves. With the focus being on enhancing health infrastructure and vaccination, education has taken a back seat. As governments plan to open educational institutions, it is imperative to evolve a countrywide model framework, learning from the experience of other nations. India, unlike other smaller countries, is unlikely to vaccinate 70-80 per cent of its population in this calendar year. Should we allow the loss of another academic year, especially for those who do not have access to online teaching and learning? We need different strategies for rural and government schools vis-a-vis the better equipped urban and private schools. Similar is the case for college students. While we have opened up vaccinations to 18-plus age groups, we need to prioritise vaccinations for school and college teachers, especially in rural India. It is sad that thousands of teachers got infected by Covid and many of them succumbed to the disease. Most such teachers were involved in state and panchayat elections. The third wave could strike after educational institutions reopen. If teachers and staff are not vaccinated by then, they could be the first victims.
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set– 14
India’s top badminton star P.V Sindhu says she is working to acquire new skills and techniques to surprise her rivals, who are at the same level with distinct playing styles, at the Tokyo Olympics. The Rio Olympics silver medallist and world champion feels the coronavirus pandemic induced break has given her the much-needed time to rectify mistakes in her game and add something new to her repertoire. Her nemesis and reigning champion, Carolina Marin, will not be there due to a knee injury, but Sindhu knows the field still remains tough. “In women’s circuit the players in top-10 are of same standard. You can’t take it easy, if one player is not there,” Sindhu, the world number seven, said in a virtual interaction, organised by the Sports Authority of India (SAI). “There is Tai Tzu Ying, Ratchanok Intanon, (Nozomi) Okuhara and (Akane) Yamaguchi. They are all good players. You can’t say, it will be easy if one player is missing. I can’t relax and need to be focussed and give my best,” the 25-year-old said. Sindhu had lost the 2016 Olympics final and 2017 World Championship summit clash to Marin. There are a couple of tricky players like Ratchanok, she is very skilful. We have to look after them.
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set– 15
Chocolate and hazelnut spreads have satiated our hearts and taste buds for the longest time. Chocolate spreads are not only delectable but also tend to calm our minds and reduce stress levels. Across the world, they are consumed with bread, waffles, fruits, shakes, smoothies, pancakes, and ice creams. For some, it is a breakfast essential, and for those who come crawling to the kitchen for a midnight grub, this healthy jar of wholesome cocoa shall not disappoint. Nutritionist Pooja Makhija recently shared a healthy alternative for the not-so-healthy Nutella spread. In an Instagram post, she informed that Nutella contains ingredients such as palm oil, soya lecithin, emulsifiers, and copious amounts of sugar which are known to cause inflammation and other health problems. She calls this jar of goodness ‘healthy Nutella’. The spread contains wholesome home ingredients that are rich in nutritional value and free of any synthetic colour, unhealthy fats, solids, emulsifiers, or preservatives. Nutella commercials focus on advertising the spread as a quick and healthy option for breakfast, especially for children. However, due to its high amount of sugar, it may not be the best way to start your day. Sugar is listed FIRST on the ingredient label. This is because sugar is its primary ingredient, comprising 57% of its weight.
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set– 16
It had been 28 years, and there was no greater joy said the captain of the Indian Cricket team from the 1983 World Cup triumph, Kapil Dev. It was as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Kris Srikkanth, who was also on the panel, when Kapil Dev broke into tears on a live news channel only moments after Team India lifted the 2011 Cricket World Cup, kept mute while his Ex-captain let emotions take care of conveying the message he wanted to. He looked at that third person on the panel, who was demurely seated in Kolkata- watching this outbreak and Kapil Dev thanked this man with all his heart. He said something that many Indian fans may have forgotten in that moment of glory and carnival style atmosphere. He said and I quote “Thank you, Dada. This wouldn’t have been possible without you. You are the man who changed Indian Cricket and made this possible. Thank you” I searched for better tributes to this great man named Sourav Ganguly but none fitted the bill when put up against this incident. The Bengal Tiger, Dada, Arguably the greatest Indian Captain of All-time, put up a million appreciative adjectives but they might not do justice to the underrated greatness of this man. Indian cricket was in a turmoil state when Dada took over the captaincy.
