Daily Current Affairs - 13th September 2026

This week packs a rare mix of events into one exam cycle. India hosted the 18th BRICS Summit, eight High Courts got new Chief Justices, and Indian athletes topped medal charts in three different sports. Any one of these facts can appear as a direct question in your next mock test.

Quick Summary

• India hosted the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi on 12-13 September 2026, marking its fourth BRICS presidency.
• Eight High Courts got new Chief Justices in a single reshuffle, with Justice Vallury Kameswar Rao heading Patna High Court.
• Lucknow dethroned Indore to top the Swachh Vayu Survekshan 2026 in the over-10-lakh population category.
• Indian pairs and individuals won titles across badminton, pickleball, and para-archery this week.
• The V-Dem Electoral Democracy Index placed India at 106th among 179 countries, its lowest score since 1975.
• The UN General Assembly adopted a new world map correcting long-standing size distortions of Africa and South Asia.

Appointments and People in the News

Several institutions changed leadership this week. Dr. Vinay Prakash Singh was unopposed and re-elected as Secretary General of the Asian Pacific Postal Union. The Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust added its first woman trustee, Dr. Nirmala Yadav, while Jitendra Mishra took charge as the temple’s first full-time CEO.

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Lieutenant Governor changes also made news. Dr. Dinesh Sharma became the new Lieutenant Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, succeeding Admiral D. K. Joshi. Separately, Vinai Kumar Saxena received additional charge as Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir while the sitting L-G, Manoj Sinha, traveled to the United States. Under Article 239 of the Constitution, the President appoints a Lieutenant Governor.

New Chief Justices Across Eight High Courts

On 5 September 2026, eight High Courts received new Chief Justices in one coordinated round of appointments. This list is a common source of prelims-level questions.

India’s Global Standing: BRICS Summit and the Democracy Index

The 18th BRICS Summit ran from 12 to 13 September 2026 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the summit under the theme “Building resilience, innovation, cooperation and sustainability.” This is India’s fourth BRICS presidency, after 2012, 2016, and 2021. Sudhakar Dalela served as India’s Chief Sherpa. Aspirants should note this theme, since summit themes are a frequent exam trap.

A separate report drew political attention this week. The V-Dem Institute of Sweden released its Electoral Democracy Index 2026, ranking India 106th out of 179 countries with a score of 0.38. This is India’s lowest score on the index since 1975, and the report places India in the “electoral autocracy” category, a classification India has held since 2017. On the related Liberal Democracy Index, India ranked 105th with a score of 0.26. Denmark, Norway, and Sweden topped the rankings.

Defense Diplomacy and Multi-Nation War Games

India signed three defense agreements with Sri Lanka in September 2026, including an upgrade of L70 air defense guns and free maintenance support. This visit made Rajnath Singh the first Indian Defence Minister to visit Sri Lanka in 38 years. Separately, the Indian Navy’s sail training ship INS Sudarshini reached the port of Livorno in Italy.

Three major exercises ran in parallel this week, and each pairs a different partner country with India.

• Yudh Abhyas 2026 (22nd edition): India and the United States, held at Auli in Uttarakhand and the Mahajan Field Firing Range in Rajasthan, running 9-28 September. Apache attack helicopters took part for the first time in this exercise.
• Veer Guardian 2026 (2nd edition): India and Japan, at Air Force Station Jodhpur, 9-22 September. Japan’s Mitsubishi F-2 fighter joined an Indian exercise for the first time.
• Samudra Lakshman (4th edition): India and Malaysia’s naval forces, held at Lumut port in Malaysia, with INS Mysore representing the Indian Navy.

The Indian Army’s Konark Corps also ran Exercise Rudra Raptors in the Jaisalmer desert sector of Rajasthan, combining Apache attack helicopters with a tank brigade under the theme “One team, one objective: total dominance on the battlefield.”

On the technology side, the Defence Research and Development Organisation launched the SHIELD program (S-band High-power microwave Integrated Evaluation system for Lethality and Damage) to test how enemy drones and radar withstand high-power microwave energy. DRDO also opened a new lab named Aashwast in New Delhi to detect hidden foreign components and security gaps in military drones.

