The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, has developed and operationalised a digital portal to facilitate the electronic issuance of Certificates of Origin to stakeholders seeking Access and Benefit Sharing exemptions for cultivated medicinal plants.
The Biological Diversity (Amendment) Act, 2023 was enacted by Parliament with the passage of the Bill by the Lok Sabha on 25 July 2023 and the Rajya Sabha on 1 August 2023. MoEFCC notified the Biological Diversity Rules in 2024 and 2025.
To operationalise the provisions of the amended Act and address procedural requirements across stakeholder groups, including the AYUSH sector, seed sector and research institutions, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change notified the Biological Diversity Rules in 2024 and 2025.
Gyalyum Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck, the Queen Mother of Bhutan, was conferred the 22nd Upendra Nath Brahma ‘Soldier of Humanity’ Award, 2025, at a special ceremony held at Bodoland University in Kokrajhar, western Assam, on February 3, 2026.
The award was presented by the Upendra Nath Brahma Trust (UNBT) in recognition of the Queen Mother’s “lifelong and exceptional contributions to humanitarian service, social development, and inclusive growth”.
The award carries a citation, a statuette of Upendra Nath Brahma, revered as Bodofa, meaning guardian of the Bodo ethnic community, traditional Bodo artefacts including sereja, a musical instrument, aronai, a decorative scarf, and dokhona, women’s attire, and a cash prize of ₹2 lakh.
Goldman Sachs has flagged a positive macroeconomic outlook for India following the conclusion of the US-India trade deal that lowers American reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods to 18%.
In its report titled "India: US-India conclude trade deal: President Trump lowers 'reciprocal' tariffs on India to 18%",
Goldman Sachs noted that President Trump announced on social media a reduction in the reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods imports to 18% down from the earlier 25%, 'effective immediately'.
The report added that "on implementation, the deal would lower India's tariff rate and bring it in line with most other Asian countries of around 15-19%"
Reflecting these factors, Goldman Sachs said, "overall, we raise our CY26 real GDP growth forecast by 20bp to 6.9% yoy"
From an external balance perspective, the report highlighted that "with the 'reciprocal' tariffs on India's exports to the US now lowered, we estimate current account deficit to narrow by around 0.25% of GDP in CY26 to 0.8% of GDP"
Walmart became the first retail company in the world to reach a market value of $1 trillion. The company reached the milestone after a strong rally in its shares over the past year.
Walmart’s entry is significant because trillion-dollar valuations are usually linked to technology firms.
Other companies with a market valuation of over a trillion dollars include Nvidia, Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Tesla, and Broadcom, among others.
According to BankRate, chip giant Nvidia has the highest market capitalisation of $4.3 trillion, followed by Microsoft at $3.8 trillion, Apple at $3.5 trillion,
Alphabet at $3.0 trillion, and Amazon at $2.5 trillion.
The company opened its first store in Arkansas in 1962 and now runs about 4,600 stores across the US Walmart went public in 1970, joined the Dow Jones index in 1997, and has long been part of the S&P 500.
The IOC elected its first female member from Iran, who became its current youngest representative and opened the Olympic body to scrutiny over the country’s record on women in sports.
Soraya Aghaei, who competed for Iran in badminton at the Tokyo Olympics, is now the 107th member of the International Olympic Committee by a 95-2 vote.
She is just the third-ever Iranian representative at the IOC and the first since 2004.
Aghaei joins the global Olympic body when it is led by the first female president in its 132-year history, Kirsty Coventry. Women now comprise 45% of the membership, the IOC said.
In Olympic history, Iran won three medals in women’s events, all in taekwondo. The first of them, Kimia Alizadeh, took bronze at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Games then left the country she criticized for its mandate to wear the hijab headscarf. Alizadeh took bronze in Paris in 2024 competing for Bulgaria after losing to her Iranian former teammate Nahid Kiyani Chandeh.
Aghaei’s eight-year term on the IOC will include voting to choose a host for the 2036 Summer Games.
The 30-year-old member of the Iranian Olympic body’s athletes commission became the youngest IOC member at the same meeting 31-year-old Samira Asghari of Afghanistan was reelected for her second term.
When Aghaei competed at the Tokyo Summer Games held in 2021 she was Iran’s first female Olympian in the sport.
The previous Iranian badminton player at the Olympics, in 2008 at Beijing, was Kaveh Mehrabi who is now director of the IOC athletes’ department.
Iran’s first IOC member for more than 20 years from 1955 was Gholam Reza Pahlavi.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a compounding fee of Rs 18.76 lakh on fintech major Paytm over Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) violations linked to certain investments in one of its subsidiaries.
