Current affairs — 23 August 2026

Prelims pointers

• Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, a former BNP general secretary, has been elected President of Bangladesh.
• He steered the BNP while Khaleda Zia was jailed and Tarique Rahman was in exile in the United Kingdom.
• Alamgir graduated from Dhaka University during the early years of agitation for a separate country.
• General Ayub Khan’s government prohibited Rabindranath Tagore birth-centenary celebrations in East Pakistan in 1961.
• The 1961 prohibition triggered protests in East Pakistan’s colleges and universities, shaping a later generation of leaders.

Prelims pointers

• UKMTO is a British Royal Navy-sponsored organisation formed in 2001 to handle maritime distress calls during piracy threats.
• Its team consists of 15 civilian watch-keepers and three managers working in shifts.
• UKMTO’s voluntary reporting area covers almost 2.5 million square miles across West Asian and Indian Ocean waters.
• Ship masters are asked for entry, daily-transit and final-exit reports while using the voluntary reporting scheme.
• Between October and December 2023, UKMTO issued 71 warnings, handled 27 emergency events and processed 225,178 emails.

Prelims pointers

• Article I, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution lets State legislatures set federal election procedures, subject to congressional alteration.
• The U.S. Federal Election Commission regulates campaign finance, while State and local jurisdictions handle registration, balloting and counting.
• Thirty-six U.S. States ask for some polling-place identification, and 23 ask for a photo ID.
• The SAVE America Act requires documentary citizenship proof for registration and a photo ID for casting a ballot.
• In India, electoral rolls are compiled under ECI superintendence, and EPIC is not the only accepted booth-identification document.

Prelims pointers

• The White House report named more than 40 economies as having elevated illegal-transhipment risk and placed India among the top alleged enablers.
• The report estimated that $67 billion in U.S.-bound goods moved from China through Mexico, India and Vietnam in 2025.
• The report estimated $28 billion in lost U.S. tariff revenue from goods transshipped through the top hubs in 2025.
• U.S. imports from China fell from $525.8 billion in 2017 to $327.5 billion in 2025, while total U.S. imports rose to $3.50 trillion.
• Electronic components rose from 3.3% to nearly 13% of India’s imports from China between Q1 2015-16 and Q1 2026-27.

Prelims pointers

• New U.S. tariffs of 50% affect about $20 billion in goods, equal to 5.5% of Canadian exports to the United States.
• Canada’s retaliatory tariffs are due to take effect on September 8 and will notably target U.S. steel and dairy.
• The Canada-U.S. negotiations broke down in Washington on August 21, 2026.
• Roughly 70% of Canadian exports currently go to the United States, according to the report.
• Canada and the United States still have to agree on revisions to the USMCA trade agreement.

Prelims pointers

• The Central Empowered Committee is a Supreme Court-constituted panel examining conservation compliance around Kaziranga.
• The Supreme Court’s April 12, 2019 order restrained mining along Kaziranga’s southern boundary and relevant Karbi Anglong catchments.
• The same 2019 order prohibited new construction on private lands within nine identified animal corridors.
• The CEC fixed October 2025 as the deadline for a comprehensive Watershed Drainage Analysis Report.
• Karbi Anglong’s hills shelter Kaziranga’s animals when floods rise beyond levels they can withstand.

Prelims pointers

• A lunar eclipse can occur only during a full Moon, when Earth lies directly between the Sun and Moon.
• A total lunar eclipse places the Moon entirely in the darkest part of Earth’s shadow.
• A penumbral eclipse occurs when the Moon passes through Earth’s faint outer shadow and may be hard to see unaided.
• The August 28, 2026 eclipse was scheduled to reach maximum coverage at 9:43 a.m. IST.
• The eclipse was not expected to be visible in India because the event would occur during daylight.

Prelims pointers

• The Greater Male Connectivity Project will span 6.74 km and link Male, Villingili, Gulhifalhu and Thilafushi.
• India funds the project through a $100 million grant and a $400 million Line of Credit.
• The Thilamale Bridge contract was awarded to Afcons Infrastructure on August 26, 2021.
• The project’s three main links are Male–Villingili, Villingili–Gulhifalhu and Gulhifalhu–Thilafushi.
• MAHASAGAR expands to Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions.

