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UPSC Prelims 2009 · Indian Geography · India’s Land and Borders
Consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- The first telegraph line in India was laid between Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) and Diamond Harbor
- The first Export Processing Zone in India was set up in Kandla.
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 2 only
- (c) Both 1 and 2
- (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Show the answer and explanation
Answer: (c) Both 1 and 2
Both are true firsts.
Statement by statement
1. ✓ CORRECT The first experimental telegraph line (1850–51) linked Calcutta and Diamond Harbour.
2. ✓ CORRECT Asia’s first Export Processing Zone was set up at Kandla in 1965.
The idea
A “first” is meaningful only when the category is precise. An experimental telegraph line differs from a railway, and an export processing zone differs from an ordinary port or industrial estate. These are separate histories even when the places are transport centres.
Why the others are wrong
(a) Drops Kandla.
(b) Drops the telegraph line.
Also know
An Export Processing Zone concentrates export-oriented production under special customs arrangements. An SEZ has a wider legal framework under the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005. Kandla is on the Gulf of Kachchh; Diamond Harbour lies on the Hooghly downstream of Kolkata.
🔒 First EPZ: Kandla (1965) → SEZ Act 2005. First railway: Bombay–Thane (1853).
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