The Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research / Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR/CSIR) Scheme on “Capacity Building and Human Resource Development” with a total outlay of Rs.2277.397 crore for the period of the Fifteenth Finance Commission Cycle 2021-22 to 2025-26.
The scheme is implemented by the CSIR and will cover all R&D institutions, national laboratories, Institutes of National Importance, Institutes of Eminence, and Universities across the country. The initiative provides a wide platform for young, enthusiastic researchers aspiring to build careers in universities, industry, national R&D laboratories, and academic institutions.
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today approved payment of Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB) of 78 days for Rs.1865.68 crore to 10,91,146 railway employees.
Payment of PLB to eligible railway employee is made each year before the Durga Puja / Dussehra holidays.
This year also, PLB amount equivalent to 78 days’ wages is being paid to about 10.91 lakh non-gazetted railway employees. The payment of PLB acts as an incentive to motivate the railway employees for working towards improvement in the performance of the Railways.
The maximum payable amount of PLB equivalent to 78 days’ wages for each eligible railway employee is Rs.17,951/-. The above amount will be paid to various categories, of railway staff like Track maintainers, Loco Pilots, Train Managers (Guard), Station Masters, Supervisors, Technicians, Technician Helpers, Pointsman, Ministerial Staff and other Group ‘C’ staff.
The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, today approved a comprehensive package of Rs.69,725 crore to revitalize India’s shipbuilding and maritime ecosystem. The package introduces a four-pillar approach designed to strengthen domestic capacity, improve long-term financing, promote greenfield and brownfield shipyard development,
enhance technical capabilities and skilling, and implement legal, taxation, and policy reforms to create a robust maritime infrastructure.
Under this package, the Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Scheme (SBFAS) will be extended until 31 March 2036 with a total corpus of Rs.24,736 crore.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved the doubling of Bakhtiyarpur – Rajgir – Tilaiya single railway line section (104 km) in Bihar with total cost of Rs. 2,192 crore (approx.).
The project covering four Districts in the state of Bihar will increase the existing network of Indian Railways by about 104 Kms.
Project section also provides rail connectivity to prominent destinations such as Rajgir (Shanti Stupa), Nalanda, Pawapuri etc. attracting pilgrims and tourists from across the country.
Multi-tracking projects will enhance connectivity to approx. 1,434 villages and about 13.46 lakh population and two Aspirational Districts (Gaya and Nawada).
This is an essential route for transportation of commodities such as coal, cement, clinker, fly ash etc.
The capacity augmentation works will result in additional freight traffic of magnitude 26 MTPA (Million Tonnes Per Annum). The Railways being environment friendly and energy efficient mode of transportation, will help both in achieving climate goals and minimizing logistics cost of the country, reduce oil import (5 Crore Litres) and lower CO2 emissions (24 Crore Kg).
The Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) for organic products between India and Australia has been signed on 24th September 2025 at Vanijya Bhavan, New Delhi. This Arrangement demonstrates the shared commitment of the India–Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Arrangement (ECTA) and strengthens the strategic partnership between India and Australia.
The implementing Agencies for the MRA are the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), Ministry of Commerce & Industry, India and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF), Government of Australia.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Ministry of Labour & Employment and Zepto for enhancing employment opportunities as well as youth employability on the National Career Service (NCS) Portal. The MoU was signed in the presence of Union Minister for Labour & Employment and Youth Affairs & Sports, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya in New Delhi.
The MoU between the Ministry of Labour & Employment and Zepto marks a major step in integrating platform economy opportunities with the Government’s employment and skilling ecosystem. Zepto will provide 10,000 job postings during the MoU duration, creating a predictable and structured pipeline of urban employment opportunities for youth, women, and first-time job seekers.
The partnership also creates a bridge to formalization and upskilling, linking gig workers with e-Shram registration, social security schemes, and opportunities for future employability and protection.
Well-known Kannada writer and Saraswati Samman awardee S. L. Bhyrappa, 94, passed away at a private hospital in Bengaluru.
Bhyrappa was one of the most widely read writers of Kannada and wrote 25 novels, all of which have seen multiple reprints and translated into several languages.
