14th July 2026

Explanation – The India-US Extradition Treaty (1997) regulates extradition between the two countries and is founded on the principle of dual criminality. Under dual criminality, an offence is extraditable only if it is punishable by more than one year of imprisonment in both jurisdictions, and the underlying conduct must be a serious offence in both countries; the exact legal terminology need not be identical.

Political offences are exempt, but murder, terrorism, hostage-taking, drug trafficking, and related offences are specifically excluded from this protection. The Rule of Speciality means the extradited person can ordinarily be tried only for the offences for which extradition was granted, not for any newly discovered offence.

Explanation – Helium is a non-renewable resource generated deep in the Earth’s crust through the radioactive decay of uranium and thorium, and it migrates into natural gas reservoirs where it is extracted. Commercial extraction is typically viable when helium constitutes at least 0.3% by volume of the gas.

China produces only about 1.6% of the world’s helium and imports more than 80% of its requirements. Russia has imposed export restrictions requiring approval from high-level officials, and those controls are set to remain in force until the end of 2027.

Explanation – SASCI is an important scheme of the Central Government under which states and Union Territories receive interest-free financial aid for infrastructure projects, and it is managed by the Ministry of Finance. It was launched in 2020–21 amid the financial stress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and it provides long-term, 50-year interest-free loans to states and Union Territories to boost capital spending.

It also includes incentives tied to reforms and capital investment by states. Project proposals are not centrally imposed from a national priority list; they are identified based on proposals submitted by the concerned State Governments.

Explanation – NDS-OM was launched in 2005 by the Reserve Bank of India and is a screen-based, electronic, anonymous order-matching system for secondary market trading in government securities owned by RBI. It is designed to bring transparency to secondary market transactions and supports trading in central government securities, state government securities, and treasury bills.

Trades are settled at T+1 and guaranteed by the Clearing Corporation of India Limited (CCIL). Direct membership is available to entities that have current accounts with the RBI; most foreign institutional investors have indirect access rather than direct membership.

Explanation – Eärendil-1 is the first satellite planned by US startup Reflect Orbital, and its purpose is to reflect sunlight towards specific spots on Earth at nighttime. It will fly in a non-geostationary low Earth orbit at about 600 to 650 kilometres altitude, not geostationary orbit.

The satellite is fitted with a motorised, deployable, highly specular thin-film reflector that can be steered to different orientations. The idea is to extend usable hours for solar panels and support light during critical operations such as emergency or humanitarian missions.