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set– 17
Global warming is the slow increase in the average temperature of the earth’s atmosphere because an increased amount of the energy (heat) striking the earth from the sun is being trapped in the atmosphere and not radiated out into space. The earth’s atmosphere has always acted like a greenhouse to capture the sun’s heat, ensuring that the earth has enjoyed temperatures that permitted the emergence of life forms as we know them, including humans. Without our atmospheric greenhouse the earth would be very cold. Global warming, however, is the equivalent of a greenhouse with high efficiency reflective glass installed the wrong way around. Ionically, the best evidence of this may come from a terrible cooling event that took place some 1,500 years ago. Two massive volcanic eruptions, one year after another placed so much black dust into the upper atmosphere that little sunlight could penetrate. Temperatures plummeted. Crops failed. People died of starvation and the Black Death started its march. As the dust slowly fell to earth, the sun was again able to warn the world and life returned to normal. Today, we have the opposite problem. Today, the problem is not that too little sun warmth is reaching the earth, but that too much is being trapped in our atmosphere.
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set– 18
Women are the pioneers of nation. Indian culture attaches great importance to women, comprising half of world’s population. According to a report of secretary general of United Nations, women constitute 50% of human resources, the greatest human resource next only to man having great potentiality. Women are the key to sustainable development and quality of life in the family. The varieties of role the women assume in the family are those of wife, leader, administrator, manager of family income and last but not the least important the mother. A well-ordered disciplined household is essential to normal family life. The woman in the family assumes this function. She is the chief executive of an enterprise. She assigns duties among family members according to their interest and abilities and provides resources in-term of equipment and materials to accomplish the job. She plays a key role in the preparation and serving of meals, selection and care of clothing, laundering, furnishing and maintenance of the house. As an administrator, she organizes various social functions in the family for social development. She also acts as a director of recreation. She plans various recreational activities to meet the needs of young and old members of the family. Moreover it is the women who have sustained the growth of society and moulded the future of nations.
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set– 19
We all think we know the story of Edward Jenner, the country doctor who pioneered vaccination. The legend usually repeated is that Jenner, a family doctor from Gloucestershire, had observed that milkmaids working in the countryside around his hometown of Berkeley had remarkably clear complexions and were never afflicted by the scars of the feared disease smallpox. When he asked about this, he was told that they had all contracted cowpox in the course of their work and it was this that protected them from smallpox. Jenner decided to try and experiment, and when Sarah Nelmes consulted him about the blisters she had acquired after milking a cow named Blossom, the doctor acted quickly. Using pus from Nelmes’s lesions, he deliberately infected James Phipps, the eight-year-old son of his gardener, first with cowpox and, later, with smallpox. To everyone’s relief, James did not contract smallpox. Jenner’s theory had been correct and vaccination was born. However, what is often forgotten is the rigorous scientific method behind Jenner’s experiment. For some years prior to this first vaccination in 1796 he had been gathering evidence supporting the theory that those who had once contracted cowpox were immune from smallpox. But his evidence was predominantly anecdotal and required scrutiny in the form of clinical trials.
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set– 20
Vidyasagar wrote down the Bengali alphabet as we know it today. His original publication on the subject is called Barna Parichay, literally, An Introduction to the Alphabet. We think, What? There was no alphabet before? Of course there was. Just as there was writing, there were stories, there was education, there were children. But everything has a date and a beginning because from there starts the categorisation and the classification. Vidyasagar made it uniform by removing some letters, adding others, confirming how many there must be and what the exact shape and sound of each was. He further made a rhyme to introduce each to the child-learner. He published the alphabet accompanied by beautiful wood-cut illustrations. In the history of modern India, there have been few who have matched this. What we have needed for a long time is more resources for children, more writing and the arts, more rhymes and pictures, all based on observation of how children learn. This can only come if we immerse ourselves in our everyday world and are intimate with our shapes, sounds, images and symbols. More and more of us are turning to this, hopefully, and we will soon match our rich history with an equally rich present.
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set– 21
It’s all too easy to imagine nature and technology as being engaged in a centuries-long boxing match, with the 21st delivering the knockout punch. Sunsets obscured by selfies. Hundreds of thousands of tonnes of toxic ‘e-waste’ dumped in Ghanaian wetlands each year. Words such as ‘acorn’, ‘adder’ and ‘willow’ excised from the Oxford Junior Dictionary to make way for ‘broadband’, ‘analogue’, and ‘cut and paste’. We complain about the colonisation of our wild places with wifi, yet declare internet access to be a human right. We despair about poaching while helping the culprits track down rare animals with our social media posts. We dream of relaxing on tranquil Maldivian islands, but demand unsustainably cheap flights to get us there. From the moment modern humans harnessed the power of fire, it put us on a path to global domination and we never looked back. Now, from cooking vessels to virtual reality headsets, technology is simply a set of strategies our species has developed in order to cope with being self-conscious creatures on a chaotic and often hostile planet. That makes our drive to innovate just as ‘natural’ as the structure of our brains. Either way, we must stop seeing tech and nature as sparring partners, and start concentrating on helping them to dance.
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set– 22
Across the world, due to the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), children are affected by physical distancing, quarantines and nationwide school closures. Some children and young people may be feeling more isolated, anxious, bored and uncertain. They may feel fear, and grief, over the impact of the virus on their families. Working with our partners, WHO will bring you content to help open the world of isolation. Watch out for resources and ideas to support parents and projects that will engage children in understanding the coronavirus, the challenges it brings to their world and what can be done to protect them. We will also introduce children to creative content that will entertain and provide a much-needed escape into the fun and magical worlds of imagination. As part of ongoing collaborations with children’s entertainment and education platforms, WHO partnered with preschool animated television series Peppa Pig to launch the “Wash Wash Wash Your Hands” sing-along video. Peppa and her friends show the fun in safe hand hygiene by encouraging children and families to wash their hands. WHO has teamed up with Ubongo, Africa-based children’s education and entertainment producer, to launch ‘Will you wash your hands with Akili?’. The sing-a-long video by Akili and Me shows children how to wash their hands to stay safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set– 23
Sunderlal Bahuguna, who died with Covid-19 on Thursday aged 94, was known the world over as the man who taught Indians to hug trees to protect the environment. He was one of the main leaders of the Chipko movement in northern India in the 1970s. In Hindi, chipko literally means “hugging”. Heeding calls by Bahuguna and fellow activist Chandi Prasad Bhatt, men and women in the Indian Himalayas embraced and chained themselves to trees to stop loggers from cutting them down. It was a powerful symbol that conveyed, ‘Our bodies before our trees’. It also became a movement that brought to the world’s attention the devastation wrought by the environmental crisis in the world’s highest mountains. A devastating flood in Uttarakhand in 1970 had come as a rude awakening for villagers. They woke up to the “tenuous links between deforestation, landslides and floods”, noted Ramachandra Guha, a historian who has chronicled the Chipko movement. Bahuguna, who grew up in the Himalayas, connected the dots well. He wrote that deforestation led to erosion of fertile land and pushed the men out of the villages to look for jobs in cities. When former prime minister Indira Gandhi was asked about Bahuguna’s movement, she said: “Well, frankly, I don’t know all the aims of the movement. But if it is that trees should not be cut, I’m all for it.”
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set– 24
India is a pluralistic and multi-cultural society where many faiths and belief systems regulate the life of individuals. India is not a Hindu society even though Hinduism is the religion of the vast majority of the people. In this part of the globe many religious traditions, both indigenous and foreign, have been established over the years. We have Buddhism, Sikhism, Bhakti cult, Sufi tradition as well as Islam and Christianity. Many religious gurus, law-givers, social reformers and statesmen have come to guide and influence the life and culture of Indians. The Mahabharata, the Ramayana, the Bhagvat Gita as well as the Quran, the Bible, the Guru Bani, etc., have molded the thinking pattern and consciousness of Indians. So also the Hindu caste system and the joint family pattern have a decisive influence on the followers of other religions. The struggle for human rights essentially reflects the concerns and requirements of modern human being whereas the cultural values operated in a traditional context where many of the agencies which at present account for the violation of human rights norms were not known. Since human rights is basically a problem between authority and the individual it is essential to examine the Indian understanding of the origin of authority.
