(i) The 2005 Act rectifies various gender inequalities persisting on several fronts such as agricultural land Mitakshara joint family property, parental dwelling house and certain right of widow's.
(ii) According to the new law, sons, daughters and their mothers can get equal shares in the land.
(iii)This law has benefitted a large number of women in achieving their property rights.

(i) The Gram Sabha is the key factor in making the Gram Panchayat a responsible local body.
(ii) It prevents the Village Panchayat from doing wrong things like misusing money.
(iii) It plays an important role in keeping an eye on the elected members.

The Constituent Assembly took two years, eleven months and seven days to complete its historic task of drafting the Constitution of independent India. The Constituent Assembly consisted of 299 members. All the prominent leaders of the freedom movement were members of the Assembly. Some of the major ones were Dr Rajendra Prasad, Jawaharlal Nehru, K.M. Munshi and Sardar Patel.

The temperature of a planet depends on the distance from the Sun. Mercury is very close to the Sun and hence, it is the very hottest planet in the solar system. Its temperature goes above 400^oC.

(i) Yes, two girls, Krishna and Ganga live in my locality who are named after a river.
(ii) The list of such names related to water are Ravi, Jhelum and Godavari.

Indian mythology consists of tales of Gods, the devas and the asuras. However, there are only two famous epics - Mahabharata and Ramayana. Epics are grand, long compositions about heroic men and women and include stories about Gods.

(i) Earlier, Buddha's presence was shown in sculptures by using certain signs. Now, statues of Buddha are made.
(ii) The second change was a belief in Bodhisattvas. They were supposed to be persons who attained enlightenment' and remained in the world to teach and help other people.

Kalinga is the ancient name of coastal Odisha. Ashoka fought a war to conquer Kalinga. However, he was so horrified when he saw the violence and bloodshed, that he decided not to fight any more wars. He is the only king in the history of the world who gave up conquest after winning a war

Chandragupta was the first ruler of the Gupta dynasty to adopt the grand title of Maharajadhiraja, a title that Samudragupta and his son, also used.

Archaeologists think that objects found with a skeleton probably belonged to the dead person.
(i) Sometimes, more objects are found in one grave than in another. For example, in Brahmagiri, one skeleton was buried with 33 gold beads, 2 stone beads, 4 copper bangles and one conch shell. Other skeletons had only a few pots.
(ii) These findings suggest that there was some difference in status amongst the people who were buried. Some were rich, others poor, some chiefs, while others were followers.

Yes, we can identify the skeletons of goats because person was buried with goats as it was thought that this would provide him food in the next world.

The other shops of the village Kalpattu are:
(i) Blacksmith family whose home serves as their workshop. Next to their home is a cycle hire and repair shop.
(ii) There are also two washerman families. Some people go to nearby town to work as construction workers. Some work as lorry drivers.

When the Commissioner said that there were not enough trucks in the city, Gangabai said, "But you seem to have enough trucks to collect the garbage from the rich localities".

A part of the salary is kept in a fund with the government. These savings give interest on funds. After retirement, everyone who does work in a government or other companies / factories get this money and can then live on that.

Life is difficult in mountainous areas. Plains provide much better conditions. It is tough to grow crops, build a house or a road in a mountain. That's why people live there in less amount.

The major portion of water is present on the Earth in salty form. The large per cent of fresh water is present in the form of ice sheets and underground water, only 0.03 per cent is available as fresh water for our use. This is the reason behind shortage of water on the earth.

Samir Do did not attend school due to the following reasons:
(i) He had to earn his own livelihood and for his mother.
(ii) He did not have enough time to join a school.
No, I think it would have been difficult for him to attend school even if he wanted to. He would not get time to study in school while selling newspapers. He could find it difficult to pay the school fees.
In my opinion it is not a fair situation that some children go to school and others do not. Every child must go to school.

Yes, I think the police shooting of Hector could have been avoided by:
(i) Talking to him in a peaceful manner. (ii) Putting him in jail.

Rajas of Mahajanapadas
(i) They became rajas by performing very big sacrifices where people accepted their supremacy.
(ii) They had capital cities, which were fortified. They also had large armies.
Rajas in Rigveda
(i) The rulers were chosen by the jana i.e. the people.
(ii) They did not have capital city, palaces and armies. Also, they did not collect taxes.

