UPSC Prelims 2009 · General Studies
Question 89: Economy and Social Development
Consider the following statements :
- 1.The first telegraph line in India was laid between Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) and Diamond Harbour.
- 2.The first Export Processing Zone in India was set up in Kandla.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
AnswerThe answer is (c).
Both statements are correct. The first telegraph line in India was laid in 1851 between Calcutta and Diamond Harbour, as an experiment by William O'Shaughnessy; the telegraph then spread under Dalhousie. The first Export Processing Zone in India, and in Asia, was set up at Kandla in Gujarat in 1965.
- 1. The first telegraph line ran from Calcutta to Diamond Harbour.
- 2. Kandla hosted India's first Export Processing Zone.
How you could have got this
- If you were sure statement 1 is correct, (b) and (d) go: each of them leaves 1 out.
What you needed to know: The first telegraph line ran from Calcutta to Diamond Harbour.
- Then, if you were sure statement 2 is correct, (a) goes: it leaves 2 out.
What you needed to know: Kandla hosted India's first Export Processing Zone.
Only (c) is left. This one needs every statement.
This follows an unofficial answer: UPSC has not published its key for this year, and if that answer is wrong, so is this path.
Which options go is worked out from UPSC’s key and the options, not by a model.
Why each option is right or wrong
- (a) Wrong: Kandla was the first EPZ.
- (b) Wrong: the Calcutta-Diamond Harbour line was first.
- (c) Right: both statements are correct.
- (d) Wrong: both statements are correct.
Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.
Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2009, General Studies. UPSC's own paper isn't online; the words are from a published compilation. The paper on upsc.gov.in.