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Lionel Messi announced his retirement from international football on 31 August 2026, finishing as Argentina's record scorer with 125 goals in 207 matches and an eight-time Ballon d'Or winner.
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India defeated Thailand by 94 runs in the Women's Asia Cup 2026 at Dubai International Stadium; Shafali Verma scored 64 off 36 balls and Deepti Sharma took 3 wickets for 1 run.
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England beat Pakistan by 194 runs in the second Test at Lord's on 31 August 2026 to take a 2-0 series lead; Ollie Robinson took match figures of 8-35.
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Unseeded Argentine Mariano Navone stunned Novak Djokovic in the US Open first round on 30 August 2026, Djokovic's first opening-round Grand Slam defeat since the 2006 Australian Open.
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The US Open 2026 began with a record purse of USD 108 million, the largest in tennis history, in a 15-day format at Flushing Meadows.
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Indian table tennis player Ankur Bhattacharjee won his maiden WTT men's singles title at the WTT Feeder Olomouc in Czechia, defeating third seed Deni Kozul 3-1; he also won men's doubles gold with Akash Pal.
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India's Abhay Singh won the men's singles title at the Tuanku Muhriz Trophy 2026 in Seremban, Malaysia, defeating Henry Leung 3-2 in the final; it was his third title and 13th PSA Tour crown.
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The International Cricket Council (ICC) took away Sri Lanka's hosting rights for the inaugural 2027 Women's Champions Trophy due to government interference in the administration of Sri Lanka Cricket.
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Uzbekistan conferred its highest state honour, the Order of Oliy Darajali Do'stlik, on Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Tashkent visit; India and Uzbekistan elevated their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and agreed on a framework for long-term uranium supplies.
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The Government notified the Semicon 2.0 Scheme with an outlay of ₹1.27 lakh crore and six pillars to support the semiconductor manufacturing and design ecosystem; India trained 85,000 semiconductor engineers in four years and students from Tier-II/III cities designed over 250 chips.
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Vice President C.P. Radhakrishnan released 'Mission Rangeen Machhli 2031', the Strategic Action Plan for Ornamental Fisheries Development in Lakshadweep, at Agatti on 31 August 2026.
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Bihar and Jharkhand signed an MoU on sharing Sone River water in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, resolving a nearly 25-year-old water dispute; it is the fourth inter-state water agreement this year.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ex-gratia of ₹2 lakh for the deceased and ₹50,000 for the injured in the Kaushambi firecracker factory mishap from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF).
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The Department of Social Justice and Empowerment will sign an MoU with Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission for the 'Creating Intergenerational Bonding' initiative across 200 pilot schools.
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The Ministry of Jal Shakti will host the first Departmental Summit on 1-2 September 2026 at Sushma Swaraj Bhawan, New Delhi, as part of Prime Minister Modi's vision of cooperative federalism.
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The Nepalganj Road-Nanpara-Bahraich rail section (56.15 km) was inaugurated after gauge conversion and electrification at a cost of approximately ₹730 crore.
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INS Nipun, the second Diving Support Vessel of the Nistar Class, was commissioned into the Indian Navy at Naval Dockyard, Mumbai on 31 August 2026; it was indigenously designed and constructed by Hindustan Shipyard Limited, Visakhapatnam.
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NASA launched the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center; the approximately USD 4 billion mission will study dark energy and exoplanets from Lagrange Point 2.
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Defence Public Sector Undertakings recorded a total turnover of ₹1.29 lakh crore and Profit After Tax of ₹23,136 crore in FY 2025-26; DPSU exports grew by 151.2% over FY 2024-25.
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The annual US-Indonesia joint military exercise 'Super Garuda Shield' began on 31 August 2026 with over 4,700 personnel from 14 countries, including Japan, South Korea, Australia and Canada, and will run until 11 September.
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The 26th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit was held in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic on 31 August 2026, hosted by Kyrgyz President Sadyr Zhaparov; theme was '25 Years of the SCO: Together Towards Sustainable Peace, Development and Prosperity'.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the 26th SCO Summit in Bishkek on 31 August 2026 and reviewed the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership; the 18th BRICS Summit will be held in India on 12-13 September 2026.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a bilateral meeting with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the SCO Summit in Bishkek on 31 August 2026, discussed the West Asia conflict and invited him to the 18th BRICS Summit.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Bishkek on the sidelines of the 26th SCO Summit; it was their first meeting after the June 2026 Armenian general elections.
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The 27th India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic and Cultural matters was held in Moscow on 24 August 2026.
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India rejected the award concerning Interim Measures and Status of the Indus Waters Treaty issued by the 'illegally constituted' Court of Arbitration on 31 August 2026, saying the treaty remains in abeyance.
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NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL) signed an agreement with Uzbekistan's National Interbank Processing Centre to enable UPI payments across Uzbekistan via the UZQR code on 30 August 2026; UPI merchant payments are now accepted in ten countries.
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The 8th India-Brazil Trade Monitoring Mechanism Meeting was held in Brasília; India and Brazil reaffirmed the target of expanding bilateral trade to USD 30 billion by 2030.
