Take a look at the essential concepts, terms, quotes, or phenomena every day and brush up your knowledge. Here’s your upsc knowledge nugget on masala bonds. (Relevance: A question on masala bonds has been asked in the UPSC Prelims. Knowing about the bonds, acts regulating them become important for your UPSC exam.) Why in the news? A show cause notice has been served by the Enforcement Directorate to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, former state Finance Minister Thomas Isaac and ex-IAS officer Dr K M Abraham in connection with alleged Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) violations pertaining to the Masala Bond issued by the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB). Vijayan is the chairperson of KIIFB and Isaac was its vice-chairperson in 2019, when the CPI(M) government issued a masala bond to raise funds for infrastructure development. Abraham is the chief executive officer of KIIFB, the state agency that mobilises funds for infrastructure projects beyond what is earmarked in the budgets. Key takeaways: 1. A bond is an instrument to borrow money. A bond could …