Monday, September 10, 2007

NOTES ON FEDERALISM-CH-2 OF POL..SCIENCE


A MAP OF LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY

HOW IS FEDRALISM PRACTICED?
Costituional provisions are not the only key to the sucess of federalism in India but we have suceeded in this experiment because of the nature of democratic politics in our country.Respect for diversity and desire for living together became a shared ideal in our country.

HOW WE ENSURED FEDERALISM
LINGUISTIC STATES
It was the first & major step towards the democratic politics in our country.
--Since 1947 there have been many changes in the political map of India.
--many old states have vanished & new have been created.
--areas, boundaries and names of the states have been created.

Many old states have vanished & new states have been created.
--Areas , boundaries & names of the states have been changed.
--In 1947, the boundaries of several states were changed in order to create new states.This was done to ensure that people who spoke same language lived in the same state.
--Some states were created to recognize differences based on culture, ethinicity or geography.These included states like—Nagaland, Jharkhand & Uttarakhand.
Q. What has been the advantage of creating linguistic states?
When the demand for the formation of states on the basis of language was raised some leaders feared that it would lead to the disintegration of the country. Though central govt. resisted the linguistic states for some time but the experience has shown that linguistic states have actually made the country more united and it has made the administration easier.

LANGUAGE POLICY—
Our constitution has not given the status of national language to any one language
--Hindi was identified as an official language but Hindi is the mother tongue of only 40% of Indians, therefore there were many safeguards to protect other languages.
--Besides Hindi , there are 21 other languages recognized as Scheduled Languages by the constitution.
A candidate in an examination conducted for the central govt. position mau opt any of these languages.
-- the states too have their own official languages and much of the govt. work takes place in official language of the concerned state.
ENGLISH AND ITS USE—
Unlike SriLanka, the leaders of our country adopted a very catious attitude in spreading the use of Hindi.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE POLICY-According to the constitution the use of English for official purposes was to stop in 1965.
-- many non Hindi speaking states demanded the use of English to continue.
--in TamilNadu, this movement took a violent form and the Central government agreed to continue the use of English along with Hindi for official purposes.
--many critics think that this solution favoured the English speaking elite.
--promotion of Hindi continues to be the official policy of the government of India, but this does not mean that Central government can impose Hindi on states where people speak a different language.
Q. How our language policy is different from that of Sri Lanka?
A. Sri Lankan government followed a preferential policy towards Sinhalese language, disregarding Tamil. This resulted in lot of tensions and struggles in Sri Lanka.
Unlike Sri Lanka, our leaders adopted a flexible language policy to promote Hindi and continue English which has avoided the kind of situation Sri Lanka had.
STATE- CENTRE RELATIONS IN INDIA:
Restructuring of state- centre relations depend upon the federalism i.e., sharing of power between state and centre. How the constitutional arrangements for power sharing works in reality depends upon to a large extent on how ruling parties and leaders follow these arrangements.
--In India for a long time , same party ruled both at centre & states. This meant that state govts. did not exercise their rights as autonomous federal units .
--When ruling party at state level was different,, the parties that ruled the center tried to undermine the power of states. In those days central govt. would often misuse the constitution to dismiss the state govts. that were controlled by rival parties. This undermined the sprit of federalism.
--All this changed significantly after 1990. Their was a rise of regional poltical parties in many states of the country & this was also the era of the Coalition Govts. at the center.
--Since no single party got clear majority in Lok sabha the major national parties had to enter into an alliance with many parties including many several regional parties to form govt. at the center.
--This led to a new culture of power sharing & respect for the autonomy of the state govt. This trend was supported by the supreme court’s judgement which made it difficult for the Central govt. to dismiss state govts. in an arbitrary manner. Thus power sharing is more effective today than it was in the early years after the constitution came into force.
LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY OF INDIA
Q. India is the most diverse country of the world in terms of languages. Discuss.
According to the census held in 1991:
--the census recorded more than 1500 distinct languages which people mentioned as mother tongues.These languages were grouped under some major languages (.For example-Bhojpuri, Magadhi, Bundelkhandi, Chattisgarhi, Rajasthani, Bhili and many others were grouped under Hindi).
--even after this grouping census found 114 languages.
--22 languages are included in the Eight Schedule of the constitution & are called Scheduled Languages and others are called Non-Scheduled Languages.
Status of Hindi:
The largest language, Hindi is the mother tongue of only about 40% Indians
--all those who knew Hindi as their second or third language, the total number was still than less than 50% in 1991.
Status of English:
Only 0.02% of Indians recorded it as their mother tongue.
--other 11% knew it as a second or third language.

Saturday, September 8, 2007

Dear students for notes of chapter one of history-FRENCH REVOLUTION go to the address given below. Keep notes and do the assignment questions only in your note books.
http://socialsciencelearning.blogspot.com

Thursday, September 6, 2007

ASSIGNMENT ON LIFELINES OF NATIONAL ECONOMY-INTERNATIONAL TRADE ANDTOURISM INDUSTRY

Q. What is trade?
A. The exchange of goods among people, states and countries is referred to as trade.
Q. Define market.
A. The market is a place where such exchanges take place.
Q. What is international trade?
A.Trade between two countries is called international trade.It may take through sea, air or land routes.
The advancement of the international trade of a country is an index to its economic prosperity.and is considered as the economic barometer for a country.

Q.What are the two components of trade?
Export and import are the main components of trade.
Q.What is balance of trade?
The balance of trade is the difference between export and import.
Q. What do you mean by favourable and unfavourable balance of trade?
A. When the value of exports exceeds the value of imports it is called favourable balance of trade. Where as when the value of imports exceeds the value of exports it is termed as unfavourable balance of trade.
Q. Which are the Indian items of export?
A. The items of export are the agricultural and allied products-2.53%
--ores and minerals-9.12%
--gems and jewellery-26.75
--chemical and allied products-24.45%
--engineering goods-35.63%
--petroleum products-86.12%
Q. List the items imported by India.
A. The commodities imported by India are
--petroleum and petroleum products-41.87%
--pearls and precious stones-29.26%
--inorganic chemicals-29.39%
--coal,coke and briquttes-94.17%
--machienary-12.56%
--Bulk imports-this include fertilizers-67%, cereals-25.23%, edible oils-7.94%and news print-5.51.
Q. Write a note on the changing nature of trade in the last fifteen years.
A. International trade has undergone a sea change in the last fifteen years.
--India has trading relations with all major trading blocks and all geographical regions of the world.
–our share in the export commodities has been increasing over last few years.
--bulk imports as a group have registered a growth accounting for 39.09% of total imports.
--exchange of commodities and goods have been superseded by the exchange of information and knowledge.
--India has emerged as a software giant at the international level and is earning large foreign exchange through the export of information technology.
Q. Name the principle countries to which we export?
A. Russia, Britain, Japan, NewZealand, West Germany, France, Srilanka , Bangladesh etc.
Q. Name the countries from which we import?
A. U.S.A, Russia, U.K, west Germany, Iran, Saudi Arabia, France, Canada, Belgium, Malayasia, Italy, Netherlands, Singapore and Australia.
Q. What do you know about the tourism industry in India? Or what is its importance?
A. Tourism in India has grown substainally over the last three decades .
--Foreign tourists arrivals in the country has witnessed an increase of 23.5% diring the tear 2004 as against the year 2003.
--it has contributed 21,828 crore of foreign exchange—2004.
--Over 2.6 million foreign tourists visit India every year.
--More than 15 million people are directly engaged in the tourism industry.
--It promotes national integration.
--It provides support to local handicrafts and cultural pursuits.
--helps in international understanding about our culture and heritage.
There is a bright future ahead for this upcoming industry.
Q. Why do foreign tourists visit India?
A. Foreign tourists visit India for heritage tourism, economic tourism, adventure tourism, cultural tourism, medical tourism and business tourism.
Q. Which are the important places of tourists attraction in India?
Rajasthan, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir and temple towns of south India are important destinations of tourists in India.
Though there is a vast potential of tourism development in the North –Eastern states and in the interior parts of the Himalayas, but due to the strategic reasons these have not been encouraged so far.

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

QUESTION /NOTES ON COMMUNICATION AND TRADE

Q. Define communication.
A. Inteaction or conveying your ideas to others is called communication.
Q. What are different means of communication? Write about them in detail?
There are two ways /means of communication—personal and mass communication.
1.PERSONAL COMMUNICATION—major means of personal communication are:1. a)PNT-Indian Postal Network-it is the largest in the world.
–handles parcels as well as personal written communications.
b)–there are two types of mails first and second class mails. First class mail include cards and envelopes and it is air lifted between both land and air.
Second class mail includesbooks, packets, registered newspapers ans periodicals.
–they are carried by surface mail covering land and water transport.
c)To facilitate quick mail delivery we have six mail channels they are called—Rajdhani, Metro, Green ,Business, BulkMail and Periodical channel.
2.TELECOM NET WORK OF INDIA: India has one of the largest telecom network in Asia. It has become possible through development in space technology and communication technology
--Two-thirds of the villages in India have already been covered by STD(Subscriber Trunk Dialling) telephone facility.
--the govt. has made special provision to extend 24 hours STD facility in every village in the country.
--there are uniform rates of STD facility all over the country.
Q. What is mass communication ? Explain with the help of examples.
A. Mass communication is a communication in which masses are communicated at a same time by one source.
--it provides entertainment and creates awarerness people about various national programes and policies.
--it includes radio, T.V, newspaper, magazines, books and films.
1.AIR- All India Radio(Akashvani) broadcastes a variety of programes in national , regional and local languages for various categories of people spread over different parts of the country.
2. Doordarshan- the National T.V channel of India is one of the largest terrestial network in the world.
--it broadcasts a variety of programes from entertainment , educational to sports, etc .for people of different age groups.
3. India publishes large number of news papers and periodicals.
-- there are of different types depending upon the periodicity.
-- they are published in about 100 languages and dialects.
-- largest number of news papers published in the country are in Hindi, followed by English and Urdu.
4. India is the largest producer of the feature films in the world.
-- it produces short films; video feature films and video short films etc.
-- Central Board of Films gives certification to certify both Indian and foreign films.

