International organisations & groupings

Answer: (c) 2 and 3

Bidibidi is in Uganda, not Kenya, so statement 1 is wrong. Statements 2 and 3 are right: Bidibidi shelters refugees from South Sudan's conflict, and Kenya's Dadaab complex was set up for refugees escaping the civil war in Somalia.

• ✗ 1. Bidibidi settlement lies in Uganda's Yumbe district, in the north of that country. It was opened in August 2016 and was described as the largest refugee settlement in the world by December 2016.
• ✓ 2. It was opened to house part of the flow of South Sudanese refugees who crossed into northern Uganda after the conflict spread to South Sudan's Equatoria region.
• ✓ 3. Dadaab, in Kenya, was established in 1991 when refugees fleeing the civil war in Somalia began crossing the border, with a large second influx in 2011.

Remember · Bidibidi = northern Uganda (South Sudanese refugees). Dadaab = Kenya (refugees from Somalia's civil war). Do not swap the countries.

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Answer: (c) 2 and 5

Of the five countries, only Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan belong to the Organization of Turkic States. As of 2022 its members were Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Türkiye and Uzbekistan; Armenia, Croatia and Romania are not in it.

• ✓ 2. Azerbaijan is one of the five member States listed by the Organization.
• ✓ 5. Uzbekistan is also a member State, so 2 and 5 together give the right code.
• ✗ 1. Armenia is on neither the official list of members nor the list of observers.
• ✗ 3. Croatia is on neither the official list of members nor the list of observers.
• ✗ 4. Romania is on neither the official list of members nor the list of observers.
• • note The 2022 listing shows Hungary, Turkmenistan and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus as observers. Membership and observer status can change at later summits, so check the Organization's current page.

Remember · Organization of Turkic States members (2022): Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Türkiye, Uzbekistan. Hungary and Turkmenistan were observers.

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Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3

All three statements follow directly from the text of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS, 1982): Article 3 fixes the 12-nautical-mile limit of the territorial sea, Article 17 gives every State's ships the right of innocent passage, and Article 57 caps the Exclusive Economic Zone at 200 nautical miles.

• ✓ 1. Article 3 lets a State set its territorial sea up to 12 nautical miles, measured from baselines fixed under the Convention.
• ✓ 2. Article 17 gives ships of all States, coastal or land-locked, the right of innocent passage through the territorial sea.
• ✓ 3. Article 57 says the EEZ cannot go beyond 200 nautical miles from the same baselines used to measure the territorial sea.

Remember · UNCLOS 1982: territorial sea up to 12 nautical miles (Art. 3); innocent passage for all ships (Art. 17); EEZ up to 200 nautical miles from the baselines (Art. 57).

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Answer: (c) Only three pairs

Pairs 2, 3 and 4 are correct and pair 1 is wrong, so three pairs match. Guinea's army seized power in September 2021, Lebanon is in its worst economic collapse, and Tunisia's President suspended Parliament in July 2021. China's overseas base is in Djibouti, not Chad.

• ✗ 1. China's overseas military base is in Djibouti. A 2021 US Defense Department report says China was only pursuing further facilities and does not name Chad among the countries it likely considered.
• ✓ 2. After the army's takeover of 5 September 2021, the junta suspended Guinea's constitution and dissolved the institutions of government.
• ✓ 3. Since 2019 Lebanon has faced the most severe economic and financial collapse in its history, with a banking system left insolvent.
• ✓ 4. The UN human rights office records that on 25 July 2021 the Tunisian President suspended Parliament and assumed all executive functions, so the pair matches.

Remember · 2021 in the news: Guinea military coup (Sept), Tunisia's President suspends Parliament (July), Lebanon's economic collapse. China's overseas military base: Djibouti.

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Answer: (b) 2 only

Statement 2 is correct and statement 1 is wrong, because International Mother Language Day was proclaimed by UNESCO, not UNICEF. The demand for Bangla was raised in the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan in February 1948.

• ✗ 1. UNESCO's General Conference approved International Mother Language Day in 1999, on Bangladesh's initiative, and it has been observed since 2000. UNICEF, the UN children's agency, had no role in proclaiming it.
• ✓ 2. When the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan met at Karachi in February 1948, Dhirendranath Datta moved an amendment to include Bangla among the languages of the Assembly. The motion was rejected, but it began the Bengali language movement.

Remember · 21 February, International Mother Language Day, is a UNESCO day (1999), proposed by Bangladesh to honour the 1952 Bengali language movement, not a UNICEF day.

