August Current Affairs PDF (Full Month of August)

Staying updated with current affairs is crucial for everyone preparing for competitive exams in India. Our current affairs of August 2026 aims to provide you with a comprehensive overview of the significant events and updates from this month. 

From global news to sports, and technology to entertainment, we cover all important areas to keep you well-informed. Additionally, we are offering a free August current affairs 2026 PDF download. 

This PDF is a convenient resource for those who prefer having all the information in one place. Whether you’re preparing for exams or just want to stay updated, our August 2026 current affairs PDF is a valuable tool. 

Highlights of August 2026 Current Affairs

• PM CARES Fund remained in focus as it has not published audited financial statements since FY 2022–23, leading to concerns over transparency, accountability, and its exemption from RTI and CAG audit.
• The Supreme Court held that pellet guns cannot be banned while existing advisories permit their use for crowd control, provided their deployment follows the principles of necessity, proportionality, and reasonableness.
• The Supreme Court struck down the 2021 Office Memorandum permitting routine ex post facto environmental clearances, reinforcing that prior environmental approval should generally precede project execution.
• The Houthis announced a maritime blockade in the Red Sea, raising concerns over the security of one of the world’s most important trade and energy routes.
• India launched the Bharat Maritime Insurance Pool (BMIP), the country’s first sovereign-backed maritime insurance pool with a total capacity of USD 1.5 billion to strengthen maritime risk coverage.
• The annual Kanwar Yatra began across North India during the month of Shravan, with extensive security arrangements along the pilgrimage routes.
• The Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026 proposes to extend statutory protection to Vande Mataram by bringing the National Song under the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971.
• The Cauvery Water Management Authority directed Karnataka to release 3,500 cusecs of water per day to Tamil Nadu for 15 days despite severe hydrological distress caused by below-average inflows.
• Machilipatnam (BY 529), the seventh Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft built by Cochin Shipyard Limited for the Indian Navy, was launched to enhance coastal defence and underwater surveillance capabilities.
• India recorded notable achievements as the Department of Telecommunications honoured telecom innovators with the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Telecom Excellence Awards 2025, while Indian para-athletes secured multiple medals at the Commonwealth Games 2026.
• India proposed the SHANTI (Securing Holistic Advancement through Norms, Trust, and Integrity) framework to promote a rules-based maritime order in the Bay of Bengal and Indo-Pacific through cooperation, resilience, and regional trust.
• The PM Vidyalaxmi Scheme has expanded to 1,425 premier higher education institutions, offering collateral-free, guarantor-free education loans with interest subsidies for eligible students.
• IRDAI introduced major insurance reforms, including the Policyholders’ Education and Protection Fund (PEPF), perpetual licensing, stricter accountability for insurance agents, and liberalised capital norms.
• An OECD report highlighted that Southeast Asia’s blue economy faces a USD 2.1 trillion financing gap by 2030, along with threats from overfishing, pollution, and climate change.
• Doxxing, the unauthorised disclosure of personal information online, has emerged as a serious cybersecurity and privacy concern in India, where no dedicated anti-doxxing law currently exists.
• SHetA2, an investigational oral small-molecule therapy evaluated by ICMR-NICPR, has shown promise in preventing precancerous cervical lesions from progressing to cervical cancer.
• In the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) 2026, India ranked 176th out of 177 countries, despite performing comparatively better in other climate assessments like the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI).
• Ceuta, Spain’s autonomous city in North Africa near the Strait of Gibraltar, remains a major migration gateway into Europe due to its strategic location on the African coast.
• The Indian Navy received INS Nipun, its second indigenous Diving Support Vessel (DSV), enhancing submarine rescue capabilities with Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle (DSRV) operations up to 650 metres.
• The UNAIDS “United to End AIDS” Report warned that declining international funding has created a significant HIV financing gap, threatening the global target of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
• The Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2026 mandates reporting of births and deaths within 21 days and introduces stricter approval mechanisms for delayed registrations to prevent fraud.
