Questions from History, Geography and Polity

Questions from History, Geography and Polity.

1.From origin to the delta, the Brahmaputra traverses-China, India and Bangladesh 

The Brahmaputra is one of the major rivers of Asia, a trans-boundary river which flows through China, India and Bangladesh.

2.The Girnar Hills are situated in which of the following States-Gujarat 

Girnar is a collection of mountains in the Junagadh District of Gujarat, India, situated near Junagadh at a distance of 327 km from Ahmedabad.

3.Which was the first hydel power project in India-Sivasamudram in Karnataka

Shivanasamudra is a small city in the Mandya District of the state of Karnataka, India. It is situated on the banks of the river Kaveri, which forms here the boundary to the Chamarajanagar District, and is the location of one of the first Hydro-electric Power stations in Asia, which was set up in the year 1902

4.Which hill stations name means place of the thunderbolt- Darjeeling

The name Darjeeling comes from the Tibetan words, Dorje (thunderbolt) and Ling (place or land), meaning the land of the thunderbolt.

5.The climatic zones are classified on the basis of- Rainfall

The climate map in such a scheme would be same as the mean annual rainfall map. Such system may be refined by subdividing classes according to distribution of precipitation throughout the year, whether uniform or seasonal.

6.'Moorlands' are- Areas where twisted shrubs and grasses grow 

Moorland is a type of habitat found in upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas and shrublands and mountain grasslands and shrublands biomes, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils.

7.Which of the following is the largest Archipelago in the world- Indonesia

An archipelago is a chain, cluster or collection of islands. Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world.

8.Vardhman Mahavir is also know as-Jena 

Mahavira was given the title Jīnā which subsequently became synonymous with Tirthankara

9.Before assuming the office of the Sultan of Delhi Balban was the Prime Minister of Sultan- Nasir-ud-din

Before assuming the office of the Sultan of Delhi Balban was the Prime Minister of Sultan Nasir-ud-din. Nasir-ud-din was the eighth sultan of the Mamluk Sultanate.

10.Taj Mahal was designed by- Ustad Isa 

The Taj Mahal is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the south bank of the Yamuna river in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1632 by the Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan (reigned 1628–1658), to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal

11.Which inscription mentions about the village administration under the Cholas- Uttaramerur

The Uttaramerur inscription, found in the village by this name in Chengalpattu district south of Chennai, has been studied and commented upon by many authorities, such as K. A. NilakantaSastri, S. KrishnaswamyIyengar, etc. The text of the (from V. Venkayya, in Annual Report on Epigraphy, 1904), was kindly provided by Dr. R. Nagaswamy, an eminent archaeologist, epigraphist and art expert of South India, who has authored many scholarly works.

12.The Upanishads were translated by DaraShikoh in Persian under the title of-Sirr-i-Akbar

He believed that what is referred to in the Quran as Kitab al-Maknun [The Hidden Book] is actually the Upanishads. It was inspired by this belief that he spent whatever time he could find in translating the Upanishads into Persian, with the help of several pundits of Banaras. His translation of the Upanishads is appropriately called Sirr-i-Akbar.

13.The famous Sun Temple at Konark was built by- Narasimha-I

Konark Sun Temple is a 13th-century Sun Temple at Konark in Odisha, India. It is believed that the temple was built by king Narasimhadeva I of Eastern Ganga Dynasty around 1250 CE.The temple is in the shape of a gigantic chariot elaborately carved stone wheels, pillars and walls. A major part of the structure is now in ruins.

14.Nurjahan's real name was- Mehr-un-Nisaa

Nur Jahan born as Mehr-un-Nissa, was Empress of the Mughal Empire as the chief consort of Emperor Jahangir. A strong, charismatic and well-educated woman, she is considered to be one of the most powerful and influential women of the 17th century Mughal Empire

15.Who was the Viceroy at the time of Quit India Movement- Lord Lin Lithgow

16.How many languages have recognized by the Constitution- 22

1) Assamese, (2) Bengali, (3) Gujarati, (4) Hindi, (5) Kannada, (6) Kashmiri, (7) Konkani, (8) Malayalam, (9) Manipuri, (10) Marathi, (11) Nepali, (12) Oriya, (13) Punjabi, (14) Sanskrit, (15) Sindhi, (16) Tamil, (17) Telugu, (18) Urdu (19) Bodo, (20) Santhali, (21) Maithili and (22) Dogri.

17.In case no party enjoys absolute majority in the Legislative Assembly of a state, the Governor will go by- His own discretion

In case no party commands absolute majority in the Legislative Assembly of the State or the majority party fails to elect its leader, the Governor can use some discretion

18.Which article of the Constitution of India is related to the establishment and Constitution of Supreme Court- Article 124

The Article 124 is related with Establishment and constitution of Supreme Court- (1) There shall be a Supreme Court of India consisting of a Chief Justice of India and, until Parliament by law prescribes a larger number, of not more than seven other Judges. (2) Every Judge of the Supreme Court shall be appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal on the recommendation of the National Judicial Appointments Commission referred to in article 124A and shall hold office until he attains the age of sixty-five years.

