History class 10 chp 1

• Resource


  Everything available in our environment which can be used to satisfy our needs, provided it is technologically accessible, economically feasible and culturally acceptable
• Resources are not free gifts of nature but a function of human activities. Human beings themselves are essential components of resources. They transform material available in our environment into resources and use them
• Transformation of things available in our environment

  Involves an interactive relationship between nature, technology, and institutions. Human beings interact with nature through technology and create institutions to accelerate their economic development
• Resources are vital for human survival and maintaining the quality of life. Depletion of resources has led to major problems such as the greed of a few individuals, accumulation of resources in few hands, and global ecological crises
• Ways to classify resources

  • On the basis of origin – biotic and abiotic
  • On the basis of exhaustibility – renewable and non-renewable
  • On the basis of ownership – individual, community, national, and international
  • On the basis of status of development – potential, developed stock, and reserves
• An equitable distribution of resources is essential for a sustained quality of life and global peace. Resource planning is essential for sustainable existence of all forms of life
• Sustainable development

  'Development should take place without damaging the environment, and development in the present should not compromise with the needs of the future generations'
• Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit, 1992 was convened to address urgent problems of environmental protection and socio-economic development at the global level. Leaders signed the Declaration on Global Climatic Change and Biological Diversity
• Agenda 21 is the declaration signed by world leaders in 1992 at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, aiming at achieving global sustainable development
• Agenda 21 is an agenda to combat environmental damage, poverty, disease through global cooperation on common interests, mutual needs, and shared responsibilities. One major objective is that every local government should draw its own local Agenda 21
• Survey questions on recycling of domestic/agricultural wastes

  • What do they think about resources they use?
  • What is their opinion about the wastes and its utilization
• Regions poor in resources but economically developed

  • India has experienced all this in different phases of colonisation
• Resources can contribute to development only when accompanied by appropriate technological development and institutional changes
• Resource planning has importance in a country like India, which has enormous diversity in the availability of resources
• Planning is the widely accepted strategy for judicious use of resources
• Rich resources in colonies were the main attractions for the foreign invaders
• Gandhiji: '“There is enough”'
• Regions rich in resources but economically backward

  • Jharkhand
  • Chhattisgarh
  • Madhya Pradesh
• Resources are vital for any developmental activity, but irrational consumption and over-utilisation may lead to socio-economic and environmental problems
• If the oil supply gets exhausted

  It would affect our lifestyle
• Development in India involves not only the availability of resources, but also technology, quality of human resources, and historical experiences of the people
• Resource planning in India


  1. Identification and inventory of resources across the regions of the country

  2. Evolving a planning structure with appropriate technology, skill, and institutional set up

  3. Matching resource development plans with overall national development plans
• The availability of resources is a necessary condition for the development of any region, but mere availability of resources in the absence of corresponding changes in technology and institutions may hinder development
• India has made concerted efforts for achieving the goals of resource planning right from the First Five Year Plan launched after Independence
• About 43% of the land area in India is plain, providing facilities for agriculture and industry
• Net sown area is the physical extent of land on which crops are sown and harvested
• Relief features in India

  • Mountains
  • Plateaus
  • Plains
  • Islands
• Mountains in India account for 30% of the total surface area, ensuring perennial flow of some rivers, providing facilities for tourism and ecological aspects
• Resources being developed in surroundings

  • Resources found in the state
  • Important but deficit resources in the state
• Land use pattern in India is determined by physical factors like topography, climate, soil types, as well as human factors like population density, technological capability, culture, and traditions
• Mahatma Gandhi was against mass production and wanted to replace it with production by the masses
• Mahatma Gandhi: '“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed.”'
• Schumacher presented Gandhian philosophy in his book 'Small is Beautiful' in 1974
• Land utilisation purposes

  • Forests
  • Land not available for cultivation (Barren and waste land, Land put to non-agricultural uses)
  • Other uncultivated land (Permanent pastures and grazing land, Land under miscellaneous tree crops groves, Cultruable waste land)
  • Fallow lands (Current fallow, Other than current fallow)
  • Net sown area
  • Gross cropped area
• About 27% of the area in India is plateau region, possessing rich reserves of minerals, fossil fuels, and forests
• The Earth Summit at Rio de Janeiro in 1992 focused on resource conservation
• The Club of Rome advocated resource conservation in 1968
• Area sown more than once in an agricultural year plus net sown area is known as gross cropped area
• The Brundtland Commission Report in 1987 introduced the concept of 'Sustainable Development' for resource conservation
• Land resources

  Support natural vegetation, wildlife, human life, economic activities, transport, and communication systems