New Delhi, 26 October The Central Hall holds a different assembly for two days. Presiding officers and parliamentary leaders from BRICS member and partner countries gather there on 26 and 27 October for the 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum, hosted by the Parliament of India.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, who chairs the forum, set its theme “The main theme of the conference is the strengthening of parliaments for people-centric development.”
At a glance
• 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum, 26–27 October 2026, Central Hall, Samvidhan Sadan
• Invited: 11 BRICS member countries and 10 partner countries
• Four high-level sessions: resilience, innovation, cooperation, sustainability
• Parliamentary Friendship Groups formed by India: 64 countries
What India gains
• A standing channel to lawmakers who ratify trade deals and vote on reform of global institutions.
Modi pitches India as the world’s ‘Brain Office’
New Delhi, 26 October India should work with the world as a “brain office”, not merely a back office, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his keynote address at the NDTV World Summit in New Delhi.
Sixteen days earlier, the World Bank had published the count that gives the phrase its weight. Global Capability Centres in India employed 2.36 million professionals in 2025, up from 1.9 million in 2024, according to the India Development Update released in New Delhi on 6 October 2026. That is 460,000 new jobs in a year, a rise of 24%, by Blitz’s calculation.
What India gains
•High-skill jobs at home, and research and design work that once left the country.
GST collections cross Rs 2 lakh crore again in September
New Delhi, 26 October Gross Goods and Services Tax collections were ₹2,03,521 crore in September 2026, up 14.7% from a year earlier, according to official data.
Net revenue after refunds grew faster, by 18.1% to ₹1,76,520 crore. For April to September, gross collections reached ₹12,46,278 crore, up 11.6% — an average of about ₹2.08 lakh crore a month, by Blitz’s calculation.
Gaganyaan gets closer as ISRO tests crew module seperation
Thiruvananthapuram, 26 October Before Indian astronauts ride the Gaganyaan capsule, the capsule must be able to let go. The Indian Space Research Organisation completed a series of separation tests between the Crew Module and the Service Module at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram.
The test rig reproduced the joined modules with dense instrumentation and simulated the moment of separation, including the cutting of several umbilical connections between them. The tests checked the “design adequacy of the separation system” and showed that the crew module’s avionics, inertial navigation, heat shields, deployable umbilical shield and pyrotechnic devices survive the shock, ISRO said.
India’s local produce goes global
New Delhi, 26 October Makhana from Purnia in Bihar is now reaching Greece, and tur dal from Kalaburagi in Karnataka is going to the Maldives, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in the 139th episode of Mann Ki Baat, broadcast on 25 October.
The episode, which marked twelve years of the programme, also carried two stories of repair. In Tehri Garhwal, Uttarakhand, villagers and the local administration revived the Hewal river, whose flow and nearby springs had been falling, through rainwater harvesting, groundwater recharge and tree planting.
Liechtenstein’s Hereditary Prince Alois arrives in India
New Delhi, 26 October Hereditary Prince Alois of Liechtenstein and Hereditary Princess Sophie arrived in Mumbai on 26 October for a three-day visit.
The Prince is to receive a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan and hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House, and is to call on President Droupadi Murmu.
Trade keeps flowing as India-US deal remains unfinished
New Delhi, 26 October: “It’s never done till it’s done,” External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said of the India–US trade agreement at the NDTV World Summit.
The commerce figures show trade did not wait for the treaty. India’s merchandise exports to the United States grew 11.11% in April–September 2026 from a year earlier, and 47.99% in September alone, according to the Commerce Ministry’s release of 15 October. That took the half-year total to about $51 billion, against $45.73 billion a year earlier, All India Radio reported on 16 October.