Saturday, September 1, 2007

Assignment- on life lines of national economy-pipelines,waterways&airways

Q. What are the advantages and diadvantages of pipelines?
A. Pipe lines are proving to be very useful even though the initial cost is very high but susequent running cost is minimal.
--it rules out trans-shipment, loses, &loses.
Q. Which are the important networks of pipeline transportation in the country?
A. There are the important networks of pipeline transport in the country:
--From oil field in the upper Assam to Kanpur(UP), via Guwahati, Barauni to Haldia, via Rajbhand, Rajbhand to Maurigram & Guwahati to Siliguri.
--from Salaya in Gujrat to Jalandher in Punjab, via Virgram, Mathura, Delhi & Sonipat. It has branches to connect Koyali (near Vadodra, Gujrat) Chakshu & other places.
--Gas pipeline from Hazira in Gujrat connects Jagdishpur in UP, via Vijaipur in MP. It has branches to Kota in Rajasthan, Shahajahanpur, Babrala & other places in UP.
Q. What are the advantages of water ways?
Waterways are the cheapest means of transport.
--They are most suitable for carrying heavy & bulky goods
--It is fuel efficient & environment friendly mode transport.

Q.What is the difference between inland & overseas waterways?
Inland waterways mean water transport within the country where as overseas waterways means across the seas. India has inland navigation waterways of 14,500 km in length out of whichonly 3,700 km are navigable by mechanised boats.
Q. Which are the inland waterwayas in India and which waterways have been declared as the national waterways by the government?
A.The viable waterways include the Godavari, Krishna, Barak, Sunderbans , Buckingham canal, Brahamani, East-West canal & Damodar Valley Corporation Canal.
Following waterways have been declared as the nationalized waterways of India:
--The Ganga river between Allahabad & Haldia—NW.1
--The Brhamaputra river between Sadiya and Dhubri-NW.2
--The West-Coast Canal in Kerela-NW.3
Q Distinguish between major and minor ports?
MAJOR PORTS—These are big ports which have all facilities for coming & outgoing ships.—
In India we have 12 major ports, Mumbai as the biggest port.
--Management of these ports is the responsibility of the central govt.
--these ports handle 95% of Indias foreign trade.
MINOR PORTS—Those ports which are used for coastal transportation.
We in India have 181 minor ports scattered all along coastline of about 7,500km.
These ports are managed by the respective state govt.
Q. What is the difference between port & a harbour?
A. HARBOUR—it is the stretch of deep water, natural or artificial where ships are stationed & provided protection from rough sea.
PORT—It is that part of the harbour wher e different commercial activities take placelike loading, unloading of cargo & passengers, storage of cargo etc.
Q. Write about various seaports on the western coasts.
A.1—Kandala in Kuchchh was the first seaport developed soon after independence to ease the volume of trade in Mumbai port.
--it is a tidal port.
--it caters to handling of expor & import of highly productive granary& industrial belt stretched across the states of Jammu& Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana Gujrat & Rajasthan.
2.Mumbai port—It is a port with spacious & well sheltered harbour.
3.Jawahar lal Nehru port was planned to decongest Mumbai port& serve as hub port for this region.
4.Marmagao port—in Goa is the premier iron ore exporting port of the country.
--this port accounts for about 50% of India’s iron ore export.
5. New Mangalore port—located in Karnataka caters to the export of iron ore concentrates from Kudermukh mines.
6. Kochi is the extreme south western port, located at the entrance of a lagoon with a natural harbour.
Q. List the ports on the western coast of India.
Tuticorin port in the extreme south eastern port in TamilNadu.
–this port has a natural harbour & rich hinterland.
–it has a flourishing trade handling of a large variety of cargos to even our neighbouring countries like Srilanka, Mladieves, etc. & the coastal regions of India.
Chennai is the one od the oldest artificial ports of the country.
–it is ranked next to Mumbai in case of volume of trade & cargo.
Vishakhapatnam is the deepest landlocked & well protected port.
--it was originally conceived as an outlet for iron ore exports.
Pardip port located in Orissa, specializes in the export of iron ore.
Kolkata is an inland riverine port.
--it serves as a large hinterland of of Ganga-Bhramaputra basin.
--is a tidal port, requires constant dredging of Hoogly.
6.Haldia port was developed as a subsidiary to relieve Kolkata port of the growing pressure.
Q. What are the advantages of Airways?
Air travel today is the fastest means of transport.
–it is the most comfortable and prestigious mode of transport.
–it can cover difficult terrains like high mountains, dreary deserts, dense forests and long and oceanic stretches with great ease.
–the North-Eastern parts of our country have become accessible only because of airways.
Q. Why is air travel preferred in the north –eastern states?
A. North-Eastern parts of the country are marked with the presence of big rivers, dissected relief, dense forests and frequent floods and international frontiers etc.
These parts of India have become accessible only because of air travel.
Q.what do you know about working of the airways?
The air transport was nationalized in 1953.
--Airways are two types—Domestic & International.
DOMESTIC—On the operational side Indian airlines, Alliance Air(subsidy of Indian airlines), private scheduled airlines &non-scheduled operators provide domestic air services. Indian airlines operations have also been extended to the neighbouring countries of South & South-east Asia and the Middle east.
INTERNATIONAL==AirIndia, various private airlines are operating.
HELICOPTER SERVICES-- Pawanhans Ltd. Provides helicopter services to ONGC. In its offshore operations, to the inaccessible areas & difficult terrains of north-eastern states & interior parts of J&K, Himachal Pradesh & Uttaranchal.
Q. What are the disadvantages that the airways suffer from?
A. Air travel is not with in the reach of the common people.
--it is an expensive mode of transportation.
--India does not manufacture its own aircrafts, we import them.

