Q1. The Sagar Maitri (SM-5) initiative, in which INS Sagardhwani is deployed, primarily aims to:
- Enhance India’s commercial shipping routes in the Indian Ocean
- Promote collaborative oceanographic research and scientific capacity-building among Indian Ocean Rim (IOR) countries
- Conduct joint naval exercises for combat readiness with ASEAN countries
- Establish permanent Indian naval bases in Indian Ocean countries
Correct Option: 2. Promote collaborative oceanographic research and scientific capacity-building among Indian Ocean Rim (IOR) countries
Explanation:
• Sagar Maitri is a flagship collaborative initiative of the Indian Navy and DRDO.
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Its core objective is scientific cooperation among IOR nations, including joint oceanographic studies and capacity building through the MAITRI programme.
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It is not focused on commercial shipping (1), combat exercises (3), or establishing naval bases (4).
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The initiative aligns with India’s MAHASAGAR vision, emphasizing mutual and holistic advancement in the region, particularly in ocean research and underwater domain awareness (UDA).
Q2. Which of the following statements about INS Sagardhwani is correct?
- It is primarily used for commercial cargo transport along India’s coast.
- It is a surface combat vessel equipped with anti-ship missiles and air defense systems.
- It is a nuclear-powered submarine designed for deep-sea combat operations.
- It is an oceanographic research vessel built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) and commissioned in 1994.
Correct Option: 4. It is an oceanographic research vessel built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) and commissioned in 1994.
Explanation:
• INS Sagardhwani is a specialized marine acoustic and oceanographic research vessel, designed by NPOL and built by GRSE.
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It was commissioned in July 1994 and has been operational for over three decades.
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Its role is scientific research, including oceanographic and acoustic data collection, supporting India’s Underwater Domain Awareness (UDA).
Q3. India’s first open-sea Marine Fish Farming project in the Andaman Sea was launched under which key government vision, and which organization provides technological support for the project?
- National Fisheries Development Board; Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA)
- Digital India; Ministry of Earth Sciences
- Sagarmala initiative; Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)
- Blue Economy; National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT)
Correct Option: 4. Blue Economy; National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT).
Explanation:
• The project is part of India’s Blue Economy initiative, which aims to harness the economic potential of India’s oceans sustainably.
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NIOT (National Institute of Ocean Technology) provides technical expertise, including open-sea cages for finfish cultivation.
Q4. Which of the following statements about India’s first open-sea Marine Fish Farming project in the Andaman Sea is/are correct?
- It focuses on cage-based finfish cultivation and deep-water seaweed farming.
- It aims to promote livelihood generation and Blue Economy growth in coastal and island communities.
- The project is being implemented solely by the Ministry of Earth Sciences without UT collaboration.
- 1 and 2 only
- 2 and 3 only
- 1 and 3 only
- 1, 2, and 3
Correct Option: 1. 1 and 2 only.
Explanation:
• Statement 1 is correct: The project involves marine fauna (cage-based finfish cultivation) and marine flora (deep-water seaweed cultivation).
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Statement 2 is correct: It promotes livelihoods for coastal communities and contributes to the Blue Economy.
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Statement 3 is incorrect: The project is a collaborative effort involving Ministry of Earth Sciences, NIOT, and Andaman & Nicobar UT Administration, not implemented solely by the ministry.
Q5. Why do AI datacentres place far greater emphasis on internal bandwidth than on user-facing bandwidth?
- AI models require constant updates from end users
- AI workloads involve distributed computation across many GPUs/TPUs
- Satellite communication limits external bandwidth by default
- AI datacentres primarily serve video streaming workloads
Correct Option: 2. AI workloads involve distributed computation across many GPUs/TPUs.
Explanation:
• AI training and inference rely on distributed machine learning, where large models are split across many GPUs or TPUs.
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These processors must exchange massive volumes of data (parameters, gradients, activations) in real time, creating enormous internal bandwidth demand.
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User-facing bandwidth is comparatively small because users only send queries and receive responses, not the full model or training data.
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This is why AI datacentres like Microsoft’s Fairwater require petabit-per-second interconnects, while consumer internet speeds remain orders of magnitude lower.
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Options 1 and 4 describe traditional content-driven datacentres, and 3 is irrelevant to the architectural requirement.