Indian Navy Commissions ASW Craft INS Mangrol at Mumbai

The correct answer is Cochin Shipyard Limited, Kochi. The ship was designed in India and constructed by that yard, and it carries more than 80 per cent indigenous content, which the Navy cites as evidence of India's own strength in warship design, construction and systems integration. Representatives of the yard and of its industry partners, along with micro, small and medium enterprises that worked on the project, were present when the ship was commissioned at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai. Option A, Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders, is a Mumbai yard but had no part in this particular vessel. Option B, Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers of Kolkata, is likewise not the builder named for this ship. Option D, Hindustan Shipyard at Visakhapatnam, is also incorrect. Only Cochin Shipyard Limited is named as the designer and builder of INS Mangrol, so C alone is right.

The correct answer is the Mahe class. INS Mangrol, with pennant number P82, is the third Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft of that class to enter service with the Indian Navy. Ships of this type are built for the littoral belt, where water is shallow and larger warships are less effective, and they are fitted for anti-submarine warfare, surveillance under water, low intensity maritime operations and tasks tied to mine warfare. Option A, the Arnala class, is not the class named for this ship. Option C, the Kamorta class, refers to larger anti-submarine corvettes rather than shallow water craft of this kind. Option D, the Abhay class, is also wrong. Aspirants should remember both the class name and the fact that Mangrol is the third ship of the class, since questions often turn on the serial position.

The correct answer is Junagadh. Mangrol is a coastal town and a well known fishing harbour in the Junagadh district of Gujarat, and the warship carries its name. The Indian Navy follows the practice of handing the names of notable ships to new hulls, so the name has a history: an earlier INS Mangrol, a minesweeper with the pennant M85, remained in service until April 2004, and the new craft continues that line. Option B, Porbandar, is a coastal district of Gujarat but is not the one named in connection with this ship. Option C, Devbhumi Dwarka, is also a Gujarat coastal district and is incorrect here. Option D, Valsad, lies in south Gujarat and is wrong. Candidates should link the ship, the town, the district and the state together.

The correct answer is the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command. Vice Admiral Sanjay Vatsayan, who holds that appointment, presided over the ceremony at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai, which falls within the area of the Western Naval Command. In his address he spoke of the value of indigenous warships in strengthening maritime surveillance and anti-submarine capability, and of the Navy's commitment to self-reliance in defence manufacturing. Option A, the Chief of Naval Staff, heads the Navy but did not preside on this occasion. Option C names the Southern Naval Command, whose chief is based elsewhere and did not conduct the ceremony. Option D, the Defence Secretary, is a civil servant in the Ministry of Defence; ministry officials attended, but a serving flag officer presides at a commissioning. Hence B is correct.