1. Difficultly level
   1. .vs CSAT 2013
   2. .vs other exams
2. How to prepare Geography for CSAT-2015?
   1. Physical Geography
   2. World Geography
   3. Indian Geography
3. [Act 1] Physical Geography
   1. Q1: Evolution vs Glacial cycles
   2. Q2: Seasonal wind reversal
4. [Act 2] India Eco/Human Geography
   1. Q1: Changpa people
   2. Q2: Saree Towns
5. [Act 2] India Map/location
   1. Q1: Rivers of Arunanchal Pradesh
   2. Q2: Hills and Coasts
   3. Q3: Highways
   4. Q4: 10-Degree Channel
6. [Act 3] World Map
   1. Q1: Turkey Location
   2. Q2: Cities of SE.Asia

Difficultly level

Physical Geography

1.Glacial cycle	Medium. By common understanding both responsible but a player would hesitate before ticking in haste.
2.Seasonal wind reversal	Easy. Verbatim answer in NCERT

 

Indian geography

1.Changpa	Difficult. Because hard to memorize location and occupation of all tribes across India.
2.Saree	Easy-to-medium depending on your taste for such economic geography factoids.
3.Arunanchal rivers	Can be solved through elimination by information from NCERT and India Yearbook But in real life, hard to recall so many rivers in the exam.
4. Hills & coasts	Same as above
5.Highways	Difficult to recall three different national highways and their locations.
6. 10 degree channel	Easy. Verbatim answer in NCERT

 

World Geography

1.Turkey location	Turkey been in news for “twitter ban” & assorted other issues. Easy: for those who tend to cross check location of each country in news while reading news. Difficult: for those who downplay world geography map preparation
2.SE-Asia cities	Same as above.

.vs CSAT 2013

Geography Questions in UPSC prelims

CSAT 2013	CSAT 2014
World geography 2 questions- one on map, one on climate	2 Qs but both on map
Good no. of questions from NCERT class11 India Physical Geography	same
1 MCQ on tribes of India	same
1 Q on season	same (monsoon)
1 Q on Narmada river	1 Q on river but map/factoid type.
—	I’ve counted energy-wildlife sanctuary etc. questions under “environment”. We’ll see it in next article.

.vs other exams

Some convergence, some divergence

CDS, CAPF	CSAT 2014
Ridiculously difficult questions from geology and landforms- answers not even available in Goh Cheng & other routine books.	Thankfully, that lunacy is not repeated here.
CDS 2014: questions on rivers and hills	similar questions with parallel difficulty
map based question CDS 2014: refineries north to South CAP 2014: land locked country, meridian that forms boundary etc.	cities of S.E. Asia from South to north 10 degree channel Turkey located between which seas?
Census related questions asked	nope
CAPF 2014: Physical geography “cause-effect” type questions that require ‘understanding’ of the topic.	Nope. Direct factoids / GK type. Just had to recall them.

How to prepare Geography for CSAT-2015?

In CSAT-2014, majority of the geography questions could be solved through NCERTs and School Atlas. Therefore, preparation must begin from there:

• NCERT: Topicwise zip files available at Mrunal.org/Download
• School Atlas: Oxford OR Orient Blackswan

Physical Geography

Topic	NCERT Subject and Chapter
Universe	Science Class 8 Ch.17Geography Class 6 Ch.1Geography Class 11 Ch 2.
Earth Basics	Geography Class 6 Ch.2 to 6Geography Class 11 Ch.1, 3 & 4
Geology	Geography Class 11 Ch.5 to 7
climate	Geography Class 11 Ch.8 to 12
Ocean	Geography Class 11 Ch.13 & 14
Disaster	Geography Class 11 (Indian Geography) Ch.7 Science Class7 ch8 Science Class 8 ch15
Misc.	Geography Class 11 Ch.1 & glossary
After NCERTis done	Selective study from Spectrum’s Geography book (Hindi | English) OR Goh Che Leong’s Certificate Physical & Human Geography book OR General Studies Manual

World Geography

NCERT Class	Chapter
7	7 to 10
8	1,3,5,6
12 (Human Geography)	1 to 10

Lucent’s GK: if time permits, for famous cities, rivers, mount ranges and other GK

Indian Geography

TOPIC	CLASS	CHAPTERS
Indiabasic	6	7
	9	1, 2, 4
	11	1 & 2
rivers	9	3
	10	3
	11	3
	12	6
Economicgeography	10	1,5, 6, 7
	12	7 to 12
HumanGeography	9	6
	12	1 to 4
AfterNCERT	(MUST) India Yearbook Chapter 1 “Land and People” (Hindi | English). Important: those new to game, don’t buy right now, Wait for India yearbook 2015 to be published next year. Selective study from Spectrum’s Geography book (Hindi | English) OR DR Khullar’s India: A comprehensive Geography

Related: how to prepare Geography for Mains GS paper1. Click me

[Act 1] Answerkey: Physical Geography

Q1: Evolution vs Glacial cycles

Which of the following phenomena might have influenced the evolution of organisms?

1. Continental drift
2. Glacial cycles

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2.

Continental drift: 200 million years ago, that large continent Pangaea starts breaking up. Last Glacial cycle ended 15000 years ago. And as per the Geological timeline-table given in TMH, page 50-51, there were signs of evolution at both stages. Therefore, both events “might” have influenced the evolution. Anyways, for solid reference:

Continental drift	One of the most prominent example of the effect of continental drift on evolution of organisms, is the unique primates found in Australia and South America. Ref.Google book#1
Glacial cycle	The final stages of evolution of Genus Homo occurs in the last 3 glacial cycles. Ref google book#2

Therefore, answer C Both 1 and 2 correct.

Q2: Seasonal wind reversal

The seasonal reversal of winds is the typical characteristic of

1. Equatorial climate
2. Mediterranean climate
3. Monsoon climate
4. All of the above climates

Answer C because

• Class11 India Physical, Chapter 4 page 33: Monsoon connotes the climate associated with seasonal reversal in the direction of winds.=> Either  C or D
• I couldnot find a source that says Equatorial climate involves “Seasonal reversal of Wind”=> D is eliminated, and we are left with “C”.

[Act 2] India Eco/Human Geography

Q1: Changpa people

With reference to ‘Changpa’ community of India, consider the following statement:

1. They live mainly in the State of Uttarakhand.
2. They rear the Pashmina goats that yield a fine wool.
3. They are kept in the category of Scheduled Tribes.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. 1 only
2. 2 and 3 only
3. 3 only
4. 1, 2 and 3

Tribal Ministry website:

• Lists Changpa under ST category from Jammu Kashmir.
• This means #1 is wrong and #3 is right. This eliminates A and D.
• Now everything depends on whether #2 is right or wrong.

2009, TheHindu article

• Pashmina: The Kashmir Shawl and Beyond follows the origin of the fibre right to the Changra goats, which are specially reared by the nomadic Changpa tribes of Ladakh, and then its refinement at the hands of the Kashmiri artisans and subsequent export and consumption by the rest of the world.
• Changpa tribe’s present population is less than 9,000, and the adverse climatic conditions which force them to keep moving 10 to 12 times a year.
• In Ladakh, merchants pay Rs.1,200 to 1,500 for a kilogram of raw Pashmina

Therefore, #2 is right hence answer B: 2 and 3 correct.

Counterview:

Question says “Pashmina goats”, but Hindu says “Changra goats”. And goats don’t give ‘wool’. Ans. Well, Tehlaka.com connects the dots:

• This area is also known as Rupsho Valley where the main occupation of the nomads is rearing yaks and Changra goats.
• The unforgiving winter makes the goats grow extremely warm and soft veneer, which is six times finer than human hair and is used to make Pashmina wool.

Therefore Changra goats = Pashmina wool. Answer B: 2 and 3 only.

Q2: Saree Towns

Consider the following towns of India:

1. Bhadrachalam
2. Chanderi
3. Kancheepuram
4. Karnal

Which of the above are famous for the production of traditional sarees / fabric?

1. 1 and 2 only
2. 2 and 3 only
3. 1, 2 and 3
4. 1, 3 and 4

#2 is right because official Madhya Pradesh Ashoknagar district website

• “Chanderi is a tehsil of Ashoknagar district ..main occupation of the people of Chanderi is handicraft. Chanderi sarees are famous all over the world”
• This fact is frequently asked in MP PCS exams, and eliminates Option D

#3 Kancheepuram is right by common knowledge, but for the sake of reference- Silk board of India

• temple towns like Kancheepuram are renowned for their magnificent heavy silk sarees of bright colours with silver or gold zari works
• This eliminates Option A.

Bhadrachalam	Disputed village during separation of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. I did not find any source that say it’s famous for saree.
Karnal	Was in news because some of its villages will be included in NCR (National capital region). While it’s infamous for low sex ratio and female infanticide, I did not find any source that says it’s famous for saree.

Therefore, Answer B: 2 and 3 only.

[Act 2] India Map/location

Side note: I’ve counted wildlife sanctuary location questions under environment.

Q1: Rivers of Arunanchal Pradesh

1. Consider the following rivers:

1. Barak
2. Lohit
3. Subansiri

Which of the above flows / flow through Arunachal Pradesh?

1. 1 only
2. 2 and 3 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. 1, 2 and 3

Barak: Arunanchal Pradesh is wrong because

NCERT	Class11 India Physical, Chapter 2 page 15 The Barak is an important river in Manipur and Mizoram Common sense suggest that it cannot flow “up” in the map, to pass through Arunanchal Pradesh.
INDIA YEAR BOOK 2014	Page 3 of – in third para-“The barak river , the head stream of Meghna rises in the hills in Manipur”

Therefore, statement #1 is wrong, this automatically eliminates A, C and D. We are left with answer (B) 2 and 3 only.

Q2: Hills and Coasts

Consider these pairs

1. Cardamom Hills	Coromandel Coast
2. Kaimur Hills	Konkan Coast
3. Mahadeo Hills	Central India
4. Mikir Hills	North-East India

Which of the above pairs are correctly matched?

1. 1 and 2
2. 2 and 3
3. 3 and 4
4. 2 and 4

NCERT Class11 India Physical:

• Refer to figure 2.2 on page10 of the same book. You can see Kaimur hills is in central highlands, far away from Konkan Coast.
• Therefore, pair #2 is wrong, this eliminates option A, B and D. Thus we are left with answer C.

Alternate references

• Spectrum Geography: Map showing important hills and mountain ranges.
• Page 10 Oxford student atlas 2nd edition 2014.

Q3: Highways

Consider the following pairs :

National Highway	Cities connected
1. NH 4	Chennai and Hyderabad
2. NH 6	Mumbai and Kolkata
3. NH 15	Ahmedabad and Jodhpur

Which of the above pairs is/are correctly matched?

1. 1 and 2 only
2. 3 only
3. 1, 2 and 3
4. None

इतना डिटेल में कोन प्रिपेर करता है?

NH4:	Thane to Chennai via Pune belgaum Hubli Banglore and Ranipet ;
NH6:	Dhule to Kolkatta  via Nagpur- Raipur- sambalpur
NH15:	Pathnkot and kandla via Amritsar- Ganganagar- jaisalmer.

Therefore answer D all wrong. Ref

1. TMH manual 2014.: Page 132- 133
2. Lucent GK: Page 219
3. Oxford student atlas: Page 41

Q4: 10-Degree Channel

Which one of the following pairs of islands is separated from each other by the ‘Ten Degree Channel’?

1. Andaman and Nicobar
2. Nicobar and Sumatra
3. Maldives and Lakshadweep
4. Sumatra and Java

NCERT Class11 India Physical, page 19: “The Andaman in the north and the Nicobar in the south are separated by a water body called 10 degree channel”. Therefore, answer A.

Alternate sources

1. Page 29 of Oxford student atlas

[Act 3] World Map

Q1: Turkey Location

Turkey is located between

1. Black Sea and Caspian Sea
2. Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea
3. Gulf of Suez and Mediterranean Sea
4. Gulf of Aqaba and Dead Sea

Ans- B- Black sea and Mediterranean Sea, Reference- Page 55 of Oxford Student atlas 2^nd  edition 2014.

Q2: Cities of SE.Asia

What is the correct sequence of occurrence of the following cities in South-East Asia as one proceeds from south to north? 1.Bangkok 2.Hanoi 3.Jakarta 4.Singapore Select the correct answer using the code given below.

1. 4-2-1-3
2. 3-2-4-1
3. 3-4-1-2
4. 4-3-2-1

Ans- C (From south to north) Reference- Page 55 of Oxford Student atlas. For more answerkeys, visit Mrunal.org/answerkeys.