Yearly Archives: 2022

Advertisements draw our attention to various products, describing them positively so that we become interested in buying them. Advertisements are found in several forms: Print and electronic media as well as in hoarding or on taxis.

Building Brands and Brand Values

• Advertising is all about building brands. At a very basic level, branding means stamping a product with a particular name of the sign. Products have an associating brand value with which the consumer associates themselves.
• For example, there are many soaps but every company will have to give the soap a different name, by doing this, they create another brand of soap.
• Through advertisements, the company uses visuals and images to create a brand value for their product such that the products may create an impression in the customer’s mind.

Brand Values and Social Works

• Advertisements play an important role in social and cultural life.
• Branded products are costly but companies link them to style, design, etc. such that people tend to buy them.
• Advertisements appeal to personal emotion of people which induce people to buy the products.

How Does An Advertisement Get Made

• Advertising plays an important role in making a brand name.
• Advertising is normally made by advertising agencies which help in devising a marketing strategy.
• Making an advertisement involves a high cost.
• Campaigning is done carefully by the companies to promote their products.

Advertising and Democracy

• Advertising a product costs a lot of money. Small manufacturers are not able to compete in the market.
• It makes us believe that things that are packaged and have a brand name are far better than things that do not come in packets.
• Democracy is based on equality. Sometimes advertisements confuse the customers and influence their thinking. As citizens of a democratic country, people should understand that they can take a better decision about whether they wish to buy a product or not.

All of us are very much familiar with advertisements or ads. It is because we see advertisements everywhere—on television, on street walls, in newspapers, etc.

Advertisements draw our attention to various products and describe them positively in order to impress us.

Advertising is all about building brands. Branding actually means stamping a product with a particular name or sign in order to differentiate it from other products in the market.

Only branding a product is not enough because there are many brands of the same product available in the market. This creates tough competition for the manufacturers. They have to convince us that their products are better than the others. And at this juncture advertising comes in. It plays a crucial role in trying to convince us to buy a product that is advertised.

But when a similar product under different brand names is advertised, it creates confusion for the consumers. They fail to decide which one they should buy.

The advertisers are aware of this. Therefore, they begin claiming certain special values for their brand. In this way, they try to differentiate it from other similar product. These brand values are conveyed through the use of visuals and words to give us an overall image that appeals to us.

Advertisements have become a part of our social and cultural life.

All of us watch advertisements with great attention. Most of us discuss them and often judge people according to the brand products they use.

Advertisements influence our life to a great extent.

Branded products are costly because they include the costs of packaging and advertising. It is therefore, many people cannot afford them.

Those who manage to buy them feel exalted but those who fail to buy feel depressed.

We must be aware of the fact that there is little difference between things sold in packets and those sold loose.

Advertisements often target our personal emotions. By linking our personal emotions to products, advertisements tend to influence the ways in which we value ourselves as persons.

Our cricket heroes and film stars advertise several products. We often feel tempted to buy these products.

Advertisements often show us images of the lifestyles of rich people and seldom show us the real-life situation.

Advertisements aim to get people to buy a particular brand. This means that often we see an advertisement we should want to buy the brand.

The persons who make advertisements decide on what images, text and personal emotions to use to sell the product.

Advertising a product is a costly affair. It is therefore only large companies can advertise.

Small business cannot afford the cost of advertisement and therefore they sell their products in weekly markets and neighborhood shops.

Product: A thing or a service that has been made for sale in the market.

Brand: A special identification or name that is associated with a product.

Branding: Stamping a product with a particular name or sign.

Manufacturer: One who is associated with the production of a thing or things.

Advertisement: Advertisement is a visual and verbal representation to provide a product among the masses.

Consumer: The person for whom the goods or products have been made and who pays money to buy and use them.

Lifestyle: The way of living.

Social Advertisements: These are made by the State or private agencies that have a larger message for society.

• TV, radio and newspapers are a form of media that reaches millions of people, or the masses, across the country and the world and, thus, they are called mass media.

Media and technology

• Newspapers, television and radio can reach millions of people because they use certain technologies.

→ Print Media: Newspapers and Magazines.

→ Electronic Media: TV and Radio.

• Television images travel huge distances through satellites and cables which allows us to view news and entertainment channels from other parts of the world. 

Media and money

• The different technologies that mass media use are expensive. 

• In a news studio, it is not only the newsreader who needs to be paid but also a number of other people who help put the broadcast together.

• Due to these costs, the mass media needs a great deal of money to do its work.

• The mass media earns money is by advertising different things like cars, chocolates, clothes, mobile phones, etc.

Media and Democracy

• In a democracy, the media plays a very important role in providing news and discussing events taking place in the country and the world.

• Some of the ways in which they can do this is by writing letters to the concerned minister, organising a public protest, starting a signature campaign, asking the government to rethink its programme, etc.

Independent Media

• An independent media is important in a democracy.

• However, the reality is that media is far from independent because of two reasons:

→ The government has on the media.

→ Business houses control the media. 

Setting agendas

• The media also plays an important role in deciding what stories to focus on, and therefore, decides on what is newsworthy. 

• By focusing on particular issues, the media influences our thoughts, feelings and actions, and brings those issues to our attention.

• There are several instances when the media fails to focus on issues that are significant in our lives.

Women have been facing inequalities at every step.

By getting an education, women have got opportunities to rise in every field.

Women’s movement has risen to challenge discrimination in all parts of the world.

Fewer Opportunities and Rigid Expectation

• A lot of people feel that women are fit only for certain kinds of jobs as a nurse. They are not fit for technical jobs.
• In most families, women are taught that after school they have to get married. Laxmi Lakra, however, broke this stereotype image when she became the first woman engine driver of the Northern Railways.
• We live in a society full of pressures. If boys do not work hard and get a good salary they are bullied

Learning for Change

• Going to school is an important part of life.
• Today, it is difficult for us to imagine that school and learning could be seen as out of bounds or not appropriate for some children.
• In the past, very few people learnt reading and writing. Most children learnt the work their families or elders did. Even in families where skills like pottery, weaving and craft were taught, the contribution of daughters and women was seen as secondary.
• In the nineteenth century, new ideas about learning and education appeared. But there was a lot of opposition to educating girls ever then.
• In the 1890s, Ramabai championed the cause of women’s education.
• Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain learnt English from her elder brother and an elder sister in spite of family opposition and went on to become a famous writer.
• Rashsundari Devi of Bengal was the first Indian woman to write an autobiography called ‘Amar Jiban’.

Schooling and Education Today
Today both boys and girls attend school in large numbers.

The difference in Their Education Still Remains

• Today education is the right of both boys and girls, despite that only 50 % of the girls receive an education.
• India has a census every 10 years which counts the population of the country. This information is used to measure things like literacy, sex-ratio, etc.
• A huge number of SC and ST children leave school at an early age. The 2014 census even shows that Muslim girls are less likely than Dalit girls to complete primary school.
• Many reasons like non-availability of teachers and schools, lack of transport, cost of education, indifferent attitude of teachers and parents are responsible for the negligence of education.

Women’s Movement

• Women have individually and collectively struggled to bring about changes. This is called the Women’s Movement.
• Different strategies have been used to spread awareness, fight discrimination and seek justice.
• These movements are related to campaigning, raising awareness, protesting and showing solidarity.
• Men and women in society are looked upon as playing specific gender roles.

Women have been facing inequalities at every step since time immemorial. No doubt, their position and status have been improved with the change of time, still, they lag behind men in almost every field.

In this male-dominated society, they fail to avail equal privileges and opportunities.

It has also been seen that some occupations are considered to be more suitable for men than for women. It means women are good at only certain jobs.

Many people believe that women make better nurses because they are more patient and gentle. It is also believed that women do not bear technical mind and therefore they are not capable of dealing with technical things. Thus, they have been stereotyped as good nurses, good teachers, etc. They are never seen as army officers, pilots, railway engine drivers, etc.

A majority of Indians believe in these stereotypes. It is, therefore, girls do not get the same support that boys do to study and train to become doctors and engineers.

Today’s women have become very aware. They are determined to break these stereotypes by excelling them in fields which were considered male preserves till now. We have now women pilots, engineers, police officers, scientists etc. We can mention here the name of Laxmi Lakra who by becoming an engine driver, showed the world that women can do everything.

