Daily Current Affairs - 25-08-2026

International News

Jaishankar Meets Russian President Putin

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on August 24, 2026, to discuss India-Russia bilateral relations and global developments. During his visit, Jaishankar also met Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov and participated in the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IGC-TEC) meeting. He held discussions with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on strengthening bilateral ties. Russia has increased urea fertiliser supplies to India and agreed to continue additional supplies to meet the requirements of the Indian agricultural sector. India-Russia bilateral trade increased in 2026 after a decline in the previous year. Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to visit New Delhi for the BRICS Summit on September 12–13, 2026. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also expected to meet Putin at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit and the BRICS Summit in India.

National News

Bastar Tourism and Rural Bus Service in Chhattisgarh

Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, which was earlier affected by Naxal activities, is being developed as a tourism destination. Chhattisgarh became a separate State from Madhya Pradesh in 2000. Bastar is known for Chitrakote Falls, Teerathgarh Falls, Dholkal trekking site, caves, tribal culture and historical temples. The Ma Danteshwari Temple at Dantewada is considered one of the 51 Shakti Peethas. To improve public transport in Naxal-affected areas, the Chief Minister Rural Bus Service Scheme has been launched through government-private partnership. Under the scheme, 108 private buses are being operated across 14 districts of the Bastar region, connecting around 700 villages. Prakash, an IAS officer from Madurai serving as the Government Transport Secretary of Chhattisgarh, played a key role in implementing the bus service initiative. P. Prasanna, an IAS officer from Kallakurichi and Secretary to the Governor of Chhattisgarh, is associated with the promotion of tourism in the Bastar region.

States’ News

People’s Plan Campaign 2.0 in Kerala

Kerala officially launched the People’s Plan Campaign (PPC) on August 17, 1996 to strengthen participatory planning and decentralisation of governance through local self-government institutions. The campaign was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi’s Gram Swaraj concept and supported by the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments, the Kerala Panchayati Raj Act and the Kerala Municipality Act. Under the campaign, 35%-40% of the Plan outlay was devolved to local governments, while Grama Sabhas and urban ward assemblies were organised across Kerala. The Kudumbashree programme emerged as an important outcome associated with decentralised development. The 30th anniversary of the PPC was observed in Thiruvananthapuram on August 16, 2026, with discussions on People’s Plan Campaign 2.0, including student internships with local bodies and technology-based coordination through an online portal. Former Kerala Finance Minister and former member of the Kerala State Planning Board, T.M. Thomas Isaac, was associated with the PPC. The book People’s Planning – Kerala, Local Democracy and Development was written by T.M. Thomas Isaac and Richard W. Franke. The proposed 2.0 version is expected to address issues including declining participation in Grama Sabhas, urbanisation, unemployment, waste management, gender justice, climate change, limited revenue sources and an ageing population.

World Tamil Conference in Puducherry

Puducherry Chief Minister N. Rangasamy announced that a World Tamil Conference will be conducted in Puducherry, with preparatory work underway. The 2026-27 Puducherry Budget of ₹14,300 crore was presented by N. Rangasamy in the Legislative Assembly. A Tamil Chair for Etymological Research will be established at Pondicherry University to promote research on the linguistic heritage of Tamil. An allocation of ₹10.20 crore has been made for Research and Development (R&D) from the current financial year. The milk procurement price will be increased to ₹41 per litre, based on milk quality, along with an incentive. Marriage assistance for women below the poverty line will be increased from ₹35,000 to ₹75,000; assistance for the marriage of destitute women and daughters of widows will be increased from ₹40,000 to ₹1 lakh; and assistance for widow remarriage will be increased from ₹75,000 to ₹1 lakh. Marriage assistance for poor Adi Dravidar and Scheduled Tribe women will be increased from ₹1 lakh to ₹1.25 lakh. The 2026-27 Puducherry Budget is a tax-free budget, with ₹12,115 crore allocated for revenue expenditure and ₹2,185 crore for capital expenditure.

