Ms. Anuradha Prasad, former Secretary to the Government of India, Inter State Council Secretariat, Ministry of Home Affairs, took the Oath of the Office and Secrecy as Member, Union Public Service Commission today. The Oath was administered by Lt. Gen. Raj Shukla (Retd.), the seniormost Member of the Commission.
Ms. Anuradha Prasad belongs to the 1986 batch of the Indian Defence Accounts Service. She has extensive experience in public policy, public finance, and cooperative federalism. In a career spanning over 37 years, she has worked in Union Ministries of Defence, Finance, Food Processing Industries, Labour & Employment and Home,
gaining in-depth experience in policy & programme formulation and implementation.
As Secretary, Inter State Council Secretariat, Ministry of Home Affairs, she handled Centre-State and Inter-State relations and built consensus on many complex and sensitive issues resulting in key policy changes and expediting of infrastructure and other projects.
Post-retirement, Anuradha served as Member, Police Complaints Authority, Gov. NCT Delhi.
India’s total exports have touched an all-time high of US$824.9 billion in the financial year 2024–25, as per the latest data released by the Reserve Bank of India on services trade for March 2025. This marks a growth of 6.01% over the previous year’s export figure of US$778.1 billion, setting a new milestone in the country’s trade trajectory.
NITI Aayog released the report on ‘Enhancing MSMEs Competitiveness in India’, prepared by NITI Aayog in collaboration with the Institute for Competitiveness (IFC). The report presents a detailed blueprint for unlocking the immense potential of India’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) through systemic reforms in financing, skilling, innovation and market access.
The report delves into the key challenges affecting the competitiveness of MSMEs in India. Using firm-level data and the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), it provides recommendations to foster sustainable integration and enhance their incorporation into global value chains.
Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship (GAME) and NITI Aayog have announced a strategic partnership aimed at fostering vibrant entrepreneurship ecosystems across multiple states in India. This collaboration will focus on advancing place-based interventions, starting with pilot sites in Nagpur, Visakhapatnam and Uttar Pradesh.
The partnership seeks to empower local entrepreneurs bringing together relevant local stakeholders in that particular region’s entrepreneurship ecosystem, including government, corporates, educational institutes, financial institutes, champion entrepreneurs and community organisations. By creating localised solutions tailored to the unique challenges of each region,
GAME and NITI Aayog aim to transform entrepreneurship into a movement that drives economic growth and job creation.
The collaboration between GAME and NITI Aayog is expected to pave the way for innovative solutions that address systemic barriers to entrepreneurship. Developing healthy local entrepreneurial ecosystems benefits entrepreneurs with resources.
About GAME:
Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship (GAME) was created as a catalyst for a nationwide movement of mass entrepreneurship. The organisation aims to shift perceptions and nurture entrepreneurship in a multi-faceted and integrated manner. GAME works towards addressing challenges that include access to finance and markets.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has launched three major initiatives aimed at enhancing the accuracy of electoral rolls and streamlining voter services.
The reforms were announced following the March Chief Electoral Officers’ (CEOs) Conference, which was led by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and attended by Election Commissioners Dr. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu,
and Dr. Vivek Joshi.
The Government of India has undertaken a comprehensive review of the Sugar (Control) Order, 1966, leading to the formulation of the Sugar (Control) Order, 2025. This revision aims to simplify and streamline the regulatory framework governing the sugar sector in line with current industry dynamics and technological advancements.
Air Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari took charge as the new Vice Chief of the Air Staff. He succeeds Air Marshal S P Dharkar, who superannuated on April 30.
Before taking charge as the Vice Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Tiwari served as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C) of the Gandhinagar-based South Western Air Command (SWAC).
The air marshal was given a guard of honour at the Air Headquarters -- Vayu Bhawan.
He was commissioned in the fighter stream in June 1986. An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, he passed out as the President's Gold Medallist.
Air Marshal Tiwari has flown various types of aircraft, and is a qualified flying instructor as well as an experimental test pilot.
The air marshal earlier had taken over as the AOC-in-C, SWAC in May 2023.
The Indian military is set for key leadership changes, with new appointments at the Northern Command of the Army, the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the tri-services coordination setup under the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).
Lt Gen Pratik Sharma will take over as General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the strategically crucial Northern Command,
following the retirement of Lt Gen MV Suchindra Kumar. Headquartered at Udhampur, the Northern Command is tasked with operational responsibilities along both Pakistan and China borders, as well as counter-terrorism operations.
Lt Gen Sharma, commissioned into the 2nd Battalion of the Madras Regiment, previously served as Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Strategy).
He has also commanded the Ambala-based 2 Corps and served as Director General of Military Operations.
The third top-level change is in the tri-services structure. Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, currently heading the Central Air Command, will be the new Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC).
He replaces Lt Gen JP Mathew, who retired today after laying a wreath at the National War Memorial in New Delhi.
The Ministry of Defence lauded Lt Gen Mathew’s contributions in strengthening India’s cyber and space defence capabilities through the expansion of the Defence Cyber Agency and Defence Space Agency.
Fair trade regulator CCI cleared Jubilant Beverages' proposal to acquire a 40 per cent stake in Hindustan Coca-Cola Holdings Pvt Ltd (HCCH). "The proposed combination relates to inter alia, JBL (Jubilant Beverages Ltd) proposed acquisition of 40 per cent of the shareholding of HCCH from Hindustan Coca-Cola Overseas Holdings Pte Ltd, and Bharat CocaCola Overseas Pte Ltd.
HCCH is a holding company with no independent activities in India and belongs to the Atlanta-based The Coca-Cola Company group. Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages (HCCB) is a subsidiary of the HCCH.
HCCB is engaged in the preparation, packaging, supply and distribution of a variety of Coca-Cola beverages in India.
Cricket has been retained for Asian Games 2026, while Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is set to make its debut at the continental meet. The Asian Games 2026 are scheduled to be held in the Aichi and Nagoya prefectures of Japan from September 19 to October 4. This will be the fourth time that cricket will be making an appearance in the Asian Games programme.
Cricket made its debut as a medal event in the Asian Games at Guangzhou 2010 and returned at Incheon 2014, although the matches were not accorded international status. However, once the sport returned to the Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou, all matches were granted international status by the International Cricket Council (ICC) – the global governing body for cricket.
