UPSC EPFO / APFC Current Affairs One-liners — Last 6 months

Fri, 03 Jul 2026

• The Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation launched the 7th National Water Awards on the MHA's Rashtriya Puraskar portal on 3 July 2026, with applications due by 28 August 2026.
• The Indian Air Force beat the Indian Navy 2-1 in the final of the 7th Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh Memorial Hockey Tournament at Air Force Station Jalahalli on 3 July 2026.

Thu, 02 Jul 2026

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 2 July 2026 approved cutting the permissible broken grains in PMGKAY rice to 10% for raw rice and 5% for parboiled rice, the first revision of PDS rice specifications in nearly three decades.
• Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae paid an official visit to India from 1 to 3 July 2026 for the 16th India-Japan Annual Summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, her first official visit to India.
• Indian Navy stealth frigate INS Trikand responded to a piracy attempt on the bulk carrier MV Golden Arsenal about 300 nautical miles east-northeast of Djibouti in the Gulf of Aden on 1 July 2026, and its boarding team sanitised the ship on 2 July.
• The Centre amended the Drugs Rules, 1945 on 2 July 2026 to bring cell or stem cell derived products, gene therapeutic products and xenografts under the Centrally License Approving Authority (CLAA) framework.
• Union Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Paatil chaired the 19th meeting of the Empowered Task Force on River Ganga on 2 July 2026, which reviewed the Namami Gange Programme.
• India's coal imports fell to 21.13 million tonnes in April 2026 from 24.27 MT a year earlier, a drop of about 12.95%, the Ministry of Coal said on 2 July 2026.
• The Ministry of Women and Child Development on 2 July 2026 invited nominations for the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2026 through awards.gov.in, with 31 July 2026 as the last date.
• Indian Railways approved a 4.59 km rail flyover from Bondamunda 'A' Cabin to Bondamunda Link 'B' Cabin in South Eastern Railway at a cost of Rs 135 crore, the Ministry of Railways said on 2 July 2026.

Wed, 01 Jul 2026

• The Viksit Bharat - Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025 came into force across all rural areas of India on 1 July 2026, repealing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 from the same date.
• Three Indian ship recycling yards have completed compliance and can apply for inclusion under the EU Ship Recycling Regulation, Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said after talks with European Commissioner Jessika Roswall on 1 July 2026.
• ICAR and Seychelles' Agriculture Department signed an MoU and a five-year Work Plan (2026-2031) during the Prime Minister's visit to Seychelles, and INS Tarkash and INS Ikshak concluded their Port Victoria port call on 29 June 2026, according to releases of 1 July 2026.
• Lt Gen Sandeep Jain became Vice Chief of the Army Staff, Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit Vice Chief of the Air Staff and Air Marshal Tejinder Singh CISC on 1 July 2026, while Lt Gen Mohit Malhotra took over the Jaipur-based South Western Command.
• The Competition Commission of India on 1 July 2026 approved the acquisition of 100% shareholding of Royal Challengers Sports Pvt Ltd by a consortium including Big Banyan Holdings, Bolt IPL Holdings, Times Internet, Times Cricket, ICQ Opportunities and Asia Investment Topco II.
• The Ministry of Steel granted Miniratna Category-I status to MECON Limited, a Schedule 'A' CPSE with a net worth of Rs 535.42 crore as on 31 March 2026, the ministry said on 1 July 2026.

Tue, 30 Jun 2026

• General Dhiraj Seth took over as the 31st Chief of the Army Staff on 30 June 2026 from General Upendra Dwivedi, who superannuated after more than four decades of service.
• The Ministry of MSME notified on 30 June 2026 that all operating Central Public Sector Enterprises must settle invoices from MSME suppliers through RBI-authorised TReDS platforms, giving effect to a Union Budget 2026-27 announcement.
• Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal witnessed the live launch of UPI services in Greece under the Eurobank-NIPL partnership at Eurobank headquarters in Athens on 30 June 2026.
• Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched the FCRA 2.0 Portal and the electronic Overseas Citizen of India (e-OCI) Card in New Delhi on 30 June 2026; the e-OCI Card will benefit more than 50 lakh OCI cardholders.
• The boards of Power Finance Corporation and REC Limited approved a scheme to merge REC into PFC, creating a financing entity with a loan book of over Rs 11 lakh crore, the Ministry of Power said on 30 June 2026.
• NITI Aayog Member Dr R. Balasubramaniam released the National Study Report on 'Low Participation in Gram Sabha across States and Union Territories', prepared by NIRD&PR for the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, in New Delhi on 30 June 2026.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute on Hul Divas, 30 June 2026, to tribal warriors such as Sido-Kanhu, Chand-Bhairav and Phulo-Jhano who stood against the injustice of foreign rule.
• The Finance Ministry on 30 June 2026 extended the full customs duty exemption on imports of critical petrochemical products, given in view of the West Asia conflict, by 15 days to 15 July 2026.
• Researchers of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru carried out the first long-term statistical study of the thermal behaviour of interplanetary coronal mass ejections near Earth using 29 years of data from 1995 to 2024, the Ministry of Science and Technology said on 30 June 2026.

Mon, 29 Jun 2026

• The Ministry of Labour and Employment notified the Employees' Provident Funds Scheme, 2026 vide G.S.R. 525(E) on 29 June 2026, bringing into force VISHWAS, 2026 for settling EPF damages disputes and a six-month Amnesty Scheme for unexempted PF trusts.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Independence of Seychelles as Guest of Honour on 29 June 2026, the first Indian Prime Minister to attend Seychelles' Independence Day celebrations.
• The Union Cabinet approved an additional Government of India investment commitment of Rs 30,000 crore to new and upcoming funds of the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund, taking the total to Rs 60,000 crore, the Finance Ministry said on 29 June 2026.
• India's Index of Industrial Production grew 5.1% year-on-year in May 2026, MoSPI said on 29 June 2026, as it re-released the 2022-23 base IIP series using the Output Producer Price Index in place of WPI as deflator.
• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh released the Delegation of Financial Powers to DRDO (DFP-2026) in New Delhi on 29 June 2026, a reform to speed up strategic R&D projects and their induction into the forces.