Answer: C

Explanation:

Statement 1 is incorrect: The blackbuck is native to the Indian subcontinent (with about 90% of its population in India), but it is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (not Endangered).

Statement 2 is correct: Blackbucks exhibit distinct sexual dimorphism. Males develop a dark brown to black coat as they mature along with long, spiralling horns, whereas females are yellowish-brown and typically lack horns.

Statement 3 is correct: Under the Indian legal framework, the blackbuck enjoys the highest level of protection by being placed in Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. It is also listed under Appendix III of CITES.

Answer: A

Explanation:

Statement 1 is correct: The Hooded Seal (Cystophora cristata) has indeed been moved up in extinction risk from Vulnerable to Endangered on the IUCN Red List due to rapid sea-ice loss.

Statement 2 is correct: Both the Bearded Seal (Erignathus barbatus) and the Harp Seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus) were reclassified from Least Concern to Near Threatened.

Statement 3 is incorrect: Arctic seals do not depend on sea ice solely for feeding; they critically depend on it for breeding, pupping, nursing, moulting, and resting.

Answer: B

Explanation:

Statement 1 is correct: Arctic amplification is the trend where the Arctic region warms at a rate roughly three to four times faster than the global average in recent decades.

Statement 2 is incorrect: The ice-albedo feedback is a positive feedback loop, not a negative one. Melting snow and ice expose darker ocean and land surfaces, which increases solar heat absorption rather than reflecting it.

Statement 3 is correct: Atlantification describes the intrusion of warm, salty Atlantic waters into the Arctic Ocean, causing ocean warming, vertical mixing, and sea-ice decline.

Answer: B

Explanation:

Statement 1 is incorrect: The IUCN is not a United Nations body or a specialized agency of the UN. However, it does hold official observer status at the UN General Assembly.

Statement 2 is correct: The IUCN is a unique global environmental membership union composed of both government and civil society organizations, including non-governmental organizations (NGOs), indigenous peoples' organizations, and scientific institutions.

Statement 3 is incorrect: Although the IUCN was established in 1948 in Fontainebleau, France, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species was actually formally developed and launched later, in 1964.

Answer: B

Explanation:

Statement 1 is incorrect: In Javed v. State of Haryana (2003), the Supreme Court explicitly ruled that the right to contest an election is a statutory right, not a fundamental or common-law right, and can be regulated by state legislation.

Statement 2 is correct: India’s Total Fertility Rate (TFR) has declined to 1.9 (as of 2024 data discussed by the Court), which is below the replacement-level fertility of approximately 2.1.

Statement 3 is incorrect: The Supreme Court has not automatically struck down or abolished the two-child norm across all states; rather, it has questioned its contemporary relevance and referred the 2003 Javed judgment to a larger bench for reconsideration while granting interim protection in the specific appeal before it.