While this does not have a material impact on Paytm and its operations, the company said the compounding was undertaken as a regulatory resolution mechanism available under FEMA.
Compounding is defined as the process of voluntarily admitting the contravention, pleading guilty and seeking redressal.
Once the fee is paid, the matter linked to the violations will be disposed of.
“The RBI has imposed a compounding fee of Rs 18.76 lakh in respect of certain investments made in Little Internet Private Limited by Little Internet Singapore Pte Ltd. The company is in the process of making the payment for the compounding fee, pursuant to which this item shall stand disposed,”
Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) has carried out successful demonstration of Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet (SFDR) technology from the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur off the coast of Odisha at around 1045 hrs on February 03, 2026.
The successful demonstration places India into an elite league of nations possessing this technology that enables developing long-range air-to-air missiles to give tactical edge over the adversaries.
All the subsystems including Nozzle-less Booster, Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet motor and Fuel Flow Controller performed as per expectations after being initially propelled by a ground booster motor to the desired Mach Number.
The performance of the system was confirmed by the flight data captured by a number of tracking instruments deployed by ITR, Chandipur along the coast of Bay of Bengal. The launch was monitored by senior scientists from various laboratories of DRDO including Defence Research & Development Laboratory, High Energy Materials Research Laboratory, Research Centre Imarat and ITR.
Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) provides health coverage of Rs. 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization to 12 crore families constituting bottom 40% of India's population.
In October 2024, the scheme was expanded to cover 6 crore senior citizens of age 70 years and above belonging to 4.5 crore families irrespective of their socio-economic status, through Ayushman Vay Vandana card.
As on 31.12.2025, more than 96.73 lakh Ayushman Vay Vandana cards have been created across all States and UTs.
As on 31.12.2025, a total of 10.33 lakh hospital admissions, amounting to Rs. 2,154.37 crore, have been authorized for the Ayushman Vay Vandana card beneficiaries. Out of these, 3.93 lakh admissions, amounting to Rs 820.42 crore, pertain to female beneficiaries and 6.40 lakh admissions, amounting to Rs. 1333.94 crore, pertain to male beneficiaries across States/UTs.
The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), under NITI Aayog, Government of India, today organised AIM SUMVAAD, its flagship annual incubator conclave, at the Dr Ambedkar International Centre, New Delhi.
The conclave brought together representatives from over 100 Atal Incubation Centres (AICs) and Atal Community Innovation Centres (ACICs), along with senior policymakers, industry leaders, investors, entrepreneurs, CSR heads, mentors, and ecosystem stakeholders from across the country.
The occasion marked the celebration of over 100 AIM-supported incubators, the launch of the Youth Co:Lab National Innovation Challenge 2026, the announcement of the National Incubator Assessment Framework Indicators, and the National Incubation Awards - recognising excellence and impact across India’s incubation ecosystem.
CCI has approved the proposed acquisition of certain shareholding (on a fully diluted basis) of Haldiram Snacks Food Pvt Ltd by L. Catterton India Fund.
The proposed combination entails an acquisition of certain shareholding (on a fully diluted basis) of Haldiram Snacks Food Private Limited (Target) by L Catterton India Fund (Acquirer).
The Acquirer is a scheme of L. Catterton India Trust, a Category II Alternative Investment Fund, which is registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India. The Acquirer is engaged in making investments in India.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved subscription to 15.01% equity shareholding of Ambit Wealth Private Limited (Target) by Daiwa International Holdings Inc. (Acquirer).
The Proposed Combination envisaged as a subscription to equity shares amounting to 15.01% shareholding, on a fully diluted basis, of the Target by the Acquirer.
The Acquirer is an intermediary management holding company, incorporated in Japan. The Acquirer Group undertakes investment/ financial business, with securities-related business at its core.
The Target, a subsidiary of Ambit Private Limited, is engaged in multiple business activities in India, including the provision of wealth management services.
2026 Theme: Dialogue Over Division
February fourth is International Day of Human Fraternity. It reminds us that we belong to one human family: diverse in culture and belief; equal in dignity; stronger when we choose respect over suspicion.
At a time of growing tensions and polarization, human fraternity is not only an ideal; it is a practical commitment to live together peacefully and to protect the rights and dignity of every person.
This year’s theme calls on all of us to put dialogue over division. Dialogue does not mean we must agree on everything.
The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the fourth of February as the International Day of Human Fraternity, with resolution 75/200.
Human fraternity for peace and cooperation is grounded in a simple recognition: people of all religions and beliefs make a valuable and lasting contribution to humanity.
