(a) On the outline map of India provided to you, mark the location of all the following. Write in your QCA Booklet the…

(a) Map locations and their significance (mark each on the outline map)

(i) Ziro Valley (Arunachal Pradesh): home of the Apatani tribe, known for permanent wet-rice-cum-fish farming and a festival; cultural and ecological value, a proposed World Heritage site.

(ii) Khecheopalri Lake (West Sikkim): sacred wish-fulfilling lake of Buddhists and Hindus, within a biosphere area; cultural, pilgrimage and ecological importance.

(iii) Toranmal (Nandurbar, Maharashtra): hill station on the Satpura range with Yashwant Lake and forest; tourism and tribal cultural importance.

(iv) Subarnarekha River: rises near Ranchi and flows through Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha to the Bay of Bengal; supplies industrial Jamshedpur, with Hundru Falls; industrial and ecological importance.

(v) Koderma (Jharkhand): historic mica belt of India with Gaya and Hazaribagh; economic (mining) significance.

(vi) Sir Creek: tidal estuary in the Rann of Kutch on the India–Pakistan border; boundary dispute, with strategic, fishing and offshore resource importance.

(vii) Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary (Kerala): Periyar Tiger Reserve around Periyar Lake in the Western Ghats; elephants and tigers; ecological and tourism value.

(viii) Peechi Dam (Thrissur, Kerala): on the Manali river, supplying irrigation and drinking water, beside Peechi–Vazhani Wildlife Sanctuary; economic and ecological importance.

(ix) Digha Beach (West Bengal): sandy resort on the Bay of Bengal; tourism and fishing, with problems of coastal erosion.

(x) Pamban Island (Tamil Nadu): island joining Rameswaram to the mainland by the Pamban Bridge; pilgrimage, fishing and Gulf of Mannar marine ecology.

(b) Geopolitical impact of India–Bhutan relations

Bhutan is a landlocked Himalayan kingdom, and a buffer between India and China. Relations rest on the Friendship Treaty of 1949, revised in 2007.

Strategic: Bhutan lies near the Siliguri Corridor, India's narrow link to the North-East, so its security matters to India. The Doklam stand-off of 2017 showed this, and Bhutan–China boundary talks affect India. Bhutan removed insurgent camps in 2003, which helped India's North-East.

Economic: India is Bhutan's largest trade partner and aid donor. Hydropower projects (Chukha, Tala, Mangdechhu, Punatsangchhu) export power to India, and the open border allows free movement.

The tie gives India a friendly neighbour that offsets Chinese influence, while Bhutan gains security and development. A balance is needed as Bhutan seeks wider diplomatic space.

(c) Economic significance of volcanic soils of India

Volcanic soils, the black or regur soils, form from Deccan Trap basalt over Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

They are clayey, rich in lime, iron, magnesium and potash and hold moisture long, so crops survive dry spells. They are poor in nitrogen, phosphorus and organic matter and crack in summer.

Economic importance: they support cotton, the base of the textile industry, and sugarcane, soybean, jowar, groundnut, pulses, oranges (Nagpur) and sunflower. They back cotton textile mills and sugar mills in Maharashtra and oilseed processing, and support the incomes of millions of dryland farmers. Limits include waterlogging when wet, and salinity under canal irrigation, so drainage and added fertiliser are needed.

(d) Sugar industry: North versus Peninsular India

North India (Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, Haryana) and the peninsula (Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu) differ in several ways.

Climate: the peninsula's tropical climate gives a longer growing season, no frost, and higher sucrose, so recovery is about 11–12 per cent against about 10 per cent in the north. Cane yields are higher in the south; the subtropical north has winter cold and frost.

Crushing season: it lasts 6–7 months in the south and 4–5 months in the north, so mills run longer and more efficiently.

Irrigation: the south depends on canals and reservoirs, with assured water; the north uses tube wells and canals, but has floods and waterlogging.

Organisation: cooperatives dominate in Maharashtra and Gujarat; private mills dominate in Uttar Pradesh, and many mills there are old and small.

By-products: distilleries and cogeneration are better developed in the south. The north has the larger area under cane (Uttar Pradesh is the top cane producer), but the south has the better yield per hectare and recovery.