Recent 6 months news in National

A 28-km long plastic-lined artificial reservoir has been developed in the Thar Desert near Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) to provide a consistent, year-round drinking water supply.

Recognized as one of Asia's largest artificial desert reservoirs, it has a storage capacity of 1.41 billion liters and a depth of 13 meters. The reservoir captures rainwater and surplus monsoon water, which is channeled from the Indira Gandhi Canal via a 1-km escape channel.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), in collaboration with the Drone Federation India (DFI), has launched the second edition of the 'National Innovation Challenge for Drone Application and Research' (NIDAR 2.0, 2026-27) at Electronics Niketan, New Delhi, in a hybrid mode.

The challenge is conducted under the 'SwaYaan' initiative, which was approved by MeitY in 2022 with a total financial outlay of ₹89.87 crore over a five-year period.

Union Minister Amit Shah has launched various initiatives during the 5th Foundation Day Ceremony of the Ministry of Cooperation held at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi.

The event was organised in alignment with the vision of PM Narendra Modi of "Sahakar Se Samriddhi" (Prosperity through Cooperation).

He also announced that the centre plans to establish a Cooperative Life Insurance Company to expand the cooperative sector.

Regarding infrastructure, 135 godowns were transferred, 85 were inaugurated, and the foundation stone was laid for 47 grain-storage godowns.

The Geographical Indication Registry (GIR) has granted the Geographical Indication (GI) tag to Sirsa Kinnow, making it the first fruit from Haryana to receive this recognition.

The certification has been awarded to the Kharisureran Farmer Producer Company Ltd, based in the Sirsa district of Haryana.

Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy has inaugurated a new 84,000 cubic metre Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC) Water Reservoir at the IISCO Steel Plant (ISP) in Burnpur, West Bengal.

The reservoir is designed to meet the operational water requirements of the Coke Oven Battery-10 (COB-10) facility of the plant. It is also engineered to secure water safety for the proposed 4.08 Million Tonnes Per Annum (MTPA) capacity expansion project at the ISP.

The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) and the Rajasthan government have organised the 29th National Conference on e-Governance (NCeG) at the Rajasthan International Centre in Jaipur.

The conference was inaugurated by Rajasthan CM Bhajan Lal Sharma under the theme "Viksit Bharat 2047: AI-enabled, Data-driven & Secure Digital Governance."

The National Awards for e-Governance 2026 were presented during the event, recognising excellence with 17 awards across 7 categories. The conference concluded with the adoption of the "Jaipur Declaration on e-Governance 2026," which establishes a roadmap for strengthening AI-enabled, data-driven, and secure digital governance across India.

Union Minister Bhupender Yadav has inaugurated the Centre of Excellence (CoE) on Human-Wildlife Conflict at the Wildlife Institute of India-Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (WII-SACON) in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.

During the event, he launched the National Human-Wildlife Conflict Portal to address issues related to the conflict. He also released the inaugural report titled 'Current Status of Human-Wildlife Conflict in India: An Overview', which maps critical trends and identifies emerging challenge zones. Additionally, he presided over the 28th meeting of the reconstituted Wildlife Institute of India (WII) Society.

The Department of Fisheries has organised the national launch of the 'Letter of Authorisation' (LoA) for Sustainable Harnessing of Fisheries in the High Seas in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha.

Vice President CP Radhakrishnan presided over the event and launched the LoA for Sustainable Harnessing of Fisheries in the High Seas. He also unveiled the 'Odisha Deep Sea Mission Document'.

Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has launched the 'Promoting Regenerative Agriculture Through Agri-Entrepreneurship Initiative' (PRAGATI) in New Delhi.

The programme will be implemented in 8 states: Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan. The initiative aims to empower 20,000 agri-entrepreneurs and support 20 lakh smallholder farmers across India by promoting sustainable and climate-resilient agriculture.

PRAGATI aims to increase the income of farmers by at least 30%, improve the yields of major crops by 15-20%, promote regenerative agriculture among 20% of the participating farmers, and enable financial inclusion for 50% of the associated farmers.

Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi visited India to participate in the 16th India-Japan Annual Summit at the invitation of PM Narendra Modi. Both leaders held a bilateral meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi.

During the summit, both countries announced 16 key outcomes to expand bilateral cooperation. The leaders also attended the Japan-India Joint Economic Forum, hosted by the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) in New Delhi. The forum witnessed the inauguration of the 4th vehicle manufacturing facility of Maruti Suzuki in Kharkhoda, Haryana.

The central government has approved the procurement of Khopra and Totapuri mangoes from farmers in Tamil Nadu under the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) to ensure better price realization and protect producers from distress sales.

Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has approved the procurement of 87,226 metric tonnes (MT) of Khopra and 96,879 MT of Totapuri mangoes at a price of ₹1,545.41 per quintal.

Uttarakhand has become the 6th literate state in India, with a literacy rate of over 98%. This milestone was achieved under the framework of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the Understanding Lifelong Learning for All in Society (ULLAS) programme.

Mizoram, Goa, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, and Sikkim are the other states that have attained this status.

Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu and Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan have launched the 'Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Yojana (VB-G RAM G)' nationwide at Mukkavaripalli village in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh.

The centre has committed a total financial outlay of ₹7.5 lakh crore for the implementation of the scheme over a 5-year period. The annual outlay for the scheme is ₹1.51 lakh crore, with the Centre contributing ₹95,692 crore and the States providing the remaining 40% of the funding.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has announced two initiatives to strengthen the Indian film industry: the constitution of a High-level Study Group and the development of Model State Cinema Regulations. This was finalized during a review meeting chaired by Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

Prasoon Joshi, the Chairman of Prasar Bharati, has been appointed as the chairperson of the High-level Study Group. The group is required to submit its report within 3 months.

The PM Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY), launched in 2015, has completed 10 years of advancing irrigation-led agricultural transformation in India. The scheme comprises 4 main components: Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP), Har Khet Ko Pani (HKKP), Watershed Development Component (WDC), and Per Drop More Crop (PDMC).

As of August 2025, the PMKSY has benefited over 27 million farmers and created or restored irrigation potential across 24.61 million hectares (ha), supported by a budgetary allocation of ₹64,407 crore. Since the inception of the PDMC component, 110.92 lakh ha of land have been brought under micro-irrigation.

Union Minister JP Nadda has chaired the 16th Conference of the Central Council of Health and Family Welfare (CCHFW) at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi. During the conference, he launched the 'SUMAN Roadmap 2030', a strategic framework aiming to reduce the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) to below 70 per 1 lakh live births by 2030.

He also launched the SSBSK, a unified programme integrating Home-Based Newborn Care (HBNC) and Home-Based Care for Young Child (HBYC) to provide home-based care for children from birth to 5 years.

The central government has identified 25 Tiger Reserves (TRs) across the country for priority recovery through science-led interventions. This decision is based on two reports released by Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav, which focus on a roadmap for active tiger management and findings from the Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan.

It is to be noted that while the tiger population of India is growing at an annual rate of 6%, 25 of the 58 TRs in the country have been identified as potential recipient sites for priority recovery.

Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has launched an AI-enabled Rural Internal Audit portal.

The digital platform aims to enhance financial oversight, audit efficiency, and governance across various programmes under the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD).

Union Minister Amit Shah has chaired the 10th Apex-Level Meeting of the Narco-Coordination Centre (NCORD) at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.

During the event, he virtually inaugurated newly constructed Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) zonal offices in Jammu and Guwahati (Assam) to strengthen enforcement capabilities in these strategic regions.

PM Narendra Modi has dedicated the first greenfield integrated refinery-cum-petrochemical complex of India to the nation at Pachpadra in Balotra, Rajasthan.

Additionally, the PM laid the foundation stone for Phase 2 of the Jaipur Metro Rail Project, which entails an investment of more than ₹13,000 crore.