• The Bill requires approval from executive authorities for registrations delayed by 1–2 years and a Judicial Magistrate’s order for delays beyond two years, while strengthening verification procedures.
• The Noida Police registered a Zero FIR over alleged remarks against the Prime Minister, highlighting legal provisions on intentional insult, public mischief, defamation, and the distinction between vulgarity and obscenity under the BNS.
• The Supreme Court has consistently held that vulgar or abusive language alone does not amount to obscenity, adopting the community standards test in place of the earlier Hicklin test.
• The Pradhan Mantri Viksit Bharat Rojgar Yojana (PM-VBRY) completed one year, with over 72 lakh first-time formal employees joining the workforce and incentives encouraging employment generation through EPFO.
• The Union Cabinet approved the Pradhan Mantri Surya Sarovar Yojana with an outlay of ₹5,070 crore to develop 5 GW of floating solar capacity and 10,000 MWh of battery storage by 2030–31.
• The Cabinet also launched the Samudra Manthan Scheme with an outlay of ₹84,084 crore to boost offshore hydrocarbon exploration, reduce import dependence, and strengthen domestic energy security.
• Concerns over the Collegium System resurfaced as Justice Ujjal Bhuyan highlighted its lack of transparency, while debates continue over judicial independence, accountability, and reforms in judicial appointments.
• Prime Minister paid tribute to Pingali Venkayya on his 150th birth anniversary, recognising his contribution as the designer of the original Indian National Flag and a prominent freedom fighter.
• India and China resumed border trade through Shipki La after a six-year suspension, reopening an important Himalayan trade route in Himachal Pradesh that forms part of the historic Silk Route.
• The government approved nationwide rollout of the Vessel Communication and Support System (VCSS) at ₹364 crore, giving ISRO-built transponders free to about 1 lakh fishing vessels for safety and surveillance.
• The Union Cabinet cleared a revamped Khelo India Scheme with ₹36,441 crore allocated for 2026–31, introducing a grassroots-to-podium athlete pipeline and a new National Coach Accreditation Board.
• Vizhinjam Port in Kerala was designated a customs port by CBIC, allowing full EXIM cargo operations alongside its role as India’s first deep-water transshipment hub.
• Reports of around 120 ISRO scientists resigning have spotlighted India’s research brain drain, with over 73% of internationally mobile Indian researchers reportedly not returning home.
• The Supreme Court ruled that protection against domestic cruelty under BNS Sections 85–86 can extend to women in live-in relationships resembling marriage.
• PM Modi launched the Nasha Mukt Yuva for Viksit Bharat Sankalp Abhiyan, a 100-week youth-led campaign against substance abuse tied to the Viksit Bharat @2047 vision.
• Parliament passed the MSME Development (Amendment) Bill, 2026, mandating CPSEs to settle MSME payments via TReDS and setting time-bound arbitration for payment disputes.
• India won 39 medals (13 gold, 17 silver, 9 bronze) at the Commonwealth Games 2026 in Glasgow, finishing 4th overall, with boxing and athletics as top contributors.
• Nauru officially renamed itself the Republic of Naoero, with citizens now called dei-Naoero, replacing its colonial-era name.
• Glaw Lake in Arunachal Pradesh’s Kamlang Tiger Reserve became India’s 101st Ramsar Site and the state’s first wetland under the Ramsar Convention.
• Lab-grown diamonds are gaining traction as natural diamond mines near depletion, with production via Chemical Vapor Deposition or High Pressure High Temperature methods yielding chemically identical stones to natural diamonds in weeks rather than billions of years.
• The Union Cabinet extended PM-KISAN till 2030-31 with a ₹3.15 lakh crore outlay, continuing ₹6,000 annual income support to eligible farmer families via DBT.
• The ZED Certification Scheme by MoMSME promotes quality and sustainable manufacturing among MSMEs through Bronze, Silver, and Gold certification levels, with 100% subsidy for women-owned MSMEs.
• The Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 extends tax exemptions for electronics manufacturing, component warehousing, and diamond trading to boost India’s “China Plus One” manufacturing strategy.
• ICAR developed India’s first Telomere-to-Telomere (T2T) reference genome of pigeonpea variety ‘Asha’, providing a complete, gap-free genetic blueprint to aid climate-resilient crop breeding.
• The UNSC conducted its first straw poll to select the next UN Secretary-General, whose five-year term begins January 2027, requiring at least 9 “Encourage” votes with no P5 veto.
• The Maldives linked its Favara payment system with India’s UPI, extending UPI’s cross-border connectivity to 10 countries including Cambodia, UAE, France, and Sri Lanka.
• IUCN launched the Phoenix Species Project in August 2026 with a $200 million initial commitment to recover 100 of the world’s most Critically Endangered species, backed by Re:wild, the Bezos Earth Fund, and Leonardo DiCaprio.
• ICAR-NIHSAD Bhopal developed India’s first indigenous African Swine Fever vaccine, a live-attenuated MA-104 cell line-based vaccine for pigs older than eight weeks.
• India and Rwanda held their first Joint Trade Committee meeting, with India currently ranking as Rwanda’s second-largest foreign investor as of 2025.
• Chief of the Army Staff launched Xtreme Weather Grade (XWG) Diesel, an indigenously developed military-grade fuel created through collaboration between the Indian Army and Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs).
• XWG Diesel is specially designed for high-altitude and extreme winter conditions, ensuring uninterrupted operation of military vehicles by remaining fluid in severe cold.
• The fuel has a pour point of −42°C, significantly reducing the risk of fuel waxing and gelling in sub-zero temperatures.
• XWG Diesel has a flash point of 50°C, providing a safe balance for fuel handling, storage, and operational use.
• The fuel complies with BS-VI emission standards and IS 1460:2025, making it environmentally compliant while meeting military operational requirements.
• A major advantage of XWG Diesel is that it requires no engine modifications, allowing seamless use in existing compatible diesel-powered military vehicles.
• MSV Faize Noore Oliya, an Indian-flagged commercial vessel, sank in the Red Sea after a reported attack off the coast of Yemen, but all 14 Indian seafarers were rescued safely.
• Satish Gujral, one of India’s most celebrated painters, sculptors, architects, and writers, is renowned for designing the Belgian Embassy in New Delhi.
• Satish Gujral’s notable contributions include the Partition Series and his acclaimed autobiography, A Brush with Life.
• To mark Satish Gujral’s birth centenary, the Department of Posts issued a ₹5 commemorative postage stamp, honouring his exceptional contribution to Indian art and architecture.
• The Indian Statistical Institute Bill, 2026 seeks to convert ISI from a registered society into a statutory body, replacing the 33-member Council with an 11-member Board of Governors and expanding its academic mandate into data science, computer science, and cryptology.
• India secured the return of 274 fugitive criminals from 36 countries between 2019 and 2026, aided by mechanisms like BHARATPOL, the Extradition Act 1962, and Interpol cooperation.
• The Parliamentary Standing Committee’s 200th Report on India–US trade relations flagged the rise in US tariffs from 3% to 18% as a threat to India’s US$500 billion “Mission 500” trade target by 2030, and recommended fast-tracking the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA).
• Heatwave and lightning have been added as notified disasters eligible for SDRF/NDRF assistance for the 2026–31 period, following the 16th Finance Commission’s recommendation, taking the total notified disaster categories to 14.
• The Asiatic Lion population has grown from around 100–150 to over 1,000 in six decades, but remains vulnerable due to being confined entirely to Gujarat’s Gir landscape, risking disease outbreaks like Canine Distemper Virus.
• The World Bank’s World Development Report 2026 found only 4.5% of jobs in low- and middle-income countries face AI automation risk (versus 14.2% in high-income countries), while AI could boost productivity in over 16% of jobs in developing economies.
• NOTTO launched the e-Pratyaropan portal on Indian Organ Donation Day to digitally unify hospitals, donors, and recipients for real-time organ allocation; India performed over 20,000 transplants in 2025, ranking third globally.
