A stalagmite is a kind of special deposition that is caused by which of the following?

The correct answer is D, Winter. The north-east trade winds blow over India in the winter season, roughly from October to February.

In winter the sun lies over the southern hemisphere, a high pressure area builds up over the cold land of northern India and central Asia, and the winds blow outward from the land towards the sea. These are the north-east monsoon, or the winter monsoon, and because they come off the land they are dry and bring very little rain to most of the country. Tamil Nadu and the Coromandel coast are the exception: there the winds cross the Bay of Bengal, pick up moisture and give that coast its main rainy season.

A is wrong: autumn, from October to November, is the retreating monsoon season, when the south-west winds withdraw. B is wrong: the monsoon season is dominated by the moist south-west monsoon. C is wrong: summer brings low pressure over the land and the hot dry local wind called the loo.

Exam tip: winter brings the dry north-east trades, which still give Tamil Nadu its rain, while summer brings the wet south-west monsoon.

The correct answer is D, Minicoy. Minicoy is the southernmost island of the Lakshadweep group, and it lies well apart from the rest of the archipelago.

Lakshadweep is a union territory of 36 islands, of which about ten are inhabited, with Kavaratti as its capital. The group falls into three parts: the Amindivi islands in the north, the Laccadive islands in the middle and Minicoy in the south. Minicoy is cut off from the other islands by the Nine Degree Channel and from the Maldives by the Eight Degree Channel. Its people speak Mahl, written in the Thaana script, which sets the island apart from the Malayalam speaking islands to its north.

A is wrong: Bitra is the smallest inhabited island and lies in the north of the group. B is wrong: Kavaratti is the capital and sits in the middle of the chain. C is wrong: Amini is one of the northern Amindivi islands.

Exam tip: Minicoy is the southernmost island; the Nine Degree Channel separates it from the other Lakshadweep islands and the Eight Degree Channel separates it from the Maldives.

The correct answer is D, 2.4%. India covers about 32.87 lakh square kilometres, which is roughly 2.4 per cent of the world's total land area.

That small share supports about 17 to 18 per cent of the world's people, and this gap between land and population is what the question is really testing. By area India is the seventh largest country in the world, after Russia, Canada, the United States, China, Brazil and Australia. Its mainland runs from about 8 degrees 4 minutes North to 37 degrees 6 minutes North, and from 68 degrees 7 minutes East to 97 degrees 25 minutes East, giving a north to south length of about 3,214 km and an east to west width of about 2,933 km.

A is wrong: 2.8 per cent is higher than India's actual share. B is wrong: 3.9 per cent overstates that share by more than half. C is wrong: 4.2 per cent is nearly double the correct figure.

Exam tip: India has 2.4 per cent of the world's land area and about 17 per cent of its population, and is the seventh largest country.

The correct answer is A, 40 to 70 degrees. The cold snow-forest climate, group D in Koeppen's scheme, lies in the continental interiors of the northern hemisphere between about 40 and 70 degrees north, across northern Europe, Siberia, Canada and Alaska. It has no counterpart in the southern hemisphere, because there is no large landmass in those latitudes there. Winters are long and severe with the coldest month below minus 3 degrees Celsius, summers are short and mild, and the natural cover is the coniferous taiga of pine, fir and spruce. Its two divisions are Df, moist through the year, and Dw, with a dry winter. B is wrong because 30 to 50 degrees is the warm temperate C belt of Mediterranean and China type climates. C is wrong because latitude cannot exceed 90 degrees. D is wrong because 15 to 20 degrees lies in the tropics. Exam tip: group D cannot occur in the southern hemisphere.

The correct answer is B, Pir Panjal. The Banihal Pass crosses the Pir Panjal range and is the gateway between the Jammu region and the Kashmir valley, carrying the Jammu to Srinagar national highway at a height of about 2832 metres. Snow used to close it in winter, so the Jawahar Tunnel was bored under it in 1956, and the newer Banihal Qazigund tunnel now keeps the road open all year. The Pir Panjal is the longest range of the Lesser Himalayas and also holds the Pir Panjal and Haji Pir passes. A is wrong because the Great Himalayas carry Burzil and Zoji La. C is wrong because the Ladakh range has Khardung La, north of Leh. D is wrong because the Zaskar range holds Shipki La and the Baralacha La lies near it. Exam tip: Banihal and the Jawahar Tunnel link Jammu with Srinagar, while Zoji La links Srinagar with Leh.