• Burkina Faso’s President Roch Marc Christian Kabore is being held by mutinous soldiers, two of the soldiers told The Associated Press by phone on Jan 24. They did not say where Kabore is being held, but said he is in a safe place.

• The mutiny came a day after a public demonstration calling for Kabore’s resignation, the latest in a series of anti-Kabore protests as anger has mounted over his government’s handling of the Islamic insurgency.

• The government has not made any statements since Jan 23 when Minister of Defense Aime Barthelemy Simpore told state broadcaster RTB that a few barracks had been affected by unrest not only in Ouagadougou but in other cities, too. He denied, however, that the president had been detained by the mutineers, even though Kabore’s whereabouts were unknown.

• Kabore had been leading Burkina Faso since being elected in 2015 after a popular uprising ousted longtime strongman President Blaise Compaore who was in power for nearly three decades. Kabore was reelected in November 2020 for another five-year term, however, frustration has been growing at his inability to stem the spread of jihadist violence across the country. Attacks linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group are escalating, killing thousands and displacing more than an estimated 1.5 million people.

• The UAE defence forces on Jan 24   intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles that the Houthi terror group fired towards its capital Abu Dhabi, days after two Indians and a Pakistani were killed in a rare drone and missile attack claimed by the Yemeni rebels.

• In response to the attack, the Joint Operations Command of the UAE's Ministry of Defence (MOD) immediately destroyed a ballistic missile launcher in Yemen's Al Jawf province after it fired the two missiles at Abu Dhabi.

• Air India is likely to be handed over to the Tata group by the end of this week.

• After a competitive bidding process, the government had on October 8 last year sold Air India to Talace Private Limited -- a subsidiary of the Tata group's holding company -- for Rs 18,000 crore.

• Following that, on October 11, a Letter of Intent (LoI) was issued to the Tata group confirming the government's willingness to sell its 100 percent stake in the airline. On October 25, the Centre signed the share purchase agreement (SPA) for this deal.

• As a part of the deal, the Tata group will also be handed over Air India Express and a 50 percent stake in ground handling arm Air India SATS.

• Tatas had on October 8 beat the Rs 15,100-crore offer by a consortium led by SpiceJet promoter Ajay Singh and the reserve price of Rs 12,906 crore set by the government for the sale of its 100 percent stake in the loss-making carrier.

• While this will be the first privatisation since 2003-04, Air India will be the third airline brand in the Tatas' stable' it holds a majority interest in AirAsia India and Vistara, a joint venture with Singapore Airlines Ltd.

• Communications and IT Minister Ashwani Vaishnaw on Jan 24 has  said the telecom department will not interfere in matters related to mobile phone manufacturing.

• His comments came amid the industry's apprehensions that there could be heavy regulations if the Department of Telecom decides to control the mobile manufacturing activities.

• At present, the Ministry of Electronics and IT is the nodal organisation to manage matters related to mobile manufacturing.

• Vaishnaw also said that the government is also working on fine-tuning the labour laws to support hiring a large number of the workforce by big companies and allowing residential facilities within the company's campus.

• Electronics production in the country is expected to reach USD 300 billion by 2026, industry body ICEA said in a report on Jan 24.

• The National Policy on Electronics (NPE) 2019 had set a target of achieving a turnover of USD 400 billion by 2025.

However, the industry will be unable to achieve the target set by NPE 2019, due to the adverse impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the sector, the report said, adding that "the COVID-19 pandemic brought with it unforeseen and unprecedented challenges."

• Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma put up an amazing performance against a star-studded field but came up one stroke short of what would have been the biggest victory of his career, ending tied second at the Abu Dhabi Championship.

• Sharma, starting the day at T-4, finished Tied-second for his career-best result on the European Tour, now called the DP World Tour,

• Thomas Pieters became the first Belgian to win a Rolex Series event as he shot a 72 in difficult conditions to win the Abu Dhabi Championship by a shot.

• Ahead of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's 125th birth anniversary, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that a grand statue of the iconic freedom fighter will be installed at India Gate as a symbol of India's "indebtedness" to him.

• Till the statue, made of granite, is completed, a hologram statue of his would be present at the same place, he said, adding that he will unveil the hologram statue on January 23, the birth anniversary of the Azad Hind Fauj founder.

• The statue will be installed under a canopy, which used to have a statue of King George V that was removed in 1968.

The announcement came on a day opposition parties criticised the government for the decision to put out the flame at Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate and merge it with the immortal flame at the National War Memorial.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the hologram statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at India Gate in New Delhi  on  jan 23  at around 6:30 pm and said that he is glad to see immense enthusiasm towards the ceremony.