• The Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission was recognised by WHO-SEARN as a Regional Centre of Excellence in Pharmacovigilance and a Technical Centre in Quality of Medicines at SEARN’s 10th anniversary meeting in Kathmandu.
• Cabinet Secretary Dr. T. V. Somanathan received a one-year extension approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, continuing in India’s senior-most civil service post.
• Astrophysicist Annapurni Subramaniam became the first Indian woman to win the COSPAR Vikram Sarabhai Medal 2026, awarded at the 46th COSPAR Scientific Assembly in Florence, Italy.
• The Supreme Court clarified that FIRs filed against protesting students can’t be cancelled by executive order alone — cases can only end via a closure report, court-approved withdrawal from prosecution, or High Court quashing.
• The Union Cabinet approved the GOBARdhan Scheme (₹23,731 crore, FY27–36) to scale up India’s compressed biogas ecosystem, targeting a tenfold rise in domestic CBG production with assured offtake, stable pricing, and credit guarantees.
• India’s EV adoption jumped from 0.08% in FY16 to 8.26% in FY26, with annual sales rising nearly 46x; UP and Maharashtra lead state-wise adoption, and India targets 30% EV sales by 2030.
• India marked the 12th National Handloom Day (7 August), with the President conferring Sant Kabir and National Handloom Awards on 22 recipients; India produces nearly 95% of the world’s handwoven fabric.
• The Lok Sabha passed the Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, exempting FIIs and the BIS from tax on interest from government securities and extending incentives for foreign diamond/electronics firms.
• The same Bill amends the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, allowing banks/payment providers to charge MDR on UPI and other notified digital payment modes, removing the earlier restriction.
• The Ministry of Culture launched Har Ghar Tiranga 2026 (9–17 August), featuring “Suryapath Tiranga” — a symbolic flag relay across Indian missions worldwide following the path of the rising sun.
• India hosted the 2nd BRICS Anti-Corruption Working Group meeting in Hyderabad, proposing a BRICS Network of Law-Enforcement Practitioners and a Repository on Informal Cooperation for asset recovery and fugitive tracing.
• India successfully test-fired the Agni-4 ballistic missile (range ~4,000 km) from Chandipur, Odisha, demonstrating high precision via its Ring Laser Gyro-based Inertial Navigation System.
• The Danube River hit its lowest water levels since 1996 due to prolonged European drought, threatening navigation and agriculture along its basin spanning 10 countries and four capital cities.
• Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan signed the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, a trilateral mutual-security pact treating an attack on one member as an attack on all three, building on the 2025 Saudi-Pakistan Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement.
• India renewed diplomatic efforts at the BRICS Culture Ministers’ Meeting to repatriate the 11th-century Vagdevi idol (identified by the British Museum as Ambika) from London, linked to the disputed Bhojshala complex in Dhar, MP.
• The Supreme Court released a new framework, “Judgments and Gender: Sensitivity and Compassion in Writing Judgments,” replacing its 2023 handbook, promoting trauma-informed, survivor-centric adjudication and introducing the SOGIESC framework for LGBTQIA+ dignity.
• The Home Minister paid tribute to Rabindranath Tagore on his death anniversary; Tagore won the 1913 Nobel Prize for Gitanjali and authored the national anthems of both India and Bangladesh.
• Tamil Nadu’s Legislative Assembly unanimously urged fairer tax devolution from the Union, highlighting fiscal federalism concerns like vertical fiscal imbalance, cesses/surcharges outside the divisible pool, and GST-related revenue constraints.
• A Parliamentary Standing Committee’s 166th Report flagged severe vacancies, rising pendency, and infrastructure/cybersecurity gaps across India’s tribunals, including ITAT, NGT, NCLT and RCT.
• The Union Government opposed extending creamy-layer exclusion to SC/ST reservations, arguing caste-based disadvantage isn’t equivalent to OBC backwardness, citing Indra Sawhney, Nagaraj, Jarnail Singh and Davinder Singh judgments.
