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Entrance Exam : Research Entrance Test RET 2015

Syllabus : http://banasthali.org/banasthali/wcms/en/home/lower-menu/research-development/doctoral-research/RET_PHD_Syllabi_2014.html
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Research Entrance Test (RET) for admission to Ph.D. program in Banasthali Vidyapith

The syllabi for different subjects for Banastahli Ph.D. Entrance Test (RET) (including their research aptitude components) is given below.
Please refer to the appropriate syllabus related to your proposed research area

Geography :
1. Geographical Thought: General character of geographic knowledge during the ancient and medieval period; foundations of modern geography; Determinism, Possibilism and Neo determinism; Areal differentiation and Spatial organization; Quantitative revolution, Behaivourlism and Radicalism.

2. Geomorphology : Fundamental concepts; Origin of the earth, Geological time scale, Plate tectonics, Diastrophism; Interior of the earth , Rocks; Concept of geomorphic cycle; Earthquake and Volcanism, Weathering, Erosion, Mass wasting, Landforms associated with Fluvial, Glacial, Arid, Coastal and Karst process.

3. Climatology: Composition and structure of the atmosphere; Insolation, Heat budget of the earth; Distribution of temperature; Atmospheric pressure and General circulation of winds; Monsoon and Jet stream; Humidity, Condensation and Precipitation; Hydrological Cycle, Air-masses and Fronts; Cyclones and Anti cyclones; Classification of world climates; Koppen’s and Thornthwaite’s schemes.

4. Oceanography: Hypsometric curve, Ocean bottom relief of Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean; Temperature, Salinity and Density of the oceanic water; Circulation of oceanic water; Ocean deposits; Coral reefs, El Nino and La Nino.

5. Environment and Bio-Geography: Ecology and Ecosystem; Food-chain; Food-web; Energy flow, Gaseous and Sedimentary cycle; Environmental degradation and pollution; Conservation and management of environment.

Soil types, Soil profile and distribution of major soils; World distribution of plants and animal, Major biomes of the world.

6. Population Geography: Density, distribution, and growth of world population; Patterns and processes of migration, General law’s of migration; Demographic transition, population problems and policies.

7. Settlement Geography: Origin, Site, Situation, Types, Size, Spacing and Internal morphology of rural and urban settlement; Urbanization, Functional classification of cities; Umland; Conurbaration; Primate city; Christaller’s Central place theory; Theories of Hoyet, Burgess, Ullman and Harris; Rural-Urban fringe; Slums.

8. Agriculture Geography: Factors affecting agriculture, Major crops- cereal and cash crops, Livestock Ranching, commercial dairy farming; Viticulture, Horticulture, Sericulture, Apiculture, Whittlesey’s classification of agriculture, Green Revolution, Measurement of agricultural productivity and efficiency; Crop combination and diversification; Von Thunen’s Model.

9. Economic Geography: Sectors of Economy: Primary, Secondary, Tertiary Quaternary; Classification, degradation and conservation of natural resources.

10. Industrial Geography: Classification of industries, manufacturing industries; Weber’s and Losch’s approaches; Resource based and footloose industries; Major industrial regions of world.

11. Transport and Trade Geography: Modes of transportation and transportation cost: Accessibility and Connectivity; Types of trade; Major organizations of trade (WTO, SAARC, ASIAN, European Union, OPEC, NAFTA).

12. Political Geography: Concept of Geopolitics, Geo-politic of Indian Ocean, State and Nation, Boundaries and frontiers; Buffer zones; Concept of Core area and Fedrelism, Heartland and Rimland theories.

13. Social and Cultural Geography: Ethnicity; dialect; language; caste and religion; Races: Distribution and criteria for classification according to Griffth Taylor, Habitat, Socio-economic environment of major Tribal Groups (Masai, Eskimos, Khirgis, Bushman, Pigmies), Concept of social well being.

14. Regional Planning: Concept of Region, Delineation of Region; Types of regions; Concept of Planning; Need of regional planning; Regional planning in India; Indicators of development, Regional Imbalances.

15. Geography of India: Physiographic divisions; Drainage system, Climate, Soil and Vegetations, Agriculture, Major Minerals and Power resources, major industries and industrial regions; Demographic structure, Major tribes (Naga, Bhil, Meena, Gujjar & Bakarwal, Santhal, Toda).

16. Cartography: Tools and techniques of cartography; Map projection, Types of maps: Qualitative and Quantitative, Representation of statistical data (Graphs and Diagrams) and flow maps, profiles.

17. Statistical Methods: Data source and types of data, Frequency distribution; Measures of central tendency; Measures of dispersion and concentration, Simple and Multiple correlation; Regression; Nearest-neighbour analysis; Sampling techniques for Geographical analysis.

18. Aerial Photographs and Remote Sensing : Nature and Types of Aerial Photographs; scale determination, Identification and interpretation of aerial photographs; Introduction of Remote sensing; Sensors; Satallites; Development of remote sensing in India; Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Global positioning system (GPS)

Remote Sensing :
Multiple Choice/Objective Questions
75 Questions @1 marks each

Descriptive Questions
5 Questions @ 5 marks each – Answer limited to 30 words

(a) Research Aptitude
Definition of Research Problem, Identification of problems of regional and local level, Considerations in selection of problem, Research process, Review of literature, Research objectives, Hypothesis and models, Research scheme/design.

(b) General Awareness
Science, Environment, Current Affairs (Science, Social needs, technology and related)

(c) Quantitative Techniques
Elementarily Statistics: Mean, Median, Mode, SD, Variance covariance, Z score, Conceptual hypothesis testing

(d) Subject Related
Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR): EMR spectrum and its properties, wavelength regions, Indian Space programme Space based platforms (optical, infrared, thermal, microwave)
Fundamentals of aerial photography, Types of aerial photographs: Vertical and Oblique aerial photography,
Basic concepts of spatial information, GIS, Variables- Points, Arc/Lines, Polygon/Areas, geographical data, model and data input
Cartographic concepts, Type of maps, Topographic features, Map Scale and Map Projection
Basics of Global Positioning System,
Principles of computing, Computer system architecture -Basic computer organization, CPU, ALU, I/O Units, CU, Types of memory (RAM/ROM) Concepts about digital image and its characteristics, Spectral, Spatial, Radiometric and Temporal resolution, Visual vs. Digital methods, Image data storage and retrieval.
Applications in land and water resource, disaster management, urban and environmental planning.