Test: Geography - 3 - UPSC MCQ

1. Plantation Agriculture is a form of commercial farming where crops are grown for profit,

2. The characteristic features of this type of farming are:

   1. large estates or plantations

   2. large capital investment

   3. managerial and technical support

   4. scientific methods of cultivation

   5. single crop specialization instead of multi-crop specialization

   6. cheap labour instead of highly paid workers

   7. a good system of transportation which links the estates to the factories and markets for the export of the products

3. Some of the important plantation crops are tea, coffee, cocoa, rubber, cotton, oil palm, sugarcane, bananas and pineapples.

4. Countries that have plantation agriculture usually experience high annual temperatures and receive high annual rainfall.

5. Plantation agriculture as mentioned above was introduced by the Europeans in colonies situated in the tropics.

6. The French established cocoa and coffee plantations in west Africa.

7. The British setup:

   1. large tea gardens in India and Sri Lanka

   2. rubber plantations in Malaysia

   3. sugarcane and banana plantations in West Indies.

8. Spanish and Americans invested heavily in coconut and sugarcane plantations in the Philippines.

9. The Dutch once had a monopoly over sugarcane plantation in Indonesia

1. Footloose industry is a general term for an industry that can be placed and located at any location without effect from factors such as resources or transport. Hence statement 1 is correct,

2. Reason for growth of footloose industries lies in the rapid development of highly sophisticated products requiring a great deal of scientific research and development.

1. Footloose industries enable quick product improvement of their products to suit the market demand,

2. Characteristic features of footloose Industries which favour the free choice of location:

3. light industries that often do not use raw materials but component parts

4. power requirements, usually only electricity — available from the national grid

5. the end product is small and often cheaper and easier to move;

6. employs a small labour force

7. non-polluting industries which can be located near residential areas

8. accessibility - needs to be near a road network

On the other hand, the cotton industry is largely dependent on cotton as raw material, employs low to the medium-skilled labour force and has a conventional product range. So it is not a footloose industry. Other examples of non-footloose industries include Tea, Jute and sugar industry. Hence statement 2 is not correct.

• In his 1798 work, An Essay on the Principle of Population, Malthus examined the relationship between population growth and resources. From this, he developed the Malthusian theory of population growth in which he wrote that population growth occurs exponentially, so it increases according to birth rate. On the other hand, food production increases arithmetically (linear), so it only increases at given points in time. Malthus wrote that, left unchecked, populations can outgrow their resources. Hence option (a) is the correct answer.

• Marx believed that the nature of economic relations in Europe4 s industrial societies was the central problem for the world's rapidly growing population. Marx dismiss Malthusian notion that the rising world population, rather than capitalism, was the cause of ills. Marx"s argued that when society is well ordered, increases in the population should lead to greater wealth, not hunger and misery. In contrast, he saw that the problem was the evils of the capitalist system. Marx was of the view that this problem is only possible in a capitalist society and not rising world population,
• The demographic transition theory is a generalised description of the changing pattern of mortality, fertility and growth rates as societies move from one demographic regime to another. According to this theory, economic development has the effect of bringing about a reduction in the death rate.

India is the second largest sugarcane producing country after Brazil. The largest sugarcane producing state of India is Uttar Pradesh, which has 38.61% share in overall sugarcane production as per 2013-14 figures. The second and third largest states are Maharashtra and Karnataka. Yield of Sugarcane crop is higher in Southern India as compared to Northern India.

• During colonial period (British period) millions of the indentured labourers were sent to Mauritius, Caribbean islands (Trinidad, Tobago and Guyana), Fiji and South Africa by British from Uttar Pradeshand Bihar; to Reunion Island, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Surinam by French and Dutch and by Portuguese from Goa, Daman and Diu to Angola, Mozambique to work as plantation workers,

• All such migrations were covered under the time-bound contract known as Girmit Act (Indian Emigration Act). All such indentured labourers are called Girmitiyas. Hence option a is the correct answer.

• The Know India Programme which aims to familiarize Indian-origin youth (18-30 years) with their Indian roots and contemporary India accords first preference to people from Girmitiya countries such as Mauritius, Fiji, Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and Jamaica.

1. A lagoon is a body of water separated from larger bodies of water by a natural barrier like sandbars, barrier islands, or coral reefs.

2. India has a vast coastline and the coast is very indented in some states. Due to this, a number of lagoons and lakes have formed. The States like Kerala, Orissa and West Bengal have vast surface water resources in these lagoons and lakes. Hence statement 1 is not correct,

3. Some of the major lagoons in India are Chilika Lake (Odisha), Pulicat Lake (Andhra Pradesh), Kaliveli Lake (Tamilnadu), Vembanad Lake (Kerala), etc.