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Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only

Statements 2 and 3 are correct. Seabed exploration rights in international waters come from the International Seabed Authority, not from the Global Ocean Commission, which was only an independent advisory body.

• ✗ 1. The Global Ocean Commission (launched 2013) was an independent international commission working on threats to the high seas; it issues no licences. Exploration areas are allocated by the International Seabed Authority (ISA), set up under UNCLOS.
• ✓ 2. India holds ISA exploration rights over 75,000 sq. km of the Central Indian Ocean Basin for polymetallic nodules, and a later ISA contract for polymetallic sulphides in the Indian Ocean.
• ✓ 3. Polymetallic nodules lying on the deep seafloor, including in the Central Indian Ocean Basin, carry rare earth elements alongside nickel, copper, cobalt and manganese.

Remember · The International Seabed Authority, not the Global Ocean Commission, licenses seabed exploration beyond national jurisdiction; India holds ISA contracts for nodules and sulphides.

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Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3

All three statements are correct. CCAFS is a CGIAR research programme, it set up Climate-Smart Villages in several Indian states, CGIAR is based in Montpellier, France, and ICRISAT (Patancheru, near Hyderabad) is one of its research centres.

• ✓ 1. CCAFS, the CGIAR programme on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security, tests adaptation options in Climate-Smart Villages. Its list of villages includes sites in Haryana, Bihar, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
• ✓ 2. CCAFS is a CGIAR research programme, and the CGIAR System Organization has its address in Montpellier, France.
• ✓ 3. CGIAR lists ICRISAT, whose headquarters are at Patancheru in India, among its research centres.

Remember · CCAFS is a CGIAR programme; CGIAR is based in Montpellier, France; ICRISAT (Patancheru, Hyderabad) is a CGIAR centre; Climate-Smart Villages began in 2011.

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Answer: (d) 2 and 3

‘Right to the City’ is a vision of cities for all, in which every inhabitant, including those in informal settlements, can use public spaces and take part in city life. It is not an agreed human right that UN-Habitat monitors country by country, so statement 1 fails while statements 2 and 3 fit the idea.

• ✗ 1. The UN's New Urban Agenda (2016) only notes that some national and local governments have written this vision, called ‘right to the city’, into their laws, declarations and charters. It is not an agreed international human right with country-wise commitments.
• ✓ 2. The idea stresses equal use and enjoyment of cities by all inhabitants, with participation in city life and safe, inclusive public spaces open to everyone.
• ✓ 3. The vision covers all inhabitants, whether they live in formal or informal settlements. UPSC's key therefore treats the State's duty not to deny services to unauthorised colonies as part of it.

Remember · Right to the City: a vision of equal use of cities by all inhabitants, informal settlements included. Some governments have legislated it; it is not an agreed international right.

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Answer: (a) A community of persons permanently occupying a definite territory independent of external control and possessing an organized government

A State in political science has four essentials: people, a definite territory, a government, and sovereignty (freedom from outside control). Option (a) is the only one that names all four.

• ✓ (a) It has the community of persons (population), permanent occupation of a definite territory, an organised government and independence from external control (sovereignty).
• ✗ (b) It never mentions freedom from outside control, and it adds functions (protecting natural rights, sustenance) that are duties of a good State, not part of what makes a State.
• ✗ (c) Living together for a long time with a shared culture describes a nation or community. It leaves out sovereignty.
• ✗ (d) Adding an executive answerable to a central authority and an independent judiciary describes a particular form of government, not the basic definition of a State. Sovereignty is missing here too.

Remember · State = population + definite territory + government + sovereignty. The government can change; the State continues.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 7 Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 2), Ch 6 (practise this chapter)

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Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only

The 1978 Alma-Ata Declaration made primary health care the route to 'Health for All', and the Talanoa Dialogue was the 2018 UN climate process to take stock of Paris Agreement ambition. Biological weapons are banned by the Biological Weapons Convention, not a 'Hague Convention', and the Under2 Coalition is a climate pact of state, regional and city governments, not a child-rights body.

• ✓ 1. The Alma-Ata Declaration came out of the 1978 international conference on primary health care and treats health as a fundamental human right.
• ✗ 2. Biological weapons are prohibited by the Biological Weapons Convention, opened for signature in 1972 and negotiated in Geneva; chemical weapons are covered by the separate Chemical Weapons Convention. Neither is known as the Hague Convention.
• ✓ 3. The Talanoa Dialogue, launched under Fiji's COP23 presidency, invited countries and other stakeholders to ask 'Where are we? Where do we want to go? How do we get there?' on climate action under the Paris Agreement.
• ✗ 4. The Under2 Coalition is a group of state, regional and city governments that pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions to limit warming; it has nothing to do with child rights.

