Current Affairs 24 August 2026

Polity & GovernanceMediumquizQuiz

Greater Bengaluru Draft Roll Lists 56.99 Lakh Voters, 46.88 Lakh Flagged

•The draft electoral roll for the Greater Bengaluru Authority area, prepared under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), was released on 24 August 2026 and lists 56,99,660 voters.
•It was released by M. Maheshwar Rao, District Election Officer and Chief Commissioner of the Greater Bengaluru Authority, and covers 28 Assembly constituencies under the District Election Officer, Bengaluru.
•As many as 46,88,703 electors from the earlier draft of 16 June have been placed in the Absent, Shifted, Dead, Duplicate and Others (ASDD) category.

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InternationalMediumquizQuiz

India and Argentina Hold 4th Joint Trade Committee in Buenos Aires as Trade Tops $6.5 Billion

•The Fourth Meeting of the India-Argentina Joint Trade Committee was held on 24 August 2026 at Palacio San Martin, Buenos Aires.
•India's delegation was led by Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal; Argentina's by Ambassador Fernando Brun, Secretary for International Economic Relations.
•Bilateral trade crossed USD 6.5 billion in 2025, growing at over 17% a year, and India is now Argentina's fifth-largest trading partner.

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NationalMediumquizQuiz

India Post Rolls Out Upgraded Dak MITRA and Dak Sewa Apps for Branch Post Offices

•The Union Minister of Communications, Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, released upgraded versions of two India Post mobile applications - Dak MITRA for postal staff and Dak Sewa for citizens - at a function in New Delhi.
•Dak MITRA stands for Mobile Interface for Transactions and Rural Assistance, and is the single operational app for more than 1.4 lakh Branch Post Offices, the lowest and most rural tier of the postal network.
•It was built in-house by the Centre for Excellence in Postal Technology on the Department of Posts' Advanced Postal Technology platform, as part of the DoP IT 2.0 modernisation programme.

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EnvironmentMediumquizQuiz

Kutch Non-Profit Plants Khara and Mitha Guggal Across Five Village Commons

•A Kutch-based non-profit has planted two native Guggal species on community grazing commons across five villages of the district, in an attempt to restore the region's native medicinal flora.
•The two species are Khara Guggal, Commiphora wightii, which the IUCN Red List classifies as Critically Endangered, and Mitha Guggal, Commiphora stocksiana, which has a restricted distribution within Kutch.
•Each village received 250 Mitha Guggal, 500 Khara Guggal and 50 Satavari saplings, adding up to 1,250 Mitha Guggal and 2,500 Khara Guggal saplings in all.

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InternationalMediumquizQuiz

India Condemns Ambush on UNMISS Peacekeepers in South Sudan's Jonglei State

•Unidentified armed men ambushed a UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) patrol travelling to Pajut in Jonglei State on 24 August 2026, killing two peacekeepers and injuring seven other people.
•The seven injured were three peacekeepers, two South Sudan National Police Service personnel and two civilian staff; UNMISS deployed a Quick Reaction Force to secure the area.
•India condemned the attack the same day, paid tribute to the fallen Ethiopian Blue Helmet and demanded an immediate and thorough investigation with full accountability.

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Awards & HonoursLowquizQuiz

Publications Division Wins Seven Honours at 46th FIP Book Production Awards

•The Publications Division of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting won seven honours at the Federation of Indian Publishers Awards for Excellence in Book Production 2026.
•The awards were presented at the 46th FIP awards ceremony on 24 August 2026 by Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva.
•The seven honours comprise four Second Prizes and three Third Prizes, spread across Hindi, English and Urdu publications.

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InternationalMediumquizQuiz

Thailand's Political Amnesty Law Takes Effect, Excludes Lese-Majeste Offences

•Thailand's Act on Promoting a Peaceful Society B.E. 2569 (2026) came into force on 24 August 2026, a day after publication in the Royal Gazette on 23 August.
•It grants amnesty for specified political offences and expressions arising from political conflict between 1 January 2005 and 16 July 2025.
•Section 112 of the Criminal Code - the lese-majeste provision - is expressly excluded, as are corruption, offences causing death or serious injury, and civil liabilities owed to private parties.

