Option (a) is correct.

Explanation: 

• India Meteorological Department (IMD) is tracking potential cyclonic storm post-monsoon in the Arabian Sea. If it is formed, it will be named “Tej” as per Indian Ocean cyclone naming protocol.
• Statement 1 is correct: Extratropical cyclones are also called wave cyclones or mid-latitude cyclones or temperate cyclones.
  • They  can originate over the land and sea.
• The extra tropical cyclone affects a much larger area as compared to the tropical cyclone. The wind velocity in a tropical cyclone is much higher and it is more destructive. 
• Statement 2 is not correct: The extra tropical cyclones move from west to east but tropical cyclones move from east to west.
• Tropical cyclones are known as Cyclones in the Indian Ocean, Hurricanes in the Atlantic, Typhoons in the Western Pacific and South China Sea, and Willy-willies in the Western Australia.
• The conditions favourable for the formation and intensification of tropical storms are: 
  • Large sea surface with temperature higher than 27° C; 
  • Presence of the Coriolis force; 
  • Small variations in the vertical wind speed; 
  • A pre-existing weak low-pressure area or low-level-cyclonic circulation; 
  • Upper divergence above the sea level system

Option (b) is correct

Explanation:

• Recently, the Prime Minister greeted on the auspicious occasion of KatiBihu.
• Kati Bihu is an Assamese festival which marks the relocation of rice saplings and is known as Kongali Bihu.

Option (b) is correct.

Explanation:

Cotton crops across North Indian states viz. Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, are reporting a severe pink bollworm (Pectinophora gossypiella) attack.

• Statement I is correct: Cotton is the most important commercial crop commonly referred to as “White Gold”. In India, cotton is grown in three distinct agro-ecological zones, viz., Northern (Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan), Central (Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh) and Southern zone (Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka). The pink bollworm is the most significant cotton pest in the world. 
• Statement II is correct: Bollgard Bt cotton (single-gene technology) is biotech crop technology approved for commercialization in India in 2002, followed by Bollgard II (double-gene technology) in 2006, by the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC). 
  • Bollgard cotton provides in-built protection for cotton against destructive Bollworm infestations, and contains an insecticidal protein from a naturally occurring soil microorganism, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt).
  • Even the Bt Cotton (Bollgard II seed) is falling prey to pink bollworm in North India.

Option (c) is correct.

Explanation:

• The Central Bureau of Investigation has searched 76 locations across 11 States as part of the “Chakra-II” operation launched against the organised cyber-enabled financial crimes. 
• Operation Chakra-II also led to the identification of a sophisticated crypto-currency fraud. Five separate cases of cyber-enabled financial frauds were registered, including one involving a cryptocurrency fraud worth Rs 100 crore. 
• The CBI is working closely with international police cooperation with its international counterparts, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation of U.S.A., Cybercrime Directorate and IFCACC of Interpol, the National Crime Agency in the United Kingdom, the Singapore Police Force and the BKA (Bundeskriminalamt) of Germany.

Option (d) is correct.

Explanation:

• Recently, the Union government announced an increase in Minimum Support Price (MSP) for six Rabi crops for the 2024-25 marketing season.
• MSP: It is the minimum price at which the government procures crops from farmers.
  • The actual amount depends on the method used to calculate cost of production (CoP).
  • The National Commission of Farmers also known as the Swaminathan Commission recommended that the MSP should at least be 50% more than the weighted average CoP.
• Increase in the MSP:  For the crops viz. rapeseed/mustard, wheat (main Rabi crop), safflower, barley, gram and lentils (masoor dal).
• Crops covered under MSP:
  • Cereals – Paddy, wheat, barley, jowar, bajra, maize and ragi.
  • Pulses – Gram, arhar/tur, moong, urad and lentil
  • Oilseeds – Groundnut, rapeseed/mustard, toria, soyabean, sunflower seed, sesamum, safflower seed and nigerseed.
  • Raw cotton
  • Raw jute
  • Copra
  • De-husked coconut
  • Sugarcane (Fair and remunerative price)
  • Virginia flu cured (VFC) tobacco.