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1. (c)

Exp.: It is a super-synchronous orbit that liessignificantly above synchronous orbit,where spacecraft are intentionally placedat the end of their operational life.

2. (d)

3. (b)

Exp.: It is the GSLVs, and not the PSLVs that areused to launch satellites in the geostationaryorbit, PSLVs are used to launch satellites inthe sun synchronous orbit. India is still toachieve complete mastery over thetechnology to launch satellites in thegeostationary orbit.

4. (b)

Exp.: Bitcoin is a virtual currency that isunregulated by any central bank orgovernment, but still works for purchasinggoods and services from retailers willing toaccept it.

5. (b)

Exp.: Graphene is a crystalline allotrope of carbonwith 2-dimensional properties. In graphene,carbon atoms are densely packed in aregular sp2-bonded atomic-scale chickenwire (hexagonal) pattern.

6. (b)

Exp.: Pulsars are neutron stars in rotation, whichemit electromagnetic radiation withamazing precision in their periodicity.

7. (a)

8. (d)

Exp.: The Ramanujan Fellows can work in anyof the scientific institutions and universitiesin the country and they are eligible forreceiving regular research grants throughthe extramural funding schemes of variousS&T agencies of the Government of India.The duration of Ramanujan Fellowship isfive years.

9. (d)

10. (c)

Exp.: The name of the SI unit is Gray.

11. (d)

12. (c)

13. (a)

Exp.: The print fades away within about 22 hoursat temperatures below 35 degrees Celsius(95 degrees Fahrenheit) as the waterevaporates.

14. (a)

Exp.: The applications include:

• Monitoring sea ice zones and the Arcticenvironment.

• Assimilation of sea ice observations in theforecasting systems.

• Surveillance of marine environment,including oil-spill monitoring and shipdetection for maritime security.

• Monitoring land surface motion risks.

• Mapping of land surfaces: forest, water andsoil, sustainable agriculture.

• Mapping in support of humanitarian aidin crisis situations.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

ANSWERS

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15. (a)

16. (a)

17. (a)

Exp.: Xeno-transplantation is the transfer ofliving cells, tissues and/or organs from non-human animal species into humans. Thereis a worldwide shortage of supply of organsfor clinical transplantation, and manypeople die waiting for organs to becomeavailable. The development of xeno-transplantation can be seen as servingseveral purposes: to be a complete substitutefor human organs; to supplement humanorgans, thus easing the current shortageavailable for transplantation; or to be a“bridge” organ before a “destination” organcan be found.

18. (d)

Exp.: PARAM Yuva - II uses hybrid technology,processor, co-processor and hardwareaccelerators.

19. (a)

Exp.: OLEDs can be printed onto any suitablesubstrate by an inkjet printer or even byscreen printing, theoretically making themcheaper to produce than LCD or plasmadisplays.

20. (c)

Exp.: Customers from any bank can deposit orwithdraw money from such ATMs. Theywill provide ATM services to customers ofall banks.

21. (d)

22. (b)

Exp.: Chang’e 3 is a lunar exploration missionoperated by the China National SpaceAdministration (CNSA), incorporating arobotic lander and China’s first lunar rover.

23. (d)

Exp.: The missile has features to deceive anti-ballistic missiles and uses an advancedinertial guidance system withmanoeuvering capabilities and reaches itstarget within a few metres of accuracy.

24. (b)

Exp.: Trans-fats are unsaturated fats which areuncommon in nature but can be createdartificially.

25. (b)

Exp.: In India, VBDs affecting people includemalaria, dengue, Japanese encephalitis,kala-azar, lymphatic filariasis andchikungunya. People suffering fromdiabetes are more susceptible to VBDsbecause of the fact that high blood sugar intheir bodies (resulting in high susceptibility),and lower levels of immunity, makes themmore prone to VBDs.

