Current Affairs 25 August 2026

Polity & GovernanceHighquizQuiz

Supreme Court to Set Up Special Bench on Centre's OBC Creamy Layer Plea

•On 25 August 2026 a Supreme Court Bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant, with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana, agreed to consider setting up a special Bench to hear the Centre's plea for clarification of the judgment in Union of India v. Rohith Nathan.
•Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court that the Department of Personnel and Training had filed an urgent application seeking directions from a Bench headed by Justice P. S. Narasimha, who delivered the judgment.
•The judgment, delivered on 11 March 2026 by Justices P. S. Narasimha and R. Mahadevan, held that creamy-layer status among OBCs cannot be decided on parental income alone and that the status and rank of the parent's post must be considered.

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Banking & FinanceMediumquizQuiz

NCLT Order in Zee Founder's Case Revives the IBC Haircut Debate

•The National Company Law Tribunal approved a repayment plan offering Rs 6.25 crore to creditors, plus Rs 25 lakh towards process costs, against admitted claims of about Rs 22,006.57 crore in the personal insolvency of Zee Group founder Subhash Chandra.
•The order has revived concerns over deep haircuts under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 and over the integrity of the creditor-voting process.
•The Government's position is that resolution, not recovery, is the primary objective of the IBC, and that comparing realisation with total admitted claims exaggerates the apparent haircut.

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Polity & GovernanceMediumquizQuiz

Supreme Court Orders FIR Copy for Journalist, Reviving the Access Debate

•The Supreme Court directed the Ghaziabad Police to give independent journalist Abhishek Upadhyay a copy of the FIR and CCTV footage in a road-rage case registered against him.
•A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant also protected him from coercive action and asked the Police Commissioner to file a compliance report by 7 September.
•The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 requires an FIR copy to be given forthwith only to the informant or victim, not to the accused.

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EconomyHighquizQuiz

RBI Bulletin Calls Economy Resilient as MPC Lifts FY27 Growth Forecast to 6.7%

•The Reserve Bank of India released its August 2026 Bulletin on 25 August 2026; its State of the Economy article judges the Indian economy resilient to global headwinds despite renewed US tariffs and geopolitical friction in West Asia.
•The Monetary Policy Committee left the repo rate unchanged at 5.25 per cent in August 2026 - a fourth consecutive hold - and retained its neutral stance under Governor Sanjay Malhotra.
•The MPC raised its GDP growth forecast for 2026-27 from 6.6 per cent to 6.7 per cent and lowered its CPI inflation projection from 5.1 per cent to 5 per cent.

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DefenceMediumquizQuiz

Goa Shipyard Hands Over Indigenous Fast Patrol Vessel ICGS Ajit to Coast Guard

•Goa Shipyard Limited, a defence public sector undertaking under the Ministry of Defence, handed over the indigenously designed and built Fast Patrol Vessel ICGS Ajit to the Indian Coast Guard on 25 August 2026.
•ICGS Ajit is an Adamya-class Fast Patrol Vessel, 51.43 metres long and 8 metres wide, with a displacement of 330 tonnes.
•It is powered by twin marine diesel engines driving controllable pitch propellers - a first for this class of Fast Patrol Vessel - and reaches a top speed of more than 27 knots with an endurance of 1,500 nautical miles.

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Polity & GovernanceMediumquizQuiz

PM Chairs 53rd PRAGATI Meeting, Reviews Six Projects Worth Over Rs 30,000 Crore

•The Prime Minister chaired the 53rd meeting of the PRAGATI platform at Seva Teerth in New Delhi on 25 August 2026.
•Six infrastructure projects in the railway, road and power sectors, spread across nine states and costing more than Rs 30,000 crore in total, were taken up for review.
•Beyond projects, the meeting reviewed AgriStack under the Digital Agriculture Mission and measures to prevent cyber fraud, including so-called digital arrest cases.

