Daily Current Affairs — 13 August 2026: Supreme Court Strength to 38, Justice Varma Found Guilty, TTFI Suspended & Hungary's New President

President Droupadi Murmu gave assent to the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 2026, raising the court's sanctioned strength from 34 to 38 judges (including the CJI) — the first increase since 2019 — after the Lok Sabha passed the Bill on 3 August and the Rajya Sabha returned it on 5 August 2026.

A three-member Lok Sabha inquiry committee found the charges against former Allahabad High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma — possessing unexplained cash, disturbing evidence, and giving an evasive explanation — 'proved', in the case stemming from cash discovered at his official residence after a March 2025 fire; Varma had resigned on 9 April 2026.

The Tamil Nadu Assembly, moved by Chief Minister Vijay, adopted a resolution urging the Centre to freeze the Lok Sabha's strength at 543 for 25 years and implement women's reservation in the 2029 elections using the existing seat base, opposing the pending Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill's plan to expand the House to 850 seats.

At its 622nd meeting held in Patna under Governor Sanjay Malhotra, the RBI's Central Board approved the Bank's budget for FY2026-27 along with its Medium-Term Strategy Framework, 'Utkarsh 3.0'.

The Union Cabinet approved an additional Rs 30,000-crore investment commitment to the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), backing a new second infrastructure-focused fund and helping NIIF attract more private and institutional capital.

The Hurun India 2026 Most Valuable Family Businesses list ranked the Ambani family (Reliance) first for a third straight year at Rs 25.8 lakh crore, followed by the Birla family at Rs 8.14 lakh crore (+26%); the top 300 families' combined valuation reached Rs 138 lakh crore (about $1.46 trillion) — comparable to the world's 18th-largest economy.

Hungary's Parliament elected former Supreme Court Chief Justice András Baka as President by a 140-6 vote; his five-year term begins on 19 August 2026, succeeding Tamás Sulyok, who was removed via a constitutional amendment under PM Péter Magyar's government.

China's Foreign Ministry called India-China ties 'largely stable' after Chinese state media criticised India's 7 August move to officially name 27 sites (21 areas, 4 passes, a lake and a monument) in Arunachal Pradesh — a response to China's April 2026 renaming of 23 locations in the state.

Russia began importing gasoline from India for the first time, as Ukrainian drone strikes on its refineries triggered domestic fuel shortages — a reversal of the usual India-Russia energy trade flow.

Skyroot Aerospace signed a multi-launch agreement with HEX20 for three dedicated Vikram-series missions — covering an Earth-observation constellation, in-orbit payload demonstration and rideshare capacity — starting Q4 2027, its first launch contract since Vikram-1 became India's first privately-developed rocket to reach orbit in July 2026.

IBM partnered with MIT World Peace University's Bengaluru campus and Christ University to launch AI collaboration centres — an IBM-MIT AI Lab with high-performance computing infrastructure, and an IBM Innovation Center for AI at Christ University — giving students access to watsonx.ai and focusing on machine learning, generative AI and cybersecurity.

Bengaluru-based Astrobase Space Technologies unveiled 'EVEREST', India's first privately-developed 800 kN full-flow staged combustion rocket engine, a LOX-methane engine with about 340 seconds of specific impulse, targeting full-scale testing in 2026 and a launch by December 2028.

The Indian Navy launched 'Shruti' (Yard 3037), the second of four Next-Generation Offshore Patrol Vessels (NGOPVs) being built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata, under a Rs 9,781-crore, 11-ship programme split between GRSE and GSL.

DRDO hosted NETRA-2026, a national seminar on Electronic Warfare and Mission-Critical Systems, in Bengaluru, bringing together defence scientists and industry to discuss future electronic-warfare capabilities.

The 8th edition of the India-US Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) exercise began at the Southern Naval Command, Kochi (10-14 August 2026), with specialist diving and EOD teams from both navies training together to boost interoperability.

Colletes bhutanicus, a rare solitary Himalayan bee species, was recorded in India for the first time in Tawang district, Arunachal Pradesh, expanding the known range of this little-studied pollinator.

Scientists discovered three new cascade frog species in Northeast India and West Bengal, publishing the findings in a peer-reviewed journal and adding to the region's recognised amphibian diversity.

Kerala included two tribal representatives in its State Wildlife Board for the first time, aiming to bring indigenous community perspectives into wildlife and forest conservation decisions.

Indian shuttler Ashmita Chaliha won her first BWF title at the Korea Masters 2026, beating China's Han Qian Xi 14-21, 21-14, 21-14 in the women's singles final.

India opened its medal account at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Eugene, USA, with Ashish Yadav winning silver in the men's javelin throw with a best effort of 74.09 metres.

The Sports Ministry suspended recognition of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) — for the second time in four years — over unheld elections, an unsatisfactory show-cause reply and governance disputes between its president and secretary-general, directing the IOA to form an ad-hoc committee to run the sport.

M.P. Parameswaran, nuclear scientist (Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, 1957-75) and science communicator associated with the Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad, died in Thrissur, Kerala, aged 91; he had received the Kerala Sree Award in 2022 for science popularisation.

PM Narendra Modi released former President Ram Nath Kovind's autobiography, 'Triumph of the Indian Republic: My Life, My Struggles' (Rupa Publications), at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved a one-year extension for Enforcement Directorate Director Rahul Navin, a 1993-batch IRS officer who has led the ED since August 2024, keeping him in office until 13 August 2027.

The National e-Governance Division and the Association of Australian Education Representatives in India launched 'AAERI Verify', a DigiLocker-integrated platform that cuts document verification for Indian students applying to Australian universities from 5-9 days to under four minutes.

The Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) and the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) signed an MoU — BIS's 100th overall and its first with an AYUSH body — to establish global Ayurveda quality standards and strengthen laboratory validation of traditional knowledge.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah flagged off the 'Har Ghar Tiranga Yatra' campaign from Puducherry, marking 150 years of 'Vande Mataram' with district, block and panchayat-level events across the country.

The Uttarakhand government approved relocating the state High Court from Nainital to Haldwani, identifying a 30-hectare site at Lamachaur for the new court complex.

Gujarat set up four Natural Farming Centres of Excellence — in Navsari, Morbi, Bhavnagar and Chhota Udepur — with a Rs 20-crore outlay for 2026-27 under the Gujarat Prakrutik Krishi Vikas Board, each set to train 100 farmers.

Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh dedicated 'Prakriti Gyan Dham', an eco-educational hub developed by CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute at Lucknow, and announced the transfer of plant-based technologies to Kudumbashree, Kerala.