External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar launched the website, theme, and logo for BRICS 2026, scheduled to take place under India's chairship.
Union Ministers of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita and Kirti Vardhan Singh were present on the occasion.
BRICS brings together eleven major emerging markets and developing countries of the world - Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates.
The BRICS logo for India's chairship blends tradition with modernity.
The petals radiate the vibrant colours of all BRICS member countries, highlighting their collective strength and unity. At the centre, the "Namaste" gesture showcases India's spirit of warmth, respect, and harmonious collaboration.
It serves as a useful platform for consultation and cooperation on contemporary issues having global and regional significance, as well as issues of global political and economic governance.
The fisheries and aquaculture sector plays a critical role in India’s economy, providing livelihoods to approximately 3 crore fishers and fish farmers while generating significant employment opportunities across the value chain.
Under the Independent Business Division – IndiaAI Mission of the Digital India Corporation, functioning under the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, a significant step has been taken towards strengthening the Artificial Intelligence (AI) ecosystem in the country.
In this regard, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been exchanged between Digital India Corporation (IndiaAI) and Uttar Pradesh Development Systems Corporation Limited (UPDESCO), Lucknow.
Under the IndiaAI Mission, a total of 65 Data and AI Labs are planned to be established across Uttar Pradesh.
Of these, two IndiaAI Data and AI Labs at NIELIT Centres located in Lucknow and Gorakhpur are already operational, while one Data and AI Lab have been established by an industry partner at Pilibhit. Further, 49 Data and AI Labs have been approved by the State Government and implementation work has commenced, and 13 additional locations will be identified in due course.
The IndiaAI Data Labs will be equipped with modern AI-ready infrastructure, including computing resources, software platforms, curated datasets, and learning modules specifically designed to support AI skilling and experiential learning.
Coromandel International, one of India’s leading agri solutions providers, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) for the establishment of a corporate research centre at the IIT Madras Research Park.
The partnership will enable Coromandel to leverage the world-class research, innovation, and technology infrastructure of the IIT Madras ecosystem in India and abroad, fostering advanced collaboration in areas of strategic importance to agriculture, sustainability, and emerging technologies.
Coromandel International Limited is among India’s pioneers and leading agri solutions providers, offering diverse products and services across the farming value chain. It operates in two major segments: nutrient and other allied businesses, and crop protection. These include fertilisers, crop protection, bio products, specialty nutrients, and organic businesses.
The government revoked the quality control order (QCO) on Flux Cored Solder Wire used in multiple industries, including electronics and automobiles.
The order for the product was issued in September 2023.
"In exercise of the powers conferred by section 16 of the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016, the Central Government is of the opinion that it is necessary or expedient so to do in public interest and after consulting the Bureau, hereby rescinds the notification of the Government of India, Flux Cored Solder Wire (Quality Control) Order, 2023," a DPIIT notification said.
Innoviti Technologies, India's leading payments-centric retail SaaS platform, has been granted a Certificate of Authorization by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate as a Payment Aggregator under the Payments and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.
- Enables seamless, compliant payments across digital and in-store channels for enterprises & SMEs.
The company had earlier received RBI authorization for online payment aggregation in March 2024. With the latest authorization, Innoviti is now permitted to operate as a Payment Aggregator for both online and physical (in-store) payment transactions.
Innoviti's payments-centric SaaS platform has been purpose-built to address this evolution, bringing together online and in-store payment technologies into a reliable and secure framework--without the need to rent payment terminals or undertake complex payment gateway integrations--reflecting how modern commerce works.
Noted Indian mountaineer Aritra Roy has successfully reached the summit of Mount Aconcagua in Argentina, the highest peak outside Asia standing at 6,967.15 meters above mean sea level.
The solo expedition, fully sponsored by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), is a major milestone in Roy’s ambitious Seven Summits challenge, following his earlier climb of Mount Everest.
Roy reached the summit on January 7 at 2:00 PM local time after a strenuous 44-km trek in extreme conditions, including temperatures as low as –40°C, snowstorms and blizzards. He stayed at the summit for about 45 minutes before beginning his descent.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued the Foreign Exchange Management Regulations, under which resident Indians are prohibited from issuing credit guarantees in favour of non-resident Indians (NRIs).
Australia Women’s cricket team captain Alyssa Healy has announced her retirement from all forms of international cricket ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026.
The 35-year-old also has an illustrious T20I career spanning almost 15 years, scoring 3054 runs at a superb strike rate of 129.79.
Healy, who made her debut in February 2010, is a six-time T20 World Cup winner, besides lifting the ODI World Cup in 2013 and 2022. Thus, her retirement truly marks the end of a glorious chapter in Australia's cricketing folklore.
According to the Henley Passport Index 2026, India is now ranked 80th globally, with visa-free, visa-on-arrival or eTA ( electronic visa) access to 55 destinations. India shares this rank with Algeria and Niger, placing it firmly in the lower half of the global mobility table
The good news, however is that India's rank has gone up by five places since last year when it ranked 85th globally.
In a move aimed at making the National Pension System (NPS) more attractive for risk-averse citizens to build a retirement nest egg, India’s pension regulator has constituted an expert panel to help develop an assured pension income product.
The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), said it has formed a high-level committee to formulate guidelines and regulations to enable a framework for assured payouts under the NPS.
The 15-member committee, chaired by M S Sahoo, a former chairperson of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) and the founder of Dr Sahoo Regulatory Chambers, will function as a standing advisory body.
To be sure, the PFRDA had been attempting to devise a market-based assured pension product for a few years now. However, this committee, which includes experts from various disciplines including law, actuarial science, finance, insurance, capital markets and academia, is the first structured effort to come up with a design and framework for an assured pension product.
The panel has also been empowered to invite external specialists and intermediaries for wider consultations.
The committee’s mandate includes requires creating regulations for assured payouts, including exploring the pension schemes as highlighted in a PFRDA consultation paper dated September 30, 2025, and
ensuring a seamless transition for subscribers from the accumulation phase to the decumulation or “payout phase”. The panel will also deliberate on market-based assurance mechanisms, including novation (related to contracts) and settlement concepts, to ensure that legally enforceable and market-based guarantees.
Moreover, the panel will propose an operational design that would include defining terms such as lock-in periods, withdrawal limits, pricing mechanisms and fee structures for pension product providers. Establishing robust risk management norms, including capital and solvency requirements,
examining tax implications for payouts that do not require a subscriber to exit the NPS architecture, are also part of the Sahoo committee’s tasklist. To protect consumers, the committee shall also develop standardised disclosure frameworks to prevent sim-selling and manage subscriber expectations regarding the nature of assurance and market-based guarantee.
Meta Platforms has announced a major leadership reshuffle as it accelerates its push into artificial intelligence, naming board member Dina Powell McCormick as its new president and vice chairman. The move places a seasoned Wall Street executive and former senior Trump administration official at the top of one of the world’s most influential technology companies.
Powell McCormick brings a diverse background spanning finance, government and global client services. She most recently served as vice chair, president and head of global client services at merchant bank BDT & MSD Partners.
Before that, she spent 16 years in senior leadership roles at Goldman Sachs. In government, she was deputy national security adviser to President Donald Trump during his first term. She is married to Pennsylvania Republican Senator Dave McCormick.
