Decriminalisation of boiler offences streamlines enforcement; serious breaches remain criminal while non-criminal violations face executive penalties.
The Boilers Bill, 2024 repeals the Boilers Act, 1923 and modernises regulation by consolidating provisions, enumerating governmental and board functions, and removing obsolete material. It decriminalises three of seven offences while retaining criminal penalties for four serious offences, converts 'fine' into an administrative penalty enforceable through executive mechanisms rather than courts, and adds safety requirements mandating qualified personnel for boiler repairs and protections for workers; the Bill aligns with decriminalisation policy under the Jan Vishwas Amendment.

Data-driven policy: MoSPI and IIMA partnership to integrate public data and AI safeguards for evidence-based policymaking.
A collaborative framework between the national statistical office and a management institute establishes a Memorandum of Understanding to integrate public and administrative datasets, rejuvenate legacy data to be AI ready, and support evidence-based policymaking. The partnership prioritizes dataset integration with emerging technologies, implementation of safeguards against algorithmic and historical data bias, and creation of an institutional framework to develop human capital and sustain academic-government collaboration.

Project monitoring accelerates resolution of bottlenecks to advance infrastructure project execution through central state private coordination and stakeholder facilitation.
The Project Monitoring Group reviewed operational impediments across major infrastructure projects in Bihar, Odisha and West Bengal, prioritising ESIC hospital projects and identifying cross-cutting bottlenecks in sectors including power, transport, coal, steel, petroleum and rail. The meeting reaffirmed strengthening the institutional monitoring framework and urged proactive central-state-private coordination, using the PMG mechanism to accelerate issue resolution and facilitate timely project implementation.

National internship scheme expands paid industry placements to bridge the academic-industry skills gap and improve youth employability.
The Prime Minister's Internship Scheme creates a national paid internship programme to align academic learning with industry needs by providing year long placements across diverse sectors through a web portal and mobile app, enabling multi-application submissions, a referral rewards programme, targeted outreach, and a performance assessment framework while scaling pilot rounds to expand opportunities across districts and educational cohorts.

Inclusion measures for women-led and small enterprises enhance GeM procurement access via visibility tools and startup exemptions.
GeM implements targeted measures to increase participation of women-led and small enterprises by introducing marketplace filters and product-catalogue icons for women entrepreneurs in Direct Purchase/L1 procurement, creating outlet stores for priority beneficiary groups, integrating an API with the Udyam MSME database for two-step auto-registration, and enabling buyers to apply DPIIT-recognised startup exemptions such as waiver of Earnest Money Deposit and prior turnover/experience when creating bids.

Data governance for non-conventional datasets enables real-time, cross-source official statistics while preserving data privacy and quality.
The session focused on integrating non-conventional datasets-mobile, scanner, satellite, geospatial and citizen-generated data-into official statistics to enable real-time monitoring and improved indicators. It stressed dataset standardization, enhanced processing capacity, interoperability, and a formal data governance framework to define lawful access and stewardship, while safeguarding Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and promoting data literacy and cross-agency reuse of administrative data for validated integration with census and survey sources.

Unified Pension Scheme enrolment for central government NPS employees expands to existing, new and retired categories under new regulations.
The regulations operationalise the Unified Pension Scheme for Central Government employees under the National Pension System by defining eligible enrollee categories-existing in service NPS subscribers, new recruits joining on or after commencement, and former subscribers who retired or voluntarily left service before the cut off, plus eligible surviving spouses-and by providing that enrolment and claim forms will be made available online through the Central Recordkeeping Agency's portal with an option for physical submission.

Public private partnership to provide mentorship, infrastructure, and AI support enabling startups to integrate into enterprise ecosystems.
DPIIT and Kyndryl entered a Memorandum of Understanding to create a public private programme that provides mentorship, infrastructure, and AI driven support to manufacturing and IT startups, institutionalizes dedicated programs for digital and AI innovators, conducts advisory sessions and workshops, and facilitates integration of startup solutions into enterprise ecosystems while enabling market access, scaling guidance, and access to government incentives.

Merger scrutiny: proposed acquisition in the axle market may lessen competition; public comments invited.
The Commission is scrutinising a proposed acquisition where Bharat Forge seeks full control of AAM India Manufacturing, including certain assembly lines, and has formed a prima facie view of an Appreciable Adverse Effect on Competition in the commercial vehicle axle market. The Commission has required publication of details and invited written, substantiated comments, objections, and suggestions from persons likely to be affected, to be submitted to the Secretary within the prescribed period.

Unified logistics data integration enables seamless multi modal API connectivity, improving real time tracking, compliance, and sustainable transport choices.
ULIP operates as a government endorsed digital interoperability layer connecting ministry systems and private stakeholders via standardized APIs to enable automation, real time cargo tracking, transporter verification, digital documentation across road, rail, ocean, and air modes, and consolidated access to extensive logistics data for compliance, inventory optimisation, and reduced congestion.

