🗞️ Why in News Beyond the deep dives on the Supreme Court’s split verdict on the Election Commissioners Act, the anti-defection cases, the cut in edible oil import duty and MoSPI’s domestic tourism survey, the 24 September 2026 roundup covers the WHO-UNICEF report on water and sanitation in schools, the BRICS Heads of Tax Authorities meeting, the anti-narcotics Vision Document 2026-2029, the SAT-SAAW contract, Exercise Varuna, BIS registration for screen protectors, the Dallirajhara-Rowghat rail line, a quantum measurement result from the Raman Research Institute, and the day’s observances: World Maritime Day, NSS Day, the Poona Pact anniversary and Bhikaji Cama’s birth anniversary.

WHO-UNICEF Report: India Has the Most Schoolchildren Without a Sanitation Service

The WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) released “Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene in schools 2015-2025” on 22 September 2026. Of the 244 million school-age children worldwide with no sanitation service at school in 2025, about 50 million are in India, the highest number for any country, ahead of Nigeria (34 million) and Ethiopia (26 million). India also has about 12 million with no drinking-water service at school; recent hygiene data for India are too limited for the report to estimate a trend.

The other side. India is among the countries on track for universal basic drinking water in schools by 2030, having raised coverage by more than 4 percentage points a year, and the share of Indian schools with no sanitation service has fallen. Globally, basic sanitation in schools rose from 67 to 77 per cent between 2015 and 2025; at the present pace, only about 81 per cent of schools would have it by 2030.

Why the gap persists. The JMP uses a service ladder (no service, limited, basic). A “basic” sanitation service needs toilets that are improved, single-sex and usable when pupils need them. A school may have toilets on paper that are locked, broken or without water, which counts as limited or no service. That is the gap between building infrastructure under the Swachh Vidyalaya drive, launched in 2014, and keeping it usable.

📌 Facts Corner, Knowledgepedia

  • The JMP is run jointly by the WHO and UNICEF; it monitors the drinking water, sanitation and hygiene targets of SDG 6.
  • India has about 50 million of the 244 million school-age children worldwide with no sanitation service at school.
  • A basic school sanitation service means improved, single-sex and usable facilities.
  • Trap: “no service” and “lacking a basic service” are different JMP rungs; do not mix their figures.

BRICS Heads of Tax Authorities Meet in New Delhi

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurated the BRICS Heads of Tax Authorities Meeting in New Delhi on 23 September 2026, the culmination of India’s chairship of the BRICS tax cooperation track. It was hosted by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT); ten BRICS tax administrations took part: Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, South Africa and the UAE.

Outcomes. Two new Working Groups, both led by India, on International Taxation and Transfer Pricing and on Revenue Statistics; the BRICS Young Tax Professionals programme (first held at the National Academy of Direct Taxes, Nagpur, in April 2026) made annual; a BRICS Tax Cross-Learning Lab; Terms of Reference for a BRICS Tax Support Network; and the signing of the BRICS Tax Progress Report 2026. China takes over the tax track in 2027. The Minister stressed that BRICS perspectives are essential to the negotiations on a UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation.

📌 Facts Corner, Knowledgepedia

  • The CBDT hosted the BRICS Heads of Tax Authorities Meeting, New Delhi, 23 September 2026.
  • Two new India-led Working Groups: International Taxation and Transfer Pricing, and Revenue Statistics.
  • China is the incoming chair of the BRICS tax track for 2027.
  • Trap: the UN tax convention talks are separate from the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework (Pillar One and Two).

Anti-Narcotics Task Force Conference: Vision Document 2026-2029

Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated the 3rd National Conference of Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) Heads of States and UTs in New Delhi on 22 September 2026, organised by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), with ANTF heads from 36 States and UTs. He described the “Vision Document 2026-2029”, prepared after consultations with more than 35 departments, as the roadmap for the effort: it rests on four pillars (enforcement, intelligence and operations; control of precursor and synthetic drugs; demand and harm reduction; capacity building and coordination) with more than 100 targets. He set the goal of uprooting the drug trade from India by 31 December 2029. He laid foundation stones for NCB zonal complexes at Lucknow and Dehradun and launched the NCB’s new website.

Background. The NCB is the nodal drug law enforcement agency under the Ministry of Home Affairs, created in 1986 under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985. Policing is a State subject, which is why each State and UT now has a dedicated ANTF.

