NATIONAL UPDATES:
1. New Begonia Species Described from Arunachal Pradesh: A new Begonia species, Begonia neelamorum, was formally described from Keyi Panyor district in Arunachal Pradesh on 24 September 2026. The species was collected on 24 May 2026 from steep, moist walls along the Keyi River at an elevation of about 1,000 metres. Begonia is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Begoniaceae. The genus includes herbs, shrubs, and climbers, and many species occur in humid tropical and subtropical habitats. Begonia neelamorum is a small plant, 10–20 cm tall, with a single sessile light-green leaf. It has distinctive double-serrated margins and glandular hairs, which are used as diagnostic characters in plant taxonomy. The research team included botanist Dipankar Borah from Kaliabor College in Nagaon, Assam. The species was named after the Neelam clan of the Nyishi tribe, which assisted the researchers during the expedition, and its local name is Kobiirhopu Baabrai.
2. India Marks 12 Years of Make in India: India marked 12 years of the Make in India initiative on 25 September 2026. The initiative was launched on 25 September 2014 to promote domestic manufacturing, investment, exports, and industrial competitiveness across sectors. Make in India is a national initiative linked with manufacturing, services, and investment promotion. It covers 27 sectors, including 15 manufacturing sectors and 12 services sectors. The initiative also connects with the broader policy focus on domestic value addition and global market access. India recorded its highest-ever annual foreign direct investment inflow of USD 94.53 billion in FY 2025-26. Cumulative FDI between FY 2014-15 and FY 2025-26 reached USD 843 billion. These figures place FDI as a major indicator used in industrial and economic current affairs.
3. Indian Railways to Launch Bhuj-Barauni Amrit Bharat Express: Indian Railways has approved the introduction of the Bhuj-Barauni Amrit Bharat Express, a tri-weekly long-distance train service numbered 19427/19428. The train will connect Bhuj in Gujarat with Barauni in Bihar over a route of 2,532 km and will pass through Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Amrit Bharat Express is a category of long-distance passenger train in India. These trains are generally non-air-conditioned and are designed with sleeper and unreserved accommodation for affordable travel on routes of more than 800 km or journeys lasting over ten hours. Train No. 19427 will depart from Bhuj at 5:30 PM and reach Barauni at 4:05 AM the next day. Train No. 19428 will depart from Barauni at 11:55 PM and arrive at Bhuj at 1:15 PM the following day.
4. TRAI Launches Digital Connectivity Rating Platform: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) launched an integrated Digital Connectivity Rating (DCR) platform and a dedicated mobile application in New Delhi on 25 September 2026. The platform rates and certifies in-building mobile and internet connectivity in residential, commercial, and government properties. The Digital Connectivity Rating framework is prescribed under the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Rating of Properties for Digital Connectivity) Regulations, 2024, as amended in May 2026. The framework covers properties that can be assessed for digital connectivity through a standardised rating process.
5. Important Indian Women Sportspersons: Indian women sportspersons have transformed the country’s sporting profile through record-breaking performances, Olympic medals, and leadership across individual and team events. From athletics and weightlifting to boxing, badminton, cricket and para-sports, their achievements reflect talent, resilience and growing gender inclusion in Indian sport. India’s journey in women’s sport began with athletes who broke barriers in an era of limited support and opportunity. Their results gave Indian women visibility at the highest level and created a pathway for later champions. Known as the “Payyoli Express” and “Golden Girl”, she remains one of India’s most iconic track athletes. She finished fourth in the 400m hurdles at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, narrowly missing a medal.
6. Indian Railways Train Numbering System: Indian Railways uses a five-digit train numbering system to identify services by category, direction and operating pattern. Introduced to simplify administration and passenger information, it is especially useful on a network that runs thousands of trains across multiple zones. For Prelims, the first digit is the key to the basic classification. Indian Railways introduced the five-digit numbering system on December 20, 2010, replacing the earlier four-digit format. The change was meant to handle the growing number of train services and improve operational efficiency across the national network. The system also supports better digital governance, as each train can be quickly identified in timetables, reservation systems and public information platforms.
INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:
1. India Joins East Asia Summit Economic Ministers’ Meeting: India participated in the 14th East Asia Summit Economic Ministers’ Meeting and the 23rd ASEAN-India Economic Ministers Consultation in Manila, Philippines, from 22 to 24 September 2026. The Indian delegation was led by Additional Secretary, Department of Commerce, Nitin Kumar Yadav, and the meetings included ASEAN members and EAS partners such as India, Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, Korea, Russia, and the United States. The East Asia Summit is a leaders-led forum established in 2005, and its economic ministers’ meeting is part of the wider regional economic dialogue structure. ASEAN has 11 member states, namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Viet Nam.
2. India Reserves Right to Join Russia’s CBAM WTO Dispute: India has reserved its third-party rights in the World Trade Organization dispute concerning the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). The dispute was taken up by the WTO Dispute Settlement Body in Geneva on 25 September 2026, when it agreed to Russia’s request for a panel. The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism is a European Union trade measure linked to the carbon content of imported goods. It applies additional compliance and carbon-cost requirements to selected imports, including carbon-intensive products such as steel and aluminium. The WTO Dispute Settlement Body is the body that establishes panels for trade disputes under the WTO dispute settlement system. Third-party rights allow a member to participate in proceedings, present views on legal questions, and follow the case without becoming a principal complainant or respondent.
3. New X-Ray Clues from Blazars: On 25 September 2026, astronomers announced new findings on X-ray emission from blazars, which are active galactic nuclei powered by supermassive black holes. The study was led by the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), Nainital, an autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology (DST), India. Blazars are a class of active galactic nuclei in which a relativistic jet points close to the line of sight of the observer. They are among the most luminous persistent sources in the universe and are often studied in the X-ray and gamma-ray bands. TeV blazars are blazars detected at tera-electronvolt energies. The study was published in The Astrophysical Journal and used data from NASA’s NICER and NuSTAR space telescopes. Researchers Riya Bhowmick and Alok C. Gupta analysed 13 sets of X-ray observations from four TeV blazars: Mrk 421, Mrk 501, PG 1553+113, and PKS 2155-304.
4. APEDA Facilitates Export of Gulbarga Tur Dal to Maldives: The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority facilitated the export of GI-tagged Gulbarga Tur Dal from Karnataka to the Maldives. A 1 metric tonne consignment was flagged off on 24 September 2026 and transported by sea through an FPO-led export channel. Gulbarga Tur Dal is associated with the Kalaburagi region of Karnataka. The product received Geographical Indication registration in 2019 under India’s GI framework for region-specific goods. The export was handled by M/s Silken Global Exports and Imports, Mysuru, through its Farmer Producer Organisation-led brand. Farmers received ₹82 per kg through the export-linked channel, compared with the prevailing market price of ₹60 per kg.
6. Key Indian Mountaineering Expeditions and Records: India’s mountaineering story is closely tied to the Himalayas, high-altitude training, and record-setting expeditions. From early ascents on Everest and Nanda Devi to institutional support and armed forces participation, Indian climbers have built a strong legacy in exploration, endurance and adventure sports. India’s mountaineering history began with a mix of international expeditions, local support and later, nationally led climbs. The ascent of Mount Everest by Sherpa Tenzing Norgay with Sir Edmund Hillary on 29 May 1953 remains a landmark moment closely associated with India’s mountaineering tradition. Tenzing Norgay was an Indian citizen, and his achievement inspired generations of climbers.
7. Festival-Linked Public Welfare Schemes in India: Across India, festivals often become a window for public welfare, with state governments using the occasion to deliver cash support, food kits, special allowances and travel assistance. These measures are not just ceremonial; they reflect broader welfare priorities, help vulnerable households meet seasonal expenses, and widen participation in major cultural celebrations. Orunodoi is Assam’s flagship direct benefit transfer scheme, launched in 2020. It provides monthly financial assistance to women from economically weaker households, combining poverty alleviation with household support. Under Orunodoi 3.0, the regular monthly assistance is ₹1,250, and the scheme aims to cover about 25 lakh eligible women across all 35 districts of Assam.
