PM to visit Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh on 11th April PM to lay the foundation stone and inaugurate various development projects worth over Rs 3,880 crore in Varanasi
Special focus of projects: road, electricity, education, tourism
PM to present Geographical Indication (GI) certificates to newly registered local items and products
PM to perform darshan and pooja at Guru Ji Maharaj Temple in Isagarh, Madhya Pradesh
Posted On: 09 APR 2025 9:43PM by PIB Delhi
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will visit Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh on 11th April. He will travel to Varanasi and at around 11 AM, he will lay the foundation stone and inaugurate various development projects worth over Rs 3,880 crore. He will also address a public meeting.
Thereafter he will travel to Madhya Pradesh and at around 3:15 PM, he will perform darshan and pooja at Guru Ji Maharaj Temple in Isagarh. Further, at around 4:15 PM, he will participate in a public programme at Anandpur Dham and address the gathering on the occasion.
PM in Uttar Pradesh
Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone and inaugurate various development projects worth over Rs 3,880 crore in Varanasi. In line with his commitment to infrastructure development, particularly enhancing road connectivity in Varanasi, he will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone for various road projects in the region. Furthermore, he will lay the foundation stone for a road bridge between Varanasi Ring Road and Sarnath, flyovers at Bhikharipur and Manduadih crossings of the city and a highway underpass road tunnel on NH-31 at the Varanasi International Airport worth over Rs 980 crore.
Giving a boost to the electricity infrastructure, Prime Minister will inaugurate two 400 KV and one 220 KV transmission substations and associated transmission lines of Jaunpur, Chandauli and Ghazipur districts of Varanasi division worth over Rs 1,045 crore. He will also lay the foundation stone of a 220 KV transmission substation at Chaukaghat, Varanasi, a 132 KV transmission substation in Ghazipur and augmentation of the Varanasi city electricity distribution system worth over Rs 775 crore.
Prime Minister will inaugurate a Transit Hostel at the Police Line and barracks at PAC Ramnagar Campus, to improve facilities for the security personnel. He will also lay the foundation stone of new administrative buildings at various police stations and a residential hostel in Police Line.
In line with his vision to ensure education for all, Prime Minister will inaugurate projects including a Government Polytechnic College at Pindra, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Government College at village Barki, 356 rural libraries and 100 Anganwadi centres also. He will also lay the foundation stone for renovation of 77 primary school buildings under the Smart City Mission and the construction of a new building for Kasturba Gandhi School at Cholapur, Varanasi. Promoting sports infrastructure in the city, Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone for a synthetic hockey turf with floodlights and spectator gallery at Uday Pratap College and a mini stadium at Shivpur.
Prime Minister will also inaugurate the redevelopment of Samne Ghat and Shastri Ghat at Ganga river, 130 rural drinking water schemes under the Jal Jeevan Mission worth over Rs 345 crore, improvement of six municipal wards of Varanasi and landscaping and sculpture installations at various sites of Varanasi.
Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone for MSME Unity Mall for artisans, infrastructure development works of Transport Nagar Scheme at Mohansarai, 1 MW solar power plant at WTP Bhelupur, Community halls in 40 Gram panchayats and beautification of various parks in Varanasi.
Prime Minister will also handover Ayushman Vay Vandana cards to first time benefitting senior citizens over 70 years. He will present Geographical Indication (GI) certificates to various local items and products including tabla, painting, thandai, tiranga barfi among others. He will also transfer over Rs 105 crore bonus to milk suppliers of Uttar Pradesh associated with Banas Dairy.
PM in Madhya Pradesh
In line with his commitment to furthering the cultural and spiritual heritage of India, Prime Minister will visit Anandpur Dham of Isagarh Tehsil in the Ashoknagar district in Madhya Pradesh. He will perform darshan and pooja at Guru Ji Maharaj Temple. He will also tour the temple complex at Anandpur Dham.
Anandpur Dham has been established for spiritual and philanthropic purposes. Spanning 315 hectares, it houses a modern gaushala (cowshed) with over 500 cows and runs agricultural activities under Shri Anandpur Trust campus. The trust has been operating a charitable hospital in Sukhpur village, schools in Sukhpur and Anandpur and various Satsang Centers across the country.
Commerce and Industry Minister Shri Piyush Goyal chairs a meeting on the emerging trade scenario with Export Promotion Councils and Industry bodies Meeting was called to deliberate on the opportunities arising out of the evolving scenarios
Posted On: 09 APR 2025 7:55PM by PIB Delhi
Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal, today held discussions with the Export Promotion Councils and Industry Bodies in New Delhi in the light of the emerging trade scenario. The meeting was called to deliberate on the impact as well as opportunities arising out of the evolving and very dynamic scenarios and to apprise the industry and trade about the steps being taken by the Government.
The Commerce and Industry Minister (CIM) complemented the exporters and the industry for achieving the highest ever export of above USD 820 Billion in the fiscal 2024-25 which is nearly 6% growth over previous fiscal year. In spite of multiple headwinds including the red sea crisis, Israel-Hamas conflict spilling over to Gulf region, continuation of Russia-Ukraine conflict and slow growth in some developed economies, the Minister lauded the Exporters for their resilience and efforts.
During the meeting, CIM also apprised the exporters regarding discussions with the US for a mutually beneficial multi-sectoral Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA), which has been ongoing due to the foresight of Honb’le PM Modi who was one of the first global leaders to agree on the BTA in his meeting with President Trump in February 2025.
The Commerce and Industry minister assured the exporters that the Government will work to provide a conducive environment to enable them to successfully navigate the recent changes in the global trade environment.
The Commerce and Industry Minister assured that the country is working in a proactive manner and exploring solutions which are in the best interest of the nation. The team working on BTA is exploring the right mix and the right balance and he exhorted the exporters to not panic and look at the silver lining in the present scenario. He assured that the team is working with speed but not in undue haste to ensure the right outcome for the country.
The CIM said that different countries are approaching the tariff imposition in a different manner. However, as far as India is concerned, there is a potential for increase in manufacturing, creation of additional jobs because it can attract big players in global supply chain as India has been able to establish itself as a trusted and reliable partner and with a predictable business friendly destination.
Various Export Promotion Councils, representing a wide array of sectors, presented their views and outlook in light of the emerging challenges in global trade and requested the government to take proactive measures to support the export industry in these challenging times.
The meeting was attended by Export Promotion Councils, Industry bodies and officials from Commerce and line ministries.
PRESIDENT OF INDIA IN SLOVAKIA; MEETS POLITICAL LEADERSHIP OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC; LEADS DELEGATION-LEVEL TALKS WITNESSES EXCHANGE OF TWO MoUs IN THE FIELDS OF MSMEs AND DIPLOMATIC TRAINING COOPERATION
Posted On: 09 APR 2025 9:05PM by PIB Delhi
The President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu reached Bratislava on the final leg of her State Visit to Portugal and the Slovak Republic. This is the first-ever visit by an Indian President to the Slovak Republic in 29 years. The Minister of State, Smt Nimuben Bambhaniya, and Members of Parliament Shri Dhaval Patel and Smt Sandhya Ray are also part of the accompanying delegation.
The President commenced her engagements with the visit to the Presidential Palace where the President of the Slovak Republic, H.E. Mr. Peter Pellegrini, warmly received her. She was extended a traditional Slovak welcome with bread and salt by a couple in folk dress and accorded a ceremonial welcome with the Guard of Honour.
Later, President Droupadi Murmu discussed various aspects of bilateral relations and issues of shared global and regional interests with President Peter Pellegrini of the Slovak Republic during one-to-one meeting and delegation-level talks. The President appreciated the personal commitment and initiative of President Pellegrini towards strengthening bilateral relations. She noted the rising popularity of Indian art and culture in Slovakia. She highlighted the immense potential for the two countries to collaborate more closely in the rapidly expanding media, entertainment and creative economy sectors of India, including promotion of Slovakia as a filming destination and a partner in joint film production. She invited Slovakia to take part actively in the upcoming WAVE Summit being hosted by India in Mumbai from May 1 to 4, 2025.
Both leaders witnessed the exchange of two MoUs, one on cooperation in the fields of MSMEs between NSIC and the Slovak Business Agency and another on diplomatic training cooperation between SSIFS and the Slovak Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs.
In the next engagement, President Droupadi Murmu met the Speaker of National Council of the Slovak Republic, H.E. Mr. Richard Raši. The President congratulated Mr. Raši on his recent election as Speaker and reaffirmed the high priority attached by India to the historic friendship between the two countries. She said that Parliamentarians have an important role in enhancing goodwill and mutual understanding between India and Slovakia. She noted that there has been a tradition of a Slovak-India Friendship Group in the National Council of Slovakia, and said that it would help promote the exchange of knowledge and experience among our Parliamentarians.
The President also met and held extensive discussions with the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic, H.E. Mr Robert Fico. She stated that India greatly values our traditionally close and friendly ties with the Slovak Republic, based on shared values of democracy, rule of law and convergence of views on global issues. She also noted that there has been an increase in our engagements across sectors. The two leaders agreed to further diversify and strengthen bilateral relations in all areas of mutual interest.
National Critical Mineral Mission Powering India’s Clean Energy Future
Posted On: 09 APR 2025 6:33PM by PIB Delhi
Introduction
The Government of India launched the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM) in 2025 to establish a robust framework for self-reliance in the critical mineral sector. Under this mission, the Geological Survey of India (GSI) has been tasked with conducting 1,200 exploration projects from 2024-25 to 2030-31.
A committee formed by the Ministry of Mines in November 2022 identified 30 critical minerals, with 24 included in Part D of Schedule I of Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation Act, 1957 (MMDR Act, 1957). The inclusion of 24 critical minerals in Part D of the First Schedule of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act (MMDR Act) means that the Central Government now has the exclusive authority to auction mining leases and composite licenses for these specific minerals.
It also recommended setting up a Centre of Excellence on Critical Minerals (CECM) to regularly update the mineral list and guide strategy.
Critical minerals are essential for clean energy technologies like solar panels, wind turbines, EVs, and energy storage systems. To secure these resources, India launched the NCMM to ensure their long-term availability and processing.
Critical minerals are essential for a country’s economic development and national security, and their lack of availability or concentration in a few geographical locations can lead to supply chain vulnerabilities.
Usage of Critical Minerals
Critical minerals are essential components of various clean energy technologies and industries. Their importance can be highlighted across different sectors:
1. Solar energy
Critical minerals such as silicon, tellurium, indium, and gallium are vital for the production of photovoltaic (PV) cells used in solar panels.
India’s current solar capacity of 64 GW is heavily dependent on these minerals.
2. Wind energy
Rare earth elements like dysprosium and neodymium are used in permanent magnets for wind turbines.
India aims to increase its wind energy capacity from 42 GW to 140 GW by 2030, necessitating a stable supply of these minerals.
3. Electric vehicles (EVs)
Lithium, nickel, and cobalt are key materials used in lithium-ion batteries.
Under the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP), India plans to deploy 6–7 million EVs by 2024, leading to increased demand for these critical minerals.
4. Energy storage
Lithium-ion batteries used in advanced energy storage systems depend on lithium, cobalt, and nickel.
Objectives of NCMM
To secure India’s critical mineral supply chain by ensuring mineral availability from domestic and foreign sources.
Strengthening the value chains by enhancing technological, regulatory, and financial ecosystems to foster innovation, skill development, and global competitiveness in mineral exploration, mining, beneficiation, processing, and recycling.
Mission Output
Mission Objectives
Key Heads
Target (2024-25 to 2030-31)
Securing Domestic and Foreign Sourcing
Domestic Critical Mineral Exploration Projects-Projects aimed at identifying and evaluating domestic reserves of critical minerals.
1200
Foreign Critical Mineral Mines – PSUs
Exploration and acquisition of overseas mineral assets by Public Sector Undertakings.
26
Foreign Critical Mineral Mines – Private Entities-Facilitation and support for private firms to acquire critical mineral assets abroad.
24
Incentive Scheme for Recycling (kt)
Scheme to promote recovery of critical minerals from secondary sources like scrap and waste
400
Strengthening Value Chains
Patents in Critical Mineral Value Chain
Encouraging innovation through development of patents across the critical mineral lifecycle.
1000
Skill Development
Training and upskilling workforce to support activities in mining, processing, and R&D.
10000
Mineral Processing Parks
Dedicated zones for processing critical minerals with modern infrastructure and facilities.
4
Centre of Excellence
Institutions established for advanced research and technological development in the sector.
3
Mineral Stockpile (Cumulative)
Strategic reserves maintained to ensure uninterrupted supply of critical minerals.
5
Components of the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM)
India’s exploration efforts
Under NCMM mission, GSI has intensified its exploration programs. In the 2024-25 field season, GSI has taken up 195 projects, including 35 in Rajasthan, focused on identifying and assessing critical mineral deposits. The mission seeks to minimize import dependency by enhancing domestic exploration and mining efforts. More than 100 critical mineral blocks are set to be auctioned, and exploration will be expanded to offshore regions rich in polymetallic nodules containing cobalt, rare earth elements (REEs), nickel, and manganese.
The Geological Survey of India (GSI), under the Ministry of Mines, follows the United Nations Framework Classification (UNFC) classification and Minerals (Evidence of Mineral Contents) (MEMC) Rules, 2015, to carry out exploration activities for critical minerals. Earlier in 2021-22 and 2022-23, GSI conducted reconnaissance surveys for rare earth elements (REEs) including neodymium in Sirohi and Bhilwara districts of Rajasthan. Additionally, the Department of Atomic Energy discovered around 1,11,845 tonnes of in-situ Rare Earth Elements Oxide (REO) in Balotra, Rajasthan.
To speed up projects, a fast-track regulatory approval system will be introduced. A new Exploration Licence (EL) will encourage private sector participation. Recovery of minerals from secondary sources like fly ash, tailings, and red mud will be promoted through relaxed rules and incentives. Efforts will also focus on trace mineral assessment, development of processing parks, and increased involvement of state governments and PSUs in the critical mineral value chain.
