The correct answer is 'option 4'

Key Points

• Demographic dividend, iss defined by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
• It is "the economic growth potential that can result from shifts in a population’s age structure, mainly when the share of the working-age population (15 to 64) is larger than the non-working-age share of the population (14 and younger, and 65 and older)".
• Therefore, as per the definition the age group 0-14 and 60+ will help in the calculation of the demographic dividend.
• Once we know these two numbers, it is easy to calculate the remaining population digits and hence the demographic dividend. 

Therefore, the correct answer is '0-14 and 60 and above'

Hint

 Yes, to calculate demographic dividend we need both the working(15-59) and non-working(0-14 and 60 and above) population. However, once we know the non-working population we can in fact calculate the working population by knowing the total population. Therefore, selecting the most appropriate option is the key when there are confusing options. 

Key Points

Water Harvesting:  

• Water harvesting is a practice to conserve water by collecting rainwater in an organized way.
• The rainwater is not allowed to flow and get wasted but collected in tanks.
• The main purpose however is not the collection but the enhancement of groundwater level.  
• The collected water through tubes is made to recharge groundwater.
• Maintenance of groundwater is long term sustainable structure for water conservation.
• So, water harvesting is used to increase the groundwater level by an organized collection of groundwater.
• So, water harvesting is a method that Increases the groundwater level.
• Water harvesting is an old practice in India and is now considered a more efficient way of water management than dams.  
• People are adopting this method and it is also being encouraged by the administration and government. 

​Thus, the main purpose of rainwater harvesting is to recharge the groundwater table.

Sustainable Development (SD) is “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.

• The concept of “sustainable development” came into general usage after the Brundtland Commission Report (1987), formally called the Report of the World Commission on Environment aid Development (WCED).
• This concept of sustainable development aims to maintain economic advancement and progress while protecting the long-term value of the environment.
• The United Nations 2005 World Summit outcome document refers to economic development, social development, and environmental protection as the 'interdependent and mutually reinforcing pillars of sustainable development.
• SD enables the present generation to use natural resources judiciously so that their availability is ensured for future generations too.
• This involves the conservation of biodiversity resources, attaining atmospheric balance, the productivity of soil as well as other systems of the natural environment.
• Development can be socially sustainable when it achieves social justice via equitable resource allocation, eradicates poverty, and provides social services such as education, health, etc., to all members of the society, especially the neediest ones.
• Sustainability is a broad term that describes managing resources without depleting them for future generations.
• Sustainable development describes the processes for improving long-term economic well-being and quality of life without compromising future generations' ability to meet their needs.

Hence, from the above-mentioned points, it becomes clear that the concept of sustainable development is related to the conservation of resources.

• Jhumming or Jhum a type of slash and burn agriculture is practised in the state of Arunachal Pradesh.
• Jhumming is also practised in north-eastern states like Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland.
• Under this type of agriculture, a farmer clears a patch of land and produce cereals and other food crops to sustain their family. 
• When the soil fertility decreases, the farmers shift and clear a fresh patch of land for cultivation. 
• This type of shifting allows Nature to replenish the fertility of the soil through natural processes.
• Land productivity in this type of agriculture is low as the farmer does not use fertilizers or other modern inputs. 
• The period of cultivation is usually terminated when the soil shows signs of exhaustion or, more commonly, when the field is overrun by weeds. 
• The length of time that a field is cultivated is usually shorter than the period over which the land is allowed to regenerate by lying fallow.

The correct answer is Primary sector

The three-sector theory was developed by Allan Fisher, Colin Clark and Jean Fourastié

Other sector

The correct answer is Drilling.

The oil and Natural gas well is created by drilling a long hole into the earth with an oil rig. A steel pipe (casing) is placed in the hole, to provide structural integrity to the newly drilled wellbore. Holes are then made in the base of the well to enable oil to pass into the bore.

Key Points

• Petroleum and natural gas are Non-Renewable energy sources.
• Fossil fuels include petroleum and natural gas.
• Natural gas is the most environmentally friendly fossil fuel.

Important Points ​Extraction of Minerals There are three methods of extraction i.e 

1. Mining - The process of taking out minerals from rocks buried under the earth’s surface like coal, gold, or iron ore.

• Open Cast Mining - Minerals that lie at shallow depths are taken out by removing the surface layer,
• Shaft Mining - Deep bores, called shafts, have to be made to reach mineral deposits that lie at great depths

2. Drilling - Deep wells are bored to take them out like petroleum.
3. Quarrying -  Minerals that lie near the surface are simply dug out like sand, stones.

• Africa has the highest population growth rate as all three subregions growing over 2% are in Africa.
• Middle Africa is the only subregion growing over 3% followed by Western Africa and Eastern Africa growing over 2%.
• The population growth rate of Africa (2.49%) is almost double of the growth rate of second fastest growing continent Oceania (1.31%).
• Except for Africa and Oceania, the remaining four continents have growth rates below 1%.
• The Populations of Asia (0.86%), South America (0.83%) and North America (0.77%) are increasing at a similar rate.
• Eleven subregions have growth rates above 1%. Europe is the only continent with a modest growth rate of 0.06% as the lowest three ranked subregions are located in Europe. Southern Europe and Eastern Europe have negative growth rates.

