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UPSC Weekly Current Affairs 14 Sep – 20 Sep 2026

6 daily editions · 63 topics · 12 MCQs · National & International

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21 Sep – 27 Sep 202614 Sep – 20 Sep 20267 Sep – 13 Sep 202631 Aug – 6 Sep 2026

Weekly at a glance

All topics — key facts for revision

15 September 2026

Full notes with diagrams →
ECONOMY Centre bars all charges on UPI and RuPay debit card payments up to ₹2,000
  • Issued under Section 10A of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, which empowers the Centre to bar charges on prescribed electronic payment modes.
  • The bar covers UPI payments up to ₹2,000 and all RuPay debit card transactions; person-to-person UPI stays free at every value.
  • Zero MDR has applied to UPI and RuPay since 1 January 2020; banks and fintechs have carried the cost of running the rails since.
  • UPI handled 24.51 billion transactions worth ₹29.82 trillion in August 2026.
  • NPCI must still fix the rate and the merchant categories; industry expects 25–30 basis points, and only for larger merchants.
SCI-TECH Telecom department's Financial Fraud Risk Indicator heads off ₹5,043 crore of suspected cyber fraud
  • FRI was launched by the Department of Telecommunications on 22 May 2025; it labels a mobile number Medium, High or Very High risk in a fraction of a second when a payment starts.
  • It runs on the Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP), live since 2024, linking over 1,600 stakeholders — telecom operators, banks and law-enforcement agencies.
  • Suspected fraud prevented rose from ₹660 crore in the first six months to ₹5,043.73 crore cumulatively by August 2026 — a roughly 7.6-fold jump.
  • More than 1,500 banks and financial institutions have been trained across 25-plus sessions.
  • Inputs come from citizen reports on the Sanchar Saathi portal and the national cybercrime reporting system; the RBI has asked banks to integrate the tool.
SCI-TECH Semicon 2.0 becomes formal policy as India's chip design base widens before SEMICON India 2026
  • Semicon 2.0 carries an outlay of ₹1.27 lakh crore, succeeding the first phase of the India Semiconductor Mission.
  • 281 Indian semiconductor companies have raised about $1.4 billion in equity, of which $228 million came in 2026 so far.
  • Under the ChipIN Centre, Karnataka leads with 73 tape-outs and 81 supported organisations, ahead of Tamil Nadu (33) and Telangana (28).
  • Bengaluru alone accounts for over 40% of all semiconductor funding raised in India.
  • SEMICON India 2026 runs 17–19 September in New Delhi and is to be inaugurated by the Prime Minister.
ENVIRONMENT World Circular Economy Forum opens in Gandhinagar — first edition hosted in South Asia
  • Dates 15–18 September 2026, venue Mahatma Mandir, Gandhinagar, Gujarat; theme "Circular Economy: Transition for People and Prosperity".
  • The forum was created in 2017 by Sitra, Finland's innovation fund; the 2026 edition marks its tenth anniversary and its first South Asian hosting.
  • Expected participation of over 2,000 stakeholders from 65+ countries with 125+ exhibitors.
  • Four tracks: finance and investment; technology and innovation (AI, IoT, digital product passports); policy and EPR harmonisation; market solutions.
  • India co-chairs the board of the UN 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production (10YFP), which meets during the forum.
ENVIRONMENT Gujarat action plan for the Great Indian Bustard; soft-release centre opens in Kachchh
  • The Gujarat Action Plan targets a minimum viable population of 30 or more birds over 200–500 sq km.
  • Lala–Rawa in Kachchh (about 200 sq km) is the priority landscape; around 11 sq km of degraded grassland has been restored with predator-proof fencing.
  • A GIB Soft Release Centre has been set up to acclimatise captive-bred birds brought from Rajasthan before release into the wild.
  • The Great Indian Bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps) is Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List and is listed in Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
  • Overhead power lines remain the single biggest mortality risk; the species now survives mainly in Rajasthan's Thar landscape and in Kachchh.
ENVIRONMENT Project Cheetah crosses 52 animals as habitat under the programme widens to 3,428 sq km
  • The population has risen from 29 founder cheetahs to 52 individuals; 49 cubs have been born in India cumulatively.
  • Cub survival at Kuno National Park is about 68%.
  • Protected habitat under the project now covers 3,428 sq km.
  • Banni Grasslands (Gujarat) and Nauradehi (Madhya Pradesh) are identified as future release sites, alongside Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary.
  • Project Cheetah, begun in September 2022, is the world's first intercontinental translocation of a large carnivore.
POLITY Supreme Court: a genuine marriage promise later broken is not an offence under Section 69 BNS
  • Bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K. Vinod Chandran; the judgment was delivered on 7 September 2026 and reported this week.
  • Section 69 BNS penalises sexual intercourse obtained by deceitful means or a promise to marry made without any intention of fulfilling it — a distinct offence carved out from rape.
  • The Court held the deception must exist at the inception of the promise; a later failure to marry is not by itself an offence.
  • The man had withdrawn from the marriage citing his mother's objection; the Court read the relationship as consensual.
  • The Court relied on Deepak Gulati v. State of Haryana (2013), which distinguished a false promise from a breach of promise.
IR 18th BRICS Summit adopts the New Delhi Declaration; India hands the chair to China
  • Theme: "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability"; the grouping marked its 20th anniversary.
  • 11 members — Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE — plus 10 partner countries.
  • Finance: the BRICS Payment Task Force was tasked with low-cost local-currency settlement, and the "Jaipur Consensus" invoice-discounting mechanism for exporting MSMEs was endorsed. No common BRICS currency was agreed.
  • New initiatives: BRICS AGRIN farmer platform, a Global Forum on Farmers' Rights, a Digital Public Infrastructure Repository and the BRICS Mission for Healthy Lifestyle (2026–2029).
  • The declaration pressed for UN Security Council reform, criticised unilateral tariffs and carbon border measures (CBAM), and condemned terrorism, naming the April 2025 Jammu & Kashmir attack.
IR India and Mercosur launch talks to widen their preferential trade pact, sign e-certificate protocol
  • The India–Mercosur PTA was signed in 2004 and came into force in 2009, covering 450 tariff lines on India's side and 452 on Mercosur's.
  • Two-way trade stood at $21.8 billion in 2025-26.
  • The First Additional Protocol makes electronic Certificates of Origin legally equivalent to paper certificates, cutting transaction cost and verification lag.
  • Mercosur's five full members are Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
  • The protocol enters into force once both sides complete internal procedures and notify each other.
DEFENCE India and Vietnam agree to co-produce defence hardware at the 19th Joint Commission Meeting
  • The two sides identified co-production of Indian defence equipment and mutually beneficial supply chains as the next step in defence cooperation.
  • Ties were elevated to an Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in May 2026, with a trade target of $25 billion a year by 2030.
  • Cooperation was widened to air connectivity, nuclear energy, space, port infrastructure, heritage conservation and people-to-people exchange.
  • Both sides discussed West Asia and the South China Sea, reaffirming a maritime order based on international law.
  • The next defence policy dialogue is to be held during Aero India 2027.

