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.

Group	countries	Objectives
IBSA	India, Brazil South Africa	To focus on agriculture, energy, trade, culture and defence.
BCIM	Bangladesh,China, India,Myanmar	To respond to threats such as natural disasters and protect business interests.
MGC (Mekong Ganga Cooperation)	India, Cambodia,Laos, PDR Myanmar, Thailand,Vietnam	To create necessary infrastructural facilities in the Ganga-Mekong basin
BBIN	Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal	For energy development.
EAS (East Asia Summit)	10 ASEAN nations + 8 strategic partners including US, China, India, Japan	To promote peace and stability

a) Salt March to Vedaranyam:
i) Tamil Nadu was in the forefront of the Civil Disobedience Movement.
ii) Rajaji organised and led a salt satyagraha march to Vedaranyam
iii) The march started from Tiruchirappalli on 13 April, 1930 and reached Vedaranyam in Thanjavur district on 28 April.
iv) A special song was composed for the march by Namakkal V. Ramalinganar.
v) Despite a brutal crackdown by the police, the marching satyagrahis were provided a warm reception along the route.
vi) On reaching Vedaranyam 12 volunteers under the leadership of Rajaji broke the salt law by picking up salt.
vii) Rajaji was arrested, T.S.S. Rajan, Rukmini Lakshmipathi, Sardar Vedarathanam, C. Swaminathar and K. Santhanam were among the prominent leaders who participated in the Vedaranyam Salt Satyagraha.
b) Widespread agitations in Tamil districts:
i) The Satyagrahis under the leadership of T. Prakasam and K. Nageswara Rao set up a camp at Udayavanam near Madras. However, the police arrested them.
ii) It led to a hartal in Madras.
iii) Volunteers who attempted to offer salt Satyagraha in Rameshwaram were arrested.
iv) Mill workers struck work across the province.
v) Women participated enthusiastically.
vi) Rukmani Lakshmipathi was the first woman to pay penalty for violation of salt laws.
vii) Police used brutal force to suppress the movement.

Causes
a) Annexation policy of British India
In the 1840s and 1850s more territories were annexed through two major policies.
The Doctrine of Paramountcy
a) British claimed themselves as paramount, exercising supreme authority.
b) New territories were annexed on the grounds that the native rulers were corrupt and inept.
The Doctrine of Lapse:
a) If a native ruler did not have a male heir to the throne, the territory was to 'lapse' into British India upon the death of the ruler.
b) Satara, Sambalpur, parts of the Punjab, Jhansi and Nagpur were annexed by the British through this policy.
b) Insensitivity to Indian cultural sentiments 
a) In 1806 the sepoys at Vellore mutinied against the new dress code, which prohibited Indians from wearing religious marks on their foreheads and having whiskers on their chin. They had to replace their turbans with a round hat.
b) It was feared that the dress code was part of their effort to convert soldiers to Christianity.
c) Similarly in 1824, the sepoys at Barrackpur near Calcutta refused to go to Burma by sea since crossing the sea meant the loss of their caste.
d) The sepoys were also upset with discrimination in salary and promotion.
e) Indian sepoys were paid much less than their European counterparts.
f) They felt humiliated and racially abused by their seniors.
c) Immediate cause:
a)The precursor to the revolt was the circulation of rumors about the cartridges of the new Enfield rifle.
b)There was strong suspicion that the new cartridges had been greased with cow and pig fat.
c)The cartridge had to be bitten off before loading (pork is forbidden to the Muslims and the cow is sacred to a large section of Hindus).

Contribution of different sectors GD P in India:
i) Gross Value Added (GVA) at current prices for services sector is estimated at 92.6 lakh crore in 2018 - 19.
ii) Services sector accounts for 54.40% of total India's (GVA) of 169.61 lakh crore Indian Rupees.
iii) With GVA of Rs. 50.43 lakh crore, Industry sector contributes 29.73%.
iv) Agriculture and allied sector shares 15.87%.
v) At 2011-12 prices, composition of Agriculture &allied, Industry and services sectors are 14.39%, 31.46% and 54.15% respectively.
vi) The share of primary like agriculture, forestry, fishing and mining and quarrying.
vii) Secondary (Industry) like, manufacturing, electricity, gas, water supply, utility services and construction, tertiary (services) like, trade, hotels, transport, communication etc. have been estimated as 18.57%, 27.03%, 54.40%.
viii) According to sector wise India GDP composition in 2017 are Agriculture (15.4%), Industry (23%) and services (61.5%).
ix) India is 2nd largest producer of agriculture product.
x) India accounts for 7.39% of total global agricultural output.
xi) In Industry sector, India world rank is 6.
xii) In service sector, India world rank is 8.
xiii) Contribution of Agriculture sector in Indian economy is much higher than world's average 6.4%.
xiv) Contribution of Industry and services sector is lower than world's average 30% for Industry sector and 63% for services sector.
xv) At previous methodology, composition of Agriculture & allied, Industry and services sector was 51.81%, 14.16% and 33.25% respectively at current prices in 1950-51.
(xvi) Share of Agriculture & allied sector has declined at 18.20% in 2013 - 14.
xvii) Share of services sector has improved to 57.03%.
xviii) Share of Industry sector has also increased to 24.77%.