Differences between the democratic and monarchical form of government are as follows:

A wide range of species is found in the mountains according to the variation in height. With increase in height, the temperature falls. At a height between 1500 metres and 2500 metres, most of the trees are conical in shape. These trees are called coniferous trees. Chir, pine and deodar are important trees of these forests.

Symbols give a lot of information in a limited space. Maps have a universal language (symbol) so that any person speaking any language can understand it. We can collect information from maps with the help of symbols.

There are four important parallels of latitudes on the Earth. They are:
(i) Tropic of Cancer It is an imaginary line that crosses at 23 1 / 2° in Northern hemisphere.
(ii) Tropic of Capricorn It is an imaginary line that crosses at 23 1 / 2° in Southern hemisphere.
(iii) Arctic Circle It is a circle at 66 1 / 2° North of the equator.
(iv) Antarctic Circle It is a circle at 66 1 / 2° South of the equator.

The angle of inclination of the Earth's axis with its orbital plane is 66 1/2°.

The amphitheatre and aqueducts were made of bricks and cement mortar. Romans were the first to find cement

The people who lived in a Harappan city were:
(i) Rulers (ii) Traders (iii) Scribes (iv) Crafts persons
In Mehrgarh, there were farmers, herders and probably leaders of the tribes.

Archaeologists have found blocks of stone tools that were made and perhaps discarded because they were not perfect and chips of waste stone left behind at these sites.
So, from these evidences, the archaeologists knew about the factories.

The beggar convinced the sages that all people are part of the universal world i.e., God, and he is also a part of the universal soul. If the sages refused food to the beggar, they are refusing it to God. So, the sages shared their food with him.

Now-a-days, people are more travelling than even before. There are many reasons of travelling:
(i) One of the most important reason is economic.
(ii) The means of transportation are better than in the past.
(iii) People travel because they want to learn new things and get new ideas about different places.

The main features of a democratic country are:
(i) People have the power to elect their representative to form and run the government and also to take decisions on their behalf.
(ii) The competitive elections are held at regular intervals.
(iii) There is aspiration of powers between the three organs of the government, i.e., Legislature, Executive and Judiciary.
(iv) People enjoy Freedom of speech and expression.
(v) Fundamental rights are enjoyed by its citizens.
(vi) There is effective participation of the people in the decision making process.

The Minimum Needs Programme was introduced in the first year of the Fifth Five Year Plan. The objective of the Programme was to set up a network of basic services and facilities of social consumption in all areas as per nationally accepted norms within a particular time-frame. The programme is intended to assist in raising living standards and in reducing the regional disparities in development. The basic needs of the people accredited for this programme are elementary education, adult education, rural health, rural roads, rural electrification, rural housing, environmental improvement of urban slums and nutrition.

The government has taken many steps to preserve wildlife like:
(i) Many national parks, wild sanctuaries, zoological gardens have been set up
(ii) Hunting of animals has been banned.
(iii) The government has started many projects, such as Project Tiger, Project Elephant, etc
(iv) It is also observes Wildlife Week to create awareness among the People.

In 1992, the Parliament amended the Constitution and formulated rules for the Panchayati Raj System. The States and the centre had to follow these rules from April, 1993 onwards. The rules are listed below:
(i) It should be a three-tier system at village level, the intermediate or block level and the district level.
(ii) Direct elections should be conducted for all the seats in the Panchayats.
(iii) The state should ensure representation of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in proportion to their population in the area. Minimum of one-third of the total number of seats is to be reserved forwomen.
(iv) A member of Panchayat should not be less than 21 years of age.
(v) The State Election Commission should hold regular Panchayat elections.

(i) It is not a prejudice but the government has given figures which show more than 50% Indians live in the villages.
(ii) Villagers care about their health. They go to the health centres, if they are sick and take the medicines given to them.
(iii) It is true and not a myth. They have to harvest the crops and store them in godowns. They also have to sow their fields, requires a lot of work.
(iv) It is not a prejudice. It is true because:
(a) Most of the villagers work in the fields from morning till evening and get dirty.
(b) Enough water is not available to them to bath regularly. They are not dirty the kind of work they do, makes them dirty and full of mud.
(c) Living in the city is expensive. A large part of people's earning is spent on rent and transport.
It is true that people have to pay rent for a house on exorbitant rates. They travel long distances to reach their places of work.

