Current Affairs Today 21st and 22nd August 2026 Daily GK Update

Daily Current Affairs 21st and 22nd August 2026 Daily GK Update

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National News

First Kaushal Mahotsav 2026 Held in West Bengal

• West Bengal hosted its inaugural Kaushal Mahotsav on August 18, 2026, at Balurghat Stadium in the Dakshin Dinajpur district, marking a significant milestone for the state’s efforts to foster job creation and skill development.
• The event, the 11th edition of Kaushal Mahotsav in India, was organized through collaboration between the Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, the National Skill Development Corporation, and the Government of West Bengal.
• Kaushal Mahotsav, a nationwide job fair initiative under the Skill India Mission, is designed to bridge the gap between employers and job seekers, enabling recruitment, screening, and placement opportunities across diverse sectors.

About West Bengal

• Capital: Kolkata
• Chief minister: Suvendu Adhikari
• Governor: R. N. Ravi

India Hosts Eighth BRICS Youth Energy Summit 2026 Virtually

• India hosted the virtual Eighth BRICS Youth Energy Summit on August 17, 2026, under its BRICS Chairship.
• Over 100 participants from member countries and international organizations focused on clean energy, energy security, inclusive access under the theme “सर्वेषां ऊर्जम्” (Energy for All), and youth-led green technology innovation.

Key BRICS 2026 Meeting Venues

• Main Leaders’ Summit: New Delhi (September 12–13, 2026)
• Foreign Ministers’ Meeting: New Delhi (May 14–15, 2026)
• Energy Ministers’ Meeting: Gurugram, Haryana (June 25–26, 2026)
• Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) Meeting: Chennai, Tamil Nadu (August 21, 2026)
• Tourism Ministers’ Meeting: Jaipur, Rajasthan (August 20–21, 2026)
• Youth & Sports Ministers’ Meetings: Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh (August 21–22, 2026)
• Communications Ministers’ Meeting: Pune, Maharashtra (August 21, 2026)

12th BRICS Communications Ministers Meeting in Pune

• The 12th BRICS Communications Ministers Meeting took place in Pune, Maharashtra on August 21, 2026. Chaired by India’s Union Minister for Communications, Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, the meeting focused on advancing resilient digital infrastructure, cybersecurity, and information and communication technology (ICT) cooperation.
• ICT Track Theme: “Innovate, Cooperate and Transform (ICT) for a Resilient Future”
• India’s BRICS Chairship Theme: “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”

International News

India, Japan sign maritime security pact, deepen defence cooperation

• India and Japan on 19 August agreed to further deepen defence and maritime security cooperation, with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Japanese counterpart Shinjiro Koizumi signing a Memorandum of Arrangement on Maritime Security Cooperation in New Delhi.
• The agreement provides a framework for strengthening cooperation between the Indian Navy and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, including information sharing on Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA), Search and Rescue (SAR), and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR).

About Japan

• Capital: Tokyo
• Prime minister: Sanae Takaichi
• Currency: Yen

Banking & Financial

PhonePe PulsePro signs MoU with MeitY to power PM GatiShakti

• PhonePe announced the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to share insights from PhonePe PulsePro, its enterprise data intelligence platform, to support the PM GatiShakti mission for national infrastructure planning, economic analysis, and holistic urban and rural development.
• Under the MoU with MeitY, PhonePe PulsePro metrics will be integrated into the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan portal, managed in collaboration with Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics (BISAG-N).
• By sharing granular transactional insights with the PM GatiShakti portal, PhonePe is making hyperlocal PulsePro data accessible for internal government use to enable them to make smarter, data-based decisions for national development planning.

Loan and Agreement

India and ADB sign $230 million loan to upgrade Chennai water system

• India and the Asian Development Bank signed a $230 million loan agreement. This project will expand and modernize Chennai’s water supply and sanitation infrastructure. It includes building new pipes and upgrading pumping stations across the city.
• Chennai will also implement a comprehensive ring-main system for improved water reliability. The initiative aims to enhance public health and urban resilience to climate change.

Recent Major Loan Agreements by ADB

• Coastal Resilience in Maharashtra ($42 million – Jun 2026)
• Skilling and ITI Upgradation ($846 million – Dec 2025)
• Rooftop Solar Systems ($650 million – Dec 2025)
• Assam Healthcare ($398.8 million – Dec 2025)
• Chennai Metro Rail Tranche 2 ($240 million – Dec 2025)
• Meghalaya Ecotourism ($77 million – Dec 2025)
• Maharashtra Agricultural Solarization ($500 million – Nov 2025)
• Indore Metro Rail Project ($190.6 million – Nov 2025)

Appointment

Mirza Fakhrul Islam ⁠Alamgir elected as Bangladesh’s 23rd President

• Veteran ‌Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) ​leader ​Mirza Fakhrul Islam ⁠Alamgir ​was elected as the country’s 23rd President. The 78-year-old leader secured 255 votes in the Presidential election held at the Jatiya Sangsad, the country’s Parliament.
• He defeated former army officer Oli Ahmad, the candidate backed by the 11-party opposition alliance led by the far-right Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and the country’s first major student-led political party, National Citizen Party (NCP), who received 88 votes.

