June 2026: Monthly Current Affairs

Month in Brief

June 2026 was dominated by the war in West Asia and what it cost India. Crude and jet-fuel prices had surged since March, so the Union Cabinet created a Rs 10,000 crore price stabilisation fund for airlines (June 3), the RBI held the repo rate at 5.25 per cent while raising its inflation forecast (June 5), and Fitch and the OECD revised their India forecasts. Relief came in mid-June, when an initial US-Iran deal (announced on June 14 and 15 and endorsed by the G7 at Evian) extended the ceasefire by 60 days and reopened the Strait of Hormuz. The Prime Minister attended that summit as an invitee, became the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Slovakia since its independence in 1993, and adopted an India-France Innovation Roadmap 2030 at Nice, before ending the month at Seychelles’ Golden Jubilee National Day.

At home, June rebuilt the measuring rods of the economy. GDP for FY26 came in at 7.7 per cent on a new 2022-23 base; a new IIP series, a rebased WPI and India’s first Producer Price Indices (June 15) followed. The monsoon reached Kerala on June 4 but stalled, and by mid-month the country was nearly 40 per cent short of normal rain. The Supreme Court reached a working strength of 37 after a May ordinance and went on to recognise a right to walk on safe footpaths and the economic value of a homemaker’s work. Surha Tal in Ballia became India’s 100th Ramsar site, and the Centre prepared for VB-G-RAM-G, which replaced MGNREGA on July 1. For revision, prioritise the energy-security cluster (GS2, GS3), the new statistical base years (GS3), the Article 21 judgments (GS2) and the month’s many reports (Prelims).

This compilation covers events from June 1 to 30, 2026, drawn from Ujiyari’s daily editions. Every story links to its full article.

Top 10 Stories of June 2026

1. US-Iran deal reopens the Strait of Hormuz (June 14 to 18). Ceasefire extended by 60 days, endorsed by the G7, signed as the Islamabad Memorandum (June 17); the US lifted its port blockade on June 18. GS2, GS3. Read
2. Modi at the Evian G7, in Slovakia and in France (June 13 to 18). First Indian PM visit to Slovakia since 1993; Comprehensive Partnership; India-France Innovation Roadmap 2030. GS2. Read
3. GDP grows 7.7 per cent in FY26 on a new base (June 5). Q4 at 7.8 per cent; base year moved to 2022-23. GS3. Read
4. India’s first Producer Price Indices; WPI rebased (June 15). WPI moves to a 2022-23 base and is to be phased out over about five years. GS3. Read
5. The monsoon arrives on June 4, then stalls. A 38 per cent all-India deficit by June 17 under a developing El Nino. GS1, GS3. Read
6. Supreme Court reaches a working strength of 37 (June 2). Five judges sworn in after the May 16 ordinance raised the sanctioned strength to 38. GS2. Read
7. Surha Tal becomes India’s 100th Ramsar site (June 5). India now leads Asia and ranks third in the world. GS3. Read
8. VB-G-RAM-G countdown. Interim allocation of Rs 95,692.31 crore announced (June 9) and 318 permissible works notified before MGNREGA’s repeal on July 1. GS2, GS3. Read
9. Article 21 widens: the right to walk and the homemaker’s work. Maniyar Iliyaz v. P. Ayyappan (June 19) and Shishu Pal v. Surjeet (June 11). GS2. Read
10. Defence self-reliance on show. 114-Rafale Letter of Request (June 1), record production of Rs 1.78 lakh crore (June 17), INS Dunagiri commissioned (June 21). GS3. Read

GS1: History, Art & Culture

Copper Plates From Elephanta (announced June 30)

The Archaeological Survey of India’s Mumbai Circle announced the discovery of two copper plates at Morabander on Gharapuri (Elephanta) Island, found in a storage jar during the 2025-26 excavation season. One is attributed to Maharaja Indrasena, founder of the Traikutaka dynasty, known until now only from later inscriptions and coins, so the plate may be the first direct record of him; the other is provisionally attributed to Jayashraya Mangalarasa of the Chalukyas of Navasarika (7th to 8th century CE). Together they are fresh evidence of maritime trade and administration on the Konkan coast. Full article

Vijayanagara’s Trilingual Inscriptions in the Seshachalam Hills

The ASI documented, through estampages, 16th-century inscriptions in Telugu, Tamil and Kannada at Sadasivakona in the Seshachalam forest of Tirupati district. They record a donation by Sadasiva Raya (r. 1542 to 1570) of the Tuluva dynasty, whose regent Aliya Rama Raya was killed at the Battle of Talikota (1565), after which the Deccan Sultanates sacked Hampi. Full article

Protecting Heritage as Intellectual Property

• Nilachakra trademark: the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration secured trademark registration for the Nilachakra, the eight-spoked disc atop the Puri temple, along with “Ananda Bazar” and “Patitapabana”, under the Trade Marks Act, 1999. A trademark identifies a source; a GI ties a product to a place. Full article
• Jharkhand’s GI tags (reported June 14): 11 traditional products received GI tags, taking the state’s total to 12, among them Kuchai silk, Tussar silk, Munda jewellery, Jadopatia painting and Dokra craft (lost-wax casting); four were facilitated by NABARD. Full article

