Monthly current affairs for July 2026

Indian Analog Astronaut Captain Aman Johri has successfully completed a microgravity research flight under 'Project Astra Farm'.

The mission focused on studying the behavior of onions and potatoes grown in Maharashtra under microgravity conditions. The research was conducted using a passive microgravity payload in collaboration with the National Research Council Canada (NRC-CNRC).

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) organized a Technology Transfer Event at its headquarters in New Delhi. The programme was coordinated by the CSIR-Central Scientific Instruments Organisation (CSIR-CSIO), Chandigarh.

During the event, 4 indigenous technologies were transferred to the industry, and an Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled rural water service delivery, measurement, and monitoring system was commercially launched. The event also recognized the royalty received from Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) for the licensed production of indigenous defence technologies.

HEX20, a Kerala-based space startup, has successfully launched its second satellite named KOYO (Kinetic Optical Yaw Observer) onboard the SpaceX Transporter-17 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.

The satellite acts as a multi-payload test platform carrying 81 payloads to facilitate in-orbit technology validation and the commissioning of international payloads.

VK Saxena, the Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, has commissioned India's first and deepest two 1,000-metre geothermal wells at Puga Valley, Ladakh. These wells, executed by the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) Energy Centre, are critical for the 1 Megawatt (MW) Pilot Geothermal Power Plant.

This project is India's first demonstration-scale geothermal power project situated at an altitude of over 14,000 feet. It is to be noted that the wells reached a maximum temperature of 135°C at a depth of 400m.

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) of NASA have discovered a new giant exoplanet named 'Beta Pictoris d'. Located 63 light-years from the Earth, the planet is estimated to be 23 million years old.

With a mass of at least 2 times that of Jupiter, it is the smallest among the 3 known giant planets in the Beta Pictoris system. It is to be noted that this makes the Beta Pictoris system the second known planetary system to feature at least 3 directly imaged planets.

The Telangana government has signed an MoU with Microsoft to establish a Green Skills Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Hyderabad.

The initiative aims to equip students and professionals with industry-relevant green skills to support sustainable workforce development.

India secured 29 medals including 5 gold, 13 silver, and 11 bronze at the inaugural Asian Under-19 (U-19) & U-23 Boxing Championships 2026 held in Jakarta, Indonesia. India finished third in the medal tally, while Uzbekistan topped the table with 33 medals (21 gold), followed by Kazakhstan.

The gold medalists for India include Chandrika Bhoresh Pujari (U-19, 51 kg), Prachi (U-19, 57 kg), Nisha (U-23, 54 kg), Vishvanath Suresh (U-23, 50 kg), and Ganga (U-23, 55 kg).

Joseph Kevin Keegan, a former professional footballer and manager from England, passed away at the age of 75. He remains the only English player to have won the Ballon d'Or award twice.

Union Minister Amit Shah has inaugurated the first phase of 'Shabdalok (The Museum of Word)', which is India's first immersive language museum.

Developed by the National Library under the Ministry of Culture, the museum is located at the National Library campus in Kolkata and was built at a cost of ₹41 crore.

India hosted the 3rd BRICS Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in New Delhi under its BRICS Chairship. The meeting was chaired by Union Minister of State Nityanand Rai.

The meeting concluded with the adoption of the 'BRICS Joint Statement on DRR'. The statement reaffirms the commitment of BRICS nations to accelerate the 'BRICS DRR Work Plan (2025-2028)'.

The Union Cabinet has approved the 'Bharat Audyogik Vikas Yojana Rasayan' (BHAVYA - Rasayan Scheme) to establish 3 dedicated Chemical Parks in India. The scheme has a total outlay of ₹3,030 crore (₹3,000 crore for infrastructure and ₹30 crore for administrative expenses) and will be implemented over 5 years from FY27 to FY31.

Under the scheme, the central government will provide a grant of up to ₹1,000 crore per park, while the respective state government must contribute a minimum of ₹500 crore.

President Droupadi Murmu has inaugurated 'Saushrutam 2026', an international seminar on Ayurvedic surgery, at the All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) in New Delhi. The seminar was held to commemorate Sushruta Jayanti, celebrated in honour of Sushruta, known as the 'Father of Surgery'.

During the event, the President released a study by the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM) regarding the professional careers of women Ayurveda graduates.

The NITI Aayog has launched the "Roadmap for Building India as a Leading Bioeconomy Powerhouse by 2035" at the National Media Centre in New Delhi.

The roadmap aims to scale the bioeconomy of India to $691 billion by 2035 and $2.6 trillion by 2047. To achieve these objectives, it recommends the creation of six National BioMissions: GeneIndia, AgriBio 2.0, BioX Foundry, One Health Grid, Marine Biotechnology, and BioPharmaNext.

It also proposes the establishment of a ₹50,000 crore "BioEconomy Growth Fund" for the 2026-2035 period, to be allocated from the existing ₹1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) framework. The roadmap was inaugurated by Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh and was developed by the NITI Frontier Tech Hub (NITI-FTH) in consultation with the Department of Biotechnology (DBT).

The Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC) of the ISRO has signed an Implementing Agreement (IA) with the Thiruvananthapuram-based Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) for collaboration in space medicine and Bioastronautics research and training.

Under this partnership, both institutions have launched India's first indigenous 2-year Postdoctoral Fellowship programme in Bioastronautics.

The National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT) has collaborated with the Semiconductor Laboratory (SCL) in Mohali to make the indigenous 1.2 µm Process Design Kit (PDK) available through eChipHub.

It is to be noted that SCL is an autonomous organization under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). The eChipHub platform is managed by NIELIT under a MeitY-funded project titled 'Development of EdTech Platform in Semiconductor Space to Democratize Chip Design and Development Ecosystem for Masses'.

The National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) has signed an MoU with the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM) to promote innovation, intellectual property (IP) management, technology transfer, and the commercialization of research outcomes in the Indian System of Medicine.

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has released the quarterly update of the Project Assessment, Infrastructure Monitoring & Analytics for Nation-building (PAIMANA) performance dashboard. It now includes 44 new indicators, bringing the total to 165.

In the Civil Aviation sector, 98,920 tonnes of cargo were transported in April 2026, marking a 115% year-on-year increase. The number of aerodromes has increased from 81 in 2014 to 165 at present.

Regarding the Road, Transport and Highways sector, 9,360 kms of National Highways (NHs) were constructed during FY26. Electronic toll collection transactions reached ₹88 crore, a 39.7% year-on-year growth up to May 2026.

In the Power sector, storage requirements are projected to increase more than 10-fold, rising from 87 Gigawatt-hour (GWh) in 2027–28 to 888 GWh by 2035–36.

The Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) presented data in the Lok Sabha regarding the establishment of manufacturing units under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for the automobile and auto component industry.

As of March 2026, Maharashtra leads the country with 66 manufacturing units, followed by Tamil Nadu with 38 units, while Haryana and Karnataka account for 35 units each.

DRDO has successfully conducted the maiden flight-test of the 'Kusha' Long-Range Surface-to-Air Missile (LRSAM) from the APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast. The test involved the successful interception of an electronic target simulating a high-speed and high-altitude aerial threat.

Additionally, DRDO has developed the first indigenous Expendable Turbo Jet Engine of 350 kg thrust class. The engine was designed by the Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE) and manufactured in collaboration with the Hyderabad-based Azad Engineering.

The United States Air Force (USAF) YFQ-44A Fury drone has successfully executed its first live firing of an Air Intercept Missile (AIM)-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) at a digital target.

The test was conducted at the Edwards Air Force Base in California, USA. This marks the first live missile launch performed by a US Collaborative Combat Aircraft.