General-Knowledge
| Train | From | To | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Train | Bombay (Boribandar) | Thane | 16 April 1853 |
| First Passenger Train | Howrah | Hooghly | 15 Aug 1854 |
| First Electric Train | Bombay (Victoria Terminus) | Kurla | 3 Feb 1925 |
| First Rajdhani Express | Howrah | New Delhi | 1 March 1969 |
| First Shatabdi Express | New Delhi | Jhansi | 1988 |
| First Garib Rath Express | Saharsa | Amritsar | 4 Oct 2006 |
| First Duronto Express | Sealdah | New Delhi | 19 Sept 2009 |
| First Rajya Rani Express | Mysore | Bangalore | 01 July 2011 |
| First Humsafar Express | Gorakhpur | Anand Vihar | 16 Dec 2016 |
| First Antyodaya Express | Ernakulam | Howrah | 27 Feb 2017 |
| First Tejas Express | Mumbai | Goa | 22 May 2017 |
| The first under ground railway in India started in Kolkata in 1984. | |||
| Computerised Passenger Reservation system was introduced in Indian Railways in 1986. | |||
| Longest in Indian Railways |
|---|
| The longest platform in the world now is in Gorakhpur (4482 ft) overtaking Kharagpur (2733 ft). |
| The longest rail journey is between Dibrugarh and Kanniya Kumari (4286 km) performed by Vivek Express, introduced in 2011. Prior to this, Himsagar Express covered the longest distance from Jammu Tawi to Kanniya Kumari (3751 km). |
| The longest rail journey by Rajdhani Express is between Hazrat Nizamuddin and Thiruvananthapuram covering 3149 km. |
| Vembanad Railway Bridge connecting Edappally and Vallarpadam with a length of 4.62 km is the longest rly bridge in India. |
| The longest railway tunnel, the Pir Panjal Railway Tunnel (between Qazigund and Banihal) has a length of 10.96 km. The work on the tunnel was completed in October 2011. Prior to this the longest railway tunnel was the Karbude Tunnel of length 6.5 km in Maharashtra and a part of the Konkan railways. |
| Miscellaneous Information |
|---|
| Konkan railway passes through Sahyadari mountains in the western ghats. It connects Mumbai and Mangalore. |
| India with railroad network of 66,687 km (as on 31.03.2016) ranks fourth in the world after the US, Russia and China. |
| The total electrified route of Indian Railways is 21,614 kms (as on 31.03.2014). |
| The state with the longest railroad network is Uttar Pradesh with 9077.45 km (as on 31.03.2016) |
| The state with no railroad network is Sikkim. |
| The computerised passenger reservation system (PRS) of Indian Railways is the largest passenger reservation network in the world,available at 2,222 locations with more than 8074 terminals. |
| The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, the Nilgiri Mountain Railway, The Kalka Shimla Railway collectively known as Mountain Railways of India are classified as a world heritage site by UNESCO. |
| Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, formerly known as Victoria Terminus Station, in Mumbai is also a World Heritage Site. |
| Bholu, an elephant is the mascot of Indian Railways. |
| Fairy Queen is the world’s oldest working steam locomotive plying from New Delhi to Alwar. |
| World's first railway timetables were designed by George Bradshaw. |
| The Nilgiri Mountain Railway has a rack section of the line, from Kallar to Coonoor (elevation 1,712 m). This is the only place where rack system is used in Indian Railways. |
| The station which has all the three gauges viz narrow, metre and broad is Siliguri station. |
| The northernmost, easternmost, southernmost and the westernmost railway stations are Baramulla, Ledo, Kanyakumari and Naliya respectively. |
Railways Zones and Headquarters
| Zone | Headquarters | Divisions |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Central | Mumbai | Mumbai(CST), Bhusawal, Nagpur, Pune |
| 2. Western | Mumbai | Mumbai(Central),Vadodara, Ratlam,Ahmedabad,Rajkot, Bhavnagar |
| 3. Northern | Delhi | Ambala, Delhi, Lucknow, Moradabad, Ferozpur |
| 4. Eastern | Kolkata | Asansol, Howrah, Malda, Sealdah |
| 5. Southern | Chennai | Chennai, Madurai, Palghat, Trichy, Trivandrum, Salem |
| 6. East Central | Hajipur | Danapur, Dhanbad, Mughalsarai, Samastipur, Sonpur |
| 7. East Coast | Bhubaneshwar | Khurda Road, Sambalpur, Waltair |
| 8. North Central | Allahabad | Allahabad, Agra, Jhansi |
| 9. North Eastern | Gorakhpur | Lucknow, Izzatnager, Varanasi |
| 10. North East Frontier | Guwahati | Katihar, Alipurduar, Rangiya, Lumding, Tinsukia |
| 11. North Western | Jaipur | Ajmer, Bikaner, Jaipur, Jodhpur |
| 12. South Central | Secunderabad | Guntakal, Guntur, Hyderabad, Nanded, Secunderabad, Vijayawada |
| 13. South East Central | Bilaspur | Bilaspur, Nagpur, Raipur |
| 14. South Eastern | Kolkata | Adra, Chakradharpur, Kharagpur, Ranchi |
| 15. South Western | Hubli | Bangalore, Hubli, Mysore |
| 16. West Central | Jabalpur | Bhopal, Jabalpur, Kota |
| 17. Kolkata Metro | Kolkata | Not applicable |
Indian Railways - Training Institutes and Manufacturing Units
Railway Training Institutes
| Name of the Institute | Location |
|---|---|
| 1. National Academy of Indian Railways (Railway Staff College) | Vadodara |
| 2. Indian Railway Institute of Civil Engineering | Pune |
| 3. Indian Railway Institute of Signal Engineering and Telecommunications | Secunderabad |
| 4. Indian Railway Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering | Jamalpur |
| 5. Indian Railway Institute of Electrical Engineering | Nasik |
| 6. Indian Railway Institute of Transport Management | Lucknow |
| 7. Indian Railway Institute of Financial Management | Secunderabad |
Railway Manufacturing Units
| Name of the Unit | Location |
|---|---|
| 1. Chittaranjan Locomotive Works | Chittaranjan, West Bengal |
| 2. Central Organisation for Railway Electrification | Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh |
| 3. Diesel Locomotive Works | Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh |
| 4. Diesel Loco Modernisation Works | Patiala, Punjab |
| 5. Integral Coach Factory | Chennai, Tamil Nadu |
| 6. Rail Coach Factory | Kapurthala, Punjab |
| 7. Rail Wheel Factory (Wheel and Axle Plant) | Bangalore, Karnataka |
| 8. Modern Coach Factory | Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh |
| 9. Rail Wheel Plant | Chhapra, Bihar |
| 10. Diesel Component Factory | Dankuni, West Bengal |
Roads and Highways
Important Facts on Indian Roads
| Important Facts on Indian Roads |
|---|
| The total length of National Highways is 96,260 km. |
| The total length of expressways is 200 km. |
| The total length of road network in India is 33 lakh km. |
| The road network in India is the second in the world. |
| The maximum length of National Highways is in Uttar Pradesh - 8,483 km |
| About 65% of freight and 80% passenger traffic is carried by the roads. |
| North South corridor connects Srinagar to Kanyakumari (including a spur from Salem to Kochi) and has a length of 4000 km. |
| East-West corridor connects Silchar to Porbandar and has a length of 3300 km. |
| Jhansi is the junction of North–South and East–West Corridors. |
| Grand Trunk Road |
| The Grand Trunk road connects Sonargaon in Bangladesh with Kabul in Afghanistan. |
| It was initiated by Mauryan Emperor Chandragupta Maurya and later renovated and extended by Sher Shah Suri. |
| Golden Quadrilateral |
| The Golden Quadrilateral connects the four metro cities, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai. |
| The total length of the road is 5,846 km. |
| The maximum distance between two metros is between Kolkata and Chennai - 1684 km. |
| The maximum length of the Golden Quadrilateral passes through Andhra Pradesh - 1014 km. |
Some Important Highways - New Numbering
| Highway No. | Route | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 44 (longest highway) | Srinagar-Jammu-Pathankot-Jalandar-Ludhiana-Ambala-Karnal-Panipat-Delhi-Faridabad-Mathura-Agra-Gwalior-Jhansi-Lakhnadon, Nagpur-Adilabad-Hyderabad-Kurnool-Bengaluru-Salem-Madurai-Kanyakumari | 3745 km |
| 27 | Porbandar-Palanpur-Udaipur-Kota-Jhansi-Kanpur-Lucknow-Gorakhpur-Muzaffarpur-Purnia-Shiliguri-Bongaigaon-Guwahati-Dispur-Silchar | 3507 km |
| 48 | Delhi-Jaipur-Kishangarh-Udaipur-Ahmedabad-Vadodara-Mumbai-Pune-Kolhapur-Belgaum-Bengaluru-Vellore-Chennai | 2807 km |
