24 August 2026 — Current Affairs Quiz

Explanation

The Government of India designated 23 August as National Space Day to mark the soft landing of the Chandrayaan-3 Vikram lander near the Moon's south polar region on 23 August 2023, making India the fourth nation to soft-land on the Moon and the first near its south pole. The third edition, in 2026, carried the theme 'Towards Viksit Bharat: Innovating, Collaborating and Aspiring to Global Space Leadership', with the national event hosted by the Space Applications Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad.

Explanation

The first AK-203 'Sher' assault rifle built entirely from Indian components and input materials was successfully test-fired, including burst firing, at the Korwa facility of Indo-Russian Rifles Private Limited (IRRPL) in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh, in August 2026. IRRPL is a 2019 India-Russia joint venture. Under a contract worth about Rs 5,200 crore it is to supply 6,01,427 rifles. Army user trials are due in September 2026. The AK-203 replaces the ageing INSAS rifle.

Explanation

On 20 August 2026 in New Delhi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi signed a Memorandum of Arrangement on Maritime Security Cooperation after bilateral talks. It creates a framework for the Indian Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force to cooperate on Maritime Domain Awareness information sharing, Search and Rescue, and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief, under the Japan-India Special Strategic and Global Partnership.

Explanation

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports announced the National Sports Awards 2025 on 18 August 2026. Seventeen sportspersons received the Arjuna Award in the regular category, including Tejaswin Shankar, Vidit Gujarathi, Divya Deshmukh, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand. Footballer I. Arumainayagam got the Arjuna Award (Lifetime). Five coaches received the Dronacharya Award and the Army Paralympic Node, Pune, the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar. No Khel Ratna was named; 2024 had four.