WBPSC Clerkship Geography Previous Year Questions with Answers

Correct Answer: (C) Saddle Peak

Saddle Peak (about 732 m; some texts give 737 m) in North Andaman is the highest point of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It lies within Saddle Peak National Park (1979) near Diglipur.

Exam Facts

• Mount Thuillier (option D, about 642 m) on Great Nicobar is the highest peak of the Nicobar group.
• Mount Diavolo (option B, about 515 m) is in Middle Andaman.
• Mount Koyob (written Koya in option A, about 460 m) is in South Andaman.
• Barren Island has India’s only active volcano; Narcondam is a dormant volcano.
• The Ten Degree Channel separates the Andaman group from the Nicobar group.
• Indira Point on Great Nicobar is India’s southernmost point.
• Mount Harriet near Port Blair was renamed Mount Manipur in 2021.
• The capital Port Blair was renamed Sri Vijaya Puram in September 2024 (after the exam year).
• The islands are a continuation of the Arakan Yoma range of Myanmar.
• The Andaman Sea lies to the east of the islands and the Bay of Bengal to the west.

Correct Answer: (B) Vatican

The Vatican City is the world’s smallest independent country by both area and population, an enclave within Rome, Italy. Exam papers quote its area as about 0.44-0.49 sq km (about 44 hectares; the paper uses 0.49 sq km). It became a sovereign state under the Lateran Treaty of 11 February 1929.

Exam Facts

• Vatican City is ruled by the Pope as head of the Holy See, which makes it an absolute elective monarchy.
• Its population is only about 800 people, the smallest of any country.
• Pope Francis was Pope at the time of the exam (Nov 2024). He died on 21 April 2025, and Pope Leo XIV (Robert Francis Prevost) was elected on 8 May 2025.
• Famous landmarks: St. Peter’s Basilica, St. Peter’s Square and the Sistine Chapel (ceiling painted by Michelangelo).
• It uses the Euro as its currency, though it is not an EU member.
• Monaco (option A), at about 2 sq km, is the second-smallest country in the world.
• Andorra (option C), about 468 sq km, is a small landlocked principality between France and Spain.
• Casablanca (option D) is not a country at all. It is the largest city of Morocco.
• Other micro-states: Nauru (about 21 sq km, the smallest island republic), Tuvalu (about 26 sq km) and San Marino (about 61 sq km).
• Russia is the largest country by area, and India is the 7th largest (about 3.287 million sq km).

Correct Answer: (A) Assam

India shares a land border of about 1,643 km with Myanmar, touching four north-eastern states: Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram. Assam does not touch Myanmar. It borders Bhutan and Bangladesh.

Exam Facts

• The four Myanmar-border states are Arunachal Pradesh (about 520 km), Mizoram (about 510 km), Manipur (about 398 km) and Nagaland (about 215 km).
• Assam (option A) shares international borders with Bhutan and Bangladesh only.
• Nagaland (option B) borders the Sagaing Region of Myanmar.
• Manipur (option C) has the key border town Moreh, opposite Tamu in Myanmar, on the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway.
• Mizoram (option D) has the border crossing at Zokhawthar and is linked to the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project.
• The Patkai, Naga and Lushai (Mizo) hills form the natural India-Myanmar boundary.
• A Free Movement Regime (FMR) allowed border residents to move up to 16 km without a visa. In February 2024 the Centre announced it would scrap the FMR and fence the entire border.
• The Assam Rifles guard the India-Myanmar border.
• Of the north-eastern states, only Arunachal Pradesh borders China, Bhutan and Myanmar.
• West Bengal borders Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, but not Myanmar.

Correct Answer: (B) Maharashtra

Lonar Lake is in Buldhana district, Maharashtra. It is a saline, alkaline crater lake formed by a meteorite impact in Deccan Trap basalt during the Pleistocene. It was declared a Ramsar site on 13 November 2020.

