Karnataka & Group C Current Affairs – July 20th, 2026

Appointments

Harjit Singh Grewal Appointed NCM Chairman 

Harjit Singh Grewal has been appointed as the Chairman of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) by the Ministry of Minority Affairs for a three-year term. He will lead the 7-member statutory body—comprising a Chairman, Vice-Chairman, and five members, all of whom must mandatorily belong to minority communities—responsible for safeguarding the constitutional rights and welfare of India’s six notified minority communities (Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis, and Jains (added in 2014)). First set up as a non-statutory body in 1978, the NCM received statutory status under the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992, to monitor statutory safeguards and evaluate minority progress across Union and State levels.

Awards

India Triumphs at International Chemistry & Biology Olympiads 2026

Context: Indian student contingents delivered stellar performances at the 58th International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) 2026 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan and the 37th International Biology Olympiad (IBO) 2026 in Vilnius, Lithuania, securing medals across all eight individual slots (5 Gold and 3 Silver combined).

Salient Features & Key Exam Facts:

• Historic IChO Clean Sweep (Chemistry): At the 58th IChO, India achieved its first-ever all-gold clean sweep by winning 4 Gold medals, finishing joint 1st in the global country-wise medal tally alongside China and Vietnam (out of 93 participating nations).
• IChO Gold Medalists: The four gold winners are Debadatta Priyadarshi (Odisha), Harshit Singla (Punjab), Kabeer Chillar (Delhi), and Sandeep Kuchi (Telangana).
• Stellar IBO Performance (Biology): At the 37th IBO, competing among 307 students from 78 countries, the Indian team bagged 1 Gold and 3 Silver medals.
• IBO Medalists: Bhavyaa Gunwal (Haryana) clinched India’s sole Gold medal, while Soumil Maity (West Bengal), Nishit Kalani (Rajasthan), and Anmol Kumar (Punjab) secured Silver medals.
• Nodal Training Agency: Both national teams were selected, trained, and mentored by the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE)—a national center of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai—with institutional support from the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Department of Science and Technology (DST), and the Ministry of Education.