Current Affairs Quiz 21 July 2026

FACT: The bill seeks to amend the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, to extend to the national song Vande Mataram the criminal protection currently given to the National Anthem. ANALYSIS: The 1971 Act already covers the National Flag, the Constitution and the National Anthem.

FACT: Vande Mataram was written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and was published in his novel Anandamath (1882). ANALYSIS: The Constituent Assembly gave it a status of honour equal to the National Anthem, Jana Gana Mana, on January 24, 1950.

FACT: The e200X, from the IIT Madras-incubated The ePlane Company, is India’s first full-scale electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) air-taxi prototype. ANALYSIS: The roughly 2.2-tonne aircraft carries one pilot and two passengers or about 200 kg of cargo.

FACT: The ePlane Company is a Chennai-based start-up incubated at IIT Madras. ANALYSIS: The e200X is intended for air taxi, urban cargo and air-ambulance uses, with high indigenous content.

FACT: The Scheme for Promotion of Surface Coal and Lignite Gasification Projects, with an outlay of Rs 37,500 crore, aims to convert coal into gas for value-added products rather than direct burning. ANALYSIS: Downstream products include synthetic natural gas, methanol, ammonia and synthetic fuels.

FACT: Coal gasification converts coal into synthesis gas, which is used to make synthetic natural gas (SNG), methanol, ammonia, direct reduced iron and synthetic fuels and chemicals. ANALYSIS: This adds value and can substitute imports of methanol and ammonia.

FACT: India ranks first in the world in cotton-growing area, at about 114.84 lakh hectares (roughly 38 per cent of the world’s cotton area), and is among the top two in production and consumption. ANALYSIS: However, India’s per-hectare yield lags the world average, which the Mission for Cotton Productivity aims to raise.

FACT: Kasturi Cotton Bharat is a branding and traceability initiative for Indian cotton, aimed at establishing quality and a distinct identity in global markets. ANALYSIS: It complements the Mission for Cotton Productivity and the Minimum Support Price operations of the Cotton Corporation of India.

FACT: Batukeshwar Dutt, along with Bhagat Singh, threw non-lethal bombs and leaflets in the Central Legislative Assembly on April 8, 1929, courting arrest to publicise the revolutionary cause. ANALYSIS: Both were members of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA).

FACT: Batukeshwar Dutt was a member of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA), the organisation associated with Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad and others. ANALYSIS: The HSRA combined revolutionary action with a socialist vision for free India.

FACT: Angen, directed by Ravi Raj Murmu, became the first Santhali-language film to win a National Award, taking the Best Debut Film of a Director (Non-Feature). ANALYSIS: Santhali is a language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, spoken by the Santhal tribal community.

FACT: Santhali is one of the languages included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, spoken by the Santhal, a major tribal community of eastern India. ANALYSIS: It was added to the Eighth Schedule by the 92nd Amendment in 2003, along with Bodo, Dogri and Maithili.

FACT: The RBI trimmed its real GDP growth forecast for 2026-27 to about 6.6 per cent, citing global uncertainty and trade headwinds. ANALYSIS: It held the repo rate at 5.25 per cent with a neutral stance.

FACT: The Constituent Assembly adopted the national flag, the tricolour, on July 22, 1947. ANALYSIS: The design is based on the Swaraj flag, with the Ashok Chakra, a 24-spoke wheel, replacing the charkha.

FACT: Neelam Sanjiva Reddy was declared elected as the sixth President of India, notably unopposed, on July 21, 1977. ANALYSIS: He had earlier served as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.