Within the first three months following implementation of mandatory HUID for silver, over 17 lakh pieces have been hallmarked, reflecting strong uptake among jewellers and consumers. While the Silver Hallmarking Scheme remains voluntary, HUID marking has been made mandatory for any silver article that is hallmarked.
Strong Uptake: Over 17 Lakh Articles Already Hallmarked with HUID
Since, the launch of the silver HUID portal, over 17 lakh silver jewellery items have already been hallmarked i.e. within 3 months. Purity grades 925 and 800 constitute nearly 90% of all hallmarked items.
Purity grades 925 and 800 constitute nearly 90% of all hallmarked items. A significant acceleration has been observed following the introduction of HUID. In FY 2024–25, around 32 lakh silver articles were hallmarked. This surge reflects the strong confidence of consumers and jewellers in the HUID system.
Trends in silver hallmarking shows Southern Region of the country leading in volume of hallmarking followed by Western and Eastern region. Among product categories, payal / anklets constitute the largest share and are predominantly hallmarked in 800 purity grades. Silver diyas follows, generally in 800 and 925 purity.
The number of villages identified under Mera Gaon Meri Dharohar (MGMD) Programme for cultural mapping across the country is 6,38,365, out of which, the data of 6,23,449 villages has been uploaded on MGMD Portal so far.As part of its documentation activities, MGMD, covers a wide range of cultural elements, both tangible and intangible, including oral traditions, beliefs,
customs, historical significance, art forms, heritage sites, traditional food, prominent artists, fairs and festivals, traditional dress, ornaments and local landmarks. The MGMD Programme leads to strengthening of rural identity by creating authentic, village-level cultural profiles that recognise local traditions, practices and heritage assets.
It promotes community participation by enabling community-led documentation and crowd-sourced validation through the MGMD Portal. The availability of structured cultural data on a single national portal supports planning for cultural cluster development, heritage tourism and the promotion of traditional skills,
, thereby contributing to sustainable livelihood generation and rural economic development.
India hosts the 20th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage from 8 to 13 December 2025 at Red Fort (Lal Qila), New Delhi. Its aims and objective are as under:
Examining nominations submitted by States Parties for inscription on the UNESCO ICH Lists
Reviewing the status of existing elements
Providing international assistance for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage
India currently has 15 elements inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
The core issues likely to be taken up during the meeting are as under:
Assessment of safeguarding reports submitted by States about existing listed elements
Requests for international assistance to support safeguarding of ICH
Discuss “living heritage safeguarding,” best practices, and innovative safeguarding methodologies
Reporting and future planning for safeguarding of ICH Over 800 delegates from more than 180 countries, including Committee Members, UNESCO officials, experts, accredited NGOs and practitioners are likely to participate in this event. Hosting of the said meeting offers several strategic and diplomatic advantages for India and strengthen its collaboration with UNESCO.
The meeting will help the country by increasing its global influence and cultural Diplomacy & soft power, providing a platform to showcase its diverse heritage, strengthening international cooperation on cultural preservation and inspiring younger generations to connect with their cultural identity.
The event also provides an opportunity for India to lead discussions on important heritage issues and solidify its position as a global leader in cultural diplomacy.
A total of 655 antiquities has been retrieved from foreign countries since 1976. Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) takes up conservation and maintenance work of 3,685 ancient monuments and archaeological sites of national importance including provision of amenities like drinking water, toilet blocks, pathways and landscaping etc. across the country.
Maintenance of these monuments and sites is a continuous process and is taken up as per the need and availability of resources.
The National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities, established in 2007, has documented and published data for 11,406 Built Heritage and Sites, and 12,46,211 Antiquities. The data has been published at the NMMA website www.nmma.nic.in
Government has set up National Culture Fund (NCF) in 1996 as a Trust under the Charitable Endowment Act, 1890 with an objective to mobilize extra resources through Public Private Partnerships (PPP) mode towards conservation and development of heritage sites, and overall promotion of India’s cultural heritage
A donor/sponsor while making contributions to the NCF can indicate a project to be taken up for conservation or developing amenities around any monument. The conservation of protected monuments is carried out by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the same is maintained by them. All donor agencies comply with the norms set up by NCF and ASI.
The progress of projects approved by the NCF under PPP mode for Centrally Protected Monuments are regularly monitored by the Project Implementation Committee involving ASI, Donor and NCF.
No Pilot Project has been initiated to allow private players, including corporate, PSUs or non-profit organizations, for conservation of Centrally Protected Monuments.
Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh and the Defence Minister of Russia Mr Andrei Belousov co-chaired the 22nd session of India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military & Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-M&MTC) at Manekshaw Centre, New Delhi on December 04, 2025.
