13th-15th June 2026

1. Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw Inaugurated FM Transmitter in Jaisalmer and Announced AI Labs in Jaipur
2. GoI, Assam, Nagaland Sign Tripartite MoU to Boost Oil and Gas Production
3. NLCIL & CSIR-CECRI Sign MoU for REE Extraction from Mining Waste
4. WEF’s 2026 Tech Pioneers Cohort: 9 Indian Companies Among 100 Early-Stage Startups
5. World Bank Raises India’s GDP Forecast to 6.6% for FY27
6. Elon Musk Becomes World’s First Trillionaire on Paper Following SpaceX’s Record-Breaking USD 75 Billion IPO
7. GoI Nominates DFS Secretary Sanjay Lohiya as Director on RBI, SBI Central Boards
8. Tata & Airbus Completed 1st Test Flight of Maiden ‘Made in India’ C295 Aircraft
9. Former New Zealand Captain Kane Williamson Announced Retirement from International Cricket
10. Padma Shri Jaspal Rana, Former Asian Games Gold Medallist Passed Away
11. Thailand’s Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol, UN Goodwill Ambassador Passed Away
12. International Albinism Awareness Day 2026 – June 13
13. Who is Lt Gen Dhiraj Seth? India’s New Army Chief Profile Explained
14. Elon Musk Becomes World’s First Trillionaire After SpaceX IPO
15. Odisha Cabinet Approves Renaming of 64 Places to Preserve Odia Identity
16. What is Varya? India’s New AI Video Model Promises Faster and Cheaper Content Creation
17. Centre Proposes Unified Broadcasting Rules for TV and Radio Services
18. India Leads Global Digital Wallet Downloads in 2025 as UPI Drives Digital Payments Revolution
19. DRDO Successfully Tests Ballistic Missile Defence and NASM-MR Missile
20. Sudarsan Pattnaik Becomes First Indian to Win Russia Grand Sand Master Cup 2026
21. Bharat Innovates 2026: PM Modi and Macron to Launch India-France Deep Tech Platform
22. Global Peace Index 2026: Top 10 Safest Countries in the World
23. CPI Inflation Edges Up to 3.93% in May; Tomato Prices Drive Food Inflation
24. Kane Williamson Retires from International Cricket After 16-Year Career
25. ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2027
26. Invest India and Invest UP Join Hands to Boost FDI in Uttar Pradesh
27. IIT Bhubaneswar Develops ArsenSafe Device for Rapid Water Testing
28. JNPA Emerges as India’s Top Container Port in 2025, Ranks 22nd Globally
29. India and Nepal Launch UPI-NPI Cross-Border Remittance Service
30. PM Modi Chairs 11th NITI Aayog Meeting, Focuses on Viksit Bharat 2047
31. BIS Releases IS 20201:2026 Standard for Community Seed Banks in India
32. Who Is Gitika Talukdar? Assam’s Trailblazing FIFA World Cup Photojournalist

National News

Centre Proposes Unified Rules for Broadcasting Sector

• What: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) released the draft Telecommunications (Television, Radio and Associated Services) Rules, 2026, proposing a single regulatory framework to govern television and radio broadcasting services across the nation.
• Tell me more:
  • The new framework consolidates various older guidelines issued under the erstwhile Telegraph Act, 1885, into the modern Telecommunications Act, 2023.

India And France Inaugurate Bharat Innovates 2026

• What: Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron jointly inaugurated the maiden international edition of Bharat Innovates 2026 at the Palais des Expositions de Nice in France.
• Tell me more:
  • The Union Ministry of Education organized the event to advance innovation-led partnerships between deep tech innovators of India and global stakeholders.
  • The Innovation Pavilion showcased 120 technologies from Indian higher education institutions across AI, semiconductors, biotechnology, healthcare, energy, manufacturing etc.

