NEW DELHI, 28 October 2026 — In 2011, more than one Indian in four lived on less than $3 a day. By 2023 it was fewer than three in a hundred. The World Bank’s India Poverty and Equity Brief of October 2026 puts extreme poverty at 2.6%, down from 27.1%, measured at the international line of $3.00 a day in 2021 prices adjusted for purchasing power.
What India gains
Is a country in which destitution has become the exception rather than the rule — and in which the next task, raising what an hour of work earns, can now be the centre of policy rather than survival.
Arvind’s Varanasi plant to create 1,000 plus jobs
NEW DELHI, 28 October — Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a garment and apparel facility of Arvind Ltd in Varanasi . The setting of the plant cost about ₹150 crore, is expected to employ more than 1,000 people, predominantly women, and has a revenue potential of ₹250 crore.
It is the company’s first manufacturing unit in Uttar Pradesh. The plant makes essential knitwear on automated sewing lines, using knitted fabric from Arvind’s own mills, and the company has built hostels for its workers. Governor Anandiben Patel and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath attended the inauguration.
What India gains
Is a thousand factory jobs in eastern Uttar Pradesh, most of them for women, producing for export markets.
PM Modi calls for science that improves everyday life
NEW DELHI, 28 October “The real success of Science occurs when it steps out of the lab and makes the life of the common citizen better,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on 27 October. He was inaugurating the Emerging Science, Technology and Innovation Conclave (ESTIC) 2026 at Bharat Mandapam, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.
The three-day conclave, organised by CSIR under the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser, runs to 29 October. Minister of State for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh said in September, announcing the conclave, that 50-60% of India’s start-ups now come from small towns rather than metros.
What India gains
Research money aimed at things a citizen can use, and innovation that is no longer a metro monopoly.
Kalapakkam reactor marks new milestone in India’s nuclear journey
NEW DELHI, 28 October When the Prime Minister listed India’s recent scientific milestones at ESTIC on 27 October, the first was a reactor at Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu. The 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor reached first criticality on 6 April 2026.
