Daily Current Affairs · Last published 24 September 2026
UPSC Prelims Current Affairs: 24 September 2026
A Bay of Bengal deep depression completes landfall in Odisha, the Supreme Court again upholds the SC/ST Act's 2018 amendment, and Pakistan strikes ten sites in Afghanistan after accusing it of drone attacks.
Deep depression over Bay of Bengal completes landfall near Andhra Pradesh Odisha coast, over 5,000 evacuated
The India Meteorological Department said the front sector of the deep depression over the Bay of Bengal began entering land close to the southwest of Kalingapatnam, between Visakhapatnam and Gopalpur, in the early hours of 24 September 2026, with the landfall process continuing for about two hours before the system moved inland while still holding deep depression intensity. Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi reviewed the situation on the evening of 23 September and directed officials to ensure zero casualties, with 33 Disaster Rapid Action Force teams deployed and nine more on standby, 380 fire and emergency teams alerted, and around 5,000 people moved to safer locations from low lying and landslide prone areas. A house collapse linked to the heavy rain killed one person in Balasore, even as squally weather with winds of 55 to 65 kmph and red alerts for heavy to very heavy rainfall continued across southern Odisha.
Jaishankar raises India's concerns over US Russia sanctions law in first meeting with Rubio since it was signed
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in New York on 23 September 2026, on the margins of the UN General Assembly, in the first bilateral discussion between the two sides since President Donald Trump signed the Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act into law. Jaishankar said he had reiterated India's interests and concerns regarding the Act, which empowers the United States to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on countries that continue buying Russian oil and gas, and the two also discussed the situations in Ukraine and the Gulf. India has said it remains firmly committed to energy security for its 1.4 billion people even as it and Washington continue working to finalise a long pending bilateral trade deal, with Rubio expected to travel to India next month.
Supreme Court dismisses PIL challenging key provisions of the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act
The Supreme Court on 22 September 2026 dismissed a PIL filed by 19 people led by Brijbhushan Saini challenging the constitutional validity of key provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, holding that safeguards laid down in its own 2020 Prathviraj Chauhan judgment were sufficient to prevent misuse. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, said the 2018 amendment inserting Section 18A, which dispensed with a preliminary inquiry before an FIR and prior approval for arrest while barring anticipatory bail, had already been upheld in 2020, and that instances of misuse could be addressed separately without doubting the Act's constitutional validity. The petitioners had argued that Section 18A was being widely misused and conflicted with the credible information test under Section 35 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023.
Delhi Cabinet approves DURGA scheme for 1,300 pink e-autos for women and transgender drivers
The Delhi Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, approved the 'DURGA' e-auto scheme on 23 September 2026 to allocate electric autos exclusively to women and transgender persons for self-employment. In the first phase, 1,300 pink electric autos will be registered, 1,170 for women and 130 for transgender beneficiaries, with a maximum of 90 women allotted and 10 transgender allotted autos permitted per revenue district. Eligible women must be aged 20 to 40, hold a valid Delhi voter identity card, an LMV licence and a Public Service Vehicle badge, and belong to a family whose combined 2025-26 income does not exceed Rs 5 lakh, while the e-autos will carry mandatory DURGA branding and a three year lock in period during which they cannot be sold or transferred.
NIT Srinagar becomes first NIT with a dedicated campus observatory for astronomy and astrophysics
The National Institute of Technology, Srinagar inaugurated the Observatory for Astronomy and Astrophysics (NSOAA) on 22 September 2026, becoming the first NIT in the country to have a dedicated campus based observatory. Its centrepiece is a 14 inch Celestron C14 EdgeHD aplanatic Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope mounted on a computerised equatorial system, supported by planetary and cooled deep sky cameras, LRGB filters and high speed imaging equipment capable of observing the Moon, planets, nebulae, star clusters and distant galaxies. The facility was developed with scientific guidance from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru, and is intended to support student training, astrophotography and public outreach across Jammu and Kashmir.
India's private sector activity hits three month high in September as flash PMI rises to 56.5
The HSBC Flash India Composite PMI rose to 56.5 in September 2026 from 54.3 in August, a three month high, with the Manufacturing PMI climbing to 55.7 from 52.8 and the Services PMI Business Activity Index rising to 55.8 from 54.1, according to the preliminary survey released on 23 September 2026. The index has stayed above the 50 mark separating expansion from contraction for 62 consecutive months, with output and new orders accelerating across both manufacturing and services and hiring picking up, even as new export orders grew at their slowest pace in nearly three years. HSBC's chief India economist Pranjul Bhandari said renewed tensions in the Middle East had led firms to build buffers to manage uncertainty, while input cost inflation eased to its lowest level since January even as manufacturers' own output price inflation gathered pace.
Pakistan strikes ten sites in Afghanistan after accusing Taliban forces of drone attacks and shelling
Pakistan said on 24 September 2026 that it had carried out air strikes on ten sites inside Afghanistan that it said were used to launch drone attacks against Pakistan the previous day, a sharp escalation between the two neighbours. Pakistani officials said Afghan Taliban forces had fired eight drones and shelled Pakistani border posts after Pakistani troops foiled a cross border infiltration attempt near Paktia and Nangarhar provinces, while Taliban government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid denied that Afghan forces had carried out any attacks. The exchange came two days after Pakistani fighter jets struck what Islamabad called militant hideouts in eastern Afghanistan, killing 28 people by Pakistan's count while Afghan authorities reported three civilian deaths, and it threatens ongoing mediation efforts by China, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to broker a lasting peace between Kabul and Islamabad.
S&P Global raises India's FY27 GDP growth forecast to 7 percent, flags a possible RBI rate hike
S&P Global Ratings raised its GDP growth projection for India in the current fiscal year, FY27, to 7 percent, citing robust industrial activity, healthy consumption, strong goods exports and accelerating government investment, according to its Economic Activity for Asia Pacific report published on 23 September 2026. The agency also forecast that the Reserve Bank of India could raise interest rates by 25 basis points during FY27 and estimated that consumer inflation would average 5.1 percent for the year. The upgrade followed the Indian economy expanding by a higher than expected 7.8 percent in the June quarter.