International organisations & groupings

Answer: (b) Only four

Bulgaria (2004), Croatia (2009), North Macedonia (2020) and Sweden (2024) are NATO members. Austria and Serbia are only NATO partners, not Allies, and both stress neutrality.

• ✗ I Austria is not on NATO's list of 32 Allies. The Austrian Foreign Ministry calls Austria a NATO partner, a member of the Partnership for Peace since 1995, and stresses its commitment to neutrality.
• ✓ II Bulgaria joined NATO in 2004, as NATO's member list shows.
• ✓ III Croatia became a member in 2009, as NATO's member list shows.
• ✗ IV Serbia is a Partnership for Peace partner since 2006 but does not seek membership; NATO says it respects Serbia's military neutrality.
• ✓ V Sweden joined NATO in 2024, as NATO's member list shows; NATO then had 32 members.
• ✓ VI North Macedonia joined NATO in 2020, as NATO's member list shows.

Remember · NATO has 32 Allies: Finland 2023 and Sweden 2024 the newest; North Macedonia 2020; Croatia 2009; Bulgaria 2004. Austria and Serbia are partners (Partnership for Peace), not members.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2025, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) The Asian Development Bank (ADB)

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) launched the Nature Solutions Finance Hub for Asia and the Pacific at COP28 in Dubai on 4 December 2023. It aims to attract at least $2 billion into investment programmes that include nature-based solutions, especially from capital markets and private capital.

• ✓ (a) ADB's own news release calls it 'ADB's Nature Solutions Finance Hub for Asia and the Pacific' and says ADB launched it at COP28.
• ✗ (b) The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is a separate regional lender and is not the launcher of this hub, though it too works in the Asia-Pacific.
• ✗ (d) The IBRD (World Bank) did not launch this hub; the initiative belongs to ADB, as its own release says.

Remember · Nature Solutions Finance Hub for Asia and the Pacific: launched by ADB at COP28 (Dubai, 4 December 2023), aiming to draw at least $2 billion into nature-based solutions.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2025, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) I only

Only Statement I is correct: BIMSTEC has had seven members since Nepal and Bhutan joined in 2004. It began with the Bangkok Declaration of 1997, not a Dhaka Declaration; Nepal joined only in 2004, so it is not a founder; and the tourism sub-sector is led by Nepal, not India.

• ✓ I BIMSTEC's own history lists seven Member States: Myanmar joined in December 1997 and Bhutan and Nepal in February 2004, so the count was seven in January 2025 too.
• ✗ II BIMSTEC's own history places its founding on 6 June 1997, with the Bangkok Declaration, not on a Dhaka Declaration of 1999.
• ✗ III The organisation began as BIST-EC with Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand; Nepal joined only in 2004, so it is not a founding member.
• ✗ IV BIMSTEC's website records Nepal as the Lead Country for the tourism sub-sector, so India does not lead it.

Remember · BIMSTEC: founded by the Bangkok Declaration (6 June 1997) as BIST-EC with four states; seven members since 2004; Nepal leads tourism.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2025, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) I only

The Paris AI Action Summit (10-11 February 2025) was hosted by France and co-chaired by India, and it followed the summits at Bletchley Park (UK) and Seoul (Republic of Korea). It ended with a leaders' statement on inclusive and sustainable AI, but the United States and the United Kingdom are not among its signatories.

• ✓ I France hosted the summit with India as co-chair. The French Presidency describes it as building on the momentum of the two earlier summits, organised by the UK (Bletchley Park) and the Republic of Korea (Seoul).
• ✗ II The Statement's official list of signatory countries includes India, China and France, and runs from Ukraine straight to Uruguay: neither the United States nor the United Kingdom appears on it.

Remember · Paris AI Action Summit, 10-11 February 2025: France host, India co-chair, after Bletchley Park (2023) and Seoul (2024). The US and UK did not sign its statement.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2025, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) All the four

The UN General Assembly has proclaimed all four of these observances for the years shown. Each pair matches the year set by the Assembly, so all four are correctly matched.

• ✓ I The United Nations declared 2026 the International Year of the Woman Farmer; the resolution invites FAO to help carry it out together with the other Rome-based UN agencies.
• ✓ II The General Assembly adopted a resolution on 26 February 2024 declaring 2027 the International Year of Sustainable and Resilient Tourism, to be facilitated by UN Tourism.
• ✓ III The General Assembly declared 2025 the International Year of Peace and Trust, calling for conflicts to be resolved through inclusive dialogue and negotiation.
• ✓ IV 2029 is the International Year of Asteroid Awareness and Planetary Defence, timed for the safe flyby of asteroid 99942 Apophis on 13 April 2029.

Remember · UN International Years: 2025 Peace and Trust; 2026 Woman Farmer; 2027 Sustainable and Resilient Tourism; 2029 Asteroid Awareness and Planetary Defence (Apophis flyby, 13 April 2029).

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2025, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) I and II

The 16th BRICS Summit was held in Kazan on 22-24 October 2024 under Russia's chairmanship, and Indonesia took up full membership from 1 January 2025. Statement III changes one word of the theme, which was 'Strengthening Multilateralism', not 'Multiculturalism', for Just Global Development and Security.

• ✓ I Russia chaired BRICS in 2024 and hosted the 16th Summit in Kazan on 22-24 October 2024.
• ✓ II Indonesia became a full BRICS member with effect from 1 January 2025, a step Russia publicly welcomed.
• ✗ III The Kazan Summit's theme was 'Strengthening Multilateralism for Just Global Development and Security'. 'Multiculturalism' is a substituted word.

Remember · 16th BRICS Summit: Kazan, Russia, 22-24 October 2024, theme 'Strengthening Multilateralism for Just Global Development and Security'. Indonesia became a full member on 1 January 2025.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2025, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error