Defence Exams (NDA, CDS, CAPF) Current Affairs Questions and Answers August 2026

Practice questions

Where was the Air Force exercise ROTOR CLAP-III held?
1. Suratgarh
2. Pokhran Field Firing Range
3. Tanot
4. Mahajan Field Firing Range
Show answer
Answer: B. Pokhran Field Firing Range — The week-long counter-drone exercise was held at Pokhran in Jaisalmer district.
How many tree species are protected under the draft Rajasthan Tree Protection Bill, 2026?
1. 9
2. 19
3. 29
4. 39
Show answer
Answer: C. 29 — Species such as Khejri, Rohida, banyan, peepal and mahua are protected.
Which commission sent a notice to Rajasthan over maternal deaths in government hospitals?
1. NCW
2. NCPCR
3. NITI Aayog
4. NHRC
Show answer
Answer: D. NHRC — The National Human Rights Commission asked for a detailed report.
Glaw Lake, India's 101st Ramsar site, is in which state?
1. Arunachal Pradesh
2. Assam
3. Meghalaya
4. Nagaland
Show answer
Answer: A. Arunachal Pradesh — It is in Arunachal Pradesh's Lohit district, inside the Kamlang Tiger Reserve.
Who was named CEO and Managing Director of Air India in August 2026?
1. Campbell Wilson
2. Tewolde Gebremariam
3. Natarajan Chandrasekaran
4. Rajesh Kumar
Show answer
Answer: B. Tewolde Gebremariam — He previously led Ethiopian Airlines Group and succeeds Campbell Wilson.
Agni-4, tested on 6 August 2026, is classified as a:
1. Cruise missile
2. Surface-to-air missile
3. Medium-range ballistic missile
4. Anti-tank missile
Show answer
Answer: C. Medium-range ballistic missile — The two-stage solid-fuel missile has a range of about 4,000 km.
Where is the IAF's Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment, where Sqn Ldr Bhawana Kanth completed the Fighter Combat Leader course?
1. Jodhpur
2. Hyderabad
3. Bareilly
4. Gwalior
Show answer
Answer: D. Gwalior — TACDE at Gwalior is called the IAF's 'Top Gun' school.
Which Indian physicist shared the 2026 Dirac Medal of the ICTP?
1. Ashoke Sen
2. Deepak Dhar
3. Spenta Wadia
4. Rajesh Gopakumar
Show answer
Answer: B. Deepak Dhar — Dhar shares the medal with Bernard Derrida, Marc Mezard and Haim Sompolinsky.
Who was elected President of Hungary by parliament on 11 August 2026?
1. Tamás Sulyok
2. Péter Magyar
3. András Baka
4. Viktor Orbán
Show answer
Answer: C. András Baka — Baka, a former Supreme Court head, won 140 votes to 6.
India signed Terms of Reference for a Preferential Trade Agreement with which bloc on 12 August 2026?
1. ECOWAS
2. East African Community
3. Southern African Customs Union
4. ASEAN
Show answer
Answer: C. Southern African Customs Union — SACU has five members: Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa.

Whose term as Tata Sons Chairman ends on 20 February 2027, with no new term sought?
1. Ratan Tata
2. Cyrus Mistry
3. Noel Tata
4. N. Chandrasekaran
Show answer
Answer: D. N. Chandrasekaran — Chandrasekaran has been chairman since February 2017.
Who was re-elected President of Zambia in the August 2026 election?
1. Brian Mundubile
2. Hakainde Hichilema
3. Edgar Lungu
4. Kenneth Kaunda
Show answer
Answer: B. Hakainde Hichilema — Hichilema won a second five-year term, with results announced on 18 August.
Which country's Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi visited India on 19-20 August 2026?
1. South Korea
2. Australia
3. Japan
4. Vietnam
Show answer
Answer: C. Japan — Koizumi made his first visit to India as Japan's Defence Minister and met Rajnath Singh.
Who was elected the 23rd President of Bangladesh on 20 August 2026?
1. Mohammed Shahabuddin
2. Oli Ahmed
3. Tarique Rahman
4. Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir
Show answer
Answer: D. Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir — He received 255 votes against 88 for Oli Ahmed.
Which top honour was not given to anyone in the National Sports Awards 2025?
1. Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna
2. Arjuna Award
3. Dronacharya Award
4. Dhyan Chand Award
Show answer
Answer: A. Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna — The ministry named 17 Arjuna Awardees but no Khel Ratna winner.
Who did Magnus Carlsen beat in the final of the 2026 Esports World Cup chess in Paris?
1. Hikaru Nakamura
2. Denis Lazavik
3. Alireza Firouzja
4. Nihal Sarin
Show answer
Answer: B. Denis Lazavik — Carlsen won 2-0 without losing any game in the event.
Neeraj Chopra finished second at the Lausanne Diamond League in August 2026 behind which thrower?
1. Anderson Peters
2. Keshorn Walcott
3. Rumesh Pathirage
4. Julian Weber
Show answer
Answer: C. Rumesh Pathirage — Pathirage of Sri Lanka won with 88.14 m, while Neeraj threw a season-best 88.05 m.
World Humanitarian Day on 19 August remembers the 2003 bombing of the UN headquarters in which city?
1. Kabul
2. Beirut
3. Damascus
4. Baghdad
Show answer
Answer: D. Baghdad — The attack on the Canal Hotel in Baghdad killed 22 people, and the UN created the day in 2008.
On which date is National Space Day observed in India?
1. 23 August
2. 15 August
3. 27 July
4. 1 September
Show answer
Answer: A. 23 August — It marks the Chandrayaan-3 Moon landing of 23 August 2023.

One-liner questions: fill in the blank

The Indian Air Force held the week-long counter-drone exercise _____ at the Pokhran Field Firing Range, Jaisalmer. It tested readiness to counter enemy drone attacks quickly and reliably.
Show answer
Answer: ROTOR CLAP-III
The Cabinet also approved the draft _____ to control felling of trees on non-forest land. It protects 29 species, including Khejri, Rohida, banyan, peepal, lasora, tendu, mahua, ker and chironji.
Show answer
Answer: Rajasthan Tree Protection Bill, 2026
India finished _____ at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games with 39 medals (13 gold, 17 silver, 9 bronze). Australia topped the table, and the Games flag passed to India, host of the 2030 edition at Ahmedabad.
Show answer
Answer: fourth
India test-fired the nuclear-capable _____ medium-range ballistic missile from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, Odisha. The Strategic Forces Command conducted the launch, and the missile has a range of about 4,000 km.
Show answer
Answer: Agni-4
_____ said he will not seek another term as Chairman of Tata Sons and will leave when his present term ends on 20 February 2027. He has led the group since February 2017.
Show answer
Answer: N. Chandrasekaran
_____ of the BNP was elected the 23rd President of Bangladesh by Parliament, receiving 255 votes against 88 for Oli Ahmed. It was the first contested presidential election there in 35 years.
Show answer
Answer: Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir
_____ is observed every year on 23 August to honour the successful Chandrayaan-3 Moon landing; the 2026 theme was about India's innovation, cooperation and leadership in space.
Show answer
Answer: National Space Day
Under the Tree Protection Bill, felling without permission can bring up to _____ in jail, a fine up to ₹1 lakh, or both. A fixed number of new trees must be planted in place of each tree cut.
Show answer
Answer: one year
In November 1913, about 1.5 lakh Bhils gathered at Mangarh at the call of tribal leader and freedom fighter _____. British police firing killed about 1,500 tribals, and it is called the 'Jallianwala Bagh of Rajasthan'.
Show answer
Answer: Govind Guru
Rajasthan decided to strengthen digital tracking of _____ and its maternal referral system, after more than 20 maternal deaths in government hospitals in two months. Chief Secretary V. Srinivas chaired the review meeting at Swasthya Bhawan, Jaipur.
Show answer
Answer: high-risk pregnancies
An _____ (auxiliary nurse midwife) will be assigned to every high-risk pregnancy to monitor it continuously and connect the woman to a doctor when needed. The 104 and 108 ambulance services will also be strengthened for timely referral.
Show answer
Answer: ANM
The _____ (National Human Rights Commission) sent a notice to the Rajasthan government asking for a detailed report on the maternal deaths.
Show answer
Answer: NHRC
Zoological Survey of India scientists completed India's first _____. It lists 13,703 species of butterflies and moths, about 8.25% of the world's known species.
Show answer
Answer: Catalogue of Lepidoptera
Five captive-bred _____ bred by the Bombay Natural History Society were released at Kaziranga National Park, the first such release in the world. Gyps vulture numbers in India have fallen by about 99% in 20 years.
Show answer
Answer: slender-billed vultures
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research developed India's first fully annotated _____ of pigeonpea, using the variety 'Asha'. The genome has about 752.65 million base pairs across 11 chromosomes.
Show answer
Answer: telomere-to-telomere (T2T) genome
Kerala researchers described a new seahorse species, *_____*, named after marine biologist Amanda Vincent. It shows that the thorny seahorse once treated as one species is actually three species.
Show answer
Answer: Hippocampus amandavincentae
_____, a 1991-batch Indian Defence Accounts Service officer, took charge as Controller General of Defence Accounts on 1 August 2026.
Show answer
Answer: Alka Nangia Arora
The Indian Air Force concluded _____, a week-long counter-drone drill for helicopters at the Pokhran range near Jaisalmer. Apache, Prachand, Chinook and Mi-17 helicopters took part.
Show answer
Answer: Exercise ROTOR CLAP-III
India observed the _____ on 3 August. NOTTO reported a record 20,138 organ transplants in 2025, and more than five lakh people have taken the Aadhaar-verified donation pledge.
Show answer
Answer: 16th Indian Organ Donation Day
_____, a Vigilance Commissioner and former head of Bank of Maharashtra, took charge as Acting Central Vigilance Commissioner after Praveen Kumar Srivastava's tenure ended.
Show answer
Answer: A. S. Rajeev
_____ was appointed an Executive Director of the Reserve Bank of India, looking after the Foreign Exchange Department and the Financial Markets Regulation Department.
Show answer
Answer: Monisha Chakraborty
_____ took charge as an Executive Director of SEBI. He oversees the Corporation Finance Investigation Department and the Recovery and Refund Department.
Show answer
Answer: Prasanta Mahapatra