16 September 2026

Full notes with diagrams →
SCI-TECH PM Modi meets global chip CEOs as SEMICON India 2026 opens tomorrow at Yashobhoomi
  • Theme: “Transform Tomorrow: Silicon to Systems — Building the Ecosystem”. Organised jointly by the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), MeitY and industry body SEMI at Yashobhoomi (India International Convention & Expo Centre).
  • Scale: 500+ exhibitors, 243 international companies, 150+ speakers, delegates from 40+ countries and 15,000 sq m of exhibition space, with 6 country pavilions (Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Germany, Netherlands) and 10 state pavilions.
  • Semicon 1.0 scorecard: 12 approved projects worth ₹1.64 lakh crore (≈ US$20 billion) across Gujarat, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh — of which 3 units are already in commercial production.
  • Semicon 2.0 was approved by the Union Cabinet on 15 July 2026 with an outlay of ₹1,27,500 crore, and the programme duration was stretched to 12 years. Its six pillars are chip design, machines and materials, fab setup, ATMP/OSAT, R&D and talent.
  • ISM CEO Amitesh Kumar Sinha said India's own semiconductor requirement will climb from about US$100 billion to US$200 billion, as the global market doubles from roughly US$1 trillion to US$2 trillion.
ECONOMY Wholesale inflation at 9.92% pulls far ahead of 4.82% retail; RBI drains ₹1 lakh crore
  • WPI inflation: 9.92% in August 2026, up from 9.78% in July (all-commodities index 110.8 vs 110.0). Fuel & power 22.93%, manufactured products 8.37% — a series high, primary articles 7.76%, and WPI food 7.05%, a 20-month high.
  • CPI inflation: 4.82% in August, up from 4.45% in July — a third straight month above the 4% target. Food 5.95%, core 4.16%, rural 5.23%, urban 4.31%. Telangana was highest at 6.27%, Mizoram lowest at 2.35%.
  • The RBI announced ₹1,00,000 crore of open market operation (OMO) bond sales — its first net bond sale in two years — in three tranches: ₹50,000 crore on 17 September, ₹25,000 crore on 21 September and ₹25,000 crore on 28 September 2026.
  • On 15 September the five-year yield jumped 22 basis points to 6.80% — its sharpest rise since May 2022 — and the 10-year rose 6 bps to 7.07%. SBI Research now projects two 25-bps repo hikes, in October and December 2026, with CPI peaking near 6.70%. The Indian crude basket is up from $82.04 in July to $109.76 in September; the next MPC meets 5–7 October 2026.
ECONOMY August trade deficit narrows to a five-month low as merchandise exports jump 26%
  • Merchandise exports: US$43.81 billion, up 26.12% year-on-year from $34.74 billion. Merchandise imports: US$70.67 billion. Merchandise deficit: US$26.86 billion, down from $31.98 billion in July 2026.
  • Services exports: US$38.87 billion (up 24.61%) against services imports of US$21.42 billion — a services surplus of about US$17.45 billion.
  • Overall goods-plus-services deficit: US$9.41 billion, narrower than $11.62 billion in August 2025.
  • April–August FY27: exports US$215.91 billion, imports US$363 billion. The United States remains the largest destination at US$42.79 billion (+6.17%), while exports to China rose 38.71% to US$9.61 billion; imports from China were US$65.49 billion.
SCI-TECH Chandrayaan-1 data points to “Australe Basin” — possibly the Moon's oldest impact basin
  • The study was led by the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad, with Neha Panwar as lead author, and published in The Planetary Science Journal on 15 September 2026.
  • It used the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3), the NASA imaging spectrometer flown aboard Chandrayaan-1 (2008) — the same instrument that confirmed water molecules on the lunar surface.
  • The Australe Basin may predate the South Pole–Aitken (SPA) Basin, which at over 4 billion years is currently the Moon's oldest confirmed impact structure.
  • Because its rims are heavily eroded, the basin was invisible to ordinary imaging; it was identified instead through distinct mineralogical and gravity signatures.
  • Its volcanic rocks show unusual mineralogy — lower calcium-bearing minerals but higher magnesium content than typical lunar basalts. Scientists estimate about 300 impact basins exist on the Moon, of which only 74 have been detected — making this a candidate target for the Chandrayaan-4 sample-return mission.
DEFENCE Yudh Abhyas 2026 opens at two sites for the first time — Auli and Mahajan
  • Venues: the Auli Foreign Training Node, Uttarakhand (high-altitude) and the Mahajan Field Firing Range, Rajasthan (desert). The exercise runs to 28 September 2026.
  • Participation: about 1,200 personnel, roughly 600 from each country. India is represented by the 14 Infantry Division; the US by the 1st (Mobile) Brigade Combat Team, 11th Airborne Division (“Arctic Angels”).
  • Systems in play include HIMARS, Stinger air-defence missiles and the M-LIDS counter-drone system — reported as deployed in India for the first time.
  • Training focus: Integrated Battle Group operations, mountain and cold-weather warfare, counter-UAS, drones and autonomous systems, and space and cyber multi-domain integration.
  • Yudh Abhyas has been held annually since 2004 under US Army Pacific sponsorship, alternating between India and the United States.
POLITY Supreme Court dismisses 271 Union appeals on armed-forces disability pension
  • Case: Union of India & Ors. v. Col. N.C. Isaac (Retd.), citation 2026 INSC 993, decided by a bench of Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe. All 271 matters were dismissed with no order as to costs.
  • The dispute turns on “NANA” — “Neither Attributable to Nor Aggravated by” military service — the Ministry of Defence classification used to deny disability pension by holding a disability unconnected to service.
  • The Raksha Mantri's Committee of Experts recommended in 2015 that pending NANA appeals be withdrawn, and the MoD formally accepted this in 2018 — but the Court held the recommendation “has not been faithfully implemented”.
  • Core holding: the Entitlement Rules, 2008 substantially preserve the protective framework of the 1982 Rules, so the burden of proof stays with the Department — with a narrow exception for claims raised more than 15 years after discharge.
  • The bench stressed that “transparency, clarity and certainty are of enormous importance” in service jurisprudence affecting large classes of litigants.
IR EAM Jaishankar begins two-day Bhutan visit; second senior Indian visit in a week
  • He was received by Bhutan's Foreign Minister Lyonpo D.N. Dhungyel. The programme includes bilateral talks, a royal audience with King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and a call on Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay.
  • Carry-over agenda from August 2026 talks: trans-border river management, flood forecasting, hydrological data sharing and progress on the jointly implemented Punatsangchhu-I Hydroelectric Project.
  • The visit followed Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's three-day Bhutan visit from 14 September 2026, during which he met the King and attended Bhutan's National Voters' Day.
  • Recent India-funded deliverables include three community development projects in Panbang, Zhemgang, with road works costing roughly Nu 31 million.
  • Hydropower remains the spine of the relationship: Bhutan exports surplus power to India, and the revenue is a dominant share of Bhutanese government income.
IR India at G20 Energy Abundance Ministerial in Houston; non-fossil capacity crosses half the mix
  • The ministerial was built on three pillars: Energy Security and Affordable Baseload; Permitting and Regulatory Efficiency; and Critical Minerals and Resilient Supply Chains.
  • India told the meeting it has 552 GW of installed electricity capacity, with the non-fossil share now exceeding 50% — achieved ahead of its 2030 commitment.
  • India–US: the minister met US Energy Secretary Chris Wright and reaffirmed the US–India Energy Security Partnership, covering clean energy, power infrastructure for AI, high-performance computing and data centres, and India's nuclear expansion roadmap.
  • India–Canada: he met Corey Hogan, Parliamentary Secretary to Canada's Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, on energy efficiency and offshore exploration under the Samudra Manthan scheme. India pressed for “practical, inclusive and technology-neutral” solutions.
SOCIETY PM Vishwakarma completes three years; 30 lakh artisans registered, meeting its full target
  • 30 lakh (3 million) beneficiaries registered — meeting the scheme's registration target in three years.
  • Over 6.19 lakh loans sanctioned, worth approximately ₹5,316 crore, under collateral-free credit at a 5% concessional interest rate.
  • Over ₹42 crore disbursed as digital transaction incentives to 8.11 lakh beneficiaries.
  • Over 24.37 lakh artisans given basic skill training and over 18.16 lakh issued toolkit e-vouchers; more than 12,000 were trained in AI tools for branding and product design.
  • Over 30,000 beneficiaries onboarded onto GeM and ONDC and private marketplaces, with 82 trade fairs and 37 state-level exhibitions organised.
ENVIRONMENT World Ozone Day 2026: “Global action for a cooler planet” marks 10 years of the Kigali Amendment
  • The Kigali Amendment, adopted in 2016, governs the global phase-down of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) — which are not ozone-depleting but are potent greenhouse gases.
  • Full implementation of the Kigali Amendment alone could avoid up to 0.5°C of global warming by the end of the century.
  • The Montreal Protocol (1987) is the first UN treaty to achieve universal ratification — 198 parties — and sits under the framework Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer (1985).
  • India ratified the Kigali Amendment in 2021 and will begin its HFC phase-down from a 2032 baseline, reaching an 85% cut by 2047.
  • The Antarctic ozone hole is projected to recover to 1980 levels by about 2066, with the Arctic by 2045 and the rest of the world by 2040.
REPORT Unemployment eases to a six-month low of 5.0% in August; female participation rises
  • All-India unemployment rate: 5.0% (Current Weekly Status, 15 years and above), down from 5.1% in July.
  • Rural unemployment fell to 4.1% from 4.5% — the lowest since January 2026 — while urban rose marginally to 6.8% from 6.7%.
  • Male unemployment 4.9% (from 5.0%) and female 5.1% (from 5.4%); rural female joblessness fell to 3.9% from 4.3%.
  • Labour Force Participation Rate (15+): 55.6% (from 55.4%) and Worker Population Ratio: 52.8% — the highest since March 2026. Female LFPR rose to 34.8%, with rural female LFPR at 39.4%. The survey covered 3,70,160 persons.

17 September 2026

Full notes with diagrams →
SCI-TECH SEMICON India 2026 opens; Semiconductor Mission 2.0 scales up to ₹1,27,500 crore
  • ISM 2.0 outlay ₹1,27,500 crore (about USD 13.5 billion), against ₹76,000 crore under Semicon 1.0 announced in 2021.
  • 12 semiconductor projects approved across six States; 3 are already in commercial production.
  • Six pillars: chip design, equipment & materials, fabrication, advanced packaging, R&D and talent.
  • Targets include 200+ chip-design companies, 1 lakh technicians and 85,000 semiconductor engineers in a decade; focus on mature nodes of 28 nm and above.
  • 24 startups supported under the Design Linked Incentive (DLI) scheme; 7 chips fabricated at the 12 nm node.
ECONOMY UPI merchant discount rate returns: 0.4% only on large P2M payments
  • 0.4% MDR on person-to-merchant (P2M) transactions above ₹2,000, capped at ₹300 per transaction.
  • Notified essential services — railways, telecom, insurance and fuel — attract a flat ₹5 per transaction; capital-market transactions 0.02%, capped at ₹300.
  • Fully exempt: all P2P transfers, all P2M up to ₹2,000, and small merchants under the P2PM framework receiving up to ₹1 lakh a month via UPI QR.
  • The merchant, not the consumer, bears the MDR; 5% of collections goes to a small-merchant support fund.
  • The government separately denied reports of any GST on UPI transactions.
DEFENCE India summons Pakistan envoy after PNS Hunain collides with Indian warship
  • PNS Hunain is a 98-metre offshore patrol vessel of the Pakistan Navy.
  • The incident occurred on 16 September 2026 in international waters, roughly 220 km (about 120 nautical miles) east of the Oman coast.
  • No major damage to the Indian warship and no injuries were reported.
  • India invoked Article 10 of the 1991 India-Pakistan Agreement on Prevention of Airspace Violations and Advance Notice on Military Exercises, Manoeuvres and Troop Movements, under which naval vessels shall not approach within three nautical miles of each other in international waters.
  • India also cited the COLREGs — the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea.
SCI-TECH Pangwala tribal gut study finds a deep antimicrobial-resistance reservoir
  • 28 volunteers were profiled using whole-metagenome shotgun sequencing, covering bacteria, fungi and viruses.
  • Dominant species: Prevotella copri, alongside Bifidobacterium and Succinivibrionaceae.
  • Stability despite diet change is explained by functional redundancy — different microbes performing the same job.
  • Highest resistance was to vancomycin, alone and with teicoplanin; the dominant mechanism was antibiotic target alteration (about 76%).
  • The phage Ceduovirus was far more abundant in native residents (16%) than migrants (0.04%).
ENVIRONMENT World Ozone Day 2026: India launches a Net Zero Portal and an NAPCC Dashboard
  • The Net Zero Portal is a national registry where Indian entities voluntarily disclose greenhouse-gas emissions and declare net-zero targets.
  • The NAPCC Dashboard digitally tracks the missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change.
  • The Montreal Protocol was signed on 16 September 1987 and has 198 parties — universal ratification; about 99% of ozone-depleting substances have been phased out.
  • The Kigali Amendment (2016) phases down hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which are potent greenhouse gases but not ozone-depleting; full implementation could avoid up to 0.5 degrees Celsius of warming by 2100.
  • India ratified the Kigali Amendment in September 2021; its HFC phase-down begins in 2032, with cuts of 10% by 2032, 20% by 2037, 30% by 2042 and 85% by 2047.
ECONOMY WPI inflation at 9.92% in August 2026 as fuel prices stay elevated
  • Sub-indices for August 2026: Fuel and Power 22.93%, Manufactured Products 8.37%, Primary Articles 7.76%, WPI Food Index 7.05%.
  • The spike is led by mineral oils at 38.48% and crude petroleum and natural gas at 34.41%, with Brent crude near USD 100 a barrel.
  • CPI for August 2026 was 4.82%, with food inflation (CFPI) at 5.95%; rural 5.23% and urban 4.31%.
  • The new WPI series (base 2022-23) was released in June 2026, raising the item basket from 697 to 957 and shifting weights to Gross Value of Output; crude petroleum moved from Primary Articles into Fuel and Power.
  • WPI is released by the Office of the Economic Adviser, DPIIT; CPI by the National Statistics Office, MoSPI (base year 2024).
POLITY Supreme Court seeks Manipur affidavit on 25 unnatural deaths in relief camps
  • The affidavit must cover post-mortem reports and causes of death, and explain why post-mortems were conducted in only 20 of the cases.
  • The Court questioned the "meagre" compensation of ₹20,000 to ₹30,000 per family when ₹5 lakh to ₹10 lakh was contemplated in comparable cases.
  • The Manipur State Legal Services Authority must ensure an FIR is registered in every unnatural death.
  • Investigation status placed before the Court: about 3,020 cases across 8 districts through 42 SITs; 302 chargesheets, 1,583 closure reports and 1,135 still under investigation.
  • In the CBI's 31 cases, only 6 of 978 cited witnesses have been examined; the Court discussed two additional NIA courts in Assam.
POLITY Supreme Court tells RBI its loan-recovery norms exist only on paper
  • Recovery agents seized the borrower's truck at about 1 a.m. on 9 April 2023 in Ayodhya, breaking the steering lock; it was sold for ₹4.50 lakh on 31 August 2023 without proper notice.
  • Relief: refund of ₹4,50,000 with 6% interest, compensation of ₹10,00,000 for mental agony and loss of livelihood, ₹50,000 costs, and closure of both loan accounts.
  • The Court invoked Article 21 (right to livelihood) and Article 14 (arbitrariness), and relied on Section 35-A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
  • It distilled guiding principles: no undue harassment, no force or stealth, prior notice before repossession, due diligence on recovery agents, designated recovery locations and a credit-counsellor mechanism.
  • The RBI may bar an institution from engaging recovery agents; the Registry was directed to forward the judgment to the RBI.
SOCIETY EPFO wage ceiling rises to ₹25,000 a month with effect from today
  • More than 51 lakh additional employees in the ₹15,001 to ₹25,000 wage band enter the statutory social-security net.
  • Fiscal cost: ₹11,339 crore a year against the existing ₹10,250 crore, and about ₹56,696 crore over five years.
  • The ceiling was last revised in September 2014, when it rose from ₹6,500 to ₹15,000.
  • EPFO scale today: about 7.98 crore contributing members across 7.68 lakh establishments, and roughly 82 lakh EPS pensioners.
  • Statutory basis: the Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952, with consequential changes to the EPF Scheme 1952, EPS 1995 and EDLI Scheme 1976.
IR New Zealand Parliament ratifies the India-New Zealand FTA by 93 votes to 29
  • Negotiations were launched in March 2025 and concluded in about nine months — billed as India's fastest-concluded FTA.
  • New Zealand grants duty-free access on 100% of its tariff lines; India opens 70.03% of its tariff lines, covering about 95% of bilateral trade.
  • India's schedule: 30% of lines see immediate elimination, 35.60% phased over 3 to 10 years, 4.37% reduced but not eliminated, 0.06% under tariff rate quotas, and 29.97% excluded.
  • Dairy is fully excluded by India, along with other sensitive agriculture and sugar — the headline defensive win.
  • Bilateral merchandise trade rose from USD 873 million in 2023-24 to USD 1.3 billion in 2024-25.

