UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — The hills are shaken with the sound of machinery
Q1. With reference to the expert committee constituted by the Supreme Court to formulate a uniform definition of the Aravalli Hills and Ranges, consider the following as its members:
1. Geological Survey of India
2. Central Empowered Committee
3. National Green Tribunal
4. Forest Survey of India
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?
- Geological Survey of India
- Central Empowered Committee
- National Green Tribunal
- Forest Survey of India
- A. 1 and 4 only
- B. 2 and 3 only
- C. 1, 2 and 4 only
- D. 1, 2, 3 and 4
Q2. With reference to the uniform definition of the Aravalli Hills and Ranges accepted by the Supreme Court on 20 November 2025, consider the following statements that compare it with the definition previously followed by Rajasthan:
1. The uniform definition introduces an elevation threshold of 100 metres above the local relief, a pan-Aravalli numerical criterion that was absent from Rajasthan's earlier definition.
2. Under the uniform definition, an Aravalli 'range' is recognised wherever two hills of 100 metres or more lie within 500 metres of each other — a spatial proximity criterion not used in the earlier Rajasthan definition.
3. The uniform definition extends mining-lease protection to every Aravalli hill documented by the Forest Survey of India in the notified districts.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- The uniform definition introduces an elevation threshold of 100 metres above the local relief, a pan-Aravalli numerical criterion that was absent from Rajasthan's earlier definition.
- Under the uniform definition, an Aravalli 'range' is recognised wherever two hills of 100 metres or more lie within 500 metres of each other — a spatial proximity criterion not used in the earlier Rajasthan definition.
- The uniform definition extends mining-lease protection to every Aravalli hill documented by the Forest Survey of India in the notified districts.
- A. 1 only
- B. 1 and 2 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q3. The uniform definition of the Aravalli Hills accepted by the Supreme Court in November 2025 applies across how many States/Union Territories of India?
- A. Three
- B. Four
- C. Five
- D. Six
Q4. The Supreme Court vacation bench that, on 29 December 2025, stayed the Court's own 20 November 2025 order accepting the uniform definition of the Aravalli Hills was headed by:
- A. Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud
- B. Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna
- C. Chief Justice Surya Kant
- D. Justice B.R. Gavai
Q5. Which one of the following was designated as the lead/nodal body of the Supreme Court-constituted expert committee that drafted the uniform definition of the Aravalli Hills and Ranges?
- A. Ministry of Mines
- B. Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
- C. Geological Survey of India
- D. Central Empowered Committee