Every single atom in the universe carries an unimaginably powerful battery within its heart, called the nucleus. This form of energy, often called Type-1 fuel, is hundreds of thousands, if not million, times more powerful than the conventional Type-0 fuels, which are basically dead plants and animals existing in the form of coal, petroleum, natural gas and other forms of fossil fuel.
* Terminology -
Nuclear fission splitting of atoms to produce energy in the form of heat. Uranium a naturally occurring radioactive metal - only element in which fission (splitting off nucleus) can take place easily, setting off a chain reaction or a self-sustained splitting of atoms. The atoms of Uranium are the largest and the heaviest known on earth so its nucleus is unstable. Besides uranium, plutonium can undergo fission.
Fertile material composed of atoms which do not undergo induced fission themselves but fissile material can be generated from them by irradiation in a nuclear reactor. E.g. U- 238 gives plutonium 239, TH- 232 gives U-233, and U-234 gives U-235.
Criticality When the chain reaction takes place for the first time in a nuclear electricity reactor, it means the reactor has reached its first criticality.
Moderator used to slowdown neutrons surrounding the fuel core of the reactor, e.g. Light water, heavy water (D2O)
Pressurised Heavy Water reactor (PWHR) fuel used is natural uranium. Heavy water is both coolant and reactor and is kept under high pressure. Natural Uranium has 2 kinds of isotopes - 99.3 % U-238 and 0.7 % U-235. Former is not fissile.
LWR Light water is used eg. Kundankulam
Enriched Uranium when non fissile material is removed from natural uranium. It is achieved by a series of chemical and physical processes in centrifuges. In India it is done at Rare Materials plant, Mysore.
* Nuclear Energy on the Globe -
Today - 29 countries operating 441 nuclear power plants, with a total capacity of about 375 GW (e). The industry now has more than 14,000 reactor-years of experience. Sixty more units, with a total target capacity of 58.6 GW under construction.
After Fukushima countries commit to reduce would reduce nuclear energy dependence
Country From To
France 7850(in quick time)
Japan40 0 (by 2040)
Germany 180 (by 2022)
Can Japan really turn off its nuclear power?
i. Japan got around 30% of its electricity from nuclear power before Fukushima, and was planning to raise that to 50%. Now Japan, a resource-poor nation will be importing 96% of its energy from overseas, mainly fossil fuels. This is expensive, not to speak of ruining all environmental standards.
ii. Almost all of Japan's oil and gas is sourced from West Asia, and all of those super tankers traverse the difficult waters of Straits of Hormuz, South and East China Seas having geo-strategic limitations given trust-deficit with China.
iii. Japan is not an overt nuclear weapons state, but it's famously known as being a screwdriver's turn away from being one. It could become a costly security mistake.
Germany's alternatives are a little better. Moving to fossil fuels will hit at the heart of the green movement which wants Germany to slash its carbon emissions by 2020 to 40% below 1990 levels. Germany already leads in solar panels and wind turbines. But wind turbines are deterrent to wildlife conservationists; they want turbines offshore thus expensive. One needs around 2,000 giant turbines, covering over 350 square miles to generate equivalent power as a 1,154 MW nuclear reactor.
While some other countries are progressing with nuclear power. The UAE plans to build four nuclear power plants of a total 5,600 MW at $20 billion, the first of which will roll out in 2017. South Korea won this contract from under the noses of the market leader, France.
* Nuclear Advantages
* A nuclear power plant can give you steady, uninterrupted, predictable power unlike many renewable sources. The sun isn't shining all the time and neither is the wind blowing at optimum generating speeds.
* Both solar and wind power are great for domestic use, but not industrial use.
* Cost of a nuclear power plant incorporates the cost of waste and decommissioning. Unlike fossil fuels - cost in terms of human and environmental damage is incalculable.
* The Kyshtym accident in fuel reprocessing in 1957, the relatively smaller Three Mile Island meltdown (United States), the much bigger Chernobyl accident (USSR, 1986) and the recent Japanese incident at Fukushima. The first accident was purely due to underdeveloped technology, and much of the blame for the next two disasters is attributed to human error. So fear of nuclear power plant being fundamentally prone to disasters is unfounded.
* Regulations also had to with the initial nuclear plant set-up. It was only in December 2010 that the old requirement that reactors should not be constructed above active faults was replaced with faults.
* Nuclear Power in India
India's nuclear power plants, mostly set up during the sanction years, provide only 3% of the energy mix. After the historic Indo-US nuclear deal 2008, the first two plants at Kundankulam - established with Russian assistance.
In India, where coal mining is dirty business, land acquisition is a problem and imported energy is hopelessly expensive and uncertain, we should not turn our back on nuclear power. Yes, there are costs and risks, but so is fracking for shale gas, tar sands, heck, even oil and natural gas.
* Nuclear fuel of the future: Thorium
* Thorium is far more abundant, by about 4 times, than the traditional nuclear fuel, Uranium, and occurs in a far purer form.
* IAEA Report (2005) - India might have the largest reserves of Thorium in the world, with over 6, 50,000 tonnes.
* Through U-233 that could be produced from it releases 8 times the amount of energy per unit mass compared to natural U.
* In waste generation also, it has a relative advantage over Uranium.
* Thorium di oxide is much more stable the Uranium di oxide
* Higher thermal conductivity so in case of explosion heat energy will quickly flow out and prevent meltdown.
* Melting point is 500 degrees higher so in case of accident heat energy will flow out quickly and prevent meltdown.
Two reasons it has not been developed
* First one needs to produce U-233 from Th, and for this, reactors based on the naturally available nuclear fuel material, Uranium-235, are required.
* Recovery of U-233 by large-scale reprocessing of irradiated thorium poses certain practical hurdles.
* Likely presence of hard gamma emitting Uranium-232 during this reprocessing. But according to experts, all these can be overcome technologically.
* Thorium cannot be weaponised and world powers built nuclear energy plants after they built the weapon.
