The warship Mangrol is named after a coastal town in which Indian state?

The correct answer is Cochin Shipyard Limited, Kochi. Mangrol is the third shallow water craft for anti-submarine warfare delivered by that yard, and it will be commissioned at Naval Dockyard, Mumbai, with the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Naval Command presiding. Options A, B and D name other Indian defence shipyards, each of which builds warships for the Navy, but none of them built this craft. Candidates should connect the builder with two other facts from the same announcement: the ship has more than 80 per cent indigenous content, and it was constructed under the Make in India and Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiatives. Note also that the commissioning port, Mumbai, is different from the yard that built the ship, a distinction examiners like to test.

The correct answer is Abhay, the hull-mounted sonar that lets the craft pick up submarines in coastal and shallow waters. Option C is the trap in this question: Maareech is indeed carried by the ship, but it is the Advanced Torpedo Decoy System used for self-protection, not a sonar. Options A and D are wrong in this context, as the announcement named only Abhay as the hull-mounted sonar. Along with the sonar, the craft carries lightweight torpedoes and an indigenous anti-submarine rocket launcher, and it is driven by three diesel engines with waterjet propulsion, an arrangement that allows tight manoeuvring in shallow seas. The combination of these sensors and weapons is what makes the ship suited to hunting submarines close to the coast, where larger warships are limited.

The correct answer is B. More than four-fifths of the craft is of Indian origin, and it is propelled by three diesel engines that drive waterjets, which gives it the agility needed in shallow waters. Option A is wrong because Mangrol is a surface craft designed to hunt submarines, not a submarine itself. Option C is wrong because it is a small shallow water craft, not an aircraft carrier, although it will indeed serve under the Western Naval Command after being commissioned at Mumbai. Option D is wrong because the ship joins the Indian Navy and its role is anti-submarine warfare, along with underwater surveillance, low-intensity maritime operations and mine warfare related tasks. Its job is to protect ports, harbours and coastal approaches while working alongside patrol aircraft, helicopters and other warships.

The correct answer is 15. A total of fifteen Champion Awards were handed out, recognising organisations for indigenous technology development, product innovation, design capability, import substitution, excellence in manufacturing and export performance. Option A is wrong, though the number eight does belong to this event in another way, as the awards were given at SIDM’s eighth annual session. Options B and D are wrong because no such count of awards was reported. Keep the two numbers apart in revision: eight for the edition of the annual session and fifteen for the awards. The theme of the session, worth remembering alongside, dealt with sovereign capabilities and contested frontiers, that is, with India’s strategic autonomy at a time of disruption.

The awards covered six broad areas of achievement, namely indigenous technology development, product innovation, design, import substitution, excellence in manufacturing and export performance, and they were given away in New Delhi in the presence of the Defence Secretary, the Director General (Acquisition) and the founder president as well as the serving president of the industry body.

The correct answer is 2017. SIDM was set up in that year and has since grown into a common platform for large defence enterprises, micro, small and medium enterprises, startups, academic institutions and foreign original equipment manufacturers. At its eighth annual session the Defence Minister acknowledged the body’s part in building the domestic defence industrial base and in carrying industry views into policy discussion. Options A, B and D are wrong because none of them is the year of the organisation’s founding. For the examination hall, pair the founding year with the reforms the minister credited for widening private capability: the Defence Acquisition Procedure, the Defence Procurement Manual, the Positive Indigenisation Lists, the SRIJAN portal and Innovations for Defence Excellence, better known as iDEX.