प्रश्न यूपीएससी के हिंदी प्रश्नपत्र से · व्याख्या अभी अंग्रेज़ी में

Prelims · Science & technology · 56 questions

IT, computing & emerging technologies

Every UPSC Prelims question on this topic, 2016–2026, newest first. Tap an option to check yourself; the answer and explanation open below it.

Asked in 10 of 11 years · most in 2022 (7)

Practising Science & technology? Take it as timed sets of 25 →

UPSC syllabus: “General Science.” Sub-topics in the detailed syllabus →

Prelims 2016 · Q5

X-Ray · Core #35 Easy

हाल ही में समाचारों में आने वाले ‘LiFi’ के संदर्भ में निम्नलिखित कथनों में से कौन-सा/से सही है/हैं?

1.यह उच्च गति डेटा संचरण के लिए प्रकाश को माध्यम के रूप में प्रयुक्त करता है।
2.यह एक बेतार प्रौद्योगिकी है और ‘WiFi’ से कई गुना तीव्रतर है।

नीचे दिए गए कूट का प्रयोग कर सही उत्तर चुनिए।

Read this question in English

With reference to 'LiFi', recently in the news, which of the following statements is/are correct?

1. It uses light as the medium for high-speed data transmission.

2. It is a wireless technology and is several times faster than 'WiFi'.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

(a) 1 only · (b) 2 only · (c) Both 1 and 2 · (d) Neither 1 nor 2

उत्तर और व्याख्या · explanation in English

Answer: (c) 1 और 2 दोनों

Li-Fi (Light Fidelity) is a form of visible light communication: an LED is switched on and off far faster than the eye can notice, and those flickers carry data through the air to a photodetector. It is wireless like Wi-Fi, but uses the visible-light band instead of radio waves and has reached speeds several times higher.

✓ 1. Li-Fi sends data by modulating visible light from LEDs rather than by radio waves; the Telecommunication Engineering Centre describes it as data transfer through LED light.
✓ 2. No cable is involved, so it is wireless. TEC's comparison puts Li-Fi at about 1 Gbps against about 150 Mbps for Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n), several times faster, though over a short range of under 10 metres.

Remember · Li-Fi = wireless data over visible light from LEDs (IEEE 802.15.7); faster and more secure than Wi-Fi, but short-range and blocked by walls.

Sources

Telecommunication Engineering Centre (DoT): Study Paper on LiFi (Light Fidelity) & its Applications ↗ “Li-Fi provides better bandwidth, efficiency, connectivity and security than Wi-Fi and has already achieved high speeds larger than 1 Gbps under the laboratory conditions.”
PIB, Ministry of Electronics and IT: C-DAC Chennai transfers Li-Fi technologies (28 November 2024) ↗ “Visible Light Communication (VLC)/Light Fidelity (Li-Fi) uses light waves instead of traditional radio waves to transmit data, offering unprecedented advantages such as faster speeds, enhanced security, and greater energy efficiency.”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2016 · Q29

X-Ray · Core #22 Easy

‘कोर बैंकिंग समाधान (Core Banking Solutions)’ पद कभी-कभी समाचारों में देखा जाता है। निम्नलिखित कथनों में से कौन-सा/से इस पद का सही वर्णन करता है/करते हैं?

1.यह बैंक की शाखाओं का वह तंत्र है जो उपभोक्ताओं को अपने खातों का संचालन बैंक की किसी भी शाखा से कर सकने की सुविधा देता है चाहे उन्होंने अपना खाता कहीं भी खोल रखा हो।
2.यह व्यावसायिक बैंकों पर कम्प्यूटरीकरण के माध्यम से RBI का नियंत्रण बढ़ाने का एक प्रयास है।
3.यह एक विस्तृत प्रक्रिया है जिसके द्वारा विशाल अनर्जक (नॉन-परफॉर्मिंग) परिसम्पत्ति वाले बैंक का अधिग्रहण दूसरे बैंक द्वारा कर लिया जाता है।

नीचे दिए गए कूट का प्रयोग कर सही उत्तर चुनिए।

Read this question in English

The term 'Core Banking Solutions' is sometimes seen in the news. Which of the following statements best describes/describe this term?

