Causes of the French Revolution:

Despotic rule of Louis XVI: He became the ruler of France in 1774. He had drained the financial resources of France in wars. For the cost of his regular extravagant expenses, he increased taxes which were paid by the third estate.
Division of French society: The French society was divided into three estates; first, second and third estates, respectively. Among them, First and Second Estates had 10 per cent of the total population and were the clergy and nobles. They enjoyed all privileges. Rest of the 90 per cent was of the third estate, which paid all kinds of direct or indirect taxes. This kind of discrimination led to the revolution by the third estate.
Rising prices: The population of France had increased. This resulted into more demand of food grains. So the price of bread rose rapidly, which the poor could not afford to buy. So the gap between the rich and poor widened.
Inspiration of the philosophers: Philosophers like John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau and Montesquieu propagated the ideas of having a society where people would enjoy freedom, equal laws and equal opportunities. Their ideas inspired the people of France to realise their dreams.
Role of middle class: The 18th century witnessed the emergence of social groups termed as middle class, who earned their wealth through an expanding trade of the manufactured goods, being exported. There were other professionals also like lawyers, administrative officials who were all educated. They believed that no group in society should be privileged by birth.

There are eight planets in the Solar System. From closest to farthest from the Sun, they are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. The first four planets are called terrestrial planets. They are mostly made of rock and metal, and they are mostly solid.

On 5 may,1789 the meeting of estate general was called by king louis 16.A resplendent hall in Versailles was prepared to host the delegates. The purpose of calling the meeting is to pass the proposal of new taxes.The first and second estate has 300 members of each of them and were sitting in rows and there were 600 members of third estate who had to stand at the back. As always the voting scheme in france at that time was that one estate have one vote. But this time third estate want 1 person nd 1 vote.This was refused by the king.

Answer as per Textbook

(i) Liberals wanted a nation which tolerated all religions.Liberals also opposed the uncontrolled power of dynastic rulers. They wanted to safeguard the rights of individuals against governments. They argued for a representative, elected parliamentary government, subject to laws interpreted by a well-trained judiciary that was independent of rulers and officials. However, they were not ‘democrats’. They did not believe in universal adult franchise, that is, the right of every citizen to vote. They felt men of property mainly should have the vote. They also did not want the vote for women.

(ii) In contrast, radicals wanted a nation in which government was based on the majority of a country’s population. Many supported women’s suffragette movements. Unlike liberals, they opposed the privileges of great landowners and wealthy factory owners. They were not against the existence of private property but disliked concentration of property in the hands of a few.

(iii)Conservatives were opposed to radicals and liberals. After the French Revolution, however, even conservatives had opened their minds to the need for change. Earlier, in the eighteenth century, conservatives had been generally opposed to the idea of change. By the nineteenth century, they accepted that some change was inevitable but believed that the past had to be respected and change had to be brought about through a slow process.

Radicals were a group of people who wanted a nation in which the government was based on majority of country's population. Conservatives: They were a group of people who opposed the radicals and the liberals and believed that the past had to be respected and a change had to be brought through a slow process. The Radicals were a loose parliamentary political grouping in Great Britain and Ireland in the early to mid-19th century, who drew on earlier ideas of radicalism and helped to transform the Whigs into the Liberal Party.

Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on liberty, consent of the governed and equality before the law.[1][2][3] Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but they generally support free markets, free trade, limited government, individual rights (including civil rights and human rights), capitalism, democracy, secularism, gender equality, racial equality, internationalism, freedom of speech, freedom of the press and freedom of religion. Yellow is the political colour most commonly associated with liberalism.

Liberalism became a distinct movement in the Age of Enlightenment, when it became popular among Western philosophers and economists. Liberalism sought to replace the norms of hereditary privilege, state religion, absolute monarchy, the divine right of kings and traditional conservatism with representative democracy and the rule of law. Liberals also ended mercantilist policies, royal monopolies and other barriers to trade, instead promoting free trade and free markets. Philosopher John Locke is often credited with founding liberalism as a distinct tradition, based on the social contract, arguing that each man has a natural right to life, liberty and property and governments must not violate these rights. While the British liberal tradition has emphasized expanding democracy, French liberalism has emphasized rejecting authoritarianism and is linked to nation-building.

