The 21st edition of the Third Eye Asian Film Festival, a cornerstone of Maharashtra’s film culture, started on 10th January 2025 has concluded yesterday at Movie Max Cinemas in Mumbai. This year’s festival held at MovieMax Theatres in Andheri, Sion, and Thane, screened an impressive 61 films from across Asia to cinephiles in Mumbai and Thane. This includes films from countries like China, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Tunisia, and Bhutan. Renowned lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar has been felicitated with the Asian Cinema Culture Award. The Satyajit Rai Memorial Award was given to veteran film journalist Rafiq Baghdadi where National award-winning writer Professor Anil Jhankar was given a special award for film writing in memory of Sudhir Nandgaonkar.

The film ‘Gypsy’ won the best film award in the Marathi films category, while Shashi Khandare won the best director award for the same film. Actor Mangesh Arote bagged the best actor award for ‘Gypsy’ while Shraddha Khanolkar won the best actress award for the film ‘Bhera’. Director Anil Bhalerao of the film ‘Chhabila’ and actor Prithviraj Chavan of the film ‘Cineman’ were honoured with the Special Jury Award. In the Indian Cinema category, the film ‘Juiphool’ was selected as the best film at this festival. The Best Director award goes to Samik Roy Chaudhary for the film ‘Beeline’ and Jadumoni Dutta for the film ‘Juiphool’. The best actor award was felicitated to Gaurav Ambre from the film Zunzarpur, and the best actress was Jayashree for the film, The Bird of a Different Feather. Former MP Dr Vinay Sahastrabuddhe, Festival President Kiran Shantaram, and Journalist Sunil Nandgaonkar presented the award to the winners.

India was ranked second in terms of preparedness for jobs of the future including artificial intelligence (AI) and green skills, only behind the United States, as per the QS World Future Skills Index 2025. Overall though, India ranked 25th across all indicators, which also include the alignment between skills and employer needs, academic readiness, and economic transformation.

India’s overall ranking puts it as a “future skills contender,” as per the report. Countries like the USA, UK, Germany, Australia, and Canada, among others in the top ten have been categorised as “future skills pioneers”.

The report calls the indicator where India was ranked second as ‘future of work,’ which evaluates a country’s readiness to recruit for the skills needed in the jobs of tomorrow. Specifically, it measures how well the job market is prepared to meet the growing demand for digital, AI, and green skills, all of which are becoming critical as economies transition towards technology-driven and sustainable industries.

The Centre has agreed in principle to executive, legislative, and financial autonomy for the Frontier Nagaland Territory (FNT), an administrative area proposed to be carved out of six eastern districts of Nagaland, the Eastern Nagaland People’s Organisation (ENPO) has said.

The ENPO, an apex organisation representing seven Naga tribes, has been spearheading the demand for the creation of the FNT comprising six districts — Kiphire, Longleng, Mon, Noklak, Shamator, and Tuensang.

Ahead of a meeting with a three-member team from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) at the Police Complex in Chumoukedima on Wednesday (January 15, 2025), the ENPO said that it would not accept anything short of executive, legislative, and financial autonomy for the FNT.

A.K. Mishra, special adviser to the MHA, helmed the tripartite meeting involving top leaders of the ENPO and representatives of the Nagaland government.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has signed a Rs. 2,960 crore contract with Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) for the supply of Medium-Range Surface-to-Air Missiles (MRSAM) for the Indian Navy, as stated in a press release issued by the Ministry.

The contract, finalised in New Delhi on Friday in the presence of Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh, marks a significant step towards enhancing India’s defence capabilities.

The MRSAM system will be fitted onboard multiple Indian Naval ships and is planned for integration into future naval platforms.

This contract aligns with the government’s vision of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat,’ with the missiles being supplied under the ‘Buy (Indian)’ category, incorporating predominantly indigenous content.

