Amit Shah says circular economy will raise dairy farmers’ income in 5 years
Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Saturday expressed confidence that the implementation of the circular economy model across the country will increase dairy farmers’ income by 20% over the next five years.Mr. Shah was addressing cattle rearers associated with Banas Dairy at an event held at Sanadar village in Gujarat’s Vav-Tharad district to mark the inauguration of the dairy’s bio-CNG and fertilizer plant and the ground-breaking of its milk powder plant.He praised Banas Dairy’s management for successfully developing a model for a circular economy in the dairy sector, which includes generating extra income for farmers through various means.Mr. Shah informed the audience that he had brought several MPs to Banaskantha to understand the circular economy model of Banas Dairy.“So far, our cooperative dairies have received huge success in procuring milk from farmers and giving back the income generated from selling milk products. Now, the time has come to focus on the circular economy. You will get your share from the income generated by the dairy by selling biogas and fertilizer produced from cattle dung procured from farmers,” he said.Mr. Shah also informed the gathering that chairpersons and managing directors of all the major cooperative dairies will visit Banas Dairy in January 2026 to understand more about the initiatives taken by the dairy, considered Asia’s largest dairy with a turnover of ₹24,000 crore.“Apart from the usual milk products like paneer and curd, there are many products that are in demand across the globe, but they are not produced in India. If we focus on those products, dairy farmers can earn extra income,” he said.The Minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has created a system wherein dairies will get the required finance and technology to adopt this circular economy model, which also includes leather production from hides harvested from the cattle that die naturally.He expressed confidence that targets set by Prime Minister under the ‘White Revolution 2.0’ initiative will be achieved through collective efforts.Mr. Shah also praised women dairy farmers for their contribution and efforts in strengthening the sector in this arid region of Gujarat.
NGO in Rajasthan targets 38 districts to end child marriageChittorgarh and Bhilwara districts have a child marriage prevalence of over 40%, while nine other districts have a 30% to 40% prevalence; NGO to focus on community efforts, legal interventions
A civil society network has selected 38 high-risk districts in Rajasthan to conduct an intensive drive to completely weed out the practice of child marriage over the next year, through community efforts and legal interventions.
The drive will extend support to the State government’s actions and use the resources of village panchayats to spread awareness in far-off areas.
Just Rights for Children (JRC), working with 17 partner organisations in the State, claims to have prevented 22,480 child marriages in Rajasthan during the last year.
The villages falling within the 38 districts selected for the drive have been identified as “high-prevalence areas” in terms of child marriages, according to the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5), conducted from 2019 to 2021.
As per the NFHS-5, the prevalence of child marriage in Rajasthan is 25.4%, barely above the national average of 23.3% (the share of women aged 20-24 who married before turning 18). Various districts in the State, however, show huge disparity. Chittorgarh and Bhilwara districts have a child marriage prevalence of over 40%, while nine districts — Jhalawar, Tonk, Sawai Madhopur, Bundi, Bharatpur, Karauli, Bikaner, Alwar, and Pratapgarh — have a prevalence of over 30%. There are nine more districts where the child marriage prevalence is between 23% and 29.9%.
JRC founder Bhuwan Ribhu said here on Saturday that community groups, faith leaders, village panchayats, and citizens would play an important role in the drive. “Child marriage is a crime against children. We will make every possible effort to completely eliminate child marriages through collective work,” Mr. Ribhu said.
The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development also launched a 100-day nationwide movement on Friday to help end child marriage in the country by 2030. India has committed to the global target of eliminating the practice by that date, in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Assam govt. reinforces two-child policy for jobs, electoral participation
The Assam government has notified an amendment to a 2017 policy on population and women empowerment to reinforce the two-child norm for eligibility in government jobs, self-help groups (SHGs), and electoral participation.Certain communities have, however, been allowed to have up to three children without losing access to government jobs and benefits, and the eligibility to contest elections to panchayats and urban local bodies.These groups are Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), “Tea Garden Tribes”, and the Matak and Moran communities.‘Effective immediately’The Population and Women Empowerment Policy of Assam (Amendment), 2025, will come into force immediately, the December 5 notification issued by the State’s Health and Family Welfare Department read.According to this notification, candidates with only two children will be eligible for government employment, and existing government servants must strictly adhere to the two-child norm as role models for society.It further said that individuals, male or female, who marry below the legal age, will become ineligible for government jobs or the State’s employment-generation schemes.The revised framework states that the SHGs with members who uniformly adhere to the two-child (three-child for communities enjoying the relaxation) policy will receive special government incentives.The notification says that the government may legislate legal provisions to bar people with more than two children from taking part in panchayat and municipal elections, and consider similar legal provisions for election or nomination to other statutory bodies and committees.“In addition to the two-child norm, Government may, in aid of creating an educated society and population structure, put minimum educational qualifications as eligibility criteria for contesting elections to panchayats and urban local bodies,” the notification reads.“The Government of Assam will take up with the Government of India the issue of ensuring that MLAs adhere to the family planning norms. The two-child norm will be proposed as the yardstick for anyone contesting election to the State legislature. In case any MLA from the State flouts the family planning norms, i.e., having more than two children, he or she may be disqualified from his/her membership and be debarred from contesting polls in future,” it says.
India emerging as a major hub of renewable energy: Joshi
India has emerged as a major player in generating renewable energy, a mark of transition from fossil fuel energy, by adding 31.25 gigawatt (GW), including 24.28 GW of solar power, in the current financial year alone, Union Minister of New and Renewable Energy Pralhad Joshi said.
Speaking at Global Energy Leaders’ Summit 2025, Mr. Joshi said: “It took nearly 70 years to reach the milestone of one Terawatt of power from renewable sources. However, the second Terawatt capacity in renewable energy sector was achieved in just two years.” It is indicative of India’s growth in the renewable energy sector, he said.
“India is a key driver of this explosive global surge in renewable energy. In the last 11 years, the country’s solar capacity has grown from 2.8 GW to around 130 GW, a rise of more than 4,500%. Between 2022 and 2024 alone, India contributed 46 GW to global solar additions, becoming the third-largest contributor,” said the Minister.
Similarly, module manufacturing in 2014 was 2 GW… that has now grown to 120 GW, he informed.
Although India holds the world’s fifth-largest coal reserves and is the second largest consumer of coal, a balanced approach is needed, he said.
Focus Odisha
Mr. Joshi said Odisha was fast emerging as a major renewable energy hub with 3.1 GW renewable energy capacity and 34% clean share in the power mix.
The Union Minister said the Centre had sanctioned 1.5 lakh new rooftop solar systems (1 kW each).
“Over 1.6 lakh households in Odisha applied for rooftop solar; 23,000 installations completed with ₹147 crore subsidy transferred to beneficiaries. Under PM Surya Ghar, 1.5 lakh rooftop solar systems (1 kW each) have been approved for Odisha, benefiting 7-8 lakh people,” he said.
What did Putin’s visit to India achieve?Where do India-Russia relations stand? What did the two sides agree on during the recent summit? What statements did both leaders make on the Ukraine war? Why is Putin’s visit significant at this juncture when India is negotiating a free trade agreement with the U.S.?
