Government e Marketplace (GeM) will participate in the 44th edition of the India International Trade Fair (IITF) 2025, organised by the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) from 14–27 November 2025 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi.
This year, GeM’s focus will be on strengthening market access for One District One Product (ODOP) sellers by curating high-quality catalogues, streamlining onboarding and enabling meaningful opportunities for women entrepreneurs, SC/ST-led MSEs, Self-Help Groups (SHGs), Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) and enterprises led by Divyangjan.
GeM will set up a full-service pavilion at the fair, offering on-the-spot seller onboarding, a dedicated ODOP pavilion and a catalogue-shoot zone for ODOP sellers. A live buyer experience and query-resolution desk will also be available where visitors can explore the features of the GeM platform and receive one-to-one support.
In addition, networking sessions will be held for under-represented seller groups to guide them on selling through GeM, navigating digital procurement and scaling their businesses.
GeM’s participation in IITF 2025 represents a continued effort to broaden access to public procurement and enhance opportunities for under-represented seller groups,
in alignment with the Government of India’s vision of Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat. Stakeholders are encouraged to visit the GeM pavilion, engage with the platform and explore avenues for strengthening an inclusive and transparent procurement ecosystem.
The annual rate of inflation based on All India Wholesale Price Index (WPI) number is (-) 1.21% (provisional) for the month of October, 2025 (over October, 2024). Negative rate of inflation in October, 2025 is primarily due to decrease in prices of food articles, crude petroleum & natural gas, electricity, mineral oils and manufacture of basic metals etc.
The Union Government has released Fifteenth Finance Commission (XV FC) Grants during Financial Year 2025–26, for Rural Local Bodies in Assam. This entails 2nd installment of Untied Grants of the Financial Year 2024–25 amounting to Rs.219.24 crores.
These funds are for all eligible 27 District Panchayats (DPs), all eligible 182 Block Panchayats (BPs) and all eligible 2192 Gram Panchayats (GPs) of the State. Further, Rs.4.698 crores of withheld portion of 1st instalment of Untied Grant for Financial Year 2024–25 has also been released to additionally eligible 26 Block Panchayats.
Government of India through Ministry of Panchayati Raj and Ministry of Jal Shakti (Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation) recommends release of XV-FC Grants to States for Panchayati Raj Institutions/ Rural Local Bodies, which are then released by Ministry of Finance. The allocated Grants are recommended and released in two installments in a financial year.
The Untied Grants will be utilized by Panchayati Raj Institutions/ Rural Local Bodies for location-specific felt needs, under the Twenty-Nine (29) subjects enshrined in the Eleventh Schedule of the Constitution, except for salaries and other establishment costs.
The Tied Grants can be used for the basic services of (a) sanitation and maintenance of ODF status, and this should include management and treatment of household waste, and human excreta and fecal sludge management in particular and (b) supply of drinking water, rainwater harvesting and water recycling.
A new generation of Man-portable Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (MP-AUVs) have been successfully developed by the Naval Science & Technological Laboratory (NSTL), Visakhapatnam of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for mine countermeasure missions.
The system comprises multiple AUVs equipped with Side Scan Sonar and Under Water cameras as primary payloads for real-time detection & classification of Mine-Like Objects. The onboard deep learning based target recognition algorithms enable autonomous classification, significantly reducing operator workload and mission time.
Additionally, a robust underwater acoustic communication has been integrated to facilitate inter-AUV data exchange during operations ensuring enhanced situational awareness.
The recently-concluded field trials at NSTL/Harbour have successfully validated salient systems parameters and critical mission objectives.
Environmentalist and Padma Shri awardee Saalumarada Thimmakka who passed away at 114, was known for her contribution to the environment, particularly her efforts for afforestation.
Ms. Thimmakka hailed from Gubbi taluk in Tumakuru district. With no formal education, she worked in a quarry as a casual labourer.
After marrying Bikkala Chikkayya, she moved to Hulikal village in Magadi taluk. The couple, who did not have children, planted 385 banyan trees on State Highway 94 from Kudur to Hulikal.
Their dedication to these saplings were such that they would walk kilometres with pails of water just to nurture the plants, as she often said.
Ms. Thimmakka was awarded the Padma Shri in 2019 for social work - environment apart from being listed as one among BBC’s 100 most influential and inspirational women in the world in 2016. She was also known for her activism to protect the environment.
Singer Palak Muchhal, known for her soulful hits, has now made it to the Guinness Book of World Records not for her music, but for her extraordinary humanitarian work. Through her Palak Palash Charitable Foundation, she has helped fund 3947 heart surgeries for underprivileged children across India.
In 2013 alone, Palak raised over Rs 2.5 crore, helping 572 children receive life-saving operations. Every performance, every song she sang, helped save a life.Recognised for her kindness.
She’s known to be the voice behind Bollywood hits like Kaun Tujhe, Meri Aashiqui, and Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, Palak has been saving lives.
The Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d’Automobiles (OICA) has announced the election of Shailesh Chandra as president.
Shailesh Chandra, the Managing Director and CEO of Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Limited, and Managing Director of the Electric Vehicle arm, is also the President of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).
Chandra succeeds John Bozzella, President and CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation (USA).
He elected as first Indian President of OICA.
Paris Olympians B. Dhiraj and Ankita Bhakat became the first-ever Indian male and female recurve archers to win individual titles at the Asian archery championships in Dhaka.
Ankita stunned Korea’s Paris Olympic silver medallist Nam Suhyeon 7-3, while Dhiraj defeated compatriot Rahul 6-2 in the finals to win gold.
A new report, Climate Risk Index (CRI) 2026, published by Germanwatch, released at COP30 in Belém on November 11, 2025, finds that more than 832,000 people died, nearly 5.7 billion were affected, and economic losses exceeded $4.5 trillion (inflation-adjusted) from over 9,700 extreme weather events between 1995 and 2024.
Germanwatch is a Bonn-based environmental and development organisation that advocates for global equity and sustainability in climate policy.
India ranks ninth among the countries most affected during this period, facing recurring floods, cyclones, droughts, and increasingly severe heatwaves.
Amid trade tensions with the US that has imposed 50 per cent tariff on Indian exports, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced a host of relief measures for exporters. The measures included easing of the burden of debt repayments on some impacted sectors, and relaxation in the repayment of export credit.
In a notification, the central bank enhanced the maximum credit period from 270 days to 450 days for pre-shipment and post-shipment export credit disbursed till March 31, 2026.
It has also allowed lenders to liquidate packing credit facilities availed by exporters on or before August 31, 2025,
where dispatch of goods could not take place, from any legitimate alternative sources, including domestic sale proceeds of such goods or substitution of contract with proceeds of another export order.
The RBI has said these measures were taken “with a view to mitigate the impact of trade disruptions on exports arising on account of global headwinds”.
In order to ease the burden of debt repayments on specific impacted sectors, the regulator allowed moratorium on/deferment of payment of all of term loans and recovery of interest on working capital loans, falling due between September 1 and December 31, 2025.
Moreover, lenders have been permitted to recalculate “drawing power” in working capital facilities either by reducing margins or by basis reassessment during the same period.
The RBI has also allowed extension in the time period for realisation and repatriation of full export value of goods/software/services exported from India from nine months to fifteen months from the date of export from the country.
In addition, the time period for shipment of goods has been increased from one year to three years from the date of receipt of advance payment or as per agreement, whichever is later.
