Morning Digest: India to host second India-Arab Foreign Ministers meeting today; IAF deploys helicopters to combat forest fires in Arunachal’s Lohit Valley, and more

The Hindu Morning Digest gives a select list of stories to start the day. Read the top news today on January 30, 2026

Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s expected visit to Israel later this month, India is striking a balancing act, reaching out to the Arab world and hosting the second India-Arab Foreign Ministers meeting on Friday (January 30, 2026). Palestine’s Foreign Minister Varsen Aghabekian Shahin will attend the meeting, a day after she called on India to contribute to the massive reconstruction work required in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) dropped at least 12,000 litres of water to combat forest fires in the Lohit Valley of Arunachal Pradesh, operating at nearly 9,500 feet in the rarefied Himalayan air. The IAF deployed Mi-17V5 helicopters for the operation, which involved challenging conditions at high altitude. This comes amid a series of rapid response operations by the IAF

Leaders across the political spectrum welcomed the Supreme Court’s stay of the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) 2026 equity regulations amidst a controversy over its definition of “caste-based discrimination”, with some calling the decision “appropriate” in light of the social tensions it had created.

The Special Investigation Team on Thursday (January 29, 2026) served a notice on former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao at his residence in Nandigiri in connection with the phone-tapping case, asking him to appear for examination as part of the ongoing investigation. He was asked to make himself available on Friday (January 30, 2026) at 3 p.m

The Economic Survey of India 2025-26 pitched for developing the debt securities by rationalising their taxation. The development of debt instruments like corporate bonds, as an investment avenue, would “reduce capital costs, mobilise savings efficiently, and offer households reliable income-generating products,” wrote the Chief Economic Advisor V. Anantha Nageswaran.

Bihar Chief Secretary Pratyaya Amrit on Thursday (January 29, 2026) chaired a high-level review meeting to assess the progress of the AgriStack project. During the meeting, he directed that the Farmer Registry work will be carried out across the State in mission mode from February 2 to 6 so that the maximum number of farmers can be connected to this system.