Police & SI Exams Current Affairs – August 2026

National

24 one-liners

24 National — 1 Aug – 20 Aug.

• The Indian Air Force held the week-long counter-drone exercise ROTOR CLAP-III at the Pokhran Field Firing Range, Jaisalmer. It tested readiness to counter enemy drone attacks quickly and reliably.
• ROTOR CLAP-III used the Apache (AH-64), Mi-25/35, Prachand (LCH), Chinook, Mi-17 and Dhruv (ALH) helicopters. The focus was reconnaissance, accurate targeting and coordination between units in war-like conditions.
• The Rajasthan Cabinet, chaired by CM Bhajan Lal Sharma, approved the draft Rajasthan Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill, 2026. It seeks one law for marriage, divorce, succession, maintenance and live-in relationships, and keeps tribal customs outside its scope.
• Goa has had a UCC since its Portuguese-era law continued after 1961, and Uttarakhand became the first state to enact one after independence. Article 44 (Directive Principles) mentions the UCC, but it is not legally binding.
• The same Cabinet meeting gave compassionate appointment rights to daughters-in-law of deceased government employees and 90 days of maternity leave to surrogate mothers. Unmarried women employees may now take child-care leave in six spells instead of three.
• Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan approved ₹340.59 crore for Rajasthan: ₹216.12 crore under RKVY (Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana) and ₹124.47 crore under Krishonnati Yojana.
• Rajasthan's annual action plan for 2026-27 under these schemes was approved at ₹849.37 crore, of which the Centre's share is ₹509.62 crore. Telangana got ₹265.12 crore in total.
• The meeting also stressed wider use of the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) in Rajasthan, so that farmers get timely and easy loans.
• At the same Alwar event, development works of about ₹6,262 crore in 17 districts will be foundation-laid and e-inaugurated, under the Centre's 'Sahkar se Samriddhi' vision to expand dairy and cattle-feed processing.
• The Alwar event also includes the announcement of new central cooperative banks and direct benefit transfer (DBT) to beneficiaries of PM Fasal Bima Yojana and PM-KISAN.
• 1 Aug — PM Modi inaugurated the Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport at Bhogapuram, Vizianagaram district, built under PPP for over Rs 5,640 crore. He also launched projects worth more than Rs 17,900 crore in Andhra Pradesh.
• 1 Aug — The PM Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana completed one year on 1 August. More than 72 lakh first-time employees have joined the formal workforce under the scheme, which has an outlay of Rs 99,446 crore.
• 2 Aug — At the end of the Jaipur conference, all countries unanimously adopted the Jaipur Declaration, and the digital justice initiative Nyayayan was launched. The aim was to promote mediation for settling disputes.
• 2 Aug — PM Modi virtually launched the Nasha Mukt Yuva for Viksit Bharat Sankalp Abhiyan, a 100-week campaign against drug abuse with activities every Sunday, run through the MY Bharat youth platform.
• 4 Aug — A Supreme Court bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Prashant Kumar Mishra raised the mandatory upfront third-party insurance for new vehicles by one year: four years for cars and six years for two-wheelers.
• 6 Aug — The Cabinet approved the GOBARdhan national circular bioenergy scheme with an outlay of Rs 23,731 crore to raise compressed biogas production tenfold. It also cleared the Rs 8,970 crore Guwahati-Tezpur corridor on NH-15 in Assam.
• 10 Aug — The Government e-Marketplace (GeM) celebrated its 10th Foundation Day at Bharat Mandapam. Piyush Goyal launched the helpdesk short code 14550 and a commemorative 'My Stamp'.
• 11 Aug — President Murmu gave assent to the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026. Intentionally stopping the singing of Vande Mataram now carries the same punishment as for the national anthem, up to three years in jail.
• 12 Aug — Parliament passed the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026 to rename the state Keralam. The Lok Sabha cleared it on 11 August and the Rajya Sabha on 12 August; the new name takes effect from a date the Centre will notify.
• 13 Aug — Both Houses of Parliament were adjourned sine die, ending the Monsoon Session 2026 after 19 sittings. The government said 12 bills were passed during the session.
• 15 Aug — India celebrated its 80th Independence Day. PM Modi gave his 13th straight address from the Red Fort, built around the themes of 150 years of Vande Mataram and 'Yuva Shakti for Viksit Bharat@2047'.
• 15 Aug — In his Independence Day speech PM Modi outlined seven sources of national strength, called 'Sapt Dhara', and announced AI training for youth, free online coaching for competitive exams and a talent hunt among children aged 5 to 15.
• 15 Aug — The Jal Jeevan Mission completed seven years on 15 August. Rural tap-water coverage has risen from 16.7% of households in 2019 to over 82%.
• 20 Aug — The Union Cabinet approved a permanent bench of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court in Ladakh. It will be the court's third seat after Srinagar and Jammu, sparing people of Leh and Kargil long journeys.

States & UTs

2 one-liners

2 States & UTs — 5 Aug – 16 Aug.

• 5 Aug — Finance Minister N. Marie Wilson presented the first budget of Tamil Nadu's TVK-led government for 2026-27. It aims to keep the fiscal deficit at 3% of GSDP.
• 16 Aug — West Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari launched Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY in the state at Kolkata, together with the state's Mukhyamantri Swasthya Bima Yojana for families left out of the central scheme.

Economy & Banking

10 one-liners

10 Economy & Banking — 7 Aug.

• The 16th BRICS Trade Ministers' Meeting was held in Jaipur under India's 2026 BRICS chairship and was chaired by Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal. Its theme was 'Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability'.
• The BRICS meeting in Jaipur issued the Jaipur Sahmati (Jaipur Consensus) to help small businesses get trade finance. Members agreed on rule-based trade with the WTO at the centre and special relief for developing countries.
• Rajasthan became the first state in India to get an exploration licence for rare earth elements (REE). The licence area is 207.6 sq km, in Pachpadra tehsil (Navatala-Devigarh) of Balotra and Sherghar tehsil of Jodhpur.
• Geological studies show signs of lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium and neodymium in the REE licence area. The licence agency is the public-sector CMPDIL (Central Mine Planning and Design Institute Limited).
• The Centre started the exploration licence system in 2024 and held the first auction in 2025. Rare earths are used in electric vehicles, renewable energy, defence, aerospace, semiconductors and telecom, so local finds reduce import dependence.
• India's first pilot of multi-lane free-flow (MLFF) tolling began at the Shahjahanpur toll plaza on NH-48 (Delhi-Jaipur highway) in Alwar district. ANPR cameras and FASTag-based RFID let vehicles pay toll without stopping.
• Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah is to lay the foundation stone of a new dairy plant at the Saras Dairy campus in Alwar, at the Vijay Nagar ground.
• 7 Aug — On 7 August 2026, CRRI (Central Road Research Institute, New Delhi) gave a live demonstration of its MMSS+ (Modified Mix Seal Surfacing Plus) road technology in Jaipur. The Rajasthan government is considering adopting it.
• 7 Aug — Along with MMSS+, the Smart Mix Pro plant was shown, India's first mobile machine that mixes road material in the right proportion by itself. It is meant to cut emissions, energy use and material waste.
• 7 Aug — The MMSS+ road technology has already been used on more than 100 km of roads in other states.

Sports

5 one-liners

5 Sports — 2 Aug – 21 Aug.

• 2 Aug — India finished fourth 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.
• 6 Aug — Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa 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.
• 15 Aug — Magnus Carlsen of Norway, playing for Team Liquid, retained the Esports World Cup chess title in Paris, beating Belarus's Denis Lazavik 2-0 in the final without losing a single game.
• 15 Aug — The men's FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 began on 15 August in Belgium and the Netherlands. India was drawn in Pool D with England, Pakistan and Wales, and the quarter-final stage was dropped.
• 21 Aug — Neeraj Chopra finished second at the Lausanne Diamond League with a season-best 88.05 m, just 9 cm behind Sri Lanka's Rumesh Pathirage, who won with 88.14 m.

Awards & Honours

6 one-liners

6 Awards & Honours — 3 Aug – 18 Aug.

Appointments

11 one-liners

11 Appointments — 1 Aug – 20 Aug.

Summits, Agreements & Exercises

4 one-liners

4 Summits, Agreements & Exercises — 3 Aug – 21 Aug.

• 3 Aug — Heads of the national statistical offices of BRICS 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.
• 10 Aug — The Indian Navy and the US Navy began the 8th bilateral Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) exercise at the Southern Naval Command, Kochi, running from 10 to 14 August 2026.
• 21 Aug — During Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri's visit to Mauritius, Indian Oil signed a five-year fuel supply agreement with Mauritius's State Trading Corporation, and the two governments exchanged an oil and gas MoU.
• 21 Aug — The BRICS Tourism Ministers' Meeting in Jaipur, chaired by Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, adopted the Jaipur Declaration. Its priorities are AI in tourism, sustainability, skilling and seamless travel.

Important Days

14 one-liners

14 Important Days — 3 Aug – 23 Aug.

• 3 Aug — India observed the 16th Indian Organ Donation Day 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.
• 6 Aug — Hiroshima Day on 6 August marked the 81st anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima by the United States in 1945, during the Second World War.
• 7 Aug — The 12th National Handloom Day was observed on 7 August. The day recalls the 1905 Swadeshi Movement against the partition of Bengal and was first celebrated in 2015.
• 8 Aug — Quit India Movement Day (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.
• 9 Aug — The International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples on 9 August had the 2026 theme 'Honouring Indigenous Midwives: Safeguarding Life and Well-being'.
• 10 Aug — World Biofuel Day 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.
• 12 Aug — International Youth Day was observed on 12 August with the 2026 theme 'Different Contexts, Common Aspirations'. The UN first marked the day in the year 2000.
• 12 Aug — World Elephant Day is observed on 12 August. It was first marked in 2012 to raise awareness of elephant conservation.
• 14 Aug — Partition Horrors Remembrance Day was observed on 14 August for the sixth time. PM Modi declared the day in 2021 to remember the victims of the 1947 Partition.
• 19 Aug — World Humanitarian Day on 19 August remembers aid workers and the 2003 bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad. The UN General Assembly created the day in 2008.
• 19 Aug — World Photography Day was observed on 19 August with the 2026 theme 'HOME'. The day commemorates Louis Daguerre's daguerreotype process, announced in 1837.
• 20 Aug — Sadbhavana Diwas was observed on 20 August, the 82nd birth anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi, to promote harmony and national integration. World Mosquito Day also fell on 20 August, marking Ronald Ross's 1897 malaria discovery.
• 22 Aug — The International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief is observed on 22 August. The UN General Assembly created it in 2019, and it was first marked that year.
• 23 Aug — National Space Day 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.