Children especially boys are under great pressure. They are pressurised to think about getting a job that will pay a good salary.

It is a matter of great anxiety for the parents if their son shows his inclination towards studying subjects other than science or maths.

In our present social set-up parents have developed a false belief that only science and maths are meaningful subjects. Only these subjects can make their son’s future secured. These notions have no base. They must be eliminated from our mind. Subjects like history, political science, etc. are also job oriented.

One positive change that is visible today is that more and more children have started going to school. In the past, the skill of reading and writing was known to only a few. Most children learnt the work their families or elders did.

But girls faced the even worse situation. In communities that taught sons to read and write, daughters were not allowed to learn the alphabet.

Slowly and steadily there came more and more positive changes. The communities that never learnt reading and writing started sending their children to school. In the beginning, there was a lot of opposition jp educating girls. But there were also women and men who made efforts to open schools for girls.

Women struggled to learn to read and write. Here, the experience of Rashsundari Devi (1800-1890) is worth mentioning. She was a housewife from a rich landlord’s family. At that time, it was believed that if a woman learnt to read and write, she would become a widow. Despite this, she taught herself how to read and write in secret, after her marriage. She wrote her autobiography in Bangla which titled Amar Jaban,

Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain was another example who did a lot for women’s education. She knew how to read and write Urdu, but she was stopped from learning Bangla and English. In those days only boys were taught English. However, she learnt to read and write Bangla and English. Afterwards, she became a writer and wrote a remarkable story titled Sultana’s Dream in 1905. She did a lot to help other girls go to school and to build their own dreams. In 1910, she started a school for girls in Kolkata which is still functioning well.

No doubt more and more girls have started attending school, still they lag behind boys. As per the most recent census of 2001, 76% of boys and men are literate but the figure is comparatively very low in case of girls. Only 54% of girls and women are literate in India. Thus, the percentage of the male group is higher than the female group.

Girls who are from Dalit and Adivasi backgrounds are less likely to remain in school. One of the many reasons is that several families are too poor and unable to bear the cost of educating all their children. Boys easily get preference in such circumstances.

The position and status of women have undoubtedly improved a lot which is due to the collective efforts of the women of the country. Women’s Movement also gets the support of men. They used different strategies to spread awareness, fight discrimination and seek justice. For example, they organise campaigns to fight discrimination and violence against women. They also protest when violations against women take place. Women’s Movement also shows solidarity with other women and causes.

Notes of Chapter 4 Growing up as Boys and Girls Class 7th Civics

Growing up in Samoa in the 1920s

• The Samoan Islands are part of a large group of small islands in the southern part of the Pacific Ocean.

• In the 1920s, according to research reports on Samoan society, children did not go to school.

• Older children, often as young as five years old, took over this responsibility.

• By the time a boy was about nine years old, he joined the older boys in learning outdoor jobs like fishing and planting coconuts. 

• Girls had to continue looking after small children or do errands for adults till they were teenagers.

• After the age of fourteen or so, girls also went on fishing trips, worked in the plantations, learnt how to weave baskets.

Growing up male in Madhya Pradesh in the 1960s

• From Class VI onwards, boys and girls went to separate schools. 

• The girl’s school had a central courtyard where they played in seclusion and safety from the world outside. 

• Boys’ school did not have separate enclosures.

• The boys used the streets as a place to stand around idling, to play, to try out tricks with their bicycles.

• The girls always went in groups because they also carried fears of being teased or attacked.

Distinctions between boys and girls

• Societies make clear distinctions between boys and girls from an early age.

• Boys are usually given cars to play with and girls dolls.

• This difference is created in the smallest and most everyday things such as how girls must dress, what games boys should play, how girls need to talk softly or boys need to be tough.

• In most societies, the roles men and women play or the work they do, are not valued equally.

Valuing housework

• The main responsibility for housework and care-giving tasks is done by the women.

• For this they does not have to be paid for, thus, society devalues this work.

Lives of domestic workers

• Most domestic workers are women.

• Wages paid are low as domestic work is not regarded as valuable.

• Housework requires a lot of physical labour and is time consuming.