Remember · Alma-Ata (1978): primary health care, Health for All. Talanoa Dialogue (COP23, Fiji): climate stocktake. Under2 Coalition: subnational governments' climate pact (2015). BWC 1972 bans biological weapons.

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Answer: (b) Some use imported uranium and others use domestic supplies

The dividing line is the fuel: India's reactors that run on imported fuel are under IAEA safeguards, while those fuelled by India's own (indigenous) supplies are outside them. This follows the Separation Plan, notified under India's India-specific Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA, which covers only the civilian facilities India listed.

• ✓ (b) In a 2015 reply to the Lok Sabha, the Government said 13 reactors (Tarapur 1&2, Rajasthan 1 to 6, Kakrapar 1&2, Narora 1&2 and Kudankulam 1) are under IAEA Safeguards and use imported fuel, while the other eight, such as Kaiga 1 to 4, run on indigenous fuel.
• ✗ (c) Ownership or operator is not the divider: Tarapur Units 1&2 are safeguarded, but Tarapur Units 3&4 at the same station, fuelled by indigenous fuel, are not.
• ✗ (a) Official statements draw the line between imported and indigenous fuel, not between uranium and thorium.

Remember · Indian power reactors that use imported fuel (e.g. Tarapur 1&2, Kudankulam) are under IAEA safeguards; those on indigenous fuel (e.g. Kaiga, Madras, Tarapur 3&4) are not.

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Answer: (a) Argentina, Mexico, South Africa and Turkey

Argentina, Mexico, South Africa and Turkey are all G20 members. Every other group includes a non-member: Malaysia and New Zealand in (b), Iran and Vietnam in (c), and Singapore in (d).

• ✓ (a) The G20 comprises 19 countries including Argentina, Mexico, South Africa and Turkey, along with the European Union.
• ✗ (b) Australia and Canada are members, but Malaysia and New Zealand are not.
• ✗ (c) Brazil and Saudi Arabia are members, but Iran and Vietnam are not.
• ✗ (d) Indonesia, Japan and South Korea are members, but Singapore is not.
• • Since then Since India's 2023 presidency the African Union is also a permanent G20 member, besides the 19 countries and the European Union. The answer is unchanged.

Remember · G20 = 19 countries plus the European Union (the African Union joined in 2023). Not members: Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Iran, New Zealand.

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Answer: (c) 2 and 4 only

Statements 2 and 4 are correct. UNCAC (in force since December 2005) is the first legally binding global anti-corruption instrument, and UNODC is mandated to help States implement both UNCAC and UNTOC. The migrants-smuggling Protocol belongs to UNTOC, and the chapter on returning assets belongs to UNCAC, so statements 1 and 3 have them the wrong way round.

• ✗ 1. The migrant-smuggling Protocol (covering land, sea and air routes) is one of the three Protocols supplementing UNTOC, not UNCAC.
• ✓ 2. UNODC describes UNCAC, in force since December 2005, as the ever-first binding global anti-corruption instrument.
• ✗ 3. The asset-return chapter, Chapter V (asset recovery), is a feature of UNCAC. UNTOC has no such chapter.
• ✓ 4. UNODC is mandated by its Member States to assist in the implementation of both Conventions.

Remember · UNCAC (2003): first binding global anti-corruption treaty, with an asset-recovery chapter. UNTOC (2000): three Protocols, including migrant smuggling.

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Answer: (a) 1 only

Only statement 1 is correct. AIIB already had 84 members by the end of 2017, so it had more than 80 members. India is the second-largest shareholder after China, and AIIB has many non-Asian (non-regional) members.

• ✓ 1. AIIB approved 27 new members in 2017, bringing the total to 84. It has kept growing and now has 111 approved members.
• ✗ 2. China is the largest shareholder, with more than 25 per cent of the voting power. India is the second-largest shareholder, followed by Russia.
• ✗ 3. AIIB has both regional (Asian) and non-regional members. Of the 84 members at the end of 2017, 48 were regional and 36 non-regional, so many members are from outside Asia.

Remember · AIIB (headquarters Beijing, operational since 2016) has regional and non-regional members; China is the largest shareholder and India the second-largest.

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Answer: (c) The European Union

The European Union adopted the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Regulation (EU) 2016/679, on 27 April 2016, and it has applied since 25 May 2018. It is an EU-wide law, so it is not a law of Australia, Canada or the USA.

