UGC NET Questions (Paper – 1)

Contemporary disaster management frameworks stress that it is more effective to reduce risk before disasters occur than to focus only on relief afterwards. This involves identifying hazards, mitigating vulnerabilities, building preparedness and strengthening early warning and resilience. The key shift is from purely reactive relief to proactive risk reduction and preparedness.

Option A:
Option A is incorrect because abandoning mitigation and preparedness would increase disaster losses and keep the approach reactive and short-term.

Option B:
Option B is correct as it describes the widely accepted move towards disaster risk reduction, mitigation and preparedness as emphasised in international frameworks like the Sendai Framework.

Option C:
Option C is incorrect since modern practice encourages community participation and local capacity, not only top-down control.

Option D:
Option D is incorrect because relying on fate and neglecting early warning systems contradicts the evidence-based, preventive approach of modern disaster management.

Climate smart agriculture (CSA) is explicitly defined as an approach that pursues three objectives: sustainably increasing agricultural productivity,adapting and building resilience to climate change and reducing or removing greenhouse gas emissions where possible. The stem restates these three aims,so climate smart agriculture is clearly the intended term. Therefore Option C is correct.

Option A:
Subsistence agriculture focuses on producing food mainly for household consumption with low external inputs. It is not inherently designed around climate resilience or mitigation objectives,so it does not match the description.

Option B:
Intensive agriculture emphasises high yields per unit area,often through heavy use of fertilisers,irrigation and pesticides. Without specific safeguards,it can worsen emissions and vulnerability,which is opposite to the climate smart goals.

Option C:
Climate smart agriculture encourages practices like improved crop varieties,water management,agroforestry and better livestock feeding. These techniques address productivity,resilience and emissions together,just as the question describes.

Option D:
Slash and burn agriculture involves clearing and burning vegetation to create temporary fields. It can lead to deforestation and higher emissions and is generally not considered climate smart,so this option is inappropriate.

Climate adaptation focuses on modifying systems and behaviours to cope with the effects of climate change. Examples include building flood defences,changing crop varieties and improving health systems. The stem clearly describes adjustment to impacts,so adaptation is the correct term.

Option A:
Mitigation involves actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or enhance sinks and addresses the causes rather than the consequences of climate change. While complementary,it is conceptually distinct from the impact focused measures in the question.

Option B:
Adaptation aims to reduce vulnerability and increase resilience of societies and ecosystems. It may also enable them to benefit from new opportunities such as longer growing seasons in some regions. This emphasis on adjustment matches the stem.

Option C:
Compensation would involve payments or assistance for losses and damages due to climate change. It is a debated issue in climate negotiations but is not the term for proactive adjustment measures.

Option D:
Geoengineering refers to deliberate large scale interventions in the climate system, such as solar radiation management. It goes far beyond local or sectoral adjustments and does not fit the description in the question.

Statements C and F are wrong, while A, B, D and E are correct. Disaster risk is shaped by hazard, exposure and vulnerability, so focusing only on hazard magnitude ignores why some people are more affected. Disasters are not purely natural; human decisions about where and how to build strongly influence impacts. The other statements correctly highlight how bad development creates risk, how disasters erode development gains, how investment in resilience helps, and how inequality shapes impacts. Thus, the wrong statements together are C and F.

Option A:
Option A is incorrect because it identifies only C as wrong and ignores F, which also misrepresents disasters as purely natural. As a result, it fails to list all the incorrect statements required.

Option B:
Option B is incorrect since it includes D as wrong along with C, even though D correctly states that investing in risk reduction protects development investments. Misclassifying D undermines current thinking in disaster risk reduction.

Option C:
Option C is incorrect because it treats E as wrong in addition to C and F. Statement E is correct in noting that social inequality affects who suffers most, so grouping it with wrong statements makes the option invalid.

Option D:
Option D is correct as it selects exactly C and F, both of which deny key elements of risk creation and responsibility. It aligns with the understanding that disasters are shaped by social conditions, not just by natural hazards.

Community based disaster risk reduction (CBDRR) involves engaging local communities in all stages of risk assessment,planning and implementation. It recognises that people closest to hazards have valuable knowledge and strong incentives to act. The stem emphasises local people identifying,analysing and reducing risks with their own resources,which is the essence of CBDRR. Hence community based is the correct term.

Option A:
Centralised approaches rely mainly on higher level authorities to design and implement disaster management plans. While sometimes necessary,they may overlook local priorities and capacities,so they do not match the participatory process described.

Option B:
Market led strategies use price signals and private investment to manage risk,for example through insurance markets. They are not defined primarily by community participation in assessment and planning,so they are not appropriate for the blank.

Option C:
Technology driven approaches focus on tools like early warning systems,remote sensing and engineering solutions. These are valuable but may fail if communities are not actively involved in understanding and acting on risk information.

Option D:
Community based approaches strengthen local organisations and social networks,creating ownership and sustainability of risk reduction efforts. This participatory emphasis matches exactly the process mentioned in the question stem.

Resilience is defined as the ability of a system to withstand shocks,adapt and continue functioning without shifting into a qualitatively different state. The stem directly paraphrases this definition by referring to absorbing disturbance while retaining structure and functions. Therefore “resilience” is the correct term. Option A accurately reflects the central concept in resilience thinking.

Option A:
Resilience thinking underlines the importance of learning,adaptation and transformation when needed. These qualities match the description in the question stem.

Option B:
Growth refers to expansion in size or output and does not necessarily mean the system can handle disturbances. A fast growing system may still be fragile,so Option B is incorrect.

Option C:
Stagnation implies lack of change or dynamism and is not related to the capacity to cope with shocks. It may even indicate an inability to adapt,contrary to resilience ideas.

Option D:
Surplus simply means having more resources than immediately needed. While surplus can support resilience,it is not the term used in resilience theory to describe overall system capacity.

Statements A, B and D are correct and together emphasise the importance of diversity in agricultural systems. Agro-biodiversity spans genes, species and ecosystems related to agriculture, conserving traditional varieties can improve resilience and farmers’ on-farm practices help maintain this diversity. Statement C is incorrect because long-term sustainability often suffers under extensive monoculture, which can increase vulnerability and degrade ecosystems. Therefore, the combination A, B and D only is the correct answer.

Option A:
Option A is incorrect because it omits D, which rightly highlights the role of farmers in maintaining agro-biodiversity through their management and selection practices. Excluding this statement gives an incomplete view of conservation strategies.

Option B:
Option B is incorrect as it includes only B and D and leaves out A, which defines agro-biodiversity and is essential for understanding the concept. Without A, the answer loses clarity about the scope of agro-biodiversity.

Option C:
Option C is correct because it gathers all the true statements A, B and D and excludes the misleading assertion in C about monoculture always aiding sustainability. It aligns with agro-ecological thinking that values diversity for long-term resilience and productivity.

Option D:
Option D is incorrect since it treats all four statements as correct, thereby endorsing C. This would imply that monoculture invariably improves sustainability, which contradicts evidence from many farming systems.