In a first for Northeast India, Tripura has pioneered the use of artificial intelligence for greater digital inclusion by adopting state-of-the-art text-to-speech technology under the BHASHINI initiative, government officials said.

The technological integration formally started with a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the Department of Information Technology and the Digital India Bhashini Division of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in Agartala on Tuesday.

The MoU is in continuation of the BHASHINI project launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July 2022 under the National Language Technology Mission. The initiative aims to provide translation services in 22 scheduled Indian languages to break through linguistic barriers and enable people to access digital services smoothly.

Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic has resigned, following nationwide protests over the deadly collapse of a railway station canopy.

He said he had acted "to avoid further complicating things" and so as to "not further raise tensions in society".

Fifteen people died in November when a concrete canopy at a railway station collapsed in the city of Novi Sad. Tens of thousands of people have been regularly taking to the streets since then, demanding accountability for the collapse and protesting against corruption.

In a TV address late on Tuesday, President Aleksandar Vucic said he would decide within the next 10 days on whether to hold parliamentary elections or form a new government.

The Supreme Court on Monday appointed former judge of Punjab and Haryana High Court Justice (retd) Jaishree Thakur as an independent observer for the Chandigarh mayoral election to be held on January 30.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh referred to the "mutually agreeable stand" taken by by the sides and said, "We deem it appropriate to appoint Justice Jaishree Thakur, former Judge of Punjab & Haryana High Court as the independent observer." The top court directed the election proceedings to be conducted in the observer's physical presence and ordered it should be duly videographed.

The bench directed the returning officer of the mayoral election to contact the independent observer and coordinate with the former judge well before the scheduled election date.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday inaugurated the Utkarsh Odisha - Make in Odisha Conclave 2025 at Janata Maidan in Bhubaneswar in the presence of Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, Union Cabinet ministers, and business leaders from India and across the world.

Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Ashwini Vaishnaw were present at the event.

The Utkarsh Odisha - Make in Odisha Conclave 2025 in Bhubaneswar, the flagship Global Investment Summit, being hosted by the Government of Odisha, aims to position the state as the anchor of the Purvodaya vision as well as a leading investment destination and industrial hub in India.

Jasprit Bumrah on Monday has been named as ICC men’s Test Cricketer of the Year. The Indian spearhead has an excellent 2024 in both home and away conditions. He picked up 71 wickets in 13 matches.

Jasprit Bumrah pipped England batters Joe Root and Harry Brook, and Sri Lanka’s middle-order batter Kamindu Mendis for the award.

Jasprit Bumrah has been the spearhead of Indian cricket for the longest time, but this year proved to be at the top of his game.

Charismatic India opener Smriti Mandhana, was on Monday (January 27, 2025), named ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year for her phenomenal performance that saw the left-hander score tons of runs in 2024.

The India vice-captain, who was the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year in 2018 and 2022, racked up 747 runs in 13 innings to set new career standards in ODIs.

She put several batting stalwarts, including the likes of South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt, England’s Tammy Beaumont (554) and West Indies’ Hayley Matthews, to shade.

In their second year as hosts, the Union Territory of Ladakh finished on top of the Khelo India Winter Games 2025, the first chapter of which ended at the NDS Stadium on Monday. Like always, the grand finale saw the mouth-watering men's ice hockey final and the Indian Army squeezed past ITBP 2-1 to retain the KIWG crown. The second and final phase of KIWG 2025 will be held in J&K's Gulmarg from February 22-25.

Ladakh won two of the four gold medals decided on Monday. Their mixed relay quartet, comprising Stanzin Jampal, Skarma Tsultim, Mohammed Saquaf Raza, and Padma Angmo, clocked 3:02.19 secs to strike gold. Maharashtra (3:03.78 secs) and Telangana (3:04.85 secs) won silver and bronze, respectively.

There was more joy for the local fans. In what was sweet revenge, Ladakh girls romped past fancied ITBP 4-0 to finish on top of the women's round-robin league at a packed NDS Stadium complex. Women's ice-hockey started only last year and interestingly, Ladakh had lost the final match to ITBP by a 4-0 scoreline. Himachal Pradesh won the bronze.

India has sent a shipment of medical supplies, including bronchodilators, inhalers, and ventilators, to support the residents of the Kurdistan region in Iraq. The assistance reflects India’s approach to foreign policy focused on global cooperation and humanitarian efforts.

The humanitarian assistance to the semi-autonomous region once again spotlights India’s people-centric foreign policy and New Delhi’s commitment to the making of a ‘Vishwabandhu Bharat’, or a global friend.

In the past decade, India has contributed to relief and reconstruction efforts in Iraq, both independently and in collaboration with international initiatives under the United Nations framework.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced a plan on Monday to inject an additional Rs 1.1 lakh crore into the banking system through various measures, including open market purchase auctions of Government securities and a variable rate repo auction. Additionally, a $5 billion dollar-rupee swap auction will be conducted to enhance liquidity.

This decision follows a review of current liquidity and financial conditions. The open market operations will involve the purchase of Government of India securities worth Rs 60,000 crore in three tranches of Rs 20,000 crore each. These tranches are scheduled for January 30, February 13, and February 20, 2025.

A 56-day Variable Rate Repo auction for Rs 50,000 crore will take place on February 7, while the dollar-rupee swap auction of USD 5 billion for a tenor of six months will be held on January 31, according to the RBI statement.

Detailed instructions for each operation will be issued separately, the statement added.

Indore and Udaipur have become the first two Indian cities to join the global list of accredited wetland cities under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. Prime Minister took to social media and congratulated the two cities for joining the list of 31 Wetland Accredited Cities globally. "This recognition reflects our strong commitment to sustainable development and nurturing harmony between nature and urban growth," he wrote. "May this feat inspire everyone to keep working towards creating greener, cleaner and more eco-friendly urban spaces across our nation," he added.