• In rural areas, fetching water and carrying firewood are strenuous and physically demanding activities.

Women’s work and equality

• The inequality between men and women has to be dealt with through actions not just at the level of the individual or the family but also by the government.

• The Constitution says that being male or female should not become a reason for discrimination.

• The government is, therefore, committed to understanding the reasons for this and taking positive steps to remedy the situation.

• The government has set up anganwadis or child-care centres in several villages in the country and has passed laws that make it mandatory for organisations that have more than 30 women employees to provide crèche facilities.

Notes of Chapter 3 How the State Government Works Class 7th Civics

MLAs

• Every state in India has a Legislative Assembly.

• Each state is divided into different areas or constituencies.

• From each constituency, the people elect one representative who then becomes a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA).

→ These MLAs belong to different political parties.

• A political party whose MLAs have won more than half the number of constituencies in a state can be said to be in a majority. 

• The political party that has the majority is called the ruling party and all other members are called the opposition.

• After the elections, the MLAs belonging to the ruling party will elect their leader who will become the chief minister.

• The chief minister then selects other people as ministers.

A debate in the Legislative Assembly

• The Legislative Assembly is building situated in the capital of the state where all the MLAs from ruling and opposition parties meet to discuss and debate issues.

• During debate time in the assembly, MLAs can express their opinions and ask questions related to the issue or give suggestions about what should be done by the government. 

• Those who wish to, can respond to this. 

• The minister then replies to the questions and tries to assure the Assembly that adequate steps are being taken.

• The chief minister and other ministers have to take decisions and run the government.

• Whatever decisions are being taken have to be approved by the members of the legislative assembly.

• All the MLAs who gather together in the legislative assembly are called the Legislature.

Working of the government

• There are various newspapers, TV channels and other organisations regularly talking about the government. 

• In a democracy, there are various ways through which people express their views and also take action.

• There are various departments such as the Education Department, the Public Works Department, the Health Department etc.headed by their respective ministers.

• The chief minister and the ministers take action through these departments.

• Whatever work is done by these department

What is health?

• Health means ability to remain free of illness and injuries. 

• Apart from disease, there are various factors that affect our health.

• For example, if people get clean drinking water or a pollution free environment, they are likely to be healthy.

Healthcare in India

• India has a large number of doctors, clinics and hospitals.

• The country also has considerable experience and knowledge in running a public healthcare system.

• There are two types of health care facilities: 

→ Public health services

→ Private health facilities

Public health services

• The public health service is a chain of health centers and hospitals run by the government. 

• At the village level there are health centres where there is usually a nurse and a village health worker.

• At the district level is the District Hospital that also supervises all the health centres.

• The public health service is meant to provide quality health care services either free or at a low cost, so that even the poor can seek treatment.

• According to our Constitution, it is the primary duty of the government to ensure the welfare of the people and provide health care facilities to all. 

→ The government must safeguard the Right to Life of every person.

Private health facilities

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• A large number of doctors run their own private clinics. In the rural areas, one finds Registered Medical Practitioners (RMPs). 

• Urban areas have a large number of doctors, many of them providing specialised services.

• Private health facilities are not owned or controlled by the government. 

• The patients have to pay a lot of money for every service that they use.

Is adequate healthcare available to all? 

• In India, we face a situation where private services are increasing but public services are not. 

• Private services are concentrated in urban areas. 

• The cost of these services is rather high. 

• Medicines are expensive.

• For those who are poor, every illness in the family is a cause of great anxiety and distress.

• They are not provided with basic necessities like drinking water, adequate housing, clean surroundings, etc., and therefore, are more likely to fall ill.

• Many tribal areas have few health centres and they do not run properly.

What can be done? 

• It is the responsibility of the government to provide quality healthcare services to all its citizens, especially the poor and the disadvantaged.

Case Study of Costa Rica

• Costa Rica is considered to be one of the healthiest countries in South America. 

• The Costa Rican government provides basic services and amenities to all Costa Ricans. 

• For example, it provides safe drinking water, sanitation, nutrition and housing. 

Equal right to vote

• In a democratic country, like India, all adults irrespective their religion, their education, caste, or rich or poor are allowed to vote.