📌 Facts Corner, Knowledgepedia

  • The Vision Document 2026-2029 on narcotics has four pillars and over 100 targets; target date 31 December 2029.
  • The NCB (1986) works under the MHA and enforces the NDPS Act, 1985.
  • Each State and UT has an Anti-Narcotics Task Force; the conference was the third national one.
  • Trap: the NDPS Act is a central law, but police and public order are in the State List.

Rs 811 Crore Contract for SAT-SAAW Glide Bombs

The Ministry of Defence signed a contract with Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) on 23 September 2026 for 160 Satellite Smart Anti Airfield Weapons (SAT-SAAW) and associated equipment for the Indian Air Force, at a cost of Rs 810.79 crore, under the Buy (Indian-IDDM) category. SAT-SAAW is an air-to-ground precision-guided glide bomb, designed and developed by DRDO, that can be launched from the Jaguar, Hawk and Su-30 MKI to neutralise enemy airfields from a long stand-off range. It will have 60 per cent indigenous content; deliveries are due between 2027-28 and 2028-29.

📌 Facts Corner, Knowledgepedia

  • SAT-SAAW: a DRDO-designed air-to-ground glide bomb; 160 units ordered from BDL for Rs 810.79 crore.
  • Buy (Indian-IDDM) means Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured, the top category in the current Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020.
  • Launch platforms: Jaguar, Hawk, Su-30 MKI; indigenous content 60 per cent.
  • Trap: BDL makes missiles and guided weapons; it is not the same as BEL (electronics).

Exercise Varuna: 24th Edition in France

INS Trishul arrived at Toulon, France, on 22 September 2026 to take part in the 24th edition of Varuna, the bilateral maritime exercise between the Indian Navy and the French Navy, with harbour and sea phases.

📌 Facts Corner, Knowledgepedia

  • Varuna is the India-France naval exercise; the 2026 edition is the 24th.
  • INS Trishul, a frigate, reached Toulon, the French Navy’s Mediterranean base, on 22 September 2026.
  • Trap: Shakti is the India-France army exercise; Garuda is the India-France air exercise.

BIS Registration Made Mandatory for Smartphone Screen Protectors

Screen protectors for smartphones have been added to the Electronics and Information Technology Goods (Requirement of Compulsory Registration) Order, 2021, against the standard IS 19348:2025, with effect from 1 April 2027, according to a notification of 21 September 2026 reported by The Hindu. They become the 66th product under the Order. From that date, screen protectors cannot be made, imported or sold without Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) registration. Today’s editorial on Quality Control Orders examines the costs and benefits of such mandates.

📌 Facts Corner, Knowledgepedia

  • Screen protectors join the Compulsory Registration Order, 2021 (electronics and IT goods) from 1 April 2027.
  • The Compulsory Registration Scheme is BIS Scheme-II, used mainly for electronics and IT goods.
  • Trap: the ISI mark (Scheme-I) and CRS registration (Scheme-II) are different BIS routes.

Dallirajhara-Rowghat Rail Line: Final Section Inspected

The Commission of Railway Safety (CRS) inspected and speed-tested the 17.5 km Taroki-Rowghat section, the last section of the 95 km Dallirajhara-Rowghat new line, on 22 September 2026. The single-line, electrified broad-gauge project in remote south Chhattisgarh falls under the Raipur Division of South East Central Railway. It will carry iron ore to the Bhilai Steel Plant and connect the region to Raipur and Bhilai.

📌 Facts Corner, Knowledgepedia

  • The Dallirajhara-Rowghat line (95 km) is in Chhattisgarh, under South East Central Railway.
  • Its main freight purpose is carrying iron ore to the Bhilai Steel Plant.
  • Trap: the Commission of Railway Safety works under the Ministry of Civil Aviation, not the Railway Board.

Raman Research Institute Measures a “Quantum Measure” Above One

Physicists at the Raman Research Institute (RRI), Bengaluru, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology, reported the first experimental measurement of a quantum measure exceeding one, in a paper published in the journal Quantum (announced on 24 September 2026). Quantum Measure Theory assigns a generalised measure to sets of possible histories of a system, including the interference between them, so, unlike an ordinary probability, it can exceed one. Using polarisation to select a chosen set of photon paths and then erasing the path information so the paths could interfere, the team (Sanchari Chakraborti, supervised by Urbasi Sinha) measured a value of about 1.17, against a prediction of about 1.18. The researchers suggest that such “event filtering” could become a tool for quantum measurement and computing.

