Current Affairs · Chapter 12 of 22
Science, Technology and Space: BPSC Prelims MCQs
85 practice questions on Science, Technology and Space. Each one opens to its answer and explanation.
Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla flew to the International Space Station on which mission?
- ACrew-9
- BAxiom-4
- CSoyuz MS-27
- DGaganyaan-1
Shubhanshu Shukla is the second Indian to go to space. Who was the first?
- ASunita Williams, in 2006
- BKalpana Chawla, in 1997
- CRavish Malhotra, in 1984
- DRakesh Sharma, in 1984
What was Shubhanshu Shukla's role on the Axiom-4 crew?
- ACommander
- BPilot
- CMission specialist
- DFlight engineer
Who commanded the Axiom-4 mission?
- APeggy Whitson of the USA
- BSunita Williams of the USA
- CTibor Kapu of Hungary
- DSławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland
The Axiom-4 mission lasted about how many days, against the 14 days first planned?
- A14 days
- B21 days
- C18 days
- D10 days
Shubhanshu Shukla's Axiom-4 flight helps India prepare mainly for:
- Athe Venus Orbiter Mission
- Bthe Mars Orbiter Mission-2
- Cthe Chandrayaan-4 sample return mission
- Dthe Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission
Which of the following is NOT one of the four astronauts chosen for Gaganyaan?
- AGroup Captain Ajit Krishnan
- BGroup Captain Rakesh Sharma
- CGroup Captain Angad Pratap
- DGroup Captain Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair
The International Space Station orbits the Earth at a height of about:
- A2,000 km, in medium Earth orbit
- B36,000 km, in geostationary orbit
- C100 km, at the Kármán line
- D370–460 km, in low Earth orbit
The International Space Station is a joint project of:
- A15 countries and 5 space agencies, not including ISRO
- Bthe USA and Russia alone
- C15 countries and 5 space agencies, including ISRO
- D10 countries and 3 space agencies
India plans to have its own space station, the Bharatiya Antariksh Station, by:
- A2028
- B2030
- C2035
- D2040
Under the Gaganyaan mission, India plans to send how many astronauts, for how long?
- A3 astronauts for 3 days, to a 400 km orbit
- B4 astronauts for 14 days, to the ISS
- C1 astronaut for 1 day, to a 200 km orbit
- D2 astronauts for 7 days, to a 400 km orbit
If Gaganyaan succeeds, India will become which country to send humans to space on its own and bring them back?
- AThe second, after the USA
- BThe fifth, after the USA, Russia, China and Japan
- CThe fourth, after the USA, Russia and China
- DThe third, after the USA and Russia
Which humanoid robot will fly first on an uncrewed Gaganyaan mission?
- AManav
- BVyommitra
- CPragyan
- DAkash
Chandrayaan-3 made India the first country to land near the Moon's:
- Anorth pole
- Bfar side
- Cequator
- Dsouth pole
What were the names of Chandrayaan-3's lander and rover?
- AVikram and Kalpana
- BPragyan and Vikram
- CAryabhata and Bhaskara
- DVikram and Pragyan
Before India, which three countries had soft-landed on the Moon?
- AThe USSR (Russia), the USA and China
- BThe USA, Japan and China
- CThe USSR, the USA and Japan
- DThe USA, China and Israel
The main aim of Chandrayaan-4 is to:
- Aland the first Indian astronaut on the Moon
- Bput a rover on the Moon's north pole
- Cbring lunar samples back to Earth
- Dstudy the Moon from orbit only
Chandrayaan-5, also called LUPEX (Lunar Polar Exploration Mission), is a joint mission of ISRO and:
- AESA of Europe
- BJAXA of Japan
- CNASA of the USA
- DCNES of France
Which country's lunar mission, Chang'e-5, returned samples from a geologically young region of the Moon?
- AUSA
- BChina
- CRussia
- DJapan
Vikram 3201, presented to PM Modi at Semicon India 2025, is:
- AIndia's first fully home-made 32-bit microprocessor for rockets
- Ba graphics processor for AI made by C-DAC
- CIndia's first 50-qubit quantum computer
- Da 2 nm smartphone chip made by Tata Electronics
India's first privately built launchpad, "Dhanush", at Sriharikota belongs to:
- ADhruva Space
- BPixxel
- CAgnikul Cosmos
- DSkyroot Aerospace
Agnibaan SOrTeD, launched by Agnikul Cosmos, was the world's first rocket with:
- Aan electric propulsion engine
- Ba reusable first stage
- Ca methane–oxygen engine
- Da single-piece 3D-printed engine
3D printing is called "additive manufacturing" because:
- Amaterial is cut away from a solid block
- Bseveral materials are mixed into an alloy
- Cmaterial is added layer by layer from a digital design
- Dparts are joined by welding
Skyroot Aerospace test-fired "Kalam-1200", the first-stage motor of which rocket?
- AVikram-1, India's first privately built orbital rocket
- BAgnibaan, India's first 3D-printed rocket
- CSSLV, ISRO's small launch vehicle
- DLVM3, ISRO's heaviest rocket
SCOT (Space Camera for Object Tracking) of Digantara is:
- Aa ground radar that tracks space debris from Earth
- Ba camera on the Chandrayaan-3 rover
- Ca weather satellite built by an Indian start-up
- Da satellite that tracks objects in orbit from space
India's first satellite, Aryabhata, turned 50 on 19 April 2025. It was launched in 1975 from:
- ASriharikota, on an SLV rocket
- BKapustin Yar in the USSR, on a Soviet rocket
- CThumba, on a sounding rocket
- DKourou in French Guiana, on an Ariane rocket
The National Quantum Mission's new "Quantum Valley" is coming up at:
- AAmaravati, Andhra Pradesh
- BPune, Maharashtra
- CBengaluru, Karnataka
- DHyderabad, Telangana
IIT Bombay developed QMagPI, India's first portable quantum:
- Aclock
- Brandom number generator
- Cmagnetometer
- Dcomputer
Q-Shield, described as the world's first seamless cryptography management platform, was launched by which Bengaluru start-up?
- ADigantara
- BQNu Labs
- CQpiAI
- DSarvam AI
BIRSA 101, launched in November 2025, is India's first indigenous CRISPR-based gene therapy for:
- Ahaemophilia
- Bthalassaemia
- Cmuscular dystrophy
- Dsickle cell disease
Sickle cell disease is caused by a defect in the gene for haemoglobin on which chromosome?
- AThe X chromosome
- BChromosome 21
- CChromosome 7
- DChromosome 11
A normal red blood cell lives about 120 days. A sickle-shaped red cell lives about:
- A10–20 days
- B60 days
- C200 days
- D120 days
Nafithromycin, developed by the DBT with Wockhardt, is India's first indigenous:
- Avaccine, against tuberculosis in adults
- Banti-cancer drug, for children with leukaemia
- Cantibiotic, against resistant pneumonia
- Dantiviral drug, against dengue fever
"DengiAll", which completed enrolment for phase III trials, is:
- Aa drug to raise the platelet count in dengue
- Ba single-dose vaccine against dengue
- Ca rapid test kit for dengue
- Da mosquito repellent made from neem oil
Who coined the term "artificial intelligence", in 1956?
- AMarvin Minsky
- BGeoffrey Hinton
- CAlan Turing
- DJohn McCarthy
In "ChatGPT", what does GPT stand for?
- AGeneralised Prediction Text
- BGlobal Processing Tool
- CGenerative Pre-trained Transformer
- DGeneral Purpose Technology
The Turing Award, called the "Nobel Prize of computing", is named after:
- AAlan Turing, the British mathematician
- BAda Lovelace, the British mathematician
- CCharles Babbage, the British inventor
- DJohn von Neumann, the Hungarian-American mathematician
NITI Aayog released India's National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence in:
- A2023
- B2018
- C2016
- D2020
Sarvam AI's "Bulbul" model does which task?
- ATranslation of legal documents
- BSpeech-to-text in Indian languages
- CText-to-speech in Indian languages
- DReading of handwritten documents
Tamil Nadu signed an agreement with Sarvam AI to set up India's first:
- Afull-stack sovereign AI park
- Bsemiconductor fab
- CAI university
- Dquantum computing centre
BharatGen, launched in June 2025, is:
- Aa satellite for broadband in remote villages
- Ba genome database of 10,000 Indians
- Ca scheme to sell generic medicines cheaply
- Da government-funded AI language model for Indian languages
CALM-Brain, launched in Bengaluru, is India's first:
- Abrain-computer interface for paralysed patients
- Bdata repository on psychiatric disorders
- Cdementia care centre for the elderly
- Dmental health helpline for students
The "Supernova Stent", tried for the first time in India at AIIMS New Delhi, is used to treat:
- Aglaucoma caused by fluid pressure
- Bblocked arteries of the heart
- Cstroke caused by a blood clot
- Dstones in the kidney
India's first state-funded Bio-Safety Level 4 (BSL-4) laboratory is being built at:
- AHyderabad, Telangana
- BPune, Maharashtra
- CLucknow, Uttar Pradesh
- DGandhinagar, Gujarat
Hansa-3 NG, whose production version was launched in 2025, is:
- Aa two-seater trainer aircraft built by CSIR-NAL
- Ba military transport aircraft built by Tata
- Ca 19-seat passenger plane built by HAL
- Da light fighter jet built by HAL
The first Tejas LCA Mk1A from HAL's new production line was unveiled in October 2025 at:
- ABengaluru
- BNashik
- CKanpur
- DKoraput
Where was India's first private-sector helicopter assembly line, for the Airbus H125, set up?
- ANagpur, Maharashtra
- BVemagal, Kolar, Karnataka
- CHyderabad, Telangana
- DHosur, Tamil Nadu
India's first overseas defence manufacturing facility, of Tata Advanced Systems, is at:
- ABerrechid, Morocco
- BHanoi, Vietnam
- CJohannesburg, South Africa
- DAbu Dhabi, UAE
BrahMos, the supersonic cruise missile, is named after:
- Athe Brahmaputra and Volga rivers
- BBrahma and Moses
- Cthe Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers
- DBrahma and the Moscow Kremlin
Which country was the first foreign buyer of the BrahMos missile?
- AVietnam
- BArmenia
- CIndonesia
- DThe Philippines
Which statement about the Ebola virus is correct?
- AA cure for it has been in wide use since 1976
- BIt was first found in Guinea, in the outbreak of 2014
- CIt is spread mainly by the bite of mosquitoes
- DIt causes haemorrhagic fever and comes from fruit bats
India's first indigenous Quantum Diamond Microscope was developed by:
- Athe Raman Research Institute, Bengaluru
- BIISc Bengaluru
- Cthe PQuest group at IIT Bombay
- Dthe Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai
ColoNoX, launched in November 2025, is India's first nitric-oxide-releasing dressing for diabetic foot ulcers. It was developed by:
- AAIIMS, New Delhi
- Bthe Bhabha Atomic Research Centre
- CCSIR-IICT, Hyderabad
- Dthe Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru
MadhuNETrAI, unveiled by AIIMS, is India's first fully validated AI app to detect:
- Adiabetic retinopathy
- Btuberculosis from chest X-rays
- Cskin cancer
- Dheart disease from ECGs
AIIMS New Delhi performed India's first:
- Abladder transplant
- Bface transplant
- Crobot-assisted kidney transplant
- Dheart transplant
India's first portable bedside MRI system, an ultra-low-field machine, was set up at:
- APGIMER, Chandigarh
- BTata Memorial, Mumbai
- CCMC Vellore
- DAIIMS New Delhi
"Srjanam", launched at AIIMS New Delhi in February 2025, is India's first indigenous:
- Ainsulin pump for children
- Bplant to treat biomedical waste
- Crobot for heart surgery
- Dartificial heart pump
India's first Animal Stem Cell Biobank was opened in August 2025 at:
- Athe National Institute of Animal Biotechnology, Hyderabad
- Bthe Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad
- Cthe Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar
- Dthe National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal
India's first Diabetes Biobank, set up in December 2024, is at:
- AChennai, by ICMR and MDRF
- BBengaluru, by ICMR and NIMHANS
- CNew Delhi, by ICMR and AIIMS
- DHyderabad, by ICMR and CCMB
Which country formally approved the world's first treatments using induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, for Parkinson's disease and heart failure?
- AUSA
- BChina
- CSouth Korea
- DJapan
Coartem Baby, approved in Switzerland in July 2025, is the world's first malaria medicine for:
- Atravellers going to malaria areas
- Bpregnant women
- Cnewborns and babies under 4.5 kg
- Dpeople with severe malaria in hospital
Who produced the world's first genome designed entirely by AI, using the model "Evo"?
- Athe Wellcome Sanger Institute
- BStanford University and the Arc Institute
- Cthe Broad Institute
- DGoogle DeepMind
Doctors in the USA treated an infant with CPS-1 deficiency using:
- Aa pig liver transplant
- Ban artificial womb
- Ca personalised CRISPR therapy
- Da gene therapy for haemophilia
The world's first AI-designed genome-editing tool for plants, Plant OpenCRISPR-1, was developed at:
- Athe Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi
- BICAR-Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack
- CCSIR-NBRI, Lucknow
- Dthe International Rice Research Institute, Philippines
Where was the world's first humanoid robot half-marathon held, in April 2025?
- ASeoul
- BSan Francisco
- CTokyo
- DBeijing
Which company became the world's first worth US$5 trillion, in October 2025?
- ANvidia
- BAlphabet
- CApple
- DMicrosoft
"Diella", appointed by Albania to oversee public tenders, is:
- Aan anti-corruption law
- Ba satellite for monitoring borders
- Cthe first woman Prime Minister of Albania
- Dthe world's first AI-generated government minister
Which company made the world's first satellite video call from an ordinary smartphone?
- AAST SpaceMobile, from Texas
- BJio, from Ladakh
- CVodafone, from the Welsh mountains
- DSpaceX's Starlink, from Alaska
The world's first 10G broadband network was launched in Sunan county, Hebei, China, by:
- AXiaomi and China Telecom
- BHuawei and China Unicom
- CZTE and China Mobile
- DHuawei and China Telecom
McAfee's Deepfake Detector, unveiled in January 2025, is described as:
- Athe world's first AI-powered deepfake detector
- Ban AI that makes deepfakes for films
- CIndia's first cyber-security app
- Da government tool to block deepfakes
Razorpay launched the world's first AI Agent Studio for payments, built with:
- AMeta's Llama models
- BGoogle's Gemini API
- CAnthropic's Claude Agent SDK
- DOpenAI's GPT Store
Pandit.ai, launched in November 2025, is described as:
- Aan astrology app of the government
- Ban AI tutor for Sanskrit
- CIndia's first AI law adviser
- Dthe world's first voice AI pandit
TALAY, unveiled by Turkey, is the world's first:
- Ahypersonic missile
- Bsea-skimming combat drone
- Celectric aircraft carrier
- Dstealth submarine
Tensor Robocar, unveiled in Dubai, is the world's first personal vehicle built with:
- ALevel 4 autonomy
- Bflying ability
- Ca hydrogen engine
- Da solar roof
Japan's JPYC, launched in October 2025, is the world's first:
- Abitcoin exchange-traded fund
- Bstablecoin pegged to the Japanese yen
- Ccrypto tax law
- Dcentral bank digital currency
Russia announced it would build the world's first nuclear power system with:
- Afloating reactors on the Arctic Ocean, by 2026
- Bfusion reactors, by 2027
- Ca closed fuel cycle, by 2030
- Dthorium fuel, by 2028
Mount Fentale in Ethiopia was found to be releasing large amounts of which greenhouse gas?
- AMethane
- BCarbon monoxide
- CSulphur hexafluoride
- DNitrous oxide
Over 100 years, methane traps about how many times more heat than carbon dioxide?
- AAbout 300 times
- BAbout 3 times
- CAbout 1,000 times
- DAbout 28 times
CSIR-CBRI, Roorkee, built India's first:
- Aearthquake-proof dam in the Himalaya
- B3-D printed rural house under PMAY-G
- Cfloating solar plant on a canal
- Dunderground metro station made of bamboo
India's first Integrated Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) field laboratory was opened at:
- AIISc Bengaluru
- BIIT Kharagpur
- CIIT Madras
- DIIT Bombay
Eveready Industries set up India's first alkaline battery factory at:
- AChennai
- BNoida
- CJammu
- DKolkata
In an alkaline battery, the electrolyte is generally:
- Apotassium hydroxide
- Blithium hexafluorophosphate
- Cammonium chloride
- Dsulphuric acid
India's first indigenous high-precision compact diode laser for quantum communication was developed by:
- AISRO's Space Applications Centre
- BBharat Electronics Ltd, a PSU
- CPrenishq, a start-up
- Dthe Raman Research Institute
India's first indigenous hydrogen fuel-cell passenger vessel was built by:
- AMazagon Dock
- BGoa Shipyard
- CGarden Reach Shipbuilders
- DCochin Shipyard Ltd
The Vikramaditya Vedic Clock, in the news, divides a day (sunrise to sunrise) into:
- A30 muhurtas of 48 minutes each
- B60 ghatis of 30 minutes each
- C8 prahars of 3 hours each
- D24 hours of 60 minutes each
All 22 chapters of Current Affairs
- Brand Ambassadors70 questions
- Appointments and Leaders54 questions
- International Organisations and Summits74 questions
- World Affairs55 questions
- Awards and Honours81 questions
- Persons in News and Obituaries58 questions
- Books and Authors125 questions
- Polity, Law and Governance66 questions
- Economy, Banking and Finance80 questions
- Schemes, Missions and Initiatives44 questions
- Infrastructure and Transport50 questions
- Science, Technology and Space85 questions
- Environment, Energy and Wildlife83 questions
- First in India83 questions
- First in the World34 questions
- Portals and Apps65 questions
- Places in News and Changed Names70 questions
- Art, Culture and Heritage64 questions
- GI Tags69 questions
- Years, Decades and Words of the Year23 questions
- India's Targets32 questions
- Bihar in the News36 questions