Strong ties: President Droupadi Murmu, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Vice-President C.P. Radhakrishnan, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi converse at a state banquet at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on December 5. PTISuhasini HaidarThe story so far:In terms of protocol, the government gave Russian President Vladimir Putin his warmest welcome yet. Prime Minister Narendra Modi received him on the red carpet at the New Delhi tarmac, and then travelled with him to the PM’s residence for a private dinner. At the end of the 30-hour trip, President Droupadi Murmu hosted him for a banquet as well. Mr. Modi called the India-Russia relationship steady like a “pole star (dhruva tara)”. However, the outcome of the Modi-Putin summit has been modest.What are the main takeaways?Ahead of Mr. Putin’s visit, his first since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the India-Pakistan conflict this year, and the downturn in India-U.S. ties, there was considerable speculation that the two sides were working on a substantial set of agreements on defence cooperation, procurement and technology transfer deals in aircraft, air defence systems, drones and missiles. However, the meeting between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Russian counterpart Andrei Belousov before Mr. Putin landed, ended without any announcements. Instead, the focus was squarely on economic cooperation, and taking forward the roadmap on the “Development of Strategic Areas of India — Russia Economic Cooperation till 2030” that was launched during Mr. Modi’s visit to Moscow in 2024. To this end, they announced a “Labour Mobility Agreement” that will facilitate Indian skilled workers to work in Russia, where manpower shortages for three million jobs are expected by the end of the decade. Russian and Indian fertilizer companies also signed an MoU to build a urea plant in Russia. Apart from this, the two sides signed agreements on maritime cooperation, ports and customs. The two sides expected to smooth the path for bilateral trade, particularly via the Chennai-Vladivostok Eastern Maritime Corridor and International North South Transport Corridor. India and Russia agreed to continue working towards enhancing the settlement of bilateral trade in their national currencies. There were no announcements, however, on oil procurement, that made up more than $60 billion of the $69 billion trade last year, nor were there any concrete outcomes on space and nuclear cooperation.Was the Ukraine war a factor?Mr. Putin’s visit to India, at a time the Ukraine war could head into its fourth year, was significant, as it came during intense negotiations over a U.S.-led peace proposal aimed at ending the conflict last week in Moscow. In comments to the media prior to their talks, Mr. Modi thanked Mr. Putin for “always keeping India briefed” about the conflict, and hoping for it to end. “India is not neutral, it stands on the side of peace,” Mr. Modi said. Mr. Putin too said he hoped for peace, and signalled some hope for the U.S. proposal. However, the larger shadow over the talks was of Western sanctions on Russia that have exacted a high cost on India. While Mr. Putin promised “uninterrupted fuel supplies to India”, and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has said it would only bow to “commercial considerations” on oil purchases, it would seem European sanctions on Russian and Indian oil companies as well as the hefty 25% tariff added on to Indian goods by the U.S. have dented India’s resolve. Figures show, that in 2025, the year-on-year intake of Russian oil has been cut drastically (38% y-o-y down in value in October 2025). The two sides may have also stayed away from announcements in the field of defence, space and nuclear cooperation during Mr. Putin’s visit, just in case the U.S. revisits its 2018 CAATSA (Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act) law that sanctions strategic purchases from Russia. In addition, a warning shot from three European Ambassadors (the U.K., Germany and France) in an article criticising Russia for the war in Ukraine, that appeared just days before Mr. Putin’s visit, may have given the government some reason to pause, even though the MEA called the article’s “public advice” to India, “unacceptable”. It is also significant that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who had last year criticised Mr. Modi for embracing Mr. Putin in Moscow, remained silent on the hugs and bonhomie in Delhi, possibly due to some deft diplomacy by New Delhi, and owing to the sensitive stage the U.S.-led peace talks are at.What can be the way forward?For New Delhi, an end to the conflict in Ukraine will ease the tightrope walk it is currently being forced into due to the deep polarisation between Russia and Europe, and as Russia’s dependency on China grows. Mr. Putin’s visit came just a month before likely visits from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and the European Union’s top leadership Ursula Von Der Leyen and Antonio Costa for Republic Day. The EU-India Summit is being held after a long gap, and the EU-India Free Trade Agreement is expected to be signed. In February, New Delhi expects French President Emmanuel Macron and other Western leaders at the Artificial Intelligence Summit, and Canadian PM Mark Carney thereafter. Meanwhile, the India-U.S. free trade agreement, that hopes to see a rollback of excessive U.S. tariffs, is also in a decisive phase. In that sense, New Delhi hoped the Putin-visit, that was long delayed, would be a “win-win.” It wanted the visit to be a reaffirmation of its traditional ties with Russia, while ensuring the outcomes did not raise a protest from the West. This would allow India to continue to uphold its decades-old policy of “strategic autonomy.”Western sanctions on Russia that have exacted a high cost on India cast a shadow on the summit.
Jantar Mantar now in Mysuru