National Current Affairs 2026 for Government Exams

Birkbeck, University of London received the Letter of Approval from the University Grants Commission to set up and run a campus in Bengaluru, Karnataka, under the UGC's 2023 regulations for Foreign Higher Educational Institutions. The approval is the final regulatory step, allowing admissions and academic operations to begin. Located at Sattva Tech Park, the campus will offer undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in business, with degrees awarded by the University of London under Birkbeck's academic oversight at up to 60% lower cost than studying in the UK. The Education Centre of Australia provides funding and operational support. The move supports NEP 2020 and strengthens India–UK education ties.

The Rangpur-Sivasagar Historic Ensemble of Assam, the political and ceremonial centre of the Ahom kingdom, has been added to India's Tentative List of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, with India's Permanent Delegation to UNESCO submitting the nomination on 19 June 2026 under criteria (iii) and (iv). The ensemble, in present-day Sivasagar district, includes the Rang Ghar - described as Asia's oldest surviving amphitheatre - the Talatal Ghar, temples, roads, bridges and the Joysagar, Gaurisagar and Sivasagar tanks. It complements the Charaideo Moidams, inscribed by UNESCO in 2024: Charaideo is where Ahom rulers rest, Rangpur-Sivasagar where they ruled.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), under the Ministry of Culture, has declared the Gollala Gudi temple at Palampet village, Mulugu district, Telangana, a Monument of National Importance through notification S.O. 4802(E) under the AMASR Act, 1958, taking ASI-protected sites in Telangana to 10. The Kakatiya-era shrine stands south-west of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Kakatiya Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple, inscribed in 2021. It is a *Trikutalaya* — an east-facing pillared mandapa with three garbhagrihas, the central one housing a Shiva Lingam — distinguished by carved rows of hamsas, jali work on the entablature and doorways, and two detached shrines with dvarapala figures.

Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal (Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways) chaired the inaugural edition of Sagar Samvad, organised by the National Shipping Board (NSB) at the Civil Services Officers Institute, New Delhi. The day-long event carried the theme "Charting the Roadmap Towards Maritime India Vision 2030 and Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047". Sonowal launched the NSB's first official website and outlined a five-point roadmap covering fiscal reforms, assured cargo support, competitive financing, regulatory simplification and ease of doing business, alongside a target to add 100 new vessels to India's merchant fleet over five years.

The Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC), chaired by Anuradha Thakur, Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs, gave in-principle approval in August 2026 to the third round of airport privatisation, covering 11 airports grouped into five bundles. The airports are Amritsar and Kangra; Varanasi, Gaya and Kushinagar; Bhubaneswar and Hubballi; Raipur and Aurangabad; and Tiruchirappalli and Tirupati. Private concessionaires are expected to invest about Rs 8,622 crore, and the airports will be leased under the Public Private Partnership model for a 50-year concession period. Concessionaires must retain 60% of Airports Authority of India (AAI) employees for a maximum of three years.

Jindal Steel Limited signed an MoU with the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IITH) to set up a first-of-its-kind Jindal Steel Centre of Excellence at the IITH campus at Kandi, Sangareddy district, Telangana, focused on high-strength, value-added and value-engineered steel products. The Centre will run application development, technical demonstrations and training, and work with government and EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) stakeholders to widen adoption of stronger, lighter and more efficient steel. It aims to cut material usage and improve efficiency across infrastructure, engineering and strategic industrial sectors, aligning with the indigenous manufacturing goals of Viksit Bharat 2047.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Advanced Mother and Child Centre (AMCC) and the Advanced Neurosciences Centre (ANC) at PGIMER, Chandigarh on 17 July 2026, as part of healthcare projects worth about ₹1,200 crore. The ₹505-crore AMCC has 300 beds, advanced NICUs and modular OTs, and can manage over 6,000 high-risk deliveries a year. The ANC is a 300-bed facility uniting neurology, neurosurgery, neuroradiology and neurocritical care. Modi also laid the foundation stone for a 150-bed Critical Care Hospital Block.