Yoga, at Home and Abroad

• 12th International Day of Yoga (June 21): theme “Yoga for Healthy Ageing”; the Prime Minister led the national event at Red Road, Kolkata. The day was proposed at the UNGA in September 2014 and adopted by resolution 69/131 in December 2014. Full article
• First World Yogasana Championships (June 4 to 8, Ahmedabad): India topped the medal table at the first international championship for yogasana as a competitive sport. Full article

Anniversaries of Resistance

• Chapekar brothers (June 22, 1897): Damodar and Balkrishna Chapekar shot W.C. Rand, chairman of the Pune Plague Committee, and Lt. Ayerst during Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee; the episode led to Tilak’s first sedition trial the same year. Full article
• Hul Diwas (June 30): the Santhal Hul of 1855, led by Sidhu and Kanhu Murmu with Chand, Bhairav, Phoolo and Jhano, in the Damin-i-Koh around the Rajmahal Hills; the British then carved out the Santhal Parganas. Full article

📌 Facts Corner, History, Art & Culture

• Traikutakas: ruled the Konkan and northern Maharashtra around the 5th century CE; Elephanta Caves inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1987
• Vijayanagara dynasties: Sangama, Saluva, Tuluva, Aravidu; Krishnadevaraya (Tuluva) wrote Amuktamalyada; Hampi World Heritage Site since 1986
• Trade Marks Act, 1999 and GI Act, 1999 (GI in force 2003); GI Registry at Chennai; a GI is valid for 10 years, renewable
• International Day of Yoga: UNGA resolution 69/131 (December 11, 2014); first observed June 21, 2015
• Santhal Hul: began June 30, 1855, two years before the Revolt of 1857
• ASI: founded 1861; AMASR Act, 1958

GS1: Geography

A Monsoon That Arrived and Then Stalled

The southwest monsoon reached Kerala on June 4, a few days after the normal date of June 1, and the IMD forecast a below-normal season as El Nino developed. The advance then stalled. By June 17 the all-India deficit was 38 per cent, and 62 per cent in central India, as an unfavourable Madden-Julian Oscillation phase and a weak cross-equatorial flow held back the rains. June ended about 40 per cent below normal, with central India about 50 per cent short. Onset article · Stall article

Himalayan Hazards and Connectivity

• Tawang glacial lakes: a satellite study found four of five lakes in the Mago Chu basin expanding; Sanhapo Lake grew from 55.87 ha (2016) to 88.81 ha, raising the risk of a glacial lake outburst flood of the kind that hit Sikkim’s South Lhonak Lake in October 2023. Full article
• Zojila Tunnel breakthrough (June 9): the 13.15 km tunnel between Baltal (Sonamarg) and Minamarg (Drass) will give Ladakh all-weather road access. Full article

Rivers and Inter-State Water

• Kishau Dam (June 16): at a meeting chaired by the Home Minister, six states (UP, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Delhi) agreed in principle to sign an MoU for the Kishau multipurpose dam on the Tons, the Yamuna’s largest tributary, after an eight-year deadlock over cost sharing. (The MoU was signed on September 15.) Full article
• Haryana-Rajasthan Yamuna pact (June 29): operationalises the 1994 Upper Yamuna agreement; water from the Hathnikund Barrage will reach Sikar, Churu and Jhunjhunu through underground pipelines. Full article
• Ganga Water Treaty at 30: the 1996 India-Bangladesh treaty expires in December 2026; Bangladesh approved Phase 1 of a Padma Barrage downstream of Farakka in May. Full article

Heat and Rain

• Urban heat: a University of Oxford study of 205 cities placed 14 Indian cities among the 50 most at risk from extreme heat (a composite of hazard, vulnerability and coping capacity), with Ahmedabad second. Full article
• Rain lost in mid-air: an IITM Pune paper (June 26) used rain and vapour isotopes measured at Pune in the 2019 monsoon to make a first day-by-day estimate: on average about 23 per cent of the rain evaporated before reaching the ground (range 4 to 61 per cent). Full article

📌 Facts Corner, Geography

• Normal monsoon onset over Kerala: June 1 (plus or minus 7 days); IMD calls 90 to 95 per cent of the Long Period Average “below normal”
• MJO: an eastward-moving tropical rainfall pulse; El Nino: warm phase of ENSO
• GLOF: sudden release from a glacial lake; NDMA issues guidelines, the CWC monitors lakes
• Zojila pass: on the Srinagar-Leh road (NH-1), between the Kashmir Valley and Drass
• Inter-state water: Article 262 and the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956
• Aravallis: Gujarat to Delhi, about 692 km; highest peak Guru Shikhar (1,722 m)

GS1: Social Issues

The Homemaker as Nation Builder (June 11)

In Shishu Pal v. Surjeet (2026 INSC 634), the Supreme Court held that the loss of a homemaker’s domestic care is a separate head of damages in motor-accident compensation and fixed a minimum value of Rs 30,000 a month for those lost services, calling homemakers “nation builders”. It builds on Kirti v. Oriental Insurance (2021) and puts a number on the unpaid care economy that the NSO’s Time Use Survey measures. Full article

