Sabarimala gold loss: federal agency files money laundering ECIR under PMLA alongside state SIT probe.
The Enforcement Directorate registered an Enforcement Case Information Report under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in the Sabarimala gold loss matter, opening a money laundering probe parallel to the state Special Investigation Team's criminal inquiry. The allegations concern misappropriation of gold from gold clad copper plates on Dwarapalaka idols and door frames of the Sreekovil, amid alleged official misconduct, administrative lapses and a criminal conspiracy; the SIT, under High Court supervision, is probing two related cases and has made multiple arrests.

Mamata Banerjee accused of obstructing Enforcement Directorate raids and allegedly removing physical and electronic evidence.
The chief minister is alleged to have intervened during Enforcement Directorate raids at a private consultancy and a director's residence, forcibly removing physical documents and electronic devices; accusers characterize this conduct as obstructing a probe and snatching away files, calling for her to be made an accused under penal provisions in a money laundering inquiry linked to alleged coal smuggling.

Tata AIA Premier SIP: a ULIP with zero allocation charges, premium waiver on critical illness, and multiple post lock in withdrawal options.
Tata AIA Premier SIP is a Unit Linked Insurance Plan combining life coverage with market linked investment funds, eliminating premium allocation charges so the entire premium is invested from inception. It features a Premium Waiver Benefit that maintains policy continuity on specified critical illness or disability, optional protection riders, a five year lock in after which holders can use Systematic, Chosen rate, or Index based withdrawal plans, and fee free fund switches; tax deductions on premiums and tax exemptions on maturity are subject to prevailing statutory conditions.

India delegation at Davos includes NSA, ministers, CMs and business leaders for panels, bilateral meetings and public-private cooperation.
A high-level Indian delegation-comprising the National Security Advisor, union ministers, several chief ministers, senior corporate executives and PSU heads-will attend the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos to participate in panels on India's economic prospects, hold bilateral meetings, and engage in India-specific and global events focused on trade, investment and public-private cooperation across five priority challenge areas.

Rakshit Shetty may make a biopic of Sparsh Masala founder Shivakumariah blending military service and entrepreneurship.
Rumours suggest Rakshit Shetty may develop a biographical film about Shivakumariah, founder of Sparsh Masala, structured in two arcs: Army service emphasizing discipline and leadership, and post service entrepreneurship emphasizing quality, ethical sourcing, and strategic long term growth that built the brand into a significant enterprise; no official confirmation has been given.

Laxmi Organic Lote facility confirms no discharge of hazardous effluents; wastes sent to state-approved disposal with digital traceability.
The Lote facility affirms no discharge of hazardous effluents, asserting full compliance with statutory environmental and safety approvals; all process emissions and effluents are treated and sent to a State Government approved hazardous waste treatment, storage and disposal facility for scientific disposal with digital traceability, and the site operates closed-loop systems, containment measures, high-capacity effluent treatment and continuous monitoring to prevent environmental release.

Forevermark Diamond Jewellery opens De Beers' largest flagship store in Mumbai, launching the Icon Collection and new campaign.
No legal or regulatory measures are proposed; the text announces De Beers Group's largest Forevermark flagship store in Mumbai (nearly 5,000 sq. ft.) and the commercial launch of the Icon Collection. It highlights promotional programming, influencer and celebrity participation, claims of responsible sourcing and unique diamond inscriptions for authenticity, the "My Guiding Light" campaign featuring four public figures, and a corporate ambition to expand to 100 Forevermark stores in India by 2030.

Digital arrest scam: five arrested for cheating elderly man of nearly Rs 1 crore via impersonation and bank account fraud.
A syndicate used digital arrest tactics-impersonating enforcement and central agency officials via WhatsApp-to coerce an 80 year old to close fixed deposits, transfer savings and take a gold loan, resulting in about Rs 96 lakh being diverted. An e FIR led to technical analysis of bank and digital records and the arrest of five suspects, including two private bank employees who allegedly opened a forged current account used to siphon and layer the fraud proceeds through multiple beneficiary accounts and fraudulent GST registrations.

Digitalisation requires collaborative, risk-based supervision and stronger analytics to prevent digital fraud and preserve consumer protection.
Financial institutions must prioritise the substantive objectives of regulation over a mere tick-box-based compliance culture, collaborating with regulators to develop analytics and detection tools to pre-empt digital frauds such as mule accounts. Supervision should be more continuous and off-site, supported by stronger data analytics and supervisory dashboards for near real-time monitoring. Regulatory principles must remain risk-based, proportionate, and technology-neutral, with human accountability preserved despite automation.

