General Terminology: Ad Hoe Committee, Adult Franchise and Aggression

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General Terminology

  • Ad Hoe Committee: is a committee constituted for a special purpose.
  • Adult Franchise: The right of voting in election granted to every adult male or female having completed 18 years, without distinction of caste, creed or colour. Also called Adult Suffrage.
  • Aggression: The act of attacking. It occurs when forces of one country enter the territory of another country. This can happen after declaration of war by or both of them, and even without any such declaration.
  • Agricultural Revolution: The transition from feudal to modern farming practices is referred to as agricultural revolution. It does not mean some sudden or rapid changes. It may be revolutionary in character. Like the well-known industrial revolution, some countries have experienced “agricultural revolution” . Recently, the “Green Revolution” witnessed in India.
  • Air Pollution: means fouling up of the atmosphere as a result of discharge into it of noxious and even poisonous fumes, produced by automotive transportation, industries, nuclear explosions, etc. The problem has recently assumed alarming proportions and nuclear explosions, etc. , The problem has recently assumed alarming proportions and is presently engaging the attention of scientists all over the world.
  • Ambassador: a diplomatic envoy of the highest order sent by one State to another.
  • High Commissioner: is the designation given to the highest diplomatic representative of one Commonwealth country to another.
  • Apartheid: The language is spoken in South Africa. Its literal meaning is “apart-hood” . The word is used to describe the policy of keeping the white and the black people separate from each other. It also means favouring one race at the cost of another. South Africa and Rhodesia follow this policy.
  • Asylum: means a place of refuge or protection.
  • Automation: Automation means use of such machines in industry as can run automatically, replacing the work of human beings. With automation, machines are used to control other machines and the process is virtually endless.
  • Autonomy: power or right of self-governing.
  • Balance of Power: Some believe that rival States should build up equal military strength. According to them, it is necessary for keeping the peace. It is called the theory of “balance of power” .
  • Balance of Trade: The difference between the visible exports and visible imports of two countries in trade with each other is called balance of trade. If the difference is positive, the balance of trade (or of payment) is called favourable balance of trade and if negative, it is called unfavourable balance of trade (or payment) .
  • Bank Nationalisation: Some major Indian Banks have been nationalised with the object (i) to remove control by the few over the commanding heights of economy, (ii) to provide for adequate credit for agriculture and small industry, (iii) to widen ownership base in order to end concentration of economic and industrial power in selected few hands.
  • Bank Rate: It is the rate of interest charged by the Reserve Bank of India for lending money to commercial banks.
  • Black Market: Selling goods at a higher price with a profiteering motive by creating artificial scarcity by means of hoarding, etc.
  • Black Money: means unaccounted money, concealed income and undisclosed wealth. In order to evade taxes, some people falsify their accounts and do not record all transactions in their account books.
  • Blood Bank: It is a storing place of reserve blood kept for emergency transfusion. Persons donating blood are generally between 21 and 50 years of age, with negative history of syphilis, chronic alcoholism and recent illness.
  • Blue Chip: This is the common stock of a large, reputed corporation which has a stable and least risky growth path. The stocks of such a corporation, typical blue-chip, stocks, are high-priced.
  • Blue revolution: Refers to fish-farming.
  • Brain Drain: When the best talents of one country are attracted to another because of salary, living and working conditions etc. , in the latter are more attractive, and a one-way traffic in talent starts, it is called brain drain.
  • Budget: It is the statement of the receipts and expenditures of a country during a year. It is presented to the Assembly for voting. It is a sort of balance sheet of a country requiring the sanction of the legislature.
  • Bulls and Bears: are terms used on the Stock Exchange. Bull refers to one who seeks to raise the price of stock and speculate on a rise, whereas Bears means one who sells stock for delivery at a future date anticipating fall in prices.
  • Cabinet: a committee of ministers holding the most important portfolios. They are responsible for the legislature and they also work under a system of joint responsibility.
  • CD-ROM - It is a computer peripheral device that employs compact disk technology to store large amounts of digitized data for later retrieval.
  • Census: an official enumeration of inhabitants with statistics relating to them. The last census operations in India were held in 1991.
  • Cellular Phone: This phone allows you to make a telephone while on the move. It can be installed in vehicles or can be carried along.
  • Coalition: combination of political parties. When a single political party has not won an overall majority of seats in a legislature, two or more political parties combine together form a government. Such a govt. is called a coalition government.
  • Communism: is a political system. It believes in a classless society in which there will be no private property. Pure communism has not been achieved anywhere in the world so far.
  • Computer: (1) An electronic device that can store recall, or process information. A computer performs these tasks according to instructions which can easily be changed so it is able to do many different kinds of work. Computers keep files, solve mathematical problems, play games, and control the operations of other machines. (2) Person skilled or trained in computing. This was invented by Charles Babbage.
  • Consumer Durable: Consumer Durable means any commodity for personal use that has a long life, such as furniture and electrical goods, as opposed to food and drink, which are perishable and have to be replenished frequently.