UPSC Prelims Test Series - Test 07(General Science & Technology)

The Reusable Launch Vehicle- Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD), when developed completely, would launch spacecraft, including satellites, into space and re-enter the earth’s atmosphere withstanding extreme pressure and heat conditions and land in an intended spot, helping to cut costs on launch vehicles substantially.

Atal Innovation Mission
• It is a flagship initiative set up by the NITI Aayog to promote innovation and entrepreneurship across the length and breadth of the country, based on a detailed study and deliberations on innovation and entrepreneurial needs of India in the years ahead.
• It shall have two core functions:
o Entrepreneurship promotion through Self-Employment and Talent Utilization, wherein innovators would be supported and mentored to become successful entrepreneurs
o Innovation promotion: to provide a platform where innovative ideas are generated through-
✓ Atal Tinkering Labs
✓ Atal Incubation Centers
✓ Scale-up support to Established Incubators

In Humans males have heterologous sex chromosomes (XY) whereas females have homologous sex chromosomes. Cytosine, Uracil and Thymine are pyrimidine bases of nucleotides.

The first statement is correct. India, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam

Statement 1 is incorrect. Light coloured clothes absorb less radiation.
Statement 2 is correct. Wool is a poor conductor of heat.

Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites is not used for Telecommunications. The Indian National Satellite (INSAT) system is one of the largest domestic communication satellite systems in Asia-Pacific region with nine operational communication satellites placed in Geostationary orbit. The INSAT system with more than 20 transponders in the C, extended C and Ku-bands provides services to telecommunications, television broadcasting, satellite newsgathering, societal applications, weather forecasting, disaster warning and Search and Rescue operations.

Statement 3 is incorrect. Installation cost is the main disadvantage of an optical fiber.
Statements 1, 2 and 4 are advantages of optical fiber.

A broad-spectrum antibiotic acts against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, in contrast to a narrow-spectrum antibiotic, which is effective against specific families of bacteria. An example of a commonly used broad-spectrum antibiotic is ampicillin.

Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee,
• It functions under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC)
• It is responsible for appraisal of activities involving large scale use of hazardous microorganisms and recombinants in research and industrial production from the environmental angle.
• It is also responsible for appraisal of proposals relating to release of genetically engineered (GE) organisms and products into the environment

Statement 1 is correct. As there is no combustion of fuel, virtually no harmful emissions are generated by the fuel cells. This results in power production that is almost entirely absent of Nitrogen Oxide (NOx), Sulfur dioxide (SOx) or Particulate Matter (PM).
Statement 2 is incorrect. Fuel cells can produce only Direct current (DC). Any cell or a battery is a stored form of electricity. Only Direct Current can be stored. Alternating Current cannot be stored Statement 3 is correct. Fuel cells cleanly and efficiently convert chemical energy from hydrogen-rich fuels into electrical power and usable high quality heat in an electrochemical process.

It is very difficult to eliminate the vector Leishmania donovani as it dwells in the wooden structure and escapes various measures to kill it. Hence, to stop the infection transmission, pucca houses need to be built. it is very difficult to eliminate the vector as it dwells in the wooden structure and escapes various measures to kill it. Hence, to stop the infection transmission, pucca houses need to be built. it is very difficult to eliminate the vector as it dwells in the wooden structure and escapes various measures to kill it. Hence, to stop the infection transmission, pucca houses need to be built.

Data Exclusivity refers to a practice whereby, for a fixed period of time, drug regulatory authorities do not allow the test data of the innovator company to be used to register a equivalent generic version of that medicine. The concept of protecting undisclosed data having high commercial value has gained momentum to be protected as exclusive data or information under the TRIPS agreement in recent times. Conventionally this data was protected as trade secrets under the Common law.

VAJRA (Visiting Advanced Joint Research) faculty scheme o It is being implemented by Science and Engineering Research Board to enable NRI and overseas scientists community to participate and carry out R&D in the country.
International Faculty/ scientists/ technologists including Non-resident Indians (NR1. and Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) / Overseas Citizen of India (OC1. are offered adjunct / visiting faculty positions in Indian Institutions/ Universities for a period of 1-3 months under this scheme.

All the above statements are correct.

