Current Affairs for Competitive Exams: 24-31 August 2026, Daily Roundup

Current Affairs – Weekly Compilation(24–31 August 2026)–Updates

National Current Affairs

1. India–China Boundary Talks

• The 25th round of Special Representatives (SR) talks on the India–China boundary question was held in Beijing.
• NSA Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi participated.
• Both sides reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace and tranquillity along the border and creating conditions for stable bilateral relations.

2. National Space Day & Private Space Sector

• National Space Day commemorates India’s successful Chandrayaan-3 landing on 23 August 2023.
• India became the fourth country to soft-land on the Moon and the first to reach the Moon’s southern high-latitude region.
• PM Modi urged the private space industry to expand applications in agriculture, environment, livestock and education. Pasted text

3. AI and Digital Infrastructure

• Andhra Pradesh approved a 512-MW integrated AI data centre at Amanam village, Visakhapatnam.
• Proposed investment: over ₹31,387 crore.
• The project is intended to strengthen India’s emerging AI and digital infrastructure ecosystem.

4. UPI Completes 10 Years: Unified Payments Interface (UPI) completed a decade of operation. It has emerged as a major real-time digital payment platform and is operational across 11 countries.

5. Jan Dhan Yojana: Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) completed 12 years. It remains a major pillar of India’s financial-inclusion architecture.

6. Skilling for Viksit Bharat: NITI Aayog released “Reimagining Skilling for Viksit Bharat@2047”. Focus areas are vocational education, youth employability, labour-market alignment and skilling finance.

7. Dak Sewa & Dak Mitra Apps: Communications Minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia launched revamped Dak Sewa App and Dak Mitra App, aimed at improving citizen access to postal services.

8. Infrastructure

• PM Modi reviewed six major railway, road and power projects spread across nine states with a combined cost exceeding ₹30,000 crore.
• Nitin Gadkari approved ₹256.7 crore for construction of six roads in Mizoram.
• Third Vande Bharat train between Jammu and Srinagar is expected to be launched soon.

9. Waste-to-Energy: Haryana signed an MoU for four integrated waste-to-energy plants in Hisar, Ambala, Faridabad and Gurugram. Combined capacity: processing around 5,000 tonnes of waste daily and generating 50 MW.

10. Judicial Service Practice Requirement Reduced: Supreme Court reduced the minimum legal-practice requirement for entry-level judicial service candidates from 3 years to 1 year. The new requirement applies to recruitment notifications issued from 1 April 2027.

11. Supreme Court & Waste Management: Court directed local bodies to consider water and electricity disconnection for bulk waste generators violating Solid Waste Management Rules.

12. Supreme Court Judges’ Strength: Lok Sabha passed the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026. Proposed sanctioned strength, excluding the CJI: 33 → 37 judges.

13. Cauvery Water Issue: Supreme Court advised Tamil Nadu to approach the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) regarding its demand for a proportionate share of Karnataka’s water.

14. Cybercrime & Law Enforcement: Maharashtra authorities urged citizens to use the 1930 cybercrime helpline for cyber fraud, including “digital arrest” scams. NIA conducted searches across five states in the Cyber Terrorism Gujarat Case.

Defence Update

1. Defence Indigenisation: Defence Minister approved transfer of DRDO-developed conventional missile technologies to qualified Indian private defence companies with the aim of expanding indigenous production and private-sector participation.

2. Defence Production Reaches Record Level: Domestic defence production reached ₹1.78 lakh crore in FY 2025–26, compared with ₹43,000 crore in 2013–14.

3. Indigenous Military Combat Parachute: DRDO successfully tested the Military Combat Parachute System (MCPS) at high altitude in Ladakh.

4. Indian Navy Receives INS Samarthak: Indian Navy received Samarthak, its first indigenous Multi-Purpose Vessel (MPV) built by L&T.(More than 75% indigenous content). It supports surveillance, reconnaissance, testing of weapons/sensors and fleet operations.

5. INS Nipun: Navy is scheduled to commission Nipun, the second Nistar-class Diving Support Vessel, at Mumbai. It will enhance deep-sea diving and underwater support capabilities.

6. T-72/T-90 Tank Overhaul Facility: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh laid the foundation for a tank-overhaul project at Vehicle Factory Jabalpur. Facility will service T-72 and T-90 tanks at an estimated cost of ₹472 crore.

7. Baaz Drone Battalion: Indian Army raised its first dedicated drone battalion, named Baaz, along the western front. It functions under 11 Corps (Vajra Corps).

8. Defence Indigenisation Milestone: More than 15,700 defence items have reportedly been indigenised, with estimated import substitution of around ₹9,000 crore.

