Geography

Correct answer: (C) Manipur

Loktak Lake, the largest freshwater lake in northeast India known for its floating phumdis, is located in Manipur.

Correct answer: (B) Jammu & Kashmir

The Dulhasti Hydroelectric Power Project is a run-of-the-river plant on the Chenab river in the Kishtwar district of Jammu & Kashmir, operated by NHPC.

Correct answer: (B) Kari

The peaty, highly acidic organic soils of the Kuttanad region of Kerala are locally known as 'Kari' soils, formed under waterlogged, humus-rich conditions.

Correct answer: (C) the Great Himalayan Range

Among the parallel Himalayan fold ranges, the Great Himalayan (Himadri) Range is the oldest and highest, formed of the ancient crystalline core, while the Siwaliks are the youngest.

Correct answer: (C) Mizoram

Mizoram is known as the 'Molassis basin' because its terrain consists largely of soft, unconsolidated Tertiary molasse sedimentary deposits forming small, rounded hills.

Correct answer: (D) Andhra Pradesh

The Coringa (Loringa) mangrove wildlife sanctuary lies in the Godavari estuary of Andhra Pradesh, the second-largest stretch of mangrove forest in India.

Correct answer: (C) Kansabati

The Kumari river is a tributary of the Kansabati (Kangsabati) river in West Bengal, joining it before it flows to the sea.

Correct answer: (A) Son

The Koel (North Koel) is a tributary of the Son river, which itself joins the Ganga.

Correct answer: (D) NH-34—Sevak-Gangtok

The Sevak-Gangtok route is served by NH-31A (old numbering), not NH-34, so the pairing 'NH-34 — Sevak-Gangtok' is incorrect.

Correct answer: (A) Dev Prayag

The Alaknanda and Bhagirathi rivers meet at Devprayag in Uttarakhand, and downstream the combined stream is called the Ganga.

Correct answer: (A) Terai

The narrow, marshy foothill belt on the western side of the Teesta in West Bengal is called the Terai (the eastern side being the Duars).

Correct answer: (B) the Haldi river

The Kasai (Kangsabati) and Keleghai rivers unite to form the Haldi river, which meets the Hooghly near Haldia.

Correct answer: (B) Ten degree Channel

The Andaman group and the Nicobar group of islands are separated by the Ten Degree Channel.

Correct answer: (B) Yamuna, Son and Damodar

The Yamuna and the Son are the principal right-bank tributaries of the Ganga. The Damodar actually joins the Hooghly, a distributary of the Ganga, so the official key still counts it on the right bank, making option B the intended answer.

Correct answer: (D) India and Pakistan

The Radcliffe Line, drawn by Sir Cyril Radcliffe in 1947, is the boundary between India and Pakistan.

Correct answer: (B) Gorgaburu

Gorgaburu, in the Ayodhya Hills of the Purulia region, is the highest peak of South Bengal.

Correct answer: (D) Cauvery

The Mettur Dam in Tamil Nadu is built across the Cauvery river.

Correct answer: (A) Singhbhum District

The Noamundi/Notuburu iron ore mines lie in the Singhbhum district (Jharkhand), a major iron-ore belt of eastern India.

Correct answer: (B) Howrah

Among the listed districts, Howrah recorded the highest child sex ratio (0-6 years) in the 2011 Census of West Bengal.

Correct answer: (C) 23

At the time of the exam West Bengal had 23 districts following the creation of new districts such as Jhargram, Kalimpong, Paschim and Purba Bardhaman.

Correct answer: (B) Sivasamudram

The Sivasamudram project on the Cauvery is a hydroelectric power station, not an irrigation dam, unlike Bhavani Sagar, Krishnaraja Sagar and Bhakra Nangal which serve irrigation.

Correct answer: (C) Nilgiri Hills

The Eastern Ghats and Western Ghats converge at the Nilgiri Hills in the Western Ghats of South India.

Correct answer: (D) Chhattisgarh

Chhattisgarh (the Bastar/Dantewada region) is India's leading producer of tin, being the only state with significant tin (cassiterite) reserves and output.

