The International Day of Clean Energy on 26 January was declared by the General Assembly as a call to raise awareness and mobilize action for a just and inclusive transition to clean energy for the benefit of people and the planet.
26 January is also the founding date of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), a global intergovernmental agency established in 2009 to support countries in their energy transitions, serve as a platform for international cooperation, and provide data and analyses on clean energy technology, innovation, policy, finance and investment.
In a world grappling with climate change, clean energy plays a vital role in reducing emissions, and can also benefit communities lacking access to reliable power sources. Still today, 666 million people live in the dark - more than 85 per cent of them in Sub-Saharan Africa.
United Nations General Assembly Resolution 60/7 in 2005 designated 27 January as the annual International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust and established the Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme. The International Day is a global reminder of the dangers of hatred, bigotry and antisemitism.
The United Nations was established in response to the horrors of the Second World War and the Holocaust. The Holocaust has had a profound impact on International Human Rights Law, resulting in the United Nations’ adoption of foundational documents in 1948: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated the capacity augmentation works of Vizhinjam International Seaport at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Vizhinjam International Seaport commenced commercial operations of Phase I on 3 December 2024 with a designed capacity of 1 million TEUs.
Within a short period of operation, the port has demonstrated strong performance, handling over 1.43 million TEUs and operating at more than 130 per cent capacity utilisation. The port has established direct connectivity with major global shipping routes across Europe, the Americas, Africa and the Far East, reinforcing its role as a key national transshipment terminal.
Under the capacity augmentation programme, the existing container berth will be extended to create a continuous 2-kilometre-long container berth, the longest in India. The breakwater will be extended to 3.88 kilometres, and additional container yards will be developed through sea reclamation.
The capacity augmentation works are being undertaken pursuant to a Supplementary Concession Agreement signed in November 2024 between the Government of Kerala and Adani Vizhinjam Port Private Limited, advancing the project timeline by nearly 17 years, with completion targeted by December 2028.
The total investment envisaged for the Vizhinjam International Seaport project is approximately Rs. 16,000 crore, including about Rs. 7,398 crore for the expansion phases. On completion, the port will be capable of handling up to five mother vessels simultaneously, with an operational throughput capacity of up to 5.7 million TEUs per annum.
The President of India has approved the conferment of Jeevan Raksha Padak Series of Awards – 2025 on 30 persons which includes Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak to 06, Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak to 06 and Jeevan Raksha Padak to 18 persons. Six awardees are posthumous.
Jeevan Raksha Padak Series of Awards are given to a person for meritorious act of human nature in saving the life of a person. The award is given in three categories, namely, Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak, Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak and Jeevan Raksha Padak. Persons of all walks of life are eligible for these awards. The award can also be conferred posthumously.
The decoration of the award consists of a Medal, a certificate signed by the Union Home Minister, and a lump sum Monetary Allowance. It is presented to the awardees by the respective Union Ministries/Organizations/State Government to which the awardee belongs.
Padma Awards - one of the highest civilian Awards of the country, are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The Awards are given in various disciplines / fields of activities, viz.- art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc.
‘Padma Vibhushan’ is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service; ‘Padma Bhushan’ for distinguished service of high order and ‘Padma Shri’ for distinguished service in any field. The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year.
These Awards are conferred by the President of India at ceremonial functions which are held at Rashtrapati Bhawan usually around March / April every year. For the year 2026, the President has approved conferment of 131 Padma Awards including 2 duo cases (in a duo case, the Award is counted as one).
The PFRDA has constituted a committee of Investment Experts for Strategic Asset Allocation and Risk Governance (SAARG) to review, recommend and modernize the investment framework under the NPS. SAARG has been tasked with undertaking a comprehensive review of the existing NPS investment guidelines, benchmarking them with leading global pension systems and the evolving Indian
The objective is to strengthen the investment architecture of NPS to support long-term retirement wealth creation, enhance diversification, improve risk management practices and expand subscriber choice. SAARG will be chaired by Shri Narayan Ramachandran, former Country Head and CEO of Morgan Stanley India, and comprises eminent experts from the fields of capital markets.
The scope of the SAARG includes examination of strategic asset allocation frameworks, introduction and review of asset classes, performance measurement and accountability mechanisms, ALM practices, valuation standards for alternative investments, portfolio stability and liquidity optimisation measures, governance and intermediary architecture.
President Droupadi Murmu on January 26, 2026 conferred India's highest peacetime gallantry award, Ashoka Chakra, to Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, who created history by becoming the first Indian to set foot on the International Space Station (ISS).
In June last year, Mr. Shukla became the second Indian to have gone to space and the first to visit the ISS as part of the historic Axiom-4 mission. His 18-day space odyssey came 41 years after cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma flew aboard the Russian Soyuz-11 space mission.
The Axiom-4 mission was executed by US-based private firm Axiom Space, and it involved NASA, European Space Agency (Esa) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Group Captain Shukla hails from Lucknow. He was commissioned into the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force in June 2006.
Veteran journalist Mark Tully, a chronicler of India and an acclaimed author, breathed his last at a private hospital in New Delhi on January 25, 2026. He was 90. Born in Calcutta (now Kolkata) on October 24, 1935, Tully was the chief of bureau for the BBC, New Delhi, for 22 years.
He was also part of several documentaries on subjects ranging from India and the British Raj to the Indian Railways. Tully was knighted in 2002 and received the Padma Bhushan from the government of India in 2005. He wrote several books on India, including ‘No Full Stops in India’, ‘India in Slow Motion’, and ‘The Heart of India’.
The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi conveyed warm greetings to the people of Himachal Pradesh on the their Statehood Day. On 25th January, 1971, Himachal Pradesh was made a full-fledged State. The State is bordered by Jammu & Kashmir on North, Punjab on West and South-West, Haryana on South, Uttarakhand on South-East and China on the East.
The Election Commission of India celebrated the 16th National Voters’ Day (NVD-2026) in New Delhi with the theme “My India, My Vote”- Citizen at the Heart of Indian Democracy.On the occasion of NVD-2026, 2 publications, “2025: A Year of Initiatives and Innovations” and “Chunav Ka Parv, Bihar Ka Garv”, a publication on the successful conduct of the General Election in bihar
A dedicated exhibition showcasing various aspects of elections, including the preparation of Electoral Rolls and the Conduct of Elections, was also organized on the occasion. The exhibition highlighted recent initiatives undertaken by the ECI for the benefit of voters, as well as the successful conduct of the Bihar Legislative Assembly Elections, 2025.
The 77th Republic Day celebrations are organised around the central theme “150 Years of Vande Mataram”. The theme runs across the Republic Day Parade, cultural performances, tableaux, public competitions, and outreach programmes, placing the national song at the heart of this year’s observance while linking freedom, cultural expression, and contemporary national aspirations
The Ministry of Panchayati Raj will organise a felicitation function on 25th January 2026 to honour elected Panchayat representatives invited as Special Guests to witness the Republic Day Parade 2026 at Kartavya Path in New Delhi.
