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Current Affairs 18th August 2026
Biosphere Reserves of India
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Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve — Tamil Nadu, Kerala & Karnataka
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Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve — Uttarakhand
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Nokrek Biosphere Reserve — Meghalaya
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Pachmarhi Biosphere Reserve — Madhya Pradesh
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Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve — West Bengal
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Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve — Andaman & Nicobar Islands
1. Airtel Payments Bank names Shabnam Sinha as new Chairperson
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She will succeed Sunil Bharti Mittal, the outgoing non-executive Chairperson.
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Her appointment is for a three-year term.
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She has experience with the World Bank and other international development institutions.
2. Uttar Pradesh to Train ‘Gau Mitras’ for Cow Protection
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The Uttar Pradesh Government has announced plans to train around 10,000 ‘Gau Mitras’ (Friends of Cows) across the state.
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The initiative aims to involve the younger generation, particularly Gen Z, in cow protection and cow-care activities.
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Shyam Bihari Gupta, Chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Go Seva Commission, highlighted the initiative's focus on linking cow protection with rural prosperity and employment.
3. Parichha Dam in Jhansi recognised as World Heritage Irrigation Structure
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Parichha Dam/Weir is located in Jhansi district, Uttar Pradesh.
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The recognition is given under the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) heritage programme.
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The structure is associated with the Betwa River irrigation system.
4. NABARD launches RSVC-AMRIT Platform for Rural Innovation
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RSVC-AMRIT was launched by Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India.
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The platform was developed by NABARD in collaboration with the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (OPSA).
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RSVC stands for RuTAGe Smart Village Centre. AMRIT is the digital backbone of the RSVC ecosystem.
5. General Dhiraj Seth gets Nepal’s Honorary General Rank
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General Dhiraj Seth, Chief of the Indian Army, has been conferred the Honorary Rank of General of the Nepal Army.
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The honour was conferred by Nepal President Ramchandra Paudel.
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The investiture ceremony was held at Sheetal Niwas in Kathmandu.
6. IISc releases SraVaani Voice AI Model
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The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru has developed SraVaani 1.0, a multilingual speech-recognition AI model.
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SraVaani supports 65 Indian languages and dialects.
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It is designed to improve automatic speech recognition (ASR) for India's diverse linguistic landscape.
7. Magnus Carlsen wins Esports World Cup Chess Title for second consecutive year
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Magnus Carlsen of Norway won the Chess title at the Esports World Cup 2026.
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He defeated Belarusian Grandmaster Denis Lazavik in the final.
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His successful title defence made him the first player to win the EWC chess title in two consecutive editions.
8. Vignesh Vermula and Saranya Devi win Asian Junior Blitz titles for India
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Vignesh Advaith Vermula won the Asian Junior Open Blitz Championship 2026 for India and Saranya Devi Narahari won the Asian Junior Girls Blitz Championship 2026 for India.
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Vignesh Vermula belongs to Telangana and Saranya Devi Narahari belongs to Andhra Pradesh.
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Both players won gold medals for India.
WHAT HAPPENED TODAY
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Subhas Chandra Bose Death Anniversary 2026 is observed on August 18,popularly known as Netaji, was a prominent leader of India’s freedom struggle.
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He was born on 23 January 1897 at Cuttack, Odisha.
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He served as the President of the Indian National Congress in 1938 and 1939.
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He founded the Forward Bloc in 1939.
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He led the Indian National Army (INA/Azad Hind Fauj) in the struggle against British rule.
Download Daily GK PDF of 18th August 2026
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