Current Affairs One-liners — 21 July 2026

Tue, 21 Jul 2026

• The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) granted marketing authorisation for Qdenga, a live attenuated tetravalent dengue vaccine made by Takeda GmbH, Germany, the first dengue vaccine approved in India (announced 21 July 2026).
• Union Minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia and Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma launched 'Mission Golden Spice', a ₹175.45-crore project for the Lakadong turmeric value chain in Meghalaya, on 21 July 2026.
• On 21 July 2026, President Droupadi Murmu held talks with North Macedonia's President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova at Villa Vodno and addressed the Assembly of North Macedonia, on the first visit by an Indian President to the country.
• The Ministry of Education convened the virtual International Governing Board meeting of the BRICS Network University on 21 July 2026, after the first BRICS NU conference on Traditional and Indigenous Knowledge Systems on 20 July.
• India's installed renewable energy capacity rose from 76.38 GW in 2014 to 288.58 GW as on 30 June 2026, the government told the Rajya Sabha on 21 July 2026.
• The Department of Legal Affairs hosted the 8th Meeting of BRICS Heads of Prosecution Services in virtual mode on 20–21 July 2026, presided over by Attorney General R. Venkataramani.
• 332 sanitation workers lost their lives in 18 States and UTs while cleaning sewers and septic tanks between January 2021 and June 2026, MoS Ramdas Athawale told the Lok Sabha on 21 July 2026.
• On 21 July 2026, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Andy Burnham on assuming office as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
• Harjit Singh Grewal assumed office as Chairman of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) on 21 July 2026; S. Munawari Begum became Vice Chairperson on 20 July.
• Researchers from MACS Agharkar Research Institute, Pune, described five new species of the lichen-forming fungal genus Allographa from the Western Ghats (announced 21 July 2026).
• Thirteen projects for manufacturing APIs have been approved in Telangana under the PLI Scheme for Bulk Drugs, and 16 applicants run 48 API units in the State under the PLI Scheme for Pharmaceuticals, the government said on 21 July 2026.
• The Modernisation and Upgradation of Mangalore Fishing Harbour, approved in 2024 under PMMSY at ₹37.47 crore, has reached 25% physical progress, the Fisheries Department said on 21 July 2026.
• On 21 July 2026, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed anguish over deaths in the collapse of an under-construction tunnel in Namchi, Sikkim, and announced ex-gratia from the PMNRF.