NATIONAL NEWS

Himachal to Give Steel Bottle to Students to Curb Plastic Pollution

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu announced a government initiative to curb plastic pollution by distributing six lakh stainless steel bottles to schoolchildren.

The Chief Minister announced a series of initiatives in a function organised in Shimla on 5th June 2025 on World Environment Day.

The event was jointly organised by the Department of Environment, Science and Technology and Climate Change, and the Himachal Pradesh Council for Science, Technology and Environment.

The theme of the 2025 World Environment Day is Beat Plastic Pollution. It focuses on the dangers to the world environment posed by plastic, especially single-use plastics.

The state government announced several steps to deal with plastic pollution.

To curb plastic pollution, the government will distribute six lakh stainless steel water bottles to schoolchildren in the state. These bottles will replace plastic water bottles.

The Chief Minister also launched the ‘Single-Use Plastic Challan Mobile App’.

Union Minister Launches BharatGen

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, Jitendra Singh, inaugurated BharatGen the country’s first government-funded, AI-based Multimodal Large Language Model (LLM) at the BharatGen Summit.

It was developed under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS) and implemented by TIH Foundation for IoT and IoE at IIT Bombay.

BharatGen integrates text, speech, and image modalities to deliver AI solutions in 22 Indian languages and aims to drive innovation across sectors like healthcare, education, agriculture, and governance.

BharatGen is the first-ever indigenously developed AI model in India, funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST).

It supports text, speech, and image processing in 22 Indian languages, ensuring inclusivity and cultural relevance.

It is supported by a network of 25 Technology Innovation Hubs (TIHs), four of which are now Technology Translational Research Parks (TTRPs).

Union Minister G Kishan Reddy Launches C CARES 2.0 Portal

Union Minister of Coal and Mines Shri G Kishan Reddy launched C CARES Version 2.0, a web portal of Coal Mines Provident Fund Organization (CMPFO).

The portal is developed and designed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC).

CMPFO is an autonomous organization under the Ministry of Coal, established in 1948 to administer Provident Fund (PF) and Pension schemes for providing social security to coal sector workers.

CMPFO currently serves around 3.3 lakh Provident Fund subscribers and 6.3 lakh pensioners in the coal sector.

The upgraded portal aims to streamline PF/Pension disbursement by integrating coal workers, coal management, and CMPFO on a unified digital platform.

The new portal module has been rolled out in five Regional Offices.

The mobile app features a Chat-bot assistant that helps members obtain desired information easily.

The Mobile App is available to all CMPFO members for enhanced accessibility.

 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

India Central Asia Dialogue 2025

Indian External Affairs Minister, Dr S Jaishankar, hosted the 4th India-Central Asia Dialogue in New Delhi.

The foreign ministers of the five Central Asian countries—Uzbekistan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan —participated in the 4th India-Central Asian Dialogue.

The foreign ministers of India and the five Central Asian countries also attended the 4th India-Central Asia Business Council meeting in New Delhi to promote business ties.

The India Central Dialogue is a foreign minister format that discusses regional issues to strengthen India's central relations.

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce (FICCI), in association with the Ministry of External Affairs, organises the India Central Asia Business Council meeting.

Bahrain, Latvia and 3 Other Countries Join UN Security Council

The United Nations General Assembly has elected Latvia, Bahrain, Colombia, Liberia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo as new non-permanent United Nations (UN) Security Council members for a two-year term.

The newly elected members term will start on 1st January 2026 and end on 31st December 2027.

Latvia, a small East European country, has been elected to the Security Council for the first time.

The United Nations Security Council has 15 members. Five members -China, Russia, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America are permanent members and have veto power.

The United Nations Security Council initially had 11 members, six of whom were non-permanent. In 1965, the number of non-permanent members increased to ten.

The newly elected members will replace Slovenia, South Korea, Guyana, Algeria, and Sierra Leone, whose terms end on 31st December 2025.

The newly elected countries -Latvia, Bahrain, Colombia, Liberia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo will join Pakistan, Denmark, Panama, Greece, and Somalia as the non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

Denmark, Greece, Pakistan, Panama, and Somalia's two-year term will end on 31st December 2026.

Every year, elections are held to elect five non-permanent members of the Security Council.