Both the statements are correct.

The Ganges River dolphin inhabits the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Karnaphuli-Sangu river systems of Nepal, India, and Bangladesh.It is National Aquatic animal of India.
• It has been categorised as endangered on the Red List of Threatened Species by the IUCN.
• It is also protected under the Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act (1972)

Bangalore Municipal Corporation was the first ULB to issue Municipal Bond in India in 1997.

Fuel cell powered vehicles have very high energy conversion efficiency and near zero pollution. In India diesel buses emit significant quantities of SO2. Thus, fuel cell powered buses could be introduced to reduce urban air pollution and to make positive impact on urban air quality. Statement 2 is correct. Large scale power plants use non-renewable fuels. Fuel cell system are better option for small scale power generation. Fuel cells can supply combined heat and power to commercial building, airports, military installations at remote locations etc.

A Fast breeder reactor is a nuclear reactor that generates more fissile material than it consumes. Fast Breeder reactors achieve this because their neutron economy is high enough to create more fissile fuel than they use, by irradiation of a fertile material, such as uranium-238 or thorium-232 that is loaded into the reactor along with fissile fuel.
Moderator slows down the speed of neutrons in a reactor. Fast breeder reactor (FBR) is unmoderated as it uses fast neutrons to breed fissile plutonium.

Agni I is a single stage, solid fuel, road and rail mobile, Medium Range Ballistic Missile (MRBM) using solid propulsion . The Agni I has range of 700-800 kms

Vasopressin is an anti diuretic hormone whose deficiency results in a condition called diabetes insipidus. It is produced hypothalamus and secreted by the pituitary gland.All hormones are proteins but all proteins are not proteins.

India's nuclear energy program is a three stage program.
In the first stage of the programme, natural uranium fueled pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWR) produce electricity while generating plutonium-239 as by-product.
In the second stage, fast breeder reactors (FBRs) would use a mixed oxide (MOX) fuel made from plutonium-239, recovered by reprocessing spent fuel from the first stage, and natural uranium. Ultimate focus of the programme is on enabling the thorium reserves of India to be utilised in meeting the country's energy requirements.

A botnet is an interconnected network of computers infected with malware without the user's knowledge and controlled by cybercriminals. They're typically used to send spam emails, transmit viruses and engage in other acts of cybercrime. Sometimes known as a zombie army, botnets are often considered one of the biggest online threats today. Malware, also known as "malicious software," can be classified several ways in order to distinguish the unique types of malware from each other. Distinguishing and classifying different types of malware from each other is important to better understanding how they can infect computers and devices, the threat level they pose and how to protect against them.

Statement 1:
An isotope is one of two or more forms of the same chemical element. Different isotopes of an element have the same number of protons in the nucleus, giving them the same atomic number, but a different number of neutrons giving each elemental isotope a different atomic weight.
Statement 2:
All isotopes of a given element have the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons in each atom
Uranium-238 (U-238) is the most common isotope of uranium found in nature, with a relative abundance of 99%. Unlike uranium-235, it is non-fissile, which means it cannot sustain a chain reaction in a thermal-neutron reactor. However, it is fissionable by fast neutrons, and is fertile, meaning it can be transmuted to fissile plutonium-239.

Zika virus is transmitted primarily by Aedes mosquitoes. Zika virus is also transmitted through sexual intercourse. Zika infected males will have symptoms like fever, rash. Joint pain. conjunctivitis, or red eyes. muscle pain. headache, vomiting etc.

Aster yellows, plant disease, caused by a phytoplasma bacterium, affecting over 300 species of herbaceous broad-leafed plants. Aster yellows is found over much of the world wherever air temperatures do not persist much above 32 °C (90 °F). As its name implies, members of the family Asteraceae are vulnerable to infection.

MIRV stands for multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles.
It is a technology in which MIRV equipped missile has the capability to deliver multiple warheads at different targets.

Photosynthesis is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy from sun into chemical energy. This can be used for plant’s energy needs. The food prepared by the leaves gets stored in the plant in the form of starch. The raw materials of photosynthesis like water and carbon dioxide enter the cells of the leaf. The products of photosynthesis like sugar and oxygen leave the leaf.

