Current Affairs 18 August 2026

EconomyMediumquizQuiz

India's Coconut Product Exports Surge 62% to Rs 7,038 Crore in FY26

•India's exports of coconut products rose 62 per cent in 2025-26 to Rs 7,038.35 crore, or USD 794.70 million, from Rs 4,349.03 crore a year earlier, according to a statement of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare on 18 August 2026.
•The export basket has shifted from copra and raw nuts to value-added goods - virgin coconut oil, coconut milk, coconut water and activated carbon - and markets have widened from West Asia to the United States, Europe and Australia.
•India remains the world's largest coconut producer with 31.24 per cent of global output, while ranking third in area under the crop with 17.90 per cent of the world's coconut area.

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DefenceMediumquizQuiz

Defence Ministry Notifies Sixth Positive Indigenisation List of 405 Items

•The Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence has notified the sixth Positive Indigenisation List, covering 405 strategically important items with an estimated business potential of ₹3,070 crore.
•The list comprises Line Replaceable Units, sub-systems, sub-assemblies, spares, components and raw materials — 16 items belonging to the Indian Coast Guard and 389 to Defence Public Sector Undertakings.
•Items span the Advanced Light Helicopter, Light Utility Helicopter, Su-30MKI, Light Combat Aircraft and AL-31FP engine, the T-72, T-90 and BMP-II armoured platforms, warships, the Konkurs-M, Invar and MRSAM missile systems, radars, sonars, fire control and satellite communication systems, and High Explosive Anti-Tank ammunition.

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Science & TechMediumquizQuiz

Study Decodes Why the Narwhal's Spiralled Tusk Grows Perfectly Straight

•A study published in Nature Communications on 18 August 2026 explained why the narwhal's spirally grooved tusk nevertheless grows almost perfectly straight.
•Mineralised collagen fibrils form a left-handed helix in the outer cementum and a right-handed helix in the inner dentine; the opposing twists balance each other and hold the tusk straight.
•The narwhal (Monodon monoceros) is a toothed whale of the family Monodontidae, whose only other living member is the beluga whale.

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NationalMediumquizQuiz

Centre Bars Chlorpheniramine-Phenylephrine Cough Combinations for Children Under Four

•The Union Health Ministry, by a gazette notification dated 18 August 2026, barred the use in children below four years of all fixed dose combinations containing Chlorpheniramine Maleate and Phenylephrine Hydrochloride, including syrups and drops.
•The order was issued under Section 26A of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, and follows an Expert Committee assessment considered by the Drugs Technical Advisory Board.
•Every such pack must now carry the warning: 'Fixed Dose Combination shall not be used in children below four years of age', on the label, package insert and promotional literature.

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Science & TechMediumquizQuiz

Sophie Adenot Becomes First French Woman to Perform a Spacewalk

•European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot became the first French woman to perform a spacewalk on 18 August 2026.
•The excursion, designated US Spacewalk 97, lasted six hours and twenty-three minutes outside the International Space Station.
•She worked alongside NASA astronaut Anil Menon to replace an ageing Space-to-Ground Antenna on the station's Z1 truss.

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EnvironmentMediumquizQuiz

Raichur Turns a 35-Acre Dumpsite Into a Miyawaki Forest Under Swachh Bharat

•The 35-acre Yakalaspura dumpsite in Raichur, Karnataka, has been remediated under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 and partly converted into a Miyawaki forest.
•Nearly 62,252 metric tonnes of legacy waste were scientifically processed, reclaiming almost 22 acres of urban land.
•Around 5 to 7 acres of the reclaimed land were earmarked for the dense forest, with plantation beginning on World Environment Day, 5 June 2026.