Exam Facts

• It is one of the very few hyper-velocity impact craters in basaltic rock in the world.
• The crater is about 1.2 km in diameter and about 150 m deep.
• Its age has been estimated at about 50,000 years, though later studies suggest it may be over 5 lakh years old.
• In June 2020 the lake water turned pink, which was attributed to Haloarchaea microbes and high salinity.
• Sur Sarovar (Keetham Lake) in Agra, Uttar Pradesh (option C) was declared a Ramsar site in November 2020, along with Lonar.
• Tamil Nadu (option A) has Pulicat Lake, shared with Andhra Pradesh, India’s second-largest brackish-water lagoon.
• Odisha (option D) has Chilika Lake, India’s largest brackish-water lagoon and its first Ramsar site (1981, with Keoladeo).
• Ramgarh crater in Rajasthan’s Baran district is another recognised impact crater in India.
• The lake is fed by streams and springs and has no outlet, which is why it is saline.
• The ancient Daitya Sudan temple stands near the lake.

Correct Answer: (B) Rajasthan

Anasagar Lake is an artificial lake in Ajmer, Rajasthan. It was built by Arnoraja (Anaji) Chauhan, grandfather of Prithviraj Chauhan, around 1135-1150 CE.

Exam Facts

• The Baradari marble pavilions on its bank were built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in 1637.
• The Daulat Bagh garden beside the lake was laid out by Jahangir.
• Ajmer also has the Dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, and nearby Pushkar Lake is a major pilgrimage site.
• Other Rajasthan lakes: Sambhar (largest inland saline lake), Pichola, Fateh Sagar and Rajsamand.
• Gujarat (option A) has lakes such as Kankaria (Ahmedabad) and Nal Sarovar.
• Uttarakhand (option C) has Nainital (Naini Lake), Bhimtal and Roopkund.
• Karnataka (option D) has lakes such as Ulsoor and Bellandur in Bengaluru.
• Jaisamand (Dhebar) in Udaipur district is one of Asia’s largest artificial lakes.
• Ajmer district lies on the Aravalli range.
• Foy Sagar is another artificial lake in Ajmer, built in 1892.

Correct Answer: (C) rainfall caused by mountains.

Orographic (relief) rainfall happens when moist winds are forced to rise over mountains. They cool adiabatically, condense and give heavy rain on the windward slope, while the leeward side stays dry as a rain-shadow area.

Exam Facts

• Example: the southwest monsoon gives heavy rain to the windward Western Ghats, while the Deccan plateau (leeward) is drier.
• Mawsynram and Cherrapunji (Sohra) in Meghalaya get very heavy orographic rain from the Khasi hills funnelling the moist winds.
• The rain-shadow side has descending, warming dry winds, as in the Ladakh region and the interior Deccan.
• Most of India’s monsoon rainfall is orographic in nature.
• Cyclones (option A) give cyclonic or frontal rainfall.
• Rain from warm air masses meeting cold ones (option B) is frontal rainfall, typical of temperate regions.
• Convection currents (option D) give convectional rainfall, typical of equatorial regions with afternoon thunderstorms.
• The three main types of rainfall are convectional, orographic and cyclonic/frontal.
• A rain gauge measures rainfall; an isohyet is a line joining places of equal rainfall.
• Föhn and Chinook are warm dry winds on the leeward side of mountains.

Correct Answer: (C) Odisha

Bhitarkanika National Park is in Kendrapara district, Odisha, in the Brahmani-Baitarani delta. It is famous for mangroves and the saltwater (estuarine) crocodile, and it became a National Park in 1998 and a Ramsar site in 2002.

Exam Facts

• It is India’s second-largest mangrove ecosystem after the Sundarbans.
• Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary, nearby, is a major mass nesting site of Olive Ridley turtles.
• The park is bounded by the Bay of Bengal to the east.
• Other Odisha parks: Simlipal (Mayurbhanj) and the Chilika lagoon.
• West Bengal (option A) has the Sundarbans National Park for mangroves and tigers.
• Bihar (option B) has Valmiki National Park.
• Uttar Pradesh (option D) has Dudhwa National Park.
• The saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) is the largest living reptile.
• An albino saltwater crocodile named Sankhua is famous at Bhitarkanika.
• Olive Ridley mass nesting is called arribada, which also happens at Rushikulya and Devi river mouth in Odisha.

Correct Answer: (B) Abuja

The capital of Nigeria is Abuja, which replaced Lagos as the capital on 12 December 1991. It is a planned city near the centre of the country, chosen for being ethnically neutral.

