✅NITI Aayog Releases Report on Regulatory Framework for India’s Professional Services Sector.

👉In August 2026, the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog) released a 3rd report under its Services Thematic  series, titled “India’s Services Sector: Insights on Regulatory Regime in Professional Services”,  providing the assessment of  India’s regulatory framework for professional services.

👉The report was formally launched by Ashok Kumar Lahiri, Vice Chairperson of NITI Aayog, at a meeting of the High-Powered ‘Education to Employment and Enterprise’ Standing Committee held in New Delhi, Delhi.

👉Key Findings:
Aim: To identify challenges and policy measures to strengthen the professional services sector and unlock the potential of India’s skilled Contribution to 👉Services Exports: As per the report, Professional services account for nearly 1/4th (25%) of India’s total services exports.

✅Magnus Carlsen wins Esports World Cup Chess Title 2026 for Second Consecutive Year

👉Norwegian chess Grandmaster (GM) and World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, representing Team Liquid, won the Esports World Cup Chess title 2026 for the second consecutive year in Paris, France, from  August 11 to 15, 2026, defeating Belarusian GM Denis Lazavik 2–0 (3–1, 3–1) in the final and remaining completely undefeated throughout the tournament.

👉Hikaru Nakamura (United States of America, (USA) Team Falcons) secured third place with USD 145,000, while Alireza Firouzja (France, Team Falcons) finished fourth, earning USD 100,000.

👉About Esports World Cup Chess 2026:
Overview:  The Esports World Cup Chess 2026 is a global esports chess tournament, featuring top international players competing in an online-integrated competitive format.

👉Edition: It marked the second edition of the event, following the inaugural 2025 edition in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

👉Prize: The winner Magnus Carlsen received USD 250,000.

✍️ Ministry of Health and Family Welfare commenced nationwide celebrations to mark the 10th anniversary of the Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA) under the theme 10 Years of PMSMA – A Decade of Care.

✍️ The Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA) is a national flagship health program designed to provide assured,
comprehensive, and completely free antenatal care (ANC) universally to all pregnant women across India.

✍️ Commemorative Release: The government issued a special ₹75 commemorative coin and a ₹5 postal stamp to mark the 10 years of transformative maternal healthcare.

✍️ Key Achievements of PMSMA (as of June 2025):
👉 Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) reduced from 130 (2014–16) to 80 (2021–23). 6.19 crore pregnant women examined under PMSMA.
👉 78.27 lakh High-Risk Pregnancies identified under E-PMSMA.
👉 Strengthened public-private partnerships and community participation in maternal care.

📌 The scheme was officially launched on June 9, 2016, by PM Modi.

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare:-

👉 The current Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare is J.P. Nadda, representing the Kota constituency in Rajasthan. The Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare is Smt. Anupriya Patel, representing Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh

✍️ The extension of Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) till 2028, with an allocation of Rs 1.51 lakh crore.
▪️ Launched in August 2019, the JJM aimed to provide Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTC) to deliver 55 litres per capita per day (lpcd) drinking water to all rural households in the country by 2024.
▪️ It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, implemented by the Ministry of Jal Shakti.
▪️ The mission is implemented in partnership with States, with funding shared between the Centre and States.

📌 The current Union Minister of Jal Shakti is Chandrakant Raghunath Patil (C. R. Patil), who represents the Navsari constituency in Gujarat in the 18th Lok Sabha.

✅NABARD Launches RSVC-AMRIT Platform for Rural Innovation

👉On 15 August 2026, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India (GoI), Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood, launched the RSVC-AMRIT platform, developed by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) in collaboration with the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (OPSA), to strengthen rural innovation and technology transfer.

👉The launch event was  attended by Dr. Shaji Krishnan V., Chairman, NABARD, along with representatives from various stakeholder organisations

Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) Various Posts City Intimation Out

⭐ 1st September, 2026 ⭐

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✅SEBI Launches Two New Portals To Strengthen Cybersecurity Incident Reporting
In August 2026, Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), launched two new web portals named ‘SEBI Incident Reporting’  and  ‘Cyber Suraksha’, designed to strengthen cybersecurity and information sharing across the securities market ecosystem.
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✅About New Cybersecurity Portals:
SEBI Incident Reporting Portal: This new version of SEBI’s Incident Reporting portal is aimed to make cyber-incident reporting more structured, timely and actionable.
It is aligned with the Financial Stability Board (FSB)’s Format for Incident Reporting Exchange (FIRE), ensuring smooth exchange of cross-border incident reporting.

✅Cyber Suraksha Portal: It will serve as a central hub for sharing cybersecurity information, including cybersecurity knowledge, vulnerability warnings, policy measures and incident insights

✅YES Bank Launches ‘YES Essence’, Women-focused  Credit Card 

👉In August 2026, YES Bank Limited, launched ‘YES Essence Credit Card’, a women-focused lifestyle and rewards credit card designed to address the evolving lifestyle and healthcare needs of young professionals, salaried customers, and digital-savvy women.

👉About YES Essence Credit Card:
Eligibility Criteria: As per the bank, users who are aged between 21 and 60 years, with minimum net salary of Rs 30,000 per month are eligible for the scheme.

👉However, users/customers who hold any YES Bank Credit are not eligible to avail the benefits of the bank’s new credit card

✅Shabnam Sinha Appointed as Chairperson Of Airtel Payments Bank
 
👉In August 2026, Shabnam Sinha was appointed as the Chairperson of Airtel Payments Bank Limited for a three-year term effective from 1 October 2026, following formal approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

👉She succeeds Sunil Bharti Mittal, Founder and Chairman of Bharti Enterprises, who stepped down as the Non-Executive Chairman of Airtel Payments Bank on 30 September 2026 after completing his tenure since his appointment in 2019.

✅World Humanitarian Day 2026 – August 19
World Humanitarian Day (WHD) is observed globally on 19 August every year to honour humanitarian workers who provide life-saving assistance during crises and promote the protection of humanitarian personnel and International Humanitarian Law (IHL).

👉2026 Theme: “Honouring fallen humanitarians and calling for greater protection of health care”

👉Background:
UN Proclamation:  The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted Resolution A/RES/63/139 on 11 December 2008, designating 19 August as World Humanitarian Day.

👉First Observation:  The first World Humanitarian Day was observed on 19 August 2009. 

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✅INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
India-Thailand Joint Military Exercise MAITREE-XV Begins to Strengthen Defence Cooperation 
In August 2026, the Indian Army (IA) contingent departed for Thailand to participate in the 15th edition of the India-Thailand Joint Annual Military Exercise MAITREE-XV at Vibhavadi Rangsit Camp, Surat Thani, Thailand.

👉The exercise is being conducted from 18 August to 31 August 2026. The aim is to  enhance military cooperation, interoperability and joint operational capabilities between the two countries.

✅NSO Releases PLFS Monthly Bulletin July 2026: Unemployment Rate Drops to 5.1%

👉In August 2026, the National Statistics Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) released the Monthly Bulletin of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) for July 2026, reporting that India’s unemployment rate (UR) declined to 5.1% from 5.5% in June 2026, marking the 16th bulletin in the series (April 2025–July 2026).

👉Key Findings:
Indicators: The bulletin provides estimates of key labour market indicators: Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR), and Unemployment Rate (UR) based on the Current Weekly Status (CWS) approach.

👉UR: UR in CWS for persons of age 15 years and above in rural areas stood at 4.5% and was 6.7% in urban areas in July, 2026.

👉LFPR: The LFPR for persons of age 15 years and above in the country stood at 55.4% in July 2026, from 54.4% in June 2026.

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QUESTION:- With reference to the IRDAI (Policyholders' Education and Protection Fund) Regulations, 2026,
consider the following statements:
(1) The regulations operationalise the Policyholders' Education and Protection Fund (PEPF).
(2) The PEPF was established under Section 16A of the IRDA Act, 1999 through the Sabka Bima Sabki
Raksha (Amendment of Insurance Laws) Act, 2025.
(3) One objective of the PEPF is to facilitate tracing and settlement of unclaimed insurance amounts.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
[a] 1 only
[b] 2 and 3 only
[c] 1 and 3 only
[d] 1, 2 and 3
[e] 2 only
Correct Answer: [d] 1, 2 and 3
Solution: All three statements are correct. The 2026 regulations operationalise the PEPF, which was
created under Section 16A of the IRDA Act through the SBSR Act, 2025. The fund also aims to promote
awareness, strengthen grievance redressal and facilitate recovery of unclaimed insurance amounts.

DETAILED NEWS:-

👉 IRDAI has revised the regulatory framework for insurance intermediaries to improve transparency, accountability, traceability of insurance sales, and policyholder protection.

• The amendments apply to Corporate Agents, Insurance Brokers, Insurance Marketing Firms (IMFs), Web Aggregators, and Common Public Service Centre–Special Purpose Vehicles (CPSC-SPVs).

• Registration certificates issued to insurance intermediaries will now remain valid indefinitely, subject to payment of an annual non-refundable fee. Registration will continue unless it is suspended, cancelled by IRDAI, or voluntarily surrendered by the intermediary.

• Intermediaries will be required to pay an annual fee equal to the higher of ₹10,000 or 0.04% of the commission income and other receipts received from insurers during the previous financial year.

• The revised regulations also mandate additional disclosures, including the contact details of the branch or office involved in the sale. For policies sold through digital platforms without salesperson interaction, the contact details of the principal officer must also be disclosed. These requirements will come into effect from 1 January 2027.

• To strengthen professionalism, Principal Officers and insurance salespersons of Insurance Marketing Firms (IMFs) must undergo at least 25 hours of training every three years through an examination body recognised by IRDAI.

👉 IRDAI has simultaneously relaxed investment norms by permitting insurers to invest up to 20% in Operational Infrastructure Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) rated AA or above. It has also allowed combined investments in Private Limited Companies, Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs), and Venture Capital Funds (VCFs) up to 3% of investment assets for life
insurers and 5% for general insurers.

📌 To limit concentration risk, the overall exposure to promoter group entities has been capped at 5% of investment assets, while repo and government securities lending transactions have been limited to 25% of available securities or ₹10,000 crore, whichever is lower