Easy humanities

Ecotourism is defined as “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well –being of local people.” (TIES) “Environmentally responsible travel to natural areas, in order to enjoy and appreciate nature (and accompanying cultural features, both past and present) that promote conservation, have a low visitor impact and provide for beneficially active socio-economic involvement of local peoples.” (IUCN) Ecotourism is broadly defined as low impact travel to endangered and often undisturbed locations. It is different from traditional tourism because it allows the traveler to become educated about the areas- both in terms of the physical landscape and cultural characteristics, and often provides funds for conservation and benefits the economic development of places that are frequently impoverished. Most tourism in natural areas today is not ecotourism and is not, therefore, sustainable. Ecotourism is distinguished by its emphasis on conservation, educat

Background of the Cold War The term “Cold War” denotes the absence of large-scale military operations fighting between the two opponents despite major regional wars, termed proxy wars, supported by both sides. The USSR and the USA were left as two superpowers with political and economic differences as a result of the Cold War that split the temporary wartime alliance against Nazi Germany The seeds of future hostility were sown towards the closing years of World War 2. After the crossing of the Rhine in March 1945, the fall of Nazi Germany was inevitable. As such the Allies began drawing up the map of post-war Europe. The problem was each faction had their own idea about post-war Europe. Each side held dissimilar ideas regarding the establishment and maintenance of post-war security. Foreign policy experts believed that while the Western Allies, who would go to form the   North Atlantic Treaty Organization  (NATO), favoured a democratic system of governments with fair elections as a mea

Balance of payments (BOP) The balance of payments (BOP) refers to the systematic record of all the financial and economic transactions made by the residents of the country with the rest of the world. It is the summary of all the financial transactions made by the individuals, corporate firms, and the government etc. It includes all the external visible and non-visible financial transactions of the country. The BOP of a country gives information about its ability to pay for its imports. It gives information about the position of the country with respect to issues like currency crisis, capital flows and its impact on the economy etc. It also gives valuable insights into its economic output which is required for its economic growth. What is the balance of trade (BOT)? The BOP should not be confused with Balance of trade (BOT). BOT is different from the balance of payment of a country. The balance of trade shows the difference between the country s monetary value of exports and imp

  Till 18th century, Indian agriculture and cottage industries had a very strong relation. India held prominent place in field of agriculture and handicraft production in the world. The coming of British colonial rulers destroyed handicraft industry while causing far-reaching changes in country’s agrarian structure by introducing novel systems of land tenure and policies of revenue administration. British mainly adopted three types of land tenure systems. Permanent Settlement /Zamindari System:  Roughly 19% of total area under British rule – Bengal, bihar, Banaras, NWFP divisions. Ryotwari System:  Covered about 51% of the area under British Rule – Assam, Bombay and Madras Presidencies. Mahalwari System:  Covered 30% of area under British Rule – major parts of NWFP, central provinces and Punjab. Let us study each one of these Land revenue system and land settlements under British rule in India. Permanent Settlement or Istamarari (Sthayi) Bandobast It was introduced in Bengal, Orissa, B