19.Which states enjoys the distinction of being the first Linguistic state of India-Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh is the first state in India to have been formed on a purely linguistic basis. On October 1, 1953, eleven districts of the Madras state were put together to form a new Andhra state with Kurnool as capital.

The final authority to interpret our Constitution is the- Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of India is the highest judicial forum and final court of appeal under the Constitution of India, the highest constitutional court, with the power of constitutional review.  

Riverside Cities and States in India”

 This is the following list will show the riverside cities in India.

India soil and types of agriculture

Soil:

• Soil is our prime and natural resources as India is an Agrarian country, soil plays a vital role in the economy of India.
• About 65 to 70% of the total population of the country is depended on agriculture .
• Our industry are mainly Agro-based industry.

Generally there are six types of soil found in India

• Alluvial soil
• Regur or Black soil
• Red soil
• Laterite soil
• Desert Soil
• Mountain soil

Alluvial Soil:

• Deposition of materials by sea and river is called alluvium and the soil formed due to deposition of alluvium is called as alluvial soil.
• This type of soil mainly found in the Indo-Ganga and Brahamputra plaini.e. the whole northern plain and in some parts of river basin in south and some plateau region.
• This soil is also  found in the deltas of the Mahanadi, Godavari,  Cauveri and Krishna.
• Alluvial soil can be broadly categorised in two types i.e. New alluvial soil and old alluvial soil.
• Old alluvial soils are found in slightly elevated areas far away from river and are clayey and sticky.
• New alluvial soil is found in the flood plain of the river and is much fertile in comparison to the old alluvial soil.
• Crops Grown : alluvial soil is suitable for the rabi and kharif crop like cereals, cottons, oilseeds  and sugarcane.

Regur or Black soil:

• The regur or black soils have developed extensively upon the Lava Plateaus of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh mainly Malwa and  are formed due to volcanic activities.
• These soils are very fertile and contain a high percentage of lime and a moderate amount of potash.
• The type of soil is especially suited for the cultivation of cotton and hence sometimes called 'black cotton soil.'
  Crops Grown: Cotton, Jowar, Wheat, Linsead, Gram, Fruit and Vegetable.

Red Soils:

•  Red soils develop on granite and geneses rocks under low rainfall condition i.e. due to weathering of the metamorphic rocks.
• These soils are red in colour due to high concentration of Iron Oxide.
•  These soils are friable and medium fertile and found mainly in almost whole of Tamil Nadu, South-eastern Karnataka, North-eastern and South-eastern Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand the major parts of Orissa, and the Hills and Plateaus of North-east India.
• These soils are deficient in Phosphoric acid, organic matter and nitrogenous material.
• Crops Grown: Wheat, Rice, Millet's, Pulses.

Laterite Soils:

•  Laterite is a kind of clayey rock or soil formed under high temperatureand high rainfall and with alternate dry and wet period,.
• Laterite and lateritic soils are found in South Maharashtra, the Western Ghats in Kerala and Karnataka, at places in Odisha, small parts of Chottanagpur and  in some parts of Assam, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and in western West Bengal (particularly in Birbhum district).
• Crops Grown:
• This type of soil is unsuitable for agriculture due to high content ofacidity and inability to retain moisture.

Desert soil:

• This type of soils found in Rajasthan, Haryana and the South Punjab, and are sandy.
• In the absence of sufficient wash by rain water soils have become salineand rather unfit for cultivation.
•  In spite of that cultivation can be carried on with the help of modern irrigation.
• Wheat, bajra, groundnut, etc. can be grown in this soil.
• This type of soil is rich in Phosphatesand Calcium but deficient in Nitrogen and humus.

Mountain Soil:

• Soil found in higher altitude on mountain is called as Mountain soil.
• The characteristics of this type of soil are changed according to the altitudes.
• This type of soil is suitable for the cultivation of potatoes, fruits, tea coffee and spices and wheat.

Types of Agriculture in India:

There are different types of farming activities performed in India which are as follows:

Subsistence Farming:

• Subsistence farming is a type of farming in which nearly all the crops or livestock raised are used to maintain the farmer and farmer's family leaving little.
• Subsistence farms usually consist of no more than a few acres, and farm technology tends to be primitive and of low yield.

Mixed farming:

• Mixed farming is an agricultural system in which a farmer conducts different agricultural practice together, such as cash crops and livestock
• The aim is to increase income through different sources and to complement land and labour demands across the year.

Shifting cultivation:

• Shifting cultivation means migratory shifting agriculture.
•  Under this system, a plot of land is cultivated for a few years and then, when the crop yield declines because of soil exhaustion and the effects of pests and weeds, is deserted for another area.
• Here the ground is again cleared by slash-and-burn methods, and the procedure is repeated.
• Shifting cultivation is predominant in the forest areas of Assam (Known as jhum), Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram, Arunchal Predesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh (Podu).

