Bhagya – Page 31 – Jharkhand Board Solution

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 6 Understanding Media

September 5, 2024September 4, 2024 by Bhagya

JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 6 Understanding Media

→ Media can be anything and everything ranging from the stall at the local fair to the program that we see on TV.

Media is the plural form of Medium. There are different ways through which we communicate with people and society. It is a means of communication.
Television, radio and newspapers are a form of media that reaches millions of people or the masses all over the country and the world thus, they are called mass media.

→ Media and Technology:

The technology that mass media uses keeps changing from time to time. Television and the use of the Internet is a very recent phenomenon as these have come into existence for less than twenty years.
Due to certain use of technologies, newspapers, television and radio can reach millions of people.
Newspapers and magazines are the part of the print media and Television and radio are the part of the electronic media.
Technology are making us more modem. Changing technology, or machines helps media to reach more people. It not only improves the quality of sound and the images that you see. But also changes the ways in which we think about our lives.
Television has enabled us to think as members of a larger global world. Television images travel huge distances through satellites and cables and allows us to view news and entertainment channels from other parts of the world.
Television, cell phones, internet has brought the world closer to us.

→ Media and Money:

The various technologies which mass media uses are very expensive. In a news studio, it is not only the newsreader who needs to be paid but also a number of other people who help to put the broadcast together, this includes those who look after the cameras and lights etc.
Most of the television channels and newspapers are part of big business houses.
To meet the expenses, they do number of things. One of them is advertising. The mass media earns money by advertising different things such as cars, chocolates, clothes, mobile phones, etc.
Advertisements are repeated in the hope that you will go out and buy what is advertised. It is the way of convincing the common people.

→ Media and Democracy:

The media plays an important role in providing news and discussing events taking place in the country and the world in democracy.
The ways in which they can take action on the basis of news is by writing letters to the concerned minister, organising a public protest, starting a signature campaign, asking the government to rethink its programme etc.
It is important that the information should be balanced as the media has been given the role in providing information.
A balanced report is one that discusses all points of view of a particular story and then leaves it to the readers to make up their minds.
A balanced report write ups depends on the media being independent. An independent media means that no one should control and influence its coverage of news. No one should tell the media what to write or what not to write.
In a democracy, an independent media is very important.
In reality, the media is far from independent. Reasons are there for it.
The control that the government has on the media is the first reason. When the government bans or cut either a news item or scenes from a movie or the lyrics of a song from being shared with the larger public this is known as censorship. There have been periods in Indian history when the government censored the media. Between 1975-1977, the worst of these was the Emergency period.
The second reason is that despite the absence of censorship by the government, most of the newspapers nowadays fail to provide a balanced story because the business houses control the media. At times, it is in the interest of these businesses to focus on only one side of the story. Since, media needs money to run, hence it links to advertising means that it becomes difficult for media to be reporting against people who give them advertisements.
Apart from these factors, to make the news story more interesting they show only one side of the story and to increase the public support.

→ Setting Agendas:

The media also plays an important role in deciding what stories to focus and emphasize on and decides on what is newsworthy.
By emphasizing and focusing on particular issues, the media influences our thoughts, feelings and actions, and brings those issues to our attention. Due to this significant influence, it plays in our lives and in shaping our thoughts and it is generally said that the media ‘sets the agenda’.
The media positively help us to focus on an issue that affects our lives and one that we might not even have been aware of it, had it not been for media reporting.
Though there are several occasions when the media fails to focus on issues that are very much significant in our lives.
Since it is a democratic country, the media has a very important role to play in our lives because it is through the media that we hear about issues related to the working of the government. The media decides what to focus on and in this way it ‘sets the agenda’.
This is important for us to be aware that the ‘factual information’ that a news report provides is often incomplete and can be one-sided. Therefore, we need to analyse the news before coming into conclusion of the issue or news.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 7 Markets Around Us

September 5, 2024September 4, 2024 by Bhagya

JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 7 Markets Around Us

→ There are many types of markets that we may visit for our everyday needs: these can include shops, hawker’s stalls in our neighbourhood, a weekly market, a large shopping complex, perhaps even a mall.

→ Weekly Market:

The market which is held on a specific day of the week is known as the weekly market.
Weekly markets do not have permanent shops. Traders set up shops for the day and then close them up in the evening. Then they may set up at a different place the next day.
Many things are available at cheaper rates in weekly markets. The reason is when shops are in permanent buildings, they incur a lot of expenditure, they have to pay rent, electricity, fees to the government, etc. They also have to pay wages to their workers. In weekly markets, these shop owners store the things at home.
One of the advantages of weekly markets is that most things you need are available at one place.

→ Shops in the Neighbourhood:

We also buy things from other kinds of markets. There are many shops that sell goods and services in our neighbourhoods.
Many of these are the permanent shops while others are roadside stalls such as the vegetable hawker, the fruit vendor, the mechanic, etc.
Shops in the neighbourhood are useful in many ways. They are near our home and we can go there on any day of the week. Generally, the buyer and seller know each other and these shops also provide goods and things on credit.

→ Shopping Complexes and Malls:

There are other markets in the urban area that have many shops, popularly called shopping complexes.
These days in many urban areas there are large multi-storeyed air-conditioned buildings with shops on different floors known as malls.
In these urban markets, both branded and non-branded goods are found.
The companies producing the branded products, sell them through shops in large urban markets and at times through special showrooms as compared to non-branded goods, fewer people can afford to buy branded ones.

