In a continuing effort to promote the sustainable use and conservation of India’s endemic biological resources, the National Biodiversity Authority has released ₹29.40 lakh to the Odisha Forest Department under the Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) mechanism for the conservation and protection of Red Sanders (Pterocarpus santalinus).
The ABS fund was generated from benefit-sharing amount received for accessing Red Sanders wood logs sourced from the Parlakhemundi Forest Division in Gajapati District, Odisha. These trees, believed to be over a century old, were originally planted by the then Maharaja of Parlakhemundi.
The Red Sanders trees had naturally fallen during the Cyclone in 2018. Following that the Odisha Forest Development Corporation auctioned the fallen Red Sanders wood.
This release forms part of a series of ABS disbursements made by the NBA to support conservation efforts of biological resources across the country.
So far, the NBA has released over ₹50.00 crore to the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department, Karnataka Forest Department, and the Andhra Pradesh State Biodiversity Board for the protection and conservation of Red Sanders including sponsored research projects. In addition, ₹3.00 crore has been released to 198 farmers in Andhra Pradesh and ₹55.00 lakh to 18 farmers in Tamil Nadu.
With this latest release, Odisha becomes the fourth State to receive ABS funds arising from the commercial use of Red Sanders.
The funds will support activities aimed at conservation and sustainable use of Red Sanders across the states.
A bilateral meeting between Shri Piyush Goyal, Commerce and Industry Minister of India and Mr. Anil Kumar Sinha, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Government of Nepal was held in New Delhi.
Both countries interchanged Letter of Exchange (LoE) amending the Protocol to the Treaty of Transit between India and Nepal, took place.
This signing will facilitate the movement of rail-based freight between Jogbani (India) and Biratnagar (Nepal) including bulk cargo under an expanded definition. This liberalization extends to key transit corridors- Kolkata-Jogbani, Kolkata–Nautanwa (Sunauli), and Visakhapatnam–Nautanwa (Sunauli), thereby strengthening multimodal trade connectivity between,
two countries and Nepal’s trade with third countries.
The aforementioned Letter of Exchange (LoE) enables direct rail connectivity along the Jogbani–Biratnagar rail link for both containerized and bulk cargo, facilitating transport from the ports of Kolkata and Visakhapatnam to the Nepal Customs Yard cargo station located in Morang District, near Biratnagar in Nepal.
This rail link, constructed with grant assistance from the Government of India, was jointly inaugurated by the Prime Ministers of India and Nepal on 1 June 2023.
The meeting also welcomed ongoing bilateral initiatives to enhance cross-border connectivity and trade facilitation, including the development of Integrated Check Posts and other infrastructure.
India remains Nepal’s largest trade and investment partner, accounting for a significant share of its external trade. These new measures are expected to further consolidate economic and commercial linkages between the two countries and beyond.
The Minister of State for Power, Shri Shripad Naik, today launched the logo and website of the Global Energy Leaders’ Summit (GELS) 2025 at New Delhi. The GELS 2025 would be held in Puri, Odisha from 5-7 December 2025. The Summit will be hosted by the Government of Odisha in association with the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.
The Minister praised Odisha as the first State in India to undertake power sector reforms in the 1990s, maintaining a strong commitment to efficiency, resilience, and sustainability. He said Odisha’s model shows how growth can align with environmental responsibility and clean energy investments can drive industry and jobs.
Referring to the theme of GELS 2025 “Powering India: Sufficiency, Balance, Innovation,” Shri Naik said it reflects the Prime Minister’s vision built on four pillars—Energy Access, Efficiency, Sustainability, and Security.
Blue Origin launched its huge New Glenn rocket with a pair of Nasa spacecraft destined for Mars.
It was only the second flight of the rocket that Jeff Bezos' company and Nasa are counting on to get people and supplies to the moon.
The 321-foot (98-meter) New Glenn blasted into the afternoon sky from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, sending Nasa's twin Mars orbiters on a drawn-out journey to the red planet. Liftoff was stalled four days by lousy local weather as well as solar storms strong enough to paint the skies with auroras as far south as Florida.
In a remarkable first, Blue Origin recovered the booster following its separation from the upper stage and the Mars orbiters, an essential step to recycle and slash costs similar to SpaceX. Company employees cheered wildly as the booster landed upright on a barge 375 miles (600 kilometers) offshore. An ecstatic Bezos watched the action from Launch Control.
Named after John Glenn, the first American to orbit the world, New Glenn is five times bigger than the New Shepard rockets sending wealthy clients to the edge of space from West Texas. Blue Origin plans to launch a prototype Blue Moon lunar lander on a demo mission in the coming months aboard New Glenn.
Created in 2000 by Bezos, Amazon's founder, Blue Origin already holds a Nasa contract for the third moon landing by astronauts under the Artemis program. Elon Musk's SpaceX beat out Blue Origin for the first and second crew landings, using Starships, nearly 100 feet (30 meters) taller than Bezos' New Glenn.
All major Indian banks, including the State Bank of India (SBI), ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank, have moved their official websites from the earlier “.com” or “.co.in” endings to the new “.bank.in” domain.
The transition, directed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), aims to strengthen online security and ensure customers access genuine banking websites.
The RBI had instructed all banks to migrate their internet banking portals to the exclusive “.bank.in” domain by October 31, 2025. The change was introduced to protect customers from phishing and fake website scams that mimic legitimate bank portals.