Acquisition of assets abroad
India will invest in exploring and acquiring critical mineral assets in resource-rich countries. PSUs and private firms will be supported through funding, guidelines, and inter-ministerial coordination. Public-private partnerships will be promoted, and infrastructure support will be ensured with MEA’s help.
Key International Initiatives
KABIL (Khanij Bidesh India Ltd) signed an agreement with CAMYEN SE, a state-owned enterprise in Catamarca, Argentina, on 15th January 2024 for lithium exploration covering 15,703 hectares.
KABIL also signed an MoU with the Critical Mineral Office (CMO), Department of Industry, Science and Resources (DISER), Government of Australia, in March 2022.
Due diligence is underway for selection of lithium and cobalt projects in Australia for strategic investments through off-take arrangements.
IREL (India) Limited
With a processing capacity of 6 lakh tons per annum, IREL produces key minerals like ilmenite, rutile, zircon, sillimanite, and garnet. It also operates a Rare Earth Extraction Plant in Chatrapur, Odisha and a Rare Earth Refining Unit at Aluva, Kerala. The company has been making profit consistently since 1997-98, with a peak turnover of over ₹14,625 million in 2021-22, including ₹7,000 million in exports.
IREL is focused on expanding its production capacity, supporting value chain industries, and advancing R&D through its facility in Kollam, Kerala.
Conclusion
India aims to reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 45% by 2030 (from 2005 levels), achieve 50% of its electric power capacity from non-fossil sources by 2030, and reach net-zero emissions by 2070. To achieve these climate goals, the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM) plays a vital role by building a resilient and self-reliant ecosystem for critical minerals. The mission focuses on boosting domestic production, encouraging private sector participation, strengthening international partnerships, and streamlining regulations to ensure a steady supply of minerals essential for clean energy technologies.
Bureau of Indian Standards hosts 15th Plenary meeting of Technical Committee of International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) India is ready to take on a greater role in shaping global AI standards: Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, GoI
Posted On: 09 APR 2025 6:27PM by PIB Delhi
India is ready to take on a greater role in shaping global AI standards, said Smt. Nidhi Khare, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of India, during the inauguration of 15thPlenary meeting of the Technical Committee of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) for developing international standards on Artificial Intelligence hosted by Bureau of Indian Standards.
She added that the government is committed to advancing AI technology particularly LLM (Large Language Model) and SLM (Small Language Model) in a responsible manner, ensuring these are developed with both global collaboration and national priorities in mind. She further highlighted the importance of aligning national AI strategies with global standards that are inclusive, context-aware, and adaptable to local needs.
Shri S. Krishnan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, reflected on India’s sustained engagements and partnerships with the key stakeholders in the field of AI as the founding member of the Global Partnership on AI (GPAI). Highlighting India’s commitment to promoting ‘AI for good and for All’, he said Government of India is working for Democratising & Decentralising the way Artificial Intelligence works and there is a need of setting standards for AI so that we stay ahead of the curve.
BIS, the National Standards Body of India, is leading the global efforts of standardisation related to Artificial Intelligence. The 15th plenary and sub-group meetings of the ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 42 ‘Artificial Intelligence’ sub-committee in New Delhi were attended by more than 350 global experts from 70 countries.
Speaking at the inaugural session of the plenary, Shri Pramod Kumar Tiwari, Director General, BIS, said that the Bureau has formed sector-specific groups for targeted AI standard development and strengthened partnerships with ministries, academia, regulatory bodies, and consumer bodies for targeted AI standard development.
Informing the participants about the upcoming IEC General Meeting in India in Sep 2025, he said the IEC general meeting 2025, in New Delhi is a testament to India’s increasing participation in global standards. In addition to hosting management meetings and more than 45 technical committee and subcommittee meetings, BIS will organise seminars, workshops, and exhibitions on various emerging technologies, including AI.
The week-long deliberations covered key aspects of the rapidly changing technology landscape of the Artificial Intelligence such as foundational AI standards, Data governance, Trustworthiness, computational approaches, and AI applications across industries including de- identification in machine learning and quality assurance in generative AI applications. India is leading a discussion on standards for the Resilience Assessment of AI systems.
Extending his gratitude to BIS for hosting the SC 42 plenary, Mr. Wael William Diab, the incumbent chairperson of the Committee informed that the Committee has successfully published 35 ISO standards on AI and 47 other ISO standards on AI are under development
On the sidelines of the plenary summit, BIS organised an International Workshop on ‘Enabling Trust in Technology in the Age of LLMs and Generative AI’. Speaking at the workshop Shri Abhishek Singh, Additional Secretary MeitY and CEO of IndiaAI Mission highlighted how Trust in AI can be built through Fairness, Transparency, and Accountability with diverse and inclusive data sets. He said this can be achieved only through a set of standards generated through Extensive consultation and deliberation in a forum like this. He also shared India’s experience and highlighted the need for standards for voice and image data in a linguistically diverse country like India.
Shri Bharat Khera, Additional Secretary, DoCA said during the event that to fully harness AI’s power, it is imperative to establish robust, inclusive, and internationally recognized standards that ensure trust, fairness, security, and accessibility. These standards will not only safeguard AI’s ethical deployment but also help create a level playing field for developing nations, enabling them to adopt and implement AI responsibly and effectively. He cited the example of the AI-enabled National Consumer Helpline (NCH) system for transformation of the grievance redressal through AI-powered automated classification and predictive analysis, reducing resolution time.
The meetings and workshops highlighted India’s pivotal role in shaping the future of global AI governance. As the national standards body of India, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) represents the country in international committees of ISO and IEC, which are involved in the development of international standards. These standards play a vital role in the global economy, ease of trade, ensuring interoperability, safety, security, reliability of systems, and achieving the UN SDGs.
RBI Cuts Repo Rate to 6%, Projects 6.5% GDP Growth for FY 2025-26
Introduction
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), in its 54th meeting and the first of the financial year 2025–26, unanimously decided to reduce the policy repo rate by 25 basis points, bringing it down to 6 per cent with immediate effect. The repo rate is the rate at which the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) lends money to commercial banks, and a cut in this rate is aimed at boosting lending and investment. This decision comes at a time when global economic conditions are becoming increasingly uncertain. Trade tensions have resurfaced, leading to a decline in crude oil prices, weakening of the US dollar, softening bond yields, and corrections in equity markets. While central banks across the world are adjusting their policies to address domestic concerns, they are doing so cautiously.
Within India, the outlook has shown signs of improvement. Inflation, particularly food inflation, has declined more than expected, offering some relief, though global and weather-related risks remain. Growth is recovering after a weak first half in the previous financial year, but it still falls short of the country’s potential. The Monetary Policy Report of April 2025, released alongside the MPC resolution, also outlines the GDP growth forecast and inflation projection for the coming months. This year also marks a milestone for the RBI as it completes 90 years since its establishment on 1st April 1935. Over the decades, it has evolved into a full-service central bank, balancing its roles of managing inflation, supporting growth, and ensuring financial stability.
Key Policy Decisions
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) unanimously decided to reduce the policy repo rate by 25 basis points, bringing it down to 6 per cent with immediate effect. The repo rate is the rate at which the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) lends money to commercial banks.
As a result, the Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) rate under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) has been adjusted to 5.75 per cent. The SDF allows banks to park excess funds with the RBI without any collateral.
The Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate have both been revised to 6.25 per cent. MSF stands for Marginal Standing Facility, a provision made by the RBI that enables scheduled commercial banks to obtain overnight liquidity if inter-bank funds completely dry up. It is an emergency facility that allows banks to borrow at a rate higher than the repo rate.
These rate adjustments are consistent with the RBI’s objective of achieving the Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation target of 4 per cent, within a flexible band of ±2 per cent, while also supporting economic growth.
Growth Assessment
The Reserve Bank of India has projected real GDP growth at 6.5 per cent for 2025–26, maintaining the same rate as estimated for 2024–25, following a strong expansion of 9.2 per cent in the preceding year. The quarterly projections stand at 6.5 per cent in Q1, 6.7 per cent in Q2, 6.6 per cent in Q3, and 6.3 per cent in Q4. This marks a downward revision of 20 basis points from the February estimate, reflecting heightened global volatility. Agriculture remains on a positive footing, supported by healthy reservoir levels and robust crop production, which is expected to sustain rural demand. Manufacturing is showing early signs of revival amid improved business sentiment, and the services sector continues to demonstrate resilience.
On the investment side, activity is gaining pace on the back of higher capacity utilisation, continued government focus on infrastructure, and strong balance sheets of banks and corporates. Easing financial conditions have also aided this recovery. While services exports are likely to remain steady, merchandise exports could face headwinds from global uncertainties and trade disruptions. Looking ahead, the RBI has projected real GDP growth at 6.7 per cent for 2026–27, suggesting continued recovery momentum.
Inflation Outlook
Headline inflation eased during January and February 2025, driven by a sharp decline in food prices. With uncertainties around the rabi crop largely resolved, and second advance estimates indicating record wheat output and higher pulse production than last year, food inflation is expected to soften further. This favourable trend is supported by robust kharif arrivals and a sharp fall in inflation expectations over the next three and twelve months, as reflected in recent surveys. The decline in crude oil prices has further strengthened the disinflationary outlook. Accordingly, Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation for 2025–26 is projected at 4.0 per cent, with quarterly estimates at 3.6 per cent in Q1, 3.9 per cent in Q2, 3.8 per cent in Q3, and 4.4 per cent in Q4.
While the inflation outlook appears stable, global uncertainties and the possibility of weather-related supply shocks continue to pose upside risks to the inflation path. The Reserve Bank of India has assumed a normal monsoon in framing its projections, and it considers the risks to be evenly balanced at this stage.
External Sector Snapshot
Robust Services and Remittances: Services exports remained strong in January–February 2025, led by software, business, and transportation services. Net services and remittance receipts are expected to remain in large surplus, cushioning the merchandise trade deficit.
Sustainable Current Account Deficit: The current account deficit (CAD) for both 2024–25 and 2025–26 is projected to stay well within sustainable levels, supported by resilient external inflows.
Mixed Investment Flows: While gross FDI remained strong due to stable macroeconomic fundamentals, net FDI moderated because of higher repatriations and outward investments. Net FPI inflows touched USD 1.7 billion in 2024–25, driven by debt inflows despite equity outflows.
Healthy Forex Reserves: As of April 4, 2025, India’s foreign exchange reserves stood at USD 676.3 billion, offering an import cover of nearly 11 months and reflecting the strength of the external sector.
Liquidity and Financial Market Conditions
Liquidity Shortage and RBI Intervention: In January 2025, the banking system faced a shortage of funds, known as a liquidity deficit. To address this, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) provided up to ₹3.1 lakh crore on 23rd January through the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) – a tool that allows banks to borrow money from the RBI for short periods to manage temporary mismatches in cash flow.
Improved Liquidity Position: The RBI later infused about ₹6.9 lakh crore into the system, and increased government spending in late March helped further. These actions improved the situation, and by 7th April 2025, the system had a liquidity surplus of ₹1.5 lakh crore – meaning there was more money available in banks for lending and investment.
Softening of Market Rates: With more liquidity available, the Weighted Average Call Rate (WACR) – the average interest rate at which banks lend to each other overnight – declined and hovered close to the repo rate, which is the interest rate at which the RBI lends money to commercial banks. This indicates stable short-term borrowing costs.
Lower Funding Costs in Debt Market: The difference between interest rates on Commercial Papers (CPs) and Certificates of Deposit (CDs) – short-term borrowing instruments used by companies and banks – and the 91-day Treasury Bill – a short-term government security – reduced. This narrowing of spreads means that borrowing became cheaper in financial markets. The RBI has stated it will continue to monitor these conditions and take action as needed to maintain sufficient liquidity.
Conclusion
The Monetary Policy Report of April 2025, released alongside the 54th meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee, reflects a balanced approach by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to support growth while maintaining price stability. The decision to cut the policy repo rate by 25 basis points to 6 per cent is underpinned by easing inflation, particularly in food prices, and a gradual recovery in economic activity. With GDP growth for 2025–26 projected at 6.5 per cent and inflation expected to remain within the 4 per cent target band, the report signals cautious optimism despite global uncertainties.
On the external front, robust services exports and strong remittance inflows have helped cushion the merchandise trade deficit, keeping the current account deficit at sustainable levels. Meanwhile, improved system liquidity, lower short-term borrowing costs, and stable foreign exchange reserves underscore the resilience of India’s financial system. The RBI has affirmed its commitment to closely monitor evolving conditions and take timely, calibrated measures to preserve macroeconomic and financial stability.
WAVES 2025: Finalists Announced for “Make the World Wear Khadi” Challenge From 750 to the Best : WAVES to Honour Winning Campaigns Reimagining Khadi
Posted On: 09 APR 2025 5:00PM by PIB Mumbai
Mumbai, 9 April 2025
The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, in collaboration with the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI), has announced the shortlist for Make the World Wear Khadi – one of the 32 Creative in India Challenges being held as part of the WAVES Summit 2025, scheduled from May 1 to 4 in Mumbai.
Shortlisted Candidates:
Iman Sengupta & Soham Ghosh – Havas Worldwide India
Kartik Sankar & Madhumita Basu – 22feet Tribal
Kajal Tirlotkar – Interactive Avenues
Tanmay Raul & Mandar Mahadik – DDB Mudra Group
Akash Mejari & Kajol Jeswani – DDB Mudra Group
Sharing insights behind their work, the participants reflected on Khadi’s evolving identity—from a symbol of India’s freedom movement to a solution for sustainable fashion.
Kajal Tirlotkar described Khadi as “a testament of time… slow, soulful, and spun with care,” while Tanmay Raul and Mandar Mahadik positioned it as the “Fabric of the Future,” highlighting its potential to address environmental degradation caused by fast fashion. Akash Mejari and Kajol Jeswani focused on Khadi as a means to “undo” ecological damage, encouraging climate-conscious action through their campaign. Meanwhile, Iman Sengupta and Soham Ghosh emphasized Khadi’s economic and cultural value, advocating for it as a premium, purpose-driven choice in global fashion.
