Monthly current affairs for July 2026

Russia has successfully launched the 'Soyuz MS-29' crewed mission to the International Space Station (ISS) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The mission was executed using the Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle.

The crew includes the NASA astronaut Anil Menon and the Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina.

Sridhar Vembu, Co-founder of Zoho Corporation Pvt Ltd, has inaugurated the Thiruvanmiyur campus of the VELS Institute of Science, Technology, & Advanced Studies (VISTAS) in Chennai. It is to be noted that this facility is recognised as India's first AI-integrated vertical university campus.

The Spain football team, captained by Rodri, has won the 2026 FIFA World Cup, defeating Argentina by 1-0 in the final held at the New York New Jersey Stadium (MetLife Stadium), USA. The tournament, which featured 48 participating teams, was co-hosted by the USA, Canada, and Mexico.

Ferran Torres scored the match-winning goal in the 106th minute and was named the Man of the Match, while Luis de la Fuente became the oldest manager to win a FIFA World Cup.

Individual tournament awards: Golden Ball - Rodri (Spain); Golden Glove - Unai Simon (Spain); Best Young Player - Pau Cubarsi (Spain); Golden Boot - Kylian Mbappe (France) with 10 goals (first back-to-back winner); and FIFA Fair Play Award - Netherlands. The tournament prize money structure awarded $51 million to the champions.

The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), led by Chief Commissioner Nidhi Khare and Commissioner Anupam Mishra, has imposed a penalty of ₹1 lakh on SpiceJet Ltd.

The penalty was levied due to the airline's adoption of deceptive design practices, commonly referred to as 'dark patterns', on its flight booking platform.

H Hanumanthapa, a veteran leader of the Indian National Congress (INC), passed away at the age of 94. He served 3 terms as a Member of Parliament (MP) in the Rajya Sabha, representing Karnataka.

India finished 4th in the medal tally with 16 medals (3 gold, 4 silver, and 9 bronze) at the inaugural Asian Under-23 (U23) Athletics Championships held at the Ordos Sports Development Center Stadium in Ordos, China. The championship was organized by Asian Athletics.

China topped the medal standings with 52 medals, including 23 gold, followed by Japan and Uzbekistan. The gold medals for India were secured by the Mixed 4x400m Relay team, the Women's 4x400m Relay team, and Anand Singh in the Men's Javelin Throw event.

India has won 4 gold medals at the 58th International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) 2026 held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The gold medallists are Debadatta Priyadarshi (Bhubaneshwar, Odisha), Harshit Singla (Mandi Gobindgarh, Punjab), Kabeer Chillar (Delhi), and Sandeep Kuchi (Hyderabad).

India also achieved 1 gold and 3 silver medals at the 37th International Biology Olympiad (IBO) 2026 held in Vilnius, Lithuania. Bhavyaa Gunwal from Mahendragarh, Haryana, won the gold medal.

The Indian Women Cricket Team, captained by Harmanpreet Kaur, defeated England by 270 runs in the first ever Women Test match held at the Lord's Cricket Ground in London.

Yastika Bhatia (113 runs) became the first woman to record a Test century at this venue. Debutant Kranti Gaud was awarded the Player of the Match for her performance, taking 12 wickets in the match, including a five-wicket haul.

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) has granted conditional recognition to the Judo Federation of India (JFI), allowing the body to resume governance of the sport and participate in national and international competitions.

It is to be noted that the JFI had been operating under the supervision of a court-appointed administrator since 2022. An interim Executive Committee has been elected to lead the federation, with Mukesh Kumar as President, Banee Brata Das as Secretary General, and Shailesh Shrikant Tilak as Treasurer.

NITI Aayog has released its first-ever "Investment Friendliness Index (IFI) 2026", unveiled by its Vice Chairman Ashok Kumar Lahiri.

Gujarat emerged as the top overall performer with a score of 56.6, followed by Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Goa, and Odisha. Among large states, Gujarat is the leader, while Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal are the worst performers.

Uttarakhand is the leader among Hilly & Northeastern states, and Goa is the leader among City States & UTs. Lakshadweep recorded the lowest overall score nationwide, followed by Ladakh and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

The index evaluates all 28 states and 8 Union Territories (UTs) based on 84 indicators across 8 economic pillars: Infrastructure, Business Climate, Government Policy, Resources, Regulatory Ease, Institutional Environment, Financial Health, and Environmental Resilience.

