INDIAN ECONOMY PRACTICE MCQs

1. Which country is the largest oil producing country of the world ?

(A) Saudi Arabia

(B) Russia

(C) America

(D) None of these

2. At the end of December 2008, the teledensity in India has become—

(A) 25·89%

(B) 26·89%

(C) 32·32%

(D) 33·23%

3. Which of the following took the decision of establishing ‘South Asian Development Fund’ ?

(A) ADB

(B) World Bank

(C) SAARC

(D) IMF

4. World Environment Day is celebrated on—

(A) June 5

(B) June 9

(C) June 11

(D) June 13

5. Which of the following committee has recommended full rupee convertibility in capital account by 2010-11 ?

(A) Mistry Committee

(B) Tarapore Committee

(C) Narsimham Committee

(D) Rastogi Committee

6. TRIPS—‘Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights’ and TRIMS–‘Trade Related Investment Measures’ are associated with—

(A) Preston Proposal

(B) Dunkel Proposal

(C) Chelliah Committee

(D) None of these

7. Which is true for Finance Commission?

(A) It is a statutory body

(B) It is constituted under article 280 of the Constitution

(C) Dr. C. Rangrajan is Chairman of 12th Finance Commission

(D) All of these

8. What is the projected agriculture annual growth rate for the 11th plan period (2007–2012) ?

(A) 3·8%

(B) 4·0%

(C) 5·0%

(D) 4·5%

9. What is the CRR maximum limit for a commercial bank to be deposited with RBI?

(A) 40%

(B) 50%

(C) 30%

(D) 45%

10. What is the CRR minimum limit for a commercial bank to be deposited with RBI?

(A) 3%

(B) 10%

(C) 5%

(D) 6%

11. What was the field of Sunderajan Committee ?

(A) Petroleum

(B) Small Industry

(C) Education

(D) Power

12. SENSEX is related with the value of a few selected companies. The number of companies is—

(A) 300

(B) 150

(C) 100

(D) 30

13. The official exchange rate of Indian rupee is associated with—

(A) Pound Sterling

(B) Dollar

(C) SDR

(D) A basket of selected companies

14. As a result of Green Revolution, which foodgrains had a reduced percentage in total foodgrains production ?

(A) Wheat

(B) Rice

(C) Cereals and Pulses

(D) None of these

15. Janakiraman Committee was constituted with the aim—

(A) To suggest measures to raise Post Office deposits

(B) To suggest reforms in banking structure

(C) To investigate the malpractices of industrial finance

(D) To investigate the security transactions of the bank

16. Which sector constitutes the maximum share in National Income of India ?

(A) Primary

(B) Secondary

(C) Tertiary

(D) All the above have equal share

17. Corporate Tax is imposed by—

(A) State Government

(B) Local Government

(C) Central Government

(D) Both Centre and State Government

18. Which high power committee was constituted to probe into the financial position of oil firms in 2008 ?

(A) Chaturvedi Committee

(B) Rangrajan Committee

(C) Rakesh Mohan Committee

(D) Tendulkar Committee

19. Which city is known as ‘Electronic City’ ?

(A) Gurgaon

(B) Bangalore

(C) Jaipur

(D) Salem (Tamil Nadu)

20. The operational date of TRIPS agreement of WTO is—

(A) January 1, 2004

(B) January 1, 2005

(C) January 1, 2006

(D) January 1, 2007

21. The basic theme of the 28th International Trade Fair was—

(A) Women Empowerment

(B) Information Technology Growth

(C) Environment Protection

(D) Handicrafts

22. Which of the following city will be the first city in India to have a second

underground railway corridor ?

(A) New Delhi

(B) Kolkata

(C) Mumbai

(D) Chennai

23. Recently SEBI has exempted the people of a State for mentioning PAN

(Permanent Account Number) while trading mutual funds. This State is—

(A) Sikkim

(B) Arunachal Pradesh

(C) Nagaland

(D) Jammu & Kashmir

24. Which bank in India became the first bank to open its branch in China ?

(A) IDBI Bank

(B) HDFC Bank

(C) State Bank of India

(D) Punjab National Bank

25. Which of the following is not helpful in controlling money supply ?

(A) Free Market Policy

(B) CRR

(C) Bank Rate

(D) Change in margin requirement

26. During first half of 2008-09 Indian imports has shown a growth of—

(A) 38.6%

(B) 32.2%

(C) 30.3%

(D) 282%

27. The revenue of custom duty goes to—

(A) Only to State

(B) Only to Centre

(C) To both (A) and (B)