Note: Bangladesh

• Capital: Dhaka
• Currency: Bangladeshi Taka
• Prime minister: Tarique Rahman

Awards

Two Mumbai doctors to receive Pakistan’s top civilian award for keeping Jinnah illness secret

• Two doctors – a physician and a radiologist – of Mumbai’s Parsi community will receive Pakistan’s highest civilian award, Nishan-e-Imtiaz, for keeping secret Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s terminal illness, according to a federal minister.
• Planning minister Ahsan Iqbal disclosed this in a post on X. “I feel honoured to have had the privilege, as chairman of the awards committee, of nominating for Nishan-e-Imtiaz two remarkable doctors, a physician and a radiologist, both members of Bombay’s Parsi community, who faithfully guarded the secret of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s terminal illness

Note

• India highest civilian award-Bharat Ratna
• China highest civilian award -Medal of the Republic
• USA highest civilian award: Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal.
• UK highest civilian award: Order of Merit
• France highest civilian award: National Order of the Legion of Honour

Dr. Ashutosh Parida Wins 47th Sarala Puraskar

• Ashutosh Parida, an Odia poet, essayist, and former CSIR-IMMT scientist, has been selected for the 47th Sarala Puraskar for his poetry collection Bishwas De Pruthwi .
• The award carries ₹7 lakh and will be presented on October 25, 2026.

About Sarala Puraskar

• Named after the 15th-century Odia poet Sarala Das, this award is one of the most prestigious in Odia literature. It is administered by the Indian Metals Public Charitable Trust (IMPaCT). It recognises outstanding contributions to Odia literature.

Science & Technology

S301 Becomes Milky Way’s Fastest Securely Orbiting Star

• Astronomers discovered S301, the fastest known securely orbiting star in the Milky Way. It zooms around Sagittarius A*, the galaxy’s central supermassive black hole, at an incredible speed of 25,000 kilometers per second—about 8% the speed of light.

Key Facts About S301

• Speed: Reaches up to 25,000 km/s (15,500 miles per second).
• Orbit Time: Takes just 8.7 years to finish one full loop.
• Close Approach: Skims past the black hole at a distance only 12 times the space between Earth and the Sun.
• Discovery Tool: Found using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer

ISRO set to resume launches after 7-month pause with GISAT-1A in September

• After a seven-month hiatus, The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is preparing to launch the GISAT-1A (EOS-05) Earth observation satellite aboard the GSLV-F17 rocket in September 2026.
• Indeed, three of the six missions that ISRO undertook in 2025 and 2026 saw the satellites not reaching the intended orbits due to anomalies in the launch vehicle or spacecraft engine.
• About: GISAT-1A (designated as EOS-05) is a state-of-the-art, agile Geo-Imaging Satellite designed to operate from a Geostationary Orbit (~36,000 km altitude). Unlike conventional remote sensing satellites operating in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), GISAT-1A remains stationed over the Indian subcontinent, enabling continuous, near real-time optical surveillance and environmental monitoring.
• Aim: To provide near real-time, high-temporal-resolution imaging of the entire Indian subcontinent and surrounding oceanic bodies to enable rapid disaster monitoring, continuous agricultural assessment, and enhanced national security surveillance.

Important Day

Indian Akshay Urja Day 2026: 20 August

• Indian Akshay Urja Day was observed on August 20, 2026. It promotes renewable energy sources like solar, wind, hydro, and biomass across India.
• Established in 2004, the annual event highlights clean energy adoption, fossil fuel reduction, and sustainable development.

World Mosquito Day: 20th August 2026

• World Mosquito Day is observed annually on August 20 to commemorate Sir Ronald Ross’s 1897 discovery in India proving that female mosquitoes transmit malaria.
• The day raises global awareness about life-threatening, mosquito-borne illnesses like dengue, malaria, Zika, and chikungunya, while promoting prevention and community action.

World Senior Citizens Day: 21 August 2026

• World Senior Citizens Day is observed annually on August 21 to honor older adults, recognize their life achievements, and raise awareness about issues affecting them, such as health decline, financial insecurity, and elder abuse.
• The observance traces back to 1988 when U.S. President Ronald Reagan signed Proclamation 5847 to officially create National Senior Citizens Day on August 21.

Legendary Actor Sowcar Janaki Dies At 94 In Chennai

• Veteran actress Sowcar Janaki (94) died in hospital. Born Sankaramanchi Janaki in 1931, she was christened Sowcar Janaki when she started acting in films.
• She has worked in over 400 films since her debut in the Telugu film Shavukaru directed by LV Prasad. This film earned her the title ‘Sowcar’ Janaki.

Obituary

Former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar, convicted in anti-Sikh riots case, dies at 84

• Former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar, who was serving life sentence for his role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi, died at Safdarjung Hospital on 19 August.
• According to the hospital, Kumar, aged 84 years, was brought to the medical facility by police with altered sensorium. Kumar, a three-time Lok Sabha member, represented the Outer Delhi constituency and had been a prominent Congress leader. He resigned from the party after his 2018 conviction.
• He was serving multiple life sentences after his conviction in cases linked to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi.