Traders welfare outreach: national board advances scheme awareness and forwards stakeholder representations for departmental follow up.
The National Traders' Welfare Board met to coordinate promotion of retail trade welfare schemes, instruct members to raise awareness including via a DPIIT virtual consultation platform, and confirm that representations from trade associations have been referred to the relevant Ministries/Departments for necessary follow up and action.

Illegal manufacture of Mephedrone leads to factory sealing, forensic confirmation, and arrests after targeted enforcement action.
A targeted enforcement operation uncovered a clandestine factory manufacturing Mephedrone, resulting in seizure of manufactured consignments, raw materials and equipment, sealing of the premises, forensic confirmation that samples contained Mephedrone, and arrest of four individuals including the factory director for alleged illegal manufacture and storage under the NDPS Act.

National Electricity Plan (Transmission) outlines transmission expansion and storage integration to enable large-scale renewable deployment by 2032.
The National Electricity Plan (Transmission) establishes a transmission infrastructure programme to deliver targeted renewable capacity through 2032, detailing additions in transmission lines, transformation capacity and HVDC links, provision for battery and pumped storage integration, and transmission connections for coastal green hydrogen and ammonia hubs.

Production Linked Incentive scheme reopened; applicants face specified reduced incentive tenures under the Scheme guidelines.
The Production Linked Incentive Scheme for White Goods reopened on existing terms, allowing new applicants and existing beneficiaries to apply subject to eligibility conditions and investment schedules. Approved applicants in the third round will be eligible for incentives only for the Scheme's remaining tenure: certain new applicants and beneficiaries moving to higher investment categories qualify for up to three years of PLI, while some existing beneficiaries qualify for up to two years; failure to meet thresholds permits claims under original plans once during the Scheme period.

Integrated infrastructure planning accelerates multimodal coordination and reduces logistics costs through geospatial data integration.
The PM GatiShakti National Master Plan creates an integrated geospatial platform consolidating data from Central Ministries and States/UTs to coordinate multimodal infrastructure planning, accelerate project execution, improve logistics efficiency, and synchronise last mile and intermodal connectivity. States have aligned State Master Plan portals with the NMP and a District Master Plan portal is being developed for collaborative local planning. Complementary mechanisms include GIS based real time monitoring, capacity building courses and workshops, social sector gap identification, promotion of sustainable infrastructure, and secure controlled access to non sensitive planning data.

Centralised Right of Way approvals accelerate telecom infrastructure rollout through the PM Gati Shakti Sanchar portal.
PM Gati Shakti creates a digitally enabled National Master Plan to integrate multi modal infrastructure schemes and standardise data via notified Standard Operating Procedures, while extending implementation to districts through a District Master Plan portal. Complementary instruments-the National Logistics Policy, Unified Logistics Integrated Platform and Logistics Data Bank-unify logistics systems and tracking. The PM Gati Shakti Sanchar portal centralises Right of Way approvals to expedite telecom infrastructure and support rapid 5G deployment, integrating States/UTs and central ministries for coordinated project delivery.

Integrated infrastructure planning under PM GatiShakti aligns transport and aviation projects to enhance multimodal connectivity and last mile access.
The Network Planning Group assessed five road and aviation projects for conformity with integrated planning objectives in the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan, focusing on multimodal integration, last mile connectivity, intermodal links, and synchronized implementation. The review evaluated greenfield and brownfield works - bypasses, highway upgrades, road improvements, and an airport terminal expansion - for effects on travel time reduction, congestion relief, passenger and cargo movement capacity, and ancillary infrastructure, concluding that alignment with Master Plan principles would promote regional accessibility and socio economic development.

Financial inclusion expansion drives higher rural incomes, savings, insurance and literacy, highlighting KCC penetration and programme impacts.
NAFIS 2021-22 documents expansion of rural financial inclusion and related socioeconomic indicators from a survey of one lakh households: nominal rises in average monthly income and expenditure, increased financial savings and saving incidence, broader insurance and pension coverage, gains in financial literacy and financial behaviour, and notable Kisan Credit Card penetration among landholders and recent agricultural borrowers, while highlighting state-level variation and the role of government welfare programmes in supporting these outcomes.

Tax devolution enhanced to include an advance instalment enabling states to accelerate capital and welfare spending.
Union Government effected a tax devolution transfer of Rs. 1,78,173 crore to State Governments for October 2024, comprising the regular instalment plus one advance instalment, to enable States to accelerate capital spending and finance development and welfare-related expenditure; a state-wise breakup of allocations under Net Proceeds of Union Taxes and Duties is provided.

