OPEC:
i) It is a group of oil producing nations (i.e. Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia).
ii) Its membership is open to any country that exports crude oil.
OPEC'S mission:
i) To co-ordinate oil policies in its member countries.
ii) Help stabilise oil markets.
iii) To secure fair and stable income to petroleum producers.
iv) An efficient, economic and regular supply of oil to consuming nations.
v) A fair return on capital to those investing in the petroleum industry.
Helps other countries:
i) It helps finance projects with low interests loans.
ii) It provides grants to social and humanitarian projects.
iii) It has an Information centre with over 20,000 volumes including books, reports map and conference proceedings related to petroleum, energy and the oil market.
iv) It is open to the public and for the rescarchers and students.

Reason:
i) To be an alternative to World Bank and IMF to challenge U.S. supremacy.
ii) To provide self-owned and self managed organisations to carryout developmental and economical plan in its member nations.
Objectives:
i) To achieve regional development.
ii) It acts as a bridge between developed and developing countries.
iii) To contribute extensively to the development of humanity.
iv) To establish a more equitable and fair world.
v) Boost intra BRICS trade in their local currencies to increase trade cooperation and cope with the current international financial crisis.
vi) To promote the technological information exchange among the member states.
vii) To enhance inclusive economic growth that will lead to the creation of jobs, fight against poverty and accelerate the economic transformation of members.

a) There was an increase in the number of educated non-Brahmins.
b) They raised the issue of caste discrimination and unequal opportunities in government employment and representation in elected bodies, which were dominated by Brahmins.
c) Further, the Congress was also overwhelmingly composed of Brahmins.
Madras Dravidian Association:
a) The non-Brahmins organised themselves into political organisations to protect their interests.
b) In 1912 the Madras Dravidian Association was founded. C. Natesanar played an active role as its secretary.
d) On 20 November 1916 a meeting of about thirty non-Brahmins was held under the leadership of P. Thyagarayar, Dr. T.M. Nair and C. Natesanar in Chennai.
The South Indian Liberal Federation:
The South Indian Liberal Federation (SILF) was founded to promote the interests of the non-Brahmins.
Justice Ministry:
a) The Congress boycotted the elections of 1920.
b) The Justice Party won 63 of 98 elected seats in the Legislative Council.
c) A. Subburayalu of the Justice  Party became the first chief minister.
d) After the 1923 elections, Raja of Panagal of the Justice Party formed the ministry.

a) Several important goods are services left out of the GDP:
i) The GDP includes only the goods and services sold in the market.
ii) The services provided by the parents to their children is very important but it is not included in the GDP because it is not sold in the market.
iii) Likewise clean air, which is vital for a healthy life, has no market value and is left out of the GDP.
b) GDP measures only quantity but not quality :
i) In the 1970s schools and banks did not permit the use of ballpoint pens.
ii) This is because, the ones available in India were of very poor quality.
iii) Since then, not only has there been a substantial increase in the quantity of ballpoint pens produced in India but their quality has also improved a lot.
iv) The improvement in quality of goods is very important but it is not captured by the GDP.
c) GDP does not tell us about the way income is described in the country:
The GDP of a country may be growing rapidly but income may be distributed so unequally that only a small percentage of people may be benefitting from it.
d) The GDP does not tell us about the kind of life people are living:
A high level of per capita real GDP can go hand - in - hand with very low health condition of people, an undemocratic political system, high pollution and high suicide rate.

i) The term amendment denotes change, improvement and modification
ii) Article 368 of the Constitution in Part XX, deals with the powers of Parliament to amend the Constitution and its procedure.
Procedure of Amendment:
i) An Amendment of this Constitution may be initiated only by the introduction of a Bill for the purpose in either House of Parliament.
ii) When the Bill is passed in each House by a majority of the total membership of that House and by a majority of not less than two thirds of the members of that House present and voting, it shall be presented to the President who shall give his assent to the Bill and thereupon the Constitution shall stand amended in accordance with the terms of the Bill.
iii) The Constitution Amendment can be brought about only by the Parliament.
iv) State Legislatures cannot initiate for any amendment to the Constitution

(i) Himalayas blocks southwest monsoon winds and causes heavy rainfall to north India.
(ii) It forms a natural barrier to the subcontinent.
(iii) It is the source for many perennial rivers like Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra, etc.
(iv) The Northern Mountains are described as the paradise of tourists due to its natural beauty.
(v) Many hill stations and pilgrim centers like Amarnath, Kedarnath, Badrinath, and Vaishnavi Devi temples are situated here.
(vi) It provides raw material for many forest based industries.
(vii) It prevents the cold winds blowing from the central Asia and protects India from severe cold.
(viii) Himalayas are renowned for the rich biodiversity.

