Remove eSignature Presentation Myself

Cracked versions of software are created with the use of debuggers. (A debugger is a special type of software that lets programmers deconstruct their software into its constituent parts for the purpose of finding bugs, and thus de-bugging. Additionally debuggers can be used for reverse-engineering, or to see what is inside the software, to learn its logic. The latter method is used mostly by malware researchers to study what malware (or computer viruses) do on-the-inside. But it can be also used by an attacker to "crack" (or bypass) legal software registration, or at times, to alter normal behavior of software, for instance by injecting a malicious code into it.)For the sake of this example, I will assume that the software that is being "cracked" was compiled into a native code, and is not a .NET or a JavaScript based application. (Otherwise it will be somewhat trivial to view its source code.) The compiled native code is a bit more tricky "beast" to study. (Native means that the code executes directly by the CPU, GPU, or other hardware.)So let's assume that the goal of an attacker is to bypass the registration logic in the software so that he or she doesn't have to pay for it. (Later for lolz, he or she may also post such "crack" on some shady online forum or on a torrent site so that others can "use" it too and give him or her their appreciation.)For simplicity let's assume that the original logic that was checking for the software registration was written in C++ and was something similar to the following code snippet:In this code sample "RegistrationName" and "RegistrationCode" are special strings of text that a legitimate software user will receive after paying for the license. (The name is usually that person's actual name or their email address, and the code is some string of unique/special characters that is tied to the name.)In the logic above, the function named "isRegistrationCodeGood()" will check if "RegistrationName" and "RegistrationCode" are accepted using some proprietary method. If they are, it will return true. Otherwise false. That outcode will dictate which branch (or scope) the execution will follow.So the logic above will either show that registration failed and quit:Or, if the registration code and name matched, it will save the registration details in persistent storage (such as the File System or System Registry) using the function named "rememberRegistrationParameters()" and then display the message thanking the user for registering:A "cracker" will obviously want to achieve the second result for any registration code that he or she enters. But they have a problem. They do not have the C++ source code, part of which I showed above. (I hope not!)So the only recourse for an attacker is to disassemble the binary code (that always ships with software in the form of .exe and .dll files on Windows, and mostly as Unix executables inside the .app packages on a Mac.) An attacker will then use a debugger to study the binary code and try to locate the registration logic that I singled out above.Next you can see the flowchart for a snippet of code that I showed in C++, presented via a low-level debugger. Or, as the code will be read in the binary form after compilation:(For readability I added comments on the right with the names of functions and variables. They will not be present in the code that an attacker could see.)(To understand what is shown above an attacker will have to have good knowledge of the Assembly language instructions for the native code.)I also need to point out that having a disassembly snippet like the one above is the final result for an attacker. The main difficulty for him or her is to locate it among millions and millions of other similar lines of code. And that is their main challenge. Not many people can do it and that is why software "cracking" is a special skill.So having found the code snippet above in the software binary file a "cracker" has two choices:1) Modify (or patch) the binary.2) Reverse-engineer the "isRegistrationCodeGood()" function and copy its logic to create what is known as a "KeyGen" or "Key Generator."Let's review both:The first choice is quite straightforward. Since an attacker got this far, he or she knows the Intel x64 Instruction Set quite well. So they simply change the conditional jump from "jnz short loc_7FF645671430" at the address 00007FF645671418 (circled in red in the screenshots) to unconditional jump, or "jmp short loc_7FF645671430". This will effectively remove any failed registration code entries and anything that the user types in will be accepted as a valid registration.Also note that this modification can be achieved by changing just one byte in the binary code from 0x75 to 0xEB:But this approach comes with a "price" of modifying the original binary file. For that an attacker needs to write his own "patcher" (or a small executable that will apply the modification that I described above.) The downside of this approach for an attacker is that patching an original executable file will break its digital signature, which may alert the end-user or the vendor. Additionally the "patcher" executable made by an attacker can be easily flagged and blocked by the end-user's antivirus software, or lead criminal investigators to the identity of the attacker.The second choice is a little bit more tricky. An attacker will have to study "isRegistrationCodeGood()" function and copy it into his own small program that will effectively duplicate the logic implemented in the original software and let him generate the registration code from any name, thus giving any unscrupulous user of that software an ability to register it without making a payment.Vendors of many major software products understand the potential impact of the second method and try to prevent it by requiring what is known as "authentication." This is basically a second step after registration, where the software submits registration name to the company's web server that returns a response back to the software of whether the code was legitimate or not. This is done by Microsoft when you purchase Windows (they call it "Activate Windows") and also by signNow, and many other companies. This second step may be done behind-the-scenes on the background while the software is running, and will usually lead to cancellation of prior registration if it was obtained illegally.So now you know how software is "cracked".Let me answer why it is not possible to prevent it. It all boils down to the fact that any software code needs to be read either by CPU (in case of a binary native code) or by an interpreter or a JIT compiler (in case of JavaScript or .NET code.) This means that if there's a way to read/interpret something, no matter how complex or convoluted it is, an attacker with enough knowledge and persistence will be able to read it as well, and thus break it.There is an argument though that cloud-based software is more secure, which is true, since its (binary) code remains on the server and end-users do not have direct access to it. And even though cloud-based software is definitely the future, it has some major drawbacks that will never allow it to fully replace your conventional software. To name just a few:Not everyone has an internet connection, or is willing to upload their data online. Additionally someone’s internet connection can be very expensive or too slow to make the software run very laggy.Then there’s a question of distributed computing. For instance, Blizzard Entertainment would never make “World of Warcraft” to fully run on their servers due to immense computational resources needed to render every single scene for every player they have. Thus it is in their best interest to let each individual user’s computer to do the rendering instead.As a software developer myself, I obviously don't like when people steal software licenses. But I have to accept it and live with it. The good news is that there are not that many people who are willing to go extra mile and search for a cracked version of software. The main problem for those who do, is that by downloading a patched executable, or an attacker's KeyGen or a Patcher, they are effectively "trusting" him or her not to put anything "nasty" into it that was not "advertised on the package" (stuff like trojans, malware, or keyloggers.) So the question for those people becomes -- is it worth the cost of the software license to potentially infect your system with a nasty virus?On the other side of the equation, some developers react very negatively to any attempts to steal their software licenses. (I was there too.) They try to implement all kinds of countermeasures -- anything from tricking reverse-engineers, to adding booby traps in the code that may do something nasty if the code detects that it is being debugged, to obfuscating or scrambling the code, to enforcing all kinds of convoluted DRM schemes, to blocking users from certain countries. I personally try to stay away from all of those measures. And here's why:A) Any kind of anti-reverse-engineering tactics could be bypassed by an attacker with enough persistence. So why bother and waste my time when I can invest that time into adding something useful to my software that will make it more productive for legitimate users?B) Some code packers could create false positives with antivirus software, which is obviously not good for marketing of that software. It also creates unnecessary complexity for the developer to debug the software.C) Adding booby traps in the code can also “misfire” on your legitimate users, which will really infuriate them and can even lead to lawsuits.D) Any DRM scheme will probably catch some 100 illegal users and greatly inconvenience 10,000 legitimate ones. So why do it to your good customers?E) Our statistics show that about 75% of all illegal licenses come from China, Russia, Brazil, to name the worst offenders. (I also understand that the reason may be much lower incomes that people have in those countries.) The main issue for us though was the fact that if we enforce our DRM or add some strong registration authentication, many people that wanted to bypass our registration would simply use a stolen credit card number. And we had no control over it. Our system will use it to send them a legitimate license only to have the payment bounce in weeks time. As a result we would lose the money that were paid for the license, plus the credit card company will impose an additional chargeback fee to our account, which may range from $0.25 to $20 per bad purchase on top of the license cost.F) As was pointed out in the comments, some companies may actually benefit from allowing pirated copies of their software. Microsoft for instance gets a lot of free publicity from people using their Windows OS, the same goes for signNow with their Photoshop. That is a good point that I agree with.So my philosophy is now this -- if someone wants to go extra mile and steal our software, go for it! They went this far to do it anyway, so they probably have a good reason. On the positive side there are so many other customers that appreciate the work that goes into creating software that greatly outnumber those that don’t.PS. Thank you for all your feedback! It makes me feel good that the knowledge I shared is useful to others.

First, the child has a “head and limbs and everything” much, much earlier than the third trimester.So if the criteria is that a fetus with “a head and limbs and everything” should not be aborted, the period of time when abortion is okay would have to be before 8 or 9 weeks or even earlier, depending on your perception of what constitutes a  “head and limbs”. The little buds and the little webbed looking hands are seen by 8 weeks, along with the large (seemingly) misshapen head that will envelope the amazing human brain.I personally believe that the fetus is not conscious until around the 24th week of pregnancy. (I came up with this general time frame from reading about neurology, consciousness, and fetal development;  a complex topic that I won’t detail here.) I don’t believe the fetus feels pain when aborted before about the 22nd week. Although it is heart-wrenching to watch images of the fetus (reflexively) attempting to escape abortionist tools. They jerk and pull away, as all living things seek to preserve their lives.However, as I said elsewhere, that to me being unconscious does not mean a living being does not have rights. I recently had surgery and was unconscious for the procedure. I could have been terminated and not felt it or known about it, but that wouldn’t have made it morally right.Very few abortions are done in the third trimester. Few doctors will do them. When they do occur it is often because the fetus is so seriously deformed and would not survive the birth process anyway. (But since your question is about having a head and limbs, we needn’t stick to the last trimester in our discussion.)Abortion is not legal throughout all three trimesters in most states. Many states have limits of between 20 to 24 weeks, some even earlier. But even at 12 weeks, yes, there is a very human-looking being with a little head, arms and legs and visible, although still ambiguous,  genitals.I don’t know what “pro-choice” people think about very late abortions.  Some may have an arbitrary timeline in their own mind as  towhen the baby is too human to deprive of its life, and others follow the “gospel of choice”. The gospel of choice is that any and all rights an unborn person has are null and void because the rights of the mother trump them. Once the infant is born and takes a breath, then and only then can humanity  be ascribed to them. Here is an interesting video in which a (former) fetus speaks of surviving an abortion attempt:I must say, I am suspicious of your claim to be pro-choice. Forgive me if I am incorrect in my suspicions. Frequently, posters on this forum will pose as pro-choice and ask innocent questions meant to provoke the discussion on Quora. It is futile to try to dissuade most pro-choicers with these ethics questions.Of interest, there are many former pro-choice warriors who have struggled with the issue and have jumped the fence. Notable is Dr. Bernard Nathanson, the abortionist who may have done more than anyone else to make abortion legal as one of the key figures in the work of the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws. (NARAL) . His turnaround was so radical that he went from an atheist to a Catholic and spent his remaining years fighting abortion. I have not been able to find online recently his breathless deathbed plea for unborn life, but this obituary provides his perspective. B. N. Nathanson, 84, Dies; Changed Sides on AbortionOther well-known figures include the “Roe” of “Roe versus Wade”’ Norma McCorvey, who changed her mind and spent decades as a prolife activist Norma McCorvey on becoming pro-life (1998) - CNN Videoand Abby Johnson, the former director of a Planned Parenthood. AbortionWorkerOf course, these mind-changes have no effect on discussion with true-believing pro-choice people; such people are seen only as turncoats. If the “gospel of choice” community responds at all, it is usually in the form of attack or attempts to discredit those who have jumped the fence. For those who have a grain of doubt in their position, who are troubled by the fetal attempt to squirm away from a sharp tool, then perhaps the reasons these pro-choice icons became turncoats may be interesting. But they will not interest those who have no doubts.I will provide here links to two videos showing fetal life.  One is a miscarriage, and the other is labelled as an abortion.  I don’t believe the moving fetus is an abortion, despite the claims of the person who posted it.  The medical personnel are speaking a language I don’t understand, but you can hear tones of sadness as they discuss the little fetus, and further the fetus is not damaged in anyway, so likely this is footage of a natural miscarriage.  This is graphic, but not gory,  it is merely a fetus moving a little bit as it dies because it cannot live outside the womb.  This fetus is too young to try to breathe or have any pain or consciousness.  I am estimating that it was born early in the second trimester.  If you are sensitive, it may be too alarming to watch.  I am sorry about the banner “Abortion is Murder” and so on.  but this is the only video that shows the miscarriage of a fetus of this age that I can find.  I don’t think all the “murder” talk and the accusations help the discussion.   Anyway, this is not a third trimester baby by any stretch of the imagination.  It is likely 14 to 16 weeks and yes, there is a head and legs.I want to also add that I don’t think that reversing the Supreme Court decision regarding the right of women to terminate their pregnancies will help anything at this point.I am more interested in being free to talk about human life with those who have doubts and to explore addressing the cultural effects of the legalization of abortion. For instance,  there are movements such as Feminists for Life and other secular prolife movements who offer a different perspective from the religious dissenters and the “gospel of choice” movement. secularprolifeYes, the Supreme Court has spoken.  But no law has been enacted that prevents thoughtful people from re-examining and conversing about the disquieting questions that the theme of abortion gives rise to.

