NITI Aayog Launches Report on “Reimagining Care: Strategies for Empowering Caregivers in Viksit Bharat@2047”

NITI Aayog released the report titled “Reimagining Care: Strategies for Empowering Caregivers in Viksit Bharat@2047” at NITI Aayog.

The report was released by Shri Ashok Kumar Lahiri, Vice Chairperson, NITI Aayog, in the presence of Dr. R. Balasubramaniam, Member, NITI Aayog and Ms. Nidhi Chhibber, CEO, NITI Aayog, and senior officials from NITI Aayog.

The report prepared Social Justice and Empowerment Division of NITI Aayog draws upon extensive stakeholder consultations, international benchmarking, surveys, and field visits and identifies opportunities to position India as a global leader in caregiving services.

The report presents India’s caregiving ecosystem and outlines a comprehensive roadmap for building an organised, professional, accessible and future-ready system of care. It positions caregivers at the centre of the care ecosystem, recognising caregiving as a skilled, dignified and valued profession, while emphasising quality of care, professional recognition, workforce welfare, institutional support, and enabling families and communities to access reliable and affordable care. The report also underlines the growing need to develop a cadre of trained caregivers to address the current and future demand of care services in the country and also the potential opportunities for Indian caregiver professionals at the global platform.

The report envisions caregiving as a critical pillar of India's social and economic transformation and positions it as an essential enabler of inclusive and sustainable development in the journey towards Viksit Bharat@2047. With the country’s strong belief in traditional compassionate caregiving and the global demand for caregivers, India is at a unique position to capitalize demographic dividend and to explore global opportunities for expanding its care network and skilled workforce.

The report organises its recommendations across several strategic pillars, including policy, professional recognition of caregivers, workforce development, global cooperation, social security, family and community-based care, etc. The Report also presents a roadmap for an organised, professional caregiving ecosystem through a National Policy on Caregiving, and a National Caregiver Council.

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Supreme Court extends third-party insurance cover of new vehicles by a year

The Supreme Court on August 4, 2026 extended the mandatory third-party motor insurance coverage of new vehicles by a year. New cars will now have four years of coverage and two-wheelers six years, it said. The court observed that despite the statutory mandate, a “shocking” number of vehicles continued to ply on Indian roads without third-party insurance, forcing accident victims and their families to “run from pillar to post” to secure compensation.

The court proposed a system in which vehicles without valid insurance can be denied fuel at petrol pumps.

In its 2018 judgment in the S. Rajaseekaran v. Union of India case, the apex court had required purchasers of new vehicles to obtain three-year third-party insurance for cars and five-year cover for two-wheelers at the time of purchase or registration.

The Bench also directed that Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras, deployed on highways and roads to detect traffic violations, be integrated with insurance data maintained by the Insurance Information Bureau of India (IIB) and vehicle registration data available on the VAHAN portal. It further directed that State police personnel be equipped with mobile applications linked to the IIB and VAHAN databases, enabling them to verify the insurance status of vehicles in real time and issue challans for violations.

The directions were issued while the apex court was hearing an appeal by an insurance company against a 2024 Telangana High Court ruling directing it to pay Rs. 10 lakh in compensation to the family of a road accident victim, who was the sole breadwinner of the household. The insurer had disputed its liability to pay the compensation, contending that no additional premium had been paid to cover the personal risk of the vehicle owner.

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Trump signs new birthright citizenship orders

US President Donald Trump has signed two executive orders aimed at tightening restrictions on birth tourism and narrowing the categories of people eligible for birthright citizenship, weeks after the US Supreme Court struck down his earlier directive on the issue.

The move keeps birthright citizenship at the centre of Trump's immigration agenda. Unlike the executive order he signed on his first day back in office in 2025, the new measures take a more targeted approach. While they could affect some Indian visitors and families, particularly those applying for US visitor visas, they do not immediately alter the citizenship status of children born in the US to Indian parents who are living and working there legally.

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IIA Director wins COSPAR Vikram Sarabhai Medal

The Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) Vikram Sarabhai Medal for 2026 was awarded to Annapurni Subramaniam, Director, Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), in recognition of her contributions to space research in developing countries.

The medal is awarded jointly by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and COSPAR every two years in honour of Vikram Sarabhai who is considered the father of the Indian space programme.

The award recognises her work on stellar populations, blue straggler stars, UVIT/AstroSat, future telescopes, and Hanle Dark Sky Reserve (HDSR).

She received the award at the 46th COSPAR General Assembly in Florence, Italy.

The COSPAR was established in 1958 by the International Council for Scientific Unions (ICSU) and is headquartered in Paris, France.

The COSPAR Vikram Sarabhai Medal has been awarded since 1990, jointly with ISRO.

Prof. Subramaniam is the fourth Indian to win the award after U.R. Rao (1996), Gurbax Singh Lakhina (2014), and Anil Bhardwaj (2024). She is the first Indian woman to win the award.

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Air India appoints Tewolde Gebremariam as Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director

Air India announced the appointment of Tewolde Gebremariam as its new chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director (MD), succeeding Campbell Wilson.

Tewolde Gebremariam is widely recognised as one of the most successful aviation chief executives. During his decade-plus tenure as CEO of Ethiopian Airlines Group, he spearheaded a multi-billion-dollar expansion, transforming a regional carrier into Africa’s largest, most profitable, and decorated airline group — growing revenue by more than fourfold and fleet size nearly threefold.

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Cabinet approves GOBARdhan, India’s National Unified Scheme for Compressed Biogas, with an outlay of Rs.23,731 crore

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved GOBARdhan, the National Circular Bioenergy Scheme, with a total outlay of Rs.23,731 crore.

GOBARdhan marks a defining moment in India’s clean energy journey. It will transform the country’s abundant agricultural residue, cattle dung, press mud, municipal organic waste and other biomass resources into clean fuel, organic manure, rural income and national economic value.

The Scheme will be implemented from FY 2026-27 to FY 2035-36 and will establish Compressed Biogas as a major pillar of India’s future energy mix.

Through assured demand, remunerative and stable pricing, capital assistance, pipeline infrastructure, credit support and technology development, GOBARdhan will provide the strong and predictable framework required to take India’s CBG sector to national scale.

The Scheme aims to increase domestic Compressed Biogas (CBG) production nearly ten-fold, mobilize large-scale private investment and create a vibrant circular bioeconomy across the country.

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Insurance Division, DFS Secures 3rd Rank in Group A Category of Grievance Redressal Assessment & Index (GRAI) for June 2026

The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) released the Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) monthly report for June 2026. It provides a detailed analysis of types and categories of public grievances and the nature of disposal.

As per the report, the Department of Financial Services (Insurance Division) stands at 3rd position, and the Department of Financial Services (Banking Division) stands at 6th position. Also, the DFS has been consistently ranked among the top 10 in the GRAI rankings amongst various Ministries/Departments since November 2025.

During the month of June 2026, the Department of Financial Services disposed of more than thirty thousand grievances. Also, the senior officials of Department of Financial Services are personally reviewing randomly selected grievances on a regular basis. Workshops on "Effective Grievance Redressal Mechanism" are also being held regularly.

Such workshops play an important role in strengthening grievance redressal mechanisms by promoting best practices. They improve coordination among stakeholders, leverage technology, and foster a customer-centric culture.

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National Handloom Day 2026 | 7 August

Observed on 7 August, National Handloom Day celebrates India’s weaving heritage. It recognises 35.22 lakh weavers and allied workers, over 72% of whom are women. In 2026, the occasion reflects a sector firmly rooted in regional knowledge. Handlooms are also finding new expression through design, digital platforms and global markets. Government support, awards, market access and authenticity safeguards are carrying these traditions from rural communities to wider national and international audiences.

The India Handloom Brand was launched on the first National Handloom Day on 7 August 2015.

The Fourth All India Handloom Census 2019-20, the comprehensive official census of the sector, recorded around 31.45 lakh handloom households. It also counted 35.22 lakh handloom weavers and allied workers across the country. Of these, 8.48 lakh were allied workers engaged in pre-loom and post-loom activities such as winding, warping, dyeing and calendaring. Further, social and geographical patterns show that handloom is closely tied to rural livelihoods.\

Handloom Census

India has conducted four censuses so far: 1987-88, 1995-96, 2009-10 and 2019-20.

They are conducted at intervals averaging 8-12 years.

Workers enumerated through the Census have been provided Pehchan/ e-Pehchan cards. To further extend this coverage, the e-Pehchan portal was launched in January 2025. It allows new and previously left-out workers to register, while existing workers can update details and download their cards.

By July 2026, around 84,000 additional workers had been approved for e-Pehchan cards.

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India Successfully Test-Fires Agni-4 Ballistic Missile From Odisha

India successfully test-fired ballistic missile Agni-4 from the integrated test range in Odisha's Chandipur.

The test-firing of the missile was carried out by the Strategic Forces Command.

"Medium Range Ballistic Missile 'Agni-4' was successfully test-fired from the Integrated Test Range, Chandipur in Odisha on August 6," the defence ministry said.

"The launch validated all operational and technical parameters. The test was carried out under the aegis of the Strategic Forces Command," it said.

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RBI extends recovery norms deadline, eases certification timeline

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said its revised directions on loan recovery and engagement of recovery agents would now be effective on January 1, 2027, extending it from the earlier proposed October 1, 2026.

It has allowed regulated entities (REs) that were not covered by certification requirements a one-year window to ensure their recovery agents obtain certification from the Indian Institute of Banking and Finance (IIBF).

The changes were made after the central bank received stakeholder feedback on the draft directions.

The implementation date was extended after stakeholders said lenders would require more time to make changes to systems and workflows and train recovery agents.

The RBI said the extension took into account the “technical and operational changes necessitated by the Directions” and was intended to facilitate smooth implementation.

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Chess Olympiad: Indian women lead as top seed, men ranked second

The Indian women are seeded first in the Chess Olympiad, which will be held in Samarkand from September 15 to 28. India’s men are seeded second, behind the top seed, the United States. India is the reigning champion in both sections.

Koneru Humpy, Divya Deshmukh, R. Vaishali, Vantika Agrawal and B. Savitha Shri make up the women’s team, while in the open section, women are free to compete with men in chess. D. Gukesh, R. Praggnananandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi and Nihal Sarin and Vidit Gujrathi will defend the crown.

The men’s team shows one change, with P. Harikrishna being replaced by Nihal. There are also two changes in the women’s team, with Humpy and Savitha coming in for D. Harika and Tania Sachdev.

The 46th edition of the Olympiad, the equivalent of Davis Cup in tennis, has attracted a record 400 teams – 208 in the Open and 192 in the women’s sections. At Budapest two years, ago, there were 380 teams.

The Olympiad will be played over 11 rounds and games will be contested over four boards. The best players in each section are also awarded individual board medals.

In the last Olympiad, Gukesh, Arjun, Divya and Vantika had won individual gold medals for India.

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Indian grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa clinches Grand Chess Tour St. Louis Rapid & Blitz Title

Indian grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa has clinched the Grand Chess Tour St. Louis Rapid and Blitz title in the United States. The 20-year-old secured the championship after drawing against Uzbekistan’s Grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov in the penultimate round, finishing the tournament with 23 points out of a possible 35.

Praggnanandhaa maintained the lead throughout the five-day event, with Sindarov mounted a strong challenge in the final stages but fell short, finishing runner-up with a 1.5-point deficit.

Earlier in June 2026, Praggnanandhaa scripted history by claiming the Norway Chess 2026 crown in Oslo after defeating Germany’s Vincent Keymer in the tenth and final round.

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