Malayalam actor Jayasurya appeared before a federal agency in a Foreign Exchange Management Act compliance probe.
Malayalam actor Jayasurya attended a zonal office of a federal enforcement agency, accompanied by his spouse, as part of an ongoing inquiry under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, constituting a formal personal appearance for investigative questioning in a regulatory foreign-exchange compliance probe related to film-industry activities.

Meeting with economists to gather inputs for the 2026-27 Budget amid trade tensions and tariffs.
Prime Minister will convene economists, sectoral experts, and senior NITI Aayog officials to gather inputs for the 2026-27 Union Budget ahead of the Finance Minister's scheduled February 1 presentation, with consultations framed by geopolitical uncertainty and a significant US tariff on Indian shipments.

ED notice to interrogate ex-MLA P V Anvar over alleged KFC loan misappropriation, benami accounts and proceeds infusion.
The Enforcement Directorate has issued a notice for former MLA P V Anvar to appear for interrogation in an alleged KFC loan misappropriation probe involving a Rs 7.5 crore loan to Malamkulam Constructions, subsequent related advances, and a reported NPA of around Rs 22.3 crore; investigators allege use of multiple alleged benami accounts, the respondent's admission of beneficial ownership of the company, deployment of loan proceeds into the PVR Metro Village project, and construction activity without required regulatory approvals suggesting infusion of proceeds of crime.

Jute industry faces raw material shortage, price surge and temporary allowance of plastic bags for foodgrain packaging.
A severe raw jute shortage in 2025 drove unprecedented price spikes and disrupted the statutory jute packaging regime. Despite a government-fixed Minimum Support Price, acreage fell as farmers shifted to maize and procurement failures reduced incentives, producing a genuine supply deficit. Under the JPM Act the Office of the Jute Commissioner fixes prices, but constrained arrivals forced the government to cut jute allocations and allow HDPE and PP plastic bags for large parts of Kharif and Rabi marketing seasons to ensure foodgrain procurement.

MAAC 24FPS Creators Fest celebrated India's AVGC-XR innovation, showcased GenAI and XR career pathways and awards.
MAAC's 24FPS Creators Fest and International Animation Awards 2025 showcased advances in animation, VFX, gaming, XR and GenAI-powered production through keynotes, panels, masterclasses, and an awards program recognising technical and storytelling excellence. Sessions focused on GenAI integration into creative education, career pathways in XR and gaming, and strategic intellectual property creation. MAAC introduced two industry-aligned academic tracks, Career X and Creator X, to strengthen academia-industry skill alignment in the AVGC-XR sector.

Cream Stone launches a Seasonal Strawberry Menu, promotes Ice Cream Cakes, and opens new outlets in Hubballi and Belgaum.
Cream Stone launched a Seasonal Strawberry Menu and named Jamaican Almond Fudge as TUBZ Flavour of the Month, promoted Ice Cream Cakes as celebration offerings, and opened new outlets in Hubballi and Belgaum, reinforcing a nationwide network of over 116 outlets to boost winter-season sales and take home traction.

Pinnacle Blooms Network offered $70 million to scale an AI powered child development operating system for rapid expansion and international rollout.
A global healthcare fund has proposed a two tranche Series A investment totaling $70 million into Pinnacle Blooms Network to fund rapid domestic expansion from 70+ to 300 centres within 24 months, R&D acceleration for home based TherapeuticAI , large scale manufacturing of TherapySphereTM sensory rooms, and regulatory submissions for international market access. Pinnacle's GPT OS integrates diagnostic, prognostic, AI therapeutic, developmental scoring, and multisensory environment modules, supported by a 20 million session dataset, ISO 13485 and ISO/IEC 27001 certifications, and multiple patent filings.

IndiGo cancels 80 flights due to dense fog; low-visibility rules require trained crews and CAT IIIB aircraft for landings.
Operators cancelled flights and issued advisories amid dense fog within the recognised Fog Window, invoking low-visibility procedures. Carriers are required to roster pilots trained for low-visibility operations and to deploy a CAT IIIB-compliant aircraft fleet for such landings, while airports operating under Category III conditions may sequence movements and impose constraints that can result in delays and cancellations.

Deaths of booth-level officers highlight pressure tied to Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and political criticism.
The report links the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls to concerns about administrative pressure on Booth Level Officers (BLOs), noting a recent BLO death in West Bengal where a note cited inability to cope with work-related pressure, and records political criticism that pursuit of removing alleged infiltrators may be occurring without sufficient attention to BLO welfare while SIR proceeds across multiple states and union territories.

Highway hygiene startup improves roadside cleanliness through education, training, monitoring, and recognition to boost business outcomes.
Touching Towns employs a non punitive, capacity building approach to highway hygiene: conducting on site assessments of kitchen, food handling, washroom and waste practices; delivering tailored, low cost staff training and standard operating guidance; and maintaining regular monitoring plus public recognition for establishments that meet hygiene benchmarks, thereby aligning sanitation improvements with commercial benefits and scalable replication across highway corridors.

