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The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) is the Government of India’s flagship programme that was launched in 2000 – 01 to achieve Universal Elementary Education (UEE). SSA is now the primary vehicle for implementing the provisions of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (2009) (RTE). Right To Education (RTE) provides for free and compulsory education to all the children from the age of 6 to 14 years. The SSA initiates a variety of innovation and activities related to schools.

Right to Education (RTE) provides for free and compulsory education to all the children from the age of 6 to 14 years.

In the later medieval era, the British came to India and introduced English education.

Temples played a vital role in importing education and served the centers of learning.

Nalanda, the oldest university in India was located in Bihar

The most notable universities the emerged during that period were situated at –

1. Taxila

2. Nalanda

3. Valabhi

4. Vikramshila

5. Odantapuri 

6. Jagaddala

1. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA)

2. Rastriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA)

1. Rajaraja Chaturvedimangalam – Vedic College (Ennayiram in Former South Arcot District)

2. Tirubuvanai – Vedic College (Pondicherry)

3. Viravajendra – Medical School (Tiruvaduthurai)

Iron is the base mineral or say base metal for industrial development of modem world. It is one of the highest used mineral in the world. It is used in making things as small as pins to gigantic machines, cars, trucks, ships railway, bridges, buildings and weapons. Iron is cheap, strong as well as durable and is available in almost all the countries.

One of the fine properties of iron is that it can mix with other minerals easily and give new useful minerals. For example, it easily gets mixed with carbon to produce steel. Owing to its abundant availability, extremely wide use and ease of getting mixed with other minerals, it is considered as an important mineral. Iron is found in impure on form on the earth. So, it is mixed with coke and lime and heated in large furnaces for refining. The pure iron thus obtained is known as pig iron. Four types of iron ore found in India, They are:

1. Hematite
2. Magnetite
3. Limonite and
4. Siderite.

Iron producing states: Karnataka produces maximum amount of iron ore in India. It is also obtained from Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh in good quantity. Its ore is also found in Goa, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and Assam. Iron is one of the highest used mineral in the world. It is used in the making things as small as small pins to gigantic machines, cars, trucks, ships, railway, bridges, buildings and weapons. It is also used to make steel, manganese steel, etc.

The new administrative arrangements during this period were: 

1. Some important administrative posts were made hereditary, e.g, the poet Harishena was a maha-danda-nayaka or the chief judicial officer, after the death of his father the previous office holder. 

2. One person held many offices, e.g, besides being a maha-danda-nayaka , Harishena was kumar-amatya which means an important minister, and a sandhi-vigrahika meaning minister of war and peace. 

3. Important men probably had a greater say in local or city administration. These included nagara-shresthi or chief banker or merchant of the city, the sarthavaha or leader of the merchant caravans, the prathama-kulika or the chief craftman and the head of the Kayasthas or scribes.

Countries: Russia and its neighbouring countries, Australia, Brazil, U.S.A. produce large quantities of iron ore. India produces 5% iron ore in the world.

Types of Iron ore :

1. Magnetite
2. Haematite
3. Limonite
4. Siderite

The four main iron ore belts are :

1. Orissa – Jharkhand belt
2. Durg – Bastar Chandarpur belt
3. Bellary – Chick Manglur belt
4. Maharashtra – Goa belt.

The rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted is called iron ore. This mineral is used to make pig iron which in turn is used to make steel making it the backbone for industrial development in any country. Iron ore is of four different types as outlined below –

a) Magnetite – This is the best quality of iron ore with a up to or more than 70%of iron content. It is magnetic in nature making it a good conductor and highly valuable in the electrical industry.

b) Haematite – The second grade of iron ore has an iron content of 50 – 60% and is a very important source for industrial iron.

c) Limonite – This is an inferior iron ore as the iron content is around 40 -50% but economically viable because it can be accessed through open -cast mining.

d) Siderite – This is an iron carbonate with less than 40% of iron content making it the most inferior type of iron ore. But there are uses for it because of its elf-fluxing nature due to the presence of lime.

India is the 5th largest producer of iron ore in the world. The main qualities of the iron ore deposits found in India have been outlined below –

i) Average metal content of the ores is one of the highest (64%) among the major iron ore producing countries of the world.

ii) Production is dominated by haematite and magnetite. Mining of inferior quality ores is insignificant.

iii) Mining of iron ores in India is open-cast or surface-mining. Since underground mining is not needed, cost of mining is low.

Distribution of iron-ore in India

1) Odisha-Jharkhand belt: In Odisha high grade hematite ore is found in Badampahar mines in the Mayurbhanj and Kendujhar districts. In the adjoining Singbhum district of Jharkhand haematite iron ore is mined in Gua and Noamundi.