Women in Uniform

Seventeen women of the 148th NDA course, the first women trained at the National Defence Academy, were commissioned after the Supreme Court opened the NDA to women in 2021 (Kush Kalra v. Union of India). On June 13, nine were commissioned into the Army at the Indian Military Academy’s passing-out parade, reviewed by President Murmu, and five into the Air Force at Dundigal; three had been commissioned into the Navy at Ezhimala on May 28. Full article

Health: Mothers, Blood and Anaemia

• SUMAN Roadmap 2030 (June 29): launched with India’s first National Ambulance Services guidelines, aiming at zero preventable maternal and newborn deaths and a national MMR below 70 by 2030, with time-bound interventions in 130 districts of 13 high-focus states. Full article
• Anaemia Grand Challenge (June 13): ICMR and the Gates Foundation offered grants of up to Rs 1 crore for affordable iron-rich food prototypes. Full article
• World Blood Donor Day (June 14): honours Karl Landsteiner; India regulates blood as a drug under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. Full article

Children, Education and Mobility

• World Day Against Child Labour (June 12): revise Article 24, the Child and Adolescent Labour Act, 1986 (amended 2016) and ILO Conventions 138 and 182, ratified by India in 2017. Full article
• Social media and children: the UAE issued a decision barring under-15s from social media, effective after a 12-month transition, and Canada moved towards an under-16 ban, extending the debate on age assurance under India’s DPDP Act, 2023. Full article
• Free education and free travel: Odisha announced free education from KG to PG in government institutions (June 12), and Kerala’s Priyadarshini scheme made KSRTC ordinary buses free for women and transgender persons from June 15. Odisha article · Kerala article
• Singappenn (June 9): Tamil Nadu’s all-women special task force for the safety of women and children. Full article

Food Security and Tribal Self-Rule

• Antyodaya ration: a draft amendment to the NFSA, 2013 proposes 7 kg per person, capped at 35 kg, in place of a flat 35 kg per AAY household (comments till July 13). Full article
• Nicobarese Tribal Councils opposed new election rules that ignore the Tuhet, the clan-based consensus unit of Nicobarese self-governance. Full article

📌 Facts Corner, Social Issues

• Homemaker compensation: loss of domestic care is a separate head, minimum Rs 30,000 a month; Kirti v. Oriental Insurance (2021) is the precedent
• NDA opened to women: Supreme Court, 2021; first women cadets joined in 2022; constitutional basis Articles 14, 15, 16
• SDG 3.1: maternal mortality below 70 per 1,00,000 live births by 2030
• Child labour: Article 24; Child and Adolescent Labour Act, 1986 (amended 2016); ILO C138 and C182 ratified 2017
• DPDP Act, 2023: a child is a person under 18; verifiable parental consent required
• NFSA, 2013: up to 75 per cent rural and 50 per cent urban coverage; priority households get 5 kg per person

GS2: Polity & Governance

A 37-Judge Supreme Court (June 2)

The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Ordinance, 2026, promulgated on May 16, raised the sanctioned strength from 34 to 38 including the CJI, and five judges were sworn in on June 2: Sheel Nagu, Shree Chandrashekhar, Sanjeev Sachdeva, Arun Palli and V. Mohana, taking the working strength to 37. Justice Mohana was elevated directly from the Bar. Parliament fixes the Court’s strength by law under Article 124(1); the ordinance was replaced by a Bill in the Monsoon Session. Full article

Article 21 Keeps Growing

• Right to walk (June 19): in Maniyar Iliyaz @ Shaik Riyaz v. P. Ayyappan (2026 INSC 647), Justices P.S. Narasimha and Atul S. Chandurkar held that walking safely on demarcated footpaths is a fundamental right under Article 19(1)(d) read with Article 21, with priority over motorised traffic. The Court opened a suo motu case on the right to walk and asked the Law Commission and the Union ministries to consider a statutory framework. Full article
• Travel abroad is not absolute: in Seesa Santosh v. State of Telangana, the Court balanced an accused person’s right to travel abroad against the complainant’s right to a speedy trial. Full article

Exams, Platforms and Section 69A

With the NEET-UG re-examination fixed for June 21 after the May 3 paper was cancelled, a MeitY order under Section 69A of the IT Act, 2000 temporarily blocked Telegram from June 16 to 22. On June 19 a vacation bench of the Delhi High Court (Justice Tejas Karia) dismissed Telegram’s challenge, holding the platform-wide block to be the least restrictive, proportionate measure. Shreya Singhal (2015) upheld Section 69A; Anuradha Bhasin (2020) requires blocking to be proportionate and periodically reviewed. Full article

Civil Society, Law Officers and Legal Aid

• FCRA Rules amended (June 22): associations must name the ultimate donor behind intermediaries, disclose social-media handles and areas of work, and, for renewal, show foreign contribution of at least Rs 10 lakh used over the last two financial years. Noel Harper v. Union of India (2022) upheld the 2020 amendment to the Act. Full article
• DISHA 2.0: the access-to-justice scheme was continued to 2031 with Rs 255 crore, integrating its dashboard with the Nyaya Setu chatbot (launched in March), in service of Article 39A. Full article
• Tushar Mehta was reappointed Solicitor General for three years from July 1. The SG is a statutory law officer; the Attorney General alone is a constitutional office (Article 76).