(D) RBI

28. UNPF in its report ‘State of World Population 2008’ has projected the Indian population to be 165·8 crore by the year—

(A) 2025

(B) 2030

(C) 2040

(D) 2050

29. Rolling Plan was made for the

period—

(A) 1971 to 1978

(B) 1980 to 1985

(C) 1978 to 1983

(D) 1992 to 1997

30. The maximum number of Foreign

Institutional Investors registered with

SEBI comes from—

(A) USA

(B) England

(C) Germany

(D) Japan

31. What is debt ?

(A) Stock-flow Hypothesis

(B) Flow Hypothesis

(C) Stock Hypothesis

(D) None of these

32. Which Union Territory is the most

dense populated region of the country ?

(A) Lakshadweep

(B) Delhi

(C) Andman-Nicobar Islands

(D) Puducherry

33. At which rank has Tata Steel been

placed in Fortune 500 list of American

business magazine to look its

performance till March 2008 instead of

December 2007 ?

(A) 201st

(B) 211th

(C) 221st

(D) 231st

34. CONCORD of 8 states of Northern

region is a scheme of—

(A) FICCI

(B) ASSOCHAM

(C) CII

(D) A joint scheme of all the above

35. Which ceiling of the income was

recommended tax free from personal

income tax by Kelkar Committee ?

(A) Rs. 50000

(B) Rs. 75000

(C) Rs. 1 lakh

(D) Rs. 1.5 lakh

36. The re-elected President of Bombay

Stock Exchange (Re-elected in November

2008) is—

(A) Jagdish Capoor

(B) Deepak Parekh

(C) V.P. Shetty

(D) Rajiv Chandra Shekhar

37. The mascot of the merged Indian

airline ‘Air India’ is—

(A) Konark Chakra

(B) The Centaur

(C) The Maharaja

(D) Flying Swan with Konark Chakra

38. Which Indian Commercial Bank became

the first in providing mobile ATM

service ?

(A) ICICI Bank

(B) IDBI Bank

(C) HDFC Bank

(D) SBI

39. South Asian Conference on Sanitation

(SACOSAN-III) took place in New Delhi on

November 18-21, 2008. Which of the

following body organised it ?

(A) Planning Commission

(B) Ministry of Health

(C) Ministry of Human Resource

Development

(D) Ministry of Rural Development

40. The first BRIC Summit 2009 is

scheduled to be held in—

(A) India

(B) Russia

(C) Brazil

(D) China

41. Fiscal Deficit means—

(A) Public Expenditure—Debts froms

sources other than RBI

(B) Public Capital Expenditure—Surplus

of Revenue Account

(C) Govt. Expenditure—Revenue receipts

(D) Public Expenditure—Tax and non-tax

revenue receipts

42. Dunkel Draft was—

(A) Associated with Uruguay round

(B) Related to atomic treaty among

nations

(C) Related to Super 301

(D) Related to promoting drugs trade

43. Which is the main Kharif crop ?

(1) Rice

(2) Cotton

(3) Bajra

(4) Gram

(A) 1 and 2

(B) 2 and 3

(C) 1, 2 and 3

(D) 1, 2, 3 and 4

44. Telecommunication Department

organised ‘India’ Telecom 2008’ in

collaboration with—

(A) FICCI

(B) ASSOCHAM

(C) SIDBI

(D) Indian Banking Association

45. ‘Big Digital TV DTH’ is a subsidiary

unit of—

(A) Bharti Airtel

(B) Dish T.V.

(C) Tata Sky

(D) Reliance Communications

46. National Rural Employment Guarantee

Act, 2005 ensures for how many days of

employment in a year in rural areas ?

(A) 365 days

(B) At least 200 days

(C) 150 days

(D) 100 days

47. The major currency of domination in

‘India’s External Debt’ composition is

US dollar having

share of—

(A) 28·8%

(B) 42·3%

(C) 52·8%

(D) 61·5%

48. India is not a member of—

(A) G-15

(B) UNO

(C) ASEAN

(D) Commonwealth

49. Which of the following is not a

member of SAARC ?

