Option 1 states that both assertion (A) and reason (R) are individually true and that R is the correct explanation of A.

To evaluate this option, let`s first look at the assertion (A): "The percentage of the earth’s surface covered by India is 2.4%." This statement is true and can be verified through geographical data. India covers approximately 2.4% of the total land area of the Earth.

Now let`s analyze the reason (R): "On the Mercator’s map of the world, India is shown much smaller than Canada." This statement is also true. The Mercator projection is known for distorting the size of landmasses, especially near the poles. As a result, countries located closer to the poles, like Canada, appear larger on the map compared to countries closer to the equator, like India.

However, the reason (R) does not provide a correct explanation for the assertion (A). The size of India on a specific map projection does not directly determine the percentage of the Earth`s surface that it covers.

Therefore, option 2 is correct: Both A and R are individually true, but R is not the correct explanation of A. The percentage of the Earth`s surface covered by India