DAILY GK 14-15 JULY 2026
1. PM NARENDRA MODI’S VISIT
TO AUSTRALIA
·
PM Narendra Modi undertook
a visit to Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand, from at the invitation
of Anthony Albanese, PM of Australia.
·
India
and Australia launched “Australia-India Partnership on Cyber,
Critical Technologies, and Supply Chains (PACTS)”, a
new framework aimed to promote secure supply supply chains, trusted digital
infrastructure, technology innovation and cyber resilience across the
Indo-Pacific region.
·
The new
framework is structured around 5 key pillars: supply
chain resilience, critical technology, cybersecurity, digital resilience, and
defence research and collaboration.
·
Both
countries unveiled a list of the 18 major agreements and
initiatives, spanning defence, maritime security, clean energy,
critical technologies, education, skill development and cultural cooperation.
·
One of the key outcomes of PM Modi’s
visit to Australia was the finalization of Administrative Arrangement of India-Australia
Civil Nuclear Agreement (originally signed in 2014), facilitating the
commercial supply of Australian uranium for India’s civilian nuclear power
programme.
·
Repatriation of Indian
artifacts: Australia voluntarily announced to repatriate
three significant Indian artefacts: granite Nandi sculpture (origins back to
the 11th-12th century); a bronze trident bearing the image
of Goddess Bhadrakali (11th Century) and a basalt sculpture of
six-headed Skanda (Karttikeya) (12th-century).
2. PM
NARENDRA MODI’S VISIT TO NEW ZEALAND
·
PM Narendra Modi visited New
Zealand at the invitation of Christopher Luxon, PM
of New Zealand.
·
Some of the key announcements include
Doubling of bilateral trade i.e. NZD 7 billion (around Rs 35,000 crore) by 2030
·
Setting
up a Maritime Security Dialogue.
·
New
Zealand nominated Maritime Security as the priority pillar under the
Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) initiative.
·
New
Zealand announced to join the GoI-led Global Biofuels Alliance (GBA), among
others.
3. INDIAN
NAVY COMMISSIONS INS MAHENDRAGIRI
·
The Indian Navy (IN)
commissioned the indigenous stealth frigate Indian Naval
Ship (INS) Mahendragiri (Pennant Number: F38),
the sixth Nilgiri-class (Project-17A) frigate,
into the Eastern Fleet (Sunrise Fleet), strengthening
maritime warfare and stealth capabilities under the vision of MAHASAGAR (Maritime
Security Strategy for the Indian Ocean Region).
·
It was designed by the Warship Design Bureau
(WDB) and built by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL),
Mumbai, Maharashtra.
4.
GLOBAL LIVEABILITY INDEX
2026
·
The Economist Intelligent
United (EIU) released the latest edition of Global Liveability Index
2026.
·
As per the index, New Delhi topped among all the Indian cities
featured in the index, securing 120th spot globally with an overall score
of 48.1.
·
Copenhagen (Denmark) retained the top position for the 2nd consecutive
year which include perfect scores (100
out of 100) in stability, education and infrastructure, followed by Vienna (Austria), Melbourne
(Australia), secured 2nd and 3rd spots respectively.
·
The
EIU 2026 Index has ranked 173 cities across the world by assessing
which location offers the best and worst living conditions.
·
Western Europe continued
to be the strongest region in the index
·
Damascus,
the capital of Syria, again emerged as the world’s least liveable city (ranked at 173rd spot, with score of 32); followed by Tripoli, Libya (172nd); Dhaka, Bangladesh (171st); Karachi,
Pakistan (170th), and Algiers (Algeria).
5. WDMMA
2026 RANKINGS
·
The World Defense Military Analysis (WDMMA) Global Air Power Rankings 2026, ranked Indian Air Force (IAF) as
the 3rd-most
powerful air force globally behind only the United States and Russia,
maintaining its position ahead of China’s People’s
Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF).
·
IAF ranked at 6th position overall when air arms of the Army, Navy and Air Force
are considered together with True Value Rating (TVR)
of 69.4.