| 16 | Kolkata-Kharagpur-Baleshwar-Bhubaneshwar-Vishakhapatnam-Vijayawada-Nellore-Chennai | 1659 km |
| 19 | Delhi-Mathura-Agra-Kanpur-Allahabad-Varanasi-Aurangabad-Asansol-Palsit-Kolkata | 1435 km |
| 53 | Hajira-Surat-Jalgaon-Amravati-Nagpur-Durg-Raipur-Sambalpur-Dubri-Paradip Port | 1781 km |
| North-South highways are even numbered and East-West highways are odd numbered. | ||
International Airports in India
| Sl.No. | City | Name of the Airport | Owned by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ahmedabad | Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport | AAI |
| 2 | Amritsar | Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport | AAI |
| 3 | Bengaluru | Kempegowda International Airport | BIAL |
| 4 | Chennai | Chennai International Airport | AAI |
| 5 | Cochin | Cochin International Airport | CIAL |
| 6 | Goa | Goa International Airport | AAI |
| 7 | Guwahati | Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport | AAI |
| 8 | Hyderabad | GMR Rajiv Gandhi International Airport | GHIAL |
| 9 | Kolkata | Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport | AAI |
| 10 | Mumbai | Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport | GVK led consortium and AAI |
| 11 | Delhi | Indira Gandhi International Airport | GMR Group (54%), AAI (26%), Fraport & Eraman Malaysia (10% each). |
| 12 | Thiruvananthapuram | Trivandrum International Airport | AAI |
| 13 | Port Blair | Vir Savarkar International Airport | AAI |
| 14 | Calicut | Calicut International Airport | AAI |
| 15 | Nagpur | Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport | AAI |
| 16 | Jaipur | Jaipur International Airport | AAI |
| 17 | Lucknow* | Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport | AAI |
| 18 | Varanasi* | Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport | AAI |
| 19 | Mangalore* | Mangalore International Airport | AAI |
| 20 | Tiruchirappalli* | Tiruchirappalli International Airport | AAI |
| 21 | Coimbatore* | Coimbatore International Airport | AAI |
| 22 | Bhubaneshwar# | Biju Patnaik Airport | AAI |
| 23 | Imphal# | Imphal Airport | AAI |
| 24 | Vijayawada@ | Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao-Amaravati Airport | AAI |
| *Five airports were granted international status in October 2012 #Two airports were granted international status in October 2013 @Vijayawada airport was granted international status in May 2017 | |||
| BIAL: Bengaluru International Airport Ltd, CIAL: Cochin International Airport Ltd, GHIAL: GMR Hyderabad International Airport (P) Ltd | |||
Domestic Airports in India
| Name of the Airport | City |
|---|---|
| Sri Satya Sai Airport | Puttaparthi |
| Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Airport | Patna |
| Leh Kushok Bakula Rimpochee Airport | Leh |
| Sheikh ul Alam Airport | Srinagar |
| Lengpui Airport | Aizwal |
| Jolly Grant Airport | Dehradun |
| Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport | Indore |
| Kheria Airport | Agra |
| Birsa Munda Airport | Ranchi |
| Agatti Aerodrome | Agatti (Lakshadweep) |
| Kazi Nazrul Islam Airport | Andal, Durgapur (W.B.) |
| Swami Vivekananda Airport | Mana, Raipur (Chhattisgarh) |
| Sri Venkateswara Airport | Tirupati |
| Besides the above, there are domestic airports at Rajahmundry, Vishakapatnam, Dibrugarh, Gaya, Chandigarh, Raiur, Diu, Jamnagar, Porbandar, Rajkot, Surat, Simla, Jammu, Jamshedpur, Belgaum, Mangalore, Bhopal, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Khajuraho, Aurangabad, Pune, Solapur, Shillong, Puducherry, Pathankot, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Madurai, Trichy, Gorakhpur, Kanpur etc. usually known by the names of their cities. | |
Ports in India
Major Ports in India
| Sl.No. | Port | State |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kolkata Dock System | West Bengal |
| - | Haldia Dock Complex | West Bengal |
| 2 | Paradip | Odisha |
| 3 | Visakhapatnam | Andhra Pradesh |
| 4 | Ennore | Tamilnadu |
| 5 | Chennai | Tamilnadu |
| 6 | Thoothukodi | Tamilnadu |
| 7 | Cochin | Kerala |
| 8 | New Mangalore | Karnataka |
