Shri Manohar Lal, Union Minister of Power, Government of India, inaugurated the Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Regulatory Affairs in the Power Sector at IIT Delhi. The Centre of Excellence is envisaged as a national-level hub for regulatory research, capacity building, advisory support and knowledge dissemination.
By locating the Centre within a premier academic institution and anchoring it through close collaboration between the national power regulator and the system operator, the initiative brings together policy, regulation, system operations and academic research in a single institutional framework.
The Centre will work closely with CERC and Grid India to identify key regulatory and sectoral challenges, support capacity building and human resource development to strengthen institutional capabilities and promote effective knowledge management and dissemination. It will undertake cutting-edge research with access to global academic and policy networks.
The CoE will focus on multidisciplinary research covering power sector regulations, market design, grid operations, energy transition challenges, decarbonisation pathways, digitalisation and emerging technologies such as energy storage, demand response and green hydrogen.
The 88th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife (SC-NBWL) was held under the chairmanship of the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Bhupender Yadav, in New Delhi.
During the meeting, the Standing Committee considered 70 proposals relating to public utility services, defence requirements and infrastructure development located in and around Protected Areas, Wildlife Sanctuaries, Tiger Reserves and Eco-Sensitive Zones, in accordance with the provisions of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
The proposals were deliberated with due regard to ecological sensitivity, statutory requirements and the need to ensure essential services for local communitie. The Standing Committee also considered 17 defence-related proposals, primarily located in the Union Territory of Ladakh and the State of Sikkim,relating to strategic infrastructure in border and high-altitude areas.
The Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife is a statutory body constituted under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, mandated to advise the Government on matters relating to the conservation and protection of wildlife and forests, while ensuring that development activities in and around protected areas are undertaken in a balanced and sustainable manner.
Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT), the premier Telecom R&D centre of the Government of India, has been conferred the “SKOCH Award-2025” for its Cell Broadcast Solution (CBS). The award ceremony was held as part of the 104th SKOCH Summit on the theme “Resourcing Viksit Bharat”.
The SKOCH Award goes to individuals, projects, and institutions both government and & private, across India for outstanding work in improving governance and development, recognizing excellence in sectors like finance, tech, health, education, and grassroots work, essentially honouring those making significant, positive impact on citizens and the nation.
Five-term MLA from Bihar, Nitin Nabin, 45, is the new national president of the BJP, it was announced after a day-long nomination process at the BJP headquarters, where he was the only candidate in the fray. Mr. Nabin had been declared the national working president of the BJP on December 14, after a nearly 18-month search.
The International Monetary Fund has revised upwards its estimate of India’s GDP growth in the current financial year 2025-26 to 7.3% from its earlier prediction of 6.6%. This upward revision, the IMF said in its January 2026 World Economic Outlook update released on Monday (January 19, 2026), was primarily a reflection of stronger-than-expected growth in the third quarter.
In India, growth is revised upward by 0.7 percentage point to 7.3% for 2025 [FY 2025-26], reflecting the better-than-expected outturn in the third quarter of the year and strong momentum in the fourth quarter,” the report said. “Growth is projected to moderate to 6.4 percent in 2026 and 2027 as cyclical and temporary factors wane.”
The IMF’s prediction of 7.3% growth for 2025-26 is just marginally slower than the 7.4% the government of India itself predicted for the year. For the global economy, the report projects growth to remain “resilient” at 3.3% in calendar year 2026 and at 3.2% in 2027, largely the same as the 3.3% estimated for 2025.
Moody's Ratings on Monday projected India to clock a 7.3 per cent growth in the current fiscal, and said the strong economic expansion would support average household incomes and stimulate demand for insurance protection. In its report,Moody's said the industry looks set to benefit from sustained premium growth on the back of robust economic expansion increased digitisation
In FY 2024-25, GDP per capita rose 8.2 per cent year-on-year to USD 11,176, while headline GDP grew by 6.5 per cent. Moody's said India's robust economic growth contributed to a 17 per cent increase in total insurance premium revenue to Rs 10.9 lakh crore in the first eight months (April-November) of 2025-26, with health premiums up 14 per cent.
India is set to move into the upper-middle-income group by the end of this decade, joining China and Indonesia, according to a report by the SBI, signalling a major shift in the country’s income profile. India is set to touch $4000 per capita in another 4 years in 2030 to transition to an Upper Middle Income country and join China and Indonesia at current classification.
India’s income journey shows a steady acceleration over time. The country took 60 years to move from a low-income to a lower-middle-income economy in 2007. During this period, per capita gross national income rose from $90 in 1962 to $910 in 2007, growing at a compound annual rate of 5.3%.
The pace picked up sharply thereafter. India took six decades after Independence to reach a $1 trillion economy, but added the second trillion in the next seven years by 2014, the third trillion by 2021, and the fourth trillion in just four years by 2025. At the current trajectory, the economy is expected to cross $5 trillion in about two years.
The World Bank classifies countries into four groups - low income, lower-middle income, upper-middle income and high-income - based on their per capita gross national income (GNI) measured in US dollars. This framework is widely used to track long-term income progress across economies.
Public sector banks under the digital credit underwriting programmes sanctioned over 3.96 lakh MSME loan applications amounting to over Rs 52,300 crore between April 1 and December 31, 2025, the finance ministry. The Public Sector Banks (PSBs) had launched the Credit Assessment Model (CAM) based on digital footprints for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in 2025.
Between 1st April and 31st December, 2025, over 3.96 lakh MSME loan applications amounting to more than Rs 52,300 crore have been sanctioned by the Public Sector Banks (PSBs) under the digital credit underwriting programmes.
Digital footprints are used by the model for KYC authentication, mobile and email verification, GST data analysis, bank statement analysis (using account aggregators), ITR verification, and due diligence using Credit Information Companies (CICs) data, fraud checks, among others.
The Department of Financial Services (DFS) introduced a composite salary account package for central government employees to offer a comprehensive suite of banking and insurance benefits under a single account structure. The product has three core segments - banking, insurance and cards, making it a one-stop financial solution for central government employees.
The packages have been carefully designed in consultations with banks to ensure maximum coverage, uniformity and convenience for employees across all cadres (Group A, B and C). Card benefits include airport lounge access, reward programmes, cashback offers, and unlimited transactions and nil maintenance charges.
The key features include personal accident insurance up to Rs 1.50 crore, air accident insurance up to Rs 2 crore, a zero-balance salary account with enhanced facilities, concessional interest rate on loans for housing, education, vehicle and personal requirements, among others.
India launched the Responsible Nations Index (RNI) at the Dr. Ambedkar International Centre, New Delhi, under the aegis of the World Intellectual Foundation (WIF). The Index introduces a comprehensive global framework for assessing nations on parameters such as ethical governance, social well-being, environmental stewardship, and global responsibility.
The Responsible Nations Index is the outcome of a three-year academic and policy research initiative led by the World Intellectual Foundation, with key scholarly contributions from Jawaharlal Nehru University and Indian Institute of Management Mumbai.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi received Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE at the airport today in New Delhi. The two leaders endorsed the outcomes of the 13th High-Level Task Force on Investments held in September 2025, and the 16th India-UAE Joint Commission Meeting and 5th Strategic Dialogue held in December 2025.
The Vice-President of India, Shri C. P. Radhakrishnan, released the Hindi edition of ‘Palanivelu GUTS’, the autobiography of eminent surgeon Dr. C. Palanivelu, and described the book as an inspiring testament to courage, perseverance and ethical innovation in the field of medicine.
