Current affairs — 14 September 2026

Prelims pointers

• The proposal would replace a two-kilometre road stretch from Chennai One to Kamakshi Hospital junction with an elevated bridge.
• About seven hectares occupied by the existing road are intended to return to the Pallikaranai marshland.
• The planned six-lane bridge would use 200-metre spans and piers measuring 2.5 metres in diameter.
• The bridge’s civil cost is estimated at about ₹450 crore, and construction is expected to take two years without land acquisition.
• Officials said 15,000 cusecs must flow towards Okkiyam Maduvu, while only 90 metres of the 2,100-metre road currently has culverts.

Prelims pointers

• Humaiun Kobir, Bangladesh’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs, called for a reset of the bilateral relationship with India.
• Kobir said the initial effort to improve India-Bangladesh ties should occur through a bilateral visit rather than a multilateral sideline meeting.
• Bangladesh said border incidents would be addressed diplomatically in accordance with international law, border protocols and bilateral agreements.
• Kobir said 101 memoranda of understanding were being scrutinised and reviewed through Bangladesh’s parliamentary process.
• Prime Minister Tarique Rahman was scheduled to attend the 81st UN General Assembly session in New York from September 21 to 26, 2026.

Prelims pointers

• In 1795, Speenhamland magistrates linked parish-funded agricultural wage top-ups to bread prices and family size.
• The Economic Survey 2025–26 said transfers equalled 11–24% of women daily-wage workers’ monthly income and 11–87% for self-employed women.
• PRS estimated women-focused unconditional transfers grew from two States in 2022–23 to 12 States in 2025–26, costing ₹1.68 lakh crore annually.
• West Bengal budgeted ₹36,000 crore for a ₹3,000 monthly transfer to about 1.3 crore women under Annapurna Yojana.
• An ADB study for the 16th Finance Commission found that India lacks a systematic dataset on government spending for cash-transfer schemes.

Prelims pointers

• Pakistan and Kuwait signed a defence cooperation agreement on August 27, 2026.
• Pakistan, Iran and Türkiye were linked during the Cold War through CENTO and later Regional Cooperation for Development.
• Pakistan’s Parliament refused in 2015 to send troops to participate in the Saudi-led war in Yemen.
• The August 7 Makkah Agreement said an armed attack against one member would be regarded as an attack against all.
• On August 31, the three members agreed on a Saudi-based permanent secretariat led initially by a Pakistani Secretary-General for three years.

Prelims pointers

• The Oman meeting on possible Strait of Hormuz arrangements had been scheduled for September 14, 2026.
• Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said the regional meeting was postponed in the interests of consensus.
• Iran said Tehran and Muscat jointly postponed the meeting at the request of some regional countries.
• Only Iraq had publicly confirmed plans to attend before the delay, while Bahrain ruled out participation.
• Oman and Iran had been discussing management of the Strait of Hormuz for several weeks before the meeting was postponed.

Prelims pointers

• The Houthis captured Mokha and an island on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a shipping alternative to the Strait of Hormuz.
• Saudi civil defence said a projectile near the Yemen border injured two people and damaged a mosque and other buildings.
• Government-allied National Resistance forces reported over 500 fighters killed and about 1,500 wounded on the west coast in four weeks.
• The UN migration agency said more than 82,000 people in Yemen had been displaced since the start of September.
• More than 2,000 Yemenis reached Djibouti, while the Houthi advance came within about 20 miles of the main U.S. base in Africa.

Prelims pointers

• Brent futures rose $3.62, or 3.46%, to $108.23 per barrel, while WTI rose $3.15, or 3.15%, to $103.20.
• UKMTO said a projectile struck a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, causing a fire and forcing the crew to evacuate.
• Iran said one person was killed and four crew members wounded on an Iranian commercial vessel struck off its coast.
• Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline had been shut by a drone strike originating in Iraq during the preceding week.
• A September 14 meeting in Oman between Gulf countries and Iran to discuss the Strait of Hormuz was postponed.

Prelims pointers

• The expected rollback covered climate-pollution limits for both coal-fired and gas-fired power plants in the United States.
• The rules being reversed were introduced in 2024 and required the plants to eliminate nearly all carbon emissions.
• EPA administrator Lee Zeldin was expected to announce the change at a G-20 energy ministers’ meeting in Houston.
• Some limits on mercury, arsenic and other contaminants would remain applicable to power plants under the reported change.
• In 2026, the EPA overturned the 2009 Endangerment Finding that greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare.