SAARC DEVELOPMENT FUND was established by heads of all eight SAARC member states during 16th SAARC summit at Thimphu, Bhutan in April 2010.
• Its Secretariat is located at Thimphu, capital of Bhutan
• Its Governing Council comprises finance ministers of these eight countries. It was created as umbrella financial mechanism for all SAARC developmental projects and programmes

The Third Generation of biofuels is based on improvements in the production of biomass. It takes advantage of specially engineered energy crops such as algae as its energy source. The algae are cultured to act as a low-cost, high-energy and entirely renewable feedstock.

Rayleigh scattering: When light is scattered by matter, almost all of the scattering is an elastic process due to which there is no change in energy.
Raman scattering: a very small percentage of scattering is an inelastic process, thus a scattered light has different energy from incident light.

Centripetal force is the component of force acting on a body in curvilinear motion that is directed toward the center of curvature or axis of rotation.
Centrifugal force is an apparent force, equal and opposite to the centripetal force, drawing a rotating body away from the center of rotation, caused by the inertia of the body.

Bio-CNG is a compressed form of bio-methane. Biogas is produced by breakdown of organic matter (for example, cow dung) in the absence of Oxygen Initially, the Methane (CH4) content of biogas is only 50 per cent In order to use it as a fuel, it is made to a gas containing 100 per cent Methane
The resulting bio-methane is subsequently brought to a high- pressure stage. In this stage, it is called bio-CNG, whose quality is similar to that of natural gas Bio-CNG can be used as a standalone vehicle fuel without blending with CNG.
Landfill (LFG) gas can be used to prepare Bio-CNG LFG is generated during the natural process of bacterial decomposition of organic material contained in municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills LFG is about 50 percent methane (CH4) and 50 percent carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vapour.

Block chain technology is a distributed ledger technology that stores information across multiple systems in a secured manner to enable peer-to-peer transactions based on a trustworthy source.
Decentralisation of data makes the information available on multiple systems rather than at a single place, making it more difficult for cybercriminals to concentrate their attacks.
The technology is widely explored across industries and multiple use cases are being experimented. Despite the obvious use of blockchain in the financial service industry, non-financial players from retail, travel, healthcare, telecommunications and public sector industries are exploring uses of blockchain. For instance, in retail, the blockchain solution uses a chatbot to store warranty receipts on the ledger, thereby building a tracking history of ownership.

Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) is part of a quality system covering the manufacture and testing of active pharmaceutical ingredients, diagnostics, foods, pharmaceutical products, and medical devices. GMPs are guidelines that outline the aspects of production and testing that can impact the quality of a product.

Thorium - 232 is a fertile material and is not a fissile material. As it is not a fissile material, it cannot undergo fission directly. It needs to be transmuted to U-233 in a reactor fuelled by other fissile materials like Plutonium-239 and Uranium-235.

Global commons is a term typically used to describe international, supranational, and global resource domains in which common-pool resources are found. Global commons include the earth's shared natural resources, such as the high oceans, the atmosphere, outer space and the Antarctic in particular. International law identifies four global commons namely: the High Seas; the Atmosphere; Antarctica; and, Outer Space.

Amogha-1, is a second generation, Anti-Tank Guided Missile which has pin point accuracy for a range up to 2.8 km. It is under development by Bharat Dynamics at Hyderabad.[1] It has also become the first missile designed and tested by the Bharat Dynamics Ltd company. Thus, is indigenously developed.

Brahmos
○ Supersonic cruise missile
○ Designed and developed by BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture of India and Russia
○ It has derived its name from the names of two rivers, India’s Brahmaputra River and Russia’s Moskva River.
○ It operates on fire and forget principal
○ Capable of being launched from land, sea, sub-sea and air against sea and land targets
○ Carrying capacity : 300 Kg (both conventional and nuclear)
○ Speed : Mach 3 (that is, three times the speed of sound)
○ Max Range : 290 Km. Its range was extended to 450 km and plan is to increase it to 600km.
○ It is two-stage missile, the first one being solid and the second one ramjet liquid propellant.
○ BrahMos missile already has been inducted into the Indian Army and Navy

Hyperloop is a system where magnetically leviating capsules are sent at high speeds through low pressure tubes. Magnetic leviation reduces friction due to its contact with surface and the low pressure tube reduces air resistance.
The high speed is generated by passing electric current through an armature (rotating coil) across the rails. The electric current flows up the positive rail and the negative rail. The flow of electric current generates the magnetic force which pushes the armature and hyperloop capsule forward.

