Current Affairs UPSC

NCERT Extracts - Land Resources and Agriculture

Land Use Categories

Land-use records are maintained by land revenue department. The land use categories add up to reporting area, which is somewhat different from the geographical area.
The Survey of India is responsible for measuring geographical area of administrative units in India.
The difference between the two concepts are mat while the former changes somewhat depending on the estimates of the land revenue records, the latter does not change and stays fixed as per Survey of India measurements.
The land-use categories as maintained in the Land Revenue Records are as follows:
Forests: It is important to note that area under actual forest cover is different from area classified as forest. The latter is the area which the Government has identified and demarcated for forest growth.
The land revenue records are consistent with the latter definition. Thus, there may be an increase in this category without any increase in the actual forest cover.
Land put to Non-agricultural Uses: Land under settlements (rural and urban), infrastructure (roads, canals, etc.), industries, shops, etc. are included in this category. An expansion in the secondary and tertiary activities would lead to an increase in this category of land-use.
Barren and Wastelands: The land which may be classified as a wasteland such as barren hilly terrains, desert lands, ravines, etc. normally cannot be brought under cultivation with the available technology.
Area under Permanent Pastures and Grazing Lands: Most of this type land is owned by the village 'Panchayat' or the Government. Only a small proportion of this land is privately owned. The land owned by the village panchayat comes under 'Common Property Resources'.
Area under Miscellaneous Tree Crops and Groves (Not included is Net sown Area): The land under orchards and fruit trees are included in this category. Much of this land is privately owned.
Culturable Waste-Land: Any land which is left fallow (uncultivated) for more than five years is included in this category. It can be brought under cultivation after improving it through reclamation practices.
Current Fallow: This is the land which is left without cultivation for one or less than one agricultural year. Fallowing is a cultural practice adopted for giving the land rest. The land recoups the lost fertility through natural processes.
Fallow other than Current Fallow: This is also a cultivable land which is left uncultivated for more than a year but less than five years. If the land is left uncultivated for more than five years, it would be categorized as culturable wasteland.
Net Area Sown: The physical extent of land on which crops are sown and harvested is known as net sown area.

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Catgeory: UPSC

NCERT Extracts - Forest and Wildlife Resources in India

Flora and Fauna in India

In fact, India is one of the world's richest countries in terms of its vast array of biological diversity, and has nearly 8 per cent of the total number of species in the world (estimated to be 1.6 million).
Some estimates suggest that at least 10 per cent of India's recorded wild flora and 20 percent of its mammals are on the threatened list.
Many of these would now be categorised as 'critical', that is on the verge of extinction like the cheetah, pink-headed duck, mountain, quail, forest spotted owlet, and plants like madhuca insignis (a wild variety of mahua) and hubbardia heptaneuron, (a species of grass).
Based on the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), we can classify as follows:
Normal Species: Species whose population levels are considered to be normal for their survival, such as cattle, sal, pine, rodents, etc.
Endangered Species: These are species which are in danger of extinction. The survival of such species is difficult if the negative factors that have led to a decline in their population continue to operate.
The examples of such species are black buck, crocodile, Indian wild ass, Indian rhino, lion tailed macaque, sangai (brow anter deer in Manipur), etc.
Vulnerable Species: These are species whose population has declined to levels from where it is likely to move into the endangered category in the near future if the negative factors continue to operate. The examples of such species are blue sheep, Asiatic. elephant, Gangetic dolphin, etc.
Rare Species: Species with small population may move into the endangered or vulnerable category if the negative factors affecting them. continue to operate. The examples of such species are the Himalayan brown bear, wild Asiatic buffalo, desert fox and hombill, etc.
Endemic Species: These are species which are only found in some particular areas usually isolated by natural or geographical barriers. Examples of such species are the Andaman teal, Nicobar pigeon, Andaman wild pig, mithun in Arunchal Pradesh.
Extinct Species: These are species which are not found after searches of known or likely areas where they may occur. A species may be extinct from a local area, region, country, continent or the entire earth. Examples of such species are the Asiatic cheetah, pink head duck.

Asiatic Cheetah

The world's fastest land mammal, the cheetah (Acinonyx jubantus), is a unique and specialised member of the cat family and can move at the speed of 112 km./hr.
The cheetah is often mistaken for a leopard. Its distinguishing marks are the more...