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InternationalMediumquizQuiz

India and Morocco Conclude 7th Joint Commission Session in Rabat

•India and Morocco concluded the 7th session of their Joint Commission in Rabat on 25 August 2026, at the end of a two-day visit that began on 24 August.
•The session was co-chaired by Jitin Prasada, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry and for Electronics and Information Technology, and Omar Hejira, Morocco's Secretary of State to the Minister of Industry and Trade in charge of Foreign Trade.
•The two sides signed the agreed minutes of the session and set up a working group to monitor implementation of the decisions taken.

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Science & TechMediumquizQuiz

JNCASR Builds TZ-48 Probe and Smartphone Platform to Detect Alzheimer's Biomarker

•Scientists at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bengaluru, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology, have developed a small fluorescent molecule named TZ-48 that reports the presence of amyloid-beta, the principal biomarker of Alzheimer's disease.
•TZ-48 signals amyloid-beta fibrils in two ways at once - it switches on its fluorescence on binding, and it shows a distinct fluorescence lifetime, which together allow selective and differential detection.
•The team built the probe into ADxFluor, a smartphone-integrated platform that captures and quantifies the fluorescence change, turning a laboratory measurement into a reading a phone can take.

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EnvironmentMediumquizQuiz

CSIR-IHBT Describes Doronicum sanctum, First Leopard's Bane From Northeast India

•Researchers at the CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (IHBT), Palampur, have described a new plant species of the sunflower family and named it Doronicum sanctum.
•The species was collected in Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh at an elevation of about 4,086 metres above sea level.
•It is the first member of the genus Doronicum, commonly called Leopard's bane, ever documented from Northeast India; all previous Indian records of the genus were confined to the western Himalaya.

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InternationalMediumquizQuiz

New Structures on Yagong Island Signal Militarisation Around Antelope Reef

•Satellite imagery reviewed in August 2026 showed new three-pronged structures on Yagong Island in the Paracel Islands, about 14 km north-east of Antelope Reef.
•Analysts said it is too early to be certain of their function but the structures resemble early-warning radar facilities seen elsewhere in the South China Sea and are probably tied to the military role of Antelope Reef.
•The imagery was taken on 17 August 2026 by the commercial satellite provider Vantor, which said construction at the site began in March and April 2026.

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Polity & GovernanceMediumquizQuiz

Supreme Court Issues Notice to 20 Rebel TMC MPs Over Delayed Disqualification

•On 25 August 2026 the Supreme Court issued notice to 20 rebel Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha MPs on a petition by TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee seeking an early decision on the disqualification pleas pending against them.
•The MPs are alleged to have defected to the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI); the disqualification petitions were filed with the Lok Sabha Speaker under the Tenth Schedule.
•The Court did not issue notice to Speaker Om Birla after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said he would appear for the Speaker and take instructions.

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Science & TechMediumquizQuiz

CSIR-NAL Unveils NJ-05, NJ-50 and NJ-100 Indigenous Micro Gas Turbine Engines

•CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories unveiled three indigenous micro and small gas turbine engines at the SSB Auditorium, CSIR Headquarters, New Delhi, on 25 August 2026.
•The engines are named NJ-05, NJ-50 and NJ-100, with thrust ratings of 5 kg, 50 kg and 100 kg respectively.
•They are designed for tactical unmanned aerial vehicles, drone interceptors and compact missile systems.

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DefenceHighquizQuiz

Rajnath Singh Clears Transfer of All DRDO Conventional Missile Technologies to Industry

•Defence Minister Rajnath Singh approved the transfer of technology of all conventional missile systems developed by DRDO to the Indian defence industry on 25 August 2026.
•The Ministry of Defence described the decision as the shift of these systems from development to large-scale industrial production within the country.
•Eligible Indian companies may manufacture the systems after meeting qualification, certification and regulatory requirements; DRDO continues to support technology absorption.

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EnvironmentMediumquizQuiz

Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary Emerges as Key Black-Necked Stork Breeding Site in Gujarat

•Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary in Jamnagar, Gujarat, has been identified as a major breeding site for the Black-necked Stork (Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus).
•The study, by the Gujarat Ecological Education and Research (GEER) Foundation, was published in the Journal of Threatened Taxa on 27 July 2026.
•Field surveys from July 2024 to March 2025 across 48 georeferenced sampling points recorded a peak seasonal population of 21 to 23 storks.

