The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the creation of the Bharat Maritime Insurance Pool with a sovereign guarantee of Rs 12,980 crore.

The pool is designed to ensure continuous and affordable maritime insurance coverage for Indian trade, covering risks including hull and machinery, cargo, protection and indemnity, and war risk.

Policies under the pool will be issued by member insurers using the pool’s combined underwriting capacity, estimated at around Rs 950 crore.

Coverage will extend to Indian-flagged vessels, Indian-controlled ships, and all vessels with either an origin or destination in India, including those transiting volatile maritime corridors.

The government said the initiative aims to reduce Indian trade’s dependence on international insurance clubs amid global volatility and geopolitical instability affecting maritime routes.

The sovereign guarantee has been structured for an initial ten-year period, with a provision for a five-year extension, according to the Cabinet’s approval.

Officials said the pool would give Indian shipowners and traders more predictable access to insurance even when transiting through regions affected by conflict or heightened security risk, where global insurers have periodically withdrawn or restricted coverage.

The scheme is expected to particularly benefit smaller Indian shipping companies that have historically found it harder to secure competitively priced cover from the international marine insurance market.

In a separate decision on the same day, the Cabinet also approved the establishment of a bench of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh in the Union Territory of Ladakh, aimed at improving access to justice for residents of remote areas.

Industry bodies representing India’s shipping and logistics sector have broadly welcomed the maritime insurance pool, saying it addresses a long-standing gap in affordable coverage that has periodically disrupted trade flows during periods of heightened global tension.

The finance ministry said the pool would be reviewed periodically to ensure its underwriting capacity keeps pace with growth in Indian-flagged shipping tonnage and overall trade volumes moving through Indian ports.

Photo by Kandukuru Nagarjun, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hoisted the national flag at Red Fort on Saturday as India marked its 80th Independence Day, addressing the nation around 7:39 am.

Modi reaffirmed the government’s target of 100 gigawatts of nuclear power capacity by 2047, saying five new reactors are expected to become operational within six to seven years.

He said seven to eight new semiconductor manufacturing plants should be operational within one to two years, as part of efforts to strengthen domestic chip production.

The prime minister also announced AI-driven skill training for one crore young people over the next year, free online coaching for competitive exams, and a nationwide sports talent search for children aged five to 15.

Modi said previously restricted maritime zones would be opened for mineral and crude oil exploration, part of a wider energy security push tied to the ‘Viksit Bharat’ goal for 2047.

He said the youth have a major role in that journey, framing the announcements around Viksit Bharat and Atmanirbhar Bharat, or self-reliant India.

Celebrations were held across the country to mark the occasion, with flag-hoisting ceremonies and cultural programmes organised at state capitals, schools and government offices nationwide.

Modi opened his address by expressing solidarity with families affected by floods, landslides and other natural calamities across the country in recent weeks.

The prime minister also warned against what he described as ‘dimaagi Naxals,’ or intellectual Naxalism, calling for such elements to be identified and isolated to keep the country’s development on track.

Around five thousand special guests were invited to witness the celebrations at Red Fort, including artisans under the PM Vishwakarma scheme, women entrepreneurs under the PM Mudra Yojana, street vendors under PM SVANidhi, and taxi drivers of Bharat Taxi.

This year’s address marked Modi’s 13th consecutive Independence Day speech from the ramparts of Red Fort since he first took office in 2014.

Photo by Mr. Debapriya Hore, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the ‘Nasha Mukt Yuva for Viksit Bharat Sankalp Abhiyan’ on Sunday, August 2, 2026, at 11 am through video conferencing, beginning a nationwide campaign against substance abuse among young people.

The launch involved nearly 10,000 locations across the country, with more than 1 crore youth taking a national pledge to avoid substance abuse and act as ambassadors of positive social change in their communities.

The event drew participation from MY Bharat Volunteers, the National Service Scheme, youth clubs, schools, colleges, universities, NGOs, industrial associations and more than 125 spiritual organisations.

The launch marks the beginning of a 100-week Jan Bhagidari campaign against substance abuse, with weekly activities planned every Sunday across the country.

The weekly schedule includes sports events, walkathons, meditation sessions, cultural programmes, awareness campaigns, nukkad nataks, discussion forums and art competitions.

The campaign builds on the government’s existing Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan, extending it into a structured, multi-year calendar of youth engagement activities.

The ‘Viksit Bharat’ framing links the anti-drug campaign to the government’s broader goal of a developed India by 2047, positioning youth wellbeing as a foundation for the country’s long-term development agenda.

Educational institutions, from schools to universities, are expected to play a central role in sustaining the weekly Sunday activities, given their direct access to the young people the campaign is targeting.

The campaign builds on the government’s broader Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan, which has run de-addiction and awareness drives across India’s states and union territories in recent years.

Officials said the choice of Sunday for weekly activities is intended to maximise participation from students and working professionals who have more free time to join community events on the day.

The 100-week timeline gives the campaign a multi-year runway, allowing organisers to track engagement and adjust programming based on which activity formats draw the strongest youth participation in different regions.

Photo: Prime Minister’s Office, Wikimedia Commons, GODL-India