4. Although water is generally brackish in these water-bodies, it is used for fishing and irrigating certain varieties of paddy crops, coconut, etc. Hence statement 2 is not correct,

5. The Gl-tagged Pokkali is a saltwater-tolerant paddy grown in the coastal fields of Alappuzha, Ernakulam and Thrissur districts of Kerala.

The main problems being faced by the Jute industry are the following:

1. Inadequate supply of raw materials- After independence, 70 per cent of the jute producing areas went to Bangladesh. Thus, the jute industry suffers from inadequate supply of raw jute.

2. Competition from substitutes- Paper, plastics, cloth and hemp have emerged as substitutes and are available at cheaper rates in the world market.

Obsolete machinery- Many jute mills are uneconomical because of outdated machinery. Other reasons are-labour problem and irregular supply of raw jute.

1. Quinary activities represent another subdivision of the tertiary sector other than quaternary activities.

2. It represents special and highly paid skills of senior business executives, government officials, research scientists, financial and legal consultants, etc.

3. Quinary activities are performed by the highest level of decision makers or policymakers. o Quinary activities are services that focus on:

   1. the creation, re-arrangement and interpretation of new and existing ideas

   2. data interpretation

   3. use and evaluation of new technologies.

4. It is also referred to as =gold collar4 profession.

5. Outsourcing or contracting out is giving work to an outside agency to improve efficiency and to reduce costs.

• Red Collar - Primary Activites o Gold Collar - Quinary

• White Collar - Professionals in High Technology industry

• Blue Collar - Workers in industries

• On the basis of geometrical shape and forms, rural settlements are classified as: o Linear pattern: In such settlements houses are located along a road, railway line, river, canal edge of a valley or along a levee.

• Rectangular pattern: Such patterns of rural settlements are found in plain areas or wide inter montane valleys. The roads are rectangular and cut each other at right angles, o Circular pattern: Circular villages develop around lakes, tanks etc.

• Star like pattern: Where several roads converge, star shaped settlements develop by the houses built along the roads

• T-shaped, Y-shaped, Cross-shaped or cruciform settlements: T-shaped settlements develop at trijunctions of the roads while Y-shaped settlements emerge at the places where two roads converge on the third one and houses are built along roads. Cruciform settlements develop on the cross-roads and houses extend in four direction.

• Double village: These settlements extend on both sides of a river where there is a bridge or a ferry.

1. Coal is one of the important minerals which is used in the generation of thermal power and smelting of iron ore. It is one of the most mined minerals from the earth. Of the three fossil fuels (petroleum, natural gas, and coal), coal has the most widely distributed reserves; coal is mined in over 100 countries, and on all continents except Antarctica. The largest proved reserves are found in the United States, Russia, China, Australia, and India. Some of the major areas of Coal deposits continent-wise are -:

   1. Asia

      1. India - Damodar valley, Raniganj, Bokaro, Jharia, Singareni. Pakistan - Quetta, Kalabagh and Thar coalfields

      2. China - Shanxi, Fushun, Inner Mongolia, Kansu

      3. Japan - Chikugo coalfield, Ishikari coalfield

   2. Europe

      1. Moscow -Tula coalfields

      2. Kuznetsk coal basin

      3. Karaganda basin. It is located in the area of Karaganda and in the centre of the Karaganda oblast of Kazakhstan. The terrain of the basin is mainly steppes and bare hills and has huge coal deposits. Silesia coalfieldsRuhr Valley of Germany

   3. North America

      1. Pennsylvania anthracite field

      2. Appalachian bituminous field

      3. Eastern Illinois field - Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky

      4. Western interior field - Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma

   4. Africa

      1. Transvaal and Natal - Middleburg, Vereeniging and Witbank

      2. Zimbabwe Wankie

      3. Zaire - Luena

      4. Mozambique - Maniamba

   5. South America

      1. Brazil - Santa Catarine and Rio grande de sul

      2. Chile - Concepcion

      3. Columbia - Cauca valley coalfield

• Consequences of migration can be observed in social, economic, environmental, cultural terms,

• Economic consequences: A major benefit for the source region is the remittance sent by migrants. The amount of remittances sent by the internal migrants is very meagre as compared to international migrants, but it plays an important role in the growth of the economy of the source area. Migrants help in the development of the destination region as witnessed in the success of the Green Revolution in Punjab and Haryana.

• Demographic consequences: Age and skill selective out-migration from the rural areas have an adverse effect on the rural demographic structure.

• Social consequences: Migrants act as agents of social change. Migration leads to intermixing of people from diverse cultures. It has positive contribution such as the evolution of composite culture. But it also has negative consequences such as anonymity, which creates a social vacuum and sense of dejection which may motivate people to fall in the trap of anti-social activities,

• Environmental consequences: Overcrowding of people due to rural-urban migration has put pressure on the existing social and physical infrastructure in the urban areas. This ultimately leads to unplanned growth of urban settlement and the formation of slums shanty colonies,

• Hence option (d) is the correct answer.