Thank you for A2A.Yes and No both . UPSC PRELIMS is beyond 1000 coaching institutes who do not understand the demand and nature of exam and lakhs of aspirants who blindly depend on them.But UPSC PRELIMS is most predictable and safe exam if you understand it . I myself has proved by clearing all 6 prelims back to back with huge margins( 145- GS1).Let me explain YOU (Ladies and Gentlemen)This is the breakup of subjects this yearHere only 20 were pure current affairs. Other 12 were contemporary topics and were 1 year old so can’t be categorized as current affairs directly. Thus the bulk of questions came from Static and FundamentalsSantosh Sir Prediction before exam :Now read what I had predicted before exam.I had categorically suggested that this year they will focus on Fundamentals and static. Reading and following websites and mugging up stupid compilations will be a waste of time.I had asked to read newspapers , the Hindu .Most of questions are picked from The Hindu like the species one ,etcMy subject distribution was also close.Which section in the prelims 2019 is expected to give more questions according to the trend?I request you go through all my posts and see how relevant they were for PRELIMS 2019.I had strictly warned not to read bulky govt scheme compilation , it was suicidal . I had suggested only few . And I was bang on - only one scheme came which i had suggested Atal innocation mission.1. In India,'extended producer responsibility' was introduced as an important feature in which of the following?(a) The Bio-medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998(b) The Recycled plastic (Manufacturing and Usage) Rules, 1999(c) The e-Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011(d) The Food Safety and Standard Regulations, 2011My Topic List 3.5 Important topics from environment “ Extended Producer Responsibility”2.Under Ramsar Convention, it is mandatory on the part of the Government of India to protect and conserve all the wetlands in the territory of India.3. The Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2010 were framed by the Government of India based on the recommendations of Ramsar Convention.3. The Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2010 also encompass the drainage area or catchment regions of the wetlands as determined by the authority.Which of the statements given above is / are correct?(a) 1 and 2 only(b) 2 and 3 only(c) 3 only(d) 1, 2 and 3My Topic List Important topics from environment : Ramsar Wetland3.As per law, the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority exists at both National and State levels.2. People's participation is mandatory in the compensatory afforestation programmes carried out under the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act, 2016.Which of the statements given above is / are correct?(a) 1 only(b) 2 only(c) Both 1 and 2(d) Neither 1 nor 2CAMPA Compensatory afforestationMy Topic List Important topics from environment: CAMPA4. In the context of which one of the following are the terms 'pyrolysis and plasma gasification' mentioned?(a) Extraction of rare earth elements(b) Natural gas extraction technologies(c) Hydrogen fuel-based automobiles(d) Waste-to-energy technologiesMy Topic List : Waste to energy5. In India, the use of carbofuran, methyl parathion, phorate and triazophos is viewed with apprehension. These chemicals are used as(a) pesticides in agriculture(b) preservatives in processed foods(c) fruit-ripening agents(d) moisturising agents in cosmeticsMy Topic List 3.5 Important topics from environment:: Stockhom-Persistant Organic Pollutatnt5. Why is there a great concern about the 'microbeads' that are released into environment?(a) They are considered harmful to marine ecosystems.(b) They are considered to cause skin cancer in children.(c) They are small enough to be absorbed by crop plants in irrigated fields.(d) They are often found to be used as food adulterants.My Topic List 3.5 Important topics from environment: Dead Zones in Ocean6. Consider the following statements about Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) in India:1. PVTGs reside in 18 States and one Union Territory.2. A stagnant or declining population is one of the criteria for determining PVTG status.3. There are 95 PVTGs officially notified in the country so far.4. Irular and Konda Reddi tribes are included in the list of PVTGs.Which of the statements given above are correct?(a) 1, 2 and 3(b) 2, 3 and 4(c) 1, 2 and 4(d) 1, 3 and 4My Topic List Important Environment Topics :PVTGs in A&N( Tribes)7. Which of the following are the reasons for the occurrence of multi-drug resistance in microbial pathogens in India?1. Genetic predisposition of some people2. Taking incorrect doses of antibiotics to cure diseases3. Using antibiotics in livestock farming4. Multiple chronic diseases in some peopleSelect the correct answer using the code given below.(a) 1 and 2(b) 2 and 3 only(e) 1, 3 and 4(d) 2, 3 and 4My Topic List Important Anti Microbial Resistance and Policy8. With reference to Mian Tansen, which one of the following statements is not correct?(a) Tansen was the title given to him by Emperor Akbar.(b) Tansen composed Dhrupads on Hindu gods and goddesses.(c) Tansen composed songs on his patrons.(d) Tansen invented many Ragas.9. Consider the following statements:1. Saint Nimbarka was a contem-porary of Akbar.2. Saint Kabir was greatly influenced by Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi.Which of the statements given above is/are correct?(a) 1 only(b) 2 only(c) Both 1 and 2(d) Neither 1 nor 2My Topic lis :Kabir and Akbar10. Consider the following statements:1. Most of India's external debt is owed by governmental entities.2. All of India's external debt is denominated in US dollars.Which of the statements given above is / are correct?(a) 1 only(b) 2 only(c) Both 1 and 2(d) Neither 1 nor 2Debt11. Which one of the following is not the most likely measure the Government/RBI takes to stop the slide of Indian rupee?(a) Curbing imports of non-essential goods-and promoting exports(b) Encouraging Indian borrowers to issue rupee denominated Masala Bonds(c) Easing conditions relating to external commercial borrowing(d) Following an expansionary monetary policyRBI steps to check currency devaluation12. In the context of India, which of the following factors is/are contributor/ contributors to reducing the risk of a currency crisis?1. The foreign currency earnings of India's IT sector2. Increasing the government expenditure3. Remittances from Indians abroadSelect the correct answer using the code given below.(a) 1 only(b) 1 and 3 only(c) 2 only(d) 1, 2 and 3Answer: bCurrency Crisis13. Which of the following is issued by registered foreign portfolio investors to overseas investors who want to be part of the Indian stock market without registering themselves directly?(a) Certificate of Deposit(b) Commercial Paper(c) Promissory Note(d) Participatory NoteP notes14.1. No High Court shall have the jurisdiction to declare any central law to be constitutionally invalid.2. An amendment to the Constitution of India cannot be called into question by the Supreme Court of India.Which of the statements given above is / are correct?(a) 1 only(b) 2 only(c) Both 1 and 2(d) Neither 1 nor 2My Topic List : Amendments15. Building 'Kalyaana Mandapas' was a notable feature in the temple construction in the kingdom of(a) Chalukya(b) Chandela(c) Rashtrakuta(d) VijayanagaraVijayanagar empire (Themes part II) (chap 6)16. Atal Innovation Mission is set up under the(a) Department of Science and Technology(b) Ministry of Employment(c) NITI Aayog(d) Ministry of Skill Development and EntrepreneurshipMt Topic List : AIM17.1.The 44th Amendment to the Constitution of India introduced an Article placing the election of the Prime Minister beyond judicial review.2. The Supreme Court of India struck down the 99th Amendment to the Constitution of India as being violative of the independence of judiciary.44th AmendmentWhich of the statements given above is/are correct?(a) 1 only(b) 2 only(c) Both 1 and 2(d) Neither 1 nor 2Amendments and HC18. Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) exchange rates are calculated by comparing the prices of the same basket of goods and services in different countries.2. In terms of PPP dollars, India is the sixth largest economy in the world.Which of the statements given above is / are correct?(a) 1 only(b) 2 only(c) Both 1 and 2(d) Neither 1 nor 2GDP -PPP19. With reference to the Constitution of India, prohibitions or limitations or provisions contained in ordinary laws cannot act as prohibitions or limitations on the constitutional powers under Article 142. It could mean which one of the following?(a) The decisions taken by the Election Commission of India while discharging its duties cannot be challenged in any court of law.(b) The Supreme Court of India is not constrained in the exercise of its powers by laws made by the Parliament.(c) In the event of grave financial crisis in the country, the President of India can declare Financial Emergency without the counsel from the Cabinet.(d) State Legislatures cannot make laws on certain matters without the concurrence of Union Legislature.Advisory Jurisdiction20.1. As per recent amendment to the Indian Forest Act, 1927, forest dwellers have the right to fell the bamboos grown on forest areas.2. As per the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, bamboo is a minor forest produce.3. The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 allows ownership of minor forest produce to forest dwellers.Which of the statements given above is / are correct?(a) 1 and 2 only(b) 2 and 3 only(c) 3 only(d) 1, 2 and 3FRA 200621. In the context of polity, which one of the following would you accept as the most appropriate definition of liberty?(a) Protection against the tyranny of political rulers(b) Absence of restraint(c) Opportunity to do whatever one likes(d) Opportunity to develop oneself fullyLiberty22. Consider the following statements:1. The 44th Amendment to the Constitution of India introduced an Article placing the election of the Prime Minister beyond judicial review.2. The Supreme Court of India struck down the 99th Amendment to the Constitution of India as being violative of the independence of judiciary.Which of the statements given above is/are correct?(a) 1 only(b) 2 only(c) Both 1 and 2(d) Neither 1 nor 244th amendment23. The- motion to impeach a Judge of the Supreme Court of India cannot be rejected by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha as per the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968.2. The Constitution of India defines and gives details of what Constitutes 'incapacity and proved misbehaviour' of the Judges of the Supreme Court of India.3. The details of the process of impeachment of the Judges of the Supreme Court of India are given in the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968.4. If the motion for the impeachment of a Judge is taken up for voting, the law requires the motion to be backed by each House of the Parliament and supported by a majority of total membership of that House and by not less than two-thirds of total members of that House present and voting.Which of the statements given above is/are correct?(a) 1 and 2(b) 3 only(c) 3 and 4 only(d) 1, 3 and 4Judges removal24. Asiatic Lion Conservation Project ( endangered, canine distemper virus, Gir, Pania sanctuary)25. What is common to the places known as Aliyar, Isapur and Kangsabati?(a) Recently discovered uranium deposits(b) Tropical rain forests(c) Underground cave systems(d) Water reservoirsAnswer: DIndian Major Dams- New dams26. Under which Schedule of the Constitution of India can the transfer of tribal land to private parties for mining be declared null and void?(a) Third Schedule(b) Fifth Schedule(c) Ninth Schedule(d) Twelfth Schedule27. The Ninth Schedule was introduced in the Constitution of India during the prime ministership of(a) Jawaharlal Nehru(b) Lal Bahadur Shastri(c) Indira Gandhi(d) Morarji DesaiSchedules28. In the context of which of the following do some scientists suggest the use of cirrus cloud thinning technique and the injection of sulphate aerosol into stratosphere?(a) Creating the artificial rains in some regions(b) Reducing the frequency and intensity of tropical cyclones(c) Reducing the adverse effects of solar wind on the Earth(d) Reducing the global warmingClimate engineering –carbon capture, Bio char, stratospheric aerosol injection29. Consider the following:1. Deification of the Buddha2. Treading the path of Bodhisattvas3. Image worship and ritualsWhich of the above is/are the feature/ features of Mahayana Buddhism?(a) 1 only(b) 1 and 2 only(c) 2 and 3 only(d) 1, 2 and 3My Topic list :Buddhism features30.The Environment Protection Act, 1986 empowers the Government of India to1. state the requirement of public participation in the process of environmental protection, and the procedure and manner in which it is sought2. lay down The standards for emission or discharge of environmental pollutants from various sourcesWhich of the statements given above is/ are correct?