(A) Nepal

(B) Pakistan

(C) Bangladesh

(D) Myanmar

50. Shankerlal Guru Committee was associated with—

(A) Agricultural Marketing

(B) Agriculture Production

(C) Public Distribution System

(D) None of these

Answers :

1. (C) 2. (D) 3. (C) 4. (A) 5. (A) 6. (B) 7. (D) 8. (B) 9. (B) 10. (A)

11. (A) 12. (D) 13. (D) 14. (C) 15. (D) 16. (C) 17. (C) 18. (A) 19. (B) 20. (B)

21. (A) 22. (B) 23. (A) 24. (C) 25. (A) 26. (A) 27. (B) 28. (D) 29. (C) 30. (A)

31. (C) 32. (B) 33. (D) 34. (C) 35. (C) 36. (A) 37. (D) 38. (A) 39. (D) 40. (B)

41. (D) 42. (A) 43. (C) 44. (A) 45. (D) 46. (D) 47. (C) 48. (C) 49. (D) 50. (A)

Sustainable Development

"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It contains within it two key concepts: • The concept of needs, in particular the essential needs of the world's poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and • The idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment's ability to meet present and future needs." Sustainable development ties together concern for the carrying capacity of natural systems with the social challenges faced by humanity.  It offers a vision of progress that integrates immediate and longer-term objectives, local and global action, and regards social, economic and environmental issues as inseparable and interdependent components of human progress. The field of sustainable development can be conceptually broken into three constituent parts: environmental protection, economic sustainability, and social justice. Adopting a sustainable development perspective, amounts to looking at current problems through a new lens that broadens vision from a singular focus on only the economic or environmental or social aspects of an issue; to an integrated consideration of all three. The sustainable development lens also focuses attention on the horizons of the future as a way of seeing more desirable approaches to the problems of the present. The result is much better decision making that will lead to substantial savings in money and resources because increasing the boundaries of decision-making reveals opportunities for synergy that went unrecognized. The obstacles to achieving sustainable development in Less Economically Developed Countries: • The priorities of LEDC governments and individuals are often short term e.g. meeting the basic needs of population today. For example, providing shelter, food, fresh running water, education and healthcare. Many LEDCs are experiencing internal conflict/natural disasters and money is spent on the military/disaster relief rather than on these basic needs and longer term sustainable initiatives; • Corruption makes it difficult to priorities long term issues. Many leaders are in office for short periods of time and are changing often; • Lack of funds for sustainable initiatives; • Lack of qualified people to develop and implement alternative technologies due to a poor educational system and the “brain drain”; • Lack of education about finite resources. People do not know or understand the implications of over use of resources; • Many regions in LEDCs are inaccessible due to poor or limited infrastructure. It is, therefore, very difficult to implement a range of sustainable initiatives beyond the urban core; • Some LEDCs have economic sanctions imposed from MEDCs for political reasons that may hinder the exchange of technologies. Methods for achieving sustainable development: a) Poverty Eradication: Poverty and a degraded environment are closely inter-related, especially where people depend for their livelihoods primarily on the natural resource base of their immediate environment. Restoring natural systems and improving natural resource management practices at the grassroots level are central to a strategy to eliminate poverty. The survival needs of the poor force them to continue to degrade an already degraded environment.  Removal of poverty is therefore a prerequisite for the protection of the environment. Ensuring the security of their livelihoods is an imperative for sustainable development. b) Changing Unsustainable Patterns of Consumption and Production: With increasing purchasing power, wasteful consumption linked to market driven consumerism is stressing the resource base of developing countries further. It is important to counter this through education and public awareness. In several areas, desirable limits and standards for consumption need to be established and applied through appropriate mechanisms including education, incentives and legislation. Several traditional practices that are sustainable and environment friendly continue to be a regular part of the lives of people in developing countries. These need to be encouraged rather than replaced by more ‘modern’ but unsustainable practices and technologies. c) Protecting and Managing the Natural Resource: The integration of agriculture with land and water management, and with ecosystem conservation is essential for both environmental sustainability and agricultural production. An environmental perspective must guide the evaluation of all development projects, recognizing the role of natural resources in local livelihoods. The traditional approaches to natural resource management such as sacred groves and ponds, water harvesting and management systems, etc, should be revived by creating institutional mechanisms which recapture the ecological wisdom and the spirit of community management inherent in those systems. d) Sustainable agriculture: This implies the use of environmentally-friendly methods of farming that allow the production of crops or livestock without damage to human or natural systems. The different farming methods include agro-forestry; mixed farming; multiple cropping and crop rotation. Sustainable development thus requires the participation of diverse stakeholders and perspectives, with the ideal of reconciling different and sometimes opposing values and goals toward a new synthesis and subsequent coordination of mutual action to achieve multiple values simultaneously and even synergistically.  Sustainable development will not be brought about by policies only: it must be taken up by society at large as a principle guiding the many choices each citizen makes every day, as well as the big political and economic decisions that have. This requires profound changes in thinking, in economic and social structures and in consumption and production patterns.

