Recently, Vice President addressed the 25th National Conference of Chairpersons of SPSC. 

About SPSC

• About: Conducts examinations for appointments to the services of the state. 
• Constitutional Body:  Article315-323 (Part-XIV) contains provisions on Public Service Commissions for the Union and the States.
• Appointment: Governor of the State (Article316).
• Term of office:  6 years or 62 years of age whichever is earlier.
• Removal:  Removed by the President in the same manner as the members of the Union Public Service Commission on the grounds like:
  • Adjudged insolvent, engages in paid employment outside his office, unfit, misbehaviour (after an enquiry by Supreme Court)

Recently, the Union Minister of Commerce & Industry launched the Bharat Cleantech Manufacturing Platform at the Bharat Climate Forum 2025.

About Bharat Cleantech Manufacturing Platform

• It is designed to enhance India's cleantech value chains in the solar, wind, hydrogen, and battery storage sectors.
• Provide an opportunity for the Indian firms to collaborate, to co-innovate and will help provide a platform for financing, to share ideas, technologies and resources. 
  • This will help India become an attractive business case and a global leader in the sustainability and cleantech sector.

Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has revised Schedule M which mandates pharma firms to report drug recalls and production defects, ensuring quality compliance.

About Schedule M

• It prescribes the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) for pharmaceutical products. 
  • GMPs are mandatory standards which build and bring quality into a product by way of control on materials, methods, machines, processes, etc.
  • GMP was first incorporated in Schedule M in 1988.

Recently, exporters have raised concerns with ambiguities regarding availability of duty credits under RoDTEP (Remission of Duties and Taxes on Export Products) scheme for physical exports of goods.

About RoDTEP Scheme

• Launch: It is being implemented since 2021 by the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
  • It replaced the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme to comply with WTO norms.
• Objective: It rebates/ refunds the embedded Central, State and local duties/taxes to the exporters.
• Rebate is issued as transferable electronic scrip by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) in an end to end IT environment.

Recently, Plant 'Utricularia' has been found in Rajasthan's Keoladeo National Park in large numbers. 

Utricularia (Bladderworts)

• About: Rare and unique carnivorous plant, named for its tiny bladders or utricles.
  • Tiny hairlike projections at the opening of the bladder are sensitive to the motion of passing organisms sucking in prey. 
  • Preys on small organisms (such as protozoa, insects, larvae, mosquitoes, and even tadpoles). 
• Habitat: Found in lakes, streams, and waterlogged soils. 
• Significance: Boosts biodiversity and maintains environmental balance by controlling the population of small insects.

Recently, the standing committee of National Board for Wildlife approved a proposal to carry out oil and gas exploration in the eco-sensitive zone of the Hollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary. 

Hollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary

• Location: Located at Jorhat district of Assam.
  • Officially extends to the Dissoi Valley Reserve Forest, Dissoi Reserve Forest, and Tiru Hill Reserve Forest. 
• Establishment: 1997. 
• Significance:  Contains India's only gibbons - the hoolock gibbons and Northeastern India's only nocturnal primate - the Bengal slow loris.
  • Other non-human primates found here are Capped Langur, Rhesus Macaque, Assamese Macaque, Pigtailed Macaque & Stump tailed Macaque.

Recently, scientists from the Zoological Survey of India have discovered new species of Indo-Burmese Pangolin, based on genetic analyses of specimens.

About Indo-Burmese pangolin (Manis indoburmanica)

• It is a distinct phylogenetic species of the Asian pangolin and belongs to the family Manidae.
• Colour of the scale is dark brown and dark olive brown with the facial colour of pinkish.
• Distribution: Parts of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, and possibly extends to Nepal, Bhutan, and Myanmar.

Recently, the world’s largest CAES facility commenced full operation in China.

Compressed Air Energy Storage

• About: It is a technology used to store energy by compressing air into sealed locations often in underground mines or caverns created inside salt rocks. 
  • Stores electrical energy in the form of potential energy (compressed air). 
  • Energy is stored during off-peak hours and is released back to the grid when the demand is high.
• Benefits: Help to lower demand supply gap during peak time, uses environmental friendly process, etc.

Recently, India witnessed the celebration of harvest festivals.

Harvest Festivals of India

• About: Celebrated in diverse forms across the various regions, these festivals show the harmonious relationship with nature. 

Major Festivals

• Lohri (North with roots in Punjab): Celebrated as the departure of the winter season. 
• Makar Sankranti (North India):  Marks the onset of summer and six months auspicious period for Hindus called Uttarayan, the northward movement of the sun.
• Pongal (South India):  Four-day event dedicated to the Sun God marks the Sun’s journey northward.
• Bhogali Bihu (Assam): Marks the end of harvesting season. 

Boda Tyohar festival (locally kwown as Magho ko Tyohar), the largest annual celebration for the Hatti tribes of the Trans-Giri region in Himachal Pradesh has started.

About Hatti Tribe

• Notified as Scheduled Tribe under the Constitution (Scheduled Tribe) Order (Second Amendment) Act, 2023.
• Named after their tradition of selling homegrown produce, etc at small markets known as 'Haat’ (weekly markets) in towns.
• Often referred to as trans-Giri due to their location near the Giri and Tons river
• Live in states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.