The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Civil Aviation for the appointment of Rajesh Nirwan (IPS) as the Director General of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) under the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

According to an order issued from the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) on January 27, Nirwan's appointment will be effective from the date of assumption of charge and will continue until further orders.

Rajesh Nirwan, an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the Rajasthan cadre from the 1992 batch, brings extensive experience and expertise to his new role.

In a significant step toward bolstering Haryana’s power infrastructure, Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) has signed a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Haryana Power Purchase Centre (HPPC) for a period of 25 years. The agreement, finalized with the due consent of the Ministry of Power, will facilitate the supply of 800 MW from DVC’s upcoming thermal projects.

The agreement was formalized at HPPC’s Corporate Office in Panchkula on January 29, 2025, in the presence of senior officials from both organizations. The 800 MW power supply will be sourced from DVC’s upcoming projects, including 300 MW from Raghunathpur Thermal Power Station (RTPS) Phase-II (2x660 MW), 300 MW from Koderma Thermal Power Station (KTPS) Phase-II (2x800 MW), and 200 MW from Durgapur Thermal Power Station (DTPS) (1x800 MW). This latest agreement is in addition to the existing PPA under which DVC already supplies 300 MW of power to Haryana from its operational units.

In commemoration of Martyrs’ Day, the National Archives of India (NAI) and the National Gandhi Museum (NGM), in collaboration with the National Film Archives of India and Prasar Bharati Archives, will inaugurate a special exhibition titled “Journey of the Mahatma: Through His Own Documents”. The event will take place on January 30 at 3:00 PM in the Exhibition Hall of the National Gandhi Museum, Rajghat, New Delhi.

The exhibition will be inaugurated by Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee, the granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi and Chairman of the National Gandhi Museum, according to a press release from the Ministry of Culture.

This exhibition offers a unique opportunity for visitors to explore Mahatma Gandhi’s life through rare photographs, official documents, audio recordings, video clips, and personal correspondences, depicting his journey from Porbandar to his leadership in India’s independence movement.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the revision of ethanol procurement prices for public sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) for the Ethanol Supply Year (ESY) 2024-25. The period extends from November 1, 2024, to October 31, 2025, under the Government of India’s Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme.

The ex-mill price of ethanol derived from C Heavy Molasses (CHM) has been increased from ₹56.58 to ₹57.97 per litre, marking a 3% rise. The revision aims to ensure adequate ethanol supply to achieve higher blending targets, stabilize ethanol prices, and provide a remunerative rate for ethanol producers. Additionally, Goods and Services Tax (GST) and transportation charges will remain payable separately to support sugarcane farmers.

The EBP Programme, which promotes blending ethanol with petrol to reduce crude oil imports and combat environmental pollution, has shown remarkable progress. Ethanol blending by public sector OMCs surged from 38 crore litres in ESY 2013-14 to 707 crore litres in ESY 2023-24, achieving an average blending rate of 14.60%.

American long jump great Greg Bell, who had been the oldest living Olympic gold medallist in athletics, has died at the age of 94.

Bell breathed his last on January 25, according to World Athletics which paid tribute to the 1956 Olympic long jump gold medallist.

"World Athletics is deeply saddened to hear that Greg Bell, the 1956 Olympic long jump champion, died on Saturday at the age of 94. He had been the oldest living Olympic gold medallist in athletics," it said.

The Himachal Pradesh government has approved the rollout of the Himachal Pradesh Sadhbhawana Legacy Cases Resolution Scheme, 2025, extending its scope to include cases under non-subsumed enactments.

"Notably, the State Value Added Tax Act, which governs petroleum products like diesel and petrol, remains outside the purview of GST. Under this new scheme, cases related to petroleum products up to the financial year 2017-18 will be addressed, aiming to further reduce the backlog of cases under non-subsumed enactments," as per an official release.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that the new scheme is expected to resolve approximately 3,500 cases, with an anticipated revenue realization of Rs 10 crore.

Laapataa Ladies, directed by Kiran Rao, has been shortlisted for a Japan Academy Film Prize for the year 2024 in the best international film category.

The Hindi film, which was India's official entry to Oscars 2025, will compete with four other international titles Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer, Poor Things by Yorgos Lanthimos, Jonathan Glazer's The Zone of Interest, and Alex Garland’s Civil War in the category, a press release stated on Tuesday.

There was a reason why the British invested in a 65-km railway track from Dibrugarh to Margherita in the early 1880s, less than two decades after Asia’s first oil well was drilled at the nearby Digboi town.

The track helped transport coal, tea, and timber from Margherita and stations en route to the Brahmaputra River port at Dibrugarh. The town developed into the administrative hub of eastern Assam and became a major centre for trade, commerce, and education in the region.

Dibrugarh was one of the highest revenue-collecting centres in India during and after the transfer of power in 1947. However, its graph started dropping a couple of decades later and accelerated after the Assam Agitation of 1979-85 and the United Liberation Front of Asom brand of extremism.

Chinese scientists claim to have developed the world’s first seabed 'radar' capable of detecting high-altitude aircraft. The South China Morning Post (SCMP) reports that this breakthrough could significantly enhance China’s intelligence network and reshape future naval warfare.

At an undisclosed location, an acoustic sensor array positioned on the seabed at a depth of 1,000 metres has reportedly detected and tracked a fixed-wing aircraft flying at an altitude of 5,000 metres. Scientists involved in the project shared these details, as reported by the SCMP on Sunday.

India's mines ministry has earmarked nearly $2 billion to develop its critical minerals sector as the world's fastest-growing major economy aims to secure raw materials such as lithium, according to a source and documents from the ministry.

In 2023, India identified 30 minerals, including lithium, as "critical" for its energy transition efforts and to meet the growing demand from industries and the infrastructure sector.

The country otherwise relies on imports to meet its rising demand.

Out of the proposed funding of Rs 16,300 crore ($1.9 billion) to develop the critical minerals sector, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet is likely to initially approve more than $300 million this week, said the source, who is directly aware of the matter and asked to remain unidentified as the deliberations were not public.