The Union Cabinet has approved a landmark decision paving the way to set up and promote a National-Level Co-operative Society for organic products that will act as an umbrella organisation for aggregation, procurement, certification, testing, branding and marketing of organic products with support from relevant Union Ministries.

Announcing the decision of the Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Union Agriculture Minister Bhupendra Yadav said, that the body will be set up under the Multi State Cooperative Societies (MSCS) Act, 2002 with support from relevant Ministries especially the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (M/Doner) through their policies, schemes & agencies following the ‘Whole of the Government Approach’.

Suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma, whose controversial comments during a TV debate triggered protests and violence last year, now has a gun licence.

She has been given the licence to carry a firearm for her protection.

Sharma recently moved a plea before the licensing unit of the Delhi Police requesting that her life was in danger and she needed a gun to carry round the clock for self-defence. The police unit after taking opinions and understanding the gravity of the matter allowed her plea.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Jan 11 , spoke to his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu over the telephone. Both leaders agreed to further strengthen bilateral strategic cooperation.

PM Modi congratulated Netanyahu for being sworn in as the PM of Israel for the sixth term and wished him a very successful venture.

PM Modi also invited Netanyahu to visit India at an early date.

Benjamin Netanyahu was sworn in as PM of Israel for the sixth time on December 29th,18 months after he was ousted from power.

He returns with the support of several far-right figures once consigned to the fringes of Israeli politics, after cobbling together a coalition shortly before the deadline.

Indian-origin Cabinet minister Ranj Pillai will on January 14 take oath as the tenth premier of Canada's territory of Yukon, becoming the second politician of Indian heritage to head a region in the country.

Pillai, whose roots can be traced from Kerala, was on January 8 unanimously chosen as the leader of Yukon Liberal Party.

Pillai was the only candidate in the running when nominations closed on January 7.

He will become just the second premier in Canadian history of Indian heritage, following Ujjal Dosanjh who held that post in the province of British Columbia between 2000 and 2001.

There are 10 provinces and three territories in Canada.

The CBI on Jan 11 launched a crackdown on alleged corruption in the Food Corporation of India, conducting searches at 50 locations in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi after arresting a DGM-ranked officer.

The role of officials from technical assistants to executive directors in the FCI are under the agency's scanner.

The searches were started after the arrest of a deputy general manager (DGM) in the FCI while taking a bribe of Rs 50,000.

Tribals will observe a day's fast on January 30 at Ulihatu in Khunti district, the birthplace of tribal icon Birsa Munda, in solidarity with their movement to "save" the Parasnath hills.

A large number of tribals on  Jan 10 assembled near the Parasnath hills in Giridih district, urging the state government and the Centre to free their holy site from the "clutches" of the Jain community. They also warned of severe agitation if their demand was not met.

Hundreds of tribals from Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha demonstrated in the hill area, carrying traditional weapons and beating drums.

Jains across the country have been demanding the scrapping of a 2019 Jharkhand government notification designating Parasnath hills as a tourist place, fearing this would lead to an influx of tourists who may consume non-vegetarian food and liquor at their holy site.

Even as the Centre stayed the Jharkhand government's move to promote tourism at the Parasnath hills after protests by Jains, tribals jumped into the fray staking a claim to the land and asking for it to be freed.

The Santhal tribe, one of the largest Scheduled Tribe community in the country, has a sizeable population in Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha, Assam and West Bengal and are nature worshippers.

Days after the Joshimath sinking incident occurred in Uttarakhand, Union Minister of Earth Sciences Dr Jitendra Singh said that man-made disasters are rising rapidly.

  Dr Singh made this remark while speaking at the two-day Joint Indo-UK Academic Workshop, organized by the Ministry of Earth Sciences with the UK delegation, led by Christina Scott-British deputy high   commissioner of India, on ‘Solid Earth Hazard’.

The minister informed that 100 New Seismological Centres (Observatories) will be opened up across the country in addition to 152 already existing and functional such centres.

In the meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) on Jan 10 , the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) was accorded for three capital acquisition proposals, amounting to Rs 4,276 crore. All the three proposals two of the Indian Army and one of the Indian Navy are under the Buy (Indian-IDDM) category. The meeting was chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

Further, the DAC granted approval for the procurement of a Brahmos Launcher and Fire Control System (FCS) for the Shivalik class of ships and Next Generation Missile Vessels (NGMVs) for the Indian Navy.

‘Buy (Indian-IDDM)’ refers to the procurement of products from an Indian vendor that has been indigenously designed, developed and manufactured with a minimum of 50% Indigenous Content (IC) on cost basis of the total contract value.

The DRDO conducted two successful test flights of the Very Short Range Air Defence System (VSHORADS) missile in September 2022 from a ground-based portable launcher at the Integrated Test Range, Chandipur, off the coast of Odisha.

Anti-Tank missiles, launchers

Permission given for the procurement of HELINA Anti-Tank Guided Missiles, launchers and associated support equipment which will be integrated to the Advanced Light Helicopters (ALHs).