Monthly current affairs for July 2026

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'.

Union Minister G Kishan Reddy has inaugurated the Exhibition on Mine Closure and Mine Repurposing in New Delhi, showcasing initiatives by Coal India Ltd (CIL) and its subsidiaries.

During the event, he released the 'AAROH Annual Report on Mine Closure', developed by the Coal Controller Organisation. It provides India's first comprehensive documentation on scientific mine closure and repurposing practices for 42 coal mines. The Minister also virtually inaugurated Coal NEER Plants established by CIL through its subsidiaries.

During the event, the Ministry of Coal signed an Implementation Agreement with the German agency Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) for technical cooperation on 'To-be closed mines'. The project, commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and co-financed by the European Union (EU), has a total volume of €10 million and will be implemented until 2030.

Additionally, Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL) and the Jharia Rehabilitation and Development Authority (JRDA) signed tripartite MoUs with Hindalco Industries Ltd and Rajdhani Universal Fabrics Pvt Ltd to establish an Industry-Linked Skill Centre in the Dhanbad region for apparel manufacturing training.

The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) has granted in-principle approval for two maritime infrastructure projects in Gujarat under the Shipbuilding Development Scheme (SbDS).

The first project is a Greenfield Shipbuilding Cluster at Kuchhadi in the Porbandar district, covering nearly 2,000 acres. The second project is a Ship Repair Facility at Vadinar in the Gulf of Kutch, which will be developed at a cost of ₹1,570 crore by Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) and the Deendayal Port Authority (DPA).

Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan unveiled the roadmap for 'Viksit Krishi and Samruddh Kisan' as a key pillar of 'Viksit Bharat 2047' during the 98th Foundation Day of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in New Delhi.

During the event, 43 new crop varieties, 17 technologies/products, and 14 publications were released, and over 70 MoUs were signed.

ICAR aims to establish 100 'Climate Smart Villages' before its centenary. Under 'Mission ICAR-100', Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) will be transformed, with each KVK mandated to cover at least 100 villages. Additionally, under the 'One Institute-One Grand Innovation' initiative, every ICAR institute is tasked to develop at least one transformational innovation within 2 years.

RBI has released the composite Financial Inclusion Index (FI-Index) for FY26, which increased to 70 in March 2026 from 67 in March 2025.

RBI has also issued new "Prudential Norms on Specified Non-Financial Asset (SNFA) acquired by Regulated Entities" to tighten regulations governing the resolution of distressed loans. This framework will come into effect on October 1, 2026.

According to the 15th edition of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) Monthly Bulletin released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), the overall unemployment rate for individuals aged 15 and above remained unchanged at 5.5% in June 2026.

The unemployment rate in rural areas decreased from 5.1% in May 2026 to 5% in June 2026, while the rate in urban areas increased from 6.4% to 6.6%. The Labour Force Participation Rate for persons aged 15 and above stood at 54.4% in June 2026, and the Worker Population Ratio at the all-India level was 51.4%.

The 16th BRICS Health Ministers' Meeting was held in Chandigarh under the BRICS Chairship of India for 2026. The meeting was held under the theme 'Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability' to strengthen cooperation in public health priorities and global health architecture.

Additionally, under the BRICS Presidency of India for 2026, the Ministry of Education convened the International Governing Board (IGB) meeting of the BRICS Network University (BRICS NU) in a virtual format.

The Centre for Air Borne Systems (CABS) under the DRDO has signed a contract with AI Engineering Services Ltd (AIESL), New Delhi, for the conversion of six A321 aircraft from commercial to green configuration. This process is crucial for the development of the Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) MKII Programme.

Additionally, a separate contract has been signed with Adani Defence Systems and Technologies (ADSTL), Ahmedabad, designating the company as the Development Cum Production Partner (DcPP) for Mission Systems under the AEW&C MKII Programme.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has participated in the 45th edition of the biennial multinational air combat exercise 'Pitch Black 2026', hosted by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) at RAAF Base Darwin in northern Australia. The exercise witnessed the participation of air forces from 20 nations.

INS Malvan, the second indigenously designed and built Mahe-class Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft (ASW-SWC), has been commissioned at Karwar, Karnataka.

It is the 2nd of 8 Mahe-class ASW-SWCs being constructed by Cochin Shipyard Ltd and the 6th of 16 ASW-SWCs to be commissioned into the Indian Navy (IN). The ship features over 80% indigenous content.

Named after the coastal town of Malvan in Maharashtra, it honours the maritime heritage of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and carries the legacy of its predecessor, an inshore Indian Naval Minesweeper that remained in service until 2003.

Union Minister Rajnath Singh has flagged-in 'Samudra Pradakshina', the inaugural Tri-service all-women circumnavigation sailing expedition, via video conferencing.

The team, comprising nine women officers from the three Services, sailed aboard the Indian Army Sailing Vessel (IASV) Triveni. They returned to Mumbai after completing a 314-day voyage, covering nearly 25,500 nautical miles across four oceans.

Union Minister Giriraj Singh inaugurated the 3rd edition of Bharat Tex, India's flagship global textile event, at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi.

During the event, the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) established a bilateral industry platform in collaboration with the European Apparel and Textile Confederation (EURATEX). The event generated business enquiries worth $2.8 billion and secured investment commitments of ₹14,300 crore across various states. Additionally, participating states signed over 30 MoUs.