UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — National Biodiversity Authority Realises Rs. 21.26 Crore Through Access and Benefit Sharing Mechanism in FY 2025–26
Q1. The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) is constituted as a statutory body exclusively under which one of the following provisions of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002?
- A. Section 8
- B. Section 3
- C. Section 22
- D. Section 41
Q2. With reference to the institutional architecture under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, consider the following statements:
1. The National Biodiversity Authority operates at the national level, while State Biodiversity Boards are constituted at the state level under Section 22.
2. Biodiversity Management Committees are constituted by every local body (panchayat or municipality) under Section 41.
3. The National Biodiversity Authority is headquartered in New Delhi.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- The National Biodiversity Authority operates at the national level, while State Biodiversity Boards are constituted at the state level under Section 22.
- Biodiversity Management Committees are constituted by every local body (panchayat or municipality) under Section 41.
- The National Biodiversity Authority is headquartered in New Delhi.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 2 and 3 only
- C. 1 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q3. In the context of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, the term 'Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS)' most precisely refers to which one of the following?
- A. Fair and equitable sharing of the monetary and non-monetary benefits arising from the access and utilisation of biological resources and associated traditional knowledge
- B. Sharing of net revenue from forest produce between the Centre and the States under the Finance Commission's devolution formula
- C. Distribution of carbon-credit proceeds among communities living in and around notified biodiversity heritage sites
- D. Cross-subsidy transferred from commercial users of forests to fund afforestation under the compensatory afforestation fund
Q4. The Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) mechanism that realised Rs. 21.26 crore in FY 2025–26 is operationalised solely by which one of the following?
- A. The National Biodiversity Authority, under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
- B. The Botanical Survey of India, under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare
- C. The National Medicinal Plants Board, under the Ministry of AYUSH
- D. The Central Pollution Control Board, under the Ministry of Jal Shakti
Q5. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has three core objectives. The Nagoya Protocol on ABS is designed primarily to give effect to how many of these objectives?
- A. One
- B. Two
- C. Three
- D. None; it is independent of the CBD's objectives
Q6. With reference to the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Nagoya Protocol, consider the following statements:
1. The Nagoya Protocol was adopted in 2010 and entered into force in 2014.
2. The Convention on Biological Diversity was opened for signature at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
3. India signed the Nagoya Protocol in 2011 and ratified it in 2012.
4. The Nagoya Protocol is a supplementary agreement to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.
Which of the statements given above is/are NOT correct?
- The Nagoya Protocol was adopted in 2010 and entered into force in 2014.
- The Convention on Biological Diversity was opened for signature at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
- India signed the Nagoya Protocol in 2011 and ratified it in 2012.
- The Nagoya Protocol is a supplementary agreement to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 3 only
- C. 4 only
- D. 2 and 4 only
Q7. Under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, prior approval of the National Biodiversity Authority is mandatory for a foreign national, a non-resident Indian, or a body corporate not registered in India before obtaining Indian biological resources, under which section?
- A. Section 3
- B. Section 6
- C. Section 8
- D. Section 41
Q8. Under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, which is the single apex authority whose prior approval is required before intellectual property rights based on Indian biological resources are granted?
- A. The National Biodiversity Authority
- B. The State Biodiversity Board
- C. The Biodiversity Management Committee
- D. The Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks
Q9. The world's first dedicated Voluntary Certification Scheme for Incentivization of Access and Benefit Sharing (VCS-I-ABS) has been launched under which one of the following legislations?
- A. The Biological Diversity Act, 2002
- B. The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986
- C. The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972
- D. The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980
Q10. Consider the following institutions named as collaborators in the Voluntary Certification Scheme for Incentivization of ABS (VCS-I-ABS):
1. National Biodiversity Authority
2. Quality Council of India
3. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) India
4. World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) India
Which of the above is/are NOT correctly identified as a collaborating institution of the scheme?
- National Biodiversity Authority
- Quality Council of India
- United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) India
- World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) India
- A. 1 and 2
- B. 4 only
- C. 3 and 4
- D. 2 only