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Former Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi has been nominated as Member of External Affairs Parliamentary Committee. Read the full article

Rajesh Bhushan 1987 batch IAS officer of Bihar cadre serving as OSD, Health and Family Welfare, has officially been appointed as Secretary in the same Department. Read the full article

Air Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhary has been appointed as the new Western Air Command Chief. Read the full article

Ajay Tirke 1987 Batch IAS officer of MP cadre has been appointed as Secretary, Department of Land Resources,Government of India. Read the full article

Sanjay Srivastava 1986 batch IPS officer of Gujarat cadre has been promoted to the grade of Director General of Police (DGP) in Gujarat. Read the full article

Dr. Vinodkumar Mall 1986 Batch IPS officer of Gujarat Cadre has been promoted to the grade of Director General of Police in Gujarat. Read the full article

Keshav Kumar 1986 Batch IPS officer has been promoted to the grade of Director General of Police (DGP) in Gujarat. Read the full article

Sushil Kumar 1987 batch IAS officer of Tripura has been appointed as Secretary, National Commission for Scheduled Castes,Government of India. Read the full article

Anil Kumar Jain, 1986 batch IAS officer of MP cadre, Secretary Coal, has been assigned an additional charge of Secretary, Mines,Government of India. Read the full article

The present non-executive chairman of Bajaj Finance, Rahul Bajaj has decided to step down on July 31, 2020. He will be replaced by his son Sanjiv Bajaj (the present Vice Chairman of the company). Rahul Bajaj will continue to serve as a non-executive non independent director of the company. Read the full article

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister, Bhupesh Baghel has launched "Godhan Nyay Yojna". The scheme will help to promote cattle rearing, ensure the safety of livestock, help cattle ranchers earn extra income, help in tackling the problem of open grazing by stray cattle and encourage the use of organic fertilizers as well as boost rural economy among other things. About 'Godhan Nyay Yojana': • Under the 'Godhan Nyay Yojana' Chhattisgarh government will purchase cow dung the rate of Rs 2 per kg. This scheme will turn cow dung into a profitable commodity. • The scheme also aims to make cow rearing economically profitable and to prevent open grazing in the state, as well as help with the problem of stray animals on roads and in urban areas. The women self-help groups will then prepare vermicompost from it, which will then be sold at Rs 8 per kg to farmers, while the dung will be utilized for other products. Read the full article

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and Union Bank of India, after its amalgamation with Corporation Bank and Andhra Bank announced a corporate agency agreement to distribute LIC policies. The bank will market LIC products of term insurance, pension, plan, children plan, ULIPs, and endowment schemes. Union Bank of India can act as a financial supermarket by offering a basket of products to its account holders, whereby they can select products according to their choice. Read the full article

Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN) has appointed Alok Misra as its new Chief Executive Officer & Director. The appointment will be effective from 1st August 2020. Dr Misra takes over from the present CEO, Harsh Shrivastava, who has put down his papers after spending over 2 years at MFIN. Read the full article

Union Home Minister Amit Shah is to launch Vriksharopan Abhiyan in New Delhi today. The Union Home Minister will also inaugurate and lay the Foundation stone of 6 Eco parks/ Tourism sites. The inauguration event will take place through Video Conferencing across more than 130 locations spread in 38 Districts of 10 coal and lignite bearing States. Large scale plantation to be carried out by Coal/Lignite PSUs under Coal Ministry. Vriksharopan Abhiyan:♦ Vriksharopan Abhiyan is organized by the Ministry of Coal. ♦ It will involve all Coal/Lignite Public sector undertakings (PSUs) during which large scale plantation would be carried out in mines, colonies, offices, and other suitable areas of Coal/Lignite PSUs. ♦ The seedlings will be distributed in nearby areas for promoting plantation by society.♦ The eco-parks/tourism sites will provide avenues for recreation, adventure, water sport, bird watching, etc. for the people residing in nearby areas. ♦ The sites will be integrated to form part of the tourism circuit. ♦ These sites are aimed to generate revenue for self-sustenance and create employment potential for local people.♦ The key thrust area of the coal sector is Going Green. It involves maximization of green cover through ecological reclamation of mined-out areas and overburden dumps, a plantation in and around mines, and avenue plantation suitable places.♦ The Going Green initiative will begin with the active participation of coal/lignite PSUs and private miners. Read the full article

Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) awarded Kannan C S Warrier, Senior principal of Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding (IFGTB) scientist, the National Award of Excellence for Outstanding Research in Forestry for the year 2019.  Highlights:♦ Kannan C S Warrier was awarded for releasing three productive clones of casuarina, known as kattadi and savukku. The clones were found suitable for salt-affected soils for the first time in the country. It should be noted that around 6.73 million hectares are salt-affected land in India.♦ Warrier has 27 years of forestry research experience and has published 232 research articles.♦ The clones are expected to boost ICFRE's agro forestry initiatives.♦ Warrier holds a doctoral degree in forest genetics. He is a first rank holder in BSc and MSc forestry at Kerala Agricultural University. Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE):ICFRE functions under the Ministry of Environment and Forests. The autonomous organization was established in 1986. It is headquartered in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. It conducts research in forestry, transfers the technologies developed to the states of India and other user agencies. It also aims to impart forestry education. Read the full article

China successfully launched a rover to Mars on 23 July 2020, which is another milestone for its space programme.  Highlights:♦ China's Mars probe was launched from the southern island of Hainan, China.♦ The Mars mission was named Tianwen-1 meaning "Questions to Heaven" in a nod to a classical Chinese poem that has verses about the cosmos.♦ Under the mission, the probe aims to go enter into Martian orbit. It will land on the planet Mars and release a small rover to conduct research on its surface.♦ It is expected to reach the planet in February 2021. ♦ The spacecraft will travel at least 55 million kilometres to reach its destination.♦ In its earlier attempt in 2011, China's partnership with Russia failed because the Russian launcher was unable to get the craft into a transfer orbit to slingshot towards Mars. Read the full article

Eight IAS officers of 2004 batch have been promoted to Super Time Scale (STS) in Haryana. The officers include: Ms Ashima Brar, Phool Chand Meena, A Sreenivas, Shekhar Vidyarthi, Sanjeev Verma, Jagdeep Singh, Ms Anita Yadav and CG Rajini Kaanthan. Read the full article