Puri in Odisha is now India's first city where tap water meets Bureau of Indian Standards quality norms and can be drunk directly, without boiling or filtering. About 3 lakh residents get it round the clock. The achievement is part of the Centre's AMRUT mission, built on Odisha's 'Drink from Tap' programme started in 2017.
The Union Women and Child Development Minister launched PANKHUDI, a single digital portal for the ministry's work on nutrition, health, early childhood care and education, child welfare and women's safety. It is meant to improve coordination and transparency and to let more partners take part.
The Union Home Minister inaugurated the National IED Data Management System (NIDMS), a national digital platform for storing and analysing Improvised Explosive Device (IED) data. Developed by the National Bomb Data Centre of the National Security Guard (NSG), it supports post-blast investigation and forensics and enables data sharing among State Police, CAPFs and central agencies.
The Ministry of Textiles launched the District-Led Textiles Transformation (DLTT) initiative. It aims to turn 100 high-potential districts into global export champions and help 100 aspirational districts become self-reliant textile hubs, choosing districts by export record, MSME base and workforce. Champion districts will get large common facility centres and Industry 4.0 support.
Tamil Nadu released the State Indicator Framework (SIF) 2.0 to track SDG progress to 2030, reducing indicators from 314 to 244 across 17 SDGs, monitored by 28 State departments. The State's multidimensional poverty rate is 2.2%, under-five mortality 13 per 1,000 and institutional deliveries 99.98%; TN ranks second in the SDG India Index 2023-24 with a score of 78.
In January 2026, India accelerated its renewable energy expansion as part of its long-term climate and sustainability goals. The government focused on increasing solar and wind energy capacity to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and promote clean energy adoption. New investments were announced in large-scale solar parks, offshore wind projects, and green hydrogen initiatives.
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) launched the Aadhaar mascot 'Udai' to help users understand Aadhaar update, authentication, offline verification and secure data sharing.
India launched the Raisina Science Diplomacy Initiative (RSDI) 2026 to strengthen the interface between science, technology and diplomacy, integrating science diplomacy into the Raisina Dialogue. It focuses on governance of emerging technologies, research security, technology-control regimes and equitable participation in global standards, and is scheduled alongside the Raisina Dialogue on 5-7 March 2026 in New Delhi.
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