Current affairs — 24 July 2026

Prelims pointers

• The CCEA approved the 3rd and 4th Line of the Ballari-Guntakal section in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
• The total estimated cost of the project is Rs 1,264 crore and it will be completed up to 2028-29.
• The project covers 03 districts across Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and adds about 46 Kms to the railway network.
• The proposed multi-tracking project will enhance connectivity to approximately 99 villages with a population of about seven lakhs.
• The capacity augmentation is expected to result in additional freight traffic of 16.22 MTPA.

Prelims pointers

• The Ministry says AI projects are being used for farmer advisories, pest control, crop identification, insurance, scheme benefits and governance analytics.
• The National Pest Surveillance System is used by over 10,000 extension workers and currently supports 73 crops over 436 pests.
• IMD's AI-based monsoon and weather advisory has reached approximately 5.28 crore farmers as on date, according to the release.
• BharatVistaar is a multilingual AI-powered Digital Public Infrastructure for agriculture with web, mobile, chatbot and telephone access.
• BharatVistaar has served over 3 lakh farmers, addressed more than 72 lakh queries, and gives information on 18 Central Government schemes.

Prelims pointers

• Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman participated in the 167th anniversary of Income Tax Day celebrations by CBDT in New Delhi.
• She outlined the 5Rs of Responsive Tax Governance: Recognise, Respond, Redress, Reflect and Reform.
• The Income-tax Act, 2025 was described as a landmark reform that simplified the law and reduced compliance costs.
• CBDT technology initiatives mentioned include PAN 2.0, ITBA 2.0, IEC 3.0, Kar Saathi and SAKSHAM NUDGE.
• Six flagship publications of the Income Tax Department were released during the event.

Prelims pointers

• Dr. Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani inaugurated the modernised Kothapeta and Chandramouli Nagar Sub-Post Offices in Guntur under Jan Seva Connect.
• The postal technology modernisation programme has an investment of ₹5,785 crore under IT 2.0 and Advanced Postal Technology 2.0.
• India Post’s network includes more than 1.65 lakh post offices, nearly 90 per cent of which are located in rural India.
• During Q1 FY 2026–27, India Post recorded first-quarter revenue of ₹4,009 crore with 22 per cent year-on-year growth.
• The Kothapeta Sub-Post Office was modernised at ₹51.81 lakh and Chandramouli Nagar Sub-Post Office at ₹64.13 lakh.

Prelims pointers

• Total services exports rose from USD 254.5 billion in 2021-22 to USD 421.3 billion in 2025-26, according to RBI data in the release.
• Telecommunications, computer and information services reached USD 206.6 billion in 2025-26 and formed 49.03% of total services exports.
• Business services reached USD 124.2 billion in 2025-26 and accounted for 29.5% of total services exports.
• India's recent FTAs include domestic-regulation disciplines aimed at time-bound, predictable, objective, impartial and transparent authorisation processes.
• Based on the India-UK CETA understanding, an agreement on Social Security Contributions was signed on Feb. 10, 2026.

Prelims pointers

• The second round of India-Israel FTA negotiations was held from 20 to 23 July 2026 at Vanijya Bhawan, New Delhi.
• The Terms of Reference for the proposed FTA were signed in November 2025 and provide the structured framework for negotiations.
• Total merchandise trade between India and Israel stood at USD 3.93 billion in FY 2025-26.
• Technical sessions covered trade in goods, services, rules of origin, SPS measures, TBT, IPR, customs procedures and trade facilitation.
• India's Chief Negotiator was Shri Ajay Bhadoo, while Israel's Chief Negotiator was Ms. Yifat Alon Perel.

Prelims pointers

• The side event was part of the 16th BRICS Health Ministers' Meeting and was organised by the National Health Authority.
• The dialogue was anchored in the BRICS Health Track Technical Working Group 4 Compendium on Continuum of Care.
• India reported over 940 million ABHA IDs and more than one billion linked digital health records.
• The Union Health Secretary referred to SAHI, the Strategic Framework for AI in Healthcare, launched during the AI India Impact Summit.
• Brazil shared experience with the National Health Data Network, while Indonesia discussed SATUSEHAT across more than 17,000 islands.

