In a path breaking step towards welfare of tribal youth, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), a Maharatna company operating under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with National Scheduled Tribes Finance and Development Corporation (NSTFDC), an autonomous body of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
The MoU is aimed at empowerment of tribal students enrolled in Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) through career mentorship, digital education and augmentation of infrastructure development.
Ministry of Tribal Affairs is steering the Central Sector Scheme of Eklavya Model Residential School (EMRS) to provide quality education to the tribal students.
Such schools signify a pivotal step in the direction of nurturing a modern and enlightened generation through a mix of education, technology and holistic development. There are 499 functional EMRS across the country as on date.
Details of CSR funded project: ONGC has sanctioned Rs. 28 crores towards strengthening of digital learning infrastructure, health and hygiene interventions for girl students (sanitary pads vending machines & incinerators), capacity building of teachers and career counseling & entrepreneurship training of students in 144 EMRS located in 11 States & UTs (Andhra Pradesh,
Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand). The said initiative will benefit over 35000 tribal students, in accessing equal opportunities.
Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, a flagship scheme of the government for pregnant women and lactating mothers, has completed nine years.
The scheme was launched on the 1st January 2017 to provide financial support to pregnant and lactating mothers to improve their health and nutrition.
Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana is a Centrally Sponsored flagship scheme to provide maternity benefits to women belonging to socially and economically disadvantaged sections of society.
Under the Scheme, Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers receive a cash benefit of five thousand rupees for the first child and six thousand rupees for the second girl child.
The first instalment of three thousand rupees is given on registration of pregnancy and the second instalment of two thousand rupees is given after childbirth. The eligible beneficiaries also receive a cash incentive under Janani Suraksha Yojana.
According to the Women and Child Development Ministry, four crore 50 lakh beneficiaries are enrolled under the scheme and more than 19 thousand crore rupees has been disbursed to the beneficiaries. The scheme offers financial assistance to support nutrition, medical checkups, and overall health during pregnancy.
Union Minister for Education, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, today released the book “Khutbat-e-Modi: Lal Qila Ki Faseel Se” in New Delhi. The book is a compilation of the Independence Day addresses delivered by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi from the Red Fort between 2014 and 2025.
Published in Urdu, the book has been brought out by the National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language (NCPUL), New Delhi, a national institution under the Ministry of Education mandated to promote, preserve, and propagate the Urdu language across the country.
“Khutbat-e-Modi” captures the transformational journey of New India while reaffirming the Government’s commitment to linguistic inclusivity by making key national addresses accessible to Urdu readers across the country.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), the IndiaAI Mission, the Government of Assam and IIT Guwahati are hosting a two-day Working Group Meeting in “Human Capital” at the IIT Guwahati campus. The meeting convened senior policymakers, academic leaders, industry experts and practitioners to advance national deliberations on education reform,
workforce transition and inclusive, human-centric AI adoption. The two-day meeting (5–6 January 2026), chaired by Prof. T. G. Sitharam, serves as a key thematic precursor to the India AI Impact Summit 2026, scheduled to be held in New Delhi from February 15–20, 2026, and is expected to inform national-level deliberations and policy outcomes.
SAMPANN (System for Accounting and Management of Pension) is an integrated, online pension management system for Department of Telecommunications (DoT) pensioners, creating a single platform for processing, sanctioning and disbursing pension directly to the bank account of pensioners.
Further advancing the Government’s vision of digital governance and paperless services, important pension related documents i.e. Gratuity Payment Orders, Pension Certificates/ePPOs, Pension Commutation Payment Orders and Form 16 are now made available through DigiLocker.
Reliance Consumer Products Limited (RCPL) has signed actor Amitabh Bachchan as brand ambassador for its packaged water brand Campa Sure, people aware of the development said.
Rival Bisleri is endorsed by actor Deepika Padukone.
This will be the third brand endorsement deal inked by RCPL, the FMCG arm of Reliance Industries, in recent months.
In April, Campa signed actor Ram Charan as its face, with a campaign which debuted during the IPL T20 season. And two months back, it signed a strategic partnership with actor and racer Ajith Kumar’s motorsport team.
Packaged water is among the categories on which New Delhi slashed Goods & Services Tax (GST) in September, with taxes on natural or artificial mineral waters being reduced to 5% from 18%, leading all players in the category to drop prices.
The Delhi government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Reserve Bank of India, enabling the central bank to function as the banker, debt manager and financial agent of the government.
The agreement will allow market borrowings through State Development Loans, automatic investment of surplus cash, professional cash management and access to low-cost liquidity facilities, all within the framework prescribed by the Government of India and the RBI Act.
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, who also holds the finance portfolio, described the MoU as a transformational milestone and a long-overdue reform that previous governments had failed to undertake.
HDFC Asset Management Company has forayed into the fast-growing private credit market with its new Structured Credit Fund-I, targeting mid-market companies with alternative debt financing.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, will invest up to Rs 220 crore as an anchor investor in HDFC AMC's Structured Credit Fund-I.
The fund has already secured about Rs 1,290 crore in commitments in its first close, and is targeting a total corpus of Rs 1,500 crore, with a green-shoe option of an additional Rs 1,000 crore.
The fund will invest in mid-market companies, and it has already committed Rs 380 crore across three deals spanning various sectors.
It will target mid-teen returns over a 4-6 year horizon.
HDFC AMC said that the fund will improve access to finance for underserved mid-market companies by providing alternative debt financing where traditional financing often faces limitations, supporting job creation and driving product and market innovation.
The corporate affairs ministry has decided to reduce the compliance burden on company directors by allowing them to file know-your-customer (KYC) details in a simpler format only once in every three years instead of annually.
Senior Congress leader and former Union minister Suresh Kalmadi passed away in Pune.
He was 81.
He had served as Union Minister of State for Railways and was a former president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).
Kalmadi, a prominent political figure from Pune, represented the city multiple times in the Lok Sabha.
Narasimha Rao as the Prime Minister of India, Suresh Kalmadi served as the Minister of State for Railways from 1995 to 1996. That year he presented the Railway Budget. Kalmadi served as the president of the Indian Olympic Association from 1996 to 2012.
The Asian Waterbird Census (AWC) conducted by the National Zoological Park in Delhi, National Bird Day, recorded a total of 1,310 birds across 18 species in the zoo’s wetlands.
Of the 1,310 birds, 930 are Painted Storks.
India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) capped off 2025 on an extraordinary high, clocking a staggering 21.63 billion transactions in December, the platform’s highest monthly volume to date.
Operated by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), this surge propelled the total value to Rs 27.97 lakh crore, eclipsing November’s Rs 26.32 lakh crore and October’s prior peak of Rs 27.28 lakh crore.
Daily averages underscored the relentless pace, with nearly 698 million transactions processed each day, up from 682 million the previous month.
Year-on-year, volumes leapt 29% while values grew 20%, reflecting deeper penetration into everyday spending despite a dip in average ticket size to around Rs 1,293, evidence of UPI’s shift toward micro-payments for routine purchases like groceries and street vendor bills.
This December rebound followed November’s slight moderation to 20.47 billion transactions, fueled by year-end festivities, e-commerce rushes, and sustained merchant adoption.
For the full year, UPI tallied 228.3 billion transactions worth nearly Rs 300 lakh crore, a massive jump from 2024’s Rs 246.8 lakh crore, cementing its 84.8% share of retail digital payments by volume in H1 2025.
