Weathering and erosion are two fundamental geological processes that play a crucial role in shaping the Earth’s surface and forming various landforms.

Weathering:
Weathering is the process by which rocks and minerals are broken down or decomposed by various physical, chemical, and biological agents. This process happens in situ, meaning the material is not transported from its original location. The main types of weathering are:

1. Physical weathering:
   • Caused by mechanical processes, such as temperature changes, freeze-thaw cycles, and wind abrasion.
   • Can lead to the physical breakdown of rocks into smaller fragments.
   • Examples include frost wedging, exfoliation, and granular disintegration.
2. Chemical weathering:
   • Caused by chemical reactions, such as hydrolysis, oxidation, and carbonation.
   • Leads to the decomposition of minerals within the rocks.
   • Examples include the formation of clay minerals, dissolution of limestone, and rusting of iron-containing rocks.
3. Biological weathering:
   • Caused by the activities of living organisms, such as plants, fungi, and bacteria.
   • Can contribute to the physical and chemical breakdown of rocks.
   • Examples include the growth of roots in cracks, the production of acids by lichens, and the burrowing activities of animals.

Erosion:
Erosion is the process by which weathered materials are transported from one location to another by various agents, such as water, wind, ice, and gravity. This process involves the removal, transport, and deposition of materials. The main types of erosion are:

1. Water erosion:
   • Caused by the movement of water, such as rivers, streams, and waves.
   • Can lead to the formation of features like valleys, canyons, and river deltas.
   • Examples include the erosion of river banks, the formation of meanders, and the creation of waterfalls.
2. Wind erosion:
   • Caused by the movement of wind, which can transport and deposit sediments.
   • Can lead to the formation of features like sand dunes, yardangs, and ventifacts.
   • Examples include the erosion of rock formations in deserts and the creation of loess deposits.
3. Glacial erosion:
   • Caused by the movement of glaciers, which can grind and scour the underlying rock.
   • Can lead to the formation of features like U-shaped valleys, cirques, and glacial lakes.
   • Examples include the erosion of mountainsides and the creation of glacial moraines.
4. Gravity-driven erosion:
   • Caused by the downslope movement of materials under the influence of gravity.
   • Can lead to the formation of features like landslides, rockfalls, and talus slopes.
   • Examples include the erosion of cliffs and the creation of alluvial fans.

The interplay between weathering and erosion is crucial in shaping the Earth’s surface, creating a diverse array of landforms, such as mountains, valleys, canyons, plateaus, and coastal features. The specific combination of these processes, along with the local climate, geology, and tectonic activity, determines the unique characteristics of each landscape.

Post-independence, the task of integrating the tribal people into the mainstream was extremely complex. The debates on methods of integration revolved around two approaches. One was to leave the tribal people alone, untouched by modern influences and the second approach was that of assimilating them into the Indian society. However, India adopted the policy of integrating the tribals based on the Nehruvian approach of tribal development based on the principle of self- empowerment.

Salient features of tribal policy (Tribal Panchsheel) adopted after independence

• Develop along their own genius: Tribals should develop along the lines of their own genius and there should be no imposition or compulsion from outside.
• Tribal rights: Tribal rights on land and forests to be respected and no outsider to take possession of tribal lands. Further, the incursion of the market economy into tribal areas had to be strictly controlled and regulated. Local governance: For administration, responsibility should be placed on the tribal people themselves and administrators should be recruited from amongst them and trained.
• Tribal policies: Tribal areas should not be over administered or overwhelmed with a multiplicity of schemes.
• Emphasis on human growth: One should judge the results not by statistics but by quality of human character that is involved.

Further, the Constitution also provided for the setting up of Tribal Advisory Councils in all states containing tribal areas to advise on matters concerning the welfare of the tribals. Also, several tribal- specific initiatives such as Vanbandhu Kalyan Yojana, Special Central Assistance to Tribal Sub Plan, Scheme for development of PVTGS, Forest Rights Act, 2006, scholarships for tribal students etc. have been implemented by the Government. Despite the constitutional safeguards and the efforts of the central and state governments, the tribals’ progress and welfare has been very slow, and even dismal to an extent. Reasons for slow progress of tribals

• Administrative inefficiency: Often administrative personnel are ill-trained or even prejudiced against tribals. Further, sympathetic officials are also known to be quickly transferred out of tribal areas under the pressure of traders, moneylenders, forest contractors and land-grabbers.
• Unfamiliarity with laws and legal system: Due to illiteracy and lack of awareness, many tribal communities remain in dark about the assistance laid down for them by the Government and their legal rights.
• Lack of coordination: Lack of coordination among different agencies engaged in implementing tribal development schemes is one of the reasons for their underdevelopment.
• Land Alienation and Displacement: After independence, emphasis on infrastructural development led to the displacement of tribals from their homeland for extracting mineral resources. They were forced to live in peripheries in slums or to migrate to adjoining states to work as unskilled workers in conditions of poverty.
• Legal and Constitutional Issues: Forged and manipulated Gram Sabha resolutions, lack of consent before land acquisition and other grave issues still persist in the implementation of the PESA act.

The constitutional and legislative safeguards should be implemented in letter and spirit protecting the land and forest rights of tribal communities. Further, the right to preservation of their language, culture and traditions, and to protect themselves against the loss of identity, must be recognized, protected and documented.

