Union Health Minister launched the Samagra Shishu Bal Swasthya Karyakram (SSBSK). 

About Samagra Shishu Bal Swasthya Karyakram (SSBSK)

• Objective: Unified programme providing a continuum of home and community-based care for children from birth to 36 months (community care up to 5 years).
• Integrated Framework: Merges Home-Based Newborn Care (HBNC) and Home-Based Care for Young Child (HBYC) into a single programme.
• Coordinated Workforce: Joint home visits by ASHAs, ANMs, CHOs, and Anganwadi Workers at key developmental stages.
• Maternal Mental Health: Includes postpartum mental health screening and referral through ASHAs.
• Digital Integration: Enables child-wise tracking through ABHA/Baal-ABHA linked with U-WIN, POSHAN Tracker, JANANI, and RBSK 2.0.

Revised Operational Guidelines for Anemia Mukt Bharat (AMB) Abhiyaan have been launched. 

• Anemia is a condition in which the number of red blood cells or the haemoglobin concentration in the blood is lower than normal, reducing the blood's oxygen-carrying capacity. 
• It affects about 67.1% of children aged 6–59 months, 59.1% of adolescent girls (15–19 years), and 52.2% of women aged 15–49 years. 

About Anemia Mukt Bharat (AMB) Abhiyaan

• Launched in 2018, by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) 
• Key Features:
  • Expansion of 6×6×6 Strategy (6 beneficiary groups × 6 interventions × 6 institutional mechanisms) to a 7×7×7 framework.
    • Low Birth Weight (LBW) babies (0–6 months) have been included as the seventh beneficiary group
  • Iron-fortified foods in government-funded programmes and management of non-nutritional causes of anaemia (e.g., malaria, haemoglobinopathies, fluorosis). 
  • Intravenous Iron Therapy is included as a clinical intervention.
  • Other: Biannual deworming, etc. Promoting practice of delayed cord clamping, etc. 

Union Cabinet approves an additional Government investment commitment of ₹30,000 crore to anchor NIIF Infrastructure Fund II. 

• NIIF Infrastructure Fund II is expected to undertake investments across transportation, energy, digital infrastructure, and emerging areas such as urban infrastructure and e-mobility.

About National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF)

• Established in 2015 as a SEBI-registered Category II Alternative Investment Fund (AIF).
• Nature: A sovereign-linked alternative asset manager, anchored by the Government of India (holds 49% in each NIIF-managed fund).
• Objective: Mobilise long-term domestic and global capital for infrastructure and other strategically important sectors in India.
• NIIF has raised capital from Sovereign Wealth Funds, Pension Funds, Multilateral Development, and leading Domestic Financial Institutions.
• The Fund is managed by National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Limited (NIIFL).
• Governing Council: Chaired by the Union Finance Minister.

Scientists developed electrolyte additive that can contribute to the development of Aqueous zinc ion batteries (AZIBs)as an alternative to lithium-ion batteries.

About AZIBs

• Rechargeable batteries that use zinc metal as the anode and a water-based electrolyte.
• Advantages: Offers a safer, low-cost, environmentally friendly, and high-performance alternative for large-scale energy storage.
• Concerns: Zinc dendrite growth, cathode dissolution, hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), corrosion, and poor cycling stability.

Kisan Sarathi brings Digital Advisory Services to Farmers across India.

About Kisan Sarathi

• It is an integrated digital agro-advisory platform launched in 2021 to provide need-based, personalised agricultural advisory services to farmers through a single digital interface.
• Joint initiative of the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) and the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW).
• Implemented by: Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute (IASRI) and the Digital India Corporation (DIC).
• Key Features: Powered by the Interactive Information Dissemination System (IIDS) and integrates services such as Kisan Call Centres, Common Service Centres, IMD, MyScheme, and BHASHINI.
  • IIDS is a 2-way communication platform, following a Know Your Farmer (KYF) approach.

The governments of Rajasthan and Haryana inked an agreement for construction and implementation of Yamuna Water Project.

About Yamuna Water Project

• Facilitates Rajasthan's allocated share of Yamuna waters through underground pipelines from the Western Yamuna Canal (Hathini Kund barrage) during monsoon months.
  • It implements Rajasthan's entitlement under the 1994 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the Upper Yamuna Basin.
• About 580 Million Cubic Metres (MCM) of water will be supplied annually between July and October.
• Covers cost-sharing, water allocation, release protocols, infrastructure maintenance, monitoring, transparency, and dispute resolution.
• Enhances drinking water supply to Sikar, Churu, and Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan, and Bhiwani and Fatehabad in Haryana.

Project BRAHMANK of Border Roads Organisation (BRO) celebrated its 16th Raising Day. 

About Project BRAHMANK

• BRO project, raised on 29 June 2011 at Ranaghat, Arunachal Pradesh.
• Objective: To enhance strategic connectivity for the Armed Forces and improve all-weather connectivity to remote border areas.
• Functions: It develops and maintains strategic roads, bridges, and helipads in eastern Arunachal Pradesh and parts of Assam.
  • Others: Border infrastructure development, disaster response, and socio-economic integration of remote regions.

At the end of March 2026, India's external debt increased to $762.8 billion, up by $26.3 billion from the previous year, with the external debt-to-GDP ratio increasing from 19.8% to 20.8%.

• Long-term borrowings continued to form the bulk of India's external debt.
• US dollar-denominated debt (55.5%) remained the largest component of India’s external debt, followed by debt denominated in the Indian rupee (29.4%), yen (6.4%), special drawing rights with IMF (4.3%) and euro (3.7%).

About Debt to GDP Ratio

•  It is the ratio of a country's total public or external debt to its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), indicating its ability to repay debt relative to the size of its economy.
• Key indicator of debt sustainability and fiscal or external sector health; a lower ratio indicates stronger repayment capacity.