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• 'Invisible' here means something which is not noticed. A good example will be cleaning the house. It is expected that the house should be clean at all times, however, women have to put in great effort to maintain the cleanliness. 
• 'Physically demanding' means something which requires hard work and physical exertion. An example of this is washing clothes which requires physical labor.  
• 'Time consuming' means something which takes a long time to be done. Cleaning the entire house is an example of a time consuming household task.

True. Since our society considers men to be the breadwinners of the family, any work that a woman does is not valued much because it does not contribute to the total income of the family. However, it must be noted that the amount of time women spend in taking care of the household, which involves tasks such as preparing three meals, getting children ready for school, taking care of the general cleanliness of the household, managing rations, dealing with maids or other such domestic helps etc., is truly commendable. It is also assumed that this is something that comes naturally to women. It, therefore, does not have to be paid for. And society devalues this work.

False. Though it is a preconceived notion that women who stay at home do not work, it is not true. Women who stay at home do almost an equal amount of work as compared to their male counterparts by running the household, which is not an easy task. On an average, women spend more time working as compared to men in tasks such as cleaning, washing clothes, cooking, taking care of children and the elderly, etc. However, their work goes unnoticed because a bulk of their work is household-related and does not contribute to the generation of income.

Poverty and discrimination are the two major reasons why many girls do not continue their education.

The following factors responsible 

1. Wage work by childen. 

2. Household chores. 

3. Sibling case responsibility 

4. Collecting minor forest products 

5. Grazing cattle etc. 6. Migration of families 

7. Highcost of education etc.

The present study was undertaken to know the various reasons of school dropouts amongst girls in various areas.

(a) Campaigning. It is an important part of the women’s movement. It fights discrimination and violence against women.Campaigns have also led to new laws being passed. For example, in 2006, a law was passed to give women, who are prey to domestic violence, some legal protection. The women’s movement also led the Supreme Court to formulate guidelines in 1997 to protect women against sexual harassment at the workplace. Women’s groups also raised voice against dowry deaths. They demanded immediate justice for cases of young bides being murdered by their in-laws or husbands for more dowry. They did so by coming on to the streets, approaching the courts and by sharing information. As a result of their efforts, the dowry laws were changed to punish families who seek dowry.
(b) Protesting. The women’s movement raises its voice when violations against women take place. Public rallies and demonstrations are a very powerful way of drawing attention to injustices. If I had to organise a struggle against stereotypes, about what women can or cannot do, I would like to employ the method of raising awareness among public. What pressure cannot do, awareness can do effectively. If we skilfully convince people for something it works excellently. We can brainwash the common mass through street plays, songs and public meetings. It is a permanent solution to a problem.

Women as a whole struggled for long to bring out all round improvement in women’s condition. This is known as the Women’s Movement.

True. Our society believes that the roles of boys and girls are different. Broadly speaking, our societies are mostly patriarchal i.e., a male is always the head of the family. For example, in the Indian society, boys are encouraged to handle outdoor work and girls are encouraged to manage household chores. However, in some Latin-American countries, both boys and girls are encouraged to manage both outdoor and household work.

Sulphur dioxide gas.

The raw material for the electronics industry mainly comes for the petrochemical industry in the form of plastic and from the iron and steel industry in the form of steel sheets.  

Two methods of struggle that the women’s movement used to raise issues are by raising awareness and protesting. Women’s movements raise awareness on women’s rights issues. They spread their message through street plays, songs and public meetings. Women’s movements protest when violations against women happen or when a law or policy works against their interest. 

I would choose the method of raising awareness as it will ensure that I will be able to put across my point of view effectively.

This statement is not true. On reading the information, we realize that girls from poor families drop out of school because their parents are unwilling to send them to school because of lack of money for transportation and education costs. There are no toilets for girls in some schools. Also, in many poor rural areas, there are no proper schools and teachers who teach on a regular basis. Hence, many poor girls drop out of schools.

The canon of certainty states that the Government should announce the tax system in advance and should not change it frequently.

(i) Canon of Equity: Since tax is a compulsory payment, all economists agree that equity is the cardinal principle in designing the tax system. The equity principal says that the rich should pay more tax revenue to government than the poor, because rich has more ability than the poor to pay the tax.

(ii) Canon of certainty: Government should announce in advance the tax system so that every tax payer will be able to calculate how much tax amount one may have to pay during a year to the government.

