Monthly current affairs for June 2026

Sarvam AI, an Indian full-stack sovereign AI startup, has become the 130th unicorn of India. The company raised $234 million as part of its $300 million Series B funding round.

With this, the valuation of the company has reached $1.5 billion, making it the only AI startup in India to achieve this valuation.

Elon Musk, CEO of Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX), became the world’s first trillionaire on paper following the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of the company.

SpaceX raised $75 billion through the IPO, surpassing the 2019 Saudi Aramco IPO to become the largest public offering in history.

The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) has signed an agreement with the Gujarat government to develop a Common Technical Facility (CTF) for the space-tech sector at the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) in Khoraj, Gujarat.

IN-SPACe will provide technical expertise and financial assistance of up to ₹100 crore for the procurement of equipment required for the development of the CTF.

The Kerala government has launched the ‘Priyadarshini’ free bus travel scheme. Under this initiative, women and transgender persons are eligible for free travel on ordinary Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses across the state.

Kane Williamson, former captain of the New Zealand cricket team, has announced his retirement from international cricket with immediate effect.

He concluded his career as New Zealand’s all-time leading run-scorer with 19,346 international runs.

Gavri Devi, a prominent Mand folk singer, passed away at the age of 98. She was honoured with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1986 and the Rajasthan Ratna in 2013 for her contributions to folk music.

The Department of Posts under the Ministry of Communications has launched its first drone-based mail and parcel delivery service. The service operates between the Mandi Head Post Office and the Rehardhar Branch Post Office in Himachal Pradesh.

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has completed 12 years of the ‘Skill India’ initiative, which is one of the world’s largest skilling ecosystems.

In terms of infrastructure growth, the number of Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) has increased from 9,776 in 2014 to over 13,888, expanding access to skill development nationwide.

The Indian Army has signed an MoU with Bharti Airtel Ltd to expand mobile communication infrastructure in Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh.

The IIT Hyderabad will establish the Centre for Design and Engineering in Nuclear Energy (CODENE), which will be the first Centre of Design Excellence in Nuclear Engineering in India.

The centre is being established under a tripartite MoU signed between IIT, Coastal Engineering and Equipments (India) Pvt Ltd (CEEPL India), and France-based Dassault Systemes SE during the ‘Bharat Innovates 2026’.

US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian have signed a 14-point MoU aimed at ending the conflict between the two nations. The interim agreement was finalised electronically during the G7 summit in France.

The agreement mandates an immediate ceasefire, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and a 60-day negotiation period for a comprehensive peace settlement. The US and its regional partners have also committed to a $300 billion reconstruction fund to support the economic development of Iran.

According to the “QS World University Rankings 2027” released by the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (USA) has secured the top position globally for the 15th consecutive year.

It is followed by Stanford University (USA), Imperial College London (UK), the University of Oxford (UK), and Harvard University (USA). The National University of Singapore (NUS) is ranked 10th globally, remaining the highest-ranked university in Asia.

Among Indian institutions, the IIT Delhi is the top-ranked institution for the second consecutive year, securing the 118th position globally. It is followed by IIT Bombay at 134th and IIT Madras at 170th.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) has released its “2026 Technology Pioneers” cohort, which features 100 early-stage companies from 23 countries. The USA leads the list with 43 startups, followed by China and the UK.

India is represented by 9 startups in the 2026 cohort (compared to 10 in the 2025 list), bringing the total number of Indian firms in the WEF cohort to 28. The selected companies will contribute to WEF initiatives through a two-year engagement program.

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, in the presence of Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, has inaugurated the advanced manufacturing facility of Jabil Inc. at the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) in Ranjangaon, Pune.

The facility aims to create an export-centric ecosystem for manufacturing next-generation hardware for AI data centres.

Jio Platforms (JPL), the technology arm of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), has entered the global top 20 in the Patent Co-operation Treaty (PCT) rankings for 2025 released by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

JPL is the only Indian technology innovator to secure a position in the top 20 list. China leads the world in 2025 PCT filings with 73.7 thousand applications, while India ranked 12th globally with 3.07 thousand PCT applications.

President Droupadi Murmu has approved the merger of REC Ltd (REC) into the Power Finance Corporation Ltd (PFC). The merger aims to create a larger and more efficient public sector power financing institution.

The Delhi Lieutenant Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu has directed a 20% reservation for ex-Agniveers in the direct recruitment to vacant Group 'C' posts across key operational departments.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of the Chairperson and members of the National Statistical Commission (NSC).

Dr. Saibal Chattopadhyay has been appointed as the Chairperson, while Prof. Shubhabrata Das, Satyendra Bahadur Singh, and Dr. Madhavan Mukund have been appointed as members of the commission.

Sudarsan Pattnaik, a sand artist from Puri, Odisha, has won the Russia Grand Sand Master Cup 2026 at the II International Festival of Sand Sculpture in Kaliningrad, Russia. He is the first Indian to receive this honour.

His winning entry was a 3-meter high sand sculpture depicting two contrasting faces of Earth. It is to be noted that he was honoured with the Padma Shri in 2014 for his contributions to the field of Arts.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has concluded the 13th BRICS Urbanisation Forum at Sushma Swaraj Bhavan in New Delhi. Held under the BRICS Chairship of India 2026, the forum was themed "Cities for People: BRICS Cooperation for Inclusive and Resilient Urban Futures".

The event resulted in the adoption of a 'Ministerial Declaration' and the proposal for a 'BRICS Urban Research and Knowledge Network' to strengthen urban cooperation among member nations. Two publications, "India's Urban Transformation: Stories of Change" and "Cities for People: Urban Stories from BRICS Nations", were also showcased.