18 September 2026

Full notes with diagrams →
SCI-TECH India Semiconductor Mission 2.0 launched at SEMICON India 2026
  • Outlay of ₹1,27,500 crore (about $13.5 billion) spread over 12 years, against ₹76,000 crore over five years in Phase 1.
  • Built on six pillars: chip design, machines and materials, fabs, advanced packaging, research, and talent development.
  • Targets 200-plus chip design start-ups and training of one lakh clean-room and factory-floor workers.
  • Three units are already in commercial production in assembly, testing, marking and packaging; a 3D packaging unit is coming up in Odisha.
ECONOMY UPI merchant discount rate returns for payments above ₹2,000 from 15 October
  • Standard rate 0.4%, capped at ₹300 for transactions of ₹75,000 and above.
  • Essential and thin-margin sectors pay a flat ₹5 per transaction above ₹2,000; capital-market payments attract 0.02%, capped at ₹300.
  • All person-to-person transfers and merchant payments up to ₹2,000 remain free; about 97.5% of UPI transactions by volume are unaffected.
  • Revenue split: payer's bank 40%, merchant's bank 30%, UPI app or TPAP 20%, payment service provider bank 10%.
  • A separate 5% pool will fund UPI adoption among small merchants; zero charges up to ₹2,000 are notified under Section 10A of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.
ECONOMY Wholesale price inflation hardens to 9.92% in August 2026
  • Headline WPI inflation at 9.92% in August 2026, up from 9.78% in July; the all-commodities index rose to 110.8 from 110.0.
  • Fuel and power was the main driver at 22.93%, up from 20.05%, with mineral oils at 38.48% and crude petroleum at 34.41%.
  • Manufactured products inflation edged up to 8.37%; primary articles eased to 7.76% from 8.52%.
  • The food index rose to 7.05% from 6.65%.
  • Retail CPI inflation was 4.82% in August with food inflation at 5.95%; the unemployment rate stood at 5.0%.
DEFENCE Defence Acquisition Council clears ₹1.10 lakh crore of proposals, 98% from Indian industry
  • Total Acceptance of Necessity value of about ₹1.10 lakh crore, with around 98% to be sourced from Indian industry.
  • Army: CBRN reconnaissance vehicles, high mobility vehicles, self-propelled mechanical mine layers, advanced light helicopters, trawl tanks and the Sarvatra bridge system.
  • Navy: Arudhra radars and the design, development and procurement of marine gas turbines.
  • Air Force: ground-based multi-purpose jammers and the DEFSAC secure access card system.
  • Yudh Abhyas 2026, the 22nd India-United States army exercise, runs to 28 September at Auli in Uttarakhand and the Mahajan field firing range in Rajasthan.
DEFENCE India rejects the new Pakistan-China Boundary Joint Commission
  • India holds the 1963 Sino-Pakistan Boundary Agreement to be illegal and invalid.
  • Under that agreement Pakistan ceded roughly 5,800 sq km of the Shaksgam valley to China.
  • The Shaksgam valley lies north of the Karakoram range, between Xinjiang and Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan.
  • Its location is strategically close to the Siachen-Karakoram zone and complements the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
SOCIETY EPFO wage ceiling raised from ₹15,000 to ₹25,000 a month
  • Ceiling raised from ₹15,000 to ₹25,000 a month; approved by the Cabinet in September 2026.
  • This is the first revision since September 2014, when the limit moved from ₹6,500 to ₹15,000.
  • About 51 lakh additional employees are expected to come under mandatory coverage.
  • The estimated additional annual outlay for the government is about ₹11,339 crore.
POLITY Supreme Court fast-tracks the challenge to Delhi's Special Intensive Revision
  • More than 47 lakh names were removed from the draft roll and about 33 lakh more electors have received notices.
  • The disputed logical discrepancies category, not defined by the poll authority, covers 19.33 lakh electors.
  • The mapping category, involving generational voting verification, covers 13.79 lakh electors.
  • Electors facing notices add up to 33,12,919, or about 33.96% of the 97.5 lakh enumerated electors.
IR United States bill proposes up to 100% tariffs on buyers of Russian energy
  • The bill targets Russia's energy sector, listed individuals and the shadow fleet of tankers.
  • Exemptions are offered to countries that sharply cut purchases or whose imports are under 15% of Russia's total exports.
  • Russia's share of India's crude imports touched an all-time high of over 51% in July 2026.
  • India imported about 110.4 lakh tonnes of Russian crude in July, roughly 26% higher than in June.
  • India already faces cumulative United States tariffs of 50%; the bill also preserves a discretionary presidential waiver.
IR India and MERCOSUR sign first Additional Protocol for electronic certificates of origin
  • The protocol gives electronic certificates of origin the same legal validity as paper certificates, enabling paperless trade.
  • MERCOSUR is a South American customs union whose founding members are Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
  • The wider negotiation to expand the India-MERCOSUR preferential trade agreement is targeted for completion within a year, covering tariffs and digital cooperation.
  • At the 9th ASEAN-India agriculture ministers' meeting, co-chaired with the Philippines, India noted bilateral trade of $128 billion in FY 2025-26.
REPORT India stays at rank 131 of 145 on the Global Gender Gap Index 2026
  • India is ranked 131 out of 145 countries with a parity score of 64.5%, below the global average of 69.2%.
  • Sub-index scores: educational attainment 96.6%, health and survival 95.6%, economic participation 41.2%, political empowerment 24.5%.
  • India's best sub-index rank is 67th, in political empowerment.
  • Iceland tops the index with about 93% of its gap closed, followed by Finland, Norway, Namibia and the United Kingdom.
  • Parity in professional and technical roles in India nearly doubled from 26.6% in 2006 to 49.9% in 2026, but female labour force participation is 44.1%.
ENVIRONMENT Mangrove GIS portal released as MISHTI nears its restoration target
  • MISHTI stands for Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats and Tangible Incomes, announced in the 2023-24 Budget.
  • 27,652 hectares have been restored against a target of 29,250 hectares for the 2023-27 period.
  • 12,450 hectares of that restoration is in the ecologically difficult Kori Creek stretch.
  • The new Mangrove GIS (MGIS) portal, a Mangroves Atlas of Gujarat and a coffee-table book on Kachchh mangroves were released.
  • Guneri in Kachchh, home to rare inland mangroves, was declared Gujarat's first Biodiversity Heritage Site in January 2025.