(a) 1 only(b) 2 only(c) Both 1 and 2(d) Neither 1 nor 2My topic List :EPA31.1. The Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1959 exempts several posts from disqualification on the grounds of 'Office of Profit'.2. The above-mentioned Act was amended five times.3. The term 'Office of Profit' is well-defined in the Constitution of India.Which of the statements given above is/are correct?(a) 1 and 2 only(b) 3 only(c) 2 and 3 only(d) 1, 2 and 3My Topic List Polity : Office of profitoffice of Profit32.1.According to the Indian Patents Act, a biological process to create a seed can be patented in India.2. In India, there is no Intellectual Property Appellate Board.3. Plant varieties are not eligible to be patented in India.Which of the statements given above is/are correct?(a) 1 and 3 only(b) 2 and 3 only(c) 3 only(d) 1, 2 and 3My Topic List :Indian Patent and Farmer right33.In the context of wearable technology, which of the following tasks is/are accomplished by wearable devices?1. Location identification of a person2. Sleep monitoring of a person3. Assisting the hearing impaired personSelect the correct answer using the code given below.(a) 1 only(b) 2 and 3 only(c) 3 only(d) 1, 2 and 3My topic List :Cyber Physical System34.Recently, scientists observed the merger of giant 'blackholes' billions of light-years away from the Earth. What is the significance of this observation?(a) 'Higgs boson particles' were detected.(b) 'Gravitational waves' were detected.(e) Possibility of inter-galactic space travel through 'wormhole' was confirmed.(d) It enabled the scientists to understand 'singularity'.My topic List :Gravitational waves35.Consider the following pairs:Movement/OrganizationLeader1. All India Anti-Untouchability LeagueMahatma Gandhi2. All India Kisan SabhaSwami Sahajanand Saraswati3. Self-Respect MovementE. V. Ramaswami NaickerWhich of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?(a) 1 only(b) 1 and 2 only(c) 2 and 3 only(d) 1, 2 and 3My topic List :Self-respect movement37. Consider the following pairs:SeaBordering country1. Adriatic SeaAlbania2. Black SeaCroatia3. Gaspian SeaKazakhstan4. Mediterranean SeaMorocco5. Red SeaSyriaWhich of the pair given above are correctly matched?(a) 1, 2 and 4 only(b) 1, 3 and 4 only(c) 2 and 5 only(d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5My Topic List :black Sea and Mediterranean Sea-38. With reference to the Legislative Assembly of a State in India, consider the following statements :1. The Governor makes a customary address to Members of the House at the commencement of the first session of the year .2. When a State Legislature does not have a rule on a particular matter, it follows the Lok Sabha rule on that matter.Which of the statements given above is/ are correct?(a) 1 only(b) 2 only(c) Both 1 and 2(d) Neither 1 nor 239. With reference to Indian National Movement, consider the following pairs:PersonPosition held1. Sir Tej Bahadur SapruPresident, All India Liberal Federation2. K. C. NeogyMember, The Constituent Assembly3. P. C. JoshiGeneral Secretary, Communist Party of IndiaMy Topic List :Constituent assemblySantosh Sir Elimination Techniques:Can you share your intelligent guessing tricks?40 . With reference to Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), consider the following statements1. AIIB has more than 80 member nations.2. India is the largest shareholder in AIIB.3. AIIB does not have any members from outside Asia.Which of the statements given above is / are correct?(a) 1 only(b) 2 and 3 only(c). 1 and 3 only(d) 1, 2 and 3Answer: aHere statement 2 and statement 3 can be eliminated because they are extreme. You can read what I had advised in my intelligent guessing tricks.41. What was the purpose of Inter-Creditor Agreement signed by Indian banks and financial institutions recently?(a) To lessen the Government of India's perennial burden of fiscal deficit nd current account deficit(b) To support the infrastructure projects of Central and State Governments(c) To act as independent regulator in case of applications for loans of Rs. 50 crore or more(d) To aim at faster resolution of stressed assets of Rs. 50 crore or more which are-under consortium lendingAnswer: dHere option c and d can only be the answer as they are common.42. The Chairmen of public sector banks are selected by the(a) Banks Board Bureau(b) Reserve Bank of India(c) Union Ministry of Finance(d) Management of concerned bankAnswer: cTopic List : Banking bsics43. Consider the following statements:1. Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) is the first regulatory body set up by the Government of India.2. One of the tasks of PNGRB is to, ensure competitive markets for gas.3. Appeals against the decisions of PNGRB go before the Appellate Tribunals for Electricity.Which of the statements given above are correct?(a) 1 and 2 only(b) 2 and 3 only(c) 1 and 3 only(d) 1, 2 and 3Answer: bHere also extreme statement like First in option 1 can be eliminated. Thus we get the answer.44. With reference to communication technologies, what is/are the difference / differences between LTE (Long-Term Evolution) and VoLTE (Voice over Long-Term Evolution)?1. LTE 'is commonly marketed as 3G and VoLTE is commonly marketed as advanced 3G.2. LTE is data-only technology and VoLTE is voice-only technology.Select the correct answer using the code given below.(a) 1 only(b) 2 only(c) Both 1 and 2(d) Neither 1 nor 2Answer: dTopic List : 5G 4 G.45. Which one of the following is not a sub-index of the World Bank's 'Ease of Doing Business Index'?(a) Maintenance of law and order(b) Paying taxes(c) Registering property(d) Dealing with construction permitsAnswer: aHere option a is unrelated to the question , thus can be eliminated easily. Other 3 deals with doing business.Some indirect Topics46.The Chairmen of public sector banks are selected by the(a) Banks Board Bureau(b) Reserve Bank of India(c) Union Ministry of Finance(d) Management of concerned bankBanking basics:47.Which of the following is not included in the assets of a commercial bank in India?(a) Advances(b) Deposits(e) Investments(d). Money at call and short noticeMy Topic list :Banking48. With reference to the cultivation of Kharif crops in India in the last five years, consider the following statements:1. Area under rice cultivation is the highest.2. Area under the cultivation of jowar is more than that of oilseeds.3. Area of cotton cultivation is more than that of sugarcane.4. Area under sugarcane cultivation has steadily decreased.Which of the statements given above are correct?(a) 1 and 3 only(b) 2, 3 and 4 only(c) 2 and 4 only(d) 1, 2, 3 and 449. Consider the following statements:A digital signature is1. an electronic record that identifies the signNowing authority issuing it2. used to serve as a proof of identity of an individual to access information or server on Internet.3. an electronic method of signing an electronic document and ensuring that the original content is unchangedWhich of the statements given above is / are correct?(a) 1 only(b) 2 and 3 only(c) 3 only(d) 1, 2 and 3Answer: dMy Topics list - Digital India51. Which of the following statements are correct about the deposits of 'methane hydrate?1. Global warming might trigger the release of methane gas from these deposits.2. Large deposits of 'methane hydrate' are found in Arctic Tundra and under the seafloor.3. Methane in atmosphere oxidizes to carbon dioxide after a decade or two.Select the correct answer using the code given below.(a) 1 and 2 only(b) 2 and 3 only(c) 1 and 3 only(d) 1, 2 and 3My topic List : Climate change and oceans and Deep Ocean Mining.There are many more which I didn’t include because they were indirect.My point here is if you understand the nature and demand of exam , its easy. I have done it not once but six times . You can also do it.But you have to cut the clutter. If you read and follow unnecessary online stuff daily which UPSC will never ask , you are bound to lose as your precious time will get wasted.For free mains guidance :( AsksantoshSir- telegram)How can I join the PGP program for 2020?We are starting mains guidance in a week . I will continue guiding you in this journey . But always remember

Scaringly difficult subject to write about, and surely, just as ambivalent. I possess no expertise on poetry nor on music, only what a curious & interested mind gathers over these past few years. Hastily point out mistakes or any others short-comings & fallacies.I will be quick to mention Milton, perhaps a little of Eliot, and lastly, Ezra Pound. The effect & connection between music and poetry has definitively varied throughout history. Sung epos & folklore songs, Provençal & Troubadour poetry,... roughly speaking, and this is my observation, the first wedge between the two has been made when poetry became much more erudite, soaked in words-meaning, and forgot the musical rhythms little behind, not that I value one over another.-- Anyway, 19. & 20. century welcomed the revival of the two, and again established connections. French symbolism, Modernism & new musical techniques ( revolution of style both in literature & music, the avant-garde was united across all fields ). Of course, one of the issues is how much of modern poetry can be marked as "narrative" in the obvious sense. The elements of music is such a vague term indeed…To start off with a quotation from Poe`s The Poetic Principle:Contenting myself with the certainty that Music, in its various modes of metre, rhythm and rhyme, is of so vast a moment in Poetry as never to be wisely rejected - is so vitally important an adjunct, that he is simply silly who declines its assistance, I will not now pause to maintain its absolute essentiality. It is in Music perhaps that the soul most nearly attains the great end for which, when inspired by the Poetic Sentiment, it struggles - the creation of supernal Beauty. It may be, indeed, that here this sublime end is, now and then, attained in fact. We are often made to feel, with a shivering delight, that from an earthly harp are stricken notes which cannot have been unfamiliar to the angels. And thus there can be little doubt that in the union of Poetry with Music in its popular sense, we shall find the widest field for the Poetic development. The old Bards and Minnesingers had advantages which we do not possess - and Thomas Moore, singing his own songs, was, in the most legitimate manner, perfecting them as poems.&A poem, in my opinion, is opposed to a work of science by having, for its immediate object, pleasure, not truth; to romance, by having, for its object, an indefinite instead of a definite pleasure, being a poem only so far as this object is attained; romance presenting perceptible images with definite, poetry with definite sensations, to which end music is an essential, since the comprehension of sweet sound is our most indefinite conception. Music, when combined with a pleasurable idea, is poetry; music, without the idea, is simply music; the idea, without the music, is prose, from its very definitiveness.And to finish, a section from a letter to James R. Lowell:I am profoundly excited by music and by some poems - those of Tennyson especially - whom with Keats, Shelley, Coleridge (occasionally) and a few others of like thought and expression, I regard as the sole poets. Music is the perfection of the soul or idea of Poetry. The vagueness of exultation aroused by a sweet air which should be strictly indefinite and never too strongly suggestive is precisely what we should aim at in poetry. Affectation which is thus no blemishMustek and Poetry have ever been acknowledg'd Sisters.  As Poetry is the harmony of Words, so Mustek is that of Notes...  Sure they are most excellent when they are join 'd.   Blest pair of Sirens, pledges of Heav'ns joy,  Sphere-born harmonious Sisters, Voice, and Vers,  Wed your divine sounds, and mixt power employ  Dead things with inbreath'd sense able to pierceMilton could have very well be a musician, -his father was-, and his music appeared in print from time to time, one notable contribution was Fair Orian in collection of madrigals in Honour of queen Elizabeth, The Triumphs of Oriana.He was a close friend with a composer Henry Lawes, and the two collaborated on The Masque of Comus, 1634.There is also a distinction to be made between Greek & Roman musica practica, which was performed & sung, and the Pythagorean musica speculativa, theoretical & mathematical understanding, — changed to Christianised harmonia mundi during the Renaissance revival ). Harmonica mundi can definitely be encountered in Milton`s early poetry, At solemn music, Ad Patrem, & passages from 'Arcades', Comus, and 'On the Morning of Christ's Nativity'.From At solemn music:“ … disproportioned sinJarred against nature's chime, and with harsh dinBroke the fair music that all creatures madeTo their great Lord.”See how disproportioned resonates with Pythagorean proportions, and it became disproportioned with the Original Sin and the fall from Eden. The reconciliation between the Classical/Pagan & Christian aesthetics and tradition was one of the foremost issues of early Milton. A passage from On the Morning of Christ's Nativity';The lonely mountains o’er, And the resounding shore, A voice of weeping heard and loud lament; Edgèd with poplar pale, From haunted spring, and dale The parting Genius is with sighing sent; With flower-inwoven tresses torn The Nymphs in twilight shade of tangled thickets mourn.From Paradise Lost:Celestial voices to the midnight air [...]With heavenly touch of instrumental soundsIn full harmonic number joined, their songsDivide the night, and lift our thoughts to heaven.& in Hell:Their song was partial, but the harmony(What could it less when spirits immortal sing?)Suspended hell, and took with ravishment The thronging audience.Partial music of fallen Angels & Broken music of man. And Book V:Mystical dance, which yonder starry sphereOf planets and of fixed in all her wheelsResembles nearest, mazes intricate,Eccentric, intervolved, yet regularThen most, when most irregular they seem;And in their motions harmony divineSo smooths her charming tones, that God's own earListens delighted.A quick stop with T.S. Eliot and modernism before Pound.Modernism was a turbulent period, literature was chasing music, music was chasing language, and both were born out of impulse to restore expressivity & eloquence that the formality has lost. An important shift has happened, there is no absolute, right or left, right is not the opposite of left, ocean does not kill the fire.Poe & French symbolism played a pivotal role, and I am not confident nor do I know enough to speak about French climate and the effects of Poe in the second half of the 19. century here.Just as literature changed, so did music. Even the so called more traditional composers, like Ravel, are less formulaic and more abrupt, not to mention the likes of Stravinsky. What is very intriguing to me is how well does modern art produce tensions despite the loss of totality & coherence, and how idiosyncratic arbitration took over without losing the profound and human effect of tensity. In this sense, music was not longer a music in musical forms, but rather that of consciousness and its fragmentation.The seeming homelessness of arts in the period is a precondition of the changes that occurred, and this is what T. Hardy called the ache of modernism. There are no happy ends, formulaic tragedies ethically victorious, nor obvious redemption ( debatable, Last part of The Waste Land is an example ). The widening canyon of separation & inability of pristine connectivity is a precondition of the age, and in itself, its product - Postmodernism, a headless human still digging in a graveyard of modernity, seeking hopelessly for a regenerative bone & praying not to find it - he would have to leave. This is why modernism has no green heritage, only skeletons. In Joyce`s terms, Scrupulous meanness. Even the Hegelian aesthetics “in the suspension of equilibrium lies the tendency to return to a condition of equilibrium”, even musical form through dissonance to consonance, is depleted. If one here remembers the quotes from Poe and his posture of indefinitiveness, how it went from his to symbolism and from there to modernism, acclaiming the suggestive aspect.One of the drives of modernism was to thrust poetry back from the street, or jungle, to the sublime, the rightful place, to perform the duties it deserves. The restoration called for a path through prickly subjects, even ironic and laughable, like Prufrock`s underwhelming question, but it manages to pass exactly due to that vagueness, and we sense it as our own.Perhaps all this has been rather imprecise, let me speak about Eliot.So, while poetry attempts to convey something beyond what can be conveyed in prose rhythms, it remains, all the same, one person talking to another; and this is just as true if you sing it, for singing is another way of talking. The immediacy of poetry to conversation is not a matter on which we can lay down exact laws. Every revolution in poetry is apt to be, and sometimes to announce itself to be a return to common speech.... The music of poetry, then, must be a music latent in the common speech of its time.The Use of Poetry and The Use of Criticism: “Poetry begins, I dare say, with a savage beating a drum in a jungle, and it retains that essential of percussion and rhythm” - like music.Fairly, music of poetry may differ from music of music, an awkward saying that while musical elements are important for analysis, but the musical elements in poetry categorically & theoretically & applicably differ from those that we apply to music per se.'From Poe to Valery´, essay:Poetry, of different kinds, may be said to range from that in which the attention of the reader is directed primarily to the sound, to that in which it is directed primarily to the sense. With the former kind, the sense may be apprehended almost unconsciously; with the latter kind - at these two extremes - it is the sound, of the operation of which upon us we are unconscious. But, with either type, sound and sense must cooperate; in even the most purely incantatory poem, the dictionary meaning of the words cannot be disregarded with impunity.Precisely, from The music of Poetry;[m]y purpose here is to insist that a 'musical poem' is a poem which has a musical pattern of sound and a musical pattern of the secondary meanings of the words that compose it, and that these two patterns are indissoluble and one.Simply a level beside the denotation of words. In`The Music of Poetry´ another inspect of this climate is presented:The music of a word is, so to speak, at a point of intersection: it arises from its relation first to the words immediately preceding and following it, and indefinitely to the rest of its context; and from another relation, that of its immediate meaning in that context to all the other meanings which it has had in other contexts, to its greater or less wealth of association.Which can be directly linked to his writings On Dante:In English poetry words have a kind of opacity which is part of their beauty. I do not mean that the beauty of English poetry is what is called mere 'verbal beauty'. It is rather that words have associations, and the groups of words in association have associations, which is a kind of local self-consciousness, because they are the growth of a particular civilization.As many words, music ferries such a rich history of meanings, definitions, and relations that is difficult to analyse the impact. Music in one of the Archetypes, and they are hard to contain. Music is a structure separate of understanding, insofar as it escapes the restraints of conventional meanings. The Music of Poetry is, if one takes a leap of imagination, an objective correlative, if I dare expand the term. If I use a line from D. Davie; "It is language which happens through the speaker and not the speaker who expresses himself through language.”-— Can this also be said about music, when it comes to early Eliot?In an 'Aspects of Rhythm and Rhyme in Eliot's Early Poems', J. Chalker, in sum, `The Use “the steadiness and predictability of musical rhythm” is to produce psychological reassurance in the midst of emotional disturbance.´—Such irony, after reading Prufrock, if I thinks solemnly of rhythm, I would say it conveys anything but the reassurance and predictability, yes, the irony that is serves as a distraction from emotional disturbances, and in this fact lays reassurance.Quite enough of Eliot…Ezra Pound!''The idea that music and poetry can be separated,'' he wrote, ''is an idea current in ages of degradation and decadence when both arts are in the hands of lazy imbeciles.''Opera Le Testament De Villon:He started at least two unfinished operas, Cavalcanti and COLLIS O HELICONII.( Two short recordings of the latter can be found here )Rhythm & Music, “the hardest quality of a man's style to counterfeit”.In his three essays about Music in Transatlantic Review, he strongly focuses & advocates time and time-intervals, arguing:“A sound of any pitch, or any combination of such sounds, may be followed by a sound, or any combination of sounds, providing the time interval between them is properly gauged; and this is true for any series of sounds, chords, or arpeggios”Emphasization of space and rhythm was, by space - `space in between concise images - in juxtaposition´ - one of prime concerns of Imagisme. Reader`s interaction is needed to form a connection between them. ( A short answer about In A Station of the Metro ) Another short poem, Alba:As cool as the pale wet leaves  of lily-of-the-valleyShe lay beside me in the dawn.Pound˙s poetry, rhythm & music was always more about reaction than explanation, which, I think, anyone who has read him can agree, and that might very well be the only thing on which we can agree. Therefore Poetry & Music are two in one to achieving this reaction.I will briefly present his own attempt to compose a work based on his own poem, Sestina Altaforte (1909 )Loquitur: En Bertrans de Born.Dante Alighieri put this man in hell for that he was a stirrer-up of strife.Eccovi!Judge ye!Have I dug him up again?The scene in at his castle, Altaforte. "Papiols" is his jongleur."The Leopard," the device of Richard (Cúur de Lion).IDamn it all! all this our South stinks peace.You whoreson dog, Papiols, come! Let's to music!I have no life save when the swords clash.But ah! when I see the standards gold, vair, purple, opposingAnd the broad fields beneath them turn crimson,Then howl I my heart nigh mad with rejoicing.IIIn hot summer have I great rejoicingWhen the tempests kill the earth's foul peace,And the lightnings from black heav'n flash crimson,And the fierce thunders roar me their musicAnd the winds shriek through the clouds mad, opposing,And through all the riven skies God's swords clash.IIIHell grant soon we hear again the swords clash!And the shrill neighs of destriers in battle rejoicing,Spiked breast to spiked breast opposing!Better one hour's stour than a year's peaceWith fat boards, bawds, wine and frail music!Bah! there's no wine like the blood's crimson!IVAnd I love to see the sun rise blood-crimson.And I watch his spears through the dark clashAnd it fills all my heart with rejoicingAnd pries wide my mouth with fast musicWhen I see him so scorn and defy peace,His lone might 'gainst all darkness opposing.VThe man who fears war and squats opposingMy words for stour, hath no blood of crimsonBut is fit only to rot in womanish peaceFar from where worth's won and the swords clashFor the death of such sluts I go rejoicing;Yea, I fill all the air with my music.VIPapiols, Papiols, to the music!There's no sound like to swords swords opposing,No cry like the battle's rejoicingWhen our elbows and swords drip the crimsonAnd our charges 'gainst "The Leopard's" rush clash.May God damn for ever all who cry "Peace!"VIIAnd let the music of the swords make them crimson!Hell grant soon we hear again the swords clash!Hell blot black for always the thought "Peace!"As a remainder, poem’s speaker is the Gascon nobleman and war-loving troubadour Bertran de Born, who lived in the second half of the twelfth century. There is no way Pound would have wrote the poem in 1914, even 1913, with its pro-war orientation, but in the end, it is a traditional subject of epic.If one isolates the ending words of each stanza:peace – music – clash – opposing – crimson – rejoicing [Stanza I]rejoicing – peace – crimson – music – opposing – clash [Stanza II]clash – rejoicing – opposing – peace – music – crimson [Stanza III]crimson – clash – rejoicing – music – peace – opposing [Stanza IV]opposing – crimson – peace – clash – rejoicing – music [Stanza V]music – opposing – rejoicing – crimson – clash – Peace [Stanza VI]crimson – clash – Peace [Envoi]Not to get into a detailed analysis of this one poem and its technical mastery of Anglo-Saxon metre & alliteration, more famous in his translation The Seafarer.“The phrases are short (two to six small, quick bars), often similar but generally asymmetric, and impetuous with anapest driven leaps, creating an almost flickering quality. The sestina form, however, is used for purely structural function. There is no attempt at word painting or at a sonic/cognitive equivalent. The music matches the original poem, one note or chord per syllable, through the third line of the second sestet. From this point musical irregularities gradually encroach upon the monosyllabic relationship with the text. His formal method was to assign one or two extremely brief music segments (each segment consisting of a different chord, or two or three chords with or without a unison note) as a “sonic signifier” to identify each line of Altaforte’s six end words. When the end word appeared in its new position in the following sestet its sonic signifier would appear as a recognizable determinant. . . .“Remembering category #4 concerning “Criticism via music” in Pound’s essay “Date Line,” we can reflect upon the interpretive insights given us when Pound interrelates music and verse.2 As can be seen above, the temptation to read “Damn it all!” as a colloquial emphatic anapest is dissuaded by Pound’s more pungent cretic ( – ˘– ), giving equal emphasis to “Damn-all.” At the end of the line a spondee (two quarter notes) gives accentuation to “stinks peace,” correcting a tendency to slight “stinks” as a moderately unstressed syllable if giving “South stinks peace” the quite natural reading of a cretic. Similarly, in line six of the same stanza, “heart nigh mad” might be rendered a cretic, yet Pound’s musical setting as three stressed syllables heightens the emotional pitch of the poem by raising the tension on “nigh.” . . .“Under the influence of Antheil’s constantly changing time signatures and note durations[applied to the opera Le Testament] the solo violin sestina utilizes a constant shifting of the number of microbeats per bar from 1/4 to 21/32, with a frequency of triple and quintuple meters presaging the metric simplification of his music over the next two years. Yet Pound’s notation is not secure enough to avoid frequent miscalculations of the note lengths versus the time signatures.“A chordal piece with almost no single notes, frequently using triple- and quadruple-stops with one to three open strings, it repeatedly necessitates the use of “broken chords” or arpeggiation. The result is often a scratchy, disjointed, leaping quality as the player prepares the fingers to approach each new multiple stop. Yet the “breaking” of the chord also favors a clarification of the harmony by lessening the biting dissonance to produce a more consonant sound, often focusing on open fifths or, in arpeggiation, the sweetened effect of an incomplete major seventh chord. Although aesthetically clarified by a few interpretive markings (bowings, accents, staccati, glissandi, sordino, string specification), technically the piece is filled with impracticalities: jagged, wide leaps; constant multiple stops; and some extremely difficult quadruple- stops, which at best render the work barely playable, if not unplayable. (These challenging famous last words often eventually offer an extremely good performance!)” . . . ( Sestina Altaforte” Ezra Pound sets his poem to music )Aforementioned unfinished COLLIS O HELICONII;HYMN TO APHRODITEAphrodite subtle of soul and deathless,  Daughter of God, weaver of wiles, I pray thee Neither with care, dread Mistress, nor with anguish Slay thou my spirit.   But in pity hasten, come now if ever!  From afar, of old, when my voice implored thee,  Thou hast deigned to listen leaving the golden House of thy father  With thy chariot yoked, and with doves that drew thee Fair and fleet around the dark earth from heaven,  Dipping vibrant wings down the azure distance Through the mid ether:   Very swift they came; and thou gracious Vision Leaned with face that smiled in immortal beauty,  Leaned to me and asked, “What misfortune threatened?”  Why I had called thee?   “What my frenzied heart craved in utter yearning,  Whom its wild desire would persuade to passion?  What disdainful charms madly worshipped, slight thee?  Who wrongs thee, Sappho?   “She that fain would fly, she shall quickly follow She that now rejects, yet with gifts shall woo thee,  She that heeds thee not, soon shall love to madness,  Love thee, the loth one.”( John Myers O’Hara translation 1910, which Pound recommended )Scenario/librettoPound described his third opera as half-finished (GK 368). A libretto, two arias, and three instrumental works are the sum of materials we have to inform the staging of the opera Collis O Heliconii. Pound’s libretto refers only to the Catullus poem (see my comments and transcription of Pound’s libretto, COLLIS xvi–xix; 102–111). The joining of the opera’s central aria in Latin—Catullus’ carmen 61—and a secondary aria in Greek—Sappho’s “Poikilothron”—continued the pairing of languages heard in the second opera Cavalcanti (Italian and Provençal). The composer’s principal motivation for relating the Latin and Greek poems in an opera was to anchor modern English lyrics in the Greek rhythms while demonstrating how a grasp of Latin will refine a poet’s style.The four key actions of Sappho’s Poem 1 are Sappho’s invocation to the goddess Aphrodite; the goddess’s descent from heaven; Aphrodite’s direct address to Sappho regarding her dominance over human will; and Sappho’s invitation to Aphrodite to take action side by side to reverse an unrequited love.The relationship of the Sappho invocation to the Catullan poem, which is widely accepted as an epithalamium, is not an obvious one. But even if we overlook recent scholarship that depicts carmen 61 as a lampoon of an epithalamium, we can find structural resemblances between the two poems. Sappho’s poem provides an authorial match to Catullus’ carmen 61: each poet inserts her- or himself into the poem; each writes in a way that distances the poet as author from the passions written about; and each poem includes a theme of same-sex preference. It was Henry Wharton who first introduced the English reader to Sappho’s love for a female and possibly Theodor Bergk who earlier had done the same for the German reader (Williamson 51–52).2For contrast and drama in his opera, Pound would develop the literary relationship between Sappho and Catullus. He had named them in his 1929 essay “How to Read” as among the essential canon of authors "who actually invented something" (LE 27). In 1934, Pound praised Catullus for his treatment of sapphics: “. . . the only man who has ever mastered the lady’s metre” (ABCR 47). He published the essay “Date Line” the same year, claiming that the musical setting of a poet’s words was a fourth form of criticism (LE 74). Had Pound’s attempts at setting the two poets’ words to music led him to these declarations?Pound’s preference was for us to hear the two poets’ words in the original language, their rhythms and styles brought directly to our ear through the music—the successful formula he had used to dramatize the Cavalcanti–Sordello literary relationship in his second opera. Pound’s pairing of Sappho’s 1 with Catullus 61 removes Sappho from the sphere of influence of Ovid, where most readers became acquainted with her through reading the Heroides. The opera was to place her Latin legacy clearly on the side of Catullus. For more on this, see COLLIS, chapter V, “Sappho.”SapphicsEzra Pound's holograph score of his setting of Sappho Poem 1 from his 3rd opera,Collis O Heliconii.Shown: Introduction to End of Stanza 1 with sapphic stanza and transcription of Pound's lyrics added in red.Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library (YCAL 53, Box 46/1015)Reprinted by permission, Second Evening Art. All rights reserved.Pound’s musical events in the Poikilothron convey a feeling for the meter through quantity and syllabic durations. Only the first stanza (see music score above) corresponds wholly to the sapphic stanza as defined by the Alexandrian grammarian Hephaestion (2nd century A.D.). Here is the sapphic meter as it has come down to us from Hephaestion’s manual of Greek meters, the Enchiridion:– ˘ – x – ˘˘ – ˘ – x– ˘ – x – ˘˘ – ˘ – x– ˘ – x – ˘˘ – ˘ – x– ˘˘ – –[The x represents an “anceps” in which the syllable can be short or long.]O’Hara, too, conformed only his first stanza to the Hephaestion sapphic. He maintained the feeling of sapphics through quantity (eleven syllables in the first three lines, five in the fourth), through a liberal use of the choriambic foot – ˘˘ – (though not always in the Hephaestion choriambic position), and through sounds in English that evoke the Greek sounds. Pound follows suit in the music (see the entry on Stanza 4 below).Musical InfluencesWhen Pound approached the setting of a Greek poem accompanied by lyre, he did not attempt to imitate ancient Greek music. Though he had acquired vol. 1 of the Lavignac Encyclopedia of Music which features Maurice Emmanuel’s entry on Greek music, he relied on this text more for its relevance to poetic meter than for compositional ideas.He lent Mary Barnard his own volume, recommending it as the preferred source for understanding how to write sapphics in American English using Emmanuel’s system of musical forms and strategies (Barnard, 56, 58).For his melodies, Pound looked beyond Greece, east to Indonesia. Pound turned his attention to the Javanese scale as had Claude Debussy, but distanced himself from the composer, lamenting that Debussy had turned to composing ‘mush.’3 Debussy had been influenced by performances of the Javanese gamelan at the Paris Exposition of 1889. Access to information about and recordings of world music were random and haphazard, the nascent field of ethnomusicology being represented by only a few key individuals until well into the 1950s.The specific source for Pound’s approach to the Sappho aria, however, is traceable to the Austrian Erich von Hornbostel, one of the earliest musicologists to make field recordings of the music of Indonesia. Hornbostel reported his findings in “Phonographierte Melodien aus Madagaskar und Indonesien” in 1909. Pound most probably learned of him from his friend, the American concert pianist Katherine Heyman, who mentioned Hornbostel in her 1921 bookThe Relation of Ultramodern to Archaic Music (58).4 On July 7, 1924, Pound programmed an arrangement of a Hornbostel Javanese transcription for solo violin, played by Olga Rudge in Paris.5Pound’s Musical Strategy: Modality and TonalityTo the ear accustomed to a diatonic scale, the intervals of Pound’s unusual scale join with the rhythms “to cut a shape in time” (Barnard, 55). Pound’s single accidental of C# in his scale for the Poikilothron aria resembles the transcriptions of Sumatran music compiled by von Hornbostel at the turn of the century.Pound employs six tones —A, C#, D, E, F, (G)—and avoids B altogether. The use of five tones only in stanzas one through four creates a sense of modal music, i.e., a type of scale that is sui generis, where each tone has equal weight, rather than tonal, which is a hierarchical system of music with a central pitch to which the other pitches relate. In modal music the notes do not function as harmony. Only in the fifth stanza does Pound introduce the G to create the sense of a musical key with the stable relationships of the fourth between D and G, and the already present fifth between D and A. The six-tone scale, with certain features acting like a diatonic scale which has seven tones, implies the key of D minor. B is simply avoided and the C# serves as a raised “seventh” step which wants to resolve to D.When the tritone sounds between G and C#, the composer moves from modal to tonal music. In Stanza six, he resumes modality.The contours of Pound’s melodies arise from the qualities of spoken word in the poem—supplication, solicitation, question, demand, and judgment—, the intervallic movement expanding and subsiding with the emotion. The composer brings forward the contours of Sappho’s words through timbre, dissonance, tritone, and accent. Guided by the belief that he can recover the form apart from the formulaic metrics passed down by tradition, he does not attempt to recover ancient Greek melody, but presents new composition as his fifth form of criticism (LE 74–75).Stanza 4: Inner form in Sappho’s Poikilothron:In stanza four, Sappho’s rhetorical devices lead to a highly structured colloquy between the poetess and goddess, even as the language remains colloquial. The composer strives to make this duality salient—structural formality/linguistic familiarity—not only to transmit Sappho to a modern audience but to promote his own interest in Sappho as a mortal poet conversant with the gods.At stanza four we find rhyming patterns in the syllables: otti deute / kotti deute. Here, Pound foregrounds Sappho’s word play by striking the repeating hard surfaces of her Greek consonants—t, d, p, k—against his neo-Sumatran scale, the strangeness of the scale serving to inflect each sound. Sappho’s voice rings out, resonant and striking in her Poundian afterlife, with none of the Ovidian invention and melodrama qualifying her poetic achievement.Stanza 4, lines 3–4, bars 45–49“You asked, what pray tell have I suffered and why pray tell do I call?”Following three breathy vowels on the same pitch, “e-re ot-”, the consonant load of the syllables, “ti”–“dau”–“te”–“pe”–“pon”–“tha,” meets each of the descending pitches with percussive impact. The final syllable pepontha (“have I suffered”) hits the bottom of the singer’s tessitura on A,an octave and a minor sixth below “e-re ot-.” The word kotti (“and what”) rebounds one octave higher on the A, then C# and A again,before a second leap downward to the low A. There follows a third and lesser rebound and descent. The word melodykalemmi (“do I call”), broken by a sixteenth rest, gives the illusion that all is settling down. Pound delivers the last syllable “-mi” on the less-than-resolute e to end the stanza (supported by an A in the violin).Stanza 5: the tritone in Pound’s aria Poikilothron:The Music Column of Make It New 2.1 discussed Pound’s use of the interval of the tritone to insert a critical marker indicating genius within the music. In the Sappho aria, we might expect that when Sappho refers to herself in the poem’s fifth stanza (“kotti moi”), Pound will employ the tritone, and he does not disappoint. He makes the tonality of the tritone salient by preceding it with modality in the preceding four stanzas and in the subsequent sixth stanza.What Pound said:“The more Greek a man knows the better his English cadence is likely to be, and the greater richness, variety, height, precision, colour of his criteria; the greater the variety of his ideas and memories of what verbal melody can be and should be; and the finer his perception of all verbal sounds whatsoever.”(Ezra Pound. “Dust upon Hellas.” Time and Tide XV.45 [November 10, 1934]: 1429–1430).“Greek seems to me a storehouse of wonderful rhythms, possibly impracticable rhythms. If you don’t read it and if you can’t read Latin translations from it, it can’t be helped. Most English translations are hopeless. The best are in prose.”(Ezra Pound. Letter to Iris Barry. July 1916. L 87).( SAPPHO IN POUND’S THIRD OPERA, COLLIS O HELICONII )I would still say that Pound`s musical interest & experimentation ( Classical Greek and Latin, 11th- and 12th-century troubadours like Arnaut Daniel and Gaucelm Faidi, French trouvères like Guillaume le Vinier, and their 14th- and 15th-century heirs like Dante, Cavalcanti and Villon ) were an extended branch, or outgrowth, of his colossal studies in versification. The sound, not semantics!Arthur Daniel, if Pound were asked to give a name of his idea forerunner of whom he said: “when the Provençal [language] was growing weary, and it was to be seen if it could last, and [he] tried to make almost a new language, or at least to enlarge the Langue d’Oc, and make new things possible” —Make it new! The famous motto.OBLIGATORY listening, a different reading of Sestina Altaforte. If you do not hear the music, Sir, God help thee…So, how does understanding of music impact poetry? — Some say intrinsic, and some have not given it a thought or two. Same goes with criticism & analysis.

Qualification and Term of Office:Conditions of President’s Office: According to Article 59:(i) The President shall not be a member of either House of Parliament, of a House of the Legislature of any State, and if a member of either House of Parliament or of a House of Legislature of any State and elected as President, he shall be deemed to have vacated his seat in that House on the date of which he enters upon his office as President, (ii) the President shall not hold any other office of profit.Term of Office:The President is elected for a term of five years from the date on which he enters his office and is eligible for re-election (Articles 56-57). But his term office years maybe cut short if he (i) resigns (by writing addressed to the Vice-President), or (ii) is removed on charges of violation of the Constitution by the process of impeachment as laid down in the Constitution.Election of President:Election Qualifications:In order to be qualified for election as President, a person must (i) be a citizen of India; (ii) have completed the age of thirty-five years; (iii) be qualified for election as member of the Lok Sabha and (iv) must not hold any office of profit under the government of India or the Government of any State or under any local or other authority subject to the control of any of the said Government (Article 58).But a sitting President or Vice-President of the Union or the Governor of any State of a Minister either for the Union or for any State is not disqualified for election as President (Article 58).Besides, the above mentioned qualifications the ordinance, promulgated on June 5, 1997 stipu­lates that there must be 50 proposals and 50 secondary for the presidential candidate. It has also increased security deposit from 2,500 to 15,000.Procedure of Election:The procedure of Presidential election is contained in Articles 54 and 55. While Article 54 provides for the creation of an electoral College consisting of all the elected MLAs and MPs, Article 55 provides for the formula of uniformity in the scale of representation of different States, as far as practicably, by incorporating the method of proportional representation with single transferable vote system. Total number of votes of an electedMLA= Population of the State/ Total number of elected MPsTotal number of votes of an MP= Total number of votes as assigned to all elected MLAs/Total number of elected MLAsThis method of election was intended to make the Presidential election broad based to achieve po­litical balance between the centre and the states. Con­sequently the President represents not only the Union but also the states. This is in keeping with the federal character of the Indian Polity.Quota System:No person can be declared elected as the President unless, he secures more than half of the total votes casted. Since the election of the President is by proportional representation by means by single transferable vote, the next step is to ascertain the quota.To determine the quota, the total number of votes polled is divided by the total number of members to be returned plus one and by adding one to the quotient. The formula is:Number of votes polled + 1/ Number of members to be elected + 1Oath or Affirmation by the President:Article 60 says that every person acting as President or discharging the function of the President shall, before entering upon his office, make and subscribe in the presence of the chief Justice of India or, in his absence, the senior most Judge of the Chief.Justice of India or, in affirmation in the following form, that is to say to preserve protect and defined the constitution and the law to devote himself to the services as well being of the people of India and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and the law and that I will devote myself to the service and well-being of the people of India.”Emoluments and Allowances:Article 59(3) says that the President shall be entitled without payment of rent to the use of his official residence and shall be also entitled to such emoluments, allowances and privileges as may be determined by Parliament by law. His emoluments at present is fixed 1.5 lakh per month.On the expiration of his term or resignation, the President is entitled to an annual pension of Rs 3, 00,000. The emoluments and allowances of the President shall not be diminished during his term of office. He is permitted to spend to total amount of Rs. 15, 26,000 a year on travel, entertainment, discretionary grants, staff, household expenses and his own allowances.How the President is elected?The election of the President is a complex exercise and is done by an Electoral College as per the provisions laid down in the Constitution.The members of an Electoral College consisting of:(i) Elected members of both Houses of Parliament.(ii) Elected members of Legislative Assemblies of States (including National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Union Territory of Pondicherry).Nominated members of either houses of Parliament or State Assemblies are not eligible to be included in the Electoral College.Total Electors:The total members in the Electoral College in 2007 are 4,896. The break-up is as follows:Rajya Sabha: 233Lok Sabha: 543State Assemblies: 4,120Total: 4,896The constitution stipulates uniformity, as far as practicable, in the scale of representation of the different states. For securing such uniformity among States as well as parity between the States as a whole and the Union, a formula is given for determination of the value of vote which each elected MP or MLA is entitled to cast.Formula:Value of Votes:Each MLA’s vote is calculated on the basis:Slate Population/1,000 x No. of State MLAs = Value of one MLAs voteIllustration:Total population of Andhra Pradesh (1971 Census) = 43,502,708Total no. of elective seats in the Assembly = 294Value of each MLA’s vote = 43,502,708/ 1, 000 x 294 =147.97 or 148Total value of votes for Andhra Pradesh = 148 x 294=43,512Population figures of the 1971 census are used to calculate the votes of the States.Each MP’s vote is calculated on the basis:Total vote value of all MLA’s/Total members of Parliament (Rajya Sabha + Lok Sabha) = Value of one. MPs voteValue of each MP’s vote = 5, 49,474/233+543 =708.09 or 708Total value of votes:M.P.’s = 5, 49,408MLA’s = 5, 49,474Total = 10, 98,882The Election is held under a system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote, conducted by a secret ballot.Vacancy in the Office of President:A vacancy in the office of the President may be caused in any of the following ways: (i) on the expiry of his term of five years; (ii) by his death: (iii) by his resignation; (iv) on his removal by impeachment; (v) otherwise, e.g. on the setting aside of his election as President.Impeachment:It is laid down in the Constitution that the charge of violation of the Constitution may be preferred by either of the two Houses of the Union Parliament before the other House, [Article 61 (1)] which would then take up the responsibility of getting the charge investigated.However, in order that a charge is preferred by a House it is necessary that:(i) a resolution containing the proposal preferring the charge of violation is moved after a 14-day notice in writing signed by not less than one-fourth of the total membership of the House levying the charge, [Article 61(2)(a)] and (ii) the resolution is passed by a ma­jority of not less than two-third of the total membership of the same House Article 61(2)(b).The other house then in­vestigates into the matter and, if a resolution is passed in that House by no less than two-thirds of its total member­ship substantiating the charge, the President is removed from his office.Why the President is elected indirectly?The President is indirectly elected because:(i) First, in view of the adoption of a cabinet system of government under which the President was to function as a constitutional head of the State, direct election by the en­tire electorate as in the case of the President of the U.S.A. was considered neither necessary nor advisable. Yet, it was thought desirable to have the President elected by as popu­lar body as possible. Both these purposes have been realised under the present system.(ii) Second, the significance of an electoral college composed of not only the members of both Houses of Par­liament but also those of the State Assemblies needs em­phasis. In an election where the Head of the Nation is cho­sen, if the members of Parliament alone participate, it is possible that a party that has clear majority in Parliament can easily see its candidates elected.But when the mem­bers of the State Assemblies also participate in the elec­tion, the picture is likely to undergo a substantial change. For, it is quite possible that the party which has won major­ity in Parliament may be a minority in many State Assem­blies or even in most of them. Under such conditions, a party supported by a majority of members in Parliament will not by itself be able to elect its candidate to office.The effect of such an electoral college is to make the President a representative of States and the Union equally. This is, indeed, in complete harmony with the general scheme of the Indian Constitution which is neither purely federal nor purely unitary in character.Criticism of the Election Method:Critics have pointed out three defects in the Presidential Electoral College, namely, exclusion of State’s second chambers, a possibility of the dissolution of hostile legislature on the eve of election, and the possibility of a Presidential election by a lame-duck College.The issue of excluding the States’ second chambers was raised in the Constituent Assem­bly also, but the present formula seems to be justified on two counts: one, the constitution of the State Legislative Council’s are not uniform in this respect and, two, the future of second chambers in States is uncertain.The President is empowered by Article 356 to dissolve a unit in the Electoral College to his advantage, but it is expected that he should be able to defend his action in terms of the political situation obtaining in the State concerned. Otherwise, his action will discredit him and may even cost him his office. Although, on paper, the Presidential election is a complicated process, in practice it is a comparatively simple process.Powers of the President:Under Article 53 of the Constitution the executive Powers of the Union is vested in the President who is empowered to exercise it either directly or through officers subordinate to him. The list or powers which the Constitution confers upon the President may be broadly classified under the following categories.(i) Executive or Administrative Powers:The executive power of the Union of India is vested in President. He is the head of the Indian Republic. All executive functions are executed in the name of the President, authenticated in such manner as may be prescribed by rules to be made by the President (Article 77).The administrative power also includes the power to appoint and remove the high dignitaries of the State. Under the Constitution, the President shall have the power to appoint—(i) The Prime Minister of India, (ii) Other Ministers of the Union, (iii) The Attorney-General for India, (iv) The Comp­troller and Auditor-General of India, (v) The Judges of the Supreme Court, (vi) The Judges of the High Courts of the-States, (vii) The Governor of a State, (viii) A Commission to investigate interfer­ence with water supplies, (ix) The Finance Commission, (x) The Union Public Service Commission and Joint Commissions for a group of States, (xi) The Chief Election Commissioner and other mem­bers of the Election Commission, (xii) A Special Officer for the Scheduled Castes and Tribes, (xiii) A Commission to report on the administration of Scheduled Areas, (xiv) A Commission to investigate into the condition of backward classes, (xv) A Commission on Official Language, (xvi) Special Of­ficer for linguistic minorities.The President shall also have the power to remove (i) his Ministers, individually; (ii) the Attorney- General for India; (iii) the Governor of a State; (iv) the Chairman or a member of the Public Service Commission of the Union or of a State, on the report of the Supreme Court; (v) a Judge of the Supreme Court or of a High Court or the Election Commissioner, on an address of Parliament.No Spoil System:It is to be noted that besides the power of appointing the above specified functionaries, the Indian Constitution does not vest in the President any absolute power as is to be found in the American Constitution. Thus, the Indian Constitution seeks to avoid the undesirable “Spoil System” of America.