OTHER UPDATES:
DEFENCE
1. INS Sudarshini Reaches Alexandria during Lokayan 26: INS Sudarshini, the Indian Navy’s sail training ship, arrived at Alexandria in Egypt on 23 September 2026 during the Lokayan 26 transoceanic expedition. The port call was the ship’s second visit to Alexandria during the same deployment. INS Sudarshini is a three-masted barque used by the Indian Navy for sail training and seamanship instruction. A barque is a sailing vessel with three or more masts, with square sails on the foremast and mainmast and fore-and-aft sails on the aftermost mast. Lokayan 26 is a 10-month voyage that began from Kochi on 20 January 2026. The expedition is planned to cover about 22,000 nautical miles, visit 18 ports, and call at 13 countries. It is designed for professional training in ocean navigation and traditional seamanship.
2. DRDO Signs First High-Value Deep-Tech Project Agreement: The Defence Research and Development Organisation signed its first high-value deep-tech project agreement under the Technology Development Fund scheme on 24 September 2026. The agreement was signed with Zero mK India Private Limited, an Alwar-based startup, for the indigenous development of a 20 mK dilution refrigerator for quantum applications. The Technology Development Fund is a scheme of the Defence Research and Development Organisation for supporting industry-led development of defence and dual-use technologies. The present agreement is the first high-value project under a ₹500 crore corpus approved for deep-tech and cutting-edge projects. A dilution refrigerator is a cryogenic system used to reach ultra-low temperatures in the millikelvin range. A 20 mK system is relevant for quantum computing platforms, superconducting devices, and other quantum technologies that require controlled low-temperature environments.
SPORTS
1. Important Asian Games Facts and Records: The Asian Games, or Asiad, is Asia’s premier multi-sport event and the second-largest multi-sport competition in the world after the Olympics. Held every four years, it combines sporting excellence with regional cooperation, national prestige and long-standing sports administration under the Olympic Council of Asia. The Asian Games emerged after World War II as Asian leaders sought a platform to promote unity and cooperation through sport. Indian representative Guru Dutt Sondhi played a key role in proposing the idea at the 1948 London Olympics. The Asian Games symbol and motto reflect the spirit of Asia and its sporting unity. The emblem has remained an important visual identity for the event across editions. The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) is the governing body for sport in Asia and has organised the Asian Games since 1982. It replaced the Asian Games Federation after the latter was disbanded on 16 November 1982.
2. Rajnath Singh Flags-in First Ascent Mountaineering Expedition: Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh flagged-in the First Ascent Mountaineering Expedition in New Delhi on 25 September 2026. The expedition recorded the first-ever summits of 20 unclimbed peaks above 6,000 metres in Ladakh in 23 days. The expedition was undertaken by a team of 20 climbers from the National Institute of Mountaineering and Adventure Sports (NIMAS), which is based in Dirang, Arunachal Pradesh. Colonel Ranveer Singh Jamwal, the Director of NIMAS, led the team. The summits were achieved in the Chamser-Lungser, Gyama Nala, and Chokula areas of the Ladakh Range. These locations are part of the high-altitude terrain of Ladakh, which includes several mountain zones above 6,000 metres.
3. Indian Squash Players Secure Three Medals at Asian Games: India secured three squash medals at the Asian Games 2026 on 25 September 2026. Joshna Chinappa and Velavan Senthilkumar reached the mixed doubles semifinals, while Anahat Singh and Abhay Singh entered the women’s and men’s singles semifinals respectively. Squash at the Asian Games includes men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles. A place in the semifinals guarantees at least a bronze medal in squash because both losing semifinalists receive bronze medals. Joshna Chinappa and Velavan Senthilkumar defeated the Philippines pair of David Pelino and Jemyca Aribado 11-3, 11-5 in the mixed doubles quarterfinals. Their entry into the semifinals assured India of one medal in the mixed doubles event.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
1. Cryogenic and Low-Temperature Technologies: Cryogenic and low-temperature technologies deal with materials and processes at extremely cold temperatures, where ordinary physical behavior changes sharply. These systems are important in space, defence, medicine, energy, electronics and quantum research because they make it possible to liquefy gases, preserve sensitive materials and operate specialised devices. Cryogenics is the branch of physics and engineering concerned with the production and behavior of materials at very low temperatures. In practice, the term usually refers to temperatures below the liquefaction point of common gases such as oxygen and nitrogen. The field is closely linked to refrigeration, material science and superconductivity. Reaching cryogenic temperatures requires methods that remove heat efficiently from gases, liquids or solids. Several techniques are especially important in laboratories and industrial systems.
2. IIT Delhi Develops India’s First Micro-GPU: Researchers at the Electrical Engineering Department of the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi developed India’s first working and demonstrable indigenous micro-Graphics Processing Unit (micro-GPU) on 24–25 September 2026. The project was led by M.Tech students Nammi Akash and M. Ravi Teja under Professor Jayadeva and Professor Kaushik Saha. A micro-GPU is a compact graphics processor designed for programmable rendering tasks. The IIT Delhi device used a custom floating-point GPU engine and was implemented entirely in Register Transfer Language (RTL). The micro-GPU was mapped to a Spartan-7 Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) platform. FPGA devices are reconfigurable integrated circuits used for prototyping digital systems and testing processor architectures before fabrication in silicon.
BANKING AND FINANCE
1. Government Approves ₹50,000 Loan for FCV Tobacco Growers: The Government of India approved a one-time interest-free loan of ₹50,000 per barn for Flue-Cured Virginia (FCV) tobacco growers in Andhra Pradesh on 25 September 2026. The assistance is part of the Interest-Free Working Capital Assistance Scheme of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and is meant for about 44,000 growers. Flue-Cured Virginia tobacco is a commercial tobacco variety cured in barns with controlled heat and airflow. Andhra Pradesh is one of the major FCV tobacco-growing States in India, and the crop is marketed through auction platforms regulated by the Tobacco Board. The approved assistance provides ₹50,000 per barn as a one-time interest-free loan. The total financial outlay for the intervention is estimated at about ₹220 crore, and the amount will be transferred directly to farmers through Direct Benefit Transfer.
2. PLI Schemes Disburse ₹36,754 Crore: The Government of India has disbursed ₹36,754 crore in incentives under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes since their launch in 2020. The data covers disbursements up to 30 June 2026 and was placed in the public domain by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade on 25 September 2026. Large-scale electronics manufacturing received the highest disbursement among the PLI sectors, with ₹19,090.98 crore by June 2026. The pharmaceutical sector received ₹6,662 crore, while food products received ₹3,271.44 crore. Automobiles and auto components received ₹3,174.15 crore during the same period. The Production Linked Incentive scheme is a central government incentive framework launched in 2020. It covers 14 sectors and has an approved outlay of ₹1.91 lakh crore. The scheme links incentives to incremental production, sales, or investment by eligible companies.
AWARDS AND HONOURS
1. Stanford Researcher Wins 2026 SASTRA-Ramanujan Award: Sarah Peluse, an Associate Professor of Mathematics at Stanford University in the United States, was announced on 25 September 2026 as the recipient of the SASTRA-Ramanujan Award for 2026. The award was established in 2005 and is given to mathematicians aged 32 and under for work in areas of mathematics influenced by Srinivasa Ramanujan. The SASTRA-Ramanujan Award carries a cash prize of $10,000 and a citation. It is presented annually by SASTRA and is linked to the mathematical legacy of Srinivasa Ramanujan, who was born on 22 December 1887 in Erode, Tamil Nadu. Sarah Peluse was selected for contributions to analytic number theory, additive combinatorics, combinatorial geometry, and group theory. Analytic number theory studies integers using methods from mathematical analysis, while additive combinatorics examines additive structures in sets and groups.
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