National

PM Modi inaugurated Swabhiman Flats

• PM Modi inaugurated 1,675 flats for Jhuggi Jhopri (JJ) cluster residents at Swabhiman Apartments, Ashok Vihar, Delhi.

New permanent campus of Indian Institute of Handloom Technology

• Union Minister of Textiles Giriraj Singh inaugurated the new permanent campus of Indian Institute of Handloom Technology at Phulia, Nadia, West Bengal.

Dozer Push Mining Method

• CSIR-CIMFR has successfully conducted India's first test blast using the dozer push mining method integrated with advanced digital technologies at the PEKB coal mine in Udaipur Block, Ambikapur, Chhattisgarh.

National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology

• Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting and Electronics & Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw virtually launched the National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology (NIELIT) Deemed University at Ropar, Punjab from Guwahati.

International

Hanoi world's most polluted city

• AirVisual has reported that Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, is now the world's most polluted city, with PM 2.5 levels soaring to 266 micrograms per cubic meter.

Vietnam

19th India-Iran Foreign Office Consultations

• 19th India-Iran Foreign Office Consultations co-chaired by Foreign Secy Vikram Misri & Iran’s Dy FM for Political Affairs Majid Takht Ravanchi were held in New Delhi.

Iran

Switzerland's 'burqa ban'

• Switzerland's 'burqa ban' came into effect on January 1, 2025, with violators facing fines except in cases related to health, security or religious reasons.

Switzerland

Healthy Homework Act

• The Healthy Homework Act, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in September 2024, came into effect on the first day of 2025 in California, United States.

United States

State news

Sikhya Daat Project

• Under the 'Sikhya Daat Project,' Punjab prisons have appointed 15 permanent teachers to provide education to inmates and their children.

Punjab

Awards

Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards 2025

• President Draupadi Murmu will present the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards 2025 at the 18th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (January 8-10) in Bhubaneswar.

"Hero of the Rally" award

• Industrialist Yohan Poonawala was honoured with the prestigious "Hero of the Rally" award at the Mille Miglia UAE 2024.

Hindi Academy Awards

• The Hindi Academy has announced the Hindi Academy Shalaka Award for the year 2022-23 to Prof. Nirmala Jain, for 2023-24 to Ashok Vajpeyi, and for 2024-25 to Chitra Mudgal. Under the Shalaka Award, each of the three litterateurs will be given a cash prize of five lakh rupees.

Gangadhar National Award

• Odia poet Prativa Satpathy will receive the Gangadhar National Award for Poetry 2023 from Sambalpur University on its 58th foundation day, January 5.

Appointments

Faiz Ahmed Kidwai

• Senior IAS officer Faiz Ahmed Kidwai has been appointed the chief of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)

Directorate General of Civil Aviation

Manish Singhal

• Manish Singhal appointed as the new Secretary General of ASSOCHAM, replacing Deepak Sood.

ASSOCHAM

Economy

Working group for base revision of WPI

• The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has constituted an 18-member working group headed by Professor Ramesh Chand of NITI Aayog to revise the base year of the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) from 2011-12 to 2022-23.

'BAANKNET' portal

• Department of Financial Services Secretary M. Nagaraju launched the revamped 'BAANKNET' portal for e-auction of properties from all public sector banks.

DPIIT MoU with Startup Policy Forum

• The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Startup Policy Forum (SPF) to enhance the global promotion of the Indian startup ecosystem.

Quality Control Order for medical textiles

• The Ministry of Textiles has introduced the Medical Textiles Quality Control Order, 2024, to ensure the safety and effectiveness of key products within the medical textiles segment.

Reports

Logistics Ease Across Different States (LEADS) 2024 report

• Union Minister Piyush Goyal released the “Logistics Ease Across Different States (LEADS) 2024” report and presided over the “LEAPS 2024” felicitation ceremony in New Delhi.

Major Findings

Important Days

World Braille Day

• World Braille Day is celebrated on 4 January since the year 2019, to commemorate the birth anniversary of Louis Braille.

Art and Culture

Grameen Bharat Mahotsav 2025

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Grameen Bharat Mahotsav 2025 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi.

Prakash Utsav

• The three-day Prakash Utsav, celebrating the 358th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh, has begun at Takht Shri Harimandir Sahib in Patna, Bihar.

Sports

International Championship of Handball – IHF Trophy

• The International Championship of Handball – IHF Trophy Men’s Youth and Junior (Continental Phase - Asia) began at KD Singh Babu Stadium in Lucknow.

Trophies and mascots of Kho Kho World Cup

• The trophies and mascots for the first Kho-Kho World Cup in India were unveiled in New Delhi.

Miscellaneous

Gen Beta

• Generation Beta began with children born in 2025. They will be the children of younger Millennials and older Gen-Z.