The World Bank has approved technical and financial assistance of Rs 5,700 crore under the 'Jal Sanrakshit Haryana Project', with the objective of making the state self-reliant in the water sector.

Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, who was chairing a meeting of officials here on the Jal Sanrakshit Haryana programme, said the funds will be disbursed in a phased manner over 2026 to 2032.

The funds will be utilised for large-scale works in the canal sector, he said on Saturday.

According to an official statement, Saini said that out of a total of 1,570 canals in the state, 892 canals have been restored over the past 20 years, and the restoration of the remaining 678 canals is proposed to be completed in the next five years.

The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the chief wildlife warden, Jharkhand in Mumbai on Thursday to strengthen the vulture conservation breeding programme for two critically endangered Gyps vulture species—the Oriental White-backed Vulture and the Long-billed Vulture.

Five-Year Collaboration

The five-year collaboration, commencing from the financial year 2025–26, aims to support scientific breeding, monitoring, and long-term conservation of these key scavenger species, marking a significant step towards strengthening biodiversity conservation efforts in the state.

The Government has approved a 200-crore-rupee project to develop a smart and integrated fishing harbour at Mayabunder in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The project will be fully funded by the Centre under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana. The harbour will provide safe facilities for 430 fishing vessels and handle nearly 10,000 tonnes of fish annually. It will promote sustainable fishing, better fish handling, improved safety and digital tracking, while also generating employment and boosting fisher incomes. The government said the project will help unlock the fisheries potential of the islands and support India’s target of achieving one lakh crore rupees in seafood exports by 2030-31.

Suryoday Small Finance Bank has partnered with technology firm HyperVerge to implement an AI-driven Video KYC system as part of its digital banking operations. The bank said the move is intended to improve *digital onboarding, regulatory compliance, and operational efficiency* while meeting regulatory and data security requirements, particularly as more customers access banking services remotely.

According to the bank, the Video KYC system enables verification agents to complete nearly twice the number of approved calls per day compared with earlier processes. The increase in throughput allows the bank to handle higher onboarding volumes without adding operational staff, while maintaining consistency in customer interactions. The system has been integrated into the bank’s existing digital channels and is being used across products that require identity verification.

Maharashtra has set up the country's first dedicated menopause clinics across government hospitals and urban health facilities to address the physical and mental health needs of women during this critical stage of their lives, officials said.

The clinics provide expert medical consultation, mental health counselling, screening for bone, heart and hormonal health, along with medicines and guidance at a single location, they said.

Menopause is considered a sensitive and often neglected phase, during which women experience physical changes, mental stress, hormonal imbalance, bone-related problems, sleep disorders and depression.

Recognising this long-felt need, the state government decided to introduce specialised menopause clinics exclusively for women, an official statement on Tuesday said.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain a petition challenging the practice of ‘VIP darshan’ and selective entry into the 'Garbhagriha' (innermost sanctum) of the Shri Mahakaleshwar Temple in Ujjain.

A bench, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, observed that it was not a matter for judicial interference.

Sensing the court's disinclination to entertain the plea, the petitioner’s counsel chose to withdraw the matter with liberty to make a representation before the authorities concerned.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has moved the hands of the Doomsday Clock to 85 seconds to midnight, the closest the world has ever been to global catastrophe in its estimation. The announcement, on January 27 in Washington DC, reflects a darkening security landscape marked by eroding nuclear norms, escalating conflicts in Europe and Asia, climate and biological risks, and a fracturing international order.

The new setting moves the clock forward from its previous position of 89 seconds to midnight from a year ago.

“Last year, we warned that the world was perilously close to catastrophe and that countries needed to change course towards international cooperation and actions on the most critical existential risks,” SSB Chair and University of Chicago professor Daniel Holz said. “Unfortunately, the opposite has happened. Rather than heed this warning, major countries became even more aggressive, adversarial, and nationalistic.”

Madhya Pradesh will observe 2026 as the 'year of agriculture', Governor Mangu Bhai Patel said on Monday (January 26, 2026), citing that the budget for the sector has been increased to ₹27,000 crore over the years.

Mr. Patel was addressing a function to mark the 77th Republic Day in the State capital.

"India's economy is based on agriculture, and the state government is making multifaceted efforts for the welfare of farmers. 2026 will be celebrated as the 'year of agriculture in Madhya Pradesh, and preparations are already underway," the Governor said.

A team of researchers from Nagaland University has recorded a new plant species in the high-altitude forests of Nagaland, cementing the northeastern region of India as a biodiversity hotspot and reaffirming the vital role of community-protected forests in conservation.

The hitherto undocumented species, Hoya nagaensis, was found during botanical surveys in remote forest areas that have remained largely unexplored by science.

Nagaland’s forests are unusual in that many are protected and managed by local communities rather than the State. While this traditional stewardship has preserved vast tracts of forest, limited scientific documentation has left much of the region’s biodiversity unrecorded.

NITI Aayog today launched Sampoornata Abhiyan 2.0, a three-month campaign aimed at achieving saturation of critical development indicators in Aspirational Districts and Aspirational Blocks across the country. Launched by the Chief Executive Officer of NITI Aayog, B.V.R. Subrahmanyam, in New Delhi today, the campaign will run till 14th of April, this year. The abhiyan seeks to build on the successful outcomes of the 2024 campaign and focuses on saturating five key performance indicators in 112 Aspirational Districts and six indicators in 513 Aspirational Blocks. These indicators cover priority areas such as health and nutrition, sanitation, education, maternal and child health, tuberculosis case detection and animal vaccination.