Daily Quiz #81 UPSC Prelims Marathon – February 6, 2020

Explanation: APSARA is the first nuclear reactor in Asia to have achieved criticality on August 4, 1956. It is a pool type reactor of 1 MW power with highly enriched uranium as fuel (4.5 kg) in the form of plates. Light water was used as both moderator and coolant. The maximum neutron flux was around 1013 neutrons/cm2/s. It was mainly used for production of isotopes, basic research, shielding experiments, neutron activation analysis, and neutron radiography and for testing neutron detectors. Apsara was permanently shutdown in 2010.

Explanation: Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Limited (BHAVINI) is a Government Company under the administrative control of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) incorporated on 22nd October 2003 as Public Limited Company under the Companies Act, 1956 with the objective of constructing and commissioning the first 500 MWe Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR) at Kalpakkam in Tamilnadu and to pursue construction, commissioning, operation and maintenance of subsequent Fast Breeder Reactors for generation of electricity in pursuance of the schemes and programmes of Government of India under the provisions of the Atomic Energy Act,1962.

Explanation: Picard is a CNES solar-terrestrial microsatellite mission of the Myriade series with French multi-institutional and international cooperation. The overall objective is to monitor the solar diameter, the differential rotation, the solar constant (simultaneous measurement of the absolute total and spectral solar irradiance), and to study the long-term nature of their interrelations. The mission was named in honor of the 17th century French astronomer Jean Picard (1620-1682), who made the first long-term measurements of the solar diameter, observed sunspots, and determined the rotational velocity of the sun. Picard was also the first who accurately measured the length of a degree of a meridian (longitude line) and from that result estimated the size of the Earth. Beyond the determination of the Earth orbit eccentricity, the diameter measurements brought important information about the particular state of the sun during the so-called Maunder Minimum [named after E. W. Maunder (1851-1928), an English astronomer who studied solar records of the period 1645-1715], a period showing a quasi absence of sunspots as compared to the early 17th century.

Explanation: The C-17 Globemaster military transport aircraft was originally built by Boeing and McDonnell Douglas together for the US Air Force. A high-wing, 4-engine, T-tailed military-transport aircraft, the multi-service C-17 can carry large equipment, supplies and troops directly to small airfields in harsh terrain anywhere in the world day or night. The Indian Air Force has a fleet of 11 C-17 Globemaster IIIs.

Explanation: Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS) at Dehradun is a premier institute with the objective of capacity building in Remote Sensing and Geo-informatics and their applications through education and training programmes at postgraduate level. The Institute also hosts and provides support to the Centre for Space Science and Technology Education in Asia and the Pacific (CSSTE-AP), affiliated to the United Nations. The training and education programmes of the Institute are designed to meet the requirements of various target / user groups, i.e., for professionals at working, middle and supervisory levels, fresh graduates, researchers, academia, and decision makers. The duration of courses ranges from one week to two years.