Environmental laws, bodies & conventions

Answer: (c) Central Ground Water Authority

The Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) is the groundwater regulator that the Centre created using its powers under Section 3(3) of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. The Water Commission, the Ground Water Board and the Water Development Agency were set up by executive decision or as a society, not under this Act.

• ✓ (c) CGWA is the statutory regulator for groundwater. It grants No Objection Certificates for groundwater abstraction in the States and Union Territories where it is notified to do so.
• ✗ (b) The Central Ground Water Board is a subordinate office of the Jal Shakti Ministry that gives scientific inputs on groundwater (survey, monitoring, assessment). It is a technical body, not one created by the 1986 Act.
• ✗ (d) The National Water Development Agency was set up in July 1982 as an autonomous society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, to study inter-basin water transfer.
• ✗ (a) The Central Water Commission, working since 1945, is the Ministry's technical body for river and water-resources planning, and it too is not a creation of the 1986 Act.

Remember · CGWA is the statutory groundwater regulator set up under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986; CGWB is only a technical board.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) It is the international code of safety for ships operating in polar waters.

The Polar Code is the International Maritime Organization's safety and pollution-prevention code for ships sailing in the Arctic and Antarctic waters. It is made binding through the SOLAS and MARPOL conventions and applies from 1 January 2017.

• ✓ (a) Its full name is the International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters. It covers ship design, equipment, crew training, search and rescue and protection of the polar environment.
• ✗ (b) It says nothing about territorial claims or boundaries around the poles; it is a shipping rule-book.
• ✗ (c) Norms for scientific research in the polar regions come from other instruments, such as the Antarctic Treaty system, and not from the Polar Code.
• ✗ (d) The Arctic Council is a forum for cooperation on Arctic issues; the Polar Code was adopted by the IMO and is not a trade or security pact.

Remember · Polar Code = IMO's International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters, mandatory under SOLAS and MARPOL since 1 January 2017.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 2 only

Only statement 2 is correct. Under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, a listed animal is protected from hunting wherever it is, inside or outside protected areas. But only some wild animals become Government property, and a mere fear of danger does not justify killing or capturing one.

• ✗ 1. Section 39 makes only certain animals Government property, such as those hunted under a permit, kept or hunted against the Act, or found dead. It does not make every wild animal the sole property of the government.
• ✓ 2. Section 9 bars hunting of any animal listed in the Schedules, and the rule is not tied to protected areas. The protection applies inside or outside sanctuaries and parks.
• ✗ 3. Section 11 lets the Chief Wild Life Warden permit hunting only if satisfied that the animal has actually become dangerous to human life (or is beyond recovery), and, since 2003, that it cannot be captured, tranquilised or translocated. Fear of danger alone is not enough.

Remember · Under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, hunting of scheduled animals is barred everywhere. A dangerous animal may be killed only as a last resort, on the Chief Wild Life Warden's written order.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 10 Contemporary India – II, Ch 2 (practise this chapter)

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error