AI and copyright working paper proposes blanket training licences with royalties payable only on commercialisation.
The working paper proposes a hybrid framework where AI developers obtain a blanket licence to use all lawfully accessed content for training without individual negotiations; royalties become payable only upon commercialisation, with rates set by a government appointed committee and subject to judicial review; and a centralised mechanism will collect and distribute royalties to reduce transaction costs and provide legal certainty.

India-Chile CEPA negotiations progressed, parties committed to timely conclusion to enhance market access and bilateral trade.
Reports substantive negotiation progress in the India-Chile Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) after the fourth round; delegations made substantial advances across chapters and both sides reiterated commitment to timely conclusion, aiming to expand market access, deepen economic cooperation, and enhance bilateral trade opportunities.

Rail infrastructure projects under PM GatiShakti aim to expand lines and restructure finance to boost multimodal logistics efficiency.
The Network Planning Group reviewed five rail proposals under the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan to advance integrated multimodal infrastructure, last mile connectivity and a Whole of Government approach. Proposals comprise third and fourth lines on Gummidipundi-Gudur, Nidadavolu-Duvvada, Nagda-Mathura and Ghaziabad-New Sitapur corridors, and a third financial restructuring with infrastructure investments for Konkan Railway Corporation Limited, each aimed at augmenting capacity, reducing congestion and improving logistics and multimodal access for key sectors.

Universities should prepare students for public service through merit-based access, civic education, and internships with elected representatives.
The Minister urged universities to nurture talent, promote civic responsibility, and facilitate public-service pathways, emphasizing need-blind scholarships, broad female representation, student innovation and returning faculty, and recommending curricular and internship measures to prepare graduates for governance and nation-building.

Public Financial Management seminar launches proposal for a Global South PFM forum to share digital treasury and DPI tools.
The New Delhi seminar presented India's operational PFM model-centered on the Public Financial Management System (PFMS), integration with Digital Payments and Direct Benefit Transfer, and complementary digital revenue tools-and proposed establishing a Public Financial Management Forum for the Global South to institutionalise dialogue, capacity sharing, technical cooperation, and co creation of treasury reform, liquidity management, DPI enabled PFM solutions, citizen centric delivery, procurement transparency, and accountability frameworks.

Public procurement training focused on digital procurement, compliance, contract management and capacity building for defence finance probationers.
The orientation focused on transforming public procurement through digitisation, highlighting platform-enabled management of the procurement lifecycle-demand creation, bidding, contract management and payments-together with governance frameworks, compliance essentials and grievance redressal and incident management mechanisms to secure procedural integrity. It also served as capacity building for Defence finance probationers to align departmental processes with digital procurement tools and oversight controls, promoting competition, efficiency and auditability across public procurement.

India's manufacturing sector: emphasis on innovation, supply chain resilience, labour code rollout and timely MSME payments.
The Minister urges strengthening manufacturing competitiveness through innovation, efficiency and supply chain resilience, calls for industry-government collaboration, and highlights regulatory modernisation including easing compliance and the introduction of the four Labour Codes (with 23 States framing rules). He stresses the importance of timely payments to MSMEs to ease cash-flow constraints, advance formalisation, ensure minimum wages and strengthen social security and workplace safety, linking these measures to self-reliance and long-term national development goals.

Global tax transparency meeting focused on implementing info exchange standards, digital asset reporting and capacity building.
India hosted the 18th Plenary of the Global Forum, where member jurisdictions reviewed implementation of the Exchange of Information on Request and Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information standards, advanced work on the Crypto Asset Reporting Framework and the Group on Risk, and prioritised strengthening implementation, administrative capacity and equitable access to transparency benefits using secure IT systems and data analytics.

Government stake sale in Bank of Maharashtra oversubscribed; green shoe exercised, bringing total divestment to 6% and opening to retail investors.
Government divestment of up to 6.0% stake in Bank of Maharashtra is structured as a 5% Offer for Sale with a 1% green shoe option at a Rs.54.0 floor price; 10% of the offer is reserved for retail investors to ensure compliance with Minimum Public Shareholding norms. The non retail bidding was subscribed 4.07 times and the green shoe option was fully exercised, taking total divestment to 6.0% of paid up capital, with the OFS opening to retail investors and bank employees thereafter.

Credit Assessment Model for MSMEs enables automated digital loan appraisal and model-based limit assessment using verifiable data.
The government introduced the Credit Assessment Model (CAM) for MSMEs to enable digitally driven, automated loan appraisal using verifiable ecosystem data, implementing objective decisioning for all loan applications and model-based limit assessment for both Existing-to-Bank and New-to-Bank MSME borrowers.

Presiding Officers of Debt Recovery Tribunals attended a seminar on the RDB Act, case management, adjudication and procedural challenges.
A two-day residential seminar for Presiding Officers of Debt Recovery Tribunals organized by the Department of Financial Services covered the Recovery of Debts and Bankruptcy Act, jurisdictional character and procedures of DRTs, the role and responsibilities of adjudicating officers, case management to improve efficiency, online adjudication, drafting judgments and orders, and the role of DRTs post-SARFAESI Act, as well as procedural issues and challenges faced by tribunals.

