29 June 2025

• National Statistics Day is observed on the birth anniversary of Prof. P.C. Mahalanobis, with this year's theme celebrating 75 years of the National Sample Survey.
• Parag Jain is appointed the new chief of the Research and Analysis Wing, effective 1 July 2025.
• The National Turmeric Board is inaugurated in Nizamabad, Telangana, targeting USD 1 billion in turmeric exports by 2030.
• India's social security coverage has expanded from 19% in 2015 to 64.3% in 2025, covering 940 million citizens.
• A new bacterial species is discovered from mulberry plant soil in West Bengal with strong antimicrobial and crop-boosting properties.

GS area: GS III: Economy, Government Institutions, Statistical Systems

National Statistics Day is observed on 29 June each year to mark the birth anniversary of Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis. The 19th Statistics Day is being observed at Dr. Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi. This year's theme is "75 Years of National Sample Survey."

• Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis (1893-1972): statistician and scientist. He founded the Indian Statistical Institute in Kolkata in 1931. He created the Mahalanobis Distance, a statistical measure for determining the similarity of a data point to a known distribution in multivariate data. He designed the National Sample Survey in 1950. He shaped India's Second Five-Year Plan by championing the two-sector (industry and agriculture) model. He established the statistical journal Sankhya.
• National Statistics Day: observed annually on 29 June since 2007 under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI). It recognises the contributions of Mahalanobis to statistical development in India.
• National Sample Survey Office (NSSO): the field data-collection arm of MoSPI. Established in 1950. Conducts large-scale sample surveys on consumption expenditure, employment and unemployment, health, education and migration. Publishes findings in the journal Sarvekshana.
• Four divisions of the NSS: Survey Design and Research Division, Field Operations Division, Data Processing Division and Survey Coordination Division.
• Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) Kolkata: a public research institution and deemed university. Established in 1931 by Mahalanobis. It remains one of the premier statistics and mathematics research institutions in Asia.
• Mahalanobis Distance: a multivariate statistical measure that calculates how many standard deviations away a point is from the mean of a distribution, accounting for correlations between variables. It is widely used in classification algorithms, anomaly detection and quality control.

Revises: Indian Statistical System, MoSPI, Five-Year Plans.

GS area: GS II: Government Institutions, Internal Security

Parag Jain, a 1989-batch Indian Police Service officer from the Uttar Pradesh cadre, has been appointed the new chief of the Research and Analysis Wing for a two-year term. He takes office on 1 July 2025, succeeding the retiring Ravi Sinha.

• Research and Analysis Wing (RAW): India's external intelligence agency. Established in 1968 under R.N. Kao, following the 1965 war, to separate external intelligence from the Intelligence Bureau which handles domestic intelligence.
• Organisational placement: RAW functions directly under the Prime Minister's Office. Its head carries the designation of Secretary (Research) in the Cabinet Secretariat.
• R.N. Kao: Rameshwar Nath Kao was the founding chief of RAW. He built the agency from scratch and is credited with India's intelligence success in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.
• Parag Jain's background: led the operational aspects of Operation Sindoor, India's missile strikes on terrorist infrastructure. His appointment signals continuity with the post-Pahalgam security posture.
• Intelligence Bureau (IB): India's domestic intelligence agency, operating under the Ministry of Home Affairs. It handles counter-terrorism, counter-espionage and internal security threats within India.

Revises: Intelligence Agencies of India, Internal Security Architecture.

GS area: GS III: Agriculture, Government Bodies, Commodity Boards

Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated the National Turmeric Board in Nizamabad, Telangana. The Board operates under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

• National Turmeric Board: the central government body dedicated to promoting turmeric cultivation, value addition, quality standardisation and export development. It operates under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
• India's global dominance: India produces approximately 75% of the world's total turmeric output. Production in 2022-23 was 11.61 lakh tonnes.
• Current export value: USD 207.45 million. The Board targets USD 1 billion in turmeric exports by 2030.
• Farmer income target: the Board aims to secure Rs 6,000 to 7,000 in additional income per quintal for farmers within three years.
• Nizamabad, Telangana: one of India's most important turmeric trading hubs. The Nizamabad turmeric market is among the largest in Asia.
• Commodity Boards: the central government maintains specialised boards for several agricultural commodities including tea (Tea Board), coffee (Coffee Board), rubber (Rubber Board), spices (Spices Board) and now turmeric. These boards promote cultivation, research and export.

