PPSC (Punjab) Current Affairs One-liners — Last 6 months

Sun, 19 Jul 2026

• All four Indian students won gold medals at the 58th International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) in Tashkent, Uzbekistan (10–19 July 2026), India's best-ever IChO result and first all-gold haul.
• The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) initiated suo motu action against 41 restaurants for adding service charge to bills by default, it said on 19 July 2026.
• All four Indian students won medals – 1 gold and 3 silver – at the 37th International Biology Olympiad (IBO) in Vilnius, Lithuania, held from 12 to 19 July 2026.
• Over 89,000 sewer and septic tank workers and over 2,81,000 waste pickers have been validated under the NAMASTE scheme, Union Minister Dr Virendra Kumar said on 19 July 2026.
• An all-party meeting chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh was held in Parliament House Complex on 19 July 2026 ahead of the Monsoon Session, attended by 58 leaders from 40 political parties.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tributes to the revolutionary Mangal Pandey on his birth anniversary on 19 July 2026.

Sat, 18 Jul 2026

• The 72nd National Film Awards for 2024 were announced on 18 July 2026, with Article 370 winning Best Feature Film and Mammootty and Kartik Aaryan sharing Best Actor.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated 75 redeveloped Amrit Bharat Stations in 20 States, built at about ₹1,570 crore, to the nation on 18 July 2026.
• UIDAI said on 18 July 2026 that the Aadhaar App has crossed 40 million (4 crore) downloads, with about 49 lakh mobile number updates and 11.65 lakh address updates done through the App.
• The Bar Council of India hosted the Draft Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2026 on its website on 18 July 2026, inviting comments from stakeholders and the public by 31 July 2026 (3 PM).
• MNRE said on 18 July 2026 that there is no change in ALMM List-II policy for solar PV cells, but net-metering and open-access RE projects can commission without ALMM List-II cells till 31 December 2026.
• Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal concluded a visit to Spain, Belgium, Finland and Estonia (13–18 July 2026), co-chairing the 3rd India–EU Trade and Technology Council ministerial meeting in Brussels.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed deep sorrow on 18 July 2026 over the passing of Smt. Chennamma, wife of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda.

Fri, 17 Jul 2026

• NITI Aayog released the Investment Friendliness Index (IFI) on 17 July 2026, naming Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Goa and Odisha as Top Performers.
• Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya (GSV) held its 4th Convocation on 17 July 2026, conferring its first-ever honorary Ph.D. on 'Metro Man' E. Sreedharan; Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu was chief guest.
• The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) imposed a ₹1 lakh penalty on SpiceJet, announced on 17 July 2026, for dark patterns such as pre-ticked enrolment into its loyalty programme.
• The Government of India announced on 17 July 2026 that it has notified the commencement of the National Anti-Doping Act, 2022 and the National Anti-Doping (Amendment) Act, 2025.
• Bharat Tex 2026 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, drew about ₹14,300 crore of textile investment commitments with 30+ MoUs and 1,647 exhibitors in its first three days, the Textiles Ministry said on 17 July 2026.
• The 12th meeting of the National Committee on Dam Safety (NCDS), chaired by the Central Water Commission Chairman, was held in New Delhi on 17 July 2026.
• Vice-President C. P. Radhakrishnan released the book 'RSS @100: A Century of Service, Unity & Sacrifice', authored by Shyam Jaju and Anupam Trivedi, on 17 July 2026.

Thu, 16 Jul 2026

• NITI Aayog's 'Roadmap for Building India as a Leading Bioeconomy Powerhouse by 2035', launched by Dr Jitendra Singh on 16 July 2026, aims to grow India's bioeconomy to $691 billion by 2035 and $2.6 trillion by 2047.
• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved the appointment of oceanographer Dr Srinivasa Kumar Tummala as Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, for two years, as announced on 16 July 2026.
• The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) celebrated its 98th Foundation Day on 16 July 2026, with Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan saying ICAR developed 386 improved varieties across 44 crops in the past year.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with Qatar's Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on 16 July 2026 and conveyed condolences on the passing of the Father Amir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended greetings on the occasion of Rath Yatra on 16 July 2026, seeking the blessings of Mahaprabhu Jagannath.

Wed, 15 Jul 2026

• The India–UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and the Agreement on Social Security (Double Contribution Convention) entered into force on 15 July 2026, giving zero-duty access to nearly 99% of India's exports.
• The Union Cabinet approved Semicon 2.0 on 15 July 2026 with a total outlay of ₹1,27,500 crore to build India's semiconductor design and manufacturing ecosystem on six pillars.
• On World Youth Skills Day, 15 July 2026, MoS Jayant Chaudhary unveiled the IndiaSkills Competition 2026–27 guidelines covering 63 skill categories, launched the WorldSkills India Champions Club and announced a ~₹530-crore Skills Outcomes Fund.
• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the National Investment Policy for Urea-2026 for Atmanirbhar Bharat (NIPU-2026) on 15 July 2026 to attract new investment in gas-based urea plants.
• The Union Cabinet approved the Mobile Phone Manufacturing Scheme (MPMS) on 15 July 2026 with an outlay of ₹62,500 crore for FY 2026-27 to FY 2030-31.