Tuesday 23 June 2015

NTSE Stage II 2015 Objections in the Official Answer Key

I think there are corrections in the NTSE Stage II 2015 Official Answer Key
I have objections on Q.No. 63, 81, 85 & 94 of SAT 

Q.No. 63, Assertion (A) : By the early twentieth century, America became the biggest supplier of wheat to Europe
Reason (R) : The expansion of the railways during the period greatly facilitated the transport of grain
1. A is true, R is false                 2. A is false, R is true
3. Both A and R are true but R us not the correct explanation of A
4. Both A and R are true R is the correct explanation of A 
answer given by NCERT is option 3
my answer is 4
On Page no.127,Chapter - Peasants and Farmers, Topic - The Wheat Farmers
it is clearly written - The spread of the railways made it easy to transport the grain from the wheat-growing regions to the eastern coast for export. By the early twentieth century the demand became even higher, and during the First World War the world market boomed. Russian supplies of wheat were cut off and the USA had to feed Europe
so option 4. Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A
should be the correct answer

Q.No. 81. Which one of the following states has common borders with the least number of countries ?
1. Uttarakhand        2. West Bengal        3. Arunachal Pradesh     4. Sikkim          
Answer given by NCERT is option 2
my answer is option 1
Map on Page no. 05, Chapter - India Size and Location (Geography, Class IX) clearly shows that 
Uttarakhand has common borders with China and Nepal
West Bengal has common borders with Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal
so the answer should be option 1. Uttarkhand

Q.No. 85. Match List I (Rivers) with List II (Origin) and select the correct answer using the codes given below
List I (Rivers)                                     List II (Origin)
A. Godavari                                      I. Cardamom Hills
B. Krishna                                        II. Amarkantak Hills
C. Narmada                                      III. Nasik Hills
D. Vaigai                                          IV. Mahabaleshwar
1. A(IV), B(III), C(I), D(II)                   2. A(III), B(IV), C(II), D(I)
3. A(I), B(II), C(IV), D(III)                   4. A(II), B(I), C(III), D(IV)
Answer given by NCERT is option 1.
my answer is option 2.
On Page No.21, Chapter - Drainage (Geography, Class IX)
its clearly mentioned
Godavari rises from the slopes of the Western Ghats in the Nashik District of Maharashtra
Krishna rises from a spring near Mahabaleshwar
Narmada rises in the Amarkantak Hills in Madhya Pradesh

Q.No. 94. Which of the following issues has been most successfully addressed by the Indian democracy ?
1. Social inequality                                   2. Economic inequality
3. Political inequality                                4. Natural inequality
Answer given by NCERT is option 3
my answer is option 1
Page no. 96, 97 & 98 of Chapter - Outcomes of Democracy (Civics, Class X)
has the heading 
Accommodation of social diversity, Dignity and Freedom of the Citizens
on Page no. 98, its clearly written - Democracy in India has strengthened the claims of the disadvantaged and discriminated castes for equal status and equal opportunity. 
According to the above lines, option 1. Social inequality should be the correct answer       
or Option 1 and Option 3. both should be considered as correct answer 

Monday 22 June 2015

Official Answer key of NTSE Stage II 2015

NCERT comes out with NTSE Stage II 2015
official answer key
we have objections on Answers of Q.No. 63, 81, 85 and 94 of SAT
and Q. No. 17 & 20 of  MAT
soon I will share the clarifications on all these objections
please forward those objections to NCERT
last date to file objections are 3rd July 2015

