Geography

India’s geographical location of it being in tropical zone make it potent solar energy power house. As per Ministry of New and Renewable Energy or MNRE with about 300 clear and sunny days in a year, the calculated solar energy incidence on India’s land area is about 5000 trillion kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year. Solar Energy … Read more

A fissure vent, also known as a volcanic fissure or eruption fissure, is a linear volcanic vent through which lava erupts, usually without any explosive activity. The vent is often a few meters wide and may be many kilometers long. Chinook : It is a local winds in steppe region. On the eastern slopes of the Rockies in Canada and U.S.A. a … Read more

Atomic minerals are the most important among non-fossil energy resources. They are found in the slate rocks of the pre-Cambrian (Archean Schist) and Dharwar periods in India. Uranium and Thorium are major minerals for the production of atomic energy. Uranium is mined directly whereas for thorium is obtained mainly from monazite and limonite. Thorium is … Read more

Contract farming is a kind of system in which bulk purchaser enters into contract with farmers. It includes agro- processing, exporting and trading units.  They purchase a specified quantity of any agricultural commodity at pre agreed price. Sponsor provides all kind of production support to the contracted farmers. This include extension service also.     … Read more

Groundwater contamination is the adulteration of water because of the increase in the concentration of certain pollutants. The major pollutants contributing to contamination are Arsenic, fluoride, Iron, uranium , nitrate etc. Causes of groundwater contamination are: Natural: Groundwater naturally contains high amount of pollutant due to geological formation. For example occurrence of fluoride is related … Read more

Earth’s core is the very hot, very dense center of our planet. The ball-shaped core lies beneath the cool, brittle crust and the mostly-solid mantle. The core is found about 2,900 kilometers (1,802 miles) below Earth’s surface, and has a radius of about 3,485 kilometers (2,165 miles). Planet Earth is older than the core. When … Read more

Tsunami is a Japanese word for “Harbour wave”. They are also known as seismic sea waves. They are very long-wavelength water waves in oceans or seas. They are commonly referred to as tidal waves because of long wavelengths, although the attractions of the Moon and Sun play no role in their formation. They sometimes come … Read more

The main achievements of Green Revolution may be summarized as under: The production and productivity of wheat, rice, maize, and bajra has increased substantially. India has become almost self-sufficient in the matter of staple foods. The double cropped area has increased; thereby intensification of the Indian agriculture has increased. In the areas where Green Revolution … Read more

When the wind blows parallel to a coastline, surface waters are pushed offshore and water is drawn from below to replace the water that has been pushed away. The upward movement of this deep, colder water is called upwelling. The deeper water that rises to the surface during upwelling is rich in nutrients. These nutrients … Read more

( in answer writing when such kind of explanation is asked follow this approach) Distribution:     Lies in the interior of the earth crust. They basically lies in the zone of  westerly wind belt. Grasslands are practically treeless due to continentality. They are called by different names in different parts of the world Prairies North … Read more

Fold mountains are created where two or more of Earth’s tectonic plates are pushed together. At these colliding, compressing boundaries, rocks and debris are warped and folded into rocky outcrops, hills, mountains, and entire mountain ranges. Fold mountains are created through a process called orogeny. An orogenic event takes millions of years to create a fold mountain. Fold mountains are often associated with continental crust. … Read more

Soil is defined as upper layer of the earth composed of loose surface material. It is a mixture of many substances including endless variety of minerals, remnants of plants and animals, water and air. It is the end product of continuing interaction between the parent material, local climate, plant and animal organisms and elevation of … Read more

Soil conservation includes all those measures which help in protecting the soil from erosion and exhaustion. Soil erosion has been continuing over, such a large part of India for such a long time that it has assumed alarming proportions. Afforestation The best way to conserve soil is to increase area under forests. Indiscriminate felling of … Read more

Seismic waves are generated due to the release of the energy during an earthquake. They behave differently in different physical mediums and hence provide a good idea how the interior of earth must be. Broadly there are three types of seismic waves: Primary waves: (P) – Waves are longitudinal waves. i.e. The motion of particles … Read more

Some air movements are the result of the systematic pressure gradients that arise from latitudinal changes in the Earth’s surface temperature. One notable example is the Hadley Cell, a movement of warm air from the tropics that rises, flows toward the poles and then cools and sinks at around 30 degrees north and south of … Read more

A fault is a fracture in the earth’s crust due to tension force. It can also occur due tocompression in hard and brittle rocks. When there is tension the crust ruptures. One block is thrown upwards and the otherdownwards. The upthrown block is called Horst while the downthrown block is calledGraben. The line along which … Read more

Weathering, water, elevation, sinking, and erosion of the soil are constantly shaping the surface of the Earth. It doesn’t really happen overnight but takes hundreds and thousands of years for us to notice these changes. These are the natural processes that lead to various formations of the Landforms. Landforms originate from these geological processes. Landforms can be categorized into Mountains, Plateaus, and Plains depending … Read more

PVTGs constitute the most vulnerable section among tribals and largely reside in isolated, remote and difficult areas in small scattered hamlets. PVTG tag is given to identify the vulnerable tribes and to have specialised scheme to safeguard their cultural identity. Tag is given by Ministry of Home affairs. 75 tribal groups have been categorized by … Read more

A farming systems that are “capable of maintaining their productivity and usefulness to society indefinitely and must be resource-conserving, socially supportive, commercially competitive,and environmentally sound.” Major components of sustainable agricultural system Soil and water conservation to prevent degradation of soil productivity Efficient use of limited irrigation water without leading to problems of soil salinity,alkalinity and … Read more

. In winter months, the weather conditions over India are generally influenced by the distribution of pressure in Central and Western Asia. A high pressure centre in the region lying to the north of the Himalayas develops during winter. This centre of high pressure gives rise to the flow of air at the low level … Read more

The continental drift hypothesis was developed in the early part of the 20th century, mostly by Alfred Wegener. Wegener said that continents move around on Earth’s surface and that they were once joined together as a single supercontinent. While Wegener was alive, scientists did not believe that the continents could move. Alfred Wegener proposed that … Read more

Most known volcanic activity and the earthquakes occur along converging plate margins and mid-oceanic ridges. There is a strikingly close agreement between volcanic and earthquake zones of the earth. The major regions of volcanoes around the world are: Pacific ring of fire:  Pacific Ring of Fire’ is estimated to include two-thirds of the world’s volcanoes.  The major regions … Read more

Concept of sea floor spreading was given by Henry Hess which was crucial to establish the formation of different geological surface on the earth. The major findings were: The crust below the ocean floor was found only 7-8 km thick. The existence of mid Atlantic ridge was known, but it was found that mid oceanic … Read more

As per Agriculture Census 2015-16, the average size of operational holding has declined to 1.08 hectare in 2015-16 as compared to 1.15 hectare in 2010-11. The small and marginal holdings (10 ha) are merely 0.57% of the total land holdings. Challenges faced by farmers due to fragmentation of land: Low productivity: Small and fragmented landholdings … Read more

Atal Tunnel is the longest highway tunnel in the World. The 9.02 Km long tunnel connects Manali to Lahaul-Spiti valley throughout the year. Earlier the valley was cut off for about 6 months each year owing to heavy snowfall. The Tunnel is built with ultra-modern specifications in the Pir Panjal range of Himalayas at an … Read more

These are steep valleys, forming deep gorges on the ocean floor. They are mainly restricted to the continental shelf, slope and rise.  Broadly, there are three types of submarine canyons: Small gorges which begin at the edge of the continental shelf and extend down the slope to very great depths, e.g., Oceanographer Canyons near New … Read more

Scheduled Castes are notified in 31 States/UTs of India and there are altogether 1,241 individual ethnic groups, etc. notified as Scheduled Castes in different States/UTs. There has been some changes in the List of SCs/STs in States/ UTs during the last decade. As per the 2011 Census of India, there are around 201.4 million SCs … Read more

The theory of plate tectonics proposes that the earth’s lithosphere is divided into seven major and several minor plates. The movement of the plates results in the building up of stresses within the plates and the continental rocks above, which leads to folding, faulting and volcanic activity. The major plates are surrounded by fold mountains, … Read more

Climate is the average weather conditions of large area. According to the koeppen system of classification , the world is divided into five climatic groups and 13 climatic types based on the temperature, precipitation and vegetation. The notable characteristics of Monsoon type of climate are as follows: The climate is divided into distinct 4 seasons. … Read more

“Jig saw” fit- Wegener was struck by the geographical similarity between the opposite coasts ofthe Atlantic Ocean. The outlines of the two coasts appears to be the detached portion of theother ie. The east coast of north and South America can be exactly fit into the left coast ofAfrica and Europe. Geological structure- there is … Read more

Temperate cyclones are also known as Extra-tropical cyclone where the term “Extra-tropical” signifies that this type of cyclone generally occurs outside the tropics with a latitude range between 30° and 60°. Characteristics of Temperate Cyclone (Extra-Tropical Cyclones) The Extra-Tropical Cyclones are storm systems emerging in the mid and high latitudes, away from the tropics. They … Read more

According to Census 2011, 377.1 million Indian comprising 31.16 per cent of the country population live in urban areas. India’s urban populations is projected to grow to about 600 millions by 2031. Hence this urban surge has to be addressed through careful planning and policies. Indian govt. has launched various policies and scheme to deal … Read more

