Recent 6 months news in National

Union Minister Rajnath Singh has visited Sri Lanka to strengthen bilateral relations and expand cooperation in defense and regional maritime security. He held meetings with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and PM Harini Amarasuriya in Colombo to discuss the partnership between the two nations.

During the visit, they virtually inaugurated 3 Bailey Bridges constructed by the Indian Defence Forces in Sri Lanka. An MoU was signed to upgrade 6 40mm L70 anti-aircraft guns for the Sri Lankan Air Force under a grant from the Government of India (GoI). Two additional MoUs were signed to enhance institutional collaboration.

The PM Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) has completed 6 years of operation since its launch in 2020, aiming for the sustainable and responsible development of the fisheries sector.

The scheme is implemented by the Department of Fisheries under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying with a total outlay of ₹20,050 crore. It is to be noted that a record allocation of ₹2,500 crore has been designated in the Budgeted Estimates for 2026-27 to support the implementation of the scheme.

The Ministry of Coal, in collaboration with Coal India Ltd (CIL), has launched the “Comprehensive Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Framework for Indian Coal Companies” in New Delhi. This marks the first comprehensive framework for the coal sector since the implementation of the Companies Act, 2013.

The framework was developed by the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA), under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, to standardize CSR practices across the coal sector.

Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), an Institution of Eminence (IoE) Deemed to be University, has been selected as one of the three Indian host institutions for the US-India Fellowship for the 2026-27 academic cycle.

The fellowship is a 12-month programme designed to strengthen scientific and technological collaboration between India and the USA. Selected fellows will receive a monthly stipend of $1,650 to support their research and collaborative activities.

Union Minister Annapurna Devi has launched the 9th Rashtriya Poshan Maah in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. The month-long nationwide campaign is scheduled from September 9 to October 8, under the central theme “Hamari Anganwadi Hamari Jimmedari”.

The initiative focuses on 5 key themes: dietary diversity, protein intake, fresh hot cooked meals, community accountability, and nutrition integrated with early childhood development. It also commemorates 10 years of the PM Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) and features a 100% saturation drive.

The Permanent Delegation of India to the UNESCO has announced the inclusion of 4 new cultural heritage sites in the Tentative List of the World Heritage Convention (WHC).

The newly added sites are the Rangpur-Sivasagar Historic Ensemble (Assam), the Colonial Penal Settlement (Andaman Islands), the Nicobarese Cultural Continuity in the Central Group of Nicobar Islands, and the Painted Haveli Towns of Shekhawati (Rajasthan). With this, the total number of sites from India on the UNESCO tentative list has increased to 73.

Vice President CP Radhakrishnan has released a commemorative postage stamp in Chennai to mark the 75th anniversary of the publication of ‘Dinamalar’, a Tamil daily newspaper.

The issuance of the stamp celebrates the 75-year history of the newspaper and its contributions to journalism and public service.

According to the first-ever district-level estimates of the “Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises” (ASUSE) released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), Haryana has emerged as the leading state in the informal non-agricultural sector.

It has 7 districts in the top 50 nationally ranked by Gross Value Added (GVA) per worker. Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana follow with 6 districts each. The report highlights that 33% of the informal sector activity of India is concentrated in the 50 most productive districts, with 40 of these districts located in just 8 states.

The national average GVA per worker in the informal sector is ₹1.56 lakh. Satara (Maharashtra) recorded the highest productivity at ₹8.7 lakh per worker, followed by Fatehgarh Sahib (Punjab) and Tonk (Rajasthan). Telangana and the Northeastern states recorded the highest female participation in the informal workforce.

Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has launched the operational guidelines for the third phase of the Digital India Land Records Modernisation Programme (DILRMP 3.0). The initiative has an allocated outlay of ₹565.5 crore for the 2026-2031 period.

The programme aims to integrate land records, maps, and registration data through a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based digital framework. Under the initiative, every land parcel will be assigned a 14-digit Unique Land Parcel Identification Number (ULPIN), also known as “Bhu-Aadhaar”, alongside the georeferencing of cadastral maps.

75 high-footfall sub-registrar offices will be modernized and rebranded as “registration seva kendras”. The government will also focus on scanning legacy land records, establishing a centralized registration repository, and computerizing revenue courts. Additionally, the NAKSHA initiative will be used for urban land mapping to prepare and issue urban property cards.

Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Francisco P Tiu Laurel of Philippines have co-chaired the 9th ASEAN-India Ministerial Meeting on Agriculture and Forestry (9th AIMMAF) in New Delhi. The agenda of the 9th AIMMAF focused on climate-resilient farming, with a specific emphasis on implementing low-emission rice cultivation techniques.