The correct answer is option 1, i.e Carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere as a result of the activities of a particular individual, organization or community.

• Carbon Footprints:
  • The Carbon footprints refer to the emission of greenhouse gas, emission by a person, product and entity in the atmosphere.
  • The Carbon footprints are expressed in the amount of carbon dioxide or its equivalent of other emissions of GHGs.
  • The coal has the largest Carbon footprint among other sources of energy.
  • While hydroelectric, wind and nuclear power always produce the least amount of CO₂ per kilowatt-hour.
  • Kyoto Protocol recognizes 6 GHGs.
    • It considers all six gases as Carbon footprint.
  • These six gases are Methane, Nitrous oxide, Perfluorocarbons, Sulphur hexafluoride, Carbon dioxide and Hydrofluorocarbons.
  • It is measured in tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO₂e).

The correct answer is Maharashtra.

• The parent material for most of the black soil is the volcanic rocks that were formed in the Deccan Plateau. Due to extrusive volcanic topography, in most of the areas, the soil is black coloured and hard. 

Key Points

Characteristics of regur soil:

• Black soil or regur soil covers most of the Deccan Plateau, specifically Maharastra largely.
• It also includes parts of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, and some parts of Tamil Nadu. 
• In the upper reaches of the Godavari and the Krishna and the northwestern part of the Deccan Plateau, the black soil is very deep.

Thus, it is clear that Regur soil is most widespread in Maharashtra.

Additional Information

Other characteristics of Regur soil are as follows:

• The black soils are generally clayey, deep, and impermeable.
• They swell and become sticky when wet and shrink when dried. So, during the dry season, this soil develops wide cracks.
• Thus, there occurs a kind of ‘self ploughing’. 
• Because of this character of slow absorption and loss of moisture, the black soil retains the moisture for a very long time, which helps the crops, especially, the rain-fed ones, to sustain even during the dry season.
• Chemically, the black soils are rich in lime, iron, magnesia, and alumina.
• They also contain potash.
• But they lack phosphorous, nitrogen, and organic matter. 
• The colour of the soil ranges from deep black to grey.

India is endowed with a rich variety of mineral resources due to its varied geological structure. A mineral is a natural substance of organic or inorganic origin with definite chemical and physical properties. 

Mineral distribution over India:

• Most of the metallic minerals in India occur in the peninsular plateau region in the old crystalline rocks.
• Over 97 per cent of coal reserves occur in the valleys of Damodar, Sone, Mahanadi and Godavari.
• Petroleum reserves are located in the sedimentary basins of Assam, Gujarat and Mumbai High i.e. off-shore region in the Arabian Sea.
• There may be some sporadic occurrences here and there in isolated pockets. These belts are :
  • The North-Eastern Plateau Region
  • The South-Western Plateau Region
  • The North-Western Region
• The Himalayan belt is another mineral belt where copper, lead, zinc, cobalt, and tungsten are known to occur.
• Most of the minerals are available in the eastern belt and on a large scale.

Hence, option 4 is the correct answer.

The correct answer is All of the above.

Key PointsNature of Human Geography

• The people begin to understand their environment and the forces of nature with the passage of time.
• With social and cultural development, humans develop better and more efficient technology. 
• They create possibilities with the resources obtained from the environment. Human activities create a cultural landscape.
• The imprints of human activities are created everywhere; health resorts on highlands, huge urban sprawls, fields, orchards, and pastures in plains and rolling hills, ports on the coasts, oceanic routes on the oceanic surface, and satellites in the space.
• The earlier scholars termed this as possibilism. Nature provides opportunities and human beings make use of these and slowly nature gets humanized and starts bearing the imprints of human endeavor.
• Human geography studies the inter relationship between the physical environment and socio-cultural environment created by man. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• Elements of physical environment are land, water, soil, climate, vegetation, fauna. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• Elements of cultural environment are transport and communication, settlements, crops. Hence, statement 3 is correct.

Concept:

Salinity: The amount of soluble salts in a soil, expressed in terms of the saturation extract. When the amount of salt is excess in soil then it is called saline soil or salt affected soil.

Effects of salinity:

Degradation of soil and degradation of vegetation as it makes the soil infertile.

Causes of Salinity:

• Primary source of salts in soil is from rock weathering. During weathering process soluble salts are formed. Solute movement with water is the determining factor in soil salinization process.
• Fluctuating depth of ground water or WT leads to soil salinity.
• In arid region, less rainfall available to leach the salt and high rate of evaporation causes concentration of salts in soil at various layer.
• Coastal Area: Due to inundation of sea water.
• Irrigation water containing high concentration of soluble salts (Na salts) leads to soil salinity.
• Due to drainage restriction, reduces permeability of soil.

The correct answer is Aluminium.

Explanation:

• An ore is a body of rock that contains a high enough concentration of a metallic or non-metallic resource.
• Ores are extracted from the earth via mining and then treated to extract valuable minerals from them.

• Bauxite is an ore of Aluminium with chemical formula Al2O3.2H2O. It is the primary ore of Aluminium. 
• Ore is a naturally occurring mineral or rock from which metal can be extracted. 

Trick: Students were very excited (Bauxite) for Alumni (Aluminium) meeting.

Ore of some other important metals:

The correct answer is five.