• ✓ (c) The European Parliament and the Council of the EU adopted Regulation (EU) 2016/679 on 27 April 2016. It entered into force on 24 May 2016 and has applied since 25 May 2018.
• ✗ (a) Australia is not the source of the GDPR; the regulation is EU law.
• ✗ (b) Canada did not adopt the GDPR; the regulation is EU law.
• ✗ (d) The USA did not adopt the GDPR; the regulation is EU law.

Remember · GDPR = EU Regulation 2016/679: adopted 27 April 2016, in force 24 May 2016, applicable from 25 May 2018.

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Answer: (a) 1 only

The NSG is an informal club of nuclear supplier countries that coordinates export controls, so joining it eases a country's access to nuclear trade and technology. It is not a treaty body, and joining it does not by itself make a country a party to the NPT.

• ✓ 1. NSG participants shape and share the rules of nuclear trade among the main supplier states, which gives them easier access to advanced nuclear technology and equipment.
• ✗ 2. The NSG was not created by a treaty; it is a voluntary, non-legally binding association. NPT membership comes only by signing and ratifying the NPT itself.

Remember · NSG: voluntary supplier-country group formed 1975 after India's 1974 test; controls nuclear and dual-use exports through two sets of Guidelines; not a treaty, so membership does not mean NPT membership.

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Answer: (d) World Justice Project

The Rule of Law Index is compiled by the World Justice Project (WJP), an independent organisation based in Washington, D.C. It scores countries on how people experience the rule of law, using household and expert surveys.

• ✓ (d) The WJP describes its Rule of Law Index as its flagship dataset; the 2025 edition covers 143 countries and jurisdictions.
• ✗ (a) Amnesty International is a human-rights campaigning NGO known for its annual report on the state of human rights, not this index.
• ✗ (b) The International Court of Justice is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations and decides disputes between States; it publishes no country index.

Remember · Rule of Law Index = World Justice Project (independent, U.S.-based); measures eight factors such as constraints on government powers, absence of corruption and fundamental rights.

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Answer: (a) Child labour

ILO Conventions 138 and 182 are the two core conventions on child labour. No. 138 fixes the minimum age for admission to employment, and No. 182 prohibits the worst forms of child labour and calls for immediate action against them.

• ✓ (a) Convention 138 is the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 and Convention 182 is the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999. India deposited its instruments of ratification of both with the ILO on 13 June 2017, which is why they were in the news before the 2018 exam.
• ✗ (d) These two conventions deal only with child labour. Gender parity at the workplace, adaptation to climate change and food prices are not what they cover.

Remember · ILO No. 138 = minimum age for employment; No. 182 = worst forms of child labour. India ratified both in June 2017.

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Answer: (a) The civilian nuclear reactors come under IAEA safeguards.

India's Additional Protocol is attached to its India-specific safeguards agreement with the IAEA, which covers only India's civilian nuclear facilities. So ratifying it means those civilian facilities stay under IAEA safeguards and get wider IAEA access; military installations are left out.

• ✓ (a) The IAEA Board approved a safeguards agreement with India in 2008 for the application of IAEA safeguards to Indian civilian nuclear facilities. The Additional Protocol to that agreement entered into force on 25 July 2014.
• ✗ (b) Both the safeguards agreement and its Additional Protocol are titled as covering 'Civilian Nuclear Facilities'. India's military installations are not placed under IAEA inspection.
• ✗ (c) The Additional Protocol is an arrangement with the IAEA. It does not give India any right to buy uranium from the Nuclear Suppliers Group, which is a separate body.
• ✗ (d) Ratifying a protocol with the IAEA does not make a country a member of the NSG. NSG membership is a separate matter decided within that group.

Remember · India's Additional Protocol (signed 15 May 2009; in force 25 July 2014) extends IAEA safeguards access to its civilian nuclear facilities only.

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Answer: (c) 1, 3, 4 and 5

At the time of the exam, ASEAN had free trade agreements with Australia (with New Zealand), China, Japan, South Korea and India. Canada and the USA were not among ASEAN's free-trade partners, so the correct set is 1, 3, 4 and 5.

• ✓ 1. Australia (together with New Zealand) is a party to the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area, AANZFTA.
• ✗ 2. Canada had no free trade agreement with ASEAN in the list of ASEAN's FTAs published in 2018.
• ✓ 3. China is a partner in the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area, ACFTA.
• ✓ 4. India is a partner in the ASEAN-India Free Trade Area, AIFTA.
• ✓ 5. Japan is a partner in the ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership, AJCEP.
• ✗ 6. The USA does not appear in ASEAN's list of free trade agreements with dialogue partners.