The Chief Executive Officer in a Municipal Corporation is also known as the Municipal Commissioner. The State Government appoints this person. The Executive Officer acts as a link between the State Government and Municipal Corporation. Various officers in charge of departments like those in charge of health, education, engineering and sanitation help him or her in this work. The Municipal Commissioner co-ordinates their work and has the power to appoint lower level employees. He/she is the head of the executive branch of the Municipal Corporation. The Municipal Commissioner has all the executive powers. The day-to-day work of the Municipal Corporations is carried out with the help of a number of committees.

(i) In our Solar System, the time taken by each planet to complete a revolution around the Sun varies greatly.
(ii) Inner planets have much shorter orbits in distance and take lesser time than outer planets.
(iii) For example, Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun completes its orbital revolution around the Sun in 88 days, while the Earth takes 1 year to complete its revolution.
(iv) In addition, outer planets have slower average orbital speeds than inner planets.

Ladakh is a desert in the mountains in the eastern part of Jammu and Kashmir. Very little agriculture is possible as the region does not receive any rain and as it is covered which snow for a large part of the year. There are very few trees which grow in their region. The major crops of this region are rice, wheat, barley, peas, millet and maize.

(i) Lava plateaus are formed by highly fluid (runny) basaltic lava during numerous successive eruptions through numerous vents without violent explosions (quiet eruptions).
(ii) These eruptions are quiet because of low viscosity of lava and contains small amount of trapped gases.
(iii) Multiple successive and extensive lava flows cover the original landscape to eventually form a plateau, which may contain lava fields, cinder cones, shield volcanoes and other volcanic landforms.

Blue-lakes, rivers, streams, oceans, reservoirs, etc.
Red-major highways, roads, urban areas, airports, special interest sites, military sites, place names, buildings, borders.
Yellow-built-up or urban areas.
Green-parks, golf courses, forest, orchards, highways.
Brown-deserts, historical sites, national park", military reservations or bases, contour (elevation) lines.
Black-railways, highways, bridges, place names, buildings, borders.

(i) Seals are clay tablets have been found from various Harappan sites. They have figures of animals, trees and various letters carved on them.
(ii) Seals may have been used to stamp bags or packets containing goods that were sent from one place to another.
(iii) After a bag was closed or tied, a layer of wet clay was applied on the knot and seal was pressed on it
(iv) The impression of the seal is known as sealing. If the sealing was intact, one could be sure that the goods cased arrived safely.

The reasons behind the movement moving of hunters-gatherers are:
(i) If they stayed at one place for a long time, they would have eaten up all the available plant and animal resources. Therefore, they had to move elsewhere in search of food.
(ii) Animals move from place to place - either in search of smaller prey or in the case of deer and wild cattle, in search of grass and leaves. That is why, those who hunted them had to follow their movements.
(iii) Plants and trees bear fruit in different seasons. So, people may have moved from season to season in search of different kinds of plants.
(iv) People, plants and animals need water to survive. People living on river banks had to go in search of water during the dry seasons as some rivers are seasonal while others are perennial (with water throughout the year).

(i) The poet praised the king in Glowing terms-as a warrior and as a king who won victories in battle.
(ii) He is stated as a learned man and the best of poets.
(iii) He is also described as equal to God.
(iv) The Prashasti was composed in very long sentences.

A burial is an arrangement made by people for their relatives and friends.
When people die, generally respect is paid to them. Dead people are looked after perhaps because of the belief that there is some form of life after death. Several burial sites have been found at  Mehrgarh, For instance, the dead persons were buried with goats, which were probably meant to serve as food in the next world.

There are several ways to earn a living of rural areas. These are farming and non-farming activities.
The farming activities are:
(i) Preparing the land
(ii) Sowing
(iii) Harvesting
(iv) Weeding
(v) Transplanting
People of rural areas are dependent upon the seasons, sometime they face problem such as failure of crops etc.
Non-farming activities are:
(i) Making baskets
(ii) Making utensils
(iii) Making pots
(iv) Making bricks
(v) Making bullock-carts
(vi) Fishing
(vii) Crafting
Some of the people have shops such as blacksmith's shop, tea shop, grocery shop, barber shop, cycle repair shop etc.

(i) Call centres are generally set-up as large rooms with work stations that include a computer, a telephone set and supervisor's stations. India has become a major centre not only for Indian companies but also foreign companies. They set-up call centres here as they can get people who can speak English and will work for lower wages.
(ii) We find labour at labour chowk where many people were sitting on railings or in groups at the crossing These labourers are daily wage labourers.

Besides voting, there are other ways of participating in the process of government.
(i) People participate by taking an interest in the working of the government and by criticising it when required.
(ii) Sometimes people take out rallies and also organise signature campaign. Things that are unfair and unjust are also brought forward through rallies, dharnas, strikes etc.
(iii) Now, magazines, newspapers and TV also play a role in discussing government issues and responsibilities.
(iv) Another way for people to participate is by organising themselves into social movements that seek to challenge the government and its functioning. Members of the minority community, dalits, adivasis, women and others are often able to participate in this manner.
If we see a rally winding through the streets ot our cities and towns or villages, we should pause to find out what the rally is about, who is participating in it, and what they are protesting about.Thus, this will help to give us a sense of how our government works.

(i) Asia with 44 squares is the largest continent.
(ii) Europe (10 squares) is larger than Australia (8 squares).

The stupas and temples were built through the following steps:
(i) Good quality stone had to be found, quarried and transported to the place that was often carefully chosen for the new buildings.
(ii) The rough blocks of stones were shaped and carved into pillars, and panels for walls, floors and ceilings.
(iii) They were often placed in precisely the right position.
(iv) Devotees brought gifts, which were used to decorate the buildings.
(v) Merchants, farmers, garland makers, perfumers, smiths and hundreds of men and women also paid for decorations and their names were inscribed on pillars, railings and walls.

The seasons are changed on the Earth because of the inclination of the Earth's axis in a fixed direction and due to the change in the position of the Earth around the sun.
On 21st June, the Northern hemisphere is tilted towards the sun. These areas receive more heat because the sun rays fall directly on the tropic of Cancer.
The tropic of Capricorn receives direct sun rays due to tilting of South Pole towards the sun on 22nd December.
The Northern hemisphere experiences autumn season while Southern hemisphere spring season on 23rd September. On 21st March, itIS spring in Northern hemisphere and autumn in Southern hemisphere.

(i) This fortification wall is located at Kaushambi.
(ii) A part of this wall was probably built about 2500 years ago.

Buddhism spread to Western and Southern India and caves were made out of hills for monks to live in. The caves were made on the order of kings and queens and also some of the caves are made by farmers and merchants.
Location of the caves were near passes through the Western Ghats. There were roads connecting these ports with cities in the Deccan ran through these passes. The traders used to stop in these caves while they were travelling. Buddhism also spread South Eastwards to Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand and other parts of South-East Asia including Indonesia. But Theravada Buddhism, the older form of Buddhism was more popular in these areas.

We find out about early cities of the sub-continent through the following sources:
(i) Stories The Jatakas were stories that were probably composed by ordinary people and then written down and preserved by Buddhist monks. The Jatakas throw sufficient light on the lives of the people who used to live there.
(ii) Accounts of travellers and sailors Another way of finding out about early cities is from the accounts of sailors and travellers who visited them.
(iii) Sculptures We can use other kinds of evidences to find out about life in some of these early cities. Sculptors carved scenes depicting peoples lives in towns and villages, as well as in the forest.
(iv) Archaeological findings In many early cities, archaeologists have found rows of pots or ceramic rings arranged one on top of the other. They have also found many silver and copper coins. From all these findings, many important facts about the early cities can be known.

(i)Rampurwa bull is shown in the picture.
(ii)The picture belongs to the Mauryan dynasty.
(iii) Mauryan Pillar has been found in Rampurwa, Bihar

(i)The monument in the picture is Buddhist Stupa at Sarnath.
(ii)Stupa was built to mark the place where the Buddha first taught his message.

(i) This manuscript was written about a thousand years ago.
(ii) The palm leaves were cut into pages and tied together to make books.
(iii) A palm leaf manuscript.

(A) Europe
(B) Asia
(C) Antarctica
(D) Sourh America
(E) Australia
(F) Indian ocean
(G) Pacific ocean
(H) Atlantic ocean
(I) Ural mountains

Yes, we can list three ways in which the different geographical location of these regions (Kerala and Ladakh) would be influence: