CBSE Class 8

On this page, you will find NCERT Class 8 Civics Chapter 2 Notes Pdf free download. CBSE Class 8 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 2 SST Understanding Secularism will seemingly, help them to revise the important concepts in less time.

Understanding Secularism Class 8 Notes Social Science Civics Chapter 2

CBSE Class 8 Civics Chapter 2 Notes Understanding the Lesson

1. History provides us the many examples that show how there was discrimination, exclusion and persecution on the ground of religion.

2. Maximum times members of one religious community either persecute or discriminate against member of other religious communities.

3. The process of discrimination always occurs at the time when one religion is given official recognition by the State at the expense of other religions.

4. No one would wish to be discriminated against because of their religion nor dominated by another religion.

5. In India the Indian Constitution allows individuals the freedom to live by their religious beliefs and practices as they interpret these.

6. For the above purpose, India adopted a studying of separating the power of religions and the power of the State.

7. Secularism refers to this separation of religions from the State.

8. To function democratically it is important for a country that there should exist the separation of religion from State power.

9. If majority religious groups have the access to State power, they misuse their power against other religions.

10. The majority could quite easily prevent minorities from practising their religions.

11. This will result in the tyranny of the majority and the violation of Fundamental Rights.

12. This shows why it is important to separate the State and religion in democratic societies.

13. The need to protect the freedom of industries to exit from their religion, embrace religion or have the freedom to interpret religious teachings differently. This is another reason that shows the importance of separation of religions from the State.

14. India Secularism, according to the Indian Constitution, it is mandatory for the Indian State to be secular.

15. As per the Constitution, only a secular State can realise its objective to ensure the following:

16. That one religious communists does not dominate another.

17. That some members do not dominate other members of the same religious community.

18. That the State does not enforce any particular religion non take away the religions freedom of individuals.

19. Indian State works in various ways to prevent the above domination.

20. Indian State is not ruled by a religious group and nor does it support any religion.

21. Government schools cannot promote any religions either in the morning prayers or through religions celebrations.

22. Indians secularism also works on the strategy of non interference.

23. It means that in order to respect the sentiments of all religions and not interfere with religious practices, the State makes certain exception for particular religions communities. For e.g., A sikh while riding bike can wear Pugri (turban) instead of helmet.

24. Indian secularism also works to prevent domination of majority over minority through the strategy of intervention.

25. Indian Constitution bans untouchability.

26. To ensure that laws relating equal inheritance rights are respected, the State may have to intervene in the religion-based ‘personal laws’ communities.

27. The Indian Constitution grants the right to religious communities to set up their own schools and colleges. Also the financial aid on non-preferential basis is provided to them.

28. There is a strict separation between religion and the State in U.S.A. While in Indian secularism, the State can intervene in the religious affairs.

29. The Indian State is secular and works in various ways to prevent religious domination.

30. The Indian Constitution gurantees Fundamental Rights that are based on these secular principles.

31. To prevent violation of these rights in India Society we need Constitutional mechanism to prevent them from happening.

32. The knowledge that such rights exist, makes us sensitive to their violations and enables us to take action when these violations takes place.

Understanding Secularism Class 8 CBSE Notes Important Terms

Secularism: India adopted a strategy of separating the power of religion and the power of the State. This separation of religion from the State that is called secularism.

Intervene: It refers to the State’s efforts to influence a particular matter in accordance with the principle of the Constitution.

Coercion: to force someone to do something. It refers to the force used by a legal authority like the State.

Freedom to interpret: It refers to the freedom that all persons shall have to understand things in their own way.

On this page, you will find NCERT Class 8 Civics Chapter 1 Notes Pdf free download. CBSE Class 8 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 1 SST The Indian Constitution will seemingly, help them to revise the important concepts in less time.

The Indian Constitution Class 8 Notes Social Science Civics Chapter 1

CBSE Class 8 Civics Chapter 1 Notes Understanding the Lesson

1. The society has Constitutive rules that make it what it is and differentiate it from other kinds of societies.

2. In large societies different communities of people live together and rules are formulated through consensus, and in modern countries, this consensus is usually available in written form.

3. A written document where one finds, such rules is called a Constitution.

4. Most countries of the world in present-day have a Constitution.

5. The Constitution serves purposes:

I^st purpose:

6. It lays out certain ideals that form the basis of the kind of country that the citizens of that country aspire to live in.

7. A Constitution tells us about the fundamental nature of the society.

8. A Constitution helps serve as a set of rules and principles that all persons in a country can agree upon as the basic way in which they want the country to be governed.

9. It not only tells us about the type of government but it also explains about an agreement on certain ideals that the citizens of the country believe and should uphold.

10. The best example for the I^st purpose in Nepal.

11. Nepal that was monarchial country in past adopted its previous Constitution in 1990 reflected with the fact that the final authority rested with king.

12. In 2006 with the constant struggle and the people’s movement for several decades the establishment of Democracy was seen putting an end the powers of the king.

13. Now in Nepal there was a definite need for the framing of the new Constitution as the people of the country did not want to continue with the previous Constitution which did not reflect the ideals of the country. The ideals that were wanted by the people of that country.

14. Nepal and its people are involved in the process of writing a Constitution for the country.

II^nd purpose:

15. The II^nd most important purpose of Constitution is to define the native of a country’s political system.

16. The countries which have adopted it, in those countries, Constitution plays a crucial role in laying out important guidelines that govern decision making within these societies.

17. In democratic societies the Constitution often lays down rules guarding against the misuse of authority by the political leader as in democratic societies the people of choose their leaders, and the leaders exercise power responsibly on the people behalf.                                                       ,

18. Right to Equality is one of Fundament Right guaranteed by the Indian Constitution.

19. Constitution even functions to ensure that the dominant group does not use its power against less powerful group or people in a democracy.

20. The Constitution usually contains of rules ensuring that minorities are not excluded from anything that is routinely available to the majority.

21. The Constitution prevents tyranny or domination by the majority of a minority.

22. The Constitution also helps us ‘to save us from ourselves’. This means that the Constitution helps to protect us against certain decisions that we might take that could have an adverse effect on the larger principle that the country believes in.

23. A good Constitution never allows any whims to change its basic structure.

24. Key features of the Indian Constitution itself carries the struggle that was faced under the British, the dreams that how free India would be, the ill treatment of British towards Indians, all these with the long experience of authoritarian rule under the colonial rule convinced the Indians that the free India should be a democracy in which every one should be treated equal and allowed to participate in government.

25. Then the work was started for the ways in which a democratic government should be set up in India and the rules that would determine its functioning.

26. A Constituent Assembly comprised of 300 members, was founded in 1946. The 300 members met periodically for the next 3 yrs for the purpose of writing the Indian Constitution.

27. Various issues were kept in mind while the framing up of the Constitution for the country that was made up of several communities and that comprised of several different languages speakers, the people belonged to different religions and had different cultures. The Constituent Assembly drafted the Indian Constitution by giving this country a visionary document that reflects a respect and maintains diversity while preserving national unity.

28. The final document also reflects their concern for eradicating poverty through socio-economic reforms as well as emphasizing the crucial role the people can play in choosing their representatives.

29. The Indian Constitution has several number of features that are:

1. Federation: The term refers to the existence of more than one level of government in the country.

• In India, the governments are at the state level and at the centre and Panchayati Raj is the 3^rd tier of government.
• Under Federalism the states are not merely agents of the federal government but draw their authority from the Constitution as well.
• In short, the Indian Constitution defines the power of each government at each level and at every tier.

2. Parliamentary Form of government: The Indian Constitution guarantees universal adult suffrage for all citizens as at the time of making the Constitution, the members of Constituent Assembly felt that freedom struggle had prepared the masses for universal adult suffrage and that this would encourage a democratic mindset and break the clutches of traditional caste, class and gender hierarchies. This means the people of India have a direct role in electing their representatives.

• Also, every citizen of the country, irrespective his/her social background, can also contest in elections.
• The representatives are accountable to the people.

3. Separation of power: As per the Indian Constitution there are 3 organs of the state. That are

• The Legislative
• The Executive
• The judiciary.
• The legislative refers to our elected representatives.
• The Executives are the groups of people who are responsible for the implementation of laws and run­ning of the government.
• The Constitution states that each of these organs should exercise different powers.
• Each organ acts as a check on the organs of the state and this ensures the balance of Power between the 3 organs.

4. Fundamental Rights: This section of the India Constitution has often been referred to as the ‘conscience’. The Fundamental Rights protect the citizens against any arbitrary and absolute exercise of power by the state.

• The Indian Constitution guarantees the Fundamental Rights of individuals against the state as well as against other individuals.
• Various minorities communities have expressed the need for the Constitution to include the rights that would protect their group. Therefore the Indian Constitution also guarantees the rights of minorities against the majority.
• In addition to Fundamental Rights, the Constitution of India also consists of a section called The Directive Principle of State Policy.
• The Directive Principle of State Policy (D.P.S.P) was designed to ensure greater social and economic reformers and also to serve as a guide to the independent Indian state to institute laws and policies that would help in reducing the poverty of the masses.

5. Secularism: A secular state is a state which never officially promotes any type of religion as the state religion and India is one of the secular states that officially does not have any religion.

• The Constitution plays crucial role in laying out ideas that citizens would adhere to including the representatives that we elect to rule us.
• Often a major change in the Constitution means a change in the fundamental nature of the country.

The Indian Constitution Class 8 CBSE Notes Important Terms

Arbitrary: Arbitrary is a functioning which based on a desire or idea only rather than reason. Our Con­stitution is prevented arbitrary functioning.

Ideal: A goal or a principle in its most excellent or perfect form.

Polity: A society has an organized political structure. India is a democratic polity.

Sovereign: Possessing supreme or ultimate power.

Tyranny: The cruel and unjust use of power or authority.

Trafficking: The practice of the illegal buying and selling of different commodities across the National boundaries.

On this page, you will find NCERT Class 8 Geography Chapter 6 Notes Pdf free download. CBSE Class 8 Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 6 SST Human Resource will seemingly, help them to revise the important concepts in less time.

Human Resource Class 8 Notes Social Science Geography Chapter 6

CBSE Class 8 Geography Chapter 6 Notes Understanding the Lesson

1. Human Resource is the ultimate resource as healthy, educated and motivated people develop resources as per their requirements and people are a nation’s greatest resources.

2. Human resources differ in their educational levels, age and sex and unequally distributed over the world.

3. The way in which people are spread across the earth surface is known as the pattern of population distribution. The distribution of the world’s population is extremely uneven. As some areas of the world are very populated and some are sparely populated.

4. More people live north of the Equator than south of the Equator. Almost three-quarters of the world’s people live in two continents Asia and Africa. 60% of the world’s people stay in just 10 countries.

5. Population density: The number of people living in a unit area of the earth’s surface.

6. Factors that affect the distribution of population are:

• Topography
• Climate
• Soil
• Water
• Minerals.

7. These are the subcategory of the major factors that are Geographical factors important for the distribution.

8. The other major factors are social, cultural and economic factors.

9. Population change refers to change in the number of people during a specific time and the world’s population has never been stable.

10. The reasons behind the growth of population was that there were availability of better food supplies and medicine.

11. Births are usually measured using the birth rate i.e. the number of live births per 1000 people.

12. Death are usually measured using the death rate i.e. the number of deaths per 1000 people.

13. Migration refers to the movement of the people in and out of an area.

14. Natural growth rate is the difference between the birth rate and the death rate of a country, and population increase in the world is mainly due to rapid increase in natural growth rate.

15. Emigrants are people who leave a country and Immigrants are the ones who arrive in a country.

16. General trend followed during international migration is from the less developed nations to the more developed nations that too in search of better employment opportunities.

17. Rates of population growth vary across the world.

18. Population composition refers to the structure of the population. The composition helps us in knowing the number of males or females, their age group and the education they have, do they have employment or what are the income levels and health conditions there.

19. Population pyramid is something special and interesting it is the way of studying the population composition and the population pyramid is also known as Age-sex pyramid. Its shape tells about the people their children (below 15 yrs), the aged people (above 65 yrs) and also it reflects the number of deaths.

20. Population pyramid also tells about the dependents in the country which have two groups. The young i.e. aged below 15 yrs and elderly, the one aged over 65 yrs.

21. The skilled, spirited and hopeful young people endowed with a positive outlook are the future of any nation.

Human Resource Class 8 CBSE Notes Important Terms

Life expectancy: It is the number of years that an average person can expect to live.

Migration: It is the movement in which people move within a country or between countries.

Natural growth rate: The difference between the birth rate and death rate of a country is called the natural growth rate.

Emigrants: These are the people who leave a country.

Emigration: When a person leaves a country.

Immigration: When a person enters a new country.

Rem-migration: When person leaves a country.

On this page, you will find NCERT Class 8 Geography Chapter 5 Notes Pdf free download. CBSE Class 8 Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 5 SST Industries will seemingly, help them to revise the important concepts in less time.

Industries Class 8 Notes Social Science Geography Chapter 5

CBSE Class 8 Geography Chapter 5 Notes Understanding the Lesson

1. The change of raw materials into products of more value for the people is done by secondary activities or manufacturing for example, conversion of a tree into pulp and pulp that has changed into paper and paper changed into notebooks.

2. The finished product has more value and utility than the raw material that it is made from because at each stage value is added to them during the manufacturing process.

3. Industry is referred to an economic activity that is concerned with production of goods, extraction of minerals or the provisions of services.

4. Industries are classified on the basis of:

• Raw material: Depending on the types of raw material used by the industry the industries may be agro-based, mineral-based, forest-based and marine-based.
• Agro-based: Industries that use plant and animal-based products as their raw materials.
• Minerals based: Industries that are primary and use mineral ores as their raw materials. The product of these industries feed other industries.
• Marine based: Industries which use products from the sea and oceans as raw materials.
• Forest-based: Industries that utilise forest produce as raw materials.

5. Size: It refers to the amount of capital involved invested, number of people employed and the volume of production.

• Based on size, industries can be classified as small scale and large scale industries.

6. Ownership: Industries can be classified into:

• Private-sector industries: owned and operated by individuals or a group of individuals.
• Public sector industries: These are owned and operated by the government.
• Joint sector industries: These are owned and operated by the state and individuals or a group of individuals.
• Cooperative sector industries: These are owned and operated by the producers or suppliers of raw materials, workers or both.

7. The factors that affect the location of the industries are the availability of raw material, land, water, labour, power, capital, transport and market.

8. Industrialisation often leads to the development and growth of towns and cities.

9. An industrial system contains of inputs, processes and outputs.

10. Industrial region is a location where a number of industries locate close to each other and share benefits of their closeness.

11. Information technology is an emerging industry and the major hubs of this industry are the Silicon Valley of central California and Bengaluru, India.

12. Iron and Steel industry also comprises various inputs, processes and outputs. It is a feeder industry whose products are used as raw material for other industries. The process of conversion of Iron ore into steel involves many stages.

13. Steel is often known as the backbone of modern industry as almost everything used today is either made of iron or steel or has been made with tools and machinery of these metals.

14. The location of the iron and steel industry was where the raw materials, power supply and running water were easily available. This was the scenario before 1800 A.D. but the later ideal location for the industry was near coal fields and close to canals and railways. After 1950, iron and steel industry began to be lo­cated on large areas of flat land near sea ports. This is because the steel works had become very large and iron ore had to be imported from overseas.

15. India has developed the iron and steel industry taking the advantage of raw materials, cheap labour, transport and market. All steel-producing centres are situated in a region that spreads over four states.