Merger approval: acquisition of personal and home care division consolidates consumer products under the food company acquirer
Merger approval by the Competition Commission of India authorises Patanjali Foods Limited to acquire the Home and Personal Care division of Patanjali Ayurved Limited. The transferred HPC business covers haircare, skincare, dental care and home care products. PFL's activities include edible oil processing, food products, nutraceuticals and consumer goods, while PAL manufactures ayurvedic medicines, HPC items and dairy and trading products. The Commission's detailed order will follow.

Atal Pension Yojana coverage expands, enhancing guaranteed lifelong pension and survivor benefits for vulnerable workers.
Atal Pension Yojana has crossed seven crore gross subscribers due to expanded coverage of vulnerable and unorganised workers supported by banks and local committees; the scheme provides a lifelong defined pension to the subscriber, continuation of the same pension to the spouse on the subscriber's death, and transfer of the accumulated corpus to the nominee after both deaths, reinforced by outreach, training, multilingual publicity materials, and regular performance review to increase uptake.

Competition law reform strengthens fair competition and consumer protection, shaping enforcement and cartel investigation approaches.
The workshop emphasized the Competition Amendment Act as central to promoting fair competition and consumer protection across sectors including digital markets, and highlighted cartel investigation challenges, focusing on the hub-and-spoke model and the need to strengthen enforcement capacity through regulatory and academic collaboration.

Cross-border campus establishment expands international education and trade cooperation, enabling research collaboration and regional training.
A cross-border campus will be established by the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade at Expo City Dubai under a signed Memorandum of Understanding, commencing with short- and medium-term training and research programmes and progressing to the MBA (International Business), leveraging IIFT's deemed university status and specialization to serve students, professionals and officials across the UAE and the Gulf while enabling joint research and knowledge sharing with Expo City Dubai on sustainability and innovation.

Bilateral investment treaty strengthens UAE investment flows as ADIA opens operations and sets up an India-focused fund in GIFT City.
ADIA has commenced India operations by opening an office in GIFT City after obtaining required regulatory approvals and by establishing an Alternative Investment Fund in GIFT City to hold its India related investments, aiming to deepen its investment activities and leverage GIFT City's regulatory and legal framework to expand its investment profile in India.

Extension of FCRA registration validity for pending renewals until disposal; refusal causes expiry and bar on foreign funds.
The Ministry of Home Affairs extends FCRA registration validity for two categories-those with previously extended validity and those whose five year term expires in the October-December period-until 31 December 2024 or until disposal of renewal applications, whichever is earlier. It further states that if a renewal application is refused, the certificate is deemed expired on the refusal date and the association cannot receive or utilize foreign contribution.

Critical mineral supply chain diversification agreed; bilateral cooperation to expand exploration, processing, recycling and trade ties.
Under the MoU on Critical Mineral Supply Chains, India and the United States committed to expand and diversify cooperation across exploration, extraction, processing, recycling and related activities to enhance supply chain resilience, while the Dialogue prioritized supply chain resilience, climate and clean technology cooperation, inclusive digital growth, and standards and conformance cooperation to guide joint initiatives and deepen trade and investment linkages.

Aligned trade strategies urged to harmonize regional and multilateral norms, plus digital solutions and climate-responsive trade.
Conference emphasised aligning regional and multilateral trade strategies to create coherent global norms and urged use of digital tools to address trade barriers and ensure inclusivity for developing countries. It stressed climate-responsive trade norms that account for developing-country challenges and highlighted sessions on green industrial policy, critical minerals, WTO dispute settlement, and sustainable climate actions. A roundtable sought collaboration, knowledge exchange, academic partnerships, and capacity building among WTO Chairs Programme holders.

Bilateral economic cooperation reinforced as India US CEO Forum advances private sector recommendations on trade, investment and critical minerals collaboration.
The India U.S. CEO Forum, a private sector advisory body to the U.S. India Commercial Dialogue co chaired by senior government and corporate leaders, presented sectoral priorities across seven working groups to strengthen bilateral economic links, launched an innovation handshake and the NIHIT knowledge sharing platform, and discussed cooperation on critical minerals supply chains and measures to expand U.S. investment in Indian industrial projects.

Container tracking transparency improves supply chain visibility and enables analytics-driven port and terminal performance assessment.
A single-window container tracking system provides centralized visibility and analytics for EXIM and domestic container movements across ports, terminals, ICDs, CFSs, empty yards, parking plazas, toll plazas, railheads, industrial zones and SEZs; the platform is web-accessible, supports stakeholder queries, publishes metrics such as dwell and transit time, and enables comparative performance assessment of ports and terminals to inform operational decision-making and logistics benchmarking.

Ease of doing business reforms to boost investment and manufacturing through incentives and IP-focused policy engagement.
The Minister engaged investors to promote India as a global manufacturing hub, emphasising ease of doing business, infrastructure development, targeted incentive schemes, and intellectual property reforms as the principal policy levers to attract investment and foster sustainable industrial growth.