ASKiIMAN™
NEXUS / 2026 / GS1
00:00:00 · 00 XXX 0000
Project Alexandria • Universal Library

UPSC 2026 GS Paper 1

Artifacts [81] to [90]

81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90
81

'X' born in the UK, was conferred the Nobel Prize in 2025. He was a professor in an American university when this prize was announced. Identify 'X':

  1. Michel H. Devoret
  2. Richard Robson
  3. John Clarke
  4. Joel Mokyr

OUTPUT/VERDICT: (c) John Clarke

MAPPED DATABANK: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ├─ REALM 589: S&T Current Affairs & Master Timeline

John Clarke, a British-American physicist, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics (in this 2025 scenario) for his pioneering work. Born in England, he spent much of his distinguished career as a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, making groundbreaking contributions to quantum physics and superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs).
82

Which of the following statements with regard to the Grand Slam Tennis Tournaments is/are correct?

  1. The tournaments have a shared governance structure establishing the partnership among the four Grand Slam tournaments.
  2. They are open for entry to all internationally ranked tennis players above the age of 14.
  3. There is a limitation on the number of 'Wild Cards' a player may receive to compete in a Grand Slam Tournament.

Select the answer using the code given below:

  1. 1 and 2 only
  2. 2 and 3 only
  3. 1 only
  4. 1, 2 and 3

OUTPUT/VERDICT: (a) 1 and 2 only

MAPPED DATABANK: CURRENT AFFAIRS ├─ REALM: Global Sports & Governance

The four Grand Slams (Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon, US Open) operate under the Grand Slam Board, establishing a shared governance and rulebook partnership (statement 1). Under current rules, players must be at least 14 years old to participate in professional ITF/Grand Slam events, making them open to all internationally ranked players above this age threshold (statement 2). However, while there are rules governing the distribution of wild cards by the tournaments themselves, there is no strict cap on the absolute number of wild cards a specific player can receive across their career to compete in Grand Slams (invalidating statement 3).
83

Which one of the following pairs of semiconductor plants in India and their locations is not correctly matched?

(a) CG Power and Industrial Solutions Pvt. Ltd. in partnership with Renesas Electronics and STARS Microelectronics : Gujarat

(b) Tata Semiconductor Assembly and Test Pvt. Ltd. : Assam

(c) HCL-Foxconn Joint Venture India Chip Ltd. : Madhya Pradesh

(d) SicSem Pvt. Ltd. : Odisha

OUTPUT/VERDICT: (c) HCL-Foxconn Joint Venture India Chip Ltd. : Madhya Pradesh

MAPPED DATABANK: ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY ├─ REALM 99: High-Tech & New Ind. Geo

India's semiconductor mission has catalyzed investments across multiple states. Tata is building a massive OSAT facility in Morigaon, Assam. CG Power, partnering with Renesas, is setting up its plant in Sanand, Gujarat. SicSem is establishing a silicon carbide plant in Odisha. However, the HCL-Foxconn joint venture intended to set up its OSAT facility in Jewar, Uttar Pradesh, not Madhya Pradesh, making option (c) the incorrectly matched pair.
84

Which of the following statements with regard to India's indigenous new high resolution weather model, the 'Bharat Forecast System,' is/are correct?

  1. Its objective is to generate forecasts at the Panchayats cluster level.
  2. It was developed by IIT Delhi.

Select the answer using the code given below:

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2

OUTPUT/VERDICT: (a) 1 only

Mapped Realm: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ├─ REALM 391: Agri, Disaster & Gov Space Apps

The Bharat Forecast System (BFS) is a massive leap in hyper-local meteorological tracking. Its primary objective is to drastically downscale weather predictions to generate precise forecasts at the Panchayat cluster level (approx. 10 sq km), empowering rural agriculture and disaster readiness (statement 1). However, it was not developed by IIT Delhi; it was developed natively by the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) and its institutions like NCMRWF and IMD (invalidating statement 2).
85

Consider the following statements with regard to the film 'Boong':

  1. The film has recently won the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Award in the Children's and Family Film category.
  2. The film is directed by Lakshmipriya Devi.
  3. This is the first Indian film to win a BAFTA award in the Children's and Family Film category.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1, 2 and 3
  2. 2 and 3 only
  3. 1 and 2 only
  4. 3 only

OUTPUT/VERDICT: (a) 1, 2 and 3

Mapped Realm: INDIAN CULTURE ├─ REALM 64: History of Indian Cinema

The critically acclaimed Manipuri film "Boong" (statement 1), masterfully directed by Lakshmipriya Devi (statement 2), made historic global waves. It achieved a monumental milestone for Indian cinema by becoming the very first Indian film to ever win a prestigious BAFTA Award specifically in the Children's and Family Film category (statement 3). Thus, all statements are factually correct.
86

Which of the following statements regarding the features of blockchain technology are correct?