19 September 2026

Full notes with diagrams →
SCI-TECH Semicon 2.0: India Semiconductor Mission enters Phase-II
  • Semicon 2.0 carries an outlay of ₹1,27,500 crore (about USD 13.5 billion), against ₹76,000 crore in Phase-I — a 67.8% increase.
  • Cabinet approval came in July 2026; the programme was unveiled on 17 September 2026.
  • Built on six pillars: design, equipment and materials, fabs, advanced packaging, applied R&D, and talent.
  • Targets: 200 semiconductor design start-ups, training of 1 lakh technicians and roughly 1 lakh new jobs.
  • Five units approved under Phase-I are already in commercial production.
ECONOMY US Fed raises rates 25 bps — first hike in three years
  • The federal funds target range was raised by 25 basis points to 3.75–4.00% on 16 September 2026.
  • It is the first increase in three years, decided by a unanimous vote.
  • Fed Chair Kevin Warsh committed to a timelier return to the 2% inflation target.
  • Projections point to growth easing from about 2.3% to 2.1%, unemployment near 4.1%, and inflation falling to 2.0% by 2029.
  • US inflation was last below the 2% target in February 2021.
SCI-TECH Deep-sea mining: India's nodule ambition meets an ecological gap
  • Polymetallic nodules lie at depths of 3,000–6,000 metres on the abyssal seabed.
  • India holds three exploration contracts with the International Seabed Authority, covering about 95,000 sq km.
  • Estimated resource: about 366 million tonnes of polymetallic nodules.
  • The indigenous submersible MATSYA-6000 has been tested to about 5,270 metres against a design depth of 6,000 metres.
  • The ISA's exploitation code — the rulebook for commercial mining — remains unadopted.
ENVIRONMENT India's first soil carbon payments reach smallholder farmers
  • ₹2.9 crore was distributed to 2,550 smallholder farmers in Punjab and Haryana on 17 September 2026.
  • Average payment worked out to about ₹11,478 per farmer.
  • About 50,000 carbon credits were verified for practices adopted between 2019 and 2022.
  • Credited practices: Direct Seeded Rice (DSR), reduced tillage and crop-residue management.
  • Co-benefits reported: roughly 45 billion litres of water saved and over 2 lakh tonnes of residue retained on fields.
DEFENCE HAL completes Tejas trainer deliveries, hands Dhruv NG to civil operator
  • Deliveries of the Tejas twin-seater trainer variant to the Indian Air Force have been completed.
  • Four Dhruv Next Generation (NG) helicopters were inducted into Pawan Hans Ltd. for civil operations.
  • The Dhruv NG is a 5.5-tonne class light helicopter that is civil-certified.
  • Tejas is India's indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), developed with DRDO's ADA.
ECONOMY Retail inflation climbs to 4.82% in August 2026
  • Headline CPI inflation was 4.82% in August 2026, up from 4.45% in July.
  • Food inflation rose to 5.95% from 5.52% — 6.13% rural and 5.64% urban.
  • The reading sits above the 4% medium-term target but within the 2–6% tolerance band.
  • Sharp gainers: ginger (+73.82%), onion (+48.27%) and garlic (+43.60%); tomato (-31.09%) and potato (-13.14%) fell.
  • Inflation has risen steadily from 3.93% in May through 4.38% in June and 4.45% in July.
POLITY Six states sign the Kishau Multipurpose Project agreement
  • The agreement was signed on 15 September 2026, ending a 17-year deadlock.
  • Signatories: Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi.
  • Site: the Tons river, the largest tributary of the Yamuna, on the Uttarakhand–Himachal Pradesh border.
  • A concrete gravity dam of 232.6 metres — among India's tallest — with storage of 1,562 million cubic metres (MCM).
  • Benefits: irrigation for 97,000 hectares, 1,476 million units of hydropower and a 25% environmental flow for the Yamuna.
POLITY ECI freezes Trinamool Congress name and symbol before bypolls
  • The interim order was issued on 17 September 2026 under Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968.
  • Neither group may use the name All India Trinamool Congress or the reserved 'Flowers & Grass' symbol.
  • Rival groups are led by Mamata Banerjee and Arup Roy.
  • The freeze precedes bypolls in Rejinagar and Nandigram scheduled for 6 October 2026.
  • Under Para 15 the primary test is majority support among elected legislators (MPs and MLAs), with verified affidavits used when membership records are contested.
HEALTH Jan Aushadhi basket expands well beyond medicines
  • Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) now runs over 20,000 Jan Aushadhi Kendras nationwide.
  • The basket covers 2,110 medicines plus 315 surgicals, consumables and devices.
  • Sales between 2021 and 2026 touched ₹7,873.85 crore, with estimated citizen savings of about ₹37,200 crore.
  • Two sub-baskets: Janaushadhi Bachpan (infant and child care) and Jan Aushadhi Swabhiman (elderly care).
  • Implementing agency: the Pharmaceuticals & Medical Devices Bureau of India (PMBI).
REPORT Global report puts forests at the centre of food security
  • The report was released on 15 September 2026 by the UN food and agriculture body.
  • Over 5 billion people depend on forests for livelihoods; more than 50,000 wild species are used for food or medicine.
  • In parts of Africa up to 80% of daily protein comes from wild meat; in the Amazon about 44% of food consumed is forest-sourced.
  • Global forest loss averaged 10.9 million hectares per decade to 2025.
  • India's instruments: Forest Rights Act, 2006, MSP for Minor Forest Produce, Van Dhan Vikas Kendras and the National Agroforestry Policy, 2014.
ENVIRONMENT India-born cheetah delivers four cubs; Kuno population rises to 56
  • The India-born female KGP-12 delivered four cubs on 17 September 2026.
  • The total cheetah population rose from 52 to 56 — 49 at Kuno National Park and 3 at Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary.
  • Project Cheetah was launched on 17 September 2022 with 8 cheetahs from Namibia, followed by 12 from South Africa in February 2023.
  • The cheetah was declared extinct in India in 1952; this is the world's first intercontinental translocation of a large carnivore.
  • Kuno National Park lies in the Sheopur district of Madhya Pradesh, in the Chambal region.
IR New Zealand clears legislation to give effect to the India FTA
  • New Zealand's Parliament passed the enabling legislation for the India–New Zealand Free Trade Agreement.
  • The agreement provides duty-free access for 100% of Indian exports to New Zealand.
  • Entry into force follows completion of domestic ratification procedures on both sides.
  • It sits alongside India's wider trade push — textile exports alone were ₹29,776 crore in August 2026, up 16.1% year-on-year.
  • India also ranked No. 1 among 41 global markets on business climate in an international survey released this week.