→ This is called Universal Adult Franchise.

• The idea of universal adult franchise is based on the idea of equality.

Other kinds of equality

• The poverty is one of main basis of inequality in India.

• Apart from poverty, people in India experience inequality in different ways.

• Caste is one of the more common forms of inequality in India.
→ Dalits (lower castes) still face discrimination in various ways.

Recognising dignity

• When persons are treated unequally, their dignity is violated.

Equality in Indian democracy

• The Indian Constitution recognizes every person as equal.

• This is not to say that inequality ceases to exist.

• But at least, in democratic India, the principle of the equality of all persons is recognized.

• Now there are several laws to see that people are treated with dignity and as equals.

• There are certain provision provided in the constitution for the recognition of equality:

→ Every person is equal before the law.

→ No person can be discriminated against on the basis of their religion, race, caste, place of birth or whether they are female or male. 

→ Every person has access to all public places including playgrounds, hotels, shops and markets.

• The two ways in which the government has tried to implement the equality:

→ Through laws in the Constitution. 

→ Through government programmes or schemes to help disadvantaged communities. 

Issues of equality in other democracies

• India is the only democratic country in which there is inequality and where the struggle for equality continues to exist.

• In many democratic countries around the world, the issue of equality continues to be the key issue around which communities struggle.

• For example, in United States of America, the African–Americans whose ancestors were the slaves who were brought over from Africa, continue to describe their lives today as largely unequal. 

→ This, despite the fact that there was a movement in the late 1950s to push for equal rights for African– Americans. 

Deserts

• Desert is an arid land with little or no vegetation.

• Depending on the temperatures, deserts are of two types:

→ Hot deserts

→ Cold deserts

The Hot Desert – Sahara

• Sahara is the world’s largest desert.

• It has an area of around 8.54 million sq. k m.

• The Sahara desert touches eleven countries. 

→ These are Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Sudan , Tunisia and Western Sahara.

• Sahara desert is covered with, there are also gravel plains and elevated plateaus with bare rocky surface which may be more than 2500m high at some places.

Climate

• The climate of the Sahara desert is extremely hot and dry.

• It has a short rainy season.

• Days are unbelievably hot.

• The temperatures during the day may rise as high as 50°C, heating u p the sand and the bare rocks, which in turn radiates heat making everything around hot.

• The nights may be freezing cold with temperatures nearing zero degrees.

Flora and Fauna

• The vegetation includes cactus, date palms and acacia. 

• In some places, there are oasis – green islands with date palms surrounding them. 

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• Camels, hyenas, jackals, foxes, scorpions, many varieties of snakes and lizards are the prominent animal species here.

People

• Various groups of people inhabit the Sahara desert.

• The Bedouins and Tuaregs are nomadic tribes are among them.
→ They rear livestock such as goats, sheep, camels and horses for milk, hair and leather.

• The oasis in the Sahara and the Nile Valley in Egypt supports settled population.
→ Since water is available, the people grow date palms.
→ Crops such as rice, wheat, barley and beans are also grown.
→ Egyptian cotton is also grown in Egypt which is famous worldwide.

• Oil is also discovered in Algeria, Libya and Egypt which constantly transforming the Sahara desert.

• Nowadays, the Sahara Desert is developing.
→ Gleaming glass cased office buildings tower over mosques
→ Superhighways replacing the ancient camel paths.
→ Trucks are replacing camels in the salt trade.
→ Tuaregs are seen acting as guides to foreign tourists.
→ More and more nomadic herdsmen are finding jobs in oil and gas operations.

The Cold Desert – Ladakh

• Ladakh is a cold desert lying in the Great Himalayas, on the eastern side of Jammu and Kashmir.

• The Karakoram Range in the north and the Zanskar mountains in the south enclose it.

• Indus is the most important river of Ladakh.

• Several glaciers are found in Ladakh, for example the Gangri glacier.

Climate

• The altitude in Ladakh varies from about 3000m in Kargil to more than 8,000m in the Karakoram.

→ High altitude makes the climate extremely cold and dry.

• The day temperatures in summer are just above zero degree and the night temperatures well below –30°C.