| 9 | Mormugao | Goa |
| 10 | Jawaharlal Nehru Port (Nhava Sheva) | Maharashtra |
| 11 | Mumbai | Maharashtra |
| 12 | Kandla | Gujarat |
| 13 | Port Blair | Andaman and Nicobar Islands |
Statewise Number of Non-Major Ports in India
| Sl.No. | State | No. of ports |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maharashtra | 53 |
| 2 | Gujarat | 40 |
| 3 | Tamilnadu | 15 |
| 4 | Kerala | 13 |
| 5 | Andhra Pradesh | 12 |
| 6 | Karnataka | 10 |
| 7 | Goa | 5 |
| 8 | Odisha | 2 |
| 9 | West Bengal | 1 |
| 10 | Andaman & Nicobar | 23 |
| 11 | Lakshadweep | 10 |
| 12 | Daman & Diu | 2 |
| 13 | Pondicherry | 1 |
| Total | 187 | |
India's Global Position in Mineral Wealth
| Mineral/Metal | Rank |
|---|---|
| Chromite | Third |
| Barytes | Second |
| Talc/Steatite/Pyrophllite | Second |
| Coal and Lignite | Third |
| Bauxite | Sixth |
| Iron Ore | Fifth |
| Steel (crude/liquid) | Fourth |
| Zinc | Seventh |
| Copper (refined) | Tenth |
| Mica (crude) | Sixteenth |
| Manganese ore | Seventh |
| Aluminium | Eighth |
| Crude Petroleum | Twenty-fifth |
| Lead (refined) | Fifteenth |
| Zinc (slab) | Third |
| Updated as per Ministry of Mines Annual Report of 2014-15 | |
First Ranked States in Mineral Production
| Mineral/Metal | State |
|---|---|
| Coal | Jharkhand |
| Bauxite (Aluminium Ore) | Odisha |
| Chromite (Chromium ore) | Odisha |
| Iron Ore | Odisha |
| Manganese | Odisha |
| Lead & Zinc | Rajasthan |
| Calcite (source of marble) | Rajasthan |
| Gypsum (used in fertiliser, plaster of paris etc.) | Rajasthan |
| Quartz | Rajasthan |
| Asbestos | Andhra Pradesh |
| Limestone | Andhra Pradesh |
| Mica | Andhra Pradesh |
| Barytes | Andhra Pradesh |
| Diamond | Madhya Pradesh |
| Copper Ore | Madhya Pradesh |
| Gold | Karnataka |
| Corundum (source of ruby, sapphire) | Maharashtra |
| Rock Salt | Himachal Pradesh |
| Crude Oil | Rajasthan |
| Natural Gas | Assam |
| Barytes are used as weighting agent for drilling fluids in oil & gas exploration, barium is used in CT Scan | |
Oil Refineries in India
| Place | State | Owned by |
|---|---|---|
| Guwahati | Assam | Indian Oil Corporation |
| Barauni | Bihar | Indian Oil Corporation |
| Koyali | Gujarat | Indian Oil Corporation |
| Haldia | West Bengal | Indian Oil Corporation |
| Mathura | Uttar Pradesh | Indian Oil Corporation |
| Digboi | Assam | Indian Oil Corporation |
| Panipat | Haryana | Indian Oil Corporation |
| Paradip | Odisha | Indian Oil Corporation |
| Manali | Tamilnadu | Chennai Petroleum Corp Ltd |
| Narimanam | Tamilnadu | Chennai Petroleum Corp Ltd |
| Bongaigaon | Assam | Bongaigaon Refineries & Petrochemicals Ltd |
| Mumbai | Maharashtra | Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd |
| Kochi | Kerala | Kochi Refineries Ltd |
| Numaligarh | Assam | Numaligarh Refineries Ltd. |
| Bina | Madhya Pradesh | Bharat Petroleum & Oman Oil Company |
| Mumbai | Maharashtra | Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd |
| Vishakapatnam | Andhra Pradesh | Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd |
| Tatipaka | Andhra Pradesh | Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd |
| Mangalore | Karnataka | Mangalore Refineries & Petrochemicals Ltd |
| Jamnagar | Gujarat | Reliance Petroleum Ltd |
| Vadinar | Gujarat | Essar Oil Ltd |
| Bhatinda | Punjab | Hindustan Mittal Energy Limited |
| Bongaigaon Refineries and Petrochemicals Ltd and Chennai Petroleum Corp Ltd are subsidiaries of IOC Ltd. Numaligarh Refineries and Kochi Refineries Ltd are owned by Bharat Petroleum MRPL is a subsidiary of ONGC | ||
Oil Fields of India and World
| Oil Field | Country |
|---|---|
| Digboi | Assam, India |
| Bombay High | Arabian Sea, India |
| Mangala | Rajasthan, India |
| Aishwarya | Rajasthan, India |
| Bhagyam | Rajasthan, India |
| Ghawar | Saudi Arabia |
| Burgan | Kuwait |
| Cantarell | Mexico |
| Bolivar Coastal Complex | Venezuala |
| Rumaila | Iraq |
| Tengiz | Kazhakastan |
| Kirkuk | Iraq |
| Dukhan | Qatar |
| Boscan Field | Venezuala |
| Toot | Pakistan |
| Sarir | Libya |
| Daqing | China |
| Eagleville | United States |
