National Affairs

Port Infrastructure & Digital Governance Projects Launched in Tamil Nadu

Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal (MoPSW) launched port infrastructure and digital governance projects worth Rs 235 crore at Chennai Port Authority and Kamarajar Port Limited (KPL) under the “Viksit Bharat, Viksit Ports” programme.

• Budget Split: Rs 129.36 crore allocated for Chennai Port; Rs 105.64 crore for KPL.
• Chennai Port Projects: Includes 850m of climate-resilient coastal revetment (Rs 33.28 cr), a new firefighting pump house at the Oil Dock Area (Rs 43 cr), modernization of the Port Hospital (Rs 8.08 cr), and a SAP-based Enterprise Business System (Rs 45 cr).
• Kamarajar Port Projects: Rehabilitation of the 202m Northern Breakwater Head using 3,055 tetrapods (Rs 105 cr) and a new boundary wall (Rs 1.39 cr).
• e-Port Clearance Portal: Launched under the One Nation-One Port Process (ONOP) to digitize port clearance submissions.
• Sailing Grant: Handed over Rs 18 lakh to the Royal Madras Yacht Club to train 20 students from the Chennai Port School.

TEC Signs MoU with IIT Kanpur; TRAI Approves RANext as DCRA

The Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC) signed an MoU with IIT Kanpur to drive localization, testing, and standardization in next-generation telecom frameworks.

• Core Research Vectors: 6G architecture, AI/ML-driven network automation, and Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTNs) integrating satellite and High-Altitude Platform Systems (HAPS).
• DCRA Authorization: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) accredited RANext Technologies as a Digital Connectivity Rating Agency (DCRA). RANext is tasked with auditing and rating in-building digital infrastructure, covering fiber deployment, indoor mobile connectivity, Wi-Fi, and IoT readiness.

Union Minister Amit Shah Inaugurates NIDMS for NSG

Union Home Minister Amit Shah virtually inaugurated the National IED Data Management System (NIDMS) located at the National Security Guard (NSG) garrison in Manesar, Haryana.

• Core Function: Developed by the National Bomb Data Centre (NBDC), it serves as an AI-powered central repository tracking all bomb explosions in India from 1999 to the present to identify signature blast patterns.
• Integration: Built on the 'One Nation, One Data Repository' vision, it integrates with the Interoperable Criminal Justice System-2 (ICJS-2), linking data across CCTNS, e-Courts, e-Prisons, and the National Automated Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS).

OPSA Partners with ORF to Launch Raisina Science Diplomacy Initiative

The Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (OPSA) to the Government of India, led by Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood, collaborated with the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), led by Dr. Samir Saran, to introduce the inaugural Raisina Science Diplomacy Initiative (SDI) 2026. Scheduled to run alongside the flagship Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi, the forum targets technology control regimes, research security, and multi-polar scientific alliances.

MoWCD Launches ‘PANKHUDI Portal’ for Institutional CSR

Union Minister Annapurna Devi launched PANKHUDI, a centralized single-window digital portal to unify Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funding and voluntary public donations for women and child welfare. The platform supports flagship initiatives like Saksham Anganwadi & Poshan 2.0, Mission Vatsalya, and Mission Shakti through non-cash contribution tracking and secure digital audit trails.

UIDAI Unveils Official Aadhaar Mascot ‘Udai’

Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) Chairman Neelkanth Mishra unveiled “Udai”, the official citizen-facing communication mascot for Aadhaar services, during an awareness event in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Designed by Arun Gokul (Thrissur) and named by Riya Jain (Bhopal) via an open national MyGov contest, the character will streamline messaging around offline verification, data privacy, and biometric updates.

Akasa Air Joins IATA as Fifth Indian Member

Akasa Air officially became the fifth Indian airline to join the International Air Transport Association (IATA), following the successful completion of the mandatory IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA). It joins the existing cohort of Indian carriers: Air India, Air India Express, IndiGo, and SpiceJet.

Banking & Finance

Axis Finance Launches 'Vyapar' Collateral-Free Loans

Axis Finance Limited (AFL) rolled out the 'Vyapar Business Loan' program, offering collateral-free working capital credit up to Rs 10 lakh tailored specifically for Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) in rural and semi-urban retail, trading, and service ecosystems.

