Science and Technology MCQ Set 27
Showing question 131 to 135 of total 301 MCQs
MCQ Set: 27
Solve the question on your notebook and check it by clicking (Answer and Explanation) below question.
Question No: 131
NCCC, the government's cyber security project stands for?
- National Cyber Control Centre
- National Cyber Control and Coordination
- National Cyber Coordination Centre
- National Cyber Coordination and Control
Answer and Explanation
Answer: A
Explanation
National Cyber Coordination Centre (NCCC), the government’s cyber security project which scans and records meta data on the Internet is live.
This is according to P.P Chaudhary, Minister of State for Electronics and IT (Meity).
The NCCC received an in-principal approval from the Cabinet in May 2013,
It “screens all forms of meta-data, ensure better coordination between various intelligence agencies and streamline intelligence gathering”, the report pointed out.
The project costs INR 500 crore and implemented by Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In).
Data NCCC Covers
The NCCC can “actively” tie up with other cyber intelligence agencies to collect and share data to conduct surveillance, although, via lawful means.
The NCCC is limited to online and cyber intelligence and collects data through tie ups with other intelligence units. The government’s meta data scanner is likely to have access to:
The National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) which keeps all sorts of citizen data in a single database that can be accessed by officers from RAW, CBI, IB etc. NATGRID and NCCC were proposed under the same ministry initially and it’s likely that there is some amount of cross-data sharing. NATGRID has access to hold 21 categories of citizen database like bank account details, telephone records, passport data and vehicle registration details. NATGRID has access to this data in real-time and through tie up with various ministries and departments called provider agencies and 11 other intelligence and investigative agencies.
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Intelligence Bureau (IB), the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) also come under the MHA [More on this here]. Data from these intelligence units are also likely to be picked by the NCCC.
The New Media Wing (NMW) and the Electronic Media Monitoring Centre (EMMC)-wings that are involved in media surveillance - housed under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) are also involved in media surveillance and shares data with other intelligence units.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) which is focused on national security matters, also shares and gathers information with the intelligence departments similar to NCCC and is also likely to be an information provider.
Other Cyber Surveillance Projects
Cyber Swachhta Kendra is the Government’s malware and bot-net cleaning centre were set up in February this year.
Named as ‘Cyber Swachhta Kendra’, the project has tie ups with ISPs, academia, banks and anti-virus companies to provide citizens with tools to protect data on laptops, computers and mobile phones.
In December 2015, the Government of India set up the ‘Indian Cyber Coordination Centre’ (I-4C), which helps in monitoring cyber crimes, offences such as child pornography, cyber bullying, as well as helping law enforcement agencies in curbing these crimes.
Question No: 132
Scientists have developed the first plant based vaccine to combat which virus?
- Swine flu
- Avian flu
- HIV-AIDS
- Zika
Answer and Explanation
Answer: D
Explanation
Scientists have developed the world's first plant-based Zika vaccine that may be more effective, safer and cheaper than other vaccines against the mosquito-borne virus.
Currently, there are no licensed vaccines or therapeutics available to combat Zika.
The vaccine developed by researchers from Arizona State University (ASU) in the US works against a part of a Zika viral protein, called DIII, that plays a key role for the virus to infect people.
All flaviviruses have the envelope protein on the outside part of the virus. It has three domains.
The domain III has a unique stretch of DNA for the Zika virus, and scientists exploited this to generate a robust and protective immune response that is unique for Zika.
The researchers first grew the envelope protein in bacteria, then prepared the DIII protein domain in tobacco plants.
The team then performed immunisation experiments in mice, which induced antibody and cellular immune responses that have been shown to confer 100 per cent protection against multiple Zika virus strains in mice.
The team's protein-based vaccine uses the smallest and most unique part of the Zika virus that can still elicit a potent and robust immune response.
A pseudovirus which is a fake virus displays only the DIII part of the envelope protein on the surface.
The vaccine produces a potent protective immune response, but also, that it does not produce antibodies that may be cross reactive for dengue, West Nile, yellow fever or others
Zika: Know More
The worldwide Zika threat first emerged in 2015.
It was responsible for infecting millions as it swept across the Americas.
It struck great fear in pregnant women, as babies born with severe brain birth defects quickly overburdened hospitals and public health care systems.
Question No: 133
What is the nickname of the Papua New Guinea bat that has been renamed the happy tube nosed fruit bat?
- Hamamas
- Yoda bat
- Anakin bat
- Both a and c
Answer and Explanation
Answer: B
Explanation
An unusual breed of fruit bat- previously nicknamed ‘Yoda’ due to its resemblance to the Jedi Master in the popular Star Wars movies - has now officially been registered as a new species.
Discovered in a remote rainforest of Papua New Guinea, the bat’s has been renamed the happy (Hamamas) tube - nosed fruit bat.
Its unusual features saw it affectionately referred to as the ‘Yoda bat’
However, after examining studies and some 3,000 specimens in 18 museums around the world, a researcher from the University of York in the UK has formally distinguished and registered the new species.
The species is very difficult to tell apart from other tube-nosed bat species.
Bat species often look similar to each other, but differ significantly in behaviour, feeding and history.
Most of the morphological characteristics that separate this bat from other species are associated with a broader, rounder jaw which gives the appearance of a constant smile.
