Recent 6 months news in National

The Union Cabinet has approved the establishment of the Bharat Maritime Insurance Pool (BMI pool) to provide continuous maritime insurance coverage for Indian vessels. The initiative is backed by a sovereign guarantee of ₹12,980 crore to provide financial security and ensure insurance availability for the pool.

The BMI pool is intended to reduce dependency on external insurance and mitigate risks from global volatility and geopolitical instability in the maritime sector of India.

The Union Cabinet has approved an additional installment of Dearness Allowance (DA) for central government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) for pensioners, effective from January 2026.

The increment represents a 2% increase over the existing rate of 58% of the basic pay or pension.

The move aims to provide compensation against price escalation.

The total financial impact on the exchequer due to the increase in DA and DR is estimated at ₹6,791.24 crore per annum.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved two multi-tracking projects of the Ministry of Railways (MoR) with a total estimated cost of ₹24,815 crore. The projects aim to expand the network of Indian Railways by 601 km, covering a total track length of 1,317 km.

The expansion will span across 15 districts in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. The infrastructure development is scheduled for completion by the FY31.

The Union Cabinet has approved the continuation of the PM Gram Sadak Yojana-III (PMGSY-III) from March 2025 until March 2028.

The scheme focuses on the consolidation of Through Routes and Major Rural Links to connect habitations with Gramin Agricultural Markets (GrAMs), Higher Secondary Schools, and Hospitals.

The financial outlay for the PMGSY-III has been revised to ₹83,977 crore from the original allocation of ₹80,250 crore.

The timeline for completing roads and bridges in plain areas, as well as roads in hilly regions, is extended to March 2028, while the deadline for bridges in hilly areas is extended to March 2029.

The government has also authorized the sanctioning of 161 Long Span Bridges (LSBs), worth ₹961 crore, located on the alignments of previously sanctioned roads.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has approved the development of two new airports in Telangana at Warangal (Mamnoor) and Adilabad.

Following a high-level meeting in New Delhi, Union Minister K Ram Mohan Naidu announced that the Warangal (Mamnoor) airport project is estimated to cost ₹850 crore. The foundation stone for the facility is expected to be laid in June 2026.

The Union Cabinet has approved Phase-2 of the Jaipur Metro Project, which involves the development of a 41 km long corridor connecting Prahladpura to Todi Mod at an estimated cost of ₹13,037.66 crore.

The Cabinet has also authorized the revised cost for the HPCL Rajasthan Refinery Ltd (HRRL) project. The total outlay of the project has been increased from ₹43,129 crore to ₹79,459 crore.

The central government has introduced ‘The Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026’ to increase the maximum strength of the Lok Sabha from 543 to 850 seats. The move aims to facilitate the immediate implementation of the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’ (Women’s Reservation Act) by reserving one-third of the house, totaling 283 seats, for women in the 2029 general elections.

The expansion is designed to accommodate the reservation for women without reducing the existing number of general category seats. Under the proposed revision, the 850 seats will be distributed with 815 seats for States and 35 seats for Union Territories (UTs).

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has launched the ‘Arogya Van’ (health forest) initiative to establish thematic corridors of medicinal tree plantations along the National Highways. The project aims to enhance biodiversity and promote traditional medicine systems like Ayurveda while conserving indigenous medicinal flora.

In the first phase, the project covers 17 land parcels spanning 62.8 hectares. It involves the planting of 67.46 thousand medicinal trees belonging to 36 distinct species.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the 213-km-long Delhi–Dehradun Economic Corridor, built at a cost of over ₹12,000 crore. The six-lane access-controlled highway connects Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, reducing travel time between Delhi and Dehradun from over 6 hours to 2.5 hours.

The project features the longest elevated wildlife corridor in Asia, spanning 12 km through the Rajaji National Park. The corridor ensures the unhindered movement of wildlife, including elephants and leopards.

The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) has designated two more institutions as national repositories under Section 39 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 (BD Act). The initiative aims to enhance the conservation and systematic documentation of biological resources.

The new repositories include the Referral Centre Bhavasagara at the Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology (CMLRE) in Kochi (Kerala) and the MACS Collection of Microorganisms and National Fungal Culture Collection at the Agharkar Research Institute (ARI) in Pune (Maharashtra). With the additions, the total count of the national network of repositories has increased to 20.

Union Minister Jayant Chaudhary has launched a campaign to establish the Skills Outcomes Fund (SOF) with an outlay of ₹530 crore. The SOF is designed as a scalable model for outcomes-based financing (OBF) to link vocational training with sustainable job placement.

It utilizes a blended finance model, combining resources from the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) with capital from private and philanthropic partners. The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) is the nodal implementing agency for the project.

The campaign builds on the success of the Skill Impact Bond launched in 2021, which trained over 34,000 youth (74% of whom were women) and achieved a 76% job placement rate with a 62% retention rate.

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Dr Jitendra Singh has announced the establishment of a Seismological Observatory in Kishtwar and a Doppler Weather Radar (DWR) in Doda, Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).

The DWR will facilitate precise, real-time weather monitoring to enhance early warning and disaster management under the ‘Mission Mausam’ initiative. The Seismological Observatory will strengthen the national seismic monitoring network of India for better earthquake detection and disaster risk mitigation in the region.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh has reviewed the progress and roadmap of the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF). The ANRF is developing an AI-based platform named ‘SARAL AI’ to convert complex research publications into simplified content across various Indian languages.

The ANRF will launch ‘MAHA’ Leapfrog Demonstrators, a mission mode program designed to deliver the impact of science for societal innovation. It has also deployed Nodal Officers in 250 institutions to facilitate research and promote mission-driven innovation.

The Government of India has notified the “Startup India Fund of Funds 2.0” (Startup India FoF 2.0) with a total corpus of ₹10,000 crore to mobilise venture and growth capital for the domestic startup ecosystem.

This initiative is the successor to the “Fund of Funds for Startups” (FFS 1.0) launched in 2016 under the “Startup India Action Plan” to address funding gaps and catalyse domestic capital. The Startup India FoF 2.0 will facilitate commitments to eligible Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) across the 16th and 17th Finance Commission cycles.