Medium Level – GK Questions

AI Fairness addresses bias in data, algorithms, and outcomes that may disadvantage groups based on race, gender, caste, religion, etc. Techniques: bias detection metrics, debiasing algorithms, diverse training data, and fairness-aware modeling. Critical for ethical deployment in hiring, lending, policing, and public services.

Penny Drop verification sends ₹1 to a bank account using account number and IFSC; successful credit confirms account validity and name match. Used for KYC, onboarding, and fraud prevention in fintech. Automated via NPCI's APIs. Faster and more reliable than manual document verification, enhancing user experience and compliance.

VoNR allows native voice service on 5G SA (Standalone) core, eliminating need for EPS Fallback to 4G/VoLTE. Benefits: faster call setup, HD+ voice quality, simultaneous voice+data on 5G, and seamless handover. Requires 5G SA network deployment, compatible devices, and IMS integration. Key milestone in 5G maturity.

Capacitor stores energy in electric field between two conductive plates separated by dielectric. Measured in Farads. Applications: filtering, timing circuits, power factor correction, energy storage. Inductor stores energy in magnetic field; resistor dissipates energy as heat; transformer transfers energy between circuits via electromagnetic induction.

Functional Programming emphasizes immutability, pure functions (no side effects), and declarative style. Languages: Haskell, Scala, Lisp; features in Python/JavaScript. Benefits: easier testing, parallelization, and reasoning about code. Contrasts with imperative programming that uses mutable state and explicit control flow.

e₹ (e-Rupee) is India's CBDC, a digital token representing sovereign currency issued by RBI. Two types: retail (e₹-R) for public transactions via wallets, and wholesale (e₹-W) for interbank settlements. Built on distributed ledger technology but centrally managed. Aims to reduce cash dependency, enhance payment efficiency, and foster innovation.

India's first 5G spectrum auction (2022) included low-band (700 MHz for coverage), mid-band (3.3-3.67 GHz for capacity/coverage balance), and high-band/mmWave (24.25-28.5 GHz for ultra-high speeds in dense areas). Operators strategically bid based on use cases: rural coverage vs urban capacity vs industrial applications.

Diode is a two-terminal semiconductor device permitting current flow primarily in one direction (forward bias) while blocking reverse current. Applications: rectification (AC to DC), voltage regulation (Zener diode), signal demodulation, and circuit protection. LED is a special diode emitting light when forward-biased.

#AIforAll strategy emphasizes inclusive growth across five sectors: healthcare, agriculture, education, smart cities, and mobility. Aims to leverage AI for social empowerment (e.g., AI for farmers, teachers, doctors) alongside economic competitiveness. Establishes responsible AI principles: safety, reliability, inclusivity, and transparency.

TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) divides radio frequency into time slots, assigning each user a specific slot for transmission. Used in 2G GSM networks. Contrasts with FDMA (frequency division) and CDMA (code division). 4G/5G use OFDMA which combines time and frequency division with orthogonal subcarriers for higher efficiency.

Transistors operate in three regions: cutoff (OFF switch), saturation (ON switch), and active (amplifier). In digital circuits, they switch between cutoff/saturation for binary logic. In analog circuits, active region amplifies weak signals. Fundamental building block of modern electronics from microprocessors to power controllers.

Heap (specifically binary heap) efficiently implements priority queue with O(log n) insertion and extraction of highest/lowest priority element. Arrays/lists require O(n) search for priority element. Heaps maintain partial order: parent node has higher/lower priority than children. Used in scheduling, Dijkstra's algorithm, and event simulation.

NM-ICPS funds R&D in AI, IoT, robotics, quantum technologies. Builds indigenous capabilities.

Regularization adds penalty terms to loss function or randomly drops units during training.

IaC scanners analyze Terraform/CloudFormation for misconfigurations: public storage, weak IAM.

Instruction tuning fine-tunes LLMs on instruction datasets, improving task completion and helpfulness.

ICANN coordinates domain names, IP addresses, protocol parameters. Multi-stakeholder model.

Digital India Act aims to address platform accountability, user rights, emerging tech governance.

FAME provides demand incentives for EVs and charging infrastructure.

Post-incident review captures lessons learned: what happened, response effectiveness, root causes, improvements. Critical for continuous security program maturity.