→ Chain of Markets:

The people who is present in between the producer and the final consumer are the traders. The wholesale trader first buys goods in large quantities.
Through these connections of traders that goods reach distant places. The retailer is the trader who finally sells this to the consumer.
This could be a trader in a weekly market, a hawker in the neighbourhood or a shop in a shopping complex.
A chain of markets is set up. Every city has areas for wholesale markets. This is where goods first reach and are then supplied to other traders. From these traders, the retailers buy and finally the buyers get it.

→ Markets Everywhere:

Buying and selling takes place in different ways, not through shops in the market only. People use phones and internet to place orders and get the things at their home.
There are markets that we are not so aware of because a large number of goods are bought and sold that we don’t use directly.
Generally, we don’t see all the buying and selling processes but only the final product.

→ Markets and Equality:

We can be buyers or sellers in these different markets which depends among other things and on the money that we have.
The weekly market trader earns very less compared to the profit of a shop owner in a shopping complex.
When things are sold, it encourages production and new opportunities are created for people to earn. Hence, there is inequality in the market.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 8 A Shirt in the Market

September 5, 2024September 4, 2024 by Bhagya

JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 8 A Shirt in the Market

→ A chain of markets links the producer of cotton to the buyer of the shirt in the supermarket. Buying and selling takes place at every step in the chain.

→ A Cotton Farmer in Kurnool:

Cultivation of cotton is a very tough and difficult job. Cultivation of cotton is very expensive and requires high levels of inputs such as fertilisers and pesticides.
The farmers have to bear heavy expenses on account of these. The small farmers need to borrow money to meet these expenses.
Local traders were giving loans to farmers and in return they were buying their cottons from them at cheaper rates. They were very clever and making good amount of money.

→ The Cloth Market of Erode

Different varieties of cloth are sold in Erode’s bi-weekly cloth market in Tamil Nadu.
It is one of the largest cloth markets in the world.
Cloth that is made by weavers in the villages around is also brought in the market for sale. Offices of cloth merchants are present in the market who buy this cloth. Other traders from many south Indian towns also come and purchase cloth in this market.
On market days, weavers bring cloth that has been made on order from the merchant. These merchants supply cloth on order to garment manufacturers and exporters around the country. Merchants purchase the yam and give instructions and directions to the weavers about the kind of cloth that is to be made.

→ Putting-out System – Weavers Producing Cloth at Home

The merchant distributes and hand out the work among the weavers based on the orders he has received for cloth. The merchant give yam to the weavers and in turn the weavers supply him the cloth.
Two advantages are there for the weavers. They do not have to spend their money on purchase of yam. Second, the problem of selling the finished cloth is taken care of.
But this dependence on the merchants for raw materials and markets means that the merchants has a lot of power. They give orders for what is to be made and they pay a very low price for making the cloth.
The weaver never know for whom they are making the cloth or at what price it will be sold. At the cloth market, the merchants sell the cloth to the garment factories. The market works in favour of the merchants most of the time.
Weavers invest all their savings or borrow money at high interest rates to buy looms. He cannot work alone so he takes the help
of another adult family member. They work very hard and earn very nominal amount.
The arrangement between the merchant and the weavers is an example of putting-out system where the merchant supplies the raw material and receives the finished product. It is prevalent in the weaving industry in most regions of India.

→ The Garment Exporting Factory Near Delhi

The Erode merchant supplies the cotton cloth produced by the weavers to a garment exporting factory near Delhi. The garment exporting factory will use the cloth to make shirts.
The shirts will be exported to foreign buyers who are from the US and Europe who run a chain of stores.
They do business on their own term and conditions. They demand the lowest prices from the supplier and set high standards for quality of production and timely delivery. Any defects or delay in delivery is dealt with strictly. Hence, the exporter tries his best to meet the conditions.
The exporters having these conditions and pressures in turn cut the costs of weavers and maximize their own profit and supply the garment to foreign buyers at cheap rates.

→ The Shirt in the United States
The big businessperson who bought the shirts from the garment exporters in Delhi earn a huge amount of profit. Although, he spent some amount on advertising, storage, etc.

→ Who are the Gainers in the Market?
There were people who made profits in the market and there were some who did not gain as much from this buying and selling. Despite they have been toiled very hard, they earned very little.

→ Market and Equality

Democracy is also about getting a fair wage in the market.
The foreign businessperson made maximum profits in the market But, the garment exporter made only moderate profits. Whereas, file workers earned so less at the garment export factory that are barely enough to cover their day- to-day needs. Similarly, the small cotton former and tiie weaver at Erode put in long hours ofhard work but they did not get a lair price in the market for what they produced. The merchants or traders are somewhere in between.
Mostly the rich and the powerful that get the maximum earnings from the market. These are the people who have money and own the factories, the large shops, large land holdings, etc. The poor have to depend on the rich and the powerful for different things. They have to depend for loans, for raw materials and marketing of their goods and most often for employment.
Due to this dependency and inequality, the poor people are exploited in the market.
To overcome these situations, cooperatives of producers are formed and ensures that laws are followed strictly.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 9 Struggles for Equality

September 5, 2024September 4, 2024 by Bhagya

JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 9 Struggles for Equality

→ The heart of democracy is equality and India is a democratic country. Unfortunately, there is inequality in the society. Only during election, on the polling day all adult citizen of India enjoys the equal rights to vote.

