Articles

India was born in a very trying and challenging international context. The world had witnessed a devastating war and was grappling with issues of reconstruction; yet another attempt to establish an international body was underway; many new countries were emerging as a result of the collapse of colonialism; and most new nations were trying to come to terms with the twin challenges of welfare and democracy. Free India’s foreign policy reflected all these concerns in the period immediately after Independence.

Three decades after Independence, the people were beginning to get impatient. Their unease expressed itself in various forms. In the previous chapter, we have already gone through the story of electoral upheavals and political crisis. Yet that was not the only form in which popular discontent expressed itself. In the 1970s, diverse social groups like women, students, Dalits and farmers felt that democratic politics did not address their needs and demands.

1980s may be seen as a period of rising regional aspirations for autonomy, often outside the framework of the Indian Union. These movements frequently involved armed assertions by the people, their repression by the government, and a collapse of the political and electoral processes.

First the most crucial development of this period was the defeat of the Congress party in the elections held in 1989. The party that had won as many as 415 seats in the Lok Sabha in 1984 was reduced to only 197 in this election. The Congress improved its performance and came back to power soon after the mid-term elections held in 1991.

At the hour of midnight on 14-15 August 1947, India attained independence. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of free India, addressed a special session of the Constituent Assembly that night.

As the global demand for steel increases, Orissa, which has one of the largest reserves of untapped iron ore in the country, is being seen as an important investment destination.

The potential reform of the United Nations Security Council is an interesting case of the reform process and its difficulties. We then turn to India’s involvement in the UN and its view of Security Council reforms. The chapter closes by asking if the UN can play any role in dealing with a world dominated by one superpower.

We hear that an issue is a security issue and that it is vital for the well-being of the country. The implication is that it is too important or secret to be debated and discussed openly.

When India and Pakistan joined the club of nuclear powers, this region suddenly became the focus of global attention. The focus was, of course, on the various kinds of conflict in this region: there are pending border and water sharing disputes between the states of the region. Besides, there are conflicts arising out of insurgency, ethnic strife and resource sharing.

In this final chapter of the book we look at globalisation, something that has been referred to in many chapters of this book and textbooks of many other subjects. We begin by analysing the concept of globalisation and then examine its causes.

The Berlin Wall, which had been built at the height of the Cold War and was its greatest symbol, was toppled by the people in 1989. This dramatic event was followed by an equally dramatic and historic chain of events that led to the collapse of the ‘second world’ and the end of the Cold War.

Do you know that our earth also has a history. The earth and its landforms that we see today have evolved over a very long time. Current estimation shows that the earth is approximately 460 million years old.

The monsoon regime emphasises the unity of India with the rest of southeast Asian region. This view of broad unity of the monsoon type of climate should not, however, lead one to ignore its regional variations which differentiate the weather and climate of different regions of India.

Natural vegetation refers to a plant community that has been left undisturbed over a long time, so as to allow its individual species to adjust themselves to climate and soil conditions as fully as possible. India is a land of great variety of natural vegetation.

Change is the law of nature. It is a continuous process that goes on uninterruptedly involving phenomena, big and small, material and non- material that make our physical and socio-cultural environment. It is a process present everywhere with variations in terms of magnitude, intensity and scale.

The mainland of India, extends from Kashmir in the north to Kanniyakumari in the south and Arunachal Pradesh in the east to Gujarat in the west.

After weathering processes have had their actions on the earth materials making up the surface of the earth, the geomorphic agents like running water, ground water, wind, glaciers, waves perform erosion. It is already known to you that erosion causes changes on the surface of the earth. Deposition follows erosion and because of deposition too, changes occur on the surface of the earth.

The atmosphere is composed of gases, water vapour and dust particles. The proportion of gases changes in the higher layers of the atmosphere in such a way that oxygen will be almost in negligible quantity at the height of 120 km. Similarly, carbon dioxide and water vapour are found only up to 90 km from the surface of the earth.

Air expands when heated and gets compressed when cooled. This results in variations in the atmospheric pressure. The result is that it causes the movement of air from high pressure to low pressure, setting the air in motion. You already know that air in horizontal motion is wind.

The ocean water is dynamic. Its physical characteristics like temperature, salinity, density and the external forces like of the sun, moon and the winds influence the movement of ocean water. The horizontal and vertical motions are common in ocean water bodies. The horizontal motion refers to the ocean currents and waves. The vertical motion refers to tides.

What do you imagine about the nature of the earth? Do you imagine it to be a solid ball like cricket ball or a hollow ball with a thick cover of rocks i.e. lithosphere? Have you ever seen photographs or images of a volcanic eruption on the television screen?

