Science, Technology and National Security Questions and Answers

Answer: D

The correct matching is 3 4 2 1.

The Patriot is an American surface-to-air missile system. The Dong Feng (East Wind) is a family of Chinese missiles. The T-56 is matched in the key with Russia, the origin of the Kalashnikov design on which the Type 56 rifle is based. The Arihant is India's first indigenous nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine.

The other codes give the Patriot to Russia or the Arihant to China, which are wrong.

The Patriot was widely seen in use in the Gulf War of 1991, and the Dong Feng missiles are the backbone of China's strategic rocket force.

Answer: C

The assertion is correct and the reason is incorrect, so the answer is (A) is correct, but (R) is incorrect.

Armies, terrorists and criminals use much the same tools in cyberspace, such as malware, denial of service attacks and hacking, so the assertion is correct.

Their goals are not the same: armies serve the aims of the state, terrorists pursue political or ideological violence, and criminals seek profit. So the reason is false and cannot be the cause of the assertion.

Answer: B

The term 'cyberspace' was coined by William Gibson.

The science fiction writer William Gibson used the word in a short story in 1982 and made it famous in his novel Neuromancer in 1984.

Linda Gates, E.D. Swinton and Sam Pitroda did not coin it: Swinton is known for the tank, and Pitroda for India's telecom revolution.

Gibson's idea of a consensual hallucination shared by many users became the standard image of the Internet world.

Answer: D

The keyed answer is national will. The relevance of science and technology to national security gets impetus only when the economic and industrial base supports it and when research is directed at both traditional and non-traditional security capability, and the key treats national will as the condition without which this impetus does not occur. This item is an inference from the wording of the question, so the choice follows the key, and a reviewer may wish to check it.

Answer: C

Heavy water is water used as a moderator in nuclear reactors. It is deuterium oxide, D2O, in which the hydrogen atoms are the heavy isotope deuterium, and it slows the neutrons in reactors such as the Indian CANDU-type reactors without absorbing them as much as ordinary water. Water treated with chlorine is disinfected water, water that does not form lather with soap is hard water, and distilled water is purified water, so none of these is heavy water.

Answer: A

RADAR stands for Radio Detection and Ranging, and the keyed answer is the first option as printed, Radio Detection and Range. The system sends out radio waves and detects the reflection from an object, from which the direction, the distance and the speed of the object are found. The other expansions in the options, with reforms, discrimination and direct reflection, are not the real name of the system.

Answer: D

The Bharat Earth Movers Limited is not included in the science and technology organisations of India, since it is a public sector company that makes earth-moving and mining equipment and rail products. The Department of Atomic Energy, the Indian Space Research Organisation and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research are the government science and technology bodies, devoted to research and development in nuclear energy, space and industry. BEML is under the Ministry of Defence as a public undertaking and is not a research body.

Answer: C

The term weapon system implies a weapon, a platform and a carrier, so the keyed answer is the third option. A weapon alone is not a system: the system includes what delivers it and what carries it to the target, together with the related equipment. A weapon with a platform alone, or a weapon with a platform and ammunition, leaves out an element, and the single weapon is only a part of the whole system.

Answer: C

The term cyberspace was coined by the writer William Gibson, in a short story of 1982 and in the novel Neuromancer (1984), to describe the virtual world of computer networks. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was a missile scientist and President of India, Sam Pitroda is a telecom reformer, and J. Narlikar is an astrophysicist, so none of them coined the word. Gibson used the word for a consensual hallucination shared by those who connect to a global network of computers.

Answer: B

The matching is the US with Patriot, Russia with Backfire, China with M-11 and India with Chakra, the code (i) (iii) (iv) (ii). The Patriot is an American surface-to-air missile, the Backfire (Tu-22M) is a Russian bomber, the M-11 is a Chinese missile, and the Chakra was the Soviet-built nuclear submarine leased to India. The other codes give these weapons to the wrong countries.