Indias nuclear triad, stated in its nuclear doctrine, is operational after indigenous ballistic missile nuclear submarine INS Arihant achieved a milestone by conducting its first deterrence patrol. Arihant is now prowling the deep seas carrying ballistic missiles equipped with nuclear warheads. Given India’s stated position of ‘No-First-Use’ (NFU) in launching nuclear weapons, the SSBN is … Continue reading Prelims Revision-35

The 25th edition of the India-Singaporebilateral naval exercise, SIMBEX, took place at the tri-services command in Port Blair. Changi Naval Base, officially known as RSS Singapura - Changi Naval Base, is the latest naval facility of the Republic of Singapore Navy. The Shia community of Kashmir is associated with the ‘papier mache’ art. The Mughal … Continue reading Prelims Revision-34

Astronomers have discovered a frozen planet with a mass over three times that of the Earth, orbiting the closest solitary star to the Sun. The potentially rocky planet, known as Barnard’s star b, is a ‘super-Earth’ and orbits around its host star once every 233 days. Barnard’s star is the next closest star to the … Continue reading Prelims Revision-33

The Strait of Malacca or Straits of Malacca is a narrow, 550 mi stretch of water between the Malay Peninsula and the Indonesian island of Sumatra. As the main shipping channel between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, it is one of the most important shipping lanes in the world. US sanctions under the … Continue reading Prelims Revision-32

The Bonda are a Munda ethnic group approximately 12,000 who live in the isolated hill regions of the Malkangiri district of southwestern Odisha, India, near the junction of the three states of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Andhra Pradesh. Stars die because they exhaust their nuclear fuel. The events at the end of a star’s life depend … Continue reading Prelims Revision-31

“Raksha Gyan Shakti” is a mission to promote self-reliance in Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in defence. Under the mission, the target for the year 2017-18 is to train 10,000 personnel of Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSU) and Ordnance factory Board (OFB) on IPR and facilitate filing of at least 1,000 new IPR applications. The Director … Continue reading Prelims Revision-30

The ‘Ex Cope India-18’ was the fourth edition in the series of bilateral drills between the Indian Air Force and the U.S. Air Force. An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered "good", 51 and 100 "satisfactory", 101 and 200 "moderate", 201 and 300 "poor", 301 and 400 "very poor" and 401 and 500 is … Continue reading Prelims Revision-29

Talc, or talcum, is a clay mineral consisting of hydrated magnesium silicate which finds wide use including in cosmetics, paints, ceramics. In a first-of-its-kind exercise code-named CROSS BOW-18, the Indian Air Force successfully conducted combined guided weapons firing of Surface-to-Air Missiles from the Air Force Station at Suryalanka in Andhra Pradesh on Saturday. The 1987 … Continue reading PRELIMS REVISION-28

The Kaiga nuclear power plant in western Karnataka has created a world record for the longest uninterrupted operation of 941 days, breaking the earlier record of 940 days by the Heysham plant in the United Kingdom. While Kaiga Generating Station-1 is a Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR), Heysham-2 Unit-8 is an Advanced Gas Cooled Reactor … Continue reading Prelims Revision-27

Nikshay Poshan Yojana (NPY) - The direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme for nutritional support to Tuberculosis (TB) patients.The Mekedatu project - envisages building a balancing reservoir with a storage of 67 thousand million cubic feet (tmc ft), which would also supply drinking water to Bengaluru and Ramanagaram districts, besides generating power. The dam project has been … Continue reading Prelims Revision-26