UPSC Prelims 2015 · Question 73 of 98

UPSC Prelims 2015 question on Indarc Arctic Observatory

The term 'IndARC', sometimes seen in the news, is the name of

  1. an indigenously developed radar system inducted into Indian Defence
  2. India's satellite to provide services to the countries of Indian Ocean Rim
  3. a scientific establishment set up by India in Antarctic region
  4. India's underwater observatory to scientifically study the Arctic region
Show answer

Answer: D. India's underwater observatory to scientifically study the Arctic region

Verdict

The answer is India's underwater observatory to study the Arctic region. IndARC is a moored observatory in the Arctic.

Analysis

IndARC is India's first underwater moored observatory, deployed in the Kongsfjorden fjord roughly halfway between Norway and the North Pole. It is anchored at a depth of about one hundred and ninety two metres and carries an array of ten oceanographic sensors positioned at different depths to study Arctic processes and their link to the Indian monsoon. The Antarctic option is the sharpest distractor because India does maintain Antarctic stations, Maitri and Bharati, but IndARC is Arctic and its Arctic station is Himadri.

Source

The Hindu report on India's Arctic observatory and climate change studies.

How to crack it

Break the acronym before guessing, since ARC in IndARC points to Arctic and eliminates the Antarctic option immediately. Acronym decoding is one of the cheapest techniques available for current affairs terms and it works far more often than candidates expect. Keep India's polar assets tabulated: Himadri in the Arctic, Maitri and Bharati in Antarctica, and IndARC as the Arctic underwater observatory, because UPSC has asked from more than one of these.

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