China has imposed a temporary export ban on helium.

About Helium

• A colourless, odourless, non-toxic, non-flammable, inert noble gas and the second-lightest element in the periodic table. 
• Occurrence: Non-renewable; formed by radioactive decay of uranium and thorium and extracted mainly from natural gas.
• Key Property: It has lowest boiling point among all elements.
• Uses: MRI scanners, semiconductor fabrication, optical fibre manufacturing, quantum computing, leak detection, in rockets fuel system, etc.
• Major producers: United States and Qatar
• India is 100% import-dependent for helium, making supplies vulnerable to global disruptions.

ISRO successfully carried out tests of Gaganyaan crew module systems.

• Crew Module (CM): The habitable space of the Gaganyaan Orbital Module that provides an Earth-like environment for astronauts.

About Gaganyaan Mission

• India's first human spaceflight mission by ISRO.
  • India will become the fourth country after Russia, the United States, and China to independently demonstrate human spaceflight capability. 
• Objective: Demonstrate India's human spaceflight capability by sending 3 astronauts to 400 km Low Earth Orbit (LEO) for 3 days and safely recover them in the sea.
• Launch Vehicle: Human-Rated LVM3 (HLVM3).

Japan's space agency JAXA successfully conducted the first lift-off and landing test of its prototype reusable rocket.

• SpaceX pioneered operational reusable rocket technology with its Falcon 9.
• Recently, China also achieved its first successful reusable rocket landing. 

About Reusable Rocket

• Rocket is used to carry a spacecraft from Earth’s surface to space, and is sometimes called a launch vehicle.
• Reusable Rocket is designed to recover and reuse some or all of its components (primarily the first-stage booster) after launch, instead of discarding them. 
• Benefits: Reusing rocket components significantly reduces launch costs, improves mission frequency, and enhances the sustainability of space missions.

India's Efforts

• ISRO's Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) programme aims to develop low-cost reusable space transportation.
• RLV-LEX successfully demonstrated autonomous runway landing technology.

A study has found that an active fault line (Paizhen fault) beneath the world’s largest hydropower project on the Brahmaputra River in Tibet could affect its structural stability.

About Paizhen Fault

• It is part of a network of tectonic faults in the eastern Himalayan region.
• It is created by the collision of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates.
• It has remained active since the Early Pleistocene (Ice Age) and continues to exhibit strong activity during the present Holocene epoch. 

eSaras has emerged as an important digital commerce platform supporting rural entrepreneurship.

About eSaras

• It is the official e-commerce platform of the Ministry of Rural Development under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana–National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM).
• It connects rural women-led Self-Help Group (SHG) enterprises with customers across India, offering authentic handcrafted products, handlooms, natural foods, home décor, etc. 

RBI absorbed ₹1.67 lakh crore from banks through the Standing Deposit Facility (SDF).

About Standing Deposit Facility 

• It is a monetary policy tool introduced by the RBI in 2022 to absorb excess liquidity from the banking system.
• It is a collateral-free liquidity absorption mechanism, unlike the Reverse Repo under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF).
• The SDF primarily functions as an overnight facility and acts as the floor of the LAF corridor (25 basis points below the Repo Rate).
• SDF deposits count toward meeting Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) requirements, but not Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR).
• Eligibility Criteria:  All liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) participants are eligible to participate in the SDF scheme.

The Centre has granted a Geographical Indication (GI) tag to the nearly 200-year-old Jodhpuri Mojari craft.

About Jodhpuri Mojari 

• A traditional handcrafted leather footwear from Jodhpur, Rajasthan.
• Known for: Fine leather craftsmanship, Intricate embroidery and decorative patterns, Curved toe design and durability.
• Crafted primarily by the Jinagar (Jingar) community.

About GI Tag

• It is an intellectual property right granted to products whose quality, reputation, or characteristics are essentially linked to their geographical origin.
• Governed under the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999.
• Registration is administered by the GI Registry, Chennai.
• Valid for 10 years and can be renewed.