Vembanad, the lake crossed at Alappuzha, holds which distinction?

The correct answer is A, 1 November 1956. Kerala came into being on that day under the States Reorganisation Act, which joined Travancore and Cochin with the Malabar district of the Madras State and the Kasaragod taluk of South Canara, so that the Malayalam speaking areas formed one state. Option B is wrong because 1 May 1960 is the date on which Bombay State was divided into Maharashtra and Gujarat. Option C is wrong because 1 November 1966 is the date Haryana was carved out of Punjab, a different reorganisation ten years later. Option D is wrong because 15 August 1947 is Independence Day, when the princely states of Travancore and Cochin still existed separately. Note that Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh also date from 1 November 1956.

The correct answer is B, E. M. S. Namboodiripad. He became the first Chief Minister of Kerala in 1957, after the first assembly election held in the new state, and his ministry is remembered for its land reform and education bills. Option A is wrong because C. Achutha Menon held the office later, in the nineteen seventies. Option C is wrong because K. Karunakaran led ministries from the nineteen seventies onward and belongs to a later generation of leaders. Option D is wrong because Pattom Thanu Pillai, though a senior figure who had led Travancore Cochin before the state was formed, became Chief Minister of Kerala only afterwards. For the exam, hold 1956 for the formation of the state and 1957 for its first ministry.

The correct answer is C, Periyar. The Periyar rises in the Western Ghats and flows west to the Arabian Sea, and it carries both the Idukki arch dam and the Mullaperiyar dam, the second of which is worked by Tamil Nadu under an old lease. Option A is wrong, but only by one place: the Bharathappuzha, also called the Nila, is the second longest river of the state and flows through Palakkad and Thrissur. Option B is wrong because the Pamba, the third in length, is the river of Sabarimala and of the Aranmula boat race. Option D is wrong because the Chaliyar flows through Malappuram and Kozhikode and is shorter than these. Remember that forty one of Kerala's rivers flow west and only three flow east.

The correct answer is B, Eravikulam National Park. Anamudi, about 2,695 metres high, stands in Eravikulam National Park in the Idukki district of Kerala, and the same park holds the largest surviving population of the Nilgiri tahr, the mountain goat of the Western Ghats. Option A is wrong because Silent Valley National Park lies on the Kunthipuzha in Palakkad and is known for its undisturbed evergreen forest and the lion tailed macaque. Option C is wrong because Periyar National Park at Thekkady is a tiger reserve around a reservoir. Option D is wrong because Bandipur is in Karnataka, not Kerala, though it adjoins the Wayanad sanctuary across the border. Fix Anamudi with Eravikulam and with Idukki district. Papers also ask which district holds this peak, and the answer is Idukki, so learn the district with the park.

The correct answer is A, Palakkad. Silent Valley lies in the Palakkad district on the Kunthipuzha river, a tributary of the Bharathappuzha, and the dam proposed on that river was given up after one of the best known conservation campaigns in India, after which the valley was made a national park. Option B is wrong because Wayanad has its own wildlife sanctuary, part of the Nilgiri biosphere, but not this park. Option C is wrong because Idukki holds Eravikulam and Periyar, which are different parks with different claims to fame. Option D is wrong because Kollam is a coastal district known for Ashtamudi lake and the cashew trade. Remember the lion tailed macaque as the animal associated with Silent Valley. The river itself, the Kunthipuzha, is asked as often as the district, so keep both with this park.