Google News
logo
UPSC Previous Years (Prelims & Mains) Questions
A)
A hypersonic missile is -launched into space to counter the asteroid approaching the Earth and explode it in space.
B)
A spacecraft lands on another planet after making several orbital motions.
C)
A missile is put into a stable orbit around the Earth and deorbits over a target on the Earth.
D)
A spacecraft moves along a comet with the same speed and places a probe on its surface.

Correct Answer : Option (C) - A missile is put into a stable orbit around the Earth and deorbits over a target on the Earth.

Note :

A Fractional Orbital Bombardment System (FOBS) is a warhead delivery system that uses a low earth orbit towards its target destination. Just before reaching the target, it deorbits through a retrograde engine burn.
 
The idea behind FOBS is, a warhead is put into a stable orbit and it deorbits over the target.
 
If the target and the launch position is lined up and the warhead keeps going round, it will complete a circle.Obviously, with the earth moving during this, it is more of a spiral than a ring, but the horizontal movement is countered in such a way that the warhead still goes over the target.

Source : Financial Express

Year : 2022
Category : General Studies
2 .
With reference to "Software as a Service (SaaS)”, consider the following statements :
 
1. SaaS buyers can customise the user interface and can change data fields.
2. SaaS users can access their data through their mobile devices.
3. Outlook, Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail are forms of SaaS.
 
Which of the statements given above are correct?
A)
1 and 2 only
B)
2 and 3 only
C)
1 and 3 only
D)
1, 2 and 3

Correct Answer : Option (D) - 1, 2 and 3

Note :

* Software as a service (SaaS) allows users to connect to and use cloud-based apps over the Internet. Common examples are email, calendaring and office tools (such as Microsoft Office 365). 

* 2. SaaS provides a complete software solution which you purchase on a pay-as-you-go basis from a cloud service provider. You rent the use of an app for your organisation and your users connect to it over the Internet, usually with a web browser. Statement 1 is incorrect.

* Access app data from anywhere. With data stored in the cloud, users can access their information from any Internet-connected computer or mobile device. And when app data is stored in the cloud, no data is lost if a user’s computer or device fails. Statement 2 is correct.

* If you have used a web-based email service such as Outlook, Hotmail or Yahoo! Mail, then you have already used a form of SaaS. With these services, you log into your account over the Internet, often from a web browser. The email software is located on the service provider’s network and your messages are stored there as well. You can access your email and stored messages from a web browser on any computer or Internet-connected device. Statement 3 is correct.

Source : azure.microsoft

Year : 2022
Category : General Studies
3 .
With reference to Web 3.0, consider the following statements :
 
1. Web 3.0 technology enables people to control their own data.
2. In Web 3.0 world, there can be blockchain based social networks.
3. Web 3.0 is operated by users collectively rather than a corporation.

Which of the statements given above are correct?
A)
1 and 2 only
B)
2 and 3 only
C)
1 and 3 only
D)
1, 2 and 3

Correct Answer : Option (D) - 1, 2 and 3

Note :

* Web 3.0 is the next version of the internet, where services will run on blockchain. It is a decentralised internet that runs on a public blockchain, which is also used for cryptocurrency transactions.

* It will be permissionless and democratic. For instance: Twitter will not be able to censor posts and Facebook will not be able to maintain a database of billions of users that can be potentially used to influence elections.

* In a Web 3.0 universe, people will control their own data and will be able to move around from social media to email to shopping using a single personalized account, creating a public record on the blockchain of all of that activity.

* All data will be interconnected in a decentralized way, unlike the current generation of the internet (Web 2.0), where data is mostly stored in centralized repositories. 

* Three key features of Web 3.0 are: Ubiquity, Semantic Web, Artificial Intelligence and 3D Graphics.

Examples of Web 3.0 : The most recent example of Web 3.0 are the NFTs or non-fungible tokens.
 
hence , all the statements are correct.

Year : 2022
Category : General Studies
4 .
Consider the following :
 
1. Aarogya Setu
2. CoWIN
3. DigiLocker
4. DIKSHA
Which of the above are built on top of open-source digital platforms?
A)
1 and 2 only
B)
2, 3 and 4 only
C)
1, 3 and 4 only
D)
1, 2, 3 and 4

Correct Answer : Option (D) - 1, 2, 3 and 4

Note :

An open source platform is any platform that allows access to its source code to any other users or developers. An open source platform is one aspect of a wide availability of open source products. In contrast with closed source software, which is a type of proprietary software that reserves rights only to authorized individuals, open source software aims to allow equal access to anyone and everyone. Open source products are oftentimes part of the free software movement, and the associated Free Software Foundation founded by Richard Stallman in 1985. Rather than being concerned with the cost of the software, the free software movement, and associated foundation, aim to ensure that software users are free to run software, study the software, modify the software, and share such modifications. However, not all open source platforms are part of the free software movement, but they are almost always part of the open source software movement.
 
* Aarogya Setu , India’s coronavirus ( COVID-19 ) contact-tracing and self-assessment app is now open source . 
 
* DigiLocker is an initiative by the government to offer Indian citizens a free platform to store and access important documents. The platform uses several open source technologies to deliver a mass solution and contributes back to the ever-growing community.
 