Samvidhan Hatya Diwas (June 25)

The day, notified in 2024, marks the Emergency of June 25, 1975, proclaimed under Article 352 on the ground of “internal disturbance”. The 44th Amendment (1978) replaced that ground with “armed rebellion”, required written Cabinet advice and made Articles 20 and 21 non-suspendable; ADM Jabalpur (1976) was overruled in Puttaswamy (2017). Full article

Federalism and Governance

• A record for consecutive terms (June 10): Narendra Modi completed 4,399 continuous days as Prime Minister, passing the 4,398 days Jawaharlal Nehru served from May 13, 1952 to his death; the Union Cabinet passed a resolution calling him the longest-serving elected PM for consecutive terms. Nehru’s total tenure (from 1947) remains the longest. Full article
• Karnataka: D.K. Shivakumar was sworn in as Chief Minister on June 3, after Siddaramaiah resigned on May 28; G. Parameshwara became Deputy CM. Full article
• Assam-Nagaland oil pact: a tripartite MoU lets the two states explore oil and gas in their disputed belt with 50:50 revenue sharing, without prejudice to the boundary case pending under Article 131. Full article
• PRAGATI: the 52nd meeting (June 24) reviewed about Rs 30,000 crore of stalled projects. Full article
• NMC: PG Diploma courses will admit students for the last time in 2026-27; seats are to be converted into MD/MS seats. Full article

📌 Facts Corner, Polity & Governance

• Article 124(1): Parliament fixes the number of SC judges; Article 123: ordinance power of the President
• First woman SC judge: Justice M. Fathima Beevi (1989)
• Section 69A, IT Act: blocking on six grounds; procedure under the IT (Blocking) Rules, 2009
• FCRA, 2010 (replaced the 1976 Act); administered by the Ministry of Home Affairs
• Article 39A: free legal aid (42nd Amendment, 1976); Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987
• Article 352 Emergency: 44th Amendment (1978) substituted “armed rebellion”; Articles 20 and 21 cannot be suspended
• Article 164: the Governor appoints the Chief Minister

GS2: International Relations

The G7 at Evian and a European Swing (June 13 to 18)

The Prime Minister attended the 2026 G7 summit at Evian, France (June 15 to 17) as an invitee and spoke at its outreach session on June 16. On the way, India and France adopted an Innovation Roadmap 2030 at Nice (June 14), setting up a joint AI Working Group and an Economic Security Dialogue and aiming to double trade in five years. In Slovakia (June 14 to 16), the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister since its independence in 1993, ties became a Comprehensive Partnership and President Peter Pellegrini conferred the Order of the White Double Cross, First Class. G7 article · France article · Slovakia article

West Asia: A Deal and a Reopened Strait

The initial US-Iran deal, announced on June 14 and 15 and endorsed by G7 leaders at Evian, extended the ceasefire by 60 days and provided for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, which carries about a fifth of the world’s oil. It was signed as the Islamabad Memorandum on June 17, the US lifted its port blockade on June 18, and a roadmap on ending operations in Lebanon followed on June 22. Around June 27 the Joint Maritime Information Center announced a wider two-way route near Oman. India, which imports most of its crude and has a large diaspora in the Gulf, kept to a neutral line, and in Qatar 12 Indian workers were among 13 killed in a gas-plant blast at Ras Laffan (June 21). Deal article · Hormuz route article

The Indian Ocean and the Neighbourhood

• Seychelles (June 27 to 29): the Prime Minister was Guest of Honour at the 50th National Day, building on the USD 175 million package (USD 125 million line of credit and USD 50 million grant) announced during President Herminie’s visit to India in February. Full article
• Operation Amistad (June 26): India’s disaster-relief mission to Venezuela after two strong earthquakes near Caracas, with a BHISHM Cube field hospital. Full article
• Gilgit-Baltistan (June 5 and 7): India protested Pakistan’s elections in the region, reiterating that the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, including Gilgit-Baltistan, are an integral and inalienable part of India. Full article
• Indus waters: India is advancing the 930 MW Kirthai-II project on the Chenab while the Indus Waters Treaty remains in abeyance (since 2025). Full article

East and Southeast Asia

• Jaishankar in Mongolia and South Korea (June 22 to 25): keynote at the Jeju Forum, with “ships to chips” as the frame for cooperation with Korea. Full article
• India-Indonesia 8th Joint Commission (June 7): reviewed the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Full article
• “Pacific Command” returns (June 16): the Pentagon adopted “Pacific Command” as a secondary title for INDOPACOM, whose legal name and area of responsibility are unchanged. Full article

India’s BRICS Chairship

India chairs BRICS in 2026 for the fourth time (after 2012, 2016 and 2021). June’s ministerials: Agriculture Ministers at Indore (June 12 to 13), which adopted the Indore Declaration; the NSA meeting in New Delhi (June 22 to 23) chaired by Ajit Doval; and the Energy Ministers at Gurugram. Indore article · NSA article