(iii) Canons of Economy and Convenience: These two canons are related. As tax payers we incur a cost to process our accounts and pay the tax, for example, salary paid to accountants and auditors

Similarly government also pays salary to its taxmen and run huge institutions. If the tax is simple, then the cost of collecting taxes (tax payer cost + tax collector cost) will be very low.

Further, tax should be collected from a person at the time he gets enough money to pay the ‘ tax. This is called canon of convenience. A convenient tax reduces the cost of collecting tax.

(iv) Canons of Productivity and Elasticity: Government should choose the taxes that can get enough tax revenue to it. Tax is paid by the people out their incomes. Therefore the tax system should be designed in such a way that the people automatically pay more tax revenue if their incomes grow. This is called canon of elasticity

By replacing conventional products like wood and steel, products of the petrochemical industry reduce pressure on lumbering and mining respectively. Additionally, the duration of utility of these products is further increased due to their recyclable value. 

The following are a few examples of the products of the petrochemical industry replacing conventional products. 

a. Wooden furniture can be replaced by plastic furniture. 

b. Natural leather can be replaced by synthetic leather. 

c. Steel pipes can be replaced by PVC pipes 

Important centres of the petrochemical industry in India are: 

1. Union Carbide Ltd., Trombay, Maharashtra 

2. IPCL, Vadodara, Gujarat 

3. Petrofils India Ltd., Vadodara, Gujarat 

4. Petrochemical Complex, Bongaigaon, Assam 

5. Hindustan Organic Chemicals, Raigad, Maharashtra 

The raw material is a waste of the petroleum refinery and as such is quite cheap. In addition, all these products can be recycled, which makes them cost effective. 

Media creates public opinion an a democracy. It can build up public opinion in favour of or against any issue. Today, it has diverted from its real agenda. Instead of highlighting public issues, it is now concentrating upon cheap agendas like fashion shows, child falling in pit, etc.

The raw material for a petrochemical industry is petroleum. This industry is located near a petroleum refinery for the want of raw material. 

The various ways women apply to fight discrimination and seek justice are as follow :
(a) It has proved to be a great success. It has led to a new law being passed in 2006. This law gives legal protection to worrfen against domestic violence which includes physical and msptrjjj.. violence within then- homes. Women by dint of campaigning made the Supreme Court to formulate guidelines in 1997 to protect
women against sexual harassment at workplace. They also campaigned for bringing justice to those families which have become pray to dowry deaths. As a result of their campaigns, dowry laws were changed to punish families who seek dowry.
(b) Raising Awareness. Women, in order to fight-discrimination, work hard to raise public awareness on women’s rights issues. They do so through several means such as street plays, songs and public meetings.
(c) Whenever a law or policy acts against the interest of the women, they rise in protest by holding public rallies and demonstrations. These are powerful ways of drawing attention to injustices.
(d) Showing Solidarity. Women associated with the Women’s movement also believe in showing solidarity with other women and their causes.

Paper mills are generally established near forests where bamboo and other softwood trees are available. This mill is also strategically located near multiple raw material sources and a perennial river source.

According to Vandana Shiva, the UN General Assembly organized a conference on harmony with nature as part of Earth Day celebrations, in April 2011.

According to Vandana Shiva, the end of consumerism and accumulation is the beginning of the joy of living.

(b) co-operation.

Bio-diversity promotes democratic pluralism where every species gets opportunities to sustain itself in co-operation with others and no species in a forest appropriates the share of another species. Since failure to understand biodiversity and its many functions leads to an impoverishment of nature and culture, it becomes imperative to practise bio-diversity-intensive farming. The author started Navdanya Farm in 1994 in the Doon Valley where she practised bio¬diversity-intensive farming. Initially, she started saving seeds from farmers’ fields and today they are able to conserve and grow 630 varieties of rice, 150 varieties of wheat and hundreds of other species. She opines that bio-diversityintensive farming produces more food and nutrition per acre and hence bio-diversity is the answer to food and nutrition crisis.

Yes. The conservation of biodiversity is the right step to help the people overcome the nutrition crisis because bio-diversity works on the paradigm of Earth Democracy and democratic pluralism wherein there is freedom for all species to evolve within the web of life. As members of the Earth family, it is the freedom and responsibility of humans to recognize, protect and respect the rights of other species. This way we bring into play the principle of equity. No species in such an ecosystem appropriates the share of another species and every species sustains itself in cooperation with others.

