The functions and powers of the tribal chiefs changed considerably under the British rule. They lost much of their administrative power. They were forced to follow the laws made by the British. They had to pay tribute to the British. They were expected to discipline their people on behalf of the British government. However, they were allowed to keep their land titles over a cluster of villages and could rent out lands. Thus, the authority of the tribal chiefs significantly reduced under the colonial rule.

An independent judiciary is necessary to carry out the function of 'upholding the law and enforcing Fundamental Rights'. Anyone can approach the courts if they believe that their rights have been violated. If any law passed by the Parliament violates anyone's Fundamental Rights, the judiciary has power to declare such law null and void.

Rowlatt Acts, (February 1919), legislation passed by the Imperial Legislative Council, the legislature of British India. The acts allowed certain political cases to be tried without juries and permitted internment of suspects without trial.

The greatest impact of the nineteenth century socio-religious reform movements was:

(1) The creation of national awakening among the masses;

(2) The revival of Hinduism as a tolerant, rational religion to restore its lost prestige in the wake of Islam in the past and Christianity in the nineteenth century.

(3) An onslaught on the indignities committed on women, untouchables and other oppressed and depressed sections of Indian society;

(4) The creation of the feelings of sacrifice, service and rationalism;

(5) An attack on the hereditary character and rigidities of the caste system; and finally

(6) A sense of equality, indigenisation and co-existence of cultures and religions.

When a particular social group is forced to live on the fringes rather than in the mainstream; this is called marginalization. A marginalized section of the society does not get proper opportunity of socio-economic development.

The authority of a court to decide a case based upon trial and evidence rather than on the basis of appeal is called original jurisdiction.
While even lower courts have original jurisdiction over civil and criminal matters, the Supreme Court has original jurisdiction over cases of interpretation of the constitution, and where the dispute is between states and between the deferral government and a state.
Appellate jurisdiction refers to the authority of a court to hear a case upon appeal from a lower court.
Bulk of the cases heard by the Supreme Court pertains to those falling under the appellate jurisdiction.

a) In 1914 the First world war broke out. Steel produced in Britain now had to meet the demands of the war in Europe.
b) Imports of British steel in India declined dramatically. Now the Indian rails turned to TISCO for the supply of rails.
c) As the war dragged for years TISCO had to produce carriage wheels and shells for the war.

An industrial system consists of inputs, processes and outputs. The inputs are the raw materials, labor and costs of land,transport, power and other infrastructure. The processes include a wide range of activities that convert the raw material into finished products. The outputs are the end product and the income earned from it.

Some marginalised communities in India are Tribals or Adivasi, SC's, OBC’s, Religious minorities and women.

They protested against being excluded because:
a. They were victims of societal oppression and were historically discriminated like women, SC's.
b. They were socially and educationally backward.
c. Many of them were cut off from the mainstream.
d. They demanded fairness, equal and just treatment.

During British rule, old trading centres and ports could not survive when the flow of trade moved to new centres like Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. This decline and decay of the cities is called de-urbanization. For example; in the late eighteenth century, many towns manufacturing specialized goods declined due to a drop in the demand for what they produced. Also, earlier centres of regional power collapsed when local rulers were defeated by the British and new centres of administration emerged. Cities such as Machlipatnam, Surat and Seringapatam were deurbanised during the nineteenth century.

1) Mineral means from mines and agro means farm produce.The industries where raw material is any kind of mineral such as iron ore,aluminium etc are mineral based industries.These are capital intensive units as involves large investment eg:steel manufacturing etc.Agro based such as food processing industry eg:manufacturing tomato sauce or any fruit juice etc.
2) Mineral based industries use mineral ores as raw materials whereas agro based industries use plant and animal product as raw materials .
3) Agro based industries are a source of employment for people in rural areas whereas mineral based industries are source of employment for people in rural as well as urban areas.
4) Mineral based industries have a large investment whereas there is no large investment in agro based industries.
5) Example of agro based industry: dairy industry,cotton textile industry; example of mineral based industry: iron and steel industry,heavy machinery industry.

Mirabai was a Hindu mystic poet of the Bhakti movement. She referred to the Lord, whom she saw as her husband, with different names like Satguru, Prabhu Ji, Giridhar Nagar, Krishna. She even called him the husband of her soul. Mirabai is representative of the Bhakta tradition of sacred poetry.

Few marginalised groups of India are the Adivasis, the Muslims and the Dalits.

Marginalisation results in having a low social status and not having equal access to education and other resources.

The Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 an Act of the Parliament of India enacted to prevent atrocities against scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.
Article 17 of Indian Constitution seeks to abolish 'untouchability' and to forbid all such practices. It is basically a "statement of principle" that needs to be made operational with the ostensible objective to remove humiliation and multifaceted harassments meted to the Dalits and to ensure their fundamental and socio-economic, political, and cultural rights.
The normal provisions of the existing laws like, the Protection of Civil Rights Act 1955 and Indian Penal Code have been found inadequate to check these atrocities<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheduled_Caste_and_Scheduled_Tribe_%28Prevention_of_Atrocities%29_Act,_1989#cite_note-1"> </a>continuing the gross indignities and offences against Scheduled Castes and Tribes. Recognizing these, the Parliament passed ‘Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act’.
The purpose of the Act was to help the social inclusion of Dalits  into Indian society, but the Act has failed to live up to its expectations admitted by the Union Minister for Home Affairs in parliament on 30 August 2010.

Articles 14,15,28,29 and 30 of the constitution have protected the intrests of the minority communities in India. ARTICLE 14 provides equality before law and equal protection which provide protection against discrimination irrespective of religion or caste.
ARTICLE 28 safeguard the minority from enforceable religious teachings (such as dress code for specific prayers and all) in all government funded educational institutions.
article 29 provide protection of language , script, culture and conserve the same.
The constitution has declared India to be a secular country in which people of each and every religion has the right to profess, practice and propagate their own religion.

Their marginalisation can be because they speak a different language, follow different customs or belong to a different religious group from the majority community. They may also feel marginalised because they are poor, considered to be of ‘low’ social status and viewed as being less human than others.

Sometimes, marginalised groups are viewed with hostility and fear. This sense of difference and exclusion leads to communities not having access to resources and opportunities and in their inability to assert their rights. They experience a sense of disadvantage and powerlessness vis-a-vis more powerful and dominant sections of society who own land, are wealthy, better educated and politically powerful.

The textiles industry of India faced many problems in the first few decades of its existence. Competing with cheap textiles imported from Britain was difficult. The governments of most of the European countries protected their local industries by heavy import duties. The colonial government in India did not provide such protection to local industries.

Two hundred years ago, the situation of women was altogether different compared to in the modern times. The practice of child marriage was rampant. Both Hindu and Muslim men could marry more than one wife. Burning of a widow on her husband’s pyre was a gory practice in many parts of India. This was called the sati system. A widow who died in this manner was praised as a woman of high virtues. Women did not have the right to property. Most of the women had no access to education.

We will see their lives and works of these social reformers and value their endeavours to build a modern India.

RAJA RAM MOHAN ROY:
Raja Ram Mohan Roy was amongst the most famous Social Reformers in India.

In the mid-nineteenth century, Indian culture was included by numerous social evils like Sati system, religious superstitions, caste system, etc.

He was the first to identify such insensitive practices and promised to fight against them & considered as the architect of the Indian Renaissance and the “father of modern India”.

He was born on 22 May 1772 in Radhanagore (Radhanagar) in Hooghly district, Bengal and was related to a traditional Brahmin family.

Ramakant Roy was the father of modern India, he holds a decent position in the court of the Nawab of Bengal and Triveni Roy was the mother of the Raja Ram Mohan Roy. 

Ram Mohan Roy completed his education in Patna and Varanasi. From 1803 to 1814, he also worked in the East India Company.

Raja Ram Mohan Roy was married at a very young age and he died on 27 September 1833 in Bristol City, England.

Solar Eclipse also known as the eclipse of the sun, it occurs when the moon comes in between the sun and the earth. As a result, the moon blocks the light of the sun from reaching the earth’s surface and casts a shadow on it. This occurs on a new moon phase. We can observe up to 5 solar eclipses per year.

Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as air, water and soil. It leads to the destruction of ecosystems and the extinction of wildlife. It is now a global issue and it is discussed and debated over decades.
Actually environmental degradation does not restricted to the national or state boundary which is causing immense degradation. Its consequences are well felt in the surrounding states or neighboring countries or sometimes globally.
For example, if India is doing much air pollution through massive thermal power plant and other sources, it affects our neighboring countries like Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, etc. Acid rain, climate change are some transcontinental issues.

(i) Social reformers criticized caste inequalities. Paramhans Mandali was founded in 1840 in Bombay to work for the abolition of caste.

(ii) The Prarthana Samaj adhered to the tradition of Bhakti that believed in spiritual equality of all castes.

(iii) Christians missionaries began setting up schools for the tribal groups and ‘lower’-caste children.

(iv) There were availability of jobs in cities in factories. Many poor people from the villages & small towns who belonged to low castes got the jobs as labour.

(v) The work was hard enough. But the poor had got a chance to get away from the control of upper-castes landowners who exercised daily humiliation over them.

(vi) Army was another option in jobs. A number of Mahar people, who were regarded as untouchables, found jobs in the Mahar Regiment.