Revises: Agricultural Commodity Boards, Export Promotion Schemes.

GS area: GS II: Health, Science and Technology, Disaster Preparedness

The RAMBAAN (Rapid Action Mobile BSL-3 Advanced Augmented Network) facility was deployed during the 2023 Kerala Nipah outbreak. It is India's first mobile Biosafety Level 3 laboratory for rapid outbreak response.

• Biosafety Level 3 (BSL-3): the second-highest biosafety containment level. BSL-3 laboratories handle pathogens that may cause serious or potentially lethal disease through inhalation. Nipah virus, SARS-CoV-2 and brucellosis require BSL-3 containment.
• BSL-4: the highest containment level, for agents with no known treatment and high mortality such as Ebola and Marburg.
• RAMBAAN design: maintains negative air pressure to prevent pathogen escape. Uses HEPA-filtered HVAC systems. Allows molecular diagnostics, serology and viral culture in a field setting.
• WHO classification: WHO has classified RAMBAAN as a Type-IV Rapid Response Mobile Laboratory, its highest class for mobile diagnostic units.
• Development programme: developed under the PM Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM), the scheme for strengthening health infrastructure at all levels. Validated by ICMR-National Institute of Virology, Pune in 2022-2023.
• Nipah virus: a zoonotic virus transmitted from bats to humans. Kerala has recorded repeated Nipah outbreaks (2018, 2021, 2023). The 2023 outbreak was contained in part due to RAMBAAN's rapid deployment enabling on-site diagnosis without sample transport delays.

Revises: Biosafety Levels, PM-ABHIM, Outbreak Response Infrastructure.

GS area: GS III: Labour, Social Security, Government Schemes

The Scheme to Promote Registration of Employers and Employees (SPREE) has been re-launched for the period 1 July to 31 December 2025. The scheme was originally launched in 2016 to expand Employees' Provident Fund Organisation coverage.

• SPREE (Scheme to Promote Registration of Employers and Employees): a voluntary compliance drive under the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). It encourages establishments and workers who are eligible for EPFO coverage but not yet registered to join.
• Previous run outcome: registered more than 88,000 employers and 1.02 crore (10.2 million) employees during its original 2016 run.
• Eligibility for 2025 re-launch: unregistered employers who are covered under the Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1952, and workers including contractual and temporary workers who are left out of formal registration.
• EPFO: the statutory body under the Ministry of Labour and Employment that manages provident fund, pension and insurance for organised sector workers. It is one of the world's largest social security organisations.
• Social Security Code 2020: one of the four Labour Codes that consolidates 29 existing labour laws. The Social Security Code consolidates laws relating to employees' provident fund, employees' state insurance, gratuity, maternity benefit and other social security provisions.

Revises: EPFO, Labour Codes, Social Security Schemes.

GS area: GS III: Economy, Labour, Social Policy

India's social security coverage has grown from 19% of the population in 2015 to 64.3% in 2025, benefiting 940 million citizens. India is now the world's second-largest social protection provider after China.

• Social security coverage metric: the share of the population with access to at least one form of social protection (pension, health insurance, maternity benefit, disability support).
• Four Labour Codes: Parliament consolidated 29 labour laws into four comprehensive codes. The Code on Wages (2019) covers minimum wages and payment. The Industrial Relations Code (2020) covers trade unions and dispute resolution. The Code on Social Security (2020) covers provident fund, insurance and gratuity. The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code (2020) covers workplace safety.
• 940 million coverage: this figure includes beneficiaries of schemes like PM-KISAN, Ayushman Bharat (health insurance), EPFO (formal sector provident fund) and unorganised sector welfare schemes.
• Comparison with China: China covers a larger share of a larger population through its mandatory social insurance system. India's expansion is notable given the large informal sector.
• Unorganised sector challenge: despite the expansion, the majority of India's informal workforce (estimated at 400-500 million workers) still lacks portable, comprehensive social security that follows them across jobs and states.