Key Points

• Culturable wasteland refers to the land which is not cultivated for more than five years in sequence.
• This land has the potential to grow crops but was left unused for any reason.

Additional Information

• Fallow land
  • This includes land which was taken up for cultivation but is temporarily out of cultivation for a period of not less than one year and not more than five years.
• Unculturable land
  • This includes all land covered by mountains, deserts, etc.
  • This land cannot be brought under cultivation except at an exorbitant cost and is classified as unculturable land.

​The correct answer is 1995.

Key Points

• WTO (World Trade Organization) was established in 1995.
• The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations.
• It acts as a forum for negotiating trade agreements, it settles trade disputes between its members and it supports the needs of developing countries.
• The WTO has over 160 members representing 98 per cent of world trade. Over 20 countries are seeking to join the WTO.
• Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is the seventh Director-General of the WTO. She took office on 1 March 2021, becoming the first woman and the first African to serve as Director-General.

Additional Information

• The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations.
• At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by the bulk of the world’s trading nations and ratified in their parliaments. The goal is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business.
• Over the past 20 years, WTO members have agreed with major updates to the WTO rulebook to improve the flow of global trade. The WTO's membership has expanded to 164 members, representing over 98% of international trade. In 2015.
• The WTO reached a significant milestone with the receipt of its 500th trade dispute for settlement.

The Correct Answer is Plantation Farming. 

Important Points

• Plantation farming is tree or bush farming which had been introduced by the British around the 19th century.
• It mostly refers to single crop orchards or crops such as tea, rubber, spice crops, coconut, coffee, lime, oranges, apples, etc.
• Plantation farming is very useful for export business.
• Plantation agriculture is mostly confined to the tropical climate.

The correct answer is push.

• People migrate for a better economic and social life. There are two sets of factors that influence migration.
  • The Push factors make the place of origin seem less attractive for reasons like unemployment, poor living conditions, political turmoil, unpleasant climate, natural disasters, epidemics and socio-economic backwardness.
  • The Pull factors make the place of destination seem more attractive than the place of origin for reasons like better job opportunities and living conditions, peace and stability, security of life and property, and a pleasant climate.

Additional Information

• When people move from one place to another, the place they move from is called the Place of Origin, and the place they move to is called the Place of Destination. The place of origin shows a decrease in population while the population increases in the place of destination.  Migration may be interpreted as a spontaneous effort to achieve a better balance between population and resources. 
  • Emigration: Migrants who move out of a place are called Emigrants
  • Immigration: Migrants who move into a new place are called Immigrants.
  • It may take place from rural to rural areas, rural to urban areas, urban to urban areas and urban to rural areas.
  • Migration may be permanent, temporary or seasonal.

Key Points

• ​Quarrying is the process of removing rock, sand, gravel, or minerals from the ground in order to use them to produce materials for construction or other uses.
• Minerals that lie near the surface are simply dugout, by the process known as quarrying

The correct answer is Quarrying.

Additional Information

• Drilling is a cutting process that uses a drill bit to cut a hole of circular cross-section in solid materials or ground.
• Open Cast Mining is the process under which minerals are mined near the earth's surface.
• Shaft mining is the process where miners dig straight down until they reach their desired depth. 

The correct answer is Humus.
Important Points

• Soil contains decayed remains of living organisms called Humus.
  • In Geography, Humus gives the soil the ability to absorb and retain moisture. Such soils do not dry out and require significantly less irrigation. 
  • Humus provides a reservoir for the plant nutrients available in the soil for balanced plant growth.​

Additional Information

• Minerals are solid substances that are present in nature and can be made of one element or more elements combined together. 
  • Gold, Silver, and Carbon are the elements that form minerals on their own. They are called native elements.
• Saline Soil is those which contain the salt content in the soil, called soil salinity.
  • The process of Increasing the content of the salt is known as Salinization.
  • Salts occur naturally within soils and water.
• The biosphere is the sphere where all flora and fauna exist together.

The correct answer is Maharashtra.

Key Points

• Maharashtra with 2.3 Million (23 lakh) net in-migrants receives the maximum number of immigrants followed by Delhi, Gujarat, and Haryana. Hence, Option 2 is correct.
• Uttar Pradesh and Bihar were the states, which had the largest number of net out-migrants among all the states.
• According to the 2011 Census, the number of internal migrants rose to 453.6 million.
• According to the International Migrant Stock 2019 report (released by the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs), India with 5 million international migrants has emerged as the top source of international migrants, constituting 6.4% of the world’s total migrant population.
• The cities of Mumbai, Delhi, and Kolkata are the largest destinations for internal migrants in India.
• Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are the biggest source states, followed closely by Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, and Rajasthan.
• The major destination states are Maharashtra, UP, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala.
• The number of internal migrants in India was 450 million as per the most recent 2011 census. This is an increase of 45% over the 309 million recorded in 2001. 
• Internal migrants as a percentage of the population increased from 30% in 2001 to 37% in 2011.
• When a person is enumerated in the census at a different place than his / her place of birth, she/he is considered a migrant.
• Female Migration: Out of the total internal migrants, 7 percent are women (Census of India 2001) and marriage is one of the major reasons for female migration in both the rural and urban areas.
• Male Migration: Migration for employment-related reasons is one of the prominent reasons for male migration in both rural and urban areas.

The correct answer is Human Geography.

Key Points

• Population Geography is a branch of Human Geography
  • It is the study of the many cultural aspects found throughout the world and how they relate to the spaces and places where they originate and the spaces and places they then travel to, as people continually move across various areas.
  • Human geography is also called cultural geography. 

Additional Information

• Economic Geography studies the economic activities of the people including agriculture, industry, tourism, trade, transport, infrastructure, services, etc.
• Historical Geography studies the historical processes through which the space gets organized. Every region has undergone some historical experiences before attaining its present-day status. The geographical features also experience temporal changes and these form the concerns of historical geography.
• Political Geography looks at the space from the angle of political events and studies boundaries, space relations between neighboring units, delimitation of constituencies, election scenario and develops a theoretical framework to understand the political behavior of the population.

The correct answer is 1, 2, 3 and 4.

 Key Points

• Crop rotation, Sand fences, terracing, and windbreaks all are used for sand conservation in India. Hence all the options are correct.

 Important Points

• Sand fences are a simple and cheap method of inducing the accretion of sands in arid and sandy areas.
  • Sand fences are barriers made of small, evenly spaced wooden slats or fabric.
• In crop rotation, crops are changed from year to year according to a planned sequence.
  • Crop rotation is considered to be a key principle of conservation agriculture for, it improves the soil structure and fertility.
  • It also helps to control weeds, pests, and diseases.
• Terrace farming is the practice of cutting flat areas out of a hilly or mountainous landscape in order to grow crops.
  • It is a practice that has been in use from the rice fields of Asia to the steep slopes of the Andes in South America.
• A windbreak (shelterbelt) is a planting usually made up of one or more rows of trees or shrubs planted in such a manner as to provide shelter from the wind and to protect soil from erosion.
  • Farmers sometimes use windbreaks to keep snowdrifts on farmland that will provide water when the snow melts in the spring.

Sugar Industry belongs to Manufacturing Industry.

• The manufacturing industry is a place where primary goods/raw materials are converted into finished products using machines.
• For example: 
  • Cloth from cotton
  • Sugar from sugarcane
  • Paper from wood
  • Iron from iron ore
  • Aluminium from bauxite
• The manufacturing industry is the branch of manufacture and trade based on the fabrication, processing, or preparation of products from raw materials and commodities.
• This includes all foods, chemicals, textiles, machines, and equipment. This includes all refined metals and minerals derived from extracted ores. This includes all lumber, wood, and pulp products.

1. Construction Industry: The construction industry looks after constructing, altering, erecting, repairing, and demolishing buildings, civil engineering, works, roads, and other similar structures.
2. Assembly Industry: Such industries are involved in arranging and bringing together various components of a product for its smooth manufacture. For example, arranging wheels from China, engine from Germany, plastic from Russia at the place of manufacturing of a car.

The correct answer is Number of females per thousand males in the age group 0-6.

Important Points

• The child sex ratio is the number of females per thousand males in the age group 0-6.
  • The age-specific sex ratios in India started to be computed in 1961.
  • The child sex ratio in 2011 is decreased by 13 points.
  • The child sex ratio of India is 919 in the census 2011.
  • Haryana is the worst state with an incredibly low child sex ratio of 793.
  • The highest child sex ratio of 972 is found in Arunachal Pradesh.
• The sex ratio is an important indicator of gender balance in the population.

The correct solution is "Methane and Carbon dioxide".

Key Points

• Biogas is usually made up of around 50-70% methane (CH₄) and 25-45% carbon dioxide (CO₂), with other gases such as hydrogen (H₂), hydrogen sulfide (H₂S), water vapor (H₂O), nitrogen (N₂), oxygen (O₂), ammonia (NH₃) making up the rest.
• Biogas can be produced from raw materials such as agricultural waste, manure, municipal waste, plant material, sewage, green waste, or food waste.
• The gases methane, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide (CO) can be combusted or oxidized with oxygen. This energy release allows biogas to be used as a fuel; it can be used for any heating purpose, such as cooking. It can also be used in a gas engine to convert the energy in the gas into electricity and heat.
• Biogas is considered to be a renewable resource because its production-and-use cycle is continuous, and it generates no net carbon dioxide. As the organic material grows, it is converted and used. It then regrows in a continually repeating cycle.
• After biogas is captured, it can produce heat and electricity for use in engines, microturbines, and fuel cells.
• Biogas can also be upgraded into biomethane, also called renewable natural gas or RNG, and injected into natural gas pipelines or used as a vehicle fuel.
• Both biogas and biomethane can be stored for on-farm uses. In practice, however, most biogas is used as it is produced.
• Thus, the need for biogas storage is usually of a temporary nature, at times when production exceeds consumption or during maintenance of digester equipment.

The correct answer is Egypt.

Key Points

• The Nile is the longest river in the world.
• It flows across the eastern African region from South to North.
• The major portion of the river flows in Egypt.
• It is the source for agriculture, fishing and facilitates transportation in the country.

Additional Information

• Its basin covers countries like Uganda, Sudan, South Sudan,Ethiopia and Egypt. 
• It starts near Lake Victoria(near Uganda) and empties into the Mediterranean Sea(Egypt).
• The main tributaries are White Nile (from Lake Victoria) and Blue Nile (from Ethiopia).
• It is a major lifeline for the countries in the eastern Sahara region.
• It provides transportation and supports agriculture and fishing in the region.
• Alexandria, Cairo(Egypt) and Khartoum(Sudan) are the important cities on the bank of the river.