* Nuclear Liability
2010 Nuclear Liability act - Section 17 -
* a contractual right of recourse
* Operator would have the ability to reclaim any compensation it may pay, from a supplier, if the product supplied has patent or latent defects or the service provided is substandard
* Recourse where the nuclear incident arose out of an act or omission by the supplier with an intent to cause damage
17b not consistent with international norms pertaining to nuclear liability?
Department of Atomic Energy has tried to inject realism by defining the duration of the risk to be the product liability period or five years, whichever is less, and a cap on the risk being the value of the contract. Long-standing suppliers of DAE and NPCIL are unhappy to go along even with these caps, as they feel that carrying large contingent liabilities on their books hurts their credit ratings. They, therefore, prefer to move to non-nuclear activities, even though they have acquired valuable nuclear expertise on work done earlier.
Attorney General - since under 17a right to recourse is contractual nuclear liability to supplier it may or may not apply depending upon the contract signed.
Arguments for 17b
* India had a history of Bhopal gas tragedy so it needs to design laws taking the possibility of such incidents into account.
* a, b and c need to be looked at separately. For eg. c will always remain valid irrespective of a. So b has to be separated from the contractual right to recourse.
* In case of accident the damages would be paid by tax payers hence public interest is involved. SC says - statutory right in favour of a party can be waived by such party as long as no public interest or public policy is adversely affected.
* Attorneys Generals might be a legal opinion but parliaments law is public policy and a contract - unlawful if against public policy.
Against 17(b)-
* When India built its first nuclear reactor in Tarapur, indemnity protection was handled by the government. Agreement signed first with GE (US), and then Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL) led to nuclear power plants in Rajasthan. India did learn a great deal by this collaboration.
* Even where a plant has been supplied by a single entity under a turnkey contract, many vendors, often running into thousands, would have supplied many components.
* During operation, the operator incorporates many changes and modifications to improve the reliability, ease of operation and efficiency. They may or may not have been done in full consultation with the original suppliers of equipment.
* Moreover, nuclear power plants operate for 50 years or longer; our first two Tarapur reactors have in fact completed 43 years.
* Practice in nuclear reactors across the globe In the above mentioned 441 reactors operating in 29 countries the world over without exception - nuclear liability goes to the operator. The operator, depending on the political system prevailing in the country, covers the risk to the extent possible by insurance. The government of the country takes up the liability beyond the insurance limit; it may also define an upper limit to its own liability, through legislation. Under the Convention on Supplementary Compensation, a multilateral convention, participating states can also share the liability risk to a defined extent.
E.g. U.S government assumed liability beyond the insurable limit up to another limit set under the Price-Anderson Act, passed by the U.S Congress. The limit set under the Price-Anderson Act has been increased progressively from time to time.
VII. Present Scenario -
After 2008, when India signed nuclear cooperation agreements with the U.S, France and Russia and others not even one contract for the import of reactors has been signed to date. With France, discussions have covered technical and safety issues, and commercial discussions are in progress now. In the case of the U.S., the discussions are still on technical and safety issues.
Only with Russia agreement signed in 2008 for Units 3 and 4 at Kudankulam - extension of the agreement covering Units 1 and 2. Prices have been derived for Units 3 and 4 using the earlier price as a basis. The loan agreement also is based on the earlier pattern. Russia does not want the civil nuclear liability law to apply to the proposed units 3 and 4. India has not applied the law to units 1 and 2 (being challenged in the SC) because they were constructed under an agreement that predated the 2010 civil liability law. But India is against exempting units 3 and 4 because this will be seen as discriminating against companies from the U.S. and France.
The 2008 agreement provides that India would extend indemnity protection for Units 3 and 4, on the same lines as Units 1 and 2. If India wants the Units 3 and 4 agreements to comply with its 2010 liability legislation - danger that the entire 2008 agreement may be reopened. Legal experts opinion - Polluter Pays is not true for thermal and other energy as who pays for the CO2 they release?
by Suraj Gupta
1. Sources: Frontline
The Hindu (some op-ed and editorials)
The Economic times
Showing posts with label France. Show all posts
Showing posts with label France. Show all posts
Monday, January 13, 2014
French revolution:
French revolution:
1. Introduction:
Different from American Revolution in the following ways:
* First social revolution; peoples revolt against their own government
* About restructuring society & principle of governance vis a- vis American revolution which was just for a change in government
* Highly revered revolution; change in the structure of Europe
Before discussing the causes of the French revolution, it is important to understand the social structure of France.
Figure 1 social structure of France
2. Causes of French revolution:
A. Social cause:
* All the resources(land and other property) belonged to the 1st and 2nd estate while 80% population: 3rd estate
* Only 3rd estate taxed
* Peasants have to serve the 1st and the 2nd estate; no obligation of the 1st and 2nd estate on the peasants
* Detiorating economic condition of the peasant class and growing amount of taxes
B .Financial cause:
Factors leading to the drain of wealth causing financial burden:
* 7 year war with Britain: 1756-1763
* French help in America revolution
* Life style of king and queen at that time
C. Inspiration from American Revolution
D. Social thinkers and philosophers like Rousseau, Voltaire, John locke criticizing the dominance of church and the absolute rights of the first estate
E. Arbitrary rule and the absolutism of the French king
3. Middle class:
* Emergence of the middle class including merchants,lawyers,artists etc as a product of industrial revolution
* Middle class led the French revolution also called as bourgeoisie revolution
* Middle class emerged from the 3rd estate
4. Course of the revolution:
i. Estates-general: Louis XVI convened the estates general, meeting of 3 estates upon the advice of swiss banker Jacques necker and the transition to constitutional monarchy from absolute monarchy was put up. Though the third estate was vastly larger than the clergy and the nobility, each estate had the same representation-one vote. Inevitably the third estate vote on this transition proposal was overridden by the first and the second estate.
ii. Tennis court oath: Third estate which was now the national assembly split from the other estates and convened on a near-by tennis court instead. Took an oath famously called the tennis court oath stating that they would remain indissoluble until they succeed in creating a new national constitution.