According to India State of Forest Report (IFSPR) 2021, India reported around 3.5 lakhs incidents of forest fires from November 2020 to June 2021. This is the highest ever recorded in the country for this period so far. Forest fires break out in India from November-May every year due to various natural and anthropogenic reasons including accumulation of inflammable materials such as dry leaves, twigs, pine needles, etc. Odisha reported the maximum fires among all states, followed by Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Causes of Forest Fires: More than ninety five percent of forest fires are caused either by negligence or unknowingly by the human being. The rest of the fires are caused by natural reasons.

• Natural causes:
  • Climatic conditions such as rising atmospheric temperatures, duration of dry spells and low humidity in soil and atmosphere make favourable circumstances for a fire to start.
  • Lightning, volcanic eruptions can trigger forest fires.
  • Other causes include friction of bamboo due to high wind velocity and rolling stones that result in sparks setting off fires in highly inflammable leaf litter like chir pine trees.
• Man-made causes:
  • Shifting cultivation, fires induced for flush growth of tendu leaves, good growth of grass and fodder, to encroach upon the forest land, to conceal illicit felling.
  • Source of fire from cigarette buds, electric sparks etc.
  • Fires lit intentionally around forests to ward off wild animals, recreation etc.

The forest fires lead to loss of livelihoods, natural capital, and biodiversity. The government has taken certain steps like Forest Fire Prevention & Management Scheme, National Action Plan on Forest Fire, 2018 and setting up of Forest Fire Lines to prevent forest fires in India. Measures to prevent forest fires:

• Fire risk zonation and mapping for identifying areas of priority for management interventions and allocating resources to priority areas.
• Stronger collaboration between the State Forest Departments, the disaster management authorities and research entities would enable states to innovate new science-based management approaches for preventing fires and rehabilitating fire-affected areas.
• Institutionalizing partnership with forest communities and preparing a forest fire forecasting system. Further, assessing indigenous knowledge and techniques to detect and suppress forest fire, and upgrade it with scientific inputs and research. A national forest fire knowledge network must be established to cover all dimensions of forest fire in the country.
• Forest Fire Management (FFM) needs to be an integral part of course curricula of forest department training institutes with updated and enriched latest information about forest fire detection, suppression and rehabilitation.
• There is a need to document good practices in forest fire management so that good lessons can be learnt from them and utilize them in making forest fire management systems more effective and practical.
• Monitoring to provide early warning and vulnerability maps through satellites like NASA’s MODIS (or Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer).

Protecting forests from undesirable fires is crucial to sustaining India’s progress on meeting its global pledge to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030 and achieving SDG -15 (Life on land- Sustainably managing forests).

Mention some of the foreigners who joined the Indian freedom struggle and their contributions materia ruggle The India freedom struggle is a significant and unique event in history because of many reasons like use of ‘satyagraha’, non-violence, contribution from various sections etc. While many Indians joined and led the struggle against the British, the role played by many foreigners can not be underestimated.

The contributions of some foreigners are as follows:

• Annie Besant: She was an Irish lady who became the first woman president of Indian National Congress (INC). She was a leading labour organizer, strike leader and reformer. She helped establish the Indian Home Rule League in 1916. She also wrote against the British in her newspaper – “New India”.
• C. F. Andrews: He was an Englishman who got involved with INC. He helped resolve the 1913 cotton workers’ strike in Madras. He resisted the oppressive policies of the British and openly advocated for the rights of Indians settled in any part of the world. He used to introduce himself as an Indian and dhoti-kurta became his favourite dress.
• Reginald Reynolds: A British man strongly opposed to British colonial policies, he visited Gandhi’s Sabarmati Ashram and gradually became one of Gandhi’s closest associates. In March 1930, Reynolds delivered ‘Gandhi’s Ultimatum’ to the British Viceroy. Reynolds formed an organisation in Britain called ‘The Friends of India’ and also helped raise money for the Indian cause.
• Michael John Carritt: He is known as a British officer who took the side of the poor peasantry as Chief Magistrate in Asansol. He even allowed the distribution of ‘illegal’ pamphlets by the Bombay branch of the Communist Party of India and also worked to provide shelter to the revolutionaries fighting for the country’s freedom. Between 1935 and 1937, Carritt leaked several intelligence reports to his Indian comrades.
• Madeleine Slade: Daughter of a British Admiral, she was rechristened Mira Behn by Gandhiji on her reaching Sabarmati Ashram in 1925. She went to London with Gandhiji to attend the Round Table Conference. She was arrested multiple times, including during a period of civil disobedience in 1932-33, when she was detained on the charge of supplying information to Europe and America regarding conditions prevailing in India.
• Samuel Stokes: The only American to be jailed for being involved in India’s freedom struggle, who got involved in the freedom struggle after the Jallianwalan Bagh massacre. He worked closely with Gandhiji and took part in the Non-Cooperation Movement. He was imprisoned for six months one the charges of sedition in the Lahore jail and refused bail.
• BG Horniman: Editor of Bombay Chronicle, he published accounts of British brutalities in the Jalianwalan Bagh massacre defying British gag orders, causing international uproar and changing the course of India’s freedom struggle. He also criticised the Hunter Commission after the latter gave clean chit to General Dyer.
• Philip Spratt: Spratt is remembered the most for his involvement in the Meerut Conspiracy Case, where about 30 CPI members, Congress members and others were arrested for organising a series of worker strikes in 1929.
• Catherine Mary Heilemann: Popularly known as Sarala, she came to India in the early 1930s to teach in a school in Udaipur. Inspired by Gandhiji, she suffered two terms of imprisonment during the Quit India movement of the 1940s.

Thus many foreigners made India their home and significantly contributed, as they needled the conscience of Britain, to the Indian freedom struggle.