1. It is a networking of a bank's branches which enables customers to operate their accounts from any branch of the bank on its network regardless of where they open their accounts.

2. It is an effort to increase RBI's control over commercial banks through computerization.

3. It is a detailed procedure by which a bank with huge non-performing assets is taken over by another bank.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

(a) 1 only · (b) 2 and 3 only · (c) 1 and 3 only · (d) 1, 2 and 3

उत्तर और व्याख्या · explanation in English

Answer: (a) केवल 1

Core Banking Solutions (CBS) is a bank's centralised IT platform: all branches work on one common database, so an account-holder is a customer of the whole bank and can transact at any networked branch, not only the one where the account was opened. It is neither an RBI control device nor a merger procedure.

✓ 1. This is what CBS does; the RBI expects banks on CBS to serve their customers uniformly at every branch and not to penalise transactions at 'non-home' branches.
✗ 2. CBS is each bank's own operating platform for serving customers; RBI's supervisory powers come from the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, not from branch networking.
✗ 3. Rescuing a weak bank by merging it with another is amalgamation (for example, under Section 45 of the Banking Regulation Act); it has nothing to do with CBS.

Remember · Core Banking Solutions: centralised, networked branch operations; the customer belongs to the bank, not the branch, enabling 'anywhere banking', ATMs, internet and mobile banking.

Sources

RBI: Master Circular on Customer Service in Banks (para 6.6, Uniformity in Intersol Charges) ↗ “With the introduction of Core Banking Solution (CBS), it is expected that customers of banks would be treated uniformly at any sales or service delivery point. … Banks are advised to follow a uniform, fair and transparent pricing policy and not discriminate between their customers at home branch and non-home branches.”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2016 · Q35

X-Ray · Core #35 Easy

कभी-कभी समाचारों में दिखने वाला ‘प्रोजेक्ट लून (Project Loon)’ संबंधित है

Read this question in English

'Project Loon', sometimes seen in the news, is related to

(a) waste management technology · (b) wireless communication technology · (c) solar power production technology · (d) water conservation technology

उत्तर और व्याख्या · explanation in English

Answer: (b) बेतार-संचार प्रौद्योगिकी से

Project Loon, begun at Google X and later an Alphabet company, used large balloons drifting in the stratosphere as floating relay stations to beam internet connectivity to rural, remote and underserved areas. It is therefore a wireless communication technology; the balloons' solar panels only powered the equipment on board.

✓ (b) Each balloon carried radio equipment that linked with ground stations and other balloons to deliver internet (including LTE) service to people below.
✗ (c) The balloons did carry solar panels, but only to run their own electronics; generating solar power was not the project's purpose.
✗ (a) Loon had nothing to do with handling waste; its aim was internet access.
• Since then Alphabet wound Loon down in 2021; some of its technology lives on in Taara, which uses light beams for connectivity (X, the Moonshot Factory).

Remember · Project Loon: stratospheric balloons as flying cell towers for internet in remote areas (Google X, 2013; shut in 2021).

Sources

World Bank, Innovative Business Models for Expanding Fiber-Optic Networks and Closing the Access Gaps (2018), Box 5.13: Project Loon ↗ “Project Loon is a research and development project being developed by Google X with the mission of providing Internet access to rural and remote areas. The proposed solution is to use a series of balloons that act like mobile towers.”
X, the Moonshot Factory: Loon ↗ · reference work “After nine years of groundbreaking technical achievements, Loon wound down, but its technological legacy lives on. … Solar panels powered the communications equipment during the day and charged onboard batteries for nighttime operation.”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2016 · Q47

Easy

‘ग्रीज्ड लाइट्निंग–10 (GL–10)’, जिसका हाल ही में समाचारों में उल्लेख हुआ, क्या है?