Revises: Labour Codes, Social Security Policy, India's Welfare Architecture.

GS area: GS III: Science and Technology, Biotechnology

Researchers at Raiganj University in West Bengal have discovered a new bacterial species isolated from the root zone (rhizosphere) of mulberry plants. The species has been named Bacillus ayatagriensis.

• Bacillus ayatagriensis: a new species in the Bacillus genus. Isolated from mulberry plant rhizosphere soil in West Bengal. Named using Sanskrit roots: ayata means growth and agriensis refers to agricultural relevance.
• Properties: demonstrates strong antimicrobial activity against several plant and human pathogens. It also enhances seed germination in laboratory trials.
• Rhizosphere: the narrow zone of soil immediately surrounding and influenced by plant roots. It is one of the most biologically active zones on Earth, hosting millions of microbial species in complex relationships with plant roots.
• Potential applications: the antimicrobial properties and seed-germination enhancement make Bacillus ayatagriensis a candidate for bio-pesticides and bio-fertilisers, reducing dependence on chemical inputs in agriculture.
• Mulberry (Morus alba): the host plant is cultivated for silk production through sericulture. West Bengal is one of India's major silk-producing states.
• Raiganj University: a state university in West Bengal. The discovery underlines the biodiversity potential of Indian agricultural soils as a source of novel microbes.

Revises: Biotechnology, Novel Species Discovery, Agricultural Inputs.

GS area: GS III: Environment, Pollution, Air Quality

A study by CREA (Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air) estimates that secondary pollutants account for approximately one-third of India's PM2.5 pollution. Unlike primary pollutants, secondary pollutants are not directly emitted but form in the atmosphere through chemical reactions.

• Primary pollutants: emitted directly from a source. Examples include nitrogen oxides (NOx) from vehicles, sulphur dioxide (SO2) from coal power plants and particulate matter from construction.
• Secondary pollutants: form through reactions between primary pollutants and atmospheric molecules (oxygen, water vapour, sunlight). Examples include:
  • Ozone (O3): formed when NOx and volatile organic compounds react in sunlight. Ground-level ozone is a lung irritant.
  • Secondary organic aerosol: formed when volatile organic compounds undergo chemical transformations in the atmosphere, creating fine particulate haze.
  • Ammonium sulphate and ammonium nitrate: formed when ammonia (from agriculture and livestock) reacts with sulphuric acid or nitric acid derived from power plant and vehicle emissions.
• PM2.5: particulate matter with diameter 2.5 micrometres or less. It penetrates deep into lungs and enters the bloodstream. It is the most health-damaging component of air pollution.
• Policy implication: controlling only tailpipe emissions and power plant stacks is insufficient. Secondary pollutant formation requires addressing ammonia from agricultural sources, which is politically difficult because it implicates fertiliser and livestock policy.
• Photochemical smog: a type of air pollution formed by secondary reactions of NOx and volatile organic compounds with sunlight. Common in cities with high traffic and sunny conditions.

Revises: Air Pollution, Environmental Science, Clean Air Policy.

• National Statistics Day theme: "75 Years of National Sample Survey" marks the NSS's establishment in 1950. The NSS is conducted by the National Sample Survey Office under MoSPI.
• SPREE re-launch: valid 1 July to 31 December 2025. Targets unregistered employers and left-out workers including contractual and temporary staff under EPFO coverage.
• Bacillus ayatagriensis: the name derives from Sanskrit ayata (growth) and agriensis (agricultural relevance), reflecting the bacterium's potential for crop enhancement applications.