Recent 6 months news in National

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) have launched a 5 year initiative titled “Strengthening Institutional Capacities for Securing Biodiversity Conservation Commitments”.

The project is a joint collaboration between the Government of India (GoI), Global Environment Facility (GEF), and UN Development Programme (UNDP). The initiative is supported by a $4.88 million grant for the 2025–2030 period and targets two landscapes: the Sathyamangalam landscape in Tamil Nadu and the Garo Hills in Meghalaya.

The Sathyamangalam landscape, situated at the confluence of the Western and Eastern Ghats, includes the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve and Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve. In Meghalaya, the project covers the Nokrek Biosphere Reserve, Balpakram National Park, and Siju Wildlife Sanctuary within the Garo Hills.

Union Minister Bhupender Yadav has announced that the Shekha Jheel Bird Sanctuary in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh (UP), is designated as a Ramsar site. This takes the total number of Ramsar sites in India to 99.

With this addition, UP now has 12 Ramsar sites, the second highest in the country. It is to be noted that Tamil Nadu holds the highest number of Ramsar sites in India with 20 designated wetlands (as of February 2026).

PM Narendra Modi has inaugurated the Sri Guru Bhairavaikya Mandira at Sri Kshetra Adichunchanagiri in Mandya, Karnataka. During the visit, he was honoured with a Mysuru Peta, a traditional headgear crafted from Mysuru and Benaras silk and decorated with pearls and pendants, which was historically worn by the former King of Mysuru, Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar.

PM Modi and former PM HD Deve Gowda have released the publication titled ‘Saundarya Lahari and Shiva Mahimna Stotram’ in Mandya, popularly known as the “Sugar City”. He also highlighted a “nine-point, citizen-driven development agenda” to facilitate the goals of “Viksit Karnataka” and “Viksit Bharat”.

Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has launched the operational guidelines for the Urban Challenge Fund (UCF) and the Credit Repayment Guarantee Sub-Scheme (CRGSS) in New Delhi. The UCF will be implemented from FY26 to FY31, with a possible extension until FY34.

The central government has allocated ₹1 lakh crore as Central Assistance for the UCF to attract a total urban investment of ₹4 lakh crore. Central Assistance is capped at 25% of the total project cost, while at least 50% must be sourced from marketbased sources like municipal bonds, bank loans, and PublicPrivate Partnerships (PPPs). Of the total outlay, ₹90,000 crore is for project funding and ₹5,000 crore is for capacity building. The CRGSS, which has an allocation of ₹5,000 crore, provides credit guarantees to assist smaller cities in accessing finance from market-based sources.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has constituted the Technology and Policy Expert Committee (TPEC) to serve as an advisory arm to the newly established AI Governance and Economic Group (AIGEG) in New Delhi.

S Krishnan, the Secretary of MeitY, has been appointed as the chairperson of the committee. The TPEC aims to translate complex technological concepts into practical policy insights and strengthen the participation of India in various global forums for AI governance.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has hosted the inaugural BRICS Health Working Group (HWG) meeting virtually in New Delhi. The session was held under the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”.

The meeting was chaired by Union Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava and saw participation from delegates representing 9 nations: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, UAE, and Indonesia. During the event, India proposed the “BRICS Mission for Healthy Lifestyles” as a key priority to improve public health outcomes among the member states.

Vice President CP Radhakrishnan has released the updated edition of the Constitution of India in the Sindhi language on April 10, 2026, to mark the Sindhi Language Day (Sindhi Bhasha Diwas). The publication was released at Uparashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi in two versions: Devanagari Script and Persian Script.

The initiative was executed by the Legislative Department under the Ministry of Law and Justice (MoL&J) in accordance with Articles 343, 345, and 350B of the Constitution. It is to be noted that Sindhi was included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India via the 21st Constitutional Amendment Act, 1967.

The Union Cabinet has approved the establishment of the Bharat Maritime Insurance Pool (BMI pool) to provide continuous maritime insurance coverage for Indian vessels. The initiative is backed by a sovereign guarantee of ₹12,980 crore to provide financial security and ensure insurance availability for the pool.

The BMI pool is intended to reduce dependency on external insurance and mitigate risks from global volatility and geopolitical instability in the maritime sector of India.

The Union Cabinet has approved an additional installment of Dearness Allowance (DA) for central government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) for pensioners, effective from January 2026.

The increment represents a 2% increase over the existing rate of 58% of the basic pay or pension.

The move aims to provide compensation against price escalation.

The total financial impact on the exchequer due to the increase in DA and DR is estimated at ₹6,791.24 crore per annum.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved two multi-tracking projects of the Ministry of Railways (MoR) with a total estimated cost of ₹24,815 crore. The projects aim to expand the network of Indian Railways by 601 km, covering a total track length of 1,317 km.

