PIB Current Affairs 18 August 2026

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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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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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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Current Affairs Pulse

PIB Current Affairs — 18 August 2026

Defence Ministry Notifies Sixth Positive Indigenisation List of 405 Items

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SEMICON India 2026 Set for Yashobhoomi as Semicon 2.0 Enters Implementation

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

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

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

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