Posts and Votes at Multilateral Bodies

• FATF (June 17 to 19, Paris): India was elected Vice-President for 2026-27, its first time, with Culture Secretary Vivek Aggarwal in the post. Full article
• ITLOS (June 18): Bimal N. Patel was elected a judge of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea with 115 of 168 valid votes, for a nine-year term from October 1, as Neeru Chadha’s term ends. Full article
• UN elections (June 2 to 3): Bangladesh’s Khalilur Rahman was elected President of the 81st UNGA by 99 votes to 91 over Cyprus, and Austria, Kyrgyzstan, Portugal, Trinidad and Tobago and Zimbabwe won non-permanent UNSC seats for 2027-28, Kyrgyzstan for the first time. UNGA article · UNSC article
• UNRWA: India pledged USD 2.5 million, the first tranche of an annual USD 5 million, and reaffirmed the two-state solution. Full article

📌 Facts Corner, International Relations

• G7: US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Canada, plus the EU; no charter or secretariat; India attends as an invitee
• Strait of Hormuz: between Iran (north) and Oman and the UAE (south); links the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman
• Slovakia: capital Bratislava; EU, NATO, eurozone and Schengen member; independent since 1993
• Seychelles: 115 islands; capital Victoria; independent 1976; SAGAR (2015) succeeded by MAHASAGAR
• FATF: set up 1989, secretariat in Paris; India a member since 2010
• ITLOS: seat Hamburg; 21 judges; nine-year terms; created under UNCLOS, 1982
• UNSC: 15 members, 10 non-permanent elected for two-year terms
• Government of India’s position: the whole of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, including the areas under Pakistan’s illegal occupation, is an integral part of India

GS3: Economy & Development

GDP and the New Base Year (June 5)

MoSPI’s provisional estimates put FY26 real GDP growth at 7.7 per cent (7.1 per cent in FY25) and Q4 at 7.8 per cent, the first provisional estimates on the 2022-23 base introduced in February. The tertiary sector grew 9.3 per cent and the secondary sector 8.8 per cent. Full article

A Statistical Overhaul

• IIP: a new series on a 2022-23 base (from 2011-12) was launched; April output rose 4.9 per cent. Full article
• WPI and PPI (June 15): the WPI moved to a 2022-23 base, and India launched its first Producer Price Indices, which cover services as well as goods; WPI inflation for May was 9.68 per cent, led by fuel and power. The WPI is to be phased out in about five years. Full article
• CPI: retail inflation was 3.93 per cent in May (3.48 per cent in April) on the new 2024 base. Full article
• Core sector: the eight core industries grew only 0.5 per cent in May. Full article

Money, Markets and the Oil Shock

• RBI MPC (June 5): repo held at 5.25 per cent, neutral stance; FY27 CPI forecast raised to 5.1 per cent, growth trimmed to 6.6 per cent. Full article
• Forecasts: the OECD put FY27 growth at 6.3 per cent; the World Bank’s June Global Economic Prospects raised India to 6.6 per cent while cutting world growth to 2.5 per cent; Fitch cut India to 6.4 per cent on an USD 87 Brent assumption. World Bank article · Fitch article
• ATF fund (June 3): a Rs 10,000 crore one-time fund, routed through oil marketing companies as interest-free advances, after jet fuel rose from Rs 60.50 to Rs 142 a litre between March and May. Full article
• RBI rulebook: a consolidated TReDS Master Direction (June 23) and the Credit Derivatives Directions, 2026 (in force June 25) that add total return swaps to credit default swaps. TReDS article · Credit derivatives article
• Bonds: foreign portfolio investors were exempted from tax on interest and gains from specified government securities, and the Fully Accessible Route was widened. Full article

Trade Agreements

• India-Oman CEPA in force (June 1): India’s second Gulf CEPA after the UAE (2022); 98.08 per cent of Oman’s tariff lines go duty-free for Indian goods. Full article
• India-UK CETA: entry into force was set for July 15, 2026, with the Double Contribution Convention on the same day. Full article
• New Zealand FTA (signed April 2026) moved towards ratification, with dairy kept out of tariff concessions. Full article

Rural Work, Cooperatives and Enterprise

• VB-G-RAM-G: the Centre announced an interim allocation of Rs 95,692.31 crore on June 9, and an interim list of 318 works in four themes was notified before the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025 replaced MGNREGA on July 1 with a 125-day guarantee. Full article
• Cooperatives: NAFEX.in, NAFED’s own auction portal (June 23), and the Gujarat launch of Bharat Taxi, the driver-owned cooperative ride-hailing platform first launched in February (June 27, Gandhinagar). NAFEX article · Bharat Taxi article
• MSMEs: the RBI Governor urged lenders to use digital public infrastructure (Account Aggregator, ULI, TReDS) to replace collateral with cash-flow lending (June 22). Full article
• CPSEs: CPCL became the 28th Navratna and GRSE the 29th. Full article

