3rd July 2026 Current Affairs MCQ

The summit's biggest outcome was India and Japan signing their first-ever Defence Co-Development Agreement — a real shift from the old model where Japan simply sold or transferred technology to India, toward joint design, development, and co-production of defence equipment. Think of it as moving from a customer-supplier relationship to genuine research partners, similar in spirit to India's BrahMos arrangement with Russia but deeper on technology-sharing. Japan brings advanced naval systems, precision electronics, and materials science that India needs to modernise its forces, while Japan wants a stronger Indo-Pacific partner given its concerns about China. This summit, hosted for Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi's first State Visit to India, builds on the Special Strategic and Global Partnership the two countries established back in 2014.

Under MGNREGA, the Centre covered 100% of wages, but VB-G RAM G shifts to a 60:40 Centre:State split — meaning state governments now carry real financial stake in the programme. That's a double-edged change: it can push states to implement more carefully since their own money is on the line, but it also strains states with weaker fiscal capacity. Alongside this funding shift, the Act raised the employment guarantee from 100 to 125 days per household annually and introduced India's first-ever nationwide minimum wage floor of ₹300/day for rural employment work. The government backed the transition with an interim allocation of ₹95,692.31 crore — the largest rural employment allocation in India's history.

This partnership enables real-time FX settlement for cross-border UPI payments — so when someone abroad sends money home via UPI, or an Indian tourist pays through a UPI-linked app overseas, the currency conversion and settlement now happen instantly at live market rates instead of with the usual delay. HSBC India supplies real-time FX rates through direct API integration, while JP Morgan — the world's largest bank by market capitalisation — handles the actual conversion and settlement across currencies. This matters economically because India is the world's largest remittance recipient, pulling in over $137 billion annually, so faster, cheaper settlement has a real ripple effect. NPCI itself, the umbrella body behind UPI, IMPS, and RuPay, was set up in 2008 under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.

Vikram-1 is India's first privately developed orbital-class launch vehicle — not a suborbital hop like a sounding rocket, but a full rocket capable of placing satellites into Low Earth Orbit. Skyroot had already made history with the suborbital Vikram-S in November 2022, becoming the first private Indian company to launch into space — Vikram-1 is the natural next step toward the booming small satellite launch market. The rocket is named after Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, the father of India's space programme, which is a nice full-circle touch. This all happens under India's Space Policy 2023, which opened up the entire space value chain to private players, regulated through IN-SPACe.

Borjuli Wetland, located in the Biswanath district of Assam within the Brahmaputra flood plains, has been designated a Biodiversity Heritage Site (BHS) under Section 37 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002. The key distinction here — BHS status is different from a national park or wildlife sanctuary because it specifically protects biodiversity richness and traditional ecological knowledge, with local communities playing a central role in governance rather than being excluded. The wetland hosts migratory birds and freshwater fish species that form part of Assam's important riverine biodiversity corridor. This designation legally commits the state government and local biodiversity management committee to shield it from encroachment and unsustainable development.

India climbed to 94th in the 2026 SDG Index, published by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) at the Hamburg Sustainability Conference — an 18-place jump from its 112th rank back in 2015 when the SDGs were first adopted. But the improvement comes with an important caveat exams love to test: India still trails South Asian neighbours like Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. India's weakest indicator is the Press Freedom Index, which fell sharply from 59.51 in 2015 to 31.96 in 2026, while its only fully on-track SDG 2 indicator is cereal yield at 3.6 tonnes per hectare.

Himachal Pradesh's GI-tagged products jumped from 9 to 17, nearly doubling its portfolio in a single announcement. GI tags, granted under the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999, protect products whose unique identity is tied to their geographical origin — meaning only producers from that specific region can legally use the name. For a Himalayan state known for distinctive handicrafts and agricultural products, this is both a cultural protection and a real marketing advantage. The registration process runs through the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry — the same authority behind iconic GI tags like Darjeeling Tea and Basmati Rice.

The new EPF Scheme, 2026 is notified under the Code on Social Security, 2020 — which consolidates 29 existing labour laws into one unified framework covering wages, social security, industrial relations, and workplace safety. This replaces the 1952 scheme that had run for 74 years, modernising the administrative backbone through systems like the Universal Account Number (UAN) and e-KYC linkage. The reassuring part for existing subscribers: there's no disruption to accumulated balances — everyone automatically continues under the new scheme with no fresh enrolment needed. The nodal ministry is Labour and Employment, with the EPFO as the implementing authority.

Plastic bags take an estimated 500 to 1,000 years to decompose — during which they break down into microplastics that infiltrate food chains and are linked to roughly 100,000 marine animal deaths annually. India generates about 9.4 million tonnes of plastic waste a year, with single-use plastics like bags making up a significant chunk of that. India actually banned single-use plastics below 75 microns back on 1 July 2022 under the Plastic Waste Management Rules, but enforcement remains patchy, especially in smaller towns. This observance connects to the broader Global Plastics Treaty negotiations at the UN Environment Assembly, which India has been actively participating in.

Vijaya Mehta won the National Film Award for Best Direction for Pestonjee (1987) — a distinction that sits alongside her landmark work in Marathi experimental theatre, including plays like Court Chalu Ahe and Begum Barve (the other options here, which were plays she directed, not the film that won her the award). She also served as Chairperson of the National School of Drama, India's premier theatre training institution, and received the Padma Shri in 1986 for her contribution to the arts. Her passing was marked by tributes across India's cultural and political spheres, reflecting just how foundational her work was to modern Indian theatre.