We have seen in earlier chapters as well that discrimination was always present with person such as Kanta, Swapna, Ansaris, Kavita, Melani and the list is long. For them, some people take initiatives and starts struggles for equality. For this cause, many people extend their support.
The major reason why so many people’s lives in India are highly unequal are poverty and lack of resources.
Another significant reason why people are treated unequally in India are discrimination on the basis of person’s caste, sex and religion.

→ Struggles for Equality:
Some of the persons become more widely recognised and well known because they have the support or represent large numbers of people who have united to address a particular issue of inequality.

In India, there are several struggles in which people have come together to fight for issues that they believe are important.
We can allude and refer the methods used by the women’s movement to raise issues of equality. Another example of people coming together to fight for an issue is the Tawa Matsya Sangh in Madhya Pradesh.
There are many such struggles such as those among beedi workers, fisherfolk, agricultural labourers, slum dwellers and each of them is struggling for justice in its own methods.

→ Tawa Matsya Sangh:

When dams are built or forest areas declared sanctuaries for animals, thousands of people are displaced. Most of these people are poor and forced to go somewhere else.
In urban areas too, bastis in which poor people live are often uprooted. Their work as well as their children’s schooling is severely hampered and disrupted.
This displacement of people and communities is a major problem that has become quite widespread in our country. People and activists usually come together to fight for this.
The Tawa Matsya Sangh is a federation of Fisherworker’s cooperatives which is an organisation fighting for the rights of the displaced forest dwellers of the Satpura forest in Madhya Pradesh.
The Tawa dam began to be built in 1958 and was completed in 1978. It submerged large areas of forest and agricultural land.
Some of the displaced people settled around the reservoir and apart from their meagre farms found a livelihood in fishing. They earned nominal amount.
In 1994, the government gave the rights for fishing in the Tawa reservoir to private contractors. These contractors drove the local people away and got cheap labour from outside.
The villagers stood united and decided that now it was time to set up an organisation and do something to protect the rights.
The newly formed Tawa Matsya Sangh (TMS) organised rallies and a chakka jam (road blockade) demanding their right to continue fishing for their livelihood.
In response to their protests and agitations, the government created a committee to assess the issue. On January 2,1997, people from 33 villages of Tawa started the new year with the first catch.
With the TMS taking over the charges, the fishworkers were able to increase their earnings substantially because they set up the cooperative which would buy the catch from them at a fair price.
The TMS has also begun giving the fishworkers loans for repair and the buying of new nets.
By managing to earn a higher wage as well as preserving the fish in the reservoir, the TMS has shown that when people’s organisations get their rights to livelihood, they can be good managers.

→ The Indian Constitution as a Living Document:
The Indian Constitution recognises the equality of all persons. Movements and struggles for equality in India continuously refer to the Indian Constitution to make their point about equality and justice for all.

By referring to the Constitution the people use it as a ‘living document’, i.e., something that has real meaning in our lives. In a democracy, there are always communities and individuals trying to expand the idea of democracy and push for a greater recognition of equality on existing as well as new issues.
The issues substantially affect poor and marginalised communities, and hence, concern economic and social equality in the country.
This is the basic principal of the struggle for equality in a democracy. The dignity and self-respect of each person and their community can only be realised if they have adequate resources to support and nurture their families and if they are not discriminated against.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 1 Environment

September 5, 2024September 4, 2024 by Bhagya

JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 1 Environment

→ Environment is the most crucial aspect of our life. The place, people, things and nature that consists of any living organism is called environment. It is a blend of natural and human made phenomena.

Both biotic and abiotic conditions which exists on earth refers to natural environment.
Biotic means the world of living organisms and abiotic means the world of non-living organisms.
Human environment divulge into the activities, creations and interactions among human beings.

→ Natural Environment

The natural environment consists of land, water, air, plants and animals.
Environmental domains are lithosphere, • hydrosphere, biosphere and atmosphere.
The solid crust or the hard top layer of the earth is called the lithosphere. It is made up of different types of rocks and minerals and covered by a thin layer of soil. It provides us with forests, grasslands for grazing, land for agriculture and human settlements. We find different kinds of minerals here.
Various sources of water and different types of waterbodies such as rivers, lakes, seas, oceans, etc., comprises Hydrosphere. It is an essential element for all living organisms.
The thin layer of air that surrounds the earth is called the Atmosphere. It protect us from the harmful rays and scorching heat of the sun and contains many types of gases, dust and water vapour. Weather and climate changes due to the changes in the atmosphere.
Biosphere or the living world consists of plant and animal kingdom. Land, water and air interact and mix with each other to support life and it is a narrow zone of the earth.

→ What is Ecosystem?

The association between the living organisms as well as the association between the organisms and their surroundings form a system which is known as ecosystem.
An ecosystem can be of large rainforest, grassland, desert, mountains, lake, river, ocean and even a small pond.
As per human beings need, they modify the natural environment which is very dangerous.

→ Human Environment

Early humans adjusted themselves to the natural surroundings.
With time needs grew and humans learnt new ways to use and change environment. They learnt to grow crops, domesticate animals and lead a settled life.
The wheel was invented, barter system came into existence, trade started and
commerce developed. Transportation became faster. Information revolution made communication easier and faster.
A good balance is required between nature and human beings.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 2 Inside Our Earth

September 5, 2024September 4, 2024 by Bhagya

JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 2 Inside Our Earth

→ Both outside and inside of the earth, change is going on constantly.

→ Interior of the earth:

Many concentric layers which are one inside the another maked the earth.
The crust is the uppermost layer over the earth’s surface. Among all the layers, it is the thinnest. It is about 35 km on the continental masses and only 5 km on the ocean floors.
The main mineral components of the continental mass are silica and alumina and known as sial.
The oceanic crust mainly consists of silica and magnesium and known as sima.
The mantle is just under the crust which extends upto a depth of 2900 km below the crust.
The innermost layer is mainly consists of nickel and iron and is known as nife which is the core with a radius of about 3500 km and has very high temperature and pressure.

→ Rocks and Minerals:

A rock is the natural mass of mineral matter that makes up the earth’s crust. It can be of different shape, colour, size and texture.
Three types of rocks are there:
- igneous rocks
- sedimentary rocks
- metamorphic rocks.

→ Igneous rocks are also called as primary rocks. There are two types of igneous rocks:

Intrusive rocks – They cool down slowly and thus they form large grains such as Granite.
Extrusive rocks – They have a very fine grained structure such as basalt. The Deccan plateau is made up of basalt rocks.

→ The sediments are transported and deposited by wind, water, etc. Layers of rocks are formed by these loose sediments which are compressed and hardened. These types of rocks are known as sedimentary rocks such as sandstone which is made from grains of sand. These rocks may also contain fossils of plants, animals and other micro-organisms that once lived on them.

→ Igneous and sedimentary rocks changes into metamorphic rocks under great heat and pressure such as clay changes into slate and limestone into marble.
The process of transformation of the rock from one to another rock is called the rock cycle.
Rocks are made up of different minerals and are naturally occurring substances which have certain physical and chemical properties. Some are used as fuels, some in medicines, industries, fertilisers, etc.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 3 Our Changing Earth

September 5, 2024September 4, 2024 by Bhagya

JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 3 Our Changing Earth

→ The lithosphere is fragmented into a number of plates known as the Lithospheric plates.

Lithospheric plates move around very slowly say just a few millimetres each year, this happens because of the movement of the molten magma inside the earth.
The earth movements are classified on the basis of the forces which cause them.
Two types of forces works: The forces which act in the interior of the earth are known as Endogenic forces and the forces that work on the surface of the earth are known as Exogenic forces.
Sudden movements such as earthquakes and volcanoes cause mass destruction over the surface of the earth.
A vent means opening in the earth’s crust through which molten material erupts suddenly is known as a volcano.
When the Lithospheric plates move, the surface of the earth vibrates which travel all round the earth. These vibrations are known as earthquakes. The focus is the place in the crust where the movement starts. The epicentre is the place on the surface above the focus.
Though earthquakes cannot be predicted, but some common earthquake prediction methods adopted locally by the people include studying animal behaviour such as fish in the ponds get agitated, snakes come to the surface, etc.
The device used for measuring earthquake is Seismograph. Richter scale helps to measure the magnitude of the earthquake.

→ Earthquake preparedness – where to take shelter when earthquake occurs.

Safe spots are under a kitchen counter, a table, against an insided comer or wall.
Stay away from fire places such as chimneys, windows with glass pane, pictures.
Always be prepared by spreading awareness among your family members and friends and face any disaster and hurdle confidently.

→ Major Land Forms:

The landscape is being continuously worn away by two processes, they are weathering and erosion.
The breaking up of the rocks on the earth’s surface is known as Weathering. The wearing away of the landscape by different agents like water, wind and ice is known as Erosion.
The process of erosion and deposition create different and numerous landforms on the surface of the earth.

→ Work of a River:

A waterfall is formed when the river tumbles at steep angle over very hard rocks or down a steep valley side.
Meanders are formed by turns and large bends when the river enters the plain and twists.
An ox-bow lake is formed in due course of time when the meander loop cuts off from the river and forms a cut-off lake.
As the river floods, it deposits layers of fine soil and other material called sediments along its banks and this leads to the formation of a flat fertile flood plain. Thus, the raised banks are called levees.
The speed of the flowing river decreases as it approaches the sea and river begins to break up into a number of streams known as distributaries.
A delta is formed by the collection of sediments from all the mouths.

→ Work of Sea Waves:

Sea caves are the hollow caves which are formed on the rocks.
Sea arches are formed when these cavities become bigger and bigger in size and only the roof of the caves remain.
Stacks are the only walls which are left where erosion breaks the roof. Sea cliff are the steep rocky coast rising almost vertically above sea water.
The sea waves deposit sediments along the shores forms the beaches.

→ Work of Ice:

Rivers of ice which too erode the landscape by bulldozing soil and stones to expose the solid rock below is known as Glaciers.
The different material carried by the glacier such as rocks big and small, sand and silt gets deposited and these deposits form glacial moraines.

