The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) will conduct the first-ever Household Income Survey in 2026, with a Technical Expert Group (TEG) being set up to guide the ministry on the method of estimation and other aspects of the survey. In addition to measuring household income, the proposed survey will also try to assess the impact of adoption of technology on wages, the statistics ministry said on Monday.

The survey will be MoSPI’s latest attempt to measure household income in India, with pilots conducted in the past not resulting in a nationwide survey due to difficulties in collecting reliable income data, the ministry said. These past attempts date back to the 1950s, when it tried to collect information on income as part of its consumer expenditure surveys on an experimental basis. Further attempts were made in the 1960s as part of the Integrated Household Survey.

The annual JCB Prize for Literature, the most expensive literary award — Rs 25 lakh — in the country, has been shut down.

The discontinuation of the award, which was last given to writer Upamanyu Chatterjee for ‘Lorenzo Searches for the Meaning of Life’, in 2024, was confirmed by Mita Kapur, Literary Director, JCB prize, on June 21, even as she refused to elaborate on the events that led to decision. “The prize has been shut down. I am not going to deny something that is evident. But for everything else, ‘no comment’,” she said.

The news comes after the cancellation of the JCB Literature Foundation’s licence “issued to it under section 8(5) of the companies Act, 2013”. According to a notice, dated March 12, on the JCB Prize website, the foundation had sent an application to the Registrar of companies, Delhi & Haryana at Delhi for revocation of the licence. “The company will be required to add the word ‘Private Limited’ to its name in place of ‘Foundation’,” the notice said. The literary award was given by the ‘foundation’, which was established with the purpose of promoting “the art of literature in India”.

Global electric vehicle (EV) giants can now apply for the scheme to promote manufacturing of electric passenger cars in India, which offers significantly lower import tax for automakers that pledge to invest in domestic electric vehicle production.

Union Heavy Industries Minister H D Kumaraswamy inaugurated the portal for accepting applications under the scheme, which will remain open till October 21. He reiterated that EV giant Tesla is only interested in opening showrooms in India to sell its cars, and not inclined towards setting up manufacturing facilities in the country.

"Their [Tesla's] interest is only to open the showroom. They want to sell their car in India. Other than that, actually, there is no further development about this," he said.

Thousands of devotees have arrived in Assam for the Kamakhya Temple’s annual Ambubachi Mela, one of the largest religious gatherings in Northast India.

The festival is held during the monsoon, generally in June at the Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati, a shrine to the Goddess Kamakhya and one of the most important centres of Tantrik Shaktism. The period of Ambubachi is believed to be the period of the goddess’s annual menstruation, and the shrine is closed for this. At the end of the period, the shrine’s doors are opened ceremonially and devotees flock for darshan of the deity. This year, the shrine will remain closed from June 22 to 25, and will re-open on June 26.

The festival is associated with fertility, with the onset of monsoon, and the common historical association across cultures of the Earth as a fertile woman. The name ‘Ambubachi’ itself translates to water flowing.

In what would be a life, time and cost saving move for people with rare blood groups in India the Central Health Ministry is looking at integrating the country’s Rare Donor Registry with the national online platform for blood bank management and blood availability information called e-Rakt Kosh.

The integration will allow those with rare blood groups to access a centralized system developed under the National Health Mission (NHS), providing details on blood banks, blood availability, and blood donation camps across the country. Essentially, it will help people find blood and blood banks, and assist blood banks manage their stock and donors.

“Indian Council of Medical Research- National Institute of Immunohaematology (NIIH) along with four partnering institutes created a data base of 4,000 carefully screened donors, tested for over 300 rare blood markers. It helps doctors find rare and specially matched blood quickly. Rare donor registry of India (RDRI) platform has been developed to help patients across India,” said Manisha R. Madkaikar, director, Indian Council of Medical Research’s (ICMR)-NIIH and Centre for Research, Management and Control of Heamoglobinopathies (CRMCH).

India is among the six countries that received 2025 Bloomberg Philanthropies Awards for Global Tobacco Control for prioritizing tobacco cessation approaches to reach a significant number of tobacco users in the country.

The National Tobacco Control Cell of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, was presented with the award at the World Conference on Tobacco Control held in Dublin, Ireland, on Monday.

India was presented the ‘O’ category award for promoting tobacco cessation. The ‘O’ is the MPOWER policy package of the World Health Organisation (WHO) that stands for ‘Offer help to quit tobacco use.’

Two individual bike owners moved the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday, challenging a recent single judge ruling that banned the operation of bike taxis in the state.

The petitioners argued that the state cannot infringe upon the fundamental right to carry on a business or choose a bike taxi over the metro or a bus.

Represented by Senior Advocate Dhyan Chinnappa, the owners argued that the prohibition not only contradicts provisions in the Motor Vehicles Act, but also severely impacts both their livelihood and public convenience.

A French woman from the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe has been identified as the only known carrier of a new blood type, dubbed "Gwada negative," France's blood supply agency has announced.

The announcement was made 15 years after researchers received a blood sample from a patient who was undergoing routine tests ahead of surgery, the French Blood Establishment (EFS) said on Friday.

"The EFS has just discovered the 48th blood group system in the world!" the agency said in a statement on social network LinkedIn. "This discovery was officially recognised in early June in Milan by the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT)." The scientific association had until now recognised 47 blood group systems.

IFFCO to set up its first overseas nano fertiliser plant in Brazil via joint venture with NANOFERT. The facility will produce 4.5 million litres annually, boosting global reach and reducing costs. Nano fertilisers show promise in boosting crop yields while cutting conventional fertiliser use.

Four years after the launch of nano urea in the country, Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative IFFCO is setting up its first plant abroad for manufacturing nano-soil nutrients in Brazil.

The plant will be set up under a 7:3 joint venture between IFFCO subsidiary IFFCO Nanoventions, and Brazilian company NANOFERT. It will be producing 4.5 million litres of nano-fertilisers annually.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla inaugurates a two-day National Conference of Estimates Committees of Parliament and States and Union Territories Legislative Bodies in Mumbai. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla today inaugurated the two-day National Conference of Estimates Committees of Parliament and States and Union Territories Legislative Bodies in Mumbai. Addressing the inaugural session, Mr. Birla stated that the Estimates Committees have played a crucial role in improving governance efficiency and driving administrative reforms. He noted that there have been numerous instances where these committees have made recommendations for citizen welfare, with nearly 90 per cent of them being implemented. He emphasized that the use of modern technology could further enhance the functioning of these committees.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis noted that the Estimates Committees enhance accountability and transparency in governance and ensure that public funds are spent in alignment with the policies outlined in the estimates.

Mr. Birla also released the 75th Anniversary Souvenir of the Estimates Committee of Parliament.