UPSC Prelims 2015 · Question 10 of 98

UPSC Prelims 2015 question on National Innovation Foundation

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

1. NIF is an autonomous body of the Department of Science and Technology under the Central Government.

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 codes given below.

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer

Answer: A. 1 only

Verdict

The answer is 1 only. The National Innovation Foundation is an autonomous body of the Department of Science and Technology, but it works on grassroots innovation, not advanced institutional research.

Analysis

Statement 1 is CORRECT. NIF-India is an autonomous body of the Department of Science and Technology under the Central Government. Statement 2 is INCORRECT and inverts the Foundation's entire purpose. NIF is built on the Honey Bee Network philosophy and provides institutional support to grassroots innovators and holders of outstanding traditional knowledge from the unorganised sector. It is not a vehicle for collaboration between premier Indian and foreign laboratories.

Source

National Innovation Foundation official material.

How to crack it

Read the organisation's name as a claim about its constituency. The word innovation paired with foundation and grassroots framing points downward to informal inventors, not upward to elite laboratories. UPSC routinely constructs a false statement by moving an institution from the bottom of the pyramid to the top, or the reverse. Whenever a body's stated audience is described, test that description against the plainest reading of its name and mandate before reaching for recall.

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