Exam Facts

• Lagos (option C) is Nigeria’s largest city and main port, and was the capital until 1991.
• Algiers (option A) is the capital of Algeria.
• Nairobi (option D) is the capital of Kenya.
• Nigeria’s currency is the Naira; it is Africa’s most populous country.
• The Niger and Benue rivers meet at Lokoja in Nigeria.
• Nigeria became independent from Britain on 1 October 1960.
• Nigeria is a member of OPEC and a major petroleum exporter.
• Other planned capitals: Brasília (Brazil), Canberra (Australia) and Islamabad (Pakistan).
• Nigeria’s highest point is Chappal Waddi.
• Abuja’s landmark is Aso Rock, a large granite outcrop.

Correct Answer: (B) Ladakh

Parkachik Glacier is in the Suru Valley of Kargil district, Ladakh. It comes down from the Nun-Kun massif and feeds the Suru river, and it is about 14 km long.

Exam Facts

• Ladakh became a Union Territory on 31 October 2019 under the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019.
• Parkachik village and the glacier view are about 80-90 km from Kargil.
• The glacier has been retreating quickly, and studies warn of glacial lakes forming.
• Nun (7,135 m) is the highest peak of the Zanskar range in the Nun-Kun group.
• Other Ladakh glaciers: Siachen (in the Karakoram), Drang-Drung and Machoi.
• Jammu and Kashmir (option C) has glaciers such as Kolahoi and Thajwas, but Parkachik went to Ladakh after 2019.
• Arunachal Pradesh (option A) and Sikkim (option D) have eastern Himalayan glaciers such as Zemu (Sikkim).
• The Suru is a tributary of the Indus.
• Drang-Drung glacier is the source of the Stod (Doda) river of Zanskar.
• Siachen is the longest glacier in the Karakoram and the second longest outside the polar regions.

Correct Answer: (B) Chandrabhaga Beach, Odisha

Chandrabhaga Beach on the Konark coast of Odisha (near the Konark Sun Temple) became the first beach in Asia to get the Blue Flag certification in 2018. It was developed under the Environment Ministry’s BEAMS (Beach Environment and Aesthetics Management Services) programme.

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Correct Answer: (B) South America

The Pampas are the vast temperate grasslands of South America, spread mainly over Argentina, with parts in Uruguay and southern Brazil. They lie around Buenos Aires and are drained by the Río de la Plata system.

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Correct Answer: (B) Tapti

The Ukai Dam is built across the Tapti (Tapi) River near Ukai in Tapi district, Gujarat. Completed in 1972, it is a large earthen-cum-masonry dam whose reservoir, also called Vallabh Sagar, is the largest reservoir in Gujarat. It provides irrigation, hydroelectricity and flood control for the Surat region.

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Correct Answer: (A) Stratosphere

The stratosphere contains the ozone layer, which absorbs most of the Sun’s harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays before they reach the Earth’s surface. The ozone layer lies mainly at about 15-35 km altitude. Because ozone absorbs UV radiation, temperature in the stratosphere rises with height.

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Correct Answer: (B) Yamuna

The Hindon River is a rain-fed tributary of the Yamuna. It rises in the Saharanpur district of western Uttar Pradesh (Shivalik foothills), flows south through the Doab between the Ganga and the Yamuna, and joins the Yamuna downstream of Delhi near Greater Noida (Gautam Buddh Nagar).

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Correct Answer: (D) Himalayas

Nathu La is a high mountain pass in the Himalayas in Sikkim, at about 4,310 m (14,140 ft). It connects Sikkim with the Chumbi Valley (Yadong) of Tibet, China and was a branch of the old Silk Route.

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Correct Answer: (A) North-Eastern

Loktak Lake in Manipur (Bishnupur district) is the largest freshwater lake in North-East India. It is famous for its phumdis, floating masses of vegetation, soil and organic matter.

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Correct Answer: (D) Washington, D.C.

The capital of the United States of America is Washington, D.C. (District of Columbia), on the Potomac River. It was created under the Residence Act of 1790 and has been the seat of government since 1800.

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Correct Answer: (C) Cooch Behar

Cooch Behar is the leading tobacco-producing district of West Bengal, its sandy-loam soils in the northern plains suiting the crop. Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar also grow tobacco, but Cooch Behar has the largest area and output.

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Correct Answer: (B) Amman

Amman is the capital and largest city of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, a West Asian country. In ancient times Amman was known as Philadelphia (Rabbath Ammon).

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Correct Answer: (C) Bangladesh

Ganga water at Farakka is shared between India and Bangladesh under the Ganga Water Treaty signed on 12 December 1996 by PM H.D. Deve Gowda and PM Sheikh Hasina. The treaty is for 30 years and covers the lean season flow measured at the Farakka Barrage.