(ii) Legislative Powers:The President is an integral part of the Parliament. Under our Constitu­tion the President is the executive head and also a part of the legislature.The President has the power to summon and prorogue the Parliament (i.e., Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha). He has the power to dissolve the Lok Sabha only, as the Rajya Sabha, being a permanent House, cannot be dissolved. The Lok Sabha was dissolved in 1970 and on many other occasions before it had completed its five-year term.The President has the power to summon a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament in case of differences between the two. The President summoned a joint sitting of both Houses in 1951 and 1958 to pass an Anti-Dowry Bill and the Banking Services Bill respectively.The President has the right to address the opening session of a newly elected Parliament and the first session of each year and inform the Member of Parliament the causes as to why they have been summoned. Besides this right, the President has the right to address either House or their joint sittings at any time and can require the attendance of members.The President has the power to nominate certain members to Parliament. In the Rajya Sabha 12 members are to be nominated from persons having special knowledge or practical experience of literature, science, art and social service.The President also has the power to nominate not more than two members from the Anglo-Indian community to the Lok Sabha if in his opinion that commu­nity has not been adequately represented in the House.The President has the power to cause certain reports and statements to be laid before the Parliament. The statements or reports caused to be laid before Parliament are (a) the Annual Financial Statement and Supplementary Statement if any, (b) the Report of the Auditor General, (c) the recommendations of the Finance Commission, (d) the Report of Union Public Service Commis­sion, (e) the Report of the Special Officer of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes, (f) the Report of the Commission on Backward Classes, and (g) the Report of the Special Officer of Linguistic Minorities.Previous sanction of the President is necessary for introducing certain Bills, for instance; (i) a Money Bill, (ii) a Bill which would involve expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India, (iii) a Bill for the formation of new States or the alteration of boundaries of existing States, (iv) any Bill relating to a particular language, (v) any Bill affecting taxation of the States.No Bill passed by Parliament can become an Act without the President’s assent. When a Bill is passed by the Parliament there are three choices before the President to decide what he should do. He can give his assent in which case it becomes an Act, or he may declare that he withholds his assent to the Bill, or he may return the Bill provided it is not a Money Bill, for the reconsideration of Parliament.In the case of a Bill returned to the House for reconsideration, if the Bill is passed by both the House with or without amendments and sent to the President for his approval, the President is bound to give his assent.A Money Bill cannot be either withheld or returned for reconsideration of the Houses by the President. The President’s power to withhold his assent is known as the power of veto. Under our Constitution the President can withhold his assent to a Bill indefinitely because there is no time limit for assenting to a Bill.If, however, instead of refusing his assent outright, the President returns the Bill or any portion of it for reconsideration, a re-passage of the Bill by an ordinary majority would compel the President to give his assent. The effect of a return by the Indian President is thus merely ‘suspensive’.Another point to be noted is that the Constitution does not prescribe any time-limit within which the President is to declare his assent or refusal, or to return the Bill. By reason of this absence of a time-limit, it seems that the Indian President would be able to exercise something like a ‘pocket veto’ by simply keeping the Bill on his desk for an indefinite time, particularly, if he finds that the Ministry is shaky and is likely to collapse shortly.The President has the power to return, disallow or withhold a Bill passed by the State Legislature but reserved by the Governor of the State for the consideration of the President. In case the Bill so reserved is returned for reconsideration and is passed again within six months, it is not necessary for the President to automatically give his assent.He can again withhold his assent. It is; therefore, open to a President to withhold a State Legislature Bill indefinitely without giving assent. With regard to Money Bill reserved by the Governor for the Presidential consideration it lies either to be withheld or assented to.The Parliament is not always in session. It may become necessary to have a law on some urgent matter of public importance. To meet such a situation, the President has the power to issue ordinances under the Art. 123. This is the most important legislative power of the President.If the President is satisfied with the circumstances that exist to issue ordinances, he can issue ordi­nances. The 38th Amendment of 1975 has made the satisfaction of the President as final which cannot be questioned in a court of law.The ordinances can be promulgated by the President when the Houses of Parliament are not in session. The effect of an ordinance is as good as an Act of Parliament and has the same force as the law of the land. However, every ordinance must be laid before both Houses of Parliament within six weeks from the re-assembling of Parliament.If there is a failure to bring the ordinance before Parliament for its approval or if it is disapproved, then the ordinance will be invalid. The ordinance could also be withdrawn by the President. An ordinance, however, can be in force as long as the Parliament does not meet.He can appoint temporary presiding officers in case of vacancy in the posts of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.(iii) Financial Powers:Some of the important financial powers are: (i) Introduction of money Bill in Lok Sabha with his prior recommendation, (ii) Keeping control over Contingency Fund of India, (iii) Causing presentation of budget in the Parliament, (iv) Making appointment of Finance Commission, (v) Allowing determination of the shares of States in proceeds of income tax and of the amounts of grants-in-aid in lieu of jute export duty.(iv) Judicial Powers:The President appoints the Chief Justice and Judges of the Supreme Court and State High Courts. He can grant pardon, reprieve, respite or remission of punishment or commute the sentence of any person punished under the Union Law. The President enjoys legal immunity and is not accountable to any Court of Law to anything done in the exercise of the official duties.(v) The Military Power:The Supreme command of the Defence Forces is vested in the President of India, but the Constitution expressly lays down that the exercise of this power shall be regulated by law. This means that though the President may have the power to take action as to declaration of war or peace or the employment of defence forces, it is competent for Parliament to regulate or control the exercise of such powers.(vi) The Diplomatic Power:Like the head of other States, the President of India represents India in international affair and has the power to appoint Indian representa­tives to other countries and receives diplomatic representatives of other States.(vii) Emergency Powers:The President has been given wide powers to meet emergencies. These extraordinary powers of the President are of three kinds, (i) The President is given the power to make a proclamation of Emergency on the ground of threat to the security of India or any part thereof, by war, external aggression or armed rebellion, (ii) The President is empowered to make a proclamation that the Government of a State cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. (Arts. 356, 365). (iii) The President is empowered to declare that a situation has arisen whereby “the financial stability or credit of India or of any part thereof is threatened” (Article 360).(viii) Miscellaneous Powers:(i) Reference of any matter of public importance involving a question of law to the advisory opinion of the Supreme Court, (ii) Making of rules for the composition of working of the Union Public Service Commission, (iii) Making appointment of Official Language Commission and recommending steps for the progressive use of Hindi for official purposes, (iv) Making special regulations for the administration of the State of Jammu and Kashmir.Veto Powers:(a) Veto over Union Legislation:A Bill will not be an Act of the Indian Parliament unless and until it receives the assent of the President.When a Bill is presented to the President, after its passage in both Houses of Parliament, the President shall be entitled to take any of the following three steps:(i) He may declare his assent to the Bill; or(ii) He may declare that he withholds his assent to the Bill; or(iii) He may, in the case of Bills other than Money Bills, return the Bill for reconsideration of the Houses, with or without a message suggesting amendments. A Money Bill cannot be returned for reconsideration.In case of (iii), if the Bill is passed again by both House of Parliament with or without amendment and again presented to the President, it would be obligatory upon him to declare to his assent to it [Article 111].From the standpoint of effect on the legislation, executive vetos have been classified as absolute, qualified, suspensive and pocket-vetos.(b) Absolute Veto:The English Crown possesses the prerogative of absolute veto, and if it refuses assent to any Bill, it cannot become law, notwithstanding any vote of Parliament. But this veto power of the Crown has become obsolete since 1700, owing to the development of the Cabinet system, under which all public legislation is initiated and conducted in the Legislature by the Cabinet. Judged by practice and usage, thus, there is at present no executive power of veto in England.(c) Qualified Veto:A veto is ‘qualified’ when it can be overridden by an extraordinary majority of the Legislature and the Bill can be enacted as Law with such majority vote, overriding the executive veto. The veto of the American President is of this class. When a Bill is presented to the President, he may, if he does not assent to it, return the Bill within 10 days, with a Statement of his objections, to that branch of Congress in which it originated.Each House of Congress then reconsiders the Bill and if it is adopted again in each House, by a two-thirds vote of the members present,—the Bill becomes a law, notwithstanding the absence of the President’s signature. The qualified veto is then overridden. But if it fails to obtain that two-thirds majority, the veto stands and the Bill fails to become law.(d) Suspensive Veto:A veto is suspensive when the executive veto can be overridden by the Legislature by an ordinary majority. To this type belongs the veto power of the French President. If, upon a reconsideration, Parliament passes the Bill again by a simple majority, the President has no option but to promulgate it.