·
United
States(US) Air Force tops with a
TVR of 242.9 (5,004 aircraft).
6. UN
RELEASES FIRST SCIENTIFIC REPORT ON AI
·
The United Nations (UN) released
the Preliminary
Report of the Independent International
Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence (AI), the first
UN-commissioned scientific assessment of AI.
·
The report warns that AI development
is outpacing global governance and urges governments
to strengthen regulatory frameworks.
·
Prepared by a 40-member Independent
International Scientific Panel on AI, comprising scientists and experts from
all five UN regions, co-chaired by Turing Award laureate Yoshua
Bengio and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa.
·
The report warns that frontier AI development is advancing faster than global governance,
causing fragmented safeguards and concentration of AI capabilities among a few
countries and companies.
·
The
report highlights the global AI
imbalance, with the United States of America (USA) leading with 75% of
global compute capacity and 59 AI models, followed by China with 15% compute
capacity and 35 AI models, while the Rest of the World accounts for 10% compute
capacity and 13 AI models.
7. GUJARAT’S
UNJHA CUMIN & FENNEL RECEIVE GI TAGS
·
The Geographical Indications Registry (GIR), granted
Geographical Indication (GI) tag to Gujarat’s two
agricultural products: Unjha Cumin and Fennel, both
originating from Unjha region in north
of the state.
·
The
list of GI-tagged agricultural products
from Gujarat has now been expanded to
6 (which already includes Gir Kesar mangoes, Bhalia wheat,
Kachchhi Kharek and Amalsadi chikoo).
8. BRAND
FINANCE INDIA 100 REPORT 2026
·
As per Brand Finance report,
the Adani Group ranked at 8th becoming
the fastest company to enter into
India’s ‘Top 10 Most Valuable
Brands’.
·
Tata Group retained its position as India’s most valuable
brand for the 10th consecutive year with a brand value of USD 33.6 billion,
followed by Infosys and LIC Group in
the 2nd and 3rd positions,
respectively.
·
The
total valuation of India’s 100 leading brands stands at USD
252.8 billion, marking an increase of 7% compared
to the last year.
·
Suzlon Energy emerged
as the fastest-growing Indian brand in
2026, with its brand valuation surged 114% Year-on-Year (Y-o-Y) to USD 418
million.
·
Taj Hotels has
emerged as India’s strongest brand
for the 5th consecutive year.
9.
BHARAT
SAMMAN 2026
·
Dr.
Nandini Azad, President of the Working Women’s Forum (India) (WWF-I)
and the Indian Cooperative Network for Women (ICNW), received the Bharat Samman
2026, in recognition of her lifelong
contributions to women’s empowerment, financial inclusion, and grassroots
social development.
·
The award was presented at an event held in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, by
the International Institute of Education and Management (IIEM) in association
with the Economic Growth Foundation (EGF).
·
The
Bharat Samman is a national honour presented to individuals for their
exceptional contribution to nation-building, social development, public
service, education, healthcare, culture, and women’s empowerment.
10. WIMBLEDON
CHAMPIONSHIPS 2026
·
The 2026 Wimbledon Championships,
a major tennis tournament, was held
in Wimbledon, London, England.
·
World No. 1 Jannik Sinner of
Italy won the men’s singles title by defeating Germany’s Alexander Zverev
6-7(7), 7-6(2), 6-3, 6-4 in the final, securing his fifth Grand Slam singles title.
·
Linda Nosková of the Czech Republic, won women’s singles title by defeating fellow Czech KarolÃna
Muchová, 6-2, 5-7, 6-3, the 10th seed.
·
Women’s Doubles: Guo Hanyu (China) and Kristina
Mladenovic (France) won the women’s
doubles title.
·
Men’s Doubles: Harri Heliövaara (Finland) and Henry Patten
(United Kingdom) won the men’s doubles title.
·
Mixed Doubles: Marcelo Arévalo (El Salvador) and Jeļena
Ostapenko (Latvia) won the mixed doubles
title.