http://www.ncert.nic.in/programmes/talent_exam/pdf_files/NTSE_2015_Key.pdf

Friday 12 June 2015

Work, Life & Leisure

Characteristics of the City
Ancient Cities
First appeared along river valleys
could develop only when an increase in food supplies
were often the centers of political power, administrative networks,
trade and industry, religious institutions and intellectual activity
Modern Cities
vary greatly in size and complexity
densely settled modern day metropolises
combine political & economic functions for an entire region
support very large population
Industrialization & the Rise of Modern City in England
Early industrial cities - Leeds & Manchester were based are textiles mills
London was a powerful magnet for migrant population
was a city of clerks & shopkeepers, small masters & skilled artisians
Apart from Dockyard, five major industries - clothing & footwear,
wood & furniture, metals & engineering, printing & stationary,
precision products such as instruments, watches
& objects of precious metal
Marginal Groups
Criminals
Crime became an object of widespread concern
Some of the criminals were infact poor people,
who indulged in stealing to survive
Others were more skilled at their trade
Authorities imposed high penalties for crime
and offered work for deserving poor
Women
With industrialization women lost their industrial jobs
women used their homes to increase family incomes
in 20th century women got employment in
wartime industries and offices
Children
were pushed into low paid work, often got attracted towards crime
Compulsory Education Act 1870, Factory Act 1902
Housing
Individual landowners put up cheap, unsafe tenements,
Poverty was more concentrated and starkly visible in the city
Poor were expected to live up to an average age of 29
Better off city dwellers demanded that slums be cleared away -
were considered a serious threat to public health,
there were worries aobut fire hazards
fear of social disorders epecially after the Russian Revolution in 1917
Cleaning London
Attempts were made to decongest localities,
green open spaces,
reduce pollution and landscape the city
Large blocks of apartments were built,
Rent control was introduced
Attempts were made to bridge the difference between city and countryside
with Green Belts around London
Garden City
Ebenzer Howard developed the principle,
A pleasant space full of plants and trees,
where people wld both live and work
Raymond Unwin and Barry Parker designed
the garden city of New Earswick
Between the two world wars, the British state
create a million single family cottages
Transport in the Cities
were created to persuade workers to leave
the city and live in garden suburbs,
first section of undergroun Railway was between
Paddington and Farrington Street in London
Initially people were afraid to travel underground
(i) Coal engine emitted a lot of smoke
(ii) People smoke cigar, fumesof kerosene lamp
(iii) People complained of Asphyxiation
(iv) People termed railways as Iron Monster
(v) Two miles of Railways, led to destruction of 900 houses
Outcomes - city became more dispersed, large numbers
started to live outside central London
Social Changes in the City
Function and the shape of the family completely transformed
Family ties loosened, institution of marriage tended to break down
Rich class women faced higher level of isolation
Women of lower social classes, who worked
for wages had some control over their lives
Men, Women & Family in the City
City encouraged a new spirit of Individualism
and a freedom from the collective values.
Women lost their industrial jobs, were forced
to withdraw into their homes.
Political movements (Chartism, 10 hour movement)
mobilised large number of men.
By 20th century family now consisted of much smaller units,
became the heart of a new market - of goods, services and of ideas
Leisure and Consumption
For wealthy British, an annual ‘London Season’ was held
Libraries, Art Gallaries and Museums were established,
Music halls became popular among lower classes,
Cinema became the great mass entertainment,
Workers were encouraged to spend their holidays by the sea
Politics in the City
In Winter of 1886, London poor exploded in a riot,
marched from Deptford to London
demanding relief from terrible conditions of poverty.
A similar riot occurred in November 1887 which
was suppressed by the Police, came to be known
as Bloody Sunday. Two years later, London’s dockworkers
went of strike to gain recognition for the dockworkers union
A large city population was thus both a threat and an opportunity