International Current Affairs

1. India–Russia Relations: External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar visited Moscow and held discussions with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Focus included bilateral economic, strategic and technological cooperation.

2. India–US Civil Nuclear Cooperation: India and the US discussed developments in civil nuclear cooperation and ways to deepen collaboration. Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Ajit Kumar Mohanty met US Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

3. India–UK Defence Cooperation: India and UK are working towards cooperation on integrated full-electric propulsion technology for four Landing Platform Docks planned for the Indian Navy.

4. India–Canada Economic Relations: India and Canada are discussing expanded economic engagement, including a potential $50-billion bilateral trade target by 2030 and FTA negotiations.

5. India–Maldives: The Greater Malé Connectivity Project was highlighted as an important symbol of India–Maldives development partnership.

6. India–GCC: India and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) continued discussions on economic cooperation, including Free Trade Agreement negotiations.

7. Nepal Floods: Severe flash floods affected Nepal and the Tibet-border region.

8. Iran–Strait of Hormuz: Oman and Iran discussed a phased approach to managing maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which has remained substantially restricted.

9. US–Canada Trade Tensions: Canada announced counter-tariffs of up to 50% on US goods worth approximately $27.6 billion after trade negotiations stalled.

10. H-1B Visa Fee: The US administration proposed a $103,265 fee for H-1B cap-subject petitions, including advanced-degree applicants.

11. DRC–M23 Peace Process: Democratic Republic of Congo and the M23 rebel group agreed on a roadmap for future peace negotiations.

12. Kazakhstan Constitutional Reform: Kazakhstan held parliamentary elections following constitutional changes that transformed Parliament from a bicameral to a unicameral system.

Science & Technology

1. India’s First Hectare-Level Soil Texture Map: ICAR-NBSS&LUP released India’s first high-resolution hectare-level soil texture map. Its applications are  precision agriculture, crop planning, irrigation management and soil-resource assessment.

2. AI & Cloud Skilling: NSDC and AWS-linked partners launched a nationwide Cloud and AI skilling programme.

3. Project VEDA: DRDO is advancing Project VEDA, described as a mobile satellite-launch capability for greater operational flexibility in contested space environments.

4. French Woman Performs Spacewalk: ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot became the first French woman to conduct a spacewalk.

Sports Update

1. Indian Women’s Hockey Team: India defeated Germany 3–1 to finish fifth at the FIH Women’s Hockey World Cup. It was India’s best World Cup finish since fourth place in 1974.

2. Men’s Hockey: India’s men’s team lost 3–5 to Argentina and entered the classification stage for 7th–8th place.

3. Chess: Indian Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa defeated Fabiano Caruana and became the first Indian to win the Grand Chess Tour.

4. Cricket – India vs Sri Lanka

• India drew the second Test in Colombo and won the two-Test series 1–0.
• India: 503/9 declared; Sri Lanka: 290 and 429/9.
• Sonal Dinusha scored 133* in Sri Lanka’s second innings.

5. Commonwealth Games: India finished fourth in the medal table with 39 medals: 13 Gold, 17 Silver and 9 Bronze.

6. BWF World Championships: Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand won bronze in women’s doubles. It was India’s first women’s doubles World Championships medal since 2011.

7. Squash: Velavan Senthilkumar won the PSA Budapest Squash Open in Hungary.

Important Observances Day

National Sports Day – 29 August

• Observed on the birth anniversary of hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand.
• Highlights the importance of sports, fitness, discipline and teamwork.

International Day Against Nuclear Tests – 29 August

• Promotes awareness about the harmful effects of nuclear testing.
• Linked with the CTBT and global nuclear non-proliferation debate.

Miscellaneous One-Liners Current Affairs

• Meghalaya: CM-IMPACT Read & Rise launched for foundational literacy.
• Mizoram: ₹256.7 crore approved for six roads.
• Andhra Pradesh: ₹31,387+ crore AI data-centre project proposed in Visakhapatnam.
• Nepal: Major flash-flood emergency; India undertook rescue and assistance operations.
• Meghalaya Assembly unanimously passed a resolution opposing uranium mining and uranium-processing facilities in the state.
• Meghalaya launched CM-IMPACT Read & Rise Meghalaya to improve foundational literacy.
• Chhattisgarh continued preparations for implementation of the Uniform Civil Code.
• Uttar Pradesh approved a provision allowing female government employees 180 days of maternity leave twice during their service, without the earlier mandatory two-year gap.
• Delhi government distributed approval letters to 4,000 women beneficiaries under Delhi Lakshmi Yojana, providing ₹2,500 monthly assistance.
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