I. Indian Freedom Movement and Post-Independence Challenges

Question: What changes did Mahatma Gandhi bring to the freedom movement?
Answer: He transformed it into a mass movement, uniting various sections like peasants, workers, women, and students. Indians became familiar with his ideology and Satyagraha, based on non-violence.

Question: Identify the location and focus of the Champaran movement.
Answer: Location: Champaran district, Bihar. Focus: Intervention for indigo cultivators against exploitation (1917).

Question: Identify the location and focus of the Ahmedabad movement.
Answer: Location: Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Focus: Struggle for a wage hike for textile mill workers (1918).

Question: Identify the location and focus of the Kheda movement.
Answer: Location: Kheda, Gujarat. Focus: Movement demanding tax remission for peasants due to natural calamities (1918).

Question: List the core ideas of the Non-Cooperation Movement.
Answer: Boycott Methods: Returning British titles, resigning from government jobs, boycotting British courts/schools/foreign goods/legislative assemblies. Constructive Programmes: Strengthening social harmony, promoting national products/khadi, and establishing national schools.

Question: How did the policies of the Swaraj Party differ from the Non-Cooperation Movement?
Answer: The Non-Cooperation Movement boycotted legislative assemblies. The Swaraj Party, formed in 1923, participated in elections specifically to voice political dissent within the assemblies.

Question: What was the Anti-Simon Commission movement?
Answer: It was a protest against the Simon Commission (1928), which was appointed for constitutional reforms but contained only British members. The protest featured a national hartal and the slogan "Simon Go Back".

Question: What made the Lahore Congress (1929) a milestone?
Answer: The Congress formally demanded complete independence for the first time. It entrusted Gandhiji to launch a mass movement. The tricolour flag was formally adopted.

Question: How did the Quit India Movement differ from earlier movements?
Answer: It made freedom an urgent goal. It spread spontaneously, even after major leaders like Gandhiji were imprisoned. Protesters targeted public properties (post offices, railways), and parallel governments were established in several locations.

Question: What were the major challenges faced by independent India?
Answer: Rehabilitation of refugees. Integration of princely states. Incorporation of Portuguese and French territories. Reorganisation of states on a linguistic basis. Strengthening the economy and formulating an independent foreign policy.

Question: Who led the integration of princely states?
Answer: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (Home Minister) and V. P. Menon (Secretary of the States Department).

Question: What territories remained under French and Portuguese control after 1947?
Answer: French: Pondicherry, Mahe, Yanam, Karaikal, and Chandranagar. Portuguese: Goa, Daman, Diu, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

Question: What were the goals of the first two Five-Year Plans?
Answer: First Plan: Emphasised agricultural development to overcome food scarcity and poverty. Second Plan: Emphasised industrial development to ensure economic development and solve unemployment by strengthening the public sector.

Question: Name the three major revolutions in the agricultural sector.
Answer: Green Revolution (enhancing food production). White Revolution (increasing milk production). Blue Revolution (improving fish production).

Question: What were the primary results of Kerala's land reform laws?
Answer: Landlordism (Janmi system) was abolished. A limit was set on land ownership. Tenants received permanent ownership rights over agricultural land.

Question: What led to the declaration of Emergency in India (1975)?
Answer: Widespread agitations against the central government (e.g., Gujarat, Bihar) due to economic crisis and unemployment. The Allahabad High Court nullified PM Indira Gandhi's election. The government alleged that opposition protests threatened internal security.

Question: What were the major impacts of the Emergency?
Answer: The federal system was abolished, power was concentrated in the Union government, and fundamental rights were frozen. Opposition leaders were imprisoned, and censorship was imposed on the media.

Question: Why was the Mandal Commission appointed?
Answer: The Janata Party government appointed the commission in 1979 (headed by B. P. Mandal) to study the social and educational backwardness of OBC communities and suggest solutions.

Question: What was the role of the R.T.I. Movement in democracy?
Answer: It led to the Right to Information Act (2005), which ensures citizens the right to obtain authentic information from public institutions. This enhances transparency and helps eradicate corruption.

Question: How does Communalism threaten Indian Democracy?
Answer: It divides people based on religion, creating social conflict. It undermines secularism and national unity. It allows political parties to influence voters based on communal thinking.

Question: What is Defection?
Answer: When an elected representative, who won as a candidate of one party, abandons that party or joins another. The Anti-Defection Law was passed in 1985 to prevent this.

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II. Global History, Economy, and Social Structures

Question: What is the Renaissance?
Answer: The word means "rebirth," denoting the revival of ancient Greco-Roman culture starting around the 14th century. It is considered a period of transformation from medieval feudalism to the modern age.

Question: What was the impact of Humanism?
Answer: It shifted focus from Christian theology to human experience, worldly life, and rational inquiry. It inspired changes in art, literature, politics, history, science, and religion.