The contest, designed to reimagine Khadi as a global icon of sustainability and identity, drew over 750 registrations from creative professionals and agencies across the country. Participants were challenged to create advertising campaigns that position Khadi not just as a fabric, but as a powerful symbol of innovation and conscious living on the world stage.
A distinguished jury of advertising industry leaders evaluated the entries based on originality, cultural depth, global appeal, and alignment with the contest’s core message. The shortlisted campaigns were praised for their strategic thinking, compelling narratives, and their potential to ignite a global movement around Khadi.
The final winners will be revealed and felicitated during the WAVES Summit 2025, where their campaigns will be presented before an elite audience of policymakers, global delegates, media leaders, and industry stakeholders.
The first World Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit (WAVES), a milestone event for the Media & Entertainment (M&E) sector, will be hosted by the Government of India in Mumbai, Maharashtra, from May 1 to 4, 2025.
Whether you’re an industry professional, investor, creator, or innovator, the Summit offers the ultimate global platform to connect, collaborate, innovate and contribute to the M&E landscape.
WAVES is set to magnify India’s creative strength, amplifying its position as a hub for content creation, intellectual property, and technological innovation. Industries and sectors in focus include Broadcasting, Print Media, Television, Radio, Films, Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comics, Sound and Music, Advertising, Digital Media, Social Media Platforms, Generative AI, Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Extended Reality (XR).
The President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu in her message on the eve of Mahavir Jayanti has said: –
“On the auspicious occasion of Mahavir Jayanti, I extend my greetings and best wishes to all fellow citizens, especially the Jain brothers and sisters.
Bhagwan Mahavir, the embodiment of non-violence and compassion, showed a new path to humanity through the message of ‘Ahimsa Paramo Dharma’, which means non-violence is the supreme religion. Mahavir Jayanti gives us the message to follow the path of spirituality and adopt the values of simplicity, kindness and detachment from material possessions and desires.
Let us imbibe the teachings of Bhagwan Mahavir in our lives and promote peace, non-violence and harmony in the society”.
Manufacturing Contract between Airbus & Mahindra Aerostructures Historic Signing Event for H130 Fuselage Manufacturing
Posted On: 09 APR 2025 5:03PM by PIB Delhi
In a landmark event, Minister for Civil Aviation, Shri Ram Mohan Naidu, today chaired the signing ceremony for the H130 helicopter fuselage manufacturing contract between Airbus and Mahindra Aerostructures Pvt. Ltd. The event, held at the Ministry of Civil Aviation, was graced by the presence of Secretary Civil Aviation Shri Vumlunmang Vualnam, President & MD of Airbus India & South Asia Mr Remi Maillard, Group CEO & MD of Mahindra Group Dr Anish Shah and senior leadership of the industry partners.
This collaboration marks a pivotal moment in India’s aviation journey, further strengthening the global confidence in the country’s industrial potential. The partnership between Mahindra Aerostructures and Airbus underscores India’s progress in the aviation sector and our steadfast commitment to the ‘Make in India’ and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiatives spearheaded by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.
In his address, Shri Ram Mohan Naidu stated, “I think this contract for the manufacturing and assembly of the H130 helicopter fuselage is a testament to the confidence global players like Airbus have in the potential of Indian industry. Since its inception in 2011, Mahindra Aerostructures has proven that even as a young player in the aerospace industry, it can deliver world-class parts and assemblies for major global players like Airbus. As the Civil Aviation Minister, I am proud of the fact that today every Airbus commercial aircraft and helicopter carries critical technologies and parts designed, made, and maintained in India. And today, we are setting a new benchmark for aircraft component manufacturing. I believe that this has been possible only with the valuable support from Airbus.”
Highlighting India’s rapid aviation growth, the Minister shared:
India is set to become one of the world’s largest civil aviation markets, with over 2,200 aircraft expected to join the fleet in the next 20 years.
By 2030, India will handle 630 million passengers annually, growing at a CAGR of 6–8%.
Over the next 10–15 years, the domestic aerospace manufacturing market can grow to a $10 billion industry, encompassing structural components, avionics systems, and more.
The Minister also acknowledged the exemplary contribution of Indian MSMEs and startups, which supply over $2 billion worth of aircraft components annually to global OEMs like Airbus and Boeing.
The event builds on the momentum from a February 2025 meeting chaired by the minister, focusing on accelerating aircraft component manufacturing in India. Attended by senior officials, industry leaders, and experts, the meeting aimed to chart a unified roadmap for bolstering domestic production and enhancing global competitiveness.
Secretary, MoCA, Shri Vumlunmang Vualnam in his address emphasized how the H130 fuselage contract will not only bring cutting-edge technologies and jobs to India but also catalyze the development of domestic MRO capabilities and a robust manufacturing base.
The two Final Assembly Lines in India; one for the C295 military aircraft, inaugurated by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and Spanish PM Mr. Pedro Sánchez, and the upcoming H125 helicopter assembly line stand as beacons of India’s thriving aerospace ecosystem and its strategic partnership with global players like Airbus.
World Homoeopathy Day Homoeopathy in India: Tradition, Trust, and Tomorrow
Posted On: 09 APR 2025 3:53PM by PIB Delhi
“Holistic Healthcare remains a very big attraction. Best of the doctors are moving towards homoeopathy. There’s a mood for Holistic Healthcare. There’s a mood to go toward stress free life from a stressful life.”
— Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Summary:
World Homoeopthay Day is observed on April 10 every year.
Homoeopathy is the world’s second-largest medical system.
In 2025, India is hosting its largest Homoeopathic symposium on the occasion of World Homoeopathy Day in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
India has 3.45 lakh registered homoeopathy doctors, 277 homoeopathy hospitals, 8,593 homoeopathy dispensaries, and 277 homoeopathy educational institutions.
The National Commission for Homoeopathy (NCH) regulates education and practice, replacing the earlier 1973 Act with a modern 2020 Act.
The Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy (CCRH) runs 35+ research centres and OPDs, advancing evidence-based homoeopathy.
The Pharmacopoeia Commission (PCIM&H) ensures high-quality medicines through standard pharmacopoeias and testing labs.
The Homoeopathy Central Council Act, 1973 was replaced by the National Commission for Homoeopathy Act, 2020 to modernize and reform homoeopathic education, practice, and research through a transparent and scientifically-driven regulatory framework.
Introduction
Rooted in the principle of “like cures like,” Homoeopathy is a natural way of healing that says that a substance causing symptoms of a disease in a healthy individual would cure similar symptoms in a sick individual. With roots going back over two centuries, Homoeopathy is the world’s 2nd largest system of medicine, trusted by millions for its safe and holistic healing approach.
Every year, on April 10, India joins the world in commemorating World Homoeopathy Day, marking the birth anniversary of Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, the father of homoeopathy. In India, this day holds a particular significance, as more than 100 million people in the country depend on this treatment.
Since 2016, the Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy (CCRH) has been celebrating World Homoeopathy Day with a series of impactful events that highlight the role of research in the global growth of homoeopathy. These annual gatherings bring together homoeopathic doctors, scientists, chemists, physicists, microbiologists, and pharmacologists, all united by a shared goal—to showcase the scientific strength and evidence-based potential of this gentle system of healing.
This year, the celebration reaches new heights with India’s largest-ever Homoeopathy Symposium, hosted at the Mahatma Mandir Convention & Exhibition Center in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. The event jointly organised by CCRH, National Commission for Homoeopathy [NCH] and National Institute of Homoeopathy [NIH] will feature insightful discussions, groundbreaking research presentations, and the biggest homoeopathy industry exhibition in the country. It will also offer a vibrant platform for innovation, collaboration, and global recognition of Indian homoeopathy.
Glimpse of Homoeopathy in India
Homoeopathy has quietly built one of the strongest healthcare support systems in India. Behind its soft approach lies a solid framework of doctors, hospitals, colleges, and research. Over 3.45 lakh registered homoeopathic doctors are working across the country to bring gentle, affordable healing to millions of people.
India is also home to 277 homoeopathy hospitals that offer inpatient care. These hospitals help patients who don’t need emergency treatment but still need careful attention. Alongside, there are 8,593 homoeopathy dispensaries spread across towns and villages, delivering basic health services. For those who need longer monitoring and recovery, India offers 8,697 homoeopathy beds in AYUSH wellness hospitals.
Education in homoeopathy is also thriving. There are 277 colleges across the country. These include 197 undergraduate institutes, 3 standalone postgraduate colleges, and 77 combined UG/PG colleges. All of these come under the National Commission for Homoeopathy, Ministry of Ayush. These institutions are powered by 7,092 dedicated teaching faculty members, shaping the next generation of BHMS (Bachelor of Homoeopathic Medicine & Surgery) doctors.
On the pharmaceutical front, 384 industries are involved in producing homoeopathic medicines in India. This ensures the availability of high-quality, standardised remedies across the country. To support quality, 1,117 official pharmacopoeial monographs for homoeopathic drugs have been published—providing a reliable reference for safe and effective medicine preparation.
With 35 dedicated research centres and OPDs under the Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy (CCRH), India is pushing the boundaries of what this ancient system can do in the modern world.
And to keep everything running smoothly, 28 State Councils and Boards ensure that doctors are well-qualified and ethically registered, maintaining public trust across the healthcare system.
Homoeopathy Legislation in India
Homoeopathy in India has grown on the back of a strong legal and institutional framework that began with the Homoeopathy Central Council Act, 1973. This landmark legislation was designed to regulate homoeopathic education and professional practice across the country. Modelled on the Indian Medical Council Act of 1956, it played a foundational role in institutionalising homoeopathy and ensuring uniform standards across the nation.
However, with time, the system began to face challenges. Gaps in governance, inconsistencies in education quality, and lack of transparency highlighted the need for comprehensive reforms. To address these issues and modernise the regulatory structure, the Ministry of Ayush established the National Commission for Homoeopathy (NCH) through a notification dated 5th July 2021. This move repealed the 1973 Act and brought into force the National Commission for Homoeopathy Act, 2020.
As a statutory body under the Ministry of Ayush, NCH is now responsible for regulating the system in a modern and transparent manner. In line with this vision, the Commission introduced the National Commission for Homoeopathy (Medical Research in Homoeopathy) Regulation, 2023, which lays down clear guidelines for conducting research in the field—ensuring it is scientifically sound, ethical, and evidence-based.
Homoeopathy Infrastructure in India
India’s homoeopathy sector is regulated by multiple expert bodies working in tandem:
National Commission for Homoeopathy (NCH) – The National Commission for Homoeopathy (NCH) was established under the National Commission for Homoeopathy Act, 2020, which came into effect on 5th July 2021 through a gazette notification. With this, the Board of Governors and the Central Council of Homoeopathy, constituted under the Homoeopathy Central Council Act, 1973, were dissolved.
Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy (CCRH) – Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy (CCRH) is an apex research organization under Ministry of Ayush, which undertakes coordinates, develops, disseminates and promotes scientific research in Homoeopathy through its network of 27 Research Institutes/units and 07 Homoeopathic treatment centres and is carrying out intramural research including collaboration with institutes of excellence, promoting Homoeopathy and offering healthcare services through the OPDs/IPDs of the above institutes/units and treatment centres.
Pharmacopoeia Commission for Indian Medicine & Homoeopathy (PCIM&H) – It is a subordinate office under the Ministry of AYUSH, responsible for developing pharmacopoeias and formularies and serving as the Central Drug Testing cum Appellate Laboratory for Indian systems of Medicine and Homoeopathy. Initially established as PCIM on 18th August 2010 and registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, it was renamed PCIM&H on 20th March 2014 following the inclusion of Homoeopathy.
Conclusion
Homoeopathy in India has grown into a robust and trusted system of healthcare, backed by strong infrastructure, legal support, and scientific research. With a large network of practitioners, institutions, hospitals, and research centers, India plays a leading role in promoting and advancing homoeopathy globally. Celebrations like World Homoeopathy Day are a reminder of the country’s commitment to safe, evidence-based, and affordable healing. The coordinated efforts of the NCH, CCRH, and PCIM&H continue to modernize and strengthen homoeopathy, ensuring its relevance in the 21st century.
The Vice President, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar has greeted the people of the nation on the occasion of Mahavir Jayanti.
Following is the text of the message:
“On the auspicious occasion of Mahavir Jayanti, I extend my heartfelt greetings to all fellow citizens.
The eternal teachings of Lord Mahavir—ahimsa (non-violence), satya (truth), and aparigraha (non-attachment)—continue to illuminate our path towards a more compassionate and harmonious world. His profound message of the equality of all living beings and respect for diverse viewpoints remains ever relevant in today’s world.
On this Mahavir Jayanti, let us draw strength from his life and ideals, embracing spiritual discipline, self-restraint, and universal compassion. May his timeless wisdom inspire us to nurture tolerance, understanding, and peace in our communities and beyond.”
Following is the Hindi text of the message:
“महावीर जयंती के पावन अवसर पर, मैं सभी देशवासियों को हार्दिक शुभकामनाएँ देता हूँ।
भगवान महावीर के शाश्वत उपदेश—अहिंसा, सत्य और अपरिग्रह—हमें एक अधिक करुणामय और समरस विश्व की ओर अग्रसर होने की प्रेरणा देते हैं। सभी जीवों की समानता और विभिन्न विचारों के प्रति सम्मान का उनका गहन संदेश आज के समय में और भी प्रासंगिक है।
इस महावीर जयंती पर, आइए हम उनके जीवन और आदर्शों से प्रेरणा लेकर आत्मानुशासन, संयम और सार्वभौमिक करुणा को अपनाएँ। भगवान महावीर की कालजयी शिक्षाएँ हमारे समाज में सहिष्णुता, समझ और शांति की भावना को सुदृढ़ करें—यही कामना है।”
The Ministry of Women and Child Development is celebrating Poshan Pakhwada 2025, a two-week nationwide campaign aimed at promoting nutrition awareness, improving health outcomes, and empowering communities. This initiative is part of Mission Poshan 2.0, which focuses on reinforcing community engagement processes and fostering the empowerment of both individuals and communities as a whole.
