Geography (CDS-Solved Paper)

These pre-monsoon rains are as called ‘Mango Showers’. Mango showers are common in state of Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra and some part of Tamil Nadu. These showers arrive generally in late April and May and are usually very difficult to predict.

The nearest star to the Earth is Sun followed by the Proxima Centauri. Proxima Centauri is part of the star system known as ‘Alpha Centauri’.

Mercury is the smallest and closest planet to Sun. It has the least mass in the solar system. The planet with the highest mass is Jupiter.

Central Water Commission is the nodal organisation for flood forecasting in the country. CWC comes under Ministry of Water Resource, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. It is the modal agency for flood forecasting in India. Except Himachal Pradesh all other mentioned states are covered by flood forecasting stations setup by the CWC. Hence, option (d) is not correct.

Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety is an international treaty that seeks to protect biodiversity from the potential risks posed by Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO). It was singed on 15th May, 2000 in Cartagena which is in Colombia.

The Tropic of Capricorn is an imaginary line of latitude at 23.5° South of the equator. This latitude runs through following countries: Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, Mozambique Madagascar , Australia, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil. It does not pass through Bolivia. Hence, option (b) is not correct.

Sargasso sea is the calm centre of the anti-cylonic gyre in the North Atlantic, comprising a large eddy of surface water, the boundaries of which are demarcated by major current systems such as the Gulf Stream, Canaries current, and North Atlantic Drift.

The Sargasso sea is a large, warm (18º C), saline region which is characterised by an abundance of floating brown seaweed (Sargassum). Hence, option (a) is not correct.

The Varanasi-Kanyakumari National highway is Part of NH-44. Major cities such as Rewa, Katni, Jabalpur, Hyderabad, Bengaluru etc. are located on this highway.
Satna does not lie on this Highway.

Except Gully plug, all the others such as Rooftop recharge pit, Recharge wells and Recharge trench are viable in urban rainwater harvesting. Gully plugs or Checkdams are mainly built to prevent erosion and to settle sediments and pollutant.