• There is little rainfall, as low as 10 cm every year as the area lies in the rain shadow of the Himalayas.

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•The area experiences freezing winds and burning hot sunlight.

Flora and Fauna

• Due to high aridity, the vegetation is sparse.

→ There are thin patches of grasses and shrubs for animals to graze.

• During the summers, fruit trees such as apples, apricots and walnuts grow.

• Robins, redstarts, Tibetan snowcock, raven and hoopoe are common species of birds seen in Ladakh.

• The animals of Ladakh are wild goats, wild sheep, yak and special kinds of dogs.

→ The animals are reared to provide for the milk, meat and hides.

People

• In the summer season, the people cultivate barley, potatoes, peas, beans and turnip. 

• The winter months are very harsh, people keep themselves engaged in festivities and ceremonies.

• The women are very hard working. 

→ They work not only in the house and fields, but also manages mall business and shops.

• Leh, the capital of Ladakh is well connected both by road and air. 

→ The National Highway 1A connects Leh to Kashmir Valley through the Zoji la Pass.

• Tourism is a major activity with several tourists streaming in from within India and abroad.

Grasslands

• Definition: Grassland is a region where grasses form the dominant type of plant life.

• Grasslands make up almost 25% of the total land surface.

• Climate and soil influence the types of plants.

• Types of Grasslands: 

→ Temperate grasslands: grows in temperate regions.

→ Tropical grasslands: grows in tropical regions.

The Prairies

• The temperate grasslands of North America are known as the Prairies.

• It is a region of flat, gently sloping or hilly land.

• The Prairies are bound by the Rocky Mountains in the West and the Great Lakes in the East.

• It covers parts of United States of America and parts of Canada.

→ In the USA, the area is drained by the tributaries of Mississippi.

→ In the Canada, the area is drained by the tributaries of Saskatchewan Rivers.

Climate

• The climate is of continental type with extreme temperatures because located in the middle of a continent.

• The summers are warm with temperatures of around 20°C while in winter temperature may be as low as -20°C.

→ In winters a thick blanket of snow covers this region.

• The annual rainfall is moderate and is ideal for the growth of grass.

• A local wind “Chinook” blows in this region due to the absence of the north-south barrier.

Flora and Fauna

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• The region is tree less where water is available, trees such as willows, alders and poplars grow.

• Places that receive rainfall of over 50 cm, are suitable for farming as the soil is fertile.

• Major crop is maize. 

→ Other crops includes potatoes, soybean, cotton and alfa-alfa.

• Large cattle farms called ranches are looked after by sturdy men called cowboys.

• Most important animal is Bison or the American buffalo. 

→ It nearly got extinct due to its indiscriminate hunting and is now a protected species.

• The other animals found in this region are rabbits, coyotes, gophers and Prairie dog.

People

• The people of this region are very hardworking. 

• They have successfully harnessed technology to utilise their rich natural resources. 

• The USA and Canada are two of the most developed countries are located in this region.

• The Prairies has huge surplus of wheat production, therefore known as the “Granaries of the world,”

• Dairy farming is another major industry.

• This is the most industrialised region in the world due to large mineral deposits particularly coal and iron and a good network of roads, railways and canals.

The Velds

• The temperate grasslands of South Africa are called the velds.

• Velds are rolling plateaus with varying heights ranging from 600 m to 1100 m.

• It is bound by the Drakensburg Mountains on the east and Kalahari Desert in the west.

• It covers parts of South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia.

• The region is drained by the tributaries of rivers Orange and Limpopo.

Climate

• The velds have a mild climate due to the influence of the Indian Ocean. 

• Winters are cold and dry. 

→ Temperatures vary between 5°C and 10°C.

→ July is the coldest month. 

• Summers are short and warm.

• The region receive rainfall mainly in the summer months from November to February mainly because of the warm ocean currents that wash the shores of the velds.

Flora and Fauna

• The vegetation cover is sparse.

• Grasses dominate the landscape. 

→ Red grass grows in bush velds. 

→ Acacia and maroola are present in high velds.

• Lions, leopards, cheetah and kudu are the primary animals in velds.

People

• Velds are known for cattle rearing and mining.