16. The important steel-producing centre in India and World are:

Jamshedpur:

• Before Independence i.e. 1947 there was only one iron and steel plant in the country TISCO (Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited) that was privately owned, but the government took the initiative of setting up several iron and steel plants.
• TISCO was started in 1907 at Sakchi later renamed as Jamshedpur. Geographically, Jamshedpur is the most conveniently situated iron and steel centre in the country.
• The development of the iron and steel industry had opened the doors to rapid industrial develop­ment in India.

17. Pittsburgh: An important steel city of the USA. The industry there enjoys the locational advantages. Pittsburgh is also one of the world’s best routes for shipping iron ore cheaply—the famous Great Lakes waterway. The Pittsburgh area has many factories other than steel mills.

18. Weaving clothes from yam is an ancient art.

19. Textile industries are divided on the basis of raw material used in them.

20. The cotton textile industry is one of the oldest industries in the world. Till the industrial revolution in the 18th century, cotton cloth was made using hand-spinning techniques (wheels) and looms.

21. India has a glorious tradition of producing excellent quality cotton textiles.

22. The first successful mechanized textile mill was established in Mumbai in 1854.

23. The first mill was established in 1859 in Gujarat (Ahmedabad). Ahmedabad had soon become the second-largest textile city of India after Mumbai.

24. Ahmedabad is situated very close to cotton growing area assuring easy availability of raw material.

25. Osaka is an important textile centre of Japan also known as the ‘Manchester of Japan’.

26. The information technology (I.T.) industry deals in the storage, processing and distribution of information.

27. The factors guiding the location of these industries are mainly resource availability, cost and infrastructure. The major hubs of IT industry are the Silicon Valley, California, and India.

• Bengaluru is located on the Deccan Plateau from where it gets it name ‘Silicon Plateau’.
• Silicon Valley, is a part of Santa Clara Valley, located next to the Rocky Mountains of North America.

28. There are also emerging information technology hubs in metropolitan centres of India such as Mumbai, New Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai.

29. Bengaluru has always had a unique advantage as a city with the highest availability of middle and top management talent.

Industries Class 8 CBSE Notes Important Terms

Industry: Refers to an economic activity that is concerned with production of goods, extraction of minerals or the provision of services.

Industrial Disaster: In industries, accident/ disasters mainly occur due to technical failure or irresponsible handling of hazardous material and destruction caused by all this is termed as Industrial Disaster.

Smelting: It is the process in which metals are extracted from their ores by heating beyond the melting point.

Textile: It is derived from the Latin word texere which means to weave.

On this page, you will find NCERT Class 8 Geography Chapter 4 Notes Pdf free download. CBSE Class 8 Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 4 SST Agriculture will seemingly, help them to revise the important concepts in less time.

Agriculture Class 8 Notes Social Science Geography Chapter 4

CBSE Class 8 Geography Chapter 4 Notes Understanding the Lesson

1. The transformation from a plant to a finished product involves three types of economic activities.

• Primary
• Secondary
• Tertiary.

2. Primary activities include all those connected with extraction and production of natural resources.

3. Secondary activities are concerned with the processing of these resources.

4. Tertiary activities provide support to the primary and secondary sectors through services. Their examples are:

• Primary activities: Agriculture, fishing and gathering.
• Secondary activities: Manufacturing of steel, baking of bread and weaving of cloth, etc.
• Tertiary activities: Transport, trade, banking, insurance and advertising, etc.

5. Agriculture is a primary activity as it includes growing crops, fruits, vegetables, flowers and rearing of livestock.

6. 50% of persons engaged in agricultural activity in world and in India, two-thirds of population is still dependant on it.

7. Favourable topography of soil and climate are vital for agricultural activity.

8. The land on which the crops are grown is known as arable land.

9. Agriculture or farming can be looked at as a system and the important inputs are seeds, fertilisers, machinery and labour. Some of the operations involved are ploughing, sowing, irrigation, weeding and harvesting. The outputs from the system include crops, wool, dairy and poultry products.

10. Farming can be classified into two main categories. These are subsistence farming and commercial farming.

11. Subsistence Farming

• This type of farming is practised in order to meet the needs of the farmer’s family.
• Traditionally, low levels of technology and household labour are used to produce on small output.

