Blitz Bureau
Statistics : Iron Ore Joins the Core List
Iron ore has been added to India’s list of core industries in the rebased Index of Core Industries, taking the count from eight to nine. The Office of the Economic Adviser, DPIIT, says the inclusion follows from iron ore’s intensive use in production and its contribution to industrial development. It carries a weight of 4.905 in a hundred, and in June 2026 it grew 43.9 per cent year on year — the fastest of the nine.
Methodology : Steel Now Counted Gross
The new series computes the steel index from gross production data, replacing the net production data used in the 2011-12 series, so that the core index is consistent with the Index of Industrial Production. In coal, only raw coal has been retained; coal middling and washed coal have been dropped because they are made from raw coal and counting them twice inflated the index.
Comparability : One Number Bridges Old and New
The linking factor between the 2011-12 and 2022-23 series of the core index is 1.47, derived as the ratio of the geometric mean of the old series for 2022-23 to that of the new. Users can compute the same factor sector by sector using the published formula. The old series has been discontinued, and the back series of the new one from April 2023 is on the Office of the Economic Adviser’s portal.
Broadband : 2.19 Lakh Panchayats Now Service-Ready
BharatNet had reached service-ready status in 2.19 lakh gram panchayats by November 2025, against a revised scope of 2.26 lakh — 96.70 per cent, with Phase-I at 99.97 per cent and Phase-II at 92.79 per cent. Expenditure to that date was ₹39,888 crore against an approved ₹42,068 crore. The figures are the Comptroller and Auditor General’s, in Report No. 19 of 2026.
Space : Nineteenth GSLV Flight Is Next
GSLV-F17 will be the nineteenth flight of India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle and will carry EOS-05 from the Second Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, SHAR. ISRO’s mission page of 29 August 2026 describes EOS-05 as India’s first ever imaging satellite from geosynchronous orbit. The payload fairing is the four-metre ogive composite version.
Rural Network : Scope Widens to 6.4 Lakh Villages
The Amended BharatNet Programme, approved by the Union Cabinet in August 2023, expands the project from the 2.5 lakh gram panchayats of the earlier phases to 6.4 lakh villages and gram panchayats across India — roughly two and a half times the original scope — and brings execution under a single agency after the merger of Bharat Broadband Network Limited with BSNL.
