Q1. As per the India Meteorological Department, a severe drought occurs when the deficiency of rainfall exceeds .......... of the normal rainfall.
Explanation
In the India Meteorological Department classification, drought is judged by the shortfall of actual rainfall from normal rainfall. A severe drought is associated with a rainfall deficiency exceeding 50% of normal. A deficiency of 20% or 25% is too low for the severe category and is closer to the threshold at which rainfall departure begins to be watched seriously. A 40% shortfall is substantial, but the severe drought cut-off in this question is above 50%. Therefore, 50% is the correct figure retained from the key.
