Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on December 18, 2025 conferred with the Order of Oman, the Sultanate's uniquely distinct civilian honour, by Sultan Haitham bin Tarik for his contributions to strengthening bilateral ties.
Prime Minister Modi received the award during his ongoing two-day visit to Oman, the final leg of his three-nation tour that included Jordan and Ethiopia.
This is the latest addition to PM Modi's distinguished list of over 28 highest civilian awards from foreign nations, including recent honours such as Ethiopia's Great Honour Nishan of Ethiopia and Kuwait's Order of Mubarak Al-Kabeer.
His visit to Muscat marks the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between India and Oman, with both sides focusing on deepening strategic partnership in trade, investment, energy, defence and culture.
PM Modi arrived in Oman on December 17 and was accorded a warm welcome, including a guard of honour.
The Union Government has approved plans to develop a world-class marina in Mumbai Harbour at an estimated cost of ₹887 crore, a move expected to give a significant push to coastal shipping, maritime tourism and waterfront-led urban development in the country’s financial capital.
The proposed ‘Viksit Bharat Mumbai Marina’ has been cleared by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways in line with the vision articulated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for creating global-standard tourism destinations and strengthening India’s maritime economy.
The project will be implemented through a hybrid development model, under which the Mumbai Port Authority will invest about ₹470 crore to construct the core marina infrastructure on an EPC basis, while a private operator will develop onshore facilities with an estimated investment of ₹417 crore.
The ministry has approved the port authority’s investment, and tenders have been floated, with bids scheduled to close on Dec. 29, 2025.
Planned over nearly 12 hectares of water area, the marina will have the capacity to berth 424 yachts of up to 30 metres in length.
The project aligns with key national frameworks such as Maritime India Vision (MIV) 2030, Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision (MAKV) 2047, the Sagarmala Programme and the Cruise Bharat Mission, as well as the Port Master Plan 2047 of Mumbai Port Authority.
India and Oman have taken a significant step in building a stronger economic partnership with the signing of Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.
This Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) marks an important milestone in India’s engagement with the Gulf region and reflects the shared commitment to deepen bilateral economic integration. Oman is an important strategic partner in the region and is a key gateway for Indian goods and services to the wider Middle East and Africa.
India Post has unveiled Karnataka’s first Gen Z-themed revamped post office — the Achit Nagar Post Office — located at Acharya Institute of Technology, Bengaluru. Designed as a youth-friendly, tech-driven space, this initiative aims to blend digital access, creative design, and community engagement, aligning with the preferences of the younger generation.
The Sabka Bima Sabki Raksha (Amendment of Insurance Laws) Bill, 2025 has been passed by Parliament on 17.12.2025. The bill amends three Acts related to Insurance sector, namely, The Insurance Act,1938, The Life Insurance Corporation Act, 1956 and The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 1999.
Ease of Doing business is being promoted for intermediaries through the introduction of provision of one-time licensing and the provision of suspension of license rather than straight away cancellation.
For insurers, the limit of seeking prior regulatory approval for transfer of share capital has been raised from 1% to 5%, the Net Owned Fund requirement of Foreign Reinsurance Branches has been reduced from Rs 5,000 Crore to Rs 1,000 Crore.
LIC has been provided autonomy to open Zonal offices in the country and to align its foreign offices with the laws and regulations of their respective jurisdiction.
To protect the interest of Policyholders, a dedicated fund, namely Policyholders’ Education and Protection Fund will be set up to spread awareness about insurance.
On the principle of "One State One RRB", the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance has consolidated 26 Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) across 11 States/UTs, effective from 01.05.2025. This reform marks a crucial step toward building stronger and more efficient RRBs.
Six States namely Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Gujarat, Assam, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan have reported significant action in imposing penalty and recovery process in cases of financial irregularities and poor quality of works under Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM).
Peter Arnett, the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who spent decades dodging bullets and bombs to bring the world eyewitness accounts of war from the rice paddies of Vietnam to the deserts of Iraq, has died. He was 91.
Arnett, who won the 1966 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting for his Vietnam War coverage for The Associated Press, died on December 17, 2025 in Newport Beach and was surrounded by friends and family, said his son Andrew Arnett. He had been suffering from prostate cancer.
Arnett first worked for AP as a wire-service correspondent in Vietnam, from 1962 until the war's end in 1975, often accompanying troops on missions.
