India's pharmaceutical industry is stepping into 2026, marking the beginning of a critical five-year period to build the required ecosystem to establish itself as an innovation hub in its bid to become a $500 billion sector by 2047, amid near-term challenges of tariff fluctuations and global trade realignments.

The predominantly generic medicines-driven domestic drug industry, which has grown from $3 billion to $60 billion in size over the past 25 years, is shifting towards innovation in next-generation drugs.

India and New Zealand have concluded a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) after nine months of intensive effort. Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a telephone conversation with the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Christopher Luxon, and they jointly announced the successful conclusion of the deal.

The deal, alongside sweeping tariff cuts, opens a new pathway for Indian professionals to work in New Zealand under a capped skilled visa programme.

Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge on Monday strongly criticised the Union government's VB-G RAM G act 2025 that replaced MGNREGA, claiming that changes in the new legislation weaken and undermine the previous act's core promise as a rights-based rural employment programme.

In a post on social media platform 'X', Priyank Kharge said the act would gradually make the scheme untenable by transforming it from a demand-driven legal entitlement into a supply-driven arrangement, thereby stripping citizens of their right to demand work.

A Mumbai-bound Air India's Boeing 777 flight returned to Delhi on Monday after the right engine shut down mid-air, according to a report by The Times of India. Flight Al 887, which took off at 6.10 am, made an emergency landing at the Delhi airport around 6.52 am.

All the passengers were deboarded safely. A twin-engine aircraft can land safely on one engine.

Indian Railways has rationalised its passenger fare structure with effect from December 26, 2025, keeping suburban travel and short-distance journeys insulated while introducing marginal increases for select long-distance categories.

Under the revised framework, there will be no increase in fares for suburban services and monthly season tickets. Ordinary class travel for distances of up to 215 kilometres will also remain unchanged.

Foxconn has rapidly expanded its workforce at its new iPhone assembly facility near Bengaluru. In nine months, the company has hired close to 30,000 workers at its Devanahalli unit, making it the fastest hiring ramp-up seen at any manufacturing plant in India so far, according to a report by The Economic Times.

A key feature of the Devanahalli plant is its workforce composition. Around 80 per cent of the employees are women.

The Election Commission of India on Friday released the draft electoral roll for Tamil Nadu, after collecting 5,43,76,755 enumeration forms of voters across the state. The Election Commission in Tamil Nadu has deleted 97,37,831 electors from the list due to being deceased, having shifted/absent from their residence, or being enrolled at multiple places.

A Pakistan accountability court on Saturday sentenced jailed former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi to 17 years imprisonment each in the Toshakhana 2 corruption case.

The case is about alleged fraud in state gifts, which the former first couple received from the Saudi government in 2021.

After years of forecasts predicting an imminent peak in oil demand amid a swift shift to renewables, oil and gas made a quiet but unmistakable comeback, with India emerging as a central driver of global consumption.

Major energy outlooks - from BP and McKinsey to the IEA - pushed peak oil into the 2030s and revised 2050 demand upward.

Alphabet's Google has advised some employees on US visas to avoid international travel due to delays at embassies, Business Insider reported on Friday, citing an internal email.

The email, sent by the company's outside counsel BAL Immigration Law on Thursday, warned staff who need a visa stamp to re-enter the United States not to leave the country because visa processing times have lengthened, the report said.

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