PM Narendra Modi has dedicated development projects worth ₹14,700 crore to the nation in Haryana, aimed at enhancing road connectivity and medical infrastructure.

During the event, he flagged off India's first hydrogen-powered train. He also inaugurated the 157.92 km long, four-lane, fully access-controlled Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway, developed at a cost of ₹9,680 crore.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for multiple development projects worth over ₹4,700 crore in Chandigarh.

The projects focus on the expansion of healthcare, education, and road infrastructure. As part of the connectivity projects, the PM inaugurated the IT City–Kurali six-lane Greenfield Highway.

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has implemented 8 additional structural reforms under the 'Reform Express' initiative at Rail Bhawan, New Delhi. This brings the total number of reforms implemented to 17, advancing the ministry's strategic objective to execute 52 reforms within 52 weeks.

The newly introduced reforms (10 to 17) encompass Fly Ash Transportation, reforms in the Container Sector, Fertilizer Transportation, a policy for skilling artisans in railway projects and works, Construction reforms, a policy for wagon design approval, Petroleum Products Transportation, and the transportation of Foodgrains, Flour, and Pulses.

The Anti-Money Laundering Division (AMLD) of Taiwan has won the Best Egmont Case Award (BECA) 2026, which is one of the highest honours of the Egmont Group.

The Financial Intelligence Unit – India (FIU-IND) was named the runner-up.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has signed a multi-year agreement with ABB, the electrification and automation leader, to transform global network operations of the latter using AI.

This collaboration marks the next phase of a 20-year partnership between the two companies, with TCS now delivering end-to-end AI-driven global network operations.

The Tamil Nadu government has launched the 'Nalam TN' integrated digital platform to facilitate fast and remote Outpatient (OP) registration and appointments at government hospitals across the state.

It has also introduced the Tamil Nadu Health Foundation (Nalam TN) portal under the Health & Family Welfare Department, which allows individuals and corporate entities to transparently sponsor medical equipment or make direct donations to specific government hospitals.

Uttar Pradesh has become the second-largest state in India for domestic rooftop solar installations under the 'PM-Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana' with 6.75 lakh installations, surpassing Maharashtra.

Gujarat leads the ranking with 7.4 lakh installations, while Maharashtra ranks third with 6.74 lakh installations.

Skyroot Aerospace has successfully launched 'Vikram-1', India's first privately developed orbital-class rocket, into a 450 km Low-Earth Orbit (LEO). The mission, titled 'Mission Aagaman' (meaning arrival), marks India as the third nation with private orbital launch capabilities, following the US and China.

The 4-stage, 7-storey-tall rocket, named after Vikram Sarabhai, the father of India's space programme, has a payload capacity of up to 350 kg. It was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

The mission successfully deployed technology demonstrators from Grahaa Space, Cosmoserve, DCubed, and the SCOPE satellite. It also carried symbolic payloads, including an 18-karat gold rocket, an artistic lab-grown diamond, and a handwritten postcard from PM Narendra Modi bearing the message 'Vande Mataram'.

According to the Global Air Power Rankings 2026 released by the World Defense Military Analysis (WDMMA), the Indian Air Force (IAF) is ranked as the 3rd most powerful air force globally.

The US Air Force leads the rankings with a TVR of 242.9 and a fleet of 5,004 aircraft, followed by Russia (2nd) and China (4th). When considering the combined air arms of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, the IAF holds the 6th position with a True Value Rating (TVR) of 69.4.

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi has launched a White Rabbit technology-based demonstration network at the Regional Reference Standard Laboratory (RRSL) in Bengaluru to securely distribute Indian Standard Time (IST) across the country.

The project is a collaborative effort between the Department of Consumer Affairs, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-National Physical Laboratory (CSIR-NPL), and the ISRO.

The network uses an advanced Precision Time Protocol (PTP)-based Ethernet network extension to deliver sub-nanosecond accuracy and microsecond-level synchronization over long distances. It is to be noted that the time signal is traceable to the Coordinated Universal Time (NPLI) (UTC (NPLI)).