The City in Colonial India
about 11% Indians were living in cities.
A large proportion of these urban dwellers were residents
of the three Presidency cities. Bombay was the premier city
Bombay the Prime City in India
Bombay a group of seven islands was under Portugues control,
in 1661 came under the British hands
Bombay a major outlet for cotton textiles from Gujarat,
a port, became an important administrative center
and a major industrial center
Work in the City
Became the capital of the Bombay Presidency,
attracted large communities of traders, bankers, artisians & shopkeepers.
Textile mills led to a fresh surge of migrations
Women number dropped in the workforce,
work was taken over by machines or men
Dominated the maritime trade,
junction head of the two major railways attracted large migratory workers
Famine in the Kutch also brought workers
Housing and Neighbourhoods 
Bombay did not grew according to any plan,
houses in fort area were interspressed with Gardens
Bombay fort area divided between a native town
and a European or White section
Crisis of housing and water supply became acute
Richer Parsi, Muslims & upper caste traders,
industrialists lived in sprawling spacious bungalows,
working people lived in the thickely populated chawls
Chawls
Largely owned by private landlords,
each chawl was divided into smaller one-room tenements which had no private toilets
High rents forced workers to share home
Though water was scarce, yet houses were kept quite clean
Stretts and neighbourhoods were used for a variety of activities
Magician, monkey players or acrobats used to
regularly perform in the open places in Chawls
Chawls were also the place for the exchange of
news about jobs, strikes, riots or demonstrations
Person, generally Jobber, settled disputes,
organised food supplies or arranged informal credit
People of depressed classes resided outside chawls
Planning in Bombay came about as a result of
fears about the Plague epidemic.
Rent Act was passed, was not followed
Land Reclamation in Bombay
In 1784, Willian Hornby approved the building of the great sea wall
1864, Back Bay Reclaimation Company won the
right to reclaim the western foreshore from the
tip of Malabar Hill to the end of Colaba
by 1870, the city had expanded to about 22 square mills
Bombay Port Trust built dry dock between 1914 & 1918,
created Ballard Estate and Famous Marine Drive
Bombay as the City of Dreams
Bombay Film industry through its movies
speak of the contradictory aspects of the city
First movie in 1896, scene of a wrestling
match shot by Sakharam Bhatwadekar.
Dadasaheb Phalke made Raja Harishchandra in 1913.
By 1925, Bombay became India’s film capital
Cities and the Challenge of the Environment
England - Industrial chimneys spewed black smoke,
people complained of Black fog causing bad tempers,
smoke related illness and dirty clothes
By 1840 Derby, Leeds & Manchester had laws to control smoke
Smoke abatement Acts of 1847 & 1853 did not always worked to clear the air
Calcutta - Fog combined with smoke, generated thick black smoge.
Population dependent on dung & wood as fuel,
and industries and establishments used steam engines
run on coals were the major polluters.
In 1863, Calcutta became the first Indian city
to get smoke nuisance legislation.
Bengal Smoke Nuisance Commission largely controlled industrial smoke,
controlling domestic smoke was difficult.

Saturday 6 June 2015

Forest and Wildlife Resources

Importance -
India has immense diversity
Forms a complex web of ecological system, necessary for our existence
Recreates the quality of Air, Water and the Soil without which we cannot survive
Forests are the primary producers on which all other living beings depends
Are repositories of some of the country's most valuable forest products, minerals and other resources that meet the demands of the rapidly expanding industrial-urban economy.

Flora & Fauna in India
One of the world's richest countries
Nearly 8 % of the total number of species in the world
10% of India's recorded wild flora and 20% of mammals are on the threatened list

Classification according to International Union for Conservation of Nature & Natural Resources
Normal Species - population levels are considered to be normal for survival
Rare Species - population has declined to levels from where they can get into Vulnerable
Vulnerable Species - population has declined to levels from where they can get into Endangered
Endangered Species - population has declined to levels from where they can get into Extinct
Extinct Species - are not found after searches of know or likely areas where they may occur
Endemic Species - area specific

Negative factors that have caused fearful depletion
Transformation of nature into resources
Damage inflicted during British rule
Agricultural expansion (shifting cultivation)
Large scale development project (River Valley Project, Mining)
Grazing and Fuel wood collection
Habitat destruction, hunting, poaching, over exploitation, environmental pollution, poisoning and forest fires
Unequal access, inequitable consumption of resources and differential sharing of responsibility for environmental well being

Cultural and Social impact of decline of Biodiversity
Increasingly marginalized and changes in many indigenous and other forest dependent communities
Women with the responsibility of collection of fuel, fodder, water are affected more than men
Has led to serious health problems, negligence of homes and children
Severe drought or deforestation induced floods hit the poor the hardest

Conservation -
Why - Preserves the ecological/genetic diversity and our life support system
Steps taken - Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972
Establishment of National Park, Wildlife Sanctuaries
Several Projects - Project Tiger, Project Rhino
Full of partial legal protection against hunting and trade throughout India
Wildlife Act of 1980 & 1986
Six species of plants were added in this list in 1991

Classification of Forests
Reserved forest - half of the total forest land, most valuable
Protected forest - one-third of the total forest area
Unclassed forest - forest and wastelands belonging to government and private individuals and communities
(Reserved and Protected forests are often termed as Permanent forest, MP has the largest)

Community and Conservation
Villager in Sariska Tiger Reserve have fought against mining by citing the Wildlife Protection Act
Five villages in Alwar district have declared 1200 hectares of forest as the Bhairodev Dakav Sonchuri
Chipko Movement, Beej Bachao Andolan and Navdanya
Joint Forest Management, Odisha became to first to launch this programme in 1988