Tuesday, 9 June 2026

The 13.15-km Zojila Tunnel — set to be Asia's longest high-altitude road tunnel — achieved its final excavation breakthrough on June 9, 2026, promising all-weather Kashmir-Ladakh connectivity and enhanced military mobility.

India and the US are nearing the first phase of their bilateral trade agreement, which officials say can be finalised only after the US Section 301 investigations conclude, with Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal targeting mid-July.

The government has reduced the number of subsidised LPG refills available to PM Ujjwala Yojana beneficiaries from nine to four a year, saying beneficiaries typically use only four to five cylinders annually.

Rural tap-water coverage under the Jal Jeevan Mission has risen to about 81.87% of India's roughly 19.35 crore rural households — 15.84 crore homes — up from 3.23 crore households in August 2019.

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal announced the Rs 33,660 crore BHAVYA scheme to develop 100 industrial parks across India in phases to attract investment and create jobs, with first-phase applications accepted until July 31.

At the Defence Investiture Ceremony, President Murmu conferred 7 Kirti Chakras (two posthumous) along with Vir Chakras and Shaurya Chakras; Gaganyaan astronaut-designate Air Commodore Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair was among the Kirti Chakra recipients.

The SIPRI Yearbook 2026 ranks India the world's fifth-largest military spender at $92.1 billion in 2025 and estimates India's nuclear arsenal at about 190 warheads as of January 2026, against Pakistan's estimated 170.

President Droupadi Murmu will confer Padma Awards on 65 personalities at the second Civil Investiture Ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan on June 23, including Padma Bhushan for Mammootty and Padma Shri for R. Madhavan and the late Satish Shah.

The Ministry of Mines appointed Anupam Misra, currently Director (Marketing) at FACT Ltd, as Chairman and Managing Director of state-owned Hindustan Copper Limited, effective July 1, 2026.

Minister of State for Communications Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar launched 'Samriddhi Kendram', a Rs 1.16-crore integrated rural development centre offering 11 essential services under one roof, in Narakoduru village of Andhra Pradesh under the BharatNet Udyami initiative.

The UPSC has introduced an in-house Face Authentication Protocol to verify candidates' identities in real time, deploying it across all 2,072 centres during the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2026.

The CBDT released guidelines for FY2026-27 identifying six categories of income-tax returns that will be compulsorily selected for complete scrutiny, including survey, search, reassessment and tax-evasion cases, with scrutiny notices to be served by June 30.

Hosts India dominated the inaugural World Yogasana Championships 2026 in Ahmedabad, finishing on top with 114 medals including a century of golds (102); Japan placed second.