Resources and Industries Online Test 10th Social Science Lesson 5 Questions in English

Any matter or energy derived from the environment that is used by living things including humans is called a natural resource. Natural resources include air, water, soil, minerals, fossil fuels, plants, wild life etc.

Solar energy, wind energy, biogas, tidal energy, wave energy etc. are the renewable resources. Non- Renewable resources are the sources that cannot be replaced again after utilisation. Coal, petroleum, natural gas etc. fall under this category.

Mineral is a natural substance of organic or inorganic origin with definite chemical and physical properties.

The process of extracting mineral from the earth is known as mining. The mines near the earth crust are known as open pit mines while the deep mines are known as shaft mines.

The organisations associated with minerals in India are the Geological Survey of India, Indian Bureau of Mines and Non-Ferrous Material Technology Development Centre (NFTDC). The Ministry of Mines is responsible for the administration of all mines and minerals (Development and Regulation Act, 1957).

Metallic minerals are the minerals which contain one or more metallic elements in them. Metallic minerals occur in rare, naturally formed concentrations known as mineral deposits. These deposits consist of a variety of valuable metals such as iron, manganese, copper, bauxite, nickel, zinc, lead, gold etc.

Geological Survey of India Headquarter is at Kolkata, Indian Bureau of Mines Headquarter at Nagpur and Non-Ferrous Material Technology Development Centre (NFTDC), Headquarters at Hyderabad.

Iron ore is the most widely distributed elements of the earth crust, rarely occurs in a free state. It enters into the composition of many rocks and minerals especially from igneous and metamorphic rocks.

About 93% magnetite deposits occur in Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Karnataka alone contributes about 72% of magnetite deposits of India.

Jharkhand is the leading producer of iron ore with 25% the country’s production. Singhbhum, Hazaribagh, Dhanbad and Ranchi districts are its major producers.

Odisha with 21% production of Iron ore ranks second. Sundargarh, Mayurbhanj, Sambalpur and Keonjhar districts are its major producers.

Kurnool, Guntur, Cuddapah and Anantapur districts in Andhra Pradesh and Salem, Namakkal, Tiruvannamalai, Tiruchirappalli, Coimbatore, Madurai and Tirunelveli districts in Tamil Nadu are notable for the production of iron ore.

Manganese is a silvery grey element. It is very hard and brittle in nature. It is always available in combination with iron, laterite and other minerals. It is an important mineral used for making iron and steel and serves as basic raw material for alloying.

Nearly 10 kg manganese is required for manufacturing one ton of steel. It is also used in the manufacturing of bleaching powder, insecticides, paints and batteries.

MOIL- Manganese Ore India Limited state-owned manganese-ore mining company headquartered in Nagpur. With a market share of 50%, it was the largest producer of manganese ore in India.

Manganese deposits occur mainly as metamorphosed bedded sedimentary deposits. The largest deposits of manganese are found in Odisha (44%) followed by Karnataka (22%), Madhya Pradesh (12%), Maharashtra & Goa (7% each), Andhra Pradesh (4%) and Jharkhand (2%).

Manganese is the most important mineral for making iron and steel. India is the fifth largest producer of manganese in the world.

Copper is the first metal that prehistoric man has started using for many purposes. Being flexible, it can be made into utensils of any shape.

Brass is obtained when the copper alloys with zinc. Same way, Bronze are obtained when the copper alloys with tin respectively.

Largest reserves of copper ore are in the state of Rajasthan (53.81%) followed by Jharkhand (19.54%) and Madhya Pradesh (18.75%). The states of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Odisha, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttarakhand and West Bengal account for 7.9% of the total copper reserves of India.

Nagpur, Bhandara and Ratnagiri districts in Maharastra and Balaghat and Chhindwara districts in Madhya Pradesh are the leading producers. Odisha is the third largest producer with 24% (Sundargarh,Kalahandi, Koraput and Bolangir districts are the major ones).

Copper has been commonly used for making cooking utensils and other objects of common utility. In modern days, it is extensively used in vast variety of electrical machinery, wires and cables.

Jharkhand is the largest producer of copper with 62% of India’s production. Singhbhum and Hazaribagh districts are its leading producers of copper. Odisha is the other major producer with 50.2% production. Rajasthan ranks third with 28% production.

Hindustan Copper Ltd is a Government-owned corporation in the central public Enterprise under the Ministry of mines, India. HCL is the only vertically integrated copper producer in India engaged in a wide spectrum of activities ranging from Mining, Beneficiation, Smelting, Refining and Continuous Cast Rod manufacturer.

