Which State of India shares its boundary with the largest number of other Indian States?

The correct answer is A, Assam. Dispur, a locality within Guwahati, became the capital of Assam in 1973 after Shillong, the earlier capital, went to the newly created State of Meghalaya. The Assam secretariat and the legislative assembly function from Dispur, while Guwahati remains the commercial centre and the seat of the Gauhati High Court. Option B is wrong because the capital of Meghalaya is Shillong, which it inherited from Assam. Option C is wrong because the capital of Nagaland is Kohima, while Dimapur is its largest city and railhead. Option D is wrong because the capital of Tripura is Agartala, which lies close to the Bangladesh border. The question is a standing favourite because four north-eastern capitals look interchangeable to a candidate who has not revised them as pairs.

The correct answer is B, Punjab and Haryana. Chandigarh was built as the new capital of Punjab after Partition, and when Haryana was carved out of Punjab in 1966 the city was made a Union territory serving as the capital of both States. It is the only city in the country that is a Union territory and the capital of two States at the same time. Option A is wrong because the capital of Himachal Pradesh is Shimla, with Dharamshala as its winter capital. Option C is wrong because Delhi is the National Capital Territory and its capital is New Delhi, not Chandigarh. Option D is wrong because the capital of Rajasthan is Jaipur. The city was planned by the architect Le Corbusier, a detail often asked in the same paper.

The correct answer is B, Himachal Pradesh. Shimla is the capital of Himachal Pradesh, and Dharamshala in the Kangra valley was declared its second or winter capital, where a session of the State assembly is held. Option A is wrong because Uttarakhand works from Dehradun and has declared Gairsain, in the Chamoli district, its summer capital. Option C is wrong because the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir has Srinagar as its summer capital and Jammu as its winter capital, a pair that candidates often transfer wrongly to Himachal Pradesh. Option D is wrong because Sikkim has a single capital, Gangtok. Keep the four hill arrangements separate: Shimla with Dharamshala, Dehradun with Gairsain, Srinagar with Jammu, and Gangtok alone. Himachal Pradesh itself was made a full State in 1971, and its assembly meeting at Dharamshala is meant to serve the Kangra and Chamba side of the State.

The correct answer is C, West Bengal. The India and Bangladesh boundary runs through five States, and of these West Bengal has by far the longest stretch, since Bangladesh lies along its southern and eastern sides. Bangladesh is also the country with which India shares its longest land boundary. Option A is wrong because Assam has a comparatively short stretch along its south-western side. Option B is wrong because Tripura, although it is almost surrounded by Bangladesh on three sides, is a small State and its border is shorter than that of West Bengal. Option D is wrong because Meghalaya has a moderate stretch along its southern edge. Note that West Bengal is also the only State touching three countries, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. The five States along this boundary are worth listing in order from west to east, as West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram, because papers often ask how many States border Bangladesh.

The correct answer is B, Odisha. The Tropic of Cancer crosses India through eight States, namely Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura and Mizoram, and Odisha is not one of them because it lies to the south of the line. Option A is wrong because Jharkhand lies on the line and is part of the list. Option C is wrong because Tripura is on the line, which is why its climate is reckoned as tropical in the fullest sense. Option D is wrong because Chhattisgarh is also crossed by the line in its northern part. A simple way to recall the eight is to move from west to east: Gujarat and Rajasthan, then Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, then Jharkhand and West Bengal, and finally Tripura and Mizoram.