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EnvironmentMediumquizQuiz

Tiger Confirmed in Koppal's Kishkindha Hills After Nearly Five Decades

•The Karnataka Forest Department confirmed the presence of a male tiger in the Kishkindha Hills of Koppal district on 24 August 2026.
•A camera trap at Temba village in Gangavathi taluk recorded the animal on 23 August 2026; the department had deployed 50 camera traps across Sanapura, Basapura and Temba after months of resident reports.
•Officials identified dry deciduous forest and thorny scrub in the Sanapura-Basapura hill range as the tiger's habitat.

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Summits & ConferencesHighquizQuiz

Amit Shah Inaugurates 9th National Security Strategies Conference in New Delhi

•Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated the two-day 9th National Security Strategies (NSS) Conference-2026 in New Delhi on 24 August 2026.
•The hybrid conference drew more than 850 participants from the Intelligence Bureau, the Ministry of Home Affairs and central and state police forces.
•Shah directed agencies to run AI-based analysis on Multi-Agency Centre platforms and build Standard Operating Procedures to counter security threats.

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EnvironmentMediumquizQuiz

India Reports 21.76 Million Hectares Restored Under Bonn Challenge at UNCCD CoP17

•Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav told an IUCN side event at UNCCD CoP17 in Ulaanbaatar on 24 August 2026 that India restored 21.76 million hectares of land between 2011 and 2020.
•The figure comes from India's Second Progress Report on the Bonn Challenge, against a pledge of 26 million hectares by 2030.
•Restoration work over the decade generated roughly 1.22 billion person-days of employment.

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InternationalMediumquizQuiz

US Launches Operation Economic Outcast to Sever Iran's Global Revenue Networks

•US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Operation Economic Outcast on 24 August 2026, a global campaign to cut off Iran's sources of revenue.
•The campaign targets five sectors described as Iran's most vital lifelines: digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping.
•The Treasury simultaneously sanctioned 60 entities, vessels and individuals in countries including the UAE, Hong Kong, China, Singapore and Switzerland.

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DefenceMediumquizQuiz

NSG Begins India's First Mahila Commando Conversion Course at Manesar

•The National Security Guard launched India's first Mahila Commando Conversion Course (MCCC) on 24 August 2026 at its Training Academy in Manesar, Haryana.
•The 12-week residential course runs from 24 August to 12 November 2026 and is open to selected women personnel of State Police Forces and Central Armed Police Forces.
•The first batch comprises 25 women constables from the 5th Battalion of the Rajasthan Armed Constabulary at Ghatgate.

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Summits & ConferencesMediumquizQuiz

National Conclave on Tribal Languages and Museums Opens in Mysuru

•The three-day National Conclave on Tribal Languages and Museums opened on 24 August 2026 in Mysuru, Karnataka, and runs until 26 August 2026.
•It was inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Durgadas Uikey and is organised jointly by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) Mysuru, Karnataka's ST Welfare Department and the Karnataka State Tribal Research Institute.
•The inaugural session saw the release of the Karnataka Primers for multilingual education in tribal schools, an MoU between the Ministry and CIIL, and the launch of a chatbot platform, Tribot.

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Ranks & ReportsMediumquizQuiz

Mumbai Ranks 50th, Only Indian City in IWG Work From Anywhere Index

•Mumbai entered the fourth annual Work From Anywhere Index published by the International Workplace Group (IWG) in 2026 as the only Indian city in the ranking.
•Mumbai scored 77 and finished 50th globally, ahead of cities including London and Miami.
•Bangkok led the 2026 index with 106.5, followed by Tokyo (96.5) and Barcelona (95.5), with Porto and Vancouver completing the top five.