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Schemes & CommitteesMediumquizQuiz

PMFME Bazaar and Conclave 2026 Open in New Delhi as Scheme Crosses 2 Lakh Sanctions

•The PMFME Bazaar and PMFME Conclave 2026 were inaugurated at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, by Union Minister for Food Processing Industries Chirag Paswan.
•Organised by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, the event brought together more than 500 stakeholders from the micro food processing sector.
•The PMFME Bazaar featured exhibitors from 25 States and Union Territories, including Self Help Groups, Farmer Producer Organisations, cooperatives and individual micro-entrepreneurs.

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Science & TechMediumquizQuiz

MeitY Opens GENESIS EIR Cohort-3 Applications for Early-Stage Deeptech Founders

•The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, through the MeitY Startup Hub, opened applications for GENESIS Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) Cohort-3.
•GENESIS stands for Gen-Next Support for Innovative Startups; the deadline for applications is 3 September 2026.
•GENESIS EIR 3.0 was launched on 4 August 2026 at the GENESIS NextGen Startup Summit, Coimbatore Edition, held at Rathinam Global University, Tamil Nadu.

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NationalMediumquizQuiz

AIIA Launches Garbhini Mitra Course for Ayurveda-Based Maternal Wellness Support

•The All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA), New Delhi, launched the Garbhini Mitra course for the 2026-2027 academic session.
•It is a six-month offline skill-development programme training community-level personnel for non-clinical maternal wellness support.
•The curriculum rests on three classical Ayurvedic concepts: Garbhadhana Vidhi (pre-conceptional care), Garbhini Paricharya (antenatal care) and Sutika Paricharya (postnatal care).

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Agreements & MoUsMediumquizQuiz

CBN and PHARMEXCIL Sign MoU on Pharma Exports and Diversion Control

•The Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN) and the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (PHARMEXCIL) signed a Memorandum of Understanding at CBN Headquarters, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh.
•The MoU covers legitimate pharmaceutical exports, prevention of product diversion, and industry coordination through a non-binding Voluntary Code of Conduct.
•The Code provides for Know Your Customer checks, reporting of suspicious orders and designated Contact Persons in member companies.

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State NewsMediumquizQuiz

Karnataka Suspends Food Licences of Amazon, Swiggy Instamart, BigBasket Over Datura

•Karnataka's Food Safety and Drugs Administration Department suspended the food licences of Amazon, Swiggy Instamart and BigBasket on 24 August 2026.
•The action followed the listing of Datura fruits and seeds on these platforms as food items for human consumption.
•Datura belongs to the family Solanaceae and contains toxic tropane alkaloids including atropine, scopolamine and hyoscyamine.

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EnvironmentMediumquizQuiz

Global Sea Surface Temperature Hits Record 21.1 Degrees Celsius in August 2026

•The daily global average sea surface temperature for extra-polar oceans reached 21.1 degrees Celsius on 21 and 22 August 2026, the highest on record.
•Extra-polar oceans are defined as waters between 60 degrees South and 60 degrees North, excluding the polar seas.
•The previous record was 21.09 degrees Celsius, set on 1 March 2024.

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EconomyHighquizQuiz

PPPAC Clears Leasing of 11 AAI Airports to Private Players in Five Bundles

•The Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee has given in-principle approval to leasing 11 Airports Authority of India airports to private players for a 50-year concession period.
•The 11 airports have been grouped into five bundles, with estimated private investment of Rs 8,622 crore.
•The bidding parameter will be a per-passenger fee for domestic travellers; the international passenger fee is fixed at twice the domestic rate.

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State NewsMediumquizQuiz

Tamil Nadu to Roll Out TN-ARIVU Curriculum in Government Schools from 2027-28

•Tamil Nadu will introduce the TN-ARIVU curriculum in government schools from the academic year 2027-28, covering Classes I to XII.
•TN-ARIVU stands for Analytical thinking, Reasoning, Innovation, Venture and entrepreneurship, and Upskilling, and includes artificial intelligence and emerging technologies.
•The School Education Department placed 31 new initiatives before the Assembly with a total estimated outlay of Rs 44,527 crore.

