Monthly current affairs for August 2026

The central government has notified 11 additional international ports (9 land ports and 2 airports) to allow entry for e-Visa holders.

With this, the total number of designated e-Visa entry ports in India has increased to 88, which includes 37 airports, 38 seaports, and 13 land ports. It is to be noted that India processes 95% of e-Visa applications in less than 72 hours.

India is set to host the inaugural Global South Film Festival in 2027 to promote international cooperation in the entertainment sector. Brazil, Russia, and Vietnam will serve as the key partner countries for the festival.

The announcement was made on the sidelines of the Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) World Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit (WAVES) Bazaar in Mumbai.

The National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL), a constituent board of the Quality Council of India (QCI), has launched the first Accreditation Scheme for Mobile Food Testing Laboratories in India under the Integrated Assessment Programme.

The scheme was launched during the ‘Gunvatta Samanvaya – A Multilateral MoU Exchange Ceremony’ held in New Delhi. Developed by NABL, it establishes a framework for mobile food testing laboratories to deliver reliable, quality-assured, and internationally benchmarked testing services closer to communities.

Bajaj General Insurance has signed an MoU with Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, the commercial insurance arm of the Swiss Re Group based in Zurich, Switzerland, to explore opportunities in the commercial insurance segment in India.

The 62nd and 3rd Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting of FY27 was held under the chairmanship of Sanjay Malhotra, Governor of the RBI.

The MPC voted unanimously to keep the policy repo rate under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) unchanged at 5.25%, while maintaining a “Neutral” stance. The Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) rate remains at 5%, and both the Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate are maintained at 5.5%.

The RBI has revised the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth forecast of India for FY27 upward to 6.7% from its previous projection of 6.6%. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation for FY27 is projected at 5%.

Lohia Aerospace Systems Pvt Ltd (LASPL) has signed an MoU with Israel-based Massivit to establish the first commercial large-format additive manufacturing facility in India.

The proposed facility will be established at the LASPL plant in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh (UP). The project involves an estimated investment of $8–10 million over the next 1–2 years.

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has signed two MoUs with the Institute of Data Engineering, Analytics and Science Foundation (IDEAS), Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Kolkata to undertake research studies.

The collaboration aims to deep dive into various statistics released by MoSPI and provide harmonisation with other data sources.

The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) has signed an MoU with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) to accelerate the commercialisation and global market access of the Geographical Indication (GI) products of India.

Under the initiative, the ‘Bharat GI’ banner was launched to integrate regional GI products onto digital platforms.

According to the international benchmarking data released by the Community of Metros (COMET), the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) recorded a train punctuality rate of 99.95%.

It outperformed several major global transit networks in punctuality, including the New York Subway, Paris Metro, and Hong Kong MTR. It is to be noted that COMET is an international consortium comprising 45 major global transit systems.

According to the 11th edition of the report titled “Kroll Celebrity Brand Valuation 2025” released by the US-based Kroll, Shah Rukh Khan, Bollywood actor, has emerged as the most valuable celebrity in India, with a brand value of $177.9 million.

He is followed in the rankings by Ranveer Singh, Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, and MS Dhoni. Actress Alia Bhatt secured the sixth position, emerging as the most valued female celebrity in the country.

According to a report titled “Reimagining Care: Strategies for Empowering Caregivers in Viksit Bharat@2047” released by NITI Aayog in New Delhi, a comprehensive roadmap has been outlined to establish an organized, professional, and future-ready caregiving ecosystem.

The report recommends the formulation of a National Policy on Caregiving (NPC) and the establishment of a National Caregiver Council (NCC) to regulate training, accreditation, certification, and quality standards. It also suggests maintaining a National Caregiver Registry to streamline professional development and institutional support across the country.

Abelardo de la Espriella has been appointed as the President of Colombia, succeeding Gustavo Petro.

Anil Menon, an Indian-origin astronaut of the NASA, has successfully completed his inaugural spacewalk, designated as “US Spacewalk 96”, outside the International Space Station (ISS).

The Extravehicular Activity (EVA) lasted for 6 hours and 27 minutes, and was conducted alongside veteran NASA astronaut Jessica Meir. With this achievement, Menon joins Sunita Williams and Raja Chari in the group of Indian-origin astronauts who have performed spacewalks.

Prof. Deepak Dhar has been awarded the 2026 Dirac Medal by the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy. He shared the award with Bernard Derrida, Marc Mezard, and Haim Sompolinsky.

He is the second scientist working in India to receive the Dirac Medal, following Ashoke Sen who won it in 2012. It is to be noted that Professor Dhar was also the first Indian to be awarded the Boltzmann Medal in 2022.

Gurcharan Das, an Indian author, has become the first Indian to be conferred with the ‘Lifetime Libertarian Award’ by the US-based Liberty International.

He received the award during the 40th Liberty International World Conference held in Kathmandu, Nepal. It is to be noedt that he is the author of the best-selling book titled “India Grows at Night”.

P Pechiyammal and Govindhammal from Tamil Nadu have been jointly conferred the “Dr. MS Swaminathan Award for Environment Protection 2026”.

John Turner, an England fast bowler, has announced his retirement from professional cricket at the age of 25.

Union Minister Amit Shah has flagged off the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga Yatra’ campaign at Murugaa Theatre Signal in Puducherry. The special focus of the campaign this year is the commemoration of 150 years of “Vande Mataram”.

It is to be noted that the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ initiative was launched by PM Narendra Modi in 2022 under ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’. The campaign encourages citizens to celebrate the Tricolour as a symbol of national unity, sovereignty, and identity.

The central government has officially standardized the names of 27 prominent geographical locations and features in Arunachal Pradesh on official Survey of India (SoI) maps.

The 27 standardized features include 21 land areas and settlements, 4 strategic mountain passes, 1 lake named Sambho Sarovar, and 1 war memorial named Sher-e-Thapa Memorial.

The VO Chidambaranar (VOC) Port Authority in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, has become the first major port in India to achieve ‘Scope-2 emission-free’ status. The status was conferred by global certification body Bureau Veritas.

The port has also secured the ISO 50001:2018 certification for its Energy Management System, awarded by the Indian Register Quality Systems (IRQS).