Union Minister of Rural Development and Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan launched the third edition of Nayi Chetna – Pahal Badlaav Ki, a national campaign against gender-based violence, at Rang Bhawan Auditorium, New Delhi.
Shri Chouhan also inaugurated 227 new Gender Resource Centres (GRCs) across 13 States.
These centres provide survivors of gender-based violence with safe spaces to access information, report incidents, and receive legal assistance. Each GRC serves as a vital link in a support network, where survivors can feel validated and empowered to voice their experiences.
The month-long campaign, organized by Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) under the Ministry of Rural Development, will run across all Indian States and Union Territories until 23rd December 2024. This initiative, led by the extensive SHG network of DAY-NRLM, embodies the spirit of a Jan Andolan.
An inter-ministerial joint advisory, signed by eight collaborating Ministries/Department namely Ministry of Women and Child Development, Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting,
and Department of Justice—was also unveiled at the launch event. This advisory embodies the spirit of a "whole of government" approach, leveraging the strength of each collaborating Ministry/Department to eliminate gender-based violence.
Three gender champions from Jharkhand, Puducherry and Madhya Pradesh shared their experiences from being a victim to a leader.
After nearly two decades of negotiations, the member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) adopted the landmark Design Law Treaty (DLT). By signing the Final Act of the Riyadh Design Law Treaty, India builds on its progress and reaffirms its commitment to fostering inclusive growth and ensuring equitable access to intellectual property protection.
The DLT introduces several key provisions aimed at benefiting design applicants, including relaxed time limits, the reinstatement of lost rights, the option to correct or add priority claims, simplified procedures for recording assignments and licenses, and the option to file multiple designs in a single application.
When combined with initiatives like the Startup India program and the Startups Intellectual Property Protection (SIPP) scheme, these provisions will help empower startups and SMEs to secure design rights globally, boosting their competitiveness and supporting market growth.
A High-Level Committee, under the chairmanship of Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah has approved Rs.1115.67 crore for disaster mitigation and capacity building projects for various states.
The committee, comprising of Finance Minister, Agriculture Minister and Vice Chairman NITI Aayog as members considered the proposal to mitigate Landslide Risk in 15 States, for funding from National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF) and another proposal for training and capacity building of Civil Defense volunteers in all States and UT’s,
under Preparedness and Capacity Building from the funding window of National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).
The High-Level Committee has approved the National Landslide Risk Mitigation project in 15 States (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu,
West Bengal) at a total cost of Rs. 1000 crore. The committee approved Rs. 139 crore for Uttarakhand, Rs. 139 crore for Himachal Pradesh, Rs.378 crore for eight North East States, Rs.100 crore for Maharashtra, Rs.72 crore Karnataka, Rs. 72 crore for Kerala, Rs.50 crore for Tamil Nadu and Rs.50 crore for West Bengal.
HLC has also approved another project for training and capacity building of civil defense in all States/ UT’s at a total outlay of Rs.115.67 crore. Earlier, the committee had approved Urban Flood Risk Mitigation Projects in seven cities at a total outlay of Rs 3075.65 crore and GLOF Risk Management in 4 states at a total outlay of Rs. 150 crores from NDMF.
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and guidance of Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah more than Rs.21,476 crore has already been released to the states during this year. This include Rs.14,878.40 crore from State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to 26 States, Rs.4,637.66 crore from National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to 15 States,
Rs.1,385.45 crore from State Disaster Mitigation Fund (SDMF) to 11 States and Rs.574.93 crore from National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF) to 06 States.
The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved the continuation of its flagship initiative, the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), under the aegis of NITI Aayog, with an enhanced scope of work and an allocated budget of Rs.2,750 crore for the period till March 31, 2028.
The approval underscores the government’s commitment to fostering a robust innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem in India. With India at rank 39 on the Global Innovation Index and home to world's third-largest start-up ecosystem, the next phase of Atal Innovation Mission (AIM 2.0) is expected to further enhance India’s global competitiveness.
