Current affairs — 24 September 2026

Prelims pointers

• The India-New Zealand FTA is scheduled to come into force on October 20.
• The agreement gives India duty-free access for 100% of its exports to New Zealand.
• India excluded its dairy sector, and nearly 30% of Indian import lines remain outside tariff concessions.
• The deal envisages doubling bilateral goods trade, currently about $1.1 billion, by 2030.
• New Zealand committed to facilitate $20 billion of investment in India over 15 years.

Prelims pointers

• Article 145(3) requires at least five judges for a case involving a substantial question of constitutional interpretation.
• The March 2023 Anoop Baranwal ruling prescribed a selection panel including the Prime Minister, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition and Chief Justice of India.
• The 2023 Act replaced the Chief Justice of India on the selection panel with a Cabinet Minister nominated by the Prime Minister.
• Justice Dipankar Datta linked Cabinet collective responsibility to Article 75(3) of the Constitution.
• Both judges agreed to send the matter to the Chief Justice of India for constitution of an appropriate Constitution Bench.

Prelims pointers

• NPCI introduced a 0.4% charge on person-to-merchant UPI payments above ₹2,000 on September 15, 2026.
• The new Merchant Discount Rate is scheduled to take effect on October 15, 2026.
• Person-to-person UPI transactions and payments to small vendors are exempt from the new rates.
• The Ahilya Chamber of Commerce and Industry called the Madhya Pradesh protest.
• A trade representative said at least 125 bodies participated in the September 23 symbolic protest.

Prelims pointers

• The Climate Impact Lab projected 15,800 additional heat-related deaths in India, give or take 1,600, from September 2026 to February 2027.
• The India estimate is relative to average conditions in the corresponding months during 1996–2025.
• El Niño involves unusually warm waters in the central and eastern tropical Pacific that alter atmospheric circulation and global rainfall and temperature patterns.
• Forecasts gave a greater than 90% chance of a very strong El Niño, with eastern equatorial Pacific sea-surface temperatures more than 3°C above normal.
• The mortality estimate applied temperature-mortality relationships across 24,378 regions, accounting for climate, vulnerability and adaptive capacity.

Prelims pointers

• SMFCL is slated to raise ₹1,000 crore through a blue bond intended to support maritime projects.
• Blue-bond proceeds must finance clearly identified water- and ocean-related projects, with disclosure and impact reporting.
• SEBI has recognised blue bonds as part of the sustainable-finance instrument category.
• Sagarmala was launched in 2015 and has about 845 projects with estimated investment of ₹6.06 lakh crore.
• The Seychelles issued the world’s first sovereign blue bond in October 2018 with World Bank support.

Prelims pointers

• The study placed the transition to habitual terrestrial bipedalism at about 1.8 million years ago.
• Researchers examined internal limb-bone strength, which reflects physical loading, rather than only skeletal shape.
• Little Foot is a 3.67-million-year-old Australopithecus individual from Sterkfontein Cave in South Africa.
• The 1.8-million-year-old Dmanisi Homo specimen from Georgia had limb-strength patterns closer to modern humans.
• Lucy was a 3.2-million-year-old Australopithecus afarensis whose limb-strength proportions were closer to chimpanzees than modern humans.

Prelims pointers

• The auction covers the re-issue of 6.94% Government Security 2036 for a notified amount of ₹34,000 crore.
• The sale and underwriting auction are scheduled for Friday, September 25, 2026.
• Each Primary Dealer has a Minimum Underwriting Commitment of ₹810 crore under the scheme notified on November 14, 2007.
• The minimum ACU bidding commitment per Primary Dealer is ₹810 crore, and the auction uses a multiple price-based method.
• Primary Dealers may bid through RBI's e-Kuber system from 9:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.; commission is credited on the issue date.

Prelims pointers

• Yahya Rahim Safavi, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, explicitly warned that the conflict could reach the Indian Ocean.
• The Bab al-Mandab Strait was described as a strategic passage linking Asia to Europe through the Suez Canal.
• Iran locked down the Strait of Hormuz after U.S.-Israeli strikes triggered the West Asia war at the end of February.
• Diego Garcia hosts a strategic U.S.-British military base and lies nearly 4,000 kilometres from Iran.
• Iran’s conditions for ending the war include lifting economic sanctions and unconditionally releasing its frozen assets abroad.

Prelims pointers

• Begonia neelamorum was described from Keyi Panyor district of Arunachal Pradesh and is a member of the family Begoniaceae.
• Researchers found the tuberous plant on steep, moist walls along the Keyi River at about 1,000 metres above mean sea level.
• The species is about 10–12 cm tall and has one sessile light-green leaf with double-serrated margins and glandular hairs.
• Begonia neelamorum is known from one location covering about 3 sq. km and is provisionally assessed as data deficient under IUCN criteria.
• The plant is the 54th Begonia species recorded from northeastern India; the genus has about 2,200 accepted species worldwide.

Prelims pointers

• The New York meeting was described by Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman He Yadong as the eighth round of China-U.S. economic and trade consultations.
• The two countries held their first dialogue on artificial intelligence during the New York consultations.
• He Lifeng, Scott Bessent and Jamieson Greer participated in the talks held on September 20, 2026.
• Reported consensus areas included reciprocal tariff reductions and the establishment of trade and investment councils.
• The sides also agreed to extend joint arrangements reached at the Kuala Lumpur economic and trade consultation.

Prelims pointers

• Xi Jinping’s September 24, 2026 arrival marked his second state visit to the United States and followed Donald Trump’s invitation.
• Xi referred to the Thucydides Trap as the theory that a rising power and an established power are likely to go to war.
• Xi called for regular China-U.S. military dialogue and improved mechanisms for crisis communication and prevention.
• Xi said artificial intelligence should remain under human control and serve people’s well-being.
• China planned to invite 100,000 young Americans for exchanges and study over five years and called for more direct flights.

Prelims pointers

• ADR and National Election Watch identified 111 sitting MPs and MLAs who changed parties after being elected since 2022.
• The 111 lawmakers comprised 26 Lok Sabha members, seven Rajya Sabha members and 78 State Assembly members.
• The analysis covered elections and byelections held between 2022 and 2026.
• Nagaland recorded 32 party switches, or 29% of the total, followed by West Bengal with 20, or 18%.
• The NPF, BJP and NCPI together received 81 of the switching lawmakers, representing 73% of the total.

Prelims pointers

• Basic Customs Duty on crude sunflower oil was reduced from 10% to nil.
• Basic Customs Duty on crude soybean oil and crude palm oil was reduced from 10% to 5%.
• A 19.25% import-duty differential between crude and refined edible oils was retained to support domestic refining.
• The duty cut is intended to lower landed costs, provide consumer relief and contain food-price and overall inflationary pressures.
• Industry stakeholders were asked to revise Price to Distributors and Maximum Retail Price immediately in line with lower landed costs.

Prelims pointers

• The National Institute of Sowa Rigpa, Leh, organised a three-day workshop on the scope and challenges of Sowa Rigpa after its recognition as a system of medicine.
• The workshop was held at the New Academic Building of NISR in Saboo Thang, Leh.
• Technical sessions covered institutional development, education, research, healthcare practices, traditional-knowledge preservation and standardisation.
• The workshop was also organised as part of the National Ayurveda Day celebrations.
• Participants visited the Trans-Himalayan Herbal Garden at Phey to observe medicinal plants cultivated and conserved there.

Prelims pointers

• The parasite reports cited by ICAR-CMFRI concerned skipjack tuna studied in the Atlantic Ocean off Brazil.
• Parasite presence can vary by individual fish and region with ecological conditions and the availability of hosts such as copepods.
• Fish examined along the Indian coast by ICAR-CMFRI have not shown external manifestations of harmful parasitic infestation.
• Global variations in parasite occurrence have been used as indicators for differentiating fish stocks or populations.
• ICAR-CMFRI advised prompt evisceration and proper cooking; cooking kills parasites and significantly reduces food-safety risk.