26. (a)

Exp.: The scientists from the Background Imagingof Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization 2(BICEP2) found out the primordialgravitational waves, the first direct evidenceof cosmic inflation theory. The datarepresent the first images of gravitationalwaves, or ripples in space-time. Thesewaves have been described as the “firsttremors of the Big Bang”.

27. (c)

Exp.: The IRNSS system mainly consists of threecomponents, namely

• Space Segment (Constellation of Satellites& Signal-In-Space)

• Ground Segment and User Segment.

28. (a)

Exp. Ebola virus disease (formerly known asEbola haemorrhagic fever) is one of theworld’s most virulent viral diseases and canhave a fatality rate of up to 90 per cent. It ischaracterised by the sudden onset of fever,intense weakness, muscle pain, headache,nausea and sore throat. This can befollowed by vomiting, diarrhoea, impairedkidney and liver function, and in somecases, both internal and external bleeding.Transmission of the Ebola virus has alsooccurred by handling sick or dead infectedwild animals (chimpanzees, gorillas,monkeys, forest antelope, fruit bats). The

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predominant treatment is generalsupportive therapy.

29. (a)

Exp.: Hydrogel are natural protein that are softand contain a lot of water viz. humantissues. They can be tuned to attainchemical, biological, mechanical andelectrical properties which are essential forregeneration of any human tissue.Researchers at Harvard Medical School inBoston and the University of Sydney inAustralia have combined a novel elastichydrogel with microscale technologies tocreate an artificial cardiac tissue that mimicsthe mechanical and biological properties ofthe native. In order to develop the artificialheart similar to natural heart, scientistsdeveloped a new family of hydrogel usinga stretchy human protein known astropoelastin.

30. (d)

31. (b)

Exp.: Standalone/autonomous GPS operationuses radio signals from satellites alone. A-GPS additionally uses network resources tolocate and use the satellites in poor signalconditions.

32. (d)

33. (c)

Exp.: Cryogenic technology involves the use ofrocket propellants at extremely lowtemperatures. The combination of liquidoxygen and liquid hydrogen offers thehighest energy efficiency for rocket enginesthat need to produce large amounts ofthrust.

34. (a)

Exp.: The disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mmthick, the same size as DVDs and CDs.

35. (c)

Exp.: Village Resource Centres (VRCs), on a pilotscale are set up in association with selectedNGOs, Trusts and State GovernmentDepartments.

36. (b)

Exp.: Silver nanoparticles are used for foodpackaging.

37. (b)

Exp.: Coronaviruses cause respiratory infectionsin humans and animals.

38. (a)

Exp.: ADVANTAGES-

• Simpler dosage schedule improvescompliance and therefore improvestreatment outcomes.

• Reduces inadvertent medication errors.

• Allows for syngergistic combinations.

• Eliminates drug shortages by simplifyingdrug storage and handling, and thus lowersrisk of being “out of stock”.

• Procurement, management and handlingof drugs is simplified.

• Side effects are reduced by using one drugof the combination for this purpose.

• Potential for drug abuse can be minimizedby using one drug of the combination forthis purpose.

39. (c)

40. (d)

41. (a)

Exp.: Near field communication is a form ofcontactless communication between deviceslike smartphones or tablets.

42. (b)

43. (b)

44. (d)

Exp.: It is a scientific process whereby anaerobicmicroorganism in an a anoxic environmentdecompose biodegrable matter. It occursnaturally in swamps, peat bogs, lakes,ponds, hot springs etc. The biomethanationprocess reactor called Bio-digester are usedin which the temperature and atmosphere

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is not controlled for the process to occur.The main feature of anaerobic treatment isconcurrent waste stabilization andproduction of methane gas which is anenergy source.

45. (c)

Exp.: Solar simulator is divisible into continuousflashed and pulsed.

46. (d)

Exp.: In reproductive age group of females thebone marrow stem cell quantity is actuallyrelatively lesser than in males of same agegroup, so the statement (d) is false.