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EnvironmentHighquizQuiz

India's Non-Fossil Fuel Power Capacity Crosses 300 GW, Over 54% of Total

•India's installed non-fossil fuel power capacity reached 300.50 GW as on 31 July 2026, crossing the 300 GW mark for the first time.
•This is more than 54% of India's total installed generation capacity of about 552 GW, and over 60% of the 500 GW non-fossil target set for 2030.
•Solar leads the non-fossil basket at 164.59 GW, followed by wind at 58.14 GW, hydro at 57.24 GW, bio-power at 11.75 GW and nuclear at 8.78 GW.

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InternationalHighquizQuiz

US Removes Syria from State Sponsors of Terrorism List After 47 Years

•The US Department of State rescinded Syria's designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism on 24 August 2026, ending a listing that had run since 29 December 1979.
•On the same day the Department revoked the Specially Designated Global Terrorist designation of the al-Nusrah Front, also known as Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
•The Office of Foreign Assets Control removed HTS from its Specially Designated Nationals List and revoked Syria General License 25.

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Ranks & ReportsHighquizQuiz

NITI Aayog Finds 8.7 Crore Youth Not in Education, Employment or Training

•NITI Aayog's report 'Reimagining Skilling for Viksit Bharat@2047' estimates that 8.7 crore Indians aged 15-29 are NEET - not in education, employment or training.
•The figure comes from the 78th round of the National Sample Survey, conducted in 2021.
•The report's sharpest finding is on the education-employment gap: only 8.25% of graduates hold jobs that match their qualifications.

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Science & TechMediumquizQuiz

Tiangong Ultra Runs 100m in 8.86 Seconds at World Humanoid Robot Games

•Chinese bipedal robot Tiangong Ultra covered 100 metres in 8.86 seconds in a semifinal of the large-size robot division at the second World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing.
•The run lowered the 9.39-second mark the same robot had set earlier in the same Games, which had already gone below Usain Bolt's human world record of 9.58 seconds.
•Tiangong Ultra is built by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center; a rival machine, Honor's Lightning, clocked 9.47 seconds at the Games.

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Science & TechLowquizQuiz

JNCASR develops TZ-48 fluorescent probe and ADxFluor smartphone platform for Alzheimer's detection

•Scientists at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology, have developed TZ-48, a fluorescence lifetime-responsive small-molecule probe that detects amyloid-beta (Abeta), the earliest and most Alzheimer's-specific biomarker of the disease.
•The team paired the probe with ADxFluor, a smartphone-integrated platform that reads TZ-48's change in fluorescence intensity and quantifies the Abeta load in blood serum, turning what today needs a PET or MRI suite into a potential point-of-care test.
•TZ-48 crosses the blood-brain barrier, labels Abeta plaques in transgenic Alzheimer's mouse brains, works with confocal laser scanning microscopy and fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy, and detected Abeta in cerebrospinal fluid and serum accurately enough to separate diseased from healthy mice; the work is published in ACS Chemical Neuroscience.

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Science & TechLowquizQuiz

DST-Backed Study Finds South Asian Gut Microbiomes Distinct, Builds SAMBAR Resource

•Scientists from the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences (BSIP), Lucknow - an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology - with the University of Chicago and collaborators in India, Sri Lanka and the USA, have found that South Asian gut microbiomes are distinct from those reported elsewhere and are shaped by local culture, diet, geography and lifestyle.
•Stool samples with dietary, lifestyle and health information were collected from 575 healthy adults across ten culturally and geographically distinct South Asian communities in India and Sri Lanka, and characterised by high-throughput sequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA genes.
•The work created the South Asian MicroBiome ARray (SAMBAR), described as the first baseline gut microbiome resource from healthy individuals in India, and was published in the journal Gut Microbes; the team was led by Dr Niraj Rai of BSIP, with Maanasa Raghavan and colleagues.

