Security, defence & exercises

Answer: (b) 1 and 4

Aleppo is in Syria and Mazar-i-Sharif is in Afghanistan, so pairs 1 and 4 are correct. Kirkuk and Mosul are both cities of Iraq, not of Yemen or Palestine.

• ✓ 1. Aleppo is a historic city of Syria; its Ancient City is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in that country.
• ✗ 2. Kirkuk is in Iraq, where its Citadel is on the country's UNESCO tentative list. It is not in Yemen.
• ✗ 3. Mosul is in Iraq. India's Ministry of External Affairs records that 39 Indian nationals were killed in Mosul, and their remains were brought back from Baghdad in April 2018. It is not in Palestine.
• ✓ 4. Mazar-i-Sharif (also spelt Mazar-e-Sharif) is one of the main cities of Afghanistan; India has run an Indian Medical Mission there.

Remember · Aleppo: Syria. Mosul and Kirkuk: Iraq. Mazar-i-Sharif: Afghanistan.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) An American anti-missile system

THAAD is an American anti-missile system. It is a land-based system of the US Missile Defense Agency and US Army that destroys ballistic missiles in their final (terminal) phase of flight, using hit-to-kill interceptors.

• ✓ (c) THAAD batteries have a launcher, interceptors, an AN/TPY-2 radar and fire control. They are procured and fielded to the US Army, and the interceptor destroys the warhead by direct impact.
• ✗ (b) India's own anti-missile effort is the Ballistic Missile Defence programme of DRDO, which flight-tests indigenous interceptors. It is a separate programme from THAAD.
• ✗ (a) THAAD is developed and fielded by the United States (US Missile Defense Agency and US Army), not by Israel, and it is an interceptor system rather than only a radar.
• ✗ (d) THAAD is fielded to the US Army to protect US forces and allies. It is not a joint Japan–South Korea defence arrangement.

Remember · THAAD = Terminal High Altitude Area Defense: a US ground-based, hit-to-kill system against ballistic missiles in their terminal phase. India's own shield is DRDO's BMD.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) Cyber attacks

All three names belong to cyber attacks in 2017. WannaCry and Petya are ransomware, meaning malware that locks a victim's files, and EternalBlue is the Windows exploit through which they spread.

• ✓ (c) WannaCry encrypted files on infected Windows systems and spread through a Windows Server Message Block vulnerability, an exploit named EternalBlue. Variants of Petya ransomware later spread using the same exploit. India's CERT-In issued alerts for both in 2017.
• ✗ (b) These are malicious programs and an exploit, not digital currencies. CERT-In classifies WannaCry and Petya as ransomware.
• ✗ (a) Exoplanets are planets outside the Solar System and have no connection with these computer-security terms.
• ✗ (d) Mini satellites are small space vehicles. WannaCry, Petya and EternalBlue are software threats.

Remember · WannaCry and Petya = ransomware (2017). EternalBlue = the Windows SMB exploit that helped them spread. CERT-In is India's nodal agency for such alerts.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error