How many Indian states share border with Bhutan?
- A.5
- B.3
- C.2
- D.4
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is D, 4. Four Indian states touch Bhutan: Sikkim, West Bengal, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
The India-Bhutan boundary is about 699 kilometres long. Assam has the longest stretch of it, followed by Arunachal Pradesh, West Bengal and Sikkim. The border is open, and movement between the two countries is governed by the India-Bhutan Friendship Treaty of 1949, which was revised in 2007. Bhutan is a landlocked Himalayan kingdom whose capital is Thimphu and whose currency, the ngultrum, is pegged to the Indian rupee.
Option A, 5, overcounts; Meghalaya and Nagaland do not reach Bhutan. Option B, 3, leaves out one of the four. Option C, 2, is far too few. For comparison, Bangladesh touches five Indian states, Nepal five and China five.
Exam tip: Bhutan touches four states, remembered as SWAA, Sikkim, West Bengal, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
Practice Questions
View allConsider the following information:
Region : Name of the mountain range : Type of mountain
1. Central Asia : Vosges : Fold mountain
2. Europe : Alps : Block mountain
3. North America : Appalachians : Fold mountain
4. South America : Andes : Fold mountain
In how many of the above rows is the given information correctly matched?
- A.Only one
- B.Only two
- C.Only three
- D.All four
Show answer
Explanation
The correct answer is B, Only two. Rows 3 and 4 are correct; rows 1 and 2 have the wrong region or type.
Fold mountains form when plates converge and layers of rock crumple. The Appalachians of eastern North America are old fold mountains raised in the Palaeozoic era and since worn down, and the Andes of South America are young fold mountains formed where the Nazca plate dives beneath the South American plate, so rows 3 and 4 are right. Block mountains form when a block of land is raised between faults; the Vosges in France and the Black Forest in Germany are classic examples, standing on either side of the Rhine rift valley. So row 1 is wrong, as the Vosges are in Europe and are block mountains. Row 2 is wrong because the Alps are young fold mountains, like the Himalayas.
A is wrong: two rows, not one, are correct.
C is wrong: only rows 3 and 4 are correct.
D is wrong: rows 1 and 2 contain errors.
Exam tip: block mountains = Vosges and Black Forest (Rhine rift); young fold = Alps, Himalayas, Andes, Rockies; old fold = Appalachians, Aravallis, Urals.
About three-fourths of world's cobalt, a metal required for the manufacture of batteries for electric motor vehicles, is produced by
- A.Argentina
- B.Botswana
- C.the Democratic Republic of the Congo
- D.Kazakhstan
Show answer
Explanation
The correct answer is C, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The DRC mines roughly three-quarters of the world's cobalt, far ahead of any other country.
Cobalt is used in the cathodes of lithium-ion batteries because it keeps them stable and lets them store more energy, which is why demand has risen with electric vehicles and mobile phones. Most of the DRC's cobalt comes from the Copperbelt of Katanga in the south-east, where it is mined as a by-product of copper, around towns such as Kolwezi and Lubumbashi. Much of the ore is refined in China. Concerns about child labour in small-scale "artisanal" mines have made the supply chain a frequent subject of debate.
A is wrong: Argentina is known for lithium in the "lithium triangle" with Bolivia and Chile, not for cobalt.
B is wrong: Botswana is a leading producer of diamonds.
D is wrong: Kazakhstan is the top producer of uranium, not cobalt.
Exam tip: battery metals = cobalt from the DRC, lithium from Australia and the Argentina-Bolivia-Chile triangle, nickel from Indonesia.
Consider the following information :
Waterfall : Region : River
1. Dhuandhar : Malwa : Narmada
2. Hundru : Chota Nagpur : Subarnarekha
3. Gersoppa : Western Ghats : Netravati
In how many of the above rows is the given information correctly matched ?
- A.Only one
- B.Only two
- C.All three
- D.None
Show answer
Explanation
The correct answer is A, Only one. Only row 2 is fully correct; rows 1 and 3 each have a wrong entry.