Prime Minister Chairs Eleventh NITI Aayog Governing Council

• What: Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the 11th Governing Council Meeting of the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog in New Delhi under the specific theme of Inclusive Human Development for Viksit Bharat@2047.
• Tell me more:
  • Centre and States will work together towards Viksit Bharat@2047 through 100-day and five-year targets, while promoting education, skilling, MSMEs, and investment to harness India’s demographic dividend and trade opportunities.
  • The target for Lakhpati Didis was raised from 3 crore to 6 crore.
  • States should promote ODOP, exports, defence manufacturing, AI, data centres, and ease of doing business, while addressing drug abuse and cyber fraud and encouraging water conservation, natural farming, and organic farming.
  • 100 agricultural districts should be identified on the lines of the Aspirational Districts Programme.

State News

New Radio Transmitter in Jaisalmer to Boost Communication

• What: The Central Government established a new 20-kilowatt Akashvani Frequency Modulation (FM) radio transmitter in Ramgarh, Jaisalmer to counter cross-border propaganda and strengthen communication infrastructure in border regions.
• Tell me more:
  • The FM transmitter has been installed at the existing Doordarshan Tower Complex, increasing the number of working FM transmitters in Rajasthan to 39.
  • The Central Government plans to build broadcasting infrastructure from Kashmir to Kutch to improve communication in border areas.

India Signs Historic Northeast Hydrocarbon Exploration Agreement

• What: The Government of India signed a landmark tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Assam and Nagaland to facilitate mineral oil and natural gas exploration and production operations along their shared boundary areas.
• Tell me more:
  • The tripartite agreement promotes oil and gas exploration, attracts investment, ensures safety, and could increase the region’s oil production from 1,000–1,500 barrels per day by more than ten times.

Odisha Cabinet Approves Revisions for Local Names

• What: The Odisha State Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi approved a proposal to correct the distorted colonial-era English spellings of 64 places scattered across 26 districts.
• Tell me more:
  • Parliament previously changed the state name from Orissa to Odisha in 2011 through the Constitution (113th Amendment) Act.

Invest UP and Invest India Deepen Collaboration

• What: Investment promotion agencies Invest UP and Invest India agreed to deepen their collaboration to attract greater domestic and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into Uttar Pradesh during a high-level meeting in Lucknow.
• Tell me more:
  • The state and national investment agencies discussed attracting global investors, improving project execution, and boosting industrial growth, jobs, and investment inflows.
  • MD and CEO of Invest India – Nivruti Rai
  • Invest UP CEO – Vijay Kiran Anand

International News

Elon Musk Becomes World First Ever Trillionaire

• What: The business entrepreneur Elon Musk became the world first ever trillionaire after his aerospace firm, Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX), raised a record $75 billion during its Initial Public Offering (IPO).
• Tell me more:
  • This valuation puts Elon Musk well ahead of Alphabet co-founder Larry Page, with the world’s second-richest person having a net worth of around $300 billion.
  • Musk’s vast business network includes tunneling startup The Boring Company and specialized brain implant manufacturer Neuralink.

Banking and Economy

NLC India Signs Strategic Critical Minerals Pact

• What: NLC India Limited (NLCIL) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Central Electrochemical Research Institute (CSIR-CECRI) to work together to find critical minerals, especially rare earth elements, from mining waste and unused materials at NLCIL’s mines.
• Tell me more:
  • CMD of NLC India Limited – Prasanna Kumar Motupalli

India Becomes World Largest Digital Wallet Market

• What: India emerged as the largest market globally for digital wallet app downloads in calendar year 2025 by accounting for over 440 million downloads, according to Sensor Tower.
• Tell me more:
  • Global downloads of digital wallet and peer-to-peer payment apps crossed 1.8 billion in 2025, up 3% from the previous year.
  • Downloads in India fell 12% in 2025 after growing 14% in 2024.
  • UPI remained the core infrastructure behind India’s digital payment apps and processed 228.5 billion transactions worth ₹299.7 trillion in 2025, a 33% increase from 2024.
  • PhonePe was the most downloaded digital wallet app globally and in India in 2025, followed by Paytm, Google Pay, Super.money, BHIM, and FamApp in India.
  • PhonePe and Google Pay together accounted for over 80% of transaction volume in the first half of 2025; WhatsApp Pay saw slower adoption due to NPCI regulations and lower investment.

