PIB Current Affairs 18 September 2026

Schemes & CommitteesLowquizQuiz

AVYAY: Rs 1,089.58 crore under IPSrC and SAPSrC; 10.76 lakh senior citizens helped

•The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment has released about Rs 1,089.58 crore under IPSrC and SAPSrC, the institutional-care components of the Atal Vayo Abhyuday Yojana (AVYAY).
•More than 10.76 lakh senior citizens benefited under IPSrC from FY 2014-15 to FY 2025-26, with about Rs 953.53 crore spent.
•Rs 136.05 crore has gone to States and UTs under SAPSrC since its launch in FY 2019-20.

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Summits & ConferencesLowquizQuiz

25th SCO trade ministers' meeting in Dushanbe agrees Action Plan 2026-2030

•The 25th meeting of SCO ministers responsible for foreign economic and trade activities was held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on 17 September 2026.
•Ministers agreed an Action Plan for 2026-2030 on multilateral trade and economic cooperation, which now goes to the SCO Council of Heads of Government for approval.
•India set out three pillars for trade — Security, Connectivity and Opportunity — and backed a WTO-centred, rules-based trading system.

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DefenceLowquizQuiz

Steel cut for second Next Generation Missile Vessel at Cochin Shipyard

•Steel was cut for the second Next Generation Missile Vessel (NGMV) at Cochin Shipyard Limited, Kochi, on 17 September 2026.
•Cochin Shipyard is building six NGMVs under a contract signed in March 2023.
•All major weapons and equipment that define the ships' role are made in India.

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DefenceMediumquizQuiz

HAL delivers Tejas FOC trainers, first HTT-40s to IAF and Dhruv NG to Pawan Hans

•In Bengaluru on 18 September 2026, HAL handed over two LCA Tejas FOC twin-seat trainers and three HTT-40 basic trainers to the IAF, and four Dhruv NG civil helicopters to Pawan Hans Limited.
•The two Tejas trainers are the last aircraft due under the FOC contract.
•The HTT-40 replaces imported basic trainers; 70 were ordered in March 2023, but deliveries slipped because of delays in Honeywell engine supply.

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Schemes & CommitteesMediumquizQuiz

Swachh Bharat Mission status: 5.69 lakh ODF Plus villages; how Swachhata Hi Seva evolved

•A PIB Backgrounder of 18 September 2026 put Swachh Bharat Mission's rural progress, as of 17 September 2026, at over 5.69 lakh ODF Plus villages, of which more than 5.25 lakh are ODF Plus Model.
•1,314 GOBARdhan biogas plants are operational in 585 districts; 12.22 crore household toilets have been built.
•In cities, 95,478 wards have 100% door-to-door collection and 83,963 wards 100% source segregation.

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EconomyMediumquizQuiz

Sugar stock limit for bulk consumers relaxed to 30 days, extra only from imports

•The Government on 18 September 2026 relaxed the sugar stockholding limit for bulk consumers from 15 to 30 days' consumption.
•Stock held beyond 15 days must come only from sugar imported under the Advance Authorisation Scheme (AAS) or the Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ); open-market purchases stay capped at 15 days.
•Bulk consumers must declare stocks every Friday on the Department of Food and Public Distribution's portal.

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Science & TechMediumquizQuiz

TRAI's third TCCCPR amendment: AI-flagged spam, A2P call rules and consumer appeals

•TRAI notified the Telecom Commercial Communication Customer Preference (Third Amendment) Regulations, 2026 on 18 September 2026, amending TCCCPR 2018 to tighten action against spam.
•Operators must now use AI/ML to flag suspected spam numbers and share them; five or more flagged numbers of one sender within ten days trigger graded action up to disconnection.
•Application-to-Person (A2P) robo-calls must be pre-declared, and carry a termination charge of up to Rs 0.05 per minute.

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Ranks & ReportsHighquizQuiz

NSO releases first district-level labour market estimates from revamped PLFS

•The National Statistics Office (NSO) released 'Labour Market Snapshot of Selected Districts' on 18 September 2026 — the first district-level labour indicators ever published from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS).
•District estimates became possible because the PLFS redesign of January 2025 made the district, not the NSS Region, the basic sampling stratum for most of the country.
•Among the 100 most populous districts, Surat (Gujarat) recorded the highest LFPR (68.6%) and WPR (67.8%), and Darbhanga (Bihar) the lowest.

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Current Affairs Pulse

PIB Current Affairs — 18 September 2026

AVYAY: Rs 1,089.58 crore under IPSrC and SAPSrC; 10.76 lakh senior citizens helped

25th SCO trade ministers' meeting in Dushanbe agrees Action Plan 2026-2030

Steel cut for second Next Generation Missile Vessel at Cochin Shipyard

HAL delivers Tejas FOC trainers, first HTT-40s to IAF and Dhruv NG to Pawan Hans

Swachh Bharat Mission status: 5.69 lakh ODF Plus villages; how Swachhata Hi Seva evolved

Sugar stock limit for bulk consumers relaxed to 30 days, extra only from imports

TRAI's third TCCCPR amendment: AI-flagged spam, A2P call rules and consumer appeals

NSO releases first district-level labour market estimates from revamped PLFS