Heads of the national statistical offices of _____ countries met in Lucknow on 3-4 August under India's 2026 BRICS chairship. A draft BRICS joint statistical publication was released at the meeting.
Show answer
Answer: BRICS
_____, Director of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, received the COSPAR Vikram Sarabhai Medal 2026 at Florence, Italy. She is the first Indian woman and the fourth Indian to win it.
Show answer
Answer: Annapurni Subramaniam
_____ in Arunachal Pradesh's Lohit district became India's 101st Ramsar site and the state's first. It lies inside the Kamlang Tiger Reserve, and India had only 26 Ramsar sites in 2014.
Show answer
Answer: Glaw Lake
Air India's board named _____, the former CEO of Ethiopian Airlines Group, as its new CEO and Managing Director. He replaces Campbell Wilson, who announced his exit in April.
Show answer
Answer: Tewolde Gebremariam
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet extended the service of Cabinet Secretary _____ until 30 August 2027 and of Home Secretary Govind Mohan until 22 August 2027.
Show answer
Answer: T. V. Somanathan
In the Kroll Celebrity Brand Valuation report for 2025, _____ became India's most valuable celebrity brand at USD 177.9 million, ahead of Ranveer Singh and Virat Kohli.
Show answer
Answer: Shah Rukh Khan
Squadron Leader _____ became the first woman to complete the Fighter Combat Leader course at the IAF's Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment (the 'Top Gun' school) at Gwalior.
Show answer
Answer: Bhawana Kanth
Grandmaster _____ won the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz title, a leg of the Grand Chess Tour, finishing 1.5 points ahead of Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan. It was his first title at the event.
Show answer
Answer: R Praggnanandhaa
_____ on 6 August marked the 81st anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima by the United States in 1945, during the Second World War.
Show answer
Answer: Hiroshima Day
The _____ was observed on 7 August. The day recalls the 1905 Swadeshi Movement against the partition of Bengal and was first celebrated in 2015.
Show answer
Answer: 12th National Handloom Day
At the 57th convocation of IIT Delhi, PM Modi inaugurated _____, an AI-focused high-performance supercomputing facility at the institute's Sonipat campus in Haryana.
Show answer
Answer: Param Pragya
_____ (August Kranti Diwas) on 8 August recalls the 1942 movement in which Mahatma Gandhi gave the call 'Do or Die' at Gowalia Tank Maidan, Bombay.
Show answer
Answer: Quit India Movement Day
The International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples_____'Honouring Indigenous Midwives: Safeguarding Life and Well-being'.
Show answer
Answer: on 9 August had the 2026 theme
Physicist _____ of ICTS-TIFR, Bengaluru, was named a joint winner of the 2026 Dirac Medal of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics, for work on statistical mechanics.
Show answer
Answer: Deepak Dhar
The Indian Navy and the US Navy began the 8th bilateral Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) exercise_____Kochi, running from 10 to 14 August 2026.
Show answer
Answer: at the Southern Naval Command,
_____ on 10 August promotes renewable fuels. It recalls Rudolf Diesel's 1893 demonstration of an engine running on peanut oil, and India has marked the day since 2015.
Show answer
Answer: World Biofuel Day
The Barclays Private Clients Hurun India Most Valuable Family Businesses 2026_____Ambani family first for the third year with a value of about Rs 25.8 lakh crore. The Birla and Jindal families came next.
Show answer
Answer: list put the
Hungary's parliament elected _____, a former head of the Supreme Court, as the country's new President, by 140 votes to 6. He is due to take office on 19 August.
Show answer
Answer: András Baka

Frequently asked questions

How is this page arranged?

The mind map has one branch for each exam topic: government and states, international and agreements, economy and banking, science, defence and environment, sports, days and culture, and awards, appointments and books. Tap a branch to open its one-liners. The same news is also written out as plain text below the map.

What kind of current affairs does Defence Exams (NDA, CDS, CAPF) ask?

Defence Exams (NDA, CDS, CAPF) papers (NDA, CDS, CAPF (AC), AFCAT and Agniveer) lean on defence deals, exercises, weapons and missiles, space and science, international relations, sports, awards and appointments of service chiefs. This page orders the news the same way.

How many months of current affairs should I study?

For most exams the last 6 months matter most; state PCS and UPSC add the previous 6 months. Read month by month using the month filter, then practise the MCQs.

Are there MCQs on these current affairs?

Yes, 19 questions with answers and explanations are on the questions and answers page of this section.

Is this free?

Yes. Every mind map, one-liner, question and answer on the current affairs pages is free to read.

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