At which of the following places is the Secretariat of the International Solar Alliance (I.S.A.) located at present ?

The correct answer is C) Gurugram. The International Solar Alliance Secretariat is located at the National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) campus in Gurugram, Haryana. It was first set up there on an interim basis and has since been established as the permanent headquarters.

The ISA was launched by India and France at the Paris COP21 summit in 2015, and its Framework Agreement came into force in 2017. This is the source of the main confusion. Paris is where the alliance was launched, not where its Secretariat sits.

• A) Paris: Wrong. The launch took place in Paris, but the Secretariat is not there.
• B) New Delhi: Wrong. India leads the ISA and hosts its Secretariat in Haryana, not in the national capital.
• D) New York: Wrong. New York hosts the UN headquarters, but not the ISA Secretariat.

The core concept is the ISA's role as an intergovernmental body for solar energy deployment among member countries, mainly those lying between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. This ties into the Mains theme of energy security, India's climate commitments under the Paris Agreement, and the "One Sun, One World, One Grid" vision.

Trap: Aspirants pick Paris because the alliance was launched there, or New Delhi because India leads it.