Current Affairs 9th Class

PEASANTS AND FARMERS    IMPORTANT TERMS AND CONCEPTS  

Bushel.  A measure of capacity.

Shillings.  English currency.

Sod.  Pieces of earth with grass.

Maund.  A measure of weight.

Opium Trade. The smuggling of opium into China on a large scale in order to make its trade more profitable.

 History and Sport : The Story of Cricket          IMPORTANT DATES                        1744                 -           The first written 'Laws of Cricket' came into being.                      1774                 -           The first leg-before-wicket law was published.                       1780                 -           (a) The first six-seam cricket ball was created.                                                                 (b) Three days was made the duration of a major match.                       1787                 -           The Marylebone Cricket Club was founded.                       1788                 -           The MCC revised the Cricket's Laws and became the guardian of cricket's regulations.                       1792                 -           The first Indian Club, the Calcutta Cricket Club was established                       1848                 -           Cricketing pads were introduced.                       1877                 -           Test cricket was started.                        1889                 -           A Parsi team beat the Bombay Gymkhana.                        1932                 -           A national team represented India in a test match.                        1950                 -           West Indies won its first Test series against England.                        1970                 -           South Africa was excluded from International cricket.                        1971                 -           The first one-day international was played between England and Australia in Melbourne.                         1975                 -           The First World Cup was held.                        1977                 -           100 years of Test Matches celebrated.

  History and Sport : The Story of Cricket               IMPORTANT PERSONALITIES  

Dennis Lillee. An Australian cricketer who was the first to use an aluminium bat.

Thomas Arnold. Headmaster of the Rugby School and founder of the Modern Public School system.

Frank Worrell. The first black who captained the West Indies cricket team in 1960.

Palwankar Baloo. Born in Poona in 1875. He was the greatest Indian slow bowler of his time.

Palwankar Vithal. A good batsman, he became captain of the Hindus and led the team to a famous victory over the Europeans.

K. Nayudu. An outstanding Indian batsman, he was the country's first test captain.

Kerry Packer. An Australian television tycoon who started the s Series Cricket and whose innovations changed the nature of the game.

  History and Sport : The Story of Cricket         IMPORTANT TERMS AND CONCEPTS  

Patronage.  Agreement by wealthy person to give financial support for a specific cause.

Subscription.  Collected financial contribution for a specific purpose, e.g., cricket.

Hierarchy.  Organised by rank and status.

Mulattos.  People of mixed European and African descent.

Dominion.  Self-governing areas under the control of the British crown.

Segregation.  Separation of people on the basis of colour or race.

  Clothing : A Social History          IMPORTANT DATES                        1789     -           Outbreak of the French Revolution                      1829     -           The Travancore government forbade Shanar women from covering the upper parts of the body.                      1830     -           English women began to agitate for democratic rights.                      1855     -           Slavery was abolished in Travancore.                       1859     -           Riots broke out and Shanar women were attacked                       1862     -           Manockjee Cowasjee Entee defied the ‘shoe-respect’ rule                        1905     -           Partition of Bengal                        1913     -           Gandhiji first wore a lungi and kurta                        1915     -           Gandhiji dressed like a Kathiawadi peasant                       1921     -           Gandhiji adopted the short dhoti, a form of dress which he was to wear until his death                        1931     -           Second Round Table Conference held    

  Clothing : A Social History   IMPORTANT PERSONALITIES  

Sir M. Visveswaraya. A leading engineer technocrat, he was the Dewan of the Mysore state from 1912 to 1918. He often wore a turban with his three-piece western suit.

Governor General Amherst. During his tenure in India, he insisted that Indians take their shoes off as a sign of respect when they appeared before him.

Lord Dalhousie. He insisted that Indians take off their shoes when entering any government institution.

Manockjee Cowasjee Entee. An assessor in the Surat Fouzdarec Adawlut who defied the 'shoe-respect' rule. »

Rabindranath Tagore. His belief that India's national dress should combine elements of Hindu and European dress led to the adoption ofchapkan (a long buttoned coat) as being regarded as most suitable for men.

Jnanadanandini Devi. She was the wife of Satyandranath Tagore, the first Indian member of the I.C.S. She adopted the Parsi style of wearing the sari which was later adopted by Brahmo Samaj women and came to be known as the Brahmika sari.

Lord Curzon. In 1905, partitioned Bengal and this led to the Swadeshi and Boycott movement.

Mahatma Gandhi. He used cloth as a symbolic weapon against British rule.

Motilal Nehru. A successful barrister who gave up wearing western clothes and adopted the Indian dhoti and kurta.

Clothing : A Social History   IMPORTANT TERMS AND CONCEPTS  

Cockade.  Cap usually worn on one side.

Ermine.  Type of fur

Corset.  A stiff inner bodice worn by women to give shape and support to the figure.

Suffrage.  The right to vote.

Busk.  A strip of material either of wood, whalebone or steel in front of the corset to stiffen and support it.

Pabulum.  Anything that is essential to maintain life and growth.

Chintz.  Cotton cloth printed with designs and flowers.

