IAS 2019

GEOGRAPHY
TEST SERIES
By: ROHIT LODHA

TEST: 6

www.iasscore.in
 Test - 06

Geography Test Series 2019

Geography
Time Allowed: 1 hrs.

1. Give the brief idea and justification regarding the environmental Kuznets curve. What are
the limitations of this strategy? (15)
2. What do you understand by Social Capital? Why Social Capital has dwindled over the past
years? Also explain how to Promote Population as a Social Capital? (15)

E
3. Describe the morphological model of urban structure proposed by Homer Hoyet and Mann.

4.
OR (15)
Analyze the trend in population policies in India. Do you think India requires new population
policy? (15)
5. Despite several shortcomings Planning Commission has helped in the empowerment of
SC

Scheduled Castes and Tribes in India. Evaluate. (15)

6. Terrain influences the distributional pattern of population both at macro and micro scales.
Elaborate. (15)
7. The extensive geographical spread of the country is conducive to the growth of regional
diversities in social milieu. Explain. (15)
GS

Geography [1]
Join TelegramGroups
To Boost Your Preparation
PDF4Exams One stop solution for study
Click Here materials of all competitiveexams

The Hindu ZoneOfficial

Newspapers & study Click Here
materials

TestSeries4Exam
All paid test series
Click Here availabblewithoutanycost

Pdfbasket
All e-Magazines
in your hand Click Here
Hindi Books
All study materials
Click Here
in Hindi

eSandesh (An Indian App)

For More download eSandesh App from play store

https://telegram.me/pdf4exams https://telegram.me/Pdf4Mains2019

Geography Test Series 2019

www.iasscore.in

Geography
Answer Hints: Test No.6
1. Give the brief idea and justification regarding the environmental Kuznets curve. What are
the limitations of this strategy?
The environmental Kuznets curve suggests that economic development initially leads to a
deterioration in the environment, but after a certain level of economic growth, a society begins to
improve its relationship with the environment and levels of environmental degradation reduces.

RE
From a very simplistic viewpoint, it can suggest that economic growth is good for the environment.
However, critics argue there is no guarantee that economic growth will lead to an improved
environment – in fact, the opposite is often the case. At the least, it requires a targeted policy and
attitudes to make sure that economic growth is compatible with an improving environment.
Level of
environmental
O
Industrial
degradation
Economics
Turning point
Post industrial
SC

(service sector
Pre-industrial based economy)
economies
GS

GDP per capita

(economic growth)

Justification for Environmental Kuznets curve

1. Empirical evidence of declining pollution levels with economic growth. Studies found
that higher economic growth in the US led to increased use of cars, but at the same time
– due to regulation, levels of air pollution (in particular sulphur dioxide levels declined).
2. Spare income with growth. With higher rates of economic growth, people have more
discretionary income after paying for basic necessities; therefore, they are more amenable to
paying higher prices in return for better environmental standards.
3. Focus on living standards as opposed to real GDP. Traditional economic theory concentrates
on increasing real GDP and rates of economic growth. But there is a growing awareness the
link between economic growth and living standards can be weak. Focusing on living standards
can become politically popular.
Hints: Geography [1]
https://telegram.me/pdf4exams https://telegram.me/Pdf4Mains2019

4. Improved technology. The primary driving force behind long-term economic growth is
improved technology and higher productivity. With higher productivity, we can see higher
output, with less raw materials used. For example, since the 1950s, the technology of car use
has significantly improved fuel efficiency. In the 1950s, many cars had very low miles per
gallon. In recent years, car manufacturers have made strides in reducing fuel consumption
and have started to develop hybrid technology.
5. Solar and renewable energy. A good example of how improved technology has reduced
potential for environmental damage is the progress in solar technology. In recent years, the
cost of solar energy has significantly fallen – raising the prospect of clean technology.
6. De-industrialisation. Initially, economic development leads to shifting from farming to
manufacturing. This leads to greater environmental degradation. However, increased
productivity and rising real incomes see a third shift from industrial to the service sector. An
economy like the UK has seen industrialisation shrink as a share of the economy. The service
sector usually has a lower environmental impact than manufacturing.