→ Work of Wind:

Mushroom rocks are the rocks which you find in deserts in the shape of a mushroom.
When the wind stops blowing the sand falls and gets deposited in low hill like structures are known as sand dunes.
The grains of sand becomes very fine and light, the wind can carry it over very long distances. When such sand is deposited in large areas, it is known loess. Large deposits of loess is found in China.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 5 Women Change the World

September 4, 2024September 3, 2024 by Bhagya

JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 5 Women Change the World

→ Still getting an education was one way in which new opportunities were created for women.

→ Fewer Opportunities and Rigid Expectations:

Many people believe that women make better nurses because they are more patient and gentle.
This is linked to women’s roles within the family. In the same way, it is believed that science requires a technical mind and girls and women are not capable of dealing with technical things.
Most of the people believe in these stereotypes, hence many girls do not get the same support that boys do to study and train to become doctors and engineers.
Once girls finish their school, they are encouraged by their families to see marriage as their main aim in life.
We live in a society in which all children face pressures from the world around them. Sometimes, these come in the form of demands from adults. At other times, they can just be because of unfair teasing by our own friends.

→ Learning for Change:

• An extremely important part of our life is going to school. As more and more children enter school every year, we begin to think that it is normal for all children to go to school.
In the past, the skill of reading and writing was known to only a few. Most children learnt the work their families or elders did. The situation was worse for the girls. In communities that taught sons to read and write, daughters were not allowed to learn the alphabet. Even in families where skills like pottery, weaving and craft were taught, the contribution of daughters and women was only seen as supportive.
In the nineteenth century, many new ideas about education and learning emerged. Schools became more common and communities that had never leamt reading and writing started sending their children to school but there was a lot of opposition to educating girls even then.
Around 200 years ago, Rashsundari Devi (1800-1890) was bom in West Bengal. At the age of 60, she wrote her autobiography in Bangla. Her book titled A mar Jiban is the first known autobiography written by an Indian woman.
During that time, it was believed that if a woman leamt to read and write, she would bring bad luck to her husband and become a widow.
She leamt the alphabets with great efforts and read the Chaitanya Bhagabat as well. There were days when she did not have a moment’s rest, no time even to sit down and eat.
Another example is about Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (1880-1932) who did a lot in the field of education for women. She herself knew how to read and write Urdu. Later, she also learnt to read and write English and Bangla. She wrote a phenomenal story named ‘Sultana’s Dream’.

→ Schooling and Education today:

Though today, both boys and girls attend school in large numbers. Yet, there are differences between the education of boys and girls.
India has a census every 10 years which counts the whole population of the country along with other details.
According to the 1961 census, about 40 per cent of all boys and men were literate compared to just 15 per cent of all girls and women. In the census of2001, these figures have grown upto 76 per cent for boys and men and 54 per cent for girls and women. But, then also there is a huge gap.
Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) girls leave school at a rate that is higher than the category of ‘All Girls’. It means that girls who are from Dalit and Adivasi backgrounds are less likely to remain in school. The 2001 census also found that Muslim girls are less likely than Dalit and Adivasi girls to complete primary school.
In many parts of the country, especially in rural and poor areas, there may not even be proper schools nor teachers who teach on a regular basis.
Most families are too poor and not able to bear the cost of educating all their children. Boys may get preference in this situation. Many children also leave school because they are discriminated against by their teacher and classmates.

→ Women’s Movement:

Now, women and girls have the right to study and go to school. There are other spheres .such as legal reform, violence and health where the situation of women and girls has improved.
Women individually as well as collectively have struggled to bring about these changes. This struggle is known as the Women’s Movement. Individual women and women’s organisations from different parts of the country are part of the movement.
The diversity, passion and efforts of those involved makes it a very vibrant and energetic movement. Different methods and strategies have been used to spread awareness, fight discrimination and seek justice. Many men also supported this movement.

→ Campaigning:

Campaigns are to fight discrimination and violence against women are an important part of the women’s movement.
Campaigns also led to new laws being passed. In 2006, a law was passed to give women who face physical and mental violence within their homes are known as domestic violence some legal protection.
In 1997, to protect women against sexual harassment at the workplace and within educational institutions, efforts made by the women’s movement led the Supreme Court to formulate guidelines.
In the 1980s, women’s groups across the country campainged against ‘dowry deaths’ means cases of young brides being murdered by their in-laws or husbands, greedy for more dowry.
Women did so by coming on to the streets, approaching the courts, and by sharing information. Hence, this became a public issue in the newspapers and society and the dowry laws were changed to punish families who seek dowry.

→ Showing Solidarity
The women’s movement is also about showing solidarity with other women and causes.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 8 Human Environment Interactions: The Tropical and the Subtropical Regions

September 4, 2024September 3, 2024 by Bhagya

JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 8 Human Environment Interactions: The Tropical and the Subtropical Regions

→ Life in the Amazon Basin:

The river Amazon flows through the equatorial region between 10°N and 10°S.
River’s mouth is the place where a river flows into another body of water.
Number of tributaries join the Amazon River to form the Amazon basin. The river basin drains portions of Brazil, parts of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Columbia and a small part of Venezuela.

→ Climate

The Amazon Basin has been characterized by hot and wet climate throughout the year. Day and nights both are almost equally hot and humid. The skin feels sticky.
Rain occurs almost everyday. The temperatures of daytime are high with very high humidity. The temperature during night goes down but the humidity remains high.

