Daily Quiz: UPSC Prelims Marathon (Geography) – May 15, 2020

Major ports in India.

Statement 1 is correct: Kolkata is the only riverine major port in India. Known for twin dock systems viz., Kolkata Dock System (KDS) on the eastern bank and Haldia Dock Complex (HDC) on the western bank of river Hooghly.

Statement 2 is correct: Vishakhapatnam is India’s deepest landlocked port handling crude oil and petroleum products.

Golden Quadrilateral.

Statement 1 is correct: Golden Quadrilateral is a network of highways connecting India’s four top metropolitan cities, namely Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, thereby, forming a quadrilateral.

Statement 2 is correct: The largest highway project in India, the Golden Quadrilateral project was launched in 2001 as part of National Highways Development Project (NHDP).

Rubber cultivation in India.

Statement 1 is incorrect: Rubber grows well in places whose temperature does not go below 21 degrees centigrade, and where humidity and heat is quite high. It grows well in temperature conditions between 25 to 35 degrees centigrade.

Statement 2 is correct: Rainfall should be between 200cm and 400cm. It should not be less than 152cm. Rainfall must be fairly evenly distributed throughout the year because strong seasonal rainfall is unsustainable. Long dry spell and low temperature are very harmful for the crop.

The kharif crops are associated with the Southwest Monsoon. They are sown in the months of June and July and harvested in autumn months, i.e., in September and October. Important kharif crops are rice, jowar, bajra, ragi, maize, sugarcane, cotton and jute.

The Chambal River, called Charmanvati in ancient times, is the largest of the rivers flowing through and Rajasthan State. This is a major tributary of Yamuna which is 960 km long. Located in Central India, the river comprises a significant portion of the Greater Gangetic Drainage System.

The Ekman spiral, named after Swedish scientist Vagn Walfrid Ekman (1874-1954) who first theorized it in 1902, is a consequence of the Coriolis Effect. When surface water molecules move by the force of the wind, they, in turn, drag deeper layers of water molecules below them. Each layer of water molecules is moved by friction from the shallower layer, and each deeper layer moves more slowly than the layer above it, until the movement ceases at a depth of about 100 meters (330 feet). Like the surface water, however, the deeper water is deflected by the Coriolis Effect-to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere. As a result, each successively deeper layer of water moves more slowly to the right or left, creating a spiral effect. Because the deeper layers of water move more slowly than the shallower layers, they tend to “twist around” and flow opposite to the surface current.

Cold currents flow toward the equator on the eastern side of ocean basins. Examples of cold ocean currents include the Canary Current in the North Atlantic, the California Current in the North Pacific, and the Benguela Current in the South Atlantic.

The Bass Strait is a sea strait separating Tasmania from the south of the Australian mainland, specifically the state of Victoria. The strait was named after George Bass after he and Matthew Flinders passed through it while circumnavigating Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) in the Norfolk in 1798-99. At Flinders’ recommendation in 1800, the Governor of New South Wales named the stretch of water between the mainland and Tasmania “Basses Strait”. Later it became known as Bass Strait.

Shipki La is a mountain pass and border post on the India-Tibet border. It is located in Kinnaur district in the state of Himachal Pradesh, India, and Tibet Autonomous Region in People’s Republic of China. Sutlej River enters India (from Tibet) through this pass. It is an offshoot of the ancient Silk Road. It is a border post for trade with China.

Statement 1 is incorrect: National waterway Number 1 is on the Ganga – Bhagirathi – Hooghly river system between Haldia (Sagar) & Allahabad (1620 km).

Statement 2 is incorrect: National Waterway Number 6 is located on Barak river between Lakhimpur and Bhanga.