Prelims pointers

• Greater Hanish and Lesser Hanish lie 160 kilometres, or 100 miles, north of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
• The Houthis captured the Hanish islands after hundreds of government-allied forces withdrew from the archipelago.
• The island takeover followed Houthi seizures of the port city of Mokha and Mayun island inside Bab el-Mandeb.
• The report describes Bab el-Mandeb as a crucial shipping alternative to the Strait of Hormuz.
• The United Nations estimated that fighting in Yemen had displaced more than 80,000 people since the start of September.

Prelims pointers

• The fourth India-Canada CEPA negotiating round began in New Delhi and was scheduled for September 14–18, 2026.
• The negotiating agenda includes goods, services, rules of origin and technical barriers to trade.
• The third round of India-Canada trade negotiations took place in Ottawa in July 2026.
• The two countries have targeted bilateral trade of $50 billion by 2030 and were seeking to conclude talks in 2026.
• Two-way trade fell 8.22% to $7.95 billion in 2025–26 from $8.66 billion in 2024–25.

Prelims pointers

• The sixth All India Rajbhasha Sammelan was addressed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Mumbai on September 14, 2026.
• Hindi Shabd Sindhu grew from 51,000 words to eight lakh words and was projected to become the world’s largest dictionary by 2029.
• More than 50,000 words from Indian regional languages were incorporated into Hindi Shabd Sindhu to fill lexical gaps.
• The Rajbhasha department developed the multilingual translation tool Bharati, while Leela Rajbhasha and Leela Pravah are language-learning resources.
• More than five lakh Central government employees underwent language training, and Kanthasth 2.0 contained over five crore sentences.

Prelims pointers

• Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping met in New Delhi on September 12, 2026 during the BRICS Summit.
• Wang Yi described the view that India and China should be partners as the leaders’ most important consensus.
• The New Delhi encounter was the third meeting between Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping in three years.
• India said peace and tranquillity on the border provided the basis for resuming exchanges after a four-year freeze.
• The article traces the gradual normalisation of India-China ties to the leaders’ meeting in Kazan in October 2024.

Prelims pointers

• UN rights chief Volker Turk addressed his September 14, 2026 warning to countries and frontier artificial-intelligence companies.
• Turk said the race toward ever more powerful AI represented a step change toward greater existential risks across human life.
• An Anthropic researcher publicly resigned over fears that superintelligent computer systems could escape human control.
• Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called on September 12, 2026 for AI companies to coordinate a slowdown by “pacing the frontier”.
• Turk called for advanced frontier-AI governance through multilateral forums and grounded in international human rights law.

Prelims pointers

• The Pre-Matric Scholarships Scheme for Scheduled Castes and Others is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme designed to promote literacy and reduce dropout.
• From FY 2014–15 to FY 2025–26, Rs 4,893.03 crore was released under the Pre-Matric scheme, with reported annual beneficiary figures totalling about 299.66 lakh.
• In FY 2025–26, the Pre-Matric scheme received Rs 562.36 crore and benefited 26.79 lakh students.
• From FY 2014–15 to FY 2025–26, Post-Matric Central Assistance was Rs 46,581.54 crore, with reported annual beneficiary figures totalling 612.98 lakh.
• From FY 2021–22, the Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme used DBT to transfer assistance into beneficiaries' Aadhaar-seeded bank accounts.

Prelims pointers

• NMBA has reached more than 34.54 crore citizens, including over 13.70 crore youth and 10.64 crore women.
• More than 1.67 lakh master volunteers, community leaders and personnel were trained in addiction identification and caregiving workflows.
• Over 755 new de-addiction facilities were established in two years, including DDACs, ATFs and de-addiction centres in jails.
• Under NAPDDR, assistance goes to States, Union Territories, NGOs and government hospitals for prevention, counselling, treatment and rehabilitation.
• NMBA 2.0 is a mobile application that enables citizens to locate the nearest de-addiction centre.