→ Rainforests:
In this region, heavy rainfalls happen. Hence, the forests are very thick that the dense ‘roof’ are created by the leaves and branches which does not allow the sunlight to reach the ground.

Orchids, bromeliads grow as plant parasites as only shade tolerant vegetation may Birds which are found are toucans, humming birds, bird of paradise with their brilliantly coloured plumage, oversized bills for eating make them different from birds we commonly see in India. These birds make loud sounds in the forests. These forests are very rich in fauna.
Monkeys, sloth and ant-eating tapirs are found in this forest. Different species of reptiles and snakes such as crocodiles, snakes, pythons are also found. Anaconda and boa constrictor are some of the species which are found here.
It is the home for various kinds of insects. Many species of fishes such as the flesh eating Piranha fish is also found in the river. Hence, this basin is exceptionally rich in the variety of life found there.

→ People of the Rainforests

Most of the food are grown in small places after clearing some trees in the forest. Men usually hunt and fish along the rivers and women take care of the crops.
They mainly grow tapioca, pineapple and sweet potato. The women take care of their families alive by growing vegetables as hunting and fishing are uncertain.
They practice ‘slash and bum agriculture’ which is a way of cultivating land where farmers clear a piece of land by slashing or cutting down trees and bushes and then they are burnt.
Manioc which is also known as cassava that grows under the ground like the potato is the staple food. They also eat queen ants and egg sacs. Coffee, maize and cocoa are also grown which are the cash crops.
Some people live in thatched houses shaped like beehives. Some live in large apartment like houses are known as ‘Maloca’ with a steeply slanting roof.
In the older days, only by navigating the river the core of the forest could be reached. In 1970, all parts of the rainforest was made accessible by the Trans Amazon highway. Aircrafts and helicopters are also used for reaching the remote places.
In the Amazon basin, it is evaluated that a large area of the rainforest has been disappearing annually.
Due to destruction of forest, the topsoil is washed away as the rains fall and the lush forest turns into a barren landscape.

→ Life in the Ganga-Brahmaputra Basin

Ganga-Brahmaputra basin in the Indian subcontinent is formed by the tributaries of rivers Ganga and Brahmaputra together. This basin lies in the sub-tropical region which is situated between 10°N to 30°N latitudes.
The River Ganga has the tributaries such as the Ghaghra, the Son, the Chambal, the Gandak, the Kosi and the tributaries of Brahmaputra drain it.
The main features of this basin are the plains of the Ganga and the Brahmaputra, the mountains and the foothills of the Himalayas and the Sundarbans delta.
The monsoon climate is the main climate of this region. The monsoon brings rains from mid-June to‘mid-September. Hence, the summers are hot and the winters cool.
The environment plays a major role in the distribution of the population. Inhospitable terrain is mostly found in the mountain areas with steep slopes. Hence, population is less who live in the mountain area of the Ganga-Brahmaputra basin.
Human habitation is present in the plain area which is the most suitable land as the soil is fertile. The main occupation of the people is agriculture where flat land is available to grow crops.
The density of population of the plains is very high. Paddy is the main crop as the cultivation of paddy requires sufficient water, so it is grown in the regions where there is high rainfall.
The other crops which are grown here are wheat, maize, sorghum, gram and millets. Sugarcane and jute are the cash crops which are also grown. In some areas of the plain, banana plantations are found.

→ Tea is grown in West Bengal and Assam.
In some parts of Bihar and Assam, silk is produced through the cultivation of silk worms. Crops are grown on terraces in the mountains and hills, where the slopes are gentle.

In the Ganga and Brahmaputra plain tropical deciduous trees grows such as teak, sal and peepal. In the Brahmaputra plain, thick bamboo groves are very common. The delta region is covered with the mangrove forests.
In some parts of Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, coniferous trees such as pine, deodar and fir can be found. The climate is cool and the slopes are steep.
Many animals are found in this basin. Elephants, tigers, deer and monkeys are found. In the Brahmaputra plain, the one-homed rhinoceros is found. In the delta region, Bengal tiger, crocodiles and alligator are found. Aquatic life are found in the fresh river waters, the lakes and the Bay of Bengal Sea. The most popular varieties of the fish are the rohu, catla and hilsa.

→ The staple diet of the people living in this region are fish and rice.

Several big towns and cities are present near the Ganga-Brahmaputra plain. The main cities are Prayagraj, Kanpur, Varanasi, Patna and Kolkata with the dense population which are located along the River Ganga.
The wastewater and garbage from these cities and industries is discharged into the rivers which leads to the pollution of the rivers.
In the Ganga-Brahmaputra basin, all the means of transport are well developed. In the plain areas, the people use the roadways and railways transport to move from one place to another. The waterways, is an important means of transport particularly along the rivers. Kolkata is an important port on the River Hooghly. Large number of airports are present in the plain areas.
The other important activity of the basin is tourism. Taj Mahal on the banks of River Yamuna in Agra, Prayagraj on the confluence of the Rivers Ganga and Yamuna and invisible Saraswati river which is known as Triveni Sangam, Buddhist stupas in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, Lucknow with its Imambara, Kaziranga and Manas wild life sanctuaries in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh has a distinct tribal culture which are some of the places worth a visit.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 9 Life in the Deserts

September 4, 2024September 3, 2024 by Bhagya

JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 9 Life in the Deserts

→ There are places in the world where people have learned to survive in extreme severe and harsh temperatures some regions are as hot as fire and some as cold as ice and these regions are known as the deserts of the world.

