A Must Read for Civil Services Geography Optional of UPSC

For the civil services mains examination, UPSC provides 41 optional subjects. Each aspirant should select one optional paper of their choice and appear in two papers (Paper-I and Paper-II). Among these options, for a long time, Geography has been one of the most popular optional subjects among civil services aspirants. Though the syllabus is vast, it is equally preferred by engineering, science, art, and humanities graduates.

The first step to prepare for the Geography Optional is thoroughly reading and understanding the NCERT Geography Books. Even before that understanding the contents of each of the 10 NCERT Geography Books. With that in mind, the key topics covered in each of these books are given below for a high-level understanding before you dive deep into the option.

GEOGRAPHY

CIVIL SERVICES (II) EXAME 2008

Time Allowed: Three Hours Maximum Marks: 250

QUESTION PAPER SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS

Each question is printed both in Hindi and in English.

Answers must be written in the medium specified in the Admission Certificate issued to you, which must be stated clearly on the cover of the answer-book in the space provided for the purpose. No marks will be given for the answers written in a medium other than that specified in the Admission Certificate.

Candidates should attempt all questions strictly in accordance with the instructions given under each question.

The number of marks carried by each question is indicated at the end of the question.

1. Write notes on any two of the following (answer to each question should be in about 150 words): 2x30=60
(a) India and the New World Order
(b) Indo-Bhutan Relations.
(c) India and China: Strategy to Boost Ties

2. Write about the following (answer to each question should be in about 20 words) : 5x2=10
(a) India's Ocean Development Policy
(b) Major hurdles in Indo-Pak ties
(c) India-Nigeria: Abuja Declaration
(d) India-Bangladesh Border Road cum fencing
(e) India's L.C.A (Tejas)

3. Write about the following (answer to each question should be in about 20 words): 5x2=10
(a) Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas
(b) Council for Promotion of Overseas Employment (CPOE)
(c) Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) Scheme
(d). Indian Diaspora in Singapore
(e) Indian Diaspora and Bollywood

4. Answer any one of the following (in about 250 words):
(a) Discuss India's stand on agricultural issues in WTO's Ministerial Conferences since Doha Round. 30
(b) Assess the performance of India in attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

5. Discuss any two of the following topics (answer each question in about 150 words) :
2x15=30
(a) Assistance to the States for Development of Export Infrastructure and other Activities (ASIDE).
(b)Convertibility of Indian Rupee.
(c) India on Global Competitiveness Index-2007.

6. Write about the following (answer to each question in about 20 words): 5x2=10
(a) Special Drawing Rights (SDRs)
(b) NAMA
(c) Non-tariff trade barriers
(d) Current Account Balance
(e) Free Trade Area

7. Write on any one of the following (answer in about 150 words): 15
(a) South-South Cooperation
(b) Universal Declaration of Human Rights

8. Briefly write about the following (answer to each question should be in about 20 words): 5x2=10
(a) Look East Policy and North-East India
(b) India at the Beijing Olympics
(c) India's role in Afghanistan Today
(d) IPCC Report on Global Warming
(e) Indo-EU Economic Ties

9. Briefly write about the following (answer to each question should be in about 20 words):
5x2=10
(a) G.C.C.
(b) G-77
(c) I.C.R.C
(d) MERCOSUR
(e) INTERPOL

10. Answer any one of the following (in about 250 words): 30

(a) In what way 'Medical Biotechnology and 'Bioengineering' are useful for technological development of India?

(b) What do you know about Indian National Satellite Systems? Describe its important
features.

11. Explain any three of the following (in about 150 words each): 3x15=45
(a) Internet Protocol Television (IPTV)
(b) Spintronics
(c) Wifi
(d) Components of Robots

12. Write brief notes on all the five (in about 20 words 5x2=10 each) below:
(a) Copyright and Trade-mark
(b) TIFAC
(c) Aspartame
(d) Gene doping
(e) Sappan

13. (a) The principal exports of India for the financial year 2001-2002 are given in the
following

Represent the above data by a suitable diagram and comment on the export performance of the country.

(b) Prior to constructing a dam on a river the engineers performed a series of tests to measure the water flow at the proposed location of the dam. The results of the testing were used to construct the following frequency distribution.

Construct an appropriate diagram to estimate what proportion of the flow occurs at less than 1300 thousands of gallons per minute. Give the estimate. 6

14. (a) A company files its sales vouchers according to their sales value so that they fall in four strata. Two hundred vouchers are received on a business day. The information is listed in the following table:

(b) A trip to a destination is made in the following way: 900 kms by train at an average speed of 60 kms/hr 3000 kms by plane at an average speed of 500 kms/hr 400 kms by boat at an average speed of 25 kms/hr 15 kms by taxi at an average speed of 45 kms/hr What is the average speed for the entire journey? 6

15.(a) A hotel owner has nine refreshment stalls located at various points in a large
compound. He wants to make one of the stalls as a supply place such that amount of travel between the stalls and the source of supply is minimized. He has to visit all stalls almost equal number of times with a view to supplying the refreshment stuff everyday. The distances of stalls from the first stall are 250, 500, 650, 800, 850, 910, 940 and 1000 yards respectively. Which stall should he choose to use as the supply place ? Give reason in favour of your answer. 2

(b) In a statistical investigation of 1003 families of a city, it was found that 63 families had neither a radio nor a TV, 794 families had a radio and 187 had a TV. How many families of the city selected in the sample had both? 2

(c) The mean monthly income of a person is Rs. 18190/- and his mean monthly expenditure comes out to be Rs. 17930/-. What is his average monthly saving? 2