Recent Current Affairs related to Digital India

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.

The Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN) under the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has signed an addendum to implement the Amended BharatNet Programme (ABP) in Gujarat. The agreement was signed at Sanchar Bhawan, New Delhi, involving the DBN, the Gujarat government, Gujarat Fibre Grid Network Ltd (GFGNL), and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL).

The government has approved ₹5,629 crore for this initiative to upgrade rural telecom infrastructure. The programme aims to cover 14,287 Gram Panchayats and provide on-demand connectivity to 3,895 villages across the state.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has been named the global winner of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Prizes 2026. The award was conferred under Action Line C6 - Enabling Environment for its flagship project, 'Samriddh Gram: Integrated Phygital Service Delivery Model Enabled by BharatNet'.

The recognition was presented during the WSIS Forum 2026 held in Geneva. The WSIS Prizes, instituted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), honour Information and Communication Technology (ICT) projects that advance sustainable development.

The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) organized the 29th edition of the National Awards for e-Governance (NAeG) 2026 in Jaipur, Rajasthan. The event was held under the theme "Viksit Bharat 2047: AI-Enabled, Data-Driven and Secure Digital Governance".

Union Minister Jitendra Singh conferred 17 awards across 7 categories, comprising 10 Gold, 6 Silver, and 1 Jury award. The NAeG provides a cash prize of ₹10 lakh for Gold award winners and ₹5 lakh for Silver award winners.

Notable Gold award winners include the ICMR-MINDS project for AI-enabled mental and substance use disorder screening, the Panchayat Advancement Index for utilizing data analytics for rural planning, and the Kadepur Gram Panchayat in Maharashtra for implementing a paperless, blockchain-based e-office.

Other recognized initiatives include e-Aarogya Dhamni, e-Jagriti (Ministry of Consumer Affairs), Agri Stack (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare), AI Clinical Support in eSanjeevani Telemedicine, the Mahakumbh 2025 Digital Initiative, the District Court Case Management System (DCMS) by the High Court of Kerala, and the Blood Bag Traceability Portal.

The Jury Award was presented to the Survey of India for its project titled "Real-Time Precise Positioning Services through CORS Network".

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 launched the Prime Minister Family Care Tracker (PM-FCT) pilot project in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. The initiative aims to strengthen beneficiary identification and ensure the timely delivery of government welfare schemes.

The PM-FCT serves as an integrated digital platform to monitor the health, nutrition, education, and welfare benefits of children from the prenatal stage up to 18 years of age.

Union Minister Amit Shah has launched the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) 2.0 Portal and the electronic Overseas Citizen of India (e-OCI) Card in New Delhi.

The FCRA 2.0 portal transitions the regulatory framework for Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) into a fully digital system. Hosted on the MeghRaj Government Cloud, the portal supports 14,500 active FCRA-registered organizations and manages up to 20,000 application cycles annually.

The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has launched an AI-enabled grievance redressal platform named 'PFRDA Pension Sahayak' for subscribers of pension schemes regulated by the authority.

The Government e-Marketplace (GeM) has partnered with the Common Service Centre e-Governance Services India Ltd (CSC-SPV) to expand access to government procurement in rural and underserved regions.

Under this partnership, 50 GeM Suvidha Kendras (GSKs) will be established on a pilot basis through the CSC network. These GSKs will be operational in states including Delhi-NCR, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana, and West Bengal.

The Digital India BHASHINI Division (DIBD) has signed an MoU with the Government e Marketplace (GeM) to launch the “BHASHINI for Seva/Sanchalan - A BHASHINI Sahayogi Program”.

The initiative aims to strengthen multilingual digital capabilities across the public procurement ecosystem of India by leveraging the BHASHINI Platform.

Bengaluru-based Avataar has launched 'Varya', India’s first indigenous, distilled video AI model, designed to make generative video storytelling accessible and affordable at a population scale. It was launched in partnership with the IndiaAI Mission.

The AI model operates as a text-to-video and image-to-video foundation model, offering enhanced speed and cost efficiencies to the digital ecosystem.

The National e-Governance Division (NeGD), an independent business division under the Digital India Corporation (DIC) of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), has empanelled 6 firms to provide AI and Machine Learning (ML) solutions for central ministries and agencies.

The selected firms are TCS, NEC India, Kyndryl Solutions, Innefu Labs, CoRover.ai, and Cactus Technology Solutions. The empanelment is valid for 2 years, with a provision for an extension of up to 1 year.

Union Minister of State Kirti Vardhan Singh has launched the ‘NZP Saathi App’ and inaugurated self-ticketing kiosks at the National Zoological Park (NZP) in New Delhi.

The app acts as a digital guide for the zoo, providing smart navigation and facilitating easy online ticketing for visitors.

According to the “State of India’s Digital Economy (SIDE) 2026” report released by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER)-Prosus Centre for Internet and Digital Economy (IPCIDE), India ranks as the world’s 5th most digitalised economy.

In the Connect, Harness, Innovate, Protect and Sustain (CHIPS) index for AI, India is positioned 4th globally, behind USA, China, and Singapore. India also recorded an 8.8% growth in internet users. It is to be noted that India accounts for 19.9% of global AI users and possesses the 2nd largest concentration of AI talent worldwide.

The Digital India BHASHINI Division (DIBD) has launched the ‘VYOMA Innovation Challenge’ to promote the development of open-source, multilingual, and voice-first AI solutions. The initiative is launched in partnership with Current AI and Kalpa Impact.

The challenge focuses on creating AI solutions that can operate in offline and low-connectivity environments. It is structured around ‘Sunno Sutra’, a multilingual, voice-first, open-source handheld AI reference device.

The Digital India BHASHINI Division (DIBD) has signed an MoU with the Centre for Digital Public Infrastructure & Artificial Intelligence (DPI-AI) at Kathmandu University, Nepal.

The partnership aims to advance Language AI, multilingual digital public infrastructure, and inclusive digital ecosystems in both India and Nepal.

The West Bengal Legislative Assembly has signed a tripartite MoU to implement the National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA).

With this, the state becomes the 33rd legislature in India to join the platform. The initiative aims to transition the state legislature towards a paperless and a fully digital ecosystem.

The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions (MoPP&P), has launched the portal for the National e-Governance Service Delivery Assessment (NeSDA) 2025.

NeSDA is a biennial assessment framework developed by the DARPG to measure the depth and effectiveness of existing e-Governance (electronic governance) service delivery mechanisms from the perspective of citizens.

The Digital India BHASHINI Division (DIBD) has signed an MoU with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) to launch the “BHASHINI Seva/Sanchalan - A BHASHINI Sahayogi Program”.

The initiative aims to enhance multilingual digital capabilities across the industry and internal trade ecosystem in India by leveraging the BHASHINI platform, which serves as the National Language Digital Public Infrastructure of the country.

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Dr Jitendra Singh has launched the Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) AI-enabled voice chatbot named “Samadhan Didi” at Kartavya Bhawan in New Delhi.

The chatbot is developed by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) in collaboration with Bhasini. It allows citizens to lodge grievances by speaking in their native language.