2) Durg-Bastar-Chandrapur belt: lies in Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra. Very high grade hematites are found in the famous Bailadila range of hills in the Bastar district of Chhattisgarh. The range of hills comprise of 14 deposits of super high grade hematite iron ore which is best for steel making steel making. Iron ore from these mines is exported to Japan and South Korea via Vishakhapatnam port.

3) Ballari-Chitradurga-Chikkamagaluru- Tumakuru belt in Karnataka has large reserves of iron ore. The Kudremukh mines located in the Western Ghats of Karnataka are a 100 per cent export unit. Kudremukh deposits are known to be one of the largest in the world. The ore is transported as slurry through a pipeline to a port near Mangaluru.

4) Maharashtra- Goa belt includes the state of Goa and Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra. Though, the ores are not of very high quality, yet they are efficiently exploited. Iron ore is exported through Marmagao port.
Iron ore is also mined in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Mineral in India are unevenly distributed.

Mineral resources provide the basic raw materials required by human society for development. Minerals found in their raw forms are called ores. India has a rich and
varied source of minerals. Although the vast alluvial plains of India do not have mineral deposits, the rich concentrations make up for this lack.

Peninsular rocks in the Deccan region and eastern plateau area contains most of the coal reserves, metallic and non-metallic minerals as well. Sedimentary rocks of the western and eastern coasts in Gujrat and Assam are rich in petroleum reserves. The rock system of Rajasthan has several important deposits of non-ferrous minerals.

It is evident from the distribution that India though blessed with a variety of mineral reserves is also hampered by their uneven distribution. Mineral formation processes can be blamed for this uneven distribution. Differences in geological structures, processes and time required in the formation of minerals have led to this uneven distribution of minerals in India.

Iron is used in making from a small pin to massive machines, motorcars, trucks, ships, railway, bridges, buildings and weapons.

By removing carbon from pig iron, we get cast iron.

Manganese is mainly used in making steel from iron.

L.A. Kauffman traced the origin of identity politics.

Parliament .

The legislative powers of union and state governments are mentioned as follows:

(a) The union list: It contains 100 subjects like defence. External affairs, Currency and Coinage, Atomic Energy, Science and Technology. Customs on which the central government has supreme law making powers.

(b) The state list: It consists of 63 subjects like Police, Health, Agriculture, Local Self Governments. Road Transport, etc. On these subjects, state governments have law making powers.

(c) The concurrent list: It comprises 52 subjects like Marriage and Divorce. Civil Procedure and Criminal Laws, Preventive Detention, Trust and Trusties. Education, etc. On these subjects both the union and state can legislate. In case of disputes, the will of the union government prevails.

(d) Residuary powers: Powers not mentioned in the above three lists are called residuary powers. These powers are given to the union government.

It is the law making body of a government. In all democracies, an assembly of elected representatives exercises supreme political authority on behalf of the people. In India such a national assembly of elected representatives is called Parliament. It is the body that makes law for the country. At the state level this is called Legislature or Legislative Assembly. 

1. The procedure to remove a judge is called impeachment. An impeachment motion is passed separately by two thirds members of the two Houses of the Parliament.

2. Thus the judges who are appointed by the President cannot be removed by the President alone.

3. Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have to pass a resolution by two-thirds majority to remove a judge.

1. A minister is elected by the people and thus empowered to exercise the will of the people on their behalf.

2. They are finally answerable to the people for all the consequences of her/his decision. The Minister is not expected to be an expert in the technical matters of her or his ministry.

3. The civil servants, though far more educated, work under these ministers and the final decisions are taken by the ministers

They implement the ministers’ decisions.

1. Institutions involve rules and regulations. This can bind the hands of leaders. 

2. Institutions involve meetings, committees and routines. This often leads to delays and complications. 

There are 52 subjects in the concurrent list. E.x. Marriage and Divorce, Civil Procedure and Criminal Laws.

The President of India exercises three types of emergency powers. They are:

(a) National emergency : Article 5.55 of the India Constitution, the President is empowers to declare National emergency when threat of external aggression. It can he imposed for the . protection of unity and integrity of the country. Till now it had been imposed for thrice. In such circumstances, individual rights are suspended.

(b) State emergency : Article 356 of the Indian Constitution authorizes the President to declare the Presidential rule on the recommendation of the Governor during the breakdown of die constitutional machinery in that stare.

(c) Financial emergency : Article 360 of the Indian Constitution empowers the President to declare financial emergency if the financial conditions of the nation are precarious.

All Assam Students’Union.

