Paper – 2 : GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA

1. Physical Setting: 

• Space relationship of India with neighbouring countries;
• Structure and relief;
• Drainage system and watersheds;
• Physiographic regions;
• Mechanism of Indian monsoons and rainfall patterns,
• Tropical cyclones and western disturbances;
• Floods and droughts;
• Climatic regions;
• Natural vegetation;
• Soil types and their distributions.

2. Resources: 

• Land, surface and groundwater, energy, minerals, biotic and marine resources;
• Forest and wild life resources and their conservation;
• Energy crisis.

3. Agriculture: 

• Infrastructure: irrigation, seeds, fertilizers, power;
• Institutional factors: land holdings, land tenure and land reforms;
• Cropping pattern, agricultural productivity, agricultural intensity, crop combination, land capability;
• Agro and social-forestry;
• Green revolution and its socio-economic and ecological implications;
• Significance of dry farming;
• Livestock resources and white revolution; aquaculture; sericulture, apiculture and poultry;
• agricultural regionalisation;
• agro-climatic zones;
• agro-ecological regions.

4. Industry: 

• Evolution of industries;
• Locational factors of cotton, jute, textile, iron and steel, aluminium, fertilizer, paper, chemical and pharmaceutical, automobile, cottage and agro-based industries;
• Industrial houses and complexes including public sector undertakings; Industrial regionalisation;
• New industrial policies;
• Multinationals and liberalization;
• Special Economic Zones;
• Tourism including eco-tourism.    

5. Transport, Communication and Trade: 

• Road, railway, waterway, airway and pipeline networks and their complementary roles in regional development;
• Growing importance of ports on national and foreign trade;
• Trade balance;
• Trade Policy;
• Export processing zones;
• Developments in communication and information technology and their impacts on economy and society;
• Indian space programme.

6. Cultural Setting: 

• Historical Perspective of Indian Society;
• Racial, linguistic and ethnic diversities;
• Religious minorities;
• Major tribes, tribal areas and their problems;
• Cultural regions;
• Growth, distribution and density of population;
• Demographic attributes: sex-ratio, age structure, literacy rate, work-force, dependency ratio, longevity;
• Migration (inter-regional, intraregional and international) and associated problems;
• Population problems and policies;
• Health indicators. 

7. Settlements: 

• Types, patterns and morphology of rural settlements;
• Urban developments;
• Morphology of Indian cities;
• Functional classification of Indian cities;
• Conurbations and metropolitan regions;
• Urban sprawl;
• Slums and associated problems;
• Town planning;
• Problems of urbanization and remedies.

8. Regional Development and Planning: 

• Experience of regional planning in India;
• Five Year Plans;
• Integrated rural development programmes;
• Panchayati Raj and decentralised planning;
• Command area development;
• Watershed management;
• Planning for backward area, desert, drought-prone, hill, tribal area development; multi-level planning;
• Regional planning and development of island territories.

9. Political Aspects: 

• The Geographical basis of Indian federalism;
• State reorganisation; Emergence of new states;
• Regional consciousness and interstate issues; international boundary of India and related issues;
• Cross-border terrorism;
• India’s role in world affairs;
• Geopolitics of South Asia and Indian Ocean Realm.

10. Contemporary Issues: Ecological issues: 

• Environmental hazards: landslides, earthquakes, Tsunamis, floods and droughts, epidemics;
• Issues relating to environmental pollution;
• Changes in patterns of land use;
• Principles of environmental impact assessment and environmental management;
• Population explosion and food security;
• Environmental degradation;
• Deforestation, desertification and soil erosion;
• Problems of agrarian and industrial unrest;
• Regional disparities in economic development;
• Concept of sustainable growth and development;
• Environmental awareness;
• Linkage of rivers;
• Globalisation and Indian economy.

NOTE: Candidates will be required to answer one compulsory map question pertinent to subjects covered by this paper.