The correct answer is Mediterranean region.

Key Points

• Viticulture:
  • The cultivation and harvesting of grapes are called viticulture.
  • The best quality wines in the world with distinctive flavours are produced from this region such as Port wine is famous in Portugal, Sherry in Southern Spain, etc. 
• Horticulture
  • The branch of plant agriculture deals with garden crops, generally fruits, vegetables, and ornamental plants.
• Sericulture:
  • ​Commercial rearing of silkworms for the production of silk.
• These are specialities of the Mediterranian region.

The correct answer is Darwin and Melbourne.

• Trans continental stuart highway connects Darwin (North Coast) and Melbourne via Tennant creak and Alice springs in Australia.
• It is longest national highway in the world with total length of 14,500 km.

Key Points

• Edmonton and Anchorage are connected by Alaskan Highway.
• Trans Canadian Highway links Vancouver in British Columbia and St. John's city in New Foundland.
  • It is third longest highway with total length of 8030kms.
• Chengdu of Sichuan and Lhasa of Tibet are connected by Sichuan- Tibet highway.
  • It has total length of 2293 km.
• Trans Siberian Highway connects St. Petersberg to Vladivostok
  • Total length of this highway is approx 11,000 km. 
  • It is second longest  highway of the world.

Explanation:

The iron ore mostly used for the production of pig iron is hematite. The principal iron ores are hematite (Fe₂O₃) . Hematite is an iron oxide mineral.

TYPES OF IRON ORE

A) Magnetite

• Black ore; up to 70 per cent metallic content and has very less impurities as compared to hematite.
• Excellent Magnetic quality.
• Formed in igneous rocks in veins and loads

B) Haematite

• Reddish; 50-60 per cent metallic content and has higher impurities when. compared to magnetite.
• Formed in sedimentary rocks Generally mined by open cast mining method

C) Limonite

• Inferior ores; yellowish in colour; 40 to 60 per cent iron metal.
• it is mined in open cast mines which is easy and cheap mining.

D) Siderite

• 'Iron carbonate'; inferior quality;
• less than 40 per cent iron.
• Contains many impurities
• mining is not economically variable.
• However, it is self-fluxing due to presence of lime.

Tribal society is a society with the social organisation of a tribe. its types: hunting and gathering society, hunting and gathering tribe. group that supports itself by hunting and fishing and by gathering wild fruits and vegetables; usually nomadic. type of: society.Important Points

•  By the nineteenth century, tribal people in different parts of India were involved in a variety of activities.​
  • Some were jhum cultivators
  • Some were hunters and gatherers
  • Some herded animals-
  1. Many tribal groups lived by herding and rearing animals
  2. They were pastoralists who moved with their herds of cattle or sheep according to the seasons
  3. The Van Gujar of the Punjab hills and the lam badi of Andhra Pradesh were cattle herders.
  4. the Gaddis of Kulu were shepherds.
  5. the Bakar wale of Kashmir reared goats.
• Some took to settled cultivation-before the nineteenth century, many from within the tribal groups had begun settling down, and cultivating their fields in one place year after year, instead of moving from place to place. 

So, above points clear show that Bakar wale of Kashmir tribal groups herded goats.

The correct answer is Tamil Nadu.

Key Points

• Kalpakkam Nuclear Power Plant is located in Tamil Nadu.
  • Kalpakkam atomic power station in India is completely built indigenously.

Additional Information

• Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant is the largest nuclear power station in India, situated in Kudankulam in the Tirunelveli district.
• Tarapur Atomic Power Plant-1 (TAPS-1) was the first Nuclear power plant in India. This plant is situated in Boisar, Maharastra.
• Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL):
  • Under the administrative control of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Government of India.
  • Registered Under Companies Act, 1956.
  • Established in September 1987.
  • Objective: Operating atomic power plants and executing atomic power projects.
  • Chairman & Managing Director: S.K. Sharma (as of Aug 2021)

The correct answer is Ahmedabad.

Key Points

• Slums are illegal urban settlements on public land and usually grow over a period of time in a constant and irregular manner.
• The 2011 Census-estimated 65 million people in slums.
• Percentage of slum population as per 2011 census in the following cities:
  • Ahmedabad- 2,50,681
  • Jaipur- 3,23,400
  • Lucknow- 3,64,941
  • Bengaluru- 7,12,801
• Ahmedabad thus has the lowest percentage of slum population as per the 2011 census.

Methane is a gas that is found in small quantities in Earth's atmosphere. Methane is the simplest hydrocarbon, consisting of one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas.

Methane is flammable and is used as fuel worldwide. It is a principal component of natural gas. Burning methane in the presence of oxygen releases carbon dioxide and water vapor

Methane is produced by the breakdown or decay of organic material and can be introduced into the atmosphere by either natural processes – such as the decay of plant material in wetlands, the seepage of gas from underground deposits, or the digestion of food by cattle – or human activities – such as oil and gas production, rice farming or waste management.

Therefore, Wetland is a source of methane.

The correct answer is Rajasthan.

