July 2026 Current Affairs Quiz

The second edition of the Digital Threat Report 2025-26 focuses on the BFSI and payments ecosystem; it was jointly released by MeitY, CERT-In, CSIRT-Fin and SISA.

The tests validated crew-module recovery and separation systems for Gaganyaan, India first human spaceflight mission.

Copenhagen (Denmark) topped the EIU Global Liveability Index 2026 for the second year running, ahead of Vienna (2nd) and Melbourne (3rd). The index, published by the Economist Intelligence Unit, ranks 173 cities on 30 indicators across stability, healthcare, culture & environment, education and infrastructure.

India's total exports (merchandise + services) in Q1 FY27 stood at USD 232.73 billion; merchandise exports alone were USD 129.32 billion.

NIPU-2026 = National Investment Policy for Urea-2026, which promotes indigenous urea capacity to cut import dependence.

The Tata Group topped the list for the 10th straight year with a brand value of USD 33.6 billion. Adani rose to 8th as the fastest entrant to the top 10.

Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya announced Telangana as host of the 8th Khelo India Youth Games (November 2026). Tamil Nadu hosted the 2024 edition and Bihar the 2025 edition, where Maharashtra topped the medal table. Khelo India was launched in 2018.

The Union Cabinet approved Semicon 2.0 with a total budget outlay of Rs 1,27,500 crore to strengthen India's semiconductor design and manufacturing ecosystem.

Kerala-based HEX20 launched its second satellite KOYO aboard SpaceX's Transporter-17 rideshare mission from Vandenberg.

Pillale Sampada (Children are Wealth) was launched by Andhra Pradesh CM N. Chandrababu Naidu on World Population Day (11 July), giving Rs 30,000 for a third child and Rs 40,000 for a fourth.

Air India Express became the first airline to fly international from Navi Mumbai International Airport, launching a direct Navi Mumbai-Abu Dhabi service on 15 July 2026.

INS Mahendragiri is the sixth Project 17A frigate, which are collectively the Nilgiri-class. It was commissioned at Visakhapatnam by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, built by MDL Mumbai and designed by the Warship Design Bureau, with over 75% indigenous content. Shivalik-class is Project 17; Kolkata-class are destroyers; Kamorta-class are corvettes.

The 'Reform Express' initiative targets 52 reforms in 52 weeks; the July 2026 tranche of 8 reforms took the running total to 17.

The RBI approved Rajiv Kumar as HDFC Bank part-time chairman for a three-year term effective 15 July 2026. RBI HQ is in Mumbai; it was established in 1935.

The combined outlay of the seven Cabinet decisions was Rs 2,19,353 crore, covering Semicon 2.0, the Mobile Phone Manufacturing Scheme, the urea policy (NIPU-2026) and rail/road projects.

The Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE), a TIFR centre under the Department of Atomic Energy, selects and trains India's Olympiad teams.

The India Semiconductor Mission operates under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

The CE20 cryogenic engine powers the upper stage of the LVM3 (Launch Vehicle Mark-3). ISRO completed its flight-acceptance test for the LVM3-M7 mission at Mahendragiri using a new Nozzle Protection System. CE20 has flown 8 LVM3 missions, including Chandrayaan-2 and Chandrayaan-3, and is human-rated for Gaganyaan.

Raghuram Rajan, former RBI Governor (2013-16) and professor at Chicago Booth, was appointed to lead the Fed's Balance Sheet Policy task force.

The 40-member panel is co-chaired by Turing Award laureate Yoshua Bengio and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa.

India will compete against Tajikistan for the only Asia-Pacific group seat in the June 2027 UNSC non-permanent member elections.

World Population Day is observed on 11 July, established by the UNDP in 1989 and inspired by the 'Day of Five Billion' on 11 July 1987. The 2026 theme focuses on the hopes and aspirations of young people. (7 April is World Health Day, 5 June is World Environment Day, 1 July is National Doctors' Day in India.)

Yastika Bhatia (113) became the first woman to score a Test century at Lord's and entered the honours board.

Samriddh Gram, a Department of Telecommunications (DoT) initiative built on the BharatNet network, won the WSIS Prize 2026 under Action Line C6 (Enabling Environment) at the WSIS Forum in Geneva. The WSIS Prizes are instituted by the ITU. Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia hailed the award.

