1. Kho-Kho World Cup 2025

Recently the first edition of the Kho-Kho World Cup 2025 started at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi.

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Indian Olympic Association President P.T. Usha and Kho-Kho Federation of India President Sudhanshu Mittal lit the torch. Teams from 20 countries are participating in it, including 20 men's and 19 women's teams.

The captain of the Indian men's team is Pratik Waikar, while the captain of the women's team is Priyanka Ingle.

The quarter-finals of the tournament will be held on January 17, the semi-finals on January 18 and the final on January 19.

2. Croatian President Zoran Milanovic re-elected

Croatia President Zoran Milanovic has won a second term for five years. He won more than 74% of the votes, defeating the candidate of the ruling conservative party.

Milanovic, a critic of the European Union and NATO, defeated Dragan Primorac, who received only 26% of the vote.

Milanovic has expressed his disagreement with the ongoing war in Ukraine against Western military support.

Croatia is a country in South-Eastern Europe located on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, whose capital is Zagreb.

3. New battalions to expand CISF

The Ministry of Home Affairs has approved two new battalions to strengthen the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).

The approval of two new battalions will take the total number of battalions of CISF from 13 to 15.

Each new battalion will have 1,025 personnel and will be headed by a senior commandant officer. Women battalion is also included in this expansion.

The CISF protects critical infrastructure such as nuclear plants, airports and ports. It was founded on 10 March 1969 and is headquartered in New Delhi.

4. Formation of National Turmeric Board

Union Minister Piyush Goyal inaugurated the National Turmeric Board. Its headquarters will be in Nizamabad.

Palle Ganga Reddy has been appointed as the first chairman of the board.

Turmeric is called the 'Golden Spice', which is grown in 20 states of India. The board aims to increase the income of turmeric producers, encourage research and promote international marketing of turmeric related products.

The total production of turmeric in 2023-24 was 10.74 lakh tonnes, with India's global contribution being 70%.

5. PV Sindhu becomes the brand ambassador of Puma India

Puma India has appointed badminton player PV Sindhu as the brand ambassador of Puma.

She partnered with Puma to develop a high-performance badminton range. The range will be launched at the 2025 India Open.

Badminton has become the second most popular sport among urban youth after cricket. This partnership will further boost the interest of youth towards the sport.

6. Space Achievements of Pixxel and Digantara

Pixel has become the first private company in India to have its own constellation of satellites.

Pixel launched hyper-spectral technology based satellites from SpaceX rocket, which will be useful in agriculture and defence.

Digantara also launched the world's first space camera satellite for object tracking, which will monitor objects as small as 5 cm in size.