Current Affairs One-liners — July 2026

Sat, 25 Jul 2026

• The 'Ancient Buddhist Site of Sarnath' in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List on 25 July 2026 at the 48th session of the World Heritage Committee in Busan, South Korea, becoming India's 45th World Heritage property.
• On 25 July 2026, the President, on the advice of the Prime Minister, accepted Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation from the Union Council of Ministers under Article 75(2), and assigned the Ministry of Education to Cabinet Minister Pralhad Joshi in addition to his existing portfolio.
• The Law Ministry told Parliament on 25 July 2026 that 775 Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs), including 398 exclusive POCSO courts, were functional in 29 States/UTs as of 30 April 2026, and the FTSC scheme has been temporarily extended up to 30 September 2026.
• Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma launched the cooperative ride-hailing service 'Bharat Taxi' in Rajasthan at Jaipur on 25 July 2026; the service has nearly 8 lakh registered 'Sarathis' (drivers) and 41 lakh customers nationally.
• The Law Ministry informed Parliament on 25 July 2026 that DISHA 2.0 (Designing Innovative Solutions for Holistic Access to Justice), a Central Sector Scheme with an outlay of ₹255 crore for 2026-31, is being implemented across India.
• Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla paid floral tributes to former Speaker Somnath Chatterjee in the Central Hall of Samvidhan Sadan on his birth anniversary on 25 July 2026.
• Top seed Anahat Singh beat Egypt's Ruqayya Salem 3-0 (11-3, 11-7, 11-9) on 25 July 2026 at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada, to become the first Indian to win the World Squash Junior Championship title.
• Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri marked the start of drilling (spudding) of MN-DWN18-1-HD, the first appraisal well in the Mahanadi Offshore Basin, on 25 July 2026.
• The Indian Coast Guard said on 25 July 2026 it had rescued 170 stranded persons through 11 rescue operations since midnight of 22 July in flood-hit areas of Daman, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and South Gujarat.
• A Department of Commerce team led by Additional Secretary Nitin Kumar Yadav visited Andhra Pradesh on 25 July 2026 to review the Flue-Cured Virginia (FCV) tobacco market, joining a meeting chaired by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.
• Indian Navy sail training ship INS Sudarshini departed Boston, USA on 25 July 2026 as part of its ongoing Lokayan 26 voyage, after representing India at the SAIL 250 celebrations and the International Naval Review 250.
• The three-day 3rd Bharat CPSEs' Consultative Conclave 2026 on Project and Asset Management concluded on 25 July 2026 at Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya (GSV), Vadodara, focusing on energy and mining CPSEs.

Fri, 24 Jul 2026

• The Union Cabinet on 24 July 2026 approved Bharat Audyogik Vikas Yojana Rasayan (BHAVYA Rasayan), a ₹3,030 crore scheme to set up three dedicated Chemical Parks, announced in the Union Budget 2026-27.
• Manipur Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh on 24 July 2026 inaugurated a new District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) building and an Ima Market at Salam in Imphal West district.
• Para powerlifter Jhandu Kumar won bronze in the men's heavyweight event at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on 24 July 2026, opening India's medal tally at the Games.
• The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting released the Television Rating Policy 2026, replacing the Guidelines for TV Rating Agencies of 16 January 2014, to bring transparency, independence and accountability to TV audience measurement (informed 24 July 2026).
• India's services exports rose to USD 421.3 billion in FY 2025-26 from USD 387.5 billion in FY 2024-25, led by telecommunications, computer and information services, the Commerce Ministry told Parliament on 24 July 2026, citing RBI data.
• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, at the CBDT's 167th Income Tax Day celebrations in New Delhi on 24 July 2026, outlined the '5Rs of Responsive Tax Governance' – Recognise, Respond, Redress, Reflect and Reform.
• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 24 July 2026 approved the 3rd and 4th railway lines of the Ballari–Guntakal section in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh at a cost of about ₹1,264 crore, adding about 46 km to the Indian Railways network.
• Under India's BRICS Chairship 2026, the NDMA hosted the 3rd BRICS Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in New Delhi on 24 July 2026, chaired by MoS Home Nityanand Rai, which unanimously adopted the BRICS Joint Statement on DRR.
• Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on 24 July 2026 reviewed Haryana's measures to improve Delhi-NCR air quality with Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, stressing strict enforcement before the onset of winter.
• The Bucharest University of Economic Studies conferred an Honorary Doctorate on President Droupadi Murmu at a ceremony in Bucharest, Romania on 24 July 2026.
• The Department of Telecommunications on 24 July 2026 activated Intra-Circle Roaming (ICR) in disaster-affected districts of Nagaland, Gujarat and Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, with Longleng becoming the second district in Nagaland after Mon to get ICR.
• The Commerce Ministry told Parliament on 24 July 2026 that 1,244 products have been identified across 773 districts under DPIIT's One District One Product (ODOP) initiative.

Thu, 23 Jul 2026

• DRDO successfully conducted the maiden flight-test of the 'Kusha' Long-Range Surface-to-Air Missile from APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast on 23 July 2026, intercepting an electronic target that simulated a high-speed, high-altitude aerial threat.
• President Droupadi Murmu reached Bucharest on 23 July 2026 on the last leg of her State Visits to Moldova, North Macedonia and Romania, and held talks with Romanian President Nicușor Dan at Cotroceni Palace – the first State Visit by an Indian President to Romania in nearly three decades.
• The US Trade Representative on 23 July 2026 announced final measures under Section 301 of the US Trade Act, 1974, following its forced-labour investigation of 60 economies, placing India in the lower tier with an additional 10% ad valorem duty, down from the 12.5% proposed on 2 June 2026.
• India and Israel concluded the second round of negotiations for the proposed India–Israel Free Trade Agreement, held from 20 to 23 July 2026 at Vanijya Bhawan, New Delhi.
• India's Eighth Trade Policy Review (TPR) at the World Trade Organization in Geneva concluded on 23 July 2026, with 68 WTO Members participating; the Indian delegation was led by Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on 23 July 2026 that the government has decided to set up fast-track courts to ensure swift and stringent punishment for those involved in paper leaks.