Daily Current Affairs

National Statistics Day is observed annually across India on 29 June to commemorate the birth anniversary of Professor Prasanta Chandra (P.C.) Mahalanobis — the Father of Modern Statistics in India — and to highlight the importance of statistics in socio-economic development and policymaking.

• P.C. Mahalanobis — Renowned Indian statistician; founder of the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI); architect of India’s Second Five-Year Plan; credited with developing the Mahalanobis Distance metric; born 29 June 1893.
• MoSPI — Nodal ministry responsible for official statistics in India; releases key indicators including GDP, CPI, IIP, and SDG progress data.
• Connection to SDG Release — On Statistics Day 2026, MoSPI also released a series of publications on India’s SDG progress under the National Indicator Framework (NIF).

The United Nations (UN) observed the International Day of the Tropics on 29 June across the globe to raise awareness about the challenges and potential of tropical regions.

• Purpose — Raises awareness about the unique challenges facing tropical regions including deforestation, biodiversity loss, extreme weather, and socio-economic inequality.
• Tropical Regions — Home to some of the world’s most biodiverse ecosystems; cover approximately 40% of Earth’s surface; include parts of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Oceania.
• India’s Connection — Significant parts of India’s peninsular and northeastern regions fall within tropical zones, making this day relevant to India’s environmental policy discussions.

The United Nations (UN) observes International Asteroid Day (IAD) every year on 30 June to raise global awareness about asteroid impact hazards and promote international cooperation for planetary defence.

• Tunguska Event (1908) — An asteroid or comet air burst over Siberia, Russia on 30 June 1908; largest recorded impact event in human history; flattened an estimated 2,000 sq km of forest.
• Apophis (99942) — Asteroid expected to make a historically close flyby of Earth on 13 April 2029; UNGA declared 2029 the International Year of Asteroid Awareness and Planetary Defence to mark the occasion.
• COPUOS — Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space; UN body overseeing outer space governance and planetary defence coordination.
• Planetary Defence — Includes tracking near-Earth objects (NEOs), developing deflection technologies (e.g., NASA’s DART mission), and international coordination protocols.

In June 2026, Union Minister Jagat Prokash (JP) Nadda, Minister of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), chaired the 16th Conference of the Central Council of Health and Family Welfare (CCHFW) held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. The conference saw the launch of several landmark healthcare initiatives.

• CCHFW — Central Council of Health and Family Welfare; apex body for health policy coordination between Centre and States; chaired by the Union Health Minister.
• SSBSK — Integrates Home-Based Newborn Care (HBNC) and Home-Based Care for Young Child (HBYC); covers children from birth to 5 years.
• SUMAN Roadmap 2030 — Targets reduction of Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) to below 70 per one lakh live births by 2030; also addresses neonatal and infant mortality.
• National Drug Registry — 4th national registry under Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), after ABHA (Ayushman Bharat Health Account), HPR (Healthcare Professionals Registry), and HFR (Health Facility Registry).
• UHI — Unified Health Interface; open digital network enabling seamless connectivity between patients and healthcare providers; built under ABDM.

On 29 June 2026 (the occasion of the 20th Statistics Day), the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) released a series of publications on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), highlighting India’s progress across social, economic, and environmental indicators under the National Indicator Framework (NIF).

• NIF (National Indicator Framework) — India’s official SDG monitoring framework; 2026 edition has 277 national indicators covering all 17 SDGs; supports evidence-based policymaking.
• SDGs — 17 Sustainable Development Goals adopted by UNGA in 2015 under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; deadline: 2030.
• MoSPI’s Role — Nodal ministry for official statistics; coordinates NIF data with Central Ministries and State governments; releases GDP, CPI, IIP, and SDG monitoring data.

On 28 June 2026, Union Minister Amit Shah (Ministry of Home Affairs & Ministry of Cooperation) launched the PM Family Care Tracker (PM-FCT) pilot project in Gandhinagar, Gujarat — an integrated digital welfare monitoring platform to strengthen beneficiary identification and timely delivery of government schemes.

• PM-FCT Overview — Integrated digital platform to monitor health, nutrition, education, and welfare benefits of children from pregnancy to 18 years.
• Unique ID System — Every child receives a unique ID linked to Birth Registration Number (BRN) or ABHA (Ayushman Bharat Health Account) ID.
• Health Passport — Digital health record maintained for each child; includes vaccination history, growth tracking, and school enrolment status.
• Objectives — Identify eligible beneficiaries; ensure timely scheme delivery; generate alerts for missed vaccinations and school dropouts; strengthen monitoring of welfare services.

In June 2026, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved an additional investment commitment of Rs 30,000 Crore in the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), doubling the Government of India’s total commitment to Rs 60,000 Crore and accelerating infrastructure development across India.

• NIIF — National Investment and Infrastructure Fund; India’s quasi-sovereign wealth fund; established in 2015 to provide long-term capital for infrastructure projects.
• Infrastructure Fund II — New fund seeded by the Rs 30,000 Crore additional commitment; successor to NIIF’s first flagship infrastructure fund.
• Focus Areas — Transportation, energy, digital infrastructure, urban infrastructure, and emerging areas such as e-mobility (electric mobility).
• Future Plans — Government plans to launch additional bilateral and successor fund strategies during FY2027–28 to FY2029–30.

In June 2026, the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (OPSA) to the Government of India, in partnership with the Data Security Council of India (DSCI), launched the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) Compass platform to standardise TRL assessment across India’s research and innovation ecosystem.

• TRL Scale — Internationally accepted 9-level Technology Readiness Level scale used to assess the maturity of a technology; TRL 1 (basic principles) to TRL 9 (fully operational system).
• TRL Compass — Adapts the global TRL scale to India’s specific needs; serves as a common national standard for evaluating R&D projects seeking public funding.
• ANRF — Anusandhan National Research Foundation; established under the ANRF Act, 2023; apex body to seed, grow, and promote research and innovation across India.
• RDI Fund — Research, Development and Innovation Fund; complements ANRF in funding India’s technology development pipeline.
• DSCI — Data Security Council of India; industry body set up by NASSCOM; works on data protection, cybersecurity, and privacy standards.
• MoU Scope — Technology readiness assessments, capability mapping, and development of a Technology Radar methodology.

In June 2026, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with IIT Madras (Chennai, Tamil Nadu), IIT Pravartak, SWAYAM Plus, ICAI, ICSI, and ICMAI to launch the Corporate Mitra Scheme — a Union Budget 2026–27 initiative aimed at supporting MSMEs with corporate compliance and financial governance.

• Partners — IIT Madras, IIT Pravartak, SWAYAM Plus (academic); ICAI (Institute of Chartered Accountants of India), ICSI (Institute of Company Secretaries of India), ICMAI (Institute of Cost Accountants of India) (professional bodies).
• Focus — Regulatory compliance, taxation, accounting, financial governance, and business growth for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
• Budget Initiative — Announced as part of Union Budget 2026–27; designed to bridge the corporate governance skill gap at the MSME level.
• Certification — Candidates completing both academic and practical training receive Corporate Mitra Certification.

In June 2026, PayGlocal — India’s cross-border payments platform — launched Google Pay Card Payments on its International Payment Gateway, enabling Indian merchants to access over one billion customers across more than 90 countries through a single integration.

• Google Pay Integration — Provides secure, tokenized, and biometrically authenticated transactions; complemented by intelligent routing and fraud prevention layer.
• Apple Pay — Already live on PayGlocal’s platform prior to this launch.
• Business Impact — Aims to increase merchant activations by 40% and enhance efficiency of cross-border e-commerce for Indian businesses.
• RBI Role — PayGlocal is authorized by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as a Payment Aggregator for both domestic and cross-border payments.

In June 2026, Andhra Pradesh’s Kakinada Cooperative Town Bank — an Urban Cooperative Bank (UCB) — secured Tier-III status under RBI norms after its total deposits surpassed the Rs 2,000 Crore mark with zero net Non-Performing Assets (NPAs).

• RBI UCB Tier Classification — Tier-I: deposits below Rs 100 Crore; Tier-II: deposits up to Rs 1,000 Crore; Tier-III: deposits between Rs 1,000 Crore and Rs 10,000 Crore.
• Districts Served — East Godavari, Kakinada, Konaseema, and Visakhapatnam.
• Future Plans — Cash Deposit Machine (CDM), a 2,000-locker plaza, and new branches at Samalkot and Pithapuram.
• Financial Highlights (31 March 2026) — Rs 7,804.12 Crore in advances; Rs 552.14 Crore in investments; Rs 28.63 Crore share capital; Rs 198.20 Crore own funds.

Union Minister Piyush Goyal (Ministry of Commerce and Industry) undertook a 3-day official visit to London, UK from 25–27 June 2026, ahead of the official implementation of the landmark India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and the companion Double Contribution Convention (DCC), both set to come into force on 15 July 2026.

• India-UK CETA — Landmark trade agreement between India and the UK; removes/reduces tariffs and non-tariff barriers across goods and services; among the most significant bilateral trade deals for India in recent years.
• Double Contribution Convention (DCC) — Prevents double payment of social security contributions by workers deployed between India and the UK.
• Peter Kyle — Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Government of the UK; key UK interlocutor for India-UK trade discussions.
• India Global Forum (IGF) — Platform for Indo-British and international economic engagements; 10th anniversary UK-India Awards 2026 ceremony held in London.
• CETA Business Manual — Practical guide launched to help Indian businesses navigate and maximise the benefits of the trade agreement.

In June 2026, the Indian Navy (IN) participated in the 30th edition of RIMPAC (Rim of the Pacific) 2026 — the world’s largest multinational maritime warfare exercise — hosted by the US Navy under the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam (JBPHH), Hawaii, USA.

• RIMPAC — Rim of the Pacific Exercise; conducted biennially since 1971; world’s largest international maritime exercise; promotes interoperability and a free, open Indo-Pacific.
• 2026 Theme — ‘Partners: Integrated and Prepared’; emphasises collective defence readiness, interoperability and shared commitment to a free and inclusive Indo-Pacific.
• Key Operations — Multi-ship task forces conducting advanced Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), coordinated Air Defence (AD) operations, and tactical missile exercises.
• India’s Participation — Demonstrates India’s growing naval interoperability with like-minded nations; aligns with India’s SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) vision and Indo-Pacific strategy.

The 2026 US Open Badminton (officially: Yonex US Open 2026), held at California State University, Fullerton, California, USA from 23–28 June 2026, saw India’s Kidambi Srikanth finish as runner-up in the men’s singles event.

• Tournament Details — 61st edition; held since 1954; 17th tournament of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour 2026 as a Super 300 event; organised by USA Badminton, sanctioned by BWF.
• Kidambi Srikanth — Indian shuttler; former world number 1; strong performer on the international circuit; finished runner-up at Yonex US Open 2026.
• BWF Super 300 — Second-lowest tier in the BWF World Tour Super Series (above Super 100); below Super 500, 750, and 1000 levels.

George Russell — UK Formula 1 driver representing Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 — won the 2026 Austrian Grand Prix (officially: Formula 1 Lenovo Großer Preis von Österreich 2026), Round 8 of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, held at the Red Bull Ring, Spielberg, Styria, Austria.

• George Russell — UK driver; 7th F1 GP victory; 2nd win of the 2026 season; race time: 1:26:37.979; won by 1.611 seconds over Verstappen; move back to P2 in Drivers’ Championship.
• Andrea Kimi Antonelli — Young Italian driver; Mercedes; teammate of Russell; finished third at the Austrian GP.
• Red Bull Ring — Located in Spielberg, Styria, Austria; one of the shorter F1 circuits at ~4.3 km; owned by Red Bull GmbH.
• FIA F1 2026 — Round 8 of the championship; the 2026 season also introduced new technical regulations (power unit changes).

In June 2026, the International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed that the Indian women’s cricket team secured direct qualification for the Los Angeles (LA) 2028 Olympic Games following the group stage of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in England, marking cricket’s historic return to the Olympics after 128 years (since Paris 1900).

• Qualification Pathway — One automatic berth each to Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania; India secured Asia’s berth ahead of Sri Lanka on superior Net Run Rate (NRR).
• Harmanpreet Kaur — Captain of the Indian women’s cricket team; led team to secure Asia’s sole automatic Olympic berth.
• Cricket at Olympics — Cricket featured only once before at the Olympics — at Paris 1900; LA 2028 marks its return after 128 years.
• LA 2028 Format — T20 format; separate men’s and women’s tournaments; 6 teams each; 15-member squads; two groups of three; gold and bronze medal matches; total 28 matches.
• Venue — Purpose-built cricket ground in Pomona, California, USA; matches from 12–29 July 2028.