Prelims pointers

• The Operational Guidelines of RBSK 2.0 expanded the framework to cover 38 common health conditions.
• The revised guidelines include diabetes, hypertension, mental health conditions and behavioural concerns among children.
• Mobile Health Teams under RBSK are strengthened through human resources from other health programs under National Health Mission.
• Screening under the strengthened Mobile Health Teams is meant for schools and Anganwadi centres.
• IEC materials such as a health booklet, videos and posters were developed and shared with States and UTs.

Prelims pointers

• As of 20th July 2026, 94.87 crore ABHAs had been created under Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission.
• As of 20th July 2026, 5.36 lakh facilities were registered on the Health Facility Registry.
• As of 20th July 2026, 10.09 lakh healthcare professionals were registered on the Healthcare Professionals Registry.
• A third-party evaluation study of ABDM was conducted between June-August 2025.
• ABDM follows Privacy by Design and has no centralised repository of health data, enabling exchange after patient consent.

Prelims pointers

• DoT invoked emergency mechanisms under SOP-2020 for Telecom Services in Response to Disasters and Unified Licence provisions.
• Longleng became the second district in Nagaland after Mon to have Intra-Circle Roaming activated during the emergency.
• ICR activation was authorised up to 23:59 hrs of 27th July, 2026 or till further instructions, whichever is earlier.
• Severe flooding caused major node outages across Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman and adjoining Valsad district.
• ICR allows a mobile subscriber to connect to another operator's network within the same telecom circle when the home network has no coverage.

Prelims pointers

• As of 20th July, 2026, more than 10.18 crore Farmer IDs had been created; the annexure total is 101,840,649.
• Farmer IDs enable integration of DBT schemes, PM-Kisan, PMFBY, MSP-based procurement, credit delivery, input distribution and disaster relief.
• YES-TECH uses satellite remote sensing data and crop-yield estimation models to generate technology-based yield at insurance-unit level.
• Under SMAM, 2,122 drones have been distributed or approved, with assistance up to 50% for listed eligible categories.
• FMTTIs at Budni, Hisar and Biswanath Chariali are DGCA-approved RPTOs and have trained 155 drone pilots to date.

Prelims pointers

• NDMA hosted the BRICS Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Risk Reduction in New Delhi on 24 July 2026 under India’s BRICS Chairship 2026.
• The meeting was chaired by Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Nityanand Rai.
• The meeting concluded with unanimous adoption of the BRICS Joint Statement on Disaster Risk Reduction.
• Member Countries reaffirmed commitment to accelerate the BRICS Disaster Risk Reduction Work Plan (2025–2028).
• Six flagship knowledge products were launched to support evidence-based policymaking and disaster risk reduction initiatives.

Prelims pointers

• President Droupadi Murmu addressed the India-Romania Business Forum at Bucharest on July 24, 2026.
• The President of Romania, H.E. Mr. Nicușor Dan, was present along with government members and business leaders.
• The President described Romania as a gateway to the wider European market and a valuable partner for India.
• The text says the India-EU FTA concerns a combined market of nearly two billion people and around 25 trillion dollars in economic size.
• Areas identified for India-Romania cooperation include energy security, green transition, chemicals, fertilizers, Digital Public Infrastructure and logistics.

Prelims pointers

• As of date, 1,244 products have been identified across 773 districts in the country under the ODOP framework.
• Under SASCI, assistance up to ₹200 crore is provided as a 50-year interest-free loan for PM Ekta Malls.
• PMFME provides a 35% credit-linked capital subsidy with a maximum of ₹10 lakhs for eligible projects.
• Under convergence, 24 common ODOP product clusters have been identified with APEDA and 7 fish and marine product clusters with MPEDA.
• Export-potential products and services have been identified in 734 districts, and 249 District Export Action Plans have been adopted.

