1.Mexico’s Congress has approved a Bill that seeks to impose tariffs of up to 50 per cent on imports from India, China, Brazil and several other countries with which the North American nation doesn’t have free trade agreements.

2.The Election Commission (EC) Thursday extended the timeline for Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in five states and one Union Territory (UT) following requests from the chief electoral officers.

3.The Central government has approved over Rs199 crore for developing tourism infrastructure in the Hirakud and Satkosia regions of Odisha, with Rs131.92 crore already released to the state.

4.Researchers at the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Rourkela have developed a robotic system designed to interact with people in the most human-like manner.

5.Rockets will be launched from Kulasekarapattinam in Tamil Nadu from 2027, ISRO chairman V Narayanan said Thursday. India’s second space-port is currently under construction in TN’s Tuticorin district to handle Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) launches

6.With the surrender of two Naxalites in Balaghat district, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav claimed Thursday that the state was free of the Maoist menace.

7.A Delhi court Thursday granted interim bail from December 16 to 29 to former JNU student Umar Khalid to attend his sister's wedding.

8.The CBI has filed a chargesheet against 13 individuals for allegedly running “digital arrest” cyber fraud scams.

9.US President Donald Trump announced the launch of a million-dollar “Gold Card” offering a pathway for immigrants to US citizenship, saying that it is a “shame” that students from India and China have to go back to home countries.

10.Bangladesh will hold parliamentary elections February 12, authorities said, its first national vote since a deadly student-led uprising forced then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to flee to India last year.

11.Odisha government has appointed 37,916 people after assuming office last year and is committed to fulfilling its promise of filling 65,000 government posts within the fi rst two years.

12.Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi Thursday handed over citizenship certificates to 35 eligible applicants from Nabarangpur district under the provisions of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019.

13.A new office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India – Eastern Region will start functioning from the City Bhubneswar, April 15, 2026.

14.More than 30 Hero Stones and memorial pillars—worshipped locally as village deities—Hero Stones (Bira Shilas) bearing old Odia inscriptions has been discovered at Malisahi village under Gadakharada Gram Panchayat of Kanasa Block in Puri district.

15.Of the 147 MLAs, only CPI(M)’s lone member from Bonai constituency in Sundargarh district Laxman Munda has opposed the nearly threefold hike in lawmakers. MLA will get : Salary of Rs90,000 plus allowances — Rs75,000 constituency, Rs50,000 conveyance, Rs10,000 books, Rs20,000 electricity, Rs50,000 travel, Rs35,000 medical and Rs15,000 telephone.