Context: The Centre on Tuesday decided to maintain status quo on the returns payable on small savings schemes such as Public Provident Fund (PPF) for the January to March 2025 quarter. PPF – Public Provident Fund Employeesā Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) Su
WhatsApp Pay can now extend UPI to all India users
Context: National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) said has removed the UPI user onboarding limit for WhatsApp Pay [third party app provider (TPA)], with immediate effect. With this, WhatsApp Pay can now extend UPI services to its entire user base in India, NPCI said. Unified Payments Interface (UPI)
Fiscal Deficit and Capital Spending of the Union Government
Context: Fiscal deficit of the Union Government is now standing at 52.5% of total Budget Estimates meant for 2024-25 by the end of November, compared with 46.5% previously one month ago. Capital Expenditure CapExFiscal deficit
MGNREGS Work Demand Hike
Context: The number of people demanding work every month on average under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) increased to a four-month high of 25.73 million in December, according to the latest data from the government. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS)
Launch Plan of ISRO in 2025
SpaDeX Mission
Vadhvan Port
Context: ITD Cementation India Ltd has won an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract worth ā¹ 1,648 crore for construction at the Vadhvan Port in Maharashtra. Vadhvan Port: Deep Seaport in Maharashtra Switzerland to Invest in Vadhvan Port
āSpuriousā drugs worth nearly ā¹6.6 crore seized in Kolkata
Context: A large quantity of suspected spurious anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, and other drugs has been seized from Kolkata. The seizure follows a joint investigation conducted by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO). Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO). Not of Standard Quality (NSQ) Drugs
ISROās POEM-4 Module
Context: The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre, or IN-SPACe, was successful in establishing and operationalizing 10 hosted payloads from NGEs onboard PSLV-C60/SpaDeX. PSLV-C60/SpaDeX
National Informatics Centreās (NIC)
Context: Several government websites went down on Tuesday following a power outage at the National Informatics Centreās (NIC) data centre in Shastri Park in northeast Delhi, sources said. National Informatics Centre Services National Informatics Centre Services Inc. is a government department of India under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
India’s Foreigner Deportations and Visits
Context: The highest number of foreigners deported from India were from Nigeria, followed by Bangladesh and Uganda, the Union Home Ministry said in its annual report for 2023-24. Key Highlights: The Foreigners Registration Office The Foreigners Registration Office is a department of the Indian government which is responsible for registering foreign nationals visiting India on a long-term visa. Its registration is within 14 days, 24 hours for Pakistani nationals, and children under 16 years are exempted from its registration.
