Daily Current Affairs · Last published 20 September 2026
UPSC Prelims Current Affairs: 20 September 2026
Trump signs a Russia sanctions law threatening tariffs on India, Railways approves Kavach 4.0 safety upgrades, and Ladakh's Sixth Schedule agitation resumes.
Trump signs Russia sanctions law, clearing the way for up to 100 percent tariffs on India
US President Donald Trump signed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 into law on 18 September 2026, two days after the House of Representatives passed it by a vote of 262 to 159. The law authorises and expands sanctions, tariffs and prohibitions on Russia and extends existing sanctions on Iran, giving Trump discretion to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on countries that continue buying Russian oil and gas, naming India and China among the major buyers who could be targeted. The law does not automatically impose the duty, leaving the tariff rate, the list of countries and any waivers to the President's own decision. India's Ministry of External Affairs said the country remains determined to protect its trade and economic interests and to secure energy for its 1.4 billion people through diversified sourcing based on evolving market dynamics.
Railways approves Rs 252 crore for Kavach 4.0 safety system across Lucknow Division
Indian Railways on 19 September 2026 approved the rollout of Kavach Version 4.0, the indigenously developed Automatic Train Protection system, across 607.7 route kilometres of the Lucknow Division of North Eastern Railway, at a cost of Rs 252 crore. Kavach is designed to prevent Signal Passing at Danger by automatically applying brakes when a driver fails to respond to a stop signal, and the approval extends its coverage across the division's remaining unequipped sections. The approval was part of a wider set of safety and infrastructure projects cleared by the Railway Board the same day.
Centre grants permission to fell over 156,000 borer-hit sal trees in Madhya Pradesh
The central government has granted Madhya Pradesh's forest department permission to fell more than 156,000 sal trees in the Dindori and Amarkantak forest divisions after an aggressive sal borer beetle infestation left the trees dead or dying, with felling expected to begin in October 2026. The Dindori forest department had originally sought approval for around 147,380 trees, citing the Karanjia range as the worst affected area. Officials have pointed to the state's last major sal borer outbreak in 1995, when more than 500,000 trees, including many healthy ones, were eventually cleared after early warnings went unheeded.
Sonam Wangchuk to lead symbolic 20 km Padyatra in Leh, presses Sixth Schedule and statehood demand
Climate activist and Leh Apex Body member Sonam Wangchuk announced that he will lead a symbolic 20 kilometre Padyatra in Leh on 23 September 2026, scaling down an earlier four day march plan because of worsening cold weather, to press Ladakh's long standing demand for statehood and inclusion under the Constitution's Sixth Schedule. The march will be followed on 24 September by a Martyrs' Day event marking the first anniversary of protests in Leh in which four people died. The demands follow a 9 September meeting between Ladakh's Leh Apex Body and Kargil Democratic Alliance and a Ministry of Home Affairs sub-committee that Wangchuk described as unproductive.
India rejects Pakistan's allegations over Arabian Sea naval collision
India on 18 September 2026 strongly rejected Pakistan's allegations regarding the collision between a Pakistani naval vessel and an Indian warship in the Arabian Sea, with Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal calling Islamabad's response to India's earlier protest the usual prevarication. The incident occurred on the night of 15 September, when the Pakistan Navy vessel PNS Hunain closed in on the frontline Indian Navy warship INS Kolkata during a routine surveillance mission in the north Arabian Sea, resulting in a collision that India says was caused by an unsafe manoeuvre by the Pakistani ship. New Delhi had summoned Pakistan's Charge d'Affaires on 16 September over the incident, while Pakistan has lodged its own counter protest alleging provocative conduct by the Indian vessel.
Hansraj Singh Verma named India's next Ambassador to Cuba
The Ministry of External Affairs announced on 18 September 2026 that Hansraj Singh Verma, a 2008 batch Indian Foreign Service officer currently serving as Consul General of India in Sao Paulo, Brazil, has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Cuba. Verma has previously served in India's missions in Buenos Aires, Chittagong, Paris, Accra, Frankfurt, Maputo and Lisbon, and was Deputy Chief of Protocol at the Ministry's headquarters between 2019 and 2021. He is expected to take up his new assignment in Havana shortly.
Southwest monsoon begins retreat even as 43 percent of India remains rain deficient
The India Meteorological Department said on 19 September 2026 that the southwest monsoon has begun withdrawing from parts of west Rajasthan, close to the climatological normal withdrawal date of 17 September, even as nearly 43 percent of the country's geographical area remains in a rainfall deficit. The withdrawal line has passed through Rajasthan's Ramgarh, Mohangarh, Phalodi and Khajuwala areas and is expected to advance across more of Rajasthan, Punjab and Kutch-Saurashtra over the next three to four days. Seasonal rainfall as of 19 September stood 15 percent below normal at 695.6 millimetres nationwide, with Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Bihar among the worst affected states.
IMD expects Bay of Bengal system to become a depression around 21 September, cross Odisha-Andhra coast by the 23rd
The India Meteorological Department said the low pressure area that formed over the Andaman Sea on the evening of 19 September 2026, potentially the first cyclone of the season if it strengthens further, is very likely to intensify into a depression over the east-central Bay of Bengal on 21 September and a deep depression over the west-central Bay of Bengal on 22 September. The system is expected to reach the south Odisha to north Andhra Pradesh coast around the morning of 23 September, with winds of 45 to 55 kmph gusting to 65 kmph and rough to very rough sea conditions forecast along the Odisha coast. The IMD has advised fishermen not to venture into the Bay of Bengal from 21 to 23 September, and the Odisha government has placed 20 coastal and southern districts on alert.