Razorpay Launches RAY AI Account Manager with IndusInd Bank

Dated: 09 September 2026

Razorpay and IndusInd Bank launched RAY, a conversational AI account manager for businesses on WhatsApp, on September 3, 2026.

Key Highlights:
1. Bajaj Finance was among the first enterprises to go live.
2. RAY manages payments and support through WhatsApp and understands text and voice notes for payment summaries and sales projections.
3. It can issue refunds and generate payment links inside chat.
4. It monitors payment health, flags settlements and warns about bank holidays for liquidity management.
5. It processed more than 20,000 conversations in its early phase.
6. One intelligent agent handles settlements, risk and other functions instead of separate agents.
7. Razorpay was founded in 2014 by Shashank Kumar and Harshil Mathur in Bengaluru.
8. IndusInd Bank began in 1994, is based in Mumbai and is a new-generation private bank.

India and China Hold First Corps Commander Talks at Wacha

Dated: 09 September 2026

Indian and Chinese armies held their first Corps Commander-level talks at the Wacha-Damai border meeting point in Arunachal Pradesh on September 6, 2026.

Key Highlights:
1. The meeting occurred at Wacha on the Indian side of the LAC to address eastern-sector issues.
2. India was represented by 3 Corps Commander Lieutenant General Girish Kalia.
3. 3 Corps is at Rangapahar, Nagaland and 4 Corps at Tezpur, Assam; both guard Arunachal LAC.
4. Earlier high-level talks were confined to Chushul-Moldo in Ladakh, making this the first in the eastern sector.
5. The aim was peace and tranquillity and resistance to unilateral status-quo changes.
6. It followed rebalancing of the Strike Corps for mountain warfare.
7. The LAC has western Ladakh, middle Himachal-Uttarakhand and eastern Arunachal-Sikkim sectors.
8. 17 Corps, India’s first high-altitude offensive Mountain Strike Corps, was formed in 2013 and is based at Panagarh.

Indore Metro Priority Corridor-2 Inaugurated

Dated: 09 September 2026

Union Minister Manohar Lal and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav inaugurated Indore Metro Priority Corridor-2 on September 6, 2026.

Key Highlights:
1. Phase I Reach-ID spans about 11 km from Super Corridor-3 to Malviya Nagar Chauraha and adds 11 stations.
2. Indore’s operating network now covers 17 km and 16 stations.
3. The corridor cost is estimated at Rs. 2,850 crore and cumulative project expenditure is Rs. 4,370 crore.
4. Madhya Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation developed it.
5. The corporation is a Union-State joint venture implementing Indore and Bhopal metros.
6. The Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry is the nodal ministry for metros and oversees the Metro Railways Construction of Works Act 1978.
7. Indore is India’s first city with both an IIT and IIM and has repeatedly led Swachh Survekshan.

Bisleri and SBI Partner for Bottles for Change

Dated: 09 September 2026

SBI and Bisleri International signed a Letter of Association on September 5, 2026 for Bottles for Change across SBI offices.

Key Highlights:
1. The initiative promotes segregation, collection and recycling of plastic waste.
2. SBI targets net-zero Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions by its centenary in 2055.
3. It supports India’s net-zero 2070 target and Viksit Bharat 2047.
4. The partnership converts corporate sustainability commitments into local action.
5. Bisleri uses its Sustainability 2.0 framework for responsible growth.
6. Global Finance named SBI World’s Best Consumer Bank in 2025 and 2026.
7. SBI was formed July 1, 1955 after nationalisation of Imperial Bank, is based in Mumbai and is the most-followed bank on Facebook, Instagram and X.
8. Bisleri Greener Promise covers water conservation and sustainability; the Mumbai company has 128 plants and 6,000 distributors.

Joheirry Mola Dominguez Wins Miss World 2026

Dated: 09 September 2026

Joheirry Mola Dominguez of the Dominican Republic won the 73rd Miss World pageant in Vietnam on September 5, 2026.

Key Highlights:
1. Spain’s Elisabeth Reynés was first runner-up and Malaysia’s Taanusiya Chetty second runner-up.
2. The 72nd winner, Thailand’s Opal Suchata Chuangsri, presented the crown and was Thailand’s first winner.
3. Dominguez holds a Business Management and Administration degree, works as a model and is a Goya Gives Ambassador.
4. Nikita Porwal of Ujjain represented India after winning Femina Miss India World 2024 in Mumbai.
5. Tanzania is scheduled to host the next pageant.
6. The 73rd edition coincided with the organisation’s 75th anniversary.
7. Miss World began in the UK in 1951, runs Beauty with a Purpose, and held its 71st edition at Mumbai’s Jio World Convention Centre.
8. Actor-playwright Porwal wrote the 250-page play Krishna Leela.

Pranos Builds India’s First Privately Made Nuclear Fusion Tokamak

Dated: 09 September 2026

Bengaluru startup Pranos unveiled PRAGYA, India’s first privately built nuclear-fusion tokamak, at JNCASR on September 3, 2026.

Key Highlights:
1. The four-foot steel test bed confines ultra-hot plasma and measures density, pressure and temperature.
2. Project Praniq targets a full-scale net-gain fusion reactor by 2030 that produces more energy than it consumes.
3. Estimated cost is USD 100-200 million.
4. A March 2026 round led by pi Ventures and Ankur Capital raised USD 6.8 million, taking total funding above USD 7 million.
5. The 12-member team includes physicists, computational scientists, engineers and materials scientist Rohit Jain, with expertise in fluid instabilities, quantum fluids and combustion diagnostics.
6. The SHANTI Act 2025 enabled private nuclear investment.
7. Gandhinagar’s Institute for Plasma Research runs Aditya-U and SST-1.
8. ITER in France has seven members including India; JNCASR began in Bengaluru in 1989 for Nehru’s birth centenary.

UN Adopts Equal Earth World Map to Show Africa’s True Scale

Dated: 09 September 2026

The UN General Assembly voted on September 4, 2026 to phase out the Mercator projection in favour of the 2018 Equal Earth map.

Key Highlights:
1. Togo sponsored the African Union resolution, adopted by 164 votes; the United States opposed it.
2. The change replaces the 16th-century navigation map with a more accurate equal-area model and supports decolonised education.
3. Africa is 14 times larger than Greenland and can contain the USA, China, India, Japan and Mexico combined.
4. France will move to the closely aligned Eckert IV projection.
5. The resolution noted Arno Peters’ 1973 Gall-Peters alternative.
6. UNESCO and technology companies including Google Maps will join a Lomé implementation event in early 2027.
7. Gerardus Mercator created his projection in 1569 for navigation.
8. The 55-member African Union is based in Addis Ababa and endorsed Correct the Map in August 2025; Equal Earth was created by an international team in 2018.

Bank of Canada Unveils King Charles III Twenty-Dollar Banknote

Dated: 09 September 2026

The Bank of Canada unveiled a new 20-dollar note bearing King Charles III on September 4, 2026, the first monarch change on Canadian paper money in more than 70 years.

Key Highlights:
1. It replaces Queen Elizabeth II, shown on Canadian notes since 1935.
2. It is Canada’s second vertical note after the 10-dollar Viola Desmond issue.
3. The front has flowers for 13 provinces and territories and an Indigenous Advisory Circle-designed window with culturally important plants.
4. The reverse shows the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France.
5. Circulation begins in late February 2027.
6. Canada is the first Commonwealth country outside the UK to place Charles III on banknotes.
7. The Bank of Canada was created in 1934 in Ottawa and handles monetary policy and notes.
8. The International Bank Note Society named the vertical 10-dollar note World’s Best Banknote in 2018; Australia and New Zealand use the King on coins, while Australia rejected him for its 5-dollar note.

Chhattisgarh Tops Jal Shakti Rainwater Harvesting Campaigns

Dated: 09 September 2026

Chhattisgarh was ranked India’s top-performing State in the Jal Shakti Ministry’s national water-conservation campaigns on September 3, 2026.

Key Highlights:
1. It ranked first in the third Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari and Catch the Rain campaigns.
2. Surajpur, Mahasamund, Balod, Balodabazar-Bhatapara and Kabirdham were among India’s top 10 districts.
3. The State registered 79,775 water structures and completed 77,719.
4. More than 1.58 crore artificial groundwater-recharge structures were built nationally.
5. Work included reviving defunct borewells, low-cost recharge and storage structures, and community ownership.
6. Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari began in September 2024 under the Jal Shakti Ministry and engages Panchayats and local bodies.
7. The Ministry was formed in May 2019 by merging the water resources and drinking water ministries and is based in New Delhi.

Tamil Nadu Begins Third Phase of Underwater Archaeology at Poompuhar

Dated: 09 September 2026

Tamil Nadu State Archaeology Department began the third phase of underwater exploration off Poompuhar on September 7, 2026 to trace ancient maritime trade.

Key Highlights:
1. The work is off Poompuhar, ancient Kaveripoompattinam, in Mayiladuthurai district.
2. Teams search for submerged structures about 2 km offshore and trained divers and archaeologists descend to 10 metres.
3. The goal is evidence of ancient Tamil maritime links and historic port infrastructure.
4. Minister Rajmohan and Archaeology Director V. P. Jayaseelan lead it with technical support from K. Rajan and R. Sivanantham.
5. Poompuhar was a major Chola port at the Kaveri-Bay of Bengal confluence and appears prominently in Sangam literature and Silappathikaram.
6. The State department began in 1961, is based in Chennai and conserves monuments and conducts excavations.

SEBI and ESMA Sign MoU for Central Counterparty Cooperation

Dated: 09 September 2026

SEBI and the European Securities and Markets Authority signed a Central Counterparty cooperation MoU on September 4, 2026.

Key Highlights:
1. SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey and ESMA Chair Verena Ross signed it.
2. It replaces the June 2017 cooperation agreement.
3. It creates information exchange and supervision arrangements for Indian central counterparties by the EU regulator.
4. It supports international cross-border clearing.
5. ESMA can rely on SEBI regulation while protecting EU financial stability.
6. SEBI began as a non-statutory body April 12, 1988, gained statutory powers through the 1992 Act and is based in Mumbai.
7. ESMA began January 1, 2011, is based in Paris, protects investors and directly supervises specified EU financial entities.

Indian Researchers Honoured at 36th Ig Nobel Prize 2026

Dated: 09 September 2026

The 36th Ig Nobel Prize ceremony in Zurich on September 3, 2026 honoured research that makes people laugh and then think.

Key Highlights:
1. Annals of Improbable Research organises the annual event.
2. Sanchari Banerjee and Subrahmanyan Ramaswamy won Chemistry for studying protein crystals and energy content in cockroach milk.
3. Changhong Cao and Jianyu Li won Technology for modelling 3D-printer nozzles on mosquito mouthparts.
4. Zhao Pan and Kavee Thurairajah won Physics for splash-free urinal designs based on fluid-impact angles.
5. Soil researchers buried cotton underwear in 25 countries; Matilda Brindle’s team studied the evolution of kissing.
6. Dr Tokuji Unno received the Medicine prize posthumously for research on airflow and pressure while blowing the nose.
7. The award has 10 categories and recognises unconventional research that opens unexplored questions.

India’s Foreign Exchange Reserves Reach Record USD 740.8 Billion

Dated: 09 September 2026

India’s foreign-exchange reserves reached an all-time high of USD 740.8 billion in the week ended September 4, 2026.

Key Highlights:
1. The total rose by USD 11.47 billion to reach the record.
2. The previous peak was USD 729.328 billion after a USD 12.422 billion weekly increase.
3. The consecutive records reflect growth in external assets.
4. RBI manages reserves for foreign-exchange market stability.
5. The four components are Foreign Currency Assets, gold, Special Drawing Rights and IMF Reserve Tranche Position.
6. Foreign Currency Assets are the largest component and their US-dollar value reflects movements in non-dollar currencies.
7. RBI was established April 1, 1935 under the 1934 Act, nationalised January 1, 1949 and is headquartered in Mumbai.

UGC Approves Birkbeck University Bengaluru Campus

Dated: 09 September 2026

UGC issued Birkbeck, University of London a Letter of Approval on September 4, 2026 to establish its first international campus in Bengaluru.

Key Highlights:
1. Approval under the 2023 foreign-institution rules upgraded an earlier Letter of Intent to operating clearance.
2. The campus is at Sattva Tech Park and is backed financially and operationally by Education Centre of Australia.
3. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate Business Management and Business Analytics degrees directly awarded by the University of London.
4. Fees will be up to 60% below equivalent UK costs.
5. Birkbeck ranked in THE top 300 for 2025 and QS top 400 for 2026.
6. The campus supports NEP 2020 internationalisation.
7. Birkbeck was founded in 1823, belongs to the University of London and this is its first overseas campus in 200 years.
8. ECA has 20 years’ experience; UGC is a 1956 Act statutory body under the Education Ministry.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty Win China Masters

Dated: 09 September 2026

Indian men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won the China Masters Super 750 title on September 6, 2026.

Key Highlights:
1. They secured the title after a comeback.
2. It was their second title of the season after the Singapore Open Super 750.
3. They had finished runners-up at the Thailand Open Super 500.
4. China Masters is a BWF World Tour Super 750 event, the third-highest professional tier.
5. They are the first Indian pair ranked men’s doubles World No. 1.
6. They won India’s first Asian Games men’s doubles badminton gold in 2022 and were part of India’s first Thomas Cup-winning team that year.
7. They received the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna in 2023.
8. BWF was established in 1934 and is based in Kuala Lumpur.

Three-Year Roadmap for Drug-Free India by 2029 Announced

Dated: 09 September 2026

Home Minister Amit Shah announced in Panaji on September 7, 2026 a three-year roadmap from July 2026 to July 2029 for a drug-free India.

Key Highlights:
1. Four pillars are intelligence-led enforcement, precursor control, demand reduction and capacity building.
2. A quadrangular strategy targets Death Triangle and Death Crescent smuggling routes.
3. BHARATPOL connects 14 central agencies and all State police to trace and extradite fugitives.
4. NIDAAN is the national integrated narcotics-offender database; MANAS helpline 1933 supports rehabilitation.
5. De-addiction centres will triple to 1,751; State anti-narcotics forces will be fully equipped by March 2027 with 75% central assistance.
6. Narcotics forensic reports must be completed within 30 days.
7. Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan is run by the Social Justice Ministry, has secured pledges from 250 million citizens and uses NCC, NSS and My Bharat volunteers.
8. NCB was formed in 1986 under the NDPS Act under the Home Ministry in New Delhi; the 1988 PIT-NDPS Act allows preventive detention.

Second Global Business Summit on BRI Infrastructure Held in Singapore

Dated: 09 September 2026

The Second Global Business Summit on BRI Infrastructure met in Singapore on September 6, 2026 to unlock opportunities for the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.

Key Highlights:
1. More than 300 senior leaders and private-sector pioneers participated, including UN Resident Coordinator in China Stephen Jackson.
2. It launched 12 SDG-led joint actions and private-sector partnerships.
3. Areas included green mining, electricity carbon-footprint standards, biodiversity, sustainable transport, ocean protection and women’s microenterprise.
4. Two expert groups were created for sustainable energy and sustainable digital infrastructure.
5. UN adviser Selwin Hart linked clean energy capabilities with BRI growth and resilient global supply chains.
6. The SDGs Action Platform developed cross-border guidance for responsible AI and a just energy transition.
7. The meeting marked the UN Decade of Sustainable Transport 2026 and stressed safety alongside infrastructure scale.
8. China launched BRI in 2013 as One Belt One Road; UN Global Compact began in 2000 in New York; UNESCAP began in 1947 and is based in Bangkok.