• Bengaluru-based Astrobase unveiled EVEREST, India’s first privately developed 800 kN Full-Flow Staged Combustion LOX-Methane rocket engine, joining Russia, the US and China in FFSC technology.
• India supplied the first of three beam catchers for the Super-FRS at FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research) in Darmstadt, Germany, designed by CSIR-CMERI under Bose Institute, Kolkata’s supervision.
• Five captive-bred slender-billed vultures were released into the wild in Assam by BNHS — the world’s first such release of this species, alongside standardisation of 27 place names in Arunachal Pradesh on Survey of India maps.
• PAIMANA, MoSPI’s automated monitoring platform launched in 2025, now tracks 1,847 Central Sector projects worth ₹40.54 lakh crore across 17 ministries, replacing the older OCMS-2006 system.
• The Scheme for Promotion of International Cultural Relations was renamed the Global Engagement Scheme (GES) to strengthen India’s cultural diplomacy through Festivals of India, friendship-society grants, and contributions to bodies like UNESCO.
• The Lok Sabha passed the Tribunals Reforms Bill, 2026, creating a National Tribunals Commission (NTC) for tribunal appointments and a National Tribunals Data Grid (NTDG) to track case pendency and performance.
• The government clarified UPI will stay free for consumers, but a limited Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) may apply to certain high-value transactions, easing the 2020 zero-MDR mandate under Section 10A of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act.
• CSIR-NBRI established Prakriti Gyan Dham in Lucknow, India’s first eco-educational hub combining botanical research, biodiversity conservation, and cultural heritage through features like the Indian Heritage Garden and Bamboosteum.
• The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways launched E-Samudra, a single-window digital, paperless platform for maritime administration, alongside allied tools like e-NAVIK 24×7 and d-SEA for seafarers.
• The MHA notified 11 new Immigration Check Posts (2 airports, 9 land ports) for e-Visa entry, raising India’s total designated e-visa checkpoints from 77 to 88.
• The XI BRICS Culture Ministers’ Meeting adopted the Bhopal Declaration, covering heritage protection, AI-related copyright safeguards for creators, and India’s new Voluntary Artist Registry, with 14 participating countries.
• NABL launched India’s first accreditation scheme for Mobile Food Testing Laboratories to enable rapid, on-site food-safety testing and strengthen last-mile testing coverage.
• Lake Mead in the US hit its lowest water level in nearly 90 years amid the worsening Colorado River Basin water crisis, while 11 Indian fishermen were rescued near Sri Lanka’s Delft Island in the Palk Strait.
• The government extended PM E-DRIVE incentives for electric two-wheelers until 31 March 2028, offering ₹2,500/kWh up to ₹5,000 per vehicle, alongside a ₹2,000 crore grant to deploy about 72,300 fast chargers.
• The Union Health Ministry’s knowledge paper on AI in MedTech highlighted India as Asia’s 4th-largest MedTech market, projected to reach $50 billion by 2030, while flagging challenges like data bias and fragmented health records.
• Assam’s recurring floods stem from both natural factors (a 580,000 sq km transboundary basin funnelling into a narrow valley, heavy sediment aggradation) and human factors (295 of 423 embankments past their design life, wetland encroachment).
• Government e-Marketplace (GeM) completed 10 years, becoming the world’s third-largest public procurement platform with over ₹20 lakh crore in cumulative GMV and 45.6% of GMV from MSMEs.
• The Union Government proposed the Container Manufacturing Assistance Scheme (CMAS), a ₹10,000 crore outlay to raise India’s container manufacturing capacity tenfold to 7.5 lakh TEUs and cut import dependence.
• NASA invited ISRO to join its Moon Base programme near the lunar South Pole under the Artemis Accords, which India signed in 2023, aiming to establish humanity’s first permanent lunar outpost.
• India observed the 119th martyrdom anniversary of Khudiram Bose, executed at age 18 on 11 August 1908 for his role in the Muzaffarpur Conspiracy targeting Douglas Kingsford.
