Current Affairs One-liners — 19 August 2026

Wed, 19 Aug 2026

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 19 August 2026 approved four-laning of the 82.578-km Muzaffarpur-Sitamarhi-Sonbarsa section of NH-22 in Bihar at ₹3,590.73 crore on Hybrid Annuity Mode.
• Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu on 19 August 2026 flagged off the scaled-up transshipment cargo operations at Delhi's IGI Airport, adding four domestic origins and two new international destinations.
• Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and LG Taranjit Singh Sandhu on 19 August 2026 flagged off 200 electric buses, taking the city's e-bus fleet past 5,000, and launched 56 women-only bus services.
• Researchers from IASST and IIT Guwahati have developed RK-251, a 'smart' cancer drug designed to activate mainly inside cancer cells, the Science Ministry said on 19 August 2026.
• World Humanitarian Day was observed on 19 August 2026 with the OCHA-led campaign theme 'Families of Fallen Humanitarians'.
• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 19 August 2026 approved four railway multitracking projects worth about ₹9,450 crore, adding about 410 km across West Bengal, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
• The RBI on 19 August 2026 published minutes of the Monetary Policy Committee's 62nd meeting (3-5 August), which unanimously kept the repo rate at 5.25% with a neutral stance.
• The Tourism Ministry hosted the 2nd BRICS 2026 Tourism Working Group meeting in Jaipur, Rajasthan, on 19 August 2026 under India's BRICS Chairship.
• The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence busted a wildlife trafficking syndicate in Lucknow on 19 August 2026, seizing 54 carved ivory artefacts and arresting four people.
• The Indian Coast Guard said on 19 August 2026 that India will host the 5th Coast Guard Global Summit in New Delhi in February 2027, coinciding with the force's golden jubilee.
• A fire at a hotel on Mirza Ghalib Street in central Kolkata in the early hours of 19 August 2026 killed nine people, including five Bangladeshi nationals.
• The BRICS Youth Council Meeting and BRICS Youth Summit were held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, on 19 August 2026 under India's BRICS Chairship.