Drone ecosystem policy promotes agricultural deployment and regulatory easing to empower women and support shared agri services.
The government is promoting the drone ecosystem for rural agricultural deployment to empower women via the 'NAMO Drone Didi' initiative and to improve yields and reduce farmer expenses through precision and shared-service models for SHGs, FPOs and cooperatives. The Production-Linked Incentive is framed as a kickstarter rather than a permanent subsidy, while policy priorities include easing regulations, reducing startup compliance burdens, enabling Ease of Doing Business, and mobilising finance and mentoring support from institutions such as SIDBI to scale the sector.

Licensing concessions and streamlined safety regulation to ease PESO compliance while maintaining public safety and digital processes.
PESO licensing and regulatory procedures will be reformed to balance industry compliance with public safety by granting fee concessions to targeted entrepreneurs, directing PESO to draft safety templates with pollution and petroleum authorities to permit retail petrol outlets near habitation, and forming a committee to examine extending licence validity for explosives, transport and manufacturing to align with the ten year term for other licences. Operational simplifications include harmonising petrol and CNG licence amendments via module changes, expanding Third Party Inspection Agency involvement, developing online permission modules, issuing FAQs, integrating District Authority NOCs into LSDA, and constituting interagency industry committees to recommend rule amendments and drive digitalisation and risk based regulation.

Impersonation fraud alerts: fake emails alleging sexual offences impersonate agencies - do not respond, report to police.
Impersonation via email alleges serious sexual offences against recipients using forged letters with official names, signatures, stamps and logos. These fraudulent emails, sent from varied sender addresses, accuse recipients of offences including child pornography and grooming. Recipients are warned not to respond to such emails or attachments and are advised to report instances to the nearest police station or cyber police station; police authorities have been alerted to investigate.

Repayment of government security: maturity paid at par with electronic credit required; alternative in-person tender permitted.
Repayment of the 8.40% government security is at par on the maturity date and interest stops thereafter; if the repayment day is a weekend or a State-declared holiday under the Negotiable Instruments Act, payment is made on the preceding working day. Maturity proceeds for holders in Subsidiary General Ledger, Constituent Subsidiary General Ledger or Stock Certificate form must be paid by electronic credit or pay order per sub-regulations 24(2) and 24(3) of the Government Securities Regulations, 2007, and holders must submit bank account particulars in advance; absent those particulars, holders may tender discharged securities at designated paying offices twenty days before the due date.

National Indicator Framework for SDGs enhances national monitoring through annual progress reports and public data releases for policymaking.
The Ministry released annual SDG publications centred on the National Indicator Framework (NIF), comprising an SDG Progress Report with time series data, a derived Data Snapshot, and a handbook listing national indicators with sources and periodicity. The reports provide metadata, downloadable data tables, and rely primarily on administrative records, surveys and censuses from line Ministries to support national monitoring and policymaking.

Open data portal improves access to official statistics enabling searchable datasets, time series visualization, custom downloads and APIs.
Launch of the eSankhyiki portal creates a centralised platform for dissemination and reuse of official statistics through two modules: a Data Catalogue that aggregates major Ministry datasets with metadata, search, visualization and download capabilities (over 2,291 datasets), and a Macro Indicators Module offering filtered time series, visualizations, custom downloads and API access across core data products, improving accessibility, discoverability and programmatic reusability of statistical records.

Index of Eight Core Industries rises in May; electricity, coal, steel and natural gas drove production growth.
The combined Index of Eight Core Industries rose provisionally by 6.3% in May 2024 with a provisional cumulative growth of 6.5% for April-May 2024 25. Electricity, coal, steel, natural gas and refinery products led positive year on year growth, while cement, crude oil and fertilizers declined. Data for March-May 2024 are provisional and subject to revision; the index uses base year 2011 12=100 and includes methodological notes on renewable electricity and a new steel product category.

Transitional approach on equalisation levy extended, preserving bilateral terms and suspending trade measures pending Pillar One finalization.
India and the United States have agreed to extend the bilateral understanding that aligns with the October 21 political compromise and preserves all terms of the transitional approach regarding India's 2% equalisation levy on e commerce supply of services, continuing the suspension of trade measures until June 30, 2024, while Parties coordinate with Inclusive Framework efforts to finalize the Pillar One multilateral convention and pursue resolution of outstanding issues through constructive dialogue.

Data-driven decision-making promoted through national Statistics Day, highlighting a new official data portal and SDG indicator releases.
June 29 is designated Statistics Day with the 2024 theme Use of data for decision making to advance public awareness and evidence based policy. The national event features senior speakers, stakeholder participation, live webcasting and a technical session. Operational outcomes include felicitating essay competition winners, releasing the SDG National Indicator Framework Progress Report and related data products, and launching the eSankhyiki data portal and Central Data Repository for dissemination of official time series macro indicators and the Ministry's data catalogue.