FULL LIST OF PADMA AWARDS 2012

PADMA VIBHUSHAN AWARDS 2012

S.NO	NAME	DISCIPLINE	STATE/DOMICILE
1.	Shri K.G.Subramanyan	Art-Painting&Sculpture	WestBengal
2.	Late Shri Mario De Miranda	Art-Cartoonist	Goa*
3.	Late(Dr.)Bhupen Hazarika	Art- Vocal Music	Assam*
4.	Dr.Kantilal Hastimal Sancheti	Medicine-Orthopedics	Maharashtra
5.	Shri T.V.Rajeswar	Civil Service	Delhi
Note:* Indicates awardees in the category of Foreigners / NRIs/ PIOs/ Posthumous           # indicates Duo Case.

 

PADMA BHUSHAN AWARDS 2012

S.NO	NAME	DISCIPLINE	STATE/DOMICILE
1.	Smt.Shabana Azmi	Art-Cinema	Maharashtra
2.	Shri Khaled Choudhury	Art-Theatre	West Bengal
3.	Shri Jatin Das	Art-Painting	Delhi
4.	Pandit Buddhadev Das Gupta	Art Instrumental Music-Sarod	West Bengal
5.	Shri Dharmendra Singh Deol Alias Dharmendra	Art-Cinema	Maharashtra
6.	Dr.Trippunithwra Viswanathan Gopalkrishnan	Art-Classical vocal and Instrumental Music	Tamil Nadu
7.	Ms.Mira Nair	Art-Cinema	Delhi
8.	Shri M.S.Gopalakrishnan	Art Instrumental Music-Violin	Tamil Nadu
9.	Shri Anish Kapoor	Art-Sculpture	UK*
10.	Shri Satya Narayan Goenka	Social Work	Maharashtra
11.	Dr.(Judge)Patibandla Chandrasekhar Rao	Public Affairs	Germany*
12.	Shri George Yong Boon Yeo	Public Affairs	Singapore*
13.	Prof.Shashikumar Chitre	Science and Engineering	Maharashtra
14.	Dr.M.S.Raghunathan	Science and Engineering	Maharashtra
15.	Shri Subbiah Murugappa Vellayan	Trade and Industry	Tamil-Nadu
16.	Shri Balasubramanian Muthuraman	Trade and Industry	Maharashtra
17.	Dr.Suresh H.Advani	Medicine Oncology	Maharashtra
18.	Dr.Noshir H.Wadia	Medicine Neurology	Maharashtra
19.	Dr.Devi Prasad Shetty	Medicine Cardiology	Karnataka
20.	Prof.(Dr.)Shantaram Balwant Mujumdar	Literature and Education	Maharashtra
21.	Prof.Vidya Dehejia	Literature and Education	USA*
22.	Prof.Arvind Panagariya	Literature and Education	USA*
23.	Dr.Jose Pereira	Literature and Education	USA*
24.	Dr.Homi K.Bhabha	Literature and Education	UK*
25.	Shri.N.Vittal	Civil Service	Kerala
26.	Shri Mata Prasad	Civil Service	Uttar Pradesh
27.	Shri Ronen Sen	Civil Service	West Bengal
Note:* Indicates awardees in the category of Foreigners / NRIs/ PIOs/ Posthumous           # indicates Duo Case.

