UPSC GK Questions 2026

When forests are cleared, wetlands drained and grasslands ploughed, species lose the space they need, and the fragments that survive are often too small to support large animals or to allow populations to mix and breed.

The day marks the adoption of the text of the Convention on Biological Diversity and is used each year to draw attention to the loss of species and habitats.

Ex-situ conservation means protecting a species away from its natural habitat, and a seed bank does exactly that by storing seeds under controlled temperature and humidity for future use.

Project Tiger was launched to protect the tiger by conserving the habitat it needs, and because the tiger sits at the top of the food chain, saving it protects the whole forest below it.

Among species that still survive in the wild this is the most serious category, given to those facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the immediate future.

The convention was adopted in 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar, from which it takes its name, and it provides for the listing of wetlands of international importance and for their wise use by the countries that sign it.

The Wildlife (Protection) Act provides the legal basis for declaring national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, lists protected species in its schedules, and prohibits hunting and trade in the species it covers.

The core zone is legally protected and left undisturbed, with no human activity allowed. The buffer zone around it permits research, education and limited use of resources that does not damage the core.

It spreads across the meeting point of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka in the Western Ghats and takes in several well known national parks and sanctuaries within its area.

The Convention has three objectives: the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the use of genetic resources.

They are a broken and comparatively dry hill chain and do not meet the twin tests of exceptional endemism and severe threat that define a hotspot.

A region qualifies when it is exceptionally rich in species found nowhere else and has already lost most of its original vegetation.

Article 51A(f) actually asks citizens "to value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture". The word matters: India's culture is described as composite, a blend of many traditions, languages and faiths, not a single unitary culture.

Voting is not among the eleven Fundamental Duties in Article 51A. The right to vote comes from Article 326, which provides for elections on the basis of adult suffrage, and from the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

In 1999 the Committee on the Fundamental Duties of Citizens, headed by Justice J.S. Verma, a former Chief Justice of India, looked at how the duties could be made operational.

The Supreme Court has held that when a court tests whether a law is constitutional, and finds that the law gives effect to a Fundamental Duty, it may treat the law as "reasonable" under Article 14 or Article 19 and uphold it.

Teaching people to turn kitchen waste into compost for a park reduces waste and enriches the soil, which is exactly what Article 51A(g) asks for: to protect and improve the natural environment, including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife, and to have compassion for living creatures.

The tenth Fundamental Duty is clause (j) of Article 51A, which continues: "so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavour and achievement".

That is the duty in Article 51A(i). It asks citizens not to damage buses, trains, roads, government buildings and other public property, and to reject violence, for example during protests.

Article 51A(h) asks every citizen "to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform". It means questioning superstition, looking for evidence before believing a claim, and being open to change.