Official releases, distilled into exam-ready intelligence.

The Ministry of Cooperation, through the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), has disbursed ₹422.95 crore as financial assistance to hilly states/UTs between 2021‑22 and 2025‑26, with Uttarakhand receiving the largest share (₹287.95 crore). New NCDC offices are being set up in several hilly and remote states to improve service delivery. The ministry has created Bhartiya Beej Sahkari Samiti Limited (BBSSL) to supply quality, certified seeds, providing 2,488 quintals to Uttarakhand farmers and signing MoUs with ten states. National Cooperative Exports Limited (NCEL) and National Cooperative Organics Limited (NCOL) have also signed MoUs with the same states to facilitate market access, with NCOL procuring 417 MT of organic wheat and other organic products from Uttarakhand. Membership data for BBSSL, NCEL and NCOL across the states are detailed in Annexure‑II.

On 24 July 2026, the Central Bank of India organised a PM Vishwakarma Loan Utsav in Amravati to improve credit access for traditional artisans under the PM Vishwakarma Scheme. The event, inaugurated by Shri E. Ratan Kumar (Executive Director, Central Bank of India) and attended by senior bank officials and Dr V.R. Sirsath (Director, MSME Development & Facilitation Office, Nagpur), highlighted scheme benefits such as skill‑development training with a ₹500 per‑day stipend, doorstep delivery of modern toolkits, subsidised loans, marketing assistance, e‑commerce platform access, and issuance of a PM Vishwakarma Identity Card and Certificate. Around 400 beneficiaries participated, receiving loan sanction letters and cheques to finance enterprise expansion, reflecting the government’s push for inclusive economic growth and self‑reliance among artisans.

The Ministry of Cooperation states that the e‑samyukti portal of NCCF and the e‑samridhi portal of NAFED are open digital platforms without state‑wise restrictions, allowing all eligible PACS, cooperative societies, FPOs and farmers to register anytime. From West Bengal, 10 PACS have registered on e‑samridhi, and 40, 12 and 4 cooperative societies are members of BBSSL, NCEL and NCOL respectively. NCCF procured 257 MT of maize from 148 West Bengal farmers (Rabi 2025‑26) and NAFED procured 1,800 MT from 237 farmers across multiple seasons. BBSSL’s 12 dealers in the state supplied 126 MT of certified seeds. BBSSL, NCEL and NCOL have signed MoUs with the West Bengal State Cooperative Marketing Federation (BENFED) to enhance coordination. The information was provided by Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah in a Lok Sabha reply.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, congratulated Sharmila for winning the Gold medal in the Women’s Shot Put F57 event at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2026. He highlighted that her season‑best throw is a remarkable achievement and noted that it ends a two‑decade‑long wait for a Para Athletics Gold medal at the Commonwealth Games. The Prime Minister also extended his best wishes for her future endeavours, posting the message on X with the hashtag #CWG2026.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, shared a Sanskrit Subhashitam on 28 July 2026, stating that humanity’s welfare depends on protecting and respecting nature. The verse invokes guardians of the directions, the six seasons, months, years, days and auspicious moments, wishing them to bring blessings and prosperity, and calls for the Vedas, sacred traditions and righteousness to protect everyone. The PM posted the Subhashitam in Hindi on X, linking India’s timeless traditions with the need for environmental stewardship.

The Ministry of Home Affairs announced that the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has been registered with Kendriya Police Kalyan Bhandar (KPKB) since 13 March 2020 to promote procurement and daily use of Swadeshi and Khadi items by Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs). Four specific items – mustard oil, cotton bed durries, woolen blankets, and bed‑sheet & pillow‑cover – have been earmarked for CAPF procurement, with ITBP, CRPF and the ADG (Medical) designated as nodal forces for each category. Khadi products are also sold through KPKB’s master and subsidiary bhandars for serving and retired CAPF personnel. Additionally, under the Vibrant Village Programme‑II, CAPFs procure edible items from SHGs and State Cooperative Societies, and the National Bee Board supports beekeeping for honey production as a health supplement. The release also details extensive Civic Action Programme activities in border districts, including infrastructure repairs, health camps, vocational training, and welfare distributions, with specific allocations for Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts.

Bharat Taxi is a cooperative‑led digital mobility app operated by Sahakar Taxi Cooperative Limited (STCL), a multistate cooperative society registered under the MSCS Act 2002. It currently serves Delhi‑NCR, Gujarat and Maharashtra, but has not been officially launched in Uttar Pradesh, specifically the Purvanchal region. The Union Government has incurred no expenditure; STCL finances development, promotion, maintenance and operation. STCL periodically reviews the app’s performance on parameters such as customer experience, grievances, fare competitiveness and technology, and undertakes corrective actions based on these reviews. This information was provided by Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah in a written Lok Sabha reply.

The Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has revamped Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana‑Urban (PMAY‑U) as PMAY‑U 2.0, effective 01 Sept 2024, to support an additional 1 crore eligible beneficiaries. The scheme operates through four verticals – Beneficiary‑Led Construction, Affordable Housing in Partnership, Affordable Rental Housing and Interest Subsidy Scheme – and follows a demand‑driven approach without a fixed national target. As of 13 July 2026, 127.68 lakh houses (including 16.20 lakh under PMAY‑U 2.0) have been sanctioned, with 121.03 lakh grounded and 99.07 lakh completed. The Affordable Rental Housing vertical includes two models for converting vacant government houses or constructing new rental units, and an Expression of Interest has been issued for new ARH projects. The Interest Subsidy Scheme extends subsidies to EWS, LIG and MIG households with incomes up to ₹3 lakh, ₹6 lakh and ₹9 lakh respectively.

The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) marked its 20th Foundation Day on 27 July 2026 at Prithvi Bhawan, New Delhi, highlighting two decades of contributions to earth systems science. Secretary Dr N. Kalaiselvi underscored MoES’s role as a data, service, and technology provider. The event featured senior scientists and the launch of multiple initiatives: 13 IMD Centres of Excellence, an upgraded Area Cyclone Warning Centre, a MoU for the Weather‑Driven Animal Disease Risk Forecasting Unit, the IMD NOVA thunderstorm nowcast platform, the WINGS mobile app and radar mosaic from NCMRWF, expanded open‑data portals, new seismological bulletins, taxonomic manuals from CMLRE, the AI‑enabled Sagar Prahari citizen‑science app, the SAHAV 2.0 marine‑spatial‑planning platform, NIOT’s ballast‑water treatment facility and mariculture cages, deep‑sea‑mining outreach, and the Ocean Olympiad 2026 competition.

The PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme, launched on 1 June 2020, has by 12 July 2026 disbursed 1.15 crore loans worth ₹18,475.06 crore to 76.95 lakh street vendors. Loans are offered in three tranches of up to ₹15,000, ₹25,000 and ₹50,000 with repayment periods of 12, 18 and 36 months respectively. The ‘SVANidhi se Samriddhi’ component, started on 4 January 2021, links beneficiaries to eight central welfare schemes, covering socio‑economic profiling of 50.63 lakh beneficiaries and 1.06 crore family members. Impact studies by ISB (2023, 2025) across ~100 ULBs show 95 % of borrowers received their first bank loan, business income rose ~20 % and digital payments adoption increased, while also improving household food security, health access and children’s education.

The Ministry of Power’s press release outlines the projected need for Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) and Pumped Storage Plants (PSP) to support grid stability. By 2026‑27, 8.68 GW (34 GWh) of BESS and 7.45 GW (47 GWh) of PSP are required, rising to 47.24 GW (236 GWh) and 26.69 GW (175 GWh) respectively by 2031‑32, with total investments of about Rs 3.49 lakh crore for BESS and Rs 1.29 lakh crore for PSP. The release lists a series of policy, regulatory and financial measures—including amendments to Electricity Rules (2022, 2025), inclusion in the Harmonised Master List (Oct 2022), guidelines for resource adequacy (June 2023), a National Framework (Sept 2023), ISTS charge waivers, CERC ancillary‑service approvals, Viability Gap Funding, and a Rs 18,100 crore Production‑Linked Incentive for advanced‑chemistry cell manufacturing—aimed at promoting ESS deployment and manufacturing.

The Ministry of Education, referencing NEP 2020, announced in the Union Budget 2026‑27 the creation of five University Townships near major industrial and logistic corridors, with a stakeholder consultation underway. A High‑Powered ‘Education to Employment and Enterprise’ Standing Committee comprising senior officials and industry leaders has been constituted to advise on service‑sector employment. CBSE has incorporated Artificial Intelligence and Computational Thinking into its curriculum to produce AI‑literate learners by 2030. The budget also earmarks AVGC Content Creator Labs in 15,000 secondary schools and 500 colleges, supported by the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies, Mumbai. The details were provided by Minister of State for Education Dr Sukanta Majumdar in a Lok Sabha reply.

The Ministry of Education is expanding digital learning and research initiatives through multiple centrally‑sponsored schemes. Under Samagra Shiksha, ICT labs and smart classrooms are being set up in schools, with funding linked to State‑submitted Annual Work Plans. The PM eVidya programme, launched in May 2020, integrates 200 DTH TV channels and 400 radio channels to deliver multi‑mode, multilingual education, with Gujarat receiving five dedicated DTH channels. The Union Budget 2026‑27 earmarks AVGC Content Creator Labs for 15,000 secondary schools and 500 colleges in partnership with IICT, Mumbai. The MERITE scheme allocates Rs 4,200 crore to improve quality and governance in 275 technical institutions. The Prime Minister Research Chair (PMRC) scheme supports Indian‑origin researchers abroad across three fellowship categories in 13 engineering, science and technology themes.

