Factors influencing the climate of India

·         Location and latitudinal extent.

·         Distance from the sea.

·         The Northern mountain ranges.

·         Physiography

·         Monsoon winds

·         Upper air circulation

·         Jet stream

·         Tropical Cyclones

·         Western Disturbances

·         El-Nino

·         La Nina

·         Southern Oscillation

ª    The changes in the upper air circulation over Indian landmass influences the climate of India to a great extent. Jet streams in the upper air system influence the Indian climate.

ª    Jet stream is a band of fast moving air from west to east usually found in the middle latitudes in the upper troposphere at a height of about 12 km. The wind speeds in a westerly jet stream are commonly 150 to 300 kmph.

ª    Tropical Cyclones and Western Disturbances. Tropical cyclones originate in the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea and influence large parts of the peninsular India.

ª    El-Nino Effect: El-Nino is a narrow warm current which occasionally appears off the coast of Peru in December.

ª    La Nina : La Nina is the complete opposite of El Nino. It is the harbinger of heavy monsoon showers in India.

ª    Southern Oscillation: Whenever the surface level pressure is high over the Indian Ocean there is low pressure over the Pacific Ocean and vice versa. This inter relation of high and low pressure over the Pacific and the Indian ocean is called Southern Oscillation.

1.    In a first of its kind, doctors in Sweden have transplanted into the body of 10-year-old girl a vein grown in the laboratory from her own stem cells. The core team that performed the procedure was led by:-
    (a)    Dr  N K Mehra
    (b)    Dr Suchitra Holgersson
    (c)    Dr Martin Birchall
    (d)    Dr George Hamilton

2.    Choose the correct sentence/sentences:-
    1.    Scientists have discovered a new species of freshwater fish in an unnamed stream in the Western Ghats in southern Karnataka.
    2.    Researchers have named the fish Dario urops after the Greek words meaning "tail" and "eye" to denote a conspicuous spot near its tail.
    3.    They have described their finding as "unexpected" in the latest edition of international taxonomy journal Zootaxa.
    Code:-
    (a)    1 and 2    (b)    2 and 3
    (c)    1 and 3    (d)    1, 2 and 3

3.    Who has bagged the 2012 World Business & Development Award for its transformational rural initiatives in social and farm forestry programmes in India at the Rio+20 United Nations Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
    (a)    Unilever Limited
    (b)    ITC Limited
    (c)    Tata Limited
    (d)    Reliance Limited

4.    Choose the correct sentence/sentences:-
    1.    Gambian lawyer Fatou Bensouda was sworn in as the International Criminal Court's new chief prosecutor.
    2.    Fatou  Bensouda is the first woman and the first African to head the team of   prosecutors at the Tribunal.
    3.    She is investigating 17 cases in seven countries, all of them African.
    Code:   
    (a)    Only 1        (b)    1 and 2    (c)    2 and 3    (d)    All of the above

5.    Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Su Kyi accepted her Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. She originally was given the award in the year_________.
    (a)    1990        (b)    1991    (c)    1992        (d)    1993