1) 🇮🇳National

• Maharashtra Enacts Women Farmers Act: Maharashtra has become the first state in India to legally recognise women farmers through the Maharashtra Women Farmers Empowerment Act, 2026. The law replaces rigid land-ownership criteria with a flexible 'Woman Farmer Certificate' to guarantee welfare access and agricultural credit without requiring land titles.

• Varanasi Elevated Highways Approved: The Union Cabinet has approved the construction of two massive elevated highway corridors worth ₹25,446 crore along the Varuna and Ganga rivers in Varanasi to ease severe urban traffic congestion.

• Skyroot Aerospace’s Vikram-1 Mission: Indian private space-tech startup Skyroot Aerospace is set to attempt the first orbital launch of its indigenously developed rocket, Vikram-1, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sri Sriharikota.

2) 🌍International

• US–Iran Hostilities Escalate: Tensions have intensified in West Asia following a breakdown of the interim peace agreement (the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding). US Central Command executed daylight airstrikes targeting coastal defence and cruise missile networks on Greater Tunb Island in the Strait of Hormuz.
• Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition in Europe: Ukraine and nine other European nations (including Denmark, France, Germany, and the UK) have officially formed an 'Anti-ballistic Missile Coalition' to collectively build low-cost shared missile defence infrastructure over the next year.

3) 💰Economy

• India–UK CETA Operationalised: The landmark India–UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) has formally come into force. It eliminates or sharply slashes tariffs on 99% of Indian exports to the UK and 90% of British goods entering India.

• Cabinet Clears Semicon 2.0: The Union Cabinet has approved the second phase of the India Semiconductor Mission with a financial outlay of ₹1.27 lakh crore over six years, focusing heavily on subsidising critical raw inputs like chemicals and gases.

• Record EPFO Interest Credit: For the first time, the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) completed the annual interest distribution for nearly 35 crore member accounts ahead of schedule in mid-July.

4) 🗓️Date’s importance

• World Day for International Justice: Observed annually on 17 July, this day marks the anniversary of the adoption of the Rome Statute in 1998, which established the International Criminal Court (ICC). It aims to promote international criminal justice and advocate for the rights of victims against grave atrocities.

5) 👱‍♂️👩‍🦳Person of the day

• Raghuram Rajan: The former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor has been appointed to a high-level key economic task force under the United States Federal Reserve System to evaluate global financial resilience.

6) 🏅Sports

• ICC Revamps World Cup Formats: The International Cricket Council (ICC) Board has approved a comprehensive restructuring of the Men’s ODI and T20 World Cup formats to ensure high-stakes competitiveness.It also established a new qualification matrix for the 2028 Los Angeles T20 World Cup.
• Japan Open: Indian badminton ace PV Sindhu successfully advanced to the quarterfinals of the Japan Open after a dominant victory over world No. 5 Han Yue.

7) 🏆Awards

• CAC49 Food Safety Commendation: India’s food safety regulatory frameworks received global acclaim at the 49th Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC49) session in Geneva, where seven science-based global food standards formulated under India's leadership were formally adopted.

8) ⭐️Other important significance

• Seafarer-First Initiative Launched: The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has introduced the 'Seafarer-First' initiative. The targeted safety framework is designed to safeguard and track Indian maritime professionals operating in volatile corridors across the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, and Gulf of Oman.

📚Word of the day

• Asymmetry: (Noun) A lack of equivalence, balance, or symmetry between parts or aspects of a system.
• Contextual Usage: The Digital Threat Report highlights an 'AI Asymmetry' where malicious cyber actors weaponise automated AI tools at machine speed while defensive regulatory compliance operates at human speed.