Catgeory: UPSC

NCERT Extracts - Mineral and Energy Resources in India

Minerals

The earth's crust is made up of different minerals embedded in the rocks. Various metals are extracted from these minerals after proper refinement.
Rocks are combinations of homogenous substances called minerals. Some rocks, for instance limestone, consist of a single mineral only, but majority of the rock consist of several minerals in varying proportions.

Minerals generally occur in these forms

In igneous and metamorphic rocks minerals may occur in the cracks, crevices, faults or joints. The smaller occurrences are called veins and the larger are called lodes.
In most cases, they are formed when minerals in liquid/molten and gaseous forms are forced upward through cavities towards, the earth's surface.
They cool and solidify as they rise. Major metallic minerals like tin, copper, zinc and lead etc. are obtained from veins and lodes.
In sedimentary rocks a number of minerals occur in beds or layers. They have been formed as a result of deposition, accumulation and concentration in horizontal strata. Coal and some forms of iron ore have been concentrated as a result of long periods under great heat and pressure.
Another group of sedimentary minerals include gypsum, potash salt and sodium salt. These are formed as a result of evaporation especially in arid regions.
Another mode of formation involves the decomposition of surface rocks, and the removal of soluble constituents, leaving a residual mass of weathered material containing ores. Bauxite is formed this way.
Certain minerals may occur as alluvial deposits in sands of valley floors and the base of hills. These deposits are called 'placer deposits' and generally contain minerals, which are not corroded by water. Gold, silver, tin and platinum are most important among such minerals.
The ocean waters contain vast quantities of minerals, but most of these are too widely diffused to be of economic significance.
However, common salt, magnesium and bromine are largely derived from ocean waters. The ocean beds, too, are rich in manganese nodules.

Distribution of Minerals in India Most of the metallic minerals in India occur in the peninsular plateau region in the old crystalline rocks.

Minerals in India

Over 97 per cent of coal reserves occur in the valleys of Damodar, Sone, Mahanadi and Godavari.
Petroleum reserves are located in the sedimentary basins of Assam, Gujarat and Mumbai High i.e. off-shore region in the Arabian Sea. New reserves have been located in the Krishna-Godavari and Kaveri basins.
Minerals are generally concentrated more...

Catgeory: UPSC

NCERT Extracts - World Transport and Communication

Rail and Road Transport

The revolution in transport came about only after the invention of the steam engine in the 18th
Perhaps the first public railway line was opened in 1825 between Stockton and Darlington in northern England
The world's total motorable road length is only about 15 million km, of which North America accounts for 33 per cent.
Europe has one of the most dense rail networks in the world.
Belgium has the highest density of 1 km of railway for every 6.5 sq.kms area.
Moscow is the most important rail head with major lines radiating to different Darts of the country's vast geographical area.
Australia has about 40,000 km of railways, of which 25 per cent are found in New South Wales alone.
In South America, the rail network is the most dense in two regions, namely the Pampas of Argentina and the coffee growing region of Brazil which together account for 40 per cent of South America's total route length.
Only Chile, among the remaining countries has a considerable route length linking coastal centres with the mining sites in the interior.
Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela have short single-track rail-lines from ports to the interior with no inter-connecting links.
There is only one trans-continental rail route linking Buenos Aires (Argentina) with Valparaiso (Chile) across the Andes Mountains through the Uspallatta Pass located at a height of 3,900 m.
Africa continent, despite being the second largest, has only 40,000 km of railways with South Africa alone accounting for 18,000 km due to the concentration of gold, diamond and copper mining activities.

Trans-Continental Railways

Trans-Continental railways run across the continent and link its two ends.
Trans-Siberian Railway
This is a trans-siberian Railways major rail route of Russia runs from St. Petersburg in the west to Vladivostok on the Pacific Coast in the east passing through Moscow Ufa, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Chita and Khabarovsk.
It is the most important route in Asia and the longest (9,332 km) double-tracked and electrified trans-continental railway in the world.
It has helped in opening up its Asian region to West European markets.
It runs across the Ural Mountains Ob and Yenisei rivers Chita is an important agro- centre and Irkutsk, a fur centre.