Assam tea sector strengthened through TDPS: production, small grower collectivisation and mini factories supported for better quality and exports.
The Tea Development & Promotion Scheme for Assam aims to raise production, quality and exports while empowering small tea growers through formation of SHGs/FPOs and support for mini tea factories; Rs.152.76 Crore was allocated and Rs.150.20 Crore utilized (2021 22 to 31.10.2025). Key interventions include replantation (437.42 ha), 318 SHGs, 143 FPOs, 26 FPCs, 31 mini factories, 30.32 ha organic conversion, 30 farm field schools and 1,343 capacity building programmes. DMEO's May 2023 evaluation found satisfactory implementation and recommended replantation, brand promotion, farmer knowledge dissemination and continued capacity building.

Tobacco taxation: central excise duty rates increased and tariff table for tobacco products substituted by amendment bill.
The Bill substitutes the tariff table in Section IV of the Fourth Schedule to the Central Excise Act, 1944, revising tariff items and materially increasing excise duty rates and specific per unit charges for tobacco, manufactured tobacco substitutes, and nicotine products intended for inhalation without combustion to restore tax incidence following GST and anticipated discontinuation of compensation cess.

Health Security se National Security Cess imposed on machines/processes producing specified goods, linked to machine capacity and subject to enforcement.
The Bill levies the Health Security se National Security Cess on persons who own, possess, operate, manage or control machines or undertake processes producing specified goods, with rates in Schedule II computed by machine speed, capacity and weight or by prescribed manual-process amounts. Taxable persons must register, file self-declarations and monthly self-assessed returns, and pay the cess monthly; proper officers may verify declarations, audit, access premises and records, and initiate notices, assessments, penalties, seizures and confiscation for non-compliance or evasion. Provisions allow compounding, appeals, revisions and prescribed rules for implementation.

Manipur GST amendments add track-and-trace with unique markings, tighten input-credit, credit-note and appeal pre-deposit rules.
The Bill aligns the Manipur GST Act with central amendments by expanding and clarifying definitions, deeming "plant and machinery" as the operative expression, altering voucher time-of-supply clauses, tightening credit-note and reporting rules, and empowering the Government to prescribe a track and trace mechanism including affixation of unique identification marking, related recordkeeping, payments and a dedicated penalty; it also amends appellate pre-deposit requirements, adds Schedule III coverage for SEZ/FTWZ warehoused supplies, disallows refunds for prior collected tax on those supplies, and repeals the earlier Ordinance with savings.

Paddy harvesting 2025 saw major reductions in stubble burning due to action plans, machinery deployment, and strict enforcement.
Paddy harvesting season 2025 concluded with a marked reduction in farm fire incidents across Punjab and Haryana, with Punjab reporting 5,114 incidents and Haryana 662. The decline is linked to State- and District-specific Action Plans under the Commission for Air Quality Management, large-scale deployment of crop residue management machinery, strengthened ex-situ utilisation of paddy straw, and strict enforcement measures, supported by interagency coordination, ground inspections, targeted awareness campaigns, and a dedicated monitoring cell in Chandigarh.

ADB and Government of India sign $800M+ in loans and $1M TA for power, metro, skills, and wetland projects.
Signed financing arrangements include a $500 million loan for Maharashtra agricultural solarization to modernise distribution, deploy 500 MWh battery storage, and provide daytime electricity to 900,000 agricultural consumers by 2028; a 27,147,200,000 ( $190.6 million) loan for an 8.62 km Indore underground metro with seven stations and multimodal integration; a $109.97 million loan for Gujarat skills development to upgrade ITIs and establish centres of excellence; and a $1 million TA grant for SWIFT project implementation support in Assam.

International organic event in Shillong connects global buyers and experts to boost regional organic market linkages.
The four-day programme in Shillong combined an APEDA Buyer Seller Meet, the first Northeast India Organic Week, and the 4th IFOAM World Organic Youth Summit to connect international buyers, importers and experts with regional producers from 22 countries through B2B sessions, cultural programmes and field visits, aiming to strengthen global market linkages, promote sustainable and regenerative agriculture, and foster youth leadership, with plans to make the meeting an annual rotating regional event and encourage producer participation in global platforms like BIOFACH.

Chintan Shivir recommended a nodal cell to develop standardised costing frameworks and equitable user charge models for fiscal governance.
The Shivir recommended establishing a nodal cell in the Department of Expenditure to develop internationally benchmarked standardised costing frameworks for municipal services and related practices, and proposed time bound steps, ICoAS engagement, and user charges examination to strengthen fiscal governance, transparency and equitable pricing models.

Rail infrastructure projects evaluated for alignment with PM GatiShakti to boost multimodal connectivity and logistics efficiency.
The Network Planning Group evaluated three Ministry of Railways projects for conformity with the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan, focusing on integrated multimodal infrastructure, last mile connectivity, and a whole of government approach, and assessed how track augmentations, bridges, RUBs and yard upgrades would reduce congestion, improve freight mobility and operational reliability, and deliver regional socio economic benefits.