Union Minister for Labour & Employment and Youth Affairs & Sports, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, today inaugurated the newly constructed Bhavishya Nidhi Bhawan of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), Regional Office, Vatva, Gujarat.
During the programme, the Union Minister announced a series of major reforms for strengthening EPFO services nationwide.
President Droupadi Murmu (December 26, 2024) conferred the Prime Minister’s National Award on 17 children, in seven categories, for their exceptional achievements in their fields.
The ‘Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar’ celebrates accomplishments in seven categories: art and culture, bravery, innovation, science and technology, social service, sports and environment.
The awardees — seven boys and 10 girls — were selected from 14 States and union territories.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi, still three months away from turning 15, was honoured with the Prime Minister's National Award for Children (Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar) - the highest civilian recognition for children in the country.
For a cricketer to receive it is unprecedented, placing the Bihar teenager in the same bracket of achievers as chess grandmasters R Praggnanandhaa and R Vaishali.
Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar is the country's highest civilian honour for achievers aged between five and 18.
The Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Shri Pralhad Joshi, released IS 19412:2025 – Incense Sticks (Agarbatti) — Specification, an Indian Standard developed by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). The standard was released on the occasion of National Consumer Day 2025 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi.
The newly notified standard specifies prohibited use of certain insecticidal chemicals and synthetic fragrance substances in agarbattis that may pose risks to human health, indoor air quality and the environment. To address these issues, IS 19412:2025 specifies a list of substances prohibited for use in agarbattis.
This includes certain insecticidal chemicals such as alethrin, permethrin, cypermethrin, deltamethrin, and fipronil, as well as synthetic fragrance intermediates like benzyl cyanide, ethyl acrylate, and diphenylamine. Many of these substances are restricted or banned internationally due to their potential impact on human health, indoor air quality, and ecological safety.
Products conforming to this standard will be eligible to carry the BIS Standard Mark, enabling consumers to make informed choices with confidence. The notification of IS 19412:2025 is expected to boost consumer confidence, promote ethical and sustainable manufacturing practices, protect traditional livelihoods and enhance global market access for Indian agarbatti products.
The standard has been developed by the Fragrance and Flavour Sectional Committee (PCD 18) of BIS through extensive stakeholder consultations. Experts from institutions such as CSIR–Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP), CSIR–Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (IITR), CSIR–Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI),
the Fragrance and Flavour Development Centre (FFDC), Kannauj, and the All India Agarbatti Manufacturers Association contributed to its formulation.
India is the world’s largest producer and exporter of agarbattis, with the industry estimated at around ₹8,000 crore annually and exports of about ₹1,200 crore to more than 150 countries.
National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM) Kundli has been selected as a Project Implementing Agency (PIA) by the Ministry of Minority Affairs to implement the scheme “PM VIKAS”. In this regard, an MoU was signed with the Ministry by the Institute on 22nd December 2025 at New Delhi.
The scheme is aimed at developing the capacity of youth from minority communities through targeted interventions by providing skill training support in need-based courses and ensuring employment /livelihood opportunities for them. NIFTEM Kundli is one of the few Institutes of National Importance (INI) selected as PIA for the scheme.
Under this project, NIFTEM-K will train a total of 2110 beneficiaries from the minority community under three categories - Multi Skill Technician (Food Processing), Millet Products Processor and Assistant Baking Technician across seven locations in four states of Jharkhand, Bihar, Punjab and Haryana.
This intervention seeks to enhance the employability of minority communities and create better livelihood opportunities by providing market and credit linkages to integrate them into the economic mainstream.
The program is likely to be rolled out in January 2026.
The Union Government has released Fifteenth Finance Commission (XV FC) Grants during the Financial Year 2025–26 to strengthen Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and Rural Local Bodies (RLBs) in Rajasthan and Jharkhand.
In Rajasthan, the first instalment of Untied Grants for FY 2025–26 amounting to ₹303.0419 crores has been released for eligible 24 District Panchayats, 339 Block Panchayats, and 3,857 Gram Panchayats of the State.
Further, ₹145.24 crores of the withheld portion of the first and second instalments of Untied Grants for FY 2024–25 has also been released to additionally eligible Rural Local Bodies in Rajasthan. While for the State of Jharkhand, the Union Government has released the first instalment of Untied Grants for FY 2024–25 amounting to ₹275.1253 crores,
for all eligible 24 District Panchayats, 253 eligible Block Panchayats, and 4,342 eligible Gram Panchayats across the State.
The allocated grants are recommended and released in 2 installments in a financial year.
The civil aviation ministry has granted initial clearance to two airlines to begin operations.
The ministry granted a "no-objection certificate" to regional airline Al Hind Air and Fly Express on December 23, 2025.
IndiGo has a market share of about 65%, followed by rival Air India Group with about 27%. Smaller carriers make up for the rest.
In 2026, apart from these two carriers, Uttar Pradesh-based Shankh Air, which already has a No Objection Certificate (NOC), is likely to start operations.
Al Hind Air is being promoted by Kerala-based alhind Group.
India has granted permits to six air operators since 2020 to begin operations, including some regional carriers, the government told lawmakers in July.
