Current Affairs 27 July 2026

France Approves Social Media Ban for Children Under 15

France’s Parliament has approved a Bill prohibiting children below 15 years of age from accessing social media platforms. Adopted by both the National Assembly and the Senate on July 21, 2026, it makes France the first European Union country to approve a nationwide blanket social media restriction for this age group.

Pickaxe Mountain and the Karkas Range of Iran

Pickaxe Mountain, locally known as Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La, is a volcanic mountain located in central Iran, about 220 km south of Tehran and near the city of Natanz. It forms part of the Karkas Range, an important mountain system extending between the cities of Kashan and Ardestan.

Ancient Buddhist Site of Sarnath Added to UNESCO World Heritage List

The Ancient Buddhist Site of Sarnath in Uttar Pradesh was inscribed on the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage List on July 25, 2026. The decision was taken during the 48th Session of the World Heritage Committee held in Busan, Republic of Korea. Sarnath’s inscription increased India’s number of UNESCO World Heritage properties from 44 to 45.

Located near Varanasi, Sarnath is the sacred place where Gautama Buddha is believed to have delivered his first sermon in the 6th century BCE. The sermon is known as Dharmachakra Pravartana, meaning the “Turning of the Wheel of Dharma”. Buddha also met his earliest disciples at Sarnath, making it one of the four principal Buddhist pilgrimage centres.

The serial World Heritage property comprises two archaeological zones, containing the remains of ancient stupas, temples, and viharas. Important monuments associated with Sarnath include the Chaukhandi Stupa, Dhamekh Stupa, Dharmarajika Stupa, Mulagandhakuti Vihara and the Ashokan Pillar.

Sarnath flourished as an important Buddhist centre through royal, monastic, and public patronage before declining during the 12th century CE. It remained largely forgotten until its rediscovery in the 18th century. The UNESCO recognition is expected to strengthen the conservation of the site, promote Buddhist tourism, and enhance India’s cultural engagement with Buddhist countries.

Key Points for Exams:

• The Ancient Buddhist Site of Sarnath was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List on 25 July 2026.
• It became India’s 45th UNESCO World Heritage property.
• Sarnath is located near Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.
• Sarnath was inscribed under UNESCO criteria (iii) and (vi).
• Gautama Buddha delivered his first sermon, known as Dharmachakra Pravartana, at Sarnath.
• Sarnath is one of the four principal Buddhist pilgrimage sites, along with Lumbini, Bodh Gaya, and Kushinagar.

UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India

Zoopharmacognosy

Zoopharmacognosy refers to the ability of animals to use plants, soil, and other natural substances to treat or prevent illness; the term combines zoo meaning animals, pharmaco meaning medicine, and gnosy meaning knowledge. Orangutans in Indonesia have been observed mixing saliva with leaves of the medicinal plant Dracaena and applying it to their bodies to relieve muscle pain and joint discomfort, while chimpanzees swallow medicinal leaves to remove parasites. Elephants, monkeys, dogs, and cats also consume particular plants, grass, or soil for relief from digestive problems, infections, and parasites. The practice of consuming soil or clay for medicinal purposes is called geophagy.

Tribal Protests over Ken-Betwa Project

Tribal residents of Madhya Pradesh’s Chhatarpur and Panna districts protested in July 2026 against alleged irregularities in compensation and rehabilitation under the Ken-Betwa Link Project. Protesters claimed that eligible residents had been omitted from rehabilitation lists, some ineligible persons had been included, and the Gram Sabha proceedings used to obtain consent in tribal villages were flawed. The agitation was temporarily eased after the Madhya Pradesh government agreed to conduct fresh village-level surveys.

The ₹44,605-crore Ken-Betwa Link Project is India’s first river-interlinking project to enter implementation under the National Perspective Plan. It proposes to transfer water from the Ken basin to the water-deficit Betwa basin through the Daudhan Dam and a 221-km link canal, including a 2-km tunnel. The project is expected to provide irrigation to 10.62 lakh hectares, drinking water to around 62 lakh people, 103 MW of hydropower and 27 MW of solar power in the drought-prone Bundelkhand region.

According to the Union government’s estimate at the time of the land-acquisition notification, approximately 7,193 families were expected to be affected by the Daudhan Dam component. The supplied report states that these families are spread across 22 villages—14 in Chhatarpur and eight in Panna district. Protesters have demanded that every adult be treated as an individual beneficiary for the ₹12.5 lakh rehabilitation package and that the eligibility cut-off date be updated.

There is, however, a difference between published figures. A July 2026 Madhya Pradesh Assembly reply cited 3,718 affected families in 14 Chhatarpur villages and 1,321 displaced families in seven Panna villages, while the Union government’s wider estimate remains 7,193 project-affected families. The variation may arise from different survey dates, geographical coverage or definitions of affected families.

Conservationists are concerned because about 6,017 hectares of forest area in and around the Panna Tiger Reserve could be affected by submergence and project infrastructure. By July 2025, around 17,101 trees had been identified for felling, of which 12,404 had already been felled within the reserve forest. The project may affect wildlife habitats and corridors used by tigers, vultures and gharials. The Wildlife Institute of India has prepared an Integrated Landscape Management Plan to mitigate these ecological impacts.

