Bhopal Airport e-Visa Entry | Deepti Gaur Higher Education Secretary

1. Deepti Gaur Mukherjee becomes new Higher Education Secretary

Deepti was Director in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty in 2010.

2. Entry will be open through 11 new international ports in India

The 11 new ports also include Bhopal’s Raja Bhoj Airport.

SPORTS

3. Indian-origin Bodhana becomes youngest chess champion

• On 11 August, 11-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan of Indian origin became Britain’s youngest female chess champion.
• She won the British Chess Championship title by defeating Ireland’s Trisha Kanyamarala in a rapid chess playoff.
• Apart from Bodhana, 17-year-old Shreyas Royal, also of Indian origin, won the championship.
• Shreyas won the Open British title by finishing at the top of the points table after nine rounds. The tournament, which started on 1 August, ended on Sunday in Coventry.

4. FIH changed the rules of hockey

• On 11 August, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) made changes to the competition rules and structure for the 2026 Men’s and Women’s World Cup.
• According to the new rules, the quarter-finals have now been eliminated and the top-2 teams from both crossover pools will directly advance to the semi-finals.
• The tournament will be played from 15 to 30 August in Belgium and the Netherlands.
• In the new format, teams will have fewer mistakes from the start as the initial pool results may also apply to the next stage.
• India’s men’s team has been placed in Pool D with England, Pakistan and Wales, while the Indian women’s team will face China, England and South Africa in Pool D.
• The tournament will begin with 16 teams in each competition, which will be divided into four pools of four teams each.
• From 15 to 20 August, each team will play three matches against other teams in their pool, and teams for the next stage will be determined based on the final rankings.

5. India won 4 medals at the International Linguistics Olympiad

• On 10 August, India won a total of 4 medals including 1 gold and 3 bronze at the International Linguistics Olympiad 2026.
• The competition was held in Bucharest, Romania and Sreelakshmi Venkatraman won the gold medal.
• Aarav Anil Rao, Nishant Shankar Lakshmanan and Advay Mishra won bronze medals.
• Soham Amit Pednekar was given a special honor in this competition.
• School students from more than 40 countries participate in this competition.
• This Olympiad is held between students of class 6 to 8 and class 9-12 school students.
• Their ability to recognise patterns in unfamiliar languages using logic and analytical ability is tested.
• Participants are given problems based on unknown languages and they have to find patterns using logic and reasoning.
• This was the 23rd International Linguistic Olympiad. India has been participating in this Olympiad since 2009.
• The team is selected through the Panini Linguistics Olympiad (PLO), which serves as the national selection competition.
• India has won 37 medals so far in the International Linguistics Olympiad. This includes 6 gold, 9 silver and 22 bronze medals.

IIIT Hyderabad has been mentoring the Panini Linguistics Olympiad since 2015.

MISCELLANEOUS

6. India donated peacocks to Geneva

• On 11 August, India announced the donation of five peacocks to the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG).
• These peacocks were handed over by India’s Permanent Representative Arindam Bagchi to UNOG Director General Tatiana Valovaya.
• Among these five peacocks are four blue peacocks and one white-feathered male peacock, representing the blue and white colors associated with the United Nations.
• During this occasion, the country’s rich natural heritage and its commitment to multilateralism were highlighted.
• This is the second time India has gifted peacocks to UNOG. In 1981, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had sent a breeding pair from Delhi Zoo.
• Initially, these peacocks will stay in a secure enclosure for about three months, after which they will be released to roam freely in Ariana Park.
• Spread over 46 hectares, Ariana Park is one of Geneva’s largest and most prestigious parks.
• The city of Geneva had made this park available first to the ‘League of Nations’ and later to the United Nations for its offices.
• Peacocks have been part of Ariana Park for more than a century. This tradition predates even the establishment of the ‘League of Nations’ and the United Nations.
• The beginning of this tradition is linked to Swiss archaeologist and art collector Gustave Revilliod.
• In 1890, the property was bequeathed to the city of Geneva, where the United Nations complex is located today.
• Most of the birds present today were donated to UNOG by a Japanese zoo in 1997.
• It represents the country’s natural heritage and cultural values.

India’s donation will increase biodiversity in the UN complex.

6. Taxation and other Bills passed

• On 10 August, Parliament passed the ‘Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026’.
• This bill will promote investment and encourage electronics manufacturing.
• The objective of this bill is to further simplify tax rules and significantly enhance ‘Ease of Doing Business’ in India.
• The government believes that these amendments will accelerate the country’s economic growth and increase foreign investment.
• Provisions have also been made for some essential tax relief for investors associated with REITs and InvITs.
• This bill provides for a 15-year income tax exemption for foreign companies engaged in the trade of rough diamonds in Special Notified Zones.
• This bill has also made changes to rules related to digital payments. However, no new charge or tax has been immediately imposed on UPI.
• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has clarified that regular UPI transactions will remain free.
• The Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on 6 August.

Today in History

• In 1765, the East India Company signed the Treaty of Allahabad with Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II, which laid the foundation of British rule in India.
• In 1948, independent India’s men’s hockey team won its first gold medal at the London Olympics by defeating Britain 4-0.
• In 1981, IBM introduced its first Personal Computer (PC) to the market.
• In 1990, the largest and most complete T-Rex dinosaur fossil was discovered in South Dakota.