* DIKSHA is built using Sunbird ED, a fully functional solution building block available as open-source software under MIT license and is part of Sunbird, a “Made in India, Made for the World” digital public good (DPG).
 
* Co-WIN, which is owned by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, was developed using open source software. This type of software allows users to modify the source code and distribute it.

Source : Hindustantimes , Thehindu

Year : 2022
Category : General Studies
5 .
Consider the following pairs :
Wetland / Lake Location
 
1. Hokera Wetland – Punjab
2. Renuka Wetland – Himachal Pradesh
3. Rudrasagar Lake — Tripura
4. Sasthamkotta Lake – Tamil Nadu
 
How many pairs given above are correctly matched ?
A)
Only one pair
B)
Only two pairs
C)
Only three pairs
D)
All four pairs

Correct Answer : Option (B) - Only two pairs

Note :

Hokera Wetland- Jammu and Kashmir
Renuka Wetland- Himachal Pradesh
Rudrasagar Lake- Tripura
Sasthamkotta Lake- Kerala

Year : 2022
Category : General Studies
A)
First half of the month of June
B)
Second half of the month of June
C)
First half of the month of July
D)
Second half of the month of July

Correct Answer : Option (A) - First half of the month of June

Note :

Summer solstice: The two moments during the year when the path of the Sun in the sky is farthest north in the Northern Hemisphere (June 20 or 21) or farthest south in the Southern Hemisphere (December 21 or 22).
At the summer solstice, the Sun travels the longest path through the sky, and that day therefore has the most daylight. 

Year : 2022
Category : General Studies
7 .
With reference to India, consider the following statements :
 
1. Monazite is a source of rare earths.
2. Monazite contains thorium.
3. Monazite occurs naturally in the entire Indian coastal sands in India.
4. In India, Government bodies only can process or export monazite.
 
Which of the statements given above are correct?
A)
1, 2 and 3 only
B)
1, 2 and 4 only
C)
3 and 4 only
D)
1, 2, 3 and 4

Correct Answer : Option (B) - 1, 2 and 4 only

Note :

Monazite is a mineral mainly containing rare earths and thorium-a prescribed substance to be handled by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). Accordingly, Indian Rare Earths Ltd. (IREL) wholly owned by the Govt. of India, under the administrative control of the Dept. of Atomic Energy (DAE) utilises monazite mainly for production of rare earth compounds, and thorium, as needed in the Department of Atomic Energy.

In-situ monazite established by AMD so far are present in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, and Jharkhand.

Source : PIB

Year : 2022
Category : General Studies
8 .
Consider the following countries :
 
1. Azerbaijan
2. Kyrgyzstan
3. Tajikistan
4. Turkmenistan
5. Uzbekistan
 
Which of the above have borders with Afghanistan ?
A)
1, 2 and 5 only
B)
1, 2, 3 and 4 only
C)
3, 4 and 5 only
D)
1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

Correct Answer : Option (C) - 3, 4 and 5 only

Note :

Afghanistan is completely landlocked—the nearest coast lies along the Arabian Sea, about 300 miles (480 km) to the south—and, because of both its isolation and its volatile political history, it remains one of the most poorly surveyed areas of the world. It is bounded to the 
 
 * east and south by Pakistan 
 * to the west by Iran
 * to the north by the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan.
 * It also has a short border with Xinjiang, China, at the end of the long, narrow V?kh?n (Wakhan Corridor), in the extreme northeast. 

Source : Britannica

Year : 2022
Category : General Studies
A)
Region along the eastern Mediterranean shores
B)
Region along North African shores stretching from Egypt to Morocco
C)
Region along Persian Gulf and Horn of Africa
D)
The entire coastal areas of Mediterranean Sean

Correct Answer : Option (A) - Region along the eastern Mediterranean shores

Note : Levant, the region along the eastern Mediterranean shores, roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and certain adjacent areas.

Source : Britannica

Year : 2022
Category : General Studies
10 .
Consider the following pairs Peak Mountains
 
1. Namcha Barwa - Garhwal Himalaya
2. Nanda Devi – Kumaon Himalaya
3. Nokrek – Sikkim Himalaya
 
Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched ?
A)
1 and 2
B)
2 only
C)
1 and 3
D)
3 only

Correct Answer : Option (B) - 2 only

Note :

Namcha Barwa is in an isolated part of southeastern Tibet rarely visited by outsiders. It stands inside the Great Bend of the Yarlung Tsangpo River as the river enters its notable gorge across the Himalaya, emerging as the Siang and becoming the Brahmaputra. On other hand the Garhwal Himalayas are mountain ranges located in the Indian state of Uttarakhand
 
Kumaun Himalayas, west-central section of the Himalayas in northern India, extending 200 miles (320 km) from the Sutlej River east to the Kali River. The range, comprising part of the Siwalik Range in the south and part of the Great Himalayas in the north, lies largely within the state of Uttarakhand, northwest of Nepal. It rises to 25,646 feet (7,817 metres) at Nanda Devi, the range’s highest peak.
 
The Nokrek Biosphere Reserve is located in the northeast of India on the Tura Range, which forms part of the Meghalaya Plateau (average altitude: 600 metres)..

Source : Researchgate & Britannica & unesco

Year : 2022
Category : General Studies