Remember · ASEAN's FTA partners (as in 2018): China, Japan, South Korea, India, and Australia-New Zealand. Not Canada, not the USA.

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Answer: (b) The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development 2012, Rio de Janeiro

PAGE was created as a response to the call made at Rio+20, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development held in Rio de Janeiro in 2012, and was launched in 2013. It brings UN agencies together to help countries build greener, more inclusive economies.

• ✓ (b) The UN describes PAGE as launched in 2013 in response to the call at Rio+20, whose outcome document 'The Future We Want' recognised the green economy as a route to sustainable development.
• ✗ (a) The 2002 Johannesburg summit came ten years before PAGE's origin and is not linked to it.
• ✗ (c) The 2015 Paris climate conference produced the Paris Agreement, two years after PAGE had started.
• ✗ (d) The World Sustainable Development Summit in New Delhi is an Indian conference series; it is not a UN conference and did not give rise to PAGE.

Remember · PAGE is a UN partnership born from Rio+20 (2012) and launched in 2013 to help countries build green, inclusive economies.

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Answer: (c) The UNFCCC Secretariat

Climate Neutral Now was launched in 2015 by the secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), based in Bonn. It urges individuals, companies and governments to measure their emissions, cut them and offset the rest with UN-certified emission reductions; 'Momentum for Change' is the secretariat's linked programme that recognises such action.

• ✓ (c) The UNFCCC's own page calls Climate Neutral Now one of several initiatives launched by the UNFCCC secretariat to engage non-Party stakeholders such as companies, cities and individuals.
• ✗ (a) The IPCC assesses climate science for governments; it does not run voluntary action or offsetting campaigns.
• ✗ (b) The UNEP secretariat works on environmental programmes generally; this climate-neutrality drive belongs to the UN climate convention's secretariat.
• ✗ (d) The World Meteorological Organization deals with weather, climate and water observation and data, not this campaign.

Remember · Climate Neutral Now (2015) belongs to the UNFCCC secretariat: measure, reduce, offset with UN-certified credits, aiming at a climate-neutral world by 2050.

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Answer: (c) EU

The Digital Single Market Strategy is a European Commission plan, adopted on 6 May 2015, to turn the separate national digital markets of the European Union into one market by removing barriers to cross-border online activity.

• ✓ (c) The strategy was adopted by the European Commission on 6 May 2015 and rests on three pillars: better access to online goods and services, the right environment for digital networks, and digital as a driver of growth.
• ✗ (a) ASEAN has its own digital plans, but the 'Digital Single Market Strategy' is the name of the EU's 2015 programme.
• ✗ (d) The G20 is a forum of major economies with no single market of its own; a single market with common rules is a feature of the EU.

Remember · Digital Single Market Strategy = European Union (European Commission, 6 May 2015): from 28 national digital markets to one, in three pillars.

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Answer: (d) Neither 1 nor 2

The Nuclear Security Summits were a US-initiated series of leaders' meetings (2010–2016), not a UN process, and the International Panel on Fissile Materials is an independent group of experts, not part of the IAEA. Both statements are wrong.

• ✗ 1. The summit process was announced by US President Barack Obama in April 2009. Four summits were held (Washington 2010, Seoul 2012, The Hague 2014, Washington 2016), hosted by those countries, not by the UN.
• ✗ 2. The IPFM was founded in January 2006 as an independent panel of experts drawn from countries with and without nuclear weapons; it studies fissile material policy and is not part of the IAEA.

Remember · Nuclear Security Summits: Obama's initiative, four summits 2010–2016, outside the UN. IPFM (2006): independent expert panel on fissile material, not an IAEA body.

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Answer: (d) Neither 1 nor 2

Neither statement is correct. The first APMCHUD was indeed held in New Delhi in December 2006, but its theme was 'A vision for sustainable urbanisation in the Asia-Pacific by 2020'. The conference is biennial and is hosted by different countries, not held annually in India.

• ✗ 1. The inaugural conference met in New Delhi on 13–16 December 2006. Its official theme was 'A vision for sustainable urbanisation in the Asia-Pacific by 2020', not 'Emerging Urban Forms'.
• ✗ 2. The Delhi Declaration of 2006 made it a biennial conference that normally meets every two years, and Iran offered to host the next one. Later editions were held in Solo, Amman, Seoul and New Delhi, so India does not host them all. The statement's partnership with ADB, APEC and ASEAN is also not part of the arrangement.

