Indian Geography Questions and Answers

Answer: A

All three factors are at work.

The overseas market for jute goods shrank as buyers turned to cheaper substitutes; the supply of raw jute has been irregular since much of the growing area went to East Bengal in 1947; and synthetic packing material - polypropylene sacking above all - is lighter and cheaper, which has been the heaviest blow of the three.

Answer: C

I and III - silting and pollution of the water bodies, and the lack of marketing facilities.

Industrial effluent and sewage have made many rivers and tanks unfit for fish, while silting has reduced their depth. Without cold storage and transport, the catch cannot reach distant markets, so there is little incentive to expand production.

Answer: A

Gold is mined in Karnataka.

The Kolar Gold Fields worked for over a century until they closed in 2001, and Hutti in Raichur district is still producing. Karnataka accounts for almost all of India's very small domestic gold output; the country imports the great bulk of what it consumes.

Answer: B

The Kaveri rises in the Brahmagiri hills.

Its source is at Talakaveri in Kodagu district of Karnataka, on the eastern slope of the Western Ghats, and it flows some 800 km east across the peninsula to the Bay of Bengal, forming the Shivanasamudra falls and the delta at Thanjavur.

Answer: D

Tamil Nadu has the largest lignite reserves.

The Neyveli field in Cuddalore district holds most of India's lignite, mined in open cast pits and burnt at the mine mouth by NLC India. Lignite is brown coal, of lower carbon content and higher moisture than the Gondwana coals of the east.

Answer: D

The Narmada forms an estuary.

Like the Tapti, it flows west through a rift valley, so it carries little silt and has a steep gradient to the sea, where strong Arabian Sea tides sweep away what it does deposit. The east-flowing Ganga, Krishna and Kaveri all build deltas instead.

Answer: D

Venus is the morning star.

Being closer to the sun than the earth, it never appears far from it, and is visible only for a few hours before sunrise or after sunset. It is then the brightest object in the sky after the sun and moon, which is why it is called both the morning and the evening star.

Answer: A

Jupiter is the largest planet.

Its diameter of about 143,000 km is eleven times the earth's, and its mass exceeds that of all the other planets put together. It is a gas giant of hydrogen and helium with no solid surface, and its Great Red Spot is a storm larger than the earth.

Answer: A

Black soil favours cotton.

Regur, formed from the weathering of Deccan lava, is clayey and retains moisture through long dry spells, which is exactly what a long-duration crop like cotton needs. It is rich in lime, magnesia and potash but poor in nitrogen.

Answer: D

Uttar Pradesh is India's largest sugar producer.

Its share of both cane area and sugar output is the largest, with the mills concentrated in the western districts and the Terai. Maharashtra vies with it in some years and leads in recovery rate, since its cane has a higher sucrose content.