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InternationalHighquizQuiz

Trump Announces 50% Tariff on Canadian Vehicles, Parts and Steel From 2027

•United States President Donald Trump announced on 24 August 2026 a 50% tariff on Canadian cars, trucks, automotive parts and steel, to take effect on 1 January 2027.
•The announcement followed the collapse of bilateral trade talks in Washington on 21 August and the coming into force on 22 August of 50% tariffs on a broad range of Canadian goods under Section 338 of the US Tariff Act, 1930.
•Those 22 August tariffs covered roughly 5% of Canada's exports to the United States; existing US duties on non-US automobiles and parts stood at 25%, so the new measure would double the top rate on Canadian autos.

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Ranks & ReportsMediumquizQuiz

ILO-NCAER Brief Finds Digital Finance Gap Limiting Women in Platform Economy

•The International Labour Organization and the National Council of Applied Economic Research released a joint policy brief, 'Advancing Women's Digital Financial Inclusion in the Platform Economy', in New Delhi on 24 August 2026.
•India has almost closed the gender gap in bank account ownership - women's account ownership rose from 43% in 2014 to 89% in 2024, against 88% for men - but the gap in using digital finance remains wide.
•Only 25.2% of Indian women can conduct an online banking transaction, against 47.1% of men; on mobile money accounts the gap is 14% versus 32%, about three times the global gap.

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Banking & FinanceMediumquizQuiz

SEBI Introduces 100-Point IT Resilience Index for Market Infrastructure Institutions

•SEBI issued a circular on 24 August 2026 creating an Information Technology Resilience Index (ITRI) to score the technology systems of Market Infrastructure Institutions on a 100-point scale.
•The index runs on nine parameters; availability and security carry 20 points each, five parameters carry 10 points each, and scalability and incident handling carry 5 points each.
•MIIs must compute the score half-yearly within 60 days of the end of each half-year and place a comparative analysis before their Standing Committee on Technology and Governing Board.

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EconomyHighquizQuiz

India Lifts Wheat and Wheat Flour Export Ban Imposed in 2022

•On 24 August 2026 the Directorate General of Foreign Trade moved wheat, durum wheat and a range of wheat flour products from the 'Prohibited' to the 'Free' export category with immediate effect.
•Two notifications were issued: one covering wheat and durum wheat, and one covering atta, maida, semolina (rava), wholemeal atta and resultant atta.
•The decision ends restrictions in force since 13 May 2022 for wheat and since August 2022 for wheat flour products, and follows a record foodgrain output reported for the 2025-26 crop year.

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State NewsMediumquizQuiz

Tamil Nadu Announces Annapoorani Scheme: Three Free LPG Cylinders a Year

•Tamil Nadu announced the Annapoorani scheme in the State Assembly on 24 August 2026, giving eligible families the cost of three domestic LPG cylinders a year, reimbursed directly into bank accounts.
•Families with annual income up to Rs 2.5 lakh qualify; about 1.30 crore families are expected to benefit, at an estimated annual outlay of about Rs 4,000 crore.
•The scheme is to be launched on Pongal in January 2027. The same announcement expanded free bus travel for women and transgender persons under Vettri Payanam Thittam from 2 October 2026.

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Science & TechMediumquizQuiz

India Launches First Non-GMO High-Expansion Popcorn Maize Hybrid at Eluru

•Vice-President C. P. Radhakrishnan launched India's first non-genetically-modified, high-expansion popcorn maize hybrid seed on 24 August 2026 at Musunuru in Eluru district, Andhra Pradesh.
•The hybrid was bred through a collaboration between the ICAR-Indian Institute of Maize Research and the processing firm Gourmet Popcornica that began in February 2021.
•The stated purpose is to end India's dependence on imported popcorn-maize hybrid technology, since no domestic high-expansion line previously existed.

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EnvironmentMediumquizQuiz

Supreme Court Bans Construction Within 100 Metres of Rajasthan's Jojari River

•On 24 August 2026 the Supreme Court barred all construction and development within 100 metres of the edge of Rajasthan's Jojari river.
•Hazardous and polluting activity was barred within 500 metres on either side of the river's existing flood line or present flow path.
•The restrictions run until the scientific determination and demarcation of the High Flood Line and ecological buffer zones is completed.