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DefenceLowquizQuiz

2nd India-New Zealand Defence Strategic Dialogue in Wellington Advances Roadmap 2030

•The second edition of the India-New Zealand Defence Strategic Dialogue was held in Wellington on 24 August 2026, co-chaired by Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Defence Amitabh Prasad and Deputy Secretary in the New Zealand Ministry of Defence Richard Schmidt.
•Talks focused on maritime security, joint military training and broader defence cooperation, and on implementing the strategic targets in the India-New Zealand Strategic Partnership Roadmap 2030 agreed at the summit-level meeting the previous month.
•Both sides reaffirmed a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific, reviewed options for joint exercises, cross-service personnel exchanges and defence staff college partnerships across maritime, air and land units, and agreed to sustain regular high-level and ministerial exchanges.

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Polity & GovernanceLowquizQuiz

NHRC Takes Suo Motu Cognizance of Bhavnagar Spurious Liquor Deaths, Notices to Gujarat

•The National Human Rights Commission took suo motu cognizance on 25 August 2026 of reports that at least 9 people died and 39 others were hospitalised in critical condition after consuming spurious Indian-Made Foreign Liquor in Bhavnagar district, Gujarat.
•The illicit liquor was reportedly spiked with a high concentration of methanol and sold in counterfeit bottles carrying a popular brand's label; the racket surfaced during investigation of an accidental death case registered for the death of a police recruit.
•The Commission issued notices to the Gujarat Chief Secretary and Director General of Police seeking a detailed report within two weeks on the death toll, the investigation and the methanol supply chain, departmental action against suspended police personnel, relief and compensation, and long-term measures to enforce the prohibition law.

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InternationalMediumquizQuiz

Goyal in Tokyo: India and Japan Agree to Accelerate CEPA Review, Push Chips and AI

•Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal chaired an India-Japan industry roundtable on semiconductors and artificial intelligence in Tokyo on 25 August 2026, attended by around 21 leading Japanese companies including Tokyo Electron, Kyocera, NEC, ROHM, Fujifilm Holdings, MUFG Bank and JETRO.
•In a bilateral meeting with Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Akazawa Ryosei, both sides agreed to accelerate the review of the India-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) to make it more forward-looking.
•Goyal told the roundtable that India's domestic semiconductor demand is projected to reach USD 150 billion by 2032, citing a government commitment of USD 10 billion under Semicon India 1.0 and an additional USD 15 billion under Semicon India 2.0.

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Schemes & CommitteesMediumquizQuiz

Sewerage Takes 36% of AMRUT 2.0 Investment: Ministry Answers Standing Committee

•Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Tokhan Sahu chaired reviews at Sankalp Bhawan, New Delhi on 25 August 2026 covering the Gurugram metro connectivity project, AMRUT 2.0 and CITIIS 2.0.
•Responding to the 10th Report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Housing and Urban Affairs, the Ministry said sewerage and septage projects account for about Rs 71,133 crore of the Rs 1,97,191 crore approved project cost under AMRUT 2.0 - nearly 36% of investment, though only about 6.8% of the number of projects.
•394 sewerage projects worth about Rs 47,230 crore are under implementation; on completion they are expected to give new sewer connections to about 48.76 lakh households and benefit about 60.59 lakh households through system upgrades and servicing.

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Science & TechMediumquizQuiz

ICMR Says Circulating H1N1 Shows Only Normal Antigenic Drift, No New Strain

•The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, with the Department of Health Research, ICMR and NCDC, said on 25 August 2026 that seasonal respiratory illness trends are being tracked through a pan-India surveillance network and there is no cause for alarm.
•DHR Secretary and ICMR Director General Dr Rajiv Bahl said the circulating Influenza A (H1N1) viruses are A/Missouri/11/2025 (H1N1) pdm09-like, with haemagglutinin gene analysis placing the isolates in clade 6B.1A.5a2a, subclade D.3.1.1.
•This lineage has circulated in India since 2025 and the genetic changes observed are ordinary antigenic drift, not the emergence of a new or dangerous strain.

