According to reports, India plans to procure additional Heron MK-II drones from Israel with discussions underway for local manufacturing.

About Heron Mark II

• Manufacturer: Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).
• Category: Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance roles.
• Endurance: Can reach an altitude of 35,000 feet, speed of 150 knots and remain in the air for 45 consecutive hours
• Capabilities: Equipped with advanced sensors, communication intelligence packages and satellite communication support which enables long range, beyond line of sight missions.

14th edition of Exercise Ekuverin is scheduled in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

About Exercise Ekuverin

• It is an annual bilateral joint military exercise between the Indian Army and the Maldives National Defence Force.
• Origin: “Ekuverin” means “Friends” in Dhivehi; the exercise began in 2009 and alternates between India and the Maldives annually.
• Core Objectives: Build interoperability for counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations; conduct joint HADR drills; practise operations in semi-urban, jungle, and coastal terrain

The Government of India has undertaken the Global Indices for Reforms and Growth (GIRG) initiative for driving reforms and growth in the country.

About Global Indices for Reforms and Growth (GIRG) Framework

• Purpose: It monitors India’s performance on selected global indices to identify gaps and guide evidence-based reforms.
• Coverage: Tracks 26 indices across four broad themes: economy, governance, development, and industry, released by 16 international agencies.
• Implementation: 17 nodal ministries are assigned specific indices. 
  • The Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO), NITI Aayog coordinates data quality checks, methodology review, and reform implementation.
• Significance: Enhances transparency, strengthens policymaking, boosts India’s global competitiveness, and supports cooperative and competitive federalism.

ED probed the ‘Masala Bond’ issued by the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB).

What are Masala Bonds?

• Masala Bonds are the rupee-denominated bonds issued to overseas buyers for raising money by the Indian corporates. 
  • These were introduced in India in 2014 by International Finance Corporation (IFC).
• Eligibility: Any investor from a FATF compliant jurisdiction would be eligible to invest.
• Benefit: Masala bond is an effort to protect issuers from currency risk and instead transfer the risk of currency to investors buying these bonds.

Assam has passed the Assam Prohibition of Polygamy Bill, 2025.

• The bill introduces strict punishment, including imprisonment of up to 10 years for contracting a second marriage.

About Polygamy

• It means a system of marriage whereby one person has more than one spouse. 
• It can be of two types:
  • Polygyny, where a man marries more than one woman .
  • Polyandry, where a woman marries more than one man.
• Hindu Marriage Act,1955  prescribes punishment for bigamy.
• Section 82 of BNS deals with marrying again during the lifetime of a husband or wife, punishable with up to seven years’ imprisonment and a fine.

Department of Telecommunications (DoT) ordered smartphone manufacturers to pre-install the Sanchar Saathi app on new devices.

About Sanchar Saathi mobile app

• It was launched in 2025 to enhance transparent and secure mobile services.
• Key-features 
  • Chakshu :Enables users to report suspected fraud communications via calls, SMS, or WhatsApp - especially KYC-updating scams.
  • IMEI Tracking and Blocking :Allows tracking and blocking of lost or stolen phones anywhere in India. 
  • Know Your Mobile Handset’s Genuineness: offers an easy way to verify whether a purchased mobile device is genuine. 
  • Reporting of international calls masked as domestic calls, originating from numbers with the Indian country code +91 followed by 10 digits.
  • Know your Internet Service Provider  by entering a PIN code, address, or ISP name.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation has confirmed GPS spoofing at Delhi and several other major airports.

GPS spoofing

• It is also known as GPS simulation, refers to the practice of manipulating or tricking a GPS receiver by broadcasting false GPS signals.
• It misleads the GPS receiver into believing it is located somewhere it is not, resulting in the device providing inaccurate location data.
• This form of cyberattack undermines the reliability of GPS data, which is vital for a variety of applications, from navigation to time synchronization and more.

Indian Army successfully conducts combat launch of BrahMos supersonic cruise missile.

About Brahmos Missile

• It is a two-stage Supersonic Cruise Missile with a solid propellant booster engine as its first stage and liquid ramjet as second stage.
• Flight range of up to 290 km.
• Its cruising altitude could be up to 15 km and terminal altitude as low as 5 m.
• It carries a conventional warhead upto 200 kgs.
• Features: Land-Attack / Anti-Ship Capabilities, Fire and Forget Principle of Operations, Large Engagement Envelop, Transport-cum-Launch Canister, Minimum Deployment Time etc.

PAHAL or Direct Benefit Transfer of LPG Scheme Delivers Efficiency, Transparency, and Consumer-Centric Reforms.

About PAHAL Scheme

• Launched: 2013.
• Ministry:­ Ministry Of Petroleum and Natural Gas
• Objective: 
  • To ensure that LPG distribution and subsidy transfers in respect of domestic LPG consumers are efficient, transparent, and inclusive.
  • To curb the diversion of subsidized LPG for commercial use.
• Process: All domestic LPG cylinders are sold at a uniform Retail Selling Price (RSP) and applicable subsidy to LPG consumers is transferred directly into their bank accounts.