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EconomyMediumquizQuiz

Centre Runs Kanda Express Onion Rakes From Nashik as Retail Prices Jump 59%

•The Centre began running dedicated Kanda Express railway rakes of buffer-stock onions from Nashik on 24 August 2026 to cool a sharp price rise.
•The national average retail onion price stood at Rs 43.53 per kg on 24 August 2026, about 59% above the Rs 27.37 per kg of a year earlier.
•Buffer onions are being sold to consumers at Rs 35 per kg through NCCF and NAFED in the destination cities.

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Polity & GovernanceLowquizQuiz

ECI holds second regional conference on Electoral Literacy Clubs 2.0 and ECINET at Lucknow

•The Election Commission of India held its second regional conference on 'Electoral Literacy Clubs (ELC 2.0) and ECINET' at Lucknow on 24 August 2026, addressed by Chief Election Commissioner Shri Gyanesh Kumar before students and teachers from schools and colleges across Uttar Pradesh.
•ELC 2.0, carrying the tagline 'Learn Democracy. Lead Democracy.', reimagines Electoral Literacy Clubs as structured, visible and digitally enabled platforms across schools, colleges and universities, running year-round activities and networked through a dedicated ELC portal on the ECINET digital platform.
•The CEC said elections in India are conducted strictly as per the Constitution, the law and ECI instructions, transparently and under the concurrent audit of political parties, candidates or their representatives at every stage; the initiative targets an ecosystem of roughly 15 lakh schools with nearly 25 crore students and over one crore teachers, and about 1,500 universities and 70,000 higher education institutions with an estimated enrolment of 4.33 crore.

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InternationalLowquizQuiz

Third India-Cambodia Joint Working Group on Trade and Investment meets in Phnom Penh

•The Third Meeting of the India-Cambodia Joint Working Group on Trade and Investment (JWGTI) was held on 24 August 2026 in Phnom Penh, co-chaired by Shri Amit Verma, Joint Secretary, Department of Commerce, and Mr. Long Kemvichet, Director General of International Trade, Ministry of Commerce, Cambodia.
•Bilateral trade grew by over 36 per cent to USD 406.78 million in 2025-26 from USD 299 million the previous year, with the April-June 2026 quarter recording a further 63.25 per cent year-on-year growth; Cambodia is India's 8th largest trading partner in ASEAN and accounts for 0.31 per cent of India's trade with the bloc.
•The two sides welcomed the launch of UPI acceptance at KHQR-enabled merchants in Phnom Penh on 2 June 2026 and discussed the next phase letting Cambodian apps scan UPI QR codes in India, agreed on an MoU on Customs Cooperation and pushed for early signature of a Bilateral Investment Treaty; the next JWGTI meeting will be held in India in 2027.

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NationalLowquizQuiz

Regional Manthan Conference on road safety held at Mumbai for western states

•The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways held a Regional Manthan Conference on road safety at Mumbai on 24 August 2026 for Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa and the Union Territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, chaired by Justice A M Sapre (Retd.), Chairman of the Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety.
•Five programmes were deliberated: the Zero Fatality District initiative, now expanded to 100 critical districts across 15 states that average over 400 fatalities each a year; PM RAHAT cashless treatment; the Rah-Veer Good Samaritan reward; the Sadak Suraksha Mitra youth volunteer programme; and the Data-Driven Hyperlocal Intervention framework with its five-stage cycle.
•States were asked to carry out root-cause analysis of fatalities and prepare District Road Safety Plans towards India's goal of halving road deaths by 2030; the release notes that 18-45 year olds account for 66.1 per cent of all road fatalities.

