The Central Government may initiate disciplinary action against the West Bengal Chief Secretary after he failed to report to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) in New Delhi as ordered earlier. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the “placement of services” of Chief Secretary, as per provisions Rule 6(1) of the Indian Administrative Service …

Recently, the Central Government issued a notification granting powers related to citizenship applications under existing rules to authorities of five states. The order has been issued under the Citizenship Act, 1955 and the Citizenship Rules, 2009 and not under the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 since its rules have not yet been framed. Important points: In accordance with section 16 of …

Recently, the Research Design & Standards Organization (RDSO) of Indian Railways has become the first Institution to be declared a Standard Developing Organization (SDO) under One Nation One Standard mission of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). RDSO took the initiative to seek recognition as a Standard Developing Organization (SDO) under the BIS SDO Recognition Scheme. Research Designs & Standards Organization …

The government has announced a special “PM-CARES for Children” scheme for all those orphaned due to Covid-19. Also, the Supreme Court has ordered the district authorities to upload the details of children in need of care and protection on NCPCR (National Commission for Protection of Child Rights) portal Bal Swaraj. Important points: Children who have lost both parents or their lone surviving …

Recently, India and Australia reviewed cooperation in the sectors of agriculture and defence. Important points: The India-Australia Grains Partnership aims to use Australia’s expertise in post harvest management to strengthen rural grain storage and supply chains so as to reduce losses and wastage. National Institute of Agricultural Marketing will be the nodal organisation from India. …

Every year, the first day of June is observed as World Milk Day. On the occasion, the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying announced the launch of the Gopal Ratna Awards and integration of e-Gopala App with UMANG platform. UMANG Platform Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance (UMANG) Mobile App is a unified, secure, multi-channel, multi-platform, multi-lingual, …

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has notified the second negative import list, now renamed as the ‘positive indigenisation list’ of 108 items. The ‘First Negative Indigenisation’ List comprising 101 items was notified in August 2020. Important points: Procurement: All the 108 items will now be procured from indigenous sources as per provisions given in Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020 …

The UN report, titled State of Finance for Nature, analyzes the investment flow in nature-based solutions (NbS) and identifies the future investment needed to meet the climate change, biodiversity and land degradation targets (set in three Rio Conventions). The report was jointly produced by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Economic Forum and the Economics of Land Degradation. Important …

According to the National Weather Forecasting Centre of the India Meteorological Department (IMD): Southwest monsoon seasonal (June to September) rainfall over the country as a whole is most likely to be normal (96 to 104 % of Long Period Average (LPA)). Quantitatively, the monsoon seasonal (June to September) rainfall over the …

Recently, the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) introduced the world’s first Nano Urea Liquid for farmers across the world. Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited It is one of India’s biggest cooperative societies which is wholly owned by Indian Cooperatives Founded in 1967 with just 57 cooperatives, today it is an amalgamation of over 36,000 Indian Cooperatives with diversified business …