Sectors and Targets

• Textiles: a National Textile Export Roadmap aims at USD 100 billion of exports by 2030, from about USD 37 billion (Textiles Summit, June 23 to 24). Full article
• Seafood: a target of USD 30 billion of exports by 2031, from about USD 8.5 billion. Full article
• Tourism: a NITI Aayog report (June 30) argued that India’s constraint is enabling conditions, not demand, and proposed a 90-day visa on arrival for select countries. Full article
• Coal gasification: foundation of India’s first commercial coal-to-ammonium-nitrate plant at Lakhanpur, Jharsuguda (June 20), by BCGCL, a Coal India-BHEL joint venture. Full article

📌 Facts Corner, Economy & Development

• Base years: GDP and IIP 2022-23; CPI 2024; WPI 2022-23 (all from 2011-12, CPI from 2012)
• CPI: NSO (MoSPI); WPI and PPI: Office of the Economic Adviser, DPIIT; PPI covers services, WPI does not
• Inflation target: 4 per cent, band 2 to 6 per cent; six-member MPC under the RBI Act, 1934 (amended 2016)
• Eight core industries: coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement, electricity
• Navratna autonomy: up to Rs 1,000 crore or 15 per cent of net worth in one project without approval
• Ministry of Cooperation: 2021; NAFED: 1958
• VB-G-RAM-G: 125 days; funding largely 60:40 Centre-state

GS3: Environment & Ecology

Surha Tal: India’s 100th Ramsar Site (June 5)

On World Environment Day, Surha Tal (Jai Prakash Narayan Bird Sanctuary) in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh, an oxbow lake of the Ganga plain, became India’s 100th Ramsar site. India now has the most sites in Asia and ranks third in the world after the UK (176) and Mexico (144). Full article

State of India’s Environment 2026

The CSE-Down To Earth annual report warned that tiger deaths from territorial fights have nearly doubled in 15 years in saturated reserves such as Kanha and Ranthambore, that the invasive Lantana camara is degrading habitat and pushing predators towards livestock, and, drawing on the 2025 Planetary Health Check, that seven of nine planetary boundaries are now breached, with ocean acidification the latest. Tiger article · Planetary boundaries article

Species and Conservation

• Great Indian Bustard: three chicks took the captive count to 94 at the Sudasari and Ramdevra centres in Jaisalmer. Full article
• Tiger Conservation Roadmap (end of June): the NTCA flagged 25 of 58 reserves as priorities and shifted the goal from tiger numbers to the health of depleted reserves, 18 years after the Sariska translocation. Full article
• National Biodiversity Authority: an SOP (June 26) under Section 38 of the Biological Diversity Act for notifying threatened species, and a disclosure that access and benefit sharing has raised over Rs 266 crore since 2008. SOP article · ABS article
• Finds: Mesalina bishnoi, the first record of its lizard genus in India (Thar); the Potato Patch, a giant Pavona clavus coral colony off Kadmat, Lakshadweep; and a new lynx spider, Hamataliwa mawlyngot, in Meghalaya. Lizard article · Coral article

Climate Talks and Clean Air

• Bonn (SB64, June 8 to 18): developing countries pressed for far larger adaptation finance, the least developed seeking about USD 120 billion a year, after COP30 set a goal of tripling it by 2035 without a dollar figure; the incoming COP31 presidency (Turkiye, with Australia) proposed a voluntary “35 by 35” goal for electricity’s share of final energy. Bonn article · COP31 article
• Delhi-NCR (June 3): a two-year Rs 9,585 crore scheme to replace about 1.91 lakh old trucks and 16,329 buses with BS-VI or electric vehicles. Full article
• World Environment Day was hosted by Azerbaijan; Ladakh banned single-use plastics across the Union Territory (June 19). Full article

Energy Transition

• Wind: installed capacity of 56.09 GW (March 2026), fourth in the world, against a target of 100 GW by 2030. Full article
• Green hydrogen: the Green Hydrogen Certification portal (GHCI) was launched (June 18) under the National Green Hydrogen Mission (5 MMT a year by 2030). Full article
• WEF Energy Transition Index 2026: India rose two places to 70th. Full article
• Climate risk: a Zurich Kotak study found nearly 90 per cent of India’s renewable pipeline exposed to high or critical physical climate risk. Full article

📌 Facts Corner, Environment & Ecology

• Ramsar Convention: 1971, Ramsar (Iran); India joined in 1982; first Indian sites Chilika and Keoladeo (1981)
• Planetary boundaries: nine, proposed in 2009 by the Stockholm Resilience Centre; ozone and aerosols still within limits
• Great Indian Bustard: Ardeotis nigriceps; IUCN Critically Endangered; state bird of Rajasthan
• Tiger reserves: 58; Project Tiger 1973; NTCA under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 (2006 amendment)
• Biological Diversity Act, 2002 (amended 2023); NBA at Chennai; Nagoya Protocol in force 2014
• Panchamrit (COP26): 500 GW non-fossil capacity by 2030; net zero by 2070

GS3: Science & Technology

Space: Industry Takes the Big Rocket

IN-SPACe invited expressions of interest to transfer LVM3, ISRO’s heaviest operational launcher, to a private firm with ISRO’s support, the first time its heaviest rocket is opened to industry. ISRO also ran the 8th hot test of its semi-cryogenic Power Head Test Article (about 175 tonnes, 88 per cent of rated thrust, on June 24) at Mahendragiri, for the Next Generation Launch Vehicle, and is developing heaters to keep landers alive through the 14-day lunar night. LVM3 article · Engine article