Read this question in English

What is ‘Greased Lightning–10 (GL–10)’, recently in the news?

(a) Electric plane tested by NASA · (b) Solar-powered two-seater aircraft designed by Japan · (c) Space observatory launched by China · (d) Reusable rocket designed by ISRO

उत्तर और व्याख्या · explanation in English

Answer: (a) NASA द्वारा परीक्षित विद्युत् विमान

Greased Lightning (GL-10) is an experimental battery-powered aircraft developed by NASA's Langley Research Center. It has ten electric motors and can take off vertically like a helicopter and then fly efficiently like an aeroplane.

✓ (a) NASA describes GL-10 as a battery-powered plane with 10 engines, eight electric motors on the wings and two on the tail, that takes off like a helicopter and cruises like an aircraft.
✗ (b) GL-10 is a NASA project. It is a small remotely piloted aircraft, not a solar-powered two-seater from Japan.
✗ (c) GL-10 is an aircraft, not a space observatory.
✗ (d) GL-10 is an aircraft, not a rocket, and it has nothing to do with ISRO.

Remember · GL-10 (Greased Lightning): NASA's ten-motor electric VTOL aircraft prototype from Langley Research Center.

Sources

NASA: Ten-Engine Electric Plane Prototype Takes Off ↗ “A team at NASA’s Langley Research Center is developing a concept of a battery-powered plane that has 10 engines and can take off like a helicopter and fly efficiently like an aircraft.”
NASA Technical Reports Server: Greased Lightning (GL-10) Flight Testing Campaign ↗ “Greased Lightning (GL-10) is an aircraft configuration that combines the characteristics of a cruise efficient airplane with the ability to perform vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL).”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2016 · Q66

X-Ray · Core #42 Medium

कभी-कभी समाचारों में आने वाले ‘बिटकॉइन्स (Bitcoins)’ के संदर्भ में निम्नलिखित कथनों में से कौन-सा/से सही है/हैं?

1.बिटकॉइन्स की खोज-खबर देशों के केंद्रीय बैंकों द्वारा रखी जाती है।
2.बिटकॉइन के पते वाला कोई भी व्यक्ति, बिटकॉइन के पते वाले किसी अन्य व्यक्ति को बिटकॉइन्स भेज सकता है या उससे प्राप्त कर सकता है।
3.ऑनलाइन अदायगी, दोनों तरफ में से किसी भी तरफ की पहचान जाने बिना, की जा सकती है।

नीचे दिए गए कूट का प्रयोग कर सही उत्तर चुनिए।

Read this question in English

With reference to 'Bitcoins', sometimes seen in the news, which of the following statements is/are correct?

1. Bitcoins are tracked by the Central Banks of the countries.

2. Anyone with a Bitcoin address can send and receive Bitcoins from anyone else with a Bitcoin address.

3. Online payments can be sent without either side knowing the identity of the other.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

(a) 1 and 2 only · (b) 2 and 3 only · (c) 3 only · (d) 1, 2 and 3

उत्तर और व्याख्या · explanation in English

Answer: (b) केवल 2 और 3

Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer virtual currency with no central authority: any holder of an address can pay any other, and the parties can stay anonymous or pseudonymous. No central bank issues, authorises or tracks it, so statements 2 and 3 are correct and 1 is not.

✗ 1. The RBI said in December 2013 that the creation, trading or usage of virtual currencies, including Bitcoins, is not authorised by any central bank or monetary authority, and in 2017 that it had licensed no one to deal in them.
✓ 2. Payments in Bitcoins take place peer to peer, without an authorised central agency that regulates them.
✓ 3. The RBI notes that counterparties in such peer-to-peer anonymous or pseudonymous systems are not identified, which is why it warned of money-laundering risks.

