Current Affairs 06 July 2026

India Launches Its First Indigenous EXIM Shipping Container.

• India unveiled its first indigenous EXIM shipping container at Dadri, Uttar Pradesh.
• Manufactured by DCM Shriram Group for A.P. Moller–Maersk.
• Built as per ISO standards and International Convention for Safe Containers (CSC).
• Maersk ordered 1,000 additional India-made containers.
• Supported by the ₹10,000 crore Container Manufacturing Promotion Scheme (CMPS).
• Target: Increase container production capacity to 7.5 lakh TEUs annually.
• Aligned with Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047 and Merchant Shipping Act, 2025.

India’s First Greenfield Refinery Commissioned in Rajasthan.

• PM Narendra Modi dedicated India’s first greenfield integrated refinery-cum-petrochemical complex in Rajasthan.
• Pachpadra Refinery developed by HPCL and Rajasthan Government in Balotra.
• Investment: Over ₹79,450 crore.
• Capacity: 9 MMTPA refinery and 2.4 MMTPA petrochemicals.
• Modified UDAN Scheme: Approved with ₹28,840 crore outlay for 10 years.
• Bikaner Solar Project: 1,000 MW renewable energy project by SJVN.
• CG Semi OSAT facility inaugurated in Sanand, Gujarat under the India Semiconductor Mission.

India Develops Advanced Placenta-on-Chip Technology.

• Developed by ICMR-NIRWoH and IIT Bombay.
• Indigenous placenta-on-chip model recreates key functions of the human placental barrier.
• Replicates hormone production, nutrient transfer, and waste removal.
• Mimics glucose transport from mother to fetus and selective barrier functions.
• Applications:
• Study of gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia, and fetal growth disorders.
• Testing medicine safety across the placental barrier.
• Aims to reduce dependence on animal experimentation through human-relevant research models.

International Booker Prize Renamed Bukhman International Booker Prize.

• International Booker Prize renamed as Bukhman International Booker Prize.
• Sponsored by Bukhman Philanthropies for the next 10 years.
• Prize money doubled: Winner’s prize increased from £50,000 to £100,000.
• Shortlisted authors will receive £5,000 each.
• Prize money shared equally between author and translator(s).
• Eligible for fiction translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland.
• 2027 judging panel chaired by novelist Katie Kitamura.

Bihar’s Banyan Tree Recognised as the World’s Oldest Accurately Dated Tree.

• A 700-year-old banyan tree (Ficus benghalensis) in Munger, Bihar identified as the world’s oldest accurately dated specimen.
• Age confirmed through radiocarbon dating of wood samples.
• Research conducted by Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences (BSIP), Lucknow.
• Dating used Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) and IntCal20 calibration curve.
• The tree is a surviving remnant of an ancient natural forest.
• Findings published in the international journal Quaternary Research.
• Banyan (Ficus benghalensis) is the National Tree of India.