The Reserve Bank of India has come up with new guidelines regarding LCR. 

• RBI also said that banks need to assign a lower run-off factor on retail deposits.
  • Run-off factor refers to the percentage of deposits that could be withdrawn by depositors in a stress scenario.

About Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR)

• It is the amount of High-Quality Liquid Assets (HQLAs) that financial institutions must have on hand to ensure they can meet their short-term obligations in the event of market turmoil.
• The LCR is a result of updates to the Basel Accords, regulations created by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision.
• High LCR decreases money supply by requiring banks to hold a larger proportion of highly liquid assets.

International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) released the Snow Update Report. 

Key Findings

• The Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region experienced its third consecutive below-normal snow year in 2025
• Ganga basin recorded lowest snow persistence in last 23 years. 
  • Snow persistence measures the fraction of time snow remains on the ground after snowfall.
• Snow persistence of Indus and Brahmaputra Basin also declined. 

PoshanTracker Application receives the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration 2024.

About Poshan Tracker

• It  is a mobile-based application for dynamic identification of stunting, wasting, and under-weight prevalence among children and last-mile tracking of nutrition service delivery. 
• Poshan Calculator: Interactive calculator designed to measure growth of the child based on standards defined by World Health Organization (WHO) and suggest appropriate corrective action based on inputs.

According to a study Climate change could be resulting in higher levels of arsenic in rice, potentially increasing lifetime cancer and health risks. 

About Arsenic Pollution

• Arsenic is a natural component of the earth’s crust and is widely distributed throughout the environment in the air, water and land.
•  It is highly toxic in its inorganic form.
• Long-term exposure to arsenic from drinking-water and food can cause cancer and skin lesions. 
• It has also been associated with cardiovascular disease and diabetes. 
• In utero and early childhood exposure has been linked to negative impacts on cognitive development and increased deaths in young adults.

The government’s debt is being managed well and will not lead to fiscal slippage, the Union Finance Minister stated recently.

About Fiscal Slippage

• A situation where a government’s actual fiscal performance deviates from its planned or targeted fiscal targets, usually resulting in higher-than-expected budget deficits, increased public debt, or a combination of both.
• It can be due to reasons such as  farm loan waivers, cut back on GST collection, reduction in VAT and excise due to lessen the impact of rising Brent crude oil price.

The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) scientists claim that its nano sulphur gives yield enhancement similar to DMH-11 using conventional mustard varieties.

• DMH-11 is the genetically-modified mustard. 

About TERI’s Nano-sulphur

• It is a completely green product that uses biological agents like plant promoting bacteria that secrete enzymes and metabolites.
  • This makes it different from other nono-fertilizers such as nano urea and nano diammonium phosphate. 
• Nano-sulfur has antibacterial and insecticidal properties.
• Benefits: Acts as a plant growth promoter, enhancing plant stress resistance, and improving the nutritional quality of plants, etc. 

China is using South China Sea-Style “Salami Slicing” Tricks In The Yellow Sea to capture new territory.

About Salami Slicing

• The term was coined by Stalinist dictator Mátyás Rákosi.
• It  is a divide-and-conquer tactic used to dominate opposition territory, piece by piece.
• Advantage: Operations are too small to result in a war, They leave a neighboring country confused about how it should respond and it helps in avoiding international diplomatic attention but gives benefits in the long term.
• Recently, the term has been increasingly used to describe China's unilateral military actions in India, Japan and countries in the South China Sea region.

Recently, the Khadi and Village Industries recorded its highest ever turnout of Rs. 1 lakh 70 thousand crore.

• KVIC played key role in it. 

About Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC)

• It is a statutory body established under the Khadi and Village Industries Commission Act of 1956.
• Ministry: Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
• Objective: To promote rural development through the production and promotion of khadi (hand-spun, hand-woven cloth) and village industries, along with employment generation.
• Key Initiatives: Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) scheme, Gramodyog Vikas Yojana Scheme, etc.

The Government of India imposed 12% safeguard duty on certain steel products.

About Safeguard Duty

• It is a form of safeguard measure available to World Trade Organization (WTO) Member countries.
• They are imposed to provide a level-playing field to domestic players against sudden and significant increase in imports of a product.
• In principle, safeguard measures cannot be targeted at a particular country. 
  • However, under exceptional circumstances where the imports increase disproportionately, individual country quotas can be applied.
• A safeguard measure should not last more than four years, although this can be extended up to eight years, subject to national authorities.

Recently, scientists have captured the first-ever image of colossal squid in the southern Atlantic Ocean.

About Colossal squid

• The first report of a colossal squid was in 1925, when the head and arms were discovered in a sperm whale stomach.
• It is a massive deep-sea squid species found in the Antarctic waters, primarily south of 40°S, living at depths usually greater than 1,000 meters.
• They can reach from 7 to 14 metres in length and weigh as much as 500 kilograms.