UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Cloud Ecosystem in India

Q1. With reference to cloud computing, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above are correct?

  1. In serverless computing, servers continue to exist; the provider manages them and the user is charged for the execution of individual tasks.
  2. A hybrid cloud is a service model that lies between Platform as a Service and Software as a Service in terms of how much of the stack the provider manages.
  3. Under Software as a Service the user gets ready-to-use applications kept updated by the provider, whereas under Infrastructure as a Service the user rents virtual servers and storage and manages what runs on them.
  4. Public, private and hybrid clouds differ in who owns and shares the underlying infrastructure, not in which layers of the computing stack are delivered.
  • A. 1, 3 and 4 only
  • B. 1 and 2 only
  • C. 2, 3 and 4 only
  • D. 1, 2, 3 and 4

Q2. A municipal corporation's in-house developers want to write and deploy their own grievance-redressal application. They do not want to configure virtual machines, operating systems or networks themselves, and they do not want to buy ready-made grievance software. Which cloud service model best suits this need?

  • A. Storage as a Service
  • B. Platform as a Service
  • C. Software as a Service
  • D. Infrastructure as a Service

Q3. Consider the following statements: Which of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. Informational privacy, that is, control over one's personal data, enjoys constitutional protection in India.
  2. The Constitution of India, as originally adopted, expressly lists the right to privacy among the Fundamental Rights in Part III.
  • A. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
  • B. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
  • C. Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  • D. Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct

Q4. In the light of the Supreme Court's 2017 ruling recognising privacy as a fundamental right, consider the following statements about a State measure that allows government agencies to process citizens' personal data without their consent for a specified purpose: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The measure must have a basis in law to be constitutionally valid.
  2. The intrusion must be necessary for, and proportionate to, the purpose it seeks to achieve.
  3. Since privacy is a fundamental right, no exemption from consent for the State can ever be constitutionally valid.
  • A. 1, 2 and 3
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1 only
  • D. 1 and 2 only

Q5. With reference to security assurance for cloud services used by government bodies in India, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above are correct?

  1. Empanelment is an ex-ante check: a provider's cloud services are audited against specified international standards before ministries can use them.
  2. Even after empanelment, cloud service providers remain bound by directions on reporting cyber incidents issued under the Information Technology Act, 2000.
  3. The government's own cloud under MeghRaj is operated from NIC's National Data Centres, while private providers join the ecosystem through empanelment.
  4. The audit that precedes empanelment of a cloud service provider is carried out by the national cyber incident response agency.
  • A. 2 and 4 only
  • B. 1 and 3 only
  • C. 1, 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 3 and 4 only

Q6. India's national agency for responding to cyber security incidents derives its statutory designation from which one of the following laws?

  • A. Telecommunications Act, 2023
  • B. Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023
  • C. Official Secrets Act, 1923
  • D. Information Technology Act, 2000

Q7. If a government department stops buying its own servers and instead pays for cloud computing resources as and when it uses them, the most direct effect on the structure of its ICT spending would be

  • A. a shift from operating expenditure towards capital expenditure
  • B. a rise in computing hardware held as fixed assets
  • C. a shift from capital expenditure towards operating expenditure
  • D. an end to all recurring expenditure on computing