(b) Only two is correct
While the central government plays a major role, the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) is tasked with recommending the inclusion of communities in the central list of OBCs. The NCBC considers factors like social, economic, and educational backwardness before making its recommendations.
Both the central and state governments are responsible for identifying Other Backward Classes (OBCs) (1st statement is incorrect).
The Mandal Commission was indeed established in 1979 to identify socially and educationally backward classes. (2nd statement is correct)
The Mandal Commission used 11 indicators to determine social backwardness.
The Central Government maintains a central list of OBCs, which is used for reservations in central government jobs and educational institutions.
The Supreme Court upheld the OBC reservation in the Indra Sawhney vs. Union of India case in 1992, excluding the ‘creamy layer’. (3rd statement is correct)

(b) The Supreme Court of India is not constrained in the exercise of its powers by the laws made by Parliament.
Article 142 of the Indian Constitution states that the Supreme Court of India may pass an order which it finds necessary for doing complete justice in a case or matter pending before it. Such an order would be applicable throughout the territory of India.
“Complete justice” in accordance with Article 142 of the Indian Constitution refers to the Supreme Court’s discretionary power to pass any necessary order or decree in a case before it, even if it means going beyond existing laws, to ensure a fair and just outcome for all parties involved, essentially achieving a fully satisfactory resolution to a legal matter; this power is only to be used when deemed absolutely necessary to deliver complete justice.

(b) Only two statements are correct
Bakhmut is located in Ukraine, in the eastern part of the country, and has been a focal point of heavy fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces during the Russo-Ukrainian War, particularly in 2023 and 2024. The city’s strategic location in the Donbas region makes it a key battleground. The town is important in the broader struggle for control of this resource-rich industrial region. (1st and 3rd statements are correct)
Bakhmut is not located in Russia’s Siberian region. It is in the Donetsk Oblast (province) in eastern Ukraine, which has been a region of intense conflict since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. (2nd statement is incorrect)

(d) Statement-1 is incorrect but Statement-2 is correct
The process for including a tribe in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list starts with a recommendation from the state government. The recommendation is then sent to the Tribal Affairs Ministry, which reviews it and sends it to the Registrar General of India for approval.

(C) Vaquita
The term “functionally extinct” refers to a species that, while still existing in small numbers, is no longer capable of sustaining a viable population in the wild.
The Vaquita is a small marine mammal found in the northern part of the Gulf of California. In 2024, it was declared functionally extinct in the wild due to severe population decline, largely caused by bycatch in illegal fishing operations targeting totoaba fish.
The Javan Tiger and Sumatran Rhino are also critically endangered, but they are not classified as “functionally extinct” in 2024.
Spix’s Macaw was declared extinct in the wild in the past but has been the subject of extensive captive breeding programs aimed at reintroducing it.