Bauxite is an important ore from which aluminium is extracted. It is found in the rock consisting mainly of hydrated aluminium oxides.

Bauxite is widely distributed as surface deposits in the areas of laterite soil. Being light in weight and tough, aluminium is used in the manufacture of aircrafts and automobile engines.

The main bauxite deposits occur in Odisha – 50.2%, Gujarat – 15.8% (Junagadh, Amreli and Bhavnagar districts), Jharkhand – 11.9%, Maharashtra – 9.9%, Chhattisgarh – 6.2%, and Tamil Nadu – 2.7%.

National Aluminium Company Limited, abbreviated as NALCO, (incorporated 1981) has units in Odisha at places like Angul and Damanjodi. It was incorporated as a public sector enterprise of the Ministry of Mines, Government of India in 1981.

Non-Metallic Minerals do not contain metal in them. Mica, limestone, gypsum, nitrate, potash, dolomite, coal, petroleum etc are the non- metallic minerals.

In ancient time, Mica was used in ayurvedic medicine. Mica became very popular with the development of electrical industry.

Abhrak is a good quality mica. It is translucent, easily splitable into thin sheets, flat, colourless, elastic and incompressible.

Mica is used in making of insulating properties, as it withstands high voltage and has low power loss factor. Since it is a non-conductor of electricity, it is exclusively used in electrical goods. It is also used in making of lubricants, medicines, paints and varnishes.

The major deposits of mica are found in Andhra Pradesh (41%) with Nellore, Visakhapatnam, West Godavari and Krishna are its major districts. Other important states in mica deposits are Rajasthan (21%) and Odisha (20%).

Limestone is associated with rocks composed of either calcium carbonate or the double carbonate of calcium and magnesium or mixture of both. Limestone also contains small quantities of silica, alumina, iron oxides, phosphorous and sulphur.

Limestone is used in the industries of chemicals for soda ash, caustic soda, bleaching powder, paper, cement, iron and steel, glass and fertilizers.

In terms of the reserves of limestone, the state of Karnataka leads with 27%, followed by Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan (12% each), Gujarat (10%), Meghalaya (9%), Telangana (8%), Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh (5% each) and the remaining by other states.

Gypsum is a hydrated sulphate of calcium which occurs as white, opaque or transparent minerals in beds of sedimentary rocks such as limestone, sandstone and shale.

Gypsum is used in the manufacture of cement, fertilizers, wall board, plaster of Paris and in soil conditioning.

The state of Rajasthan alone accounts for 81% of its reserves. 14% of its reserves is found in Jammu and Kashmir and 2% in Tamil Nadu. The remaining 3% resources are found in the states of Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

In Tamil Nadu about 8.4% of limestone in Salem, Kancheepuram, Tiruchirappalli, Thoothukkudi, Tirunelveli and Virudhunagar districts.

The resources from which the electricity generated are called energy resources. Energy resources can be classified into renewable and non-renewable.

Coal is an inflammable organic substance composed mainly of hydrocarbons. It has close association with the industrial development of any country. Since it is a valuable one, it is called as “Black Gold”.

Based on carbon content, Coal is classified in to the following types. Anthracite: contains 80 to 90% carbon Bituminous: contains 60 to 80% carbon Lignite: contains 40 to 60% carbon Peat: contains less than 40% carbon.

Coal is available in the form of sedimentary rocks. It is used in the generation of thermal power. It can be converted into gas, oil, electricity and thermal power. Besides, it forms a basic raw material for the production of chemicals, dyes, fertilizers, paints, synthetic and explosives.

Indian coal is mostly associated with Gondwana series of rocks and is primarily found in Peninsular India. The states of Jharkhand, odisha, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh alone account for nearly 90% of coal reserves of the country.

Jharkhand is the largest coal producing state in the country followed by odisha, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Coal India Limited (CIL) is an Indian state-controlled coal mining company headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal, its field offices are located at Dhanbad, Ranchi, Bilaspur, Nagpur, Sambalpur, Kothagudam and Asansol.

Indian lignite (brown coal) deposits occur in the southern and western parts of Peninsular India particularly in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala.

The Ministry of coal has overall responsibility of determining policies and strategies in respect of exploration and development of coal resource in India. Coal India Limited (CIL), NLC India Limited (NLCIL) and Singareni Collieries Company limited (SCCL) are its public sector under takings.