→ Low rainfall, scanty vegetation and extreme temperatures are the features and specifications of deserts.

→ The Hot Desert-Sahara:

Sahara desert is the world’s largest desert. It has an area of around 8.54 million sq km.
The Sahara desert covers eleven countries – Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Sudan, Tunisia and Western Sahara.
Sahara desert is covered not only with the enormous stretches of sands, but there are also gravel plains and elevated plateaus with bare rocky surface. At some regions, these surfaces may be more than 2500 m high.

→ Climate:

The climate of the Sahara desert is scorching and unbearably hot and parch dry.
Rainy season is very short. The sky is cloudless and clear.
During the day, the temperatures may soar as high as 50°C which heats up the sand and the bare rocks and which in turn radiates heat making everything around very hot.
During the nights temperatures reach near zero degrees with freezing cold.

→ Flora and Fauna:

In the Sahara desert, vegetation consists of cactus, date palms and acacia.
There are oasis in some regions – green islands with date palms surrounding them.
The animals which are found here include camels, hyenas, jackals, foxes, scorpions, many varieties of snakes and lizards.

→ People:

Despite rough and harsh climate, the desert has been inhabited by many groups of people who are engaged in different types of works and activities.
There are many nomadic tribes and among them are the Bedouins and Tuaregs who are mainly into rearing livestock like goats, sheep, camels and horses.
These animals provide them with numerous things such as milk, hides from which they make leather for belts, slippers, water bottles, hair is majorly used for mats, carpets, clothes and blankets. These people wear heavy robes as protection against dust storms and hot and fiery winds.
The oasis in the Sahara and the Nile Valley in Egypt holds up and supports the settled population. The people grow date palms because water is available.
Crops such as rice, wheat, barley and beans are also grown. In Egypt, Egyptian cotton is famous worldwide which is grown there. The detection and finding out oil which is required by the whole world in Algeria, Libya and Egypt is constantly transforming and changing the Sahara desert.
Other important minerals that are found here includes iron, phosphorus, manganese and uranium.
The cultural environment of the Sahara is undergoing a vast change. Highways are made which criss-cross the ancient camel paths. High rise glass cased buildings tower over mosques.
In the salt trade, trucks and vehicles are replacing camels.
Tuaregs are working as guides to foreign tourists: Most of the nomadic herdsmen are heading to city life finding jobs in oil and gas operations.

→ The Cold Desert-Ladakh:

A cold desert lying in the Great Himalayas on the eastern side of Jammu and Kashmir is Ladakh.
In the north, the Karakoram Range and in the south, the Zanskar mountains enclose it. Through Ladakh, many rivers flow and the most important one is Indus river. The rivers form deep valleys and gorges. In Ladakh, many glaciers are found such as the Gangri glacier.
The altitude in Ladakh varies from about 3000 m in Kargil to more than 8,000 m in the Karakoram. The climate is extremely cold and dry due to its high altitude.
In summer, the day temperatures are just above zero degree and the night temperatures below 30°C.
In the winters, it is freezing cold where the temperatures remain below 40°C for most of the time.
There is very little rainfall as low as 10 cm every year as it lies in the rain shadow of the Himalayas. The region encounters freezing winds and burning hot sunlight.

→ Flora and Fauna:

Due to high deficiency of moisture and barrenness, the vegetation is sparse. There are scanty patches of grasses and shrubs for animals to graze. In the valleys, groves of willows and poplars are seen.
In the summers, apples, apricots and walnuts the fruit trees bloom.
In Ladakh, many species of birds are seen such as Robins, redstarts, Tibetan snowcock, raven and hoopoe. Some of these are migratory birds also.
Wild goats, wild sheep, yak and special kinds of dogs are the animals of Ladakh.
The animals are reared to provide the milk, meat and hides.
To make cheese and butter, Yak’s milk is used. The hair of the sheep and goat is used to make woollens.

→ People:

People here are either Muslims or Buddhists.
Many Buddhist monasteries dot the Ladakhi environment with their traditional ‘gompas’. Some of the famous monasteries are Hemis, Thiksey, Shey and Lamayuru.
People involve themselves in cultivating barley, potatoes, peas, beans and turnip in the summers.
The climate in winter months is so harsh and unbearable that people keep themselves engaged in different festivities and ceremonies.
The women not only work in the house and fields but also manage small business and shops. They are very hardworking and laborious.
The capital of Ladakh is Leh which is well connected by both road and air. The National Highway 1A connects Leh to Kashmir Valley through the Zoji La Pass.
The major activity is the tourism as many tourists streaming in from within India and abroad. The major and important activities are visiting the gompas, treks to see the meadows and glaciers, witnessing ceremonies and festivities.
Due to modernization, life of people is undergoing change. Due to scarcity and lack of resources like water and fuel, they are used with reverence, appreciation and care. Nothing is discarded or wasted.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 2 New Kings and Kingdoms

September 4, 2024September 3, 2024 by Bhagya

JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes History Chapter 2 New Kings and Kingdoms

→ Many new dynasties came into existence in the subcontinent between seventh and twelfth centuries.

→ The Emergence of New Dynasties:

There were big landlords or warrior chiefs in different regions of the subcontinent in seventh century.
They were working under the existing kings as samantas or subordinates. As moderately they gained power and wealth and eventually they declared themselves to be maha-samanta, maha-mandaleshvara.
Some of them asserted their independence from their overlords. Rashtrakutas were the subordinates of Chalukyas in Karnataka. Dantidurga, a Rashtrakuta chief, overthrew his Chalukya overlord and performed a ritual called hiranyagarbha (means, the golden womb) in eighth century.
Some other lords were same as Rashtrakutas were Kadamba Mayurasharman and Gurjara-Pratihara Harichandra who successfully established their kingdoms.

→ Administration in the Kingdoms:

Titles such as maharaja-adhiraja (great king, overlord of kings), tribhuvana- chakravartin (lord of the three worlds) were adopted by these new kings. They shared their power with their samantas as well as alliance with traders, brahmanas and peasants.
Peasants, cattle-keepers, artisans, were persuaded or compelled to surrender part of what they produced. They were the main producers of the states.
These products were used to finance the king’s establishment, as well as for the construction of temples and forts. They were also used to fight wars, which were in turn expected to lead to the acquisition of wealth and access to land as well as trade routes. Sometimes these were claimed as “rent” due to a lord who asserted that he owned the land. Revenue was also collected from traders.

→ Prashastis and Land Grants:

Learned Brahmanas composed the Prashastis who often helped the kings in the administration. They tell us how rulers wanted to characterize themselves as heroic, courageous and victorious warriors.
Long Sanskrit poem was composed by Kalhana, who described the history of kings who ruled over Kashmir. But he was different from the writers of Prashastis as he was very critical and analytical about the kings and their policies.

→ Warfare for Wealth

The city of Kanauj in the Ganga valley was a specific region, which every dynasty tried to control. For centuries, three main dynasties; Rashtrakuta, Gurjara-Pratihara and Pala dynasties fought over it. Because of this long conflict, historians describe it as the “tripartite struggle”.
Temples were often targeted when the kings attacked other kingdoms which were sometimes extremely rich. Usually, kings built those to show and exhibit their power and resources.
One such ruler was Sultan Mahmud Ghazni of Afghanistan, who ruled from 997 to 1030 CE. His main aim was to attack wealthy temples, which included the temple of Somnath, Gujarat. He continued to control over parts of Central Asia, Iran and north¬western part of the subcontinent.
The Arabic work, known as the Kitab-ul Hind, written by a scholar named Al-Biruni on appeal of Sultan remains an important source for historians. He also consulted Sanskrit scholars to prepare this.
Some other kings were also engaged in war, those were Chahamanas, later known as the Chauhans, who ruled around Delhi and Ajmer.
They tried to expand their territories but were opposed by Chalukyas and Gahadavalas in the west and east region.
The popular Chahamana ruler was Prithviraja III (1168-1192), who defeated an Afghan king, Sultan Muhammad Ghori in 1191, but lost to him the very next year in 1192.

→ A Closer Look-The Cholas

From Uraiyur to Thanjavur
In the Kaveri delta, the subordinates to the Pallava kings of Kanchipuram Muttaraiyar rose to power.
Vijayalaya, who belonged to the family of the Cholas from Uraiyur, captured the delta in the middle of the ninth century. He also built the Thanjavur town and a temple for goddess Nishumbhasudini there.
The most powerful Chola ruler was Rajaraja I. He expanded his territory over most of. these areas and reorganised the administration of the empire. Rajendra I was Rajaraja’s son and he continued his legacies and policies. He was also very famous like his father.
Splendid Temples and Bronze Sculpture
Rajaraja and Rajendra built big temples in Thanjavur and Gangaikonda-cholapuram.
Temples were the core place of economic, social and cultural life apart from the place of worship.
Chola bronze images were very extraordinary and considered amongst the finest in the world. These were associated with the temples.

→ Agriculture and Irrigation

Agriculture developed a lot and contributed to the achievements of the Cholas.
They made several water channels which provided the necessary moisture for agriculture especially cultivation of rice.
Different methods were used for irrigation such as huge tanks were constructed to collect rainwater, digging of wells. Irrigation works require planning – organising labour and resources, maintaining these works and deciding on how water is to be shared.

→ The Administratioir of the Empires

Ur means settlements of peasants, which became prosperous with the spread of irrigation agriculture. Villagers formed larger units in groups called nadu. The village council and the nadu had many administrative services including giving out justice and collecting taxes.
Some rich landowners got titles from Chola kings like muvendavelan (a velan or peasant serving three kings), araiyar (chief), etc., as markers of respect, and assigned them with important offices of the state at the centre.
Brahmanas also received land grants or brahmadeya. Hence, a large number of Brahmana settlements rose in the Kaveri valley. Each land was looked after by an assembly or sabha of major Brahmana landholders. These assemblies worked thoroughly and efficiently.
Nagarams which means associations of traders also occasionally performed administrative functions in towns.
Inscriptions show that the sabha had separate committees to look after irrigation works, gardens, temples, etc.