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NationalMediumquizQuiz

Home Minister Sets Internal Security Agenda at IB's National Security Strategies Conference

•Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah addressed the valedictory session of the Intelligence Bureau's National Security Strategies Conference (NSSC) in New Delhi, a two-day conference attended by Directors General of Police of all states and representatives of central security agencies.
•He said strong internal security is the first condition for the goal of a developed India by 2047, and asked the NSSC forum to look at the trends of the coming 15 to 20 years and frame preventive strategies rather than only consolidating past gains.
•On criminal justice, he said 100 per cent implementation of the three new criminal laws will be achieved within the next year, enabling disposal of criminal cases up to the Supreme Court within three years and, in his statement, raising the conviction rate by 25 per cent.

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Polity & GovernanceMediumquizQuiz

PM Reviews Six Projects Worth Over Rs 30,000 Crore Across Nine States at 53rd PRAGATI Meeting

•Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the 53rd meeting of PRAGATI - the ICT-enabled, multi-modal platform for Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation - at Seva Teerth on 25 August 2026.
•Six key infrastructure projects in the Railway, Road and Power sectors were reviewed, spanning nine states with a cumulative cost of more than Rs 30,000 crore, with emphasis on timelines, inter-agency coordination and resolution of pending issues.
•The Prime Minister said infrastructure projects must be monitored as an integrated whole rather than as isolated sections, stretches or packages, and asked ministries and states to adopt an end-to-end approach so that individual package progress translates into commissioning of the full project.

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DefenceMediumquizQuiz

Goa Shipyard Hands Over ICGS Ajit as Navy Prepares to Commission Diving Support Vessel Nipun

•Goa Shipyard Limited formally handed over ICGS Ajit (Yard 1277), a Fast Patrol Vessel, to the Indian Coast Guard on 25 August 2026, built with more than 65 per cent indigenous content.
•ICGS Ajit is 51.43 metres long and 8 metres wide, displaces 330 tonnes at a draught of 2.5 metres, exceeds 27 knots and has an endurance of 1,500 nautical miles, with a crew of 6 officers and 35 sailors.
•The vessel is powered by twin marine diesel engines driving controllable pitch propellers - described by the shipyard as a first-of-its-kind feature in this class of Fast Patrol Vessels - along with an integrated machinery control system.

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Science & TechMediumquizQuiz

CSIR-NAL Unveils Indigenous NJ-05, NJ-50 and NJ-100 Micro and Small Gas Turbine Engines

•CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories (CSIR-NAL) unveiled three indigenous micro and small gas turbine engines - NJ-05 with 5 kg thrust, NJ-50 with 50 kg thrust and NJ-100 with 100 kg thrust - at the SSB Auditorium, CSIR Headquarters, New Delhi.
•The engines are intended for tactical unmanned aerial vehicles, drone interceptors and compact missile systems, addressing a class of propulsion India has largely imported.
•The scientific team, led by Shri R. Prathapanayaka, attributed the development to advances in high-RPM turbomachinery and high-temperature combustion technologies.

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EconomyMediumquizQuiz

India Produces 56.2 MT Crude Steel in April-July 2026 but Stays a Net Importer of Finished Steel

•The Ministry of Steel's review for April-July 2026 records crude steel production of 56.2 million tonnes, up 2.4 per cent over the corresponding period last year, with hot metal at 31.9 MT and finished steel at 54.7 MT.
•Finished steel consumption for April-July 2026 reached 56.0 MT, a 7.9 per cent rise over the same period a year earlier and higher than finished steel production - the demand side of why India remained an importer.
•India was a net importer of finished steel in quantity terms during April-July 2026: imports of 2,766.2 thousand tonnes (Rs 28,330.8 crore) against exports of 2,292.3 thousand tonnes (Rs 18,105.4 crore). China (30.9 per cent) and Korea (30.2 per cent) supplied over three-fifths of imports; Vietnam and the UAE were the largest export destinations.

