18th-20th July, 2026

1. President Droupadi Murmu Inaugurates ‘Saushrutam 2026’ at AIIA, New Delhi
2. India’s First AI-Integrated Vertical University Campus Inaugurated in Chennai
3. Pi-labs Partners with Google Cloud to Deliver Mission-Ready AI Solutions for India
4. DIBD and Punjab National Bank Sign MoU to Advance Multilingual AI for Inclusive Banking
5. Social Activist Dr. Nandini Azad Receives Bharat Samman 2026 for Women’s Empowerment
6. Mindaugas Sinkevicius Sworn in as Lithuania’s New Prime Minister
7. Policybazaar Appoints Amitabh Bachchan as Brand Ambassador for Insurance Awareness Campaign
8. Fairfax Financial Holdings to Acquire 60.72% Stake in IDBI Bank
9. ICC Approves New Formats for Men’s ODI and T20 World Cups
10. Padma Shri Awardee and Nokkuvidya Puppetry Exponent Moozhikkal Pankajakshi Passes Away
11. AI Appreciation Day 2026 – July 16
12. World Snake Day 2026 – July 16
13. Chhattisgarh Becomes First Indian State to Introduce a Risk-Based Business Approval System
14. Union Minister Pralhad Joshi Launches White Rabbit Technology-Based IST Distribution Demonstration Network
15. Akasa Air and BPCL Sign Landmark MoU to Accelerate Sustainable Aviation Fuel Adoption in India
16. Gujarat Wins Agriculture Leadership Award 2026 for Horticulture
17. Indian Analog Astronaut Capt. Aman Johri Conducts Microgravity Research on Maharashtra Crops
18. Reliance Jio Receives IN-SPACe Approval for a 1,600-Satellite Low Earth Orbit Network
19. West Indies Cricket Legend Sir Garfield Sobers Passes Away at 89
20. Day of International Criminal Justice 2026 – July 17
21. Nelson Mandela International Day 2026 – July 18
22. Arunachal Pradesh Signs MoU with Norway’s Tidal Sail AS for India’s First River Kinetic Energy Demonstration Project
23. Telangana Partners with Microsoft to Establish a Green Skills Centre of Excellence in Hyderabad
24. Uttar Pradesh Reports Highest Cyber Fraud Complaints in India
25. Karnataka Announces India’s First Government-Driven AI University
26. Tamil Poet and Lyricist R. Vairamuthu Conferred with the 60th Jnanpith Award
27. Indian Grey Hornbill Returns to Gir After 60 Years
28. IMF Cuts India’s FY27 Growth Forecast to 6.4%
29. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance to Be Renamed ICICI Life Insurance
30. SBI Joins Global Banks to Fund Sun Pharma’s Organon Acquisition
31. BRICS Adopts the Guwahati Declaration to Combat Drug Trafficking
32. Asian U-19 and U-23 Boxing Championships 2026: Uzbekistan Tops Medal Table

National News

President Inaugurates Saushrutam 2026 in New Delhi

• What: President Droupadi Murmu inaugurated Saushrutam 2026, a three-day international seminar at the All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA), New Delhi, to promote medical ethics and Ayurvedic surgical research.
• Tell me more:
  • The seminar was inaugurated on the birth anniversary of Acharya Sushruta (circa 600 BCE), known as the Father of Surgery.
  • The President inaugurated an MRI facility at AIIA, while the seminar united global experts and encouraged integrating traditional knowledge with modern technology, digital health, and research.

State News

VELS Institute Inaugurates First Vertical AI Campus in Tamil Nadu

• What: VELS Institute of Science, Technology & Advanced Studies (VISTAS) inaugurated its Thiruvanmiyur Campus, India’s first AI-integrated vertical university campus.
• Tell me more:
  • Zoho Co-founder and Chief Scientist Sridhar Vembu, along with UAE delegates, inaugurated the sustainable campus.
  • The campus has AI-enabled classrooms, high-performance computing labs, and innovation hubs for practical, industry-focused learning.
  • VISTAS signed an MoU with Aspin Holding LLC Group and MH Cockpit to set up a Flying School in the UAE.
  • The institute partnered with Intel Unnati, TCS iON, Microsoft, and Oracle Academy to establish Industry-Academia Centres of Excellence on the campus.

Chhattisgarh Passes Historic Ease of Doing Business Act

• What: The state government passed the Chhattisgarh Ease of Doing Business Act, 2026 to create a new risk based regulatory framework for local Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
• Tell me more:
  • Industries will be classified by risk level, and low-risk enterprises can submit self-certifications instead of undergoing routine government inspections.
  • The framework covers 43 public services across eight departments, removes annual licence renewals in specified cases, and will be overseen by a three-tier mechanism headed by the Chief Minister.

