# Agniveer

• Union home ministry on Saturday announced 10% reservation for agniveers in Central armed police forces and Assam rifles besides relaxing their upper age limit for recruitment in these forces.
• The defense ministry came up with a similar quota for those completing four years in the armed forces, provided they meet the eligibility criteria.
• The 10% qouta will cover the coast Guard, defense civilian posts and 16 defense PSUs, which include major ones like Hindustan Aeronautics and Bharat electronics as well as 4 shipyards and 41 ordinance factories.
• The reservation primarily in group C and D posts will be in addition to the existing quota for ex servicemen in these organizations.

# Civilian vacancies

• In 2019 and 2020, the most recent years for which data is available, vacancies in Central agencies excluding the armed forces have touched 10 lakh, more than doubling over the previous four years.
• An analysis of data from the department of expenditure’s annual report on pay and allowances shows that in 2020 there were nearly 8.9 lakh civilian vacancies in the central government and other 1.1 lakh in Central police forces that come under the home ministry.
• In 2019 too, there were over 10 lakh unfilled positions.

# Free trade agreement

• India and the European Union on Saturday decided to launch negotiations for a free trade agreement along with treaties on investment protection and geographical indications as the two trading partners look to strengthen ties.
• Talks for the free trade agreement have been suspended for around eight years, and the latest push is part of government efforts to enter into pacts with several countries including the UAE, Australia, UK, Canada.
• The two trading partners have set an ambitious deadline of concluding talks by the end of 2023 with tarriff reduction across sectors including automobile and wines.

# United Kingdom

• The UK government is to launch a 12 month pilot scheme that will involve some illegal migrants seeking asylum in the country being electronically tagged to keep track of their movements.
• The home office electronic tagging trial began on Thursday to test whether it helps maintain regular contact with asylum claimants.