Daily Current Affairs 23 July 2026

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Arjun Ram Meghwal has launched the electronic - Vidhi Sahitya Prakashan (e-VSP) portal. It is a digital platform designed to provide seamless access to legal books, publications, and educational resources.

Developed in collaboration with the National Informatics Centre (NIC) and the Official Languages Wing, the portal facilitates access to legal publications in Hindi.

The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) has launched the pilot phase of the 'Gems of India' Challenge to identify, nurture, and promote grassroots digital creators across the country.

The initiative is built upon MyWAVES, the citizen creator platform under WAVES OTT, which was launched by Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to enable citizens to create, upload, and share original content and strengthen the digital creator ecosystem of India. The ministry is collaborating with YouTube and Meta to mobilize creator communities and extend the outreach of the challenge.

The 49th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC49) was held in Geneva, Switzerland. During the session, 7 codex standards and guidelines developed under the chairmanship and co-chairmanship of India were adopted.

The commission also approved a proposal by the Government of India (GoI) to initiate new work for developing a codex standard for cashew kernels under the Codex Committee on Processed Fruits and Vegetables (CCPFV).

PM Narendra Modi has inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for rail and road infrastructure projects worth over ₹5,470 crore at Jalandhar Cantonment in Punjab.

This includes the inauguration of 75 redeveloped railway stations across 20 states under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, executed at a cost of ₹1,570 crore.

The central government has approved the development of two new Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMCs) in Tamil Nadu under the 'EMC 2.0' scheme to expand the Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) ecosystem.

The projects, managed by the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamilnadu Ltd (SIPCOT), involve a combined investment of ₹1,012.02 crore. This includes the Manallur EMC in Tiruvallur district (474.3 acres) costing ₹587.47 crore, and the Pillapaikkam EMC in Kancheepuram district (379.3 acres) costing ₹424.55 crore.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has approved projects worth ₹2,719.80 crore under the Urban Challenge Fund (UCF) initiated by PM Narendra Modi. The funding is designated for 6 transformative urban development initiatives in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

Akasa Air has signed an MoU with Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) to promote the adoption of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). The partnership aims to reduce carbon emissions from the aviation sector in India.

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has signed an MoU with Nalanda University (NU) to foster institutional collaboration.

The partnership aims to promote initiatives in technology deployment, sustainability, rural development, skill enhancement, and scientific outreach. It seeks to integrate the indigenous technological capabilities of CSIR with the international academic ecosystem of NU.

According to the 'Brand Finance India 100 Report 2026', Tata Group is ranked as the most valuable brand in India for the 10th consecutive year, with a brand value of $33.6 billion. It is followed by Infosys and LIC Group.

Adani Group is ranked 8th in the list, becoming the fastest company to enter India's 'Top 10 Most Valuable Brands'. Suzlon Energy is the fastest-growing Indian brand in 2026, while Taj Hotels is ranked as India's strongest brand for the 5th consecutive year.

The United Nations (UN) has released the Preliminary Report of the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI, which is the first UN-commissioned scientific assessment of AI. The report was prepared by a 40-member panel co-chaired by Turing Award laureate Yoshua Bengio and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa.

The assessment highlights a global AI imbalance, noting that the USA leads with 75% of global compute capacity and 59 AI models.

India hosted the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) Heads of Anti-Drug Agencies Meeting in Guwahati, Assam.

During the meeting, member nations adopted the 'Guwahati Declaration', and India proposed the establishment of a dedicated BRICS Virtual Working Group (VWG) to address evolving drug trafficking trends and enhance cross-border training initiatives.

India also organized the 'GO-BRICS India-Russia Energy-o-thon 2026' in Bengaluru, which is the world's first hackathon involving BRICS nations. Additionally, the BRICS Academic Thematic Conference, themed 'Strengthening BRICS Connectivity: Fostering Cooperation', was jointly organized by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) and the BRICS Expert Council Russia in Moscow, Russia.

Union Minister S Jaishankar has launched India's campaign for election as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for the 2028-29 term at the UN Headquarters in New York. The campaign is themed "SHANTI: Securing Holistic Advancement through Norms, Trust and Integrity".

It is to be noted that the UNSC comprises 15 members, including five permanent members with veto power (China, France, Russia, UK, and USA) and 10 non-permanent members. India has served as a non-permanent member of the UNSC eight times.

'Operation Southern Readiness 26-2' has commenced at the Southern Naval Command in Kochi. The exercise is hosted by the Southern Naval Command under the the Indian Navy-led Combined Task Force 154 (CTF 154), in partnership with the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF).

The engagement involves 254 participants from 26 countries. It is to be noted that the CTF 154, which functions as the dedicated Training Task Force of the CMF, is currently commanded by the Indian Navy under the leadership of Commodore Milind M Mokashi.

Harjit Singh Grewal has been appointed as the Chairman of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) for a tenure of 3 years. He succeeds Iqbal Singh Lalpura. S Munawari has been appointed as the Vice-Chairperson of the NCM.

The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) has announced the winners of the 72nd National Film Awards 2024. The Hindi film 'Article 370' won the Best Feature Film award, and Yami Gautam was honoured with the Best Actress (Leading Role) award for her performance in the same film.

The Best Actor award was jointly conferred upon Mammootty for 'Bramayugam' and Kartik Aaryan for 'Chandu Champion'. Rajkumar Periasamy won the Best Direction award for the Tamil film 'Amaran', and Randeep Hooda was recognised as the Best Debut Director.

Dr. Nandini Azad, the President of the Working Women's Forum (India) (WWF-I) and the Indian Cooperative Network for Women (ICNW), has been conferred with the Bharat Samman 2026.

Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and Badminton Association of India (BAI) President and Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma have unveiled the official mascot 'Peacko' and the championship anthem for the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Championships 2026 in New Delhi.

The mascot 'Peacko' is inspired by the Indian Peafowl. The 30th edition of the BWF World Championships will be hosted at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi.

The Indian Deaf Women’s Cricket Team has won the inaugural Women’s Twenty20 International (T20I) series against the Sri Lanka Deaf Women’s Cricket Team with a 5–0 victory. The series was held at the De Soysa International Cricket Stadium in Moratuwa, Sri Lanka.

Shradda Vaishnav was named the 'Player of the Final', while Reddy Jyoshna was adjudged the 'Player of the Series'.