National News

Approval for Four Multi-Tracking Railway Projects

• On 31st July 2025, the Union Cabinet approved four multi-tracking railway projects covering 13 districts across Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, and Jharkhand.
• The total cost of these projects is approximately ₹11,169 crore, and upon completion, they will add around 574 kilometers to the existing Indian Railways network.

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Extension of Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana (PMKSY)

• The Union Cabinet has approved a total outlay of ₹6,520 crore, including an additional allocation of ₹1,920 crore, for the ongoing Central Sector Scheme "Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana (PMKSY)" during the 15th Finance Commission cycle (2021-22 to 2025-26).

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Promotion of Cooperative Sector — Assistance to NCDC

• On 31st July 2025, the Union Cabinet approved a Central Grant Assistance Scheme of ₹2,000 crore for the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) for a period of four years from 2025-26 to 2028-29.
• Under this grant, NCDC will receive assistance of ₹500 crore each year starting from the financial year 2025-26.

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Sate News

Petition Against Naming Scheme After Current Chief Minister

• A petition has been filed in the Madras High Court against the use of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin’s name in the title of a government scheme.
• The petition argues that the scheme launched by the state government, titled “Ungaludan Stalin,” includes the Chief Minister’s name, the party's election symbol, and images of ideological leaders, which allegedly violates the guidelines set by the Supreme Court and the Election Commission.

Tamil Nadu:

International News

Announcement of New Government in Myanmar

• On July 31, 2025, Myanmar’s National Defence and Security Council (NDSC) announced the formation of a new Union Government and the State Security and Peace Commission.
• The new Union Government will be led by Prime Minister U Khin Nyunt Saw, while Senior General Min Aung Hlaing will serve as the Chairman of the State Security and Peace Commission.

Myanmar :

Formal Recognition of Palestine as an Independent Nation

• Following the United Kingdom and France, Canada and Malta have also announced that they will formally recognize Palestine as an independent nation during the United Nations General Assembly session in September 2025.

Defense News

‘Himgiri’ Handed Over to Indian Navy

• The third ship of the Nilgiri-class (Project 17A), ‘Himgiri’, was formally handed over to the Indian Navy on 31 July 2025 at Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) in Kolkata.
• ‘Himgiri’ is the first ship built by GRSE under the series and is the third of seven advanced stealth guided-missile frigates being developed under the Project 17A program.

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Economy and Banking

Launch of "Saksham Niveshak" Campaign

• The Central Government has launched a 100-day campaign named "Saksham Niveshak", running from 28 July to 6 November 2025.
• The objective of the campaign is to help investors update their dividend claims, KYC (Know Your Customer) details, and nomination information.

The main objectives of the “Saksham Investor” campaign are as follows:

RBI Issues Revised Guidelines

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued revised guidelines under which regulated entities (REs) are allowed to invest up to 20% of the total corpus of any Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) scheme.
• These guidelines will come into effect from January 1, 2026, or an earlier date as determined by the regulated entity based on its internal policy.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI):

Approval for 23 New Chip Design Projects

• The Central Government has approved 23 new chip design projects under the Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme, aimed at promoting local design and manufacturing in the semiconductor sector.
• This approval has been granted by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology with a budget allocation of ₹1,000 crore.

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Changes in UPI Rules

• From 1st August 2025, changes in UPI (Unified Payments Interface) rules have been implemented.
• The objective of these changes is to reduce the increasing load on the UPI system and enhance the reliability of transactions.

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Science and Technology

CRIB blood group discovered

• The world's rarest and new blood group has been discovered in a 38-year-old woman from Kolar district of Karnataka, which has been named CRIB.
• This blood group was found during a heart surgery, when the woman's blood was not matching with all the O positive donor blood samples despite having the normal O Rh+ group.
• This new discovery has been named CRIB, where "CR" stands for Cromer, and "IB" stands for India and Bangalore.

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Art and Culture

4,500-Year-Old Harappan Civilization Remains Found

• Remains of the 4,500-year-old Harappan (Indus Valley) Civilization have been found at a place named "Ratadiya Ri Dheri" in the Thar Desert of Jaisalmer district in Rajasthan near the Pakistan border.
• This site is located just 17 kilometers from Sadhowala village in Pakistan and 60 kilometers northwest of Ramgarh tehsil.

Harappan Civilization :

Person In News

Sunil Gavaskar and Sharad Pawar to be Honoured

• Sunil Gavaskar and Sharad Pawar will be honoured with life-size statues.
• Statues of these two great personalities are being installed at the entrance of the new “MCA Sharad Pawar Cricket Museum” located at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Sunil Gavaskar:

Lieutenant General Pushpendra Singh

• Lieutenant General Pushpendra Singh has been appointed as the new Vice Chief of the Indian Army with effect from 1st August 2025.
• An officer from the Parachute Regiment, he succeeds Lieutenant General N. S. Raja Subramani, who has retired from service.

Indian Army:

Commodore Varghese Mathew

• Gunnery and Missile Warfare Specialist, Commodore Varghese Mathew assumed charge as Naval Officer-in-Charge, Kerala.

Indian Navy :

Shashi Prakash Goel (S.P. Goel)

• The Uttar Pradesh Government has appointed Shashi Prakash Goel, a 1989-batch IAS officer, as the new Chief Secretary of the state.
• He officially assumed charge of the post on 31st July 2025.

Uttar Pradesh :

Premachandran (प्रेमचंद्रन)

• Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has nominated Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) leader Premachandran as a member of the panel of chairpersons to preside over proceedings of the Lok Sabha.
• This panel acts as an auxiliary group of presiding officers, assisting in the smooth conduct of House proceedings. Members of this panel may perform the duties of the Speaker during various occasions.

Lok Sabha:

Pramila Tai Medhe

• Pramila Tai Medhe, former chief director of Rashtriya Sevika Samiti, died on 31 July 2025 in Nagpur at the age of 97.

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Important Days

World Lung Cancer Day

• World Lung Cancer Day is observed every year on 1st August to raise awareness about lung cancer, understand its impact, and promote early detection and prevention.

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World Breastfeeding Week

• World Breastfeeding Day or World Breastfeeding Week is observed every year from 1st August to 7th August.
• It is a global campaign aimed at promoting, protecting, and supporting breastfeeding and breastfeeding mothers.

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Muslim Women Rights Day

• Muslim Women Rights Day is observed in India every year on 1 August.
• The day is celebrated to commemorate the enactment of the "Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019" which came into effect in 2019, which criminalised the practice of triple talaq in India.

Related Facts:

National Mountain Climbing Day

• National Mountain Climbing Day is celebrated every year on 1st August to promote the adventurous sport of mountaineering and to honor the incredible courage, perseverance, and dedication of mountaineers.
• This day was first observed in 2015, commemorating the achievement of two climbers, Bobby Matthews and Josh Madigan, who successfully climbed all 46 high peaks of the Adirondack Mountain Range in New York on 1st August 2015.

Prominent mountaineers of India: