Daily current affairs

India and UAE bilateral trade settled in INR/AED under the local currency settlement framework crossed ₹1 lakh crore since the agreement in July 2023, reducing dollar dependency.

India hosted UNCTAD (UN Conference on Trade and Development) summit in Mumbai with delegates from 150+ countries. India launched proposals for fairer global trade rules, debt restructuring framework for developing countries.

India and Brazil signed defence collaboration worth $5 billion. Joint production of light helicopters, naval platforms, and small arms. Both countries also discussed BRICS-related cooperation.

India hosted the 7th BIMSTEC Summit in New Delhi. The Bay of Bengal regional grouping (7 countries) signed agreements on maritime cooperation, energy grid, and a free trade framework.

India and African Union (55 countries) signed framework for Free Trade Agreement at India-Africa Summit. Goal: triple bilateral trade from $100 bn to $300 bn by 2030. Focus: pharma, IT, agriculture, infrastructure.

Ministry of Power: every census village in India now has reliable grid electricity access (24×7 or near-24×7). Builds on Saubhagya scheme (2017) and rural infra push.

India hosted a special G20 Energy Transitions Working Group meeting in Goa, with discussions on global green hydrogen, critical minerals supply chain, and climate finance. India proposes "Mission LiFE for Energy" plan.

RBI announced nationwide rollout of digital rupee (e₹) for retail transactions after 18 months of pilot. ~12 lakh users in pilot phase; transaction volume crossed ₹2000 crore. Now available via UPI-style mobile apps from all major banks.

SEBI released a consultation paper proposing a regulated framework for equity crowdfunding in India. Caps: ₹10 crore raise/year, ₹2 lakh per individual investor. Aimed at startups and SMEs without traditional VC access.

Ministry of Railways: 1,400+ stations now under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme (ABSS) for modernization. Phase 1 of 506 stations nearly complete; Phase 2 expanded scope. Total budget ₹25,000+ crore. Features: clean toilets, AC waiting halls, free Wi-Fi, retail, parking.

World Bank's Migration and Development Brief: India remained the top remittance recipient globally for the fourth consecutive year, with inflows crossing $135 billion in 2025-26. Major sources: USA, UAE, Saudi Arabia, UK.

DPIIT launched the National Deep-Tech Startup Policy with a ₹2,000 crore Fund of Funds for AI, quantum, biotech, space-tech, advanced materials. Aims to support 10,000 deep-tech startups by 2030.

India hosted the BRICS Foreign Ministers' meeting in New Delhi. Discussions: BRICS expansion roadmap, payment systems alternative to SWIFT, climate finance from Global North.

DoT released the Bharat 6G Vision 2030 — strategy document targeting 10% of global 6G IPRs by 2030. Plans for testbed, standards contribution to ITU, R&D ecosystem support.

India-Singapore activated next phase of UPI-PayNow integration. Real-time bank-to-bank payments under SGD 1000 per transaction. ~₹250 cr transactions in pilot. Similar arrangements being finalized with UAE, France, Bhutan.

CSO's provisional estimates show India's GDP grew at 7.3% in FY 2025-26, the fastest among major economies. Services sector led at 8.4%; manufacturing recovered to 6.1%.

India and the UK finalised a digital trade chapter as part of the comprehensive FTA — covering cross-border data flows, e-signatures, paperless trading, and digital identity recognition.

PM Modi inaugurated the 12th Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit at Gandhinagar. Theme: "Gateway to the Future." MoUs worth ₹27 lakh crore signed across electronics, renewable energy, semiconductors.

India and Japan signed an MoU for next-phase of bullet train projects beyond Mumbai-Ahmedabad. Tentative routes: Delhi-Varanasi, Mumbai-Hyderabad, Chennai-Bengaluru. Tech transfer + Make in India focus.

Ernst & Young's Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index (RECAI) 2026 placed India at #4 globally (up from #5). USA #1, China #2, Germany #3. Recognition for India's 220 GW capacity and 500 GW by 2030 target.

Ministry of New & Renewable Energy: PM Suryodaya Yojana (launched 2024) has installed 1 crore (10 million) rooftop solar units across India, with 300 free units/month for households. Capacity: 40+ GW.

Tata Electronics announced first indigenously produced 8K resolution LCD display panel at Tamil Nadu fab. Initial output: 2 lakh panels/year. Reduces import dependency on display panels (~$10B annual imports).

Ministry of New & Renewable Energy: India crossed 220 GW of non-fossil-fuel power capacity. Solar 110 GW + Wind 50 GW + Hydro 47 GW + Bio + nuclear. Target 500 GW by 2030.

India and ASEAN concluded six rounds of negotiations to upgrade the AIFTA (ASEAN-India Free Trade Agreement). Key gains: digital trade chapter, simpler rules of origin, services market access.

World Bank report ranked India #1 globally for digital public infrastructure (DPI). Cited Aadhaar, UPI, and DigiLocker as templates for other developing countries. ~50 countries adopting India Stack components.