The continuation of AIM will directly contribute to creating better jobs, innovative products, and high-impact services across sectors.
While building on the accomplishments of AIM 1.0, such as Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) and Atal Incubation Centers (AIC), AIM 2.0 marks a qualitative shift in the mission’s approach.
Whereas AIM 1.0 involved implementing programs that built new innovation infrastructure to strengthen India’s then nascent ecosystem, AIM 2.0 involves piloting new initiatives designed to fill gaps in the ecosystem and scaling successes through central and state governments, industry, academia and community.
AIM 2.0 is designed to strengthen India’s innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem in three ways: (a) by increasing input (i.e., ushering more innovators and entrepreneurs), (b) by improving the success rate or ‘throughput’ (i.e., helping more startups succeed) and (c) by improving the quality of ‘output’ (i.e., producing better jobs, products and services).
The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved One Nation One Subscription, a new Central Sector Scheme for providing country-wide access to scholarly research articles and journal publication. The scheme will be administered through a simple, user friendly and fully digital process.
This will be a “One Nation One Subscription” facility for the government higher education institutions and R&D laboratories of the central government.
A total of about Rs.6,000 crore has been allocated for One Nation One Subscription for 3 calendar years, 2025, 2026 and 2027 as a new Central Sector Scheme.
One Nation One Subscription will build on and further enhance the scope and reach of the range of initiatives undertaken by the Government of India over the past decade in the domains of education, for maximizing access to quality higher education for the youth of India.
The Department of Higher Education will have a unified portal “One Nation One Subscription” through which the institutions will be able to access the journals. The ANRF will periodically review the usage of One Nation One Subscription and publications of Indian authors of these institutions.
The DHE and other Ministries having HEIs and R&D Institutions under their management shall be proactively conducting Information, Education and Communication (IEC) campaigns among students, faculty and researchers of these institutions about availability and method of access to One Nation One Subscription, resulting in improved usage of the facility across the country.
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi approved the launching of the National Mission on Natural Farming (NMNF) as a standalone Centrally Sponsored Scheme under the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare.
The scheme has a total outlay of Rs.2481 crore (Government of India share – Rs.1584 crore; State share – Rs.897 crore) till the 15th Finance Commission (2025-26).
The Government of India has launched the National Mission on Natural Farming (NMNF) to promote natural farming in mission mode across the country as a standalone Centrally Sponsored Scheme,
under the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare.
In the next two years, NMNF will be implemented in 15,000 clusters in Gram Panchayats, which are willing, & reach 1 crore farmers and initiate Natural Farming (NF) in 7.5 lakh Ha area. Preference will be given to areas having prevalence of practising NF farmers, SRLM / PACS / FPOs, etc.
Further, need-based 10,000 Bio-input Resource Centres (BRCs) will be set-up to provide easy availability and accessibility to ready-to-use NF inputs for farmers.
Under NMNF, around 2000 NF Model Demonstration Farms shall be established at Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), Agricultural Universities (AUs) and farmers’ fields, and shall be supported by experienced and,
trained Farmer Master Trainers. The willing farmers will be trained in Model Demonstration Farms on the NF package of practices, preparation of NF inputs, etc. near their villages in KVKs, AUs and practising NF farmers’ fields. 18.75 lakh trained willing farmers will prepare inputs like Jeevamrit, Beejamrit, etc.
by using their livestock or procure from BRCs. 30,000 Krishi Sakhis/ CRPs will be deployed for awareness generation, mobilisation and handholding of willing farmers in the clusters. Natural Farming practices will help farmers to reduce input cost of cultivation and dependency on externally purchased inputs,
while rejuvenating soil health, fertility & quality and building resilience to climate risks like waterlogging, flood, drought, etc. These practices also reduce health risks from exposure to fertilisers, pesticides, etc. and provide healthy & nutritious food for the farmers’ family.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, today has approved Three projects of Ministry of Railways with total cost of Rs. 7,927 crore (approx.).