Tamil Nadu News

TN-ARIVU Curriculum to Be Introduced in 2027-28

Tamil Nadu School Education Minister Rajmohan announced the introduction of the TN-Analytical Thinking, Reasoning, Innovation, Venture and Entrepreneurship, Upskilling (TN-ARIVU) curriculum with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and emerging technologies from the 2027-28 academic year. The curriculum will have ARIVU Foundation for Classes I-V, ARIVU Discovery for Classes VI-VIII, and ARIVU Edge for Classes IX-XII. The School Education Department announced 31 initiatives with a total estimated outlay of ₹44,527 crore. The Mathichudar Scheme will introduce competency-based assessment for Classes VI-XII in 2026-27 at a cost of ₹18.01 crore. The Vetripathai Scheme will provide coaching, mock tests and educational guidance for students of 172 government higher secondary schools preparing for national-level entrance examinations, with an allocation of ₹22.36 crore. Under the PLAY initiative, students will have a daily period for sports, arts and co-curricular activities. 50 government high and higher secondary schools will be developed as Sports Plus schools at a cost of ₹2.34 crore. Chess and traditional games coaching will be introduced in 6,980 government middle schools at a cost of ₹20.17 lakh. Sports uniforms will be provided to 23.4 lakh students of Classes IX-XII in government and government-aided schools at a cost of ₹81.89 crore.

Thaimaman Thanga Mothiram Scheme

Tamil Nadu will implement the Thaimaman Thanga Mothiram Thittam to provide a one-gram gold ring to every eligible baby born in government health institutions. 107 high-load Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (CEmONC) centres will be used for the implementation of the scheme. Vault-like safety enclosures will be established at these centres to store the gold rings securely. The State Health Department has directed the Public Works Department (PWD) to complete the required safety arrangements by September 5, ahead of the scheme’s proposed launch on September 15, 2026. The security arrangements include steel-grill enclosures, floor- and wall-anchored storage cupboards and lockable gates.

Bypolls Deferred in Five Tamil Nadu Constituencies

The Election Commission of India (ECI) informed the Madras High Court that by-elections would not be notified for Tiruchi East, Perundurai, Ambasamudram, Viralimalai and Karur Assembly constituencies until the pending election petitions are disposed of. Election petitions have been filed in all five constituencies, with petitioners seeking to be declared elected. The ECI relied on the Supreme Court’s 1967 Sanjeevayya case and Sections 84 and 151-A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which were considered together in determining the availability of a seat for a by-election when an election claim is pending. The vacancies arose after C. Joseph Vijay, S. Jeyakumar and E. Subaya, who were elected in May 2026, resigned from their Assembly seats. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan extended the interim stay on notifying the by-elections and adjourned the case to September 8, 2026.

Annapoorani Super Six LPG Cylinder Scheme

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay announced the Annapoorani Super Six Scheme, under which eligible households will receive three free LPG cooking gas cylinders every year. The scheme will be implemented from January 2027, coinciding with the Pongal festival, and is expected to benefit approximately 1,30,16,104 families. Around ₹4,000 crore will be allocated annually for the scheme. The LPG subsidy amount will be credited directly to the beneficiaries’ bank accounts after verification of cylinder purchases through oil companies. The scheme will cover economically weaker families with an annual income of up to ₹2 lakh, marginal and small farmer families, and families of persons with disabilities. The announcement was made under Rule 110 of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on August 24, 2026. Similar free LPG cylinder schemes are implemented in Andhra Pradesh (Deepam), Uttar Pradesh (PM Ujjwala Scheme), Maharashtra (Chief Minister’s Annapoorna Yojana) and Uttarakhand (Antyodaya Scheme).

