Introduction

The western Ghats, which is among the biodiversity hotspots in the world has again justified itself as an ecologically important region. Two new species of black aspergilli fungi one named Aspergillus dhakephalkarii and the other named Aspergillus patriciawiltshireae have been identified by researchers in the MACS-Agharkar Research Institute, Pune. The paper has also documented A. aculeatinus and A. brunneoviolaceus in India, first time. The finding highlights the enormous amount of fungal diversity concealed in the Western Ghats.

In September 2025, the UKIIFB completed its first year, which was a big step in bilateral collaboration to enhance infrastructure investment in India. Introduced in 2024, it is a partnership between the Indian government and the U.K. under the leadership of NITI Aayog and the City of London Corporation. The initial year suffered some setbacks but we are currently concentrating on reforms to minimize risks of investment as well as focus capital on priority areas, especially renewable energy.

The economic planning and welfare policies of India largely depend on good consumption statistics. However, new evidence shows that there is a remarkable discrepancy between the Private Final Consumption Expenditure (PFCE) and the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES). The two measures differed by almost 45 per cent in 2022-23 which casts a concern on the way consumption, poverty, and welfare are measured in the country.

The city of Lakes, Udaipur has recently been recognised as the Ramsar Wetland City in 2025, and now it has become one of the few urban cities in the world that was awarded the Ramsar Wetland City recognition due to its remarkable effort in conserving and sustainably managing the wetlands. This award was given in the Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan Awards and Wetland Cities Recognition Ceremony, held by the ministry of environment. This award is an indicator of the sustained attempts of Udaipur to conserve the local ecosystem of lakes and urban wetlands.

The Indian IT industry and the future of Indian students who want to establish their careers in America are the ones that will be seriously affected by the proposed Halting International Relocation of Employment (HIRE) Act in the United States, which is a significant protectionist change.