Trans-Canadian Railways

This 7,050 km long rail-line in Canada runs from Halifax in the east to more...

Catgeory: UPSC

NCERT Extracts - Transport and Communication in India

Road Transport

Road transport in modem sense was very limited in India before World War-II.
The first serious attempt was made in 1943 when 'Nagpur Plan' was drawn. This plan could not be implemented due to lack of coordination among the princely states and British India.
After Independence, twenty-year road plan (1961) was introduced to improve the conditions of roads in India. However, roads continue to concentrate in and around urban centres. Rural and remote areas had the least connectivity by road.
Sher Shah Suri built the Shahi (Royal) road to strengthen and consolidate his empire from the Indus Valley to the Sonar Valley in Bengal.
This road was renamed the Grand Trunk (GT) road during the British period, connecting Calcutta and Peshawar.
At present, it extends from Amritsar to Kolkata. It is bifurcated into 2 segments:
National Highway(NH)-l from Delhi to Amritsar, and
NH-2 from Delhi to Kolkata.

National Highways

The main roads which are constructed and maintained by the Central Government are known as the National Highways.
The length of the National Highways has increased from 19,700 km in 1951 to 70,934 km in 2008-09.
The National Highways constitute only 1.67 per cent of the total road length but carry 40 per cent of the road traffic.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) was operationalised in 1995.
It is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Surface Transport. It is entrusted with the responsibility of development, maintenance and operation of National Highways. This is also the apex body to improve the quality of the roads designated as National Highways.

National Highways Development Projects

NHAI has taken up some major projects in the country under different phases:
Golden Quadrilateral: It comprises construction of 5,846 km long 4/6 lane, high density traffic corridor, to connect India's four big metro cities of Delhi-Mumbai- Chennai-Kolkata. With the construction of Golden Quadrilateral, the time-distance and cost of movement among the mega cities of India will be considerably minimised.
North-South and East-West Corridors: North-South corridor aims at connecting Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir with Kaniyakumari in Tamil Nadu (including Kochchi- Salem Spur) with 4,076 km long road. The East-West Corridor has been planned to connect Silchar in Assam with the port town of Porbandar in Gujarat with 3,640 km of road length.

National Highways State Highways

These are constructed and maintained by state governments. They join the state capitals with district headquarters and other important towns.
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Catgeory: UPSC

NCERT Extracts - Manufacturing Industries in India

Location of Industries

Location of industries is influenced by several factors like access to raw materials, power, market, capital, transport and labour, etc.
Relative significance of these factors varies with time and place. There is strong relationship between raw material and type of industry.
Industries using weight-losing raw materials are located in the regions where raw materials are located.
The sugar mills in India are located in sugarcane growing areas.
Similarly, the locations of pulp industry, copper smelting and pig iron industries are located near their raw materials.
In iron and steel industries, iron ore and coal both are weight-losing raw materials. Therefore, an optimum location for iron and steel industries should be near raw material sources.
This is why most of the iron and steel industries are located either near coalfields (Bokaro, Durgapur, etc.) or near sources of iron ore (Bhadravati, Bhilai, and Rourkela).
Similarly, industries based on perishable raw materials are also located close to raw material sources.
Power provides the motive force for machines, and therefore, its supply has to be ensured before the location of any industry.
However, certain industries, like aluminium and synthetic nitrogen manufacturing industries tend to be located near sources of power because they are power intensive and require huge quantum of electricity.
Markets provide the outlets for manufactured products. Heavy machine, machine tools, heavy chemicals are located near the high demand areas as these are market orientated.
Cotton textile industry uses a non-weight-losing raw material and is generally located in large urban centre, e.g. Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Surat, etc.
Petroleum refineries are also located near the markets as the transport of crude oil is easier and several products derived from them are used as raw material in other industries.
Koyali, Mathura and Barauni refineries are typical examples. Ports also play a crucial role in the location of oil refineries.
India, being a democratic country aims at bringing about economic growth with balanced regional development.
Establishment of iron and steel industry in Bhilai and Rourkela were based on decision to develop backward tribal areas of the country.

