1. (d); Rainwater runoff is an example of nonpoint source pollution, which is pollution that comes from many sources over a large area. Other examples of nonpoint source pollution include excess fertilizers, herbicides, and insecticides from agricultural lands and residential areas.
2. (d); According to the 2011 census, Mizoram had a literacy rate of 91.33%. The state’s female literacy rate was 89.27%, which was second only to Kerala’s 92.07%. The Serchhip and Aizawl districts of Mizoram have the highest literacy rates in India, at 97.91% and 97.89% respectively
3. (c); The dispute is rooted in the armed conflict over Jammu and Kashmir that began after India and Pakistan gained independence in 1947.
4. (b); The project is in the Aizawl district of Mizoram, next to the Cachar district of Assam. The dam is an earthfill and gravity dam on the Sonai River. The project has a capacity of 60 MW (2 x 30 MW). Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the project on December 16, 2017. The project provides electricity, navigation, drinking water, and boosts eco-tourism.
5. (c); A wide inlet of the sea that is usually concave in shape is called a bay. Bays are often surrounded by land on three sides and are caused by water action. Hudson Bay is an example of a bay.
6. (d); Punjab has many inundation canals that draw water from the Sutlej River. Inundation canals are used to divert water from a river during times of excess water flow or flooding.
7. (a); Sullage is wastewater that comes from domestic activities like washing in the kitchen and bathroom, and it doesn’t include human excreta. It’s also known as greywater, which is used to distinguish it from black water, which is wastewater that contains human waste.
8. (d); The Western Ghats form an almost continuous chain of mountains running parallel to the western coast of India along the Arabian Sea.
9. (c); Thorium is derived from monazite. The other mineral carrying thorium is thorianite. The known reserves of thorium in India are estimated to be between 457,000 and 508,000 tonnes. Kerala, Jharkhand, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, and Rajasthan are the main producers. Thorium is a chemical element with the symbol Th and atomic number 90. It is one of only two significantly radioactive elements that still occur naturally in large quantities [other being uranium).
10. (c); Earth’s gravity is the reason why Earth has an atmosphere Gravity’s role. Earth’s gravity is strong enough to hold onto its atmosphere and keep it from drifting into space.
11. (b); Ionosphere, the region of the earth’s atmosphere between stratosphere and exosphere, consists of a high concentration of electrically charged particles- ions and electrons which affect the propagation of radio waves.
12. (a) The Maldives is the smallest island country in the Indian Ocean. It is a tropical paradise made up of 26 coral atolls and has a total land area of approximately 300 square kilometers.
13. (a); Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) is a statutory body which operates in the Damodar River area of West Bengal and Jharkhand states of India to handle the Damodar Valley Project, the first multipurpose river valley project of independent India.
14. (a); Hemoglobin normally combines with oxygen to transport oxygen in the blood. However, carbon monoxide has a greater affinity for hemoglobin than oxygen, so it binds with hemoglobin to form carboxyhemoglobin (COHb). This reduces hemoglobin’s ability to carry oxygen, which can lead to a lack of oxygen in vital organs.
15. (a); The Great Rann of Kutch is a seasonal salt marsh located in the Thar Desert in the Kutch District of Gujarat, India and the Sindh province of Pakistan. It is known for its marsh land and mud flats, also known as tidal flats, that are coastal wetlands which form when mud is deposited by tides or rivers.
16. (a); The Earth is at its greatest distance from the sun when it is at aphelion. The terms “aphelion” and “perihelion” come from Ancient Greek, where helios means “sun”, apo means “far”, and peri means “close”.
17. (a); Which, of the following wind is blowing from the Mediterranean sea to the North Western parts of India? Feeble temperate cyclone (Western disturbance) blows from the Mediterranean Sea to the north western part of India.
18. (d); The upper part of the earth’s atmosphere, between 10 and 50 km above the earth surface called stratosphere contains a thin layer of ozone.
19. (a); The correct answer is the Pacific Ocean. Great Barrier Reef, a complex of coral reefs, shoals, and islets in the Pacific Ocean off the northeastern coast of Australia that is the longest and largest reef complex in the world.
20. (a); Kerala has the lowest birth rate in India. The birth rate is the number of live births per 1,000 people in a year.
21. (b); The SAARC Secretariat is located at Kathmandu.The Secretariat is headed by the Secretary-General, who is appointed by the Council of Ministers from member states in alphabetical order for a three year term. The Secretary-General is assisted by eight directors on deputation from the member states.