Additionally, parent company Axis Bank updated its mobile banking application ('open') with an interactive Safety Centre that allows users to instantly block internet banking, restrict new payees, and manage secure transaction limits.

Economy & Business

UN-DESA Projects India’s GDP Growth at 6.6% for 2026

The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA) released its World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2026 report:

• Growth Projections: India's GDP growth is estimated at 6.6% for Calendar Year (CY) 2026 and 6.7% for CY 2027, maintaining its position as the world's fastest-growing major economy.
• Inflation: Cooled to a projected 4.1% for 2025.
• Global Figures: Global growth is predicted to ease down to 2.7% in 2026 while global trade growth will decelerate to 2.2%.

SBI Research Ecowrap Projects FY26 Growth at 7.5%

Contrasting international estimates, the State Bank of India (SBI) Economic Research Department published its Ecowrap report, projecting India's real GDP growth for Fiscal Year 2025-26 at 7.5% with an upward bias. This sits slightly higher than the National Statistical Office (NSO) advance baseline estimate of 7.4% ($Rs 201.90\text{ lakh crore}$) and the RBI projection of 7.3%.

Awards & Recognitions

Five Indian Feature Films Eligible for 98th Academy Awards

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) included five Indian feature films in the list of 201 globally eligible films for the Best Picture category at the 98th Academy Awards (Oscars 2026):

IREDA Clinches ‘Excellent’ Performance Rating from MNRE

The Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) secured an “Excellent” performance rating with a score of 96.42 out of 100 for its annual evaluation under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) for FY25. This marks IREDA's fifth consecutive fiscal year achieving the top-tier governance rating.

Science & Technology

MeitY Inaugurates ‘Param Shakti’ Supercomputer at IIT Madras

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) officially inaugurated Param Shakti, a high-performance computing system housed within a dedicated, continuous-cooling data center at IIT Madras.

• Computing Power: Powered by the indigenous PARAM RUDRA stack architecture developed by C-DAC, the facility records a peak processing threshold of 3.1 Petaflops (3.1 quadrillion calculations per second).
• Application Areas: Aerospace simulation, molecular dynamics, drug discovery, and computational fluid dynamics.

Books & Authors

Biography on President Droupadi Murmu Released

A Telugu biographical work charting the journey of India's Head of State titled ‘Agni Sarassulo Vikasinchina Kamalam Droupadi Murmu’ (Lotus Blooming in the Fire of Coals) was released at Andhra University in Visakhapatnam.

• Author: Former Member of Parliament Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad.
• Significance: Unveiled by Lakshmamma, a local woman sanitation worker, emphasizing the President's status as India's first tribal President, youngest at taking office (64), and the first born post-Independence.

Important Days

Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (NRI Day) — January 9

• Significance: Observed biennially to recognize the contributions of the overseas Indian community toward national development.
• Historical Marker: Commemorates Mahatma Gandhi's return from South Africa to Mumbai on January 9, 1015.
• Nodal Entity: Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The previous 18th convention took place in Bhubaneswar, Odisha (2025), with the 19th convention scheduled for 2027.
• PBSA: The Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award, the highest structural honor for overseas citizens, is conferred by the President during this event.

State News

Tamil Nadu Launches Deep-Tech Policy & ‘Namma Arasu’ Chatbot

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin introduced two major structural policies at the 4th edition of Umagine TN held in Chennai:

• Deep-Tech Startup Policy 2025–26: Marking a first for any Indian state, the administration set aside an initial corpus of Rs 100 crore to fund 100 deep-tech, high-risk research startups over 5 years.
• ‘Namma Arasu’ Chatbot: Developed in partnership with Meta, this automated multilingual WhatsApp e-governance bot (English and Tamil) enables direct utility workflows like bus ticketing, tax processing, and exam hall ticket distribution.

Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta Appointed Chief Justice of Uttarakhand HC

Under Article 217(1) of the Constitution of India, the President appointed Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta as the new Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court, following recommendations by the Supreme Court Collegium headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant. Justice Gupta, previously the Acting Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court, succeeds the retiring incumbent Chief Justice, G. Narendra.