Dark matter is a hypothetical material that an astronomer or scientist cannot observe through ordinary telescopes. Although dark matter has not been directly observed, its existence and properties are inferred from its gravitational effects such as the motions of visible matter. The name refers to the fact that it does not emit or interact with electromagnetic radiation, such as light, and is thus invisible to the entire electromagnetic spectrum. It is considered to be responsible for holding all the normal matter in the universe together. These dark matter particles have to be quite massive to form the observed structures, about as heavy as the heaviest particles we know already. If dark matter particles weren’t heavy enough they wouldn’t clump sufficiently, which is why they are called WIMPs for “Weakly Interacting Massive Particles. And we know that neutrinos, even though weakly interacting, can’t make up dark matter because they are too light and they wouldn’t clump strongly enough to seed galaxy filaments.

Statement 1 is incorrect. Bleaching powder is little acidic and also produces oxygen when it is added. Thus, it acts as an oxidising and a bleaching agent. Statement 2 is correct. Bleaching powder is chemically, calcium oxychloride (CaOCl2). Bleaching powder is manufactured using Backmann’s plant. Slaked lime and Chlorine are used in this process to produce Bleaching Powder. Hence, it is also known as chlorinated lime.
Statement 3 is correct. Bleaching powder is used as a disinfectant and germicide. It liberates Chlorine on exposure to the atmosphere which destroys the germs.

The most commonly used preservatives include table salt, sugar, vegetable oils and Sodium Benzoate. Sodium Benzoate is used in limited quantities and is metabolized in the body. Salts of Sorbic acid and Propionic acid are also used as preservatives.

Copper ion gives blue color in Haemocyanin. Arthropoda is the largest known phylum in Animal Kingdom.

Neutrinos are second most abound particles in the universe.
They interact very little with anything and pass through everything that’s why it’s hard to detect them. They carry no electrical charge and nearly massless. It occurs in 3 different types/flavors, separated based on mass (electron-neutrino, muonneutrino, tau-neutrino). It is produced in the core of the sun & millions of them roam around in the solar system.

The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission is a joint project between NASA and ISRO to co-develop and launch a dual frequency synthetic aperture radar satellite. The satellite will be the first radar imaging satellite to use dual frequency and it is planned to be used for remote sensing to observe and understand natural processes of the Earth. The satellite is likely to be launched from India aboard an Indian launch vehicle GSLV. The satellite will be 3-axis stabilised and is planned to be launched into a Sunsynchronous orbit with a mission life of 3 years. It would be the second synthetic aperture radar to operate from the space next to Seagate.

A ballistic missile follows a ballistic trajectory to deliver one or more warheads on a predetermined target.
Ballistic missiles follow arc-like trajectory and are launched from the land or sea.
Guided during relatively brief periods of flight most of their trajectory is unpowered, being governed by gravity and air resistance if in the atmosphere.

Juno spacecraft was launched on Aug. 5, 2011. Juno’s principal goal is to understand the origin and evolution of Jupiter. Juno will investigate the existence of a solid planetary core, map Jupiter’s intense magnetic field, measure the amount of water.
Statement 2 is incorrect. It is not the first spacecraft to orbit Jupiter before it Galileo was launched in 1989. Juno should be able to get closer than Galileo.

In live bacteria, restriction enzymes function to defend the cell against invading viral bacteriophages. Restrictions sites in the viral genome (a "happy accident" of nature, as far as the bacteria are concerned, since they don't appear to have any specific function in the virus) are cleaved by the bacterium's restriction enzymes, fragmenting and destroying the DNA of invading bacteriophages before it can incorporate into the host's genome and take over the cell. These restriction endonucleases are extracted and are used for biotechnological purposes.

Neelakurinji plant is a tropical plant species which is generally found in Asia and Australia.
Neelakurinji flower blooms in the Anamalai hills near Munnar once in 12 years.