The Union Cabinet approved the Sabka Bima Sabki Raksha (Amendment of Insurance Laws) Bill, 2025.
About
The Bill seeks to revamp India’s insurance framework, proposing changes to the: Insurance Act, 1938, the Life Insurance Corporation Act, 1956, and the IRDAI Act, 1999.
Aim: Modernisation, wider coverage and stronger regulatory oversight.
The Information and Broadcasting Minister said that the government has strengthened the framework to combat fake news and deep fakes across media platforms.
About
Fake news is known as information that is false or misleading and presented as news.
Deep Fakes are digital media — video, audio, and images, edited and manipulated using Artificial Intelligence (AI).
They incorporate hyper-realistic digital falsification and can be used to damage reputations, fabricate evidence, and undermine trust in democratic institutions.
The Union Cabinet has approved the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhikshan Bill.
About
The bill proposes a unified regulator for higher education, replacing existing statutory bodies such as the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE).
UGC oversees non-technical higher education, the AICTE oversees technical education and the NCTE is the regulatory body for teachers' education.
The Demow Model from eastern Assam’s Sivasagar has been chosen as one of the successful systems of snakebite prevention and management under a project sanctioned by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
The project, called the Zero Snakebite Death Initiative: Community Empowerment and Engagement for Mitigation of Snakebite Envenoming.
Snakebite Envenoming
The snakebite envenoming (poisoning from snake bites) was classified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a high-priority neglected tropical disease.
An estimated 1.8 – 2.7 million people worldwide are envenomed annually.
Snake Bites in India: In India, around 90% of snake bites are caused by the 'big four' among the crawlers - common krait, Indian cobra, Russell's viper and saw scaled viper.
The Union Budget 2026–27 is expected to unveil a policy direction on the next phase of public sector bank (PSB) reforms based on two parallel tracks—Consolidation 2.0 and calibrated dilution of government ownership.
What are the Reforms?
Consolidation 2.0: The government is considering merging the five smallest PSBs with mid-sized banks with objectives to;
To create banks with sufficient scale, balance sheet strength, and market presence.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tributes to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the Iron Man of India, on his 75th death anniversary (15 December 1950).
About
Born on October 31, 1875, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel served as independent India’s first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister.
He is widely regarded as the architect of India’s national integration and a key force behind the establishment of modern civil services, including the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).
He headed various Constitutional Committees, such as Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights, Committee on Minorities and Tribal and Excluded Areas, Provincial Constitution Committee.