Arunachal Pradesh Signs MoU for River Energy Plant

• What: The Centre for Earth Sciences & Himalayan Studies (CES&HS), Government of Arunachal Pradesh, signed an MoU with Norway’s Tidal Sail AS to set up a 500-kW River Kinetic Energy Demonstration Project.
• Tell me more:
  • India’s first river kinetic energy plant under the India-Norway Green Partnership will generate electricity from flowing rivers without dams, provide clean power to remote areas, and reduce pollution while protecting Himalayan river ecosystems.
  • The project is supported by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and Innovation Norway.

Telangana Launches Green Skills and Applied AI Centre

• What: The Telangana government partnered with Microsoft, 1M1B Foundation, and MeitY Startup Hub to set up a Green Skills & Applied AI Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Hyderabad for green pharma.
• Tell me more:
  • It is part of a national programme to train 1,00,000 youth in green skills and create 50,000 jobs by 2030.
  • The centre will train youth in AI and sustainable manufacturing, support Telangana’s Green Pharma vision, and help create more than five lakh jobs in the life sciences sector.
  • Four more centres will be set up in Bengaluru, Lucknow, Noida, and Shillong.

Karnataka Announces India’s First Government Artificial Intelligence University

• What: Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar announced the state will establish India’s first government-driven Artificial Intelligence (AI) University and an AI Hub to strengthen research, innovation, and talent development.
• Tell me more:
  • Karnataka presently contributes nearly 40% of India’s software exports, with Bengaluru hosting over 17,000 startups and thousands of Global Capability Centres (GCCs).
  • The AI Hub will support AI research by startups, companies, and universities, while helping the state use AI to improve public services in education, healthcare, and agriculture.

Uttar Pradesh Reports Highest Cyber Fraud Complaints

• What: Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of cyber fraud complaints in India during January–June, with 1.85 lakh complaints, while 12.71 lakh complaints involving ₹10,178.97 crore were reported nationwide.
• Tell me more:
  • Maharashtra recorded the highest financial loss at ₹1,637.66 crore, followed by Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Chandigarh, and Telangana.
  • This data was discussed at a meeting chaired by senior officials of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

Indian Grey Hornbill Population Grows in Gir Forest

• What: The Gujarat Forest Department successfully completed its four-year programme to reintroduce Indian grey hornbills in Gir forest, creating a self-sustaining wild population.
• Tell me more:
  • The department started the project in 2021 by shifting 40 hornbills from the Aravali forests between 2021 and 2023.
  • The results were published in the international peer-reviewed journal Birds in a study by Mohan Ram.

BRICS Nations Adopt Guwahati Declaration Against Drugs

• What: The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) countries adopted the Guwahati Declaration at a two-day anti-drug meeting to strengthen cooperation against illegal drug trafficking.
• Tell me more:
  • India called for a real-time cross-border intelligence network, while Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Director General Anurag Garg said India follows a network-centric approach under its three-year roadmap.
  • The countries agreed to share intelligence and digital tools, tackle synthetic drugs and online trafficking, and promote drug prevention, healthy lifestyles, and the protection of children and youth.

Banking and Economy

Google Cloud Partners with pi-labs for AI Solutions

• What: Indian cybersecurity company pi-labs partnered with Google Cloud to develop secure AI solutions for security operations and digital governance in India.
• Tell me more:
  • Google Cloud and pi-labs will develop secure AI solutions for critical infrastructure, government and public organisations, using local AI models to enable threat detection, deepfake detection, and security analysis.

BHASHINI and PNB Partner for Multilingual Banking

• What: Digital India BHASHINI Division (DIBD) signed an MoU with Punjab National Bank (PNB) to provide AI-powered multilingual banking services across India.
• Tell me more:
  • PNB will use BHASHINI’s AI language technology to offer digital banking services in different Indian languages, making banking easier, especially for rural customers.
  • The project will use BHASHINI Udyat, Mitra, AppMitra, Pravakta, and Bhashadaan to develop banking terms and translation tools.
  • This will strengthen India’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) by allowing customers to use banking services in their preferred Indian language.

Government Finalises Fairfax for IDBI Bank Sale

• What: The Government has selected Canada’s Fairfax Holdings to buy a strategic stake in IDBI Bank after the company increased its bid to ₹81 per share.
• Tell me more:
  • The Government will sell a 30.48% stake for about ₹26,620 crore, while LIC will sell a 30.24% stake for about ₹26,440 crore.
  • The total deal is worth ₹53,000 crore ($5.5 billion), making it the largest foreign investment in an Indian commercial bank.
  • Prem Watsa-owned Fairfax Holdings will acquire a 60.72% controlling stake and must make an open offer to public shareholders.
  • The deal still requires approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and a fit and proper assessment by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Reliance Jio Receives Approval for Satellite Network

• What: The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) approved Reliance Jio’s proposal to launch 1,600 low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites for high-speed internet and network services.
• Tell me more:
  • The project will help India build an indigenous satellite network that can also support defence-related payloads for national security.
  • Before launching the satellites, Reliance Jio must obtain international orbital rights from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Renames Itself

• What: ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Limited approved changing its name to ICICI Life Insurance Limited after a change in its promoter status.
• Tell me more:
  • Prudential Corporation Holdings wants to change its status from promoter to investor after buying 75% of Bharti Life Insurance for ₹3,500 crore.
  • The ownership change requires Prudential to reduce its stake in ICICI Prudential Life Insurance from nearly 22% to below 10%.
  • ICICI Bank holds a 50.84% stake in the company.

Eleven Banks Complete Loan for Sun Pharma Acquisition

• What: State Bank of India (SBI) and 10 global banks completed a loan syndication to fund Sun Pharmaceutical’s $11.75 billion acquisition of United States-based Organon & Co.
• Tell me more:
  • SBI is the only Indian bank in the 11-bank consortium, where each lender committed about $1 billion, taking the total debt to over $10 billion.
  • The acquisition will make Sun Pharma one of the top 25 global pharmaceutical companies and the seventh-largest biosimilars player in the world.
  • The deal will help the company enter the China market on a larger scale and strengthen its global presence.

GDP Forecasts

IMF Reduces India’s FY27 Growth Forecast to 6.4% in its World Economic Outlook- July 2026

• What: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) reduced India’s Financial Year 2027 (FY27) growth forecast to 6.4% from 6.5% projected in April.
• Tell me more:
  • The IMF raised India’s FY28 growth projection to 6.7% from 6.5%, citing strong momentum in services activity and private consumption.
  • National Statistical Office (NSO) data showed India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expanded 7.7% in FY26.
  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and World Bank estimate India’s FY27 growth at 6.6%.
  • Global growth projection for 2026 was cut to 3% due to Middle East conflict risks, before improving to 3.4% in 2027.

Science and Technology

India Launches Indigenous Time Dissemination Demonstration Network

• What: Union Minister Pralhad Joshi launched the White Rabbit Technology-based Indian Standard Time (IST) Dissemination Demonstration Network at the Regional Reference Standard Laboratory (RRSL), Bengaluru, on 16 July 2026 to create a secure national time synchronisation system.
• Tell me more:
  • The system was jointly developed by the Department of Consumer Affairs, CSIR–National Physical Laboratory (CSIR–NPL), and ISRO.
  • It uses Precision Time Protocol (PTP)-based White Rabbit Technology to securely distribute Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)-traceable Indian Standard Time (IST).
    • White Rabbit Technology is a high-precision networking standard that delivers secure, low-latency time synchronization across distributed systems.
  • The network will provide the same timing accurately to critical sectors, improving cybersecurity, financial systems, and the security of important infrastructure.
  • The project successfully tested secure time transmission between RRSL Bengaluru and the National Stock Exchange (NSE), Chennai.
  • The initiative will reduce dependence on foreign timing systems and support the One Nation, One Time project.

Captain Aman Johri Completes Space Farming Flight

• What: Indian Analog Astronaut Captain Aman Johri successfully completed a microgravity research flight under Project Astra Farm to study how crop tissues respond to low-gravity conditions for future space missions.
• Tell me more:
  • Project Astra Farm is an emerging research platform designed to combine advanced aerospace engineering with agricultural science.
  • The initiative aims to position the state of Maharashtra as a global center for space agriculture, advanced food technology, and future extra-terrestrial food supply chains.
  • The mission carried onions and potatoes grown in Maharashtra using a passive microgravity payload developed with National Research Council-Canadian Network for Respiratory Care, Canada.
  • The crop samples will be tested using nuclear food irradiation at facilities linked to Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and the Department of Atomic Energy.

Awards

Dr. Nandini Azad Receives Bharat Samman 2026 Award

• What: Dr. Nandini Azad, President of the Working Women’s Forum (India) (WWF-I) and the Indian Cooperative Network for Women (ICNW), received the Bharat Samman 2026 Award in Dehradun for her contribution to women’s empowerment.
• Tell me more:
  • The award was presented by the International Institute of Education and Management in partnership with the Economic Growth Foundation, New Delhi.
  • WWF-I and ICNW are women-led organisations with over 6 lakh members across four southern states, empowering poor women through financial inclusion, entrepreneurship, and social empowerment.

