In early 2026, the newly established Kalaignar Centenary Library located in Madurai firmly cemented its status as a highly monumental, indispensable center for advanced knowledge and research in southern, Tamil Nadu by successfully crossing a highly significant operational footfall milestone.
An ICMR-India Diabetes (ICMR-INDIAB) study reported a sharp rise in diabetes and prediabetes in Tamil Nadu, with diabetes prevalence among those above 20 rising from 11.1% (2008-2010) to 22.7% (2022-2023), a 104% increase. India has about 101 million people with diabetes and 136 million with prediabetes; Tamil Nadu alone has about 12 million people with diabetes.
On Republic Day 2026, IAF Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla received the Ashoka Chakra, India's highest peacetime gallantry award. It recognised his role as mission pilot of Axiom Mission-4 to the International Space Station. He was the first Indian to go to the ISS and the first Indian in space since Rakesh Sharma in 1984.
Under a tie-up between NPCI and Japan's NTT Data, India's UPI will start in Japan in 2026, first for Indian tourists. UPI was launched in India in 2016. It already works in eight countries: Bhutan, Singapore, Nepal, the UAE, Sri Lanka, Qatar, Mauritius and France.
The Tamil Nadu Forest Department began its first-ever study on the Madras Hedgehog (Paraechinus nudiventris), locally called Mulleli, a rare nocturnal mammal endemic to southern India, in the Theri forests of Thoothukudi district.
Simran Bala became the first woman from the Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir to become a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officer.
President Droupadi Murmu opened Granth Kutir, a book house at Rashtrapati Bhavan. It holds about 2,300 books in India's 11 classical languages, including Tamil, Sanskrit, Kannada, Malayalam, Odia, Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese and Bengali. It also has around 50 manuscripts written on palm leaf, paper, bark and cloth.
The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) formed the Strategic Asset Allocation and Risk Governance (SAARG) committee, chaired by Narayan Ramachandran, to modernise National Pension System investment rules. It will submit recommendations within 9 months, reviewing asset classes, allocation, risk management and sustainability.
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