The happy tube - nosed fruit bat’s formal name, Nyctimene wrightae, is after the conservationist Deb Wright, who devoted 20 years to building conservation programmes and long - term scientific capacity in Papua New Guinea.
Nyctimeninae were one of the first species of bat described in records dating back to 1769, and later in 1860 Alfred Russel Wallace - British naturalist and one of the fathers of evolution - collected two further species.
The bats’ tube noses, bright colours, thick stripe on the back and spots have attracted attention for some 250 years, but researchers are still finding new hidden species in the group.
There were no illustrations of the cyclotis group of bats which made identifying bats really difficult.
So difficult was it that Papua New Guinea produced stamps illustrating the bats but could not allocate a species name.
Now, with photographs, illustrations and a key of the other species in the group, it makes it possible to distinguish between three species of the group.
Fruit bats are crucial to rainforest health, pollinating and dispersing many tree species, therefore it is essential we know what is there and how we can protect it.
Question No: 134
NCCC, the government's cyber security project stands for?
- National Cyber Control Centre
- National Cyber Control and Coordination
- National Cyber Coordination Centre
- National Cyber Coordination and Control
Answer and Explanation
Answer: C
Explanation
National Cyber Coordination Centre (NCCC), the government’s cyber security project which scans and records meta data on the Internet is live.
This is according to P.P Chaudhary, Minister of State for Electronics and IT (Meity).
The NCCC received an in-principal approval from the Cabinet in May 2013,
It “screens all forms of meta-data, ensure better coordination between various intelligence agencies and streamline intelligence gathering”, the report pointed out.
The project costs INR 500 crore and implemented by Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In).
Data NCCC Covers
The NCCC can “actively” tie up with other cyber intelligence agencies to collect and share data to conduct surveillance, although, via lawful means.
The NCCC is limited to online and cyber intelligence and collects data through tie ups with other intelligence units. The government’s meta data scanner is likely to have access to:
The National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) which keeps all sorts of citizen data in a single database that can be accessed by officers from RAW, CBI, IB etc. NATGRID and NCCC were proposed under the same ministry initially and it’s likely that there is some amount of cross-data sharing. NATGRID has access to hold 21 categories of citizen database like bank account details, telephone records, passport data and vehicle registration details. NATGRID has access to this data in real-time and through tie up with various ministries and departments called provider agencies and 11 other intelligence and investigative agencies.
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Intelligence Bureau (IB), the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) also come under the MHA [More on this here]. Data from these intelligence units are also likely to be picked by the NCCC.
The New Media Wing (NMW) and the Electronic Media Monitoring Centre (EMMC)-wings that are involved in media surveillance - housed under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) are also involved in media surveillance and shares data with other intelligence units.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) which is focused on national security matters, also shares and gathers information with the intelligence departments similar to NCCC and is also likely to be an information provider.
Other Cyber Surveillance Projects
Cyber Swachhta Kendra is the Government’s malware and bot-net cleaning centre were set up in February this year.
Named as ‘Cyber Swachhta Kendra’, the project has tie ups with ISPs, academia, banks and anti-virus companies to provide citizens with tools to protect data on laptops, computers and mobile phones.
In December 2015, the Government of India set up the ‘Indian Cyber Coordination Centre’ (I-4C), which helps in monitoring cyber crimes, offences such as child pornography, cyber bullying, as well as helping law enforcement agencies in curbing these crimes.
Question No: 135
What does HySIS stand for in the context of earth observation satellites from ISRO?
- Hypersonic Imaging Satellite
- Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite
- Hyperzonal Imaging Satellite
- Hyperactive Imaging Satellite
Answer and Explanation
Answer: B
Explanation
A new set of future satellites called hyperspectral imaging satellites is set to add teeth to the way India will be seen from about 600 km in space.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) says it plans to launch a full-fledged niche earth observation (EO) satellite - called the Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite or HySIS - using a critical chip it has developed.
There is no specific time-frame yet for its launch, an ISRO spokesman said, adding that meanwhile, the new chip, technically called an “optical imaging detector array,” that they have created for it would be tested and perfected.
ISRO is endeavouring to enter the domain of operational hyperspectral imaging from earth orbit with a satellite that can see in 55 spectral or colour bands from 630 km above ground
Hyspex Imaging: Know More
Hyperspectral or hyspex imaging is said to be an earth observation trend that is being experimented globally.
Adding a new dimension to plain-vanilla optical imagers, it can be used for a range of activities from monitoring the environment, crops, looking for oil and minerals all the way up to military surveillance - all of which need images that show a high level of differentiation of the object or scene.
About a decade ago, ISRO added another earth observation niche with microwave or radar imaging satellites RISAT-1 and 2 that could ‘see’ through clouds and the dark - an important feature useful for the military and security agencies.
‘Hyspex’ imaging is said to enable distinct identification of objects, materials or processes on earth by reading the spectrum for each pixel of a scene from space
ISRO first tried it out in an 83-kg IMS-1 experimental satellite in May 2008. The same year, a hyperspectral camera was put on Chandrayaan-1 and used to map lunar mineral resources.
Very few space agencies have such a satellite; a German environmental satellite called EnMAP is due to be launched on an Indian booster in 2018.
The payloads development centre, Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad, designed the architecture of the chip which was made at ISRO’s electronics arm, the Semi-Conductor Laboratory, Chandigarh. The result was a detector array that could read 1000 x 66 pixels.
Hyspex is an evolving technology