The India International Conference on Democracy and Election Management (IICDEM) 2026 in New Delhi ended with 42 election management bodies from around the world adopting the Delhi Declaration 2026. It rests on five pillars: clean electoral rolls, conduct of elections, research and publications, use of technology, and training.
Overview In January 2026, India strengthened its industrial growth strategy by accelerating manufacturing expansion and boosting domestic production capabilities. The government focused on enhancing industrial output through initiatives like Make in India and Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes. These efforts aim to transform India into a global manufacturing hub while reducing dependency on imports and increasing exports.
On 24 January 2026, the Tamil Nadu Assembly passed the Tamil Nadu Water Resources (Regulation, Management and Augmentation) Bill, 2026. It sets up the Tamil Nadu Water Resources Management Authority to oversee all water sources in the State, with the Chief Secretary as chairperson and the Water Resources Secretary as member secretary.
A UPI-linked RuPay credit card has been introduced for street vendors under the revamped PM SVANidhi scheme. It offers interest-free revolving credit for daily business needs and encourages digital payments. Vendors who repaid their second loan on time can get it. The revised loan limits are ₹15,000 for the first loan, ₹25,000 for the second and ₹50,000 for the third.
Scientists at the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bengaluru, built Disobind, a deep-learning tool that predicts how intrinsically disordered proteins attach to partner molecules. These proteins have no fixed 3D shape. The tool learns from millions of protein sequences and does not need structural data.
The Environment Ministry launched India's second nationwide dolphin count from Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh, under Project Dolphin. The Wildlife Institute of India leads it with state forest departments, WWF-India, Aaranyak and the Wildlife Trust of India. It covers the Ganga, Brahmaputra and Indus systems and their tributaries, the Sundarbans and Odisha, and for the first time includes the Irrawaddy dolphin.
The Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development 2025 was awarded to Mozambican rights activist Graca Machel, recognising her contributions to human rights and development.
India's electronics exports topped US$47 billion in 2025, about ₹4.15 lakh crore, up 37% from US$34.93 billion in 2024. Smartphones made under the production-linked incentive scheme brought in nearly US$30 billion, about two-thirds of the total. Solar cells, routers, networking gear, chargers, components and circuit-board assemblies made up much of the rest. The next target is US$55 billion.
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