You know that continents cover 29 per cent of the surface of the earth and the remainder is under oceanic waters. The positions of the continents and the ocean bodies, as we see them in the map, have not been the same in the past.

Land-use records are maintained by land revenue department. The land use categories add up to reporting area, which is somewhat different from the geographical area. The Survey of India is responsible for measuring geographical area of administrative units in India. Have you ever used a map prepared by Survey of India?

India accounts for about 2.45 per cent of the world’s surface area, 4 per cent of the world’s water resources and about 16 per cent of the world’s population. The total water available from precipitation in the country in a year is about 4,000 cubic km.

Metallic minerals are the sources of metals. Iron ore, copper, gold produce metal and are included in this category. Metallic minerals are further divided into ferrous and non-ferrous metallic minerals.

The Constitution of India has made alternate provision for the structure and functioning of all the three branches of the government i.e. executive, legislature and judiciary.

A political party is an organised group of citizens who have similar political views and who by acting as a unit try to control the government to translate their policies into practice.

In a Democracy, people's participation is very important. People, participate to elect their representatives by voting in elections. Discussing the working of the government, public debates, newspaper’s editorials, protest demonstrations, public meetings working for a political party and standing as a candidate are all examples of people's participation.

India is called the largest democracy in the world. It is democratic because elections take place at regular intervals at different levels.

The diversity of plants and animal provide us food, fuel, medicine, shelter and other essentials without which we cannot live. These species have evolved over thousands of years. This rich diversity is being lost at an alarming rate due to human activities.

India is said to be the land of farmers and these farmers are mostly living in the rural India. They are practising farming and are helping the country. Hence, the agriculture in the country is very important.

Transport and Communication is the life line of the country. The major role of transport is to facilitate trade and commerce by carrying goods, movement of people from one place to another. The communication keeps on updating information about the world's events. It helps in establishing the social, cultural and economic relationships.

The total number of human heads is considered to be the population of a country. It is counted every ten years in India. Qualified, well developed, productive and healthy human head is the asset for the country.

Mineral and power resources play an important role in the industrial development of a nation. They provide the industrial raw materials and fuel.

Soil is defined as upper layer of the earth composed of loose surface material. The soils of India are broadly divided into six groups. They are alluvial, regur or black, red, laterite, desert and mountain soils.

Numbers are classified as natural numbers, whole numbers, integers, rational numbers and irrational numbers. Rational and Irrational numbers together constitute the system of real numbers.

If a is a rational number, multiplied by itself m times, it is written as a^m. Here, a is called the base and m is called the exponent.

Expressions, involving arithmetical numbers, variables and symbols of operations are called algebraic expressions. An algebraic expression is a combination of numbers, variables and arithmetical operations.

The value of an algebraic expression depends on the values of the variables involved it. A polynomial in one variable whose degree is one is called a linear polynomial in one variable. When two expressions are separated by an equality sign, it is called an equation.

A polynomial of degree two is called a quadratic polynomial. When a quadratic polynomial is equated to zero, it is called a quadratic equation.

A pattern in which each term except the first is obtained by adding a fixed number (positive or negative) to the previous term is called an Arithmetic Progression (A.P.).

A fraction whose denominator is 100 is read as percent, for example $ \frac{23}{100} $ is read as twenty three percent or 23%. The symbol % is used for the term percent.

The use of transport and communication depends upon our need to move things from place of their availability to the place of their use.

International Trade is mutually beneficial as no country is self-sufficient. India’s international trade has undergone a sea change in recent years in terms of volume, composition as well as direction.

The people are very important component of a country. India is the second most populous country after China in the world with its total population of 1,210 million (2011). India’s population is larger than the total population of North America, South America and Australia put together.

Human Settlement means cluster of dwellings of any type or size where human beings live. For this purpose, people may erect houses and other structures and command some area or territory as their economic support-base. Thus, the process of settlement inherently involves grouping of people and apportioning of territory as their resource base. Settlements vary in size and type.

Human activities which generate income are known as economic activities. Economic activities are broadly grouped into primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary activities.

All economic activities namely primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary, revolve around obtaining and utilising resources necessary for survival. Secondary activities add value to natural resources by transforming raw materials into valuable products.

When you fall ill you go to your family doctor or you call a doctor. Sometimes your parents take you to a hospital for treatment. While in school, you are taught by your teachers. In the event of any dispute, legal opinion is obtained from a lawyer.

The people of a country are its real wealth. It is they, who are the actual resources and make use of the country’s other resources and decide its policies. Ultimately a country is known by its people.