Prelims pointers

• SHAKTI was introduced in 2017 and revised in 2025 to make coal allocation for power producers more transparent and competitive.
• Non-power linkage auctions began in 2016; cumulative linkages are around 643 MT for power and 119 MT for non-power consumers.
• MSMEs needing less than 10,000 tonnes of coal annually may be served through State-Nominated Agencies.
• Since 2014, CIL has rationalised around 105 MT of linkages, with potential annual power-sector savings above ₹7,500 crore.
• CIL’s 72 First Mile Connectivity projects have 843 MT planned capacity; mechanised rapid-loading capacity is expected to reach about 994 MT by FY 2028–29.

Prelims pointers

• A company seeking to function as a Nidhi must file Form NDH-4 to be declared or updated as a Nidhi.
• Nidhi companies are mutual-benefit companies regulated by MCA under the Companies Act, 2013 and Nidhi Rules, 2014.
• Nidhi companies may accept deposits and give loans only to their members.
• Deposits accepted by Nidhi companies are not insured by the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation.
• Amendments effective 15.08.2019 reintroduced the requirement for Central Government declaration; 395 companies had been declared as Nidhis.

Prelims pointers

• India attended the 14th EAS Economic Ministers’ Meeting and 23rd ASEAN-India Economic Ministers Consultation in Manila.
• All 11 ASEAN countries participated, alongside EAS partners including India, Australia, China, Japan, Korea, Russia and the United States.
• The ongoing AITIGA review aims to facilitate greater trade flows and address existing trade asymmetries.
• India-ASEAN bilateral trade reached USD 128.38 billion in 2025–26, equal to 10.55% of India’s total global trade.
• ERIA’s paper linked energy security and industrial clusters with infrastructure, digital and industrial demand, and trade and investment policy.

Prelims pointers

• The Indo-Africa WASH roundtable included ambassadors and representatives of 22 African countries at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi.
• More than 2.48 million women have been trained to use Field Testing Kits for water-quality surveillance.
• Jal Jeevan Mission launched on August 15, 2019, and rural tap-water coverage rose from 32.4 million to over 159.4 million households.
• Sujalam Bharat is described as emerging digital public infrastructure providing source-to-tap visibility and digital asset mapping.
• More than 120 million household toilets have been constructed under the rural sanitation effort since 2014.

Prelims pointers

• India reported a network of over 1.8 lakh Ayushman Arogya Mandirs delivering comprehensive primary-health services.
• More than 497 million teleconsultations have been facilitated through the e-Sanjeevani platform.
• India’s stated goal is to eliminate hepatitis B and C as public-health threats by 2030.
• The National Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission was launched in 2023 with a public-health elimination goal for 2047.
• The sickle-cell mission has screened over 7.29 crore people, identified more than 20 lakh carriers and diagnosed 2.5 lakh people.

Prelims pointers

• The proposal amends the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations, 2011.
• A new clause under Regulation 2.1.1 would specifically cover paneer made from constituents not derived from milk.
• Products in the ‘Analogue in Dairy Context’ category would have to stop using ‘Paneer’ in nomenclature, labelling or marketing.
• FSSAI invited objections and suggestions for 60 days from public availability of the relevant Official Gazette copies.
• The draft was issued with the Central Government’s previous approval under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

Prelims pointers

• The challenge covers five southern States and three Union Territories, including the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep and Puducherry.
• Its three participation levels are Junior, Technical and Open; the Junior level is open to students in Classes 6 to 12.
• The five themes include Clean and Sustainable Bharat, Healthy and Inclusive Bharat, and Secure Bharat.
• Registration is open from September 25 to October 24, 2026, followed by a national finale in New Delhi from December 10 to 17.
• The Education Ministry, AICTE and UGC jointly organise the challenge, and IISc Bengaluru is the nodal institute.

Prelims pointers

• Exercise Varuna is a bilateral maritime exercise between the Indian Navy and the French Navy.
• INS Trishul arrived at Toulon, France, on September 22, 2026 to participate in Exercise Varuna.
• The 2026 Exercise Varuna described in the release is the exercise’s 24th edition.
• The exercise includes harbour and sea engagements, including cross-deck visits and operational interactions.
• The engagements are intended to share best practices, enhance interoperability and foster mutual understanding between the navies.

Prelims pointers

• DRDO signed the TDF project agreement with Zero mK India Private Limited, a start-up based in Alwar, Rajasthan.
• The project aims to indigenously develop a dilution refrigerator capable of reaching 20 millikelvin for quantum applications.
• Dilution refrigerators provide ultra-low-temperature environments needed to operate and test several quantum-computing platforms.
• The agreement is the first high-value deep-tech project under a ₹500 crore corpus approved for deep-tech and cutting-edge projects.
• The Director of DRDO’s Solid State Physics Laboratory and its team are monitoring, mentoring and supporting the project.

Prelims pointers

• The Ministry of Culture will organise the BRICS Theatre Festival in New Delhi from October 12 to 14, 2026 under India’s BRICS Presidency.
• The festival theme is “Shared Stories, Shared Futures”, and more than 100 participants from nine member and partner countries are expected.
• The festival builds on the Bhopal Declaration adopted at the BRICS Culture Ministers’ Meeting in August 2026.
• India proposed a voluntary Artist Registry to facilitate exchanges among artists and cultural practitioners.
• The National School of Drama, an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Culture, is the festival’s nodal agency.

Prelims pointers

• AB PM-JAY provides health cover of up to ₹5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary hospitalisation.
• AB PM-JAY covers over 60 crore beneficiaries and has facilitated more than 13 crore hospital admissions worth over ₹2 lakh crore.
• In October 2024, AB PM-JAY was extended to every citizen aged 70 or above, irrespective of socio-economic status.
• ABDM’s building blocks include the Ayushman Bharat Health Account, Healthcare Professionals Registry and Health Facility Registry.
• By September 1, 2026, over 97.8 crore ABHAs and 121 crore linked health records were recorded in the ABDM ecosystem.

Prelims pointers

• Hejat al-Abd is a steep mountain pass on the supply route linking Taiz with Aden, where Yemen’s internationally recognised administration is based.
• The Houthis seized Mocha and the remaining Red Sea coastline and islands, extending control to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
• Bab el-Mandeb connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and lies on the Asia-Europe trade route through the Suez Canal.
• About 7% of global oil output passed through Bab el-Mandeb in June, according to Kpler data cited by Reuters.
• The Houthis seized Sanaa in 2014, prompting a Saudi-led military intervention the following year in support of the government.

Prelims pointers

• Turkish forces are to hand the Bashiqa-Zelikan camp gradually to Iraq’s federal government under an agreed mechanism and timeline.
• Turkiye established a military presence at Bashiqa in 2015 to support operations against the Islamic State group and secure the region.
• Bashiqa is described as Turkiye’s furthest military base from its border among its bases in northern Iraq.
• Iraq pledged to extend state authority fully in Sinjar and end the presence of banned foreign armed elements there.
• The PKK-affiliated Sinjar Resistance Units agreed to disarm, with eligible fighters to be integrated into Iraqi security forces.

Prelims pointers

• MHA notification S.O. 5080(E), dated September 16, 2026, designated Shahzad Bhatti Network as a terrorist organisation.
• Shahzad Bhatti Network was inserted as entry 46 in the First Schedule of the UAPA, 1967 under Section 35(1)(a).
• RBI's compliance notification is dated September 24, 2026 and refers to Chapter IX of its Know Your Customer Directions, 2025.
• Regulated entities must report accounts resembling listed individuals or entities to FIU-IND and also advise the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• RBI said Annex I's UAPA Order applies to amendments in Schedules IV and I of the UAPA as well as the UNSC lists mentioned in the Order.