Communist Victory:
(i) With the surrender of the Japanese (1945), both the Kuomintang and the communists sought to occupy the Japanese areas.
(ii) In this race the Kuomintang was successful. The cities and railways soon fell into their hands.
(iii) Even the area around Peking was soon controlled by Chiang Kai-shek's forces, largely because of the military aid given by the USA.
(iv) With the massive support provided by the USA, Kuomintang government controlled the administration, ports and communication system.
(v) But the soldiers, mainly drawn from the peasants, were disillusioned and discontented.
(vi) Mao was keen on obtaining the support of the middle class.
(vii) Mao continued the use of guerrilla tactics but also ordered large-scale military movements.
(viii) Cities fell one by one and Chiang Kai-shek's army began to disintegrate quickly.
(ix) In the summer of 1948, Communist control had been established over most parts of China.

(i) The Russian Communist Party could eliminate illiteracy and poverty in Russia within a record time.
(ii) Russian industry and agriculture had developed remarkably.
(iii) Women were given equal rights, including rights to vote.
(iv) Industries and banks were nationalized. Land was announced as social property.
(v) Land was distributed to poor peasants.
(vi) Lenin thought the most important factor for the fall of Provisional government was its failure to withdraw from World War.
(vii) So Lenin immediately appealed for peace.
(viii) Unmindful of the harsh terms dictated by the Central Powers, Lenin opted for withdrawing from the War to concentrate on the formation of new government.
(ix) In March 1918 the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed.

Right to Constitutional Remedies (Article 32):
A writ is an order or command issued by a court in writing under its seal. It is in the nature of a command or prohibition from performing certain acts that are specified in the orders of the court. Both the Supreme Court and the High Courts are empowered to issue five kinds of writs such as Habeas Corpus, Mandamus, Prohibition, Quo Warranto and Certiorari.
i) Habeas Corpus: Safeguards people from illegal arrests.
ii) Mandamus: It protects the petitioner who requires legal help to get his work done by respective public authorities
iii) Prohibition: It prohibits a subordinate court from acting beyond its jurisdiction.
iv) Certiorari: It quashes an order issued by a subordinate court by overstepping its jurisdiction.
v) Quo Warranto: It prevents usurpation of public office through illegal manner.

On the basis of climate, soil and land form characteristics the natural vegetation of India can be divided into the following types.
Tropical Evergreen Forest:
i) These forest are found in areas with 200 cm or more annual rainfall.
ii) Western Ghats in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Andaman Nicobar Islands, Assam, West Bengal, Nagaland, Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur and Meghalaya states have this type of forests.
iii) The most important trees are rubber, mahogany, ebony, rosewood, coconut, bamboo, cinchona, candes, palm, iron wood and cedar.
Tropical Deciduous Forest:
i) These forests are found in the areas with 100 to 200 cm annual rainfall.
ii) These are called 'Monsoon Forests'.
iii) The trees of these forests drop their leaves during the spring and early summer.
iv) These forests are found in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
v) Teak and Sal are the most important trees. Sandal wood, rose wood, Kusum, Mahua, Palas haldu, amla, padank, bamboo and tendu are the other trees of economic importance.
vi) These forests also provide fragrant oil, varnish, sandal oil and perfumes.
Tropical Dry Forest:
i) These forests are found in the areas with 50 to 100 cm annual rainfall.
ii) They represent a transitional type of forests.
iii) These are found in east Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Western Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Eastern Maharashtra, Telangana, West Karnataka and East Tamil Nadu.
iv) The important species are mahua, banyan, amaltas, palas, haldu, kikar, bamboo, babool, khair, etc.
Tropical Thorn Forest:
i) These are found in the areas having annual rainfall of less than 50 cm.
ii) They have low humidity and high temperature.
iii) These forests are found in north - west India, which includes west Rajasthan, South west
iv) Haryana, North Gujarat, South  - west Punjab, parts of the Deccan plateau in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.
v) Babul, Kikar and Wild palms are common trees found here.
Mountain or Montane Forest:
On the basis of altitude and amount of rainfall, these forests are classified into two.
i) Eastern Himalayan Forest,
ii) Western Himalayan Forest.
Alpine Forest:
i) It occurs all along the Himalayas with above 2400 m altitude.
ii) These are purely having coniferous trees.
iii) Oak, silver fir, pine and juniper are the main trees of these forests.
iv) The eastern parts of Himalayas have large extent of these forests.
Mangrove Forest:
i) These forests occur in and around the deltas, estuaries, creeks, prone to tidal influences and as such are also known as delta or swamp forests.
ii) The delta of the Ganga, Brahmaputra has the largest tidal forest.
iii) These are also known as Sundarbans forest.
iv) The deltas of Mahanadi, Godavari and Krishna rivers are also known for tidal forests.
v) These are also known as tidal forests.