PM GatiShakti principles guide integrated infrastructure planning to evaluate major rail and industrial cluster projects for connectivity.
Under PM GatiShakti principles, the Network Planning Group evaluated two Energy Mineral Cement Corridor railway expansions to increase section capacity and six NICDC projects comprising Integrated Manufacturing Clusters and industrial areas designed with Industry 4.0 features, strategic transport connectivity, and supporting social and logistics infrastructure. Appraisal focused on integrated planning, reduced transit costs, socio economic benefits, employment generation, and alignment with national infrastructure priorities to bolster regional industrial development and logistics efficiency.

Payroll reporting uses EPF, ESI and NPS subscriber data to indicate employment trends; data provisional pending source updates.
Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation is releasing payroll reporting of formal-sector employment from September 2017 onwards using subscriber counts under the Employees' Provident Fund, Employees' State Insurance, and National Pension Scheme; the January-April 2024 report is available online and the data are provisional and subject to revision by the source agencies.

Merger control approval: acquisition of equities in poultry producer cleared after combination via primary subscription and secondary purchase.
Competition authority approval was granted for Mitsui & Co., Ltd.'s acquisition of certain equity shares in Sneha Farms Private Limited by a combination of primary subscription and secondary purchase. The notification covered Mitsui as a diversified global trading and investment company acquiring shares in Sneha Farms, an Indian poultry-sector firm with subsidiaries engaged in poultry breeding, hatcheries, feed manufacturing, processing of chicken products, and related feed and pet-food activities. A detailed order from the authority will follow.

Competition approval granted for Coforge's acquisition of Cigniti, subject to mandatory SEBI SAST open offer compliance.
CCI approved Coforge Limited's proposed acquisition of a majority stake in Cigniti Technologies Limited pursuant to share purchase agreements and a mandatory open offer in accordance with SEBI's Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers Regulations, 2011, as part of the Proposed Combination.

Agriculture output statistics show shifting shares among crops, livestock, forestry and fishing and rising livestock and aquaculture output.
The National Statistical Office released the Statistical Report on Value of Output from Agriculture and Allied Sectors 2024, presenting detailed 2011 12 to 2022 23 time series and sectoral shares at constant prices. It highlights that cereals and fruits & vegetables together dominate crop output with fruits & vegetables surpassing cereals by 2022 23; livestock output rose steadily with milk, meat and eggs as principal components and geographic concentration of production; forestry output is principally industrial wood, fuelwood and non timber products; and fishing and aquaculture showed sustained growth with a leading state increasing its share.

Digital fund flow under MPLAD scheme streamlines authorizations and payments via e-SAKSHI portal, enhancing transparency nationwide.
Revised MPLAD fund-flow is digitized through the e-SAKSHI portal: annual entitlements are authorized upfront, MPs digitally recommend projects via OTP or mobile app, District Authorities sanction and verify completion, and payments are made directly to Implementing Agencies upon upload of completion proofs; real-time dashboards enable stakeholder visibility and reduce administrative pre-conditions.

Bilateral trade and investment cooperation expanded via joint working group, advancing UPI integration, pharma recognition and investment ties.
Institutionalised bilateral cooperation through the India Cambodia Joint Working Group on Trade & Investment aims to deepen trade and investment ties by diversifying the trade basket and promoting investment. The meeting prioritised exploring a Bilateral Investment Treaty, recognition of the Indian Pharmacopoeia and pharma collaboration, UPI based digital payment integration to facilitate trade and tourism, and cooperation in Traditional Medicine and e governance, with commitment to intensified institutional coordination to implement these initiatives.

Asset monetisation via a structured national pipeline promotes publication of asset lists and valuation assumptions to boost investor participation.
The National Monetisation Pipeline is a four year programme coordinating Ministries and Central public entities to identify and monetise core government assets against specified annual targets, with publication of indicative asset lists and valuation assumptions to promote investor planning, enhance bidding outcomes, and channel increased private investment into infrastructure, including coal assets that may support energy security.

Household Consumption Expenditure Survey data: conference presenting MPCE estimates and unit level data for user engagement.
The statistical agency released detailed unit level results from the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey, including Monthly Per Capita Consumption Expenditure estimates and distributions; a one day data user conference will present concepts, definitions, key results, use of multipliers, and data quality issues, followed by an open discussion for user feedback and stakeholder engagement.

Integrated infrastructure planning under PM GatiShakti promotes multimodal alignment and enhances regional connectivity and socio economic benefits.
The Network Planning Group evaluated three transport projects-a 51 km highway upgrade in Jammu & Kashmir, an 83.17 km third rail line in Andhra Pradesh, and a 12.75 km elevated Pune metro extension-for conformity with PM GatiShakti National Master Plan principles, focusing on integrated planning, multimodal coordination, land and infrastructure needs, improved connectivity, reduced transit costs, and anticipated socio economic benefits.

Unincorporated sector growth signals employment and GVA increases, driven by services and manufacturing expansion post pandemic.
The ASUSE release records expansion in unincorporated non agricultural establishments, employment and Gross Value Added, with services showing the strongest establishment and employment growth and manufacturing contributing substantially to GVA gains. The survey notes pandemic related distortion in early 2021-22 canvassing and recovery thereafter. ASUSE covers rural and urban India for manufacturing, trade and other services, employs a multi stage stratified sampling design with establishments as ultimate units, and shifted from pen and paper interviews to computer assisted interviewing between the two reference periods.