21 August 2026 — Current Affairs Quiz

Explanation

The 12th BRICS Communications Ministers Meeting was held at Pune on 21 August 2026 under India's BRICS Chairship 2026, chaired by Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia. The Department of Telecommunications ran the BRICS ICT Track at Pune from 17-21 August, themed 'Innovate, Cooperate and Transform (ICT) for a Resilient Future', covering the 7th ICT Working Group Meeting and the Digital BRICS Forum and Expo. Brazil hosted the 11th meeting in 2025. BRICS now has 11 members.

Explanation

Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah laid the foundation stone of a new dairy plant at the Saras Dairy Complex, Alwar, Rajasthan, on 16 August 2026. Costing Rs 200 crore, it will have an initial capacity of 3 lakh litres per day, expandable to 5 lakh litres per day. The event came under the Ministry of Cooperation's 'Sahkar se Samriddhi' vision. Four more Saras Dairy plants worth Rs 274 crore at Bhilwara, Jaipur, Pali and Rajsamand were commissioned the same day.

Explanation

AgriStack is India's farmer-centric Digital Public Infrastructure and the backbone of the Digital Agriculture Mission (approved September 2024, outlay Rs 2,817 crore). Its three foundational registries are the Farmer Registry, Geo-Referenced Village Maps and the Crop Sown Registry. MoS Agriculture Ramnath Thakur told the Rajya Sabha on 7 August 2026 that over 10.31 crore Farmer IDs existed as of 3 August. The Rabi 2025-26 Digital Crop Survey covered 648 districts, 31.3 crore plots.

Explanation

The Sujal Gaon ID is a unique digital identity for rural water service areas, released by Union Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Paatil on 13 March 2026 under Jal Jeevan Mission 2.0. It links to a Sujalam Bharat ID, which combines an infrastructure ID and a service area ID, and is integrated with GIS and PM GatiShakti. As of 10 August 2026, 12,67,808 of 16,96,213 habitations, or 75 per cent, had received the ID. JJM 2.0 runs to December 2028.

Explanation

The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2026 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 27 March 2026, passed by the Lok Sabha on 1 April and the Rajya Sabha on 2 April 2026. It amends 784 provisions across 79 Central Acts under 23 Ministries: 717 decriminalised and 67 for ease of living. The Select Committee was chaired by Tejasvi Surya. Its predecessor, the Jan Vishwas Act, 2023, decriminalised 183 provisions in 42 Acts. Nodal ministry: Commerce and Industry.