Current Affairs Today, September 12, 2026, Complete News Roundup

🗞️ Why in News Beyond the day’s deep dives, six developments shape the roundup. 12 September is Saragarhi Day, marking 129 years since the last stand of the 36th Sikh Regiment at Saragarhi post in 1897. Southern Railway completed 100 per cent electrification of its 5,068 route km broad-gauge network. SEBI released a consultation paper on 12 September reviewing the expiry-day settlement price for equity derivatives in the light of the Closing Auction Session (CAS), introduced in 2026 and live in the equity cash segment from 3 August 2026. IIT Madras and Samgnya Foundation signed a quantum MoU with QClairvoyance Quantum Labs. The Colombo Security Conclave concluded a three-day table-top exercise at Eastern Naval Command, Visakhapatnam. And India and the United States extended the TRUST initiative to cover undersea cable security.

Saragarhi Day, 129 Years On

12 September 1897 is remembered as the day 21 soldiers of the 36th Sikh Regiment of the British Indian Army, led by Havildar Ishar Singh, defended the Saragarhi communication post between Fort Lockhart and Fort Gulistan in the North-West Frontier, against an estimated 10,000 to 14,000 Afridi and Orakzai Pashtun tribesmen. All 21 fell in action. All 21 were posthumously awarded the Indian Order of Merit, the equivalent of today’s Param Vir Chakra.

Mains one-liner. Saragarhi is a foundational reference point for regimental honour and small-unit tactics in the Indian Army’s ethos, invoked in courses at the Officers Training Academy and the Sikh Regimental Centre at Ramgarh.

Southern Railway Achieves 100 Per Cent Electrification of Broad-Gauge Network

Southern Railway completed 100 per cent electrification of its 5,068-route-kilometre broad-gauge network on 9 September 2026 with the operationalisation of the 71 km Pattukkottai-Karaikkudi section in Tamil Nadu, following statutory inspection by Principal Chief Electrical Engineer Ganesh.

Mains one-liner. Southern Railway’s 100 per cent electrification is one of the largest zonal milestones toward Indian Railways’ net-zero carbon emissions target by 2030; the Nilgiri Mountain Railway, a metre-gauge rack line, sits outside the broad-gauge network entirely and remains unelectrified.

SEBI Consults on Closing Auction Session for Expiry-Day Settlement

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on 12 September 2026 released a consultation paper reviewing the expiry-day settlement price methodology for equity derivatives in the light of the Closing Auction Session (CAS), which was introduced in 2026 and has operated in the equity cash segment for derivative-eligible stocks, from 15:15 to 15:35, since 3 August 2026. The paper puts two options to consultation: a Blended Volume-Weighted Average Price (Blended VWAP) combining the final 30 minutes of continuous trading with the 10-minute closing auction, with no fixed weight assigned to either period; or, as an interim arrangement, the VWAP of the last 30 minutes of continuous trading alone. Comments are open until 3 October 2026. The stated objective is to dampen expiry-day volatility spikes in the derivatives segment.

Mains one-liner. Closing auctions align India’s expiry-day price formation with global practice, reducing scope for last-minute manipulation of the underlying used to settle F&O contracts.

IIT Madras and Samgnya Foundation Sign Quantum MoU

The IITM-C-DOT Samgnya Technologies Foundation, India’s National Hub for Quantum Communication established at IIT Madras Research Park in December 2025, signed an MoU with QClairvoyance Quantum Labs Pvt Ltd, a Hyderabad-based quantum start-up incorporated in 2024, on 11 September 2026. The collaboration covers joint work in quantum computing, quantum algorithms, quantum AI, post-quantum cryptography and next-generation computing.

Mains one-liner. Post-quantum cryptography is not a future problem: the harvest-now, decrypt-later threat model means intercepted data today can be decrypted when quantum capability matures, so migration of government crypto systems has to begin now.

Colombo Security Conclave Concludes Table-Top Exercise at Visakhapatnam

The Colombo Security Conclave (CSC), a regional maritime-security grouping founded in 2011 as the NSA Trilateral on Maritime Security by India, Sri Lanka and Maldives, revived and renamed the Colombo Security Conclave in 2020, and since expanded to six members with Mauritius (2022), Bangladesh (2024) and Seychelles (February 2026), concluded a three-day table-top exercise at Eastern Naval Command, Visakhapatnam, on 12 September 2026. The scenarios covered maritime terrorism, narcotics smuggling, human trafficking and illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, along with information-sharing standard operating procedures and Maritime Domain Awareness.

Mains one-liner. The CSC is one of India’s most operational Indian Ocean groupings and complements SAGAR/MAHASAGAR doctrinal framings; unlike the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), it is security-focused and small enough to produce joint exercises.

India-US Extend TRUST Initiative to Undersea Cables

Under the Transforming the Relationship Utilising Strategic Technologies (TRUST) initiative, first announced during Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Washington in February 2025, India and the United States have announced expanded cooperation on the physical and cyber-security of undersea (submarine) cables, which carry over 95 per cent of global digital traffic. The focus is on trusted vendors, diversified route architecture and additional landing stations across the Indo-Pacific.

Mains one-liner. Submarine cables are the physical substrate of the digital economy; extending TRUST to cable security aligns with the Quad’s cable-connectivity workstream and reflects the concentration risk of a small number of cable-lay and repair vendors globally.

📌 Facts Corner, Knowledgepedia

Prelims, statement-ready facts:

• Saragarhi Day commemorates the 12 September 1897 last stand of 21 soldiers of the 36th Sikh Regiment at Saragarhi post; the commanding NCO was Havildar Ishar Singh; all 21 received the Indian Order of Merit posthumously.
• Southern Railway completed 100 per cent electrification of its 5,068 route km broad-gauge network on 9 September 2026 with the 71 km Pattukkottai-Karaikkudi section. The 46 km Nilgiri Mountain Railway is metre-gauge and outside that network, and remains unelectrified.
• SEBI on 12 September 2026 put two options to consultation for the equity-derivatives expiry-day settlement price; comments close 3 October 2026.
• Option 1 is a Blended VWAP of the final 30 minutes of continuous trading plus the 10-minute closing auction; Option 2 is the VWAP of the last 30 minutes alone.
• CAS itself was introduced in 2026 and has run in the equity cash segment from 3 August 2026, 15:15 to 15:35.
• IITM-C-DOT Samgnya Foundation at IIT Madras Research Park (established December 2025) is India’s National Hub for Quantum Communication; it signed an MoU with QClairvoyance Quantum Labs on 11 September 2026.
• National Quantum Mission was approved in April 2023 with an outlay of Rs 6,003.65 crore.
• Colombo Security Conclave began in 2011 as the NSA Trilateral on Maritime Security (India, Sri Lanka, Maldives), revived and renamed in 2020.
• It now has six members: Mauritius (2022), Bangladesh (2024) and Seychelles (February 2026) joined the founding three.
• TRUST initiative was announced in February 2025; more than 95 per cent of global digital traffic uses submarine cables.

Prelims, the traps:

• The Indian Order of Merit (colonial-era) was different from the current Ashok Chakra or Param Vir Chakra; the equivalence stated is approximate.
• CAS was not introduced by this paper. It has operated in the equity cash segment since 3 August 2026; the 12 September paper revises how the expiry-day settlement price for derivatives is computed in its light.
• The Colombo Security Conclave is a regional maritime-security grouping; it is not part of IORA and it is not a treaty organisation.
• iCET (Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology) and TRUST are related but distinct India-US frameworks; TRUST was announced later, in February 2025.

Mains, arguments and keywords:

• Zonal-level electrification milestones as steps toward Indian Railways’ net-zero-2030 target.
• Closing auctions and the price-integrity architecture of equity derivatives markets.
• Quantum ecosystem: public-private-academia model; harvest-now, decrypt-later threat; National Quantum Mission budget.
• Colombo Security Conclave: functional regionalism in the IOR, differentiated from IORA and IONS.
• Submarine cable resilience: Quad workstream, iCET/TRUST alignment, concentration risk on a small vendor pool.
• Keywords: Saragarhi Day, Southern Railway electrification, SEBI CAS, Blended VWAP, IITM-C-DOT Samgnya, TRUST, iCET, CSC.

Interview, be ready for:

• “Why does Saragarhi still feature in Indian Army ethos?” It is a foundational reference for small-unit discipline, defensive tactics and the value of holding a communication link at severe cost. Its inclusion in regimental history and OTA case studies keeps the reference alive for cohort after cohort.
• “What is the harvest-now, decrypt-later problem?” Adversaries intercept and store encrypted data today, wagering that quantum computing will make it decryptable within a decade. The response is to migrate current systems to post-quantum cryptographic algorithms before capable quantum computers exist, since a retrospective migration is impossible.
• “How does TRUST differ from iCET?” iCET is a broader critical-and-emerging-technology framework covering semiconductors, AI, space and biotech; TRUST is a more operational programme announced in February 2025, and its extension to undersea cables is one workstream within a wider bilateral technology-cooperation architecture.

Sources: PIB, Ministry of Railways, SEBI, IIT Madras, Ministry of External Affairs, GKToday

Source: Current Affairs Today, September 12, 2026, Complete News Roundup — Ujiyari.com | Free UPSC & State PCS Current Affairs