Current Affairs July 2026 - Part 4 - Topic Guide and MCQs

1. Who received the 60th Jnanpith Award (2025), India's highest literary honour?

   1. Gulzar
   2. Vinod Kumar Shukla
   3. R. Vairamuthu
   4. Damodar Mauzo
   Show answer

   Answer: (C) R. Vairamuthu

   Explanation: Tamil poet-lyricist R. Vairamuthu received the 60th Jnanpith, becoming the third Tamil writer after Akilan and Jayakanthan. The award carries Rs 11 lakh and a bronze statue of Vagdevi.

2. The Fields Medal 2026 was awarded to Hong Wang, Yu Deng, John Pardon and Jacob Tsimerman. Mathematicians must be below what age to receive it?

   1. 35 years
   2. 45 years
   3. 40 years
   4. 50 years
   Show answer

   Answer: (C) 40 years

   Explanation: The Fields Medal, the top honour in mathematics, is given every 4 years by the International Mathematical Union (IMU) to mathematicians under 40.

3. National Security Adviser Ajit Doval received the Lokmanya Tilak National Award 2026 in Pune. Who presented the award?

   1. Amit Shah
   2. Narendra Modi
   3. Droupadi Murmu
   4. Rajnath Singh
   Show answer

   Answer: (A) Amit Shah

   Explanation: Union Home Minister Amit Shah presented the award on 1 August 2026; it is given by the Lokmanya Tilak Smarak Trust. Doval, a 1968-batch IPS officer, is India's longest-serving NSA.

4. From 2027, the International Booker Prize will be known by what name?

   1. Global Booker Prize
   2. Commonwealth Booker Prize
   3. Bukhman International Booker Prize
   4. Booker World Fiction Prize
   Show answer

   Answer: (C) Bukhman International Booker Prize

   Explanation: It will become the Bukhman International Booker Prize under a 10-year partnership with Bukhman Philanthropies; prize money doubles from £50,000 to £100,000, shared equally by author and translator.

5. India recorded its best-ever performance with five gold medals at the 56th International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) 2026. Where was it held?

   1. Colombia
   2. Brazil
   3. Argentina
   4. Chile
   Show answer

   Answer: (A) Colombia

   Explanation: The 56th IPhO was held in Colombia; India's team was trained at the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE).

6. ICMR won the Gold Award at the National Awards for e-Governance 2026 for which AI-based mental health platform?

   1. Tele-MANAS
   2. ICMR-MINDS
   3. eSanjeevani
   4. Aarogya Setu
   Show answer

   Answer: (B) ICMR-MINDS

   Explanation: ICMR won Gold for ICMR-MINDS, its AI-based mental health platform. ICMR, India's apex medical research body, was set up in 1911 and renamed in 1949.

7. Who received the 2026 Leadership Award from the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF)?

   1. Mukesh Ambani
   2. Nandan Nilekani
   3. Kumar Mangalam Birla
   4. Sunil Bharti Mittal
   Show answer

   Answer: (D) Sunil Bharti Mittal

   Explanation: Bharti Enterprises founder Sunil Bharti Mittal received the USISPF Leadership Award 2026.

8. Varsha Ashok Aglawe became the first woman Director General of the Geological Survey of India (GSI). In which year was GSI established?

   1. 1875
   2. 1905
   3. 1947
   4. 1851
   Show answer

   Answer: (D) 1851

   Explanation: GSI was established in 1851 and works under the Ministry of Mines; its headquarters is in Kolkata.

9. Sanjeev Jain has been appointed as India's Ambassador to which country?

   1. North Korea (DPRK)
   2. South Korea
   3. Mongolia
   4. Vietnam
   Show answer

   Answer: (A) North Korea (DPRK)

   Explanation: The Ministry of External Affairs appointed Sanjeev Jain as India's Ambassador to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), whose capital is Pyongyang.

10. Which country won the FIFA World Cup 2026 by defeating Argentina 1–0 in extra time?

    1. Spain
    2. France
    3. Brazil
    4. Portugal
    Show answer

    Answer: (A) Spain

    Explanation: Spain won its 2nd World Cup (after 2010) in the final at MetLife Stadium, New Jersey (USA). Lionel Messi became the first player to appear in three World Cup finals (2014, 2022, 2026).

11. Who won the Adidas Golden Ball, awarded to the best player, at the FIFA World Cup 2026?

    1. Kylian Mbappé
    2. Lionel Messi
    3. Pau Cubarsí
    4. Rodri
    Show answer

    Answer: (D) Rodri

    Explanation: Spain's Rodri won the Golden Ball. Kylian Mbappé (France) won the Golden Boot, Unai Simón the Golden Glove and Pau Cubarsí the Best Young Player award.

12. Who won the women's singles title at Wimbledon 2026, her maiden Grand Slam?

    1. Linda Noskova
    2. Karolina Muchova
    3. Iga Swiatek
    4. Aryna Sabalenka
    Show answer

    Answer: (A) Linda Noskova

    Explanation: Linda Noskova (Czech Republic) beat Karolina Muchova; she is the 9th consecutive first-time Wimbledon women's champion. Jannik Sinner won the men's singles.

13. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi became the youngest Indian to play international cricket at 15 years 99 days. Whose record did he break?

    1. Parthiv Patel
    2. Sachin Tendulkar
    3. Piyush Chawla
    4. Shubman Gill
    Show answer

    Answer: (B) Sachin Tendulkar

    Explanation: Sooryavanshi debuted in a T20I against England, breaking Sachin Tendulkar's record (Sachin debuted at 16 years 205 days in 1989).

14. Sourav Ganguly was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame. He became the how-manyth Indian cricketer to get this honour?

