Indian Geography Questions (MCQs) for UPSC, State PCS and SSC Examinations

Notes:
Nangarhar province in eastern Pakistan shares border with Pakistan and is considered as the base of Islamic State in Afghanistan. It was recently in news when the United States military dropped the America’s largest non nuclear bomb on Nangarhar province of Afghanistan. Mosul is a major city in northern Iraq. Since October 2016 it has been the site of a military operation led by the Iraqi Government in an effort to dislodge and defeat militant forces. The Darfur region of western Sudan has been the site of terrible violence, death, and displacement named as “Genocide” by the United States.

Notes:
Most plants largely uptake Carbon dioxide (CO²)and release oxygen during the day (photosynthesis) and uptake oxygen and release CO² during the night (respiration). Some plants such as Peepal tree can uptake CO² during the night as well because of their ability to perform a type of photosynthesis called Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM). However, it is not true that they release large amounts of oxygen during the night. CAM is one of the three types of photosynthesis pathways occurring commonly in plants; the other two being C3 and C4 pathways. Of these, C3 is the most common among land plants. CAM occurs primarily in desert plants and epiphytes (plants that live on other plants, usually large trees). CAM plants do not open their stomata during the day in order to minimize water loss. During the night, they open their stomata and fix CO² in the form of malate. During the day, they breakdown the malate and use the released CO2 through Kalvin cycle to produce sugars, similar to C3 plants. However, CAM is an energy inefficient reaction and hence plants use CAM only during certain conditions. Peepal tree is a hemi-epiphyte in its native habitat i.e. the seeds germinate and grow as an epiphyte on other trees and then when the host-tree dies, they establish on the soil. It has been suggested that when they live as epiphyte, they use CAM pathway to produce carbohydrates and when they live on soil, they switch to C3 type photosynthesis. So, Peepal tree would either release or not release CO² in the night depending on if they are epiphytic or not. For other CAM plants, it would depend on if they have adequate water or not, or other environmental factors.

Notes:
Taenia is a taxonomic rank of tapeworm (helminth) that includes some main parasites of livestock. There are more than 100 species of Taenia. Taenia is responsible for taeniasis and cysticercosis in humans. They are morphologically characterized by a ribbon like body composed of a series of segments called proglottids.

Notes:
In India, major proportion of power is generated from thermal sources where the main raw material used is coal. Around 83% of thermal power is generated using coal as a raw material, whereas 16% of thermal power is generated with the help of Gas and 1% of thermal power is generated with the help of Oil.

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The Konkan Railway was constructed to fill the missing gap between Roha (near Mumbai) and Mangalore. The line covers a length of 741 km and connects Maharashtra, Karnataka and Goa.

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Jalandhar is the hub of Indian sports goods industries. A Jalandhar based company has been India’s number one exporter of footballs this year with more than 5 million balls being shipped to 12 countries world wide.

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Manikaran is located in the Parvati Valley on river Parvati, northeast of Bhuntar in the Kullu District of Himachal Pradesh. It is at an altitude of 1760 m and is located 4 km ahead of Kasol and about 35 km from Kullu. This small town attracts tourists visiting Manali and Kullu to its hot springs and pilgrim centres.

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Karnataka produces 9,000 metric tons of mulberry silk of a total of 20,000 metric tons of mulberry silk produced in the country, thus contributing to nearly 45% of the country’s total mulberry silk.

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The Gangetic dolphins have been declared as the National Aquatic Animal of India. This mammal is also said to represent the purity of the holy Ganga as it can only survive in pure and fresh water. Platanista gangetica has a long pointed snout and also have visible teeth in both the upper and lower jaws.

Notes:
India measures 3,214 km (1,997 mi) from north to south and 2,933 km(1,822 mi) from east to west. It has a land frontier of 15,200 km (9,445 mi) and a coastline of 7,516.6 km (4,671 mi).