Daily Current Affairs · 25 August 2026
UPSC Prelims Current Affairs: 25 August 2026
The Supreme Court bars construction near Rajasthan's Jojari river, Doval holds boundary talks in Beijing, and India signs new trade MoUs with Cambodia and under the PMFME scheme.
Supreme Court bars construction within 100 metres of Rajasthan's Jojari river
A Supreme Court Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta on Monday (24 August 2026) banned any construction or development within 100 metres of the Jojari river in Rajasthan, hearing a suo motu case on contamination in the river. The Bench also prohibited hazardous industries within 500 metres of the river's flow path, pending scientific determination of the high flood line and ecological buffer zones. The order follows earlier directions in the case, including one on 7 August asking the Rajasthan government to set up an Integrated Coordination Group to address pollution in the Jojari, Bandi and Luni rivers. The matter is listed for further hearing on 22 September 2026.
NSA Ajit Doval holds 25th round of India-China boundary talks in Beijing
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval arrived in Beijing on Monday (24 August 2026) for the 25th round of talks between the Special Representatives (SRs) of India and China on the boundary question, meeting his counterpart, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, on Tuesday (25 August 2026). The Special Representatives mechanism was established in 2003 as the main channel for negotiations on the boundary question and for wider communication between the two countries. The visit comes ahead of a possible visit to India by Chinese President Xi Jinping next month for the BRICS Summit that India is hosting on 12 September 2026, and follows an August 6 meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) that reviewed the situation along the Line of Actual Control.
PMFME Conclave 2026 signs MoUs with APEDA, ONDC and NABKISAN
Union Minister for Food Processing Industries Chirag Paswan inaugurated the PMFME Conclave 2026 and the PMFME Bazaar at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi on Monday (24 August 2026), a two day event bringing together over 500 stakeholders under the Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme. The Ministry of Food Processing Industries signed three memoranda of understanding, with the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) and NABKISAN Finance Limited, to widen export access, digital marketing and credit linkages for scheme beneficiaries. Over two lakh individual micro food processing enterprises have been credit linked under the scheme so far, about 80 per cent of them first generation entrepreneurs and 44 per cent women.
No shortage of sugar in India, retail prices to ease, says ISMA
The Indian Sugar and Bio-Energy Manufacturers Association (ISMA) said on Monday (24 August 2026) that there is no shortage of sugar in the country and that retail prices, which had risen due to speculative buying and weather linked production losses, are expected to ease. Average all India retail sugar prices stood at Rs 63.05 per kilogram, about 29 per cent higher than a month earlier, before the government's decision to allow duty free imports of one million tonnes of raw sugar and impose stockholding limits on dealers and bulk consumers began taking effect. ISMA estimated net sugar production for 2025 to 2026 at around 27.9 million tonnes against domestic consumption of about 28 to 28.5 million tonnes, with closing stock projected at around 3.5 million tonnes by the end of September.
India and Cambodia hold third Joint Working Group on Trade and Investment in Phnom Penh
India and Cambodia held the third meeting of their Joint Working Group on Trade and Investment (JWGTI) in Phnom Penh on Monday (24 August 2026), the mechanism having first met virtually in 2022 and then in New Delhi in 2024. The two sides discussed a proposed Bilateral Investment Treaty, cooperation in traditional medicine and e-governance, and diversification of the trade basket through new products. Bilateral trade between India and Cambodia grew over 36 per cent year on year to reach USD 406.78 million in 2025 to 2026.
Study flags gaps in India's bioinvasion policy through African Bermuda grass spread
A study published this month recorded the naturalisation of African Bermuda grass (Cynodon nlemfuensis), a globally known invasive species, along roadsides and disturbed grasslands in the Himalaya and the Western Ghats, two of India's biodiversity hotspots, based on field surveys conducted between 1995 and 2024. Researchers found the species colonising these habitats at an early, localised stage rather than in landscape scale infestations, which is exactly the stage at which an Early Detection and Rapid Response strategy is most effective and least costly. The study highlighted that delays in identifying such biological invasions allow invasive species to spread unchecked, pointing to gaps in India's current bioinvasion monitoring and management policy.