Daily Current Affairs — 27 July 2026: NEET Bill Tabled, Sarnath Gets UNESCO Tag, CWG Day 5 & Assam Flood Toll Rises

Union Minister Jitendra Singh introduced the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026 in the Lok Sabha on 27 July 2026, hours after Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation as Education Minister; the Bill empowers states to set up Special Fast Track Courts for exam-fraud offences.

The Common Admission Test (CAT) 2026 notification was released, with IIM registrations opening from 3 August and the exam scheduled for 29 November 2026.

The Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) 2027 notification was released, with online registration opening from 3 August 2026 and the exam scheduled for 6 December 2026.

India's Index of Core Industries (ICI) was rebased to 2022-23 (from 2011-12) with iron ore added as a ninth core industry; June 2026 growth came in at 5% year-on-year, led by iron ore (+43.9%), electricity and cement (both +9.8%).

The Sensex extended its losing streak to a fifth straight session, closing at 76,059.77 on 24 July 2026, as Middle East tensions, crude oil briefly crossing $100/barrel, and foreign investor selling weighed on banking stocks.

SEBI approved Carnelian Asset Management (AUM over Rs 18,300 crore) to launch a mutual fund business focused on equity, debt and hybrid schemes for Tier-II and Tier-III markets.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of ASEAN-related meetings in Manila on 22 July 2026, as part of continuing India-China engagement.

Air India and Saudia signed an MoU on 25 July 2026 for a phased partnership including an expanded codeshare agreement, terminal co-location and loyalty-programme links.

India hosted the 16th BRICS Health Ministers' Meeting in Chandigarh, adopting a Health Ministerial Declaration and launching the "BRICS Mission for Healthy Lifestyle" under its 2026 BRICS chairship.

NIELIT and Semi-Conductor Laboratory (SCL) Mohali launched an indigenous 1.2-micrometre Process Design Kit on the eChipHub platform, giving students, researchers and startups access for semiconductor IC design.

Raghu Vamsi Aerospace announced a Rs 600-crore investment to set up a 50-acre facility near Hyderabad, Telangana, to manufacture nickel-based superalloys, forgings and castings for aerospace use, targeting commercial operations by January 2028.

DRDO completed military field trials of a scalable, fibre-based Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) system designed to future-proof India's strategic communication networks.

IAF Rafale fighters and C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft arrived in Australia to join Exercise Pitch Black 2026, a multinational air combat exercise running from 20 July to 7 August 2026 with about 19-20 participating nations.

India joined Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the United States in the anti-submarine warfare Exercise Sea Dragon 2026.

The Indian Navy commissioned INS Mahendragiri, a Project 17A stealth frigate, into the Eastern Fleet on 11 July 2026.

Assam's flood death toll rose to 66 as of 26 July 2026, with over 6.5 lakh people still affected across districts including Sivasagar and Charaideo, around 810 villages submerged, and nearly 34,970 hectares of crops damaged.

Rajasthan launched the Rajasthan State Water Plan 2047 on 24 July 2026, a long-term framework for river-linking projects, groundwater conservation and public participation in water management.

India's wild elephant population is estimated at 22,446 under the first DNA-based Synchronous All-India Elephant Estimation (SAIEE 2021-25), released as the government merges Project Tiger and Project Elephant into "Project Tiger and Elephant".

At the Commonwealth Games 2026 in Glasgow, India's weightlifters Bindyarani Devi (women's 58kg), Gyaneshwari Yadav (women's 53kg) and V Ajaya Babu (men's 79kg) competed in their finals on 27 July 2026.

India's athletics campaign at CWG 2026 began on 27 July with Gurindervir Singh in the men's 100m, Murali Sreeshankar and Lokesh Satyanathan in men's long jump qualifying, and Tejas Shirse in men's 110m hurdles.

India's boxers Ankush, Sakshi Choudhary and Sumit Kundu began their Round-of-16 campaigns at the Commonwealth Games 2026 in Glasgow on 27 July.

The 72nd National Film Awards were announced on 25 July 2026: "Article 370" won Best Feature Film, Kartik Aaryan ("Chandu Champion") and Mammootty ("Bramayugam") shared Best Actor, and Yami Gautam ("Article 370") won Best Actress.

Senior IRS officer Satya Pal Kumar was appointed Director of the Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU-IND) in a bureaucratic reshuffle on 25 July 2026.

Harjit Singh Grewal was appointed Chairman of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) for a three-year term, with S. Munawari Begum named Vice-Chairperson.

The Atal Pension Yojana crossed 8 crore gross enrolments, with 39 lakh new subscribers added in the current financial year, PFRDA data showed.

The National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) signed an MoU with the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM) to commercialise traditional-medicine research through IP protection and startup support.

The Skills Outcomes Fund was formally set up via an MoU between the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship and NSDC, with a corpus of around Rs 530 crore to support over 2 lakh youth through skill vouchers.

The Ancient Buddhist Site of Sarnath in Uttar Pradesh was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List on 25 July 2026 at the 48th session of the World Heritage Committee in the Republic of Korea, becoming India's 45th World Heritage Site.

Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU), Bengaluru partnered with Google to offer AI and industry-skill modules to students at a subsidised fee of Rs 350, backed also by Qualcomm's Bharat Skills Foundation.

The "Weaves of India" festival, showcasing the country's textile and handloom heritage, is being held in New Delhi from 24 July to 7 August 2026.