Current affairs — 1 August 2026

Prelims pointers

• The Nasha Mukt Yuva for Viksit Bharat Sankalp Abhiyan is scheduled for launch at 11 a.m. on 2 August 2026 by video conference.
• The launch marks the start of a 100-week nationwide Jan Bhagidari campaign against substance abuse.
• Campaign activities are to be organised every Sunday across the country to encourage awareness and public participation.
• The programme is expected to involve young people virtually from more than 10,000 locations across India.
• MY Bharat and NSS volunteers will join educational institutions, NGOs, industry youth wings and more than 125 partner spiritual organisations.

Prelims pointers

• Development projects worth over ₹17,900 crore were launched at Bhogapuram in Vizianagaram district, Andhra Pradesh.
• India's operational airport count was stated to have risen from 74 in 2014 to 166, while UDAN's second phase was linked to ₹29,000 crore.
• Ports from Visakhapatnam to Krishnapatnam are being modernised, with new ports under construction at Mulapeta and Ramayapatnam.
• Railway projects worth about ₹1 lakh crore are underway in Andhra Pradesh, alongside the Visakhapatnam-Raipur Expressway.
• The foundation stone of a semiconductor plant in Visakhapatnam was presented as part of a shift towards future-technology industries.

Prelims pointers

• Coal India Limited's post-retirement initiatives cover more than 4.5 lakh retired employees and pensioners.
• CIL and the Coal Mines Provident Fund Organisation are digitising pension administration through the C-CARES platform.
• The average settlement time for retirement claims was reduced from 30 days to 10 days.
• Revised Pension Payment Orders include eligible-spouse details so banks can process routine family-pension cases without separate CMPFO approval.
• The Coal Mines Pension Scheme minimum pension became ₹1,000 per month from 8 March 2024, benefiting around 40,000 pensioners.

Prelims pointers

• CAQM's 136th Enforcement Task Force meeting on 31 July 2026 reviewed the reporting period from 14 to 24 July.
• Flying Squads conducted 159 inspections: 22 at C&D sites, 97 in industry and 40 involving diesel-generator sets.
• Closure was proposed for 17 entities, comprising 11 construction and demolition sites and six industrial units.
• The proposed enforcement package included sealing 11 DG sets, eight compliance orders or directions, and environmental compensation in five cases.
• Seven resumption orders followed compliance verification: two for industrial units and five for construction projects.

Prelims pointers

• The approved advance release from the Central share of SDRF totalled ₹2,117.85 crore for flood-affected States.
• Arunachal Pradesh received ₹44.55 crore and Assam ₹379.35 crore as advance first-instalment releases for 2026-27.
• Gujarat and Maharashtra were each approved ₹500 crore as advance releases of the first instalment of the Central share.
• Himachal Pradesh received ₹193.95 crore and Odisha ₹500 crore as advance second-instalment releases after receiving their first instalments.
• Inter-Ministerial Central Teams were deputed to Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, while a team was being constituted for Nagaland.

Prelims pointers

• Project SARATHI at PGIMER Chandigarh uses trained youth volunteers for hospital navigation and other non-clinical patient support.
• The initiative has mobilised more than 2,500 volunteers and recorded over 1.5 lakh hours of volunteer service.
• A PGIMER Department of Community Medicine study reported a 26% reduction in overall navigation time for assisted patients.
• The meeting reviewed Project SARATHI's integration with MY Bharat, an initiative of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
• Proposed digital functions include volunteer registration, attendance, patient feedback and support for ABHA ID creation.

Prelims pointers

• Samudra Manthan is a Central Sector Scheme of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas with a Phase-I outlay of ₹84,084 crore up to March 31, 2031.
• Modern offshore seismic-data acquisition and processing receive ₹28,534 crore, including 2D, 3D, data reprocessing and AI tools.
• The scheme allocates ₹43,200 crore to drill 60 deepwater wells, with support capped at 50% of eligible cost or ₹675 crore per well, whichever is lower.
• Common offshore infrastructure hubs receive ₹10,000 crore, while oil-and-gas manufacturing and services zones receive ₹2,000 crore.
• Subject to exploration success, annual domestic output is targeted to rise from about 62 to 80 MMTOE and the resource base from 1.6 to 2.2 billion TOE.

Prelims pointers

• The additional tax-devolution instalment released to State governments on August 1, 2026 amounted to ₹1,09,019 crore.
• The advance instalment was separate from the normal monthly devolution scheduled for August 10, 2026.
• Uttar Pradesh received ₹19,208 crore, the largest State allocation in the release's August 2026 distribution table.
• Bihar was allocated ₹10,845 crore, while Madhya Pradesh was allocated ₹8,010 crore from the released net proceeds.
• The Union Government linked the advance release to strengthening State finances and accelerating capital and developmental expenditure.

Prelims pointers

• Odisha's Catch the Rain 2026 push followed the Prime Minister's appeal in the 135th Mann Ki Baat episode on June 28, 2026.
• The State conducted 968 Information, Education and Communication activities on rainwater harvesting and groundwater conservation.
• Odisha reported completion of 905 rainwater-harvesting and groundwater-recharge structures under the campaign.
• Under the State Plan's Improvement to Tanks and Minor Irrigation Projects Scheme, 98 tanks across all 30 districts were taken up for renovation and desilting.
• Plantation drives at water-infrastructure sites were linked to soil stability, erosion reduction, improved infiltration and healthier catchments.

Prelims pointers

• DSC A24, designated Yard 329, is the fifth vessel in a five-ship Diving Support Craft project.
• Titagarh Rail Systems Limited is constructing the Diving Support Craft in Kolkata.
• The craft has a catamaran hull and an approximate displacement ranging from 300 to 400 tons.
• The vessels follow the Naval Rules and Regulations of the Indian Register of Shipping.
• Seventy percent of the project's main and auxiliary equipment is sourced from indigenous manufacturers.

Prelims pointers

• Viveka Smaraka is the Swami Vivekananda Cultural Youth Centre inaugurated at Mysuru, Karnataka, on 1 August 2026.
• The address recalled that a Maharaja of Mysuru supported Swami Vivekananda when he visited as a young wandering monk more than 130 years ago.
• The Ramakrishna Ashrama was credited with a century of work in education, medical service and disaster relief.
• The speech cited more than 650 new universities, around 14,000 colleges and approximately 1,40,000 MBBS seats.
• More than 14,000 PM SHRI schools and 10,000 Atal Tinkering Labs were cited as measures supporting school education and innovation.

Prelims pointers

• The first India-Rwanda Joint Trade Committee session met in New Delhi on 30 and 31 July 2026.
• The JTC is intended as a permanent, structured and periodic apex mechanism for reviewing bilateral commerce.
• India's principal exports to Rwanda include pharmaceuticals, two- and three-wheelers, machinery, oil meals, and iron and steel products.
• Rwanda's exports to India include lead, spices, essential oils, copper, stones, processed agricultural products and minerals.
• Critical minerals, healthcare and digital technologies were identified as priority sectors for bilateral cooperation.