UPSC Prelims 2012 · GS Paper I
Question 3: Environment and Ecology
How does National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) help in protecting the Indian agriculture?
- 1.NBA checks the biopiracy and protects the indigenous and traditional genetic resources.
- 2.NBA directly monitors and supervises the scientific research on genetic modification of crop plants.
- 3.Application for Intellectual Property Rights related to genetic/biological resources cannot be made without the approval of NBA.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
AnswerUPSC’s answer is (c).
The National Biodiversity Authority, set up under the Biological Diversity Act 2002, regulates access to India's biological resources and the traditional knowledge linked to them. It checks biopiracy, and no one may apply for an intellectual property right, in India or abroad, on an invention based on Indian biological resources without its prior approval. It does not supervise research on genetically modified crops; that falls to bodies such as the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee under the Environment Protection Act.
- 1. NBA's job is to check biopiracy and protect India's genetic resources and traditional knowledge.
- 2. GM crop research is regulated by GEAC and related committees, not directly by NBA.
- 3. IPR applications based on Indian biological resources need NBA's prior approval.
How you could have got this
- If you were sure statement 2 is not correct, (b) and (d) go: each of them includes 2.
What you needed to know: GM crop research is regulated by GEAC and related committees, not directly by NBA.
- Then, if you were sure statement 3 is correct, (a) goes: it leaves 3 out.
What you needed to know: IPR applications based on Indian biological resources need NBA's prior approval.
Only (c) is left. You didn’t need statement 1.
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) Incomplete: statement 3 about NBA approval for IPR applications is also correct.
- (b) Wrong: statement 2 is false, since NBA does not directly supervise GM crop research.
- (c) Correct: statements 1 and 3 hold; statement 2 is false.
- (d) Wrong: it includes statement 2, which gives NBA a role that belongs to GEAC and other bodies.
Answer: UPSC’s key. Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.
Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2012, General Studies Paper I, Series A. The paper on upsc.gov.in.