📌 Facts Corner, Knowledgepedia

  • The Raman Research Institute is an autonomous institute of the DST, Bengaluru.
  • RRI measured a quantum measure of about 1.17, above one, using photon paths.
  • Trap: the probability of detecting a photon still stays below one; only the quantum measure of a set of histories exceeds it.

World Maritime Day 2026

World Maritime Day, set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) on the last Thursday of September, fell on 24 September 2026. The IMO’s theme, its first to run for two years (2026-2027), is “From Policy to Practice: Powering Maritime Excellence”, on implementing IMO rules effectively. The IMO, a UN specialised agency headquartered in London, sets global standards for shipping safety, security and pollution; its Secretary-General is Arsenio Dominguez.

📌 Facts Corner, Knowledgepedia

  • World Maritime Day: the last Thursday of September; 2026-27 theme “From Policy to Practice: Powering Maritime Excellence”.
  • The IMO is a UN specialised agency headquartered in London.
  • Trap: National Maritime Day in India is 5 April (the voyage of the SS Loyalty, 1919); World Maritime Day is in September.

NSS Day: 57 Years of the National Service Scheme

National Service Scheme (NSS) Day is observed on 24 September, marking the launch of the scheme in 1969, the birth centenary year of Mahatma Gandhi, in 37 universities with about 40,000 volunteers. The NSS, under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, engages students in community service; its motto is “Not Me But You”, and its badge carries the Konark wheel with eight bars, representing the 24 hours of the day.

📌 Facts Corner, Knowledgepedia

  • The NSS was launched in 1969 in 37 universities; it is under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
  • NSS motto: “Not Me But You”; badge: the Konark Sun Temple wheel with eight bars.
  • Trap: the NSS (student volunteering) is different from the NCC (under the Ministry of Defence).

Poona Pact, 24 September 1932

The Poona Pact was signed on 24 September 1932, at the end of the fast that Mahatma Gandhi began on 20 September 1932 in Yerwada jail against the Communal Award, which had given the depressed classes separate electorates. The pact, agreed between Gandhi and B.R. Ambedkar, replaced separate electorates with joint electorates and reserved seats: 148 seats for the depressed classes in the provincial legislatures, and 18 per cent of the general-electorate seats in the central legislature. Candidates for reserved seats were first to be chosen through a panel of four by primary election among depressed-class voters, a system to end after ten years. The principle of reserved seats in joint electorates survives in Articles 330 and 332 of the Constitution.

📌 Facts Corner, Knowledgepedia

  • The Poona Pact (24 September 1932) gave the depressed classes 148 reserved seats in provincial legislatures.
  • It replaced the separate electorates of the Communal Award (1932) with joint electorates and reserved seats.
  • Trap: the pact was signed at Poona (Yerwada); the Communal Award was announced by British PM Ramsay MacDonald.

Bhikaji Cama: Birth Anniversary

Bhikaji Rustom Cama, born in Bombay on 24 September 1861, was a revolutionary of the Indian freedom movement abroad. At the International Socialist Congress in Stuttgart, Germany, on 22 August 1907, she unfurled a flag of Indian independence bearing the words “Vande Mataram”, one of the earliest versions of an Indian national flag raised on foreign soil.

📌 Facts Corner, Knowledgepedia

  • Bhikaji Cama was born on 24 September 1861 in Bombay.
  • She unfurled an Indian flag at the International Socialist Congress, Stuttgart, on 22 August 1907.
  • Trap: the flag she raised bore “Vande Mataram”; it is not the tricolour adopted in 1947.

Also in the News

TRAI tightens rules on spam calls (18 September 2026). The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) issued the Telecom Commercial Communication Customer Preference (Third Amendment) Regulations, 2026, amending the TCCCPR, 2018. A new Regulation 21A makes operators share AI/ML-flagged suspected spam numbers; if five or more numbers of one sender are flagged within ten days, graded action follows, up to disconnection. Application-to-Person (A2P) calls (robo-calls, auto-dialled or pre-recorded calls) must be pre-declared, or they are treated as unsolicited commercial communication, and carry a termination charge of up to Rs 0.05 a minute. Consumers get an appeal against the resolution of spam complaints, within 15 days.

