Daily and monthly current affairs mapped to syllabus topics and related PYQs.
On 18 September 2026 the NSO released district-level labour market indicators for the first time, from the revamped Periodic Labour Force Survey. About 77.8% of districts had unemployment between 0.5% and 5.5%, and about 57.8% recorded female labour force participation of 40% or above. Among the 100 most populous districts, Surat had the highest LFPR and WPR, Darbhanga the lowest.
18 Sep 2026
PM Vishwakarma, launched on 17 September 2023, completed three years in September 2026. Thirty lakh artisans are registered and about 24.50 lakh have had basic skill training. India Post has delivered 18.15 lakh toolkits, and 6.18 lakh artisans have got loans of up to ₹1 lakh at 5% interest, totalling ₹5,297 crore. West Bengal joined in May 2026.
18 Sep 2026
The 25th meeting of SCO ministers responsible for foreign economic and trade activities was held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on 17 September 2026. India stressed three pillars, Security, Connectivity and Opportunity, and called for paperless trade and stronger supply chains. Ministers agreed on an Action Plan for 2026 to 2030; the next meeting will be in Uzbekistan in 2027.
18 Sep 2026
On 18 September 2026 the Government relaxed the stock limit for bulk sugar consumers from 15 to 30 days, on the condition that the extra stock comes only from sugar imported under the Advance Authorisation Scheme and Tariff Rate Quota. Retail prices have fallen about 10% from their August peak, but ex-mill prices have fallen nearly 25%.
18 Sep 2026
On 18 September 2026 in Bengaluru, HAL handed over two LCA Tejas Final Operational Clearance twin-seat trainers and three HTT-40 basic trainers to the Indian Air Force, and four Dhruv NG helicopters to Pawan Hans Limited. The Defence Minister called for public-private synergy to build India's aerospace capability.
18 Sep 2026
On 17 September 2026 the Coal Ministry launched the 16th round of commercial coal mine auctions, offering 25 blocks in nine States: 21 fully explored and four partially explored. Agreements were also signed for six mines sold in earlier rounds. Since commercial mining opened in 2020, 147 mines have been auctioned.
17 Sep 2026
On 16 September 2026 the Health Ministry told States and UTs that stem cell therapy may be given as standard care only for conditions on the Ministry's approved list. For autism, any stem cell use must stay inside approved clinical trials. The advisory follows a Supreme Court judgment of 30 January 2026 in Yash Charitable Trust v. Union of India.
17 Sep 2026
On 17 September 2026, at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, the ICAR Director General started direct payments of over ₹2.9 crore to 2,550 farmers of Punjab and Haryana for carbon stored in their soil. The money comes from carbon credits earned under 'Aadi', a Grow Indigo programme of 2019 with ICAR guidance, after the gains were measured and verified.
17 Sep 2026
On 17 September 2026 the MEA said India has noted the passage of the Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act in the US Congress and is watching what follows. It said India will keep securing energy for its 1.4 billion people through diversified sourcing, and will take all steps needed to protect its trade and economic interests.
17 Sep 2026
On 17 September 2026, at SEMICON India 2026, the IT Minister said Semicon 2.0 has drawn investment commitments of about ₹1 lakh crore (USD 11 to 12 billion), with close to 1 lakh jobs expected. Semicon 1.0 laid the foundation; Semicon 2.0 will build the whole ecosystem through six pillars, from chip design to training 1 lakh technicians.
17 Sep 2026