UPKAR PRAKASHAN, AGRA-2

Editorial BoardPratiyogita Darpan

© Publishers

Publishers

UPKAR PRAKASHAN(An ISO 9001 : 2000 Company)

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ISBN : 978-81-7482-094-5

Price : 125/-(Rs. One Hundred Twenty Five Only)

Code No. 936

Printed at : UPKAR PRAKASHAN (Printing Unit) Bye-pass, AGRA

Contents

1. Panoramic View of India ……………………...…………………………………. 3–6

2. Important Knowledge : At a Glance ……………………………………………… 7–12

3. Indian Polity and Constitution …………………………………………………… 13–33

4. Defence Policy of India …………………………………………………………... 34–37

5. General Science for Everyone ……………………………………………………. 38–50

6. Higher Education in India ………………………………………………………… 51–57

7. The General Geographical Study of India and World …………………………… 58–68

8. Indian History ……………………………………………………………………. 69–73

9. Indian Culture …………………………………………………………………….. 74–76

10. Panoramic View of World ………………………………………………………… 77–91

11. Sports and Games ………………………………………………………………… 92–96

12. Basic General Knowledge ………………………………………………………… 97–125

— Abbreviations …………………………………………………………………… 97

— Books and Authors ………………………………………………………….…… 102

— Latest Books and Authors……………………………………..…………….…… 105

— Religious Books ………………………………………………………….……… 107

— Famous Authors in Different Languages ……………………………………….. 107

— Famous Indian Authors …………………………………………………………. 107

— Famous Indian Writers in English ………………………………………………. 109

— Famous Characters in Literature ………………………………………………… 109

— Tiger Reserves of India …………………………………………………………. 110

— Mosques of India ………………………………………………………….…….. 111

— Firsts in Different Fields ………………………………………………………… 111

— Lines, Frontiers etc.. …………….…………………………………………….… 114

( iv )

— Mankind and Various Tribes …………………………………………..…………114

— Affiliation of Personalities with Places………………………………………….. 115

— Chief Crops and the States Producing Them ……………………………..…...… 115

— The Largest, Longest, Biggest, Highest, Smallest in the World ………………... 115

— The Largest, Smallest, Highest and Longest in India …………………………… 116

— Geographical Surnames ………………………………………………………… 117

— Wonders of the World …………………………………………………………… 118

— Deserts…………………………………………………………………………… 118

— Important Towns on Rivers……………………………………………………… 118

— Principal Game Sanctuaries and National Parks in India……………………….. 119

— Hill Stations (India)……………………………………………………………… 119

— Principal Indian Ports …………………………………………………………… 119

— Famous Sites (India)…………………………………………………………...… 120

— Famous Sites (Outside India)…………………………………………………..… 120

— Variety of Animals…………………………………………………………..….. 121

— Physical Geography …………………………………………………………….. 121

— Geographical Terms …………………………………………………………….. 124

13. Development and Employment Programmes in India ……………………………126–138

14. International Organisations ……………………………………………………… 139–149

15. Space Research ………………………………………………………………….. 150–159

16. Awards, Honours and Prizes : National and International ………………….…… 160–168

17. States and Union Territories …………………………………………………….. 169–192

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE

1 Panoramic View of IndiaOfficial Name India or Bharat

Capital Delhi

Nationality Indian

Population 1,21,05,69,573 (2011 Census)

Males 62,31,21,843

Females 58,74,47,730

HIMACHALPRADESH

ARUNACHAL PRADESH

DIUDAMAN

MEGHALAYA

YANAM

ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS

DADAR & NAGARHAVELI

GOA

LAKSHADWEEP MAHE PUDUCHERRY

KARAIKAL

BAY OF BENGAL

BANGLADESH

ARABIAN

SEA

PAKISTANCHINA(TIBET)

NEPAL

MYANMAR

INDIAStates and Union Territories

Gangtok

Panaji

(Puducherry)

(Puducherry)

(Puducherry)

Thiruvananthapuram

Port Blair

Agartala

SIKKIM

Map not to Scale

N

JAMMU & KASHMIRSrinagar

Shimla

PUNJAB

HARYANA

RAJASTHAN

GUJARAT

UTTARAKHAND

DELHI

UTTARPRADESH

MADHYA PRADESH

BIHAR

ASSAM NAGALAND

MANIPUR

MIZORAMTRIPURAWESTBENGALJHARKHAND

CHHATTISGARHODISHA

MAHARASHTRA

ANDHRAPRADESH

TELANGANA

KARNATAKA

KERALA

TAMILNADU

BHUTAN

Chandigarh

Dehradun

PatnaLucknowJaipur

BhopalGandhi nagar

Mumbai(Bombay)

Raipur

Hyderabad

Bhubaneshwar

Kolkata

Bengaluru Chennai(Madras)

Itanagar

Dispur Kohima

Imphal

Aizawl

Shillong

Ranchi

Rural Population (2011 Census)Persons 83,34,63,448Males 42,76,32,643Females 40,58,30,805

Urban Population (2011 Census)Persons 37,71,06,125Males 19,54,89,200Females 18,16,16,925

Literacy Rate(2011 Census) 73·0% (Males–80·9%)

(Females–64·6%)Sex Ratio 943 (Females per 1000 Males)Child Sex Ratio (0–6 years)

914 (Females per 1000 males)Population density 382 (per sq. km)

Decadal Population Growth (2001–11)17·7%

Rural 12·18% (Provisional)Urban 31·80% (Provisional)

Population in the age group 0–6 (2011)Persons 16,44,78,150Males 8,57,32,470Females 7,87,45,680

4 | GK (Ency.)

NATIONAL FLAGA horizontal tricolour of deep saffron (kesa-

riya) at the top, white in the middle and darkgreen at the bottom in equal proportion. The ratioof width of the Flag to its length is two to three.In the centre of the white band is a navy bluewheel which represents the chakra. Its design isthat of the wheel which appears on the abacus ofthe Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka. Its diameterapproximates to the width of the white band and ithas twenty four (24) spokes. The design of theNational Flag was adopted by the ConstituentAssembly of India on 22 July, 1947. Its use anddisplay are regulated by the Indian Flag Code.NATIONAL ANTHEM

Jana-gana-mana-adhinayaka Jaya heThe anthem jana-gana-mana, composed

originally in Bengali language by Rabindra NathTagore was adopted in its Hindi version by theConstituent Assembly of India as the NationalAnthem of India on 24 January, 1950. It was firstsung on 27 December, 1911 at the CalcuttaSession of the Indian National Congress. Thecomplete song consists of five stanzas. The firststanza contains the full version of the NationalAnthem. The playing time of the full version ofthe National Anthem is about 52 seconds. Theplaying time of a short version consisting of thefirst and last lines of the stanza of the NationalAnthem is about 20 seconds.NATIONAL SONG

The song ‘Vande-Matram’ composed byBankim Chand Chaterji was adopted by theConstituent Assembly of India as the NationalSong of India. It was first sung at the 1896Session of the Indian National Congress. It wastranslated into English language by Sri Arvindo.STATE EMBLEM

The State Emblem is an adaptation from theSarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka. In the original,there are four lions standing back to back,mounted on an abacus with a frieze carryingsculptures in high relief of an elephant, a gallop-ing horse, a bull and a lion separated by inter-vening wheels over a bell-shaped lotus. Carvedout of a single block of polished sandstone thecapital is crowned by the wheel of the law(Dharma-Chakra).

In the state Emblem, adopted by the govern-ment of India, on 26 January, 1950, only threelions are visible, the fourth being hidden fromview. The wheel appears in relief in the centre ofthe abacus with a bull on the right and a horse onthe left and the outlines of the other wheels onextreme right and left; the bell-shaped lotus has

been omitted. The Words ‘Satyameva Jayate’from Mundaka Upanishad, meaning ‘Truth aloneTriumphs’ are inscribed below the abacus inDevanagari script.NATIONAL FLOWER

Lotus (Nelumbo Neucifera) is the NationalFlower of India.NATIONAL CALENDAR

The National Calendar based on the ‘SakaEra’ with ‘Chaitra’ as its first month and a normalyear of 365 days was adopted from 22 March,1957 along with the Gregorian Calendar for thefollowing official purposes—

(A) Gazette of India.(B) News broadcast by All India Radio.(C) Calendars issued by the Government of

India.(D) Government Communications addressed

to the members of the public.Dates of the National Calendar have a perma-

nent correspondence with dates of the Gregoriancalendar—1 Chaitra falling on 22 March normallyand on 21 March in the leap year.NATIONAL ANIMAL

The magnificent tiger, panthera tigris(Linnaeous) is a striped animal. It has a thickyellow coat of fur with dark stripes. The com-bination of grace, strength, agility and enormouspower has earned the tiger its pride of place as theNational Animal of India.NATIONAL BIRD

The Indian Peacock, pavo cristatus(Linnaeus), the National Bird of India, is acolourful swan-sized bird with a fan shaped crestof feathers, a white patch under the eye and a longslender neck. The male of the species is morecolourful than the female, with a glistening bluebreast and neck spectacular bronze-green train ofaround 200 elongated feathers. The female isbrownish, slightly smaller than the male, andlacks the train. The eleborate courtship dance ofthe male, fanning out the tail and preening itsfeathers, is a gorgeous sight. The peacock enjoysprotection from the people as it is never molestedfor religious and sentimental reasons. It is fullyprotected under the Indian Wildlife ProtectionAct–1972.PHYSICAL BACKGROUND

Countries having a common border withIndia are Afghanistan and Pakistan to the north-west, China, Bhutan and Nepal to the north,Myanmar to the east and Bangladesh to the eastof West-Bengal. Sri Lanka is separated fromIndia by a narrow channel of sea formed by thePalk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar.

GK (Ency.) | 5

CLIMATEThe climate of India may be broadly descri-

bed as tropical monsoon type. There are fourseasons—

(A) Winter (January–February)(B) Hot weather summer (March–May)(C) Rainy South-Western monsoon (June–

September)(D) Post monsoon, also known as north-east

monsoon in the southern peninsula (October–December)RIVERS

Rivers in India may be classified as—(A) Himalayan rivers, (B) Peninsular rivers,

(C) Coastal rivers, (D) Rivers of the islanddrainage basinMOST POPULOUS STATES (2011)

First—Uttar Pradesh–19,98,12,341Second—Maharashtra–11,23,74,333Third—Bihar—10,40,99,452Union Territory with Lowest Popula-

tion—Lakshadweep (64,429)District with Highest Population—Thane,

Maharashtra (1,10,54,131)District with Lowest Population—Dibang

Valley Arunachal

LEAST POPULOUS STATESikkim—6,10,577 (2011 Census)

Official Language—HindiMost Literate States/UTs

A. Kerala–93·91% (2011 Provisional Census)B. Lakshadweep–92·28% (2011 Provisional

Census)C. Mizoram–91·58% (2011 Provisional Cen-

sus)D. Tripura–87·75% (2011 Provisional Census)E. Goa–87·40% (2011 Provisional Census)

Top Two Districts ranked per Literacy Rate2011 (Provisional)

A. Serchhip (Mizoram)—98·76%B. Aizawl (Mizoram)—98·50%

India's Percentage decadal growth—17·7%(2001–11)

PHYSICAL FEATURESThe mainland comprises four regions, namely

the great mountain zone, plains of the Ganga andthe Indus, the desert region and the Southernpeninsula.

First Prime Minister—Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru(1947–64)Present Prime Minister—Narendra DamodardasModiFirst Vice-President—Dr. S. Radhakrishnan(1952–57) (1957–62)Present Vice-President—Md. Hamid AnsariFirst President—Dr. Rajendra Prasad (1952–57)Present President—Mr. Pranab MukherjeeCurrency—Rupees [1 US Dollar = 58·78 (21May, 2014)]High Courts—24Foreign Trade During April 2014 (Exports)—US $ 25634·08 MillionForeign Trade (Imports during April 2014)—$ 35720·03 million.The First Five Year Plan—1951–56The Tenth Five Year Plan—2002–07The Eleventh Five Year Plan—2007–12The Twelfth Five Year Plan—2012–17Largest Commercial Bank—State Bank of India

MAIN CROPSRice, Wheat, Cotton, Tea, Rubber, Ground-

nut.

AIRPORTS23 International airports, 114 domestic air-

ports, 26 civil enclaves.

TOTAL ROAD NETWORKIndia has one of the largest road networks in

the world, aggregating to about 33 lakh km atpresent. Of all types of Highways and roads, theNational Highways and the State Highwaystogether account for 1,31,899 km length. Thelength of the National Highways is 70,548 km.

ALL INDIA RADIO'S NETWORK

All India Radio presently has 237 radio stati-ons and 149 medium frequency, 54 high frequencyand 177 FM transmitters which provide radiocoverage to 91·85 per cent of the population andreaches 99·18 per cent area of the country. AllIndia Radio covers 24 languages and 146 dialectsin home services. In external services, it covers27 languages, 17 national and foreign languages.

Expansion of FM Services—In view of thesuperior quality of FM broadcasts it is gainingpopularity in the country. AIR has also thereforeundertaken to expand its FM network to achieveabout 50 per cent population coverage after the

General Knowledge Digest

Publisher : Upkar Prakashan ISBN : 9788174820945 Author : Editorial BoardPratiyogita Darpan

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