| Spraberry | United States |
| Samotlor | Russia |
| Velikoye | Russia |
| Vankor | Russia |
| Azadegan | Iran |
| Yadavaran | Iran |
Mineral Wealth of India - Steel
Steel Plants under Steel Authority of India Ltd
| Place | State |
|---|---|
| Bhilai Steel Plant | Chattisgarh |
| Rourkela Steel Plant | Orissa |
| Bokaro Steel Plant | Jharkhand |
| Durgapur Steel Plant | West Bengal |
| IISCO Steel Plant, Burnpur | West Bengal |
| Salem Steel Plant | Tamilnadu |
| Visvesvaraya Steel Plant, Bhadravati | Karnataka |
| Steel Plant under Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd | |
| Visakhapatnam Steel Plant | Andhra Pradesh |
| Private Sector Steel Plants | |
| Tata Steel Ltd | Jamshedpur, Jharkhand |
| Essar Steel | Hazira, Gujarat |
| JSW Steel | Vijayanagar, Karnataka |
| Jindal Steel and Power Ltd | Raigarh, Chhattisgarh |
| Bhushan Steel Ltd | Sahibabad (U.P.), Khopoli (Mah), Dhenkanal (Odisha) |
Miscellaneous Facts
| India is the fourth largest producer of crude steel in the world. |
| The largest producer of steel in India is Tata Steel followed by Steel Authority of India Ltd. |
| The largest producer of steel in the world is Arcelor Mittal headquartered at Luxembourg. |
| Bhilai And Bokaro Steel Plants were set up with Soviet collaboration. |
| Rourkela Steel Plant was set up with German collaboration. |
| Durgapur Steel Plant was set up with the collaboration of the United Kingdom. |
| Visakhapatnam Steel Plant is India's first shore-based integrated steel plant. |
Soils and Crops
Soils: Facts to remember
| Fact to remember | Type of Soil |
|---|---|
| The soil most common in Indo-gangetic plains | Alluvial Soil |
| The soil which swells when wet and develops cracks when dry | Black Soil |
| The soil which owes its colour to oxides of iron | Laterite Soil |
| The soil which requires least use of fertilisers | Alluvial Soil |
| The soil which requires least tilling because of its characteristic of self-ploughing | Black Soil |
| The kind of soil which is treated with gypsum to make it suitable for cropping | Alkaline soil |
| The soil which is poor in soluble salts | Laterite |
| The soil which is rich in surface accumulation of organic matter | Peaty soil |
| The soil which is most suitable for cultivation of cotton | Black Soil |
| Khadar and Bhangar are types of | Alluvial Soil |
| The soil which also known as Regur Soil | Black Soil |
| The soil which is generally unfit for cultivation | Laterite Soil |
| The soil which is commonly used for making bricks | Laterite Soil |
Formation of Soils
| Type of Soil | How formed |
|---|---|
| Alluvial Soil | By silt deposition brought by rivers. |
| Black Soil | By weathering of lava deposits on the Deccan Plateau. |
| Red and Yellow Soil | By weathering old crystalline or metamorphic rocks. |
| Laterite Soil | Due to leaching by heavy rains and destruction of humus by bacteria. |
| Arid Soil | By weathering of rocks in dry conditions. |
| Saline Soil | By salt deposition by tides, rivers or sea breeze. |
| Peaty Soil | Due to accumulation of larges amounts of organic matter in the soil. |
Distribution of Soils in India
| Soils and Regions in India |
|---|
| Alluvial Soil |
| Indo-gangetic plains, deltas of eastern coast and in the river valleys. Also plains of Gujarat and parts of Rajasthan. |
| Black Soil |
| Deccan Plateau i.e. parts of Maharashtra, M.P., Gujarat, A.P. and some parts of Tamil Nadu. |
| Red and Yellow Soil |
| Areas of low rainfall in the eastern and southern part of the Deccan Plateau, slopes of Western Ghats, parts of Odisha, Chattisgarh and in the southern parts of the middle Ganga plain. |
| Laterite Soil |
| Areas with high temperature and high rainfall in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and the hilly areas of Odisha and Assam. |
| Arid Soil |
| Western Rajasthan |
| Saline Soil |
| Western Gujarat (Rann of Kutch, deltas of the eastern coast and in Sunderban areas of West Bengal. |
| Peaty Soil |
| Northern part of Bihar, southern part of Uttaranchal and the coastal areas of West Bengal, Orissa and Tamil Nadu. |