India: relief, rivers & drainage

Answer: (a) Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve

Sathyamangalam, in the Erode region of western Tamil Nadu, sits where the Western Ghats meet the Eastern Ghats. Its forests form a corridor that lets tigers, elephants and other wildlife move between the two hill systems; it became a tiger reserve in 2013.

• ✓ (a) The reserve's own management describes it as the vital corridor linking the Western and Eastern Ghats, which keeps wildlife populations of the two ranges connected.
• ✗ (c) Nagarhole in Karnataka is a Western Ghats park; it does not reach the Eastern Ghats.
• ✗ (d) Seshachalam, around Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, is an Eastern Ghats biosphere reserve with no link to the Western Ghats.

Remember · Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (Tamil Nadu, 2013) is the junction and wildlife corridor between the Western and Eastern Ghats, within the Nilgiri landscape.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) Chandipur

Chandipur, on the Bay of Bengal coast in Balasore district of Odisha, has a very gently sloping shore: at low tide the sea pulls back up to about 5 km, so visitors can walk on the exposed sea bed, and the water returns with the high tide.

• ✓ (c) Odisha Tourism calls Chandipur a 'hide and seek' beach: at each low tide it recedes up to about 5 km, exposing the sea bed, and the sea comes back at high tide (tides come roughly twice a day).
• ✗ (a) Bhavnagar is a port city on the Gulf of Khambhat in Gujarat; it is not the beach known for this walk-on-the-sea-floor phenomenon.
• ✗ (b) Bheemunipatnam is a coastal town near Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh with an ordinary beach, not a receding one.

Remember · Chandipur (Balasore, Odisha) = the 'vanishing sea' beach: at low tide the sea recedes up to about 5 km and you can walk on the sea bed.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 2 only

The Teesta rises inside Sikkim, not at the Brahmaputra's source in Tibet, and it does not reach the sea on its own: it joins the Brahmaputra (Jamuna) inside Bangladesh. The Rangeet, which has its headwaters in West Sikkim, is a right-bank tributary of the Teesta, so only statement 2 is correct.

• ✗ 1. The Teesta rises from the Pahunri (Teesta Kangse) glacier in north Sikkim and flows south through the Sikkim Himalaya; the Brahmaputra rises far away in the Kailash range of Tibet near the Konggyu Tsho lake.
• ✓ 2. The Rangit (Rangeet) has its headwaters in the glaciers of West Sikkim, such as East Rathong, and is the main tributary that meets the Teesta just before Teesta Bridge, near the Sikkim–West Bengal border.
• ✗ 3. The Teesta joins the Brahmaputra on its right bank inside Bangladesh, after which the river is called the Jamuna; it does not enter the Bay of Bengal on its own.

Remember · Teesta: rises in north Sikkim, tributary Rangeet (right bank), joins the Brahmaputra (Jamuna) in Bangladesh; Brahmaputra rises in the Kailash range, Tibet.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 India: Physical Environment, Ch 3 (practise this chapter)

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 3 only

Only statement 3 is correct: Pulicat Lake lies in exactly two States, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The Himalayas cover many more than five States, and the Western Ghats run through six.

• ✗ 1. The Indian Himalayan Region is officially counted as twelve States, taking in Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura, plus two districts of Assam and Darjeeling and Kalimpong in West Bengal.
• ✗ 2. The Western Ghats spread over six States: Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. Gujarat is the northern end of the range and is the easiest to forget.
• ✓ 3. Pulicat, the second largest brackish-water lagoon in India, lies partly in Andhra Pradesh and partly in Tamil Nadu.

Remember · Western Ghats: six States (Gujarat to Tamil Nadu). Himalayas: many more than five. Pulicat Lagoon: two States, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) Sumatra

Sumatra (Indonesia) is the closest. Indira Point, the southern tip of Great Nicobar and the southernmost point of India, is only about 140 km from Sumatra. Java, Borneo and Sri Lanka lie much farther away.

• ✓ (a) The Andaman and Nicobar Administration puts Indira Point barely 140 km from Sumatra; its geography note gives about 91 geographical (nautical) miles to Achin Head in Sumatra.
• ✗ (d) Sri Lanka lies across the Bay of Bengal to the west, much farther from Great Nicobar than Sumatra is.
• ✗ (c) Java lies south-east of Sumatra, so it is farther from Great Nicobar than Sumatra is.
• ✗ (b) Borneo lies far to the east of Sumatra, so it is also farther from Great Nicobar.

Remember · Great Nicobar (Indira Point, India's southernmost point) lies only about 140 km from Sumatra, Indonesia.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error