Telangana’s rich heritage includes around 60 historic Lord Ganesh sculptures from dynasties like the Badami Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, and Kakatiyas, preserved in state museums. Among them, a four-foot Ganesh idol with his vehicle rat (Mushika), housed at Panagal Museum, Nalgonda, is said to be the biggest ancient Ganesh idol of its kind in India. This collection highlights how different dynasties used local stones—red sandstone, granite, black basalt, and soapstone—to reflect evolving artistic and spiritual traditions over centuries in the region.
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Khajrana Ganesh Temple in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, was constructed in 1735 by Maharani Ahilyabai Holkar of the Holkar dynasty. The temple houses an ancient idol of Lord Ganesha that was retrieved from a well where it had been hidden to protect it from the Mughal ruler Aurangzeb. The temple has grown from a small hut to a large complex and is one of the most revered sites in Indore, managed by the Bhatt family and overseen by the local authorities. Its gates and walls feature silver plating, and the deity’s eyes are adorned with diamonds donated by local devotees.
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On August 26, 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off Maruti Suzuki’s first electric vehicle, the e-Vitara, at Hansalpur, Gujarat. This marks India’s emergence as a global manufacturing hub for electric vehicles, as the e-Vitara will be exported to over 100 countries—including advanced markets like Europe and Japan. This aligns with the Indian government’s “Make in India” and “Atmanirbhar Bharat” initiatives, promoting both self-reliance and global competitiveness in manufacturing.
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A recent survey by the Delhi government revealed that nearly 9% of beneficiaries receiving free foodgrain under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) are ineligible. Among these, about 96,000 own cars, 89,000 receive benefits from other states too, and around 2.8 lakh either own land, pay income tax, or are company directors. At the national level, about 6% of ration card holders are found ineligible under the scheme. PMGKAY, which provides free foodgrain to nearly 800 million Indians, was extended till 2028, but the government faces challenges in weeding out ineligible beneficiaries due to political and bureaucratic complexities.
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Under the Ministry of Power’s SAMARTH Mission, all coal-based thermal power plants in India are mandated to co-fire biomass pellets, starting with a 5% replacement of coal in 2024-25, increasing to 7% in 2025-26. This initiative helps reduce air pollution caused by stubble burning and lowers CO₂ emissions by 15-20% per unit of electricity generated. It also creates rural employment and additional income for farmers by utilizing surplus agricultural residues for pellet production, supporting up to 10-20 million farmer families annually.
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Rajasthan became the first Indian state to fully implement the Supreme Court’s 2025 order on stray dogs by enforcing the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, 2023. The state mandated all urban local bodies to establish marked feeding points for stray dogs, coordinate with animal welfare organizations, and set up sterilisation, rabies vaccination, and deworming centres in every city. Rajasthan aims to balance public safety with animal welfare through a catch-neuter-vaccinate-release approach, ensuring humane treatment while controlling the stray dog population.
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According to the Comprehensive Modular Survey (CMS) on Education 2025 by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, the average household expenditure per student on school education in India is ₹2,863 for government schools, while it is significantly higher at ₹25,002 in private (non-government) schools. The survey also shows that nearly 27% of students nationwide take private coaching, with urban areas (30.7%) having a higher prevalence than rural areas (25.5%). Course fees are the largest expense, averaging ₹7,111 per student nationally, with urban households spending much more than rural ones.
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According to the 2025 WHO-UNICEF report, around 2.2 billion people worldwide still lack access to safely managed drinking water, and 3.4 billion lack safely managed sanitation. While significant progress has been made since 2015—with 961 million gaining access to safely managed drinking water—major disparities remain, especially affecting low-income, rural, minority, and indigenous communities. The report highlights that people in low-income countries are more than twice as likely to lack basic drinking water and sanitation services, emphasizing the ongoing global challenge of achieving universal access.
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In August 2025, North India logged 21 ‘extremely heavy’ rain events (over 204.5 mm/24 hrs), the highest since the IMD began keeping such records in 2021 — surpassing last year’s 14 events. This makes it the wettest monsoon in the region since 2013.
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In August 2025, India and China agreed to set up new expert groups under the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) to work on “early harvest” boundary delimitation and effective border management across all three sectors (western, middle, eastern). This marks the first structured move since 2002 towards clarifying the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
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In August 2025, a Rampur woman cited the so‑called “Bhutan model” — referring to traditional polyandry practices seen in parts of Bhutan, Nepal and Tibet — to propose living 15 days each with her husband and her lover. However, such an arrangement is illegal in India under the Hindu Marriage Act and other personal laws, as polyandry is not legally recognized.
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India’s Census 2027 will be the country’s first fully digital census, with a pre-test scheduled in October–November 2025 in selected areas (including Goa’s Corgao village and Margao town). For the first time, data will be collected through a mobile app, along with self-enumeration, digital mapping tools, and a real-time web monitoring portal.
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