The participants endorsed the “ASEAN 2045: Our Shared Future” roadmap and the “ASEAN Food, Agriculture and Forestry Sectoral Plan 2026-2030” to ensure environmental safeguards and food safety in the region. A symbolic “Friendship Spike for Agriculture and Forestry” was also unveiled to commemorate the cooperation between the nations.

The NITI Aayog has launched the “Platform for Aggregating Clean Transport” (PACT) and a “Zero-Emission Truck” (ZET) marketplace during the 5th “Electric-Freight Accelerator for Sustainable Transport” (e-FAST) India Summit in New Delhi.

The PACT initiative aims to aggregate freight demand, while the ZET marketplace serves as an interactive business-engagement platform to facilitate stakeholder connections.

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Jitendra Singh has launched “BIO-NIVESH”, a strategic platform to connect biotechnology startups with investors.

The initiative aims to facilitate the flow of private capital for innovations ready for scale-up and commercialization. The platform was inaugurated during a joint roundtable session of biotechnology startups and investors in New Delhi.

Bodhan AI, a Centre of Excellence (CoE) in AI for Education at the IIT Madras, has launched four foundational multilingual AI models as Digital Public Goods.

The initiative was developed in partnership with AI4Bharat to strengthen the national education ecosystem through the establishment of sovereign digital infrastructure. The suite of models includes specialized capabilities for speech recognition, Text-To-Speech (TTS), Machine Translation (MT), and Optical Character Recognition (OCR).

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved 8 major railway multi-tracking projects under the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP), with a total outlay of ₹20,804 crore.

It is to be noted that the initiative will expand the Indian Railways network by 1,196 km across 31 districts in 9 states to enhance regional rail connectivity and operational efficiency. The projects are scheduled for completion by FY30.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has officially designated the Gollala Gudi Temple, located in Palampet, Telangana, as a Monument of National Importance. The temple is situated in southwest of the Kakatiya Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

With this addition, the total number of centrally protected monuments in Telangana has increased to 10. It is to be noted that there are currently 3,693 centrally protected monuments and archaeological sites of national importance across India.

The National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT), under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), has collaborated with Intel India to launch the “Agentic AI Skilling Programmes”.

The initiative was officially introduced during the “National Leadership Dialogue” held at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi. The objective of the program is to develop a future-ready workforce by enhancing expertise in AI technologies.

The Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), functioning under the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD), has launched the “Adoption Awareness 2026” theme titled “Legal Adoption. Safe Childhood. Secure Future. Say No to Illegal Adoption!”.

The nationwide initiative is designed to promote legal, safe, transparent, and child-centric adoption processes while preventing illegal adoption practices to ensure a secure future for children.

Vice President CP Radhakrishnan has released the ‘Mission Rangeen Machhli 2031’, which serves as the Strategic Action Plan for Ornamental Fisheries Development.

The launch took place during the Fisheries Outreach Programme, organised by the Department of Fisheries,in Agatti, Lakshadweep. The initiative aims to establish a uniform framework for the organised growth of the ornamental fisheries sector.

PM Narendra Modi has inaugurated and laid foundation stones for development projects worth over ₹35,000 crore in Vadodara, Gujarat, under the ‘NaMo for Viksit Bharat’ initiative.

He dedicated three sections of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC), covering 326 route km, built at a cost of over ₹20,700 crore. This expansion of WDFC provides direct port connectivity to the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) in Mumbai. A new passenger train service between Tanda Road and Vadodara (Pratapnagar) was also launched.

Furthermore, foundation stones were laid for three National Highway projects in Gujarat with a total value of ₹1,780 crore. Urban development projects like the Vadodara City Command Control Centre for smart administration and the Waghodiya Regional Water Supply Scheme were also dedicated to the public.

PM Narendra Modi has visited Kyrgyzstan to participate in the 26th meeting of the Council of Heads of State (CHS) of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit, at the invitation of President Sadyr Japarov.

During the visit, he also attended the opening ceremony of the 6th World Nomad Games, a biennial traditional sports event held in Bishkek. PM Modi presented the President of Kyrgyzstan with a 10-volume English translation of the Mahabharata by Bibek Debroy and a Ladakhi Tsugdul Blanket (a traditional woolen textile from Ladakh).

He gifted a Dokra artwork to Abdylbek Kasymaliev, the PM of Kyrgyzstan, and a sandalwood Shata Tantri Veena (Santoor from Jammu & Kashmir) to Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the President of Uzbekistan.