• Industries can be classified based upon various factors such as ownership, inputs, outputs, etc.

• Based on the output, industries can be classified as:

• Basic industries: Industries whose products are used to produce other goods.

1. Iron and steel industry, copper refining industry is one of the basic industries because steel & copper produced by this industry is used in many other industries as a raw material.

2. Some basic industries produce machines which are used to produce other goods.

• Non-basic or consumer goods industries: Industries which produce goods for direct consumption such as tea, bread, soap and television.

• In 1854, the first modern cotton mill was established in Mumbai. This city had several advantages as a cotton textile manufacturing center. It was very close to the cotton-producing areas of Gujarat and Maharashtra. Raw cotton used to be brought to Mumbai port to be transported to England. Therefore, cotton was available in Mumbai city itself.

• Indian Railway was introduced in 1853 when a line was constructed from Bombay to Thane covering a distance of 34 km.

• Kolkata, being the capital city of British India(l 773-1911), attracted the British capital. The establishment of the first jute mill at Rishra in 1855 ushered in the era of modern industrial clustering in this region.

• Hence the correct chronological order is 2-1-3.

• This canal connects the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It has been constructed across the Panama Isthmus between Panama City and Colon by the U.S. government which purchased 8 km of an area on either side and named it the Canal Zone.

• It shortens the distance between New York (West Coast of USA) and San Francisco (East Coast of USA) by 13,000 km by sea.

• Likewise, the distance between Western Europe and the West-coast of the U.S.A.; and Northeastern and Central U.S.A. and East and South-east Asia is shortened.

• Our Common Future: Our Common Future, also known as the Brundtland Report was published in 1987 by the United Nations. Its targets were multilateralism and interdependence of nations in the search for a sustainable development path. The report sought to recapture the spirit of the Stockholm Conference which had introduced environmental concerns to the formal political development sphere. Our Common Future placed environmental issues firmly on the political agenda; it aimed to discuss the environment and development as one single issue.

• Limits to Growth: The Limits to Growth is a 1972 report on the computer simulation of exponential economic and population growth with a finite supply of resources. It is commissioned by the Club of Rome. The authors of the report intended to explore the possibility of a sustainable ecological and economic stability along with economic growth.

• Agenda-21: Agenda 21 is a non-binding action plan of the United Nations with regard to sustainable development. It is a product of the Earth Summit (UN Conference on Environment and Development) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992. It is an action agenda for the UN, other multilateral organizations, and individual governments around the world that can be executed at local, national, and global levels.

• Hence option d is the correct answer.

• For many decades, a country's level of development was measured only in terms of its economic growth. This meant that the bigger the economy of the country, the more developed it was considered, even though this growth did not really mean much change in the lives of most people. The idea that the quality of life people enjoy in a country, the opportunities they have and the freedoms they enjoy, are important aspects of development, is not new. These ideas were clearly spelled out for the first time in the late eighties and early nineties. The works of two South Asian economists, Mahbub-ul-Haq and Amartya Sen are important in this regard.

• The concept of human development was introduced by Dr. Mahbub-ul-Haq. Dr. Haq has described human development as development that enlarges peopled choices and improves their lives. Hence option (c) is the most appropriate answer. People are central to all development under this concept. These choices are not fixed but keep on changing. The basic goal of development is to create conditions where people can live meaningful lives. A meaningful life is not just a long one. It must be a life with some purpose. This means that people must be healthy, be able to develop their talents, participate in society and be free to achieve their goals.

• A good example is about the importance of sending girls to school. If a community does not stress the importance of sending its girl children to school, many opportunities will be lost to these young women when they grow up. Their career choices will be severely curtailed and this would affect other aspects of their lives. So each generation must ensure the availability of choices and opportunities to its future generations.

• Option (d) merely mentioned the availability of multiple facilities such as medical colleges being built. However, if the girl child is not allowed to go to school she is deprived of her choice to choose medicine as a career.

• Despite the inhospitality of desert region, different groups of inhabitants have been found living. They struggle against an environment deficient in water, food and other means of livelihood. Some, like the Egyptians have attained a high level of civilization, others like the Bedouin Arabs have fared quite well with their flocks of sheep, goats, camels and horses.

• The Bushmen of the Kalahari and the Bindibu of Australia remain so primitive in their mode of living that they barely survive.

• Both Bushmen and Bindibu tribes are nomadic herders and food gatherers, growing no crops and domesticating no animals.

