RAS question
APJ Abdul Kalam Island (formerly Wheeler Island) in Odisha is used for:
Correct answer: (D) Missile testing by DRDO.
APJ Abdul Kalam Island, formerly Wheeler Island, is used by DRDO for missile testing from the Integrated Test Range off the Odisha coast.
Explanation
APJ Abdul Kalam Island is linked to India’s missile-testing infrastructure, not to routine naval, space-launch, or nuclear-test activity. The island, renamed in 2015, is part of DRDO’s Integrated Test Range near Chandipur, with launch pads, tracking stations, and telemetry facilities used for Indian missile trials such as Agni, BrahMos, Akash, and BMD interceptors. The Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Defence release confirms the same functional role: DRDO and the Indian Army conducted four MRSAM flight-tests from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island off Odisha, while Integrated Test Range, Chandipur, instruments such as radars and electro-optical tracking systems captured flight data. That makes missile testing by DRDO the precise answer.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Naval exercises are not the function described: missile flight-tests take place from the island under DRDO guidance, with Integrated Test Range instrumentation.
- (B) Satellite launches are associated with space-launch facilities, whereas the PIB release points to missile launch pads and weapon-system flight-tests.
- (C) Nuclear testing is not supported by the official release; the activity described is missile trials and range-tracking facilities.
Concept
This tests defence infrastructure in the Science and Technology syllabus: aspirants must connect strategic test ranges with their specific functions. It recurs in RAS because DRDO sites, missile programmes, and Odisha’s Integrated Test Range often appear in current-affairs-linked static questions.