ISRO, ASEAN - GS questions based on daily current affairs

ANSWER: Weather monitoring

Explanation:

• ISRO will launch ScatSat, a weather monitoring and forecasting satellite, with polar satellite launch vehicle.
• SCATSat-1 is an OceanSat-2 follow-up mission, actually a gap-filler mission between OceanSat-2 and -3, under development at ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) with the objective to continue the global ocean wind vector data acquisition started by the OSCAT (OceanSat-2 Scanning Scatterometer).
• The information of global ocean surface winds is an important ingredient for weather forecasts.
• The designated primary payload of satellite is a scatterometer which is similar to the payload launched with Oceansat-2.

ANSWER: Reusable Launch Vehicle

Explanation:

• The first technology demonstrator of indigenously made Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV), that can launch satellites into orbit around earth and then re-enter the atmosphere, will be flight tested from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
• This will be the first time ISRO will be launching a winged flight vehicle. After launch it will be glided back onto a virtual runway in the Bay of Bengal, some 500 km from the coast. The mission, known as the hypersonic flight experiment, is expected to last about 10 minutes from lift off to splashdown.
• Reusable Launch Vehicle—Technology Demonstration Programme or RLV–TD is a series of technology demonstration missions that has been conceived by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) as a first step towards realising a Two Stage To Orbit (TSTO) re-usable launch vehicle.

ANSWER: 1, 2

Explanation:

• The Railway Ministry has signed an agreement with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to leverage space technology for providing passenger information in all trains, map railway assets and help survey new route alignments.
• It also requested ISRO to conduct a study to find ways to ensure smooth rail traffic during the foggy season.
• At present, Indian Railways uses space technology to provide connectivity to passenger reservation counters, unreserved ticketing system in remote areas, and emergency communication using satellite phones during disaster.
  
• The Memorandum of Understanding aims at developing applications in the field of remote sensing and graphic information system, proposes to provide information such as train stoppages, real-time train tracking, survey of new rail route alignments in hilly and difficult terrain.

ANSWER: Force18

Explanation:
This exercise will be held in Pune with 18 ASEAN Plus members including South Korea, Japan, Russia, China and the US, This is in line with the Act East Policy to learn and share best practices of other armies in the world and display commitment for peace in the region. The theme of Force18, which will be held from March 2nd to 8th, is humanitarian mine action and peacekeeping operations. Foreign trainers will be participating in this exercise too.

ANSWER: Mapping tool

Explanation:
The plan is to integrate Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) and GAGAN (GPS-Aided Geo Augmentation Navigation) with Bhuvan, a satellite-based mapping service for the Indian mainland developed by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) a few years ago. A geoportal of Indian Space Research Organization showcasing Indian Imaging capabilities in Multi-sensor, Multi-platform and Multi-temporal domain. This Earth browser gives a gateway to explore and discover virtual earth in 3D space with specific emphasis on Indian Region. Bhuvan, (lit: Earth), is a software application which allows users to explore a 2D/3D representation of the surface of the Earth. The browser is specifically tailored to view India, offering the highest resolution in this region and providing content in four local languages. Apart from visualization Bhuvan provides timely disaster support services (domestic and international), free satellite data and a products download facility, and rich thematic datasets. Bhuvan is using a crowdsourcing approach to enrich its maps and collect point of interest data. It also acts as a platform for hosting government data (example - Karnataka Forest Department datasets). The tool “Bhuvan Ganga” now available on public domain for people to participate in providing vital information for Clean Ganga project.

ANSWER: To facilitate private partnership

Explanation:
- Two space industry enclaves or parks have been conceived for launchers at Sriharikota and a smaller one at an existing Bengaluru spacecraft campus.
- It is for encouraging increased privatization of the nation’s space programme over the next five years.
- For now, the facilities will be “captive” to drive the future missions of the Indian Space Research Organisation.
- ISRO wants to groom and engage domestic industry in the launch vehicles area from integrating sub-systems up to assembling, and even launching the PSLV.

ANSWER: Malaysia

Explanation:
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit was held in the month of November 2015 at Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur. The theme for the summit was “Our People, Our Community, Our vision” and summit was chaired by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak. 10 ASEAN nations attended this summit.

ANSWER: Only 2

Explanation:
- Dialogue partners of ASEAN: China, South Korea, Japan, India, New Zealand, Australia, the US and Russia.
-Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand were initial members.
- Since then, membership has expanded to include Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar (Burma), and Vietnam.

ANSWER: All

Explanation:
Asean leaders welcomed the formal establishment of the Asean Community, agreeing that this declaration as well as the community vision 2025 - the Asean Political-Security Community Blueprint 2025, the Asean Economic Community Blueprint 2025 and the Asean Socio-Cultural Community Blueprint 2025 - constitute the Asean 2025: Forging Ahead Together.

ANSWER: Establishment of AEC

Explanation:
- ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) will be EU-style regional economic bloc
- It will allow a single market with a free flow of goods, capital and skilled labour in the region.
- AEC will help less developed economies link up with more developed ones, bringing about more equitable economic development across the region.
- Asean as a single economy is forecast to become the fourth-largest economy in the world by 2030, behind only the European Union, the United States and China.
- ASEAN itself was inaugurated on 8 August 1967, when foreign ministers of five countries; Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, signed the ASEAN Declaration, more commonly known as the Bangkok Declaration.