Daily Current Affairs — 31 August 2026: SCO Summit in Bishkek, Q1 GDP Data, Micron Chip Plant & Durand Cup

The Department of Legal Affairs formally notified the establishment of the Mediation Council of India, headquartered in New Delhi, to promote and regulate domestic and international mediation services under the Mediation Act, 2023.

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) signed an MoU with the Drone Federation of India to strengthen counter-drone capabilities and aerial-threat security at CISF-protected installations such as airports and critical infrastructure.

A regulation issued on 27 August 2026 empowers the Chief Justice of the Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court to direct sittings of judges at specified locations in Ladakh, with the Lieutenant Governor's concurrence, to cut travel costs and improve access to justice for litigants there.

The first long-haul double-stack container train ran on the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) linking Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra on 22 August 2026, with a two-rake train carrying 360 TEUs of cargo over 1.3 km — a milestone for India's freight-exclusive rail network.

The National Statistical Office was scheduled to release India's Q1 FY27 (April-June 2026) GDP growth estimate on 31 August 2026, with analyst forecasts ranging roughly 6.9-8%, easing from the 7.8% clocked in Q4 FY26.

India's all-India retail sugar price rose about 44% in a month — from roughly Rs 45/kg on 24 July to about Rs 65/kg by 24 August 2026 — highlighting tension between the ethanol-blending programme's demand for sugarcane and food-price stability.

The Reserve Bank of India will shortly issue draft guidelines to resume on-tap licensing of new Urban Co-operative Banks, ending a nearly two-decade pause on fresh UCB licences, following its January 2026 discussion paper and stakeholder consultations.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Micron Semiconductor Technology's Assembly, Test and Packaging (ATMP) facility at Sanand, Gujarat, marking commercial production of India's first made-in-India semiconductor memory modules; the project, over Rs 22,500 crore, was the first approved under the India Semiconductor Mission.

PM Modi arrived in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan for the 26th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit (31 August-1 September 2026), marking 25 years of the SCO, alongside China's Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin, under the theme of sustainable peace, development and prosperity.

During his 29-30 August state visit to Uzbekistan, PM Modi elevated bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, setting a $5 billion annual trade target by 2030, alongside uranium-supply agreements and UPI-QR payment interoperability in Central Asia.

India secured dialogue-partner status in the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), the UK-Italy-Japan-led project to jointly develop a sixth-generation stealth fighter jet.

FICCI and the Chinese National Federation of Industries (Taiwan) hosted the 10th Taiwan-India Industrial Collaboration Summit in Bengaluru, resulting in six MoUs worth over $31.6 million across technology and manufacturing sectors.

The Vice President launched 'Gnani Artha', India's sovereign AI stack featuring the Evon 3.3 language model and the Plexus deployment platform, supporting more than 11 Indian languages with open-source deployment options.

The Department of Telecommunications and C-DOT signed a five-year agreement to set up an end-to-end optical network testbed in New Delhi for testing and validating indigenous optical communication technologies.

Astronomers reported discovering a faint companion star, dubbed 'Betelgeuse B', orbiting the red supergiant Betelgeuse, offering a new explanation for the star's roughly six-year brightness variation cycle.

The Indian Army signed a $93 million agreement with the United States to procure nearly 100 FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank guided missile systems, capping a 16-year-long acquisition process, with future co-production in India under consideration.

DRDO successfully tested its Military Combat Parachute System at Nyoma in Ladakh, with test jumpers deploying from an altitude of 22,000 feet under extreme high-altitude conditions.

The Indian Coast Guard decommissioned two Fast Patrol Vessels, ICGS Meera Behn and ICGS Subhadra Kumari Chauhan, after roughly two decades of maritime security service.

Scientists described 'Gangaichthys indonepalicus', the first subterranean (cave-adapted) fish species recorded from the Indo-Gangetic Basin, discovered in Bihar with distinctive adaptations for living underground.

The State of India's Environment 2026 report, released by the Centre for Science and Environment and Down To Earth, warned that seven of nine 'planetary boundaries' have now been breached, with ocean acidification newly identified as the seventh.

Conservationists in Dehradun flagged rising vulture deaths from electrocution on power lines, prompting authorities to plan relocation and mitigation measures to protect the vulnerable bird population.

East Bengal FC won a record-equalling 17th Durand Cup title, beating rivals Mohun Bagan Super Giant 4-1 in the final at Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata, with Edmund Lalrindika scoring a first-half hat-trick to end the club's 22-year title wait.

India Women beat Thailand Women by 94 runs (159/9 to 65 all out) in the Women's T20 Asia Cup 2026, with Shafali Verma top-scoring with 64.

In that match, Deepti Sharma became the all-time leading wicket-taker in women's T20 International cricket, taking three wickets without conceding a run in her spell.

The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) received the 'Rajbhasha Utkrishtta Sammaan' award for 2025-26, recognising outstanding performance in implementing Hindi as an official language.

TVS Motor Company announced the appointment of Peyman Kargar as its new CEO and Director, effective 27 January 2027, succeeding K N Radhakrishnan, bringing over 30 years of automotive industry experience.

Crown Prince Haakon of Norway became King Haakon VIII following the death of his father, King Harald V, also assuming the role of Supreme Commander of the Norwegian Armed Forces.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh unveiled a statue of 1857 Revolt freedom fighter Rani Avantibai Lodhi in Lucknow on 30 August 2026, with UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath paying tribute to her role in resisting British forces from Ramgarh, Madhya Pradesh.

Banaras Hindu University partnered with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to organise the 'Banaras Biennale 2026' cultural event and to establish an E2EE Career Lounge offering technology-enabled career support to students.

Under the 'Adopt a Heritage 2.0' scheme, the Culture Ministry has signed 30 MoUs to develop visitor amenities at protected monuments of national importance, which together recorded 13.59 million visitors in FY 2024-25.