Secondly, bio-diversity sustains democratic pluralism because there are diverse processes of renewal of life always at play in natural eco-systems and they vary from species to species and from season to season in sight, sound and smell. All the species live in perfect harmony. Thus bio-diversity paves the way for enrichment of the web of life leading to abundance.

(c) more quality food and higher nutrition.

The essay ‘Everything I need to know I Learned in the Forest’, by Vandana Shiva, highlights the importance of sustaining biodiversity in nature. However, the author does not dismiss scientific inventions and discoveries as useless. Scientific inventions and discoveries have proved successful in controlling infant mortality, increasing longevity. But some of the discoveries and inventions have resulted in damaging our eco-systems and are now threatening to wipe out life on this earth. Secondly, some scientific practices might create a crisis in the food chain itself.

Under such circumstances, we need to synthesize the wisdom of the past with modern knowledge systems. This has several advantages. For example, traditional knowledge is vital for the sustenance of natural resources including forests, water and agro eco-systems across landscape continuum, spanning from households through farms, village and wilderness.

An expert by name Caval Canti (2002) notes that a limitation of economic development is that it is pursued without any considerations in practice as to its implications on ecosystems. The prevailing economic theories treat the economic process from a purely mechanistic standpoint. Different ways exist, however, to deal with the choices that humans have to make with respect to the allocation of resources, the distribution of the returns and the fulfilment of purposes of material progress.

To understand how local people solve their economic problems in a sustainable fashion is a serious challenge. A better grasp of this issue could possibly be accomplished with the use of ethno economics or ethno ecological economics. Application of scientific research and local knowledge contributes both to the equity, opportunity, security and empowerment of local communities, as well as to the sustainability of the natural resources. Local knowledge helps in scenario analysis, data collection, management planning, designing of the adaptive strategies to learn and get feedback and institutional support to put policies into practice.

Science, on the other hand, provides new technologies or helps in the improvement of the existing ones. It also provides tools for networking, storing, visualizing and analyzing information. Thus, by developing sustainability science and ethno economics, we can synthesise the wisdom of the past with modern knowledge systems.

Separatism is the root cause of disharmony with nature and violence against nature and people.

Navdanya is a movement for biodiversity conservation and organic farming.

According to Francis Bacon, science and technology have the power to conquer and subdue nature and to shake her to her foundations.

Human beings have failed to recognize that they are an inseparable part of nature and that they cannot damage it without severely damaging themselves.

The Earth houses millions of eco-systems and nurtures biodiversity. Bio-diversity ensures abundance, freedom, co-operation and mutual giving. Tagore argues that the forests have served as sources of material and intellectual regeneration since time immemorial and the culture of the forest has fueled the culture of Indian society. The culture that has arisen from the forest is nurtured by the unifying principle of life in diversity and of democratic pluralism. It is this unity in diversity that is the basis of both ecological sustainability and democracy. This is true of both nature and culture. We are united with nature through our relationship with the forest. The forest teaches us union, compassion and enoughness.

No species in a forest appropriates the share of another species and every species sustains itself in co-operation with others. This unity in diversity seen in the forest should serve as a model for human society, otherwise, it will lead to conflict, greed, exploitation and finally to the impoverishment of our culture. Therefore, the conservation of diversity is crucial for the sustenance of both nature and human society

Failure to understand biodiversity and its many functions is at the root of the impoverishment of nature and culture.

Vandana Shiva says that she learned her first lesson in ecology and eco-system in the Himalayan forests which she later put to practice in her farms. Her ideas about bio-diversity and biodiversity- based living economies prompted her to begin the Navdanya movement for biodiversity conservation and organic farming which she started in 1987. Later, in 1994, she set up the Navdanya farm in the Doon Valley where she claims to have conserved and grown 630 varieties of rice, 150 varieties of wheat and hundreds of other species. Based on these practices she tells the reader that the forests teach us union and compassion, the principle of equity, and how to enjoy the gifts of nature without exploitation and accumulation and mutual co-operation.

‘Monocultures of the Mind’.

Eco-systems: An ecosystem is a community of living organisms (plants, animals and microbes) as well as the nonliving components (air, water and mineral soil) of the environment, interacting as a system.

Eco-centrism: Eco-centrism (meaning values cntred on ecology) is a view that considers the whole environment or ecosphere as being important without preference to organisms such as animals and humans.

Eco-apartheid: Eco-apartheid means holding the illusion in our minds and lives that humans are separate from nature.

Bio-diversity: The existence of a large number of different kinds of animals and plants which make a balanced environment.