20 September 2026

Full notes with diagrams →
ECONOMY Coal India Bets Rs 50,000 Crore on Gasification, Critical Minerals and Renewables
  • Flagship: Bharat Coal Gasification and Chemicals Ltd, a CIL-BHEL JV at Lakhanpur, Odisha, of about Rs 25,000 crore.
  • It will make about 6.60 lakh tonnes of ammonium nitrate a year; tenders run with GAIL and BPCL.
  • Five domestic blocks with graphite and rare metals acquired; lithium options explored in Chile, Argentina, Australia.
  • Renewable target of 9.5 GW by 2030, pairing solar with battery energy storage systems (BESS).
ECONOMY Wholesale Inflation Stays Elevated at 9.92% on Fuel and Food
  • Fuel and power inflation surged to 22.93% from 20.05% in July - the single largest driver.
  • Manufactured products rose to 8.37% from 8.29%; the food index to 7.05% from 6.65%.
  • Primary articles inflation eased to 7.76% from 8.52%.
  • Top contributors: mineral oils, food articles, food products, basic metals and chemicals.
ECONOMY Software Services Exports Rise 8.2% to USD 221.4 Billion in 2025-26
  • The United States took 54.1% of the basket; Europe 31.8%, with the United Kingdom the largest European market.
  • 91.7% of exports were delivered off-site, underlining India's remote-delivery advantage.
  • Computer services made up over two-thirds of the total; BPO led the ITES segment.
  • Local business of foreign subsidiaries of Indian firms grew from USD 13.9 billion to USD 17.9 billion.
SCI-TECH Deep-Sea Mining: India's Seabed Ambition Meets an Ecological Wall
  • India holds three exploration contracts with the International Seabed Authority over about 95,000 sq km.
  • The blocks lie in the Central Indian Ocean Basin, the Central Indian Ridge and the Carlsberg Ridge.
  • Identified resource: about 366 million tonnes of polymetallic nodules rich in nickel, cobalt, copper, manganese.
  • Capability includes the MATSYA-6000 submersible and a mining system tested at about 5,270 metres.
ENVIRONMENT Green Tribunal's Global Conference Puts Climate Equity and Nuclear Power Centre Stage
  • Developed countries were said to emit roughly six times more carbon per capita than India.
  • Solar capacity was cited as rising from about 2 GW to 160 GW in twelve years; wind roughly tripled.
  • Annual EV sales rose from about 3,000 to nearly 25 lakh; about 1.5 crore water-harvesting structures were built.
  • Avoided emissions were put at about 20 crore tonnes; dense forest cover up about 22%.
POLITY Joint Parliamentary Committee Begins Scrutiny of the FCRA (Amendment) Bill, 2026
  • A new Designated Authority will take custody of and dispose of assets built from foreign contributions on loss of registration.
  • Assets go into provisional custody and vest permanently in government if registration is not restored in time.
  • Maximum imprisonment for offences is proposed to fall from five years to one year.
  • Registration would cease automatically on non-renewal; places of worship must keep their religious character.
IR India-Nepal Sub-Committee on Trade, Transit and Unauthorised Trade Concludes
  • Bilateral trade was about USD 9.38 billion in 2025-26; India is over 60% of Nepal's external trade.
  • India takes more than 80% of Nepal's goods exports and is its largest foreign investor.
  • India has extended about USD 750 million in Lines of Credit since 2006; the armies hold SURYA KIRAN.
  • Energy ties rest on the Power Exchange Agreement, 1971 and the Joint Vision Statement on Power, 2022.
SOCIETY Swachhata Hi Seva 2026 Runs on Five Pillars Till 17 October
  • Five pillars: Cleanliness Target Units, Swachh Paathshala, Safai Mitra Suraksha evam Samman Shivir, Jan Bhagidari, Swachhata se Samriddhi.
  • A nationwide one-hour shramdaan - Ek Din, Ek Ghanta, Ek Saath - falls on 1 October 2026.
  • 2 October is Swachh Bharat Diwas, marked by gram sabhas and plantation drives.
  • It is run by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
REPORT India Opens Asian Games Account with Women's 10m Air Rifle Team Silver
  • Elavenil Valarivan, Sonam Maskar and Vidarsa Vinod totalled 1,898 points; China took gold.
  • Suchika Tariyal assured India's first Asian Games medal in MMA, winning her 60 kg quarterfinal 2-0.
  • The Games run 19 September to 4 October 2026 across Aichi-Nagoya, with events in Tokyo, Gifu, Shizuoka; 43 sports.
  • India has fielded about 502 athletes in 35 sports, backed by TOPS and the Target Asian Games Group.