• Lebanon abolished the death penalty, becoming the first Arab country to replace capital punishment with life imprisonment involving aggravated hard labour.
• The Centre notified appointments of 30 judges to the High Courts of Madras, Calcutta, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, following the collegium-based recommendation process under Article 217.
• A 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck western Colombia, a country situated in the Pacific Ring of Fire with coastlines on both the Pacific and Caribbean, while the Lok Sabha also passed a bill to rename Kerala as “Keralam” in the Constitution.
• The Supreme Court (Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh) ruled in KPTCL v. Rekha & Ors. (2026 INSC 847) that electricity boards are liable under Strict Liability, not Absolute Liability, for electrocution deaths.
• The case arose from two Karnataka incidents: N. Subramanya’s death by electrocution in 2018, and Muizz Ahmad Shariff’s severe injury from contact with a 66KV line while retrieving a cricket ball.
• The Karnataka High Court had earlier applied Absolute Liability and used the Motor Vehicles Act’s “Multiplier Method” to award over ₹25 lakhs and ₹44 lakhs compensation in the two cases.
• KPTCL challenged this, arguing Writ Petitions weren’t maintainable due to disputed facts (like contributory negligence) and that the Multiplier Method didn’t apply to electrocution cases.
• The Supreme Court held that Article 226 writ jurisdiction is discretionary and inappropriate when “complex disputed questions of fact” exist — such cases should go to a Civil Suit instead.
• The Court distinguished Absolute Liability (from the Oleum Gas Leak case, with no exceptions) from Strict Liability (from Rylands v. Fletcher, which allows defenses like Act of God or victim’s own fault) — and ruled Strict Liability is the correct standard for electricity boards.
• The Court rejected automatic (“mutatis mutandis”) application of the MVA Multiplier Method to electricity cases, stating compensation must be “just and reasonable” but not forced into a borrowed statutory formula.
• The Supreme Court set aside the High Court’s judgments and allowed the appeals, giving victims liberty to pursue Civil Suits or other remedies.
• As an equity measure, the Court directed that the ₹5 lakh interim compensation already paid to the families need not be returned, regardless of future litigation outcomes.
• The ruling establishes three key principles: writ jurisdiction is excluded where negligence must be proven, electricity boards face strict (not absolute) liability, and damage calculations must be case-specific rather than formula-driven.
• 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.
• Punjab’s sacrilege law has revived the debate on balancing religious sentiment protection (BNS Sections 298 and 299) with free speech, secularism, and social reform, with concerns about vagueness and a “heckler’s veto.”
• India and Japan signed a Memorandum of Arrangement on Maritime Security Cooperation, agreeing to boost joint shipbuilding, deploy the UNICORN stealth-antenna system, and deepen DRDO-ATLA defence tech ties.
• The Global Digital Capacity Building Alliance (GDCBA), launched by India’s Capacity Building Commission in February 2026, is entering its next phase with plans for an Annual Summit and a State of Capacity Building Report.
• The SEED scheme (₹200 crore, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment) supports De-notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic communities through education coaching, health insurance up to ₹5 lakh, livelihood support, and housing assistance.
• India’s public capital expenditure on infrastructure has grown from ₹2 lakh crore (FY 2014-15) to ₹12.2 lakh crore (FY 2026-27), spanning railways, roads, ports, aviation and industrial parks.
• A 9-judge Supreme Court Bench ruled that the broad 1978 “industry” definition (Bangalore Water Supply case) won’t apply under the new Industrial Relations Code, 2020, though it still governs legacy disputes.
• The 31st Southern Zonal Council meeting was held in Tamil Nadu; Zonal Councils are statutory advisory bodies under the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, chaired by the Union Home Minister.
• NMC has proposed “One Nation, One License” for doctors, using a Unique ID linked to the National Medical Register so doctors can practice across states without separate state registrations.
• The Union Cabinet proposed “One Day, One University,” where ministers spend a day directly engaging with students, partly in response to unrest over the NEET paper-leak controversy.
