General knowledge

Q1.	Which Indian state is the largest producer in the world of the golden coloured 'Muga' silk ? (A) Assam (B) Orissa (C) West Bengal (D) Karnataka

Q2.	Which Indian freedom fighter was popularly called 'Mahamana' ? (A) Bal Gangadhar Tilak (B) Jai Prakash Narain (C) Gopal Hari Deshmukh (D) Madan Mohan Malaviya

Q3.	Which Indian state would you be in if you were watching birds at Ranganathittu Birds Sanctuary, situated on an island in the Kaveri river ? (A) Karnataka (B) Maharashtra (C) Tamil Nadu (D) Andhra Pradesh

Q4.	'Anandmath', 'Durgeshnondini' and 'Kapalkundala' novels were authored by which Bengali writer ? (A) Rabindranath Tagore (B) Sharat Chandra Chatterjee (C) Bankim Chandra Chatterjee (D) Bibhuti Bhushan Bandopadhyay

Q5.	Baglihar Dam, also known as Baglihar Hydroelectric Power Project, in Jammu & Kashmir is built across which river ? (A) Beas (B) Chenab (C) Jhelum (D) Sutlej

Climate of India

TROPICAL MONSOON CLIMATE

India is a vast country and has different relief features. They are responsible for varied climatic conditions. India has very hot and very cold regions as well as regions with very heavy rainfall and very scanty rainfall. A large part of India has tropical monsoon climate. The climate of India has been influenced by its position, size and relief features. Monsoon winds are the main factors that determine the climate of India. They influence a large part of India.

 The Climate of India may be divided into four seasons-

 1) Winter - From December to February(winter rains)

 2) Summer - From March to May 

3) South-West monsoons or rainy season - June to September 

4) Retreating monsoons - October and November(tropical cyclones)

The rainfall in India is seasonal, uncertain and unevenly distributed. Most of the rain comes during the South-West Monsoon period. Rainfall may be too much or too little. There are also long dry periods in between. On the basis of the quantity of rainfall, we can divide India into five major rainfall regions.

Natural Vegetation of India

The following are the principal types of natural vegetation in India:

 (1) Tropical Evergreen Rain Forests,

 (2) Deciduous or Monsoon Type of Forests, 

(3) Dry Deciduous Forests and Scrubs, 

(4) Semi- Desert and Desert Vegetations,

 (5) Tidal or Mangrove Forests and

 (6) Mountain Forests. 

Tropical evergreen rain forests: 

These forests grow in areas where rainfall is more than 200 cm. They are mainly found on the slopes of the Western Ghats and the Northeastern regions of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Assam, Nagaland, the Tarai areas of the Himalayas and the Andaman groups of Islands. The trees in these belts have dense growth. Important varieties of trees are sishu, chap lash, rosewood, mahogany, bamboos, garjan and sandalwood.

 Deciduous or Monsoon type of forests: These forests are found in areas where the rainfall is between 100 cm and 200 cm. These forests grow on the lower slope of the Himalayas, Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and the adjoining regions. The trees of these forests shed their leaves during dry winter and dry summer. The main trees are teak, sal, sandalwood, deodar, blue gum, ebony, sis am, jackfruit, mahua, pal ash, arjun, khair and bamboo.

Dry deciduous forests and Scrubs: These forests grow in areas where the rainfall is between 50 cm and 100 cm. These are found in areas of central Deccan plateau, South-east of Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and parts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Dwarf Deciduous trees and long- grasses grow in these regions. Most of the areas are used for agriculture. 

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WESTERN GHATS AND EASTERN GHATS

WESTERN GHATS
 - More continuous
- Higher in elevation
- Sahayadris, anamalai, nilgiri and cardamom hills
 - Form excellent escarpments
- Rich watersheds give birth to large peninsular rivers like Godavari and Krishna.
- Separated from coast by narrow coastal plains.

 EASTERN GHATS
- Discontinuous
- Lower in elevation
 - Do not develop steep escarpments, lack well developed peaks.
 - Do not give birth to important rivers like western ghats.
- Separated from coast by very wide coastal plains.
 - Geologically older than western ghats.

SIGNIFICANCE OF HIMALAYAS

1) Strategic significance. A natural frontier of India with other countries(China, Pakistan, Afghanistan,etc) 

2) Climatic significance. Prevent further northward movement of summer monsoon and also prevent cold northern winds from Siberia to enter into India.

 3) Agricultural significance. Formation of Himalayas created a trough to its south which is later filled by the sediments from the Himalayan rivers which is today known as northern plains-Indo-gangetic plains- Rich agricultural grounds. 

4) Economic significance- Himalayan rivers have huge hydro-electric power potential. Moreover, Himalyan timber and medicinal plants have economic significance. 

5) Tourist spot- large ecological diversity and hill stations 

India- Physiography

India can be divided into four physical divisions.
They are:
1) The Northern Mountains
 2) The North Indian Plain
 3) The Peninsular Plateau
 4) The Coastal regions and Islands

ISLANDS OF INDIA:

There are 247 islands in India, out of which there are 204 islands in the Bay of Bengal and 43 islands in the Arabian Sea. There are a few coral islands in the Gulf of Mannar also. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal consist of hard volcanic rocks. The middle Andaman and Great Nicobar Islands are the largest islands of India. Lakshadweep islands in the Arabian Sea are formed by corals. The southern - most point of India is in the Greater Nicobar Island. It is called Indira Point (formerly it was called Pigmalion Point),now submerged after 2004 Tsunami.

Neolithic or the New Stone Age

The main period of the Neolithic Age in the Indian subcontinent was 4000-1800 BC. This was the food producing age when man completely changed his way of life. Traces of Neolithic communities have survived mostly in the north-western region and the Deccan. Neolithic settlements in Baluchistan seem to be oldest around 3500 BC. In the new way of life man began to domesticate animals and cultivate plants. The dog, sheep and goat were probably the first to be domesticated.


Among plants, wheat and barley were the earliest cereals grown. As a result man began to settle down in certain selected areas. This led to the growth of villages and farming communities. The tools he needed also changed. All these developments took place first in north western India and culminated in the rise and growth of great Indus Civilization while the rest of the Indian subcontinent was late in undergoing the transition from Mesolithic to the Neolithic and then to the Chalcolithic periods.

Political System of The Harappa Civilization

At the top of the pyramid of the Harappa society were the administrators, traders and priests. Their presence can be presumed on the basis of an understanding of the problems of organization. The rise of civilization is associated with the emergence of a centralized decision making system called the state. In the Harappan civilization there was the presence of a decision –making authority for running the municipal system. The construction and maintenance of elaborate drainage system and streets would require a municipal authority in the cities.

The granaries indicate the presence of an authority that would collect food grains from the surrounding hinterland and redistribute it among the citizens. The tools, weapons, bricks etc show a remarkable uniformity of design. The organization of production and distribution of these objects over an area covering thousands of kilometers would give tremendous power to those who decided how much to produce and where to send the products. The sheer range and volume of goods consumed by the residents of the large cities indicate that some kind of ruling class resided in them. Many of the objects were rarities brought from the faraway lands. The possession of precious stones or metals would give immense prestige to owners vis- a vis rest of the population.

The large size of the cities did not simply indicate that a larger number of people lived there but also the fact that they contained many structures like temples, palaces etc. The people who lived in those structures exercised political and economic and religious authority. The seals that are considered marks of authority of traders, priests or administrators are found in large numbers in Mohenjo-Daro where the largest number of structures has been found. It is still not cleared whether Harappa Civilization consisted of two or even five independent political units. In many pre-modern societies the economic, religious and administrative units were not clearly demarcated.

Importance of Indus Valley Civilization

• Surkotada is the only Indus site where the remains of a horse have actually been found.
• A small pot was discovered at Chanhudaro which was probably an inkpot. Harappan pottery is bright or dark red and is uniformly sturdy and well baked.
• It was chiefly made and consists of both plain and painted ware and plain variety being more common.
• Harappan people used different types of pottery such as galzed, polychrome, incised perforated and knobbed.
• Main types of seals are the square type with a carved animal and inscription and rectangular type with inscription only.
• Terracotta seals found at Mehargarh were the earliest precursors of the Harappan seals.
• Evidence of sea and river transport by ships and boats in several seals and terracotta models have been found apart from the dockyard at Lothal. Representations of ships are found on seals found at Harappa and Mohenjodaro.
• Apart from Lothal in Gujarat, the three Harappan sites on the Makran coast - Sutkagendor, Sotkako and Khairia kot have been generally considered to have been posts in the maritime links with the Gulf and Mesopotamia.
• At Kalibangan the lanes and roads of the city were built in a definite proportion. Lanes were 1.8 mts wide and the roads were 3.6, 5.4 and 7.2 mts wide.

Survival and Significance - Indus Valley Civilization

• In the field of religions many important features of Harappan religion were adopted in later Hinduism. The Harappans worshipped Pashupati Shiva in his actual form as well as in the representative form as Linga, worship of mother goddess, worship of trees, animals; serpents were all adopted by Hinduism.
• The Harappan civilization contributed towards the advancement of Mathematics. The numerical and decimal system was evolved here which made remarkable contributions towards Vedic mathematics.
• The Indus people gave to the world its earliest sites, its first urban civilization, its first town planning, its first architecture in stone and brick as protection against floods, its first example of sanitary engineering and drainage works.
• Another remarkable contribution of the Harappan people was the cultivation of cotton. Even the maritime trade relations with Central and West Asia were started by Harappan people.
  
  
• To them also belong the credits for producing some of the earliest specimens of pottery. The Harappan way of making baked pottery, bricks, beads, jewellery and textiles was adopted in the later civilization. They also invented the device of a cart to harness the labour force of the animals to the production of man's utility.

Decline of Harappan Culture

The decline of Harappan culture is difficult to explain. During its late phase between 2000 and 1700 BC 'The Indus Valley Civilization as a distinct entity gradually ceased to exist'. Historians have different opinions regarding the causes of the decay and disappearance of the Harappan culture. Various causes have been ascribed for its weakening and then decay: Increase in rainfall, earthquake, decrease in fertility of soil, floods, Aryan invasion, disease etc.

Mortimer Wheeler pointed out that the Harappan culture was destroyed by the Aryans. The Aryans were more skilled at warfare and were powerful than the Harappans. In the last phase of Mohenjodaro, men and women and children were massacred in the streets and houses. But there is very little evidence on this opinion.

Sir John Marshal, Lambrick and E.J.H Mackay suggest that the decline of the Harappan civilization was mainly due to the vagaries of the Indus River. But this theory is partly true. Some of the evidence of the devastation by floods has been found at Mohenjodaro and Lothal but there is no such evidence in respect of other sites like Kalibangan.

Some historians suggest that the first urban civilization came to an end around 1700 BC because its numerous small settlements grew beyond their natural limits leading to the mismanagement of natural resources. Although the theory of ecological factors for the decline of the Harappan civilization is latest yet it does not give us complete answer. Historians are of the view that the decline of the Indus Civilization was not the result of a single event; it was a slow decline and a result of combination of factors.

Agriculture - Indus Valley Civilization

The Harappans cultivated wheat and barley the two main food crops. Peas and dates were also grown. In addition sesame and mustard were grown and used for oil. However the people cultivated rice as early as 1800 BC in Lothal. The Harappans were the earliest people to grow cotton. Irrigation depended on the irregular flooding of the rivers of Punjab and Sind.

Domestication of animals

Stock breeding was important in Indus culture. Besides sheep and goats, dogs, humped cattle buffalo and elephant was certainly domesticated. The camel was rare and horse was not known.

Harappan Trade

The Harappan people traded with the people of Sumer and with the towns lying along the Persian Gulf. Harappan seals and other small objects used by the merchants and traders for stamping their goods have been found in Mesopotamia. The merchandise was shipped from Lothal and incoming goods were received here. Weights and measures which were very accurately graded point to a very high degree of exchange

Major Cities And Their Features - Indus Valley Civilization

Mohenjodaro

Mohenjodaro (Sind) is situated on the right bank of the Indus.

Harappa

Harappa (Punjab, Pakistan) is located on the left bank of the Ravi.

Chanhudaro

Chanhudaro lies on the left bank of the Indus about 130 km south of Mohenjodaro.

Kalibangan

Kalibangan (Rajasthan) was on the banks of the river Ghaggar which dried up centuries ago.

Lothal

Lothal is at the head of the Gulf of Cambay.

Banawali

Banawali (Haryana) was situated on the banks of the now extinct Sarasvati River.

Surkotada

Surkotada (Gujarat) is at the head of the Rann of Kutch.

Dholavira

Dholavira (Gujarat) excavated is in the Kutch district

Indus Valley Civilization

The sensational discoveries made at Harappa in West Punjab and Mohenjodaro in Sind have revolutionised our idea of ancient Indian history. From the meagre evidence it may be concluded that the civilization represented by these two cities commonly known as the Indus Valley Civilization belonged to the first half of the third millennium B.C. Further evidence indicates that they continued well into the second millennium B.C. Sir John Marshall the eminent Indologist opines that the civilization revealed at these two places leads one to the inference that it is not an incipient one but had begun ages earlier with many millennia of human endeavour behind it. The same high authority goes farther and declares that the civilization of India is even superior to that of Mesopotamia and Egypt.

The Indus-Valley people were well-acquainted with the use both of cotton and wool. The numerous specimens of pottery, seals, bracelets etc reveal that arts and crafts florished. The people lived a very comfortable life in well built houses and baths. The streets were all well planned and drains regularly drained out. It was essentially urban civilization. The merchant class contributed to the general prosperity and trade contacts seem to have been

established with the Sumerian and Mesopotamian civilization of those times.

