Daily Quiz #1 UPSC Prelims Marathon – August 1, 2019

Explanation: ESA has been dedicated to observing Earth from space ever since the launch of its first Meteosat meteorological satellite in 1977. Following the success of this first mission, the subsequent series of Meteosat satellites, ERS-1, ERS-2 and Envisat provided us with a wealth of valuable data about Earth, its climate and changing environment. It is crucial, however, that we continue to learn more about our planet if we are to understand the Earth system and its processes, especially within the context of global change. This will equip us better for predicting the effects a changing climate may bring. It is, therefore, also important to address scientific questions that have a direct bearing on societal issues humankind will face in the coming decades. As our quest for knowledge continues to grow, so does our demand for accurate satellite data to be used for numerous practical applications for protecting and securing the environment. Responding to these needs, ESA’s Living Planet Programme comprises a science and research element, which includes the Earth Explorer missions, and an Earth Watch element, which is designed to facilitate the delivery of Earth observation data for use in operational services.

Explanation: “APSARA” – the celestial water nymph, by Pandit Nehru himself. The basic design for this reactor was frozen in July 1955 and Indian scientists and engineers completed the construction in just over a year. With APSARA, India became the first Asian country outside the erstwhile Soviet Union, to have designed and built its own nuclear reactor . The next crucial step involved the planning of larger reactors having much higher neutron flux and power than what was available at APSARA. This plan materialized in 1960 with the building of CIRUS, a high power (40 MWt) research reactor. This reactor, then known as the Canada India Reactor or CIR for short, was built in collaboration with Canada.
In early 1961, a zero energy critical facility named ZERLINA (Zero Energy Reactor for Lattice Investigations and New Assemblies) was built, for studying various geometrical aspects (lattice parameters) of a reactor fuelled with natural uranium and moderated with heavy water. It may be recalled that the three-stage programme calls for building of plutonium based reactors in the second stage. Therefore, the next logical step was to build a critical facility, which used plutonium as fuel. Such a test reactor was built in 1972 and was named PURNIMA (Plutonium Reactor for Neutron Investigations in Multiplying Assemblies). This reactor was intended for studying the behaviour of plutonium fuel in a pulsed fast reactor (PFR).

Explanation: To popularise Biotechnology activities in India, Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India provides financial assistance towards organizing Conference/ Seminar/ Symposium/ Workshop and Travel support to the researchers for presenting their papers in the conferences which are being organised outside the country. It also extends support for organising DBT stalls in Exhibitions held within the country as well as outside the country. Financial supports are also provided for organising Popular Lectures. The collective term for these four activities is CTEP (Conference, Travel, Exhibition and Popular Lectures).

Explanation:
•Akash is a surface-to-air missile with an intercept range of 30 km. It has multi-target engagement capability and is in operational service with the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force.
•Nag is a third-generation hit-to-kill anti-tank missile that was first tested in 1990. The two-stage solid propellant weapon uses the lock-on before launch system where the target is identified and designated before the weapon is launched.
•Trishul is a short-range surface-to-air missile equipped with electronic measures against all known aircraft jammers. It has a range of 9 km and is used as anti-sea skimmer from ships against low-flying attacks.
•A nuclear-capable ballistic missile, Agni 1 is the first of the five-missile Agni series launched in 1983 by the Defence Research and Development Organisation. It has a range of 700 km. An intermediate-range ballistic missile, the Agni-II was first test fired on April 11, 1999. The surface-to-surface missile has a range of 2000 to 2500 km and can carry conventional or nuclear warheads.

Explanation: Crop production forecasts using satellite remote sensing data has been conceptualized by ISRO in early eighties. This led to the success of CAPE (Crop Acreage and Production Estimation) project that was done with active participation of Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare (MoA&FW), towards forecasting of production of crops in selected regions. In order to enhance the scope of this project, the FASAL (Forecasting Agricultural Output using Space, Agro-meteorology and Land based Observations) programme was conceptualized, by developing methodology for multiple in-season forecasts of crops at national scale.