UPSC Prelims 2022— Question 77

This question belongs to International Relations and tests Polar Code. The relevant institution, region, treaty or geopolitical relationship must be identified precisely. Similar-sounding organisations and locations are common distractors, so each option should be checked against the actual international context. Option A is the keyed answer because It is the international code of safety for ships operating in polar waters. is the combination or identification that satisfies the conditions in the question. A useful way to solve the question is to separate the individual propositions from the answer-code combinations. A statement can look broadly reasonable while still being incorrect because it uses an absolute term, assigns a function to the wrong institution, confuses two related concepts, or places a feature in the wrong region or period. The keyed response should therefore be treated as the outcome of checking each proposition rather than as a memory-only exercise. Option A: It is the international code of safety for ships operating in polar waters. — this is the correct choice under the final key. It matches the relevant Polar Code principle and satisfies the question's wording. Option B: It is the agreement of the countries around the North Pole regarding the demarcation of their territories in the polar region. — this is not the correct choice. It fails the question's test because it does not represent the required combination, institution, location, mechanism or historical association. The distractor is plausible only if a related concept is confused with the one actually asked. Option C: It is a set of norms to be followed by the countries whose scientists undertake research studies In the North Pole and South Pole. — this is not the correct choice. It fails the question's test because it does not represent the required combination, institution, location, mechanism or historical association. The distractor is plausible only if a related concept is confused with the one actually asked. Option D: It is a trade and security agreement of the member countries of the Arctic Council. — this is not the correct choice. It fails the question's test because it does not represent the required combination, institution, location, mechanism or historical association. The distractor is plausible only if a related concept is confused with the one actually asked. The exam-oriented takeaway is to identify the governing fact first and only then map it to the answer code. This reduces errors caused by choosing an option because one individual statement appears familiar. For database use, the classification and explanation should be read together: the subject gives the broad domain, the topic identifies the recurring UPSC theme, and the subtopic records the precise knowledge point tested. This also makes the question useful for later topic-wise search and revision.