Dalits (SC) and Tribals (ST) are the most marginalized sections of Indian society. Many atrocities have been committed against them since time immemorial. The SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act protects them against discrimination and atrocities. However, the SC/ST act can never be called a successful legislation. Dalits and Tribals still face …
Dear aspirants, please find the UPSC Civil Services Exam (Mains) 2017 General Studies 1 (GS 1) Question Paper below. You can download the same as a PDF using the print-pdf button on the bottom. Instructions Maximum Marks: 250. Time Allowed: Three Hours There are TWENTY questions printed both in HINDI and in …
When a woman is empowered, the whole family, society, and the country are empowered to advance forward towards development. Can women play a special role in climate change management and agriculture? Let’s see. Contribution of Women in Agriculture and Managing Climate Change Women are the primary managers of household work, …
The status of women in India had been declining from ancient to medieval times – before promotion of equal rights by various reformers. But even today, women face inequality and subjugation. It is in this regard National Policy on Women 2016 gains significance. National Policy for Women 2016 In 2016, …
The caste system is one of the unique features in Indian Society. Its root can be traced back to thousands of years. Jana → Jati → Caste The word caste derives from the Spanish and Portuguese “casta”, means “race, lineage, or breed”. Portuguese employed casta in the modern sense when they applied it to …
The social boycott is the act of persistently avoiding a person by other members of the society. It is society’s collective refusal to engage a person in the normal social and commercial relations. Its goal is to make that individual so uncomfortable that he decides to voluntarily leave the society. …
When we prepare notes of ClearIAS – we always keep one important thing in mind. Our study materials should help our readers learn faster! (See Major Ocean Currents: How to learn faster?) Now, after a break, we have come up with another easy-to-understand article from Geography – about Clouds. In this article, we …
In the previous articles in the Geography section, we have discussed in detail about the composition and structure of the earth’s atmosphere, how and from where the earth receives its energy, how the earth maintains its temperature, methods through which the heat energy gets transferred in the atmosphere (insolation and …
India is known for its rich cultural legacy. Performing arts like classical dances are integral parts of Indian culture. This is a mega-post which cover the details of all classical dances in India. Origin of classical dances Most of the classical dance forms originated in temples. Worshipping was the main …
We have been receiving many requests from our readers to create an easy-to-understand article covering all the issues related with Israel-Palestine. Though it’s not easy to cover every dimension within a limited space, in this post, we have tried our best to create a comprehensive article on Isreal-Palestine conflict. The Israel-Palestine …
During the first half of the eighteenth century, the boundaries of the Mughal Empire were reshaped by the emergence of a number of independent kingdoms. In this post, we will read about the emergence of new political groups in the subcontinent during the first half of the eighteenth century – roughly …
The frontiers separating regions have evolved over time are still changing. What we understand as regional cultures today are often the product of complex processes of intermixing of local traditions with ideas from other parts of the subcontinent. In this post, let us quickly go through some of the regional cultures …
We have already posted about the major kingdoms and tribals societies in Medieval India. In this post let’s see in detail the devotional paths followed by people during the medieval period – Bhakitsm, Sufism, and Sikhism. Brahminism vs Buddhism/Jainism vs Devotional Paths (Bhakitsm, Sufism, and Sikhism) Brahminism based on caste-system …
In the previous article, we have discussed the composition and structure of the earth’s atmosphere. The atmosphere is essential for the survival of plant and animal life. They also require the optimum temperature to keep themselves warm and grow. In this article, we are going to discuss in details about …
In this article on Medieval India, we plan to cover the topic ‘Tribes, Nomads, and Settled Communities’. One of the major reference material for this post is NCERT History text for Class 7 (Our past -1). The main points from the chapters are compiled below. These points might come quite …
ClearIAS Team has been receiving a lot of support and encouragement from our loving readers for our easy-to-understand articles on Geography. (See Major Ocean Currents: How to learn faster?) Having covered most of the important concepts in Lithosphere and Hydrosphere, in this article, we are going to discuss the composition and …
Indian culture and heritage is a hot topic for UPSC Civil Services Prelims as well as Mains. Once you get a basic idea regarding what to study and what not to study in Indian culture, this topic would be very easy. In this post, we not only provide guidance regarding priority …