Extensive Farming:

• This is a system of farming in which the farmer uses the limited amount of labour and capital on relatively large area.
• This type of agriculture is practiced in countries where population size is small and land is enough.
• Per acre yield is low but the overall production is in surplus due to less population.
• Here machines and technology is used in farming.

Intensive Farming:

• This is a system of farming in which the cultivator uses larger amount of labour and capital on a relatively small area.
• This type of farming is performed in countries where the population to land ratio is high i.e. population is big and land is small.
• Annually two or three types of crops are grown over the land.
• Manual labour is used.

Plantation Agriculture

• In this type of agriculture cash crops are mainly cultivated.
• A single crop like rubber, sugarcane, coffee, tea is grown.
• These crops are major items of  export.

World Important Desert

Important Deserts of the world 

Desert: A desert is a barren area of land where little precipitation occurs and consequently living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. in desert their is less precipitation

1. Continent: Antarctica

• Desert Name: Antartic

2. Continent : Asia,Europe ,north america:

• Desert Name: Arctic desert

3. Continent: Asia

Desert Name: Karakorum, Thar desert,Kyzyl Kum,Taklamakan
4. Continent:Africa

• Desert Name: Kalahari,Namib,Sahara,

5. Continent: Australia

• Desert Name: Gibson,Great Sandy,Great Victoria,Simpson,Tanami

6. Continent: Europe

• Desert Name: Arabian,Dasht-e Kavir,Dasht-e Lut

7. Continent: North America

• Desert Name:Great Basin, Mojave, Sonoran

8. Continent: South America

Desert Name: Atacama,Patagonian

Important Points to be remember    about Important  desert of the world

Desert name: Antartic

• largest desert in the world
• largest cold desert in the world
• present in south pole
• area: 1,38,29,430 square km
• type: polar

Desert name: Arctic desert

• second largest desert in the world
• area:1,37,26,937 square km
• Type: polar
• present in south pole

Desert name: Gobi

• present in asia
• area:1,300,000 square km
• cold winter desert

Desert name: Sahara

• largest hot desert
• present in Africa
• subtropical desert
• 94,00,000 square km

Desert name: Atacama

• The Driest Desert on the Earth
• area 1,40,000 square km
• present in Chile
• Type: Cool Coastal

Desert name: Great Basin

• Type: Cold Winter
• Present in US
• area: 4,92,000 square km

Types of Question Can be asked in SSC  & Other competitive Exam

1. Which is the largest desert of the world : Antarctica desert
2. Which is the largest cold desert in the world: Antarctica desert
3. Which is the largest hot desert of the world: Sahara desert
4. Which is the largest desert of India:Thar desert
5. Which is the largest driest desert of the world: Atacama desert( present in Chile in south America)
6. Which is the second largest desert of the world: Arctic desert
7. Where is Aklamakan desert : china

Chief crops and their Producing States

Chief Crops and Producing States

Cereals

• Wheat - Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh
• Rice – West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh
• Gram – Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu
• Barley – Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan
• Bajra – Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan

Cash Crops

• Sugarcane - Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra
• Poppy – Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh

Oil Seeds

• Coconut – Kerala and Tamil Nadu
• Linseed – Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana
• Groundnut – Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu
• Rape seed and mustard – Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana
• Sesame – Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan
• Sunflower – Karnataka,  Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra

Fibre Crops

• Cotton – Maharashtra and Gujarat
• Jute – West Bengal and Bihar
• Silk – Karnataka and Kerala
• Hemp – Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh

Plantations

• Coffee – Karnataka and Kerala
• Rubber – Kerala and Karnataka
• Tea – Assam and Kerala
• Tobacco – Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh

Spices

•  Pepper – Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu
• Cashewnuts – Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh
• Ginger – Kerala and Uttar Pradesh
• Turmeric – Andhra Pradesh and Odisha
•  

All important Points about our Solar system

• The sun, eight planets, satellites some other celestial bodies known as asteroids and meteoroids form the solar system. We often call it a Solar Family with the sun as its head.
• The Sun is the center of solar system. It is huge and made of extremely hot gases. It provides the pulling force that binds the Solar System.
• The eight planets in the Solar System are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars Jupiter Saturn, Uranus & Neptune.
• All the planets of the Solar System move around the Sun in an elongated fixed path called orbits.
• The Sun consists of 70% hydrogen, 28% Helium & 2% other gases .Its temperature is about 6000 °c & it is about 150 millions Kms away from the earth.
• The Sun's light takes about 8 mins to reach earth. There are many theories that describe the evolution of the solar system. The most important and popular ones are

1. Gaseous Hypothesis
2. Nebular Theory
3. Tidal Hypothesis
4. Planetesimal Hypothesis
5. Binary- Sterr Hypothesis

The planets can be divided into two groups

a) Terrestrial Planets – Mercury, Venus earth & Mars

b) Jovian or Outer planets – Jupiter, Saturn Uranus, Neptune Pluto.