The Iron and Steel Industry

The other raw materials besides iron ore and coking coal, essential for iron and steel industry are limestone, dolomite, manganese and fire clay.
All these raw materials are gross (weight losing), therefore, the best location for the iron and steel plants is near the source of raw materials.
In India, there is a crescent shaped region comprising parts of Chhattisgarh, Northern Odisha, Jharkhand more...

Catgeory: UPSC

NCERT Extracts - The World Population Distribution, Density and Growth

World Population

The population of the world is unevenly distributed.
The remark of George B. Cressey about the population of Asia that "Asia has many places where people are few and few place where people are very many" is true about the pattern of population distribution of the world also.
Broadly, 90 per cent of the world population lives in about 10 per cent of its land area.

Natural Growth of Population

This is the population increased by difference between births and deaths in a particular region between two points of time.
Natural Growth = Births - Deaths
Actual Growth of Population: This is Births - Deaths + In Migration - Out Migration

Positive Growth of Population

This happens when the birth rate is more than the death rate between two points of time or when people from other countries migrate permanently to a region.

Negative Growth of Population

If the population decreases between two points of time it is known as negative growth of population.
It occurs when the birth rate falls below the death rate or people migrate to other countries.
The crude birth rate (CBR) is expressed as number of live births in a year per thousand of population.
CDR is expressed in terms of number of deaths in a particular year per thousand of population in a particular region.

Migration

Apart from birth and death there is another way by which the population size changes.
When people move from one place to another, the place they move from is called the Place of Origin and the place they move to is called the Place of Destination.
The place of origin shows a decrease in population while the population increases in the place of destination.
Migration may be interpreted as a spontaneous effort to achieve a better balance between population and resources. In the first century A.D. it was below 300 million.
The expanding world trade during the sixteenth and seventeenth century, set the stage for rapid population growth.
Around 1750, at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, the world population was 550 million.
World population exploded in the eighteenth century after the Industrial Revolution.
Technological advancement achieved so far helped in the reduction of birth rate and provided a stage for accelerated population growth.
It took more than a million years for the human population to attain the one billion mark. But it took only 12 years for it to rise from 5 billion to 6 billion.
The ratio between the number of women and men in the population is called the Sex more...

Catgeory: UPSC

NCERT Extracts - Ecology

Ecology

The interactions of a particular group of organisms with abiotic factors within a particular habitat resulting in clearly defined energy flows and material cycles on land, water and air, are called ecological systems.
The term ecology is derived from the Greek word 'oikos' meaning 'house', combined with the word 'logy' meaning the 'science of or 'the study of.
Literally, ecology is the study of the earth as a 'household', of plants, human beings, animals and micro-organisms.
They all live together as interdependent components.
A German zoologist Ernst Haeckel, who used the term as 'oekologie' in 1869, became the first person to use the term 'ecology'.
The study of interactions between life forms (biotic) and the physical environment (abiotic) is the science of ecology.
Hence, ecology can be defined as a scientific study of the interactions of organisms with their physical environment and with each other.
A habitat in the ecological sense is the totality of the physical and chemical factors that constitute the general environment.
A system consisting of biotic and abiotic components is known as ecosystem.'

Types of Ecosystems

Ecosystems are of two major types: terrestrial and aquatic.
Terrestrial ecosystem can be further be classified into 'biomes'.
A biome is a plant and animal community that covers a large geographical area.
The boundaries of different biomes on land are determined mainly by climate.
Therefore, a biome can be defined as the total assemblage of plant and animal species interacting within specific conditions.
These include rainfall, temperature, humidity and soil conditions.
Some of the major biomes of the world arc : forest, grassland, desert and tundra biomes.
Aquatic ecosystems can be classed as marine and freshwater ecosystems.
Marine ecosystem includes the oceans, estuaries and coral reefs. Freshwater ecosystem includes lakes, ponds, streams, marshes and bogs.

Structure and Functions of Ecosystems

From a structural point of view, all ecosystems consist of abiotic and biotic factors.
Abiotic factors include rainfall, temperature, sunlight, atmospheric humidity, soil conditions, inorganic substances (carbon dioxide, water, nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, etc.).
Biotic factors include the producers, the consumers (primary, secondary, tertiary) and the decomposers.
The producers include all the green plants, which manufacture their own food through photosynthesis.
The primary consumers include herbivorous animals like deer, goats, mice and all plant- eating more...