Peta.  The Mysore turban which was edged with gold lace and part of the Durbar dress of the Mysore court in the 19th century.

  

  Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution            IMPORTANT DATES AND EVENTS           1861    -           The Tsar abolished Serfdom.                      1883   -           George Plekhanov formed the Russian Social Democratic Party.                      1898    -           The Russian Social Democratic Party split into two - the Mensheviks and Bolsheviks.                      1904    -           Outbreak of the Russo-Japanese war. Russia was defeated by Japan.                       1905    -           (a) Bloody Sunday - On 22nd January, a mass of people were fired at in St. Petersburg                                                    while on their way to present a petition to the Tsar.                                                     (b) The Tsar introduced the October Manifesto which granted freedom of speech, press and association and conferred upon an elected body called the 'Duma' the power to make laws.                        1914    -           Outbreak of the First World War.                        1917    -           (a) 8th March: Bread riots broke out.                                                    (b) 15th March: The Romanov dynasty ended with the abdication of the Tsar. Mensheviks under Kerensky came to power. Fall of the Tsar is known as the February Revolution because according to the old Russian calender, it occurred on 27th February.                                                    (c) 7th November: The Bolsheviks under Lenin's leadership overthrew Kerensky's government. This is known as the October Revolution because according to the Russian Calendar, it took place on 25th October.                       1917-20 -         Civil war breaks out in Russia-The Red Army is opposed by the White Army. The former is victorious.                      1924    -           A new constitution gives equality to non-Russian nationalities.                      1928    -           First Five Year Plan started in U.S.S.R.                      1929    -           Beginning of collectivisation                     1991    -           Breakup of the Soviet Union

  Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution         IMPORTANT PERSONALITIES  

Lenin.  The leader of the Bolshevik Party who led the Russian Revolution in 1917. As a result of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany, he withdrew Russia from the First World War and took various measures to make Russia a socialist state.

Nicholas II. The Tsar of Russia whose policies precipitated the Russian Revolution.

Kerenskii.  The leader of the Mensheviks party who wanted to establish a parliamentary form of government in Russia.

Leon Trotsky. He headed the Petrograd Soviet and played a leading role in the Russian Revolution and was later assassinated by Stalin.

Rasputin.  An unscrupulous monk whose influence over the royal family was resented by the Russian people.

Engels.  Frederick Engels in association with Karl Marx published the Communist Manifesto that was the guiding spirit of the Russian Revolution.

Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht. Leaders of the German revolutionary movement, they tried to foment a revolution in 1919. But the army crushed the revolution. Both were captured and shot.

Joseph Stalin. He emerged as the leader of the Communist Party after the death of Lenin in 1924. He assumed complete control of Russian government and its policies till his death in 1953.

  Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution          IMPORTANT TERMS AND CONCEPTS  

Tsar.  Title given to the emperor of Russia which was abolished in 1917.

 

Romanov.  Name of the dynasty which ruled Russia in 1917.

 

Communism.  An economic system in which the means of production are owned by the state.

 

Bolsheviks.  The majority group of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party led by Lenin based on the ideology of Marx and Engels.

 

Soviet Union. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) formed after the overthrow of the Tsarist Empire.

 

Bloody Sunday. A mass of peaceful workers led by Father Gabon were fired upon by the Russian troops when they went to the Winter Palace to present a petition to the Tsar. Heavy casualties ensued. This incident which occurred on Sunday 22nd January, 1905 is known as Bloody Sunday.

 

Council of People's Commission. The council of representatives of people to whom power was transferred after the Russian Revolution. It was headed by Lenin.

 

Duma.  The Russian parliament or legislature. Its members were elected and charged with the responsibility of making laws.

 

Divine Right Theory. The theory which believed that the king was the representative of God on earth and no one has the right to defy him. This theory was held by the Russian Tsars to perpetuate their autocratic rule.

 

Mensheviks.  The minority group of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party formed m 1898. They favoured a government of the type that existed in countries like France and Germany.

 

Nationalisation.  To bring under government control.

 

Red Army. The army of Revolutionary Russia which fought against the Tsar's army. It was composed mainly of workers and peasants.

 

Revolution of 1917. It refers to the events of November 1917. Control was in the hands of the All Russian Congress of Soviets. The Kerenskii's government was overthrown.

 

Serfdom.  Russian type of feudalism under which peasants worked for the landlord in exchange for food and shelter. No wages were paid.

 

Soviet.  Council of workers.

 

Suffragette.  A movement to give women the right to vote.

 

Jadidists.  Muslim reformers within the Russian empire.

 

Autonomy.  The right to govern themselves.

 

Deported.  Forcibly removed from one's own country.

 

Exiled.  Forced to live away from one's own country.

 

Collective Farms. A large farm owned by the government and worked by hundreds of workers.

 

Requisition.  When the government forcibly takes food or property from people, usually in wartime.

 

Kulaks.  Wealthy peasants or farmers.

 

War Communism. The policy of the Russian government from mid-1918 to 1921 was known as war communism, it was not one particular law or decree, but a whole series of measures designed to take control of the economy.

 

New Economic Policy. Introduced in more...