  Montreal protocol  is a treaty signed in 1987 to ban ozone depletion substance like CFC’s and HCFC which were used in refrigerators and Air conditioner. India is also one of the signatories of Montreal protocol. The Montreal Protocol has proven to be innovative and successful, and is the first treaty to achieve universal ratification … Read more

urban settlements are classified on various bases. However, classification based on size and function are most common. Let us discuss them one by one Classification based on Population Size According to population size, census of India classifies urban centres into six classes. Classwise urban settlements and their population Class                              Population Class I                            1,00,000 and above … Read more

Demographic dividend means that as compared to other large developing and developed countries, India Has a higher proportion of working age population as compared to entire population. More than 50% of India’s population is in the age group of 15-59 years. With such a young population. It has a huge demographic dividend waiting to be … Read more

On 12 August 2018, after 20 years of talks, the leaders of the five littoral states to the Caspian Sea – Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan – finally signed a treaty defining its legal status. The ‘Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea’ has not resolved all the long-standing issues; in fact, … Read more

All of the phases of water—solid, liquid and vapor—relate to glacier dynamics. Water has unique qualities that come into play in understanding the roles glaciers play in the Earth system. For example, water expands rapidly when it freezes—an increase of about 9% by volume. Also, water enters the atmosphere through the familiar cycle of melting … Read more

PVTGs constitute the most vulnerable section among tribals and largely reside in isolated, remote and difficult areas in small scattered hamlets. PVTG tag is given to identify the vulnerable tribes and to have specialised scheme to safeguard their cultural identity. Tag is given by Ministry of Home affairs. 75 tribal groups have been categorized by … Read more

According to economic survey, In a year where temperatures are 1 degree Celsius higher farmer incomes would fall by 6.2 percent during the kharif season and 6 percent during rabi in unirrigated districts. Similarly, in a year when rainfall levels were 100 millimetres less than average, farmer incomes would fall by 15 percent during kharif … Read more

Main objectives of the Mission are: Promote holistic growth of horticulture sector, including bamboo and coconut through area based regionally differentiated strategies, which includes research, technology promotion, extension, post harvest management, processing and marketing, in consonance with comparative advantage of each State/region and its diverse agro-climatic features; Encourage aggregation of farmers into farmer groups like … Read more

The definition of function varies across the disciplines. In political science it refers to duties, in mathematics it means the relationship between two variables and in geography it is synonymous to occupation. Geographers have classified towns on the basis of their site, situation, size, rank, location and relative elevation. Functional classification of towns attempts to categorize towns … Read more

Manufactured sand (M-Sand) is a substitute of river sand for concrete construction . Manufactured sand is produced from hard granite stone by crushing.The crushed sand is of cubical shape with grounded edges, washed and graded to as a construction material. The size of manufactured sand (M-Sand) is less than 4.75mm.Manufactured sand is an alternative for … Read more

Earth magnetism is the property of earth behaving like a dynamo and showing magnetic property just like that of a magnetic bar. There are various theories behind this property. There is no valid reason for the cause of earth’s magnetism or why earth has giant magnetic field but there are some theory related to earth’s … Read more

. The temperature of air at any place is influenced by : The latitude of the place; The altitude of the place; distance from the sea, the airmass circulation; The presence of warm and cold ocean currents; Local aspects.   The latitude The temperature of a place depends on the insolation received. It has been … Read more

Seasonality refers to both the seasonal variation of the suns position above the horizon and the changing daylength.  There are five reasons for seasons which are discussed here under: Earth’s revolution in its orbit around the sun: Earth completes its annual orbit in 365.24 days at a speed averaging 107,280 Km.hr in a counter clockwise … Read more

Horse latitudes or subtropical highs are subtropical latitudes between 30 and 35 degrees both north and south where Earth’s atmosphere is dominated by the subtropical high, an area of high pressure, which suppresses precipitation and cloud formation, and has variable winds mixed with calm winds. The consistently warm, dry, and sunny conditions of the horse … Read more

Sex ratio is used to describe the number of females per 1000 of males. Sex ratio is a valuable source for finding the population of women in India and what is the ratio of women to that of men in India. In the Population Census of 2011 it was revealed that the population ratio in … Read more

India is one of the major producers of fertilizers and meets 80 percent of urea requirements by domestic production.For feeding millions of mouths, high productivity is required which makes high level of plant nutrients essential. NBS scheme is being implemented from April 2010 by the Department of Fertilizers,Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers. Under NBS, a … Read more

Climate is a major sculptor of landforms. One of generous precipitation often induces extensive erosion through plentiful runoff and stream flow. A moist, cool climate can even favor the formation of glaciers in mountains and high latitudes. Given the proper conditions, these massive ice bodies advance and heavily impact the terrain. A whole slew of … Read more

They are places on Earth that are so cold that water is frozen solid. These areas of snow or ice, which are subject to temperatures below 32°F for at least part of the year, compose the cryosphere. The term “cryosphere” comes from the Greek word, “krios,” which means cold. Ice and snow on land are one part … Read more