Period Covered: July 1, 2025 – July 31, 2025 Current Affairs
Primary Focus: SCO & Quad Diplomacy, Human Spaceflight Success, and Macro-Economic Stabilization.
Target Audience: Aspirants of UPSC CSE, SSC CGL, RBI Grade B, NABARD, and Defence Services.
Keywords: #CurrentAffairsJuly2025 #SCOSummit2025 #ShubhanshuShukla #InflationLow #Wimbledon2025 #UnionBudgetImplementation
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: THE JULY MILESTONE
July 2025 was a month of high-stakes diplomacy and historic scientific achievement. India demonstrated its strategic autonomy by balancing engagements at the Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Washington D.C. and the 25th SCO Summit in Tianjin, China. Domestically, the economy witnessed a significant cooling of inflation to an 8-year low of 1.6%, driven by a sharp decline in food prices. The scientific community celebrated the safe return of Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla from the ISS, marking a pivotal step for the Gaganyaan mission. In sports, Jannik Sinner and Iga Świątek dominated the grass courts of Wimbledon.
SECTION 1: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS & GEOPOLITICS
Domain: Diplomacy & Global Strategy | Relevance: GS-II, PSIR Optional
1.1 25th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit
Event: The 25th Meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State convened in Tianjin, China.
Key Outcomes:
- Global Governance Initiative (GGI): Proposed during the summit to promote sovereign equality and a just global order, reflecting India’s vision of “One Earth, One Family, One Future”.
- Strategic Stance: India emphasized the need for a “zero tolerance” approach to terrorism. Notably, at the preceding Defence Ministers’ meeting in Qingdao, India refused to sign the joint statement because it omitted specific references to cross-border terrorism (specifically the Pahalgam attack), underscoring India’s uncompromising stance on security.
- Disaster Resilience: Discussions highlighted collective action against climate-induced disasters in Central Asia.
1.2 Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting 2025
Date/Venue: July 1, 2025, Washington D.C.
| Initiative | Details & Strategic Value |
|---|---|
| MAITRI | Maritime Initiative for Training in the Indo-Pacific. Aimed at assessing regional capability gaps and improving maritime security monitoring across the Indo-Pacific. |
| Focus Areas | Countering coercive actions in the South China Sea, supply chain resilience, and critical technologies. |
1.3 17th BRICS Summit
Venue: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (July 6–7, 2025).
- Theme: “Strengthening Global South Cooperation for More Inclusive and Sustainable Governance.”
- Expansion: Colombia and Uzbekistan were admitted as borrowing members of the New Development Bank (NDB), expanding the bank’s footprint in Latin America and Central Asia.
SECTION 2: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & SPACE
Domain: Space & Innovation | Relevance: GS-III (Science & Tech)
2.1 Historic Return: Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4)
Event: Indian astronaut (Group Captain) Shubhanshu Shukla returned safely to Earth in July 2025 after an 18-day mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
| Mission Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Collaboration | ISRO-NASA-Axiom Space. This mission was a precursor to India’s indigenous Gaganyaan programme. |
| Scientific Experiments | Conducted experiments on muscle regeneration and biological growth in microgravity, crucial for long-duration human spaceflight. |
| Significance | Shubhanshu Shukla became the first Indian on the ISS. The mission validated training protocols and human-centric systems. |
2.2 Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Scheme
- Approval: The Union Cabinet approved the RDI Scheme with a corpus of ₹1 lakh crore.
- Objective: To catalyze private-sector investment in high-impact research, shifting the burden of R&D from purely government-funded to industry-led models.
2.3 Global Scientific Breakthroughs (July 2025)
- Climate Science: The British Antarctic Survey extracted 1.5 million-year-old ice cores from East Antarctica, doubling the previous climate record of 800,000 years.
- Physics: Physicists at MIT performed an idealized atomic-scale double-slit experiment, confirming Niels Bohr’s complementarity principle.
- New Material: A new bioplastic, LAHB, was shown to biodegrade under deep-sea conditions (855m depth), offering a solution to ocean plastic pollution.
SECTION 3: ECONOMY & BANKING
Domain: Macroeconomics | Relevance: GS-III, RBI Grade B
3.1 Inflation hits 8-Year Low
Data: Headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation declined to 1.6% in July 2025.
- Driver: A steep, prolonged 9-month decline in food prices (deflation of 10.5%), aided by a good monsoon and milder summer temperatures.
- Policy Impact: This low inflation provided the RBI with the necessary headroom to maintain an accommodative stance to support growth.
3.2 National Cooperation Policy 2025
Approval: The Union Cabinet approved the new policy in July 2025.
- Aim: To strengthen cooperative institutions, enhance their role in rural empowerment, and realize the vision of “Sahakar se Samriddhi” (Prosperity through Cooperation).
3.3 Remittance Leadership
Report: World Bank data confirmed India remained the top recipient of remittances, receiving $129 billion in 2024 (report released/cited in mid-2025 context), accounting for 14.3% of the global total.
