GK Questions

PSLV has four stages: 1st and 3rd use solid propellant; 2nd and 4th use liquid propellant. Strap-on solid boosters enhance lift-off thrust. This alternating design optimizes performance for polar and sun-synchronous orbits. PSLV's reliability and versatility made it ISRO's workhorse for earth observation and small satellite launches.

SSO protocols: SAML (XML-based, enterprise SSO), OAuth 2.0 (authorization framework), OpenID Connect (identity layer on OAuth). Often used together: OIDC for user authentication, OAuth for API access delegation. Enables seamless access to multiple applications with one login, improving user experience and security management.

Microservices Architecture decomposes applications into small, independent services communicating via APIs. Benefits: independent scaling, technology diversity, fault isolation, and faster deployments. Challenges: distributed system complexity, data consistency, monitoring. Often combined with containers (Docker) and orchestration (Kubernetes) for cloud-native development.

Digital India promotes paperless (digital documents), faceless (online processes without physical interface), and cashless (digital payments) governance. e-Office digitizes file management; e-Taal tracks e-service transactions; JAM (Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile) enables direct benefit transfers. Together they transform service delivery efficiency and transparency.

Many modern NoSQL databases support ACID transactions, at least for single-document or single-partition operations. Examples: MongoDB (multi-document ACID since 4.0), Cassandra (lightweight transactions), Google Spanner (globally distributed ACID). Trade-offs exist between consistency, availability, and partition tolerance (CAP theorem).

RLV-TD (Reusable Launch Vehicle - Technology Demonstrator) program includes: HEX01 (hypersonic flight test, 2016) and LEX (Landing Experiment, 2023) which demonstrated autonomous landing of a winged body. These tests advance India's capability for cost-effective access to space through reusable rocket technology.

CERT-In (Indian Computer Emergency Response Team) is the national nodal agency for responding to cybersecurity incidents. Functions: threat analysis, vulnerability management, incident response, security awareness, and coordination with international CERTs. Operates under Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

Glacier Deep Archive (AWS) or equivalent cold storage tiers offer lowest cost for long-term retention with retrieval times of 12+ hours. Ideal for regulatory archives, backups, and historical data. Trade-off: low storage cost but high retrieval cost/latency. Choose storage class based on access frequency and RTO/RPO requirements.

DPDP Act 2023 has extraterritorial application: it governs processing of digital personal data (1) within India, and (2) outside India if it involves profiling or offering goods/services to individuals in India. Aligns with global frameworks like GDPR. Establishes Data Protection Board and mandates consent, purpose limitation, and data principal rights.

Read Committed isolation level ensures transactions see only committed data (prevents dirty reads). However, same query in same transaction may return different results if other transactions modify data (non-repeatable reads) or add new rows (phantom reads). Default in PostgreSQL and Oracle; balances consistency and concurrency.

Gaganyaan is ISRO's human spaceflight program to send Indian astronauts to low Earth orbit (~400 km) for 3-7 days. Includes crew module, service module, life support, and crew escape system. Multiple uncrewed test flights precede crewed mission. Represents India's capability in human-rated launch vehicles and space medicine.

Serverless (e.g., AWS Lambda, Azure Functions) abstracts server management from developers. Servers still exist but are fully managed by the provider. Developers deploy code functions that auto-scale and charge per execution. Benefits: no infrastructure management, automatic scaling, pay-per-use pricing. Not 'no servers' but 'no server management'.

CPGRAMS (Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System) is an online platform for lodging and tracking grievances against central government ministries/departments. Features: unique registration number, escalation mechanism, time-bound resolution, and public dashboard. Promotes accountability and responsive governance.

Atomicity is the 'A' in ACID properties. It guarantees that all operations within a transaction succeed as a unit, or none are applied. If any part fails, the entire transaction is rolled back. Critical for maintaining data consistency in banking, inventory, and other mission-critical applications.

As of 2026, ISRO has not yet demonstrated in-orbit refueling. SPADEX (Space Docking Experiment) tested docking/undocking, a prerequisite for servicing. POEM (PSLV Orbital Experimental Module) demonstrated using spent rocket stage as orbital platform. In-orbit servicing remains a future goal for satellite life extension and space debris management.

SMS-based OTP is vulnerable to SIM swapping, SS7 attacks, and phishing. More secure MFA methods include: authenticator apps (TOTP), hardware tokens (YubiKey), biometrics, and FIDO2/WebAuthn. NIST guidelines recommend moving away from SMS OTP for high-security applications. Layered security approach is essential.

Private Cloud is dedicated infrastructure for a single organization, offering maximum control, security, and customization. Can be on-premises or hosted by third party. Suitable for regulated industries (banking, defense) with strict compliance needs. Higher cost than public cloud but better data sovereignty and performance isolation.

e-NAM (Electronic National Agriculture Market) is a pan-India electronic trading portal connecting existing APMC mandis. Provides real-time price discovery, online bidding, quality assaying, and payment settlement. Aims to create a unified national market for agricultural commodities, reducing intermediation and improving farmer incomes.

DROP TABLE removes the entire table structure and all data permanently; cannot be rolled back in most systems. DELETE removes rows (can use WHERE, can be rolled back). TRUNCATE removes all rows quickly but keeps table structure. DROP is a DDL command; DELETE/TRUNCATE are DML commands.

Homomorphic encryption enables performing calculations on ciphertext, producing encrypted results that, when decrypted, match operations performed on plaintext. Critical for privacy-preserving cloud computing, secure voting, and confidential AI inference. Still computationally intensive but advancing with research and hardware acceleration.