Namotsav spotlights Modi's Viksit Bharat 2047 vision and NAMTECH, an experiential learning initiative for 15,000 students annually.
Namotsav portrayed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership and the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision as inspiring 140 crore citizens and empowering diverse social groups via transformative schemes. Sanskar Dham emphasised values-based education across its schools and universities and announced NAMTECH, an experiential living-learning laboratory planned to offer innovation and learning opportunities to about 15,000 students annually in collaboration with international partners.

Delhi airport flight operations disrupted: 128 cancellations, eight diversions and widespread delays due to dense fog.
Dense fog and reduced visibility at Indira Gandhi International Airport caused 128 flight cancellations (64 departures and 64 arrivals), eight diversions and nearly 200 delayed services, with runway visibility improving but flight movements remaining slower than normal and average departure delays around 24 minutes.

Bangladesh's political transition produced diplomatic summonses, an electoral ban, rising political violence and fiscal strain affecting governance.
Diplomatic friction escalated through multiple formal diplomatic summons and public security concerns, while the interim administration enacted operative measures including a ban on a major party's electoral participation and the formal setting of a general election date; these actions combine with allegations of state complicity in political violence, targeted attacks on minorities and civil society, corruption claims, and a deteriorating fiscal position described as a "debt trap," creating a constrained legal-regulatory environment for election integrity, criminal accountability, minority protections and public finance management.

Asian markets mixed as Taiwan tensions and year-end thin trading influence indices, gold rallies, and oil edges higher.
Asian equities were mixed amid cross-Strait military drills and thin year-end liquidity; some regional indices rose while others fell. Geopolitical risk from Chinese drills around Taiwan affected sentiment. Precious metals climbed on supply concerns and expectations of U.S. rate cuts, while oil made modest gains; currency moves were subdued. Market dynamics reflected a combination of geopolitical tensions, monetary policy expectations, and light trading volumes.

Stock market indices gained momentum amid domestic buying, mixed Asian cues and foreign investor sell-offs.
Stock benchmarks rose after a muted start, led by gains in selected large-cap stocks while some heavyweights lagged; Asian market trends were mixed. Institutional flows were divergent-foreign investors sold equities as domestic institutional investors bought-and Brent crude strengthened, factors noted as influencing market momentum.

Personnel Ministry advances citizen-centric reforms, waste-to-wealth campaign, digital verification and mass hiring initiatives in 2025.
Personnel Ministry advanced citizen-centric governance in 2025 by prioritising CPGRAMS grievance redress (over 21 lakh grievances), promoting digital life certificates for pensioners, relocating to improve coordination, and conducting a nationwide cleanliness campaign that combined records review and scrap disposal to free office space and generate Rs 824.07 crore. Employment initiatives included Rozgar Melas issuing large numbers of appointment letters, while recruitment integrity measures comprised the SSC's electronic dossier system and Aadhaar-based verification and the UPSC's Aadhaar-enabled one-time registration and expanded performance-data portal.

Union government issues litigation-management directive and advances statutory repeal, but the Mediation Council remains unestablished.
The Law Ministry issued the Directive for the efficient and effective management of litigation by the Government of India to require ministries, departments and PSUs to minimise unwarranted appeals, correct inconsistencies in notifications and improve implementation to reduce disputes; the directive replaces a proposed national litigation policy and will be reviewed annually. Parliamentary repeal of over 70 obsolete laws continued as part of a broader statute-cleanup. The statutory Mediation Council envisaged by the Mediation Act, 2023 has not been constituted, leaving institutional mediation frameworks unrealised.

Mumbai civic polls: parties finalise seat-sharing, alliances and candidate lists ahead of the nomination deadline.
Municipal elections for 29 municipal corporations are set for January 15 with nominations closing December 30. Parties are finalising seat-sharing and alliances: Mahayuti reports agreement on 207 of 227 Mumbai seats while NCP (Ajit Pawar) has released an initial BMC candidate list; Congress and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi have formed an alliance for the BMC and local leaders are authorised to finalise other alliances. Parties continue internal screening and nomination processes ahead of the deadline.

Manufacturing and services policy aims to make 'Made in India' a global symbol of quality and competitiveness.
The prime minister urged states to prioritise manufacturing competitiveness, improve ease of doing business, and expand services to make India a global services and manufacturing leader; he called for quality-driven Made in India output with 'zero defect, zero effect' and a joint Centre-State identification of 100 products to reduce import dependence. He announced the National Manufacturing Mission and directed states to prepare actionable 10-year plans with staged targets and technology-enabled monitoring to strengthen infrastructure, talent development, tourism and sports ecosystems.

BMC polls: NCP announces 37 candidates, will contest independently; civic elections set for January 15.
The NCP announced a first list of 37 candidates for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections set for January 15, with nominations due December 30; the party, though part of a larger coalition, will contest the Mumbai civic polls independently and is expected to release a second list.