Keel laid for the first Next Generation Missile Vessel (18 September 2026). The keel of the first Next Generation Missile Vessel (NGMV) of the Indian Navy was laid at Cochin Shipyard Limited, Kochi, with Vice Admiral Sanjay Sadhu, Controller of Warship Production and Acquisition, as chief guest. The contract was signed in March 2023; all major role-defining equipment is indigenous.

16th round of commercial coal mine auctions (17 September 2026). The Ministry of Coal launched a round offering 25 coal blocks (21 fully and 4 partially explored) in nine States: 6 under the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015 and 19 under the MMDR Act, 1957. Since commercial mining opened in 2020, 147 mines have been auctioned. Coal meets about 55 per cent of India’s primary energy needs and over 70 per cent of electricity generation.

Sugar stock limit relaxed for bulk consumers (18 September 2026). Bulk consumers (using more than 10 tonnes a month) may now hold up to 30 days’ stock instead of 15, provided the stock beyond 15 days is sugar imported under the Advance Authorisation Scheme or the tariff rate quota; the limit on open-market purchases stays at 15 days. Stocks must be declared weekly on the Department of Food and Public Distribution’s portal. As background, this is a separate limit from the cap on sugar dealers, halved to 2,000 quintals from 15 September, which we reported in our 2 September roundup.

First district-level labour indicators from the PLFS (18 September 2026). The National Statistics Office released district-level labour market estimates for the first time, made possible by the Periodic Labour Force Survey’s revised sample design from January 2025 (which also moved the survey to a calendar year). Among the 100 most populous districts, Surat had the highest labour force participation rate (68.6 per cent) and worker population ratio (67.8 per cent), and Darbhanga the lowest; Ernakulam (Keralam) had the lowest youth NEET rate (9.6 per cent).

📌 Facts Corner, Knowledgepedia

Prelims, statement-ready facts:

  • The WHO/UNICEF JMP found India has about 50 million school-age children with no sanitation service at school.
  • The BRICS tax track created two India-led Working Groups; China chairs it in 2027.
  • The anti-narcotics Vision Document 2026-2029 targets a drug-free India by 31 December 2029.
  • SAT-SAAW is a DRDO glide bomb; 160 ordered from BDL under Buy (Indian-IDDM).
  • Varuna (India-France naval exercise) is in its 24th edition; INS Trishul reached Toulon.
  • Screen protectors come under the Compulsory Registration Order, 2021 from 1 April 2027.
  • Poona Pact (1932): 148 reserved seats for the depressed classes in provincial legislatures.
  • Bhikaji Cama raised a flag of Indian independence at Stuttgart in 1907.
  • World Maritime Day 2026-27 theme: “From Policy to Practice: Powering Maritime Excellence”.
  • TRAI’s Regulation 21A mandates sharing of AI/ML-flagged spam numbers among operators.

Prelims, the traps:

  • The Communal Award gave separate electorates; the Poona Pact replaced them with reserved seats in joint electorates.
  • NSS is under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports; NCC is under the Ministry of Defence.
  • The Commission of Railway Safety is under the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
  • JMP “no service” and “no basic service” figures differ; quote the rung with the number.

Mains, arguments and keywords:

  • School WASH: toilets built are not toilets usable; maintenance, water supply and menstrual hygiene decide attendance, especially of girls.
  • Drug control needs Centre-State coordination: NDPS is central, policing is a State subject, hence State ANTFs and a shared vision document.
  • Keywords: JMP service ladder, SDG 6, Swachh Vidyalaya, IDDM, A2P calls, district-level PLFS estimates.

Interview, be ready for:

  • “India built lakhs of school toilets; why does it still top the list for no sanitation service?” Usability, water and maintenance lag construction; the metric counts what works.
  • “Why does the Poona Pact still matter?” It is the origin of reserved constituencies in joint electorates, now in Articles 330 and 332.

Sources: PIB, UN News, The Hindu, IMO, NSS

Source: Current Affairs Today, September 24, 2026, Complete News Roundup — Ujiyari.com | Free UPSC & State PCS Current Affairs