Prelims rapid-fire — 36 facts

Section 10A, Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 — the provision used to bar charges on UPI and RuPay debit card payments.
$56.846 billion — inflows drawn by the RBI's special swap window; FCNR(B) alone brought in $52.3 billion.
Semicon 2.0 — India's second-phase chip programme, outlay ₹1.27 lakh crore; SEMICON India 2026 runs 17–19 September in New Delhi.
Lala–Rawa, Kachchh — the priority Great Indian Bustard landscape; the bird is Critically Endangered and in Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
Sitra, Finland's innovation fund, created the World Circular Economy Forum in 2017; the 2026 edition at Gandhinagar is its tenth.
15 September — International Day of Democracy, and in India Engineer's Day, marking Sir M. Visvesvaraya's birth anniversary.
Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) — NASA imaging spectrometer flown on Chandrayaan-1 (2008); confirmed lunar water and has now revealed the Australe Basin.
NANA — “Neither Attributable to Nor Aggravated by” service; the Ministry of Defence classification at the heart of the 16 September disability-pension ruling.
Kigali Amendment (2016) — amends the Montreal Protocol to phase down HFCs, which are greenhouse gases, not ozone-depleting substances. India ratified it in 2021.
Current Weekly Status (CWS) — PLFS activity measure using a 7-day reference period; the basis of the 5.0% August unemployment rate.
Punatsangchhu-I — India-assisted hydroelectric project in Bhutan, on the agenda of the External Affairs Minister's 16–17 September visit.
1991 India–Pakistan Agreement on Advance Notice of Military Exercises — invoked by India on 16 September after an unsafe Pakistan Navy manoeuvre in the North Arabian Sea; it requires three nautical miles of separation between the two navies' vessels.
Gucchi (Morchella esculenta), the Himalayan morel served at the BRICS 2026 gala dinner, sells for ₹15,000 to ₹40,000 a kg and grows wild in Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
India exported about 500 tonnes of hilsa (Tenualosa ilisha) to Bangladesh over two months — the first time the trade has run in this direction. Hilsa is anadromous and Bangladesh's national fish.
PLFS bulletin, August 2026: unemployment rate 5.0%, LFPR 55.6%, worker-population ratio 52.8%; released by the NSO under MoSPI.
Merchandise trade, August 2026: exports USD 43.81 billion, imports USD 70.67 billion, deficit USD 26.86 billion; the overall goods-and-services deficit narrowed to USD 9.41 billion.
Exercise Yudh Abhyas 2026, the 22nd India-US army exercise, runs 15-28 September 2026 at Auli, Uttarakhand and Mahajan Field Firing Range, Rajasthan — the first time on two terrains at once, with about 600 personnel a side.
PRL Ahmedabad used Chandrayaan-1's Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) to identify the Australe Basin, a lost lunar impact basin ringed by orthopyroxene and inferred to be older than 4 billion years.
18 September is observed as International Equal Pay Day, established by UN General Assembly resolution in 2019, and also as World Bamboo Day.
Gegeneophis chandgadi, a new caecilian amphibian, was described from Kolhapur district in Maharashtra, taking India's amphibian count to 458 species.
The Asian Games 2026 open at Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from 19 September to 4 October, with India sending 508 athletes across 37 sports.
West Bengal has cleared a new DRDO missile testing range at Junput, Purba Medinipur, about 70 km from Chandipur.
Dhiraj Bommadevara became the first Indian male recurve archer to win an individual Archery World Cup Final title, beating Japan's Junya Nakanishi 6-5.
The Colombo Security Conclave table-top exercise concluded at Visakhapatnam; its members are India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Mauritius, Bangladesh and Seychelles.
OneTag — launched by NHAI with NPCI on the Rajmargyatra app, it allows FASTag bank portability without replacing the physical tag; a six-month cooling-off applies between port requests.
Global Business Climate Survey 2026 — India ranked No. 1 among 41 global markets; 73% of surveyed Swedish firms rated India's operating climate good or very good.
Census Town — criteria unchanged since 1981: population 5,000+, 75% of male workers in non-agricultural activity and density of 400 persons per sq km.
Himalayan Monal — state bird of Uttarakhand; a new study found birds in noisy tourism zones calling at higher frequencies, an example of acoustic masking.
Marathi film 'Gondhal' — selected as India's official entry for the Oscars 2027 Best International Feature category.
CORE Programme — a tri-services and civil-bureaucracy training initiative at the Manekshaw Centre, New Delhi, covering multi-domain conflict, AI, non-kinetic warfare and cyber deterrence.
Bharat Coal Gasification and Chemicals Ltd is a joint venture of Coal India and BHEL at Lakhanpur, Odisha.
WPI base year is 2011-12; fuel and power carries a weight of 13.15%.
India is the third country in the world, after Australia and New Zealand, to establish a dedicated green tribunal.
The International Seabed Authority is headquartered at Kingston, Jamaica, under UNCLOS Part XI.
Polymetallic nodules are rich in nickel, cobalt, copper and manganese.
The 9th India International Water Week theme is Climate Resilient Water Management; partner countries are the Netherlands and Germany.

Data points of the period

WPI 9.92% | CPI 4.82%
India's inflation split — August 2026
Wholesale inflation edged up from 9.78% in July on a fuel-led cost shock — Fuel & Power at 22.93%, Primary Articles at 7.76%, Manufactured Products at 8.37%. Retail inflation at 4.82% stayed inside the RBI's 2–6% band, with food (CFPI) at 5.95%, rural at 5.23% and urban at 4.31%. Both series were released on 14 September 2026. The 5.1 percentage-point wedge means producers are absorbing costs that have not yet reached the shopper — a margin squeeze today, a possible retail pass-through tomorrow.
9.92%
Wholesale price inflation, August 2026
Up from 9.78% in July and now more than double the 4.82% retail (CPI) print — a divergence driven almost entirely by fuel and power inflation of 22.93%, with WPI food at a 20-month high of 7.05%.
9.92%
Wholesale Price Index inflation, August 2026
Up from 9.78% in July 2026 on the new 2022-23 base year. Fuel and Power ran at 22.93% and mineral oils at 38.48%, while retail CPI inflation for the same month was only 4.82% — the widest wholesale-retail wedge in years, and a reminder that WPI carries no services and a heavy fuel weight.
₹2,25,000 crore
RBI absorbs ₹2.25 lakh crore in a single VRRR auction
A 3-day variable rate reverse repo (VRRR) auction is being conducted on 18 September 2026, maturing on 21 September 2026, to drain surplus liquidity from the banking system and stop the overnight call rate from sliding well below the policy repo rate. A VRRR absorbs liquidity, while a VRR injects it. Earlier in September the central bank had mopped up as much as ₹6.02 lakh crore in a single round as the system surplus touched record highs. This is liquidity management, not a change in the policy stance.
4.82%
Retail inflation (CPI), August 2026
Up from 4.45% in July 2026. Food inflation at 5.95% (rural 6.13%, urban 5.64%). Above the 4% medium-term target but inside the 2–6% tolerance band.
USD 221.4 billion
Software services exports, 2025-26
Up 8.2% year-on-year. The United States accounted for 54.1% and Europe 31.8% of the basket, while 91.7% of delivery was off-site. Counting foreign affiliates of Indian companies, the total reaches USD 239.3 billion, a 9.5% rise.

12 practice MCQs — UPSC Prelims pattern

Q1. With reference to the September 2026 notification on charges for digital payments, consider the following statements: 1. It bars any charge on UPI transactions up to ₹2,000 and on RuPay debit card transactions. 2. It has been issued under Section 10A of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007. 3. It permits banks to levy a charge on person-to-person UPI transfers above ₹2,000. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 and 2 only
  2. 2 and 3 only
  3. 1 and 3 only
  4. 1, 2 and 3
Show answer
Answer: A
Statements 1 and 2 are correct. Statement 3 is wrong — person-to-person UPI transfers stay free at every value; only a narrow set of merchant transactions above ₹2,000 could attract an MDR in future, and NPCI has still to fix the rate and the eligible merchant categories.

Q2. Consider the following pairs of trade arrangements and their defining feature: 1. Preferential Trade Agreement — tariff concessions on a limited list of goods 2. Customs Union — a common external tariff against non-members 3. Common Market — free movement of goods, services, capital and labour How many of the pairs given above are correctly matched?

  1. Only one
  2. Only two
  3. All three
  4. None
Show answer
Answer: C
All three pairs are correctly matched. India and Mercosur signed a PTA in 2004, in force from 2009, covering about 450 tariff lines on each side. Mercosur itself is a customs union, which is why it negotiates trade agreements as a bloc rather than country by country.

Q3. With reference to the Kigali Amendment, consider the following statements: 1. It was adopted in 2016 and amends the Montreal Protocol. 2. It provides for the phase-down of hydrofluorocarbons, which are ozone-depleting substances. 3. India has ratified it and will begin its phase-down from a 2032 baseline. Which of the statements given above are correct?

  1. 1 and 2 only
  2. 1 and 3 only
  3. 2 and 3 only
  4. 1, 2 and 3
Show answer
Answer: B
Statements 1 and 3 are correct. Statement 2 is wrong on a point examiners love: HFCs do NOT deplete ozone — they were adopted precisely because they are ozone-safe. They are, however, extremely potent greenhouse gases, which makes Kigali a climate instrument grafted onto an ozone treaty.