Ramakrishna:
i) Ramakrishna was a simple priest of Dakshineswar Kali temple.
ii) He emphasised the spiritual union with God through ecstatic practices such as singing bhajans.
iii) In his view, all religions contain the universal elements which if practised would lead to salvation.
iv) He said, "Jiva is Siva".
v) He said not mercy, but service for man must be regarded as God.
vi) Ramakrishna's primary achievement was his ability to attract educated youth who were dissatisfied with the rational orientation of religious reform organizations such as the Brahmo Samaj.
vii) After his death, his disciples organised themselves as a religious community and undertook the task of making his life and teaching known in India and abroad.
viii) Vivekananda established the Ramakrishna Mission. It did not restrict itself to religious activities.
ix) But it was involved in social causes such as education, health care and relief in times of calamities.
Swami Vivekananda:
i) Swami Vivekananda was the prime follower of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.
ii) He was dissatisfied with conventional philosophical positions and practices.
iii) He advocated the practical vedanta of service to humanity.
iv) He attacked the tendency to defend every institution simply because it was connected with religion.
v) He made a call to Indian youth to regenerate Hindu society.
vi) His ideas bread a sense of self confidence among Indians.
vii) He became famous for his address on Hinduism at the World Congress of Religions at Chicago.
viii) Many youths were inspired by Vivekananda.

Rise of Hitler:
(i) Adolf Hitler was able to exploit the general discontent among the Germans.
ii) He founded the Nationalist Socialist party generally known as 'the Nazis'.
iii) The fundamental platform on which Hitler built his support was the notion of the racial superiority of the German as a pure, Aryan' race.
iv) He had a deep hatred for the Jews.
v) He came to power in 1933 and ruled Germany till 1945.
vi) In direct contravention of the clauses of the Treaty of Versailles he rearmed Germany.
vii) It solved the problem of unemployment in Germany.
viii) Soon Germany and Italy came closer and they formed Rome - Berlin Axis. When Japan joined it, it became Rome - Berlin - Tokyo axis.
ix) Hitler invaded the Rhineland
x) Hitler invaded Austria, Czechoslovakia and Sudetenland.
Fall of Hitler:
i) Initially German army had success. But after the entry of America the axis powers were defeated one after another.
ii) The British Royal Air Force inflicted severe losses on Germany.
iii) In 1941 German army invaded Russia. It was also a failure.
iv) In North Africa the German forces were defeated by General Montgomery.
v) The allied forces under the command of Eisenhower invaded Normandy in France. Slowly, the German army was forced back. Hitler committed suicide in April 1945.

Origin of German Fascism:
a) The origin of German fascism goes back to 1919 when a group of seven men met in Munich and founded the National Socialist German Workers' Party. Nazi party one of them was Adolf Hitler.
b) During World War I, he served in the Bavarian army.
Hitler's attempt to capture power:
a) In 1923 Hitler attempted to capture power in Bavaria.
b) He was arrested and sent to jail. During his time in prison he wrote "Mein Kampf" (My Struggle), an autobiographical book containing his political ideas.
Presidential election:
a) In the Presidential election of 1932, the Communist Party polled about 6,000,000 votes. Alarmed capitalists and property owners tilted towards supporting fascism. Hitler exploited this opportunity to usurp powers.
b) Republican government fell, as the Communists refused to collaborate with the Social Democrats. Industrialists, bankers and Junkers prevailed upon President Von Hindenburg to designate Hitler as Chancellor in 1933.
Hitler's Third Reich:
a) The Nazi state of Hitler, known as Third Reich brought an end to the parliamentary democracy. Germany was converted into a highly centralised state.
b) All political parties except the Nazi party were declared illegal.
c) The army of brown-shirted and jack-booted storm-troopers was expanded.
d) The Hitler Youth was created, and the Labour Front set up.
e) Trade unions were abolished, their leaders were arrested. Strikes were made illegal, wages were fixed by the government.
Hitler became the President:
In August 1934 Hindenburg died and Hitler became both President and Commander in Chief of the armed forces.