Remember · Bitcoin: decentralised, peer-to-peer and pseudonymous, with no issuer or regulator. Central banks do not track or authorise it; the RBI cautioned users in 2013 and 2017.

Sources

Reserve Bank of India press release: RBI cautions users of Virtual Currencies against Risks (24 December 2013) ↗ “The creation, trading or usage of VCs including Bitcoins, as a medium for payment are not authorised by any central bank or monetary authority. … Payments by VCs, such as Bitcoins, take place on a peer-to-peer basis without an authorised central agency which regulates such payments. … The absence of information of counterparties in such peer-to-peer anonymous/ pseudonymous systems could subject the users to unintentional breaches of anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) laws.”
Reserve Bank of India press release: RBI cautions users of Virtual Currencies (1 February 2017) ↗ “The Reserve Bank of India advises that it has not given any licence / authorisation to any entity / company to operate such schemes or deal with Bitcoin or any virtual currency.”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2016 · Q84

X-Ray · Core #43 Easy

कभी-कभी समाचारों में दिखने वाले ‘डिजिलॉकर (DigiLocker)’ के संबंध में निम्नलिखित कथनों में से कौन-सा/से सही है/हैं?

1.यह डिजिटल इंडिया प्रोग्राम के अंतर्गत सरकार द्वारा दिया जाने वाला एक डिजिटल लॉकर सिस्टम है।
2.यह आपके ई-दस्तावेजों तक आपकी पहुँच को संभव बनाता है, चाहे भौतिक रूप से आपकी उपस्थिति कहीं भी हो।

नीचे दिए गए कूट का प्रयोग कर सही उत्तर चुनिए।

Read this question in English

Regarding 'DigiLocker', sometimes seen in the news, which of the following statements is/are correct?

1. It is a digital locker system offered by the Government under Digital India Programme.

2. It allows you to access your e-documents irrespective of your physical location.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

(a) 1 only · (b) 2 only · (c) Both 1 and 2 · (d) Neither 1 nor 2

उत्तर और व्याख्या · explanation in English

Answer: (c) 1 और 2 दोनों

Both statements are correct. DigiLocker is a Government of India digital document wallet run under the Digital India programme, and because it is cloud-based, you can reach your documents from the web or a mobile app wherever you are.

✓ 1. DigiLocker is a flagship initiative of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) under the Digital India programme.
✓ 2. It is a secure cloud-based platform for storing, sharing and verifying documents, accessible through the web portal and the mobile app, so no physical copies need to be carried.

Remember · DigiLocker = MeitY's cloud-based document wallet under Digital India; documents can be issued, stored, shared and verified digitally, from anywhere.

Sources

DigiLocker (Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India) ↗ “DigiLocker is a flagship initiative of Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY) under Digital India programme. DigiLocker aims at 'Digital Empowerment' of citizen by providing access to authentic digital documents to citizen's digital document wallet.”
Passport Verification Record now available on DigiLocker (Press Information Bureau, MeitY) ↗ “Citizens will be able to seamlessly access and retrieve their Passport Verification Records from the “Issued Documents” section of their DigiLocker account after successful verification, through both the web portal and mobile application, without the need to carry or store physical copies”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

The Syllabus X-Ray of this topic

4 of its 8 sub-topics are Core

4 Core · 1 High · 3 Steady · 0 Rare

Core #24Quantum, semiconductors, robotics & frontier tech · 8 questions
Core #35Internet, telecom & wireless technology · 8 questions
Core #42Blockchain, crypto & fintech · 7 questions
Core #43Digital public infrastructure & everyday tech · 7 questions
HighArtificial intelligence & data · 5 questions

The X-Ray ranks all 928 sub-topics of the UPSC syllabus by what UPSC has asked since 2016. The 60 Prelims Core sub-topics are behind 51% of Prelims questions.

See the whole X-Ray →

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IT, space, robotics, biotech & IPRGS 3 syllabus
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