(i) The plateau region lies to the south of the Great Northern Plains. This is the largest physiographic division of our country.
(ii) It covers an area of about 16 lakh sq.km (about half of the total area of the country). It is an old rocky plateau region.
(iii) Aravalli hills mark the north-western boundary of the plateau region.
(iv) Its northern and north-eastern boundaries are marked by the Bundelkhand upland, Kaimur and Rajmahal hills.
(v) The Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats mark the western and eastern boundaries respectively.
(vi) The peak of Anaimudi is the highest point in the plateau. Its height is 2,695 m and is located in Anaimalai.
(vii) River Narmada divides the plateau region of India broadly into 2 parts.
(viii) The region lying to the north of the Narmada is called the Central Highlands and the region lying to the south of Narmada is called the Deccan Plateau.
(ix) All the major rivers (Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri, etc.) lying to the south of the Vindhyas flow eastwards and fall into the Bay of Bengal.
(x) Narmada and Tapti are the two rivers situated to the south of the Vindhyas flow westward.
(xi) Their movement towards west is due to the presence of a rift valley in the region.

(i) By the end of Second World War Viet Minh controlled the northern half of Vietnam. Viet Minh formed a government led by Ho Chi Minh in Hanoi.
(ii) This Viet Minh government quickly occupied the southern half of Vietnam. However, the Allied Powers decided at Potsdam that the British in the south and the Chinese in the north should defend Indo-China from the Japanese.
(iii) In March the two governments (French and Viet Minh) reached an agreement by which North Vietnam was to be a free state, within an Indo-Chinese Federation. But the new French constitution included all overseas colonies in a French Union.
(iv) In 1949 the French attempted to secure the support of the population by declaring Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia independent within the French Union, retaining only foreign affairs and defense under French control. However, the problem of Indo- China soon became involved in the Cold War.
(v) While the French were receiving considerable financial aid from America, the Viet Minh were helped by the new Chinese communist government. The French troops were eventually defeated.
(vi) South Vietnam, approximately of the same size and population, was ruled by Ngo Dinh Diem.
(vii) Diem refused to hold the elections to decide on a united Vietnam.
(viii) However, by 1962, it was clear that Diem was incapable of controlling the situation. This led to the posting of more US armed forces in the area.
(ix) The US bombed both North and South in the hope that it could force the liberation forces to abandon the struggle.
(x) The fighters of North Vietnam, trained in guerilla warfare, had grown out of spontaneous struggles against a repressive regime.
(xi) The American troops also used bacteriological weapons.
(xii) Incendiary bombs such as napalm and Agent Orange (to defoliate the forest cover) were used.
(xiii) Escalation of the total military outlay caused the US big business to protest. The youths rebelled against the conscription and the horrors of war.
(xiv) Anti-Vietnam War protests rocked universities and colleges across the US and in Europe and became part of the 1960s counterculture.
(xv) No other single issue united millions of people all over the world as the war of Vietnam.

(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.

S. No.	Biosphere Reserves	State
1	Achanakmar- Amarkantak	Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh
2	Agasthyamalai	Kerala
3	Dibru Saikhowa	Assam
4	Dihang Dibang	Arunalchal Pradesh
5	Great Nicobar	Andaman and Nicobar Islands
6	Gulf of Manner	Tamil nadu
7	Kachchh	Gujarat
8	Kanchenjunga	Sikkim
9	Manas	Assam
10	Nanda Devi	Uttarakhand
11	The Nilgiris	TamilNadu
12	Nokrek	Meghalaya
13	Pachmarhi	Madhya Pradesh
14	Simlipal	Odisha
15	Sundarbans	West Bengal
16	Cold desert	Himachal Pradesh
17	Sesahachalam hills	Andra Pradesh
18	Panna	Madhya Pradesh

