Monthly current affairs for July 2026

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).

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.

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'.

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.

'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.

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 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.

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.

The Arunachal Pradesh government has signed an MoU with Norway-based Tidal Sail AS to implement a 500 kW River Kinetic Energy Demonstration Project.

Being executed under the India-Norway Green Partnership through the Centre for Earth Sciences & Himalayan Studies (CES&HS), this initiative marks the development of the first River Kinetic Energy Demonstration Plant in India.

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Dr Jitendra Singh has launched Phase-III of the Biomedical Research Career Programme (BRCP).

The programme has a total financial outlay of ₹1,500 crore, comprising ₹1,000 crore from the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and ₹500 crore from the Wellcome Trust (WT), London. The programme is jointly implemented by the DBT and the WT through the DBT-WT India Alliance, which is administered by a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV).

The Central Public Works Department (CPWD), under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoH&UA), has celebrated its 172nd Annual Day at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.

During the event, Union Minister Manohar Lal unveiled the 'SANKALP' framework. He also released two publications, 'India's Urban Transformation: Reflections from Policy and Practice' and the MoH&UA's coffee table book 'India's Urban Momentum: Towards Making Our Cities Liveable', which highlight the journey of urban development in India.

Delhivery Financial Services Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Delhivery Ltd, has received the Certificate of Registration (CoR) from the RBI to operate as a Type-II Non-Banking Financial Company-Non-Deposit Taking (NBFC-ND).

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has approved format changes for the Men's One Day International (ODI) World Cup and the Men's Twenty20 (T20) World Cup during its annual board meetings held in Edinburgh, Scotland.

From 2027, the 14-team ICC Men's ODI World Cup will transition to a 4-stage format, increasing the total number of matches from 48 to 57 and introducing a 'Super 7' round-robin stage. The 20-team ICC Men's T20 World Cup will feature 5 groups of 4 teams, followed by a 'Super 10' stage (replacing the Super 8) and Eliminators.

The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has granted marketing authorisation for the Dengue Tetravalent Vaccine (Live, Attenuated), known as "Qdenga". This is the first dengue vaccine to be approved in India for the prevention of the disease.

Manufactured by Takeda GmbH, Germany, and imported by Takeda Biopharmaceuticals India Pvt Ltd, the vaccine is indicated for individuals aged between 4 and 60 years. It is produced in Vero cells. It is to be noted that the vaccine has already received regulatory approval in 42 countries.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has successfully conducted the inaugural lift-off and landing test of its reusable rocket prototype, 'RV-X', at the Noshiro Testing Center in Japan.

The prototype is developed in partnership with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI). It measures 7.3 m in length and 1.8 m in diameter, featuring an enhanced-durability engine and 4 shock-absorbing landing legs.

India has deposited its Instrument of Acceptance for the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies (AFS), becoming a party to the agreement. India is the 123rd member to deposit its acceptance for the same.

The AFS, adopted at the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference in Geneva in 2022, is the first multilateral WTO agreement with an environmental sustainability objective.

It prohibits government support for illegal fishing and overexploitation of stocks, contributing to the protection of marine life. It is to be noted that the agreement entered into force in September 2025, following acceptance by two-thirds of WTO members.

Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (Jio) has received technical approval from the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) to deploy a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation consisting of 1,600 satellites.

The company intends to file for global orbital slots under the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to launch India's first home-grown satellite broadband constellation. The project aims to provide a capacity of 4.5–5 Tbps, supported by 20–22 ground stations in India.

Mindaugas Sinkevicius, the leader of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP), has been sworn in as the 20th Prime Minister (PM) of Lithuania. He succeeds Inga Ruginiene.