Prelims pointers

• The studied copper chalcogenide is thallium copper selenide, with the formula TlCu5Se3.
• JNCASR researchers studied TlCu5Se3 through experiments, first-principles calculations and molecular-dynamics simulations.
• Localized copper disorder creates strong lattice anharmonicity and predominantly wave-like phonon transport instead of long-range ion diffusion.
• TlCu5Se3 crystallizes in a tetragonal structure with a three-dimensional cloverleaf knot-like framework and open channels along the c-axis.
• TlCu5Se3 attained a thermoelectric figure of merit, zT, of 1.7, among the highest reported for pristine ternary chalcogenides.

Prelims pointers

• The 1033 National Highway Helpline was introduced in 2018 and operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
• The proposed upgrade will use AI, real-time location tracking and smart emergency-response systems while retaining human operators.
• Helpline support includes medical emergencies, breakdowns, ambulances, cranes, patrol vehicles, toll-plaza issues and FASTag issues.
• The 1033 service covers more than 1.46 lakh km of National Highways and receives around 15,000 calls every day.
• IHMCL, a company promoted by NHAI, invited an Expression of Interest to develop, deploy, operate and maintain the Next Generation 1033 platform.

Prelims pointers

• Power exports to the Nepal Electricity Authority were approved for 18 hours daily, from 00:00 to 18:00 hours, during 13 September–31 December 2026.
• The Muzaffarpur–Dhalkebar 400 kV double-circuit line may carry up to 600 MW of the approved electricity exports.
• The Tanakpur–Mahendranagar 132 kV single-circuit line may carry up to 54 MW of the approved electricity exports.
• The quantum of electricity to be exported from January 2027 is scheduled for review in December 2026.
• Floods damaged hydropower infrastructure in Nepal, reducing domestic generation capacity and creating an additional electricity requirement.

Prelims pointers

• Organised coir production in India began in 1859 with the establishment of the first coir factory at Alappuzha, Kerala.
• India is the world’s largest coir producer and contributes more than 80% of global coir fibre production.
• Women account for nearly 80% of those engaged in coir fibre extraction and spinning.
• The Coir Board is a statutory body under the Ministry of MSME and supports skills, research, technology, markets, exports and welfare.
• Coir Vikas Yojana supports technology and research, skill development, women’s training, market promotion, industry development and worker welfare.

Prelims pointers

• EcoSense is led by Kerala’s Local Self Government Department in collaboration with the General Education Department under SBM-U 2.0.
• The scheme selects 50 students per Grama Panchayat, 75 per Municipality and 100 per Corporation.
• Each selected EcoSense student receives a ₹1,500 scholarship and a certificate of recognition.
• The reported distribution covers 45,880 students across 986 Local Self Government Institutions.
• Around five lakh students from nearly 9,000 schools participated in activities such as segregation, composting, reuse and facility visits.

Prelims pointers

• The Ayush market grew from USD 2.85 billion in 2014 to USD 43.4 billion in 2023; exports rose from USD 1.09 billion to USD 2.16 billion over the same period.
• The NSSO’s first exclusive All-India Survey on Ayush covered 1,81,298 households during July 2022–June 2023 under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
• An Ayush Visa was introduced on 27 July 2023 for foreign nationals seeking treatment under Ayush systems.
• NITI Aayog released the “Strategic Roadmap for Making Ayurveda Global” in July 2026, setting a long-term pathway up to 2047.
• WHO launched Traditional Medicine Module 2 of ICD-11 in January 2024 for Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani morbidity codes, without endorsing individual practices’ validity or efficacy.

Prelims pointers

• India and MERCOSUR signed the First Additional Protocol to their PTA to facilitate acceptance of electronic Certificates of Origin.
• The India-MERCOSUR PTA was signed on 25 January 2004 and entered into force on 1 June 2009.
• The PTA provides preferential tariff concessions on 450 tariff lines by India and 452 tariff lines by MERCOSUR.
• The Protocol amends Article 16 of Annex III on Rules of Origin and gives electronic Certificates of Origin the same legal validity and identical value as paper certificates.
• Electronic Certificates of Origin must follow the parties' domestic legislation and be issued and electronically signed by duly authorised entities and officials.

Prelims pointers

• INS Mysore participated in the fourth edition of Exercise Samudra Laksamana at Lumut, Malaysia, from 9 to 12 September 2026.
• Exercise Samudra Laksamana involved the Indian Navy and the Royal Malaysian Navy.
• The harbour phase featured professional exchanges and interactions between personnel of the two navies.
• During the sea phase, INS Mysore exercised with Royal Malaysian Navy ships KD Lekir and KD Gagah Samudera.
• The exercise followed the 12th India-Malaysia Sub Committee Meeting, which was held on 1 July 2026.

Prelims pointers

• Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, Vice Chief of the Air Staff, inaugurated the first IAF Dronathon-2026 at Pokhran Field Firing Range, Jaisalmer.
• Dronathon-2026 was a three-day event scheduled from 14 to 16 September 2026 and involved more than 20 defence companies, start-ups, MSMEs, DPSUs and innovators.
• Demonstrated capabilities included surveillance and reconnaissance, autonomous operations, swarm technologies, electronic warfare and Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems.
• The IAF UAS Roadmap was released to clarify capability priorities and help industry, academia and research organisations align with future IAF requirements.
• Vayu UTtaM is an indigenously developed multi-mode Unmanned Traffic Management system that detected and tracked both military and civil UAS during its Pokhran demonstration.

Prelims pointers

• The Wholesale Price Index release for August 2026 uses 2022-23 as the base year and reports All Commodities year-on-year inflation of 9.92%.
• The All Commodities WPI was 110.8 in August 2026, compared with 110.0 in July 2026.
• August 2026 inflation was 7.76% for Primary Articles, 22.93% for Fuel and Power, and 8.37% for Manufactured Products.
• The WPI Food Index has a weight of 24.99851% and recorded 7.05% year-on-year inflation in August 2026, up from 6.65% in July.
• The June 2026 final WPI index was revised to 110.3 from 110.2, and the corresponding inflation rate was revised to 9.97% from 9.87%.

Prelims pointers

• Piyush Goyal is identified as India's Union Minister of Commerce and Industry in the announcement.
• Uruguay's Foreign Minister Mario Lubetkin participated while exercising the Pro Tempore Presidency of MERCOSUR.
• India and MERCOSUR announced the launch of negotiations to expand their existing Preferential Trade Agreement.
• The two sides agreed to cover areas of mutual interest, deepen economic relations and create benefits and opportunities for their private sectors.
• India and MERCOSUR are finalising Terms of Reference that will define the scope and structure of the future expanded agreement.

Prelims pointers

• The Supreme Court cancelled 204 coal blocks in 2014, and commercial coal mine auctions were launched on 18 June 2020.
• Bidding is conducted online in two stages on the MSTC platform, with bid documents decrypted and opened live before bidders.
• The regime has no end-use restriction, permits 100% FDI through the automatic route, and allows low upfront payments adjustable against future revenue share.
• The release reports 147 auctioned coal mines across nine states and projects about ₹47,500 crore in annual revenue, ₹55,000 crore in capital investment and 4.9 lakh jobs.
• Commercial-mine output rose from 12.55 million tonnes in FY 2023-24 to 23.51 million tonnes in FY 2024-25; captive and commercial blocks together produced about 210 MT in FY 2025-26.

Prelims pointers

• With base year 2024=100, provisional All-India combined CPI inflation for August 2026 over August 2025 was 4.82%.
• August 2026 CPI inflation was 5.23% in rural India and 4.31% in urban India; the combined CPI index was 108.74.
• Provisional CFPI inflation in August 2026 was 5.95%, comprising rural inflation of 6.13% and urban inflation of 5.64%.
• Tomato inflation was -31.09% in August 2026, while silver-jewellery inflation was 107.11% at the All-India combined level.
• Prices were collected from 1,407 urban markets and 1,465 villages; the August 2026 response rate was 100% for both rural and urban markets.

Prelims pointers

• The GIB Soft Release Centre at Naliya is designed to support conservation, monitoring and gradual adaptation of Great Indian Bustards to the natural environment.
• Around 11 sq. km of grassland affected by invasive Prosopis juliflora was restored, while 30 km of predator-proof fencing was raised over 15 sq. km.
• The ‘jump-start’ intervention replaces infertile eggs laid by wild GIB females with viable eggs from the conservation breeding programme.
• Sayara Van Kavach uses the Miyawaki method and has more than 10,000 saplings of 47 native species suited to Kachchh’s saline, low-water conditions.
• Mangrove plantation covered 27,652 hectares against a 29,250-hectare target for 2023–24 to 2026–27, including 12,450 hectares in Kori Creek.