Static GK Quiz: Research Institutes of India and Their Locations

The correct answer is B, Trombay in Mumbai. The centre began in 1954 as the Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay and was renamed the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in memory of Homi Jehangir Bhabha, the architect of India's atomic programme; the research reactors Apsara, Cirus and Dhruva are all on this campus. Option A, Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu, holds the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, which works on the fast breeder reactor line, and it is the commonest confusion with Trombay. Option C, Tarapur in Maharashtra, is the site of India's oldest nuclear power station, not of a research centre. Option D, Indore, is the home of the Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, which works on lasers and accelerators. Keep the division clear: Trombay for BARC, Kalpakkam for IGCAR, Indore for accelerator research.

The correct answer is B, Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. The spaceport lies on an island on the Bay of Bengal coast, chosen because launches to the east pass over the sea and because its nearness to the equator helps eastward launches; it is named after Satish Dhawan, a former chairman of ISRO. Option A, Thiruvananthapuram, houses the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, where launch vehicles are designed, and also the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station used for small sounding rockets, which makes it a strong distractor. Option C, Hassan in Karnataka, holds the Master Control Facility, from which satellites in geostationary orbit are commanded. Option D, Balasore in Odisha, is the missile test range at Chandipur, which belongs to the defence establishment and not to ISRO.

The correct answer is A, Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu. The centre was set up in 1971 and is the country's main laboratory for the second stage of the nuclear programme, in which plutonium from spent fuel is used in fast breeder reactors; the Fast Breeder Test Reactor and the prototype fast breeder project are both at Kalpakkam. Options B, C and D are all nuclear power station sites rather than research centres, which is what makes them plausible: Kaiga in Karnataka and Kakrapar in Gujarat run pressurised heavy water reactors of Indian design, and Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu runs light water reactors built with Russian collaboration. The point to carry away is that power stations and research centres are different things, and that Kalpakkam holds both a research centre and the Madras Atomic Power Station.

The correct answer is B, Pusa in New Delhi. The institute began in 1905 at Pusa in Bihar, and after the Bihar earthquake of 1934 damaged its buildings it was shifted to Delhi, where the campus is still called Pusa; it is the country's leading agricultural research and teaching institute and was central to the Green Revolution. Option A, Karnal in Haryana, is the home of the National Dairy Research Institute and the Central Soil Salinity Research Institute. Option C, Izatnagar near Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh, holds the Indian Veterinary Research Institute. Option D, Cuttack in Odisha, holds the national rice research institute. All four belong to the agricultural council, which is why the question is set this way; the Pusa name travelling from Bihar to Delhi is the detail that fixes the answer.

The correct answer is B, Karnal, in Haryana. The institute is the country's main centre for research and training in dairy science, covering animal breeding, milk production and dairy technology, and it works under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research; Karnal also holds the Central Soil Salinity Research Institute. Option A, Anand in Gujarat, is the strongest distractor, because it is the home of Amul and of the cooperative movement that produced Operation Flood, and it holds the Institute of Rural Management; it is a dairy centre, but not this institute. Option C, Hisar in Haryana, has an agricultural university and a buffalo research centre. Option D, Mysuru in Karnataka, holds the Central Food Technological Research Institute and the Defence Food Research Laboratory, both concerned with food rather than with dairying alone.

The correct answer is B, Jodhpur, in Rajasthan. The institute works on dryland farming, sand dune stabilisation, agroforestry and the management of grazing land in the arid west of the country, and it comes under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. Options A, C and D are all cities of the same desert region, which is what makes the question a test of memory rather than reasoning. Bikaner has an agricultural university and the Central Sheep and Wool Research Institute is at Avikanagar in the Tonk district of the same state, Jaisalmer lies deeper in the Thar but holds no such national institute, and Ajmer sits on the eastern edge of the arid zone. For the exam, pair Jodhpur with arid zone research and Avikanagar with sheep and wool research, both in Rajasthan.

The correct answer is B, Dona Paula in Goa. The institute is a laboratory of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and studies the physics, chemistry, biology and geology of the seas around India, with regional centres at Kochi, Visakhapatnam and Mumbai. Option A, Kochi, is one of those regional centres and also holds the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute and the Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, which is why it is the usual wrong choice. Option C, Visakhapatnam, has another regional centre and a naval base. Option D, Chennai, holds the Central Leather Research Institute and the Institute of Mathematical Sciences, not ocean research. Goa also holds the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, the body that runs India's stations in Antarctica and the Arctic, so link Goa with both ocean institutes.

The correct answer is A, Mysuru, in Karnataka. The institute works on food processing, preservation, packaging and nutrition, and it shares the city with the Defence Food Research Laboratory, so Mysuru is best remembered as the food research city. Option B, Bengaluru, holds the Indian Institute of Science, the National Aerospace Laboratories, the U R Rao Satellite Centre and the Raman Research Institute, a long list but no food technology institute. Option C, Pune, holds the National Chemical Laboratory, the National Institute of Virology and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology. Option D, Hyderabad, holds the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, the National Institute of Nutrition and the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology; the nutrition institute there is the usual trap, since nutrition and food technology sound alike but belong to different councils.

The correct answer is B, Pune, in Maharashtra. The institute is the country's reference laboratory for viral diseases, it tests and confirms outbreaks and it also works on vaccines; the National AIDS Research Institute is in the same city. Option A, New Delhi, is the headquarters of the Indian Council of Medical Research itself and holds the National Institute of Malaria Research and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, which makes it a plausible answer for anyone who remembers only the council. Option C, Kolkata, holds the council's institute for cholera and enteric diseases. Option D, Hyderabad, holds the National Institute of Nutrition. Remember the council's map in pairs: Pune for viruses and AIDS, Hyderabad for nutrition, Kolkata for cholera, Puducherry for vector control and Agra for leprosy.

The correct answer is B, Izatnagar in Uttar Pradesh. The institute, which lies at Izatnagar near Bareilly, is the country's premier centre for veterinary research and teaching, covering animal diseases, vaccines and livestock production, and it has a second campus at Mukteswar in the Nainital district. Option A, Hisar in Haryana, holds a well known agricultural university and the central buffalo research institute, which is why it is offered here. Option C, Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, has a veterinary university but not this national institute. Option D, Ludhiana in Punjab, has an agricultural university famous for its part in the Green Revolution. The chain worth memorising for animal sciences is Izatnagar for veterinary research, Karnal for dairy research and Avikanagar in Rajasthan for sheep and wool.