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set– 25
I was born into a middle-class Tamil family in the island town of Rameswaram in the erstwhile Madras state. My father, Jainulabdeen, had neither much formal education nor much wealth; despite these disadvantages, he possessed great innate wisdom and a true generosity of spirit. He had an ideal helpmate in my mother, Ashiamma. I do not recall the exact number of people she fed every day, but I am quite certain that far more outsiders ate with us than all the members of our own family put together. My parents were widely regarded as an ideal couple. My mother’s lineage was the more distinguished, one of her forebears having been bestowed the title of ‘Bahadur’ by the British. I was one of many children-a short boy with rather undistinguished looks, born to tall and handsome parents. We lived in our ancestral house, which was built in the middle of the 19th century. It was a fairly large pucca house, made of limestone and brick, on the Mosque Street in Rameswaram. My austere father used to avoid all inessential comforts and luxuries. However, all necessities were provided for, in terms of food, medicine or clothes. In fact, I would say mine was a very secure childhood, both materially and emotionally.
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set– 26
A symbiotic relationship exists between trees and humans. Humans breathe in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide, while trees breathe in carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen. During a tree’s life span it has been absorbing carbon diligently and when it passes its peak and declines in health it begins to leach its stored carbon back into the atmosphere. While it seems counterintuitive, proper sustainable management of the forest begins with the extraction of the trees closest to their peak life. In harvesting those beautiful, healthy mature trees when they have basically stored all of the carbon they will store in life, you not only allow for sunlight to get to the forest floor, thereby encouraging fresh growth, but you capture the carbon in that tree forever, even as the tree is transformed into various wood products. The only way the stored carbon in hardwood products will ever be released is through fire. The forests of the United States have been well managed for more than a century through “selection cutting”, which means the extraction of the mature trees rather than clear cutting. The third and most important similarity between humans and trees is that each tree, like each human, is unique and beautiful in its own way.
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set– 27
Students today are so much into studies and games but somewhere moral teachings becomes compulsory as it gives them a proper shape and direction as how to act or react during various difficult situations. Moral values need to be inculcated in all age groups especially in young children as it is said young minds are empty just as a plain white sheet so whatever mark we leave the impression remains for years. When it comes for a teacher to inculcate a moral base in their students it takes a lot more as teachers are the ones who shape our thoughts and mind to a large extent. Moral education means an ethical education that helps choose the right path in life. It comprises some basic principles such as truthfulness, honesty, charity, hospitality, tolerance, love, kindness and sympathy. Moral education makes one perfect. Education is not aimed at obtaining only a degree, it includes necessary value based teachings which result in character building and social improvement too. It is the need of the hour that schools today should include the concept of hidden-curriculum which refers to the transmission of norms, values, and beliefs conveyed in the classroom and the social environment. It helps to reinforce the lessons of the formal curriculum but many schools neglect it. They focus more on language, subjects and marks.
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set– 28
When girls are empowered to lead their lives, speak their minds and determine their futures, everyone benefits. Gender equality is a basic right for all people, including both girls and boys. Based on this understanding, Save the Children believes that it is critical to directly address gender discrimination and gender inequality in order to ensure that no harm comes to children, and to advance our vision for a world where every child attains their equal right to grow up healthy, educated and safe. A focus on gender equality is essential to close inequality gaps and ensure that we reach every last child, including those who are most vulnerable. Gender inequalities intersect with and exacerbate other factors contributing to vulnerability, including age, race, socio-economic class, gender identity, geography, health status and ability. To build a more equal, inclusive future, free from gender discrimination, we need to start in childhood. Thanks to supporters like you, Save the Children reaches hundreds of millions of children every year, promoting gender equality and empowering girls, right from the start. Promoting gender equality works! Since 2000, Save the Children helped achieve a 25% decline in child marriage worldwide, empowering 11 million girls to stay in school or transition to work, deciding for themselves when they’re ready for marriage and motherhood.
