UPSC Prelims 2010 · General Studies
Question 129: Environment and Ecology
What are the possible limitations of India in mitigating the global warming at present and in the immediate future ?
- 1.Appropriate alternate technologies are not sufficiently available.
- 2.India cannot invest huge funds in research and development.
- 3.Many developed countries have already set up their polluting industries in India.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
AnswerThe answer is (a).
Two limitations hold at present: low-carbon alternative technologies are not yet widely available or affordable at the scale needed, and India has many competing demands (poverty, health, infrastructure), so it has limited funds for large research and development. Statement 3 has no support: the claim that developed countries have moved their polluting industries to India is not an established reason for India's limits. Remember: India's constraints are technology, finance and development needs.
- 1. Suitable low-carbon technologies are not yet sufficiently available.
- 2. Competing needs limit India's funds for large-scale research and development.
- 3. The relocation of polluting industries to India is not an established limit.
How you could have got this
- If you were sure statement 1 is correct, (b) goes: it leaves 1 out.
What you needed to know: Suitable low-carbon technologies are not yet sufficiently available.
- Then, if you were sure statement 3 is not correct, (c) and (d) go: each of them includes 3.
What you needed to know: The relocation of polluting industries to India is not an established limit.
Only (a) is left. You didn’t need statement 2.
This follows an unofficial answer: UPSC has not published its key for this year, and if that answer is wrong, so is this path.
Which options go is worked out from UPSC’s key and the options, not by a model.
Why each option is right or wrong
- (a) Right: statements 1 and 2 are accepted as limitations.
- (b) Leaves out the shortage of alternative technology.
- (c) Statement 3 is not an established reason.
- (d) Statement 3 is not an established reason, so all three fail.
Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.
Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2010, General Studies, Series A. The paper on upsc.gov.in.