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Science & TechMediumquizQuiz

CSIR-TKDL Expands Beyond Medicinal Formulations to Diagnostics, Devices and Surgical Practices

•Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Dr Jitendra Singh visited the CSIR-Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (CSIR-TKDL) and called for traditional knowledge to be integrated with modern science, medicine and emerging technologies rather than confined to indigenous systems of medicine.
•He was briefed that TKDL has evolved from an initiative to digitise traditional knowledge into a structured knowledge resource that renders such knowledge in modern scientific and intellectual-property terminology, understandable to patent examiners.
•The repository, institutionalised in 2001 with an initial focus on Ayurveda formulations, has since expanded to other traditional knowledge systems and now covers areas including diagnostic methods, devices and surgical practices.

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EconomyMediumquizQuiz

PAIMANA Portal Tracks 1,775 Central Infrastructure Projects Worth Rs 37.11 Lakh Crore

•MoSPI's flash report for July 2026 records 1,775 ongoing central sector infrastructure projects with a total revised cost of Rs 37.11 lakh crore, monitored on the PAIMANA platform across 17 Central Ministries and Departments.
•Cumulative expenditure on these projects stands at Rs 19.26 lakh crore, about 51.91 per cent of the revised cost; 675 projects (roughly 38 per cent) have crossed 80 per cent physical progress and 305 (about 17 per cent) have crossed 80 per cent financial completion.
•The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways accounts for the largest share by count with 993 projects (56 per cent) worth Rs 9.62 lakh crore (26 per cent), followed by Railways with 190 projects (11 per cent) worth Rs 6.38 lakh crore (17 per cent).

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EconomyMediumquizQuiz

Mines Ministry Launches Critical Minerals Innovation Hackathon Under National Mission

•Union Minister of Coal and Mines G. Kishan Reddy launched the Critical Minerals Innovation Hackathon 2026 (CMiH 2026) to strengthen the objectives of the National Critical Mineral Mission.
•The hackathon invites students, researchers, academic and R&D institutions, start-ups and innovators to develop technical solutions to identified challenges in critical minerals.
•It carries two problem statements: Mineral Prospectivity Mapping from Open Data, requiring a prospectivity heatmap for lithium or rare earth element pegmatites validated against known mineral occurrences; and a Smart Technology and Patent Tracker for Critical Minerals, a web-based R&D and patent tracking system.

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Banking & FinanceMediumquizQuiz

Regional Rural Banks Post Record Rs 10,176 Crore Net Profit in FY 2025-26

•A review meeting on Regional Rural Bank performance, chaired by the Secretary, Department of Financial Services, recorded an all-time high consolidated net profit of Rs 10,176 crore for RRBs in FY 2025-26, up from Rs 6,820 crore in FY 2024-25.
•The total business of all 28 RRBs crossed Rs 13.5 lakh crore, surpassing the business level of a few individual Public Sector Banks; 28 RRBs now operate 22,273 branches across 26 States and 3 Union Territories, covering about 700 districts.
•Gross and Net Non-Performing Assets fell to all-time lows of 5.3 per cent and 2.1 per cent respectively, while the Credit-Deposit Ratio reached an all-time high of 75.2 per cent.

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DefenceMediumquizQuiz

Defence Minister Clears Transfer of All DRDO Conventional Missile Technologies to Industry

•Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh has approved the transfer of DRDO-developed technologies of ALL conventional missile systems to the Indian defence industry for production within the country.
•The transfer is subject to applicable qualifications, certifications and regulatory requirements, and is intended to move missile systems from development into industrial production.
•The Ministry of Defence states the objective as enhancing domestic manufacturing capability, strengthening the defence industrial base, and creating supply-chain opportunities for Indian MSMEs and other technology partners.

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EnvironmentMediumquizQuiz

India Urges Shift From Drought Response to Drought Resilience at UNCCD CoP17

•Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav addressed the Ministerial Dialogue on 'Accelerating Drought Resilience' at the 17th Conference of Parties (CoP17) of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
•He argued that drought must be managed as a predictable, preventable risk rather than as a recurring disaster demanding emergency response, and described it as 'no longer an occasional event, but a defining development challenge' affecting water security, food systems, biodiversity and economic stability.
•India's approach, as he described it, integrates rainfall monitoring and satellite-based drought assessment to trigger inter-ministerial and state-level preparedness, with catchment and riverscape forestry summed up in the phrase 'restore the forest, before the flow'.