Prelims pointers

• WINDS seeks a national network of Automatic Weather Stations and Automatic Rain Gauges for long-term hyperlocal weather data.
• WINDS has been adopted by 7 States/UTs, with 16,843 sites approved, 1,188 sites with civil work completed and 892 AWS/ARGs installed.
• YES-TECH is being implemented with effect from Kharif 2023 and gives mandatory 30% weightage to technology-derived yield.
• YES-TECH was implemented in 12 States across 344 districts in 2025-26; Madhya Pradesh gave 100% weightage to technology-based yield.
• From Kharif 2024, a 12% penalty is auto-calculated through NCIP when an insurance company does not make timely payment.

Prelims pointers

• The Union Cabinet approved the National Mission on Natural Farming on 25th November 2024 as a centrally sponsored scheme.
• Natural farming is described as chemical free farming with livestock-integrated methods and diversified crop systems rooted in Indian traditional knowledge.
• The Mission identified 527 Krishi Vigyan Kendras, 76 Agriculture Universities and 194 Local Natural Farming Institutes for cluster implementation.
• So far, 33,257 Krishi Sakhis/Community Resource Persons have been trained at KVKs, AUs and LNFIs under the Mission.
• For 2024-25 and 2025-26, the annexure reports 18,893 clusters, 20,92,657 enrolled farmers and 10,32,116.452 hectares covered.

Prelims pointers

• The National Medical Commission informed that MBBS seats increased from 1,09,115 in AY 2023-24 to 1,28,976 in AY 2025-26.
• PG seats increased from 31,185 in AY 2023-24 to 86,360 in AY 2025-26.
• As per the Indian Medical Register, the total number of registered practitioners is 15,35,155.
• The article states that there are 7,51,768 registered practitioners in the AYUSH system of medicine.
• Assuming 80% availability in allopathic and AYUSH systems, the doctor-population ratio is estimated at 1:778.

Prelims pointers

• The allocation of the Department of Health Research is stated as 0.012% of GDP.
• DHR budgetary allocation increased from ₹932.00 crore in 2014-15 (RE) to ₹4,821.21 crore in 2026–27 (BE).
• The 2026–27 budgetary allocation rose by approximately 24 percent over the 2025–26 Revised Estimates of ₹3,900.69 crore.
• ICMR has rationalised and expanded intramural and extramural grant architecture for health research proposals.
• Centres for Advanced Research have support of up to ₹15 crore under the current structure described in the article.

Prelims pointers

• Institutional deliveries increased from 88.6% in NFHS-5 to 90.6% in NFHS-6.
• ANC coverage increased from 92.6% to 95.9%, while at least four ANC visits rose from 58.5% to 65.2%.
• The Total Fertility Rate remained stable at 2 across NFHS-5 and NFHS-6, below the replacement level of 2.1.
• Full immunization coverage among children aged 12-23 months improved from 83.8% to 87.1%.
• Stunting among children under five declined from 35.5% to 29.3%, and severe wasting declined from 7.7% to 5.2%.

Prelims pointers

• PMFBY and RWBCIS are mainly implemented on an Area Approach basis, comparing actual yield with threshold yield.
• Localized risks such as hailstorm, landslide, inundation, cloud burst and natural fire are assessed on an individual insured farm basis.
• For SDRF field-level loss assessment, input subsidy becomes payable only where crop loss is assessed at 33% or more.
• The Digiclaim Module has been operationalized for payment of PMFBY claims from Kharif 2022 onwards.
• From Kharif 2025, a 12% penalty is levied on State Government for delay in release of State share of subsidy.

Prelims pointers

• The Union Cabinet approved Bharat Audyogik Vikas Yojana Rasayan, also called the BHAVYA-Rasayan Scheme.
• The scheme is for establishing three dedicated Chemical Parks in the country and was announced in the Union Budget of FY 2026–27.
• The total financial outlay is Rs.3,030 crore, including Rs.3,000 crore for Common Infrastructure Facilities and Basic Utilities.
• The scheme would run for 5 years from FY 2026-27 to FY 2030-31, according to the Cabinet note.
• Each park must have a minimum contiguous area of 8 sq. km., or minimum 2,000 acres, of encumbrance-free land.