iii. The Bastille: Upon the dismissal of necker (being popular with the people) because of his inability to successfully convene the estate general, the hostility spiked yet again. July,1789 revolutionaries raided the Paris town hall in pursuit of arms. Later stormed the Bastille, a medieval fortress realizing that it contained large armory. This was a symbolic victory over the old regime.
iv. Lafayette and the National Guard: National assembly secured the control over the capital. Previous government council was exiled. Assembly members occupied top government positions in Paris. Marquis de Lafayette, a noble, assembled a collection of citizens into the French National Guard. Assembly issued an august decree nullifying many of the feudal obligations that the peasants had to their landlords in order to anoint the raging rural peasants.
v. Declaration of the rights of the man and the citizen: On august 1789 assembly issued the declaration of the rights of the men and the citizen; document guaranteeing the due in process in judicial matters and established sovereignty among the French people. Every person was a French man and equal. French people embraced it. Not acceptable to king and nobles.
vi. Food crisis and assemblys tenuous control: Despite the assemblys gains, the France experienced the looming and growing food crisis. French women took up arms in Oct, 1789 and marched to Versailles. The weakness of the assembly being exposed within the France and the great fear and the womens march demonstrated perhaps that the assembly did not have as much control as it liked to think.
vii. Louis XVI Flight: In 1791 Louis XVI and his family attempted to escape to the Austrian border where they were to meet an Austrian army and arrange an attack on the revolutionaries. Caught before reaching the border and brought back to Tueleries in Paris.
viii. Declaration of pillnitz: In response to Louis VXIs capture and forced return to Paris, Prussia and Austria issued the declaration of pillnitz on Aug, 1791 warning the French against harming the king and demanding the monarchy be restored.
ix. Constitution of 1791: The national assembly released much anticipated constitution of 1791 which created constitutional monarchy for France. King Louis XVI and his ministers had to answer to the new legislature though they could maintain control.
x. Jacobins and girondins:
xi. War against Prussia and Austria and Execution of Louis XVI: After the initial defeats at the hands of Austria and Prussia, the revolutionarie(Jacobins) could finally get the better off them. They also proclaimed the abolition of monarchy and the establishment of the republic. Louis XVI condemned to death for treason and executed on January 21, 1793.
xii. Robespierre and the reign of terror: Robespierre and the Jacobins focused on addressing economic and political threats within France. They instituted its infamous campaign against internal opposition known as the reign of terror. Anywhere between 15000-50000 French citizens were guillotined. Finally Robespierre convicted by court in July 1794, arrested and sent to guillotine.
xiii. Constitution of 1795: The fall of the Jacobin government allowed the wealthier middle classes to seize power. On august 22, 1795 they ratified the new constitution ushering the period of governmental restructuring. The new legislature consisted of 2 houses: upper house called the council of ancients (250 members) and the lower house called the council of five hundred (500 members).Also had the executive body called the directory of the group of 5 officers. Napoleon lead a coup against the directory in 1799 eventually stepping up and naming himself the first council- effectively the leader of the France. With the napoleon at the helm, France entered the 15 year period of military rule
xiv. Era of napoleon: As first consul, began to consolidate his power. Introduced Napoleonic code doing away with all the privileges based on birth, established equality before law and secured the right to property. At 1804, he did away with the consulate and crowned himself emperor in an extravagant coronation ceremony. With the series of further invasions and expansions he could establish many treaties like that of treaty of tilsit etc. He was defeated in the battle of waterloo in June 1815, exiled and died in 1821.
xv. Constitutional monarchy restored by restoring Louis XVIII to the throne.
5. In a nutshell:
Figure 2 Course of governance in France
6. Contribution of the French revolution:
* Popularized peoples rule/concept of popular sovereignty
* Inspired constitutional monarchy movement in Europe leading towards formation of modern Europe. For ex: unification of Italy, Germany etc
* Popularized the spirit of liberty, equality and democracy. In terms of equality promoted socio-economic equality. Special privileges of first and second state taken away. 3rd estate gained equal rights.
* Popularized the idea of republic clubbing it with the spirit of nationalism
* Concept of secularism popularized by French revolution.
7. References:
* The French revolution by Georges Lefebvre
* The French revolution: A history by Thomas Carlyle
* NCERT
* http://www.sparknotes.com/history/european/1848/section2.rhtml
* Structure and flow taken from Chronicle study material
Name: K.R.Chandra mouli
1. Introduction:
Different from American Revolution in the following ways:
* First social revolution; peoples revolt against their own government
* About restructuring society & principle of governance vis a- vis American revolution which was just for a change in government
* Highly revered revolution; change in the structure of Europe
Before discussing the causes of the French revolution, it is important to understand the social structure of France.
Figure 1 social structure of France
2. Causes of French revolution:
A. Social cause:
* All the resources(land and other property) belonged to the 1st and 2nd estate while 80% population: 3rd estate
* Only 3rd estate taxed
* Peasants have to serve the 1st and the 2nd estate; no obligation of the 1st and 2nd estate on the peasants
* Detiorating economic condition of the peasant class and growing amount of taxes
B .Financial cause:
Factors leading to the drain of wealth causing financial burden:
* 7 year war with Britain: 1756-1763
* French help in America revolution
* Life style of king and queen at that time
C. Inspiration from American Revolution
D. Social thinkers and philosophers like Rousseau, Voltaire, John locke criticizing the dominance of church and the absolute rights of the first estate
E. Arbitrary rule and the absolutism of the French king
3. Middle class:
* Emergence of the middle class including merchants,lawyers,artists etc as a product of industrial revolution
* Middle class led the French revolution also called as bourgeoisie revolution
* Middle class emerged from the 3rd estate
4. Course of the revolution:
i. Estates-general: Louis XVI convened the estates general, meeting of 3 estates upon the advice of swiss banker Jacques necker and the transition to constitutional monarchy from absolute monarchy was put up. Though the third estate was vastly larger than the clergy and the nobility, each estate had the same representation-one vote. Inevitably the third estate vote on this transition proposal was overridden by the first and the second estate.