Prelims pointers

• The study examined Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve forests using satellite imagery for the period 2000–2020.
• Temperature rose by 0.01°C annually and rainfall fell by 3.97 mm annually during 1950–2018.
• The four analysed types were moist deciduous, dry deciduous, semi-evergreen and wet evergreen forests.
• During 2001–2010, the moist deciduous growing season lengthened by 4.37 days per year.
• Magnolia nilagirica is endemic to the Western Ghats, while Impatiens clavicornu is a threatened endemic grassland plant.

Prelims pointers

• The barren-land fallacy assumes that land without tree cover is ecologically deficient and should develop into forest.
• The article says some Indian planting drives put trees in the wrong ecosystems or choose species unsuited to local conditions.
• Eucalyptus is cited as unsuitable in water-stressed areas because the trees draw a lot of water.
• Grasslands, savannahs, scrublands, wetlands and deserts are important ecosystems, and some depend on remaining treeless.
• Ecological restoration means restoring the ecosystem native to a place, not automatically planting more trees.

Prelims pointers

• More than 98% of a re-entering capsule’s energy is dissipated through the atmosphere and converted into heat.
• Ablative heat protection carries heat away as sacrificial material chars and erodes from the heatshield.
• The re-entry corridor lies between an overshoot boundary from shallow entry and an undershoot boundary from steep entry.
• Ionised plasma around a capsule reflects and blocks radio waves, causing a temporary communication blackout.
• Gaganyaan’s crew module is planned to use a three-stage redundant parachute system for splashdown in the Bay of Bengal.

Prelims pointers

• Any Indian entity undertaking a planned re-entry, whether inside or outside India, requires IN-SPACe authorisation.
• A non-Indian entity planning re-entry over India must route the activity through an Indian-incorporated entity.
• The guidelines require expected casualty risk to remain below 1 in 10,000.
• If planned re-entry is decided after launch, the operator must apply to IN-SPACe at least six months in advance.
• Operators must obtain an IN-SPACe advisory note for air and marine warnings at least 45 days before re-entry begins.

Prelims pointers

• A narwhal tusk’s outer collagen-fibril layer twists left while its inner layer twists right.
• Opposing collagen twists create internal tension that helps a narwhal tusk grow straight and strong.
• The psilocybin study analysed brain scans from 62 adults and termed closer brain-environment alignment ‘embeddedness’.
• Diamond samples remained intact up to extreme shock-wave pressure before eventually melting into a metallic liquid.
• One terapascal is described in the article as roughly ten million times atmospheric pressure.

Prelims pointers

• India formally identified 27 Arunachal Pradesh locations by standard names on its official map on August 7, 2026.
• The 27 locations included land, mountain passes, a lake and a monument.
• China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs had released six batches of standardised names since 2017.
• By April 2026, the six Chinese naming batches covered a total of 112 locations.
• The Chinese lists included villages, mountain passes, rivers and peaks, with Chinese and Tibetan names and coordinates.

Prelims pointers

• Ajit Doval and Wang Yi were to hold the 25th round of Special Representatives talks on the boundary question.
• The 2005 Agreement on Political Parameters and Guiding Principles concluded the first stage of a three-stage settlement process.
• The third settlement stage would involve delimiting and demarcating the boundary on maps and on the ground.
• An Expert Group under the WMCC was created to explore an ‘Early Harvest’ in boundary delimitation.
• Border trade had restarted through Nathu La in Sikkim and Lipulekh in Uttarakhand.

Prelims pointers

• A 14-member Confederation of Indian Industry delegation visited Bangladesh from August 17 to 19, 2026.
• India is Bangladesh’s second-largest trading partner in Asia after China.
• India–Bangladesh merchandise trade through February 2025-26 totalled $11.35 billion.
• Under SAFTA, India gives duty-free and quota-free access to almost all products from Bangladesh.
• Bangladesh’s Commerce Minister said the country’s trade deficit exceeds $27 billion.

Prelims pointers

• National Space Day is observed on August 23 to commemorate Chandrayaan-3’s landing on the Moon in 2023.
• The Chandrayaan-3 landing made India the first country to land in the Moon’s south polar region.
• The Prime Minister interacted with the CEOs and founders of 20 Indian space startups in New Delhi.
• Serendipity Space is developing pharmaceutical manufacturing in microgravity, while OrbitAID is working on docking and in-space refuelling.
• The Prime Minister urged space startups to work with Atal Tinkering Labs to nurture schoolchildren’s interest in space.

Prelims pointers

• Pope Leo XIV called for an international response to Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo involving local communities.
• The outbreak was described as the deadliest Ebola outbreak in DRC history and as spreading exponentially.
• The most affected northern and eastern regions were described as having weak state presence and limited health infrastructure.
• A landslide struck a gold mine at Zamboye near the Cameroonian border on August 18, killing dozens.
• A major central Italian earthquake about ten years earlier killed around 300 people and devastated Amatrice.

Prelims pointers

• The five brownfield projects comprise three GRSE facilities and two Yantra India facilities.
• Rajnath Singh said the five West Bengal expansion projects are worth nearly ₹3,500 crore.
• GRSE leased two small shipyards on opposite banks of the Hooghly from Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port.
• GRSE also leased a 32-acre riverside property at Raichak as part of its capacity expansion.
• The leased sites are intended to expand GRSE’s capabilities in warship construction and refit.

Prelims pointers

• M23 is described in the report as a Rwanda-backed armed group operating in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
• The latest closed-door negotiations in Switzerland were held from August 17 to August 21, 2026.
• The roadmap establishes sequenced steps and timelines under the Doha Framework Agreement.
• Togo participated in the talks in its role as the African Union mediator.
• The first ceasefire-verification mission was due in Minembwe in South Kivu province on August 24.

Prelims pointers

• ICMR identified the circulating virus as A/Missouri/11/2025 (H1N1) pdm09-like and reported no new strain.
• The circulating H1N1 viruses belong to clade 6B.1A.5a2a and subclade D.3.1.1.
• India’s recommended 2025-26 trivalent influenza vaccine contained H1N1, H3N2 and B/Victoria components.
• NCDC maintains a nationwide influenza surveillance network and publishes State-level data and treatment and prevention guidance.
• Young children, elderly people and those with underlying conditions face greater risk of H1N1 complications.

Prelims pointers

• Piyush Goyal’s four-day Japan visit beginning August 24 includes a 200-member Indian business delegation.
• Keidanren, the Japan Business Federation, represents more than 1,500 leading Japanese companies.
• The India–Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement came into force on August 1, 2011.
• Japan was India’s fifth-largest investor, contributing $48.14 billion in FDI from April 2000 to March 2026.
• India–Japan bilateral trade reached $27.47 billion in 2025-26, while India’s trade deficit was $15.4 billion.

Prelims pointers

• Taiwan has controlled the Kinmen and Matsu island groups since the Republic of China government moved to Taipei in 1949.
• The 1958 clash is known as the start of the second Taiwan Strait crisis.
• The 1958 crisis ended in a stalemate after Taiwan fought back with support from the United States.
• Kinmen is less than two kilometres from Chinese-controlled territory at its closest point.
• Taiwan’s planned defence spending was set to exceed T$1 trillion, about $30 billion, for the first time.

Prelims pointers

• The Strait of Hormuz is described as a waterway vital to global oil shipments, and disruption there raised oil prices.
• According to 2025 Kpler data cited in the report, China bought more than 80% of Iran’s shipped oil.
• U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran were reported to have begun on February 28, 2026.
• Pakistan was mediating in the conflict, with army chief Asim Munir due to visit Tehran on August 24.
• The condition of Iran’s nuclear programme was uncertain because UN inspectors had been shut out since 2025.

Prelims pointers

• The initiative is led by NSDC and Cultus Education in collaboration with Amazon Web Services and under the guidance of the skill-development ministry.
• It targets foundational cloud and AI literacy for 150,000 learners and intensive job-ready training for 10,000 participants.
• AWS re/Start is described as a free, cohort-based workforce-development programme that teaches cloud skills and connects participants with local employers.
• The programme will be delivered entirely online across all States and territories, prioritising youth in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
• Training covers cloud infrastructure, security, networking, AI fundamentals, programming and relational databases, and culminates in a National Hackathon.

Prelims pointers

• The National Commission for Safai Karamcharis was set up in 1994 and celebrated its 33rd Foundation Day in 2026.
• Section 31(1) of the 2013 manual-scavenging law empowers NCSK to monitor implementation, enquire into complaints, advise governments and take suo motu notice.
• Prescribed compensation had been provided in 1,223 of 1,377 reported sewer and septic-tank death cases across the country.
• FIRs had been registered in 750 of the 1,377 reported sewer and septic-tank death cases, with remaining cases under pursuit.
• The NAMASTE scheme supports worker identification, safety equipment, training, healthcare coverage, skill development and sustainable livelihood opportunities.

Prelims pointers

• The National Conclave on Tribal Languages and Museums is scheduled in Mysuru, Karnataka, from August 24–26, 2026.
• The Ministry has sanctioned 11 Tribal Freedom Fighter Museums across 10 States, and four of them have been inaugurated.
• The Adi Vaani upgrade includes an iOS application, five new languages and multiple new platform features.
• The inaugural session includes Karnataka tribal-language primers and an MoU between the Tribal Affairs Ministry and the Central Institute of Indian Languages.
• Language-technology discussions include automatic speech recognition, text-to-speech, machine translation, corpus building, data protection and commercialisation.

Prelims pointers

• The BRICS Sports Joint Declaration was adopted by consensus at the 2026 ministerial meeting in Visakhapatnam under India’s chairship.
• The BRICS Working Group on Sports Technology will address sports science, athlete performance, governance, AI, digital transformation and innovation.
• Udaipur, Rajasthan, is proposed to host the inaugural BRICS Sports Manufacturing Conclave in November 2026.
• Ahmedabad, Gujarat, is proposed to host BRICS Traditional and Indigenous Sports Demonstration Games on October 12–13, 2026.
• The traditional and indigenous sports games are designed as a non-competitive, culturally focused initiative governed by sensitivity and mutual-respect frameworks.

Prelims pointers

• A participating CEO described the company as India’s first space-tech unicorn and said it launched India’s first private rocket on July 18, ejecting satellites.
• Three factories had already been built, providing capacity for one rocket per month, with a stated plan for monthly launches by the middle of the following year.
• One startup planned to establish a global ground-station network within the next 18 months.
• A robotic spacecraft under development was intended to capture dead satellites physically and remove them from orbit.
• India’s first space-pharma startup said it was making satellites designed to manufacture pharmaceuticals in space and bring them back.

Prelims pointers

• Regenerative agriculture seeks to improve existing conditions by rebuilding soil health, enhancing biodiversity and strengthening ecosystem resilience.
• NMNF, launched in 2024, provides an output-based incentive of ₹4,000 per acre per year for two years, limited to one acre per farmer.
• As of March 5, 2026, 18,786 natural-farming clusters covered 8.80 lakh hectares and enrolled 18.19 lakh farmers.
• Per Drop More Crop provides 55% assistance to small and marginal farmers and 45% to other farmers for drip and sprinkler systems.
• Soil Health Cards assess 12 parameters, are issued every two years, and totalled 25.89 crore cards generated as of March 13, 2026.

Prelims pointers

• The package covers three GRSE projects and two YIL projects, with combined investment of approximately ₹3,500 crore.
• GRSE’s 32-acre Raichak site has a 356-metre waterfront and a draught of 8–10 metres, and is planned as a shipbuilding hub with investment above ₹2,500 crore.
• The Raichak facility is designed to build warships up to 200 metres long and commercial vessels up to 60,000 tonnes deadweight.
• YIL’s planned 3,000-ton hydraulic open-die forging press will replace a 2,650-ton press that has operated since 1976.
• The ₹473.84-crore radial forging plant at Ishapore will integrate Industry 4.0 standards and produce items including super-alloy forgings and nuclear-reactor components.

Prelims pointers

• The MMDR Amendment Bill, 2026 was introduced in Lok Sabha on August 10, 2026.
• Entry 54 of the Union List concerns parliamentary regulation of mines and mineral development in the public interest.
• Entry 50 of the State List permits State taxation of mineral rights subject to limitations imposed by Parliament by law.
• The Bill invalidates unpaid or unrecovered pre-commencement State levies but does not refund levies already deposited or recovered.
• The 2024 Supreme Court ruling described royalty as a contractual payment for enjoyment of mineral rights, not a tax.

Prelims pointers

• Police were investigating 72 arson suspects in connection with 89 forest and land-fire cases across five Borneo provinces and four Sumatra provinces.
• BNPB said an intensifying El Niño pattern and a prolonged dry season drove fires whose smoke crossed into Malaysia.
• More than 7,600 hectares burned in Central Kalimantan, while over 3,700 hotspots were recorded across Indonesian Borneo.
• Peat fires can retain embers below the surface, so BNPB said sufficient rainfall is needed to rewet peat and fully suppress fires.
• Kalimantan had 30 helicopters for water bombing and patrols, Sumatra had 22, and cloud seeding resumed over Kalimantan.