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Correct Answer: (D) Manas

The Manas is a right-bank (north-bank) tributary of the Brahmaputra that rises in the Himalayas of Bhutan and joins the Brahmaputra in Assam. So (D) Manas is correct.

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Correct Answer: (C) Damodar

The Barakar is the most important tributary of the Damodar River. It rises near Padma in Hazaribagh district (Jharkhand), flows east through Jharkhand and joins the Damodar near Dishergarh on the Jharkhand–West Bengal border close to Asansol.

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Correct Answer: (B) Gujarat

Vansda (Bansda) National Park is in the Navsari district of south Gujarat, on the banks of the Ambika River near the Maharashtra border. It was declared a national park in 1979 and protects moist deciduous forest of the Western Ghats (Dang) region.

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Correct Answer: (A) Coral Atolls / Reefs

The Amindivi Islands are the northern group of the Lakshadweep islands, which are made entirely of coral. Lakshadweep consists of coral atolls, reefs and lagoons in the Arabian Sea, so the islands are best known for coral atolls/reefs.

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Correct Answer: (D) Damodar

The Damodar flows entirely within India, rising in the Chota Nagpur plateau (Palamu, Jharkhand) and joining the Hooghly in West Bengal. The Ganges, Teesta and Atrayee all cross into Bangladesh.

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Correct Answer: (C) 24

On the exam date (25 January 2020) West Bengal officially had 23 districts, which is not among the options; the question is flawed and the official key accepts (C) 24, the option nearest the real figure. Students should remember 23 as the correct count as of 2020.

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Correct Answer: (A) the Asia-Pacific region

Fiji is an island nation in the South Pacific Ocean, part of Melanesia, so it lies in the Asia-Pacific region. Its capital is Suva on the island of Viti Levu.

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Correct Answer: (D) Bandar Abbas

Bandar Abbas is a major port of Iran, in Hormozgan province on the Strait of Hormuz. Karachi, Gwadar and Pasni are all on Pakistan’s Arabian Sea coast, so Bandar Abbas is the port not in Pakistan.

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Correct Answer: (C) Canberra

Canberra is the capital of Australia. It was chosen as a compromise between rivals Sydney and Melbourne, and is a planned city in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), designed by Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin.

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Correct Answer: (C) Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh is not a tea-growing state. Tea needs heavy rainfall, well-drained hill slopes and acidic soil, found in Assam, West Bengal, Tripura, the Nilgiris and Kerala, not on MP’s dry plateau.

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Correct Answer: (C) The Bramhaputra

The Brahmaputra originates from the Chemayungdung glacier near Lake Mansarovar in the Kailash range of the Himalayas in Tibet. The Damodar, Cauvery and Narmada are peninsular rivers.

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Correct Answer: (C) Alaska

Alaska is not an independent country; it is the 49th State of the USA, bought from Russia in 1867. Vanuatu, the Netherlands and Canada are sovereign states.

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Correct Answer: (B) Madhya Pradesh

Amarkantak is in Anuppur district of Madhya Pradesh. It lies in the Maikal hills, where the Vindhya and Satpura ranges meet, and is the source of the Narmada and Son rivers.

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Correct Answer: (B) Hooghly

Kamarpukur, the birthplace of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, is a village in the Arambagh subdivision of Hooghly district, West Bengal. Ramakrishna was born there as Gadadhar Chattopadhyay on 18 February 1836.

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Correct Answer: (B) Krishna

The Nagarjuna Sagar Dam is built across the Krishna River, on the border of Nalgonda and Guntur districts. It is one of the world’s largest masonry dams and a major multipurpose irrigation and hydropower project.

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Correct Answer: (D) North India

Perennial canals draw water from snow-fed perennial rivers through barrages or headworks and supply water throughout the year. They are mainly found in the northern plains of India (Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh), where Himalayan rivers flow all year. The printed key shows (C) West India, but the standard answer is (D) North India.

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Correct Answer: (C) more than 1.10 billion

India’s population in 2009 was estimated at about 1.17 billion, so “more than 1.10 billion” is the correct choice; the 2011 Census later counted 1.21 billion. The printed key shows (A) 1 billion, which was the 2001 Census figure (1.028 billion) and was out of date by 2009, so the correct answer is (C).