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Polity & GovernanceHighquizQuiz

Supreme Court Upholds Hanging as India's Lawful Mode of Execution

•On 18 August 2026 the Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of execution by hanging, dismissing a public interest litigation that challenged it as cruel and violative of dignity under Article 21.
•A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta held that the petitioner had placed no material sufficient to displace the three-judge precedent in Deena v. Union of India (1983).
•The provision upheld is Section 393(5) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, which corresponds to Section 354(5) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

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DefenceHighquizQuiz

DRDO Invites Private Firms as Development-cum-Production Partners for Missiles

•DRDO issued an Expression of Interest on 18 August 2026 through Research Centre Imarat, Hyderabad, inviting Indian private firms to become long-term partners in missile and guided bomb production.
•The proposal uses the Development-cum-Production Partner model: DRDO keeps design and development, the private partner takes prototype integration, qualification and series production.
•It covers strategic weapon systems including the Agni series, submarine-launched systems and hypersonic missiles under development.

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Schemes & CommitteesMediumquizQuiz

Chhattisgarh Signs Rs 3,942 Crore BharatNet Pact With Digital Bharat Nidhi

•Digital Bharat Nidhi signed an agreement with the Government of Chhattisgarh on 18 August 2026 at Sanchar Bhawan, New Delhi, for the Amended BharatNet Programme under the State-led model.
•The Centre approved financial support of Rs 3,942 crore for the rollout.
•The project covers 11,682 Gram Panchayats - 4,048 Phase I panchayats to be upgraded from linear to ring topology, 5,964 Phase II panchayats and 1,670 newly created panchayats.

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Schemes & CommitteesMediumquizQuiz

West Bengal Hosts Its First Kaushal Mahotsav at Balurghat

•West Bengal hosted its first Kaushal Mahotsav on 18 August 2026 at Balurghat Stadium in Dakshin Dinajpur district.
•It was the 11th Kaushal Mahotsav held in India, organised by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, the National Skill Development Corporation and the State government.
•More than 50 employers, including Wipro, the Tata Group and Axis Bank, offered over 7,000 openings across IT, banking, logistics, hospitality, healthcare, manufacturing and retail.

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Schemes & CommitteesMediumquizQuiz

Centre Approves APM Gas Incentive Scheme to Expand Domestic PNG Connections

•The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas on 18 August 2026 approved the APM/NAPM Incentive Scheme for Promotion of Domestic PNG Connections, which takes effect from 1 September 2026.
•City Gas Distribution entities will receive an additional 200 Standard Cubic Metres of lower-priced, domestically produced APM gas for every incremental billed domestic PNG connection achieved above a Threshold Level fixed for each Geographical Area.
•India has about 1.74 crore domestic PNG connections, but many carry meters without gas actually flowing or being billed; the scheme pays for conversion into active, billed connections rather than for connections merely installed.

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InternationalMediumquizQuiz

Trump Cites India's Voter ID System to Push SAVE America Act

•US President Donald Trump invoked India's voter identification system on 18 August 2026 in a Truth Social post pressing Congress to pass the SAVE America Act.
•He cited India's last general election, in which 646 million voters took part, fewer than 1 per cent voted by mail and every voter was required to present valid photo identification.
•Trump said India's Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had asked how elections could be held in the United States without a valid photo ID; US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor echoed the argument.

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SportsMediumquizQuiz

65th Subroto Cup Football Tournament Opens in New Delhi

•The 65th Subroto Cup International Football Tournament began on 18 August 2026 at Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi.
•A total of 108 teams are competing across three categories - Junior Girls Under-17, Junior Boys Under-17 and Sub-Junior Boys Under-15 - divided into eight groups per category.
•Air Marshal S Sivakumar, Air Officer-in-Charge Administration and Vice Chairman of the Subroto Mukerjee Sports Education Society, was the Chief Guest; weightlifter Lovepreet Singh was Guest of Honour.

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Banking & FinanceMediumquizQuiz

RRB Gross Loans Rise 10.3% to Rs 5.78 Lakh Crore in FY 2025-26

•Ministry of Finance data released on 18 August 2026 shows Regional Rural Banks' gross loans outstanding rose 10.3% to Rs 5.78 lakh crore in 2025-26, from Rs 5.24 lakh crore.
•Agriculture and allied activities accounted for Rs 3.78 lakh crore, or 77% of RRB priority sector lending; MSME credit stood at about Rs 67,000 crore.
•Credit to weaker sections reached Rs 3.49 lakh crore.