Binance secured ADGM authorization, reported $34 trillion traded in 2025, and highlighted measures preventing $6.69B in fraud.
Binance secured full authorization under the ADGM FSRA framework, aligning governance, risk management, custody, clearing, and consumer protection with traditional financial expectations; reported measurable compliance outcomes including a 96% reduction in exposure to major illicit funds categories since 2023 and prevention of $6.69 billion in potential fraud in 2025; and described market and product metrics-$34 trillion traded across products, Binance Alpha 2.0 surpassing $1 trillion in volume, and institutional adoption transitioning to operational workflows with tokenization used as eligible off exchange collateral.

INFIFORCE unveils Hyper-VLA and Causal World Model to give robots a unified Brain and secures CNY500 million orders.
INFIFORCE promotes a unified Brain architecture-Hyper-VLA Foundation Model and Causal World Model-creating a Perception-Cognition-Decision-Execution loop to give robots causal understanding, reduce hallucination risks, and enable continuous autonomous action. The company reports CNY500 million in orders across automotive and healthcare for deployments integrating this Brain into AstroDroid humanoids, FORCE charging robots, and modular Hyper-Components, and describes a strategy combining a growing patent portfolio with a Data-Model-Body-Scenario growth flywheel to scale real-world data and model performance.

Tata AIA Life integrates term coverage with preventive health services and tailored benefits, subject to underwriting and acceptance.
Tata AIA Life Insurance integrates traditional term cover with critical illness, hospital cash and preventive health services via a health platform, offering segmented plans with features such as premium rate guarantees, optional riders, life stage cover enhancements and renewability. Products are marketed as non linked, non participating, pure risk individual life insurance offerings; issuance is subject to the company's underwriting and acceptance and combined offerings may be purchased separately.

Dr. Nomal Chandra Borah honoured for advancing neurology, nursing leadership, and expanding affordable healthcare to underserved communities.
Dr. Nomal Chandra Borah received two Lifetime Achievement Awards recognising his advancement of neurology and nursing leadership, his establishment of Northeast India's first comprehensive neuroscience centre and DNB training, founding of the Asian Institute of Nursing Education, and leadership of GNRC initiatives-GNRC Medireach, Swasthyamitra, and the Universal Health Mission-that expanded preventive and affordable healthcare to underserved populations while promoting research, education, and integrated care.

Markup Designs honoured with Pioneer Leadership Excellence Award; firm offers end-to-end IT solutions and will launch MARK AI.
Markup Designs received the Pioneer Leadership Excellence Award (IT Services and Solution) recognizing its leadership in digital transformation; the company provides end-to-end IT solutions-notably mobile app development, digital transformation services, bespoke software development and IT outsourcing-with an international footprint and plans to launch MARK AI as a dedicated artificial intelligence business unit.

Free medical camp reached over 400 patients with volunteer specialists offering comprehensive care and preventive screenings.
UNITED SIKHS organized a one-day free medical camp at Gurdwara Sri Janam Asthan, Nankana Sahib, delivering comprehensive volunteer medical services-general medicine, gynecology, ENT, pediatrics, ultrasound and audiometry-to over 400 patients, combining preventive screenings and immediate treatments as part of its humanitarian mission to support vulnerable communities.

Delhi Assembly suspends four AAP MLAs for disrupting House proceedings and violating assembly decorum during the Winter Session.
Four opposition members were suspended from the Delhi Assembly for the remainder of the Winter Session for repeated interruptions and breach of House decorum after earlier short suspensions, leading to adjournments and a two day washout; the suspensions were used to restore order and allow passage of supplementary demands and the Delhi Appropriation Bill 2026.

Parliament's Budget session begins Jan 28 with the President's address; Union Budget to be tabled Feb 1.
Parliament's Budget session will begin with the President's address on January 28, include the tabling of the Economic Survey on January 30 and the Union Budget on February 1, pause for a recess from February 13 to March 9, and reconvene to conclude the session on April 2, with the recess enabling department-related standing committees to examine demands for grants.

China's export controls on dual-use items and rare earths are disrupting Japanese shipments and straining trade ties.
China's export controls on dual-use items are defended as lawful national security measures after Japan sought retraction; Japan reports customs delays on exports and warns of supply chain impacts from rare earths restrictions while monitoring the situation and considering responses.

Retired soldier duped via fake digital arrest into depositing 98 lakh rupees in an impersonation and extortion scam.
Fraudsters impersonated law enforcement and judicial officials to place a retired soldier under a 15 day digital arrest, staging fake video court proceedings and using threats to coerce him into depositing funds and property into accounts they specified, causing a loss of about Rs 98 lakh; an FIR was filed at the Cyber Crime Police Station and investigators are probing impersonation, extortion via bank transfers and deletion of digital evidence.

Enforcement Directorate seeks CBI probe into alleged obstruction in I-PAC raids; charges framed in land for job case.
The Enforcement Directorate has sought a CBI probe into alleged obstruction of its raids on a political consultancy firm, naming a state Chief Minister and senior police officials; a court has ordered framing of charges in an alleged land for job scam, and the Supreme Court has held that lawyers seeking bar council office must meet higher ethical standards.