Under the Bonn Challenge, how much degraded and deforested land has India committed to restore by 2030?

The correct answer is 82.74 million hectares, 25.17% of geographical area. India gave this pair of figures in its statement at the 28th session of the FAO Committee on Forestry in Rome, while describing the steady growth of its forest resources. The same statement noted that the FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment 2025 places India 9th in the world in forest area and 3rd in net annual forest area gain, so the cover figure and the two ranks are usually asked together. Options A, C and D carry area and percentage values that were not stated; a candidate who remembers only one of the two numbers can still eliminate them, since both parts of the correct option must match. India also reported 101 Ramsar Sites and set out its restoration work under the Bonn Challenge at the same session.

The correct answer is Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam - Plant4Mother. India showcased it at the Rome session as a whole-of-government and whole-of-society initiative, and reported that more than 3.5 billion saplings have been planted under it. Option A is wrong because MISHTI is the coastal initiative that restores mangroves, strengthens climate resilience and supports local livelihoods, and no sapling figure of this kind was attached to it. Option B is wrong because the Aravalli Green Wall is a land restoration programme under which about 6.45 million hectares of degraded land have been identified, which is an area figure rather than a planting count. Option D is wrong because that mission was not named in the statement delivered at this session. Candidates should link each initiative to its own distinct figure to avoid mixing them up.

The correct answer is the Arabian Sea humpback whale. India attaches particular importance to this population and has placed it among the species chosen for focused conservation effort, a list of twenty-five in all. The wider framework for this work is Project Dolphin, which takes dolphins, whales, porpoises and the aquatic ecosystems that sustain them as a single conservation task. Option A is wrong because the blue whale, though the largest animal alive, is not the species singled out in this statement. Option C is wrong because the sperm whale does not appear among the species named for focused effort here. Option D is wrong for the same reason: Bryde's whale is found in warm waters but is not the one India highlighted at the Commission. Marine Protected Areas notified in the country also cover dugongs, sharks, rays, turtles and corals.

The correct answer is 1981. India joined the International Whaling Commission in that year and has played a prominent part in whale conservation within the body ever since. Option A is wrong because that is the year the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling was signed at Washington DC, which created the Commission itself; the founding of the body and India's accession to it are separate events, and IWC-70 marks the eightieth anniversary of that signing. Option B is wrong because it is the year of the Indian statute, the Wild Life (Protection) Act, under which whales and dolphins in Indian waters receive the highest grade of legal protection; it is a domestic law, not a date of accession. Option D is wrong because no event in this account falls in that year. The Commission today has eighty-nine member governments.

The correct answer is Hobart, Australia, the Tasmanian city hosting the seventieth meeting of the International Whaling Commission, which runs from the twenty-eighth of September to the second of October. India used its Opening Statement there to argue for conservation grounded in science. Option A is wrong because the meeting is not in New Zealand; the host named for this edition is Australia. Option C is wrong because Iceland, although closely associated with whaling debates, is not hosting this session of the Commission. Option D is wrong for the same reason: Norway figures in the history of whaling but is not the venue of the seventieth meeting. Aspirants should link the edition number, the city and the country together, since questions on multilateral meetings usually test exactly that trio, along with the theme or the main position a country took at the meeting.