Mandal commission became highly controversial because of the following:

• Mandal commission recommended  27% of government jobs to be reserved for socially and educationally backward classes. Till before, provision of reservation was only restricted to Schedule castes and schedule tribes.
• It led to entire debate between the pro and anti reservation group.
• People supporting reservation felt that it was an attempt to create egalitarian society. Reservation are only corrective and defensive mechanism to protect minorities from the majorities and do away with the existing inequalities.
• On the other hand, those against felt that it undermined the importance of merit. 
• Following the outrage against the order and protest, a court case was filed against the order.
• ​The Supreme Court of India bunched the cases together. This case was known as the ‘Indira Sawhney and others Vs Union of India case'.
• The court upheld the order but asked the government to make modifications excluding well to do amongst the backward classes from the benefits of reservation.

The Indira Sawhney case was related to the reservations for OBCs in jobs in the central government.

1. Governing a country involves various activities. For example, the government is responsible for ensuring security to the citizens and providing facilities for education and health to all.

2. It collects taxes and spends the money thus raised on administration, defence and development programmes.

3. It formulates and implements several welfare schemes. Some persons have to take decisions on how to go about these activities. Others have to implement these decisions.

4. It is also important that these activities keep taking place even if the persons in key positions change.

There are 100 subjects in Union List.

1. The implementation of the Mandal Commission Report led to widespread protests and counter-protests, some of which were violent.

2. People reacted strongly because this decision affected thousands of job opportunities.

3. Some felt that job reservations were essential to cope up with the inequalities among people of different castes in India.

4. Others felt that this was unfair as it would deny equality of opportunity to people who did not belong to the backward communities. They would be denied jobs even if they were more qualified.

National Democratic Alliance.

The demerits of coalition government are as follows : 

(a) Due to the presence of various party leaders believing in different ideologies and policies political consistency is difficult to achieve. Hence political instability persists. 

(b) As coalition is the result of mutual consent, heads of government have no say in the formation of their own cabinet and in the formation of national policies or programmes.

(c) In the parliamentary system of government as each coalition partner has its own specific electorate and has assured specific schemes and programmes.

(d) Collective responsibility is a casualty. The ministry has to act as a unit. But in coalition government, this cannot happen. Hence, no one shoulders the responsibility for mismanagement and maladministration.

(e) Official secrecy cannot be maintained. Decisions taken in cabinet which are sensitive in nature are disclosed by its own signatories who cannot be curtailed by the government.

Coalition politics is a system of governance by a group of political parties. The partners of the alliance set aside their political ideologies and accept some Common Minimum Programme to run the coalition government.

1. The government system in which the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers is responsible to the Legislature for all their actions and policies, is called a Responsible Government.

2. In this system, the Council of Ministers has to take the Legislature into confidence during governance. 

3. Every decision taken by any ministry/ department is considered as the decision of the government.

4. The decisions or policies of every ministry is the collective responsibility of the Council of Ministers. 

5. Thus, the principle of collective responsibility adopted by the Council of Ministers makes it a responsible government.

The following are the characteristics of the Presidential System of government:

1. The President is directly elected by the people. 

2. The President has lot of powers including power to implement laws. 

3. The President is not dependent on the support of the Legislature. 

4. The Legislature and the Executive are not dependent on each other, but still they have mutual control over each other.

Correct option is (c) Constitution

1. Cartoon represents dominance of Congress which is being tug by opposition parties to throw Congress out of power. 

2. ‘Tug of war’ refer to pulling out the Congress by criticism and mentioning its weaknesses in an honest and justified manner. 

3. Pt. Jawahar Lai Nehru along with his colleagues in the cabinet.

Locke’s concept of liberty focuses on the absence of unreasonable restraints and the freedom of choice.

The Communist Party emerged in 1920 in different parts of India. It took the inspiration from Bolshevik revolution in Russia. The important leaders of CPI were A.K. Gopalan, S.A. Dange, E.M.S. Namboodiripad, P.C. Joshi, Ajay Ghosh etc.

Some of the diverse opposition parties had come into existence before the first general elections in 1952 as non-Congress parties. These parties succeeded to gain only a token of representation in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies.

a. These parties maintained a democratic character of the system.

b. These offered a criticism to the policies based on the principles to keep ruling party under check.

c. They changed the balance of power within the congress.

d. These parties prevented the resentment with the system from turning antidemocratic.

e. These parties groomed the leaders also to play a crucial role in shaping the country. In the early years, there was a lot of respect between the leaders of Congress and opposition parties’, i.e., interim government included even opposition leaders like Dr. Ambedkar, Jayaprakash Narayan, and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee into the Cabinet.

The first general election was the first big test for the political parties-False.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau is considered the ‘Father of the French Revolution.

Isaiah Berlin’s two concepts of liberty include positive liberty and negative liberty.

Correct option is (c) unwritten

Correct option is (c) President