RE
7. Role of government regulation. Economic growth and development usually see a growth
in the size of government as a share of GDP. The government are able to implement taxes
and regulations in an attempt to solve environmental externalities which harm health and
living standards.
8. Diminishing marginal utility of income. Rising income has a diminishing marginal utility.
O
The benefit from your first £10,000 annual income is very high. But, if income rises from
£90,000- £100,000 the gain is very limited in comparison. Having a very high salary is of
little consolation if you live with environmental degradation (e.g. congestion, pollution and
SC

ill health). Therefore a rational person who is seeing rising incomes will begin to place
greater stress on improving other aspects of living standards.
Limitations of Kuznets Environmental Curve
1. Empirical evidence is mixed. There is no guarantee that economic growth will see a decline
in pollutants.
GS

2. Pollution is not simply a function of income, but many factors. For example, the effectiveness
of government regulation, the development of the economy, population levels.
3. Global pollution. Many developed economies have seen a reduction in industry and growth
in service sector, but they are still importing goods from developing countries. In that sense,
they are exporting environmental degradation. Pollution may reduce in the UK, US, but
countries who export to these countries are seeing higher levels of environmental degradation.
One example is with regard to deforestation. Higher income countries tend to stop the
process of deforestation, but at the same time, they still import meat and furniture from
countries who are creating farmland out of forests.
4. N-Shaped. Some economists argue that there is a degree of reduced environmental
degradation post-industrialisation. But, if the economy continues to expand, then inevitably
some resources will continue to be used in greater measure. There is no guarantee that long-
term levels of environmental degradation will continue to fall.
5. Countries with the highest GDP have highest levels of CO2 emission. For example, US has
CO2 emissions of 17.564 tonnes per capita. Ethiopia has by comparison  0.075 tonnes per
capita. China’s CO2 emissions have increased from 1,500 million tonnes in 1981 to 8,000
million tonnes in 2009.
[ 2 ] Hints: Geography
https://telegram.me/pdf4exams https://telegram.me/Pdf4Mains2019

Conclusion
The link between levels of income and environmental degradation is quite weak. It is possible economic
growth will be compatible with an improved environment, but it requires a very deliberate set of
policies and willingness to produce energy and goods in most environmentally friendly way.
2. What do you understand by Social Capital? Why Social Capital has dwindled over the past
years? Also explain how to Promote Population as a Social Capital?
The concept of social capital first used in 1916 by Author Lyda Hanifan who defined it as those
intangible assets that count for most in the daily lives of people: namely goodwill, fellowship,
sympathy and social intercourse among the individuals and families who make up a social unit.
According to Putman, whereas physical capital refers to physical objects and human capital refers
to the properties of individual, social capital refers to connections among individual’s social
networks and the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that arise from them. In that sense
social capital is closely related to what some have called “civic virtue.”
According to the World Bank Social capital refers to the institutions, relationships, and norms

RE
that shape the quality and quantity of a society’s social interactions. Social capital is not just the
sum of the institutions which underpin a society it is the glue that holds them together.
According to OECD, social capital is defined as networks together with shared norms, values
and understandings that facilitate co-operation within or among groups.
O
In short social capital can be defined as the links, shared values and understandings in society that
enable individuals and groups to trust each other and so work together.
Why Social Capital has dwindled over the past years:
SC

Changes in family structure (i.e. with more and more people living alone), are a possible element
as conventional avenues to civic involvement are not well-designed for single and childless people.
Suburban sprawl has fractured the spatial integrity of people’s. They travel much further to work,
shop and enjoy leisure opportunities. As a result there is less time available (and less inclination) to
become involved in groups. Suburban sprawl is a very significant contributor.
Electronic entertainment, especially television, has profoundly privatized leisure time. The time
GS

we spend watching television is a direct drain upon involvement in groups and social capital building
activities. It may contribute up to 40 per cent of the decline in involvement in groups
How to Promote Population as a social Capital:
• Increase social interaction partly by local people and partly by Government (Informal groups,
Voluntary Groups).
• Provide space for Social Interaction(Community parks)
• Strengthen Family institutions especially by government.
• Multiply picnics of people at local and group tours.
3. Describe the morphological model of urban structure proposed by Homer Hoyet and Mann.
The forces underlying the pattern of land use, process of urban growth and accessibility within
and outward of a city can be generalized by means of a number of theories. It is true to a large
extent that each city possesses a unique combination of various use of land, but to some degree a
common pattern is visible. One of the commonly referred pattern in the Sectoral Model as follows
Homer Hoyt observed, picture of cities had changed and therefore, he advanced in 1939, the sector
theory. His idea was that because of rise of automobile, access to the downtown had been
Hints: Geography [3]
https://telegram.me/pdf4exams https://telegram.me/Pdf4Mains2019