This meeting precedes the 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit between Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and President of Russia Mr Vladimir Putin.
At the end, the two Ministers signed the protocol of the 22nd IRIGC-M&MTC meeting highlighting the ongoing and prospective areas of cooperation.
Prior to the meeting, Raksha Mantri and the Russian Defence Minister laid the wreath at the National War Memorial, New Delhi and paid respect to the Indian bravery who made the supreme sacrifice in the service of the nation. The visiting dignitary also inspected the Ceremonial Tri-service Guard of Honour.
The 10th edition of the India– Indonesia Joint Special Forces Exercise GARUDA SHAKTI has commenced at the Special Forces Training School, Bakloh, Himachal Pradesh. The exercise is being conducted from 03 to 12 December 2025.
The Indian contingent is represented by troops from THE PARACHUTE REGIMENT (Special Forces), while the Indonesian contingent comprises personnel from the Indonesian Special Forces.
The exercise aims to strengthen mutual understanding, cooperation and interoperability between the Special Forces of the two nations.
The 8th edition of Exercise Garuda, a bilateral Indo–French air exercise between the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the French Air and Space Force (FASF), concluded at Air Base 118, Mont-de-Marsan, France, on 27 November 2025. The IAF contingent returned to India on 02 December 2025 after the successful culmination of the exercise.
During the exercise, the IAF participated with Su-30MKI fighters, supported by IL-78 air-to-air refuelling aircraft and C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft and both air forces conducted a range of complex air operations in a realistic operational environment.
The IAF maintenance crew ensured high serviceability throughout, enabling smooth conduct of all planned missions. Senior officials from both nations interacted with the participants during the closing ceremony, commending the professionalism, discipline, and commitment displayed by both participating forces.
Exercise Garuda 25 was one of the largest international air training engagements undertaken by the IAF this year. The exercise reaffirmed the strong strategic partnership between India and France and provided valuable operational insights to the participating forces.
The National e-Governance Division (NeGD) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), in collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), has announced a major enhancement to citizen services through the enablement of the Passport Verification Record (PVR) on the DigiLocker platform.
Russia has been a longstanding and time-tested partner of India. Since the signing of the “Declaration on the India-Russia Strategic Partnership” in October 2000, India-Russia ties become more tighten and subsequently elevated to the level of a “Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership.
ndia and Russia continue to nurture their Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership through intensive and multi-layered political engagements. The highest institutionalized mechanism remains the Annual Summit between the Prime Minister of India and the President of the Russian Federation and so far, 22 summits completed.
Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana (PMKSY) is a central sector demand driven scheme and applications are invited from all eligible applicants including Farmers Producing Organisation (FPOs) through Expression of Interest (EoI) from all over India including Hazaribagh and Koderma districts in Jharkhand.
The funds are not allocated/sanctioned/released state-wise under any of the component schemes of PMKSY.
Special benefits in financial assistance provided to FPO category applicants are as under: Grants-in-aid in form of subsidy @ 50% of eligible project cost as compared to 35% in general areas/ categories and in case of Food Safety and Quality Assurance Infrastructure,
,Scheme the subsidy/grant-in-aid is @70% as compared to 50% in General areas/ categories;
Lower Equity Contribution – 10% required as against 20% for others;
Lower minimum credit/loan requirement – 10% required as against 20% for others;
Lower Net-worth requirement i.e. equal to grant-in-aid sought, in comparison to 1.5 times for General Category applicant.
International Volunteer Day, commonly known as IVD, is celebrated on 5 December every year. This year, under the inspiring theme “Every Contribution Matters,” International Volunteer Day (IVD) 2025 takes on historic significance as it marks the official global launch of the International Year of Volunteers for Sustainable Development (IVY 2026).
This milestone follows UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/78/127, which calls for a worldwide movement to recognize and amplify the vital role of volunteers in accelerating progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
Volunteering allows us to work together across generations to achieve the SDGs. Volunteering is an intergenerational cycle.
PM Vishwakarma scheme was launched on 17.09.2023, to provide end-to-end holistic support to artisans and craftspeople of 18 traditional trades who work with their hands and tools. As on 01.12.2025, 30 Lakh beneficiaries have been registered, out of which, 23.09 Lakh beneficiaries have been trained.
The Reserve Bank of India's (RBIs) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) unanimously reduced the repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.25 per cent from 5.5 per cent with immediate effect, announced Governor Sanjay Malhotra. The latest rate cut comes after a pause during the last two policy meetings.
The MPC had previously cut the repo rate by 100 basis points (bps) in three consecutive cuts since February, bringing it down from 6.5 per cent in February to 5.5 per cent in June. One basis point is a hundredth of a percentage point.