• India will host the 5th Coast Guard Global Summit in New Delhi in February 2027, coinciding with the Indian Coast Guard’s 50th anniversary; separately, a rare Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease case was reported in Visakhapatnam.
• Madhya Pradesh will resume excavation at Vaishya Tekri after ~90 years; if confirmed as a Mauryan-era Buddhist stupa, it could be larger than the Great Stupa at Sanchi.
• PMJVM has sanctioned 4,172 Van Dhan Vikas Kendras and connected 12.48 lakh tribal members, aiming to turn forest-dependent communities into value-adding entrepreneurs.
• India is the world’s largest coconut producer (31.24% of global output) and 3rd in cultivated area, with coconut exports up 62% to ₹7,038.35 crore in 2025–26.
• The Shompen, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group in Great Nicobar, are alleged to have been pressured to abandon their traditional lifestyle amid the Great Nicobar Project.
• India signed a ₹1,943-crore, 30-month lease deal with General Atomics for two MQ-9B Sea Guardian drones to boost maritime surveillance and ISR capability.
• Bharat Taxi, India’s first cooperative-led ride-hailing platform (founded by 8 national cooperatives), has nearly 8 lakh registered drivers and 41 lakh customers with a zero-commission, surge-free model.
• BRICS environment ministers criticized the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (effective January 2026) as unilateral and discriminatory, especially hurting India’s iron and steel exports.
• The SMILE Scheme has rehabilitated about 12,710 individuals and set up 23 Garima Grehs (shelters) for transgender persons, aiming for a “begging-free India.”
• India dominates global makhana (fox nut) production at ~80,590 metric tonnes, with Bihar contributing 80–85% of world supply; a National Makhana Board has been proposed to strengthen the value chain.
• Two new initiatives were launched: “Friends of My Bharat” to engage the Indian youth diaspora, and “MutAIverse,” a generative AI platform to study DNA damage linked to cancer.
• NITI Aayog’s “Reimagining Skilling for Viksit Bharat@2047” report finds around 8.7 crore youth aged 15–29 are NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training), with only about 3% of women in formal employment.
• The same report shows just 8.25% of graduates get jobs matching their qualifications, and recommends introducing GEES from Class 6 and “Kaushal Tracks” from Class 9.
• July 2026 PLFS data shows Female Labour Force Participation Rate rose from 30% (2019–20) to 40% (2025), driven mainly by rural women (45.9% FLFPR) while urban FLFPR remains low at 27.7%.
• NADCP (National Animal Disease Control Programme), a 100% centrally-funded scheme launched in 2019, aims to eradicate Foot and Mouth Disease by 2030 and control Brucellosis through mass livestock vaccination.
• PM-AASHA (launched 2018) bundles four mechanisms — Price Support Scheme, Price Stabilization Fund, Price Deficiency Payment Scheme, and Market Intervention Scheme — to protect farmers from price crashes and stabilise MSP realisation.
• MeitY notified the ₹62,500-crore Mobile Phone Manufacturing Scheme (MPMS) for FY2026–31, replacing the PLI scheme, targeting ₹39 lakh crore in cumulative production and 60,000 direct jobs.
• India is now the second-largest mobile-phone manufacturer globally by volume, with about 99.2% of domestically used phones made in India; smartphones were India’s top exported product category in 2025.
• US Ambassador Sergio Gor’s visit to Ladakh’s Thiksey Monastery (15th century, Gelug sect, resembling Lhasa’s Potala Palace) drew attention to the region’s Buddhist heritage, including its 15-metre Maitreya Buddha statue.
• INS Mangrol, the third of eight indigenously built Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft, was delivered by Cochin Shipyard Limited to boost the Navy’s coastal anti-submarine capabilities.
• The DRC is receiving 70,000 doses of the Ervebo Ebola vaccine even though the current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, not the Ebola virus the vaccine specifically targets; separately, MV Ocean Winner sank in the Bay of Bengal off Odisha with search operations ongoing for 22 crew members.
• The “barren-land fallacy” highlights how treating open ecosystems like grasslands and savannas as “degraded” leads to harmful afforestation, threatening species like the Great Indian Bustard and disrupting pastoral livelihoods.
