DAILY GK 15-16 AUG 2026
·
Natarajan Chandrasekaran stepped down as the Executive Chairman
of Tata Sons Private Limited, upon the completion of
his current term on February 20, 2027.
·
He was appointed
as the Chairman of Tata Sons in February 2017 following the ouster of Cyrus
Mistry and reappointed in 2022
·
Tata Sons Founded in 1868, Tata Sons was incorporated in 1917 and is headquartered in
Mumbai
2. PRESIDENT
OF ZAMBIA
·
Hakainde Hichilema, leader
of the United Party for National Development (UPND), was re-elected as
the President of the Republic of Zambia for a second
consecutive five-year term (2026–2031)
·
Hakainde Hichilema secured 2,965,326 votes
(approximately 61.4% vote share), defeating the main opposition
challenger Brian Mundubile, who received 1,856,217
votes (approximately 38.4% vote share) out of nearly 5 million votes cast.
3. HONORARY
ADVISOR TO BRICS CCI
·
Dr. Eluri Sreedhar was
appointed as an Honorary Advisor to the Brazil, Russia, India, China, South
Africa Chamber of Commerce &
Industry (BRICS CCI), with the appointment letter
presented by Sameep Shastri, Chairman of BRICS CCI.
·
BRICS
CCI also appointed Yogesh Sharma as National
Advisor.
·
BRICS CCI Established in 2012 and
headquartered in New Delhi
·
BRICS CCI is an apex parent organisation registered under the Societies
Registration Act, 1860 and empanelled with National Institution for
Transforming India (NITI Aayog), Government of India (GoI).
4. 80TH
INDEPENDENCE DAY
·
The Government of India celebrated
the 80th Independence Day at the Red Fort in New
Delhi
·
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed
the nation and delivered his 13th consecutive I-Day speech, becoming the
2nd Indian PM after Pandit (Pt.) Jawahar Lal Nehru, who delivered 17 I-Day
addresses in a row.
·
This
year India’s Independence Day celebrations featured
dual themes which included commemoration of the 150 years of
the national song “Vande Mataram” and ‘Yuva Shakti-Leading
the Journey to Viksit Bharat@ 2047’.
·
The Guard of Honour contingent for PM was
commanded by Lieutenant (Lt.) Colonel
Arjun Singh, while Major Aditya Sharma, commanded the IA contingent in PM’s
Guard of Honour.
·
Captain Sonia Singh
Chauhan, a commissioned officer of the Indian Army
(IA) assisted PM Modi in hoisting the
national flag, which was synchronized with a 21-gun salute from 1721
Field Battery (Ceremonial) using indigenous 105
millimeter (mm) Light Field Guns.
·
For the 1st time in 8 decades of India’s history of Independence
Day celebrations, the national song Vande
Mataram was played at the Red Fort by the Army band
Highlights:
·
SAPTA Dhara: PM Modi unveiled ‘Shakti Ki
Saptadhara’, a 7-pronged development strategy covering 7
key sectors: manufacturing, agriculture and food production,
technology and innovation, infrastructure and connectivity, defence, the green
and blue economy, and Soft Power that would help India in realising its
nation target of becoming Viksit Bharat
by 2047.
·
PM Modi
announced a series of major initiatives including: 1 crore young Indians would be trained in AI skills over the next
one year; a nationwide talent hunt to
identify sporting talent among children aged between five and 15 years; a free
online coaching network for competitive examinations; creation of a vibrant Civil Defence network to deal with
modern security challenges; a new target of creating six crore Lakhpati Didis; target of achieving 100 Giga-Watt (GW) of nuclear
power capacity by 2047 and to
start five new nuclear reactors
within the current decade.
·
A total
of 1,057 personnel from Police, Fire, Home Guard
& Civil Defence, and Correctional Services were awarded Gallantry and Service Medals, including 301 Medals of
Gallantry (GMs), 92 President’s Medals for Distinguished Service and 664 Medals
for Meritorious Service.
5. BRICS
COMPETITION AUTHORITIES MEETING
·
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) under
India’s BRICS Chairship 2026, hosted the Meeting of Heads of
BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India and China) Competition Authorities
in Udaipur, Rajasthan
·
The CCI
presented a collaborative BRICS study titled “Emerging Competition Landscape in the
Renewable Energy Sector in BRICS”
·
India hosted the 10th BRICS Industry Ministers’ Meeting in Jaipur, Rajasthan,
focusing on BRICS Partnership on New Industrial Revolution (PartNIR)
initiatives, with the Joint Declaration adopted as a key outcome.
·
India hosted the 13th BRICS Education Ministers’ Meeting and 3rd BRICS Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM)
under the chairmanship of Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, Ministry of Education
(MoE), in Bhubaneswar, Odisha
·
In August 2026, the Ministry of Information
and Broadcasting (MIB), through the National Film Development Corporation
(NFDC), hosted BRICS WAVES Bazaar 2026
in Mumbai, featuring the India–Russia
co-production ‘KOROVA’, launch of the BRICS Independent
Producers Alliance (BIPA), and several agreements.
·
16th
BRICS Trade Ministers’ Meeting held in Jaipur, Rajasthan
6. JAL JEEVAN MISSION
COMPLETES 7 YEARS
·
The Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM)
launched by the Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS) completed seven
years of implementation, with
rural tap-water coverage rising to over 15.91 crore (Cr) households.
·
More
than 2 lakh villages across the country have now
been declared as ‘Har Ghar Jal’ certified under the JJM.
·
The
JJM launched by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on 15 August 2019 aims to provide Functional Household Tap Connection (FHTC)
to every rural household by 2024,
targeting 55 litres per person per day.
·
The mission is implemented by the Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS),
specifically under the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation(DDWS).
·
It is a Centrally Sponsored
Scheme (CSS). The Funding Pattern between Central and states
are: 90:10 for Himalayan and North-East (NE)
states,100% by central government for Union Territories (UTs),50:50 for
other states.
7. INCENTIVE
SCHEME FOR PROMOTION OF DOMESTIC PNG CONNECTIONS
·
The Government of India (GoI)
approved the Incentive Scheme for
Promotion of Domestic Piped Natural Gas (PNG) Connections,
effective from 1 September 2026, to accelerate the expansion of household PNG connections and
promote access to clean, safe, and affordable cooking fuel across the country.
·
It aims
to encourage City Gas Distribution (CGD)
companies to convert unbilled PNG
connections into active connections and expand PNG networks to new areas.
·
Currently,
India has 1.74 crore domestic PNG connections.
·
Eligible CGD entities will receive an
additional allocation
of 200 Standard Cubic Metres (SCM)
of lower-priced domestically produced Administered Pricing Mechanism (APM)
gas for every incremental billed domestic PNG connection.
