Recent 6 months news in National

The Union Cabinet has approved the Green Energy Corridor Phase-III (GEC-III) scheme to strengthen the Indian Intra-State Transmission System (InSTS). The scheme aims to evacuate up to 135 Gigawatt (GW) of renewable energy across the country.

It also provides for the deployment of 50 Gigawatt-hour (GWh) of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) at the Renewable Energy generator end, with a target completion by FY33. The total project outlay is ₹1.8 lakh crore (comprising ₹1.3 lakh crore for InSTS development and ₹50,000 crore for BESS deployment), involving a Central Financial Support of ₹54,082 crore.

The 2nd India-Italy Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting on tourism was held in New Delhi. During the meeting, both countries agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the tourism sector.

Both nations also agreed to establish focused technical groups and designated points of contact to further advance bilateral tourism cooperation.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the implementation of the Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS) Project by the Delhi Police at an estimated cost of ₹1,789.52 crore.

The project will cover 42 identified traffic corridors and will be executed in 3 phases over 24 months, followed by 5 years of operation and maintenance.

The National Steering Committee (NSC) under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) has approved a Strategic Investment Plan (SIP) worth ₹320 crore for the ‘Kurukshetra ITI Cluster’ in Haryana.

The approval is granted under the ‘PM Skilling and Employability Transformation through Upgraded ITIs (PM-SETU)’ Scheme. With this approval, the cumulative investment under the PM-SETU scheme has reached ₹2,491 crore across 10 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) clusters.

Union Minister Amit Shah has flagged off India’s first Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)-powered train from the Sabarmati Railway Station in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

During the event, he also inaugurated various railway development projects worth ₹1,472 crore and the Wide Gauge, Alternating Current, Goods (WAG-12) Maintenance Shed for railway locomotive engines, built at a cost of ₹700 crore.

President Droupadi Murmu has amended the Inter-State Council (Amendment) Order, 2026, amending the Inter-State Council Order, 1990. The amendment, which came into force immediately upon publication, introduces special conditions for the participation of Governors and Lieutenant Governors in Inter-State Council meetings.

Enacted under Article 263 of the Constitution of India, the updated guidelines state that the Governor of a State will be invited to council meetings when a proclamation by the President under Article 356 is in force in that State. For the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, the Lt Governor will be invited when an order by the President under Article 239AB is in force.

PM Narendra Modi has inaugurated the 5th edition of SEMICON India 2026 at the Yashobhoomi India International Convention & Expo Centre in New Delhi, held under the theme “Silicon to Systems: Building the Ecosystem”.

The event is organised by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in partnership with Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) and concluded with the exchange of 56 MoUs.

The central government has secured investment commitments of around ₹1 lakh crore under Semicon 2.0. It was also announced that the “Odisha Silicon Valley” will be established at Naraj in Cuttack, Odisha.

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has unveiled 5 new digital identity initiatives to improve service accessibility, secure authentication, and governance during the Aadhaar Samvaad stakeholders conference held in Kolkata, marking the 17th Aadhaar Day.

These initiatives include Face Authentication for the electronic Public Distribution System (ePDS), developed in collaboration with the Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD) and the National Informatics Centre (NIC) as a contactless verification tool.

The newly introduced initiatives also comprise the SWIK Portal 2.0, the Sub-AUA/Sub-KUA (LITE) Framework, and a New Token Management System. Additionally, the revamped website and Career Portal of UIDAI was launched, featuring journey-based navigation powered by BHASHINI for multilingual support.

Union Minister Bhupender Yadav has distributed the first PRAMAAN certificates under the Indian Forest and Wood Certification Scheme (IFWCS) in New Delhi.

The certificates were awarded to the Andhra Pradesh Forest Development Corporation (APFDC) for its plantations covering 33,000 hectares, and to Govind Mohapatra, a farmer associated with the Odisha Bamboo Development Agency (OBDA).

Union Minister Piyush Goyal has announced that the India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will come into force on October 20, 2026, following the completion of ratification and domestic processes in both countries.