12. There are further two divisions of subsistence farming:

13. Intensive farming

• This includes the farmer who cultivates on a small plot of land using simple tools and more labour.

14. Primitive farming

• This includes shifting cultivation and nomadic herding.

15. Shifting cultivation: It is practised in the thickly forested area. These areas are the areas of heavy rainfall and quick regeneration of vegetation. A plot of land is cleared by felling the trees and burning them. After the soil loses its fertility, the land is abandoned and the cultivator moves to a new plot. Shifting cultivation is also known as ‘slash and burn’ agriculture.

16. Nomadic herding: It is practised in the semi-arid and arid regions. In this type of farming, herdsmen move from place to place with their animals for fodder and water, along defined routes. This type of movement arises in response to climatic constraints and terrain.

17. Commercial farming is the type of farming in which crops are grown and animals are reared for sale in market. In this farming crops are grown for commercial purpose.

18. Mixed farming is in which the land is used for growing food and fodder crops and rearing livestock.

19. Plantations are a type of commercial farming where single crop of tea, coffee, sugarcane, cashew, rubber, banana or cotton are grown with the help of large labour and capital. Development of transportation network is very much essential for this type of farming.

20. A large variety of crops that are grown for fulfilling the requirement of the growing population are termed as major crops. These crops also supply raw material for Agro based industries.

21. Major food crops are

Rice:

• Major food crop of the world.
• Staple diet of the tropical and sub-tropical regions.
• Needs high temperature, humidity and rainfall.
• China leads in the production of rice followed by India.

22. Wheat: requires moderate temperature and rainfall during the growing season and bright sunshine at the time of harvest. It thrives best in well-drained loamy soil.

• In India it is grown in winter.

23. Millets: They are also known as coarse grains.

• They can be grown on less fertile and sandy soils.
• Hardy crop that needs low rainfall and high to moderate temperature and adequate rainfall.
• Jowar, Bajra and Ragi are grown in India.

27. Maize: Requires moderate temperature, rainfall and lot of sunshine.

28. Cotton: It requires high temperature, light rainfall, two hundred and ten frost-free days and bright sunshine for its growth.

• It grows best on black and alluvial soils.
• It is one of the main raw materials for the cotton textile industry.

29. Jute: It is also known as the ‘Golden Fibre’.

• Requires high temperature and heavy rainfall and humid climate.
• The crop is grown in the tropical areas.

30. Coffee: It requires warm and wet climate.

• Hill slopes are more suitable for the growth of this crop.
• Brazil is the leading producer.

31. Tea: This is a beverage crop grown on plantations.

• Requires cool climate and well-distributed high rainfall throughout the year for the growth of its tender leaves.
• Labour in large is required for the purpose of picking the leaves.

32. Agricultural development can be defined as the efforts made in order to increase the farm production for meeting the growing demand of increasing population.

33. The ultimate aim of agricultural development is to increase food security.

34. Developing countries used to practise intensive agriculture where the crops are grown on smallholdings mostly for subsistence.

35. Due to lack of storage facilities farmers are forced to sell the produce even when the market is not favourable to them. Government has taken several steps to develop storage facilities.

36. Compared to that of Indian farming the farmers of the developed countries like the USA works same as a businessman works in order to earn profit on a large scale using a large land.

Agriculture Class 8 CBSE Notes Important Terms

Agriculture: Derived from Latin words in which ager or agri means soil and culture means cultivation. It is the science and art of cultivation of the soil, raisin crops and rearing livestock. It is also called farming.

Sericulture: commercial rearing of silkworms.

Pisciculture: Breeding of fish in specially constructed tanks and ponds.

Viticulture: Cultivation of grapes.

Horticulture: Growing vegetables, flowers and fruits for commercial use.

Mixed farming: The land is used for growing food and fodder crops and rearing livestock.

Organic farming: It is the type of farming in which organic manure and natural pesticides are used instead of chemicals. No genetic modification is done to increase the yield of the crop.