DISHA 2.0 Scheme

The Government of India has approved Designing Innovative Solutions for Holistic Access to Justice (DISHA) 2.0 as a Central Sector Scheme for the period from April 1, 2026, to March 31, 2031. It has a total financial outlay of ₹255 crore and will be implemented across India, including Andhra Pradesh. The scheme is fully funded by the Central Government.

DISHA 2.0 aims to improve access to citizen-friendly legal services by using technology and community-based delivery mechanisms. It consists of four components: Tele-Law: Reaching the Unreached, Nyaya Bandhu, Legal Literacy and Legal Awareness Programme, and VIDHI-Sanjeevani. The overall scheme targets a cumulative outreach of 3 crore beneficiaries during 2026–31.

Under Tele-Law, citizens can obtain free pre-litigation legal advice from panel lawyers through the Tele-Law mobile application, toll-free number 14454, and video or teleconferencing facilities available at Common Service Centres. Nyaya Sahayaks function as community-based legal facilitators in Aspirational Blocks and help people access legal services.

The Nyaya Bandhu Programme facilitates voluntary pro bono legal assistance by advocates to marginalised and disadvantaged persons eligible under Section 12 of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987. Pro bono panels have been constituted in 23 High Courts, while Pro Bono Clubs in law colleges promote a culture of community legal service among students.

The new VIDHI-Sanjeevani component will establish a centralised integrated dashboard for real-time monitoring of programme performance, service delivery and implementation. It will be integrated with the Nyaya Setu AI Chatbot, a voice-first, multilingual, and multimodal legal assistant. Nyaya Setu helps citizens understand legal rights, procedures and possible next steps through voice and text interactions.

Key Points for Exams:

• Type of scheme: Central Sector Scheme
• Implementation period: 2026–31
• Approved financial outlay: ₹255 crore
• DISHA advances the constitutional objective of equal justice and free legal aid under Article 39A.

High-Powered Task Force on Examination

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on July 26, 2026, that a High-Powered Task Force would be formed under the leadership of Nandan Nilekani to recommend reforms in India’s public examination system. Nilekani is a co-founder of Infosys and played a major role in developing India’s Aadhaar-based digital identity infrastructure.

The task force will examine ways to make examinations more reliable, transparent, secure, and technology-driven. Its recommendations are expected to cover the use of technology in examination administration, the reduction of vulnerable manual processes, the protection of examination data, and the improvement of logistics and institutional systems.

In 2024, the Ministry of Education had constituted a separate High-Level Committee headed by former ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan to recommend reforms in examination procedures, data-security protocols, and the functioning of the National Testing Agency. Detailed terms of reference, complete membership, and the reporting deadline of the new Nilekani-led task force had not yet been published in an official government order available at the time of writing.

Anahat Singh Becomes India’s First World Junior Squash Champion

Indian squash player Anahat Singh became the first Indian to win the World Junior Squash Championships title on July 25, 2026. She won the girls’ singles championship at Niagara-on-the-Lake in Ontario, Canada.

Q1. Which country became the first European Union nation to legislate a blanket ban on social media access for children under 15 years of age?
A. Spain
B. France
C. Germany
D. Italy

Q2. The Ancient Buddhist Site of Sarnath became India’s which UNESCO World Heritage property in July 2026?
A. 42nd
B. 43rd
C. 44th
D. 45th

Q3. Which new component of DISHA 2.0 provides a centralised integrated dashboard for monitoring legal-service delivery?
A. Nyaya Bandhu
B. Tele-Law
C. VIDHI-Sanjeevani
D. Nyaya Mitra

Q4. The Ken-Betwa Link Project aims to transfer water from which river basin to which river basin?
A. Betwa basin to Ken basin
B. Ken basin to Betwa basin
C. Chambal basin to Ken basin
D. Son basin to Betwa basin

Q5. Which of the following is India’s first river-linking project?
A. Par-Tapi-Narmada Link Project
B. Godavari-Krishna Link Project
C. Ken-Betwa Link Project
D. Mahanadi-Godavari Link Project

Q6. Pickaxe Mountain, which was recently seen in the news, is located in which country?
A. Iraq
B. Iran
C. Afghanistan
D. Türkiye

Q7. What does the term “zoopharmacognosy” refer to?
A. Communication among animals through sound
B. Self-medication by animals using natural substances
C. Scientific classification of medicinal plants
D. Migration of animals in search of food

Q8. Who became the first Indian to win the World Junior Squash Championships title in 2026?
A. Joshna Chinappa
B. Dipika Pallikal
C. Anahat Singh
D. Tanvi Khanna

Q9. Who was announced as the head of the High-Powered Task Force on Examination Reforms in July 2026?
A. K. Radhakrishnan
B. Nandan Nilekani
C. Raghuram Rajan
D. Kris Gopalakrishnan