Merger approval: competition regulator clears Peabody acquisition of Anglo American's steel-making coal portfolio, enabling asset transfer.
Competition approval was granted for acquisition by Peabody-controlled special purpose vehicles of a portion of Anglo American plc's Australian steel-making coal portfolio, transferring ownership and control of the specified Target Business assets to the Peabody Group, which supplies metallurgical coal and participates in India via imports; the Acquirers are newly formed SPVs ultimately owned by Peabody Energy Corporation.

Merger control approval for JSW Neo Energy's acquisition of O2 renewable power businesses granted, pending detailed order.
The Competition Commission of India approved JSW Neo Energy Limited's acquisition of the entire shareholding of O2 Power Midco Holdings Pte. Ltd. and O2 Energy SG Pte. Ltd.; the Targets operate renewable power generation businesses (wind and solar) through subsidiaries, and JSW Neo Energy is a wholly owned subsidiary of a listed group entity engaged in power generation and transmission; a detailed order will follow.

Competition clearance for acquisition of auto components manufacturer by private equity funds enables shareholding transfer and related transactions.
The Competition Commission of India approved the acquisition of shareholding in Dhoot Transmission Private Limited by BC Asia Investments XV Limited and BC Asia Investments XVI Limited, funds indirectly owned and controlled by Bain Capital, with certain interconnected transactions envisaged. DTPL manufactures and sells electrical and electronics auto components-including wiring harnesses, switches, sensors, connectors, terminals and cables-to Original Equipment Manufacturers and supplies wiring harnesses to medical devices and consumer durables sectors. A detailed Commission order will follow.

Merger approval: competition authority clears acquisition of personal care company by major FMCG acquirer combining brands
Competition authority approved Hindustan Unilever Limited's acquisition of a controlling stake in Uprising Science Private Limited under a share purchase and subscription agreement, with provision for later acquisition of remaining shares. The transaction involves overlap between the target's beauty and personal care products and the acquirer's established personal care and home care businesses; a detailed Commission order will follow.

Statistical system strengthening enhances timely quality official data through surveys, digital collection, release calendar and portals.
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has implemented reforms to strengthen the National Statistical System for timely, quality official data, including all-India sample surveys, digital survey platforms with validation, publication of macroeconomic indicators according to an Advance Release Calendar, the eSankhyiki portal for time series and data catalogues, and grants to States/UTs under the Support for Statistical Strengthening sub-scheme to enhance state statistical capacity.

Public procurement reforms on GeM expand MSE, startup, and women-led supplier access while improving digital procurement efficiency.
Public procurement policy reforms on the Government e Marketplace (GeM) have expanded market accessibility by reducing transaction charges, vendor assessment fees, and caution money requirements to increase inclusion of Micro and Small Enterprises, startups, and women-led enterprises. Complementary operational measures-large-scale cloud migration and AI-powered search-are designed to improve platform scalability and procurement decision-making, enhancing transparency, buyer coverage across government entities, and overall marketplace efficiency.

Integrated multimodal infrastructure review under the National Master Plan advances road, rail and metro projects to boost connectivity and logistics.
The Network Planning Group reviewed eight road, rail and metro projects for alignment with the National Master Plan for Multimodal Connectivity, focusing on integrated multimodal infrastructure, last-mile connectivity to economic and social nodes, and intermodal coordination to enhance logistics efficiency, reduce travel times, and provide socio-economic benefits; road projects include corridor upgrades and an under-river tunnel with biodiversity safeguards, rail projects target line doubling and freight capacity, and the metro project aims at sustainable urban multimodal integration.

Unincorporated sector growth signals rising establishments and employment in ASUSE survey, highlighting expanded informal economic activity.
ASUSE 2023-24, conducted by the National Statistics Office, provides nationwide sample estimates for unincorporated non agricultural establishments, collecting data on employment, Gross Value Added, emoluments, assets, loans and operational characteristics. The survey reports a substantial year on year increase in estimated establishments and total employment, supplies state/UT level comparisons for 2022-23 and 2023-24, notes government programmes as contextual background without assessing their impact, and records the surveyed sample size and methodology.

NHB report under Section 42 highlights housing finance trends, programmatic drivers, credit disparities and climate vulnerabilities.
Pursuant to Section 42 of the National Housing Bank Act, 1987, the NHB's Report on Trends and Progress of Housing in India, 2024 summarizes housing finance volumes and disbursements, segmentation of outstanding individual housing loans by income groups, and recent y o y movement in the NHB-RESIDEX price index; it reviews government housing programmes, the roles of PLIs and HFCs, and identifies regional credit disparities, climate-related vulnerabilities and technological and digitization factors as key drivers and challenges for the sector's outlook.

Competition approval: acquisition of a renewable power developer cleared, involving a joint venture acquirer and full equity transfer.
Competition approval was granted for ONGC NTPC Green Private Limited's acquisition of the entire equity of Ayana Renewable Power Private Limited. The acquirer is a joint venture between wholly owned subsidiaries of major energy companies and is not presently engaged in business. The target and its affiliates operate in renewable power generation and power transmission in India. The Commission's detailed order will follow.