TODAY NEWS ON July 03, 2026

India, Japan unveil transformative agenda to boost ties

India and Japan on Thursday (July 2, 2026) unveiled a raft of initiatives, including an economic partnership framework and a defence pact to co-develop military hardware following talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Sanae Takaichi.

‘Jana Nayagan’ gets CBFC nod after long delay, official says

The film Jana Nayagan, starring Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay has been examined by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), and a certificate for the film is likely to be issued within two or three days, a senior official told The Hindu. The film, Mr. Vijay’s last as an actor, was held up at the CBFC since January in the run up to the Tamil Nadu Assembly election earlier this year.

Supreme Court says AI-generated hallucinated precedents ‘catastrophic’ to judicial process, sets aside NCLT order

Observing that the use of non-existent or AI-generated hallucinated judicial precedents is “catastrophic” to the judicial process, the Supreme Court on Thursday (July 2, 2026) set aside an order of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) after finding that it had relied on fictitious AI-generated case laws.

Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif to attend Iran supreme leader Ali Khamenei’s funeral

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will attend the funeral of the late Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei this week, the South Asian nation’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday (July 2, 2026). “The Prime Minister, Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, will go to Iran and Turkey from July 3-5. He will go to Iran first for [the] supreme leader’s funeral,” Ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi told reporters.

Bombay High Court upholds helmet exemption for Sikhs as reasonable classification

The Bombay High Court has held that the exemption granted to Sikh community members from wearing helmets constitutes a “reasonable classification” under Article 14 of the Constitution and does not violate fundamental rights. A Division Bench of Justices Urmila Joshi-Phalke and Nivedita Mehta dismissed the petition filed by law student Kirtesh Vikas Chaudhari

After WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal receive notices on username feature

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on Thursday (July 2, 2026) sent notices to Telegram and Signal, seeking information on their username feature. The notice comes shortly after a similar missive was sent to WhatsApp on Wednesday (July 1, 2026). Spokespersons for Telegram and Signal did not have an immediate comment to share on the notices.

ECI asks both factions of TMC to submit responses on organisational elections

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has written to both factions of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), led by Mamata Banerjee and Ritabrata Banerjee, respectively, seeking responses regarding “claims and counter claims” made by them with respect to organisational elections and authorised signatories. Both sides have been asked to submit their responses by 5:30 p.m. on Monday (July 6, 2026), sources in the ECI said on Thursday (July 2, 2026).

Petrol, diesel prices to fall only after cheaper crude oil reaches Indian refiners: Hardeep Puri

Prices of petrol and diesel will come down only after the crude oil, which is currently cheaper, reaches Indian shores and refiners, Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri told reporters on Thursday (July 2, 2026). Thus, indicating that an immediate downward revision may not be possible immediately.

Women Farmers’ Empowerment Bill passed unanimously in Maharashtra Assembly

In a landmark move, the Maharashtra Assembly on Thursday (July 2, 2026) unanimously passed the Women Farmers’ Empowerment Bill, aimed at recognising women farmers so they get access to welfare schemes which have traditionally benefited men. It will next be tabled in the Maharashtra Legislative Council.

Karnataka: SIR pushes Monsoon Session to August

In light of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Karnataka, the dates of the Monsoon Session of the State legislature will be decided in the first or the second week of August. Normally, the legislature session is held in July. Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said that the decision was taken to allow legislators to remain on the ground in view of the door-to-door enumeration in SIR continuing till July 29, and the draft rolls will be published on August 5.

Assam labourer shows 15 documents but fails citizenship test in High Court

Days after the External Affairs Ministry clarified that a passport was not proof of citizenship, a 38-year-old resident of Assam could not convince the Gauhati High Court that 15 other documents he possessed were sufficient to establish him as an Indian, not a foreigner. On June 30, the Bench upheld an order of a Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT) declaring Aminul Hoque a non-citizen, citing inconsistencies in the documents he produced to claim his Indian citizenship.

ICE arrests 10,000 in five days, sharp late-June surge in Trump’s deportation push

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested 10,000 people over a five-day period at the end of June, marking a major push by the agency tasked with carrying out the Trump administration’s mass deportations agenda. The figures indicate that while the administration is no longer cracking down on individual cities, the arrests continue and are surging.

Indian team discovers rare ‘bow and arrow’ radio galaxy two billion light years from Earth

Twelve Indian researchers across three countries have discovered a rare, nonconformist radio galaxy, shaped like a bow and arrow and 1.8 million light years wide, located approximately 2 billion light years from Earth. The newly discovered arc-like system has been named RAD-BAARG, where RAD stands for RAD@home Astronomy Collaboratory, India’s first citizen science research platform in astronomy based at Kharghar in Navi Mumbai. BAARG expands to Bow And Arrow Radio Galaxy.

FIFA World Cup 2026 | Mikel Oyarzabal nets 2 as Spain roll past Austria into round of 16

Mikel Oyarzabal scored his third and fourth goals of the World Cup and Spain eased into the last 16 with a ​3-0 victory over Austria on Friday (July 3, 2026) in Inglewood, Calif. Pedro Porro added ‌his first-ever goal for Spain after halftime, a header ​that, for all intents and purposes, ensured victory against ⁠an opponent that rarely threatened.