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Correct Answer: (C) Punjab

The Bhakra-Nangal Project on the Sutlej is generally described as India’s largest multipurpose river valley project, and guidebooks place it in Punjab, so the printed key’s (C) is accepted. Strictly, the Bhakra Dam is at Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh and the Nangal Dam is in Punjab, and it is a joint project of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.

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Correct Answer: (B) Sahasradhara

Guidebooks list Sahasradhara, about 14 km from Dehradun in Uttarakhand on the Baldi river, as India’s largest cold-water spring, and the printed key’s (B) follows this. The question is doubtful, because the claim is not well documented: the springs of Anantnag (option C), such as Verinag and Kokernag, are among the largest freshwater springs in the country, but the standard answer is Sahasradhara.

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Correct Answer: (C) Sedimentary rock

Petroleum (“rock oil”, from Latin petra = rock and oleum = oil) is formed from the remains of tiny marine organisms buried under layers of sediment, and it is found trapped in sedimentary rocks such as sandstone and limestone. The printed key shows (B) metamorphic rock, but petroleum is never associated with metamorphic rocks, so the correct answer is (C) sedimentary rock.

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Correct Answer: (B) Darjeeling

Darjeeling is India’s most famous tea centre, and Darjeeling tea, called the “Champagne of Teas“, is sold around the world, so the printed key’s (B) is accepted here. If “commercial centre” is read strictly as a tea-auction hub, Guwahati (option C) would also fit, as it has the world’s largest CTC tea auction centre.

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Correct Answer: (D) Paradip

Paradip is the most important port of Odisha and its only major port, located where the Mahanadi meets the Bay of Bengal in Jagatsinghpur district. It was commissioned in 1966 and mainly handles iron ore, coal and petroleum.

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Correct Answer: (C) sedimentary and metamorphic rocks

A delta is formed by the deposition of sediments (silt, sand and clay) carried by a river where it enters a sea or lake, so delta regions are made of sedimentary (alluvial) deposits. The printed key shows (A) igneous rocks, but deltas are never made of igneous rock; (C) sedimentary and metamorphic rocks is the only option that mentions sedimentary rock, so it is the best answer.

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Correct Answer: (A) Indravati

The Indravati is a major tributary of the Godavari and the only Godavari tributary among the options; it rises in Kalahandi (Odisha), flows through Bastar (Chhattisgarh) and joins the Godavari on the Maharashtra–Telangana border. By catchment the Pranhita is the largest Godavari tributary, but it is not an option.

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Correct Answer: (A) 90°

“Sumeru” is the Bengali term for the North Pole, which lies at latitude 90° N, the highest possible latitude. All lines of longitude meet there, and the South Pole (“Kumeru“) lies at 90° S.

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Correct Answer: (C) Kerala

The Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary (Periyar Tiger Reserve) is at Thekkady in the Idukki district of Kerala, around the lake formed by the Mullaperiyar Dam on the Periyar river. It is famous for elephants and boat safaris on the lake.

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Correct Answer: (A) Block Mountain

The Satpura Range is a block mountain (horst): it was formed when land blocks were faulted and the block between the Narmada rift valley to the north and the Tapi rift valley to the south stood up while the land around it subsided.

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Correct Answer: (D) Kandla

Kandla, on the Gulf of Kutch in Kutch district, was the chief (major) port of Gujarat. It was developed in the 1950s to replace Karachi, which went to Pakistan after Partition, and was renamed Deendayal Port in 2017.

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Correct Answer: (C) K2

As per the Government of India / Survey of India and standard books like Lucent GK, the highest peak of India is K2 (Mount Godwin-Austen, 8,611 m) in the Karakoram Range, in Gilgit-Baltistan (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir), which India claims as its territory. Some books name Kanchenjunga (8,586 m) because it is the highest peak within the territory India actually administers, but the standard key answer is (C) K2.

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Correct Answer: (A) Kaveri

The Shivasamudram Falls are on the Kaveri (Cauvery) river in the Mandya–Chamarajanagar area of Karnataka, where the river splits into two falls, Gaganachukki and Bharachukki. Asia’s first hydroelectric power station was set up here in 1902.

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Correct Answer: (B) Assam

Assam is the leading tea-producing state of India, contributing roughly half of India’s tea, mainly from the Brahmaputra and Barak valleys. West Bengal (Darjeeling, Dooars and Terai) is second.