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set– 29
Women’s self-help group community kitchens in India helped distribute food, facemasks and run food kitchens during India’s 40-day lockdown in April. Gayatri Acharya, the president of India’s National Rural Livelihoods Mission, explains that women’s self-help groups have grown due to partnership with the government. This growth has significantly helped more impoverished rural communities. In addition to running kitchens, women’s groups have also helped create personal protective equipment and masks. These groups have been able to develop 10,000 community kitchens throughout the country. They have also been able to bring meals for sick and quarantined individuals. The ability to develop strong immunity is strengthened by good nutrition. Having a good diet is one of the most crucial elements of battling viruses because nutritional deficits and a lack of essential vitamins can create underlying health issues that can cause the virus to harm the human body. Additionally, proper nutrition is significant in shortening the recovery period for COVID-19. It helps maintain skeletal muscle and prevents metabolic problems. Many individuals in India who have lost work as a result of COVID-19 have been able to rely on community kitchens as a reliable way to get food when they have limited options. When several workers who had traveled across states to lay pipelines became stranded because of quarantine, an entrepreneur named Shishpal Singh assisted them by forming a community kitchen.
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set– 30
Honeybees are flying insects, and close relatives of wasps and ants. They are found on every continent on earth, except for Antarctica. Bees of all varieties live on nectar and pollen. Without bees, pollination would be difficult and time consuming – it is estimated that one-third of the human food supply depends on insect pollination. Bees have a long, straw-like tongue called a probiscus that allows them to drink the nectar from deep within blossoms. Bees are also equipped with two wings, two antennae, and three segmented body parts (the head, the thorax, and the abdomen). Honeybees are social insects that live in colonies. The hive population consists of a single queen, a few hundred drones, and thousands of worker bees. The honeybees we know and love here at Honeybee Centre forage for nectar and pollen from flowering plants. They use the nectar collected to create our favourite sweet treat – honey! When carrying the nectar back to the hive, their bodies break down the complex sucrose of the nectar into two simple sugars, fructose and glucose. Tucking it neatly into a honeycomb cell, the bees will then beat their wings furiously over top of this syrupy sweet liquid to fan out the moisture and thicken the substance. When it is complete, the bees will cap that cell with beeswax, sealing the perfected honey for consumption later on.
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set– 31
With the very existence of a mankind on the face of this planet came the inherent struggle with the forces of the existing world around. They are the everyday struggles brought about by the natural surroundings that we have grown accustomed to. We live with these every day and have learned to overcome them on a somewhat regular basis without a trace of any thought that would remain with us over time. They are a part of our life that goes unnoticed, except when nature really challenges us, or tests us. In a time of crisis or danger when nature has us backed against the wall fighting for survival and the survival of others is when we must face the challenge. We must fight on with whatever circumstance is presented, no matter how small the problem may seem. Many times the battle will be won, and man will overcome the challenge presented, and other times nature will get the better of even the best of us, showing its commanding power. Some of the best testaments to this never ending power struggle are the stories of men and women who know of the power of nature, or have experienced the power of nature first hand. Many American authors have written of this theme and its relevance in American society. They include works written by Robert Frost, Eudora Welty, and Stephen Crane.
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set– 32
Tropical cyclones are formed only over warm ocean waters near the equator. When warm, moist air over the ocean rises upward from near the surface, a cyclone is formed. When the air rises up and away from the ocean surface, it creates an area of lower air pressure below. It causes the air from surrounding areas with higher pressure to move towards the low-pressure area which further leads to warming up of the air and causes it to rise above. As the warm, moist air rises and cools the water in the air forms clouds. The complete system of clouds and wind spins and grows, along with the ocean’s heat and water evaporating from the ocean surface. As the wind system rotates with increasing speed, an eye gets formed in the middle. The centre of a cyclone is very calm and clear with very low air pressure. The difference of temperature between the warm, rising and the cooler environment causes the air to rise and become buoyant. Annually, around 70 to 90 cyclonic systems develop all over the globe. The Coriolis force causes the wind to spiral around a low-pressure area. As the presence of Coriolis force is negligible in the equatorial belt between 5 degrees north and 5 degrees south latitudes, hence cyclonic systems do not develop in this region.
