Latest News: Indian share markets will be open for trading on Sunday, February 01, as the Union Budget is being presented on that day * Key Highlights of Economic Survey 2025–26: GDP & GVA Growth Estimates for FY 2026: First advance estimates at 7.4% and 7.3% respectively * India’s Core Growth Projection: Around 7%, with real GDP growth for FY 2027 expected between 6.8% and 7.2% * Central Government Revenue: Rose to 11.6% of GDP in FY 2025 * Non-Performing Assets: Declined to a multi-decade low of 2.2% * PMJDY Accounts: Over 552 million bank accounts opened by March 2025; 366 million in rural and semi-urban areas * Investor Base: Surpassed 120 million by September 2025, with women comprising ~25% * Global Trade Share: India’s export share doubled from 1% in 2005 to 1.8% in 2024 * Services Export: Reached an all-time high of $387.6 billion in FY 2025, up 13.6% * Global Deposits: India became the largest recipient in FY 2025 with $135.4 billion * Foreign Exchange Reserves: Hit $701.4 billion on January 16, 2026—covering 11 months of imports and 94% of external debt * Inflation: Averaged 1.7% from April to December 2025 * Foodgrain Production: Reached 357.73 million metric tons in 2024–25, up 25.43 MMT from the previous year * PM-Kisan Scheme: Over ₹4.09 lakh crore disbursed to eligible farmers since inception * Rural Employment Alignment: “Viksit Bharat – Jee Ram Ji” initiative launched to replace MGNREGA in the vision for a developed India by 2047 * Manufacturing Growth: 7.72% in Q1 and 9.13% in Q2 of FY 2026 * PLI Scheme Impact: ₹2 lakh crore in actual investment across 14 sectors; production and sales exceeded ₹18.7 lakh crore; over 1.26 million jobs created by September 2025 * Semiconductor Mission: Domestic capacity boosted with ₹1.6 lakh crore invested across 10 projects * Railway High-Speed Corridor: Expanded from 550 km in FY 2014 to 5,364 km; 3,500 km added in FY 2026 * Civil Aviation: India became the third-largest domestic air travel market; airports increased from 74 in 2014 to 164 in 2025 * DISCOMs Turnaround: Recorded first-ever positive PAT of ₹20,701 crore in FY 2025 * Renewable Energy: India ranked third globally in total renewable and installed solar capacity * Satellite Docking: India became the fourth country to achieve autonomous satellite docking capability * School Enrollment Ratios: Primary – 90.9%, Upper Primary – 90.3%, Secondary – 78.7% * Higher Education Expansion: India now has 23 IITs, 21 IIMs, and 20 AIIMS; international IIT campuses established in Zanzibar and Abu Dhabi * Maternal & Infant Mortality: Declined since 1990, now below global average * E-Shram Portal: Over 310 million unorganised workers registered by January 2026; 54% are women * National Career Service Portal: Job vacancies exceeded 28 million in FY 2025 and crossed 23 million by September 2026

 Agriculture & Environment

The number and frequency of lightning strikes are increasing globally. The proverbial bolts from the blue are killing more people every subsequent year. Between April 2020 and March 2021, 18.5 million lightning strikes were recorded in India. This was a 34 percent increase from the 13.8 million strikes between April 2019 and March 2020. To get full access to this story, "Subscribe Now", in just Re.1 for the next 24 hours...

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India’s coal-fired power plants have been rampantly flouting the country’s 2015 water consumption norms, says a new survey report released recently by the Centre for Science and Environment. To get full access to this story, "Subscribe Now", in just Re.1, for the next 24 hours...  

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Even as biomedical waste generation in India grew from 559 tonnes per day to 619 tonnes per day between 2017 and 2019, the percentage of BMW treated dropped from 92.8 percent to 88 percent. Bihar (where 69 percent of BMW remained untreated) and Karnataka (where 47 percent of BMW was not treated) have been the worst offenders. To get full access to this story, "Subscribe Now" in just Re.1 for the next 24 hours.

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The water quality of India's 19 major rivers did not improve significantly during the COVID-19 lockdown. While Ganga and four other rivers became dirtier, the water quality in another seven rivers remained unchanged. Only four of the rivers showed 100 percent compliance with the primary water quality criteria for outdoor bathing during the pre-lockdown and lockdown period. To get access to the full story, "Subscribe Now" in just Re.1 for the next 24 hours...

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Farmer protests in India have registered an almost five-fold increase since the year 2017. From 34 major protests across 15 states in 2017, the number has now gone up to 165 protests across 22 states and Union territories. To get full access to this story, "Subscribe Now" in just Re.1 for the next 24 hours...

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Centre for Science and Environment has strongly criticised the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change’s latest amendment to 2015 notification on stringent emission norms for India’s coal-based thermal power sector – the new amendment, says CSE, “will give these already polluting Thermal Power Plants a license to pollute indefinitely”. To get full access to this story "Subscribe Now" in just Re.1 for the next 24 hours. 

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