Daily Bulletin

The first Rashtriya Gramin Vikas Sammelan will be held on June 28-29, 2026, in New Delhi, chaired by Union Minister for Rural Development Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The conclave, themed ‘Viksit Gram, Viksit Bharat’, will review flagship schemes and formulate a future roadmap for rural India, with a focus on the 'Lakhpati Didi' initiative. As part of the event, the Ministry will also launch the 'SARAS Shakti Collection', a curated line of handcrafted products from women's Self Help Groups, to connect rural enterprises with institutional markets.

The Union Health Ministry has proposed draft amendments to the Drugs Rules, 1945, to simplify the import of drugs for research and development. The new rules introduce an acknowledgement-based system, removing the licensing requirement under Form 11 for importing small quantities of drugs for testing. This deregulation aims to boost pharmaceutical innovation, while sensitive categories like narcotics and biologics will remain under the existing licensing regime.

On the occasion of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's Jayanti on June 26, 2026, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi paid homage and noted the special significance of the year, which marks the 150th anniversary of the national song 'Vande Mataram'. The Prime Minister highlighted the song's enduring role as a source of inspiration for the nation, gifted by Chattopadhyay to the freedom movement.

The government has operationalised reforms under the Jan Vishwas Act, 2026, decriminalising minor offences in the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, and the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. The amendments replace criminal proceedings for technical violations with administrative penalties to enhance trust-based governance. Key changes include omitting Section 29 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and reducing penalties under the Food Safety Act to avoid duplication with the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

The Himachal Pradesh government has made an 'anti-chitta' (drug screening) test mandatory for all new government recruitment to tackle the abuse of synthetic narcotics. The policy aims to address drug use among youth and within the public sector workforce. The announcement coincided with a major anti-drug operation where seized narcotics were destroyed across 10 locations in the state.

The Gujarat High Court has directed the state government to decide within six months on the remission plea of Shahnawaz Bhatti, a convicted Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative. Bhatti, a Pakistani national, was sentenced to life imprisonment after his arrest near the Kutch border in 2001, during which authorities seized 22 kg of RDX and an AK-56 assault rifle.

The Odisha government has suspended four officials of the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) following the identification of 1,678 errors in school textbooks for Classes 1 to 8. In response to the findings, the state has also adopted 14 reform measures aimed at preventing such lapses and ensuring the quality of future educational materials.

Senior advocate and Rajya Sabha MP Ujjwal Nikam has been appointed as the special public prosecutor in the Pune murder case of Ketan Aggarwal. Mr. Nikam, known for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack case, accepted the appointment following a request from the Maharashtra government and the victim's family.