Daily Current Affairs- 16th July 2026

Daily Current Affairs- 16th July 2026

Dr. Srinivasa Kumar Tummala Appointed Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences

In the News: The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved the appointment of oceanographer Dr. Srinivasa Kumar Tummala as Secretary of the Ministry of Earth Sciences. The appointment was announced on July 16, 2026.

Key Pointers:

• Dr. Tummala has been appointed for two years from the date on which he assumes charge, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
• Before this appointment, he headed the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System Secretariat under UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission in Perth, Australia.
• He has more than three decades of experience in remote sensing, satellite oceanography, coastal-hazard mitigation and disaster management.
• He previously served as Director of the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services, an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, from August 2020.
• Following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, he served as Project Manager for establishing the Indian Tsunami Early Warning System at INCOIS.
• His new responsibilities assume importance in the context of the Deep Ocean Mission, climate modelling, maritime-disaster warning systems, oceanography and the Blue Economy.
• He received the Indian National Geospatial Award in 2008 and the National Geoscience Award in 2010 for his work in geospatial applications and tsunami-warning infrastructure.

Cabinet Approves Semicon 2.0

In the News: On July 15, 2026, the Union Cabinet approved Semicon 2.0 with a total budgetary outlay of ₹1,27,500 crore to strengthen India’s semiconductor-design and manufacturing ecosystem.

Key Pointers:

• Semicon 2.0 builds on the first phase of the India Semiconductor Mission and provides long-term policy support for the domestic semiconductor industry.
• The programme is organised around six pillars: chip design; machines and materials; additional fabrication plants; ATMP/OSAT units; research and development; and talent development.
• It will incentivise the domestic production and research of semiconductor-manufacturing equipment, materials, specialised chemicals and gases.
• India’s first semiconductor fabrication plant under the existing programme is scheduled to be commissioned in 2028, while Semicon 2.0 will support silicon, compound-semiconductor, discrete-component and display fabs.
• The programme will support research into technologies more advanced than the 28-nanometre to 110-nanometre nodes with which India’s semiconductor-manufacturing journey began.
• Around 105 start-ups and MSMEs have received access to Electronic Design Automation tools, while approximately 68,000 students across 315 universities have already received chip-design training.
• Under Semicon 1.0, 12 manufacturing units involving cumulative investment exceeding ₹1.64 lakh crore were approved; Micron, Kaynes and CG Semi had begun commercial production by July 2026.

UDISE+ and Performance Grading Index 2.0, 2025–26

In the News: The Union Ministry of Education released the UDISE+ Report 2025–26 and the Performance Grading Index 2.0 for States, Union Territories and districts on July 7, 2026.

Key Pointers:

UDISE+, or the Unified District Information System for Education Plus, is the national education-management information system maintained by the Department of School Education and Literacy.

The number of schoolteachers increased to 1.02 crore, an 8.3% rise from 94 lakh in 2022–23; women constituted 54.9% of the teaching workforce.

The pupil-teacher ratio stood at 10:1 at the foundational stage, 12:1 at the preparatory stage, 17:1 at the middle stage and 21:1 at the secondary stage.

The secondary-school dropout rate declined from 8.2% in 2024–25 to 7% in 2025–26, while the secondary-level Gross Enrolment Ratio increased from 68.5% to 71.7%.

Schools with computers increased to 69.9%, while schools with internet connectivity increased to 67.4%. Safe drinking water was available in 99.5% of schools.

PGI 2.0 assesses States and Union Territories on 70 indicators carrying 1,000 points, distributed across six domains: learning outcomes, access, infrastructure, equity, governance and teacher education and training.

Chandigarh scored 766 out of 1,000 and became the only State or Union Territory placed in the Uttam-3 grade. No State or Union Territory attained Utkarsh, Uttam-1 or Uttam-2.

Government Raises Windfall Tax on Diesel and ATF Exports

In the News: The Central Government revised the export levies on petroleum products with effect from July 16, 2026, raising the duties on diesel and aviation turbine fuel while reducing the duty on petrol exports.

Key Pointers:

• The export duty on diesel was increased from ₹8.50 per litre to ₹15.50 per litre.
• The duty on aviation turbine fuel, commonly called ATF or jet fuel, was increased from ₹7.50 per litre to ₹14.50 per litre.
• In contrast, the export levy on petrol was reduced from ₹4 per litre to ₹2.50 per litre.
• The levy is imposed in the form of a Special Additional Excise Duty, commonly described as a windfall tax, on exports of specified petroleum products.
• The rates are reviewed periodically, generally on a fortnightly basis, according to movements in international crude-oil and petroleum-product prices.
• The July revision followed a rise in global oil prices amid the escalation of tensions between the United States and Iran.
• As export-specific levies, the revised duties directly affect refiners’ margins on overseas sales rather than constituting a corresponding increase in the tax on domestic retail sales.

World Day for International Justice

In the News: The World Day for International Justice was observed on July 17, 2026. The observance is officially promoted by the International Criminal Court system as the Day of International Criminal Justice.

Key Pointers:

The day is observed annually on July 17 to commemorate the adoption of the Rome Statute on July 17, 1998.

• The Rome Statute is the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court, the world’s first permanent international criminal court.
• The observance promotes accountability, victims’ rights and efforts to prevent crimes threatening international peace, security and human well-being.
• The ICC exercises jurisdiction over four principal crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression.
• The Court tries individuals rather than States and functions according to the principle of complementarity, under which national courts have the primary responsibility to prosecute international crimes.
• The ICC is headquartered at The Hague in the Netherlands. It is an independent international organisation and is not a part of the United Nations, although it has a cooperation agreement with the UN.
• As of July 2026, 125 countries were parties to the Rome Statute. India is not a signatory or State Party to the treaty.