Recent 6 months news in Reports

The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) has released findings from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), highlighting India’s progress in maternal and child health, nutrition, and financial protection. Institutional deliveries have reached 90.6%, while Antenatal Care (ANC) coverage has improved from 92.6% to 95.9%.

The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) remains stable at 2.0, while the Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) has increased from 66.7% to 69.1%. Full immunization coverage has improved from 83.8% to 87.1%, with vaccination rates for children aged 12-23 months remaining consistently high at over 96%.

Public health facilities remain the preferred choice for immunization, with 95.6% of children receiving most vaccinations through these channels. Child nutrition indicators have shown improvement, with stunting reduced by 17% and severe wasting reduced by 32%.

The United Nations (UN) has launched a report titled “The Global Forest Goals (GFG) Report 2026” during the 21st session of the UN Forum on Forests (UNFF) in New York.

The report states that global forest cover decreased from 4.18 billion hectares (ha) in 2015 to 4.14 billion ha in 2025, representing an annual net loss of 4.12 million ha. It is to be noted that 16 million ha of primary forests were lost between 2015 and 2025. South America accounted for the most share of primary forest losses recorded during the decade.

Union Minister Piyush Goyal released the 7th edition of the ‘Logistics Ease Across Different States (LEADS) 2025’ report during the ‘Logistics Excellence, Advancement and Performance Shield (LEAPS) Awards 2025’ ceremony held in New Delhi. The LEADS 2025 framework has transitioned from a three-tier to a four-tier performance framework: ‘Exemplars’, ‘High Performers’, ‘Accelerators’, and ‘Growth-Seekers’. Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Mizoram, and Delhi are categorized as ‘Exemplars’.

The ‘High Performers’ category includes 11 states and UTs, such as Gujarat, Kerala, Maharashtra, Puducherry, and J&K. The ‘Accelerators’ category includes 18 states and UTs, such as Punjab, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Ladakh, and Lakshadweep. West Bengal, Rajasthan, Sikkim, and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands are categorized as ‘Growth-Seekers’.

According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) Quarterly Bulletin for Q4 FY26 (January to March 2026) released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), the urban unemployment rate (UR) for persons aged 15 and above decreased to 6.6%, compared to 6.7% in the previous quarter.

The aggregate Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) for persons aged 15 and above is estimated at 55.5%. In rural regions, the LFPR for the 15+ age group stood at 58.2%, compared to 58.4% in the October-December 2025 period. The urban LFPR for the same demographic was reported at 50.2% in Q4 FY26, representing a decrease from the 50.4% observed in the prior quarter.

According to the report by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the total exports of India, including both merchandise and services, are estimated at $80.80 billion for April 2026, reflecting a growth of 13.59% compared to $71.13 billion in April 2025. Merchandise exports rose by 13.78% to $43.56 billion from $38.28 billion in the previous year.

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), operating under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), has released its annual report titled “Crime in India 2024”. India registered 58.86 lakh cognisable crimes in 2024, which is a 6% reduction compared to the 62.41 lakh cases in 2023.

Of the total, 35.44 lakh cases were filed under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) or the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), while 23.41 lakh cases were under Special and Local Laws (SLL).

The national crime rate (cases per lakh population) decreased to 418.9 in 2024, from 448.3 in 2023. Among 19 metropolitan cities, Delhi reported the highest volume of cognisable offences with 2.75 lakh cases, although the city recorded the lowest charge-sheeting rate.

The NITI Aayog has released a policy report titled “School Education System in India: Temporal Analysis and Policy Roadmap for Quality Enhancement” in New Delhi. The report highlights that the school education system in India comprises 14.71 lakh schools and over 24.69 crore students.

The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) at the higher secondary level is recorded at 58.4%. Jharkhand has achieved a 0% primary school dropout rate during 2024-25. Around 8,000 schools across the nation reported zero student enrolment, with West Bengal recording the highest number of 3,812 such institutions.

The Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR) has launched the ‘Panchayat Advancement Index (PAI) 2.0’ for FY24 to evaluate the development, performance, and progress of Gram Panchayats (GPs). Tripura emerged as the top-performing state, with 943 rural local bodies (80% of the total 1,176) categorized as ‘Front Runner’ panchayats.

Kerala and Odisha followed as the next best performers, with 10% of the 941 GPs of Kerala and 8% of the 6,794 GPs of Odisha achieving the ‘Front Runner’ status. The Jugal Kishore Nagar Village Committee, located in the Sepahijala district of Tripura, is ranked as the top GP in the country with a performance score of 88.44.

According to the “ICAR-CMFRI Annual Report 2025” released by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), Tamil Nadu is the leading marine fish producer in India with an output of 6.85 lakh tonnes.

It is to be noted that the aggregate marine fish production of India increased by 3% to 35.7 lakh tonnes in 2025. Karnataka and Maharashtra are ranked 4th and 5th respectively.

