Current Affairs for Competitive Exams: 02 July 2026, Daily Roundup

Current Affairs for Competitive Exams: 02 July 2026, Daily Roundup

Current Affairs – 2 July 2026

National Affairs

1. VB-G RAM G Act Replaces MGNREGA: The Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) [VB-G RAM G] Act, 2025 came into force, replacing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 2005.

Key Highlights

• Rural employment guarantee increased from 100 days to 125 days per financial year.
• Minimum wage fixed at ₹300 per day.
• Scheme changes from a demand-driven to a budget-capped, supply-driven model.
• Funding pattern changed to 60:40 (Centre:State) for general states and 90:10 for Himalayan and North-Eastern states.
• States can suspend the scheme for up to 60 days during peak agricultural seasons to address labour shortages.

2. Proposal for National AI Token Policy: Policy experts submitted a proposal for a National AI Token Policy to strengthen India’s Artificial Intelligence ecosystem.

Key Proposals

• Annual compute subsidy of around US$2 billion for research institutions and public education.
• AI infrastructure based on diversified hardware:
  • 40% AWS Trainium/AMD
  • 30% Google TPU
  • 30% NVIDIA GPU
• Aim is to make AI computing a part of India’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI).

3. Government Extends Foreign Secretary’s Tenure: The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved a one-year extension for Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri till 14 July 2027.

4. India Approves First Private PinS Helicopter Procedure: India approved its first Private Point-in-Space (PinS) Instrument Approach Procedure for helicopter operations at Undavalli Heliport.

Importance

• Uses satellite-based navigation.
• Enables safe helicopter operations at heliports without conventional landing systems.
• Improves aviation safety and emergency connectivity.

International Current Affairs

1. India–Japan Annual Summit: Prime Minister Narendra Modi held the annual summit with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in New Delhi.

Major Outcomes

• First India-Japan agreement for co-development of defence technology, focusing on naval communication systems.
• Around 129 MoUs signed covering semiconductors, artificial intelligence, green energy and industrial cooperation.
• Both leaders reaffirmed commitment to a Free, Open and Inclusive Indo-Pacific.

2. Other International Developments

• India and Malaysia reviewed bilateral military cooperation during the 12th Sub-Committee Meeting.
• India and Pakistan exchanged lists of civilian prisoners and fishermen under the 2008 Consular Access Agreement.
• Somnath Ghosh was appointed as India’s next High Commissioner to Malaysia.
• India strongly condemned the demolition of the historic Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha Sahib in Pakistan.
• India continued humanitarian assistance to earthquake-hit Venezuela under Operation Amistad.
• Indian Ambassador Vinay Mohan Kwatra highlighted India’s emergence as a trusted global supply-chain partner.

• Afghanistan carried out airstrikes against ISIS-linked targets inside Pakistan.
• The death toll from the Venezuela earthquakes rose to 1,943, with more than 10,500 injured.

Defence & Science & Technology

1. DRDO Gets Greater Financial Autonomy: The Ministry of Defence notified the Delegation of Financial Powers to DRDO (DFP-2026).

Significance

• Greater financial powers to DRDO laboratories.
• Faster procurement and research approvals.
• Strengthens indigenous defence technology development.

2. AI Digitises 100 Years of Solar Records: Scientists used Artificial Intelligence to digitise more than 100 years (1916–2007) of solar observations from the Kodaikanal Solar Observatory (KoSO).

About KoSO

• Established in 1899.
• Located in Tamil Nadu.
• One of the world’s oldest continuously operating solar observatories.

3. Defence Updates

• Lieutenant General Sandeep Jain assumed charge as Vice Chief of Army Staff.
• The Indian Army announced the creation of specialised Baaz Battalions for drone warfare under the Army Aviation Corps.
• INS Tarkash and INS Ikshak completed their visit to Seychelles, strengthening maritime cooperation under the MAHASAGAR vision.

Global Observance

World Sports Journalists Day – 2 July: The day commemorates the establishment of the International Sports Press Association (AIPS) during the 1924 Paris Olympics. It recognises the contribution of sports journalists in promoting sports and fair reporting.

Sports Events

• ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026: England and South Africa faced each other in the second semifinal, while Australia had already qualified for the final.
• Ishan Kishan became the World No. 1 T20I batter in the latest ICC rankings.
• Hockey India announced the 22-member Indian Junior Men’s Hockey Team for the Belgium exposure tour (5–18 July).
• Mexico defeated Ecuador 2–0 to enter the Round of 16 of the FIFA World Cup 2026.

Miscellaneous Current Affairs

• FAO and WMO jointly released the report “Extreme Heat and Agriculture.”
• ICAR and Seychelles signed an MoU and a 2026–2031 Work Plan on climate-smart agriculture, horticulture, livestock and food security.
• NTA released admit cards for ICAR AIEEA (PG) and AICE-JRF/SRF (PhD) 2026 examinations.
• The Joint Parliamentary Committee on One Nation, One Election stressed the need for simultaneous elections.
• Delhi digitised over 32,000 electoral enumeration forms under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
• Assam flood situation was reviewed by Union Ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Kiren Rijiju.
• Arunachal Pradesh began preparing a detailed flood damage assessment report for the Centre.
• West Bengal distributed the second instalment of Annapurna Yojana for eligible women beneficiaries.
• The Supreme Court ruled that, for salaried persons, the previous year’s Income Tax Return (ITR) should normally be used to determine income while calculating motor accident compensation.
• The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology sought clarification from Meta regarding the proposed WhatsApp username feature before its rollout.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed reforms on Ease of Doing Business, Ease of Living and Aatmanirbhar Bharat with Union Secretaries.
• The 52nd Advanced Professional Programme in Public Administration was inaugurated at the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA).
• The 29th National e-Governance Conference began in Jaipur.
• The Human Resource Mobility Forum organised by the Ministry of External Affairs concluded in New Delhi.
• ICCR invited a delegation of Hindi scholars from Dhaka University for a nine-day academic visit.
• School Chalo Abhiyan Phase-II was launched in Uttar Pradesh (1–15 July).
• Gujarat launched Namo Swachhata Abhiyan and Amritpan Abhiyan.
• The 63rd Foundation Day of the Tripura Legislative Assembly was celebrated.
• IMD issued an Orange Alert for heavy rainfall over Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Konkan-Goa and Coastal Karnataka.
• Indian Railways reduced the advance reservation period from 120 days to 60 days with effect from 1 November 2026.
• Commercial 19-kg LPG cylinder prices were reduced, while domestic LPG prices remained unchanged.