Hundru Falls, near Ranchi in Jharkhand, is formed where the Subarnarekha river drops off the edge of the Ranchi plateau, part of the Chota Nagpur region, so row 2 is right. Dhuandhar Falls is on the Narmada at Bhedaghat near Jabalpur, where the river plunges into the marble gorge; Jabalpur lies in the Mahakoshal region between the Vindhya and Satpura ranges, not on the Malwa plateau, so row 1 fails on the region. Gersoppa Falls, better known as Jog Falls, is in the Western Ghats of Shivamogga district, Karnataka, but it is formed by the Sharavathi river, not the Netravati, so row 3 fails on the river.
B is wrong: only one row, not two, is correct.
C is wrong: rows 1 and 3 contain errors.
D is wrong: row 2 is correctly matched.
Exam tip: Jog/Gersoppa = Sharavathi; Dhuandhar = Narmada at Bhedaghat, Jabalpur; Hundru = Subarnarekha, Ranchi.
Which one of the following is the best example of repeated falls in sea level, giving rise to present-day extensive marshland?
- A.Bhitarkanika Mangroves
- B.Marakkanam Salt Pans
- C.Naupada Swamp
- D.Rann of Kutch
Show answer
Explanation
The correct answer is D, Rann of Kutch. The Rann was once a shallow arm of the Arabian Sea, and as the sea withdrew from it, aided by the uplift of the land, it was left as the vast salt marsh seen today.
The Great and Little Rann of Kutch in Gujarat cover tens of thousands of square kilometres of flat, salty mudflats that are flooded during the monsoon and turn into a white salt desert in the dry season. Geologists explain the landscape by repeated changes in sea level together with tectonic uplift: the former gulf became cut off from the sea and was filled by sediments brought by rivers such as the Luni. Its size and origin make it the classic Indian example of a marsh left behind by a retreating sea.
A is wrong: Bhitarkanika in Odisha is a mangrove forest in the delta of the Brahmani and Baitarani rivers, formed by river and tidal action.
B is wrong: Marakkanam in Tamil Nadu is a coastal salt-making area, not an extensive marshland.
C is wrong: Naupada in Andhra Pradesh is a small coastal swamp and salt-pan area.
Exam tip: Rann of Kutch = former arm of the Arabian Sea, now a seasonal salt marsh; home of the Indian wild ass in the Little Rann.
With reference to the Himalayan rivers joining the Ganga downstream of Prayagraj from West to East, which one of the following sequences is correct ?
- A.Ghaghara - Gomati - Gandak - Kosi
- B.Gomati - Ghaghara - Gandak - Kosi
- C.Ghaghara - Gomati - Kosi - Gandak
- D.Gomati - Ghaghara - Kosi - Gandak
Show answer
Explanation
The correct answer is B, Gomati - Ghaghara - Gandak - Kosi. Below Prayagraj the Ganga receives the Gomati first, then the Ghaghara, then the Gandak and finally the Kosi as it flows east.
The Gomati, which rises near Pilibhit and flows past Lucknow and Jaunpur, joins the Ganga near Kaithi in Ghazipur district of Uttar Pradesh. The Ghaghara, coming down from Nepal as the Karnali, meets the Ganga near Chhapra in Bihar. The Gandak, known as the Narayani in Nepal, joins at Sonpur opposite Patna. The Kosi, the "Sorrow of Bihar" famous for shifting its course, joins near Kursela in Katihar district, close to the border with Jharkhand and West Bengal.
A is wrong: it puts the Ghaghara before the Gomati, but the Gomati joins further west.
C is wrong: it puts the Ghaghara first and the Kosi before the Gandak.
D is wrong: the Gandak joins near Patna, well west of the Kosi confluence at Kursela.
Exam tip: left-bank order below Prayagraj = Gomati (Ghazipur), Ghaghara (Chhapra), Gandak (Sonpur-Patna), Kosi (Kursela).