2015 GS Paper I, all questions

UPSC Prelims 2015 · GS Paper I

Question 10: Science and Technology

Which of the following statements is/are correct regarding National Innovation Foundation-India (NIF)?

  1. 1.NIF is an autonomous body of the Department of Science and Technology under the Central Government.
  2. 2.NIF is an initiative to strengthen the highly advanced scientific research in India's premier scientific institutions in collaboration with highly advanced foreign scientific institutions.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

a1 only
b2 only
cBoth 1 and 2
dNeither 1 nor 2

AnswerUPSC’s answer is (a).

The National Innovation Foundation-India, set up in 2000 and based in Gujarat, is an autonomous body under the Department of Science and Technology. Its job is to scout, support and spread grassroots innovations and traditional knowledge from ordinary people, not to fund advanced research in elite institutions with foreign partners. So statement 1 is correct and statement 2 is wrong.

  • 1. NIF is an autonomous body of the Department of Science and Technology.
  • 2. NIF promotes grassroots innovations and traditional knowledge, not advanced research with foreign institutes.

How you could have got this

  1. If you were sure statement 1 is correct, (b) and (d) go: each of them leaves 1 out.

    What you needed to know: NIF is an autonomous body of the Department of Science and Technology.

  2. Then, if you were sure statement 2 is not correct, (c) goes: it includes 2.

    What you needed to know: NIF promotes grassroots innovations and traditional knowledge, not advanced research with foreign institutes.

Only (a) is left. This one needs every statement.

Which options go is worked out from UPSC’s key and the options, not by a model.

Why each option is right or wrong
  • (a) Correct: NIF is an autonomous DST body, but its focus is grassroots innovation.
  • (b) Wrong: statement 2 describes collaborative advanced research, not NIF's mandate.
  • (c) Wrong: statement 2 is false.
  • (d) Wrong: statement 1 is true.

Answer: UPSC’s key. Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.

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Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2015, General Studies Paper I, Series A. The paper on upsc.gov.in.