• Regenerative agriculture in India focuses on restoring soil health and biodiversity, with the National Mission on Natural Farming covering 8.80 lakh hectares and 18.19 lakh farmers by March 2026.
• The “Rangelands Rising” report, released at UNCCD COP17, values global rangeland ecosystem services at $21–47 trillion annually, noting every $1 invested in restoration yields $4–6 in returns.
• At UNCCD COP17 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, India reported restoring 21.76 million hectares of degraded land (2011–2020), about 84% of its Bonn Challenge target, and launched its first guide on Open Natural Ecosystems.
• UKMTO issued a maritime security alert after the Liberia-flagged bulk carrier Minoan Dignity was struck by a projectile in the Strait of Hormuz; India’s IFC-IOR cooperates with UKMTO on maritime domain awareness.
• The Supreme Court imposed interim restrictions on construction (within 100m) and polluting activities (within 500m) along Rajasthan’s Jojari River, a tributary of the Luni River, due to industrial pollution.
• India launched its first indigenous non-GMO, high-expansion popcorn maize hybrids — Krisna459 and Godari234 — in Andhra Pradesh, reducing dependence on imported popcorn seed technology.
• NSDC partnered with Cultus Education and AWS to launch a nationwide cloud and AI skilling programme targeting 1.5 lakh learners, including 10,000 through the intensive AWS re/Start programme.
• INS Sudarshini reached Lisbon, Portugal, as part of the Indian Navy’s 10-month, 22,000-nautical-mile Lokayan 26 expedition to showcase India’s maritime heritage across four continents.
• India condemned an attack on UN peacekeepers in South Sudan (UNMISS), and India observed National Space Day on August 23, marking Chandrayaan-3’s 2023 Vikram lander touchdown near the Moon’s south pole at Shiv Shakti Point.
• Sarnath was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List at the 48th World Heritage Committee session in Busan, South Korea, taking India’s total to 45 World Heritage properties (37 Cultural, 7 Natural, 1 Mixed).
• The World Heritage List now has 1,273 properties across 173 countries as of July 2026, with India ranking 6th globally and 2nd in Asia-Pacific; Italy leads the list followed by China.
• Nepal’s floods have exposed the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region’s climate vulnerability — this “Third Pole” spans 8 countries, feeds major rivers like the Indus, Ganga and Brahmaputra, and supports nearly 2 billion people downstream.
• PM SVANidhi, a street-vendor micro-credit scheme, has disbursed 1.18 crore loans worth ₹19,171 crore to 78.68 lakh vendors and has been restructured for 2025–30 with features like a UPI-linked RuPay credit card and Street Food Hubs.
• The Union Defence Minister inaugurated a redeveloped Martyrs’ Memorial at Patradevi, Goa, honouring satyagrahis of the anti-Portuguese struggle, marking the legacy of Operation Vijay (1961) that ended 451 years of Portuguese rule.
• The Ministry of Defence approved Transfer of Technology (ToT) of DRDO-developed missiles — ASTRA, RUDRAM, NAG, and VSHORADS — to Indian private defence firms, while nuclear-capable platforms like Agni and K-series remain excluded.
• The Department of Posts upgraded its Dak MITRA (for postal staff) and Dak Sewa (for citizens, in 23 languages via BHASHINI) apps to modernise last-mile postal service delivery.
• The WHO declared Uganda Ebola-free after it completed a 42-day monitoring period with no new cases.
• Indian scientists developed ADxFluor, a smartphone-based diagnostic platform using the TZ-48 molecule to detect amyloid-β for affordable early Alzheimer’s screening.
• L&T delivered Samarthak, India’s first indigenously designed Multi-Purpose Vessel (over 75% indigenous content) to the Navy, while India and Morocco agreed to double bilateral trade over five years. the vaccine specifically targets; separately, MV Ocean Winner sank in the Bay of Bengal off Odisha with search operations ongoing for 22 crew members.

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