(e) Pocket Veto:There is a fourth type of veto called the ‘pocket veto’ which is possessed by the American President. When a Bill is presented to him, he may neither sign the Bill nor return the Bill for reconsideration within 10 days. He may simply let the Bill lie on his desk until the ten-day limit has expired.But, if in the meantime, Congress has adjourned (i.e., before expiry of the period of ten-days from presentation of the Bill to the President), the Bill fails to become a law. This method is known as the ‘pocket veto’, for, by simply withholding a Bill presented to the President during the last few days of the session of Congress the President can prevent the Bill to become law.Disallowance of State Legislation:Besides the power to veto Union legislation, the President of India shall also have the power of disallowance or return for reconsideration of a Bill of the State Legislature, which may have been reserved for his consideration by the Governor of the State [Article 201].Reservation of a State Bill for the assent of the President is a discretionary power of the Governor of a State. In the case of any it presented to the Governor for his assent after it has been passed by both Houses of the Legislature of the State, the Governor may, instead of giving his assent or withholding his assent, reserve the Bill for the consideration of the President. In one case reservation is compulsory, viz., where the law in question would derogate from the powers of the High Court under the Constitution [Article 200, 2nd Proviso].In case of Money Bill so reserved, the president may either declare his assent or withhold his assent. But in case of a Bill, other than a Money Bill, the President may, instead of declaring his assent or refusing it, direct the Governor to return the Bill to the Legislature for reconsideration.In this latter case, the Legislature must reconsider the Bill within six months and if it is passed again, the Bill shall be presented to the President again. But it shall not be obligatory upon the President to give his assent in this case too [Article 201].It is clear that a Bill which is reserved for the consideration of the President shall have no legal effect until the President declares his assent to it. But no time limit is imposed by the Constitution upon the President either to declare his assent or that he withholds his assent. As a result, it would be open to the President to keep a Bill of the State Legislature pending at his hands for an indefinite period of time, without expressing his mind.Ordinance-making Power:The ambit of this Ordinance making power of the President is co­extensive with the legislative powers of Parliament; i.e. it may relate to any subject in respect of which Parliament has the right to legislate and is subject to the same Constitutional limitations as legislation by Parliament.This power is to be exercised by the President on the advice of his Council of Ministers. The Ordinance must be laid before Parliament when it reassembles, and shall automatically cease to have effect at the expiration of 6 weeks from the date of re-assembly unless disapproved earlier by Parliament.The Ordinance-making power will be available to the President only when either of the two Houses of Parliament has been prorogued or is otherwise not in session, so that it is not possible to have a law enacted by Parliament.Thus, an ordinance promulgated under Article 123 is a law having the same force and effect as an Act of Parliament. It cannot be treated as an executive action or an administrative decision.The ordinance-making power is exercised by the President on his own ‘satisfaction’. The court cannot inquire into the reasons for the subjective satisfaction of the President or into the suffi­ciency of those reasons. The validity of an ordinance cannot be tested on grounds similar to those on which an executive or judicial action is tested.A Comparative Study:Any legislative power of the executive is unimaginable especially where legislature in independent from the Executive. In the U.S. Constitution, owing to the doctrine of Separation of Powers, the President is denied the power of promulgating ordinances.The British king has long lost the power of issuing decrees—ever since the Case of Proclama­tion, 1610.In case of France, instead of the President, the Council of Ministers can enact ordinances. These ordinances come into force upon their publication in the official gazette.The Misuse:The ‘immediate action’ has no necessary connection with an ’emergency’ as is referred to in Article 352. The promulgation of an Ordinance is not dependent upon the existence of an armed rebellion or external aggression.The only test is whether the circumstances which call for the legislation are so serious and imminent that the delay involved in the ordinary course of legisla­tion cannot be tolerated. Therefore, Article 123 (1) clearly laid down that the President is the sole judge of the “circumstances which render it necessary for him to promulgate Ordinances.”But, since the ordinance-making power is to be exercised by the President on the ‘aid and advice’ of the Council of Ministers (Article 74), the power is often misused. It is misused in the sense that, instead of meeting the emergency situations, the ordinances are being issued—(i) By the governments of the day which do not carry majority;(ii) By the governments which are not sure of the Bill getting Parliament’s support, if brought in; and(iii) To escape certain embarrassments in the Parliament.In 1986, the Congress Government under Rajiv Gandhi promulgated the Inquiry Commissions (Amendment) Ordinance to avoid tabling the Thakkar Commission Report before the Parliament. The avoidance was mainly due to the fear of embarrassment that might have ensued due to debate on the report.In 1997, the United Front Government, under I.K. Gujral, even after losing its majority in the Parliament, promulgated an ordinance on Prasar Bharti.Though the Ordinance-making powers of the President and the Governors are corollary, the misuse is worst in the case of states. The State Assemblies are deliberately prorogued in order to keep a controversial ordinance alive.Checks and Balances:The ordinance-making power has virtually allowed the Executive to encroach upon the legislative sphere. The effectiveness of the Government will be optimum if, as Jafferson remarked, “the Powers of Government be so divided and balanced among several bodies of magistracy, that none-could transcend their legal Iii its, without being effectively checked and restrained by the others.” Thus, the two organs—the Judiciary and the legislature—must be fine tuned to check the misuse of the ordinance-making power by the Executive.

First and foremost, it is not ethical to have buyers pay more than the house is worth, just to make a commission check. And I would like to believe that most real estate agents are in fact advocates for their clients.Additionally, the difference in the commission for a house purchase that is relentlessly negotiated or not is marginal- in most situations $250-$300 for every $10,000 in purchase price, from which there are agency deductions and taxes ( let’s say $150 to the agent). Not much!Lastly, the agents’ objective is to have repeat clients and clients’ referrals. If buyers are not convinced that their purchase was a good deal or if they wonder whose interest the agent was serving, they will not use the agent again or refer the agent to their sphere of influence. This potential outcome is very costly to an agent, much more than couple hundred bucks that the agent would had made more by having their client pay too much for purchasing a home.A lose lose situation.P.S. Yes, there are agents out there who will change course of action based on commission. Still, most are smarter than that to not negotiate for an extra, non-consequential $.

Probably not. Asteroid mining companies will control water, energy, fuel, and raw material delivery in space. Asteroid mining is all about sourcing materials from space FOR space.As the population of our planet continues to expand, and we consume Earth’s resources along with this expansion, we will eventually begin to colonize space and other planets (or stagnate and eventually die off as a species). Technology is now advancing at an exponential pace that actually enables this expansion (AI, sensors, robotics, autonomous operations, 3D printing, etc.) The ability to harvest the resources of asteroids is a prerequisite of our expansion into space. It is one of the underlying capabilities that is required to support a permanent presence in space. Launching everything you need from Earth is simply not sustainable. So…these companies will indeed be huge by today’s standards, and they will control many things related to the economy, but they will probably not control the “global” economy - which is difficult to even define when we become a spacefaring civilization.

I CAN’T believe I am STILL answering this question!!!There are proofs for the reality of AGW from EVERY field of science. But of all the different proofs I have read, none can be considered ‘incontrovertible,’ and so some ten years ago, I began my OWN research to see if such COULD assembled, and in fact was completely SUCCESSFUL in that endeavor.The question of ‘how do we KNOW that the current global warming is human-induced’ requires an examination of ALL of the different means by which global climate changes have been caused in the past. These include the well-known Milankovic cycles and other orbital changes, as well as variations in solar outputs. The subject of whether or not CO2 and Methane constitute ‘greenhouse gases’ and the level of their potential effects was well-proven and established in the late 19thcentury by Arrhenius and numerous other since that time. The physical properties of ‘water vapor’ as a greenhouse gas have LIKEWISE been well-established, and more, the inter-relationship BETWEEN CO2 and water vapor as well (CO2 increases the greenhouse effect of water vapor by as much as 80%). These ‘issues,’ are simply not subject to ‘debate’ of any kind, after more than a hundred years of comparative testing using the scientific method of reproducibility.Examinations of the Geologic and Cryological record LIKEWISE reveals certain absolute truths. The first of these is that in ALL of the previous glacial and interglacial events of the past million years (the Pleistocene), it is revealed by ice core data that in ALL of these events, temperature changes PRECEDED changes in the level of atmospheric CO2. This ‘time lag’ could be as much as 200-700 years, but in EVERY case was repeated and repeatable. This represents the ‘normal’ course of events in ‘natural’ climate changes brought about by the Milankovic cycles.However, in the long history of the Earth, this is not the ONLY possible ‘course of events,’ and our OWN current condition is precisely the OPPOSITE of these past scenarios, in that in our case, a massive increase in CO2 is PRECEDING a signNow rise in global temperature, to date, by as much as a hundred years, and in fact is only ‘measurable’ in any statistically meaningful way since 1980, or the past 35 years.So what ‘other’ set of circumstances in the history of the Earth have been ‘analogous’ to the CURRENT sequence of events? Geology and Paleontology tells us that only ONE other set of ‘natural occurrences’’ can reproduce what we are seeing NOW, and that involves what is known as a ‘massive flood basalt event.’ Such events are indeed cataclysmic, and essentially involve the opening of a great CRACK in the Earth’s crust, thousands of kilometers long, through which pours gases, ash and lava that covers thousands of square kilometers thousands of feet deep over the course of up to a million years. There have been THREE such signNow events notable in the past, to include the ‘Siberian Traps’ (worse yet, the lava had to come up through huge coal fields to signNow the surface, burning, and exploding ‘fly ash’ and immeasurable gigatons of CO2, CO3, Sulfur dioxides and hydroxides across the face of the Earth) that wiped out 90% of ALL life on Earth. The second notable event is referred to as the ‘Deccan Traps’ in India, which burned and spread for some 300,00 thousand years to a depth of 8,000’ and paradoxically, may have been ‘snuffed out’ by the great Chicxulub meteor that finished off the dinosaurs. The LAST was the North Atlantic Igneous Province, some 55 Million years ago that created the famous ‘PETM’ (Paleo-Eocene Thermal Maximum). But since that time, there have been NO such ‘massive flood basalt events,’ and certainly, there is NO such occurring TODAY.Since this IS the case, and since CO2 levels are now FAR higher than they have been for some 3 million years, and only NOW are global temperatures rising to MEET that necessary state of equilibrium, there can only be ONE ‘source’ for this current sequence, and that ‘source’ is US, and our incessant BURNING of fossil fuels, RELEASING the pent-up CO2 and Methane into the atmosphere in every effect and measurable circumstance in EXACTLY the same manner as a ‘natural’ massive flood basalt event,. We can therefore expect nothing but the SAME consequences as has been seen in the past.ReferencesOrbital cyclesArcher D., Winguth A., Lea D., & Mahowald, N. (2000). What caused the glacial/interglacial atmospheric pCO2 cycles? Reviews of Geophysics, 38, 2 May 2000 pp. 158-189‘Time lags’Ferguson, F. (2013). Ice Core Data Help Solve a Global Warming Mystery. Scientific American, March 1, 2013.Water vapor & CO2Lacis, A., Schmidt G. (2010). Carbon Dioxide Control’s Earth’s Temperatures. NASA, October, 2010.Current & Past Interglacial EventsMarewski, P. et al (2004). Holocene climate variability. Quaternary Research, Vol. 62, Issue 3, pp.. 243-255.Davis, M. B., Shaw, R. G. (2001). Range Shifts and Adaptive Responses to Quaternary Climate Change. Scince. 27 April, 2001. Vol 292 no. 5517. pp. 673-679Industrial-age atmospheric changeLorius, C., Jouzel, J., Hansen, J., Le Treut, H. (1990). The ice-core record: climate sensitivity and future greenhouse warming. Nature. Vol. 347, 13 September 1990.CO2/Temperature Sequence & Flood BasaltsStorey, M., Duncan, R. A., Swisher III, C. C.(2007). Paleo-Eocene Thermal Maximum and the Opening of the Northeast Atlantic. Science, 27 April, 2007 Vol. 316 no. 5824 pp. 587-589.Kiehl, J. T., Shields, C. A. (2005). Climate simulation of the latest Permian: Implications for mass extinction. Geological Society of America.Science Repeated and Repeatable (Reproducibility)Wall, A. (2012). Pillar of Science I: Repeatable Observations. Undivided Looking, Comments on Physics and Theology, October 27, 2012.Finally, if you want the FULL history of ‘how Greenhouse gases prove the effect on climate change,’ then you must resort to the American Institute of Physics:The Carbon Dioxide Greenhouse Effect