India: relief, rivers & drainage

Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only

NGRBA, set up by a notification of 20 February 2009 under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, adopted a river-basin approach to planning and management and acted as the national planning, financing and coordinating authority for cleaning the Ganga. It was chaired by the Prime Minister, not by a Chief Minister in rotation.

• ✓ 1. Its stated objective was to abate pollution and conserve the Ganga by adopting a river basin approach for comprehensive planning and management.
• ✓ 2. It was the apex body at the national level, mandated as the planning, financing, monitoring and coordinating authority for the Centre's and States' efforts to conserve the river.
• ✗ 3. The Prime Minister chaired the authority; the Chief Ministers of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal were members, with no rotation of the chair.
• • Since then NGRBA was dissolved with effect from 7 October 2016 and replaced by the National Council for Rejuvenation, Protection and Management of River Ganga (National Ganga Council), also under the EPA, 1986 (NMCG).

Remember · NGRBA (2009-2016): river-basin approach, chaired by the PM, CMs of Ganga States as members; NMCG was its implementing arm. Replaced by the National Ganga Council in October 2016.

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) 1, 2 and 3

All three rivers feed the Brahmaputra. Soon after the Siang (Dihang) enters India in Arunachal Pradesh, it is joined by the Dibang and the Lohit from the left, and only then takes the name Brahmaputra; the Kameng joins it later from the right bank in the Assam valley.

• ✓ 1. The Dibang (also called Sikang) is one of the two main left-bank tributaries that join the Siang near Sadiya.
• ✓ 2. The Kameng is a right-bank tributary, alongside the Subansiri, Manas and Sankosh.
• ✓ 3. The Lohit joins from the left bank near Sadiya, together with the Dibang, after which the river is called the Brahmaputra.

Remember · Brahmaputra tributaries: left bank: Dibang, Lohit, Burhi Dihing, Dhansari; right bank: Subansiri, Kameng, Manas, Sankosh (Subansiri is antecedent).

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 India: Physical Environment, Ch 3 (practise this chapter) · Class 11 India: Physical Environment, Ch 3 (practise this chapter)

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: (a) Andaman Islands

The banana is Musa indandamanensis, a wild species described by a Botanical Survey of India scientist from the forests of Little Andaman in the Andaman Islands. The plant stands about 11 metres tall and its ripe fruit pulp turns yellowish orange.

• ✓ (a) The species was collected during floristic exploration of Little Andaman and published in 2014 as new to science. The author says the species is named after the Andaman Islands.
• ✗ (b) The Anaimalai (Western Ghats) forests are not where this species was found; its description records it from Little Andaman only.
• ✗ (c) The Maikala Hills in Chhattisgarh are not the discovery site.
• ✗ (d) The north-eastern rain forests hold other wild bananas, but this new species was described from the Bay Islands.

Remember · Musa indandamanensis, a new wild banana (about 11 m tall, orange pulp), was described from Little Andaman in 2014 by a Botanical Survey of India scientist.

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) 1, 2 and 3

All three basins are assessed to hold shale gas. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas told Parliament in July 2015 that Cambay, Krishna-Godavari and Cauvery are among the basins where agencies have estimated shale gas resources.

• ✓ 1. The Cambay Basin (Gujarat) appears in every agency's list of shale gas basins quoted by the Ministry, including the US Geological Survey assessment.
• ✓ 2. The Cauvery Basin (Tamil Nadu coast) is listed alongside Cambay and Krishna-Godavari in the assessments given to the Rajya Sabha.
• ✓ 3. The Krishna-Godavari Basin (Andhra Pradesh coast) is also listed; the USGS put recoverable shale gas in these three basins at 6.1 trillion cubic feet.

Remember · Shale gas basins named in official lists: Cambay, Krishna-Godavari, Cauvery (plus Assam-Arakan, Damodar and Ganga valley in some estimates).

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: (b) Godavari and Krishna

The link taken up was between the Godavari and the Krishna. In September 2015 Godavari water was carried into the Krishna delta through the Polavaram right canal, a link executed by the Andhra Pradesh Government.

• ✓ (b) The Godavari (Polavaram)-Krishna (Vijayawada) link was taken over by the State of Andhra Pradesh under the Indirasagar Polavaram Project, and water connectivity in the link canal has since been established. Godavari water reached the Krishna delta through this canal on 9 September 2015.
• ✗ (d) The Par-Tapi-Narmada link, the Narmada-Tapti proposal in the Ministry's list, was only at detailed-project-report stage; no such link was executed.
• ✗ (c) The Ministry's list has no Mahanadi-Sone link; the Mahanadi is proposed to be linked with the Godavari, and only a feasibility report exists for that.

Remember · The link executed in 2015 was Godavari-Krishna, through the Polavaram right canal in Andhra Pradesh.

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: (c) 2 and 5 only

Only pairs 2 and 5 are correct: Khajuraho lies in Bundelkhand and Tirupati in Rayalaseema. Bodh Gaya is in Bihar, Shirdi is in Ahmednagar district (not in Vidarbha), and Nashik is in Maharashtra, so pairs 1, 3 and 4 name the wrong region.

• ✗ 1. Bodh Gaya is in Gaya district of Bihar, about 115 km south of Patna (UNESCO). Baghelkhand is a region of Madhya Pradesh, which includes the Rewa division.
• ✓ 2. The Madhya Pradesh government's Bundelkhand tourism portal lists the temples of Khajuraho among the Bundela and Chandela attractions of Bundelkhand.
• ✗ 3. Shirdi is a village in Ahmednagar (now Ahilyanagar) district of Maharashtra. The Government of Maharashtra describes Vidarbha as the Amravati and Nagpur divisions, whose districts are Akola, Amravati, Buldhana, Washim, Yavatmal, Nagpur, Wardha, Bhandara, Gondia, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli; Ahmednagar is not among them.
• ✗ 4. Nashik is in Maharashtra (the Amravati division page lists a Nashik Division of the State). Malwa is a plateau region of Madhya Pradesh, as NCERT's mention of the Malwa plateau of Madhya Pradesh shows.
• ✓ 5. An expert committee report published by the Ministry of Home Affairs describes the Rayalaseema arc as made up of Kurnool, Anantapur, Tirupathi, Kadapa and Chittoor, so Tirupati belongs to Rayalaseema.

Remember · Khajuraho = Bundelkhand; Tirupati = Rayalaseema. Bodh Gaya is in Bihar, Shirdi (Ahmednagar) and Nashik are in Maharashtra, outside Vidarbha and Malwa.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 India: Physical Environment, Ch 3 (practise this chapter)

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error