The defence ministry’s digital pension management platform, System for Pension Administration (Raksha) or SPARSH, has made it easier for defence pensioners to access and manage their pension details.
The platform offers a single window for all pension-related services, including viewing, downloading, and verifying the pension payment order (PPO), a crucial document for every pensioner.
SPARSH is an integrated system introduced by the Ministry of Defence to automate the entire pension sanction and disbursement process for defence personnel.
A pension payment order (PPO) is a 12-digit unique identification number assigned to each pensioner. It acts as a reference number for all pension transactions, including monthly disbursements, revisions, and communication with the pension authorities.
Having access to the PPO is essential as it serves as proof of pension entitlement and is often required for income tax submissions, loan applications, or nomination updates.
SPARSH marks a major step in the defence ministry’s move towards digital governance. For pensioners, it reduces dependency on banks and middlemen, ensuring faster access to essential information.
The Gujarat International Finance Tec-City Company Limited (GIFTCL) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ANSR Global Corporation Private Limited (ANSR) to promote the establishment and growth of Global Capability Centres (GCCs) in GIFT City, an official release said.
The MoU, signed on November 13, 2025, aims to facilitate the development of next-generation GCCs by leveraging GIFT City’s infrastructure, regulatory framework, and talent base. The collaboration will focus on attracting GCCs engaged in technology development, digital transformation, and enterprise innovation, the release stated.
Under the partnership, GIFTCL and ANSR will conduct joint initiatives including strategic outreach, ecosystem development, and industry engagement to highlight the operational advantages of GIFT City.
ANSR has experience in building and scaling over 175 GCCs for global companies.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) proposed a fix for the long-standing challenges around locking in pre-IPO pledged shares and replacing the abridged prospectus with a simplified document summary.
In a consultation paper, the regulator has proposed enacting these changes by amending the Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements (ICDR) Regulations, 2018.
Under current ICDR norms, pre-issue shareholding — other than promoters — must be locked in for six months post-IPO. However, depositories are unable to create lock-in when shares are pledged, creating last-minute compliance hurdles for issuers, especially in companies with numerous or untraceable shareholders.
Hungarian-British writer David Szalay’s Flesh, this year’s Booker Prize-winning novel, is a narrative of displacement, masculinity, and the weight of moral choices. A Hungarian teenager, Istvan, drifts through life, a physical relationship, an older woman, juvenile detention, the Iraq war, and finally a job as a driver for the extremely wealthy in London.
Globalisation is not an abstract concept in Flesh — it is felt in the teeth. Some citizens are more equal than others. The novel probes spaces, however close to the bone, where human feeling survives — including in the face of mortality. “There’s still something there,” says a woman about her dying husband.
The charity behind one of the world’s most significant literary prizes announced a new 50,000-pounds Children’s Booker Prize for fiction, to be selected by a combined panel of child and adult judges.
The Booker Prize Foundation, behind the prestigious annual prize for fiction also worth 50,000 pounds, said the first edition of the children's award will open for nominations in 2026 to be awarded annually from 2027.
It will celebrate the best contemporary fiction for children aged eight to 12 years old, written in or translated into English and published in the UK and/or Ireland.
Supported by education charity AKO Foundation, at least 30,000 copies of the shortlisted and winning books will be gifted to ensure more children can own and read the world’s best fiction.
The UK’s Children’s Laureate and multi-award-winning children’s book author and screenwriter, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, has been confirmed as the inaugural Chair of judges for the new prize.
While Cottrell-Boyce and two other adult judges will select a shortlist of eight books, three child judges will be recruited – with the support of schools and a range of partners across the culture and entertainment industries to join the panel to choose the winning book.
The Booker Prize dates back over 55 years and this week’s announcement marks the first major new prize from the foundation in two decades – since the launch of the International Booker Prize in 2005. First awarded in 1969, it is considered a leading literary award in the English-speaking world that rewards outstanding works of fiction.
Earlier this year, ‘Heart Lamp’ by Banu Mushtaq and translated by Deepa Bhasthi became the first collection of short stories and the first translated from Kannada to win the International Booker Prize.
The Central government has revoked the Quality Control Order (QCO) on polyester fibre and yarn and PTA and MEG, which were introduced two years ago, bringing relief to the textile industry.
On November 12, 2025, the government said that based on powers conferred by Section 16 of Bureau of Indian Standards Act, it was revoking the orders of the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers bringing in QCO on Ethylene Glycol, Terephthalic Acid, Polyester spun, grey and white yarns, polyester continuous filament yarn, polyester partially oriented yarn,
and polyester industrial yarn.
The government brought in QCOs on polyester yarn, filament, fibre, and raw materials PTA and MEG, thus restricting imports.
India has a shortage of PTA and MEG, and yet the government introduced QCOs. These are critical raw materials for the manmade fibre sector.
J&K Bank said the Reserve Bank of India has approved the appointment of S Krishnan as part-time chairman of the Bank.
His appointment is effective from November 13, 2025 till March 26, 2028, J&K Bank said in a regulatory filing.
The bank's board had in August approved his appointment, it said.
Krishnan, currently an independent director on the board of Srinagar-headquartered bank, served as MD & CEO of state-owned Punjab & Sind Bank.
Subsequent to superannuation and pursuant to the approval of the appointment by the RBI, Krishnan took charge as MD & CEO of Tamilnad Mercantile Bank in September 2022.
