Monthly current affairs for August 2026

The Uttar Pradesh government have signed five MoUs with Yamanashi Prefecture of Japan to enhance bilateral cooperation in skills, energy, tourism, industry, and institutional ties.

The agreements were signed during the UP-Japan Investment Meet 2026 held in Lucknow.

The Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BRICS CCI) has appointed Dr Eluri Sreedhar as an Honorary Advisor and Yogesh Sharma as a National Advisor.

Dr Jal Ratanji Patel (a physician) and Dr Jal Dhaybho-Koo (a radiologist), Mumbai-based Parsi doctors, have been nominated for the “Nishan-e-Imtiaz”, the highest civilian award of Pakistan.

The nomination is given recognising their role in maintaining the confidentiality of the terminal illness of Muhammad Ali Jinnah prior to the Partition of India in 1947.

Kaziah Liz Mejo, a 19-year-old from Kerala, has won the Miss Universe India 2026 title at an event organised by the Glamanand Group in Jaipur, Rajasthan.

With this, she has become the first woman from Kerala to secure the title.

It is to be noted that she will officially represent India at the 75th Miss Universe pageant, scheduled to be held in November 2026 in Puerto Rico.

Ahmedabad, Gujarat is set to host the second edition of the Commonwealth Cue Sports Championships in October 2026 at the Veer Savarkar Sports Complex.

The tournament will feature athletes from 45 countries competing across 5 disciplines and 10 medal events in both men and women categories.

East Bengal has won the 135th edition of the Durand Cup in 2026, defeating Mohun Bagan Super Giant by 4-1 in the final match held at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata.

It is to be noted that the Durand Cup is recognized as the oldest football competition in Asia.

The tournament is organized by the Durand Football Tournament Society (DFTS) in collaboration with the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and the Indian Armed Forces.

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) has announced plans to establish the National Coach Accreditation Board (NCAB) to standardize coaching quality and enhance the sports ecosystem in India.

The initiative to establish the board was recommended by a specialized task force led by Pullela Gopichand.

Vice President CP Radhakrishnan has released a book titled “Sankalp Se Siddhi Ka Modi Yug” at Uprashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.

The book is authored by Ghanshyam Tiwari, a Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved key infrastructure projects valued at ₹13,041 crore.

The approved initiatives include four multi-tracking railway projects with an estimated cost of ₹9,450 crore.

Additionally, the CCEA has approved the four-laning of National Highway-22 (NH-22) in Bihar at an estimated cost of ₹3,590.73 crore.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), through the MeitY Startup Hub (MSH), has launched the third cohort of the Gen-Next Support for Innovative Startups (GENESIS) Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) programme.

The GENESIS EIR 3.0 was officially launched at the GENESIS NextGen Startup Summit (Coimbatore Edition) held at Rathinam Global University in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.

The programme is a national initiative designed to support aspiring entrepreneurs, innovators, researchers, students, and early-stage startup founders.

It is a component of the broader GENESIS scheme, which is a flagship initiative of the MSH with a total budget outlay of ₹490 crore.

Under the EIR component of the GENESIS scheme, selected innovators will receive a maximum financial assistance of ₹10 lakh through participating GENESIS incubators.

The inaugural meeting of the India-Kuwait Joint Defence Committee (JDC) was held in New Delhi.

During the meeting, both nations agreed to strengthen bilateral defence cooperation across various sectors, including training, military exercises, military medicine, staff talks, defence industry, and Research & Development (R&D).

The Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC), chaired by Anuradha Thakur, Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), has approved the third round of privatization of 11 airports across 5 airport bundles.

The total investment by the private concessionaires to take over the operations of these airports is estimated at ₹8,622 crore.

Under the PPP model, these airports will be leased for a concession period of 50 years.

The private concessionaires are required to retain 60% of the employees of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for a maximum period of 3 years.

Citigroup Inc. has partnered with Axis Bank to provide financing support to Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) investing in Foreign Currency Non-Resident (FCNR) deposits.

Axis Bank offers FCNR deposit interest rates of up to 6.40%.

The RBI has approved the LIC (Life Insurance Corporation of India) to acquire up to 9.99% of the paid-up share capital or voting rights in HDFC Bank.

It is to be noted that LIC currently holds a 4.11% stake in the bank.

Paul Merchants Finance Pvt Ltd (PMFPL), a diversified Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) and a part of the Paul Merchants Group, has launched a “Loan Against Silver” product, becoming the first NBFC in India to establish exclusive branches dedicated to silver loans.

The NBFC has initiated its silver loan operations from the Union Territory of Chandigarh.

Under this credit facility, eligible customers can secure loans ranging from ₹2,000 to ₹15 lakh.

Wizzmoni Financial Services Limited (formerly Unimoni), an Indian Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC), has partnered with Oman Air to launch a co-branded, AI-powered travel card named “Wizz Voyager Multi-Currency Card” that supports multiple global currencies.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) under the Ministry of Communications has signed a strategic 5-year agreement with the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) to establish an “End-to-End Optical Network Test Bed” at the C-DOT campus in New Delhi.

India and Singapore have reinforced their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) during the fourth India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR) held in Singapore.

It is to be noted that the roundtable also witnessed the exchange of two MoUs and one Letter of Intent (LoI) to strengthen bilateral ties.

Tata Capital Ltd (TCL) has signed an MoU with Japan-based Resona Bank, the core banking subsidiary of Resona Holdings, to assist Japanese companies in exploring and accessing financial solutions and business opportunities in India.

The Naval Science & Technological Laboratory (NSTL), a laboratory of the DRDO in Visakhapatnam has signed two Licensing Agreements for Transfer of Technology (LAToT) to strengthen indigenous defence manufacturing capabilities.

Under the first agreement, the Submarine Fired Decoy (SFD) ‘Mohini’ technology will be transferred to Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL).

The second agreement covers the technology for the fabrication, installation, and commissioning of the LM2500 Gas Turbine to the Hyderabad-based Vertex Engineering Systems Pvt Ltd.