Navigation, Nuclear and Quantum

• GAGAN (June 27): India’s first satellite-based augmentation approach by a jet, an IndiGo A320 at Udaipur, using the indigenous system built by ISRO and the AAI. Full article
• Kalpakkam (June 26): a hydrogen plant using process heat from the Fast Breeder Test Reactor and the copper-chlorine thermochemical cycle, developed by BARC. Full article
• Kudankulam Unit-5: the reactor pressure vessel was installed for the Russian-designed VVER-1000. Full article
• Amaravati Quantum Valley (June 19): an indigenous dilution refrigerator reached 4 kelvin under the National Quantum Mission (Rs 6,003.65 crore, 2023 to 2031). Full article

Health Technology and Regulation

• Advanced therapies: the Drugs (Eighth Amendment) Rules, 2026, in force from June 29, brought gene therapies, cell and stem-cell products and xenografts under central licensing. Full article
• Medicines: QR-code track-and-trace was extended to vaccines, antimicrobials and anti-cancer drugs, and the Health Ministry ended a village exemption that allowed unlicensed sale of cough syrups (June 15). Full article
• Aarogya Setu 2.0 (June 29): relaunched as a personal health record app under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission. Full article

AI, Data and Cyber

• Reliance and Meta: a 168 MW AI data centre at Jamnagar, Meta’s first built-to-suit capacity in India, to run on renewables and desalinated seawater (June 10). Full article
• Five Eyes warning (June 22): frontier AI capable of autonomous hacking is “months, not years” away; India’s nodal bodies are CERT-In and NCIIPC. Full article
• Batteries: INST Mohali reported an electrolyte additive that let aqueous zinc-ion test cells run for over 1,400 hours. Full article

📌 Facts Corner, Science & Technology

• IN-SPACe: authorisation and promotion body for private space activity, set up in 2020
• Semi-cryogenic engine: refined kerosene (ISROSENE) with liquid oxygen; cryogenic uses liquid hydrogen with liquid oxygen
• GAGAN: India’s SBAS; peers WAAS (US), EGNOS (Europe), MSAS (Japan)
• National Quantum Mission: approved April 2023; nodal Department of Science and Technology
• Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940; Drugs Rules, 1945; regulator CDSCO, headed by the DCGI
• ABHA: a 14-digit health ID under ABDM (2021)

GS3: Security & Defence

Big-Ticket Procurement

• Rafale (June 1): the Defence Ministry sent France a Letter of Request for 114 Rafale multirole fighters, about Rs 3.25 lakh crore, with most to be built in India. Full article
• Artillery: the Army proposed over 300 K9 Vajra-T self-propelled howitzers, built by L&T under licence from Korea’s Hanwha. Full article
• Su-57 offer: Russia offered its fifth-generation fighter with joint production, as India develops the AMCA. Full article

The Navy and Air Power

INS Dunagiri, the fifth Project 17A (Nilgiri-class) stealth frigate, was commissioned at Kolkata on June 21 along with the survey vessel INS Sanshodhak and the anti-submarine craft INS Agray, all built by GRSE. Earlier, DRDO and the IAF tested the RudraM-II air-launched anti-radiation missile from a Su-30MKI (June 2), and the Netra airborne early warning and control system received Final Operational Clearance. Dunagiri article · RudraM-II article · Netra article

Self-Reliance by the Numbers

Defence production reached a record Rs 1.78 lakh crore in FY26 (announced June 17), after record exports of Rs 38,424 crore announced in April. On June 29, the Defence Minister approved new Delegation of Financial Powers for DRDO and the services to speed up research and procurement. Production article · DFP article

Leadership and Institutions

• Gen Dhiraj Seth took over as the 31st Chief of the Army Staff on June 30, succeeding Gen Upendra Dwivedi; Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit was named the next Vice Chief of the Air Staff. COAS article
• Army Uniforms-2026 (June 14): a new dress code that drops colonial terms and approves the Bandi jacket for officers. Full article

Cyber Fraud and Internal Security

The CBI’s Operation Chakra-VI (June 25) searched over 80 locations in 16 states against “digital arrest” networks, one of which used a fake Supreme Court website; no law provides for a “digital arrest”. The I4C added a Money Restoration Module to Helpline 1930 (June 17). Chakra-VI article · I4C article

📌 Facts Corner, Security & Defence

• Project 17A: seven Nilgiri-class frigates, built by MDL and GRSE, designed by the Navy’s Warship Design Bureau
• RudraM-II: air-to-surface anti-radiation missile for suppression of enemy air defences
• Netra: AESA radar on an Embraer EMB-145; developed by DRDO’s CABS, Bengaluru
• CDS post created December 2019; heads the Department of Military Affairs
• I4C: set up 2018 under the MHA; National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal and Helpline 1930

Prelims: Reports, Indices & Schemes

Reports and Indices

New Schemes, Rules and Programmes

Days and Anniversaries, June 2026

Prelims: Persons & Awards in News

Mains Themes and Editorial Map

Each theme pulls together June’s news and the month’s editorials on it. Use it to build a Mains answer: the news gives the hook, the editorials give the argument.

