A Self-Help Group is an innovative way to organise rural and urban poor, particularly women. The following points sum up the functioning of Self-Help Groups.
(a) Typically, a SHG has 15-20 members belonging to one neigbourhood. They meet and pool their savings regularly. Savings per member may vary as per the capacity of the member.
(b) The group advances loans to its members at a nominal interest rate without any collateral.
(c) Most of the important decisions regarding savings and loan activities are taken by the group members themselves. The group decides whether loan is to be granted or not, purpose, amount, interest to be charged, repayment schedule etc.
(d) It is the group that is responsible for the repayment of the loan. In case of non-repayment by any member, all the members seriously follow up the repayment.
(e) The regular meetings of the group provides a platform to discuss and act on a variety of social issues such as health, nutrition, domestic violence, etc.

(i) Our is still a male dominated patriarchal society. Women face disadvantage, discrimination, and oppression in various ways
(ii) The literacy rate among women is only 54 percent compared with 76 percent among men. Girl students drop out because parents prefer to spend their resources for their boy's education rather than spending equally on their sons and daughters.
(iii) The proportion of women among the highly paid and valued jobs is still very small.
(iv) In almost all areas of work, from sports and cinema, to factories and fields, women are paid less than men, even when both do exactly the same work.
(v) In many parts of India parents prefer to have sons and find ways to have the girl child aborted before she is born.

Limited use of machines:
a) Cotton and metals were the most dynamic industries in Britain. Cotton was leading sector upto 1840s. Then, iron and steel took up the place.
b) By the end of 8th century, less than 20% of Britain's workforce was employed in technologically advanced sectors.
c) The new industries could not replace traditional industries.
d) In Victoria Britain, the upper classes preferred hand made goods because they symbolised exclusivity, refinement and class.
e) Handmade were better finished, individually produced and carefully designed
f) Machine-made goods were for colonies and commoners.
Limitations of new machines:
a) New technology was expensive.
b) Maintenance was costly.
c) The industrialists were cautious.
d) The supply of workers was more than demand.
e) Machines produced standardised goods.

(i) Growing International Market: In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, merchants from the towns in Europe began moving to the countryside, supplying money to peasants and artisans, persuading them to produce for an international market.
(ii) Increase In demand: With the expansion of world trade and the acquisition of colonies in different pans of the world, the demand for goods began growing. It was controlled by merchants and .the goods were produced by a vast number of producers working within their family farms, not in factories.
(iii) Proto-industrial System: The expansion market and demanded to proto-industrial growth which provided a base to Industrial Revolution.
(iv) New Inventions: A series of inventions in the eighteenth century increased the efficiency of each step of the production process (carding, twisting and spinning, and rolling). They enhanced the output per worker, enabling each worker to produce more and they made possible the production or stronger threads and yarn. Then Richard Arkwright created the cotton mill.
(v) Availability of Capital: The vast amount of capital which England had accumulated out of profits of her growing trade enabled her to make large expenditure on machinery and buildings. This led to new technological developments.
(vi) Availability of Raw Material: The availability of coal and iron ores in large quantities greatly helped the growth of numerous industries in England.

(i) To ensure increase in agricultural. production, the government prioritized collectivization, consolidation of holdings, cooperation and abolition of zamindari system. 'Land reform' was the main focus of the First Five Year Plans. In the 1960s and 1970s, agricultural reforms were the order of the day. The Green Revolution and the White Revolution (Operation Flood) were aimed at improving Indian agricultural productivity. During the 1980s and 1990s, a comprehensive land development programme was initiated. Under this, various technical and institutional reforms were introduced by the government for the benefit of farmers, e.g., Minimum Support Price policy, provision for crop insurance, subsidy on agricultural inputs and resources such as power and fertilisers, Grameen banks, Kissan Credit Card, Personal Accident Insurance Scheme, and special weather bulletins and agricultural programmes like 'Krishi Darshan' on national television.
(ii) The impact of globalisation on Indian agriculture has been felt since colonial times. Raw cotton and spices were important export items from India. In 1917, Indian farmers revolted in Champaran against being forced to grow indigo in place of food grains, in order to supply dye to Britain's flourishing textile industry. Thus, globalisation has had its boons. and banes for Indian agriculture. Post liberalisation, Indian farmers face new challenges in the form of competition from highly subsidised agriculture of developed nations. This prompts the need for making Indian agriculture successful and profitable by improving the conditions of small and marginal farmers, countering the negative effects of Green Revolution, developing and promoting organic farming, and diversifying cropping pattern from cereals to high-value crops. 
(iii) Rice is the most important staple crop in India. It is a tropical plant. It requires high temperature and high humidity for its successful growth. The mean monthly temperature of about 25°C, with minor variations during, sowing, growing and harvesting seasons, is ideal for its cultivation. It grows well in areas of 100 cm of rainfall. In the areas of less rainfall, it is grown with the help of irrigation.

A state that has no official religion and grants equal status to all religions is called a secular state. The Constitution of India ensures secularism through the following provisions (any two)
(i) There is no official language for India.
(ii) Unlike the status of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, that of Islam in Pakistan and Christianity in England, our Constitution does not give any special status to any religion.
(iii) Under the Right to Freedom of Religion, our Constitution provides to all citizens freedom to profess, practise and propagate any religion or not to follow any.
(iv) Our Constitution prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion.
(v) The Constitution allows the state to intervene in the matters of religion in order to ensure equality within religious communities.

In October 2005, the Government of India enacted a law, popularly known as RTI (Right to Information) Act, which ensures its citizens all the information about the functioning of government departments. Right to information has been expanded to cover various services provided by the government. For example, if we buy a product and find it defective well before the expiry period, we can ask for a replacement.

Communalism poses a great threat to the democracy in the following ways:
(a) It distorts secular values of the country.
(b) It can disintegrate a nation.
(c) It always leads to violence and riots.
(d) Even human rights are threatened.

(i) Globalisation means unification or integration of the domestic economy with the world economy through trade, capital and technology flows.
(ii) Government can ensure fair globalization to its people in the following ways:
(a) Government needs to care about the labour laws so that workers get their rights and support small producers to improve their performance.
(b) Government can negotiate with world trade organisation for fairer rules and can align with developing countries to stand against the domination of developed countries.