Daily Current Affairs

Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), the global higher education analytics firm, released the QS World Future Skills Index 2027. India secured 13th position globally with an overall score of 89.4 out of 100, ranking 1st in South Asia and 1st among lower-middle-income countries.

• Coverage: 89 countries evaluated using higher education performance, labour market metrics, skills-gap analysis, AI transformation readiness, and 3rd-party datasets.
• India’s Indicator-wise Ranks: Future of Work — 5th; Economic Transformation — 14th; Skills Alignment — 18th; Academic Readiness — 22nd.
• India’s Distinction: Only South Asian country in the top 15; 1st among lower-middle-income countries.
• QS: Quacquarelli Symonds; HQ: London, UK; known for QS World University Rankings.

In June 2026, Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal (Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways – MoPS&W) announced that V.O. Chidambaranar Port Authority (VOCPA) has emerged as a model for sustainable maritime development in India, citing a 45% reduction in net carbon emissions. The announcement was made at Transport Bhawan, New Delhi.

• VOCPA Sustainability Report: Titled “Towards a Green Maritime Future” — India’s first comprehensive port sustainability disclosure.
• IIM Calcutta Case Study: “The Hydrogen Pivot: Orchestrating the Green Transition at V.O. Chidambaranar Port Authority”.
• Scope-2 Emission Free Port: VOCPA was recognised by MoPS&W as a Scope-2 Emission Free Port, validating its clean energy transition.
• Educational Expansion: New Kendriya Vidyalaya inaugurated at Port Colony, Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu (academic year 2026–27).
• Location: VOCPA (V.O. Chidambaranar Port Authority) — Thoothukudi (Tuticorin), Tamil Nadu.

Union Minister Amit Shah (Ministry of Home Affairs – MHA) launched four digital policing applications at the 26th All India Fingerprint Conference in New Delhi, aimed at strengthening the Integrated Criminal Justice System (ICJS) through AI-driven biometric identification, forensic integration, and digital prosecution management.

• Target: Complete justice process within 3 years — from FIR registration to conviction.
• NCRB: National Crime Records Bureau; under MHA; developed NCRB-Abhigyan.
• Also Launched: NAFEX.in (NAFED e-auction portal) + DRISHTI + ERP + NAFED KALYAN (Ministry of Cooperation).
• ICJS: Integrated Criminal Justice System — links police, courts, prisons, and forensics digitally.

The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) announced India became the world’s leading ship recycling nation in 2025, raising its global share to 35.4% (up from 30.1% in 2024) and increasing recycling volumes to 2.99 million gross tons (GT) — a nearly 60% rise from 1.86 million GT. India has surpassed its Maritime India Vision (MIV) 2030 target five years ahead of schedule.

• Source Report: UNCTAD “Review of Maritime Transport 2025”.
• Alang-Sosiya Yard: Handles ~97% of India’s ship recycling activity; located in Gujarat; being expanded to 9 million Light Displacement Tons (LDT) capacity — world’s largest ship recycling hub.
• Ship-breaking Credit Note Scheme (SbCN): Offers credits worth 40% of scrap value (usable up to 5% of new vessel cost) + Rs 53.5 crore modernisation support for 115 HKC-compliant facilities.
• HKC: Hong Kong International Convention — on safe and environmentally sound recycling of ships.

Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India K. Sanjay Murthy signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Matanyahu Englman, State Comptroller and Ombudsman of Israel — and President of EUROSAI — to strengthen cooperation in public sector auditing, at New Delhi.

• Key Focus Areas: Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in auditing; data analytics; digital audit tools; performance auditing; compliance auditing.
• Lecture: Matanyahu Englman delivered a lecture under the Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Lecture Series on “Artificial Intelligence in Public Sector Auditing: Advanced Applications, Performance Auditing and Innovative Tools in Modern State Auditing.”
• EUROSAI: European Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions; Matanyahu Englman is its current President.
• CAG of India: Constitutional body under Article 148 of the Constitution; HQ: New Delhi; current CAG: K. Sanjay Murthy.

National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), under the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways (MoRTH), signed a MoU with National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) to establish India’s first permanent and independent research facility dedicated to the economics of transportation, mobility, and logistics — at NCAER’s headquarters in New Delhi.

• NCAER: National Council of Applied Economic Research; India’s oldest and largest independent economic policy research institute; HQ: New Delhi.
• Research Focus: NH economics, freight logistics, modal integration, regional economic impacts, toll policy, asset monetisation, road safety.
• Advisory Committee: Led by economists, transportation specialists, public policy experts; includes N.R.V.V.M.K. Rajendra Kumar (NHAI Member Finance) and Suresh Goyal (DG, NCAER).
• Significance: “First-of-its-kind” permanent research centre for road transport economics in India.

French aerospace and defence company Safran Electronics & Defense and Indian Earth intelligence firm SatSure signed a MoU to collaborate on Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) solutions for the Indian market, under the France-India Year of Innovation.

• Partnership Capabilities: Safran.AI’s AI capabilities + SatSure’s geospatial and satellite data expertise + KaleidEO’s Earth observation-to-intelligence system.
• Application Areas: Defence, environment, infrastructure security, intelligence operations; strengthening sovereignty and Earth observation through AI-geospatial integration.
• GEOINT: Geospatial Intelligence — intelligence derived from satellite and aerial imagery combined with AI analysis.
• Context: Part of France-India Year of Innovation promoting aerospace and defence technology cooperation.

The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE), Ministry of Finance (MoF), upgraded Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Limited — under the Ministry of Defence (MoD) — from Miniratna Category-I to Navratna Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) status, after approval by Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

• Navratna Autonomy: Can invest up to Rs 1,000 crore or 15% of net worth per project without prior government approval.
• GRSE HQ: Kolkata, West Bengal; under Ministry of Defence.
• India’s 29th Navratna CPSE: Other Navratnas include HAL, BEL, BHEL, Coal India, ONGC, SAIL, etc.
• Upgrade path: Miniratna Category-I → Navratna → Maharatna (for the largest CPSEs).

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) awarded the IndiaAI Fellowship to 7 students of Computer Science Engineering (CSE) at Chandigarh University (CU) in UT Chandigarh, for innovative projects using AI and Machine Learning (ML).

• IndiaAI Fellowship: Flagship initiative of MeitY; introduced in 2024 under IndiaAI Mission’s “Future Skills” pillar; offers fellowship to engineering students undertaking AI projects.
• Financial Assistance: Rs 1 lakh per recipient for their AI/ML research projects.
• CU Winners (B.Tech AI & ML): Shreyam Sinha, Harpreet Singh, Ashirvad Satyendra Singh, Kirti Upadhyay, Muskan.
• CU Winners (B.Tech CSE/CSBS/Gaming): Saurav Yadav (CSBS), Shubham Bajaj (Gaming and Graphics).
• Key Research Areas: Education, disaster response, traffic management, deep-learning for real-time yoga pose correction.

Kerala Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan, who also holds the Finance portfolio, presented the revised Budget for Financial Year 2026–27 (FY27) in the Kerala State Assembly, Thiruvananthapuram.

• Mission Samudra: Rs 400 crore — integrates coastline, ports, and inland waterways.
• Key Allocations: Aviation Hub: Rs 200 crore; Economic Corridor: Rs 50 crore; Mineral Corridor: Rs 100 crore; Life Science City: Rs 100 crore.
• Oommen Chandy Health Insurance Scheme: Rs 10 crore; coverage up to Rs 25 lakh per family.
• Kerala CM: V.D. Satheesan (INC); Capital: Thiruvananthapuram.

The Himachal Pradesh Government, under Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, signed implementation agreements for 19 hydropower projects with a combined capacity of 278 MW and investment of Rs 3,336 crore, aimed at strengthening the state’s Renewable Energy (RE) sector.

• Notable Projects (sample): Bharmour Stage-I (24 MW), Tundah Stage-II (24 MW), Bharmour Stage-II (21 MW), Harsar Stage-II (22.5 MW), Harsar Stage-III (19 MW).
• Completed Project: 150 MW Tidong Stage-I Hydroelectric Project construction completed.
• Diversification: HP also signed MoU with Geo Tropi India Private Limited for geothermal energy development.
• HP Capital: Shimla; CM: Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu (INC).

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued the “RBI (Trade Receivables Discounting System) Directions, 2026” to simplify the onboarding process for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sellers and allow financiers to avail credit guarantee for exposures on TReDS platforms.

• TReDS: Trade Receivables Discounting System — an electronic marketplace where MSMEs convert approved invoices into immediate cash by auctioning receivables to banks and eligible financiers.
• Purpose: Simplify participation, improve operational efficiency, and encourage greater financing of MSME trade receivables.
• Eligibility: Entity seeking authorisation for TReDS must be a company incorporated in India under the Companies Act.
• RBI: Reserve Bank of India; established: 1 April 1935; HQ: Mumbai; Governor: Sanjay Malhotra.

Former Air India CMD and Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola has rejoined Air India as Executive Advisor to Chairman N. Chandrasekaran and as a full-time member of the Air India Management Committee, supporting the airline during a leadership transition phase.

• Previous Tenure: Air India CMD (2017–2019); Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation; involved in Air India’s privatisation (completed 2022 under Tata Group).
• Leadership Transition: Air India preparing for CEO transition after Campbell Wilson announced his planned exit; Nipun Aggarwal and Vinod Kannan among potential successors.
• Key Challenges: Air India losses ~Rs 9,568 crore (FY25); fuel cost pressure; 500+ aircraft orders; airspace restrictions due to global conflicts.
• Air India: Acquired by Tata Group in 2022 after government disinvestment; formerly under Ministry of Civil Aviation. Chairman: N. Chandrasekaran.

The United Nations observes International Widows Day annually on 23 June to raise awareness about widows’ rights and highlight discrimination, poverty, and human rights challenges faced by widows worldwide.

• UN Resolution: UNGA Resolution A/RES/65/189 (adopted 21 December 2010); first UN observance: 23 June 2011.
• Origin: Initiated in 2005 by the UK-based Loomba Foundation, a charitable organisation working for widows’ rights and welfare.
• Significance of 23 June: Founder Lord Raj Loomba lost his father on this date in 1954.

UN Public Service Day (UNPSD) is observed annually on 23 June to recognise the importance of public service in strengthening governance and development. The day commemorates ILO Convention No. 151 on Labour Relations (Public Service), adopted on 23 June 1978.

• UN Resolution: UNGA Resolution A/RES/57/277 (20 December 2002); first observed: 23 June 2003.
• 2026 Event: UN Public Service Forum (UNPSF) 2026 held in Tbilisi, Georgia, 23–25 June 2026.
• 2026 Theme: “Transforming Public Institutions: Advancing Innovation, Participation, and Inclusion.”

International Olympic Day is observed annually on 23 June to encourage worldwide participation in sports and promote values of excellence, friendship, and respect.

• 2026 Theme: “You Can Do This. Let’s Move”
• Commemoration: Marks the founding of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on 23 June 1894 at the Sorbonne, Paris, France, by Baron Pierre de Coubertin; first modern Olympics: Athens, 1896.
• First Observed: 23 June 1948; idea proposed in 1947 by Dr. Josef Gruss (IOC member from Czechoslovakia) at the 41st IOC Session, Stockholm, Sweden.

Belgian theoretical physicist François Englert passed away on 18 June 2026 at the age of 93 years in Uccle, Brussels, Belgium. He was a foundational scientist behind the theoretical framework that led to the discovery of the Higgs boson — the particle that explains how fundamental particles acquire mass.

• Nobel Prize: 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics, alongside British physicist Peter Higgs, for the theoretical mechanism later confirmed experimentally at CERN in 2012.
• Brout–Englert–Higgs Mechanism: In the early 1960s, Englert and Robert Brout proposed that particles gain mass through a universal “Higgs field.”
• CERN Confirmation: European Organization for Nuclear Research, Geneva, Switzerland — confirmed the Higgs boson experimentally in 2012 (Large Hadron Collider).
• Born: 6 November 1932, Brussels, Belgium; studied at Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB).