Science & Technology: syllabus hub.
Syllabus: UPSC Pre GS1: General Science; Mains GS3: S&T developments
Mission Mausam for UPSC: how weather is forecast, IMD and MoES bodies, ₹2,000 crore mission, radars, Bharat Forecast System, supercomputers, challenges.
ANRF for UPSC: ANRF Act 2023, structure, funding, the ₹1 lakh crore RDI scheme, India's R&D spending, challenges and way forward, with…
BioE3 policy for UPSC: meaning, six thematic sectors, biomanufacturing and Bio-AI hubs, biofoundries, India's bioeconomy size, challenges and way forward.
One Health for UPSC: meaning, zoonoses and spillover, drivers, Quadripartite of FAO, UNEP, WHO and WOAH, India's National One Health Mission, gaps,…
Antimicrobial resistance for UPSC: how resistance develops, deaths and burden, causes in India, Red Line, colistin ban, AWaRe, NAP-AMR 2.0 and way…
Semiconductors for UPSC: what a chip is, design-fab-packaging chain, Taiwan, India Semiconductor Mission, Dholera, Sanand, Jewar plants.
Attempt them here.
Which of the following statements with regard to Black Boxes used in modern aircrafts is/are correct ?
Select the answer using the code given below :
Statements 2 and 3 are correct (b). Statement 2 is right: the "black box" is really two orange recorders, the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder. Statement 3 is right: their crash-survivable memory sits in stainless steel or titanium shells. Statement 1 is wrong: under water, the locator beacon sends out ultrasonic pulses, about 37.5 kHz, not red light. So options (a), (c) and (d) fail.
Notice why they are orange: to be easy to spot in wreckage. The beacon works for about 30 to 90 days. Black boxes were key in probing the Air India Ahmedabad crash (June 2025); India's AAIB read its data at a new lab in Delhi. Newer rules call for 25-hour voice recording.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following statements with regard to involvement of private entities in India’s space programme :
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
Statements 1 and 2 are correct (c). Statement 1 is right: IN-SPACe (2020) is the single-window, autonomous body under the Department of Space that authorises private space activity. Statement 2 is right: Agnikul's Agnibaan SOrTeD (May 2024) flew on the world's first single-piece 3D-printed semi-cryogenic engine. Statement 3 is wrong: Skyroot builds its own Vikram rockets; it does not make fuel for ISRO's GSLV. So options (a), (b) and (d) fail.
Notice Skyroot's milestone: Vikram-S (2022) was India's first privately built rocket to reach space. The Indian Space Policy, 2023 opened all space activities to private firms, and 100% FDI is allowed in parts of the sector. NSIL is ISRO's commercial arm.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which of the following statements with regard to drone swarms is/are correct ?
Select the answer using the code given below :
Statements 2 and 3 are correct (b). Statement 2 is right: in a swarm, the drones talk to each other and share tasks, so the group keeps working even if some are lost. Statement 3 is right: defenders often jam or spoof GPS to send them off course. Statement 1 is wrong: swarms usually use ordinary radio bands; terahertz links are still experimental and short-range. So options (a), (c) and (d) fail.
Notice other counters: laser weapons, like DRDO's directed-energy systems, anti-drone guns and net systems. India showed a 75-drone swarm at the 2021 Army Day parade. Drone wars in Ukraine and during Operation Sindoor (2025) showed how cheap drones can overwhelm costly defences.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which of the following statements with regard to GenomeIndia Project is/are correct ?
Select the answer using the code given below :
Statements 2 and 3 are correct (b). Statement 2 is right: GenomeIndia (2020) is funded by the Department of Biotechnology. Statement 3 is right: it sequenced 10,000 genomes from many Indian communities to build a catalogue of the country's genetic variation, and the data was released in 2025. Statement 1 is wrong: the international Human Genome Project was a separate effort that ended in 2003. So options (a), (c) and (d) fail.
Notice the uses: finding gene variants behind diseases common in India, such as sickle cell and thalassaemia, and building personalised medicine. The data is stored at the Indian Biological Data Centre in Faridabad. A larger follow-up aims to sequence one million genomes.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which of the following statements with regard to the National Quantum Mission (NQM) is/are correct ?
Select the answer using the code given below :
Both statements are correct (c). Statement 1 is right: the National Quantum Mission (2023, under the DST) aims at quantum computers of 50–1,000 physical qubits within eight years. Statement 2 is right: it has four T-Hubs: computing at IISc Bengaluru, communication at IIT Madras, sensing and metrology at IIT Bombay, and materials and devices at IIT Delhi. So options (a), (b) and (d) fail.
Notice the budget: about ₹6,000 crore from 2023-24 to 2030-31. The mission also aims at secure quantum communication over 2,000 km between cities, and satellite-based quantum links. India joined a handful of nations, like the USA, China and France, with such a dedicated mission.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which of the following statements with regard to India’s Deep Ocean Mission is/are correct ?