lifelines of national economy-railways,pipelines

Q.What are the advantages of railways over roadways?
A. Railways are the principle mode of tranpotation for freight & passengers in India.
--they are of great use to us in conducting multifarious activities like business, transpotation of goods over longer distances
Indian railways have been an important integrating force for more than 150 years.
--railways in India bind the economic life of the country.
--They accelrate the develpment of industry & agriculture.
Q. What do you know about the railway network of India?
A. The Indian railway have a network of 7,031 stations spread over a route length of 63,221km. with a fleet of 7817 locomotives, 5321 passenger service vehicles, 4904 other coach vehicles &228,170 wagons as on 31 march 2004
Q. Which is the largest public sector undertaking of India.?
A. The Indian railways.
Q. When did the first train steam off and from where?
A. The first train steamed off from Mumbai to Thane in 1853, covering a distance of 34 km.
Q. Into how many zones is Indian railways organized?
A. It is organized into 16 railway zones.
Q. Which factors influence railway network in the region.? Give examples .
A. The distribution pattern of railways network in the country has been largely influenced by the following factors:
a) physiographic,
b) economic
c)administrative factors
1. The northern plains has good net work of railways because—vast level land, high density of population, high agricultural resources.
2. 2. hilly regions of the peninsular plateau—railway lines are laid through low hills , gaps or tunnels.
3. 3. Himalayan mountainous regions—unfavourable for the construction of railways due to high relief, sparse population & lack of economic opportunities.
4. It is difficult to lay railway tracks in sandy plains in western Rajasthan & forested tacks swamps of Gujrat, , forested tracks of MP., Chhatisghar. Orissa, &jharkhand.
5. Recently the development of Konkan railway along the west coast has facilitated the movement of passengers & goods in the most important economic region of India.
Q. What are problems from which Indian railways suffer?
A. Rail transport suffers from certain problems:
a) Many passengers travel without tickets.
b) Thefts and damaging of railway property.
c) People pull chains unnecessarily, which causes heavy damage to railway property.
d) Sinking of railway tracks during rains & landslides are also a problem.
e) A large number of rivers requiring bridges across their wide beds posed problems.
Q. List improvements that have been made in the railways.
A. Electrification of steam & diesel engines.
--Conversion of narrow gauge into metre & broad guage.
--computerisation for ticketing & reservation.
--starting of superfast trains as Rajdhani & Shatabadi for speedy travel & to overcome the problem of delays.
--Railway engines & wagons are produced locally now.
--to cover short distances we have these days Metros running in metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai &Kolkata.
Q. What do you understand by pipeline transportation?
A. Pipeline transportation is the new arrival on the transport map of India.
--earlier it was used to transport water but these days it is used to transport crude oil, petroleum products & natural gas from oil & natural gas fields to refiniers, fertilizer factories and big thermal power plants.
--even solids can be transported through pipelines when converted into slurry.

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