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Banking & FinanceMediumquizQuiz

UPI Marks Ten Years Since Its Public Rollout by NPCI in August 2016

•Prime Minister Narendra Modi marked ten years of the Unified Payments Interface, calling its rollout a major turning point in India's digital payments journey and inviting citizens to share their UPI experiences under the hashtag #10YearsOfUPI.
•UPI was piloted by the National Payments Corporation of India on 11 April 2016 and rolled out to the public on 25 August 2016, when participating banks made their UPI-enabled apps available for download — the anniversary being marked in August 2026.
•Union Minister for Women and Child Development Annpurna Devi described the ten-year journey as an example of the digital revolution that made India a new power in digital payments before the world.

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EconomyHighquizQuiz

National Shipping Board's First Sagar Samvad Proposes 100 New Ships in Five Years

•The National Shipping Board (NSB) held its first 'Sagar Samvad' in New Delhi, themed 'Charting the Roadmap Towards Maritime India Vision 2030 and Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047'.
•Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal chaired the inaugural edition, launched the Board's first official website and received its annual report for 2025-26 from NSB Chairperson Sameer Kumar Khare.
•An NSB panel proposed a five-pillar roadmap — fiscal reform, assured cargo support, access to competitive financing, regulatory streamlining and ease of doing business — which it argued could add 100 ships to India's fleet within five years.

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Ranks & ReportsHighquizQuiz

NITI Aayog Skilling Blueprint Clarifies 8.7 Crore NEET Youth Are Not Unemployed

•NITI Aayog released 'Reimagining Skilling for Viksit Bharat@2047', a blueprint for a skilling architecture aligned to the goals of a developed India by 2047.
•The report identifies five key segments of learners and workforce, one of which is NEET youth in the 15-29 age group — Not in Education, Employment or Training.
•NITI Aayog clarified that the report's figure of 8.7 crore NEET youth has been misread as a count of the unemployed. NEET refers to those NOT SEEKING employment; the unemployed form a separate category drawn from a different population base, so the figure cannot be added to the unemployment rate.

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Schemes & CommitteesHighquizQuiz

e-Shram Portal Completes Five Years With 31.89 Crore Registered Unorganised Workers

•The e-Shram portal, run by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, completes five years on 26 August 2026; it was launched on 26 August 2021 and built India's first Aadhaar-authenticated National Database of Unorganised Workers (NDUW).
•Every registered worker receives a unique 12-digit Universal Account Number (UAN). Registrations stood at 31.89 crore as on 18 August 2026, with women forming 54.28 per cent of registrants and men 45.72 per cent.
•The e-Shram One-Stop Solution, launched on 21 October 2024, converted the registry into a service-delivery platform that now carries 15 social security and welfare schemes, including PM-SYM, PMSBY, PMJJBY, NSAP, ONORC and PMAY-Gramin.

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InternationalHighquizQuiz

India and China Hold 25th Round of Special Representatives Border Talks

•The 25th round of Special Representatives talks on the India-China boundary question was held in Beijing on 25 August 2026.
•National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, India's Special Representative, co-chaired the round with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, China's Special Representative, during a two-day visit that began on 24 August.
•The round took place ahead of an expected visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to New Delhi for the BRICS summit.

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Banking & FinanceHighquizQuiz

UPI Completes Ten Years, Handling Half the World's Real-Time Payments

•The Unified Payments Interface completed ten years of public operation on 25 August 2026, having been opened to users through bank apps on that date in 2016.
•Annual transaction volume rose from 1.78 crore in FY 2016-17 to more than 24,162 crore in FY 2025-26, and value from about Rs 0.07 lakh crore to roughly Rs 314 lakh crore.
•UPI was live in 11 countries and accounted for close to half of all real-time payment transactions worldwide, the largest such system by volume.

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