Fintech firm One97 Communications on Thursday said its subsidiary Paytm Payments Services Limited (PPSL), has received authorisation from the Reserve Bank of India to operate as a Payment Aggregator for physical (offline) payments and cross-border transactions.
The approval is in addition to the authorisation for Online Payment Aggregation already granted by the central bank to PPSL last month.
With the new license, PPSL now holds Payment Aggregator authorisations across online, offline, and cross-border segments use cases, enabling end-to-end payment aggregation services for merchants.
In November 2020, PPSL applied for a license with the RBI to operate as a payment aggregator under the guidelines on Regulation of Payment Aggregators and Payment Gateways.
However, in November 2022, the RBI rejected PPSL's application and asked the company to resubmit it, so as to comply with Press Note 3 under FDI rules.
The Ministry of Finance has asked three regional rural banks (RRBs) to submit their draft initial public offering (IPO) plans to their respective sponsor banks as well as the Department of Financial Services (DFS) by the end of March, according to a
senior government official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The DFS convened a meeting to review the IPO plans of three RRBs — Haryana Gramin Bank, Kerala Gramin Bank, and Tamil Nadu Grama Bank. Senior officials of the RRBs as well as the sponsor banks also attended the meeting.
The official added that the government has plans to list at least five RRBs in the next two financial years, of which three may be listed in FY27.
In May, after the consolidation exercise under the One State, One RRB initiative, which reduced the number of RRBs from 48 to 23, the ministry had asked sponsor banks to submit a list of candidates eligible for an IPO.
Under the existing shareholding framework, the Centre holds a 50 per cent stake in RRBs,
while the respective state governments and sponsor banks own 15 per cent and 35 per cent, respectively.
In FY25, Haryana Gramin Bank, sponsored by Punjab National Bank (PNB), reported a net profit of ₹376.6 crore and a capital to risk-weighted assets ratio (CRAR) of 15.31 per cent.
The gross non-performing asset (GNPA) ratio of the RRB declined to 1.95 per cent of total advances, while net NPA was maintained at zero.
According to the draft eligibility guidelines for listing RRBs issued in 2022, eligible lenders must have a minimum net worth of around ₹300 crore and maintain a capital adequacy ratio above the regulatory minimum of 9 percent
in each of the preceding three years. They must also have reported an operating profit of about ₹15 crore in at least three of the previous five years and delivered a return on equity of 10 per cent in three out of five years. In addition, such banks should not be under the Reserve Bank of India’s prompt corrective action framework.
RRBs were established in 1975 under the provisions of an ordinance promulgated on September 26, 1975, and the Regional Rural Banks Act, 1976. The RRBs reported a combined profit of ₹6,825 crore in FY25, lower than the ₹7,571 crore recorded in FY24.
The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has made multiple changes under its exit regulations of the National Pension System (NPS). It has allowed subscribers to seek financial assistance against their pension corpus, as part of the PFRDA (Exits and Withdrawals under the NPS) (Amendment) Regulations, 2025.
In a significant move to enhance bilateral ties, the Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Suhel Ajaz Khan, and Abdulmajeed bin Rashed Alsmari, the Deputy Minister for Protocol Affairs of Saudi Arabia, signed a visa waiver agreement for holders of diplomatic, special, and official passports.
This agreement, which took place in Riyadh, is expected to facilitate official travel and further strengthen exchanges between the two nations under the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council.
In a related development, the Indian Parliament is set to establish the India-Saudi Arabia Parliamentary Friendship Group. This announcement was made by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on December 5 during a meeting with Major General Abdul Rahman bin Sanhat Al-Harbi, Chairman of the Saudi-India Parliamentary Friendship Committee from Saudi Arabia's Shura Council.
Jharkhand clinched their first-ever Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) title at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, defeating Haryana by 69 runs. Led by a historic ton from captain Ishan Kishan, Jharkhand posted a massive 262/3 - the highest-ever total in a T20 tournament final - before their bowlers clinically dismantled the Haryana chase.
With the century, Kishan became only the second batter to score a hundred in a SMAT final, after Punjab's Amolpreet Singh (113 against Baroda at Mohali in SMAT 2023-24), and the first captain to achieve the feat. He also set the record for the most sixes by a batter in a SMAT final innings.
This victory marks the first time Jharkhand has lifted the premier domestic T20 trophy, joining the elite list of Indian domestic champions. For Ishan Kishan, the century was his fifth in SMAT history, equaling the record for the most hundreds in the tournament and cementing his status as one of the most explosive white-ball players in the country.
