The increase in gap between two doses of Covishield is based on scientific evidence, said chairman of COVID-19 Working Group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) N.K. Arora.

In a major decision of the Union Cabinet, the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), now under the Ministry of Defence will cease to exist. Seven separate companies are planned to be created, each doing a specific manufacturing role. The existing 41 factories under the OFB will be subsumed under one or the other of the seven new companies, all 100 per cent government owned public sector undertakings (PSU).

The National Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA), acting on complaints filed by the Bengaluru-based Campaign Against Hate Speech (CAHS), has reprimanded three television channels over reports that “targeted Tablighi Jamaat members” during the pandemic in 2020.

Just over six months after it was launched, the Centre’s national portal for issuing certificates of identity to transgender persons has issued 1,557 certificates as of June 16, according to Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry data.

On the occasion of Desertification and Drought day the Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change released the latest version of “Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas of India”.

The Defence Ministry has approved the budgetary support of Rs 498.8 crore to Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) under the Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO) for the next five years.

U.S. Senate passed a law aimed at improving American competitiveness that includes provisions to improve critical minerals supply chains. U.S. aims to boost production and processing of rare earths and lithium, another key mineral component, while “working with allies to increase sustainable global supply and reduce reliance on competitors,

The steep demand in the international market for musical instruments and furniture fashioned out of rosewood had stoked the widespread illegal felling of the endangered tropical hardwood tree from revenue land assigned to farmers for cultivation during the 2020-21 period.

The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal of the Department of Fertilizers for fixation of 'Nutrient Based Subsidy Rates' for Phosphatic and Potassic Fertilizers for the year 2021-22 (Apr-Mar).

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has recently mentioned that the atmospheric conditions are still not favorable for further advance of monsoon into Rajasthan, remaining parts of Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi.

Just few days after it broke over the Kerala coast two days behind schedule, the southwest monsoon has progressed rapidly to cover two-thirds of the country. The reasons for this are given as

• Cyclone Yaas
• strong westerly winds from the Arabian Sea
• off-shore trough prevailing for a week between Maharashtra and Kerala
• formation of a low-pressure system over the North Bay of Bengal

In a first such instance, the Delhi High Court has called out alleged misuse of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967 (UAPA) against individuals in cases that do not necessarily fall in the category of “terrorism” cases.

Quoting sections of the UAPA, and a string of key Supreme Court rulings on terrorism and terror laws, the court reasoned that “the more stringent a penal provision, the more strictly it must be construed”. By doing so, it raised the bar for the State to book an individual for terrorism under the UAPA.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered a keynote address at the UN “High-Level Dialogue on Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought”. Important things highlighted during the address are:

• India is on track to achieve its national commitment of land degradation neutrality.
• In India, over the last 10 years, around 3 million hectares of forest cover has been added.
• The country is also working towards restoring 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030.
• The Delhi Declaration of 2019 called for better access and stewardship over land, and emphasised gender-sensitive transformative projects.

Swedish think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has released its Year Book 2021. According to the year book-

• China is in the middle of a significant modernization and expansion of its nuclear weapon inventory, and India and Pakistan also appear to be expanding their nuclear arsenals.
• India possessed an estimated 156 nuclear warheads at the start of 2021 compared to 150 at the start of last year, while Pakistan had 165 warheads, up from 160 in 2020.
• China’s nuclear arsenal consisted of 350 warheads up from 320 at the start of 2020.

After 20 years of war, when the world’s mightiest military is exiting Afghanistan, the Taliban, which it sought to perish, are at the height of their influence since they were driven out of power.

Terrorist networks, which the U.S. vowed to destroy when it launched its global war on terror in Afghanistan, are now scattered across Asia and Africa, from eastern Afghanistan to the Sahel region.

Various organizations initiated a Twitter campaign demanding official language status to Tulu in Karnataka and Kerala and received an overwhelming response.

• Tulu is a Dravidian language spoken mainly in two coastal districts Dakshina Kannada and Udupi of Karnataka and Kasaragod district of Kerala.
• As per the 2011 Census report, there are 18,46,427 Tulu-speaking people in India.

Retail inflation hit a six-month high of 6.3% in May, thanks to a persistent rise in fuel and edible oil prices, which also played a part in pushing wholesale prices to a record 12.94% inflation in the month, as per data released recently.

A string of high-profile cyberattacks in recent months has exposed vulnerabilities in the critical infrastructure of even advanced nations. This has reinforced the need for improved defences against actual, and potential, cyberattacks by all countries across continents.

While the six big agenda items in its 13 June 2021 Carbis Bay Summit are in themselves as piously bland as any earlier ones or the several declarations crafted by G20, it is the last (“embrace our values”) that invites special attention.

The other five—end the pandemic and prepare for the future, reinvigorate economies, secure future prosperity, protect the planet, and strengthen partnerships—are the usual holy grail statements, to be made and forgotten.

The Union government, against the application filed by the Indian Union Muslim League, told the Supreme Court that its notification dated May 28, 2021, “seeks to merely delegate” to “the local authorities in particular cases”, its power to grant Indian citizenship to members of the minority community in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan — Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians, has been done on “numerous occasions previously” and “has no relation whatsoever with the CAA [Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019]”.

World Day Against Child Labour is observed on 12 June every year around the world. The day aims to spread awareness about the illegal practice of child labour that still prevails.

Vice-President of Ramakrishna Math and Mission Swami Shivamayanandaji died due to COVID-19.

• Born in Bihar on December 20, 1934, Swamiji was a disciple of Swami Vishuddhanandaji Maharaj, who joined the order in Belur Math in 1959 and received "Sanyas Diksha" from Swami Vireshwaranandaji Maharaj in 1969.
• After serving the order at various Seva Pratisthan centres in various capacities, he started his spiritual ministration at the Rama Krishna Math in 2016 by giving "diksha" to devotees.

The Eastern Zonal Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has sought response from the Tripura Forest Department and the North Tripura district administration regarding the state government’s move to resettle over 40,000 displaced Brus of western Mizoram in the reserved forest.

• Brus are a community indigenous to the Northeast, living mostly in Tripura, Mizoram, and Assam.
• The Brus fled Mizoram amid ethnic tension in 1997.

The Ministry of Education has recently released the All Indian Survey of Higher Education (AISHE) report 2019-20.

Based on the latest report, in the last five years from 2015-16 to 2019-20, there has been a growth of 11.4 per cent in student enrolment.

The rise in female enrolment in higher education during the period is 18.2 per cent.

US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain signed a new version of the 80-year old “Atlantic Charter”, using their first meeting to redefine the Western alliance.

The two leaders unveiled the new charter as they sought to focus the world’s attention on emerging threats from cyberattacks, the COVID-19 pandemic that has upended the global economy, and climate change.