Current affairs — 11 July 2026

Prelims pointers

• The Prime Ministers met in Auckland on 11 July 2026 and announced the creation of the India-New Zealand Strategic Partnership.
• The Roadmap to 2030 is a four-year framework organised around six pillars, including political engagement, defence, trade, people-to-people links, education and multilateral cooperation.
• The trade pillar sets an aspirational goal of doubling bilateral two-way trade in goods and services to NZ$7 billion, or ₹35,000 crore, by 2030.
• The defence pillar includes maritime cooperation, hydrography and nautical cartography, mutual logistics support, naval exercises, IPOI maritime security and a Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism.
• The roadmap notes that it gives rise to no financial commitments and does not create legally binding rights or obligations under domestic or international law.

Prelims pointers

• The 3rd BRICS Transport Ministers' Meeting was held in Nagpur under India's BRICS Chairship.
• India's BRICS Chairship theme was described as Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability.
• The release says BRICS represents nearly half of the world's population and can shape cleaner and smarter transport systems.
• India highlighted PM Gati Shakti as an integrated multimodal planning approach to reduce logistics costs and accelerate projects.
• Cooperation areas mentioned included green hydrogen, electric mobility, alternative fuels, digital transport systems and multimodal infrastructure.

Prelims pointers

• The 3rd NAMASTE Day will be commemorated on July 14, three years after the NAMASTE Scheme launch in 2023.
• The main event will be held at Rabindra Sadan, Kolkata, with parallel programmes across Urban Local Bodies nationwide.
• ULB activities will include occupational safety training, health camps, entitlement facilitation and equipment demonstrations.
• NAMASTE Day honours sewer and septic tank workers, waste pickers and former manual scavengers.
• The NAMASTE Scheme aims at zero fatalities in sanitation work and elimination of direct contact with human faecal matter.

Prelims pointers

• The address said India-New Zealand relations were being elevated to a Strategic Partnership at the time of the visit.
• The Prime Minister said the Free Trade Agreement had been completed in a record nine months.
• New Zealand’s USD 20 billion investment commitment in India over the next 15 years was highlighted.
• The speech said India’s PLI scheme covers 14 sectors with about USD 20 billion of support.
• The address said India has more than 400 space start-ups and opportunities in small satellites, remote sensing and ocean monitoring.

Prelims pointers

• Prime Minister Modi interacted with selected CEOs and business leaders along with New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.
• The India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement was described as a landmark for bilateral economic ties.
• The release invited New Zealand investors to partner India in infrastructure, civil aviation, logistics and clean energy.
• Innovation, fintech and emerging technologies were identified for closer private-sector engagement between the two countries.
• The Prime Minister urged businesses to help double bilateral trade to NZD 7 billion, about INR 35,000 crore, by 2030.

Prelims pointers

• Prime Minister Modi met New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at Government House in Auckland.
• The official welcome included customary Māori rituals symbolising peace, respect and welcome.
• The leaders agreed to elevate India-New Zealand relations to the level of Strategic Partnership.
• Both Prime Ministers underscored early implementation of the India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement and a 2030 trade-doubling target.
• MoUs and understandings covered defence and maritime security, hydrography, sports, disaster management, dairy, tourism and ocean research.

Prelims pointers

• The list includes a Memorandum of Arrangement on Maritime Cooperation to enhance Indo-Pacific dialogue, coordination, information exchange and joint activities.
• An implementation arrangement on hydrography and nautical cartography covers joint production of navigational charts, hydrographic data sharing, training and capacity building.
• India and New Zealand agreed to establish a Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism for cooperation, information exchange and coordinated anti-terror efforts.
• A disaster risk management MoC between India’s NDMA and New Zealand’s NEMA emphasises earthquake resilience, tsunami preparedness, coastal hazard mitigation and capacity building.
• The announcements include New Zealand joining the Global Biofuels Alliance and two Centres of Excellence for Kiwifruit in Nagaland and Uttarakhand.

Prelims pointers

• Prime Minister Modi’s 10-11 July 2026 visit to Auckland was described as the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to New Zealand in 40 years.
• The two Prime Ministers elevated the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership and endorsed the Roadmap to 2030 for joint action over the next four years.
• The joint statement welcomed the conclusion and signature of a balanced, comprehensive and mutually beneficial India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement.
• The leaders agreed to establish an annual Maritime Security Dialogue and noted New Zealand’s maritime-security priority under the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative.
• New Zealand reaffirmed its support for India’s permanent membership of a reformed and expanded United Nations Security Council.

Prelims pointers

• INS Mahendragiri was inducted into the Indian Navy’s Eastern Fleet at Visakhapatnam on 11 July 2026.
• It is the sixth Project 17A indigenous stealth frigate inducted into the Navy in a span of about 1.5 years.
• The ship was designed by the Indian Navy’s Warship Design Bureau and built by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited, Mumbai.
• The frigate has over 75% indigenous content, a displacement of approximately 6,670 tonnes and a capability to reach speeds up to 28 knots.
• It is named after the Mahendragiri mountain range in the Eastern Ghats and bears the motto Mighty, Majestic, Matchless.

Prelims pointers

• eSaras was developed by Digital India Corporation under MeitY in collaboration with the Ministry of Rural Development.
• The platform is implemented under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission and serves women-led SHG enterprises.
• The release states that eSaras covers over 8.99 crore registered SHG members and features more than 1,400 products.
• SHG products are available through more than 11 ONDC-integrated buyer applications, with 800-plus buyers accessing products through ONDC-enabled apps.
• The eSaras web portal was launched on 28 October 2022, followed by the Android mobile application on 28 June 2023.

Prelims pointers

• CAQM conducted a special inspection drive in Noida and Greater Noida on 10 July 2026.
• The inspection covered 17 urban road stretches spanning about 46.87 kilometres.
• Nine stretches had end-to-end paving, while eight stretches still lacked complete end-to-end paving.
• Four Flying Squads inspected 11 stretches under GNIDA and 6 under the Noida Authority.
• The Commission identified road dust as a major contributor to particulate air pollution in urban areas.

Prelims pointers

• PMFME crossed the milestone of loan sanctions to more than two lakh micro food processing enterprises.
• The scheme leveraged project investments of over ₹20,300 crore while crossing the two lakh loan-sanction mark.
• Nearly 90% of beneficiaries are first-generation entrepreneurs and 44% are women entrepreneurs.
• Over 75,000 PMFME-supported enterprises entered the formal economy through registrations such as Udyam Aadhaar, Udyam Assist, FSSAI and GST.
• More than 4.18 lakh SHG members received seed-capital support, and 80 Common Incubation Centres were approved across 27 States and UTs.

Prelims pointers

• MoHFW launched the Monthly Webinar Series on Best Practices under NHM on World Population Day 2026.
• The initiative is a year-round platform for States and UTs to share innovations and implementation experiences.
• The inaugural session was chaired by Smt. Aradhana Patnaik, Additional Secretary and Mission Director, NHM.
• NHSRC will provide technical support for documenting and showcasing innovations from States and Union Territories.
• The first webinar focused on Anemia, Child and Adolescent Health and included presentations from Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.

Prelims pointers

• The Department of Legal Affairs and the Bar Council of India organised the conference at the BCI premises in New Delhi.
• The stated objective was to prepare a Ten-Year Perspective Action Plan for legal education in Hindi and other Indian languages.
• The deliberations proposed a bilingual and progressively multilingual model while preserving English as an important link language.
• Technology tools discussed included AI-enabled translation, digital legal repositories, legal glossaries and terminology databases.
• The conference resolved to establish a National Steering Committee jointly anchored by the Department of Legal Affairs and the BCI.

Prelims pointers

• NITI Aayog convened the SHANTI Act 2025 stakeholder consultation on July 10, 2026, in New Delhi.
• The consultation was chaired by Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Member of NITI Aayog.
• The legislative and regulatory pillar discussed draft rules, regulations, FDI policy provisions and compliance mechanisms.
• The finance, insurance and public perception pillar covered risk mitigation and community acceptance of nuclear energy projects.
• The manufacturing and capacity-building pillar focused on domestic manufacturing, supply-chain resilience and skilled workforce development.

Prelims pointers

• Lakhanpur in Kathua district was approved for a Street Food Hub under the PM SVANidhi initiative.
• The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs proposes to establish up to 50 Street Food Hubs across the country.
• Each approved Street Food Hub project will receive ₹4 crore in financial assistance released in three instalments.
• Cities with notified Street Vending Plans will receive an additional incentive of ₹25 lakh under the initiative.
• The Lakhanpur hub will be developed across two clusters over 1,754.25 square metres in Lakhanpur Market.