China is a nation with ancient culture and heritage. Unlike many other nations, almost whole of China was under a single authority for many centuries. Several dynasties ruled China like Xia, Shang, Han, Tang etc. The last dynasty which ruled China was Qing Dynasty (also known as Manchu Dynasty). Manchu …
In this article on Medieval India, we plan to cover the topic ‘Towns, Traders and Craftpersons in the medieval India’. We have noticed more and more questions being asked in Prelims from this topic, hence the write-up on the same. One of the major reference material for this post is …
Dear aspirants, please find the UPSC Civil Services Exam (Mains) 2016 General Studies 1 (GS 1) Question Paper below. You can download the same as a PDF using the print-pdf button on the left/bottom. UPSC CSE Mains 2016 General Studies 1 (GS 1) Question Paper Note: Each Question is worth …
The Great Depression of the 1930s was a severe economic problem which affected the whole world, and United States of America (USA) in particular. This was a significant event between two world wars. Great Economic Depression started in 1929 and lasted until the 1940s. What is a Depression? Depression is …
In this post, we discuss the causes, course, and significance of the American Civil War (1861-1865). We will also see how Abraham Lincoln made a difference in history, in-spite of the opposition he faced. The American Civil War: The Background When American won Independence from England in 1776, there were …
We have seen the causes and consequences of the First World War in the last post. The first world war itself sowed the seeds for Second World War, primarily because of the humiliating Treaty of Versailles. We shall see the causes and consequences of the Second World War (WWII) in this …
First World War (World War I) is considered as one of the largest wars in history. The world’s great powers assembled in two opposing alliances: the Allies (British Empire, France and the Russian Empire) versus the Central Powers (Germany and Austria-Hungary). WWI lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. The Two Groups: Allies vs …
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was a loose confederation of 15 republics with Russia as the leader. USSR was a strong bloc with great control over global politics from 1922 to 1991, when it was disintegrated into smaller units. In this post let’s analyse the reasons and impact of …
The contemporary India experiences an almost unrestricted exploitation of resources because of the lure of new consumerist lifestyles. The balance of nature is disrupted. This has led to many conflicts in the society. In this article, we discuss the major environmental movements in India. What is an Environmental Movement? An environmental …
Following the death of the Gauthama Buddha, several assemblies were convened to settle doctrinal disputes and to recite Buddhist texts. These Assemblies were known as Buddhist Councils. This post will help readers to memorize the details of each Buddhist Council, much faster. Buddhism Founded by Gautama Buddha (Sakyamuni) known originally …
In our geography notes on the hydrosphere, we have seen the major movements of the ocean water. They are – waves, tides and ocean currents. Having covered the fundamentals, we shall see in this post, a super-fast way to learn the details of ocean currents. Names, direction, nature….and what not! Well, you might …
Our Geography notes continue. Having covered the most important concepts in land, we are now dealing with the water (hydrosphere). In the last article, we have seen the ocean bottom topography. In this comprehensive post, we will cover the movements of ocean water – waves, tides and ocean currents. We hope …
Geography is an interesting subject which covers land (lithosphere), water (hydrosphere) and air (atmosphere). Hope you have gone through our easy-to-learn notes covering important land features. Now let’s see how to learn fast the concepts associated with hydrosphere. Let’s start from ocean floor first. Earth – the water planet We know …
In the previous article in geography section, we have discussed in detail about the interior of the earth. We have seen different layers like crust, core, and mantle. The Crust – even though very thin – as being the outer part of the lithosphere, is very significant. In this article, we …
In this article (geography section), we discuss the interior of the earth. Understanding the basic structure of earth is very important to learn higher concepts well. Also, the origin of many phenomena like earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunami etc are linked with the structure of earth’s interior. What should you understand about the …
World Heritage is the designation for places on Earth that are of outstanding universal value to humanity. Pyramids of Egypt, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, Galápagos Islands in Ecuador, the Taj Mahal in India, the Grand Canyon in the USA, or the Acropolis in Greece are examples of the …
Forces inside and outside the earth can change the shape of earth’s surface. We have already seen the effects of geomorphic forces in our previous Geography notes. Endogenic forces and exogenic forces can create a lot of landforms. A landform is a natural feature of the solid surface of the Earth. Examples include Mountains, …