Daily Current Affairs — 22 August 2026: RBI Board Reshuffle, India-Japan Maritime Pact, Bangladesh President & BWF Worlds

Union Cabinet approves establishment of a bench of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh in the Union Territory of Ladakh, aimed at improving access to justice for residents of remote areas.

The Ministry of Home Affairs transferred processing of citizenship applications under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019 to district collectors across eight states and Union Territories, decentralising a process earlier handled centrally.

Machine Tool Prototype Factory (MTPF), Ambarnath — a unit of Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited (AVNL) — invited applications for 162 Trade Apprentice posts (83 Non-ITI, 79 Ex-ITI) under the Apprentices Act, 1961, in trades including Fitter, Turner and Electrician.

IDFC FIRST Bank completed its debut global bond issuance, raising $500 million through 3-year bonds rated BBB-, marking its first offering in the overseas debt capital markets.

Fintech major PhonePe signed MoUs with the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) and DPIIT to integrate its payments data insights into PM GatiShakti infrastructure planning and to strengthen support for India's startup ecosystem.

South Indian Bank invited online applications for Junior Officer (Business Promotion Officer), a three-year renewable contract sales role, open to graduates aged up to 30 with at least two years' banking/NBFC experience.

Rating agency India Ratings (Ind-Ra) raised its FY27 GDP growth forecast for India to 6.8%, citing lower crude oil prices as a supportive factor for the economy.

Bangladesh's Parliament elected BNP leader Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir as the country's 23rd President with 255 votes, defeating Liberal Democratic Party's Oli Ahmad — the first contested presidential election in Bangladesh since 1991.

Turkey formally requested Interpol to issue a Red Notice for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, following domestic Turkish arrest warrants against him.

Tourism ministers from BRICS nations adopted the 'Jaipur Declaration' at a ministerial meeting held in Rajasthan, setting out a consensus roadmap for cooperation on sustainable tourism among member countries.

Astronomers led by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, using NASA's TESS satellite, characterised GJ 523b — a rocky "mega-Earth" about 23.5 times Earth's mass but only 2.55 times its radius, orbiting a dwarf star roughly 87 light-years away.

The National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning (NBSS&LUP) released India's first national Soil Texture Map, intended to enhance precision agricultural planning across the country.

Jindal Steel and IIT Hyderabad launched a joint Centre of Excellence focused on research into advanced steel solutions for India's infrastructure and construction sectors.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Japanese counterpart Shinjiro Koizumi signed a Memorandum on Maritime Security Cooperation during Koizumi's maiden India visit, covering Maritime Domain Awareness, search-and-rescue and disaster-relief cooperation between the two navies.

Bengaluru-based startup Flying Wedge Defence unveiled "FWD Supreme Lite," described as an indigenous AI-piloted fighter jet concept offering roughly 30-hour endurance and a 3,000 km range.

Army Chief General Dhiraj Seth undertook an official visit to Nepal for bilateral talks, during which he was conferred the honorary rank of General of the Nepal Army, a customary gesture between the two militaries.

The Centre for Marine Living Resources & Ecology (CMLRE) released a National Report on Deep-Sea and Distant-Water Fishery Resources of the Indian EEZ, drawing on nearly four decades of oceanographic research across India's 2.37 million sq km Exclusive Economic Zone to support the Blue Economy.

Scientists formally described a newly discovered Himalayan plant species, named in honour of Nepali mountaineer Nirmal Purja in recognition of his mountaineering achievements.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued heavy-to-very-heavy rainfall warnings for Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and east Madhya Pradesh, along with thunderstorm alerts across several northern and northeastern states.

At the BWF World Championships 2026 in New Delhi, India's men's doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty lost their quarterfinal 18-21, 9-21 to China's Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang.

India's women's doubles pair Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand staged a comeback win over China's Jia Yifan and Zhang Shuxian, 16-21, 21-15, 21-13, to reach the semifinals of the BWF World Championships 2026.

Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra won silver at the Lausanne Diamond League 2026 with a throw of 85.83m, finishing behind Sri Lanka's Rumesh Pathirage, who won gold with 89.75m.

Former ISRO Chairman S. Somanath was appointed, and industrialist Anand Mahindra reappointed, as part-time non-official directors on the Reserve Bank of India's Central Board for four-year terms effective 20 August 2026.

Two Mumbai-based Parsi physicians were nominated for Pakistan's highest civilian award, the Nishan-e-Imtiaz, in recognition of maintaining confidentiality about Muhammad Ali Jinnah's terminal illness before Partition.

Dr Eluri Sreedhar was appointed Honorary Advisor to the BRICS Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BRICS CCI) to advise on economic collaboration initiatives among member nations.

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) authorised 1,800 km of new common-carrier LPG pipeline infrastructure at an estimated cost of Rs 7,000 crore, spanning Telangana, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Karnataka and Goa, taking the country's total authorised LPG pipeline network from 7,700 km to 9,500 km.

The National Commission for Women (NCW) launched the 'Yashoda AI' programme in Jalandhar, Punjab, an AI-literacy and digital-empowerment initiative for women.

The Rajasthan Cabinet approved the State Wage Code 2026, mandating bi-annual wage revisions (1 April and 1 October), salary slips for all employees, a 48-hour weekly working-hour cap, and a mandatory 30-minute break after five consecutive work hours.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired the 31st meeting of the Southern Zonal Council at Kovalam, Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu, with the Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala discussing inter-state river-water sharing, delimitation and proportional tax devolution.

The Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (HPPSC) extended the application deadline for HP Police Constable Recruitment 2026 (734 posts) to 21 August 2026.