• The Bushmen roam the Kalahari Desert with their bows and poisoned arrows, spears, traps and snares. They are not only skilful and strong but have great endurance. In order to capture their prey, they have to be very patient and if necessary run many miles to track down the wounded animals. In this way, they hunt antelope, and other smaller animals. The women and children collect insects, rodents and lizards, and gather honey, roots, grass and grubs. Bushmen either wear a loin cloth or go virtually naked.

• The Bindibu of Australia live in very much the same way as the Bushmen. They are lean and dark but healthy. They are skilled trackers and some of them use wooden throwing sticks or boomerangs and spears. They also domesticate the dingo, a wild dog that assists them in tracking down kangaroos, rabbits and birds. The women gather grass, roots, seeds, berries, moles and insects, to supplement their diet. Like the wandering Bushmen, the Bindibu move in family groups in search of fresh hunting grounds. But one distinct difference is that they always stay close to a water supply as they still have not devised a means of tapping and storing water. They live in wurlies, simple shelters made of branches arid tufts and grass.

• The Bedouin of Arabia ride on horses and live in tents; the Tuaregs of the Sahara are camel riders and dwell in grass zeriba, while the Gobi Mongols ride on horses to herd their yaks and live in portable yurts (a kind of tent). The Bedouin are the best examples of a desert group who have fared well as nomadic herdsmen. Besides keeping large flocks of animals, they are also engaged in trade with the caravan merchants and the oases people. All round the year, the Bedouin wander with their herds in search of water and green pastures. Their wealth is their animals: sheep, goats, camels and perhaps a few horses. The animals provide them with all that they require, daily milk and cheese and on occasions meat as well.

• Their skin is used for hides or leather, for making tents, clothing, belts, footwear and water bags. From the hair and wool, the Bedouin make clothes, mats, ropes, rugs and carpets. These can also be exchanged at trading stations or oases for other necessities of life which the desert herdsmen cannot produce like dates, grain, beverages, medicines, firearms and other manufactured articles.

1. Sustainable development refers to a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

2. Some of the measures to promote sustainable development:

• The eco-development through afforestation, shelterbelt plantation (planting of trees or shrubs in rows in a manner so as to provide protection from wind and prevent soil erosion) and pasture development is necessary for promoting Sustainable Development. Hence option 1 is correct.

• The programmes such as the lining of watercourses, land development and levelling and Warabandi System (equal distribution of canal water in the command area of the outlet) can be effectively implemented to reduce the conveyance loss of water and thus promote Sustainable Development. Hence option 2 is correct.

3. In general, the cropping pattern shall not include water-intensive crops. It shall be adhered to and the people shall be encouraged to grow plantation crops such as citrus fruits. Intensive agriculture is a kind of agriculture where a lot of capital and labour are used to increase the yield that can be obtained per area of land. It involves large amounts of pesticides for crops, and of medication for animal stocks is common. Intensive agriculture leads to problems of soil and water degradation and compromising sustainable development. Hence option 3 is not correct.

• Semi-clustered or fragmented settlements may result from a tendency of clustering in a restricted area of dispersed settlement. More often such a pattern may also result from segregation or fragmentation of a large compact village.

• In this case, one or more sections of the village society choose or are forced to live a little away from the main cluster or village. In such cases, generally, the land-owning and dominant community occupies the central part of the main village, whereas people of lower strata of society and menial workers settle on the outer flanks of the village.

• Such settlements are widespread in the Gujarat plain and some parts ofRajasthan.

• Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita is a measure of a country4 s economic output that accounts for population. It tells you how prosperous a country feels to each of its citizens. However, it is not a complete measure of economic welfare. GDP only addresses average income, failing to reflect how most people actually live or who benefits from economic growth. Prevalence of poverty, deprivation, malnutrition, illiteracy, regional disparities fails to give true impression of all the so-called economic achievements. Therefore, a growing GDP cannot be assumed to necessarily lead to sustainable development and poverty reduction. Hence statement 1 is not correct.

• The findings of 2011 Census of India are very disturbing particularly in case of child sex ratio in the age group of 0-6 years. With the exception of Kerala, the child sex ratio has declined in all the states and it is the most alarming in the developed state of Haryana and Punjab where it is below 850 female children per thousand male children which is below the national average of 919 female children per thousand male children. Hence statement 2 is not correct.

Evolution of Radio & Television broadcasting:

• Radio started in India in 1923 by the Radio Club ofBombay.

• Government brought radio under its control in 1930 as the Indian Broadcasting System.

• It was changed to All India Radio in 1936 and to Akashwani in 1957.

• Television (T.V.) services launched only for National Capital in 1959.

• Several other centers became operational after 1972.

• TV was delinked from All India Radio (AIR) in 1976. and got a separate identity as Doordarshan(DD).

• INSAT-IA (National Television-DDl) became operational in 1982.