UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Union Minister Pralhad Joshi Inaugurates 'White Rabbit Technology' Based Network Demonstration in Jakkur, Bengaluru

Q1. 'White Rabbit technology', as used in the IST distribution demonstration network at Bengaluru, is best described as which one of the following?

  • A. An Ethernet-based network technology that provides sub-nanosecond time and frequency synchronization over optical fibre
  • B. A satellite-based augmentation system that works exclusively by correcting GPS timing signals
  • C. A cesium fountain atomic clock that realises the national primary time standard
  • D. An undersea optical cable link operated solely by ISRO for transferring time signals

Q2. The 'One Nation, One Time' initiative and the Legal Metrology (Indian Standard Time) Rules, 2025 are being framed and operationalised by which one of the following?

  • A. Legal Metrology Division, Department of Consumer Affairs
  • B. Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications
  • C. National Informatics Centre, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology
  • D. Bureau of Indian Standards, Ministry of Consumer Affairs

Q3. In which year was Indian Standard Time (IST) adopted as the uniform official time for the whole of independent India?

  • A. 1947
  • B. 1905
  • C. 1884
  • D. 1955

Q4. With reference to Indian Standard Time (IST), consider the following statements. Which of the statements given above is/are NOT correct?

  1. IST is based on the 82.5° E meridian passing through Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh.
  2. IST is set at UTC + 5:30 hours.
  3. The 82.5° E meridian was selected as India's reference for standard time only in 1947, after independence.
  4. CSIR-National Physical Laboratory is the legal custodian of IST.
  • A. 3 only
  • B. 1 and 3 only
  • C. 3 and 4 only
  • D. 2 only

Q5. CSIR-National Physical Laboratory, the National Metrology Institute of India and custodian of IST, functions under which one of the following?

  • A. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, under the Ministry of Science and Technology
  • B. Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution
  • C. Ministry of Earth Sciences
  • D. Department of Space

Q6. Under the 'One Nation, One Time' project aimed at reducing dependence on foreign time sources, from how many Legal Metrology (Regional Reference Standards) laboratories is IST planned to be disseminated across India with millisecond-to-microsecond accuracy?

  • A. Five
  • B. Three
  • C. Seven
  • D. Nine

Q7. In the CSIR-NPL and ISRO IST-dissemination project, the term 'Precision Time Protocol (PTP)' refers to which one of the following?

  • A. A network protocol that synchronises clocks across a packet-switched network to sub-microsecond accuracy
  • B. A satellite ranging technique used to determine spacecraft orbital positions
  • C. An encryption standard for securing time-stamped financial transactions
  • D. A statutory audit procedure for calibrating weighing and measuring instruments

Q8. The White Rabbit-technology-based IST distribution demonstration network inaugurated at RRSL, Jakkur, Bengaluru was developed by CSIR-NPL in collaboration with which one of the following?

  • A. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
  • B. Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)
  • C. Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL)
  • D. Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC)