Arunachal Pradesh's ginger, locally known as Adi Kekir, handmade carpets and Wancho wooden craft have secured the Geographical Indication (GI) tag, Chief Minister Pema Khandu has announced.

A geographical indication or GI is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin.

"Delighted to share that Adi Kekir (Ginger), Handmade Carpet and Wancho Wooden Craft have been granted Geographical Indication (GI) tags. Truly an acknowledgement of the rich cultural heritage and skilled craftsmanship of our state. Let's celebrate and promote our unique traditions," he said here on Thursday.

More than 1,200 players from across 20 states and union territories of the country will participate in the first-of-its-kind multi-sports beach games in Diu beginning January 4. Players will compete in eight sports on the picturesque Ghoghla beach in Diu.

The logo and website for the ‘Diu Beach Games’ were launched last week by the administrator of the union territory Praful Patel.

The games like volleyball, pencak silat, beach soccer, mallakhamb, beach kabaddi, sea swimming and tug of war will be played during the week-long event.

Kenya's Beatrice Chebet smashed the women's world 5km record in Barcelona on Sunday.

The 23-year-old's time of 14min 13sec improved on the previous women-only world record of 14:29 set by Ethiopia's Senbere Teferi in September 2021.

Her performance also bettered the women's world record set in a mixed race of 14:19, achieved by Ethiopia's Ejegayehu Taye at the same Barcelona meet in 2021.

"I came to Barcelona determined to better the world record as I felt capable of that," said Chebet. "This world record means a lot for me, I can't believe it."

Chennai emerged as the top Indian city for women in 2023 in terms of inclusivity and conduciveness to working women, as per findings from diversity, equity and inclusivity consultant Avtar Group’s Top Cities for Women in India (TCWI) 2023.

Tamil Nadu cities topped both categories that the study covered – 49 cities in the million-plus population category and 64 cities in the less than a million-population category. Chennai topped the million plus category and Tiruchirappalli came on top of the less than a million category. The southern state also had a total of seven cities such as Coimbatore (Million plus), Tiruchirappalli, Vellore, Salem, Erode, and Tirupur (Less than a million) featuring in the lists.

NHPC has inked an initial pact to invest Rs 4,000 crore in 750 MW Kuppa Pumped Hydro Storage Project at Chhota Udaipur in Gujarat. Taking a step towards clean and green energy, NHPC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Gujarat Power Corporation (GPCL) for investment in Kuppa Pumped Hydro Storage Project (750 MW) on January 3, 2024, a company statement said.

According to the statement, the MoU was signed at an event organised at the Secretariat in Gandhinagar under the aegis of 'Vibrant Gujarat'.

In the presence of Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, and state Energy Minister Kanubhai Desai, the MoU was signed by Arun Mahesh Babu, Managing Director, GPCL, and V Srivastava, Executive Director, Renewable Energy and Green Hydrogen, NHPC, the statement said.

Nearly one-fifth of the district court complexes in the country lack separate toilets for women, according to a report published by the Centre for Research and Planning of the Supreme Court recently.

The report — ‘State of the Judiciary’ — underscored the necessity of women-friendly toilets, stating that sanitary napkin vending machines have been provided at only 6.7% of the toilets meant for women.

“To ensure equality, dignity and the right to menstrual health and sanitation facilities to women, it is essential that women toilets in institutions of justice have sanitary napkin vending machines with appropriate menstrual waste disposal options,” it stated.

The Supreme Court on January 4 said it has recommended setting up a two-judge panel in all high courts to ensure that the orders on pay, pension and other retiral benefits for judicial officers as per the Second National Judicial Pay Commission are implemented.

Serving and former judicial officers will also get cashless facilities for their medical examination, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud said.

Observing that the judgment on the issue is ready and will be pronounced soon, the bench, also comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra, said it has accepted the recommendations of the Second National Judicial Pay Commission (SNJPC).

Senior IPS officer Rashmi Shukla was appointed as Maharashtra's new Director General of Police (DGP) on January 4. The state home department issued an order to this effect. The state home department issued an order to this effect.

Shukla, an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the 1988 batch, was posted as director general of the Sashastra Seema Bal on deputation.

Mumbai Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar was holding additional charge as DGP Maharashtra after earlier DGP Rajnish Seth retired on December 31.

The decision to appoint Shukla as the top cop came more than three months after the Bombay High Court quashed two phone-tapping cases registered against the IPS officer.

Gautam Adani has reclaimed the position of Asia's wealthiest individual, after a volatile trajectory in wealth standings last year. This comes after the Indian Supreme Court's decision to dismiss any necessity for fresh probes into the allegations leveled by Hindenburg Research against the Adani conglomerate.

Adani saw a remarkable surge in his net worth, soaring by $7.7 billion in a single day to reach $97.6 billion, as per a report by Bloomberg. This development allowed him to regain the leading position in the region, surpassing his Indian counterpart Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd. Ambani, closely trailing, possessed a net worth of $97 billion, as indicated by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

REC Power Development and Consultancy Limited (RECPDCL), a wholly owned subsidiary of REC Limited, has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Gujarat for Rs. 2,094.28 Crores for the implementation of the Smart Metering project in PGVCL (Paschim Gujarat Vij Company Ltd.) under Phase 1 of Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS).

In the strategic collaboration, the Government of Gujarat is set to facilitate RECPDCL in obtaining necessary permissions and clearances for their upcoming projects in the state. The MoU outlines a time-bound framework to streamline the establishment of RECPDCL’s projects in Gujarat.

The MoU was signed ahead of Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2024 by MD, Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam (GUVNL), Shri Jai Prakash Shivahare and CEO, RECPDCL, Shri Rajesh Kumar Gupta in presence of Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Bhupendra Patel.