Monthly current affairs for September 2026

The Department of Social Justice and Empowerment (DoSJE) under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MSJE) has signed an MoU with the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission to implement a nationwide initiative titled ‘Creating Intergenerational Bonding’.

The initiative aims to strengthen the social and emotional connections between children, parents, and grandparents.

The Singapore Corporate Counsel Association (SCCA) has signed an MoU with the General Counsels’ Association of India (GCAI) to bolster cross-border legal collaboration and the advancement of legal talent.

China has conducted the testing of the GJ-21 stealth Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) in conjunction with the Type 076 amphibious assault ship named “Sichuan”. The ship has entered the final phase of sea trials, which is the concluding stage of testing before active deployment.

Union Minister of State Pabitra Margherita has visited Vietnam and Laos to strengthen bilateral partnerships under the ‘Act East Policy’.

During the visit to Vietnam, the Minister visited the Phap Van Pagoda as part of the ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ initiative. In Laos, initiatives were launched for the preservation of the Phlak-Phlam dance and the development of the National Arts College. An MoU was also signed for the restoration of murals at the Wat Pa Khae Temple in Luang Prabang.

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Union Minister Rajnath Singh, has accorded the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for various capital acquisition proposals worth ₹1.1 lakh crore.

In alignment with the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative, 98% of the total procurement value will be sourced from the domestic Indian industry to bolster indigenous defence manufacturing.

The DRDO and the Advanced Centre of Research in High Energy Materials (ACRHEM) at the University of Hyderabad have secured an Indian patent for a next-generation solid rocket propellant fuel named “BAM-H24”.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has announced the winners of the Green Highways Excellence Awards 2026. The awards were instituted in 2025.

In the ‘Avenue Plantations’ category (Category I), the Chilakaluripet Bypass on NH-16 (Vijayawada) secured the first position. The Hyderabad-Yadgiri section of NH-163 (Hyderabad) was ranked first in the ‘Median Plantations’ category (Category II). The Jamtha Clover Leaf on NH-44 (Nagpur) received the top award in Category III, which pertains to ‘Plantation in Land Parcels’.

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) has announced four recipients of the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Awards (TNNAA) for 2024. The TNNAA is the highest national recognition of India for excellence in the field of adventure sports.

Baljeet Kaur and Skalzang Rigzin have been selected for the Land Adventure category, while Rimo Saha has been selected for the Water Adventure category. Shiv Prasad Chamoli has been honoured with the Lifetime Achievement award. Each recipient will receive a bronze statuette, a certificate, and a cash prize of ₹15 lakh.

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Jitendra Singh has launched “BIO-NIVESH”, a strategic platform to connect biotechnology startups with investors.

The initiative aims to facilitate the flow of private capital for innovations ready for scale-up and commercialization. The platform was inaugurated during a joint roundtable session of biotechnology startups and investors in New Delhi.

Bodhan AI, a Centre of Excellence (CoE) in AI for Education at the IIT Madras, has launched four foundational multilingual AI models as Digital Public Goods.

The initiative was developed in partnership with AI4Bharat to strengthen the national education ecosystem through the establishment of sovereign digital infrastructure. The suite of models includes specialized capabilities for speech recognition, Text-To-Speech (TTS), Machine Translation (MT), and Optical Character Recognition (OCR).

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved 8 major railway multi-tracking projects under the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP), with a total outlay of ₹20,804 crore.

It is to be noted that the initiative will expand the Indian Railways network by 1,196 km across 31 districts in 9 states to enhance regional rail connectivity and operational efficiency. The projects are scheduled for completion by FY30.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has officially designated the Gollala Gudi Temple, located in Palampet, Telangana, as a Monument of National Importance. The temple is situated in southwest of the Kakatiya Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

With this addition, the total number of centrally protected monuments in Telangana has increased to 10. It is to be noted that there are currently 3,693 centrally protected monuments and archaeological sites of national importance across India.

According to the Quarterly Estimates of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), the Real GDP of India grew by 7.8% in Q1 FY27 (April-June 2026), compared to 6.9% in Q1 FY26.

This is the first release to use the revised base year of 2022-23 for the National Accounts Statistics (NAS). The GDP at Constant Prices (2022-23) for Q1 FY27 is estimated at ₹81.36 lakh crore, while it stood at ₹75.46 lakh crore in Q1 FY26. The GDP at Current Prices is estimated at ₹88.27 lakh crore (against ₹80 lakh crore in Q1 FY26), reflecting a growth rate of 10.3%.

According to a report by the Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCRA), the Foreign Currency and Local Currency Long-term Issuer Ratings of India were upgraded to “A-” from “BBB+” with a stable outlook. This upgrade comes after a gap of 35 years.

JCRA also upgraded the country ceiling for India to “A”. The report projected the fiscal deficit of the Central Government to decrease from 4.7% in FY25 to 4.4% in FY26.

India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has launched the ‘DakPay Sound Box’ for Merchants, a Digital Insurance Technology Platform, and a Digital Mutual Fund Platform on the occasion of its 9th foundation day to boost financial inclusion.

As of March 2026, IPPB has achieved a customer base of 13.25 crore, with women making up 49% of the total users.

Axis Bank has partnered with travel fintech Scapia to launch a co-branded credit card named “Scapia Axis Bank Credit Card”. The card is designed to cater to the requirements of digitally native and travel-focused consumers.

WhatsApp has integrated a native bill payments feature in India to enable users to discover, manage, and pay household and utility bills directly within the application.

The service is powered by the Bharat Connect network, formerly known as the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS), which is operated by NPCI Bharat BillPay Ltd (NBBL).

The Forum of Indian Food Importers (FIFI) has signed an MoU with the Eastern India Culinary Association (EICA) to collaborate on culinary activities and industry outreach.

The partnership aims to promote global food and beverage products, with a specific focus on the eastern and north-eastern regions of India.

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has signed an MoU with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) to integrate agro-meteorological data into the Data in Climate Resilient Agriculture (DiCRA) platform.

The collaboration aims to provide farmers and stakeholders with weather intelligence to facilitate informed decision-making and promote climate resilience in the agricultural sector.

According to the report titled “Limiting Overshoot: Navigating exceedance of 1.5°C and pathways towards return” released by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the global warming threshold of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels is highly likely to be temporarily breached (overshot) within the next few years.

It states that under an optimistic scenario, global surface temperatures are projected to peak at 1.8°C above pre-industrial levels, whereas current global policies are expected to result in a 2.6°C increase by 2100.