Union Cabinet cleared ₹50,000 crore National Battery Storage Mission to develop 50 GWh grid-scale battery storage by 2030. Critical for integrating renewable energy (solar/wind intermittency) into national grid.

NHSRCL reported Mumbai-Ahmedabad HSR is at 50% physical completion. Vapi-Surat section piers complete. 21-km undersea tunnel through Thane Creek (longest in India) under construction. Commercial operations targeted for end-2027.

India and UAE finalized a bilateral framework enabling trade settlements in INR and AED, reducing dollar dependency. Tested with two pilot trade transactions worth $20 million.

ICF Chennai completed trial runs of Vande Bharat Sleeper variant on Western Railway. Speed test: 180 km/h achieved. Equipped with First AC, AC 2-tier, AC 3-tier coaches. Commercial launch expected late 2026 on Delhi-Mumbai overnight route.

Ministry of Agriculture: PM-KISAN scheme has crossed 11 crore beneficiary farmers since its 2019 launch. ₹6000/year is directly transferred via DBT in three installments.

RBI Monetary Policy Committee voted 4-2 to keep the repo rate unchanged at 6.75%. Inflation forecast revised to 4.4% for FY27. Growth projection at 7.2%.

Cabinet approved the National Critical Minerals Mission with ₹14,500 crore outlay over 7 years for exploration, extraction and processing of 30 critical minerals including lithium, cobalt, rare earths.

India hosted the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference in New Delhi. Key debates: e-commerce moratorium, fisheries subsidies, trade-environment linkage, India's concerns about agricultural support.

Reserve Bank of India inaugurated a Centre for Excellence in Climate Finance at Mumbai, focused on climate risk assessment for banks, green bond issuance, and transition finance for high-emission sectors.

Cabinet approved ₹10,103 crore National Mission on Edible Oils – Oilseeds aiming to increase domestic oilseed production from 39 to 70 million tonnes by 2030. Focus on soybean, groundnut, sunflower, sesame. India imports ~60% of edible oil.

DoT launched the first Bharat 6G Vision pilot network in Bengaluru. Targets sub-millisecond latency, ultra-high speeds (100 Gbps), and integration with AI/IoT. Aims to make India a global 6G IP-holder.

India and ASEAN (10 nations) signed a Digital Trade Agreement covering e-commerce, paperless trade, data flows, and digital ID interoperability. Expected to boost India-ASEAN trade by 15%+ by 2028.

Cabinet approved National AI Compute Mission with ₹15,000 crore — to deploy 10,000 GPUs (Nvidia H100 + Indian chips) for AI startups, research, and PSUs. Aimed to make India a top-3 AI nation by 2030.

Ministry of Railways officially confirmed 100% electrification of the broad-gauge network — total ~65,000 km electrified. Annual savings: ₹14,500 crore in fuel + 24 million tonnes CO2 emissions. India is now the largest railway network running fully on electric traction.

Ministry of Railways inaugurated 75 new Vande Bharat Express trains in a single day — marking 75 years of Indian independence (Amrit Kaal milestone). Total Vande Bharat network now exceeds 100+ trains covering major routes.

GSMA Intelligence report: India is the world's fastest-growing 5G market with over 290 million 5G subscriptions, surpassing the US for the second consecutive year.

India transitioned from associate member to a full member of the International Energy Agency (IEA), joining the OECD-led grouping of 31 nations. Full membership requires holding 90 days of crude oil emergency stocks.

MeitY released the National AI Strategy 2026, building on IndiaAI Mission. Pillars: AI compute access, foundation models in Indian languages, AI Safety Institute, and AI for sectoral applications (health, agri, education).

India and Japan jointly announced a ₹85,000 crore semiconductor foundry in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu. The plant will produce 28 nm and 65 nm legacy chips for automotive and IoT applications.

The 18th installment of PM-KISAN (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi) of ₹2,000 each was disbursed to over 9.4 crore farmers via DBT. Total disbursal under the scheme has crossed ₹3.6 lakh crore since 2018.

India and New Zealand signed a bilateral free trade agreement in New Delhi covering goods, services and investment. The deal expands India's FTA footprint in the Indo-Pacific.

India and Australia signed a bilateral MoU on critical minerals cooperation covering lithium, cobalt, nickel and rare earth elements. The agreement supports India's transition to electric vehicles and clean energy.

Headline CPI inflation eased to 3.6% YoY in March, comfortably within RBI's tolerance band of 4% (±2%). Food inflation moderated to 4.1% on the back of good rabi harvest expectations.

The Ministry of Commerce released the Foreign Trade Policy 2026, replacing the FTP 2023. Key features: e-commerce export hubs, simplified MEIS-replacement scheme, district export hubs in 750+ districts.

In a surprise move, the RBI Monetary Policy Committee voted 5-1 to raise the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.75%, citing sticky core inflation and supply-side risks.