There are many unsolved problems relating to the Indus Valley Civilization. For instance numerous seals have been discovered with inscriptions of the figures of animals and names in a script which is undecipherable. Sir John Marshall says that nothing that we know of in other countries bears any resemblance in point of style to the models of rams, dogs or the intaglio engravings on the seals-the best of which are distinguished by a breadth of treatment and a feeling for line and plastic form that have hardly been surpassed in glyptic art. It was not the Aryans who brought civilization to India which is rather untenable stand taken by Indo-Germanic scholars who seem to think that anything good in the world could have come from Aryan Race. 

Famous Personalities

1.	Who is known as 'Indian Bismarck'?
	A. Kamaraj B. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel C. Nehru D. Rajaji

2.	Ms Kim Campbell is the first woman Prime Minister of
	A. Portugal B. Canada C. Switzerland D. Congo 3.  Who is known as 'Desert Fox'? A. Bismarck B. Eisenhower C. Gen. Rommel D. Walter Scott 4.  The title of 'sparrow' given to A. Napoleon B. Major General Rajinder Singh C. T. T. Krishnamachari D. Sardar Patel 5.  Hitendra Desai was famous in the which field? A. Social Service B. Journalism C. Politics D. Literature

Indian Economy

1.

The central banking functions in India are performed by the Central Bank of India Reserve Bank of India State Bank of India Punjab National Bank

A. I, II B. II C. I D. II, III 2.  Development expenditure of the Central government does not include A. defence expenditure B. expenditure on economic services C. expenditure on social and community services D. grant to states 3.  ICICI is the name of a A. chemical industry B. bureau C. corporation D. financial institution 4.  Gilt-edged market means A. bullion market B. market of government securities C. market of guns D. market of pure metals

5.	In the last one decade, which one among the following sectors has attracted the highest foreign direct investment inflows into India?
	A. Chemicals other than fertilizers B. Services sector C. Food processing D. Telecommunication

World Geography

1.	The minor planets revolving between the orbits of Jupiter and Mars are called
	A. Novas B. Comets C. Meteors D. Asteroids

2.	The lowermost and the oldest epoch of the Tertiary Period of geologic time is
	A. Pliocene B. Palaeozoic C. Holocene D. Palaeocene 3.  The luminous coloured ring, surrounding the sun is called the A. nebula B. comet C. asteroid D. corona

4.	The longest ship canal in the world is the
	A. St. Laurence Seaway (USA and Canada) B. Suez canal, Egypt C. Kiel canal, Germany D. Panama canal, Central America 5.  The major geological events of the Palaeozoic era include A. Caledonian mountain rise, life comes ashore B. Appalachians and Central European mountains come up C. both (a) and (b) D. None of the above

Environmental Engineering

1.

Suspended solid present in the waste water generated in blast furnace gas cooling and cleaning plant is removed by

A. biological oxygen pond. B. radial settling tank (thickener) using coagulant (lime & ferrous sulphate). C. lagoons. D. filtration. 2.  Persons working in cement plants and limestone quarries are more prone to disease like A. cancer B. asthma C. silicosis D. flourosis (bone disease) 3.  Particulates (< 1μm size) remaining suspended in air indefinitely and transported by wind currents are called A. fumes B. mists C. smoke D. aerosols 4.  Operating principle of cyclone separator is based on the action of __________ dust particles. A. diffusion of B. centrifugal force on C. gravitational force on D. electrostatic force on

5.	Exposure to small amount of __________ results in high blood pressure & heart disease in human beings.
	A. hydrogen sulphide B. mercury C. cadmium D. asbestos

Petroleum Refinery Engineering

1.  Diesel used in naval applications has a minimum cetane number of A. 25 B. 35 C. 45 D. 65

2.	Which of the following tests is not done for transformer oil ?
	A. Flash point and acid value. B. Aniline point. C. Dielectric strength. D. Copper strip corrosion test. 3.  Which is the most undesirable component in kerosene ? A. Aromatics B. i-paraffins C. n-paraffins D. Naphthenes

4.

Pick out the wrong statement about the smoking tendency of various hydrocarbon constituents of kerosene.

A. Smoking tendency of hydrocarbons increases in the order : paraffins → isoparaffins → naphthenes → aromatics. B. Smoking tendency of paraffins increases with decrease in its molecular weight. C. Smoking tendency of naphthenes decreases with its increasing molecular weight & also on addition of double bond. D. Smoking tendency of aromatics decreases with increase in its molecular weight. 5.  Solvent used in duo-sol extraction for lube oil upgradation is a mixture of A. propane & phenol-cresol mixture. B. methyl ethyl ketone & glycol. C. phenol & furfural. D. propane & liquid sulphur dioxide.