International Relations

• SCO Summit 2027: Pakistan will host the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit in 2027.
  • The 2025 SCO meeting was held in Tianjin, China.
  • The 2026 SCO meeting will be held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
  • SCO was founded as Shanghai Five in 1996, renamed SCO in 2001.
  • India and Pakistan joined in 2017.
  • Iran joined as the 9th member, and Belarus as the 10th and latest member.
  • SCO Headquarters: Beijing, China. Turkmenistan is not a member.

Military Exercises

• Freedom Edge Military Exercise: Conducted by the USA, South Korea, and Japan.
  • Location: Jeju Island, South Korea.
  • Purpose: To counterbalance North Korea.

Sports

• FIDE Grand Chess Tournament 2025 (Women's Category):
  • Winner: Vaishali Rameshbabu (India).
  • Host: Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
  • Significance: Vaishali Rameshbabu is the first woman to win the tournament for the second consecutive time (2024 & 2025). She is India's 84th Grandmaster.
• ICC Women's ODI Ranking: Smriti Mandhana (India) is ranked number one.
• Blind Women's World Cup:
  • India is hosting the first-ever Blind Women's World Cup in New Delhi and Bengaluru.
  • Indian team captain: Deepika.
• ICC Player of the Month:
  • August 2025: Mohammed Siraj (India).
  • July 2025: Shubman Gill (India).
• World Chess Champion: D Gukesh (youngest ever) won, defeating Ding Liren in Singapore.
• Women's FIDE World Cup: Divya Deshmukh (India's 88th Grandmaster) won, defeating Koneru Humpy in Georgia Batumi.
• FIDE Chess World Cup Host (future): Goa, India.
• 89th Grandmaster of India: Rohit Krishna.

Energy and Environment

• National Geothermal Energy Policy:
  • Ministry of New and Renewable Energy unveiled India's first National Geothermal Energy Policy on September 15, 2025.
  • Purpose: Promote clean, fossil-free, and renewable geothermal energy.
  • Incentives: Tax exemptions for companies exploring geothermal fields and 3-5 year leases for exploration.
  • India's Geothermal Potential: 10,600 MW, mainly in the Himalayan region (Geological Survey of India).
  • Key site: Puga Valley, Ladakh, where ONGC has established a 1 MW geothermal plant.
  • Minister: Pralhad Joshi.
  • India's Net Zero Carbon Emission Target: 2070.
• World Ozone Day 2025:
  • Celebrated annually on September 16.
  • Theme: "From Science to Global Action."
  • Commemorates the Montreal Protocol (September 16, 1987, Montreal, Canada) for ozone layer protection.
  • Ozone Layer: Located in the stratosphere, it protects Earth from harmful UV rays.
  • Threat: Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)/Freon, used as coolants, caused ozone depletion (hole discovered by Foreman).
  • Related Agreement: Kigali Amendment (2016, Kigali, Rwanda) aims to reduce the use of Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).
  • Ozone (O3) concentration is measured in Dobson Units.

Law and Justice

• Supreme Court Ruling on POSH Act:
  • The Supreme Court ruled that political party offices cannot be considered 'workplaces' under the Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) Act, 2013.
  • The court stated that people do not go to political party offices for 'employment', and including them could lead to misuse for blackmail.
  • The POSH Act was enacted following the Visakha Guidelines (1997) in the Visakha vs. State of Rajasthan case.

Law Enforcement

• Operation Weed Out:
  • Launched by: Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) to combat narcotics trafficking.
  • Incident: Seizure of 39.2 kg of hydroponic cannabis at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminal, Mumbai.
  • Legal Framework: Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.
• Other Operations:
  • Operation Kalnemi (Uttarakhand): To apprehend fake saints.
  • Operation Chakra (CBI): To combat cyber fraud.
  • Operation Sanskar (Rajasthan, Dungarpur Police).
  • Operation Sahyog (Manipur): For aid to cut-off villages.
  • Operation Sindhu (Iran): Aid mission.
  • Operation Sindoor (POK): To target nine terrorist hideouts on May 7.
  • Operation Brahma (Myanmar): Aid mission.

Education and Innovation

• Inspire Manak Award 2025 (Student Innovation):
  • "Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research" (Inspire Manak) program promotes creativity and research in science among students (Class 6-12).
  • Ranking:
    • 1st: Muzaffarpur, Bihar.
    • 2nd: Bengaluru.
    • 4th: Jaipur, Rajasthan.
    • 5th: Lucknow.
    • 6th: Vaishali, Bihar.
  • Students receive ₹10,000 to develop their models.

Health

• Ebola Outbreak:
  • A new outbreak of Ebola has been declared in Kasai Province, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
  • Ebola is a viral disease, transmitted from fruit bats (host) to humans.
  • Symptoms include internal bleeding.
  • The Arbo vaccine is available for the identified variant.
  • The disease originated from the Ebola River region in Zaire/Sudan. A major outbreak in Guinea in 2013 caused over 11,000 deaths.
• Apollo Athena Cancer Center:
  • First Women's Cancer Treatment Center in Asia.
  • Location: Delhi.
  • Inaugurated by Rekha Gupta.
  • Cervical cancer (uterus cancer) accounts for 54% of all cancers in Indian women.
  • Cervical cancer vaccine: Cervavac.

Economy

• Automobile Market: India has surpassed Japan to become the world's third-largest automobile market.

Other News

• 47th Vice Chief of Naval Staff: Sanjay Vasayan.
• 71st National Film Award (Feature Film): 12th Fail.
• First BIMSTEC Traditional Music Festival: Held in Delhi.
• First Chess E-Sports World Cup 2025: Won by Magnus Carlsen (Norway), held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.