Key Points

• Rajasthan has the largest share of wastelands in India.
• Wastelands are defined as a barren land that is not suitable for agricultural purposes.
• Other states with a high percentage of wastelands are Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.

• The HDI was created to emphasize that people and their capabilities should be the ultimate criteria for assessing the development of a country, not economic growth alone.
• The HDI can also be used to question national policy choices, asking how two countries with the same level of GNI per capita can end up with different human development outcomes. These contrasts can stimulate debate about government policy priorities.
• The Human Development Index (HDI) is a summary measure of average achievement in key dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, being knowledgeable and a decent standard of living.
• The HDI is the geometric mean of normalized indices for each of the three dimensions.
• The health dimension is assessed by life expectancy at birth, the education dimension is measured by mean years of schooling for adults aged 25 years and more and expected years of schooling for children of school entering age. The standard of living dimension is measured by gross national income per capita.
• The scores for the three HDI dimension indices are then aggregated into a composite index using geometric mean.

The correct answer is saline.

Key Points

• Salinity in arid zones is a consequence of the dry climate and the extensive irrigation practices in agriculture.
• Salts, accumulated in the soil profile after evaporation of the water phase, are leached down by fresh irrigation water applied on the soil surface.
• This results in a continuous increase in groundwater salinity and deterioration of its quality.

Additional Information

• Salinization is the increase of salt concentration in soil and is, in most cases, caused by dissolved salts in the water supply.
• This supply of water can be caused by flooding of the land by seawater, seepage of seawater or brackish groundwater through the soil from below.
• Due to climate change, sea levels are rising, which further accelerates the process of salinization.
• Salinization is a global problem. It tends to be concentrated in the world’s arid and semi-arid regions.

The correct answer is Agriculture.

Key Points

•  Factors responsible for Deforestation:
• Agricultural Activities
  • According to the FAO, agriculture leads to around 80% of deforestation.
  • Due to the overgrowing demand for food products, a huge amount of trees are felled to grow crops, and 33% of agriculture-caused deforestation is because of subsistence agriculture.
  • Hence it is one of the major factors.
• Livestock Ranching
  • Livestock is believed to be responsible for about 14% of global deforestation.
  • Farmers often clear the land by cutting down trees and burning them to raise livestock and grow food.
• Illegal Logging
  • Apart from this, wood-based industries like paper, match-sticks, furniture, etc. also need a substantial amount of wood supply.
• Urbanization
  • Further, to gain access to these forests, the construction of roads is undertaken; here again, trees are chopped to build roads.
• Desertification of Land
  • Some of the other factors that lead to deforestation are also partly natural and partly anthropogenic, like desertification of land.
• Mining
  • Oil and coal mining requires a considerable amount of forest land. Apart from this, roads and highways have to be built to make way for trucks and other equipment.
• Overpopulation
  • The overpopulation requires more land to establish housing and settlements. It generates a significant need for food and farmland to grow food and raise livestock. It automatically requires many more roads and highways for transport and communication—all these results in deforestation. 

The correct answer is Kharif Season.

Seasonally we can classify the crops into three broad types, Rabi, Kharif, and Zaid.

Maize Crop:

• In India, Maize is grown throughout the year.
• It is predominantly a Kharif crop with 85 per cent of the area under cultivation in the season. 
• Maize is the third most important cereal crop in India after rice and wheat.
• It accounts for around 10 per cent of total food grain production in the country.

Hence, option 1 is the correct answer.

Quaternary activities are a segment of the service sector that is knowledge oriented. Quaternary activities involve some of the following: the collection, production and dissemination of information or even the production of information.

• Quaternary activities centre around research, development and may be seen as an advanced form of services involving specialised knowledge and technical skills.
• Personnel working in elementary schools and university classrooms, hospitals and doctors’ offices, theatres, accounting and brokerage firms all belong to this category of services.
• Like some of the tertiary functions, quaternary activities can also be outsourced.

There are several highway projects initiated in India. The Golden Quadrilateral project is the most important of them.

Key Points

Golden Quadrilateral:

• In 1999, then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee laid the foundation stone for the GoldenQuadrilateral (GQ) Highway project.
• The Golden Quadrilateral is the longest road project in India and the fifth-longest highway in the world.
• It connects four major cities: Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata.
• The GQ project is managed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) under the Ministry of Road, Transport, and Highways.
• The Golden Quadrilateral constitutes only the national highways of the country and not state highways and rural-urban roadways. 

Impact of Golden Quadrilateral:

• Provided a huge boost to manufacturing activity and productivity in districts located within 10km of the network.
• Facilitated the movement of growing young firms out of the congested big cities.
• 49% overall output increase for the average district located on the Golden Quadrilateral network.
• Encouraging efficient decentralization by making intermediate cities more attractive to manufacturing entrants.
• Moderate-density districts—like Surat in Gujarat or Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh—that border Golden Quadrilateral registered more than 100% increase in new output.
• Industries showed improved efficiency.

Benefits for the country:

• Provides faster transport networks between major cities and ports.
• Provides connectivity to major agricultural, industrial, and cultural centres of India.
• Provides smoother movement of goods and people within the country.
• Enables industrial development and job creation in smaller towns through access to varied markets.

1. The Diamond Quadrilateral is a project of the Indian railways to establish a high-speed rail network in India. The Diamond Quadrilateral will connect the four megacities in India, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, similar to the Golden Quadrilateral expressway system.

