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🔆 ONE-LINERS | 18-09-2026
📚 UPSC Current Affairs | AnmolVachan1

🔆 GEOGRAPHY

📍 Ramjak Mountain
🟢 A four-member team from Munnar, Kerala, recently scaled Ramjak Mountain.
🟢 Height: 6,318 m (20,728 ft), located in Lahaul-Spiti, Himachal Pradesh, near Shingo La Pass, connecting Himachal Pradesh with Zanskar.
🟢 Extreme conditions: Temperatures at higher camps can fall to –35°C to –40°C.
🟢 Challenges: Glaciers, steep ice sheets, crevasses, seracs, cornices and rock bands.
🟢 Safety: Fixed ropes, rope discipline, staged load ferries and acclimatization rotations.

🔆 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS & ISSUES

📍 Canada and the European Union
🟢 The EU is considering making Canada its first “associate member”, a status not provided for in EU treaties.
🟢 Both sides are seeking to diversify ties amid trade tensions with the United States under Donald Trump.
🟢 Ursula von der Leyen proposed a European Security Council involving partners such as Canada, Norway, the UK and Ukraine.
🟢 She also proposed a European security protocol similar to NATO Article 4, which provides for consultations when a member feels threatened.

📍 Artemis Accords: Djibouti Signs
🟢 Djibouti became the 72nd country and 8th African nation to sign the Artemis Accords.
🟢 Signed at NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C., by Djibouti’s Ambassador Mohamed Siad Douale.
🟢 Established in 2020 by the US and seven founding countries.
🟢 Key principles: Peaceful and transparent exploration, international cooperation, scientific data sharing, emergency assistance and protection of historically significant space sites.
🟢 Promotes responsible exploration of the Moon, Mars and beyond.

🔆 SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

📍 India’s First Fully Automated Factory Lab
🟢 TCS launched India’s first lights-out factory lab in Pune, Maharashtra.
🟢 Demonstrates manufacturing with minimal human intervention.
🟢 Integrates digital twins, robotics and industrial AI to simulate autonomous manufacturing.
🟢 Helps industries assess Industry 4.0 technologies and reduce deployment risks.

📍 SEMICON India 2026
🟢 Held from 17–19 September 2026.
🟢 Theme: “Silicon to Systems: Building the Ecosystem.”
🟢 Semiconductors are vital for technological resilience, economic security and national self-reliance.
🟢 Government support includes policy measures, infrastructure development and global partnerships.
🟢 Aims to strengthen India’s semiconductor ecosystem across the entire value chain.

📍 Doppler Weather Radar (DWR)
🟢 India’s 51st Doppler Weather Radar was inaugurated at Jamadarpali, Sambalpur, Odisha.
🟢 Uses the Doppler effect to detect the location, intensity, velocity and direction of atmospheric targets.
🟢 Working: Microwave signals are transmitted; echoes return after scattering from raindrops or ice particles. Frequency shifts reveal motion, while pulse timing determines distance.
🟢 Radar bands used by IMD:

• 🟢 S-Band (2–4 GHz): Long-range detection, up to about 500 km; useful for severe cyclones.
• 🟢 C-Band (4–8 GHz): Medium-range coverage, about 250 km; regional storms and cyclones.
• 🟢 X-Band (8–12 GHz): Short-range monitoring; thunderstorms, lightning and mountain cloudbursts.
🟢 Applications: Cyclone tracking, severe-weather warnings, rainfall estimation and real-time flood forecasting.

🔆 INDEX

📍 Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI 40)
🟢 GIFT City rose 9 places to 37th globally.
🟢 Published by Z/Yen Partners and the China Development Institute.
🟢 Assesses financial centres using five factors: business environment, human capital, infrastructure, financial-sector development and reputation.
🟢 GFCI 40 assessed 139 financial centres, using 144 quantitative measures and 39,531 professional assessments.
🟢 GIFT City was the only Indian financial centre among the top 15 in Asia-Pacific.
🟢 Mumbai improved 3 places to 49th globally.
🟢 GIFT City’s FinTech ranking improved 3 places to 26th globally.
🟢 Financial services in GIFT City are regulated by IFSCA.

🔆 MISCELLANEOUS

📍 ‘Er.’ Prefix for Engineers
🟢 Karnataka made Engineers’ Day an official State event.
🟢 Observed on 15 September, the birth anniversary of Sir M. Visvesvaraya, former Dewan of Mysore.
🟢 Karnataka officially permitted engineers to use the prefix “Er.”, following permission for teachers to use “Tr.”
🟢 A similar demand exists for lecturers to use “Lr.”
🟢 More than one lakh engineers graduate annually in Karnataka, according to the supplied information.

📍 Southern Railway: 100% Electrification
🟢 Southern Railway completed electrification of its entire 5,068 km broad-gauge network.
🟢 11 May 1931: Madras became India’s second metropolitan city, after Bombay, to introduce electric traction.
🟢 1925: India’s first electric train ran between Bombay Victoria Terminus and Kurla Harbour, using a 1,500-volt DC system.
🟢 Full electrification enables electric traction across the network without traction changes at relevant points.
🟢 Expected benefits: streamlined operations, improved locomotive utilisation, operational flexibility and more reliable train services.

📍 FSSAI Orders Recall of Two Food Products
🟢 FSSAI ordered immediate market recalls after laboratory tests found two products unsafe.
🟢 Shalimar’s Chef Coriander Powder — manufactured by M/s Nilgiri Oil & Allied Industries; failed safety tests due to excessive pesticide residues.
🟢 Carrageenan food additive — manufactured by M/s Aquagri Processing Pvt. Ltd.; failed standards due to high cadmium levels.
🟢 Manufacturers appealed the initial results; referral food laboratories retested samples and confirmed non-compliance and unsafe status.
🟢 Legal basis: Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and Food Safety and Standards (Food Recall Procedure) Regulations, 2017.

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