Catgeory: UPSC

NCERT Extracts - Environment and Biodiversity

Natural Environment

The place, people, things and nature that surround any living organism is called environment.
It is a combination of natural and human made phenomena. While the natural environment refers to both biotic and abiotic conditions existing on the earth, human environment reveals the activities, creations and interactions among human beings.
Land, water, air, plants and animals comprise the natural environment.
Lithosphere is the solid crust or the hard top layer of the earth. It is made up of rocks and minerals and covered by a thin layer of soil.
It is an irregular surface with various landforms such as mountains, plateaus, plains, valleys, etc. Landforms are found over the continents and also on the ocean floors.
Lithosphere is the domain that provides us forests, grasslands for grazing, land for agriculture and human settlements. It is also a source of mineral wealth.
The domain of water is referred to as hydrosphere. It comprises various sources of water and different types of water bodies like rivers, lakes, seas, oceans, etc. It is essential for all living organisms.
The atmosphere is the thin layer of air that surrounds the earth. The gravitational force of the earth holds the atmosphere around it. It protects us from the harmful rays and scorching heat of the sun.
It consists of a number of gases, dust and water vapour. The changes in the atmosphere produce changes in the weather and climate.
Plant and animal kingdom together make biosphere or the living world. It is a narrow zone of the earth where land, water and air interact with each other to support life.

Ecosystem

It is a system formed by the interaction of all living organisms with each other and with the physical and chemical factors of the environment in which they live, all linked by transfer of energy and material.
All plants, animals and human beings depend on their immediate surroundings. Often they are also interdependent on each other. This relation between the living organisms, as well as the relation between the organisms and their surroundings form an ecosystem.
There could be an ecosystem of large rain forest, grassland, desert, mountains, lake, river, ocean and even a small pond.

Human Environment

Human beings interact with the environment and modify it according to their need. Early humans adapted themselves to the natural surroundings. They led a simple life and fulfilled their requirements from the nature around them.
With time needs grew and became more varied. Humans learn new ways to use and change environment. They learn to grow crops, domesticate more...

Catgeory: UPSC

NCERT Extracts - Miscellaneous

Primary Activities

Commercial grain cultivation is practised in the interior parts of semi-arid lands of the midlatitudes.
Wheat is the principal crop, though other crops like corn, barley, oats and rye are also grown.
The size of the farm is very large, therefore entire operations of cultivation from ploughing to harvesting are mechanised.
There is low yield per acre but high yield per person. Why does this happen?
This type of agriculture is best developed in Eurasian steppes, the Canadian and American Prairies, the Pampas of Argentina, the Velds of South Africa, the Australian Downs and the Canterbury Plains of New Zealand.

Mixed Farming

Mixed farms are moderate in size and usually the crops associated with it are wheat, barley, oats, rye, maize, fodder and root crops.
Fodder crops are an important component of mixed farming.
Crop rotation and intercropping play an important role in maintaining soil fertility.
Equal emphasis is laid on crop cultivation and animal husbandry.
Animals like cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry provide the main income along with crops.

Mediterranean Agriculture

Mediterranean agriculture is highly specialised commercial agriculture.
It is practised in the countries on either side of the Mediterranean sea in Europe and in north Africa from Tunisia to Atlantic coast, southern California, central Chile, south western parts of South Africa and south and south western parts of Australia.
This region is an important supplier of citrus fruits.
Viticulture or grape cultivation is a speciality of the Mediterranean region.
Best quality wines in the world with distinctive flavours are produced from high quality grapes in various countries of this region,
The inferior grapes are dried into raisins and currants. This region also produces olives and figs.
The Netherlands specialises in growing flowers and horticultural crops especially tulips, which are flown to all major cities of Europe.
The regions where farmers specialise in vegetables only; the farming is know as truck farming. The distance of truck farms from the market is governed by the distance that a truck can cover overnight, hence the name truck farming.
Co-operative movement originated over a century ago and has been successful in many western European countries like Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Italy etc.
In Denmark, the movement has been so successful that practically every farmer is a member of a co-operative.
Collective farming or the model of Kolkhoz was introduced in erstwhile Soviet Union to improve upon the inefficiency of the previous methods of agriculture and to boost agricultural.

Secondary Activities more...

Catgeory: UPSC

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