Answer: D

Explanation:

Statement 1 is correct: The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement was signed on 7 August 2026 by Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, and Pakistan. Iran is not a member of this alliance. The alliance brings together Saudi financial power, Turkish defence-industrial technology, and Pakistani conventional and nuclear military capabilities.

Statement 2 is correct: The pact is explicitly framed around the principle of collective defence. It states that an armed attack against any one of the three member nations will be treated as an attack against all members, mirroring traditional collective security pacts like NATO.

Statement 3 is correct: The trilateral pact does not emerge in isolation; it structurally builds upon the Saudi-Pakistan Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement signed in 2025, formally integrating Türkiye into the security architecture.

Answer: B

Explanation:

Statement 1 is correct: The slender-billed vulture is listed under Schedule I of India's Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, providing it with the highest degree of legal protection against hunting and trade.

Statement 2 is incorrect: Its geographical distribution includes not only the Indian subcontinent (sub-Himalayan and Gangetic plains) but also parts of Southeast Asia.

Statement 3 is correct: Veterinary diclofenac is the main driver of the dramatic decline in Gyps vulture populations. Ingestion of livestock carcasses treated with this drug causes fatal renal failure and visceral gout in vultures.

Answer: C

Explanation:

Statement 1 is incorrect: BNHS is not a government-run statutory body; it is one of India's premier non-governmental organisations (NGOs) active in wildlife research and biodiversity conservation, founded in 1883.

Statement 2 is correct: The official emblem of the BNHS features the Great Hornbill, symbolizing its deep-rooted focus on avian research and conservation.

Statement 3 is correct: BNHS plays a vital operational role in captive-breeding initiatives, such as managing vulture conservation breeding facilities (including the centre near Guwahati, Assam) aimed at safe reintroductions into the wild.

Answer: C

Explanation:

Statement 1 is incorrect: While the McMahon Line (drawn during the 1914 Simla Convention) forms the legal and historical basis of India's boundary position in the eastern sector, China does not recognize or accept the McMahon Line.

Statement 2 is correct: Arunachal Pradesh is situated in the eastern sector of the 3,440-km long LAC, and Beijing periodically refers to it as "Zangnan" or South Tibet.

Statement 3 is correct: India's recent formal mapping and cataloging of 27 standard local names act as a firm cartographic assertion to reinforce territorial reality and reject Beijing's naming campaigns.

Answer: B

Explanation:

Statement 1 is incorrect: In India, thermal (coal-based) power plants primarily handle baseload power due to their continuous operation capability. Hydropower is largely utilized as a peaking power source because it can be spun up and shut down rapidly to meet sudden surges in demand or to stabilize the grid when solar and wind power drop.

Statement 2 is correct: When hydro reservoir levels plummet due to delayed monsoons or climate patterns like El Niño, the immediate shortfall in clean generation must be replaced. This deficit is overwhelmingly substituted by coal-fired thermal generation, which drives up carbon emissions and challenges short-term climate mitigation milestones.

Statement 3 is incorrect: Pumped Storage Hydroelectricity (PSH) operates on a closed-loop system where water is pumped from a lower reservoir to an upper reservoir using cheap, excess solar/wind energy during off-peak hours, and released to generate power during peak hours. Because PSH relies on recycling water between two pools rather than natural continuous river inflows, it acts as an effective energy storage solution to mitigate grid instability, independent of direct seasonal reservoir depletion.