12 September 2026 Current Affairs: Headlines, GK & MCQs

A pair of commemorative postage stamps was released in New Delhi on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS Summit to mark the completion of two decades of the grouping.

The stamps carry these words in English and the same inscription in Hindi.

The release describes the second stamp as displaying the logo of India's BRICS Chairship together with these two ideas, which India placed at the heart of its year at the head of the grouping.

The three-day exercise was held under the aegis of the Colombo Security Conclave and concluded at this command, with the opening address delivered by Rear Admiral Manoj Jha, Chief Staff Officer (Operations) of the same command.

The exercise was built around non-traditional security challenges rather than conventional naval combat. Delegations and maritime security experts from member states and observer nations of the Conclave worked through simulated operational scenarios for more than 72 hours, covering maritime terrorism, narcotics smuggling, human trafficking, and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

The Ministry of Defence described the Colombo Security Conclave exercise as aligned with this vision, which frames India's approach to security and development cooperation with its maritime neighbours.

The Union Health Minister said the mission was framed after the COVID-19 pandemic, with the aim of strengthening the ability of the health system to answer future pandemics and public health emergencies while routine healthcare continues without disruption.

The Union Health Minister said that under PM-ABHIM the Government of India has sanctioned this many Critical Care Blocks across the States and Union Territories, creating a nationwide network of critical-care capacity.

Speaking at the inauguration of the new health facilities in the state, the Union Health Minister praised the Sanjeevani programme for carrying healthcare to people's doorsteps and making testing available for this many health parameters.

The Minister cited the decline in out-of-pocket expenditure as an indicator of the growing financial protection available to citizens, and listed it alongside other outcomes of the health-system transformation.

The record road runs 1.85 km and was pursued jointly by the CSIR-Central Road Research Institute of New Delhi and Jindal Steel Limited, with the record conferred at an event addressed by Dr Jitendra Singh.

The Minister said the technology can cut construction cost by around this share while delivering four times the strength of a conventional road, and can stretch the maintenance cycle so that major maintenance is needed only after about fifteen years in suitable applications.

The CSIR-Central Road Research Institute in New Delhi supplied the scientific guidelines, processing protocols and quality-control framework, while the steel company supplied the processed slag and the site.

Badri cattle are described as an important indigenous cattle genetic resource of that state and are recognised as its state animal, which is why the conservation of the breed carries both a scientific and a symbolic weight there.

Under the programme, oocytes were collected from genetically valuable Badri donor cows through ultrasound-guided ovum pick-up, matured and fertilised in the laboratory with semen from a genetically superior Badri bull, and grown as embryos under controlled conditions.

The programme was a collaboration between the two, with financial support from the Uttarakhand Biotechnology Council at Haldi.

The drive at Digha in East Midnapore was organised by this ministry, and the campaign was coordinated across the country by the National Institute of Ocean Technology at Chennai, which is an institute under the same ministry.

The cleanup drive at Digha was described as a prelude to International Coastal Cleanup Day, to be observed on 19 September 2026, and the objective was to build wider awareness about marine pollution and to encourage practices that protect coastal and marine ecosystems.

The drive at Digha was organised by the Ministry of Earth Sciences and coordinated nationwide by this institute, whose officials also joined the inaugural ceremony at the Marine Aquarium and Regional Centre.

The two-day conference was organised by the Ministry of Labour and Employment in collaboration with the Government of Maharashtra and concluded in the city on the second day.

In the session on the roles and responsibilities of BOCW Welfare Boards in the light of the new labour codes, several States and Union Territories presented their own initiatives.

The correct answer is Mansukh Mandaviya, the Union Minister of Labour and Employment and of Youth Affairs and Sports, who chaired the first day of the conference.