  1. Records stored in the database may be made visible to relevant stakeholders without risk of alteration.
  2. Copies of the entire database are stored on multiple computers on a network, syncing within seconds.
  3. Consortium blockchain is a blend of public and private blockchains allowing selective data access.
  4. Mathematical algorithms make it impossible to change or delete any data once recorded and accepted.

Select the answer using the code given below :

  1. 1 and 3
  2. 2 and 4 only
  3. 1, 2 and 4
  4. 1 and 4 only

OUTPUT/VERDICT: (c) 1, 2 and 4

Mapped Realm: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ├─ REALM 503: Data Protection & Cyber Infra

Blockchain's defining features are transparency combined with immutability. Records are visible to stakeholders without the risk of tampering (1). It is a Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), meaning copies of the entire database exist across multiple peer nodes that sync rapidly (2). Cryptographic hashing ensures that once a block is recorded, it mathematically cannot be changed or deleted without breaking the entire chain (4). While statement 3 defines a consortium blockchain accurately in a vacuum, UPSC's official key identifies 1, 2, and 4 as the correct overarching features tested in this specific configuration.
87

An e-commerce revenue model where the seller has control over pricing but doesn't keep products in stock and instead transfers customer orders and shipment details to a third-party supplier, who then ships the goods directly to the customer, is called:

  1. Dropshipping Model
  2. Affiliate Revenue Model
  3. Transaction Fee Revenue Model
  4. Agency Revenue Model

OUTPUT/VERDICT: (a) Dropshipping Model

Mapped Realm: CONTEMPORARY ECONOMY ISSUES ├─ REALM 20: E-Commerce Regulation

This describes the exact mechanics of Dropshipping. In this model, the digital storefront acts merely as a middleman generating sales and setting the retail price. They carry zero inventory. Once a customer purchases an item, the order is automatically routed to a third-party manufacturer or wholesaler who handles the physical packing and ships it directly to the customer's door.
88

Which one of the following correctly represents the three key sub-indices of the Financial Inclusion Index (FI-Index) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)?

  1. Credit access, Insurance depth, and Pension coverage
  2. Banking access, GDP contribution, and Financial literacy
  3. Access, Usage, and Quality
  4. Access, Affordability, and Transparency

OUTPUT/VERDICT: (c) Access, Usage, and Quality

Mapped Realm: BASIC ECONOMY ├─ REALM 60: Financial Inclusion

The RBI constructed the comprehensive Financial Inclusion Index (FI-Index) to measure the extent of financial inclusion across the country. To capture the full picture beyond just having a bank account, it is built on three distinct parameters (sub-indices): Access (weighted at 35%), actual Usage of those financial services (45%), and the Quality of the services provided, including financial literacy and grievance redressal (20%).
89

Which one of the following best describes the key objective of India's 'Open Network for Digital Commerce' (ONDC) initiative ?

  1. To allow government control over all digital commerce transactions
  2. To replace private e-commerce players
  3. To break the dominance of large e-commerce platforms by enabling interoperability across networks
  4. To mandate UPI-based payments for all online transactions

OUTPUT/VERDICT: (c) To break the dominance of large e-commerce platforms by enabling interoperability across networks

Mapped Realm: CONTEMPORARY ECONOMY ISSUES ├─ REALM 21: ONDC

Supported by the Government of India, ONDC is not an app or a platform itself, but an open protocol. Its core objective is to fundamentally democratize e-commerce. By mandating interoperability, it dismantles the walled gardens and monopolistic dominance of massive platform giants (like Amazon or Flipkart), allowing a buyer on one app to purchase directly from a small local seller listed on a completely different app.
90

Which one of the following statements about Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Central Bank Digital Currency (Digital Rupee) is not correct?

  1. UPI is a real-time payment system but Digital Rupee is akin to sovereign paper currency.
  2. In case of UPI, settlement for end users happens instantly as the money gets immediately debited or credited but in case of Digital Rupee, there is no settlement as the wallet balance gets transferred to another wallet.
  3. UPI transactions are recorded by banks and reflected in bank statements but in case of Digital Rupee, no data is captured in bank statements as transactions are from one wallet to another.
  4. In both the cases (UPI and Digital Rupee), the liability lies with the users and their respective banks.

OUTPUT/VERDICT: (d) In both the cases (UPI and Digital Rupee), the liability lies with the users and their respective banks.

Mapped Realm: CONTEMPORARY ECONOMY ISSUES ├─ REALM 62: Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)

UPI is simply an interface that moves commercial bank money; therefore, the liability for the money rests with the commercial banks holding the accounts. In stark contrast, the Digital Rupee (CBDC) is fiat money—a direct digital equivalent to physical paper cash. Because it is issued directly by the sovereign, the liability for the Digital Rupee lies entirely with the Central Bank (the RBI), not the commercial banks. Thus, statement (d) is fundamentally incorrect.