improved and lot of shifting of uses in the CBD had arisen. On major routes of transportation
sectors of specific land use were likely to grow with the expansion of city. Residential land uses tend
to be arranged in wedges radiating from the centre.
The Sector Theory

RE
1 : CBD
2 : Wholesale and light manufacturing
3 : Low-class residential
4 : Middle-Class residential
5 : High-class residential
O
Hoyt’s theory, of course, deals only
with residential land use. Rent
areas in cities tend to conform to
SC

a pattern of sectors rather than of

concentric circles. The highest
rent areas tend to be located in one
or more sectors of the city. But
various rent areas are not static.
High quality residential areas tend
to migrate outward in the sector,
GS

older houses remaining behind to

become medium-quality areas
The movement of the high rent area
is important because it has tended
to pull the growth of the entire city
in the same direction. The net result
of urban growth is that a zone of
High-class housing tends to be
located on one side of a city rather
than in the continuous ring. At the
same time, the age of buildings is
more likely to show a concentric Residences-
1 Business 3 Park
arrangement. Low Value
0 1 2 3
Peter Mann’s Views: Residences-
2 Industry 4 Medium Value miles
Peter Mann (1965) expressed that Res idenc es-
5
the sector and concentric theories High Value
show the possibility of the
coexistence, and Hoyt’s sectors are
[ 4 ] Hints: Geography
https://telegram.me/pdf4exams https://telegram.me/Pdf4Mains2019

just a refinement rather than a radical alteration of the concentric mode. Mann suggests that urban
structure of the typical medium-sized British city shows internal differentitation but not
complexities as seen in a conurbation
His model assumes a prevailing wind from the west attracts location of best residential area on the
western fringe of the city, on the opposite side from the industrial and lowest working-class sector.
In other words, the diagram showing shifts in the location of high-rent residential areas, illustrates
elements of both a concentric and a sector structure.
4. Analyze the trend in population policies in India. Do you think India requires new population
policy?
Before independence, the Britishers did not consider population growth as a problem. Their
attitude towards birth control was indifferent because they never wanted to interfere with the
values, beliefs, customs and traditions of Indians. That is why this phase is called the Period of
Indifference.
The period following independence and before the beginning of the planning era was one of

RE
neutrality. The Government of India was busy with the post-independence problems like
rehabilitation of the people following the Partition, reorganization of the States and Pakistan’s
invasion of Kashmir. However, at one of the meetings of the Planning Commission in 1949, Jawaharlal
Nehru laid emphasis on the need for family planning programme in India.
During the first decade (1951-61) of planned economic development, family planning as a method
O
of population control was started as a government programme in India. The National Family
Planning Programme was launched in 1952 with the objective of “reducing birth rate to the extent
necessary to stabilize the population at a level consistent with the requirement of the national
SC

economy.”
With the rapid growth of population in the 1961 Census, the Extension Approach to family planning
was adopted in the Third Plan which emphasized the adoption of an educational approach to
family planning through Panchayat Samitis, Village Development Committees and other groups.
Another important measure was the integration of family planning services with health, maternity
and child health care and nutrition. Thus the family planning programme was made more broad-
GS

based. To make this programme more effective, Selective Approach was adopted under which
couples in the reproductive age group of 25 to 35 years were persuaded to undergo sterilization.
However various policies launched in various FYPs could not bring much difference as population
kept on growing on large scale & took the shape of population explosion.
Thus government came out with the comprehensive population policy in 2000 aka National
Population Policy. It had three time bound objectives as follows,
1. Immediate objective:- Meet all unmet needs of contraception and healthcare for women &
children.
2. Medium term objective:- Bring Total Fertility Rate (TFR) to replacement level i.e. 2.1 by 2010.
3. Long term objective:- Achieve population stabilization by 2045.
However, the subsequent events reveal that the goals set under the policy were rather over-ambitious.
For E.g. NPP wanted IMR to be reduced to below 30 per thousand live births. But according to
Registrar General of India even in 2015 India’s IMR stands around 39.
Moreover MMR was aimed to be reduced below 100 but according to 2015 data India’s MMR
stands out 167.
Also the Total Fertility Rate which was aimed to be 2.1 by 2010 is still 2.3 in India.
Hints: Geography [5]
https://telegram.me/pdf4exams https://telegram.me/Pdf4Mains2019