When a person, skilled or non-skilled, willing to work as per the going wage, does not get work, the person is said to be unemployed. This situation is termed as unemployment.

Two types of unemployment found in rural areas are as follows :

Disguised Unemployment This prevails in agricultural sector in rural India, where all the members of the family are engaged on a plot of land belonging to them. Everybody seems to be working on that land, but production does not suffer if some of the family members are removed from work. The surplus persons are disguisedly unemployed.

Seasonal Unemployment It too prevails in agricultural sector in rural India. Labourers are busy
during the period when sowing, harvesting, weeding and threshing is done. Other than this period, labourers hardly get any work as villages lack infrastructure, construction activities or other sources of employment.

Election Commission is a federal body, enacted under the provisions of the Constitution, responsible for monitoring and administering all the electoral processes of India. This body is responsible for ensuring elections are free and fair, without any bias. The most fundamental principle defining credible elections is that they must reflect the free expression of the will of the people. To achieve this, elections should be transparent, inclusive, and accountable, and there must be equitable opportunities to compete in the elections.

 Challenges of free and fair election: use of money: political parties may use money to win votes from people. use of muscle power: they may threat the voter to caste vote for them. criminals in politics: this leads to involvement of corrupt practices in elections. capturing of booths: participants may capture a booth.

Popular participation can be defined as the active involvement of citizens in the socio-political activities of a country. It can also be seen as the practice of involving the citizens in the governance of their country and in deciding important socio-cultural, political and economic matters. 

People's participation is becoming the central issue of current period. Participation means that people are closely involved in the economic, social and cultural and political processes that affect their lives. ... It generally refers to people's involvement in particular projects or programmes.

The Election Commission of India is an autonomous constitutional authority responsible for administering election processes in India at national and state. The body administers elections to the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, state Legislative Assemblies, state legislative Councils, and the offices of the President and Vice President of the country. The Election Commission operates under the authority of Constitution per Article 324, and subsequently enacted Representation of the People Act. The commission has the powers under the Constitution, to act in an appropriate manner when the enacted laws make insufficient provisions to deal with a given situation in the conduct of an election. Being a constitutional authority, Election Commission is amongst the few institutions which function with both autonomy and freedom, along with the country’s higher judiciary, the Union Public Service Commission and the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. The election commission has the right to allow symbols to the political parties. It gives recognition to the national parties, state parties and regional parties. It sets limits on poll expenses. The commission prepare electoral rolls and update the voter's list from time to time. Notifications of dates and schedules of election for filing nominations are issued by the commission. It is noteworthy that Election commission cannot allot same symbol to two regional political parties even if they are not in the same state.

(a) Leaders of the freedom movement had an open mind about whether the country should be democratic or not after independence. Answer: This is a true statement. (b) Members of the Constituent Assembly of India held the same views on all provisions of the Constitution. Answer: Members of the Constituent Assembly of India had different opinions on various provisions of the constitution. (c) A country that has a constitution must be a democracy. Answer: This cannot be said with surety; in the context of information given in this chapter. (d) Constitution cannot be amended because it is the supreme law of a country. Answer: Constitution can be amended to keep up with the changes in aspirations of the society.

The southern slopes of the Himalayan region are covered in thick vegetation as compared to the northern slopes of the same hills as it receives less rainfall.

The growth of vegetation depends upon the amount of sunlight and rainfall received. The southern slopes of the Himalaya receive more rain due to the south west monsoon winds which travel west along the southern slops. The northern slopes do not receive any such rainfall. So the southern slopes are covered with thick vegetation as compared to the northern slopes.  

Every political party and candidate gets a fair and equal chance to compete. According to our election law, no party or candidate can:

• bribe or threaten the voters to vote for them only;
• appeal to the voters in the name of caste or religion;
• use the government resources for election campaigns;
• spend more than ?25 lakhs in a constituency for the Lok Sabha elections or ?10 lakhs in a constituency during an assembly election.
  If they do so, their election can be rejected by the court even after they have been declared elected.

In the year 1789, French Revolution started leading to a series of the events started by the middle class. The people had revolted against the cruel regime of the monarchy. This revolution had put forth the ideas of liberty, fraternity as well as equality.

