Newspaper-based news digest for the RPSC RAS exam, dated Today's News — 5 July 2026.
Security / Internal Security
23 more designated terrorists under UAPA; count reaches 80
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Saturday designated 23 individuals as 'terrorists' under Section 35 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967, taking the total number of designated individuals to 80.
The 23 include 17 Pakistani nationals and 6 Indians; all are said to be currently operating from Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, per Home Minister Amit Shah.
Named individuals are accused of recruitment, training, arms supply, drone-based weapons delivery and planning terror attacks in India, linked to outfits such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed.
One added was Mohammed Shaheed Faisal (40) of Bengaluru, identified by the NIA as handler of the 'terror module' behind the March 1, 2024 Rameshwaram Cafe IED blast.
Source: The Hindu / Indian Express, 5 Jul 2026; MHA
Economy / Science & Technology
PM inaugurates CG Semi semiconductor facility at Sanand, Gujarat
PM Narendra Modi inaugurated the CG Semi Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) facility at Sanand, Gujarat, part of the India Semiconductor Mission covering assembly, packaging and testing of chips.
It is a joint venture with companies from Thailand and Japan; the plant aims to scale up to over 500 crore chips a year (about 1.5 crore chips/day).
Modi said the country is building the entire electronics value chain — from chip design to fabrication and packaging — as the roadmap for a 'Viksit Bharat', urging youth to tap opportunities in the era of Artificial Intelligence.
The first semiconductor chips made in India were exported to Japan in August 2025; chip testing at the project began in 2024.
Source: The Hindu, 5 Jul 2026; India Semiconductor Mission / MeitY
Health / Governance
India's essential medicines list unrevised for 4 years, lags WHO benchmark
The National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), last updated in 2022, contains 384 medicines, while the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines lists 523 drugs (revised in 2023 and 2025).
A Working Group on Access to Medicines and Treatments has urged the government to urgently revise the NLEM, saying at least 17 active cancer-treating agents, 4 supportive cancer-care medicines and 9 monoclonal antibodies on the WHO list are not on the NLEM.
The NLEM is compiled by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare; the government uses it to instruct the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority to enforce a price ceiling on listed drugs.
The list determines which drugs are made available at affordable prices and generally dispensed free at government hospitals.
Source: The Hindu, 5 Jul 2026; Ministry of Health & Family Welfare / WHO
Aviation / Economy
PM launches next phase of UDAN with Rs 29,000 cr outlay; opens Jodhpur terminal
PM Narendra Modi launched the next phase of the Modified UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) scheme with an outlay of about Rs 29,000 crore over the next ten years, and inaugurated the new terminal building of Jodhpur Airport.
Launched in October 2016, UDAN has operationalised 669 routes and 95 airports/heliports/water aerodromes, covering over 1.66 crore passengers.
The new phase promotes indigenous aircraft and helicopters (including HAL Dhruv and Dornier platforms) for operations in underserved areas.
The new Jodhpur terminal, spread across 24,342 sq metres, is designed to handle 1,500 passengers at peak hours and 20 lakh passengers annually, built with sustainable, energy-efficient features (5-star GRIHA rating).
Source: Indian Express, 5 Jul 2026; Ministry of Civil Aviation
Environment / Climate
Draft emission-intensity cut targets issued for iron & steel sector under CCTS
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) issued a draft on June 26 (made public July 2) setting greenhouse-gas emission-intensity (GEI) targets for 255 industrial units in the iron and steel sector.
The targets align India's manufacturing industry under the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS), launched in 2023 to incentivise emission reduction via a market-based mechanism (a domestic carbon market).
Named units include large players such as JSW Steel, Tata Steel, SAIL (Steel Authority of India) and ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel; targets are set for 2026-27 and 2027-28, with the baseline year 2023-24.
The CCTS supports India's Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) under the UNFCCC/Paris Agreement — cutting emissions intensity of GDP by 45% by 2030 versus 2005 levels.
Source: Indian Express, 5 Jul 2026; MoEFCC
International Relations / Economy
India-Israel Bilateral Investment Agreement comes into effect
The India-Israel Bilateral Investment Agreement (BIA), signed on September 8 last year, came into force, aimed at ensuring a secure and predictable investment climate and boosting two-way investment flows.
Israel is the first OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) member with which India has inked such a bilateral investment agreement.
During April 2000 to March 2026, India received about $371.35 million in foreign direct investment (FDI) from Israel.
Under the pact, India has cut down the local-remedies exhaustion period for Israeli investors to three years and included portfolio investments; it replaces the older 2015 model text treaty.
Source: Indian Express, 5 Jul 2026; Ministry of Finance
Science & Technology / Space
Skyroot to launch Vikram-1, India's first private orbital rocket, with ISRO's help
Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace will launch Vikram-1, India's first private-sector orbital rocket, in a window of July 12 to August 4, from ISRO's facilities.
Vikram-1 is designed to deploy small satellites of up to 350 kg to low Earth orbit; it has an all-carbon composite structure, solid and liquid propulsion, and 3D-printed engines.
Skyroot had already launched Vikram-S — India's first privately built rocket — on a sub-orbital flight in 2022; the new mission is called Mission Aagaman.
Co-founder Pawan Kumar Chandana said private access to space, enabled by government reforms opening the sector, is a strategic capability held by only a handful of nations; India's space economy is expected to grow from about $8.4 billion to $44 billion by 2033.
Source: Indian Express, 5 Jul 2026; Skyroot Aerospace / ISRO