Which was the first biosphere reserve to be designated in India?

The correct answer is A, 1971. The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance was signed on 2 February 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar, on the shore of the Caspian Sea, which gave the treaty its popular name. It is the oldest of the modern global environmental agreements and its secretariat is at Gland in Switzerland.

Option B, 1975, is the year the convention came into force after the required number of ratifications, so it is a real date attached to a different event and is the commonest trap here. Option C, 1982, is the year India acceded to the convention and designated its first sites in the previous year. Option D, 1992, is the year of the Earth Summit at Rio de Janeiro, which produced the Convention on Biological Diversity and the climate change convention, not the wetlands treaty. Read whether the question asks for signing, entry into force or India's accession.

The correct answer is A, 2 February. The Ramsar Convention was signed on 2 February 1971, and that anniversary is observed each year as World Wetlands Day to draw attention to the services wetlands provide, such as flood control, groundwater recharge, water purification and habitat for migratory birds.

Option B, 22 March, is World Water Day, which deals with freshwater resources in general rather than with wetlands as ecosystems. Option C, 5 June, is World Environment Day, observed since the Stockholm Conference of 1972. Option D, 16 September, is the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, marking the signing of the Montreal Protocol in 1987. Environment days are a favourite cluster in general studies papers, so learn these four together with the event behind each.

The correct answer is C, Loktak Lake. Loktak, in Manipur, is the largest freshwater lake of north-east India, and its surface carries phumdis, thick floating mats of vegetation, soil and organic matter that rise and fall with the water level. Keibul Lamjao National Park is established on such a mass rather than on solid ground, and it is the last natural home of the sangai or brow-antlered deer, the state animal of Manipur.

Option A, Wular in Jammu and Kashmir, is the largest freshwater lake in India and a Ramsar site, but it carries no floating park. Option B, Chilika in Odisha, is the largest brackish water lagoon in the country, known for migratory birds and the Irrawaddy dolphin. Option D, Kolleru in Andhra Pradesh, is a large freshwater lake between the Krishna and the Godavari deltas. Fix the chain Loktak, phumdi, Keibul Lamjao, sangai, since the same fact is asked from any of the four names.

The correct answer is A, UNESCO. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization launched the Man and the Biosphere Programme in 1971 as an intergovernmental scientific programme to improve the relationship between people and their environment, and the sites recognised under it form the World Network of Biosphere Reserves.

Option B, the United Nations Environment Programme, was set up in 1972 after the Stockholm Conference and is the United Nations body for environmental matters, but the biosphere reserve network is not its programme. Option C, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, is the body that publishes the Red List of threatened species and the protected area categories. Option D, the World Wide Fund for Nature, is a non-governmental conservation organisation. Note that UNESCO also runs the World Heritage programme, so the same organisation answers two different questions.

The correct answer is B, Chilika Lake and Keoladeo National Park. Both were placed on the Ramsar list in 1981 and were the first Indian wetlands to be so recognised. Chilika in Odisha is the largest brackish water lagoon in India and shelters migratory birds and the Irrawaddy dolphin, while Keoladeo at Bharatpur in Rajasthan is a man-made wetland, once a duck shooting reserve, famous for its heronry and its winter bird population.

Option A names two genuine Ramsar sites, Wular in Jammu and Kashmir and Harike in Punjab, but both were designated later. Option C pairs Loktak in Manipur with Sambhar in Rajasthan, the largest inland saline wetland of the country, and again both came later. Option D names Bhitarkanika in Odisha and Point Calimere in Tamil Nadu, also later designations. The year to fix is 1981 and the two names that go with it.