Biodiversity-intensive (farming): It refers to growing of different varieties of plants.

Mono-culture: It is the agricultural practise of producing or growing a single crop or plant species.

Fossil-fuel: They are fuels formed by natural processes such as decomposition of buried dead organisms. Fossil fuels include coal, petroleum, and natural gas.

Vandana Shiva’s father was a conservator of forests in the Himalayan region. Naturally, Vandana Shiva lived and was brought up in forest surroundings. That is why she declares that whatever she knows about ecology was learned from the Himalayan forests and eco-systems. Her mother was a farmer and she used to compose songs and poems about trees, forests, and India’s forest civilizations. Thus, her parents and their profession undoubtedly shaped Vandana Shiva’s interest in ecology.

In his essay ‘Tapovan’, Tagore has expressed his understanding of the Indian civilization. Tagore states that “Indian civilization has been distinctive in locating its source of regeneration, material and intellectual, in the forest, not the city.” Tagore asserts that India’s best ideas have come from where the man was in communion with trees and rivers and lakes, away from the crowds. He adds that the peace of the forest has helped the intellectual evolution of man. Furthermore, he says that the culture that has arisen from the forest has been influenced by the diverse processes of renewal of life and these processes of renewal of life are always at play in the forest, varying from season to season, in sight, sound and smell. This culture of the forest has fueled the culture of Indian society. He concludes saying that the unifying principle of life in diversity, of democratic pluralism, thus became the principle of Indian civilization.

Vandana Shiva opines that separation is indeed at the root of disharmony with nature and violence against nature and people. She mentions Cormac Cullinan’s views on eco-apartheid in this context.

Cormac Cullinan is a prominent South African environmentalist. He points out that apartheid means separateness. He declares that the world joined the anti-apartheid movement to end the violent separation of people on the basis of colour and so they were able to end apartheid in South Africa. Cullinan suggests that we need to overcome the wider and deeper apartheid – an ecoapartheid based on the illusion of separateness of humans from nature – in our minds and lives.

The Earth University located at Navdanya, a biodiversity farm in the Doon Valley of the Himalaya, teaches Earth Democracy. It means freedom for all species to evolve within the web of life, and the freedom and responsibility of humans, as members of the Earth family, to recognize, protect, and respect the rights of other species. Earth University is different from other universities because it is eco-centric, while the other universities are anthropocentric.

Eco-centrism refers to the system of thought where the focus is on conserving the existing eco-systems that are needed to protect and sustain the web of life on the Earth. On the contrary, the other universities are anthropocentric. They focus on protecting and sustaining the life of human beings only.

The author states that the Earth University located at Navdanya farm was inspired by Rabindranath Tagore’s ideas expressed in his essay ‘Tapovan’ (Forest of Purity). Tagore says that India’s best ideas have come from the forests where the man was in communion with trees and rivers and lakes, away from the crowds. The peace of the forest has helped the intellectual evolution of man and the culture of the forest has fueled the culture of Indian society.

The culture that has arisen from the forest has been influenced by the diverse processes of renewal of life, which are always at play in the forest, varying from species to species, from season to season, insight and sound and smell. The unifying principle of life in diversity, of democratic pluralism, thus became the principle of Indian civilization

‘The A-Z of Organic Farming and Agroecology’, and ‘Gandhi and Globalization’. 

Vandana Shiva describes ‘Navdanya’ as a movement for biodiversity conservation and organic farming which she started in 1987. Later, when she realized that they needed a farm for demonstration and training, she set up the Navdanya Farm in 1994 in the Doon Valley in the lower elevation Himalayan region of Uttarakhand province. She states that they have conserved and grown 630 varieties of rice, 150 varieties of wheat and hundreds of other species. She also says that they have set up more than 100 community seed banks across India. She also claims to help farmers make a transition from fossil-fuel and chemical-based monocultures to bio-diverse ecological systems nourished by the sun and the soil.

In Shantiniketan in West Bengal.

1. A person to be appointed a minister must be a member of either House of Parliament.

2. The Prime Minister decides the business to be carried on by the Cabinet.

3. The Vice President is elected for a period of five years.

4. The Prime Minister distributes portfolios among the ministers.

5. The public servants constitute the permanent executives.

The Earth University started by Vandana Shiva is located at Navdanya, a biodiversity farm located in the Doon Valley of the Himalaya.

Rabindranath Tagore

In 1994 in the Doon Valley.