Stars:  Celestial bodies that are big hot & made of gases., have their own light and heat.

Constellation: Various patterns formed by different groups of stars are called constellation. Big bear is an example.

Satellite: Is a celestial body that moves around the planets.

Moon is the only satellite of the Earth. Its diameter is one quarter that of earth. It is about 3,84,4000 km away from the earth. It takes about 27 days to revolve around the earth and about the same time to rotate and its own axis. As a result only one side of the moon is visible to us on the earth .It does not have any favorable conditions like air or water for life.

Note: Neil Armstrong was the first man to land a moon's surface, on July 29, 1969.

Asteroids: They are tiny bodies that move around the Sun., found between the orbits of Mars &Jupiter.

Meteoroids: These are small rock pieces that move around the Sun

Galaxy: It is a huge system of billions of stars and clouds of dust and gases. Millions of such galaxies make up the universe. Our solar system is a part of Milky Way Galaxy.

IMPORTANT FACTS

Largest-/ Biggest Planet          Jupiter

Smallest Planet                          Mercury

Satellites of Earth                      Moon

Nearest planet to the Sun        Mercury

Earth's twin                                 Venus

Brightest Planet                          Venus

Brightest Star                              Ceres

Planets with rings around        Saturn

Red Planet                                   Mars

Blue planet                                  earth

National Symbols of India

This section introduces you to the National Identity Elements of India. These symbols are intrinsic to the Indian identity and heritage. Indians of all demographics backgrounds across the world are proud of these National Symbols as they infuse a sense of pride and patriotism in every Indian's heart.

National Flag

The National Flag is a horizontal tricolor of deep saffron (kesaria) at the top, white in the middle and dark green at the bottom in equal proportion. The ratio of width of the flag to its length is two to three. In the centre of the white band is a navy-blue wheel which represents the chakra.

The top saffron colour, indicates the strength and courage of the country. The white middle band indicates peace and truth with Dharma Chakra. The green shows the fertility, growth and auspiciousness of the land.

Its design is that of the wheel which appears on the abacus of the Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka. Its diameter approximates to the width of the white band and it has 24 spokes. The design of the National Flag was adopted by the Constituent Assembly of India on 22 July 1947.

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National Anthem

The National Anthem of India Jana-gana-mana, composed originally in Bengali by Rabindranath Tagore, was adopted in its Hindi version by the Constituent Assembly as the National Anthem of India on 24 January 1950. It was first sung on 27 December 1911 at the Kolkata Session of the Indian National Congress.

The complete song consists of five stanzas. The first stanza contains the full version of the National Anthem.

Playing time of the full version of the national anthem is approximately 52 seconds. A short version consisting of the first and last lines of the stanza (playing time approximately 20 seconds) is also played on certain occasions.

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National Song

The song Vande Mataram, composed in Sanskrit by Bankimchandra Chatterji, was a source of inspiration to the people in their struggle for freedom. It has an equal status with Jana-gana-mana. On January 24, 1950, the President, Dr. Rajendra Prasad came up with a statement in the Constituent Assembly, "the song Vande Mataram, which has played a historic part in the struggle for Indian freedom, shall be honoured equally with Jana Gana Mana and shall have equal status with it."

The first political occasion when it was sung was the 1896 session of the Indian National Congress. The song was a part of Bankimchandra's most famous novel Anand Math (1882).

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State Emblem

The state emblem is an adaptation from the Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka. In the original, there are four lions, standing back to back, mounted on an abacus with a frieze carrying sculptures in high relief of an elephant, a galloping horse, a bull and a lion separated by intervening wheels over a bell-shaped lotus. Carved out of a single block of polished sandstone, the Capital is crowned by the Wheel of the Law (Dharma Chakra).

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National Bird

The Indian peacock, Pavo cristatus, the National Bird of India, is a colourful, swan-sized bird, with a fan-shaped crest of feathers, a white patch under the eye and a long, slender neck. The male of the species is more colourful than the female, with a glistening blue breast and neck and a spectacular bronze-green tail of around 200 elongated feathers. The female is brownish, slightly smaller than the male and lacks the tail. The elaborate courtship dance of the male, fanning out the tail and preening its feathers is a gorgeous sight.

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National Animal

The magnificent tiger, Panthera tigris is a striped animal. It has a thick yellow coat of fur with dark stripes. The combination of grace, strength, agility and enormous power has earned the tiger its pride of place as the national animal of India.

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National Flower

Lotus (Nelumbo Nucifera Gaertn) is the National Flower of India. It is a sacred flower and occupies a unique position in the art and mythology of ancient India and has been an auspicious symbol of Indian culture since time immemorial.