Remember · APMCHUD: inter-governmental forum for Asia-Pacific housing ministers, launched at New Delhi in December 2006 (theme: sustainable urbanisation by 2020); meets every two years, hosted by different countries.

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Answer: (b) 1 and 3 only

UN-Habitat, the UN Human Settlements Programme, is mandated by the General Assembly to promote sustainable towns and cities and works to reduce poverty and improve access to water and sanitation, so statements 1 and 3 hold. Statement 2 fails because its partners are not only governments and city authorities.

• ✓ 1. UN-Habitat is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities; the aim it has long stated is adequate shelter for all.
• ✗ 2. UN-Habitat works with a wide range of partners: political actors, civil society, professional organisations, the private sector, universities and foundations, apart from national and local governments.
• ✓ 3. UN-Habitat promotes urbanisation as a force for reducing inequality, discrimination and poverty, and its work on urban planning and waste management supports access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene.

Remember · UN-Habitat (Nairobi) is the UN's human settlements programme. It has a General Assembly mandate for sustainable cities and works with governments, civil society and business alike.

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Answer: (b) 2 only

The inaugural IONS was held in New Delhi in February 2008, not 2015, so statement 1 is wrong. IONS is a voluntary forum that seeks to increase maritime co-operation among the navies of Indian Ocean littoral states, so statement 2 is correct.

• ✗ 1. The inaugural IONS took place in New Delhi in February 2008, with the Indian Navy as Chair for two years (2008–2010). The year 2015 is wrong, although the Indian Navy did chair the first edition.
• ✓ 2. IONS calls itself a voluntary initiative that seeks to increase maritime co-operation among navies of the littoral states of the Indian Ocean Region, offering an open and inclusive forum on regional maritime issues.

Remember · IONS: launched by the Indian Navy in 2008 (New Delhi); a voluntary, open forum of Indian Ocean littoral navies with a rotating Chair.

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Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only

Statements 1 and 2 are correct: India ratified the WTO's Trade Facilitation Agreement in April 2016, and the TFA was concluded at the 2013 Bali Ministerial Conference. Statement 3 is wrong, because the TFA entered into force on 22 February 2017.

• ✓ 1. India handed its instrument of ratification to the WTO Director-General in April 2016 and was the 76th WTO member to accept the TFA.
• ✓ 2. WTO members concluded the TFA at the 2013 Bali Ministerial Conference, so it belongs to the Bali package.
• ✗ 3. The TFA came into force only when two-thirds of WTO members had ratified it, on 22 February 2017, not in January 2016.

Remember · WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement: concluded at Bali (Dec 2013), India ratified April 2016, in force 22 February 2017.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) WTO affairs

The coloured 'boxes' are the WTO's way of classifying farm subsidies under the Agreement on Agriculture, borrowed from traffic lights. Green box support is allowed freely, amber box support distorts trade and must be reduced, and blue box support is tied to programmes that limit production.

• ✓ (a) The WTO backgrounder on domestic support explains that subsidies are grouped into green (permitted), amber (to be reduced) and, in agriculture, a blue box for production-limiting programmes.
• ✗ (c) UNFCCC talks use terms like NDCs, Annex I and CDM, not subsidy boxes.
• ✗ (d) An India-EU free trade agreement would negotiate tariffs and market access; the box classification belongs to the multilateral WTO Agreement on Agriculture.

Remember · WTO farm subsidy boxes: green = minimal trade distortion, allowed; amber = trade-distorting, capped and reduced; blue = production-limiting; no red box in agriculture.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) Renminbi

On 30 November 2015 the IMF Executive Board, in its five-yearly review of the Special Drawing Right (SDR), decided that China's renminbi met the criteria and would join the SDR basket as its fifth currency from 1 October 2016.

• ✓ (d) The renminbi was declared a 'freely usable' currency and added to the basket alongside the U.S. dollar, euro, Japanese yen and British pound.
• ✗ (c) The Indian rupee has never been in the SDR basket; it is not a fully convertible currency on the capital account.
• ✗ (a) The key question in the 2015 review was whether the renminbi qualified; the Russian rouble and the South African rand are not in the SDR basket.

Remember · SDR basket since 1 Oct 2016: U.S. dollar, euro, Chinese renminbi, Japanese yen, British pound (five currencies). The SDR is the IMF's reserve asset, not a currency.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error