A large number of textile mills are concentrated in Coimbatore. Hence Coimbatore is called the 'Manchester of Tamilnadu'.

i) Failure of the Cripps Mission led to the Quit India movement by the Congress.
ii) On 8 August 1942 the Quit India resolution was passed.
iii) Gandhi gave the slogan “Do or Die“.
iv) All the Congress leaders were arrested.
v) In Tamil Nadu Kamaraj worked underground and organized people during the Quit India Movement.
vi) Rajaji and Satyamurti were arrested.
vii) There were many incidents of violence in Tamil Nadu.
viii) Post offices were set fire. Telephone lines were cut off.
ix) Railway services were disrupted.
x) There were a large number of workers strike.
xi) Buckingham and Carnatic mills, Madras Port Trust and Electric Tramway went on strike.
xii) Many public buildings were burnt.
xiii) Students of various colleges took part in the protest.
xiv) The airport in Sulur was attacked.
xv) Trains were derailed in Coimbatore.
xvi) The protestors clashed with the military in Madurai.
xvii) There were police firing. Finally the agitation was suppressed 

i) The Nawab sent an additional contingent of sepoys to Mahfuzkhan and the reinforced army proceeded to Tirunelveli.
ii) Besides the 1000 sepoys of the Company, Mahfuzkhan received 600 more sent by the Nawab.
iii) He also had the support of cavalry and foot soldiers from the Carnatic.
iv) Before Mafuzkhan could station his troops near Kalakadu, 2000 soldiers from Travancore joined the forces of Puli Thevar.
v) In the battle at Kalakadu Mahfuzkhan's troops were routed.

An economic indicator is a statistical data used to determine the health of the economy

All the decisions and decrees issued by the High Court are printed and are kept as a record for future references by the Court as well as by the lawyers, is such a need arises. Thus, it also acts as a Court of Record.

Wildlife sanctuary is an area where wild animals and plants are protected. It is a declared protected area where very limited human activities are allowed.

Vaikunda Swamigal criticized the rule of the British and the rule of the Rajah of Travancore as the rule of the white devils and black devils respectively.

The two-fold objective of the League of Nations was to avoid war and maintain peace in the world and to promote international cooperation in economic and social affairs. The League intended to act as conciliator and arbitrator and thereby resolve a dispute in its early stages. If wars should break out despite arbitration, the members should apply sanctions to the aggressor-first economic and then military.

i) Dutch undertook several voyages from 1596. They formed the Dutch East India Company in 1602.
ii) In 1605, Dutch factories were set up in Masulipatnam, Pettapoli and Devanampattinam
iii) In 1610, they founded another factory at Pulicat.
iv) Commodities exported by the Dutch were indigo, saltpeter and Bengal raw silk
v) Pulicat was the headquarters of the Dutch in India.

a) A bill which covers income and expenditure of the government is called Money Bill.
b) Bills connected with tax policy of the government is also called Money Bill.
c) Lok Sabha can only introduce Money bill and once it is approved by the Lok Sabha, it is passed to Rajya Sabha for its approval.

i) In April 1961, while landing an army of Cuban exiles on the island of Bay of Pigs, the US bombed Cuban airfields with the objective of overthrowing Castro's regime.
ii) US Warships surrounded Cuba.
iii) The Kennedy government had received intelligence that the USSR was secretly installing nuclear missiles in Cuba.
iv) Finally, the Soviet President Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles and thus the Missile Crisis was defused.

i) In, 1942 the Report Commonly known as the Beveridge Report was published in the U.K.
ii) It proposed a series of measures which the Government should adopt to provide the Citizens.
iii) The major impediments are adequate income, health care, education, housing and employment to overcome poverty and discase.

a) The Great Depression of 1929 had a disastrous impact on British trade and business.
b) Britain transmitted the effects of Depression to its colonies.
c) Bilateral trade treaties between Britain and the Member States of the British Empire were signed at an economic summit in Ottawa in 1932, in which the participants (including India) agreed to give preference to imperial (British) over non-imperial goods.