After more than three decades, Gujarat has regained the status of a 'tiger-present state', with the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) confirming the presence of a tiger in the state, Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi said.
With this, Gujarat has now become the abode of three big cats - lion, leopard and tiger.
As per the forest department records, tigers went extinct in Gujarat 36 years ago in 1989.
The development comes nearly a month after the Gujarat Forest Department announced that a wandering tiger has made Ratanmahal Wildlife Sanctuary in Dahod district its new home and it has now settled there.
Gujarat Forest and Environment Minister Arjun Modhwadia said an NTCA team had recently visited the state to conduct a study and confirmed the presence of a tiger in the sanctuary.
After years of stringent restrictions on social media use, the Indian Army has revised its policy to allow “passive participation” by its personnel on select platforms, while maintaining strict safeguards to protect operational security.
The revised guidelines, issued by the Army Headquarters through the Directorate General of Military Intelligence (DGMI), have come into effect immediately. As part of the update, Instagram has been formally included in the list of restricted-use social media platforms.
The guidelines further permit limited use of communication platforms such as Skype, Telegram, WhatsApp and Signal, but only for the exchange of unclassified information of a general nature. Such communication is allowed exclusively with known individuals, with the responsibility of verifying the recipient resting entirely with the user.
For platforms including YouTube, X, Quora and Instagram, only passive use to access information or gain knowledge has been authorised. Uploading user-generated content or engaging in any form of active participation remains prohibited.
LinkedIn may be used only for professional purposes such as uploading résumés or seeking information related to prospective employers or employees.
The revised policy also advises personnel to avoid generic websites, portals offering cracked or pirated software, free movie platforms, torrent and VPN services, web proxies, anonymised websites,
chat rooms and file-sharing platforms. It further cautions that cloud-based data storage services should be used only with extreme care.
In July 2020, amid heightened security concerns, the Indian Army had directed all officers and soldiers to delete their Facebook and Instagram accounts, along with 89 mobile applications, warning of strict action for non-compliance.
Saleem Ahmad assumed charge as the new chairman and managing director (CMD) of state-owned rail infrastructure company Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), the public sector undertaking said.
Before this posting, Saleem Ahmad was working as director (projects) at NBCC (India).
Ahmad is a civil engineer with over three decades of experience in construction. During his career, he has worked as executive director (civil) with Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and with the Mumbai Port Trust, RVNL said.
Over 24,600 Indians were deported from 81 countries in 2025, according to the latest Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) data tabled in Rajya Sabha on December 18. Saudi Arabia recorded the highest number, with over 11,000 Indians sent back during the year 2025.
The government announced it has amended the Colliery Control Rules in order to simplify the provisions governing approval for the opening of coal and lignite mines. It said the change would make the coal sector more business friendly and removes procedural redundancies.
Under the earlier rules, a coal or lignite mine owner was required to obtain prior permission from the Coal Controller’s Organisation (CCO) for opening the mine as well as individual seams or sections of a seam. The CCO's permission was also required for starting a mine if it was not operational for more than 180 days.
Under the amended provisions, the authority to approve mine opening permission has now been vested with the board of the concerned coal company. This reform would streamline the approval process, while ensuring that compliance responsibility remains firmly with the company’s highest decision-making authority, the ministry said,
adding this reform is expected to reduce up to two months in operationalisation of a mine.
As a safeguard, the new rules provide that the board of the coal company can approve mine or seam opening after the requisite approvals from the government and statutory bodies have been obtained, and the company has to submit information about mine opening to the CCO.
The government decided to exercise green shoe option to divest a higher 3 per cent stake in Indian Overseas Bank through offer-for-sale following overwhelming response from investors on the first day of subscription.
The OFS of Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) opened for subscription for non-retail investors at a floor price of Rs 34 per share.
The government proposed to sell up to 38.51 crore (38,51,31,796) shares or 2 per cent base offer size with an option to additionally sell 19.25 crore (19,25,65,898) shares, representing 1 per cent of the total issued and paid up equity share capital of the bank, IOB had said in a regulatory filing.
The government currently holds 94.61 per cent stake in the Chennai-based bank.
Additionally, 1,50,000 shares (equivalent to 0.001 per cent of the total issued and paid-up equity share capital of the bank) may be offered to eligible employees in accordance with the terms and conditions set out in the OFS guidelines, subject to approval from the competent authority.
Eligible employees may apply for shares up to Rs 5,00,000, it added.
This is in line with the Securities Contract (Regulation) rules issued by the Securities and Exchange Board of India, which mandate that all listed companies, including those in the public sector, must have a minimum public shareholding of 25 per cent.
The United Nations General Assembly designated December 27 as the International Day of Epidemic Preparedness in its Resolution on December 7, 2020.
As exemplified by the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic major infectious diseases and epidemics have devastating impacts on human lives, wreaking havoc on long-term social and economic development.
Global health crises threaten to overwhelm already overstretched health systems, disrupt global supply chains and cause disproportionate devastation of the livelihoods of people, including women and children, and the economies of the poorest and most vulnerable countries.