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The 4th Indo-German Environment Forum, themed 'Together For More Resilience', will be co-chaired by Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav and German Minister Carsten Schneider in New Delhi on 1 September 2026.
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Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever is scheduled to visit India from 2 to 4 September 2026, his first visit since taking office in February 2025; Belgian Defence Minister Theo Francken will accompany him.
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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman arrived in Asheville, North Carolina on 31 August 2026 for the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors' Meeting hosted by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
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India's real GDP grew by 7.8% in Q1 FY 2026-27 to ₹81.36 lakh crore; real GVA grew 8.2%, and nominal GDP growth was 10.3%.
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According to AISHE, India's universities increased from 760 in 2014-15 to 1,289 in 2023-24, and the Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education improved from 23.7% to 30%; NEP 2020 targets 50% by 2035.
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DARPG's CPGRAMS report for July 2026 shows 83,324 grievances were redressed for States/UTs with Uttar Pradesh highest at 24,694; central ministries redressed 2,16,827 grievances, crossing 1 lakh monthly disposals for the 49th consecutive month.
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MoSPI's Index of Services Production for June 2026 recorded Real Estate growth at 24.7%, the highest among 19 sub-sectors, while air transport was the only sub-sector to contract (6%).
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The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation released the 'National Accounts Statistics – 2026' publication with base year 2022-23.
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The National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS) was approved by the Union Cabinet in 2018 with an outlay of ₹3,660 crore for nine years.
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Scientists from JNCASR, University of Sydney and IISc demonstrated a Seebeck coefficient in scandium nitride thin films nearly 1,000 times larger than textbook limits, enabling ultrasensitive temperature sensing.
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The Himalayan glacier collapse disaster in Nepal had killed over 900 people and left nearly 5,000 missing by 31 August 2026; 158 Indians were rescued, and India deployed forensic and tunnel rescue teams to assist Nepal.
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C-DOT unveiled 14 indigenous quantum products, including Q-AKSHAY CD and Q-MAHASETU, in Quantum Key Distribution and Post-Quantum Cryptography at its 43rd Foundation Day in New Delhi.
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Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh inaugurated the first-of-its-kind 'Green Forge' Complex at BRIC-NABI Mohali for controlled simulation and experimentation of genetically modified crops.
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The Department of Telecommunications warned that IMEI tampering is punishable under the Telecommunications Act, 2023 with imprisonment up to 3 years and fine up to ₹50 lakh.
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More than 7.5 crore income tax returns were filed for assessment year 2026-27 by 31 August 2026, the deadline for non-audit business or professional income tax returns; belated returns can be filed until 31 December 2026.
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The Government of India received ₹13,06,709 crore (35.8% of BE 2026-27) up to July 2026; total expenditure was ₹17,61,853 crore (32.9% of BE).
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India's services exports in July 2026 were USD 38,253 million, registering 13.4% year-on-year growth; services imports were USD 20,606 million, registering 19.1% growth.
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The National Stock Exchange (NSE) recorded a Closing Auction Session (CAS) turnover of ₹39,718 crore with a market share of 99.9% on 31 August 2026, the first index rebalancing day after CAS went live; CAS accounted for 22% of NSE's total cash market turnover.
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Petronet LNG and QatarEnergy have a 20-year LNG agreement securing over 7.5 million tonnes of LNG annually from 2028 to 2048.
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The Supreme Court sought the Centre's response on whether the retail sale of acid should be completely banned or brought under stricter regulation and directed the Centre, all states and UTs to formulate rehabilitation measures for acid attack victims within six weeks.
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The Department of Fertilizers will observe 'Swachhata Pakhwada-2026' from 1 to 15 September 2026 with special focus on Digital Cleanliness and Record Management.
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The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence seized over 42 kg of foreign-origin gold worth more than ₹65 crore and arrested 25 persons, including 5 foreign nationals, in a nationwide crackdown on gold smuggling.
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The 11th Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit will begin on 10 January 2027 in Gandhinagar with the theme 'Viksit Gujarat – Shaping Global Future'.
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The sixth World Nomad Games began in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on 31 August 2026 and will run until 6 September 2026; India sent an 87-member contingent including 73 sportspersons.
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Tripura State Election Commission announced that elections to the TTAADC Village Committees will be held on 28 September 2026; counting will take place on 5 October, covering 587 village committees and 4,597 seats.
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Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu inaugurated the first phase of the Veligonda Irrigation Project, completed at a cost of ₹7,983 crore; it will store 10.70 TMC of Krishna River water and irrigate 1.19 lakh acres.
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Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay announced a 1,600 MW supercritical thermal power station at Tuticorin under PPP at a cost of ₹20,800 crore and hiked milk procurement price to ₹44 per litre.
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SAMAVESH UTSAV for De-notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic (DNT) communities was organized by DWBDNC in New Delhi; the SEED scheme is being implemented in eight states.
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Under Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0, Depalpur achieved Zero Legacy Waste by remediating 1,250 tonnes of legacy waste with Indore's support under the Swachh Shehar Jodi initiative.
