QUIZ – 2017: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 13 JANUARY 2018

Solution: d.

We have earlier framed questions on NISAR (NASA-ISRO SAR) and the Copernicus programme (an Earth Observation programme headed by the European Commission in partnership with the European Space Agency).

About SAR satellites/missions: Unlike optical systems that rely on reflected solar radiation or thermal radiation emitted by Earth, imaging radar instruments work independently of light and heat. Radar is an active system that transmits a beam of radiation in the microwave region of the electromagnetic spectrum.

• SAR can provide day-and-night imagery of Earth.
• In addition, clouds, fog and precipitation do not have any significant effect on microwaves, so images can also be acquired independent of weather conditions.

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/nasa-isro-synthetic-aperture-radar-nisar/;

http://m.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/Copernicus/SAR_missions;

Improvisation: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-42648391;

Solution: c.

About Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) products/components: A COTS product is usually a computer hardware or software product tailored for specific uses and made available to the general public. Such products are designed to be readily available and user friendly. A typical example of a COTS product is Microsoft Office or antivirus software.

• Says the CEO of Finnish start-up ICEYE (a new space company) about using COTS components on satellite missions, “Space-rated components may have tremendous reliability, but they’re very immature in their capability.. When you move to COTS, you’re suddenly a decade ahead. You get access to the very latest capabilities.. And the change comes both in cost and in size because COTS components have been miniaturised to fit inside your phone, literally. We are using the same components.”
• There is the extra risk in not using parts that have been built specifically, and proven, to operate in space. The environment in space is harsh and unforgiving.
• The MinION and miniPCR devices used by NASA on its ‘Genes in Space’ projects, related to which we have framed a couple of questions earlier this month, are COTS components.

https://www.techopedia.com/definition/1444/commercial-off-the-shelf-cots;

Improvisation: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-42648391;

—

Solution: d.

http://pibregional.nic.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1516468;

Solution: b.

“It is the two other Indian satellites in the payload that have generated much excitement. Both are called technology demonstrators, indicating significant strides in miniaturisation. Of the two, one is a microsatellite of the 100 kg class. “This is a technology demonstrator and the forerunner for future satellites of this series,” the ISRO said. The other one, a nanosatellite, named Indian Nano Satellite (INS) – 1C, is the third in its series; its predecessors were part of the PSLV-C37 launch of February 2017..”

• ISRO’s PSLV C-40 included Finland’s new space company ICEYE’s Proof of Concept 1 (POC-1) payload (ICEYE plans to deploy a plan to deploy a constellation of radar-imaging satellites employing synthetic aperture radar (SAR) to image the Earth’s surface in near-real-time.)

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-42648391;

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/isro-successfully-launches-its-42nd-pslv/article22427172.ece;

https://spaceflight101.com/pslv-c40/iceye-x1/;

Solution: d.

Statements 1 and 2 are self-explanatory.

Justification for Statement 3: Poems included in the Tamil Sangam anthologies often illuminate social and economic relationships, suggesting that while there were differences between rich and poor, those who controlled resources were also expected to share them.

Justification for Statement 4: Sangam literature, especially the earlier works, has been a touchstone for the Dravidian movement. The poetry of the Sangam canon evokes the inner world of feelings and the outer world of activity, but is largely silent on religious practices or even God. Many scholars aver that there is no trace of Vedic Hinduism in the verses, and almost nothing of the caste system or Brahmins. To many proponents of the Dravidian movement, the early Sangam era represents an ideal non-Brahmin, non-caste past, and gives them their separate identity.

Kinship, Caste and Class; Themes in Indian History – I, Class 12 NCERT;

Source/Improvisation: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/the-ghosts-of-adichanallur/article22431890.ece;