ED Raids I-PAC’s Kolkata Office On January 8, 2026, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out search operations at the Kolkata office of the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), along with premises linked to its senior functionaries. The raids, conducted in Salt Lake’s Sector V and at a central Kolkata residence associated with I-PAC director Pratik Jain, immediately…
India Becomes the First to Produce Indigenous Bio-Bitumen India has entered a new chapter in sustainable infrastructure by becoming the world’s first country to commercially produce indigenous bio-bitumen for highway construction. Announced in early January 2026, this breakthrough replaces a portion of conventional petroleum-based bitumen with a bio-derived alternative made from agricultural residue. Beyond technological novelty, the development…
Anti-PM Slogans Thrust JNU Back into the National Spotlight Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has once again found itself at the heart of a national political debate. On January 5, 2026, slogans raised during a student gathering on campus quickly travelled beyond university walls, dominating television studios, social media platforms, and political statements. As in earlier moments of…
Dhenkanal Quarry Explosion: A Sudden Disaster in Rural Odisha A powerful explosion at a dolomite stone quarry near Gopalpur village in Odisha’s Dhenkanal district on the evening of January 3, 2026, turned a routine workday into tragedy. The blast triggered a massive rockslide, killing at least two workers and leaving others trapped beneath debris for…
India and Bangladesh have reopened negotiations on the Ganga Water Sharing Treaty at a moment of consequence, as the landmark agreement signed in 1996 approaches its December 2026 expiry. Talks formally commenced on January 1, 2026, with joint hydrological measurements on the Ganga–Padma system at Farakka—an early technical step that signals intent, but also underscores the political…
India closed 2025 with a notable advance in its missile capabilities when the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully conducted a salvo launch of two Pralay missiles off the Odisha coast. Fired in rapid succession from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, the missiles followed their intended flight paths and met all trial objectives. Multiple tracking systems—both…
A Symbolic Gesture at a Sensitive Moment Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s condolence message on the passing of former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Khaleda Zia was more than a personal tribute—it was a carefully calibrated diplomatic signal. In his message, conveyed to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leadership and delivered during Zia’s funeral in Dhaka, Modi described her…
The images were unsettling and hard to ignore. Eighteen teenage wrestlers from Odisha, travelling to a national-level championship, were forced to spend long hours sitting on the floor of a train corridor—right beside unhygienic toilets. Their journey to and from Supaul, Bihar, for the 69th National School Wrestling Championship between December 7 and 12, 2025, became a…
A Historic Lift-Off for India’s Space Programme On December 24, 2025, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scripted a defining chapter in its commercial space journey with the successful launch of the BlueBird Block-2 satellite aboard the LVM3-M6 mission. Weighing an unprecedented 6.5 tonnes, this was the heaviest commercial satellite ever placed in orbit by India. Precisely injected into…
Parva-2025: Culture as the Gateway to Change Parva-2025 unfolded in Koraput not merely as a celebration, but as a statement of intent. Against the scenic foothills of Sunabeda, the four-day festival once again brought together tribal communities, artists, administrators, and policymakers. Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi’s presence at the concluding day signalled how Odisha is increasingly…