State Government Schemes and Governance

Karnataka approved the Gramanubhava Yojana, which exposes urban schoolchildren to rural life and farming activity. Uttarakhand launched the Mukhyamantri Yuva Bhavishya Nirman Yojana to support young people preparing for competitive exams. Punjab rolled out Pehchaan, a digital public identification portal, while West Bengal is forming a new disaster response unit called Arjun Vahini.

Swachh Vayu Survekshan 2026: City Rankings

The Ministry of Environment released the fifth Swachh Vayu Survekshan this week, and Lucknow’s rise to the top spot is this year’s biggest surprise for exam purposes.

Delhi ranked 30th with a score of 172, while Mumbai ranked 37th with a score of 160.8. Ladakh also completed its first stone check dam on the Indus River at Upshi, near Leh, standing 10 feet tall.

Sports Roundup: Cricket, Badminton, and Para-Archery

East Zone won the Duleep Trophy 2026-27, its third title after previous wins in 2011-12 and 2012-13. The final against South Zone at Chennai’s M. A. Chidambaram Stadium ended in a draw, so East Zone won on a first-innings lead. Ishan Kishan captained East Zone, while Tilak Verma captained South Zone and also won Player of the Series.

The badminton pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won the China Masters BWF Super 750 title, their first-ever win at this tournament and their second BWF World Tour title of the year after Singapore Open 2026.

At the Pickleball World Cup 2026 in Da Nang, Vietnam, India finished 5th in the medal tally with 46 medals (7 gold, 19 silver, 20 bronze). Vietnam, the USA, and South Korea took the top three spots.

India also finished 2nd at Stage 3 of the World Archery Para Series 2026 in Ahmedabad, winning 15 medals (4 gold, 3 silver, 8 bronze). Sheetal Devi won her first individual World Series gold in the women’s compound event, while the Czech Republic topped the table with 5 gold medals.

Political Leaders and Their Pay: A Salary Comparison

For readers tracking world affairs beyond India, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong became the world’s highest-paid political leader this week, a fact that regularly appears in international-affairs sections of exam papers. Pay scales for heads of government vary widely across democracies, and such comparisons often test whether aspirants can connect a leader’s name to their country correctly under exam pressure. Building a habit of noting country-leader-currency triplets, rather than isolated facts, pays off across multiple question types in the same exam.

World Affairs: A New Map, a New President, and a New Temple

The UN General Assembly adopted a new world map proposal led by Togo and backed by the African Union, with 164 countries in favor and the United States casting the only vote against. The map corrects distortions from the 16th-century Mercator projection, which shows Africa, South Asia, and Latin America smaller than their actual size.

Estonia’s parliament elected Ülle Madise as the country’s next president on 2 September 2026. She will become Estonia’s second female president when she takes office on 12 October 2026, succeeding Alar Karis.

France’s first Hindu temple, the BAPS Swaminarayan Hindu Temple, was inaugurated near Bussy-Saint-Georges outside Paris on 6 September 2026. Separately, Russia and North Korea opened their first road bridge, the Yakovlev Bridge over the Tumen River, connecting Russia’s Khasan district with North Korea’s Tumangang.

India also joined the United States and 24 other nations in a global initiative on 6G network security, aimed at strengthening resilience, competition, and trust in future telecom networks.

Closing Analysis: What This Means for Your Preparation

This week shows a pattern worth remembering: exam-setters increasingly favor questions that connect a fact to its context, such as an appointment to the institution’s history or a scheme to its stated purpose, rather than testing names in isolation. Build short context notes next to every fact you memorize this week, particularly the BRICS theme, the new Chief Justices list, and the three defense exercises, since each carries multiple angles for objective and descriptive papers alike.

Common Questions

Which state topped the Swachh Vayu Survekshan 2026 in the highest population category? Lucknow topped the list, moving ahead of Indore for the first time in recent years.

How many countries voted for the new UN world map proposal? A total of 164 countries supported it, with the United States casting the only vote against.

What is India’s rank on the V-Dem Electoral Democracy Index 2026? India ranked 106th out of 179 countries, its lowest score since 1975.

Which country is India’s partner in Exercise Yudh Abhyas 2026? The United States. This is the 22nd edition of the exercise, held in Uttarakhand and Rajasthan.

Who chaired the 18th BRICS Summit? Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the summit, held on 12-13 September 2026 in New Delhi.