Short News

September 11, 2023

Storm-0558	According to Microsoft Threat Intelligence, a China-based hacking group identified as Storm-0558 breached U.S. government-linked email accounts. Espionage: The threat actor’s activities and methods are consistent with espionage objectives. Method Used: Storm-0558 acquired the Managed Service Account (MSA) key which is used by a service to validate authentication tokens for the service. Hackers then used it to forge a token that was used for validation issues to impersonate users and gain access to enterprise email.
India’s External Debt	According to the “India’s External Debt: A Status Report 2022-23”, the ratio of external debt to GDP declined to 18.9% at March-end 2022-23 from 20% a year ago. India’s external debt of $624.7 billion at March-end 2023 with a debt-service ratio of 5.3% is within the comfort zone. The Debt-Service Ratio: It is measured by the proportion of gross debt service payments (both principal and interest) to external current receipts (gross income). External Debt: It refers to money borrowed from a source outside the country. It has to be paid back in the currency in which it is borrowed. Sources: It can be obtained from foreign commercial banks, international financial institutions like IMF, World Bank, ADB etc and from the government of foreign nations.
Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI)	DCGI has directed the drugs controllers of all States and Union Territories to keep a strict vigil on the sale and distribution of falsified versions of–liver medication Defitelio and Takeda’s cancer drug Adcetris (injection). The Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO): It is the Central Drug Authority for discharging functions assigned to the Central Government under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act. DCGI: S/he is the head of department of the CDSCO. Functions of CDSCO: Regulatory control over the import of drugs, approval of new drugs and clinical trials etc.
UPI Lite X	Recently, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) launched UPI Lite X. It will allow users to send and receive money while being completely offline. It will be accessible to anyone with a compatible device that supports Near Field Communication (NFC). NFC is a short-range wireless communication technology that allows devices to exchange data when they are in close proximity to each other, typically within a few centimeters or inches. UPI Lite: It is an ‘on-device wallet’ feature that allows users to make real-time small-value payments without using a UPI PIN. It is a payment solution to process low value transactions that have been set at below Rs 500.