ii. Tennis court oath: Third estate which was now the national assembly split from the other estates and convened on a near-by tennis court instead. Took an oath famously called the tennis court oath stating that they would remain indissoluble until they succeed in creating a new national constitution.
iii. The Bastille: Upon the dismissal of necker (being popular with the people) because of his inability to successfully convene the estate general, the hostility spiked yet again. July,1789 revolutionaries raided the Paris town hall in pursuit of arms. Later stormed the Bastille, a medieval fortress realizing that it contained large armory. This was a symbolic victory over the old regime.
iv. Lafayette and the National Guard: National assembly secured the control over the capital. Previous government council was exiled. Assembly members occupied top government positions in Paris. Marquis de Lafayette, a noble, assembled a collection of citizens into the French National Guard. Assembly issued an august decree nullifying many of the feudal obligations that the peasants had to their landlords in order to anoint the raging rural peasants.
v. Declaration of the rights of the man and the citizen: On august 1789 assembly issued the declaration of the rights of the men and the citizen; document guaranteeing the due in process in judicial matters and established sovereignty among the French people. Every person was a French man and equal. French people embraced it. Not acceptable to king and nobles.
vi. Food crisis and assemblys tenuous control: Despite the assemblys gains, the France experienced the looming and growing food crisis. French women took up arms in Oct, 1789 and marched to Versailles. The weakness of the assembly being exposed within the France and the great fear and the womens march demonstrated perhaps that the assembly did not have as much control as it liked to think.
vii. Louis XVI Flight: In 1791 Louis XVI and his family attempted to escape to the Austrian border where they were to meet an Austrian army and arrange an attack on the revolutionaries. Caught before reaching the border and brought back to Tueleries in Paris.
viii. Declaration of pillnitz: In response to Louis VXIs capture and forced return to Paris, Prussia and Austria issued the declaration of pillnitz on Aug, 1791 warning the French against harming the king and demanding the monarchy be restored.
ix. Constitution of 1791: The national assembly released much anticipated constitution of 1791 which created constitutional monarchy for France. King Louis XVI and his ministers had to answer to the new legislature though they could maintain control.
x. Jacobins and girondins:
xi. War against Prussia and Austria and Execution of Louis XVI: After the initial defeats at the hands of Austria and Prussia, the revolutionarie(Jacobins) could finally get the better off them. They also proclaimed the abolition of monarchy and the establishment of the republic. Louis XVI condemned to death for treason and executed on January 21, 1793.
xii. Robespierre and the reign of terror: Robespierre and the Jacobins focused on addressing economic and political threats within France. They instituted its infamous campaign against internal opposition known as the reign of terror. Anywhere between 15000-50000 French citizens were guillotined. Finally Robespierre convicted by court in July 1794, arrested and sent to guillotine.
xiii. Constitution of 1795: The fall of the Jacobin government allowed the wealthier middle classes to seize power. On august 22, 1795 they ratified the new constitution ushering the period of governmental restructuring. The new legislature consisted of 2 houses: upper house called the council of ancients (250 members) and the lower house called the council of five hundred (500 members).Also had the executive body called the directory of the group of 5 officers. Napoleon lead a coup against the directory in 1799 eventually stepping up and naming himself the first council- effectively the leader of the France. With the napoleon at the helm, France entered the 15 year period of military rule
xiv. Era of napoleon: As first consul, began to consolidate his power. Introduced Napoleonic code doing away with all the privileges based on birth, established equality before law and secured the right to property. At 1804, he did away with the consulate and crowned himself emperor in an extravagant coronation ceremony. With the series of further invasions and expansions he could establish many treaties like that of treaty of tilsit etc. He was defeated in the battle of waterloo in June 1815, exiled and died in 1821.
xv. Constitutional monarchy restored by restoring Louis XVIII to the throne.
5. In a nutshell:
Figure 2 Course of governance in France
6. Contribution of the French revolution:
* Popularized peoples rule/concept of popular sovereignty
* Inspired constitutional monarchy movement in Europe leading towards formation of modern Europe. For ex: unification of Italy, Germany etc
* Popularized the spirit of liberty, equality and democracy. In terms of equality promoted socio-economic equality. Special privileges of first and second state taken away. 3rd estate gained equal rights.
* Popularized the idea of republic clubbing it with the spirit of nationalism
* Concept of secularism popularized by French revolution.
7. References:
* The French revolution by Georges Lefebvre
* The French revolution: A history by Thomas Carlyle
* NCERT
* http://www.sparknotes.com/history/european/1848/section2.rhtml
* Structure and flow taken from Chronicle study material
Name: K.R.Chandra mouli
India and USA
* General difference
USAIndia
1. Oldest written constitution consisting of a preamble and 7 articles.1. New constitution (1949) originally consisting of a preamble, 395 articles and 8 schedules.
1. Highly rigid: All parts of the constitution are to be modified by special procedure which is 2/3rd majority in both the houses and ratified by 3/4th of the states.2. Mix of rigidity and flexibility. Some parts of the constitution can be modified by ordinary law and some require special process.
1. Federal constitution more power is given to the states, with states having separate constitutions and residual powers.
3. Federal constitution with a strong center. There is division of power between center and states with residual power with the center. Also, the subjects (union+ concurrent) available to the center are significant in numbers and matter.
3. Bicameral legislature (congress) house of representative (lower house) and senate (upper house) with powerful upper house. 4. Bicameral legislature (parliament) loksabha (lower house) and rajya sabha (upper house). The loksabha is more powerful.
1. Form of Government
USA Presidential form of governmentIndia Parliamentary form of government
1. Head of the government (president) is elected by the people directly via an electoral college constituted for the purpose.
2. Head of the government (PM) is appointed by the President. He is leader of the party/coalition having majority in the lower house.
