🏛️ Governance & Policy
• Good Governance Day 2025 is observed on 25 December to commemorate the birth anniversary of Atal Bihari Vajpayee , former Prime Minister and Bharat Ratna awardee.
• The Central Government approved the establishment of a Bureau of Port Security to strengthen India’s maritime security architecture .
• NITI Aayog released the policy report “Internationalisation of Higher Education in India” to position India as a global education and research hub .
🌍 Environment & Climate
• A report by the Health Effects Institute (HEI) highlighted the continued severity of air pollution in Delhi–NCR .
• Chillai Kalan , the harshest winter phase in Kashmir Valley , lasts 40 days from 21 December to 30 January .
⚖️ Awards & Recognition
• Advocate Shubham Awasthi received the 40 Under 40 Lawyer Award 2025 , recognising outstanding young legal professionals.
• Ravi Deecee , Malayalam publisher, was awarded France’s Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for contributions to literature and Indo-French cultural exchange.
💰 Banking, Finance & Regulation
• PayNearby received TPAP licence approval from NPCI , enabling UPI-based fintech services.
• Canara Bank launched ‘Canara ai1Pe’ , a UPI-based digital payments app .
• PFRDA notified the NPS (Exits & Withdrawals) Amendment Regulations, 2025 , revising the 2015 framework.
• FSIB recommended Brajesh Kumar Singh as MD & CEO of Canara Bank .
• CCI approved Blackstone’s acquisition of 9.99% stake in Federal Bank through warrants.
🛡️ Defence & Strategic Affairs
• DRDO successfully completed User Evaluation Trials (UET) of the Next-Generation Akash missile (Akash-NG) .
• CENJOWS , in collaboration with IP Bazzaar , hosted Tech Talk 2025 on “Minerals That Matter: Geopolitics, Sovereignty & Value Chains” in New Delhi.
🌐 International Affairs
• India and New Zealand concluded negotiations on the Financial Services Annex of their Free Trade Agreement (FTA) .
• Japan moved toward restarting the Kashiwazaki–Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant , the world’s largest nuclear power plant .
• ROHM (Japan) partnered with Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd for semiconductor manufacturing .
🤖 Science & Technology
• IIT Delhi developed AILA (Artificially Intelligent Lab Assistant) , an AI agent capable of independently conducting real-world