The NPP envisaged achieving universal immunization of children against all vaccine preventable
diseases. However recent NFHS survey revealed that there are only 63% children who are fully
immunized.
The policy, however seems to get success in reducing the child marriage as according to NFHS data
child marriage has reduced from 50% to 28% in 2015.
Also, policy aims to achieve 80% institutional deliveries, which has been achieved as in 2015 total
institutional deliveries stands out to be 81%.
Moreover, the policy has been successful in achieving growth in female sterilization from 68% to
76%. However this shows the prevalent patriarchal nature of our society to force women to go
under sterilization.
The NPP has been very much successful in controlling the population growth as it has helped
country to come from period of rapid growth to Period of High growth with definite signs of slowing
down. This can be gauged from the fact that the population growth rate has significantly came
down from 2.46 in 1981 to 1.76 in 2011.

RE
5. Despite several shortcomings Planning Commission has helped in the empowerment of
Scheduled Castes and Tribes in India. Evaluate.
Five year planning in India is essentially taken from the centralised planning framework adopted
by communism, and derives various of its objectives from the DPSPs of the constitution.
1. The five year plans have been able to delineate the various needs of the marginalized
O
communities like SCs and STs, in the field of health, education, employment, skill imparting,
etc, by adopting the principle of inclusive growth in various plans.
SC

2. Although initially, agriculture and industrial development was given the dominant thought
in subsequent plans, the aspect of social justice also came to fore subsequently.
3. The National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation (NSFDC)
established in 1989, provides financial and other support to beneficiaries for taking up
various income generating activities.
4. The Tenth Five Year Plan (2002–07) adopted a multipronged approach for the socio-
GS

economic development of the SCs, including:

i) Social empowerment through educational development; 
ii) Economic empowerment through income and employment enhancing avenues; 
iii) Protection through effective implementation of protective legislations and eradication
of occupations such as manual scavenging, etc.
5. To help the STs in participating in the mainstream development, the government prepared
a separate development plan called Tribal Sub Plan for STs in 1976. It was followed by the
Special Component Plan for the SCs in 1978.
6. With the previous plan, specially emphasizing on inclusive growth and the present plan
moving to reduce vulnerability of the marginal societies, various other plans have included
the welfare of SCs and STs in their provisions, like Skill India, Taking urban amenities
to rural India, etc. 
7. But such initiatives have remained more on paper, rather than in practice. Various
shortcomings like, delay in implementation, lack of political will, high scale corruption, lack
of awareness among which makes people unable to demand their rights, and low budget
allocation to various important schemes, have made the initiatives ineffective.
[ 6 ] Hints: Geography
https://telegram.me/pdf4exams https://telegram.me/Pdf4Mains2019

8. Such measures need to be rebuffed with renewed vigour and zeal and to effectively help
each section of the population in participating in the economic development of the country.
6. Terrain influences the distributional pattern of population both at macro and micro scales.
Elaborate.
Terrain influences the distributional pattern of population both at macro and micro scales. The
areas characterized by difficult terrain have conspicuously sparse population. By comparison, the
rugged terrain has repelled human settlements largely because of limited cultivable land, high cost
of agriculture operations, and inaccessibility. For example, the bulk of Japanese population is
concentrated in the peripheral low lands, where large agricultural lands are available, the soils are
generally fertile and easily workable, vast leveled land is available both for settlements and for
industrial establishments, and means of transportation are well developed.
Altitude also plays important role in distribution of population. It is observed that only 20% of the
world’s total population lives beyond the altitude of 500m while around 56% was confined to an
altitude of less than 200m.

