CURRENT-AFFAIRS

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• The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has recently introduced guidelines aimed at curbing greenwashing in advertisements.
• Understanding Greenwashing:
  • What is it? Greenwashing is the act of misleading consumers by presenting a company’s products as environmentally friendly when they are not.
  • It involves making unfounded claims that mislead consumers into believing that a product has a positive environmental impact or is more sustainable than it actually is.
  • Additionally, greenwashing can happen when a company highlights the eco-friendly features of a product while downplaying or ignoring its harmful environmental practices.
  • Companies may also engage in greenwashing through ambiguous claims that lack concrete evidence or scientific backing.
  • For instance, a car manufacturer might label a vehicle as eco-friendly due to its fuel efficiency, while neglecting to mention the broader environmental consequences of vehicle production.

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• The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has recently issued a warning to organizations regarding a hacking group known as Scattered Spiders.
• About Scattered Spiders:
  • Scattered Spiders is a notorious hacking group responsible for breaching numerous organizations worldwide. They are also known by several aliases, including Starfraud, UNC3944, Scatter Swine, and Muddled Libra.
  • The group consists of members as young as 16 years old, primarily fluent in English. They infiltrate the IT systems of their targets, extracting valuable data before demanding payment to prevent the information from being leaked or sold.
• Modus Operandi:
  • The hackers employ fake identities and impersonation tactics to deceive the help desk of their target organizations into granting them access. Once inside, they monitor internal communication channels and watch for any signs that their breach has been detected.
  • They often participate in incident response calls and meetings, which helps them gauge how security teams are addressing the breach and adapt their tactics to counteract those defenses.
• How to Stay Safe:
  • Maintain offline backups of important data.
  • Ensure all accounts require password logins.
  • Use complex passwords that are at least eight characters long and no more than 64 characters.
  • Implement phishing-resistant multifactor authentication (MFA).
  • Keep operating systems, software, and firmware updated.
  • Disable hyperlinks in emails to avoid phishing attempts.
  • Encrypt all sensitive data.

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• The Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister recently announced that women entrepreneurs are given top priority under the Centre's flagship Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) scheme.
• About Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY):
  • This initiative is a key program of the Government of India aimed at providing affordable credit to micro and small enterprises. The Mudra schemes are specifically designed to integrate businesses into the formal financial system and to “fund the unfunded.”
  • PMMY allows small borrowers to access loans from various financial institutions, including Public Sector Banks, Regional Rural Banks, Cooperative Banks, Private Sector Banks, Foreign Banks, Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs), and Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs) for amounts up to Rs 10 lakh for non-farm income-generating activities.
• Eligibility:
  • Any Indian citizen with a viable business plan in the non-farm sector—such as manufacturing, processing, trading, or services—who requires less than Rs 10 lakh in credit can approach banks, MFIs, or NBFCs to avail themselves of MUDRA loans under PMMY.
• Types of Loans Offered:
  • Under PMMY, MUDRA has introduced several loan categories:
    • Shishu: Loans up to Rs 50,000
    • Kishore: Loans above Rs 50,000 and up to Rs 5 lakh
    • Tarun: Loans above Rs 5 lakh and up to Rs 10 lakh
• While loans under PMMY do not come with subsidies, proposals linked to government schemes that provide capital subsidies are also eligible under PMMY.

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• The Centre’s recent decision to cancel a call for proposals under the Department of Science and Technology (DST)’s SATHI programme has raised concerns among higher education institutions.
• About Sophisticated Analytical & Technical Help Institutes (SATHI):
  • SATHI is an initiative launched by the Department of Science and Technology aimed at enhancing access to research and testing facilities while addressing issues related to accessibility, maintenance, redundancy, and the duplication of costly equipment in institutions.
  • The programme seeks to establish a shared, professionally managed Science and Technology (S&T) infrastructure that is easily accessible to academia, start-ups, manufacturing units, industries, and research and development labs. This infrastructure will be referred to as Sophisticated Analytical & Technical Help Institutes (SATHI).
  • These centres will be equipped with advanced analytical instruments and manufacturing capabilities that are typically unavailable in most institutes or organizations. The initiative aims to foster a National Network of Laboratories and testing facilities that align closely with global standards.
  • SATHI facilities are designed to be utilized by external users—those outside the host institutions—for 80% of their available time, while the remaining 20% will be reserved for internal users from the host institute. The core principle guiding the use of these facilities is to ensure maximum effectiveness and accessibility for all users.
  • Any individual or organization can access SATHI facilities for a nominal fee.
• Funding:
  • The programme invites proposals from established, internationally competitive S&T host institutes, R&D centres, and organizations, regardless of their governmental status, including both State and Central Universities. A collaborative and networking approach is encouraged.
  • The DST provides funding support up to Rs 60 crores over a period of four years, specifically for acquiring state-of-the-art national facilities. Additionally, the formation of a not-for-profit Section-8 company and a Governing Body (GB) in consortium mode is mandatory prior to receiving grant support.
• Duration:
  • Support for the SATHI Project is limited to a maximum duration of four years.