22. (b); Outer Himalayas are called Siwalik likewise spelt as Shiwalik, they are the sub-Himalayan range of the northern Indian subcontinent.
23. (b); The Godavari is the longest river in peninsular India. It’s also known as the Dakshin Ganga or Vridha Ganga.
24. (c); Located at Rawatbhata in Rajasthan, the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS) was the first facility in India to operate pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWRs).
25. (c); Explanation: The Karunagappally coastal belt in Kerala is known for its high background radiation due to thorium-containing monazite sand. Monazite is a rare phosphate mineral that contains thorium and uranium. The largest concentration of monazite sand is found on the Kerala coast.
26. (a); In the northwestern section of India, rainfall is caused by western disturbances during the winter. Westerlies are responsible for this pattern. The development of the Rabi crop in the northern subcontinent, which contains the locally significant staple wheat, is influenced by Western Disturbances.
27. (c); Sri Lanka is a country located in the southeast of India. It is separated from the mainland of India by the Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar.
28. (a); Eastern ghats and Western ghats meet at the Nilgiri hills in Tamilnadu.
29. (c); he natural habitat of rhinoceros in India is primarily in Kaziranga National Park in Assam and other protected areas in Assam, West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh:
(II) The Indian Rhinos are found in the Sibsagar Jorhat District of the state of Assam in the Kaziranga National Park.
30. (a); Bangladesh shares longest international boundary with India that is 4,096.7km.
31. (c); The Brahmaputra River is known as the Tsangpo River in Tibet:
32. (a); The largest herbarium in India is located in Indian Botanical Garden, Sibpur, Howrah. A herbarium is a collection of dried (preserved) plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The term can also refer to the building or room in which the specimens are housed, or to the scientific institute that not only stores but also uses them for research.
33. (a); The only active volcano of India is situated in the Barren Island volcano of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It is composed of ash and spewing lava. A team of scientists from the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) Goa identified this and had done an expedition on this. The volcano was erupting in small episodes lasting around 5-10 minutes.
34. (c); Leaching is the process of water-soluble plant nutrients being lost from the soil due to rain and irrigation. The process of leaching can cause a loss of nutrients from the soil, which can lead to acidification
35. (c); The project is planned over an area of 2067 acres. According to a GV Ramesh, the project director at NPCIL, close to 485 acres of land has already been handed over for the project by the Srikakulam district administration. The acquisition of the remaining 1582 acres of land is expected to be completed by October 2017.
36. (d); Magma is a mixture of molten or semi-molten rock, volatiles, and solids. The magma came out to the earth’s surface through the Crater/Mouth of the volcano. It is found beneath the surface of the Earth and is expected to exist on other terrestrial planets and some natural satellites. The Asthenosphere is the weaker zone of the mantle, usually is the source of magmar
37. (c); Carbon compounds having both fluorine and chlorine (CFCs), which are very stable and not degraded by any biological process, are responsible for ozone layer depletion. They generates Chlorine free radicals which react with ozone and convert it into oxygen.
38. (c); Sariska Tiger Reserve is a national park and tiger reserve located in the Alwar district of the state of Rajasthan. Ranthambore National Park is a vast wildlife reserve near the town of Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan.
39. (a) Greenland is a massive island and autonomous Danish territory between the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans. Much of its land surface is covered in ice.Its total area is 2.166 million km².
40. (d); Marina Beach is the longest beach in India. Marina beach is located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It lies along the Bay of Bengal. Marina Beach is also the world’s second-longest beach. The beach was renovated by Governor Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff in the 1880s. Two prominent statues of Mahatma Gandhi is situated on the Marina beach. Marina Beach is one of me most crowded beaches in India.
41. (b); About 80 percent of the coal deposits in India are of a bituminous type and are of non-coking grade. The most important Gondwana coal fields in India are located in Damodar Valley. Over 97 per cent of coal reserves occur in the valleys of Damodar, Sone, Mahanadi and Godavari. They lie in the Jharkhand-Bengal coal belt and the important coal fields in this region are Raniganj, Jharia, Bokaro, Giridih, and Karanpura.
42.(d); In equatorial regions, the high temperatures lead to significant evaporation, causing warm, moist air to rise rapidly and condense, forming clouds that produce heavy showers, which is the characteristic of convectional rainfall.
43. (b); Nanda Devi is the second-highest mountain in India after Kangchenjunga and the highest located entirely within the country. It is the 23rd-highest peak in the world. It was considered the highest mountain in the world before computations in 1808 proved Dhaulagiri to be higher. It was also the highest mountain in India until 1975 when Sikkim, an independent kingdom until 1948, and a protectorate of India thereafter became a part of the Republic of India. It is part of the Kumaon Himalayas and is located in the Garhwal region in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, between the Rishiganga valley on the west and the Goriganga valley on the east
44. (b); Andamans are separated from Nicobar by a 10-degree channel (10- degree latitude). The Gulf of Mannar is a shallow bay, part of the Laccadive Sea in the Indian Ocean. A chain of low islands and reefs known as Adam’s Bridge, also called Ramsethu, which includes Mannar Island, separates the Gulf of Mannar from Palk Strait, which lies to the north between India and Sri Lanka. Palk Strait is a strait between the Tamil Nadu state of India and the Mannar district of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. South Andaman and Little Andaman are separated by Duncan Passage.
45. (c); Eris is the largest dwarf planet in the solar system and is the largest object found in orbit around the Sun since the discovery of Neptune and its moon Triton in 1846. It has a diameter between 2,400 and 3,000 kilometres (1,490 to 1,860 miles) and is 27% more massive than Pluto.
46. (b); Ghatampur Thermal Power Plant will be set up in Ghatampur, Kanpur district, U.P. Fuel used will be coal. It is co owned (joint venture) by Neyveli Lignite Corporation (51%) & Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam(49%).
47. (b); Solar energy, wind energy, and tidal power are all examples of non-conventional sources of energy that can help reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. While natural gas is a useful source of energy, it is not considered a non-conventional source of energy as it is a fossil fuel.
48. (c); In conclusion, the Stratosphere is the layer of the Earth’s atmosphere where the decrease in temperature with increasing altitude is absent.
49. (c); A doab is a tract of land between two rivers that meet and form a larger river. The word “doab” comes from the Persian word do-āb which means “a region lying between and reaching to the confluence of two rivers”.
50. (b); Dakshin Gangotri was the first scientific base station of India situated in Antarctica, part of the Indian Antarctic Programme. It is located at a distance of 2,500 kilometers (1,600 mi) from the South Pole. It is currently being used as a supply base and a transit camp. The base is named after Dakshin Gangotri Glacier.
51. (a); Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu is known as Manchester of South India, famous for its textile. Ahmedabad, Gujrat is known as Manchester of India. Manchester is a city located in North-West England famous for its rich industrial heritage. Banglore is Known as the Silicon Valley of India or Garden city of India. Thiruvananthapuram is known as The Evergreen City of India. Madurai is famously known as the Athens of East.
52. (c); Thorium is a weakly radioactive metallic chemical element. India has one of the largest shares of global thorium reserves at about 25% of the world’s known thorium reserves. The known reserves of thorium in India are estimated to be between 457,000 and 508,000 tonnes. • Kerala, Jharkhand, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan are the main producers.
53. (a); Explanation: Fold mountains are formed when two tectonic plates collide at a convergent boundary, and the Himalayas were formed by the collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates. The Himalayas are considered young fold mountains because they were formed only a few million years ago. The crust beneath the Himalayas is still being folded
54. (b); Length: 649 km long
Origin: Starts at the Harike Barrage near Harike in Punjab
Destination: Ends in the Thar Desert in Rajasthan
Purpose: Designed to irrigate the Thar Desert
History: Originally called the Rajasthan Canal, it was renamed in 1984 to honor Indira Gandhi, the former Prime Minister of India
The Indira Gandhi Canal is the world’s largest irrigation project. It’s a symbol of India’s commitment to agricultural development and has played a key role in transforming the lives of millions of people. However, the canal faces challenges such as water scarcity, waterlogging, and salinity problems.
55. (b); Even after sunset, the air near the Earth’s surface continues to receive heat due to terrestrial radiation.
The Earth’s atmosphere is heated by long-wave terrestrial radiation. The Sun’s radiation heats the Earth’s surface, which then releases heat energy into the atmosphere as convection currents. This creates a bubble of air that is warmer than the surrounding air, which then rises into the atmosphere.
56.(a); The Earth’s lithosphere is divided into multiple tectonic plates that move at different rates in relation to one another. Tectonic forces not only move plates, but they also have the capacity to rupture them, resulting in the formation of a rift and, potentially, the establishment of new plate boundaries. Rifting is a geological phenomenon that divides a single tectonic plate into two or more plates separated by diverging plate borders.
57. (b); Russia is the world’s largest producer of asbestos. In 2023, Russia produced around 630,000 million metric tons of asbestos. In 2022, Russia also exported $232 million worth of asbestos, making it the world’s largest exporter of the mineral.
