RBI Holds Rates, Agni-4 Tested, Gaganyaan Advances & India Gets Its 101st Ramsar Site

International Affairs this week centred on India–Uzbekistan relations and India’s 2026 BRICS Chairship, particularly cooperation involving industry, MSMEs, startups and trade.

Key Takeaways

• Uzbekistan Foreign Minister — Saidov Bakhtiyor Odilovich
• Major India–Uzbekistan cooperation areas — rare earths, agriculture, pharmaceuticals and IT
• Indian students in Uzbekistan — more than 16,000
• 10th BRICS Industry Ministers’ Meeting — Jaipur, 6 August
• India proposal — BRICS Incubator Network
• India proposal — BRICS Startup Innovation Fund
• 16th BRICS Trade Ministers’ Meeting — Jaipur, 7 August
• Key outcome — Jaipur Consensus and Guiding Principles for MSME Credit
• Long-term framework — Strategy for BRICS Economic Partnership 2030

The key banking development was the August RBI monetary-policy decision, while the Commerce Ministry introduced a new framework to facilitate export-focused cross-border e-commerce.

Key Takeaways

• RBI repo rate — 5.25%
• SDF — 5.00%
• MSF — 5.50%
• Bank Rate — 5.50%
• Monetary-policy stance — Neutral
• Repo–SDF difference — 25 basis points
• MSF–repo difference — 25 basis points
• Cross-border e-commerce framework operationalised — 5 August
• Parent policy — Foreign Trade Policy 2023
• Key entity — Exporter-on-Record, EOR
• Inventory operations permitted only for exports under the framework.

Defence news combined a major missile test with efforts to prepare India’s armed forces for technology-driven future warfare.

Key Takeaways

• Missile — Agni-4
• Type — Medium Range Ballistic Missile
• Test date — 6 August
• Test location — Integrated Test Range, Chandipur, Odisha
• Conducted under — Strategic Forces Command
• 4th Tri-Services Future Warfare Course — 3 August
• Venue — Manekshaw Centre, New Delhi
• Focus — AI, quantum technology, cyber and cognitive warfare, autonomous systems, grey-zone and multi-domain operations.

India’s human-spaceflight programme dominated science news, with major Gaganyaan milestones and a large national student hackathon organised by ISRO.

Key Takeaways

• Human-rated launcher — HLVM3
• Propulsion stages and structures — development and ground testing completed
• First uncrewed experimental mission — targeted for Q4 2026
• Half-humanoid aboard mission — Vyommitra
• Bharatiya Antariksh Station target — 2035
• Bharatiya Antariksh Hackathon finale — 6–7 August
• Venue — NRSC, Hyderabad
• Registrations — 1 lakh+ students
• Team submissions — 15,104 teams
• Finalists — 34 teams

The week recognised both extraordinary life-saving courage and excellence in India’s handloom tradition.

Key Takeaways

• 12 rat miners honoured for Silkyara Tunnel rescue
• Award — Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak
• Date — 5 August
• Handloom Awards 2025 presented during National Handloom Day 2026
• Total awardees — 22
• Sant Kabir Handloom Awards — 3
• National Handloom Awards — 19

The major sports story was the conclusion of the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games and India’s final medal tally.

Key Takeaways

• Host — Glasgow, Scotland
• Games concluded — 2 August 2026
• India’s rank — 4th
• Total medals — 39
• Gold — 13
• Silver — 17
• Bronze — 9

Two observances stand out for competitive examinations: World Breastfeeding Week and National Handloom Day.

Key Takeaways

• World Breastfeeding Week — 1–7 August
• 2026 theme — “Breastfeeding for a Sustainable Start in Life: Strengthen What Works”
• National Handloom Day — 7 August
• 2026 edition — 12th National Handloom Day
• Historical connection — Swadeshi Movement, 7 August 1905

Parliamentary developments produced several exam-relevant legislative changes during the week, particularly concerning the Supreme Court, civil registration and MSMEs.

Key Takeaways

• Supreme Court Number of Judges Amendment Bill passed Parliament during the week
• Judges excluding CJI — 33 → 37
• Registration of Births and Deaths Amendment Bill — Rajya Sabha passed 4 August
• Delayed registration after more than two years — order from Judicial Magistrate First Class
• MSME Development Amendment Bill — Rajya Sabha 3 August, Lok Sabha 7 August
• Classification based on investment + turnover
• Mediation timeline — 90 days
• CPSE MSME invoices — settlement through TReDS under the amended framework.

Environment current affairs featured a major wetland-conservation milestone and a large national programme for converting organic waste into clean energy.

Key Takeaways

• Glaw Lake — Arunachal Pradesh
• Designated — 3 August 2026
• India’s Ramsar tally — 101
• Arunachal Pradesh’s Ramsar tally — first site
• Located within — Kamlang Tiger Reserve and Wildlife Sanctuary
• GOBARdhan National Circular Bioenergy Scheme
• Approved — 6 August
• Outlay — ₹23,731 crore
• Implementation — FY 2026–27 to FY 2035–36
• Target — nearly 10-fold increase in domestic CBG production
• CBG — Compressed Biogas
• Nodal ministry — Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas

• Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport at Bhogapuram, Vizianagaram district, Andhra Pradesh was inaugurated on 1 August 2026. It was developed under the PPP model at a cost exceeding ₹5,640 crore and is designed to handle 6 million passengers annually.
• During the same development programme, the foundation stone was laid for the ASIP Semiconductor Project at Visakhapatnam, involving an investment of more than ₹460 crore.
• Letters of Intent were awarded for 11 new Flying Training Organisations across seven AAI airports. India already had 41 FTOs operating from 63 flying bases, and the expansion is expected to add training capacity for about 750 cadets annually.
• Registrations on the eShram portal crossed 31.82 crore. The portal was launched on 26 August 2021 by the Ministry of Labour and Employment to create a National Database of Unorganised Workers and provides registered workers with a Universal Account Number — UAN.