UPSC current affairs, 14–20 September 2026

Real GDP grew 7.8% in April–June 2026 (Q1 FY27), up from 6.9% a year earlier, MoSPI said on 31 August. The estimates use the new 2022-23 base year, which replaced 2011-12 in February 2026.

For Prelims (Base year · real GDP):

GDP estimates are compiled by the National Statistics Office (MoSPI). The earlier base year, 2011-12, was adopted in 2015, when GDP at constant market prices became the headline growth measure.

For Mains:

Distinguish nominal from real GDP, and explain that a base-year revision recalibrates measurement; it is not growth or contraction in itself.

Full story: Daily Brief, 17 Sept →

Section 9D of the MMDR Amendment Act, 2026 (assented to on 17 August) bars States from levying taxes, cesses or other levies on mineral rights, mineral-bearing land or royalty, except on conditions the Centre prescribes. This comes two years after the Supreme Court upheld their taxing power. JMM workers have protested against the Act at all 264 block headquarters in Jharkhand.

For Prelims (Entry 50, State List):

Entry 50 of the State List lets States tax mineral rights, subject to limits Parliament sets by law relating to mineral development. In MADA v. SAIL (2024), a nine-judge Bench held that royalty is not a tax.

For Mains:

Use as a live case of Union–State fiscal tension: Parliament narrowing, through ordinary law, a taxing power the Supreme Court upheld for States in 2024. Pair it with the nine-judge verdict and the Finance Commission's resource-sharing debate.

Full story: Daily Brief, 17 Sept →

On 16 September, 188 Indian ecologists and scientists issued a joint appeal warning that a possible 'super' El Niño could bring India extreme heat, a weaker monsoon and marine heatwaves from late 2026 into 2027.

For Prelims (El Niño · IOD):

El Niño is an unusual warming of the central and eastern equatorial Pacific and often weakens India's south-west monsoon. A positive Indian Ocean Dipole (warmer western Indian Ocean) can partly offset it.

For Mains:

In any monsoon-variability answer, pair El Niño with the Indian Ocean Dipole; an answer that cites ENSO alone misses a key regional modulator.

Full story: Daily Brief, 20 Sept →

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on 13 September that BJP-NDA governments in the States they rule will introduce a Uniform Civil Code before 2029; Uttarakhand has enforced one since January 2025. This puts Article 44 and religion-based personal laws back in focus.

For Prelims (Art 44 · DPSP):

Article 44, a Directive Principle, says the State shall endeavour to secure a uniform civil code for citizens throughout India. Under Article 37, Directive Principles are not enforceable by any court.

For Mains:

Pair Article 44's status as a Directive Principle with the Minerva Mills (1980) idea of a 'harmonious balance' between Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles, so the answer weighs arguments for and against a UCC rather than picking a side.

Full story: Daily Brief, 18 Sept →

The Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry told a parliamentary standing committee that the Census Town definition, in use since 1981, understates India's urbanisation. The Registrar General of India has resisted changing it for Census 2027, citing logistics and the lack of an agreed alternative.

For Prelims (Census vs Statutory Town):

A Census Town needs a population of at least 5,000, density of at least 400 per sq km, and 75% or more of male main workers outside agriculture. A Statutory Town has a notified urban local body, such as a municipality or cantonment board.

For Mains:

Use the Census Town–Statutory Town gap as an example of India's under-bounded urbanisation: a settlement can be urban in character yet lack an elected Urban Local Body and 74th Amendment protections, which strains service delivery.

Full story: Daily Brief, 17 Sept →

India rejected the 'so-called' Pakistan–China Boundary Joint Commission, which held its first meeting in Islamabad, saying it lacks any legal basis and that 'there is no boundary between Pakistan and China'. India has never recognised their 1963 boundary agreement.

For Prelims (Shaksgam Valley):

Pakistan ceded the Shaksgam Valley to China under their 1963 boundary agreement, which India does not recognise. The China–Pakistan Economic Corridor also passes through Pakistan-occupied territory claimed by India.

For Mains:

Link India's rejection to its consistent position that PoK is part of India, and to CPEC's passage through disputed territory, a recurring India–Pakistan–China theme.

Full story: Daily Brief, 17 Sept →

US Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said on 14 September that the US now has on-orbit 'space control' weapons capable of defending the joint force against 'hostile adversary actions'. This revives questions about how thinly the Outer Space Treaty regulates conventional weapons in space.

For Prelims (Outer Space Treaty 1967):

The Outer Space Treaty (1967) bars nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction in orbit, and military bases on celestial bodies. It does not expressly ban conventional weapons in orbit.

For Mains:

Separate what the treaty prohibits (weapons of mass destruction in orbit, military bases on celestial bodies) from what it leaves open (conventional counter-space weapons). This legal gap, not a treaty violation, is the core of the issue.

Full story: Daily Brief, 20 Sept →

The Union Cabinet raised the EPFO wage ceiling for mandatory coverage from ₹15,000 to ₹25,000 a month, the first revision since 2014, bringing an estimated 51 lakh more workers into the net. The EPS minimum pension of ₹1,000, fixed in 2014, is unchanged despite calls for a review.

For Prelims (Social Security Code 2020):

EPFO now works under the Code on Social Security, 2020, which replaced the EPF Act, 1952; provident-fund coverage applies to establishments with 20 or more employees. The EPF, EPS and EDLI Schemes, 2026 (notified June 2026) replaced the older schemes, including EPS-1995.

For Mains:

Separate coverage (who is covered, set by the wage ceiling) from adequacy (how much covered pensioners get, set by the minimum pension). Here, wider coverage did not bring better adequacy.

Full story: Daily Brief, 19 Sept →

On 17 September the Election Commission, in an interim order, froze the Trinamool Congress's name and its 'twin flowers and grass' symbol amid a split between Mamata Banerjee's faction and a rebel faction, ahead of the 6 October Nandigram and Rejinagar bypolls. Mamata Banerjee has challenged the order in the Supreme Court.

For Prelims (Symbols Order, Para 15):

Para 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 lets the Election Commission decide disputes between rival groups of a recognised party. The Supreme Court upheld its 'test of majority' in Sadiq Ali (1971).

For Mains:

Cite Sadiq Ali (1971) and the 2022–23 Shiv Sena dispute to show how the Election Commission applies Para 15 and its 'test of majority' to rival claims, and where that test has been contested.

Full story: Daily Brief, 19 Sept →