KOYO (Kinetic Optical Yaw Observer) was built by Kerala-based startup HEX20, following its 2025 NILA satellite.

MPMS (Rs 62,500 crore) succeeds the PLI Scheme for Large Scale Electronics Manufacturing (PLI-LSEM), which concluded on 31 March 2026.

The 40-member panel was co-chaired by Turing Award laureate Yoshua Bengio and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa (2021).

The ISP, India's first monthly services-output indicator, complements the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). Both are compiled under MoSPI.

India won by 270 runs, defending a target of 457 — its second-largest win by runs in Women Tests.

Poomani (real name Poolithurai Manickavasagam), a leading Tamil writer of the karisal (dryland) literary tradition, won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2014 for his novel Anjaadi. His novel Vekkai was adapted into the 2019 film Asuran. He died on 12 July 2026 aged 79.

PM Modi flagged off India's first hydrogen-powered train on the 89-km Jind-Sonipat route in Haryana on 17 July 2026.

SHANTI = Securing Holistic Advancement through Norms, Trust and Integrity. The T stands for Trust.

FIU-IND (established November 2004) is the central agency for suspicious-transaction intelligence and functions under the Ministry of Finance.

China's 'LineShine' was named the world's fastest supercomputer at ISC High Performance 2026, replacing the US-based 'El Capitan'. Rankings use the High-Performance Linpack (HPL) benchmark, which measures speed in FLOPS, and are tracked on the TOP500 list.

The 2026 theme of Nelson Mandela International Day (18 July) is "It's Still in Our Hands to Combat Poverty and Inequity."

Union Housing & Urban Affairs Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced that the Central Vista area will now be called the 'Kartavya Bhawan Complex', dropping the name 'Central Vista'. The area houses the 10-building Common Central Secretariat. Rajpath was renamed Kartavya Path in 2022; Seva Teerth is the new PMO complex.

Unjha Cumin and Fennel are from the Unjha region of Gujarat (Mehsana district), taking Gujarat's GI-tagged agri products to 6.

MPMS succeeds the PLI Scheme for Large Scale Electronics Manufacturing (PLI-LSEM), which concluded on 31 March 2026.

Anjum Chopra became the 3rd Indian woman in the ICC Hall of Fame, after Diana Edulji and Neetu David. ICC HQ is in Dubai.

The 'Manas and Mahabharata' Centre for Civilizational Studies was inaugurated in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, under the ICCR. It links India's Mahabharata with the Kyrgyz national epic Manas, a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage since 2009.

Serhii Koretskyi, CEO of Naftogaz, was appointed Ukraine's PM, succeeding Yulia Svyrydenko, securing 289 of 450 votes.

The Agricultural Outlook 2026-2035 is a joint annual report by the OECD and the FAO. It projects global agricultural and fish production to rise 13% over the decade, with India and Southeast Asia accounting for about 39% of consumption growth. It supports tracking SDG 2 (Zero Hunger).

During PM Modi's July 2026 visit to Auckland, India and New Zealand agreed to elevate their ties to a Strategic Partnership. It was the first visit by an Indian PM to New Zealand in 40 years and the final leg of Modi's three-nation tour. New Zealand's PM is Christopher Luxon; its capital is Wellington.

Aswath S, a 17-year-old from Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu, became India's 98th chess Grandmaster after securing his third and final GM norm at the Pune International GM Round Robin tournament. The GM title is awarded by FIDE; India's first GM was Viswanathan Anand (1988).

Semicon 2.0, the second phase of the India Semiconductor Mission (launched 2021), was approved with an outlay of Rs 1,27,500 crore.

The campaign theme is 'SHANTI' — Securing Holistic Advancement through Norms, Trust and Integrity.

17 July marks the 1998 adoption of the Rome Statute, which established the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague.

China recovered the first-stage booster of its Long March-10B rocket at sea using a wire-arrestment net-capture system during the vehicle's maiden flight on 10 July 2026 - the world's first net-based recovery. It made China the second nation after the United States to recover an orbital-class booster. The rocket was built by CASC and supports China's lunar programme.

Sourav Ganguly was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame in the Class of 2026, alongside Anjum Chopra and Kevin Pietersen, at a ceremony in Edinburgh. The induction took the total number of Hall of Fame members to 125. Ganguly captained India to the 2003 World Cup final and a shared 2002 Champions Trophy title.

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) granted conditional recognition to the Judo Federation of India.

The India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement came into force on 15 July 2026.

India will contest the single Asia-Pacific Group seat against Tajikistan, in elections due June 2027.

The 56th International Physics Olympiad 2026 was held in Bucaramanga, Colombia. India's five-member team won all five gold medals, sharing the World No. 1 rank with China, Kazakhstan, Russia, South Korea and Taiwan. The team was trained by HBCSE, a centre of TIFR under the Department of Atomic Energy.

Awiqli's generic name is insulin icodec, the world's first once-weekly basal (long-acting) insulin for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, cutting injections from 365 to about 52 per year. Insulin glargine and degludec are daily basal insulins; insulin aspart is a rapid-acting insulin.

ISM 1.0 had approved 12 semiconductor manufacturing projects with cumulative investment of over Rs 1.64 lakh crore. (24 refers to design projects.)

India declared a one-day national mourning on 13 July 2026 for Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the former Emir ('Father Emir') of Qatar, who died at 74. He ruled Qatar from 1995 to 2013 before handing power to his son, the current Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Qatar's capital is Doha.

Exercise Pitch Black is a biennial multinational air-combat exercise hosted by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in Australia.

Reform Express targets 52 reforms in 52 weeks; with 8 more added, the total has reached 17 so far.

India's campaign for the UNSC 2028-29 non-permanent seat is themed SHANTI (Securing Holistic Advancement through Norms, Trust and Integrity).

MPMS was approved with an outlay of Rs 62,500 crore under MeitY, succeeding the PLI-LSEM scheme.

The IMF's July 2026 WEO Update trimmed India's FY27 growth forecast to 6.4%, down from 6.5% in April, while raising the FY28 forecast to 6.7%. India remains the fastest-growing major economy, ahead of China (4.6%) and the US (2.3%).

Leander Paes was appointed Player Ambassador of the Asian Tennis Federation (ATF), announced on the sidelines of Wimbledon. Paes is the only Indian to win an Olympic tennis medal (bronze, Atlanta 1996), won 18 Grand Slam titles, and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2024.

Semicon 2.0 has six pillars: Design, Machines & Materials, Setting up more Fabs, ATMP/OSAT, R&D, and Talent development.

The Tata Group retained the top spot for the 10th consecutive year with a brand value of USD 33.6 billion.

The IAF retained 3rd place among national air forces, behind only the US and Russia and ahead of China's PLAAF.

All five Indian participants won gold at IPhO 2026 in Bucaramanga, Colombia — India's best-ever performance.

Serhii Koretskyi was CEO of Naftogaz, Ukraine's state oil and gas company, before becoming Prime Minister.

At the 3rd India-Australia Annual Summit in Melbourne, the two sides finalised the administrative arrangement under the India-Australia Civil Nuclear Agreement (signed 2015), enabling Australian uranium exports to India under IAEA safeguards. The Maritime Security Roadmap, CECA and cyber partnership were also part of the 18 outcomes but did not concern uranium.

The ISP is India's first official monthly indicator of services-sector output and complements the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

ATREE researchers discovered Elaphropoda triangulata and Habropoda adi in Siang Valley, Arunachal Pradesh.

The SI unit of magnetic flux density, the tesla (T), is named after Nikola Tesla (born 10 July 1856), the Serbian-American engineer who pioneered the alternating current (AC) system. 10 July is observed as Nikola Tesla Day. Faraday, Ampere and Watt also have SI units named after them (farad, ampere, watt).

Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic won the Wimbledon 2026 women's singles title, beating compatriot Karolina Muchova 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 in the first all-Czech final of the professional era. Jannik Sinner won the men's singles. Wimbledon is the oldest Grand Slam and the only one played on grass.

Karnataka announced India first government-driven AI University, leveraging Bengaluru position as India technology hub.

Uttarakhand became India's sixth fully literate state under the ULLAS (New India Literacy Programme) and NEP 2020, with the Governor approving the declaration on 8 July 2026. It joins Mizoram, Goa, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim. A state/UT crossing 95% literacy is deemed 'fully literate'.