India’s rice exports to 26 priority markets reached ₹23,476 crore and 4.79 million tonnes between November 2025 and March 2026. The Indian Rice Exporters Federation analysed the data on 26 August 2026 and compared the five-month period with the corresponding three-year average.
The Indian Coast Guard and the Vietnam Coast Guard held their 7th High-Level Meeting at the Coast Guard Regional Headquarters in Chennai on 25 August 2026. The meeting was held under the 2015 Memorandum of Understanding on Coast Guard Cooperation and was co-chaired by Indian Coast Guard Director General Paramesh Sivamani and Vietnam Coast Guard Vice Commandant Major General Luong Dinh Hung.
The Indian Navy monitored the transit of merchant vessels through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait in August 2026 amid security risks to commercial shipping in the Red Sea corridor. The operation involved escort and surveillance duties for Indian-flagged and foreign-flagged vessels in the Gulf of Aden and adjacent waters.
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) conducted a high-altitude trial of the indigenous Military Combat Parachute System (MCPS) at the Nyoma-Mudh Drop Zone in Ladakh’s Leh district on 26 August 2026. The trial jump took place from 22,000 feet above mean sea level in temperatures of minus 15 degrees Celsius.
India and Seychelles held a bilateral meeting in New Delhi on 25 August 2026 to expand cooperation in fisheries, aquaculture, and the blue economy. The talks were led by Dr. Abhilaksh Likhi, Secretary of the Department of Fisheries, and H.E. Mr. Wallace Cosgrow, Seychelles’ Minister of Fisheries, Agriculture and Blue Economy.
Kerala was officially renamed Keralam through The Kerala (Alteration of Name) Act, 2026, which altered the State’s entry in the First Schedule of the Indian Constitution. The change followed the constitutional procedure under Article 3, which governs the formation of new States and the alteration of names and areas of existing States.
India plans to add 100 new vessels to its merchant fleet over the next five years to reduce dependence on foreign shipping lines for carrying critical cargo such as crude oil, gas, coal and urea. The announcement was made on 25 August 2026 at the inaugural Sagar Samvad conference in New Delhi, which was organised by the National Shipping Board to discuss policy directions for Maritime India Vision 2030 and Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047.
Education reform expert called for Public Examination Reform 2.0 (PER 2.0), shifting India from reactive post-breach measures to systemic exam security amid recurring irregularities in major national and State examinations.
Recent conflicts in Ukraine and Iran show that air power alone cannot secure decisive victory without integrated joint warfighting, intensifying India’s debate over theatre commands and centralized IAF operational control, particularly against China along the LAC.
Union Minister for Rural Development launched Mission Samriddh Gaon at Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi, rolling out its initial pilot phase in two blocks of Madhya Pradesh.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has introduced the IT Resilience Index (ITRI), a pioneering quantitative technology health scorecard for Market Infrastructure Institutions (MIIs).
