UPSC Prelims 2018— Question 77

**Concept and analysis:** Kodaikanal Lake is an artificial lake created in 1863 by Sir Vere Levinge. Kolleru is a natural freshwater lake, Nainital is a natural tectonic/landslide-associated lake, and Renuka is a natural lake in Himachal Pradesh. Therefore Kodaikanal is the artificial lake among the options. The question is testing precise UPSC-level identification rather than a broad association. The key is to distinguish the exact institutional, constitutional, historical, geographical, economic or scientific feature being asked. **Option-wise evaluation** **Option A:** Correct. Kodaikanal (Tamil Nadu) directly matches the concept or factual identification established in the analysis. **Option B:** Incorrect. Kolleru (Andhra Pradesh) is a different institution, place, definition, proposition or description and does not satisfy the specific requirement of the question. **Option C:** Incorrect. N ainital (Uttarakhand) is a different institution, place, definition, proposition or description and does not satisfy the specific requirement of the question. **Option D:** Incorrect. Renuka (Himachal Pradesh) is a different institution, place, definition, proposition or description and does not satisfy the specific requirement of the question. **UPSC takeaway:** The safest way to solve this type of question is to anchor the answer in the defining feature of the concept and then test every option against that feature. Closely related institutions or terms are often used as distractors. In statement-based questions, do not judge the option as a whole before checking each statement independently. In factual questions, compare the wording of each option with the exact definition, location, institutional role, chronology or scientific property. The correct answer follows from that verification rather than from familiarity with a keyword.