National News

4 semiconductor plants approved

• · The Union Cabinet approved four projects under the India Semiconductor Mission.
• · Two of the projects will be in Bhubaneswar in Odisha, and one each will be in Punjab and Andhra Pradesh.

Bharat Semiconductor Mission

Mega Tinkering Day

• NITI Aayog virtually and simultaneously hosted ‘Mega Tinkering Day’, bringing together students from over 10 thousand Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) across all 35 states and union territories.

NITI Aayog

SHRESTH (State Health Regulatory Excellence Index)

• · Union Health Secretary, Smt. Punya Salila Srivastava launched the State Health Regulatory Excellence Index (SHRESTH), a first-of-its-kind national initiative to benchmark and strengthen state drug regulatory systems through a transparent, data-driven framework.
• · The initiative, proposed by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) aims to drive improvements in the performance of state drug regulatory authorities across India, ensuring drug safety and quality standards are consistently met.

STATE SPECIAL NEWS

Lucknow Metro Rail Project of Phase-1B

• · The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, has approved the Phase-1B of Lucknow Metro Rail Project, Uttar Pradesh with corridor for a length of 11.165 Km with 12 stations.

Uttar Pradesh

Tato-II Hydro Electric Project

• · The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi approved investment for construction of Tato-II Hydro Electric Project (HEP) in Shi Yomi District of Arunachal Pradesh.

Arunachal Pradesh

‘Thayumanavar Thittam’ Scheme

• · Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin launched the ‘Thayumanavar Thittam’ aimed at delivering ration supplies at the doorstep of over 21.7 lakh elderly citizens and persons with disabilities across the State.

Tamil Nadu

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

India’s MAHASAGAR vision

• India with his MAHASAGAR vision reaffirmed its commitment to a free, open, and rules-based maritime order, grounded in international law and the principles of UNCLOS, during a high-level UN Security Council debate on maritime security in New York.

UNCLOS

India And Nigeria

• Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth held a bilateral meeting with Nigerian Minister of State for Defence Dr Bello Mohammed Matawalle in New Delhi.

Nigeria

India and Australia: 7th Round of Disarmament Talks

• The seventh round of India-Australia dialogue on Disarmament, Non-Proliferation, and Export Control was held in New Delhi.

Australia

ECONOMY & BANKING

Paytm secures payment aggregator licence

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has granted in-principle approval to Paytm Payments Services Ltd. (PPSL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of One 97 Communications Ltd. (OCL) for a Payment Aggregator (PA) licence under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI)

Jute products Ban from Bangladesh

• India’s Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has banned imports of certain jute products and ropes from Bangladesh through all land routes except Nhava Sheva seaport in Maharashtra.

UIDAI Signed Agreement with Indian Statistical Institute

• The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has signed an agreement with the Indian Statistical Institute for joint research and development to further enhance the robustness, security and reliability of Aadhaar operations.

Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)

India’s Retail Inflation

• According to data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Retail inflation in India slipped to 1.55% in July, its lowest rate since June 2017, driven by a drop in food prices.
• This is below the Reserve Bank of India’s comfort band of 2% to 6%.

DPIIT signs MoU with Zepto

• The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Zepto Private Limited to support and scale early-stage startups in the manufacturing sector through its ‘Zepto Nova’ innovation challenge.

DPIIT signs MoU with Hero MotoCorp

• The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Hero MotoCorp Limited to support and scale early-stage startups and entrepreneurs through its innovation accelerator programme ‘Hero For Startups’.

Gross tax receipts dip 3.9%

• According to data released by the Central Board of Direct Taxes Union government’s gross direct tax collections contracted 1.9% to ₹7.99 lakh crore in the current financial year 2025-26 up to August 11, 2025.
• Non-corporate tax collections have fallen to ₹4.43 lakh crore in this financial year so far, down 8.3% from the ₹4.83 lakh crore collected in the same period of 2024-25.

IMPORTANT DAYS

International Lefthanders Day

• International Left Handers Day is an international day observed annually on August 13 to celebrate the uniqueness and differences of left-handed individuals.

World Organ Donation Day

• World Organ Donation Day is observed annually on August 13th to raise awareness about the importance of organ donation and encourage people to register as donors.

ENVIRONMENT + SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Monitoring wastewater for viruses detection

• · The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) will initiate wastewater surveillance for 10 viruses across 50 cities.

18th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics

• 18th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics was hosted by the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai.
• This theme of the event was ‘Vasudaiva Kutumbakam’, the “ancient Indian idea of world is family under the one sky”.

Extreme heat Slashes Tropical Bird Populations

• According to an analysis released today on the University of Queensland, Australia extreme heat driven by climate change has wiped out 25-38 percent of tropical bird populations since 1950.

APPOINTMENTS

Sri Lanka’s 37th IGP

• The Constitutional Council of Sri Lanka has approved President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s nomination of Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) Priyantha Weerasooriya as the nation’s 37th IGP.

SPORTS

First-ever medal in Wushu at World Games

• Namrata Batra became first player of India to won country’s first-ever medal in Wushu at World Games in China.

Shubman Gill

• India’s Test captain Shubman Gill has been named the ICC men’s Player of the Month for July 2025.

15th Junior National Championship

• Jharkhand Women’s Hockey team won 15th Junior National Women’s Hockey Championship by defeating Hockey Haryana.