Cloth bags, and steel plates and glasses are being distributed at the Maha Kumbh to ensure that the world's largest religious congregation is plastic-free, an RSS functionary said.

The "One Plate, One Bag" campaign was launched in Sector 18 on the Old GT Road by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Sah-Sarkaryavah Krishna Gopal to replace plastic bags and disposable items, Prant Prachar Pramukh of the organisation, Murar Tripathi, said on Wednesday (January 15, 2025).

Addressing the pilgrims, Mr. Gopal said collective efforts were needed to create a plastic-free society and asserted that everyone should adopt the habit of using cloth bags.

On that note, an autobiographical portrait of Sanjay Subrahmanyan, is at once the summary of a life dedicated to Carnatic music and a peek into the effort that goes into making a classical musician’s genre-defying transformation at the top of his career. In fact, the headline of the second chapter summarises it rather graphically: “It takes a village to raise a musician.”

Sanjay’s hasn’t been an easy journey, but the joint effort of his family and, above all, the dogged determination of Sanjay himself, helped in his evolution from a reluctant learner to an accomplished artiste. It’s also about his well-wishers, mentors, audiences and fans.

It’s fascinating to read how a playful boy from Mylapore gets initiated into music because of the deep-rooted socio-cultural milieu of his family. This five-decade long story is also about Carnatic music during the same period — besides Sanjay’s journey, you also get a ringside view of the lives of all the major characters in his life.

Former Army chief V.K. Singh was sworn in as the 25th Governor of Mizoram in the northeastern State’s capital Aizawl on Thursday (January 156, 2024).

He replaced Hari Babu Kambhampati, who took over as his Odisha counterpart.

Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court Vijay Bishnoi administered the oath of office to General (retired) Singh at Aizawl’s Raj Bhavan in the presence of Chief Minister Lalduhoma, former Chief Ministers Zoramthanga and Lal Thanhawla, Assembly Speaker Lalbiakzama, and Ministers.

The appointment of the former Army chief, who served as a Minister during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first two terms from 2014 to 2024, is considered strategic as Mizoram borders Bangladesh and Myanmar, two countries in turmoil.

Mizoram currently houses more than 30,000 refugees from civil war-torn Myanmar and persecuted ethnic communities from the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. Mizoram shares a 510 km border with Myanmar and a 318 km border with Bangladesh.

In a significant administrative development, Nidhi Khare (IAS), has been entrusted with the additional charge of Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). She currently serves as Secretary in the Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.

Khare is a 1992 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Jharkhand cadre. She has been assigned additional charge of MNRE Secretary with immediate effect till the appointment of a regular incumbent or until further orders.

The development came a day after, former Secretary Prashant Kumar Singh (IAS) returned to his parent cadre following the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet's directive.

Vineet Joshi (IAS) has taken over charge as Secretary of the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education at Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi on Thursday. Before this appointment, he served as the Chief Secretary of Manipur.

Joshi is a 1992-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Manipur cadre.

Vineet Joshi holds B. Tech in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Kanpur, MBA from the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi. Having numerous training modules and research papers to his credit, the new Chairman is credited with an extensive experience and professionalism.

He has held several prominent positions in the education sector, including Director-General of the National Testing Agency (NTA), Chairman of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), and Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Education, among others.

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, at the launch of Dr. K.S. Chauhan’s book “Parliament: Powers, Functions & Privileges; A Comparative Constitutional Perspective”, praised the author’s dedication to the study of parliamentary law.

In his address, Dhankhar noted that the two-volume work offered crucial insights into the workings of Parliament and its responsibilities, particularly in holding the executive accountable.

The Vice President highlighted that Parliament is the backbone of democracy, stating that its primary function is to ensure government accountability through dialogue, debate, and deliberation.

He stressed that a dysfunctional Parliament jeopardizes democracy and erodes public trust. Dhankhar also discussed the importance of parliamentary privileges, urging MPs to use their powers responsibly and emphasizing the need for a functional Parliament to address the aspirations of the people.