The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is celebrated every year on October 17 throughout the world. The day tries to promote dialogue and understanding about poverty within governments and policymakers. In 1992, the United Nations General Assembly, by resolution 47/196, designated October 17 as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved increasing the Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for all mandated Rabi Crops for Marketing Season 2025-26.
The government has increased Rabi Crops' MSP for the Marketing Season 2025-26 to ensure remunerative prices for growers' produce.
The absolute highest increase in MSP has been announced for Rapeseed & Mustard at Rs.300 per quintal followed by Lentil (Masur) at Rs.275 per quintal. For gram, wheat, safflower and barley, there is an increase of Rs.210 per quintal, Rs.150 per quintal, Rs.140 per quintal and Rs.130 per quintal respectively.
The increase in MSP for mandated Rabi Crops for Marketing Season 2025-26 is in line with the Union Budget 2018-19 announcement of fixing the MSP at a level of at least 1.5 times of the All-India weighted average Cost of Production. The expected margin over All-India weighted average cost of production is 105 percent for wheat, followed by 98 percent for rapeseed & mustard;
89 per cent for lentil; 60 per cent for gram; 60 percent for barley; and 50 percent for safflower. This increased MSP of rabi crops will ensure remunerative prices to the farmers and incentivise crop diversification.
In a significant step towards providing affordable and accessible healthcare, South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL), a Chhattisgarh-based subsidiary of Coal India, inaugurated the country’s 216th AMRIT (Affordable Medicines and Reliable Implants for Treatment) Pharmacy.
Located at the Health Centre in SECL's Indira Vihar Colony, Bilaspur, this new facility makes SECL the first coal company to operate four AMRIT pharmacies.
The AMRIT pharmacies, part of a flagship initiative launched by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in 2015, provide a wide range of generic and life-saving branded drugs,
implants, and surgical consumables at highly subsidized rates.SECL’s initiative will benefit both inpatients and outpatients, including SECL employees, general public, and especially people from tribal and rural areas within the coal belt.The expansion of these pharmacies will ensure easier access to affordable medicines for communities in some of the most underserved areas
This pharmacy, along three others located in Central Hospitals in the operational areas of Gevra in Korba district, (CG), Sohagpur in Shahdol district (MP), and Chirimiri in Manendragarh-Chirimiri-Bharatpur district (CG), ensures that a wide array of medications for common and critical conditions such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases are available under one roof.
An International Conference of Telecom Regulators conference was organized by TRAI on the sidelines of World Telecom Standardization Assembly (WTSA-24) and India Mobile Congress (IMC-24) in New Delhi.
This conference was on the theme ‘Emerging Trends in Regulation.’
The first session was titled ‘Regulatory Perspective in Standardization’ in which many burning topics,
such as the Regulator’s Role in Standard Development, Standards as a Tool for Regulators, QoS by Design, Consumer-Centric Approach, etc, were discussed.
The second session was on the topic “Regulatory Aspects of Satellite Communication, including Other Non-Terrestrial Networks”.
The third session “Regulatory Outlook of OTT Communication Services” addressed some complex regulatory issues pertaining to Over-The-Top (OTT) communication services.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between Communications, Space & Technology (CST), the ICT Regulator of Saudi Arabia and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), during the inaugural session
The curtain raiser for the Seventh Session of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) Assembly was hosted in New Delhi. Representatives from 60 countries participated in the event.
The assembly will be presided over by Shri Pralhad Joshi, Union Minister of New and Renewable Energy. The Seventh Session of the ISA Assembly is set to be a truly global event.
Under the presidency of the Republic of India and co-presidency of the Republic of France, the seventh session of the International Solar Alliance Assembly will be held at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, India, from 03 November to 06 November 2024. Ministers, mission heads, and senior government officials from 120 Member and Signatory Countries, prospective countries,
partner organisations, the private sector, and key stakeholders will participate.
At this assembly, the fulcrum of the discussions will be the means and modes that will be adopted to accelerate solar deployment across Member Countries, especially in regions with limited energy access. Additionally, updates on the following ISA’s flagship initiatives for entrepreneurs,
skill enhancement and capacity building, mobilising finance, and advocacy for solar energy as a choice will be presented:
SolarX Startup Challenge, launched by ISA in collaboration with Invest India in 2022, at COP27 in Egypt, the challenge aims to foster entrepreneurship by supporting scalable and replicable solar energy business models in ISA's Member Countries.
