Current affairs relevant to GS3.
On 20 June 2026 at Tarakeswar, Hooghly, the Prime Minister released the 23rd PM-KISAN instalment: over ₹18,880 crore to over 9.44 crore farmers, including 2.18 crore women, by DBT. Over ₹4.46 lakh crore has been paid since the scheme's 24 February 2019 launch. Eligible landholding families get ₹6,000 a year in three ₹2,000 instalments into Aadhaar-seeded accounts.
20 Jun 2026
India's Access and Benefit Sharing framework under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 has realised over ₹266 crore since 2008 and disbursed about ₹145 crore, the Environment Ministry said on 20 June 2026. Benefits reached over 10,500 Biodiversity Management Committees in 23 States and 4 UTs. Red Sanders alone accounted for ₹120 crore (45%) of realisation.
20 Jun 2026
The President and the Prime Minister remotely laid the foundation stone of Bharat Coal Gasification and Chemicals Limited's coal-to-ammonium nitrate project at Lakhanpur in Jharsuguda, Odisha, on 20 June 2026. BCGCL is a CIL–BHEL joint venture (51:49). The plant aims for about 0.66 MTPA of technical grade ammonium nitrate using domestic Pressurised Fluidised Bed Gasification technology.
20 Jun 2026
Astronomers led from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics traced the origin of non-repeating fast X-ray transient EP241107a, detected on 7 November 2024 by China's Einstein Probe. Multi-wavelength data point to a gamma-ray-burst-like explosion from a massive-star collapse or a neutron-star merger — an orphan afterglow not seen directly in gamma rays. The study appeared in MNRAS.
19 Jun 2026
The Defence Ministry signed a contract with Bharat Forge Limited, Pune, on 19 June 2026 for 12 sets of 1.25 MW marine gas turbine generators for the Indian Navy at about ₹425 crore. The Buy (Indian) deal requires at least 60% indigenous content. The generators power combat systems, weapons and sensors on modern naval combatants.
19 Jun 2026
A PIB backgrounder dated 19 June 2026 says India became effectively free from Left-Wing Extremism on 31 March 2026, the target set on 24 August 2024. Affected districts fell from 126 in 2014 to 2 in 2026; most-affected from 35 to zero. The frame is Vishwaas, Nirman and Jan Kalyan, building on the 2015 National Policy and Action Plan.
19 Jun 2026
An Indian officer presently Secretary, Ministry of Culture, has been elected Vice-President of the Financial Action Task Force for July 2026 to June 2027, the Finance Ministry said on 19 June 2026. It is the first time India will hold the FATF Vice-Presidency. The Vice-President is elected by the FATF Plenary and assists the President.
19 Jun 2026
The Agriculture Ministry approved PSS procurement of pulses and oilseeds in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana on 18 June 2026. UP's Summer 2026 package covers 48,298 MT moong, 97,970 MT urad and 41,718 MT groundnut, worth over ₹1,490 crore at MSP. Gujarat got 18,250 MT moong; Haryana 2,115 MT; Tamil Nadu's moong target rose to 990 MT.
18 Jun 2026
The Indian Coast Guard inducted the first of six indigenous Air Cushion Vehicles built by Chowgule and Company Private Limited in Goa on 18 June 2026. The hovercraft is meant to widen ICG's maritime response options. The Ministry of Defence contracted Chowgule for the six ACVs.
18 Jun 2026
ICAR–Indian Institute of Oilseeds Research, Hyderabad, has developed a patented biopolymer-based Smart Seed Coating Technology. Farmer-field demos in Telangana showed nearly 30% higher yields in groundnut and soybean versus usual practice. Multi-location AICRP-Seed trials reported productivity gains of 12 to 37% over untreated controls across several crops.
18 Jun 2026