The influence of Western ideas and Christianity created a new awakening in 19th century British India.
Raja Rammohan Roy:
i) Raja Rammohan Roy was deeply concerned with the prevailing customs of Sati, Child Marriage and Polygamy.
ii) He published tracts against them and petitioned the government to legislate against them.
iii) He advocated the rights of widows to remarry.
iv) He wanted polygamy to end. Rammohan Roy condemned the subjugation of women and opposed the prevailing ideas 'women were inferior to men'. He strongly advocated education for women.
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar:
i) Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar provided evidence from scriptures that there was no sanction for burning of widows or for the prohibition on the remarriage of widows.
ii) He played a leading role in promoting education of girls.
iii) He dedicated his whole life for the betterment of the child widows of the Hindu society.
iv) It resulted in the Widows' Remarriage Reform act of 1856. This act was intended to improve the lot of child widows and save them from perpetual widowhood.
M.G Ranade:
i) M.G Ranade was the founder of the Widow Marriage Association.
ii) He advocated inter-caste marriage, widow remarriage, improvement of woman and depressed classes.
Jyotiba Phule:
i) Jyotiba Phule worked for the cause of women.
ii) He opposed child marriage and supported widow remarriage.
iii) He opened orphanages and homes for widows.
Other Reformers:
i) The leader of the sabha opposed both infant marriage and use of astrology.
ii) Baba Ram Singh considered both men and women equal and accepted widow remarriage. It prohibited the dowry system and child marriage.
iii) Ramalinga established a free feeding house for everyone irrespective of caste at Vadalur (1867), in the wake of a terrible famine in South India in 1866.

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.

a) There were two main political parties: The Unionist Party which was mainly British and the South Africa Party which had largely Afrikaners (Boers).
b) The first Prime Minister, Botha belonged to the South Africa Party ruled in cooperation with the British.
c) But a militant section of the South Africa Party formed the National Party under Herzog.
d) In 1920 elections, the National Party got 44 seats and the South Africa Party secured 41 seats.
e) At this juncture the British-dominated Unionist Party merged with the South Africa Party.
f) This gave Smuts a majority over the militant Afrikaner controlled National Party.

Airports:
i) Tamil Nadu has four major international airports.
ii) Chennai International Airport is currently the third largest airport in India.
iii) Other international airports in Tamil Nadu are Coimbatore, Madurai and Tiruchirapalli airports.
iv) It also has domestic airports at Tuticorin and Salem.
Sea ports:
i) Tamil Nadu has three major ports. They are in Chennai, Ennore and Tuticorin,
ii) It has an intermediate port at Nagapattinam and 15 other minor ports.

i) Annie Besant, an Irish lady and leader of the Theosophical Society, Home Rule in 1916 and carried forward the demand for home rule all over India.
ii) She started the news papers New India and Commonweal to carry forward her agenda.
iii) She wrote two books, How India wrought for freedom and India: 'A Nation and a pamphlet on self-government.'

(i) Disposable income means actual income which can be spent on consumption by individuals and families.
(ii) It can be expressed as, 
DPI = PI - Direct taxes

The cabinet works through various committees called cabinet committees. They are of two types standing and ad hoc. The former are of a permanent nature while the latter are of a temporary nature

(i) Article 360 authorises the President to declare financial emergency if he is satisfied that the financial stability or credit of India or of any of its parts is in danger.
(ii) In this type of emergency, salaries and allowances of any class of persons serving State or Union, including judges of the Supreme Court and High Court can be reduced by an order of the President.
(iii) This type of emergency has not been declared in India so far.

Factors like latitude, distance from the sea, monsoon wind, relied on features and jet stream affect the climate of India.

The Zoroastrians who had fled from Iran in the tenth century in the face of religious persecution.

A trust is an industrial organization engaged in the production or distribution of any commodity. The trust would possess adequate control over the supply and price of that commodity to its own advantage.

TRIPs:
i) TRIPS means Trade Related aspects of Intellectual Property rights.
ii) Under TRIPS patent shall be available for any invention whether product or process in all fields of industrial technologies.
iii) TRIPS agreement covers seven areas of intellectual's property rights.
TRIMs:
i) Trade Related Investment Measures include restrictions or conditions given by Government.
ii) It refers to restrictions imposed by a government in respect of foreign investment in the country in order to give adequate provisions for the home industries to develop

a) He must be a citizen of India.
b) He should have worked as a judge of a High Court for atleast 5 years.
c) He should have worked as an advocate of High Court for atleast 10 years.
d) He is in the opinion of the President, a distinguished jurist.

i) In 1955 Turkey, Iraq, Great Britain, Pakistan and Iran signed a pact known as Baghdad Pact.
ii) In 1958 the United States joined the organization and thereafter it came to be known as the Central Treaty Organization.
iii) This treaty was open to any Arab nation desiring peace and security in the region. CENTO was dissolved in 1979.

a) Gifted with great oratorical skills, Hitler was able to sway the people by his impassioned speeches, promising return of glorious military past of Germany.
b) The fundamental principle on which Hitler built his support was the notion of the racial superiority of the Germans as a pure, 'Aryan' race and a deep-seated hatred of the Jews.

a) The 'Great Depression' dealt a death blow to Indian agriculture and the indigenous manufacturing sector.
b) The value of farm produce, declined by half. But the land rent to be paid by the peasant remained unchanged. In terms of prices of agricultural commodities, the obligation of the farmers to the state doubled.
c) The great fall in prices prompted Indian nationalists to demand protection for the internal economy.