47. (d)

48. (d)

Exp.: In case of need, a switch provided on thedevice is pressed. It automatically sends asignal on Bluetooth to the cellphonealongwith its GPS location.

49. (b)

Exp.: Unlike the conventional fission basednuclear reactors that possess the risk ofsevere disaster, a fusion reactor would stopat an event of any shift from the idealcondition.

50. (a)

Exp.: Phalcon is an AEW&C radar systemdeveloped by Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI)and Elta Electronics Industries of Israel. InMarch 2014, India and Israel signed a US $1.1 billion deal according to which IAIwould deliver the IAF three PhalconAEW&C radar systems. It would bemounted on the Russian built IL- 76 plane.

51. (c)

Exp.: Dhruv is Advanced Light Helicopter.

52. (b)

Exp.: The National Mission for sustainableAgriculture was launched in 2008 with theobjective of promoting sustainableAgriculture. This National Mission wouldcover both adaptation and mitigation

measures in the domain of crops andanimal husbandry including research.

53. (a)

Exp.: A gene can’t easily be inserted directly intothe cells. Rather it usually has to be deliveredusing a carrier, called vector. The mostcommon gene therapy vectors are virusesbecause they can recognize certain cells andcarry genetic material into the cells genes.

54. (a)

Exp.: It is all about vitamin A.

55. (a)

56. (d)

57. (d)

58. (a)

Exp.: STPI was established and registered as anAutonomous Society under the SocietiesRegistration Act 1860, under theDepartment of Electronics and InformationTechnology, Ministry of Communicationand IT, Govt. of India.

59. (c)

Exp.: He suggested for creation of world spacecouncil to look after all the thingsmentioned in statement 2.

60. (a)

Exp.: NASA successfully launched the LunarAtmosphere and Dust EnvironmentExplorer (LADEE), latest robotic explorerto moon atop a Minotaur V rocket from theWallops Fight Facility in Virginia. Theunmanned LADEE spacecraft will assist thescientists in learning the composition of themoon’s ever so delicate atmosphere andhow it might change over time; other thingsto know is that whether dust actuallylevitates from the Lunar surface.

61. (c)

Exp.: The Master Partnership Agreement wassigned by the five partner countries -China,Canada, India, Japan and U.S.A in Hawaii,the site for the proposed telescope.

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Alongwith full-fledged partner in theproject, India will also be a member of whatis called the TMT collaborative board.Adaptive Optics (AO) refers to systemsdesigned to sense atmospheric turbulencein real time, make the appropriatecorrections to the beam and enable trueimage on the ground limited only by opticaldiffraction.

62. (a)

Exp.: 4th statement is true but it is its limitationand not counted among benefits.

63. (d)

64. (b)

Exp.: The vision behind the policy is to create aglobally competitive electronics design andmanufacturing industry to meet thecountry’s needs and serve the internationalmarket. The strategies include setting up ofa National Electronics Mission withindustry participation and renaming theDepartment of Information Technology asDepartment of Electronics and InformationTechnology (Deity).

65. (a)

66. (c)

Exp.: Its transmission is superior in quality andnot subject to vagaries of cable. The centrehas opened the doors to DTH with no capon the number of players to provide thisservice. But there are curbs on foreign

equity, particularly FDI. It has laid downconditions- it must be under Indianmanagement with not more than 49percent foreign equity of which only 20%can be FDI.

67. (c)

Exp.: ERNET - Education and ResearchNetworks

INFLIBNET - Information and LibraryNetwork.

68. (c)

Exp.: A fuel cell is a generator that chemicallyproduces electricity from hydrogen andoxygen. It produces direct current like abattery but unlike a battery, if neverdischarges: it continues to produce poweras long as fuel is supplied.

69. (d)

Exp.: Reverse is true.

70. (b)

71. (b)

72. (a)

73. (d)

74. (c)

75. (a)

Exp.: TOP 500 is a ranking of the world’s 500most powerful supercomputers.