3. He is assisted by a cabinet, an advisory body consisting of non congress members appointed by him.
4. He is first among the ministers. All the ministers are appointed by the president on his advice.
5. He is not responsible to the congress for his acts.
6. He is responsible to the lower house.
7. He does not attend the congress sessions.
8. He attends the parliamentary sessions and has the voting right in which he is a member.
9. He is elected for a fixed term of 4 years and can be removed by impeachment.
10. He has to resign if he does not having the confidence of the lower house.
1. Office of President
USA India
1. Elected by an electoral college created for the purpose. Size of this is equal to the size of congress and members are elected by the people from the states. The presidential candidate who secure absolute majority is declared winner. If no candidate secures the majority then the Houser of representative elect the president among the three candidates securing the highest votes.1. Elected by an electoral college consisting of :
* Elected members of parliament.
* Elected members of state assemblies.
* Elected members of assemblies of UT of Delhi and puducherry.
1. Only natural born citizens and residents for 14 years are eligible. 2. Any person who has the Indian citizenship is eligible.
1. He can grant pardon and reprive for offense against federal laws.3. He can grant pardon and reprive on federal and state laws.
1. His pocket veto is limited. When a bill is sent to him for assent he can reserve the bill for not more than 10 days.4. He enjoys unlimited pocket veto.
1. He can call special sessions of the congress for consideration of urgent matters.5. There is no such provision.
1. Civil Services
USA India
1. Its a mix of merit and spoils system. Around 10,000 senior civil service posts are filled based political patronage.
2. All recruitments are based on merit system only.
3. There is a system of lateral entry. This facilitates entry at all levels and any age ensuring movement between government and private jobs.
4. There is no system of lateral entry and strict age restrictions are followed.
5. Examinations are assembled and unassembled. Assembled examinations are used to fill lower posts by conducting written tests. Unassembled tests are used for senior posts by individual interview and testimony.
6. All the examinations are assembled.
7. No definite education qualification is prescribed.
8. Education qualifications are prescribed.
9. There exists a system of pre-entry and post-entry trainings. Trainings are flexible involving universities as well as in house training conducted by OPM (Office of Personnel Management).
10. Only post-entry trainings are available.
11. Less Restriction on fundamental rights such as:
* They have the right to express views on government policy matters however they can be disciplined in cases such as false information, confidential information, affects the performance of organization, etc.
* Right to form/join associations and collectively bargain is allowed.
1. Restrictions on fundamental rights such as:
* They dont have any rights to comment on policy matters. This is done to ensure political neutrality.
* Right to form/join associations is guaranteed. However the government would consult or negotiate only with the recognized ones.
India and UK
* General difference
UKIndia
1. Oldest democracy which is a blend of monarchy, aristocracy and democracy.1. New democracy which is a parliamentary and republic.
1. Unwritten constitution. The administration is carried out based on great charters, statutes, conventions which are backed by tradition and public support. 2. Lengthiest written constitution.
1. Flexible constitution. There is no distinction between ordinary law and amendment.3. Mix of rigidity and flexibility. Some parts of the constitution can be modified by ordinary law and some require special process.
1. Unitary constitution. The provincial governments are for administrative purposes only. They can be abolished at any time by the center.
4. Federal constitution with a strong center. There is division of power between center and states with residual power with the center. Also, the subjects (union+concurrent) available to the center is significant.
4. British system is based on the doctrine of supremacy of parliament. The laws made by the parliament cannot be declared void by judiciary.
2. Indian system is based on the doctrine of supremacy of constitution. The Supreme Court is constitutional given the right to validate the laws passed via judicial review.
3. The head of the state/president or Crown is not elected but decided by inheritance. 6. The head of the state is elected by the people indirectly.
1. Shadow cabinet is formed by the opposition party. Almost every member shadows the ministers. The leader of opposition heads the shadow cabinet. They closely monitor the working of respective ministries. 7. There is no such concept here.
1. Civil service
UKIndia
1. Elaborate recruitment procedure called country house method is used. After candidate qualified after the written tests are taken for a 2 day interview tests to a country house and various interviews individual/group are carried out.1. See USA.
1. There is a 2 year probationary period.2. There is no probation period.
1. Promotions are carried out professionally :
* Candidate is informed well in advance of vacant posts.
* Suitability is decided by board.
* Aggrieved candidates have the right to appeal.3. It is carried out by the Department of Personnel and Training. The is scope to improve this area.
1. A highly comprehensive system is in place for better employer (state) and employee relations - whitley counsels. 4. There is no such mechanism.
1. Rights
* They have the right to express views on non political matters of public importance.
* There is a total ban on political activities at higher level. It becomes less relaxed to the middle and lower levels. The lower levels can participate in all the political activities.
* Right to strike is not illegal. However they can be subjected to disciplinary actions.
* Right to form/join associations and collectively bargain is allowed.5.Rights
* They dont have any rights to comment on policy matters. This is done to ensure political neutrality.
* They cannot involve in any political activity like joining political parties, attending meetings, etc. However they enjoy the right to vote.
* They dont have the right to strike.
* Right to form/join associations is guaranteed. However the government would consult or negotiate only with the recognized ones.
* Parliamentary Commissioner
UKIndia
1. Limited scope. Does not include ministers, PM and MPs.
2. Wider scope includes ministers, PM and MPs.
1. He investigates matters of maladministration which he is free to define.
2. He investigates matters of corruption.
3. All the matters that are referred to him come via MP. This process is known as MP filter.
4. The aggrieved citizens can directly approach him.
5. He is only an investigation agency and cannot persecute.
6. After investigation, the findings are presented in a special court. A copy is also sent to the competent authority that has to report with the action taken.
1. CAG
UKIndia
1. He is an officer of the parliament and audits the accounts of the union.
2. He is a constitutional body who audits the accounts of union as well the state.
3. Any money can be drawn by the executive from the public exchequer only after his approval. He is both the comptroller and auditor.
4. He has no control over the money drawn from the consolidated funds and is involved only during the audit stage when the expenditure has already occurred. He is only auditor.
