Indian Geography Questions and Answers

Answer: B

Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh and Rajasthan had the lowest literacy rates in Census 2011, about 61.8, 65.4 and 66.1 per cent respectively. Jharkhand (about 66.4 per cent) came next.

Chhattisgarh (about 70.3 per cent), Assam (about 72 per cent) and Odisha (about 73 per cent) were clearly higher, so the groups that include them are wrong, and Uttar Pradesh (about 68 per cent) is also above the lowest three.

Census 2011 literacy for India overall was 74.04 per cent, so all of these states lie below the national figure, with Bihar lowest of all.

Answer: B

Kanpur is the largest centre of the cotton textile industry in Uttar Pradesh, long known as the 'Manchester of the East' for its cotton mills. Saharanpur, Meerut and Bareilly are known for other industries such as wood carving, sports goods and furniture, and do not match Kanpur's cotton textile scale.

Answer: B

Duns are the longitudinal valleys that lie between the Lesser Himalaya and the Shiwaliks, for example Dehra Dun and Patli Dun. The Bhabar is a pebbly belt at the foot of the Shiwaliks, Kankar is a nodular limestone deposit, and Doabs are tracts between two rivers. The best known duns are Dehradun, Kotli Dun and Patli Dun. These are broad flat valleys formed by rivers and filled with deposits, lying between the Himalayan range and the Shiwalik hills.

Answer: D

Mahendragiri, in Odisha, is the high peak of the Eastern Ghats among the options, about 1,501 metres. Anai Mudi is the highest peak of the Western Ghats and of South India, Kanchenjunga is in the Himalayas and Garo is a hill range in Meghalaya. So the only Eastern Ghats peak in the list is Mahendragiri, option (D), and the key gives it as the answer, although the very highest peak of the range is generally named as Arma Konda in Andhra Pradesh.

Answer: C

Black soil, also called regur, is found over the Deccan lava region, which includes Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat, so statement I is correct. Laterite soil is found in the high-rainfall parts of the Western Ghats and in Kerala, where heavy rain washes out silica and leaves iron and aluminium, so statement II is correct. Both pairs are right and the answer is Both I and II, option (C). Black soil is rich in clay and holds water, so it suits cotton, and laterite is poor in nutrients but is used for crops such as tea, coffee and cashew.

Answer: B

Wular Lake is a large freshwater lake in Jammu and Kashmir, near Bandipora, in the Kashmir valley, and not in Rajasthan, so statement I is wrong. Sambhar Lake in Rajasthan is the largest inland salt water lake in India, and salt is produced from it, so statement II is correct. Only the second statement is right, and the answer is Only II, option (B); the options that make the first statement correct are rejected.

Answer: B

The main source of water for Wular Lake, in the Kashmir valley, is the River Jhelum. The Jhelum flows into the lake and out of it again, and the lake is also fed by smaller streams. It lies in the Bandipora district and is one of the largest freshwater lakes in India.

The Chenab, Shyok and Tawi are other rivers of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, but they do not feed Wular. The second option is the answer.

Answer: B

The 'Golden Fibre' is jute.

Jute is grown mainly in the warm and humid regions of eastern India and Bangladesh, and it is called the golden fibre because of its colour and its value as a cash crop.

Cotton is the white fibre, silk comes from silkworms and is not a crop, and coir comes from coconut husks.

Jute needs warm, humid weather with plenty of rain and rich alluvial soil, which the Ganga-Brahmaputra delta provides, and most of India's jute comes from West Bengal. Cotton is a different fibre crop, silk is an animal product and coir is a coconut product.

Answer: C

The plant is located in Kutch.

The Mundra Ultra Mega Power Project, run by Tata Power, is a coal-fired plant at Tunda village near Mundra in the Kutch district of Gujarat.

Dahod, Kheda and Mahisagar are other districts of Gujarat that do not host it.

The 4,000 MW plant uses supercritical technology and imported coal, and it is on the coast at Mundra in the Kutch district. It is a power plant run by Coastal Gujarat Power Limited, a subsidiary of Tata Power, and it supplies electricity to several states.

Answer: A

The pipeline does not pass through Maharashtra.

The Hazira-Vijaipur-Jagdishpur pipeline runs from Hazira in Gujarat through Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan to Vijaipur and then to Jagdishpur in Uttar Pradesh. It does not enter Maharashtra.

Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh are all on its route.

The HVJ pipeline is about 1,700 km long and carries gas from Hazira on the coast of Gujarat across Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan to Vijaipur in Guna district. Later it was extended to Jagdishpur in Uttar Pradesh. Maharashtra is not on this route, so it is the state the pipeline does not pass through.