Current affairs — 18 September 2026

Prelims pointers

• Permanently shadowed craters near the Moon's south pole are major targets because they may preserve deposits of water ice.
• Martin Elvis and Jonathan McDowell published their lunar-water analysis in Frontiers in Space Technologies.
• Their model assumed a generous lunar inventory of one billion tonnes of water and demand of 500 tonnes per person each year.
• At 98% recycling, one billion tonnes would support one million people for about a century; without recycling, only about two years.
• A 2022 study of 65 large permanently shadowed craters estimated that eight of them together held around 34 million tonnes of water.

Prelims pointers

• The RBI decided on the auction after reviewing current and evolving liquidity conditions.
• The three-day VRRR auction under the LAF was scheduled for Friday, September 18, 2026.
• The notified amount for the auction was ₹2,25,000 crore.
• The auction window was 9:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., with reversal on Monday, September 21, 2026.
• Existing operational guidelines came from RBI Press Release 2019-2020/1947 dated February 13, 2020.

Prelims pointers

• NPTEL is a consortium of seven IITs—Bombay, Delhi, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Madras, Guwahati and Roorkee—and the Indian Institute of Science.
• Through SWAYAM, NPTEL offers more than 70,000 hours of lectures and close to 600 courses each semester across 22 disciplines.
• NPTEL course material is free, while its optional physical proctored certification examination costs ₹1,000 per course.
• Up to 15.25 lakh candidates registered for physical examinations in the July 2026 semester.
• The Ministry of Education allocated ₹650 crore in 2026-27 under NMEICT for an integrated open digital academic ecosystem, without a separate NPTEL breakup.

Prelims pointers

• Tamil Nadu’s Seventh State Finance Commission is chaired by K. Allaudin.
• Own-source revenue of rural local bodies in many States ranges from 1% to 8%, including receipts from taxes, rentals and charges.
• Property-tax collection was cited at about 1.1% of GDP in OECD countries and 0.2% in India.
• Suggested local-revenue measures included GIS-based tax collection, solid-waste user charges and parking fees.
• Tamil Nadu’s Rural Development Department requested an increase in devolution funds from 10% to 12%.

Prelims pointers

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated SEMICON India 2026 in New Delhi on September 17, 2026.
• The government had approved 12 chip-making projects, with the number expected to rise in the next phase.
• India Semiconductor Mission 2.0 has an announced outlay of $13.5 billion, up from $8 billion in the first phase.
• India’s planned semiconductor ecosystem spans design, fabrication, advanced packaging, equipment, materials, research and talent.
• Applied Materials announced $5 billion of investment under Vision 2035 to link India’s semiconductor ecosystem with the global value chain.

Prelims pointers

• NPCI's new Merchant Discount Rate structure for UPI merchant payments is scheduled to take effect from October 15.
• The charge applies to merchant UPI payments of ₹2,000 or more, estimated to comprise about 2.5% of all UPI transactions.
• UPI payments to small merchants earning less than ₹1 lakh per month are exempt from the announced MDR structure.
• Most covered sectors face a 0.4% MDR, while specified essential sectors and capital-market payments have differentiated rates.
• The government directed banks to prevent merchants from passing the MDR to customers; the editorial estimated a ₹2,400-crore monthly upper revenue limit.

Prelims pointers

• The newly described species is Leopardus tilcayo, a tiger cat native to the Bolivian Yungas cloud forests.
• The phylogenomic study analysed complete genomes of 38 Leopardus individuals, including 26 from the tiger-cat species complex.
• Researchers concluded that South America has five distinct tiger-cat species and also described the Peruvian subspecies L. tigrinus antisuyo.
• Genetic estimates place the divergence of the tilcayo lineage from related tiger cats at about 1.4 million years ago.
• Leopardus tilcayo is a small spotted cat, with a reported head-and-body length of roughly 42–50 cm and weight of about 1.5–2 kg.

Prelims pointers

• Jawaharlal Nehru told the Constituent Assembly on September 7, 1948 that Hyderabad could not maintain independent foreign relations.
• Vallabhbhai Patel wrote to Nehru from Dehradun on June 4, 1948 while policy toward Hyderabad was being debated.
• The military action in Hyderabad was known as Operation Polo or Police Action.
• India gained effective control of Hyderabad between the morning of September 13 and afternoon of September 17, 1948.
• A CIA assessment on May 26 did not expect overt action before the standstill agreement expired on November 15.

Prelims pointers

• The State Department approved visas for Iran’s core delegation and essential staff to attend UN meetings in New York.
• The core delegation included President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
• The United States said its decision was consistent with its obligations as host country to UN headquarters.
• The Iranian delegation was to be smaller than the previous year and subject to travel and purchasing restrictions.
• The visa approval came one day after the State Department denied visas to Mahmoud Abbas and his delegation.

Prelims pointers

• France, Germany and the United Kingdom used the 2015 nuclear deal’s “snapback” provision to restore sanctions on September 27, 2025.
• The restored measures freeze Iranian assets abroad, halt arms deals with Tehran and penalise ballistic-missile development.
• The U.S.-drafted resolution sought a one-year extension of the UN expert panel’s sanctions-monitoring mandate.
• The proposal drew 11 votes in favour and two against, with Somalia and Pakistan abstaining, but Russian and Chinese vetoes defeated it.
• The UN nuclear watchdog’s cited estimate was 440.9 kilograms of Iranian uranium enriched to 60% purity.

Prelims pointers

• Swarnim Wagle met Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi on his first official India visit as Nepal's Finance Minister.
• The talks covered flood impacts and Nepal's priorities for reconstruction and rehabilitation.
• Nepal thanked India for relief supplies and technical support for rescue and relief efforts.
• The ministers discussed infrastructure and cross-border connectivity to deepen trade and investment.
• India's Foreign Secretary and the Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs attended the meeting.

Prelims pointers

• PM Vishwakarma was launched on September 17, 2023 for traditional artisans and craftspeople.
• The MSME Ministry reported 30 lakh registered beneficiaries, with around 24.50 lakh receiving Basic Skill Training.
• India Post had delivered 18.15 lakh modern toolkits under PM Vishwakarma.
• About 6.18 lakh beneficiaries had received loans of up to ₹1 lakh at 5% annual interest, totalling ₹5,297 crore.
• West Bengal joined implementation in May 2026 and had received more than 7 lakh applications under the scheme.