Welcome to Plutus Academy’s Daily Current Affairs for 17 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 Nash Mukt Bharat Abhiyan (Drug-Free India Campaign) has reached 29.32 crore people since its launch, the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment reported on 17 July 2026, highlighting its impact on youth awareness and de-addiction outreach.
• The ‘Parivartan Scheme’ guidelines for replacement of old, End-of-Life vehicles in the National Capital Region (NCR) were approved, laying down the framework for scrapping and replacing vehicles that have completed their permissible age under NGT/Supreme Court norms.
• The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) took suo motu cognizance of the death of a sanitation worker in a sewer in Noida, seeking a detailed report from Uttar Pradesh authorities on the incident and on compliance with manual-scavenging prohibition laws.
• The Ministry of Civil Aviation inaugurated a workshop on the revised UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) Scheme to strengthen regional air connectivity and expand the scheme’s reach to smaller towns.
• The PAIMANA Dashboard, a monitoring tool for tracking the performance of India’s infrastructure projects, was highlighted by the government as a key tool for real-time project oversight.

International News

• Qatar said it intercepted a missile attack on Friday, with AFP journalists in Doha reporting several blasts heard over the capital amid continuing regional tensions in the Middle East.
• Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. returned from what he called his ‘most productive’ working visit to Singapore, where bilateral trade and defence ties were strengthened.
• Russian anti-war politician Boris Nadezhdin, detained over a video featuring opposition leader Alexei Navalny, was released from a police station and is due to appear in court.
• The impeachment trial of Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte formally began in the Senate, marking a significant political and constitutional development in Manila.
• Sweden’s Market Court ordered Google to pay price-comparison site PriceRunner about SEK 14.3 billion (approximately USD 1.5 billion) in damages — the largest competition-related award in Swedish history.

News Related to Indian Banking and Finance

• The Central Government’s extension of RBI Deputy Governor Swaminathan Janakiraman’s term by two years, effective 26 June 2026, continues to be a key highlight in banking appointments.
• The RBI released a draft ‘Guidance on Regulatory Principles for Model Risk Management, 2026,’ proposing board-approved frameworks, independent validation, human oversight and a mandatory ‘kill switch’ for AI-driven credit and risk models used by banks.
• Bank credit growth touched a near two-year high of 17.65% year-on-year as of 31 May 2026, while deposit growth stood at 12.21%, widening the credit-deposit growth gap to 544 basis points.
• India recorded a current account surplus of USD 4.7 billion in April 2026, a sharp reversal from a USD 4.8 billion deficit in the same month a year earlier.
• RBI’s temporary withdrawal of the interest-rate ceiling on fresh FCNR(B) deposits of three-to-five-year tenor (effective 17 June to 30 September 2026) continues to give banks flexibility in mobilising NRI foreign-currency deposits.

News Related to International Banking and Finance

• In its July 2026 World Economic Outlook Update titled ‘Global Economy in Crosscurrents of War and Technology,’ the IMF projected global growth of about 3.0% for 2026 and 3.4% for 2027, cautioning that progress on disinflation has stalled.
• The World Bank projected that global growth could slow to around 2.5% in 2026, citing the impact of the Middle East conflict on energy prices and financial conditions in emerging markets.
• The 2026 Annual Meetings of the IMF and World Bank Group are scheduled to be held in Bangkok, Thailand, from 12 to 18 October 2026.
• The IMF published new research on ‘BigTech in Financial Services: Emerging Regulatory Considerations,’ examining risks posed by large technology firms entering payments and financial services.

International Sports Events

• 2026 FIFA World Cup semi-final: Defending champions Argentina defeated England 2-1 in a dramatic, late comeback led by Lionel Messi, sending Argentina into the final.
• The 2026 FIFA World Cup final will be played on 19 July 2026 between Spain and Argentina at East Rutherford, New Jersey; the third-place playoff between France and England will be held on 18 July 2026 in Miami Gardens.
• Argentina’s players faced scrutiny after displaying a ‘Las Malvinas son Argentinas’ banner following their semi-final win, which drew attention under FIFA’s Stadium Code of Conduct.

Major National or International Appointments

• Ravi Agrawal was reappointed as Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), with his tenure extended till December 2026.
• Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri was granted a one-year extension in his current post, effective 2 July 2026.
• Hitesh Joshi was named the new Chairman of General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re), effective 18 June 2026.
• Mahesh Dixit was appointed as the new Director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) for a tenure of two years, effective 25 June 2026.

Resignation or Dismissal

• Over 100 scientists have resigned from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in recent months; the Department of Space issued stricter resignation-review rules on 14 July 2026 to safeguard continuity of strategic projects, including the Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission.

Major Inventions and Discoveries

• NASA’s Perseverance rover has covered a cumulative distance on Mars equivalent to a full marathon (approximately 42 km) since its 2021 landing, a significant operational milestone for the mission.
• NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope revealed new atmospheric details of the ultra-hot lava exoplanet 55 Cancri e, refining scientists’ understanding of rocky, close-orbit exoplanets.
• Scientists at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, discovered a method to create exotic light structures called ‘optical skyrmions’ using the Poisson spot optical effect, with potential applications in optical computing and data storage.
• Astronomers conducted a radio survey of K2-18b — one of the most closely watched exoplanets in the search for extraterrestrial life — using the Very Large Array (VLA) and MeerKAT telescopes.
• NASA announced nearly USD 600 million in awards for four commercial Moon-landing missions planned for late 2028, each carrying instruments to study lunar dust, navigation and the Moon’s radiation environment.

Sources: Press Information Bureau (PIB), Reserve Bank of India, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, IMF, World Bank, ISRO, NASA, Reuters, AFP, FIFA and other credible news agencies.

Test Yourself – 5 Practice Questions