UPSC GK Questions 2026

Malwa was covered by the great lava flows that spread over western and central India, and the basalt they left weathers into the deep black cotton soil, locally called regur, which makes Malwa a wheat, gram, cotton and soyabean region.

Amarkantak lies at the eastern end of the Satpura, where that range, the Maikal hills and the Vindhya come together, and three rivers begin there: the Narmada, which turns west along the rift valley, the Son, which runs east towards the Ganga, and the Johila, a tributary of the Son.

Dhupgarh rises to 1,350 metres at Pachmarhi, in Narmadapuram district, and is the highest point both of the Satpura range and of Madhya Pradesh.

The Markanda rises in the Shivalik hills of Himachal Pradesh, where it is known as the Aruna, enters Haryana near Ambala and flows through Ambala and Kurukshetra districts before joining the Ghaggar.

The Western Yamuna Canal draws its supply from the Hathnikund barrage in Yamunanagar district and carries Yamuna water across Karnal, Panipat, Rohtak, Jind and Hisar, making it the backbone of irrigation in northern and central Haryana.

Surajkund is an amphitheatre-shaped tank in the Aravalli hills near Faridabad, and it is traditionally ascribed to Suraj Pal, a ruler of the Tomar line that held the Delhi region before the Chauhans.

Brahma Sarovar is the great tank at Thanesar in Kurukshetra district, and with the Sannihit Sarovar nearby it is the centre of the bathing fairs held there, especially at the solar eclipse and during Gita Jayanti.

The Sahibi rises in the Aravalli hills of Rajasthan, flows north-east across Rewari and Gurugram and ends in the Najafgarh jheel on the Haryana-Delhi border; from there the Najafgarh drain carries its water into the Yamuna.

Bhindawas lies in Jhajjar district and is a man-made wetland fed by drainage and canal water. It is the largest wetland in Haryana, is an important wintering ground for waterbirds, and in 2021 it was listed as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention along with Sultanpur.

Sultanpur National Park lies in Gurugram district, near Sultanpur village on the Gurugram-Jhajjar road, and it is a shallow seasonal wetland that fills in the monsoon and draws large numbers of migratory waterbirds on the Central Asian Flyway.

Adi Badri lies at the foot of the Shivaliks in Yamunanagar district, and tradition holds it to be the place where the Saraswati came down to the plain.

Most scholars identify the Ghaggar, with its dry continuation the Hakra in Rajasthan and Pakistan, with the Saraswati of the Rigveda, and the neighbouring Chautang with the Drishadvati.

The Ghaggar rises in the Shivalik hills of Himachal Pradesh and comes into Haryana through Panchkula district in the extreme north-east, then turns south-west across Ambala, Kaithal, Fatehabad and Sirsa before passing into Rajasthan as the Hakra.

The Hathnikund barrage stands on the Yamuna in Yamunanagar district, where the river leaves the hills, and it replaced the older Tajewala headworks a short distance upstream.

The Yamuna comes down from Yamunotri, enters Haryana near Kalesar in Yamunanagar district and flows south along the eastern boundary of the state with Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.

West Champaran lies at the foot of the Shivaliks along the Nepal border and receives heavy rain, and its forest, in which sal is the dominant tree, is classed as tropical moist deciduous.

The gaur is the state animal of Bihar, the house sparrow is the state bird, the peepal is the state tree and the kachnar is the state flower.

It is spread across Kaimur and Rohtas districts on the Kaimur plateau in the south-west of the state, and by area it is the largest protected area in Bihar.

The Valmiki Tiger Reserve lies in West Champaran district, along the Nepal border at the foot of the Shivaliks, and it is the only tiger reserve in Bihar.

Karail is the dark, sticky clay of the Son valley and the adjoining parts of Rohtas and Bhojpur districts.