Technology – MCQ – GK Questions

CERT-In Direction 20 (April 2022) requires service providers to synchronize ICT system clocks with NIC's National Time Server for accurate incident timeline correlation. Also mandates 6-hour incident reporting and 180-day log retention. Critical for cybersecurity compliance questions.

Apache Spark provides in-memory distributed computing for big data: batch, streaming, ML, graph processing. Faster than Hadoop MapReduce due to in-memory processing. Supports Scala, Python, SQL. Critical for big data engineering and analytics questions.

Behavioral Analytics uses ML to establish baselines of normal behavior and flag deviations indicating threats (insider threats, zero-days). Complements signature-based detection. Implemented in UEBA, NDR solutions. Critical for next-gen SOC and threat hunting questions.

Lead Time for Changes (DORA metric) measures time from code commit to successful production deployment. Key indicator of delivery speed and process efficiency. Other DORA metrics: Deployment Frequency, Change Failure Rate, MTTR. Critical for DevOps performance questions.

Deployment manages replica sets of pods: defines replicas, update strategy, rollback, and scaling. Ensures desired state is maintained. Pod is smallest deployable unit; Service exposes pods; ConfigMap stores configuration. Critical for Kubernetes administration questions.

Section 10 of DPDP Act mandates Significant Data Fiduciaries (based on data volume, sensitivity, risk) to appoint DPO, conduct audits, and implement grievance redressal. Enhances accountability for high-risk data processing. Critical for compliance and governance questions.

Parquet is a columnar storage format optimized for analytics: efficient compression, predicate pushdown, and schema evolution. Reduces I/O by reading only required columns. Used in Spark, Hive, Presto. CSV/JSON are row-oriented; XML is verbose. Critical for big data engineering questions.

Identity federation attacks exploit trust between identity providers (IdP) and service providers (SP) in SSO setups. Attackers compromise IdP to gain access to multiple federated services. Mitigation: MFA, short-lived tokens, strict trust policies. Critical for cloud security architecture questions.

CI/CD pipeline automates: Continuous Integration (code merge + testing), Continuous Delivery (release-ready artifacts), Continuous Deployment (auto-production release). Tools: Jenkins, GitLab CI, GitHub Actions. Critical for agile software delivery and DevOps questions in technical exams.

Circuit Breaker pattern prevents cascading failures by stopping requests to failing services temporarily, allowing recovery. Implemented in libraries like Resilience4j, Hystrix. Service mesh (Istio, Linkerd) provides infrastructure-level resilience. Critical for building fault-tolerant distributed systems.

Digital India Act (proposed) aims to replace IT Act 2000 with updated framework addressing: platform accountability, emerging tech governance, user rights, and cybercrime. Complements DPDP Act 2023. Critical for understanding India's evolving digital regulatory landscape in policy-focused exams.

Stream Processing (Apache Kafka, Flink, Spark Streaming) processes data in real-time as it arrives, enabling instant insights for fraud detection, IoT monitoring, and live dashboards. Batch processing handles historical data; ETL transforms data for storage; data warehousing supports analytical queries. Critical for modern data architecture questions.

Zero Trust Architecture assumes no implicit trust based on network location. Every access request is authenticated, authorized, and encrypted regardless of origin. Implements micro-segmentation, least-privilege access, and continuous monitoring. Critical for modern enterprise security and frequently tested in banking/UPSC exams.

Quantum accelerometers and gyroscopes use atom interferometry for drift-free navigation, critical for submarines, aircraft, and autonomous vehicles in GPS-denied environments. AI enhances sensor fusion and error correction. Research by DRDO, ISRO, and global labs. Critical for strategic technology questions.

Disaster response leverages: citizen reports via apps (NDMA, state SDMAs), social media monitoring for real-time intelligence, and GIS for visualizing crowd-sourced data. Enhances situational awareness and resource allocation. Critical for community resilience and participatory governance questions.

IndiaChain (proposed by MeitY) envisions a permissioned blockchain network for government services: land records, supply chain, identity, and certificates. Aims to enhance transparency, reduce fraud, and enable interoperability. Pilot projects underway in states. Critical for digital governance innovation questions.

Bhashini (Digital India Bhashini) integrates: NMT for text translation, speech recognition/synthesis for voice interfaces, and OCR for document digitization across 22 scheduled languages. Enables inclusive access to e-governance, education, and commerce. Critical for linguistic diversity and digital empowerment questions.

India excels in frugal innovation: low-cost space missions (Mangalyaan), affordable medical devices (EKG, ventilators), and scalable renewable solutions (solar microgrids). Driven by resource constraints, large domestic market, and engineering talent. Critical for understanding India's innovation model questions.

Privacy-enhancing technologies: SMPC enables collaborative computation on encrypted data, homomorphic encryption allows processing ciphertext, and ZK-proofs verify statements without revealing data. Critical for confidential AI, federated learning, and privacy-preserving analytics in finance and healthcare.

Earthquake early warning systems use: dense seismometer networks for P-wave detection, GPS for crustal deformation, and satellite InSAR for post-event analysis. India's system (under NDMA) provides seconds to minutes of warning for automated actions (train braking, gas shutoff). Critical for seismic risk mitigation questions.