1) 🇮🇳National

• Defence Acquisition Council Clears ₹52,000 Crore Proposals: The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, approved capital acquisition proposals worth nearly ₹52,000 crore. Key procurements focus on boosting the tri-services' capabilities through the induction of the 'Akash Tarang' electronic warfare system and forward-deployed kamikaze drone grids.
• Tourism Ministry and Google India Partnership: The Ministry of Tourism signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Google India in New Delhi. The collaboration aims to scale up the digital promotion of domestic tourist hotspots by utilizing advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms, interactive street maps, and data-driven visitor insights.
• New EPF and EPS Schemes 2026 Notified: The Ministry of Labour and Employment officially notified the comprehensive Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Schemes, 2026. Replacing the historic 1952 guidelines, the updated code shifts compliance strictly into digital portals, mandating universal Aadhaar-linked UANs and real-time grievance logs.

2) 🌍International

• United States Marks 250th Independence Day (Semiquincentennial): The United States celebrated its landmark 250th Independence Day on 4 July 2026, commemorating the historic 1776 adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Major anniversary highlights included the International Naval Review (INR 250) in the Port of New York, featuring over 100 foreign warships and tall ships from dozens of global navies.
• Massive Funeral Operations in Iran: Global geopolitical vectors remained focused on Tehran as Iran initiated a week-long series of mass funeral ceremonies for its late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, pausing regional diplomatic networks.

3) 💰Economy

• NPCI Boosts Cross-Border UPI via HSBC and JP Morgan: In a major push for India's digital payment footprint, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) teamed up with HSBC India and JP Morgan Payments. The strategic financial tie-up enables instant, real-time Foreign Exchange (FX) settlements for international cross-border UPI transactions.
• Bank of Baroda and Mizuho Bank Alliance: Public sector banking giant Bank of Baroda entered into a strategic pact with Japan's Mizuho Bank. The alliance is structured to significantly enhance bilateral corporate collaborations, focusing on Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) financing, cross-border treasury services, and joint infrastructure funding pipelines.
• GST Baseline Growth Assessment: Official data tracking tax compliance frameworks revealed that India's active GST taxpayer base expanded significantly from 66.5 lakh at its inception in 2017 to 1.65 crore by mid-2026, marking a robust consolidation of the formal tax ecosystem.

4) 🗓️Date’s importance

• International Day of Cooperatives (4 July 2026): Celebrated globally on the first Saturday of July under a United Nations mandate to honor the cooperative movement's structural role in building inclusive wealth, supporting micro-enterprises, and promoting resilient local economies.

5) 👱‍♂️👩‍🦳Person of the day

• Markwayne Mullin: The prominent political leader stepped into the international administrative spotlight following his high-profile confirmation vote in the US Senate, officially taking office as the 9th US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary and marking a historic milestone as the first Cherokee Nation member to serve in the Cabinet.

6) 🏅Sports

• ICC 'Return to Play' Post-Pregnancy Mandate: The International Cricket Council (ICC) introduced its first-ever formal 'Return to Play' Post-Pregnancy Guidelines. The comprehensive framework outlines sports medicine protocols, specialized physical assessments, and contract support mechanisms to safely transition elite female cricketers back into active international matches after childbirth.

7) 🏆Awards

• Himachal Pradesh Secures 8 New GI Tags: The Himachal Pradesh Council for Science, Technology and Environment (HIMCOSTE) successfully registered 8 new Geographical Indication (GI) tags for indigenous state products. This agricultural and handicraft milestone expands the state's total sovereign GI product repository from 9 to 17.

8) ⭐️Other important significance

• Skyroot Announces 'Mission Aagaman': Indian private aerospace pioneer Skyroot Aerospace finalized the launch manifest for 'Mission Aagaman'. The flight will utilize its indigenously built Vikram-1 rocket—a fully private, multi-stage orbital launch vehicle built with a specialized all-carbon composite structure—to place small satellites into Low Earth Orbit.

📚Word of the day

• COMPLIANCE
• Meaning: (Noun) The act or process of conforming to, obeying, or fulfilling official requirements, regulatory rules, or statutory laws.
• Usage in Exams: The transition to the updated labour code forces industrial enterprises to upgrade their internal systems to meet absolute digital compliance norms.