Find the Weekly Current Affairs for the 3rd week of August 2026. Stay informed with the most important news and events from around the world. Our curated updates provide a comprehensive summary of the week’s key happenings, covering politics, economics, science, technology, sports, and international affairs.
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Highlights of August 3rd Week Current Affairs
- India’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), built on Aadhaar, UPI, DEPA and unified platforms like UMANG/DigiLocker, now sees its digital economy contributing around 12–14% of GDP, with UPI accounting for 85% of digital payments in FY 2025–26 and expanding to 11 countries.
- India’s semiconductor market is projected to grow from $12.41 billion in 2026 to $17.42 billion by 2031, with 12 approved projects across six states, three facilities already in commercial production, and the Tata–PSMC Dholera fab targeting its first chip by 2027.
- India aims to manufacture 3-nanometre chips by 2032, alongside indigenous breakthroughs like SHAKTI, AJIT, VEGA, Vikram 3201, and the Micron ATMP Sanand packaging facility.
- India’s installed power capacity reached about 552 GW, with non-fossil sources making up over 54% of it, and the country ranks 3rd globally in renewable energy capacity, led by solar at 164.59 GW.
- India’s Nuclear Energy Mission targets 100 GW by 2047, and the 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor at Kalpakkam achieved first criticality in 2026; the country’s first indigenous hydrogen fuel-cell train also began running on the Jind–Sonipat section in July 2026.
- A total solar eclipse occurred on 12 August 2026, with its path of totality visible over mainland Europe for the first time since 1999.
- NASA implemented a power-saving “Big Bang” fix on Voyager 2, extending its mission by at least a year, with a similar upgrade planned for Voyager 1; Voyager 1 is now about 25.4 billion km from Earth and Voyager 2 about 21.35 billion km.
- The President of India conferred Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowships and Awards for 2024 and 2025 on 115 artists, with seven artists — including Rita Ganguly and Sudharani Raghupathy — receiving the top honour, Akademi Ratna.
- India welcomed Kenya’s decision to recognise Persons of Indian Origin as an indigenous community, marking a milestone in bilateral ties between the two nations.
- Remains of an ancient water-management structure believed to date to the Sangam period were discovered in Tamil Nadu’s Kollidam River, a major distributary of the Cauvery, reinforcing evidence of the region’s long history of irrigation engineering.
- India’s social security coverage increased from around 25 crore beneficiaries before 2014 to 100 crore within a decade.
- India’s social protection coverage rose from 19% in 2015 to 64.3% in 2025, according to the ILO.
- ‘Saptadhara’ outlines seven pillars for achieving Viksit Bharat by 2047, including manufacturing, agriculture, technology and defence.
- The government proposed training 1 crore youth in AI skills over the next year.
- Digital Public Infrastructure is proposed to support free online examination coaching for lower-income and middle-class youth.
- Parliamentary productivity during the Monsoon Session 2026 declined sharply, with Lok Sabha functioning for only 15% and Rajya Sabha for 33% of scheduled time.
- India became the world’s second-largest honey producer, with production reaching around 1.51 lakh tonnes in 2025–26.
- Global youth unemployment reached 12.4% in 2025, with around 67 million young people aged 15–24 unemployed.
- The President approved 78 gallantry awards in 2026, including 13 posthumous honours.
- Parsi New Year, or Navroz, was celebrated in India on 15 August, marking the beginning of the Zoroastrian calendar year.
- Royal Indian Navy Mutiny (1946): The revolt began at HMIS Talwar, Bombay, on 18 February 1946, involving nearly 20,000 personnel.
- Sri Aurobindo: Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to Sri Aurobindo on his 154th birth anniversary on 15 August 2026.
- India’s First ONE Guide: India launched its first comprehensive guide on Grasslands and Other Open Natural Ecosystems (ONEs) at UNCCD COP17 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
- Land Degradation Neutrality: India has committed to restoring 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030.
- CBDC-Based DBT: India introduced a Digital Rupee-based Direct Benefit Transfer for food subsidies under PMGKAY in Chandigarh and Dadra & Nagar Haveli.
- PMGKAY: The food-security programme covers nearly 81.35 crore beneficiaries, making it one of the world’s largest food-security programmes.
- Sovereign Green Bonds: India’s green bonds are witnessing a “greenium”, where investors accept slightly lower yields for environmentally sustainable investments.
- SAFTA: The South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) came into force on 1 January 2006 and promotes intra-regional trade among SAARC countries.
- Bar Council of India: The BCI, established under Section 4 of the Advocates Act, 1961, regulates legal education, professional standards and conduct of advocates.