 

PADMA SHRI AWARDS 2012

S.NO	NAME	DISCIPLINE	STATE/DOMICILE
1.	Shri Vanraj Bhatia	Art-Music	Maharashtra
2.	Shri Zia Fariduddin Dagar	Art-Music-vocal	Maharashtra
3.	Smt. Nameirakpam Ibemni Devi	Art-Music-Khongjom Parba	Manipur
4.	Shri Ramachandra Subraya Hegde Chittani	Art-Yakshagana dance drama	Karnataka
5.	Shri Moti Lal Kemmu	Art-Playwright	Jammu and Kashmir
6.	Shri Shahid Parvez Khan	Art-Instrumental Music-Sitar	Maharashtra
7.	Shri Mohan Lal Kumhar	Art-Terracotta	Rajasthan
8.	Shri Sakar Khan Manganiar	Art-Rajasthani Folk Music	Rajasthan
9.	Smt. Joy Michael	Art-Theatre	Delhi
10.	Dr. Minati Mishra	Art-Indian Classical Dance-Odissi	Orissa
11.	Shri Natesan Muthuswamy	Art-Theatre	Tamil Nadu
12.	Smt. R. Nagarathnamma	Art-Theatre	Karnataka
13.	Shri Kalamandalm Sivan Nambootiri	Art-Indian Classical Dance-Kutiyattam	Kerala
14.	Smt. Yamunabai Waikar	Art-Indian Folk Music-Lavani	Maharashtra
15.	Shri Satish Alekar	Art-Playwright	Maharashtra
16.	Pandit Gopal Prasad Dubey	Art-Chhau dance and choreography	Jharkhand
17.	Shri Ramakant Gundecha and Shri Umakant Gundecha#	Art-Indian Classical Music-Vocal	Madhya Pradesh
18.	Shri Anup Jalota	Art-Indian Classical Music-Vocal	Maharashtra
19.	Shri Soman Nair Priyadarsan	Art-Cinema-Direction	Kerala
20.	Shri Sunil Janah	Art-Photography	Assam
21.	Ms. Laila Tyebji	Art-Handicrafts	Delhi
22.	Shri Vijay Sharma	Art-Painting	Himachal Pradesh
23.	Smt. Shamshad Begum	Social Work	Chattisgarh
24.	Smt. Reeta Devi	Social Work	Delhi
25.	Dr. P.K. Gopal	Social Work	Tamil Nadu
26.	Smt. Phoolbasan Bai Yadav	Social Work	Chattisgarh
27.	Dr. G. Muniratnam	Social Work	Andhra Pradesh
28.	Shri Niranjan Pranshankar Pandya	Social Work	Maharashtra
29.	Dr. Uma Tuli	Social Work	Delhi
30.	Shri Sat Paul Varma	Social Work	Jammu and Kashmir
31.	Smt.Binny Yanga	Social Work	Arunachal Pradesh
32.	Shri Yezdi Hirji Malegam	Public Affairs	Maharashtra
33.	Shri Pravin H. Parekh	Public Affairs	Delhi
34.	Dr. V. Adimurthy	Science and Engineering	Kerala
35.	Dr. Krishna Lal Chadha	Science and Engineering-Agriculture	Delhi
36.	Prof. Virander Singh Chauhan	Science and Engineering	Delhi
37.	Prof. Rameshwar Nath Koul Bamezai	Science and Engineering	Jammu and Kashmir
38.	Dr. Vijaypal Singh	Science and Engineering-Agricultural Research	Uttar Praesh
39.	Dr. Lokesh Kumar Singhal	Science and Engineering	Punjab
40.	Dr. Yagnaswami Sundara Rajan	Science and Engineering	Karnataka
41.	Prof. Jagadish Shukla	Science and Engineering	USA*
42.	Ms. Priya Paul	Trade and Industry	Delhi
43.	Shri Shoji Shiba	Trade and Industry	Japan*
44.	Shri Gopinath Pillai	Trade and Industry	Singapore*
45.	Shri Arun Hastimal Firodia	Trade and Industry	Maharashtra
46.	Dr. Swati A. Piramal	Trade and Industry	Maharashtra
47.	Prof. Mahdi Hasan	Medicine-Anatomy	Uttar Pradesh
48.	Dr. Viswanathan Mohan	Medicine-Diabetology	Tamil Nadu
49.	Dr. J. Hareendran Nair	Medicine-Ayurveda	Kerala
50.	Dr. Vallalarpuram Sennimalai Natarajan	Medicine-Geriatrics	Tamil Nadu
51.	Dr. Jitendra Kumar Singh	Medicine-Oncology	Bihar
52.	Dr. Shrinivas S. Vaishya	Medicine-Healthcare	Daman and Diu
53.	Dr. Nitya Anand	Medicine-Drugs Research	Uttar Pradesh.
54.	Late Dr. Jugal Kishore	Medicine-Homoeopathy	Delhi *
55.	Dr. Mukesh Batra	Medicine-Homeopathy	Maharashtra
56.	Dr. Eberhard Fischer	Literature and Education	Switzerland*
57.	Shri Kedar Gurung	Literature and Education	Sikkim
58.	Shri Surjit Singh Patar	Literature and Education-Poetry	Punjab
59.	Shri Vijay Dutt Shridhar	Literature and Education-Journalism	Madhya Pradesh
60.	Shri Irwin Allan Sealy	Literature and Education	Uttarakhand
61.	Ms. Geeta Dharmarajan	Literature and Education	Delhi
62.	Prof. Sachchidanand Sahai	Literature and Education	Haryana
63.	Smt. Pepita Seth	Literature and Education	Kerala
64.	Dr. Ralte L. Thanmawia	Literature and Education	Mizoram
65.	Shri Ajeet Bajaj	Sports-Skiing	Delhi
66.	Smt. Jhulan Goswami	Sports-Women's Cricket	West Bengal
67.	Shri Zafar Iqbal	Sports-Hockey	Uttar Pradesh
68.	Shri Devendra Jhajrija	Sports-Athletics-Paralympics	Rajasthan
69.	Shri Limba Ram	Sports-Archery	Rajasthan
70.	Shri Syed Mohammed Arif	Sports-Badminton	Andhra Pradesh
71.	Prof. Ravi Chaturvedi	Sports-Commentary	Delhi
72.	Shri Prabhakar Vaidya	Sports-Physical Education	Maharashtra
73.	Shri T. Venkatapathi Reddiar	Others-Horticulture	Puducherry
74.	Dr. K. (Kota) Ullas Karanth	Others-Wildlife Conservation and Environment Protection	Karnataka
75.	Shri K Paddayya	Others-Archaeology	Maharashtra
76.	Shri Swapan Guha	Others-Ceramics	Rajasthan
77.	Dr.Kartikeya V.Sarabhai	Others-Environmental Education	Gujarat
Note:* Indicates awardees in the category of Foreigners / NRIs/ PIOs/ Posthumous           # indicates Duo Case.

