Recent 6 months news in National

The National Commission for Women (NCW) has organised the “Yashoda AI - Women’s Path to AI Empowerment” programme at Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Jalandhar, Punjab.

The initiative aims to promote AI literacy, digital empowerment, and cyber safety to ensure a secure digital environment.

PM Narendra Modi addressed the nation from the Red Fort on the 80th Independence Day of India, marking his 13th consecutive address.

It is to be noted that this is the second-highest after the 17 consecutive speeches of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. The celebration featured two themes: the 150 years of the national song “Vande Mataram” and “Yuva Shakti-Leading the Journey to Viksit Bharat@ 2047”.

The Indian Army (IA) served as the coordinating service for the event. The Guard of Honour comprised 25 personnel each from the IA, Indian Air Force (IAF), and Delhi Police. Captain Sonia Singh Chauhan of the IA assisted the PM in hoisting the national flag, followed by the first-ever performance of “Vande Mataram” at the Red Fort by the Army band.

PM Modi unveiled “Shakti Ki Saptadhara”, a seven-pronged strategy focusing on manufacturing, agriculture, technology, infrastructure, defence, the green and blue economy, and soft power.

He highlighted that 1 crore young Indians will be trained in AI skills over the next year and announced a target of 6 crore “Lakhpati Didis”. India also aims to reach 100 Giga-Watt (GW) of nuclear power capacity by 2047, with 5 new nuclear reactors starting within the current decade.

A total of 1,057 personnel were awarded Gallantry and Service Medals, including 301 Medals of Gallantry (GM) and 92 President’s Medals for Distinguished Service. President Droupadi Murmu approved 78 Gallantry Awards for the Armed Forces and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) personnel, with 13 posthumous honours.

President Droupadi Murmu has granted assent to the ‘Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Act, 2026’ and a legislation amending the ‘Payment and Settlement Systems (PSS) Act, 2007’.

The ‘Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Act, 2026’ replaces the ‘Income-tax (IT) (Amendment) Ordinance, 2026’. The Act provides exemptions from income tax on interest and capital gains (arising from the sale, exchange, or transfer) to Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) for their investments in government securities.

The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has organised the 8th meeting of the BRICS Working Group on Ocean Polar Science and Technology (OPST) in Goa, hosted by the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR).

India also hosted the 13th BRICS Education Ministers’ Meeting and the 3rd BRICS Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, chaired by Union Minister Pralhad Joshi of the Ministry of Education (MoE). The session concluded with the adoption of the 13th BRICS Education Ministers’ Declaration, which outlines 5 priority areas under the BRICS Education Track.

The 14th meeting of the India-Nepal Joint Working Group (JWG) was held in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. During the meeting, delegations from both countries reviewed bilateral cooperation concerning border management and security.

The Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), launched by PM Narendra Modi in 2019 under the Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS), has completed seven years of implementation. The Union Cabinet has extended the implementation deadline for the mission to December 2028.

The primary objective of the JJM is to provide a Functional Household Tap Connection (FHTC) to every rural household, ensuring a supply of 55 litres of water per person per day. It is to be noted that rural tap-water coverage under the mission has increased to over 15.91 crore households, and more than 2 lakh villages have been officially declared ‘Har Ghar Jal’ certified.

Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has inaugurated 7 major infrastructure projects at the Paradip Port Authority (PPA) in Odisha, with a total outlay of ₹427.8 crore. The projects are intended to strengthen the capacity and operational efficiency of the port.

The PPA has attained an 18.5-metre deep-draft capability, enabling the handling of larger cargo vessels. Furthermore, concession agreements for 3 mechanisation projects were signed with a cumulative investment of ₹1,580.36 crore. The port also reached an environmental milestone by completing its one-millionth tree plantation.

The National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT), under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), has launched a national-level hackathon named “Cyber Kushti 2026”. The hackathon focuses on the fields of cybersecurity and AI.

The initiative was introduced during the 3rd National Conference on Cyber Security, Digital Forensics and Intelligence (NCCDFI 2026) held at the Dr. Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi.

Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh has virtually inaugurated the Research Society for the Study of Diabetes in India (RSSDI) Diabetes Rural Outreach Digital Portal and launched the Video Information and Health Education for Awareness and Self-Management (VISHWAS) Diabetes Awareness Video Library.

