APPSC Group-1 2017 Science and Technology Previous Year Questions

Ans: (2) GSLV-Mk-III – D1 (as per APPSC official final key)

ISRO described the GSLV Mk-III D1 as a “game changer“. It was ISRO’s heaviest rocket, able to put 4-tonne satellites into geosynchronous transfer orbit, with India’s own C25 cryogenic upper stage. On 5 June 2017 it launched GSAT-19 from Sriharikota. Before this, India depended on foreign rockets such as Ariane for heavy satellites.

Note:

• GSLV Mk-III is now called LVM3; it launched Chandrayaan-2 (2019) and Chandrayaan-3 (2023).
• LVM3 is the rocket chosen for Gaganyaan.

Ans: (4) Discovery of “Raman Effect” by C.V. Raman (as per APPSC official final key)

National Science Day is celebrated on 28 February to mark the discovery of the Raman Effect by C.V. Raman in 1928. The Raman Effect is the change in wavelength of light when it is scattered by molecules. Raman won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930, the first Asian to win a science Nobel. National Science Day was first observed in 1987.

Note:

• Aryabhata, India’s first satellite, was launched on 19 April 1975.
• Apsara, Asia’s first research reactor, went critical in August 1956.

Ans: (2) Robert Koch (as per APPSC official final key)

Robert Koch, a German doctor, discovered Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the TB bacillus, on 24 March 1882. This date is observed as World TB Day. He won the Nobel Prize in 1905 and gave Koch’s postulates for linking a germ to a disease.

Note:

• Edward Jenner: smallpox vaccine (1796). Louis Pasteur: rabies vaccine, pasteurisation. Ronald Ross: malaria transmission by mosquitoes (1897, Secunderabad).
• The BCG vaccine protects against TB.

Ans: (1) AR, BS, CQ, DP (as per APPSC official final key)

The parts of the body mainly affected by these diseases:

• Malaria – the Plasmodium parasite infects red blood cells (and the liver); spread by the female Anopheles mosquito.
• Filaria – the worm Wuchereria bancrofti lives in the lymph nodes and vessels, causing elephantiasis; spread by the Culex mosquito.
• Encephalitis – inflammation of the brain, e.g. Japanese encephalitis.
• Leukaemia – cancer of the blood-forming tissue in the bone marrow.

So A-R, B-S, C-Q, D-P.

Note:

• Dengue and chikungunya are spread by the Aedes mosquito.
• India’s goal is to eliminate malaria by 2030.

Ans: (3) Onion (as per APPSC official final key)

Onion is usually grown by raising seedlings in a nursery and then transplanting them to the field after 6–8 weeks. Rice, tomato, chilli, brinjal and cabbage are also transplanted. Maize, soyabean and carrot are sown directly, because carrot roots get damaged by transplanting.

Note:

• India is the second largest onion producer; Maharashtra (Lasalgaon) is the top state.
• Kharif, late kharif and rabi onions are grown.

Ans: (2) High sugar level and low insulin level in blood (as per APPSC official final key)

Diabetes mellitus is a disease of high blood sugar (glucose). In the classic form (Type 1), the pancreas produces little or no insulin, so glucose cannot enter cells and builds up in the blood. In Type 2, the body resists insulin, though insulin levels may be normal or even high early on. The key takes the textbook relation: high sugar and low insulin.

Insulin is made by the beta cells of the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas.

Note:

• Diabetes insipidus is caused by a lack of ADH (vasopressin), not insulin.
• Glucagon (alpha cells) raises blood sugar.

Ans: (3) Converting AC into DC (as per APPSC official final key)

A diode is a semiconductor device made of a p–n junction. It allows current to flow in only one direction. So it is used as a rectifier to convert AC into DC, as in mobile chargers and power supplies.

Special diodes include LEDs (light-emitting), Zener diodes (voltage regulation) and photodiodes.

Note:

• An inverter changes DC to AC.
• A transistor is used for amplification and switching.

Ans: (1) Krytron (as per APPSC official final key)

A krytron is a cold-cathode, gas-filled switching tube that can switch very high currents within nanoseconds. It is used to fire the detonators that trigger a nuclear bomb at exactly the same instant. Because of this, krytrons are on export-control lists of the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

A MOSFET is a transistor, and a solenoid is a coil used as an electromagnet.

Note:

• Krytrons are also used in photocopiers and laser triggering.
• A sprytron is a vacuum version of the krytron.

Ans: Question deleted by APPSC (official final key; no option is treated as correct)

APPSC deleted this question in the final key. The enzyme in tears that destroys bacteria is lysozyme, discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1922. It breaks down bacterial cell walls. The options gave “Lysosome“, which is a cell organelle (the “suicide bag” of the cell), not an enzyme. So no option was correct.

Note:

• Lysozyme is also found in saliva, mucus and egg white.
• Amylase digests starch; urease breaks down urea.

Ans: (4) Cornea (as per APPSC official final key)

In eye donation, the cornea, the clear front layer of the eye, is used. A corneal transplant (keratoplasty) can restore sight to people blinded by corneal damage. Eyes should be removed within 6 hours of death. One donor can help two people.

Note:

• National Eye Donation Fortnight: 25 August – 8 September.
• The Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 1994 regulates donation.

Ans: (1) dissolved inorganic salts (as per APPSC official final key)

Hard water contains dissolved salts of calcium and magnesium: bicarbonates, chlorides and sulphates. When soap is used, these react with it and form an insoluble scum, so little lather forms.

• Temporary hardness (bicarbonates) can be removed by boiling.
• Permanent hardness (chlorides and sulphates) needs washing soda or ion exchange.

Detergents work well even in hard water.

Note:

• Clark’s method uses lime to remove temporary hardness.
• Permutit (zeolite) process removes permanent hardness.

Ans: (2) TAPAS 201 (as per APPSC official final key)

TAPAS 201 (also called Rustom-II) is a medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) UAV developed by DRDO’s Aeronautical Development Establishment, Bengaluru. Its first flight was in November 2016 from Chitradurga, Karnataka. It is designed for surveillance and reconnaissance for the armed forces.

Note:

• Nishant is a DRDO tactical UAV; Netra is a mini-UAV.
• AURA (now Ghatak) is a stealth unmanned combat aircraft project.