Select the answer using the code given below :
Statements 2 and 3 are correct (b). Statement 2 is right: Matsya-6000 is a submersible designed to take three people to a depth of 6,000 metres. Statement 3 is right: Samudrayaan is the project under the mission that is building it. Statement 1 is wrong: the Deep Ocean Mission (2021) belongs to the Ministry of Earth Sciences, not the shipping ministry. So options (a), (c) and (d) fail.
Notice the mission's other parts: deep-sea mining of polymetallic nodules in the Central Indian Ocean Basin, ocean biodiversity, and climate advisory services. The National Institute of Ocean Technology in Chennai builds Matsya. Only a few countries, such as the USA, China, Japan and France, have crewed deep-sea vehicles.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which of the following statements about DHRUV64 is/are correct ?
Select the answer using the code given below :
Both statements are correct (c). Statement 1 is right: DHRUV64, announced in December 2025 by C-DAC, is the third chip fabricated under the Digital India RISC-V (DIR-V) programme, after THEJAS32 and THEJAS64. Statement 2 is right: it is India's first homegrown 1.0 GHz, 64-bit dual-core microprocessor. So options (a), (b) and (d) fail.
Notice the technology: RISC-V is an open-source instruction set, so India can design chips without paying licence fees to owners of ARM or x86 designs. DHRUV64 targets 5G equipment, industrial automation, automotive and IoT uses. Next in line are the Dhanush chips. The India Semiconductor Mission (2021) supports the wider fab and assembly ecosystem.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which one of the following pairs of semiconductor plants in India and their locations is not correctly matched ?
The pair HCL-Foxconn : Madhya Pradesh is wrong (c). The HCL–Foxconn joint venture India Chip Ltd. was approved in 2025 near Jewar in Uttar Pradesh, close to the new airport, not in Madhya Pradesh. Option (a) is correct: CG Power with Renesas and STARS is building at Sanand, Gujarat. Option (b) is correct: Tata's assembly and test unit is at Jagiroad, Assam. Option (d) is correct: SiCSem's silicon carbide fab is in Odisha.
Notice the anchor project: Tata and PSMC of Taiwan are building India's first big fab at Dholera, Gujarat, and Micron's assembly unit is at Sanand. These come under the India Semiconductor Mission (2021), which offers about 50% fiscal support.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched its Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission on an H3 rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center at about 1:11 am IST on 20 October 2026. It aims to collect at least 10 grams of material from Phobos, the larger moon of Mars, and return it to Earth in 2031. If it succeeds, Japan will be the first country to bring back samples from a Martian moon.
UPSC angle: Prelims: MMX facts, Phobos vs Deimos, sample-return missions. · Mains GS-III: planetary exploration and cooperation.
21 Oct 2026
In October 2026 alone, Reflection AI, Meta, NVIDIA and Mistral released or announced open-weight AI models. The Hindu explained on 20 October why firms spend heavily and then let anyone download the weights: to win developers, set standards and earn from cloud, chips and services. For India, open weights offer a base to build Indian-language AI, but they also bring safety risks.
UPSC angle: Prelims: weights, open-weight vs open-source, IndiaAI, AI4Bharat. · Mains GS-III: AI sovereignty, safety and regulation.
21 Oct 2026
Scientists at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bengaluru, have produced Doppler velocity images of the solar corona using the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC) on Aditya-L1. The images show whether coronal plasma is moving towards or away from us, and can help track whether a coronal mass ejection (CME) is heading for Earth. The method has been published in the Astrophysical Journal.
UPSC angle: Prelims: Aditya-L1, L1 point, VELC, CMEs, Doppler effect. · Mains GS-III: space science and protecting space assets.
20 Oct 2026
At a curtain raiser on 19 October 2026, Vice Chief of the Naval Staff Vice Admiral Ajay Kochhar announced the fifth edition of Swavlamban, the Navy’s flagship innovation and indigenisation seminar. It will be held on 26–27 October at the Manekshaw Centre, New Delhi, where the Navy will release the NAUSETU interface standards and a technology compendium.
UPSC angle: Prelims: NIIO, iDEX, NBCD, NAUSETU, DAP 2020. · Mains GS-III: innovation-led defence self-reliance.
19 Oct 2026
The National Medical Commission (NMC) has de-notified the Maintenance of Standards of Medical Education Regulations, 2023 (MSMER-2023) by a notification dated 14 October 2026, published in the Gazette on 16 October. Its fixed penalties, including seat cuts and fines of up to ₹5 lakh for false records, go with it. The Annual Disclosure Report stays.
UPSC angle: Prelims: NMC Act 2019, autonomous boards, Concurrent List Entry 25. · Mains GS-II: regulation of medical education.
19 Oct 2026
A PIB backgrounder of 18 October 2026 puts the spotlight on Kufri Jamunia, a purple-fleshed potato bred by ICAR’s Central Potato Research Institute and released in 2024. It has nearly twice the Vitamin C of a common potato and several times more zinc and iron, along with antioxidants called anthocyanins. The idea is clever: instead of asking people to change what they eat, make the food they already eat more nutritious. That is biofortification.
UPSC angle: Prelims: Kufri Jamunia, CPRI, anthocyanins, biofortification vs fortification. · Mains GS-III: nutrition security; GS-II: hunger.
18 Oct 2026