Daily Brief

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned on 25 July 2026 amid nationwide protests over the alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak, saying he did not want the unrest exploited by anti-national forces.

The Centre is set to table the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026 in Lok Sabha on 27 July, proposing up to 10 years' jail and a Rs 10 crore fine for organised exam-fraud rackets, a 2-month investigation deadline, and dedicated fast-track courts.

The 2026 Seafarer Workforce Report found that 1,125 Indian seafarers were abandoned by employers in 2025 -- the highest number for any country -- even as India's seafarer workforce has nearly tripled to about 3.2 lakh since 2014.

RBI's July 2026 Bulletin projected FY2026-27 GDP growth at 6.6% and average inflation at 5.1%, citing resilient domestic demand, strong industrial and services activity, and improving liquidity despite global uncertainty.

SEBI issued a consultation paper proposing a comprehensive overhaul of Portfolio Managers Regulations -- permitting overseas and pre-listing investments and a new low-threshold MF-PMS framework -- as the industry's assets under management reached Rs 42.61 lakh crore by 31 May 2026.

India reaffirmed its commitment to an early India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement on 25 July after fresh US tariff measures, under which about 45% of India's exports to the US remain outside the new duty's scope while the rest face a 10% tariff.

The India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) has now come into force, widening market access and easing tariffs for Indian exporters and businesses.

India-EU free trade agreement negotiations are nearing completion, with both sides aiming to boost bilateral trade, attract investment and strengthen supply-chain resilience.

Indian Railways launched a pilot AI-based stain-detection system on 24 July 2026 at mechanised laundries to automatically inspect the cleanliness of washed linen supplied to trains.

Parliament received a detailed scientific findings report from India's Aditya-L1 and Chandrayaan-3 missions, published in peer-reviewed journals, which is now shaping ISRO's roadmap for the Chandrayaan-4 and Venus missions.

Solar Defence and Aerospace Ltd demonstrated 'Bhargavastra', an indigenous vehicle-mounted Counter-Swarm Drone System, to the Army, Navy and Air Force at its Nagpur facility on 23-24 July, successfully detecting a drone swarm and simulating a hard-kill response.

DRDO's Gas Turbine Research Establishment, with industry partner Azad Engineering, delivered India's first indigenous 350-kg thrust class expendable turbojet engine on 22 July 2026, intended to power long-range cruise missiles, loitering munitions and UAVs.

India's defence production touched a record Rs 1.78 lakh crore in FY2025-26, reflecting the growing role of indigenous manufacturing under the Atmanirbhar Bharat push in defence.

The IMD's July 2026 forecast points to below-normal rainfall and above-normal temperatures across most of India this month, raising concerns for agriculture, water reservoirs and rising heat stress, though the northwest, northeast and east-central regions may see normal-to-above-normal rain.

The State of India's Environment 2026 report found that 7 of the 9 recognised planetary boundaries -- including climate change, biosphere integrity and freshwater use -- have now been breached.

Marking World Mangrove Day (26 July), the US-based Mangrove Action Project announced its 12th annual photography award winners; the top image, shot near Nandgaon village close to Mumbai, depicted discarded 'ghost nets' entangled in mangroves.

At the Commonwealth Games 2026 in Glasgow, weightlifter Mirabai Chanu opened her campaign for a third successive CWG gold in the women's 48kg category on 26 July.

India's boxing contingent had three fighters in the round of 16 on 26 July -- Preeti Pawar (women's 54kg), Jadumani Singh Mandengbam (men's 55kg) and Aditya Pratap Yadav (men's 65kg) -- at the Commonwealth Games 2026.

India's men's 4x200m freestyle relay swimming quartet -- Srihari Nataraj, Aryan Nehra, Aneesh Gowda and Dhakshan Shashikumar -- competed at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre in Glasgow on 26 July.

India's undefeated women's pairs lawn bowls duo Rupa Rani Tirkey and Pinki Singh continued their sectional-play campaign at the Commonwealth Games 2026 on 26 July.

Gymnasts Yogeshwar Singh and Tapan Mohanty represented India in the men's artistic gymnastics all-around final, a medal event at the Commonwealth Games 2026 on 26 July.

Hindustan Zinc's board approved the appointment of Amarendu Prakash as CEO and Whole-time Director, effective 1 August 2026, citing his three decades of experience in the steel industry.

The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet cleared the 'Netannala Sevalo' scheme, giving Rs 25,000 a year to below-poverty-line handloom weaver families regardless of age or loom count, benefiting about 51,952 weavers at an annual cost of Rs 129.88 crore.

Punjab transferred Rs 1,147 crore to nearly 33 lakh women on 1 July 2026 under the Mukh Mantri Mawan Dheeyan Satkar Yojana, which gives eligible women Rs 1,000 a month (Rs 1,500 for SC women) via direct benefit transfer.

The government told the Rajya Sabha on 23 July 2026 that it has no proposal for a universal minimum pension scheme, and is instead building out the Code on Social Security's dedicated fund for gig and platform workers, financed by 1-2% platform-turnover contributions.

Newly sworn-in Tamil Nadu CM C. Joseph Vijay sought bilateral talks with the Karnataka Chief Minister over the Cauvery water shortfall, as the two southern states look to resolve the long-running river-sharing dispute.

A Heritage Carnival for Children brought together 125 students from three schools in Tiruppur, Tamil Nadu on 24 July, with sessions on the Brihadeeswara Temple and the Chola empire's ancient engineering.

The Tamilar 4.0 global business summit opened in Chennai on 25 July 2026, bringing together business leaders to explore fresh trade and investment opportunities for Tamil Nadu.

Karnataka's planned 200-acre Semiconductor Park at KWIN City near Bengaluru will become operational by December 2026, part of about Rs 23,000 crore in semiconductor and electronics-manufacturing investment the state has approved over the past two years.

Four Malabar pied hornbills were sighted near the Muyyam river in Kerala's Kannur district in July 2026 -- the first such sighting for the area, notable since the species is rarely seen outside dense forest.