India and France
1. General difference
FranceIndia
1. Rigid constitution, a special procedure requiring 60% majority in both houses is required. 1. Already covered
1. Features of direct democracy like :-
* President seeking referendum on amendments Is available.2. No such futures.
1. Highly unitary government. No separation of power and power to abolish provincial governments.3. Already covered.
1. Quasi-Presidential and Quasi-Parliamentary system. The president is elected by the people and is powerful. There also exists a cabinet headed by PM responsible to the legislature.4. Already covered.
1. Restricted parliament, it can make laws only on those subjects listed in the constitution. The residual powers are vested with the executive. This is to ensure powerful executive.5. There is no such distinction.
1. There exists a constitutional council to check the constitutional validity of the executive decrees and parliamentary laws.6. There is no such provision.
1. The peculiarities of the constitution like powerful executive, direct democracy, emergency provisions etc are to ensure smooth working of the system as France has the history of unstable governments and redrafting the constitution every 12 years.7. NA
1. Office of President
FranceIndia
1. Directly elected by people. The candidate has to secure absolute majority. If there are no results then 2nd ballot is used to decide between the first two candidates securing highest votes.
2. Already covered.
3. No age restrictions and elected for a fixed term of 5 years. He can be removed by impeachment involving parliament and judiciary.
4. He has to be 35+.
5. He is powerful with the following functions:-
* He presides over the cabinet meetings and directly influences the government.
* He appoints the president and members of the constitutional council.
* He can summon special sessions of the parliament.
1. He has only nominal powers.
2. There is a constitutional provision to ensure republican form of government meaning there is no scope for monarchy through amendment.
3. There is no such provision although its a basic structure of the constitution.
1. Civil service
France India
1. It is known as civil service state or administrative state due to the weak government.1. Stable government.
1. It had the system of Sale of Office; the vacant posts were sold to the highest bidder.2. It has been merit based.
1. The Ecole Nationaled Administration (ENA) is the apex institute involved in pre-entry, recruitment, post-entry training.3. Already covered.
1. It has world class training. Some feature:
* Practical rather than theoretical.
* Handled by senior civil servants.
* Provision for private trainings.
* Long term trainings.4. It is not as comprehensive as France.
1. Provision to switch to private and public is available.5. There is no such provision.
1. Promotions are based on merit and seniority.6. Promotions are based on merit.
1. They enjoy all the rights :
* They enjoy freedom of expression on all matters.
* They can join/form association/trade unions.
* They are given the right to strike.
* They enjoy all the political rights. In fact they can get elected and come back to the service after resigning. 7. Indias rights can be derived from points mentioned against USA/UK above.
* Administrative courts
FranceIndia
1. It is created to provide justice to citizens on all administrative matters. The scope is wider. The administrative laws known as Droit Adminsitratif are safeguarded.
2. It has a narrower scope and is created for curbing corruption.
3. It can ask for compensation to the aggrieved citizens as well as take asks action on disciplinary matters.
4. It can only ask to take action on disciplinary matters.
India and Japan
1. General differences
JapanIndia
1. Features of direct democracy like ratification of amendments passed in the legislature by people at special referendums.1. Already covered.
1. Unitary constitution with no separation of powers.2. Already covered.
1. Constitutional monarch enjoys only ceremonial functions.
* He does not enjoy the power to choose but only appoint the PM. PM is chosen by diet.
* He does not appoint the ministers. They are appointed by PM.
* He cannot remove the ministers. They are removed by PM.3. Elected president and enjoys few powers.
* He enjoys the power to choose and appoint PM.
* He appoints the ministers of course on the advice of PM.
* He can remove the ministers on the advice of PM.
1. Parliamentary government with powerful PM. He can appoint and remove the ministers. He can choose at will but majority have to be from the diet.4. PM does not enjoy the power to choose from outside the parliament.
1. Renunciation of war is a constitutional provision that was added by the General MacArthur to see that Japan does not have the sovereign right to raise war.5. Its a matter of Indias foreign policy.
1. Civil service
JapanIndia
1. The administrative officers called careermen or elitos are attached to ministries. Japan seems to believe in specialist administrators.1. IAS is not attached to any ministry. They move from one to another. India believes administration is a generalist job.
1. All the civil servants join on the same day 1st April, the 1st day of financial year.2. They can join at will.
1. Promotions are based on seniority then educational background, university and area of specialization.3. It is based on merit.
1. At lower levels promotions are based on written tests.4. It is uniform across levels.
1. System of collective seniority is prevalent at higher levels. Civil servants who have same seniority get promoted at the same time. Whoever is not able to find position has to resign and start Second career. 5. There is no such provision.
1. On retirement, a civil servant is placed in a private corporation. This system is called amakudari system.6. There is no such provision.
1. Rights
* Right to form/join associations is allowed except for police and maritime safety agency.7. Indias rights can be derived from points mentioned against USA/UK above.
Sample questions of PubAdm (mains)
1. Government has been slow in using modern methods for discovering executive talent Examine the validity of the statement with reference to recruitment to higher civil service in India. USA and France (1990)
2. In what respects, the powers of proposed institution of Lok Pal in the Bill already introduced in Indian Parliament, will strengthen the institution as compared to Parliamentary Commissioner of UK? (2001)
References
1. Public Administration M. Lakshikanth
2. Indian Polity M. Lakshmikanth
3. PRS - http://www.prsindia.org
4. Internet digging.
Personal Info:
Name: Rajith P.R.
USAIndia
1. Oldest written constitution consisting of a preamble and 7 articles.1. New constitution (1949) originally consisting of a preamble, 395 articles and 8 schedules.
1. Highly rigid: All parts of the constitution are to be modified by special procedure which is 2/3rd majority in both the houses and ratified by 3/4th of the states.2. Mix of rigidity and flexibility. Some parts of the constitution can be modified by ordinary law and some require special process.
1. Federal constitution more power is given to the states, with states having separate constitutions and residual powers.
3. Federal constitution with a strong center. There is division of power between center and states with residual power with the center. Also, the subjects (union+ concurrent) available to the center are significant in numbers and matter.