The expansion will span across 15 districts in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. The infrastructure development is scheduled for completion by the FY31.

The Union Cabinet has approved the continuation of the PM Gram Sadak Yojana-III (PMGSY-III) from March 2025 until March 2028.

The scheme focuses on the consolidation of Through Routes and Major Rural Links to connect habitations with Gramin Agricultural Markets (GrAMs), Higher Secondary Schools, and Hospitals.

The financial outlay for the PMGSY-III has been revised to ₹83,977 crore from the original allocation of ₹80,250 crore.

The timeline for completing roads and bridges in plain areas, as well as roads in hilly regions, is extended to March 2028, while the deadline for bridges in hilly areas is extended to March 2029.

The government has also authorized the sanctioning of 161 Long Span Bridges (LSBs), worth ₹961 crore, located on the alignments of previously sanctioned roads.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has approved the development of two new airports in Telangana at Warangal (Mamnoor) and Adilabad.

Following a high-level meeting in New Delhi, Union Minister K Ram Mohan Naidu announced that the Warangal (Mamnoor) airport project is estimated to cost ₹850 crore. The foundation stone for the facility is expected to be laid in June 2026.

The Union Cabinet has approved Phase-2 of the Jaipur Metro Project, which involves the development of a 41 km long corridor connecting Prahladpura to Todi Mod at an estimated cost of ₹13,037.66 crore.

The Cabinet has also authorized the revised cost for the HPCL Rajasthan Refinery Ltd (HRRL) project. The total outlay of the project has been increased from ₹43,129 crore to ₹79,459 crore.

The central government has introduced ‘The Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026’ to increase the maximum strength of the Lok Sabha from 543 to 850 seats. The move aims to facilitate the immediate implementation of the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’ (Women’s Reservation Act) by reserving one-third of the house, totaling 283 seats, for women in the 2029 general elections.

The expansion is designed to accommodate the reservation for women without reducing the existing number of general category seats. Under the proposed revision, the 850 seats will be distributed with 815 seats for States and 35 seats for Union Territories (UTs).

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has launched the ‘Arogya Van’ (health forest) initiative to establish thematic corridors of medicinal tree plantations along the National Highways. The project aims to enhance biodiversity and promote traditional medicine systems like Ayurveda while conserving indigenous medicinal flora.

In the first phase, the project covers 17 land parcels spanning 62.8 hectares. It involves the planting of 67.46 thousand medicinal trees belonging to 36 distinct species.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the 213-km-long Delhi–Dehradun Economic Corridor, built at a cost of over ₹12,000 crore. The six-lane access-controlled highway connects Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, reducing travel time between Delhi and Dehradun from over 6 hours to 2.5 hours.

The project features the longest elevated wildlife corridor in Asia, spanning 12 km through the Rajaji National Park. The corridor ensures the unhindered movement of wildlife, including elephants and leopards.

The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) has designated two more institutions as national repositories under Section 39 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 (BD Act). The initiative aims to enhance the conservation and systematic documentation of biological resources.

The new repositories include the Referral Centre Bhavasagara at the Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology (CMLRE) in Kochi (Kerala) and the MACS Collection of Microorganisms and National Fungal Culture Collection at the Agharkar Research Institute (ARI) in Pune (Maharashtra). With the additions, the total count of the national network of repositories has increased to 20.

Union Minister Jayant Chaudhary has launched a campaign to establish the Skills Outcomes Fund (SOF) with an outlay of ₹530 crore. The SOF is designed as a scalable model for outcomes-based financing (OBF) to link vocational training with sustainable job placement.

It utilizes a blended finance model, combining resources from the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) with capital from private and philanthropic partners. The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) is the nodal implementing agency for the project.

The campaign builds on the success of the Skill Impact Bond launched in 2021, which trained over 34,000 youth (74% of whom were women) and achieved a 76% job placement rate with a 62% retention rate.

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Dr Jitendra Singh has announced the establishment of a Seismological Observatory in Kishtwar and a Doppler Weather Radar (DWR) in Doda, Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).

The DWR will facilitate precise, real-time weather monitoring to enhance early warning and disaster management under the ‘Mission Mausam’ initiative. The Seismological Observatory will strengthen the national seismic monitoring network of India for better earthquake detection and disaster risk mitigation in the region.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh has reviewed the progress and roadmap of the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF). The ANRF is developing an AI-based platform named ‘SARAL AI’ to convert complex research publications into simplified content across various Indian languages.

The ANRF will launch ‘MAHA’ Leapfrog Demonstrators, a mission mode program designed to deliver the impact of science for societal innovation. It has also deployed Nodal Officers in 250 institutions to facilitate research and promote mission-driven innovation.