India Retail Inflation Rises to 3.93% in May 2026

• What: India’s retail inflation, measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), rose to 3.93% in May 2026 from 3.48% in April due to an increase in food prices and higher import duties.
• Tell me more:
  • The National Statistical Office (NSO) released the macro-economic data after collecting price details from 1,407 urban markets and 1,465 villages across the country.
  • The general inflation rate stood at 4.25% in rural areas and 3.53% in urban regions during the month.
  • The Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI)-based inflation rate increased to 4.78% in May from 4.20% recorded in April.
  • The government will release the next set of retail inflation data for June 2026 on July 13.

India and Nepal Launch Cross Border Remittance Mechanism

• What: India and Nepal launched an operational peer-to-peer cross-border remittance mechanism establishing a direct financial link between India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Nepal’s National Payments Interface (NPI).
• Tell me more:
  • The digital payment corridor enables secure, real-time cross-border transfers through banking apps and digital wallets, strengthening financial inclusion, trade, tourism, merchant efficiency, and economic ties between the two countries.

Reports and Indices

Institute for Economics & Peace’s (IEP) Global Peace Index 2026

• Released by: The Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP) is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit think tank headquartered in Sydney, Australia.
• Edition: 20th
• Total: 163 countries
• Parameters: It uses 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators to measure the state of peace across three domains: the level of Societal Safety and Security, the extent of Ongoing Domestic and International Conflict, and the degree of Militarisation.
• Top Rankers:

• India’s position fell by 3 places compared to the previous year. Internal and external conflicts increased worldwide.
• Bottom Rankers:

• Trend: Global peace declined for the 12th consecutive year in 2025, driven by rising conflicts, military spending, and conflict deaths, with 119 countries less peaceful than 2008 and widening instability worldwide.
• Peace has deteriorated since 2014, with growing conflict intensity, displacement, militarisation, and geopolitical fragmentation. The gap between peaceful and conflict-affected countries continues to widen, reflecting rising global insecurity.

Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) for 2025: Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority, Maharashtra Retains Top Indian Position

• What: Maharashtra’s Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) climbed one place to rank 22nd globally, retaining its premium position as the best-performing container port in India according to a World Bank report.
• Tell me more:
  • The World Bank and S&P Global Market Intelligence jointly published the comprehensive Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) for 2025.
  • The global index revealed that China successfully hosted four of the top five best-performing container ports in the world.

GDP Forecasts

World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects (GEP) – June 2026 Report

• 2025 in the World Bank table corresponds to India’s FY26 (April 2025–March 2026), which is same for every year.
  

Defence News

First Indigenous C295 Military Aircraft Completes Maiden Flight

• What: India’s first indigenous C295 military transport aircraft successfully completed its maiden test flight at the final assembly line in Vadodara, Gujarat, marking a major milestone for private-sector defense manufacturing.
• Tell me more:
  • Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL), with Airbus Defence, is manufacturing the C295 transport aircraft in India.
  • India signed a ₹21,935 crore deal with Spain in September 2021 to acquire 56 C295 aircraft, of which 16 are being supplied directly by Spain and 40 are being manufactured in Gujarat.
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez inaugurated the Gujarat manufacturing facility on October 28, 2024, where the C295 aircraft are being produced to replace the Indian Air Force’s aging Avro-748 fleet.

India Successfully Tests Multi Layered Ballistic Missile Defence

• What: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully conducted three consecutive flight tests to demonstrate the multi-layered Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) system capability of India.
• Tell me more:
  • The United States (US), Russia, China, and Israel are the only other nations that possess similar advanced defensive deterrence systems.
  • These trials put the country into an elite group of nations capable of engaging enemy threats up to Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs).
  • The DRDO launched two advanced interceptor missiles designed for Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) protection from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Chandipur.
  • These newly tested interceptor networks detect, track, and destroy incoming hostile targets with operational ranges between 2,000 km and 5,000 km.
  • Separately, the defense establishment successfully completed a maiden flight test of the Naval Anti-Ship Missile-Medium Range (NASM-MR).
  • Defence Secretary and DRDO Chairman – Rajesh Kumar Singh