• Sheep rearing is the most important occupation of the people mainly for wool.

• Dairy farming is the next important occupation. 

→ Cattle are reared in the warmer and wetter regions

→ The dairy products like butter, cheese are produced for both domestic supply and also for export.

• The soils are not very fertile in the velds due to the presence of discontinuous grasses exposing barren surface.

→ Where the land is fertile crops are grown. 

→ The main crops are maize, wheat, barley, oats and potato. 

→ Cash crops like tobacco, sugarcane and cotton are also grown.

• The velds have rich reserve of minerals.

→ Iron and steel industry has developed where coal and iron are present. 

→ Gold and diamond mining are major occupations of people of this region. 

• Johannesburg is known for being the gold capital of the world. 

• Kimberley is famous for its diamond mines.

Life in the Amazon Basin

• The river Amazon flows through the tropical region lies very close to the equator; between 10°N and 10°S.

→ It is referred to as the equatorial region.

• The place where a river flows into another body of water is called the river’s mouth.

• Numerous tributaries join the Amazon River to form the Amazon basin. 

• The river basin drains portions of Brazil, parts of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Columbia and a small part of Venezuela.

Climate of Amazon Basin

• The Amazon Basin is characterized by hot and wet climate throughout the year as it is present on the equator.

• Both day and nights are almost equally hot and humid. 

• The skin feels sticky. 

• It rains almost everyday, that too without much warning. 

• The day temperatures are high with very high humidity. 

→ At night the temperature goes down but the humidity remains high.

Rainforests in Amazon Basin

• Thick forests grow due to heavy rains.

→ These forests are so thick that the dense roof created by leaves and branches does not allow the sunlight to reach the ground.

• The ground remains dark and damp which and only shade tolerant trees may grow here.

→ Orchids, bromeliads grow as plant parasites.

• The rainforest is rich in fauna.
→ Birds such as toucans, humming birds, bird of paradise are found. 

→ Animals like monkeys, sloth and ant-eating tapirs are found here.

→ Various species of reptiles and snakes such as Crocodiles, snakes, pythons, Anaconda and boa constrictor also thrive in these jungles.

→ Several species of fishes including the flesh-eating Piranha fish is also found in the river.

People of the Rainforests

• Men hunt and fish along the rivers, women take care of the crops.

→ As hunting and fishing are uncertain it is the women who keep their families alive by feeding them the vegetables they grow.

• People practice “slash and burn agriculture”.

• The staple food is manioc, also known as cassava that grows under the ground like the potato.

→ They mainly grow tapioca, pineapple and sweet potato.

→ They also eat queen ants and egg sacs.

• Cash crops like coffee, maize and cocoa are also grown.

• The rainforests provide a lot of wood for the houses.

→ Some families live in thatched houses shaped like beehives while other large apartment-like houses called “Maloca” with a steeply slanting roof.

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• Life of the people of the Amazon basin is slowly changing.

→ Amazon highway made all parts of the rainforest accessible. 

→ Aircrafts and helicopters are also used for reaching various places. 

→ The indigenous population was pushed out from the area and forced to settle in new areas where they continued to practice their distinctive way of farming.

•  The developmental activities are leading to the gradual destruction of the biologically diverse rainforests.

Life in the Ganga-Brahmapura Basin

• The tributaries of rivers Ganga and Brahmaputra together form the Ganga-Brahmaputra basin in the Indian subcontinent.

→ The basin lies in the sub-tropical region that is situated between 10°N to 30°N latitudes.

• The tributaries of the River Ganga like the Ghaghra, the Son, the Chambal, the Gandak, the Kosi and the tributaries of Brahmaputra like Dibang River, Lohit River, Teesta, Manas drain it.

• Main features of the basin: The plains of the Ganga and the Brahmaputra, the mountains and the foothills of the Himalayas and the Sundarbans delta.

Climate

• The area is dominated by monsoon climate. 

→ The monsoon brings rains from mid-June to mid-September.

• The summers are hot and the winters cool.

Topography

• The basin area has varied topography.

• The mountain areas with steep slopes have inhospitable terrain therefore, less number of people in the mountain area.

• Agriculture is the main occupation of the people in the plains because soil is fertile.