UPSC EPFO / APFC Current Affairs One-liners — Last 6 months

Sun, 16 Aug 2026

• The Indian Navy's sail training ship INS Sudarshini concluded its port call at Ponta Delgada in the Azores, Portugal, on 16 August 2026 as part of Lokayan 2026.

Sat, 15 Aug 2026

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing the nation from the Red Fort on India's 80th Independence Day on 15 August 2026, announced AI skilling for one crore youth in a year, a 100 GW nuclear power target by 2047 and a new goal of 6 crore Lakhpati Didis.
• On 15 August 2026 the Suryapath Tiranga global relay, part of the fifth Har Ghar Tiranga campaign, carried the Tricolour across 54 Indian missions and posts from Fiji to San Francisco.
• A Qatar–India remittance service based on PosTransfer and powered by UPI became available at Qatar Post outlets on 15 August 2026, letting customers send money directly to UPI-enabled bank accounts in India.
• Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram and NITI Aayog Member R. Balasubramaniam on 15 August 2026 released a National Framework and Operational Guidelines for strengthening Integrated Tribal Development Agencies and Projects.
• The Indian men's hockey team beat Wales 3-1 in its FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 Pool D opener at the Wagener Hockey Stadium in Amstelveen, Netherlands, on 15 August 2026, with captain Harmanpreet Singh scoring twice.
• Principal Scientific Adviser Ajay Kumar Sood on 15 August 2026 launched the RSVC-AMRIT platform, developed by NABARD with his office, as the digital backbone of the RuTAGe Smart Village Centre ecosystem.
• The National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT) launched CYBER KUSHTI 2026, a national cybersecurity and AI hackathon, on 15 August 2026.

Fri, 14 Aug 2026

• President Droupadi Murmu addressed the nation on 14 August 2026, the eve of the 80th Independence Day, highlighting women's achievements, 25 crore people lifted out of poverty and the 200th birth anniversary of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule.
• President Droupadi Murmu approved 78 gallantry awards, 13 of them posthumous, and 89 Mention-in-Despatches for the Defence Forces and Central Armed Police Forces on the eve of Independence Day 2026.
• The Ministry of Home Affairs announced on 14 August 2026 that 1,057 personnel of Police, Fire, Home Guard & Civil Defence and Correctional Services have been awarded gallantry and service medals for Independence Day 2026, including 301 Medals for Gallantry.
• The Ministry of Jal Shakti said on 14 August 2026 that Jal Jeevan Mission, launched on 15 August 2019, has raised rural tap water coverage from 16.72% to 82.24% of households, with 2.04 lakh villages certified Har Ghar Jal.
• The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting announced on 14 August 2026 that the 12-minute advertisement duration cap for television channels, introduced in 2006 under the Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994, will be removed.
• Partition Horrors Remembrance Day (Vibhajan Vibheeshika Smriti Divas) was observed on 14 August 2026, with the Ministry of Culture holding programmes in Delhi, Amritsar and Kolkata and PM Modi recalling the courage of those impacted by Partition.
• Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh met the Indian Army contingent on 14 August 2026, which won 16 medals, including 8 gold, of India's total of 39 medals at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
• All-India Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation was 9.78% year-on-year in July 2026, down from 9.87% in June, with fuel and power inflation at 20.05%, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said on 14 August 2026.
• The Ministry of Defence signed contracts worth about ₹1,577 crore with Tata Advanced Systems Limited and NIBE Private Limited on 14 August 2026 for loiter munition systems for the Indian Army's artillery regiments.
• The Logistics Data Bank (LDB), launched in 2016, has tracked 10 crore EXIM containers using RFID-based technology, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said on 14 August 2026.
• The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) secured the return of fugitive drug trafficker Virender Singh Basoya from the UAE on 14 August 2026, after his arrest there on an INTERPOL Red Notice.

Thu, 13 Aug 2026

• The Monsoon Session 2026 of Parliament, which began on 20 July, was adjourned sine die on 13 August 2026 after 19 sittings, with 12 Bills passed by both Houses, including the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill renaming the state 'Keralam'.
• The Ministry of Heavy Industries said on 13 August 2026 it received 20 bids under the Scheme to Promote Manufacturing of Sintered Rare Earth Permanent Magnets (REPM), which aims to build 6,000 MTPA of integrated magnet capacity in India.
• NITI Aayog released a report titled 'Key Sectors to Position India as a Global Manufacturing Hub' on 13 August 2026, analysing four sectors: chemicals, telecom and networking equipment, textiles, and solar photovoltaic manufacturing.
• India's total exports of goods and services were estimated at $80.14 billion in July 2026, up 13.31% year-on-year, with merchandise exports at $44.24 billion, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said on 13 August 2026.
• The Ministry of Jal Shakti said on 13 August 2026 that Sujal Gaon IDs have been issued to 12.68 lakh of India's 16.96 lakh rural habitations (75%) under Jal Jeevan Mission.
• The National Biodiversity Authority released ₹15.52 crore in Access and Benefit Sharing proceeds from Pioneer Overseas Corporation's mustard hybrids on 13 August 2026, to be shared among 26 State Biodiversity Boards and 3 UT Biodiversity Councils by mustard cultivation area.
• Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal launched the revamped India Code Portal, with AI-assisted, semantic and speech search and multilingual access, at Kartavya Bhavan 2, New Delhi, on 13 August 2026.

Wed, 12 Aug 2026

• Security agencies detained 253 people across 14 states on 12 August 2026 in a coordinated operation against the Pakistan-based, ISI-backed Shahzad Bhatti Network, leading to over 80 FIRs and more than 200 arrests, the Home Ministry said.
• India and the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) signed the Terms of Reference for negotiations towards a Preferential Trade Agreement at Vanijya Bhawan, New Delhi, on 12 August 2026, India's first such ToR with the African region.
• The Pharmacopoeia Commission for Indian Medicine & Homoeopathy (Ministry of Ayush) and the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (Health Ministry) renewed their MoU on 12 August 2026 to implement the 'One Herb, One Standard' initiative for medicinal plants.
• Three Indian Sanchar Mitras were selected as International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Generation Connect Youth Envoys for 2026–2030, the Department of Telecommunications said on International Youth Day, 12 August 2026.