According to the 13th edition of the “World Migration Report 2026” released by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), a UN-related agency, India is the leading recipient of remittances in the world by receiving over $137 billion in 2024, making it the only country to cross the $100 billion milestone. It is followed by Mexico, Philippines, France, and Pakistan. The USA remains the primary source of global remittances with outflows exceeding $100 billion, followed by Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, and Germany.

The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has released the 38th annual “2026 Special 301 Report” to evaluate the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) protection of global trading partners. India remains on the Priority Watch List along with 5 other nations.

Vietnam is designated as a Priority Foreign Country (PFC), which represents the highest level of scrutiny. Argentina and Mexico were moved to the Watch List following improvements in regulatory frameworks, while Bulgaria was removed from the report entirely.

The European Union (EU) was added to the report due to concerns regarding Geographical Indications (GI) and pharmaceutical legislation. It is to be noted that the review of Ukraine is suspended due to the ongoing conflict.

Tsinghua University (China) is ranked top for the 8th consecutive year with a score of 93.6 at the 14th edition of the “Asia University Rankings 2026” released by the UK-based Times Higher Education (THE). It is followed by Peking University (China) and the National University of Singapore (NUS).

IISc Bengaluru, is the highest-ranked Indian university, ranking 43rd in Asia with a score of 65.1. It is to be noted that India leads the overall representation with 128 universities.

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has proposed the introduction of a new Index of Service Production (ISP) to monitor the performance of the formal services sector in India.

The index will use FY25 as its base year and aims to cover at least 70% of the service sector at the 2-digit National Industrial Classification (NIC) level. It is to be noted that MoSPI intends to use Producer Price Indices (PPI) or sector specific Consumer Price Indices (CPI) as a deflation strategy to convert nominal turnover into real volume terms.

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has released the 27th edition of the publication titled “Women and Men in India 2025: Selected Indicators and Data” during the National Deliberative Summit on “Data for Development” in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. The report incorporates metadata for 50 key indicators.

According to the report, the sex ratio at birth in India improved to 917 during 2021-23, compared to 904 during 2017-19. The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) in 2023 was recorded at 1.5 for urban regions and 2.1 for rural areas.

In the education sector, the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education rose from 28.5 to 30.2 for females and from 28.3 to 28.9 for males between 2021-22 and 2022-23. The Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) for the population aged 15 and above increased from 37.5% to 45.9% for rural females between 2022 and 2025.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) report titled “TRENDS IN WORLD MILITARY EXPENDITURE, 2025” (published as the “SIPRI Fact Sheet April 2026”), India is ranked 5th among the largest military spenders globally in 2025.

The defense expenditure of India reached $92.1 billion, which is an 8.9% increase compared to the preceding year. This expenditure accounts for 3.2% of the total global military spending.

The USA is ranked first with an expenditure of $954 billion, followed by China, Russia, and Germany.

According to a report titled “DPI@2047 for Viksit Bharat-A Strategic Roadmap to Enable Non-linear Inclusive Socio-economic Growth” released by the NITI Aayog, Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) initiatives currently account for nearly 1% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This contribution is projected to reach 4% by 2030.

The report, which details the implementation strategy for DPI 2.0, was developed in collaboration with the EkStep Foundation and Deloitte. It establishes a two-phase strategy to facilitate the digital transformation of the country.

According to the 20th edition of “The Wealth Report 2026” released by Knight Frank, India is ranked as the 6th largest wealth market globally. India has 19,877 Ultra-High Net-Worth Individuals (UHNWIs) and 207 billionaires, accounting for 2.8% of the global ultra-wealthy population (up from 2% five years ago). USA remains the top wealth market with 2.51 lakh UHNWIs, followed by China, Germany, and UK. By 2031, the number of UHNWIs in India is projected to grow by 27% to reach 25,217, while the number of billionaires is expected to increase by 51% to 313.

According to a study titled “Spotlight on the Top 25 Methane Plumes in 2025: Landfills” released by the University of California, the Jawahar Nagar Landfill (Hyderabad) is ranked 4th globally with an estimated methane emission rate of 5.9 tonnes per hour.

The Kanjurmarg Landfill (Mumbai) is ranked 12th globally among the top methane-emitting sites identified in the report.

According to the April 2026 “World Economic Outlook” (WEO) report titled “Global Economy in the Shadow of War” released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), India is ranked 6th in the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rankings.

The GDP of India is projected to grow from $3.5 trillion in 2024 to $3.92 trillion in 2025, and it is estimated to reach $6.17 trillion by 2030. In the global rankings, the USA is expected to lead with a GDP of $39 trillion, followed by China at $27.5 trillion and Germany at $5 trillion.

Union Minister Piyush Goyal highlighted that patent application filings in India increased by 30.2% to 1.44 lakh in FY26, compared to 1.1 lakh in FY25. India currently holds the 6th position globally in patent filings according to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

Domestic patent filings rose to 99,721 in FY26 from 68,201 in FY25, resulting in an increase in their share of overall filings from 61.8% to 69.4%. Among foreign applicants, the USA recorded the highest number of filings. The highest volume of patent filings in FY26 was recorded in computer-related sectors. Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Maharashtra were the top contributing states.