Awards & Honours Current Affairs July 2026

The <b>Geographical Indications Registry (GIR)</b>, under the <b>DPIIT</b> (Ministry of Commerce and Industry), granted <b>GI tags</b> to two Gujarat agricultural products — <b>Unjha Cumin (Jeera)</b> and <b>Unjha Fennel (Saunf)</b>, both from the Unjha region in north Gujarat. With this, Gujarat's list of GI-tagged agricultural products expands to <b>6</b> (joining Gir Kesar mangoes, Bhalia wheat, Kachchhi Kharek and Amalsadi chikoo). Unjha (Mehsana district) is India's largest fennel-producing region and one of Asia's largest fennel trading hubs. NABARD has facilitated GI registration of 28 new products, taking its total to 176.

The jury of the 72nd National Film Awards (for the year 2024) announced the winners in New Delhi. Article 370, directed by Aditya Suhas Jambhale, won Best Feature Film. Best Actor was shared by Mammootty (Bramayugam, Malayalam — his 4th National Award) and Kartik Aaryan (Chandu Champion, Hindi). Yami Gautam won Best Actress for Article 370 — her first National Award. Rajkumar Periyasamy won Best Direction for the Tamil film Amaran, and Kalki 2898 AD (dir. Nag Ashwin) won Best Popular Film. Randeep Hooda won Best Debut Film of a Director for Swatantrya Veer Savarkar.

The jury of the 72nd National Film Awards announced the winners for the year 2024 on 18 July 2026 in New Delhi, recognising excellence across feature films, non-feature films and writing on cinema. The announcement was made by Jayaraj (Chairperson, Feature Film Jury), Aseem Sinha (Chairperson, Non-Feature Film Jury) and A. Chandrasekhar (Chairperson, Best Writing on Cinema Jury). Key winners: Best Feature Film — Article 370, directed by Aditya Suhas Jambhale. The film also won Best Actress and Best Music Direction. Best Actor (jointly) — Mammootty for the Malayalam horror drama Bramayugam, and Kartik Aaryan for the Hindi sports biopic Chandu Champion. This is Mammootty's 4th National Film Award, after Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha and Mathilukal (1989), Ponthan Mada and Vidheyan (1994), and Dr. Ambedkar (1999). Best Actress — Yami Gautam for Article 370 — her first-ever National Film Award. Best Direction — Rajkumar Periyasamy for the Tamil film Amaran. Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment — Kalki 2898 AD, directed by Nag Ashwin. Best Debut Film of a Director — Randeep Hooda for Swatantrya Veer Savarkar. Best Non-Feature Film — Bhangaar; Best Documentary — Ram-Nami. Winners receive the Rajat Kamal (Silver Lotus) and a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh in the acting categories.

The winners of the 72nd National Film Awards — honouring Indian cinema of 2024 — were announced in New Delhi on 18 July 2026, with the jury headed by veteran Malayalam filmmaker Jayaraj. Best Feature Film went to Article 370. Kartik Aaryan (for *Chandu Champion*, portraying Paralympic gold medallist Murlikant Petkar) and Mammootty (for *Bramayugam*) shared the Best Actor award, while Yami Gautam won Best Actress for *Article 370*. Other winners across categories included *Amaran*, *Kalki 2898 AD*, *Pushpa: The Rule* and *Maharaja*.

The 2026 Fields Medal, mathematics' highest honour, was awarded to four mathematicians at the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) held in Philadelphia, USA on 23 July 2026: Yu Deng (University of Chicago), John Pardon (Stony Brook University), Jacob Tsimerman (University of Toronto), and Hong Wang (NYU/IHES). Hong Wang - recognised for advances in Fourier restriction and the Kakeya problem in three dimensions - became only the third woman to win the medal in its 90-year history, after Maryam Mirzakhani (2014) and Maryna Viazovska (2022). Wang and Deng are also the first Chinese nationals to win since 1982. The Fields Medal is awarded by the International Mathematical Union (IMU) every four years to mathematicians under 40.

In July 2026, the International Cricket Council (ICC) inducted former Indian women captain Anjum Chopra and former England captain Kevin Pietersen into the ICC Hall of Fame at its Annual Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland. Anjum Chopra became the 3rd Indian woman (after Diana Edulji and Neetu David) and the 13th Indian overall, taking total inductees to 125. She was the first Indian woman to play 100 ODIs and received the Padma Shri in 2014.

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2026, at a ceremony in Edinburgh. He was inducted alongside former India women's captain Anjum Chopra and former England batter Kevin Pietersen, taking the total number of Hall of Fame members to 125. One of India's most influential captains, Ganguly scored 7,212 runs in 113 Tests and 11,363 runs in 311 ODIs, and led India to the 2003 ODI World Cup final and a shared 2002 ICC Champions Trophy title. Players become eligible five years after their final international appearance. ICC Chairman: Jay Shah. Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar share a record ODI opening stand of 6,609 runs.

In July 2026, the Financial Intelligence Unit — India (FIU-IND) was named runner-up at the Best Egmont Case Award (BECA) 2026, one of the Egmont Group highest honours, for uncovering a large-scale cyber fraud. Director Anil Mohan Govil received it at the Egmont Group Plenary in Baku, Azerbaijan. FIU-IND traced a money-laundering network involving ~Rs 868 crore in cyber-fraud proceeds, over 5,000 mule accounts and crypto transactions. Taiwan AMLD won BECA 2026.

Nita Ambani, founder-chairperson of Reliance Foundation, was felicitated with the Fortune India Most Powerful Women (MPW) honour in Mumbai, topping the Fortune India MPW 2026 list of 100 women. Top 5: Nita Ambani (1), Roshni Nadar, CEO of HCL Technologies (2), the Reddy sisters of Apollo Hospitals (3), Savitri Jindal (4), and Dr. Priti Adani (5).

India's five-member team won all five gold medals at the 56th International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) 2026, held in Bucaramanga, Colombia (5-12 July 2026), securing the joint World No. 1 rank alongside China, Kazakhstan, Russia, South Korea and Taiwan. A total of 381 students from 87 countries participated. The gold medallists were Kanishk Jain (Pune), Riddhesh Anant Bendale (Indore), Rishit Garg (Delhi), Shresth Suraiya (Mumbai) and Svarit Joshi (Ahmedabad). The team was trained by the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE), a centre of TIFR under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). Every Indian participant at the IPhO over the past decade has won a medal.

The Department of Telecommunications' (DoT) flagship 'Samriddh Gram' initiative was declared the global winner of the WSIS Prizes 2026 under Action Line C6 - Enabling Environment, at the WSIS Forum 2026 in Geneva. The WSIS (World Summit on the Information Society) Prizes are instituted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to honour ICT projects advancing sustainable development. Built on the BharatNet network, Samriddh Gram delivers integrated 'phygital' services (healthcare, education, agriculture, finance, e-governance, e-commerce) through village-level Samriddhi Kendras. Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia hailed the recognition. Over 2.2 million global votes were cast across nominated WSIS projects.