    1. 10th
    2. 11th
    3. 12th
    4. 13th
    Show answer

    Answer: (C) 12th

    Explanation: Ganguly became the 12th Indian in the ICC Hall of Fame; he led India to the final of the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup.

15. Which Indian became the first woman to score a Test century at Lord's, making 113 against England Women?

    1. Smriti Mandhana
    2. Yastika Bhatia
    3. Shafali Verma
    4. Jemimah Rodrigues
    Show answer

    Answer: (B) Yastika Bhatia

    Explanation: Yastika Bhatia scored 113, her maiden international century. In the same series Kranti Goud became the first Indian woman on the Lord's Honours Board with a 5-wicket haul.

16. Indian para-athlete Hokato Hotozhe Sema became World No. 1 in which event?

    1. Men's Javelin F64
    2. Men's High Jump T63
    3. Men's Shot Put F57
    4. Men's Discus F56
    Show answer

    Answer: (C) Men's Shot Put F57

    Explanation: Hokato Hotozhe Sema topped the world rankings in men's shot put F57 with a throw of 14.65 m; he is a Paris 2024 Paralympic bronze medallist and Arjuna Award winner.

17. Lakshay and Ujjwal Kumar Singh won India's first-ever gold at the World Rowing Cup 2026 in Lucerne. In which event?

    1. Men's Single Sculls (M1x)
    2. Men's Pair (M2-)
    3. Men's Quadruple Sculls (M4x)
    4. Lightweight Men's Double Sculls (LM2x)
    Show answer

    Answer: (D) Lightweight Men's Double Sculls (LM2x)

    Explanation: The two Indian Army Havildars won the Lightweight Men's Double Sculls (LM2x) at Lucerne, Switzerland.

18. Aswath S, a 17-year-old from Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, became India's which Chess Grandmaster?

    1. 95th
    2. 98th
    3. 100th
    4. 92nd
    Show answer

    Answer: (B) 98th

    Explanation: Aswath S became India's 98th Grandmaster. Viswanathan Anand became India's first GM in 1988.

19. Anahat Singh became the first Indian to win the girls' singles title at which championship in 2026?

    1. Asian Junior Badminton Championship
    2. Wimbledon Junior Championship
    3. World Junior Table Tennis Championship
    4. World Junior Squash Championship
    Show answer

    Answer: (D) World Junior Squash Championship

    Explanation: Anahat Singh beat Ruqayya Salem of Egypt to become the first Indian girls' singles World Junior Squash Champion.

20. Which three countries will be the main hosts of the FIFA World Cup 2030?

    1. Spain, Portugal and Morocco
    2. Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay
    3. USA, Canada and Mexico
    4. Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE
    Show answer

    Answer: (A) Spain, Portugal and Morocco

    Explanation: Spain, Portugal and Morocco are the main hosts; the opening matches will be played in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay, making it the first World Cup across 3 continents and 6 countries (48 teams).

21. What was India's rank in the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) 2026, which ranked 177 countries?

    1. 180th
    2. 176th
    3. 168th
    4. 172nd
    Show answer

    Answer: (B) 176th

    Explanation: India ranked 176th with 22.46 points, ahead of only Laos; Estonia ranked 1st. The EPI is prepared by Yale and Columbia universities, and India has questioned its methodology.

22. India ranked 125th among 197 countries in the Global Passport Index 2026. Which organisation publishes this index?

    1. Henley & Partners
    2. Arton Capital
    3. World Economic Forum
    4. Global Citizen Solutions
    Show answer

    Answer: (D) Global Citizen Solutions

    Explanation: The Global Passport Index is published by Global Citizen Solutions; Sweden topped it and India achieved its highest-ever score of 45.1.

23. According to the BIMCO-ICS Seafarer Workforce Report 2026, India is the world's second-largest supplier of seafarers. What is India's share of the global seafarer workforce?

    1. 9.85%
    2. 12.16%
    3. 14.20%
    4. 5.2%
    Show answer

    Answer: (B) 12.16%

    Explanation: India supplies 3,11,936 seafarers, 12.16% of the global workforce (up from 5.2% in 2015), and ranks second after the Philippines.

24. The Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS), Kolkata, completed 150 years. Who founded it in 1876?

    1. Sir C. V. Raman
    2. Dr Mahendralal Sircar
    3. Ashutosh Mukherjee
    4. Jagadish Chandra Bose
    Show answer

    Answer: (B) Dr Mahendralal Sircar

    Explanation: IACS, India's oldest scientific research institution, was founded on 29 July 1876 by Dr Mahendralal Sircar. C. V. Raman discovered the Raman Effect here and won the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics.

25. Girish Bharadwaj, who passed away at 76, was popularly known by which title?

    1. Water Man of India
    2. Tree Man of India
    3. Bridge Man of India
    4. Missile Man of India
    Show answer

    Answer: (C) Bridge Man of India

    Explanation: Padma Shri awardee Girish Bharadwaj, the 'Bridge Man of India', built 140+ low-cost suspension bridges; his first was across the Payaswini River in 1989.

Current Affairs July 2026 - Part 4 is factual rather than analytical: you either recall it in seconds or you lose the mark to somebody who did. That makes it one of the cheapest sections to convert - a handful of short sittings usually settles the whole cluster.

Expect one-line recall questions - definitions, stand-for expansions, identifiers and the ordering of things. Practise the wording as well as the concept: these papers test terminology, and the set above uses the same four-option shape they do.

Past papers reuse clusters like this almost verbatim across years and posts. Run the same set until every distractor is familiar - previous-year style questions stop being recall and start being free marks.