[Mission 2024] QUED ( Questions from Editorials ) 22 August 2023

Solution: d)

A parliamentary committee has sought uniformity in the tenures and selection processes for heads and governing bodies of autonomous institutions run by the Culture Ministry. It has recommended that one MP should be included in the governing bodies to provide “ground reports”.

The bodies under the Culture Ministry such as the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, the Lalit Kala Akademi, the Sahitya Akademi and the National School of Drama.

The committee noted that as of now only the chairman of the Sahitya Akademi is elected. The process for appointment of the heads of the various other institutes and their governing bodies as well as their tenures vary. For example, the term of office for the governing body of the Lalit Kala Akademi is three years, while that of the Kalakshetra Foundation is 10 years.

Source

Solution: a)

Only statement 1 is correct.

A cloudburst is a localised but intense rainfall activity. While it can also occur in plains, the phenomenon is most common in hilly regions.

Not all instances of very heavy rainfall, however, are cloudbursts. A cloudburst has a very specific definition: Rainfall of 10 cm or more in an hour over a roughly 10 km x 10 km area is classified as a cloudburst event. By this definition, 5 cm of rainfall in a half-hour period over the same area would also be categorised as a cloudburst.

The IMD forecasts rainfall events well in advance, but it does not predict the quantum of rainfall — in fact, no meteorological agency does. The forecasts can be about light, heavy, or very heavy rainfall, but weather scientists do not have the capability to predict exactly how much rain is likely to fall at any given place.

Theoretically, it is not impossible to forecast rainfall over a very small area as well, but it requires a very dense network of weather instruments, and computing capabilities that seem unfeasible with current technologies.

As a result, specific cloudburst events cannot be forecast. 

Source

Solution: a)

Only statement 1 is correct.

A hypersonic missile is a weapon system which flies at least at the speed of Mach 5 i.e. five times the speed of sound and is manoeuvrable. The manoeuvrability of the hypersonic missile is what sets it apart from a ballistic missile as the latter follows a set course or a ballistic trajectory. Thus, unlike ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles do not follow a ballistic trajectory and can be manoeuvred to the intended target.

The two types of hypersonic weapons systems are Hypersonic Glide Vehicles (HGV) and Hypersonic Cruise Missiles. The HGV are launched from a rocket before gliding to the intended target while the hypersonic cruise missile is powered by air breathing high speed engines or ‘scramjets’ after acquiring their target.

Apart from Russia, which announced its hypersonic missile ‘Kinzhal’ or Dagger in 2018 and has now used it for the first time in battle conditions in Ukraine, China too is reportedly in possession of this weapon system and has twice used it to circumnavigate the globe before landing near a target in August 2021.

In the US, the hypersonic weapons are being developed under its Navy’s conventional Prompt Strike Programme as well as through Army, Air Force and Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). While the US, Russia and China are in advanced stages of hypersonic missile programmes, India, France, Germany, Japan and Australia too are developing hypersonic weapons.

India is also developing an indigenous, dual capable (conventional as well as nuclear) hypersonic cruise missile as part of its Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle programme and has successfully tested a Mach 6 scramjet in June 2019 and September 2020. “India operates approximately 12 hypersonic wind tunnels and is capable of testing speeds upto Mach 13,”

Solution: b)

Statement 2 is incorrect.

National Export Co-operative Society was approved by the Union Cabinet. It is established under the Multi State Cooperative Societies (MSCS) Act, 2002.

Leading cooperatives — Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO), Krishak Bharati Cooperative Limited (KRIBHCO), National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED), Gujrat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), better known as Amul and National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) will be the promoters of the Society.

The Society will be different from the Export Promotion Council under the Ministry of Commerce that only acts as a facilitator and provides information about the potential markets that can be tapped for a particular product.

This Society will provide end-to-end services to the cooperatives. It will open foreign bank accounts and complete all the formalities, including necessary permissions for exporting a product. 

Solution: b)

Myanmar shares a long land border of over 1600 Km with India as well as a maritime boundary in the Bay of Bengal. Four North-Eastern States viz. Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram share international boundary with Myanmar.