Question: Name the important personalities in Renaissance Art.
Answer: Painting: Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Titian, Raphael, Masaccio. Sculpture: Donatello, Michelangelo. Architecture: Filippo Brunelleschi, Bramante.

Question: What were the consequences of the French Revolution?
Answer: Collapse of feudalism and abolition of the old regime's laws. Introduction of a unified metric system. Contribution of modern nationalism and foundation of democratic rule based on the sovereignty of the people.

Question: What was Mercantilism?
Answer: An economic policy where nations aimed to accumulate wealth, primarily gold and silver (Bullion), by increasing exports and reducing imports.

Question: List the key features of Totalitarianism.
Answer: Rejection of democracy, opposition to socialism, supporting dictatorship, extreme nationalism, elimination of political opponents, and glorification of war and violence.

Question: Who founded Fascism and Nazism?
Answer: Fascism (Italy): Benito Mussolini. Nazism (Germany): Adolf Hitler.

Question: What is Public Opinion?
Answer: The general opinion or consensus held by a section of society about issues affecting them. It ensures democratic communication.

Question: Name some agencies that shape public opinion.
Answer: Family, educational institutions, peer groups, media (traditional/new), political parties, social organisations, opinion polls, art, and literature.

Question: List the major characteristics of the Caste System.
Answer: Social Hierarchy. Division of Labour (hereditary occupations). Social Control and Order (based on purity/pollution, leading to untouchability). Restrictions on Marriage (endogamy). Inequality and Marginalisation.

Question: How does Sociological Imagination benefit individuals?
Answer: It broadens perspective by linking individual problems to wider social structures. It deepens understanding of social issues. It enables self-reflection, develops empathy/tolerance, and fosters critical thinking.

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III. Geography and Economics

Question: Define Weather and Climate.
Answer: Weather: Atmospheric conditions (temperature, pressure, wind, humidity, precipitation) for a shorter period of time. Climate: The average weather condition experienced for a longer period (35–40 years) over a larger area.

Question: What are Endogenic and Exogenic Movements?
Answer: Endogenic: Processes caused by forces within the Earth (e.g., radioactivity, convection currents), resulting in earthquakes/volcanism. Exogenic: Processes caused by external forces (e.g., gravity, running water, wind, weathering) on the Earth's surface.

Question: What is the Normal Lapse Rate?
Answer: The gradual decrease in atmospheric temperature at the rate of 6.4º Celsius per kilometre of altitude.

Question: What is Relative Humidity?
Answer: The ratio between the actual amount of water vapour in the atmosphere and the total water-holding capacity of the atmosphere at a specific temperature, expressed as a percentage.

Question: List the major types of rainfall.
Answer: Orographic (Relief) rainfall. Convectional Rainfall. Cyclonic (Frontal) Rainfall.

Question: How does the UN define 'climate change'?
Answer: A long-term shift in weather patterns and temperatures caused by human activity or natural variability.

Question: What is Global warming?
Answer: The increase in atmospheric temperature caused by the strengthening of the Greenhouse Effect due to excess production of greenhouse gases (like CO2) from human activities.

Question: What is Sustainable Development?
Answer: Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Question: List the economic development indices.
Answer: Human Development Index (HDI). Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI). Sustainable Development Goals Index (SDGI).

Question: What is a Knowledge Economy?
Answer: An economic system that thrives by incorporating innovative ideas in the production and use of knowledge/information. Human resources and skill development are crucial.

Question: What are the functions of money?
Answer: Medium of Exchange, Measure of Value, Store of Value, and Means of Deferred Payments.

Question: What are the main functions of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)?
Answer: Printing and Issuing Currency (except coins and ₹1 note). Acts as the Bankers' Bank. Controls the supply of money and credit (e.g., using Repo Rate, CRR). Acts as the government's bank and custodian of foreign exchange reserves.

Question: What is Inflation?
Answer: An increase in the general price level of goods and services. It occurs when money supply increases disproportionately to the production of goods/services.

Question: What is the Credit Deposit Ratio?
Answer: The measure of the proportion of a bank's deposits that are utilized for loans.

Question: What is Microfinance?
Answer: Aims to provide financial services to low-income individuals, families, and businesses who lack access to conventional banking services.

Question: What is Utility and Marginal Utility?
Answer: Utility: The want-satisfying power of a commodity. Marginal Utility (MU): The change in total utility when one additional unit of a commodity is consumed.

Question: List the rights of a consumer.
Answer: Right to Safety, Right to Choose, Right to Know, Rights to seek Redressal, and Right to Consumer Education.

Question: What is the structure of Consumer Courts in India?
Answer: A three-tier system: District, State, and National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions.