Week 28 was diplomacy on the move. PM Modi threaded a three-nation Indo-Pacific tour — a deepened Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Indonesia, a defence-and-security 'step change' with Australia, and the first Indian visit to New Zealand in 40 years, elevated to a Strategic Partnership with an FTA in tow — while India steered BRICS from the chair, hosting the Women Ministerial in Kochi and the Transport Ministers in Nagpur, and reworked the ASEAN goods-trade pact at home. Underneath the travel ran a hard self-reliance thread: TReDS made mandatory for MSME dues, a $15-billion leather-and-footwear target, a ₹37,500-crore coal-gasification tender, a $150-billion electronics-export roadmap and the SHANTI Act opening nuclear power to private capital. Conservation had its own week in Coimbatore — NTCA, CAMPA and a Human-Wildlife Conflict centre back to back — while the Navy commissioned INS Mahendragiri and DRDO stretched Pinaka to 60 km. Aditya Tiwari Sir's tip: braid the three joint statements into one 'Indo-Pacific latticework' line for GS2, and the manufacturing schemes into a single 'self-reliance across sectors' line for GS3 — two high-scoring threads from one week.
The Education Ministry released the Performance Grading Index 2.0 for states/UTs and districts, alongside the AISHE and UDISE+ data drops — a full stocktake of schooling and higher education.
The Election Commission notified by-elections to three Assembly seats — Datia (MP), Manjalpur (Gujarat) and Bankipur (Bihar) — with polling on 30 July and counting on 3 August.
The government marked the 125th birth anniversary of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee — Jana Sangh founder, Constituent Assembly member and a voice in the 1947 integration of Bengal — with a PM video address and tributes across offices of state.
The Health Ministry amended the Drugs Rules, 1945 so that formulations with over 12% v/v ethyl alcohol in packs larger than 30 mL lose their Schedule K licensing exemption and move under prescription control.
The Department of Telecom's 'Samriddh Gram' — a BharatNet-enabled 'phygital' rural service model built around Samriddhi Kendras — won the ITU-led WSIS Prize 2026 under Action Line C6.
The MSME Ministry mandated that all Central Public Sector Enterprises settle MSME invoices through TReDS — the digital platform for collateral-free discounting of trade receivables.
Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal asked the leather and footwear industry to triple exports to about USD 15 billion in 5-6 years, as DPIIT eased footwear Quality Control Orders and new FTAs opened up.
The revamped Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS 5.0) crossed 4,11,497 guarantees worth ₹1,55,229 crore, with the overwhelming share flowing to MSMEs.
Chennai's Kamarajar Port became India's second major port with an 18-metre 'Cape-compliant' draft after a ₹440-crore Capital Dredging Phase VI, letting it handle the largest dry-bulk Capesize vessels.
The Coal Ministry issued the Request for Proposal under its ₹37,500-crore Surface Coal and Lignite Gasification scheme, aiming to turn coal into syngas and cut imports of urea, ammonia and methanol.
The EPFO launched a one-time, six-month Amnesty Scheme, 2026 letting exempted provident-fund trusts regularise their status, as the Finance Act 2026 aligned income-tax rules with the move.
All five Indian students won gold at the 56th International Physics Olympiad 2026 in Bucaramanga, Colombia, placing the team joint world number one among 381 competitors.
An e-MERLIN radio survey of 280 nearby galaxies — co-authored by the DST's Indian Institute of Astrophysics — found hidden, weakly-accreting supermassive black holes lurking in about a quarter of them.
NITI Aayog held a stakeholder consultation on implementing the SHANTI Act 2025, which opens nuclear power generation to private participation and replaces the decades-old Atomic Energy Act.
The Department of Commerce held a Chintan Shivir on strengthening electronics manufacturing, setting out a roadmap toward USD 150 billion in electronics exports by 2030.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh said AI could add about ₹70,000 crore to India's agri-economy, calling agri-startups — up from around 350 in 2015 to over 2.3 lakh — a 'defining force'.
On World Zoonoses Day, the Health Ministry held a national multistakeholder consultation on a draft National Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Zoonoses, built on the 'One Health' approach.
The Centre intensified monsoon and El Niño preparedness — the rainfall deficit narrowing from 33% to 24% and deficient districts from 262 to 178 — even as the PMO reviewed reservoirs, groundwater and contingency crops.
Coimbatore hosted a cluster of conservation meetings chaired by Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav — the 29th NTCA meeting (with a 'Roadmap to Rescue' and STRIDES 2026), a new Centre of Excellence on Human-Wildlife Conflict, and the 7th National CAMPA Governing Body.
The National Mission for Clean Ganga mainstreamed Nature-based Solutions, launching two constructed-wetland pilots on Delhi's Shastri Park and Kailash Nagar drains to treat about 10 MLD before it reaches the Yamuna.
A backgrounder marked India achieving 20% ethanol blending in petrol (E20) five years early, crediting forex savings, lower CO2 emissions and higher earnings for farmers.
PM Modi's 6-8 July state visit produced an India-Indonesia Joint Statement deepening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership across defence, maritime, trade and critical minerals — with the Bintang Adipurna honour and an IIM Bangalore campus in Jakarta.
The 3rd India-Australia Annual Summit in Melbourne deepened the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with a Defence and Security Declaration, an energy-security statement, a sports roadmap and a new cyber and critical-technology pact.
PM Modi's Auckland visit — the first by an Indian PM in 40 years — elevated ties to a 'Strategic Partnership' with a 'Roadmap to 2030' and the launch of a free-trade agreement.
India hosted the 13th ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) Joint Committee in New Delhi, with all ten ASEAN members reviewing and modernising the decade-old free-trade agreement.
Under India's 2026 BRICS chairship, the BRICS Women Ministerial concluded in Kochi and the 3rd BRICS Transport Ministers' Meeting in Nagpur adopted a unanimous declaration on sustainable, future-ready transport.
The Ministry of Cooperation marked its 5th Foundation Day, with Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah highlighting nine new national cooperative societies and a 32-crore-member cooperative database.
Health Minister J.P. Nadda chaired the 3rd Mission Steering Group of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, which now counts over 93.95 crore ABHA numbers and 105 crore linked health records.
The PM Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) scheme crossed 2 lakh enterprises, leveraging ₹20,300 crore of investment and about 11 lakh jobs — 90% of them first-generation and 44% women entrepreneurs.
A backgrounder on the Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM) tallied its record since 2014-15: ₹9,404.47 crore spent, 21.61 lakh machines distributed, 40,928 drone demonstrations and a network of Custom Hiring Centres.
The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment prepared to mark the 3rd NAMASTE Day on 14 July in Kolkata — three years of the National Action for Mechanized Sanitation Ecosystem to end hazardous manual cleaning.
The Indian Navy commissioned INS Mahendragiri, the sixth Project 17A 'Nilgiri-class' stealth frigate, at Visakhapatnam in Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's presence — a Mazagon Dock-built warship that is over 75% indigenous.
The DRDO successfully flight-tested the Pinaka Long Range Guided Rocket at the Chandipur test range, hitting targets at a user-defined range of 60 km with textbook precision.
At the Land Border Districts' SP Conference-2026, Home Minister Amit Shah unveiled a 'Smart Border' and 'quadrangular security grid' approach, citing a 400% rise in border-infrastructure spending and the Vibrant Villages push.
FIU-IND was named runner-up for the Best Egmont Case Award 2026 at the Egmont Plenary in Baku, for cracking a roughly ₹868-crore cyber-fraud money-laundering case involving over 5,000 mule accounts.