RE
Degree of slope also crucial factor. The steepness of slope delimits the extent of arable land. The
cost of constructing and maintaining the terraces in such areas is also highly prohibitive.
Besides altitude and slope, the drainage conditions in an area also affect the effectiveness of peopling.
Swampy and marshy areas which are suffering from poor drainage forbid human settlements.
O
The depth of the subsoil water table, has often been considered as influencing the size and spacing
of rural settlements, particularly in agrarian countries. The settlements are small and closely spaced
in tracts where the subsoil water table is close to the surface. On the contrary, the settlements
become larger but widely spaced in areas of deep subsoil water table.
SC

In the northern coastal plains of Iran, where subsoil water table is close to the surface, the population
is distributed in small but closely spaced settlements. While in interiors where the water table is too
deep, large settlements emerge at water points only, which are few and far between.
Soils: The attractiveness of a region for human settlement may depend partly on the quality of the
soil. In fact, in regions of nearly uniform climate, landforms and accessibility, the variations in soil
texture and other characteristics may result in local variations in land use and hence population
GS

distribution. For e.g. Podzols of higher latitudes and mature laterites of the tropics, which generally
impede intensive cultivation discourage effective settlement. On the other hand lava soil of volcanic
regions, deep alluvial soil, grassland soil of mid latitude support very dense population.
Space-relationship (Accessibility): The influence of an area to attract and support population
may also be influenced by its location in relation to other areas and to the major transportation
routes. It is partly for this reason that the rimland of various continents are by and large more
densely peopled in comparison to their relatively less accessible interiors.
7. The extensive geographical spread of the country is conducive to the growth of regional
diversities in social milieu. Explain.
A federation is born when the political units in a region possess strong identities which create in
them a genuine desire to maintain their separate existence even as they share certain vital features
which call for a strongly co-ordinated and united existence. Thus federalism can be viewed as a
response to the enormous diversities that exist within the state.
An important reason for the development of a federal type of political structure is large size. The
extensive geographical spread of the country is conducive to the growth of regional diversities in
social milieu. Even with modern developments in transport and communications, it is difficult to
administer such large territories with a unitary system. In India, there are 28 states and 7 UTs.
Hints: Geography [7]
https://telegram.me/pdf4exams https://telegram.me/Pdf4Mains2019

The diversity of natural physiographic features has contributed to the emergence of different forms
and patterns of interaction between human beings and nature in the different regions of India.
Here the Vindhyas act as a formidable barrier between the northern plane and southern plateau.
Thus the Aryan north is culturally different from Dravidian south. But this change from north to
south is not sudden. Instead there exists a transition area consisting of the forest covered tracts of
central India inhabited by the tribal groups whose culture differs from either two.
The north and south are further divided by into several smaller linguistic cultural subdivisions by
certain topographical lineaments at the landscape.
The Indus valley region is separated from Ganga plain by the wide expense of the Rajasthan desert
& is connected with the latter only by a narrow corridor to the north of Delhi. But from here to the
Far East there is no geographical divide thus this part has seen some homogeneous cultural complex
upto the Chottanagpur plateau except Bengal which has developed its own language.
Further the Brahamputra valley of Assam with its own linguistic cultural complex has also made
small units of distinct identity.

RE
South of Indus-Ganga plain are, from west to east- Gujrat, Maharashtra, MP, Jharkhand, Orissa-
each of them though Indo-Aryan in their linguistic cultural complex have developed their own
language and script.
The Tamil speaking area is roughly separated by Mysore Ghats from Karnataka and Western Ghats
from Kerala. North of Tamilnadu and east of Kannada and Marathi speaking areas is the Telugu
O
speaking Andhra Pradesh dominated by the riverine tracts of Krishna & Godawari.
The people of India have interacted with different environment thus their response to the distinct
landscapes have distinct regional flavours. The food habits, styles of clothing and shelter, economic
SC

activities, dialects, festivals, all acquire a regional stamp.

India has been a home to immigrants from various regions over time. They have come by different
routes- by sea to the west and the south, and through the mountain passes in the north-west and in
the north-east. They have concentrated in different regions and given rise to distinct cultural aspects.
In the circumstances a federal system becomes necessary if the regional diversity is to be
accommodated in governing the country.
GS



[ 8 ] Hints: Geography