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Current affairsRBI Proposes On-Tap Licensing for Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs): Ending a 22-Year Pause, Tier Framework, and Banking Sector SignificanceThe Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is proposing to resume licensing of Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) after a 22-year pause — licensing was stopped in 2004 following the failures of the 1993–2001 liberalisation era. RBI issued a Discussion Paper in January 2026 and Governor Sanjay Malhotra announced in August 2026 that draft guidelines would be issued shortly for public consultation. The on-tap model means applications will be accepted on a continuous rolling basis once eligibility criteria are met, rather than in periodic windows. Current affairsPM Modi's Uzbekistan State Visit and 26th SCO Summit in Bishkek: India's Central Asia Strategy and SCO at 25Prime Minister Narendra Modi will undertake a four-day visit to Central Asia from August 29 to September 1, 2026 — a bilateral state visit to Uzbekistan followed by participation in the 26th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, marking the organisation's 25th founding anniversary. Current affairsSEBI IT Resilience Index for Market Infrastructure Institutions: Nine-Parameter Framework and Implications for India's Capital MarketsThe Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) issued a circular on August 24, 2026 mandating a standardised IT Resilience Index (ITRI) for all Market Infrastructure Institutions — stock exchanges, depositories and clearing corporations — rated on nine parameters including availability and security, to be operationalised within six months. Current affairsPSB Confluence 2026: High-Powered Banking Reforms Committee for Viksit Bharat — Deposit Mobilisation, Youth Banking, and GCC StrategyThe Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance, hosted the PSB Confluence 2026 in New Delhi on August 17–18, bringing together 125 senior leaders of Public Sector Banks and Public Financial Institutions. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman called for actionable banking reforms under seven themes to feed into a proposed High-Powered Committee on Banking for Viksit Bharat.