1.Describe the outcome of the "Assam Accord" of 1985.
(Chapter 18 :Regional Aspirations)

Ans:
Assam Accord was signed in 1985 between Rajiv Gandhi-led government and the AASU leaders.
The main motive of Assam Accord agreement is to :

• Identify foreign migrants who came to Assam after Bangladesh war and deport them.
• The AASU leaders and the Asom Gana Sangram Parishad organised themselves as a regional political party called Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and came to power in 1985 promising people to build Golden Assam by resolving the foreign national problem.

2.Mention the difficulties faced by the Election Commission during the first general elections.
(Chapter 2 : Era of one party dominance)

Ans:
The Election Commission of India was set up in January 1950. Sukumar Sen became the first Chief Election Commissioner.
Following were the difficulties faced by election commission:

• To start with the election , there had to be a delimitation or drawing the boundaries of the electoral constituencies.The voters list eligible for the election has to be listed out.It took a long time for election commission to get it done.
• When the first draft of the voters list was ready, it was discovered that the names of nearly 40 lakh women were not recorded in the list. They were simply listed as "wife of …" or "daughter of …".
• The Election Commission refused to accept these entries and ordered a revision if possible and deletion if necessary. Preparing for the first general election was a mammoth exercise.

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3.Match the facts given in Column "A" with those in Column "B" in a meaningful way:

Ans:
(a) => (iii)
(b) =>(i)
(c) => (iv)
(d) => (ii)

4.Assess the commonly agreed upon two goals visualized by the Indians during the national movement which have been fulfilled after independence.
(Chapter 1: Challenges of Nation Building)

Ans:
There were two goals almost everyone agreed upon:

• one, that after Independence, we shall run our country through democratic government; and
• two, that the government will be run for the good of all, particularly the poor and the socially disadvantaged groups.

5.Why do we need international organizations?
(Chapter 6: International Organisations)

Ans:

• International organisations help with matters of war and peace.
• They also help countries cooperate to make better living conditions for us all.

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6.Assess the role of democratic negotiations in responding to regional aspirations.
(Chapter 8: regional aspirations)

Ans:

• The best way to respond to regional aspirations is through democratic negotiations rather than through suppression.
• An example, In 80s militancy had erupted in Punjab; problems were persisting in the North-East; students in Assam were agitating; Kashmir valley was on the boil.
• Instead of treating these as simple law and order problems, the Government of India reached negotiated settlement with regional movements.This helped in reducing the tensions existing in many regions.

7.Explain the land reforms carried out in India after independence.
(Chapter 3 :Politics of Planned Development)

Ans:

• As per land reforms the zamindari system was abolished.This bold act not only released land from the clutches of a class that had little interest in agriculture, it also reduced the capacity of the landlords to dominate politics.
• Attempts to consolidate the land in one place so that the farm size can be used for agriculture were fairly successful.
• There were laws made to put an upper limit or "ceiling" to how much agricultural land one person could own but people with excess land managed to evade the law.
• The tenants who worked on someone else’s land were given greater legal security against eviction, but this provision was rarely implemented.

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8.Why was the Mandal Commission setup? What was its main recommendations?
(Chapter 9 : Recent Developments in Indian Politics)

Ans:
The Mandal Commission was set up to investigate the extent of educational and social backwardness among various sections of Indian society and recommend ways of identifying these "backward classes".
Its main recommendations were :

• Reserving 27 per cent of seats in educational institutions and government jobs for these groups.
• Land reform, to improve the conditions of the OBCs.

9.What is the significance of the States Reorganisation Act of 1956 ?
(Chapter 1: Challenges of Nation Building)

Ans:

• The States Reorganisation Commission was setup in 1953 and in its report accepted that the boundaries of the state should reflect the boundaries of different languages.
• On the basis of its report the States Reorganisation Act was passed in 1956. This led to the creation of 14 states and six union territories.

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10.Why super powers need alliances with the smaller states.
(Chapter 1 : The Cold War Era)

Ans:
The smaller states were helpful for the superpowers in gaining access to:
(i) vital resources, such as oil and minerals,
(ii) territory, from where the superpowers could launch their weapons and troops,
(iii) locations from where they could spy on each other, and
(iv) economic support, in that many small allies together could help pay for military expenses.

11.Why is the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 considered both a military and political failure?
(Chapter 3: US Hegemony in World Politics)

Ans:
The US military had lost over 3,000 personnel in the war and Iraqi casualties were also very much higher.It is conservatively estimated that 50,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed since the US-led invasion.Hence US invasion of Iraq is considered both military and political failure.

12.What is Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty?
(Chapter 1 : The Cold War Era)

Ans:
Allows only the nuclear weapon states to have nuclear weapons and stops others from acquiring them. For the purposes of the NPT, a nuclear weapon state is one which has manufactured and exploded a nuclear weapon or other nuclear explosive device prior to 1 January 1967. So there are five nuclear weapon states: US, USSR (later Russia), Britain, France and China.

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13.In which way did the policy of Non-Alignment serve India’s interests?
(Chapter 1 : The Cold War Era)

Ans:
A non-aligned served India’s interests very directly, in two ways:

• First, non-alignment allowed India to take international decisions and stances that served its interests rather than the interests of the superpowers and their allies.
• Second, India was often able to balance one superpower against the other. If India felt ignored or unduly pressurised by one superpower, it could tilt towards the other. Neither alliance system could take India for granted or bully it.