3. Bicameral legislature (congress) house of representative (lower house) and senate (upper house) with powerful upper house. 4. Bicameral legislature (parliament) loksabha (lower house) and rajya sabha (upper house). The loksabha is more powerful.
1. Form of Government
USA Presidential form of governmentIndia Parliamentary form of government
1. Head of the government (president) is elected by the people directly via an electoral college constituted for the purpose.
2. Head of the government (PM) is appointed by the President. He is leader of the party/coalition having majority in the lower house.
3. He is assisted by a cabinet, an advisory body consisting of non congress members appointed by him.
4. He is first among the ministers. All the ministers are appointed by the president on his advice.
5. He is not responsible to the congress for his acts.
6. He is responsible to the lower house.
7. He does not attend the congress sessions.
8. He attends the parliamentary sessions and has the voting right in which he is a member.
9. He is elected for a fixed term of 4 years and can be removed by impeachment.
10. He has to resign if he does not having the confidence of the lower house.
1. Office of President
USA India
1. Elected by an electoral college created for the purpose. Size of this is equal to the size of congress and members are elected by the people from the states. The presidential candidate who secure absolute majority is declared winner. If no candidate secures the majority then the Houser of representative elect the president among the three candidates securing the highest votes.1. Elected by an electoral college consisting of :
* Elected members of parliament.
* Elected members of state assemblies.
* Elected members of assemblies of UT of Delhi and puducherry.
1. Only natural born citizens and residents for 14 years are eligible. 2. Any person who has the Indian citizenship is eligible.
1. He can grant pardon and reprive for offense against federal laws.3. He can grant pardon and reprive on federal and state laws.
1. His pocket veto is limited. When a bill is sent to him for assent he can reserve the bill for not more than 10 days.4. He enjoys unlimited pocket veto.
1. He can call special sessions of the congress for consideration of urgent matters.5. There is no such provision.
1. Civil Services
USA India
1. Its a mix of merit and spoils system. Around 10,000 senior civil service posts are filled based political patronage.
2. All recruitments are based on merit system only.
3. There is a system of lateral entry. This facilitates entry at all levels and any age ensuring movement between government and private jobs.
4. There is no system of lateral entry and strict age restrictions are followed.
5. Examinations are assembled and unassembled. Assembled examinations are used to fill lower posts by conducting written tests. Unassembled tests are used for senior posts by individual interview and testimony.
6. All the examinations are assembled.
7. No definite education qualification is prescribed.
8. Education qualifications are prescribed.
9. There exists a system of pre-entry and post-entry trainings. Trainings are flexible involving universities as well as in house training conducted by OPM (Office of Personnel Management).
10. Only post-entry trainings are available.
11. Less Restriction on fundamental rights such as:
* They have the right to express views on government policy matters however they can be disciplined in cases such as false information, confidential information, affects the performance of organization, etc.
* Right to form/join associations and collectively bargain is allowed.
1. Restrictions on fundamental rights such as:
* They dont have any rights to comment on policy matters. This is done to ensure political neutrality.
* Right to form/join associations is guaranteed. However the government would consult or negotiate only with the recognized ones.
India and UK
* General difference
UKIndia
1. Oldest democracy which is a blend of monarchy, aristocracy and democracy.1. New democracy which is a parliamentary and republic.
1. Unwritten constitution. The administration is carried out based on great charters, statutes, conventions which are backed by tradition and public support. 2. Lengthiest written constitution.
1. Flexible constitution. There is no distinction between ordinary law and amendment.3. Mix of rigidity and flexibility. Some parts of the constitution can be modified by ordinary law and some require special process.
1. Unitary constitution. The provincial governments are for administrative purposes only. They can be abolished at any time by the center.
4. Federal constitution with a strong center. There is division of power between center and states with residual power with the center. Also, the subjects (union+concurrent) available to the center is significant.
4. British system is based on the doctrine of supremacy of parliament. The laws made by the parliament cannot be declared void by judiciary.
2. Indian system is based on the doctrine of supremacy of constitution. The Supreme Court is constitutional given the right to validate the laws passed via judicial review.
3. The head of the state/president or Crown is not elected but decided by inheritance. 6. The head of the state is elected by the people indirectly.
1. Shadow cabinet is formed by the opposition party. Almost every member shadows the ministers. The leader of opposition heads the shadow cabinet. They closely monitor the working of respective ministries. 7. There is no such concept here.
1. Civil service
UKIndia
1. Elaborate recruitment procedure called country house method is used. After candidate qualified after the written tests are taken for a 2 day interview tests to a country house and various interviews individual/group are carried out.1. See USA.
1. There is a 2 year probationary period.2. There is no probation period.
1. Promotions are carried out professionally :
* Candidate is informed well in advance of vacant posts.
* Suitability is decided by board.
* Aggrieved candidates have the right to appeal.3. It is carried out by the Department of Personnel and Training. The is scope to improve this area.
1. A highly comprehensive system is in place for better employer (state) and employee relations - whitley counsels. 4. There is no such mechanism.
1. Rights
* They have the right to express views on non political matters of public importance.
* There is a total ban on political activities at higher level. It becomes less relaxed to the middle and lower levels. The lower levels can participate in all the political activities.
* Right to strike is not illegal. However they can be subjected to disciplinary actions.
* Right to form/join associations and collectively bargain is allowed.5.Rights
* They dont have any rights to comment on policy matters. This is done to ensure political neutrality.
* They cannot involve in any political activity like joining political parties, attending meetings, etc. However they enjoy the right to vote.
* They dont have the right to strike.
* Right to form/join associations is guaranteed. However the government would consult or negotiate only with the recognized ones.
* Parliamentary Commissioner
UKIndia
1. Limited scope. Does not include ministers, PM and MPs.
2. Wider scope includes ministers, PM and MPs.
1. He investigates matters of maladministration which he is free to define.
2. He investigates matters of corruption.
3. All the matters that are referred to him come via MP. This process is known as MP filter.
4. The aggrieved citizens can directly approach him.
5. He is only an investigation agency and cannot persecute.
6. After investigation, the findings are presented in a special court. A copy is also sent to the competent authority that has to report with the action taken.
1. CAG
UKIndia
1. He is an officer of the parliament and audits the accounts of the union.
2. He is a constitutional body who audits the accounts of union as well the state.
3. Any money can be drawn by the executive from the public exchequer only after his approval. He is both the comptroller and auditor.
4. He has no control over the money drawn from the consolidated funds and is involved only during the audit stage when the expenditure has already occurred. He is only auditor.
India and France
1. General difference
FranceIndia
1. Rigid constitution, a special procedure requiring 60% majority in both houses is required. 1. Already covered
1. Features of direct democracy like :-
* President seeking referendum on amendments Is available.2. No such futures.
1. Highly unitary government. No separation of power and power to abolish provincial governments.3. Already covered.
1. Quasi-Presidential and Quasi-Parliamentary system. The president is elected by the people and is powerful. There also exists a cabinet headed by PM responsible to the legislature.4. Already covered.
1. Restricted parliament, it can make laws only on those subjects listed in the constitution. The residual powers are vested with the executive. This is to ensure powerful executive.5. There is no such distinction.
1. There exists a constitutional council to check the constitutional validity of the executive decrees and parliamentary laws.6. There is no such provision.
1. The peculiarities of the constitution like powerful executive, direct democracy, emergency provisions etc are to ensure smooth working of the system as France has the history of unstable governments and redrafting the constitution every 12 years.7. NA
1. Office of President
FranceIndia
1. Directly elected by people. The candidate has to secure absolute majority. If there are no results then 2nd ballot is used to decide between the first two candidates securing highest votes.
2. Already covered.
3. No age restrictions and elected for a fixed term of 5 years. He can be removed by impeachment involving parliament and judiciary.
4. He has to be 35+.
5. He is powerful with the following functions:-
* He presides over the cabinet meetings and directly influences the government.
* He appoints the president and members of the constitutional council.
* He can summon special sessions of the parliament.
1. He has only nominal powers.
2. There is a constitutional provision to ensure republican form of government meaning there is no scope for monarchy through amendment.
3. There is no such provision although its a basic structure of the constitution.
1. Civil service
France India
1. It is known as civil service state or administrative state due to the weak government.1. Stable government.
1. It had the system of Sale of Office; the vacant posts were sold to the highest bidder.2. It has been merit based.
1. The Ecole Nationaled Administration (ENA) is the apex institute involved in pre-entry, recruitment, post-entry training.3. Already covered.
1. It has world class training. Some feature:
* Practical rather than theoretical.
* Handled by senior civil servants.
* Provision for private trainings.
* Long term trainings.4. It is not as comprehensive as France.
1. Provision to switch to private and public is available.5. There is no such provision.
1. Promotions are based on merit and seniority.6. Promotions are based on merit.
1. They enjoy all the rights :
* They enjoy freedom of expression on all matters.
* They can join/form association/trade unions.
* They are given the right to strike.
* They enjoy all the political rights. In fact they can get elected and come back to the service after resigning. 7. Indias rights can be derived from points mentioned against USA/UK above.
* Administrative courts
FranceIndia
1. It is created to provide justice to citizens on all administrative matters. The scope is wider. The administrative laws known as Droit Adminsitratif are safeguarded.
2. It has a narrower scope and is created for curbing corruption.
3. It can ask for compensation to the aggrieved citizens as well as take asks action on disciplinary matters.
4. It can only ask to take action on disciplinary matters.
India and Japan
1. General differences
JapanIndia
1. Features of direct democracy like ratification of amendments passed in the legislature by people at special referendums.1. Already covered.
1. Unitary constitution with no separation of powers.2. Already covered.
1. Constitutional monarch enjoys only ceremonial functions.
* He does not enjoy the power to choose but only appoint the PM. PM is chosen by diet.
* He does not appoint the ministers. They are appointed by PM.
* He cannot remove the ministers. They are removed by PM.3. Elected president and enjoys few powers.
* He enjoys the power to choose and appoint PM.
* He appoints the ministers of course on the advice of PM.
* He can remove the ministers on the advice of PM.
1. Parliamentary government with powerful PM. He can appoint and remove the ministers. He can choose at will but majority have to be from the diet.4. PM does not enjoy the power to choose from outside the parliament.
1. Renunciation of war is a constitutional provision that was added by the General MacArthur to see that Japan does not have the sovereign right to raise war.5. Its a matter of Indias foreign policy.
1. Civil service
JapanIndia
1. The administrative officers called careermen or elitos are attached to ministries. Japan seems to believe in specialist administrators.1. IAS is not attached to any ministry. They move from one to another. India believes administration is a generalist job.
1. All the civil servants join on the same day 1st April, the 1st day of financial year.2. They can join at will.
1. Promotions are based on seniority then educational background, university and area of specialization.3. It is based on merit.
1. At lower levels promotions are based on written tests.4. It is uniform across levels.
1. System of collective seniority is prevalent at higher levels. Civil servants who have same seniority get promoted at the same time. Whoever is not able to find position has to resign and start Second career. 5. There is no such provision.
1. On retirement, a civil servant is placed in a private corporation. This system is called amakudari system.6. There is no such provision.
1. Rights
* Right to form/join associations is allowed except for police and maritime safety agency.7. Indias rights can be derived from points mentioned against USA/UK above.
Sample questions of PubAdm (mains)
1. Government has been slow in using modern methods for discovering executive talent Examine the validity of the statement with reference to recruitment to higher civil service in India. USA and France (1990)
2. In what respects, the powers of proposed institution of Lok Pal in the Bill already introduced in Indian Parliament, will strengthen the institution as compared to Parliamentary Commissioner of UK? (2001)
References
1. Public Administration M. Lakshikanth
2. Indian Polity M. Lakshmikanth
3. PRS - http://www.prsindia.org
4. Internet digging.
Personal Info:
Name: Rajith P.R.
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