[Mission 2022] QUIZ – 2022: INSIGHTS STATIC QUIZ, 20 April 2022 – Science & Technology and IR – INSIGHTSIAS

Solution: c)

Agni P is a new generation advanced variant of Agni class of missiles. It is a canisterised missile with range capability between 1,000 and 2,000 kms

India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully flight-tested a new generation nuclear-capable ballistic missile Agni P also known as ‘Agni Prime’ from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam island off the coast of Odisha. The missile followed textbook trajectory, meeting all mission objectives with the high level of accuracy.

It can hit targets up to a range of 2000 kms, and is very short and light in comparison with other missiles in this class.

Solution: c)

• GSLV MkIII, chosen to launch Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft, is a three-stage heavy lift launch vehicle developed by ISRO. The vehicle has two solid strap-ons, a core liquid booster and a cryogenic upper stage.
• GSLV Mk III is designed to carry 4 ton class of satellites into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) or about 10 tons to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), which is about twice the capability of the GSLV Mk II.
• Missions like Gaganyaan and Chandrayaan-3 will be launched on GSLV Mk-III.
• GSLV Mk-III too uses an indigenously-developed cryogenic engine in the upper stage, but, unlike the one in Mk-II, this is not a reverse-engineered Russian engine. Instead, the cryogenic engine used in GSLV Mk-III, called CE20, has been the result of over three decades of research and development, starting from scratch, and uses a different process to burn fuel. It is closer to the designs used in the Arianne rockets that were used by ISRO earlier to send its heavier satellites into space.

Solution: a)

Missile Technology Control Regime

• It is an informal and voluntary partnership among 35 countries.
• Objective: to prevent the proliferation of missile and unmanned aerial vehicle technology capable of carrying greater than 500 kg payload for more than 300 km. The regime was formed in 1987 by the G-7 industrialized countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the United States).
• It is not a legally binding treaty on the members.

What is the purpose of the MTCR?

• The MTCR was initiated by like-minded countries to address the increasing proliferation of nuclear weapons by addressing the most destabilizing delivery system for such weapons.
• In 1992, the MTCR’s original focus on missiles for nuclear weapons delivery was extended to a focus on the proliferation of missiles for the delivery of all types of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), i.e., nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. Such proliferation has been identified as a threat to international peace and security.

India and the MTCR:

India was inducted into the Missile Technology Control Regime in 2016 as the 35thmember.

China is not a member of this regime but it had verbally pledged to adhere to its original guidelines but not to the subsequent additions.

Solution: d)

In the joint working group meeting of the Sustainable Growth Pillar, an India Energy Modeling Forum was launched.

Sustainable Growth Pillar is an important pillar of India-US Strategic Energy Partnership co-chaired by NITI Aayog and United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The SG pillar entails energy data management, energy modelling and collaboration on low carbon technologies as three key activities.

Solution: a)

The Malabar exercise started in 1992 as a bilateral drill between the Indian Navy and the U.S. Navy in the Indian Ocean. The exercise was expanded in 2007 with the participation of Japan, Singapore and Australia. Japan became a permanent partner in 2015. Australia participated in the exercise again in 2020.

In 2021 Malabar Naval Exercise, all the four members of the Quad had participated—India, Australia, the US and Japan.

Statement 2 is wrong.