The Government of India launched the PM‑Vidyalaxmi scheme in November 2024 to provide collateral‑free, guarantor‑free education loans to merit‑based students admitted to Quality Higher Education Institutions. For students with annual family income up to Rs 8 lakh, the scheme offers a 3 % interest subvention on loans up to Rs 10 lakh, with an outlay of Rs 3,600 crore for 2024‑31. Since its launch, 1,12,817 loans worth Rs 15,634.78 crore have been sanctioned. Interest subvention is credited through a digital wallet after Aadhaar‑based de‑duplication and is contingent on academic performance. The portal has onboarded 12 public, 20 private, 25 RRBs and 7 cooperative banks, contributing to a rise in the higher‑education GER from 23.0 to 30.0.

The Union Cabinet approved an extension of the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) to December 2028, increasing the total outlay from ₹ 3.60 lakh crore to ₹ 8.69 lakh crore, with the central share rising to ₹ 3.59 lakh crore (an additional ₹ 1.51 lakh crore). As of 18 July 2026, 15.89 crore rural households (82.09 %) have functional tap connections, up from 3.23 crore (16.71 %) at launch in August 2019. States/UTs must prepare a Comprehensive Implementation and Reform Plan (CIRP) and adopt O&M policies empowering Gram Panchayats to levy user charges. The ‘Jal Arpan’ event and a new handbook promote community‑led handover and sustainable operation of water schemes.

Madanapalle Municipality in Andhra Pradesh, under the Swachh Bharat Mission‑Urban 2.0, is pursuing a ‘Zero Waste City’ vision by instituting systematic source segregation of its approx. 62 tonnes per day (TPD) of municipal solid waste into biodegradable, non‑biodegradable and up‑cycling streams. Wet waste is composted via windrow (≈15.5 TPD) and vermi‑composting (≈3 TPD), yielding 4.65 tonnes and 1.20 tonnes of compost daily respectively, which are used for parks and gardening. Dry waste is split at the doorstep into recyclable and non‑recyclable fractions; recyclables go to a Material Recovery Facility, while non‑recyclables are co‑processed in cement factories, generating revenue and improving calorific value. Legacy waste of 36,512 metric tonnes has been remediated through bio‑mining, reclaiming 9.40 acres, with 5 acres converted to green spaces, and waste‑to‑art initiatives have been created for public awareness.

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) has launched the Skill India Digital Hub (SIDH), a Digital Public Infrastructure that integrates training, assessment, certification, employment and entrepreneurship services across schemes such as PMKVY 4.0, National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS), Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS) and Skilling for AI Readiness (SOAR). As of 22 July 2026, SIDH registers 35,17,023 learners under PMKVY 4.0, 52,98,397 under NAPS, 10,19,992 under JSS and 4,96,426 under SOAR, with 78,647 trainers and 13,633 training centres. The platform is interoperable with National Career Service, eShram, DigiLocker and BHASHINI and is supported by multilingual outreach, community mobilisation and District Skill Committees to reach rural and aspirational districts.

The National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) was launched in 2016 and continued as NAPS‑2 from FY 2022‑23. Under NAPS‑2, the Government provides a partial stipend to apprentices under the Apprentices Act, 1961, transferred directly to beneficiaries via Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). A total of 5,298,397 apprentices and 57,945 establishments (38,936 MSMEs) have been engaged from FY 2018‑19 to FY 2026‑27. A third‑party evaluation by AJNIFM reported that about 72 % of apprentices secured full‑time jobs after training. The scheme is supported by industry‑led training, a dedicated online portal, third‑party aggregators, and regular Pradhan Mantri National Apprenticeship Melas (PMNAMs) – 7,370 events held nationwide since June 2022.

Union Minister Shri Rajiv Ranjan Singh launched the Atmanirbhar Panchayat Programme, the SAMARTH Panchayat Portal and Model Own Source of Revenue (OSR) Rules to strengthen Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs). The programme aims to convert local assets into bankable, revenue‑generating projects, targeting 350 projects over four years with financing through PPPs, CSR, scheme convergence and bank loans, and eligibility criteria of Rs 50 lakh OSR for Gram Panchayats and Rs 1 crore for Block Panchayats. SAMARTH is a unified digital platform that enables online registration, demand generation, payment and real‑time monitoring of Panchayat revenues, with over 51 lakh taxpayers, Rs 95 crore demand notices and Rs 27 crore collected so far. The Model OSR Rules provide a uniform framework for states to assess, collect and manage Panchayat revenues, aligning with the Sixteenth Finance Commission recommendations. The initiatives were recognised with Gold Awards at the National Awards for e‑Governance 2026.

The Ministry of Electronics & IT reports that the Safe & Trusted AI pillar under the IndiaAI Mission, approved in March 2024 with a ₹10,371 crore outlay, aims to promote responsible AI through indigenous governance frameworks, standards, tools and evaluation mechanisms. Thirteen Responsible AI projects have been approved in educational institutions, covering bias mitigation, privacy‑preserving AI, explainability, deep‑fake detection and machine unlearning. The AI Safety Institute and India AI Governance Guidelines have been established to oversee risk‑based governance, including bodies such as the AI Governance and Economic Group, Technology and Policy Expert Committee and AI Safety Institute. India also engages in global AI governance forums like GPAI, G20 and the UN, and hosted the India AI Impact Summit 2026 to shape international norms.