A flagship agricultural milestone was achieved as APEDA flagged off the inaugural one-tonne shipment of Karnataka’s GI-tagged Kalaburagi tur dal to the Maldives, establishing a direct export channel via an FPO-led supply chain that delivers over 30% higher price realizations for local farmers compared to domestic market rates. On the maritime infrastructure front, the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways officially notified Paradip Port as a designated “Mega Port” under the Indian Ports Act, 2025, making it the sole facility on India’s eastern coast to earn this recognition. The status was awarded after Paradip successfully satisfied the strict operational throughput thresholds required by the new legislation. Under the same gazette notification, three other maritime hubs, Deendayal Port (Kandla), Jawaharlal Nehru Port (Nhava Sheva), and Adani’s Mundra Port, were also categorized as Mega Ports. This elite classification, valid for five years, requires ports to handle at least 150 million metric tonnes of bulk cargo or 7.5 million TEUs of container traffic annually, significantly boosting their operational standing and global competitive advantage.