Bangladesh Removes Mujibur’s ‘Father Of The Nation’ Title

Bangladesh’s interim government has dropped the title "Father of the Nation" for Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

This change was made by amending legislation, specifically the National Freedom Fighters Council Act.

The amendment involved revising the definition of “freedom fighter” under the Act.

The Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs issued an ordinance regarding the amendment on Tuesday night.

The amendment also modifies the term “Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman”.

This move follows the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government dropping Mujibur Rahman’s portrait from new currency notes.

The action is seen as political, affecting the legacy of Bangladesh’s founding father and the family of the current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina (daughter of Mujibur Rahman).

 

BANKING

RBI Cuts Policy Repo Rate by 50 Basis Points to 5.5 %

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cut its policy repo rate by 50 basis points (0.50%) and maintained the growth rate forecast of 6.5 % for the Indian economy in 2025-26.

The policy repo rate is the rate at which the RBI gives short-term loans to the banks.

RBI has also announced a staggered 1% cut in the cash reserve ratio (CRR) to 3 %.

Since February 2025, the RBI has reduced the policy repo rates by 100 basis points or 1%.

The RBI Governor, Sanjay Malhotra, announced the bi-monthly monetary Policy on 6 June. The next bi-monthly monetary policy will be announced on 6 August 2025.

The new rates effective from 6 June 2025 are as follows

Policy Repo Rate - 5.50% (earlier 6.0%)

Fixed Reverse Repo Rate- 3.35 % (No change)

Standing deposit facility (SDF) - 5.25% (earlier 5.75%)

Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) - 5.75% (earlier 6.25%)

Bank Rate - 5.75% (earlier 6.25%)

The CRR will be cut in four stages. In every stage, the CRR will be cut by 0.25 %.

Cash Reserve Ratio(CRR)- 4.00% (to be reduced gradually by 1 % by 29 November 2025)

Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR)- 18% (No change)

Adani Airports Holdings Limited raises $750 million

Adani Airports Holdings Limited (AAHL), a subsidiary of Adani Enterprises, has raised $750 million through External Commercial Borrowings (ECB).

ECBs refer to the borrowing of funds by Indian companies from foreign sources in the form of loans, bonds, or other financial instruments.

ECBs can be used to finance Business expansion, Acquisition of assets, Repayment of existing debt.

ECBs fall under the RBI’s Master Direction titled ‘External Commercial Borrowings, Trade Credits, and Structured Obligations (Master Direction)’ and are governed by the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999.

The funding will be used to Refinance $400 million of existing debt, Upgrade infrastructure and Expand non-aeronautical businesses (e.g., duty-free retail, food & beverages, airport services)

 

AWARDS & PRIZES

USISPF Global Leadership Award 2025

At the 8th USISPF Leadership Summit held in Washington, D.C., Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, was awarded the prestigious Global Leadership Award 2025 by the S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF).

This award recognises his significant contributions to advancing S.-India economic relations through sustained investment and job creation in the United States.

Birla received the award for leading India’s largest investor in the U.S.

Aditya Birla Group has invested over $15 billion in the U.S.

The Group operates in 15 states and employs more than 5,400 people.

The award was presented alongside honours to Arvind Krishna (IBM) and Toshiaki Higashihara (Hitachi).

The award was presented by USISPF, a non-profit fostering U.S.-India strategic and commercial cooperation.

It recognizes leadership in promoting investments, job creation, and bilateral ties.

 

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

Chairman of Economic Advisory Council to PM

S.Mahendra Dev, noted economist and former Independent Director of the Axis Bank, has been appointed as the Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM).

The post of the Chairman of the EAC-PM has been vacant since November 2024 when the then chairman Dr Bibek Debroy passed away on 1st November 2024.

S.Mahendra Dev is the second person to be appointed as the Chairman of the EAC-PM since its constitution in 2017.

There is no fixed tenure of the Chairman of the EAC-PM and he holds the post on the pleasure of the central government. It means the government can dismiss him any time.

The Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) was established on 26 September 2017 by the Central government.

It is an independent body that was set up through an executive order by the President of India.

He was honoured with the Malcolm Adiseshiah Award for Distinguished Contributions to Development Studies in 2016.