Visit our website: www.textbookplus.in
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set– 33
A last-minute software glitch led to the failure of the Chandrayaan 2 mission. Vikram Lander crash-landed on the moon’s surface after its guidance software went kaput, according to an internal report presented to the Space Commission. The Indian Space Research Organisaiton (ISRO) designed Chandrayaan 2 to soft-land a probe on the moon, but the Vikram Lander lost control 500m short of the lunar surface and crashed. Efforts are on to locate the lander that was supposed to analyse the moon’s terrain and send back data for 14 days. The glitch was unexpected since the software was functioning well throughout the trial period.
The Vikram Lander successfully glided from a height of 30 kilometres to 5 kilometres. After this “rough braking,” the lander experienced trouble during the “fine braking,” the final stage in which the lander operated only one of its thrusters and slowed down to just 146m per second. The lander veered off its trajectory and crashed 750m away from the intended landing spot. The impact of the crash damaged the machinery on board and the lander went incommunicado. ISRO’s internal committee, led by Liquid Propulsion System Centre director V. Narayanan, examined the moon’s surface. The committee was also supplied information from space agencies such as NASA. The ISRO has put in place a mission to rectify the mistakes and relaunch Chandrayaan 2 next November.
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set– 34
May 1 is the International Day of Workers or International Labour Day dedicated to workers and labourers across the world. This day celebrates labourers and encourages them to be aware of their rights. The day has its origins in the labour union movement, specifically the eight-hour day movement. Popularly known as May Day, the day is observed in countries such as India, Cuba and China among other countries. On this day, people across the world observe the day by conducting protest and march for the rights of workers and save them from exploitation. International Labour Day is a public holiday in many countries. Labour Day has its origins in the labour union movement in the United States in the 19th Century. In 1889, the Marxist International Socialist Congress adopted a resolution for a great international demonstration in which they demanded that the workers should not be made to work for more than 8 hours a day. After this, it became an annual event and May 1 was celebrated as Labour Day. May Day was first celebrated on May 1, 1890, after it was declared by the first International Congress of Socialist Parties in Europe on July 14, 1889. It was declared for the workers in Paris to dedicate every year on May 1 as the ‘Workers Day of International Unity and Solidarity’.
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set– 35
We have received more superstitions from our ancestors than anything else. In fact, every generation that passes those superstitions from one too another adds more to it. It started with the breaking mirrors, but I see no definite end to superstitions in India. No doubt we are a country of diverse cultures and everlasting beliefs. After all, our faiths are sprung in the form of lemon and green chilies, just to protect from evil spirits and our actions from not sweeping after the sunset because that would cause lack of wealth. Long back, when our ancestors were living on this earth, logic was beyond human comprehension and so these superstitions were born. As science developed, the reasons came up. For example, it is said that floor must not be swept after the sun sets because it will cause loss of wealth. The latter part was to make people afraid that the former part was to ensure that nothing gets lost in the dark because there were no lighting arrangements then! Another example, women were not supposed to do work during periods. That was because they couldn’t be directly advised to take rest at that time. During periods the woman’s body suffers huge pain and weakness. And doing heavy work (which was prevalent then) is not allowed during periods.
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set– 36
Traveling is important for humans. We are communal creatures that are all of the same species, yet our location determines societal actions based off cultured and governmental laws. We are so similar, yet our little worlds are so entirely different. Traveling to see places beyond our hometown is crucial to gain exposure to the world. Whether someone travels domestically or to a foreign country, it can be an experience that is reminisced for a lifetime. Traveling gives us exposure to other cultures. If an individual has remained in their home time for their entire life, it would make it hard to completely understand the struggles and celebrations of other regions and countries. One country can be vastly different from one side to the other. The dialects differ, food, local music, and the terrain can all be different from one place to another. There are different languages and ways of communicating all over the world. Exposure to these things allows us to become open-minded and understand that though we are different, it is our similarities as humans that brings us together. Traveling is great for global humanity. Traveling is many experiences in one. It’s a way to learn and grow within oneself and grow with other people by learning about something or someone new.
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set– 37
It has been proposed for quite some time that agriculture and the general practice of growing plants would be even more convenient and efficient if it quite literally never stopped rolling – even (and especially) at night. Of course, this is true of every industry and the like, however considering the fact that agriculture is responsible for food production, this is one of the industries where this fact is driven home more heavily and more often. Obviously, plants rely on photosynthesis for active and consistent growth, so when the sun goes down the plants inevitably get a break from the sunlight and this is when their growth temporarily slows until the sun rises again and the process starts again. On and on the cycle continues to propel. The agriculture industry has been through many great evolutions in its time, each of which have had their own significant impact on the industry not just as they emerged but in the future of the industry overall. Every single evolution in motion in the agriculture industry has had its own unique impact, a directive that has established what the industry is going to look like (or not look like) in the coming years. There has never been a dull moment in the agriculture industry and there is not likely to be any time soon (if ever).
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set– 38
While agriculture’s share in India’s economy has progressively declined to less than 15% due to the high growth rates of the industrial and services sectors, the sector’s importance in India’s economic and social fabric goes well beyond this indicator. First, nearly three-quarters of India’s families depend on rural incomes. Second, the majority of India’s poor (some 770 million people or about 70 percent) are found in rural areas. And third, India’s food security depends on producing cereal crops, as well as increasing its production of fruits, vegetables and milk to meet the demands of a growing population with rising incomes. To do so, a productive, competitive, diversified and sustainable agricultural sector will need to emerge at an accelerated pace. India is a global agricultural powerhouse. It is the world’s largest producer of milk, pulses, and spices, and has the world’s largest cattle herd (buffaloes), as well as the largest area under wheat, rice and cotton. It is the second largest producer of rice, wheat, cotton, sugarcane, farmed fish, sheep & goat meat, fruit, vegetables and tea. The country has some 195 m ha under cultivation of which some 63 percent are rainfed (roughly 125m ha) while 37 percent are irrigated (70m ha). In addition, forests cover some 65m ha of India’s land.
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set– 39
The new National Education Policy came into existence on 29 July 2020, after replacing the existing National Education Policy. The change in education policy is made after a gap of a total of 34 years. But the change was necessary and the need for the time should have been made earlier. The earlier system of education was basically focused on learning and giving results. The students were judged by the marks attained. This was a unidirectional approach to development. But the new education policy focuses on the relevance of a multi-disciplinary approach. It aims at all-round development of the student. New education policy visualizes the formation of a new curriculum and structure of education which will help the students at their different stages of learning. The change has to be done in the existing education system in order to make education reach up to all, ranging from urban to rural areas. It will be towards meeting sustainability by fulfilling Goal 4- Quality Education. The main motive is making a child learn along with becoming a skilled one, in whatever field they are interested. In this way, the learners are able to figure out their aim, and their capabilities. The learners are to be provided with integrated learning i.e. having the knowledge of every discipline. The same is applicable in higher education too.
CLERKSHIP Typing Practice Set– 40
Youth are the most important and dynamic segment of the population in any country. It is believed that developing countries with large youth population could see tremendous growth, provided they invest in young people’s education, health and protect and guarantee their rights. We can undoubtedly say that today’s young are tomorrow’s innovators, creators, builders and leaders. But they need the required support in terms of good health, education, training and opportunities to transform the future. The economic trigger happens when a county’s more hands to work available than more mouths to feed. To put it succinctly, working age population has to be larger than the dependent population. Today, India is one of the youngest nations in the world with more than 62% of its population in the working age group (15–59 years), and more than 54% of its total population below 25 years of age. It is further estimated that the average age of the population in India by 2020 will be 29 years as against 40 years in USA, 46 years in Europe and 47 years in Japan. This gives us the edge of demographic dividend over other countries. The youth of today is increasingly becoming restless and struggling to remove the disparities. However, more efforts need to be put in, if we are to become free from the vicious circles of poverty, malnutrition, corruption, violence and unemployment.