The projects are:
i. Jalgaon – Manmad 4th line (160 km)
ii. Bhusawal – Khandwa 3rd & 4th line (131 km).
iii. Prayagraj (Iradatganj) – Manikpur 3rd Line (84 km)
The proposed multi-tracking projects will ease operations and reduce congestion, providing the much-required infrastructural development on the busiest sections between Mumbai and Prayagraj.
The Three projects covering seven Districts in three States i.e., Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh will increase the existing network of Indian Railways by about 639 Kms. The proposed multi-tracking projects will enhance connectivity to Two Aspirational Districts (Khandwa and Chitrakoot) serving approx. 1,319 villages and about 38 lakh population.
The proposed projects will enhance connectivity along the Mumbai–Prayagraj–Varanasi route by enabling the operation of additional passenger trains, benefiting pilgrims traveling to Jyotirlingas in Nashik (Trimbakeshwar), Khandwa (Omkareshwar), and Varanasi (Kashi Vishwanath), as well as religious places in Prayagraj, Chitrakoot, Gaya, and Shirdi.
Additionally, the projects will promote tourism through improved access to various attractions such as Khajuraho UNESCO World Heritage Site, Ajanta & Ellora Caves UNESCO World Heritage Site, Devgiri Fort, Asirgarh Fort, Rewa Fort, Yawal Wildlife Sanctuary, Keoti Falls, and Purwa Falls etc.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved investment of Rs.1750 crore for construction of Tato-I Hydro Electric Project (HEP) in Shi Yomi District of Arunachal Pradesh. The estimated completion period for the project is 50 months.
The project with an installed capacity of 186 MW (3 x 62 MW) would produce 802 Million Units (MU) of energy. The Power generated from the Project will help improve the power supply position in the state of Arunachal Pradesh and will also help in balancing of the national Grid.
The Project will be implemented through a Joint Venture Company between North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Ltd. (NEEPCO) and the Government of Arunachal Pradesh. Government of India shall extend Rs.77.37 crore as budgetary support for construction of roads, bridges and associated transmission line,
under enabling infrastructure besides Central Financial Assistance of Rs.120.43 crore towards equity share of the State.
The state would be benefitted from 12% free power and another 1% towards Local Area Development Fund (LADF) besides significant infrastructure improvement and socio-economic development of the region.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved investment of Rs.1939 crore for construction of Heo Hydro Electric Project (HEP) in Shi Yomi District of Arunachal Pradesh. The estimated completion period for the project is 50 months.
The project with an installed capacity of 240 MW (3 x 80 MW) would produce 1000 Million Units (MU) of energy. The Power generated from the Project will help improve the power supply position in the state of Arunachal Pradesh and will also help in balancing of the national Grid.
The Project will be implemented through a Joint Venture Company between North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Ltd. (NEEPCO) and the Government of Arunachal Pradesh. Government of India shall extend Rs.127.28 crore as budgetary support for construction of roads, bridges and associated transmission line,
under enabling infrastructure besides Central Financial Assistance of Rs.130.43 crore towards equity share of the State.
The state would be benefitted from 12% free power and another 1% towards Local Area Development Fund (LADF) besides significant infrastructure improvement and socio-economic development of the region.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval for the PAN 2.0 Project of the Income Tax Department.
The financial implications for the PAN 2.0 Project will Rs.1435 crore.
The PAN 2.0 Project enables technology driven transformation of Taxpayer registration services and has significant benefits inc-
i. Ease of access and speedy service delivery with improved quality;
ii. Single Source of Truth and data consistency
iii. Eco-friendly processes and cost optimization; and
iv. Security and optimization of infrastructure for greater agility.
PAN 2.0 Project is an e-Governance project for re-engineering the business processes of taxpayer registration services through technology driven transformation of PAN/TAN services for enhanced digital experience of the taxpayers. This will upgrade of the current PAN/TAN 1.0 eco-system consolidating the core and non-core PAN/TAN activities as well as PAN validation service.
The National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL), a constituent board of the Quality Council of India (QCI), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India (CREDAI) during CREDAI's Silver Jubilee celebration on November 25, 2024, in New Delhi.
This collaboration aims to recognise temporary site testing laboratories for civil engineering projects.
The aim of this MoU is to enhance the quality and reliability of temporary site testing laboratories in civil engineering projects.
By implementing NABL’s recognition scheme, this collaboration seeks to ensure that materials used in construction are tested accurately on-site, fostering trust in their quality. This initiative will contribute to the overall improvement of construction standards, ensuring safer and more durable structures across India.
The third edition of Joint Defence Cooperation Committee (JDCC) meeting between India and Tanzania took place in Goa on November 26, 2024. During the meeting, the two sides discussed a wide range of areas of cooperation, including growing training partnership and service-to-service, maritime & defence industry collaboration.
The Indian delegation, led by Joint Secretary Shri Amitabh Prasad, included senior officials from the Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces. The High Commissioner of India to Tanzania Shri Bishwadip Dey also attended the meeting. The Tanzanian delegation was led by Land Forces Commander Maj Gen Fadhil Omary Nondo.
As part of the tour, the Tanzanian delegation will visit Goa Shipyard Ltd to get first-hand experience of India’s capabilities in port development and shipbuilding. The delegation is also scheduled to visit INS Hansa and National Institute of Hydrography in Goa.
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with WinZO, India’s largest social gaming and interactive entertainment platform.
This first-of-its-kind collaboration will focus on building a robust ecosystem of over 2,000 startups, innovators, and students, providing them with mentorship,
industry insights, and access to global opportunities.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) spanning over two years also aims to accelerate the growth of India’s interactive entertainment sector by fostering innovation, creating skilled talent, and scaling startups to compete on a global stage.
Additionally, the MoU will expand WinZO’s flagship Tech Triumph Program (Bharat Edition), a platform for identifying and mentoring India’s top game developers. This program has already showcased India’s gaming talent at global forums such as the Game Developers Conference (GDC) and Gamescom LATAM, and will now scale its impact through DPIIT’s support.
The adoption of the Indian Constitution on November 26, 1949, marked a defining moment in the nation’s history, signalling the dawn of self-governance and democracy. For nearly three years, some of the greatest minds in the nation gathered in the Constituent Assembly Hall in Delhi.
Engaging in tireless debates, drafting, and refining the foundation of newly independent India. This document would not only define the structure of governance but also embody the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of millions of Indians, uniting them under the banner of justice, liberty, equality, and fraternity.
The celebration of Samvidhan Diwas, or Constitution Day, on November 26, reminds us of this enduring legacy. Instituted in 2015, this day offers an opportunity for reflection. It calls upon every citizen to understand their rights and fulfill their duties as outlined in the Constitution.
Liberty General Insurance, a prominent player in India’s insurance sector, has joined hands with Profectus Capital to provide tailored insurance solutions to Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). This collaboration aims to provide financial security to MSMEs, enabling them to focus on growth and sustainability without the looming threat of unforeseen risks.
The collaboration aims to embed insurance awareness within the financial ecosystem, enabling businesses to protect their operations, employees, and families. By catering to risk management requirements, Liberty General Insurance and Profectus Capital strive to build resilience and ensure continuity for MSMEs, empowering them to face challenges with confidence.
The Delhi government has launched its senior citizen pension scheme, offering monthly financial aid to residents aged 60 and above. On its first day, the scheme drew over 10,000 applications, marking significant demand for the assistance program.
The state opened 80,000 new registration slots for senior citizens under the scheme.
Under the scheme, senior citizens aged 60-69 will receive Rs. 2,000 per month, while those aged 70 and above will get Rs. 2,500. Additional benefits are available for applicants from scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and minority communities.
Recognizing the important role of safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all in supporting sustainable economic growth, improving the social welfare of people and enhancing international cooperation and trade among countries, the General Assembly decided to declare 26 November as World Sustainable Transport Day.
Sustainable transport — with its objectives of universal access, enhanced safety, reduced environmental and climate impact, improved resilience, and greater efficiency — is central to sustainable development.
