The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has entered into a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) to enhance collaboration in multidisciplinary research, innovation, and capacity building across the entire dairy sector.
The partnership spans key areas including dairy production, processing, and value addition, with a strong emphasis on empowering its primary stakeholders—millions of dairy farmers across the country.
The MoU aims to synergize ICAR’s scientific and research expertise with NDDB’s extensive field-level experience and robust institutional capabilities,
to address emerging challenges throughout the dairy value chain, particularly at the grassroots level. The collaboration places strong emphasis on knowledge sharing, technology development and validation, human resource development, and the conduct of joint training programmes for researchers, professionals, and farmers.
India and Germany have taken a significant step towards strengthening bilateral cooperation in the postal, express and logistics sector with the signing and exchange of two key instruments on 12 January 2026 at Ahmedabad, during the visit of the H.E. Mr. Friedrich Merz, Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany to India.
The documents signed include:
(i) a Joint Declaration of Intent (JDoI) between the Department of Posts, Ministry of Communications, Government of India, and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, Federal Republic of Germany; and
(ii) a Letter of Intent (LoI) between the Department of Posts and Deutsche Post AG, the designated postal operator of Germany.
The collaboration envisages a structured partnership covering postal, express and logistics services, with a strong focus on cross-border e-commerce and time-definite international deliveries.
The partnership also emphasizes the exchange of best practices in digitalization, operational efficiency, sustainability and green logistics.
The Digital India BHASHINI Division (DIBD), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) will organise BHASHINI Samudaye: Strengthening India’s Language AI Ecosystem on 13 January 2026 at Nalanda Hall, Dr Ambedkar International Centre, New Delhi.
BHASHINI Samudaye is a BHASHINI-led collaborative initiative that brings together language experts, academic institutions, civil society organisations, and data practitioners to co-create, govern, and scale language AI solutions for India.
The initiative reinforces BHASHINI’s mandate under the National Language Translation Mission (NLTM) to eliminate language barriers and ensure access to digital services in all Indian languages.
The BHASHINI Samudaye workshop marks a significant step in strengthening BHASHINI’s ecosystem-led approach to language AI,
ensuring that India’s digital public infrastructure remains multilingual, accessible, and inclusive, and advancing the vision of democratised and scalable Artificial Intelligence for social and economic empowerment.
The Union Government has notified the National Sports Governance (National Sports Bodies) Rules, 2026 under the National Sports Governance Act, 2025.
The Rules provide the framework for the inclusion of Sportspersons of Outstanding Merit, composition of the General Body and Executive Committee, election procedures,
and disqualification criteria for members of National Sports Bodies and Regional Sports Federations.
The Rules also outline provisions for the National Sports Election Panel and further specify procedures for registration and periodic updating of affiliate units with the National Sports Board.
Kotak Mahindra Bank announced the appointment of former Bajaj Finance MD Anup Kumar Saha as whole-time director at the bank with immediate effect. The appointment, however, is subject to regulatory approvals.
Saha will oversee consumer banking, marketing, and data analytics functions, and drive customer-centric transformation, digital innovation, and data-led strategies.
The private lender has three whole time directors on its board: Ashok Vaswani, who is the managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of the bank; Jaideep Hansraj and Paritosh Kashyap who are executive directors at the bank.
Saha will be the fourth whole-time director at the bank.
Before taking up the current role, Saha was MD at NBFC Bajaj Finance. He quit in July 2025 -- four months after taking over the responsibility -- citing personal reasons. He was deputy MD at the firm before succeeding Rajeev Jain as MD of Bajaj Finance on April 1, 2025.
India batting stalwart Virat Kohli on January 11, 2026 became the fastest player to reach 28,000 runs across formats in international cricket and the second most prolific scorer behind Sachin Tendulkar during the first ODI against New Zealand.
Playing in his 624th innings, Kohli got to the milestone by hitting a four off New Zealand leg-spinner Adithya Ashok. Tendulkar had reached the landmark during his 644th innings, while Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara, only the third player in the 28,000-run club, crossed the feat in his 666th innings.
Essar Future Energy Limited announced it would establish a large-scale bio-fuel complex in Gujarat's Devbhumi Dwarka district with a proposed investment of ₹5,100 crore.
The company signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the state government at the ongoing Vibrant Gujarat Regional Conference (VGRC) in Rajkot.
Under the MoU, Essar Future Energy will establish a large-scale bio-fuel complex in Devbhumi Dwarka district, with an initial feedstock processing capacity of 1 million tonnes per annum (MTPA), it added.
The MoU was signed in the presence of ministers Rushikesh Patel and Kaushik Vekaria as well as senior officials from the state's Energy & Petrochemicals department.
India and Germany announced 27 outcomes — 19 agreements and eight announcements — to underline their deepening ties in defence, security, the mobility of health care workers, semiconductors, supply chains, technology, and green energy, and with an eye to enhancing bilateral trade in the context of the impending India-European Union (EU) trade deal.
An Indian army officer from Bengaluru, Major Swathi Shantha Kumar, has won the UN Secretary General’s Award 2025 for her project Equal Partners, Lasting Peace.
Major Swathi is currently serving on an United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and her efforts are said to have significantly enhanced gender parity through the effective deployment and,
integration of the Indian Engagement team, thereby strengthening grassroot level engagement across the area of responsibility.
Under her initiative and command, the team successfully conducted short- and long-distance patrols, integrated reverie patrols, and dynamic air patrols to far-flung counties of the host nation.
Major Swathi is an officer in the Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME). Her father, R. Shantha Kumar, said that she did her schooling in Bengaluru and graduated from the New Horizon College of Engineering following which she was commissioned in the Indian Army.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently announced and honored the winners of the Secretary General’s Award 2025.
This prestigious award recognises initiatives that advance gender parity and promote gender-responsive peacekeeping in alignment with the UN mandate.
Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Shri Bhupender Yadav chaired a meeting of the National Institute for Research & Application of Natural Resources to Transform, Adapt and Build Resilience (NIRANTAR), a platform of institutions under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC),
aimed at improving coordination and collaboration.
The Minister said the four verticals of NIRANTAR focus on different aspects of research, assessment of outcomes and their ultimate utilisation. He underlined the importance of India’s bioresources and said the platform could play a crucial role in ensuring their sustainable use for development.
In a major development for animal welfare, Mexico City has revised its Animal Welfare law to officially recognize community animals—dogs and cats who live in public or communal spaces and are cared for by residents.
This significant reform provides legal status and protection for animals who may not be adoptable due to behavioral or other challenges, while also promoting safer, healthier communities for everyone who shares space with them.
Humane World for Animals Mexico , formerly called Humane Society International Mexico, contributed to this reform,
working closely with Deputy Manuel Talayero president of the Animal Welfare Commission and with the Animal Care Agency of Mexico City’s Bioethics Committee to promote ethical population control while creating a healthier and safer environment for both humans and animals.
Until now, animals living in streets, parks, and shared spaces could be removed and euthanized if reported to the city’s canine control center, despite being regularly fed and cared for by the community’s residents. The revised law ensures that animals receiving consistent care from the community can remain in their environment without risk of removal.
The law now defines community animals as dogs or cats who live in public spaces or common areas within a given community, and are accepted, fed, supervised, and cared for by a group of people within that community, to the best of their abilities. The law also formally acknowledges the contributions of the individuals or groups that voluntarily care for these animals.
Importantly, the law does not place the full burden of care on community members alone. Article 73 of the same legislation outlines the responsibility of Mexico City’s Animal Care Agency to contribute to public policy that supports community animals through sterilization, education, and responsible guardianship initiatives.
Shri Chirag Paswan, Minister of Food Processing Industries, Government of India inaugurated Indusfood 2026 at Expo Mart, Greater Noida, on 8th January 2026. Indusfood is Asia’s premier food and beverage tradeshow. This is the biggest edition of the show yet covering a total area of 120,000 square meters.
GAIL (India) Limited has joined the nationwide "#NonStopZindagi campaign under National PNG Drive 2.0, an initiative steered by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) to promote the adoption of Piped Natural Gas (PNG) and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) across India.
National PNG Drive 2.0, which is scheduled from 1 January to 31 March 2026, aligns with the national vision to increase the share of natural gas in India's energy basket to 15% by 2030. To support this transition towards a gas-based economy, the PNGRB has introduced a Unified Tariff framework under the principle of "One Nation, One Grid, One Tariff".
This framework creates an integrated national gas transmission network with standardised transportation charges to enable wider access across the country.
The primary objective of the campaign is to build widespread awareness and generate demand for PNG, CNG, and the City Gas Distribution (CGD) ecosystem.
