IT, computing & emerging technologies

Answer: (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

All four are parts of India's digital public infrastructure (the 'India Stack') and are built on open-source software that the government offers to other countries: DIKSHA on the Sunbird platform, DigiLocker on an open-source stack, Aarogya Setu's code published on OpenForge and GitHub, and CoWIN's certificates on the open-source DIVOC building block.

• ✓ 1. The National Informatics Centre released Aarogya Setu's source code in 2020; its Android, iOS/KaiOS and backend code is hosted on the government's OpenForge platform.
• ✓ 2. At the CoWIN Global Conclave on 5 July 2021 the Prime Minister announced that the CoWIN platform was being made open source and offered to any country; its certificates use the open-source DIVOC building block.
• ✓ 3. MeitY's India Stack portal states that DigiLocker is developed on an open-source stack whose components can be shared with other countries.
• ✓ 4. DIKSHA, NCERT's national platform for school education, is built on Sunbird, a free and open-source platform.

Remember · India Stack (digital public goods): Aadhaar, UPI, DigiLocker, CoWIN, Aarogya Setu, DIKSHA (built on Sunbird) — open-source, interoperable, offered to other countries.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3

Web 3.0 (Web3) is the idea of a decentralised internet built on blockchains: users hold their own data and digital assets, applications such as social networks run on shared ledgers, and platforms are governed by their users through tokens instead of by one company. All three statements describe it.

• ✓ 1. In Web3, identity, data and assets sit in a user's own wallet rather than on a company's servers, so the user decides who can use them.
• ✓ 2. Decentralised applications, including social networks, can run on blockchains, so a user's profile and followers are not locked inside one platform.
• ✓ 3. Ownership is spread among builders and users; through decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs), token holders collectively vote on how a platform is run.

Remember · Web 1.0 read-only; Web 2.0 read-write (platforms own data); Web 3.0 read-write-own — decentralised, blockchain-based, user-owned data, governed collectively via DAOs.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3

In SaaS the provider runs the application on its cloud and users reach it over the internet from any device. The provider controls the underlying software, but customers can still configure their own settings, such as the look of the interface and the fields they use. Web-based email is the textbook example.

• ✓ 1. While the provider controls the application itself, SaaS products let each customer configure user-level settings — layouts, branding and data fields — within the options the provider offers.
• ✓ 2. Because the application and data live in the provider's cloud, NIST notes that the applications are accessible from various client devices, so users can reach them from a mobile device as well as a computer.
• ✓ 3. Web-based email services such as Outlook, Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail run on the provider's servers and are used through a browser or app — classic SaaS.

Remember · Cloud service models: SaaS (use the provider's app, e.g. web email, Office 365), PaaS (build and deploy your own apps), IaaS (rent computing, storage, networks).

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) Quantum Computing

A qubit is a quantum bit, the basic unit of information in a quantum computer. An ordinary bit is either 0 or 1, but a qubit can be 0, 1 or a mix of the two at the same time (a superposition).

• ✓ (b) Quantum computers use qubits in place of the classical bits of a normal computer. Qubits can also be entangled with one another, which gives quantum machines their extra power. India's National Quantum Mission aims at quantum computers with 50-1000 physical qubits.
• ✗ (a) Cloud services supply storage and computing over the internet; they run on ordinary bits and bytes, not qubits.
• ✗ (c) Visible light communication (Li-Fi) sends ordinary digital data as flickers of light, so it has nothing to do with qubits.
• ✗ (d) Wireless communication technologies such as Wi-Fi and mobile networks carry classical bits by radio waves.

Remember · Qubit = quantum bit, the unit of a quantum computer. It can be 0, 1 or a superposition of both.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3

All three are treated as short-range devices. The ITU (the UN body for radio spectrum) defines them as low-power radio transmitters with little chance of interfering with other radio equipment, and its list of SRD uses includes cordless video cameras for monitoring, RFID systems and wireless local area networks.

• ✓ 1. Under 'voice and video' the ITU lists non-professional cordless cameras used for controlling or monitoring, which is how wireless CCTV works. A CCTV set-up wired by cable is not a radio device at all.
• ✓ 2. An RFID system carries data between tags and readers over short radio links; the ITU lists RF identification systems among short-range device applications.
• ✓ 3. Broadband radio local area networks (RLANs), the Wi-Fi kind, replace cables inside a building; the ITU lists them as a short-range device application.

Remember · Short-range devices are low-power, low-interference radios: RFID, Wi-Fi/WLAN, cordless cameras, remote controls, alarms, radio microphones.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only

Statements 1 and 2 are correct; statement 3 is wrong. An NFT is a one-of-a-kind token recorded on a blockchain, which can stand for a digital or a physical asset. Because each NFT is unique and not interchangeable, it cannot be traded 'at equivalency' and does not serve as money.

• ✓ 1. An NFT can record ownership of a physical item as well as a digital one, so it can act as a digital representation of a physical asset.
• ✓ 2. NFTs are unique crypto tokens that run on blockchain (distributed ledger) technology; the FATF describes them as digital assets that are unique rather than interchangeable.
• ✗ 3. 'Non-fungible' means not interchangeable: one NFT is not equal in value to another. The FATF notes such tokens are in practice used as collectibles rather than as payment or investment instruments, so they are not a medium of commercial exchange.

Remember · NFT = unique, non-interchangeable blockchain token (can represent physical or digital assets); unlike cryptocurrencies, it is not a medium of exchange.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) 2 and 3

Statements 2 and 3 are correct. Statement 1 is wrong because nanoparticles (particles of about 100 nanometres or less) also form naturally, for example in volcanic plumes and by erosion, apart from those made by humans.

• ✗ 1. Nanoparticles form naturally: gas-phase reactions that make them occur in the atmosphere and in volcanic plumes, and erosion of clay and plant debris makes them in liquids. Human activities such as cooking and welding add more.
• ✓ 2. Metal-oxide nanoparticles such as nano titanium dioxide are put into sunscreens and other cosmetic products.
• ✓ 3. Engineered nanoparticles from consumer products are now a source of exposure, and some materials become toxic when inhaled as nanoparticles, causing lung inflammation and heart problems.

Remember · Nanoparticles (about 100 nm or less) occur naturally too. Nano titanium dioxide goes into sunscreens and cosmetics; some engineered nanoparticles are hazardous when inhaled.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error