[Answers with Explanation] UPSC prelims GS1 paper 2023

Q1. Consider the following statements

1. Jhelum river passes through Wular  lake
2. Krishna river directly feeds Kolleru lake
3. Meandering of Gandak river formed kanwar lake

How many of the statements given above are correct?

(a) Only one
(b) Only Two
(c) All Three
(d) None

Answer: (b)

Statement 1: The Jhelum rises from a deep spring at Vernag, in western Jammu and Kashmir union territory of India. The river meanders northwestward from the northern slope of the Pir Panjal Range through the Vale of Kashmir to Wular Lake at Srinagar, which controls its flow. Statement 1 is correct.
Statement 2: The Kolleru lake serves as a natural flood-balancing reservoir for these two rivers. The lake is fed directly by water from the seasonal Budameru and Tammileru streams, and is connected to the Krishna and Godavari systems by over 68 inflowing drains and channels. Hence Krishna doesn’t directly feed Kolleru Lake. Statement 2 is not correct.
Statement 3: Kanwar Lake, also known as Kabar Taal, is the largest freshwater lake in Bihar. Kanwar jheel, as it is locally called, is located 22 km north-west of Begusarai town. It is a residual oxbow lake, formed due to meandering of Gandak river, a tributary of Ganga, in the geological past.

Q2. Consider the following pairs

Port	Well Known As
1.      Kamarajar Port	First Major port in India registered as a company
2.      Mundra Port	Largest Privately owned port in India
3.      Visakhapatnam Port	Largest container port in India

How many of the above pairs are correctly matched?

(a) Only one pair
(b)Only two pairs
(c) All three pairs
(d) None of the pairs

Answer: (b)

Kamarajar Port Limited, formerly Ennore Port, is located on the Coromandel Coast, Chennai about 18 km north of Chennai Port. The Kamarajar Port Limited is the only corporatized major port and is registered as a company.
Mundra Port: Mundra Port is the India’s first private port and largest container port, located on the northern shores of the Gulf of Kutch near Mundra, Kutch district, Gujarat.

Q3. Consider the following trees

1. Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus)
2. Mahua (Madhuca longifolia)
3. Teak ( Tectona grandis )

How many of the above are deciduous trees?

(a) Only one
(b)Only Two
(c) All Three
(d)None

Answer: (b)

Teak, sal, shisham, hurra, mahua, amla, semul, kusum, and sandalwood are examples of deciduous trees.
Jackfruit originally native to west coast of India requires an average rainfall of 100 to 240 cm. It is an evergreen tree

Q4. Consider the following statements

1. India has more arable area than China.
2. The proportion of irrigated area is more in India as compared to China.
3. The average productivity per hectare in Indian agriculture is higher than that in China.

How many of the above statements are correct?

(a) Only one
(b)Only Two
(c) All Three
(d)None

Answer (b)

Statement 1: India has the largest cropland of any country at 179.8 million hectares, compared with 167.8 million in the US and 165.2 million in China. Hence Statement 1 is correct.
Statement 2: China’s irrigation cover is 41% of the cultivated area, and India’s is 48%. As a result of this irrigation, China’s total sown area is 166 mha compared to India’s gross cropped area of 198 mha. Hence statement 2 is correct.
Statement 3: Average Productivity in China is 4.7 tonne/hectare and in India is 2.9 tonne/hectare. Hence statement 3 is wrong.

Q5. Which one of the following is the best example of repeated falls in sea level, giving rise to present day extensive marshland?

(a)Bhitarkanika mangroves
(b)Marakkanam salt pans
(c) Naupada swamp
(d)Rann of kutch

Answer (d)

Repeat in Sea levels is possible in areas having high tidal range. The Rann of Kutch closely matches the above description.
It is described as a mysterious and fascinating tectonic landscape generated during last 10,000 years, in an area marked by sea-level changes.

Q6. Ilmenite and rutile, abundantly available in certain coastal tracts of India, are rich sources of which one of the following?

(a)Aluminium
(b)Copper
(c) Iron
(d)Titanium

Answer: (d)

Heavy mineral sands comprise a group of seven minerals, viz, ilmenite, leucoxene (brown ilmenite), rutile, zircon, sillimanite, garnet and monazite.
Ilmenite (FeO.TiO2 ) and rutile (TiO2) are the two chief minerals of titanium.

Q7. About three-fourths of world’s cobalt, metal required for the manufacture of batteries for electric motor vehicles, is produced by

(a)Argentina
(b)Botswana
(c) Democratic Republic of the Congo
(d)Kazakhstan

Answer: (c)

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has the largest cobalt reserves in the world, at some four million metric tons as of 2022. As the total global cobalt reserves amount to 8.3 million metric tons, this means that the DR Congo’s cobalt reserves account for nearly half of the world’s reserves of the metal.

O8. Which one of the following is a part of the Congo basin?

(a)Cameroon
(b)Nigeria
(c)South Sudan
(d)Uganda

Answer: (a)

The Congo Basin spans across six countries—Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

Q9. Consider the following statements

1. Amarkantak hills are at the confluence of Vindhya and Sahyadri ranges.
2. Biligirirangan hills constitute the eastern most part of Satpura range.
3. Seshachalam hills constitute the southernmost part of western ghats.

How many of the statements given above are correct?

(a) Only one
(b)Only Two
(c) All Three
(d)None

Answer: (d)

Statement 1: Amarkantak hills are at the confluence of Vindhya and Satpura ranges.
Statement 2: Amarkantak hills constitute the eastern most part of Satpura range.
Statement 3: Cardamom hills constitute the southernmost part of western ghats.

Q10. With reference to India’s projects on connectivity, consider the following statements:

1. East-West corridor under Golden Quadrilateral Project connects Dibrugarh and Surat.
2. Trilateral highway connects Moreh in Manipur and Chiang Mai in Thailand via Myanmar.
3. Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar economic corridor connects Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh with Kunming in China.

How many of the statements given above are correct?

(a) Only one
(b)Only Two
(c) All Three
(d)None

Answer: (d)

Statement 1: East-West corridor under Golden Quadrilateral Project connects Silchar to Porbandar (3,300 km).
Statement 2: Trilateral highway connects Moreh in Manipur to Mae Sot in Thailand.
Statement 3: The BCIM economic corridor aims to connect Kolkata with Kunming, capital of the Yunnan province.