20 July 2026 Current Affairs (With PDF)

We bring you the most relevant and important news updates from around the world and India, specially curated for competitive exams and different entrance exams. Today's Current Affairs cover all significant national and international headlines, legal updates, economic news, and environmental highlights to boost your preparation. With our crisp, to-the-point coverage, you can confidently tackle current affairs questions in your exams.

Digitising Criminal Justice System

The Union Government has announced that India aims to achieve a fully digital Criminal Justice System (CJS) by 1 July 2027 through the Interoperable Criminal Justice System (ICJS).

About the Criminal Justice System (CJS)

1. Meaning:

• The Criminal Justice System comprises the police, courts, prosecution, prisons, and forensic institutions, working together to investigate crimes, prosecute offenders, and deliver justice.

2. Core Principle:

• Seeks to balance the rights of the accused with the interests of victims and society.

3. Foundation:

• Based on the principles of natural justice, particularly Audi Alteram Partem (right to a fair hearing), ensuring procedural fairness.

4. Recent Legal Reforms:

• Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 shifts the focus from a purely punitive approach to justice-oriented criminal law.
• Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023 aims to balance the rights of the accused with those of victims while ensuring due process.

Role of Digitisation in Criminal Justice

• Interoperable Criminal Justice System (ICJS): Integrates police, courts, prisons, prosecution, forensic laboratories, and other justice institutions through a unified digital platform.
• Strengthening Forensics: Mandatory forensic investigation for offences punishable with seven years or more improves the quality of criminal investigations.
• Digital Evidence Management: Facilitates seamless sharing of FIRs, scanned documents, CCTV footage, audio-video recordings, and forensic reports among agencies.
• Predictive Policing: Uses artificial intelligence and historical crime data to identify crime patterns, allocate resources efficiently, and prevent potential offences.

Challenges

• Weak Digital Integration: Only 46% of FIRs are digitally transmitted to courts, limiting end-to-end digital case management.
• Privacy and Rights Concerns: Increased use of DNA profiling and digital surveillance raises concerns regarding the right to privacy and protection against self-incrimination.
• Infrastructure Gaps: Many police stations and courts continue to face shortages of modern IT infrastructure and digital equipment.
• Algorithmic Bias: AI-based policing and decision-support systems may reinforce existing biases if algorithms are inadequately designed or regularly audited.

Significance

• Enables faster investigation, prosecution, and case disposal through integrated digital workflows.
• Improves transparency, accountability, and evidence management across the criminal justice system.
• Reduces paperwork, duplication, and procedural delays by connecting all justice-sector stakeholders.
• Supports the implementation of new criminal laws through technology-driven and citizen-centric justice delivery.

Rural Credit for Inclusive Growth in India

India’s rural credit system has evolved from dependence on informal moneylenders to a diversified institutional framework, expanding access to affordable finance for agriculture and rural livelihoods.

India’s Rural Credit Landscape

1. Institutional Network:

• Rural credit is provided through Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs), Regional Rural Banks (RRBs), Cooperative Banks, Small Finance Banks (SFBs), and NABARD.

2. Role of NABARD:

• Acts as the apex rural development financial institution by providing refinance assistance, rural infrastructure financing, institutional development, and supervision of Cooperative Banks and RRBs.3.

3. Key Outcome:

• According to NABARD’s Rural Economic Conditions and Sentiments Survey (May 2026):
• 77.2% of rural households reported higher consumption levels.
• Around 51% of households relied exclusively on formal credit sources.

Institutional Architecture

1. Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs):

• Listed under the Second Schedule of the RBI Act, 1934.
• Eligible for RBI refinance and clearing house membership.
• Rural branches increased from 41,464 (2014) to 56,193 (July 2025).

2. Regional Rural Banks (RRBs):

• 28 RRBs operate across States and UTs.
• Network of over 22,000 branches covering nearly 700 districts.
• Cooperative Credit Institutions: Multi-tier structure led by Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) for short-term agricultural credit.
• Small Finance Banks (SFBs): 11 SFBs currently support financial inclusion in underserved rural areas.

