The combined Index of Eight Core Industries increased by 1.8 per cent in November this year as compared to the same month last year. The Commerce and Industry Ministry said that the production of Cement, Steel, Fertilizer and Coal recorded positive growth in November.

The Ministry said that the Coal production increased by 2.1 per cent, Fertilizer production by 5.6 per cent, Cement production by 14.5 per cent and Steel production increased by 6.1 per cent in November this year, as compared to the same month last year. However, the Crude Oil production declined by 3.2 per cent and Natural Gas production also declined by 2.5 per cent in November.

The Index of Eight Core Industries measures the combined and individual performance of the production of eight core industries – Coal, Crude Oil, Natural Gas, Refinery Products, Fertilisers, Steel, Cement and Electricity. The eight core industries comprise over 40 percent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production.

Oman has introduced its first polymer one-rial banknote, designed to last longer and stay more secure than previous ones. The new banknote, which will start circulating from January 11, 2026, also highlights the country’s cultural and economic achievements.

The Central Bank of Oman has released the one-rial polymer banknote, the country has first time issued currency in this material. Unlike the traditional cotton based notes, polymer is durable and comes with advanced security features to help prevent counterfeiting.

The note measures 145 by 76 millimetres combining design, heritage, and national pride. The front side features the Oman Botanic Garden, representing the nation’s commitment to preserving its natural heritage. On the rear side, the Sayyid Tariq bin Taimur Cultural Complex appears alongside the Duqm Port and Refinery, showing Oman’s cultural landmarks and economic progress. Together, these images offer a clear picture of the country’s identity and achievements.

Vishwa Bandhu scholarships and fellowships to attract foreign students and faculty, and easing regulation frameworks to enable more international campuses in India — including exploring the “campus within campus” model — are among the policy recommendations made by the NITI Aayog as part of a road map for the “internationalisation” of higher education in India. The public policy think tank has also proposed setting up an Erasmus+-like programme, updated curricula, and expanding the criteria of the NIRF rankings to achieve goals set out in the National Education Policy 2020.

The NITI Aayog on Monday (December 22, 2025) released a report titled “Internationalisation of Higher Education in India: Prospects, Potential, and Policy Recommendations”, which recommended 22 such policy interventions in order to deal with the “imbalance between inbound and outbound student mobility”. The study, conducted over the past year, noted that in 2024, for every international student who came to India to study, 28 Indian students went abroad for higher education.

A new Letter of Intent (LoI) has been signed to establish a new Centre of Excellence for CRISPR Innovation and Translation (CoE-CIT) as a dedicated hub to harness cutting-edge CRISPR technologies to facilitate translation of scientific discoveries in a laboratory into real-world clinical applications.

The Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bengaluru an autonomous institute of Department of Science and Technology (DST) and CRISPRBITS Private Limited (CrisprBits) based in Delhi, focused on Biotechnology using CRISPR gene-editing technology for developing affordable diagnostics, has announced the signing of a Letter of Intent (LOI) to jointly establish the CoE-CIT, in a landmark public–private partnership between academia and industry which is among the first of its kind in India.

The CoE-CIT is envisioned to bridge the bench to bed gap leading and have therapeutic impact by combining JNCASR’s strengths in fundamental biomedical sciences with CrisprBits’ expertise in applied gene-editing and translational platforms. Demonstrating how Indian scientific innovation can be effectively translated into societal and clinical benefit, the CoE will serve as a replicable national model for academic–industry partnerships to strengthen India’s biotechnology and innovation ecosystem.

India and the Netherlands on Saturday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen cooperation in maritime heritage, marking a major step towards the development of the National Maritime Heritage Complex (NMHC) at Lothal in Gujarat.

The MoU was exchanged during a bilateral meeting between External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel. The agreement brings together the NMHC, being developed under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, and the National Maritime Museum in Amsterdam.

Under the MoU, both sides will collaborate on the exchange of knowledge, expertise and best practices in maritime museum design, curation and conservation. The partnership will also enable joint exhibitions, research initiatives and cultural exchange programmes, along with the adoption of innovative approaches to enhance visitor experience, education and public outreach.

In Badminton, Indian pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won Bronze in the BWF World Tour Finals 2025 at Hangzhou in China last night. They went down to the local pair of Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang in the semi-finals, by a scoreline of 10-21, 21-17, 21-13. However, this is only the second BWF World Tour Finals medal ever won by Indian shuttlers. Earlier in 2018, PV Sindhu had won the women’s singles title and became the only gold medallist from India in the competition.

The Supreme Court’s December 19 judgment on protecting the critically endangered Great Indian Bustard (GIB), which is rapidly declining, will directly reshape India’s Green Energy Corridor (GEC) projects in Rajasthan and Gujarat, locking large volumes of renewable capacity into narrowly defined transmission routes and heightening the risk of stranded assets in the country’s desert heartlands.

The ruling closes a four-year legal battle that repeatedly disrupted GEC planning and execution. In April 2021, the court ordered all overhead power lines across nearly 99,000 square kilometres of GIB habitat to be placed underground within a year. The direction effectively stalled approvals under GEC Phase I, delayed commissioning of evacuation lines, and cast uncertainty over Phase II projects, which were designed to carry large volumes of new solar and wind power from desert districts to interstate and national grids.

On October 13, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF & CC) proposed a new 100-metre definition for Aravallis to the Supreme Court. The very next day, the apex court’s Central Empowered Committee (CEC) wrote to the amicus curiae assisting the bench that they did not examine or approve the recommendation.

On November 20, the Supreme Court accepted the 100-metre recommendation of the ministry.

The CEC is a body set up by the SC in 2002 to monitor and ensure compliance of its orders related to environment and forests.

The 40-day harshest winter period, known as “Chilai Kalan”, began in Kashmir on Sunday amid snowfall in the upper reaches, including the tourist resorts of Gulmarg and Sonamarg, and rain in the plains, including Srinagar.

‘Chilai Kalan’, the coldest phase of winter in Kashmir, starts on December 21 and ends on January 31.

During this 40-day period, the Valley remains in the grip of intense cold, with the highest chances of snowfall and rainfall, while night temperatures mostly stay several degrees below the freezing point.

Madhya Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Jagdish Devda on Monday said the state budget for 2026-27 will be prepared in accordance with public expectations, keeping in mind the basic spirit of democracy. To make the 2026-27 budget more public-friendly, practical, and result-oriented, the state government organised 'Budget Dialogue Programme' in which economists, budget experts, intellectuals, and experts from various fields participated.

Interacting with experts for the upcoming budget, Deva said, "As an innovation, indicative budget estimates for 2027-28 and 2028-29 are also being prepared along with the budget estimates for 2026-27. Thus, Madhya Pradesh will become the first state in the country to initiate the preparation of a rolling budget for the next three years." Rolling budgets are one of the methods of budget analysis that has gained popularity in recent years.