Science and Technology

Avataar Launches Frugal Varya Video AI Model

• What: The Artificial Intelligence-native transformation company Avataar launched an affordable and context-aware indigenous video model named Varya to generate culturally rich visual content at population scale.
• Tell me more:
  • Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Co-Founder of Avataar Sravanth Aluru emphasized that model affordability acts as the core prerequisite for inclusion.
  • Avataar will soon publish a comprehensive technical report outlining the model architecture, distillation methodology, and specific benchmarks.

IIT Bhubaneswar Develops Device to Detect Arsenic

• What: Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bhubaneswar developed an innovative handheld device named ArsenSafe to rapidly detect dangerous arsenic contamination in water sources without laboratory infrastructure.
• Tell me more:
  • The device enables rapid, low-cost, and highly accurate detection of arsenic in drinking water without laboratory testing, helping prevent arsenic-related diseases through early contamination monitoring.
  • Researchers developed the portable arsenic-detection device with the help of institute-incubated startup Nano Semic Pvt Ltd, and these findings were published in the Royal Society of Chemistry journal Environmental Science: Nano.

Agriculture and Rural Development

Bureau of Indian Standards Releases Seed Bank Standard

• What: The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) released a new Indian Standard, IS 20201:2026, to establish a structured framework for managing Community Seed Banks (CSBs) and conserving indigenous crop varieties across the nation.
• Tell me more:
  • The standard complements the National Food Security and Nutrition Mission (NFSNM), which provides financial assistance to establish community seed banks.
  • The framework aligns with the provisions of the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001 and the Biological Diversity Act, 2002.
  • The ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources served as the main convenor to prepare this draft standard.
  • The standard was developed with inputs from the National Biodiversity Authority, the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority, Rythu Sadhikara Samstha, and the BAIF Development Research Foundation.
  • The standard provides a framework for collecting, testing, storing, regenerating, and managing seeds, ensuring their long-term quality, viability, traceability, and conservation through consistent quality assurance and risk management practices.

Awards

Nine Indian Startups Join World Economic Forum Technology Pioneers

• What: The World Economic Forum (WEF) included nine early-stage Indian startups in its latest global list of 100 new technology pioneers to recognize their breakthrough innovations across key industrial sectors.
• Tell me more:
  • This global list comprises 100 promising early-stage companies from 23 different countries that are building critical software and physical infrastructure for the upcoming era of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
  • The selection panel chooses these entities based on their long-term potential to transform businesses, shape global societies, and interact directly with prominent public and private sector leaders.
  • The United States accounts for the largest share with 43 entries, followed by China with 10 companies, India with 9 companies, the United Kingdom with 8, and Japan with 5.

• Knowledge Nuggets:
  • The World Economic Forum’s Technology Pioneers programme has selected Indian startups over many years, not just in 2026.
  • With the addition of the 9 Indian startups selected in 2026, the total number of Indian startups that have ever been selected as Technology Pioneers has reached 28.

Sudarsan Pattnaik Wins Russia Sand Master Cup

• What: The renowned sand artist from Odisha Sudarsan Pattnaik became the first Indian to win the prestigious Russia Grand Sand Master Cup 2026 for his climate change sculpture.
• Tell me more:
  • The expert jury chose him unanimously at the II International Festival of Sand Sculpture organized in the Kaliningrad region of Russia.
  • The self-taught sculptor established the Sudarsan Sand Art Institute (SSAI) in Puri in 1994 to train younger generations.
  • The Government of India awarded him the Padma Shri in 2014 for his contribution to sand art, and he set a Guinness World Record in 2017 by creating the tallest sand castle on Puri beach.

Important Days

International Albinism Awareness Day 2026 – June 13

• Theme: Proudly in my skin — celebrating all skin tones
• Albinism is a rare inherited genetic condition in which the body produces little or no melanin, affecting skin, hair, and eye colour and often causing vision problems due to abnormal eye development.

Sports

Kane Williamson Announces Retirement From International Cricket

• What: Former New Zealand captain and batting great Kane Williamson officially announced his complete retirement from international cricket, successfully concluding a historic sporting career that spanned over 15 years.
• Tell me more:
  • Kane Williamson finished his career as New Zealand’s highest international run-scorer with 19,346 runs, including 9,500+ Test runs, 33 centuries, and 6 double centuries.
  • He captained New Zealand across all three formats and led the team to the 2019 ODI World Cup final and the 2021 T20 World Cup final.
  • He also guided New Zealand to victory in the inaugural World Test Championship in 2021 before retiring from international cricket.

South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia to Host ICC Men’s ODI World Cup 2027

• What: The International Cricket Council (ICC) provisionally announced that South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia will host the 2027 Men’s One Day International (ODI) World Cup from October 4 to November 21.
• Tell me more:
  • Eight selected sports venues across South Africa will host the main portion of the tournament by staging at least 41 of the 54 total matches.
  • Zimbabwe will use three venues to host between eight and 10 matches instead of the originally planned two locations.
  • The newly developed Fale Mosi-oa-Tunya International Cricket Stadium in Victoria Falls joins the existing venues of Harare Sports Club and Queens in Bulawayo. All of them are in Zimbabwe.
  • This upcoming tournament marks the first mega ODI event in Africa since the 2003 edition.
  • The 2027 tournament will expand to include 14 teams after organizers utilized a 10-team model in the previous two editions.

Gitika Talukdar Selected to Cover FIFA World Cup

• What: Indian photojournalist Gitika Talukdar became the only female photographer from India officially selected by the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) to cover the 2026 Men’s FIFA World Cup.
• Tell me more:
  • This prestigious media assignment marks her third consecutive men’s football tournament after covering the 2018 edition in Russia and the 2022 edition in Qatar.
  • Her portfolio includes covering major global events like the 2019 and 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cups, the Tokyo Olympics 2020, and the Paris Olympics 2024.
  • She pursued Global Sports Management at Seoul National University through a scholarship supported by the Ministry of Sports and Culture of South Korea.
  • The upcoming 2026 Men’s FIFA World Cup will start on June 11 and will feature 48 national teams across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Appointments

Sanjay Lohiya Nominated to RBI and SBI Boards

• The Central Government nominated Sanjay Lohiya, the newly appointed Secretary of the Department of Financial Services (DFS), to the central boards of both the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and State Bank of India (SBI).

Lieutenant General Dhiraj Seth Appointed Next Army Chief

• What: The Central Government issued an official order appointing the current Vice Chief Lieutenant General Dhiraj Seth as the next Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) to succeed General Upendra Dwivedi.
• Tell me more:
  • This appointment marks the first time an officer from the Armoured Corps will lead the service since General S Roy Chowdhury served from 1994 to 1997.
  • Admiral Krishna Swaminathan also recently assumed charge as the new Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) to complete top military vacancies.

Miscellaneous

Legendary Shooting Coach Jaspal Rana Passes Away

• What: Renowned Indian high-performance pistol shooting coach and former Asian Games gold medallist Jaspal Rana passed away at the age of 49 years.
• Tell me more:
  • Jaspal Rana won 15 Commonwealth Games medals (9 gold, 4 silver, 2 bronze) across the 1994, 1998, 2002, and 2006 editions.
  • He won India’s first Asian Games shooting gold medal in 16 years at the 1994 Asian Games and delivered a career-best performance at the 2006 Asian Games with 3 gold medals, 1 silver medal, and a world record-equalling performance.
  • He received the Arjuna Award (1994), Padma Shri (1997), and Dronacharya Award (2020), and later coached shooters such as Saurabh Chaudhary, Anish Bhanwala, Chinki Yadav, and Manu Bhaker, who won two bronze medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Thailand Senior Royal Princess Bajrakitiyabha Passes Away

• The Bureau of the Royal Household announced that Thailand senior royal Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol passed away at Chulalongkorn Hospital, Thai Red Cross Society.

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