Topics
INS Karanj
Exercise Dustlik-ll
‘Radio-Loud’ Quasar
LUPEX Mission
INS Karanj
Context:Recently, Indian Navy’s third stealth Scorpene class (of Project-75) Submarine INS Karanj has been commissioned at the Naval Dockyard Mumbai.
- The previous INS Karanj (a Russian-origin submarine) was commissioned in 1969, at Riga in the erstwhile USSR. It had served the nation for 34 years up to 2003.
- The new INS Karanj would form part of the Western Naval Command’s Submarine fleet.
- The ship’s name, Karanj, is believed to be derived from the Karanja island (also known as Uran Island), a town in Raigad district, which lies in the south-east of Mumbai Harbour.
INS Karanj
- INS Karanj is the third submarine of the first batch of six Kalvari-class submarines for the Indian Navy.
- It is a diesel-electric attack submarine based on the Scorpene-class, designed by French naval defence and energy group DCNS and manufactured by Mazagon Dock Limited, an Indian shipyard in Mumbai.
Diesel Electric Submarines
- Nuclear Submarines can stay submerged for a prolonged period and remain undetected but Diesel Electric submarines cannot do so, and they must surface after a stipulated time interval.
- Their Diesel Propulsion would need air to run the engine like any other Vehicle or Aircraft engines and for this, they would need oxygen which is not available underwater.
- Hence, they have to move closer to the surface so that their engines can breathe air through their snorkels.
Exercise Dustlik-ll
Context:Exercise Dustlik-II between India and Uzbekistan has been held in Uttarakhand from March 10 to 19.
- Exercise Dustlik is a military exercise between the Indian Army and Uzbekistan Army.
- The first edition of the Exercise Dustlik was held in 2019 at Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
- The aim of the exercise is strengthening Counter Insurgency (CI) and Counter-Terrorism (CT) operations. Especially in mountainous, rural and urban scenarios under United Nations (UN) mandate.
- India has nominated Army’s 13 Kumaon regiment. It is also called the Rezang La battalion for its heroic action in the 1962 war with China.
‘Radio-Loud’ Quasar
Context:Recently, an international team of astronomers has discovered the most distant ‘Radio-Loud’ Quasar with the help of European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT).
- Quasars are very luminous objects in faraway galaxies that emit jets at radio frequencies.
- Most quasars are larger than our solar system. A quasar is approximately 1 kiloparsec in width.
- They are only found in galaxies that have supermassive blackholes which power these bright discs
Pulsar Vs Quasar
Pulsar | Quasar |
A pulsar (originally short for ‘pulsating star’) is a rapidly spinning neutron star – the remnant of a supernova explosion. | A quasar (from ‘quasi-stellar radio source’) is in fact a distant galaxy with a fluctuating blaze of light and other radiations coming from its central regions. |
In a pulsar, the poles are even more misaligned, so as the star spins, the magnetic field is swung around in circles | When quasars were first discovered, no one knew what they were. On the photographic plates the objects looked like bright stars. |
LUPEXmission
Context:Indian and Japanese space agencies reviewed cooperation in earth observation, lunar cooperation and satellite navigation, and also agreed to explore opportunities for cooperation in “space situational awareness and professional exchange programme”.
- This was agreed during a bilateral meeting between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) held virtually.
A Joint lunar polar exploration (LUPEX) mission
- Both agencies signed an Implementing Arrangement for collaborative activities on rice crop area and air quality monitoring using satellite data.
- India and Japan are already working on a joint lunar polar exploration (LUPEX) mission and the two space agencies have been working on the mission that aims to send a lander and rover to the Moon‟s south pole around 2024.
- Early this month, India and Italy decided to explore opportunities in earth observation, space science and robotic and human exploration.
- Last month, India and Australia signed an amendment to the MoU which will build on the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
- Both countries are also in discussions for Australia to host vital tracking infrastructure to support the Gaganyaan manned space flight mission.