- India–US Navy EOD Exercise 2026: The 8th India–US Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Exercise concluded at Southern Naval Command, Kochi, Kerala.
- ECMS: MeitY approved ₹7,877 crore in incentive projects, with the scheme’s outlay revised upward to ₹40,000 crore in the 2026–27 Union Budget to build a domestic electronics component ecosystem.
- In State of Karnataka v. Prathik Parasrampuria (2026), the Supreme Court directed 24-hour reporting of poll-related cash seizures, one-year completion of related investigations, and specialised courts for electoral financial offences.
- Surrogate advertising came into focus after Maharashtra FDA issued show-cause notices to actors over a Vimal Elaichi ad allegedly promoting Vimal Pan Masala, reviving scrutiny under COTPA and CCPA rules.
- Private corporate investment in India dipped to 11.2% of GDP in FY 2023–24 (from 12.3% the previous year), though capex is projected to rise 21.5% to ₹2.67 lakh crore in 2025–26, driven largely by internal accruals.
- The Draft SHANTI Rules, 2026 propose a single composite nuclear licence covering a plant’s full lifecycle, strict no-fault operator liability, and greater entry of private players into India’s nuclear sector.
- The National Anubhav Awards 2026 honoured 15 retiring/retired government officials for documenting administrative innovations and institutional knowledge via the Anubhav Portal.
- PMNRF provided relief to victims’ families after a fatal Birbhum hotel fire; the fund, established in 1948, is a non-lapsable charitable trust that doesn’t draw from the Consolidated Fund of India.
- A dumpsite in Raichur, Karnataka was converted into a dense micro-forest using the Miyawaki method (native, high-density, multi-layered plantation) under Swachh Bharat Mission–Urban 2.0.
- The Madras High Court recognised the Thamirabarani River as a “legal person,” grounding its reasoning in the river’s status as a Hindu deity rather than the broader “rights of nature” doctrine used in earlier Ganga-Yamuna rulings.
- Rising H1N1 influenza cases across Indian states have renewed focus on the virus, whose 2009 pandemic strain was dubbed “swine flu” due to genetic similarities with North American pig influenza viruses.
- The Supreme Court has sought the Union Government’s response to a PIL on banning polygamy among Muslims and considering a uniform prohibition across communities, reviving debate on personal laws, gender equality and the UCC.
- Uttarakhand became the first Indian state to implement a Uniform Civil Code, prohibiting polygamy and bigamy while exempting Scheduled Tribes; NFHS-5 data shows polygamy prevalence is actually slightly higher among Christians (2.1%) than Muslims (1.9%) or Hindus (1.3%).
- UNESCO’s report finds every $1 invested in investigative journalism can generate over $100 in public savings, and press-freedom decline correlates with a 1–2% dip in real GDP growth; it recommends allocating ~0.1% of global GDP to public-interest media.
- India and Malaysia held their 2nd Joint Working Group Meeting, launching a three-year (2027–2029) Governance Partnership Action Plan covering digital transformation, AI, and civil-servant training under India’s ITEC/NCGG programmes; bilateral trade stood at ~$19.86 billion in FY2024–25.
- A Parliamentary Standing Committee flagged major gaps in India’s Arctic Policy, 2022 — no indigenous ice-class polar research vessel, fragmented diplomacy, limited funding, and no dedicated Arctic legislation — recommending a Special Envoy for Arctic Affairs and an interim leased vessel.
- The US sanctioned ICC President Tomoko Akane and prosecutor Abdoulaye Seye under Executive Order 14203, reigniting debate over ICC jurisdiction over nationals of non-member states like the US, India, China, Russia, and Israel.
- India approved an Incentive Scheme for Domestic PNG Connections effective 1 September 2026, offering CGD companies 200 SCM of extra low-cost APM gas per new billed connection, cutting the household payback period from ~10 years to nearly 3.
- China achieved its first successful land-based recovery of a Zhuque-3 rocket stage, following an earlier sea-platform recovery, advancing its reusable launch-vehicle capabilities alongside examples like SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and ISRO’s RLV-TD.
- The Supreme Court directed the NCDRC to report on case pendency and vacancies amid roughly 5.7 lakh pending consumer cases across India’s three-tier consumer redressal system (District, State, and National Commissions).
- 210 Indian peacekeepers with UNMISS in South Sudan received the UN Medal for distinguished service, with India remaining the largest troop contributor (~1,775 personnel) to the mission established in 2011.
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15 to 21 august 2026 (Weekly Current Affairs Quiz)
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