SECTION 4: DEFENCE & SECURITY
Domain: Military Modernization | Relevance: Defence Exams
4.1 Massive DAC Approvals
Event: On July 3, 2025, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for capital acquisition proposals worth ₹1.05 lakh crore.
- Key Procurements:
- Armoured Recovery Vehicles (ARVs): To support main battle tanks in high-altitude and desert terrain.
- Surface-to-Air Missiles: Advanced variants for the Indian Navy.
- Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) Mk-III: For the Coast Guard.
4.2 Appointment: New RAW Chief
Appointment: Parag Jain, IPS, assumed charge as the Secretary of the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) on July 1, 2025. He succeeds Ravi Sinha.
SECTION 5: SPORTS CURRENT AFFAIRS
Domain: Sports | Relevance: SSC, Railways
5.1 Wimbledon 2025 Champions
| Category | Winner | Runner-Up |
|---|---|---|
| Men’s Singles | Jannik Sinner (Italy) | Carlos Alcaraz (Spain) |
| Women’s Singles | Iga Świątek (Poland) | Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) |
5.2 Tour de France 2025
- Winner: Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates).
- Significance: Reaffirmed his dominance in road cycling grand tours.
5.3 Chess: SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz
- Winner: Magnus Carlsen (Norway) won the tournament in Zagreb on July 7, 2025.
- Indian Performance: D. Gukesh secured an impressive 3rd place.
SECTION 6: AWARDS & HONOURS
Domain: Awards | Relevance: Banking, SSC
| Award Name | Recipient | Context/Achievement |
|---|---|---|
| Hollywood Walk of Fame | Deepika Padukone | Chosen as a recipient for the class of 2026 (Announcement made in July 2025). |
| PEN Pinter Prize 2025 | Leila Aboulela | Sudanese-Scottish author honored for her literary courage. |
| TIME100 Creators List | Prajakta Koli | First Indian creator to be featured on this inaugural list. |
SECTION 7: POLITY & LEGISLATION
Domain: Parliament & Governance | Relevance: GS-II
7.1 Parliamentary Special Discussion: Operation Sindoor
Event: A special discussion was held in Parliament on July 28–29, 2025.
- Subject: “Operation Sindoor”—the retaliatory military strike conducted in May 2025 against terror camps in PoK.
- Significance: The discussion underscored the parliamentary oversight of national security operations and bipartisan support for counter-terrorism measures.
7.2 Income Tax Bill 2025
- Update: The Select Committee presented its report on the Income-Tax Bill, 2025 to the Lok Sabha on July 21, 2025.
- Outcome: Following recommendations for drafting corrections and clarity, the government decided to withdraw this version and introduce a fresh “Income-Tax (No. 2) Bill” in August.
SECTION 8: IMPORTANT DAYS (JULY 2025)
Domain: General Awareness
- July 1: GST Day (Commemorating the rollout of Goods and Services Tax).
- July 1: National Doctors’ Day (Birth anniversary of Dr. B.C. Roy).
- July 11: World Population Day.
- July 26: Kargil Vijay Diwas (Commemorating victory in the 1999 Kargil War).
- July 29: International Tiger Day.
RAPID FIRE REVISION BANK: JULY 2025
- New RAW Chief: Parag Jain (Appointed July 1).
- Inflation Rate (July 2025): 1.6% (8-year low).
- Wimbledon Men’s Winner: Jannik Sinner.
- First Indian on ISS: Shubhanshu Shukla (Ax-4 Mission).
- New Development Bank New Members: Colombia and Uzbekistan.
- MAITRI Initiative: Announced at Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.
- Tianjin Summit: 25th SCO Summit held in China.
- Booker Prize Winner (International): Banu Mushtaq (Awarded earlier, celebrated in literary circles).
- Euro Adoption: Bulgaria confirmed to adopt Euro from Jan 1, 2026.
MOST EXPECTED EXAMINATION QUESTIONS
Q1. Who became the first Indian astronaut to visit the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Axiom-4 mission in July 2025?
A. Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair
B. Shubhanshu Shukla
C. Angad Prathap
D. Ajit Krishnan
Answer: B (Shubhanshu Shukla)
Q2. Which initiative was announced during the Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in July 2025 to improve maritime security?
A. SAGAR
B. MAITRI
C. INDOPAC
D. SAMUDRA
Answer: B (MAITRI – Maritime Initiative for Training in the Indo-Pacific)
Q3. India refused to sign the joint statement of which organization’s Defence Ministers’ meeting in July 2025 due to the omission of specific terror references?
A. BRICS
B. ASEAN
C. SCO
D. G20
Answer: C (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation)
Q4. Who won the Men’s Singles title at Wimbledon 2025?
A. Carlos Alcaraz
B. Novak Djokovic
C. Jannik Sinner
D. Daniil Medvedev
Answer: C (Jannik Sinner)
Q5. Parag Jain was appointed as the head of which Indian intelligence agency in July 2025?
A. IB
B. RAW
C. NIA
D. CBI
Answer: B (Research and Analysis Wing)