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Correct Answer: (A) Bababudan Hills

The Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel plant at Bhadravati (Shivamogga district, Karnataka) gets its iron ore from Kemmangundi in the Bababudan Hills of Chikkamagaluru district. The printed key shows (C) Bailadila, but Bailadila ore goes to Visakhapatnam and for export, so the correct answer is (A) Bababudan Hills.

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Correct Answer: (B) Iron and Steel

The iron and steel industry is called the ‘Modern Industrial Giant’ (also the basic or key industry) because almost every other industry, from machinery and automobiles to ships, railways and construction, depends on steel. A country’s steel output is treated as a measure of its industrial development.

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Correct Answer: (D) Gujarat

The Kathiawar Peninsula, also called Saurashtra, is in Gujarat. It lies between the Gulf of Kutch to the north-west and the Gulf of Khambhat (Cambay) to the east, with the Arabian Sea to the south-west.

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Correct Answer: (C) June

India lies entirely in the Northern Hemisphere, so its days are longest in June. On the summer solstice (21 June) the Sun is overhead at the Tropic of Cancer (23.5° N), which passes through India, giving the longest day of the year.

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Correct Answer: (A) Upper Course

The Teesta Gorge lies in the river’s upper course, where the Teesta cuts deep V-shaped valleys through the Sikkim and Darjeeling Himalayas before emerging onto the plains near Sevoke. Gorges are typical of a river’s youthful (upper) stage, where vertical erosion dominates.

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Correct Answer: (A) Basalt

The Deccan Traps are made of basalt, formed by massive fissure eruptions of lava at the end of the Cretaceous period (about 66 million years ago). Weathering of this basalt produced the black (regur) soil of the Deccan.

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Correct Answer: (C) Dhrian

The shifting (migrating) sand dunes of the Thar Desert are locally called Dhrian. They move with the strong summer winds and are a major cause of desertification in western Rajasthan.

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Correct Answer: (B) Dissected

The Chhotanagpur Plateau in Jharkhand is a dissected plateau, cut by rivers such as the Damodar, Subarnarekha, North Koel and Barakar into a series of smaller plateaus (pats) and valleys. It is the mineral heartland of India.

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Correct Answer: (C) Amarkantak

The Narmada rises at Amarkantak in the Maikal Range in Anuppur district of Madhya Pradesh, at a height of about 1,057 m. It flows west through a rift valley between the Vindhyas and the Satpuras into the Gulf of Khambhat.

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Correct Answer: (B) Thalghat

Thalghat (Thal Ghat or Kasara Ghat) is a pass in the northern Sahyadri (Western Ghats) in Maharashtra, carrying the Mumbai-Nashik road and railway. Palghat (option A) is also a gap in the Western Ghats, but it lies far south between the Nilgiri and Anaimalai hills; the printed key accepts (B), treating “Sahyadri” in its narrow sense of the northern Western Ghats.

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Correct Answer: (A) Lime

Regur (black cotton) soil is rich in lime (calcium carbonate), iron, magnesium and potash, but poor in nitrogen, phosphorus and organic matter (humus). NCERT lists lime among its key nutrients, so the printed key’s (A) is the standard answer, though iron (option C) is also present.

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Correct Answer: (B) Coimbatore

Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu is the largest cotton textile (weaving) centre of South India and is called the “Manchester of South India”. Its growth was helped by local cotton, cheap hydro-electric power from Pykara and a good labour supply.

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Correct Answer: (C) Kodarma

India’s greatest mica belt lies in the Kodarma (Koderma)-Gaya-Hazaribagh belt of Jharkhand and Bihar, and Koderma is called the “Mica Capital of India”. This belt produces high-quality ruby mica.

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Correct Answer: (A) Karnataka and Tamil Nadu

The Cauvery (Kaveri) water dispute is mainly between Karnataka (the upper riparian state, where the river rises) and Tamil Nadu (the lower riparian state, with the large delta), though Kerala and Puducherry are also parties. The Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, set up on 2 June 1990, gave its final award on 5 February 2007, the latest major development before this exam.

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Correct Answer: (D) All of the above

Besides the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), ethnic Tibetans live in large numbers in the Chinese provinces of Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan, each of which has Tibetan autonomous prefectures or counties. So all three options are correct, and the answer is (D) All of the above. The printed key shows (A) Qinghai, which is only part of the answer.

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