India is rich in flora. Currently available data place India in the tenth position in the world and fourth in Asia in plant diversity. From about 70 per cent geographical area surveyed so far, 47,000 species of plants have been described by the Botanical Survey of India (BSI).

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Profile of India

India is one of the oldest civilizations in the world with a kaleidoscopic variety and rich cultural heritage. It has achieved all-round socio-economic progress during the last 70 years of its Independence. India has become self-sufficient in agricultural production and is now one of the top industrialized countries in the world and one of the few nations to have gone into outer space to conquer nature for the benefit of the people. It covers an area of 32,87,263 sq. km (1,269,346 sq mi), extending from the snow-covered Himalayan heights to the tropical rain forests of the south. As the 7th largest country in the world, India stands apart from the rest of Asia, marked off as it is by mountains and the sea, which give the country a distinct geographical entity. Bounded by the Great Himalayas in the north, it stretches southwards and at the Tropic of Cancer, tapers off into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal on the east and the Arabian Sea on the west.

Lying entirely in the northern hemisphere, the mainland extends between latitudes 8° 4' and 37° 6' north, longitudes 68° 7' and 97° 25' east and measures about 3,214 km from north to south between the extreme latitudes and about 2,933 km from east to west between the extreme longitudes. It has a land frontier of about 15,200 km. The total length of the coastline of the mainland, Lakshadweep Islands and Andaman & Nicobar Islands is 7,516.6 km.

GEOGRAPHY

Particulars	Description
Location	The Indian peninsula is separated from mainland Asia by the Himalayas. The Country is surrounded by the Bay of Bengal in the east, the Arabian Sea in the west, and the Indian Ocean to the south.
Geographic Coordinates	Lying entirely in the Northern Hemisphere, the Country extends between 8° 4' and 37° 6' latitudes north of the Equator, and 68° 7' and 97° 25' longitudes east of it.
Indian Standard Time	GMT + 05:30
Area	3.3 Million sq. km
Telephone Country Code	+91
Border Countries	Afghanistan and Pakistan to the north-west; China, Bhutan and Nepal to the north; Myanmar to the east; and Bangladesh to the east of West Bengal. Sri Lanka is separated from India by a narrow channel of sea, formed by Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar.
Coastline	7,517 km encompassing the mainland, Lakshadweep Islands, and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
Climate	The climate of India can broadly be classified as a tropical monsoon one. But, in spite of much of the northern part of India lying beyond the tropical zone, the entire country has a tropical climate marked by relatively high temperatures and dry winters. There are four seasons: winter (December-February) summer (March-June) south-west monsoon season (June-September) post monsoon season (October-November)
Terrain	The mainland comprises of four regions, namely the great mountain zone, plains of the Ganga and the Indus, the desert region, and the southern peninsula.
Natural Resources	Coal, iron ore, manganese ore, mica, bauxite, petroleum, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, magnesite, limestone, arable land, dolomite, barytes, kaolin, gypsum, apatite, phosphorite, steatite, fluorite, etc.
Natural Hazards	Monsoon floods, flash floods, earthquakes, droughts, and landslides.
Environment - Current Issues	Air pollution control, energy conservation, solid waste management, oil and gas conservation, forest conservation, etc.
Environment - International Agreements	Rio Declaration on environment and development, Cartagena Protocol on biosafety, Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on climatic change, World Trade Agreement, Helsinki Protocol to LRTAP on the reduction of sulfur emissions of nitrogen oxides or their transboundary fluxes (Nox Protocol), and Geneva Protocol to LRTAP concerning the control of emissions of volatile organic compounds or their transboundary fluxes (VOCs Protocol).
Geography - Note	India occupies a major portion of the south Asian subcontinent.
Download various maps of India	Physical, Political, Population, Rain fall, Railway & Sea Routes, Road, Soil, etc.

PEOPLE

Particulars	Description
Population	India's population, as on 1 March 2011 stood at 1,210,193,422 (623.7 million males and 586.4 million females).
Population Growth Rate	The average annual exponential growth rate stands at 1.64 per cent during 2001-2011.
Birth Rate	The Crude Birth rate was 18.3 in 2009.
Death Rate	The Crude Death rate was 7.3 in 2009.
Life Expectancy Rate	65.8 years (Males); 68.1 years (Females) in the period 2006-2011.
Sex Ratio	940 females per 1000 males according to 2011 census
Nationality	Indian
Ethnic Groups	All the five major racial types - Australoid, Mongoloid, Europoid, Caucasian, and Negroid find representation among the people of India.
Religions	According to the 2001 census, out of the total population of 1,028 million in the Country, Hindus constituted the majority with 80.5%, Muslims came second at 13.4%, followed by Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, and others.
Languages	There are 22 different languages that have been recognised by the Constitution of India, of which Hindi is an Official Language. Article 343(3) empowered Parliament to provide by law for continued use of English for official purposes.
Literacy	According to the provisional results of the 2011 census, the literacy rate in the Country stands at 74.04 per cent, 82.14% for males and 65.46% for females.

