Theory paper is of three hours duration and 70 marks. There are 7 units in the syllabus: (i) Physical Environment (ii) Population and Human settlements (iii) Resources of India and their Utilisation (iv) Infrastructural Resources (v) Industries (vi) Regional Economic Development (vii) Map Work.
1. Physical Environment
(i) Locational setting - India: size and area. Present importance of the location of India with reference to the Indian Ocean Rim countries and the Northern and Western frontiers.
(ii) Structure of India - Geological formation, relief and drainage; major physiographic divisions and their characteristics.
(a) Outline of the geological evolution and structure.
(b) The three-fold physiographic divisions: the Himalayan mountain complex, the Indus-Ganga-Brahmaputra Plains and the Peninsular Plateau.
(c) Drainage (i.e. rivers) and drainage systems: Names and sources of the main rivers and their major tributaries. Comparison of Himalayan and Peninsular rivers.
(iii) Climate: India - Factors affecting India’s climate: Temperature - factors affecting temperature. Atmospheric pressure conditions during the year; origin and mechanism of the monsoon, Jet streams, Southern Oscillations; wind and rainfall distribution during the year;
Characteristics of the four main seasons - hot and dry, hot and wet, cool and dry, cool and wet with reference to temperature distribution in north and south India, pressure, wind conditions - distribution of resultant rainfall; variability of rainfall, incidence of droughts and floods. Temperature and rainfall graphs of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Jaisalmer, Leh, and Hyderabad.
(iv) Natural vegetation: Forest - area covered, importance, use, misuse and potential both for exploitation and conservation. Present forest policy.
2. Population and Human settlements
(i) Population of India compared to six countries - China, Australia, USA, Canada, Russia and Brazil.
(ii) National and State level patterns of population distribution.
(iii) Pattern of population growth in the last three decades; implications for development.
(iv) Migration trends over the last 25 years.
(v) Demographic attributes at National level - trends and patterns of: 1. Rural urban population 2. Age and sex composition 3. Literacy levels 4. Working and non-working population; implications for development.
(vi) Rural settlements - size and number of villages as per the latest census. Types and patterns in hill areas, plains and coastal locations.
(vii) Urban settlements - size classification of towns as per the latest census. Study of population growth in India.
3. Resources of India and their Utilisation
(i) Need for environmental management vis-à- vis development.
Understanding that from the development point of view, environment may mistakenly be seen as a 'resource' to be exploited, whereas, environment needs to be viewed as a 'capital' that needs to be managed carefully.
(ii) Land resources: Land use pattern in India - quality of cultivable land, size of land holdings.
(iii) Water resources and types of irrigation.
(iv) Agriculture: Types, development and problems.
(a) Wet and dry farming, crop rotation and crop combination, intensity of cropping, problems of Indian agriculture; use of technology in agriculture. Modern inputs, change over from subsistence to commercial agriculture, need for Green Revolution. Diversifying Indian agriculture - importance of animal husbandry.
(b) Study of crops: (i) Conditions of growth (soil, temperature, rainfall requirements, crop seasons). (ii) World production and India’s position. (iii) Major producing States in India and their rank as producers of the following crops:
Food grains - Rice, Wheat, Coarse grains - Sorghum (Jowar, Maize), Pennisetum (Bajra or Camboo), Eleusine (Ragi), Pulses.
Commercial and Industrial crops - Coffee (Nilgiris), Tea, Cotton, Sugarcane, Jute, Groundnut.
(v) Fishing in India and Japan.
Factors influencing development of fishing in India and Japan.
(vi) Sources of Energy
(a) Minerals and power resources.
(b) Conventional energy sources - fossil fuels and firewood, potential (Indian context) and limitations of each source, methods of harnessing and environmental consequences of their use.
(c) Non-conventional energy sources - types of non-conventional sources (bio-mass, solar, wind, ocean, hydel, geothermal), their environmental consequences, need to promote non-conventional energy sources.
4. Infrastructural Resources
(Development of Transport and Communication)
(a) Railways, Roadways, Water transport (inland and coastal), Air transport, Pipelines - these modes of transport are to be studied with regard to:
Factors: natural and economic that govern the distribution of railways, roadways, water and air transport; density and growth. Patterns in India.
Ports, their location and advantage; major exports and imports of different ports. Nature and direction of trade from the ports. International trading patterns and products in the last five years.
(b) Communication - importance of communication in rural development and its policy. Importance of infrastructure as key to the development of an industrial economy.
5. Industries
(a) Study of the location and distribution of important industrial centres; a general comparison of disparities.
(b) Major and minor industrial regions - factors governing their growth.
(c) Location, production and growth of the following industries:
(i) Agro based industries - cotton textile
(ii) Mineral based industries - Iron and steel and Petrochemicals.
(d) Tourism industry - Major natural and cultural tourist areas in India. Their special features and level of development - impact on environment and local economy. Tourist flows.
6. Regional Economic Development
(Case studies)
Understanding of the meaning of development, multilevel planning and planning regions. The case studies will be undertaken with reference to the advantages and disadvantages that have accrued to the people and area - aspects covered will be their geographical location, resource base, developmental history, agriculture and industrial activities, issues of development.
- Area development in Chhattisgarh region - mining, silk industry and farming.
- Electronics industry in Bengaluru - reasons for its development, extent, national and international linkages and problems.
- Growth of Haldia port, its industries and hinterland.