Focus on First 1000 Days of Life is one of the key theme of ongoing Poshan Pakhwada 2025, emphasized the importance of nutrition during the first 1000 days of life, from conception to two years of age. This critical period lays the foundation for lifelong health and development. Adequate nutrition during pregnancy and early childhood is linked to improved health outcomes, increased productivity, and higher earnings in adulthood. By prioritizing nutrition during this period, we can break the cycle of malnutrition across generations.
The previous Poshan Pakhwada, celebrated from March 9-23, 2024, focused on key themes such as Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi (PBPB), Health of Pregnant Women, and Infant & Young Child Feeding (IYCF) practices, among others. The ongoing Poshan Pakhwada 2025 with a focus on outcome-based activities planned around nutrition sensitization aims at improving the nutritional outcomes and well-being by strengthening implementation of nutrition related services while ensuring active community participation.
“सशक्त बचपन, समृद्ध भारत” के संकल्प के साथ आज शास्त्री भवन, नई दिल्ली में 7वें पोषण पखवाड़े का शुभारंभ किया जो 8 से 22 अप्रैल 2025 तक संचालित होगा। इस वर्ष का पखवाड़ा जीवन के पहले 1000 दिन, लाभार्थी प्रणाली, सामुदायिक स्तर पर कुपोषण प्रबंधन और बच्चों में मोटापे की रोकथाम जैसे चार… pic.twitter.com/nT7Flzv9fg
Labour Force Indicators in Current Weekly Status(CWS)
Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR)
In Urban areas, LFPR increased for males (74.3% in 2023 to 75.6% in 2024) and slightly for females (25.5% to 25.8%), leading to an overall rise in LFPR (50.3% to 51.0%). Overall LFPR remained constant at 56.2%, despite minor variations across categories.
Worker Population Ratio (WPR)
Slight improvements were seen across all categories, particularly in the overall WPR (47.0% to 47.6%) in Urban areas. At all India level overall WPR remained relatively unchanged (53.4% to 53.5%).
Unemployment Rate (UR)
In rural area, marginal decline in overall unemployment (4.3% to 4.2%), with slight reductions for both men and women. In urban male unemployment rose (6.0% to 6.1%), but female unemployment declined (8.9% to 8.2%), keeping the overall urban rate stable at 6.7%. At all India level, Unemployment saw a minor drop (5.0% to 4.9%), suggesting slight improvements in employment opportunities.
Decline in unpaid helpers in household enterprises seems to have contributed to the drop in WPR as well as LFPR among rural females, as the percentage of “helpers in Household Enterprises” decreased from 19.9% to 18.1% from 2023 to 2024.
Labour Force Indicators in Principal and Subsidiary Status(PS+SS)
Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR)
The labour force participation rate (LFPR) in India remained largely stable between 2023 and 2024, though there were some variations across rural and urban areas. At the national level, the overall LFPR remained nearly unchanged, with a marginal decline from 59.8% to 59.6%.
Worker Population Ratio (WPR)
The worker population ratio (WPR) followed a similar pattern. At the all-India level, WPR recorded a marginal decline, moving from 58.0% to 57.7%, indicating a slight drop in employment despite stable participation rates.
Unemployment Rate (UR)
Unemployment rates (UR) showed mixed trends across different sectors. At the all-India level, unemployment recorded a minor increase from 3.1% to 3.2%, though the levels remain relatively low.
Introduction
The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) was launched by the National Statistics Office in April 2017 with the view of making labour force data available at more frequent time intervals.
The objective of PLFS has been primarily twofold:
to estimate the key employment and unemployment indicators (viz. Worker Population Ratio, Labour Force Participation Rate, Unemployment Rate) in the short time interval of three months for the urban areas only in the ‘Current Weekly Status’ (CWS).
to estimate employment and unemployment indicators in both ‘Usual Status’ (ps+ss) and CWS in both rural and urban areas annually.
On the basis of PLFS, Annual Reports are brought out which covers both rural and urban areas and provides estimates of all important parameters of employment and unemployment in both usual status (ps+ss) and current weekly status (CWS). Seven such PLFS Annual Reports have been released with the latest report brought out based on PLFS conducted during July 2023 – June 2024.
In the Annual Reports of PLFS, estimates of labour market indicators are presented on the basis of the data collected during the period July of a year to the June of the next year, e.g., in the Annual Report, PLFS, 2023-24 estimates are presented based on data collected during July 2023 – June 2024.
The samples of First Stage Units (FSU) of PLFS canvassed during the period July of one year to June of the next year are independently drawn for each quarter before commencement of the survey. Since the quarterly samples are drawn independently, estimates of labour force indicators for a calendar year i.e. for the period January – December of a specific year have been obtained by combining the data collected during the four quarters of the calendar year.
The calendar year estimates presented here are based on information collected during first visit of PLFS.
Sample Size for First Visit during January 2024 – December 2024 in rural and urban areas for the estimates of 2024: A total of 12,749 FSUs (6,982 villages and 5,767 urban blocks) were surveyed for canvassing the PLFS schedule (Schedule 10.4). The number of households surveyed was 1,01,957 (55,846 in rural areas and 46,111 in urban areas) and number of persons surveyed was 4,15,549 (2,40,492 in rural areas and 1,75,057 in urban areas).
Annexure-I
LFPR, WPR and UR (in per cent) in usual status (ps+ss) from PLFS conducted during January 2023 – December 2023 and January 2024 – December 2024 for persons aged 15 years and above
all-India
Indicator
Rural
Urban
Rural + Urban
male
female
person
male
female
person
male
female
person
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
(9)
(10)
January 2023 – December 2023
LFPR
79.8
47.3
63.4
74.9
27.2
51.4
78.3
41.3
59.8
WPR
77.7
46.4
61.9
71.6
25.2
48.8
75.8
40.1
58.0
UR
2.7
1.9
2.4
4.4
7.5
5.2
3.2
3.0
3.1
January 2024 – December 2024
LFPR
80.6
45.8
62.9
76.2
27.6
52.2
79.2
40.3
59.6
WPR
78.4
44.8
61.4
72.8
25.8
49.6
76.6
39.0
57.7
UR
2.8
2.1
2.5
4.4
6.7
5.0
3.3
3.1
3.2
LFPR, WPR and UR (in per cent) in Current Weekly Status (CWS) from PLFS conducted during January 2023 – December 2023 and January 2024 – December 2024 for persons aged 15 years and above
all-India
Indicator
Rural
Urban
Rural + Urban
male
female
person
male
female
person
male
female
person
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
(9)
(10)
January 2023 – December 2023
LFPR
78.3
39.6
58.8
74.3
25.5
50.3
77.0
35.4
56.2
WPR
74.6
38.0
56.2
69.9
23.2
47.0
73.2
33.7
53.4
UR
4.6
3.8
4.3
6.0
8.9
6.7
5.0
4.9
5.0
January 2024 – December 2024
LFPR
79.2
38.6
58.6
75.6
25.8
51.0
78.1
34.7
56.2
WPR
75.7
37.1
56.1
71.0
23.7
47.6
74.2
33.0
53.5
UR
4.3
3.9
4.2
6.1
8.2
6.7
4.9
4.9
4.9
Annexure-II
The key employment and unemployment Indicators presented here are the Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR), Unemployment Rate (UR). These estimates have been presented following the Current Weekly Status (CWS) and Usual Status (ps+ss) approach. Definition of these indicators, and the ‘Usual Status’ and ‘Current Weekly Status’ are as follows:
(a) Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR): LFPR is defined as the percentage of persons in labour force (i.e. working or seeking or available for work) in the population.
(b) Worker Population Ratio (WPR): WPR is defined as the percentage of employed persons in the population.
(c) Unemployment Rate (UR): UR is defined as the percentage of persons unemployed among the persons in the labour force.
(d) Activity Status- Usual Status: The activity status of a person is determined on the basis of the activities pursued by the person during the specified reference period. When the activity status is determined on the basis of the reference period of last 365 days preceding the date of survey, it is known as the usual activity status of the person.
Principal activity status (ps) – The activity status on which a person spent relatively long time (major time criterion) during 365 days preceding the date of survey, was considered as the usual principal activity status of the person.
Subsidiary economic activity status (ss)- The activity status in which a person in addition to his/her usual principal status, performs some economic activity for 30 days or more for the reference period of 365 days preceding the date of survey, was considered as the subsidiary economic activity status of the person.
Usual status (ps+ss) is determined considering both principal activity status (ps) and subsidiary economic activity status (ss) together.
(e) Activity Status- Current Weekly Status (CWS): The activity status determined on the basis of a reference period of last 7 days preceding the date of survey is known as the current weekly status (CWS) of the person.
(f) The Key Employment Unemployment Indicators for 2024 along with the corresponding unit level data is available at the website of the Ministry (https://mospi.gov.in). The key results are given in the statements annexed.
DR JITENDRA SINGH, MOS, PMO, PPG&P TO INAUGURATE 56TH PRE-RETIREMENT COUNSELING WORKSHOP FOR CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES AND BANKERS’ AWARENESS PROGRAM FOR STATE BANK OF INDIA ON 10TH APRIL, 2025 AT GUWAHATI 310 RETIREES TO BENEFIT FROM THE PRE-RETIREMENT COUNSELLING WORKSHOP
AN INITIATIVE FOR ENHANCING “EASE OF LIVING” OF PENSIONERS AND REDUCING PENSIONERS’ GRIEVANCES
AN EXERCISE TOWARDS SPREADING AWARENESS ABOUT GOI INITIATIVES FOR IMPROVING PENSIONERS’ WELFARE
Posted On: 09 APR 2025 3:56PM by PIB Delhi
In line with the vision of Government of India’s initiative, to enhance the “Ease of Living” for pensioners and family pensioners, the Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare has introduced several progressive measures in pension policy and the digitization of pension-related processes. As part of these ongoing efforts, the Department will be organizing the 56th Pre-Retirement Counselling Workshop under the esteemed guidance of Dr. Jitendra Singh, Hon’ble Minister of State, PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. The workshop is scheduled to be held on 10th April 2025 at Assam Administrative Staff College, Guwahati.
The Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare has been conducting Pre- Retirement Counselling workshops, throughout the country, to facilitate officials who are about to retire, in the superannuation process. The Workshop, being held for the benefit of retiring employees of the Government of India, is a revolutionary step in direction of ‘Ease of Living’ of the pensioners. In order to facilitate the smooth transition for the retiring employees, various sessions on Retirement Benefits, CGHS, Investment modes, BHAVISHYA portal,Integrated Pensioners Portal,Family Pension, CPENGRAMS, ANUBHAV and Digital Life Certificate etc. will be conducted.All these sessions have been curated to make the retirees aware of the process to be followed and forms to be filled pre-retirement and to provide information about the benefits available to them post-retirement.
It is expected that 310 retirees, due to retire in the next 12 months, will benefit hugely from this Pre-retirement Counselling Workshop. The Department will continue to hold such workshops to ensure a smooth and comfortable transition for Central Government retirees, keep them informed of the government initiatives taken for them and to enable them to avail all the benefits available post-retirement.
Department has also integrated pension portals of PNB, SBI, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Bank of India, Central Bank of India and Union Bank of India to provide seamless banking services to pensioners from a single portal. Since the major Pension Disbursing Authorities are banks, the Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare has started a series of Awareness Workshops for Central Pension Processing Centers (CPPCs) of Banks as well as their field functionaries handling pension related work in the Bank. In this series, the Department will also be conducting 9th Bankers’ Awareness Program for the officers of State Bank of India, posted at CPPCs/Branches of North-East, West Bengal, Bihar and Odissa, at Assam Administrative Staff College, Guwahati on 10th April, 2025.
The objective of these workshops is to spread awareness of the various rules and procedures relevant for Pension Disbursing Banks/Retirees and also the steps being taken by Government of India to ensure “Ease of Living” for Pensioners. The workshop shall also focus on the issues faced by Bank officials in handling these processes so that to reduce pensioners’ grievances. 70 officers from CPPC and pension dealing branches of State Bank of India are participating in these interactive programs. The Department will continue to hold such workshops, as part of Good Governance to ensure a smooth and comfortable transition for Central Government retirees, keep them informed of the government initiatives taken for them and to enable them to avail all the benefits available for them, post-retirement.
A strong step towards Ganga conservation: Key projects approved in the 61st Executive Committee meeting of NMCG The 61st Executive Committee Meeting of the National Mission for Clean Ganga, chaired by Shri Rajeev Kumar Mital, Director-General NMCG
The meeting approves making DDA Biodiversity Parks as Knowledge cum-Skill Development Centre for National Mission for Clean Ganga
Executive Committee deliberates and sanctions sewerage projects of more than 900 Crore
Posted On: 09 APR 2025 3:39PM by PIB Delhi
In a decisive move to combat pollution and revive the lifeline of millions, the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) has taken another transformative step forward. The 61st Executive Committee (EC) Meeting of the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), chaired by Shri Rajeev Kumar Mital, Director-General NMCG, has approved several major projects aimed at the conservation and rejuvenation of the Ganga River. These initiatives are in line with the mission’s goals of enhancing river cleanliness, promoting sustainable development, and preserving the environmental and cultural heritage of the Ganga. They mark a significant leap in enhancing river cleanliness, curbing pollution at its source, and safeguarding the rich ecological and cultural heritage that flows with the river’s timeless journey.
Executive Committee deliberated and sanctioned sewerage projects of more than 900 Crore. The Detailed Project Report related to interception, diversion, STP and other allied works in Moradabad town in U.P. Zone-3 and Zone-4 for “Prevention of Pollution in Ramganga River” was approved. This ambitious project, with an estimated cost of ₹409.93 crore, aims to make the Ramganga River pollution-free. Under the project, modern Sewage Treatment Plants with capacities of 15 MLD in Zone-3 and 65 MLD in Zone-4 will be constructed. Along with this, 5 major drains will be intercepted and diverted.
Another significant initiative for Arrah town in Bihar has been approved. This project is related to the interception, diversion, and construction of a Sewage Treatment Plant (STP), with an estimated cost of ₹328.29 crore. Under this project, a state-of-the-art STP with a capacity of 47 MLD will be constructed, along with the establishment of a 19.5 KM long sewer network. This scheme will be based on the Hybrid Annuity Model, which also includes operation and maintenance for 15 years. The aim of this initiative is not only to provide a permanent solution to the sewage problem of Ara city, but also to effectively reduce the level of pollution in the Ganga by purifying the untreated water falling into the river.
In the meeting, an important project related to the “Interception and Diversion of 14 Untapped Drains of Kanpur City, Uttar Pradesh” was approved at an estimated cost of ₹138.11 crore, which will give a new direction to the city’s drainage and sanitation system. Under this project, sewage falling directly into the river from drains will be intercepted and conveyed to treatment plants through proposed sewage pumping stations and manholes. This project will involve the interception of 14 major drains of the city.
The Executive Committee approved a significant initiative in Pujali Municipality of West Bengal under the Namami Gange programme. Under this project, an Integrated Faecal Sludge Treatment Plant (FSTP) was approved, with a total estimated cost of ₹5.96 crore. Under this project, a state-of-the-art 8 KLD capacity faecal sludge treatment plant will be set up, which will not only improve urban sanitation but also play a crucial role in maintaining the purity of water sources.
A major initiative approved in the meeting was a Nature Based Solution project with a focus of Yamuna rejuvenation in National Capital. EC approved the installation of pilot CAMUS-SBT (Continuous Advanced Mite Utilizing System – Soil-Based Treatment) plants for the treatment of liquid pollutants in the Shahdara drain, aiming to achieve water quality standards as prescribed by the NGT (National Green Tribunal). Under this project, CAMUS-SBT plants with capacities of 5 MLD will be installed.
To strengthen the research program of NMCG, EC approved the establishment of the NMCG-IIT Delhi-Dutch Collaboratory for Intelligent River Systems and Clean Yamuna (IND-RIVERS). This innovative initiative is launched under the India-Netherlands Water Strategic Partnership, aiming to build Centres of Excellence focused on critical areas like urban rivers and nature base solution. The centre is a unique combination of a premier academic institution, Government Department and an international partner to focus on action-oriented research and practical solution to the challenges faced in the area.
The Executive Committee also approved for study and documentation of traditional wooden boat-making craft thriving for centuries in the Ganga basin.
The meeting approved to make DDA Biodiversity Parks as Knowledge cum-Skill Development Centre for National Mission for Clean Ganga, Department of Water Resources, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India. The project, with a total estimated cost of ₹8.64 crore. The initiative aims to develop Biodiversity Parks with Delhi’s Yamuna Biodiversity Park as a knowledge partner.
After the successful implementation of these initiatives, the efforts for the cleanliness and rejuvenation of the Ganga River and its tributaries will receive a new direction and momentum. These projects will not only help in pollution control and water conservation, but will also be milestones in preserving the riverine heritage and developing sustainable water management systems. Through these initiatives, ecological challenges associated with rivers can be addressed, ensuring a clean, healthy, and sustainable future for the communities dependent on them. This comprehensive effort is a strong and inspiring step towards making rivers life-giving once again.
The meeting was attended by Sh. Mahabir Prasad, Joint Secretary and Financial Advisor of Ministry of Power, (additional charge) River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti; Sh. Nalin Srivastava, Deputy Director General of NMCG; Sh. Anoop Kumar Srivastava, Executive Director (Technical); Sh. Brijendra Swaroop, Executive Director (Projects) Sh. S.P. Vashistha, Executive Director (Administration); Sh. Bhaskar Dasgupta, Executive Director (Finance); Ms. Nandini Ghosh, Project Director of West Bengal SPMG; Sh. Animesh Kumar Parashar, Managing Director of Bihar BUIDCO; and Sh. Prabhash Kumar, Additional Project Director of Uttar Pradesh SMCG.
Source: United States Senator for Kansas Roger Marshall
Washington – U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kansas) joined The Bottom Line on Fox Business to discuss President Donald Trump’s America First trade policy, tariffs, and tax cuts.
Senator Marshall emphasized that President Trump’s tariffs are just the beginning of trade negotiations to bring back American jobs and ensure our ranchers and farmers are not being taken advantage of. He also highlighted the importance of saving taxpayer dollars and making President Trump’s tax cuts permanent through the budget reconciliation process.
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You may click HERE or on the image above to watch Senator Marshall’s full interview.
Highlights from Senator Marshall’s interview include:
On leveling the playing field for American manufacturing and agriculture:
“American manufacturing [and] agriculture has not been treated fairly for decades. It’s not fair that Europe charges my farmers and ranchers a 50% tariff. India, 100%. Canada, 200%. Look, we can’t sell a cheeseburger, not one cheeseburger in Europe, in Russia, Australia, or China. That’s what’s not fair.
“And we have a president now who is going to stand up and fight. Look, this game is early. This is just the top of the first inning of trade negotiations. We’re going to bring jobs back, and we’re going to get new and improved reciprocal trade agreements done.”
On nontariff barriers:
“Right now, the EU [is] saying a 0% tariff, but they’re not going to let us sell any beef there. They’re not going to let us sell any wheat there as well. They’re going to use sanitary, phytosanitary rules, regulations that are going to keep American beef, American agriculture products out of there. So they’re going to do other methods other than just the tariff. The nontariff barriers, I think is actually the bigger problem.”
On making President Trump’s tax cuts permanent:
“I think that we could use all the certainty we can get right now. Making the Trump tax cuts permanent… would be a thrill for all, for all of us. I’m even willing to talk about lowering the corporate rate from 21% to 15%. You want to do something to stimulate the stock market, that’s what we can talk about. So this is definitely a tool in the president’s toolbox, and I’m willing to use it.”
On the federal government’s spending problem:
“I think that all of us agree that the federal government has a spending problem and not a taxing problem. In all of my conversations with the president, he’s focused on making his Trump tax cuts permanent. He’s focused on extending the debt limit. He’s focused on adding no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security. That’s what the president is talking about when I’m around him.”
On the market’s reaction to tariffs:
“I also think that we need to be this in for the long haul. I think that this is that the market is… overreacting right now. Again, this is the first inning of a long ball game. I think it’s a great time to buy. And actually, I have more of my friends that are saying, you know, “Is this the bottom of the market? Is this the time to buy?” I believe in America. I think that our best days are ahead of us yet, and then I’m in this for the long haul.”
Source: United States Senator for Kansas – Jerry Moran
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) – a member of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs – today led nine of his colleagues in reintroducing the Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act to restore the sovereign status of tribal governments. This legislation would clarify the definition of “employers” in the National Labor Relations Act to exclude federally-recognized tribal governmental employers on tribally-owned land alongside other governmental employers. Sen. Moran was joined by Sens. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), James Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) and James Lankford (R-Okla.) in introducing this legislation.
“It is time to correct a decade-old error made by the National Labor Relations Board and once again allow tribal governments, elected by their members, to have the authority to make informed decisions on behalf of those they represent,” said Sen. Moran. “This commonsense bill – which is supported by more than 160 Indian tribes and tribal corporations – would provide greater independence for tribes, and I will continue working with my colleagues to get this bill to the President’s desk to rightfully restore the sovereign status of tribal governments.”
“Tribal sovereignty is an important component of the federal government’s relationship with Native American Tribes,” said Sen. Crapo. “This needed fix will give power back to elected tribal leaders to make informed decisions best for their communities.”
“Tribal governments are some of the largest employers on the nine reservations located in South Dakota,” said Sen. Rounds. “Unfortunately, burdensome regulations under the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 have prevented tribes from enacting ‘right to work’ laws. The Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act would amend the NLRA to provide an exemption for tribal governments, just as local, state and federal governments are exempted. I look forward to working with my colleagues to enact this legislation, as well as working with tribal leaders to continue identifying ways to restore and strengthen tribal sovereignty.”
Full text of the bill can be found HERE.
New Zealand has granted legal personhood to the Whanganui River.Ron Kolet / shutterstock
Most rivers need some human help to stay clean and healthy and to flow freely. People have to fish out litter, block sewage, look out for invasive species and so on.
This is obvious enough. But, as rivers are increasingly being granted legal rights of their own, they’ll need another form of human help: people willing to be their legal representatives, filing lawsuits and speaking in court.
The idea that nature should be granted rights similar to that of a human (sometimes described as “legal personhood”) has been around for a few decades now. Though some lakes, forests and other features have been awarded these rights, it’s rivers that are the main beneficiaries. Most recently, the River Ouse in East Sussex, England, was awarded rights by its local council, following similar moves in places as diverse as New Zealand, Ecuador, Canada and India.
“Rivers often have strong cultural and spiritual identities as sacred living entities or life-giving beings. These existential understandings have underpinned legal actions.” That’s according to Nick Mount, a rivers expert at the University of Nottingham.
Back in 2017, Mount travelled to Colombia to visit the River Atrato. The Atrato flows through a remote and highly biodiverse jungle, in a region which at the time remained a paramilitary stronghold. The country’s constitutional court had recently awarded the river humans rights and Mount wanted to see what that meant in practice.
“The Atrato River has been awarded rights,” he said, “because of what it provides for human life – not because it should be equated with human life”. He continued “this places a significant burden on the Colombian state to ensure the rights are enforced – and it demands that local people are empowered to manage their river properly”.
However, “the reality was sobering”. He found deforested riverbanks, so contaminated with chemicals that plants could not regrow. He found industrial dredging had reshaped an entire river to the point where its regular nutrient-cycling floods had broken down entirely, while whole human communities had been displaced.
“The Atrato River in general, and [its tributary] the Rio Quito in particular, serve as a stark reminder that awarding environmental rights is not the same as realising them. Such rights don’t exist within a vacuum, of course, and they will only be fulfilled if political, socio-economic and cultural systems support them.”
So what might a more supportive human system involve? Oluwabusayo Wuraola is a law lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University. Writing about the recent River Ouse news, she agrees with Mount that “simply granting a river some rights isn’t enough” and adds that “we now need to think about who will actually defend these rights”.
The River Ouse, playing hide and seek. Melanie Hobson / shutterstock
“Appointing representatives who care about their own personal and property interests would be a grave mistake, as would appointing anyone who prioritises the rights of humans to a healthy environment over a more intrinsic right of nature (remember: the idea is that the River Ouse has rights in itself and shouldn’t need to demonstrate its worth to humans).”
In her analysis, “the most effective defenders of the rights of nature in many court cases” have been people with an “ecocentric perspective”. That means an outlook that prioritises the intrinsic value of nature itself, rather than focusing on how it can serve human interests. She cites instances where the supposed advocates for a river’s rights in court were actually motivated by wanting to protect their own property downstream.
Ultimately, though “moves to give rights to nature are promising … we’ll need a whole army of nature protectors to actually enforce those rights”.
These ideas can be applied to rivers in the news right now. For instance, China recently approved the construction of the world’s largest hydroelectric dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo river in Tibet.
The dam will provide enormous amounts of clean energy – when complete, it will be the world’s largest power plant by some distance. But it will also displace people, destroy ecosystems and, of course, disrupt the river itself.
Mehebub Sahana, a geographer at the University of Manchester, points out the effects may be especially severe downstream in India and Bangladesh, where that same river is known as the Brahmaputra and helps form a vast and incredibly fertile delta system.
For him, the dam highlights “some of the geopolitical issues raised by rivers that cross international borders”. “Who owns the river itself,” he asks, “and who has the right to use its water? Do countries have obligations not to pollute shared rivers, or to keep their shipping lanes open? And when a drop of rain falls on a mountain, do farmers in a different country thousands of miles downstream have a claim to use it?”
These are crucial questions, even if they’re ultimately framed around humans. An ecocentric representative might argue the Yarlung Tsangpo/Brahmaputra has an intrinsic right to flow undisturbed and to dump its sediment where it pleases.
There may be a happy medium. Viktoria Kahui is an environmental economist at the University of Otago in New Zealand. Last year, she investigated 14 examples of rights-of-nature from around the world.
She found a “fundamental divide between local communities and external economic interests”. In some cases, interest groups were able to overturn the provision of nature rights.
She therefore recommends that “future rights-of-nature frameworks need to … include appointed guardians, established as separate legal entities with limited liability, as well as the support of representatives from interest groups”.
In the Yarlung Tsangpo/Brahmaputra example, those interest groups might include rice farmers and mangrove conservationists in Bangladesh, or fishermen a thousand miles upstream. They might include the millions of people who would gain electricity, or the thousands who would lose their homes. The river itself could also be an interested party, perhaps via eco-centric human representatives.
Exactly where you draw the line in these cases is tricky. But with rivers increasingly being granted legal rights, this isn’t the last you’ll hear of this issue.
1 / 8Show Caption +Hide Caption –The M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) fires live rounds during an air-to-ground rehearsal exercise in Ben Ghilouf, Tunisia May 09, 2024. African Lion 2024 marks the 20th anniversary of U.S. Africa Command’s premiere joint exercise led by U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF), running from April 19 to May 31 across Morocco, Ghana, Senegal and Tunisia, with over 8,100 participants from 27 nations and NATO contingents. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Lukas Sparks) (Photo Credit: Spc. Lukas Sparks) VIEW ORIGINAL2 / 8Show Caption +Hide Caption –Paratroopers with 19th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 9th Psychological Operations Battalion, Utah National Guard, and 2e Brigade d’infanterie Parachutiste (2e BIP), Moroccan Royal Armed Forces, greet each other in the drop zone near Ben Guerir, Morocco, after a successful combined airborne operation during African Lion 2024 (AL24). AL24 marks the 20th anniversary of U.S. Africa Command’s premier joint exercise led by U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF), running from April 19 to May 31 across Ghana, Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia, with over 8,100 participants from 27 nations and NATO contingents. (Image by U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Nathaniel Free) (Photo Credit: Staff Sgt. Nathaniel Free) VIEW ORIGINAL3 / 8Show Caption +Hide Caption –A remotely controlled Micro Tactical Ground Robot goes down a staircase in a tunnel operation during the culminating exercise at African Lion 2024 (AL24) near Tifnit, Morocco, May 27-28, 2024. The training featured subterranean warfare, psychological operations, building clearing, combined assaults, fast-rope insertion, rappelling, and hostage rescue during AL24, the U.S. Africa Command’s premier combined, joint exercise led by U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF), running from April 19 to May 31 across Ghana, Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia, with over 8,100 participants from 27 nations and NATO contingents. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jake Seawolf) (Photo Credit: Staff Sgt. Jake SeaWolf) VIEW ORIGINAL4 / 8Show Caption +Hide Caption –U.S. Army Capt. Spencer Cline, a family medicine physician with the State Headquarters Medical Readiness Detachment (MRD), Utah National Guard, inspects the ear of a Moroccan patient during the humanitarian civic assistance mission as part of exercise African Lion 2024 (AL24) in Tata, Morocco, May 23, 2024. The Utah National Guard has been partners with Morocco through the Department of Defense State Partnership Program since 2003 and led the effort to partner with the Moroccan Royal Armed Forces for a humanitarian civic assistance (HCA) operation during African Lion 2024 (AL24). The HCA event enables U.S. military personnel to work with their Moroccan counterparts to provide medical services to civilian populations who may lack access to medical care, while improving the operational readiness of participating service members. AL24 marks the 20th anniversary of U.S. Africa Command’s premier joint exercise led by U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF), running from April 19 to May 31 across Ghana, Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia, with over 8,100 participants from 27 nations and NATO contingents. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Trevor Rapp) (Photo Credit: Staff Sgt. Trevor Rapp) VIEW ORIGINAL5 / 8Show Caption +Hide Caption –U.S. Army Spc. Frances Burnett, a unit supply specialist assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry Regiment, 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, New York Army National Guard, holds the battalion’s colors before a formation of all its Soldiers during exercise African Lion in Tantan, Morocco, May 30, 2024. African Lion 2024 marks the 20th anniversary of U.S. Africa Command’s premier joint exercise led by U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF), running from April 19 to May 31 across Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, and Tunisia, with over 9,100 participants from 27 nations and NATO contingents. (U.S. Army photo by Avery Schneider) (Photo Credit: Avery Schneider) VIEW ORIGINAL6 / 8Show Caption +Hide Caption –U.S. Army Soldiers and Marines pose for a group photo with Ghana Armed Forces soldiers after completing a civil military operations course during African Lion 2024 (AL24) in Tamale, Ghana, May 21, 2024. AL24 marks the 20th anniversary of U.S. Africa Command’s premier and largest annual combined, joint exercise. This year’s exercise is scheduled from April 29 to May 31 and is hosted across Morocco, Ghana, Senegal and Tunisia, with more than 8,100 participants from over 27 countries, including contingents from NATO. African Lion 24 aims to enhance readiness between the U.S. and partner nation forces. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Cade Castillo) (Photo Credit: Spc. Cade Castillo) VIEW ORIGINAL7 / 8Show Caption +Hide Caption –U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Justin Feese, maintenance advisor, and Staff Sgt. Devin Sasser, network communications systems specialist, both assigned to Maneuver Combat Advisor Team 2310, 2nd Security Force Assistance Brigade (2nd SFAB), assemble a microwave satellite terminal to increase tactical communication to support exercise African Lion 2024 (AL24) in Dodji, Senegal, May 27, 2024. The 2nd SFAB provides critical advising in support of a joint team to build and test strategic readiness and ultimately deploy, fight and win in complex, multi-domain environments. Currently, Maneuver Combat Advisor Team 2310 is in Senegal as part of a 9-month employment rotation to advise the Armed Forces of Senegal [Forces armées du Sénégal] throughout the country and plays and integral role during AL24. AL24 marks the 20th anniversary of U.S. Africa Command’s premier joint exercise led by U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF), running from April 19 to May 31 across Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, and Tunisia, with over 8,100 participants from 27 nations and NATO contingents. (U.S. Army Reserve photo by Sgt. 1st Class Nicholas J. De La Pena) (Photo Credit: Nicholas J. De La Pena) VIEW ORIGINAL8 / 8Show Caption +Hide Caption –An Armed Forces of Senegal [Forces armées du Sénégal] soldier fires a M249 Squad Automatic Weapon while Maryland National Guardsman Sgt. Mathew Angell, a team leader with Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 175th Infantry Regiment, serves as a range safety officer during a live-fire weapons familiarization led by U.S. Army Soldiers and members of the Royal Netherlands Army as part of exercise African Lion 2024 (AL24) in Dodji, Senegal, May 23, 2024. The weapons range provided an opportunity to conduct realistic, dynamic and collaborative readiness training in an austere environment. AL24 marks the 20th anniversary of U.S. Africa Command’s premier joint exercise led by U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF), running from April 19 to May 31 across Ghana, Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia, with over 8,100 participants from 27 nations and NATO contingents (U.S. Army Reserve photo by Sgt. 1st Class Nicholas J. De La Pena) (Photo Credit: Nicholas J. De La Pena) VIEW ORIGINAL
VICENZA, Italy – African Lion 25, U.S. Africa Command’s premier annual exercise, officially kicks off April 14, 2025, in Tunisia, with activities in Ghana, Senegal, and Morocco beginning in May. With more than 10,000 troops from over 40 nations—including seven NATO allies—this year’s iteration will be the largest in the exercise’s history.
Led by the U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF), AL25 enhances interoperability, strengthens readiness, and builds strategic partnerships through realistic, multi-domain training. Exercises span land, air, maritime, space, and cyber domains, supporting the shared goal of increased security and stability on the continent.
“African Lion 25 is AFRICOM’s largest multinational, combined joint exercise in Africa. It demonstrates the capabilities of the total force by building strategic readiness and interoperability with our African partners and allies to deploy, fight, and win in a complex multi-domain environment,” said Maj. Gen. Andrew C. Gainey, commanding general, SETAF-AF.
Core events include field training exercises, airborne and amphibious operations, special operations forces, HIMARS rapid insertion (HIRAIN), humanitarian civic assistance, and medical readiness engagements. New capabilities being tested include integrated cyber defense training and next-generation systems such as the Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapon (NGSW).
Participating countries include Benin, Brazil, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, France, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Netherlands, Nigeria, Portugal, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Spain, The Gambia, Togo, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and United States. Observers include Algeria, Belgium, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, India, Qatar, Republic of Congo, and Turkey, reflecting broad interest in regional military cooperation.
African Lion began in 2004 and has evolved into the U.S. military’s most significant exercise on the continent. This year’s events reinforce the U.S. commitment to enduring partnerships and demonstrate our ability to respond to crises and deter threats by promoting peace through strength.
For media inquiries or to request interviews or embed opportunities, contact:
African Lion 25 is U.S. Africa Command’s premier annual exercise, led by U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF), that strengthens the U.S. military’s ability to respond rapidly, operate forward, and train alongside allies and partners. Designed to address shared security challenges, African Lion 25 enhances readiness, reinforces strategic reach, and fosters innovative solutions.
Source: United States Senator Pete Ricketts (Nebraska)
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE), a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, criticized the Vatican for extending a deal that allowed Communist China to appoint Roman Catholic bishops. Ricketts made the following comments:
“Right now, our adversaries are hard at work to expand their influence in every region,” said Ricketts. “The Holy See is no exception. In 2018, the Vatican signed a provisional agreement to accept bishops appointed by Communist China, not the Vatican. Pope Francis has categorized the Vatican-China deal is ‘diplomacy in the art of what’s possible.’ I categorize this as being very dangerous. It sets a precedent for future relations with an adversarial nation.”
“Xi Jinping has given the green light to construct state-approved, state-controlled Catholic churches,” continued Ricketts. “This has severe implications for Catholics globally. Additionally, I fear this encouraged Communist China in its persecution of religious minorities and provides moral legitimacy, moral legitimacy for a repressive regime. In October, the Vatican just extended that agreement for the third time for four more years, defying requests from the first Trump administration to end that agreement.”
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Watch the videoHERE
Ricketts made the comments in a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The hearing considered the nominations of Brian Burch to be U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, Nicole McGraw to be U.S. Ambassador to Croatia, and Brandon Judd to be U.S. Ambassador to Chile.
TRANSCRIPT:
“Senator Ricketts: “Right now, our adversaries are hard at work to expand their influence in every region.
“The Holy See is no exception.
“In 2018, the Vatican signed a provisional agreement to accept bishops appointed by Communist China, not the Vatican.
“Pope Francis has categorized the Vatican-China deal is diplomacy in the art of what’s possible.
“I categorize this as being very dangerous.
“It sets a precedent for future relations with an adversarial nation.
“Xi Jinping has given the green light to construct state-approved, state-controlled Catholic churches.
“This has severe implications for Catholics globally.
“Additionally, I fear this encouraged Communist China in its persecution of religious minorities and provides moral legitimacy, moral legitimacy for a repressive regime.
“In October, the Vatican just extended that agreement for the third time for four more years, defying requests from the first Trump administration to end that agreement.
“Mr. Burch, do you agree that the agreement represents a dangerous level of cooperation between the Catholic Church and Communist China?”
Mr. Burch: “Well, thank you, Senator again. Thank you for that kind introduction at the beginning. I agree that the relationship between the Holy See and China is of immense importance to the United States.
“As you point out, they did sign a provisional agreement in 2018 that they then renewed in 2024 that is primarily concerned with the appointment of bishops.
“This agreement is secret, so we do not know the contents of this agreement, because it is restricted to only the appointment of bishops, I think it’s important to maintain for the Holy See, to maintain a posture of pressure and of applying pressure to the Chinese government around their human rights abuses, particularly their persecution of religious minorities, including Catholics.
“When it comes to the question of the appointment of bishops, I would encourage the Holy See as the United States Ambassador, if I’m confirmed, to resist the idea that a foreign government has any role whatsoever in choosing the leadership of a private religious institution.
“I do not believe the church should cede or surrender to any government China or otherwise, the selection of their bishops.
“And I would hope and work with the Holy See to present that and to make that case, assist in that case with the Chinese.
“The other piece of this is important with respect to China, the Holy See maintains diplomatic relations with Taiwan. I
“t is one of only 12 states to do so, and it is the only European state to maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
“I understand this to be extremely important, because, of course, China’s ambitions with Taiwan will likely be tempered by the posture of the rest of the world and the Holy See in maintaining this relationship with Taiwan, I think will serve as a point of hesitation and resistance, given the holy see’s moral authority and moral respect and global influence around the world, and I will insist, as the United States Ambassador, if I’m confirmed, the Holy See, maintain that strong relationship with Taiwan.”
Senator Ricketts: “Thank you, Mr. Burch.
“One of the things that I want to also get back to a little bit of talking about the aid, because you mentioned that the Catholic Church is responsible for aid being distributed around the world, and I think is one of the partners that works for the United States government.
“Isn’t that right? Through Catholic Relief Services in Caritas?”
Mr. Burch: “That’s correct.”
Senator Ricketts: “Yeah. And so my again, having been a prior donor to Catholic Relief service.
“You mentioned how effective they are. I think their administrative and overhead costs are less than 5% typically.
“Is that your understanding?”
Mr. Burch: “That is my understanding. Yes.”
Senator Ricketts: “And so when the State Department is reviewing some of the ways that we’re providing our foreign aid, some of the things, and maybe this is where the ranking member and I need to sit down and kind of go over the facts, but some of the stuff has been referenced as transgender operas in Peru, I believe, also voter turnout in India, DEI programs and other programs, my guess would be, and maybe you’re more familiar, that’s why I’m asking that when it comes to the Catholic Church, what CRS does, what Caritas does, they’re focusing primarily on the type of aid that is life saving, it’s not involved with transgender promotion, it’s not involved in voter turnout, it’s not involved in DEI would that be your understanding of the kind of aid that the Catholic Church, the CRS and Caritas does?”
Mr. Burch: “That is my understanding. It’s primarily focused on humanitarian aid, like disaster relief in Myanmar, for example, which I understand that great Grant was recently reauthorized.
“And then there’s human services side, which, of course, involves a lot of different things that at times, can or cannot be in the United States interest.
“To the ranking member’s question, I think, think this is where it becomes difficult, because you have to make choices as as the United States.
“Can we continue to fund any and all of these programs, or do we have to be selective?
“And if we’re going to be selective, what are the criteria we’re going to use?
“And I fully support the president and the secretary making sure that the dollars we spend, the money that the taxpayers pay into the into the federal government are aligned with the United States interests and will make us safer, stronger and more prosperous.”
Senator Ricketts: “And so by getting to the point of the aid, it would seem that the Catholic Church’s interest in providing aid really does align more with the types of aid of this administration with regard to those lifesaving services. Does that seem accurate?”
Mr. Burch: “I would agree. I think the Catholic Church can be one of the best partners of the United States.”
Senator Ricketts: “Great, thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.”
HAMMOND – Kimberly Robinson, age 57, of Gary, Indiana, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Gretchen S. Lund after pleading guilty to a single count of wire fraud, announced Acting United States Attorney Tina L. Nommay.
Robinson was sentenced to one year of probation and ordered to pay $11,200 in restitution. Robinson had previously resigned her position as Calumet Township Trustee.
According to documents in the case, Robinson served as the elected Calumet Township Trustee from 2015 to 2024. The Calumet Township Trustee’s Office is a local governmental entity whose primary mission is to provide public assistance to individuals and families in need. In her position as Trustee, Robinson illegally used approximately $11,200 of Township assistance funds, to pay rent for her own personal residence from funds that were meant to be disbursed to aid people in need.
Robinson pled guilty pursuant to a plea agreement to resolve the criminal charges. By resigning and entering into a plea agreement before being indicted, Robinson demonstrated that she accepted responsibility for her criminal conduct
The public is reminded it may contact the United States Attorney’s Office at (usainn.pctips@usdoj.gov) or the FBI in Merrillville, Indiana at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) if they have information to report related to public corruption within the Northern District of Indiana.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the United States Postal Inspection Service. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kevin F. Wolff and Philip C. Benson.
Ageas has today released its 2024 Annual Reporting, including the Report of the Board of Directors, the Ageas Consolidated Financial Statements, and the 2024 Statutory Accounts of ageas SA/NV. The reporting was prepared for the first time in accordance with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and the associated European Sustainability Reporting Standards.
The reports as well as additional information on the Group’s 2024 performance, highlighting the accomplishments of Ageas’s businesses and expanding on the conclusion of its strategic plan Impact24 are available on the Ageas website: ageas.com/en/annual-report-2024
The annual results for 2024 were published on February 27, 2025.
Ageas is a listed international insurance Group with a heritage spanning 200 years. It offers Retail and Business customers Life and Non-Life insurance products designed to suit their specific needs, today and tomorrow. As one of Europe’s larger insurance companies, Ageas concentrates its activities in Europe and Asia, which together make up the major part of the global insurance market. It operates successful insurance businesses in Belgium, the UK, Portugal, Türkiye, China, Malaysia, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore, and the Philippines through a combination of wholly owned subsidiaries and long term partnerships with strong financial institutions and key distributors. Ageas ranks among the market leaders in the countries in which it operates. It represents a staff force of about 50,000 people and reported annual inflows of more than EUR 18.5 billion in 2024.
Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Karen K. Christensen-Dalsgaard, Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, MacEwan University
An illustration by the medieval Islamic scholar Abu Rayhan al-Biruni depicting the phases of the moon in relation to the Sun. (Wikimedia Commons)The medieval Islamic mathematician, astronomer and physicist Ibn al Haytham (965 – c. 1040) lived in Cairo, Egypt, during the Islamic golden Age and is considered the father of optics. (Wikimedia Commons), CC BY
In the 11th century in Cairo, the foundations for modern science were laid through the detention of an innocent man.
The mathematician Abu Ali al-Hasan Ibn al-Haytham had been tasked with regulating the flow of the Nile, but when he saw the river that had shaped 4,000 years of human civilization, the hubris of the task became all too obvious.
To avoid the wrath of the Fatimid caliph in Egypt, Ibn al-Haytham supposedly feigned madness and was placed under house arrest, giving him time to focus on optics.
When I started teaching the history of biology, the importance of this pivotal period of scientific history was often diminished in western analysis of science history. Studying the contributions of non-western scholars has shown me what history can teach us about the value of multiculturalism.
A video from The Smithsonian explaining Ibn al-Haytham’s experiments with light.
The story typically told in the West is that science was invented in ancient Greece and then, following close to a millennium of intellectual darkness, developed in Western Europe over the past 500 years.
Other cultures might have contributed a clever trick here or there, like inventing paper or creating our modern number system, but science as we know it was developed almost entirely by white men. As such it becomes a story of superiority, one that demands gratitude.
The scars of this way of thinking are all over our geopolitical landscape. It shapes how many western leaders interact with other cultures, apparently entitling them to share their intellectual authority without needing to listen to others. It is a mindset that belittles other civilizations and led to centuries of colonial violence.
This Eurocentric version of scientific history omits some of the most important events that shaped modern thinking. Science was not developed so much by individuals but by a highly complex global process that brought together ideas, lived experiences and approaches from all major civilizations.
The Plimpton 322 clay tablet, with each row of the table relating to a Pythagorean triple, is believed to have been written in Babylonia around 1800 BCE, around 1,000 years before the Greek mathematician Pythagoras was born. (Wikimedia Commons)
Ancient Greek scholarship, for instance, was indeed instrumental in developing science, but it was not inherently western. The Greek empire spanned much of the Mediterranean region and the Black Sea. Scholars travelled extensively, and the centres of scholarship drifted over time from Ionia in present-day Turkey, for example, to Athens to Alexandria in Egypt.
Greek natural philosophy was influenced by the mathematical and astronomical achievements of the Babylonians and the medical traditions of the Egyptians. Later, Alexandrian scholars made great advances in human anatomy when they overcame the Greek aversion to dissections, likely because of Egyptian influences. Natural philosophy was born from the merger of these scholarly traditions.
Similarly, Ibn al-Haytham was one of thousands of scholars who, during the golden age of Islam, were engaged in the immense task of translating, combining and developing the world’s knowledge into great encyclopedic texts. They admired Indian and Chinese scholarship and technology but revered the ancient Greeks.
Many Arab scholars, on the other hand, emphasized the importance of experimentally testing ideas and developed scientific and surgical instruments that allowed for significant advances.
Arguably, Arab scholars built the foundations for modern science by developing a method for controlled experimentation and applying it to Greek scholarship combined with knowledge and technologies from all accessible parts of the world.
Later, Latin translations of the Arabic texts would allow science to grow in the West from the intellectual ashes of medieval Catholicism. Texts like Ibn Sina’s Qānūn fī al-ṭibb (Canon of medicine) would become standard textbooks throughout Europe for hundreds of years.
Ibn Al-Haytham inspired scholars like Roger Bacon to work toward European implementation of the scientific method. This would ultimately lead to Europe’s scientific revolution.
Great civilizations existed all over the world in the beginning of the 16th century, in Africa, the Middle East, the Americas and East Asia. Most had scholarship that was superior to the West’s in at least some respects. Arguably, the most valuable thing Europeans took from the rest of the world was knowledge.
The first vaccine, for instance, was based on variolation techniques developed in China, India and the Islamic world. People were inoculated against smallpox by blowing powdered scabs up their noses or rubbing pus into shallow cuts.
A vaccine developed by English physician Edward Jenner 80 years later was simply the well-known variolation technique made much safer by inoculating with cowpox instead.
The importance of intercultural exchanges should not be surprising. Scientific data and observations are ideally objective, but the questions we ask and the conclusions we draw will always be subjective, shaped by our prior knowledge, beliefs and past experiences. Different cultures can help each other see beyond their inherent biases and grow beyond the intellectual constraints of individual approaches.
In her book, Braiding Sweetgrass, Potawatomi botanist and writer Robin Wall Kimmerer gives a beautiful example of this in the context of how Indigenous approaches can inform modern science.
One of Canada’s greatest gifts is our diversity. Here, cultures from across the world come together, forming a multiplicity of minds that is well positioned to solve the problems of our world. However, this only has value if we can connect and learn from each other. When we advocate for a diversity of ideas in curricula, both nationally and abroad, we are promoting a future built on the knowledge of people and cultures from around the world.
There is nothing more intimately personal than the thoughts in your head, and yet you did not conceive them. They are a continuation of knowledge and ideas that for thousands of years have travelled the globe, shaped by countless minds from all civilizations. In a time of seemingly growing division, that is a thought that ought to bring us all together.
Karen K. Christensen-Dalsgaard does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments 3
Press release
Now is the time to generate growth together with India
£400m of trade and investment wins from UK-India Economic and Financial Dialogue set to boost the British economy.
£400m of trade and investment wins set to boost the British economy and deliver economic growth and security for working people.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announces joint statement unlocking cooperation across a range of business sectors.
Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds and Minister Sitharaman bring together key business leaders from both the UK and India to drive economic growth.
£400m of trade and investment wins are set to boost the British economy and deliver economic growth and security for working people as the government vows to back British business through uncertain global times.
Today (Wednesday 09 April), the Chancellor took part in the 13th UK-India Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD), marking a significant moment in unlocking opportunities as the two countries look to strengthen economic ties and secure a Free Trade Agreement and Bilateral Investment Treaty.
Rachel Reeves, Chancellor of the Exchequer, said:
In a changing world, it is imperative we go further and faster to kickstart economic growth. We have listened to British businesses, which is why we’re negotiating trade deals with countries across the world, including India, so we can support them and put more money in people’s pockets as part of our Plan for Change.
Our relationship with India is longstanding and broad and I am delighted with the progress made throughout this dialogue to develop it further.
Today’s EFD was Chancellor Reeves’ first with India. It saw the signing of a joint statement unlocking cooperation across a range of business sectors, including defence, financial services, education and development, and strengthened governmental collaboration across growth, economic resilience and international financial issues.
The government is working to make Britain the best country in the world to do business, already bringing in more stability, offering an open trading economy and creating the right conditions for investment.
At the London Stock Exchange today, the Chancellor and her Indian counterpart set out plans to generate growth, improve our Financial Services ties and deepen policy cooperation on the UK Industrial Strategy, tax, sustainable finance and illicit finance.
The total commercial package from this dialogue is made up of new announcements worth £128m in export deals and investments, as well as recent deals worth £271m. This includes:
Paytm, India’s largest digital payment app, announced plans to invest in the UK to accelerate access to affordable digital payments and credit for small businesses.
Barclays Bank PLC India announced on 18 March a further capital injection of over £210M into its Indian operations, affirming its long-term commitment to India. This capital investment will grow its businesses across the Investment and Private Banking in India.
HSBC Bank will expand its presence from the current 14 cities to 34 cities in India. This significant expansion will enable the bank to cover approximately 95% of India’s wealth market, reinforcing their commitment to India.
Standard Chartered Bank today announced that it has shifted to larger office premises at GIFT City, reinforcing its long-term commitment to India’s premier international financial services hub.
Mphasis, an Indian tech business, are setting up a quantum centre of excellence in London and exploring an office in Nottingham which will support 100 jobs.
British International Investment Plc (BII) is committing $10m to the agritech start up, Grow Indigo, to pilot an innovative carbon credit programme to promote regenerative agricultural practices in India.
WNS, a global digital-led business transformation services company founded in India with a $2.7bn market cap, will expand their London HQ presence with a new office and open a state-of-the-art AI design hub to expand the UK’s AI and digital talent pool to drive growth and create jobs.
Revolut announced that they are gearing up for launch in India later this year, following authorisation this week from Reserve Bank of India.
UK firm Wise announces plans to open a new office in Hyderabad, India as part of broader mission to transform the trillion-pound international money movement market.
Prudential’s announcement of launching their first fully owned global services hub in Bengaluru and third joint venture in India establishing a standalone health insurance business.
British International Investment invest $15m investment in vehicle dedicated to investing in India based on inclusion-focused early-stage companies.
The UK welcomes India paving the way to allow Indian companies to list internationally and exploring listing at the London Stock Exchange. The India-UK Financial Partnership published its report ‘Catalysing Bilateral Growth: Connecting India and the UK’s Equity Capital Markets report’. The report aims to lay the foundation for advancing capital account connectivity and strengthening confidence in both markets and will be presented following the EFD.
Coventry University announced today that it is set to become the first English university to be granted a licence to open a campus in India, as UK universities are being granted licences to open a campus in India’s new GIFT city. And the London School of Economics announced that Tata Trusts is continuing its enduring partnership with LSE by awarding a Corpus Grant to support scholarships for Indian students at the School.
Agreement for both sides to continue excellent collaboration as co-chairs of the G20’s Framework Working Group and to work closely together to promote discussion and build consensus around responses to risks to the global macroeconomic outlook.
New ambitions set for joint investments in green enterprises, tech start-ups and climate adaptation building on the success of the UK-India Green Growth Equity Fund (GGEF).
Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds and Minister Sitharaman also today hosted a business roundtable, bringing together key leaders from the financial and professional business services sectors including Tide, HSBC, Aviva, Vodafone, WNS, and Mizuho International. Attendees recognised the strength of the economic relationship between the UK and India, as well as the opportunity for closer collaboration – including through an ambitious trade deal.
Areas for collaboration on defence were also identified, as both sides looked forward to the finalisation of the India-UK Defence Industrial Roadmap, set to strengthen ties between industrial sectors and integrate supply chains.
Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds said:
I was delighted to meet with Minister Sitharaman, hear from businesses, and discuss how we can strengthen the strong economic bonds between our two nations.
Both the UK and India are committed to delivering economic growth and giving businesses the confidence and stability they need to expand.
That is why we are continuing to negotiate towards an ambitious trade deal that unlocks opportunities both at home and abroad for British businesses and supports our Plan for Change.
The UK and India have strong economic, cultural, and education links, with India being a key trading partner for the UK with over £40bn worth of UK-India trade last year alone. The UK’s long-standing programme of EFDs with India is the critical forum to deliver continuous economic gains over time.
The EFD follows a recent visit to Delhi by Jonathan Reynolds, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, which relaunched UK-India trade negotiations.
Keshav R. Murugesh, Group CEO, WNS said:
The UK and India stand as natural partners, and this re-energized trade and investment relationship marks a pivotal stride in our already strong alliance. The potential before us is immense. By formalizing our collaboration in pioneering fields like AI, we will not only fuel innovation and generate high-skilled jobs in both our nations, but also solidify our joint leadership in this transformative era. This is indeed a thrilling chapter for the UK-India partnership.
Bill Winters, Group Chief Executive, Standard Chartered said:
In the face of global developments, it is imperative that we think creatively and act in partnership. The UK and India’s focus on strengthening financial ties and deepening cooperation between our governments, regulators, industry leaders and experts, plays an important role in driving economic progress, setting global benchmarks for stability and innovation and paving the way for greater trade and investment in both countries.
The Rt Hon The Lord Mayor of London, Alderman Alastair King,
We had a highly constructive discussion with Hon. Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and The Rt. Hon. Jonathan Reynolds, joined by leaders from across the financial services sector. There is a strong, shared commitment to deepen our economic partnership and drive greater prosperity—particularly in key areas such as green finance, infrastructure investment, and fintech.
Global trade is entering a new era, where strategic alliances and trade agreements are more crucial than ever. As we look ahead to the UK-India Economic and Financial Dialogue and continue FTA negotiations, our focus remains on sustaining momentum and delivering tangible outcomes in the months to come.”
David Schwimmer, CEO, LSEG said:
LSEG is honoured to host the 13th UK-India Economic and Financial Dialogue at the London Stock Exchange as part of our continued support for initiatives that promote collaboration and connectivity between UK and Indian financial markets. Through deepened partnership, the governments and regulators from both countries can help to build an environment which delivers real benefits to their financial markets and economies.
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (c)
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Ernest D. Pheasant, Sr., 47, an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), was sentenced to life in prison today for the 2013 murder of Marie Walkingstick Pheasant, announced Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
“For over a decade, Marie’s family has endured the pain of losing their loved one without justice. Today, that changed,” said U.S. Attorney Ferguson. “Ernest Pheasant will pay for his heinous crime by spending the rest of his life behind bars. While nothing can undo the family’s loss, I hope this sentence brings them a measure of justice. My Office remains committed to pursuing cases involving missing or murdered indigenous persons no matter how much time has passed.”
“While nothing can undo the pain caused by this tragic crime, we hope that this sentence helps to provide closure to the family and friends of Marie Walkingstick Pheasant,” said Marcelino Toersbijns, Chief of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Missing and Murdered Unit (MMU). “This case is emblematic of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Crisis impacting tribal communities across the country and highlights the importance of the MMU’s mission of analyzing and solving missing, murdered and human trafficking cases involving American Indians and Alaska Natives.”
According to filed documents and information presented in court, on December 29, 2013, the body of Marie Walkingstick Pheasant was discovered inside a burned-out vehicle parked near Big Cove Road within the Qualla Boundary in the Western District of North Carolina. Investigators determined that the vehicle had been intentionally set on fire. An autopsy revealed that Marie died from stab wounds to the neck and abdomen. DNA retrieved from a baseball cap found near the vehicle was linked to the defendant, who was Marie’s estranged husband.
On April 7, 2022, following a review of unsolved homicides in the region, the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Missing and Murdered Unit opened a full interagency investigation into the case. During the investigation, law enforcement determined that Pheasant killed Marie at their home, then transferred her body to the car, drove it to Big Cove Road, and set it on fire. On August 16, 2024, Pheasant pleaded guilty to first degree murder for killing Marie willfully, deliberately, maliciously, and with premeditation.
The MMU began as the Cold Case task force, part of Operation Lady Justice, a multi-agency effort established by President Trump’s administration in 2019 to enhance the operation of the criminal justice system and address the staggering number of missing and murdered American Indian and Alaska Natives in tribal communities.
Today’s sentence is the result of the joint investigation conducted by the MMU, the FBI in North Carolina, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, the Cherokee Indian Police Department, and the EBCI Office of the Tribal Prosecutor.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex M. Scott of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville prosecuted the case.
Operation Not Forgotten
On Tuesday, the Justice Department announced a surge in FBI resources across the country to address unresolved violent crimes in Indian Country, including crimes relating to missing and murdered indigenous persons. As part of Operation Not Forgotten, 60 FBI personnel will be sent to Field Offices to support investigations of Indian Country violent crimes. The FBI will be assisted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs Missing and Murdered Unit and will use the latest forensic evidence processing tools to solve cases and hold perpetrators accountable. U.S. Attorney’s Offices will aggressively prosecute case referrals.
“Crime rates in American Indian and Alaska Native communities are unacceptably high. By surging FBI resources and collaborating closely with US Attorneys and Tribal law enforcement to prosecute cases, the Department of Justice will help deliver the accountability that these communities deserve,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi.
“The FBI will manhunt violent criminals on all lands – and Operation Not Forgotten ensures a surge in resources to locate violent offenders on tribal lands and find those who have gone missing,” said FBI Director Kash Patel.
“Violent crime continues to disproportionately impact communities in Indian Country,” said U.S. Attorney Ferguson. “Dedicating additional resources to reduce violent criminal activity in Tribal communities and solve cases of missing or murdered indigenous persons sends a clear message: No victim will be forgotten, and no crime will go unpunished.”
Scott Davis, Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Interior, exercising the delegated authority of the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, said, “We appreciate the partnership of the Department of Justice and the FBI in addressing these crimes. This announcement reinforces our commitment to Indian Country and our dedication to collaborating with federal, state, and tribal agencies to ensure justice for American Indian and Alaska Native victims while holding offenders accountable.”
Indian Country faces persistent levels of crime and victimization. At the beginning of Fiscal Year 2025, FBI’s Indian Country program had approximately 4,300 open investigations, including over 900 death investigations, 1,000 child abuse investigations, and more than 500 domestic violence and adult sexual abuse investigations.
Operation Not Forgotten renews efforts begun during President Trump’s first term under E.O. 13898, Establishing the Task Force on Missing and Murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives. This is the third deployment under Operation Not Forgotten, which has provided investigative support to over 500 cases in the past two years. Combined, these operations resulted in the recovery of 10 child victims, 52 arrests, and 25 indictments or judicial complaints.
Operation Not Forgotten also expands upon the resources deployed in recent years to address cases of missing and murdered indigenous people. The effort will be supported by the Department’s MMIP Regional Outreach Program, which places attorneys and coordinators in U.S. Attorneys’ Offices across the United States to help prevent and respond to cases of missing or murdered indigenous people.
After deciding to flout an international arrest warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu, Hungary has become the first European country to announce plans to leave the International Criminal Court (ICC). This comes after president Viktor Orbán hosted Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, despite the ICC issuing an arrest warrant for him in relation to war crimes in Gaza.
As a member of the ICC, Hungary is supposed to turn in anyone subject to such a warrant if they enter its territory. Instead, Orbán rolled out the red carpet.
Following the visit, a senior government official confirmed Hungary’s intention to leave the court. It will be some time before we know if it will see through on the threat because it takes at least a year to leave once a formal written notification has been sent but the signal itself is a landmark moment.
Hungary’s open repudiation of an important part of international law is further evidence of the tectonic shifts taking place in international relations.
Throughout most of the 1990s and early 2000s, much of western foreign policy was focused on creating institutional mechanisms aimed at preserving the liberal international consensus that emerged at the end of the cold war. The creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the ICC were two of the most concrete manifestations of this ethos.
Both represent attempts to bring legal and judicial formality to international politics. Unlike its two ad-hoc antecedents – the international criminal tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda – the ICC is a permanent court of justice. It is tasked with overseeing the criminal trials of people accused of involvement in serious crimes, such as genocide.
Even at the height of its popularity, the idea that international relations should be subject to more rules and enforcement by courts had its fair share of sceptics and detractors, especially among countries whose interests and power could be most severely curtailed by an effective international justice system.
The US, Russia and Israel had originally signed but did not ratify the Rome statute underpinning the ICC – and subsequently withdrew their signatures – while China and India never even signed the treaty.
European countries generally (and EU member states specifically) were always among the most supportive of the ICC. The continent has experience with perhaps the most important experiment in international criminal justice, the Nuremberg trials of Nazi crimes. This legacy has continued to feed European support for holding those responsible for aggression and atrocities to account by means of criminal justice.
Countries like Hungary, emerging from behind the iron curtain in the 1990s, were no exception. There was no ideological or practical reason to oppose the creation of the ICC.
If anything, countries hoping to join the EU saw it as beneficial to endorse the court. Other than Belarus and Azerbaijan, every European country has ratified the Rome statute, and none has left – until now.
The rise of kleptocratic authoritarianism in Hungary means its exit from the ICC should not be particularly surprising. Inside the EU, Hungary has consistently acted as a Trojan horse for the interests of authoritarian governments, most notably Russia, China and Serbia.
Its break with the values and principles that are supposed to be at the heart of the EU project goes substantially beyond support for international institutions and justice.
Consensus crumbles
But the broader international environment has also become less favourable to legalisation and judicialisation. Countries that previously feigned commitment to international law have become outright pariahs. The most obvious example is of course Russia, which is waging a war of aggression against Ukraine – a crime under the Rome statute.
More importantly, though, the US is increasingly turning its back on international rules. It is dismantling many of the international institutions it worked hard to establish.
Although Donald Trump might be wreaking the most havoc, the US already effectively pulled the plug on the WTO’s judicial appeals system under Barack Obama. Last year Joe Biden’s administration came close to imposing sanctions on the ICC for issuing an arrest warrant for Israeli officials, including Netanyahu.
Taken together, these developments leave the EU and a handful of other countries increasingly isolated in backing the ICC and other elements of the so-called “rules-based international order”. And while Hungary’s exit deals yet another blow, it’s not clear how deeply committed other EU member states are either.
Germany’s chancellor Friedrich Merz promised he would find a way to make it possible for Netanyahu to visit his country despite the outstanding ICC arrest warrant.
Hungary’s open defiance of its obligation to arrest Netanyahu has placed it in company of countries that wear their noncompliance with international law as a badge of honour. The experience of one of them is particularly educational.
When Omar Al-Bashir, the then president of Sudan, wanted for crimes against humanity, visited South Africa in June 2015, he was allowed to attend a summit and subsequently leave the country despite court orders to arrest him. Fast forward a decade and South Africa is spearheading the international legal campaign against Israel’s atrocities in Palestine.
Netanyahu would almost certainly be arrested in South Africa today, as well as in a host of other African and Muslim countries which had vehemently protested the arrest warrant against Al-Bashir in the past. Effective international rules and enforcement require consistent and credible support from a broad coalition of states – the ICC is increasingly short on both.
Michal Ovadek does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Angola exported more liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe and less to Asia in 2022 and 2023, according to estimates from the Statistical Review of World Energy, when Europe increased LNG imports to offset reduced natural gas imports by pipeline from Russia following the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Prior to 2022, most of Angola’s LNG exports went to the Asia-Pacific region, primarily India. In 2023, however, Europe received 75% of Angola’s total 175 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of LNG exports; France and the United Kingdom were the largest recipients in Europe, taking about 32 Bcf and 28 Bcf, respectively, in 2023. The Asia-Pacific region received the remaining 25%, with India receiving the most at about 35 Bcf for the year.
Most of the natural gas produced in Angola is associated gas produced at its offshore oil fields. However, a substantial amount of that natural gas is flared as a byproduct of oil operations or is reinjected into oil fields to increase oil recovery. Angola does not import any natural gas because it produces enough natural gas to meet domestic demand. The natural gas that Angola does not consume or flare domestically is exported in the form of LNG.
Angola LNG Limited (ALNG) owns and operates Angola’s sole LNG export terminal in Soyo, which has a liquefaction capacity of 250 Bcf per year. The LNG facility produced its first cargo of LNG in 2013, but it subsequently shut down as a result of technical failures and did not restart operations until 2016. The LNG facility uses associated gas produced at Angola’s offshore fields as feedstock, and ALNG also plans to draw additional supplies from non-associated gas projects. One such project is the Northern Gas Complex, where operator Eni plans to begin production from the Quiluma and Maboquerio fields in 2026.
The Northern Gas Complex is Angola’s first non-associated gas project, and Eni aims to develop two offshore platforms, an onshore natural gas-processing plant, and pipelines to transport natural gas from the two fields to the Angola LNG terminal in Soyo. The Northern Gas Complex is expected to reach peak production of about 141 Bcf per year.
For more on Angola’s energy sector, please see the latest version of the Country Analysis Brief: Angola.
MIAMI, April 09, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Varonis Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: VRNS), the leader in data security, today announced the winners of its annual Partners in Excellence awards. The program recognizes channel partners who worked tirelessly in 2024 to deliver Varonis’ top-ranked Data Security Platform to customers worldwide. Varonis leadership selected the winners based on their accomplishments throughout the year.
“Securing critical data is a top priority for our customers, and our mission at Varonis is to protect sensitive data wherever it lives, across IaaS, SaaS, and hybrid environments,” said Greg Pomeroy, Varonis SVP of Worldwide Sales. “In 2024, our partners used their expertise to help Varonis ensure that customer’s data is secured with automated outcomes delivered via our Data Security Platform. Congratulations to the Partners in Excellence award winners.”
Winners for North America
Partner of the Year — CDW
Growth Partner of the Year — Trace3
Cloud Partner of the Year — World Wide Technology
West Regional Partner of the Year — Optiv Security Inc.
East Regional Partner of the Year — GuidePoint Security
West Growth Partner of the Year — AHEAD
East Growth Partner of the Year — Alchemy Technology Group
Winners for France
Partner of the Year — Metsys
Growth Partner of the Year — Orange Cyberdefense
Partner Excellence Award — Synetis
Winners for Central Europe
Partner of the Year — SVA
Growth Partner of the Year — ORBIT
Partner Excellence Award — link protect
Winners for U.K.
Partner of the Year — Softcat Plc
Growth Partner of the Year — Saepio Solutions Ltd
Partner Excellence Award — Bytes Software Services Ltd
Winners for Spain and Portugal
Partner of the Year — Inspiring Solutions
Winners for Australia
Partner of the Year — CyberCX
Winners for India
Partner of the Year — Hitachi Systems India
Distributor of the Year — RAH Infotech
Winners for Latin America
Partner of the Year — Infosec Data Security
Winners for Italy
Partner of the Year — Spike Reply
Growth Partner of the Year — Lutech
Additional Resources
About Varonis Varonis (Nasdaq: VRNS) is the leader in data security, fighting a different battle than conventional cybersecurity companies. Our cloud-native Data Security Platform continuously discovers and classifies critical data, removes exposures, and detects advanced threats with AI-powered automation.
Thousands of organizations worldwide trust Varonis to defend their data wherever it lives — across SaaS, IaaS, and hybrid cloud environments. Customers use Varonis to automate a wide range of security outcomes, including data security posture management (DSPM), data classification, data access governance (DAG), data detection and response (DDR), data loss prevention (DLP), AI security, and insider risk management.
Varonis protects data first, not last. Learn more at www.varonis.com.
Investor Relations Contact: Tim Perz Varonis Systems, Inc. 646-640-2112 investors@varonis.com
News Media Contact: Rachel Hunt Varonis Systems, Inc. 877-292-8767 (ext. 1598) pr@varonis.com
The following 11 Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFC) have surrendered the Certificate of Registration (CoR) granted to them by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The RBI, in exercise of powers conferred on it under Section 45-IA (6) of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, has therefore cancelled their CoR.
i) Cancellation of CoR due to exit from Non-Banking Financial Institution (NBFI) business:
Sr. No.
Name of the Company
Registered Office Address
CoR No.
CoR Issued on
Date of Cancellation of CoR
1
Ekagrata Finance Private Limited
Nova Miller, Ground Floor, No 333 Thimmiah Road Vasanth Nagar, Bangalore, Karnataka – 560052
The comments on the draft Directions are invited from public/stakeholders till May 12, 2025. Comments/feedback may be submitted through the respective links under the ‘Connect 2 Regulate’ Section available on the RBI’s website or may alternatively be forwarded to:
The Chief General Manager Credit Risk Group Department of Regulation, Central Office Reserve Bank of India, 12/13th Floor, Shahid Bhagat Singh Marg, Fort Mumbai – 400 001 Or by email
