20 July 2022

Q1. Which among the following Himalayan passes can be used for cross border trade between China and India?

1.Nathu La

2.Lipulekh Pass

3.Shipki La

 

Select the correct option from the codes given below:

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

 

Explanation:

 

Lipulekh is a Himalayan pass between Nepal, India and China connecting the North Western Cornered Byash Valley of Nepal and Indian State of Uttarakhand with the old trading town of Taklakot (Purang) in Tibet and belongs to Nepal. This is used by Manasarovar pilgrims.

Nathu La is a mountain pass in the Himalayas. It connects the Indian state of Sikkim with

China’s Tibet Autonomous Region.

Shipki La is a mountain pass and border post on the India-China border. It is located in the

Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh.

 

Q2. Consider the following pairs:

 

PassLocation/Link

1.Nathu La; Sikkim

2.Rohtang Pass; Uttarakhand

3.Lipu Lekh Pas; Himachal Pradesh

4.Bom di La; Arunachal Pradesh

 

Which of the above pairs are correctly matched?

 

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

 

Explanation:

 

PassLink/Feature:

 

Banihal Pass Kashmir Valley with the outer Himalaya and the plains to the south.

Bara-Lacha-La Pass Lahaul district in Himachal Pradesh with Leh district in Ladakh.

Fotu La Pass Leh with Kargil of Ladakh Rohtang Pass Kullu Valley with the Lahaul and Spiti Valleys of Himachal Pradesh.

Shipki La Pass Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh with Autonomous Region of Tibet, China.

Jelep La Pass Sikkim with Autonomous Region of Tibet, China.

Nathu La Pass Sikkim with Autonomous Region of Tibet, China.

Lipu Lekh Pass Chaudans valley of India with Autonomous Region of Tibet, China. It is located close to the tri junction of Uttarakhand (India), China and Nepal.

Khardung La Ladakh with Siachen glacier. It is the highest motorable pass in the world.

Bom di La It is in Arunachal Pradesh

 

 Q3. Consider the following statements and choose the correct ones:

 

1. Srinagar, capital city of the state of Jammu and Kashmir is located on the banks of Jhelum river.
2. Jhelum in the valley of Kashmir is still in its youth stage.
3. It forms meanders.

 

Select the correct answer using the code below:

 

1. 1 and 3 only
2. 1 and 2 only
3. 2 only
4. All of the above

 

Explanation:

 

Srinagar, capital city of the state of Jammu and Kashmir is located on the banks of Jhelum river. Dal Lake in Srinagar presents an interesting physical feature. Jhelum in the valley of Kashmir is still in its youth stage and yet forms meanders – a typical feature associated with the mature stage in the evolution of fluvial land form

 

  Q4. Arrange the following passes in the west to east direction:

 

1. Khyber
2. Shipkila
3. Zojila
4. Nathula
5. Bomdila

 

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

 

1. 1-2-3-5-4
2. 1-3-2-4-5
3. 3-1-2-4-5
4. 3-2-1-4-5

 

Explanation:

 

The correct sequence is : Khyber – Zojila – Shipkila – Nathula -Bomdila Zojila pass :

Important road link between Srinagar on one side and Kargil and Leh on the other side. The road passing through this pass has been designated at the National Highway (NH-1D)Border Road Organisation (BRO) is responsible for maintaining the road and cleaning it off snow during winter.

Khyber pass: The Khyber Pass is a mountain pass in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, on the border with Afghanistan (Nangarhar Province). It connects the town of Landi Kotal to the Valley of Peshawar at Jamrud by traversing part of the Spin Ghar mountains.

Shipkila pass: Shipkila La is a Himalayan pass which connects India and China. The river Sutlej, which is called Langqên Zangbo in Tibet, enters India (from Tibet) near this pass.

Bomdila pass: It connects Arunachal Pradesh with Bhutan. Situated at an altitude of 4331 m near the western boundary of Arunachal Pradesh in the Greater Himalayas, this pass connects Arunachal Pradesh with Lhasa.

Nathula pass: It is a mountain pass in the Himalayas in East Sikkim district. It connects the

Indian state of Sikkim with China’s Tibet Autonomous Region.

 

Q5. Consider the following statements with respect to Bara-lacha La:

 

1. It is a high mountain pass in Zanskar range.
2. The pass connects Kargil and Srinagar.

 

Which of the given statement/s is/are INCORRECT?

 

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

 

Explanation:

 

Bara-lacha La is a high mountain pass in Zanskar range.It connects Lahaul district in Himachal

Pradesh to Leh district in Ladakh, situated along the Leh–Manali Highway.

Hence, option (b) is the correct answer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Q6. Consider the following statements:

 

1. Standard Meridian of India passing through Mirzapur is taken as the standard time for the

whole country.

2. The latitudinal extent influences the duration of the day and night, as one moves from south to

North.

 

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

 

Explanation:

 

From Gujarat to Arunachal Pradesh there is a time lag of two hours. Hence, time along the Standard Meridian of India (82°30’E) passing through Mirzapur (in Uttar Pradesh) is taken as the standard time for the whole country. The latitudinal extent influences the duration of the day and night, as one moves from south to north.

 

Q7. Consider the following statements

 

1. The earth rotates from west to east, so every 15° we go westwards, local time is advanced by1 hour.
2. If we go eastwards, local time is retarded by 1 hour.
3. We may thus conclude that places west of Greenwich see the sun later and lose time whereas places east of Greenwich see the sun earlier and gain time.

 

Select the correct answer using the code given below :

 

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

 

Explanation:

 

The earth rotates from west to east, so every 15° we go eastwards, local time is advanced by 1 hour.

Hence, statement 1 is not correct.

Conversely, if we go westwards, local time is retarded by 1 hour.

Hence, statement 2 is not correct.

Also, it can be concluded that places east of Greenwich see the sun earlier and gain time, whereas places west of Greenwich see the sun later and lose time.

Hence, statement 3 is correct.

 

Q8. Consider the following statements:

 

1. The effect of Daylight Saving Time on daily life varies according to how far east or west the

location is within a time zone.

2. When DST begins, clocks skip one hour.

 

DST begins in autumn season.

 

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

 

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

 

Explanation:

 

A time zone represents a geographic area. All the clocks in a given time zone have the same time being shown. That same time is often called as STANDARD TIME.

Many countries like USA & Russia have more than one time zone because these countries are so much big in terms of the width that having one common time zone will not work for them.

Daylight Saving is a procedure in which the time in the clock is adjusted forward in spring & is readjusted backward in autumn

Locations farther east inside the time zone benefit more from DST than locations farther west in the same time zone.

 

Q9. Why sometimes a ‘leap second’ is added to atomic clocks?

 

1. To account for the additional time at the beginning of a leap year

 

2. To compensate for slowdown in the Earth’s rotation

 

Which of the above is/are correct?

 

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

 

Explanation:

 

An atomic clock at National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in New Delhi added ‘leap second’ (extra one second) to the Indian Standard Time (IST) on 1 January 2017 to synchronise with the Earth’s rotational clock.

The clock was programmed to add an extra second to the year 2017 in order to compensate for a slowdown in the Earth’s rotation.

• The Earth and rotation around its own axis is not regular, as sometimes slows down and sometimes speeds up due to various factors, including moon’s gravitational forces and earthquakes
• As a result, astronomical time (UT1) gradually falls out of sync with atomic time (UTC)

When the difference between UTC and UT1 approaches 0.9 seconds, a leap second is added to UTC through atomic clocks worldwide to match both times.

• This one second shift is critical for applications requiring time accuracies in the nanosecond scale, which are critical in the fields of astronomy, satellite navigation, communication networks etc.

 

Q10. Consider the following statements

 

1. A solar day is nearly 4 minutes smaller than a sidereal day

 

2. Approximately 1° is the distance covered by earth in its orbit everyday

 

3. The mean solar day at present is 86400 seconds

 

Which among the above statements is / are correct?

 

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

 

     Explanation:

 

A solar day is nearly 4 minutes longer than a sidereal day. The mean solar day at present is 86400.002 seconds, It was 86400 in 1820