Welcome to Plutus Academy’s Daily Current Affairs for 13 July 2026, carefully compiled from credible newspapers, news agencies and Government sources for aspirants of Bank PO, SSC, RRB and UPSC examinations. Read the summaries below, download the PDF, and test yourself with the five practice questions at the end.

National News

• The Union Government approved the Aastha Van scheme, a five-year, ₹3,000-crore programme to conserve and restore nearly 15,000 sacred groves across India.
• India and New Zealand elevated their bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership, deepening cooperation in trade, defence and education.
• Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated the Jayaprakash Narayan Public Library in the NDMC area of New Delhi.
• The Urban Flood Risk Management Programme (UFRMP) approved ₹3,076 crore for flood-resilient infrastructure and early-warning systems across seven vulnerable metro cities, after the July 2026 Mumbai floods.

International News

• The NATO Summit at Ankara reaffirmed collective defence under Article 5 and pledged €70 billion in military aid to Ukraine for 2026.
• Pakistan and the United States held negotiations in Washington D.C. on a proposed Agreement on Reciprocal Trade.
• The UN High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) 2026, held under ECOSOC, continued its review of the Sustainable Development Goals through 15 July.

News Related to Indian Banking and Finance

• The RBI Monetary Policy Committee retained the repo rate at 5.25% with a neutral stance; SDF at 5.00% and MSF and Bank Rate at 5.50%.
• The RBI projected real GDP growth of 6.9% and CPI inflation of 4.6% for FY 2026-27.
• The State Bank of India board approved raising up to ₹60,000 crore in FY27 via bonds and Basel III AT1 and Tier-2 instruments.
• NPCI reported record UPI activity in May 2026 — ₹29.9 lakh crore in value and 23.2 billion transactions.
• SEBI introduced new rules for sharing real-time market price data with third parties to curb misuse.

News Related to International Banking and Finance

• India recorded a current account surplus of $4.7 billion in April 2026, reversing a $4.8 billion deficit a year earlier.
• Foreign Direct Investment into India more than doubled to $11.4 billion, with net FDI at $7.4 billion.
• UPI is now accepted in nine countries; the India–Nepal cross-border P2P remittance link (UPI–NPI) is operational since 6 June 2026.

International Sports Events

• Jannik Sinner won the Wimbledon 2026 men’s singles title, beating Alexander Zverev 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, 6-4 — his fifth Grand Slam and a successful title defence.
• The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 was hosted in England across June–July 2026.
• The England vs India Test series (1–19 July 2026) continued as a marquee red-ball contest of the summer.

Major National or International Appointments

• HDFC Bank named Puneet Sharma as its new Chief Financial Officer, effective 1 December 2026.
• The HDFC Bank board is set to recommend the reappointment of Sashidhar Jagdishan as Managing Director & CEO.
• Lt Gen N. S. Raja Subramani is the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and Vice Admiral Krishna Swaminathan the Chief of Naval Staff in recent defence leadership changes.

Resignation or Dismissal

• Union Minister George Kurian resigned from the Union Council of Ministers after his Rajya Sabha term expired; President Droupadi Murmu accepted the resignation.

Major Inventions and Discoveries

• DRDO flight-tested the Pinaka Long Range Guided Rocket (LRGR-120) at ITR Chandipur — an indigenous precision-guided rocket with a range up to 120 km, using INS and NavIC guidance.
• ISRO qualified the Main Parachute for the Gaganyaan G1 uncrewed flight through comprehensive drop tests.
• The ISRO–CNES TRISHNA mission will deliver high-resolution thermal-infrared imaging of land and coastal zones.
• China’s Tianwen-2 probe reached the near-Earth asteroid Kamo’oalewa, releasing its first image on 6 July 2026.

Sources: Press Information Bureau (PIB), Reserve Bank of India, The Hindu, Indian Express, NATO, NPCI, Olympics.com and other credible news agencies.

Test Yourself – 5 Practice Questions