The only interruption to the institution of the Monarchy was its brief abolition from 1649 to 1660, following the execution of Charles I and the rules of Oliver Cromwell and his son, Richard. The crowns of England and Scotland were brought together on the accession of James VI of Scotland as James I of England in 1603. While royal expert Marlene Koenig told Insider "the monarchy is not going anywhere anytime soon," it isn't impossible to imagine Britain without a monarchy. If Britain were to abolish the monarchy, the royal family would likely have to give up property belonging to the Crown Estate — including Buckingham Palace.

Several key words have been used in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution:

(i) We, the people of India. The constitution has been drawn up and enacted by the people through their representatives, and not handed down to them by a king or any outside powers.

(ii) Sovereign. People have supreme right to make decisions on internal as well as external matters. No external power can dictate the government of India.

(iii) Socialist. Wealth is generated socially and should be shared equally by society. Government should regulate the ownership of land and industry to reduce socio-economic inequalities.

(iv) Secular. Citizens have complete freedom to follow any religion. But there is no official religion. Government treats all religious beliefs and practices with equal respect.

(v) Democratic. A form of government where people enjoy equal political rights, elect their rulers and hold them accountable.

(vi) Republic. The head of the state is an elected person and not a hereditary position.

(vii) Justice. Citizens cannot be discriminated on the grounds of caste, religion and gender. Social inequalities have to be reduced.

(viii) Liberty. There are no unreasonable restrictions on the citizens in what they think, how they wish to express their thoughts and the way they wish to follow up their thoughts in action.

(ix) Equality. All are equal before the law. The government should ensure equal opportunity to all.

(x) Fraternity. All of us should behave as if we are members of the same family. No one should treat a fellow citizen as inferior.

• It is an important law of the land. It determines the relationship of the citizens with the governments.
• It lays down principles and guidelines which are required for people belonging to different ethnic and religious groups to live in harmony.
• It specifies on how the Government would be elected and who will have the power and the responsibility to take important decisions.
• It outlines the limits on the power of the Government and tells us about the rights of the citizens.
• It expresses the aspirations of the people about creating a good society.

The Constitution of India has enough scope for amendment if required for the welfare of its citizens. The makers of the Indian Constitution felt that it needs to be amended regularly to keep it updated. Amendments must be done in accordance with people's aspirations and needs. To maintain law and order, the dignity and rights of the citizens, the Constitution made some provisions for amendment from time to time. At the same time, the process of amendment is not very easy. All amendments can be initiated only in the Union Parliament, not in any state Igislature. A special majority by two-thirds vote in favour is required to amend the Constitution.

The colonies in the Caribbean were important suppliers of tobacco, indigo, sugar and coffee. However as the Europeans were unwilling to work in distant and unfamiliar lands, it led to a shortage of labor in plantations. This shortage was met by triangular slave trade between Europe, Africa and America. 
2. The slave trade began in the 17th century when French merchants sailed to the African coasts, where they bought slaves from the local chieftains. These slaves were then branded, shackled and then packed tightly into ships for a 3 month long voyage across the Atlantic to the Caribbean. 
3. There they were sold to the plantation workers who used them to meet the growing demands in European markets for sugar, coffee and indigo. 
4. Slavery was abolished in France by the Constitution of 1791 but it was not extended to all French subjects including those in the colonies. 
5. It was during the Jacobins reign that the Convention abolished slavery in the French colonies in 1794. Napoleon re introduced slavery in France. Slavery was finally abolished in French colonies in 1848.

Respected Stalin, 
                   I am xxxxx and I am a farmer in morocco. I am a middle level Russian wheat farmer. I'm writing this letter to say something extremely important to you. The collectivization policy which has been implemented to transform the traditional agricultural practices has been a boon to some but a bane to many. Due to this prosperous peasants have been forced to give up their lands and join the large collective farms. The lands which we owned and looked after for years are now not under our control. In addition to this, we are also facing the problem of rapid industrialization. Collectivization is considered to be desirable and socialistic to some. But the actual scenario here is only known to us. As a result of collectivization, many leaders are forcing us to produce more crops using modern machinery and are selling our crops in low costs, we are feeling very reluctant to abandon our individual farms. Kindly understand our situation and do the needful. 

stalin's response :
dear xxxxx, 
            I understand your plight and I will definitely help you all to get you out of this situation.