Vetri Payanam Free Bus Travel Scheme

The Vetri Payanam Scheme will be implemented in Tamil Nadu from October 2, 2026 (Gandhi Jayanti) to expand free bus travel for women. Under the expanded scheme, women will be allowed free travel in ordinary, Express, LSS (Limited Stop Service), Deluxe, suburban and hill-area government buses, including government mini-buses. The scheme will facilitate inter-district travel and will have no income ceiling or limit on the number of trips. Transwomen and transmen and other persons belonging to the third gender will also be eligible for the benefit. The scheme is expected to cost approximately ₹6,000 crore annually and will be gradually extended to other services.

Rabies-Free Tamil Nadu Scheme

Tamil Nadu has launched the ‘Rabies-Free Tamil Nadu’ Scheme with an allocation of ₹107 crore to control stray dogs and prevent rabies, with surgery centres to be established in corporations, municipalities and town panchayats. Under the Chief Minister’s Integrated Urban Development Mission, ₹25 crore will be allocated for preparing project reports on safe drinking water and roads. A feasibility study will be undertaken for 24-hour drinking water supply in 42 wards of Coimbatore, while projects using the Kuzhithurai River and Thamirabarani River as water sources will cover Kanyakumari Municipality, 17 town panchayats and 286 habitations in five unions, and Srivilliputhur, two municipalities and seven town panchayats in Tenkasi district, respectively. Sewerage project reports will be prepared for unserved areas of Coimbatore, Sivakasi and Tiruchendur; ₹102 crore will be allocated for modern sewerage maintenance machinery, ₹30 crore for treatment plants in 15 town panchayats, and ₹262 crore for 5,050 garbage collection vehicles. One lakh LED streetlights will be installed in corporations and municipalities, along with a real-time monitoring centre for sewerage and solid waste management. ₹118 crore will be allocated for stormwater drainage in Cuddalore and Thoothukudi Corporations and Kanyakumari and Nagapattinam Municipalities, while ₹24 crore will be provided for rainwater absorption parks in Dindigul, Sivakasi, Karaikudi and Pudukkottai Corporations. Multi-level parking facilities will be established in Kanyakumari at ₹40 crore and Polpettai, Thoothukudi, at ₹90 crore, while an integrated commercial complex will be developed in Thanjavur at ₹130 crore. Sports infrastructure will be developed in Thanjavur, Dindigul and Sivakasi Corporations at ₹25 crore, with 38 small sports grounds in other corporations at ₹10 crore. New or renovated bus stands will be developed in 15 town panchayats at ₹50 crore, modern gas crematoriums in 10 town panchayats at ₹15 crore, and 30 water bodies across Tamil Nadu will be restored at ₹20 crore.

amil Scholars’ Works Nationalised; Bharathiraja Memorial Announced

Tamil Nadu Government will nationalise the works of five Tamil scholars in 2026: Poet K. Jeevabharathi, Professor Raj Gowthaman, Saranabaskaran alias T.M.M. Ahmed, Sa. Kandasamy, and T.M. Peer Mohammed. So far, the works of 196 Tamil scholars have been nationalised, with ₹16.12 crore paid as royalty. An allocation of ₹50.75 lakh has been made for the nationalisation of the five scholars’ works. The Inaiya Tamil Semmal Award will be presented to two scholars contributing to the development of Tamil through digital platforms, with a ₹25,000 cash prize and citation for each awardee. An additional ₹5.75 crore will be provided for establishing a Tamil Chair at the University of Houston, Texas, USA. At Tamil University, Thanjavur, annual national and international seminars will be conducted for PhD researchers in five faculties, with ₹15 lakh allocated, and ₹2 lakh will be provided for a half-yearly research journal on performing arts. A memorial with a statue for film director Bharathiraja will be constructed in Theni at a cost of ₹2.50 crore. An integrated complex with a library will also be established in Chennai at a cost of ₹5 crore to commemorate Velu Nachiyar, Periyar E.V.R., Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Kamarajar and Anjalai Ammal.