Asian Disaster Reduction Center

The Asian Disaster Reduction Center was established in Kobe, Hyogo prefecture, in 1998, with mission to enhance disaster resilience of the member countries, to build safe communities, and to create a society where sustainable development is possible. The Center works to build disaster resilient communities and to establish networks among countries through many programs including personnel exchanges in this field.
The Center addresses this issue from a global perspective in cooperation with a variety of UN agencies and international organisations/initiatives, such as the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR), the Office for the Coodination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pasific (ESCAP), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), and the World Health Organization Regional Office for the Western Pacific (WHO/WPRO). 

Asian Disaster Preparedness Center

The Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) is a non-profit organization supporting the advancement of safer communities and sustainable development, through implementing programs and projects that reduce the impact of disasters upon countries and communities in Asia and the Pacific, by:

• Developing and enhancing sustainable institutional disaster risk management capacities, frameworks and mechanisms, and supporting the development and implementation of government policies;

• facilitating the dissemination and exchange of disaster risk management expertise, experience and information; and

• raising awareness and enhancing disaster risk management knowledge and skills.

At the recommendation of UN Disaster Relief Organization (UNDRO) - now known as UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA) - ADPC was established in 1986 as an outreach activity of the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok , Thailand , with the aim of strengthening the national disaster risk management systems in the region. In 1999, ADPC became an independent entity, which is governed and guided by a Board of Trustees (21 members representing 15 countries) and advised by a Regional Consultative Committee (32 members from 26 countries) and Advisory Council (55 members from a wide range of agencies.)

4th International Disaster and Risk Conference IDRC Davos 2012

After three successful IDRC Davos conferences the GRF Davos team is already in the preparation for IDRC Davos 2012, which will take place from 26 to 30 August 2012 in Davos, Switzerland.

Risks in a changing and global world are complex and interconnected, even more so in a globalized world consisting of many societies at very different levels of development. The frequency and severity of natural disasters have increased markedly worldwide. Economic losses associated with natural hazards are increasing exponentially in developing countries, where local risk-transfer markets are generally weak. Promoting integrative risk management is more then ever a pressing issue.

At IDRC Davos 2012 a multi- and interdisciplinary group of stakeholders will discuss new findings and exchange experiences about the broad spectrum of risks societies are facing today in plenary and parallel sessions, workshops and training courses, and poster exhibitions.

Terminology on Disaster Management

 Acceptable risk

The level of potential losses that a society or community considers acceptable given existing social, economic, political, cultural, technical and environmental conditions.

Adaptation

The adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli or their effects, which moderates harm or exploits beneficial opportunities.

Biological hazard

Process or phenomenon of organic origin or conveyed by biological vectors, including exposure to pathogenic micro-organisms, toxins and bioactive substances that may cause loss of life, injury, illness or other health impacts, property damage, loss of livelihoods and services, social and economic disruption, or environmental damage.

Building code

A set of ordinances or regulations and associated standards intended to control aspects of the design, construction, materials, alteration and occupancy of structures that are necessary to ensure human safety and welfare, including resistance to collapse and damage.

Capacity

The combination of all the strengths, attributes and resources available within a community, society or organization that can be used to achieve agreed goals.

Capacity development

The process by which people, organizations and society systematically stimulate and develop their capacities over time to achieve social and economic goals, including through improvement of knowledge, skills, systems, and institutions.

Climate change

(a) The Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) defines climate change as: “a change in the state of the climate that can be identified (e.g., by using statistical tests) by changes in the mean and/or the variability of its properties, and that persists for an extended period, typically decades or longer. Climate change may be due to natural internal processes or external forcings, or to persistent anthropogenic changes in the composition of the atmosphere or in land use”.
(b) The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) defines climate change as “a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods”.

Contingency planning

A management process that analyses specific potential events or emerging situations that might threaten society or the environment and establishes arrangements in advance to enable timely, effective and appropriate responses to such events and situations.

Coping capacity

The ability of people, organizations and systems, using available skills and resources, to face and manage adverse conditions, emergencies or disasters.

Corrective disaster risk management

Management activities that address and seek to correct or reduce disaster risks which are already present.

Critical facilities

The primary physical structures, technical facilities and systems which are socially, economically or operationally essential to the functioning of a society or community, both in routine circumstances and in the extreme circumstances of an emergency.

Disaster

A serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society involving widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses and impacts, which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources.

Disaster risk

The potential disaster losses, in lives, health status, livelihoods, assets and services, which could occur to a particular community or a society over some specified future time period.

Disaster risk management

The systematic process of using administrative directives, organizations, and operational skills and capacities to implement strategies, policies and improved coping capacities in order to lessen the adverse impacts of hazards and the possibility of disaster.

Disaster risk reduction

The concept and practice of reducing disaster risks through systematic efforts to analyse and manage the causal factors of disasters, including through reduced exposure to hazards, lessened vulnerability of people and property, wise management of land and the environment, and improved preparedness for adverse events.

Disaster risk reduction plan

A document prepared by an authority, sector, organization or enterprise that sets out goals and specific objectives for reducing disaster risks together with related actions to accomplish these objectives.

Early warning system

The set of capacities needed to generate and disseminate timely and meaningful warning information to enable individuals, communities and organizations threatened by a hazard to prepare and to act appropriately and in sufficient time to reduce the possibility of harm or loss.

Ecosystem services

The benefits that people and communities obtain from ecosystems.

El Niño-southern oscillation

A complex interaction of the tropical Pacific Ocean and the global atmosphere that results in irregularly occurring episodes of changed ocean and weather patterns in many parts of the world, often with significant impacts over many months, such as altered marine habitats, rainfall changes, floods, droughts, and changes in storm patterns.

Emergency management

The organization and management of resources and responsibilities for addressing all aspects of emergencies, in particular preparedness, response and initial recovery steps.

Emergency services

The set of specialized agencies that have specific responsibilities and objectives in serving and protecting people and property in emergency situations.

Environmental degradation

The reduction of the capacity of the environment to meet social and ecological objectives and needs.

Environmental impact assessment

Process by which the environmental consequences of a proposed project or programme are evaluated, undertaken as an integral part of planning and decision-making processes with a view to limiting or reducing the adverse impacts of the project or programme.

Exposure

People, property, systems, or other elements present in hazard zones that are thereby subject to potential losses.

Extensive risk

The widespread risk associated with the exposure of dispersed populations to repeated or persistent hazard conditions of low or moderate intensity, often of a highly localized nature, which can lead to debilitating cumulative disaster impacts.

Forecast

Definite statement or statistical estimate of the likely occurrence of a future event or conditions for a specific area.

Geological hazard

Geological process or phenomenon that may cause loss of life, injury or other health impacts, property damage, loss of livelihoods and services, social and economic disruption, or environmental damage.

Greenhouse gases

Gaseous constituents of the atmosphere, both natural and anthropogenic, that absorb and emit radiation of thermal infrared radiation emitted by the Earth’s surface, the atmosphere itself, and by clouds.

Hazard

A dangerous phenomenon, substance, human activity or condition that may cause loss of life, injury or other health impacts, property damage, loss of livelihoods and services, social and economic disruption, or environmental damage.

Hydrometeorological hazard

Process or phenomenon of atmospheric, hydrological or oceanographic nature that may cause loss of life, injury or other health impacts, property damage, loss of livelihoods and services, social and economic disruption, or environmental damage.

Intensive risk

The risk associated with the exposure of large concentrations of people and economic activities to intense hazard events, which can lead to potentially catastrophic disaster impacts involving high mortality and asset loss.

Land-use planning

The process undertaken by public authorities to identify, evaluate and decide on different options for the use of land, including consideration of long term economic, social and environmental objectives and the implications for different communities and interest groups, and the subsequent formulation and promulgation of plans that describe the permitted or acceptable uses.

Mitigation

The lessening or limitation of the adverse impacts of hazards and related disasters.

National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction

A generic term for national mechanisms for coordination and policy guidance on disaster risk reduction that are multi-sectoral and inter-disciplinary in nature, with public, private and civil society participation involving all concerned entities within a country.

Natural hazard

Natural process or phenomenon that may cause loss of life, injury or other health impacts, property damage, loss of livelihoods and services, social and economic disruption, or environmental damage.

Preparedness

The knowledge and capacities developed by governments, professional response and recovery organizations, communities and individuals to effectively anticipate, respond to, and recover from, the impacts of likely, imminent or current hazard events or conditions.

Prevention

The outright avoidance of adverse impacts of hazards and related disasters.

Prospective disaster risk management

Management activities that address and seek to avoid the development of new or increased disaster risks.

Recovery

The restoration, and improvement where appropriate, of facilities, livelihoods and living conditions of disaster-affected communities, including efforts to reduce disaster risk factors.

Residual risk

The risk that remains in unmanaged form, even when effective disaster risk reduction measures are in place, and for which emergency response and recovery capacities must be maintained.

Retrofitting

Reinforcement or upgrading of existing structures to become more resistant and resilient to the damaging effects of hazards.

Risk

The combination of the probability of an event and its negative consequences.

Risk assessment

A methodology to determine the nature and extent of risk by analysing potential hazards and evaluating existing conditions of vulnerability that together could potentially harm exposed people, property, services, livelihoods and the environment on which they depend.

Risk management

The systematic approach and practice of managing uncertainty to minimize potential harm and loss.

Socio-natural hazard

The phenomenon of increased occurrence of certain geophysical and hydrometeorological hazard events, such as landslides, flooding, land subsidence and drought, that arise from the interaction of natural hazards with overexploited or degraded land and environmental resources.

Sustainable development

Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Technological hazards

A hazard originating from technological or industrial conditions, including accidents, dangerous procedures, infrastructure failures or specific human activities, that may cause loss of life, injury, illness or other health impacts, property damage, loss of livelihoods and services, social and economic disruption, or environmental damage.

Vulnerability

The characteristics and circumstances of a community, system or asset that make it susceptible to the damaging effects of a hazard.