Prelims Mantra (Practice Questions) (19/03/2026)

Answer: B

Explanation:

• • 1–B (ISRO – Research): The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is the primary agency responsible for space research and development in India.
  • 2–A (IN-SPACe – Regulation): The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) acts as a single-window, autonomous nodal agency to promote, authorize, and regulate space activities by non-governmental entities.
  • 3–C (NSIL – Commercialization): NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) is the dedicated commercial arm of ISRO, focused on scaling up industry participation and commercializing space products and services.

Answer: C

Explanation:

Statement-I is correct:

• • Ethical and Societal Risks: Artificial Intelligence (AI) poses significant challenges, including algorithmic bias, privacy concerns, misinformation, and job displacement.
  • Need for Regulation: Leading global organizations and governments emphasize that regulation is essential to ensure AI is developed and deployed responsibly, transparently, and safely for society.

Statement-II is incorrect:

• • Human Involvement: AI systems do not “inherently” operate without any human input. Humans are critical at multiple stages:
    • Development: Humans design the algorithms, select the training datasets, and set the parameters for the system.
    • Training & Feedback: Many AI models rely on Human-in-the-loop (HITL) systems or Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF) to improve accuracy and safety.
    • Deployment: Humans decide where and how these systems are used, maintaining ultimate responsibility for their outcomes.

Answer: C

Explanation:

• • Statement 1 is correct: Buffer stock operations are a key tool for controlling inflation. By releasing food grains into the open market from government reserves (through schemes like the Open Market Sale Scheme), the government increases supply to stabilize or lower prices when they start rising.
  • Statement 2 is incorrect: Buffer stocks are not maintained only during crises. While they are crucial for emergencies like droughts or floods, they are maintained continuously to ensure year-round food security, supply the Public Distribution System (PDS), and meet monthly requirements for various welfare schemes.
  • Statement 3 is correct: The Minimum Support Price (MSP) is directly linked to buffer stock procurement. The Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state agencies procure food grains directly from farmers at the MSP to build and replenish the national buffer stock.

Answer: D

Explanation:

All three activities listed are primary forms of cyberattacks used by threat actors to compromise digital systems, data, or services.

• • Phishing: This is a type of social engineering where attackers trick individuals into revealing sensitive information such as login credentials or financial details by pretending to be a trustworthy entity in electronic communications. Common methods include Email Phishing, Smishing (SMS), and Vishing (voice).
  • Ransomware: A specialized form of malware that encrypts a victim’s files or locks their system, making them inaccessible. The attacker then demands a ransom payment, typically in cryptocurrency, to provide the decryption key.
  • Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS): An attack that seeks to make an online service, network, or website unavailable by overwhelming it with a massive volume of traffic from multiple compromised sources (often called a botnet). This “denial of service” prevents legitimate users from accessing the resource.

Answer: B

Explanation:

• • Pair 1: Offshore wind energy – Renewable energy: This is correctly matched. Offshore wind power involves generating electricity from wind farms located in bodies of water, which is a major component of the marine renewable energy sector within the blue economy.
  • Pair 2: Deep sea mining – Marine extraction: This is correctly matched. Deep sea mining refers to the extraction of mineral deposits from the ocean floor (seabed), which falls under the category of marine mineral extraction or seabed extractive activities.
  • Pair 3: Inland agriculture – Blue economy: This is incorrectly matched. The blue economy specifically refers to the sustainable use of ocean and coastal resources for economic growth. Inland agriculture is a land-based activity and is part of the traditional primary sector (Green Economy), not the Blue Economy.

Answer: A

Explanation:

• • 1–B (OPEC – Oil producing cartel): The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is an intergovernmental organization that acts as a cartel to coordinate and unify petroleum policies among its member nations to stabilize oil markets.
  • 2–A (SPR – Strategic oil reserve): Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) are emergency stockpiles of crude oil maintained by governments (like the US Department of Energy or the Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited) to safeguard against private supply disruptions or national emergencies.
  • 3–C (Brent Crude – Benchmark crude oil): Brent Crude is one of the major global benchmarks used by traders to price roughly two-thirds of the world’s internationally traded crude oil supplies.