Correct answer: (A) Zaskar and Pir Panjal

The Kashmir Valley lies between the Zaskar (Great Himalaya) range to the northeast and the Pir Panjal range to the southwest. The Pir Panjal separates it from the plains, while the Zaskar separates it from Ladakh.

Correct answer: (A) Karakoram

The Siachen Glacier, one of the world's longest non-polar glaciers, lies in the eastern Karakoram range near the India-Pakistan-China junction.

Correct answer: (D) Chambal Valley

Badland topography, deeply eroded gullies and ravines in soft sediments, is characteristic of the Chambal valley in central India.

Correct answer: (D) Dampier and Hodges

The northern boundary of the Sundarbans was surveyed and demarcated in 1829-30 by the surveyors Dampier and Hodges, and is still known as the Dampier-Hodges line.

Correct answer: (C) Jindhagada

Jindhagada (Deomali/Jindhagada Peak) in the Andhra Pradesh-Odisha border area, at about 1690 m, is the highest peak of the Eastern Ghats. Anaimudi belongs to the Western Ghats.

Correct answer: (C) Siachen

The Siachen Glacier in the eastern Karakoram (about 76 km long) is the largest glacier in India (and the longest outside the polar regions), well ahead of Gangotri and Pindari.

Correct answer: (D) Purulia

Among West Bengal districts, Purulia is the mica-producing district, associated with pegmatite deposits in its Chhotanagpur plateau fringe. (As per the official key.)

Correct answer: (B) Sankosh

The Sankosh river forms the boundary between West Bengal (Cooch Behar/Alipurduar) and Assam before joining the Brahmaputra. The Raidak, Kaljani and Chel flow within North Bengal and do not mark this state border.

Correct answer: (B) Devprayag

At Devprayag in Uttarakhand, the Bhagirathi and Alaknanda rivers merge and the combined stream is thereafter called the Ganga. Rudraprayag is where the Mandakini joins the Alaknanda.

Correct answer: (C) Jodhpur

Rainfall variability is greatest in arid regions where total rainfall is low and erratic. Jodhpur, in the Thar Desert of Rajasthan, shows far higher August rainfall variability than the humid stations.

Correct answer: (C) Andhra coast

Cyclone Hudhud (October 2014) made landfall near Visakhapatnam, severely affecting the Andhra Pradesh coast.

Correct answer: (A) Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu hosts India's largest wind farm at Muppandal near Kanyakumari, benefiting from the strong winds funnelled through the Palghat gap.

Correct answer: (C) SOI

The Survey of India (SOI), the nation's oldest scientific department, is the official body that prepares and publishes topographical maps. NATMO makes thematic maps/atlases, GSI handles geology, and ZSI handles zoological survey.

Correct answer: (B) Karnataka

The Sharavati Hydroelectric Project, harnessing the Sharavati river at the famous Jog Falls, is located in Karnataka and is one of the state's major sources of power.

Correct answer: (B) Puducherry

As per Census 2011, among Union Territories Puducherry recorded the highest sex ratio, at about 1037 females per 1000 males.

Correct answer: (D) Tungabhadra

The Kurnool-Cuddapah (KC) Canal in Andhra Pradesh, used for irrigation and once navigation, draws its water from the Tungabhadra river.

Correct answer: (B) Teesta

The Punarbhaba and Atrai are distributaries in the North Bengal river system fed by the Teesta (as per the official key), which after leaving the hills spreads into numerous branches across the plains of undivided Bengal.

Correct answer: (D) Pir Panjal - Zaskar - Ladakh - Karakoram

From south to north the Himalayan ranges run Shiwalik/Pir Panjal, then Zaskar, then Ladakh, then Karakoram; among the given options the correct south-to-north order is Pir Panjal - Zaskar - Ladakh - Karakoram.

Correct answer: (D) Kangsabati

Mukutmanipur Dam, the second-largest earthen dam in India, is built across the Kangsabati (Kansai) river (near its confluence with the Kumari) in Bankura district, West Bengal.

Correct answer: (A) the Godavari

The Godavari, the largest river of South India (and second longest in India), is nicknamed 'Dakshina Ganga' (Ganga of the South) for its size and cultural importance.