National Education Policy prioritises innovation and skill development to broaden access and boost India's higher education appeal.
The National Education Policy prioritises innovation, entrepreneurship and skill development, promotes creative learning, personality development and moral education to provide universally available, equitable quality education, and seeks to enhance the global attractiveness of Indian higher education through sectoral collaboration and strengthened roles for schools and teachers.

Economic recovery resumes positive growth as GDP rebounds and investment-led stimulus supports revival in services and manufacturing.
Real GDP returned to positive growth in Q3 2020-21 as a V-shaped recovery progressed, driven by rebounds in Private Final Consumption Expenditure and Gross Fixed Capital Formation. Central government capital expenditure materially supported the investment recovery, with capital spending having larger fiscal multipliers than government consumption. Manufacturing and construction shifted to positive growth, services markedly narrowed its contraction, and agriculture continued to contribute positively. The release notes ongoing pandemic risk and that declining cases and accelerated vaccination are important to sustain services-led revival.

Merger approval secures consolidation of NAM Estates and Embassy One into Indiabulls Real Estate with share issuance.
The Competition Commission approved a multi-step proposed combination whereby identified Embassy-group assets, securities and investments will be reallocated, certain third-party investors will swap their shareholdings in those assets for shares in NAM Estates and EOCPDPL, and the restructured NAM Estates and EOCPDPL will merge into Indiabulls Real Estate, which will issue shares to the existing shareholders of NAM Estates and EOCPDPL.

Combination approval: acquisition of stake in energy engineering firm allows foreign investor to increase shareholding after regulatory clearance.
The Competition Commission of India approved a proposed combination in which Bpifrance Participations S.A. will acquire a specified minority stake in Technip Energies B.V., increasing its shareholding within a stated range. The Acquirer is an investment group indirectly owned by EPIC Bpifrance and the CDC group and does not directly conduct business in India. The Target, part of the TechnipFMC group, provides EPC and related engineering, consultancy, fabrication, supply, erection and commissioning services and internal support services in India. A detailed regulatory order will follow.

TRIPS waiver urged to expand equitable access to COVID 19 medicines; industry must adopt global quality and manufacturing standards.
The minister urged the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector to adopt good manufacturing practices, regulatory systems and international certifications to ensure global confidence and cost efficiencies, and called for support of the TRIPS waiver at the WTO to enable wider, equitable access to COVID-19 medicines and technologies.

Merger clearance: CCI approves acquisition increasing Tata Group stake in Tata Communications toward a controlling interest.
CCI approved a statutory combination under the Competition Act, 2002, allowing Panatone Finvest Limited (a Tata Group CIC-ND-SI) to acquire additional shareholding in Tata Communications Limited, producing a material increase in the group's stake and approaching a controlling interest; Tata Communications is identified as a facilities-based telecom service provider across wholesale voice, enterprise and carrier data, undersea cable systems, ISP services and enterprise value-added services, with a detailed CCI order to follow.

Macroeconomic cooperation advances bilateral collaboration on global finance issues, debt, digital taxation and fiscal recovery measures.
The dialogue advanced macroeconomic cooperation between India and the EU, concentrating on coordinated engagement in multilateral finance fora, exchange of experience on the G20 Framework Working Group and Action Plan, debt-related issues, and international taxation of the digital economy. It also reviewed fiscal policy responses, medium-term fiscal strategy, structural reforms and recovery measures, with India presenting stimulus and vaccination-linked recovery steps and the EU outlining its recovery plan, concluding with an intent to pursue deeper bilateral cooperation on mutually relevant arrangements.

Bilateral Economic Cooperation urged to deepen through people-to-people engagement, tech sector collaboration and investment frameworks.
Shri Piyush Goyal urged strengthening Bilateral Economic Cooperation by deepening people-to-people engagement and expanding sectoral collaboration in cybersecurity, disaster relief, e commerce, fintech, smart manufacturing, healthcare, and education and skill development, noting financial linkages such as a GIFT City-exchange tie-up to boost cross-border investment and highlighting entrepreneurship, including women entrepreneurs, as a key area for bilateral expansion.

Fair dealing in international trade urged to balance market access with consumer protection and data privacy responsibilities.
Emphasis on fair dealing frames bilateral commercial engagement, urging trade and investment proceed on terms that protect Indian consumers and agricultural stakeholders while recognising complementary strengths in technology, finance and market scale. The statement invites American businesses to use India as a cost-competitive manufacturing base and notes sectoral reforms and a raised foreign investment threshold in insurance to facilitate market access. A parallel emphasis on data privacy underscores India's intent to preserve policy space in digital cooperation.

Ease of Doing Business linked borrowing: 15 states authorised additional market borrowings after completing stipulated reforms.
Fifteen States have completed the Ease of Doing Business reforms and, after confirmation by DPIIT, received permission for additional open market borrowings. The EoDB conditions require completion of a district-level business reform assessment, elimination of renewal requirements for business registrations/approvals/licences, and adoption of a computerized central random inspection system with centralised inspector allocation, non-repetition of inspectors at the same unit, prior notice to businesses, and upload of inspection reports within 48 hours.