58. (d); Coal is one of the most important sources of energy and is being used for various purposes such as heating of houses, as fuel for boilers and steam engines and for generation of electricity by thermal plants. Coal is found in abundance in our country and it is the most important source of energy in our country.
59. (c); The crops which are sown in the rainy season are called Kharif crops. Kharif crops are the crops that are sown at the beginning of the rainy season, e.g. between April and May. The Kharif crops are harvested in the month of September-October. Important crops grown during this season are paddy, maize, jowar, bajra, tur (arhar), moong, urad, cotton, jute, groundnut and soybean. Kharif crop requires high temperature and high humidity.
60. (c); Air: DDT can evaporate from contaminated soil and water and enter the air.
Soil: DDT can enter the soil and be carried down to water through irrigation.
Water: DDT can be carried down to water through irrigation. Once in water, DDT binds to particles and settles in the sediment. Small organisms and fish take up DDT, and it accumulates in high levels in fish and marine mammals.
DDT is a toxic, persistent organic pollutant that is absorbed by soils and sediments. It can act as a long-term source of exposure for terrestrial organisms.
61. (c); The Western Ghats are considered an ecological hotspot in India. Ecological hotspots are areas with high biological value or outstanding biodiversity.
62. (b); Geothermal energy is the heat from the Earth. It’s clean and sustainable. Resources of geothermal energy range from the shallow ground to hot water and hot rock found a few miles beneath the Earth’s surface, and down even deeper to the extremely high temperatures of molten rock called magma.
63. (c); The constellation Sapta Rishi is known to Westerners as the Big Dipper. The Big Dipper is a group of seven stars in the constellation Ursa Major, also known as the Great Bear.
64. (a); The study of the relationship between animals and plants and their surroundings is called ecology. Ecology is a branch of biology that studies the relationships between organisms and their physical environment, including humans. It also seeks to understand the vital connections between plants and animals and the world around them. Ecology is also known as environmental science.
65. (a); The Green Revolution had the most significant impact on wheat production. The Green Revolution was a period in the early 1960s when India’s agricultural productivity increased due to the use of modern technologies. The impact of the Green Revolution on wheat was so significant that it’s sometimes called the “Wheat Revolution”.
66. (b); A broad, low embankment built up along the banks of a river channel during floods is called a levee. Levees are man-made structures that are designed to control or divert water flow to reduce the risk of flooding. They are often made of earthen embankments.
67. (d); The Moon’s gravitational pull causes the oceans to bulge out on both the side closest to the Moon and the side farthest from the Moon, creating high tides. The Sun also has a gravitational effect on tides, but to a much lesser extent. When the Sun and Moon are in-line with Earth, the gravitational force is greatest, causing bigger tides.
68. (c); During the youthful stage of a river, the process that takes place is valley deepening. This means that the river is actively eroding and cutting into the land, deepening the valley in which it flows.
69. (d); Ambala is the region that separates the Ganga and Indus river systems. It’s located on an elevated area, or water divide, that separates two drainage basins. The Ghaggar and Tangri rivers surround Ambala to the north and south.
70. (d); The outermost layer of the Sun is the corona. The corona is a hot, dim plasma region that extends millions of kilometers into space. It’s usually hidden by the Sun’s bright surface, but can be seen during a total solar eclipse or with a specialized instrument.
71. (a); The Ring of Fire is a major area in the basin of the Pacific Ocean where a large number of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur.
72. (c); Winds blowing constantly in one direction in rocky deserts form yardangs. Yardangs are elongated wind-sculpted ridges that are formed by wind erosion
73. (c); The Gotthard Base Tunnel is located in Switzerland. It’s the world’s longest and deepest railway tunnel, and runs under the Alps between Erstfeld and Bodio.
74. (a); One of the common forms of representing remote sensing data as information is in the form of thematic maps, by means of visual or computer classification. However, thematic maps are not an end in themselves and are only the starting point for a variety of applications to which remote sensing data can be potentially used.
75. (b); The Bhakra Nangal Project is built on the Sutlej River in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, India. The Bhakra Dam is a concrete gravity dam that provides water for irrigation and other purposes. The dam is located in a gorge near the upstream Bhakra village in Bilaspur district.
76. (c); A stretch of sea water that is partly or fully separated from the main sea by a narrow strip is called a lagoon. Lagoons are shallow bodies of water that are separated from larger bodies of water by natural barriers, such as barrier islands, reefs, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses.
77. (d); The Daily Weather Map of India is prepared and printed at Pune.
78. (a); The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of numerous substances that are responsible for ozone depletion.
79. (d); The magnetic meridian is a plane that passes through the magnetic north and magnetic south poles of the Earth. It’s an imaginary line that’s parallel to the Earth’s magnetic lines of force and is the horizontal component of magnetic force lines along the Earth’s surface.
80. (c); In a rainforest, the vegetation that grows under the shade of the canopy is called the understory
81. (b); Significant coral reefs include: The Great Barrier Reef—largest, comprising over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,600 kilometers (1,600 mi) off Queensland, Australia.
82. (b); Sludge is a thick, soft, wet mud or a similar viscous mixture of liquid and solid components, especially the product of an industrial or refining process.
83. (c); The formation and development of caves is known as speleogenesis. Caves are formed by various geologic processes and can be variable sizes. These may involve a combination of chemical processes, erosion from water, tectonic forces, microorganisms, pressure, and atmospheric influences.
85. (c); The practice of growing agricultural crops between rows of planted trees is known as the Taungya system. It’s a traditional agroforestry technique that’s been used for centuries in tropical regions.
86. (b); When the primary tributaries of rivers flow parallel to each other and secondary tributaries join them at right angles, the pattern is known as ‘trellis’.
87. (c); The core of the Earth is also known as the barysphere. The barysphere is the innermost layer of the Earth, made up of the mantle and the core. The core is divided into two parts: the outer core and the inner core. The outer core is fluid, while the inner core is solid due to extreme pressure.
88. (b); The polar regions of Earth, also known as Earth’s frigid zones, are the regions of Earth surrounding its geographical poles i.e. the North and South Poles. These regions are dominated by Earth’s polar ice caps, the northern resting on the Arctic Ocean and the southern on the continent of Antarctica.
89. (c); Algal bloom or uncontrolled growth of algae in either freshwater or marine environments is the result of the enrichment of nutrients in the habitat. This causes abundant growth of phytoplanktons. The process is also known as eutrophication.
90. (b); The world’s largest continental shelf extends 1,500 km from the coast of Siberia into the Arctic Ocean
91. (b); The Godavari is a major river in South India. This river is the largest peninsular river system in India. It is also called Dakshin Ganga. It originated from Tryambak hill in the Western Ghats. It originates from the Nashik district in Maharashtra. Its length is usually 1465 km. The span of this river is very big. The main tributaries of Godavari are Pranahita, Indravati and Manjira. It flows through Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and joins the Bay of Bengal near the city of Rajahmundry
92. (c); Red Soil in India are poor in phosphorus, nitrogen and lime contents. The red soils cover a large portion of land in India. It is found in Indian states such as Tamil Nadu, southern Karnataka, north- eastern Andhra Pradesh and some parts of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
93.(c); Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) have the highest heat-trapping ability among the given greenhouse gases. CFCs are a class of compounds that contain carbon, chlorine, fluorine, and hydrogen. They are commonly used in aerosol propellants and refrigerants. CFCs also contribute to the greenhouse effect by trapping heat in the atmosphere. However, they are also primarily responsible for the depletion of the ozone layer.
94. (b); As of August 31, 2024, Tamil Nadu’s installed solar capacity was 8,993 MW, ranking third in India. Gujarat is India’s second-largest solar energy producer, after Rajasthan. Gujarat’s solar power capacity is 10.13 GW, which is about 13% of India’s total solar capacity.
95. (a); The Ganga is formed by the confluence of the Bhagirathi and Alaknanda rivers at Devprayag, a town in Uttarakhand, India. The name Devprayag literally means “holy confluence”.
96. (b); Norway is known as the “Land of the Midnight Sun” because of the natural phenomenon of the midnight sun that occurs there. The midnight sun is a summer phenomenon that happens when the sun is visible at midnight in places north of the Arctic Circle and south of the Antarctic Circle.
97. (c); River Ganga has ten river basin states, namely Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, and Himachal Pradesh, and 1 Union Territory of Delhi.
98. (d); Firewood is not a commercial source of energy because it is not traded in a market. Firewood and other non-commercial energy sources are usually gathered and used for domestic purposes, and are not bought at a price. They are often called traditional fuels.
99. (d); The exosphere is the uppermost region of Earth’s atmosphere as it gradually fades into the vacuum of space. Air in the exosphere is extremely thin – in many ways, it is almost the same as the airless void of outer space.
100. (b); Jharkhand is the largest producer of lac in India, accounting for nearly 54.60% of the country’s total production. Other states that produce lac include Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, and Maharashtra.
