ANSWER: A

 ANSWER: C

ANSWER: B

 ANSWER: A

• CERT-In, under Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, is the national nodal agency for responding to computer security incidents.

Important highlights of the report

• Ransomware incidents have gone up by 53% in 2022 over 2021. Not only money, but Geo political conflicts also influenced ransomware attacks this year.
• Broadened Ransomware attacks across critical sectors with increased frequency and complexity of the attacks.
• Lockbit was the most prevalent ransomware variant in India, followed by Makop and DJVU/Stop ransomware.
• New variants such as Vice Society and BlueSky were noticed in 2022.
• IT and IT-enabled services sector was the most impacted sector, followed by finance and manufacturing sectors.
  • Ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) ecosystem becoming prominent.
• Makop and Phobos Ransomware families mainly targeted medium and small organizations, while Djvu/Stop variants used for attacks on individuals.

About Ransomware

• Ransomware is a category of malware that gains access to systems and makes them unusable to its legitimate users, either by: Encrypting different files on targeted systems, also known as Crypto Ransomware.
• Locking the system’s screen unless a ransom is paid, also known as Locker Ransomware.

ANSWER: B

• Tamil Nadu’s famous Cumbum Panneer Thratchai, also known as Cumbum grapes recently earned the Geographical Indication (GI) tag.
• The Cumbum Valley located at the Western Ghats in Tamil Nadu is known as the ‘Grapes City of South India’ and cultivates the Panneer Thratchai.
• This variety, also known as Muscat Hamburg, is popular for its quick growth and early maturity, ensuring that the crop is available in the market almost throughout the year.
• The Panneer grapes were first introduced in Tamil Nadu by a French priest in 1832 and are rich in vitamins, tartaric acid and antioxidants and reduce the risk of some chronic diseases.
• They are also known for a superior taste apart from the purplish brown-colour.

 ANSWER: D

• Recently, NASA’s Lucy spacecraft first time caught a glimpse of the Jupiter and Trojan asteroids.

About Trojan asteroids:

• These are mysterious space rocks which have been gravitationally trapped in Jupiter’s orbit around the Sun for billions of years.
• These are thought to be remnants of the primordial material that formed the outer planets.
• They orbit the Sun in two loose groups, with one group leading ahead of Jupiter in its path, and the other trailing behind.
• They are clustered around the two Lagrange points equidistant from the Sun and Jupiter, the Trojans are stabilized by the Sun and its largest planet in a gravitational balancing act.

About Lucy Mission

• It was launched by NASA from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida in 2021.
• It is a 12-year mission which will take close observations of nine of Jupiter’s Trojans and two main belt asteroids along with that.
• It is the first spacecraft sent to study the Trojan asteroids, which orbit the Sun in the same path that the planet Jupiter takes.
• It has recently captured the images of Eurybates, Polymele, Leucus and  Leucus asteroids.

ANSWER: A

• Recently, NASA’s Lucy spacecraft first time caught a glimpse of the Jupiter and Trojan asteroids.

About Trojan asteroids:

• These are mysterious space rocks which have been gravitationally trapped in Jupiter’s orbit around the Sun for billions of years.
• These are thought to be remnants of the primordial material that formed the outer planets.
• They orbit the Sun in two loose groups, with one group leading ahead of Jupiter in its path, and the other trailing behind.
• They are clustered around the two Lagrange points equidistant from the Sun and Jupiter, the Trojans are stabilized by the Sun and its largest planet in a gravitational balancing act.

About Lucy Mission

• It was launched by NASA from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida in 2021.
• It is a 12-year mission which will take close observations of nine of Jupiter’s Trojans and two main belt asteroids along with that.
• It is the first spacecraft sent to study the Trojan asteroids, which orbit the Sun in the same path that the planet Jupiter takes.
• It has recently captured the images of Eurybates, Polymele, Leucus and  Leucus asteroids.

 ANSWER: A

• SIDBI has recently launched the pilot version of the Mission 50K-EV4ECO to promote the growth and development of value chain of India’s electric vehicle industry.
• It is expected to promote EV adoption and strengthen associated infrastructure in the country.
• The project prioritizes the uptake of 2-wheeler, 3-wheeler, and 4-wheeler EVs through direct and indirect lending.
• Objective –to provide access to affordable financing for electric vehicles and to develop charging infrastructure, including battery swapping.
• The pilot scheme Mission 50K-EV4ECO shall enable quick replicability and scalability through multilateral support.
• The scheme is the precursor to the EVOLVE scheme by SIDBI-World Bank, which provides better financing terms and other solutions to address the issues faced in the EV ecosystem in India.

 ANSWER: C

• First meeting of India-Central Asia Joint Working Group on Chabahar port took place in Mumbai.
• Chabahar Port is located in Sistan-Baluchestan province in South-eastern Iran, on Gulf of Oman.
• In 2016, India signed a tripartite agreement with Iran and Afghanistan to develop the Shahid Beheshti Terminal at Chabahar.
• It is considered a crucial gateway that would enable India to bypass Pakistan and access Afghanistan, and ultimately Central Asia.
• It is at a strategic location near Strait of Hormuz and Indian Ocean.

 ANSWER: A

• The European Commission (EC) has classified ethylene oxide as a pesticide.
  • Earlier it was classified as fumigant.
• This means agricultural products being exported to European Union will now be mandatorily tested.

About Ethylene oxide

• A flammable colorless gas with a sweet odour.
• Used primarily to produce other chemicals, including antifreeze.
• In smaller amounts, ethylene oxide is used as a pesticide and a sterilizing agent.
• It has been classified as carcinogenic and mutagenic reproductive toxin.

 ANSWER: C

• Himachal Pradesh CM recently said that 4G services would be extended to the Spiti Valley.

About Spiti Valley

• It is a cold desert mountain valley located in the northeastern part of Himachal Pradesh.
• It is located in the rain shadow region of the Greater Himalayan ranges.
• The name Spiti or Piti means ‘The middle land’ that is the land between India and Tibet.
• The valley is bounded by the districts of Kinnaur in the southeast, Kullu in the south, and the valleys of Zanskar & Ladakh in the north.
  • In the east, Spiti shares its boundary with Tibet.
• Natives communicate in Stod Bhoti, a subgroup of the Tibetan languages.
• The famous Tabo Monastery (a favourite of the Dalai Lama) is located in Spiti Valley.