Week 29 was manufacturing and macro-data back to back. On a single Cabinet day (15 July) India cleared Semicon 2.0 (₹1,27,500 crore) and the Mobile Phone Manufacturing Scheme (₹62,500 crore) — the chips-to-devices value chain funded in one sitting — while the India-UK CETA came into force the same day, opening zero-duty access for 99% of India's exports. The statistics machine ran hot: June CPI at 4.38% against a 9.87% WPI, a monthly PLFS jobs pulse, NITI's Investment Friendliness Index ranking the states, ICAR's 386 new crop varieties, and the first self-enumeration of the digital Census 2027. Soft power went orbital — Skyroot's Vikram-1 became India's first private rocket to reach orbit and students swept gold at the Chemistry Olympiad — as the first hydrogen train and TB-carrying drones showed technology reaching the everyday. Abroad, Goyal worked four European capitals and the India-EU FTA; at home, the CCPA went after dark patterns and default service charges. Aditya Tiwari Sir's tip: read Semicon 2.0, MPMS and the electronics push as one 'chips-to-devices' line for GS3, and Census 2027, the Aadhaar app and AI-in-governance as a single 'digital state' thread for GS2 — two spines that carry the week.
Self-enumeration began in Tamil Nadu and Tripura under Phase I of Census 2027 — India's first digital census — with online self-enumeration open until 31 July ahead of field enumeration.
At the Shillong 'NextGen' conference, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said India is entering the next phase of governance with AI-driven administrative reforms, flagging around 2,000 obsolete rules for repeal.
The Central Consumer Protection Authority fined SpiceJet ₹1 lakh for a 'dark pattern' — a pre-ticked box auto-enrolling flyers in a paid programme — and took suo motu action against 41 restaurants levying service charge by default.
The revamped Aadhaar App crossed 40 million downloads — a one-stop, self-service identity tool for updating address, mobile and email, with users locking and unlocking biometrics over 19 million times.
The government convened an all-party meeting at Parliament House ahead of the Monsoon Session 2026, drawing 58 leaders from 40 parties in a bid to smooth the legislative agenda.
The Cabinet approved the Mobile Phone Manufacturing Scheme — ₹62,500 crore from FY2026-27 to FY2030-31 — layering production, sourcing and design-and-R&D incentives to deepen the phone value chain.
June 2026 data on the new 2024=100 base showed retail inflation at 4.38% — comfortably inside the RBI's band — even as wholesale (WPI) inflation ran at 9.87%, driven by fuel and power.
The PLFS Monthly Bulletin for June 2026 put the overall unemployment rate (15+) at 5.5%, with the labour-force participation rate at 54.4% and female participation edging up to 32.7%.
NITI Aayog released the Investment Friendliness Index — a data-driven benchmark of states and UTs on the ease of investment, meant to spur competitive and cooperative federalism.
On its 98th Foundation Day, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research reported developing 386 improved crop varieties across 44 crops in the past year — about 94% of them climate-resilient and 29 biofortified.
A backgrounder detailed Modified UDAN — ₹28,840 crore from FY2026-27 to FY2035-36 to add 100 new airports and 200 helipads — building on a scheme that has run 679 routes since 2016.
The Ministry of Mines launched the eighth tranche of critical- and strategic-mineral block auctions — 20 blocks across nine states, spanning lithium, rare-earth elements and graphite.
The Cabinet approved Semicon 2.0 — a ₹1,27,500-crore programme to build India's semiconductor design and manufacturing ecosystem across six pillars, from chip design to fabs.
India was established as a serious private-space power as Skyroot Aerospace's Vikram-1 — the country's first privately developed orbital launch vehicle — reached orbit.
Indian Railways prepared to flag off India's first Hydrogen Fuel Cell Trainset — an ICF-built, RDSO-approved rake of 10 coaches carrying about 2,600 passengers on roughly 1,200 kW, emitting only water.
India topped the 58th International Chemistry Olympiad in Tashkent with all four students winning gold, and added a gold and three silvers at the International Biology Olympiad in Vilnius.
MeitY — with CERT-In, CSIRT-Fin and SISA — released the second Digital Threat Report 2025-26 for the BFSI sector, finding that six of seven predicted threats had materialised.
An ICMR i-DRONE study in Telangana's Yadadri-Bhuvanagiri — with AIIMS Bibinagar, under the national TB programme — used drones to carry TB sputum samples, sharply cutting median diagnosis time.
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence busted several wildlife-trafficking networks across the country, seizing 440 endangered animals and about 15 kg of ivory and arresting 33 people.
The Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry approved operational guidelines for the ₹9,585-crore PARIVARTAN Scheme (Cabinet-cleared on 3 June 2026) to replace old, polluting trucks and buses in cities.
The 12th meeting of the National Committee on Dam Safety, chaired by the Central Water Commission chief, reviewed implementation of the Dam Safety Act, 2021 amid concerns over ageing reservoirs.
A focused nationwide water-conservation campaign, 'Catch the Rain' (4 July–4 August 2026), was rolled out after the PM's Mann Ki Baat call, pressing rainwater harvesting during the monsoon window.
The India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and the accompanying Double Contribution Convention on social security entered into force on 15 July, granting zero-duty access for about 99% of India's exports.
Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal wrapped a five-day visit to Spain, Belgium, Finland and Estonia (13-18 July), pitching a '10x10x10' India-Spain vision and pressing the India-EU free-trade talks in Brussels.
The 8th India-Japan Defence Policy Dialogue in Tokyo undertook a full-spectrum review under the Special Strategic and Global Partnership, advancing maritime and defence-technology cooperation.
The first round of India-Maldives FTA negotiations concluded successfully — held virtually from 29 June to 7 July — covering eight policy areas across eight technical sessions.
India secured adoption of three Codex standards for spices — large cardamom, coriander and vanilla — at the 49th Codex Alimentarius Commission in Geneva, finalised by the India-hosted Codex Committee on Spices.
Under the NAMASTE scheme, over 89,000 sewer and septic-tank workers and 2.81 lakh waste pickers have been profiled — the first step toward mechanising hazardous cleaning and formalising the workforce.
The Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan — launched on 15 August 2020 under the national drug-demand-reduction plan — has now reached 29.32 crore citizens, including 11.20 crore youth and 7.92 crore women.
The Adarsh Gram component of PM-AJAY has declared 16,759 villages as Adarsh Grams, benefiting over 47.59 lakh citizens and completing 46,782 works through Village Development Plans.
The MSME Ministry underscored how the free, paperless, self-declaration Udyam Registration Portal and the Udyam Assist Platform are formalising enterprises and drawing informal micro-units into the system.
The Social Justice Ministry spotlighted Elderline 14567 — the toll-free national helpline for senior citizens, running 8am to 8pm daily since it was dedicated on 1 October 2021 — as an ageing-support lifeline.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said Operation Sindoor — launched on 7 May 2025 after the 22 April 2025 Pahalgam attack — demonstrated India's world-class defence readiness and sharpened its indigenous capabilities.
The Indian Air Force began deploying for Exercise Pitch Black 2026 at RAAF Base Darwin (20 July–7 August) — the Royal Australian Air Force's premier biennial multinational air-combat exercise — sending its Rafales.
The Indian Navy prepared to host Operation Southern Readiness 26-2 at Southern Naval Command, Kochi (20-23 July) — multinational maritime-security training aimed at strengthening cooperation across the region.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh flagged off the 13-day 'Shaurya Vijay Yatra' — a motorcycle expedition from the National War Memorial to the Kargil War Memorial at Dras — ahead of Kargil Vijay Diwas.