The word petroleum has been derived from two Latin words petro (meaning – Rock) and oleum (meaning oil). Thus, petroleum is oil obtained from rocks of the earth. Therefore, it is also called mineral oil

Petroleum is an inflammable liquid that is composed of hydrocarbons which constitute 90-95% of petroleum and the remaining is chiefly organic compounds containing oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur and traces of organ metallic compounds.

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MOP&NG) is a ministry of the Government of India. It is responsible for the exploration, production, refining, distribution, marketing, import, export, and conservation of petroleum. Petroleum is used as a source of power and fuel for automobiles, aeroplanes, ships and locomotives Oil in India is obtained from both from on-shore and off-shore areas.

Lubricants, kerosene, Vaseline, tar, soap, terylene and wax are its by-products.

As of 2017, the total estimated crude oil reserves of the country is 604.10 million tons. From this, 324.24 million tons (54%) are found in onshore and 279.86 million tonnes (46%) are in offshore areas.

The production of crude oil fluctuates from year to year from 2011-12 to 2017-18 but only with marginal variations. The change is invariably in negative. In natural gas production also, the trend is negative except the last year. The change is high in the first three years and it is low to moderate in the remaining years.

Natural gas usually accompanies the petroleum accumulations. It is naturally occurring hydro carbon gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, but commonly includes varying amounts of other higher alkanes and sometimes a small percentage of carbon dioxide, nitrogen and hydrogen sulphides.

Gail (India) Limited (GAIL) (formerly known as Gas Authority of India Limited) is the largest state-owned natural gas processing and distribution company in India. It is headquartered in New Delhi.

The highest concentration of natural gas is found in the Bombay high and Bassein oil fields. Jagatia and Gogha in Gujarat, Nahorkatiya and Moran in Assam, Neypaltur, Mangmadam in Thanjavur district in Tamil Nadu, Baranura and Atharnure ranges in Tripura, Barmer and Charaswala in Rajasthan.

The eastern coast offshore Fields are Bharmaputra valley , Digboi oil fields, Nahoratiya oil fields, Moran-Hugrijan oil field, Rudrasagar-Lawa oil fields, Surrma valley. offshore of Andaman and Nicobar, Gulf of mannar, Baleshwar coast, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

Digboi oil fields is the oldest Oil fields in our country.

Mumbai high oil fields is the largest oil field in our country with 65%. The second largest is Gujarat coast.

The Gas Authority of India Ltd [GAIL] is doing pioneer work in the field of natural gas exploration. Discovery of gas made rapid strides in the 1985. Oil strikes at Cauvery offshore, at Nanda in Cambay basin and Tarot in Jaisalmer basin in Rajasthan were major discoveries during 1988-89.

Natural gas is formed when layers of decomposed plants and animals are exposed to intense heat and pressure over thousands of years. In comparison to other fuels, natural gas poses less of a threat in the event of a spill, because it is lighter than air and disperses quickly when released.

Thermal power is generated using fossil fuels like coal, diesel, petroleum and Natural gas. National Thermal Power Corporation [NTPC] was established in 1975.

At present NTPC has 13 coal based super thermal power projects and 7 gas / liquid fuel based combined cycle projects in the states of Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and West Bengal. It accounts for over 90% of the installed capacity.

Tamil Nadu produces about 5% of the total thermal electricity produced in India. Neyveli, Mettur, Thoothukudi and Ennore (Chennai) are the important thermal power stations in Tamil Nadu.

Nuclear energy is generated mainly from the minerals of Uranium and Thorium.

Nuclear power programme in India was initiated in 1940’s when ‘Tata Atomic research commission was incorporated in August 1948.

The first nuclear power station was setup at Tarapur near Mumbai. Later atomic reactors were installed at Rawatbhata (335 MW), near Kota in Rajasthan (100 MW), Kalpakkam (440 MW) and Kudankulam (2,000 MW) in Tamil nadu and Narora (235 MW) in Uttar Pradesh, Kaiga in (235 MW) in Karnataka and Kakarapara (235 MW) in Gujarat.

The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) is an Indian public sector undertaking headquarters in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is wholly owned by the Government of India and is responsible for the generation of nuclear power for electricity.

The first nuclear power station was setup at Tarapur near Mumbai in 1969 with the capacity of 320 mw.

Hydro power contributes nearly 7% of global electricity production. Hydro power is also a flexible mode of power generation as the quantity of production can either be increased or decreased very quickly adapting to changing demands.

NHPC Limited (National Hydroelectric Power Corporation) is located in Faridabad, India.

Power generated from water is termed as hydroelectricity. Hydro power is the energy harnessed from running water. Hydro power is considered as one of the most economic and non-polluting sources of energy. Th e cost of production of hydroelectricity is relatively low, making it a competitive source of renewable energy.

Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (A Government of India Enterprise) head quarter is located at New Delhi.

Tamil Nadu has the largest installation of wind turbines in the country in the Muppandal-Perungudi area near Kanyakumari is the largest concentrations of wind farm capacity at a single location in the world.

India has the fourth largest installed wind power capacity in the world.

The National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE), Chennai was established in Tamil Nadu in 1998 as an autonomous institution under the administrative control of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

The development of wind power in India began in 1986 with first wind farms were set up in coastal areas of Gujarat (Okha), Maharashtra (Ratnagiri) and Tamil Nadu (Thoothukudi) with 55 KW Vestas wind turbines.

Biomass energy may be obtained through bio-degradable materials like animal dung, kitchen wastes, water hyacinth, agricultural residues and city wastes etc. Currently, about 32% of total primary energy used in India is derived from Biomass.

Biomass energy is clean and cheap source of energy. India has a potential of about 18 GW of energy from Biomass.

There are two main sources of ocean energy. They are Ocean tides and Ocean waves. It is estimated that India possesses 8,000-9,000 MW of tidal energy potential.

The Gulf of Cambay is the best suited area with about 7,000 mw potential of tidal energy. This is followed by Gulf of Kutch (1,000MW) and Sundarbans (100MW).

At present a 900mw tidal power plant is proposed to be set up in the Gulf of Kutch region.

Wave energy potential in India is estimated to be 40,000 MW. A wave energy power plant of 150 KW (maximum) has been installed at vizhinjam near Thiruvananthapuram.

Industries refers to the activities which converts the raw materials into finished products. This sector is called as the value addition sector.

On the basis of the source of raw materials, Industries are classified into the Agro based industries, Forest based industries and Mineral based industries.

Textile is a broad term which includes cotton, jute, wool, silk and synthetic fibre textiles. This sector in India with 3400 textiles mills with installed capacity of more than 50 million spindles and 842000 rotors is the second largest in the world.

The first cotton textile mill was established at Fort Gloster near Kolkata in 1818.

The cotton textile industries contribute about 7% of industrial output, 2% of India’s GDP and 15% of the country’s export earnings.

Traditional sectors like hand loom, handicrafts and small power-loom units are the biggest source of employment for millions of people in rural and semi urban areas. Cotton textile Industries is one of the largest sources of employment generation in the country. With over 45 million employees, the total employment in this industry is well over 25million worker.

Byssinosis, also called “brown lung disease” or “Monday fever”, is an occupational lung disease caused by exposure to cotton dust in inadequately ventilated working environments.

Currently, India is the third largest producer of cotton and has the largest loom arc and ring spindles in the world.

At present there are 1,719 cotton textiles mills in the country. Out of which 188 mills are in public sector, 147 in cooperative sector and 1,284 in private sector.

Ginning is the process of cotton fibre is separated from the cotton seed. About 16% of the industrial capital, 14% of industrial production and over 20% of the industrial labour of the country are engaged in Cotton textile industry.

The higher concentration of textile mills in and around Mumbai, makes it as “Manchester of India”. Presence of black cotton soil in Maharashtra, humid climate, presence of Mumbai port, availability of hydro power, good market and well-developed transport facility favour the cotton textile industries in Mumbai.

Solar Power is the conversion of sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power (CSP). Concentrated solar power systems use lenses or mirrors and tracking system to focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam. Photovoltaics convert light into an electric current using the photovoltaic effect.

Jute is the second important textile industry in India after cotton textiles. Jute is a low-Priced fibre used mainly for making package materials like gunny bags. Today jute is blended with cotton and wool to produce textiles.

India is the largest producer of jute goods contributing 35% of the world’s total output. Jute is the golden fibre which meets all the standards of goods packing with its natural, renewable, bio degradable and eco-friendly products.

The headquarters of national jute board is located at Kolkata.

The first jute mill in India was established at Rishra near, Kolkata in 1854 by the English man George Auckland.

India tops in the production of raw jute and jute goods and second in the export of jute goods next to Bangladesh.

The major jute producing areas are in West Bengal and concentrated along the Hooghly river within the radius of six kilometre of Kolkata. Titagarh, Jagatdat, BudgeBudge, Haora and Bhadreshwar are the chief centres of jute industry.

The first attempt to produce iron and steel unit was set up at Porto Novo in Tamil Nadu in 1830.

CSTRI is the only research institute in the country dedicated to the Research & Developmental activities related to silk technology. CSTRI was established in the year 1983 by the Central Silk Board, Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India having head quarter at Bangalore.

India has been well known for the production of silk. Since the ancient times, India is the second largest producer of raw silk next only to China.

Sericulture or silk farming is the cultivation of silkworm to produce silk. Sericulture is a labour-intensive industry and provides employment to 7.56 million people make to weaker and marginalised sections of society.

Karnataka is the largest producer of silk with an average of 8200 metric tons every year which is about one third of the total silk production of India. India exports exclusively silk fabrics, silk scarves, dress material and sarees.

Development Commissioner for Handlooms was set up as an attached nonparticipating office on 20th November, 1975 under the Ministry of Commerce. At present it is functioning under the Ministry of Textiles having headquarters at Udyog Bhawan, New Delhi.

Sugar can be produced from sugar cane, sugar-beets or any other crop which have sugar content. In India, sugar cane is the main source of sugar. At present this is the second largest agro based industry of India after cotton textiles. India.

Uttar Pradesh is the largest producer of sugar, producing about 50% of the country’s total.

India is the world’s second largest producer of sugar cane after Brazil. Th is industry provides employment to 2.86 lakh workers. Sugar industry is decentralized and located near the sugarcane growing areas as they are weight loosing and bulky to transport.

The first paper mill of India was started in 1812 at Serampore in West Bengal. Paper Industry has emerged as a diversified and specialized industry in India that produces numerous types of papers that comes in various use.

In India the Soft wood is the principal raw material used for making paper especially newsprint and high-class printing papers. Paper is the pre-requisite for education and literacy. The first successful effort was made in 1867 with the setting up of the Royal Bengal paper mills at Ballyganj near Kolkata.

The raw materials for paper industry include wood pulp, bamboo, salai and sabai grasses, waste paper and bagasse.

West Bengal is the largest producer of paper in the country followed by Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Tamil Nadu states.

National Newsprint and Paper Mills (NEPA) is at Nepanagar in Burhanpur District of Madhya Pradesh.

Iron and steel industry is called a basic metallurgical industry as its finished product is used as raw material by host of other industries.

Chennai is nicknamed as the “Detroit of Asia” due to the presence of major automobile manufacturing units and allied industries around the city.

The modernization of the industry was started in 1907 with the establishment of Tata Iron and Steel Company at Sakchi, now called Jamshedpur.

Salem Steel Ltd was established in the year 1982 in Salem, Tamil Nadu.

Stainless Steel is the product of Salem Steel Ltd located in Tamil Nadu.

The first automobile industry of India was started in the year 1947.

The first automobile industry is the Premier Automobiles Ltd located at Kurla (Mumbai). It was followed by the Hindustan Motors Ltd at Uttarpara (Kolkata) in 1948.

At present, India is the 7th largest producer of automobile manufacturers which include two wheelers, commercial vehicles, passenger car, jeep, Scotty, scooters, motor cycles, mopeds and three wheelers.

The automobile industries clusters of south India are Chennai, Bengaluru, Hosur.

Larsen and Toubro Ltd does not produce any passenger vehicle. Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra and Hindustan Motors are the largest passenger car manufacturers of Indian companies in the country.

The most important company in the field of heavy electrical is Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL). It has its plants at Hardwar, Bhopal, Hyderabad, Jammu, Bengaluru, Jhansi and Tiruchirappalli.

Bengaluru is the largest producer of electronic goods in India hence it is called as the “Electronic Capital of India”.

Make in India program was launched in 2014 to put India on the world map as a major hub for global design and manufacturing.

India is home to some of the finest software companies in the world. In India, software industry began in 1970 with the entry of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). Along with this, L & T, Infotech, i-Flex, Accenture, Cognizant and ITC Infotech are the major software industries in the country.

The steel producing capacity of a country is generally taken as an indicator of its level of industrial development.

Vijayanagar Steel Plant at Andhra Pradesh established in year 1981 produces Hot metal as product.

Vijayanagar Steel Plant produce Flat steel and Long steel. Visveswaraya Iron Steel Ltd (VISL) in Karnataka produce Alloy and sponge steel.

Biogas: The production of methane and carbon- di- oxide from plants and animal wastes.