International organisations & groupings

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.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

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.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

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.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

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.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

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)

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error