From the date of implementation, 100% of exports from India to New Zealand will receive duty-free access, benefiting key sectors such as textiles and apparel, leather and footwear, gems and jewellery, engineering goods, and processed foods.

Union Minister Piyush Goyal and Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the MD of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), have co-chaired the 14th meeting of the India-UAE High Level Joint Task Force on Investments (HLJTFI) in Mumbai. It is to be noted that the HLJTFI was established in 2013.

Additionally, the second India-Fiji Bilateral Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting was held in New Delhi, with both nations discussing various areas of mutual interest.

The central government has approved a one-time, interest-free loan of ₹50,000 per barn for the Flue-Cured Virginia (FCV) tobacco growers in Andhra Pradesh. The assistance is provided under the “Interest-Free Working Capital Assistance Scheme” with a total financial outlay of ₹220 crore.

The central government has dissolved the Digital Communications Commission (DCC), which served as the apex inter-departmental decision-making body under the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) of the Ministry of Communications.

It is to be noted that the body was originally established as the Telecom Commission in 1989 and later renamed the DCC in 2018, functioning for nearly 37 years before being dissolved.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has issued the ‘Standard on Sustainability Assurance (SSA) 5000, General Requirements & Framework for Sustainability Assurance Engagements’.

The SSA 5000 provides a principle-based framework covering climate, labour practices, and biodiversity, aligned with the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) International Standard on Sustainability Assurance (ISSA) 5000. The standard will become applicable from April 1, 2027.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has mandated Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification for smartphone screen protectors under the Electronics and Information Technology Goods (Requirement of Compulsory Registration) Order, 2021, effective from April 1, 2027.

With this, smartphone screen protectors become the 66th product category under the compulsory registration framework and must conform to the Indian Standard (IS) 19348:2025 before being manufactured, imported, or sold in India. A transition period is granted until March 31, 2027, for manufacturers and importers to meet the prescribed standard.

Union Minister CR Patil has launched “Swachh Seva Aankalan (SSA)”, an annual digital self-assessment framework for monitoring rural sanitation service delivery under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Grameen 2.0 (SBM(G) 2.0). The initiative was developed by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS).

Union Minister Amit Shah has inaugurated the 3rd National Conference of Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) Heads of States and UTs in New Delhi. The event was organized by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) under the theme “United Resolve, Shared Responsibility”.

During the conference, he launched the revamped official website of the NCB and released 4 anti-narcotics Television Commercials (TVCs) to increase awareness. He also laid the foundation stones for two new zonal complexes of the NCB in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh and Dehradun, Uttarakhand.

It is to be noted that the government aims to achieve a drug-free India by December 2029 and dismantle drug networks as per the “Vision Document on Narcotics Control (2026-2029)”.

Union Minister Amit Shah has launched several cooperative and agricultural initiatives at Kollam in Kerala, organised by the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India (NCCF).

He inaugurated the ‘Vanitham - She Mart Store’, a women-led cooperative venture to link women Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and rural entrepreneurs with consumers.

A tripartite agreement was signed to establish over 300 She-Mart stores across Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka. These outlets will sell locally sourced goods and subsidized commodities under the newly launched ‘Janah’ brand. Additionally, an MoU was signed with the Bharatiya Matsya Pravartak Sangham to integrate coastal fisheries products into the supply chain under the Janah brand.

Under the ‘Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses’, free seed kits for urad and gram were distributed to women farmers to mark the International Year of the Woman Farmer. The NAFED-Kalyan Scholarship Scheme also provided financial aid to the daughters of registered farmers, benefiting 2,000 families.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh has launched 5 new popular science magazines on the occasion of the 85th Foundation Day of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

The magazines are published in 5 regional languages including Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Bengali, and Assamese. It is to be noted that they are published by the CSIR-National Institute of Science Communication and Policy Research (CSIR-NIScPR).

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has laid the foundation stone for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) Advanced Radar Research Facility (IARRF) at Chandrapur in Kamrup Metropolitan district, Assam.

The facility is being developed under the Network for Space Object Tracking and Analysis (NETRA) programme. The initial system at the site will be a cloud-research radar, which is scheduled to be commissioned and become operational by February 2027.