Major Policy Initiatives

• Priority Sector Lending (PSL): Mandates banks to extend credit to agriculture and priority sectors and Includes sub-targets of 14% for non-corporate farmers and 10% for small and marginal farmers.
• Ground Level Credit (GLC): Annual agricultural credit targets fixed by the Government for banks.
• Self-Help Groups (SHGs): Over 10.05 crore rural women organised into 90.90 lakh SHGs.
• Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS): 32,836 new PACS registered and 15,793 dairy and fishery cooperatives strengthened (January 2026).
• Modified Interest Subvention Scheme (MISS): Provides short-term crop loans through the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) at 7% interest, with 1.5% interest subvention to lending institutions.
• PM Dhan Dhanya Krishi Yojana (PM-DDKY): Targets 100 low-performing agricultural districts by improving access to short- and long-term farm credit.
• DAY–National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM): 50,548 Bank Sakhis have facilitated SHG credit exceeding ₹12.18 lakh crore since 2013–14.
• Jan Dhan Darshak App: By March 2025, 99.92% of villages had a banking outlet within a 5 km radius, with Dadra & Nagar Haveli achieving full coverage.

Significance

• Expands financial inclusion by reducing dependence on informal moneylenders.
• Enhances access to affordable agricultural and rural enterprise credit. 
• Strengthens women-led rural entrepreneurship through SHGs and Bank Sakhis.
• Supports inclusive rural development, higher farm productivity, and livelihood diversification.

Draft CAFE-III Norms

The Ministry of Power has released the Draft Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE-III) Norms to reduce India's crude oil dependence, improve vehicle fuel efficiency, and accelerate the adoption of cleaner automotive technologies.

About CAFE Norms

• Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) norms are notified by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) under the Energy Conservation Act, 2001.
• They prescribe fleet-wide fuel efficiency and CO₂ emission standards for automobile manufacturers rather than individual vehicles.
• The objective is to reduce carbon emissions, improve fuel economy, and lower fossil fuel consumption in the transport sector.

Key Features of CAFE-III

1. Implementation Period:

• Applicable from FY 2027–28 to FY 2031–32, replacing the existing CAFE-II norms.

2. Coverage:

• Applies to M1 category passenger vehicles (up to eight passenger seats, excluding the driver) manufactured or imported for sale in India.

3. Exemption:

• Manufacturers selling fewer than 1,000 vehicles annually are exempt.
• 4. Stricter Fuel Efficiency Targets: Fleet-average fuel consumption to reduce from 3.996 litres/100 km (94.76 g CO₂/km) in FY28 to 3.3273 litres/100 km (78.90 g CO₂/km) by FY32.
• The revised targets are 21% less stringent than the initial proposal to facilitate smoother industry compliance.

5. Block-wise Compliance:

• Compliance will be assessed over:
• First Block: FY28–FY30 (3 years)
• Second Block: FY31–FY32 (2 years)

Incentives for Cleaner Vehicles

1. Carbon Neutrality Factors (Fuel Deduction):

• 8% deduction in declared CO₂ emissions for E20-compatible vehicles.
• 22.3% deduction for flex-fuel ethanol and flex-fuel strong hybrid vehicles.

2. Super Credits:

• Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) and Range-Extended EVs: 3.0 credits
• Plug-in Hybrids (PHEVs) and Flex-fuel Strong Hybrids: 2.5 credits
• Strong Hybrids: 1.6 credits
• Flex-fuel Ethanol Vehicles: 1.1 credits

3. These multipliers

• Help reduce a manufacturer's fleet-average emissions, encouraging investment in cleaner technologies.

Compliance Mechanism

 Automakers will maintain an annual compliance passbook.

1. Any compliance gap can be addressed through:

• Carry-forward of surplus credits,
• Credit pooling with up to three manufacturers, or
• Purchase of compliance credits from the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE).

Significance

• Reduces crude oil import dependence and enhances energy security.
• Supports India's commitments on climate change mitigation and net-zero emissions.
• Encourages greater adoption of electric vehicles, hybrids, flex-fuel vehicles, and biofuels.
• Promotes innovation and improved fuel efficiency in the Indian automobile industry.

PARIVARTAN Scheme

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has approved the operational guidelines for the PARIVARTAN Scheme to accelerate the replacement of old polluting commercial vehicles across the National Capital Region (NCR).

About PARIVARTAN Scheme

• Objective: Promote the replacement of ageing commercial trucks and buses with BS-VI-compliant or fully electric vehicles (EVs) to reduce vehicular emissions in the NCR.
• Coverage: Implemented across Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh within the National Capital Region.
• Implementing Ministries: Executed by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG).
• Funding Agency: Financial support is provided by the National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB).

Key Features

1. Vehicle Replacement Incentives:

• Registration fee waiver.
• 10-year exemption/concession in motor vehicle tax.
• 5% interest subvention on vehicle loans.
• Minimum 8% discount offered by Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs).

2. Fuel & EV Support:

• Monthly fuel vouchers for replacement with BS-VI diesel and CNG vehicles.
• One-time financial assistance for purchasing electric commercial vehicles.

3. Digital Integration:

•  An integrated digital platform links the VAHAN database, V-Scrap, DigiELV, and the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) for seamless verification, scrappage, and incentive disbursal.

Significance

• Accelerates the phase-out of high-emission commercial vehicles in one of India's most polluted regions.
• Promotes adoption of cleaner BS-VI and electric mobility, improving urban air quality.
• Supports India's commitments towards clean transport, emission reduction, and sustainable urban mobility.
• Encourages organised vehicle scrappage through a transparent, technology-enabled ecosystem.

CapaCITIES Programme

The CapaCITIES Programme completed 10 years and released new toolkits and a roadmap to strengthen municipal climate action and support India’s Net-Zero target by 2070.

About CapaCITIES

• Full Form: Capacity Building Project on Low Carbon and Climate Resilient City Development in India.
• Objective: To build the institutional capacity of Indian cities to plan, finance, and implement integrated climate mitigation and adaptation strategies.
• Launch: 2016.
• Funding: Supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) through the Embassy of Switzerland to India and Bhutan.
• Implementing Agencies: Executed by ICLEI South Asia, South Pole, and econcept, with the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) as the knowledge partner.
• Coverage: Gujarat (Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Vadodara), Tamil Nadu (Coimbatore, Tiruchirappalli, Tirunelveli), Rajasthan (Udaipur), West Bengal (Siliguri)

Key Features

• Climate Action Planning: Introduced Climate Resilient City Action Plans (CRCAPs), providing a scientific and simplified framework for integrating climate concerns into city master plans.
• Institutional Governance: Established Net-Zero and Climate Action Cells within municipal corporations to support long-term climate budgeting, monitoring, and project implementation.
• Capacity Building: Strengthens the technical and managerial capabilities of urban local bodies in low-carbon and climate-resilient urban development.
• Implementation Support: Helps cities identify and execute projects related to energy efficiency, sustainable mobility, waste management, water security, and urban resilience.

Significance

• Supports the localisation of India’s climate commitments and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
• Enhances the ability of urban local bodies to mainstream climate resilience into urban planning.
• Contributes to India’s broader goal of achieving Net-Zero emissions by 2070 through city-level action.
• Encourages a model of integrated urban governance, combining mitigation, adaptation, finance, and institutional capacity.

INS Mahendragiri

The Indian Navy commissioned the indigenously built stealth frigate INS Mahendragiri into the Eastern Fleet at Visakhapatnam, strengthening India's maritime combat capabilities.

About INS Mahendragiri

• It is the 7th warship built under Project 17A (Nilgiri-class Stealth Frigates) and the 6th vessel to be commissioned.
• Constructed by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL), Mumbai.
• Named after Mahendragiri, a mountain in the Eastern Ghats.

1. Operational Role

• Designed as a multi-role frontline stealth frigate capable of Fleet Air Defence, Anti-Surface Warfare (ASuW), Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW)
• Intended to operate independently or as part of carrier and fleet task groups across the Indo-Pacific.

2. Key Features

• Over 75% indigenous content, supporting the Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative.
• Maximum speed: Approximately 28 knots.
• Major Weapons Systems: BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles & Barak-8 Long-Range Surface-to-Air Missile (LR-SAM) system
• Advanced Sensors: MF-STAR Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) Radar for multi-target detection and tracking.
• Stealth Characteristics: Radar-absorbing coatings, Flush-mounted weapons and sensors, Reduced Radar Cross Section (RCS) to minimise enemy detection.

About Project 17A

• Follow-on programme to Project 17 (Shivalik-class) stealth frigates.
• Envisages the construction of seven advanced stealth frigates by:Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL), Mumbai and Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata
• Incorporates enhanced stealth, automation, survivability, and network-centric warfare capabilities.

Significance

• Strengthens the Indian Navy's blue-water operational capability.
• Enhances India's maritime deterrence in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
• Promotes indigenous defence manufacturing under Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
• Improves the Navy's ability to address conventional and asymmetric maritime security threats.

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