The digital portal is designed by RSSDI to support its rural outreach initiative, under which its members adopt villages to improve diabetes diagnosis, follow-up care, and early prevention. The VISHWAS video library will serve as a dedicated digital repository to enhance health literacy and self-management directly among diabetes patients and local caregivers.

Union Minister Amit Shah has inaugurated the new premises of the National Urban Cooperative Finance and Development Corporation (NUCFDC) at Sharada Sadan in Fort, Mumbai, during the 'Sahkar Nav-Kranti' programme.

During the event, he released the book 'Operational Risk Management: A Practical Guide to Urban Co-operative Banks', authored by former RBI Deputy General Manager (DGM) GP Mistry.

Additionally, NUCFDC has launched 'Bank in a Box', an integrated technology platform designed to provide Urban Co-operative Banks (UCBs) with access to multiple banking and technology services. An MoU was also exchanged between NUCFDC and the National Forensic Sciences University (NFSU).

The BRICS Youth Council Meeting and BRICS Youth Summit 2026 were held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

The events were organised by the Department of Youth Affairs under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

The Ministry of Tourism also hosted the second BRICS 2026 Tourism Working Group (TWG) meeting in Jaipur, Rajasthan, chaired by Bhuvnesh Kumar, the Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism.

The 2nd Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting between India and Malaysia on cooperation in the field of Public Administration and Governance Reforms was held in New Delhi.

During the JWG meeting, both countries reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen bilateral cooperation in public administration, governance reforms, capacity building, and the exchange of best practices.

Hyderabad-based Mishra Dhatu Nigam Ltd (MIDHANI) has become the first company in India to secure the 'Independent and International Metallic Material Laboratory (S400)' approval from GE Aerospace, an American aerospace corporation.

The S400 certification authorizes the company to perform a comprehensive range of chemical, mechanical, and metallurgical testing on high-performance metallic materials and aerospace alloys.

President Droupadi Murmu has granted assent to the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which amends Section 3 of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971.

The amendment criminalises the intentional disruption or prevention of the singing of the national song, “Vande Mataram”. It is to be noted that this legislation extends the same legal protection to the national song, “Vande Mataram”, as is currently afforded to the national anthem, “Jana Gana Mana”.

The Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN) under the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has signed an agreement with the Chhattisgarh government, Chhattisgarh State BharatNet Infrastructure Ltd (CSBIL), BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd), and Chhattisgarh Infotech Promotion Society (CHiPS) to implement the 'Amended BharatNet Program' in Chhattisgarh.

A financial support of Rs 3,942 crore has been approved for the rollout of the program in the state.

Union Minister Giriraj Singh has inaugurated ‘IIHT SUTRA 2026’, the first national conclave of the Indian Institutes of Handloom Technology (IIHTs), at the Dr. Ambedkar International Centre (DAIC) in New Delhi.

The conclave was organised by the Office of the Development Commissioner (Handlooms) under the Ministry of Textiles (MoT) under the theme “IIHTs: Weaving the Future of the Indian Handloom Sector - Educate. Innovate”. The Office of the Development Commissioner (Handlooms) also organised a special gathering titled ‘Srijan: Voices from the Loom’ to celebrate women in the handloom sector.

During the event, 3 strategic MoUs were signed with Grasim Industries Ltd, Northern India Textile Research Association (NITRA), and Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Sambalpur. The MoT released a publication titled “Handloom Change Makers”, highlighting the achievements of prominent IIHT alumni, and launched a film titled “Weaving India’s Handloom Future”.

India has launched its inaugural 'Guide to Grasslands and Other Open Natural Ecosystems (ONEs) of India' at the 17th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has approved 31 new manufacturing proposals worth ₹7,877 crore under the fifth tranche of the Electronics Component Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS).

This approval brings the cumulative total of approved applications to 106 projects across 15 states.

The total committed investments under ECMS have reached ₹69,548 crore (as of August 2026), exceeding the original target of ₹59,350 crore.

Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood, the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, has launched the 'RSVC AMRIT' (Accelerated Medium for Rural Innovations and Technologies) platform.

The platform has been developed by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) in collaboration with the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (OPSA). It is designed to serve as a digital backbone to foster rural innovations and bridge the gap between advanced scientific innovations and grassroots rural needs.

Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has released scholarship and fellowship funds for agriculture students through the National Scholarship Portal (NSP) at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Indian Agricultural Research Institute (ICAR-IARI), Pusa, New Delhi.

Under the initiative, Rs 21.35 crore was disbursed via Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) directly to the bank accounts of over 6,000 students.