Technology Questions and Answers

Answer: D

All three are enabled by 5G, so the answer is 1, 2 and 3.

5G was designed for three kinds of use: very fast mobile broadband, ultra-reliable low-latency communication, and massive machine-type communication. The last connects huge numbers of sensors and devices, the Internet of Things (1). Low latency lets computing be done close to the user at the network's edge, edge computing (2). Network slicing (3) is a core feature of the 5G architecture: one physical network is divided into several virtual networks, each tuned for a different service.

Since all three statements are correct, every option that leaves one out is incomplete.

Answer: D

All four are computer languages, so the answer is All of the above.

Python and Java are among the most widely used programming languages. Cobra is a general-purpose, object-oriented language influenced by Python and C#. Squirrel is a lightweight scripting language, similar to Lua but with C-like syntax, used for scripting in games.

Cobra and Squirrel are less familiar, which makes the narrower options tempting, but both are genuine programming languages.

Answer: D

GPT stands for Generative Pre-Trained Transformer.

ChatGPT, released by OpenAI in November 2022, is built on large language models of the GPT family. They are generative (they produce text), pre-trained on very large amounts of text before being fine-tuned, and based on the transformer neural network architecture.

The other expansions are real but unrelated uses of the letters: glutamic pyruvic transaminase is a liver enzyme measured in blood tests, the GUID Partition Table is a disk partitioning scheme, and the Grooved Pegboard Test is a test of manual dexterity.

Answer: C

The key gives graphite.

Lab-grown diamonds are made by two methods. In the high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) method, graphite is the carbon source that is converted into diamond at very high pressure and temperature with a metal catalyst; in chemical vapour deposition (CVD), carbon from a gas such as methane is deposited layer by layer. Strictly, the 'seed' on which the crystal grows is a small diamond in both methods, and none of the options is a diamond; the Commission's answer takes graphite, the carbon from which the diamond is formed, as the answer.

The other options are diamond simulants, not diamond material: white sapphire is aluminium oxide, moissanite is silicon carbide, and cubic zirconia is zirconium dioxide. None can become diamond, which is pure carbon.

Answer: D

EDUSAT is a man-made Indian satellite.

EDUSAT (GSAT-3), launched by ISRO in September 2004 on a GSLV rocket, was India's first satellite built exclusively for education, providing interactive classroom links and distance learning across the country.

It is not a rocket (ISRO's launch vehicles are the PSLV and GSLV, which in any case place satellites in orbit around the earth, not the sun), not a planet, and not an asteroid.

Answer: A

The nodal agency for cyber security is CERT-In.

The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team, under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, is designated under section 70B of the IT Act, 2000 as the national agency for responding to cyber security incidents: it collects and analyses information on cyber incidents, issues alerts and coordinates emergency response.

C-DAC develops supercomputers and software, C-DOT develops telecom technology, and ISRO is the space agency.

Answer: D

Six Sigma is a Quality Improvement Methodology.

Developed at Motorola in the 1980s and popularised by General Electric, Six Sigma uses statistical methods to reduce variation and defects in a process, aiming at no more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities. Projects typically follow the DMAIC cycle: Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, Control.

It is not mainly a quantity optimisation, staff evaluation or training method, though it uses trained specialists ('Green Belts', 'Black Belts') to run projects.

Answer: A

The basic unit of quantum information is the QUBIT.

A qubit, or quantum bit, is a two-state quantum system that can exist in a superposition of 0 and 1 at the same time, and qubits can be entangled with one another. These properties are what quantum computing and quantum communication exploit.

The bit is the unit of classical information, which is always either 0 or 1. A byte is eight classical bits and a gigabit is a billion of them, so none of these is a quantum unit.

Answer: D

The item that is not a cloud computing service is Allotment of electromagnetic spectrum.

The three standard cloud service models are Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS: virtual machines, storage and networks), Platform as a Service (PaaS: a ready platform to build and run applications) and Software as a Service (SaaS: applications delivered over the internet).

Spectrum allotment is a regulatory function of the government, done in India by the Department of Telecommunications through auctions. It has nothing to do with computing services offered over the internet.

Answer: C

The key's answer is Analog and Digital signal both.

A conventional fax machine scans a page and sends it over an ordinary telephone line, which carries the information as an analog signal (a modem turns the scanned data into audio tones). Email travels across computer networks as digital data.

So taking the two together, both forms of signal are used, which is why the Commission revised its answer to this option. 'Analog signal' alone leaves out email, 'Digital signal' alone leaves out the analog line used by fax, and 'neither' is plainly wrong.