GOVERNMENT

Particulars	Description
Country Name	Republic of India; Bharat Ganrajya
Government Type	Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic with a Parliamentary system of Government.
Capital	New Delhi
Administrative Divisions	29 States and 7 Union Territories.
Independence	15th August 1947 (From the British Colonial Rule)
Constitution	The Constitution of India came into force on 26th January 1950.
Legal System	The Constitution of India is the fountain source of the legal system in the Country.
Executive Branch	The President of India is the Head of the State, while the Prime Minister is the Head of the Government, and runs office with the support of the Council of Ministers who form the Cabinet Ministry.
Legislative Branch	The Indian Legislature comprises of the Lok Sabha (House of the People) and the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) forming both the Houses of the Parliament.
Judicial Branch	The Supreme Court of India is the apex body of the Indian legal system, followed by other High Courts and subordinate Courts.
Flag Description	The National Flag is a horizontal tricolour of deep saffron (kesaria) at the top, white in the middle, and dark green at the bottom in equal proportion. At the centre of the white band is a navy blue wheel, which is a representation of the Ashoka Chakra at Sarnath.
National Days	26th January (Republic Day) 15th August (Independence Day) 2nd October (Gandhi Jayanti; Mahatma Gandhi's Birthday)

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World Geography_Earth Important Facts Part-II

Earth Solar System
· Earth solar system consists of :
· The Sun
· The Planets
· Dwarf Planets and countless fragments of left –overs called asteroids, meteors, comets and satellites of the planets (Called small solar system Bodies).
Solar System Some Facts
· Biggest Planet: Jupiter
· Smallest Planet: Mercury
· Nearest Planet to Sun: Mercury
· Farthest Planet from Sun: Neptune
· Nearest Planet to Earth: Venus
· Brightest Planet: Venus
· Brightest star after Sun Sirius
· Planet with maximum satellites: Jupiter
· Coldest Planet: Neptune
· Hottest Planet: Venus
· Heaviest Planet: Jupiter
· Red Planet: Mars
· Biggest Satellite: Gannymede
· Smallest Satellite: Deimos
· Blue Planet: Earth
· Morning/Evening Star: Venus
· Earth's Twin: Venus
· Green Planet: Neptune

Planet with a big red spot: Jupiter
· Lord of the Heavens: Jupiter
· Greatest Diurnal Temperature: Mercury
Earth Movement
· The Earth also called Blue Planet. It is the densest of all planets.
· Earth Circumference : 40,232 Kilometers.
· Earth Area : 510 million Square Kilometers
Average distance from sun: 149 million-Kilometers.
· Earth Perihelion : Nearest position of earth to sun. The earth reaches its perihelion on January 3 every year at a distance of about 147 million-Kilometers.
· Aphelion : Farthest position of earth from sun. The earth reaches its aphelion on July 4, when the earth is at a distance of 152 million Kilometers.
· The shape of the earth is oblate spheroid or oblate ellipsoid (i.e. almost spherical, flattened a little at the poles with a slight bulge at the centre).
Types of Earth Movements:
· 1. Rotation or daily movement.
· 2. Revolution or annual movement.
Earth Rotation
· Spins on its imaginary axis from west to east in 23 hrs, 56 min and 40.91 sec.
· Rotational velocity at equator is 1667 Kilometers/h and it decreases towards the poles, where it is zero.
Earth’s rotation results in
· i . Causation of days and nights;
· ii . A difference of one hour between two meridians which are 15° apart;
· iii. Change in the direction of wind and ocean currents;
· Rise and fall of tides everyday.
· The longest day in North Hemisphere is June 21, while shortest day is on 22 Dec (Vice-versa in S. Hemisphere).
· Days and nights are almost equal at the equator. 

Earth Revolution
· It is earth’s motion in elliptical orbit around the sun. Earth’s average orbital velocity is 29.79 Kilometers/s.
· Takes 365 days, 5 hrs, 48 min and 45.51 sec. It results in one extra day every fourth year.
· Revolution of the earth results in
i . Change of seasons
ii . Variation in the lengths of days and nights at different times of the year
iii . Shifting of wind belts
iv . Determination of latitudes.
The 4 Earth Seasons are:

Spring: On March 21, the sun is directly overhead the equator. This is the season of spring in the northern hemisphere.
· Summer: On June 21, the sun is directly overhead the Tropic of Cancer. Thus, the northern hemisphere experiences summer.
· Autumn: On September 23, the sun returns to the equator, and the northern hemisphere experiences autumn.
· Winter: On December 22, the sun is at the Tropic of Capricorn, and the northern hemisphere experiences winter.
Earth Latitude and Longitude
Earth Latitude
· Imaginary lines drawn parallel to the equator. Measured as an angle whose apex is at the centre of the earth
· The equator represents 0° latitude, while the North Pole is 90° N and the South Pole 90° S
· 23½° N represents Tropic of Cancer while 23½° S represents Tropic of Capricorn.\
· 66½° N represents Arctic Circle while 66½° S represents Antarctic Circle.
· There are total 181 latitudes including the equator. Each parallel of latitude is a circle, but they are not equal.
· The circle becomes smaller towards the poles. Equator is the ‘Greatest Circle’ that can be drawn on the earth’s surface.
· The distance between any two parallels of latitude is always equal.
Earth Longitude
· It is the angular distance measured from die centre of the earth. On the globe the lines of longitude are drawn as a series of semicircles that extend from the North Pole to the South Pole through the equator. They are also called meridians.
· The distance between any two meridians is not equal. At the equator, 1 degree = 111 km. At 30°N or S, it is 96.5 km. It goes on decreasing this way until it is zero at the poles.
· There are 360 meridians of longitude. The prime meridian is a longitude of 00, passing through the Royal Observatory at Greenwich near London.
· This meridian is taken by geographers to divide the earth into the eastern and the western hemispheres. · Each meridian of longitude is a semi-circle. 180° meridian (International Date Line) lies exactly opposite to ° meridian. Such points are called Antipodl Points.
· The earth is divided into 24 longitudinal zones, each being 15° or 1 hour apart in time (4 minutes / degree) 

Longitude and Time
· Places that are on the same meridian have the same local (sun) time. Since the earth makes one complete revolution of 360° in 24 hours, it passes through 15° in one hour or 1° in 4 minutes.
· The earth rotates from west to east, hence places east of Greenwich see the sun earlier and gain time whereas places west of Greenwich see the sun later and lose time.
· India, whose longitudinal extent is approx. 30°, has adopted only one time zone, selecting the 82.5°E for the standard time which is 5 hours and 30 minutes ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time).

International Date Line
· It is the 180° meridian running over the Pacific Ocean, deviating at Aleutian Islands, Fiji, Samoa and Gilbert Islands.
· Travelers crossing the Date Line from west to east (i.e., from Japan to USA) repeat a day and travelers crossing it from east to west (i.e., from USA to Japan) lose a day.
Earth Eclipses
Earth Lunar Eclipse
· When earth comes between sun and moon. · Occurs only on a full moon day. However, it does not occur on every full moon day because the moon is so small and the plane of its orbit is tilted about 5° with respect to the plane of the earth’s orbit. It is for this reason that eclipses do not occur every month. · This light is red because the atmosphere scatters the other colors present in sunlight in greater amounts than it does red.
Earth Tides
Earth Tides
· Refer to the phenomenon of regular rise and fall of the sea water. Though both sun and moon exert gravitational force on earth, resulting in the production of tides, the moon, by nature of its closeness to the earth, has greater control over the timings of the tidal rises and falls.
· The interval between two tides is 12 hrs and 26 minutes.
Spring Tide
· When the sun, moon and the earth are in a straight line, the gravitational force is at its greatest because tide producing forces of both sun and moon complement each other and they pull together. This produces tides of unusually great range, called the spring tide.
· These occur about twice a month: at new moon when the sun and the moon are in conjugation and at full moon when they are in opposition. 

Neap Tide
· Lowest magnitude as the tide producing forces of sun and moon act opposite to each other, as they form a triangle.
· This happens during phases of first and third quarter, i.e., at half moon, the sun’s tide producing force tends to balance the tide producing force of the moon., resulting in tides of unusually small range known as neap tides.

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World Geography_Cosmology Important Facts Part-I

 

Cosmology Important Facts

The Universe or the Cosmos, as perceived today, consists of millions of Galaxies. A galaxy is a huge congregation of stars held together by the forces of gravity.
· Edwin Hubble in 1924 first demonstrated existence of galaxies beyond Milky Way. He proved that these galaxies are flying away from each other and that the farther they are, the faster they fly. This means that the universe is expanding like a balloon that is being blown up.
· In 140 AD, Ptolemy propounded the theory that the earth was the centre of the universe and the sun and other heavenly bodies revolved around it. In 1543, Copernicus argued that the sun and not the earth was the centre of the universe.
· However, he still equated the universe with the solar system. Kepler supported Copernicus but said that the sun was the centre of the solar system and not the universe. In 1805, Hershel made it clear that the solar system was a part of the much larger system of stars called galaxy.
· Our galaxy is Milky Way Galaxy (or the Akash Ganga). It is spiral in shape. It consists of over a 100 billion stars rotating and revolving about its centre. Nearest galaxy to ours is Andromeda.
· The Big Bang Theory evaluates that 15 billion years ago, cosmic matter (universe) was in an extremely compressed state, from which expansion started by a primordial explosion. This explosion broke up the superdense ball and cast its fragments far out into space, where they are still traveling at thousands of miles per second.
Measurement Units of Space are :
· Light Year : It is the distance covered by light in one year in vacuum at a speed of 3 105 km/s.
· Astronomical Unit (A.U) : It is the mean distance between the earth and the sun. One light year is equal to 60,000 A.U.
· Parsec : It represents the distance at which the mean radius of earth’s orbit subtends an angle of one second of an arc. It is equal to 3.26 light years.
· Stars are self – luminous bodies that account for 98 per cent of the material in the galaxy. The rest 2 per cent consists of interstellar or galactic gas and dust in an attenuated form.
· A star’s colour indicates the temperature of its surface. Blue colour denotes maximum temperature. Then comes yellow, then red, etc.
· The life of a star is spread over billions of years. It begins to form by compression of galactic gas and dust. Compression generates heat which in turn causes hydrogen to be converted into helium in nuclear fusion, thereby emitting large amount of heat and light.
· If the star is of sun’s size, it becomes a White Dwarf. Their central density can reach up to 10grams per cubic cm.
· If die star is bigger than the sun but not more than twice as big, it will turn into a Neutron Star or Pulsar. Their Central density is 1014 grams per cubic cm. They are formed due to Novae or Super novae explosion.