The STAR-C initiative, launched in 2022 by ISA, UNIDO, and the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, France, aims to build capacity and align skills with national training needs. It enhances quality infrastructure and standards for photovoltaic and solar thermal products to drive economic growth and job creation.
Global Solar Facility: launched in 2022, enhances solar investments in underserved regions, particularly Africa, using tools like the Solar Payment Guarantee Fund and Solar Insurance Fund.
The First International Solar Festival, launched in September 2024, brought together corporates, academia, youth, community leaders, and other stakeholders to exchange ideas,
promoting creativity and international cooperation for a future driven by solar energy.
The Conference will also witness the release of the third edition of ISA’s World Solar Reports on Technology, Finance, and Markets.
The International Solar Alliance is an international organisation with 120 Member & Signatory Countries. It works with governments to improve energy access,
and security worldwide and promote solar power as a sustainable way to transition to a carbon-neutral future.
ISA’s mission is to unlock US$ 1 trillion of investments in solar by 2030 while reducing the cost of the technology and its financing. It promotes the use of solar energy in the agriculture, health, transport and power generation sectors.
PFC Infra Finance IFSC Limited (PIFIL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Power Finance Corporation Limited (PFC), has received approval from International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) to commence business as a Finance Company in IFSC GIFT City Gujarat.
PIFIL, part of India's largest non-banking financial company (NBFC) group, will be the first finance company,
in IFSC dedicated to power and infrastructure lending. PFC Infra Finance IFSC Limited aims to provide lending in India and other countries in foreign currency, catering to both government and private players. The establishment of PIFIL will position PFC as a global brand and contribute to strengthening India's position as a global financial hub.
An MoU was signed between Ministry of Rural Development, Govt. of India, (MoRD), and LEAD at Krea University in New Delhi to leverage the existing repository of knowledge for the benefit of Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) and contribute and co-create new inventory of knowledge products.
DAY-NRLM under MoRD and LEAD team will jointly work on research design and planning exploring areas of existing knowledge gaps or new areas of research for benefit of the larger programme, identify and involve stakeholders for enhanced capabilities formalizing a ‘Research and Knowledge Coalition’ and developing a knowledge dissemination strategy.
Union Minister of State for Science and Technology (Independent Charge) Dr Jitendra Singh unveiled Pavana Chitra, India's first Airport based self-powered indoor air quality monitoring facility at Thiruvananthapuram International Airport.
The off-grid air quality monitor is powered by Indigenous indoor solar cells developed by CSIR-NIIST,
crafted from locally available materials.
Union Minister released two books published as part of Science Heritage Project. The minister also launched six community projects under the Tribal Heritage Project of BRIC-RGCB and felicitated award-winning farmers in the event. RGCB Director Chandrabhas Narayan, who presided over the function, handed over a momento to the Minister
The call to take the 41st shot in the 50m 3 Positions rifle final was announced, and Akhil Sheoran lifted his weapon, waiting for the perfect moment to take the clutch shot. Placed fourth at that stage, Sheoran needed a good shot to close the gap on Hungary’s eventual winner Istvan Peni, 2023 Asian champion Konstantin Malinovskiy of Kazakhstan, and
Czech Republic’s Jiri Privratsky.
Up in third place, the 29-year-old shot with composure, to win the bronze medal at the year-ending World Cup Final. He had a score of 452.6. Peni, a silver medallist in the 10m air rifle event, coasted to gold tallying 465.3 while Priratsky was second at 464.2. India’s Chain Singh finished seventh.
Bharatiya Janata Party’s Nayab Singh Saini took oath as the new Chief Minister of Haryana for the second term, days after the BJP successfully retained power in the recently held Assembly election.
In the new Cabinet, thirteen legislators have been inducted, including two women. Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya administered the oath of office and secrecy,
at the swearing-in-ceremony held in Haryana’s Panchkula.
The BJP successfully retained its decade-long power in Haryana with a third straight win in the 2024 Assembly election by winning 48 seats in the 90-member Haryana State Assembly.
Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud set in motion the process for appointing his successor by recommending Justice Sanjiv Khanna, the Supreme Court’s senior-most judge, to the Union government.
Justice Khanna, who is next in line for the role based on seniority, will be eligible to assume the position of CJI upon Justice Chandrachud’s retirement on,
November 10. Justice Khanna is expected to serve until his retirement on May 13, 2025, a tenure of about six months as CJI.
According to the memorandum of procedure (MoP) which governs the process of appointment and transfer of judges in the constitutional courts, appointment to the office of the CJI should be of the most senior judge of the Supreme Court,
considered fit to hold the office.
Justice Khanna has a distinguished legal career, marked by a wealth of experience and significant contributions to India’s judicial landscape. He began his legal journey by enrolling with the Bar Council of Delhi in 1983, practising initially at the Tis Hazari district courts before moving on to the Delhi high court.
Justice Khanna was elevated as an additional judge of the Delhi high court in 2005, and by 2006, he became a permanent judge. During his tenure, he also contributed to the Delhi Judicial Academy, Delhi International Arbitration Centre and District Court Mediation Centres.
Justice Khanna also joined a five-judge bench that earlier this year declared the electoral bond Scheme unconstitutional, siding with the view that anonymous donations through electoral bonds violate the public’s right to information, a core element of informed voting. As a part of the five-judge bench, Justice Khanna upheld the abrogation of Article 370,
determining that this article, though a unique aspect of India’s federal structure, did not imply sovereignty for Jammu and Kashmir.
With a rich background in various areas of law and a dedication to judicial service, justice Khanna is set to retire on May 13, 2025.
The Supreme Court (SC) of India has unveiled a redesigned version of the 'Lady Justice' statue, marking a significant departure from its colonial past. Traditionally depicted with a blindfold and a sword, the new statue now features 'Lady Justice' with open eyes and the Constitution of India in place of the sword, reflecting,
reflecting the judiciary’s commitment to constitutional values and justice that “sees everyone equally”.
The removal of the blindfold from 'Lady Justice' is more than a visual change—it symbolises a shift in how the judiciary views justice in modern India. The blindfold, long associated with impartiality and equality before the law, has been replaced with open eyes.
This change, according to sources in the Supreme Court, reflects an evolving legal identity—one that distances itself from colonial symbols and embraces a uniquely Indian interpretation of justice. The updated statue now stands proudly in the judges’ library, embodying a justice system that is aware, vigilant, and inclusive.
Another striking feature of the new 'Lady Justice' is the replacement of the sword with the Constitution. While the sword previously represented authority and punishment, its replacement with the Constitution signifies a shift towards a more principled and balanced approach to justice.
NITI Aayog will organize a two-day international methanol seminar and expo in 2024 from in New Delhi. The event will be held in collaboration with the Methanol Institute of the United States. This event will highlight the progress of projects, products, and Research and Development initiatives related to Methanol production, application,
and allied technological developments in the world.
The key focus of the seminar will be to highlight the role of Methanol in the world energy transition and the rise of Methanol as a low-carbon fuel in green shipping. In a curtain raiser press conference in New Delhi, a Member of NITI Aayog,
Dr V K Saraswat said that methanol is a versatile fuel that can be produced from a wide range of domestic feedstocks, including biomass, coal, and renewable sources. He said that it is one of the cleanest fuel and cheaper than fossil fuel. He said it will play a crucial role in India’s clean energy transition.
Madhya Pradesh girl Nikita Porwal has been crowned as the Femina Miss India 2024. She was followed at the second position by Rekha Pandayy who represented Union Territories and the second runner-up was Gujarat's Ayushi Dholakia.
The 18-year-old actor started her career as a TV anchor, and she was crowned by last year's winner Nandini Gupta.
Neha Dhupia put the Miss India sash on her. Despite being part of a movie, there are many people who still don't know much about Nikita Porwal. The Miss India event took place on October 16, 2024, at Famous Studios in Mumbai, marking the 60th edition of the beauty pageant. Nikita succeeds the earlier titleholder, Nandini Gupta from Rajasthan, who held the title since 2023.
