National Affairs

Union Minister Amit Shah Inaugurates ‘EARTH Summit 2025’

Union Minister Amit Shah (Ministry of Home Affairs & Cooperation) inaugurated the two-day EARTH Summit 2025 held at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

• Organizers: Hosted by NABARD in partnership with the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI).
• Major Launches: Launched over 13 digital services and products under the ‘Sahakar Sarathi’ initiative, including:
  • Digi Kisan Credit Card (KCC)
  • Campaign & Website Sarathi
  • Cooperative Governance Index (CGI)
  • electronic-Primary Agricultural Credit Society (ePACS)
  • World’s largest Grain Storage Application
• Key Future Plans:
  • Setting up a cooperative institution in every single Panchayat.
  • Developing a robust cooperative banking framework in partnership with the RBI.
  • Launching 'Cooperative Insurance' to bundle health, life, agriculture, and accident cover.
  • The 3rd edition of the EARTH Summit will be held in Delhi in 2026.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh Dedicates 125 BRO Infrastructure Projects

In a massive boost to border infrastructure, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated 125 strategically crucial projects built by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) from Ladakh. Valued at ₹5,000 crore, this marks the highest number of BRO projects launched simultaneously.

• The Blueprint: The infrastructure package includes 28 roads, 93 bridges, and 4 miscellaneous projects.
• Geographic Reach: Covers 2 Union Territories (Ladakh, J&K) and 7 States (Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, West Bengal, and Mizoram).
• Key Highlight: The 920-meter-long Shyok Tunnel on the Durbuk-Shyok-Daulat Beg Oldie (DSDBO) Road along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh.
• Galwan War Memorial: The Minister also virtually inaugurated the memorial in eastern Ladakh to honor the Indian Army personnel who made the ultimate sacrifice during the 2020 clash.
• Uttarakhand Boost: 5 strategic bridges were opened in the China-bordering Niti Pass region of Chamoli district (Pangti, Suraithota, Ghamshali, Gurkuti, and Niti bridges).

Odisha Hosts India's First Global Energy Leaders’ Summit (GELS) 2025

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi inaugurated the inaugural edition of the Global Energy Leaders’ Summit (GELS) 2025 in Puri, Odisha.

• Theme: "Powering India: Sufficiency, Balance, Innovation"
• Partnership: Organized by the Government of Odisha alongside the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI), London.
• Puri Declaration: A draft framework was unveiled to coordinate a collaborative, equitable, and accelerated clean-energy transition across Indian states.
• 4 Key MoUs Signed:
  1. GRIDCO + IIT Bhubaneswar + NTU Singapore: For Renewable Energy (RE) projects.
  2. GRIDCO + IIT Bhubaneswar + ReNew + Avaada: To establish a Green Hydrogen Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Odisha.
  3. NIRL + OREDA + GEDCOL: For broad RE capacity expansion.
  4. SECI + OHPC + GEDCOL + OREDA: For an integrated clean energy framework.

Rajasthan Becomes First State to Achieve 100% Digital Voter Rolls

Under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) - 2026 exercise led by Chief Electoral Officer Navin Mahajan, Rajasthan has become the first state in India to complete 100% digitization of its 5.46 crore voter rolls.

• Leveraging ECINET and the Booth Level Officers (BLO) app, the state achieved a 97% nationwide mapping leadership, meaning only 3% of voters required manual document verification during claims.

Patanjali Group Signs Wellness MoU with Russian Government

Patanjali Group Co-founder Baba Ramdev and Russian Commerce Minister Sergey Cheremin signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to scale traditional Indian medicine and wellness across Russia.

• The Scope: Establishment of Patanjali-style wellness centers in Russia; commercial expansion of Ayurvedic & herbal products; deployment of Indian Yoga and Ayurveda instructors to Russia; and pushing two-way holistic health tourism.

Banking & Finance

Highlights of RBI's 5th Bi-monthly Monetary Policy (FY26)

The Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) met under the chairmanship of RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra, delivering a crucial pivot in interest rates.

SEBI Launches 'PaRRVA' to Stop Misleading Performance Claims

To protect retail investors from false financial ads, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) launched the Past Risk and Return Verification Agency (PaRRVA).

Why it's a game-changer: This is a world-first global initiative created in partnership with the NSE and CAREEdge Ratings. Unregistered "finfluencers" often lure investors with fake high returns. PaRRVA provides an independent, secure API-driven verification platform where registered Research Analysts (RAs) and Investment Advisors (IAs) can validate authentic performance data.

• Eligibility for CRAs to act as PaRRVA: Minimum 15 years experience and a net worth of ₹100 crore.
• Eligibility for Stock Exchanges to act as Data Centres (PDC): Minimum 15 years experience and a net worth of ₹200 crore.

IFC Invests $50 Million in Gujarat Fluorochemicals' EV Subsidiary

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), an arm of the World Bank, has pumped USD 50 million (₹450 crore) into GFCL EV Products Limited.

• The funding will help build India’s first fully integrated advanced battery materials manufacturing facility, producing electrolytes and cathode materials to reduce India’s EV import dependence.

Science, Technology & Economy

Genesys International Maps Adani Airports with 3D Subsurface Tech

Genesys International Corporation rolled out India’s first indigenous 3D subsurface mapping technology.

• They bagged a ₹17.38 crore contract from Bureau Veritas to map underground utilities (cables, lines, pipelines) across six Adani Group airports: Mumbai, Thiruvananthapuram, Lucknow, Jaipur, Guwahati, and Ahmedabad. It utilizes advanced Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and LiDAR systems.

Indian Astronomers Discover Ancient Spiral Galaxy ‘Alaknanda’

Using deep-field data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), Indian researchers Rashi Jain and Professor Yogesh Wadadekar from NCRA-TIFR (Pune) discovered a massive, fully formed spiral galaxy named Alaknanda.

• The Anomaly: Located 12 billion light-years away, its mature structure challenges contemporary cosmic models which assume early-stage universe galaxies were chaotic and irregular. It is forming stars 20–30 times faster than our Milky Way.

Sports & Awards

Donald Trump Receives Inaugural FIFA Peace Prize

FIFA President Gianni Infantino presented the first-ever FIFA Peace Prize to US President Donald Trump in Washington D.C. during the Final Draw Ceremony for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

• Part of the "Football Unites the World" campaign, the annual prize honors global figures using sport or diplomacy to foster unity and prevent conflict.

Lando Norris Wins Maiden F1 Drivers’ Championship

McLaren's Lando Norris clinched his first-ever Formula One Drivers’ World Championship at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit.

• Norris finished P3 in the final race, doing just enough to secure the title by a razor-thin 2-point margin over race-winner Max Verstappen.
• Norris is the 11th British driver to win the world title.
• McLaren celebrated a historic double triumph, winning both the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships.

Books & Important Days

Book Release: ‘Chunotiya Mujhe Pasand Hai’ (Gujarati Edition)

Union Minister Amit Shah released the Gujarati edition of ‘Chunotiya Mujhe Pasand Hai’ (Challenges I Like), a biography charting the life and public service of Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel (originally written in Hindi by Vinay Joshi, Ashok Desai, and Pankaj Jani).

Important Days at a Glance