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EconomyLowquizQuiz

CEO Roundtable charts path to a USD 1 trillion Indian chemicals sector by 2040

•The Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, with Invest India, held a CEO Roundtable on 24 August 2026 titled 'India's Chemicals Sector: Charting the Path to USD 1 Trillion by 2040', chaired by Union Minister Shri J.P. Nadda with Minister of State Smt. Anupriya Patel.
•More than 100 delegates from over 30 global and Indian chemical companies - among them BASF, ExxonMobil, Dow, SABIC, Reliance, UPL, Haldia Petrochemicals and Fujifilm - sought upgradation of PCPIRs into full manufacturing hubs, a sovereign fund for technology acquisition, tax breaks to attract global talent, time-bound single-window clearances and a comprehensive National Feedstock Policy.
•Invest India MD & CEO Ms Nivruti Rai said India's chemicals demand is growing at nearly twice the global rate on the strength of EVs, semiconductors, renewable energy and textiles, and that India could move from about 3 per cent of global chemicals production to 10 per cent; Odisha, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh presented their own state investment packages.

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EconomyLowquizQuiz

Service Producer Price Indices released for Q1 FY 2026-27 on 2022-23 base

•The Office of the Economic Adviser, DPIIT (Ministry of Commerce & Industry) released provisional Service Producer Price Indices for Q1 of FY 2026-27 and final indices for Q4 of FY 2025-26, both on base year 2022-23.
•The Air (Passenger) Service Price Index rose from 106.9 in Q4 FY 2025-26 to 126.4 in Q1 FY 2026-27 - a year-on-year inflation of 31.94 per cent, the sharpest movement among the seven services; Management of Pension Funds rose from 103.8 to 113.3 (5.20 per cent YoY), while Insurance and Telecom were flat.
•The release states that no weights have been assigned across the seven services because they do not cover the entire services sector; sub-service level weights within each service were computed from FY 2022-23 data. Q2 FY 2026-27 indices are due on 25 November 2026.

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Schemes & CommitteesMediumquizQuiz

PMFME Conclave 2026 opens with PMFME Bazaar and MoUs with APEDA, ONDC and NABKISAN

•The Ministry of Food Processing Industries opened the PMFME Conclave 2026 at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, on 24-25 August 2026, with over 500 stakeholders from all states and Union Territories.
•Union Minister Chirag Paswan inaugurated the conclave and the PMFME Bazaar, an exhibition of exhibitors from 25 states and Union Territories showing ethnic, traditional and value-added food products.
•Three MoUs were signed — with APEDA, ONDC and NABKISAN — to strengthen export, digital-commerce and credit linkages for PMFME beneficiaries.

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EconomyMediumquizQuiz

Kharif sowing as on 21 August 2026: rice down 13.19 lakh ha, pulses up 1.49 lakh ha

•The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare released the All India Progressive Crop Area Sown Report for kharif 2026-27 as on 21 August 2026.
•Total kharif area sown stood at 1,056.70 lakh hectares against 1,072.77 lakh hectares at the same point in 2025-26 — a fall of 16.07 lakh hectares — and against a normal area of 1,104.45 lakh hectares.
•Rice accounts for most of the shortfall: 405.10 lakh hectares against 418.29 lakh hectares a year earlier, a decline of 13.19 lakh hectares, concentrated in Karnataka, Telangana, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Maharashtra.

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NationalMediumquizQuiz

India Post launches upgraded Dak MITRA and Dak Sewa apps, opens 14 redesigned post offices

•The Department of Posts released upgraded versions of the Dak MITRA and Dak Sewa mobile applications and inaugurated 14 renovated post office buildings on 24 August 2026.
•Dak MITRA — Mobile Interface for Transactions and Rural Assistance — is a unified operational platform for more than 1.4 lakh Branch Post Offices, running on Android handheld devices so Branch Postmasters can carry out paperless, real-time postal and financial transactions.
•Dak Sewa gives citizens 24x7 access to tracking, booking, complaints, post office and PIN code locators and financial calculators, in 23 Indian languages through BHASHINI.