Water Conservation and Management:

• Since there is a declining availability of fresh water and increasing demand, the need has arisen to conserve and effectively manage this precious life-giving resource for sustainable development.
• Besides developing water-saving technologies and methods, attempts are also to be made to prevent pollution.
• There is a need to encourage watershed development, rainwater harvesting, water recycling and reuse, and conjunctive use of water for sustainable water supply in long run. 

Key Points

Recycle and reuse water:

• Water recycling and reuse is the process of collecting, treating, and using wastewater, particularly from municipalities, industry, and agriculture.
• The recycled water can be used for irrigation or industrial purposes, as well as domestic purposes if properly treated.
• The terms “reused” and “recycled” are often used interchangeably depending on where you are geographical.
• Reclaimed water is not reused or recycled until it is put to some purpose.

Uses of recycled water:

• Beneficial Reuse is the use of reclaimed water for purposes that contribute to the water needs of the economy and/or environment of a community.
• Groundwater Recharge occurs naturally as part of the water cycle and/or is enhanced by using constructed facilities to add water into a groundwater basin.
• Irrigation is the physical application of water to land to assist in the production of crops or landscapes.
• Potable Water is drinking water that meets or exceeds state and federal drinking water standards.
• Retrofit is the process of constructing and separating potable and recycled water pipelines that allow reclaimed water to be used for nondrinking purposes. This also includes the process of preparing customer use sites for recycled water use.

Recycle and reuse water can be useful for domestic purposes in most cases. It can also be possible on a small scale. 

The correct answer is London.

Key Points

• Rapid urban growth is a recent phenomenon.
• Until recent times, few settlements reached the population size of more than a few thousand inhabitants.
• The first urban settlement to reach a population of one million was the city of London by around. A.D. 1810 By 1982 approximately 175 cities in the world had crossed the one million population mark. Hence, Option 1 is correct.
• Presently 48 percent of the world’s population lives in urban settlements compared to only 3 percent in the year 1800.

Additional Information

• London
  • It is situated on the bank of the River Thames.
  • It is the capital and the largest city in the United Kingdom.
  • Trent and Wye are rivers situated in the UK.
• Paris
  • It is the capital of France and is located on the Seine river.
  • Paris is famous for art, fashion and culture.
  • The Seine is an important waterway in the Paris Basin in the north of France. Seine is about 777 KM in length.
  • Gangola flows in northeastern parts of Nigeria the River and its tributaries are seasonal in nature.
  • Dong nai River flows through 11 provinces of Vietnam and it originated from the Central highlands in South Vietnam.
• New York
  • New York is a state in the Northeastern United States.
  • New York City is renowned for the concentration of high-rise buildings, commonly known as "the skyscrapers".
• Washington D.C.
  • It is also known as the "​City of Magnificent Buildings" because of the large and beautiful buildings it is called so.

• Commercial grain cultivation is practised in the interior parts of semi-arid lands of the mid altitudes.
• Wheat is the principal crop, though other crops like corn, barley, oats and rye are also grown.
• The size of the farm is very large. Therefore, entire operations of cultivation are mechanised.
• There is a low yield per acre but high yield per person.
• This type of agriculture is best developed in the Eurasian steppes, the North American Prairies, Pampas of Argentina, Velds of South Africa, the Australian Downs and the Canterbury Plains of New Zealand.

There are two sets of factors that influence migration.

1. The Push factors make the place of origin seem less attractive for reasons like unemployment, political turmoil, unpleasant climate, natural disasters, epidemics, socio-economic backwardness, etc.
2. The Pull factors make the place of destination seem more attractive than the place of origin for reasons like better job opportunities and living conditions, peace and stability, security of life, pleasant climate, etc. 

The correct answer is Mangrove Forest.

Key Points

• Sundari is a well-known species of tree found in mangrove forests.
  • The mangrove forests can survive in saline water.
  • In India, Sundari trees are found in the Sunderban delta in West Bengal and in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
  • Sundarban is made from Sundari trees.
• Mangrove forests, also called mangrove swamps, mangrove thickets, or mangals, are productive wetlands that occur in coastal intertidal zones.
  • Mangrove forests grow mainly at tropical and subtropical latitudes because mangrove trees cannot withstand freezing temperatures.

Additional Information

• Tropical rainforests are rainforests that occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season – all months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm – and may also be referred to as lowland equatorial evergreen rainforests.
• A temperate forest is a forest found between the tropical and boreal regions, located in the temperate zone.
  • It is the second-largest biome on our planet, covering 25% of the world's forest area, only behind the boreal forest, which covers about 33%.
• Tropical deciduous forests are the most widespread forests in India.
  • They are also called the monsoon forests and spread over the region receiving rainfall between 200 cm and 70 cm.
  • Trees of this forest type shed their leaves for about six to eight weeks in dry summer.

The correct answer is Bailadila mine.
Key Points

Bailadila mine:

• Bailadila-14 mine is the first large-scale open cast mechanized iron ore mine in India for which a detailed project report was prepared by National Mineral Development Corporation(NMDC).
• The mine has the distinction of having a unique down-the-hill conveyor system passing through a tunnel to transport iron ore from the crushing plant to the processing plant.
• Longest conveyor system in mining in India with a single downhill conveyor of 2.5 km length passing through a 2.2 km long tunnel with a gradient of 50 which is driven from both ends through difficult terrain and strata.
• The new mines are initially targeting 15 Million Tonnes Per Annum(Mtpa), Run-of-mine(ROM).
• National Mineral Development Corporation(NMDC) is in the process of getting regulatory approvals for operating these mines.
• NMDC's mining lease for Bailadila was recently auctioned and NMDC was successful in retaining their right to mine with deposits so we do not expect any disruption to Bailadila's production in 2020.

Additional Information

• Ratnagiri mine:
  • Ratnagiri Mining AND Shipping Private Limited is a Non-govt company, incorporated on 14 March 1956. 
  • It's a private unlisted company and is classified as a company limited by shares.
  • The company's authorized capital stands at Rs 1.0 lakhs.
  • Ratnagiri Mining AND Shipping Private Limited are majorly in Mining & Quarrying business for the last 65 years and currently, company operations are active.
• Jaipur mine:
  • Jaipur Mines and Minerals limited (JMML) is one of the leading and progressive undertakings of the Government of Rajasthan.
  • It occupies a place of pride in the production and marketing of non-metallic minerals of India.
  • JMML is a multi-mineral and multi-location enterprise engaged in the mining of Rock Phosphate, Lignite, SMS grade Limestone and Gypsum.
  • JMML is not only the leader in the Mining & Selling of Rock Phosphate, Gypsum across the country but also a global pioneer in technology in open cast mining and mineral beneficiation of Carbonate Rock Phosphate.
• Sundergarh mine:
  • Sundargarh mine occupies a prominent position in the mineral map of Odisha and is rich in iron ore, limestone, and manganese.
  • Sundergarh is a town in the Sundergarh district of the Indian state of Odisha.
  • Sundargarh is recognized as an industrial district in Odisha.
  • Steel, fertilizer, cement, ferrovanadium, machine-building, glass, china-clay plants and factories, and spinning mills are some of the major industries of this district.

The correct answer is the Tertiary sector.

Important Points

  The tertiary sector activities help in the development of the primary and secondary sectors.

• These activities, by themselves, do not produce good but they are an aid or support for the production process.
• For example, goods that are produced in the primary or secondary sector would need to be transported by trucks or trains and then sold in wholesale and retail shops.
• At times, it may be necessary to store these in godowns. We also may need to talk to others over the telephone or send letters (communication) or borrow money from banks (banking) to help production and trade.
• Transport, storage, communication, banking, trade are some examples of tertiary activities.
• Since these activities generate services rather than goods, the tertiary sector is also called the service sector. 

Additional Information

The three-sector theory was developed by Allan Fisher, Colin Clark, and Jean Fourastié

The term human resources refer to the size of the population of a country along with its efficiency, educational qualities, productivity, organizational abilities, and farsightedness.

• It is the ultimate resource, but not distributed equally, over the world.
• Human Resources differ in their educational levels, age, and sex.
• Their numbers and characteristics also keep changing. 

Important Points

People:

• People are a nation’s greatest human resource. Nature’s bounty becomes significant only when people find it useful.
• It is people with their demands and abilities that turn them into ‘resources’.
• Hence, human resource is the ultimate resource.
• Healthy, educated, and motivated people develop resources as per their requirements.

​Hence, the correct answer is People.

​ 

Forests: 

• They are an extremely important natural resource that can potentially be sustainably harvested and managed to yield a diversity of commodities of economic importance. 
• Wood is by far the most important product harvested from forests.
• The wood is commonly manufactured into paper, lumber, plywood, and other products.
• In addition, in most of the forested regions of the less-developed world firewood is the most important source of energy used for cooking and other purposes.

​Latest Technologies:

• Technology, knowledge, and skill are used to convert natural resources into usable forms and hence are called Human-made resources as well.
• People with their knowledge and skill have invented technologies to make the best possible use of resources. 
• Buildings, Roads, Vehicles, Machinery and Equipment: These resources are very useful to man.
• Technology refers to the process or method by which goods are produced. Hence, it is considered a man-made resource.

Animals and Plants:

• Plants and Animals are an important part of the natural resource. 
  • Like other high-value natural resources, it is possible that they could, therefore, catalyze perverse governance incentives and even undermine economic development.
• Domesticated animals, such as livestock, provide us with food, fibre and, leather.
  • Wild animals, including birds, fish, insects and, pollinators, are important to support the web of activity in a functioning ecosystem.

Distribution of Population

• India has a highly uneven pattern of population distribution. The percentage shares of population of the states and Union Territories in the country show that Uttar Pradesh has the highest population followed by Maharashtra, Bihar and West Bengal.
• U.P., Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh along with Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Gujarat, together account for about 76 per cent of the total population of the country.
• On the other hand, share of population is very small in the states like Jammu & Kashmir (1.04%), Arunachal Pradesh (0.11%) and Uttarakhand (0.84%) inspite of theses states having fairly large geographical area.
• Another reason is landform structure. Northern Region are, generally, not more than 200 metres above mean sea level.
• Most of the plains are formed by rivers and their tributaries. The rivers flow down the slopes of mountains and erode them. T
• Generally, plains are very fertile. Construction of transport network is easy. Thus, these plains are very thickly-populated regions of the world.