APPOINTMENTS

Dr. Dinesh Sharma Appointed Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands

• Dr. Dinesh Sharma, BJP Rajya Sabha MP and former Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, was appointed Lieutenant Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on 5 September 2026 by President Droupadi Murmu.

• The appointment took effect when Dr. Sharma formally assumed charge of the Lieutenant Governor’s office, succeeding Admiral Devendra Kumar Joshi (Retd.), who had served since 8 October 2017.

• Under Article 239 of the Constitution, Union Territories are administered by an Administrator or Lieutenant Governor appointed by the President, who functions as the President’s representative.

• The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a Union Territory located in the Bay of Bengal, comprising the Andaman and Nicobar island groups, with Port Blair as its administrative capital.

• Dr. Dinesh Sharma served as Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh from 2017 to 2022 and was elected Mayor of Lucknow twice, in 2006 and 2012.

• Before his appointment as Lieutenant Governor, Dr. Sharma served as a Member of the Rajya Sabha, the Upper House of Parliament, whose members are elected by State Legislative Assemblies or nominated in specified cases.

• His appointment created a vacancy in his Rajya Sabha seat, with his earlier term scheduled to continue until 25 November 2026.

• The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is strategically significant as India’s southernmost Union Territory, located close to important maritime routes in the Bay of Bengal.

Athira Suresh Commissioned as Indian Army Lieutenant

• Athira Suresh, a native of Kozhikode, Kerala, was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Indian Army on 5 September 2026.

• She completed officer training under the Short Service Commission Technical (Women) Course at the Officers Training Academy (OTA), Gaya, Bihar.

• The Short Service Commission (SSC) is a time-bound commission in the Indian Armed Forces and is available to both men and women across various branches and technical entries.

• Athira cleared the IIT-JEE examination and later earned a Civil Engineering degree from NIT Calicut, before entering the armed forces.

• Before joining the Army, she worked as a Project Controls Engineer with ExxonMobil in Bengaluru, gaining professional experience in the corporate sector.

• She cleared the Services Selection Board (SSB) selection process on her first attempt for entry into OTA Gaya.

• Her father, Naik Suresh (Retd.) of the Corps of Signals, served in the Indian Army, and her family has a three-generation tradition of military service.

• The 5 September 2026 commissioning parade resulted in 595 new officers being commissioned across two Indian military academies, reflecting the multiple technical and non-technical routes through which the Indian Army commissions officers.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Japan’s Imperial House Law Amendment 2026

• Japan’s National Diet approved amendments to the Imperial House Law of 1947 on 17 July 2026, marking the first major revision of the framework since its enactment.

• The amendment retains male-only succession to the Chrysanthemum Throne, meaning female members remain ineligible to succeed to the throne.

• Female members of the imperial family may retain their royal status after marrying commoners, but their husbands and children do not become members of the imperial family or enter the succession line.

• The amendment permits the imperial family to adopt male descendants aged 15 years or above from 11 former branch families that lost their royal status in 1947.

• The Imperial House Law, 1947 governs imperial succession, marriage, membership and royal status under Japan’s post-war constitutional framework.

• Japan’s imperial family currently has 16 members; Princess Aiko, daughter of Emperor Naruhito, remains ineligible for succession under the male-only rule.

• Prince Hisahito, nephew of Emperor Naruhito, is the youngest remaining eligible heir and stands second in line to the Chrysanthemum Throne.

• The amendment seeks to address concerns over the declining size of the imperial family, while retaining the traditional male-line succession system that has remained central to Japan’s imperial succession debate.

India Joins Multilateral 6G Initiative 2026

• India joined a multilateral 6G initiative on 7 September 2026 with the United States and 24 other countries to guide the development and deployment of next-generation wireless networks.

• The initiative focuses on security, technological competitiveness and innovation in advanced telecommunications systems.

• 6G (sixth-generation mobile technology) is the successor to 5G, and is expected to provide higher speeds, lower latency and greater machine-to-machine connectivity.

• The agreement followed a bilateral meeting between US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada.

• India and the US also discussed cooperation in Artificial Intelligence (AI), data centres and potential US investment in India Semiconductor Mission 2.0.

• The G20 Innovation Ministers’ Meeting was held in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on 1–2 September 2026, hosted by the US Department of Commerce and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

• India’s delegation included Jitin Prasada and MeitY Joint Secretary Ajit Kumar, while the G20 Innovation Ministerial Statement was released on 2 September 2026.

• The G20 statement highlighted the importance of emerging technologies in promoting productivity, economic opportunities and prosperity, reinforcing international cooperation in advanced technologies such as 6G.

STATE NEWS

President’s Police Colour Awarded to Goa Police

• The President’s Police Colour was presented to the Goa Police on 7 September 2026 at the Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium, Taleigao, Goa by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

• With this honour, Goa became the fifth State Police force in India to receive the President’s Police Colour, recognising distinguished service, discipline and an outstanding operational record.

• The President’s Colour is a prestigious ceremonial honour awarded to military and police units for exceptional service and contribution to the nation.

• The ceremony was attended by Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, DGP Alok Kumar and Union Minister of State Shripad Naik.

• Amit Shah also launched an AI-based multilingual voice assistant for the national cyber-crime helpline 1930, supporting 12 languages for residents and tourists reporting cybercrimes.

• The Goa Police reduced its average emergency response time through the 112 helpline from 18 minutes to 8 minutes, while the Home Minister set a target of making Goa drug-free by 2029.

• Amit Shah paid tribute to Balaram Shinde, Abhishek Sher, Shailesh Gaonkar and Vishwas B. Deykar, associated with police service and sacrifice in the line of duty.

• Article 239 governs the administration of Union Territories, while 1930 is the national cyber-crime helpline and 112 is the integrated emergency response number in India.

9th Rashtriya Poshan Maah 2026

• The 9th Rashtriya Poshan Maah will be launched on 9 September 2026 at the Rudraksh International Cooperation and Convention Centre, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.

• The launch will be led by Union Minister for Women and Child Development Annpurna Devi, along with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, MoS Savitri Thakur, and UP Cabinet Minister Baby Rani Maurya.

• Rashtriya Poshan Maah is a month-long national nutrition campaign observed every September under the Poshan Abhiyaan framework.

• The 2026 theme is “Hamari Anganwadi, Hamari Jimmedari”, and the campaign will run throughout September 2026.

• The campaign focuses on five areas: Dietary Diversity and Adequate Protein; Fresh and Diverse Hot Cooked Meals; Community Ownership; Nutrition and Early Childhood Development; and the 10th year of PMMVY.

• The campaign is supported by the revised Supplementary Nutrition Programme Guidelines under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0.

• Poshan Abhiyaan was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 8 March 2018 as a national mission to improve nutrition outcomes.

• The launch event will be live webcast by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) from 10:00 AM IST on 9 September 2026.

AWARDS

Swachh Vayu Diwas and Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan Awards 2026

• The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) organised Swachh Vayu Diwas 2026 in New Delhi on 7 September 2026 and presented the 5th Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan Awards.

• The event marked the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies, observed annually on 7 September, and recognised cities and municipal wards for their clean-air performance.

• Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan is linked to the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), launched in 2019 to improve ambient air quality through pollution-control measures, monitoring and clean-air action plans.

• Cities are assessed in three population categories: Category 1 – above 10 lakh, Category 2 – 3–10 lakh, and Category 3 – below 3 lakh population.

• Lucknow topped Category 1 with 198/200 points and received ₹1.5 crore, followed by Indore and Jabalpur; Rourkela topped Category 2 with 198.5 points, while Kalinga Nagar secured first place in Category 3.

• For the first time in 2026, municipal wards were included: Lucknow’s Ward 70 topped the category for wards with populations above 30,000, followed by Bhopal Ward 60 and Nashik Ward 7.

• Data showed that 108 of 130 NCAP-monitored cities recorded improvement in PM10 levels between the baseline year 2017–18 and 2025–26; the Jammu Municipal Corporation was also recognised across all three ward-level population categories.

• Justice Prakash Shrivastava, Chairperson of the National Green Tribunal, presided as Chief Guest, along with MoEFCC Secretary Tanmay Kumar and CPCB Chairperson Amandeep Garg; CPCB functions under the MoEFCC.

SUMMIT AND CONFERENCE

28th Western Zonal Council Meeting 2026

• The 28th Western Zonal Council meeting was chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Panaji, Goa, on 7 September 2026.

• The meeting was organised under the Inter-State Council Secretariat and was attended by representatives of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, and the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.

• The Western Zonal Council is a statutory advisory body established under the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, to promote inter-State coordination and cooperative federalism.

• The Western Zonal Council comprises Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu; the Goa Chief Minister serves as Vice-Chairman.

• India has five Zonal Councils—Northern, Central, Eastern, Western and Southern—which facilitate regional consultation and resolution of common inter-State issues.

• Key issues discussed in the 2026 meeting included cooperative federalism, inter-State coordination, crimes against women, Fast-Track Special Courts, and village-level banking.

• Zonal Councils also provide a platform to discuss border disputes, transport connectivity, power sharing, and water-related disputes among neighbouring States.

• The Inter-State Council Secretariat provides organisational support to Zonal Councils, while Fast-Track Special Courts aim at the time-bound disposal of specified criminal cases.

MISCELLANEOUS

NITI Aayog Launches PACT and ZET Marketplace 2026

• NITI Aayog launched the Platform for Aggregating Clean Transport (PACT) and Zero Emission Truck (ZET) Marketplace on 7 September 2026 at the 5th e-FAST India Summit in New Delhi.

• PACT is a digital platform designed to aggregate freight demand from shippers and logistics providers, helping identify viable zero-emission truck deployment corridors.

• PACT also supports freight visibility and charging-infrastructure planning, facilitating the expansion of electric trucks across high-potential freight routes.

• The ZET Marketplace is a digital business-engagement platform connecting electric-truck manufacturers, logistics service providers, charging operators and financiers.

• Road transport accounts for around 70% of India’s freight movement, while heavy-duty trucks represent only 3–4% of the vehicle fleet but contribute over one-third of transport-sector carbon emissions.

• Electric freight vehicle deployment increased from 201 vehicles in FY 2024–25 to 826 in FY 2025–26, with more than 3,000 electric medium- and heavy-duty vehicles (e-MHDVs) currently operating in India.

• The 5th e-FAST India Summit 2026 was held in New Delhi on 7 September 2026, with officials including V. Umashankar, Hanif Qureshi, Archana Mittal and Pawan Mulukutla participating.

• Rajiv Gauba highlighted blended finance mechanisms, leasing models and stronger data systems to reduce financing costs and the overall cost of capital for electric trucks, supporting faster zero-emission freight adoption.