Gujarat Wins Agriculture Leadership Award for Horticulture

• What: Gujarat received the Agriculture Leadership Award for its outstanding work in horticulture at the 17th Agriculture Leadership Conclave in New Delhi.
• Tell me more:
  • Gujarat was earlier named Best Agriculture State in 2009, 2014, and 2018. The state also won the Agriculture Leadership Award in 2019 for its achievements in animal husbandry.
  • The award was presented by Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

Vairamuthu Receives 60th Jnanpith Award

• What: Tamil poet and lyricist Vairamuthu received the 60th Jnanpith Award (2025), India’s highest literary honour, from former Union Minister Karan Singh at a ceremony in New Delhi.
• Tell me more:
  • Karan Singh presented the award for Vairamuthu’s contribution to Indian literature, and Vairamuthu dedicated it to the Tamil community, saying the honour returned to Tamil after 24 years.

Important Days

AI Appreciation Day 2026 – July 16

• The annual event began in 2021 to celebrate AI achievements and discuss ethical AI regulations.

World Snake Day 2026 – July 16

Day of International Criminal Justice 2026 – July 17

• This day is also known as World Day for International Justice 2026.

Nelson Mandela International Day – July 18

• Theme: It’s in our hands
• The day commemorates the birth anniversary of Nelson Mandela (1918-2013) and honours his lifelong contribution to humanity.

Sports

ICC Approves Changes to Men’s Global Tournament Format

• What: The International Cricket Council (ICC) approved major changes to the men’s global tournament format at its annual meeting in Edinburgh to make matches more competitive and meaningful.
• Tell me more:
  • The 14-team ODI World Cup will have four stages—Super Series, Group Stage, Super 7 round-robin stage, and Knockouts—replacing the earlier format to make every match more competitive and meaningful.
  • The 20-team T20 World Cup will begin with five groups of four teams, reducing group-stage matches from 40 to 30.
  • The new T20 format will include a Super 10 stage with two groups of five teams and an eliminator round for the second and third-placed teams.
  • The ICC approved a new qualification pathway for the 2028 T20 World Cup, giving Scotland direct entry to the Europe Regional Final.
  • The ICC also approved a proposed 16-team global tournament for associate member nations before the T20 World Cup.

Indian Boxers Win Multiple Medals at Asian Championships in Jakarta

• What: Indian boxers performed strongly at the Asian Under-19 and Under-23 Boxing Championships in Jakarta, winning gold, silver, and bronze medals in different categories.
• Tell me more:
  • Indian women boxers won five gold, ten silver, and four bronze medals in the Under-19 and Under-23 categories.

Memorandum of Understanding

Akasa Air and BPCL Partner for Sustainable Aviation Fuel

• What: Akasa Air and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) signed an MoU to promote the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) in India and support aviation decarbonisation.
• Tell me more:
  • They will supply SAF-blended ATF at selected airports and share fuel demand forecasts to improve production planning and fuel supply.
  • The partnership supports global aviation rules, including the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA).
  • BPCL will use its ‘Be-Winged’ platform, while Akasa Air’s Boeing 737 MAX fleet uses 20% less fuel than older aircraft.

Appointments

Mindaugas Sinkevicius Becomes Lithuania’s New Prime Minister

• What: Social Democrat leader Mindaugas Sinkevicius became Lithuania’s new Prime Minister after Parliament approved the new government’s policy programme.
• Tell me more:
  • He promised to keep defence spending above 5% of GDP to address the security threat from Russia. Lithuania’s next parliamentary election is scheduled for October 2028.

Policybazaar Appoints Amitabh Bachchan as Brand Ambassador

• What: Policybazaar appointed Amitabh Bachchan as its brand ambassador to launch a nationwide campaign promoting health insurance and term insurance.
• Tell me more:
  • The nationwide awareness program aligns with the central objective of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) to expand national insurance coverage.
  • Creative agency MagicCircle developed the project under the official title “Parivaar Sabse Pehle” to address consumer procrastination regarding timely financial planning.

Miscellaneous

Padma Shri Awardee Moozhikkal Pankajakshi Amma Passes Away

• What: Padma Shri awardee and puppet artist Moozhikkal Pankajakshi Amma passed away at the age of 90 in Kottayam after age-related health complications.
• Tell me more:
  • The Government of India honoured her with the Padma Shri in 2020 for her lifetime contribution to Nokku Vidya.
  • She learned Nokku Vidya from her parents at 11, promoted it globally through performances including France, and her granddaughter K. S. Ranjini continues preserving the art.

Sir Garfield Sobers Passes Away

• What: Former West Indies captain Sir Garfield Sobers, regarded as one of the greatest all-rounders in cricket history, passed away at the age of 89.
• Tell me more:
  • The Barbados-born cricketer played international cricket from 1954 to 1974, scoring 8,032 Test runs and taking 235 wickets in 93 Test matches.
  • In 1958, he scored a then world-record unbeaten 365 against Pakistan, and in 1968 became the first batter to hit six sixes in one over in first-class cricket.
  • The ICC named its highest individual men’s cricket honour, the Sir Garfield Sobers Award, after him.

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