Environmental laws, bodies & conventions

Answer: (a) A licence is required to cultivate that plant.

A plant placed in Schedule VI, the list of 'specified plants', can be cultivated only with a licence. The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 does not ban its cultivation outright, and the listing has nothing to do with genetic modification or invasiveness.

• ✓ (a) Section 17C says no person shall cultivate a specified plant except under a licence granted by the Chief Wild Life Warden or an officer authorised by the State Government.
• ✗ (b) Cultivation is allowed, but only with that licence; the Act regulates it rather than forbidding it in all circumstances.
• ✗ (c) Schedule VI is a conservation list of protected wild plants; it says nothing about genetic modification.
• ✗ (d) Plants are listed to protect them, not because they are invasive or harmful to the ecosystem.
• • Since then The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2022 (in force from 1 April 2023) cut the schedules to four; 'specified plant' now means a plant in Schedule III instead of Schedule VI, and the licence rule of Section 17C continues.

Remember · Schedule VI plants (now Schedule III) are 'specified plants': cultivation needs a licence from the Chief Wild Life Warden, and picking or uprooting them in forests is prohibited.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) 2, 3 and 4 only

Chromite, kyanite and sillimanite are major minerals, which the Central Government regulates and the Indian Bureau of Mines tracks in its national mineral inventory. Bentonite is not a major mineral; it is treated as a minor mineral, which States regulate.

• ✗ 1. The Indian Bureau of Mines states that bentonite has been declared a minor mineral under Section 3(e) of the MMDR Act, 1957, so its production is reported to the States, not to IBM, and it is not counted as a major mineral.
• ✓ 2. Chromite, the ore of chromium, is a major (metallic) mineral and is listed in the national mineral inventory.
• ✓ 3. Kyanite is a major mineral and is listed in the national mineral inventory.
• ✓ 4. Sillimanite is a major mineral and is listed in the national mineral inventory.

Remember · Chromite, kyanite and sillimanite are major minerals tracked in the national mineral inventory; bentonite, a clay, is not a major mineral.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only

Why not the tempting option · UPSC's key is (b). Statement 1 looks plausible because 256 of India's roughly 720 districts (about 36%) were chosen as 'water stressed' for Jal Shakti Abhiyan in 2019, but those are districts holding at least one stressed block, picked by the Ministry for a campaign; the official 'overexploited' and 'critical' labels are given to blocks, not districts, by the Central Ground Water Board, not the Authority, and cover about 22% of blocks. In the exam, check the unit (block or district) and the body (CGWB assesses, CGWA regulates) before accepting a statistic.

Statements 2 and 3 are correct. CGWA was constituted in January 1997 under Section 3(3) of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, and India, the world's largest user of groundwater, has the largest groundwater-irrigated area. Statement 1 fails on every count: groundwater status is assessed for blocks (assessment units), not districts; the assessing body is the Central Ground Water Board, not the Authority; and the stressed share is nowhere near 36%.

• ✗ 1. The Central Ground Water Board, with the states, classifies assessment units — blocks, mandals, talukas — not districts, and the CGWA is a regulator, not the assessing body. In the 2017 assessment about 17% of units were overexploited and 5% critical, roughly 22% in all. The 36% figure resembles the 256 'water stressed' districts (of about 720) chosen for Jal Shakti Abhiyan in 2019 — districts holding at least one stressed block, a different count made by a different body.
• ✓ 2. On the direction of the Supreme Court, CGWA was constituted in January 1997 under sub-section (3) of Section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, to regulate groundwater development.
• ✓ 3. Groundwater provides about 60 per cent of India's irrigation water and over 80 per cent of its domestic supply, making India the world's largest user of groundwater. The area irrigated from it has grown to more than 35 million hectares — the largest groundwater-irrigated area of any country.

Remember · CGWA: set up January 1997 under Section 3(3), Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. India is the world's largest groundwater user; overexploited/critical labels apply to blocks (by CGWB), not districts.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error