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EnvironmentHighquizQuiz

BRICS Environment Ministers Reject EU Carbon Border Tax as Protectionist

•The 12th BRICS Environment Ministers' Meeting in New Delhi adopted a Joint Ministerial Statement on 18 August 2026 opposing the European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).
•The statement called carbon border adjustment mechanisms 'unilateral, punitive, discriminatory and protectionist' and said they undermine developing countries' climate efforts.
•The meeting was held under India's BRICS Chairship 2026 and was led by Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav; four knowledge compendiums were also launched.

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InternationalMediumquizQuiz

US Sanctions ICC President Tomoko Akane and a Senior Trial Lawyer

•The United States imposed sanctions on 18 August 2026 on International Criminal Court President Tomoko Akane of Japan and Senior Trial Lawyer Abdoulaye Seye of Senegal.
•The measures were announced by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and enacted under a presidential executive order.
•They freeze any assets the designated persons hold within US jurisdiction, block their access to the US financial system and restrict their entry into the United States.

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BusinessMediumquizQuiz

CCI Clears Tata Steel's 23% Stake Buy in TM International Logistics

•The Competition Commission of India approved Tata Steel's acquisition of an additional 23% equity stake in TM International Logistics Limited (TMILL) on 18 August 2026.
•Tata Steel is buying the entire 23% holding of IQ Martrade Holding Und Management GmbH, which exits the company; the stake is valued at Rs 335 crore.
•TMILL's original shareholding was 51:23:26 between Tata Steel, IQ Martrade and NYK (Europe) B.V.

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NationalMediumquizQuiz

Gauge-Converted Kailaras-Birpur Rail Section Opens in Gwalior-Chambal Region

•The gauge-converted 56-km Kailaras-Sabalgarh-Birpur rail section in Madhya Pradesh was inaugurated virtually on 18 August 2026.
•The Gwalior-Kailaras MEMU service was extended to Birpur the same day, giving Gwalior direct rail links with Sabalgarh, Vijaypur and Birpur.
•The section is part of the Gwalior-Sheopur corridor running through Morena and Sheopur districts, and will serve more than 100 villages.

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NationalMediumquizQuiz

NHAI Extends Digital FASTag Local Pass to 121 Toll Plazas

•NHAI extended its digital FASTag Local Pass facility to 121 toll plazas across India on 18 August 2026.
•Residents living within a 20-kilometre radius of an eligible toll plaza can subscribe to a monthly pass through the Rajmargyatra mobile app.
•Eligibility is verified through consent-based integration with DigiLocker and VAHAN, with GIS used to confirm the 20-km boundary.

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EconomyMediumquizQuiz

Ind-Ra Raises India's FY27 GDP Growth Forecast to 6.8%

•India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) raised its FY27 GDP growth forecast to 6.8% from 6.7%, a 10 basis point upgrade, on 18 August 2026.
•The upgrade rests on a lower crude oil assumption, cut from $95 to $85 per barrel; Ind-Ra estimates every $10 per barrel fall adds 44 basis points to growth.
•The forecast still sits below the National Statistical Office's provisional FY26 growth estimate of 7.6%.

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State NewsMediumquizQuiz

Maharashtra Declares Snakebite a Notifiable Disease

•Maharashtra's notification making snakebite a notifiable disease came into effect on 18 August 2026.
•Every hospital, medical college and healthcare provider must now report suspected and confirmed snakebite cases and deaths to the district health officer or district surgeon.
•Reporting will run through the Health Management Information System (HMIS) and the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP).

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State NewsMediumquizQuiz

Tamil Nadu Extends Maternity Leave for Third Child to 365 Days

•Tamil Nadu announced on 18 August 2026 that women state government employees will get 365 days of maternity leave for a third child, up from 12 weeks.
•The announcement was made by Human Resources Management Minister D Sarathkumar in the Legislative Assembly during the demand-for-grants discussion of his department.
•It reverses a March 2026 amendment to Fundamental Rule 101(A) that had capped third-child leave at 12 weeks; the Madras High Court had upheld that cap in June 2026.

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History & CultureLowquizQuiz

Postal Department Releases Special Cover and Stamp on Telangana's Medak Fort

•The postal department released a special postal cover and a stamp on Medak Fort on 18 August 2026, an unusual honour in that both were issued for a single monument.
•Medak Fort is a 12th-century hill fort in Medak town, Telangana, built under the Kakatiya ruler Pratapa Rudra and originally called 'Methuku Durgam'.
•It served as a command post for the Kakatiyas and later for the Qutb Shahis, who added a mosque and granaries within its walls.

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EnvironmentHighquizQuiz

E20 Petrol Goes Nationwide: The Legacy-Fleet and Fuel-Quality Debate

•E20 - petrol blended with 20 per cent anhydrous ethanol at a minimum Research Octane Number of 95 - became mandatory nationwide from 1 April 2026, notified on 17 February 2026.
•Unblended petrol (E0) has been withdrawn from retail pumps, leaving no lower-blend option for older vehicles.
•About 240 million of India's roughly 310 million petrol vehicles - close to 77 per cent, mostly two-wheelers - predate the April 2023 cut-off for E20-ready hardware.

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NationalMediumquizQuiz

NTA Announces Four-Tier Question Paper Checks and Drops 600 Experts

•The National Testing Agency announced a four-tier question paper checking system at New Delhi on 18 August 2026.
•It removed 600 experts from its subject panels and began onboarding replacements, including specialists in cyber-security and psychometrics.
•The agency is moving to new premises secured by the CISF, with air-gapped systems, secluded workrooms and device-deposit protocols.

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NationalMediumquizQuiz

PM CARES Fund Corpus Rises to Rs 8,452 Crore; Spending Just 0.01 Percent

•Audited statements of the PM CARES Fund for FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25 were made public on 18 August 2026.
•The closing balance stood at Rs 8,452.07 crore as on 31 March 2025, up from Rs 7,173.03 crore a year earlier.
•About 93 per cent of the balance - Rs 7,846.65 crore - sat in fixed deposits, with Rs 605.41 crore in savings accounts.

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DefenceMediumquizQuiz

Rajnath Singh Flags Off NCC Girls' High-Altitude Trek Aparajita - Parang La 2026

•Defence Minister Rajnath Singh flagged off the NCC All India Girls High Altitude Long Trek 'Aparajita - Parang La 2026' at New Delhi on 18 August 2026.
•Twenty-eight girl cadets of average age 19, the youngest aged sixteen and a half, will cover about 250 km over 30 days.
•The route crosses Parang La at 5,578 metres (18,300 feet), the pass linking Himachal Pradesh's Spiti Valley with Ladakh's Changthang plateau.

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Banking & FinanceMediumquizQuiz

PSB Confluence 2026 Concludes; Inputs to Feed High-Powered Banking Reforms Committee

•The Department of Financial Services hosted the two-day PSB Confluence 2026 in New Delhi on 17-18 August 2026.
•About 125 senior representatives of public sector banks, public financial institutions and the Indian Banks' Association took part.
•Deliberations covered seven themes, from deposit mobilisation and priority sector lending to global capability centres and the credit card business.

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History & CultureMediumquizQuiz

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Death Anniversary: 81 Years Since the Taihoku Crash

•18 August 2026 marks 81 years since the reported death of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in a plane crash at Taihoku (now Taipei) in 1945.
•Bose was Congress president in 1938 at Haripura and again in 1939 at Tripuri, where he defeated Gandhi's preferred candidate Pattabhi Sitaramayya before resigning.
•He founded the Forward Bloc in 1939, escaped house arrest in Calcutta in January 1941, and took command of the Indian National Army in 1943.

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Awards & HonoursHighquizQuiz

National Sports Awards 2025: 17 Arjuna Awards, No Khel Ratna Recipient

•The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports announced the National Sports Awards 2025 on 18 August 2026.
•Seventeen athletes were selected for the Arjuna Award, including chess players Divya Deshmukh and Vidit Gujarathi and high jumper Tejaswin Shankar.
•No sportsperson was chosen for the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, India's highest sporting honour, for 2025.

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DefenceLowquizQuiz

NCC flags off all-girls Parang La high-altitude trek 'Aparajita 2026'

•Defence Minister Rajnath Singh flagged off the National Cadet Corps' all-India girls high-altitude trek 'Aparajita - Parang La 2026' in New Delhi on 18 August 2026.
•Twenty-eight girl cadets, led by three women officers of the Army, Navy and Air Force, will cover about 250 km in 30 days across the Parang La pass (5,578 m / 18,300 ft), which links Himachal Pradesh's Spiti Valley with Ladakh's Changthang region.
•The route runs Kibber - Dumla - Thaltak - Bongrojen - Parang La - Dak Karzong - Norbu Sumdo - Kiangdom - Korzok, crossing high-altitude desert, glaciers and river valleys; the team was picked on merit after an acclimatisation trek in the Bhaba-Pin Valley sector.

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History & CultureLowquizQuiz

Har Ghar Tiranga 2026 Concludes with Concert Marking 150 Years of Vande Mataram

•The Ministry of Culture closed the Har Ghar Tiranga 2026 campaign with a Tiranga Concert at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, dedicated to 150 years of Vande Mataram, featuring singer B Praak and opened by young singer Manya Tripathi.
•The campaign ran from 9 to 17 August 2026 and drew more than 8.27 crore selfies uploaded to the Har Ghar Tiranga portal under the Selfie with Tiranga campaign, surpassing the previous year's record of 7.5 crore.
•The concert drew over 1,000 school students from across Delhi and more than 7,000 attendees who had registered online; Union Minister for Culture and Tourism Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Culture Secretary Shri Vivek Aggarwal attended.

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Summits & ConferencesMediumquizQuiz

12th BRICS Environment Ministers' Meeting Adopts Joint Statement, Launches Four Compendiums

•The 12th BRICS Environment Ministers' Meeting, held in New Delhi under India's BRICS Chairship 2026, concluded with the consensual adoption of a Joint Ministerial Statement and the launch of four Knowledge Compendiums prepared by the BRICS Environment Working Group.
•Union Environment Minister Shri Bhupender Yadav said India's Chairship places the concerns of the Global South at the forefront and redefines BRICS as 'Building Resilience and Innovation for Cooperation and Sustainability', pursued with a people-centric approach and a spirit of 'Humanity First'.
•India set out four Chairship priorities: promoting sustainable lifestyles; afforestation, forest fire management and disaster resilience; circular economy; and adaptation.

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Schemes & CommitteesMediumquizQuiz

Agriculture and Rural Development Pledge on Shakti Ki Saptadhara; Lakhpati Didi Target Doubled

•A commitment programme for the departments under the Ministries of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and Rural Development was held at the C. Subramaniam Auditorium, Pusa, New Delhi, to translate 'Shakti Ki Saptadhara' — the seven-stream framework announced by the Prime Minister from the Red Fort on Independence Day 2026 — into departmental action.
•Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and Rural Development Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan administered a collective pledge to officials, scientists, farmers, Lakhpati Didis, food processors, exporters and Farmer Producer Organisation representatives.
•The headline commitment: the target of three crore Lakhpati Didis has been achieved, and the Prime Minister has now set a target of six crore — three crore additional rural women earning at least Rs 1 lakh a year.

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Science & TechMediumquizQuiz

ICAR's 97th Annual General Meeting Sets a Demand-Driven Agricultural Research Agenda

•The 97th Annual General Meeting of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Society was held at the National Agricultural Science Complex (NASC), New Delhi, chaired by Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare and Rural Development — who chairs it because the Agriculture Minister is ex-officio President of the ICAR Society.
•The Minister called for a demand-driven research ecosystem aligned to farmers' needs, market demand and consumer requirements, with measurable benefits reaching farmers, and pressed for stronger ICAR-industry partnerships to move technologies from laboratory to field faster.
•Dr M.L. Jat, Secretary, DARE and Director General, ICAR, reported the year's results: foodgrain production up by around 19 million tonnes, 386 new crop varieties released of which 94 percent are climate-resilient and 29 biofortified, and the indigenous African Swine Fever vaccine as the year's standout scientific breakthrough.

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EconomyMediumquizQuiz

Commerce Department Briefs Exporters on EU CBAM as Definitive Regime Takes Effect

•The Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry held an awareness session on the European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) for exporters at Vanijya Bhawan, New Delhi, jointly with the National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB) and the Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC).
•Around 100 participants, including exporters and industry stakeholders, were taken through the CBAM framework — which products it applies to, what obligations fall on exporters, how embedded emissions are calculated, and what data collection, reporting, accreditation and verification require.
•Practical case studies covered the iron and steel and aluminium sectors, two of the six CBAM-covered product groups and among India's most exposed exports to the EU.

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Awards & HonoursMediumquizQuiz

National Sports Awards 2025 Announced: 17 Arjuna Awardees, Five Dronacharya Coaches

•The Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports announced the National Sports Awards 2025, conferring the Arjuna Award for outstanding performance on 17 sportspersons across athletics, badminton, boxing, chess, hockey, kabaddi, rowing, shooting and para disciplines.
•A separate Arjuna Award (Lifetime) went to footballer I. Arumainayagam, the category that honours those who continue to promote sport after retiring from active competition.
•Five coaches received the Dronacharya Award — three in the Regular category (athletics, boxing, shooting) and two in the Lifetime category (boxing, wrestling).

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NationalMediumquizQuiz

UIDAI Crosses 2 Crore Mandatory Biometric Updates for School Children via UDISE+

•The Unique Identification Authority of India has completed over 2 crore Mandatory Biometric Updates in Aadhaar for school children, in a mission-mode drive begun in September 2025.
•The drive was made possible by UIDAI's technological integration with UDISE+, the Ministry of Education's school data system, which gives visibility of each child's MBU status at the school level.
•More than 1.56 lakh schools have been covered through dedicated school-level camps run with State and Union Territory education departments.

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Schemes & CommitteesMediumquizQuiz

₹3,942 Crore Amended BharatNet Agreement Signed for Chhattisgarh Under State-Led Model

•Digital Bharat Nidhi, under the Department of Telecommunications, has signed an agreement at Sanchar Bhawan, New Delhi for implementing the Amended BharatNet Programme in Chhattisgarh under the State-led model.
•The signatories are Digital Bharat Nidhi, the Government of Chhattisgarh, Chhattisgarh State BharatNet Infrastructure Limited, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited and the Chhattisgarh Infotech Promotion Society, with CSBIL implementing the project.
•The Government of India has approved ₹3,942 crore of financial support, and the programme is expected to enable more than three lakh rural home fibre connections in the State.

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Banking & FinanceMediumquizQuiz

RRB Gross Loans Rise 10.3% to ₹5.78 Lakh Crore, PSL Reaches 91.7% of ANBC

•Gross loans outstanding of Regional Rural Banks rose 10.3 percent in FY 2025-26, from ₹5,24,163 crore to ₹5,78,349 crore, according to the Ministry of Finance.
•Against the Reserve Bank of India's prescribed Priority Sector Lending target of 75 percent of Adjusted Net Bank Credit for RRBs, average achievement reached 91.7 percent, and almost all RRBs met the overall target.
•Agriculture and allied activities remained the largest component at ₹3.78 lakh crore, or 77 percent of total priority sector lending, with farm credit making up nearly 98 percent of agricultural lending.

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Science & TechMediumquizQuiz

SEMICON India 2026 Set for Yashobhoomi as Semicon 2.0 Enters Implementation

•The fifth edition of SEMICON India will be held from 17 to 19 September 2026 at Yashobhoomi, the India International Convention and Expo Centre in Dwarka, New Delhi, and will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister on 17 September.
•It is organised jointly by the India Semiconductor Mission under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and SEMI, the global semiconductor industry association, on the theme 'Silicon to Systems: Building the Ecosystem'.
•Twelve projects have been approved under Semicon 1.0, three of which have begun commercial production, and the Union Cabinet has since approved the next phase, Semicon 2.0, built on six major pillars.

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DefenceMediumquizQuiz

Defence Ministry Notifies Sixth Positive Indigenisation List of 405 Items

•The Department of Defence Production notified the sixth Positive Indigenisation List on 18 August 2026, covering 405 defence items.
•The list carries an estimated domestic business potential of Rs 3,070 crore.
•Of the 405 items, 389 are linked to Defence Public Sector Undertakings and 16 to the Indian Coast Guard.

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EconomyMediumquizQuiz

Government Approves Incentive Scheme to Expand Domestic PNG Connections from September 2026

•The Government has approved an Incentive Scheme for Promotion of Domestic PNG Connections, effective from 1 September 2026, to speed up the conversion of unbilled connections into working ones and extend piped natural gas to new areas.
•India currently has 1.74 crore domestic PNG connections. Eligible City Gas Distribution entities will receive an additional 200 standard cubic metres of domestically produced, lower-priced APM gas for every incremental billed domestic PNG connection achieved above a threshold set for their Geographical Area.
•The scheme runs in two tranches over six months. The extra APM gas replaces costlier imported LNG that CGD entities buy for their CNG transport segment, cutting their gas-sourcing costs.

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EconomyHighquizQuiz

India's Coconut Sector: World's Top Producer, Record Exports and a New Promotion Scheme

•A PIB Backgrounder maps India's coconut sector, on which about 30 million people including roughly 10 million farmers depend, and which the release describes as moving from a cultural symbol to a globally prominent industry.
•India ranks first in world coconut production with 31.24 percent of the global total and third in area with 17.90 percent; output in 2024-25 was 20,301.22 million nuts from 2.19 million hectares, at an average productivity of 9,249 nuts per hectare.
•Kerala has the largest area under coconut at nearly 7.54 lakh hectares, Tamil Nadu leads production, and Andhra Pradesh records the highest productivity, followed by West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.

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EconomyHighquizQuiz

India's Trade Agreements in Use: FTA Export Gains and Rising Origin Certification

•A PIB Backgrounder reports that India's trade-agreement strategy has moved from signing new pacts to using the market access they created, measured by export growth to partner markets, rising preferential Certificate of Origin issuance and a wider range of products shipped.
•India's combined merchandise and services exports reached a record US$ 863.1 billion in FY 2025-26, of which merchandise was US$ 441.8 billion and services US$ 421.3 billion; April-June 2026 exports were estimated at US$ 232.73 billion, up 11.37 percent year on year.
•The UAE was India's largest single FTA export destination in FY 2025-26 at US$ 37,359.11 million, followed among FTA groupings by ASEAN at US$ 38,416.33 million and SAFTA at US$ 25,774.68 million.

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EconomyHighquizQuiz

MMDR Amendment Act, 2026 Bars Fresh State Levies on Mineral Rights

•A PIB Backgrounder explains the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2026, which amends the MMDR Act, 1957 to create a uniform fiscal framework for minerals by barring State Governments from imposing fresh taxes, cesses or levies on mineral rights and mineral-bearing lands except on conditions prescribed by the Central Government.
•The change is made through a new Section 9D. Section 13 is simultaneously amended so that the Central Government can frame the rules laying down those conditions and restrictions.
•Levies not paid or collected by a State before the amendment takes effect become invalid, but amounts already deposited or recovered are not refundable.

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