Q4. With reference to India's price data for August 2026, consider the following statements: 1. Headline retail (CPI) inflation remained below the Reserve Bank's 4% target. 2. Wholesale (WPI) inflation was higher than retail inflation. 3. Fuel and power was the fastest-rising major group within the WPI. Which of the statements given above are correct?

  1. 1 and 2 only
  2. 1 and 3 only
  3. 2 and 3 only
  4. 1, 2 and 3
Show answer
Answer: C
Statements 2 and 3 are correct. CPI was 4.82% — above, not below, the 4% target, and the third consecutive month above it, so statement 1 fails. WPI at 9.92% was more than double CPI, and within WPI fuel and power rose 22.93%, far ahead of manufactured products (8.37%).

Q5. With reference to the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) in India, consider the following statements: 1. It is released by the National Statistics Office under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. 2. It does not cover services. 3. The Reserve Bank of India's flexible inflation-targeting mandate is anchored to the WPI. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 and 2 only
  2. 2 only
  3. 2 and 3 only
  4. 1, 2 and 3
Show answer
Answer: B
Statement 1 is incorrect: the WPI comes from the Office of the Economic Adviser, DPIIT, while the CPI comes from the NSO under MoSPI. Statement 2 is correct: the WPI covers only goods. Statement 3 is incorrect: flexible inflation targeting is anchored to CPI at 4% with a 2-6% band.

Q6. With reference to the Kigali Amendment, consider the following statements: 1. It was adopted under the Montreal Protocol and targets hydrofluorocarbons. 2. Hydrofluorocarbons are potent ozone-depleting substances. 3. India ratified the Amendment in 2021 and will begin its phase-down in 2032. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 only
  2. 1 and 3 only
  3. 2 and 3 only
  4. 1, 2 and 3
Show answer
Answer: B
Statements 1 and 3 are correct: the Kigali Amendment of 2016 phases down HFCs under the Montreal Protocol; India ratified it in September 2021 and starts its cuts in 2032, reaching 85% by 2047. Statement 2 is incorrect: HFCs do not deplete ozone at all — they are targeted as potent greenhouse gases.

Q7. With reference to the Variable Rate Reverse Repo (VRRR) auction, consider the following statements: 1. It is used by the central bank to absorb surplus liquidity from the banking system. 2. The rate in a VRRR auction is fixed in advance and is always equal to the policy repo rate. 3. It changes the monetary policy stance whenever it is conducted. Which of the statements given above is or are correct?

  1. 1 only
  2. 1 and 2 only
  3. 2 and 3 only
  4. 1, 2 and 3
Show answer
Answer: A
A VRRR absorbs liquidity, so 1 is correct. The rate is discovered by auction, not fixed, so 2 is wrong. It is a liquidity operation and does not alter the policy stance, so 3 is wrong.

Q8. The Shaksgam valley, sometimes seen in the news, is best described as:

  1. A valley in eastern Arunachal Pradesh drained by the Lohit river
  2. A tract north of the Karakoram range that Pakistan purported to cede to China in 1963
  3. A cold desert plateau in Himachal Pradesh adjoining the Spiti valley
  4. A wetland complex in the Sundarbans delta shared with Bangladesh
Show answer
Answer: B
The Shaksgam valley, about 5,800 sq km, lies north of the Karakoram range between Xinjiang and Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan. India treats the 1963 agreement as illegal and invalid.

Q9. With reference to polymetallic nodules found on the deep seabed, consider the following statements: 1. They occur mainly at depths of 3,000 to 6,000 metres. 2. They are a source of manganese, nickel, cobalt and copper. 3. The International Seabed Authority has already adopted a code governing their commercial exploitation. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 and 2 only
  2. 2 and 3 only
  3. 1 and 3 only
  4. 1, 2 and 3
Show answer
Answer: A
Statements 1 and 2 are correct — nodules lie at 3,000–6,000 metres and contain manganese, nickel, cobalt and copper. Statement 3 is incorrect: the ISA's exploitation code remains unadopted, which is precisely why commercial deep-sea mining is contested.

Q10. The Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 is best described as:

  1. A constitutional provision inserted by the Fifty-second Amendment
  2. A subordinate legislation issued by the Election Commission under Article 324
  3. A statute enacted by Parliament under Article 327
  4. A judicial direction issued by the Supreme Court under Article 142
Show answer
Answer: B
The Symbols Order is subordinate legislation made by the Election Commission in exercise of its powers under Article 324, read with the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and the Conduct of Elections Rules. Its validity was upheld in Sadiq Ali v. Election Commission of India (1972). Paragraph 15 governs disputes between rival factions.

Q11. With reference to the National Green Tribunal, consider the following statements: 1. It is a constitutional body established under Article 323B. 2. India was the third country in the world to set up a specialised environmental court. 3. Appeals against its orders lie to the Supreme Court. Which of the statements given above are correct?

  1. 1 and 2 only
  2. 2 and 3 only
  3. 1 and 3 only
  4. 1, 2 and 3
Show answer
Answer: B
The NGT is a statutory body created by the NGT Act, 2010, not a constitutional body, so statement 1 is incorrect. India was the third country after Australia and New Zealand to set up a dedicated environmental court, and appeals from NGT orders lie to the Supreme Court within 90 days - statements 2 and 3 are correct.

Q12. Consider the following statements about the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) in India: 1. It is released by the National Statistical Office. 2. It excludes services from its coverage. 3. Manufactured products carry the largest weight in the index. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 and 3 only
  3. 1 and 3 only
  4. 1, 2 and 3
Show answer
Answer: B
WPI is released by the Office of the Economic Adviser in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, not the NSO - so statement 1 is incorrect. WPI covers only goods and excludes services, and manufactured products carry the largest weight at 64.23% - statements 2 and 3 are correct.

Mains practice questions

  1. Zero Merchant Discount Rate made India's digital payments universal but left the rails without a revenue model. Examine the case for and against reintroducing a calibrated MDR on large-value merchant transactions, and suggest safeguards for small merchants. (250 words)
  2. A sustained divergence between wholesale and retail inflation complicates the conduct of monetary policy. In the light of India's August 2026 price data, examine the causes of this divergence and discuss whether interest rate action is the appropriate instrument to address it. (250 words, 15 marks)
  3. "India's semiconductor push has moved from incentive announcements to an ecosystem problem." In the light of India Semiconductor Mission 2.0, examine the constraints that stand between approved fabrication projects and a resilient domestic chip supply chain. (250 words, 15 marks)
  4. India's record dependence on discounted Russian crude has strengthened its energy budget but exposed its exports to secondary sanctions. Critically examine how India can reconcile affordable energy with market access, and suggest an institutional mechanism for managing sanctions risk. (250 words, 15 marks)
  5. India's semiconductor mission has moved from attracting fabrication capacity to building a full value chain. Examine the structural constraints that will determine whether this second phase succeeds, and suggest measures to address them. (250 words, 15 marks)
  6. India's energy transition requires simultaneously decarbonising the power sector and securing supplies of critical minerals. Examine the challenges in this twin objective, with reference to recent diversification efforts by public sector undertakings and India's deep-ocean programme. (250 words, 15 marks)

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