He announced retirement in 2017 after his novel Uttarakanda, a retelling of Ramanayana, from Sita’s perspective. His novels Parva, Vamsavriksa and Gruhabhanga are considered classics of Kannada literature. Some of his popular novels were turned into equally popular films and television serials.
The UAE-India Business Council has entered into strategic agreements to deepen industry engagements and amplify trade and investments between India and the UAE.
As part of the three agreements, UIBC and the UAE-India CEPA Council (UICC), committed to closer institutional collaboration, ensuring greater coherence in advancing objectives of the UAE-India CEPA, and
deepening the UAE-India economic partnership.
UIBC and Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC) entered into a pact for deepening cooperation across priority services sectors, including logistics, healthcare, IT/ITES, education, tourism, and engineering, while promoting B2B and B2G engagements and addressing market access challenges.
UIBC signed an agreement with Regional Chambers of Commerce (Bombay Industries Association, Calicut Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Gujarat Chamber of Commerce & Industry) to harness regional strengths to institutionalise CEPA facilitation at the grassroots, expand industry participation, and strengthen state-level trade and investment linkages.
India has been elected as a member of the INTERPOL Asian Committee after multi-stage voting process. India achieved the significant milestone during the 25th Asian Regional Conference held in Singapore.
With this, India has strengthened its role shaping in regional law enforcement priorities.
The committee is tasked with identifying strategic priorities and addressing operational challenges in combating crime across the region. Its members deliberate on issues such as organized crime, cybercrime, terrorism, human trafficking, and drug trafficking.
India has had a record of representation at the highest levels of INTERPOL.
In 2021, then CBI Special Director Praveen Sinha was elected as the Delegate for Asia on INTERPOL’s Executive Committee, defeating candidates from China, Singapore, South Korea, and Jordan.
At the high-level conference in Singapore, India was represented by a CBI delegation.
In a move that strengthens India’s fintech ecosystem, PayRupy has partnered with BRISKPE, one of the country’s first licensed Payment Aggregators – Cross Border (PA-CB) to launch an integrated domestic and international payments platform.
Founded by Moiz Chohan (Founder & CEO) and Firas Chohan (Co-Founder & CTO), PayRupy has built its reputation on delivering innovative, transparent, and reliable domestic payment solutions. With this alliance, the company is expanding into cross-border transactions, offering a unified ecosystem that bridges Bharat’s digital economy with global markets.
BRISKPE, co-founded by Sanjay Tripathy (Co-Founder & CEO), brings compliance-first infrastructure, trusted global payment rails, and the scalability required by exporters, SMEs, freelancers, and enterprises. Together, PayRupy and BRISKPE aim to make global money movement as seamless as domestic.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has suspended the ICC membership status of USA Cricket. The decision was taken after USA Cricket’s repeated and continued breaches of its obligations as an ICC Member under its Constitution.
These include the failure to implement a functional governance structure and the lack of progress toward achieving National Governing Body status with the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee. In a statement, the ICC said that the suspension is an unfortunate but necessary step to protect the long-term interests of the game.
The Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports has brought out Selection Criteria for participation of Individuals and Teams in Asian Games 2026 and other multi-sports events with a view to lay down a transparent and equitable framework aiming to ensure that the athletes who have real chance of winning medal are only considered for participation in multi-disciplinary sports events.
The selection criteria has laid down benchmarks, both for measurable and non-measurable events, which will be guiding principles to decide on participation in multi-sports events such as Asian Games, Para Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, Asian Indoor games, Asian Beach Games, Youth Olympics, Asian Youth Games, Commonwealth Youth Games except for the Olympics and,
such other international competitions where athlete or team participation is determined by qualification standards set by the respective international federations.
World Maritime Day 2025 is celebrated this year on 25 September, with a parallel event expected to take place in the United Arab Emirates.
This year’s World Maritime Day theme — “Our Ocean, Our Obligation, Our Opportunity” — shines a spotlight on the essential role the ocean plays in sustaining life, livelihoods, and the global economy.
This theme also highlights the deep interconnection between shipping and broader global initiatives, especially the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is closely tied to SDG 14: Life Below Water, which focuses on conserving and sustainably using marine resources.
Since the SDGs were adopted in 2015, Member States have taken concrete action to improve ocean governance. The theme also connects to SDG 13: Climate Action, SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, and SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals.