Stars having mass greater than three times that of the sun, because of their great gravitational power, have contracteso much that they have developed super density of 1016 grams per cubic cm. It is so dense that nothing, not even light, can escape from its gravity and hence called ‘Black Hole’. 

· Brightest star outside our Solar System is Sirius, also called Dog Star.
· Closest star of Solar System is Proxima Centauri (4.2 light years away). Then come Alpha Centauri (4.3
light years away) and Barnard’s Star (5.9 light years away). 

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Countries and Capitals – GK

List of Countries and Capitals

As the capital cities of their countries, these towns differ greatly in terms of safety, prices, health care, pollutions level and other conditions. Given below is the list of Countries and Capitals in alphabetical order.

Country	Capital
Afghanistan	Kabul
Albania	Tirana
Algeria	Algiers
Angola	Luanda
Argentina	Buenos Aires
Australia	Canberra
Austria	Vienna
Bahamas	Nassau
Bahrain	Manama
Barbados	Bridgetown
Belarus	Minsk
Belgium	Brussels
Bermuda	Hamilton
Bhutan	Thimphu
Bolivia	Sucre
Brazil	Brasilia
Bulgaria	Sofia
Cambodia	Phnom Penh
Cameroon	Yaoundé
Canada	Ottawa
Chile	Santiago
China	Beijing
Colombia	Bogota
Croatia	Zagreb
Cuba	Havana
Cyprus	Nicosia
Czech republic	Prague
Denmark	Copenhagen
Egypt	Cairo
Ethiopia	Addis Ababa
Fiji	Suva
Finland	Helsinki
France	Paris
Gambia	Banjul
Georgia	Tbilisi
Germany	Berlin
Ghana	Accra
Greece	Athens
Hungary	Budapest
Iceland	Reykjavik
Indonesia	Jakarta
Iran	Tehran
Iraq	Baghdad
Ireland	Dublin
Israel	Jerusalem
Italy	Rome
Jamaica	Kingston
Japan	Tokyo
Kazakhstan	Astana
Kenya	Nairobi
Kyrgyzstan	Bishkek
Laos	Vientiane
Latvia	Riga
Lebanon	Beirut
Liberia	Monrovia
Libya	Tripoli
Lithuania	Vilnius
Luxembourg	Luxembourg
Madagascar	Antananarivo
Malaysia	Kuala Lumpur
Maldives	Male
Mali	Bamako
Malta	Valletta
Mauritius	Port Louis
Mexico	Mexico
Monaco	Monaco
Mongolia	Ulaanbaatar
Morocco	Rabat
Mozambique	Maputo
Myanmar	Naypyidaw
Namibia	Windhoek
Nepal	Kathmandu
Netherlands	Amsterdam
Nigeria	Abuja
New Zealand	Wellington
North Korea	Pyongyang
Norway	Oslo
Oman	Muscat
Pakistan	Islamabad
Philippines	Manila
Poland	Warsaw
Portugal	Lisbon
Qatar	Doha
Romania	Bucharest
Russia	Moscow
Rwanda	Kigali
Saudi Arabia	Riyadh
Serbia	Belgrade
Seychelles	Victoria
Sierra Leone	Freetown
Somalia	Mogadishu
South Africa	Cape town
South Korea	Seoul
South Sudan	Juba
Spain	Madrid
Sri Lanka	Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte
Sudan	Khartoum
Sweden	Stockholm
Switzerland	Bern
Syria	Damascus
Taiwan	Taipei
Tajikistan	Dushanbe
Tanzania	Dodoma
Thailand	Bangkok
Tunisia	Tunis
Turkey	Ankara
Turkmenistan	Ashgabat
Uganda	Kampala
United Arab Emirates	Abu Dhabi
United States of America	Washington, D.C.
Uruguay	Montevideo
Uzbekistan	Tashkent
Zambia	Lusaka
Zimbabwe	Harare