Daily Current Affairs 5 July 2026: The Hindu Notes for UPSC – RPA By-Elections, IT Rules 2021, India-UK FTA & More

iN SHORT Daily Current Affairs – The Hindu Notes (5 July 2026) brings you crisp, exam-ready updates for UPSC Prelims and Mains 2026. Today's edition covers the Representation of the People Act 1951 by-election mandates, IT Rules 2021, a landmark exoplanet discovery, CAR T-cell therapy, the India-U.K. FTA rules of origin, RIMPAC naval exercise and more.

Representation of the People Act (RPA), 1951 – By-Election Mandates

The RPA, 1951 mandates that a by-election to fill any vacancy in Parliament or State Assemblies must be conducted within six months of the seat falling vacant. Judicial interpretations and statutory exceptions recognise three scenarios where this rule is modified:

• When the remainder of the term for the vacant seat is less than one year.
• When the Election Commission (EC), in consultation with the Union government, certifies that holding the election within the prescribed period is difficult.
• When an election petition challenging the validity of the previous election is pending in a High Court or the Supreme Court. In Election Commission of India v. Telangana Rashtra Samithi, the Supreme Court ruled that a seat cannot be considered available for a by-poll while the previous election's validity remains under challenge.

IT Rules, 2021 – Significant Social Media Intermediaries (SSMIs)

• Under the IT Rules, 2021, any platform with more than 50 lakh (5 million) registered users in India is classified as a "Significant Social Media Intermediary".
• This status subjects the platform to strict due-diligence obligations. Under Section 3(1)(b), intermediaries must make reasonable efforts to prevent users from sharing content that infringes proprietary rights such as patents, trademarks, or copyrights.

WD 1856 b – Exoplanet Exploration

Using the James Webb Space Telescope, scientists discovered an atmosphere containing hydrocarbons and aerosol clouds around WD 1856 b, a Jupiter-sized planet. This is the first time an atmosphere has been identified on a world orbiting a white dwarf (a dead star).

CAR T-Cell Therapy for Solid Tumours

Scientists have developed a CAR T-cell therapy targeting the GPNMB protein, consistently expressed on rare solid tumour cells — specifically alveolar soft-part sarcoma (ASPS) and certain kidney cancers — offering a new pathway to target solid tumours.

India-U.K. FTA – Rules of Origin

The Ministry of Finance has notified rules for the determination of origin of goods under the India-U.K. Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement. A Certificate of Origin issued by authorized entities in both nations is mandatory to prevent third-country products from wrongly claiming preferential tariff benefits.

RIMPAC – Rim of the Pacific Exercise

Hosted by the U.S. Pacific Fleet in Hawaii, RIMPAC is the world's largest naval exercise. The Indian Navy participated by deploying its P-8I long-range maritime patrol aircraft.

Zhipu AI (Z.ai) & Open-Weight Models

• A Chinese AI startup co-founded by Tsinghua University professor Tang Jie (creator of academic search engine AMiner).
• It released GLM-5.2, an open-weight model (allowing developers to run and modify it on local hardware), alongside ZCode, an AI coding assistant.

Smartphone Lithium-ion Battery Chemistry

• In cold weather, liquid electrolyte becomes less conductive, forcing lithium ions to move sluggishly and falsely triggering low-battery warnings.
• In hot weather, battery chemistry is more active, but high heat accelerates unwanted side-reactions that permanently reduce battery capacity.

Vysotsk Port

A strategic Russian port on the Baltic Sea that handles oil, grain, coal, and liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Why These Topics Matter for UPSC 2026

Expect prelims questions on RPA 1951 by-election timelines, SSMI thresholds under IT Rules 2021, JWST discoveries, and mapping-based questions on Vysotsk Port and RIMPAC. For mains, the India-U.K. FTA rules of origin link directly to GS Paper 2 (bilateral agreements) and GS Paper 3 (economy).

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