1. Energy security under the West Asia shock

News: US-Iran deal and Hormuz, ATF fund, RBI hold, Fitch cut, JMIC route, Qatar blast. Editorials: India’s Oil Chokepoint Problem (BS) · The Recurring Shock (BS) · Energy Security Requires Breaking Silos (IE) · Limits of America (TH) · Transit Passage: the Hormuz Accord (TH) Practice question: Chokepoint risk has become a permanent feature of India’s energy import bill. Suggest a strategy that goes beyond strategic reserves. (GS3, 250 words)

2. Measuring the economy right

News: GDP on a 2022-23 base, new IIP, CPI 2024 base, WPI rebased and the first PPI, weak core-sector data. Editorials: A Reset Worth Reading (IE) · Base and Framework: the New IIP (TH) · Credible Statistics for Evidence-Based Governance (TH) · The Cracks Beneath the Growth Story (TH) Practice question: Why does India need a Producer Price Index when it already has a Wholesale Price Index? (GS3, 150 words)

3. A monsoon under El Nino

News: June 4 onset, the mid-June stall, the below-normal forecast, food-inflation risk. Editorials: Monsoon 2026 Arrives Under El Nino Shadow (DTE) · When El Nino Becomes an Economic Crisis (TH) · El Nino on a Razor’s Edge (TH) · Cloud of Uncertainty (BS) Practice question: Explain how El Nino affects the Indian monsoon, and suggest measures to protect food security in a deficit year. (GS1, 250 words)

4. Rights, courts and the citizen

News: Right to walk, homemaker compensation, travel abroad, Telegram blocking, the SC ordinance, Samvidhan Hatya Diwas. Editorials: Room to Walk (TH) · When the Footpath Becomes a Right (IE) · Rights in Her Lifetime (IE) · The SC Ordinance Is a Warning About Parliament (IE) · Seventy-Five Years of the First Amendment (IE) · Five Decades After the Emergency (IE) Practice question: The expansion of Article 21 has made the judiciary a maker of social policy. Critically examine with reference to recent judgments. (GS2, 250 words)

5. Exam integrity and platform power

News: NEET-UG re-exam, Telegram restriction under Section 69A, NTA reform demands. Editorials: Impunity for Exam Leaks Undermines Trust (IE) · One Nation, One Exam, One Point of Failure (IE) · The NTA Accountability Deficit (TH) Practice question: Is blocking an entire messaging platform a proportionate response to exam paper leaks? Discuss. (GS2, 150 words)

6. India, the G7 and Europe

News: Evian G7, Slovakia, the India-France Innovation Roadmap, India-UK CETA date, India-EU FTA. Editorials: India at Evian (IE) · India at the G7: Shaping Frameworks (IE) · Technology Drives India-France Convergence (TH) · Navigating Within the West (IE) · Applaud the India-EU FTA, But Watch the Fine Print (IE) Practice question: India is a permanent invitee to the G7 but not a member. What does it gain from this position? (GS2, 150 words)

7. The neighbourhood and the Indian Ocean

News: Seychelles, Operation Amistad, Gilgit-Baltistan, Kirthai-II and the Indus Waters Treaty, the Ganga treaty’s expiry, Nepal’s new government. Editorials: India’s Indian Ocean Moment in Seychelles (TH) · India as First Responder (TH) · Water as Leverage (IE) · A Growing Trust Deficit: India and Bangladesh (TH) · Old Ties, New Kathmandu (IE) Practice question: Humanitarian assistance has become a tool of India’s maritime diplomacy. Examine with examples. (GS2, 150 words)

8. Tigers, wetlands and the limits of numbers

News: SoE 2026 on tiger infighting and Lantana, the Tiger Conservation Roadmap, Surha Tal, the GIB count, the NBA’s species SOP, Great Nicobar. Editorials: Beyond Tiger Numbers: Governing 58 Reserves (DTE) · Putting Science and Community Into Species Protection (DTE) · How (Not) to Save the Aravalli Range (IE) · Opacity at Great Nicobar (DTE) Practice question: “India’s tiger success has become its tiger problem.” Discuss the governance response this requires. (GS3, 250 words)

9. Heat, cooling and climate finance

News: Bonn SB64, COP31’s “35 by 35”, the Oxford heat study, the AC boom and the grid, UNICEF’s children’s climate risk report. Editorials: Grants, Not Loans (DTE) · Who Pays for the Heat (TH) · Air-Conditioning and the Adaptation-Mitigation Dilemma (IE) · Cooling India Without Cooking the Planet (DTE) Practice question: Why should adaptation finance for developing countries come as grants rather than loans? (GS3, 150 words)

10. AI, data centres and their footprint

News: Reliance-Meta at Jamnagar, the Five Eyes warning, IRDAI’s AI working group. Editorials: The Thirst of the Machine (DTE) · India’s Data Centre Boom and Its Resource Constraint (BS) · Artificial Wisdom Is the Real AI Risk (TH) · Keeping Humanity at the Centre of the AI Revolution (TH) Practice question: Data centres compete with cities and farms for power and water. How should India regulate their growth? (GS3, 150 words)