Blockchain traceability ensures authenticated export supply chain records, enabling end to end verification and secured stakeholder access and cost effective infrastructure.
APEDA upgraded GrapeNet by integrating blockchain and migrating to cloud infrastructure to enhance cybersecurity, scalability and cost efficiency for stakeholders. The system captures consignment and production data to farm plot level, provides an immutable shared ledger for tracking test reports and lifecycle events, and enables end to end retrieval and verification of the grape supply chain to validate process compliance and authenticity.

Wholesale price inflation: provisional WPI and commodity group movements determine monthly price index trends and revision policy.
Wholesale Price Index for January 2021 provides provisional and final indices with year on year inflation rates disaggregated by three major groups-Primary Articles, Fuel & Power, and Manufactured Products-showing weights and month to month changes. The release details that provisional indices are issued with a two week lag, finalized after ten weeks, and compiled at a stated weighted response rate using institutional and industrial price data; movements within groups and the WPI Food Index are summarized and item wise annexures supply six month trends and detailed indices.

Ancillary services framework for IFSCs expands permissible professional services and clarifies eligible providers and recipients.
A regulatory framework permits ancillary service providers to operate in International Financial Services Centres by listing permissible service categories - legal, compliance and secretarial; auditing, accounting, bookkeeping and taxation; consulting; administration, asset management support and trusteeship; and other services approved by the regulator - and by defining eligible entities and service recipients, with further procedural details available in the regulator's published circular.

Industrial corridor development accelerates plug and play infrastructure and multimodal connectivity to attract manufacturing investment.
The Government, via NICDIT, is implementing the National Industrial Corridor Programme to create greenfield industrial cities with multimodal connectivity and "plug and play" infrastructure to the plot level, pre develop land parcels to attract manufacturing investment, expand industrial output, and generate employment; DMIC is the first corridor with multiple nodes operational while a national master plan of multiple corridors and thirty two projects is at varying stages of development, with certain Integrated Manufacturing Clusters awaiting state-level initiation.

Sustainable packaging central to National Packaging Initiative to boost logistical efficiency, promote reuse, and standardise industry practice.
National Packaging Initiative will prioritise sustainable packaging to improve logistical efficiency, product safety, and environmental outcomes, concentrating on secondary and tertiary packaging, returnable packaging for EXIM, and palletization to improve space utilisation. The Initiative emphasises research and adoption of overseas sustainable solutions, recycling and reuse, and collaboration among industry, academia, and government. It also calls for skills development through short-term courses and defined packaging job roles, rationalisation of bulk goods packaging, and establishment of retrieval and reverse logistics mechanisms, with sector-specific consultations and inter-ministerial coordination planned.

Enhanced Trade Partnership to accelerate India UK trade cooperation, launch during UK leader visit and pursue interim preferential arrangement.
India and the United Kingdom agreed to accelerate the development of an Enhanced Trade Partnership (ETP) as a roadmap toward a potential comprehensive free trade agreement, including consideration of an interim preferential arrangement; the Ministers committed to frequent interaction, coordinated timelines, removal of market access barriers, and identification of quick bilateral deliverables to advance trade and investment.

Bilateral trade and investment dialogue agreed to deepen relations through regulatory and multilateral cooperation and interim agreement steps.
The Dialogue establishes ministerial level guidance to deepen bilateral trade and investment ties through regular interactions aimed at practical deliverables; parties agreed to pursue a Regulatory Dialogue, an India EU Multilateral Dialogue, and to re initiate bilateral trade and investment agreements beginning with an interim agreement.

One Person Company reforms expand OPC incorporation and conversion freedoms, easing startup growth and access to finance nationwide.
Budget enacts One Person Company reforms allowing Indian citizens including NRIs to incorporate OPCs, lowering residency thresholds, removing paid up capital and turnover limits, and permitting immediate conversion to other company forms; extends temporal eligibility for startup income exemption under section 80 IAC and for capital gains treatment under section 54GB; and establishes a Credit Guarantee Scheme plus a Seed Fund Scheme administered via selected incubators to provide milestone grants and early stage investment support for prototype, validation and commercialization.

Single Window Approval System enables unified digital clearance for industry, integrating central and state approvals with time bound processing.
The Central Government proposes a Single Window Approval System via an Investment Clearance Cell as a national digital portal that integrates existing central and state clearance systems, provides a single unified application form, delivers end-to-end facilitation including pre-investment advisory and land bank information, and offers time-bound approvals with real-time status updates without disrupting existing ministry or state IT portals.

Industrial park governance: central support follows state proposals, with development and approvals tracked on a centralized IIS.
The Industrial Park Scheme sets recognition criteria for park developers/operators; the centralized Industrial Information System aggregates entries supplied and updated by States while comprehensive functional data is not centrally maintained. States retain primary responsibility for establishing parks and industries; the Central Government provides support through schemes upon state proposals and designates large initiatives via mechanisms like the National Investment And Manufacturing Zone. The annexed IIS inventory records a total of 3,989 park/estate/cluster/node entries.