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History & CultureMediumquizQuiz

Adi Vaani gets iOS app and five new languages as Mysuru tribal languages conclave opens

•The Ministry of Tribal Affairs opened a three-day National Conclave on Tribal Languages and Museums at Mysuru, Karnataka, organised with the Karnataka State Tribal Research Institute and the Central Institute of Indian Languages, with more than 150 participants.
•The upgraded Adi Vaani platform was launched with an iOS application, five additional languages and a new logo; Adi Vaani is the Ministry's AI-powered translator for tribal languages, whose beta version was released on 1 September 2025 supporting Santali, Bhili, Mundari and Gondi.
•The Ministry also launched 'Jago', its official AI conversational assistant, with a mascot, to make information on tribal welfare schemes and repositories easier to find.

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Banking & FinanceMediumquizQuiz

RBI's USD-INR swap window draws USD 73 billion in eleven weeks, FCNR(B) alone USD 65.40 billion

•The Reserve Bank of India's special USD-INR forex swap facility, launched on 8 June 2026 for FCNR(B) deposits, Overseas Foreign Currency Borrowings and External Commercial Borrowings, had mobilised USD 73 billion as on 21 August 2026.
•FCNR(B) deposits alone accounted for USD 65.40 billion of that total.
•The Ministry of Finance describes it as the largest and fastest foreign-currency mobilisation India has undertaken, surpassing the RBI's 2013 FCNR(B) swap scheme, which raised about USD 26 billion over roughly three months.

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Polity & GovernanceMediumquizQuiz

Medical Devices Rules amended: loan licence dropped for outsourced sterilisation, EU added as stringent regulator

•The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has amended the Medical Devices Rules, 2017 on two counts, notified through the Official Gazette, to simplify compliance in the medical device sector.
•Rule 44 has been amended so that a manufacturer outsourcing sterilisation to another facility that already holds a valid licence under the Rules no longer needs a separate loan licence for that activity; a six-month transition period applies to the accompanying labelling requirement.
•Rule 63 has been amended to add the European Union to the list of recognised stringent regulatory jurisdictions whose approval can waive clinical investigation requirements for medical devices without a predicate device.

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EconomyMediumquizQuiz

Talabira II & III hits record 19.14 MT in FY 2025-26 under coal block allocation framework

•The Talabira II & III Open Cast Coal Mine in Odisha recorded its highest-ever annual production of 19.14 MT in FY 2025-26, up 11.28 per cent year on year, along with a record annual dispatch of 17.69 MT.
•The mine was allocated to NLC India Ltd on 2 May 2016 under Schedule III of the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015, through the Nominated Authority route, and lies across the Sambalpur and Jharsuguda districts.
•Cumulative production has reached 72.23 MT and cumulative dispatch 70.89 MT up to 14 August 2026; of FY 2025-26 dispatch, about 10.72 MT went to the power sector and 6.97 MT to the non-regulated sector.

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EnvironmentHighquizQuiz

India reports 21.76 mn ha restored in 2011-2020 at UNCCD COP17 in Ulaanbaatar

•At the 17th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP17) in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said India brought 21.76 million hectares under restoration during 2011-2020, generating about 1.22 billion person-days of employment.
•The figures come from India's Second Progress Report on the Bonn Challenge, covering 2011-2020; India's Bonn Challenge pledge, made in 2015 and later enhanced, stands at 26 million hectares by 2030.
•The next reporting cycle, for 2021-2025, is being carried out with the ICFRE Centre of Excellence on Sustainable Land Management and IUCN, and will measure area restored, financial flows and employment generated.

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Banking & FinanceHighquizQuiz

UPI completes ten years: 24,162 crore transactions in FY 2025-26, live in 11 countries

•The Unified Payments Interface completed ten years of operation, with the Ministry of Finance dating the decade from its public launch on 25 August 2016; it was first run as a pilot in April 2016 with 21 member banks.
•Annual transaction volume grew from 1.78 crore in FY 2016-17 to over 24,162 crore in FY 2025-26 — an almost 13,000-fold rise at a CAGR of 188 per cent — while annual value rose from Rs 0.07 lakh crore to about Rs 314 lakh crore, a more than 4,000-fold rise at a CAGR of 155 per cent.
•July 2026 was UPI's largest month on record: 2,366 crore transactions worth Rs 29.88 lakh crore, with 741 banks live on the platform.

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